Cole Miner Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 www.caulifloweralleyclub.org/rip-nick-bockwinkel/ Flair mentioned the other day on his podcast that he was in bad shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Wow that's sad. I grew up as his role being commissioner of WCW and he seemed like an authority figure you wouldn't want to fuck with. It wasn't until later on I had the chance to go back and watch his matches and promos. He was great on the mic, very well spoken, direct and would educate. Very well dressed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Nick was unbelievably good in the ring. His hour long match with Curt Henning on ESPN - which I watched back when it aired - and his UWFI exhibition match with Billy Robinson are personal favorites of mine. RIP Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Could you make the argument that he is the greatest NA Wrestler. I know folks were arguing Eddy yesterday- between those two it's pretty close. RIP Nick- you were the man of your era, and arguably any era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Oh, hell. He was one of my all-time favourites. Amazing in the ring, amazing on the mic, and he had a voice to match it all as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 The best heels think they are right. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Is it me, or has the last year seen too many legends pass? (I mean, more than usual) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 This is very different to me than Savage or Piper or Dusty. Bock was in bad shape as best as I understood it. It was actually a lot more like Verne Gagne dying, and in that regard, I'm not sad. I was sad a couple of years ago when it was apparent we'd never hear another Nick Bockwinkel interview about his life's work ever again. That said, we should celebrate the guy who is quite possibly the best wrestler of all time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool arrow Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Is it me, or has the last year seen too many legends pass? (I mean, more than usual) No lie. This year has been the drizzling shits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I'd heard the name Nick Bockwinkle due to being into my wrestling history but had never ever even had the chance to see him wrestle until Youtube burst on the scene. As more and more of his matches became available and it was like a revelation. He is legit one of the most intricate wrestlers I've ever watched, so invested in the minutae of a match. And unlike a lot of other formulaeic territory wrestlers I don't think the amount of footage overexposed him because no one match was ever the same with him. Bockwinkle is the wrestling equivalent to water - he's fluid and you can put him in any in-ring situation and he'll adapt. You know how the commentators always tried to get HHH over as a ring general? Bock is the epitome of that saying to me. If he'd had a better quality of opponent/had decided to run with the NWA he'd probably be everyone's #1 wrestler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I'm not the guy to talk about Bockwinkel or the AWA as it's not my area of knowledge, but Bix put this angle out there on Twitter and it's a great one if you've never seen it: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I still -- STILL -- haven't seen the Vegas broadway with Hennig. At least there's this (I mistakenly attributed it to Tabe but he mentioned the UWF match. Hey Tabe watch THIS one!): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintthecrippler Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 The one time I shelled out cash for a photo op at a wrestling convention was a group "AWA Champions" photo with Nick Bockwinkel, Stan Hansen, and Larry Z. As we're about to take the photo, I stutter out "this is a big honor for me." Not missing a beat, Bockwinkel responds by simply asking me "Are you sure?" Even at a wrestling convention surrounded by loser wrestling nerds like me, Bockwinkel was still sharp and on point with wit. And I will always have fond memories of being an 8-year old wrestling in 1986 discovering a vast world beyond the WWF thanks to cable television, and being blown away by the one-hour match between Hennig and Bockwinkel. It was the first time I ever saw a full hour TV show taken up by one match. It was probably the second bloodiest match I had seen up to that point (Rockers vs Rose/Somers had aired earlier in the year), and while I had seen a couple Hogan title matches on Saturday Night Main Event, this was the first World Title match I had seen on TV that seemed like an epic struggle from start to finish. And I loved finding out and discovering on the AWA DVDVR set that after turning face, Bockwinkel was still a bit of a dick in the ring and on promos, and really was the epitome of an "I haven't changed, just the wrestlers I wrestle have" face turn, and kept his edge throughout the next year and a half before retiring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Bock on hollywood squares 1968 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 The thing I love about Nick Bockwinkel is all this great stuff we see here was when he was in his late 40's and early 50's. The guy was in amazing shape and never lost a step. I kinda wish he and Heenan had one last run in the WWF in the late 80's. Bockwinkel vs. Hogan, Savage and Roberts in 88 could have been some amazing stuff. In an age where guys are lucky to live to 60, he made it to 80. I said this on twitter this morning when I read the news. "Rest in Peace Nick Bockwinkel. If there's a heaven, you're in the study doing some light calisthenics and enjoying a fine brandy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 vs Rick Martel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstout Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Wonder how someone like Bockwinkel would do in today's WWE. No pyro, no yelling, just comes out dressed like a pro, very calmly says "I'll beat you because I'm better than you," and then does it. Parity booking probably wouldn't allow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LP Steve Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Being from Florida, I only got to see Bock work live once, but what a match. Florida champion Jack Brisco versus Georgia champ Bockwinkel. Neither title on the line, just bragging rights. 45 minute draw (it wasn't even the main event on the card, but damned if I can remember what was). One of the best matches I've ever seen in person, and it made me a follower of Nick from afar for the rest of his career. If he wasn't the best all round wrestler ever, he's got to be in the top five. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Wonder how someone like Bockwinkel would do in today's WWE. No pyro, no yelling, just comes out dressed like a pro, very calmly says "I'll beat you because I'm better than you," and then does it. Parity booking probably wouldn't allow it. Late 2000s Jericho was basically Bockwinkel homage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsey Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I've said here and elsewhere that, in my mind, Nick Bockwinkel was Ric Flair before Ric Flair. He was amazing on the mic and nearly flawless in the ring. He carried himself like a champion better than damn near anyone in the game. Oh, and for the record, the 60 minute broadway with Hennig is the best hour long match I've ever seen and Nick was 51 years old when he wrestled that match. Un-fucking-real... RIP Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I've said here and elsewhere that, in my mind, Nick Bockwinkel was Ric Flair before Ric Flair. He was amazing on the mic and nearly flawless in the ring. He carried himself like a champion better than damn near anyone in the game. Oh, and for the record, the 60 minute broadway with Hennig is the best hour long match I've ever seen and Nick was 51 years old when he wrestled that match. Un-fucking-real... RIP Nick 51 and bleeding a ton while he was at it. His daily cardio must have been insane. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Execproducer Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I was in the 8th grade when Hogan came to the AWA and they started rolling through Vegas. I fully supported him in his battles with the Heenan Family. But by the time Hogan left I had grown into a big Bockwinkel fan and when I eventually started buying tapes from McAdam and the like, I sought out anything I could find from the AWA. I think Meltzer was right when he was talking about Nick last night. You could probably rattle off a fairly long list of better wrestlers but as far as World Champs go, he is in the same rarified air as Race, Flair, and Sammartino. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Nick was one of the best. I miss no finisher champs that just beat the shit out of you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I went looking for the bock vs backlund match from toronto but found this instead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacelle Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I was in the 8th grade when Hogan came to the AWA and they started rolling through Vegas. I fully supported him in his battles with the Heenan Family. But by the time Hogan left I had grown into a big Bockwinkel fan and when I eventually started buying tapes from McAdam and the like, I sought out anything I could find from the AWA. I think Meltzer was right when he was talking about Nick last night. You could probably rattle off a fairly long list of better wrestlers but as far as World Champs go, he is in the same rarified air as Race, Flair, and Sammartino. I don't know about a fairly long list of better wrestlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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