Verne Gagne

Verne Gagne, born Laverne Clarence Gagne in Corcoran, Minnesota, in 1926, was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, trainer and promoter who died in 2015. After winning state high school wrestling titles in 1942 and 1943 he wrestled and played football at the University of Minnesota, served in the Marine Corps, won two NCAA titles and was an alternate for the 1948 Olympic freestyle wrestling team before turning professional in 1949. He owned and promoted the Minneapolis based American Wrestling Association, the dominant Midwestern promotion until it folded in 1991. He is counted as an eleven-time world champion, having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship ten times, and is one of only seven men inducted into the WWE, WCW and Professional Wrestling halls of fame.