Larry Hennig Larry Hennig ( June 18 , 1932 ) is an American retired professional wrestler . He is the father of " Mr . Perfect " Curt Hennig and is best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association , National Wrestling Alliance and World Wide Wrestling Federation . Hennig was also known for his muscular neck which , to this day , measures 22 inches . Career . Before pursuing a career in professional wrestling , Hennig became the Minnesota State High School Heavyweight Champion from Robbinsdale , Minnesota in 1954 . He was awarded a scholarship from the University of Minnesota to wrestle and play football but had to quit due to the priorities of family and raising children . In 1963 , Hennig entered the AWA under the tutelage of Verne Gagne . He eventually found some main event success and shared a brief Tag Team Championship reign with Duke Hoffman . But in frequently losing to rougher , more experienced wrestlers , he began questioning the scientific style instilled into him by Gagne and looked toward a different approach ( in kayfabe ) . During the summer of 1963 , Hennig left the AWA for a stint in the Texas territories . While touring Texas , Hennig adopted a more brutal style and won the Texas Heavyweight Title . He also crossed paths with Harley Race . The two young wrestlers struck up a friendship and following their mutual commitment in Amarillo , a new tag team broke out into the Minneapolis wrestling scene . Race and Hennig branded themselves as " Handsome " Harley Race ( which was actually a moniker given to him by fans in Japan ) and " Pretty Boy " Larry Hennig , a cocky villainous tag team with a penchant for breaking the rules to win matches . They quickly became top contenders , and on January 30 , 1965 , they defeated the legendary tandem of Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher to capture the AWA World Tag Team Championship , becoming , at the time , the youngest tag team champions ever . Race and Hennig continued to feud with the Bruiser and Crusher and other top teams for the next several years , amassing three title reigns . Verne Gagne , in particular , was a hated rival of the team , and recruited many different partners to try to defeat Race and Hennig during their AWA run . Gagne and Crusher would win the titles from them six months after Race and Hennig ' s first reign but would lose them back on August 7 , 1965 . The team would retain the titles until May 1966 where they lost to Bruiser and Crusher . They would then embark on a tour through New Zealand , Japan , and Australia where they became the first Tag Team Champions of the International Wrestling Alliance in June . Just before leaving to Japan , they would drop the titles to Mark Lewin and Dominic DeNucci . Race and Hennig returned to the US in fall of 1966 , starting back at the bottom of the competition . As they climbed the ranks all over again , they finally received a title shot on January 6 , 1967 and defeated Bruiser and Crusher in Chicago , Illinois . This would prove to be their final reign at AWA Tag Team Champions , however . Knee injury . A rather infamous knee injury would contribute to Hennig ' s retirement from wrestling . On November 1 , 1967 , during a tag team match in Winnipeg , Hennig was in the middle of lifting Johnny Powers as another opponent rammed into him from the front . As he dropped Powers to the mat , Hennig found that his knee had bent inward . Despite severe damage to the cartilage and tendons , he refused to go to the local hospital and instead had Race drive him 500 miles home to Minneapolis . The injury ended their last title run . The AWA allowed Harley Race to select another partner to defend the championship . Race selected Chris Markoff , who had occasionally appeared in six - man tag matches with Race and Hennig . Race and Markoff dropped the titles to Pat O ’ Connor and Wilbur Snyder in their first title defense . In March 1968 , Hennig would return to once again wrestle alongside Race . After several years at the top of the tag team division , however , Race would leave in December 1968 to pursue a singles career in the NWA . Hennig was immediately partnered with Lars Anderson for the next three years . In the mid - 1970s , while competing in Florida , Hennig teamed for some matches with Race . 1972 had Hennig pair with " Dirty " Dusty Rhodes ( then a heel ) , and in 1973 , Larry worked as a singles star feuding with Verne Gagne and son Greg . Hennig made a face turn on August 10 , 1974 at a TV taping in Minneapolis , now sporting a full red beard and calling himself " the Axe " when he saved the High Flyers , Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne , from an attack . The event had Hennig opposing his former allies , Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens , and manager Bobby Heenan ( who Bockwinkel and Stevens hired following their recent loss of the AWA World Tag Team title to The Crusher and Billy Robinson the previous month ) as they assaulted the Flyers during an episode of " AWA All - Star Wrestling " . This moment would be featured in WWE ' s " Spectacular Legacy of the AWA " DVD released in 2006 . During this time , Hennig also appeared in the independent film , " The Wrestler " , where he faced Verne Gagne at the Cow Palace in the opening match . In 1976 , Hennig formed a semi - successful team with Joe LeDuc . Return to AWA . When Harley Race returned to the AWA in 1984 , he wrestled Hennig ' s son , Curt - a match that was fueled by Larry Hennig ' s confronting his former tag team partner at the end of the match . The following year , Curt ' s first major push would be alongside his father in a feud with The Road Warriors . The Hennigs were unsuccessful in their bid to win the tag titles but proved to be worthy opponents , an attempt by the AWA to raise Curt ' s clout amongst fans . It was during this time that Curt became one of the biggest stars of the company and Larry ' s career came to a close . Before Larry ' s retirement in 1985 , however , the Hennigs would win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship . Among his famed work with Harley Race , on different occasions , Hennig traveled to New York City to unsuccessfully challenge the immensely popular Bruno Sammartino for his WWF World Heavyweight Championship title . He is also frequently recognized for defeating a 16 - year - old " Rowdy " Roddy Piper within 10 seconds in Piper ' s debut match in Winnipeg in 1970 . Larry was mostly famous for being incredibly sweaty in the ring , thus making it difficult for the workers to hold him . Post retirement . Today , Larry Hennig and his wife own a successful real estate company in St . Cloud , Minnesota , and he stays active in the promotion of professional wrestling . He also dabbles in Commodity Futures , specifically CME Dairy . Hennig makes occasional public appearances , such as at the IPW " Night of Icons " show on July 14 , 2006 , where he signed autographs along with Harley Race , Terry Funk , and Ted DiBiase . The following day , he accepted his induction into the George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame . Hennig also appeared at " WrestleMania 23 " , where , along with his daughter - in - law Leonice , he represented his son in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2007 induction . That same year , Curt was also inducted into the Tragos / Thesz Hall of Fame with Larry appearing in Waterloo to represent him . To this day , Hennig endures knee problems as a result of a serious ring injury . His son , Curt , died on February 10 , 2003 of acute cocaine intoxication . Curt left Hennig and Irene with four grandchildren . After the highly publicized death of Chris Benoit and his son , Hennig shared a few words with " USA Today " regarding premature deaths in professional wrestling . He also spoke extensively about his son and his favorite matches on the retrospective DVD set " The Life and Times of Mr . Perfect " , released by WWE in September 2008 . On 2013 , Hennig received the Lou Thesz award , due to has taken the skills of the profession into the realm of public service . Also , Hennig makes history by becoming the first person to be inducted into the George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame , and to receive the Lou Thesz Award . Hennig accompanied his grandson Curtis Axel to the ring for a tag - team match during the pre - show to the 2014 WWE Elimination Chamber .