D. J. Peterson

For the Canadian politician and former Premier of Ontario, see David Peterson. For the baseball player, see D. J. Peterson (baseball).

David W. Peterson (July 17, 1959 – May 25, 1993), better known by his ring name D. J. Peterson was an American professional wrestler.

D. J. Peterson
Birth name	David W. Peterson
Born	(1959-07-17)July 17, 1959 St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Died	May 25, 1993(1993-05-25) (aged 33) Bethany, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of death	Motorcycle accident
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	D. J. Peterson Dave Peterson
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Billed weight	264 lb (120 kg)
Trained by	Mike George
Debut	1984
Retired	1991

He is best known for competing in various North American regional promotions during the 1980s, including the Universal Wrestling Federation, the National Wrestling Alliance, and most notably the American Wrestling Association during its final days. While there, he and The Trooper became the final holders of the AWA Tag Team Championship.^[1]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1984–1987)

Making his debut in 1984, Peterson started wrestling in Texas All-Star Wrestling and in the NWA Central States. During the mid-1980s, Peterson briefly appeared in Fritz von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling defeating Jack Victory on February 7 and Prairie States Wrestling against Ox Baker on July 23 before wrestling in the Mid-South area and, by early 1986, for Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation facing wrestlers such as Gustavo Mendoza^[2][3] and, in tag team matches, teamed with Brett Sawyer against Mike Scott and Rick Steiner,^[4] the Blade Runners^[5] and the Fabulous Freebirds (Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy & Buddy Roberts) in their UWF debut.^[6] He also wrestled Bart Sawyer several times, losing to him on May 3 and teamed with Chavo Guerrero against Sawyer and Rick Steiner in the following weeks.

Later that year, he teamed with Todd Champion feuding with the Thunderfoots and faced Big Bubba Rogers and The Warlord and The MOD Squad during October while in Jim Crockett Promotions as well as wrestling Arn Anderson in St. Louis, Missouri on November 16, 1986.

American Wrestling Association (1987)

Jumping to the American Wrestling Association in 1987, Peterson fought Super Ninja to a time limit draw at SuperClash II on May 2, 1987.^[7] He would also form a team with J. T. Southern, attempting to gain the AWA World Tag Team titles, but ended up coming short.

Other Federations (1987–1990)

He then split his time wrestling in several territories during the next two years appearing on the debut television show of Continental Championship Wrestling and had a brief stint in the World Wrestling Federation,^[8] primarily being used as a jobber. In 1989, he would head up to Calgary for Stampede Wrestling until its closure on December 18.

Return to AWA (1990–1991)

Peterson returned to the AWA full-time in early 1990 teaming with Brad Rheingans against the Texas Hangmen at SuperClash IV on April 8, 1990 and later to pursue then AWA World Champion Mr. Saito. When Larry Zbyszko regained the title, Peterson was granted title shots although he failed to unseat the World Champion. Shortly thereafter, he formed a tag team with The Trooper which captured the AWA World Tag Team Titles from The Destruction Crew on August 11, 1990. Defending the titles during the rest of the year, Peterson and Trooper would turn out to be the last AWA World Tag Team Champions. In January 1991, Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications withdrew recognition of the AWA's World Championship status^[9] but continued to recognize Trooper and Peterson as incumbent "AWA Tag Team Champions" until the promotion finally closed later that year.

Later career (1991–1993)

After the AWA closed in early 1991, Peterson went back to the independents until he died from a motorcycle crash on May 25, 1993.^[10]

Championships and accomplishments

• American Wrestling Association
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Trooper^[11]
• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ^[12]
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Todd Champion^[13]
• Texas All-Star Wrestling
  • TASW Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Paul Diamond & Shawn Michaels^[14]
• World Class Championship Wrestling
  • WCCW Television Championship (1 time)^[15][16]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him # 205 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1991^[17]

See also

• List of premature professional wrestling deaths