Baron Von Raschke

Former American professional wrestler, James Donal Raschke is best known by his ring name as Baron von Raschke. He first began wrestling professionally in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association as a referee. Not long after that, Baron von Raschke began wrestling, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. Baron von Raschke held several singles and tag team titles throughout the 1970s and 1980s. His titles were throughout several NWA and AWA territories, as well as wrestling for WWWF. However it was in 1977 that Baron von Raschkefaced his highest profile match. He wrestled WWWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Sammartino for the titled Madison Square Garden in New York. In 1978, von Raschke first became recognized as NWA Television Champion. In 1984, teamed with The Crusher, Baron von Raschke defeated Jerry Blackwell and Ken Pater in the AWA World Tag Team Championship. In 1988, Baron von Raschke had a session in the World Wrestling Federation for The Barbarian and the Warlord under the name of Baron. He would later reutnr in the AWA to the ring, against Soldat Ustinov and Teijho Khan. His last match was that of 1996, where he won against David Lynch at Supersars of Wrestling in Princeton, West Virginia. In the following year, Baron von Raschke starred in a stage play that was based on his life, his persona and his times in the AWA. The play was titled The Baron. This play later became a film version of Raschke’s life and career.