Keith Franke (
September 12 1954 –
July 4 1988 ) was an
American professional wrestler, better known by his
ring name,
"Adorable" Adrian Adonis.
Career
Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name. In the late 1970s, Franke adopted the ring name
Adrian Adonis and the character of a brawling,
leather jacket-clad
biker.
American Wrestling Association
In the late 1970s, Adonis joined the
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based
American Wrestling Association. In 1979, he formed a
tag team with
Jesse Ventura. The team was known as the
East-West Connection on the basis that Adonis was from
New York (in the
East), while Ventura was billed as being from
California (in the
West). Adonis and Ventura were awarded the
AWA World Tag Team Championship on
July 20 1980, when
Verne Gagne, one half of the tag champions with
Mad Dog Vachon, was unable to defend the title because he was vacationing in Europe. Adonis and Ventura held the belts until
June 14,
1981, when they were defeated by
Greg Gagne and
Jim Brunzell.
