VALE LARRY HENNIG

December 7, 2018

Larry “Ax” Hennig has passed away in Florida at the age of 82.  The father of the late Curt “Mr Perfect” Henning, and the grandfather of Joe “Curtis Axel” Hennig, the Ax was a mainstay of the Verne Gagne run American Wrestling Association promotion for many years.

Born in Minnesota in 1936, Hennig joined the AWA in the early 1960s, but had a brief run in Texas as Heavyweight Champion in 1963.  Returning to the AWA, hennig teamed with a young Harley Race to capture the AWA Tag Team Titles on three occasions.  In 1966, the pair became the first tag team champions of the Australian World Championship Wrestling territory.

Hennig had World Title matches against Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino before announcing his retirement in 1985.  An accomplished amateur wrestler at high school, Henning was the patriarch of a family that has been a part of professional wrestling for close to sixty years.