Christopher Adams (10 February 1955 – 7 October 2001), best known as "Gentleman" Chris Adams, was an English professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, trainer, and judoka. By age 21, he was a three-time British National Judo Champion in his age and weight classes. In professional wrestling, Adams gained his greatest success in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he became the promotion's World Heavyweight Champion and one of its biggest stars. He also performed for companies such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), where he held the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) Light Heavyweight Championship. All told, he held 26 titles over a 23-year career. Adams is known for training wrestlers such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), and for popularizing the superkick finishing move, which was later used by many other performers. Early life Adams was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the oldest son of Cyril and Jean Adams. Beginning at the age of nine, he was involved in judo, training in it exclusively for 14 years. He and his younger brother Neil went on to win national and world championships in judo, with Neil winning a silver medal at both the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics. Adams was a member of Britain's 1976 Summer Olympics judo squad, but never competed in the Olympics. He held a black belt in judo and was also an expert in other martial arts. In addition, he competed in rugby, cricket, football, and amateur wrestling; away from athletics, he also studied architecture. Professional wrestling career Early career and World of Sport (1978–1982) Adams first entered professional wrestling in 1978 with no true formal training, instead relying on his judo background. He worked for Joint Promotions and frequently wrestled on ITV's World of Sport show). Adams did have some championship success in England, winning the British Commonwealth tag team title with Marty Jones, and the British Light Heavyweight Championship from Mark "Rollerball" Rocco. Adams also competed alongside many British wrestling legends, including Big Daddy, Dave "Fit" Finlay, Dynamite Kid, and Davey Boy Smith. He also engaged in a feud with Adrian Street while competing in England. Adams also tagged on several occasions with fan favourite "Big Daddy" Shirley Crabtree, and often competed against Tony "Banger" Walsh, who eventually became his closest friend during his early days in wrestling. He moved to Los Angeles in 1981