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Brody and Friends talk about the AWA (Brody has no friends)

Super Leather

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snuffbox

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The massacre in Minneapolis is my second favorite Hogan match ever, just behind the 1990 match vs Hansen in Japan.
 

Super Leather

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Blue box was on TNT. Hulkamania 1 has all sorts of Hogan bladejobs. Haven't seen the tape since I was like 8 or 9 years old, but all the blood made quite an impression on me.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6

They added Madusa to CrusherFest....and Jumpin Jim and Groovy Greg!!!! I really want to go now! If they appear on that Saturday, I think I HAVE to go.
They have done a poor job clarifying what is going on with this event but finally announced that Bischoff, Madusa, Kenny Jay, Groovy Greg and Jumpin' Jim will be doing a roundtable...Friday night...outside of the CrusherFest event. No idea if they will be part of the rest of the weekend. May have to download 83 weeks on Monday and hope Eric clarifies.
As it stands, you have to pay 100 bucks to meet all 5 talents. 25 to listen to them chat. I don't think I can justify the 2 hour one way trip, especially if its a Fri night since I would barely have time to properly sleep before I would have to zoom down to Milwaukee.

1988 Toddler Brody is upset.

Where'd Madusa come from? I assume she must have watched the Crusher as a kid, otherwise this booking is as bad as Jerry Lawler's 2 years ago (Lawler no showed, but he had no Crusher connection anyway.)
Edit - yes I realize she was an AWA valet/wrestler!
 
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Valeyard

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Three years too soon and total shame it didn't happen. They'd have mangled each other.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6
I've mentioned it before on TSM, but when the AWA did their Team Challenge Series draft (just prior to the Pink Room of Doom taping) on the list of free agents who would possibly come in as Wild Card TCS member was Big Van Vader. Mind you this is the same year that the AWA teased Barry Windham coming in BY NAME while Windham was still NWA US champ. 1989 also saw Lee Marshall call a live event they aired on ESPN or whatever and as the card was going down Marshall was imploring fans to leave their couches and buy a ticket to see the rest of the show in person.

--

Because I am a fucking loser, while visiting my 74 year old mother this AM, I mentioned to her that I was thinking about going to CRUSHERFEST to see the Hi Flyers. I figured she knew them as her Daddy was a AWA fan. They didn't ring any bells in her head, so I wiped out a picture of them circa 1977. She looked at Greg and said "Is he the one who would go "WOOOOOO!" all the time?"
 

Valeyard

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You should go just to start shit between Eric and Greg. Or at least get Greg to elaborate on Verne inventing MMA in front of people.
 

snuffbox

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As good as a prime Vader vs Bruiser Brody match would've been, we got something at least as good with his Cactus Jack series in 1993.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6

I hope Groovy Greg has updated his made up stories!
Quick and Dirty review:

Greg laughs at a story about Bobby Heenan putting a newspaper over his lap and pretending to sleep on a plane, A stewardess moves the paper only to see Heenan's lil Bobby sticking out.

Brunzell says Hogan made 10 million dollars in 1985 alone. (He also says 50 grand a week).

Greg tells the mostly true story of how Vince chose LJN over Remco, so Remco went to the AWA for toys instead and beat Vince to the market, Gagne says the dude behind the deal made figures for 8 years (Line went 3 years) and made so much money that he retired wealthy.

Mad Dog Vachon started a riot in Milwaukee in a cage match with Da Crusher. They legit did not like one another and Vachon busted Crusher open with a bolt on the cage door. The fans stormed the cage to save their hero and Vachon body checked himself into the cage on all sides to knock the climbing fans into the 4th row, So much wrestler bullshit, but I smiled through the whole story.

They ask Gagne about the Team Challenge Series and Gagne explains how the AWA was actually ahead of the times and now split rosters and drafts are the norm for wrestling. Plus the NFL draft is a big ratings grabber.

Both Hi Flyers take turns explaining how modern wrestling has lost its soul. There are no real heels and no one works a match, they just bounce all over the place,
 

snuffbox

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God, that territory had some wildly good looking cards back in the day.
 

Valeyard

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The character work of DeBeers against a Strongbow of any name sounds interesting.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6

King Kamala

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Listening to the Double J podcast on SuperClash III and I either forgot or outright didn't know that the PPV was on a TUESDAY! Granted, I know a lot of the early PPVs were on weekdays (The Wrestling Classic on a Thursday IIRC, WrestleMania 2 and the first SummerSlam on a Monday). However, a Tuesday between Thanksgiving & Christmas (and Survivor Series & Starrcade in a day when PPVs were way more special) for a third tier promotion seems especially egregious.

Conrad speculated that it might have been because Tuesday was a dead night for wrestling and less fear that JCP or WWF would try to compete with them. Then Jeff Jarrett caught Connie mentioning that WWE was in Ft. Wayne, IN the night before and Jeff theorized that WWF was probably ready to add a last minute Chicago show to frig Verne over but decided it wasn't even worth the bother.


WWF @ Ft. Wayne, IN - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum - December 12, 1988
Harley Race vs. Scott Casey
The Red Rooster vs. ?
Akeem vs. Koko B. Ware
Mr. Perfect vs. Paul Roma
The Big Bossman vs. Sam Houston
Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Jacques & Raymond Rougeau
WWF IC Champion the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Honkytonk Man in a steel cage match

(That's not *that* much better than SuperClash III)

It's crazy that WWF was still strong enough almost two years after WMIII to run three crews on a Monday btw. And none of them even featured Hogan! WWF was also hot enough in '88 to run a B/C town like Ft. Wayne 8 times that year!
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6
Well Conrad legit triggered me by saying (RE: SuperClash 2) "Well, San Fran isn't exactly AWA territory". He took it over from Shire in 81 and Conrad's WON reference guides even has a several part story in early 87 on how some west coast AWA shows popped a bit in the Fall 86 battle royal tour and so Gagne was considering making Ray Stevens the West Coast booker, Groovy Greg the midwest booker and Wahoo would take care of the south. Well, Superclash 2 didn't pop a house and no one wanted to see 9 months of Groovy Greg vs Curt for the World title.
The Wahoo southern strategy did happen in 88 once the AWA booked the RnR Express. They tried to run some JCP area towns hoping Ricky and Robert, along with old favorite Wahoo and recent NWA star Manny Fernandez could draw interest. (Alas, none was there)
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6
Huh, not sure that's a name that ever popped out at me before. The Google says Heidman was 53 and on the verge of retirement when the match went down. He was a New York guy by birth, so I'd imagine he's on a bunch of WWWF stuff a decade earlier? He was trained by Tony Milano.

Flair is an interesting study of the human mind. Driven to build his body, but fallible mentally to the degree he quit his passion (for a time.)
Somehow mentally fragile (perhaps lingering adoption drama?) and yet possessing insatiable sexual lust and having the confidence to think every woman is there to be conquered.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6

The Gang at MTT are scratching where I itch!
I never did go back and watch this like I mentioned somewhere on TSM recently.
- I amused they left a sort of less than perfect backdrop in. Larry Hennig is a big dude to try and fly.
- The camera also misses a Nick Bockwinkel back bump as the ref steps in the way of the shot.
- Dark smoky arenas!!!
- How did a fan watching this in 1974 figure Verne was taping "fake" matches (that look like the "real" matches) with guys who were "legit" cutting promos on Verne and chasing him around the midwest in an effort to maim him?
- Crusher and Bruiser show us the good ol' days as they storm into the wrasslin' office and sexually harass the secretary, who of course loves it.
- Ed Asner looking like George Steele in a sweaty sauna scene. Sexy!
- A Young and still very beefy and less cut Kenny Patera throwing weights!
- Billy Robinson is introduced by practice grappling with a very young Don Muraco, who looks like Marc Maron overdosing on cookies and steroids.
- Bloody Billy Graham gettin' wrecked by Wahoo's chops!
- John Tolos gets some screen time as a babyface. Hairy bald men were big in the 70s! May as well have made Tolos Ed Asner's stunt double.
- Ray Stevens shows off the big corner bump that Flair borrowed for 3000 matches.
- Stevens kills his opponent with the Bombs Away knee drop.
- Dusty and Murdoch doing shots. Local drunk dumps their beer to entice them. Odd Job shows up as the AWA is officially in the James Bond multiverse!!!!
- Murdoch looks right at the camera at the end of his comedy bit/bar fight. LOL.
- Victor Rivera gets name dropped in a group with Jack Brisco, Bruno, Fritz, The Sheik, Danny Hodge and other big stars. Maybe I'm sleeping on him a bit.
- Dan Gable and Mike Graham show us basic NCAA wrestling. Iron Sheik loves it! "DAN GAB-BALL!!!"
- Eddie Graham and Wilbur Snyder show us how old timers grapple.
- Rookie Jim Brunzell makes a cameo as one of the young pro wrestling prospects who are watching on.
- Snyder looks old here and was still working upper card matches in the midwest in 1983!
- Fat Ric Flair drinks milk as Verne has dinner with the boys.
- Vince Sr appears at poolside to argue with Asner over Verne's old ass being part of the Super Bowl of Champions.
- Apparently this movie is the only surviving footage of Vince Sr's voice on camera!
- WALLY KARBO was young once? Vince being put on par with Verne's kayfabe on screen promoter is kind of funny. Karbo ended up working for the WWF in the late 80s IIRC. Karbo was a legit promoter for Verne, tied to Winnipeg for sure.
- Larry Z and Bruno were out at a NY restaurant in the 70s and Larry started talking shit to the Gambinos without realizing who he was talking to. Bruno must have watched that unfold and thought "I survived the Nazis and this putz is gunna git me fitted with cement boots!"
- We see Verne's lake front home that the government wound up taking 15 years later when they decided to buy up the land by force.
- The Mobsters kidnap Asner's girl as I get a little No Holds Barred vibe here. Bruiser and Crusher break in the room to save the day.
- Verne comes to the ring for the final battle as the fans mob him. Verneamania!
- Groovy Greg is the ref for Daddy vs Billy Robinson.
- We end with a Robinson POV of Verne hitting a dropkick but it ends before we find out if he was able to overcome his young challenger.

Super fun to see all the faces, but you almost need to watch it with something like the experts here so you can catch all of the guys.
 

JHawk

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@BruiserBrody Not sure if you're aware but Mick Karch and George Schire now have a podcast called AWA Unleashed. Two episodes out so far.

Episode 2 was basically "Here's a bunch of shit we'll eventually cover" but it has potential.
 

BruiserBrody

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[quote author=BRODY link=topic=7317.msg606823#msg6
Stanley Spadowski is any of us telling @BruiserBrody about some piece of weird AWA media.
Mick Karch still talks to Jules Strongbow, so maybe my now former co-worker is about to take the podcast world by storm.

20 years ago I thought Shire was a curmudgeon as he hated modern wrestling and loved the old stuff. Now I am him.

I'm pretty sure Shire was THE AUTHORITY on the Kayfabe message board and/or WrestlingClassics. "Give me more of the past so I can enjoy the present"
 
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