Biggest heel, in my opinion, in WCCW in 1984-1985. Even bigger than the Freebirds at times. This was because most of the women in the building wanted to sleep with him, pissing off the rednecks who brought their wifes and girlfriends, and because he turned Chris Adams heel to form the Dynamic Duo. Before we even knew what a smark was, those of us who thought we knew better, championed Chris Adams even over the beloved Von Erichs. Gino took our babyface and made him bad.
I always remember Gino getting huge heat from outside of the ring, guys throwing beers and sodas in his face and him coming back for more. He wrestled Kerry Von Erich one night at the Sportatorium, and 80% of their match was outside the ring, in the crowd and right in front of a 9 year old Bogart. My stepdad somehow got pictures of someone throwing a coke directly in Gino's face, and got another picture of Kerry running right into a boot from Gino to the face.
The tag team of Hernandez and Adams was just as over as the Freebirds and Von Erichs, and the Hair vs Hair match at the Cotton Bowl against Kerry and Kevin was a classic. And not only does Gino and Chris lose, losing their hair, Gino lets himself get tackled by 5 foot nothing Chris Von Erich as he is trying to get away. The whole stadium went crazy.
His turn on Adams was the best thing for young Bogart because I got my favorite wrestler back, and would have been a great feud, but Hernandez died shortly after it started. I remember being shocked when I heard he had died and was fixated on the fact that he was only 28 years old.