10 Wrestling Bookers Who Damaged Their Own Promotions

There was a lot about professional wrestling that AWA founder, booker and long-time leading star Verne Gagne got right. His emphasis on realism, hard-hitting matches and grounded but well-developed characters made for a top tier, sports-focused product.

He also had a fantastic eye for talent and trained legends such as Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and Vader. The only thing that matched Gagne's strengths was the horrid nature of his flaws. For starters, Gagne seemed almost allergic to promoting new talent over trusted old hands such as Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens. The most obvious and infamous exception to this was the mega push he gave his mediocre son Greg.

Worse still, Gagne was dead set in his ways to a fault, refusing to adapt with the times or give anymore colourful acts a go, irrespective of their popularity. Consequently, he let everyone from Hulk Hogan to The Road Warriors to Shawn Michaels slip through his fingers.

As the '80s rolled by and he continued to lose more talent (and fans) to the WWF, Gagne's notoriously bad finances and tightfisted antics worsened. Jeopardising any sense of goodwill from his peers, the once immensely successful promoter's company went out with a depressing, bankrupt whimper in 1991.