AWA Wrestling back on the air

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

SuperClash III in Chicago, 1988, crowd of 1600

Greg Gagne beat Ronnie Garvin (5:52) via countout to win the AWA TV Title (yes, by countout, over an NWA champ from a year before)

 

I'm using a memory from like 20 years ago, and one that was born from an Apter-mag, but hadn't Garvin already signed with the WWF at that point?

 

I remember reading how unusual it was for Vince to allow a contracted wrestler to appear in another federation; is there any chance that Garvin was allowed a match to relinquish the title but wasn't allowed to be pinned or submitted?

 

If I'm not mistaken, Iron Shiek had already signed with WCW as well when he did the Super Clash run in...

[RedJed 0]

Ive been sick as hell this week and finally got a chance to catch up on these shows on DVR from the past few weeks. WOW, talk about a fun trip through nostaligia land. I grew up primarily on the AWA as a kid (being from MN of course). Between Saturday mornings on the local independant station and then weekdays on ESPN, and I think perhaps another AWA show sometime in the week, it was alot of it all the time. Now ironically enough, 99 percent of this stuff on these shows I have no recollection of. Just some random thoughts....

 

Who the fuck is this Big K guy anyway that has these really markish commentaries on each show, talking about how great Bad Company and DDP are? He was in a tag team called Murder Inc? Why can't I remember this? This guy is pure unintentional humor though.

 

Speaking of DDP and Badd Company, they are just plastered like crazy over each show it seems. It was fun to see Page's first shows in wrestling, and even more particularly, his first promo when Larry Nelson even didn't know why he was coming out to the ring. Seems like every week we get a DDP promo with the tag team behind some cheesy lit pink backdrop. And we also regularly get a Soldad Ustinov/ Tijo Khan promo, and a Wahoo McDaniel short promo. BTW, did Tijo Khan wrestle for anyone else AFTER the AWA? Same with Rocky Mountain Thunder, who is greener than green. That squash killing of the Surfer that was posted here already was just about the funniest shit I've seen in a long time.

 

Speaking of Nelson, poor guy, at this stage in the game he just doesnt seem to give two fucks about the product at all. At least before, he'd be a little more animated towards things.

 

The roster, at this point in 88 comes across so anemic, its like watching the same handful of guys each week, with a mixture of international guys (which is what keeps me interested).

 

So it seems that these shows are actually being presented in order finally, and we're around June of 88, right? I cannot wait for the shit that is 1989 through 1991, I used to go to all of the AWA shows after they broke back away from Memphis and started on their own again. Near the end, they taped TV every week in Rochester, MN and these tapings were just absolutely horrid. 4-5 hours of just horrendous stuff each week was being taped. I think they were only charging $5 a person and even at that rate, I don't think they even got in 100 total during most of these shows. I remember that they would actually try to charge, I think $10 for ringside, and nobody would even bother paying an extra $5, so in no time flat during each taping, the ring announcer (who I think was actually Bischoff?) would ask everyone who was sitting in the lower level seats to move up to ringside for free. This would have been just before the Team Challenge Series started, and then they also kept taping shows during that TCS period, which I attended as well. Memories included seeing a really burned out looking Wendy Richter (I believe it was her at least) bringing 20 something guys into the locker room, a starting Yokozuna, then known as Kokina Maximus tearing my autograph program in half when he walked back from the ring after a match, and an intoxicated Johnny Valient telling me to "fuck off and never think this sport is anything special" when I tried to ask him how he got from WWF to AWA. I guess I hit a nerve, I was only 10-11 years old so I didn't know any better.

 

If they just keep airing these shows in sequence to the last shows ever of the AWA, that will be something else.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I remember the Pink room of doom very well

[Hasbeen2 0]

I am surprised he wasn't pinned unless it was for Vince paying off the end of his contract or something similar. I think Teijo Khan wrestled at least some in the Sharkey promotion in Minnesota.

[cabbageboy 0]

I too am baffled at the Big K. I have no idea who this guy is and yet he shows up every show acting like he's some really well known guy given us his take on wrestling.

 

That said, I enjoy these shows for the time being. This last show had a bit of Lawler/Dundee from Memphis thrown in and there was ZERO context as to what was going on here. I'm sure there was some actual feud going on in Memphis yet the AWA simply shows the ending of the match cold. No reason why Lawler reached into his tights for a foreign object, etc.

[Hasbeen2 0]

Big K was former wrestler Killer Kowalski. They should have explained him better than just throwing him out there as some know it all but that's the AWA's production for you.

[RedJed 0]

I too am baffled at the Big K. I have no idea who this guy is and yet he shows up every show acting like he's some really well known guy given us his take on wrestling.

 

That said, I enjoy these shows for the time being. This last show had a bit of Lawler/Dundee from Memphis thrown in and there was ZERO context as to what was going on here. I'm sure there was some actual feud going on in Memphis yet the AWA simply shows the ending of the match cold. No reason why Lawler reached into his tights for a foreign object, etc.

 

And the crowd at what appeared to look like the Mid South Coliseum was really anemic looking to say the least. There was tons of second row ringside seats even opened up there. Maybe this wasnt in Memphis but it sure looked like it. Yeah, it was really weird that they just threw in a good three minute clip from that match in there, as well as a short Lance Russell interview with Lawler (or was it Hennig, fuck I can't even remember and that was only last night lol).

 

Big K is Killer Kowalski? Noooooo way, that's not correct. I guess I haven't seen a shit-ton of old matches with him, but enough to recall him being much more stockier, built (even in his later years), and whatnot. That's asinine to not even credit his own name/persona in these segments that air every week with him if it was, even Verne Gagne wouldn't be this dense. The guy sounds NOTHING like KK to my recollection either. Either I'm thinking of a completely different guy I'm equating with KK or I don't know what. Kowalski also could cut a hell of a promo and this guy is basically reading from cue cards and sounding like he's half baked most of the time.

 

Blatantly tagged from the DVDR board, this is a shot of Mike Tenay and Dave Meltzer during the Choshu/Saito v. jobbers match from a few days back. Can someone say DAMN!

 

Mikey Tenay and Davey Meltz 20 Years Younger~~~~RAWK ON!!!

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

Stan "Big K" Kowalski

 

He explained who he was on Tuesday or Wednesday night....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20tLlSdcKA

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I don't think that was Killer Kowalski. I recall Big K talking about some stuff from the past so I figured he was some old dude that was a wrestler, but they needed to emphasize who he is a bit more than they did.

 

See, with Memphis while I have mentioned in this thread that in 1988 they were probably the strongest of the 3 promotions (AWA, CWA, WCCW) by no means was their business booming really. They popped a big crowd for Lawler's title win over Hennig, but if you read Foley's book he goes into Memphis' struggles in the late 80s. Guys went from making $1500 a week 5 years earlier to making like $300 a week by 1988. But since I'd say Memphis' TV was still good stuff and they weren't really going under that the CWA was still better than the AWA or WCCW.

 

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Big K is probably the only thing that annoys me on these shows. I'm loving everything else.

 

I watched a show I had taped a few weeks back and it was Larry Nelson and Larry Zbysko interviewing Marty Jannetty right before he started teaming with Shawn Michaels. Larry had me rolling with his comments to Marty that he couldn't understand a word he was saying because he was mumbling and making fun of the way he dressed and made fun of his high-flying moves and asked him if he could man up and get tough when those moves stopped working. An awesome interview by LZ.

[RedJed 0]

After some looking up of things, I stand corrected, I guess that is Stan Kowalski after all. Damn, I always have pictured him (and seen him in pictures) completely differently. He looks nothing like he did even ten years ago. I actually thought, at first, this Big K was the same guy who was in ads throughout the years for Shakey's Pizza as the mafia guy. Weird.

 

Did Gagne have some horrible secret over Kowalski's head for him to churn out these horrible segments show after show? Seriously, KK acts like he could give a fuck less he's even doing them and is more in it to put himself over, which makes no sense really.

 

And then of course, given the fact they just don't call him by his famous name, and it's an creative snafu of pretty sizable proportions.

 

I still have to watch last night's show entirely, but from the first part of it, it was already great fun with a front row ringside crowd consisting of what looked like an inbred family of six right out of a Troma movie, a few retarded people, and a depressed looking old CLOWN in full makeup and regalia right front in center of the hard cam.

 

I'll comment more later on the show as there was already tons of highlights and I'm not even halfway through it.

 

 

[cabbageboy 0]

These AWA shows are a lot of fun, since I didn't get to see them at the time. I was in grade school and didn't get home from after school day care until about 5:00. I did get to see plenty of Global on ESPN circa 1992 though, so hopefully ESPN will start showing that once these AWA shows run their course.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

I remember the Pink room of doom very well

 

 

Hellz yeah, nigga. The Pink Room of Doom should be brought back for somebody in the WWE. I don't know who, but it needs to come back.

 

 

 

[cabbageboy 0]

You know, is it just me or was DDP quite good on the mic even back then when he first started out? You could tell he had some sort of future in wrestling, though I have to admit it's bizarre seeing him as a manager when he's a bigger dude than either Tanaka or Diamond.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I believe Killer Kowalski's 1st name is Walter.

[RedJed 0]

I believe Killer Kowalski's 1st name is Walter.

 

Shit, that's right. So this Big K guy isnt Killer Kowalski after all, I thought that didn't look like him hardly at all. He is way heavier than KK and had a very raspy condescending voice that just didn't click. And I'm STILL convinced Shakey's Pizza restaurants actually paid this guy to be their spokesperson in the 80s. Not sure if Shakey's Pizza was just a MN/Midwest thing, but if so, then it would make even more sense, just a local guy getting in commercials (AWA wrestlers back in the day seemed to have a knack for it, I remember Nord the Barbarian, Greg Gagne, Road Warriors, etc, pimping out local companies in commercials too around here.) That or Godfather's Pizza.

 

Stan Kowalski, he still is, though. Was one half of Murder, Inc (w/ some other guy I've never heard of named Tiny Mills) back in the 70s. Not sure if the two are related, though.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

Since were on an AWA discussion here's a thread I posted in 2004 dishing the dirt on the AWA sex orgies, drugs and whatnot:

 

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=62721

[RedJed 0]

I did an ad nauseum writeup on the last couple of AWA shows, which have been comedic gold in so many ways I dont know where to start. I'll probably post it later tonight after watching tonights show, to see if theres anything there worth commenting on.

 

While I'm at it though, just a few notes relating to workers and personalities from AWA and my personal connections of sorts with them.

 

Back in 86 I think, my uncle lived in a really run down apartment complex in St. Paul, and his neighbors across the hall was Marty and Shawn. Never met them but he said he talked to them here and there coming in and out of the building, and my uncle noted to me a few years ago that he spent many a sleepless night from the two across the hall having loud parties til the late hours of the mornings. Girls would occasionally be in the hallway being drunk and obnoxious as well.

 

On another side note, Rod Trongard was the PA announcer (as well as the radio broadcaster) for my high school's football games at Mankato East High School when I was there. He also did radio on a local AM station here in the mornings up until his death in whenever that was.

[cabbageboy 0]

This last show I saw was priceless. Dennis Stamp teamed with a fellow jobber named Hunter Thompson (!) and that gave me a laugh. What's funny is that even when the AWA was pretty dire like in 1988-89 there was some fun stuff on there. How about Lawler's "King Lawler: AWA champ" shirt?

 

I've finally figured out what The Big K reminds me of. He's like one of those Vegas gamblers I used to see on USA doing football hype shows, where they give you their "expert advice" and tell you to call their 1-900 number.

[Hasbeen2 0]

I can't believe I mixed those two up, even with the same Kowalski name. Damn.

[cabbageboy 0]

Haven't posted on this thread in a while, but does anyone else here not mind the Top Guns? From reading various Scott Keith AWA articles in the past he made these guys sound like they were totally inept and awful. I don't think they are really all that bad, at least they seem like credible pro wrestlers. They were just doing the pretty boy tag gimmick in the AWA post Rockers and had no hope of matching that success.

[King Kamala 0]

I've been mildly impressed by The Top Guns as well. Sure, they were completely inept and awful on the mic and they came at an a time when there was an overabundance of pretty boy babyface tag teams in wrestling, most of whom were leagues better than them (The Rockers, Rock 'N' Roll Express, Strike Force) but in the ring, they're pretty decent. I'm quite surprised that neither of the guys got runs in WWF or WCW. They're far from the worst thing about these shows.

 

I'm kind of upset I missed Don Rickles on the Celebrity Corner segment last night. Those segments are completely useless but I would have liked to seen Rickles riff endlessly on Verne Gagne

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

The other night those young guys won a match after double elbows to the head. Even the announcers seemed confused that the end had come.

 

And the graphics they put up are funny. One show he's T. Joe Khan, the next he's Teijeio Khan.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I like how the Saint Paul Civic Center is transfered to Omaha, Denver, St Louis etc etc every night of the "Mat Classic"

[cabbageboy 0]

The past few shows from Memphis (or is it Nashville, they never say?) have been really fun stuff. It helps to get away from that stale as hell Vegas locale. That said, what is with the AWA's booking of Lawler as champion? Before the Kerry interpromotional feud, he had no real storyline with anyone and he never got much promo time on ESPN. The absurd thing is that Lawler could probably sell me on him vs. Soldad Ustinov if they would just let him fucking talk!

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I was watching Friday night and the graphic at the bottom that says who they think are the top stars on the night's show said The Nasty Boys and Arn Anderson. I don't remember Arn ever being in the AWA so I kept watching waiting for him to come out. In the main event there was a jobber whose last name was Anderson, but his first name started with a B. I can't remember his actual name. BA was even sewn on his trunks. Odd.

[GreenBudsGreenTea 0]

Glad to see they took a step back to 1987 last few shows

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Never thought I'd see ol Wahoo McDaniels doing a stretcher job for Curt Hennig.

[cabbageboy 0]

Eh, to me these 1987 shows are pretty dire stuff. In 1986 they at least had a young Scott Hall, the Midnight Rockers were cool, guys like Hansen and Brody had stints, etc. In 1988 they at least put the belt on Lawler and did the fascinating (but ill fated) crossovers with Memphis and World Class. But 1987? These shows really suck. Hennig is quite literally the only bright spot.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Agreed. And having to listen to Verne Gagne on commentary is killing me. A fan had a sign saying that Curt Hennig was Minnesota's greatest athlete or something like that. He said that he and his son would both have an issue with that statement. Really annoying.