With World Wrestling Entertainment's 2007 Hall of Fame class slanted toward performers from a now-defunct rival promotion, the selection of Nick Bockwinkel was a no-brainer.

Although he never wrestled a match for WWE, Bockwinkel was a four-time world champion for the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association from 1975 to 1987. Not only was he considered one of the industry's top performers, but Bockwinkel has close ties to two of the other six grapplers being inducted by WWE March 31 in Detroit on the eve of Wrestlemania 23.

As AWA champion, Bockwinkel feuded extensively with current WWE announcer Jerry "The King" Lawler in Memphis, Tenn., during the early 1980s. Bockwinkel also lost the AWA title for the final time in 1987 to the late Curt Hennig, who would later find WWE stardom as Mr. Perfect.

WWE's 2005 purchase of the AWA's video library helped pave the way for Bockwinkel's induction.

"I kind of figured that maybe I would be up for this somewhere down the road," the 72-year-old Bockwinkel said Wednesday in a telephone interview from his Las Vegas home. "At the same time, when anybody pays you that big a compliment, you really are kind of taken aback a bit."

The son of 1940s and 1950s grappler Warren Bockwinkel, he didn't hit his stride until his mid-30s. He said his career's turning point came in 1969 when he first began working as a heel in Atlanta.

Besides his cheating ways inside the ring, Bockwinkel would infuriate fans with condescending interviews that he proudly said could insult both "the common slob on the street along with a college professor." Bockwinkel said he carried a pocket dictionary with him on the road and would vociferously read newspapers for tie-ins that would make for timely insults against his opponent.

"When I matured, I was able to deliver a certain product much better," said Bockwinkel, whose first AWA title reign came at age 36 after defeating Verne Gagne in 1975. "I found myself very comfortable with that (crowd) heat."

Shortly after losing to Hennig, Bockwinkel retired from wrestling and joined WWE, working behind the scenes as a road agent for two years. By that time, WWE owner Vince McMahon had essentially run Gagne and other competition out of business by expanding his promotion nationwide and offering an entertainment-oriented product with more mainstream appeal than the AWA.

"A lot of people blamed Vince for changing the entire landscape of the business and that he ruined it," Bockwinkel said. "In reality, he had every right to do exactly what he did. He had a vision and the energy, drive and desire to make the wrestling profession as big as it has turned out to be."

Fittingly, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan will deliver Bockwinkel's induction speech. The duo was paired for 14 years in the AWA, with Heenan managing Bockwinkel as a singles and tag-team champion (with the late Ray Stevens) until leaving for WWE in 1984.

Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Fuji and the late Ed "The Sheik" Farhat are the other 2007 WWE Hall of Fame inductees. The telecast will be aired live online at wwe.com.

Questions may be sent to Alex Marvez c/o the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301, or e-mail amarvez@ sun-sentinel.com.