The wrestling world lost one of its Mount Rushmore faces this week as Verne Gagne passed away at the age of 89 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s.
One of the sport’s original stars on television, Gagne channeled his amateur wrestling background into unprecedented pro rank success. A two-time NCAA wrestling champion and 10-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion, he was what Jim Ross recently described as “Brock Lesnar before he became the Beast Incarnate.” As the owner of the American Wrestling Association, a contender to the NWA and WWF, Gagne promoted an authentic, collegiate style that emphasized competitors with legitimate backgrounds such as Larry “The Axe” Henning, his son Mr. Perfect Curt Henning, “Mad Dog” Vachon, and Baron von Raschke.
He also shaped the business by training many of its biggest stars: Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Iron Sheik, Ken Patera, the Andersons, Blackjack Mulligan, just to name a few. Plus, Gagne gave big breaks to most of the Rock N Wrestling Connection—Jimmy Snuka, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Sherri Martel, Sgt. Slaughter, and of course, Hulk Hogan.
For this week’s #ThrowBackThursday, we honor Verne Gagne’s legacy with this classic matchup against his favorite (and toughest) opponent, Billy Robinson.
John Corrigan
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