Lance Von Erich

William Kevin Vaughan is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Lance Von Erich.

Career

Wrestling as "Ricky Vaughan"

Vaughan started wrestling 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, Gary Hart states he was approached by several wrestling fans who told him they knew Kevin Vaughan was not a legitimate Von Erich family member. He also added that it made the von Erichs look like liars to their fans, who normally saw them as good guys who could do no wrong. Michael Hayes referred to this as one of the worst moves ever made by Fritz.

On October 28, 1985, Vaughan wrestled Ric Flair in Fort Worth, Texas, in the last NWA World title match in the World Class territory. The match ended in a no contest; World Class withdrew from the NWA in February 1986. In October 1986, he wrestled a tour for New Japan Pro Wrestling, most notably his disqualification victory against Kengo Kimura on October 9.

Teaming with Dingo Warrior and departure from WCCW

Vaughan quit teaming with the Adkissons by late 1986 and took on Dingo Warrior (James Hellwig, The Ultimate Warrior) as his partner; the pair briefly held the WCCW tag team championship. When demands 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. Fritz stated if Vaughan ever entered the territory again he would cattle prod him.

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. He subsequently wrestled in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council after Wild West Wrestling folded.

Final years

In May 1993, after a hiatus, Vaughan returned and was back wrestling as Lance Von Erich for promotions such as International Wrestling Federation in Florida and International World Class Championship Wrestling in New York. In December 1993, he wrestled a tour of India. In 1994, he wrestled a tour of South Africa for England's All-Star Wrestling. In 1996, he wrestled a tour of Malaysia for the National Wrestling Alliance, before retiring.

Championships and accomplishments

• Pacific Northwest Wrestling

• NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Jack Haynes

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him #311 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991
• PWI ranked him #317 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

• World Class Wrestling Association

• WCWA 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

• "PWI 500 1991". The Turnbuckle Post. Retrieved 2012-08-28. 
• "PWI 500 of the PWI Years". Willy Wrestlefest. Retrieved 2012-08-28.