WingedEagle Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Reports are out that Verne Gagne passed away this evening. Arguably one of the oldest living legends in the business, I'm looking forward to reading extensive recaps of his career and influence. Meltzer should be on top of his game here as with this taking place on a Monday night he's got about as long a window as possible to put together the obit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 R.I.P. Also looking forward for the career retrospective people will do about him. One of the people I kinda feel I should know more about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I think you can arguably call him the greatest trainer in the history of wrestling. He's responsible for more of the best wrestlers of the modern era than anyone else, even if he couldn't book to the times and pay his best guys. But man alive, that class in 1972 alone makes him an all time great. Rest in peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 RIP Verne was an amazing wrestler when he was young. This match with Thesz from the Chicago Archives is awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I think it is high time to start watching some 50s wrestling. Rest in peace, Verne. Prayers go out to his family and friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsault Marvin Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Verne also looked good in the match against Red Bastien from the Chicago Archives. Rest in peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 True legend of the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 It's safe to say without Verne and his influence / steering of talent, a lot of our favorite wrestling memories wouldn't exist. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Had to know this was coming soon but it's still a shock. RIP Verne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I was going to watch a lot of his stuff on YouTube for the GWE project and now I'm going to bump that up in the rotation. An all time great who is unfairly maligned at times for business mistakes he made in the waning days of his wrestling career. It's easy to look at that and see failure and forget about the fact that he had an international territory, a territory that was massive in geographic scope which by most accounts was a place wrestlers liked to work relative to many other places, and was a relevant player in pro wrestling for forty years which is an astoundingly long run if you really think about it. I'm not sure he was a better trainer than Diablo Velasco in terms of training top level stars, but that is the only person I'd rate above him in that regard. My dad's favorite wrestlers were the Funks and Ricky Romero, but Verne was the favorite of both my grandfather and great grandfather. In fact my Morfar worked with Verne at times on civic projects, and things related to amateur sports in the Twin Cities area. He was a Minnesota sports legend because of his stardom during the golden age of wrestling, at his peak not far off from Bronko Nagurski, which is amazing if you have ever been to Minnesota (particularly the smaller towns of the state). As late as 83 in the build to Super Sunday you could see how beloved he was by the people of the Twin Cities, as the attack on him by Blackwell and Adnan at the 3/13 St. Paul Civic Center show touched off a near riot in the building. I have criticized him before for things like trying to expand into Alaska when Vince had really turned up the heat in his home base, but at the end of the day he was desperate to stay in a business that he loved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 A couple years back, the History Museum here in Minnesota had a great exhibit called "Minnesota's Greatest Generation." It was basically anything and everything to do w/ how the WWII generation came together to not only win the war, but also keep the Minnesota economy going during the war. The multi-floor exhibit was filled with anything and everything you could imagine from that era. Fighter jet simulations, military artifacts, displays and items from Minnesota businesses, agricultural items, the role of women during the war, etc. etc. As I was wandering around the exhibit, I saw some huge gold hunk of something tucked in a display case off in the corner. I made my way over and it was Verne Gagne's original AWA world heavyweight championship belt. It only had a little note card describing what it was -- no fancy exhibit or video screen to accompany it like many other items had. But even so, it was really cool to see that piece of Minnesota history tucked away in a corner. The fact that it was included in the exhibit among so many other important items detailing the sacrifices of Minnesotans both fighting the war and remaining home tells you a lot about the fond memories people had of Verne in his home state. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Verne is fresh on my mind for Norton painting him in a poor light on Cabana's podcast last week. That's sort of the last taste in my mouth, you know. I'm looking forward to the bio, however, and wish we had dozens more of those old matches. I think my favorite was the Don Leo Jonathan one just for the size difference and the way that Verne went at the challenge of the larger opponent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 RIP to Verne. Without him creating the wrestling I grew up watching I doubt I would have attached myself to wrestling as a whole as firmly as I did. I'm sad that he's passed but given his struggles with Altzheimers, I'm relieved he is at rest now. Thanks for the memories, Verne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 RIP to Verne Gagne. I grew up as an AWA fan and have many fond memories of Verne and the AWA. Sad to hear of this,but glad to see his struggles of Alzheimers is over for him and his family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 A true legend. I hope the Network will do something special for him and his memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Here's a great column on Verne from longtime Twin Cities sports columnists Patrick Reusse. http://www.startribune.com/sports/301579061.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 It's kind of striking that the WWE tribute to Verne is buried in the midst of about twelve Tough Enough entry videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
...TG Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 I don't know if it's the one Matt D was talking about, but WWE aired a couple-minute Verne tribute on King of the Ring tonight, and even threw it back to the announcers and let Lawler bring up his 1988 AWA title win. It was very well-done, hopefully they show it on Smackdown and/or Raw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVsMatt Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Being from MN, this has hit me a bit harder than I expected. I grew up watching wrestling with my dad, who also grew up watching wrestling with his parents. They had stopped airing re-runs of it on local TV and Dad didn't have any of it on tape, but I heard so many stories about all the AWA guys, and none of that would have been possible without Verne. It's kind of funny, I was talking to my grandma back at Easter about wrestling (in the context of her complaining about its current state), and she specifically brought up Verne as the exemplar of what she wished modern wrestling would incorporate more of. He'll certainly be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Mark Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 How many guys did Verne train ? I recalled Buddy Rose says that Verne did charge for the training upfront , he would take 10 % of the wrestlers first year pay for the training fee . That was a great deal for the trainees. Of the top of my head Verne trained Ric Flair , Ricky Steamboat , Ken Patera , Iron Sheik , and Buddy Rose. That alone is quite a legacy . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Sarge, Brunzell, Greg, Doug Somers, Rheingans, Chris Taylor are sole others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 How many guys did Verne train ? I recalled Buddy Rose says that Verne did charge for the training upfront , he would take 10 % of the wrestlers first year pay for the training fee . That was a great deal for the trainees. Of the top of my head Verne trained Ric Flair , Ricky Steamboat , Ken Patera , Iron Sheik , and Buddy Rose. That alone is quite a legacy . It might of been Steamboat or Flair I can't remember, that mentioned Verne wanted 10% for their first five years in the business no matter the territory they went. I think they said only Brunzell complied. Verne certainly will be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strand Peanut Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Saddened to read this. Both my folks are from MN and have memories of Verne fighting forever forward, thru the static of their early TV sets. A legend who will be missed, but never forgotten. RIP Verne Gagne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsfan73 Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 My earliest memories of wrestling are in the early 80s watching the AWA. By this time, Verne had retired for the first time, but would still be featured during promos as the promoter. The AWA was the only wrestling I knew for the first 5 years or so of my fandom, so Verne was the man. In 1999, I was able to meet him at the first Thesz/Tragos HOF induction in conjunction with a CAC banquet. I've met lots of wrestlers since, but Verne was the only one who seemed larger than life to me, because of the esteem he was held in on those early AWA TV shows. When I was in junior high, some of us were going to see an AWA show in southern Minnesota (I lived in northern Iowa, about 10 minutes from the border). Our history teacher said, "Oh, like Verne Gagne?" This was in the late 80s, but his name was still remembered. Seeing his decline at the first few Thesz/Tragos inductions was sad, especially after his wife passed away. I'm glad his suffering is over. RIP to the first legend I knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 So this happened... http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/Bob_Backlund_Reportedly_Interrupts_Eulogy_at_Verne_Gagne_s_Funeral_with_a_Heel_Promo.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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