AWA ALL-STAR WRESTLING: March 23, 1984: ESPN: THE SADDLEDOME: Calgary
From coast to coast, continent to continent and border to border, we welcome you to AWA All-Star Wrestling coming to you from the Saddledome in Calgary. I am Rod Trongard and joining me will be Gene Okerlund. Tonight is our second ESPN Prime Time Show and what an event we have for you! Let’s get right to the ring
SWEET BROWN SUGAR & KOKO WARE VS THE TURK & CICLON NEGRO
A nice prelim match here as Sugar and Koko win with the Double Top Rope Dropkick on the Turk.
BOB SWEETAN VS JULES STRONGBOW
The crowd is still fuming over Sweetan attack on Hulk Hogan last week. As for the match, Strongbow does a nice job of holding his own but in the end, Sweetan takes control and eventually catch Strongbow with a piledriver for the win! Ox Baker comes out and the duo enjoys the victory together.
As they exit, Trongard wonders what the alliance between Baker and Sweetan is all about and that Hogan better be on his toes tonight as they all just might be in cahoots with Jerry “the King” Lawler.
THE YOUNG LIONS TOURNAMENT: EDDIE GILBERT with Precious VS KEIJI MUTOH
The beginning of the much anticipated Young Lions tournament pits two of the favorites here. The question is whether Mutoh has enough experience to hang with Gilbert. During the match, we see Mutoh overwhelm Gilbert with a serious martial arts repertoire but each time Gilbert was able to over come the attack by breaking the rules. With Mutoh poised to come off the top rope for a Moonsault, Precious was able to come up from behind and shove him to the mat. This gave Gilbert the time he needed to recover and hit Mutoh with the Hot Shot for the victory. Precious came into the ring and started to laugh and belittle Mutoh when suddenly Mutoh began to spin in a mystical way. When he stopped he was facing Precious and he spewed some sort of green mist all over her face. Precious went down and was rolling around as the crowd was once again in awe of Mutoh. Jimmy Garvin rushed out to help Precious and seemed angry with Gilbert for putting here in harms way.
Gilbert leads the Young Lions Tournament with 2 Points!
COMMONWEALTH CONNECTION (Leduc, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smth)
VS
KEITH HART, BRUCE HART, JIM NEIDHART
The Commonwealth Connection have set their sights on ridding the AWA of the Harts and tonight is there chance to at least get that process started. In typical tag match fashion, we see the babyfaces take control in the early part as Bruce and Keith are able to use their mat skills to keep the heels of balance. Some questionable tactics by the newly turned heel, Dynamite Kid, and we get Bruce playing the face in peril. After he takes a beating, he makes an escape and tags in the monster that is the Anvil and he cleans house. Eventually we get all six in the ring and the ref knows he has lost control and calls for the bell and declares this one a Double DQ. This does little to stop the wild brawl and Rod Trongard reminds us that this feud is still left unsettled.
NICOLAI VOLKOFF & NIKITA KOLOFF VS GREG GAGNE & BRAD RHEINGANS
Good vs Evil here. The Russians come out with the flag and asks the Canadian audience to stand for the Russian National Anthem. This does nothing but bring us close to the riot scene that we saw last time there was a major card her in Calgary. As for the match, we get little of what the crowd was wishing for as the Russians proved to strong. Rheingans did his best to match power moves and Gagne tried to allow his wrestling skill to keep the Russians off balance but it proved to be to no avail. Eventually we see the young Nikita nearly rip Gagne’s head off with the Russian Sickle for the win.
RICK RUDE with BOBBY HEENAN VS RICK MARTEL
This match has it all. Heenan and Rude antagonizing the fans on their way to the ring which just makes it easier for Martel to get some love when he comes out. The match starts with some chain wrestling where Martel comes out on top after each series. This frustrates Rude who hammers the ropes in anger. We see Heenan get involved a few times which allows Rude to gain the momentum. The crowd explodes as Curt Hennig comes out and goes right after Heenan. Heenan somehow escapes the attack but at least for now, Heenan won’t interfere as Hennig stays in Martel’s corner for support. After Martel regains control, Rude shoves Rick into the ref who is now down. Martel goes to check on the ref but Rude grabs him from behind! Heenan seems willing to risk life and limb here as he grabs a chair and enters the ring. Hennig sees this and goes to cut him off at the pass!
WHAM!
Hennig rips the chair from the hands of Heenan and clobbers….. RICK MARTEL!
Heenan is jumping up and down as Rude covers Martel just as the ref starts to get to his feet.
1…2…3.
The crowd is incensed as Hennen, Hennig and Rude leave together with Rick Martel in the ring holding his head!
AWA NORTH AMERICAN TITLE: BRET HART VS RANDY SAVAGE
Possibly the match of the year here as both men completely sell out. We see Hart lock in the Northern lights cloverleaf but Savage somehow crawled to the ropes to force the break and we see Savage crash all the way the floor to catch Hart with an elbow drop.
As both men are completely spent, the crowd explodes in anger as Bobby Heenan once again makes his way to the ring. The fans are still fuming about what happened earlier when Curt Hennig joined Hennan’s family. Now, they see him come out during this title match which proves all the speculations about Savage joining “The Family” to be true. It is obvious that Bret Hart is a little unnerved by this and Savage regains the momentum! After each blow by Savage, the camera picks up a smiling Bobby Heenan. After a few minutes of a brutal attack, Savage once again climbs the ropes and is going for the Top Rope Elbow Drop! Heenan is all smiles as he knows he is about to be the manager of the AWA North American Title!
WHAM!
Rod Trongard: Oh My God! What has just happened. Bobby Heenan has just shoved Randy Savage off the top rope and he landed on his head. Bret Hart rolls over on top of the Macho Man
1… 2… 3. Bret Hart is still the AWA North American Champion. Oh my God… That Weasel Heenan has shocked us twice tonight!
AWA WORLD TAG TEAMT TITLE:
THE SHEIKS (BLACKWELL & PATERA) w/ADNAN AL KASSIE VS THE ROAD WARRIORS W/PAUL ELLERING
Who the babyfaces are here is clear from the second Ellering leads his face-painted biker team to the ring and the crowd goes wild.
As for the match, we have a war! Big move after big moves! Crusher Blackwell with a Big Splash. Patera with a Swinging full nelson. Hawk with a diving clothesline and Animal with a powerslam. The problem was that each time we had a near fall, their teammate was there to make the save. The interesting part here was that Ellering and Sheik Adnan made little impact on the match as they seemed to keep each other at bey.
In the end, we are going bonzo-gonzo with all 4 men in the ring. Hawk whips Crusher into the ring and comes off with another diving clothesline. This time Blackwell is reeling from the blow and staggers through the ropes out onto the floor. This allows the Road Warriors a quick double team on Patera. A couple of big forearms by Hawk and Animal have them in control. Animal scoops Patera up onto his shoulders as Hawk climbs to the top rope!
WHAM…. Doomsday Device…..
1… 2… 3.
Rod Trongard: And we have new AWA World Tag Team Champions!
LOSER LEAVE TOWN STEEL CAGE MATCH:
THE MONGOLIAN STOMPER VS BAD NEWS ALLEN
The fans have been starring at the steel cage suspended from the ceiling since they walked in and now they are about to see it lowered to the ring to see if it can hold two wrestlers whose hatred for each others has reached epic proportions. Starting with the riot right here in Calgary a few months ago and ending tonight inside a steel cage, this feud has been white hot ever since Allen tried to kill Stomper’s son. This one may have just broken kayfabe as it seems too real.
Even after this one ended, those in the know are unsure if this was real or fake as the two wrestled as stiff as anyone has ever seen. The blood was flowing early as the two used the steel mesh to rip open the flesh of their of the opponent at each and every turn. While this one lasted less than 10 minutes, it was something that nobody in the Saddledome will ever forget. While Georgia has the Battle for Atlanta… this will be forever known as the Battle for Calgary.
In the end, we see Bad News revert to his old judo days and actually choke out Stomper in the center of the ring as he gains the victory. As Allen walks back to the locker room, he is pelted with debris while Stomper gets a nice ovation after the referee wakes him from his sleep. Stomper will be missed here in Canada.
AWA WORLD TITLE MATCH: JERRY “THE KING” LAWLER VS HULK HOGAN
Hogan comes out to a huge ovation while the pomp and circumstance of the King with his crown and robe bring some serious heat. Just before the match is set to get under way, Ox Baker and Bob Sweetan come to ringside.
Trongard is fuming that Lawler’s henchmen have no right to be out here. In a bit of a shocker, Lawler grabs the mic…
Jerry Lawler: Listen up you three… I have no idea what you are doing here. I had nothing to do with your attack on Hogan in recent weeks and I sure as BLEEP don’t need you out here now to beat this former champ across from me so make like an egg and beat it!
Rod Trongard and the fans are not sure if they should trust Lawler or not but Robley and his men leave which is good for Heenan. Trongard just wonders if they will be gone for good.
As for the match, it is very similar to the last one when King won the title from Lawler back in Memphis on January 23.
Slow pace to start as they lock up a few times and Hogan just throws Lawler back against the turnbuckles every time. Lawler eventually gets Hogan in a headlock but Hogan back suplexes out of it. Lawler swings Hogan to the ropes but Hogan puts him down with a shoulder block. Lawler gets up and Hogan grabs him then hoists him above his head! Hogan then throws Lawler across the ring and flexes. Lawler rolls against the turnbuckles with a shocked look and needs to regroup.
Hogan gets Lawler in a headlock but Lawler lifts Hogan up and Atomic Drops him. Hogan bounces to the turnbuckles. Lawler hops up on the middle ropes and the fans cheer as Lawler hammers away on Hogan. Lawler hops down. Hogan staggers forward and Lawler picks him up and body slams him down as the crowd goes crazy! Lawler hops up on the middle ropes and comes down with a knee drop 1..2..Hogan kicks out!
Lawler is a bit frustrated. He swings Hogan to the ropes and misses a clothesline, Hogan swings back and sends Lawler flying with a double axe handle to the head! Lawler ends up outside on the apron. Lawler finally starts to rise and grabs the ropes to help himself up. Hogan walks over and vertical suplexes Lawler back in the ring.
Hogan fires up and shakes his fists. He picks up Lawler and punches away, then swings him to the ropes and hits a big boot to the head. Hogan swings off the ropes and hits a jumping leg drop 1..2..Wait! The Ref sees Lawler's foot on the rope. Hogan thinks he won but the Ref tells him what happened. Hogan is frustrated. Hogan goes towards Lawler and out of desperation, Lawler pulls his trunks and Hogan goes through the ropes to the outside.
Lawler regroups. Hogan gets on the apron. Lawler punches him, grabs him, takes a deep breath and vertical suplexes him back in the ring! The fans cheer as Lawler hops up on the middle ropes and crashes down with a fist drop! The fans go wild as Lawler grabs Hogan, hoists him up and hits the PILEDRIVER! The Ref counts 1..2.. Hogan gets his foot on the rope and unlike Memphis, this time the ref sees it. The crowd goes wild and we see the Hulkster’s adrenaline start to pump. What ever Lawler does, it has no effect on Hogan. It is like an elephant being attacked by a gnat.
Rod Trongard: Oh no, here comes Bob Sweetan and Ox Baker.... Wait a minute.... from behind... Randy Savage clobbers Sweetan and Baker with a double clothesline to the back of their heads! Savage may have just saved Hogan's chance at the World Title!
WHAM! Huge Right hand by Hogan
WHAM! Irish Whip by Hogan followed by a Big Boot to the face of Lawler
WHAM! Leg Drop by Hogan
1… 2… 3.!
The fans blow the roof off the Saddledome! Hogan can’t believe it! The Ref gets the world title, hands it to Hogan and raises his arm in victory.
The show ends with Hogan holding up the AWA World Title to a raging sell out Calgary crowd!
