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It's a special lecture this week, as I talk with the legendary Baron Von Raschke. Sit back, relax. Enjoy.

The setting is St. Paul's History Theatre, a cozy venue that also serves as a time capsule. Close your eyes and you hear former AWA star Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon bellow about some injustice. Open your eyes and realize Vachon is being channeled perfectly by actor Joe Kudla. Close your eyes, and you hear Vachon's former tag team partner Baron Von Raschke snarl, "And dat is all da people need to know!" Open your eyes, and Mr. Raschke is standing right there, part of the production. The play, "The Baron," had a two-month run in the capital city, and most every night Raschke says it ended with a standing ovation.

"Everybody seems to love it," he said. "Whether they're wrestling fans or just regular Joe Blows off the street. It's witty and well-written and it's a lot of fun, and it's fun for me to do."

Raschke, now 67, is semi-retired, living with his wife, Bonnie, in Wabasha, Minn. The play is a combination of mostly-true tales from Vern Gagne's American Wrestling Association mixed with Raschke's life story. The former grappler said it took him about three weeks to learn his lines.

"Being an old guy who hasn't memorized anything but the catechism for confirmation, I was having a little trouble sometimes," Raschke said. "My poor wife suffered through the readings with me ... and rehearsed with me before the rehearsal. I kind of knew the words, but it was still terrifying because I was dealing with presenting that to other actors that were real actors -- professional actors -- and I was terrified of just being dumb and stupid. Anyway, they were real kind to me and it all worked out."

Professor Wrestling Audio Podcast: 'Old School, New School' -- Episode 33!

The Baron? Terrified? It happens. In real life he's just a guy from Nebraska. While a great amateur wrestler in his youth (he made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team but was injured before the Tokyo games started), Jim didn't become a household name until he hooked up with Mad Dog in 1967. But if Mr.Vachon had his way, wrestling fans would have jeered Baron Von "Pumpkin" instead of Baron Von Raschke.

"He actually suggested that name to me," Raschke said. "I offhandedly rejected it because it didn't sound German -- and it sounded kind of bizarre. So I thought, 'No, I have a German name. I'll use my own name. My last name anyway.'"

With that final decision, good guy Jim Raschke was gone forever, and the goose-stepping, evil caped Baron was born.

Another Mad Dog moment outlined in the play involved the bearded Canadian once opening an airplane door while the craft -- packed with the AWA roster -- was in flight. Raschke says he wasn't there, but it really happened.

"The incident did take place," he said. "(Vachon) did throw the door open. The wrestlers on the plane were probably scared to death. I know I would have been. I was afraid of the plane when nothing happened."

The Baron, with a fear of flying? Again, he's just a guy from Nebraska. In real life, a very gentle, soft-spoken guy -- lucky enough to be someone he's not in short, wonderful bursts of hoarse, maniacal growling. He outlines a typical TV taping back in the day: "I'd be calmly sitting there doing my crossword puzzle. Then they'd say, 'Raschke, you're up.' I'd get up and I'd have an interview and I'd be the Baron. Then I'd go back and sit down and do my crossword again -- and I'd be Jim again. I couldn't live like the Baron 24 hours a day, I'll tell you that.

"(But) I never had a problem of losing my voice or having a sore throat. On TV (tapings), we'd do 15-20 interviews in a session (plugging matches in various towns in the AWA territory), so it was pretty wearing on your voice. But it didn't really hurt me. I'd drink some warm stuff and I'd be OK. Early on, I would drink soup, but I eventually got hooked on coffee. Which I understand from actors it's not good for your voice. It seemed to help me."

Raschke says he had a lot of fun in the ring, and is thankful fans remember him fondly. You can catch him at autograph signings here and there, but with two artificial knees his in-ring career is long over.

"I always get warm fuzzies because people remember (the AWA) in such a wonderful light," he said. "But nowadays, it (WWE) feels gross the way they present it. I guess they make a lot of money and sell a lot of tickets, but it's not very good.

"In the first place, they talk all the time and they don't wrestle hardly at all, if ever. And then you see somebody's naked bottom. Or the kid (WWE owner Vince McMahon Jr.) is asking somebody to kiss his butt. It's so close to pornography, I can't watch it. It's just terrible. I wouldn't let my kids watch it and they're 36 and 39. We always tried to make a little bit of sense. I think that's the difference (between yesterday and today)."

Could you imagine an AWA star swearing? Or showing his backside? Not in a trillion years. There were other ways to thrill a crowd. As for the Baron, it came with The Claw! That started by accident in the middle of a match in St. Louis when one of his opponents suggested that he slap it on his forehead. He did, and the crowd ate it up. Generations of kids would then slap it on their Dads, brothers, sisters, friends or whatever. It's just one of those goofy TV wrestling things that have a life of their own -- with no swearing or nudity required.

So is that all the people need to know about this ring legend? Not on your life. Baron Von Raschke, whether he realized it or not, was one of the very first to come up with his own "catch phrase" -- the signature line synonymous with his character. These days, teams of WWE lawyers and writers probably spend months figuring out what the next Steroid Man will utter. Not Mr. Raschke. His famous line came by accident during a TV taping in Minneapolis with the great AWA announcer, Marty O'Neill.

"O'Neill was interviewing me, and I'm blind without my glasses," Raschke recalled. "(The TV crew) always gives you a windup signal and I can hardly ever see it. They count you down to the last five seconds. I though they wound me up, and I started to leave. Marty said, 'By the way Baron,' and he asked me another question. I had said everything I had wanted to say, and that's when I said, 'And dat is all da people need to know!' And I stomped off.

"It was just something that popped into my head. Marty thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. He just cracked up. So I had to say it every time. Now (all these years later) if I don't say it, everyone gets mad at me. So I keep saying it."

So it that all the people need to know? Not yet, as Raschke takes one more opportunity to thank his fans: "I had a lot of fun doing what I did. I hope it shows. That's all."

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting, hailing from Parts Unknown. He also has a great audio podcast called "Old School, New School." You can download EPISODE 33 right here. After listening to it, send your compliments right here.)