411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 05.01.08

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.02.2008

Minot, ND plays host to the AWA and the show sure looks like it. Ah well, at least it's not the SuperClash shows. All the wrestling action, plus by popular demand Cheap Seats joins the party!!!


411's AWA On ESPN Classic Report


I'm tired, so let's roll the dice and see what the hell comes up for the AWA today.


AWA Championship Wrestling (Originally aired on...)

I'm considering dropping the Airdate thing at the beginning since I can never seem to figure out when these shows actually aired with an consistency. Anyone that can either point me towards a very detailed guide for when the AWA shows aired, that would be fantastic. If not I'll just rip it out and throw it away starting with Monday's show.

Larry Nelson's in the AWA studios and he gives us the rundown for the entire show and it sounds like pretty much all of the stars that the AWA had left are in this show. Nelson pimps the fan of the week again before sending us to the ring!

Rod Trongard is at ringside with any combination of guys including Ray Stevens, Mick Karch, Lee Marshall, etc. etc.


Match One:
Adrian Adonis w/Bob Orton vs. Ricky Rice

At least Rice looks a little less like Generic Jobber #258 than he did last night, but not by much. Adonis is easily pushing four bills at this point, yet still has tons of athletic ability, hidden beneath his mighty flubber. It's a shame too because I used to and still do love Adonis' in-ring work. I will say that it's a weird look for him though with the "Adorable" pink trunks but with his brown hair grown all the way out. Anyhoo, they lockup and Adonis gets a side headlock, cranking on Rice's head before Rice reverses it to a top wristlock. Adonis looks almost insulted and armdrags the kid over, picking him up to knock him right back down with a forearm shot and then flinging Rice to the floor. Orton takes over on the outside and runs Rice into the ringpost before rolling him back into the ring so that Adonis can take over on him in the corner. Rice tries a comeback but Adonis just forearms him back down and hits a WICKED snap-suplex. Rice tries for some sort of takedown reversal but they just end up scrambling right back to their feet and Adonis gets the side headlock again. They trade right hands in the corner with Rice getting the better of it and he tries an Irish whip in but Adonis holds the top rope, sending Rice crashing to the mat. Another Irish whip comes for Adonis, but Rice reverses that, sending Adonis into the corner. Adonis just forearms him in the face as he comes running in though and then hits a BIG splash for the pin.

Winner: Adrian Adonis (pinfall, big splash)

Match Analysis: Adonis was still quick here and had such fluid movement, but he was far too big to do any of the stuff that he had been doing a few years previous that had made him one of the best workers in the business. Rice still looked green, but I guess I don't need to say that EVERY time I see him. It's a shame what happened to Adonis because he was one of the best workers in the early-80's.


After the break, Larry Nelson tells us that it's special segment time!! It's time to look at all the title changes that have happened lately, and we start with Curt Hennig winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Nick Bockwinkel at SuperClash II after hitting him with a foreign object. We see some highlights and Nelson gives Hennig the verbal suck-off treatment. He talks about the tournament for the AWA Women's Championship and we get highlights of the final between Candi Devine and Madusa Miceli for the "Greatest prize in women's sports" according to Nelson. No hyperbole there. Miceli has Nick Kiniski with her at ringside and that ends up playing into the finish as Kiniski yanks on Devine's hair from the apron, distracting her long enough to allow Miceli to roll her up for the pin with a handful of tights. Back to the studio after that and he claims that the fans DEMANDED that the AWA introduce an International Television Championship, leading to highlights of the final between Greg Gagne and Adrian Adonis. We join the match with Gagne in the sleeper and Gagne gets his own sleeper and Bob Orton comes in and takes out Greg Gagne, leading to a big schmozz between Adonis and Orton and Gagne and HERE COMES WAHOO MCDANIEL!!! Once the heels are cleared out, it's said that because of the Orton-ference, Greg Gagne is the new AWA International Television Champion. Nothing like a definitive finish to a title match, and both times I've seen them having Television Title matches neither have had finishes. We move on and see the finish of the Midnight Rockers/Midnight Express match from earlier this week and Nelson says he can't think of any tag team that are more popular than the Rockers and that finally there's champions that the AWA can be proud of. Kind of a cool segment to see the finishes to all the title changes as it gives a good frame of reference for the fans, and I know I appreciate it since I've long forgotten a lot of those.


Match Two:
Samoan Joe vs. Jerry Lawler

This looks to be one of Lawler's first matches in the promotion since the commentators are talking like they've never seen his kingly attire before and then going through his list of accomplishments to get him over to the new crowd. They even go all the way back to the Andy Kaufman incident to flesh out Lawler's backstory. A lockup in the ring and Lawler gives him a clean break in the corner. Another lockup and Joe fakes like he's going to give Lawler a clean break but sneaks in a right hand, which Lawler responds to with one of his own. Side headlock from Lawler and Joe shoots him into the ropes, with Lawler getting a shoulderblock and an elbowdrop off of that exchange. Snap mare over and Lawler drops a knee into the middle of Joe's forehead before hitting a reverse chinlock which Joe breaks with a hairpull and the action is back to its feet. Lawler gets a single-leg takedown into a stepover toehold, and Joe is laying on the mat, growling and screaming before Lawler drops an elbow on the inside of that knee. Irish whip into the ropes and Joe messes up a backdrop bump BADLY, before Lawler goes back to the snap mare and reverse chinlock. Lawler lets go of the hold and gets a big right hand, ramming Joe's head into the turnbuckle, but you know Samoans and their heads, so of course he feels nothing and headbutts Lawler down before hitting a big shoulderblock. He takes Lawler down with another big headbutt and tries for a splash off the second rope but it misses. THE STRAP IS DOWN!! LAWLER'S STRAP IS DOWN!! Of course, since these people have no idea who he is, it means nothing to them, but it means something to me DAMMIT!! Right hands from Lawler and a big bodyslam gets followed up by Lawler hitting the FISTDROP!! 1-2-3 and it's all over!!

Winner: Jerry Lawler (pinfall, fistdrop)

Match Analysis: A squash to introduce Lawler to the territory and it did a really good job of it too. Joe did his thing, minus the one screwy bump, which ended up looking a little better than it could have. Lee Marshall was on color commentary and he's WAY easier to handle doing color since I didn't have any urges to put my fist through the television. Decent little match though, which is saying something for these AWA shows lately.


Match Three: AWA International Television Championship
Darryl Olsen vs. Greg Gagne (c)

They lockup and Gagne goes right to a hammerlock on Olsen, but it gets reversed and Gagne reverses that into a snap mare. Another lockup and a top wristlock from Olsen, though Gagne breaks that with an armdrag takeover and he gets another pair to follow, moving into an armbar. Olsen gets to his feet but Gagne keeps on with the armbar until Olsen shoots him into the ropes. Gagne gets a shoulderblock but ends up taking a knee to the gut and Olsen takes over with some forearm shots and he RAMS Gagne's head into the top turnbuckle. Gagne reverses a whip and comes back with a couple of right hands, whipping Olsen into the ropes for a big back bodydrop and he hits a pair of dropkicks for the three-count!!

Winner: Greg Gagne (pinfall, dropkick)

Match Analysis: Squash. I still have trouble reconciling that a transition move like a dropkick is supposed to be a viable finisher for anyone but the guy that's Verne's son, but I suppose. Quick and inoffensive, though it's Greg Gagne so blandness is always a factor.

After the match we're in the studio with Larry Nelson and he's got Baron Von Raschke with him!! Baron's been away for a long time, touring the world and he says that it's great to be back in the AWA, going through the list of top stars, saying that he's going to go whereever the ESPN network is going. He tells anyone that will listen to grow some balls, sign the dotted line and feel the CLAW from the BARON!!! AND THAT'S ALL THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW!!! This show got a hundred times better just for seeing Baron.


Match Four:
Tom Johnson vs. Bob Orton

They lockup and Orton gives Johnson a clean break off the ropes.They lock it up again and Johnson's from Winnipeg!!! Makes me sad to see that he's going to get wailed on now. Orton takes him down and gets a couple of two-counts before working over a front facelock. Johnson reverses into a hammerlock but Orton gets to the ropes for the break, drawing boos from the crowd. Another lockup and Orton gets a BIG hip toss before mocking the crowd a little bit, moving in and getting a side headlock on Johnson, moving to a hammerlock. Reverse elbow from Johnson breaks that hold, but he ends up getting clotheslined across the top rope before Orton drops a couple of HARD elbows down onto Johnson's head. Johnson throws a couple punches to the gut but Orton just drops him with a hard right hand, ramming Johnson face-first into the mat before hitting a ONE-ARMED BACKBREAKER!!! Orton hits the posing and the crowd REALLY doesn't like that. Orton responds to their boos with a ONE-ARMED PILEDRIVER!!! Pinfall, three-count, BOOOOOOOOOS!!!

Winner: Bob Orton (pinfall, piledriver)

Match Analysis: Wow, Orton was REALLY over with tons of heel heat in this one. Another squash match, but at least it was a little entertaining in that the crowd was actually into it a bit. This show hasn't been very good so far, and I'm kind of sad that Orton didn't get to bust out the superplex, but I guess, I can't have it all. Either a good show, or a superplex, that's all I'm asking for AWA!!


In the studio, Greg Gagne talks to Larry Nelson about the International Television Championship and they talk about Badd Company and that they're a team to be reckoned with and that they're two of the finest professional wrestlers today. Gagne pimps buying a ticket whenever you see that Badd Company are facing The Rockers because that's going to be great professional wrestling. The talk turns to Curt Hennig vs. Jerry Lawler for the AWA title next week and Gagne is going to keep his eyes on that match, while still following his schedule to defend his International Television Championship. Gagne says that he'll be touring all around the US and that he'll defend the title against anyone, namedropping The Nasty Boys and Soldat Ustinov. The interview ends kind of abruptly and we're off to another commercial!!


Match Five:
Tom Zenk and Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Nasty Boys

This is VERY early in the tag-team career of the Nasties, as they have a very rudimentary form of their later gimmick together, with hand-drawn Nasty Boy shirts, but they look like they have the gimmick part figured out, which is neat to see. Tom Zenk starts out against Sags and Sags does a little shit-talking ebfore they hit a lockup, with Sags pushing Zenk into the ropes. Zenk gets a standing armbar and takes Sags over, working the arm over on the mat for a good minute or two. Tag in to Wahoo and he punches away at the arm before Irish whipping Sags into the ropes for an elbow. At least I think it was an elbow, the production team cut to a crowd shot so there was no visual of the contact, but I trust Rod Trongard to not steer me wrong. Wahoo with a shot on Knobbs on the apron and he turns his attention back to Sags, hitting the arm-wringer and yanking on Sags' hair to get him down to the mat. Zenk and McDaniel do the illegal switch while the referee is distracted and Zenk moves back to the standing armbar.

Wahoo back in and he tomahawks Sags down before moving to a reverse chinlock, cranking away at it before the faces do another illegal switch. The crowd loves that the Nasties are getting theirs and cheer another illegal switch between Zenk and McDaniel and McDaniel goes back to the chinlock. Double-Irish whip from the faces into a double chop and Zenk moves to the chinlock again. Sags breaks free with a couple of elbows to the body and he takes over on Zenk with some punches before Zenk fires back, Irish whipping Sags into the corner. Zenk misses the charge and it looks like he rammed his shoulder into the post. Tag to Knobbs and he works over Zenk, hitting a reverse elbow off the ropes and following that up with some punches. Zenk with punches of his own and he tags in Wahoo, who hits a BIG chop off of an Irish whip, sending Knobbs to the floor and McDaniel puts Sags on his ass to the outside with another chop!!

McDaniel rolls up Knobbs' little rat tail thing and yanks it, while Stevens makes another unfortunate Native scalping reference. McDaniel goes back to the chinlock again before raking at Knobbs' eyes with his boot soles. Zenk gets the tag and comes off the ropes with an elbow for a long, long two-count. Zenk hits the chinlock and holds it before Knobbs pushes him into the corner, breaking it with some knees to the gut. An Irish whip from Knobbs gets reversed and the faces get a neat little spot in before making the tag and Wahoo hits some foot stomps on Knobbs. Eye rake from Knobbs and they take McDaniel over to their corner, working him over with some illegalities in the corner. Shoulderblocks to the gut from Sags on Wahoo in the corner and Wahoo comes back with a chop but it gets cut off quickly. Irish whip in from Knobbs and he gets a chop of his own for a two-count, but it's too close to the face corner and Zenk gets the tag.

Zenk taking over on both Nasties and he hits them with the double-noggin knocker for a two-count but Sags breaks up the pin. Double-Irish whip sends Sags and Knobbs into each other and Zenk gets a sunset flip in the corner, taking Sags down...1-2-3!!! That's it, it's over people!!

Winners: Wahoo McDaniel and Tom Zenk (pinfall, Zenk sunset flip)

Match Analysis: WAYYYYYY too many restholds for this to be even remotely enjoyable really. I don't know why there were so many of them but it was armbar, chinlock, chinlock, chinlock, armbar, chinlock, for pretty much the entire match. Zenk gets to go over and I guess the Nasties weren't as hot with their gimmick as I had previously thought. Either that or they could afford the loss because they had so much heat. I'm going with the first one since they were still relatively new as a tag-team. Just a boring main event really.


Larry Nelson talks about the Fan of the Week again and runs down what we saw on the show before hyping next week's main event with Greg Gagne facing off against Adrian Adonis! Don'tcha dare miss it!!!



Final Thoughts

Awful. Awful. Awful. An hour of squash matches that doesn't even get paid off with a decent main event. I guess this is my fate for pretty much as long as these shows stay in 1988. The hell with it, let's move on to the comments.



Fun With Comments

From Heretic:
"My suspicion is that Steve O and Ricky Rice were not supposed to be a jobber
team per se--- but we're seeing the proto-"Top Guns". So we get the
Midnight Rockers themselves and the very beginning of their Brand X
replacements on one show."

Yeah, again that's kind of creepy in the doppelganger kind of way. I don't know if they had any plans for O and Rice, but I think they were hoping for something to stick.


From Rob:
"Steve O was actually a television champ in Georgia Championship Wrestling. He
had several matches with Kevin Sullivan and Bobby Eaton. They kept rotating the
title between these 3 wrestlers almost like the old Hardcore belt in the WWE."

I didn't actually know that about Steve O. Thanks for the info, Rob!


From James:
"This is a historical show, as this is the one time Dennis Stamp couldn't
complain about NOT BEING BOOKED!

And speaking of Internet inside jokes, I would be remiss if I didn't mention
Steve "Billy Jack Strong" DiSalvo. AKA the "Diamond Studd"
(you had to be there in 1991, I guess...)

And yes, it's hard to picture Kevin Wacholz with the Lex Luger-lite gimmick and
then compare that with Nailz. Did he really get fat, or did his unkempt look
and the jumpsuit make it look so?"

Yeah, it's really weird to see Kelly doing some sort of muscular powerhouse gimmick when he's most famous for being a fatter, balding prisoner. And yes, for once Dennis Stamp had no reason to complain. Except about being jobbed twice in one show.


Again from James:
"Oh yeah, I second the request for Cheap Seats. I seem to be in the minority but
I love that show."

Ask and ye shall recieve, check it out below the comments.


From JLAJRC:
"Don Muracco used the Tomstone Piledriiver as his finisher for years in the WWE,
although I think they simply called it a reverse piledriver or something. What
was cool about Muracco's version is that he did his with one arm, something I
don't think Taker has ever done."

I had forgotten about Muraco doing the tombstone because honestly, all the matches I see him in these days from that time period he's either jobbing or getting the cheap win through heelishness. A one-armed tombstone does sound pretty cool though.


From AndresV:
"Hearing the original Midnight Express theme song ("The Chase") was the
best part about this show."

Agreed. One of the greatest theme songs in wrestling history, in my opinion.


From Joe K. :
"Upcoming scene from Old School 2:

Frank: "We're going streaking!"

Larry Nelson: "Ok, I think you can see that Frank and I are going to get
along real well."

(Frank and Larry run through a sorority house, hi fiving each other and
conveniently ignoring the fact they're naked)"

Seriously, you've already got my money for the DVD when it comes out, just make it happen!!! PLEASE!!


Once more from James:
"GagneSucks...I know it was Hall, but back in the day, back in the days of
Usenet, someone erroneously (sp?) said it was DiSalvo. This then spun off into
a running gag where anyone who asked "Who was [X]?" would be answered
with, "It's Steve DiSalvo!""

Ahhhh Usenet, the good old days. I actually remember that running gag, though I had no idea where it had all started. Thanks for that bit of information James!


Finally from TJack:
"I just stumbled across some reprints of Dave Meltzer's old newsletters from this
time period at
http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?act=SF&f=69&st=0&changefilters=1.


I would HIGHLY recommend reading them, as not only did they offer good insight
at the time, but they offer a fantastic "20/20 hindsight" perspective
now -- over two decades later.

Anyways, one thing I found interesting... Manny Fernandez cut a couple of
promos on the recent ESPN Classic AWA shows where he talks about fighting in
'Nam. However, according to Meltzer back in 1988, "He did a huge
patriotic interview about serving in Vietnam, despite that he would have still
been in high school at the time the war ended." LOL"

Thanks for that TJack, I'll be checking those out soon enough. And yes, Manny Fernandez has been caught in many a fib in his time in the wrestling business, including the Vietnam stories, as well as the story that he was the same Manny Fernandez that played on the Miami Dolphins championship teams, even though he wasn't. I don't know why he did it as much as he did, but I guess Fernandez felt like his resume needed some padding.


Thanks for all the great comments and thanks for stopping in everyone, I'll see you all back here tomorrow for more AWA action. Now it's on to Cheap Seats!!!


BONUS RECAP!! Cheap Seats: Bowling and the Running of the Bulls

Randy and Jason welcome us to the show saying that both sports sit on the wrong side of the alcoholic fence, claiming that all of the amateur bowlers are sober, yet the more drunk you are the more pins you knock down. That's just science. On the other side, the running of the bulls is best done while shit-faced, but you'd probably want a clear head to deal with a charging, half-ton bull. They bring up all the animal attack shows and the Fat Obnoxious Fiance show before telling us what to look for.

Funny bit as they rag on one of the amateur bowlers for going pro and then going back to amateur bowling again after and they equate it to being a virgin, having sex, and then claiming virginity again, which apparently doesn't work unless you're Britney Spears. TO THE BOWLING!!!

TRON REFERENCE!!! Awesome!! Mockery of the show commences early with them bagging on announcer Steve Grad and his gratuitous use of fingers. They call one of the tournament contestants an axe murderer because of his mullet, which makes me laugh out loud. Paul Renteria's mullet and thin mustache combo is hilarious, as is the Facts of Life reference that they bust out on some poor woman in the crowd. Announcer referring to Renteria: "What'll he do with the two hundred thousand?" Them: "I got three guesses. Wine coolers, fishing lures and a brand new Flowbee!" Weird bit about uncomfortable seating in the future leads to them making fun of Renteria's wife in the crowd.

The action stops for the guys to talk about how important a bowling ball is to the bowler and they do a piece with them making fun of bowlers, with the funniest being the Doctor bowler (Jason), who helps a "lady" (Randy), give birth to a ball and then bowls it down the lane for a strike. Tremendous.


After the break it's more hot and heavy bowling action, with a segment called "What Got Cut". They make fun of another of the amateur bowlers for having a "continental shelf" haircut, saying that he must have dried it with one of the hand driers on the lane and they say that his head looks like a giant mushroom. Great Star Trek stuff in there as well, along with Renteria apparently praying to the mullet gods. Now that we're caught up on what we missed, it's back to bowling!

A rather nerdish looking Mike Taylor bowls from behind and the guys make fun of Taylor's lack of celebration, wondering if he's a sufferer of irritable bowel syndrome. Taylor sighs while they figure his inner monologue would be that he wished he was dead. Really funny bit as they point out the mushroomheaded bowler in the background with the chick that they thought looked like Jo from Facts of Life. An Apprentice reference follows that but it didn't really age well so it didn't work like it probably did a few years ago. They bag on an old guy in the crowd looking bored, going off on an "old man" rant about how bowling used to be a nickel and hiding in someone's bushes was just a misdemeanor. Ewwwwww, creepy!

KARATE KID REFERENCE!!! GET HIM A BODY BAG!!! This show is so great. Taylor chokes and they mock him for losing and flaming out so spectacularly. They also figure that it's time to get Renteria's name right for the huge novelty check. The announcer says that barring an earthquake or someone dying on the approach Renteria will win. Jason rightly points out that it's even LESS likely cause it's not just someone that has to die, PAUL has to die, and even then the corpse might slide down the lane and hit something to let him pick up the win.

DUELING FOXWORTHYS!! You might be an amateur bowler if....

- you've ever worn a pair of bowling shoes to your sister's wedding.

-you've ever kissed your bowling ball...with tongue.

- you've ever used a hand-blower to dry out a urine stain.

- you've ever bowled.........EVER.


Back from the break and we're back for the VERY end of the tournament with Renteria ripping through his last ball to get to the trophy and the check. Randy: " That's life-changing money, now go change your life!!" Enough bowling, it's on to the BULLS! BRING ON THE BULLS, BABY!! Pamplona, Spain and it's the Running of The Bulls, as they make a nice rip on the "casual" attire of both announcers and mock the male announcer's Spanish. Female Announcer: "This festival may be more than several hundred years old, but some things have stayed the same" Randy: "Pamplona's homeless still find it to be the most inconvenient week of the year" That is hilarious.

Oh man, the announcers both freeze on live TV and the guys have no idea what they're talking about. HERE COME THE BULLS!!! Jason: "And now, the starting lineup for YOUR Pamplona Bulls!! At guard, a 2000-pound rookie from Alcorn State, Elllllllllllllllll Gigante!!" They get a great bit about how matadors fighting already injured bulls is like stabbing someone in the arm and then challenging them to arm-wrestle. MENUDO REFERENCE!! The bulls are in the ring now and the guys take a break from mocking to go to a pre-taped piece about a new athlete who's trying to bring the spirit of bull-running to the States, with the Running of the Balls. The guy is running down the bowling alley with a ton of padding on, getting hit with bowling balls. For some reason, this bit just didn't do it for me. Eh, commerical time.


Back from the break and the guys are talking about how the popularity in bull-running is probably directly related to Hemmingway's work, leading to a Mariel Hemmingway joke, with Randy thinking that Ernest Hemmingway is Mariel's brother. They question whether the announcers are even in Pamplona because after so many days they're still clean. Some highlights of the bulls taking people down prompt them to start cheering for the bulls, saying that it's better than NASCAR. They have a lot of fun mocking the people getting hammered and run over by the bulls and it's CHEAPIE TIME!

Cheapie for Biggest Load of Bull: Renteria being able to win an amateur bowling tournament despite being a former pro bowler.

Cheapie for Most Exciting Strike: Some random bull goring some random guy.

That does it for the guys and the show is through!