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Brody and Friends talk about the AWA (Brody has no friends)
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BruiserBrody
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Nord working as a face briefly in late 87 doesn't ring any bells.
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Maybe it was a heel Vs heel match where Nord was defacto babyface? “I might be a brute but I do not like Communism! HUSS(A)”
BruiserBrody
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I looked it up but failed to mention that Nord only worked 4 matches. One as Wahoo's face partner vs Condrey/Rose and then weeks later he worked Soldat a few times with the gimmick that he was trying to get his hands on Sheik Adnan.'
He may never have made TV for this run??
In true Brody fashion, Nord no showed his last 2 dates.
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One of the eye rolling aspects of Greg's interview above is him saying "In the AWA you had to wrestle. Those guys in the WWWF who were world champs couldn't get over here because they couldn't wrestle. Pedro Morales came here and couldn't get past the 2nd match"
All fibs. The biggest stars in terms of box office for the AWA were Crusher and then Hogan, who came along as arenas got bigger and Hulkamania broke most records the AWA had. After Hogan left Blackwell and the Road Warriors out drew Rick Martel.
I mean the most famous tag team, Crusher and Bruiser, didn't even bump. And their most famous feud was against 2 other brawlers (the Vachons). After that I'd say the Blackjacks were their 2nd most famous matches.
The outliers were the Hi Flyers, Bockwinkel, Stevens, Billy Robinson, Verne, Red Bastien, Laurent Soucie, Brad Rheingans etc.
And back to Greg's point.... WWWF champs Ivan Koloff and Superstar Graham were 2 of Verne's biggest draws in the 70s.
Guys Verne trained and pushed like Patera and Bob Remus could work, but weren't going to be the hammerlock, reverse, arm drag, grappler types.
www.wrestlingdata.com
Peeking into Pedro's AWA results gives me a "Match you didn't think happened" as Backlund works Greg Gagne in a babyface match in Chicago.
All fibs. The biggest stars in terms of box office for the AWA were Crusher and then Hogan, who came along as arenas got bigger and Hulkamania broke most records the AWA had. After Hogan left Blackwell and the Road Warriors out drew Rick Martel.
I mean the most famous tag team, Crusher and Bruiser, didn't even bump. And their most famous feud was against 2 other brawlers (the Vachons). After that I'd say the Blackjacks were their 2nd most famous matches.
The outliers were the Hi Flyers, Bockwinkel, Stevens, Billy Robinson, Verne, Red Bastien, Laurent Soucie, Brad Rheingans etc.
And back to Greg's point.... WWWF champs Ivan Koloff and Superstar Graham were 2 of Verne's biggest draws in the 70s.
Guys Verne trained and pushed like Patera and Bob Remus could work, but weren't going to be the hammerlock, reverse, arm drag, grappler types.
AWA @ Chicago (1977-06-18) - Results @ Wrestlingdata.com
AWA @ Chicago (1977-06-18) - Results
Peeking into Pedro's AWA results gives me a "Match you didn't think happened" as Backlund works Greg Gagne in a babyface match in Chicago.
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AWA Unleashed!- Episode 100- Marty Jannetty - AWA Unleashed
”The Voice of Minnesota Wrestling” Mick Karch, wrestling historian George Schire and Chris Tubbs recap the glory days of the historic and influential American Wrestling Association.
BruiserBrody
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I am weak and I am now listening to the Groovy Greg podcast.
Gagne is looking at ebay and the figures he's releasing are exploding on the secondary market. "$1800 for Stan Hansen"
I have to look this up. No way he's reading this right....
Some are sitting with an asking price of 230. Nice start Gagne!
Gagne says Remco had TMNT toys alongside the AWA brand. WRONG! Damn you Gagne, DAMN YOU!
Gagne is still indicating they are not making any money on the figures.
Gagne wants a Hans Schmidt action figure. See Lord Dark Helmet's toy scene in Spaceballs.
On to modern talk as I fall off the toliet from boredom. Gagne calls it "The AEW" in tribute to Bret Hart. Gagne doesn't like the crude language. Kids are watching dang gum it.
Gagne has a Pegasus on his name for a backdrop. Benoit nods in approval.
RAW talk turns into Verne AWA TV coverage talk. Lots of TV talk about all their big numbers pre-cable.
50 mins in out of an hour before we hit Kerry talk.
Gagne fibs and says Verne went to WCCW when it first opened and dropped the AWA title to Fritz to kickstart the promotion. Title change was in Omaha (The spin off AWA title-disputed) in 1963 and the switch lasted 12 days.
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Gagne is looking at ebay and the figures he's releasing are exploding on the secondary market. "$1800 for Stan Hansen"
I have to look this up. No way he's reading this right....
Some are sitting with an asking price of 230. Nice start Gagne!
Gagne says Remco had TMNT toys alongside the AWA brand. WRONG! Damn you Gagne, DAMN YOU!
Gagne is still indicating they are not making any money on the figures.
Gagne wants a Hans Schmidt action figure. See Lord Dark Helmet's toy scene in Spaceballs.
On to modern talk as I fall off the toliet from boredom. Gagne calls it "The AEW" in tribute to Bret Hart. Gagne doesn't like the crude language. Kids are watching dang gum it.
Gagne has a Pegasus on his name for a backdrop. Benoit nods in approval.
RAW talk turns into Verne AWA TV coverage talk. Lots of TV talk about all their big numbers pre-cable.
50 mins in out of an hour before we hit Kerry talk.
Gagne fibs and says Verne went to WCCW when it first opened and dropped the AWA title to Fritz to kickstart the promotion. Title change was in Omaha (The spin off AWA title-disputed) in 1963 and the switch lasted 12 days.
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alkeiper
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I bet Curt Schilling would buy one.
BruiserBrody
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Plus lots and lots of modern day talk.....
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When was Shane Douglas in AWA, Brod?
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Given the location, this must be promoted by Denucci: Other than TV tapings AWA was only running sold shows by this point,
3/4/89 – Pittsburgh, PA
Sgt. Slaughter defeated AWA Champion Larry Zbyszko via DQ
Wahoo McDaniel defeated Manny Fernandez via count out
Greg Gagne defeated Tommy Rich
AWA Tag Team Champions Badd Company Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond defeated Ken Patera & Terry Gibbs
AWA Women’s Champion Wendi Richter defeated Ms. Olympia
Johnny Valiant defeated Dante Denucci
Shane Douglas defeated RC Anderson
Reported Attendance: 3,510
3500 might be the record for AWA that year.
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That’s a better crowd than SuperClash III!
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*requests a courtesy pillow*
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I've caught clips of Greg's pod again. This week is on Flair. Doesn't seem to be anything new there. He told the Flair story they shared on the ESPN doc about standing on the second story of a frat house and whipping his wee wee out.
Verne trained Flair, me, Patera, Bob Bruggers....blah blah blah...
Greg's home internet appears to be dial up from 2003 as every clip I watch he glitches out. His host doesn't ask him to repeat what we've missed and we just move along.
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Comiskey Park 1980
"Superbowl VI"
July 14, 1980 in Chicago, IL
Comiskey Park drawing 12,000
Tito Santana drew Paul Christy.
Steve Regal beat Roger Kirby.
Wee Willie beat Mighty Atlas.
Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan via countout.
Bobo Brazil beat Super Destroyer Mark II.
Wilbur Snyder NC Pat O'Connor.
Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel (22:06) via sleeperhold to win the AWA World Title.
The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon beat Adrian Adonis and Jerry Valiant.
Jerry Blackwell beat Dick the Bruiser.
Jerry Blackwell won a "battle royal." Also in the match were: Adrian Adonis, Bobo Brazil, Paul Christy, The Crusher, Greg Gagne, Tim Hampton, Roger Kirby, Pat O'Conner, Steve Regal, Billy Robinson, Tito Santana, Super Destroyer Mark II, Mad Dog Vachon, and Jerry Valiant.
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12K seems to be a disappointment. You would think with overhead that running the Rosemont or whatever arena the AWA ran in Chicago at the time would have been more profitable given what they ended up drawing.
(Verne vs Robinson drew 22K, Bock vs Andre and Crusher/Bruiser in a cage with Duncum and Lanza drew 15K)
AWA had run Stadiums every few years (The Met/Comiskey) which seems to be where the "Super Bowl 6" subtitle comes from - I heard promos for the main event that confirms it was billed as "Super Bowl 6" in the build.
Curious if this was built up as Verne's last shot or anything? Seems part of the build was that Bock had avoided Verne for the past 2 years. Not sure if Verne already teasing retirement as part of the build?
Any idea why Ventura missed this booking? He works with Adonis in all the matches before and after this card in July.
I am also wondering if the battle royal was a late add to try and combat sluggish ticket sales.
You'll be happy to know Verne sprung for fireworks for his victory.
The other old timers elsewhere informed me Verne spent months being celebrated on promos as having won the world title "at Super Bowl 6 at Comiskey Park". This card was Verne celebrating Verne.
Verne was a spry 54.
Pat O Connor 55
Mad Dog 51
Bock 46
Snyder 51
Crusher 54
Bobo 56
Bruiser 51
IP: Logged
"Superbowl VI"
July 14, 1980 in Chicago, IL
Comiskey Park drawing 12,000
Tito Santana drew Paul Christy.
Steve Regal beat Roger Kirby.
Wee Willie beat Mighty Atlas.
Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan via countout.
Bobo Brazil beat Super Destroyer Mark II.
Wilbur Snyder NC Pat O'Connor.
Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel (22:06) via sleeperhold to win the AWA World Title.
The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon beat Adrian Adonis and Jerry Valiant.
Jerry Blackwell beat Dick the Bruiser.
Jerry Blackwell won a "battle royal." Also in the match were: Adrian Adonis, Bobo Brazil, Paul Christy, The Crusher, Greg Gagne, Tim Hampton, Roger Kirby, Pat O'Conner, Steve Regal, Billy Robinson, Tito Santana, Super Destroyer Mark II, Mad Dog Vachon, and Jerry Valiant.
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12K seems to be a disappointment. You would think with overhead that running the Rosemont or whatever arena the AWA ran in Chicago at the time would have been more profitable given what they ended up drawing.
(Verne vs Robinson drew 22K, Bock vs Andre and Crusher/Bruiser in a cage with Duncum and Lanza drew 15K)
AWA had run Stadiums every few years (The Met/Comiskey) which seems to be where the "Super Bowl 6" subtitle comes from - I heard promos for the main event that confirms it was billed as "Super Bowl 6" in the build.
Curious if this was built up as Verne's last shot or anything? Seems part of the build was that Bock had avoided Verne for the past 2 years. Not sure if Verne already teasing retirement as part of the build?
Any idea why Ventura missed this booking? He works with Adonis in all the matches before and after this card in July.
I am also wondering if the battle royal was a late add to try and combat sluggish ticket sales.
You'll be happy to know Verne sprung for fireworks for his victory.
The other old timers elsewhere informed me Verne spent months being celebrated on promos as having won the world title "at Super Bowl 6 at Comiskey Park". This card was Verne celebrating Verne.
Verne was a spry 54.
Pat O Connor 55
Mad Dog 51
Bock 46
Snyder 51
Crusher 54
Bobo 56
Bruiser 51
IP: Logged
alkeiper
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The Chicago White Sox were owned by Bill Veeck at the time. They LOVED fireworks.
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16:35 VERNE "tries" to sing.
I wonder why Luce never came to work for the AWA full time by 1981 or so when the WWA was already in hospice mode? He was campy and beloved and would have made for some fun TV.
On that thought.. I wonder why Vince never snatched him during the expansion?
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Article clipped from The Oshkosh Northwestern
Clipping found in The Oshkosh Northwestern published in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on 7/12/1987.
www.newspapers.com
Bock's last AWA shot.
He was "injured" by Larry Z and Curt on TV via piledriver the night before. I forgot that detail as I thought he was written off after beating Larry Z on TV by using Larry's numb chucks against him to end their year and a half off and on angle.
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You wonder if this was Verne being told by the rookies about their idea for a punky tag team and Verne looking at them befuddled. "Nasty Boys? Like Chris Colt and the Chain Gang?, eh?" "No, No you boys are MERCANARIES!"
Knobbs would work as the Mercenary at one AWA mega show, teaming with Ron Fuller of all people to work Snuka and Russ Francis IIRC.
The WWF mag claimed a similar story with the jobbers Glen Ruth and Chaz Warrington pitching their HeadBanger gimmick to Chief Strongbow and getting rebuked.
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Verne Gagne Presents All Star Wrestling: Larry Zbyszko - VHS - AWA #8 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Verne Gagne Presents All Star Wrestling: Larry Zbyszko - VHS - AWA #8 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Not sure when Larry married Verne's Kid (I'm thinking 86 or 87) but HOW did Larry get one of the limited spots for a VHS release ahead of Crusher Blackwell, Bockwinkel, Groovy Greg etc?
They pumped out 2 waves of VHS tapes. One batch in 1985 in the same era from Pro Wrestling USA and then in 1989ish they released comps of Hogan, Road Warriors, Sarge and maybe others I'm not thinking of offhand.
Edit - World champ Martel doesn't even earn his own release!
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AWA Tag Team Title Wave Video Tape Someone Bought This?!
This is a VHS tape of matches from the AWA called Tag Team Title Wave.
Fucking triggered at the author calling this an AWA release when 3 of the guys never worked for Verne. I know the wrestlecrap guys know better!
Oh man I remember seeing that tape in some bin at a discount store and convincing my mother to buy it for me. Tape quality was so poor it was basically not .viewable
I swear there was another one with Lawler and Bundy on the cover
I swear there was another one with Lawler and Bundy on the cover
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There's a ton of that series out there.
Source?: My basement. I have the Andre, Savage and Hogan ones on display on the shelves with all the figures of their respective wrestlers.
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Sit down and stop clapping Brod.
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"Ahhh cripes, Brody wouldn't do business!"
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Show kicks off with the host calling Greg "Gone-yeh" twice, which is wrong, I wasn't expecting that 7 or 8 episodes in.
Greg is asked about his HOF induction and trips over his words left and right as he tries to talk about it.
He then says he isn't going to write a speech as he likes to talk off the top of his head. After fumbling his words badly I was amused by this.'
Gagne then says he wants to ask the HOF to induct Magnum too. TA says "I was there a few years ago for an award" and Gagne is like "Ahh cripes, how embarrassing! Magnum beat me to this years ago!"
They turn to AEW talk so I violently fast forward.
Gagne does the math and determines the host isn't old enough to have seen he or Magnum work and tells him to start watching tapes!
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Greg: "Buck's daughter told me what he was doing"
Rob "Did you call the cops?"
Greg "How could I? They'd just say it was hearsay"
Proper follow up question "Didn't Verne hire Buck back 2 times after prison stays for statutory rape?"
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I'm seeing a little John Tolos in this one.
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Have to wonder if Grandpa Brody was there