411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 04.29.08

Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.30.2008

Scotty Steiner makes an early appearance, and Sgt. Slaughter faces Soldat Ustinov in the main event. Sadly, the best match on the show isn't even from today's show...


411's AWA On ESPN Classic Report


A decent show last night, but I can't tell if that's just me setting my standards lower after all of the crap I was forced to endure last week, or whether it really was a good show. Either way, I've got my fingers crossed for another less-than-terrible show today, so let's get to it.


AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)

Lee Marshall and Ray Stevens are your commentators for this one and we're still in Nashville at that particular set of tapings.


Match One:
Gary Young and Cactus Jack w/Downtown Bruno vs. Billy Travis and Scott Steiner

Wow, this one has to be VERY early in the career of Steiner as I believe that Memphis was the first steady territory that he ever worked in. He's still absolutely shredded like he was in WCW, though not quite as freakishly huge as he was during that run. Marshall runs down Scott Steiner's amateur credentials as he locks up with Cacuts and puts him against the ropes, giving him a clean break before we cut to a ton of random crowd shots. Another lockup and Cactus hits a forearm and tries for an Irish whip into the corner but Steiner isn't budging. He gets his own Irish whip, backdropping Cactus and giving both heels BIG dropkicks before he arm drags Cactus over into armbar. Shot into the ropes and Steiner leapfrogs over before powerslamming Cactus down. Steiner tags in Travis and they hit a double elbow on Cactus before Travis tries for a pin that gets two. Cactus picks up Travis and slams him HARD before tagging in Young who ends up getting armdragged nearly out of his boots. Forearms from Young in the corner and he Irish whips Travis across but can't hit a move on the follow and Travis hits a couple more arm drags. Travis with an Irish whip into the corner now and he misses a Stinger splash, smashing his face into the top buckle and allowing Young to tag in Cactus. Cactus and Young take him down with a double-reverse elbow off the ropes and Cactus comes off with a kneedrop for a two-count. They trade right hands against the ropes and Cactus snap mares him over before hitting a legdrop and the heel team makes the tag. Young with an Irish whip into the ropes and he pancakes Travis against the mat before tagging Cactus back in. Cactus gets some punches in but Travis gets MORE punches in and he gets the HOT TAG TO STEINER!! DOWN GOES CACTUS!! DOUBLE-IRISH WHIP/HEEL MISCOMMUNICATION NOGGIN-KNOCKER!! Young to the outside and Steiner rolls up Cactus in the ring, while the referee is trying to get Travis back on the apron. Young comes back in and CRACKS Steiner on the head with one of Downtown Bruno's boots and Cactus rolls through and gets the 1-2-3!!!

Winners: Gary Young and Cactus Jack (pinfall, illegal boot shot)

Match Analysis: A really good little opener for me. It was a little bland when Travis was in the ring because he didn't seem to have a ton of charisma or a ton of ability to get the crowd on his side when he was taking the beating. That tag could have been a lot more important with just a little more effort on Travis' part to really sell what was happening, but a minor quibble compared to some of the bad matches lately. I have HOPE!! HALLELUJAH, I HAVE HOPE!!


Match Two:
Teijo Kahn w/Soldat Ustinov vs. Mike Enos

Pre-Destruction Crew for Enos as he was a part-time referee, part-time jobber in the territory. Kahn was a Memphis and AWA wrestler who also spent some time in Florida, billed from Mongolia and with a "martial-arts" background, though when you're trained by Eddie Sharkey, I doubt you have much by way of martial arts in your repetoire. Not a good sign that the AWA production crew mispells Kahn's first name TiJoe. That's not even close. Jerry Lawler joins us for some commentary while Kahn pushes Enos against the ropes and they grapple into the corner. Lawler talks about how great the wrestling fans in Tennessee are as Enos gives a clean break in the corner. Another lockup and Kahn puts Enos against the ropes and hits a big chop before Irish whipping Enos in, getting reversed, and eating a cross-bodyblock for a two-count before getting armdragged over. Armbar from Enos now and Kahn gets free of it and gets a HARD backbreaker before choking Enos across the top rope. Lawler gets in the "Kahn was so ugly his momma had to feed him with a slingshot" joke and Marshall loses his shit, just cackling away at it like it's the funniest thing in the world. Kahn puts Enos down with a slam and follows it up with a fistdrop before yelling at the crowd. He tries a pin attempt and gets a two-count before moving to the reverse chinlock. Marshall talks about SuperClash and Lawler gets into how exciting it is that all the pay-per-views are just company wrestler vs. company wrestler, while SuperClash will have stars from multiple companies and they'll all be going head-to-head. Kahn with a shot to the body that puts Enos into the corner and he slings Enos into the ropes for a BIG powerslam but he doesn't follow up on it right away, missing an elbowdrop off the ropes and allowing Enos to make a short little babyface comeback. Rights and lefts from Enos and he Irish whips Kahn into the corner but Kahn comes out with a HARD clothesline and then hits a thrust chop to the throat for the three-count as Lawler totally no-sells the pin and just keeps on talking about SuperClash. Tremendous!!

Winner: Teijo Kahn (pinfall, thrust chop)

Match Analysis: Kahn had an interesting look with the muscles and the mohawk/long ponytail thing, but this was a pretty boring match, as Kahn had nothing on offense that made him seem any different from anyone else. Lots of show but no go, and honestly both guys were probably pretty green since Kahn had only been in the business for a year or so more than Enos and both had less than three years experience. Not horribly offensive, but not a great match by any means.


Back from commercial and Greg Gagne is in the SuperClash control center talking about the big Title Unification match between Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich before he takes us to the entire match from the last episode. If you want to read that match over again, it's available for your reading pleasure~!


Back to the actual wrestling that I haven't seen yet and it's time for another jobber-riffic match.


Match Three: AWA International Television Championship
Alan Reynolds vs. Ron Garvin (c)

Lawler is still on color commentary and Marshall brings up that he'd love to see Garvin and Lawler go at it, since they both throw great right hands. Garvin locks up and puts Reynolds outside the ropes and they break clean, leading to another lockup and another break in the corner. They tangle in the middle and they end up in the corner again with Reynolds shoving Garvin into the corner before trying an Irish whip into the corner. Garvin reverses the whip and Reynolds tries a splash off of the second rope but Garvin just steps to the side and starts punishing Reynolds with the GARVIN STOMP~! Reynolds rolls out to the apron for a breather and Garvin just picks him up and starts punching away before suplexing him back into the ring. Lawler says taht he could knock Ron Garvin out with one punch and that if they ever get into the ring he'll prove it. Garvin gets the BIG right hand for two, but pulls Reynolds up before the three-count, moving to choke Reynolds against the mat before stomping at him. Hard chop from Garvin and he snap mares Reynolds over into a chicken-wing pinning combination, getting two before disdainfully shoving Reynolds over. Garvin just shoves him over and rakes his nails at Reynolds back, picking him up to headbutt him down and he double-stomps at the guy of Reynolds before Irish-whipping him in for a back-bodydrop. Hearing Lawler talk is about the only thing that is saving this match from a slow, painful death, but that's just for me. The live crowd is sitting on their hands and completely dead. You wonder why Garvin was a fluke NWA Champion? Here's your answer. Garvin motions for the right hand and he knocks Reynolds THE FUCK OUT with it, kneeling on him for the pinfall.

Winner: Ron Garvin (pinfall, Hands of Stone)

Match Analysis: Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. Let's move on, shall we?


Match Four:
Keith Erick and The Hangman vs. The Rock and Roll Express

Big pop for the Rock and Rolls from their hometown fans and they look like they're loving being there. Morton and Erick start out and Erick gets some punches against the ropes before Irish whipping Morton in and eating a kick to the face. Tag to Gibson and Morton whips Erick into the ropes for a BIG Gibson kneelift. Another tag and Morton hits a big dropkick, forcing Erick into his corner to tag Hangman in. Lawler is doing a great job on color and it's easy to see how he was able to make that transition after his wrestling career was over. Morton hits a drop toehold on Hangman and the tag to Gibson leads to him slingshotting over the top to drop a knee on the leg. Another tag to Morton and they do the wishbone on Hangman's legs, to much screaming from the masked man. Morton puts Hangman down and hits another leg move befor tagging Gibson in to continue working away at the legs. Hangman comes back to land a shot to the gut but Gibson cuts it off and gets the tag back to Morton who works an anklelock into dropping an elbow on the leg. Morton tags in Gibson who attacks Hangman before he could get at Morton's eyes. While all of this is going on, Lawler is on a GREAT rant about how managers are leeches and the only reason they do what they do is because they don't have the talent to get into the ring themselves. Gibson with a stepover toehold and he tags Morton back in for them to double-team Hangman, hitting their double-hamstring pull, roll into the other corner and knock the heel's partner off the apron spot, before double-dropkicking Hangman. Morton covers and Gibson keeps Erick at bay to let the referee count the pinfall.

Winners: The Rock and Roll Express (pinfall, double-dropkick)

Match Analysis: Fun to see Morton and Gibson in action and they were still incredibly fluid as a tag-team after all these years. Just an extended squash so we didn't get to see any of their great selling, but still fun to see them get to work, especially on a show where the workrate has been less than stellar. Sadly, they couldn't get much out of the crowd either until the finish. I'm beginning to think that this must have been one of those marathon taping sessions that just wore the crowd out entirely.


Match Five:
Soldat Ustinov w/Teijo Kahn vs. Sgt. Slaughter

So wait, Sgt. Slaughter is going to be facing some sort of foreign heel? I've NEVER seen that kind of match before. EVER!! Slaughter is making a run around the ring, handing out flags, kissing babies and all his usual stuff. Ustinov was one of the "I'm from Minnesota but I look Russian" kind of Russians and was one of the bigger guys that played the Russian gimmick, probably even bigger than Nikita Koloff, though not quite as muscular. They lockup and Ustinov gets a side headlock, getting shot into the ropes and neither man budges from a shoulderblock. Another shoulderblock and no movement again, leading Ustinov to head outside to think it over. He's back in and they lockup again with no movement, before Sarge gets a side headlock into a hammerlock, forcing Ustinov to get into the ropes for a break. Ustinov goes to a hammerlock but gets reversed and Ustinov gets to the ropes again. Slaughter hits a side headlock and Ustinov shoots him into the ropes again for another couple of shoulderblocks that go nowhere. Slaughter gets tripped up by Kahn, but rolls out of the way of the follow-up elbowsmash and goes right back to the headlock. Another shot into the ropes and Sarge knocks Ustinov down with that shoulderblock, running the ropes again before Ustinov hits a BIG boot to the face. Verne Gagne: "And who knows what's in those boots!" Me: "Um, Verne? They're called feet, everyone has two of them." Ustinov rams Slaughter into the top turnbuckle and whips Slaughter to the opposite corner, hitting a big back-bodydrop before trying a pin for a one-count. Ustinov with some hammering right hands and he flings Slaughter out through the ropes to the floor as the referee keeps Teijo Kahn from getting involved on the outside. Slaughter takes a lap around the ringside area and gets back into the ring right into a lockup in the corner, with Ustinov landing a shot to the gut but taking a back-bodydrop out of the corner. Standing dropkick from Slaughter and he hits a HARD clothesline off the ropes before locking the Cobra Clutch in on Ustinov. TIJOE KAHN FROM THE OUTSIDE!! TO THE THROAT OF SLAUGHTER!! Kahn holds him for Ustinov to hit a clothesline and SARGE DUCKS!! SLAUGHTER WITH A HUGE RIGHT ON USTINOV!! THE HEELS GO RUNNING!!

Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (disqualification, Kahn interference)

Match Analysis: A slower paced big man match, that didn't really get going anywhere get to build any momentum before it was already over. Like most of the AWA TV main events, it was a fifteen minute match with the last eight minutes cut off so it seemed like the first half of a decent match with a finish jammed in out of nowhere. No psychology other than "We're BIG!!!" and no work at all to set up the Clutch. I guess Ustinov wasn't that great a worker so it's understandable to an extent, but still it didn't make the match very good.

Lee Marshall is in the ring with Slaughter and Slaughter has the Soviet flag in his hands, threatening to tear it to shreds. Ustinov and Kahn are still milling around ringside and Ustinov manages to get his flag back before heading out. Slaughter says that USA is #1 and that they'll do everything that they have to do to keep their freedom, and don't you ever FORGET IT!! Slaughter says that the only way that Ustinov was going to break free was to get help because no one has broken the Cobra Clutch!! He challenges the winner of the big Lawler/Von Erich bout and says that he's the America's Champion and that he'll take them on one at a time or fight them both in the same night. He says that he's sick and tired of seeing Col. DeBeers bagging on America so he wants a piece of him too.



Final Thoughts

Fun to see The Rock and Roll Express, along with an early Scott Steiner match, but the bright spots were few and far between for this show. Throw in the fact that the longest and best match was a replay of a match from the last episode and this one is easy to throw the thumbs down on. This Nashville taping session has produced some dreadful episodes, though it did provide us with a glimpse of how well Jerry Lawler was suited for his career in commentary, which was kind of fun. Boring, boring show on the whole though. Now let's move on to the comments, folks!



Fun With Comments

From G-Walla:
"I enjoyed this one. Well, at least the last half. Didn't much pay attention to
the first half.

Richter. HILARIOUS! My brother and I were rolling during that little promo.

Lawler/Von Erich was pretty good. Loved how much they wanted to brawl that
they both walloped the ref. And then Lawler outsmarted him by letting himself
get a potentially career-threatening move done to him, to win by DQ.

Sheik^2, what more needs to be said about them. Brought in for one reason, and
then starts naming everyone and their uncle.

And then closed it out with a Slaughter segment, resplendent with that song, no
matter how much you try to hate on it. Mucho gusto!"

You're pretty much spot-on. That Richter promo was hilariously bad and yeah, it was fun to watch the CRAZY SHEIKS~! They really should have taken that act on the road to the comedy circuit.


From Rob:
"If this show is any indication,as the years went on, less talent was available .
It's a shame they didn't take the top 5 wrestlers from CWA,WCCW, and AWA and
make a roster."

That was essentially what they tried to do with SuperClash under the AWA banner, and it flopped and Verne kept the gate for himself, pissing off the other promoters and essentially ending the alliance before it really started.


From James:
"Beauty and the Beast = I assume is the tag team that included Terry
Garvin/Simms, correct?

And I am still wondering why ESPN still gets to use the original entrance
themes and all in their reruns, while 24/7 would have to edit them."

Yes, Beauty was indeed Terry Garvin, and I'm still not sure either, unless it's just that these shows are flying under the radar for now.


From Guest #8592:
"The ring looks like they're walking on a trampoline.
I don't know if anyone else saw WWE 24/7 old school from MSG, but Roddy Piper
did a Piper's Pit with Paul Orndorff and Bobby Heenan. Roddy Piper brought up
a guy from the crowd to say who he thought would be a good tag partner for
Piper. The guy from the crowd I have seen a numerous MSG event, PPV, and even
Herb Abrams UWF that was on Espn Classic. Does anyone know who this guy is?"

There was a little extra spring in the ring, that's for sure. And as for your second question, I'll let another commenter handle that one.


From John:
"the guy who was talking to piper at MSG is named Vatomere or something like
that..you can spot him on some old wwe ppvs and other events at the garden.
Those nerd glasses stick out dont they"

There's your answer Guest #8592!


A trio of comments regarding the jobber with the unfortunate name are up next! First, from Rick Cool, For The Middle-Aged:
"There really was a jobber in the TN/GA area who went by the name Ken Raper. I
can't remember my supervisor's phone number at work, but I can recall the names
of ham 'n' eggers at the drop of a hat."


From CaveDweller:
"The jobber who was against DeBeers was Ken Raper. He was one of the weekly
jobber in the old Memphis CWA/USWA era."


And the last one from W.D. Forte:
"Yep, Ken Raper was his name. He started in Memphis in the 70s doing a Native
American gimmick. By the 80s he was primarily a Saturday morning jobber, but he
would get an occasional win here and there. He was also one of the guys who
portrayed Leatherface.

Beauty & The Beast would have been Terry Garvin/Simms and Mark Moline, if I
recall correctly."

I still think that that's possibly the worst name you could ever have, and I'd be shocked if he didn't end up horribly scarred for years after high school. Thanks for the information everyone, I really appreciate when you guys step up and help me figure out things that I either don't know, or have forgotten. Best. Readers. EVER!!


Finally some greatness from Frozen:
"This is off-topic, but I stumbled across this clip of a randy Larry Nelson.
Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Ax3BwXR64"

Now again, for those of you who aren't going to cut and paste, here's the clip for your viewing pleasure!



That clip is fantastic!! I love that little dance that Nelson does after high-fiving Rich. He looks like a fifty-year old at a frat party. Not to mention "Ok, I think you can see that Tommy Rich and I are going to get along real well." I also note that the end of that sentence where Nelson talked about WHY they would get along real well ended up clipped. The whole thing should have been "Ok, I think you can see that Tommy Rich and I are going to get along real well, because we're both dirty, dirty perverts who love to strip unwilling women of their clothes and dignity. That's how we roll because we LOVES THE BEWBIES!!!" Nice creepy look from Nelson right at the end of that clip to boot.


That does it for this edition of the AWA on ESPN Classic, it looks like Cheap Seats is going fishing with Steve Garvey and bowling with Bobby Bonilla. Garvey's friends with a guy named Michael Floorwax. This should be tremendously bad. See you all tomorrow for more wrestling action!