Nick Bockwinkel Passes Away

– The legendary Nick Bockwinkel has passed away. The Cauliflower Alley Club issued a statement last night announcing that the WWE Hall of Famer passed away Saturday night due to health issues. He was eighty years old.

Bockwinkel began his wrestling career in 1955, traning under Lou Thesz and his own father Warren after he was lost his football scholarship at the University of Oklahoma due to a knee injury. He spent the beginning part of his career teaming with his father and eventually went solo, winning the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship in 1963. He joined the AWA in 1970 where he teamed with Ray Stevens under the management of Bobby Heenan, winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship three times. After the team broke up, he went on to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Vegne Gagne. He would hold that title a total of seven times.

Bockwinkel was known during that era for his articulate and charismatic promos that put him ahead of most of the pack. He would eventually retire in 1987, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

WWE issued the following statement on Bockwinkel’s passing:

WWE is saddened to learn that Nick Bockwinkel, a WWE Hall of Famer and former four time AWA World Heavyweight Champion, has passed away at age 80.

Bockwinkel, known for his great in-ring skill and intelligent interviews, began his sports entertainment career in the mid-1950s after concluding his time on the University of Oklahoma football team. Bockwinkel was trained by his famous father, Warren Bockwinkel, and wrestling legend, Lou Thesz. Nick teamed with his father on many occassions, competing in Georgia, Texas and the Pacific Northwest before moving on to the where he would find the most success: the American Wrestling Association.

Bockwinkel was famously managed by WWE Hall of Famer Bobby “The Brain” Heenan during his AWA tenure, with the two drawing the ire of crowds everywhere. The self-proclaimed “Smartest Wrestler Alive” did it all during his time in AWA, with his crowning accomplishment coming when he defeated fellow WWE Hall of Famer and AWA legend Verne Gagne to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, ending Gagne’s historic seven-year run with the title.

Bockwinkel would go on to accumulate many more accolades as his career went on. From his nationally televised rivalry with Larry Zbyszko on ESPN to guest starring on “Hawaii Five-O,” the legend truly did it all. It was only fitting that his great career be capped off by his 2007 induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, where he will forever be enshrined as one of sports entertainments’ all-time greats.

WWE extends its condolences to Bockwinkel’s family, friends and fans.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Bockwinkel. He was a legend and will be missed.