Throughout the years, loads of criticism have been directed Gagne's way for retiring as champion and not putting Bockwinkel over on his way out the door. The main argument being Verne cheapened the AWA title by retiring as champion. While that is a valid point, the AWA fans did not really seem to care as the AWA had three of its best years ever attendance wise in 1981, 1982 and 1983.  

In 1983 Nick Bockwinkel gave a tremendous interview touching on the Gagne sleeper being a choke and touching on other facets of his feud with Verne. Here's the interview which was transcribed by my friend Dan Roeglin. "When the championship committee gave me the title back.  Just as I have said on TV, I have pictures, I mean it's a joke.  About Verne Gagne and his sleeper hold.  I have pictures from four different angles, from that championship match in Chicago.  It's evident that it is right across my throat.  But the match ended the way it did and I don't know if its because they respected him for what he did for so many years or whatever, nobody made much of a to-do about it.  Mistakes are made, and we see it done in all business.  It is almost easier to cover if you forget about it and try and get on with business than to haul it out and wash it out. When he retired the fact that they voted to give it back to me was like being voted into the Hall of Fame.  It was a vindication of their way of saying that they felt what should have took place the year before shouldn't have happened."  

The main goal of my column this month is to get everyone thinking in their mind whether or not the Gagne sleeper hold was a choke. This was a huge storyline in AWA history and a debate that continues on to this day. As for my personal opinion on the matter, Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan said the Gagne sleeper hold was a choke. That's good enough for me. Bockwinkel and Heenan were and still are honorable men. I have no reason to doubt them.  

Special thanks to AWA historian George Schire. George's record book The Champion's Name Is Bockwinkel is an invaluable resource which has aided me greatly in covering the career of Nick Bockwinkel. I'd also like to thank Dan Roeglin, John English and Rich Tito for providing much of the impetus for this particular column.   

Comments, questions and corrections can be sent to jcz64@yahoo.com   

NEXT MONTH:

I'll cover Nick Bockwinkel's second reign as AWA champion.