*** Time Line ***
1955
Freshman Jim Raschke plays football and basketball for North High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
1956
As a sophomore, Raschke joins the wrestling team under the tutelage of coach Verne Eckfelt.
1957
 Yearbook picture, 1958. |
Omaha North wins the Football State Championship with Raschke in the starting line-up.
1958
Raschke becomes State Heavy Weight Wrestling Champion.
1959
Raschke decides to continue his wrestling career at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He also wins a spot on the football team during open try-outs. His wrestling coaches at Nebraska are Olympic Champion Bill Smith, Mickey Sporano and Bobby Mancuso.
1962
In addition to completing a B.S. in biology, Raschke wins the Big 8 conference championship as a heavy weight in his final year at UN.
1963
Raschke wins a spot on the U.S. team which competes at the World Games in Halsingborg, Sweden. He becomes the second American to win a medal in Greco-Roman wrestling by capturing the Bronze medal.
1964-65
 Raschke with Army wrestling teammate Charlie Coffee.
|
After being drafted, Raschke joins the army wrestling team. In 1964 he wins AAU National Championships in Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He wins gold medals in 1964 and 1965 in the Army wrestling championships and in the Interservice championships. 1964 is an Olympic year and Raschke earns a spot on the U.S. team by winning the Greco-Roman wrestling try-outs. Unfortunately, a hyper-extended elbow takes Raschke out of competition just days before the team leaves for Tokyo.
Raschke returns to Omaha and begins teaching at Horace Mann Juniour High School.
1966
Omaha professional wrestling promoter Joe Dusek introduces Raschke to promoter Verne Gagne who invites Raschke to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota to train with him.
"(Joe Dusek) would pamper
wrestlers. He'd sometimes drive us in his car to the next match. He'd
feed us on the way up and on the way back. He was a big rugged guy but
he was a teddy bear of a man. A real sweetheart."
(Omaha Weekly
12/7/2000)
Raschke heads to Minneapolis and
Gagne introduces him to professional wrestling. During his training
Raschke works as the ringman and referee.
"Verne Gagne actually taught me the difference between amatuer wrestling and professional
wrestling. Most of it was actually acquired through actual experience and being in the back
seats of cars listening to old timers talk."
(from www.1wrestlinglegends.com/ interview)
September 1966
Jim Raschke makes his first appearance in a professional match wrestling against Johnny Kace in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the next few months Raschke has mixed success in the ring as he learns the ropes of pro wrestling.
"(Johnny Kace) was a great worker, a great wrestler, and a very nice person. I was nervous, of course
, but he put me through the paces and, for my first match, it was very good. I'm not
just saying that. Everyone else said it was very, very good."
"My third match was with a guy named Juan Zendehas ... He talked me into going through all the moves
in a match before we went into the ring. This was in Minneapolis, before the home crowd, so to speak.
We went out there and it was just a complete stinkeroo ... Then I went back to refereeing a lot ...
because Verne happened to see the match."
(from
www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
(from
www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
1967
 The Baron and the Mad Dog in an early promo shot.
|
Mad Dog Vachon encourages Jim Raschke to adopt a new, less wholesome persona. Vachon
introduces his new partner -- Baron von Raschke -- to the world in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The duo meet quick success packing arenas all over Canada throughout
the year.
"He wanted to name me Baron von Pumpkin ... I said I'd rather use my last name ... he said
'ALRIGHT YOU CAN BE BARON VON RASCHKE!'"
"Once I became the Baron all those inhibitions I had, all those deep psychological restrictions that
I put on myself as Jim Raschke were completely wiped out ... the Baron could say and do about anything he wanted."
(from the Canadian TV special "Wrestling with the Past")
"We walked out to the ring and the crowd started
hissing and booing. It was just because of our physical appearance -- a
big ugly guy and a little ugly guy. It wasn't anything we'd done.
Neither of us had appeared in that arena for awhile. Well, when they
reacted that way we just reacted back, and by the end of that first
night, we were made as villains. Our reputation spread throughout the
province. We just went with it."
"(Mad Dog and I) just got over really, really good. The houses went from practically empty
to standing room only and hanging off the rafters. That's a fact.
They were sitting on the rafters."
(from the Canadian TV special "Wrestling with the Past")
(Omaha Weekly 12/7/2000)
(from
www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
Late 1967
After a car wreck leaves Mad Dog with a broken pelvis, Raschke teams up with Hans Schmidt and continues to refine his professional wrestling technique.
"Mad Dog and I were having riot after riot after riot, because he liked that,
and I didn't know how to control things. That kept going with me and Schmidt.
Right after Mad Dog's accident, Schmidt and I came back from way up north on the
Gaspe peninsula, and we stopped by Quebec City where Mad Dog was in the hospital.
That night, we left the ring with chairs over our heads because people were throwing those
heavy, metal chairs from everywhere. After we fought our way back to the dressing room,
the cops cleared the building, then had to take me and Schmidt to the police station for our safety. As we left, we looked back at the ring
and it looked like a mountain of chairs."
(from
www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
"Schmidt and I went to see Mad Dog in the hospital he looked up at us and said
in his deep gravelly voice, '
I'm in the hospital and you two come in looking all beat up, looking worse than I do.'"
-- The Baron
1968-69
The Baron heads back to the U.S. to the Michigan and Ohio territory working for promoter Eddie "The Shiek" Farhat.
1969-70
The Baron heads to the East Texas territory controlled by Fritz von Erich.
1970-74
Over the next five years the Baron works in several different territories. While based in Indiana working for Dick the Bruiser and Wilbur Snyder, the Baron is managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. During this time the Baron also works for Bob Geigel and Pat O'Connor out of Kansas City and heads north to Ontario in the summers to wrestle a bear (Yes, a real live bear!) owned by Dave McKegney (aka "The Bear Man"). During this period in a match with Pat O'Connor, O'Connor tells the Baron to apply the brain claw. The Baron begins using the newly learned hold regularly until he earns the nickname -- "The Clawmaster."
"I wound up wrestling against Pat O'Connor at the Kiel Auditorium.
He was a master, just excellent.
During the match, he said, "Put the claw on me."
I asked, (whispers) "What's the claw?" He guided me through it and it seemed
to get over pretty good. We had a real good match."
(from
www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
"Raschke and I often joked about wrestling Teddy (the bear). One day, we were in between shows where we were
wrestling him. We drove past a circus caravan. Raschke saw two giraffes sticking out from a truck, looked
at me, and said, 'Well, I guess it's going to be a tag tonight.'"
-- Bobby Heenan
(from his book, Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All)
 |
AWA Comiskey Park 1970
August 14, 1970 in Chicago, IL
Comiskey Park drawing 30,000 ($148,000)
1. Larry Hennig beat Red Bastein.
2. Pepper Gomez beat Double X (Red Osbourne).
3. Bobo Brazil drew Bill Miller (20:00).
4. Wilbur Snyder beat Mitsu Arakawa.
5. Linda Klein & Betty Nicoli beat Jean Antone & Lucille Dupree.
6. Blackjack Lanza DDQ Ernie Ladd.
7. Paul Diamond beat Dr. X.
8. AWA World Champ Verne Gagne beat Baron Von Raschke in three falls.
9. AWA World Tag Champs Paul & Maurice Vachon beat The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser in a "steel cage" match in three falls.
1972-82
Starting in 1972 and continuing periodically over the next ten years, the Baron journeys to Japan touring the country with All-Japan Pro Wrestling.
 The Baron took this picture of Horst Hoffmann during his first trip to Japan
in 1972.
|
1974-76
Now a seasoned pro the Baron returns to where he started in Minneapolis to wrestle in Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo's American Wrestling Association. He partners with Horst Hoffmann.
1976
The Baron heads east to Vince MacMahon Sr.'s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
1977-81
The Baron next worked for promotors Jim Crockett and George Scott in the National Wrestling Alliance based in Charlotte, North Carolina. While in the NWA the Baron tag teams with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and later with Paul Jones. Also during this time, the Baron wrestles in Florida for promotors Eddie Graham and Dusty Rhodes and in Atlanta for Jim Barnett.
"... a major new star entered the Mid-Atlantic area during the last week in July of 1977.
Baron Von Raschke was introduced to the area's fans as a worldwide star that was one of
the few men to ever beat Bruno Sammartino. Raschke would get an immediate push from the
promotion, and he would be a mega star in the area all the way through until early 1980."
(from www.midatlanticwrestling.net)
1981-90
"Baron von Raschke was one of my
best partners in wrestling. We were very successful together. Not to
diminish the prestige of my brother Paul 'The Butcher' when we were
teamed together. As far as I am concerned, the Mad Dog and Baron von
Raschke, the oddest, most explosive tag team in wrestling history."
-- Mad Dog Vachon (from a live chat on
www.slam.ca
on Friday, May 14, 1999)
The Baron heads back to Minnesota in 1981 to seek revenge for Mad Dog Vachon against Jerry Blackwell who put Vachon out of the wrestling business. Mad Dog is now a fan favorite so the Baron is greeted with enthusiasm and turns from a loathesome villian into a beloved hero. The Baron is seen throughout the country during this period as the AWA extends the range of its territory from its Midwestern base. Packed houses cheer the Baron in San Francisco, Chicago, Millewaukee, Salt Lake, New Jersey, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Peoria and many, many more cities and towns around the country.
 The Baron threatens Ivan Putski with the Claw as Wally Karbo
tries to maintain order.
|
(from www.1wrestlinglegends.com interview)
Starting in 1983, the Baron takes four trips to wrestle in Germany and Austria. Fans in Bremen and Graz learn to hate him. They chant "Egghead! Egghead!" whenever he enters the arena.
1985
Jim Raschke is inducted into the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His former coach Verne Eckfelt is on hand to give Raschke the award.
"Baron von Raschke is a jewel. I always hoped my daughter would marry a guy like him, and I hope all her
kids are like him. He's just a decent man. And he's the best worker in the world because he made people
mad, yet he does not have one mean bone in his body"
-- Bobby Heenan
(from his book, Bobby The Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All)
Chicago-based punk band Breaking Circus release their record The Very Long Fuse on Homestead Records. It contains a song called 'The Imperial Clawmaster's Theme' that name checks the Baron and many other pro wrestling stars of the time.
 The Baron signs an autograph.
|
1991-present
The Baron draws crowds at autograph sessions around the country with fans continuing to go wild at the sight of his infamous claw.
Starting in 1995, the Baron appeared in several music videos produced by Harder/Fuller Films. Videos by Afghan Whigs ("Gentlemen" - 1st version), Low ("Shame"), Souls ("Cello") and Harvey Danger feature the Baron in various guises.
Check out the BOOKINGS section of BaronVonRaschke.com for more information about what the Baron is up to these days.
2002
On August 2nd Baron von Raschke is inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame at the International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Newton, Iowa.
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. releases the video game Legends of Wrestling II featuring 65 pro wrestling greats including Baron von Raschke.
2007
The Baron makes his theater stage debut in 'The Baron' on April 14, 2007 at the History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The play written by Corey McCloud (with Jim and Karl Raschke) charts Raschke's transformation from little Jimmy Raschke to Baron von Raschke and offers a look back at what many consider the golden age of wrestling. The show closes on May, 20, 2007 after a critically acclaimed, well-attended run.
