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Legend Brisco passes away

Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 By: mikeiles

WWE Hall of Famer Jack Brisco has died at the age of 68 following complications from open heart surgery.

He had been in poor health for a number of months and collapsed a week ago while recovering from the operation.

Brisco was renowned as one of the best pure wrestlers in the business at the time. He held the NWA world heavyweight championship in the mid 1970s for two and a half years, only interrupted by the one week reign of Japan's Giant Baba.

He also held the NWA World Tag Team Championship three times with his brother Gerald as The Brisco Brothers tag team.

Brisco was an accomplished amateur wrestler before turning pro, winning the NCAA National Wrestling Championship in 1965.

He grew up a huge fan of the grappling industry and dreamed of a career in professional wrestling. When he broke into the pro ranks, he was regarded as a natural and a man who learned his craft with phenomenal speed, much like Kurt Angle in the modern era.

Brisco rose to fame in the mid 1970s and his feud with Dory Funk Jr for the NWA world heavyweight championship was regarded as a classic of its time, winning Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year Award in 1974.

Twelve months earlier, Brisco was voted Wrestler of the Year twelve and he and his brother's rising stock saw them pitted against The Funk Brothers of Dory Jr & Terry.

However, Brisco played just an important part in wrestling history outside the ring. He and Gerald sold their shares in Georgia Championship Wrestling to Vince McMahon in 1984, and convinced others to do the same. That gave McMahon a controlling stake in the company and proved a major turning point in his expansion of the World Wrestling Federation from a regional to a national promotion.

Brisco is also credited with discovering Terry Bollea in the late 1970s, who he sent to Hiro Matsuda to be trained. Bollea went on to be known universally as Hulk Hogan.

He was also a major influence on the career of Ric Flair, who learned his trade in the Brisco era. The Nature Boy has often mentioned Brisco's name in interviews both in the ring and out of it.

Despite quitting wrestling in 1984, he and his brother were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

WWE commentator Jim Ross paid tribute to Brisco, describing him as "one of the greatest in ring technicians to ever lace up a pair of boots. Through hard work and dedication he became one of the most famous men to ever wrestle for a living."