56 Facts About Curt Hennig

1.

Curtis Michael Hennig was an American professional wrestler.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,834
2.

Curt Hennig 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.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,835
3.

Curt 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.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,836
4.

Curt Hennig later headlined multiple PPV events for TNA, in contention for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, prior to his death on February 10,2003.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,837
5.

WWE credited Curt Hennig for raising the standard of technical wrestling in that company, while professional wrestling journalists Bob Ryder and Dave Scherer, in a 2000 publication, recognized him as "one of the best all-round competitors this business has ever produced".

FactSnippet No. 2,069,838
6.

Curt Hennig was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by former Major League Baseball player and longtime friend Wade Boggs.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,839
7.

Curt Hennig was born on March 28,1958, as the son of professional wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,840
8.

Curt Hennig established himself as a promising young performer against the likes of "Playboy" Buddy Rose, Greg Valentine and Killer Khan.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,841
9.

In 1982, Curt Hennig teamed up with his father, Larry, and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship defeating Rip Oliver and Matt Borne on April 27.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,842
10.

Curt Hennig later won the titles with Buddy Rose and Scott McGhee in 1983.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,843
11.

Curt Hennig began being associated with Madusa Miceli, the AWA World Women's Champion since December 27,1987.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,844
12.

Curt Hennig would hold the AWA World Heavyweight Title for about 53 weeks, before losing it to Jerry Lawler on May 9,1988.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,845
13.

Curt Hennig presented himself as being superior in athletics or anything else he did.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,846
14.

Curt Hennig made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series 1988 and competed in a five-on-five elimination tag team match as a member of co-captain Andre the Giant's team, along with Rick Rude, Dino Bravo and Harley Race against co-captain Jim Duggan's team of Jake Roberts, Ken Patera, Tito Santana and Scott Casey.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,847
15.

Curt Hennig went undefeated on television for over a year, beating mid-card wrestlers including B Brian Blair, Ronnie Garvin, Koko B Ware, The Blue Blazer, The Red Rooster, Jimmy Snuka, Tito Santana, and Bret Hart throughout 1989.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,848
16.

Perfect and Hogan wrestled on the live events, where he lost to Hogan but they did not compete on television until January 15,1990 when Curt Hennig received his first opportunity for the WWF Championship against Hogan at Madison Square Garden and this was his first televised match against Hogan, which he won by disqualification but not the title.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,849
17.

Curt Hennig eliminated Rick Rude before making it to the final two, where he was eliminated by Hogan.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,850
18.

Curt Hennig was chosen to lead Demolition as "The Perfect Team" against The Warriors in a four-on-four elimination tag team match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, where Curt Hennig's team lost.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,851
19.

Curt Hennig made his return to the ring at Survivor Series, where Curt Hennig and Savage won their match.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,852
20.

Curt Hennig made his return to singles competition on January 2,1993 episode of Superstars, where he defeated The Berzerker.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,853
21.

Curt Hennig participated in the 1993 Royal Rumble match to determine the No 1 contender for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,854
22.

Curt Hennig eliminated Flair, Skinner and Jerry Lawler until he was eliminated by Ted DiBiase, Koko B Ware and Lawler.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,855
23.

Curt Hennig defeated Flair the next night on Monday Night Raw in a match where the loser would be forced to leave WWF.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,856
24.

Curt Hennig then went on to feud with the debuting Lex Luger, who berated Perfect during his promos.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,857
25.

Curt Hennig was set to participate as a member of Razor Ramon's team at Survivor Series, but was replaced in the match by Randy Savage.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,858
26.

Curt Hennig took a year off to recover from a back injury until he returned to the company as a color commentator at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in 1995.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,859
27.

In mid-1996, Curt Hennig was placed in an angle with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, where he would come out to the ringside during Helmsley's matches and steal his female escorts, which would often cause a distraction for Helmsley and affect his performance in matches.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,860
28.

Curt Hennig continued to use the fisherman suplex as his finishing move, renaming it Curt Hennig-Plex.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,861
29.

Curt Hennig ultimately joined the Four Horsemen, taking the spot of the retiring Arn Anderson.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,862
30.

At Fall Brawl, Curt Hennig was allegedly jumped backstage by the nWo before the WarGames match and came to ringside mid-match with his arm in a sling.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,863
31.

The whole thing turned out to be a setup as Curt Hennig betrayed the Horsemen and joined the nWo, handcuffing the other Horsemen to the cage and then slamming the steel cage door into Ric Flair's head, afterward claiming he had "destroyed the Horseman" and as a further slap to Flair, claimed to be "the wrestler that made Minnesota famous", thus becoming a villain.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,864
32.

The following night on Nitro, Curt Hennig won the United States Heavyweight Championship by defeating Horseman Steve McMichael.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,865
33.

Curt Hennig held the title for the next three months, during which he successfully defended the title against Flair in a standard wrestling match at Halloween Havoc and a no disqualification match at World War 3, before dropping the title to Diamond Dallas Page at Starrcade.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,866
34.

Curt Hennig lost to Hart at Uncensored and defeated Bulldog at Spring Stampede.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,867
35.

Curt Hennig joined forces with Barry Windham to take on Flair and his son David in a tag team match at Souled Out in 1999, which Curt Hennig's team lost.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,868
36.

In 1999, both nWo factions reunited and Curt Hennig was placed in the nWo B-Team, a group consisting of mid-card wrestlers of the nWo.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,869
37.

Curt Hennig formed a tag team with Barry Windham and continued the rivalry with The Four Horsemen.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,870
38.

Curt Hennig participated in a tournament to crown the new World Heavyweight Champion, during which he defeated Disco Inferno in the first round but lost to Jeff Jarrett in the second round.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,871
39.

Curt Hennig was reinstated by the powers that be a month later and joined forces with Creative Control, during which the trio defeated Harlem Heat and Midnight at Starrcade.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,872
40.

Curt Hennig remained on the WCW television, continuing to make sporadic appearances with the company.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,873
41.

Curt Hennig entered a feud with Shawn Stasiak in the spring of 2000, after Stasiak referred to himself as "The Perfect One" which was a ripoff of Hennig's "Mr Perfect" character and even used entrance music composed to sound like Mr Perfect's theme song.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,874
42.

Curt Hennig left WCW after his contract expired in the summer of 2000.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,875
43.

In January 2001, Curt Hennig made a one-night appearance in Japan with All-Japan Pro Wrestling at its King's Road New Century 2001 event, taking part in a six-man tag team match in the Tokyo Dome.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,876
44.

In mid-2001, Curt Hennig made a handful of appearances with Harley Race's World League Wrestling promotion.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,877
45.

Curt Hennig then wrestled sporadically on the independent circuit until November 2001, when he joined the newly-formed X Wrestling Federation.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,878
46.

Curt Hennig wrestled for the XWF for the remainder of the year, facing opponents including Buff Bagwell and Vampiro.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,879
47.

Curt Hennig was drafted to Raw during the first ever WWF Draft.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,880
48.

Curt Hennig participated in a dark match at the Insurrextion on May 4,2002, defeating Goldust.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,881
49.

Curt Hennig was released from the company on May 7,2002 due to a physical confrontation with Brock Lesnar on the return flight from the pay-per-view.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,882
50.

Curt Hennig wrestled his last match on January 8,2003, defeating David Flair in a "Axehandle on a Pole match".

FactSnippet No. 2,069,883
51.

On February 10,2003, Curt Hennig was found dead in a Brandon, Florida hotel room, at the age of 44, six weeks away from his 45th birthday.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,884
52.

TNA paid tribute to Curt Hennig by displaying his wrestling singlet and a framed photo as he was employed by TNA at the time of his death.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,885
53.

Curt Hennig was mentioned on Raw 1000 by his old friend Bret Hart, who acted as the guest ring announcer for the night's Intercontinental title match.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,886
54.

Hart stated that one of his best moments was winning his first ever Intercontinental title from Curt Hennig, and described him as "one of the greatest superstars that ever lived".

FactSnippet No. 2,069,887
55.

Curt Hennig then went on to win the Intercontinental Championship in 2013 at Payback on Father's day, and he dedicated his victory to his father.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,888
56.

Curt Hennig was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York in 2015 by his son Joe.

FactSnippet No. 2,069,889