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Curt
Hennig Passes
02-10-03
I grew
up in the Bay Area, watching every minute of wrestling that
was on TV.
If you
were smart, you could catch at least one hour every day, and
five every weekend. For years, every weekday at noon, the
AWA would appear on ESPN, and at that time, there was none
better in that league than Curt Hennig, who passed away on
the 10th of February at the age of 44.
Curt was
a second-generation wrestler, son of Larry 'the Axe' Hennig.
He had the business in his blood from birth, as I can remember
buying a tape of matches from the 1960s and seeing Curt, maybe
all of 8, watching from the front row, jumpin' up and down
and booing the guy who was beating up his dad. He was raised
in Robinsdale, MN, where he went to school with future wrestlers
Rick Rude, Tom Zenk, and Brady Boone.
Curt trained
under the legendary Verne Gagne, and then got an offer to
wrestle as a jobber for the WWF in early 1981. He left to
join up with Don Owen's Portland wrestling, and had the chance
to work against Buddy Rose, Dynamite Kid and even Roddy Piper.
After
his Portland stint, he joined up with Gagne's AWA, and there
began to quickly climb the ladder as an athletic young star
in a federation of aging legends. Not too long after joining
up, Curt and Scott Hall beat Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and Mr.
Electricity Steve Regal for the AWA tag belts. Not too long
after losing the belts, Curt entered into a feud with AWA
Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkle, a legend and a second-generation
wrestler himself.
The two
had an amazing 60-minute draw at the TV tapings at the Showboat
Hotel/Casino, one which made Hennig a huge star. I remember
seeing it on ESPN, I was home sick that day, and thinking
that this was the greatest match ever.
The next
day, they showed an interview with the two of them where they
broke down their strategies, something that made the event
seem so real and important. Hennig beat Bockwinkle for the
AWA title in San Francisco at the SuperClash II event. He
held the belt for more than a year, before dropping it to
Jerry "The King" Lawler in Memphis.
Curt entered
the WWF for his most famous run in 1988. During an interview
with Vince McMahon, Curt was asked what kind of high school
athlete he had been. Hennig replied "Perfect", and
the gimmick of Mr. Perfect was born. For the next 3 years,
Curt was a major star, winning the Intercontinental belt and
holding it for nearly a year, having some great matches with
Tito Santana, Kerry Von Erich, Bret Hart, and even Hulk Hogan.
After
a serious back injury that would stick with him for the rest
of his career, he moved over to managing, acting as Executive
Consultant to Ric Flair during his first WWF run, and getting
a place as an announcer on Prime Time Wrestling, the precursor
to RAW. He eventually turned on Flair to return to the ring
at Survivor Series 1992, and the feud with Flair was on.
In January,
on one of the earliest RAWs, Hennig defeated Flair in a Loser
Leaves the WWF match, still, one of my 10 favorite Raw matches
of all time. After feuds with Lex Luger and Shawn Michaels,
Hennig left the ring again, only to return as an announcer
and later, as manager to HHH.
Hennig
ended up in the WCW, where he had some memorable moments,
but mostly just sat in the mid-card, though he did have a
stint as the replacement Arn Anderson in the Four Horsemen.
He left in 2000, taking independent dates where he could find
them.
In 2002,
He made a brief return to the WWF, entering the Royal Rumble
and making it to the top four, something he had done once
before in his Mr. Perfect days. He stuck around, but the classic
Hennig athleticism was gone. He eventually got fired for his
actions on the plane ride to Hell, where he got into a fight
with Brock Lesnar. He had appeared on NWA-TNA, and had done
a great many indy dates since.
Hennig
died in Tampa, where he was about to have a booking. There
has already been serious speculation as to the cause, but
he is better remembered for his life than the circumstances
of his death.
I can
remember the one occasion I had to meet Mr. Perfect. It was
before Survivor Series 1993 in Boston. I found him at a restaurant
around the corner from my place and bought him a drink. We
talked for the better part of an hour and he told great stories
of the old days, how Hogan once told him to "bulk up,
and drop all that high impact stuff" and that he always
liked wrestling in Memphis, because you could work the old
style and still get recognized by the fans.
He was
supposed to be a part of the rebuilding of Portland wrestling,
joining Roddy Piper in helping to get the fledgling federation
off the ground.
During
a WCW Webchat, Curt was asked what the worst part about wrestling
was. His response: "Watching your friends die young."
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