Verne Gagne vs George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski with The Iron Sheik as referee

[MrCoolbat]

OMG this is my releative so ha ha and ha

[yardlet6]

@MrCoolbat Which one?

[MrCoolbat]

@yardlet6  verne gagne

[VolumedMusicMan]

I'd wish the sheik committed Danny Davis antics turn on Verne, put "scrap iron" over and get a shot at the belt. I could see it now, "Verne gagne I wanna let y kneu..,"

[ItchyGoomie]

Now I see why Ric Flair is still wrestling

[MrJimmy1208]

Funny how Vernes son Gregg has a much bigger package !

[NJPlayer79]

Wow a thunderous ovation for Gagne and Crapiron.

[TheBronzeSkull]

Now that's something you never see in a pro wrestling match nowadays and very seldom even then- a wrestling match. Not just that but real (collegiate) wrestling moves, not just the fake pro moves. It was choreagraphed of course but still involved wrestling, something sad to say most current fans have never seen and have no interest in.

[MrManfly]

ah, flabby, balding, middle aged men....that's what wrestlers used to look like in the 70's. :-p

[TheBronzeSkull]

@MrManfly Yes and that middle-aged man would pin Hogan or Flair or Cena in a matter of seconds in a real wrestling match.

[MrManfly]

@TheBronzeSkull lol....probably, though Flair had hour long matches in the 70's and 80's before all the glam...i think he could have given Gagne a run for his money! i wonder if they really did have a match or three back in the day?

[TheBronzeSkull]

@MrManfly They probably did. Of course Flair was just starting in 1975 while Gagne was at the end of his career. I don't know why I said Flair. Hogan and Cena are notorious for their horrible in-ring skills while Flair is respected for his. I just like that in those days you still had some pretense of actual wrestling though there were also brawls worthy of Austin. I like a good brawl but I'd prefer some variety. With each decade, it has less to do with wrestling.

[DotDotkins]

@TheBronzeSkull How quickly we forget that it was Verne Gagne who trained Ric Flair.

[yardlet6]

@DotDotkins And Sgt. Slaughter,Steamboat,Buddy Rose and the Iron Sheik.

[MrManfly]

@TheBronzeSkull  yup, so much so that the WWE wants to apparently drop the word "wrestling" entirely from it's company!!

[TheBronzeSkull]

@MrManfly Yes I heard the Rock in a real interview say that once. I really think they should drop the word "wrestling". Maybe substitute the word "brawling" or something. I think that's the thing that's held it up is they aren't sure what else to call it.

[MrManfly]

@TheBronzeSkull it's not "wrestling" anymore, at least in the WWE, it's "entertainment"

[muta157]

In a million years, I would have never guessed that was the Iron Shiek if I wasn't told ahead of time.

[htrrz]

They never let Scrape Iron win a match week after week he lost, they even gave him a loser trophy, they could have let the poor guy win one? I watched AWA from the mid 1960's into the 70's, it was the same show week after week. But people loved it where I lived, and many believed it was real?

[frelvis77]

I think this is the only match I've ever seen where the referee was bigger than the wrestlers. Shieky numbver 1!

[cbass222]

I dont think verne was ever known as a great "worker" but he was legit and put fannies in the seats in his day. For promoters thats what its all about.

[DotDotkins]

@cbass222 A lot of the wrestlers who got into the ring with Verne would disagree with that. Verne wasn't just known in the business as being just a great worker but he was also known as a shooter, someone who could take care of himself in the ring if his opponent wanted to fight him for real. The problem is that most of the footage of Verne wrestling is from the 70s or 80s when he was passed his prime, it's his matches from the 50s that are worth watching.

[cbass222]

@DotDotkins Right after i wrote this I saw a match featuring verne vs Wilbur Snyder from early on that was very good so point taken.if you want to see it i have it in my favorites.

[SYDNEYFC7]

@cbass222 he was a great worker.

[MrBiggio07]

It's awesome seeing "Shieky Baby" as the referee.

[elc1960]

Vasiri was not the only AWA wrestler who worked as a ref early in their career. Blackjack Mulligan and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers also refereed in AWA when they were breaking in. I'm not sure where Vasiri got the idea for his "Iron Sheik" gimmick. When he first came to WWWF in 1979, he went by the name "The Great Hossein Arab" (or as WWWF "All Star Wrestling" ring announcer JOOOOOOOEEE McHugh used to say, "HO-SEEN AY-RAB").

[pigurine]

I remember watching this with my Dad on Saturday nights

I would say to him Dad its fake and he would say yeah yeah.

Oh how I wish I could watch it with him again.

I did however watch it with some friends after we smoked a couple of numbers ,

His mom came down to investigate because we were laughing so hard

[bauble24]

It always makes me laugh when someone like Greg Gagne refers to Verne as "the Hulk Hogan of his day". However Hulk still gets a loud pop today at 56 than Verne did at 50 here. The fans didn't seem to give a rat's ass...

[Germany1111]

@bauble24 That's because there are like 20 people, they're in a TV studio. Besides, his "day" was the mid-50s to the very early 70s.

[JonathanVonErich]

George Gadaski was the guy who wrestled Ric Flair in Flair's very first match....It was a 10 minutes draw.

[JonathanVonErich]

Thanks for the vid Dot...always fun to watch Vern wrestle....

[ec2man]

Nice technical bout between two older wrestlers. Gagne's wrestling is measured and enjoyable.

[tinkerthecat]

the crowd is dead silent

[JimRimes]

Good stuff, love AWA and Verne Gagne.

[irelandguy]

God. Wrestling back then was TERRIBLE and SLOW. I know it sounds disrespectful, but who the hell could sit through this fake shit?

[DotDotkins]

Back then they didn't admit it was fake. We all believed it was a legitimate sporting event or we all wanted to believe and it was good enough for us, the arenas were always full.

[highnrising]

@DotDotkins There was a willing suspension of disbelief by the audience.

And it certainly helped that you didn't have the Internet then to spoil it by providing too much information and letting you play it back in stop motion.

[TheBronzeSkull]

@irelandguy Nowadays wrestling has gotten to be such big business that every move has to be a spectacular one with no wrestling left. I like the brawling too but, as Triple H has said, he'd like to do this kind of wrestling that involves some actual wrestling skill but he feels the fans today have been conditioned to have such a short attention span that it has to go from big move to big move, no finesse left. The word should be removed. It should be called pro brawling, not wrestling.

[pashook]

Nobody was a better ringside commentator then Rodger Kent. My top favorites were:

1) He is so big big, he can go Bear hunting with a switch

2) He was hit so hard, he does not know if he is foot or horseback

3) Oh my, he just gave him the four armed smash

[muscleslam]

Despite comments / pionts made by fellow Y.T. members & in some ways accepted,none the less i did feel that this match was worth viewing.What held my attention was two veteran / mature wrestlers showing they could still lock up with the action & the splendid camera work with clear focus added pleasure to the viewing.Thanks for posting,it's Appreciated.

[nosnik37]

I think the ending wasn't too well-rehearsed: George had to wait with his legs in the air for Verne to pin him!!

[OaktownABQ]

That drop kick at 5:05 missed by a MILE...LOL

[tinkerthecat]

the awa did fine then it wasnt until the advent of sports entertainment in the mid 80s spearheaded by the wwf that things fell apart times were changing and gagne refused to move with the times which eventually lead to an influx of talent going elsewhere and the demise of the awa.

[ccie12933]

Verne's wrestling his truck driver and has one of his students acting as the ref.

Who's selling the popcorn? His wife?

[elc1960]

@ccie12933 LOL - funny stuff. Actually, it was Verne's daughter Donna. She quit the job when she married Larry Zbyszko and became part time ring announcer.

[Planktontwo]

Scrapheap looks pretty old in this match too.

[elc1960]

@Planktontwo George was born an old man, just like Da Crusher. Crusher was born chomipng on a cigar and drinking beer as soon as he came out of the womb..

[CadillacL]

WOW, just to see Iron Sheek as a ref is history.

[Planktontwo]

What a boring match. Amazing that DotDotkins picked out the referee, because unless you dont see the name, you might not catch that it is indeed him.

[DotDotkins]

I didn't notice it myself until play by play guy Roger Kent mentioned the refs name Khosrow Vaziri at 0:42

[Lovelygal71]

@CadillacL  yeah, especially with hair, huh? *chucle*

[Tubescreamer62]

Ol' Scrap Iron was Verne Gagne's righthand man. He'd get his ass kicked in one match and referee the next. He was also the guy that tore down the ring at the end of the night and loaded it on the truck. I never saw him win, but he always put on a great battle.

[SteveC619]

@Tubescreamer62 If you've ever read Bobby Heenan's first book, he tells a funny story about Verne and Wally Karbo walking around George's farm after George's funeral and Verne recognizing the wood as being from the rings. It seemed George was hustling Verne for new wood for the ring all the time. When Verne said something to Wally, Wally replied "Oh no boss, George couldn't have done that, George is dead." such funny stuff.

[ccie12933]

I dare anyone to watch the last 15 seconds of that match and not giggle at least a little bit.

I'm sure there's a great name for that dive Gagne performs there.... "The Humbler", perhaps? :)

[eltubster14]

Man this is great stuff! Verne Gagne and the Iron Sheik in their primes! Thanks for posting this!

[ronvonhesse]

aughyeah.. hard on action aughhhhh

[cmccraigle]

verne gagne

[BruceWalters]

Gadaski was usually in against the heel stars. He always gave the stars a decent fight, unlike today's star vs. jobber matches, which are a waste of time.

[highnrising]

What an ending

Gagne COMPLETELY MISSES the finishing dropkick and Gadanski PINS HIMSELF by pulling putting his shoulders down and rolling himself into a ball.!

I guess you hadda be there.

[DotDotkins]

Gadaski just doing the job he was paid to do.

[bettydaw1970]

this is so cool on so many levels..

[killerdugong]

Iron Shiek numba von!

[tubewrestler]

you're right

[marcus1961]

Oh my GOD that is the iron sheik as the ref

[RayNDeere]

Iron Sheik with hair. Amazing

[SargeantFunshine]

Thanks for posting this, I've wanted to see Gadaski in wrestling action!~

[A10thunderbolt]

Amen. Part of the reason the AWA was the best territorial promotion ever had a lot to do with guys like George and "Sodbuster" Kenny Jay.

[thebigandgreat1]

All I have to say is this is a WRESTLING match! Key word "WRESTLING" and thats what Verne Gagne did....was wrestle! Scrap Iron was a good match up for Verne. He was a mainstay AWA enhancement talent he also was the guy who had Ric Flair's first match in the old Minneapolis Auditorium.

[Lfdjake91]

Even at this late stage of his career Verne Gagne could still move around the ring & had some really slick scientific moves. Anyone know what years this match was? It's gotta be about 1976 or so?

[ballbaggreg]

Amazing video.....used to watch AWA All Star Wrestling on Channel 26 in Chicago. Can't watch 2 seconds of wrestling now.

[SteveC619]

@ballbaggreg So did I it was my first exposure to wrestling. I have been refereeing for 21 years now. Sheik and I actually go way back. We met and became friends back when he would work for Windy City. Still the same person he is now.

[bigdenverguy]

This is a great video. I remember watching Gadaski win a match at an AWA event in the Twin Cities - and I don't recall him ever winning a match afterwards.

The Iron Sheik was a fun wrestler, but in the AWA, he didn't win many matches. I recall that when Hogan left the AWA for the WWF and beat The Iron Sheik for the championship, it raised eyebrows...because the Iron Sheik almost never won a match in the AWA. And here he was, WWF champion? Interesting that his hostory goes way back.  Thx

[traquib515]

sheik was a better ref than mike enos but not by a whole lot. he really looks like he wants to be wrestling instead of moving around awkwardly flailing.

[tonypanz]

everybody know iron sheik is aau champwin, ww whaddya call e champwin and he was one of the best vinnesota eh referee! tank yoo sir to you post classic video!