a reprinted interview: AN INTERVIEW WITH MY FAVORITE WRESTLER
I grew up in Wisconsin and Minnesota. One of the two things you got used to were: bitching about the cold weather, and AWA wrestling. I never worried about it being “real”, as I enjoyed it as entertainment and it was that. Some people might have taken it seriously, but that was not the point, at least in my view. Whatever it was, the athletics were impressive, and the drama was fun to watch. Today wrestling is rarely about athletics, it is about steroids, vulgar displays, and loud and vulgar people. So while I was in the midst of bemoaning the loss of innocence, I decided to look up my favorite wrestler online, Baron (James) Von Raschke, “Der Klaw”. To my great pleasure he had his own website and I sent him an email. This interview is a result of that exchange. AND DAT IS ALL DA PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW!!
Alex Ness:How did you enter wrestling as a career?
Baron Von Raschke: After wrestling in high school, college, and the army, I contacted Joe Dusek, a promoter from my home town of Omaha. He, in turn, introduced me to Vern Gagne.
Alex Ness:What wrestlers were your greatest enemies?
Baron Von Raschke: Enemies? It was my work. Like a doctor or lawyer, I had a job to do and did it without worrying about making friends or enemies.
Alex Ness: Considering the changes from many regional promoters to a couple national ones, has wrestling become too interested in shock value and ratings, over the simpler, far less scripted (or overwrought) rivalries and matches of the past?
Baron Von Raschke: Yes, it has gone from family entertainment to a vulgar display that has little or nothing to do with wrestling.
Alex Ness: Could you crush my skull with your CLAW move?
Baron Von Raschke: Get real. It shuts off the blood supply. It doesn't crush anything.
Alex Ness: How did you come upon your signature move?
Baron Von Raschke: It was passed down to me (see my bio on my web site).
Alex Ness: If you crushed my skull, would it leave dents?
Baron Von Raschke: As I said before, get real.
Alex Ness: You’ve been seen on the new AWA Superstars recently as a manager. Do you enjoy managing as much as you did wrestling?
Baron Von Raschke: At my age, yes.
Alex Ness: With Wrestling now being generally acknowledged as “sports entertainment” does it help you feel less pain in areas of your body damaged doing purely athletic moves?
Baron Von Raschke: They do a lot of dangerous and reckless stunts that have nothing to do with wrestling, and I am sure they pay the price just as I did.
Alex Ness: What is the most rewarding aspect of having had a career in Wrestling?
Baron Von Raschke: I will never be a normal citizen, because people still recognize me and ask me to make appearances.
Alex Ness: Is a retired Wrestler like the Lion in Winter, still having a heart that enjoys the action, but knowing that it is over? When you retire from Sports entertainment is there anything like a retirement plan? Or do you have to make your own way?
Baron Von Raschke: A. My wife and my body said it was time to quit wrestling. I'm satisfied with what I did and with what I am doing. B There is no retirement plan. There is no health plan. There is NUTZING!
Alex Ness: How do fans contact you or meet you? Do you have a website?
Baron Von Raschke: I make appearances around the country and, yes, I do have a web site, which you went through to get these questions to me. The address is The Baron
FINAL THOUGHTS: Thank you Baron and Karl!
1 comment:
And I still say, the claw move could have dented/crushed my skull.
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