Barbarian recalls the bad ol' days with pride, regret
A crew of professional wrestlers with Robbinsdale connections had problems dealing with drink and drugs.
Jim Souhan, Star Tribune
Last update: December 20, 2005 at 10:27 PM

Elvis is singing "Blue Christmas" over the speakers at the Perkins in Hopkins. John Nord -- formerly Nord the Barbarian -- is smiling and shaking his head, remembering the peaks and pitfalls of the lifestyle that made him briefly famous and his friends permanently dead.

Nord is the prideful progeny of the Robbinsdale professional wrestlers, the Godfather of whom was Vern Gagne. As in the movie world of mafia Godfathers, there aren't many sons left these days.

Minnesotans got a reminder of the fast times and sudden ends of pro wrestlers when Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure in a Minneapolis hotel room last month. Minnesotans who follow pro wrestling got plenty of reminders before that.

"I've lost four dear friends before their time," Nord said. "You slip over that line, and you can slip off into eternity. And you don't know exactly where that line is."

Nord started as a football player. He blew a chance at BYU when he asked legendary coach LaVell Edwards, "What's with all the stinkin' Mormon stuff around here?"

But Nord played offensive tackle at Montana State, and then for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, with Herschel Walker. "He had a heart of gold," Nord said. "He'd look at me and say, 'Beer man, you taking care of yourself?'"

The answer was usually "No."

Nord said he began taking steroids while with the Generals. "I could get them from Mark Gastineau and [Joe] Klecko, of the Jets," Nord said.

Soon he was 310 pounds, and his Robbinsdale connections helped him get started in wrestling. Early in his career, he worked a tag-team event at the Superdome, facing Muhammad Ali. "He told me, 'I know how it works,' Nord said. "He hit me, and I staggered around and fell. I should have had my picture taken with him, but all I cared about was getting to Bourbon Street."

Nord, 46, admits now that most streets he encountered, he could have named after one drink or another. He retired from wrestling in 1998 after suffering a neck injury. He looks fit and still wears a Fu Manchu, but admits he took "too many bumps."

Which leaves him better off than four of his buddies. In the past seven years:

• Dean Peters, a Robbinsdale High grad who wrestled under the name Brady Boone, died in a car accident in Tampa.

• Peters' high school classmate and fellow pro wrestler, Rick Rude (nee Rood), died of heart failure at 40.

• Curt Hennig, another Robbinsdale classmate, was found dead in a hotel room in Tampa. Investigators said Hennig, 44, died of a cocaine overdose.

• Mike Hegstrand of the infamous "Road Warriors" died at 46 after a history of heart problems.

The Road Warriors' motto was "We snack on danger and we dine on death," but it was probably more controlled substances that spelled the Robbinsdale wrestlers' doom.

Nord admitted to his battles with "road demons. The thing about wrestling is, it's so hard on you. You crack. You have to medicate yourself to keep going.:"

Nord works as a wholesale car salesman now, but is much more interested in his son's career.

Joe Nord, a senior at Waconia, has committed to wrestle for the Gophers. "He's 6-5, and he's got that blond, curly, hair," Nord said. "He's good. I don't know if I want him to be a pro wrestler. But it might be in his blood."
 

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on KSTP AM 1500. jsouhan@startribune.com