Verne Gagne

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Verne Gagne (born February 26 1926) is a former American professional wrestler, football player, pro wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter.

Gagne was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association (AWA), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba, Canada for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded. His son Greg also wrestled professionally.

Gagne is a 10-time world champion, all of which comes from holding the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he holds the record for the most combined days as being a world champion. He is part of both the WWE Hall of Fame and the WCW Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Pre-AWA career

Verne Gagne (born LaVerne Gagne) grew up on a farm in Corcoran, Minnesota. He left home at the age of 14 after his mother died. Verne went to Robbinsdale High School and excelled in football, baseball and wrestling, winning district, regional and state championships in high school wrestling, as well as being named to the All-State Football Team. In 1943, Verne was recruited to play football at the University of Minnesota, where he was named to the All-Conference Team. After one year of college, he enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. Gagne chose to return to the University of Minnesota, where he enjoyed a successful amateur wrestling career that saw him capture two NCAA titles, as well as being an alternate for the U.S freestyle wrestling team at the 1948 Olympic Games; he later said that he might have wrestled in the Olympics, but his coaches had discovered that he had earned money winning a wrestling match at a carnival, thus putting his amateur standing in question.

In 1949, Verne decided to wrestle professionally, starting his career in Texas. In his debut, he defeated Abe Kashey, with former World Heavyweight boxing Champion Jack Dempsey as the referee. In 1950, Gagne captured the NWA Junior Heavyweight title. In 1953, Gagne won the Chicago version of the NWA United States Championship. Verne became one of the most well-known stars in wrestling during the golden age of television, thanks to his exposure on the Dumont Network, where he wowed audiences with his technical prowess. He was rumored to be one of the highest paid wrestlers during the 1950s, reportedly earning a hundred thousand dollars a year.

Verne Gagne and his supporters lobbied for him to become NWA World Champion in the 1950s but this did not happen for various reasons due to the politics of the NWA. Gagne was eventually recognized as NWA Champion by some NWA territories through a series of events that occurred in the late 1950s. On June 14, 1957, Edouard Carpentier defeated NWA Champion Lou Thesz in Chicago. The NWA later overruled the decision of the referee in Chicago and gave the title back to Thesz. However, certain wrestling territories of the NWA including Nebraska refused to go along with the decision and continued to recognize Carpentier. Carpentier lost his title to Verne Gagne in Omaha in August 1958 making Verne Gagne the recognized NWA World champion in the NWA territories that had recognized Carpentier. Gagne held this disputed version of the NWA World title until the formation of the AWA in 1960.