James Raschke
Encyclopedia
James Donald Raschke is a retired professional wrestler best known as Baron von Raschke.
, James Raschke started in professional wrestling in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association
as a referee. He was soon wrestling under the name of Jim Raschke, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. He eventually changed his ring name to Baron von Raschke and claimed to be from Germany
. He would do a goose-step and then put his finisher known as the "brainclaw", on his opponent. His most memorable quote came at the end of an interview where - running out of time before the next match and not fully hearing the question - he simply blurted out, "Dat is all da people need to know!".
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he held numerous singles and tag team titles throughout several NWA and AWA territories, as well as wrestling for the WWWF where his claw hold was "censored" by a huge RED "X" on WWWF TV because of the blood it would draw when applied. In 1978 he was recognized as the first NWA Television Champion
(the Mid Atlantic Television title had been renamed).
In May 1984, Raschke and the Crusher
defeated Jerry Blackwell
and Ken Patera
for the AWA World tag team title
. They would lose the belts in August of that same year to the Road Warriors
.
In 1986, he wrestled for the NWA
's Jim Crockett Promotions
reuniting with former tag partner Paul Jones
(who was now a manager) as part of Paul Jones' Army. He also filled in for the injured Krusher Khruschev
defending the NWA World Six-Man Championship with Ivan and Nikita Koloff
.
He was briefly in the WWF
in 1988 as the manager for The Barbarian and The Warlord
(The Powers of Pain
) under the name of The Baron, but was released shortly after his arrival.
Raschke resurfaced in the AWA, returning to the ring to feud with Soldat Ustinov and Teijho Khan in late 1988. He then went on to captain "Baron's Blitzers" during the ill-fated Team Challenge Series. When the AWA folded, Raschke continued to wrestle for independent promotion primarily in the Minnesota area, retiring in 1995.
Raschke also took part in one of the legends matches at WCW's inaugural Slamboree: A Legend's Reunion
in 1993. He teamed with Ivan Koloff, losing to Thunderbolt Patterson
and Brad Armstrong.
When not wrestling, Raschke worked as a substitute teacher. Upon retirement, Raschke purchased and managed a Bric-a-brac
shop called The Wigwam in Lake George, Minnesota
. He sold it in 2000.
In April 2007 James Raschke began a several month run at the Minnesota History Theatre in a play based around his life, persona, and times in the AWA. The play details how a very mild mannered and polite man created an in-ring gimmick that drew so much heat that he and his frequent tag-team wrestling partner (and real life friend) Mad Dog Vachon often had to fight their way out of the ring.
Career
After a successful amateur wrestling career and a stint in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, James Raschke started in professional wrestling in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
as a referee. He was soon wrestling under the name of Jim Raschke, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. He eventually changed his ring name to Baron von Raschke and claimed to be from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He would do a goose-step and then put his finisher known as the "brainclaw", on his opponent. His most memorable quote came at the end of an interview where - running out of time before the next match and not fully hearing the question - he simply blurted out, "Dat is all da people need to know!".
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he held numerous singles and tag team titles throughout several NWA and AWA territories, as well as wrestling for the WWWF where his claw hold was "censored" by a huge RED "X" on WWWF TV because of the blood it would draw when applied. In 1978 he was recognized as the first NWA Television Champion
WCW World Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(the Mid Atlantic Television title had been renamed).
In May 1984, Raschke and the Crusher
Reginald Lisowski
Reginald Lisowski was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Crusher ....
defeated Jerry Blackwell
Jerry Blackwell
Jerry Blackwell was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. Blackwell competed in the 1979 World's Strongest Man contest, but withdrew early in the competition due to an injury...
and Ken Patera
Ken Patera
Ken Patera is a former professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and Strongman competitor.-Weightlifting/Strongman career:Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter and American powerlifter...
for the AWA World tag team title
AWA World Tag Team Championship
The American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
. They would lose the belts in August of that same year to the Road Warriors
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...
.
In 1986, he wrestled for the NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
's Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
reuniting with former tag partner Paul Jones
Paul Jones (wrestler)
Paul Jones is a retired professional wrestler and manager. He had success in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Mid-Atlantic region, including an NWA World Tag Team title reign with Ricky Steamboat.-Career:...
(who was now a manager) as part of Paul Jones' Army. He also filled in for the injured Krusher Khruschev
Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...
defending the NWA World Six-Man Championship with Ivan and Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff is a retired American professional wrestler,. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes .Nikita was brought into the National...
.
He was briefly in the WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
in 1988 as the manager for The Barbarian and The Warlord
Terry Szopinski
Terry Scott Szopinski is an American professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name The Warlord and for his tenures in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of the Powers of Pain alongside The Barbarian.-National Wrestling Alliance / Jim Crockett...
(The Powers of Pain
Powers of Pain
The Powers of Pain are an on-and-off professional wrestling tag team. They are best known for their tenure in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation.-Jim Crockett Promotions:...
) under the name of The Baron, but was released shortly after his arrival.
Raschke resurfaced in the AWA, returning to the ring to feud with Soldat Ustinov and Teijho Khan in late 1988. He then went on to captain "Baron's Blitzers" during the ill-fated Team Challenge Series. When the AWA folded, Raschke continued to wrestle for independent promotion primarily in the Minnesota area, retiring in 1995.
Raschke also took part in one of the legends matches at WCW's inaugural Slamboree: A Legend's Reunion
Slamboree (1993)
Slamboree 1993: A Legends' Reunion was the first annual Slamboree professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Championship Wrestling...
in 1993. He teamed with Ivan Koloff, losing to Thunderbolt Patterson
Claude Patterson
Claude Patterson, better known professionally as Thunderbolt Patterson, was an American professional wrestler best known for his efforts at starting a union for wrestlers...
and Brad Armstrong.
When not wrestling, Raschke worked as a substitute teacher. Upon retirement, Raschke purchased and managed a Bric-a-brac
Bric-a-brac
Bric-à-brac , first used in the Victorian era, refers to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on...
shop called The Wigwam in Lake George, Minnesota
Lake George Township, Hubbard County, Minnesota
Lake George Township is a township in Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 383 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and is water....
. He sold it in 2000.
In April 2007 James Raschke began a several month run at the Minnesota History Theatre in a play based around his life, persona, and times in the AWA. The play details how a very mild mannered and polite man created an in-ring gimmick that drew so much heat that he and his frequent tag-team wrestling partner (and real life friend) Mad Dog Vachon often had to fight their way out of the ring.
Amateur wrestling
- 1958 NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
State High School Heavyweight Championship (Omaha North High SchoolOmaha North High SchoolOmaha North High Magnet School is a public high school located at 4410 N 36th Street in Omaha, Nebraska. The school is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics magnet school in the Omaha Public Schools district. North has won several awards, including being named a 2007 Magnet Schools of...
) - 1961 National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Collegiate Athletic AssociationThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
All-American (University of Nebraska) - 1962 National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Collegiate Athletic AssociationThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
All-American (University of Nebraska) - 1962 Big Eight ConferenceBig Eight ConferenceThe Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
Heavyweight Championship (University of Nebraska) - 1963 World Games Bronze medalBronze medalA bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
ist - 1964 Olympic Team1964 Summer OlympicsThe 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
qualifier - 1964 Amateur Athletic UnionAmateur Athletic UnionThe Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
FreestyleFreestyle wrestlingFreestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...
Championship - 1964 Amateur Athletic Union Greco-RomanGreco-Roman wrestlingGreco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
Championship - 1965 Worldwide Interservice Wrestling Championship (United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
) - 1985 inductee to the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame
Professional wrestling
- American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA World Tag Team ChampionshipAWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
(1 time) – with Crusher LisowskiReginald LisowskiReginald Lisowski was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Crusher ....
- Cauliflower Alley ClubCauliflower Alley ClubThe Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
- Other honoree (2004)
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version)NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version)The Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1958 to 1960, 1962 to 1963 and then from 1973 until 1979 which was promoted by Central States Wrestling...
(1 time) – with Maurice VachonMaurice VachonMaurice Vachon is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name "Mad Dog" Vachon. He is the brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestler Luna Vachon... - NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (1 Time) – with Harley RaceHarley RaceHarley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Television ChampionshipNWA Florida Television ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1970 until 1987.-Title history:The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida...
(1 time)
- Georgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Georgia Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship....
(1 time)
- International Wrestling Association
- IWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling Institute and Museum
- George Tragos/Lou TheszLou TheszAloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2002)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Television ChampionshipWCW World Television ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(2 times) - NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ivan and Nikita KoloffNikita KoloffNikita Koloff is a retired American professional wrestler,. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes .Nikita was brought into the National...
when Krusher KhruschevBarry DarsowBarry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...
was injured - NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(3 times) – with Paul JonesPaul Jones (wrestler)Paul Jones is a retired professional wrestler and manager. He had success in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Mid-Atlantic region, including an NWA World Tag Team title reign with Ricky Steamboat.-Career:...
(2) and Greg ValentineGreg ValentineJohn Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...
(1)
- NWA Big Time WrestlingWorld Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling AmericaPro Wrestling AmericaPro Wrestling America is a regional independent wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota during the 1980s and early 1990s. Founded and promoted by retired wrestler Eddie Sharkey, a longtime veteran of the American Wrestling Association and owner of the Pro Wrestling America Training...
- PWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ken PateraKen PateraKen Patera is a former professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and Strongman competitor.-Weightlifting/Strongman career:Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter and American powerlifter...
(1) and Brad RheingansBrad RheingansBrad Rheingans is a former Greco-Roman and professional wrestler.-Career:Rheingans was an NCAA champion in 1975 for North Dakota State University and wrestled in the 1976 Olympics, placing fourth...
(1)
- World Wrestling AssociationWorld Wrestling Association (Indianapolis)The World Wrestling Association was an Indianapolis-based pro wrestling promotion which was operated by Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis and his business partner Wilbur Snyder. The WWA was affiliated with the larger American Wrestling Association and recognized its champions, though the WWA also had its...
- WWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- WWA World Tag Team ChampionshipWWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association from the promotion's formation in 1964 until the late 1980s when the promotion closed.-Title history:...
(1 time) – with Ernie LaddErnie LaddErnest "Ernie" Ladd , nicknamed "The Big Cat" was an American collegiate and professional football player and a professional wrestler.-Pro Football career:...
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Worst Tag Team (1984) with The Crusher
- Other titles
- NSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tommy Jammer