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

[BruiserBrody]

Brody vs Blackwell in a No DQ match.

The "Wrestling is REAL" crowd has to explain Brody starting the match by taking 4-6 2x4 shots to his arm and it not playing into the match as a deterrent.

The match ends with Adnan being pinned despite not being in the match.....

And Groovy Greg saves Jerry Blackwell to align with his former major foe (apparently for the 1st time)

The Newsletters at the time were reporting Verne wanted to book the Metrodome for a Blackwell vs Brody tag match main event...a full year and a half before the event actually took place.

Honestly with Pro Wrestling USA hitting its stride in early 85, a Metrodome mega show the same time as Mania would have likely done really well, especially if JCP, Memphis, etc was still sharing talent.

Then again it may have led to JCP and AWA breaking their alliance even quicker than what happened IRL.

4/21/85 – St. Paul, MN @ the Civic Center "Starrcage"
Cage Match:
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell defeated Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors defeated Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig via DQ
Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne defeated Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans defeated Larry Zbyszko & Butch Reed
Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe defeated Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid defeated Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum
Steve Olsonoski & Tom Zenk defeated The Alaskans
Reported Attendance: 12,000

That was the big card of the quarter, so a little more crossover with Flair, Magnum, Lawler, etc could have fleshed out the card.
Kamala, Jim Duggan, the Koloffs. Da Crusher, Ray Stevens and the Freebirds had all been on recent AWA cards leading up to this event as well.

 

[BruiserBrody]

On a recent AWA Unleashed podcast, Polish Joe (AWA TV director) revealed he wasn't clued in to spots or anything so they couldn't plan for proper camera work (KAYFABE!)
In 2001, Verne was sitting down with Joe and others as they worked on the AWA on Demand PPVs. Verne said something that broke kayfabe and looked at Joe and said "I suppose you know already anyway, eh?"
2001!!!

Joe also said he wasn't allowed in the production (Booking) meetings. Paul Heyman will come out of them cussing about how Stevens, Wahoo and the Gagnes wouldn't listen to his ideas.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Rocky MT Thunder wins by putting the jobber on his knee and pushing on him. LOL.
They threaten us with Thunder vs Tejoe Khan matches

It's always a little sad how little reaction Lawler really gets on these Vegas AWA shows. He was part of the AWA off and on for years but at the end of the day the fans didn't give a real shit. He probably should have been a heel with actual angles and not just "Hey that guy that wrestled Andy Kaufman!"

Hennig was about to leave so the best of 10,000 series with Lawler/Kerry Von Erich will soon be set off. They couldn't even get Kevin VE out of concussion protocol long enough to bring him in for a taping for a little variety.

Future "women's wrestling expert" Lee Marshall interviews Brandi Mae. With the male wrestles being taken in by the WWF, maybe AWA should have focused on women workers and the small weights to try and find a groove?

Oh shit this is the Dave Meltz episode as he and his geek buddies are shown marking out for Masa Saito and Riki Choshu facing Louie Spicolli (!) and Houdini.

We see Baron VR in an angle waving the American flag @ Ustinov. I guess that's better than the other flag he used in the 70s....

Lawler cuts a bit of an odd promo basically ducking a rematch with Hennig

Derrick Dukes main events vs Paul Diamond as the Top Guns take over the Midnight Rockers spot in the promotion.
That main event would play much different now as they would be hitting MOVEZ and then looking at Dave


Groovy Greg promises a classic Rape Zumhoffe match as the Mat Classic for next week. Buck was not in the AWA at this time and had already been in jail for the pedo stuff

 

[BruiserBrody]

-Lou Thesz is named as a southern promoter during their rundown as Soldat works a squash
- Ed Carpenter in 1958 is spoke of in Donna's corner as the first AWA champ. That is a different champ and 2 years earlier than the Pat O Conner story that is generally stated. (I could go too deep into this and look into the AWA Omaha World title to see if that's the answer but meh)
- Lawler and Hennig from Memphis is shown. I don't think they bothered sharing the build up on AWA TV so most fans watching have no idea who Jackie Fargo is or why we should care. They are trying to explain Lawler's 14 year hunt for the title, but since the TV fans didn't live it, they really aren't going to FEEL it.
- Mat Classic is Strike Force (who just lost the WWF belts a few weeks earlier) vs Brunzell and Gagne.
- Big K says Manny Fernandez is coming in to finish Wahoo for past beefs. Then in the same sentence he says Fernandez is going to be laser focused on AWA TV champ Greg Gagne. Well, which one is it?
-

 

[BruiserBrody]

It's always a little sad how little reaction Lawler really gets on these Vegas AWA shows. He was part of the AWA off and on for years but at the end of the day the fans didn't give a real shit. He probably should have been a heel with actual angles and not just "Hey that guy that wrestled Andy Kaufman!"

Hennig was about to leave so the best of 10,000 series with Lawler/Kerry Von Erich will soon be set off. They couldn't even get Kevin VE out of concussion protocol long enough to bring him in for a taping for a little variety.

Memphis TV had a much hotter angle with Lawler/Hennig this same week. Hennig tore up the studio and threatened Lance Russell before Lawler finally made the save.

Meanwhile the AWA ran 1 house show for the week, with no Lawler vs Hennig and drew 104 fans.

6/5/88 – Council Bluffs, IA
Ricky Rice & Baron Von Raschke defeated Soldat Ustinov & Teijo Kahn
Madusa Meceli defeated Sandy Partlow
Soldat Ustinov defeated Derrick Dukes
Doug Todd defeated Wayne Bloom
Ricky Rice drew Teijo Kahn
Reported Attendance: 104
---

Donna's Corner has a fan letter that says "Lee Marshall has a body that won't quit"
She claims Lee is a body builder and is a friend of AH-NOLD.

 

[BruiserBrody]

- Larry Nelson thinks Wahoo may hold the record for all time wins by a wrestler. That won't help make him sound any younger.
- Madusa calls Magnificent Mimi a "broad" several times. Larry Nelson calls Mimi "one of the best of all time"
-Mimi claims to be training with Billy Robinson and Gene LeBell
- The AWA Birthday wishes graphic is always so goofy. You can usually catch names of promoters and AWA office guys families mixed with fans(?) and this week Pat Boone and Stacy Keach are on the list.
- Sgt. Craig Pittman is name dropped as Verne as the NCAA twins cover the Olympics try outs.
- We see clips of Madusa at a Horse show. The judges perv on her. A simpler time.
-Mando gives us a showcase of Lucha and wakes the crowd up.
- Big K says Mimi chose the AWA over GLOW to chase the gold.
- Baron, with his '88 stache and in a suit, talks to Willie Apter.
-We get the "blow off" of the Hennig vs Gagne feud that had been going on since the previous Fall. Even with Hennig leaving for the WWF, we can't get a finish as they spill to the floor and brawl.

 

[BruiserBrody]

- the announcers put over Hennig's recent roid use (in so many words)
- Groovy Greg informs us Jimmy Snuka will be back in the AWA in mid July (I'm pretty sure he never returns. They plug him during the early stages of the SuperClash build for a match with Debeers at the PPV and he never comes then either.)
- the Gagnes are with Bill Apter. They tease Greg vs Verne and Greg mentions how they had that match many times in the living room. They stopped when Greg was 19 and Verne broke his ribs. (I can't recall the details, but Greg has told the story in shoots.) Apter suggests Verne should come out of retirement to take on Badd Company, which was the back door to plug Snuka coming back once again.
- Wahoo sleep walks through a squash. He seems to be chewing gum and he can barely be bothered to raise his hand in victory before he power walks back to the locker room
- Big K challenges Verne Gagne to golf and tennis.... Ok...
- Another Verne promo to plug Jimmy Snuka coming back...
- Top Gunns close the show. Jobber Tony Leone seems to blow the finish as the Gunns hit a big tandem move ending with Ricky Rice hitting the Alabama Jam from the top...and Leone kicks out. He eats another dropkick and stays down this time.