Nick Bockwinkel

**Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel** (December 6, 1934 – November 14, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the United States. He was a four time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and co-holder of the AWA World Tag Team Championship.

Bockwinkel was known for his exceptional technical ability and in-ring psychology. He was also known for his calm, charismatic, articulate promos, which distinguished him from many of his contemporaries.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career

Bockwinkel began his career in 1955, after a knee injury forced the University of Oklahoma to withdraw his football scholarship. After training to become a professional wrestler by his father Warren, a regional star in the 1940s, and Lou Thesz, he spent the early years of his career teaming with his father. At the age of 16, he had his debut match against Thesz. He won his first major singles title in 1963, defeating Tony Borne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship. He also held several singles and tag team titles in Hawaii and California.

### American Wrestling Association

In 1970, Bockwinkel joined the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he formed a team with wrestler Ray Stevens and manager Bobby Heenan. Together, they won the AWA World Tag Team Championship three times, the first in 1972. They defended the belts against such opponents as The Crusher, Dick the Bruiser, Billy Robinson, and Verne Gagne. The team eventually broke up after Stevens attacked Heenan when the latter praised himself and failed to comment on Stevens during an interview. Bockwinkel also teamed with Pat Patterson on occasion.

Bockwinkel became known for his articulate wrestling interviews. "I used to use the four, five or six syllable words as best I could," he was quoted as saying in the book *The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels*. "If I ran across one I didn't know, I had a little dictionary. I would have this little dictionary, with 70 or 80 words, that I would always be perusing. I had it with me all the time. Automatically, some of these words just starting coming to me in my interviews because I was familiar with them."

With Heenan still as his manager, Bockwinkel won the first of many AWA World Heavyweight Championships at the age of 40, ending Verne Gagne's seven-year reign. As AWA Champion, Bockwinkel had feuds with Billy Robinson, Dick the Bruiser, The Crusher, Tito Santana, Mad Dog Vachon, Jerry Lawler, Otto Wanz, Mr. Saito, Jim Brunzell, Greg Gagne, Verne Gagne and Hulk Hogan. Bockwinkel was involved in the first ever AWA versus World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Title Unification match, wrestling WWWF Champion, Bob Backlund, to a double count-out, on March 25, 1979, in Toronto.

On July 19, 1980, Bockwinkel was defeated by Verne Gagne. Shortly after regaining the AWA World title, Gagne announced his retirement from professional wrestling, and the AWA Heavyweight Championship was awarded back to Bockwinkel on May 19, 1981. This move infuriated wrestling fans throughout the AWA, and it solidified Bockwinkel as one of the most despised wrestlers in the world.

Perhaps the biggest controversy surrounding Bockwinkel and his title reign involved a series of matches with Hulk Hogan, whom Gagne signed after Hogan left the World Wrestling Federation in 1981. In June 1982, Hogan defeated Bockwinkel by pinfall in St. Paul, Minnesota to capture the AWA World Title, but AWA President Stanley Blackburn reversed the decision and returned the title to Bockwinkel, who went on to lose it to Otto Wanz and regain it with Heenan`s help in the span of two months. Hogan, in the meantime, grew tired of the politics surrounding Bockwinkel and the world title and departed the AWA to return to the WWF, where he became a star and helped the company become a worldwide brand.

On February 22, 1984, Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Bockwinkel to capture the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match where Terry Funk was a guest referee. On an AWA card, Bockwinkel wrestled NWA World Champion Ric Flair for the NWA title on January 16, 1986 at the Winnipeg Arena; the bout ended in a double count out. Bockwinkel last held the AWA World Championship in 1987, at the age of 52. He became popular in a feud against then-AWA champion Stan Hansen. When Hansen failed to appear for a title defense, Bockwinkel won the title by forfeit. Hansen had quit the AWA from that point. Months later he dropped the championship to another second generation wrestler, Curt Hennig, at SuperClash. The match ended in controversial fashion due to interference by Larry Zbyszko, who had handed a roll of coins to Hennig to use on Bockwinkel. Bockwinkel retired in 1987, ending a career that spanned four decades. In one of his final matches as an active competitor, he paid Zbyszko back for costing him the AWA World title by pinning him on an episode of *AWA Championship Wrestling* on ESPN after knocking him out with a roll of coins.

### Post-retirement

After departing AWA, Bockwinkel worked as a road agent for the World Wrestling Federation, also serving as a color commentator for occasional televised events. He returned to the ring in 1993 at Slamboree: A Legends' Reunion. The card was promoted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) but featured veteran wrestlers from all over the country. Bockwinkel wrestled former NWA World Champion Dory Funk, Jr. to a time limit draw as part of the undercard. In 1994, Bockwinkel became the on-screen commissioner of WCW. He was reunited on the program with Bobby Heenan but their former partnership in AWA was never mentioned.

In 2000, he and Yoshiaki Fujiwara were the commissioners for a short-lived shoot style promotion, the Japan Pro Wrestling Association, but as the shoot-style market in Japan had been low since the collapse of UWF International, the wrestlers on it moved to other promotions. Bockwinkel was the President of the Cauliflower Alley Club until stepping down in May 2014 due to health reasons.

On March 31, 2007, he was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame by his former manager Bobby Heenan.

Bockwinkel made an appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw on March 29, 2010, as part of Legends Lumberjack match between Christian and Ted Dibiase.

### Legacy

Bockwinkel was known for his technical wrestling ability and in-ring psychology. Bob Backlund wrote in his autobiography that "Nick had a great head for the game, a wonderful sense of ring psychology, and an uncanny ability to use his intelligence and cockiness to get under the people's skin. He was a terrific representative for the AWA and was the key player in the success of the AWA for a long time." Backlund goes on to say, "He was a very intelligent, well-spoken, and cocky heel, and his in-ring skills were right up there with the very best in the business." In the book *50 Greatest Professional Wrestlers of All Time: The Definitive Shoot*, author Larry Matysik lists Bockwinkel as number 18, writing "He was an athlete, he could wrestle, and his psychology was second to none."

In addition, he was also known for his calm, charismatic, articulate promos, which distinguished him from many of his contemporaries. In 2008, Chris Jericho based his new villainous wrestling persona on Bockwinkel. In his autobiography *The Best in the World* Jericho wrote, "The WWE had recently released an AWA retrospective DVD, and while watching it, I remembered how great a heel Bockwinkel was. He wore suits for all his interviews and used ten-dollar words that went over the average fans' heads, pissing them off markedly. Here was this pompous blowhard using the fancy talk and wearing the fancy suits, claiming to be the best because he was the World Champion, which was the truth."

## Other media

In 1968, Bockwinkel appeared as a contestant on a prime-time version of the NBC game show *Hollywood Squares*. He played Harry in the episode "Savage Sunday" in the show *Hawaii Five-O*. Bockwinkel also played a wrestler in an episode of the 1960s television series *The Monkees*.

## Personal life

Bockwinkel lived in Las Vegas, Nevada with his second wife, Darlene, to whom he had been married since the early 1970s until his death in 2015. Along with his wife, he is survived by his two daughters (from his first marriage), two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. In November 2007, Bockwinkel underwent triple bypass heart surgery.

In 2007, he was elected President of the Cauliflower Alley Club, a non-profit organization. In 2013, Ric Flair told Stone Cold Steve Austin on his podcast that Bockwinkel had Alzheimer's disease. Bockwinkel's wife Darlene denied Flair's claim, but did acknowledge that he had health problems which she wanted to keep private. In August 2014, Bockwinkel stepped down from his position as Cauliflower Alley Club president due to his declining health. He was replaced by former wrestler B. Brian Blair. At the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion in 2015 he appeared frail and his wife said he was making his final public appearance due to dementia and heart issues.

## Death

On November 15, 2015, it was reported by the Cauliflower Alley Club that Bockwinkel had died the previous evening. The cause of death was not disclosed.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Piledriver
	+ Sleeper hold

* **Signature moves**
	+ Cobra clutch
	+ Dropkick
	+ Drop toe-hold
	+ Figure four leglock
	+ Indian deathlock
	+ Seated senton to an opponent's leg
	+ Boston Crab

* **Managers**
	+ Bobby Heenan

## Championships and accomplishments

* **American Wrestling Association**
	+ AWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
	+ AWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Ray Stevens
* **Championship Wrestling from Florida**
	+ NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ray Stevens
* **Continental Wrestling Association**
	+ AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* **Mid-South Sports**
	+ NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ NWA Georgia Television Championship (3 times)
* **NWA Big Time Wrestling**
	+ NWA World Tag Team Championship *(Texas version)* (1 time) – with Ricky Romero
* **NWA Los Angeles**
	+ NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (2 times)
* **NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions**
	+ NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bobby Shane
	+ NWA United States Heavyweight Championship *(Hawaii version)* (1 time)
* **NWA San Francisco**
	+ NWA World Tag Team Championship *(San Francisco version)* (2 times) – with Ramon Torres
* **Pacific Northwest Wrestling**
	+ NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
	+ NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (3 time) – with Nick Kozak (2) and Buddy Mareno (1)
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Stanley Weston Award (2007)
	+ Tag Team of the Year (1973) – with Ray Stevens
	+ Ranked No. **18** of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
* **Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum**
	+ Class of 2003
* **Worldwide Wrestling Associates**
	+ WWA International Television Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Édouard Carpentier (1) and Lord James Blears (1)
* **World Wrestling Entertainment**
	+ WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

## Further reading

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## References

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## External links

* WWE Hall of Fame profile of Nick Bockwinkel
* Story archive at SLAM! Wrestling
* Nick Bockwinkel at the Internet Movie Database