Curt Hennig

Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), better known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler.

Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time by many peers, critics, and fans, he performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and NWA Total Nonstop Action.

Hennig was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the father of wrestler Curtis Axel.

Curt Hennig was born on March 28, 1958, the son of professional wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig.

Hennig was childhood friends with fellow wrestler Rick Rude.

They attended Robbinsdale High School in his hometown of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, alongside Tom Zenk, Brady Boone, Nikita Koloff, John Nord, Road Warrior Hawk, and Barry Darsow, who all became professional wrestlers.

Hennig debuted in 1980 and won multiple championships in both Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) and the AWA during the decade.

Known as "Cool" Curt Hennig, he began his career on January 30, 1980, in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the promotion which had made his father, Larry "The Axe" Hennig a star.

Hennig started his WWF career in 1981.

His first victory was against Johnny Rodz.

He established himself as a promising young performer against the likes of "Playboy" Buddy Rose, Greg Valentine and Killer Khan.

Eventually, he was paired-up in tag team matches with another young upstart, Eddie Gilbert, himself the son of a wrestling legend (Tommy Gilbert).

In 1982, Hennig teamed up with his father, Larry, and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship defeating Rip Oliver and Matt Borne on April 27.

He later won the titles with Buddy Rose and Scott McGhee in 1983.

Hennig returned to the American Wrestling Association in 1983.

From 1984 to 1988 he made occasional appearances for the company.

During this time he worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and various territories such as NWA St. Louis, Central States Wrestling and Continental Wrestling Association.

He would eventually become one of the promotion's top stars in his own right, winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship with Scott Hall by defeating "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal on January 18, 1986, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He gained particular attention when he defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1987, with his 373-day reign being the seventh-longest in history.

Later, he resumed his solo career in the AWA, culminating in defeating the legendary Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship at SuperClash on May 2, 1987, with the help of Larry Zbyszko, and turning villain in doing so.

Hennig, along with his father Larry "The Axe", would engage in a long feud with Greg Gagne and his father, Verne Gagne.

He began being associated with Madusa Miceli, the AWA World Women's Champion since December 27, 1987.

Hennig and Madusa joined The Diamond Exchange, a stable led by Diamond Dallas Page that also included Badd Company and Colonel DeBeers.

Hennig would hold the AWA World Heavyweight Title for about 53 weeks, before losing it to Jerry Lawler on May 9, 1988.

Like many other AWA stars of the time (including Hulk Hogan, Rick Martel, and The Rockers), Hennig left the AWA for the WWF with the promise of more money and broadened exposure.

Hennig returned to the WWF in mid-1988.

Hennig made his televised in-ring return on the September 11 episode of All-American Wrestling, defeating enhancement talent Ron Rovishod.

On the October 1 episode of Superstars, vignettes began airing on WWF television, during which he was repackaged with a new character of an arrogant braggart villain who claimed to be able to accomplish difficult tasks "perfectly", thus earning the nickname of "Mr. Perfect", which would become his ring name in 1989 and the use of his real name would be phased out.

He presented himself as being superior in athletics or anything else he did.

These clips showed him hitting half-court, three-point, and no-look basketball shots, bowling a score of 300, running the table in billiards, throwing then catching his own Hail Mary football pass, sinking a long golf putt, hitting home runs and making bulls-eyes in darts.

Stars of various major league sports, including Wade Boggs (MLB), Steve Jordan (NFL), Felton Spencer (NBA), and Mike Modano (NHL), co-starred with Hennig in these vignettes.

Hennig performed for the first time as Mr. Perfect on the October 4 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, where he defeated Jim Brunzell.

Hennig moved to the WWF thereafter, where he feuded with Hulk Hogan over the WWF Championship, and won the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship twice, becoming the longest-reigning titleholder of the 1990s.

In addition to winning multiple titles in WCW during the late 1990s, Hennig challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on pay-per-view (PPV), and led stable and country music group the West Texas Rednecks, who recorded the popular tongue-in-cheek song, "Rap Is Crap".

During a stint with the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 2000, he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.

WWE credited Hennig for raising the standard of technical wrestling in that company, while professional wrestling journalists Bob Ryder and Dave Scherer, in a 2000 publication, recognized him as "one of the best all-round competitors this business has ever produced".

Hennig returned to the WWF/E for a brief period in 2002, being one of the last three men remaining at that year's Royal Rumble.

He later headlined multiple PPV events for TNA, in contention for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, prior to his death on February 10, 2003.

Hennig was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by former Major League Baseball player and longtime friend Wade Boggs.

Hulk Hogan remarked, "Everybody would check their egos at the door when they came to a building that Curt Hennig was in, because you couldn't out-work him, you couldn't outshine him, and you couldn't out-perform him. He was the best of the best."