Nick Bockwinkel and Chief Wahoo Talk About Upcoming World Title Match

[@neilgoldring4832]

2 absolute legends👑. The AWA had a beautiful world heavyweight title belt.

[@philipclarke9696]

I would put Nick’s 82-83 run as World Champ against anyone’s in the business. The guy was pushing 50 and literally defended the AWA belt against anyone and everyone. A world class talent that I don’t think people today fully appreciate.

[@miketurner643]

lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[@porsche5914]

Its scripted fake you moron

[@shaunieinthewrasslin2877]

Nick was fantastic, great promos, great matches, perfect sophisticated heel

[@Michael_Chandler_Keaton]

A true promo. Realism, a serious tone, and even stumbling over words as happens in real interviews. Superb.

[@nassermj7671]

Nick approaching 50 handled the young guys with finesse & seasoned flair. Legend

[@lewis9702]

In addition to all of Bockwinkel's other attributes, he also had an incredible head of hair.

[@damienthrash2202]

God that belt was beautiful!

[@DavidLucas-oj6ju]

Yes it was

[@glenwoods9081]

Look at the belt closely make it gold what does it look like definitely where the idea came from

[@jimackerman6343]

Where can I buy one of those?

[@brainspin7518]

The NWA big title belt was heavily influenced by it definitely! Easy to see why by looking @ it....simply gorgeous!

[@iGamingAlliance]

I had no idea how beautiful the AWA belt was. I know Wahoo didn't want to tour as world champ but it's still hard to imagine him never being world champ even for a week.

[@HBO1984.]

NIck Bockwinkle and Harley Race were two SOLID old school champions! Then comes Ric FLair and starts a new saga. All 3 are my favorite ever!

[@neilgoldring4832]

Man, old school wrestling when I was a kid was AWESOME!!!👍👍👍👍 The AWA world heavyweight title was beautiful 👑 Jericho's main influence was Mr. Bockwinkel. Wahoo was the tuffest dude ever!

[@thelionsshare6668]

This is the first feud I ever followed. This is when I started watching wrestling in earnest.

[@JeremyPeeples]

That is some of the cleanest footage I've seen of the inmate AWA belt.

[@MrAitraining]

That AWA Belt was awesome

[@HBO1984.]

Wow. Two gorgeous pieces of jewelry! Nick Bockwinkle's championship belt and Paul Bosh's ring. Very Nice.

[@surfczar]

I can't believe the resolution of this promo! Nick Bockwinkel was a brilliant promo guy. I remember when I was a kid and Wrestling came on, I would run for the dictionary, because I knew when Nick Bockwinkel came on, I would have to use it to look up some of the words he would use, and they were always perfect, not to mention that he was a great technical wrestler, and even in his 50's he was in incredible shape, and the best heel in Verne's stable.

[@VolumedMusicMan]

Bockwinkel and Wahoo!👏respect

[@clayp7284]

Grew up on Memphis Wrestling and nearly every year Bockwinkel would come and kick Lawler's royal ass in a title defense in the Memphis Coliseum. Rest in Peace, Champ

[@79chevy901]

I remember those days to.

[@justinowens4316]

Loved that belt

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

Crazy that Bockwinkel was already 46 years old here and Wahoo was 42. So much for the young guys getting their spot lol.

[@ArielCardona]

Actually, Bockwinkel won his first world title at 40. And his best years as a worker were at his 40s

[@laurenhamre3915]

Honestly, in the 'territory days', you're champions were in their late 30s and 40s. They could lead the young studs through the matches to make the matches interesting. Times change, but this shows how sometimes wrestlers could improve with age, just like fine wine.

[@badmonkey2222]

@@laurenhamre3915 it just shows that today the wrestling itself sucks, all these huge roided out young guys can do crazy flips off a 40ft ladder, but these were true men, real technical wrestlers, commonly matches up until the mid 90s would go 45 min or longer, now your lucky to get 10 min of actual wrestling in between all the bullshit and soap oprah, i was a Fair guy, talk about a territory guy and the best promoter ever, very humble always promoting the talent, Ric owned the territory from North Carolina to Florida and Texas, that's why Mcnuttlipss wanted him so bad, also thought Barry Windham was the best technical wrestler to ever step in the ring, Harley Race, Arn and Ole Anderson, names like that are what i think of when i think of wrestling, i quit watching it years ago because it got so bad.

[@VolumedMusicMan]

Wahoo and Nick in real life were very good friends. When they were young men they were roommates in Hawaii while wrestling there. Nick in his shoot interview tells a very funny story about wahoo and post it notes!

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Now young'uns, THAT'S a promo.

[@tijindersingh4928]

Just imagine, if Verne Gagne took a chance on Hulk Hogan and gave him a long run with the AWA Heavyweight Title. The wrestling landscape in the 80's would've definitely been altered.

[@bramirez3330]

Mcmahon would have still lured Hogan away to the WWF, like he did to Curt Hennig when he was AWA World Champion 🏆.

[@scottyjohnson3120]

Gagne was more traditional, he didn't want to change, and that's what cost him. To him, Hogan was a big stiff with muscles but not a real wrestler. He liked guys who could actually wrestle, such as himself and Nick Bockwinkle. McMahon on the other hand was more into personas, guys with a gimmick who could sell the crowd. Unfortunately for Gagne the fans went for it. Kinda sad, I myself am an old school guy, I grew up on the AWA, I miss it. McMahon has ruined wrestling in my opinion.

[@christofl6523]

@@bramirez3330 If Hogan turned down McMahon Austin Idol was the next target. We would have had Idolmania instead of Hulkamania.

[@allencollamore8052]

great vid!!!! now THIS is the way it should be!! wahoo is the NWA u.s. champion and gets a shot at the AWA worlds title!!! awesome!!!!!!

[@bernardthompsonjr2347]

That was very normal back then. The AWA worked with the NWA even though they left (officially) the organization in 1960, they still worked together as part of the NWA territory system and Verne Gagne owned part of NWA Central States office with Bob Geigel. The AWA Champion would defend his strap in places like the Pacific Northwest, some Canadian promotions, Central States, CWA Memphis, parts of Florida and Houston when the traveling NWA World Heavyweight Champion was in the larger hot beds of NWA Wrestling like Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Florida, World Class (Dallas) and Japan. The late Paul Bosch liked to bring in AWA, CWA or even the WWWF (WWF) champion when he couldn't get Ric Flair or Harley Race with the NWA gold.

[@HeavyJ713]

Bockwinkle owned an Interest in the Houston office

[@anarchypickle]

Amazing man, where are you getting such high quality, rare footage? This is stunning, historical stuff

[@SuprJoinT]

I have these in full 1080p, but figured 720p was good enough for here. Thought the quality was OK though.

[@anarchypickle]

It looks better than 80% of the re-scanned stuff on the Network. Were you a tape trader once upon a time or have access to masters? Most NWA/WWWF/AWA stuff on here is like 3rd or 4th generation and is fuzzy at best.

[@HeavyJ713]

You can go to the nwa streaming sight it's like the Network

[@jesshansen1397]

Mean Gene is so much better than the other interviewers.

[@marianoaguilar8372]

very cool. NWA U.S. champion challenging AWA World champion in an independent territory.

[@GumperVanLier]

wow, video quality and sound is excellent but uploaded in the wrong aspect ratio. Nothing better than Bockwinkel interview. Thanks for this.

[@michaeltruthson6262]

that headdress Wahoo is rocking got damn.

[@VolumedMusicMan]

I don’t know if Gene Mean’s AWA jacket or Paul Boesch’s jacket is more outrageous lol!

[@Jean0987654321]

Interesting that AWA aired on KIAH in Houston

[@richardwillams7086]

Nick was just the man in the AWA

[@weaselsuit]

Oh man! Wahoo and Nick had a tremendous series in the AWA in 1982…

[@robertcurbo2436]

Nick Bockwinkle bought in to the Houston promotion

[@deonteross2996]

This felt very real bockwinkel was the total package

[@charlesjenkins1225]

Nick's opponents did not know the difference between a Wrestling Card and a Playing Card. He was the Master of ..... Being Smart!!!!!!

[@yakadoodledongywongy8718]

That belt is almost as nice as the "big gold belt"

[@dennyson3500]

I love how Bockwinkel botches, but then covers for it, then finishes strong!!

[@jimackerman6343]

"MEAN, WOOOOOOOO, GENE!!!!!!"

[@pulsarlights2825]

Bockwinkle looked like the guy who managed the Partridge Family

[@kazar_redbull1]

Actually I always thought Bobby Heenan was

[@Toracube]

Nick has to be in the top 5 of wrestlers when it comes to promos.

[@michaelallanrubin2376]

Bockwinkle the best promo chris jehrico reminiscient of him

[@MrDoneboy]

I was at this match in the Sam Houston Coliseum!

[@indiasupportstrumpwwg1wga927]

Why does the early 80’s seem so different from the late 80’s?

[@georgemartinez9414]

I thought mean gene was gonna piledrive bockwinkle or bust his mouth with that microphone

[@rufust.firefly4890]

Bockwinkel had a bit part in an early episode of the original Hawaii 5-0.

[@theoelliott4649]

Damn Jim Crockett ripped off The AWA belt to create the NWA big gold belt.... the design is almost spot on.

[@teller1290]

Sad thing is, as a lifelong NWA guy, I always loved the original NWA belt with the flags. It was shorter and sort of minimalist, clean.

[@michaeltruthson6262]

Real wrestling right here and hot Promos

[@TGCdnTalkShow]

Very interesting that Wahoo wasn't clear on how Nick regained the title, awarded by the AWA when Gagne retired after his last match. No internet LOL.

[@paulbookwood6410]

Were those guys fun to watch or what? 😁

[@michaelconnors7668]

Nick Bockwinkel tells the truth about Texas, Paul Boesch, and Wahoo McDaniel.

[@fredericbarclay4601]

The AWA was apparently based in Amarillo,Texas though obviously Verne owned the company from his home in Minneapolis: if anyone has any idea why this was so (the Funks owned the Amarillo office and rarely, if EVER, wrestled in the AWA), I'd love to hear of it.

[@scottmoore1614]

WAHOO !!! 😃

[@pasadenaluke]

Bockwinkle was very lucky he didn’t have to fight for real. McDaniels was a legitimate tough guy.

[@weaselsuit]

Nick is about 50 years old here!

[@stevewhitney7037]

Never understood why this old man has been world champion way to many times

[@northernbohemianrealist]

Thanks to Joe Flaherty for those introductions.

[@davegbp]

just think, at the pearly gates 98% of the AWA legends are there, yucking it up about the old days of Pro wrestling...who wouldn't want to be in on those conversations.. :-)

[@charlesjenkins1225]

Who is the Man with the Mic at the start. His ears says He is a badass.... If anyone knows let me know!

[@anthonywilliams5152]

Paul Boesch. Promoter of the Houston territory. Many say he was one of the best pay off guys in the business

[@charlesjenkins1225]

@@anthonywilliams5152 thanks Now of course i am going to be spending the night looking him up :)

[@oxcarthabu]

@@anthonywilliams5152 True, I've seen a lot of interviews where wrestlers said he paid very fairly.

[@willnchicago696]

oxcarthabu Paul Boesch was a decorated WWII vet and a pro wrestler until an automobile accident ended his career. He became an announcer in Houston and worked in the promoters office until he took the promotion over in the 60s. He turned Houston into one of the top wrestling cities in the country

[@charlesjenkins1225]

@@willnchicago696 Thanks for the input. With each response I am becoming more and more of a Paul Boesch fan!!! A WW2 vet. Proof he was a MAN !!!

[@MrDoneboy]

R.I.P. "Mean Gene"!

[@bluwng]

I wasn’t around for AWA it looks like the big gold belt copied this belt.

[@jessyleppert2]

1979

[@Daniel-hn7nd]

I think 1981

[@briannettles669]

On August 14, 1981, Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel in a 2 out of 3 falls match in Houston to retain the AWA title.

[@wolfiethedog76]

Strongbow promo was better than Bockwinkel's....woof

[@jimreily7538]

That's Wahoo McDaniel, he's the guy that Chief Jay Strongbow took his gimmick from. Wahoo was actually part-Indian. Strongbow was Italian or something.

[@howardcunniffe8738]

I'm sure it was all fixed that Bockwinkle won the match.

[@oxcarthabu]

Paul Boesch was a good promoter in Houston, but, unfortunately, he was horrible as a match commentator.

[@dupont416]

Did Paul Boesxh and Boyd Pierce use the same wardrobe designer?

[@mtnman666]

lotta talk about who was the best to never to hold a nwa/awa/wwf title for this era its gotta be wahoo who was so over in the crockett territory

[@Koolazzmike]

Paul Boesh is stumbling, you can tell he's cue carding

[@shaolin1derpalm]

Dude... Rare sub par interview by demigod bockwunkel.

[@GETole]

Bosch was a horrid speaker.