Nick Bockwinkel vs Verne Gagne part 1 (1979)

[VolumedMusicMan]

Abdullah the butcher was on the same card ( its on YouTube !) and was responsible for the blood in the ring.

[FRSDailyTimes]

Hall of Fame Matchup here in the AWA

[styx4ever1963]

Did Nick Bockwinkel ever wrestle Harley Race or Dick Slater

[metfordgeorge]

Verne Gagne is GREAT. What a guy.

[pimppotatoe]

man that ring sounds like the ring i trained in it gosh it feel like concrete everytime i hit the mat. even though the whole ring was made of wood

[no1countryfan]

awww when wrestling was still Wrestling.

[kimv020887]

@no1countryfan ROH is WRESTLING nowadays.

[JonathanVonErich]

Perhaps the greatest Rivalry in AWA history, Verne against Bockwinkel. Awesome.

[eslubin]

Look at that funky ring at the Amphitheater. I bet it dates back to Strangler Lewis days. They call it the "trachoma special"

[ZenPimps]

@eslubin OMG...I thought confetti was thrown into the ring!!! Fucking gross!!!! LOL

[jv0822]

This is from the International Ampitheatre on the west side of Chicago. It has long since been torn down but was a classic building to watch AWA wrestling in the

glory years of the 1970's. Also housed the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame that was founded by promoter Bob Luce.

[RJBFIRECHIEF1]

@jv0822 Yes, and The Stockyard Inn too. The referee is Mike Figoroa!

[dagreatcapri82]

Back when wrestlers worked and looked like wrestlers. Im an 8o's kid too but I learned to appreciate the old style more than the new, gimmicky, spotty style we know today. After watching this, I really have a hard time watching a match of green lightweights doing flips back to back in a barbed wire and light tube ring setting. These new guys have to realize to make wrestling look real you have to use psychology (both ring and crowd) and logic with moves (build with structure to moves). IMO.

[styx4ever1963]

I would have loved to seen Verne Gagne wrestle Terry Funk!

[Lfdjake91]

Great old school wrestling action.

I love that move that Verne did at 4:24 I have never seen that hold before.

[styx4ever1963]

I would have loved to see Gagne&Bockwinkel against Flair&Race

[DotDotkins]

Verne Gagne was the one wrestling legend I wish would of written a book about his career. Imagine all the great stories he could of told us, sadly because of his Alzheimer's that won't be possible now.

[eslubin]

@DotDotkins Verne is a true old-timer. He never would have spilled all the tricks of the trade

[no1countryfan]

@eslubin I wonder how much he taught his son Greg.

[eslubin]

@no1countryfan Me? I would say he taught greg 40% of what he knew. and greg turned out to be a good hand

[fairfield7000]

Actually the location of this match was in Chicago, not Minneapolis, because I was there! I took a close-up picture of Bobby Heenan in the aftermath of this bout as he was walking back to the locker room.

[DotDotkins]

I'm just using the location and date that is listed on the DVD case, I can't confirm either is correct, however they may have used this same ending in other cities throughout the AWA.

[littlenipper8u]

I probable was there to, I went to many matches in the 70's with my dad, they wrestled many great matches together. This is the Amphitheater, at 4:19 the refs shirt has the Illinois Athletic Comm. Symbol. This was a great place for wraslin, the crowds were great.

[WrestlingHeretic]

It's gotta be Chicago. Look at that blood-stained mat.

[RayNDeere]

@fairfield7000 It is Chicago. The ref is wearing an Illinois State Athletic Commision patch on his shirt

[RJBFIRECHIEF1]

@fairfield7000 Do you remember the shooting in the crowd?

[McRat1968]

You haven't said anything I had already pointed out before.

So, thanks for apparently agreeing.

[akiyoooooo]

二人ともナチュラルな凄い身体ですね

[McRat1968]

Gagne was such a technician in the ring.

It's a shame that wrestling is scripted and that Gagne had AWA President Stanley Blackburn in his hip pocket, therefore getting the title handed to him on a silver platter many times.

PS: All that pales in comparison now, knowing that Gagne has murdered a fellow resident in his senior home, throwing a 97-year-old guy out of his wheelchair.

PPS: I wonder what the law will do in this case, given the circumstances.

[oldschoolbrad]

love the classics