The fans in Chicago’s Soldier Field don’t know it at the time, but the man they are watching will go on to become one of sports-entertainment’s greatest icons. Relatively small, but as mean and nasty as a pitbull, the gravel voiced terror from Montreal defeats Gagne for the AWA Title in Minneapolis and becomes the organization’s dominant champion over the next three years. In the years to come, Dick the Bruiser becomes one of the AWA’s most recognizable faces.Ī former amateur wrestling associate of Verne’s by the name of Maurice Vachon resurfaces in the AWA as the vicious Mad Dog. A former Green Bay Packer, the cigar chomping Bruiser is a dirty fighter, but the agile Gagne manages to outwit his foe to hang onto the title. The AWA’s first big holiday show in Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium is main evented by a two-out-of-three-falls showdown between Gagne and Dick the Bruiser. When he fails to do so - as expected - Verne Gagne is awarded the championship. The legendary grappler from New Zealand is then given 90 days to defend the AWA Title. Throwing down the gauntlet to the NWA, the newly formed AWA recognizes NWA Champion Pat O’Connor as their first official champion. The slight leads Gagne and promoter Wally Karbo to form their own organization - the American Wrestling Association - in order to give Verne the recognition he deserves. Still, Gagne never receives an official championship match despite his victory. The National Wrestling Alliance had already redacted Carpentier’s title victory over Lou Thesz due to disqualification. Minnesota wrestling hero and former Chicago Bear Verne Gagne defeats NWA Champion Edouard Carpentier in Omaha, but there’s a problem. Here, WWE Classics recounts the rise and fall of a professional wrestling organization that was, in a word, sensational. It’s obvious now which side won, but the AWA’s fascinating history is still a story that deserves to be told. McMahon for sports-entertainment supremacy. The American Wrestling Association’s glorious years in the ’60s and ’70s gave way to struggle in the 1980s as Verne Gagne battled it out with Mr. The most successful wrestling company in the United States at the height of its popularity, the AWA filled massive stadiums like Chicago’s Soldier Field with fans clamoring to see old school greats like Nick Bockwinkel and Billy Robinson battling for the coveted AWA Title. Established by WWE Hall of Famer Verne Gagne and promoter Wally Karbo in 1960, the Minnesota-based promotion brought unforgettable competitors like Baron von Raschke, The Crusher and “Mad Dog” Vachon to flickering RCAs in frozen suburbs from Fargo to old Milwaukee. The American Wrestling Association was a uniquely Midwestern institution.
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