Frank Andersson

Frank Andersson
Frank Andersson at the Swedish Sports Awards inside the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in January 2014
Personal information
BornFrank Öivind Stefan Andersson
(1956-05-09)9 May 1956
Trollhättan, Sweden[1]
Died9 September 2018(2018-09-09) (aged 62)
Solna, Sweden
Professional wrestling career
Ring nameFrank Andersson
Billed height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight106 kg (234 lb; 16.7 st)
Trained byBrad Rheingans[1]
WCW Power Plant[1]
Debut3 May 1991[2]
Retired2014

Frank Öivind Stefan Andersson (9 May 1956 – 9 September 2018) was a Swedish wrestler and entertainer. He started in wrestling, winning several world championship gold medals as well as a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He later became a pro wrestler with mixed success. He was also a television personality appearing on several Swedish reality and game shows.

Wrestling career

Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games


Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles 90 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1977 Gothenburg 90 kg
Gold medal – first place 1979 San Diego 90 kg
Gold medal – first place 1982 Katowice 90 kg

Frank Andersson's wrestling career included gold medals at the 1973 and 1975 Junior World Championships and as he got older he wrestled at a number of Greco-Roman wrestling World Championships over the years.[3] In 1977, 1979 and 1982 he won the gold medal in the 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st) division.[3] He also took the silver medal in 1978 and 1981. The pinnacle of his amateur wrestling career came in 1984 at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where he won a bronze medal in the 90 kg weight division.[4] In addition to his in ring achievements, Andersson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1977.[5] He was inducted in the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006.[6]

Pro wrestling career

Beginnings

Andersson was trained for his pro wrestling career by Brad Rheingans, a former Olympian as well, and made his debut on 3 May 1991 for the American Wrestling Association, defeating Randy Thornton, who also debuted.[7] Within months, he went to Japan, wrestling for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[8]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1991)

The rookie made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling on September 10, 1991 at the New Japan Battle Autumn 1991 - Tag 1 event in Osaka. Teaming with Brad Rheingans, the duo defeated Black Cat & Michiyoshi Ohara. Andersson had his first singles match two days later when he defeated Koji Kanemoto at an event in Tokushima. On September 23rd, he teamed with Masa Saito to defeat Hiro Saito & Ron Simmons. Andersson was undefeated in tag-team and singles matches during the tour, and would return in December for the New Japan Battle Final event. It was during this second tour where Andersson would sustain his only loss of the 1990s, when Black Cat & Flying Scorpio (2 Cold Scorpio defeated him & Koji Kanemoto. His last match of the tour came on December 14, 1991, when he teamed with Shinya Hashimoto to defeat Brad Rheingans & Masanobu Kurisu.

World Wrestling Federation (1993)

On April 8, 1993, he worked one night only for the WWE when he defeated Red Tyler in Paris, France at a European Tour show.

World Championship Wrestling (1994 - 1995)

In 1994, he signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), based in Atlanta.[9] He made his debut March 8, 1994 at WCW's Battle Stars 1994 house show series, defeating Kole (the future Booker T) in an upset in Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz. Andersson would go on to defeat both members of Harlem Heat in subsequent matches on the tour, and concluded this run with a victory over Alex Wright on March 17th in Bayern, Germany.

In May 1994, Andersson traveled to the United States and defeated Ron Oakes on WCW Worldwide, making his television debut. He beat Oakes again on May 25th on WCW Saturday Night, and would go on to frequently appear on WCW television in 1994 and 1995. He secured wins over Tony Vincent (Tony Vendetta), Mark Starr, and Sgt Buddy Lee Parker, amongst others. On June 26, 1995 he defeated Chris Sawyer on WCW Pro, after which he retired from wrestling.

Comeback (2014)

Andersson returned to the ring for SWS (Svensk Wrestling Syd) at a show on August 30, 2014 at Malmö, Sweden. Teaming with Jim Duggan, the duo defeated Anderson and Steinbolt. On September 6, 2014 he traveled to STHLM Wrestling for their STHLM Return Of The King event in Stockholm. Wrestling in the main event, Andersson defeated Ken Malmsteen to win the STHLM Wrestling Title [10] [11] [12]

Media career

He was a participant on Let's Dance 2011, the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing / Dancing with the Stars, where he finished second.[13][14]

In his youth Andersson recorded the music single "Frank's Disco", the song contains music and Andersson being interviewed in the background.[15]

Andersson also appeared in the film Göta Kanal in 1981.[16] He participated as a celebrity contestant on Expedition Robinson V.I.P.[17] He also appeared on the seventh season of Mästarnas mästare; broadcast on SVT, he was the first to be eliminated.[18]

Personal life

Andersson was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 2010.[19]

Death

In late August 2018, Andersson was admitted to hospital with heart problems.[20] On 6 September, Andersson went through surgery. A few days later, he developed complications, and on 9 September 2018, he died at the age of 62.[20][21][22][23]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c "Frank Andersson". Cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Frank Andersson". WrestlingData.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b ""K*ken måste ju ha sitt" – och andra Frank Andersson-klassiker". Expressen (in Swedish). 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  4. ^ "All-Olympic results since 1896". International Olympic Committee. 28 July 1984. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Bragdmedaljörer genom tiderna "Feat medals of all time"". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 6 December 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Frank Andersson invald i Hall of Fame" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Frank Andersson". WrestlingData.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Frank Andersson". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. ^ Frank Andersson's contract signing with Eric Bischoff. WCW (Swedish). Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2018 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=4658&page=4
  11. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=111806
  12. ^ "Hon blev blåst av OS-stjärnan - Kvällsposten". Kvällsposten. 28 August 2010. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Frank Andersson: "Det känns som en seger" - Let's dance" (in Swedish). TV4. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Frank Andersson är död". Göteborgs-Posten. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  15. ^ Frank Andersson Ett herrans med Fredrik och Filip, Kanal 5. 13 April 2006.
  16. ^ "Göta Kanal eller Vem drog ur proppen? (1981)" (in Swedish). Svensk Filmdatabas. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  17. ^ "De är med i nya "Robinson VIP"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 10 July 2004. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Frank fick lämna "Mästarnas mästare": Han var för sjuk". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 3 May 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  19. ^ Prage, Ninna; Lundberg, Zandra (28 January 2011). "Frank har adhd". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. ^ a b "Frank Andersson är död - blev 62 år gammal". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  21. ^ Dahl, Amanda; Fransson, Martin (9 September 2018). "Frank Andersson har avlidit". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  22. ^ "Frank Andersson - Swedish professional wrestler, died on Sunday September 9th 2018 at age 62". Dead People. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  23. ^ "Frank Andersson är död". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Frank Andersson Ny Mästare i STHLM W!" (in Swedish). STHLM. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  25. ^ "Legendaren Frank Andersson på sjukhus – nu tvingas han till akut operation" (in Swedish). Sportbibeln. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  26. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Awards « Frank Andersson « Wrestlers Database". Cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  27. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated". pwi-online.com. Retrieved 9 September 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.