|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:20:35 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson is in the ring and after he's done telling us pretty much EVERYTHING that's been going on with the AWA and what to expect with this show, we're finally set to get things underway with some wrestling action. Roger Kent and Greg Gagne are your announcers for tonight's matches.
Match One: Marty Jannetty vs. Jake Milliman
Kent talks about the time he had off and asks Gagne about Jannetty, which leads to Gagne putting him over to the moon. Jannetty has the shiner that he had in the earlier bout that was one of his AWA debut bouts, so this is still really early in his stint with the AWA. They end up in the corner off of a lockup and Jannetty gives him a clean break. Milliman yells at the crowd and claims a hairpull while he hears some boos. Jannetty gets a standing arm-wringer and Milliman reverses into one of his own, with Jannetty doing a cartwheel to reverse it and get back to the offensive. Jannetty gets a takeover and turns it into an armbar with Milliman wriggling and jiggling underneath. Milliman gets to his feet and tries a headlock takeover but Jannetty holds onto the arm. Milliman breaks it and shoots him into the ropes but eats a couple of shoulderblocks before Jannetty gets another armdrag takeover, right into the armbar. Milliman goes to the eyes and grabs a side headlock, with Jannetty shooting him off into the ropes and doing his "leg over the head, backflip into a hip toss" spot that seems to end up in every Jannetty or Shawn Michaels match. A dropkick from Jannetty barely makes contact and he takes Milliman back over with another armdrag. Back to the armbar and he's got Milliman down on the mat, stepping on his head and stomping his head into mat before letting go of the armbar and spanking him a little. Milliman takes over with some shots to the gut and snap mares Jannetty over into a reverse chinlock. I guess Jake isn't a fan of being spanked. Jannetty makes it to his feet and pushes Milliman into the corner, attempting an Irish whip that Milliman reverses. Jannetty climbs to the second rope and comes off with a flying splash that gets the pin, eventually, as the referee had to wait until both of Milliman's shoulders were down.
Winner: Marty Jannetty (pinfall, second rope splash)
Match Analysis: A squash match with a really botched ending. The last episode I watched, I saw Michaels come off the top rope and worried at how loose those ropes were, and I did the same thing watching Jannetty come off the second rope in this one. He had to hesitate for a moment to make sure he had enough momentum to come around on the splash and it killed the move a little. That and the five seconds it took before the referee counted the pin. Shame because it was halfway decent before the end soured it a little for me.
Back from the break and we have Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie in the ring with The Barbarian and Larry Nelson. Sheik says that he's back in the AWA after everyone thought that he was gone, and his Army is back and stronger than ever. He is glad that the suspension of King Kong Brody has been lifted and that he'll be back next week to destroy everybody. Sheik figures that they'll capture the AWA Tag Team Championships, as well as the AWA Heavyweight Championship. Nelson brings up how much Barbarian reminds everyone of Brody and Barbarian cuts that off, saying that he's received orders from the Sheik that the ARABS are waiting for their championship belts. He says that he's going to bring them to the ARABS if it costs him his life, before saying that he's been training with King Kong Brody for the past year. Nelson cuts them off and sends it back to commercial, which seems a little weird since that was barely half a promo. I guess he figured that Barbarian wouldn't have anything interesting to add to the proceedings.
Match Two: Leon White vs. Chris Curtis
Nelson builds up White's time with the LA Rams and our special referee for this one is Scott LeDoux. They lockup and White shoves Curtis off into the ropes, leading to the hairpull complaint that every heel jobber seems to come up with. Another lockup and White sends him flying again before grabbing a side headlock and cranking away on it. Curtis shoots him in and eats a HUGE shoulderblock before ducking down for a back bodydrop, but White hits a SUNSET FLIP for a one-count. LUCHA VADER~!!! White goes back to the side headlock off of a headbutt and he keeps yanking away at Curtis' head. White lets go of it and lands a HARD elbow and a chop that puts Curtis down on his as. White Irish whips him into the corner and follows with a reverse elbow, dropping another flying elbow and getting a two-count off of that. Curtis starts a comeback, dropping an elbow to White's head and choking before he grabs a front-facelock. White goes to the stomach to reverse it and Irish whips Curtis into the ropes, hitting a BIG shoulderblock, following it with a legdrop for a two-count. White's back to the standing side headlock before Curtis goes to the eyes to break it up, grabbing a side headlock of his own and continuing to work over White's eyes. Curtis with a couple of turnbuckle smashes and he Irish whips White into the ropes, following him in with a knee to the stomach. Snap mare by Curtis but he misses a kneedrop off the ropes, with White taking over with the side headlock again, pushing him into the corner and hitting a couple of hard chops. White follows him in with the VADER SPLASH and White hits another reverse elbow off of an Irish whip. White picks him up and delivers a HUGE powerslam with one arm for the 1-2-3!!
Winner: Leon White (pinfall, powerslam)
Match Analysis: Always interesting to see pre-Vader Leon White, but Curtis wasn't a very good choice to put in there with him. Curtis has seemed really stiff and wooden in every match I've seen of his, and this was no different. When you add in Leon's lack of babyface charisma, this match is a bit of a black hole.
After the break, Larry Nelson's in the ring with none other than Larry Zbyszko!!! HELL YES!! He's on suspension from the AWA for the despicable, violent actions he perpetrated, attacking Greg Gagne and Scott LeDoux with his nunchuks. Zbyszko says that the amount of ignorance running rampant through the American society makes him sick. He says that everyone has tried to interrupt his career, while Nick Bockwinkel has cost him over $100,000 personally, as well as the AWA Championship. Nelson reminds him that he attacked a man with a deadly weapon, and Zbyszko says that when he's in there with Gagne and a hired goon like LeDoux, that situation is deadly....to his BANK ACCOUNT!! That's right Larry, don't put up with that shit from them!! Zbyszko says that if anyone wants to wrestle him then that's good, they'll lose, but that's good. If they decide to cheat and bend the rules, then Zbyszko will make them pay. Nelson tries to cut the interview off but Zbyszko keeps his pimp hand strong and nearly rips the mike out of Nelson's hand. He says that he's got his attorneys working on the suspension and trying to get it overturned, there are temporary injunctions in court, he'll get the suspencion lifted, he threatens Stanley Blackburn and then Larry Nelson scurries away with the microphone, incensing Zbyszko even further.
Match Three: Doug Somers vs. Scott Hall w/Curt Hennig
The bell rings and we're underway, with Somers faking a kick over at Hennig before getting shoved off into the ropes by Hall. They try the old test of strength and Somers takes over on it for a moment with some kicks to the stomach before Hall gets back to his feet and hip tosses him over, following it up with a BIG back-bodydrop that sends Somers into the lights. Hall grabs a standing side headlock and Somers shoots him into the ropes to break it, but takes a couple of shoulderblocks for his troubles. Somers ducks down and Hall leapfrogs over him, picking him up for a HARD bodyslam!! Hall with another big slam and he comes off the ropes with a flying elbow but Somers rolls out of the way, letting Hall hit the mat. Somers works over the arm against the ropes and wraps it in the ropes before hitting some shoulderlocks to Hall's stomach in the corner. Somers with a short punch to the eyes out of a headlock, but Hall comes back with a kick to the gut and a big forearm smash to the back that gets a two-count. Somers rakes the eyes and Hall fires back with a big kneelift before moving back to the side headlock. Somers pushes him into the corner and starts hammering away with chops and right hands, and they're trading blows in the corner before Hall tries an Irish whip, missing the charge and ramming his shoulder into the top turnbuckle. Somers drops a couple of knees and then heads up to the top rope, but Hall catches him and hits the BIG SLAM off the top, pushing Somers into the corner and hitting the BULLDOG for the three-count!!
Winner: Scott Hall (pinfall, bulldog)
Match Analysis: Decent little match, and it's interesting to see Somers job out to Hall in an extended squash just months before he and Rose would team up to beat Hennig and Hall. This one must have been very early in Somers' stint in the AWA as Gagne on commentary made him sound like a newcomer. Again, a decent match which is a good thing based on what I've seen so far.
Larry Nelson is in the ring with Hall and Hennig and he congratulates them on their newly-won AWA Tag Team Championships. They're both excited and Hall says that it feels great, but it takes time for things of this magnitude to sink in. They feel great and that all their hard work in the gym and doing film study has paid off, with Hall saying that they're going to hold these belts for a long time. Hennig says that it's one thing to win the belts and another to hold onto them, and tells everyone that they can line up, because Hennig and Hall won't be closet champions. He says that everywhere they go they'll defend the titles for the people!
Match Four: Six-Man Tag Main Event Boris Zhukov, The Barbarian and The Stomper vs. Curt Hennig, Jerry Blackwell and Sgt. Slaughter
HUGE USA chant from the crowd for Slaughter, the huge fan-favorite and it looks like it's going to be Slaughter starting out with Boris Zhukov. Slaugher motions that he's going to slam the big Russian like it's nothing and understandably Zhukov doesn't like it. Slaughter grabs a headlock on Zhukov and hits a forearm smash, but Zhukov grabs a headlock of his own. Slaughter runs him into the ropes and he ends up running into a forearm from Blackwell standing on the apron. Blackwell's in the ring now, and the tag is made to Stomper, with Blackwell taking over on him with right hands and headbutts. Blackwell is going to town, hammering away at all three heels before hitting an avalanche in the corner on Stomper. Slaughter and Hennig Irish whip Blackwell in for another avalanche on Stomper and Blackwell makes the tag to Hennig. Beautiful dropkick by Hennig puts Stomper down to the mat and Hennig clamps on a side headlock, with both guys trading blows against the ropes. Hennig distracts the referee and both Slaughter and Blackwell get a couple of shots in on Stomper.
Stomper comes back and takes over on Hennig though, bringing him over to the heel corner and tagging in Barbarian. Hennig and Barbarian trade blows before an Irish whip leads to a BIG boot to Hennig's face. A big slam from Barbarian but he misses the follow-up kneedrop and Hennig gets a tag in to Slaughter, who pummels Barbarian a little before whipping into his own corner. Zhukov makes a tag in and gets handled, ending up in the face corner, getting worked over again while Slaughter distracts the referee. Zhukov takes over with a big boot and tags in Stomper, who Irish whips Slaughter in and hits a big boot to the gut. He slams Slaughter over the turnbuckle and into the post before tagging in Barbarian. BIG slam from Barbarian and he gets a two-count off of that before tagging in Zhukov, who works over Slaughter with some headbutts and punches. Slaughter's cut on the forehead and the heels are making quick tags, with Stomper coming in to lay in some punches to Slaughter's head and body.Stomper hits a double-thrust to the throat and then runs Slaughter's head into the boots of Zhukov and Barbarian before making the tag to Barbarian.
Slaughter gets worked over in the corner and tries a comeback while the crowd chants USA, even hitting a big dropkick and Slaughter makes the tag to Hennig. Zhukov is in for the heels and he takes a back bodydrop and a flying dropkick from Hennig before getting Irish whipped into the corner. Hennig with some chops and another huge Irish whip to the corner that leads Zhukov into a tag to The Stomper. Hennig grabs a side-headlock and gets whipped across by Stomper, but Hennig gets a shoulderblock and a dropkick that "lands" but doesn't. Great improv by both guys to go on and act like it didn't land and quick thinking from both to switch and go with it. Great job by two professionals. Stomper does some...stomping and tags in Barbarian, holding Hennig up for a BIG boot from Barbarian. Backbreaker from Barbarian gets a one-count and he grabs Hennig to set him up for a piledriver, teasing it a little before tagging in Zhukov. An Irish whip in and Zhukov ducks for a back-bodydrop but eats Hennig's boot, giving Hennig just enough time to get a hot tag to Blackwell. Blackwell with right hands on Zhukov and he headbutts the entire heel team in their corner before slamming Zhukov and dropping a big elbow. All six men in now and all hell is breaking loose, with Blackwell dragging Sheik into the ring off the apron and the referee is calling for the bell.
This one looks like it's been thrown out but the brawl continues with the faces finally clearing the ring after a bit more brawling. The referee raises the hand of Hennig and instead of a no contest it looks like he's disqualified the team of Stomper, Zhukov and Barbarian.
Winners: Curt Hennig, Jerry Blackwell and Sgt. Slaughter (disqualification)
Match Analysis: A hot crowd, but an aboslutely terrible match with no flow whatsoever. Another of the patented AWA "we don't know what happened yet but a bell is ringing" endings didn't do this match any favors either. It was cool to see Stomper and Slaughter in the AWA, and all six guys worked hard, but there just wasn't any flow to it and it didn't seem like it was the "blood feud" that the announcers were trying to bill it as. I sure as hell didn't see any REAL hatred from anyone, but that could have just been me.
After the match Larry Nelson's in the ring with Hennig, Slaughter and Blackwell and another USA chant breaks out for Slaughter. Blackwell says that anytime you get Sheik around the ring there will be problems. He says that Sheik can bring in anybody he wants to and they'll keep kicking their asses. Blackwell says that he hasn't seen any papers about Brody's suspension being lifted, but he says that if it's true that he'll gladly get in the ring and beat on him some more. Hennig says that what Sheik and his men are trying to do is run down the USA and anyone that does that ends up on the fighting side of Curt Hennig. Slaughter says that the AWA stands for the red, white and blue and he says that anytime Sheik wants to face anyone, he can bring anyone he wants and face Slaughter. They're all sick and tired of what's been happening in the AWA and they plan on changing it, starting with Sheik.
Larry Nelson's in the ring, giving us the rundown of what happened on this week's show, while previewing next week's show. He even says that BUCK ZUMHOFFE is going to be on next week's show. They BETTER show that one soon, I'm craving me some Buck!!! That's it for the episode and Nelson thanks us all for watching.
Final Thoughts
Not a very good show in my estimation. The Hall/Somers match was probably the best of the bunch, which doesn't say a lot. I had high hopes for the six-man tag, but it just felt flat all the way around. Another dud of a show, which I hope will begin leading to some good shows coming soon. Maybe the bonus show will be a good one to break the string. On to the comments, folks!!
Fun With Comments
From Joe Bass Jr: "That show was the first show ESPN classic showed, I hope they aren't going into repeats already!"
From G-Walla: "It figures. I finally get back on 411 to comment on the AWA, and they replay the first episode they aired. Boo-urns!"
From Don Mattingly: "I think it was a slow night of comments, because they already showed that episode. That was the very first episode Classic aired a couple of weeks ago."
From TJack: "Second re-run in a row! Wednesday they repeated the 7/22/86 that they had already shown on Feb 29th. Thursday night, they repeated the 3/4/86 that they had already shown on Feb 27th.
I was really looking forward to the originally scheduled programs (Wed was supposed to be Jannetti's AWA debut vs. Nick Kiniski; plus Hansen vs. Martel. Thursday was supposed to be part of SuperClash 1985.)
I hope we get to see those shows at some point. Plus, it would be nice if they quit splicing different shows together and showed the episodes in their original order. (Keep dreamin', huh?)"
Well, now I know what that comment deal was about. Whrew! The show seemed new to me because I've missed the first few episodes in the recaps since I missed when they did the change from the UWF shows to the AWA shows, so anything before the 27th of February was new to me. I really hope they don't fall into doing lots of repeats since there is a shit-ton of footage they could use for these shows.
From Silo Sam: "crappy show that featured me falling asleep during jerry blackwell's SECOND MATCH (wtf) of the night. I did enjoy Hall vs Somers as they are two of my AWA favorites, but it couldve been waaaaay better. other than that the only other enjoyable part of the show was the jannetty/zbysko interview and the "great" music that was played during jannetty's video package."
Well of course a Larry Zbyszko interview is going to be a highlight. I agree though that it was a pretty weak show all the way around, and having Blackwell in two separate matches is NOT the way to turn a show around, AT ALL.
From Jay: "Does anyone know the story about the AWA title being stolen during a match by a fan? I cannot find it anywhere but remember a fan ran down during a match, grabbed it from the table and ran out of the arena."
I can't say that I've heard of that story, but if anyone who's reading has, or anyone has any ideas on this or can remember what happened, I'd love to hear it.
From Infamous Male: "Your reports are great. I look foward to them daily. I was not a happy camper when the last show came on as Meltzer said that they would be airing Rick Martel vs Stan Hansen for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship which did not happen. That took the life out of me & I feel asleep. I just did not feel like another Bockwinkle vs Zhukov match. I guess it was good based on your report but it's no Martel vs Hansen. From now on I'm just going to watch with no expectations as that allows me to enjoy it more. Why was Jerry Blackwell in two matches? I never really understood that guys appeal. Must be an AWA thing. That guy was a big draw for them for many years if I'm not mistaken. And I don't mean big as in his weight. When did Yokozuna start showing up in the AWA? Wasn't he called Koconut Maximus? Seeing Vader, Yokozuna, a few Clique members, Mr. Perfect, etc. in their early years is super cool. Larry Zbyszko was a highlight of the AWA even up until the last days of the AWA. He was a star everywhere he went. WWF, NWA territories, AWA, WCW, even in TNA. Love the guy."
Zbyszko was a great performer, and it's a shame that most people only remember his annoying run as a color guy on Nitro. I'm not going to lay the blame for that totally on him since he wasn't exactly working with top talent in that announce booth. I think Blackwell was a big draw because he looked like a regular guy and that was able to connect him to the audience. That and his turn on the Sheik which turned him into an incredibly over babyface. Yokozuna did indeed get his break in the AWA as Kokina Maximus.
From Brian: "Once again I enjoyed a show that you thought was bad. Either I'm easy to please, or you're over critical. (Okay...I'm easy to please.) Seriously though, compared to other shows in that time frame, (Mid 80's) it's very good stuff. Rasslin' was not what it is now, anymore than the mid 80's were like the 60's. Love reding your recaps!!!"
Well, everyone has their own tastes. I still enjoyed the show on a nostalgic level, but on a wrestling level it was the shits. Thanks for your support on the recaps as well, I love doing them and appreciate all the positive response to it.
From Eric: "This is why Eric has a recordable DVR on his cable box. One can generally just fast forward. Then again, I'm not reviewing where I have to try and get through the whole thing. At least one can fly through the commercials and the show trims down to a lean 40 minutes or so.
I just think overall there were gaps in taping, because not only was the AWA doing their Showboat Pavilion shows in Vegas, they were still taping in the Midwest for the old All-Star Wrestling syndicated program. That's where you occasionally hear Larry Nelson saying 'welcome to all-star wrestling', etc etc. I think to cut corners they'd just broadcast randomly from both sources and be done with it. That's how cheap things got after awhile.
Verne pretty much did EVERYTHING old-school, because he knew nothing else. For the most part, most of the workers didn't have serious issues with management; Verne just wouldn't pay them what they were worth, and essentially called Vince McMahon's bluff early on...he rolled the dice and lost. He thought he could continue to create new stars - which he did - in hopes that 'loyalty' would allow them to stay and work for the AWA. Didn't work out that way, unfortunately. The only ones who really stayed WERE the loyal employees: Blackwell, Kaissie, Snuka, DeBeers, Zbyszko (aside from a previously mentioned NWA short run before returning to the AWA until it folded), and anyone who was deemed too old by the WWF - Bockwinkel, Baron von Raschke, Rheingans, Ray Stevens, and Greg Gagne, of course.
It was really sad because, for the most part, much of the AWA booked feuds and talent were fairly entertaining. The TV budget, while not in the millions (sarcasm), certainly was good enough. Ignore the Commodore 64 graphics. It really came down to the point where everyone else was evolving and modernizing their product, the AWA was stuck. By the time they tried it (the graphics, Interview segments a'la Piper's Pit, music videos), they came off looking like something I would have attempted to do in high school TV class. 25 years ago.
For the record, Hogan didn't leave specifically because of t-shirt sales. He was selling out arenas for the AWA in 1982 and 1983, and Gagne didn't want to pay him what he thought he was worth. This was a main reason why Hogan would pin Nick Bockwinkel twice before sell-out crowds, only for the decision to be reversed in the famous "Stanley Blackburn finishes". It pissed fans off, trust me on that one. If Gagne put the belt on Hogan as AWA champion, it would have made them a lot of money....and it would have meant paying Hogan (at that time) a lot of money in response.
As many already know, when Hogan signed with the WWF in December of 1983, and won the belt in January 1984, that was what started the ball rolling downhill for Verne Gagne.
A shame, because I saw many of those Chicago Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena) shows....and the crowds were hot. One of the ones I remember the most featured a 25-man Battle Royal....which featured Greg, Jim Brunzell, Blackwell, Brody, Andre the Giant, Hogan, Ken Patera, Mr. Saito, Zumhofe, Rheingans, Steve Olsonoski, Blackjack Lanza, Otto Wanz, Jumbo Tsuruta, Curt Hennig, Larry Hennig, The Crusher, Billy Robinson, RIck Martel, Dr. D. David Schultz, and Superstar Billy Graham and Mad Dog Vachon.
Yes, it was a sell-out."
Look at the talent in that battle royal. No wonder that show was a sell-out. Again, I agree with pretty much everything that was said, including the shitty graphics and music and everything. It was sad to see Verne try to catch up but fail so miserably at it.
From The Kid: "Long time reader, first time poster. Why does ESPN Classic release the weekly schedule, when it's never accurate. I've jest watched Shawn (Sean, Saen) Michaels wrestling that jobber Buddhakhan for the second time in two weeks, when the first match supposed to be a Steven Regal bout. I guess the whole episode was a repeat. At first I thought it was their random match editing. I appreciate them showing the AWA, but why is it so hard for them to stick to the script. Pure lazyness?"
I don't know why they end up switching the shows like they do, but I agree that it can be frustrating when you don't get to see a show that you're excited about seeing.
From Teijo Kahn: "I did a google search, and here's where they're supposed to be at the end of April: 04/23/2008 (taped 12/27/1987) RPM's & Cactus Jack vs. Guerrero Bros.; Ron Garvin vs. Greg Gagne; Rock & Roll Express vs. Stud Stable; Sgt. Slaughter vs. Col. DeBeers
04/24/2008 (12/26/1988) Tom Rich vs. Jimmy Valiant; Top Guns vs. Hangman & Beast; Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov; Stud Stable vs. Nature's Best; Badd Company vs. RPM's
04/25/2008 Iceman King Parson vs. Brickhouse Brown; Eric Embry vs. Jeff Jarrett; Samoan Swat Team vs. Hayes & Cox
04/26/2008 Badd Company vs. Baxter & Odyssey; Manny Fernandez vs. Street; Matt Striker vs. Wahoo McDaniel; Madusa Miceli vs. Wendy Richter (Ladies title); Samoan Swat Team vs. Hayes & Cox (WCCW Tag Title)
Week 10
04/29/2008 Beauty & The Beast vs. Top Guns; Col. DeBeers vs. Grim Reaper; Natures Best vs. RPM's; Young vs. Brickhouse Brown; Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich (AWA/WCCW Heavyweight Title)
04/30/2008 Cactus Jack & Young vs. Billy Travis & Rick Steiner; Mike Enos vs. Ali Khan; Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich; Ron Garvin vs. Reynolds; Rock and Roll Express vs. Kerry Von Erich & Hangman; Soldat Ustinov vs. Sgt. Slaughter
I'm actually psyched to see that stuff again, I remember that more than these early 86 shows."
Thanks for the info Teijo. It looks like we're going to start getting some interesting shows in the next few weeks, including some of the AWA/CWA stuff that would lead into SuperClash III. Should be good stuff, from a historical standpoint, if not from a wrestling standpoint.
And finally, from Heretic: "Although the "Central States Rookie of the Year" designation is probably legitimate enough, why bill someone as having an accomplishment akin to being the top scorer in a junior bowling league? Why not just kayfabe some more impressive sounding credential? Winner of a prestigious tournament in Rio de Janeiro or something?"
I guess that's Verne, figuring that real-life accomplishments sounded much more legitimate than ones that were made up. Verne was big on accolades, both amateur and professional, which is why he would build up some of the guys' amateur backgrounds or what they had done professionally in other fields. I agree that they could have thrown something else onto the end of it, but at the time Central States was a fairly hot territory which had a good following, so it did give a bit of a rub.
*****************************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:21:38 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson is in the AWA studios and tells us that we're going to get to see matches from the greatest night in wrestling history. He runs down what we're going to see and sends us right out to the action. I'm not entirely sure on the airdate of the show, but I do know that the SuperClash show took place on September 26,1985.
Larry Nelson is your commentator for all the action from Chicago!
Match One: AWA Women's World Championship Sherri Martel vs. Candi Devine (c)
We join the match in progress and Martel is on the outside, holding her back and pacing while the referee counts away and Devine chomps at the bit to get at her again. Martel fakes a roll-in and then gets back into the ring proper, with Devine moving to a top wristlock. She turns it into an arm-wringer and then uses her legs to stretch out the arm, getting a two-count off of the hold. She continues to work the armbar and Martel tries to roll over out of it but she can't get free and Devine keeps cranking on the pressure. Martel rolls through and ends up getting Devine into a headlock for a one-count. Martel just starts firing away with right hands and stomps on Devine before talking some shit to the crowd. She hits a running knee to the side of Devine's head and rakes her boot across the face before kicking away at Devine. Larry Nelson is INDIGNANT that Sherri Martel would use a closed fist as she punches Devine in the face. Martel continues to stomp away and then sends Devine into the ropes. They either REALLY botch a sunset flip spot or Martel hits a REALLY low improvised backdrop. Either way they repeat the spot and Devine gets the sunset flip for two before Martel kicks out. Martel tries the Irish whip again and hits HUGE clothesline, putting Devine down and out. Martel with a vertical suplex and she's on her way up to the top rope. Martel with a flying splash that lands and she gets the 1-2-3!!! SWEET JESUS, that was an ugly splash!!
Winner: Sherri Martel (pinfall, ugly-ass top rope splash)
Match Analysis: Martel was one of the greats, despite that terrible splash that ended the bout. She looked like she could talk and work circles around Devine and they seemed like the only two women that held the title during this timeframe. That belt that they had was terrible and I'm glad that they switched it over to that cooler looking red, white and blue belt that they had for Sherri's next reign as women's champ. A shame that we didn't get to see the entire match instead of a clipped-up version.
The crowd doesn't really know what to make of it and SHERRI BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF DEVINE WITH THE BELT!!! HELL YES!! Now THAT'S how you celebrate a championship victory. Larry Nelson again is just shocked at these actions and Martel gives her a boot to grow on on her way out of the ring to her interview. She shrieks that she knew she could do it and offers up that Devine is a coward and a crazy woman. I guess that's why she got beaten up with the belt, Larry. Any more dumb questions for the new champ? He sums up what just happened as only he can and then it's off to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Larry Nelson is with Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie and Kamala and the Sheik says he has a surprise before touting his acquisition of Kamala. He says that what the ARAB people want is a winner and that they will do their mission. He says that we're going to be surprised later on and then yells in Arabic as Kamala makes his way to the ring. Now we hear from Jerry Blackwell and he says that he sees Kamala in the ring and if he's going to stick his nose in Blackwell's buisness, he'll just have to cut it right off Kamala's face. TO THE RING!!!
Match Two: Bodyslam Challenge Match Jerry Blackwell vs. Kamala w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie
As I understand it, the winner of the match is the man who can bodyslam his opponent first. This should be pretty terrible, but I'm holding out hope. Sheik screams at the crowd a little more and talks about all of his surprises and his mission and hallajah, halla luk aballah, gallah juh halach hallakaaaaaa. Then Sheik sings the Arabic national anthem to a round of boos. Blackwell paces looking like he wants to rip out Sheik's vocal cords. Sheik tells Kamala to attack and he does so before the bell rings, and they're trading punches in the middle of the ring. Blackwell with a headbutt that Kamala no-sells and he kicks and punches away at the midsection of Blackwell as Larry Nelson welcomes in Wally Karbo on commentary. There's a check for $10,000 that's going to go to the winner of the bodyslam challenge as Kamala chokes Blackwell in the corner. Kicks to the stomach from Kamala and a BIG double-thrust to the throat puts Blackwell down to the canvas.
Kamala just chokes away at him and hits more right hands in the corner as Sheik screams encouragement from the floor. Blackwell almost gets sent through the ropes right above Larry Nelson's table at ringside and he admits to being a little nervous. I think nervous would be an understatement, considering that Blackwell nearly cast enough of a shadow to block Nelson from the stadium lights. In the ring, Kamala is stalking down Jerry Blackwell, who backpedals into a corner and fires back with right hands of his own. He blocks a chop from Kamala and hits him with another right hand and he tries another headbutt that stuns Kamala for a moment. Irish whip from Blackwell into a clothesline and he hits a BIG splash on the Ugandan Giant. Blackwell goes for a bodyslam but Kamala blocks it by grabbing the ropes before trying one of his own. He lets go of it and continues to beat on Blackwell in the corner before trying the slam again, getting Blackwell off of his feet for a moment.
Blackwell with another headbutt and Kamala chops back, wobbling and putting Blackwell down to the mat. Kamala continues to chop and then comes off the ropes with a HUGE splash. Kamala moves to a nerve pinch on the neck or shoulder of Blackwell and he's got the big man in trouble. Blackwell gets to a knee but Kamala continues with the chops to try to put him down. Blackwell no-sells the chops and then goes to town on Kamala with right hands, Irish whipping him into the corner and following with an AVALANCHE!!! Blackwell gets a good grip on Kamala out of the corner and SLAMS HIM!! IT'S OVER (mercifully), IT'S ALL OVER!!
After the match Sheik comes in with his sword and starts whacking the PISS out of Blackwell with it before stealing the check for $10,000 out of Wally Karbo's hands at ringside. Kamala bites at Blackwell's head and they continue to beat the shit out of him with Larry Nelson YELLING AT THEM TO STOP THIS!!!! They keep wailing on away on Blackwell and HERE COME THE JOBBERS! Kamala sends one flying over the top and there goes the other one!! OH SNAP!! HERE COMES BARON VON RASCHKE WITH A BASEBALL BAT!!! HOLY SHIT!! Someone better get that thing away from him and there goes Sheik and Kamala running from the crazy Nazi baseball star!!!
Winner: Jerry Blackwell (bodyslam)
Match Analysis: Godawful match, but at least the post-match beatdown was kind of cool. You could tell that the crowd didn't care much for Sheik and his singing of the "Arabic" national anthem and that they were BIG into Blackwell. It was a decent match for what it was, but Kamala and Blackwell aren't technical masters. For a big man match it was alright and for a bodyslam challenge match it was really good though, so it all evens out.
Back from another commercial and it's time for Larry Nelson's favorite segment, the Mat Classic! This time we go all the way back to March 9, 1973.
Match Three: Dick The Bruiser and The Crusher vs. Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch
Larry Nelson can't seem to tell the difference between the two teams and it's a pier-six brawl as all four men throw hands and the fight is on before the referee steps in to break it up so the match can start. We clip to Dick The Bruiser working over Rhodes in the corner and he punches Rhodes so hard that he ends up laying across the top rope in the corner. Shots to the gut from Bruiser and he calls in Crusher but Murdoch takes over by going to the eyes and he hits right hands to the nose of Bruiser. They do a mirror spot where they both pick at their noses and we get clipped all over the place to Murdoch landing a kick on Bruiser and then to Crusher coming off the top to drop a stomp on Murdoch. We cut again to Bruiser ramming Rhodes's head into the ringpost on the outside before throwing Murdoch to the apron to do the same to him. Rhodes is a bloody mess and Murdoch is as well and the faces send Rhodes and Murdoch into each other in the middle of the ring. Bruiser wails on Rhodes with a chair on the outside and the referee calls off the action, disqualifying Bruiser and Crusher for the chairshots. They continue to beat on the poor defenseless heel team and they both get the stomach claw in on Rhodes and Murdoch.
Winners: Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch (disqualifcation, Bruiser using a chair)
Match Analysis: Way too clipped to mean anything, but it's cool to see the old footage in instances like this. It looked a lot like the same match that made it onto the Dusty Rhodes DVD set, but I could be wrong on that one. Really fun to watch the crowd go batshit for Bruiser and Crusher and to see the AWA during some of their most prosperous times.
We're back with Larry Nelson near the dugout interviewing Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko. Stevens figures that they're going to give the face team of Hennig, Hall and Gagne a wrestling lesson and that it won't take very long. Bockwinkel says ditto to Mr. Stevens and Zbyszko says that they're going to take those three pukes, give them a beating and put them into the hospital where they belong. Now we see Scott Hall, dressed like a cowboy, Curt Hennig, looking like a REAL professional wrestler, and Greg Gagne, dressed like the gayest Rambo I've ever seen. Gagne says that they'll just see who gives who the wrestling lesson then trumps up Scott Hall and throws it in Bockwinkel's face. Hall says that they're ready and that he's got two great partners. Hennig says that he knows that the heel team has all the experience but they're hungry and ready!! Larry Nelson yells about how great a match it's going to be and we get sent to the ring to be introduced to a special guest ring announcer who is a former wrestling announcer and Chicago White Sox guy. I have NO idea who the hell he is, which is one of the big problems with the AWA. The WWF gets Liberace and Billy Martin and stars out the ass for their big show and the AWA gets some local announcer from Chicago.
Match Four: Six-Man Tag Team Main Event Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkel, and Larry Zbyszko vs. Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, and Greg Gagne
Kind of weird to see Bockwinkel and Zbyszko on the same team after listening to them verbally spar back and forth for weeks on end through these old AWA repeats. Hennig and Bockwinkel start out and hit the lockup, with Hennig pushing Bockwinkel into the ropes and giving him a clean break. Another lockup and another clean break from Bockwinkel this time before he armdrags young Hennig over to the mat. Bockwinkel and Hennig separate again in the center of the ring as the crowd goes crazy for something outside the ring that no one can seem to figure out. Bockwinkel hits a hip toss and then stands in front of Hennig and raises his arm in victory. He then gets a bodyslam, putting Hennig to the mat again and standing over him again before heading over to gloat it up with his teammates. They hit the lockup and Hennig gets an armdrag takeover into a hip toss and Hennig ends it off with a BIG bodyslam that sends Bockwinkel scurrying to his corner to tag Larry Zbyszko. They go straight to a lockup and Hennig backs Zbyszko into the ropes with Zbyszko shoving Hennig and Hennig shoving back, sending Larry through the ropes to the apron.
Back into the ring, Zbyszko gets armdragged over and NOW comes the stalling as Zbyszko argues with the referee. Hennig gets a side headlock in the middle of the ring and Zbyszko shoots him in but takes a big shoulderblock before he is able to slam Hennig to the mat. Hennig kicks him off and armdrags him over, drawing in men from both teams to face-off before cooler heads prevail. Hennig works the armbar and drags Zbyszko over to his corner and he tags in Scott Hall who continues to work the armbar. Nelson seems mesmeriszed by Hall's muscles in an almost unhealthy way and Hall distracts the referee long enough for Gagne to drop off the apron and snap Zbyszko's neck against the top rope. Hall goes back to the armbar and tags in Greg Gagne who comes off the second rope with a kneedrop to the arm. Gagne goes back to the armbar and Ray Stevens comes in from behind with a shot that breaks the hold before Hennig gets him one back that puts Stevens out to the floor. Zbyszko grabs a side headlock and gets shot into the ropes by Gagne but Zbyszko gets a tackle before Gagne gets a leapfrog into a reverse monkey flip, into a flying headscissors and Gagne goes back to the arm.
He tags in Hennig who comes off the second rope with an elbow smash to the arm, but Zbyszko gets a back bodydrop and tags in Bockwinkel. He works over Hennig, Irish whipping him into the ropes and hitting a couple of HARD knees to Hennig's stomach. Bockwinkel takes him over to the heel corner and Stevens begins choking Hennig across the top rope while Zbyszko hammers away with forearms. Stevens tags in and he works on the stomach of Hennig before choking him in the corner. Stevens distracts the referee as Bockwinkel and Zbyszko start to mug Hennig, but Scott Hall comes across to bull past the referee and break it up. Stevens sends Hennig out through the ropes to the floor, which is technically the infield of Comiskey Park. Zbyszko comes off the apron with an elbow before slamming Hennig down onto the grass. Hennig tries to get up to the apron but Zbyszko drops a knee and sends him back down to the ground. Stevens and Bockwinkel both get shots in on Hennig and Zbyszko drops another knee as Hennig tries to get to the apron. Hennig takes a MONSTER boot to the gut from Bockwinkel and in the ring Zbyszko tags in to become the legal man.
Zbyszko whips Hennig into the ropes and catches him coming off with an abdominal stretch. Hennig reaches and reaches and finally makes a tag to Gagne, but the referee didn't see it, allowing the heels to work over Hennig in their corner while Gagne argues with the ref. Stevens with some VICIOUS right hands and Zbyszko grabs a front facelock. Hennig with a fireman's carry to get out of it but he heads to the wrong corner for the tag and gets worked over by Bockwinkel from the outside. Zbyszko with a suplex and he covers Hennig for a two-count. Irish whip in by Zbyszko and he ducks his head, eating a HARD kick from Hennig. Bockwinkel comes over to clothesline Hennig against the top rope and makes the tag, cutting Hennig off from his corner. Bockwinkel shoots him into the ropes but Hennig is the one that comes off with a flying bodypress, getting a near-fall before Ray Stevens breaks it up with a kick to the head. Bockwinkel grabs a side headlock and Hennig shoots him into the ropes and they collide with a double shoulderblock. Bockwinkel makes the tag to Zbyszko and Hennig FINALLY makes the HOT TAG TO GAGNE!!
Gagne comes off the ropes with a forearm smash to Zbyszko and goes nuts on all three heels. DROPKICK TO BOCKWINKEL! All six men are in the ring now and brawling away and the face team hits the double-Irish whip sending Bockwinkel and Zbyszko into each other. Gagne whips Stevens into Hall and he hits a HUGE POWERSLAM for the 1-2-3!!!
Winners: Curt Hennig, Scott Hall and Greg Gagne (pinfall, Hall powerslam)
Match Analysis: A REALLY hot six-man tag that really owes to the greatness of Curt Hennig and his ability to sell and work from underneath while still being able to make a believable comeback when he needed to. Zbyszko, Stevens and Bockwinkel did well in controlling the flow of the match and the face team did well in keeping the crowd behind them the entire way. It had the "big-match" feel that tends to be missing from some of these AWA shows with the huge stadium and six of the bigger stars in the AWA from that time period. A great TV main event and a great match from a huge show.
After the match the faces are outside the ring with Larry Nelson and Gagne says that they faced a tough team but they pulled it out in the end with youth and experience. Hall says he's really fortunate and that he has to give all the credit to Hennig and Gagne who help him train. Hennig says that he pulled everything out and managed to fight through all of the punishment to get the tag. He says that he told all the people that they'd win and they did!!
After a commercial break Larry Nelson talks about the show and his memories of it, remembering how close he was to getting squished by Jerry Blackwell. He hypes up next week's show and thanks us all for watching before telling us all to tune in next week and we're out!!
Final Thoughts
This was a really good show and was a lot of fun to watch, whetting my appetite and making me want to find a copy of SuperClash '85. The Mat Classic segment was cool because it's always nice to see Murdoch and Rhodes team together and it was good to see the Bruiser and Crusher again as I remember my old man talking about them fondly from the days before I came along. A great main event seals it and makes me a very happy camper for this special bonus edition of the AWA report!
**************************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:23:01 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson and Greg Gagne are your commentators for all of the action and they're at ringside, ready for the first bout.
Match One: Col. DeBeers vs. Rev. Willie Pappas
Methinks that Pappas had better start calling in some favors with the man upstairs sooner rather than later. THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS HIM!!! Or maybe not as DeBeers gets a big hip toss to start and moves to an arm-wringer, taking Pappas over then grating the sole of his boot on Pappas' head. I'm noticing that for a man of the cloth, Pappas has an ASSLOAD of tattoos. I wonder if he's born-again. Pappas tries a reversal and gets a punch in the face and some knees to the gut before DeBeers drops an elbow on the top of the head and hits a BIG slam. Running kick to the face off of the ropes and DeBeers stomps away before grabbing Pappas in a headlock and running him headfirst into the turnbuckles. Another knee to the gut and he grabs Pappas in a front-facelock, pushing him into the corner to work him over with more knees. A stiff punch to the face and another and Pappas goes down like a bland, bland communion wafer. DeBeers picks him up for a suplex and turns it into a one-armed bodyslam. DeBeers gets a butterfly suplex but Pappas takes it like a sack of shit, apparently blown up from getting beaten on. Now THAT is some cardio. DeBeers covers for two and picks him up, dropping a big elbow and covering for two again, picking him up. He lifts Pappas to his feet and works him over with more elbows and knees. Gagne takes time to thank everyone who came to WrestleRock at the Metrodome in Minneapolis and gives a shout-out to Winnipeg!! GO WINNIPEG!!! DeBeers pounds on Pappas in the corner and PILEDRIVES HIM!!! TAKE THAT JESUS!!! Another two count and DeBeers lifts him up again to break the count. DeBeers hits more kicky-punchy moves and does more pinning and picking up before he hits THREE......THREE PANCAKE PILEDRIVERS!!!! HE FINALLY pins Pappas for the 1-2-3!!! Gagne figures that someone's going to have to help Pappas out of the ring and I agree. SOMEONE GET HIM SOME HOLY WATER!!!
Winner: Col. DeBeers (pinfall, triple pancake piledriver)
Match Analysis: How much must it suck to be a servant of the Lord, and STILL be forced by him to take that kind of beating. I mean if anyone knows how to take a beating it'd be Him, if that Passion movie is correct, but still. That was just an unmitigated squash and I'd have to wonder just why DeBeers was so stiff on the guy and didn't let him get in a single offensive move. A weird match, bordering on almost uncomfortable to watch, hence all the jokes to lighten the mood a bit. Poor Pappas. Poor, little Pappas.
Match Two: Buddy Rose and Doug Somers vs. Jesse Hernandez and Leon White
No Sherri Martel which makes Rose and Somers entering to the opening of Madonna's Material Girl, a LOT more uncomfortable than it was when she was with them. Creepy. Of course, Gagne totally kills Rose's gimmick by explaining the ENTIRE THING. Geez Greg, it's called subtlety, look it up. White is ready to start for the face team and Rose is looking a little nervous about getting in the ring with him, conferring with Somers before White tags in Hernandez. Rose then SPITS on White on the apron, then tells him to kiss his ass. Dude, that's SO not a good idea. Rose gets a side headlock on Hernandez, into a hammerlock but Hernandez takes him over with a reversal, almost sending Rose right into White. Rose with an arm-wringer and he chops Hernandez down to the mat, but Hernandez is able to reverse it and get to his corner to make the tag, sending Rose and Somers scurrying to the outside for saftey. Buddy Rose is over at the announce table and Larry Nelson is helpfully yelling "He wants to wrestle you" while pointing at the ring. Man, Larry Nelson grew some balls all of a sudden in 1986. Either that or he was so soused that he didn't give a shit anymore. Either way it's entertaining to see him go from baby back bitch to He-Man in the course of three episodes.
Rose runs off the ropes and gets tackled and Somers does the same and gets the same result. They try to double-team White and he tackles them BOTH down and they roll to the outside to get hassled by some squares in the front row. Rose is back in the ring and he gets a top wristlock but White just powers him away, and Somers and Rose both try the top wristlock and they both go flying. Rose in the corner begging off and White whips him across to follow with DA VADAH SPLASH!! A HUGE jumping headbutt from White sends Rose back into the ropes, his arms tying up between the top and middle strands. White with a big slap to the chest and Rose goes through the ropes and bangs the back of his head on the arena floor. No mats on the outside in the AWA either, cause they're not bitches. Rose rolls slowly back into the ring and tags in Somers, with White talking a little smack to him on the way in. They lockup and Somers puts White into the corner, distracting the ref before they both work him over, going to the eyes and trying a double-Irish whip into the ropes. Somers heads out and White ends up going stomach to stomach with Rose, sending him flying backwards and causing so much of a ripple effect from the blubber that I have to stand up and hold my TV to keep it from shaking off of the stand and onto the floor.
Somers is PISSED on the apron and Rose tries to slam White on the inside. I'll let you guess how well that goes. White gets the slam of his own and gets a two-count before Somers lays a boot in on his head. White tags in Hernandez and suddenly I sense things going downhill for the face team. Hernandez gets a side headlock on Somers but takes some shoulderblocks to the gut when Somers sends him against the ropes. He rams Hernandez into Rose's knee and makes the tag, allowing them both to double-team Hernandez in their corner with punches and eye-rakes. Rose taunts White and gets him to chase him around the ring while Somers gets a BIG vertical suplex in the ring for the three-count. After the match, they work over Hernandez a little and Rose tries to hold White for a Somers clothesline but he ducks and Somers takes out Rose. White sends them both to the floor, but Rose and Somers still come away victorious.
Winners: Buddy Rose and Doug Somers (pinfall, Somers suplex)
Match Analysis: An interesting tag match where there was no real formula and it seemed like the only reason the heel team won was because they ended up isolating the weaker man in Hernandez. This felt like as much of a showcase for White as it was for Rose and Somers, and he looked like a million bucks, handling both of them with ease before finally relenting to his partner and ending up getting outsmarted in the end by the veterans. A different match but still something pretty cool to see, with all four men knowing their roles and playing them well.
Rose and Somers are with Larry Nelson, soaking in their well-deserved boos, when Rose stops things to say that he came to wrestle and not play football, and he felt like he was Joe Thiesman (Google it if you need to, you won't be disappointed. Greatest football injury EVER!), yelling at White and saying that he should stick with football. Rose starts calling out all the face teams like Windham and Rotunda, The Midnight Rockers and Hall and Hennig, while Somers goes a bit ballistic, raspily screaming that they're the best team in the AWA and the uncrowned World Champions. Larry Nelson asks where Sherri Martel is and Rose says that she's at Caesar's Palace signing a big contract for Rose and Somers to make them a ton of money. Nelson cuts them off and sends up to a commercial break.
After the break, we're in the AWA studios with Larry Nelson unveiling a new segment on the show, called the "Feature Match" and this week it's coming to us from St. Cloud, MN.
Match Three: Doug Somers vs. Shawn Michaels
Somers has Rose and Martel in his corner, while Michaels has Marty Jannetty in his. It sounds like Larry Nelson and Verne Gagne are on commentary for this one and Somers stops to confer with his teammates for a moment. Michaels grabs a side headlock and they do a criss-cross spot before Michaels gets a bodyslam off of it, sending Somers flying with a couple of armdrags before he grabs the armbar. Somers gets to his feet and pushes Michaels back into the corner, chopping him before trying an Irish whip to the opposite corner. Michaels reverses it and Somers goes ASS OVER TEAKETTLE to the floor, over the turnbuckles. Jannetty helps Somers back to the apron and Michaels finishes the job, hip tossing him back into the ring and re-applying the armbar. Right hands to the arm from Michaels and Somers is on Pain St. Somers whips him and Michaels gets a good leapfrog but ends up EATING an elbow from Somers. Somers rams Michaels into the turnbuckle and takes over with some slaps to the chest and some punches.
Michaels fires back with some elbows of his own, hitting a hip toss and a BIG headscissors, but he botches the second one and Somers covers it well, turning it into an inverted atomic drop. That was a REALLY good cover by a veteran like Somers and if you didn't know to look for it, you probably wouldn't be able to tell at all. Somers lays some stomps in and lifts Michaels up into a headlock with a short right hand. He picks up Michaels and gets a belly to back suplex for a two-count, moving from that into a reverse chinlock. Martel distracts the referee on the outside and Somers takes advantage, choking the PISS out of Michaels. Somers with a BIG bodyslam and he drops the knee for another two-count, with Michaels and Somers trading punches in the middle of the ring. Michaels gets the better of it and lands a dropkick that puts Somers down on his ass. Irish whip from Michaels and a BIG back bodydrop into a running fistdrop gets him a two-count on Somers.
Somers rolls to the outside and tries to get some help from Rose and Martel in his corner. He rolls back into the ring and asks for a time-out. Silly Pretty Boy, there's not time-outs in wrestling!!! He goads Michaels into the corner and boots him a good one in the stomach before laying in some forearm shots. Somers tries an Irish whip but Michaels reverses it, climbing to the top rope and landing a right hand before doing a backflip and hitting a back bodydrop as Somers comes out of the corner. SWEET CHIN MUSIC from Michaels but it only gets a two-count and Michaels hits a cross-body off the ropes and tries for another pin. In comes Rose to break it up and now HERE COMES JANNETTY!! I DON'T THINK SO FATBOY!! Rose and Somers try the double Irish whip to send the Rockers into each other but they do a little dosie-do and hit stereo dropkicks on the heels. Double back-bodydrops follow and a pair of dropkicks send Rose and Somers to the floor.
Winner: Shawn Michaels (disqualification, Rose interference)
Match Analysis: A really good match before the schmozz ending and you can already see the chemistry between these two, which would end up leading to the great matches between all four men over the AWA Tag Team Titles. Michaels and Jannetty could do no wrong in 1986 and they had great foils in Rose and Somers to play off of, which made it always entertaining whenever any combination of them were in the ring.
Ken Resnick is with The Midnight Rockers and he congratulates Michaels on the win and he says that Buddy Rose keeps sticking his nose into Rockers business, him and that hussy he rolls with. Kind of ironic considering how things would turn out later in Michaels career, so that makes me chuckle. Michaels says that they don't have to go looking in a phone book to find The Rockers and that Rose and Somers need to sign a contract to face The Rockers. Michaels takes a minute to hype up WrestleRock and he says that Rose and Somers are going to make history because they'll get beaten quicker than any team in history. Jannetty says that he'd never slap a woman, but he doesn't consider Sherri a woman and he'd happily paintbrush the whore out of her. He throws his challenge out to Rose and Somers and then wonders if Rose means 217 kilograms instead of 217 pounds before helpfully explaining that kilograms are a lot more. Marty Jannetty, math wizard!! Jannetty starts offering up some diet plans for Rose while Michaels sticks his stomach and cheeks out to make fun of him. How do they know it isn't GLANDULAR?? You can see the director counting Resnick down and the interview is over with The Rockers making generic babyface gestures.
We're back from the break with Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie in the ring with his charge, The Barbarian. Sheik says that Slaughter shot off his mouth and now he's going to have to pay and face Barbarian. Barbarian starts taking back bumps and HUSSSSSSSES in the middle of the ring while Sheik carries on with his jabbering. Sheik says that he has the control over Barbarian because he pays him the good money. Barbarian says that he and his partner King Kong Brody get a lot of money from Sheik and they love it because it's the only way they can live. He says that Sheik has instructed him to beat up Sgt. Slaughter real bad and he's gonna do it. CUE THE GAYEST MUSIC OF ALL-TIME!!! Here comes THE SARGE!!
Match Four: America's Championship The Barbarian w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Slaughter takes the time to hand out American flags and handshakes to everyone at ringside, stopping to kiss some lady's flag. No, that's not a euphemism, she had a real flag. The pop when Sarge gets introduced is IMPRESSIVE. A HUGE chant of USA comes up from the crowd and they are HOT for this one. They circle around before locking up and Barbarian takes over with forearm strikes to the back and chest in the corner. Slaughter fights back with right hands of his own, loading up and swinging his arm before hitting the BIG RIGHT HAND CANNON!! Barbarian bails out to the floor to get more instructions from the Sheik before heading back to the ring. Slaughter gets a kick to the gut and takes over with more right hands before landing a dropkick that puts the big man down. They lockup again and Barbarian clubs away again with more forerams in the corner.
Slaughter reverses and tries to Irish whip Barbarian into the corner but that gets reversed and Slaughter takes a BIG chest bump to the top buckle. Barbarian stomps away and drops some punches down as well, lifting Slaughter up for a BIG backbreaker, getting a two-count off of it. Irish whip into the ropes and a HUGE boot from Barbarian puts Slaughter down again for another LONG two-count. More kicks and stomps from Barbarian and Slaughter tries to fire back with some shots to the stomach but there's nothing there and Barbarian hits a big bodyslam. Gagne breaks kayfabe again on commentary, calling referee Robert Warren, Warren Bockwinkel by mistake, as Barbarian gets another long two-count on Slaughter. An Irish whip and a HUGE back bodydrop from Barbarian gets him another two-count and he stomps at Slaughter's head. An Irish whip into the ropes gets reversed by Slaughter and he hits a big right hand to the face of Barbarian, sending him back against the ropes and not quite over as Barbarian can't get up to sell the spot.
They sort of repeat it on the other side of the ring with Sarge hitting a clothesline that finally puts Barbarian over the top and to the floor. Barbarian gets on the apron and tries to swing wildly, but Slaughter ducks and HE'S GOT THE COBRA CLUTCH ON!! He tries to pull Barbarian into the ring to finish the hold, but HOLD THE GODDAMN PHONE!! HERE COMES BRODY!! KNUCK SHOT TO THE BACK OF SLAUGHTER'S HEAD!!! ANOTHER ONE!!! Slaughter tries to fight back and does so, whipping Brody in an hitting a big clothesline. COBRA CLUTCH ON BRODY!!!! COBRA CLUTCH ON BRODY!!!!! Barbarian grabs Brody by the boot and tries to drag him out of the ring and Sheik kicks at Slaughter to break the hold. The heels head to the back to regroup, leaving Slaughter in the ring and standing tall.
Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (disqualification, Brody interference)
Match Analysis: A pretty good back and forth between the two big men, and the Brody-ference at the end, along with the MOLTEN hot crowd makes it a decent main event. It was cool to see Brody and Barbarian side by side and trying to smack around Slaughter before getting theirs. I always liked Slaughter's matches back then and even during his WWF run and this is no different. A bit of an underrated talent but Slaughter definitely brought it in this match. No complaints from me here.
Larry Nelson is in with Slaughter and he says that he's never seen anyone go power on power with Barbarian, but Slaughter did it with Barbarian AND Brody. Slaughter apologizes to everyone at ESPN and everyone at the Showboat in Las Vegas, not because he didn't shave or because he's losing some hair. He apologizes because someone has STOLEN HIS FLAGS!!! I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!!!! Wait, that's the wrong year. Apparently, someone HAS indeed stolen his flags and he figures with all the terrorism in Libya and Iran that the Sheik must have something to do with it. He declares war on the Sheik and he says that he feels like he had Barbarian beaten before Brody came in for the rescue. He says that he embarassed both of them and left them both laying, sending the Sheik running with his tail between his legs. He says he wants a match with either Brody, Barbarian or the Sheik himself. He says that he's here to stay and the US is #1, which takes us out for another edition of the AWA!
Final Thoughts
A pretty good show actually, the squash at the beginning was kind of rough to watch but the rest of it was actually really good, and I admit that I got sucked in by the main event. Thumbs up for me on this one, mainly due to the main event and the heavy focus on Rose and Somers and the Rockers, which ALWAYS makes for good television in my eyes. Now it's on to the COMMENTS!!!
Fun With Comments
Two shows worth of comments to get to, so let's start out with the ones from the episode on March 28th, starting with two comments on the Chicago-area announcer from the main event.
From Frozen: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Brickhouse
Jack Brickhouse was a sports broadcasting legend."
And also from Teijo Kahn: "Brickhouse also did a segment on WCW Pro Chicago on WGN, which I believe was hosted by Jim Ross around 1990 and was mostly the same as the syndicated show."
Thanks for the info and I apologize for sounding glib when he was introduced. It's just that, as I said in the report, he was small-time compared to guys like Mr. T and Muhammad Ali and it just showed how far down the totem pole the AWA was, which was a little sad. Thanks again for letting me know who it was since I genuinely had no idea. I owe you both a beer sometime.
From ArnoldOld_School: ""From Jay: "Does anyone know the story about the AWA title being stolen during a match by a fan? I cannot find it anywhere but remember a fan ran down during a match, grabbed it from the table and ran out of the arena."
I can't say that I've heard of that story, but if anyone who's reading has, or anyone has any ideas on this or can remember what happened, I'd love to hear it." --------- Jim Cornette or some one mentioned this on their shoot. Greg Gagne and other actually went outside and stopped cars to search them"
I must possess this someday and hear this story. It sounds too funny and if you or anyone else has any more information on it, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for passing along what you know Arnold, it's already way more than I knew about the situation.
And now moving on to the comments from yesterday's Report, starting out with one from Frozen: "I'm glad to know that it was Stanely Blackburn who convinced Roger Kent to use cumin in his cooking. With commentary like that, it's hard to see why the AWA ultimately crashed and burned."
Roger Kent was....different when it came to wrestling commentary, even before his sabbatical. Listen to his work on the Billy Graham or Dusty Rhodes DVDs and you'll hear just what I mean. He was a little past his prime and the business had kind of moved past him when 1986 rolled around, but Verne held true to his guys that he trusted and had their backs til the end.
From Mark: "BUCK ZUMHOFFE~! I'm glad he's still touring the Midwest with his Rock 'n' Wrestling troupe. My buddies just got an autographed pic of him after a show at our local Eagles Club."
You must obtain me one of these Buck Zumhoffe pictures the next time you're going to see him at one of those local shows. Have it made out to Randy and drop me an e-mail through the address at the bottom and I will be forever indebted to you, good sir!!
From G-Walla: "I read that Slaughter had his own LP... was that song off of it?
Good to see Brody back!
...and hailing from Alaska, the Alaskans! Greatest tag-team name. Ever.
Stan Hansen doesn't dissapoint. Neither did Hennig's selling the neck. And does Hall ever wrestle Hansen? I'd be intrigued to see it."
I would hope to God not because if it was, I don't think that LP would have sold a single copy. Worst. Song. EVAR!!! As far as Hansen/Hall matches, I'm not sure if they had any on TV, but I'd assume there might have been some on the house show circuit in that period. I agree that it's always a treat to see King Kong Brody in action.
From Silo Sam: "pretty decent show. cool to see brody and hansen again...not much else for you today"
Agreed and agreed. Kind of a dull show, thanks for the comment though!
From Nikolai: "Buck Zumhoffe is the man. I think i was just as high as buck was in the 80's."
You Russian hippies and your stickiest of ickies. What am I going to do with you? And you'd ahve to be REALLLLLLY fucking high to even come close to Buck it looked like.
From Guest#6597: "i like the alaskans"
I wish it would have been the Rick Renslow/Jay York version because that would have probably made the match at least a little bit better. But the gimmick was kinda cool for the time and they certainly looked the part.
From JLAJRC: "From now on, if possible, can we have the Sgt. Slaughter theme music play while reading these reviews? That was the most terrible, yet awesome theme music I've ever heard."
If I had to hear that song every day while I was copying and pasting the comments for the next day's report I'd jam a knitting needle in one ear and out the other. It wasn't even funny bad in the Mystery Science Theater way. It was just godawful on every level. Hideous theme music.
From The Kid: "If you recall, a couple of weeks ago they referred to Zybysko as former America's Champion. Maybe, it was a fabricated, fan-voted honor. By the way, you're in rare form today, "Nelson gets all indignant and yells the same thing. YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT CURT HENNIG NEVER GIVES UP!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" Oh, thanks for the "sick burn" midget clip you put up last week -- priceless. Me and a bunch of my friends, wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans, laughed our asses off."
I do recall that about Zbyszko and I'm beginning to think that maybe it was one of those fictional titles, like when people used to be the "King" of the WWF. Thank you for the compliment and it was just funny to see Larry Nelson get all upset and start yelling about how Curt didn't give up. Strange to see so much emotion from someone who is supposed to be impartial. As for the midget deal, the credit for that one has to go to fellow 411mania Wrestling Zone writer, Chris Landsell, who graciously lent me the use of it for the column. Expect to see it regularly whenever someone drops a great insult during an interview because that clip makes me giggle my nuts off every single time I see it.
From GregGagneSucks: "Roger Kent was priceless.Some of his better quotes--"He hit him so hard he knocked him into the middle of next week"--"He's on rubber leg street" "OOOH His legs are like a couple of wet noodles" Funny stuff! Yeah that Slaughter theme was worser than the old American Males(see Wrestlecrap)and Dusty's "Common Man" put together! LOL "Let's go down to Roger Kent & Greg Gagne"--Larry Nelson-What a douchebag! Keep up the good work! GGS"
Thanks for the support and yeah, that theme has to be high on the list, if not topping the list, of worst theme songs ever, like I said before. Also like I said before, Roger Kent was an interesting announcer and I notice that in 1986 they moved almost exclusively to the team of Ron Trongard and Lord James Blears for their Championship Wrestling program on ESPN, while I believe they shifted Kent over to the All-Star Wrestling syndicated show. Larry Nelson did seem a little weird, but it's always fun to watch him in these shows, so I'll let the weirdness slide.
And again from GregGagneSucks: "I had to add this!--Have you read the Ebay ad for Vintage AWA Jobber/Heel. It was apparently written by a gay guy(probably the same guy that wrote Sgt's theme song) The way he describes the wrestlers i.e."Beefy","Packed trunks","Dreamy" is so frickin' hilarious. Be careful if you order these,they might be stuck together!!"
Ew. That's all. Just ew.
Finally, from Steve: "Note that when Brody went into the crowd, on both occassions, not a single person went near him. To me, he was one of the few wrestlers the fans were genuinely afraid of and dared not to get close to. The Wild Samoans also come to mind as well as Abdullah the Butcher."
I agree. No one struck fear into fans' hearts like Brody or The Butcher. I have a match from that old Wrestling Gold set with Brody and Abdullah, I believe fighting at the Hemisphere Arena in San Antonio and they get into the crowd to brawl and the people just SCATTER. It's a real shame that Brody never got half of the recognition he deserved because he was charismatic, athletic, and a really decent worker in the ring that was crazy enough to let anything go when it came to his matches.
*************************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:24:14 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson's in the ring and he's got a jobber du jour in there with him, so it's time to get down to the ring. Larry Nelson and Greg Gagne are our announcers for tonight's program and Larry throws it down to Greg for his thoughts.
Match One: Leon White vs. Earthquake Ferris
They hit a couple of lockups and do the power struggle with neither being able to get an advantage and Leon brushes a little dirt off of his shoulder. White grabs a side headlock and puts Ferris down to a knee before stuffing a couple of attempts by Ferris to shoot him into the ropes. Ferris finally shoots him in but eats a shoulderblock and White does a cartwheel to avoid Ferris, then hits the UGLIEST dropkick I've ever seen. White certainly isn't Jerry Blackwell, that's for sure. Ferris rolls out to the floor to collect himself and then heads back into the ring and they decide to charge at each other like rams, ending up in a double-clothesline spot, sending them both down to the mat. Ferris is up first and he goes to the eyes, putting White in the corner and then choking him against the ropes. Ferris whips White in and he gets a VADER SUNSET FLIP, into the three-count.
Winner: Leon White (pinfall, sunset flip)
Match Analysis: White's athleticism was on display, a little at least, with the sunset flip, but it's easy to guess that he probably never threw another dropkick again. It's a little weird to see Ferris flip-flop between playing the heel and the face in his jobber matches, but I guess they were still trying to figure out what to do with him. The story goes that they saw a ton of potential in him and tried to cultivate him into something big. Weird that out of these two, Verne would try to make a star out of Earthquake Ferris, but I guess there's a reason he's not still in business.
Match Two: "America's Championship" Sgt. Slaughter vs. BUDDHAKAHN!!!
Raise your hand if you think Slaughter's going to lose his "title". Yeah, that's what I thought. The greatest jobber name ever against the absolute worst theme music ever, though we're thankfully spared the music for this match. They introduce Sarge from Eden Prairie, MN and that's a little wild to me.They talk about the match he had with Barbarian a couple of weeks prior to this match, which would help me figure out the airdate, if they had given one for that show with Slaughter/Barbarian a couple of days ago. Buddha is in all red and it's not a good look for him. He gets a go-behind on Slaughter, but Slaughter reverses it and ends up with a top wristlock. Buddha reverses that into a hammerlock and Slaughter throws him over and down to the mat. Buddha gets a weak forearm smash against the ropes and then Slaughter pushes him against the ropes and shows him how a MAN throws a forearm. They separate and Buddha gets the go-behind again, forcing Slaughter into the ropes and hitting another weak forearm. Slaughter does the same thing again and pounds on Buddha like a bitch. Buddha gets a side headlock and thumbs Slaughter in the eye before ramming him into the top turnbuckle a couple of times. Slaughter blocks one and rams Kahn in and takes over in the corner, eating a reverse elbow off of an Irish whip. Slaughter rakes Kahn's eyes across the top rope and pushes him into the corner to hit some forearms to the chest. He Irish whips Buddha across and follows in with a HUGE knee to the gut. Irish whip into the ropes and he clotheslines Buddha down, locking in the Cobra Clutch until referee Scott LeDoux calls for the bell.
Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (submission, Cobra Clutch)
Match Analysis: Squasherino. At least Slaughter looked good doing it, trying to fix his comb-over periodically throughout the match. Buddha looked a little better in this match than he did against Shawn Michaels a few episodes back, but this was mainly here so that Slaughter could have some interview time to talk about what happened with Brody and Barbarian.
Slaughter is with Larry Nelson and he talks about how Brody jumped in on him while he was facing the Barbarian and he feels lucky that they didn't jump in on this match. Slaughter feels like the AWA and ESPN partnering together is bringing in the best talent in the world, and he's always willing to put his America's Title on the line. Nelson asks if defending that title wears him down night after night and talks about Slaughter's movie stuff, his deal with GI Joe, and the Slaughter album. Sarge says that the main thing for him is professional wrestling, and that when he gets in the ring, that's all he cares about. He's after Brody, Barbarian and Hansen and he challenges Stan Hansen to a match, claiming that he's already beaten him twice, so one more time and he'd be OUT!
IN THIS CORNER WITH LARRY ZBYSZKO!!! Curt Hennig is the guest this week and Zbyszko says that they've gotten a ton of cards and letters saying that they wanted Hennig on the show, and produces a Ducks Unlimited magazine, featuring Curt Hennig and the Gagnes in one of the articles. He makes fun of Hennig and Gagne, saying that spudheads always need to have their daddys around. You know what's coming after that one....
SICK BURN!!!!!!
We get a video package for Scott Hall and Curt Hennig, with Zbyszko promising to give us his rendition of Ode to a Spudhead afterwards. Tremendous. The video package is pretty good, if not a little sad looking with the graphics and what-not. The music for this one is again, absolutely GOD-AWFUL and sounds like it's from about 1975. Apparently Hennig and Hall like doing The Hustle. Lots of double-team moves and solid work from Hall and Hennig highlight the video, against a variety of opponents like Boris Zhukov and The Long Riders, to name a few. After the video, Curt has joined Larry and Larry and Nelson brings up the article in Ducks Unlimited and calls it a fine piece, almost seeming like he wants to stick his tongue out at Zbyszko while he says it. I swear, those two are like children. Nelson talks about how hunting and fishing is natural to the Minnesotans and Hennig says that it's very enjoyable. Zbyszko says that they got all the letters from the spudhead-types (Nelson with an eye-roll) and that he's the best in professional wrestling because he doesn't outsmart ducks or try to train dogs and run through the woods with a shotgun. He says that he's training on the mat, in the gym or in the dojo. Zbyszko wants Hennig to tell the people how he feels about his partner and Hennig misunderstands and goes on about the article. Zbyszko sends the magazine flying (Nelson looks exasperated) and he says that they're talking about WRESTLING. Zbyszko says that Hennig has made it to the championships in tag-team wrestling and he asks Hennig if he could handle himself without his daddy or Scott Hall around. Hennig assures us that he can and has, and will continue to do so, with Zbyszko saying that he's never amounted to anything until he's been in tag-team situations. Hennig takes exception and threatens to slap the glasses off of Zbyszko's face (Nelson giggles like a child) and they argue back and forth. Zbyszko starts mocking the people with the pick-up trucks and gun racks and throws a cap at Hennig to try to insult him, but Hennig just thanks him and puts it on. Zbyszko says that the reality is that hunting and fishing don't mean dick in the wrestling ring and that everyone else gets shots with Stan Hansen except him, because of Hennig and his daddy, and Gagne and VERNE, and Bockwinkel, and he floats out his conspiracy theory again. He tells Hennig to say that Zbyszko is the one that everyone's afraid of and he's the reason why Hennig is in tag-teams. Zbyszko claims that the daddy's hunting trips are how Hennig got his title shots and Hennig pulls of his mike and throws the cap at Zbyszko while Nelson looks frightened and throws it to break. FAN-TASTIC segment. I loved every second of it.
Back from the break in the AWA studios and Larry Nelson says that it's time to go back to WrestleRock '86 and the match between Col. DeBeers and Wahoo McDaniel.
Match Three: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Col. DeBeers
I don't think DeBeers is going to be squashing anyone this time out. Wahoo is in the ring with his HUGE headdress and Gary Michael Capetta is introducing a farm director for some AM radio station in Minnesota. Again I say, Verne was WAY too small-time to ever be able to compete with Vince and the WWF. Local farming radio personality or Joan Rivers? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. The farmer introduces the two combatants and we're set to get things underway. Wahoo gets a good-sized pop from the crowd in attendance. McDaniel makes sure that the chops to the chest are legal before the match and he threatens DeBeers with one before they lockup, with DeBeers pushing McDaniel into the corner and turning his back to twirl his mustache. Another lockup and DeBeers gets a standing armbar that McDaniel chops his way out of. Side headlock from McDaniel and DeBeers pushes him into the corner, working him over with a right hand and a knee that McDaniel doesn't necessarily agree with. McDaniel takes DeBeers over with a wristlock and DeBeers drops down for a toehold that gets reversed into a hammerlock.
DeBeers reverses it to his advantage as he gets to his feet and he pushes McDaniel into the corner, landing some punches in the corner before McDaniel fires back with a HUGE tomahawk chop. Another chop from McDaniel and he sends DeBeers through the ropes to the apron, stomping away at the head until DeBeers ends up on the floor. BIG bodyslam from McDaniel and an elbowdrop to follow and he only gets a one-count before DeBeers takes over with a knee to the head and some stomps. He rakes his boot soles across the eyes of McDaniel and throws a hard right hand before slingshotting McDaniel through the ropes and out to the floor. DeBeers booting away at him to keep him from getting back into the ring and McDaniel blocks a turnbuckle shot and they trade punches with McDaniel getting the better of it. War dance and a HUGE chop as he sends DeBeers out through the ropes to the floor. McDaniel goes wild and throws DeBeers over the top rope to the floor and referee Steve Olsonoski calls for the bell.
After the match McDaniel heads outside to get him some more of DeBeers, whomping him with a ton of right hands and sending the Col. staggering. The referee breaks them up for a moment but McDaniel is back in the chase, sending DeBeers headfirst into the ringpost before laying another couple of shots on him and turning to walk away. They lockup outside and McDaniel chops the SHIT out DeBeers, putting him on his ass. McDaniel finally heads to the locker room after the beating.
Winner: Col. DeBeers (disqualification, over the top rope rule)
Match Analysis: Too short to mean anything and it seems like it was just there to let them advertise McDaniel on the WrestleRock show. It was the start of a feud apparently between these two, but I don't recall it ever going anywhere. The post-match brawl came off as a little forced and these two just didn't seem to click at all during the match or afterwards.
After the match, we're back in the AWA studios with Col. DeBeers and he calls McDaniel a jungle savage, before correcting himself, saying that they have jungle savages in South Africa. He calls him a Plains savage instead and says that McDaniel has not learned the need for rules, either in wrestling or society. DeBeers says that it's only the beginning between them because he will take it upon himself to do what the cowboys couldn't do, the cavalry couldn't do and TAME THE INJUNS! Wow, he was racist as SHIT. DeBeers says that all McDaniel has to do is show up and they can tangle. Honestly, DeBeers is borderline uncomfortable NOW, so it must have been horrific in 1986.
Match Four: Brad Rheingans vs. Boris Zhukov w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie
UGH. Rheingans chases down Zhukov and they hit a lockup, with Rheingans landing some shoulderblocks to the gut of Zhukov in the corner before Irish whipping him across and punching him in the stomach. A nice dropkick from Rheingans sends Zhukov backpedalling to the corner and Zhukov slows things down for a moment. Another lockup and Zhukov gets an armbar, putting Rheingans' arm against the middle rope and stomping the piss out of it, before he wraps it around the rope to crank on it. Zhukov works the arm-wringer and then slams the shoulder into the ropes again, sending Rheingans to the outside. Zhukov follows him out and slams him on the floor. HE'S HARDCORE!!! HE'S HARDCORE!!! Rheingans is out on the floor and in agony until Zhukov brings him back into the ring by the hair, ramming him into the top turnbuckle. Forearm shots from Zhukov and he Irish whips Rheingans across to the other corner, charging in after him. Rheingans moves and Zhukov hits the ringpost shoulderfirst and he's out on the floor.
Back into the ring and Rheingans hits a big right hand for a two-count, before Irish whipping Zhukov into the ropes. He tries for a dropkick but Zhukov holds onto the ropes and Rheingans goes crashing down. Zhukov starts working over Rheingans' knee against the ring apron and pulls him into the middle of the ring for a stepover toehold. Zhukov takes him over to the corner and slams the knee into the ringpost two or three times and Zhukov peels back the kneepad and starts BITING on the knee of Rheingans. That's hate people. Stomps on the knee now by Zhukov and he snap mares him over before locking in a figure-four leglock. Zhukov modifies it and starts grabbing the ropes before letting it go and stomping on the knee again. Rheingans fires a forearm off the ropes and he tries to fight back but he can't and gets cut off by a BIG bodyslam. Zhukov with more stomps to the leg and he heads outside to the top rope. He tries to drop a knee onto Rheingans' knee but he misses.
Greg Gagne: "HE MISSED HIM LARRY!" Really Greg, I had no idea. Rheingans with a right hand and another and the crowd REALLY gets into a USA chant. Rheingans with a bunch of punches and an Irish whip into the corner, followed by a back bodydrop. Hamstring pulls by Rheingans and he starts dropping elbows on the knee of Zhukov. Nelson mentions something about the time limit and I think I know the finish. Rheingans ties Zhukov into the Tree of Woe and sends some knees into Zhukov's stomach, ripping off the kneepad and BITING AT ZHUKOV'S KNEE! The referee calls for the bell and it sounds like they've disqualified Brad Rheingans. Outside the ring, Rheingans is chasing after Zhukov, who picks up a chair to defend himself. Rheingans gets himself a chair too and paces around the ring before climbing in, while a graphic on the bottom of the screen tells us that it was a time limit draw.
Winner: None (TV Time Limit Draw)
Match Analysis: Rheingans actually showed a little fire in this one so it actually made it mildly interesting. Zhukov was limited on what he could do in the ring and Rheingans was limited on what he could do in every other aspect, so they did well to cover each other's flaws. It actually felt like a blood feud, or at least as much of a blood feud as it could seem like with Rheingans' robotic style. Decent main event despite the fairly predictable ending.
Larry Nelson is ringside with Brad Rheingans and he's still hot about the match. Rheingans is pacing around and says that all the people saw what happened and that he was wrestling two men instead of one. He says that Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie interfered and that he wants a sanction to keep the Sheik out of the corner the next time and that when he's done with Zhukov he'll send him back to Russia. Once there, Rheingans helpfully suggests that Zhukov stick that Russian flag up his ass. Rheingans storms off and Larry Nelson sends us off to another commercial before coming back to rundown next week's show with Greg Gagne. Gagne talks about Giant Baba being on next week's show and that we'll see more of Superfly Jimmy Snuka as well. He thanks all the fans all around the world and in Las Vegas at the Showboat and we're OUT!!
Final Thoughts
A thumbs in the middle show to be sure. The main event was decent, the rest of the wrestling was so-so, but the Zbyszko/Hennig segment SAVED the show. I loved that and it was not only good to see Zbyszko doing his heelish thing, but to see Hennig showing some real personality to end up putting Zbyszko in his place. As I said, thumbs in the middle, but they're leaning up just based on the strength of that interview segment.
Fun With Comments
From Joe K.: "He throws his challenge out to Rose and Somers and then wonders if Rose means 217 kilograms instead of 217 pounds before helpfully explaining that kilograms are a lot more. Marty Jannetty, math wizard!!
Judging by the stories from back then, Marty knew a lot about "kilos" back in the day. If you *sniff* know what I *snort* mean."
Speaking on the level that I don't want to get sued...I have no idea what you're referencing there. Speaking as a guy who knows those stories...this was pretty damn funny. Good on you, sir.
From G-Walla: "Joe K makes me laugh.
Ah, Slaughter and Brody in the same match, nice. And Nord, to boot. Nothing really to complain about here. DeBeers looked like a dick, and Shawn Michaels wrestled. Good episode.
And I dunno, Slaughter's music is growing on me."
Agreed that it was a good episode, STRONGLY disagreed that that theme music can grow on anything. Warts and barnacles can grow on things too, but it doesn't mean that they're any good.
From The Kid: "Damn, why did they teased us with the mention of a Buck "The Boombox" Zumhoffe match that was to be shown later in the show and didn't deliver? No surprise, ESPN Classic is back to airing the show in a hodge podge order. Yesterday was my first time seeing Zumhoffe and I must say, he's awesome. Now I know where the inspiration for the amped up, old perverted character of Uncle Rico in Napolean Dynamite came from. On the other hand, kudos to showing the Michaels/ Somers match. This may have been the beginning of the Rockers/Rose and Somers feud that we have seen played out on this the channel in reverse order. No wonder Michaels became so talented. He cut his teach against grizzled veterans like Rose and Somers. By the way, when it comes to "capable wrestlers" like Big Scott Hall referred to a few guys, there is no more capable than Somers. (I think capable was supposed to be a compliment, as opposed to not capable = "Don't know a wrist lock from a wrist watch.""
I was rather unhappy to not get to see that match that they were talking about in the teaser because it was BUCK ZUMHOFFE as well as Tiger Mask. I think my television would have exploded from so much coolness being on it, so I'm sort of glad they didn't show it, but it's still a disappointment. Maybe on a future episode. Somers was indeed a very capable wrestler and Michaels was lucky that he was blessed with a ton of natural talent, and then groomed by guys like Somers and the other veterans that he worked with.
From GregGagneSucks: "I think the reason for the missed Zumhoffe match is because the show used to be 2 hours long (8-10 CST), You'll probably be seeing that one somewhere down the line. BTW I think that story about the stolen belt is on the Stan Hansen or Larry Zybysko shoot."
Thanks for more info on that belt story, I will have to try to track down either of those shoots and see if I can find it. If I ever hear the full story, I assure you I will relay it to all of you, my faithful readers.
From jasonel: "Nice job by DeBeers on drawing heat from the crowd with his never-ending pulling up of the Reverend after the 2 count. I wonder if Sarge's accusation of the Shiek stealing his flags was just a cover-up of Verne not wanting to spend all that valuable money on them for Sarge to hand out at ringside. If Shiek did steal the flags I wonder if he was selling them out in the parking lot ala Cryme Tyme BTW I was watching for someone to throw the flag down and stomp on it like before the Pez Whatley match on the one UWF episode"
The thought of Verne being too cheap to buy the flags and then coming up with a kayfabe reason for them not to be there crossed my mind more than a couple of times, so who knows, it might have some merit. And you brought back a great memory for me as that Pez Whatley/flag episode was the one of the UWF episodes that I did a fill-in on for Byers, which added to my love of classic wrestling and led to me ending up covering the AWA shows.
From DG_W: "Ah, Playboy Buddy Rose. I watched him when he wrestled in Portland, OR. when he was generally in a lot of tag matches with his partner, Jesse "The Great" Ventura, against the face team of local hero Dutch Savage and his partner, Jimmy "No Nickname" Snuka. When Rose left for greener pastures, his spot was taken by a newcomer known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
Who knew then that three of those involved would go on to become three of pro wrestling's biggest names EVER!?"
It's always great to look back at the days of the territories. I really do miss those days and it's a shame that they will probably never come back. Innocence lost, I suppose. I agree though, who would have ever believed that Rose would be one of pro wrestling's BIGGEST names. Oh, you meant success-wise and not girth-wise. Well then, yeah that one would have to go to Piper. In that regard, it's still kind of trippy to see Chris Jericho on WWE TV and remember him from his VERY early days in the Winnipeg territory. If you remember the video they did for WrestleMania XIX, showing his first matches in the poorly-lit blue ring with the red and blue ropes, that was from the Winnipeg territory, run by semi-famous Canadian promoter, Tony Condello, and starring as lead heel, Don (Cyrus the Virus) Callis, a truly underrated performer.
************************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:25:06 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson is in the ring with our first competitor so let's get right to the ring. Rod Trongard and Lord James Blears are our commentators as usual.
Match One: Nord The Barbarian w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Bobby Bold Eagle
Nord husses his way to the ring and has the stretcher with him again like he did last time I saw the show, which doesn't bode too well for Bold Eagle I'd imagine. They lockup and Nord hits a hard forearm to the face before Irish whipping Bold Eagle in and taking him down with a big boot to the face. He throws Bold Eagle out the floor before picking him up like a bodyslam is coming and RAMMING HIM INTO THE POST!! BASTARD!! He flings Bold Eagle back into the ring and hits a HUGE bodyslam and a fistdrop before picking the poor Indian up for the PILEDRIVER!! 1-2...Nord picks him up to do a little more ass-whipping. Nord gets up to the second rope and hits a HUGE LEGDROP!!!! Bold Eagle is out and Nord piefaces him for the three-count. Nord, ever the sportsman, slaps Bold Eagle around a little to help wake him up.
Winner: Nord The Barbarian (pinfall, second rope legdrop)
Match Analysis: Now THAT was a beating!! I don't know if Brody was still in the territory at this point but Barbarian was really coming into his own with the gimmick and that stretcher is always a heat-getter. That's why they've done it over and over again in wrestling. Actually, that's one that hasn't been done in a while. The last guy I remember doing it was Sid back in one of his NWA runs, so I think that the statute has run out and someone should bring back the stretcher gimmick. Anyhow, this was about a minute and a half worth of assault against a willing victim, but damn if it wasn't fun.
After the match, Barbarian rolls him over to the stretcher that Shiek has helpfully placed on the apron and they call for someone to come get his dead ass. No one comes so Nord takes it himself with the referee and they haul him to the back.
After the break Larry Nelson's in the ring with Nord, Shiek and the stretcher. I bet out of all of them, the stretcher's English would make the most sense and it would probably cut the best promo. Nelson calls the stretcher disgusting and says that the performance was a devastating one. Shiek says that it's not disgusting at all, they promised that people would be carried out on a stretcher and that's what's going to happen. He threatens Greg Gagne and Jerry Blackwell while Nord takes bumps in front of them. Dude knows how to play crazy, I'll give him that. Shiek goes on about how in the old country when they battle and beat their opponents they carry them out on a stretcher. He wants Bockwinkel and Gagne on the stretcher and I think he just called Blackwell a big bastard. Nord promises Shiek that he'll put everyone on the stretcher before touting that he played in the USFL for the New Jersey Generals. He says that they never paid him like the Shiek pays him. The Shiek pays him gold, pays him money, and pays him WOMAN!!! I still think they should have let the stretcher cut the promo. Shiek starts rambling and Nord continues to promise him about putting Bockwinkel on the stretcher as Larry Nelson sends us to commercial.
Match Two: Larry Zbyszko vs. Alan West
It looks like we've moved to the Omaha tapings and West looks like half of a Chippendale's reject and half of a Fabulous Ones reject with white suspenders, a white bow tie and permed blond hair. Zbyszko makes his way out to his usual chorus of bos, badmouthing the front row and without his faithful Ninja. The ring announcer fucks up saying Pennsylvania and we're down to Rod Trongard at ringside. Zbyszko does a little jawing with the crowd and does some swearing at them as Trongard talks about West's football days in university and how West is a hot prospect in the AWA. Trongard gets in a good burn saying that they'll have five or ten minutes before the match begins to catch up and Blears says that Zbyszko irritates the hell out of his wife. Trongard throws out a compliment while thanking Blears for showing him the "pictures" earlier that day. That sounds a whole lot dirtier in 2008 than it did in 1986 and that also sounds a lot like he's trying to sneak in the backdoor to hit on Blears' wife and the bell rings!
Zbyszko calls a time-out before the match even starts and continues to argue with the front row, leaving the ring to yell at some guy with a "Limp Wrist Larry" sign. Zbyszko wants the sign gone and the fan gone as Blears wonders what Limp Wrist Larry would mean. Trongard says he doesn't understand the connotation behind that and I laugh at how out of it those two are. Again Zbyszko heads back to the floor to yell at the crowd and cal them all mean names. Some of them are trying to get at Zbyszko, so you know that it's working and he's getting the good kind of heat. Blears puts over what a hard working town Pittsburgh is and then talks about how all the Italians and Polish went to Pittsburgh. Yep, Roethlisberger sounds like a good strong Italian name. As you can tell, there's still no action in the ring to speak of, but that's par for the course in a Larry Zbyszko match. They finally locku..no wait, Zbyszko backs out of it and flaps his lips for another thirty seconds or so.
NOW, they lockup and Zbyszko backs away from it again, before armdragging West down and telling him all about it afterwards. West gets a big hiptoss on Zbyszko and then plays to the crowd as Zbsyzko bails out to the apron. Zbyszko gets back in the ring and hits a BIG bodyslam for a two-count as West gets up and hits an even BIGGER slam, sending Zbyszko back out to the floor begging for a time-out. West mocks Zbyszko's professionalism and the crowd starts a little "Larry Sucks" chant before he gets back into the ring. He finally makes it into the ring, bitches at West a little and they lockup with West getting a side headlock before Zbyszko tries to whip him into the ropes a couple times, but West hangs on and cranks on that headlock. Zbyszko throws a forearm to the kidneys to break up the headlock and they do a little rope-running with West getting a sunset flip for a LONG two-count and he's right back to the side headlock, putting Zbyszko down to a knee. Zbyszko tries a roll-up out of the headlock for a two-count and and he does it another couple of times with a handful of tights.
West holds that headlock and Zbyszko gets to his feet, trying to reverse out of it with a top wristlock, taking West down with a handful of hair and getting an armbar. West takes Zbyszko down with a handful of hair himself and Zbyszko turns it right back around, armdragging West down and moving to another armbar. Zbyszko whips West into the corner but it gets reversed and West hits a reverse elbow and a BIG bodyslam before "connecting" with a kneelift that gets a two-count. Irish whip in and West tries for a dropkick but he misses and Zbyszko capitalizes on it, dropping down and holding the tights on a pin attempt to get the 1-2-3!!!
Winner: Larry Zbyszko (pinfall, handful of tights)
Match Analysis: Classic Zbyszko. He probably got paid for a fifteen minute match, while doing about two minutes of actual in-ring work, and was still more over than 95% of the roster. West was greener than Earth Day but still did a decent enough job because at this point Zbyszko could work the the proverbial broomstick and have the same match. Great stall work from Larry Z as always and entertaining in its own right.
Match Three: Ali Kahn and Boris Zhukov w/Shiek Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Bill Anderson and Jesse Hernandez
Kahn is still scratching away at that beard like he needs a fix. "Please Mr. Shiek sir, give me some more smack. I'LL SUCK YO DICK!!!!" Poor Kahn, a slave to his drug habits. The crowd starts a "Shiek the Freak" chant and Zhukov starts out quick, ramming Hernandez into the corner before they both double-team him. The heels exchange and Kahn goes with a forearm to the kidneys before Hernandez makes the tag. Kahn drags Anderson over to the ropes and drops some forearms across the chest before making a tag to Zhukov. Irish whip in and a BIG back bodydrop before he begins headbutting the small of Anderson's back. Another tag and Kahn hits a hard shot to the midsection before following it up with a BIG kneelift. He lifts Anderson up for a bearhug and RAMS him into the turnbuckle. Another heel exchange and he hip-tosses Anderson into the corner, sending him in for a tag to his partner Hernandez. Hernandez gets sent right into the heel corner for a shoulder to the gut and Zhukov hits a big bodyslam before dropping a knee into the middle of Hernandez's back from the second rope. He tags in Kahn and he gets the old-school, over the shoulder backbreaker for the submission.
Winners: Ali Kahn and Boris Zhukov (submission, over the shoulder backbreaker)
Match Analysis: Squash city. Nothing interesting happened, but I'm guessing if this show is being shown all in order, the guys early in the show were told to keep the highspots and decent wrestling to a minimum because the main event was going to tear the house down.
Match Four: AWA Tag Team Championship The Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers w/Sherri Martel
This looks a lot like THAT match. The match that was on the first Shawn Michaels DVD set and was an absolute bloodbath. I have my fingers crossed. The crowd is HOT for this match, shrieking for the Rockers and booing the HELL out of Somers and Rose. Oh man, it IS that match. This is fantastic!!! Rose tries to shimmy out of the belt, but nearly yanks his tights down so decides against it and then just unsnaps it. The bell rings and Rose and Michaels are set to start it out, with Michaels riling the crowd up with some clapping and stomping. Rose stops to get some advice from his "Manageress" and Michaels comes into the heel corner and spits on Rose to break that up. They lockup and Rose shoves Michaels into the corner and hits a hard shoulderblock before whipping him across and charging in after him. Michaels reverses into a sunset flip out of the corner and almost gets the two count right out of the gate. Another lockup and Rose pushes Michaels back into the ropes, and tries a big left hand but it gets blocked and Michaels pops him one of his own in the face. Rose gets a boot to the gut after faking a lockup and Michaels gets Irish whipped into the ropes, leapfrogging over Rose and hopping onto his shoulders to get a victory roll for a long two-count.
Michaels hits SWEET CHIN MUSIC on Rose out of nowhere and gets another long two-count and Michaels ends up on the apron, with Somers RAMMING HIM INTO THE RING POST!!! Michaels is sprawled out on the floor and Jannetty is over to check on him. The referee sends Jannetty back to his corner and Somers takes advantage to ram Michaels headfirst into the apron before rolling him back into the ring. Rose takes over with some stomps and Michaels is a bloody mess from that post shot. Somers gets the tag in and starts BITING THE CUT!! HE'S HARDCORE!! Somers picks him up by the hair and lands a hard right hand before grabbing a side headlock and getting another short punch to the face. Somers tags Rose back in and he drops a knee before just hammering away with right hands on the cut. The crowd is WHITE-HOT and Somers gets tagged back in for another right hand. He taunts Jannetty with Michaels, moving him over to the corner before hitting a hard reverse elbow, breaking up any potential tag. He takes over on Michaels with more punishment and starts stomping away at the head of Michaels, moving him back to his partner Rose and the heel corner. Somers distracts the referee and ends up allowing Rose to work Michaels over a little more while he's draped across the middle rope.
Somers moves back over and stomps at Michaels again as Jannetty gets drawn into the ring for more heel double-teaming. Somers whips Michaels in and hits a high back bodydrop before dropping an elbow for the two-count. Somers moves to the reverse chinlock as we head to a commercial break. Back from commercial and Somers lets go of the chinlock to bite at the cut again and he stomps on the head once more. Michaels with a left hand and a HARD right hand and down goes Somers. He's reaching....reaching.....SOMERS CUTS HIM OFF FROM THE TAG!!! Jannetty gets ahold of Somers and starts laying in some punches while Michaels is out on the other side of the ring getting beaten up by Rose on the outside. The heel team makes a tag and Rose waits in the ring for Michaels to get up off the floor, trying to tell the crowd to quiet down while he waits. Rose counts along with the referee and the count gets up to eight or nine and Michaels gets back into the ring. He blocks a left hand and hits one of his own, and ANOTHER LEFT FOR MICHAELS. HE TURNS TO THE WRONG CORNER!!! Rose makes the tag and Somers comes in to hit a right hand to the back of the head. Michaels comes back with a kick to the gut and right hands of his own, putting Somers down to the mat.
Somers cuts him off again and they're on their knees throwing rights and lefts back and forth, and down goes Somers again. Michaels gets to his feet and HOT TAG!!!! HOT TAG!!! JANNETTY GOING WILD ON SOMERS!!! BACK BODYDROP!! HAMMERING SHOTS ON ROSE AND AN IRISH WHIP INTO THE POST ON SOMERS!! SOMERS IS BUSTED OPEN!! Jannetty's to the outside to hammer away on Rose but Sherri Martel gets up on the apron so he turns his attention to her. Rose attacks from behind with a knee and sends Jannetty back into the ring. Somers and Jannetty are both staggered and Somers tags in Rose who takes over on Jannetty, ramming him face first into the top turnbuckle and landing a ton of short right hands. Michaels comes in and tries to get at Rose but gets sent to the outside by the referee and now JANNETTY is busted open too!!! Rose with HARD left hands to open that cut even worse and Jannetty ends up in the heel corner and they make the exchange with Somers getting a headbutt that stuns both men. Jannetty takes another shot from Somers and a STANDING DROPKICK FROM SOMERS!! 1-2...KICKOUT BY JANNETTY!! Jannetty goes to the wrong corner for the tag but ends up popping Rose with a right hand before collapsing in a neutral corner. Somers comes over and ducks a BIG Jannetty right hand and starts stomping away.
Jannetty starts firing away at anything that moves, slugging at Somers and Rose, but the punches have no effect because of the blood loss. Tag in to Rose and they trade right hands with Jannetty knocking Rose down. They're on their knees and you can see Rose call for Jannetty to bite him and HE DOES!!! They both stagger to their feet and Rose hits a big right hand sending Jannetty flying backwards, RIGHT INTO A TAG TO MICHAELS!! MICHAELS TAKES OVER ON ROSE WITH RIGHTS IN THE CORNER!!! DOWN GOES ROSE!! DOWN GOES MICHAELS!! Michaels kicking and choking Rose in the corner and ALL FOUR MEN ARE BRAWLING!! DOWN GOES THE REFEREE!! ROSE AND JANNETTY ARE ON THE OUTSIDE!!! ALL FOUR MEN DOWN!! ROSE SLAMS JANNETTY ON A CHAIR!!! Another referee comes down to the ring and tries to separate Michaels from Somers. Rose is in now and DOWN GOES THE OTHER REFEREE!! The original referee is to his knees and calling for the bell!! Rose and Somers pound away at Michaels two on one and out go all the referees. GREG GAGNE IS DOWN!!! HERE COME THE FACES AND THERE GO THE HEELS!!! Trongard either makes a mistake or breaks kayfabe by calling him "George Somers" but I'll chalk it up to the excitement of the match.The faces come outside to check on Jannetty and Michaels as Martel tries to help Somers to his feet. MICHAELS FLYING OFF THE RINGSTEPS ONTO ROSE!!! RIGHT HANDS!! GAGNE PULLS HIM OFF AND they're finally all separated. Gagne holds Michaels down and there's BLOOD SPATTERED ON THE CAMERA!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!
Winners: None (double disqualification)
Match Analysis: HELL FUCKING YES! This match, along with the Bockwinkel/Hennig draw from New Year's Eve '86 are probably two of the best television matches that the AWA ever put on, so to see one of them today is a real treat. A great match between four great workers in the midst of a great feud that helped keep the AWA viable for a lot longer than it probably should have. This match even stands the test of time, looking good even twenty years after the fact as a hot tag-team main event with a ton of action and a ton of blood. MUCH RECOMMENDATIONS TO SEE!!!
After the post-match melee, the ring doctor is down to check on Jannetty who is clutching at his ribs after that slam on the chair and Larry Nelson is with Greg Gagne to talk about the insanity of that match. Gagne says that Jannetty is yelling that his ribs are broken and both of them are cut up pretty bad. He says that everyone knew that this feud was going to come to this and that Rose and Somers are going to pay. Gagne says that he's not a doctor and is saying that Jannetty could hardly breathe and that his ribs are probably broken. He says that he's been in wrestling for thirteen years, namedropping a bunch of legendary wrestlers and he says that this match was something like he'd never seen in wrestling before. Gagne again says that Rose and Somers are going to pay and if the Rockers don't come out of it, there's a lot of guys in the locker room that will come after them. WOW!!!!
Final Thoughts
Man, did I ever pick the right episode to come back with. The main event was still as awesome as it was the first time I saw it and the rest of the show was between serviceable and good. The only thing that I have to quibble about is that there was no Zbyszko promo after his match, but that's a small detail. This was one of the best top to bottom episodes that they've run since the show started and that absolutely thanks to having almost half of the show be covered by that spectacular tag main event. ELEVENTY BILLION STARS AND FOUR THUMBS UP!!!
Fun With Comments
The comments section will return with tomorrow's report since the last comments would be almost two weeks old and a little non-topical by this point. Be sure to get those comments in though, since that was one of my favorite parts of doing the report!!
********************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:26:16 GMT -6
1988
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson welcomes us to the broadcast and hypes the main event that he did at the end of yesterday's show, with Gagne vs. Adonis in a rematch for the AWA International Television Championship. He runs down the rest of the show and then kisses the Fan of the Week's ass. Well, six asses, since there were six of them. TO THE RING!! We're still in the hovel that is Minot, North Dakota, which is actually close enough to my homebase of Winnipeg that I could probably spit and hit Minot. True story, I did it once to win a fifty-dollar bet. It was incredibly difficult to get that loogie past customs though. Oh yeah, wrestling!
Rod Trongard and Ray Stevens are at ringside for all the action, so let's get right to it.
Match One: The Nasty Boys vs. Tom Johnson and Ricky Rice
The Nasties come out to the Janet Jackson song, which doesn't fit them at ALL, except for having the word "nasty" in it. Knobbs and Sags both jump Johnson first, in an obvious xenophobic act against the poor, innocent, Canadian man. They both hammer Jonhson down with forearms before sending him out to the floor, and Rice comes in trying to stop them but ends up suffering the same fate. Johnson is in against Knobbs now and Knobbs gets some forearms and Irish whips Johnson in for a BIG clothesline before choking him out on the mat. Knobbs slams his head into the mat and hits an uppercut before whipping him in again for a reverse elbow. Tag in to Sags and he comes off the ropes with a nice legdrop before moving to a side headlock. Sags with a huge clothesline across the top rope, and he throws Johnson through the ropes to the floor as Johnson tries a babyface comeback. Knobbs starts working Johnson over on the floor and stomps away before Sags drags him back to the apron and clotheslines him across the top rope again. Knobbs again with some beating on the outside and Johnson manages to get up to the apron, landing a couple of shoulderblocks to the gut of Sags. He tries a sunset flip over the ropes, and I say tries because he FUCKED UP! HE FUCKED UP!! HE FUCKED UP!! Sags practically does the move himself, dragging Johnson along for the ride, and Johnson gets a two-count off of it. Sags tags in to Knobbs and there's a BIG bodyslam and another tag to Sags. Johnson rolls out of the way of an elbowdrop and it's a HOT TAG!! DROPKICKS FOR EVERYBODY!! RICE DUCKS UNDER A CLOTHESLINE AND HITS A FLYING CROS....Oh, Sags caught him and spiked him with a backbreaker. Tag to Knobbs and he drops a double-sledge to the lower back and slams Rice before tagging Sags back in. Sags picks Rice up and slams him, heading over to forearm Johnson off the apron. Sags in the corner and Knobbs is up on top in the opposite corner, with Sags whipping Rice in and Knobbs hitting a flying clothesline for the three-count.
Winners: The Nasty Boys (pinfall, Knobbs flying clothesline)
Match Analysis: Not a bad match, and essentially an extended squash to try to build the Nasties as legitimate contenders. It did it's job and the job squad did theirs, minus that terrible botch by Johnson. As another, more famous, IWC reviewer would say, this was perfectly acceptable wrestling. Nothing earth-shattering, but nothing offensive either.
Match Two:
Badd Company vs. Greg Robertson and Tim Patterson
That's why they call me....BADD COMPANY!!! God, that entrance was awesome for the timeframe, and honestly a little shocking because Verne did something rock and roll and actually did it right. No DDP, no Diamond Dolls, and yet still it's swank just because it's the right music for the team. Tanaka and Patterson start things out with a lockup and Patterson gets an armdrag takeover, leading Tanaka to complain about a hairpull. Another armdrag from Patterson and more complaining from Tanaka before they lock things up again and Tanaka pushes him into the ropes for a clean bre..CHOP TO THE CHEST!! Tanaka picks him up and sends him to the floor like a sack of garbage. Diamond on the outside with a BODYSLAM ON THE FLOOR! Robertson heads over to check on his partner and it's a great spot because as soon as he leaves, Diamond boots Patterson in the head again. Great heel instincts from Diamond there. Tanaka chops Patterson HARD and drops him to the concrete again before letting him back into the ring. Tanaka rams Patterson into the top buckle and tags in Diamond, who Irish whips Patterson in for a HARD clothesline. He follows that up with a front suplex and tags Tanaka back in, who hits Patterson with a thrust kick and chops away in the corner before hitting a headbutt as well. Tanaka with an Irish whip but he misses the charge and Patterson gets the tag in to Robertson, who looks for a suplex straight away. Blind tag from Tanaka and Diamond takes over with some punches before Irish whipping Robertson into the ropes. I don't know what they were going for there but there were missed clotheslines and flailing arms before Robertson takes an eyerake and some right hands from Diamond. Diamond takes over and Irish whips Robertson in again for a running clothesline. Diamond tags in Tanaka and he slingshots Robertson right into a Tanaka DDT for the pinfall.
Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, slingshot/DDT double-team)
Match Analysis: Another extended squash, another bout full of acceptable wrestling. The double-team was sweet at the end though, as Tanaka and Diamond were always able to pull off some nice maneuvers in their time together as a team.
The AWA Notebook gives us the Tag Team rankings, with The Rockers on top as champions, followed by The Rock n' Roll Express, Adonis and Orton, Badd Company, The Nasty Boys, and Wahoo and Rich.
Back from the break, Verne Gagne is with Larry Nelson and they talk about how Curt Hennig came out and bagged on the Olympic athletes, since this was an Olympic year. Verne goes on and on about the Olympics and then talks about how he went skiing and nearly killed himself. Larry Nelson: "Now, how about Verne Gagne? I understand you've been out on the ski slopes lately. You gonna get out there and go for the gold?" What a kiss-ass. Could you be a little more transparent, Larry? Honestly, the entire interview was all about the Olympics. I appreciate Verne's commitment to amateur sports, but couldn't that time have been better served to get someone over that actually works for the company? Just a thought.
Match Three: Soldat Ustinov w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Alan West
This should be a real classic. One for the ages. The crowd is firmly behind West, chanting USA as we hear the shrill voice of Donna again on color commentary. The two big guys lockup and Ustinov shoves West away and yells at the crowd. Another lockup and Ustinov tries for a forearm in the corner but he misses and heads out to the floor for some guidance from Sheik Adnan. Ustinov looks for a test of strength now and West is a little reluctant to get into it as the USA chant starts again. They finally hit the test of strength and Donna starts talking about how with satellites maybe the AWA could go past the atmosphere and Larry Nelson could start receiving fan mail from Mars or Jupiter. You're already there toots, believe me. Lunatic. Anyhow, Ustinov kicks West in the gut and takes over on the test of strength, until West stomps on Ustinov's hands and takes him over with a hip toss. Ustinov is back out to the floor for a little more conferring with the Sheik as Donna talks about how West played middle linebacker for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers!! Finally, she says something useful!!
West hits a side headlock once Ustinov gets back into the ring and they do a couple of stand-off shoulderblocks before West ducks under and hits a dropkick, moving back to the side headlock and taking Ustinov over. Ustinov gets the reversal for a two-count but West rolls it back over, and he lets go of the headlock. Dumb move as Ustinov takes over with some shots in the corner and Sheik distracts West long enough to let Ustinov ram him into the top buckle. BIG hip toss from Ustinov gets a two-count and he goes to the eyes before taking over with some knees against the ropes. Irish whip from Ustinov and a big clothesline puts West down before they move to a reverse chinlock. Ring announcer says three minutes left and I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to end up seeing a draw. HUGE USA chant from the crowd and West powers out of the chinlock with some shots to the gut before Irish whipping Ustinov in for a dropkick.
Another Irish whip into a reverse elbow for West and he gets two before Sheik puts Ustinov's boot across the bottom rope. Donna says that she'd like to take the sword that Sheik carries and cut his hands off with it. They need to get her off commentary, NOW! Ustinov starts raking his nails over West's back and then hits a double-thrust to the throat and West gets sent out through the ropes to the floor. Sheik rams West's head into the apron while Ustinov keeps the referee busy and West makes his way back in, getting Irish whipped in, but he ducks under a clothesline and hits a cross-bodyblock for a two-count. Small package for West gets another two-count as they're under a minute left. BIG bodyslam and legdrop from Ustinov gets a LONG two-count with thirty seconds left. Irish whip and they both clothesline each other down with ten seconds left. West gets a belly-to-belly suplex for a two-count and they fuck up the "count the pin but time expired" spot as Miller has to stop the count before the bell rings.
Winner: None (time limit draw)
Match Analysis: Two greenies, but it was a really decent match. The crowd was solidly into it, but I think that was mainly a by-product of the USA/USSR dynamic. They kept the match simple though, went a little old-school with the moves and as such, didn't mess anything up. The ending sucked, like it does every time any promotion tries to use it, mainly because people can never get the timing right. Seriously, how hard can it be? Ring the bell between the two and the three count, who CARES what time it's at. Do you think people in the crowd are going to be timing the matches on their Casio stopwatches? BAH!!! Good match, shitty ending.
After the break, Larry Nelson's in the AWA studios and he runs down a bit of the touring schedule for people to come out to see the AWA LIVE! He brings out Tom Zenk and Zenk starts talking about the Olympics too. What is with these guys and the Olympics? Jumping jesus, we get it, you like the Olympics. Are they going to come out and start talking about their favorite TV shows too? Zenk turns to Curt Hennig and says that he's come back to the AWA to win that belt from Hennig. He calls Hennig a great champion and talks about how he's kept the belt through bending the rules and changing his attitude. Zenk threatens him and says to remember the name Tom Zenk because he's coming after Hennig. That leads right into Baron Von Raschke and he talks about the great athletes in the AWA, getting three guys down the list and then forgetting the rest, saying that there's too many to remember. KICK SAVE AND A BEAUTY FROM THE BARON!! Baron starts threatening Sheik and says that he's coming after Soldat Ustinov and that is ALL THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW!!
Match Four: AWA International Television Championship Adrian Adonis w/Bob Orton vs. Greg Gagne (c)
This one is a re-match of their first contest, which ended with an Adonis DQ and gave Gagne the championship belt. Adonis stalls to start and then charges, taking a big hip toss from Gagne and another before Gagne gets a bodyslam on him, sending Adorable Adrian out to the floor. Orton tries to console Adonis on the outside and give him a little advice. Adonis gets back into the ring and they lockup with Adonis hitting a knee to the gut and then trying for a slam, but Gagne floats over and then hits another couple of bodyslams, sending Adonis back to the floor. They're locked up again with Gagne getting a standing arm-wringer, taking Adonis over into an armbar on the mat. Adonis up to his feet and he moves and drags Gagne out to the floor in an attempt to break the hold. Adonis tries an Irish whip and Gagne reverses it, sending Adonis headlong into Orton before getting back into the ring and dragging Adonis back into the armbar. Adonis tries an Irish whip into the corner to get free, but Gagne reverses again and hits a backdrop out of the corner.
Abdominal stretch from Gagne now in the middle of the ring and Adonis breaks it by going to the eyes, charging at the champion. Gagne ducks out of the way and hits a drop toehold, moving to a leglock on Adonis. Adonis goes to the eyes again and he limps over to Gagne in the corner, hitting a standing elbow and a shoulderblock before Gagne gets the drop toehold again into the leglock. Adonis to the eyes again and he rams Gagne's head off of the mat before picking him up and slamming him head-first into the top turnbuckle. Irish whip into the corner and Adonis hits an AVALANCHE!! Two-count for Adonis but Gagne has his foot across the bottom rope. Adonis works over Gagne in the corner with right and left hands before Gagne comes back with some punches of his own. They trade shots and Adonis takes over with a nail rake across Gagne's back, with Gagne ending up draped across the middle rope. Another butt splash by Adonis clotheslines Gagne across that rope and he hits a snap mare before dropping a HUGE knee across Gagne's face, getting a LONG two-count. Another kneedrop attempt, but Gagne gets a hand up and punches Adonis in the throat.
Gagne tries for another bodyslam but Adonis is JUST TOO FAT and Adonis ends up on top for a two-count. Back to their feet and Adonis pulls Gagne into a sleeperhold, clamping it on in the middle of the ring. Gagne moves to the corner and drops down, slamming Adonis' head into the top buckle. Irish whip from Adonis gets reversed and he goes ass over teakettle into the corner and GAGNE'S ALL FIRED UP!! IRISH WHIP INTO THE CORNER INTO A BACKDROP! DROPKICK!!! GAGNE SLEEPER!! Adonis does the same thing Gagne did, only he sends Gagne through the ropes all the way out to the floor. Orton on the outside just PEPPERS Gagne with right hands and Adonis comes outside to try to ram Gagne into the post. Gagne ducks low and slams Adonis into the post and referee Marty Miller is calling for the bell. Adonis and Orton are halfway up the aisle to the dressing room and it looks like it's another disqualification.
Winner: Adrian Adonis (disqualification, ringpost shot)
Match Analysis: This main event was pretty good, but that was just the talent of Adonis, shining through all of the flab and carrying Gagne. He could have had that match with himself really, and the result would have been about the same. Kind of fun to see Orton and Adonis on the same side when earlier this week I saw them facing off against each other for the Southwest Championship Wrestling version of the heavyweight championship to end a one-night, eight-man tournament.
Orton and Adonis are both celebrating because they think that they have the title won with the DQ, but the belt ends up staying with Gagne. Orton is yelling and stomping arond in the ring while Gagne throws the belt down to challenge Adonis again. Orton smartly grabs the belt and heads for higher ground, handing it to Adonis and out they go. Gagne is trying to explain to the referee what the situation was but it's to no avail. Gagne is PISSED and heads off to the back.
Larry Nelson's back in the AWA studios, running down the main event we just saw and mistaking Adrian Adonis for Wahoo McDaniel. He kisses the Family of the Week's ass again and then begs for more fan mail. He finishes running down the show and says that it's going to be Curt Hennig vs. Mr Magnificent in the main event next week!
Final Thoughts
Another meh show. Not that there was anything extremely terrible in it, it just looked amateurish and the wrestling was all kind of bland. Thumbs down for me on this one, and there's not really a lot else to say, so let's move on to the comments.
Fun With Comments
From Frozen: "Am I the only one who notices (and is annoyed by) the "audience reaction" shots that they edit into the shows from time to time? Sometimes they use the same audience shot several times in one show. The AWA just couldn't get the wrestling part nor the television part right."
I noticed it more in this past episode more than any other, and at some point in it, Rod Trongard thanks some production company from Grand Forks for handling the show, so this is one time that the AWA can not be directly at fault. Of course, it's their fault that they were too cheap to have a prouction crew that travelled with them, but that's another story.
From G-Walla: "Missed two nights in a row. Didn't sound like I missed mcuh, other than seeing some interesting people.
Getting sleep was nice, for a change, though."
What is this sleep you speak of? And yeah, you haven't missed much, but the show is starting to get into the funnily bad territory on occasion so that can make up for it sometimes.
From James: "re: Lawler vs. Samoan Joe...I guess this Joe's gonna do anything but kill you, huh? And about Manny...Jimmy Valiant references the 'Nam thing in his interviews around the time Bull turned on him in the NWA. He inexplicably called him the "Willy-Willy" Man numerous times as well.
Frozen...as this WAS ESPN, were any of these audience reactions taken as something "violent" was about to happen? This happened ALL THE TIME on GWF shows."
It could possibly be because of something too violent, but I think the cuts were just inexperienced production people that didn't know wrestling, trying to make it into something "artistic". As for the 'Nam thing, it was generally accepted as the truth until later in Fernandez's career or even after it was over, as that was when his whole web of lies came unravelled.
From James: "And looking back at my previous comments about Kevin Kelly, it just dawned on me: KELLY + MADUSA = VINCE HATE SQUAD."
Yeah, that would work, though I think Madusa would have been a bit of an unwilling member of that hate squad, since she was really smart about not wanting to burn bridges and essentially had to have Eric Bischoff goad her into dumping her belt into the trash because she didn't think it was a good idea. Bischoff sold her on a bill of goods and she did it and now she's stuck on the black list, while Bischoff gets to make appearances on WWE DVDs, as well as the occasional appearances on WWE programming. I think she'd be a more likely candidate for a Bischoff Hate Squad personally.
From Teijo Kahn: "I think Lawler and Bill Dundee had already had a cup of coffee with the tag belts before this, actually."
They did, and I actually remember that match, but what I was referring to was Lawler's debut for his big singles run with the belt that led up to the SuperClash III match. I probably should have been a lot clearer on that, but thanks for the info TiJoe!!
From JLAJRC: "The Cheap Seats recap was great and hope to see more in the future.
Frankly, I'm getting kinda bored with the AWA. At least the UWF show had some hilarious comedy to keep you interested. I wonder if they're planning on switching to another wrestling show soon. That would explain the skipping of the 1987 episodes."
Randy and Jason will return from time to time, on nights when I feel up for it, or just when it's been a shitty show and I could use the laugh. If I use them too much they'll lose their special powers to cheer up the readers after a craptacular hour of AWA "action". Either that or I'm fumbling for an excuse as to why I'm too lazy to do it for every episode. But thanks for the support on it anyhow, JLA. As for them switching shows, I sure as hell hope not because if I'm sitting through these mildly bad shows, I want to see the end when they were TERRIBLE shows. I'm a bit of a masochist like that.
From Mark: "Samoan Joe? Really?"
Yep, really. Tiger-print tights and everything, so he must be from the islands. He wasn't very good though, so luckily someone better came along to give the name a bit more gravitas.
From Teijo: "I remember that, they beat Soldat Ustinov and Doug "Pretty Boyski" Somervich (stand-in for Boris Zhukov who had since gone to become a Bolshevik). My one big memory of their reign was when they did a promo on the Original MX and Lawler said he had run-ins with Paul E. He referenced the hair cage match, but they bleeped out Tommy Rich's name (as he was working face at that time in the AWA)"
Yes indeed, the problem sometimes with those shows is that in certain cases, like with this instance and with the Midnight Rockers, what was happening in Minnesota ran completely counter to what was happening in Memphis, so the opportunity for confusion was readily available.
Finally from Guest#4000: "The AWA big problem was that they had no great heels. They had Zbyszko, but in 1988 he was in NWA/WCW. They had Curt Hennig, but by the time he was stepping up to a top guy in the industry he left for the WWF. They had babyfaces like Greg Gagne, Baron Von Raschke, Wahoo McDaniel, Jerry Blackwell, Jerry Lawler, & Sgt. Slaughter. If they would have turned some of those guys, I think it would have helped make the TV better."
I agree that there weren't many people that were worthwhile heels in those dying days, but really the only guy they could have turned and had it be believable would have been Lawler. Baron, Wahoo and Blackwell were all WELL past their primes and wouldn't have been able to go in the ring, Slaughter wouldn't have been booed at that point if his life depended on it, and Gagne had no charisma as a face, so as a heel just imagine Randy Orton early in his career. With a worse finisher. And a bigger push cause he's the son of the boss. Gagne would have been eaten alive as a heel, so essentially the only one they could have done it with was Lawler, but they had to keep him face to lead up to the SuperClash show. If they'd paid Lawler for it, he was already showing his heelish tendencies and I think that a turn on the fans after they'd supported him through unifying the titles would have done pretty good business. Not "save the territory" business, but enough business to keep things going for another little while. Verne was seemingly just trying to hold on and wait for the next big boom cycle for wrestling, but he just couldn't keep enough people interested in the interim to keep the business viable.
That does it for me for another week of AWA reports. Thanks for stopping in and checking them out and I'll see you all right back here next Tuesday for another week of wrestling action!
********************************
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:27:14 GMT -6
1988
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired ...)
Lee Marshall is your commentator for tonight's action and apparently he's flying solo. This looks to be taped in Memphis because they have the gigantic Renegades chewing tobacco logo in the middle of the canvas. Diamond Dallas Page is in the ring and he's already bagging on Memphis saying it's full of square dancers and rednecks. He keep running down the town, asking if Bon Jovi or Guns n' Roses or anyone GOOD came out of Memphis. With the music that is apparenly Bad Company..by Bad Company, here comes BADD COMPANY!!! Lord, the audio is horrible with tons of feedback happening the whole time.
Match One: AWA Tag Team Championsip Odyssey and Shawn Baxter vs. Badd Company w/Diamond Dallas Page (c)
Apparently we're in Nashville, not Memphis, but it's the same territory so I was close. Tanaka and Baxter lock up and Tanaka takes over with a ton of chops before they do a quick running the ropes sequence that ends with Baxter hitting a couple of deep armdrag takeovers. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Baxter looks like he went into the wrong building and was looking for the Poison cover band auditions that were being held the next block over. It's ridiculous-looking because he's 5'8", but his hair is teased up to 6'3". The face team gets the crowd into it before Tanaka pushes Baxter into the corner and hits a couple of chops. Irish whip into the corner by Tanaka gets reversed but he thrust kicks Baxter in the face, sending mascara and fake eyelashes flying across the ring. Diamond tags in now and he takes over with some punchy-kicky before picking Baxter up for a BIG vertical suplex. Tag in and Diamond presses Tanaka down on top of Baxter with a headbutt that gets a two-count. Another tag in to Diamond and he continues working over Baxter before tagging in Tanaka for a Hart Attack-style move and both members of Badd Company try to exit the ring, forgetting who was legal. Diamond just stays in and stomps away at Baxter before he gets a front facelock and tags Tanaka back in. Chop to the body by Tanaka and he whips Baxter in and hits a HUGE chop for a two-count. Tag to Diamond and he Irish whips Baxter in, ducking for a back bodydrop but Baxter gets a sunset flip for a long two-count. Diamond takes over again and whips Baxter into the corner but misses the charge and eats a turnbuckle, allowing Baxter to tag in Odyssey. BIG slam from Odyssey on Diamond and a dropkick off the ropes follows that up and he's on FIRE!! Irish whip into the ropes and Diamond gets a back bodydrop before whipping Diamond into the corner, accompanied by even more feedback. Diamond reverses and Odyssey tries for the second rope splash but he misses it and Diamond tags in Tanaka for a SWANK crescent kick into a german suplex double-team move for the three-count. Baxter lackadaisically tries to get into the ring to stop the count but he's WAY too late.
Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, crescent kick into german suplex)
Match Analysis: Fun to see Badd Company again, but the jobbers weren't very good and the audio howling in the background was REALLY distracting. Really fluid tag-team wrestling from Badd Company though and you could see how good Diamond and Tanaka were and that they were at the top of their games at this point in their careers.
Match Two: Manny Fernandez vs. Sonny Street
Fernandez gets a decent-sized pop from the crowd and then spends a good couple of minutes taking off his semi-gay biker leathers. Great, now we've got Verne Gagne along with Lee Marshall. This should make it MUCH better to listen to. They lockup and stalemate with Fernandez shoving Street off the ropes. Fernandez moves to a standing arm wringer and then takes Street over for a one-count. The feedback is coming from the way the ring is miked up as far as I can tell, because when someone lands in a certain spot, the screeching begins. The referee is Frank Morell, who used to work in the Jerry Jarrett and Nick Gulas promotions as The Masked Spoiler, and with good reason since the man is ugly as sin, but that's beside the point. Fernandez pushes Street into the ropes and hits a couple of chops and then a big headbutt before whipping Street in for a reverse elbow. Snap mare over and Fernandez drops a heavy knee down before moving to a reverse chinlock. Fernandez blatantly calls some spots and Street shoots Hernandez into the corner but takes another reverse elbow. Street gets Irish whipped into the ropes, almost trips over Hernandez, almost trips over himself and almost falls bouncing off the ropes before Hernandez puts him out of his misery with a BIG dropkick. Fernandez covers him for a one-count and then picks him up before dropping an elbow and chopping him before hitting another snap mare and another reverse chinlock. At least Manny's not calling spots this time. Headbutt from Fernandez and another kneedrop and Street stands up into another big headbutt and another. He puts Street down and then chops him when he gets back up and Fernandez rams him into the top turnbuckle before choking him across the top rope. BIG right hand from Fernandez and he's stepping on the throat of Street now. Street with a couple of rights to the body and a side headlock but Fernandez shoots him into the ropes. They REALLY mess up either a leapfrog or a Thesz press spot, and Fernandez looks PISSED off. I expect the trip to the potato factory to come in 5...4..3...2...1. Fernandez whips him in and hits a HARD reverse elbow and then whips him in again for a HARD cross-bodyblock that finally gets the three. Fernandez throws Street out of the ring like yesterday's trash just to add insult to the many injuries.
Winner: Manny "I played for the Dolphins" Fernandez (pinfall, cross-bodyblock)
Match Analysis: Fernandez looked vicious here and once the jobber screwed up, he was STIFF as hell. A real beating and I don't think Street got in even one offensive move. I guess they were building him up to feed him to Wahoo.
Match Three: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Sid Striker
No bullshitting around this time, it's just match after match on this show. They lockup and McDaniel gives Striker a clean break off the ropes. Wahoo gets a side headlock into a takeover and Striker gets a foot in the ropes to break the hold. Another lockup and Striker pushes Wahoo into the ropes, giving him a clean break back, somewhat shockingly. Wahoo pushes Striker into the corner and then chops the PISS out of him, forwards and backwards and he Irish whips Striker into the turnbuckle and tomahawks him down before McDaniel moves to a standing leglock, dropping a knee into the hamstring, and cranking on the ankle. McDaniel lets go of that hold and just chops at Striker, knocking him down with them before he stands on the throat. McDaniel picks him up and drops him with a backbreaker before dropping a chop down onto him. Verne shows his racial sensitivity stating that McDaniel nearly scalped him. Kneedrop for McDaniel now and another big chop and ANOTHER and he Irish whips Striker into the ropes for another HUGE chop and gets the 1-2-3!!
Winner: Wahoo McDaniel (pinfall, running chop)
Match Analysis: Short and fairly inoffensive, except for Gagne's racism. McDaniel was old and really starting to show his age in the ring so it had to be kept short and with what Wahoo could do, which was chop people. At least it didn't last long enough for McDaniel to gas out.
Match Four: AWA Women's Championship Wendi Richter vs. Madusa Miceli (c)
Madusa comes out to "Simply Irresistible", and at this point it fits her cause she's still pretty hot. A few years from now, not at ALL, but now she looks good. Funny how sometimes surgery can just make things worse. Wendi Richter comes out to her Cyndi Lauper song from when she was popular three years before in the WWF. Nothing like living in the past there Wendi. Miceli threatens to beat the piss out of the referee with the belt before she kisses it and hands it over. The bell rings and they circle before they lockup and Miceli pushes her off and struts a little. Another lockup and Richter gets an armdrag into an armbar but Miceli reverses out of it with a headscissors. Richter gets out of it and the referee gets in the way of a move and Miceli gives him shit over it. Richter gets a knee to the gut and a knee to the head before she snap mares Miceli over for a one-count. Front facelock by Richter and Miceli forces her back into the ropes and tries a right hand that Richter blocks. Richter fires back with a couple right hands of her own and Miceli begs off with Richter offering up a handshake and Richter kicks her in the gut, taking her over for another one-count.
Reverse chinlock by Richter and she misses a legdrop as Miceli pulls on Richter's arms and stands on her hair, running the soles of her boots across Richter's face. Richter fires back with right hands and she slings Miceli off the ropes back into the ring and follows it with a BIG bodyslam for another one-count. Miceli goes to the eyes and then tries for a Boston crab but Richter reverses it into a sunset flip. They're in the ropes so there's no count and Miceli takes over on Richter, stomping away and just shoving her over and scrubbing the canvas with her face. Miceli drops some knees and kicks away at Richter before stepping on her hair again and paintbrushing her. Miceli slings Richter into the ring, giving her a taste of her own medicine and Miceli hits some forearms before Irish whipping Richter off the ropes. Richter catches the boot to the gut and fires off a right hand that puts Miceli down. Irish whip from Richter and a big reverse elbow gets another one-count as Richter picks her up for a shoulderbreaker. ANOTHER one-count and Richter tries for an Irish whip into the corner but gets reversed, though she hits a double kick to the chest as Miceli charges in. Sunset flip by Richter gets a two-count and she slams Miceli's face into the mat before picking her up for an Irish whip into the ropes. Kick to the stomach and Richter picks her up for a vertical suplex and another one-count.
Richter with a POWERBOMB and HERE COMES BADD COMPANY!! Richter tries to fight them off but gets dropped across the top rope by both Tanaka and Diamond in a double-team move. Miceli moves in and all three of them start with the stomps and punches on her and from the back come The Top Guns to save Richter from a worse beating. Lee Marshall heads into the ring to see what the hell is going on (with more feedback) and Gagne starts performing some amateur medical diagnoses from ringside.
Winner: Wendi Richter (disqualification, Badd Company interference)
Match Analysis: Pretty good match until the shitty ending, and it shows just what women's wrestling can be with two professionals in the ring. No blown spots, no real slow points, and they kept a fairly decent pace the entire time. It would be fun to see these two get an extra five minutes and a clean finish.
Lee Marshall is in the ring and just disgusted, moving to talk to The Top Guns and he asks Jon Paul what's going on. Paul yells about Badd Company and Richter screams that she beat Madusa and she should be the champion. Ricky Rice calls Badd Company yellow and says that they better beware because The Top Guns are on their trail. Richter freaks out again and Paul raises her arm and calls her the champion.
We're back from the commercial and we get to see a clip of Sgt. Slaughter on G.I. Joe and that cuts into a clip of Slaughter saying that everyone wants to see this match. Iron Sheik and Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie are in an empty arena threatening Slaughter before they start talking Arabic. Slaughter brings up the hostage crisis and Sheik shows a picture from what appears to be an Arabic copy of Penthouse of him in a wrestling ring with a title belt and President Reagan and the First Lady cowering in the corner outside the ring. Slaughter threatens, Sheik threatens, lather, rinse, repeat. What a weird segment. I mean it was good and all, but as a stand-alone segment it was a little weird and jarring to watch.
Match Five: World Class Tag Team Championship The Samoan Swat Team w/Buddy Roberts vs. Michael Hayes and Steve Cox (c)
Again a really weird edit as the teams were introduced coming out of commercial and then it's right back to a commercial before the match starts. Lee Marshall gets joined by Ray Stevens now and Hayes does a little strutting and shimmying before he takes off his Stars and Bars robe. Hayes stomps and gets the crowd right into the match as Buddy Roberts yells at him from the outside. Samu and Hayes trade right hands with Hayes getting the better of it and going back to some strutting. Another lockup and Hayes gets a headlock before Samu shoots him into the ropes. Hayes gets a right hand after avoiding a leapfrog and then moonwalks back to his own corner and plays to the crowd again. They lockup and Samu shoots Hayes in again, going down for a reverse monkey flip but Hayes just stomps on Samu's head. Hayes gets an armwringer and tags in Cox who comes off the top with a shot to the arm. Cox with a standing armbar and Samu goes to the eyes to break the hold before slamming Cox down. He misses an elbowdrop and Cox takes him back over with an armdrag into the armbar again. Samu pulls the hair and yanks Cox into the heel corner, and we get a repeat spot from the SuperClash match as Samu knocks Fatu in the head with a forearm.
Cox and Fatu in the ring now and they lockup as Fatu gets a standing armbar and Cox reverses it, yanking on Fatu's arm before Samu attacks from behind and breaks it up. Samu tries to get out of the ring but Hayes runs over and crotches him with the middle rope to a BIG response from all the Nashville hillbillies. Cox is back to the armbar, taking Fatu down to one knee before Fatu goes to the eyes to break it. Headbutt from Fatu and Cox reverses a hiptoss into one of his own and armdrags Fatu back over into the armbar. Irish whip in and Samu on the floor trips Cox coming off the ropes and the heels take over, stomping away on Cox and hammering him in the corner with double-team right hands. Samu with a BIG chop and he Irish whips Cox in for the swinging facesmash into the canvas for a long, long two-count. Reverse chinlock from Samu and a headbutt as the heels tag out again and Fatu spits on Hayes to drag him in. They work over Cox illegally and Fatu Irish whips Cox into the ropes for a HUGE clothesline that gets two. Fatu to the eyes and he snap mares Cox over into the nerve pinch as Hayes fires the crowd up from the outside.
Cox breaks out but Samu grabs Cox's hair on the outside and drags him down, prompting Hayes to come in and break up that little tea party. The heels take over and stomp at Cox while the referee heads Hayes back into his corner. Fatu with the nerve pinch again and Cox looks in bad shape. Hayes tries to get the crowd into it again and Cox gets to his feet, elbowing out of the pinch but he eats a HUGE thrust kick from Fatu and then a double thrust kick from both of the SST. Legdrop from Samu into a front facelock and Samu moves to Irish whip him into the corner, missing a charge that lets Cox get the HOT TAG TO HAYES!! IRISH WHIP TO FATU AND A BIG BACKDROP!! BULLDOG FROM HAYES BUT SAMU COMES OFF THE TOP WITH A HEADBUTT!! THE FIGHT RAGES ON!!! The referee is trying to raise Cox's hand and there's no bell, but apparently the match is over.
Winners: Michael Hayes and Steve Cox (disqualification, SST interference)
Match Analysis: A longer version of the SuperClash match that I just saw the other day, which isn't to say that this was bad, just that a lot of it felt like deja vu. A pretty good tag match that was made WAY better by having Hayes there to keep the crowd into it. It could have very easily tipped the other way to being boring, but Hayes kept bringing it back from the brink.
The SST gangs up on Cox but they end up taking each other out again when Cox ducks and the faces stand tall in the ring before heading out to the floor to continue the fight. They brawl all the way to the backstage area and in amongst the crowd with Hayes slamming Fatu's head into the wall of the arena before the show closes out!!
Final Thoughts
Not a great show, but definitely better than the past few nights. Like I seemingly said during every match analysis, the matches were good, but nothing really popped or made me take notice. Fernandez is tough, McDaniel is tough, Badd Company is bad, we get it. The only saving grace was the last two matches, which were probably the best two matches out of the last three or four shows. On to comment time!!!
Fun With Comments
From Frozen: "I like how Verne had DeBeers team up with the Iron Sheik and Sheik Adnan. Because as everybody knows, white supremacists simply adore Arabs."
It never has to make sense because it's wrestling and they say so.
From Andres V: "An okay show. Good to see more World Class stars I grew up watching. My thoughts:
First, did Jarrett get legitimately hurt for the title to change, or did he just do a good job of selling it?
Also seeing a young Rikishi/Sultan/Junior Fatu, etc. before gaining all that weight years later.
After these years, I think about how Steve Cox won the UWF Rookie of the Year back in '87. Nothing against Steve, but his career didn't exactly take off. Especially when Shane Douglas (the one who came in second) obviously had a better one overall."
Just a good job selling from Jarrett as they needed to have a bit of a reason why the match ended in five minutes and came up with the injury angle. Funny to think about how when guys are young, they can be so close and then one will just wildly surpass the other in the end, as in the case of Cox and Douglas.
From Tiger Mask 69: "It's in pretty bad taste now (I guess it was in fairly bad taste then as well), but I thought Wahoo's promo was kinda cool. It's not often you hear feuding wrestlers wish straight-up death on each other in promo's."
Yeah, pretty bad taste, but it didn't stop Verne from replaying it a ton of times on his television shows, so I guess he wasn't that shocked by it.
From G-Walla: "Christ, sounds like I didn't miss anything last night. Would have been nice to see the Samoan Swat Team, but fuck if the rest didn't sound like horseshit.
So, hooray for getting home at 2 am (just in time for the Simpson's on the California Fox feed)."
If I had had my drothers, I would have been watching Simpsons then too, believe me.
From Tristan: "I'm pretty sure the crowd was chanting "Shoot the Referee", especially with Cox making a shotgun blast motion at the ref. Considering those days, I hope the ref left either before or way after the crowd."
That could very well have been, and I wouldn't be shocked. The thing about those crowds is that they were WAY better than the late-70's and before crowds, where knifings and fan attacks were seemingly the norm.
Finally a trio of comments on Larry Nelson. Firstly, from Scrotum Pole: "From listening to Larry Nelson talk and the prissy way he holds the microphone I'm pretty sure that the only thing wrestlers in AWA at the time needed to worry about was him coming up from behind them in the showers offering to help soap the cracks of their asses."
Then from Teijo Kahn: "Yes, I think "prissy" is the word I've been trying to think of to describe Larry Nelson. Didn't Bischoff say Nelson got fired for an OWI, and Bisch replaced him?"
And finally again from Scrotum Pole: "If you watch closely Larry Nelson has a hint of Mr. Garrison mixed with a slight canadian lisp."
Firstly, I would say that Larry was effeminate but not gay, because of how lecherous he behaved talking about that lingerie battle royal. Prissy is a good word to describe him though, and yes he ended up getting shelved for a DUI (not his first), and Bischoff replaced him. Finally, I see the Mr. Garrison, but you're mistaking the Canadian for the Midwestern/Minnesotan, which can sound fairly similar.
--------------
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:28:42 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
This looks to be from the same Nashville taping as the previous episode that was on Friday night, and Lee Marshall is at ringside with Verne Gagne.
Match One: Beauty and the Beast vs. The Top Guns
The Guns come out to yell and fire up the crowd, but they get nowhere near the reaction that most of those other rock and roll tag teams ever got for the AWA. Rice gets a headlock on "Beauty" and gets shot into the ropes, taking him down with a shoulderblock and following it up with a hip-toss before tagging in Jon Paul. Double armwringer and they take "Beauty" down and both hit legdrops on either arm. Paul Irish whips him in and hits a HARD clothesline before tagging Rice back in for a double axehandle off the second rope. Standing armbar from Rice but "Beauty" goes to the eyes and gets a tag in to the Beast. Armdrag takeovers put the Beast down before Rice tags in Paul for an elbow to the arm. Paul with a hip toss and another legdrop on the arm, before cranking in an armlock. Tag in to Rice who leapfrogs over Paul, landing on the outstretched arm of the Beast. Rice hits the standing armbar until Beast goes to the eyes and tags in the "Beauty" again and after a face tag, both guys hit a reverse elbow. Another tag for the faces and Rice comes off the second rope onto the arm again. "Beauty" tries a couple of punches then rakes at the eyes before tagging in Beast, who hits a hard elbow shot before pushing Rice into the corner and they double-team him a little before another heel tag is made. Irish whip in by "Beauty" and he misses a clothesline and eats a flying bodypress for a LONG two-count. Not that it was close to three, just that the referee was counting it like he was trying not to break a nail. Standing dropkick for Rice and he tags in Paul who comes off the top rope with a flying splash for the victory.
Winners: The Top Guns (pinfall, top rope splash)
Match Analysis: A decent enough match, but like a lot of AWA jobber matches, there's a ton of psychology that just goes nowhere. Why bother with working the arm for five minutes of a seven-minute match if it's just going to be some sort of flash finish with a move that has nothing to do with the arm. It might be a little quibble, but it always bugs me to see that kind of thing. The Guns were decent enough, but still really green and lacking that spark that was going to make them superstars. I will say that at least the audio problems have seemingly been resolved from the last episode so there's no feedback yet, thank goodness.
Beast seemingly had a seizure on the outside of the ring after that move hit, convulsing on the apron, but he comes in after the pinfall and ends up eating a big right hand before bailing. Gagne talks about how he's never seen Jimmy Snuka get that high on a splash before, in an effort to desperately try to get these guys over. No subtlety at all in it, which shows how badly Verne needed to make new draws so he could try to get more money coming in.
Back from the commercial and Diamond Dallas Page is coming down to the ring, pushing a stretcher, and he says that anyone that gets in the way of the Diamond Exchange is going to end up on the stretcher. A nice touch as he introduces Col. DeBeers in kilograms instead of pounds, and Page riles up the crowd a little as DeBeers finally makes his way into the ring.
Match Two: Col. DeBeers vs. Ken Raker
I think that it's his name, though Marshall sounded like he said Ken Raper, which would just be an unfortunate name on so many levels. DeBeers gets a side headlock to start and hits some punches and forearms before snapmaring Raker over and stomping him in the face. Irish whip in from DeBeers and he buries the knee into the midsection before lifting him up for a big backbreaker. Raker tries a right hand but DeBeers just runs his eyes across the top rope before hitting some right hands. PANCAKE PILEDRIVER!!!! 1-2, pick-up by DeBeers, as per the usual. SECOND PANCAKE PILEDRIVER!!! A HUGE cheshire cat grin from DeBeers and he pins him for the 1-2-3!!
Winner: Col. DeBeers (pinfall, pancake piledriver)
Match Analysis: Short and squashy, just the way that the Col. likes his matches. Of course, it was all the usual from DeBeers, so at this point I'm going to talk about why the hell DeBeers needed a manager. Usually managers have stables of guys that can talk and work together, or a guy that can't talk to get over uses the manager to help in that aspect. DeBeers was already over huge as a heel and could talk his ass off, so what really did DDP bring to the table for him? I guess it was just more of Verne throwing shit at the wall and seeing what would stick.
After the match is over DeBeers jaws with some fans on the way back to the locker room while the referees are bringing the stretcher out and loading Raker up onto it as he holds his neck with both hands.
After the break Larry Nelson is in the SuperClash control center and he takes us back to the Miceli/Richter match that gets finished with Badd Company coming in to beat on Richter. I believe that was on Thursday's show, but I can't recall because it all just blended together towards the end of the week. After the highlight, Wendi Richter has some pre-recorded comments saying that she wants Miceli because she will have The Top Guns to protect her from the Badd Company goons. She threatens Madusa with one of her man-handed fists and says for Madusa to beware, almost cracking up before the camera clears.
Match Three: CWA Tag Team Championship Nature's Best vs. The Rock and Roll RPM's w/Downtown Bruno
Bruno is best known for his Harvey Whippleman run in the WWF and if you'll remember last week when there was a team all in green that were jobbed out to The Stud Stable, this would be the same team. No idea who these guys are, but apparently they're nature's best. The RPMS make their way down to the ring with Molly Hatchet on in the background and all I can think of whenever I hear that song is the chord structure for it from RockBand. Yeah, I'm a nerd that way, I can't help it. I wonder if Lee Marshall will name either of the RPM's this time. Dave McClane joins Lee for commentary, sounding HORRIBLY annoying before he's even done with his first sentence. Tommy Lane starts out for the RPM's and knees Jobber A in the gut before tagging in Davis who hits a short-arm clothesline. Another tag to Lane and they Irish whip him in for a double reverse elbow. Side suplex from Lane and it's another tag to Davis who hits a NICE vertical suplex and an elbow before tagging in Lane. Lots of quick tags and punishment for Jobber A so far. Lane tags Davis back in and stomps away before Davis just throws Jobber A into Jobber B and yells "DO YOU WANT SOME?" . Irish whip to Jobber B and Davis hits a boot to the midsection, tagging in Lane for a double-Irish whip and punches to the gut. Tag back to Davis and he hits a HARD kneelift, tagging Lane in for a snapmare and reverse chinlock/neck crank. Almost five minutes of action thusfar and Lee Marshall has called no one by name, on either team. Davis throws B in to make the tag to A again and hammers away with a forearm shot and tags in Lane for a double-team maneuver, with Davis backdropping Jobber A into a powerbomb from Lane and that's all she wrote. I wonder if that was the infamous and "deadly" Spandex Splits move that the RPM's were known for.
Winners: The Rock and Roll RPM's (pinfall, double-team finisher)
Match Analysis: Quick tags from the RPM's made this one a little more interesting to watch, but a squash is still a squash really. Adding Dave McClane onto the commentary team had me pining for Verne to come back. Nice to see the RPM's get to used some of their teamwork though, and they looked like a million bucks, which is the purpose of getting to squash someone.
Match Four: Gary Young w/Downtown Bruno vs. Brickhouse Brown
Brown makes his way to the ring with a cowboy hat and an Auburn jacket on, dancing and looking like Carl Weathers in Rocky II. They lockup to start and Young hits some forearms to the chest against the ropes while the official is calling for the break. Brown fires back with some right hands of his own and he puts Young down with a big one and follows it with a dropkick and some dancing. Side headlock from Brown and he gets shot into the ropes, hitting a shoulderblock and they rope-run before Brown nearly drops Young on his head with a powerslam. Roundhouse right hand to Young and he's through the ropes all the way to the floor and Brown slingshots him back in over the ropes off the apron. Brown tries a flying bodypress off of an Irish whip but he misses it and ends up rolling to the outside. McClane says that he looked like Superman, but I don't remember Superman being clumsy enough to fly four feet and then smack face-first into the side of the Daily Planet building. Maybe I missed that issue. Punches in bunches from Young and he whips Brown into the ropes before pancaking him onto the mat and lifting him up for a hard kneelift. Side headlock and Young goes to the throat before pounding away at Brown in the corner. Young tries for a turnbuckle smash but Brown reverses it and ends up slamming Young's head into the top buckle, taking over with right hands before Brown hits a reverse elbow off the ropes. Right hands from Brown and Young goes to the eyes to cut that shit off. Young gets a big backdrop off the ropes and Brown does a little more punching, Irish whipping Young into the ropes and hitting a flying tackle. Another Irish whip but this time Bruno trips up Brown from the outside, but Young misses the elbowdrop to follow, rendering the interference useless. Brown gets ahold of Bruno and drags him up to the apron but Young attacks from behind, knocking Brown down and whipping him into the ropes for a big clothesline. Young goes up to the top and tries a flying headbutt but Brown is able to roll out of the way, leading to Brown getting a big flying tackle for the three-count.
Winner: Brickhouse Brown (pinfall, flying tackle)
Match Analysis: Two guys from Memphis who had very little following in the AWA area and were only on this show so that they wouldn't be completely unknown when they showed up on SuperClash III in a few weeks. A decent enough match, but it seemed a little disjointed and never really found a flow. Lots of punching and kicking, which was seemingly the style in the Memphis territory, but it was still a fairly good match.
Match Five: Unified World Heavyweight Championship Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich
Most people don't know this, but SuperClash wasn't the first time that Lawler and Von Erich tried to unify the titles as this ESPN main event will testify to. The crowd reaction for Lawler is hot as to be expected, but even Von Erich gets a nice pop from the fans in what is ostensibly Lawler's home turf. They do a little staredown and at least this time Von Erich doesn't blade himself before the match starts. They circle and Von Erich tries for a single-leg takedown but he misses it and gets back to his feet. A fake from Von Erich leads to a little strutting, which the crowd kind of turns on a little. They finally lockup and Von Erich pushes Lawler off into the corner. They lockup again and Lawler gets the push-off this time, following it up with a little smirk. They end up locking up and rolling all along the ropes from corner to corner and the referee finally gets into the middle and Lawler throws a right hand over the ref, which gets both tempers going. Von Erich pushes Lawler into the ropes and shoots him off but Lawler gets a shoulderblock that puts Von Erich down and Lawler does a little strutting of his own, to the roar of the crowd. Von Erich gets a knee to the gut and Irish whips Lawler in, following it up with a clothesline and the fans are starting to turn on Von Erich.
Another Irish whip and Von Erich tries another clothesline but Lawler ducks under it and tries one of his own, missing that and eating a clothesline from Von Erich again. Lawler tries to get the crowd a little further behind him and they're with him 100%. Lawler gets a small package out of a slam attempt and that gets a two-count and they shove each other away and threaten each other with right hands. Von Erich goes to the Irish whip again and tries that clothesline but Lawler ducks it and finally hits one of his own, sending Von Erich out to the floor to think it over. Lawler pushes Von Erich into the corner off of a lockup and he hits a right hand that Von Erich no-sells, turning into a DISCUS PUNCH that puts Lawler down on his ass in the opposite corner. BIG slam from Von Erich but he misses the follow-up elbowdrop and Lawler goes to the top to try to capitalize. He jumps off RIGHT INTO THE IRON CLAW!! Lawler fights it but ends up almost all the way down and on his back before being able to turn into Von Erich to break the hold, elbowing Von Erich to the body and hitting a right hand that turns Von Erich inside out.
DOWN COMES THE STRAP!! RIGHT HANDS FROM LAWLER!! RIGHT HANDS FROM VON ERICH!! The referee tries to get in the middle to break these two up and they both punch the referee right in the face before going back to punching each other. Another referee comes down from the outside and calls the match off, disqualifying both men for the punch on the referee. Kerry gets on the microphone after the match and says that he didn't come all the way from Texas for a disqualification and that he's not leaving the ring until there's a winner. Lawler goes for it too and the new referee gets the match restarted!! Left hook lands for Lawler and he puts Von Erich into the corner, landing some right hands before Von Erich reverses it. Irish whip into the corner gets reversed and Von Erich ends up getting whipped into the referee, taking him down and putting him out of the match. PILEDRIVER FROM VON ERICH!! The referee is over and counts the 1-2-3!!!! WE HAVE A UNIFIED CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!
BUT WAIT!!! The referee on the outside saw the use of the piledriver, which is a banned move in the state of Tennessee. The AWA title gets handed back to Lawler and he gets on the microphone to say that Von Erich got disqualified and Lawler says that in World Class you lose titles on disqualifications and Lawler wants Kerry's belt!! Von Erich says that in World Class there are no sissy rules like no piledrivers and as far as he's concerned, he's the world's champion. The referees keep them separated and they're looking to tangle again but both referees are trying to send them to the back.
Winner: Jerry Lawler (disqualification, illegal piledriver)
Match Analysis: A good, slow-paced, old-school match that was just starting to get going before it ended up getting cut short. Obviously this was only here to further the angle that was going to sell SuperClash and it did it's job. The finish might be a bit of a screwy one, but it was also a good way to keep them from having a definitive finish while keeping both guys strong for the REAL match that was still to come. They needed to have a way for both guys to save face before they met in Chicago, and they managed to do it.
After a commercial break, we're back to Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie and The Iron Sheik, in the SuperClash control center, with Larry Nelson saying that there are rumors that both Sheiks will be part of the big card in Chicago. El-Kaissie says that it's not his business whether they'll be there or not, but he also asks how they could miss the biggest wrestling card in history. El-Kaissie says that there is going to be a big surprise and then throws it over to The Iron Sheik who says that everyone who is intelligent in America already knows who he is and that now he's in the roughest, toughest organization for wrestling, the A-Double-Double-A, and his Muslim brother Sheik brought him in for one reason, Lawler, Greg Gagne, Sgt. Slaughter and Sheik says that he's here for the belt that Jerry Lawler has and that they're going to take it back to their motherland. ALLAH AKBAR!! Then they start going on in Arabic and I lose the rest of it.
Time now for a special look at Sgt. Slaughter, complete with his hideous theme song. Highlights of Slaughter's ring entrances before we see him working over guys like Boris Zhukov and Nick Bockwinkel at the Tropicana AWA shows. It's not the whole video though, cutting off when it gets to the part about Slaughter being a real American hero and that's it for the show. A bit of a weird ending.
Final Thoughts
I'm not really sure how I feel about this show, since there were a ton of squashes and the like, but the main event was a pretty good old-school wrestling match. If it had had a finish, I think this show would have gotten an entire thumbs up, but I'll go with thumbs in the middle for this show. Cool to see the Lawler/Von Erich first match that led to the SuperClash match-up. Now excuse me while I check out some competitive eating on Cheap Seats.
Fun With Comments
From G-Walla: "Man, I did not enjoy Lee Marshall on commentary. He sounded like a DJ for some easy listening station. And was the commentary played over the arena speakers, or was it recorded in a location with terrible acoustics?
I didn't really pay attention til the women's match. I was really frakin' tired when I cut this on (working 12 hours'll do that), but I caught my second or third wind during it. How often was the powerbomb used 20 years ago? I don't remember ever seeing one, outside of, I think, one Rockers/Twin Towers match, until 96 (I didn't much watch wrestling from 91-92ish till 96).
I kinda wish they had stuck with the GI Joe cartoon... I guess I could stick in the movie... I did enjoy the Slaughter/Sheiks^2 promo. It was different, alright.
I want Hayes' robe. That's awesome. Glad to see the Swat Team from Samoa after all. I guess I win.
This episode gives me hope for the future. Not much, but more than the previous episode I saw gave me."
Lee Marshall was horrible on commentary and you're right about the best parts of the show being Hayes' robe and the Slaughter cartoon bit. Good that someone has hope for the future episodes because I'm surely feeling discouraged.
From PUCKETT: "ANOTHER GOOD REVIEW, HAYES WAS THE MAN WHEN IT COMES TO KEEPING THE CROWD HOT!"
Thanks for the support and yes, Hayes was brilliant at working a crowd. Apparently not when drunk and singing to fellow WWE employees though, if his recent suspension is any indicator.
From Silo Sam: "random fact:
With his exceptionally deep voice, Marshall recently went on to replace Thurl Ravenscroft after his death, providing the voice for the Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger, signing a 10-year contract with Kellogg's in 2006."
And with that, Frosted Flakes will be forever ruined for me. I could never eat them in good conscience knowing that I was providing Lee Marshall with a job.
From jasonel: "It was actually a bit creepy how much the Top Guns were meant to resemble Shawn and Marty. They should have just ran a full-blown Coy and Vance from Dukes of Hazzard type gimmick where Jon Paul and Ricky Rice were the Midnight Rockers first cousins or something. They obviously didn't have the in-ring or mic skills of the Rockers but I guess the job application only required one box checked, which was either "blond hair" or "dark hair" "
It was very stalker movie-ish to have them look so much like The Rockers, but I guess they needed to try something to keep the fans with them. It only happened once Derrick Dukes left though, so who would have known that the less-talented version of the team would also be the one that didn't make you feel uncomfortable watching them.
From Yeah: "You know what I missed this week, seriously, was Lord James Blears who kicks fucking ass on the stick."
Yeah, hearing Gagne and Dave McClane and all the crappy color guys this week, along with the craptacular Lee Marshall has me begging for a return from Rod Trongard and Lord James. Maybe by the end of the week we'll be back at the Showboat.
From Scrotum Pole: "Manny Fernandez's forehead looked like a depressed emo goths arm after her favorite band broke up. I always thought Flair and Rhodes in the 80's had the freshest cuts but this guy looks like he never met a match he didn't think deserved the crimson mask."
I actually just finished up watching the Wrestling Gold set again and Jim Cornette says that it's a combination of his bladejobs, as well as the fact that Hernandez got into a lot of outisde of the ring tussles as well. Lots of scar tissue and kind of ugly, and I remember seeing a match between Hernandez and Nick Bockwinkel where it looked like he bled just from Bockwinkel looking at him.
From Guest #8311: "Blears was great, nuff said. He could probably write better than the kindergardenish "I am self-depreciating and make no money wasting my life like this" Randy Harrison."
Eh, I've said it before and I'll say it again, thanks for contributing to my hit count, and if you feel the need to come hate me, make sure that you do it five times a week. Don't feel like you have to comment every time since they're a litle redundant, but feel free to come and read my stuff.
From TJack: "So, was wrong with a little lechery? What would you expect out someone trying to promote a Lingerie Battle Royal? Lawler used to be far more annoying and stomach-wretching with his incessant "puppies" comments and his Vince-approved persona as the "55-year-old-perv-who-pretends-to-be-12-year-old-boy -in-order-to-date-15-year-old -girls" lecher.
By the way, don't you find it hilarious when good ol' J.R. is forced to hype the latest gravy bowl match as if it were a straight up catch-as-catch-can contest between Lou Thesz/Strangler Lewis?"
I do find it funny when J.R. has to do that, but his lack of enthusiasm is probably why most of those matches make it to Smackdown where Cole will call anything like it's the greatest title match in history. As for the perving, Lawler has actually toned it down a lot, but I didn't like it when he did it either. It just seemed creepier when Larry Nelson was doing it because he really looked like a bus-station pervert, while Lawler is usually just acting like a goof.
Finally from Shawn Baxter #1 Fan: "Yay! Shawn Baxter!!! I had completely forgotten about this guy.
Coolest wrestling 'do ever!!! (Reminiscent of Vince Neil during Crue's "Shout at the Devil" or CC Deville during Poison's "Look What the Cat Dragged In" era. Good stuff!
A while back there was a poll going 'round regarding favorite jobber of all time. I'm changing my vote to "Mr. 'Do" Shawn Baxter! Rock on, baby!
Side note: anyone else see the physical resemblance of Paul Diamond 1988 to Brutus Beefcake crossed with Mike Awesome? Looks like he even stole a pair of Brother Bruti's tights!"
That hair was god-awful, but I will always remember it, so I guess it accomplished its goal. As for Diamond, he did look a lot like Beefcake, and I'm shocked that they didn't try to bring him into WCW as some sort of doppelganger to the real Bruti through one of his many horrible gimmicks. Double Zodiacs anyone? Yeah, that would have been awesome.
-------------------------------------
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:30:03 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Lee Marshall and Ray Stevens are your commentators for this one and we're still in Nashville at that particular set of tapings.
Match One: Gary Young and Cactus Jack w/Downtown Bruno vs. Billy Travis and Scott Steiner
Wow, this one has to be VERY early in the career of Steiner as I believe that Memphis was the first steady territory that he ever worked in. He's still absolutely shredded like he was in WCW, though not quite as freakishly huge as he was during that run. Marshall runs down Scott Steiner's amateur credentials as he locks up with Cacuts and puts him against the ropes, giving him a clean break before we cut to a ton of random crowd shots. Another lockup and Cactus hits a forearm and tries for an Irish whip into the corner but Steiner isn't budging. He gets his own Irish whip, backdropping Cactus and giving both heels BIG dropkicks before he arm drags Cactus over into armbar. Shot into the ropes and Steiner leapfrogs over before powerslamming Cactus down. Steiner tags in Travis and they hit a double elbow on Cactus before Travis tries for a pin that gets two. Cactus picks up Travis and slams him HARD before tagging in Young who ends up getting armdragged nearly out of his boots. Forearms from Young in the corner and he Irish whips Travis across but can't hit a move on the follow and Travis hits a couple more arm drags. Travis with an Irish whip into the corner now and he misses a Stinger splash, smashing his face into the top buckle and allowing Young to tag in Cactus. Cactus and Young take him down with a double-reverse elbow off the ropes and Cactus comes off with a kneedrop for a two-count. They trade right hands against the ropes and Cactus snap mares him over before hitting a legdrop and the heel team makes the tag. Young with an Irish whip into the ropes and he pancakes Travis against the mat before tagging Cactus back in. Cactus gets some punches in but Travis gets MORE punches in and he gets the HOT TAG TO STEINER!! DOWN GOES CACTUS!! DOUBLE-IRISH WHIP/HEEL MISCOMMUNICATION NOGGIN-KNOCKER!! Young to the outside and Steiner rolls up Cactus in the ring, while the referee is trying to get Travis back on the apron. Young comes back in and CRACKS Steiner on the head with one of Downtown Bruno's boots and Cactus rolls through and gets the 1-2-3!!!
Winners: Gary Young and Cactus Jack (pinfall, illegal boot shot)
Match Analysis: A really good little opener for me. It was a little bland when Travis was in the ring because he didn't seem to have a ton of charisma or a ton of ability to get the crowd on his side when he was taking the beating. That tag could have been a lot more important with just a little more effort on Travis' part to really sell what was happening, but a minor quibble compared to some of the bad matches lately. I have HOPE!! HALLELUJAH, I HAVE HOPE!!
Match Two: Teijo Kahn w/Soldat Ustinov vs. Mike Enos
Pre-Destruction Crew for Enos as he was a part-time referee, part-time jobber in the territory. Kahn was a Memphis and AWA wrestler who also spent some time in Florida, billed from Mongolia and with a "martial-arts" background, though when you're trained by Eddie Sharkey, I doubt you have much by way of martial arts in your repetoire. Not a good sign that the AWA production crew mispells Kahn's first name TiJoe. That's not even close. Jerry Lawler joins us for some commentary while Kahn pushes Enos against the ropes and they grapple into the corner. Lawler talks about how great the wrestling fans in Tennessee are as Enos gives a clean break in the corner. Another lockup and Kahn puts Enos against the ropes and hits a big chop before Irish whipping Enos in, getting reversed, and eating a cross-bodyblock for a two-count before getting armdragged over. Armbar from Enos now and Kahn gets free of it and gets a HARD backbreaker before choking Enos across the top rope. Lawler gets in the "Kahn was so ugly his momma had to feed him with a slingshot" joke and Marshall loses his shit, just cackling away at it like it's the funniest thing in the world. Kahn puts Enos down with a slam and follows it up with a fistdrop before yelling at the crowd. He tries a pin attempt and gets a two-count before moving to the reverse chinlock. Marshall talks about SuperClash and Lawler gets into how exciting it is that all the pay-per-views are just company wrestler vs. company wrestler, while SuperClash will have stars from multiple companies and they'll all be going head-to-head. Kahn with a shot to the body that puts Enos into the corner and he slings Enos into the ropes for a BIG powerslam but he doesn't follow up on it right away, missing an elbowdrop off the ropes and allowing Enos to make a short little babyface comeback. Rights and lefts from Enos and he Irish whips Kahn into the corner but Kahn comes out with a HARD clothesline and then hits a thrust chop to the throat for the three-count as Lawler totally no-sells the pin and just keeps on talking about SuperClash. Tremendous!!
Winner: Teijo Kahn (pinfall, thrust chop)
Match Analysis: Kahn had an interesting look with the muscles and the mohawk/long ponytail thing, but this was a pretty boring match, as Kahn had nothing on offense that made him seem any different from anyone else. Lots of show but no go, and honestly both guys were probably pretty green since Kahn had only been in the business for a year or so more than Enos and both had less than three years experience. Not horribly offensive, but not a great match by any means.
Back from commercial and Greg Gagne is in the SuperClash control center talking about the big Title Unification match between Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich before he takes us to the entire match from the last episode. If you want to read that match over again, it's available for your reading pleasure~!
Back to the actual wrestling that I haven't seen yet and it's time for another jobber-riffic match.
Match Three: AWA International Television Championship Alan Reynolds vs. Ron Garvin (c)
Lawler is still on color commentary and Marshall brings up that he'd love to see Garvin and Lawler go at it, since they both throw great right hands. Garvin locks up and puts Reynolds outside the ropes and they break clean, leading to another lockup and another break in the corner. They tangle in the middle and they end up in the corner again with Reynolds shoving Garvin into the corner before trying an Irish whip into the corner. Garvin reverses the whip and Reynolds tries a splash off of the second rope but Garvin just steps to the side and starts punishing Reynolds with the GARVIN STOMP~! Reynolds rolls out to the apron for a breather and Garvin just picks him up and starts punching away before suplexing him back into the ring. Lawler says taht he could knock Ron Garvin out with one punch and that if they ever get into the ring he'll prove it. Garvin gets the BIG right hand for two, but pulls Reynolds up before the three-count, moving to choke Reynolds against the mat before stomping at him. Hard chop from Garvin and he snap mares Reynolds over into a chicken-wing pinning combination, getting two before disdainfully shoving Reynolds over. Garvin just shoves him over and rakes his nails at Reynolds back, picking him up to headbutt him down and he double-stomps at the guy of Reynolds before Irish-whipping him in for a back-bodydrop. Hearing Lawler talk is about the only thing that is saving this match from a slow, painful death, but that's just for me. The live crowd is sitting on their hands and completely dead. You wonder why Garvin was a fluke NWA Champion? Here's your answer. Garvin motions for the right hand and he knocks Reynolds THE FUCK OUT with it, kneeling on him for the pinfall.
Winner: Ron Garvin (pinfall, Hands of Stone)
Match Analysis: Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. Let's move on, shall we?
Match Four: Keith Erick and The Hangman vs. The Rock and Roll Express
Big pop for the Rock and Rolls from their hometown fans and they look like they're loving being there. Morton and Erick start out and Erick gets some punches against the ropes before Irish whipping Morton in and eating a kick to the face. Tag to Gibson and Morton whips Erick into the ropes for a BIG Gibson kneelift. Another tag and Morton hits a big dropkick, forcing Erick into his corner to tag Hangman in. Lawler is doing a great job on color and it's easy to see how he was able to make that transition after his wrestling career was over. Morton hits a drop toehold on Hangman and the tag to Gibson leads to him slingshotting over the top to drop a knee on the leg. Another tag to Morton and they do the wishbone on Hangman's legs, to much screaming from the masked man. Morton puts Hangman down and hits another leg move befor tagging Gibson in to continue working away at the legs. Hangman comes back to land a shot to the gut but Gibson cuts it off and gets the tag back to Morton who works an anklelock into dropping an elbow on the leg. Morton tags in Gibson who attacks Hangman before he could get at Morton's eyes. While all of this is going on, Lawler is on a GREAT rant about how managers are leeches and the only reason they do what they do is because they don't have the talent to get into the ring themselves. Gibson with a stepover toehold and he tags Morton back in for them to double-team Hangman, hitting their double-hamstring pull, roll into the other corner and knock the heel's partner off the apron spot, before double-dropkicking Hangman. Morton covers and Gibson keeps Erick at bay to let the referee count the pinfall.
Winners: The Rock and Roll Express (pinfall, double-dropkick)
Match Analysis: Fun to see Morton and Gibson in action and they were still incredibly fluid as a tag-team after all these years. Just an extended squash so we didn't get to see any of their great selling, but still fun to see them get to work, especially on a show where the workrate has been less than stellar. Sadly, they couldn't get much out of the crowd either until the finish. I'm beginning to think that this must have been one of those marathon taping sessions that just wore the crowd out entirely.
Match Five: Soldat Ustinov w/Teijo Kahn vs. Sgt. Slaughter
So wait, Sgt. Slaughter is going to be facing some sort of foreign heel? I've NEVER seen that kind of match before. EVER!! Slaughter is making a run around the ring, handing out flags, kissing babies and all his usual stuff. Ustinov was one of the "I'm from Minnesota but I look Russian" kind of Russians and was one of the bigger guys that played the Russian gimmick, probably even bigger than Nikita Koloff, though not quite as muscular. They lockup and Ustinov gets a side headlock, getting shot into the ropes and neither man budges from a shoulderblock. Another shoulderblock and no movement again, leading Ustinov to head outside to think it over. He's back in and they lockup again with no movement, before Sarge gets a side headlock into a hammerlock, forcing Ustinov to get into the ropes for a break. Ustinov goes to a hammerlock but gets reversed and Ustinov gets to the ropes again. Slaughter hits a side headlock and Ustinov shoots him into the ropes again for another couple of shoulderblocks that go nowhere. Slaughter gets tripped up by Kahn, but rolls out of the way of the follow-up elbowsmash and goes right back to the headlock. Another shot into the ropes and Sarge knocks Ustinov down with that shoulderblock, running the ropes again before Ustinov hits a BIG boot to the face. Verne Gagne: "And who knows what's in those boots!" Me: "Um, Verne? They're called feet, everyone has two of them." Ustinov rams Slaughter into the top turnbuckle and whips Slaughter to the opposite corner, hitting a big back-bodydrop before trying a pin for a one-count. Ustinov with some hammering right hands and he flings Slaughter out through the ropes to the floor as the referee keeps Teijo Kahn from getting involved on the outside. Slaughter takes a lap around the ringside area and gets back into the ring right into a lockup in the corner, with Ustinov landing a shot to the gut but taking a back-bodydrop out of the corner. Standing dropkick from Slaughter and he hits a HARD clothesline off the ropes before locking the Cobra Clutch in on Ustinov. TIJOE KAHN FROM THE OUTSIDE!! TO THE THROAT OF SLAUGHTER!! Kahn holds him for Ustinov to hit a clothesline and SARGE DUCKS!! SLAUGHTER WITH A HUGE RIGHT ON USTINOV!! THE HEELS GO RUNNING!!
Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (disqualification, Kahn interference)
Match Analysis: A slower paced big man match, that didn't really get going anywhere get to build any momentum before it was already over. Like most of the AWA TV main events, it was a fifteen minute match with the last eight minutes cut off so it seemed like the first half of a decent match with a finish jammed in out of nowhere. No psychology other than "We're BIG!!!" and no work at all to set up the Clutch. I guess Ustinov wasn't that great a worker so it's understandable to an extent, but still it didn't make the match very good.
Lee Marshall is in the ring with Slaughter and Slaughter has the Soviet flag in his hands, threatening to tear it to shreds. Ustinov and Kahn are still milling around ringside and Ustinov manages to get his flag back before heading out. Slaughter says that USA is #1 and that they'll do everything that they have to do to keep their freedom, and don't you ever FORGET IT!! Slaughter says that the only way that Ustinov was going to break free was to get help because no one has broken the Cobra Clutch!! He challenges the winner of the big Lawler/Von Erich bout and says that he's the America's Champion and that he'll take them on one at a time or fight them both in the same night. He says that he's sick and tired of seeing Col. DeBeers bagging on America so he wants a piece of him too.
Final Thoughts
Fun to see The Rock and Roll Express, along with an early Scott Steiner match, but the bright spots were few and far between for this show. Throw in the fact that the longest and best match was a replay of a match from the last episode and this one is easy to throw the thumbs down on. This Nashville taping session has produced some dreadful episodes, though it did provide us with a glimpse of how well Jerry Lawler was suited for his career in commentary, which was kind of fun. Boring, boring show on the whole though. Now let's move on to the comments, folks!
Fun With Comments
From G-Walla: "I enjoyed this one. Well, at least the last half. Didn't much pay attention to the first half.
Richter. HILARIOUS! My brother and I were rolling during that little promo.
Lawler/Von Erich was pretty good. Loved how much they wanted to brawl that they both walloped the ref. And then Lawler outsmarted him by letting himself get a potentially career-threatening move done to him, to win by DQ.
Sheik^2, what more needs to be said about them. Brought in for one reason, and then starts naming everyone and their uncle.
And then closed it out with a Slaughter segment, resplendent with that song, no matter how much you try to hate on it. Mucho gusto!"
You're pretty much spot-on. That Richter promo was hilariously bad and yeah, it was fun to watch the CRAZY SHEIKS~! They really should have taken that act on the road to the comedy circuit.
From Rob: "If this show is any indication,as the years went on, less talent was available . It's a shame they didn't take the top 5 wrestlers from CWA,WCCW, and AWA and make a roster."
That was essentially what they tried to do with SuperClash under the AWA banner, and it flopped and Verne kept the gate for himself, pissing off the other promoters and essentially ending the alliance before it really started.
From James: "Beauty and the Beast = I assume is the tag team that included Terry Garvin/Simms, correct?
And I am still wondering why ESPN still gets to use the original entrance themes and all in their reruns, while 24/7 would have to edit them."
Yes, Beauty was indeed Terry Garvin, and I'm still not sure either, unless it's just that these shows are flying under the radar for now.
From Guest #8592: "The ring looks like they're walking on a trampoline. I don't know if anyone else saw WWE 24/7 old school from MSG, but Roddy Piper did a Piper's Pit with Paul Orndorff and Bobby Heenan. Roddy Piper brought up a guy from the crowd to say who he thought would be a good tag partner for Piper. The guy from the crowd I have seen a numerous MSG event, PPV, and even Herb Abrams UWF that was on Espn Classic. Does anyone know who this guy is?"
There was a little extra spring in the ring, that's for sure. And as for your second question, I'll let another commenter handle that one.
From John: "the guy who was talking to piper at MSG is named Vatomere or something like that..you can spot him on some old wwe ppvs and other events at the garden. Those nerd glasses stick out dont they"
There's your answer Guest #8592!
A trio of comments regarding the jobber with the unfortunate name are up next! First, from Rick Cool, For The Middle-Aged: "There really was a jobber in the TN/GA area who went by the name Ken Raper. I can't remember my supervisor's phone number at work, but I can recall the names of ham 'n' eggers at the drop of a hat."
From CaveDweller: "The jobber who was against DeBeers was Ken Raper. He was one of the weekly jobber in the old Memphis CWA/USWA era."
And the last one from W.D. Forte: "Yep, Ken Raper was his name. He started in Memphis in the 70s doing a Native American gimmick. By the 80s he was primarily a Saturday morning jobber, but he would get an occasional win here and there. He was also one of the guys who portrayed Leatherface.
Beauty & The Beast would have been Terry Garvin/Simms and Mark Moline, if I recall correctly."
I still think that that's possibly the worst name you could ever have, and I'd be shocked if he didn't end up horribly scarred for years after high school. Thanks for the information everyone, I really appreciate when you guys step up and help me figure out things that I either don't know, or have forgotten. Best. Readers. EVER!!
Finally some greatness from Frozen: "This is off-topic, but I stumbled across this clip of a randy Larry Nelson. Enjoy: "
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:31:10 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)
Larry Nelson welcomes us to the studios and pimps a main event featuring Curt Hennig, the AWA World Heavyweight Champion, which I'll hopefully actually get to see, along with a Rockers match, and apparently since I'm leading a charmed life, a Soldat Ustinov match. I can already feel the bile beginning to well up, so let's get to the ring and smack this puppy's ass to see how far it'll run.
Rod Trongard and Ray Stevens are your announcers, and yes, we're still in "beautiful" Minot, ND. I'm thinking that this particular TV taping was either a two-day affair, or about eight hours of sheer torture. Take your pick.
Match One: Bob Orton vs. Ricky Rice
Orton and Rice hit the lockup and Orton shoves Rice back into the corner, giving him the "Hey, I'm a nice guy" clean break. Apparently, it's not Ray Stevens on commentary, but the shrill, shreiking tones of Donna Gagne. I wonder if she'll talk about martians today. We miss a move in the ring because the camera cuts to the announce team, but Orton's strutting, so I think he did alright with whatever it was. Hip toss from Orton and he pats himself on the back before moving to a side headlock. Rice shoots him into the ropes and Orton shoulderblocks him down, running the ropes and getting another shoulderblock before laying a stomp in. Rice counters a turnbuckle smash with one of his own and Orton's almost all the way over the top after that bump. Standing arm-wringer from Rice and he moves to an armbar but Orton hip tosses him out of the corner, following it up with a dropkick. Rice fires up and hits a couple dropkicks of his own, sending Orton out to the floor to regroup. Orton with a knee to the gut and he grabs ahold of Rice's tights and sends him out to the floor before coming off the TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR WITH A FOREARM!! LUCHA ORTON~! He slams Rice on the floor as the bell rings for the disqualification and he sets Rice up for THE SUPERPLEX!! He hits it and sends Rice on a trip to the chiropractor's office with an express pass. Orton tries for the pin but gets told about the DQ and he just keeps stomping away at Rice. ELBOWS FOR THE REFEREES!!! THERE GOES ONE TO THE FLOOR!!! PILEDRIVER ON RICE!!! Orton stops to admire his handiwork as the crowd boos the piss out of him. Here come a couple jobbers to help out Rice and HE STOMPS THE JOBBERS!
Winner: Ricky Rice (disqualification, Orton using the top rope)
Match Analysis:Absolutely tremendous. Orton needed to get over as a badass and this did it perfectly. I think that Rice was definitely in his element more as a job guy than as part of a pushed tag-team, and he was bouncing around well for Orton. The key is that the people liked Rice enough to want to see him do well against Orton, and were emotionally invested in him, which made it that much better and mean that much more when Orton laid the ass-beating down. Good stuff.
Back from the break, Larry Nelson talks about Orton's mentality and he says that other wrestlers are saying that he uses that as an intimidation factor, to try to make the other wrestlers afraid to step into the ring with him. He then sends us to the end of last week's main event, the Greg Gagne/Adrian Adonis TV Title match. If you're really feeling the need to go through that one again, it's right here for you to check out. Nelson says that Gagne did indeed get back his International Television Championship after the promoters took it away from Adonis and Orton. I know I was sleepless all weekend wondering the same thing myself.
Match Two: AWA World Tag Team Championship Mike Smith and Mark Wagner vs. The Midnight Rockers (c)
The crowd goes nuts for the Rockers as they always do, and it looks like Michaels and Wagner will start things out. Michaels takes a knee to the gut and a REALLY fake looking forearm before he Irish whips Wagner into the corner for a Jannetty clothesline. They make an exchange and hit a double-team chop before Wagner staggers over and tags in Smith. Jannetty bullrushes and sends Smith into his corner, making a blind tag and sliding between Smith's legs, allowing Michaels to come off the ropes with a flying clothesline. Standing armbar by Michaels gets reversed to a BIG slam and a legdrop from Smith, and he goes to the second rope but misses whatever he was going to try. Michaels tags in Jannetty and they hit the double-hamstring pull on Smith before rolling through to knock Wagner off the apron. Smith staggers back to his corner and makes the tag, with Jannetty Irish whipping Wagner in and making a tag to Michaels. A double boot to the midsection is followed with a double DDT and that gets them the three-count!
Winners: The Midnight Rockers (pinfall, double DDT)
Match Analysis: Squash here, get your squash!!! Sadly, it wasn't even terribly entertaining because there wasn't a lot of the innovative double-team offense that the Rockers were known for at that time. Sure, there was double-teaming, but nothing that was a "wow" move, like we usually get from them. They didn't seem terribly interested and actually forgot to grab their tag belts from ringside, having to go back to get them. I guess there was some good blow behind the curtain or something and they wanted to hustle on back.
Right after the match Larry Nelson brings in Shawn Michaels, claiming that Marty Jannetty was hung over as shit in the back held up by the throngs of screaming lady-fans. Michaels says that the Rockers are back and going 100% and then he goes down the list of the teams coming after the Rockers, saying that they've been two-time tag team champs, and that they've only been beat once in two years. He says that anyone looking for them can find them at the top of the AWA and then goes into where they'll be defending their titles. Out goes Michaels and in comes Soldat Ustinov. He starts talki....BWAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA. The Espy for fakest Russian accent ever goes to Soldat Ustinov. It's like every bad impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled into one. I can't even focus on what he's saying, THAT'S how bad the accent is. Apparently, his partner is going to be Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie. That's all I got.
Match Three: Soldat Ustinov w/Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Daryll Olsen
Ustinov comes in with his Russian flag and that goes about as well as you'd imagine. Ustinov shoves Olsen off and into the ropes before hitting some HARD forearms to the back. Ustinov stomps and pounds away, walking over Olsen's back before picking him up for some shoulderblocks in the corner. He whips Olsen into the corner and then hip tosses him out, picking him up for a big bodyslam, but missing the follow-up elbow. Olsen gets ONE right hand and Ustinov picks him up in a bearhug, ramming Olsen into the corner before picking him up in the old-school, over-the-shoulder, backbreaker. Ustinov hangs on for a few extra seconds after the submission and then stomps on him some more while Sheik has the referee distracted.
Winner: Soldat Ustinov (submission, backbreaker)
Match Analysis: At least, it was quick. It wasn't any good, but it was quick.
Match Four: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Jim Thomas
Wahoo is over big with the North Dakota crowd, that's for sure. They lockup and Thomas shoves McDaniel off to the ropes. another lockup and another shove off, with Thomas adding a flex afterwards to be an extra bit of douche. McDaniel shoves Thomas into the corner after a lockup and he chops the FUCK out of him as he runs out of the corner and Thomas takes a walk. Thomas wants a handshake now and Wahoo gives him one but gets a paintbrush across the face and Thomas takes another powder to the outside. HEELING IT UP~! McDaniel gets the lockup and pushes Thomas against the ropes, chopping his chest a bunch and he Irish whips Thomas in for the HUGE chop to the chest!!! 1-2-3!! McDaniel adds a face-wash for Thomas after that ass-beating.
Winner: Wahoo McDaniel (pinfall, tomahawk chop)
Match Analysis: Will there be anything besides these horrible squashes? I mean a squash is fine, but so far out of all four of them, the only good one was the first and that was more for the post-match beating. Another short match, done so to protect the limited abilities of the name talent. The Ustinov one was because he's green as hell, and this one was because Wahoo was two years older than dirt.
After the commercial, Larry Nelson continues to pimp the AWA Championship match, but first here comes the SMOKING HOT Madusa Miceli. Damn, time sure kicked her in the ass towards the end. Nelson starts complimenting her fashion like he's fucking Tim Gunn or something and Madusa tells him that he's lucky to be standing so close to an AWA Women's Champion. Actually Madusa, he's just lucky to be standing so close to a woman period, what with restraining orders and all. Miceli starts talking about Mr. Magnificent, Kevin Kelly and here he comes. He says that he's been beating people up for over a yer in the AWA and now he has his chance to be the champion!! NOWHERE TO HIDE MR. HENNIG!! ALL HE THINKS ABOUT IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP!! HE'S GONNA BEAT CURT HENNIG AND 1988 IS HIS YEAR!!! I'M NOT SHOUTING, I'M YELLING!! GET IT RIGHT!! DON'T CUT ME OFF ASSHOLE, I'M STILL YELLING!!! Nice promo Kevin.
Match Five: AWA World Heavyweight Championship Kevin Kelly w/Madusa Miceli vs. Curt Hennig (c)
A heel vs. Heel title match, so no one really knows who to be cheering for here. I will say that Hennig has one hell of a robe on him. Doesn't fit his character at all, but it's still pretty swank-ass. Speaking of swank asses, Madusa is in black leather. Yum a dum dum. They have a pretty intense staredown while they get the instructions from referee Gary DeRusha and then circle around a little bit, sizing each other up before the bell. Kelly looks great here, which again leads me to wonder what the hell happened between now and his run in New York. Hennig offers up a handshake and Kelly grudgingly accepts it before they hit the lockup. Kelly shoves Hennnig off HARD into the corner, flexing to show off as Hennig heads out to the apron to think it over. Kelly tries to get the crowd behind him and he actually succeeds a little. Hennig hits a go-behind but Kelly stops that shit with a reverse elbow that slows Curt right down. Kelly tries an Irish whip into the corner but Hennig reverses it, getting an armdrag takeover as Kelly comes off of the buckle, but he misses a clothesline and eats one from Kelly, putting him on his ass and out to the floor.
Hennig thinks it over on the outside as Kelly climbs up on the ropes and begs him to come back in. Hennig gets a little trip to put Kelly on his ass as he walks around the outside, in a TREMENDOUS heel move. Hennig was one of the best, there's no disputing that. Kelly tries to head outside after Hennig, completely losing his shit, but the referee keeps stopping him. Finally Hennig is back in the ring and he pushes Kelly against the ropes, kicking away at his legs before Kelly fires back and does the same thing to Hennig, flipping Curt over and sending him right back out to the floor. Hennig stalls like a mofo and keeps trying to get under Kelly's skin as the crowd chants BORING at the two of them. Hennig reverses a lockup and hits a chop in the corner, but Kelly no-sells it completely, backing off Hennig before talking a little shit to him. Even Miceli is putting the bad-mouth on him from the outside. Hennig gets a single-leg takedown and a hamstring pull, kicking the PISS out of Kelly's left leg and taking him down to SLAM THE KNEE INTO THE RINGPOST! Another single-leg takedown into a stepover toehold and Hennig grabs the ropes to increase the pressure on the hold.
The referee finally sees it and breaks the hold, but Hennig just kicks at the leg before re-applying the toehold. Hennig turns it into an Indian deathlock and Kelly is screaming on the mat as we keep cutting back to the announcers for some stupid reason. Hennig gets caught grabbing the ropes again and breaks the hold to stomp on Kelly's gut, following that up with a HUGE right hand that leads to a back and forth slugfest, which Kelly wins. Irish whip into the corner and Kelly gets a BIG back bodydrop, following that up with a reverse elbow that gets a LOOOOOOONG two-count. Kelly picks up Hennig for a powerslam that gets another two-count and Kelly picks him up for another one, but Hennig grabs the top rope. DeRusha kicks Hennig's hands free and Kelly ends up falling over backwards, with Hennig on top. Ever the opportunist, Hennig grabs a handful of tights and gets the three-count in the middle of the ring. Kelly waffles him one and flings him over the top after the bell, just to try to save a little face.
Winner: Curt Hennig (pinfall, handful of tights)
Match Analysis: Slow and boring. It was a lot of starting and stopping for the first little bit of match and that killed any chance at a flow they had. It went from there to the out of nowhere ending, which made sense for heel Hennig to pull off on "face" Kelly, but it was still a bit of a cop-out to me. At least it was a title match with an actual finish so it's got the International Television title beat by a mile.
Kelly fires him back into the ring and grabs the championship belt after the match and poses with it before heading back into the ring and throwing it on the prone Hennig, shit-talking and playing to the crowd as Hennig squirms and worms his way out of the ring. Kelly poses down in the ring for the crowd and they give him a fair round of applause. Back in the AWA studios, Larry Nelson does the usual, running down the show and kissing ass with the Fan of the Week, some seventy-five year old crone that sent in a letter talking about Bobo Brazil and how she got asked out by a wrestler when she was sixteen but her mom wouldn't let her go. Smartest mother in the world right there. He thanks us for watching and sends us on our way.
Final Thoughts
Yuck. No good matches, no hot angles, the Rockers totally phoning it in. There was nothing really good on this show, except for Orton beating the snot out of Ricky Rice. I can't decide whether it was beacuse it was cool or just because I hate Ricky Rice, but either way the show is a dud, dud, D-U-D, DUD. First though, I want to take a second to say a fond farewell to Ryan Byers, the guy that seemed to love torture since he recapped BOTH the UWF shows and Impact. That's masochism! He did a great job with both though, and all of the other work he did on the site like the Custom Made News. Always entertaining, most times controversial, and never at a loss for an opinion. Good luck and fare thee well, Byers, and thanks for giving me my start on reviewing shitty wrestling when I filled in for you on the UWF show. I wouldn't be here without you, and I'll be carrying on in the name of mocking hideous wrestling on your behalf. I don't think I have to tell you anything else about what I thought of the horrible show, so let's just get into the comments!
Fun With Comments
From G-Walla: "I hate how they always give away time limit draws by never telling time left in any matches unless their going to a time limit draw. Lame!
So, I turned it off after that, since nothing else was doing it for me.
I would just like to say that the Nasty Boys music should just be some guy that smokes too much saying "NASTY, NASTY... NASTY BOYS!" At least, that's what I sing when I see them, though I don't smoke enough."
Yeah, you could see the time limit draws coming a mile away back in those days. And if you have the time, you should record a little snippet of yourself singing that song and send it my way, since that would be a great deal of fun for me. Plus, I'm having trouble imagining the tune of the song in my head.
From Arnold_OldSchool: "Be lucky Verne didn't try out for the Olympics. They could barely keep him out of the ring. He had to be talked out of making a comeback in 1989, as he wanted to go around the horn (however small that was by 89) to try and pop business. (Pro Wrestling Illistrated confirmed this in 1989)"
Yep, nothing pops a territory like a sixty year old man facing off against a bunch of nobodies. That would have totally saved the territory.
Again from Arnold_OldSchool: "BTW Greg Gagne was over in my house hold. I was a big fan of his feud with Henning in 87. Granted I was 5 and didn't realize the crap I was being fed."
Thankfully, I was never a Gagne guy, even at that young age. I guess my crap-meter was in fine tune, even way back then. I just never understood why people liked Gagne so much, cause he was so boring to me.
From Guest#2599: "I actually enjoyed last nights show. I thought the wrestling was great, and really enjoyed all of the old-school heel tactics by the Nasty Boys and the Sheik. I just cannot for the life of me figure out why they did so many draws,dqs,basically anything that they could do to keep from having a clean finish to a match on television.
-Anyway thanks for recapping the shows. I wonder how much longer the AWA shows will last."
No thanks necessary, just send your checks to the site and make sure my name is spelled properly. Basically, the non-finishes were to draw people to the house shows because back then that was where the blow-offs for the AWA happened. Nowadays it's all on PPV, but back in the day, the television shows were a vehicle to get the crowds out to the arenas. Hence all the non-finishes to keep everyone strong.
From Joe K. : "Adonis is one of the most underrated talents in wrestling history. Unfortunately, I think his WWF gimmick led a lot of ppl to overlook that fact. One of my better memories of WM2 was Adonis bumping off of Uncle Elmer. Nothing like bumping off of a 50 something with diabetes and bad knees to make him look like a viable contender."
I LOVED watching Adonis when I was younger, because he was such a smooth guy and could fly all over the place despite looking like a normal guy. He was actually one of my favorite wrestlers for quite some time, which made it even sadder when Adonis got stuck doing the WM2 shit with the hillbillies. At least he got to do something a little better at WM3 with Piper, which soothed that wound a little.
From Rob: "There was a good crowd reaction this episode. So far 1986 was a better year. It would be great if they showed highlights of Curt Henning's transition to bad guy."
I would love to see a little more of that transition, since the little bits they've shown actually looked pretty entertaining. Him gaining that edge and turning heel solidified him as a star and propelled him into even bigger and better things in the WWF and beyond. It would be great to see more of that transition, if only for historical perspective.
From Brian: "Back from the break, Verne Gagne is with Larry Nelson and they talk about how Curt Hennig came out and bagged on the Olympic athletes, since this was an Olympic year. Verne goes on and on about the Olympics and then talks about how he went skiing and nearly killed himself. Larry Nelson: "Now, how about Verne Gagne? I understand you've been out on the ski slopes lately. You gonna get out there and go for the gold?" What a kiss-ass. Could you be a little more transparent, Larry? Honestly, the entire interview was all about the Olympics. I appreciate Verne's commitment to amateur sports, but couldn't that time have been better served to get someone over that actually works for the company? Just a thought.
Since the show is 20 years old, the "thought" is now moot. Going back 20 years, it was very cool back then to put over amatuer athletes. Rasslin' was still kayfabe and putting over "other sports" added to that mystique. In other words, putting over RASSLIN' was at least equally as important as putting over the individual rasslers. Taking time to do that was essential."
I could understand if he had been talking about the summer Olympics, or guys that he had been wanting to bring in off of a wrestling team or something, but he was talking about the hockey team and his figure skating neighbor, while sounding like he didn't know anything about either. I get that they would try to put themselves over by attaching themselves to the Olympics, but it really came off as forced and sad and when something bombs that badly, that time could have been put to WAY better use elsewhere. None of those Olympians are going to have to help Verne draw more than 5,000 people to the St. Paul Civic Center at the end of the month, so why spend an entire promo trying to put them over.
From Jasper: "Were we watching the same two tag matches? The Nasty Boy's match was horrid. The Bad Company match was better, but not by much"
Everyone has their opinion, and if I recall, I never said that the Nasties match was any good, just that it did its job to get them over. Either way, the entire show was pretty horrid.
Finally from Joe: "when the Nasty Boys came out the graphic said they were the former AWA Southern Tag Team champions, did that title even exist?"
There was indeed an AWA Southern Tag Team title and it was based out of Memphis, the Lawler territory. Both of their Southern titles, the Tag and Heavyweight, had been affiliated with the NWA, but as the NWA came less and less to Memphis and the AWA started rolling through more often, the Memphis territory aligned itself with the AWA and re-christened the titles.
-------------------------------------------
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:39:07 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling
This show looks to still be from that same batch of fresh hell that was the Minot, ND television tapings, and like last night it sounds like it's going to be Rod Trongard and Donna Gagne calling all the action for us. I shuddered even when I TYPED that.
Larry Nelson welcomes us in and takes us right to the end of last week's main event, which can be read about right here. Nelson calls it a "rugged" match and says that a rematch is almost inevitable between the two of them, while promising a tag-team match featuring "Mr. Magnificent", Kevin Kelly and his partner, Nick Kiniski, right after this short time-out.
Match One: Kevin Kelly and Nick Kiniski w/Madusa Miceli vs. Darryl Olsen and Mike Smith
I don't even get to hear the jobbers announced or anything, I've just seen them so often at this set of tapings that I've already committed their names to memory. Unfortunately, some other, probably vital, piece of information will end up being shoved out to fit that into my brain. Don't expect a birthday present this year Mom. Madusa wearing a sheer, spandexy deal that has stars covering her naughty bits, which has Rod Trongard nearly drooling all over himself. Thank god that Larry Nelson wasn't out there, he'd have probably had a stroke or something. Kiniski and Olsen lockup and Kiniski gives him a clean break off the ropes. Another lockup and Olsen returns the favor. Kiniski takes over with some knees in the corner but gets reversed on an Irish whip and catches an armdrag takeover. Olsen grabs an armbar as Rod asks Donna to hand over her headset to the "man sitting next to her", who could be anyone at this point and I wouldn't care. She ends up handing off to Shawn Michaels, which could be all kinds of good. Kiniski picks Olsen up for a slam but he can't get him off of that armbar as Michaels says that everyone is gunning for the champs and he's out there to scout Kiniski and Kelly for a possible title defense. Kiniski tags in Kevin Kelly and he grabs a standing arm-wringer on Mike Smith into a hammerlock, while Michaels ogles Madusa. Tag off to Kiniski and he cranks on Smith's arm and flings him out to the floor. Michaels excuses himself from the commentary as Kelly throws Smith back into the ring. Kiniski tags in Kelly now and he hits a HARD forearm shot before distracting the referee to let Kiniski do a little heeling. Kelly throws him into his corner and Smith tags Olsen in, which leads to Kelly picking him up and THROWING him across the ring with a slam before tagging in Kiniski. PILEDRIVER FROM KINISKI!!! Three-count and it's all over.
Winners: Kevin Kelly and Nick Kiniski (pinfall, Kiniski piledriver)
Match Analysis: Extended squash, which actually benefitted from Michaels being on commentary for a moment, if only because it shut Donna up. A good little match to try to get Kiniski and Kelly over as the new threat to the tag belts and having Michaels out there to "scout" only served to add to that. No complaints from me so far.
By the way, Kingpin is on, commercial-free, on ESPN Classic Sunday night and I'd suggest that you check it out since it's a very underrated and quite funny piece of business from both Bill Murray and Woody Harrelson. One of my favorite movies all-time and I know what I'll be doing Sunday night.
Larry Nelson welcomes us back to the AWA studios and he says that the AWA is on tour so you'd better be there live to feel the excitement and that leads to him bringing Wahoo McDaniel in with Wahoo saying that the AWA is where it's at and that he's travelled all over the world, but the top competition is in the AWA. Wahoo says that the only way you can be number one is to be in the AWA. Jesus, I wonder if he's ever thought about selling time-shares, cause he sounded like a salesman there. Wahoo exits and in comes Greg Gagne, talking about how he's gotten calls from all over the US since he's won the International Television title and HE starts talking about the competition and how great it all is. He puts everyone else over and says that he can't forget about Orton and Adonis since they both want a shot at his belt. Two promos, one talking point, no purpose. I get that they needed to put over the competition in the AWA, because they had no stars and had to try to make people believe that there were, but to have two guys cut the exact same promo like that was a little sad. Those weren't "money" interviews that would get anyone in the building, they were just "we don't suck as much as people are saying, please give us a chance" interviews. Sad, sad, sad.
Match Two: AWA International Television Championship Mark Wagner vs. Greg Gagne (c)
Gagne's got the belt back from the Orton/Adonis heelery of the other night and the action starts out hot and heavy with Gagne grabbing a hammerlock, getting taken down and kicking Wagner off the ropes. Gagne with a go-behind into a takedown and a body scissors on Wagner, turning it into a mounted two-count, into an armbar. He transitions to a stepover toehold, into a leglock but Wagner goes to the eyes to break the hold. Double axehandle from Wagner and he rams Gagne into the top turnbuckle, stopping to mock him a little before Gagne gets an elbow and a big bodyslam. Irish whip into a back bodydrop and Gagne hits him with a BIG dropkick, following it up with the Gagne sleeper. Wagner's out and the match is over!
Winner: Greg Gagne (submission, Gagne sleeper)
Match Analysis: Short and inoffensive, but it's a Greg Gagne match so really it was already limited before it started. He does everything well, it's just so bland and robotic that it makes it really hard to get behind him.
Once again, Larry Nelson's in the studio and he's got The Nasty Boys with him this time, and Knobbs says that everyone is asking whether the Nasty Boys are crazy or not and Knobbs says they are. He calls everyone at home "losers" and that you should be lookin' at real men! Sags says something about smelling and bad breath before he finishes up saying that they're the baddest team in the land. Nelson asks about the Rockers and Knobbs says that they can run but they can't hide and that the Rockers are THEIRS!! ALL THEIRS!!! I'LL KIDNAP YOU AND PUT YOU IN MY BASEMENT, ROCKERS!!!
Match Three: Tom Zenk vs. The Nomad
The Nomad is a masked jobber from Death Valley, and it's worth noting that Ray Stevens has re-joined Trongard on commentary, saving my eardrums from the merciless wailing of that harpy, Donna. In the match, Zenk gets a schoolboy off of a lockup for a two-count and Nomad shoves Zenk off of another lockup, getting shoved onto his own ass for his troubles. Standing arm-wringer from Zenk and he takes Nomad over into an armbar, holding it until Nomad gets him pushed into the ropes and he has to break. Nomad with an Irish whip in and Zenk ducks under an elbow but soon enough Nomad takes over with some punches and kicks, finally getting that reverse elbow and a SNAP SUPLEX for a two-count. Zenk is up with a kick to the gut and some forearm shots before he Irish whips Nomad in and hits him with a BIG dropkick for the 1-2-3!! I wonder if Gagne knows that Zenk stole his finisher. You want heat, steal the boss' son's finisher.
Winner: Tom Zenk (pinfall, dropkick)
Match Analysis: Short and decent, like all the matches so far. Nothing terrible, but nothing that makes me jump out of my seat either. The thing that I'm noticing is that all the guys that are being pushed in the AWA, outside of guys that had already been somewhat established like The Rockers, The Nasties, Orton and Adonis, and the like, none of the AWA guys had any personalities. Kiniski barely had a pulse, Kelly had a little bit of charisma, Gagne is a black hole and Zenk is too young and green to worry about anything other than not screwing up a move in the ring. And they wonder why the territory went under.
Zenk is in the AWA studios after his match and he says that he's trying to get a match signed with Curt Hennig for the title, but Curt is stonewalling him on it. He turns his attention to introducing HIS NEW TAG-TEAM PARTNER!! IT'S.....Ricky Rice? Rice comes in and says that he's been working on his high-flying moves with Zenk and they're ready to take on all comers. Zenk says that Hennig needs to look out cause he's got a man in his corner now. No Tom, you have a jobber in your corner, so good luck with that.
Match Four: AWA World Tag Team Championship Bob Orton and Adrian Adonis vs. The Midnight Rockers (c)
Donna' back on the microphone, just in time to ruin the main event, and it looks like it's going to be Orton and Jannetty starting things out in this main event title match. Check that, it's Adonis and Jannetty, with Adonis getting a side headlock, which Jannetty reverses into a top wristlock. Quick tag to Orton and Jannetty clamps on a headlock until Orton pushes him into the corner. Orton shows why he's still a great worker here, sliding to avoid an Irish whip, eating a Jannetty dropkick and bumping himself headfirst into the top turnbuckle. Great work from Orton and it gets Jannetty a two-count and he tags in Michaels, who side-headlocks Orton over to the mat. Ortron shoots him off the ropes and Michaels leapfrogs over him, catching him in a HUGE atomic drop on the other side before taking him back down with the headlock. Orton rolls him over for a quick two-count but Michaels takes it back over, tagging in Jannetty who continues with the headlock. Adonis is in and Jannetty takes both heels down, headscissoring Adonis as he takes Orton over with the headlock.
Orton shoots Jannetty into the ropes and ducks under, allowing Adonis to get into the ring and grab a hold of him. Heel miscommunication ensues and Adonis eats a high knee from Orton before spilling into the corner. Adonis is furious and the referee tries to get him back to the outside, allowing the Rockers to make the phantom switch and Michaels continues to work Orton over with that headlock. He shoots Michaels in and Orton gets shoulderblocked down before he catches Michaels and hits a HARD backbreaker. Tag to Adonis and he hits a HUGE bulldog before a standing elbow sends Michaels sprawling into the corner. Reversal on the Irish whip from Michaels, but Adonis hits him with a reverse elbow and tags Orton back in. Orton with a DELAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYED VERTICAL SUPLEX!! Beautifully executed by Orton and he looks very proud of himself, as he should be. Orton works Michaels over in the corner a little before a double-underhook suplex gets a long two-count. Bearhug by Orton as he tags in Adonis and a "rock and roll" chant starts up from the crowd. Adonis distracts the referee to let Orton choke Michaels out with the tag rope and the camera cuts to kids in the front row, hanging over the rail and trying to point out the cheating. Never let anyone tell you that the Rockers weren't over in this run, because it's a lie.
Michaels staggers to his feet and takes a snap mare from Adonis and a couple of NASTY kneedrops to the forehead. Adonis covers and gets a two-count and then tags off to Orton, who lands some punches in the corner and a reverse elbow, just MEASURING each shot. Michaels blocks a punch and starts firing away with his own before Orton gets a running clothesline to put Michaels down again. Tag to Adonis and Orton slingshots Michaels RIGHT INTO AN ADONIS CLOTHESLINE!! Hell of a move from the hell team, and executed a lot crisper than Badd Company's attempt at a move like that last week. Michaels bumps it like a Super Ball and Adonis tries for a splash, but Michaels gets the knees up into the ample midsection of Adonis. Michaels is up and near his corner but Adonis kicks the leg out from under his leg and tags Orton back in and Orton gets up on the second rope, nestles his knee against Michaels' chin and drops down in an innovative move for the time. He drops a short forearm down and covers but Jannetty comes in to break it up, allowing the heels to switch without a tag when the referee tries to put him out. Adonis chokes at Michaels and picks him up for a RUNNING POWERSLAM!!
Jannetty breaks up a pin attempt again and Adonis grabs a front facelock, forcing Michaels to drag his weight with him if he wants that tag. Michaels gets the tag but the referee didn't see it and as he's putting Jannetty back out, Adonis sends Michaels over the top to the floor. Adonis distracts the referee and Orton drops an elbow from the apron before ramming Michaels' head into the ringpost. Orton keeps stomping away and hits a TON of rapid-fire rights as the referee is still distracted by all the goings-on with Jannetty and Adonis in the ring. Michaels finally gets back into the ring, just in time for Adonis to whip him into the corner. Michaels ducks away from a charge and Adonis crotches himself on the second buckle, allowing just enough time for Michaels to pick him up for a bodyslam and Michaels tries for a splash instead of making the tag and pays for it as he misses it and hits the mat HARD. Adonis hits a snap belly-to-back suplex and tags Orton back in and he hits a standing neckbreaker before going up to the second rope to walk the rope and drop a fist into Michaels' forehead.
Headbutt from Orton but Michaels reverses an Irish whip into the corner, putting Orton across the top rope and kicking him in the gut before Orton ends up crotched on the top rope. Orton tags in Adonis and HERE'S THE HOT TAG TO JANNETTY!! RIGHT HANDS ON ADONIS!! IRISH WHIP AND ADONIS IS ASS OVER TEAKETTLE!! IRISH WHIP AND ADONIS IS INTO ORTON!! A snap mare and Jannetty gets a pinfall, but Orton drags Jannetty out to the floor and all four men are out there brawling, with Orton taking both faces down with running forearms. The referee is in the ring counting and they all continue to brawl on the floor with Jannetty and Orton finally making it back into the ring and Jannetty hits a reverse elbow. Michaels in as well and they hit a double-crescent kick that puts Orton out backwards through the ropes to the floor. The referee is calling the whole thing off and it sounds like it's a double-countout. Actually, it's a no-contest according to Rod Trongard and Orton and Adonis head to the back to lick their wounds, threatening the Rockers on their way. The Rockers keep the belts and hold them over their heads to the cheers of the crowd and that's it for the show!!
Match Analysis: A REALLY great little tag match for the main event. After seeing two days worth of boring wrestling, we finally get to see what happens when four great workers get in the ring against each other. I love getting to watch Orton and Adonis in action and they worked well with the youngsters Michaels and Jannetty. A great TV main event that pretty much saved the entire show.
Final Thoughts
A lackluster show that gets saved by a great main event. It just shows the chasm that existed between guys like Orton, Adonis and the Rockers, and guys like Zenk and Kiniski and Kelly. There wasn't really any mid-card to speak of in the AWA at this point, so it was guys on top that were hot and could work (for the most part) and then guys that had nothing, with no filler between to bridge that gap. A decent show, but it would have been absolutely horrible without that main event tag though.
Fun With Comments
From G-Walla: "Yeah, I stayed up and watched this show.
And I was saying Boo-urns!
You're spot on with the beat down after the first match being the only good on this show (aside from the unintentional hilarity of Shawn Michaels' interview). I certainly miss the late-80s early-90s style.
If I find the time, I'll send you a clip of my nasty boys song. It makes a great ring-tone"
I love it when folks agree with me! And I'll be looking for that clip in my mailbox sometime soon, cause I agree that it would make a fantastic ringtone, especially at the grocery store or out at some fashionable nightclub.
From Joe K. : "What was with Nelson and him cutting off guys during their promos? I know 9 out of 10 of them weren't masterpeices (Larry Z usually the sole exception) but geez"
My guess is that they constantly "ran out of time" cause they'd try to wedge two guys into about forty-five seconds of interview time and the first guy would always run long. Seems like a really dumb way to do things, but I suppose.
From RandomGuy: "That Backbreaker is called the Canadian Backbreaker. just so you know."
I'll usually take any excuse to call something Canadian, but I figured since it was a Russian in the match that I'd call it something else. Thanks for the info!
From Adam: "Squash matches were pretty much the norm on TV for all of the wrestling promotions in the 80s. Just enough to get you to the arena. I lived in Las Vegas and was in my early-mid teens when the AWA used to promote cards at the Showboat. I went all the time from 1983-85. I stopped going regularly during the Rick Martel title reign. The last matches I can remember going to had to be in October 1986. I don't remeber any of the matches. All I remember was that there was a guy there who hated Shawn Michaels. He kept saying what a fag he was. They annouced the World Series results Mets-Red Sox. That's how I know that it was September-October 86.
The NWA had squash matches with Magnum T.A. on TV a lot. Also to protect his limitations and get you to the arena."
Oh I agree completely about the squash matches. I know that they were just trying to bait people into buying tickets, but there's a difference between a good squash and a bad one, and the AWA had LOTS of bad ones. Cool that you got to see some of those live tapings at the Showboat though, that would have been fun in 85-86.
From BurritoFueled: "Dude... Dude... Donna was on color for most of the matches, you sexist, not Ray Stevens.
/Donna sucks"
I agree that she was pretty terrible, and I wasn't being sexist because I actually mentioned in the first line of the first match that it was Donna and not Ray Stevens on color. She's still terrible either way though.
Finally from Guest: "Ok, is this just me, or did Mike Smith resemble Mike Awesome? The size, the face, the build, all of it resembles Awesome. The only thing which doesn't match up is the timeframe, since Awesome should've been shortly into his training in Florida, so why would he be in North Dakota?"
I think it was just you because seeing him again today he looked nothing like Awesome in the face. Smith was just one of those job guys that Verne liked so he brought back on regular occasion, like Rocky Stone or Jesse Hernandez.
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:40:21 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling
Larry Nelson's in the AWA studios and conspicuously absent is his kissing ass on the Fan of The Week, which is a shame cause I loved hearing about eighty year old women who "loves them their Matlock and their professional rassling matches". He DOES take us back to "last week's" show when The Midnight Rockers and The Nasty Boys had a match for the AWA Tag Team Championships, showing us the finish of the match where all four men were brawling and Marty Jannetty got a pin on Knobbs with a flying crossbody. The problem being that Sags was apparently the legal man and now it sounds like they're going to try to lobby for a rematch down the road. Nelson tells us about the rest of the show, talking about a main event between Curt Hennig and Jerry Lawler for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship before he throws us to a man named Wahoo.
Match One: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Samoan Joe
It's Rod Trongard and Lee Marshall at ringside for the call of all the action as Wahoo and Joe hit a lockup, with Wahoo giving him a clean break off the ropes. Another lockup into the ropes but Wahoo isn't as clean this time, chopping Joe across the chest. Yet another lockup into the corner and Joe returns the favor on the chop before Wahoo reverses and chops him a couple times before Irish whipping him into the corner and chopping him on the way out. Wahoo's pissed and Joe is out to the floor on his ass. Joe's back in and they lockup into the corner again with Wahoo landing more chops. Joe starts firing back with headbutts and he Irish whips Wahoo into the ropes, knocking him down with a reverse elbow. Wahoo Irish whips Joe into the ropes and hits the BIG CHOP and he drops an elbow on him for the three-count out of nowhere.
Winner: Wahoo McDaniel (pinfall, elbowdrop)
Match Analysis: Short match, lots of chops, pinfall out of nowhere. Again, Wahoo was older and limited and they did the best that they could to protect him. It meant that the matches suffered a little but he was still popular so I can't blame them for wanting him out there in the ring. Not a great match, but it was short so that's a good thing.
The AWA Notebook is back with their top five most popular wrestlers in the AWA and it runs with The Midnight Rockers at the top, followed by Gagne, Von Raschke, McDaniel and the Rock n' Roll Express. Um, that's seven isn't it?
Match Two: The Hurricane Kid and Billy Anderson vs. Badd Company
BADDDDDD COMPANY!!! I want one of those powder blue, zebra-print tuxedo jackets. Not for anything special, just to wear around town to the grocery store or something. Hurricane Kid gets a headlock to start things out but Diamond just powers out and stomps away at him, Irish whipping him in for a shot to the gut before tagging in Tanaka. Tanaka hits a chop before digging at the eyes and Irish whipping him into the ropes. Kid ends up screwing up the spot and Tanaka has to send him out through the ropes to the floor. Diamond works him over a little on the outside before Tanaka hip tosses him over the ropes and into the ring. Tanaka gets some chops and shots in before taking a reverse chinlock on Kid. Tag to Diamond and he gets a HARD shot to the kidneys before Irish whipping Kid into the ropes and clotheslining him, which Kid takes like shit. Diamond rams Kid into the turnbuckle and gets a couple right hands before tagging in Tanaka, but Kid takes over with some headbutts to stun Tanaka before whipping him into the ropes. Tanaka is too smart and holds on as Kid crashes to the canvas off of a missed dropkick. Kid finally gets the tag and Anderson Irish whips Tanaka into the ropes, looking for a back bodydrop, but Tanaka CARTWHEELS AROUND HIM before lowering the boom with a crescent kick to the chin. Tag to Diamond and he's setting up for their double-team finisher!! SLINGSHOT INTO THE DDT!! The referee counts Tanaka's pin first, but Tanaka was just rolling out of the ring and Diamond puts a foot on his chest for the three-count. On the replay, Lee Marshall calls the move "almost like a DDT". That's because it IS A DDT!!! At least he's not as shrill as Donna Gagne.
Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, slingshot DDT)
Match Analysis: Always awesome to see Badd Company in action and they did a good job in looking bad. That's bad as in bad-ass, because they were really on. They didn't get much from Hurricane Kid who botched a couple spots, but they looked like an unbeatable team, which is what they were going for in terms of building them to a title shot. Some team needs to steal that finisher because I bet it could still get over today.
Larry Nelson's back in the AWA studios and he takes us back to last week when the AWA hit the Senior's Circuit when Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie took on Baron Von Raschke and Sheik tried to cripple the Baron's claw hand. Baron's here to talk about it, wearing a rather dapper-looking turtleneck sweater. Those cold Minnesota winters are a bitch. I think my dad actually had a sweater that looked exactly like that. Baron says that the claw hand is fine and that the doctor's said it was bruised and contused but it's back to where it should be. THE CLAW IS BACK AND IT HAS DIRECTION!!! He says that Sheik deliberately smashed a foreign object into the claw time after time, trying to break the bone. The bruises are gone, but the pain is still in his heart and his mind!! Sadly, Baron gets cut off before his catchphrase, so I'll have to do it for him. THE CLAW LIVES SHEIK....AND THAT'S ALL THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW!!!
Match Three: AWA International Television Championship Destroyer Samoan vs. Greg Gagne (c)
Destroyer attacks Gagne out of the gate, going to the eyes and ramming Gagne into the top turnbuckles a couple of times before Gagne takes over and does it right back. Arm-wringer and Destroyer goes down, into an armbar before Destroyer goes to the eyes and bites at Gagne's forehead. Gagne gets whipped into the ropes and eats a big chop before Destroyer hits a diving headbutt for a two-count. Destroyer chops Gagne through the ropes and then jumps off the apron with a double axehandle. He rams Gagne's head into the apron and then picks him up and slams him back first into the ringpost. Destroyer heads up to the top rope and Gagne catches him for the BIG bodyslam off the top. Stomps from Gagne and he whips Destroyer into the ropes for the dropkick and THERE'S ANOTHER!!! GAGNE SLEEPER!!!! IT'S ALL OVER!!
Winner: Greg Gagne (submission, Gagne sleeper)
Match Analysis: Short and short. It was good enough, but Gagne was pretty cookie-cutter by this point so it was him hitting all of his spots around whatever the story of the match was. I'm not a Gagne fan so I don't get it, but at least it was short.
The AWA Notebook is back with the individual rankings and there's AWA Champ, Curt Hennig on top, followed by Gagne, Adrian Adonis, Wahoo, Jerry Lawler and Baron Von Raschke to round out the top five challengers. Quite an eclectic list, that's for sure. After that match, Lee Marshall's at ringside with the AWA Champion, Curt Hennig. Hennig says that after the beating Gagne took from that jobber, if he'd been in the ring with Gagne, he'd have torn him apart. He says that all the competition has come to AWA and that they're all here for the AWA Championship and Hennig says that there are two things that won't change in 1988. The fact that he's the AWA Champ, as well as the fact that he's got all the talent in the world inside of him. Gagne comes out to possibly rebut that statement and he comes out saying that Hennig's been shooting his mouth off about being the greatest athlete in wrestling before challenging him for the title. He says that Hennig knows in his heart that Gagne could beat him every day of the week and Gagne says that until Hennig beats him, he'll never recognize Hennig as the champion, BROTHER!! Hennig tells him to step up and try it and Gagne fires back, saying that if he gets the shot, he won't just try it, he'll do it!!
Match Four: Bob Orton vs. Kevin Collins
Joined in progress with Orton working some knees in the corner before grabbing a HARD front facelock, mauling Collins in the corner like he was Orton's prison bride. More knees to the face and he drags Collins into the middle of the ring to ram his head into the mat. Collins tries a shot to the gut but Orton cuts that shit off with more stomps and he cranks on that front facelock again. Did Collins say something bad about Orton's wife or something? Gut-wrench suplex from Orton and he rams Collins into the top turnbuckle before getting that front facelock again, grinding Collins' face into the canvas. Swinging neckbreaker from Orton and he picks Collins up and sets him up in the corner. SUPERPLEX!!!! 1-2-3!!!!
Winner: Bob Orton (pinfall, superplex)
Match Analysis: This looked REALLY uncomfortable for Collins as Orton was really working stiff. Not sure what the backstory behind that is if there is one, but Orton just beat the shit out of him for three minutes with a mixture of punches and kicks, with some basic wrestling holds sprinkled in. They were trying to make Orton into a legit challenger and tough guy and this match did both.
After the match, Orton throws in a piledriver behind the referee's back, mocking the crowd on his way out of the ring. Replay of the picture-perfect superplex lead to the AWA Notebook telling us the most hated AWA stars. Curt Hennig is number-one on that list with a bullet, followed by Adrian Adonis, Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie, Bob Orton and The Nasty Boys. I'd have Orton a little higher if it was my list since he just beat the holy hell out of someone, but who am I to disagree. Larry Nelson tells us to call our friends and neighbors so that we don't miss the main event, a match that could main event any arena in the world. Before that though, we get a Soldat Ustinov promo. Joy. Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie is not scared of Baron Von Raschke according to Ustinov and he's off getting fed wine and grapes and very good food. Sheik calls Von Raschke a coward and says that the Germans are just like Americans and that Russians are the best or something like that. Larry Nelson cuts him off before I end up giggling uncontrollably at Ustinov's terrible "accent".
Match Five: AWA World Heavyweight Championship Jerry Lawler vs. Curt Hennig (c)
Hennig comes out first for some reason, minus his awesome robe he had during the Minot tapings. I guess Lawler didn't want to be upstaged. Trongard talks about the Lawler/Kaufman situation again as I notice that Lawler has an ad for chewing tobacco on the ass of his wrestling trunks. Always classy, King. They hit the lockup and Hennig pushes Lawler into the corner giving him a clean break before jawing at referee Scott LeDoux. Lawler pushes Hennig into the corner and Hennig shoves him onto his ass as Lawler's trying to give a clean break. Another lockup into the corner and Lawler threatens him with a right hand and Hennig takes a powder onto the apron, yelling at the front row. Fourth lockup into the corner and Hennig trips Lawler to take him down and then heads out to the floor. Hennig really grew into his heel persona and it's great to see him pre-Perfect like this. Hennig pushes Lawler into the corner and hits a big right hand on the break, forcing Lawler to chase after him until he rolls out to the floor with a smirk. Hennig again with a right hand in the corner but he doesn't get out of the ring quick enough this time and Lawler POPS him one. Hennig sprawls onto his ass and then ends up out on the floor again. Nearly five minutes in and I can count the punches and moves on one hand. Hennig must have taken a lot more from Zbyszko than a roll of quarters.
Hennig gets back into the ring and goes behind Lawler, but Lawler hits a reverse elbow and another BIG right hand that puts Hennig down through the ropes and to the floor. Trongard notices the ad on the back of Lawler's trunks but he doesn't understand it and he just drops it. Hennig pushes Lawler into the corner off of a lockup and hits a FLURRY of punches before Lawler gets all fired up, hitting his own flurry that sends Hennig OVER THE TOP ROPE!! Hennig says "Piss on this" and takes a walk heading towards the locker room. Hennig rolls in at nine and then gets back outside the ring, as Trongard says that if Hennig got counted out he'd give the title up to Lawler. Hennig takes a knee and begs off, trying to get a handshake from Lawler, but the King is a little smarter than that. Hennig takes over with a kneelift and a chop, but Lawler reverses an Irish whip and clotheslines Hennig down. FISTDROP FROM THE SECOND ROPE!! 1-2....HENNIG KICKS OUT!! Lawler rams Hennig into the top buckle and fires off some jabs before Hennig kicks himself a field goal with Lawler's balls. Hennig stomps away at Lawler on the mat, picking him up for a HUGE right hand that sends Lawler flying over the top to the concrete floor.
Hennig follows him out and rams him into the apron before stomping away at him and rolling back into the ring. Lawler up on the apron but Hennig cuts him off with a right hand and a forearm to the chest. Another right hand from Hennig and another and Lawler finally goes backwards off the apron again to the floor. Hennig's on the top rope but thinks twice about it and jumps back down, just in time for Lawler to catch a leg and drag him to the outside. Right hands from Lawler and DOWN COMES THE STRAP!!! Hennig begs off and Lawler starts laying in the HARD right hands. Snap mare over and a standing fistdrop from Lawler, followed up with a flurry of short right hands that send Hennig stumbling and staggering through the ropes to the floor. Lawler motions that it's time to send Hennig into the ringpost but Hennig reverses it and sends Lawler in headfirst, prompting Scott LeDoux to ring the bell.
Winner: None (double countout)
Match Analysis: Just enough action to keep the crowd at home interested, but not enough that they'd feel like they'd already seen it once the match came to their town. Exactly what a main event like that should be. Lawler and Hennig were two true professionals and they were able to keep the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands while not doing anything too crazy, just by using great psychology. Not a technical classic by any means, but still entertaining.
After the match, the fight continues on the outside with Hennig missing a right hand and cracking the ringpost. Lawler takes advantage and slams that hand into the post again before he gets another right hand that sends Hennig off to the locker room.
Larry Nelson's in the studio with Wahoo McDaniel and he asks Wahoo about the match he's just seen. Wahoo says it was a great match and that both men are great athletes. McDaniel says that he thinks he could beat Hennig on any given day, bringing up when Hennig put thirteen stitches above his eye. McDaniel says that 1988 is going to be the year that there's an Indian champion and that he can't think of a better Indian than himself. With that, we're done for another episode of the AWA on ESPN!
Final Thoughts
Not a terrible show by any stretch of the imagination, but not a display of fantastic wrestling. Hennig was REALLY coming into his own as a heel and he controlled that entire main event match beautifully. That was really fun to see, especially with someone like Lawler who could play so well off of it. This show was fun to watch as well because of another Orton beatdown, since those NEVER get old. Must be something in the water in Las Vegas because they get back there and the shows immediately start to suck a lot less. To the comments, folks!
Fun With Comments
Before the comments, I'll address an e-mail I got after Tuesday's episode, regarding Larry Zbyszko and his marriage into the Gagne family. Donna Gagne is not the Gagne he married, instead it was Verne's other daughter, Kathy.
From Dick: "I have the body of Adonis. Too bad it's Adrian Adonis.
I actually have the body of a god. Buddha."
I feel your pain brother, I feel your pain.
From Guest# 3530: "I just about fell off the couch laughing when Ray Stevens was talking about how Tom Zenk was a polite and quiet man who never caused any problems. Wonder how Ole Anderson fells about those comments. Seeing Madusa in the flesh colored suit made the kid in me want to beat off, but the adult in me knew the wifey was down the hall."
I laughed at that part as well, and yeah, I bet Ole would have more than a couple of things to say about all of that.
From Tiger Mask 69: "Yeah, if anyone gets the chance to listen to Tom Zenk's appearances on Wrestling Observer Live from the late 90's/early '00's, take it. He is a very funny guy."
Funny you should mention those, since I have a few of them on the hard drive. For all of you that want to check them out, I've uploaded them for download here, here, and here. Enjoy folks, because this is bridge-burning at its absolute finest.
From G-Walla: "Sadly, I could barely pay attention during the main event after the rest of the show. Curses. I didn't get my second wind until Bart vs. Australia on the Cali Fox station afterwards.
Isn't this around the time when Adonis dies? Or was he in AWA at the time? And was there ever a reason given as to why he got so big?
I hear you on Kingpin. One of my favorite movies of all time. It's also good if you watch the censored version, if you can point out the edits. Sometimes, we quote it instead of the real version. "I think I tore my self!""
Adonis died a few months after these Minot tapings, so these are getting close to his last matches, which is rather sad. On happier notes, I love Kingpin, can't wait to see it again on Sunday, and watching censored versions of movies can be just as funny sometimes. MOTHERLOVER!!!
From Guest# 2532: "To the utter morons who were constantly slating this show ...please just leave, there's no room for your idiocy here. We have two fantastic matches and two very good matches. We have The Nomad losing, The midnight Rockers keeping their tag title belts - and yet still you people find stuff to bitch about. That is what is wrong with the IWC; no matter what you find the negatives to whine and complain about. This was clearly a great show, by any standard. The crap I read on these boards every day is exactly why the AWA was so great, and why I watch it everynight like a mark. Match too long, match too short, Tom Zenk won, the main event ending is too obvious now! WAH WAH WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! Listen to yourselves! Csonka mentions "No Buys" "Berried" etc. in proper contexts, you parrots simply regurgitate with no thought or sense of what you're talking about. Frankly, many of you are making a great case for the comments section being disabled, a good 90% of what is said is worthless crap, spouted by morons with hidden agendas and puppets who hear all the terms but fail to apply them properly. Apter and Csonka have both rated this show quite highly...think I'll trust their opinion over a bunch of retards who either have no love for wrestling, or are masochistic to the extreme in watching something they so clearly hate. To all the junior Scott Keith's - You're Ruining the I.W.C. Hope you're happy."
I'm not sure if it's the folks in the comments or if it's me that you're complaining about, but I just call it like I see it. If the show was good, in my opinion, I say so. If it isn't I'm not going to sugar-coat it. The AWA was a shell of its former self by this point and the quality of the shows started to bear that out. I honestly don't see anything in the previous comments that would have pissed you off that much, but I guess it is what it is.
From Random Guy: "Hey, I'm glad to help with moves."
Thanks again!
From Brimstone34: ""Adonis kicks his leg out from under his leg" If you wrote that on purpose and not as a typo your cred just went through the roof. R.I.P Owen ."
That was indeed on purpose as that Owen promo is one of the funniest things that I've ever seen in wrestling. It's the first thing I think of anytime I see someone do that spot so I typed it out of instinct. I'm glad you got a laugh out of it.
Finally from KayFaber: "Gawsh, Donna was worse than usual on that show, especially in the main event. Did you notice how painfully obvious Trongard was in just bulldozing over her to shut her the heck up? Then she insisted on finishing her "joke" about Adrian Adonis eating at "posh (pause) New York (pause) restaurants."
I never thought anyone would make me long for Larry Nelson on the mic.
She just replaced David Crockett as most-talentless-announcer-who-obvious ly-got-this-job-through-nepotism."
Yeah, she was especially bad on this episode, and it would have been fun to see Rod Trongard's face as he kept trying to shut Donna up, while trying to toe the line because he knows that she's the boss' daughter. Thank you for reminding me of the horridness of Crockett's announcing, though I think he was still better than Donna.
-------------------------------------------
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:41:10 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling
As has been the case the past few episodes, Larry Nelson starts us off in the studios with a repeat of the ending of the Lawler/Hennig main event from the previous episode, which if you missed it can be read right here. He runs down the rest of the card for this week and then we head off to a commercial three minutes into the show.
Match One: The Nasty Boys vs. Kevin Collins and Greg Robertson
Oh, you Nasty Boys. Rod Trongard is at ringside with Donna to call the action and things start out hot and heavy with the Nasty Boys rushing the jobbers and beating them a little before sending them through the ropes to the floor. Knobbs and Collins start things off for real and Collins shows his strength, shoving Knobbs out of a lockup. Knobbs with some forearms and an Irish whip into the ropes, followed by a big clothesline and some choking before he tags in Sags. Sags goes to the throat with a couple of punches when the referee isn't looking and gets a BIG bodyslam, tagging in Knobbs for some shoulderblocks in the corner. Irish whip into the ropes and Collins gets a sunset flip for a two count, but that's all he gets because Knobbs tags Sags back in and he chokes the piss out of Collins on the ropes. Sags tries to throw Collins out to the floor but he gets stuck in the ropes and he just tags in Knobbs instead for another BIG slam. Knobbs misses an elbowdrop but nothing comes of it as Knobbs is able to tag Sags in for a HARD clothesline off the ropes that gets a long two-count. Another Irish whip in and Collins catches Sags telegraphing a backdrop and kicks him in the face. Robertson gets the HOT TAG and tries an Irish whip but he misses the charge in on Knobbs and Knobbs hits a running powerslam, tagging Sags in for a HEAVY legdrop that gets the three-count. Robertson is up and out of the ring almost as quickly as the Nasties are, which I'm sure got him a ton of shit behind the curtain for not selling the legdrop.
Winners: The Nasty Boys (pinfall, Sags legdrop)
Match Analysis: Perfectly acceptable wrestling to start out the show. The Nasties got all their spots in, looked good doing it, and got the win. Knobbs and Sags had lots of potential here, but they were still fairly green so their offense was a little basic, which would be the only knock on this that I could see. Everything else was alright and it's a decent start to the show.
The AWA Notebook runs us through the top five tag-team rankings at the moment with The Midnight Rockers on top as the champs, followed by the Rock n' Roll Express, Adonis and Orton, Badd Company, The Nasty Boys and Wahoo and Rich. I want to see Rockers/Badd Company sooner rather than later.
After a short commerical break, Larry Nelson's at the AWA studios and here comes former UFC announcer Jeff Blatnick. At this point in time, Blatnick was in training for the Olympics and he talks about his opponents he could be facing, which leads to Brad Rheingans, coach of the 1984 Olympic team coming in and talking to Nelson about Blatnick and how he could end up repeating as a gold medalist. I guess Verne was trying to woo Blatnick into the ring after his amateur career was done, but to my knowledge he never came close.
Match Two: AWA International Television Championship Steve O vs. Greg Gagne (c)
Rod Trongard counts this one as a potential classic and Verne Gagne, who has joined the commentary booth, agrees. They hit a couple lockups and O gets a standing armbar out of one which Gagne rolls out of, getting a single-leg takedown into a hamstring pull. Gagne with a go-behind into a hammerlock and O reverses that into a go-behind of his own into a schoolboy for a quick two-count. Gagne scores an armdrag takeover into an armbar and O shoots him into the ropes, with a rope-running spot from them before O gets a drop toehold, rolling too far over Gagne and losing the hold. Back to their feet and O ends up with a full nelson on Gagne in the middle of the ring, with Gagne reversing it into one of his own and O reversing that back. Gagne ducks out of it into a hammerlock on the mat, holding O down until he explodes up and gets to the ropes for the break. Gagne takes O over with a side headlock but O rolls with it and almost gets a three-count on Gagne. Gagne rolls back over and holds on to the side headlock until O shoots him off the ropes, which leads to Gagne getting a shoulderblock and then O screwing up a hip toss spot. They improv as best they can and O gets a single-leg takedown with Gagne kicking him off and Gagne getting a slam with O kicking him off. BABYFACE STANDOFF!!
Gagne gets another hard slam on O and dropkicks him hard, sending him out of the ring through the ropes to the floor. O finally makes his way back into the ring and gets put in a side headlock before he shoots Gagne in for another shoulderblock but Gagne gets the best of it. Gagne continues to run the ropes and O hits him with a HARD shot that puts Gagne to the mat. O with a turnbuckle smash and he whips Gagne in for a reverse kick to the gut. Stomachbreaker by O for a long two-count and O hits the abdominal stretch with two minutes left in the match. I'd be shocked if this was another draw, just shocked. Gagne gets a VERY slow hip toss to get out of the abdominal stretch, and shoulderblocks O down to the mat, but eats a knee to the gut when he tries another. O misses a running elbowdrop and they're back to their feet. Side headlock from O leads to them hitting the ropes and smashing heads in the middle of the ring. O gets to his feet and they trade atomic drops with Gagne getting a one-count off of his. Gagne Irish whips O into the ropes and they do a reversal sequence with Gagne getting a roll-up for the three-count with seconds to spare.
Winner: Greg Gagne (pinfall, roll-up)
Match Analysis: I should have known it wasn't going to be a draw because they weren't announcing the time limit loud enough for everyone to hear. Gagne gets the pinfall with one second left and this was a good, old-school scientific affair. A little bland now, but for the time, when there used to be babyface vs. babyface matches like this on most house show cards, this was a good little match. Only one botch and lots of chain wrestling and reversals, so no complaints from me again, which is a good thing so far. I can't believe it, I actually liked a Greg Gagne match. Will wonders never cease?
Match Three: AWA Tag Team Championship Destroyer Samoan and Samoan Joe vs. The Midnight Rockers (c)
The Rockers get a very good pop from the crowd as soon as their music hits, which is no surprise at all. As for their opponents, my dreams have been answered and the two big Samoans have decided to combine their powers of suck so that they only end up stinking up one match. They're in with the Rockers though, so if anyone can get something decent out of the Samoans, it'd be them. Jannetty and Destroyer start out with Jannetty getting a quick go-behind into an early two-count. Destroyer pushes Jannetty into the corner out of a lockup and chops away at him before Jannetty reverses into some chops of his own, whippping Destroyer into the corner and following with a clothesline for a two-count. Destroyer goes low and lands a hard shot to the little Rockers and Jannetty ends up in trouble for a moment before tagging in Michaels for a double-team move. Drop toehold from Jannetty and an elbowdrop from Michaels leads to a snap mare and a fistdrop off the top rope. Destroyer tags in Joe and Joe ends up in a standing armbar, reversing it and elbowing away at the arm before headbutting Michaels' shoulder. Irish whip in and Joe gets a shot before landing more of the headbutts. Generic offense from Joe for a moment before Michaels takes things back over and tags in Jannetty, with a double-Irish whip into a BIG Jannetty dropkick. Another tag to Michaels and they hit a double-front suplex that gets the 1-2-3!!
Winners: The Midnight Rockers (pinfall, double-front suplex)
Match Analysis: Too short to get any type of flow going, and The Rockers didn't use a lot of high-flying, so for me this one was a little boring. At least it was quick and boring and kept a decent pace though, rather than being boring because of a ten-minute chinlock. Bring back Rose and Somers or put The Rockers in with Badd Company. Please.
Lee Marshall's at ringside with the Rockers and they cut their usual promo, with Jannetty saying that they're finally being recognized as one of the top teams in the world. He runs down their challengers and puts all of them over, including the Rock n' Roll Express. Michaels says that no one took the Rockers serious during their first reign and Michaels talks about Badd Company and the RnR's, with Michaels saying that no one respects The RnR's more than the Rockers, but they're coming into their backyard and they're not going to take it lying down. The AWA Notebook follows the interview with the most popular wrestler list, and it's the same list as last episode so I won't bother repeating it.
Back from the break, Larry Nelson talks about Soldat Ustinov hitting Baron Von Raschke with a board, saying that we'll hear about Baron's condition later before talking about Badd Company and we go back to the previous episode again for highlights of their match and the finish of the bout. Nelson puts them over as an incredible tag-team and that anyone who has to step in with those two is in for a bad time. He says that next week's main event is going to be The Rockers vs. Badd Company!!! HELL YES!!
Match Four: Bad Boy Brown and Killer Cruz vs. Cowboy Lang and The Karate Kid
I have to wait until Monday to see the Rockers and Badd Company, AND I have to sit through a midget main event? What did I do to piss off the karma gods? Lang and Cruz start out Cruz holds a side headlock but gets whipped into the ropes by Lang, leading to Cruz coming face-to-face with Karate Kid, freaking out and turning around into a headlock from Lang. Lang gets shot in and hops over Cruz, running to the other side and taking out Brown with a right hand. Lang tags in Kid and Kid gets a standing armbar, whipping Cruz into the corner and hitting a nice dropkick. He whips Cruz into the corner again and misses a charge, crotching himself on the middle buckle before Cruz takes over with a LITTLE SLAM! Cruz comes off the top rope with a bombs away butt-drop onto Kid, posing down and then picking him up for another LITTLE SLAM!! Cruz goes to the top again but misses the butt-drop the second time and Kid gets a full nelson locked on.
Brown tries to attack from behind but there's a little miscommunication and he ends up whacking Cruz. The face team makes a tag and Cruz gets the full nelson on Lang, calling for Brown to double-team. Lang ducks though so Cruz eats another shot from Brown and he's PISSED OFF!! He forearms Brown and then tags him in. Lang takes over wtih an Irish whip in but gets reversed off the second whip and Brown stomps away in the corner. Standing armbar and Lang whips Brown into the corner a couple of times before all four men end up in the ring. Double-Irish whip sends Brown into Cruz and then the faces hit the rowboat spot and DOWN GOES THE REFEREE!! MIDGET MADNESS!! Brown gets a top wristlock on Kid and takes him down with a handful of hair before switching to a standing armbar.
Another takedown with the hair but Kid is able to reverse out of it into an armdrag takedown. Irish whip into the ropes and a back kick to the face from Kid gets a two-count, sending Brown into his corner for a tag. Kid with a shoulderblock out of a headlock and Cruz gets a TINY PRESS SLAM!! He whips Kid in and gets a LOOOOOOWWWWW BACK BODYDROP!! Another Irish whip and Kid leapfrogs over Cruz, hiting a couple of flying headscissors and a shot to the gut for a two-count. They hit the spot with Cruz throwing Kid into the referee's arms and the referee throwing him back, telling him not to do it again. More two-counts ensue and the heel team complains about the referee's involvement. Back to the action, Cruz gets a POWERSLAM and a pin attempt for two but he gets kicked off into Gary DeRusha's arms and he just drops him on the mat. Ask and ye shall receive, little man. Kid shakes the referee's hand and Cruz is pissed again, as both teams make tags.
Brown with some boots to the gut and the heels distract the referee for some double-teaming on Lang before Brown rams him into the turnbuckle. Lang gets a turnbuckle smash of his own and they do the rope-runner spot with Lang stopping and Cruz continuing to run the ropes until his partner makes the unfortunate mistake of getting in the way. Hilarity ensues as they run into each other. Lang takes over on Brown with another LOOOOOWW BACK BODYDROP!! Tag to Karate Kid and he hits a dropkick but misses the second as Brown backs off. Brown with a full nelson and he's holding Kid for a cross-bodyblock from Cruz, but Kid ducks it and Cruz ends up pinning Brown, with Kid on top of Cruz and Lang standing on top of the whole pile. The referee counts three and it's ALL OVER!!
Winners: Cowboy Lang and The Karate Kid (pinfall, heel miscommunication into a dogpile)
Match Analysis: Not a bad main event, and one of the better midget matches that I've seen in a while. Usually I can't stand the midget matches, but this one was actually really well done and all four of them got the chance to hit their spots and get some moments in the sun. A decent tag match on its own, but the fact that it was a midget tag that turned out this good is a special treat really. Good stuff to end the show and a very pleasant surprise.
Final Thoughts
A strong show to end the week off, with a decent babyface match-up between Gagne and Steve O and a very good, better than it should have been, midget tag main event. The Nasties match was decent and I'm more than happy to hear that I'm going to get to see Badd Company against the Rockers for the belts next week. A very good note to end off a bit of a rough week of AWA action and it gives me some hope for next week's shows. To the comments!!
Fun With Comments
From Samoa Joe: "Samoan Joe??? what the hell???"
I know, I know. Just call your lawyer and everything should sort itself out before you have to hit the courtroom.
From Adam: "Looking back, I think a longer Hennig-Lawler fued would have produced some great matches. Hennig was really starting to show his true potential. Lawler would have been able to be on a national stage. I think most people knew who Lawler was, but outside of the CWA area, probably hadn't seen him wrestle much. A year-long fued may have helped the promotion, but probably would have hurt what their future careers became; especially Hennig."
A prolonged Hennig-Lawler feud would have been fantastic and probably would have done a lot to help out business. I think that both of them would have benefitted from it and I don't think it would have hurt either of their careers too much actually. At that point, long feuds were able to do well in promotions with two strong characters and both Lawler and Hennig had strong characters that could have handled it.
From Eddie Chicago: "There was a definate glutton of somoan jobbers huh?
And god, henning was so good, its a real shame he got hurt- cuz I firmly believe had curt stayed healthy, Vince would picked him not Bret to carry the company into the new 'wrestler' era in 92-93.
Also I think orton would be over huge now with that stiff offense. Too bad that kinda of awesome must skip a generation or something. And I don't hate Randy orton but he's no Bob."
Hennig was really great, and it's a shame to think about what he could have done for Vince at the top of the card if he hadn't gotten hurt. I agree that Randy is no Bob, but he's starting to round out into a decent performer which is a big thing. Give him a few more years of seasoning and he just might get up to Bob's level if he gets his head on straight and doesn't get shit-canned.
From G-Walla: "Holy night of the Samoans, Batman! Seriously.
I couldn't get into the Hennig Lawler match, on account of knowing it was going to have a crap finish. That, and I can't stay awake after boring Samoan squash matches.
Oh, and I took the liberty of milking your cow. Sure takes a while to get her warmed up, but them, bam, all at once"
Fantastic reference there, sir. And I agree that it was a little hard to get into the Hennig/Lawler match based on the assumption that the screwjob ending was already coming, but they did well to suck me in with the entertaining Hennig heelery.
Finally from Arnold_OldSchool: "Ustinov and the Baron actually stole the famous Bill Watts russian flag burial angle... Only Baron got covered in the studio and the effect in the box office wasn't there"
There are worse people to steal booking ideas from than Bill Watts, since Mid-South was cooking as one of the strongest television territories for a good long while. Sadly, nothing would have had an effect on the box office for the AWA in 1988 and further on. That horse was WELL out of the barn and they were pretty well out of money-drawing ideas.
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:42:07 GMT -6
AWA Championship Wrestling Larry Nelson welcomes us to the AWA studios and talks up the matches that we're going to see on this show and takes us back to an interview he was conducting with Baron Von Raschke, who was dressed like a librarian I might add, when Soldat Ustinov broke a board over Baron's head. Nelson freaks out and screams for help while Ustinov drapes the Russian flag over the prone Von Raschke. This leads to another promo from Ustinov with another board and this one says Baron Von Raschke on it in Rusian. Ustinov drags Teijo Kahn out from off-camera and breaks the Baron's board over Kahn's head. Nelson nearly has a stroke again, then we cut back to the studios with him talking about how the feud between the Baron and the two crazies is really starting to heat up, before he throws us to the first match. Match One: Ricky Rice vs. Hurricane Kid No entrances for either man so this is definitely a battle of the jobbers. Rod Trongard and Verne Gagne are on the call as Kid and Rice hit a couple of lockups that both lead to clean brea...NO THEY DON'T!! Hurricane Kid gets a sneaky chop off of his break and Rice pays him back with a couple of armdrag takeovers that send Kid to the outside to think it over for a minute. Headlock from Kid and Rice shoots him into the ropes for a shoulderblock, moving to a standing arm-wringer, but Kid flips over and kicks away from it. Kid takes the side headlock again and Rice shoots him in again for a shoulderblock and a leapfrog before another armdrag takeover into an armbar. Kid misses a right hand and ends up getting taken over with another armdrag, though Kid is able to reverse the armbar into a headscissors. Irish whip into the ropes and Kid hits a dropkick before sending Rice through the ropes to the floor. Kid goes outside and slams his head into the apron, rolling him back into the ring and taking over with some heelish nonsense. Snap mare takeover into a reverse chinlock, because what this match needs is a resthold. Rice reverses an Irish whip into the corner and gets a hip toss and a couple of big dropkicks before "hitting" a flying cross-bodyblock off the ropes for the three-count. Winner: Ricky Rice (pinfall, flying cross-bodyblock) Match Analysis: The only color in the entire match was the Hurricane Kid's floral tights. Both guys were new, green and boring, which meant that that's exactly how the match was. It looked like there was a lot of thinking going on and not a lot of reacting, and the crowd was sitting on their hands for virtually the entire match. Not so good. After the break, Larry Nelson's holding the broken board and he brings in Baron Von Raschke and then goes back to when Ustinov broke the board over Teijo Kahn's head. Baron grabs the board and throws it on the ground, saying that Baron doesn't care who Sheik sends to help Ustinov before breaking his own board over his head and screaming at them. He says that it's burning in his gut that Ustinov tried to put him out of wrestling before threatening that he's going to find a surprise of his own. THE CLAW IS ALL THEY'LL NEED TO KNOW!! Match Two: Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bob Orton and Curt Hennig Four solid hands here so this should hopefully be a pretty good match. Orton and McDaniel start things out and McDaniel threatens him with a chop before they hit a lockup. Orton gets some forearms in the corner and tries an Irish whip but McDaniel reverses it and gets a big knife-edge chop that puts Orton down. Tag to Hennig and McDaniel works him over with some chope before Hennig drops down for a single-leg takedown. He drags McDaniel out of the ring to the floor but nearly gets chopped out of his boots before they both make their way back into the ring. Side headlock by Wahoo and he tags in Gagne who gets a shot to the gut and then takes Hennig over with his own headlock. Hennig shoots Gagne off the ropes and takes a hip toss and an armdrag before he goes to Gagne's eyes to stop the momentum. Hennig tags in Orton but Gagne almost gets a roll-up for a quick pinfall before armdragging him over and tagging in Wahoo. Armbar from McDaniel he takes Orton over, though he's too close to his own corner and he makes the tag to Hennig, even on his back. Hennig stomps away at McDaniel and then drops down for a front facelock that McDaniel eventually reverses into a hammerlock. A couple of two-counts as McDaniel has Hennig tied up and Hennig has to continually bridge out of the pin attempts. Hennig gets himself out from that predicament and gets back on top, stomping away at Wahoo before tagging Orton in for an atomic drop. McDaniel gets an atomic drop of his own and tags in Gagne, but Gagne misses a dropkick and takes some punishment from Orton, including a HUGE one-armed backbreaker. A tag to Hennig and he gets a couple of backbreakers of his own for a long two-count and Gagne is back to his feet with them trading shots before Gagne gets a near-fall. Hennig tags in Orton and he works over Gagne a little before pushing him into the corner and hitting some shoulderblocks. Hennig tags in but walks right into the Gagne sleeper and all four men are in the ring, as Orton breaks up the sleeper. They brawl a little and Gagne gets thrown over the top rope for the disqualification. Winners: Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel (disqualification, Gagne over the top rope) Match Analysis: Not a bad match, but it really could have used more time. Like most things on the AWA shows at this point, it looked like the beginning of a good match, and the end crammed on the end, with no middle section at all. another five minutes and this would have been a lot better. Not to say that it was bad because there were four true professionals in the ring that knew how to get things done. It just needed a little more time to not feel so rushed. They continue to brawl after the match is thrown out, with Orton doing the damage on the inside hitting a PILEDRIVER ON WAHOO!! Gagne and Hennig fight it out on the outside but that breaks up as soon as Orton makes his way outside the ring as Gagne rolls into the ring to check on McDaniel. Match Three: Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Kevin Collins This should be a technical masterpiece I'm thinking. El-Kaissie jaws the crowd a little bit before getting a standing armbar and going to the eyes. Collins backs off and they go right back to a lockup. Sheik bites at Collins' head and shoves him off before he ducks under for a single-leg takedown into a leglock. Stomp to the gut from Sheik before he rakes his nails down Collins' back. Collins pushes El-Kaissie into the corner and gives him a clean break, prompting Sheik to run down the crowd again. Double-nerve pinch from Sheik and he grabs Collins by the hair, ramming him into the top turnbuckle numerous times before raking the eyes again. Sheik with a bodyslam and he gets the abdominal stretch, holding the trunks on the back end and the referee doesn't see the cheating, he only hears the submission! It's all over and Sheik wins with the Camel Stretch!! Winner: Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie (submission, Camel Stretch) Match Analysis: Short and inoffensive, but it's one of those situations where Sheik didn't need to be in the ring. He was far too old to do anything useful, but Verne was running out of talent and needed every guy that he could, so it led to matches like this. It was what it was, which was Sheik cheating and not taking any bumps before finishing the match quickly. Meh. Crowd was fairly dead for it too, and I can't blame them. Again, Larry Nelson goes on and on about the board breaking in the AWA studios and he suggests that Sgt. Slaughter could be someone that Baron could bring in to help him out. We see a video package of Slaughter in action, with a horrible song that honestly sounds like it wouldn't feel out of place in Team America: World Police. This is actually going to be a match instead of a video pacakge and it looks like it's from a couple years previous at least, if not longer since it's from the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Match Four: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Mike Moore Slaughter gets a couple of lockups and they both shove each other away. Slaughter shoves Moore down to his ass off of another lockup before Moore gets a side headlock. Moore shot into the ropes and no give on the shoulderblock. Slaughter whips him into the ropes for a big back-bodydrop, following that up with a standing dropkick and a reverse elbow. HARD forearm shot against the ropes and Slaughter gets a warning from the referee before Moore goes in and rakes the eyes of Slaughter, following that up with a couple of elbows and a hard Irish whip into the corner. Slaughter takes things over soon enough, ducking under a chop and getting a big clothesline, sneaking up behind Moore for THE COBRA CLUTCH!!! MOORE HAS TO GIVE IT UP!! Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (submission, Cobra Clutch) Match Analysis: Man, what is with the incredibly short squashes tonight? It feels like they're trying to jam way too much into the time they have, which makes everything mean less because the people don't have time to process it all. Slaughter looked good as usual and got in all his spots. Again, nothing overly bad about this one, but it was just there, with no real rhyme or reason. Match Five: Badd Company vs. The Midnight Rockers No entrance for Badd Company which makes me rather sad. The Rockers are the champions but their titles aren't on the line for this match, which Lee Marshall says about ten times during the introductions. I wonder if there will be a screwy finish since it's non-title. NAHHHHHHH. Michaels and Diamond lock it up and Diamond gets away from Michaels and does a little strutting before he gets a go-behind and takes Michaels down. Michaels shrugs him off and out through the ropes to the floor, which leads Diamond to think things over for a moment outside. Michaels gets a standing armbar once Diamond gets back into the ring, but his advantage is short-lived and Diamond gets a couple of shoulderblocks in the corner. Some quick back and forth action before Michaels gets a big hip toss and an armdrag takeover into an armbar. Tag to Jannetty and he gets a fireman's carry on Diamond, tagging Michaels back in and he gets a double-arm wringer that puts him over and onto his back. Diamond to his feet and he rushes Michaels over to his corner, tagging in Tanaka as Michaels tags in Jannetty. They talk a little shit and shove each other, with Jannetty getting the better of it. Not for long though as Tanaka gets a short thrust kick that lands on the jaw and stuns Jannetty. He recovers quick though and ends up taking the advantage back over Tanaka, locking in an armbar and it sounds like the crowd is REALLY being sweetened for the main event since there's a ton of noise but no one in the crowd is moving. Shoulderblock off the ropes from Jannetty and he follows that up with a beautiful dropkick that sends Tanaka flying. Tanaka gets back to his feet with a side headlock but gets shot into the ropes, taking a big back-bodydrop and Tanaka wants a moment to talk things over with Diamond. The Rockers take a second and talk strategy themselves, with Jannetty tagging in Michaels. Side headlock from Tanaka and he gets shot into the ropes, getting a couple of shoulderblocks on Michaels before eating a big right hand. Another right hand for Diamond and all four men are in the ring brawling, with a double-dropkick putting Tanaka and Diamond out to the floor, leaving the Rockers standing tall in the middle of the ring. Diamond and Michaels in the ring now with Michaels getting an arm-wringer on Diamond as Rod Trongard says AGAIN that this is a NON-TITLE MATCH!! Michaels gets shot into the ropes but he ends up getting tripped by Tanaka on the outside which leads to a heel phantom tag and a Tanaka near-fall. Tag to Diamond and he hits a BIG gut-wrench suplex for a long two-count. Quick tag back to Tanaka and Diamond gets a backbreaker on Diamond, holding him so that Tanaka can drop the elbow. Tanaka gets a two-count off of that move and he moves to a reverse chinlock. Michaels shoots him into the ropes, and gets a couple of shoulderblocks before Tanaka takes over again, putting Michaels down on his ass and allowing Diamond to make the exchange. Right hands from Diamond and he rams Michaels into the top turnbuckle before Irish whipping him into the corner. Diamond misses a charge and crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle, crawling over to tag Tanaka but it's too late because Michaels gets the HOT TAG!!! Jannetty in with bodyslams on both men and dropkicks for both to follow up. All four men in the ring and the heels end up rammed into each other. Jannetty and Tanaka are outside battling and Michaels tries to roll-up Diamond but ends up smashing the referee in the corner. Michaels has the pin for at least a five-count, but there's no referee which allows Tanaka to ram Jannetty into the ringpost, sneak back into the ring and just WAFFLE Michaels right in the throat. Diamond on top for the cover, the referee is back to his feet, 1-2-3!!! UPSET CITY, POPULATION BADD COMPANY!! Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, Tanaka-ference) Match Analysis: A really good little main event tag, which no doubt led to an extended progam with these two teams, since the heels got the win with some underhandedness. This was the match that really saved the show since it was four young, hungry, talented workers that could haul ass and do the flying, as well as the mat wrestling. A great appetizer for what I'm hoping was a full-blown feud. Larry Nelson comes back after taking a handful of hyperbole pills and he talks about the main event tag match, yelling and screaming before bringing in The Rockers "fresh from the ring", with Michaels even going so far as to be coughing after the shot in the throat. Nice touch when the interview probably took place a week before or a week after the match, if not longer. Jannetty says that night after night the Rockers defend the titles everywhere and that they've been in with bigger and better. If that's the way Badd Company is gonna play, then they're gonna have to pay!! Jannetty is PISSED off and says that the titles are their lives and that they're the best and they won't give them up. Jannetty does more yelling and threatening as Michaels "can't talk" from the throat shot and that does it for today's episode of the AWA!! Final Thoughts A mixed bag as the first forty-five minutes was a mixture of nostalgia and horrible wrestling and the last fifteen was actually really solid wrestling and the start of a hopefully hot angle. The main event saved the show from being a complete thumbs down, but it wasn't enough to drag it all the way to a thumbs up. To me this was a middle of the road show and it just showed how thin the talent pool was for the AWA as they had to rely on sixty year old Sheik Adnan and a Sgt. Slaughter match from a couple of years before to fill out the hour. Sad, sad, sad. Fun With Comments From Eric: "Oh the ups and downs of the 1987-88 season. Verne Gagne actually didn't have a bad line-up mix of veterans (those who either left the NWA or weren't good enough to move on to the WWF at the time, of course). This could certainly be considered the AWA's last gasp. The major problem that Verne had even to this point was the fact that he still had this belief that he could run with the big dogs. He could have dialed down the large arenas and stopped playing to empty houses. He didn't. And, along with Memphis and Dallas...the promotion would die within 18 months or so. It's kind of sad because the late 80's timeframe was significant for the amount of developmental talent being used. In many ways, the AWA got younger, and while not everyone came out of Rheingan's school in Minnesota, Verne was still signing younger talent from smaller promotions and giving them their first real national exposure. The Midnight Rockers are a prime example of that (Jannetty from Central States and Michaels from Cental States and Southwest Championship Wrestling). Badd Company was the same way: Diamond came from Joe Blanchard's promotion in San Antonio as well. So the young talent was there. On to the show itself: Steve Olsonoski (or Steve O) was your typical Gagne non-descript curtain-jerker: knew all the holds, could put together a decent scientific match. And, like Brad Rheingans, was a designated face - and usually lost. But, put him in the ring with Gagne in a TV title match, you get one of the most boring matches in history. To have Trongard call it one of the most anticipated matches in history is a REAL stretch. Better feuds could have been created with Adonis or Orton. They did run a small Gagne/Adonis feud - they'd feuded with their respective tag team partners in Jim Brunzell and Jesse Ventura. Heheh, I would have gladly accepted a High Flyers/East-West Connection match about now. So you could see how far they'd fallen. The Midnight Rockers match, since we're in the 1988 timeframe, would be their last title run in the AWA before McMahon would sweep in...and also take the Nasty Boys with them. If there was one strength the AWA had even to the end, it was in tag teams. When all you had left were the Destruction Crew (aka Beverly Brothers in the WWF), and pieced-together tag teams (the Olympians - Reinghans and Ken Patera anyone?) you knew the hourglass was running out of sand. It was sad. The only saving grace was to see the future stars at this point. ...and I'm out." Good to see you back, Eric! Again, I agree with pretty much the entire thing and that this was the AWA's last gasp. The shows are bearing that out with boring action being the rule instead of the exception. The sad death march of the AWA rolls on and it just gets tougher and tougher to watch as it keeps going on. From Teh Dude: "It's Unamerican to dislike midget wrestling." I just can't get into it. Even when I was little I just didn't like it. I think it was just that it was so heavily into the comedy that it looked overly fake and it bugged me. Not sure exactly what the reason was or is, but it takes a really good one for me to want to get into it. Finally from G-Walla: "Midget wrestling, I couldn't get into it, tonight, but it was amusing for this reason. Earlier in the evening, while watching tv with the family (I'm exciting on Friday nights), I referenced Chris Jericho's autobiography, by blurting out "We've got midgets next Thursday!" Only, my mother heard "We've got Midget Sex Thursday!" So, hilarity was had by all. Yeah, didn't get into this show at all. then again, I worked 10 hours, and I rebooted my computer right before the show came on, and it wouldn't come back on. So, I fucked with it during the show to no success. boo-urns, indeed. Seriously, though, I was anticipating Steve-O and Gagne. Unfortunately, I was wanting that guy from CKY to get in the ring with Greg. Maybe next time." Yeah, that's not something you want to have misheard, but at least your mom was cool about it instead of possibly suggesting some sort of therapy for you. I don't blame you for giving up on the show to work on the computer, because if i had my choice I'd have probably found something else to do too. Midget sex...that's hilarious.
|
|
|
Post by CW .org .info .net on Feb 7, 2023 13:42:58 GMT -6
1988
AWA Championship Wrestling
We're at the Showboat and Larry Nelson is ringside with Verne Gagne, with them talking about the renewal of the contract between the AWA and ESPN. Gagne is excited, talking about two or three or four more years of great wrestling action on ESPN. It's 1988, so I don't even think Verne got to the two years he was talking about. They talk about all the great action we're going to be seeing in today's show and then we get a commercial break two minutes in.
Match One: AWA Tag Team Championship Pistol Pete and Buddhakahn vs. The Midnight Rockers (c)
Rod Trongard and Lee Marshall are at ringside for the call on this one and the action starts out with Pete and Jannetty as Jannetty gets a standing arm-wringer in the middle of the ring that gets reversed by Pete. He forearms Jannetty down but he gets the tag to Michaels after firing back with a couple of shots and they double-team Pete with a whip into the ropes and a double-DDT. Michaels covers and gets the 1-2-3? Wow, that was brisk.
Winners: The Midnight Rockers (pinfall, double-DDT)
Match Analysis: Who did Pete piss off behind the curtain to get completely destroyed like that in such an embarassing fashion. One move and he gets pinned. He must have made fun of Verne's lisp or something.
Match Two: The Surfer vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder
The Surfer is the jobber, while Rocky Mountain Thunder is some guy that looks like a junior high school teacher with a HIDEOUS mullet and a gigantic mustache. Just to perpetuate the sterotype of him being from the mountains, he has a piece of rope for a belt. Why not a tattered extension cord or something Verne? Thunder takes over with some hard shots and a snap mare, sending Surfer flying before hip tossing him out of the corner. They both try for a bodyslam and Thunder wins that one, slamming him HARD. Turnbuckle smash by Thunder and he picks him up for a HOLY JESUS I THINK HE CRIPPLED HIM!!! It was like a completely unprotected Widow's Peak move. Wow, that was REALLY dangerous. Luckily Surfer can still walk, but Thunder just hip tosses him out of the corner again, pinning him for the three-count.
Winner: Rocky Mountan Thunder (pinfall, hip toss)
Match Analysis: Three words. What. The. Fuck? I'm moving on before my head explodes.
Larry Nelson pimps Mr. Thunder and then pimps the main event featuring Debbie Combs and Ms. Olympia before throwing it to comments from the Rock n' Roll Express about the AWA. Ricky Morton says that they're there to face the best the AWA has to offer and that they want the tag team titles, no matter who's holding them.
Match Three: Daryl Nickle vs. Baron Von Raschke
Nickle attacks Baron from behind while he's taking off his robe, hitting him with knees and forearms in the corner before biting Baron's forehead. Baron takes over with a reverse elbow and fires a couple of right hands off before ramming Nickle into the top turnbuckle. Baron whips him into the ropes for a knee and Baron just squeezes on the face and head of Nickle. Snap mare over and Baron gets an armdrag, stomping on Nickle's chest before snap maring him over once again. Baron rakes away at the face and whips Nickle into the ropes for a back bodydrop, goose-stepping his way right into the CLAW HOLD!!! He mounts Nickle with it and gets the pinfall!!
Winner: Baron Von Raschke (pinfall, CLAW HOLD!!)
Match Analysis: Must be something in the water in the jobber dressing room because they're just getting ripped apart in no time tonight. Cool to see Baron in action, but he really shouldn't have been because he was just way too old to do anything of note. He still had some support from the crowd, but really who else were they going to cheer for? Rocky Mountain Thunder?
Match Four: Mando Guerrero and Ricky Rice vs. Badd Company
Nelson calls this an "Australian Tag Team Match", which I've heard before on some of the old World Championship Wrestling shows with Gordon Solie, but I have no clue what it means so, meh. Sad to see Mando Guerrero being reduced to jobber status though, especially having to be stuck with Ricky Rice. This sounds like Mando's first AWA appearance as the announcers talk about his father Gory, as well as his background and family like it's all new information. Guerrero and Tanaka start things out and Tanaka doesn't look like he knows what to do with the speed of Guerrero. A lockup leads to Guerrero giving Tanaka a clean break against the ropes. Guerrero gets a deep hammerlock into a takedown and then surfboards Tanaka on the mat before jumping onto his back and sunset-flipping him over for two. Guerrero front flips over to the heel corner and scares both of them half to death. Diamond tags in and gets a HUGE press slam on Guerrero before he flings him through the ropes to the floor.
Guerrero hops back up to the apron but Diamond just sends him flying out through the ropes on the other side. Diamond tries it for a third time but Mando catches himself in the ropes and mocks Diamond, pissing Diamond off into a charge, which Mando avoids, sending Diamond through the ropes and to the floor. Mando hits a tope to the floor, which the camera mostly misses and then he backflips off the top rope while Diamond is on the floor. Tag in to Ricky Rice and things should go downhill from here. Standing arm-wringer gets reversed by Diamond into a side headlock. Rice tries to shoot Diamond into the ropes but he won't let go. A second attempt gets him free and there's a shoulderblock and a dropkick from Rice on Diamond. Tanaka in and he gets one too!! Both are out to the floor and trying to get themselves together as Rice and Guerrero stand tall in the middle of the ring.
Diamond slides back in and takes over with a knee to the gut and a big bodyslam on Rice, tagging in Tanaka but Tanaka misses a diving headbutt and staggers into his own corner. Diamond grabs Rice and takes over with a cheap shot and Tanaka gets a right hand into a side headlock. Shoulderblock from Tanaka as he's shot into the ropes and he runs the ropes again right into a cross-bodyblock from Rice that gets a two-count. Around this point in the contest, someone on the hard camera side decides to be cute and wave around a sign with a rather dergoatory term for homosexuals. Scraping the bottom of the gene pool when you're going to Las Vegas to see the AWA I suppose.Rice with the tag to Guerrero and Tanaka is begging off. MONKEY FLIP FOR TANAKA!! MONKEY FLIP FOR DIAMOND!!! It's short-lived though as Diamond attacks from behind and Tanaka then takes over with an Irish whip that gets reversed before Tanaka does his cartwheel into a thrust kick spot.
Chops from Tanaka and he tags in Diamond for an Irish whip into a BIG clothesline. Diamond gets an Irish whip but Guerrero sunset flips him for a two-count. They mess up a cross-body spot but get it right the second time for another Guerrero two-count. Irish whip into the corner by Diamond but he misses the charge and gets crotched on the second turnbuckle. Tanaka is in and Rice dropkicks him and gives another to Tanaka. All four men in the ring and Rice is trying to push Diamond into the ropes for a roll-up. WAFFLED in the throat by Tanaka and A KICK IN THE THROAT!! Diamond hooks the leg and gets the 1-2-3!!!
Match Analysis: A really fun little tag match that actually made you think that Rice and Guerrero might get the upset. You knew damn well they wouldn't, but Tanaka and Diamond sold like champs and with Guerrero doing most of the heavy lifting for the face team, it kept Rice from screwing the match up with his greenness. A very, very good tag match for what was essentially an established team against a job team. Well done by all four men.
We're in a wood-paneled office and it's Curious George with a cowboy hat in the office talking about how when you want the inside wrestling knowledge, you come talk to the "Big K". He talks about Badd Company and how great they are, saying that he's found a weakness in the Midnight Rockers and that if Badd Company would listen to him that they could be world champions. He moves on to Baron Von Raschke getting hit with the board and talks about watching films from Singapore. That's just sick and depraved and absolut...oh, he meant wrestling tapes and he's talking about Teijo Kahn from Singapore. We get the shot of Ustinov breaking the board over Kahn's head again. The guy behind the desk claims to be the voice of professional wrestling in North America. Ugh. Just a worthless segment all the way around.
We're back from the break and it's mat classic time, from Denver, Colorado on September 13, 1981. Greg Gagne is in the studio introducing the clip of a six-man tag team battle!!
Match Five: Adrian Adonis, Jesse Ventura and Crusher Blackwell vs. Jim Brunzell, Greg Gagne and Hulk Hogan
Joined in progress with Gagne trying to make a tag to Hogan and he gets it with the crowd going wile. Hogan works over Adnois and Ventura as Blackwell takes out Gagne and Brunzell on the outside. Hogan hits a BIG elbow to the head of Adonis off the ropes and then whips him in for an AXE BOMBER!! It only gets a two-count as Ventura breaks up the pin. Whip in by Hogan and a big boot!! LEGDROP!! Brunzell is in the corner fighting with Ventura and Blackwell hits a headbutt to Hogan's back to break up the pin attempt. Blackwell with a HUGE slam on Gagne and Adonis goes up top to splash on him but Hogan throws him off the top with a slam. BIG RIGHT HAND to Blackwell sends him outside. Hogan gets Ventura in the corner, hammering away before sending him into Adonis with an Irish whip. The faces clear the ring and the clip ends there.
Match Analysis: The glory days of the AWA, which just makes the shows that they had to put on in the late-80's that much sadder. It was great to get to see Adonis here as well because he was in the best shape I've ever seen him in. A great six-man brawl, though it would have been more fun if we got to see a finish. The crowd was MOLTEN for the entire thing as well.
Match Six: Ms. Olympia vs. Debbie Combs
This one is for a number one contender's slot to the AWA Women's Champion, Madusa Miceli. Combs makes her way to the ring with Madusa in her corner, and Madusa has her arm in a sling, I'm guessing from a previous title defense. She still looks skanktastic though, even with the sling. At least it's her left arm in the sling, since I've always preferred righties. Combs and Miceli walk around ringside, badmouthing the crowd and the announcers. Combs makes her way into the ring and immediately pushes Olympia into the ropes for a hard forearm shot. She throws Olympia down into a splash and gets a two-count before she gets a front facelock, pulling Olympia's hair behind the referee's back. Combs chokes away on that front facelock and then chokes her across the top rope before clubbing her down with a forearm to the back. Standing dropkick from Combs and she gets another long two-count as the crowd is pretty much dead for this one. Side headlock from Combs, which I'm sure will liven things right up. More choking across the top rope and she just STEPS ON OLYMPIA!! Camera cuts to Miceli on the outside, looking white hot as always and I have to say that in this period, she was really at her peak.
Combs with an Irish whip into the ropes and she clotheslines Olympia down before jawing with the crowd. Forearm smash to the chest by Combs, and to say that Combs is a handsome woman would be an understatement. She whips Olympia in again for another big clothesline and gets another LONG two-count off of that. Combs pushes Olympia into the corner with a couple of knees but gets reversed on an Irish whip into the corner. Olympia with some shots and she gets a slingshot on Combs, and ANOTHER!! The crowd is finally into it and Combs is on her way to the floor to get consoled by Madusa Miceli. Combs gets back into the ring and gets a single-leg takedown into a leglock, using the ropes for extra leverage. She then uses Madusa on the outside for the extra leverage. Rod Trongard: "Come on Madusa, get out of there!!" Me: "Yeah, go back to the showers!!! PLEASE!!" The referee catches them and makes Combs break the hold and she does, leading to a bodyslam that gets another two-count for Combs. Choking from Combs in the middle of the ring before she rakes at the eyes.
A shitty looking knee lands for Combs and she gets an Irish whip that gets reversed into a bodypress by Olympia that only gets a one-count. Combs comes right back but ends up getting clotheslined down by Olympia and she's all FIRED UP NOW!! Dropkick from Olympia and a forearm to the face that gets a two-count. BIG slam from Olympia and it's another close two-count. Combs gets a trip on Olympia and works over a double-leglock, adding a chinlock for even more pressure on the legs and back. Olympia rolls over and kicks Combs away, working her over with forearm shots in the corner before Combs leans outside to talk to Madusa for a moment. Combs gets Olympia into a full nelson, but Olympia reverses it to one of her own and Olympia transitions to a bodyscissors on the mat. Combs turns into it and starts choking away at picks Olympia up for a snap mare into a two-count. Olympia gets a sunset flip off the ropes but it's only a two-count. Combs gets a slam on Olympia and the time limit has run out on the match!!
Winner: None (time limit draw)
Match Analysis: A decent women's match, but nothing that really set the world on fire. Combs could work, Olympia looked a little green and Miceli was the hottest chick out of them all, on the outside. It just didn't seem to do a lot for me, and the announcers kept hammering home that it didn't make sense for Madusa to be in Combs' corner when they'd end up wrestling if Combs won, but they never paid it off. I guess it's just personal opinion, but it was just one of those matches that was there.
After the match, Combs continues to beat on Olympia, getting a big suplex before heading out to celebrate with Madusa. Larry Nelson announces it as a time limit draw and gets backed down by Combs and Miceli, cowering like a bitch as the show fades to black.
Final Thoughts
Another middle of the road show from the AWA. They really should have had the tag match with Badd Company in the main event slot since it was a hot tag match that seemed to really have the crowd along with it. I'm always kind of weird in thinking that the best match should be in the main event slot, but that's just me. The mat classic, as I said before, was great to see, but really sad to see at the same time. The first half-hour sucked because of how quick the matches were, but things managed to pick up a little bit at the tail end.
Fun With Comments
From OB1 Jabroni: "The more I watch Bad Company now the second time around, the more I dig them. Easily one of the most underrated teams of the day. I can't seem to shake the midget sex comment from G-Walla from my mind. Thanks for the sleepless nights ahead bro lol"
I agree about Badd Company, because they were a really great team, and I'm glad that they got some semblance of due as The Orient Express. It's just too bad that that turquoise zebra-print look didn't follow them to the WWF. That would have been instant money.
From ZERO BUYS!: "Midget sex...that's hilarious.
There are DVDs available of that."
Ew. Just....EWW.
From G-Walla: "OB1, I do what I can.
Slaughter's music saved this show for me. That and Larry Nelson freaking out every few minutes. I was hoping for a few more segments with the Baron and Ustinov or whatever that Russian guy's name is. I obviously can't be bothered to scroll up the page to see.
I did miss hearing Badd Company, though."
I also missed hearing Badd Company, and the Slaughter music was terrible. Just terrible. The Baron and Ustinov segments weren't completely awful but you didn't miss much, trust me.
From Arnold_OldSchool: "I wonder if the Sarge match is the same that was released on one of the AWA's VHS series (yes they put squash matches on Best of Comps) Sarge even referenced the WWF in his 1st AWA promo IIRC"
I believe I've actually seen the Slaughter VHS in question and I think that match is indeed on that tape. You've got to love references to the competition with your first promo in the new company though. Way to get in good with the boss.
Finally from Joe K. : "Randy, you're right. Some team needs to bring back the slingshot into the DDT. It's great not only because it looks cool but because it leads to a lot of possibilities for counters & different match finishes (say, slingshot into a crossbody by accident).
And I didn't know the epidemic of Russians using boards as weapons was so rampant!It was like Nelson was doing a PSA for it."
I honestly thought that a move like that slingshot finisher would have been perfect for a team like TWGTT when they were running on top with the tag belts. Nowadays, a team like the Motor City Machine Guns could use a move like that and get it over like crazy. Yes, the board thing was going a little overboard, though it was funny to hear Nelson's "OH CRIMENY, JEEZ AND CHIMNEY!!!" when he was freaking out over Ustinov cracking the board over Kahn's head. Great unintentional comedy there.
That does it for the comments and does it for another edition of the AWA on ESPN Classic here at 411mania.com. Cheap Seats has a spelling bee and I love watching kids get mocked, so I'll see you all tomorrow for more wrestling action.
|
|