Dylan Waco

Of course they stopped talking about it. It sucks now. I don't talk much about TNA either. Why? Because it sucks. I think most of the people who were fans of the angle originally liked it because it was clearly different than anything in a long time. Now it's not. To me the worst aspect of it is the fact that Punk is now being booked to work in the ring like a hammy, Ricky Morton while his character is supposed to be some shooty tweener.

Choshu is a guy who's raw charisma and presence make every match better and make him stand out more. Benoit is the opposite.

Not saying Benoit doesn't have that, but here is the thing. What is the definitive Benoit match? I've talked about this with others before. With other great wrestlers there are multiple matches that feel like they would fit into a canon. It's not that Benoit has no such match, but he really has far fewer than you would think for a guy that was routinely listed as a top ten all time guy before he massacred his family. He just doesn't connect for me either on the emotional level or on the "underdog fun" level like say a 99 Kaz Hayashi type. He's stuck inbetween being too good to be "below the radar" but not transcendent enough to be an all time peak performer guy. He's like the anti-Choshu to me.

This seems like revisionism now, but I was never a fan of Benoit. Always acknowledged that he was great in the most mechanical sense possible and he had some wonderful matches. But he was never someone I really wanted to go out of my way to see.

I don't think DK is in any way synonymous with NJPW. For the record I prefer 80's NJPW to 80's AJPW too, at least based on the sets that were released for the DVDVR project. More variety, broader base of stand out guys, and I prefer Fujinami to Jumbo

Going to post something about this stuff at Classics. Should I post a thread specific about Blackwell as an HoFer or something about candidates that should be on the ballot but aren't? Speaking of which, Fujiwara is another one.

RVD is weird in that I tend to think matches built around him taking hideously dangerous bumps are really good, but his offense is what he's known for and with some exceptions his matches built around that I find boring and tedious as fuck. That is not a hard rule, but I would much rather watch RVD/Jericho or RVD/Furnas from his ECW tenure than one of his needlessly long Carrot Top improv acts from his tv title run. I know Vic loves it and thinks it added to the act, but once Fonzy came in I think it killed a lot of what made RVD interesting as a wrestler to me, even if it may have enhanced his star power. I do think he had some excellent and unheralded matches with Scorpio, but that's neither here nor there since Scorpio was God in ECW. Sabu is Abdullah The Butcher with cooler highspots. Take that as a compliment.

The one I'm talking about has the Flyers go over clean after a blindside tag from Greg to Brunzell. Greg takes the bump on the atomic drop and Tito turns into what is possibly the most vicious dropkick I've ever seen for the fall.

I just watched that second High Flyers v. Tito/Martel match and it is "Holy Shit" Great. Please God tell me that was at least half the match khawk. I want that on the AWA Set as a match proper and not an EXTRA. Fucking High Flyers are crazy underrated

Actually I kind of hate Steen too. He's good at times but at other times he just seems to get lost fucking around with the crowd. EricR made note of that in his PWG review at Segunda Caida and it's something I totally see.

I exaggerated a bit, but look at those dates again. They do TV in Winnipeg, THEN go to Brandon which had been a hot town they had scaled back from with a big Battle Royal, THEN go back to the Arena for Martel v. Zhukov blowoff. That's November. The Dec. Show was a battle royal which always drew well for the AWA as you note - it also did not have TV the day before. There is no TV before the Jan. 86 show either. The Winnipeg TV taping started running the day before the Arena shows in June which was one month after the disaster of a show in may that had no Sarge, Blackwell or Roadies and as you noted Larry Z foolishly on top. That formula stayed in place UNTIL Nov, when they decided to space things out by a day and add Brandon (which had been a hot town) back into the mix for a Battle Royal with Blackwell. After this they dump Winnipeg tv altogether and the last two shows the promotion runs there do good business - especially by the standards of that time for the AWA. I'm not saying TV was the ONLY thing that killed the town, because it wasn't even the first strike. But TV the day before certainly didn't spike business, certainly didn't seem like a sound investment, and may very well have had an adverse effect on business. The correlation is clearly there. My guess? The May show where the stars they did have weren't booked fucked the town. They needed to do something to spike it. TV came on air. Some people chose to go to those tapings, some people watched, no body liked what they saw.

Problem with the Robinson match is that it's only about a half a match. What's shown is great, but it's really incomplete. I will fight for it as an extra, but as a match proper it's going to be tough going. The one High Flyers v. Strike Force tag I've seen is similar in that regard.

I fucking hate Jumbo. He's clearly a great wrestler, but if I never saw another Jumbo match again I'd be fine with it.

The problem with saying the Winnipeg TV had no effect on Winnipeg gates is that Winnipeg had been a hot town, dipped bad for the Summer, then they started doing double duty in the town and the numbers never came back up no matter what they put on the show. Correlation isn't causation, but that is an extremely curious coincidence to me. It could be that the town was just murdered dead over the Summer to the point where things weren't salvageable but if that's the case it still raises the question of why the fuck you would run TV in a dismal town. Apparently the answer is that Verne had sold the town for all intents and purposes. I also find it curious that they just gave up on Brandon. On the East Coast swings I know that PWUSA started to air, but that really feels like an idiotic decision regardless, ESPECIALLY the decision to start doing split crews. The AWA could still draw in 85 but for the most part they had to load up there cards to pop a gate of note. This isn't going to happen when you've got Sarge working for 400 people in a North Jersey Elks Lodge. On the Superstar thing I'm sure he was a last second sub for Brody in the Cow Palace, but if you look at the follow up numbers that hardly seemed to be a huge problem. Eadie was subbed in fairly seamlessly for the most part. If you believe Matisyk, Verne had a piece of St. Louis going back to the 70's. What's notable about that show is that it's the first time I can recall a show that could be seen as an AWA show in the town - and the timing is terrible. I think if you look at the over all picture in 85 Verne/promoters fucked themselves as much as Vince fucked them.

And for the fuck of it, 86: 1/10/86 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Cage match Road Warriors & Jerry Blackwell beat Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq Boris Zhukov & Barbarian beat Marty Jannetty & Earthquake Ferris Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke Bill Irwin beat Kelly Kiniski Att: 13,000 Massive number for the AWA of this period, in some ways the last real impressive figure as Wrestlerock ultimately feels like it should have done far better than it did. The double main here would have been extremely hot. 1/12/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq Road Warriors beat Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian dq AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Curt Hennig beat Earthquake Ferris Marty Jannetty drew Steve Regal Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe att: 2,000 1/16/86 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Nick Bockwinkel no contest NWA Champion Ric Flair Non Title Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Steve Regal & Jim Garvin AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Rick Martel Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov Mongolian Stomper & Nord the Barbarian beat the Alaskans Scott Hall beat Earthquake Ferris Buddy Lane beat Brian Jewel Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel to win AWA ladies title att: 6,800 1/17/86 Denver, CO Road Warriors no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Steve Regal & Jim Garvin Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq Mongolian Stomper & Boris Zhukov & Barbarian beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall & Buck Zumhofe Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke Leon White beat Bill Irwin Even with a shit card the degree to which St. Paul has died is really sad and almost hard to believe. Blackwell not being on the show had to have hurt as at this point they really needed all of their stars to draw a big gate. The Winnipeg number is good, but that is a really loaded show. The Denver show interest me because it is a rare Blackwell World Title shot. Shockingly low number of those over the years for a guy who was obviously a draw and a huge piece of puzzle almost from the moment he debuted. 1/30/86 Peoria, IL Curt Hennig won a Battle Royal Scott Hall & Larry Hennig beat Sheik Adnan & Mongolian Stomper Jerry Blackwell & Leon White beat Nord the Barbarian & Boris Zhukov Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq Mongolian Stomper beat Curt Hennig Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers Note: First AWA card in Peoria since November 1980 1/30/86 San Francisco, CA Rick Martel vs Jimmy Garvin Blackwell being paired off against Zhukov in a feud tells you a lot about the state of the AWA. The fact that Verne insisted on doing a split crew still at this point is nuts. The fact that he did it in a town he hadn't run in 6 years and the worst town on his loop is fucking batshit crazy on a different level. 2/4/86 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat David Sammartino Curt Hennig & Marty Jannetty beat Nord The Barbarian & Sheik Adnan Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov Leon White beat Larry Zbyszko dq Scott Hall beat Doug Somers Another show that illustrates the weakness of these cards. You almost feel like Blackwell should have been turned heel and given the belt as it may have been something fresh if nothing else. 2/9/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Road Warriors & Paul Ellering beat Mongolian Stomper & Boris Zhukov & Barbarian dq No dq match AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Sgt. Slaughter COR AWA Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Curt Hennig beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin dq Jerry Blackwell beat Earthquake Ferris (sub King Kong Brody) dq Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers Brad Rheingans beat Earthquake Ferris Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe Colonel DeBeers beat Rick Renslow Marty Jannetty beat Jim Mitchell att: 2,784 Dog shit card, aside from Hansen v. Sarge which is not really drawing at all. Sadly this is actually UP from the last St. Paul show. 2/16/86 Milwaukee, WI AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Leon White Greg Gagne beat Scott Irwin dq Boris Zhukov beat Brad Rheingans COR Colonel DeBeers beat Frankie DeFalco Marty Jannetty beat Bill Irwin att: 1,500 Milwaukee is a quarter full for an extremely weak card with no Blackwell or Sarge. 2/23/86 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Sgt. Slaughter no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Curt Hennig & Scott Hall & Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov & Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian No dq Match Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel Midnight Rockers beat The Alaskans Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe Leon White beat Doug Somers att: 7,000 This is probably only about 40% full in the Rosemont but I feel like it has to be seen as a success just because it's probably a show that made money. Blackwell is now MIA 3/9/86 St. Paul, MN Bunkhouse Match Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen COR Road Warriors beat Boris Zhukov & Nord the Barbarian Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Brad Rheingans beat King Kong Brody as the Masked Maruader dq Buddy Rose beat Scott Hall dq Curt Hennig drew Colonel DeBeers Midnight Rockers beat Alaskans att: 5,000 Another bad number that is "good for 86" 3/15/86 Salt Lake City, UT Jerry Blackwell no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq Non Title Boris Zhukov & Nord the Barbarian beat AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Sgt. Slaughter beat Sheik Adnan COR Brad Rheingans beat Doug Somers Marty Jannetty beat Colonel DeBeers dq Shawn Michaels drew Buddy Rose att: 8,600 Jerry gets a rare AWA title shot in SLC on a show that doesn't have much else and draws a really good figure. I know his health was an issue at that point but again I really feel like Blackwell with the belt should have been considered at this point. 3/16/86 Denver, CO Non Title Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen Non Title Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian beat AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq Brad Rheingans beat Sheik Adnan COR Midnight Rockers drew Buddy Rose & Colonel DeBeers Leon White beat Doug Somers Notable that this got a rematch in Denver. Leads me to believe the first show may have done a decent number. Blackwell vanishes again. 4/9/86 Niagara Falls, NY @ International Civic Center Road Warriors beat Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff dq Sgt Slaughter & Scott Hall & The Destroyer (sub Curt Hennig) beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin & The Barbarian COR Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov King Kong Brody beat Earthquake Ferris (sub Jerry Blackwell) Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe Doug Somers beat Mark Ragin att: 4,000 Niagara must have been hard up for wrestling as that's a better number than you would guess. 4/20/86 Minneapolis, MN @ Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome Wrestle Rock Cage Match Road Warriors beat Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin Cage Match Verne Gagne beat Sheik Adnan Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat King Kong Brody & Nord the Barbarian Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq Scott LeDeoux beat Larry Zbyszko dq AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Sherri Martel won a 10 woman Battle Royal Rick Martel no contest Harley Race Shohei Baba beat Bulldog Bob Brown Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo beat Fabulous Ones Tiger Mask (Misawa) beat Buck Zumhofe Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers Colonel DeBeers beat Wahoo McDaniel dq Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov Plus a midget tag team match att: 22,000 4/24/86 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School Steel Cage Match Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Shawn Michaels beat Colonel DeBeers dq Brad Rheingans beat Earthquake Ferris Marty Jannetty beat Calypso Jim att: 600 This is telling. They load up Wrestlerock and draw a good, albeit somewhat disappointing figure. The next show they can't sell out a high school gym for a Cage Match. Also worth noting that Rose/Somers and Midnight Rockers are starting to creep up the cards. Rosemont is down to 1800 for the next show without Blackwell or Sarge. 5/30/86 Oakland, CA Jerry Blackwell won battle royal Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Non Title Midnight Rockers beat AWA TagTeam Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Curt Hennig beat Colonel DeBeers dq Scott Hall beat Boris Zhukov Nord The Barbarian beat Steve Pardee att: 1,500 Rose and Somers have won the tag titles. Battle Royal with Jerry returning to the company does a Bay Areaish mediocre number. 5/31/86 Las Vegas, NV TV Taping Curt Hennig (sub Jerry Blackwell) drew AWA Champion Stan Hansen Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Midnight Rockers Taped Fist Match Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko dq Nick Bockwinkel & Brad Rheingans & Steve Pardee beat Colonel DeBeers & Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Midnight Rockers beat Don Fargo & El Siberiano Nord The Barbarian beat Jesse Hernandez Colonel DeBeers beat Dennis Stamp Curt Hennig beat Jay York Marty Jannetty beat Alex Knight Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Gus Torres & Buddy Allen Brad Rheingans beat Don Fargo Larry Zbyszko beat Gus Torres If memory serves this is the angle with Blackwell getting beaten senseless by Hansen pre-match when he tries to back out on Doctors orders. Hennig makes the save and has as tremendously great brawl that is another theoretical number one contender for the pending AWA Set. 6/8/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion Nick Bockwinkel no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers & Boris Zhukov Sherri Martel beat Princess Jasmine Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers Shawn Michaels beat Buddy Rose dq Madd Maxx & Super Maxx beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O Alan West drew Earthquake Ferris att: 1,700 Notice this ain't in the Rosemont. 6/15/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Jerry Blackwell & Nick Bockwinkel Greg Gagne & Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko & Mr. Go dq Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers & Boriz Zhukov dq Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Brad Rheingans & Alan West drew Madd Maxx & Super Maxx att: 1,700 Terrible card. Jerry returns to the Twin Cities but he literally has no one to work against. I really think Jerry v. Bock could have done some business. Not great given the circumstances, but better than this. 6/22/86 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran's Arena Cage Match AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Verne Gagne beat Boris Zukhov & Nord The Barbarian & Sheik Adnan when Greg pinned Zhukov Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zukhov (sub King Kong Brody) COR AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers when Somers pinned Shawn Michaels Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq Taped Fist Match Scott LeDoux beat The Mysterious Mr. Go dq Sherri Martel beat Princess Jasmine via pin Wish we had a number here. For 86 AWA this is a loaded show. 6/27/86 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Nick Bockwinkel NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Curt Hennig Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers dq Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko Ali Kahn beat Jerry Blackwell Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel att: 11,557 SLC attendance remains the hardest to figure out. This is the biggest number they have EVER done in that building. Flair has spiked them some in other areas but this is by FAR the biggest spike. On the other hand this show does have three title matches. Still this is an insane number for the AWA from this period even if it is a "super show" 6/28/86 Oakland, CA Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq Nord The Barbarian beat Nick Bockwinkel Curt Hennig & Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Alexis Smirnoff Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans (sub Scott Hall) Jimmy Snuka beat Jay York Sherri Martel beat Candi Devine to win AWA ladies title Earthquake Ferris beat Ali Kahn att: 1,500 Notable because Jerry gets a shot. Sadly this isn't a terrible number for the Bay Area, just not a good one either. 7/19/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion Non Title Nord the Barbarian beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel Jerry Blackwell beat Larry Zbyszko dq Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall COR Midnight Rockers beat Doug Somers & Mr. Go (sub Buddy Rose) Madd Maxx & Super Maxx beat Alan West & Rick Gantner Ali Khan beat Curt Hennig dq Brad Rheingans drew Boris Zhukov Earthquake Ferris beat Jake Milliman att: 1500 Really thin card. The thing is Blackwell v. Bock was a FRESH MATCH, with two guys that had a name. No clue why they didn't go that route. 8/12/86 Asbury Park, NJ AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers Non Title Larry Zbyszko beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov Nord The Barbarian beat Dennis Mitchell Joe Savoldi beat Pink Menace 8/16/86 Pittsburgh, PA AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Nord The Barbarian dq Non Title Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq Jimmy Snuka beat Larry Zbyszko att: 587 8/17/86 Monogahela, PA afternoon Midnight Rockers beat Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov Jimmy Snuka beat Buddy Rose Scott Hall beat Doug Somers Colonel DeBeers beat Tim Patterson Last Warrior beat Tyree Pride att: 592 8/17/86 Steubenville, OH evening AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Jimmy Snuka beat Barbarian dq Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq Colonel DeBeers beat Tim Patterson Last Warrior beat Tyree Pride att: 650 An East Coast swing capped off by double duty? Why Verne, Why? 8/28/86 San Jose, CA att: 700 8/29/86 Stockton, CA att: 500 8/30/86 Las Vegas, NV Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov Scott Hall dcor Colonel DeBeers Shohei Giant Baba & Wajima beat ?? att: 1,500 Why is he running new towns in California of all places? WTF? Wajima! 9/7/86 Chicago, IL Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers to win title. Decision later reversed as the wrong man (Somers) was pinned Curt Hennig (sub Nord The Barbarian) beat Nick Bockwinkel to win AWA Title when Larry Zbyszko hit Bockwinkel with nunchakus Later announced, Curt returned the AWA Title to Bockwinkel because Hennig could not accept winning it in an unjust manner. Greg Gagne & Jerry Blackwell & Jimmy Snuka beat Sheik Adnan & Ali Khan & Boris Zhukov Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers Curt Hennig dcor Larry Zbyszko Earthquake Ferris beat Tom Stone Stoney Burke beat Rick Gantner att: 1,000 And Chicago is officially dead for good as an AWA town of any value. 9/13/86 Oakland, CA @ Coliseum AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall dq AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Sheik Adnan (sub Nord The Barbarian) Jimmy Snuka beat Colonel DeBeers COR Midnight Rockers beat Ali Kahn & Boris Zhukov Larry Zbyszko beat Greg Gagne dq Earthquake Ferris drew Mr. Go att: 1,374 9/14/86 Antioch, CA Earthquake Ferris & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov Midnight Rockers beat Larry Zbyszko & Ninja Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq Curt Hennig beat Sheik Adnan COR att: 1,534 Sad when this is UP from he last Cali tour. St. Paul draws less than 1500 and they run a show in Waltman Mass days later... Rockers v. Rose/Somers are headlining a lot which makes sense because at least the matches are exciting but the lack of talent, the booking decisions, et. are almost stunningly awful at this point. 10/18/86 Las Vegas, NV Curt Hennig won a battle royal Jimmy Snuka beat Colonel DeBeers dq Marty Jannetty ddq Buddy Rose Earthquake Ferris beat Ken Timbs COR Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Curt Hennig & Steve O Curt Hennig beat Alex Knight att: 3,000 sellout 10/19/86 St. Paul, MN Curt Hennig won battle royal Non Title Larry Zbyszko beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel Midnight Rockers & Jerry Blackwell beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & The Blaster Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov Curt Hennig beat Colonel DeBeers COR Super Ninja beat Earthquake Ferris Steve O drew Ali Khan att: 1,500 Note: Silo Sam, Ken Timbs and Billy Robinson competed in the battle royal Battle Royal spikes Vegas some. It does not spike St. Paul. 10/26/86 Chicago, IL Curt Hennig won battle royal Midnight Rockers & Jerry Blackwell beat The Blaster & Buddy Rose & Doug Somers AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov Curt Hennig no contest Colonel DeBeers Earthquake Ferris beat Brian Knobbs att: 1,000 Pathetic 11/27/86 St. Paul, MN AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Midnight Rockers & Despina Montagus beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Sherri Martel Step Ladder match Jerry Blackwell beat Colonel DeBeers Curt Hennig beat Boris Zhukov Leon White won handicap match Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Buck Zumhofe & John Paul Demann Super Ninja beat Steve Olsonoski att: 4,000 11/30/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion Curt Hennig beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq Jerry Blackwell beat Colonel DeBeers Midnight Rockers & Despina Montagus beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Sherri Martel Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko dq Leon White beat Boris Zhukov Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Billy Robinson & Steve Olsonoski att: 400 Note: I’ve also seen this card dated 11/26/86. I wonder if that Blackwell v. Debeers Ladder Match was the source of interest in St. Paul as it was a completely fresh gimmick. The number still sucks, but is way up from previous shows. Meanwhile Chicago is the worst town in the territory. 12/14/86 Buffalo, NY @ Amherst Campus Alumni Arena Postponed card from November 2 Battle Royal Midnight Rockers vs Doug Somers & Buddy Rose Larry Zbyszko vs Greg Gagne Colonel DeBeers vs Jerry Blackwell Last Blackwell date of the year. 12/25/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Special Referee: Billy Robinson AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig dq Non Title Cage Match Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Mr. Saito & Super Ninja & Larry Zbyszko beat Scott Hall & Leon White & Greg Gagne Colonel DeBeers beat Jimmy Snuka dq Boris Zhukov beat Steve O Earthquake Ferris beat Brian Nobbs Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Wolff Att: 3,500 12/27/86 Denver, CO Colonel DeBeers beat Jimmy Snuka dq AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers Super Ninja & Mr. Saito & Larry Zbyszko beat Scott Hall & Nick Bockwinkel & Leon White Boris Zhukov beat Steve Olsonoski Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Wolff att: 4,606 Verne had to be happy with these numbers - which is sad. When they were able to load up the shows they did okay business, but Sarge and the Roadies leaving, Blackwell being on again/off again, et really hurt them. What this really shows me is how terrible the AWA talent pool was at this time, but also how awful a promoter Verne was in terms of getting the most out of the guys he had. There aren't really plusses to be drawn here for anyone, though I don't think I could give anyone other than Verne any real negatives.

Barnett blowing Rich might be keeping Tommy off the HoF ballot.

I have seen all the Funk v. Lawler match that have made tape. Love all of them. The stuff Funk and Lawler did in the first half of last decade was excellent considering their limitations. Worth noting LA Park is 45.

I thought that match was okay. It was hyped by some people during the SC WCW poll and honestly I thought it was far from the best match on that show, let alone a great match. Not bad, but I don't even think I like that as much as Swagger v. Lawler from Raw this year.

I think Martel was a draw in certain situations. He clearly did well in Canada. The AWA was better when Martel was on top than people think, but he got a bunch of shitty challengers, and I don't think there was ever a point when he was the top babyface draw in the company. Would love to get some Montreal attendance figures with Martel though.

I'll start work on that after I"m done with Blackwell's AWA run

Just watched it and "very good" seems about right. I liked the lay out a lot. Lawler's cheapshots off the knuckle locks looked sick. Lance did a good job putting over back body drops as potentially dangerous moves due to previoius injuries Jarrett had suffered. Thought the match built very well. Stretch run was quality. Loved the double drop the strap bit, the near fall segment was good and the finishing angle was good also. Teased countout was probably my spot of the match. Made me really wish their sixty minute match was on tape. Comparing this to something like Eddy v. Flair from 96 which had it's fans, I thought this was easily better

I've not seen it, but imagine it would be great.

Decided to do 85 for Blackwell because why the fuck not? It's fun and it gives us an interesting look in general since the promotion was on the decline, but had some ups and downs of note: 1/8/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat King Kong Brody & Sheik Adnan Fabulous Ones & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig Brad Rheingans beat Sheik Adnan COR Att 8987 1/10/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena TV Taping Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Sgt. Slaughter beat Mr. Saito dq Jimmy Garvin beat John Nord dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Brian Jewel & Rob Rechsteiner Att: 5,628 That's a very good figure for a Blackwelless SLC, but look at the show - it's fucking loaded. Hard to imagine a more loaded show for 85 AWA than that as you have Bock, Brody, Hennigs (with Curt doing double duty), a World Title match and Roadies v. Fabs. hard to say if the fact that it was a TV Taping helped Winnipeg or not, but that feels like a hot main event and the fact is it's up over 2,000 from the previous Winnipeg show where Blackwell was third from the top against aged Billy Robinson. 1/12/85 Milwaukee, WI Fabulous Ones & The Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Lights Out Match King Kong Brody beat Jerry Blackwell Jimmy Garvin beat Jim Brunzell via pin Nick Bockwinkel drew Curt Hennig Masked Superstar beat Tom Stone via pin Brad Rheingans beat Jake Milliman (sub Mr. Saito) Att: 5,741 Note: Milwaukee Sentinel says Blackwell beat Brody That's less than 500 away from a sellout in Milwaukee, with what looks like a very hot double main event and not much else of note on the show (Bock v. Curt didn't "heat up" til later and I'm not sure it ever did impressive business). 1/13/85 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center evening Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq No dq match, Sheik Adnan handcuffed to Sgt. Slaughter Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody COR The Crusher & Fabulous Ones beat the Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig dq Baron Von Raschke drew Billy Robinson John Nord beat Jimmy Doo Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal att: 11,000 This is a strong number, though the show is really loaded. You could argue it could have done better, but it seems wrong to pan a 10k plus show in the AWA. Hard to pinpoint what was moving business, but it is worth noting that Brody v. Blackwell is the hottest feud in the territory by a safe margin if you are going by the tv. 1/17/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion Lights Out match Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar (sub King Kong Brody) Jimmy Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Non title Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig (subs for Fabulous Ones) beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal att: 3,000 This is a very good number for Showboat I would imagine. 1/30/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace No dq match Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar (sub King Kong Brody) Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig (Subs for Fabulous Ones) & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Sgt. Slaughter beat Nick Bockwinkel Pat Barrett drew Guy Lambert Att 4900 Very good number for the Palace, bordering on great when you see how shitty that town had been drawing in prior years. Also interesting that Superstar v. Blackwell went on last and the title match was in the mid-card. I would venture to guess this had to do with what matches were garnering the most heat as Blackwell v. Brody was the hot feud. Also worth noting that Superstar was plugged in fairly effectively as a replacement for Brody from a storyline perspective which I think speaks well of Eadie, Adnan (who was hated) and Blackwell. 2/3/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Jerry Blackwell no contest Masked Superstar AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Sgt. Slaughter & Nick Bockwinkel dq Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat King Tonga & Sheik Adnan Larry Hennig beat John Nord Curt Hennig beat Drew Tossell Tom Zenk drew Steve Regal Would love a number for this. I doubt the crowd knew this would be Superstar and figured it would be Brody and yet Verne STILL put this on last. Again that speaks well of Blackwell as the top face at this point. 2/7/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Blackjack Lanza (sub Jerry Blackwell) & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga (sub King Kong Brody) dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Tom Zenk drew Steve Regal Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig Buddy Lane beat Rick Renslow John Nord beat Drew Tossell att: 4,108 Blackwell misses the show, presumably as a no-show of some kind, i.e. last second switch out. This is an ok number for Winnipeg, but I'm curious if they offer refunds as two subs in the main event could have caused some people to say "fuck this." 2/20/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace King Tonga & Masked Superstar beat Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk John Nord beat Sheik Adnan COR Samoan Samula beat Guy Lambert dq att: 1,981 2/21/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Lights Out Match Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig King Tonga beat Tom Zenk John Nord beat Steve Regal Att: 7754. 2/22/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq AWA Champion Rick Martel dcor Bob Backlund Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Mr. Saito & Masked Superstar & King Tonga beat Steve O & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal John Nord drew Tom Zenk Att 10,000+ What's funny is that 2k is actually not awful for the Cow Palace, though it's less than half of the last show. Looking at the card that's no surprise. SLC is still holding really strong. St. Paul turns in another good number. Blackwell is notably placed in the last match of all of these cards. Pretty clear Verne sees him as his money making babyface and there is no reason to think he was wrong. 3/4/85 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada @ PNE Coliseum AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Brunzell AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Mr. Saito & Moose Morowski Lights Out match Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan Buck Zumhofe beat Moondog Moretti Steve Austin beat John Baker Att: 1,500 At this point you see Verne starting to move into a couple of oddball spots out West. I have no clue why they were trying to run Vancouver now, unless Verne was just pissed at Tomko for some reason. No clue if this is a good figure for the town or not. Not surprising that they would run title matches on top in a "new" town. 3/7/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito King Tonga beat Sgt. Slaughter dq Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar Jerry Blackwell drew Sheik Adnan Billy Robinson beat Buddy Lane Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal att: 5,208 Winnipeg still holding pretty solid. Interesting card and if it is the show I'm thinking you clearly have to credit Blackwell for a lot of this. The result doesn't say it, but this was a match where If Blackwell beat Eadie he got five minutes with Adnan. Crowd was molten for it, it's a great match(es?), and it definitely felt like the biggest thing on the show. 3/8/85 St Louis, MO AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Missouri State Champion Jerry Blackwell beat Bulldog Bob Brown Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Masked Superstar & Mr Saito Sgt Slaughter dcor Wahoo McDaniel Mike Von Erich beat Jimmy Garvin American Starship beat Marty Jannetty & Steve Olsonoski Dick the Bruiser beat Mr Pogo dq Rufus R Jones beat Ken Timbs att: 2,610 Wow. No clue what to think of this. This is probably a Central States promoted show...or is it? Hard to tell. Feels like a shitty figure, but why the fuck was Verne running that town assuming this wasn't Geigel and friends? 3/9/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Special Referee: Verne Gagne Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga & Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito Curt Hennig beat Billy Robinson Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Candi Devine beat Diane Von Hoffman John Nord drew Tom Zenk Would like a figure here. Also worth noting that the High Flyers have re-emerged on the last several shows. 3/10/85 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Strap Match Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar King Tonga beat Sgt. Slaughter dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito when Brunzell pinned Bockwinkel Candi Devine beat Diane Von Hoffman via pin Non Title Buck Zumhofe beat AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal via pin Wonder how this did. GB was an interesting town to monitor as it only seemed to draw huge for molten programs. This is followed up by a bizarre run of shows in modest sized upstate NJ towns. No fucking clue what the point of that was. No figures on them, but Jerry isn't on the shows anyhow. 3/16/85 Oakland, CA If Blackwell wins, Jerry gets 5 minutes with Sheik Adnan Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga dq when Adnan & Masked Superstar interfered AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel (sub Jim Garvin) Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Masked Superstar Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Jerry Monti beat Don Stevenson att: 3,400 In a fit of insanity Verne is running split crews, with Slaughter headlining in NJ and Blackwell headlining here. Notable non-Cow Palace show in the Bay Area. Probably a wise move as this does a good figure for that general area by AWA standards of the time and it was probably cheaper to run this venue. 3/19/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Brunzell Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne dq Misty Blue beat Linda Dallas Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Att 4502 Verne the lunatic runs a split show again, this time with Baron/Backlund headlining against Nagasaki/Saito in NY. As a result both shows are weak and SLC shits the bed for the first time since Blackwell was MIA in 84. Not really an awful number for the town, but clearly a bad sign. 3/23/85 New Haven, CT @ Veteran's Memorial Coliseum Tonga Kid won a $50,000.00 battle royal AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Sgt. Slaughter beat Kamala dq Tonga Kid beat Larry Zbyszko dq Bob Backlund beat Kendo Nagasaki Mark Youngblood & Jay Youngblood drew The Samoans Att: 7000 3/23/85 Middleton, WI The Crusher & Larry Hennig & Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar & Mr. Saito & King Tonga dq Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Mr. Saito beat Curt Hennig Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Tom Zenk beat Rick Stoansky The split shows continue. That's a good number for New Haven, but again you have to wonder why on Earth they are trying to run that area. No number on the Middleton show which looks to be a small town spot show. With that lineup I'd be shocked if it wasn't a sell out. 3/24/85 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena afternoon Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter drew Mr. Saito & King Tonga & Masked Superstar Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Att 4719. 3/24/85 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center Handicap Match Jerry Blackwell & Sgt Slaughter no contest King Tonga & Masked Superstar & Mr Saito AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig & The Crusher beat Paul Ellering & the Road Warriors Jim Brunzell drew Billy Robinson Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Tom Zenk beat Rick Stoansky att: 5,500 We don't have a previous number of note in Denver so I have no clue if that is a good figure or not. This is a shit number for the Civic Center on a show that should have done well. 3/28/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq Larry Hennig (sub The Crusher) beat King Tonga Mr. Saito beat Curt Hennig Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Tom Zenk beat Brian Jewell Att: 5,628 Winnipeg is still alive and kicking, Jerry or not. 3/31/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke The Crusher no contest King Tonga Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kendo Nagasaki & Mr. Saito Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko dq AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Billy Robinson beat Tom Zenk Att: 9,600 4/5/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Jerry Blackwell beat Mr. Saito Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Att 2054 Finally a Rosemont number and it's a pretty good one for a hot double main event. No Blackwell on the show. Blackwell in the mid-card in SLC which continues to sink. They seem to be trying to ween off of Blackwell v. Adnan and friends on top. 4/10/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion Handicap match Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne dq Mr. Saito beat Jim Brunzell Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe 4/11/85 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada @ PNE Coliseum Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga dq Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq Masked Superstar beat Moose Morowski Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Butch Reed beat Ricky Lee Jones Att 1,000 I think this sort of illustrates the idiocy of Verne. This is a thousand mile turnaround, plus dealing with customs, for a new town, with a limited payoff. At this point shit like this is hurting the promotion as much as anything. 4/15/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Jerry Blackwell beat Mr. Saito Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe att: 2,054 SLC is effectively dead at this point. I'd be interested to see the figures for the GB Cage Match and Milwaukee match with Slaughter/Blackwell v. Roadies from Milwaukee that proceeded this match. 4/18/85 Washington DC AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Bob Backlund COR AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff dq Tonga Kid beat Larry Zbyszko dq The Samoans beat Superstar & King Tonga Handicap match Kamala beat Tom Zenk & Steve O Larry Sharpe beat Sean O'Reilly 4/19/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig AWA Champion Rick Martel beat King Tonga Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko Ugandan Death Match Kamala beat Sgt. Slaughter Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid Jim Duggan beat Kendo Nagasaki The Samoans beat Tom Zenk & Steve O Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Bobby Duncum beat Larry Sharpe Att 10,000 East Coast swing. 10k is a good number for a Meadowlands show with essentially foreign talent. Blackwell stayed away from the East Coast swings as a rule. 4/21/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Cage match Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig dq Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans beat Larry Zbyszko & Butch Reed Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid beat Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum Steve Olsonoski & Tom Zenk beat The Alaskans att: 12,000 This is a really good St. Paul number at this point. Verne helped. Roadies helped. The fans were probably ready for the ultimate Blackwell blowoff against Adnan and this was it. Also a really great match. 4/23/85 Mound, MN Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan & Nick Bockwinkel Butch Reed beat Steve O Jim Brunzell beat Alaskan II Rick Stotsky drew Alaskan I Att 1800 Rare spot show number. Almost definitely a sellout or close to it. It's clear this is a one match show. 4/24/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Cage match Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Mr. Saito Jimmy Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Sgt. Slaughter beat Sheik Adnan dq Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Butch Reed beat Brian Jewel Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Tom Zenk & Rick Stonsky att: 6,636 Really good number for Winnipeg which remains a solid town, probably the most reliable in the territory. That main event would prove to be effective elsewhere. 4/25/85 Gayville, NY Larry Zbyszko beat Bob Backlund COR Samula & Tonga Kid beat Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum Tonga Kid beat Kendo Nagasaki Larry Sharpe beat Jim ? Att: 800 4/25/85 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & Mr. Saito Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig Ray Stevens beat Ron Ritchie Tom Zenk & Curt Hennig beat The Alaskans Butch Reed beat Rick Stoansky Another idiotic split show day, this time in two smaller towns. I wonder how that main event did in Brandon. 4/27/85 Madison, WI Jerry Blackwell & Larry Hennig no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors AWA Champion Rick Martel beat King Tonga The Crusher & Brad Rheingans beat Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Jim Brunzell & Curt Hennig Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal 4/28/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Cage match Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell & Verne Gagne beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig drew AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne & Tonga Kid Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher beat Butch Reed & Larry Zbyszko Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Brad Rheingans & Tom Zenk Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal 5/3/85 Denver, CO Cage Match Jerry Blackwell & The Crusher & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel Fabulous Freebirds beat Jim Brunzell & Steve O Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk How often did they run Madison? Interesting that they are running a variation of the successful St. Paul Cage Match around the horn (including a spot show at a high school I didn't list). I'm guessing that Rosemont show did a really good number. 5/5/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors drew Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin Butch Reed beat Jim Brunzell via pin King Tonga drew Brad Rheingans Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal Att: 3,203 5/8/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace Cage Match Sgt. Slaughter & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Cage Match Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Brad Rheingans beat Butch Reed dq Samula beat Drew Tossell att: 5,000 Weak number for Milwaukee, though not total trash. Really fucking good number for the Cow Palace for a double cage main event. 5/10/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Sgt. Slaughter & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Cage match Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin Butch Reed beat Buck Zumhofe Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal att: 10,455 This double cage main event continues to do good business. This is a MASSIVE number for a town that been dead to the World. 5/23/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke COR The Crusher beat Rick Renslow Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Larry Zbyszko beat Ron Ritchie att: 1,900 Winnipeg finally croaks. Show doesn't look awful, but isn't the strongest. Notable that Roadies, Blackwell and Sarge are all absent. 5/25/85 Chicago Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter beat Road Warrior Animal & Paul Ellering (sub RW Hawk) AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Buddy Roberts (sub King Tonga) Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts dq Butch Reed no contest The Crusher Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans Larry Zbyszko (sub Jim Garvin) beat Baron Von Raschke Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe Steve Regal drew Steve O att: 5,000 Note: Terry Gordy also no showed. Weak number. Probably did not help that they were coming off a massive show from before, but this is still bad. Blackwell and Roadies goes into hibernation. 6/7/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Billy Robinson Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel No dq match Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 4043 6/8/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts & Butch Reed beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke when Reed pinned Von Raschke Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq when Martel tossed Bockwinkel over the top rope Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq when Zbyszko hit the referee Brad Rheingans drew Steve Regal Ray Stevens beat Steve O via pin Att: 2,848 Yikes 6/9/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel No title change. Decision later reversed. Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Steve Olsonoski (sub Jim Brunzell) Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq Baron Von Raschke & Brad Rheingans & Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Duncum & Billy Robinson & Steve Regal Butch Reed beat Dave Wagner att: 1,500 6/13/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal Handicap match Butch Reed beat Rick Renslow & Brian Jewel Larry Zbyszko beat Steve O Buck Zumhofe beat Dave Wagner att: 1,864 This is holy shit bad, Summer or not. Absence of Roadies, Blackwell is hurting every fucking town. Meanwhile Verne is still doing dumb shit like running Asbury Park. 6/21/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts & Butch Reed beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko to win Americas title Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel Ray Stevens beat Steve O Brad Rheingans drew Billy Robinson att: 4,000 6/22/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands Boot Camp Cage match Sgt. Slaughter beat Kamala AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Wahoo McDaniel beat Larry Zbyszko dq Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Duggan Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke Bobby Duncum beat Steve O Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe Little Coco & Little Mr. T beat Johnny Rebel & Lord Littlebrook No number on the Meadlowlands but you can't blame them for running that show given the relative success of the previous show. Rosemont number is shit, down another thousand from the last figure we have there. 6/30/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy dq Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke Bob Backlund drew Larry Zbyszko Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe Billy Robinson beat Steve O Brad Rheingans beat Rick Gantner Att: 2200 Milwaukee is quarter full and nearing death. Birds v. Old Men isn't moving anywhere, and Sarge is missing some of these shows too which makes the three hottest acts in the AWA MIA 7/10/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion Sgt. Slaughter won battle royal Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq Fabulous Freebirds beat Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke Billy Robinson beat Bob Backlund Brad Rheingans drew Ray Stevens att: 1500 7/11/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Roberts Boris Zhukov beat Baron Von Raschke Att: 1400 Vegas number is probably not bad, but half capacity at best in the Showboat. SLC is practically in the grave and will need something major to come out of it's funk. 7/14/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes dq AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe Boris Zhukov beat Baron Von Raschke Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook Att 2500 Roadies come black, Blackwell doesn't, number is still utter dog shit. Things may not be salvageable at this point. Expanding into other markets and having your three biggest acts off key shows even during your "down" period historically is awful business on Verne's part. 7/18/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Larry Hennig & Baron Von Raschke Sleeper vs Sleeper Match Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel reverse decision Boris Zhukov beat Buck Zumhofe Ray Stevens beat Brian Jewell (sub Curt Hennig) Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo att: 3,224 7/19/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko Joyce Grable won a women’s battle royal Baron Von Raschke drew Billy Robinson Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne dq Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Roberts Bob Backlund beat Larry Sharpe Boris Zhukov beat Sean O'Reilly Att: 4500 7/20/85 Chicago, IL AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne dq Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Buck Zumhofe Billy Robinson beat Baron Von Raschke Boris Zhukov beat Steve O Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo Bill Irwin beat Drew Tossell Att: 3000 Winnipeg is up some but still weak. Meadowlands is not worth it at that point and it's notable that Roadies v. Birds did very little business. Chicago slides another thousand. Paging Dr. Blackwell? 8/8/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Riviera Hotel AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes dq Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Boris Zhukov beat Steve O Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe Steve O drew Billy Robinson Att 3000 8/9/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Boot Camp Match Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko & Nick Bockwinkel AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke Boris Zhukov beat Steve O Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens dq Steve O drew Billy Robinson att: 7753 Ah, the Riveria Hotel! That's a good number for Vegas and SLC is up! Semi-shocking given how dead it had been. 8/11/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors no contest Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Curt Hennig & Rick Martel beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne Sgt Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko Kabuki beat Chris Adams dq Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq Buck Zumhofe beat Iron Duke Jim Garvin beat Kevin Kelly Tom Zenk beat Rick Renslow 8/16/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands Sgt. Slaughter beat NWA Champion Ric Flair dq Paul Ellering & Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq Baron Von Raschke beat Davey G Att: 7,000 No number for St. Paul which is too bad. Meadowlands number is respectable enough and up, but you still have to wonder why they are running there and this should have done better with two title matches, Roadies v. Birds and Flair on the show. 8/18/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Boot Camp match Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Billy Robinson Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Rick Martel & Jerry Blackwell & Larry Hennig dq Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq Bill Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner Att: 6000 This boot camp match has popped a few towns to Sarge's credit. This isn't a good number for Chicago really, but considering where it was this is progress. This is also the return of Blackwell and Flair is on the show. 8/19/85 Fairbanks, AK Sgt. Slaughter beat Nick Bockwinkel Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Larry Zbyzsko beat Baron Von Raschke Curt Hennig beat Billy Robinson Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 375 8/20/85 Anchorage, AK Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Jerry Blackwell beat Terry Gordy Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal dq Att: 2250. 8/21/85 Kenai, AK Jerry Blackwell & Buck Zumhofe beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko dq Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig Billy Robinson beat Drew Tossell Att: 325 Insane Verne strikes again. A part of me thinks it is almost impressive that they did any numbers in Alaska at all, but why the fuck were they even running there??? 8/21/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Holy Cross School TV Taping Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner & Monty Black Tom Zenk drew Nick Bockwinkel Scott Hall beat Man Mountain Mike Moore Boris Zhukov beat Chris Basset Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Brian Jewel & Randy Rose Tom Zenk beat Rob Rechsteiner Rick Martel beat Man Mountain Mike Scott Hall beat Bob Adams Boris Zhukov beat Monty Black Nick Bockwinkel beat Tom Lucas Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat T-Bone Brown & Chris Basset Tom Zenk beat Brian Jewel Scott Hall beat Rob Rechsteiner Boris Zhukov beat Brian Jewel 8/22/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Boris Zhukov beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Tom Zenk & Larry Hennig & Jerry Blackwell beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts Baron Von Raschke beat Nick Bockwinkel COR Tom Zenk beat Steve Regal Bulldog Bob Brown beat Man Mountain Mike Moore Scott Hall drew Larry Zbyszko Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner & Buck Zumhofe Bulldog Bob Brown beat Brian Jewel Att: 4,208 More stupidity as Verne runs tv the day before in the same town. This is an averagish number for Winnipeg, but why the fuck would he essentially double book the same town?? 8/26/85 Boston, MA AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Nick Bockwinkel Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko dq Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal Brad Rheingans beat Billy Robinson Verne decides to try out Boston. God knows why. Blackwell is working on top on most shows without figures during this period. 9/8/85 St. Paul, MN ESPN TV Taping AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Kamala dq Terry Gordy beat Jerry Blackwell dq Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt. Slaughter dq Baron Von Raschke beat Bill Irwin Larry Hennig drew Scott Irwin Larry Clark beat Stan Hansen dq Jerry Oski & Brad Rheingans drew Wild Bill & Scott Hog Irwin Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal dq Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Roberts Stan Hansen beat Paul Garner Billy Robinson beat Randy Barber att: 4,000 Was this at the Civic Center? I'm guessing not. 9/14/85 Milwaukee, WI Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko & Nick Bockwinkel dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes Terry Gordy beat Jerry Blackwell dq Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke & Curt Hennig att: 3,672 Milwaukee trending up a bit, though this is still only a bit over half full and less than what you need. 9/17/85 Anchorage, AK Sgt. Slaughter beat Michael Hayes dq Boris Zhukov beat Brad Rheingans Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Larry Zbyszko Curt Hennig drew Bill Irwin Scott Irwin beat Drew Tossel Att: 1,800 9/18/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Brad Rheingans & Baron Von Raschke beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy dq Magnum TA beat Ivan Koloff Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin dq Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Roberts COR Jerry Oski beat Billy Robinson dq More WTF? Split crewish stuff from Verne. 9/19/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Wally Karbo Tribute Card AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov dq Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes Tom Zenk & Curt Hennig beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Jim Garvin beat Buck Zumhofe Baron Von Raschke beat Buddy Roberts Buddy Lane beat Steve Regal Att: 3,600 Below average, but this is above the abyssmal number from the Summer. Probably would have been better - but Verne did tv at the high school the night before. At least it wasn't a huge tv like the previous one, but still. Blackwell continues to main event in the majority of shows around the loop. 9/28/85 Chicago, IL @ Comiskey Park NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Magnum TA Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors to win title (Decision quickly reversed by video replay) Stan Hansen no contest AWA Champion Rick Martel Kerry Von Erich beat Jimmy Garvin Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff & Khrusher Khrushchev beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko Sgt Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov dq Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenyru beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin & Harley Race Bodyslam match Jerry Blackwell beat Kamala Mil Mascaras beat Buddy Roberts Sherri Martel beat Candi Divine to win the AWA Women's title Steve Regal beat Brad Rheingans att: 20,347 AWA loads things up and goes balls out. Blackwell v. Kamala is deep is mid-card and feels like an after thought. This is a good number, but you almost feel like it could have been a lot better. 9/29/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Road Warriors to win AWA tag title AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jumbo Tsuruta Handicap Match Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff Jerry Blackwell & Little Mr. T beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Shohei Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenyru no contest Stan Hansen & Larry Zbyszko Scott Hall beat Drew Tossel Buck Zumhofe beat Rick Renslow att: 2,000 Terrible, but this is a fucking stupid ass line up, almost designed to fail. 10/4/85 Los Angeles, CA Stan Hansen won battle royal Sgt. Slaughter drew Boris Zhukov Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 2300 10/5/85 Milwaukee, WI Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin dq Jerry Blackwell & Rick Martel & Little Mr. T beat Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts & Jim Garvin Handicap match Stan Hansen beat Buck Zumhofe & Kevin Kelly Larry Zbyszko beat Baron Von Raschke Jerry Oski beat Kamala dq Scott Hall beat Kevin Kelly Att: 2432 Why are they moving into LA?? Milwaukee drops significantly off of a dogshit line up. 10/15/85 Anchorage, AK Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel Scott Hall drew Larry Zbyszko Baron Von Raschke beat Scott Irwin Att: 1400 10/15/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Stan Hansen won battle royal Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00 Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov Stan Hansen beat Kevin Kelly Steve Regal beat Jerry Oski Jim Garvin beat Buck Zumhofe att: 3,520 Blackwell on neither show, but Verne stupidly splits crews for no clear reward. Was Anchorage ever going to make him real money? Fuck no. Stupid. They are running Battle Royals in the spot shows at this point 10/17/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Mad Dog Vachon & Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff Handicap match Stan Hansen beat Brian Jewell & Ed Wilson Larry Zbyszko beat Baron Von Raschke Jim Garvin beat Stan Lane Scott Hall beat Steve Regal Sherri Martel beat Candi Devine to win AWA Women's Title Kelly Kiniski beat Iron Duke att: 3,528 Winnipeg still below what it should be with a weak line up and tv the day before in town. 10/27/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Rick Martel no contest Stan Hansen Wahoo McDaniel & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko Michael Hayes beat Jerry Blackwell Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin Bill Irwin beat Kevin Kelly Greg Boyd drew Boris Zhukov Leon White beat Scott Irwin att: 3,000 11/2/85 Milwaukee, WI 21 person battle royal opened card to determine order Scott Hall beat Jim Garvin to win battle royal Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes dq Stan Hansen beat Curt Hennig forfeit Greg Gagne drew Larry Zbyszko Larry Hennig beat Boris Zhukov Nick Bockwinkel beat Bill Irwin Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq Greg Boyd beat Steve Regal Jerry America drew Rob Rechsteiner Kelly Kiniksi beat Jerry Oski Att 4268 St. Paul is starting to feel like a "why bother? and the card looks weak. Milwaukee does a respectable number off of a battle royal. 11/3/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Road Warrior Animal won battle royal Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts Sgt. Slaughter beat Bill Irwin Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne & Scott Hall beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal & Larry Zbyszko Handicap match Stan Hansen beat Jerry O & Rob Rechsteiner Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq att: 9,500 Battle Royal pulls a solid number in IL. 11/13/85 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre Jerry Blackwell won a 25 man battle royal Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov dq Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq Kelly Kiniski beat Bob Adams Curt Hennig beat Rick Renslow Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Kevin Kelly & Buddy Lane 11/14/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Cage Match AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq Jerry Blackwell & Kelly Kiniski beat Buddy Roberts & Ray Stevens dq Stan Hansen beat Kevin Kelly Ray Stevens beat Buddy Lane Att 6,012 11/15/85 Denver, CO Road Warriors drew Fabulous Freebirds AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Stan Hansen AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Fabulous Ones Att 7500 Hot run. That's the best figure I've ever seen from Denver. Martel v. Zhukov blow off does well. I would bet Brandon did a good number off the battle royal. 11/18/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Road Warriors no contest Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy Buddy Roberts beat Paul Ellering AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq Leon White drew Scott Irwin Att: 9849. Crazy SLC spikes again. 12/1/85 Chicago, IL Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal dq AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Terry Gordy Strap Match Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes Paul Ellering drew Buddy Roberts Handicap match Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff Larry Zbyszko beat Kevin Kelly Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq att: 8,000 Staying respectable in Chicago. Return of Roadies and Blackwell has clearly helped from the death that was the Summer, but the split crews, needless expansion, double booking in towns, et did nothing but help Vince's putsch. 12/7/85 Milwaukee, WI Strap match Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts Larry Hennig beat Boris Zhukov dq Buck Zumhofe beat Mongolian Stomper dq Scott Hall drew Scott Irwin Kelly Kiniski beat Kevin Kelly Att 2648 Bad number for an unappealing show. The Birds are clearly a package deal and people don't give a shit about Hayes v. Blackwell. 12/12/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena $100,000 Battle royal Road Warriors beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff Scott Hall beat Jimmy Garvin Stan Hansen beat Man Mountain Mike Mongolian Stomper beat Kevin Kelly Jerry Blackwell vs Kelly Kiniski The Alaskans I & II vs Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 5,928 Battle Royal PLUS they didn't foolishly run tv the day before! 12/16/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Taped Fist Match Road Warriors & Paul Ellering beat Buddy Roberts & Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe & Scott Hall Leon White beat Bill Irwin dq Larry Zbyszko beat Kevin Kelly Mongolian Stomper beat Kelly Kiniski Att 1496 God damn what a crazy fucking town. This is a weak as fuck lineup though. 12/25/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Stan Hansen dq Road Warriors no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Scott Hall & Curt Hennig & Jerry Blackwell Baron Von Raschke beat Scott Irwin dq Marty Jannetty beat Kelly Kiniski Cowboy Lang & Little Mr. T beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook Bill Irwin beat Kevin Kelly Sherri Martel beat Debbie Combs Att: 7000+ Poor number for Christmas night in St. Paul on a very poor line up. I don't think it's a reach to say that if they had found someone of note to feud with Blackwell they could have done business during this period. He really feels like he's being misused. Same with the Roadies. 12/29/85 Milwaukee, WI Cage match Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes AWA Tag Team Champions Jimmy Garvin & Steve Regal beat Scott Hall & Curt Hennig dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko Kamala beat Baron Von Raschke Little Mr. T beat Lord Littlebrook Mongolian Stomper beat Eric Ferris Leon White beat Marty Jannetty att: 3,940 This is a borderline "average" match for Milwaukee but I almost feel like giving it a notch in the good column, since this lacked a World title match or the Roadies to bolster the card. Martel dropped to Hansen in NJ this day as well at a PWUSA show. 85 is an interesting year. No doubt Vince was hurting them, but Verne did a shit ton to hurt himself. Business was actually fairly strong up until the Roadies and Blackwell departed and the use of Sarge was scaled back. Summer or not that clearly had a hugely adverse effect on the companies drawing power. Blackwell and the Roadies were clearly misused for big chunks of the year and were probably the biggest draws in the company, with Sarge in third.

My problem with Daniels isn't that he only drew 1000 people here or there it's that A. I don't think he was ever a draw in any meaningful sense and B. Even if he was in a more abstract sense he was never an anchor of a promotion that was financially successful. To me the size of the crowds matters to the extent that someone who is the anchor of an indy in East TN that regularly draws 400 people doesn't belong in a Hall of Fame. But if you are the anchor of a promotion that runs a loop, is clearly financially successful, are regarded by most as the biggest draw in the history of that territory, et I see no reason why you shouldn't be strongly considered and I would definitely value the candidacy of a person like that over the candidacy of someone who just happened to get pushed for a couple of years after there was only one megashow left in town.

Flair had better years in 05 and 06 than he did in 97,98 and 99 going from memory. i doubt I would rate his 95 or 96 above those years either. Flair as death match worker is something I thought worked well. Not sure Flair's best stuff is better than Lawler's though. smkelly mentioned that TLC match and while that match may have been better than the Lawler/Miz TLC match, it wasn't better than the Lawler v. Miz Elimination Chamber match. Some of those Lawler v. Funk matches are really great. Lawler v. Dreamer is a better brawl than any Flair match I can recall post-94. It's probably true that Lawler doesn't have anything like Flair v. Steambot from SN or SS, but he wasn't booked in a situation where matches like that were ever an option.