The Rise and Fall and Rise of the Minnesota Pro Wrestling Sceneby Ray Whebbe Jr.
Pulse of the Twin CitiesPART 2
Verne had it all and lost it. Why? ... didn't they know it's all a work? - Tom ZenkSome say Gagne could have kept Hogan around a few more years if he had paid him a mere $500 more for a 1983 Christmas card. Others say Vince McMahon Jr.'s desire to make what is now the WWF a world power could not be stopped. McMahon raided the talent coast to coast. Hogan was the first to defect. He brought with him a psycho who once beat on John Stossel's head for using the F-word (fake), and announcer and Hogan crony Gene Okerlund. Eventually, nearly the entire AWA roster headed to New York. Jesse Ventura, Jim Brunzell, Rick Martel, Tito Santana, Sgt. Slaughter, Bobby "The Brain" Eaton, and others hit the road. Eventually, even the elderly Mad Dog, Crusher and Baron joined the crew.
McMahon reportedly offered most promoters large sums to sell their territories to the WWF. Most relinquished. Stu Hart of Calgary's Stampede Promotions did not. He reportedly received nearly $1 million from McMahon to buy the Stampede Promotions. Canadian fans, however, were loyal to the Harts and at the time weren't willing to pay their hard earned change to an outsider. So apparently McMahon gave Hart the territory back and hired his sons Bret the Hit Man and the late Owen (who died in the WWF ring after a paratrooping maneuver failed) and his sons-in-law Davy Boy Smith, Jim Anvil Neidhart and Smith's 'cousin' Tom Billington who marveled fans as The Dynamite Kid.
And Gagne fought this. Sharkey who earlier trained WWF champions Bob Backlund, Jesse The Body Ventura, Ravishing Rick Rude, Nord the Barbarian and the Road Warriors among countless others, joined forces.
"The Road Warriors were the hottest tag team in history," recalled Sharkey. "They were my guys. I'll never forget I walked into the Market BBQ and met Scott Norton (world arm wrestling champion), Al Blake, Barry Darsow, Rick Rude, Mike (Road Warrior Hawk) Hegstrand, Joe (Road Warrior Animal) and a few other guys and I didn't see millions but billions."
While his students then made millions wrestling from Japan to Puerto Rico and from Florida to Canada, he chose to remain behind and run a wrestling camp and be a referee for the sinking AWA.
"Biggest mistake I made in my life," Sharkey admitted. "But how do I know? The Warriors were hot beyond anyone's dreams. I thought it'd be fun to referee their matches and knew they'd pack them in. I was a family man, ran a local wrestling school, and things seemed to be looking up. So when the WWF called and offered me a full-time referee position, I politely declined. I thought I'd be OK here."
"I had a five-year-old come up to me and say 'I know you. You're Tom Zenk. The guy in the Can-Am Connection who has to lose because his partner won't."
Tom Zenk, a former Mr. Minnesota who competed for the AWA, the WCW and the WWF has said over the years that the Gagnes basically couldn't see the writing on the wall. "They had it all and lost it. why? Because Verne was hard headed? Because son Greg never would turn heel and go against the fans? Who cares? Didn't they know it's a work? Everyone does. I had a five-year-old come up to me and say 'I know you. You're Tom Zenk. The guy in the Can-Am Connection who has to lose because his partner won't.' A five-year-old kid!! He knew. But the Gagnes? Maybe they didn't know."
Zenk and Rick Martel held the WWF tag team championship belts in the mid 80s. He left the WWF after a famed and storied "contract dispute" and is still a popular figure among tape traders and web nuts.
In 1985 Sharkey founded Pro Wrestling America. When the PWA began it was an 'outlaw' group: rebels, renegades and rogues. "The wrestling was bold, pushed the envelope and embodied the rebel spirit in all of us," said Karch. "And the characters that emerged were something else. We had Ricky Rice, Derrick Dukes, Johnny Love, the Sheik, The Baron, Andy Big Bear, the late Larry Cameron, and then there were the likes of King Tut, The Blooze Man or J.D., The Animal Trainer with his pet monkey Verne."
The PWA never became widely supported, but it was not for lack of trying. There was the WWTC's Wrestling Radio Show, the Annual Wrestle for Shelter bashes and Karch's Saturday Night Ringside (SNR).
SNR was part of a wrestling block on Channel 23. It aired for several years, garnished top ratings and offered local stars the opportunity to showcase their talents. But then the station dropped wrestling for religious programming.
Most of the 90s belonged to the PWA. Monthly shows brought fans from everywhere to see the action. Some were shown at Ropers. Among the regulars at Ropers were the Batson brothers of the Mighty Mofos, Matt Potts, Bad Street Donnie and his Loose Railers and media people like Dark Star and Patrick Reusse.
Said former Pioneer Press writer Kristian Pope, "The PWA was extreme before ECW was born. (ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling is an ultra-violent group seen on Pay per View on which local star Jerry Lynn is often seen.) Guys gave great career performances. I'll never forget the feuds between Ricky Rice, Jerry Lynn and the Lightening Kid."
Ropers no longer exists. SNR has been put to rest and two of PWA's strongmen have passed away - Ravishing Rick Rude and Lethal Larry Cameron. Over 100 wrestlers live in the immediate area and another 35 or so in Wisconsin. There are regular cards at the Main Event bar, and weekly events in other locations promoted by The Sheik. The West St. Paul Armory has regular wrestling cards. The Bloomington Armory might host events soon, and the First Avenue cards are always a blast. It's a fragmented scene in spite of the large number of wrestlers living here now.
The place to be is the WWF these days. McMahon is a billionaire and every wrestler has had the chance to become a millionaire. Many of them are.
And don't forget: One WWF alumnus may even become President. The script just hasn't been written yet.