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Nick Bockwinkel


Grimmas

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Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987.

 

Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday.

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I think like a lot of people, I want to rank Bock as high as I justifiably can. Watching him in those matches vs. The Funks last night reminded me of just how much I love him.

 

One thing is that I've found that there tends to be more 70s footage out there than people sometimes expect. What would be useful is if someone (i.e. khawk, lol) could provide a list of what 70s Bock matches are out there. Whether its AWA, Japan, Luce Classics, or whatever.

 

Because really, Bock in the 70s might be the difference between a top 10 or 15 finish for him, or a 30-50 sort of finish. Depending on how much 70s Bock is out there, he'd be someone I'd look at closely after Dory and Harley. Why? Because I have a personal interest both in seeing the slept-on 70s given a fair representation in this poll, and in Bock finishing high.

 

Lovely hair.

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One thing is that I've found that there tends to be more 70s footage out there than people sometimes expect. What would be useful is if someone (i.e. khawk, lol) could provide a list of what 70s Bock matches are out there. Whether its AWA, Japan, Luce Classics, or whatever.

 

 

 

Might take a bit but I'll get a list of 70's matches up here, no problem.

 

I'll also be happy to put together a sampler set if necessary that potential voters can circulate amongst themselves if some of what is listed is not readily available on the youtubes.

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Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987.

 

Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday.

 

Bock was 53 in 1987. Makes his performances that year even more impressive, IMO.

 

For as much as Bock was the high-end AWA mainstay for a large part of his career, he did travel around to defend the title more than any AWA Champ before him. Not a ton of it is available on video (I'd kill for a tape of some of is Georgia defenses, for example), but there is a body of work there that should somewhat offset that concern.

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I'll also be happy to put together a sampler set if necessary that potential voters can circulate amongst themselves if some of what is listed is not readily available on the youtubes.

 

 

FWIW if there are any other AWA guys someone wants to make an argument for and video needs to be circulated, I can probably help out with that too. I have samplers of a guy like Leon White, for example, and Col. DeBeers (if Wiskoski gets any love in this thing). Vachon, of course, if he gets into the conversation. Adonis (both with Ventura and as a single), Blackwell 80-85, Slaughter as SD II, plenty more.

 

My preference would be to send out a block of stuff to one person and have them pass it around to whoever needs it (chain mail, similar to the review process for the 80's sets). I'll leave that up to you guys to figure it out if it comes to that.

 

For now, a Bock list is a good starting point.

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Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987.

 

Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday.

 

Bock was 53 in 1987. Makes his performances that year even more impressive, IMO.

 

For as much as Bock was the high-end AWA mainstay for a large part of his career, he did travel around to defend the title more than any AWA Champ before him. Not a ton of it is available on video (I'd kill for a tape of some of is Georgia defenses, for example), but there is a body of work there that should somewhat offset that concern.

 

 

Thanks I knew 43 didn't sound right when I was typing it and yes I wish the GCW stuff was on tape especially the angle with Solie

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Obviously complete bouts are the true want, and there are some, along with plenty of film...some clipped up, some more complete.

There is plenty of Luce film tags with Stevens and singles matches vs. Verne (and some of the Verne ones are pretty long),

Bock vs. Jumbo in Hawaii in 1978,

Bock vs. Martel in Hawaii 1978,

8 minutes of silent film from 2/11/79 of Bock defending against Baba in Minneapolis,

vs. Rusher Kimura (IWE 1979),

10 minutes of film vs. Ernie Ladd in Chicago,

5 minutes of Bock vs. Robinson from a high school gym in or around 1974,

Stevens and Bock vs. Bastien/Robinson from AWA TV in 1973,

w/Duncum vs. Verne & Mad Dog from Minneapolis in Oct 79,

Bock vs. Kintaro Oki from March 1980 in the IWE,

vs, Zumhofe from AWA TV in 1979,

6 minutes of Bock vs. Greg Gagne from Minny in July 79,

w/Stevens vs. High Flyers 8/10/74 TV.

Plus a whole bunch of Midwestern films from the mid 70's featuring a bunch of Nick-Verne bouts, and some Heenan Family tags....might be another Robinson-Bock bout in there too, I can't remember exactly. I'm sure there is more.

 

The shorter stuff and the heavily clipped stuff is probably better to see how he worked certain guys.

 

Naturally there is a ton of 80's material to dive into.

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