Dylan Waco

He had a couple of good matches with Zhukov from the Showboat and they were both LONG. It is one thing to have a short sprint with Zhukov that is interesting, it is a totally different matter to go long. Bock is the best choice among U.S. guys, unless you count Finlay as a U.S. guy.

I am a rare guy around theses parts who really likes Flair v. Steamboat from 94 (though I prefer the Sat. Night match). I also remember liking the Savage feud at the time, though I don't recall thinking any of the matches were off the charts and years later I remember nothing about any of them. There are Flair performances dotting the landscape that you could point to for sure, and I liked Flair's run as a glorified jobber worker in the WWE in 05/06. But by and large his post-45 years have not been terribly impressive and certainly have not been consistent. I don't want to get TOO laundry listish because that ends up meaning little but here are some matches Lawler has had post-45 that I think are good/very good/great/worth watching because of the strength of Lawler's performance. This is by no means a complete list. Jerry Lawler v. Dirty White Boy - SMW 1-28-95 Jerry Lawler/Brian Christopher v. Tommy Rich/Doug Gilbert - USWA TV 1996 Jerry Lawler v. Mark Henry - IYH (Henry's debut, not a great match, but a really strong performance by Lawler) Jerry Lawler v. Tommy Dreamer - Hardcore Heaven 1997 Jerry Lawler/Bill Dundee v. Fabulous Ones - 1999 Every single Lawler v. Dundee singles match Every single Lawler v. Funk singles match Jerry Lawler v. Miz - TLC match Dec. 2010 Raw Rumble from Jan of this year Lawler/local Dr. v. Dundee/local Dr. from this year Lawler/Christopher v. Dundees from this year Jerry Lawler v. Jack Swagger from Raw this year Jerry Lawler v. Miz - Elimination Chamber this year That's off the top of my head. There is more.

You absolutely do not want to sit out on the AWA Set. In many respects it is the most "wide open" set because the company had such a huge variety of guys come through during the 80s and while there are a few usual suspects as far as top contenders go (Bock v. Hennig, if you have been around long enough Rose/Somers v. Midnight Rockers), the possibilities for number one are not as locked in as they are with the other sets. In other words I think there is less bias coming in and more opportunity to discover things that have been almost totally forgotten. Blackwell is great and will be one of the stars of the set. To Keith's point about the "national star" talking point, I think that is precisely why Meltzer has not placed Rose on the ballot. McAdam made the same criticism of Rose recently in a thread at Classics where he insisted Adonis was a better worker than Rose largely because Adonis "made it" nationally and Rose didn't. Of course Rose/Somers was maybe the last consistently compelling heel act in the AWA, Rose got over very well in San Fran, he was a Backlund challenger in NYC and Philly and he largely didn't "make it" nationally because he could make huge money, working a close to home schedule, for the most honest promoter in the United States. But as I noted before Meltzer is not a huge fan of looking at those sort of contextual realities. Instead he wants to harp on about how Edge was the lead heel of "two different territories" at once, or how HHH was on a bunch of huge money making shows so is a much better candidate than guys who merely anchored successful territories for years by themselves (Colon, Rose). It may be worth noting that Blackwell worked on top in Memphis v. Lawler and was over. Also worth noting perhaps that Blackwell was at least a star of some magnitude in St. Louis if everything I've heard is true. I tend to think those things are barely relevant to his candidacy, and I'm not certain he is an HoFer, but it is really absurd that he's not on the ballot. High Flyers were never going to be national stars. Not because they weren't good enough, but because they were hugely important to the AWA and Greg was never going anywhere else for reasons that are obvious. Should I even bother with a High Flyers attendance breakdown?

What are the bad Lawler matches from that time frame? In the last 12 months alone Lawler has had several very good matches. I will drop a laundry list in here later if need be, but 45+ Lawler decimates 45+ Flair

Dundee has been great this year. 5 matches on tape and he has been strong in all of them. Hansen was 44 in 93, so he is on the cusp of being the answer.

Panther is still a great worker. Bock was tremendous post 45. Makes you wish more of his earlier stuff was available. You could make a case that close to half of the top 30 guys in the world this year are 45 or older.

There are tons of good ones. Black terry was the best wrestler in the world last year. Navarro a strong candidate the year before. How old is Casas?

I actually think Buddy Rose has "the rep" from the perspective that he was widely regarded as a "Holy Grail" type. I.E. "damn I wish we had more footage, because what we have is great." Really think what kills him is that Dave is a fierce opponent of going back and exploring old footage "out of context" - even if it is in context with everything else from that era. This is also something that hurts the World of Sport guys. They have reps, even among voters and people who have been in the "smart fan" universe for years. The problem is that they aren't going to be watched, pimped, or promoted by the guy running the show.

Not sure on Wade but they seem to have had a good relationship at the time the HoF started even if they don't now. One would hope SOMEONE with some clout with Dave would go to bat for Blackwell. I have no fucking clout with Dave but thought the case was worth exploring. At minimum Blackwell is someone who should be on the ballot and discussed seriously. I think the High Flyers are a lost cause, though I may pull some numbers over for them later this week and I suspect a lot of folks will be shocked at how important they were to the AWA for almost ten years. Buddy Rose would be my other pet cause, but I'm not sure I can find Portland figures, nor do I think Dave would give a shit since he lives in a World where we are supposed to ignore the business models of various territories and/or analyze them senselessly. Rose is also hindered by the fact that the discovery of his footage is recent and Dave apparently despises going back and watching old footage. So even though Dave and smarks were high on Rose at the time and the consensus for years was that he was a great worker who's prime we would unfortunately never see so his real status will never be known, there will be no attempt to contextualize Rose as a worker now because it's "unfair" to judge things outside of the era when they occurred or some such shit.

That 3/83 Civic Center Show with the Mad Dog/Baron v. Blackwell/Adnan angle is great shit that everyone should see. On tape it does not look like a sellout, but it is a very big crowd and an insanely rabid one. The match itself is awesome and pre-match they do an angle where Wally Karbo comes out and says since Adnan has his cast, the babyfaces are going to be allowed to tape up there fist. Post-match when Verne is attacked by Sheiks v. 1.0 there is literally a riot, with fans punching Blackwell in the face as he races to the back. One of the hottest and craziest things I've seen from wrestling during that period. This is also my darkhorse favorite for #1 on the pending AWA Set

Blackwell in 83: 1/6/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Jim Brunzell Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera dq Wahoo McDaniel beat Rene Goulet Rick Martel beat Bobby Duncum Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan Baron Von Raschke beat Tom Lintz Att: 6,848 Exhibit One - Winnipeg is still hot. Mad Dog had legs up there it would seem and Blackwell/Adnan has been a hot hand for some time now. Denver, Green Bay and Chicago all headline with the same match though we don't have paid figures for any of the shows. Milwaukee does a slightly below average 3,500 for that match on top, but the semi-main is an arm wrestling match with Ventura and Hogan which is pretty weak support. 2/3/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Cage match AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel Ken Patera beat Steve O Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Duncum Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe Baron Von Raschke beat Rene Goulet Att: 8,896 Return Cage Match in Winnipeg does 2,000 more than the previous show and really an excellent number for Winnipeg in general. SLC, Chicago, and Green Bay all headline with a variation of this match in some cases Adnan subbed out. Blacwell works second from the top at a St. Paul show with Mad Dog in here as well. Sadly we have no numbers again. 3/3/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Hulk Hogan dq Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Wahoo McDaniel no contest Ken Patera Jesse Ventura beat Brad Rheingans Rick Martel beat Bobby Heenan COR John Tolos beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 8,320 Still hot in Winni and Blackwell is still right in the mix. They follow this up with Blackwell/Adnan headlining v. Flyers in LV, SLC and the Cow Palace but no figures. Still this feud is headlining more often than not at this point. 3/13/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Brad Rheingans beat John Tolos Curt Hennig beat Jacques Goulet Steve Regal drew Buck Zumhofe No number here - this could have been a huge show as Hogan and the Flyers were super hot faces, Heenan was regarded as the devil, Blackwell/Adnan were still hot and that title match seemed to have appeal in St. Paul in 84 (though that may have been the dynamic khawk noted earlier). 3/25/83 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel dq No dq Match Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura beat Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon Greg Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell Jerry Lawler beat John Tolos Wahoo McDaniel ddq Sheik Adnan Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone A-5,710 Very good number for Milwaukee, near sell out really. Loaded show. Shortly after this they start to run Blackwell in matches Mad Dog that are middle of the card, but would have been extremely strong additions to those shows given both guys stature at that point. 4/13/83 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell Jesse Ventura beat Mad Dog Vachon Rick Martel beat Greg Gagne Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Lane Wendi Richter beat Velvet McIntyre Joyce Grable beat Judy Martin Att: 5,500 4/14/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon no contest Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Wahoo McDaniel beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura & Ken Patera Rick Martel drew Brad Rheingans Wahoo McDaniel beat John Tolos Wendi Richter & Joyce Grable beat Velvet McIntyre & Judy Martin Att: 6,444 I think this has to be read as an extremely successful double whammy. This is 12,000 people in Manitoba in 2 days. The towns are only 120 miles apart. I THINK this is the first time Brandon shows up in results. It is a town of 46,000 - now. No clue what it was then. 5,500 there leads one to believe that the AWA recognized they were red hot in Manitoba and could expand some with bigger shows. They were right and Blackwell main events both. Even opposite Hogan that's a clear notch in his belt. 4/24/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Super Sunday Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Hulk Hogan dq Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura & Blackjack Lanza beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Rick Martel Jerry Lawler beat John Tolos Wahoo McDaniel beat Ed Boulder Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter beat Judy Martin & Velvet McIntrye No number, but this was a massive show and a grand slam sell out with close caption venues in neighboring buildings IIRC. Bock v. Hogan traditionally gets most of the credit, but Verne and Mad Dog teaming up was a HUGE fucking deal and Blackwell and Adnan were so fucking hated it was a match made in heaven. Verne on top wasn't entirely glory whoring on his part - it was a legit main event with Hogan v. Bock. Blackwell continues opposite Mad Dog until they put him together with Patera 5/19/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Wahoo McDaniel Non Title Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe Baron Von Raschke beat Jesse Ventura dq Att: 3,972 Ok number at best, but this is a kick start to the Blackwell/Patera v. High Flyers feud. 5/21/83 Chicago, IL AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Jerry Lawler Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza Mike Graham beat Spike Huber Jesse Ventura beat Rick Martel Wilbur Snyder beat Rene Goulet Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Would kill for a number here. This looks like a potential disaster to be honest. To the extent there was a crowd you get the feeling it would have been a crowd there to see Blackwell v. Mad Dog with their respective partners just being there for all intents and purposes. They continue to run that match all around the loop though, with an occasional Mad Dog v. Jerry singles. 6/16/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel Rick Martel beat Blackjack Lanza dq Brad Rheingans beat Mike Graham Billy Robinson beat Baron Von Raschke Bob Burke beat Buck Zumhofe COR Att: 3,288 Again it's Summer, but this is still a weak showing. Nick v. Wahoo isn't cutting it and the fans are not super interested in Flyers v. Sheiks - yet. 6/18/83 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell Wahoo McDaniel & Jerry Lawler & Dick The Bruiser beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura & Blackjack Lanza Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell Rick Martel beat Bobby Colt Mike Graham beat Nacho Berrara Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff Another figure I wish we had. If this did more than 8,000 I would almost consider it an epic victory for Blackwell as nothing else on this card is going to sell a ticket. Feels like Blackwell v. Mad Dog had to have been a fairly hot feud. 6/26/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell to win AWA Tag Title Baron Von Raschke no contest Blackjack Lanza Bobby Heenan beat Kenny Jay Buck Zumhofe beat Mr. Saito dq Brad Rheingans drew Rick Martel att: 14,000 Bock v. Wahoo has bombed hard in Winnipeg twice. The rest of the card is weak. The Sheiks title win was almost assuredly the top draw on the show. 7/11/83 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Rick Martel & Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Heenan & Blackjack Lanza Ken Patera beat Mad Dog Vachon Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell Greg Gagne beat Mr. Saito dq David Shults beat Buck Zumhofe Att 7900 Good number for the City. Hard to tell where the credit should go. 7/14/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Non Title Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Wahoo McDaniel & Baron Von Raschke beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Heenan Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan Rick Martel drew Bill White Mr. Saito beat Buck Zumhofe David Shults beat Brad Rheingans Att: 3,136 This is a huge disappointment. Verne should have spiked something especially against the Sheiks who appear to have legs already at this point. 7/24/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Wahoo McDaniel AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Dick The Bruiser COR Mr. Saito beat Rick Martel Buck Zumhofe beat Mike Graham Jim Brunzell beat David Shults Baron Von Raschke beat Blackjack Lanza Brad Rheingans drew Bill White 7/24/83 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran's Memorial Arena Non Title Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat AWA Tag team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Wahoo McDaniel beat AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq in 17:55 Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza in 9:35 Mr Saito beat Buck Zumhofe Bill White drew Brad Rheingans Same day shows or typo? Either way I'd be interested to see numbers. Wahoo v. Nick may have heated up some the more it ran. 8/18/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon dq AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Baron Von Raschke & ?? Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito dq Jim Brunzell no contest David Shults Greg Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza Rick Martel beat Bill White Att: 5,916 Winnipeg spikes. Wonder who the fuck Baron's partner was. Blackwell ends up with a run of main events after this in Green Bay, San Fran and Milwaukee and working in the semi-main at the UIC under Hogan v. Saito. 9/17/83 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag team champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito & David Shults dq AWA Light Heavyweight champion Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan Brad Rheingans beat Bill White Steve Olsonoski drew Blackjack Lanza Return of High Flyers v. Blackwell and Friends? It headlines right out the gate at a major show, which tells you Verne had confidence in this and high hopes - he was right to have those as 84 shows. 9/22/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat David Shults & Mr. Saito dq AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans COR AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Dino Bravo & Rick Martel Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan Buck Zumhofe drew Bill White Att: 7,860 Almost feels like Canadians v. Sheiks is the real draw here and it's a good number. 9/25/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Brad Rheingans drew AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito & David Shults dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Rick Martel beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal Steve O drew Bill White Att: 15,000+ Really good number. The numbers we have from St. Paul have been good all year. No way Rheingans v. Bock was the draw here. Hogan always helps a great deal, but that six-man would have been a huge factor. 10/20/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Rick Martel won a 20 man Battle royal Rick Martel & Mad Dog Vachon & Andre the Giant beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Hulk Hogan no contest David Shults Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne beat Bill White Jim Brunzell beat Billy Graham dq Att: 10,036 10/21/83 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Andre The Giant won a 20 man battle royal Mad Dog Vachon & Andre the Giant & Rick Martel beat Superstar Billy Graham & Mr. Saito & David Shults when Martel pinned Graham in 13:21 Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera via pin in 10:53 Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR in 7:45 Greg Gagne beat Bill White via pin in 14:08 Billy Robinson drew Ray Stevens 20:00 Also in the battle royal were Steve Olsonoski, Otto Wanz, Brad Rheingans, Baron Von Raschke, Chris Markoff and Sheik Adnan att: sell out 10/22/83 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace Mad Dog Vachon won battle royal Andre The Giant & Mad Dog Vachon & Rick Martel beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan Hulk Hogan beat David Shults Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan Ray Stevens beat Bill White Steve Olsonoski beat Chris Markoff Att: 10,300 Battle Royal season, Andre is in, and Blackwell is a key support player, who would have been positioned as the bad fat guy to Andre's good fat guy in all of these six-mans. 10/23/83 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center Mad Dog Vachon won a 20 man battle royal Hulk Hogan no contest Mr Saito Non Title Mad Dog Vachon & Rick Martel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Otto Wanz beat Bill White Blackjack Lanza & Ray Stevens beat Bobby Heenan & Mr Saito Billy Robinson beat Chris Markoff att: 19,120 10/28/83 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Rick Martel won battle royal Non Title, Special Referee: Leo Nomellini Rick Martel & Mad Dog Vachon beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Hulk Hogan drew David Shults att: 10,640 Even without Andre the battle royals are hot and Blackwell is still right there in the top heel act in the promotion. 11/4/83 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Jim Brunzell won a 20 man Battle Royal Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Baron Von Raschke beat David Shults dq Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan Billy Robinson beat Bill White Superstar Billy Graham beat Rick Martel Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff Att: 18,500 See above 11/9/83 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre Andre the Giant won a 12 man Battle royal Greg Gagne beat Superstar Billy Graham Att: 6,000 11/10/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat David Shults & Mr Saito & Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera Rick Martel beat Ray Stevens Billy Robinson drew Brad Rheingans Bobby Heenan beat Buck Zumhofe Otto Wanz beat Bill White Billy Graham beat Blackjack Lanza Att: 7,804 Another great run in Manitoba, doing almost 14,000 between the two days this time with Andre as an added attraction to be sure. 11/24/83 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon dq Special Referee: Ray Stevens Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq Rick Martel drew David Shults Brad Rheingans dcor Mr Saito Superstar Billy Graham beat Buck Zumhofe Billy Robinson beat Bill White Lord Littlebrook & Little Koko beat Little Tokyo & Johnny Reb att: 13,163 St. Paul is still really hot and that is a quality double main event. 11/26/83 San Francisco, CA AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon Special Referee: Ray Stevens Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq att: 3,500 Believe it or not, this is a good figure for San Fran for the AWA at this point. 12/8/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera Bunkhouse Match Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan Mad Dog Vachon no contest David Shults Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke Superstar Billy Graham beat Steve Olsonoski Bulldog Bob Brown beat Bill White Att: 5,084 A hair disappointing, but still a good number. 12/18/83 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza COR AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera beat Greg Gagne & Rick Martel Mad Dog Vachon & the Crusher (sub for Hogan) beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura Billy Robinson beat Superstar Billy Graham Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens Brad Rheingans beat Bill White att: 9,000 This is fairly close to a sellout. Hogan was advertised but was off to the WWF. 12/25/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Mad Dog Vachon beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq Greg Gagne & Baron Von Raschke & Ray Stevens & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Mr. Saito & Sheik Adnan Jesse Ventura beat Steve Olsonoski Rick Martel beat Superstar Billy Graham dq Billy Robinson drew Brad Rheingans 20:00 Buck Zumhofe beat Bill White att: 18,000 Christmas night is huge again in St. Paul. I think Hogan was advertised here too, but given what we know about 84 I think we have to be careful about overemphasizing his value. Yes he was a draw and a huge one and the top face. But his departure did not kill the territory. Vince utilizing him well and Verne being Verne did. The point is this isn't purely a "came to see Hogan" number. In fact I think this would have done a similar number Hogan or not. 12/26/83 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Mad Dog Vachon beat Mr. Saito & Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan Rick Martel beat Billy Graham Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan att: 3,000 Again it sounds crazy, but this is a decent number for San Fran at this point ESPECIALLY the night after Christmas. 12/30/83 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell no contest Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Rick Martel beat Jesse Ventura (sub David Shults) dq in 7:25 Bunkhouse Match Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan via pin in 4:12 Ray Stevens (sub Hulk Hogan) beat Mr Saito dq Greg Gagne beat Superstar Billy Graham via pin in 10:51 Brad Rheingans drew Billy Robinson 20:00 Att: 4,292 Respectable number. Again you wish we had more numbers, but the Sheiks were the hottest heels in the territory, in particular Blackwell. Jerry was a big part of some huge shows all over the territory and was consistently in the main or semi-main event all over the loop. The Flyers feud was already looking like the huge draw it would prove to be. I'd say Blackwell's 83 has plenty in the way of evidence to show that he was a draw and a major factor in the AWA's financial success that year.

I'm looking to finish that batch of AWA over the next couple of weeks. Will finish 83 either today or tomorrow. At that point I'd like to figure out if there is a way to spread the Blackwell Should Be On The Ballot talk.

Blackwell in 82: 1/7/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Cage match AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell Brad Rheingans beat Ken Patera dq Baron Von Raschke beat Rene Goulet Bobby Duncum beat Rick Hunter Att: 7,728 Very good number for Winnipeg, with a triple main event. A little over a week later they kick start the High Flyers feud in St. Paul in a non-title match that main events, but we don't have a figure for it. 2/4/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan no contest Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan Greg Gagne drew Brad Rheingans Jim Brunzell beat Rene Goulet Ricky Hunter beat Dave Kochen Att: 6,480 A little down for Winnipeg but this is still a good crowd for that town. Really wish we had a number for the Feb. Minnieapolis show. 2/10/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Greg Gagne beat AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Tito Santana & Hulk Hogan 15:33 Weasel Suit Match Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan Jerry Blackwell beat Jim Brunzell via pin in 15:00 Brad Rheingans drew Sheik Adnan Baron Von Raschke beat Sgt. Jacques Goulet via pin in 13:12 Att: 5,677 Good crowd for Milwaukee with an interesting lineup. Can't really credit Blackwell for this, but was worth a mention. Blackwell is barely working and mostly undercards until he re-emerges here: 3/4/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana Non Title Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke Hulk Hogan beat Bobby Duncum Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan Brad Rheingans beat Sgt. Goulet Att: 5,924 This is tough. The trend in Winnipeg is down, but this is still a pretty good number for that building. You can view this as a negative or a positive depending on how tight you want to look at things. I tend to think the fact that think the product was still hot, but they weren't lighting the World on fire. We are missing a lot of figures as is the case with a lot of this stuff, but the key thing at this point is that Blackwell/Adnan v. The High Flyers is the most consistent and hot feud in the territory and is headlining or co-headlining consistency. For Example: 4/15/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Tito Santana AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan COR Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan Bobby Duncum drew Brad Rheingans Baron Von Raschke beat Fred Puppy Dog Peloquin Att: 6,048 Another *good* Winnipeg number. This feud went around the horn and everywhere for a good while so I dont' think the absence of figures indicates anything other than the fact that we don't have figures. By all accounts it must have been working and the footage sure as hell gives you the appearance that it is working as the crowds are red hot for it. 5/13/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana Greg Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke Ken Patera beat Brad Rheingans Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Duncum Att: 3,564 Winnipeg starts to sink... 5/23/82 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan dq Ken Patera beat Tito Santana Bobby Duncum beat Pat O'Connor Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt. Goulet Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Billy The Kid Brad Rheingans beat Tom Rocky Stone Really wish we had a number for this show. This has the looks of a disaster. If this did even a respectable number it was entirely do to the main event. The fact that they had the faith to run the Civic Center with no real co-main event, no AWA title match and a weak undercard on the strength of High Flyers v. Blackwell/Adnan is actually amazing to me and further indicates it had to have been doing good business. 5/31/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Bodyslam match Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell Ken Patera beat Tito Santana Baron Von Raschke beat Bobby Heenan COR Brad Rheingans beat Bobby Duncum Rene Goulet no contest Buck Zumhofe Another show I would kill to have a number for. 6/6/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Hulk Hogan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Ray Stevens & Baron Von Raschke Ken Patera beat Brad Rheingans Buck Zumhofe drew Sgt. Goulet Rick Martel beat Tom Stone att: 4,210 Decent number for Milwaukee, but you get the feeling the fans still wanted to see the Flyers opposite Blackwell and friends. 6/17/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Non Title Rick Martel beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke Buck Zumhofe drew Rick Gault Brad Rheingans beat Tito Santana Att: 4,500 Winnipeg up some - in the summer. 6/26/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum dq Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke Jerry Blackwell beat Brad Rheingans Buck Zumhofe beat Jacques Goulet Att: 9600 This is the kind of number that pisses you off. That's a great number for SLC on a show with no Hogan or Verne. Clearly a strong notch for the Flyers. I love Jerry but I don't see how he can get much credit for this. What it makes you wish though is that we had more numbers to see if the town was red hot coming in. I'm guessing it was. 6/27/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Rick Martel beat Ken Patera dq Bobby Duncum beat Tito Santana via pin Buck Zumhofe beat Jacques Goulet via pin Att: 2,468 It's Summer time and no Hogan, but has Milwaukee tired of this feud? 7/15/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat Bobby Heenan & Nick Bockwinkel Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke drew Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum Jerry Blackwell beat Ray Stevens Rick Martel beat Sheik Adnan Jim Brunzell drew Brad Rheingans Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt Jacques Goulet Att: 5,196 Very solid number for a Winnipeg show in the Summer. Blackwell v. Stevens probably was a help as a "special attraction" on some level. They seem to tease that they are shifting the Shieks v. 1.0 away from the Flyers but then comes the Cage 7/31/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Cage Match AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Handicap Match Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan Bobby Duncum beat Otto Wanz dq Rick Martel beat Jacques Goulet via pin Brad Rheingans drew Steve O Att: 5,486 That's a very good number for Milwaukee in the Summer. 8/12/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rick Martel & Dino Bravo COR Jesse Ventura & Bobby Duncum & Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke & Otto Wanz & Larry Hennig Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan dq Brad Rheingans & Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt Jacques Goulet & Bobby Heenan att: 8,848 Excellent number and I think Blackwell/Adnan v. Stevens/Patterson coming off the Stevens novelty match had to fuel at least some of it. Two Canadians in the main event v. the super over Flyers didn't hurt either. 8/22/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum & Jesse Ventura beat Larry Hennig & Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Tito Santana & Rick Martel COR Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens Buck Zumhofe & Brad Rheingans beat Jacques Goulet & Bobby Heenan att: 4,231 Average. 8/28/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke Rick Martel & Tito Santana beat Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens Bobby Heenan & Sgt Goulet beat Buck Zumhofe & Brad Rheingans Att 9090 Flyers are still hot in SLC which appears to be doing very well across the board at this point. Blackwell is off the radar for a bit. 9/18/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum Adrian Adonis beat Larry Hennig Rick Martel beat Jerry Blackwell dq Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone att: 3,309 Really odd show on paper. Don't know how this could have done well. 9/23/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Non Title Dino Bravo & Rick Martel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel Adrian Adonis beat Baron Von Raschke Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens dq Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum no contest Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Sgt Jacques Goulet beat Buddy Lane Att: 6,588 Interesting to see Patera on the opposite side of Blackwell. Bravo/Martel return match still does good business though not as hot as the first time. 10/10/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum Hulk Hogan beat Adrian Adonis via pin Otto Wanz beat Jerry Blackwell dq Rick Martel beat Jacques Goulet Brad Rheingans drew Sheik Adnan Att: 3,629 I would have liked to see Wanz v. Jerry. You get the feeling they are sort of stumbling at this point figuring out what the fuck to do with the various parts they have and it's hurting the gates some. Battle Royal season hits, Andre comes in and the limited figures we have show an expected spike. 11/28/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Ken Patera beat Larry Hennig Rick Martel beat Bobby Duncum dq Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Hillbilly Pete Tom Lintz drew Tom Stone (sub Brad Rheingans) Att: 5,878. 12/2/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Larry Hennig & Tito Santana & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Duncum & Bobby Heenan Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon dq Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke Rick Martel drew Sheik Adnan Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Hillbilly Pete Att: 5,212 Solid numbers, with the Milwaukee number being about 250 away from a sellout. You get the feeling things are going to stay hot. Blackwell closes the year main eventing with Adnan again in Green Bay and even at the Civic Center, with Hogan v. Ventura underneath but we don't have figures. 82 is tough because of the lack of numbers especially in the big towns. There isn't a Chicago figure all year. SLC appears red hot. Winnipeg started off fairly hot and it seems Blackwell was a part of that. The footage and the fact that he headlined so much with Adnan opposite the Flyers - including at least two main events in St. Paul - is a good sign that he was doing solid business on top at minimum. On the other hand the whole promotion seemed to lose a little focus during the summer and leading up to battle royal season. Not a home run year like 84, but a plus for Blackwell over all.

That battle royal show damn sure looks like a sellout to me too, so I thought the 8,000 number looked iffy. I wonder what Schire's book says about it? Either way thanks for adding the context Khawk. Really, really looks like 84 is a very valuable year for discussion of Blackwell as an HoFer. I think it is extremely hard to dispute his value to the promotion.

Working on 82 and 83 composites for Blackwell, but I should have dragged over more figures for Blackwell in 84. Clear that the Sheiks were the hot heel act both in watching the footage and in looking at the numbers. Several extremely strong figures: 1/4/84 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan & Mr Saito Billy Robinson beat Jesse Ventura (sub Hulk Hogan) dq Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe att: 6,000 This is the biggest number I've seen for Vegas from the AWA. 2/26/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center afternoon Baron Von Raschke & Jim Brunzell beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura dq Anything Goes Match Jerry Blackwell beat The Crusher Harley Race beat Blackjack Lanza Brad Rheingans beat Ken Patera dq Blackjack Mulligan beat Chris Markoff Steve Regal beat Kenny Jay att: 14,000 This is up 3,000 from the previous St. Paul show that didn't have Blackwell, though to be fair this show had a marginally better line up. 3/3/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta beat Billy Robinson & Ronnie Garvin Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan beat Stan Hansen & Nick Bockwinkel Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly beat Brad Rheingans & Tom Stone Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Buck Zumhofe & Steve O att: 6,112 sellout Milwaukee was FAR from a guaranteed sellout. 3/4/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Blackjack Lanza AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Blackjack Mulligan & Jerry Lawler Stan Hansen & Nick Bockwinkel ddq Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher (sub Mad Dog Vachon) & Baron Von Raschke dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest Rick Martel & Dino Bravo Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu beat Buddy Roberts & Ronnie Garvin Billy Robinson & Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes beat Steve Olsonoski & Buck Zumhofe Att: SRO 18,000+ Loaded show, but still. 3/11/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Billy Robinson Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq Jesse Ventura & Mr. Saito beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkel Giant Baba & Tenryu beat Steve Regal & Roger Kirby Buck Zumhofe & Steve O beat Tom Stone & Chris Markoff att: SRO 7,000 Tremendous figure for Green Bay. This is a pretty hot show, but if you follow the feuds from the area it feels like the tag title match is the clear main event. 3/15/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Greg Gagne & The Crusher AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Jim Brunzell Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura dq Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu beat Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan & Nick Bockwinkel att: 9,950 Really an excellent number for Salt Lake City. 3/22/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell & Mr. Saito beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon Blackjack Mulligan beat Bobby Heenan Billy Robinson beat Blackjack Lanza Greg Gagne beat Ken Patera Kevin Kelly beat Stan Lane Steve O beat Chris Markoff Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal Att: 7,424 And an excellent number for Winnipeg too. 3/25/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Cage Match Greg Gagne & The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan & Jerry Blackwell Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan dq Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke Steve O drew Larry Zbyszko Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Jake Milliman & Jesse Ventura Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe to win AWA light heavyweight title Kevin Kelly beat Kenny Jay Att 19,000+ Incredible number and there is no fucking question what the primary draw on this show was. 3/31/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena Cage match, Referee Buck Zumhofe The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Roger Kirby Greg Gagne beat Ken Patera Blackjack Lanza beat Chris Markoff Larry Zbyszko drew Brad Rheingans Kevin Kelly beat Tom Stone Att: 9,889 That number can't be right can it? 4/1/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq Dick The Bruiser & Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Roger Kirby Road Warriors beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal Brad Rheingans beat Kevin Kelly Att 18,000 Another supershow at the Rosemont does excellent business. 4/4/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne (sub Greg Gagne) beat Sheik Adnan & Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Blackjack Lanza beat Nick Bockwinkel dq Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Larry Zbyszko Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke Curt Hennig beat Steve Olsonoski Att: 9,433 SLC clearly loves to hate the Sheiks. 4/8/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Cage match The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat Jesse Ventura & Mr Saito & Jerry Blackwell when Crusher pinned Blackwell in 15:10 Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan dq when Mulligan tossed Bockwinkel beat the top rope in 11:39 Fabulous Ones beat Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan in 13:38 Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal via pin in 12:37 Billy Robinson beat Buck Zumhofe via pin in 15:16 Curt Hennig beat Kevin Kelly via pin in 11:12 Att: sellout 6,214 Another great number in a town that rarely sold out. Things cool off some in April though there is this 4/29/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Cage match The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke & Dick The Bruiser beat Jesse Ventura & Mr. Saito & Jerry Blackwell Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta dq Road Warriors beat Curt Hennig & Ronnie Garvin Harley Race no contest Jim Brunzell Blackjack Mulligan beat Ken Patera Billy Robinson beat Larry Zbyszko Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly att: 17,000 5/10/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Greg Gagne beat AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta dq The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre beat Despina Montagus & Leilani Kai Fabulous Ones beat Jake Milliman & Jesse Ventura Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko Att: 8,600 SLC stays hot. This also has the look of a card where Blackwell v. Crusher was almost assuredly the top draw by a large margin. 5/11/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Blackjack Mulligan COR The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Jesse Ventura Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria beat Leilani Kai & Despina Montagus Curt Hennig beat Larry Zbyszko Billy Robinson beat Tom Stone att: 2,616 Adnan works Blackwell's spot opposite Crusher and gives Jumbo no real support. The rest of the show is weak. Business had been trending down in some of these areas but this is a less than half full arena. Absence of Bock, Blackwell and The High Flyers looks to have hurt a whole lot. 5/26/84 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq Dick The Bruiser beat Jerry Blackwell dq Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Steve O Nick Bockwinkel no contest Blackjack Lanza Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre beat Leilani Kai & Despina Montagus Billy Robinson drew Curt Hennig Greg Gagne beat Tom Lentz Att: 10,000 I'm guessing this was near sellout at the UIC. 6/9/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Baron Von Raschke (sub Mad Dog Vachon) representing Crusher sat chained to Abdullah the Butcher, representing Blackwell. The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell on a 3rd fall dq in 14:42 Steve Keirn (sub Greg Gagne) beat Nick Bockwinkel dq 7:04 Baron Von Raschke beat Abdullah the Butcher dq 3:56 Fabulous Ones Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Larry Zbyszko (sub Jesse Ventura) & Steve Regal 18:44 when Steve Keirn pinned Regal King Kong Brody beat Steve Olsonoski 5:03 Tom Stone beat Jake Milliman 12:49 att: 2,820 Really bad number for Crusher v. Blackwell even in the Summer. Rest of he card is lackluster but still. 6/10/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Jerry Blackwell eliminated King Kong Brody to win battle royal Abdullah The Butcher & Jerry Blackwell beat Baron Von Raschke (sub Blackjack Mulligan) & Blackjack Lanza King Kong Brody beat Steve O The Crusher no contest Nick Bockwinkel Fabulous Ones beat Roger Kirby & Chris Markoff Dusty Rhodes beat Larry Zbyszko Curt Hennig beat Steve Regal att: 8,000 Good, but not great number at the Civic Center. Also the night Blackwell turned face in a great angle. Blackwell takes time off to sell the angle. Next big show is the can't miss Rosemont. 6/17/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon King Kong Brody & Abdullah The Butcher & Sheik Adnan beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Chris Markoff Curt Hennig beat Roger Kirby Fabulous Moolah & Judy Martin beat Desiree Peterson & Susan Starr att: 2,000 Holy fuck. Awful number, Summer or not. Did WWF run town around this period? 6/24/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Dick The Bruiser chained to Crusher's corner, Abdullah The Butcher chained to Adnan's corner The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan via pin in 14:20 Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza via pin in 15:56 Curt Hennig beat Abdullah the Butcher (sub Steve Regal) dq Larry Zbyszko drew Steve Olsonoski Chris Markoff beat Tom Stone (sub Kevin Kelly) via pin in 10:02 att: 1,829 Yikes. GB is not a guaranteed sell out, but this is REALLY low for that venue. 7/15/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody dq The Crusher beat Abdullah The Butcher dq Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Larry Zbyszko Road Warriors beat Steve O & Curt Hennig Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal Billy Robinson beat Chris Markoff att: 8,500 Civic Center still holding pretty strong. 7/21/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel COR Fabulous Ones drew Road Warriors Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody dq The Crusher beat Abdullah The Butcher dq Curt Hennig drew Mr. Saito Tony Atlas beat Larry Zbyszko Billy Robinson beat Steve O att: 14,000 Huge jump and it's hard to say why. Was Bock v. Martel that hot? Roadies v. Fabs help that much? 7/22/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin in 19:36 The Crusher beat Abdullah the Butcher dq Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Bobby Heenan Handicap Match King Kong Brody beat Curt Hennig & Steve Olsonoski when Brody pinned Olsonoski Billy Robinson beat Larry Zbyszko via pin att: 2,416 GB is still bordering Death. 8/12/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke no contest Road Warriors Handicap match Jim Brunzell & Tony Atlas beat King Kong Brody dq Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza & Stan Lane Curt Hennig drew Billy Robinson Brad Rheingans beat Larry Zbyszko Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk att: 5,600 Uh oh. St. Paul is sliding. 8/16/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel Road Warriors beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O Baron Von Raschke dcor Billy Robinson Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Heenan beat Stan Lane & Blackjack Lanza Curt Hennig beat Jim Mitchell Steve O beat Rick Renslow Tom Zenk beat Bruce Dean Att: 5,964 Martel does pretty well in Canada 8/18/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors dq Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan beat Blackjack Lanza & Stan Lane Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal Billy Robinson beat Curt Hennig Brad Rheingans beat Rick Renslow Steve O beat Tom Zenk att: 6,000 8/19/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher no contest Road Warriors Nick Bockwinkel beat Tony Atlas Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan Bobby Heenan beat Stan Lane Billy Robinson beat Steve Regal Curt Hennig beat Larry Zbyszko att: 4,369 8/24/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq Mr. Saito beat Stan Lane Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko att: 7,210 Rosemont figure is weak, especially with the Roadies on top. Milwaukee number is respectable but noticeably not on the level of the Sheiks hot period. SLC with Roadies on top still does a very good number, but also down some. 9/9/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Brad Rheingans Martel refused to accept victory after Brad was injured AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Steve O & Jim Brunzell Weasel Suit Match Fabulous Ones & Blackjack Lanza beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito & Bobby Heenan Curt Hennig beat Harley Race dq Larry Zbyzsko beat Tom Zenk Billy Robinson beat Steve Regal att: 3,000 Awful. Bring back Jerry. 9/30/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Tag Team Champions Champion Road Warriors beat Crusher & Baron Von Raschke Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel Billy Robinson beat Tony Atlas dq Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal Curt Hennig beat Chris Markoff att: "just under 8,000", gate: $71,000.00 Jerry comes back - attendance more than doubles. 10/7/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering King Kong Brody drew Jerry Blackwell Nick Bockwinkel beat Tony Atlas dq Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Billy Robinson Jim Brunzell beat Larry Zbyszko Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff Curt Hennig beat Steve Regal att: 8,300 Jerry is back. Attendance up more than 2000. 10/14/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena AWA World Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig when one of the Warriors pinned Curt Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan (sub King Kong Brody) via pin in 7:49 Fabulous Ones beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito when one of the Fabs pinned Saito in 17:57 Jim Brunzell beat Billy Robinson dq Brad Rheingans (sub Tony Atlas) beat Steve Regal via pin in 12:52 Att: 3,735 Jerry is back. Attendance is up 1/3. 10/18/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won a tag team battle royal Handicap Match Jerry Blackwell beat Larry Zbyszko & Sheik Adnan Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel Att: 8,920 Battle Royal time. Attendance doubles. And Jerry is back and heavily pushed on the show. 10/20/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Tag Team battle royal Order of elimination Brad Rheingans & Steve Olsonoski, Tony Atlas & Jim Brunzell, Larry Zbyszko & Billy Robinson, Crusher & Baron Von Raschke, Road Warriors, Fabulous Ones, Jimmy Garvin & Steve Regal, Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig, Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel Winners Boom Boom Bundy/Jerry Blackwell AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Tony Atlas & Jim Brunzell Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan dq Nick Bockwinkel drew Curt Hennig 20:00 Boom Boom Bundy beat Larry Zbyszko (sub Mr Saito) Jimmy Garvin beat Steve Olsonoski att: sellout 6,112 Battle Royal! Jerry is also back. Sell out crowd, up 1800. 10/21/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won tag battle royal Lights Out match Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody when Blackwell pinned manager Sheik Adnan Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors Baron Von Raschke beat Paul Ellering Jimmy Garvin beat Tom Zenk Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00 Tony Atlas beat Mr. Saito dq att: 17,000, gate: $150,000.00 I know, I know. Don't underestimate the Battle Royal. Attendance has been trending upward since he came back and he has a heavily promoted co-main event here. They do a fucking massive gate. Don't underestimate Jerry 10/26/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace Fabulous Ones won tag team battle royal Handicap match Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & Larry Zbyszko (sub King Kong Brody) Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00 Boom Boom Bundy beat Chris Markoff Jimmy Garvin beat Tom Zenk att: 9,203 SLC held strong all year. Funny though. When Jerry is on the cards though do noticeably bigger numbers than when he's not. 11/3/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Boom Boom Bundy & Jerry Blackwell won tag battle royal Lights Out Match Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody (Blackwell pinned mgr Sheik Adnan for the win.) Non Title Fabulous Ones beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00 Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke Jimmy Garvin beat Steve O Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal Att: 18,301 sellout Verne's prayer checklist: 1. Thank You God for the Battle Royal series 1a. Thank You God for Jerry Blackwell's return. 2. Greg is ok I guess. 11/8/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Fabulous Ones Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Road Warriors dq Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig Jimmy Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke Jim Brunzell vs Steve Regal Tony Atlas vs Billy Robinson Att: 4,376 Average show in Winnipeg 11/11/84 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won tag team battle royal King Kong Brody ddq Jerry Blackwell Blackjack Lanza beat Paul Ellering dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Steve Keirn dq Mr. Saito beat Steve O Jimmy Garvin beat Jerry Monti att: 6,800 This is a huge number for the Cow Palace which had been utter dogshit drawing 2,000 or less all year. Praise be to Jerry and the Battle Royals 11/19/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Fabulous Ones Jimmy Garvin beat Jim Brunzell Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito dq Jim Brunzell drew Billy Robinson Blackjack Lanza beat Steve Regal att: 3,002 SLC finally shits the bed. They were pissed. The companies lead babyface wasn't on the card. His name? Jerry Blackwell! 11/22/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center evening AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Boom Boom Bundy & Jerry Blackwell AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Billy Robinson Cage match Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan dq Mr. Saito drew Curt Hennig Fabulous Ones beat Luke Graham & Steve Regal Jimmy Garvin beat Steve O Cowboy Lang & Little Koko beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo att: 16,000 Must have been the battle royal! Er.. Must have been the Roadies! Hmm. They didn't seem to draw as well on the loop without Jerry. Must have been the Cage Match! Probably didn't hurt. You know what it was though? Jerry Blackwell!!! 12/6/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin by reversed decision Fabulous Ones & The Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering Jerry Blackwell beat Billy Robinson AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal beat Buddy Lane Mr. Saito & Masked Superstar beat Curt Hennig & Steve Olsonoski Att: 3,504 Winnipeg is slipping a bit. Seems like this show should have done better, though Blackwell is noticeably down the card and the main is really weak (though I liked their matches in the ring to be fair). 12/9/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Cow Palace Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jimmy Garvin dq Curt Hennig beat Mr. Saito Baron Von Raschke beat Steve Regal Billy Robinson beat Tom Zenk att: 4,235 Christ, why even book a show there without Jerry? Bloom is off the rose in SLC at this point. 12/16/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon Fabulous Ones & the Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jimmy Garvin on a reverse decision dq Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody & Sheik Adnan Curt Hennig no contest Mr Saito Curt Hennig beat Crazy Luke Graham Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk att: 8,500 Good, but not great number at the Rosemont. Pretty much holding steady at this point, by this point Vince has to be hurting a lot as well. 12/25/84 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin dq after Wally Karbo reversed the decision Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors King Kong Brody & Masked Superstar beat Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne Curt Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel Jim Brunzell drew Mr Saito 20:00 Baron Von Raschke beat Steve Regal Billy Robinson beat Steve Olsonoski att: 13,000 Strong number for St. Paul, especially with a title match that was not that appealing on paper. That's the last number for 84. Pretty clear that the Sheiks were the biggest heel draws of the year for the AWA and their track record was impressive by any standard. Also clear that the company was FAR better off when Blackwell was around and that his face run helped business recover dramatically. In fact it's arguable he was the best drawing FACE in the company as well for the year. Notable that Vince was going national, raiding their talent, taking them on in their towns and they were still pulling some very strong shows and had a very good year over all - with Blackwell almost definitely as their most consistent draw.

Battle Royals were a massive draw and going back through for context Andre comes in for damn near all of them as well. Other notes as I went back through 72 to establish some context: That number for Milwaukee is definitely right around the official sellout number. Surprised to see Slaughter under the hood as Super Destroyer II used as a consistent main event and semi-main event guy in 79. Pretty evident that he was effective in that role and he was on top or one down from the top of several cards that did very well at the gate. His feud with Crusher did really good business on both spot shows and in the Arenas and they did some really strong gates as the Super D's team late in the year also. Not enough to build an HoF case, but a key piece to the puzzle to argue against those who say Sarge was only really a draw for a 83-84. If the High Flyers had the same resume they have in any other territory, and weren't hindered by having a promoters son on the team, they would have been on the ballot a long time ago and would be considered serious candidates. From the middle of 74-79 they were consistently main event or semi-main event guys. They were a part of some very strong houses and some very hot periods. Drew money against a wide variety of teams including Stevens/Bock, Stevens/Paterson, Duncum/Lanza and others (most of the time they were clearly top billing on these shows and these were hardly just spot show dates - far from it in fact). Took off from middle of 79 to the beginning of 81 where they were inserted against East-West which immediately became a strong drawing feud with very strong matches. The feud runs for over a year and never really gets cold drawing big houses throughout. From their they transition into a feud with Adnan/Blackwell that runs for 9 months or so and does big business. On the back end of this they are headlining shows against random teams like Bravo/Martel, Duncum/Patera and Bock/Jesse that are drawing big houses on top. By the time 83 hits they've come back to Blackwell/Adnan for a couple of months, including a Cage Match series that includes at least one very strong house. They end up feuding with the Heenan family, including teaming with Hogan in a lot of six-man's which bleeds into the feud with Blackwell/Patera which draws 14,000 in the first major match in the Twin Cities (Wahoo v. Bock was technically on top, but that doesn't feel like the money maker there). This feud is a key part of a hot period for the company that sees several shows do over 10,000 paid in a territory that didn't have a huge history of that over the course of the previous ten years (and these are really partial figures as the majority of shows don't even have attendance listed). Hot period continues into 84 with the Flyers working some big houses opposite Saito/Ventura and the Blackwell/Patera feud still doing big business. The blow off Cage Match does 19,000 paid in St. Paul, the biggest figure I've seen for an indoor AWA show through the 70's and 80's. This also effectively ended there run. I know they teamed up here and there after that but never again as a regular team for any sustained length of time. Still adjusting for time off as a unit that is almost 8 1/2 years as a tag team that was essentially in main events from day one, programmed effectively against a variety of teams from really different eras, had some really notable quality matches, and were on top for some very well drawing shows, more often than not as a part of a hot program. Edge doesn't have near that resume

81 stars off interesting as they do 5,000 in the Ampitheatre in Chicago for Blackwell/Studd v. Bruiser/Crusher. That SEEMS like a good number for that venue at the time but I could be off and confusing things. From there Blackwell is shopped around against a variety of guys including Crusher, Tito, Andre in Oakland (no number, damn), teaming with Studd, et. They do this: 1/17/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Nick Bockwinkel & Pat Patterson beat Mad Dog Vachon & Buck Zumhofe Brass knuckles match The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell Dino Bravo drew Steve Regal John Studd beat Tito Santana Brad Rheingans beat Adrian Adonis att: 4,469 Which is a fairly standard number for the time, but feels impressive since I can't imagine the match on top was what "drew" and the rest of the card looks weak. Blackwell continues to get main events, including a title shot v. Verne in Omaha. Good number for Milwaukee in Feb. as they do 5,500 with Blackwell third from the top v. Robinson, and the tag titles on top. This is an interesting show, though we have no previous number to see how this show looks relative to others. 2/22/81 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel no contest Jerry Blackwell & John Studd Tito Santana beat Tully BlanchardBrad Rheingans beat Bill Howard att: 6,677 This seems like a real good number for the time, seeing as how Verne v. Bock only did 2k more at an outdoor arena the year before. 3/14/81 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell dq AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher COR Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Spike Huber beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan att: 10,000 Very good number for Milwaukee here 3/28/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Jerry Blackwell & John Studd beat the Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq in 12:48 Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis 14:15 Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe 17:38 Tito Santana beat Steve Regal 16:18 Brad Rheingans beat Bill Howard 15:57 att: 6,381 Blackwell has been used somewhat oddly up to this point in 81 as he has had multiple programs, but the key is that he is almost always in the main event or semi-main event. Blackwell/Studd v. Crusher/Baron becomes a go to match for the company and it does respectable, but not lights out business based on the limited figures we have. Also worth noting that Jerry got a return match v. Verne at the Ampitheatre, though we don't have a figure for it. Really bizarre result here: 5/10/81 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center Verne's first Retirement Match AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson & Bobby Heenan Posedown The Crusher beat Jesse Ventura Baron Von Raschke beat John Studd Tito Santana no contest Sheik Adnan Larry Hennig beat Adrian Adonis Brad Rheingans drew Jerry Blackwell Att: 15,780 Blackwell opens the show v. Rheingans on the biggest show of the year. This despite the fact that he had been getting multiple shots against Verne for the title and had been a virtually constant main eventer at this point for over a year. No clue how to read that. Especially since he was in the main event on the next show they ran, and he did an 8,000 dollar show as the semi-main at the next big Chicago show. Random. 6/6/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Steel Cage match Baron Von Raschke beat Jerry Blackwell Non Title Steel Cage match Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura Laurent Soucie beat Billy Howard Brad Rheingans beat Bobby Heenan Sheik Adnan beat Ben DeLeon Mike Graham vs Buck Zumhofe att: 7,544 Loaded show, with a triple main event, but worth noting as a notch for Blackwell. Blackwell essentially vanishes in June and attendance seems to dip a bit, though this could be the old Summer curse khawk referenced as much as anything. 7/16/81 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel drew Jim Brunzell 60:00 Jerry Blackwell & Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat the Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke Sheik Adnan beat Tito Santana COR Greg Gagne beat Puppy Dog Peloquin Brad Rheingans beat Laurent Soucie Att: 5,292 I think this is an interesting figure. Blackwell had been shunted down the card essentially as prelim guy for a month. The few numbers we have appear to be down. This is a good number for Winnipeg based on the averages I've seen and it's Blackwell back in the main even mix. Just saying. Blackwell is wedded to Rheingans now, who I actually think was underrated, but it's not something that is going to put butts in the seats. As a semi-main it looks flat and feels it. It's August and Hogan is now on the scene. 9/12/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Sheik Adnan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq in 18:21 Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell COR Tito Santana & Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan & Ray Stevens Ed Boulder beat Chris Curtis Evan Johnson beat Tony Leone att: 4,121 Kind of funny that did such middling business, but Adnan was not a serious contender. You wonder if Hogan had been champ v. Blackwell...? However: 9/24/81 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Sheik Adnan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell Non Title Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Billy Robinson drew Tito Santana Baron Von Raschke beat Ed Boulder Johnny Valiant beat Buck Zumhofe Att: 6,296 That's a good number for Winnipeg and Hogan and Blackwell + the tag title matches are the real main events. We don't have a number for a Blackwell v. Hogan Twin City main event which is annoying, nor do we have a main for the Hogan anchored v. Blackwell anchored six-mans. 10/21/81 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre Cage Match AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell Bobo Brazil ddq Blackjack Mulligan Billy Robinson beat Bobby Heenan Wilbur Snyder beat Jacques Goulet El Bracero beat George Gadaski Really wish we had a number for this show. Andre/Battle Royal does nearly 10k in Winnipeg which is a huge number for that town with Blackwell buried in the under card. They run an Andre v. Blackwell match to play off the previous years success, plus Hogan v. Blackwell around the horn so you have to figure this is doing well. The 5300 in Milwaukee is a good number. The handicapped match with Hogan/Andre teaming v Blackwell/Adnois/Ventura in Winnipeg does 5500 but they had to have been hoping for more. He closes the year still working on top often v. Hogan Interesting year for Blackwell. We really need to have more figures to prove how big of a draw he was, but again aside from the worst drawing month long period of the year based on the composite we have, he was in main events basically all year, with some standouts. The Verne match is a big notch. Shame we don't have attendance for all of their matches and the Hogan matches but the fact that he became Hogan's first real go to opponent is a strong indicator that he was a guy who was considered "money." I'll run through 82 and 83 tomorrow

http://sportsandwrestling.mywowbb.com/forum2/10387-3.html Blackwell debuts with the AWA on Christmas night 79 in an opener and two nights later Verne's got him winning a battle royal. Attendance dates are much sparser here and Blackwell really stays down the cards for a while. The first attendance listed in 80 is: 2/1/80 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena The Crusher & Lord Alfred Hayes & Mad Dog Vachon beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan & Super Destroyer Mark II Adrian Adonis beat Dino Bravo Greg Gagne beat Jesse Ventura Jerry Blackwell beat Steve Olsonoski Att: 6,857 Obviously Blackwell is a non-factor here. First interesting result here is: 3/2/80 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat AWA Tag Team Champions Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon dq Bodyslam challenge Jerry Blackwell beat Dino Bravo Bobby Heenan beat Lord Alfred Hayes Super Destroyer Mark III beat Super Destroyer Mark II Greg Gagne beat Buddy Wolff Steve Olsonoski beat Buck Zumhofe We don't have a figure, but it's clear that Blackwell is being thought about as a guy that could make Verne some coin. Blackwell semi-mains with Bravo around the horn but with no figures. His first main is a spot show v. Crusher and he is a key part of a spot show sellout v. Crusher in the semi-main the next day. The smatterings we get from attendance aren't particularly impressive, but they aren't abysmal either. Call it "holding steady" type numbers. He technically was in the second match from the top of the Commiskey show v. Dick The Bruiser but he was a last minute sub. Still he is starting to get more main events v. Crusher now and is being put over on tv something fierce. Really wish we had hard numbers here but the consistency with which they were running Crusher v. Blackwell on top, even over title matches, tells me that this had to have done at least solid business for the AWA in the summer. This included a run as the top act in the major buildings. Really very few figures and the numbers that pop up are in the 3,500 to 4,500 range usually for Green Bay and Milwaukee shows which seems like the rough average for these venues based on the other results I've seen. Andre comes in and we have some numbers to go with it. Blackwell was his opponent and was probably the right opponent. They do 8,000 in Winnipeg which is a huge number for that venue with Andre v. Blackwell and a Battle Royal on top. Milwaukee does almost 6 grand a few nights later - about 2 grand above the average number from what I've seen - and you have to figure Andre v. Blackwell was the big "change" there as well. The follow up show in Winnipeg does a good number as well with Blackwell further down the card v. Tito but that was a loaded line up. Blackwell essentially ends the year as a top of the card guy to, drawing typical numbers in AWA towns. We don't have enough hard numbers on 80 to determine how much anyone was drawing, but based on the number of main event and semi-main bookings Blackwell got and the Andre numbers being so strong, you could certainly make a case he was one of - if not THE - top draw in the company in 1980.

Luger v. Spivey? No recollection. That is actually telling given how high I am on Luger relative to others

Found them. Kind of a "duh" moment as the link above is the middle of a massive thread of Claw's results.

Not sure that SLC show was a freak thing. That double main event seemed to draw well elsewhere.

By the middle of 86 AWA was dead as a territory with any kind of drawing power. Perhaps worth noting that the last non-supershows that did relatively strong attendances were: 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 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 After Wrestlrock and the SLC supershow it was all over. The brand was effectively dead

Yep those are consistent numbers I'm seeing too. Kind of shocked to see the AWA was doing very consistent business well into 85, though a lot of that looks to be attributable to Sarge and Blackwell as much as Martel. Martel clearly drew well in Canada. Really impressed by this: 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 That's about 2-2500 over the Winnipeg average. 85 was also a much better year in the Bay Area, with Blackwell v. Bundy doing a comparatively massive number to everything from the previous year. Also was surprised StarrCage drew as well as it did. 12,000 in St. Paul at that point was a good number. Sarge and Hennigs v. Roadies/Ellering with Blackwell/Adnan in a Cage in the semi-main slot had some almost shockingly good numbers compared to what I was expecting to see. Almost immediately after they finish up with that series things collapse with Martel working against increasingly "unlikely to win the belt" opponents and curiously enough the disappearance of Blackwell. The Roadies are on a hiatus too and you know damn well that has something to do with it, but hey are still popping up here and here. Blackwell is virtually gone. The last impressive show for the AWA in 85 was: 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 Blackwell headlines this admittedly poorly attended Chicago show: 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. Then he becomes a ghost and gates plummet. The return show in SLC for example: 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 That's actually not a horrid figure for SLC, but it's 6000 thousand down from the previous show. In June they do under 2,000 for Roadies/Blackwelless shows in Winnipeg and St. Paul which is awful. SLC is down to less than 1500 by July under the same conditions. St. Paul is effectively dead. They rebound some in August and Blackwell re-emerges briefly for an Alaska tour of all things. Unfortunately we have lots of missing attendance figures once Blackwell is really back in the mix but what we do have is middling, though not as awful as before he left and the territory clearly to a huge drop off when Blackwell and The Roadies vanished virtually at the same time. SuperClash did a good number on paper, but I imagine was a disappointment at the time and Blackwell was a bit player on the show. What figures we have from the last few months of the year show some solid shows, with a variety of headliners and Blackwell slipping down the card for the most part. I'm sure most would chalk up the loss of The Roadies for a few months as a bigger reason for the drop in business than the loss of Blackwell, but if you look at the business Blackwell was doing in dead towns and even when the Roadies weren't on the cards before hand I think it was really a double whammy. As a babyface, for the first half of 85, Blackwell appears to have been a draw

Just scratching the surface looking at Clawmaster's results for 84, but man Blackwell has a good case as a draw at least as part of the Sheiks act: http://sportsandwrestling.mywowbb.com/forum2/10387-4.html San Fran was a brutally dead town at that point, but aside from that 84 gives us some impressive figures. Some sellouts in Green Bay that look like notches for Blackwell, the biggest paid attendance of the year for the AWA in the blowoff Cage Match v. the High Flyers, some very impressive showings in Salt Lake City, a couple of strong drawing shows where he worked second from the top v. Crusher and it's pretty clear based on what else was the show that that was the key draw, part of a really big run in Chicago. Also notable that on cursory view attendance seemed to dip when he was absent in the middle of the year and go back up a bit when he came back. That's probably coincidental but who the hell knows. Roadies v. Blackwell/Bundy was also the best Roadies headlined show of the year by a safe margin IIRC (16,000 at St. Paul. Probably one of the top three or four paid attendance of the year for the AWA, with the aforementioned Cage Match being number one). Khawk, what was capacity in Winnipeg?

Where is the evidence that Dan Spivey was a good worker?