I was lucky enough to see him wrestle last year in Glasgow as part of the WWE European tour, and the sharpness he showed in the ring, not to mention the mastery of working the crowd made a mockery of how he was being used in TV. On that night, in that ring, he still looked as if he was the same guy that had those classic battles against Bret and the Von Erichs, the same guy that was in all those cheesy videos that we all loved. He still looked Perfect, to be honest.
Who would know that just mere days after that, Hennig would be gone once and for all from the WWE? The mixture of alcohol and altitude all playing a part in the infamous Plane Ride From Hell that eventually cost Hennig his WWE spot. I doubt that Hennig himself expected to make it big as a wrestler again, with his advancing years catching up, but you couldn’t help thinking that a man as talented on the mic as he undoubtedly was would have ended up behind a commentary table before long.
One week on, and I still find it hard to take in. It’s hard to believe that the guy with the arrogant swagger, the smug grin, that used to do that towel tossing spot won’t be around any longer.
When one of the all-time greats passes away, something happens, and it puts the rest of the wrestling world into perspective. That’s why there’s nothing else that I feel like writing about this week, and also why this week’s column is a lot shorter than normal.
R.I.P. Curt Hennig
