Hall of Famer Verne Gagne passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Gagne was best known for promoting and operating American Wrestling Association out of Minnesota for several decades. AWA was a major force in professional wrestling for several decades before shutting down in 1991.

Gagne was a 10 time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and was later inducted into the WWE, WCW and Professional Wrestling Hall of Fames.

Gagne was known for his intense training camps. He had a hand in training the likes of Ric Flair, Bob Backlund, Iron Sheik, Curt Hennig, Ricky Steamboat, The Nasty Boys and many others. His son Greg also competed in AWA for several years.

Gagne was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and was forced to live in a health care facility. After an incident in 2009, Gagne would be cared for by his daughter Beth and son in law.

Source: WrestlingINC.com

WrestlingNewsBlog.com would like to express our condolences to the Gagne family.

Vince McMahon tweeted the following  on the passing of Verne Gagne: