JIP. I have to assume this is from the 70's as it is an outdoor show at Commiskey Park (per khawk this is 1980). Really like the opening of this as they do lots of neat throws, legsweepers, escapes, et. Gagne was moving around really well in this and was cinching in his holds pretty deep. Gagne ends up doing a huge smash onto Bock's arm and twisting into a hammerlock. Verne locks in a double arm stretcher thingy, which Bock tries to reverse a few times which is a lot of fun. Verne opens up with some big blows, but Bock takes over and posts Verne's leg. Bock works the leg and goes for the figure-four but Verne kicks him off. Verne reverses a hold into a cross armbreaker type position and starts laying in shots to Bock, but falls back on a body slam attempt for a Bock nearfall. Bock misses a knee drop to Verne's leg. They go into a pretty good back and fourth segment and Bock ends up hitting a piledriver and going for a second but Verne reverses for a nearfall. Gagne locks on a sleeper after a missed Bock dropkick and Verne wins the title back. Really good match overall.

AWA World Heavyweight Title: Verne Gagne © vs. Nick Bockwinkel (7/18/80)

 

This was another one I missed and this is another match that definitely goes on due to historical significance. The match was very good with both men being solid at what they did both on the mat and standing up. Definite nomination.