Athletes promote themselves in various ways; Michael Jordan had his shoes, Bo Jackson had his "Bo Can Do Anything" campaign and Hulk Hogan had his weight set (advertised by the late Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff) but oddly enough, there was a time when the legendary wrestler/promoter of the AWA Verne Gagne was showing Isometrics calling it Gagne-Metrics.
There were a lot of stories surrounding Gagne for decades especially as a promoter and the what wrestlers he wanted along with how he treated people. When I met Greg Valentine at a comic con here in Idaho, he told me that Verne was quite an asshole. There's no denying that Verne was a great athlete in his day; Alternate for the '48 Olympics, exceptional college wrestler, was considered for the Green Bay Packers and was one of the best pro wrestlers of his time.
If you're a student of pro wrestling, you've definitely heard the tales of how he trained wrestlers in his barn and at his office building in Minneapolis. Legends like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, The Iron Sheik, Jumping Jim Brunzell & Gagne's son Greg were all tortured and ran through the rigorous training Verne laid out. Now whether Verne had them do Isometrics at that time in the 70's is hard to say but he did do them or at least showed to a regional audience back in the mid 60's. This was also a time where Jack Lalanne was still going strong with his workout show and I think Verne wanted to cash in on something of that sorts.
For the most part, the workout Verne displays is about as basic and stupid easy as you can get and for the record, he has little enthusiasm and isn't very upbeat and charismatic as Lalanne would be. He shows three exercises which you can see in the video below. Don't get me wrong, they're great exercises especially for beginners or those who want to something that's quick. This was also the era where Isometrics were at their peak with the Hoffman courses, Olympic wrestler Henry Wittenberg's course and others.
Safe to say Verne's Isometric Training never really went anywhere and it's not at all surprising. It just didn't have anything at the time that really got people interested and if anything, it was just another small promotion to advertise for his company and to get people involved somehow with the AWA. Today it is a gem to find and if you got your hands on a book he had at the time, that's a rare thing to have. In the fitness world, he isn't too well known but if you love pro wrestling, he had one of the greatest promotions in the history of the business and just about anyone and everyone who went to the AWA were either stars in the promotion or went on to become bigger legends in other territories eventually in the WWE. Had great matches with the likes of Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson, Nick Bockwinkle and others. Whether you loved him, hated him or just love wrestling, Verne was a legend of his time.
No comments:
Post a Comment