10 Wrestling Bookers Who Made Themselves World Champion

3. Verne Gagne

After a dispute with the NWA in 1960, Minnesota-based wrestling star Verne Gagne and promoter Wally Karbo founded the American Wrestling Association.  In 1980, the 54-year-old Gagne retired as AWA World Heavyweight Champion, marking the end of his tenth reign with the title. Though Gagne was a great talent and a legitimate superstar to his core audienceThe AWA fizzled out in the late 1980s after Vince McMahon poached the company’s top talent – to be fair to Gagne, he never had to worry about that when he was champion.