Greg Gagne Full Shoot Interview 2022

Greg Gagne Full Shoot Interview 2022
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[@TheNYJets15]

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he had 3 missed calls from Greg Gagne Best quote ever!!!

[@TheHannibalTV]

lol

[@billywilliams8753]

I think he told the Wright brothers they would really get over if the flew his plane

[@Chris_34]

Greg Gagne is a class act.

[@richardalbert7506]

Growing up in Minnesota the AWA was the wrestling to watch. Mad Dog Vashon, the crusher, Tito Santana and Jesse The Body Ventura on and on. Couldn't wait to go watch it couldn't wait to watch it on TV.

[@robspafford2884]

Good to see Greg again..always have great memories of him and Jim Brunzell in the AWA days!

[@salvagemonster3612]

Really? Doing what? If he had any skills or talent he would have gone on. He was not even a mid carder talent

[@josecarlosramolete6109]

Yeah. Even NOT Putting the belt on Hogan was a great story to tell from Greg Gagne. That's one of the reasons why AWA died.

[@MAGA-kv1nj]

Great listening to Greg... love the stories. I started watching the AWA and WWA back in the mid 70's; being from Chicago I was lucky to be able to watch both feds. Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher were my favorites. Always liked the High Flyers too. Good times.

[@jimh.412]

Da one, da only, Da Crusher!!💪💪

[@paultrejo6994]

What a great interview with Greg. I grew up in a A.W.A. territory city and the matches were the best I have ever seen live. Da Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, The Claw Master, Ken Patera on and on. Great memories.

[@SassyLaughlin13]

Greg always does the best interviews.

[@wilfred8326]

What Greg is saying about the WWF buying up all of the AWA talent to look "more AWA than the AWA" and "booking tradidonal venues out from under the AWA that the AWA had a long standing relationship with...." this sounds very very familiar to the WWF trying to force 🤔 Cable Companies to choose between "Wrestlemania" and "Starcade" on the NWA side of the story....

[@Jim-Tuner]

The problem with the venues is that the WWE back then would often sign up venues to exclusive deals that literally locked every else out from even doing shows.

[@suicidality2744]

@@Jim-Tuner And that was really illegal. Unfair trade practices. The other promoters weren't smart enough to file a lawsuit. If they had the court would have issued an injunction and Vince would have been stopped. If Vince wanted exclusive access to a building he would have to lock out everyone. Concerts, The Circus, Disney On Ice, Monster Trucks, everything. You can't just say no other wrestling promotions allowed.

[@datacipher]

@@suicidality2744it’s not illegal in any way. You think all those promoters were angels and not litigious screw-over-their-own-mother businessmen? Lol. Eric bischoff has talked openly about the arena situation. You think eric and turner were turnips who either didn’t realize it’s illegal or were afraid to sue? Lol. Wow, internet dullard law 101…

[@TheBaitShopGuy]

Hey Greg I saw you wrestling on Donahue. Good show.

[@jasonkessler6841]

Against Adrian Adonis right?.

[@TheBaitShopGuy]

@@jasonkessler6841 yup

[@weaselsuit]

Greg is criminally underrated.

[@krillin876]

As a wrestler??

[@GETole]

He couldn't draw flies.

[@freebird2882]

@@GETole silly comment

[@curthennig9448]

@@freebird2882 That's for sure!

[@GETole]

@@freebird2882 It's an accurate comment.

[@bionicman71]

It was great to hear the whole awa story from Greg..Im from chippewa Falls,Wisconsin and it was kind of cool for him to mention Eau Claire,Wisconsin..The first time i started or even heard of wrerstling was i want to say 82 or 83. Before hogan became wwe (wwf) Champion for the first time..awa was great to watch.It was great too to watch different wrestling from different parts of the country

[@JGD185]

"I remember when Ric Flair first got into the business. He was calling himself Richard Fliehr and the fans weren't buying it. So I pulled him aside and I said hey put this robe on and start calling yourself the Nature Boy, and the rest is history." -Greg Gagne

[@bigfootaintreal5454]

He's made several false claims just like this one.

[@georgemaranville3305]

No doubt this happened. This is pro wrestling. A no BS business.

[@Jim-Tuner]

The real story is that he got into Verne's training camp through knowing Greg. When Billy Robinson hurt the iron sheik during a training session, Flair bailed on the whole thing and Verne had to hunt him down to convince him to come back. When Flair first came into the business, he wanted to be big brawler like Wahoo McDaniels or Dusty Rhodes. Greg might have tried to talk him out of that. The Gagnes eventually hooked him up with Ole Anderson down in the Carolinas. He got to be an Anderson (cousin). But the change to the nature boy happened due to the plane crash. Its possible that Greg might have talked to him when he was recovering and suggested he change his style of wrestling in the ring. The robe thing didn't come from Greg though. The robes were made by Johnny Walker's (Mr. Wrestling II) wife Olivia. History is a really subjective thing in wrestling and I doubt either Flair or Gagne remember exactly what happened in those years.

[@Clinttorres569]

According 2 Greg him and his dad created everyone and everything

[@rondellschuyler7074]

@@Clinttorres569Not everything, but for the most part they did. Vince McMahon just financially bullied and used his daddies money to get what he wanted.

[@bionicman71]

The action figures look great !!! cant wait to see what other ones they bring out :)

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

I recently watched a Dumont Match with Verne Gagne vs Lou Thesz . It was a convincing match with two great shooters showing each other proper respect .

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

The people were wearing suits and ties and their wives were dressed to the 9s .

[@claudepatterson1828]

Worked for his dad great wrestler my start from Iowa Minnesota and Nebraska jobs great workers Verne gagne was one of the best real deal

[@anthonylott2047]

Keep speaking the truth.

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

The problem with the AWA was that the fans wanred 60s style wrestling through the 70s into the early eighties so all of the guys they had were long in the tooth . The Crusher and Bruiser , Mad Dog Vachon , Von Raschke etc... were the only guys still working that style . It was hard to get over the new breed of wrestler from the South and Northeast .

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

It also meant that the AWA was not easily nationalized . It was a true regional flavor . It just did not translate well in other markets .

[@jesselaidlaw395]

Good interview.

[@ajzepp8976]

As Greg ages, hes looking more and more like his Dad

[@elc1960]

​Interesting how he completely glossed over Eddie Sharkey...guy trained a pretty good chunk of wrestlers over the last 50+ years.

[@russblack443]

Rumor has it that Eddie Sharkey was going to shoot Vern in his office one time because Vern was banging his wife. Eddie did train a shit load of people. Backlund and Jessie the Body were two of his first success stories. Plus all of the other Minnesota guys like Rick Ride, Barry Darsow, Animal,Hawk, Nikita koloff and a ton of others

[@Jim-Tuner]

There was alot of legit heat between Eddie Sharkey and Verne Gagne. There is bad stuff on both sides. Eddie broke guys into the business, but how much he trained guys is open to question. Alot of the guys who came in through Eddie had really limited skills.

[@russblack443]

@@Jim-Tuner agreed Ventura was horrible in the ring and all of the class with the road warriors pretty much learned on the job. Backlund was good but he was also a high level amateur that went to midsouth and Florida early in his career both places that you couldn't help but learn at.

[@TBone2000Man]

I really like the old awa stuff growing up on the east coast we had wwwf witch was great I would really love to see the weekly episodes of the old awa stuff from the late 70s to 1984

[@raymondtipton7243]

Greg Gagne Is talking about Jim Herd from st louis

[@bigcomcast]

Greg doesn't look 74.

[@butcherbaker1001]

I am all about those action figures! I still have the ones from the 80s they were awesome.

[@fjccommish]

I heard Dutch Mantel criticize Greg's work. Dutch couldn't touch Greg's work in the ring.

[@slow71971]

Very true,But I Sense a bit of jealousy on Dutch's part.

[@philipclarke9696]

I love Dutch, but you’re right. Greg was a phenomenal worker with a bad( skinny ) body. He also outdrew Dutch during his career. Greg made more money in his, as a member of the High Flyers, in his feud with Adonis and Ventura than Dutch made in his career( including his matches versus Lawler.)

[@fjccommish]

@@slow71971 Exactly.

[@johnkolko5199]

I can not stand Greg Gagne but in watching Dutch on a regular basis, and seeing this interview, he lumped Greg in with George Gulas as a promoters kid who could not wrestle when Gulas came up in a conversation for worst wrestlers ever. My guess is Dutch rarely if ever saw Greg Gagne wrestle and was just making an assumption. And Dutch was a great heal.

[@necron99.aka-sammyboy92]

There was a Minnesota twin's shirt stop, named: Greg Gagne. He pronounced it- Gag knee Instead of the French sounding - gone yea Just saying

[@necron99.aka-sammyboy92]

Yeah, he was a jobber at best. But I did enjoy his matches. U can't blame Dad for trying to get the best outs his baby boy. A for effort

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

Bob Bruggers was in the plane with Flair .

[@necron99.aka-sammyboy92]

He looks like Greg Brady! Lok. I just noticed that

[@_sabathia_5929]

Wrestlers talk about the days with handshake agreements some who had come from awa, some did stay and fulfill there agreement with awa but most broke there agreements with awa for more money.

[@BeeBumper]

Because they broke their agreements. Payoffs went down when houses went up and that os why the body left. Hogan wanted a piece of merchandise and Verne didn't want to share. So why would they stay? With Vince on the Horizon, it was really short sighted of Verne. He killed the AWA. If he took care of those stars he may not have lost them

[@VolumedMusicMan]

I remember Bobby Heenan Stating that he honored his contract with the AWA before leaving for the WWF. Most of the others bolted!

[@VolumedMusicMan]

@@BeeBumper I agree with you. Hogan had the idea of selling T-shirts long before Verne did. Verne also cut into Hogan’s Japanese wrestling deal with Inoki. Also not giving hogan the AWA title was a joke. He literally buried his top star. I’m tired of Greg whining about this. It was beneficial to Hogan leaving!

[@_sabathia_5929]

And really if he had had the forsite of profit share via shirts with the talent… There’s no other concrete answer of who’s getting over with the fans. Simply go by merch. Sales. Yes he should have cut hogan in on the merch. We do have to remember Verne already had his world champion. I do believe that they was grooming hogan to eventually take it. Similar to sting or steamboat via flair.

[@Jim-Tuner]

@@BeeBumper It was the opposite actually. Hogan was selling his own merchandise independent of the AWA. T-Shirts mostly that he getting printed up locally. Verne saw the money being made and wanted a cut of Hogan's money. Should Verne have done it? Probably not. Or he should have figured out a deal where both of them made more money from selling merchandise together with allowing Hogan to do less work making the shirts. The other thing Verne supposedly wanted was a cut of the money Hogan was making on Japan trips at the time. That wasn't unusual in the AWA at the time. If the star of a promotion was working other promotions, their home promotion was going to have a say in where they worked and a cut of the money. I mean it was no different than how Andre the giant was booked outside the WWE at the time. But its best keep things in perspective. When Hogan got to the WWE, he didn't have a right to make his own merchandise at all. And if were to get booked outside the WWE, the WWE would make the arrangement for him, collect the money and be compensated. The things he was complaining about were not unique to the AWA. Hogan didn't leave because he was treated badly. Hogan left because Vince McMahon offered him a deal that the AWA could not in terms of him becoming a national star in New York and more money. As far as Jesse Ventura goes, it was a different situation. And I'll be blunt. Jesse was garbage in the ring. He was a very bad wrestler. He could be made to look ok in a tag team with a great worker like Adrian Adonis. But anytime Jesse did a singles match, it was just embarassing. The typical Jesse singles match in the AWA would have him stall starting the match for eight minutes followed by two minutes of simple action in the ring. It was something that didn't go over well with the crowds and couldn't be repeated very often. The WWE were believers in Jesse's BS when they signed them too. They had these visions of Jesse working a long series of matches with Hogan in the WWE. But then they got a look at what Jesse could really do in the ring and made him an announcer. Jesse claims his move to commentary was for other reasons, but its best to take anything Jesse says with a grain of salt. And moving him to commentary was a really smart move because he was much better at that than doing anything in the ring. He had a good look. He was great as a talker. But if the bell rang, it was really bad. Yes. Jesse wanted more money in the AWA. But at the time as a wrestler doing AWA matches, he wasn't worth it. If Verne had the vision to put him on color commentary, he would have been worth the money. But Verne wasn't an innovator in wrestling. That was part of his real downfall.

[@_sabathia_5929]

Networks did break written agreements with awa, they could have held them to the agreements via court and probably could have sued wWF for tampering ect. But that just wasn’t in Gagne’s demeanor

[@wilfred8326]

AWA could've sued the then WWF. The various NWA territories could have too. I bet if the the AWA + NWA had stuck to thier guns as well as there had been no "black Saturday", Maybe a traditional AWA + Jim Crockett Promotions/Mid-Atlantic, NWA Georgia, World Class, Houston....Montreal. A touring NWA champ, A Touring AWA, A touring WWF champ.... It would have been great!

[@datacipher]

Nope… as greg says in this interview “business wasn’t done that way…. Handshakes….” The gagne’s aren’t silly angels, they had plenty of court time, so did the networks. They weren’t breaking contracts, they were openly negotiating with both parties where no contract existed. Awa’s only network contract was with espn/tsn - and they kept that dying show on until the end. The other “contracts” were with individual stations and they were for simple barters for airtime in exchange for ad time. Vince offered them actual payments. No reason anyone would turn that down. If awa had a contract they could’ve and would’ve sued.

[@raymondtipton7243]

Hulk Hogan didnt even trust Greg Gagne.....Ric Flair got hogan n

[@richardphillips6205]

I was wondering what he did do when he retired? I heard he's friendly and approachable.

[@boomhawk6217]

I want the figurines of The High Flyers, Big Bad Bobby Duncan & Black Jack Lanza, Da Crusher & Dick The Bruiser & The Road Warriors

[@rsuriyop]

I was about to say, I was like how is this guy still even alive in 2022? Then I realized this was GREG Gagne, not Verne... Lol

[@suicidality2744]

Greg's stories about Vince buying them out have been all over the place. He used to say that he encouraged Verne to take the offer and retire. Verne supposedly told him that Greg was a quitter and he had no interest in selling. I think that is closer to what happend. It happens all the time in business. A bigger company offers to buy you out and you really have no choice but to take it. If you refuse they will do everything they can to put you out of business.

[@curthennig9448]

That was when Jerry Jarrett wanted to buy the AWA in 1987 that Greg told him to take it.

[@wilfred8326]

I want to know why he calls his dad Verne....

[@BeeBumper]

Because they were colleagues and adults.

[@wilfred8326]

@@BeeBumper it is strange 🤔 though....

[@christopherguzzi1316]

Because he has spent his entire life living in the shadow of his father, The Great Verne Gagne, and has had to fight the idea (literally at times) that his only accomplisments in wrestling were a direct result of favoritism by his father and not hard work, talent, and intelligence, so it's just easier and more respectful and professional to just call him Verne rather than dad in a business setting. Or, at least that is my best guess. 😉

[@bigfootaintreal5454]

Manny Fernandez called him the "drop kick tooth pick'

[@TheZom1965]

My dad is John Paul and Polish Hungarian.

[@toxicculture4682]

vince destroyed wrestling when he had to tell ppl on tv it was fake

[@rush437]

Did he just take credit for Cm Punk and give him the ideal for the pipe bomb? Greg has taken credit for every good ideal in wrestling since 1982 but he has never owned up to a bad ideal lol

[@freebird2882]

no he didn't take credit for that, he wasn't there then.

[@TheBaitShopGuy]

Hogan said that Verne tried to get Hogan to date Verne's daughter

[@russblack443]

Larry Zbyszko married her.

[@philipclarke9696]

Larry married Kathy, the attractive one. Hogan always screws that story up. Verne wanted him to marry Donna, who was later an announcer in the AWA. Great body , specifically legs, but looked just like Greg facially.

[@curthennig9448]

@@philipclarke9696 Flair tried to make a move on Kathy after Superclash 2 in Chicago. He was trying to get her drunk but The Baron and Larry Nelson saved the day.

[@bryanrautenstrauch8424]

Greg Gagne is a good man. Love the way he approaches the situation as the son of one of the titans of those territories. The AWA was world legit for a long time and that pressure had to be immense.

[@donaldyoung7362]

The figures look great, can't wait to clear room on my credit card for these.

[@beingright]

Greg coached Alex Murdaugh on how to tell the truth while being questioned.

[@Rampant_Colt]

High Flyers were fun to watch back in the day. AWA wrestling was the best

[@jimh.412]

It's the High Cryers according to Jesse The Body. 💪💪

[@Rampant_Colt]

@@jimh.412 LoL Vince McMahon is a wanker, but he was hilarious when paired up with Jesse Ventura playing good commentator/bad commentator in the WWF

[@dickborg452]

Davenport Iowa

[@daveschannel747]

25 mins in.... Greg forgot to mention Jesse the Body Did Jesse leave b4 Hogan? I dont remember.. Ken Patera too.. was Ken with Jesse b4 Hogan's crappy business jump??

[@rafeeqturner1458]

I don't know who fabricates stories more than this guy, Hogan, Hart, or Shane Douglas. Their huberous are off the charts

[@TheHannibalTV]

Hogan, Beefcake and Brian Blair tell more then Greg. Hart does but not as bad as those 3.

[@drackkor725]

I remember in the late 70s and early 80's when Verne made a comeback with mad dog and as a solo wrestler, he was the last person I wanted to see on the event that night. He hung around as a wrestler for way too long. Was sad to see the AWA fold. Everything I heard and read about the situation was Verne's unwillingness to change. He wanted more wrestling and less showmanship. He didn't want the belt on Hogan unless he had more of Hogan's profits. I also heard numerous times from wrestler shoot interviews he didn't take care of his own territory. He had chances to pay better to the networks for tv time. So the WWE / WWF was a way better promotion than the AWA. The character development was way ahead of AWA as well. Also, suggestions for changing the AWA / American Wrestling Association to the WWA / World Wrestling Association were never listened to. So the unwillingness to change is obvious. What ruined the AWA was Verne. Vince McMahon had a better product.

[@johnkolko5199]

he kept himself as champion, over a decade thru my whole childhood, when he was a fat and bald old man. We would turn the channel when he came on he was so boring

[@thebatt6183]

Time Warner didn't know how to get hold of Hogan ? He screwed himself

[@josephmiller9424]

Greg only problem he was so thin now if they would've had a cruiserweight or lightweight championship he could've been good going against guys his size and the high flyers were great to watch and basically they were the killer bees in the WWF I think Vince would've had Greg for the killer bees and they could've had the high flyers vs bulldogs harts and have them come in as AWA CHAMPS

[@director7685]

Vince is the devil.

[@flstffatboy3910]

Greg seems like a great guy

[@petepete2334]

Verne should have paid Hogan especially merchandise vince offered him a sweet deal Verne didn't likenl that Hogan wasn't an armature wrestler Hogan was it you guys, helped, make him big-time should have paid him the AWA was my favorite everyones favorite Verne was stubborn and it cost him everything itsntoo bad hindsight is 2020

[@johnwade7963]

“My daddy said sell first” Greg Gagne

[@bigfootaintreal5454]

Dutch Mantell said Greg Gagne and George Gullis are the "WORST" second gen wrestlers to ever step in the ring.

[@grawakendream8980]

greg was a good hand actually

[@Rampant_Colt]

Opinions vary

[@bobbylincoln7869]

daddy saids sell

[@grawakendream8980]

@@Rampant_Colt they don't vary. greg is long recognized as a good hand in the business. george gulas, is not

[@freebird2882]

odd, I never head him say that, always thought he was a good wrestlers. Obviously it's difficult living up to his Dad's reputation.

[@krillin876]

These "territories" blame Vince but they killed themselves. Go watch Greg vs the Road Warriors. It is painful to watch. Vince would never book his son to beat up top talent. Vern looked like crap. Couldn't do much in the ring and looked like you math teacher.

[@Jim-Tuner]

Yeah. Vince would never book his son to beat up top talent. What Vince would do is book himself to beat the top talent and put the belt on himself. And Vince was so great that he would retire undefeated with the belt. Yeah. And that AWA was so bad that Vince stole every wrestler the promotion had down all the way to the Beverly Brothers. As far as painful things to watch, I could suggest alot of WWE ultimate warrior matches which were worse than anything Greg ever did.

[@goose2054]

Vince booked Shane to win that World Cup a few years ago…. Don’t give me that shit…. Ego always prevails…. Let’s not forget Eric watts either…

[@krillin876]

@@Jim-Tuner ultimate warrior?

[@krillin876]

@banditchief Bruno looked like an OX. He had a jaw that looked like iron.

[@chadk890]

@@Jim-Tuner Warrior vs Rick Rude Summer Slam 89, Warrior vs Hogan WM 6, Warrior vs Savage WM 7

[@salvagemonster3612]

Oh god so tired f this ham and eggsr. He is so tiring crying cause his dad was famous and he wasn’t. Dad lost everything and he had sell used cars. Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[@butcherbaker1001]

I love listening to Greg but he always treated the interviewer like a mark. Who is lionizing’s father. I’ve never believed that story that they wanted to lower Verne from the ceiling with an alien gimmick. It sounds like the kind of thing Verne would say to illustrate how against gimmicks he was. Why would they offer a gimmick like that to a guy with his résumé? They would offer it to some ham n egger

[@curthennig9448]

I doubt Fred Kohler would have pulled that Martian gimmick on Verne.

[@johnbrown1691]

Greg is a pathological liar but he could go in the ring.....he just could never put on muscle so he always looked like a fan. Tells a great story though.