411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 05.12.08

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.13.2008

The Midnight Rockers and Badd Company save the show while they're stealing it...


411's AWA On ESPN Classic Report



AWA Championship Wrestling

Larry Nelson welcomes us to the AWA studios and talks up the matches that we're going to see on this show and takes us back to an interview he was conducting with Baron Von Raschke, who was dressed like a librarian I might add, when Soldat Ustinov broke a board over Baron's head. Nelson freaks out and screams for help while Ustinov drapes the Russian flag over the prone Von Raschke. This leads to another promo from Ustinov with another board and this one says Baron Von Raschke on it in Rusian. Ustinov drags Teijo Kahn out from off-camera and breaks the Baron's board over Kahn's head. Nelson nearly has a stroke again, then we cut back to the studios with him talking about how the feud between the Baron and the two crazies is really starting to heat up, before he throws us to the first match.


Match One:
Ricky Rice vs. Hurricane Kid

No entrances for either man so this is definitely a battle of the jobbers. Rod Trongard and Verne Gagne are on the call as Kid and Rice hit a couple of lockups that both lead to clean brea...NO THEY DON'T!! Hurricane Kid gets a sneaky chop off of his break and Rice pays him back with a couple of armdrag takeovers that send Kid to the outside to think it over for a minute. Headlock from Kid and Rice shoots him into the ropes for a shoulderblock, moving to a standing arm-wringer, but Kid flips over and kicks away from it. Kid takes the side headlock again and Rice shoots him in again for a shoulderblock and a leapfrog before another armdrag takeover into an armbar. Kid misses a right hand and ends up getting taken over with another armdrag, though Kid is able to reverse the armbar into a headscissors. Irish whip into the ropes and Kid hits a dropkick before sending Rice through the ropes to the floor. Kid goes outside and slams his head into the apron, rolling him back into the ring and taking over with some heelish nonsense. Snap mare takeover into a reverse chinlock, because what this match needs is a resthold. Rice reverses an Irish whip into the corner and gets a hip toss and a couple of big dropkicks before "hitting" a flying cross-bodyblock off the ropes for the three-count.

Winner: Ricky Rice (pinfall, flying cross-bodyblock)

Match Analysis: The only color in the entire match was the Hurricane Kid's floral tights. Both guys were new, green and boring, which meant that that's exactly how the match was. It looked like there was a lot of thinking going on and not a lot of reacting, and the crowd was sitting on their hands for virtually the entire match. Not so good.


After the break, Larry Nelson's holding the broken board and he brings in Baron Von Raschke and then goes back to when Ustinov broke the board over Teijo Kahn's head. Baron grabs the board and throws it on the ground, saying that Baron doesn't care who Sheik sends to help Ustinov before breaking his own board over his head and screaming at them. He says that it's burning in his gut that Ustinov tried to put him out of wrestling before threatening that he's going to find a surprise of his own. THE CLAW IS ALL THEY'LL NEED TO KNOW!!


Match Two:
Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bob Orton and Curt Hennig

Four solid hands here so this should hopefully be a pretty good match. Orton and McDaniel start things out and McDaniel threatens him with a chop before they hit a lockup. Orton gets some forearms in the corner and tries an Irish whip but McDaniel reverses it and gets a big knife-edge chop that puts Orton down. Tag to Hennig and McDaniel works him over with some chope before Hennig drops down for a single-leg takedown. He drags McDaniel out of the ring to the floor but nearly gets chopped out of his boots before they both make their way back into the ring. Side headlock by Wahoo and he tags in Gagne who gets a shot to the gut and then takes Hennig over with his own headlock. Hennig shoots Gagne off the ropes and takes a hip toss and an armdrag before he goes to Gagne's eyes to stop the momentum. Hennig tags in Orton but Gagne almost gets a roll-up for a quick pinfall before armdragging him over and tagging in Wahoo. Armbar from McDaniel he takes Orton over, though he's too close to his own corner and he makes the tag to Hennig, even on his back. Hennig stomps away at McDaniel and then drops down for a front facelock that McDaniel eventually reverses into a hammerlock. A couple of two-counts as McDaniel has Hennig tied up and Hennig has to continually bridge out of the pin attempts. Hennig gets himself out from that predicament and gets back on top, stomping away at Wahoo before tagging Orton in for an atomic drop. McDaniel gets an atomic drop of his own and tags in Gagne, but Gagne misses a dropkick and takes some punishment from Orton, including a HUGE one-armed backbreaker. A tag to Hennig and he gets a couple of backbreakers of his own for a long two-count and Gagne is back to his feet with them trading shots before Gagne gets a near-fall. Hennig tags in Orton and he works over Gagne a little before pushing him into the corner and hitting some shoulderblocks. Hennig tags in but walks right into the Gagne sleeper and all four men are in the ring, as Orton breaks up the sleeper. They brawl a little and Gagne gets thrown over the top rope for the disqualification.

Winners: Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel (disqualification, Gagne over the top rope)

Match Analysis: Not a bad match, but it really could have used more time. Like most things on the AWA shows at this point, it looked like the beginning of a good match, and the end crammed on the end, with no middle section at all. another five minutes and this would have been a lot better. Not to say that it was bad because there were four true professionals in the ring that knew how to get things done. It just needed a little more time to not feel so rushed.

They continue to brawl after the match is thrown out, with Orton doing the damage on the inside hitting a PILEDRIVER ON WAHOO!! Gagne and Hennig fight it out on the outside but that breaks up as soon as Orton makes his way outside the ring as Gagne rolls into the ring to check on McDaniel.


Match Three:
Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie vs. Kevin Collins

This should be a technical masterpiece I'm thinking. El-Kaissie jaws the crowd a little bit before getting a standing armbar and going to the eyes. Collins backs off and they go right back to a lockup. Sheik bites at Collins' head and shoves him off before he ducks under for a single-leg takedown into a leglock. Stomp to the gut from Sheik before he rakes his nails down Collins' back. Collins pushes El-Kaissie into the corner and gives him a clean break, prompting Sheik to run down the crowd again. Double-nerve pinch from Sheik and he grabs Collins by the hair, ramming him into the top turnbuckle numerous times before raking the eyes again. Sheik with a bodyslam and he gets the abdominal stretch, holding the trunks on the back end and the referee doesn't see the cheating, he only hears the submission! It's all over and Sheik wins with the Camel Stretch!!

Winner: Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie (submission, Camel Stretch)

Match Analysis: Short and inoffensive, but it's one of those situations where Sheik didn't need to be in the ring. He was far too old to do anything useful, but Verne was running out of talent and needed every guy that he could, so it led to matches like this. It was what it was, which was Sheik cheating and not taking any bumps before finishing the match quickly. Meh. Crowd was fairly dead for it too, and I can't blame them.


Again, Larry Nelson goes on and on about the board breaking in the AWA studios and he suggests that Sgt. Slaughter could be someone that Baron could bring in to help him out. We see a video package of Slaughter in action, with a horrible song that honestly sounds like it wouldn't feel out of place in Team America: World Police. This is actually going to be a match instead of a video pacakge and it looks like it's from a couple years previous at least, if not longer since it's from the Tropicana in Atlantic City.


Match Four:
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Mike Moore

Slaughter gets a couple of lockups and they both shove each other away. Slaughter shoves Moore down to his ass off of another lockup before Moore gets a side headlock. Moore shot into the ropes and no give on the shoulderblock. Slaughter whips him into the ropes for a big back-bodydrop, following that up with a standing dropkick and a reverse elbow. HARD forearm shot against the ropes and Slaughter gets a warning from the referee before Moore goes in and rakes the eyes of Slaughter, following that up with a couple of elbows and a hard Irish whip into the corner. Slaughter takes things over soon enough, ducking under a chop and getting a big clothesline, sneaking up behind Moore for THE COBRA CLUTCH!!! MOORE HAS TO GIVE IT UP!!

Winner: Sgt. Slaughter (submission, Cobra Clutch)

Match Analysis: Man, what is with the incredibly short squashes tonight? It feels like they're trying to jam way too much into the time they have, which makes everything mean less because the people don't have time to process it all. Slaughter looked good as usual and got in all his spots. Again, nothing overly bad about this one, but it was just there, with no real rhyme or reason.


Match Five:
Badd Company vs. The Midnight Rockers

No entrance for Badd Company which makes me rather sad. The Rockers are the champions but their titles aren't on the line for this match, which Lee Marshall says about ten times during the introductions. I wonder if there will be a screwy finish since it's non-title. NAHHHHHHH. Michaels and Diamond lock it up and Diamond gets away from Michaels and does a little strutting before he gets a go-behind and takes Michaels down. Michaels shrugs him off and out through the ropes to the floor, which leads Diamond to think things over for a moment outside. Michaels gets a standing armbar once Diamond gets back into the ring, but his advantage is short-lived and Diamond gets a couple of shoulderblocks in the corner. Some quick back and forth action before Michaels gets a big hip toss and an armdrag takeover into an armbar. Tag to Jannetty and he gets a fireman's carry on Diamond, tagging Michaels back in and he gets a double-arm wringer that puts him over and onto his back. Diamond to his feet and he rushes Michaels over to his corner, tagging in Tanaka as Michaels tags in Jannetty. They talk a little shit and shove each other, with Jannetty getting the better of it. Not for long though as Tanaka gets a short thrust kick that lands on the jaw and stuns Jannetty. He recovers quick though and ends up taking the advantage back over Tanaka, locking in an armbar and it sounds like the crowd is REALLY being sweetened for the main event since there's a ton of noise but no one in the crowd is moving.

Shoulderblock off the ropes from Jannetty and he follows that up with a beautiful dropkick that sends Tanaka flying. Tanaka gets back to his feet with a side headlock but gets shot into the ropes, taking a big back-bodydrop and Tanaka wants a moment to talk things over with Diamond. The Rockers take a second and talk strategy themselves, with Jannetty tagging in Michaels. Side headlock from Tanaka and he gets shot into the ropes, getting a couple of shoulderblocks on Michaels before eating a big right hand. Another right hand for Diamond and all four men are in the ring brawling, with a double-dropkick putting Tanaka and Diamond out to the floor, leaving the Rockers standing tall in the middle of the ring. Diamond and Michaels in the ring now with Michaels getting an arm-wringer on Diamond as Rod Trongard says AGAIN that this is a NON-TITLE MATCH!! Michaels gets shot into the ropes but he ends up getting tripped by Tanaka on the outside which leads to a heel phantom tag and a Tanaka near-fall. Tag to Diamond and he hits a BIG gut-wrench suplex for a long two-count. Quick tag back to Tanaka and Diamond gets a backbreaker on Diamond, holding him so that Tanaka can drop the elbow. Tanaka gets a two-count off of that move and he moves to a reverse chinlock.

Michaels shoots him into the ropes, and gets a couple of shoulderblocks before Tanaka takes over again, putting Michaels down on his ass and allowing Diamond to make the exchange. Right hands from Diamond and he rams Michaels into the top turnbuckle before Irish whipping him into the corner. Diamond misses a charge and crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle, crawling over to tag Tanaka but it's too late because Michaels gets the HOT TAG!!! Jannetty in with bodyslams on both men and dropkicks for both to follow up. All four men in the ring and the heels end up rammed into each other. Jannetty and Tanaka are outside battling and Michaels tries to roll-up Diamond but ends up smashing the referee in the corner. Michaels has the pin for at least a five-count, but there's no referee which allows Tanaka to ram Jannetty into the ringpost, sneak back into the ring and just WAFFLE Michaels right in the throat. Diamond on top for the cover, the referee is back to his feet, 1-2-3!!! UPSET CITY, POPULATION BADD COMPANY!!

Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, Tanaka-ference)

Match Analysis: A really good little main event tag, which no doubt led to an extended progam with these two teams, since the heels got the win with some underhandedness. This was the match that really saved the show since it was four young, hungry, talented workers that could haul ass and do the flying, as well as the mat wrestling. A great appetizer for what I'm hoping was a full-blown feud.


Larry Nelson comes back after taking a handful of hyperbole pills and he talks about the main event tag match, yelling and screaming before bringing in The Rockers "fresh from the ring", with Michaels even going so far as to be coughing after the shot in the throat. Nice touch when the interview probably took place a week before or a week after the match, if not longer. Jannetty says that night after night the Rockers defend the titles everywhere and that they've been in with bigger and better. If that's the way Badd Company is gonna play, then they're gonna have to pay!! Jannetty is PISSED off and says that the titles are their lives and that they're the best and they won't give them up. Jannetty does more yelling and threatening as Michaels "can't talk" from the throat shot and that does it for today's episode of the AWA!!



Final Thoughts

A mixed bag as the first forty-five minutes was a mixture of nostalgia and horrible wrestling and the last fifteen was actually really solid wrestling and the start of a hopefully hot angle. The main event saved the show from being a complete thumbs down, but it wasn't enough to drag it all the way to a thumbs up. To me this was a middle of the road show and it just showed how thin the talent pool was for the AWA as they had to rely on sixty year old Sheik Adnan and a Sgt. Slaughter match from a couple of years before to fill out the hour. Sad, sad, sad.



Fun With Comments


From Eric:
"Oh the ups and downs of the 1987-88 season. Verne Gagne actually didn't have a
bad line-up mix of veterans (those who either left the NWA or weren't good
enough to move on to the WWF at the time, of course). This could certainly be
considered the AWA's last gasp.

The major problem that Verne had even to this point was the fact that he still
had this belief that he could run with the big dogs. He could have dialed down
the large arenas and stopped playing to empty houses. He didn't. And, along
with Memphis and Dallas...the promotion would die within 18 months or so.

It's kind of sad because the late 80's timeframe was significant for the amount
of developmental talent being used. In many ways, the AWA got younger, and while
not everyone came out of Rheingan's school in Minnesota, Verne was still signing
younger talent from smaller promotions and giving them their first real national
exposure. The Midnight Rockers are a prime example of that (Jannetty from
Central States and Michaels from Cental States and Southwest Championship
Wrestling). Badd Company was the same way: Diamond came from Joe Blanchard's
promotion in San Antonio as well. So the young talent was there.

On to the show itself: Steve Olsonoski (or Steve O) was your typical Gagne
non-descript curtain-jerker: knew all the holds, could put together a decent
scientific match. And, like Brad Rheingans, was a designated face - and usually
lost. But, put him in the ring with Gagne in a TV title match, you get one of
the most boring matches in history. ;) To have Trongard call it one of the most
anticipated matches in history is a REAL stretch. Better feuds could have been
created with Adonis or Orton. They did run a small Gagne/Adonis feud - they'd
feuded with their respective tag team partners in Jim Brunzell and Jesse
Ventura.

Heheh, I would have gladly accepted a High Flyers/East-West Connection match
about now. So you could see how far they'd fallen.

The Midnight Rockers match, since we're in the 1988 timeframe, would be their
last title run in the AWA before McMahon would sweep in...and also take the
Nasty Boys with them. If there was one strength the AWA had even to the end,
it was in tag teams. When all you had left were the Destruction Crew (aka
Beverly Brothers in the WWF), and pieced-together tag teams (the Olympians -
Reinghans and Ken Patera anyone?) you knew the hourglass was running out of
sand.

It was sad. The only saving grace was to see the future stars at this point.

...and I'm out."

Good to see you back, Eric! Again, I agree with pretty much the entire thing and that this was the AWA's last gasp. The shows are bearing that out with boring action being the rule instead of the exception. The sad death march of the AWA rolls on and it just gets tougher and tougher to watch as it keeps going on.


From Teh Dude:
"It's Unamerican to dislike midget wrestling."

I just can't get into it. Even when I was little I just didn't like it. I think it was just that it was so heavily into the comedy that it looked overly fake and it bugged me. Not sure exactly what the reason was or is, but it takes a really good one for me to want to get into it.


Finally from G-Walla:
"Midget wrestling, I couldn't get into it, tonight, but it was amusing for this
reason. Earlier in the evening, while watching tv with the family (I'm
exciting on Friday nights), I referenced Chris Jericho's autobiography, by
blurting out "We've got midgets next Thursday!" Only, my mother
heard "We've got Midget Sex Thursday!" So, hilarity was had by all.

Yeah, didn't get into this show at all. then again, I worked 10 hours, and I
rebooted my computer right before the show came on, and it wouldn't come back
on. So, I fucked with it during the show to no success. boo-urns, indeed.

Seriously, though, I was anticipating Steve-O and Gagne. Unfortunately, I was
wanting that guy from CKY to get in the ring with Greg. Maybe next time."

Yeah, that's not something you want to have misheard, but at least your mom was cool about it instead of possibly suggesting some sort of therapy for you. I don't blame you for giving up on the show to work on the computer, because if i had my choice I'd have probably found something else to do too. Midget sex...that's hilarious.


A little thin on the comments so that'll do it for today's edition, I'll be back tomorrow with another look back to the past with the AWA. See you then, folks.