Pro wrestler Curt Hennig of Champlin, Minn., found dead in Florida hotel

Minneapolis Red Star ^ | February 11, 2003 | Associated Press

[Froggie]

When I was in college, a bunch of us went to the Cowtown Coliseum to see wrestling....we had ring-side seats and were making real asses out of ourselves (and weren't even tanked up!) - Anyway, we hooted and hollered for all the "bad-guy" wrestlers --- When we were supporting Toru Tanaka quite vociferously the Ft. Worth police came and politely suggested "for your own protection" that we leave NOW and be escourted from the arena! Seemed that no self-respecting Texan cottoned to our yelling for Tanaka!
We took their advise!

[ArneFufkin]

Yeah, Pillman OD'd in a ratty motel in Bloomington, MN. He and local smart ass/fun guy Tom Zenk were tag partners and very good friends. Man, Pillman was talented - he was an LB for the Bengals before rasslin I believe.

[Froggie]

Wow, ArneFufkin you are correct !!

Now, name the two "loser" or designated chumps both named Kenny who wrestled on that circuit! They always introduced one of them as "The very capable Kenny ----" but he never was capable of winning!

[ArneFufkin]

That's "The very capable" Kenny Jay (also known as Sodbuster) and Kenny Yates. You must be an old AWA fan, Froggie. I actually saw a Kenny Yates-Nacho Guerrera match one time, which is definitely the ultimate battle of stiffs.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

They have NEVER had wrestling skills on TV wrestling period

I beg to differ.

If you haven't seen some of the more recent talent on WWE's Smackdown show (thursday nights, UPN), then you're missing out on some real honest-to-goodness wrestling.

Guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Brock Lesnar actually come from amateur wrestling backgrounds. Angle won the Gold in the 96 olympics, and Lesnar and Benjamin are both former National winners.

Since they've split the shows into two different divisions, there's beena huge difference in the quality. Their Monday Night RAW is more gimmicks and drama, while Smackdown is dedicated to actual wrestling ability. Check it out some time, you may be impressed.

[Froggie]

Grew up watching all those matches on TV.....now the most scientific wrastler? Here's a give away clue: He had "the sleeper hold."
They had a pay-per view special on direct TV about pro wrestling and showed clips from all those matches...it was great nostalgia...

[ArneFufkin]

Had to be Verne Gagne then.

My buddies and I were at the Edina, MN TGIF a couple of years ago and Verne came rollin in and bellied up to the bar with us. He told some great old stories, many of which centered on Mad Dog Vachon. A group of rasslers would be on a chartered turboprop up to Minot or Fargo or something, and they'd feel the cabin door opening at 6000 feet and the Dog would be "whizzing" out the door or throwing something out of the plane ... stuff like that.

[GOPyouth]

You're a true old school NWA fan if you remember the Mulkey brothers getting beat every weekend on tv. The Road Warriors would come in and beat them in about 20 seconds. heh heh ;) Mulkey-Mania.

[Froggie]

Mad Dog was GREAT....but I never did know who Dr. X really was, was he ever unmasked?
I'll bet those guy had mor fun/drunk times than I can imagine as they travelled the circuit.

[ArneFufkin]

Rick Flair is legendary in that regard. The guys in the local associations always felt releif when Flair left their territories after a several week contract because their livers were ossifying.

[Dr.Deth]

one of the latest pretty boys, HHH

Ah yes, Triple HGH. Who would have suspected him "enhancing" his performance? I'm sure everyone can just naturally peel their quad off the bone by flexing it.

[AppyPappy]

I thought he was a corner or receiver. He had pretty much flaked out before his death. I think he also had suffered from throat cancer although getting anything "real" from him was pretty tough.

[ArneFufkin]

He had throat cancer as a kid, and he had like 35 operations or so during his childhood.

I should retract my "OD" remarks, however - I don't know that the final autopsy was conclusive. I do know, however, that steroids may be LESS of an issue with these guys dying early than is their abuse of prescription pain killers. The old Brett Favre Vicodin abyss - it's real out there. Many Pro wrestlers ... like NFL players ... are in constant physical pain. Especially the new generation who are taking those ridiculous bumps. No thanks.

[AppyPappy]

He admitted to taking pain killers.

[ambrose]

Ric Flair still looks good because I don't think he ever roided.

[Austin Willard Wright]

I am old enough to remember "Pretty Boy" Larry Henning in his prime. He was one of the best villains: vain (he often flexed his mussles to the camera), cowardly (he would often get on his knees and beg his opponent for mercy), and deceptive (when his opponent showed any mercy he would move in for the kill). He changed his nickname to "axe" (and became a good guy in the early 1970s, I suspect as a response to an emerging "gay" stereotype.

During his pretty boy days, a group from our junior high saw him in the audience at a soccer match where his son was playing. All of the kids from our school shouted at Pretty Boy and called him names. He stared at us angrily and shook his fist. He made our day!

[ArneFufkin]

AWW, that old school group that Curt's dad was part of were guys who used ring psychology and awesome interviewing and role playing skills to sell their heel/babyface personnas. They didn't throw each other through stacks of tables or hit each other over the heads night after night with real metal folding chairs. They were mat wrestlers, they worked 15-20 minute matches and they built feuds slowly and took them to different territories to keep the work fresh. These guys today are killing each other. Having a Testarossa you are physically incapable of climbing into is no great reward IMO.

[ArneFufkin]

Dr. X

[Froggie]

Damn - good find Arne - I didn't even know there was a pro wrestling hall of fame!