Curt Hennig Obit

I grew up in the Bay Area, watching every minute of wrestling that was on TV. If you
were smart, you could catch at least one hour every day, and five every weekend. For
years, every weekday at noon, the AWA would appear on ESPN, and at that time, there
was none better in that league than Curt Hennig, who passed away on the 10th of February
at the age of 44.

Curt was a second-generation wrestler, son of Larry ‘the Axe’ Hennig. He had the
business in his blood from birth, as I can remember buying a tape of matches from the
1960s and seeing Curt, maybe all of 8, watching from the front row, jumpin’ up and down
and booing the guy who was beating up his dad. He was raised in Robinsdale, MN,
where he went to school with future wrestlers Rick Rude, Tom Zenk, and Brady Boone.
Curt trained under the legendary Verne Gagne, and then got an offer to wrestle as a jobber
for the WWF in early 1981. He left to join up with Don Owen’s Portland wrestling, and
had the chance to work against Buddy Rose, Dynamite Kid and even Roddy Piper.

After his Portland stint, he joined up with Gagne’s AWA, and there began to quickly
climb the ladder as an athletic, young star in a federation of aging legends. Not too long
after joining up, Curt and Scott Hall beat Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and Mr. Electricity
Steve Regal for the AWA tag belts. Not too long after losing the belts, Curt entered into a
feud with AWA Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkle, a legend and a second-
generation wrestler himself. The two had an amazing 60-minute draw at the TV tapings
at the Showboat Hotel/Casino, one which made Hennig a huge star. I remember seeing it
on ESPN, I was home sick that day, and thinking that this was the greatest match ever.
The next day, they showed an interview with the two of them where they broke down
their strategies, something that made the event seem so real and important. Hennig beat
Bockwinkle for the AWA title in San Francisco at the SuperClash II event. He held the
belt for more than a year, before dropping it to Jerry “The King” Lawler in Memphis.

Curt entered the WWF for his most famous run in 1988. During an interview with Vince
McMahon, Curt was asked what kind of high school athlete he had been. Hennig replied
"Perfect", and the gimmick of Mr. Perfect was born. For the next 3 years, Curt was a
major star, winning the Intercontinental belt and holding it for nearly a year, having some
great matches with Tito Santana, Kerry Von Erich, Bret Hart, and even Hulk Hogan.
After a serious back injury that would stick with him for the rest of his career, he moved
over to managing, acting as Executive Consultant to Ric Flair during his first WWF run,
and getting a place as an announcer on Prime Time Wrestling, the precursor to RAW. He
eventually turned on Flair to return to the ring at Survivor Series 1992, and the feud with
Flair was on. In January, on one of the earliest RAWs, Hennig defeated Flair in a Loser
Leaves the WWF match, still, one of my 10 favorite Raw matches of all time. After
feuds with Lex Luger and Shawn Michaels, Hennig left the ring again, only to return as
an announcer and later, as manager to HHH.
Hennig ended up in the WCW, where he had some memorable moments, but mostly just
sat in the mid-card, though he did have a stint as the replacement Arn Anderson in the
Four Horsemen. He left in 2000, taking independent dates where he could find them.

In 2002, He made a brief return to the WWF, entering the Royal Rumble and making it to
the top four, something he had done once before in his Mr. Perfect days. He stuck
around, but the classic Hennig athleticism was gone. He eventually got fired for his
actions on the plane ride to Hell, where he got into a fight with Brock Lesner. He had
appeared on NWA-TNA, and had done a great many indy dates since.

Hennig died in Tampa, where he was about to have a booking. There has already been
serious speculation as to the cause, but he is better remembered for his life than the
circumstances of his death.

I can remember the one occasion I had to meet Mr. Perfect. It was before Survivor Series
1993 in Boston. I found him at a restaurant around the corner from my place and bought
him a drink. We talked for the better part of an hour and he told great stories of the old
days, how Hogan once told him to “bulk up, and drop all that high impact stuff” and that
he always liked wrestling in Memphis, because you could work the old style and still get
recognized by the fans.

He was supposed to be a part of the rebuilding of Portland wrestling, joining Roddy Piper
in helping to get the fledgling federation off the ground.

During a WCW Webchat, Curt was asked what the worst part about wrestling was. His
response: “Watching your friends die young.”