Verne Gagne obit

Wrestling legend Verne Gagne dies at age 89

 

He was not on the list.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Verne Gagne, one of professional wrestling’s most celebrated performers and promoters, has died. He was 89.

Gagne died Monday at his daughter’s home in the Twin Cities area, according to longtime friend Gene Okerlund, a pro wrestling announcer who was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame with Gagne in 2006. Gagne had Alzheimer’s disease.

“Verne was one of the pioneers,” said Okerlund, 72. “He put (pro wrestling) on the map in the early days when no one had seen it before.”

Gagne won several regional championships after turning pro in 1950 before heading to the newly formed American Wrestling Association, based in Minneapolis, in 1960, the WWE said.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Gagne became a promoter and eventually the sole owner of the AWA. He remained an active competitor until the early 1980s, holding the AWA World Heavyweight Championship title 10 times between 1960 and 1981.

The AWA “cranked out” a lot of stars, Okerlund said, including Hulk Hogan, Mad Dog Vachon and Nick Bockwinkel. It also was the breeding ground for future WWE stars, such as Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Pat Patterson, according to the WWE.

“He was a taskmaster without a question,” Okerlund said. “He demanded a lot out of people and he got a lot out of people.”

Gagne trained former pro wrestler Ric Flair in early 1971, and the first day was so intense that Flair said “I quit.”

“He came over to my house, walked to the front door, threw me into the front yard and told me ‘You’re not quitting on me. He said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ ... I went back out, lasted 2 days and I quit again. It was so hard,” Flair told The Associated Press, adding, “He made me who I am.”

Gagne was a three-sport high school athlete from Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and won multiple state championships in wrestling. He played football and wrestled at University of Minnesota, but left after a year to join the Marines at the end of World War II. When he returned to finish college, he collected four Big Ten wrestling championships, two NCAA wrestling championships and the 1949 AAU Wrestling Championship.

Gagne had been living with his daughter following a confrontation in the memory care unit of a Bloomington care center. Helmut Gutmann died in February 2009 of complications from a broken hip after he clashed with Gagne and was thrown to the floor. No charges were filed. Both men had dementia and could not recall what happened, officials said.

Gagne joined the National Football League (NFL) soon after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 16th round (145th pick) of the 1947 NFL draft.

In 2006's The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, Verne's son, Greg, said in an interview that Bears owner George Halas prevented his father from pursuing both football and wrestling, and forced him to make a choice. In the same interview, Greg mentioned that wrestling was a much better paying job at the time than playing football and as a result, Verne chose wrestling over football.

By 1949, Gagne had signed with the NFL's Green Bay Packers. He went on to play three preseason games with the Packers before being released.

An amateur and professional wrestling legend, Verne Gagne's career covers the entire period of wrestling from the "real" to "fake" to "entertainment" eras. Gagne won two NCAA wrestling championships while at the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the 1948 Olympic Wrestling team for the United States. He soon turned pro and became champion of the new American Wrestling Association (AWA). He was a nine-time heavyweight champion in the AWA, winning his first title in 1960, and retiring as champion in 1981. In between he also was a four-time AWA Tag-Team champion with various partners. One of the most beloved "scientific" i.e. "good guy" wrestlers in the AWA, Gagne had some legendary feuds with some of the greats in the sport including The Crusher, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (both of whom he later teamed with to win the tag-team belts), "Wicked" Nick Bockwinkel, Gene Kiniski, Mr. M, and Doctor X. Gagne was never flamboyent, but he didn't really need to be as he let his wrestling do the talking. After his career, he took over the promotion of the AWA, staying in that capacity until the league folded in 1990.

He is survived by his four children. His wife, Mary, died in 2002.

“He was afraid of nobody,” Flair said, “He was a pioneer.”