WWE Stars With Surprising Minnesota Roots

Minnesota and wrestling; it's a pretty good combination. This is a lesson most wrestling fans have likely learned by now, whether it was through the famous Robbinsdale, Minnesota High School that produced several top wrestling icons or the American Wrestling Association, Verne Gagne's promotion that was one of the top territories of its era, as well as the promotion that introduced fans to babyface Hulk Hogan. And it's through both AWA and Robbinsdale High School that wrestling fans have figured out the two biggest non-Gagne wrestling stars to come out of Minnesota; WWE Hall of Famers Curt Hennig and Rick Rude.

Even without the Minnesota/Robbinsdale connection, Rude and Hennig would be associated with each other, given their lifelong friendship and their working relationship with each other in WCW, where Rude managed Hennig during the latter's run with the nWo Wolfpac and later nWo Hollywood. But aside from that, Rude and Hennig's careers took different paths, at least before they both wound up in WWE in the late 1980s. Till that point, Hennig was a Minnesota guy; he followed his father, Larry "The Axe" Hennig in becoming an AWA star, even winning the promotion's heavyweight title. Rude, on the other hand, never wrestled for the AWA, instead heading out to other territories such as WCCW in Texas, Championship Wrestling of Florida, and Jim Crockett Promotions to make his name. In many ways, Rude's run is telling; you can come from and be associated with a certain place, but it doesn't necessarily make you who you are.

In a way, this leads us to some of the more surprising wrestling stars with Minnesota roots, stars that developed those roots not via birth, but by being transplanted there. An obvious one would be Hogan. To be fair, that one doesn't entirely hold water; Hogan's AWA run was very brief in the 80s, and has become more of an interesting footnote on his history, especially compared to the highs, lows, and controversies he's since drawn. But Hogan's time in Minnesota does still matter; after all, would Hulkamania truly have found its footing if Gagne hadn't given Hogan the opportunity to have his first real babyface run? So there are roots there; those roots just happen to not hold a candle to the ones developed by, say, Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar.

Like Hogan, Benjamin and Lesnar were not from Minnesota; Benjamin was born and raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina, while Lesnar grew up in Webster, South Dakota, which was at least a tad closer to Minnesota than South Carolina is. Like Hogan, Benjamin and Lesnar's time in Minnesota was relatively short-lived. And also like Hogan, their time in Minnesota was significant, perhaps even more so than the Hulkster's. Plenty of credit should go to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling team for that. Benjamin arrived their first, transferring from NC State on a wrestling scholarship in the mid-90s, and proved to be a successful amateur wrestler and later assistant coach for the school. Lesnar followed a same path, transferring to Minnesota after two years of junior college, and would wind up training with Benjamin, who became his roommate. The success the two had wound up serving as a spring board for getting them noticed by WWE, and subsequently leading to successful careers for both in the business.