Saw him in a one hour Broadway match vs Tony Atlas, 2/3 falls in the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1981, I was 10, seated at ring side, he was 46...Great match as I remember...

I met him in 1990. He was such a gentleman...very intelligent. He was in my opinion the best wrestler of the territories bar none.

This guy is so incredibly under appreciated. He was fantastic in the ring, superb on the mic, and truly professional in his approach to the business. I very truly, sincerely mean it when I say that today's 20 or 30-something wrestling fan has truly missed out if they have not had the opportunity to watch Bockwinkle, Ray Stevens and Bobby Heenan! Incredible talents individually, ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY together.

Growing up in AWA territory. Nick is the Greatest

A natural Heel in the ring, but very classy, intelligent, with a great vocabulary during interviews! One of my favorites!

If you didn't see Bockwinkle, Stevens and Heenan in the AWA 70s, then you really missed some serious pro wrestling history. Those guys were GOLD. Absolute top level, killer performers. Man....talent.

The ultimate pro in and out of the ring, that’s why I think he's the greatest of all time. Thanks for sharing Dot. 👍

Can I tell you that I love this guy. I got his autograph when I was 12, and he was the nicest guy you could imagine, and I met him again in 1990 and he was such a class act. He didn't take himself so seriously, that's key. RIP Champ your Cretinous Humanoids still love you.

He comes across like a very decent, humble person.

You were GREAT Nick!!! Miss you being out there. Highly Skilled, you were a warrior.

I miss this guy, Nick was the best, and most loved heel in the history of Wrestling.

One if the true all-time greats. There is a reason why Gagne trusted Nick with the belts for all those years, both the tag team and singles belts.

Nick was legit all the way around. He really could wrestle and not just do a few moves like so many other "wrestlers" that went on to become stars in the WWF.

Heenan: ask Bockwinkle what time it is and he’ll tell you how a wristwatch is made. Lol. Nick was a one-of-a-kind and there can never be another.

A class act. I hated to learn of his passing.

R.I.P. Nick. You were awesome.

Yea, Nick is The Wrestling Champion. Damn Lawler should have been a boxer. All he did was go to punching with closed fist to win. No technical wrestling beside basic stuff. Nick was Real Deal. God bless him and his family.......

I finally like you, Nick! You always were a great promo!

The greatest AWA Champion there ever was!

Haha, I love how he’s still kayfabe here!

Bockwinkel was such a great heel champion. I remember him going off on Wally Karbo: "What a disgrace that a world champion of my caliber has to defend the world title against a maniac like Baron Von Rashke in front of a bunch of hay seeds in Fargo, North Dakota. This man breaks melons with his bare hand, and Karbo is setting me up for the fall, and I'm not HAVING IT!" 🤣🤣🤣

Pure class. When I want to watch good American wrestling, I go to old AWA footage. When I want good Japanese wrestling I turn to NJPW and UWFi

Nick was truly a class act Flair came across as a vulgar punk

There's a clip here on KZfaq of Nick Bockwinkel as a contestant on the Hollywood Squares circa 1967. Did he win? I won't spoil it for you, it's totally worth your time to look it up.

To me, "Wicked" Nick Bockwinkle was better than any of the NWA champions, the Funks, Race, Rhoades, Flair, whomever.

Along with Gagne Single handed Buried the AWA not putting over Hogan rest is History

I was 14 at the time

This guy was so over rated....He was handed challengers that were living under A bridge eating cat food.