By Greg Oliver: Tag team wrestling was in the spotlight on Tuesday night at the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion’s Bockwinkel Blowout, with the High Flyers, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, in the main event slot.
The duo have known each other since they were 17 years old, playing football together in college. Their friendship was further built by the fact that they played a part in introducing each other to their wives.
But a wrestler is only as good as his opponent in the ring, reminded Brunzell, who praised their foes in the AWA in the 1970s and early 1980s.
“We had unbelievable talent” to work with,” said Brunzell. “It was hard to have a bad match.”
One of those opponents was Pat Patterson, who introduced the High Flyers with a hilarious story. In an era when homosexuals found a lot of difficulty fitting in, Patterson’s reputation preceded him. After meeting Patterson and wrestling him, Brunzell and Gagne found themselves in the communal shower. Patterson kept purposely dropping the soap and bending over. Eventually Gagne was brave enough to pick it up and wash Patterson’s back.
“They weren’t sure about Pat Patterson,” said Patterson, who has a book coming out this summer that he called freeing, since he was able to openly talk about his life.
“When it comes to wrestling, these guys were good,” said Patterson. “They were so professional and were very, very devoted to what they were doing.”
Brunzell started off the “match,” and took Patterson’s bait, recalled being “looked over” by the newcomer to the AWA territory. Brunzell said that Patterson warned them, “Remember this, if I ever get behind you, you’re screwed.”
“Pat never got behind me,” joked Brunzell.
Read the rest of the recap here!
Note: Photo by Brad McFarlin