William Kevin Vaughan was an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Lance Von Erich.
Career
Wrestling as "Ricky Vaughan"
Vaughan started wresting in the
NWA's Pacific Northwest territory as
Ricky Vaughan in
1984. He was one of the top babyface wrestlers there and feuded with
Bobby Jaggers.
Wrestling as "Lance Von Erich"
In October 1985, when
Mike Von Erich was unable to wrestle due to
toxic shock syndrome, Vaughan went to
World Class Championship Wrestling to take his place in the feud against the
Fabulous Freebirds. He adopted the name
Lance Von Erich and was billed as the son of
Fritz Von Erich's "brother"
Waldo. In reality, neither Vaughan nor Waldo were related to the
Adkisson family. On the DVD "
The Triumphs and Tragedies of World Class Championship Wrestling,"
Kevin Von Erich said that he, as well as most of the family, was adamantly against bringing Vaughan in as another Von Erich, but Fritz was adamant, especially as Kevin and Kerry were wrestling two or three times a day in various places throughout the Texas territory. Also on the DVD, according to
Gary Hart, he would be walking into the arena and be stopped by various people asking what the thought of Kevin Vaughan and Hart admitted he had no clue who that was. Hart said that some of these fans said that he was being called Lance Von Erich and that they didn't like the Von Erichs anymore because it was always believed that they only told the truth, but with Lance, it was clear that they were telling a lie.
Michael Hayes referred to this as one of the worst moves ever made by Fritz.
Teaming with Dingo Warior and departure from WCCW
Vaughan quit teaming with the Adkissons by late
1986 and took on
Dingo Warrior as his partner; the pair briefly held the WCCW tag team championship. When for more money in
1987 were not met by Fritz, Vaughan jumped to WCCW's territorial rival
Wild West Wrestling without giving notice, and in a rare breach of
kayfabe, Vaughan's non-relationship to the family was exposed by Fritz on television in retaliation, saying that Vaughan was "
in no way, shape or form related to the Von Erich family" and Fritz said he never planned on mentioning Vaughan's name again.
Wrestling as "Fabulous Lance"
Because the Von Erich surname was a registered
trademark, Vaughan wrestled under the ring name
Fabulous Lance after leaving World Class.
Vaughan subsequently wrestled in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council, then relocated to South Africa and finally to Cancun, Mexico.
Championships and accomplishments
- *NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- *NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Jack Haynes
- *WCCW Television Championship (1 time)
- *WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Kerry and Kevin Von Erich (1) and Kevin & Mike Von Erich (1)
- *WCWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dingo Warrior
See also