Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler. He performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and NWA Total Nonstop Action. Hennig was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the father of wrestler Curtis Axel. He is considered one of the greatest in-ring technical wrestlers of all time.
Hennig debuted in 1980 and won multiple championships in both Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) and the AWA during the decade. He gained particular attention when he defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1987, with his 373-day reign being the seventh-longest in history. Hennig moved to the WWF thereafter, where he feuded with Hulk Hogan over the WWF Championship, and won the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship twice, becoming the longest-reigning titleholder of the 1990s. In addition to winning multiple titles in WCW during the late 1990s, Hennig challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on pay-per-view (PPV), and led stable and country music group the West Texas Rednecks, who recorded the popular tongue-in-cheek song, "Rap Is Crap". During a stint with the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 2000, he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. Hennig returned to the WWF/E for a brief period in 2002, being one of the last three men remaining at that year's Royal Rumble. He later headlined multiple PPV events for TNA, in contention for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, prior to his death on February 10, 2003.
WWE credited Hennig for raising the standard of technical wrestling in that company, while professional wrestling journalists Bob Ryder and Dave Scherer, in a 2000 publication, recognized him as "one of the best all-round competitors this business has ever produced". Hennig was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by former Major League Baseball player and longtime friend Wade Boggs. Hulk Hogan remarked, "Everybody would check their egos at the door when they came to a building that Curt Hennig was in, because you couldn't out-work him, you couldn't outshine him, and you couldn't out-perform him. He was the best of the best."
Curt Hennig was born on March 28, 1958, the son of professional wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig. Hennig was childhood friends with fellow wrestler Rick Rude. They attended Robbinsdale High School in his hometown of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, alongside Tom Zenk, Brady Boone, Nikita Koloff, John Nord, Rick Rude, Road Warrior Hawk, and Barry Darsow, who all became professional wrestlers.
American Wrestling Association (1980–1982)
Known as "Cool" Curt Hennig, he began his career on January 30, 1980, in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the promotion which had made his father, Larry "The Axe" Hennig a star.
World Wrestling Federation (1981–1983)
Hennig started his WWF career in 1981. His first victory was against Johnny Rodz. He established himself as a promising young performer against the likes of Buddy Rose, Greg Valentine and Killer Khan. Eventually, he was paired-up in tag team matches with another young upstart, Eddie Gilbert, himself the son of a wrestling legend (Tommy Gilbert).
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (1982–1988)
In 1982, Hennig teamed up with his father, Larry, and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship defeating Rip Oliver and Matt Borne on April 27. He later won the titles with Buddy Rose and Scott McGhee in 1983. He also won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship in 1983, after defeating Sheik Abdullah Ali Hassan. He lost the title to The Dynamite Kid three months later. From 1984 to 1988 he made occasional appearances for the company. During this time he worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and various territories such as NWA St. Louis, Central States Wrestling and Continental Wrestling Association.
American Wrestling Association (1983–1988)
Hennig returned to the American Wrestling Association in 1983.
In late 1985, Hennig formed a tag team with Scott Hall. At the inaugural SuperClash in September 1985, they teamed with Greg Gagne to defeat Larry Zbyszko, Nick Bockwinkel, and Ray Stevens. The team won the AWA World Tag Team Championship by defeating "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal on January 18, 1986, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At WrestleRock in April 1986, they successfully defended the titles against the Long Ryders (Bill Irwin and Scott Irwin). Their reign ended in May 1986 when they lost to Buddy Rose and Doug Somers. Hennig and Hall continued to team until December 1986.
Hennig began competing as a singles wrestler, culminating in his defeating Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship at SuperClash II on May 2, 1987, with the help of Larry Zbyszko, and turning villain in doing so. Hennig, along with his father Larry "The Axe" Hennig, would engage in a long feud with Greg Gagne and his father, Verne Gagne. He began being associated with Madusa Miceli, the AWA World Women's Champion since December 27, 1987. Hennig and Madusa joined The Diamond Exchange, a stable led by Diamond Dallas Page that also included Badd Company and Colonel DeBeers. Hennig held the AWA World Heavyweight Champinship for slightly over a year, losing it to Jerry Lawler on May 9, 1988.
Hennig left the AWA in July 1988.
Hennig returned to the WWF in mid-1988 and wrestled a dark match with the also-debuting Terry Taylor on July 31 in Milwaukee for the VHS-only Wrestlefest 1988 event. They were ostensibly both being tested out for the "Mr. Perfect" character which Hennig eventually won, leaving Taylor to become The Red Rooster. Hennig made his televised in-ring return on the September 11 episode of All-American Wrestling, defeating enhancement talent Ron Rovishod. On the October 1 episode of Superstars, vignettes began airing on WWF television, during which he was repackaged with a new character of an arrogant braggart villain who claimed to be able to accomplish difficult tasks "perfectly", thus earning his new nickname. He presented himself as being superior in athletics or anything else he did. These clips showed him hitting half-court, three-point, and no-look basketball shots, bowling a score of 300, running the table in billiards, throwing then catching his own Hail Mary football pass, sinking a long golf putt, hitting home runs and making bulls-eyes in darts. Stars of various major league sports, including Wade Boggs (MLB), Steve Jordan (NFL), Felton Spencer (NBA), and Mike Modano (NHL), co-starred with Hennig in these vignettes. Hennig performed for the first time as Mr. Perfect on the October 4 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, where he defeated Jim Brunzell.
His first major PPV match was at Survivor Series 1988 in a five-on-five elimination tag team match as a member of co-captain André the Giant's team, along with Rick Rude, Dino Bravo (also co-captain) and Harley Race against co-captain Jim Duggan's team of Jake Roberts (also co-captain), Ken Patera, Tito Santana and Scott Casey. Perfect survived the match with Bravo. The following year, he appeared in SummerSlam, defeating The Red Rooster in a squash match. He went undefeated on television for over a year, beating mid-card wrestlers including B. Brian Blair, Ronnie Garvin, Koko B. Ware, The Blue Blazer, The Red Rooster, Jimmy Snuka, Tito Santana, and Bret Hart throughout 1989.
On the October 7 episode of Superstars, Perfect began appearing with The Genius, an arrogant, poetry-reciting scholar on The Brother Love Show and began a rivalry with Hulk Hogan over the WWF Championship. Their rivalry heated up when Genius defeated Hogan by countout, with Hennig's assistance on November 25 Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV and the duo stole Hogan's title belt and destroyed it backstage. Perfect and Hogan wrestled on the live events, where he lost to Hogan but they did not compete on television until January 15, 1990, when Hennig received his first opportunity for the WWF Championship against Hogan at Madison Square Garden and this was his first televised match against Hogan, which he won by disqualification but not the title.