Then, on Nov. 8, 1975, in the St. Paul Auditorium, Bockwinkel defeated Gagne to win the AWA heavyweight title, which he carried honorably for five years with intellectual superiority and snideness.

The man behind Hulk Hogan was about five years into his wrestling career by the time he moved to Minnesota in 1981 at the invitation of Verne Gagne, the promoter and longtime AWA champion. Before ...