[7] Debuting in 1954, Bockwinkel spent the first half of his career as a journeyman babyface, wrestling primarily in California and Hawaii with stints in Texas, Georgia, and the Pacific Northwest as well as excursions to Canada and Australia.

[10] When he was first breaking into professional wrestling, Bockwinkel served as the driver for Yukon Eric, taking him to various cities throughout the Eastern and Northeastern United States; he later commented that the experience, "was so smart.

[7][16][23][28] He spent the early years of his career working in Southern California for the North American Wrestling Alliance, where he occasionally teamed with his father and was sometimes billed as "Nicky Bockwinkel".

[11][29][30] From June to September 1956, during his summer break from UCLA, Bockwinkel made a foray into the Midwestern United States, performing in cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and St.

[11] During his military service, he moonlighted as a wrestler, appearing sporadically for NWA San Francisco and the Oakland, California-based Ad Santel Promotions under a variety of ring names.

[33][34] In April 1958, Bockwinkel (wrestling under the name "Dick Warren") and Ramón Torres won the NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version).

[11][38] In late-1960, Bockwinkel returned to the North American Wrestling Alliance, where in December 1960 and January 1961 he won the International Television Tag Team Championship on two occasions: once with Lord Blears and once with Édouard Carpentier.

[41] In November 1961, Bockwinkel and Snyder won the NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version), defeating Kinji Shibuya and Mitsu Arakawa in the Cow Palace.

[1][23] Having previously wrestled primarily as a babyface, Bockwinkel adopted a "cocky, uppity Beverly Hills California heel" persona in Georgia,[14] aligning himself with the villainous tag team The Assassins.

[70] Over the following months, he went on a lengthy undefeated streak (albeit while losing some matches by disqualification and count-out), with his regular opponents including Edouard Carpentier, Kenny Jay, and Paul Diamond.

[74][78] Over the next 18 months, they defended the titles against teams such as the Texas Outlaws (Dick Murdoch and Dusty Rhodes), The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon, and Billy Robinson and a series of partners including Don Muraco, Geoff Portz, Ken Patera, Red Bastien, and Wahoo McDaniel.

[74][80][81] In November 1974, Bockwinkel and Stevens participated in the International Wrestling Enterprise World Championship Series tournament in Japan, during which they defended their titles against The Great Kusatsu and Rusher Kimura.

[86] Throughout 1976, Bockwinkel defended the AWA World Heavyweight Championship against challengers including Gagne, Larry Hennig, Pampero Firpo, Joe Blanchard, Jos LeDuc, Peter Maivia, Art Thomas, and The Crusher.

In August 1976, Bockwinkel defended the AWA World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant in a bout at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a double disqualification.

[90][91] In 1977, Bockwinkel defended the AWA World Heavyweight Championship against Stevens as well as other challengers such as Billy Robinson , The Crusher, Ernie Ladd, Les Thornton, Pedro Morales, and Terry Funk.

Back in the AWA, Bockwinkel's challengers throughout the remainder of the year included Ricky Steamboat, Bill Dundee, Rick Martel, Bruiser Brody, Bobo Brazil, and Super Destroyer Mark II, as well as old adversaries such as Greg Gagne and The Crusher.

[101][104][105] In December 1981, he appeared in Bremen, Germany with the Catch Wrestling Association, defending the AWA World Heavyweight Championship against Austrian wrestler Otto Wanz in a bout that went to a time limit draw.

Hogan went on to repeatedly challenge Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, with the matches generally ending in disqualifications (meaning the title did not change hands).

In April 1982, Hogan defeated Bockwinkel and was declared the new champion, only for the decisions to be overturned by AWA president Stanley Blackburn due to the use of a foreign object during the match.

[111] Bockwinkel faced Otto Wanz in a series of rematches, eventually defeating him to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship for a third time on October 9, 1982, in the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

[87][108] Two days later, Bockwinkel appeared with the Continental Wrestling Association in the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, where he defeated Jerry Lawler to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

[108][112] Bockwinkel closed out 1982 with successful defences of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship against challengers such as Rick Martel, Mike Graham, Tito Santana, Jim Brunzell, and Baron von Raschke.

[113] Throughout 1983, Bockwinkel faced challengers such as Pat Patterson, Rick Martel, Baron von Raschke, Jerry Lawler, Wahoo McDaniel, and Brad Rheingans.

[23][118][119][120] In July 1983, Bockwinkel returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling as part of its "Grand Champion Carnival III" tour, facing opponents such as Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta.

[125] In December 1984, Bockwinkel returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling, participating in that year's World's Strongest Tag Determination League with Harley Race as his partner.

At that month's WrestleRock 86 supercard event in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bockwinkel defeated Hansen by disqualification (meaning the title did not change hands).

[23][73][87][131][132] Throughout the remainder of 1986, Bockwinkel defended the title against Larry Zbyszko and other challengers such as Boris Zhukov, Nord the Barbarian, and Scott Hall, as well as wrestling Curt Henning to a time limit draw in an hour-long bout.

His fourth and final reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion ended on May 2, 1987, when he lost to Curt Hennig at SuperClash II in the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California.

Bob Backlund wrote in his autobiography that "Nick had a great head for the game, a wonderful sense of ring psychology, and an uncanny ability to use his intelligence and cockiness to get under the people's skin.

[145] Fellow wrestler Jim Wilson described Bockwinkel as "one of wrestling's truly smooth workers with a repertoire of moves executed fluidly, believably and without a hint of pain for his opponents.