Kerry Von Erich vs Colonel DeBeers (lost footage of professional wrestling match; existence unconfirmed; 1988)

This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its disturbing subject matter.

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Kerry Von Erich, whose motorcycle accident contributed towards his right foot being amputated.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

On November 12th, 1988, a professional wrestling match was held between Kerry Von Erich against Colonel DeBeers at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada in an American Wrestling Association (AWA) taped show. In this match, something unprecedented happened: At some point in the match, Colonel Debeers pulled Von Erich's leg and exposed his amputated foot. This moment allegedly would have consequences years later with the suicide of Kerry Von Erich.

The Match

On the night of November 12th, 1988, there was a match between Kerry Von Erich against Colonel DeBeers. At some point in the match, DeBeers, in an attempt to get Kerry Von Erich out to attack him, grabbed the amputated foot with great force, causing Kerry's boot to come off, making a shocking reveal to everyone present. Kerry himself immediately put the boot back on but it is unknown if the match continued or what the outcome was.

Consequences

Colonel DeBeers. A controversial wrestler from the 1980s.

Following the match, the AWA itself and Kerry denied that the incident occurred. A magazine even reached out Kerry himself to request an interview to ask if he started using drugs because of the pain. This was only made worse by the incident, although this did not prevent him from going to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1990 and winning the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam in that year against Curt Henning. It also changed the development of his matches where he was always attacked from the waist up. It is not known very well if Vince McMahon himself knew of his disability, since he was only 2 years in the company and a year later he would repeat the tragic end of his brothers David, Mike, and Chris by committing suicide.

Availability

The existence of the match has been called into question. It has been theorized that it was performed on a house show. However, it has been said that it was recorded, but because it was on a show that would air days after the weekly AWA show, this match was decided not to broadcast as it was an embarrassing event and at the request of Kerry himself.

WWE currently owns the AWA video library since it purchased it in the mid-2000s, but it is unknown whether it owns the match tape. In case it is true, it is highly likely that it will never be released because of the impact it had on the life of the affected wrestler. It is also unknown if it was recorded by a fan from the seats and much less if photos have emerged about it.

Gallery

Interview with Larry Zbyszko, where he talks about the incident.

See Also

• Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
• Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
• Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
• Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
• Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
• Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
• Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)
• Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
• Droz vs. D'Lo Brown (partially found footage of unreleased WWF wrestling match; 1999)
• ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
• ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
• The ECW Fire Incident (lost footage of post-hardcore professional wrestling match brawl; 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
• FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
• The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
• GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
• Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
• GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
• Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
• Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
• Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
• The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
• Mitsuharu Misawa (partially lost death footage of professional wrestler; 2009)
• Owen Hart (lost death footage of professional wrestler; 1999)
• "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
• Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
• Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
• Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
• Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
• Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
• TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
• WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
• WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
• WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
• WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
• WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
• WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
• WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
• WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
• WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
• WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
• WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
• WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
• WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
• WWF No Mercy (lost Game Boy Color games based on Nintendo 64 wrestling game; 2000)
• WWF Shotgun (partially found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)
• WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)