Frank Öivind Stefan Andersson (9 May 1956 – 9 September 2018) was a Swedish amateur wrestler and entertainer. He started in

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

, winning several world championship gold medals as well as a bronze medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. He later became a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

with mixed success. He was also a television personality appearing on several Swedish reality and game shows.

Amateur wrestling career

Frank Andersson's

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 Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

World Championships over the years. In 1977, 1979 and 1982 he won the gold medal in the division. He also took the silver medal in 1978 and 1981. The pinnacle of his amateur wrestling career came in 1984 at the

in Los Angeles where he won a bronze medal in the 90 kg weight division. In addition to his in ring achievements, Andersson was awarded the

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal ( sv, Svenska Dagbladets guldmedalj, but usually simply called ''Bragdguldet'', "The Feat Gold") is an annual award "for the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury le ...

in 1977. He was inducted in the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional wrestling career

Andersson was trained for his professional career by Brad Rheingans, a former Olympian as well, and made his debut on 3 May 1991 for the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

, defeating

Randy Thornton Randall Thornton (born December 23, 1964) is an American former football player and professional wrestler. He is also known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Swoll. Football career Thornton attended the Universit ...

, who also debuted. Within months, he went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, wrestling for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW) teaming with Rheingans. On April 8, 1993, he worked one night only for the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

when he defeated Red Tyler in Paris, France at a European Tour show. In 1994, he signed with

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW), based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Andersson would win upset victories over

Booker T. Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944) ...

, Stevie Ray and Alex Wright. He retired in 1995. Andersson made his comeback in 2014 for STHLM, a promotion based in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. Teaming with Jim Duggan in a tag match. He won the STHLM title on 6 September when he defeated Ken Malmsteen in the main event.

Media career

He was a participant on ''

Let's Dance 2011 Let's Dance 2011 is the sixth season of the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing, and was broadcast on the Swedish television channel TV4 starting on 7 January 2011. Couples Scoring chart : indicate the lowest score for each week. : ind ...

'', the Swedish version of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' / ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', where he finished second. In his youth Andersson recorded the music single "Frank's Disco", the song contains music and Andersson being interviewed in the background. Andersson also appeared in the film ''Göta Kanal'' in 1981. He participated as a celebrity contestant on '' Expedition Robinson V.I.P.'' He also appeared on the seventh season of ''

Mästarnas mästare (idiomatic translation "''Champion of Champions''") is a Swedish reality competition show which each season feature a number of former athletic stars who all became "masters" of their individual sports. In the show the athletes competes against e ...

''; broadcast on SVT, he was the first to be eliminated.

Personal life

Andersson was diagnosed with

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

in 2010.

Death

In late August 2018, Andersson was admitted to hospital with heart problems. 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.

Championships and accomplishments

*STHLM Wrestling **STHLM Wrestling Championship (1 time) *'' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **''PWI'' ranked him #115 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Frank 1956 births 2018 deaths Swedish male sport wrestlers Swedish male professional wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers for Sweden Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden World Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from Trollhättan People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 20th-century Swedish people Swedish disabled sportspeople