Verne Gagne

Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne (/ˈɡɑːnjeɪ/ GAHN-yay; February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded.

As an amateur wrestler, Gagne won two NCAA titles and was an alternate for the U.S. freestyle wrestling team at the 1948 Olympic Games before turning professional in 1949. Gagne was an 11-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions, having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship ten times and the IWA World Heavyweight Championship once as the IWA World Heavyweight Championship was considered a world championship in Japan. He has also won top professional wrestling promotions World Heavyweight Championships such as the World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha version) five times. He holds the record for the longest combined reign as a world champion in North America and is third (behind Bruno Sammartino and Lou Thesz) for the longest single world title reign. He is one of only seven men inducted into each of the WWE, WCW and Professional Wrestling halls of fame.

Gagne was born in Corcoran, Minnesota, and grew up on a farm in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. He left home at the age of 14 after his mother died. He attended Robbinsdale High School, where he went on to win the state championship for high school wrestling in 1942 and 1943. In 1943, he was recruited to play football at the University of Minnesota as defensive end and tight end, while also continuing wrestling. As a freshman, Gagne won the Big Ten 175 pound wrestling title in 1944 after returning from duty in the Marine Corps.

Gagne's football and wrestling career was interrupted by a tour of duty with the United States Marine Corps in 1943. He played on the Marines Football Team with the likes of Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, Gopher Great George Franck and other NFL Stars. Gagne also served with the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Team. He chose to return to the University of Minnesota, where, as an amateur wrestler, he captured two NCAA titles. In 1948, he beat Charles Gottfried of Illinois in the 191-pound class to win his first NCAA championship in Pennsylvania.

The next year, he returned to the championships but had moved up a class, to heavyweight. In the final, he met future NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton, the two-time defending national champion in the division. The showdown ended in a 1–1 tie, but Gagne was awarded the win because he controlled Hutton for longer periods of the match.

He was also an alternate for the U.S. freestyle wrestling team at the 1948 Olympic Games, after losing a closely contested wrestle-off match to the eventual gold medalist Henry Wittenberg. He earned the starting spot for the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team for the 1948 Olympics by finishing second in the U.S. freestyle wrestle-offs, but upon arriving to London, the U.S. coaches decided that the Greco-Roman team would not be competing.

Gagne joined the National Football League (NFL) soon after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 16th round (145th pick) of the 1947 NFL draft.

In 2006's The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, Verne's son, Greg, said in an interview that Bears owner George Halas prevented his father from pursuing both football and wrestling, and forced him to make a choice. In the same interview, Greg mentioned that wrestling was a much better paying job at the time than playing football and as a result, Verne chose wrestling over football.