<i>The Associated Press</i> ran a story on the death of Verne Gagne with quotes from Gene Okerlund and Ric Flair.
Okerlund said: <b>“Verne was one of the pioneers. He put (pro wrestling) on the map in the early days when no one had seen it before… He was a taskmaster without a question. He demanded a lot out of people and he got a lot out of people.”</b>
Flair provided a story about Gagne not allowing him to quit training even though he tried to do it on his first day. Flair said: <b>“He came over to my house, walked to the front door, threw me into the front yard and told me ‘You’re not quitting on me. He said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ … I went back out, lasted two days and I quit again. It was so hard. He made me who I am.”</b>
The story is getting a lot of coverage in Minnesota, where Gagne was most famous thanks to the AWA.
