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


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.
 
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.
 

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
 
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-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?
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BruiserBrody said:

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.
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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
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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.
 

- 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.
 

- 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.
 

The "no frills, no glitz" AWA brings in Hillbilly Luke from the WWF to fill a slot. Brandi Mae is his valet, so the crowd approves....until the bell rings and the crowd showers the match with "BORING" chants. Wiki says he followed HB Jim's lead and broke his ankle once he got the Hillbilly gimmick in WWF.

Greg Gagne promotes an upcoming match at a Salmon fishing festival in rural Wisconsin.

Joan Rivers and Prince get birthday shout outs.

Willie Apter gives the Top Gunns the monikers "The All Americans" and "America's Heroes".

Ustinov and Khan beat up some wimpys. The geeks have matching gear, which makes me wonder if they were an indy team. CrazyMax's AWA results do not have this TV taping results at all, and I don't care enough to hit rewind to find their names.

John Paul and Ricky Rice vs jobbers. Here they are referred to as "The Regina Connection" and "Gold Gym Poster boys" as Lee Marshall tries to workshop a team name on the fly. They had no music or team name at this time....so maybe the bookers should have sorted this out before sticking them on national TV?????

Madusa talks about partnering with Debbie Combs and challenges some "broads"

Deep thoughts with Verne covers how he wants to see Badd Company vs Ustinov/Khan, the Nasty Boys and the Top Guns, who now have a team name in the pre[tapes. Verne also wants to see Groovy Greg get some shots vs World champ Lawler.

Fabs (w/Crusher) vs the Road Warriors is the Mat Classic. Hot action, but this had to be hard for Verne to watch since the Warriors gave Verne constant head aches during their title run with their shoot fights, refusing to job, no showing, etc.

Big K calls DDP on the phone to get the scoop on European wrestling (HA!) K wants to see the Top Gunns vs Ustinov/Khan ("That'll really bring a crowd!" He then refers to newcomer Cousin Luke as being like "greased lighting" (Luke is chunky and near middle age for the record)

Tony Leone draws the short straw and is paired up against Rocky Mountain Thunder. The commentary is hilarious as the announcers are amazed at what a untrained goof Thunder is. Among his best moments here are locking in a full nelson and then trying to do a suplex/slam off of it which just ends up as Leone being tossed in a sloppy heap.
Leone back peddles at the end from Thunder, which may have been as shoot at this point given how unsafe RMT was. Thunder hits a power slam he over rotated on, creating a bad landing for poor Leone. Not happy with his opponent not yet being crippled. RMT runs the ropes and tries a legdrop????? Butt Splash????? and blows it, nearly landing his 300 pound ass on Leone's face. The announcers "Oh me!!! Oh my!!!! HAAHA!!"

Manny Fernandez beats up a jabroni. Wahoo storms down to confront Manny, so Manny kicks his ass and tears up his sacred headdress. Manny looks like a bad ass and Wahoo looked like the goof who talked shit and got wrecked.
 

- Ustinov squash. I FFWD violently.

- Verne teases we need to tell our friends to turn on "the tube" next week for a major AWA announcement.
- Verne reads off the names of some old codgers doing some extreme sports

Brandi Mae does a white meat babyface promo. She loves country folks and 'Merica!

Madusa cuts a fun promo retort calling Mae a "bimbo"

The Top Guns vs Dennis Stamp and Hunter Thompson. The team now has music! "Pour some sugar on me" Fun squash as the faces had their mojo down.

DDP intro's Badd Company for their squash. I love their look and music, no doubt. Ope, I lied. It's a Tanaka singles squash. The announcers claim Tanaka is one of the greatest NCAA wrestlers of all time. Apparently DDP is funding his Dolls and wrestlers via a South African diamond mind he owns. The DDT finish is called "a front piledriver".

They are blatantly false advertising Curt Hennig vs Greg Gagne for a mid August spot show. Hennig would be in the WWF before the end of this month.

Lawler cuts a slightly heelish promo naming all the top contenders. He includes Kerry Von Erich, even though we are a week away from Verne's big announcement.

Baron VR squash. Technically Baron is the #2 or 3 babyface here. He comes down to ZERO reaction. Baron's got this big angle vs Khan and Ustinov ongoing, and the announcers use this match to plug the women's feuds.
Baron's aborted WWF run is a few weeks away as well. AWA is plotting a PPV as their "top" talent is leaving. Even Ustinov/Khan would quit before the PPV. IIRC the Top Gunns quit at SuperClash as well.

Big K promises Jimmy Snuka is coming back to the AWA.

Curt Hennig plugs his match in Sheboygan and plugs the Salmon fishing festival Groovy Greg brought up last week.

Brandi Mae vs Madusa is the main event. They seem to blow the finish. Mae struggles to slam Madusa legit. Hennig pushes her legs and breaks up a pin. Madusa attempts a cradle but they over rotate and Mae rolls over. Since that was the finish, Madusa slaps her on the ass and then just grabs her neck and holds her down for the count. Madusa kicks the ropes after the pin, probably out of legit frustration.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN THUNDER storms in to protest. He and Hennig square off as the worst wrestler in the world and one of the best throw down. Hennig drops him and flees.
RMT gets promo time to set up a match that never happens.
 
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Jay Strongbow (No Jr mentioned) beats a jabroni. He does mimic Jay's mannerisms. He and Wahoo have an alliance.

- Badd Company name drop the Road Warriors, Demolition, among others

Mando and Chavo beat up Dennis Stamp and another geek. Mando has his flashy moves while Chavo is larger and drunker. Mando blows the finish and lands on his face. He gets up to make the pin anyway.

Verne comes in for his big announcement.... and says he can't say because Stanley Blackburn has details to work out yet.

T-Joe Khan pounds a geek. No talk of their angle with Baron.... probably for the best since Baron was about to make his WWF return. So it's just another match with no point and the announcers fill the time discussing how ugly the heels are.

Curt Hennig is written off via suspension due to interfering with the ladies matches last week. Lawler vs Hennig was announced as the main event of this show...so that could be interesting. '

Big K talks about Curt Hennig training Madusa. Her enemies were trained by Billy Robinson, who was never the champ like Curt. Madusa has apparently offered Lawler 50K for a champ vs champ intergender match.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN THUNDER in action!!! He hits a double flying knee corner splash that probably felt just great... RMT wins via the big splash. Not a disaster like last time.

Lawler vs Hennig No mention of Hennig's suspension from the earlier pre-tape. Hennig started with the WWF 2 weeks before this aired, although I don't believe he was on TV yet. He did work Wrestlefest though.
This match actually had heat, which is a nice change of pace for this show. They work a long match but....even with Hennig going to the WWF the AWA books the ending of Hennig locking Lawler in a sleeper, with Lawler dumping him over the top rope and earning a DQ win! WHAT!?
Curt promises to go rogue after this and rip out the eyes of the other contenders who stand in his way.

We close with Verne reiterating that he can't give up the details on the big surprise. Larry Nelson mentions Hennig is suspended to end the show.
 
"Mando has his flashy moves while Chavo is larger and drunker" could've been a lyric on that Mountain Goats album.
 
Tito Santana is coming in as the featured guest for CrusherFest at the start of summer. Polish Joe, Mick and Tubbs indicate they want to go this year as fans. They invited Jules Strongbow to make the effort to get there.
I'm estranged from my main wrestling partner in crime and I'm not interested in doing a near 3 hour drive in alone. 2 hours of it is country highway but then you have to deal with the 10,000 crazies on the over passes and bumper to bumper speedway. NOPE.

I would have loved to go in 2022 had I known Groovy Greg and Brunzell would be walking the crowds like they did.

Given the age of the average AWA worker, the promoters here should probably try and make this more of a Legends reunion then dragging one guy a year in. IMO.

By 2030 the Legends will be Del Wilkes and Johnny Stewart, with a Skype appearance from Buck Zumhoffe's cell block
 
I still say you should go to the Waterloo HOF weekend sometime, Brody. A longer drive but no overpasses or whatnot.
 
alkeiper said:
Del Wilkes already passed.
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Shit, put somebody in the Patriot mask. Tom Brandi, you're up!

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Top Gunns vs the Job Squad. Pretty smart of the Gunns to work in the AWA as by default they are the number 1 or 2 contenders since the Guerreros are the only face team in the promotion. Despite only working 1 squash, the Guerreros are getting a title shot on tonight's show, mean while the Gunns have been beating jabronis all summer! Com'n Stanley Blackburn!
The Gunns are doing more than hip tosses and arm bars, so the job guys are struggling a little to keep up. These guys have matching gear and some HOT MOVEZ so it is a little surprising they never did anything other than some WWF squash work.

Donna's corner is a fan letter that makes her admit no one knows who Lawler is outside of Memphis, so she does a FFWD version of his origin story. I am impressed she name dropped Jackie Fargo. It's nice to try, but the national audience wasn't going to care about his 14 year struggle.

Wahoo/Strongbow Jr vs Jabronis. One job guy has a skullet, which just makes him look middle age. Skullet guy annoys Wahoo and they miscommunicate something and the jobber gets in some token offense to cover it up. Cranky Old Man Wahoo chops the shit out of him, which I would call a receipt, but he stiffs everyone. Point stands as the other jobber comes in and Wahoo tries to tear the skin off his chest with chops.
Lee Marshall dubs this team "War Dance Fever". The announcers mention Wahoo is bitching at the ref several times, so I wonder if the ref blew something when the miscommunication spot happened. This team interests me as Wahoo was booking and supposedly had heat with Joe Scarpa for being a fake Indian gimmick.

Ustinov and Khan are with Willie Apter. They are so over the top goofy here it may as well be an SNL skit.

Groovy Greg does one of my favorite unintentionally funny things on this show for the Mat Classic as he announces X match from X city and 90 percent of the time it is just the Twin Cities since the arena's layout is quite unique. We see Billy Robinson tangle with Bockwinkel from 1981. We get the standard AWA fuck finish as Robinson wins the title and Wally Karbo overturns the call.

Big K says Madusa has released a music single. Did she??????

Ustinov vs Dennis Stamp How does Stamp figure out what locker room to use when he switches from heel to face weekly? Lee Marshall talks shit about Khan and Ustinov and admits he isn't afraid to run his yapper as the AWA will suspend them if he's touched.

Time for the big announcement.... Last week he couldn't make it after plugging it. This week... Verne no shows the segment. Al DeRusha steps in. He says he joined the AWA in 1961 and this is the biggest announcement in AWA history. When will we know? Next week? No comment says DeRusha.

Chavo and Mando vs Badd Company Clearly the AWA used DEI booking to move the Latinos ahead of the Minnesota Gunns. DDP has his mullet in a pony tail and his hair looks HORRIBLE. The Diamond Doll has giant hair. Oh the 80's!
They have a good match of course. Lee Marshall gets all pumped for Chavo doing the "Mexican Surfboard" and then Paul Diamond doesn't go up for it, leading Ron Trongard to say "I've never seen it put on like that!"
And we don't get a finish as this video cuts off :(
 
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AWA had one booking idea since 1948:

2/4/88 – Minneapolis, MN @ the Auditorium
Cage Match, Special referee: Leo Nomellini: Greg Gagne defeated AWA Champion Curt Hennig, AWA belt held up
Notes: Final AWA Card at Minneapolis Auditorium, Hennig after a few weeks of TV nonsense was ruled to still be AWA Champion.

2/16/88 – Portland, OR
Frank Bonema Memorial show
Grappler no contest AWA Champion Curt Hennig, title held up

The Apters covered both of these events in one article since they obvious took place so close to each other. Gagne had been getting title shots since the previous summer.
What happened the night of the first Gagne vs Hennig title match? Well....
DJ Peterson & Wahoo McDaniel (sub Jimmy Snuka) defeated AWA Tag Team Champions Soldat Ustinov & Boris Zhukov
Another Dusty Finish!!! Shocking!

What was going on with the tag belts as Hennig's belt was being held up in 2 places???:
2/15/88 – Memphis, TN @ the Mid South Coliseum
AWA Tag Team Champions Midnight Rockers drew Rock & Roll Express, simultaneous pins
Belts held up in Memphis only

Apparently the Rockers only got the belts back because Condrey quit the AWA over unpaid AWA shots. The Rockers were awarded the titles on TV after LOSING a match....

"The Midnight Express defeated The Midnight Rockers on December 27, 1987, and continued to be recognized as AWA World Tag Team Champions into 1988, including making successful title defenses. After a dispute between Dennis Condrey and Verne Gagne over payments, AWA President Stanley Blackburn appeared on television on January 24, 1988, and stated that, after rewatching the December 27, 1987 AWA World Tag Team Title match, he believed that the Midnight Rockers had actually won the match, and they were then retroactively recognized as having been Champions for the past 28 days; Titles were held up on February 15, 1988, after a controversial match with The Rock 'n' Roll Express in Memphis. The Rockers won a rematch on February 22, 1988, also in Memphis, but this was never recognized and they remain two-time champions"
 

- Some heavy RnR Express cosplay from DJ Pederson and JT Southern here
- Larry Nelson looks as hung over as his stories would suggest while interviewing Hennig
- This is Bockwinkel's last stand. He was retiring and they went out by blowing off his angle with Larry Z from late 85 here in the dog days of summer 1987
 

Talent Lineup | Crusherfest

www.crusherfest.org www.crusherfest.org

Cool they got Keirn since he worked an angle with Crusher. Tito had a good AWA run. Jimmy Hart?!? Well... Memphis was a partner of the AWA....
Tommy Dreamer?! Wild card choice. Texas Hangmen! I'll take it.
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Review thoughts:

Bockwinkel deserved a good send off, but having his last match be winning the number 1 contender spot is kind of silly.
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Instead of this goofy Verne announcement being called off week after week, Lawler should have been calling out Savage, Flair, Von Erich, etc until Kerry shows up or sends in a promo accepting the challenge, thus prompting the need for a "SuperClash"
 
Since I'm on a 1988 kick...
Here's the kick off to 88, the NYE edition of AWA TV. 12/31/87


- Larry Nelson is at "Juke Box Saturday Night" with some rowdy Minnesota patrons. This was WAY out of the AWA norm. It gave the show some flair at least.
- Billy Jack Strong vs Jabroni. Mick Karsh announces Strong as a "new comer" It appears he debuted during the infamous Whitewater, Wisconsin TV tapings that had such technical problems very little of the 4 hours that was taped ever made air.
Strong hits some stiff forearms. A sloppy spinebuster type suplex leaves the jobber ailing. The jabroni does not know what he's doing. He braces while running the ropes making the shoulderblock bump look awkward. They then totally blow a DDT as Verne says 'I'm in awe" Strong is rushing through his offense, making all the sloppy and dangerous bumps all the worse. After the DDT debacle, Strong scoops up Mr. Jabroni dead weight style and drives him to the mat. Twice. A powerslam mercifully ends this Rocky Mountain Thunder style classic. This was the perfect combo of a big lug being limited and a green guy who messed everything up.
- Wahoo joins Larry Nelson at the bar. Wahoo struggles through his promo. Maybe he and Stevens hit the bar too early? Wahoo was a noted coke head. Wahoo mentions the AWA is in the shitter and he thinks all the talent will come back in 1988. Interesting take from the booker on TV.
- A drunk patron is interviewed next. He likes Curt Hennig. They find a geek who thinks Groovy Greg is number 1.
Pete Sanchez and Tom "Rocky" Stone vs Alan West and Mitch Snow West is doing a Magnum TA cosplay with Tye Dye. Snow gets a surprisingly big pop. Verne claims one of the faces was an Olympian? The faces let the jobbers do some Midnight Express style heel bafoonery spots and the crowd eats it up.
- Since neither of these guys were at the summer TV tapings I've covered, and have no notable WWF/JCP careers, WTF happened? Verne try to "pay" them via exposure and they quit? They are bland but perfectly acceptable Steve O level faces to fill in the mid card.
- I should note neither match had any "storyline" to talk about or focus. The face team was together for the first time and I don't think the "Original" Midnight Express was even mentioned. (This would be about the point Condrey quit the AWA while holding the tag straps.)
- Larry Nelson is at the bar with the Midnight Rockers. Marty sounds slurred. He has a ring rat on his arm. Shawn cuts a good promos on how the fans in the bar were "Midnight Rockers" like us. They want the tag belts back.
- Larry Nelson is at the bar with "Jammin" Mitch Snow. He says he's in the "Top 5" in the AWA TV tournament. I tried to find results or a Wiki explanation, but it seems the tourney was just a talking point with no actual matches until Groovy Greg beats Adrian Adonis in the finals soon after this taping. Why not do something on TV to make spice things up? If you are afraid of talent leaving then tape it all in one night and spread it out for a few weeks. Larry Nelson is hanging on some guy's woman.
- Ope, well here it is.... Greg Gagne vs "Adorable" Adrian Adonis for the AWA TV title. Adonis appears to have an actual shiner on his eye. "Paul E sucks!" chants the crowd. I have to wonder what would have changed had somehow Eddie Gilbert been picked in early 87 to book the AWA instead of Stevens/Wahoo. Obviously Verne trusted his old vets more than Gilbert (who we can postulate would bring in Heyman as his assistant like they would do in Continental in 87) but MAYBE Gilbert and Heyman's forward thinking booking could have helped keep things running a bit more?) The same talent could be brought (Rose/Condrey, Tommy Rich, etc with perhaps more Memphis influence from Gilbert getting more play from Dundee/Lawler than we saw IRL?)
- Adonis is trapped in the sleeper. Paul E tries to toss powder but Gagne cuts him off. The sleeper is locked back on. Bob Orton Jr runs in for the DQ, prompting Wahoo to charge the ring and help Gagne clear the ring. The crowd loses their shit for this.
- Gagne wins the title due to this, but they do not even have a title to present him with. Gagne wants Wahoo to team with him vs Orton/Adonis
- The Midnight Rockers vs Kevin Kelly and Nick Niniski This is actually the return of the Rockers since they quit in May to go to the WWF. They get a big reaction and Shawn climbs on the chairs in the audience to fire them up even more.
- I always find it funny that Kelly had this good body and by the time Vince signed him, he was tossed in a full body suit and his hair was thinning.
- With the Rock and Roll Express showing up a few weeks after this, the AWA should have followed Memphis' lead and given us a Rockers vs Express feud. Make it face vs face if you don't want to turn the Rockers heel like Memphis did. The Apters had a great headline on it at the time "A Dream Match becomes a Nightmare!" as the pearls were clutched over the Rockers embracing the dark side.


- I'm surprised they put this match on after the title match. I guess that tells you how big they thought the return of the Rockers was to the promotion. Good formula stuff here as the bully heels batter the speedy pretty boys.
- Eric Bischoff makes his TV debut(?) holding the mic for Larry Nelson as Nelson is now in a dunk tank. The Rockers and Mitch Snow giggle as they dump him in the water.
 
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So while Superstar Graham was having his mental breakdown in early 79, instead of going to the AWA or something and reestablishing himself now with additional national exposure from the WWWF run, Verne brought in 2 Graham clones in March of 79 as Ventura and Ellering both start as heels.
Pedro and Koloff had both came in and headlined after their WWWF runs. Verne feuded with the Russian Bear and Ivan's win over Bruno was a big part of the build to the feud due to Bruno's name value.
Crusher was about to head to Georgia so the roster had room for headliners.

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Toronto was sort of a St Louis like mix of talent as JCP/Tunney would bring in extra stars to spice cards up.
AWA champ Bock vs Tiger Jeet Singh must have been a weird build.... unless Tiger was some sort of babyface as I know he was a hero to the local minorities IIRC

There is another Toronto card in 79 with Flair vs Steamboat for the US title underneath a Backlund vs Bock champ vs champ match!
 
June 27 — The AWA presents a second WrestleRock event in Salt Lake City before an announced 11,557 fans. The card has cooperation from Jim Crockett Promotions, with NWA World Champion Ric Flair defending against Curt Hennig in a “bad match”. [WON 1986-07-14] Also on the card, AWA World Champion Stan Hansen defeats Nick Bockwinkel. The show also has live performances from Molly Hatchet and Prince backup band Mazerati
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Loss4Words Blog
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6/27/86 – Salt Lake City, UT @ the Salt Palace
AWA Champion Stan Hansen defeated Nick Bockwinkel
NWA Champion Ric Flair defeated Curt Hennig
Midnight Rockers defeated AWA Tag Team champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers via DQ
Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko
Ali Kahn defeated Jerry Blackwell
Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka defeated Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian
Colonel DeBeers defeated Brad Rheingans
Candi Devine defeated Sherri Martel
Reported Attendance: 11,557
 
Kinda surprised that Flair and Hennig would have a bad match in 1986. Maybe Hennig didn't want to play the Ricky Morton role?
 
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