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JR's Blog: RIP Nick Bockwinkel..2007 WWE Hall of Famer..An All Time Great Passes Away at Age 80

JR's Blog: RIP Nick Bockwinkel..2007 WWE Hall of Famer..An All Time Great Passes Away at Age 80

Posted: Nov 17th 2015 By: Jim Ross - JRsBarBQ.com

It is another sad day to awaken but thank God that I did unlike my my friend Nick Bockwinkel who passed away Sunday at the age of 80. Nick had been ill for a few years now and is condition was getting progressively worse for the all time great who was living in Las Vegas.

Nick's father Warren Bockwinkel was a top pro wrestler and legend has it that Nick was trained by his Dad and Lou Thesz and that Nick had his first official pro match versus Thesz when Nick was only 16 years of age. Nice way to break in, huh, with a family friend, essentially a God Father who also just happened to be the best in the world in his profession.

Nick and his often times manager and close friend Bobby Heenan were an amazing duo. Any wannabe wrestler who doesn't study the crowd psychology of these two artisans really don't want to become great pros but only want talk a good game. For any one to think that what men like Bockwinkel and Heenan did is now obsolete is being absurdly foolish.

Bobby also called, with tongue in cheek, the articulate, meticulously dressed, classy Bockwinkel, "Jim Barnett on steroids." First of all Nick was not a steroid guy but a legit athlete and had been one his entire life including playing college football for my Sooners in the 50's for the legendary coach Bud Wilkinson who was building a Sooner dynasty that included 47 straight wins during the mid 1950's. After Nick injured his knee and had to withdraw from school and when he found himself healthy he turned to the family business and become a pro wrestler of which he had a 30+ year largely main event career and even when he retired in his early 50's he was still better than the vast majority of his younger peers.

Nick was a wrestling heel who would cheat to gain unfair advantages when his fan favorite opponent finally started out wrestling the native Californian who is known primarily for his amazing run in Verne Gagne's AWA based out of Minneapolis. It's even more confounding to think that the AWA fans have lost both Verne and Nick this year plus losing such stars as Dusty Rhodes and Roddy Piper.

I've said this before but now it's even more on my mind, when I get questions here on the site at the Q&A's or on Twitter @JRsBBQ asking me what wrestler's DVD'S they should watch to help them learn the craft. Let me make this clear, there's no one that I can think of that I would recommend higher for wannabe wrestlers to study than the matches of Nick Bockwinkel as a single heel or a tag team partner with the likes of Ray Stevens. Bockwinkel made every one that he was in the ring with, friend or foe, better. It's that simple. Plus he did it with an athletic physique and not an artificially enhanced one. Nick used logic and common sense with which to build his matches. I'd surmise that Nick Bockwinkel never executed a hurricanrana.

Plus, if you watch Nick's work with manager Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan you will see arguably the greatest ringside manager that ever lived. What those two did in their day is just as sound today and would still work today because, unlike so many in today's mat game, Nick and The Brain thoroughly understood crowd psychology and the cerebral aspect of their craft. Their timing together or separately was like a Swiss time piece.

Nick loved the Cauliflower Alley Club and worked tirelessly to help build the non profit organization that every wrestler and fan should know about and support. Take a moment and check out www.caulifloweralleyclub.org.

Rest in peace Nick...Boomer Sooner...and thanks for all the wisdom and class that you brought to our business. It was an honor going into the WWE HOF Fame class of 2007 with you which made my induction feel that much more memorable.

Your friends and fans will always love and miss you. RIP, Sir...

 

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Spotlight in History

  • 1959 Mike DiBiase def. Dory Funk for the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 2010 X-Rated (Kevin James Sanchez & Bobby Star) def. Rick Russo for the SWCW Tag Team Champions
  • 2010 Jonathan Cross def. Anarchy [2nd] for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 2015 Charlie Haas def. Jerome Daniels for the NWA-TXO Heavyweight Champion
  • 2021 Killbane def. The Canadian Red Devil for the NCWO Oklahoma Champion

Week of Sun 05-12 to Sat: 05-18

  • 05-12 2002 Rocco Valentino became the OCW Oklahoma Television Champion
  • 05-12 2012 The New Era [2nd] (Richie Adams & Goldeneye) def. The Dramatic Athletes (Jake McCoy & X-Cal) for the ComPro Tag Team Champions
  • 05-12 2012 Venus became the IZW Queens Champion
  • 05-12 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Bobby Starr for the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 05-12 2013 Impact, Inc. (Jermaine Johnson & Jordan Jacobs) def. Shawn Sanders & Tyson Jaymes for the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion
  • 05-12 2018 Garrett Murphy became the NAW Lightweight Champion
  • 05-12 2018 Big Smooth def. Dusty Gold for the NAW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-12 2018 Brayden def. Kareem Sadat for the BCW Independent Hardcore Champion
  • 05-12 2018 Gavin Dixon def. Mikey [2nd] for the BCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-12 2023 Ronnie Morton def. Red James for the RDW Brass Knucks Champion
  • 05-13 1979 Wahoo McDaniel def. The Spoiler for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-13 1984 Magnum T. A. def. Mr. Wrestling II for the MSW North American Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-13 2006 Justin Lee def. Gary Gram for the NWA-U X Division Champion
  • 05-13 2012 Les Mayne became the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 05-13 2016 Terry Montana & Mighty Mouse def. Dynamic Shields (Justin Dynamic & Shawn Shields) for the ComPro Tag Team Champions
  • 05-13 2017 Sam Stackhouse def. Drake Gallows for the BCW Buzzsaw Champion
  • 05-13 2017 Garrett Murphy def. Anarchy [2nd] for the NAW Lightweight Champion
  • 05-13 2023 Lunchador def. Dr. Corvus for the WAH Hunger Dojo Champion
  • 05-13 2023 Rush Freeman became the WAH Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-13 2023 The Psychotic Messengers (Tank Bryson & Malachi) def. Dark Forces (San La Muerte & Reese) for the WAH Tag Team Champions
  • 05-14 1975 John Tolos def. Al Madril for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-14 1975 Danny Miller def. Skandor Akbar for the TSW North American Champion
  • 05-14 2004 Butch Dalton def. Jon Davis for the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-14 2004 Devon Monroe def. Mitch Carter for the TPW Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-14 2005 John O'Malley became the IZW Hardcore Champion
  • 05-14 2005 Impact Inc. (John Zorthos & Bernie Donderwitz) became the IZW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-15 1959 Mike DiBiase def. Dory Funk for the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-15 2010 X-Rated (Kevin James Sanchez & Bobby Star) def. Rick Russo for the SWCW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-15 2010 Jonathan Cross def. Anarchy [2nd] for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-15 2015 Charlie Haas def. Jerome Daniels for the NWA-TXO Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-15 2021 Killbane def. The Canadian Red Devil for the NCWO Oklahoma Champion
  • 05-16 1963 Bull Curry became the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 05-16 1981 Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton def. Akbar Army (Jerry Brown & Ron McFarlane) for the TSW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-16 2009 Impact, Inc. (Johnny Z & Bernie D) became the IZW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-16 2015 The K. C. Wolves (Graham Bell & Luke Langley) def. Team Bull (Aaron Neil & Bobby Starr) for the IZW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-16 2015 Clint Cassidy def. Mr. Nasty for the UWE United States Champion
  • 05-16 2015 Brett Stopp def. Fuel for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-16 2015 Anarchy [2nd] def. Brett Stopp for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-17 1965 Bull Curry def. Karl Kox for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 05-17 1986 Bruiser Brody def. Rick Rude for the WCCW Television Champion
  • 05-17 1987 The Lightning Express (Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner) def. Rick Steiner & Sting for the UWF Tag Team Champions
  • 05-17 1996 The Bad Boyz (Krull Danzig & Brett Knight) def. The Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Dan Wilder) for the WWEmp Tag Team Champions
  • 05-17 2008 El Super Colibri def. Tim Rockwell for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion
  • 05-17 2008 Michael York def. Brett Taylor for the SECW Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-17 2008 Michael York became the SECW Eastern Oklahoma Title Champion
  • 05-17 2008 Michael York became the SECW Eastern Oklahoma Champion
  • 05-17 2009 Kevin Morgan became the AWFUL Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-17 2014 The Sexy Camachos (Angel Camacho & Roberto Camacho & Vinnie Camacho) def. Team Bull (The Bronze Bull & Bobby Starr) for the IZW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-18 1970 Boris Malenko def. Mil Mascaras for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-18 1973 Jose Lothario def. Blackjack Mulligan for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-18 1984 Gino Hernandez def. Jimmy Garvin for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-18 2007 Lonnie Valdez & Epic became the ACW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-18 2013 The P.I.N.K. Nation (Ray Martinez & Tommy Toops) def. Bobby Burns & Sam Stackhouse (substituting for Psycho Sawyer) for the SRPW Tag Team Champions
  • 05-18 2013 B-Arthur became the SRPW Womens Champion
  • 05-18 2013 Anarchy [2nd] def. The Mercenary for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
  • 05-18 2014 Striker def. Robert Lee for the WFC Hometown Heroes Champion
  • 05-18 2019 Skylar Slice def. Erica for the MSWA Ladies Champion
05-15
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