Lee Casebolt

Due to Abdullah's pre-existing commitments, AWA Worldwide relinquishes its claim and signs John Quinn. Also, effective June 1 AWA Worldwide trades Dino Bravo to Pacific Coast for Jacques Rougeau.

Shawn Michaels and Jim Powers just sounds like a 1984 tag team, one we'd look back on today and say "hey, remember when you weren't sure which of these guys was going to break out?".

I knew that 8 man would be wild, but the Brody taking the money is inspired. Kudos.

A couple big surprise heel wins and then crowning JYD to send the crowd home happy. Strong show. Have to echo Gene here - there are plenty of strong heels to chase the Dog. World Class promoters better have some sturdy umbrellas to protect them from all that money raining down. JYD and the Von Erichs on top is almost unfair.

I am loving the push for Herc. And pairing him with OMG? Awesome, awesome team.

The Cuban Assassin/Greg Valentine pairing is something I never would have thought of. Curious to see how that plays out.

Very much agree with this. Love the push for Armstrong. Also intrigued by Ole/Buzz vs Tommy Rich and ??. Who is the mystery partner?

Love young murder machine Nikita. Love Dr Death tagging with the Raging Bull. Love Hulk Hogan caught between Bad News and Patera. I am, in short, filled with love here.

*Love* that Playboy interview.

So... who do I talk to to get tape of that Sawyer/Rich Texas Death match?

Shocked you got Brody to agree to that finish.

(5/5/1984) Home Box Office, in association with Titan Sports, presents, live from The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... Tonight's slate of professional wrestling action is sanctioned by the American Wrestling Association and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. "Welcome, everyone, to this first broadcast of Saturday Night's Main Event. I'm Vince McMahon. Before we get to tonight's action, some major news in the world of professional wrestling to bring to your attention. First, the World Wrestling Federation in its quest to bring you the very best in sports and entertainment has merged with International Wrestling out of Montreal. Top Canadian talent will now be making regular tours of the Northeast United States, and the very best the WWF has to offer will likewise be making frequent visits to our neighbor to the North. We look forward to bringing exciting new matchups to fans of both countries. We'll be highlighting some of that top Canadian talent tonight. "Furthermore, the WWF has joined forces with other major promoters across the country and indeed around the world and allied itself with the American Wrestling Association. The World Wrestling Federation will now be known as AWA Worldwide Wrestling. This will let us bring even more top talent from around the world to you, the wrestling fan. "As a result of this, the WWF World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships will be re-christened the AWA International Heavyweight and International Tag Team championships, respectively. And after negotiations with our broadcast partner, the WWF Intercontinental title has been reborn as the HBO Television title. "Tonight's card will see the first defenses of these new titles, as well as the return of a former champion. You'll recall that longtime titleholder Bob Backlund was forced to vacate his championship due to injuries suffered after a heinous attack by Ray 'The Crippler' Stevens <roll some footage of Stevens attacking Backlund after a title match with George Steele back in January> "Mr. Backlund has been out of action for several months, but has been finally been cleared by doctors to return to competition tonight. In fact, he'll be appearing in our very first contest here this evening. Now, let's head to the ring!" 1. Bob Backlund (w/ Arnold Skaaland) defeated Iron Mike Sharpe via pinfall after an atomic drop at 4:27. 2. Pedro Morales & Johnny Rivera defeated the Killer Bs (Brian Blair & Brutus Beefcake, w/ Freddie Blassie) when Morales made Beefcake submit to the Boston Crab at 7:46. 3. Magnum TA pinned Korstia Korchenko with the belly-to-belly suplex at 6:36. (Magnum got the Real American intro and a bunch of flag-waving.) 4. Raymond & Armand Rougeau & Dino Bravo defeated Pierre Lafevbre, Sailor White, & Richard Charland by pinfall at 8:29 when Armand caught Charland with a sunset flip. 5. Jimmy Snuka © pinned George “The Animal” Steele with a crossbody at 10:47 to defend the AWA International Title. After the match, former champ Bob Backlund w/ Arnold Skaaland enters the ring to congratulate Snuka. He shakes Snuka’s hand and offers to put the new belt on him. Snuka agrees and, as soon as his back is turned, Backlund locks on the crossface chickenwing. He holds it for a couple of minutes, with Skaaland urging him on, as referees swarm the ring to try to pull him off. Backlund finally releases the hold, and contemptuously drops the title belt on the fallen champion. 6. Bernie Wright pinned Dave Morgan with a rolling cradle at 8:36. 7. Rocky Johnson © defeated Ray "The Crippler" (w/ Freddie Blassie) by disqualification at 12:04 to defend the AWA/HBO Television Title when Stevens hit Johnson with Blassie's cane. After the decision, Johnson took the cane from Stevens and chased off Stevens and Blassie. 8. The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika w/ Lou Albano) © defeated Jay & Jules Strongbow to defend the AWA International Tag Team Titles when Afa pinned Jules after a Samoan Drop.

AWA Worldwide retains Mr. Estrada because it turns out Jacques Rougeau had previous commitments.

I swear this is the last one - AWA Worldwide releases Jose Estrada because jesus I can not fucking count today.

AWA Worldwide releases - Dick the Bruiser, The Crusher, Butcher Vachon, Swede Hanson, Baron Mikel Sicicluna, Pete Dougherty, Salvatore Belloma, Blue Demon Jr, and Pete Sanchez AWA Worldwide signs - Raymond Rougeau, Jacques Rougeau, Armand Rougeau, Dino Bravo, Abdullah the Butcher, Gino Brito Jr, Sailor White, Pierre Lefevbre, and Richard Charland

AWA Worldwide releases Sonny Boy Hayes. (Miscounted, was over roster limit.)

Those title matches are insane. I can't believe Nick Bockwinkel is in the midcard but the top of that card completely justifies it.

AWA Worldwide has sent Johnny Rodz to Superstars of the Superstation in exchange for Mike Sharpe.

Looking to move - Ray Stevens Butcher Vachon Pat Patterson Blue Demon Jr Swede Hansen Rene Goulet Salvatore Belloma

Addendum to last trade - AWA Worldwide will be sending Charlie Fulton and Bob Bradley to World Class. Barry Horowitz and Mark Fleming will be coming to AWA Worldwide once their World Class commitments are fulfilled.

AWA Worldwide Wrestling (formerly the WWF) sends Big John Studd, Tonga Kid, Samu, and Tiger Chung Lee to World Class in exchange for Magnum TA, Kamala, Brutus Beefcake, Superstar Billy Graham, Brian Blair, Tio, Tapu, and Grizzly Boone. Trade to take effect Thursday; Graham, Boone, Tio, and Tapu to remain with World Class through Monday to finish up commitments. Most of the Worldwide roster is available for future trades, with the exception of Andre, Magnum, Backlund, and Snuka. Also Andre is available for guest dates on request.

I just realized I'd have been better off pairing Finlay and Street, leaving St Clair to play babyface against Anjoh.

We're very bad at promoting, which is why this will be our only show. We're gonna lose so much goddamn money.

My hope and plan for Akiyama/Albright is that it look similar to Albright/Tamura. Akiyama isn't quite as physically overwhelmed but doesn't have Tamura's sub game, so it should even out. He's gonna get wrecked but it'll be fun while it lasts.

Announcing the official card for UWFi - Genesis Jan 1 - the Kiel Auditorium in St Louis, MO and live on PPV Special 4pm bell time Ten Minute Time Limit Preliminaries 1. Billy Scott vs Al Snow ( 2. Hiromitsu Kanehara & Takeshi Iizuka vs MacDuff Roesch & Barry Horowitz Twenty Minute Time Limit Undercard 3. Dory Funk Jr. vs Dave Taylor 4. Yoji Anjo vs Adrian Street 5. Shinobu Kandori vs Madusa Micelli 6. Bob Orton Jr. vs Naoki Sano 7. Jun Akiyama vs Gary Albright 8. Bill Dundee vs Duane Koslowski Thirty Minute Time Limit Contender's Matches 9. Koji Kitao vs Ken Shamrock (winner to face Chono/Fleming winner at future date for #1 Contender status) 10. Fit Finlay & Tony St. Clair vs Joe & Dean Malenko (#1 Contender match) 11. Masahiro Chono vs Mark Fleming (winner to face Kitao/Shamrock winner at future date for #1 Contender status) Sixty Minute Time Limit Main Event Title Matches 12. Vladimir Berkovich & Chris Dolman vs Rick & Scott Steiner (World Professional Wrestling Tag Team Championship) 13. Nobuhiko Takada vs Steve "Dr. Death" Williams (World Professional Wrestling Heavyweight Championship)