El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,703
|
Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Apr 27, 2015 23:19:29 GMT -5
Condolences to family and friends.
Rest in peace, sir.
|
|
|
Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Apr 27, 2015 23:20:25 GMT -5
RIP. I really love watching old AWA matches, none of which of course could have been possible without Verne Gagne. Also, I still don't think WWE gives Verne and the AWA enough credit as a whole for all they did for the pro wrestling industry.
|
|
|
Post by Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃 on Apr 27, 2015 23:23:14 GMT -5
Verne was the first visible promoter who presented a style of professional wrestling that I became a fan of. He may have been stubborn, but he wanted to promote the sport and NOT the entertainment aspect of it like Vince did with the WWF/WWE. Rest in peace good sir, the industry has lost one of their greatest tonight.
|
|
|
Post by Chuckie Finster on Apr 27, 2015 23:47:34 GMT -5
Verne should get credit for syndicating wrestling to different cities in the 60's to boost local gates. The AWA didn't adapt to the changing times in the 80's, but it shouldn't take away from what he did in the 60'sand 70's. Not to mention the scores of legends he trained in his barn. Verne did things his way and left a permanent footprint in the history of pro wrestling.
|
|
|
Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Apr 28, 2015 0:10:35 GMT -5
Rest in Peace The last couple of decades where tough, more so the last couple of years with the accident and his granddaughter being convicted
|
|
|
Post by A Platypus Rave on Apr 28, 2015 0:58:13 GMT -5
Condolences to Family and friends of Mr. Gagne.
|
|
|
Post by Jimichiro Likes Erick Rowan on Apr 28, 2015 1:21:09 GMT -5
RIP Verne. Pro wrestling as we know it wouldn't be what it is without him and the AWA.
|
|
Eunös ✈
Dalek
Duck Feet Expert
Tolerated, just not practically liked.
Posts: 59,179
|
Post by Eunös ✈ on Apr 28, 2015 2:29:21 GMT -5
and to think I just watched the '06 Hall of Fame on the Network just the other night.
I'm not going to lie, I didn't know much about the bloke personally, However I'm aware he has made a big impact in the wrestling business so R.I.P
|
|
|
Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Apr 28, 2015 5:53:12 GMT -5
To me Verne will always be one of the most important figures in building modern wrestling and in turn the WWF, he helped train so many all time greats or gave them a chance to shine before Vince came knocking. Without the talent of the AWA, the Rock and Wrestling era couldn't have happened and the success that followed over a decade later wouldn't have happened either without AWA alumni like Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels. It's a shame that the AWA and Verne will be remembered in much the same Decca Records are, Decca said no to the Beatles, Verne said no to Hulk Hogan but that's how wrestling and pop culture is sometimes, you never can tell who is a flash in the pan and who could be a pop culture phenomenon.
RIP Verne.
|
|
|
Post by MC Blowfish on Apr 28, 2015 8:49:26 GMT -5
This is incredibly sad. I grew up watching AWA on Fox 17 and on ESPN after school.
|
|
Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,031
|
Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Apr 28, 2015 9:59:49 GMT -5
Say what you will about how things ended but, he helped kickstart a lot of legendary careers and was a very influential figure in wrestling history. R.I.P.
|
|
|
Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on Apr 28, 2015 12:13:51 GMT -5
I loved the AWA as a kid and saw it as a more sportsy alternative to the WWF. Verne was a master grappler and proved that you didn't have to be OTT to be charismatic. He trained and launched so many careers as the AWA owner that it is easy to forget that he was one of the first people in pro wrestling to try and break through to mainstream entertainment. We take WWE Studios efforts for granted,but it was Verne who predated Vince when he spspearheaded the 1970's film THE WRESTLER (which starred Ed Asner). While Verne would never live down passing Hulk Hogan over as AWA champion, let's not forget that Verne originally hired Hulk solely on the ROCKY III cameo (when Vince Sr. fired Hulk for taking the film role).
Verne's promotion introduced me to Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Larry Zbysko, Jerry Lawler, Paul Heyman, DDP, Vader, Yokozuna and others. The Hennig/Bockwinkel hour long draw and the Lawler/Kerry Von Erich match from Super Clash 3 are two of my all-time favorite wrestling matches. For the hours of fun and entertainment, I raise a toast to Verne Gagne.
|
|
FHgrad99
Vegeta
Never mind that s***, here comes Mongo!
Posts: 9,013
Member is Online
|
Post by FHgrad99 on Apr 28, 2015 13:14:56 GMT -5
Not many people in the wrestling industry can boast the legacy both as a wrestler and as a promoter that Verne Gagne can. The list of people who worked for him in the AWA reads as a who's who of wrestling stars.
|
|
willyjakes
Don Corleone
Dingleberry Don
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 1,646
|
Post by willyjakes on Apr 28, 2015 13:24:54 GMT -5
Hulk can finally stop worrying about somebody coming after his leg.
|
|
the2ndevil
Grimlock
Super Seducer Survivor
Where Is Your Santa, Now?
Posts: 13,628
|
Post by the2ndevil on Apr 28, 2015 18:01:53 GMT -5
This makes me wish WWE had some AWA stuff up on WWE Network.
They have WCW, WCCW,ECW, but no AWA.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 19:04:19 GMT -5
A lot of us in AWA Country fly our flags at half-mast in honor of the man that gave us big time wrestling every month in our arenas and All-Star Wrestling every week on TV. While Gorgeous George gets credit for being wrestling's first "sports entertainer" on television, Gagne brought a work ethic and legitimacy to the televised matches. His match with Bockwinkel in the cage from the old Amphitheater in Chicago will live with me forever...yeah, Bob Luce showed it practically every week, but it was still a heck of a match. Rest in peace, Mr. Gagne, you went Broadway in this life. Tell my family I miss them. Now challenge Lou Thesz and win that NWA title you deserved.
|
|
|
Post by Ganon83 on Apr 28, 2015 19:08:24 GMT -5
Verne really didn't have much of a choice when it came to Hogan
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Apr 28, 2015 19:11:21 GMT -5
Verne was definitely going to put the title on Hogan. He thought there was money in the chase and there were also some issues with Verne wanting a piece of Hogan's merchandise and Japan money. Verne was being penny wise and pound foolish. I don't mean to take away from his legacy and he and AWA deserve more credit for the rise of 'Hulkamania.' It did not begin in WWE as WWE would like you to believe.
|
|
|
Post by 2coldMack is even more baffled on Apr 28, 2015 19:27:22 GMT -5
Ric Flair, Gene and Ole Anderson, Ricky Steamboat, Curt Hennig, Dick The Bruiser, The Iron Sheik, Bob Backlund, Blackjack Mulligan, on top of giving starts to Big Van Vader, The Rockers, Scott Hall, Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch, the f***ing beginnings of Hulkamania! THAT is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Verne contributed to pro wrestling. That's not even counting his individual accolades. THAT is a freaking legend.
|
|
|
Post by Ganon83 on Apr 29, 2015 0:23:41 GMT -5
Verne was definitely going to put the title on Hogan. He thought there was money in the chase and there were also some issues with Verne wanting a piece of Hogan's merchandise and Japan money. Verne was being penny wise and pound foolish. I don't mean to take away from his legacy and he and AWA deserve more credit for the rise of 'Hulkamania.' It did not begin in WWE as WWE would like you to believe. The idea behind a champion in those days was that they had to be at most if not all shows. Hogan was more loyal to New Japan (Paying him more) and thus would of never done a full time schedule ala Bockwinkel or Verne himself would do, opting instead to focus on his Japan tours. Just look at what happened a few years later when Verne put the championship on Stan Hansen.
|
|