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AWA Show at the International Amphitheater, Chicago, Sept. 22nd Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. Mike Rotunda, Steve Jones & Master Gee Mike Rotunda won for his team with a Samoan Drop on Donovan Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer In a bloody brawl, Sawyer won with a Bulldog Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski & Koko Ware vs. Rip Oliver, Rick Rude & Bob Sweetan Rick Rude looked like he would get the win when he had Koko set up for the Rude Awakening DDT, but Buddy Rose hit him with a low blow from behind and Koko executed the Ghostbuster for the pinfall AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat vs. Bad News Allen The clock was counting down to the time limit when Allen went for a power slam and Steamboat countered with a small package for the win AWA Southern Tag Title Rematch : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. The Nor-Am Express The champs won when Santana dropkicked Zenk into a German Suplex by Perez Ken Patera, Kamala & ? vs. Paul Orndorff, Ron Garvin & Jerry Blackwell As was the case the night before, the mystery partner was Abudllah The Butcher. In as chaotic a match as you can imagine, Blackwell hit a crushing power slam on Patera and Orndorff and Garvin were just barely able to hold back Kamala and Abdulla for Blackwell to get the one two three. Blackwell got a shocking pinfall over the World champ. AWA World Tag Title Match : Mr. Olympia & Mike George © vs. The Road Warriors The Road Warriors showed they meant business from the get go when they charged to the ring and immediately hurled Shiekh Adnan Kaissie to the outside, rendering him a non factor for the rest of the match. The Syndicate put up a mighty struggle to defend their belts but the Road Warriors would not be denied and when they got Mike George up and hit the Doomsday Device, it was all over. The Road Warriors are the new AWA World Tag Team Champions! The Chicago crowd exploded to see their home town favorites take the belts for a second time.

AWA Show at the Mecca, Milwaukee, Sept. 21st ( as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company vs. Mike Rotunda & Steve Jones Rotunda and Jones won when Jones hit the Iron Fist on Tanaka Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig In a match that left both sides bloody, Sawyer and Schultz won when they hit a double bulldog on Gagne Da Crusher vs. The Great Gama Singh Crusher won with a running Bolo Punch on Singh Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Rip Oliver & Rick Rude Wiskowski won for his team with the facebuster on Oliver AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco In an epic and exhausting battle where Muraco relentlessly attacked Santana and the champ kept firing back at the Magnificent One, Santana hit a top rope flying clothesline to Muraco on the floor and just barely made it back into the ring in time to get the victory by countout Paul Orndorff & Ron Garvin vs. Kamala & ? There was much anticipation as to who would be Kamala’s partner for this match, but nobody was truly prepared when Sheikh Adnan Kaissie announced … ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER! The Madman from Sudan and The Ugandan Headhunter charged out to the ring and attacked Orndorff and Garvin, whose ribs were bandaged from Kamala’s attack two weeks ago. This was as crazy a match as you can imagine, with Garvin and Orndorff refusing to knuckle under to their huge opponents. At one point, Garvin had Abdullah trapped in the corner and was raining big punches down on his face, but Kamala barged in and crushed him in the corner with an Avalanche. Abdullah followed up with the Sudanese Elbow Drop for the pin. AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Jerry Blackwell After another lengthy match where Blackwell got several near falls, Patera dodged out of the way of a Blackwell Avalanche and followed up with a second rope kneedrop to get the win.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for Sept. 21st We start off our show this week with the semi-final and final matches in the recent Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup, both featuring the AWA Canadian champ Rick Martel. As before, these matches are courtesy of our good friends in Lutte Internationale in Montreal. The matches are edited for time to fit AWA TV. George “The Animal” Steele (w/Richard Charland) (Lutte Internationale) vs Rick Martel (Lutte Internationale) It was a bruised & battered Rick Martel who entered his semi-finals match against his nemesis’ gatekeeper, George “The Animal” Steele, with fellow Frenchy’s Legion member, Richard “Le Magnifique” Charland at ringside. Despite still limping a bit from his previous match, Martel is still able to execute his gameplan like he had planned it. However, one false step during a leapfrog and Martel seemed to have injured his ankle again. And adding to that, the bruised ribs he still hasn’t completely recovered from and this gave The Animal multiple targets to zero in. Alternating between the ankle and the ribs, with a bit of help from Charland when the referee’s back was turned, Steele is able to get some momentum. Fortunately, for Martel, Steele commits a mistake when he goes for his trademark splash and Martel is able to dodge. Martel mounts a comeback and hits his signature spots but then the action goes to the outside after Martel clotheslined Steele over the top rope. Even though this is more Steele’s territory, Martel goes outside anyway and goes into battle with Steele while the referee counts. Martel gets the upper hand and Charland tries to interfere but Martel clocks him with a right hand. Steele then clubs Martel from behind and he goes crashing into the ring post. Steele positions Martel in front of the ring post and goes for a headbut....but Martel dodges! Steele headbutts the post and collapses on the floor. That allows Martel to rest long enough to climb back in the ring and Charland is unable to wake up The Animal in time so Martel gets the countout victory and moves on to the finals! Winner: Rick Martel/countout (13:28) – advances to finals Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup Final Match Terry Gordy (USWA) vs Rick Martel (Lutte Internationale) The moment has finally come to determine the winner of the 1st Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup. While Rick Martel has caught literally no break in this tournament, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy is well-rested, benefitting from a bye in the semis, since both Tito Santana & Bret Hart were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Another case of power vs strength and throughout the match, Guy Hauray & Édouard Carpentier put over Terry Gordy and the possibility of his Fabulous Freebirds cohorts, Michael PS Hayes & Buddy Jack Roberts showing up to help him. Jacques, Raymond & Armand Rougeau are seated at ringside, looking to congratulate the winner of the tournament. Martel fought as hard as he could and gave it his best shot. Martel’s able to hit his Slingshot Splash on Gordy but Gordy kicked out at 2. The end of the match saw Rick Martel first attempting the Boston Crab but changed his mind and went instead for a Figure Four but Gordy countered and shoved Martel, who went head first in the turnbuckle. Martel staggered and Gordy hit the High Angle Belly-to-Back Suplex to get the victory at 21:36 and win the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup Winner: Terry Gordy (21:36) – Wins the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup "The Young Gentleman" Steve Jones vs. Paul Diamond The gifted young English rookie Steve Jones has come out of nowhere to get a two match winning streak over Pat Tanaka. Tanaka’s Badd Company partner, Paul Diamond, was fixed on ending the streak and avenging Tanaka’s losses. He opened up with his high speed offense on Jones, who countered with his own technical skills and wear down holds. Part way through the match, the third man in Badd Company, Chick Donovan, came out to encourage Diamond, but this only seemed to annoy Diamond. At one point, the two wrestlers criss-crossed the ropes and Donovan reached in from the outside and grabbed Jones’ leg, tripping him and causing him to face plant hard into the mat. Diamond saw Jones laying stunned on the mat and immediately figured out what happened. Instead of taking advantage, he leaned over the ropes and started berating Donovan, telling him that he didn’t need his help. While this was going on, Jones had recovered enough to see Diamond with his back to him and rolled him up with a single leg cradle, getting the one two three. After the match, Jones held out his hand to Diamond. Diamond quickly shook it but was clearly furious with Donovan. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick : Folks, my next guest have gotten a lot of people talking since their return to the AWA … “Playboy” Buddy Rose and “The Polish Prince” Ed Wiskowski! The crowd enthusiastically cheers Rose and Wiskowski as they head to the ring. Rose and Wiskowski seem to be enjoying the crowd response, in spite of themselves. Resnick : Buddy Rose, you’ve really gotten the fans behind you in your fight with Rick Rude and the rest of the Bad News Breakers. Is this inspiring you to change your ways? Rose : Ken, the fans know that the Bad News Breakers are just that : Bad News. Rick Rude is the poster boy for Million Dollar Body With A Ten Cent Mind and the rest of his pals aren’t any better. I tried to help make something of him, but he just wouldn’t listen. So I keep on proving to him, nobody is smarter than Buddy Rose. As for changing my ways … well, the Playboy will always be the Playboy, so I’m just going to keep on doing what I do best, and if the fans cheer me for it, that just shows they’ve got good taste! Resnick : Ed Wiskowski, you came out of nowhere to save Buddy Rose last week. It looks like you are the last of his old allies that he has left. Wiskowski : Resnick, people like Rude, Oliver and Sweetan are no better than rodents. They have no sense of loyalty. The Polish Prince understands loyalty! This man and I go back a long way. He has always had my back, and I will always have his! Resnick : So it looks like Rip Oliver was wrong when he said that the Playboy Club was dead. Rose : Well, Ken, Oliver actually got it right that one time. The Playboy Club is no more. What you are looking at here is Playboy After Dark … and the clock is about to strike Midnight for the Bad News Breakers! Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Latin Lovers After their shocking appearance at the San Francisco show, where they attacked Greg Gagne and Curt Hennig, this was the first appearance of Sawyer and Schultz in a regular match, and the clearly were not taking any prisoners. The two wild men rampaged over the Latin Lovers, blasting them with huge slams and savagely pummeling them while Col. Buck Robley cackled from ringside. When they finished Valentino off with a Spike Piledriver, it had been a foregone conclusion for most of the match. But that was not enough for Doctor D and the Mad Dog, as they attacked Javier Cruz after the match and looked to put him in a Spike Piledriver as well. This provoked Gagne and Hennig to rush into the ring to save Cruz, and the two sides proceeded to slug it out until the AWA officials cleared them from the ring. Don Muraco & Bob Sweetan vs. Tito Santana & Koko Ware Tito Santana brought in a new ally in his war with Don Muraco, the high flying Birdman himself, and the two seemed to instantly gel as a team, keeping the Bad News Breakers off balance with a series of double drop kicks and combination moves. It looked like they might just pull off the victory when Santana went up top for the flying clothesline, but Sweetan turned the tide by shoving Santana hard off the turnbuckle and sent him hurtling to the mat. After that, Muraco swiftly took command, hitting power move after power move, big gorilla slams followed by a nasty shoulder breaker. Koko tried to come in for the rescue but was intercepted by Sweetan, and when Muraco hit the belly to belly piledriver on Santana, it was all over. A shocking defeat for the American champion … could this be an omen of things to come? Ken Patera & Kamala vs. Jerry Blackwell & Paul Orndorff Ken Patera, the World Champ , has been seeming especially untouchable of late, with the monstrous Ugandan Headhunter standing as a massive roadblock to get to the world’s strongest man. Blackwell and Orndorff put up a mighty effort, with Orndorff managing an extremely impressive body slam on Kamala, but Kamala was relentless in his attack. When he bowled over Orndorff and knocked him out of the ring, Kamala kept attacking Mr. Wonderful with chops and kicks, heedless of the count going on in the ring. After the countout decision, Sheikh Kaissie got on the mic and announced that he was bringing in a special partner for Kamala for the match at the Mecca, and the crowd began buzzing as to who this could be.

Upcoming matches for the AWA. AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for Sept. 21st The semi-finals and finals of the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup "The Young Gentleman" Steve Jones vs. Paul Diamond An interview with Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskowski Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Latin Lovers Don Muraco & Bob Sweetan vs. Tito Santana & Koko Ware Ken Patera & Kamala vs. Jerry Blackwell & Paul Orndorff AWA Show at the Mecca, Milwaukee, Sept. 21st ( to be shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company vs. Mike Rotunda & Steve Jones Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig Da Crusher vs. The Great Gama Singh Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Rip Oliver & Rick Rude AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco Paul Orndorff & Ron Garvin vs. Kamala & ? AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Jerry Blackwell AWA Show at the International Amphitheater, Chicago, Sept. 22nd Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. Mike Rotunda, Steve Jones & Master Gee Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski & Koko Ware vs. Rip Oliver, Rick Rude & Bob Sweetan AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat vs. Bad News Allen AWA Southern Tag Title Rematch : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. The Nor-Am Express Ken Patera, Kamala & ? vs. Paul Orndorff, Ron Garvin & Jerry Blackwell AWA World Tag Title Match : Mr. Olympia & Mike George © vs. The Road Warriors

The thinking behind this was : a) this was a smaller market house show, they wouldn't be packed with the top stars, but would get one title match with an upper level star to be main event, but given the response by the Portland fans to the return of Buddy Rose, and given that it is in Portland's back yard, his match would be moved up to co-main event/show closer.

AWA show from McArthur Court, Eugene, Oregon, September 16th Mike Rotunda vs. Chick Donovan Rotunda won with the Samoan Drop Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Latin Lovers Sawyer won for his team with a Bulldog on Valentino Master Gee vs. Mike Shaw Mike Shaw won with a running splash Badd Company vs. Koko Ware & Steve Jones Ware got the win by hitting the Ghostbuster on Tanaka AWA American Title : Tito Santana © vs. Bob Sweetan Santana won with the Mexican Hammer Forearm Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Rip Oliver & Rick Rude Rose won for his team with the Inside Out Backbreaker on Rude

AWA Show at the Portland Memorial Coliseum , Portland, September 15th Mike Rotunda & Steve Jones vs. Badd Company Rotunda won when he hit the Samoan Drop on Tanaka The Cuban Commandos & The Great Gama Singh vs. Da Crusher & The Latin Lovers The Great Gama won when he made Vinnie Valentino submit to the Camel Clutch Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bob Sweetan After an exhausting and bloody battle, it looked like it would go right to the end of the 20 minute time limit, but right at the end, Wahoo got the pin with a massive overhand chop AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen Steamboat won by countering a power slam attempt with an inside cradle AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco Both men went to a double countout "Ravishing" Rick Rude & Rip Oliver vs. Buddy Rose & ? Rose’s partner wound up being the newly returned “Polish Prince”, Ed Wiskowski. Rude looked like he would get the Rude Awakening DDT on Rose, only to be flattened by a lariat from Wiskowski for the win. The Portland fans were going crazy for the Rose and Wiskowski team. Ken Patera & Kamala vs. Paul Orndorff & "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell A chaotic match that ended in a DQ when Kamala attacked the ref

I tend to stack the West Coast shows, being that they are the furthest outposts of the AWA and I want to keep them strong. I also wanted to keep the Buddy Rose comeback for the San Francisco/Portland part of the loop, given his strong ties to both cities.

Not sure if this ever got announced, but the AWA sends Manny Fernandez to USWA for Buzz Sawyer.

AWA Show at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, September 14th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. Mike Rotunda, Steve Jones & Koko Ware Jones won for his team when he hit the Iron Fist on Tanaka Da Crusher vs. Gama Singh Great Gama won with a roll up assisted by a fistful of trunks Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne vs. The Long Riders Hennig and Gagne have had some wild matches of late with the Long Riders, but tonight, the Irwin brothers seemed especially determined to put a hurting on the two second generation stars. Hennig and Gagne managed to rally and it looked like they had the Long Riders on the run, taking them down with double clotheslines and dropkicks, when Col. Buck Robley signaled to the locker room at the back of the arena. Two men charged into the ring and attacked Gagne and Hennig … “MAD DOG” BUZZ SAWYER AND “DOCTOR D” DAVE SCHULTZ? They don’t even work here! Sawyer and Schultz savagely battered Gagne and Hennig , and even though the ref called for the DQ, Robley’s Army didn’t seem to card. Sawyer flattened Gagne with a huge powerslam and Schultz came off the top rope with a leg drop. It took the combined force of all of the AWA officials to separate the Army from the bloodied bodies of Gagne and Hennig. AWA Southern Tag Title match : The Nor-Am Express © vs. Al Perez & Ricky Santana The Nor-Am Express had taken a real pounding on AWA TV before this defense, but were working hard to keep one up on Perez and Santana. It looked like they would prevail when they had tossed Santana from the ring, then set up Perez for the dropkick into a Cobra Clutch suplex combo. But from the outside of the ring, Santana had yanked down the top rope and sent Zenk spilling to the floor. Perez then staggered Lafon with a back kick and reversed him into a waistlock before hoisting him up into a German Suplex. One …. Two … Three! Perez and Santana are the new AWA Southern Tag champs! No sooner had Perez gotten the three count than he once again executed the Ally-Copter on Lafon, dropping him on his head. Very poor sportsmanship from the new champs. The Return of the Playboy : Buddy Rose vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude Rick Rude, who came to the ring accompanied by Bob Sweetan and Rip Oliver, was greeted by a chorus of jeers from the audience. Buddy Rose, however, for all that he seemed a bit subdued in his entrance, got a very warm response from the crowd. The San Francisco fans may have booed the Playboy for years, but they clearly were taking his side against the arrogant Rude. Rude just used this to fuel his anger, going full throttle in his attacks on Buddy Rose. Rose stayed cool and kept ducking and dodging, flummoxing his much younger opponent. Rose had made his comeback and looked like he might just pull off the victory when he made a serious tactical error, whipping Rude into the ropes for a back body drop, only to duck his head far too soon. Rude gave an evil grin and grabbed Rose’s head for the Rude Awakening DDT …. Only for Rose to swiftly and sharply ram his knee up into Rude’s testicles. The Playboy was playing possum! He quickly grabbed the staggered Rude and executed the Inside Out Backbreaker. One … Two … Three! Buddy Rose just beat “Ravishing” Rick Rude! The crowd leapt to their feet in approval while the Bad News Breakers were aghast. They couldn’t believe what they just saw. Oliver and Sweetan rushed the ring after the match and started to put the boots to Rose, but a man came out of nowhere into the ring, swinging a chair and running off the Bad News Breakers. It was “The Polish Prince” Ed Wiskowski, who hadn’t been seen in the AWA in some time. For a second , it looked like he might just hit Rose with the chair, but instead he dropped the chair, helped Rose to his feet and embraced his old friend. It was a truly surreal scene as Wiskowski and Rose stood in the middle of the ring, soaking up the applause of the fans. AWA Six Man Tag Title match : The Road Warriors & Paul Orndorff © vs. Mr. Olympia, Mike George & Kamala As chaotic a match as you can imagine, with the Six Man champs taking on the World Tag champs along with the terrifying Kamala. The Road Warriors and Orndorff finally took the match with a huge triple shoulder block on Mike George, but even after the match, Kamala crazily attacked all three of his opponents. Clearly, the Ugandan Headhunter cannot be contained. AWA World Title match : Ken Patera © vs. "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell An epic match between two huge heavyweights, with Patera trying to squeeze the fight out of Blackwell with bearhugs and attempts at the full nelson, and Blackwell trying to take Patera’s pins out from under him with various leg submissions. The end came when Patera tried to power slam the enormous Blackwell, only for his leg to give out from under him and both men spilled to the outside of the ring, where they wound up being counted out.

(I know these shows are a day early, but they were written and ready to go, so I figured what the hey) AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for September 14th Once again, we will start off our show with a match from the recent Johnny Rougeau Memorial Tournament, hosted by our friends at Lutte Internationale in Montreal. Due to the length of the original match, this match has been edited to fit our TV format. Tito Santana (AWA) vs Bret Hart (w/Jimmy Hart) (WWF) An excellent battle was to be anticipated in this match and it lived up to the hype. Both men’s cardio were definitely put to the test but no worries as Santana & Bret are arguably 2 of the fittest men in pro wrestling. They treated the fans to a wrestling clinic throughout the duration of their match. Jimmy Hart tried to interfere towards the end of the match but Tito nailed him with the Flying Forearm Smash and put him out of commission for the remainder of the match. Tito nailed Bret with the Flying Forearm Smash for the nearfall. Then, Bret was able to hit Tito with the 2nd rope flying clothesline and only got a 2 count. Multiple rollups and small packages exchanged in the final moments. Tito finally nailed Bret with a second Flying Forearm Smash but couldn’t get the 3 count before the time limit expires! Unfortunately, the match is a draw but the audience gave both men a well-deserved standing ovation on their way out. Time limit draw – both Tito Santana & Bret Hart are eliminated Al Perez vs. Phil Lafon Perez and his partner, Ricky Santana , have lately been gunning for the AWA Southern Tag Title match, held by Lafon and Tom Zenk. In spite of Perez’ tactics of late, most of this match was a fast paced and purely technical bout, with lots of exchanges of takedowns and weardown holds. Then, Perez whipped Lafon into the corner and Lafon ran up the turnbuckle to come back with a flying back body press. Perez flipped over and reversed it, grabbing a fistful of trunks for leverage to get the pin. That was not enough for Perez, and the moment the ref had counted three, he picked up Lafon and executed the Ally-Copter on him, dropping him on his head. Clearly, the Latin Heartthrob will be ruthless in his pursuit of his first AWA title. Rematch : "The Young Gentleman" Steve Jones vs. Pat Tanaka After the shocking loss to the young rookie Jones last week, Tanaka insisted on a rematch to try to even the score. For this match, Tanaka brought out “Golden” Chick Donovan to be in his corner, while Jones brought out Mike Rotunda , who has taken an interest in the progress of the “Young Gentleman”, to watch his back. Taking a different tactic for this match, Tanaka chose to forego his traditional karate kicks to instead work over Jones’ right arm with various armlocks, aiming to disable his big Iron Fist punch. Jones, for his part, countered with a series of leg submissions to weaken Tanaka’s deadly thrust kick finisher, as Rotunda nodded in approval from his corner. Once again, this worked out to an exciting technical match up, with both men’s corner men urging them on from the sidelines. Jones tried to finish the match by whipping Tanaka into the ropes and going for the Iron Fist punch, but Tanaka dodged it and countered with a hammerlock. Jones then reversed it with a Sleeper hold. Jones worked hard to get it cinched in, but Tanaka worked just as desperately to work his way out of the hold, and looked like he just might escape it. We will never know, though, as Chick Donovan chose this time to rush into the ring and clobber Jones in the back of the head with a set of knucks. The ref immediately called for the bell and awarded the match to Jones by DQ. Tanaka was livid, shouting at Donovan that he already had a handle on things, and even joining Rotunda in helping up Jones. Tanaka left with Donovan, but was clearly not happy with the Golden One. Rick Rude vs. Tom Zenk Speaking of livid, Rick Rude continued his trend of being progressively more annoyed with the world as he came to the ring sporting a ferocious scowl. Clearly upset at not being through with “Playboy” Buddy Rose, he proceeded to take all of his frustrations out on Zenk, taking him down with clotheslines before savaging with brutal kicks while he was on the ground. He dropped Zenk to the mat with the Rude Awakening DDT, then immediately picked him back up and hit another Rude Awakening before getting the pin. The Nor-Am Express are both in rough shape going into their big title defense. Kamala, The Ugandan Headhunter vs. Vinnie Valentino After his shocking appearance at the Met Center show last week, Kamala was making his first appearance on AWA TV. He was accompanied by his manager, Sheikh Adnan Kaissie, and when the bell rang to start the match, Kamala just looked around, seeming confused. But then Kaissie pointed at Valentino and Kamala sprang into action, charging across the ring and bowling him over with big chops before stomping on him while he was down. The Latin Lover was overwhelmed by the huge Kamala, who hammered him with elbow smashes and drops before hitting a huge Air Africa splash on his back. Kamala tried to pin him while Valentino was face down, but Kaissie clapped from ringside and Kamala rolled Valentino over to get the pinfall. If it wasn’t going to be hard enough to take on the Sinister Syndicate before, it looks impossible now with the mighty Kamala in their ranks. AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Don Muraco Muraco may be focused on taking the American Title from Tito Santana, but that won’t stop him from trying to beat the Southern champ while he is at it. Muraco used his incredible size and strength to hammer the Dragon, while Steamboat showed why he is the Southern champion with his fiery comebacks and martial arts moves. Every time Steamboat thought he had Muraco off balance, the Magnificent One would drive him to the match with a huge slam , and every time Muraco thought he had steamboat down for the count, Steamboat would will himself back up to his feet and blistering Muraco with precision chops. Eventually , Muraco got Steamboat trapped in the corner and started raining down huge fists on him. The ref tried to separate the two, only for a big backhand by Muraco to send him sprawling to the mat. The ref called for the DQ but Muraco didn’t seem to card, and soon Bad New Allen ran into the ring to continue the abuse. The were about to set up Steamboat for a Spike Piledriver when Tito Santana ran to the ring and the two members of the Bad News Breakers scattered.

Several big shows coming up this week in the AWA. AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for September 14th More footage from the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup Al Perez vs. Phil Lafon Rematch : "The Young Gentleman" Steve Jones vs. Pat Tanaka Rick Rude vs. Tom Zenk Kamala, The Ugandan Headhunter vs. Vinnie Valentino AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Don Muraco AWA Show at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, September 14th (to be shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. Mike Rotunda, Steve Jones & Koko Ware Da Crusher vs. Gama Singh Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne vs. The Long Riders AWA Southern Tag Title match : The Nor-Am Express © vs. Al Perez & Ricky Santana The Return of the Playboy : Buddy Rose vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude AWA Six Man Tag Title match : The Road Warriors & Paul Orndorff © vs. Mr. Olympia, Mike George & Kamala AWA World Title match : Ken Patera © vs. "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell AWA Show at the Portland Memorial Coliseum , Portland, September 15th Mike Rotunda & Steve Jones vs. Badd Company The Cuban Commandos & The Great Gama Singh vs. Da Crusher & The Latin Lovers Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bob Sweetan AWA Southern Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco "Ravishing" Rick Rude & Rip Oliver vs. Buddy Rose & ? Ken Patera & Kamala vs. Paul Orndorff & "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell

Abdullah for the 21st and 22nd, please.

You promised something big for OMG and Sweet Jebus you delivered.

AWA show at Cobo Hall, Detroit, September 8th Mike Rotunda & Steve Jones vs. Badd Company Rotuna won for his time when he hit the Samoan Drop on Tanaka Tom Zenk vs. Al Perez Perez won with the Ally-Copter Koko Ware & Master Gee vs. Rip Oliver & Rick Rude The Playboy Club won when Rude got the Rude Awakening DDT on Master Gee Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bad News Allen Bad News won with the Bad News Blaster Da Crusher vs. Mike Shaw Shaw won with the Avalanche in the corner The Long Riders vs. Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig The Long Riders won with a bullrope assisted double lariat on Gagne AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bob Sweetan Steamboat won with the running cross body press Paul Orndorff, Ron Garvin & Jerry Blackwell vs. Ken Patera, Mike George & Mr. Olympia Blackwell’s team won when he got George with a power slam. After the match, Kamala charged in and attacked Blackwell’s team, hitting the Air Africa splash on Garvin

When the deal wound up falling into place to bring in Mike Rotunda/Rotundo/Rotondo , I immediately had plans for using him both short term and long term. I am really looking forward to the angles I am laying out for him. True story : George Wells (Master Gee) was my first favorite wrestler. Canadian WWF wrestling shows when I first started watching (in the mid 80s) was a fair bit different, with fewer top level guys and the upper level enhancement guys (like Wells, Lanny Poffo and even Steve Gatorwolf) being brought up a notch or two on the pecking order and getting wins over other equivalent talent. It broke my heart when I went to visit my grandparents in Newfoundland that summer and watched WWF Superstars on US TV and saw Wells being used as a job guy (ironically against US Express). Master Gee is in a bit of a low period right now, having lost his partner, but I do have plans for him that some may find unusual. Kamala is a great addition that really freshens up the Sinister Syndicate and the upper card.

AWA show at the Met Center, Bloomington, September 7th (as shown on AWA Super Cards on ESPN) Mike Rotunda vs. Paul Diamond Rotunda won with the Samoan Drop The Long Riders vs. Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig Gagne & Hennig won with the double Axe Lariat on Bill Irwin Koko Ware vs. Pat Tanaka Ware won with the Ghostbuster AWA World Tag Title match : Mr. Olympia & Mike George © vs. The Road Warriors The Road Warriors won by DQ when Sheikh Adnan Kaissie knocked Hawk off the top rope when he was setting up for a flying clothesline. The Syndicate retained the tag titles AWA American Title match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco When Muraco was knocked to the outside, Santana went for a top rope flying clothesline to the outside, but Muraco ducked it and Santana went crashing to the floor. Muraco was able to drag Santana back into the ring, but by then it was too late and the match went to a double count out. Muraco hit the belly to belly piledriver on Santana after the match. AWA Southern Tag Title match : The Nor-Am Express ©vs. Al Perez & Ricky Santana The Nor-Am Express won when Lafon hit a reverse back body press on Santana AWA World Title : Ken Patera © vs. Paul Orndorff In a lengthy and tough match, an exhausted Paul Orndorff was struggling to get the big Patera up in the Piledriver when Kaissie signaled to the back of the arena. A huge man charged the ring and started attacking Orndorff with big overhand chops. It was Kamala, the Ugandan Headhunter! Kaissie’s latest weapon to protect Patera’s belt attacked Orndorff before hitting the running Air Africa splash on him. He looked set to give another when Ron Garvin and Jerry Blackwell rushed out to run them off.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for September 7th First up, we continue our coverage of the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup, once again courtesy of our good friends in Lutte Internationale from Quebec. Match #14 Brett Wayne Sawyer (Independent) vs Ron Garvin (AWA) It was up to Brett Wayne Sawyer to save the honor of the former Portland representatives in this match vs Ron Garvin. A very hard-hitting match as both men are refusing to give any chance to the other to get the victory. We’re getting closer to the time limit and Ron Garvin is about to lock in the Figure Four on Sawyer but Sawyer blocks him and shoves him in the corner. Sawyer picks up the win with a shoulderbreaker at 13:43 to advance. Winner: Brett Wayne Sawyer (13:43) – advances to 2nd round Match #2 Tommy Lane (SMW) vs Tito Santana (AWA) Many people were hoping to see Raymond Rougeau in lieu of Tommy Lane in this match but this one definitely played out to Tito Santana’s advantage as the crowd was firmly behind him for this match. Lane thought at one point that he had scored the victory over Tito Santana after holding the tights but Tito Santana had kicked out anyway. Tito then used Lane’s anger to his advantage as he picked up the win at 4:38 with his Flying Forearm Smash. Winner: Tito Santana (4:38) – advances to quarter-finals “Golden” Chick Donovan vs. Mike Rotunda This was the first appearance in the AWA for young Mike Rotunda, who brings with him very impressive amateur wrestling credentials as a letterman at the University of Syracuse as well as several years of professional experience. Although Chick Donovan didn’t seem too impressed with Rotunda when he got to the ring, Rotunda soon had complete dominance over the Golden One, taking him down with a lightning quick Fireman’s Carry takedown before overwhelming him with amateur and Greco-Roman moves. Donovan went to his usual bag of dirty tricks, trying for eye gouges and low blows, but Rotunda had him well scouted and blocked those moves before they got out of the gate. Rotunda decided that he had enough of Donovan and flattened him with a leaping clothesline before hitting a Samoan Drop for the win. Rotunda looks ready to shine among the impressive new, young talent in the AWA. Pat Tanaka vs. Steve Jones Speaking of young talent, the “Young Gentleman” Steve Jones hasn’t been able to pick up any wins since his arrival but has still impressed with his wrestling skills. This time out, he would be taking on an extremely skilled second generation wrestler in one half of Badd Company, “Sensei” Pat Tanaka. It was a match up of Jones’ technical wrestling abilities against Tanaka’s lightning quick martial arts strikes. The balanced tipped back and forth throughout the match, hinting the match could go either way, but it looked like Jones would once again be on the short end of the stick as Tanaka staggered him with a back heel kick and then sent him into the ropes for the thrust kick to polish him off. Jones, though, was able to duck at the last second and then come back and hit Tanaka with a big right haymaker that caught him right on the point of the chin and sent him right to the mat, completely lights out. Jones actually stood there for a couple of seconds, astonished by what he just did, but then went for the cover and got the one two three. Steve Jones had gotten his first win in the AWA! He then helped Tanaka to his feet and offered his hand as a show of respect and sportsmanship and Tanaka, although still dazed and confused by what just happened, begrudgingly shook his hand. Rick Rude vs. Master Gee Rude came to the ring with Bob Sweetan and Rip Oliver at his back, seemingly even more arrogant than before, if that was possible. More arrogant and more mean and angry as he tore into Master Gee, sending him to the mat with a clothesline and kicking him viciously. After brutalizing him with slams and suplexes, he nailed an especially nasty Rude Awakening DDT for the pin. After the match, Rude was met outside the ring by Ken Resnick with the mic. Resnick : Ravishing Rick Rude, what is your reaction to the news regarding “Playboy” Buddy Rose? Rude : Rose? Ha! I took care of that idiot two weeks ago. You won’t be seeing the Doughboy ever again! Resnick : Well, news has just gotten out that the AWA president has just set up a singles match between you and Buddy Rose in one week at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Rude : WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE! Rose, you just don’t know when to quit! If having a match with him is what it takes, I will make sure he never shows his face in the AWA again! Da Crusher vs. Gerry Morrow Crusher seemed to be in especially good spirits, bringing a small keg of beer and a stack of cups with him to the ring. Morrow, who had his partner Angel Acevedo in his corner, was visibly unamused by Crusher’s antics but the crowd ate it up. Crusher kept Morrow off balance throughout the match, knocking him all over the ring and then taking a break to have a sip from his cup of refreshment. Gama Sing came out midway through the match and was clearly seething at what he saw. Morrow briefly rallied but it didn’t last long before Crusher nailed him with the running Bolo Punch for the win. As he left the ring, Crusher good naturedly offered Gama a cup of beer, but Gama angrily slapped the cup and the beer all over Crusher’s face. This infuriated Crusher, either at the show of disrespect or the waste of bear, and he immediately started to exchange fists with the Great Gama. This provoked a response from the Cuban Commandos, but the AWA officials swarmed in to separate both sides. Bad New Allen & Don Muraco vs. Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana Steamboat and Santana, both singles champion, are two of the most talented wrestlers in the AWA, but they were starting to seem overwhelmed by the two heaviest hitters in the Bad News Breakers. They tried wrestling with Allen and Muraco, only to be sent to the mat with massive take downs and double teams. They switched tactics to fighting, only to find the Bad News Breakers more than willing to throw down, taking two shots to get one good one in. Action spilled to the outside of the ring with Santana and Muraco exchanging big fists, until Bad News Allen came up and jacked Santana in the back of the head with a huge punch. Muraco then grabbed Santana and hit Santana with the belly to belly piledriver before going back in the ring, getting the victory by countout. Santana had to be helped to the back by Steamboat, and it looks like their belts are now in serious jeopardy.

Strangely enough, Bad News and Steamboat also have a lot of similarities (martial arts, experience in Japan) but go about them in completely different ways. I had been looking to move the Six Man belts up to the big leagues, and was going over options for who to put with the Road Warriors. Then Orndorff crossed my mind and the lightbulb went on.

A perfect climax to an epic summer season from USWA.

AWA show at the Saddledome, Calgary, September 9th Steve Jones vs. Chavo Guerrero Chavo won with the German Suplex AWA Southern Tag Title match : The Nor-Am Express © vs. Al Perez & Ricky Santana The Nor-Am Express won when Zenk dropkicked Santana into a Cobra Clutch Suplex by Lafon Tito Santana & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Don Muraco & Rick Rude The Bad News Breakers won when Muraco hit the belly to belly piledriver on Wahoo AWA World Tag Title match : Mr. Olympia & Mike George © vs. Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne The Sinister Syndicate won when Olympia headbutted Gagne from behind with the loaded mask, followed by a shoulder breaker from George AWA Six Man Tag Title match : The Cuban Commandos & Great Gama Singh vs. ? Both the champs and the fans were anxious with anticipation for just who the challengers would be. The crowd then exploded when “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath played over the PA , and the Road Warriors and Paul Orndorff came charging out at top speed! The expression on the faces of the Commandos could best summed up as, “Oh no, not again!”, but they were determined to tough out this challenge and give as good as they got. In the end, though, they wound up being overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Road Warriors and Mr. Wonderful, and when Orndorff hit the piledriver on Jerry Morrow, we had new Six Man champions. AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw. Both Steamboat and Allen were laying into each other with blistering chops as the clock wound down.

I've come to the realization about my main heel factions, the Sinister Syndicate are the intimidating powerhouse crew at the top, and Col. Buck Robley's Army are the sleazy scummy gutter dwellers, but the Bad News Breakers are just a bunch of complete assholes.

When I looked at the angles that were going down on this card (Manny vs. Curt Loser Leaves Town, blowoff match for Blackwell and Gang, Patera vs. Garvin in the cage), I realized that it was going to have to have a lot of blood and just went with it.

AWA show at the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, August 31st (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Al Perez vs. Steve Jones Perez won with the German Suplex Koko Ware vs. Ricky Santana Ware won after hitting a top rope flying dropkick The Bad News Breakers (Bad New Allen, Don Muraco, Bob Sweetan, Rip Oliver & Rick Rude) vs Ricky Steamboat, Tito Santana, Wahoo McDaniel & The Nor-Am Express (Phil Lafon & Tom Zenk) In a lengthy but exciting match, the Bad News Breakers won when Allen hit the Bad News Blaster on Lafon Loser Leaves Town Match : Manny Fernandez vs. Curt Hennig In an intense brawl where both men were busted open, Fernandez looked like he was about to finish Hennig off with the Flying Burrito forearm, only for Hennig to duck at the last moment and, after Fernandez had crashed to the mat, Hennig picked him up and got him in the Cradle Suplex for the win to send the Ragin’ Bull out of the AWA. No DQ Match : “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell vs. One Man Gang Another bloody match where Gang’s chain wound up being used a lot by both men, Gang wound up throttling Blackwell of the chain, only for Blackwell to power up out of the strangle hold and take the chain off Gang and start pounding him with the chain until Gang finally went down to the mat. Blackwell then landed a chain assisted elbow drop for the exhausted pin. It took six men to take One Man Gang out on a stretcher AWA Canadian Title match : Rick Martel © vs. Mike Shaw Shaw worked over Martel’s damaged ribs relentlessly and was looking to put Martel away with a running splash, but Martel was able to roll out of the way and Shaw went down hard on the mat. Martel then wrapped up Shaw in a double leg cradle to escape with his title. AWA World Title Cage match : Ken Patera © vs. Ron Garvin The local blood banks were certainly kept busy by tonight’s show, as both competitors were bleeding by the end of this match. In an epic showdown, Garvin blasted Patera with many big punches but was unable to put him down for long. Garvin looked like he was winding up for the big Hands Of Stone Punch when Patera grabbed him in a mighty bearhug and drove him hard , back first, into the corner. He then hoisted Garvin over his shoulder and drove him to the match with a huge power slam to finally get the pin.