411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 04.22.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.23.2008
The AWA cuts corners and puts on a bunch of matches from SuperClash III, two weeks after the show aired on PPV. I guess if no one bought it on PPV, Verne figured he'd force them to watch the matches one way or another, DAMMIT!!
411's AWA On ESPN Classic Report
A tough act to follow from yesterday's report, but I'll soldier on in the hopes of entertaining you all, whether the show is good (possibly) or terrible (more than likely). Thanks to those of you who sent e-mails wondering whether the reports were coming back and for the support as well, it was cool to see and I appreciate everyone who takes time to drop me a line. Enough schmaltz, let's get to today's episode!
AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on December 26, 1988)
It looks like we're going to get matches from SuperClash III today, which is kind of cool since I can only remember two matches off of that card. Sadly the first one they're showing today is one I've already seen, but hey, at least it's a decent match. Lee Marshall and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens are your commentators for all the action and Gary Michael Capetta is in the ring ready to introduce everyone, using what looks like a spiral notebook for the task. Nothing like being prepared I suppose. This show took place on December 13, 1988 and I'm guessing that because of the holiday, they put on a sampling of the matches from the PPV or perhaps a best of special for the AWA on EPSN show.
Match One:
Cactus Jack and The Rock and Roll RPM's (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) vs. Hector, Mando, and Chavo Guerrero
The RPM's and Jack make their way to the ring with Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster" in my ears and all I can think of is the chord structure of that song in Rock Band. The RPM's are the Southern Tag Team Champions and Jack was also working out of Memphis at this point if I recall correctly. The RPM's were Mike Davis and Tommy Lane, though I'm a little hazy on who is who. The Guerreros come out in all types of Mexican garb, with Mando even doing a bit of a Mexican hat dance. Nope, no stereotypes in wrestling at all. Mean Mike Enos is your referee for this one but is probably best known as Blake Beverly during his WWF stint in the early-90's. Hector Guerrero starts out with Mike Davis and they do a rope-running sequence which ends with both RPM's running into each other and taking big bumps. Hector gets a headlock/headscissors combination to take them both down and over and we get a switch with Mando and Cactus Jack in the ring now. Mando gets a sunset flip for two before going to the armbar, but Cactus cuts it off with some really weak looking punches before flinging him out to the floor. Right hand blocked by Mando and he chops the piss out of Cactus and takes a back bodydrop on the floor from one of the Guerreros. Back in the ring and Mando makes the tag and holds the leg for Hector to come off the ropes with a splash and they tag Chavo who does the same thing. Tag to Mando and another jumping splash to the knee as they continue to work over poor Cactus. Cactus finally makes the tag over to Tommy Lane and the Guerreros make the exchange too, with Chavo coming in. A lockup into an armdrag and Chavo follows it up with a go-behind into a flying headscissors takeover. Funny to hear Lee Marshall never refer to the RPM's by name because he doesn't know their names. Davis gets a tag in and the RPM's try for a double-team but Chavo hits a double-flying bodypress, into double-splashes from the other two Guerrero brothers. All three of them dogpile the heel team to try for a pinfall but Davis sneaks out the backdoor and all three heels bail to the floor. Chavo and Cactus Jack are in the ring now with Cactus kneeing Chavo in the corner before hitting a snap mare and an elbow off of the ropes for two. Cactus tags in Davis and both RPM's come in for a little double-teaming. Lane stays in the ring and rams Chavo into the top turnbuckle before Cactus comes back in with some hammering. Chavo rolls around the ring and avoids Cactus before making the tag to Hector and it's DROPKICKS FOR EVERYBODY!! All six men in the ring with the Guerrero's getting the advantage. The RPM's try to heel it up on Hector, but Davis clotheslines his own partner down. Hector over the top onto Davis, (which the camera misses), Mando over the top onto Cactus, (which the camera misses), and Chavo gets a moonsault in the ring onto Lane for the 1-2-3!!!!
Winners: Hector, Mando, and Chavo Guerrero (pinfall, moonsault)
Match Analysis: A good choice for the opener as the Guerreros can fly around and get the crowd into the show. The only problem is that by putting them in the opening, they put their best workers first on the card and had nobody good left until the main event. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess, but that's the AWA in 1988. A good match, even though the RPM's sucked hard throughout. Four out of six makes for a decent match though, so I guess it could have been worse.
Larry Nelson is backstage and here comes Bad Company, Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, the AWA Tag Team Champions! Tanaka talks about Medusa Miceli, saying that some broad has the gall to slap Sensei Pat and that there's no respect in the wrestling business. Tanaka talks down to the Guerreros and asks what's next before he leaves and in comes Ricky Rice and Derrick Dukes, The Top Guns. They look like absolute jobbers, which leads me to remember how bad things were for the AWA in 1988. Rice talks about how Tanaka's MOMMA should have slapped him a long time ago before handing it over to Dukes for some more generic babyface statements. Rice says that revenge is the number-one thing on their minds and that they want to get their hands on Bad Company.
We see some video footage of a past match between Ronnie Garvin and Greg Gagne, with Gagne getting pinned after Garvin had walloped him with a foreign object. The AWA Championship committee deemed a rematch necessary and it happened at SuperClash III
Match Two: AWA International Television Championship
Greg Gagne vs. Ronnie Garvin
To say that Garvin gets a mixed reaction is one thing, but Gagne nearly gets booed out of the building. They lockup and work their way to nearly all four corners before Garvin rams Gagne into the top turnbuckle. Gagne stops another attack and reverses it, slamming Garvin's head into the buckle before Irish whipping him hinto the other corner. Gagne follows him in and misses allowing Garvin to take over with a snap mare into a chinlock. Gagne to his feet and he gets rammed into the top turnbuckle again. Gagne comes back with chops and right hands and he Irish whips Garvin into the ropes for a BIG back bodydrop to get a two count. Into a standing armbar and Garvin headbutts his way free, sending Gagne staggering around the ring. Irish whip from Garvin and he ducks down but Gagne tries a sunset flip. Right hand from Garvin stops that and he sits on Gagne for a two-count before Greg gets the sunset flip and gets a two-count of his own. They stand-off in the center of the ring and lockup again with Gagne getting an armdrag takeover into an armbar. Gagne works the arm over a little and gets a two-count, but Garvin's foot is in the ropes to break up the pin attempt. They lockup again and trade shoves and slap before they end up exchanging right hands in the middle of the ring, with Garvin taking over with headbutts and stomps. He gets up on the ropes to land the big ten-punch spot, only getting to four before jumping off. Garvin BITES at the head of Gagne and he starts choking on him. Gagne makes a babyface comeback to total silence, landing some chops before going to the ropes for his own ten-punch spot (he makes it all the way to SEVEN!!! Ooooooh!!!), before he whips Garvin into the ropes but misses a dropkick. Garvin picks up Gagne and gets a small package for a two-count before they mess up a spot with Gagne cross-bodyblocking Garvin over the top. They finally make it down to the floor and Garvin rams Gagne into the announce table and Gagne sends Garvin into the ringpost and the bell rings to a chorus of boos. After the match Garvin sneaks in and slaps a sleeper hold on Gagne, which the crowd cheers. Gagne reverses and gets the sleeper on Garvin and the crowd seems much less enthused. Garvin rolls out to the floor as it's announced that Garvin was counted out of the ring, making Gagne the new AWA International Television Champion. The crowd predictably boos the piss out of Gagne and the decision.
Winner: Greg Gagne (countout)
Match Analysis: I love Chicago crowds. Gagne got the shit booed out of him for the entire match because he wasn't very good and the crowd resented seeing him get a title he probably didn't deserve. The match wasn't very good either as they never got any time to get to a flow, and that's not even talking about the cardinal sin that was committed. NEVER END A CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH WITH A BULLSHIT FINISH.....EVER!!! They did it and the crowd rightly shit all over it. Bad, bad match with an even worse finish.
Larry Nelson is in the back with Verne Gagne and he asks how it feels to see Greg win that championship belt back. Verne says that he was really determined to win it and Verne is delighted that he won. Nelson asks about Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich, with Verne saying it was one of the hardest matches that he's ever seen and that the doctor was right in stopping the match. Larry Nelson brings up the word rematch and Verne is right there with him, saying that there will hopefully be a rematch, with Gagne saying that Lawler said to talk to him later about another match. Yeah, maybe like after you've paid him Verne. Gagne thanks all the people who helped put the show together and says that out of all his career, it was the greatest event he's ever put on. He says that those of us who missed this show should try to get the next one, which of course we know never happened, at least on pay-per-view.
Match Three:
The Rock and Roll Express vs. The Stud Stable (Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden)
We join in progress with The Stud Stable out on the floor. These guys had the unfortunate task of following up after the Main Event Title Unification match, and the crowd is pretty much spent. Morton gets a front facelock on Jimmy Golden as the crowd chants boring. Golden gets a suplex takeover and they bridge with Morton hitting a throw of his own before the Rock and Rolls double-team on the heel team, Irish whipping the heels into each other in the corner. Fuller gets the tag in and he's PISSED OFF!! Lee Marshall has an annoying habit of repeating word for word what The Stud Stable's valet is saying, despite the fact that you can clearly hear her over the non-existent crowd. Gibson is in the ring now, motioning for Fuller to kiss his ass before they lockup and Fuller gets a headlock. They do a criss-cross sequence which gets broken up when Golden knees Gibson in the back from the outside. Gibson gets sent to the floor and takes a shot with a kendo stick from The Stud Stable's valet. Heel tag and Golden starts working over Gibson with right hands before moving to a bearhug. Marshall tells us what the crowd is chanting now, despite being able to clearly hear it again. Gibson bites on Golden to get out of the bearhug, but he can't capitalize and Golden continues to punch him down in the corner. Golden sends Gibson over the top to the floor and he takes another six or eight kendo stick shots from that skank on the outside. Golden goes to an abdominal stretch and the heels use the added leverage from Fuller on the outside. Golden Irish whips Gibson in and he kicks Golden in the face, making the tag to Morton who goes to work on both heels. Fuller gets sent to the floor and the RnR's whip Golden into the ropes for a double-dropkick, but Fuller breaks up the pin before there's even a one-count. Fuller and Golden double-team Gibson on the outside as the bell rings, with both teams being disqualified and they're still fighting on the outside with Morton and Gibson chasing The Stud Stable all the way to the back with chairs.
Winners: None (double disqualification)
Match Analysis: Working a southern-style brawl in Chicago might not be the best idea. I'm sure the crowds in Memphis and Alabama would have eaten it up with a spoon since those are the kinds of matches that they were raised on, but the Chicago crowd kind of dumped all over it. It didn't help that these guys got the death slot as the last match on the card after an incredibly hot main event either. They were dead in the water before they hit the ring and it showed through the whole match.
After the match Larry Nelson is talking about the strap match between Wahoo McDaniel and Manny Fernandez, saying that it didn't settle anything and that they hate each other, wanting to battle it out some more. Manny Fernandez talks about how he had the guts to fight Wahoo in his own kind of match, the strap match and that he had to get saved from a beating. Fernandez says that he's going to come after him again and Fernandez threatens him with a Mexican Death Match. He says that lots of people have tried to get rid of him but no one has succeeded. McDaniel gets his time now and talks about how he respects Fernandez for being in Vietnam and he says that he knows Fernandez is tough and that McDaniel thinks that he's tough too. He says that they'll meet at some point in 1989 and the smoke is going to get thick again, whatever that means. Maybe it's an Indian thing.
Match Four: Boot Camp Match
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Col. DeBeers w/Diamond Dallas Page
My guess is that this is going to be no-disqualification and Gary Michael Capetta says that they can bring whatever they want, wear whatever they want, fight wherever they want and the referee is only there for pinfalls or submissions. I can't remember Page managing DeBeers, but here it is, and it's rather odd to see him all bedazzled and sunglassed, managing the straight-laced South African, but Verne was desperate at this point, so anything goes I guess. Slaughter gets as good a pop as you can get from 2,000 people and as he gets in the ring the fight is on!! He starts beating DeBeers with his riding crop and DeBeers goes to the eyes to break it up. Slaughter continues the beating with the riding crop and Irish whips DeBeers in for a clothesline with the crop. DeBeers takes over by hitting Slaughter in the gut with his own helmet and then goes to the eyes before taking off his belt to choke Slaughter with it. Right hands from DeBeers put Slaughter down and DeBeers grabs the riding crop to wail away on Slaughter a little. DeBeers rams Slaughter into the top turnbuckle and Slaughter fires back with right hands, taking DeBeers over with a snap mare. BIG right hand from Slaughter and he flings DeBeers over the top rope to the floor, slamming him into the ringpost on the outside. Slaughter gets some right hands and then gets a two-count on the floor. DeBeers gets Slaughter across the back with one of the ringside barricades and stomps at him before going back into the ring. DeBeers has Slaughter's helmet on his head and HEADBUTTS HIM WITH IT! AGAIN TO THE MIDSECTION!! Page is up on the apron and picks up Slaughter to hold him, and if you don't know what's coming, you haven't watched much wrestling. Slaughter moves and DeBeers gets Page right in the gut with the helmet before Slaughter takes DeBeers down with a clothesline. Slaughter puts the helmet on and headbutts DeBeers in the face three or four times, with the last one sending DeBeers flying in a comedy bump. Slaughter with an Irish whip and another huge clothesline before he motions for the Cobra Clutch. Slaughter with a boot on Page to keep him down and he locks the Cobra Clutch onto DeBeers!!! The Col. is fading but Page is trying to make his way into the ring again, but he waves to the back for someone to come down and here comes Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie. DeBeers and Page put Slaughter down as he tries to put the Clutch on El-Kaissie and HERE COMES THE IRON SHEIK, BITCHES!! Shiek starts laying the boots down on Slaughter and SPIKES HIM IN THE FACE!! OUT GOES THE REFEREE!!! MORE SPIKING ON SLAUGHTER!! SARGE IS BUSTED OPEN!! The Guerrero brothers come down to break things up and Sarge goes OVER THE TOP TO GET AT SHEIK!! Sheik runs his ass to the back and the Guerreros hold back Slaughter.
Match Analysis: Kind of weak for a Boot Camp Match, especially when you throw it up against the other matches of that type that Slaughter has been in against guys like Sheik and Patterson. Not to mention that there ended up being a non-finish in a match that apparently had no DQ's. FAIL!! At least it was fun to see The Iron Sheik again.
Larry Nelson talks us through the match that just happened and says that it was unexpected to see the two Sheiks in the ring attacking Slaughter before we go back to SuperClash to hear from Sheik Adnan-El Kaissie and The Iron Sheik. El-Kaissie starts talking in Arabic before saying that he had a big surprise for Slaughter and the AWA and that his surprise is the Iron Sheik!! Sheik says that every intelligent American knows about Sheik and Slaughter's history. Sheik goes on about Muhammad and Allah and Larry Nelson cuts them off and sends things back to "ringside". We cut to Sgt. Slaughter giving us comments in the AWA studios, singing the Marine Corps song before saying that he's after DeBeers, and the Sheiks and says that they're all maggots, scum and slime. He doesn't know how they got into his country, but if they want to fight him that they have to sign the contract and that he'll show them all who the toughest man is and which the toughest country is. He's going to dismiss them all, PERMANENTLY!!
Final Thoughts
Yeah, suddenly I'm not so excited to track down a copy of the SuperClash III show anymore. The two matches that I saw from it before were obviously the two best matches on the card, and the rest of it was pretty much awful. The opening match on this show was good, and the rest of it was just weak and kind of boring to be honest. I guess when all the talent was in Charlotte or New York, they had to make do with the scraps. A pretty boring episode this time out and an easy thumbs down from me.
Fun With Comments
From robblack: "this is much better than what tna delivers.
We here at XPW are proud to say that awa paved the road for us and made XPW
what it is today. number 1 in the world. watch us each monday night primetime
on fox!"
Yeah, I'll be sure to check that out, right after World's Deadliest Bear Attacks 9. Jackass.
From guy: "Can anyone post match listings from the AWA shows that there was no report for?
I didn't watch last week either and I want to know what I missed!"
And the response from Steve: "To answer guy's question, here's what I can remember for match listings from
last week's shows.
Monday:
King Kong Brody & Barbarian Vs. Steel Gladiator & Jesse Hernandez
In This Corner with Larry Zbyszko, guests The Midnight Rockers
Mat Classic: Ray "The Crippler" Stevens Vs. Red Bastien
Doug Somers Vs. Mike Rotundo (AWA Debut)
Tuesday:
Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Vs. Steel Gladiator & Jesse Hernandez
Brad Rheingans Vs. Pistol Pete
Nick Bockwinkel Vs. Harley Davidson
Col. DeBeers Vs. Mike Richards
Curt Hennig & Mike Rotundo Vs. Larry Zbyszko & an unmasked Mr. Go (Yes,
he did look Japanese.)
Wednesday:
Boris Zhukov & Sheik Adnan Al Kaissie Vs. H.D. Hass & Harry Henderson
Col. DeBeers Vs. Jake Milliman (End features Scott Hall getting knocked out on
the concrete floor via a Front Piledriver by DeBeers)
Buddy Rose, Doug Somers & Larry Zbyszko Vs. Mike Rotundo, Steve Pardee
& Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Thursday:
Midnight Rockers Vs. El Cibriano & Don Fargo
Barbarian Vs. Jesse Hernandez
Curt Hennig Vs. Ken Glover
Larry Zbyszko Vs. Scott LeDoux in a Taped Fists Match
Friday:
Midnight Rockers Vs. Tom Stone & Tony Leone
Col. DeBeers Vs. Earthquake Ferris
Ali Khan Vs. Jake Milliman
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
There you go."
Looks like I didn't miss much last week, which I'm happy about. I think one of them might have even been a show that I had already covered. Thanks for the listings though, Steve! I always appreciate the help of my fine readers.
From Joe K.: "The horrible thing about the Somers/Rotundo match was that Somers had this gross
brown spot on his tights...and it was exactly where you'd think it would be.
Talk about something that takes you out of the match!"
Yeah, I'm glad I missed last week's shows now.
Finally from friend of the column, G-Walla: "Damn, staying up and watching this has been getting harder and harder, so I was
only barely coherent during the main event. Wish I could have paid more
attention."
I find it's probably a direct correlation between it being harder to stay up and that the shows are getting worse and worse. I'd love for them to go backwards a little to 85, but it looks like they're moving forward with the march to the death of the AWA. Ugh.
That does it for another edition of the AWA report, and I thank you all for stopping by to check it out. Sure tonight's show was god-awful, but tomorrow is another day and another chance for me to be amazed at how badly the AWA dropped the ball on any number of levels. See you all then everybody!
Gary Michael Capetta... Is this the same guy that worked for ROH doing backstage
interviews?
Posted By: soulpower (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 01:36 PM
Yeah that's the same guy. He's got a GREAT book out (forgot the name) that tells
all about his time in AWA,WWF,NWA. Great stories where you can really see how
frickin' CLUELESS the Gagnes really were.(Damn,now I have to call my brother up
to get that book back). Last year on WWE 24/7 they showed the debut episode of
AWA on ESPN. It had Jim Garvin,The Freebirds,The Road Warriors and oh yeah a
GAGM (god-awful Greg match). I hope ESPN starts replaying some of this older
stuff too. Michael Hayes' promos were almost as good as Zybyskos.
Posted By: GregGagneSucks (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 02:41 PM
Hey Randy. Sorry for being away...I'm normally good for the long responses, but
a) haven't watched a lot of the AWA stuff overnight, and b) quite a bit of it
was underwhelming, you know?
This one's special for me because it was pretty much the last gasp of the AWA
in Chicago when SuperClash III rolled into town. It was a combination of the
AWA, Memphis, and World Class – all three promotions struggling against Vince
and the WWF at the time. Even the NWA had been coming to town on and off
throughout the year, so this was sad in a way too. They did this show at the
University of Illinois-Chicago Pavillion, which was a fairly new facility in
Chicago at the time, but was a good 7K seats short of the old Rosemont Horizon
(now the Allstate Arena) at the time. The WWF had pretty much taken over the
Horizon and was selling out. The AWA was pushed to the smaller arena on the
Chicago campus. It seated about 11,000, and the NWA and Watts-booked UWF had
run some shows there between 1986 and the time of this show.
You'd have thought with the multitude of names combined you'd have gotten a
filled arena. Nope. From what I remember they got under 1,200 into the area.
There's a reason the arena was very dark except for the ring lights. The arena
was empty. This is one big reason why I believe that TNA, when they come to
Chicago sooner or later, will continue the small arena routine. That's what
ROH does here now; they book 1,500 max gyms (because that's what they are –
glorified gymnasiums) and put maybe a thousand in the house, and it looks
filled. Remember, even a small house, if filled, will look good. SuperClash
III didn't look good, and it was a disappointment to me personally.
I couldn't even tell you who was booking the AWA by the late 1980s. I'm
presuming it was Greg Gagne and maybe Ray Stevens by this time. I'm presuming
that Eric Bischoff was assisting in the booking as well.
The Guerreros match was the actual opening match of the card, and the RPMs were
in Memphis under Lawlor at the time. They'd bounced back and forth between
Memphis and Crockett in the Carolinas at the time, and were generally mid-card
at best with Crockett. The Guerreros could have brought in some of the
Hispanic fans in Chicago. No dice. The Guerreros were in good form that
night, but you could almost envision what was going to happen in time.
The Greg Gagne/Ronnie Garvin match was exactly how it played out on
TV....boring. No offense to anyone else, but they'd played Garvin as a former
NWA World champion, of course....but honestly I would have had more fun
watching Garvin 'brother' Jimmy work a match with Gagne by this point, but
Garvin was a Freebird in the NWA and he's bailed on the promoion almost four
years earlier.
Kind of makes you wonder what could have been.
The Rock 'n' Roll Express/Stud Stable match, believe it or not, was the LAST
match on the card...AFTER the Jerry Lawler/Kerry Von Erich 'main event loss
because of bleeding' fiasco> People were already leaving the arena by this
time...so envision a HORRIBLY empty arena by this point. You could have just
chucked the final match, but they'd already paid Morton, Gibson, Fuller, and
Golden by this point (or maybe they hadn't, knowing Verne Gagne) The match was
ok, but they'd fought better battles in Memphis, obviously.
It was actually fine to see matches from this card, because there were some
good names (obviously not the caliber of the WWF at the time) in a young Jeff
Jarrett, Eric Embry, Iceman Parsons, Brickhouse Brown, Col. DeBeers, Sarge (in
a return that would last until the promotion folded), DDP (notice how young he
was?), Badd Company (one of the last 'created' tag teams the AWA
had...including the Destruction Crew (Enos and Wayne Bloom – they'd become the
Beverly Brothers in time).
It's just sad looking back on that timeframe. Chicago wrestling would die soon
afterwards; there'd be only one more AWA card – another horribly nasty
attendance figure, I'd estimate 1,000 if that – and that would be it.
Chicago wrestling hasn't been the same since. Let's hope that TNA and ROH can
bring some of that swagger we were used to.
Posted By: Eric (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 03:49 PM
I can't wait until they show Kerry vs. Jerry, which I believe is scheduled for
either later this week or next week. When a coked-up Kerry cut his arm before
the match started, due to playing with his razor blade, you just knew that luck
was not on Verne's side that night.
Posted By: Frozen (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 05:22 PM
I think you're right about the dip in quality putting me to sleep.
I was initially excited about this show, if just for the fact it wasn't the
Showboat. And then I saw Cactus and a trio of Guerrerros. Then a blur of
boring unitl seeing Slaughter and DeBeers. Sadly, that match was lackluster,
too. Boo!
Of course, it was kinda trippy seeing the Iranian and Iraqi standing
side-by-side at the end. Wrestling really brings the world together.
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 05:40 PM
Badd Company became Orient Express(Paul Diamond under a mask) in the WWF
Posted By: GregGagneSucks (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 06:52 PM
"Sure tonight's show was god-awful"
Just like your writing.
Posted By: Guest#6637 (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 07:18 PM
I remember reading that the reason for the countout ending to the Garvin/Gagne
match was because Garvin refused to do the job for Greg since he was on his way
to the WWF.
Posted By: A King (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 07:18 PM
The Capetta book was called Bodyslams and it is a great read, if not just for
the story of Buzz Sawyer fucking Mark Calloway out of $3000 by saying he would
train him and then skipping town.
But wow, from The Rockers to Derrick Dukes and Ricky Rice! what a fall! Last
nights show looked more like the old UWF shows than any other AWA show they've
played so far.
Posted By: Joe K. (Guest) on April 23, 2008 at 11:31 PM
A decent show. First of all, "Maniac" Mike Davis of the RPMs had the
short hair. Always will remember his 90's stint in Global with the Bungee
match. Interesting seeing Ronnie Garvin losing a title for the 2nd year in a
row at the UIC Pavilion. I was at Starrcade '87 (held in the same building)
when Garvin dropped the NWA title to Ric Flair. Woooooo! Also interesting that
a few years later Sgt Slaughter would do his heel turn in the WWF by associating
himself with El-Kaissie and the Iron Sheik (as Gen. Adnan & Col. Mustafa).
Posted By: AndresV (Guest) on April 24, 2008 at 01:30 AM
IIRC Garvin was already signed by the WWF (and may have made house shows) by the
time this was on PPV
I think Iron Shiek had already prepped his NWA contract before he appeared here
Posted By: Arnold_OldSchool (Guest) on April 24, 2008 at 02:08 AM
