Posted on 04/28/2015 5:05:03 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
In this from 1998, Vern Gagne is shown in his Edina home with his championship belt, circa 1960. Gagne, who died Monday, April 27, 2015, fostered the business of entertainment wrestling in Minnesota through his American Wrestling Association. (File photo) Minnesota pro wrestling legend Verne Gagne has died, the WWE announced Monday night. He was 89. Gagne, of Robbinsdale, was a University of Minnesota wrestler and competed in the 1948 Olympics before turning to pro wrestling in 1950. He joined the America Wrestling Association in 1960 and eventually became sole owner of the Minneapolis-based association. "Sad to hear my longtime friend Verne Gagne has passed today," "Mean" Gene Okerlund, the pro wrestling announcer who worked for Gagne for 13 years in the Twin Cities, said in a Twitter post. "To me their was never anybody quite like him." Gagne was a successful promoter and talent recruiter, drawing sell-out crowds to the St. Paul Civic Center during the AWA's biggest years in the 1970s and early '80s.
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Ah, those were the days, he was one of my favorites, along with The Bruiser and The Crusher.
R.I.P Vern
And then there was the “Crusher”......I’ll never forget him toting his beer barrel and unique voice.
Joining pal Wally Karbo threatening fines and suspensions in the sky. RIP.
LOL.
At least Jesse Ventura won’t be there.
There was a retired pro wrestler living out in Prior Lake.
I’ve lost track of who he was...
RIP
Legendary wrestler Verne Gagne and a tragic tale
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2009/02/legendary-wrestler-verne-gagne-and-tragic-tale
He’s had a slow and sad death.
Did he outlive his archrival, Hans Schmidt?
Aw man.
I grew up in Minnesota in the 60s/70s.
We had four black-and-white channels. All the kids on the block knew all the players on the Twins and these TV guys:
Casey Jones (Roger Awsumb)
Roundhouse Rodney (Lynn Dwyer)
Clancy the Cop (John Gallos)
The Crusher
Verne Gagne
Very class guy; we never used to miss Saturday morning wrestling; saw Gagne fight ‘Mad Dog’ and ‘Butcher’ Vachon, Haystack Calhoun, Dr. X, The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser, Red Bastien and Billy Red Lyons, ‘Pepper’ Gomez and so many others...good times.
Ah, yes. All-Star Wrestling, brought to you by Vern Gagne’s Gera-Speed.
Sorry to hear Vern has passed. RIP to a good man and an asset to the Twin Cities
Just hearing the name brings back a lot of memories of guys like:
-”Mean Gene” Okerlund and Roger Kent, the stalwart announcers/interviewers
-Da Crusher
-”The High Flyers” - Greg Gagne and Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell
-Kenny “Sodbuster” Jay
-George “Scrap Iron” Gedasky
-Jerry Blackwell from Stone Mountain, Georgia
-Tito Santana (the only man to ever body slam the 468 lb Jerry Blackwell)
-Nick Bockwinkel
-Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Ray “The Crippler” Stevens and Pat Patterson
-Lord Alfred Hayes (of Windemere, England) and his proteges, the “Super Destroyers” Mark II and III
-Larry “The Axe” Hennig
-Ken Patera and Mr. Saito (who cast salt “to the four winds” before each match)
-”Big Bad” Bobby Duncum
-Stan “The Lariat” Hansen
-Kamala the Ugandan Giant
-Rufus R. Railroad Freight Train Jones
-Chief Wahoo McDaniel
-Sheik Adnaan al-Khaesi
-Baron von Raschke
-Buck “Rock n Roll” Zumhofe
-Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka
...and that’s just off the top of my head; the list goes on. Memories of Saturday and Sunday TV viewing in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
RIP.
Oh, and you knew the match was a big deal when they brought in “Special Referee” Lord James Blears. :-)
And how could I have omitted Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, and the hated Colonel DeBeers of the South African Army, or Jacques Goulet of the French Foreign Legion?
Vern made having only four TV channels a lot more bearable, now that I think about it.
That would be the “very capable” Kenny “Sodbuster” Jay, who, to my knowledge, never won a match.
ping
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