Category: Written Features

Verne Gagne

Verne Gagne, famed promoter of the American Wrestling Association, passed away last night.

The storied career of Verne Gagne, both as a wrestler and a promoter of the AWA, was of an era before my time. My only exposure to the man and the promotion he ran continually for thirty years were through archival programming released years later; either through re-airing of old AWA episodes on ESPN Classics or through the WWE-produced DVD, The Spectacular Legacy Of The AWA.

I’m not entirely ignorant of the contributions of Mr. Gagne and know that he essentially launched the careers of many of professional wrestling’s greatest names through his rigorous training camps held at his farm in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and discovered some of the shining talents that would go on to join that list of big stars. And I would be remiss not to mention his accomplishments as both an amateur wrestler – laying claim to  four Big Ten Wrestling Championships, two NCAA Wrestling Championships, the 1949 AAU Wrestling Championship and a slot on the 1948 United States Olympic team on his resume – and a professional wrestler, having been a ten-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and the distinction of having the third longest single World Title reign for seven years and three months, from 1968 to 1975.

Mr. Gagne would later be inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame in 2004, as well as the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2006 and the short-lived WCW Hall of Fame in 1993. His contributions to professional wrestling as a whole will long remembered.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of Mr. Gagne.

Leonard Nimoy (March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015)

The news of Leonard Nimoy’s passing is a shock. Best known for his role as Spock in the long-running Star Trek franchise, but Mr. Nimoy has been a director (including Star Trek III and IV, Three Men And A Baby) as well as having dabbled in some poetry and even music. But it was his passion as a photographer that identified with his latter years. Mr. Nimoy has left a profound impression on the world and his presence will be sorely missed.

LLAP, Mr. Nimoy.

Robin Williams

I have no words… especially since others have put it more eloquently and more thoughtfully than I ever could. However, I did get a chuckle out of the confusion brought about by Twitter users who were confusing Robin Williams with Robbie Williams and vice-versa. Some could understandably consider this poor taste, but thinking about it another way, Mr. Williams was a comedian. I’m sure he would’ve found the whole bit amusing as well.

Godspeed, Mr. Williams.

100 Years Ago, A World War Began

On 27 July, 1914, troops from the Austro-Hungarian Empire crossed the Serbian border at the town of Mitrovitza. These were the first shots of World War I. This skirmish predates Austria-Hungary’s actual declaration of war the next day. The war lasted 1,569 days, ending with an armistice on 11 November, 1918.

In total, there were 16,543,868 lives lost in the conflict. A moment of silence for their passing.

Bill Moody (Paul Bearer, Percy Pringle)

It’s hard to find the words to convey the kind of feelings that’s running through my mind in the hours since I’ve learned of Bill Moody’s passing. And even as I type this entry, I find that there are no words that can properly convey those feelings and thoughts on an individual who I am only familiar with through his television performances…

And really, what can be said about a man who has not only had a long and distinguished career in the professional wrestling industry, but who has been an instrumental figure in contributing to the success and continually growing legend of WWE’s most iconic figure. The Undertaker character would not have reached the mythical status it achieved without Paul Bearer’s masterful talent to sell the gimmick and certainly no one else could have used that talent to bear fruit another long-term character in the form of Kane.

Whether he was known as Percy Pringle III or Paul Bearer or whatever, there’s no question that Bill Moody had that natural charisma and ability to bring the talent he managed to a higher level. And it is a profound loss that he is no longer with us. He will be missed.

Godspeed, Bill, and thanks for the memories.

VIDEO – WWE '12 (Wii) – First Impressions

(2015 Update: Replaced the old, deleted video with the DTM Archives version, which includes an additional annotation regarding a major player in this game.)

This should have been up shortly after the VLOG – Where’s The WWE ’12 Manual?” video came up, but things delayed it to now… so here it is…

2011 in Review and a final 2011 VLOG is coming tomorrow…