Curt Hennig

Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator. 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 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA; now Impact Wrestling), also using the ring name Mr. Perfect in the WWF/E. Hennig is the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig, and father of wrestler Curtis Axel. Hennig debuted in 1980 and won multiple championships in both Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) and the AWA during the decade. 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. 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. 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. Wrestling journalist Dave Scherer recognized Hennig as "one of the best all-round competitors this [wrestling] business has ever produced", while WWE credited him for raising the standard of technical wrestling in that company. He was 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."

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