411's AWA on ESPN Classic Report 05.14.08

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.15.2008

The match that had the most heat of the entire show happened seven years before this show was taped. That is all the people NEED TO KNOW!!


411's AWA On ESPN Classic Report



AWA Championship Wrestling

Larry Nelson and Lee Marshall are RINGSIDE at the Showboat Pavilion in Las Vegas and they talk about the AWA Tag Team Title match between The Midnight Rockers and Badd Company, with Marshall talking about how the Rockers have speed in bunches. He talks about the Rock n' Roll Express, guaranteeing that they're going to make an impression in the AWA. Greg Gagne is up next, with them talking about how he's a champion that everyone in the AWA can be proud of before they throw things to a commercial break.


Match One:
Greg Robertson vs. Soldat Ustinov w/Teijo Kahn

Rod Trongard has no idea who Kahn is but Lee Marshall name drops him as Teijo Kahn, calling them both "Ugly and Uglier". Yuk yuk yuk. Ustinov starts out quickly with a BIG powerslam/backbreaker that gets a two-count. An Irish whip into the corner by Ustinov and he follows it up with a HUGE clothesline, dropping a leg across Robertson's chest for another two-count. Neck crank by Ustinov and he lands some forearm shots against the ropes before whipping Robertson into the ropes for a powerslam that gets two. More neck cranking along with some knees to the back by Ustinov and he gets a suplex for a two-count, with Ustinov picking him up before the three. Ustinov choking Robertson in the corner before flinging him out the to floor and the clutches of Teijo Kahn. Kahn with a shot on the outside as Ustinov provides a distraction on the outside and Ustinov gets a BIG forearm across the chest of Robertson as he tries to make his way back into the ring. Robertson gets back into the ring with a few shots to the gut, but Ustinov cuts that shit off with a rake of the eyes and he picks Robertson up for the CANADIAN BACKBREAKER~! Robertson submits, Ustinov holds the submission for longer than he needs to and it's the usual heely goodness.

Winner: Soldat Ustinov (submisson, Canadian Backbreaker)

Match Analysis: Short and squashy, just the way that Ustinov likes it. Nothing really notable or exciting in this one though. Everyone did what they were supposed to and it felt a lot like paint-by-numbers wrestling.


Shrill-ass Donna is back talking about a letter that a Quebecois kid wrote for the first time in English. They're sending him some of the AWA merch that he begged for and I guess he's the Fan of The Week. At least this was a short segment. Back to Larry Nelson and he takes us back to the Baron Von Raschke vs. Board match that we've seen numerous times. SPOILER ALERT: The board wins. Still hilarious to watch Baron's reaction when he gets hit with that board. Fantastic. Baron is back and he says taht the Sheik is afraid, hiring men from everywhere and spending money like a wildman. Raschke pulls a bat out and says that Kent Hrbek lent him his favorite hold, the Louisville Sleeper. That's actually a good one and I laughed out loud at that, especially when Baron forgot the name of the team, even though they're in Minnesota. I guess Soldat hit him harder than he thought with that board. Baron starts singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame in an absolutely FRIGHTENING rendition, though he does do it better than Tony Romo.


Match Two:
Ricky Morton vs. Dennis Stamp

Ricky plays a little air guitar on the outside, which just looks kind of sad, but he does get a great pop so I suppose it's acceptable. Apparently, Gibson missed a plane connection and couldn't make it. I guess that's what happens when you ask for Jim Beam's help to get to your gate. Morton and Stamp hit a lockup and Morton armdrags him over as a HUGE "Rock n' Roll" chant breaks out. They do a little chain wrestling and do the stand-off in the middle of the ring before Morton gets a side headlock. Stamp reverses it into a top wristlock and Morton reverses THAT back into a headlock. We get to see a "Rockers Rule" sign in the crowd, though I think that was meant for Marty and Shawn. Stamp shoots Morton into the ropes and eats a shoulderblock and a BEAUTIFUL dropkick that gets Morton a two-count. Side headlock takeover by Morton now and he grinds away at that hold for a moment before Stamp makes it to the ropes to break the hold. Stamp cheapshots him with a knee to the gut and a kick, ramming Morton headfirst into the top turnbuckle. Nasty shot to the throat and he starts to choke Morton against the second rope before ramming him into the top buckle again. Irish whip into the corner and MORTON TAKES IT STOMACH FIRST!! MANLY MAN~! Stamp gets some shots and Morton makes a comeback with a dropkick but that gets cut off by Stamp who ends up putting Morton out on the apron. He tries to ram Morton into the post but it gets reversed and Morton goes up top to hit the stunned Stamp with a flying bodypress for the 1-2-3!!

Winner: Ricky Morton (pinfall, flying bodypress)

Match Analysis: Always fun to watch Ricky Morton go and he got a hand that could actually work, so it made the match that much better. Still pretty much an extended squash, but it was fun to get to see Morton in singles since I have such fond memories of his singles run with Ric Flair in the NWA during one of the Great American Bash tours. A+ for the nostalgia, F for the air guitar.

We go back to the dressing room to see Curt Hennig in a HORRIBLE sweater and sunglasses that look like the kind that old people wear when they start to get cataracts. Those things look like welding goggles. He talks about how well it's worked for him to have white-hot Madusa Miceli in his corner and I kind of tune him out because Madusa starts talking and she's wearing something leopard-spotted that shows a TON of boobage. I have a massive crush on 1988 Madusa. Someone get me Doc Brown on the phone, STAT!!


Match Three: AWA International Television Championship
Daryl Nickle vs. Greg Gagne (c)

Gagne chases Nickle around the ring and Nickle ducks out through the ropes as Trongard says that he's pumped a lot of iron. Yeah, just replace the word pumped with shot and iron with steroids and that statement becomes a LOT more factual. Nickle shoves Gagne into the corner and hits a posedown, doing it again to put Gagne in his place. He gets a side headlock but Gagne shoots him into the ropes, using his speed to catch Nickle with a right hand and a knee into a stepover toehold in the middle of the ring. Gagne drops down to that mat and Nickle grabs the hair, choking on Gagne before pulling him up and smashing him in the back with forearms in the corner. Irish whip into the corner gets reversed by Gagne and he hits a back bodydrop off of that, picking Nickle up for a BIG bodyslam. Irish whip into the ropes and Gagne hits a dropkick for the 1-2...did he get it? I don't know, Gagne doesn't know, the announcers don't kn..YES, YES It's THREE!!!

Winner: Greg Gagne (pinfall, dropkick)

Match Analysis: Decent enough, but too short to be anything of consequence. It doesn't help things when the jobber doesn't know the finish and ends up kicking out before the three count. It REALLY doesn't help things when you show the finish on a slow-motion replay and you can CLEARLY see his shoulders up before the three-count. This is a post-produced show and that's just sloppy. There's no need to have to make something up on a taped show because if it looks wrong, just do it again or edit it out. No excuse for that at all.

After that match, Larry Nelson is ringside with Ricky Morton, talking about an upcoming tour of the Carolinas, which is like home to the RnR's according to Morton. He says that they know what the RnR's can do and what they're made of. Nothing's going to stop them from being five-time World Tag Team Champions. Morton finishes up saying that he can't be late cause he's got three women who just won't wait. Hmmm, maybe it was Ricky that got Robert lost so he could steal his share of the poonanny for the night.


After the break, Greg Gagne is in the tape library and he's talking about everything that was going on in Chicago in 1981. We head off to the Chicago Amphitheater for this week's mat classic and it should be a real treat.


Match Four: Mat Classic
Baron Von Raschke vs. Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie

We join this one in progress with Sheik on the outside and Baron being held back by the referee.Baron attacks him with forearms as soon as Sheik hits the apron and he finally backs off to let Sheik back into the ring. Baron chases Sheik around, threatening to tickle him into submission, but instead settles for raking Sheik's eyes in the corner, much to the delight of the crowd. A rake across the back but Sheik goes back with a rake of his own to Baron's eyes before biting him. Sheik with a couple of forearm shots and he starts working a nervehold on Von Raschke. Sheik breaks the hold then starts stomping away before going right back to it, with Baron getting to his feet and freaking out a little before Sheik drags him down and stomps at him a little more. Right back to the nerve hold and he really cranks down on it for a good long while before Baron starts to make the babyface comeback, going to the gut with an elbow and then knocking Sheik down with another elbow. Right hands from Baron and he rams Sheik face first into the mat. Sheik begs off but gets a kick to the stomach and another slam into the mat for his troubles. Big bodyslam from Baron and he follows it up with an elbow drop before trying to pin Sheik, but there's no way he's letting it end like that. He picks Sheik up and bites at the cut across Sheik's forehead before raking him with the nails again. Irish whip from Von Raschke but he telegraphs a back bodydrop and ends up getting kicked in the face. Sheik softens him up by clawing at the face and it's time for the Sheik's CAMEL STRETCH~! Sheik is bleeding and looking like he's in a trance, cranking on the hold but Baron powers out of it, reversing it into the CLAW HOLD~!!!!!! HUGE pop for that and he puts Sheik down to his knees with it before Sheik makes it to the ropes. Baron finally lets go after the referee drags him off and he goes right back to ramming Sheik into the buckles before whipping him into the ropes for ANOTHER CLAW!!!
Sheik is down to his back and actually kicks back up to his feet, making the ropes again. The referee can't get Baron off of Sheik but when he finally does, Sheik gets out a FOREIGN OBJECT!! WAFFLESHOT to the Baron from Sheik Adnan and he gets the three-count!!

Winner: Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie (pinfall, foreign object shot)

Match Analysis: At least this mat classic got a finish. It wasn't a great match by any means because Sheik and Baron were never technical marvels, but it got a ton of heat and the crowd was into it the entire way, with Baron teasing the claw and finally getting it before Sheik wins with an underhanded heel trick. I would bet that they had a rematch the next time that the AWA came through Chicago and that it drew big again. Good old-school brawling from the two non-Americans.

It's time for Big K to join us again and he is going to give us the scoop about what's happening behind the scenes. He talks about Badd Company and the flaw that The Midnight Rockers have and how he's told that to Tanaka and Diamond and it will be up to them if they listened to him or not. He talks about Curt Hennig and how he's wrestling while he's hurt and this guy busts Greg Gagne's balls before doing the same thing with Verne. He talks about Rocky Mountain Thunder and then puts himself over again before the segment kind of peters out. Why is this guy on my television again? The only bigger waste of a segment would be to bring Verne back out to talk about the Olympians again.


Match Five: AWA Tag Team Championship
Badd Company vs. The Midnight Rockers (c)

No entrance again for Badd Company, BOOOO-urns!!! Michaels gets a go-behind on Diamond and he struts around the.....HEY!!!! Wait a minute!!! This is the same match from the show I reviewed on Tuesday!! DOUBLE BOOOOO-URNS!!! If you want to read up on that match again, check it out right here.

We don't even get the cool promo from the Rockers this time, instead going straight to the end of the show. Just horribly disappointing.



Final Thoughts

Too bad that the Rockers/Badd Company match was a do-over because if it had been an actual bout, I think that this show would have gotten a thumbs-up. As it is, it's another middle of the road show, even leaning down because the squashes were a little boring, the mat classic was only alright, and the main event was the huge letdown of a repeat. Not happy at ALL. Ah well, let's get to the comments shall we?



Fun With Comments


From Guest #7704:
"Great review. It's really nice to see how much wrestling has evolved over the
last 20 years. The wrestling today is far better and more exciting; the
wrestlers have vastly improved mic skills (it looked like in the Big K segment
he was completely making up all of his lines as the camera was rolling and he
was doing a poor job at that), and overall the product today comes off as being
less cheesy. By the way, I wonder if The Surfer can still walk today, that move
was brutal."

Yeah, it's a trip sometimes to see how different wrestling used to be compared to how it is now. People talk about the good old days of wrestling, but seem to forget that for every Ric Flair classic with the local champ, there was hour after hour of this crap on television week in and week out. I loved it then and even love it now, but it's a completely different looking product now than it was then.


From Burton:
"Yup Kids Klassics put out the AWA video sets...Sgt. Slaughter and Friends was
actually two tapes of the same name, but with different matches. One of them
had the wrestlecrap worthy video of the Sarge putting Greg Gagne through boot
camp..as campy as it sounds."

I have indeed seen that Sgt. Slaughter tape and it was a true disaster in every sense of the word. And now, because I either love you all and want you to see it, or hate you all and want you to suffer like I have, here's Greg Gagne's trip to Sarge's BOOT CAMP~!



Now you're just as scarred as I have been for all these years.


From BurritoFueled:
"No no no..you forgot, it's:

"Rocky Mountain Thunder, or Big Mountain Thunder"

It was driving me nuts hearing them give me a choice every time they mentioned
his name(s). I guess that was for those who have something against Colorado, or
something. Damn Colorado-ians!"

They should have just called him Suck and been done with it.


From Brian:
"What a shame that Baron Von Raschke not only was still around at such an
advanced age, but that the AWA couldn't"

About a million ways to end that sentence, but I'll go with that Baron was still around and that the AWA couldn't make any new stars to let Baron retire in peace to spend his Nazi gold.


From Arnold_OldSchool:
"Damn that back breaker whatever from RM Thunder was brutal. The announcers sold
it all wrong too. *sighs* You can see RMT wanted that to be the finish as the
next 30 seconds was super awkward. I enjoyed it."

That move from RMT was damn near a lawsuit and yeah, the announcers did a terrible job with that, though it was Lee Marshall, so what do you expect. There's nothing wrong with enjoying awkward wrestling, as long as you can admit it!


From APinOZ:
"An Australian Tag Team Match is simply a straight tag match. Tag team wrestling
was invented in Australia, according to old-time observers, although that may
well be a kayfabe comment from the NWA to emphasise their world-wide presence
back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, when the NWA champion would make twice-yearly
appearances in Australia to defend the world title."

I had honestly had no idea where that had come about from, so thank you for the useful information on that.


From Guest:
"The Rocky Mountain Thunder Bomb (what I'm calling that botched Widow's Peak)
looked to be RMT going for a Canadian Backbreaker with Surfer slipping as he
went down. Due to how it was botched, that was probably supposed to be the
finish, but they wanted to see if Surfer was ok, so they just did the hip toss
to end it fast since they had to wait for Surfer to recover before continuing.
Considering how green both guys were, it was actually refreshing to see them
improvise on the fly, while in WWE 10 year vets would just repeat the spot."

That's either a REALLY cool name for a move, or a really unfortunate gastrointestinal disease. I love the idea that they did another move to see if Surfer was alright. "What, you can feel your legs? Get up and take a hip toss so we can get the finish right for the ESPN show." Tremendous. It was good to see them not repeat the spot, but at the same time REALLY uncomfortable to watch them muddle through that finish.


From Adam:
"I've been waiting for the time when they start showing the 'mat classic'
segments, and they don't even show the finish. I've been watching this crappy
show for 7-8 weeks hoping to get some of the old matches when the AWA was
super-hot. Around that time they had quality heels and over babyfaces. When
paired with Jim Brunzell, even Greg Gagne was fun to watch."

I'd nominate Jim Brunzell for the WWE Hall of Fame, solely for his ability to make Greg Gagne matches even halfway watchable. Someone needs to start an online petition or something!!


Finally from James:
"Rocky Mountain Thunder, if it was the same guy, was infamous later on having to
be carried by HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN at a 1995 WCW Saturday Night taping. The
match never made it to TV, apparently, and, well...Google Groups is your
friend:"

He provided a link to a thread on the old RSPW forum for a recap of the taping, but I'll just copy and paste the relevant information here:

"Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder
You know, for years now I've been proclaiming Jim Duggan the
worst wrestler of all times. I have now been proven wrong, for I have
seen him in a match with his ... lesser. Hudson even warns us that RMT
is legendarily the worst. The man is a master of understatement.
Thunder is so bad that we take to cheering Duggan incessantly. As the
Shah is over in ECW, now with us, Duggan is over here in Atlanta. The
crowd chants USA, and James yells "Yeah Duggan, get that evil foreign
menace!" RMT with some ridiculously bad double axe handle shots. This
match is the Energizer bunny, it keeps going adn going. Duggan gets RMT
in a bear hug, and we start chanting that WE give up! I haven't laughed
as hard at wrestling in my life as I did during this... contest.
Horrible can only begin to describe it. Near the end we chant "Five Star
Match." Hacksaw hits RMT with the Hacksaw clothesline, and RMT kicks out
and DUggan has to recover him to get the pin. Horrendous, yet as funny a
thing as I've ever seen with a little help from my friends. According to
one of our friends in the Atlanta Police Dept who works security, Duggan
really gave RMT an ass chewing after the match and they even had to
retape another Duggan match later on (lucky us, we got to cheer him
again)!!!! All I can say is this, Rocky Moutain Thunder makes the
Renegade look like All Japan's Misawa. "

Sounds like a good time was had by all and I can see why RMT had the staying power that he did with that kind of workrate. They're just lucky that the two of them didn't stupid each other to death in the middle of the ring, live (to tape) on TBS.


That does it for comments, and that does it for me, as I have a cheerleader competition to watch Randy and Jason tear a new asshole for, so I'm out for now but I'll be back tomorrow to suffer through another batch of the AWA's darker days for your enjoyment. Until then...au revoir, mon amis!