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Bios

Gino Hernandez

Nickname: The Handsome Halfbreed; Gorgeous

Height: 6' 3"

Weight: 240 lbs.

From: Highland Park, TX

Birthday: Aug 14th

Pro Debut: 1975

Aliases: Mr. X

Feds Worked For: MSW, SoCW, TSW, WCCW, NWA, WWWF, All Japan Pro Wrestling (Japan), Big Time Wrestling (MI), Championship Wrestling USA (OR), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (Mexico), Georgia Championship Wrestling (GA), Gulf Athletic Club (TX), M & M Promotions (NM/TX), NWA Big Time Wrestling (TX), St. Louis Wrestling Club (MO)

Career Highlights: -NWA American Champion (3x)
-NWA American Tag Team Champion (6x; 3 w/ El Gran Markus, 2 w/ Chris Adams, 1 w/ Gary Young)
-NWA (Detroit) United States Champion
-NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion
-NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
-NWA Texas Champion (6x)
-NWA Texas Tag Team Champion (3x; 1 each w/ Jimmy Snuka, Bruiser Brody, and Pak Song)
-SoCW Southwest Tag Team Champion (5x; all w/ Tully Blanchard)
-SoCW Tag Team Champion (2x; both w/ Tully Blanchard)
-WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Champion (w/ Chris Adams & Jake Roberts)

Affiliates: Jose Lothario, Tully Blanchard, Gary Hart, Chris Adams, Nickla Roberts, El Gran Markus, Gary Young, Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, Bruiser Brody, Pak Song, Gypsy Joe

Notable Feuds: Jose Lothario, Chris Adams, The Fabulous Freebirds, Tiger Conway, Jr.

Other Facts: -Real name was Charles Eugene Wolfe, Jr.
-Stepson of pro wrestler Luis Hernandez (AKA El Medico). Hernandez passed away when Gino was 12 years old.
-Former stepson of Jimmy Snuka. He was also Snuka's step-nephew because Gino's maternal grandfather was married to Snuka's mother.
-Step-nephew of pro wrestler Tito Carreon
-Rumored to be an illegitimate son of pro wrestling promoter Paul Boesch. This was untrue. Gino's mother said she was 17 when she had Gino and didn't know Paul Boesch.
-His real father, Charles Eugene Wolfe, Sr., was a security guard at pro wrestling events that Gino wrestled on but had no idea he was his son until Gino died and a story about his death was in the newspaper and listed Gino's real name.
-Trained for pro wrestling by Jose Lothario
-His in-ring nickname was "The Handsome Half-Breed", a reference to his Italian/Mexican-American ring name.
-Sometimes billed from Houston, TX
-Is credited with introducing rolling suitcases to the world of pro wrestling
-Lost a Hair vs. Hair Match to Jose Lothario on 11/10/1978. He returned as the masked Mr. X
-Teamed with Chris Adams and lost a Tag Team Hair vs. Hair Match to Kerry Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich on 10/6/1985. Adams & Hernandez continued to wrestle while wearing masks
-Credited with creating the barber persona that Brutus Beefcake would popularize in the WWF.
-Was personally recruited by Tully Blanchard to come to the NWA and become a member of the Four Horsemen. Blanchard was Hernandez's original partner in the Dynamic Duo. It is unclear exactly why Hernandez did not take Blanchard up on this idea.
-When Hernandez did not show up for 2 consecutive house shows, World Class officials David Manning and Rick Hazzard and several local law enforcement officers entered his Highland Park, TX apartment and found Hernandez dead. Initially Hernandez's death was ruled a homicide case, but following autopsy reports, his death was ruled as a result of an overdose of cocaine. However, many (even today) still believe Gino was murdered. According to Manning, he said that Hernandez had three times the amount of cocaine in his system that would have resulted in a fatality. Manning also suspected foul play due to the fact that Hernandez's dead bolt on his door was not locked, as he made it a habit in the past to lock the dead bolt at all times. Scotland Yard in fact contacted and questioned Chris Adams, who had returned to England three days before hearing the news of Gino's death. Adams, who was never considered a suspect, was never charged in the case, as the FBI and Scotland Yard later ruled him out as a potential suspect.
-Hernandez seemed destined for greatness but his cocaine addiction and lifestyle caught up with him. It was also rumored that he owed Mafia connected people some money from gambling debts at the time of his death.
-Passed away on January 30, 1986 at the age of 29 from an apparent suicide from overdosing on cocaine
-Buried at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston, TX
-On the DVD "The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling", Gary Hart said that he has pictures of all of the wrestlers he managed except for Hernandez, because it made him too upset to see a picture of Gino.
-Hernandez's death and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it, was the subject of an episode of VICE's "Dark Side of the Ring" in 2019. The episode was entitled "The Mysterious Death of Gorgeous Gino" and was narrated by Dutch Mantell. In the show, a former drug trafficker that knew Gino, said that Gino did in fact die of an overdose and was not murdered. The person remained anonymous with his identity concealed.