Baron von Raschke
James Donald Raschke ( born October 17, 1940 in Omaha, Nebraska ) is a former American professional wrestler who later appeared as a wrestler under the name Baron von Raschke. He embodied a Nazi character, and thus became one of the most hated, but also the most famous wrestlers of the 1970s and early 1980s. Raschke is a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame since 2002. He is married to Bonnie.
- 2.1 rings
- 2.2 Wrestling
Life
Raschke was in high school and above all at the University of Nebraska an outstanding amateur wrestler and American football player and won several championships. 1963 was James Raschke in the U.S. national team, which took about two countries fighting against the Federal Republic of Germany. In Pforzheim, he was defeated while the German Ringer King Wilfried Dietrich after a good fight on points ( 3:16 classifications) and in Kaiserslautern, he was shoulder winner Emil Neunkirchen from Reydt. In the same year he took part in the weight category over 97 kg and at the Wrestling World Championships in Greco -Roman style in Helsingborg. After a bye in the first round he lost first against the multiple world champion and Olympic champion István Kozma from Hungary on points, then defeated Jacob Hälg from Switzerland and Jussi Mäki - Huhtala from Finland and retired after a brief point defeat against Anatoly Rosh Chin from the Soviet Union. He reached with these results, but an excellent third place and won a bronze medal. Raschke won the 1964 national excretion of the United States to represent their wrestling team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, however, an elbow injury prevented his participation. After his time in the Army, he returned to Omaha and worked according to the appropriate degree as a biology teacher at a junior high school.
Wrestling
1966 Raschke became aware through a friend on the wrestling and eventually competed at the local promoter John Dusek. This Raschke referred to workout at Verne Gagne. During his training Raschke worked as a ring builder and referee before he met Mad Dog Vachon, which eventually helped him to gimmick of Baron von Raschke. Raschke shaved bald, and marched from then goose-stepped through the ring and presented originates in Berlin Nazi Baron dar. He teamed briefly with Vachon, and later with Hans Schmidt. Raschke character was so hated by the audience that they sometimes threw chairs into the ring. A wrestling action that is until now associated with him, is the so-called Clawhold, which he used to finish his fights. In subsequent years, Raschke worked for several territories of the umbrella organization National Wrestling Alliance, for the AWA and also for Japanese leagues. He received several Prestigious title as the AWA World Tag Team Title, the NWA World Tag Team titles, or the NWA American Heavyweight Title. After an eventful career, he eventually joined in 1988 as manager of the Powers of Pain WWF in appearance, but left the organization shortly after. Then Raschke stepped up to its closure on the AWA and played in a team with Ivan Koloff 1993 a legend fight at WCWSlamboree. In 1994, he finally stepped back from active affairs completely. He worked for some time as a substitute teacher and had to 2000, a gift and souvenir shop. Today he can be found on Legend Events and Fan Fests. In 2007 he played himself in a play about his career.
Best Merits
Wrestling
- Nebraska State High School champion in the heavyweight division in 1958
- Appointment to the All-American by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1961 and 1962
- Bronze Medal Wrestling World Championships 1963
- Qualification for the Olympic Games in 1964 ( non-runner due to injury )
- Champion of the Amateur Athletic Union in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman style in 1964
- Champion of the United States Army in 1964 and 1965
- Champion of Worldwide Interbank Service 1965