Chris Colt

American wrestler

Chris Colt
Birth name	Charles Harris
Born	(1946-06-22)June 22, 1946 Idaho, United States
Died	May 28, 1995(1995-05-28) (aged 48)^[1] Seattle, Washington, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Chris Colt Chris Colt III Christopher Colt Chris Von Colt Chuck Dupree Chuck Harris Hell's Angel #2 Jim Dillinger Maurice Chevier The Magnificent Chevier Don Juan The Magnificent Mike Stallings Paul Dupree American Dream American Dream Machine Charles Harris
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	238 lb (108 kg)^[2]
Debut	1965
Retired	December 1987

Charles Harris (June 22, 1946 – May 28, 1995) was an American professional wrestler^[3] who worked for a variety of different wrestling promotions in the United States such as Big Time Wrestling (Detroit), NWA All-Star Wrestling, American Wrestling Association, and Pacific Northwest Wrestling. He also competed as Paul Dupree, Jim Dillinger, Chuck Dupree and Chris Von Colt.

Professional wrestling career

Made his professional wrestling debut in 1965 in Massachusetts.^[4] In 1966, he formed a tag team with Ron Dupree as the Hell's Angels a biker-themed brothers in Phoenix, Arizona. Sometimes they were known as the California Hell's Angels or Comancheros. They would win many tag team titles in Phoenix, and Detroit until breaking up in 1971.^[5]

In 1969, he formed a tag team with Jack Dillinger as the Chain Gang. Colt became Jim Dillinger. They won the WWA World Tag Team Championship in Indianapolis until 1970.

In 1974, Colt reunited with Ron Dupree as the Hells Angels in the Gulf Coast winning the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship twice. The team suddenly ended on October 17, 1975, when Ron Dupree died from a heart attack while ring announcing.^[6] Afterwards, Colt would focus more on his singles career and changed his gimmick to a rocker gimmick.^[7]

Colt won his first singles title the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship defeating Cowboy Bob Kelly in March 1975.

Superstar mainstay "Crazy" Chris Colt used Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" as his entrance music. This is one of the earliest instances of a promotion playing theme music for wrestlers.^[8]

Colt made his debut in Vancouver, Canada for NWA All-Star Wrestling in 1979 winning the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) twice with Bobby Jaggers and Buddy Rose. He worked in Vanocuver until 1982. Also in 1979, he made his debut in Portland, Oregon for Pacific Northwest where he became a big star.

Later in his career, he worked for Dave McKigney's Big Bear Promotions in Ontario, Alabama, and Oregon. Changed his character in Alabama as Chris Von Colt which was a neo-nazi gimmick. Colt's last known matches happened in December 1987 for Portland Wrestling.

Personal life

Colt was openly homosexual and worked in gay films after retiring from wrestling.^[9]^[10]

Death

After years of drug and alcohol addiction, Colt died on May 28, 1995, in a Seattle homeless shelter, allegedly due to complications from AIDS. He was 48 years old.^[11] Other sources have said he died on August 30, 1996 at 50.

Colt will be featured on Vice Media's Dark Side of the Ring season 5 in April 2024.^[12]

Championships and accomplishments

Arizona Athletic Association Inc.
- Arizona Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Ron Dupree (4)
Big Bear Promotions
- North American Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
NWA Detroit
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (5 times) – with Ron Dupree (3) Lanny Poffo (1) and Count Drummer (1)^[13]
NWA Mid-America
- NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tojo Yamamoto and Dennis Condrey (1)
NWA Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling^[14]
- NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 time) – with Buddy Rose (1) and Bobby Jaggers (1)^[15]
NWA Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bobby Duncum
World Wrestling Association
- WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Don Fargo (1 time)

References

^ "Chris Colt". ProFigthDB.
^ "Chris Colt". Cagematch.
^ "Chris Colt". Wrestlingdate.
^ "Chris Colt". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
^ McFarlin, Brad (May 11, 2021). "Mat Matters: When Chris Colt met Joe Cocker". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer.
^ "Ron Dupree". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
^ "Chris Colt".
^ Dave Dynasty (March 3, 2019). "Dave Dynasty Show EP124 (w/h Dave Drason & Abdullah the Butcher)". YouTube.com (Podcast). Dave Dynasty Show. Event occurs at 34:32.
^ Plombon, Jonathan (May 13, 2021). "Colt's gay films a purposeful dig". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer.
^ "The Story Of The Dupree Brothers, The Gay Pro Wrestling Icons No One Ever Knew Existed". Pro Wrestling Stories. October 31, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
^ Johnson, Steven; Oliver, Greg (June 15, 2007). The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heels. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1550227598.
^ "Dark Side Of The Ring Season 5: Which Wrestling Stories Are Coming Next". CINEMABLEND. January 24, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Detroit) history At wrestling-titles.com
^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Titles « NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
^ [N.W.A. Canadian Tag Team Title (Vancouver) |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/nwa/bc-can-t.html] At wrestling-titles.com