14. Adrian Adonis – Age 33
A sunset can be a beautiful thing but on July 4, 1998, it led to the death of Keith Franke (aka Adrian Adonis). This leather-clad tough-guy enjoyed success throughout the territories leading to a reign with the AWA World Tag Team Championship alongside Jesse “The Body” Ventura in the “East-West Connection” and a WWF Tag Team Champion reign with Dick Murdoch as “The North-South Connection.” Adonis’ character underwent a radical transformation when he became “Adorable” Adrian Adonis, an effeminate wrestler who wrestled “Rowdy” Roddy Piper at Piper’s retirement match at WrestleMania III. After being dismissed from the WWF, Adonis was working the Canadian indie scene in Newfoundland when a deadly car crash ended everything on July 4, 1988. Adonis was traveling in a rented mini-van with fellow wrestlers Mike Kelly, Pat Kelly, and Dave Migney. Mike Kelly was driving the vehicle when a moose stepped into the road. The mini-van struck the moose and while such accidents are rarely fatal, the sun was setting and the sunlight blinded Kelly, leading to him crashing the van into a nearby creek. Adonis, Pat Kelly, and Migney were killed while Mike Kelly survived with a serious leg injury.
