Wednesday, September 6, 2023
KARE Classic: Catching up with legends of the AWA
They were the heroes (and anti-heroes) of many boys who grew up in the 1960s and 70s. In this KARE Classic we catch up with the Baron Von Raschke, Larry the Axe Henning, Verne Gagne and Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, some of the legendary wrestlers of the AWA.
The Midnight Rockers vs Zhukov & Kaissie
April 3, 1986. Las Vegas, Nevada. The team of the Midnight Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Mart Jannetty take on the team of Boris Zhukov and Sheik Adnan El Kaissie. ESPN TV taping.
Greg Gagne vs Sheik Adnan El Kaissey (cage match)
St. Paul, Minnesota. November 22, 1984. Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell and The Masked Superstar also get involved in the match.
The High Flyers vs Ken Patera & Crusher Blackwell (06/26/1983)
June 26 1983, St. Paul Minnesota, Sheik Adnan El Kassey purchases the contract of Ken Patera from Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and then teams him up with Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell to defeat The High Flyers, Greg Gagne and Jumpin' Jim Brunzell, for The AWA World Tag Team Titles.
Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie passes away at 84 years old
News of his passing spread on social media on Wednesday. He was 84 years old. He'd begin his pro wrestling career in the area in the late 1950s, wrestling as a Native American character named Billy White Wolf. He spent the 1960s and first half of the 70s wrestling in territories such as Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, and Australia before landing with the WWWF in 1976.
He won the WWWF Tag Team Championships with Chief Jay Strongbow in December 1976. However, they ended up vacating the belts that May when Al-Kaissie needed neck surgery.
. In 1981, with tensions between the US and Middle East running high, he debuted in the American Wrestling Association as "Sheik Adnan El Kaissey," where his stated goal was to win the AWA title from champion Nick Bockwinkel. He failed at that task, so he then enlisted Jerry Blackwell, now wearing a sheik's outfit and renamed Sheik Ayatollah Jerry Blackwell, to team with him to try to win the AWA tag team titles. That failed, too, so Adnan bought Ken Patera from manager Bobby Heenan to team with Blackwell, and Adnan would act as Blackwell and Patera's manager. The team of Blackwell and Patera captured the AWA World tag team title from Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell. Adnan had to quit wrestling when he was injured, which is the real reason Patera was brought in to team with Blackwell.
On April 23, 1983, at the AWA Super Sunday, he teamed with Blackwell in a tag team match against Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon which they lost. In 1986 at AWA WrestleRock he lost to Verne Gagne in a steel cage; he then teamed with Boris Zhukov in a tag team match against The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels). Kassie later left the AWA, but returned on a November 26, 1988, card in Bloomington, Minnesota, when he managed The Iron Sheik (who he would also later manage in the WWF) in a match against Sgt. Slaughter.
After WWF he then joined American Wrestling Federation (AWF) where he managed "The Rat Pack" of Bob Orton Jr, Mr. Hughes & Manny Fernandez. He also managed Hercules Hernandez.
He formerly managed his own company, the World All-Star Wrestling Alliance, which he co-owned with Ken Patera.
He retired from wrestling in 1998.
Championships and accomplishments
50th State Big Time Wrestling
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)
NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Neff Maiava
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Class of 2020[13]
NWA Australia
Australian Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shag Thomas (1), Pepper Martin (1), Bearcat Wright (1), and Johnny War Eagle (1 time)
Southwest Sports, Inc.
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hogan Wharton
World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
IWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mario Milano (1) and Tex McKenzie
World Wide Wrestling Federation
WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chief Jay Strongbow
(Updated 9-6-23 8:30 pm)Yes, I'm VERY AWARE Of This Stupid Red Screen That's on Some Of The Stories here.
Update 9-6-23 8:30) The red screens have been removed by Google.
Yes I'm well aware of THIS fucking red screen that's been placed on some of the stories on this site. Since this site is powered by Google, and it's been an ongoing issue, when I sent in the report that they fucked up (yet again), I told them I'm going to make this post to explain it to whoever comes and visits this site.
Every week Google falsely and incorrectly red flags things here claiming "Social Engineering", and when I see it I have to go into the Google search console and explain to them that there's NO ISSUES with what they falsely red flagged. I simply imbed the video, post the link to where it's located on YouTube, and then add whatever description is on tat said video, that's it. Then several hours later, someone at Google sees they fucked up and lifts that red screen seeing they fucked up.
Every time Google screws up by doing this I know it's costing me viewers here, so for now on, EVERY TIME Google fucks up and does this, I'm going to make a post like this because these red screens are coming thru no fault of mine, it's all on Google and they know it because of how many times they have to correct these fuck ups.
If they have the technology to red flag this site, why don't they have the technology to correct these constant fuck ups?
Funny how I can't get an answer to that question.
So for now on? EVERY TIME Google's system falsely red flags something on this site, I'm going to make a post like this. Maybe then, they'll realize they're the ones that keep screwing up and might actually do something, to correct it.
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