Vince patiently sat back and allowed Verne to bury himself.

Yep, AWA kept pushing the older guys like 49 year old Nick Bockwinkel and even 57 year old Verne himself, while Verne had a prime 29 year old Hulk Hogan on the roster along with several other young terrific talents on the mid-card. The terrific young talents went elsewhere and became superstars while AWA faded away.  13 years later, the same story was repeated by WCW!

i booked Jim on a bunch of shows i ran in the 90’s. always professional, articulate and showed up early. total class act!

Jumpin' Jim Brunzell---a hero of my childhood!

Verne Gagne was a better wrestler than he was a businessman.

Not making Hogan champion was the biggest mistake Verne made. It led to the downfall of AWA.

I remember 11 yrs old in back seat of car on 494 south of Mpls when Brunzel and Hogan passed us. We kids flexed our muscles...Hogan (in passenger seat) flexed back! 😳😯  💪😎👍

I love the inside info Jim Brunzell just gave about Hulk Hogan &  Verne short sightness for not making Hulk  the Champ.

It's crazy how Minnesota is interweaved into pro wrestling history so many times and ways.

I never understood how people thought Hogan couldn't "Work". He DID Wrestle YEARS before "Hulkamania". Just look at his work in Japan Pre & Post Hulkamania. He just knew in the US the gimmick is what sold. In Japan he needed to both be the "character" & WRESTLE. He wasn't Bret Hart or Curt Hennig...but then again who is? Hogan was a better worker than most give him credit for.

Back in 1985 after Vince took most of the younger talent from the AWA my friends started to call the promotion the "Alzheimer's Wrestling Association". Dick The Bruiser, Crusher, Maddog Vachon and Nick Bockwinkel were headlining cards...it was hilarious.

Agreed. Verne effed up by not giving Hogan a run with the belt. At this point, it's awfully hard to debate...

Verne's greatest enemy was Verne. He was an old school territory guy who didn't want or welcome change. He held the title too long (or would wear it at too old an age). As much as I love Bockwinkel, Nick was too old to have held the belt as late as he did (He was 41 in 1975 when he was Champion and was 52 when he regained the title in 1986). Vinnie Mac's desire for WWF/E nationwide dominance was the death knell for AWA (and what was left of the territories). Sadly without the competition, (and "Sports Entertainment") we are left with the dud WWE (and an old out of touch Vince, like Verne) a miss/hit AWE gymnast fest, a hollowed out ROH bad Impact! and Billy Corgan's NWA hobby shows. Wish WWE would sell the massive wrestling library to an outside party that would release all the Old school territory footage, that would be best for all wrestling fans.

Hulk said on many occasions including the spectacular legacy of the AWA DVD that when Verne offered him the title the night he was supposed to get it he wanted half of everything he made and Hulk turned it down

Good ol Jim Brunsell . High flyers

Hogan was much further "over" than the superstars today, but the comparison cannot simply be made in attendance or dollars brought in. When Hogan was ultra popular in the 80s, he achieved that fame with very very limited advertisement capability in comparison to today. No internet, No Social Media, and at his start, he was barely on TV. Wrestling also wasn't even mainstream like it is today. Most of his early fame spread in print and by word of mouth. He was something special, both in physical stature, persona, work ethic and personal character. While human, he was something special, "every 100 years" kinda special.
RIP Terry Bollea.

Jim meant to say Johnny Valiant he was using Johnny's real last name of Sullivan

I bet Verne was pissed when he saw what Hogan became with Vince

P.S - Jumpin Jim is a legend.!! His LJN wrestling figure along with Brian Blair was my 1st wrestling figures I ever had along with my hulk hogan LJN Figure

Everyone coming down in Verne but there was no way the Mcmahons were ever going to not get him

Detecting an unusually low level of BS here. Kudos to Brunzell on being a straight shooter, and the guy seems to be holding up well too. God bless him.