The Updated KOTR Bracket, More On Verne Gagne’s Passing

— On Monday night’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW, the first round of the returning King of the Ring tournament took place. Advancing to the semi-finals on Tuesday night, which air live on the WWE Network, are R-Truth, Neville, Bad News Barrett and Sheamus.

— UPDATE: The wrestling world has lost one of its greats today. Gene Okerlund took to Twitter to confirm that Verne Gagne has passed away.

Gagne was best known as the owner and promoter of the American Wrestling Association, which was the primary territory in the Midwest from the 1960s until it folded in 1991. Gagne founded the promotion in 1960 and built it into one of the top territories in the country, and was a ten-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion. The promotion reached new heights of popularity with Nick Bockwinkel and his legendary feud with a young Hulk Hogan in the early 1980s.

The promotion suffered when Vince McMahon began signing talent away including Hogan, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Adrian Adonis, Ken Patera and Jesse Ventura, among others. Gagne still managed to develop several new names who would become top stars in the industry such as Scott Hall, the Rockers, Vader, The Nasty Boys and Madusa. Gagne was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

On behalf of all of us here on the website, our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Gagne. He will most certainly be missed.

— ORIGINAL: Verne Gagne passed away earlier today. We have no other details as of this writing.

Shane Helms confirmed the news on Twitter, writing:

Just hearing the news about the passing of Verne Gagne. Sad stuff. RIP Mr AWA!!

— Gregory Shane Helms (@ShaneHelmsCom) April 28, 2015

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