Baron von Raschke
| Baron von Raschke | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Donald Raschke |
| Born |
October 17, 1940 Omaha, Nebraska, United States |
| Residence | Hastings, Minnesota, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Baron Baron von Raschke The Clawmaster Fritz von Raschke Jim Raschke |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 281 lb (127 kg) |
| Billed from | Republic of Germany |
| Trained by |
Verne Gagne Mad Dog Vachon |
| Debut | 1966 |
| Retired | 1995 |
James Donald Raschke (born October 17, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke.
After a successful amateur wrestling career and a stint in the United States Army, James Raschke started in professional wrestling in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association as a referee. He was soon wrestling under the name of Jim Raschke, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. He eventually changed his ring name to Baron von Raschke and claimed to be from Germany. He would do a goose-step and then put his finisher known as the "brainclaw", on his opponent. His most memorable quote came at the end of an interview during which - running out of time before the next match and not fully hearing the question - he simply blurted out, "Dat is all da people need to know!". Earlier in his career, the Baron had a finishing maneuver known as the 'Prussian Sleeper', a rather complex variation of a traditional sleeper hold. His trademark mantra at the time was; "I am ORDERED to win! I MUST win! and I WILL win!"
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he held numerous singles and tag team titles throughout several NWA and AWA territories, as well as wrestling for the WWWF, where his claw hold was "censored" by a huge red "X" on WWWF television because of the blood it would draw when applied. In 1978, he was recognized as the first NWA Television Champion (the Mid Atlantic Television title had been renamed).
In May 1984, Raschke and The Crusher defeated Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. They would lose the belts in August of that same year to The Road Warriors.
In 1986, he wrestled for the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions where he reunited with former tag partner Paul Jones (who was now a manager) as part of Paul Jones' Army. He also filled in for the injured Krusher Khruschev, defending the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Ivan and Nikita Koloff. Toward the end of his run there he turned "face" against Jones and teamed with Hector Guerrero defeating the Barbarian and Pez Whatley at Starrcade (1986). After teaming with Wahoo McDaniel at the 1987 Crockett Cup he left the National Wrestling Alliance.
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