BARON VON RASCHKE DISCUSSES THE BIZARRE WRESTLING NAME HE ALMOST USED AT FIRST AND THE PERSON WHO SUGGESTED IT
By WorldWrestlingInsanity.comThe man who clawed his way across America has come to the Insanity. Wrestling legend Baron Von Raschke joined ClubWWI.com for a 38 minute shoot interview that talks about all the big moments from his career.
At a time when wrestling was thought to be real by many, Raschke was one of its most hated heels. From irate fans to cheering ones, the Baron has seen them all. Among the many topics he discusses with James Guttman are: Why His 1988 WWF Run Was So Short, The Reason He Thinks He Was Brought In, The Poor Way They Handled His Departure, His Matches Against “Teddy The Wrestling Bear,” The Night The Bear Wanted To Eat Bobby Heenan, Why He Tries Not To Watch Today’s Wrestling, The Final Days Of The AWA, What Vince McMahon Was Doing At The Time, His Early Opinion Of The Claw, Thoughts On Working With The Young Road Warriors, Crusher, Pat O’Connor, Verne Gagne, and More.
James and Baron also spoke about his wrestling name. It was Mad Dog Vachon, who Baron calls a good friend, who gave it to him. He’d walk by him and say, “You’d make a good German!” One thing lead to another, he headed to Canada and the Baron was born. Guttman then brings up something he had read. Was the original name Vachon wanted to use…Baron Von Pumpkin?
“Yes. He thought that would be a good name. I think there was an old timer with a name like that or he may have been thinking of Von Poppenheim or something. He thought it was a good name – whether he was kidding or not. I don’t think he was. But I said, no. I’d rather keep my, at least, my last name…Von Pumpkin was out.”
James says that the Baron was lucky. He says, “I can’t even imagine if it was the 80s and you had a name like that, what WWF would be sending you over. Gimmicks to come join them dressed as a pumpkin or something.” Raschke laughs.
“I’m sure they would.”
Aside from Baron Von Raschke, over 125 star interviews are available on ClubWWI.com for less than five dollars a month. Among the other guests you can hear from are: Jesse Ventura, Terry Funk, Jerry Lawler, Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Ahmed Johnson, Bobby Heenan, Terri Runnels, Kevin Nash, The Iron Sheik, Sid Vicious, Paul Bearer, Bruno Sammartino, Bryan Clark, Sean Mooney, Scott D’Amore, Tito Santana, Al Snow, Tod Gordon, Charlie Haas, Tom Prichard, Jacques Rougeau, Paul Roma, Tammy Sytch, Too Cold Scorpio, Ole Anderson, Kid Kash, Ivan Koloff, Jackie Gayda, Scotty 2 Hotty, Dawn Marie, John Heidenreich, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Valiant, Rick Martel, Bad News Brown, Nick Bockwinkel, Dory Funk Jr, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Buff Bagwell, Christian Cage, Jazz, Demolition Ax and Smash, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Morton, Dustin Rhodes, Damian Demento, Fred “Shockmaster” Ottman, Cpl. Kirchner, One Man Gang, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Shawn Stasiak, Ted DiBiase, Ivory, Chris Masters, Elix Skipper, Kamala, Samoa Joe, Giant Bernard, Bill DeMott, Juvi “Juice” Guerrera, Nora “Molly Holly” Greenwald, Nick Dinsmore, Harley Race, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Road Warrior Animal, Missing Link, Rikishi, Slick, Nidia, George Steele, Christy Hemme, Disco Inferno, Paul Ellering, Vito, Steve Blackman, Bushwhacker Luke, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Dennis Stamp, Shawn Daivari, Kevin Sullivan, B.G. James, Ron Killings, Zach Gowan, Dan Severn, Earl and Dave Hebner, Spike Dudley, Rodney Mack, Larry Zybszko, Harvey Wippleman, Mae Young, and many, more.
James Guttman’s second book, “World Wrestling Insanity Presents: Shoot First…Ask Questions Later,” is available for pre-order on Amazon.com