Profile of Curt Hennig on Famous Like Me

Curt Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), also known by his stage name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler who competed for the American Wrestling Association, World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling promotions.

Career

The son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig, Curt Hennig was one of the most popular stars in the AWA before he turned heel and won the AWA World Heavyweight Title from Nick Bockwinkel. He used a roll of coins given to him by Larry Zbysko and he held the title for close to a year before going to the WWF.

Hennig was one of the most hated and at times loved WWF performers during the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the Intercontinental Title on two occasions. During a temporary injury-forced retirement in 1992, he became "executive consultant" to Ric Flair during Flair's World Title run in the WWF.

After briefly returning to active competition in 1993 and 1994, he spent some time as a color commentator for WWF programming, and in 1997 he signed with WCW. He briefly joined the Four Horsemen but turned on them when he hit Ric Flair in the head with a cage door. In turning, he joined the nWo and soon had his childhood best friend, Rick Rude, by his side. He won the United States Title in late 1997, and the World Tag Team Titles in 1999 with Barry Windham. Near the end of his WCW run, he was the leader of The West Texas Rednecks with Barry, his brother Kendall Windham and Bobby Duncum, Jr. They were supposed to be heels to feud with rapper Master P's No Limit Soldiers but the southern WCW fans cheered them and the storyline was soon dropped. The Rednecks recorded a country song titled I Hate Rap that received some airplay.

He returned to WWE in 2002 as a surprise competitor in the Royal Rumble but was released from the company later in the year after reportedly becoming intoxicated and getting into a fight with Brock Lesnar on a return flight from the United Kingdom. After being fired from the WWE, he went on to work for TNA and Jimmy Hart's All Star Wrestling.

On February 10, 2003 Curt Hennig died in a Florida hotel room, just before a scheduled TNA wrestling match. The Tampa Coroner's office and the Tampa Medical Examiner's office declared acute cocaine intoxication the official cause of his death.

Profile

• Height: 6'3" (190.5 cm)
• Weight: 260lbs (117.9 kg)
• Hometown: Robbinsdale, Minnesota
• Trained By: Larry Hennig, Verne Gagne
• Professional Debut: 1979
• Previous Identities: Mr. Perfect
• Previous Manager(s): Bobby Heenan, Rick Rude, "The Coach" John Tolos, "The Genius" Lanny Poffo, Madusa
• Quotes: "I'm perfect. I'm Mr. Perfect!", "Now that... was perfect.", "Nobody beats Mr. Perfect! Nobody!"

Finishing and signature moves

• Perfect-Plex / Hennig-Plex (Bridging Fisherman Suplex)
• Swinging Knee Lift
• Rolling Neck Snap
• Spear

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association

• 1-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time AWA World Tag Team Champion (with Scott Hall)

World Championship Wrestling

• 1-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Barry Windham)

World Wrestling Federation

• 2-time WWF Intercontinental Champion

National Wrestling Alliance

• 1-time NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion
• 2-time NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion (with Larry Henning and Buddy Rose)

Other titles

• 2-time Superstars of Wrestling Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time MECW Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time FOW Heavyweight Champion

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 55 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
• PWI ranked him # 98 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Scott Hall)
• PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (1987)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Curt Hennig