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

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Vader vs the rookie Nasty Boys in a handi-cap match.

The Midnight Rockers vs Rose/Somers part 347. Even Trongard on commentary is like "Yup. Another fuck finish for this match up."

Rose and Debeers would be fired for working an indy in "AWA territory" around the same time the Rockers quit for their first WWF stop. They would not come back to the AWA until the end of 87.
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So that fuck finish sets up a CAGE weeks after the famous blood soaked cage match around Xmas.

The Rockers win and babies are tossed in the air.
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This being the AWA...the cage is not the blow off and not for the title....

So we run it back AGAIN:


Larry Nelson is in the Rockers corner, and the crowd even chants for him.
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Not great that the AWA tosses their top 3 feuds on one card, in their homeland and couldn't draw 1000 fans. The fact that they dragged these feuds out since last Spring..... well

1/27/87 – Bloomington, MN @ the Met Center
Midnight Rockers defeated Buddy Rose & Doug Somers to win the AWA tag team title
Larry Zbyszko & Mr Saito defeated Nick Bockwinkel & Greg Gagne
Coal Miners Glove Match:
Colonel DeBeers defeated Jimmy Snuka
Steve O defeated The Ninja via DQ
Kevin Kelly defeated Earthquake Ferris
Boris Zhukov defeated Jerry Seganovich
Buck Zumhofe defeated Brian Knobbs
Reported Attendance: 950
 
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AWA tries to build up a San Fran show. This might be the show that popped a house that almost made them decide to split booking into 3 areas (West Coast, Mid West, South) with different bookers.

They followed up by doing Super Clash 2 in San Fran and drew less than 3000 and threw the whole plan away.

2/28/87 – San Francisco, CA @ the Cow Palace
Jimmy Snuka won battle royal
AWA Tag Team Champions Midnight Rockers defeated Doug Somers & Boris Zhukov
Special Referee: Russ Francis
Jimmy Snuka defeated Colonel DeBeers
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dcor Curt Hennig
Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Leon White defeated Larry Zbyszko & Super Ninja & Mr. Go
Sherri Martel defeated Candi Divine
Earthquake Ferris defeated Boris Zhukov via DQ
Kevin Kelly drew DJ Peterson
Reported Attendance: 9,000

The Rockers had been working Rose/Somers since before WrestleRock the previous April.

Greg's look on this TV show (around the 35 min mark) is rough. Not a great suit and glasses that age him.

Gagne claims Journey and John Madden are rumored to be coming to the show.

Old and Fat Ray Stevens beats up the heels to build to the six man? A bit of odd booking.
 
Booking Russ Francis in San Francisco was a good idea. I wonder if they tried getting him into a match.
 
snuffbox said:
Booking Russ Francis in San Francisco was a good idea. I wonder if they tried getting him into a match.
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I won't pretend this tourney makes any sense:

4/27/87 – Salt Lake City, UT
First Round
DJ Peterson & Avalanche Paul Neu defeated Super Ninja & Mr. Go
Doug Somers & Kevin Kelly defeated Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens via DQ
Midnight Rockers defeated The Nasty Boys
Jimmy Snuka & Russ Francis defeated Larry Zbyszko & Buddy Wolff
Semi Finals
Boris Zhukov & Soldat Ustinov defeated DJ Peterson & Avalanche Paul Neu
Jimmy Snuka & Russ Francis defeated Doug Somers & Kevin Kelly
Finals
Boris Zhukov & Soldat Ustinov defeated Midnight Rockers to win tourney
Reported Attendance: 260

5/2/87 – San Francisco, CA @ the Cow Palace Super Clash II
Curt Hennig defeated Nick Bockwinkel to win the AWA title
Belt held up for one week as Hennig mulled an offer to go to the WWF. When Hennig agreed to stay in The AWA, the AWA said the title did change hands.
Russ Francis & Jimmy Snuka defeated The Terrorist & The Mercenary
Jerry Blackwell defeated Boris Zhukov
Midnight Rockers & Ray Stevens defeated Buddy Wolff (sub Buddy Rose) & Doug Somers & Kevin Kelly
AWA Women’s Champion Sherri Martel defeated Madusa Meceli
DJ Peterson drew Super Ninja 15:00
Sheik Adnan defeated Buck Zumhofe
Reported Attendance: 2800

I believe Rose and Debeers were fired for working an indy show in Verne's "territory". I assume Debeers would have been in the Snuka tag. IIRC the heels were Ron Fuller and Brian Knobbs under masks.
 
Lol at putting Boris and Soldat over. And, yes, that is some of the weirdest booking I've ever seen. Rockers bypass the semifinals, Snuka and Russ Francis disappear, etc.
 
Watching some of the Bull Power Leon White squashes that channel put up, Vader was over in that Crusher/Duggan everyman bad ass style. The announcers compare him to Dick the Bruiser. Instead of the V with the hands, Vader was doing bull horns.

I wonder how Inoki managed to snag him before Baba? You'd think Hansen and Brody would have sent up the alert when they worked with Vader in early 86.
 
With some better decisionmaking earlier on, Verne Gagne might've had a mid 80s roster with Hogan, Hansen, Brody, Rockers, Vader, Hennig, Hall, Somers/Rose, etc. If he could've rode the rising ESPN wave better, maybe he's the one that buys Mid South. Imagine adding Dr Death, Gordy, Bubba, Gang, Sting, Steiner, and Eddie Gilbert to that mix.
 
snuffbox said:
Lol at putting Boris and Soldat over. And, yes, that is some of the weirdest booking I've ever seen. Rockers bypass the semifinals, Snuka and Russ Francis disappear, etc.
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From looking at it again, what I'm guessing happened was the Russians attacked the Rockers after their match and declared they should be in the tourney. The AWA replaced the now "injured" Rockers with the Russians but then in the finals Snuka and Francis came out and said "Surprise! We are stepping aside so the Rockers can get you!" And then the heels cheated to win anyway so you can do 200 rematches until the WWF starts purging the next round of talent (which for the Rockers was May of 87, so right after this)
 

- Col Debeers flat out talks about his support of the "Aryan Nation" and "White supremacy".
- Vader and Crusher Blackwell battle The Blaster and Bore-us!

This was taped 3/7 and White does an injury angle. He works a few more shows after this but his AWA run ends in early May with a match vs Blackwell for the CWA title from Germany.


They try to build up SuperClash 2 by airing a highlight reel of SuperClash 1 from Sept 85. It kind of just serves to remind the fans of how depleted the roster has gotten.

Stevens and Bock team against Larry Z and Super Ninja. This breaks down so much that Verne has to leave the commentary booth to restore order.


Can't complain about the main events as this week has Snuka vs Debeers
 

They didn't know it at the time but THIS was the beginning of the end as they go all in on Greg Gagne vs Hennig as the top program.
Greg's promo here isn't bad at all, but obviously he wasn't the man they needed in the moment.
Would anyone have drawn? Probably not.
Gagne is wearing his 70s tye dye in ring here too, to really give him that fresh, hip appeal.
This aired in May and they were still doing Gagne vs Hennig into the following March, with Gagne getting a screwy win in Feb to force the title to be held up briefly to bring things full circle since Hennig/Bock's title change ended with the title being held up.
At the same point as Hennig's belt was held up in Feb, it was also held up in Portland after another fuck finish there with the Grappler.
I doubt the Portland incident was talked about on AWA TV nation wide, but the Apters covered it.
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It's worth noting that almost everyone else on this show other than Gagne and Hennig wouldn't be in the AWA in less than a year.


YESSSSSSSSSS!! Here's the Russians wrestling a real bear. One of my most distinct AWA memories before 1989.

Oh and the Rockers vs Rose and Somers 16 months after the feud started because why not I guess. And the match has no finish as the men brawl to the back to set up MORE matches in theory!!

They do a soft burial on the Rockers here as they had signed with the WWF but were already fired by the time this made air. The title loss to the Russians was there last AWA date until the end of the year.

The Bear segment is funny as they are barely sparring with the bear, and then they do a promo all bandaged up.

AWA would be in my hometown, Green Bay, less than a week after this aired. They ran Gagne vs Henning as well as Stevens/Bock vs Larry Z and his Ninja and drew 175!!!! They should have been running the local bar, not the arena. Geez.


We see Knobbs under a hood as the TERRORIST! It's fun to see Knobbs actually change up his style for this as he keeps doing military posing.
 
Maybe not a bar, but AWA should've downsized to community centers, school gyms, etc (like WWF in the mid 90s) even in their biggest town.

Neat find on the masked Knobbs!
 
I wonder how many places they close circuited Super Sunday. It was a stacked card, seven months before the first Starrcade and two years before Wrestlemania 1. The womens tag was Wendi Richter/Joyce Grable vs Velvet McIntyre/Judy Martin which seems like a p big deal, historically. Lawler-Tolos is two of the best in a different territory, like Abdullah-Colon at 'Cade or Valentine vs JYD (although they were more WWF people by then). If Hogan-Bockwinkel closes, the title change happens, Hulk stays, and they do another closed circuit with a wider reach later in the year, they might've been a real good spot when ESPN took them national.
 

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snuffbox said:
I wonder how many places they close circuited Super Sunday. It was a stacked card, seven months before the first Starrcade and two years before Wrestlemania 1. The womens tag was Wendi Richter/Joyce Grable vs Velvet McIntyre/Judy Martin which seems like a p big deal, historically. Lawler-Tolos is two of the best in a different territory, like Abdullah-Colon at 'Cade or Valentine vs JYD (although they were more WWF people by then). If Hogan-Bockwinkel closes, the title change happens, Hulk stays, and they do another closed circuit with a wider reach later in the year, they might've been a real good spot when ESPN took them national.
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IIRC this was even on the Twin Cities in some form of PPV type offering.
 

Adnan is suspended!

Soldat looks pretty silly with his Screech Powers hair style.

The AWA tries to run a card during my local yearly airplane show (EAA) as he says 400K will be in Oshkosh for the event.

8/2/87 – Oshkosh, WI
Tommy Rich won a Battle royal
Order of Elimination: Zbyszko, Burke, Snow, Blackwell, Kevin Kelly, Soldat Ustinov, Zhukov, Bockwinkel, Peterson, Rose, Condrey
AWA Champion Curt Hennig defeated Nick Bockwinkel
Larry Zbyszko defeated Jerry Blackwell (sub Steve O) via DQ
Tommy Rich dcor Mr. Magnificent Kevin Kelly
Original Midnight Express defeated Mitch Snow & Stoney Burke
DJ Peterson defeated Boris Zhukov


- The Nasty Boyz come out to the 80s Janet Jackson song "Nasty Boys" LMAO!!

- Oh! Double J is working the Nasty Boys with a jabroni partner.
- Greg vs Curt on TV!? I wasn't expecting that since this is supposed to draw as the main event program for the next gazillion months.
 

- Fun stuff as Adrian Adonis debuts and he and Heyman get a couple of promos.

- Weird choice to air a Midnight Express squash and then later in the same show they work Blackwell and Steve O


The Express headline again...this time vs the Vanilla Midgets Steve O and Mitch Snow

- Hennig dismisses Nick B and Greg Gagne as contenders and wants a match with Larry Z
 

The low rez VHS dub really helps point out how bland these random guys are. While skimming this show I couldn't tell if the generic dark haired worker was Steve O, Mitch Snow or whoever else.

- Heyman does impressions of several minorities as he cuts his promo.
- DJ Peterson and Wahoo is a very random semi regular team as far as personalities, look and age goes
- Larry Nelson promises us that the EVENT of 1987 will be Gagne vs Hennig. They should run the Silverdome! Gagne name drops Andre and Hogan to really drive the point home.
- Scott LeDoux returns after a year off due to Larry Z hurting him. They say this is his "training center" but it is pretty clearly a garage. LOL
- Bockwinkel gets written off after Curt and Larry kill him with a stuff piledriver
- The AWA turns into the Attitude era as both Heyman and Hennig get bleeped during their promos.
- Madusa replaces Sherri as the Valet of Kevin Kelly
- Brothers in Law collide as Gagne vs Larry Z headlines!

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- Verne gives us a speech to let us know he's not changing the AWA to compete with the flair of the WWF. He basically compares Hogan to Gorgeous George and points out George flamed out while pure wrestling kept drawing.
- They plug their merch (T Shirts) including WWF Ladies Champ Sherri Martel and the Midnight Rockers, who left 4 months ago. Snuka is also on the list and he left about the same time as the Rockers. Ope, upon checking results, Super Ninja also left in May.
- They have a jobber with an Indian gimmick. Hopefully this is to set up Wahoo vs the Russians and not just gimmick overlaps.
- Condrey murders a jobber with a beauty of a brainbuster!
- Rod Trodgard reveals he doesn't watch the WWF as he is SHOCKED Adonis is a fat bastard now.
 
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- Scott Irwin gets a memorial moment as we see his WrestleRock match
- We get a battle royal video package and promo montage!
- Boris battles Wahoo in a chain match headlines...


- Buddy Landell makes his cup of coffee appearance for the AWA
- The Russians bring a picture of Lenin along for their promos
- Ray Stevens announces he's going to start training again to return to the ring
- Nailz brings out a list of telegrams(?) from NFL teams who want him to come play for them during the NFL strike
- The TV title tourney is announced. We have no bracket and Larry Nelson explains this will be a series of matches where points will be given or taken based on the results.
- Wahoo battles Hennig for the title
- Condrey and Rose tackle the attempted Rockers knock off JT Southern and DJ Pederson


- Alan West joins the vanilla midgets as generic babyfaces to fill out the cards
- Dick Slater(!) debuts to be Hennig's lackey as Wahoo's southern influenced booking continues.
- Crusher Blackwell battles Kevin Kelly.
- The AWA changes to AWA TV title tourney rules and now add that it isn't the first wrestler to 50 points, but whoever is in the lead after 90 days
- Larry Nelson plugs the Showboat's Elvis impersonator to close out the show
 

Larry Nelson seems more subdued than usual. Maybe he's hung over?

- Heyman steals the show as the only notable promo on the show, but when you are competing with Alan West and others who have no programs or angles to actually talk about, it's kind of easy.
- Boris is about to bolt to the WWF. They are still talking about Sherri Martel leaving. Bockwinkel is now WWF bound.
- Wahoo vs Hennig is likely better than any match the WWF threw on TV this week. JCP, well you never know.

Prime Time that week:
10/1/87: - George Steele defeated Sika via disqualification at the 3-minute mark after Sika used a steel chair as a weapon; after the match, Steele chased his opponent backstage with the chair (George 'the Animal' Steele) (9/21/87; Madison Square Garden)
- Bob Orton Jr. pinned Scott Casey with the superplex at 13:02 (9/20/87; Maple Leaf Gardens)
- Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo (w/ Johnny V) defeated Paul Roma & Jim Powers at 11:21 when Valentine pinned Roma following an elbow to the head by Bravo (9/20/87; Maple Leaf Gardens)
- WWF Women's Champion Sherri Martel pinned Velvet McIntyre at 3:35 in a non-title match by reversing a roll up and using the tights for leverage (Wrestling Challenge - 9/16/87; Rockford, IL; Metro Centre)
- King Harley Race pinned Hillbilly Jim with a diving headbutt off the top at 8:37 (9/21/87; Madison Square Garden)
- Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) pinned Jacques Rougeau at 8:27 with a roll up after Jacques became distracted by Virgil on the ring apron; after the bout, Dibiase offered to pay a kid in the audience $300 to do a certain amount of push ups only to deny him the money; moments thereafter, Jim Duggan came out, attacked Dibiase, and he and the kid left with the money; the post-match altercation was not televised (9/16/87; Rockford, IL; Metro Centre)

Pro – 10/3/87:
Mike Rotundo vs. Bobbie Idol
Steve Keirn & Mike Graham vs. the Masked Yankees
NWA US Champion Lex Luger vs. Jim Backlund
NWA TV Champion Nikita Koloff vs. the Black Assassin
UWF Western States Heritage Champion Barry Windham vs. the Masked Villian
Bugsy McGraw vs. Rick Ryder
Kevin Sullivan vs. Rex King
The Sheepherders vs. Bill Mulkey & Rick McCord

World Championship Wrestling – 10/3/87:
The Road Warriors vs. Fields & Franks
UWF TV Champion Terry Taylor vs. Terry Jones
NWA Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Force & Tommy Angel
NWA US Champion Lex Luger vs. Max McGyver
Ivan Koloff & the Warlord vs. Keith Steinborn & Rusty Riddle
NWA TV Champion Nikita Koloff vs. El Negro

Worldwide
10/3/87 – included David Crockett on commentary:
Ron Garvin pinned NWA World Champion Ric Flair in a steel cage match to win the title with a sunset flip off the top at around the 35-minute mark; after the bout, Dusty Rhodes, UWF Western States Heritage Champion Barry Windham, NWA TV Champion Nikita Koloff, Jim Crockett Jr., Sting, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, Michael Hayes, and Shane Douglas joined Garvin in the ring to celebrate; moments later, David Crockett conducted an in-ring interview with Garvin about his title win
 

So they made a bunch of "Best of" AWA PPVs in the early 2000s to take advantage of the boom period.
1st match here? Lawler vs Kaufman from Memphis...including Letterman clips that they no way had permission to use.

Polish Joe reveals the 1989 LarryLand green screen graphic was literally made by a fan on a T shirt and they transferred it over.

Joe says they had another image they took from a post card which actually saw the IP owner threaten a lawsuit over. Verne responded with "Fuck'em, I don't know how much longer we'll be doing this anyway!"
 
Considering the track record of this state's football team, I gotta wonder if (or, how much of) Gagne's stupidity was deliberate.
 
snuffbox said:
Considering the track record of this state's football team, I gotta wonder if (or, how much of) Gagne's stupidity was deliberate.
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Are you unaware of the Minnesota Vikings' historic futility? I mean, Christ, that Hershel Walker trade setting up another business's dynasty (the Dallas Cowboys in this case) seems awful analogous to Gagne driving off his own best talent to help set up another business's success (the WWE in this case).
 
snuffbox said:
Are you unaware of the Minnesota Vikings' historic futility? I mean, Christ, that Hershel Walker trade setting up another business's dynasty (the Dallas Cowboys in this case) seems awful analogous to Gagne driving off his own best talent to help set up another business's success (the WWE in this case).
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Eh, Vince was more like the Rams who built a roster of proven vets by willing to spend draft capital and cash. Verne would be the Bengals, run by a tightwad who wouldn't even buy Marvin Lewis tablets for his team's playbooks. (Or the OG Buccs who had soda machines installed in the locker room rather than provide the team with it)

Verne wasn't "dumb". Everyone but Vince McMahon went out of business. Verne did merch, VHS tapes, toys, books, etc . When the bottom fell out he tried to find new funding and partners, TV deals etc until the summer of 1990.
You can say he was "dumb" to not just take his ball and go home by the summer of 1988 when his roster was basically completely obliterated. Instead he signed a deal with other failing promoters to run a final hail mary that was supposed to lead to a series of PPVs and save all 3 promoters. (Fritz saw his business tank and sold it off for example)
 
I was referring to the stupid things he did. Not sure how you ended up with him ending the AWA in 1988.

Stupid things were like not putting the title on and keeping Hulk Hogan. Sometimes elites do stupid things out of ego and/or greed. All the smart things that came after, the merchandise of which you spoke, ESPN, etc, would've meant a whole lot more with Hogan on the roster.
 
snuffbox said:
I was referring to the stupid things he did. Not sure how you ended up with him ending the AWA in 1988.

Stupid things were like not putting the title on and keeping Hulk Hogan. Sometimes elites do stupid things out of ego and/or greed. All the smart things that came after, the merchandise of which you spoke, ESPN, etc, would've meant a whole lot more with Hogan on the roster.
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He would have had to offer him the same 1 million per year Vince was promising and convince Baba to pony up enough cash to also lure Hogan away from New Japan.
I believe the Martel/Hennig deals were around 3 grand a week to be champ and not leave, so a far cry from Vince's offer.

Plus Vince would have still bribed the arenas and TV channels and drained the AWA out even with Hogan.
 
I'm not convinced that McMahon could have done those things vs stronger, smarter competition. He used so much of the money his dad and his dad's friends gave him to buy his dad's company that, as the story goes, he took a big financial risk on the first Wrestlemania even with Hogan, Lauper, etc.
 
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