AWA Wrestling back on the air

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I've always wondered why neither WCW or WWF latched onto Stan Hansen and tried to do more with him in the US. I know he had a couple decent runs in the US, but for the most part, by the mid '80s, he was more or less exclusive to Japan. Was he just making so much money overseas that none of the US promoters could really lure him back full time?

[tekcop 0]

Hansen was easily the best thing in the AWA back then. And did last night's show rule or what? Hansen/Blackwell and the 6-man tag were both really great.

[Perfection 0]

Hansen was easily the best thing in the AWA back then. And did last night's show rule or what? Hansen/Blackwell and the 6-man tag were both really great.

 

One thing that makes the show less enjoyable to me though is their announce crew. In every single match they claim they have "never seen anything like this!!" They make Tony schiavone screams of the biggest night in wrestling history look tame in comparison because they say it every 5 minutes. On top of that, they play up every little move as a huge huge deal. A simple back body drop is cause for an orgasm. Of course back then it was different and moves meant more than they do now but it's a bit over the top. But overall, it is certainly enjoyable seeing wrestling back when it was far more enjoyable to me.

[Jericholic82 0]

I really wish they would air these in some sort of chronological order. Outside of that, fun times.

[cabbageboy 0]

I stopped watching these shows for a while once they got into the dreary post Scott Hall 1986 era when it was tedious Larry Z. squash matches and boring crap. However, I DVRd a couple more this past week and they had the build to SuperClash III and also showed about half the PPV on free TV! Can you imagine a promotion doing something that crazy? I don't know when the PPV aired compared to when it was shown, but I think it had to be the same month.

 

The build up show was brilliance, since we got to see what amounted to the AWA guys visiting Memphis and it was awesome to see a TV show from the Mid South Coliseum. As a kid I had a love for old Memphis/USWA stuff, so it's great to see this stuff. Unfortunately, the AWA/Memphis alliance basically fell apart by Feb. 89 when Gagne didn't pay Lawler and Co. for being on the PPV, so I am going to make sure to watch these shows now.

 

Where else are you going to see Billy Joe Travis and The Stud Stable?

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

The Unemployment Line?

[JHawk 0]

Last night was my favorite Von Erich-Lawler unification match ever, simply for storytelling purposes. They both punch the referee for getting in the way, causing a double DQ. They both agree to a restart, and Lawler allows himself to be piledriven because in Tennessee, a piledriver is an automatic DQ, and DQs in World Class cause title changes.

 

Of course, the confusion allowed Von Erich to keep the title for a few weeks, and the match itself isn't good, but I love that angle.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah that was a cool match, another really fun show (this time from Nashville, which was finally mentioned before the main event). I was baffled as to why they did Lawler/Von Erich so close to the PPV, but the way it played out nothing was settled and if anything a rematch was in order. That said, the PPV match is easily better with Kerry bleeding like a stuck pig.

[cabbageboy 0]

The past two shows have been hilarious goodness. Back to standard AWA territory, but cult favorite Dennis Stamp was on one show twice from the other night, jobbing in a tag match against two guys I'd never heard of, and also jobbing in singles action later in the show vs. Soldad Ustinov.

 

But the wild gem in the show from last night? They had a jobber on there named Samoan Joe! Lawler squashed him.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I never knew ol Nailz got a AWA Title match. Looks to be a heel/heel match w/ Kevin Kelly playing the face to Curt Hennig's heel. Just a dull, boring match . . . then again it is 5 minutes to 2am over here.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I'm sorry if this was covered already, but can someone explain to me what this is about Dennis Stamp? I had never heard of the guy before.

[cabbageboy 0]

Dennis Stamp has a cult following due to his appearance in the Terry Funk segment of Beyond the Mat. Funk ran into him in Amarillo the day of his big retirement show in 1997, wanted Stamp to be there, but Stamp kinda blew him off by saying "I'm not booked." He wanted to be the guy facing Dory Funk, Jr. on the show, insisting he could have a better match with Dory than whatever bum they were flying in (which I think was Rob Van Dam!). Anyway, Funk took pity on the washed up jobber and made him the ref for his retirement match with Bret Hart.

[King Kamala 0]

The image I have of Stamp in my head is the scene in that movie where he's "working out" by hopping on his trampoline in his skivvies.

 

 

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I've always wondered why neither WCW or WWF latched onto Stan Hansen and tried to do more with him in the US. I know he had a couple decent runs in the US, but for the most part, by the mid '80s, he was more or less exclusive to Japan. Was he just making so much money overseas that none of the US promoters could really lure him back full time?

 

The story I've always heard is Stan Hansen was intensely loyal to Giant Baba. Almost to the level you'd have to be to take a bullet for them. He'd be fine with working in the US *as long* as it did not affect his All Japan bookings. AWA worked around it, so he worked for them. However, he basically stole the AWA title for Baba. Baba wanted him to wrestle for AJPW as AWA champion, but Hansen was slated to lose the title...Hansen proceeded to refuse to job, and then went to Japan with the championship. When AWA threatened legal action, Hansen then apparently ran over the championship with his truck and mailed it back.

 

I believe WCW worked around Hansen in AJPW as well...but he had no issues with bailing on them to remain in Japan as well.

 

So that's pretty much the reason. Hansen was beloved in Japan, and had a loyalty to AJPW that you don't see very often. And since WWF and WCW pretty much demanded exclusivity, that's why he never ended up there...

 

There's also the fact that Hansen was incredibly stiff due to having vision problems. I can't imagine many wrestlers in WWF back then being able to take Hansen on, even when he was being careful. Even when Hansen was trying to take care of someone (like with the series with Luger) sometimes...shit just happened.

[cabbageboy 0]

See, I don't get what the AWA was thinking there. Why not let Hansen do his Japan tour as AWA champ and once he got back to the USA then job him out and amicably part ways? Wouldn't Gagne have gotten any sort of money from Japan with Hansen working as AWA champ there?

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I think the problem basically boiled down to the fact that when Hansen was slated to lose the title...He called Baba and asked if he *could* lose it. To Hansen, it didn't really mean squat what the AWA wanted. If Baba told him he could, he would have lost it. If he told him he couldn't, he wouldn't. Baba wanted to have Hansen defend the title in Japan still, so Hansen said okay and jacked the belt and hopped on a plane.

 

Hansen had absolutely no loyalty to AWA at all. Plus, from what I've always heard Verne Gagne was a really stubborn guy. So having his champion walk out with his title probably didn't sit well with him at all.

[JHawk 0]

Hansen found out the night he was slated to lose the title that he was supposed to job. I think it was his last night in the U.S. before the tour with Baba.

 

Hansen jobbing would have cost Baba and Hansen both a ton of money.

 

The end result? Nobody bought Bockwinkel as champion despite his track record, and Verne also lost his percentage in Japan from Hansen's dates.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah, that scenario is what I mean. Why job Hansen out in that situation? Take a camera over to Japan and get some footage for ESPN of his various title defenses and give the impression of being an actual worldwide promotion. There was no need to job Hansen out there. The AWA could have just gone with Bockwinkel vs. Hennig in a #1 contender feud or whatever until Hansen got back, then you can put the belt on Bockwinkel in more feasible fashion.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Gagne was just too old fashioned in his ways and wanted complete control over his belt. It's basically the same deal as why Hogan ended up being driven from the AWA and going to the WWF.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Who is the annoying female announcer that they have and why is she there?

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

Verne's kid

[cabbageboy 0]

This last episode was funny. It seemed like every jobber on the show was a Samoan, including the notorious Samoan Joe (!). Seeing Gagne squash a 300 lb. Samoan that looked vicious is so wrong, haha.

 

They teased me with Hennig vs. Lawler as the main event but alas it wasn't the historic title change in Memphis, just a double DQ from Vegas.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

If you missed last night, you need to see the Rocky Mountain Thunder squash, he almost killed a jobber and then had to alter the finish.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kTGOiJCi0w

[Matt Young 0]

As someone who enjoys almost any wrestling, that Greg Gagne match that just aired was the biggest mess I've ever seen. There was th match itself, followed by the announcers (who seemed surprised by the replay) reaffirming that, yes, there was a three count, when Gagne's opponent clearly had his shoulder up after 2.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

If you missed last night, you need to see the Rocky Mountain Thunder squash, he almost killed a jobber and then had to alter the finish.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kTGOiJCi0w

I was watching this last night as I had taped it when it aired recently and wow did that guy screw up at least 3 times where The Surfer (the jobber) looked like he was really pissed. And the mullet on the Rocky Mountain was the worst i've ever seen. And the fan that had the sign that read "Fag" was pretty funny as it was shown for the 30 minutes I watched.

[cabbageboy 0]

There was at least a solid tag match with Bad Company vs. Mando Guerrero and Ricky Rice. That would be the Guerrero that is the Hollywood stuntman/bit player, right?

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRq9oZ0hxk...rt-05.14.08.htm

 

Rambo Greg Gagne

 

 

 

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

There was at least a solid tag match with Bad Company vs. Mando Guerrero and Ricky Rice. That would be the Guerrero that is the Hollywood stuntman/bit player, right?

 

Yes, that is the correct Guerrero. And they mentioned all the brothers who were in wrestling but not Eddie as he was probably just starting out. Mando owned that match, he had the crowd going and was hitting every move. Rice came in and got squashed and pinned pretty quickly.

[cabbageboy 0]

I gotta say, these early 1988 AWA shows are pretty dire stuff. It's no wonder they eventually teamed with Memphis and World Class since both promotions likely had better rosters at that point. Just way too much of a washed up Baron Von Raschke feuding with Soldad Ustinov and Khan on these shows.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

"I am the greatest wrestling manager in the universe . . . not the world, the universe!"

 

- DDP in his AWA debut