Referee/Wrestler: Andrew Adams

Wrestler Name: Andrew Adams
Real Name: Andrew Adams
Birthday: July 8, 1961
Hometown: Tunica, MS
Marital Status: Married (Thresa)
Alignment: Face
Height: 6'
Weight: 274
Theme Music: "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner
Debut: 3/23/78 (referee); January 24, 1980 (wrestler)
Debut Opp: Joe Blow
Last Match: July 31, 2002
Last Opp: Buzzkill
PriDistrict: MidAmerica
Style: Daredevil
Finishing Move: Regeneration (flying sunset flip)
Favorite Moves: spin wheel kick, Asai moonsault
Weapon: none
Notable Feuds: Mr. Tennessee
Image: Jacob Black

His Story:

Andrew was born to Arnold and Ethel (Roybal) Adams on July 8, 1961. He is the third child of the Adams clan. A.J. and Amy are two years older. Aaron is twelve years younger. Andrew did favor being with A.J. and Amy more than Aaron. Just after Aaron was born, Ethel moved the family to Tunica, MS. He began his eighth grade year at Tunica Middle School. In 1979, he graduated from Rosa Fort High School as the valedictorian of his class.

Andrew was a hard-working young man who refused to settle for simple yard work as employment. After trying a few of the area businesses, Andrew asked his father what it would take to become a wrestling referee. A.J. overheard the conversation and asked the same question for himself.

Arnold trained both of them during the first two weeks of the MVW. They were finally qualified as referees after each refereeing four practice matches (three singles, one tag team). Andrew was the first of the Adams clan to don the referee shirt as his first official match was March 23, 1978 with Argonaut #1 facing Travis Canby. Andrew became known as a very level-headed referee.

This reputation became tainted on August 30, 1979, when Thresa Gwynn (Helena Handbasket) faced his sister Amy. Andrew had had a crush on Tonya and been working up the nerve to ask her out. He finally worked up the nerve that night to ask her out. When she said yes, the two began making out backstage. Arnold caught the two while searching for Andrew who was supposed to be in the ring refereeing the match between Tom the Trucker and 'Excellent' Xavier Cross. Andrew said he'd trade with Jackson for the next match that he had. That happened to be the Women's Title match. The match was a sheer travesty and went down in MVW history as the worst match ever wrestled. Thresa made sure to tease, taunt and flirt with Andrew at any and every point during the match. Before going for the Handbasket Slam, Thresa yanked on Amy's hair, causing Andrew to reprimand her. She whispered something in his ear. She hit the Handbasket Slam and Andrew gave the quickest three-count in MVW history. To this day, neither will admit to what was actually said during the match.
In the fallout of that match, Andrew continued to referee very biasedly in matches concerning Thresa. On May 9, 1981, Andrew was relieved of his referee duties after not making many calls that should have been made in the MVW Heavyweight Title match between 'Nature Boy' Nate Harris and 'Disco' Dominic Donovan. The match was not billed as a no-disqualification match, but Andrew allowed Harris (who had been recently injured by Donovan) to bend and break the rules whenever he wanted. Donovan complained to the MVW officials after the match and Andrew's referee license was pulled. Arnold also gave Donovan a Chain match against Andrew at the next card.

Andrew took the rest of 1981 off from wrestling. In character, he threw a fit in the ring after the chain match and refused to wrestle any more until his father gave him a better contract. In his personal life, Thresa, whom he married on October 3, 1980, had many problems with her pregnancy. Being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia at nineteen weeks, Thresa was consigned to bed rest in June. Their son Adrian was born via emergency c-section on December 19, 1981, a month before he was due. He spent two months in the NICU at the St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Andrew came back to wrestling in the MVW in March 1982. As part of his “renegotiated” contract, Andrew was forced to start at the bottom of the roster and defeat everyone on the roster within the calendar year or else face expulsion from the MVW for life. While Andrew did not have the success rate that Mr. Hyde had as he joined MVW, Andrew did manage to defeat 'Nature Boy' Nate Harris on December 23, dethroning the MVW Heavyweight champion who had held the belt since February 1981.

Andrew continued to wrestle until July 31, 2002, when he retired after his match against Buzzkill. After retiring from the ring, Andrew started to manage his son in the ring. That arrangement didn't last too long. Andrew left the MVW and began to drink heavily. Thresa filed a restraining order against him in October 2006. She filed for divorce in January 2007 and it was finalized in October of that year. Andrew continued to drink heavily until November 22, 2007 (Thanksgiving). He was heading to his father's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Driving drunk, he ran into a car three blocks away. The drivers of both cars were killed instantly in the crash. The driver of the other was his aunt Claudia, who was also making her way to Arnold's.