AWA Wrestling back on the air

[King Kamala 0]

Flair also had some semi-competitive matches with Joey Maggs in the early 90s.

 

 

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

How can I forget about Jumpin' Joey??

[King Kamala 0]

He's wrestling at the great four hour television taping in the skies now

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

He's wrestling at the great four hour television taping in the skies now

 

Heaven needed a jobber to the stars.

 

According to wikipedia, his finisher (he had a finisher?) was called the Canadian Shocker. Heh.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah but George South and Joey Maggs were at least not total unknown jobbers. They were on WCW TV a lot. Bockwinkel had a competitve match with some total unknown jobber that would be getting squashed by King Kong Bundy in 20 seconds.

 

Not sure why but I got a laugh out of the Midnight Rockers coming out to Judas Priest.

[King Kamala 0]

IIRC, the Rockers used "Livin' After Midnight" for a bit after they started in WWF. I remember watching some YouTube clips of their early matches where they came out to it. And I thought WWF stopped using outside music for the most part in 86ish.

[JHawk 0]

I believe the Rose/Somers-Hennig/Hall match tomorrow night is the infamous "countout title change" match.

[cabbageboy 0]

I watched the show with Hall squashing some jobber and the Rockers going against Dennis Stamp (of "I'm not booked" fame) and another jobber. This stuff is awesome, I am hooked. Unlike with 24/7 where shows update maybe 1-2 times a month, this stuff is on ESPN Classic all the time.

 

By the way Larry Z., I would assume Bockwinkel was awarded the belt on a forfeit when Stan Hansen didn't show.

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

By the way Larry Z., I would assume Bockwinkel was awarded the belt on a forfeit when Stan Hansen didn't show.

 

You are correct. Stan Hansen refused to defend the AWA World Title against Nick Bockwinkel, probably because it meant that he had to job to him. So, instead of allowing this to happen, he simply left the area and Bockwinkel was awarded the championship, which pretty much lessened whatever prestige the title had left.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Anyone else notice how in some way, Stan Hansen was something of a prototype for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, both in his style and interviews?

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I noticed Hansen had the black vest deal going that Austin later popularized. This might sound odd but why is this one dude called only The Barbarian? Isn't that awfully confusing since this I'm assuming was Nord the Barbarian? Why shorten it and call him the name of another, more famous, wrestler?

 

 

[King Kamala 0]

Well these taping were '86, right? Was The Barbarian we all know and love around back then? I know he was wrestling but I think it was as Konga The Barbarian IIRC.

 

 

Edit: No, you're right Cabbageboy, it is stupid. I just looked on prowrestlinghistory.com and The Barbarian was wrestling as The Barbarian at Starrcade '85. Ignore the first three sentences of this post.

[cabbageboy 0]

The last episode was fabulous. Jannetty beat some jobber (it took him about 10 minutes!) and then in the postmatch interview mentioned that he needed to recruit a tag partner. Gee, I wonder who that could be?

 

The entire last segment was gold. Bruiser Brody and Adnan beat the crap out of Jerry Blackwell before the bell, then Brody goes down and beats the shit out of Greg Gagne because he can, finally Blackwell and Gagne chase Brody, and then Blackwell gets on the mic and rants. You haven't lived until you see and hear a 500 lb. Georgia redneck rant and rave on the mic. I can't even count the ways in which this ruled.

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

This was indeed back in 1986. These are two different guys. Nord the Barbarian was the AWA's version of the NWA's Barbarian, who was working for Jim Crockett Promotions. The Warlord had not come into his own as of yet to form the Powers of Pain.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The Larry Z and Scott Hall interview was gold.

[JHawk 0]

Loved Larry Nelson and Greg Gagne last night. They complained that Col. DeBeers' interference didn't cause a DQ. They complained that Buddy Rose ramming Scott Hall headfirst into the ringpost didn't cause a DQ.

 

At no time did they question how a title could change hands on a countout.

[cabbageboy 0]

I truly wondered about that. Was there some sort of stip to that match that wasn't clearly announced? As in maybe it was mentioned at the time or in the arena, but they didn't explain it clearly on TV? I can't see how titles change hands on a countout.

 

Some people will chastise me for this, but I am digging these old AWA shows more than the NWA shows. It has more of a charm somehow.

[Guest ChiefWarEagle]

These are great to watch. Having not seen these when they first aired (Wasn't even born) it's really great to see these old matches. I have 4 disc worth of stuff they've already aired and I'll have 5 disc by wednesday for anyone who's interested. Here's the dates and matches so far

 

02/28/2008 (taped 03/04/1986)

Sean Michaels vs. Khan; Scott Hall vs. Doug Sommers; Bruiser Brody vs. Crusher Blackwell; Crusher Blackwell vs. Boris Zhukov

 

02/29/2008 (taped 07/15/1986)

Rose/Sommers vs. Jake Millman/Chad Bardeux; Col. DeBeers vs. Jesse Hernandez; Nick Bockwinkle vs. Boris Zhukov (show cut off early)

 

03/01/2008 (taped 07/22/1986)

Fargo vs. Hennig; Boris Zhukov vs. Patterson; Midnight Rockers; Ali Khan vs. Brad Rheingans

 

Week 2

 

03/04/2008 (taped 9/23/1986)

Burroughs vs. The Ninja; Pitman vs. Scott Hall; Boris Zhukov & Ali Khan vs. Myers & Cooper; Paul Garner vs. Nick Bockwinkel; Scott Hall vs. Col. DeBeers

 

03/05/2008 (taped 09/18/1986)

Cooper vs. Larry Zbyszko; Tabb vs. Brad Rheingans; Midnight Rockers vs. Sweat & Crenshaw; Cage Match Brody & Barbarian vs. Jimmy Snuka & Greg Gagne

 

03/06/2008 (taped 09/28/1986)

Rob Stone vs. Scott Hall; Richards & Frankie DeFalko vs. Yuri Gordyenko & Alexis Smifnoff; Tony Leoni & Dennis Stamp vs. Midnight Rockers; Larry Zbyszko vs. Curt Hennig

 

03/07/2008 (taped 2/23/1986)

C. Curtis vs. Marty Jannety; Barbarian& Boris Zhukov vs. C. Bassett & Spike Jones; Earthquake Ferris vs. Scott Hall; Jerry Blackwell vs. Bruiser Brody

 

03/08/2008 (taped 7/1/1986)

Clark vs. Larry Zbyszko; Knight vs. Marty Jannety; Pinky Sanchez vs. Bruiser Brody; Buddy Rose & Doug Summers vs. Curt Hennig & Scott Hall (Tag Team Title)

[cabbageboy 0]

There are some amusing jobbers on these shows. I thought it was funny to see Dennis Stamp of Beyond the Mat fame, and am I right in thinking the one jobber that Brody squashed (Pete Sanchez) is the same jobber that Flair beat in his 1976 MSG debut?

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

There are some amusing jobbers on these shows. I thought it was funny to see Dennis Stamp of Beyond the Mat fame, and am I right in thinking the one jobber that Brody squashed (Pete Sanchez) is the same jobber that Flair beat in his 1976 MSG debut?

 

You are correct. It goes to show that even jobbers were prime commodities for other organizations. You come in, you get beat up for 5-6 minutes, put on a one-minute flurry, then you get beat down as if you really had a choice in the matter. Sanchez was never really regarded as a superstar outside of Puerto Rico, if at all. At least his claim to fame is that he was beaten by a then-28 year old braggadocious upstart by the name of "Nature Boy" Rick Flair.

[King Kamala 0]

Yeah, a surprising amount of jobbers switched sides back in the day, even up till The Monday Night War era. I always thought it was amusing when Barry Horowitz jumped ship to WCW in '97/'98ish.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Can someone give some insight into Larry Zbyszko's bodyguard and apparent martial arts gimmick? Was there any more background into Mr. Go or why Larry was wearing a martial arts jacket to the ring. I know the guy used a lot of kicks in his matches. Did he have a legit martial arts background of some kind?

 

I have to admit I'm enjoying Zbyszko's antics on these shows a lot. His promo about needing to wrestle "fifteen orangutans with my arm tied behind my back to get a title shot" and then getting on his knees and begging for a match against Bockwinkle was pretty hilarious.

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

Larry Zbyszko is disciplined in Judo karate, having earned a black belt. He is also trained in the usage of nunchaku. So he is very legit in that regard.

[BruiserKC 0]

Scott Hall was the man on these old AWA shows. How the hell did Gagne not find a way to make money with him? This feud with Col. DeBeers is hilarious, with the Col. refusing to wrestle Hall because he feels he's obviously on anabolic steroids. This is the actual feud!

 

Gagne wasn't impressed with the hosses of the day. That was the same thing that happened to Hulk Hogan pre-WWF. Despite of the huge popularity of Hogan, Gagne was hell-bent on eventually having his son Greg win the AWA title from Bockwinkel. That's how Vince convinced Hogan to leave the AWA.

 

Whoever was comparing Jerry Blackwell to Santino Marella..."The Mountain from Stone Mountain" had much more on the ball and I'll take him over Marella any day. I remember how Blackwell could throw a mean dropkick...not bad for a nearly 500-pound man.

 

I also miss seeing Stan "The Lariat" Hansen and King Kong/Bruiser Brody. Sandman might be the Hardcore Icon, Foley the Hardcore Legend, but Brody IMHO was the King of Hardcore.

 

[Bruiser_Brody_ 0]

Verne didn't put the title on Hogan because he wanted a cut of Hogan's Japan money and Hogan said "No way!" Greg being champ didn't become a goal til 87 after the bottom dropped out.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Maybe it's just the editing, but does it seem weird that Bockwinkle hasn't appeared at all on any of these shows yet? Everyone keeps mentioning him, but not even so much as a short promo of him with the belt or anything, unless I've missed something.

[RonL21 0]

Lord @ this! I hardly recognized "Sean Micheals" Scott Hall w/ the 80s Porn star 'stache and Curt Hennig.

This is glorious to watch...

[cabbageboy 0]

Oh, those shows rule. But man by late 1986 it seems like the Rockers had left and Hall also had quit the company. So those shows are pretty hard to watch. Hopefully they'll show the 60m draw with Bockwinkel and Hennig.

 

Was that the Rockers' ill fated original WWF stint or were they in Memphis? I know the first time I ever saw them was on a Memphis show circa 1988. I thought they ruled.

[RonL21 0]

Hell i hardly recognized "Big" Leon White.

I was like "Damn that looks like Vader.."

[haws bah gawd 0]

I've been enjoying the hell out of these old AWA shows. I never caught much of Playboy Buddy Rose, because I started watching wrestling in the late 80's, when he was doing the blow-away diet gimmick. He's awful agile for a man of his stature. He impressed me something awful with his one-armed push ups and jumping over the top rope into the ring ala Lex Luger.

 

On a side note, having never saw much of him other than his feud with Lex Luger in WCW, Stan Hansen RULES.