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AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN, August 31st First up is a special treat for our AWA fans. Recently, our good friends at Lutte Internationale in Quebec held a special tournament, the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup in Montreal, and several of our AWA wrestlers participated. By kind permission of Lutte Internationale, we will have on All-Star Wrestling 3 of the first round matches that featured AWA wrestlers. Al Perez (AWA) vs Tom Pritchard (w/Sunshine) (SMW) Al Perez obviously is the underdog in this match, despite gaining a lot of momentum in the AWA recently, since he’s facing the current Smokey Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Tom Pritchard. Guy Hauray mentions how Al Perez must be careful of Sunshine’s actions at ringside. During the match, Pritchard reverses an irish whip and Al Perez almost collides with referee Luigi Macera. Pritchard then dropkicks Perez and he runs into the referee. Macera is momentarily dazed and Sunshine throws in the ring her loaded purse to Tom Pritchard. Pritchard is about to hit Perez but he kicks him in the gut and he drops the purse. Pritchard goes down and Al Perez picks up the purse. However, bad timing as referee Luigi Macera recovers and spots Perez with the smoking gun in his hands. Referee calls for the bell and Tom Pritchard is awarded the match by disqualification! Pritchard & Sunshine quickly flee the scene while celebrating their devious victory! Winner: Tom Pritchard by DQ (4:51) – advances to 2nd round Tito Santana (AWA) vs Superstar Billy Graham (Mid-Atlantic) The crowd seems to be solidly behind Tito Santana in this one. It is clear that Superstar is trying to overmatch Santana with his power and he’s being successful for most of the match. We’re in the final moments of the match and we could very well be headed to another time limit draw. But with less than 30 seconds to go, Tito Santana hits Superstar with his flying forearm smash and pins him at 14:32 to advance! Winner: Tito Santana (14:32) – advances to 2nd round Bret Hart (w/Jimmy Hart) (WWF) vs Don Muraco (AWA) A similar situation like the previous match with the speed of Bret Hart takes on the strength of Don Muraco. One would think that Jimmy Hart would’ve been a distraction at ringside but he proved to be a non-factor as Bret Hart gets the win on Don Muraco at 4:27 after a 2nd rope clothesline. Winner: Bret Hart (4:27) – advances to 2nd round Tom Zenk vs. “The Young Gentleman” Steve Jones The young rookie Jones got roughed up last week by Rick Rude, but this time out, Zenk gave him a pure technical match up, with a lot of exchanges of holds and near falls. After seven minutes of hot action, Zenk whipped Jones into the ropes, only for Jones to come back and hit him with a clotheline that sent him over the ropes. Zenk manages to catch the top rope, however, and raced up the corner turnbuckles to hit a flying cross body press to get a quick one two three. After the match, Jones held out his hand to Zenk as a show of respect. Zenk graciously shook his hand and then held up Jones arm, to the applause of the fans. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick : Folks, my next guests have been in the middle of a lot of controversy in the AWA … the Bad News Breakers! (The crowd explodes in boos as Bad New Allen, Don Muraco, Bob Sweetan, Rip Oliver and Rick Rude make their way to the ring. They all seem to soak up and be enjoying the boos, with the exception of Rude, who looks like he just bit into a lemon) Resnick : Bad News Allen, you sure are looking like the cat that ate the canary after what you did to Playboy Buddy Rose. Bad News : Don’t give me no lip, Resnick! Doughboy Rose found out the hard way that you don’t mess with the Bad News Breakers, or else it will be bad news for you! You think you can stick your nose in our business, Rose? You think you can try to poach our talent? We taught that beer bellied share cropper a lesson he ain’t never going to forget, and you won’t be seeing the Doughboy around here any time soon. Resnick : Rick Rude, “Playboy” Buddy Rose has given you guidance since you arrived in the AWA, and yet you left the Playboy Club for the Bad News Breakers. What’s the deal? Rude : *PLAYBOY* Buddy Rose? That fat tub of goo is no Playboy. This is what a real sexy man looks like. That waste of space thought that he could tell me what to do and how to do it. Nobody does that to the Ravishing One. Now I am with a group that appreciates what I am worth, and I have left Buddy Rose in the dust. Resnick : Rip Oliver, Rick Rude leaving the Playboy Club is surprising, but you leaving is unbelievable. You and Buddy Rose have been friends since before you came to the AWA and now you stab him in the back. What gives? Oliver : Friend? Buddy Rose was never my friend. I worked with him, but it got me nowhere. There’s an old saying, you go where the talent is. And this *pointing to Rick Rude* is the talent. The Playboy Club is dead, and now the AWA is going to have to deal with the Bad News Breakers. AWA Six Man Tag Title match : The Cuban Commandos & Gama Singh © vs. The Latin Lovers & Master Gee The Cuba Commandos and Great Gama were defending their newly won Six Man Tag titles and were clearly very cocky about it. They pushed the Latin Lovers and Master Gee around the ring and snuck in all sorts of cheap shots, just because they could. Angel Acevedo hit an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Vinnie Valentino, and that put an end to their challenge. The champs didn’t have long to gloat, however, as after the match, it was announced that they would be defending their belts at the upcoming show in the Calgary Saddledome against a new, top challenger. Manny Fernandez & Mike Shaw vs. Curt Hennig & Rick Martel The feud between Hennig and Fernandez will end, one way or another, in Winnipeg, but before that, they squared off in a tag match, with Fernandez once again bringing in the big Tank and Hennig in turn teaming with the Canadian champion. Martel was sporting bandaged ribs and seemed to be favoring his right ankle, mementos of his recent efforts in the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup, and the Army targeted these mercilessly throughout the match. Martel showed his resilience as he weathered out the assault and was able to tag in Hennig, who was the proverbial house afire as he knocked Fernandez around the ring before hitting the Axe Lariat and getting the pin. He managed to defeat the Ragin’ Bull, but could he get the big win when it counted most? Ron Garvin & “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell vs. Ken Patera & One Man Gang Garvin may be campaigning to win the AWA World Title from Ken Patera, but the big (and I mean big) story of this match was the war between “Crusher” Blackwell and One Man Gang. These two super heavyweights battled each other so intensely, it seemed as though the very ring would break. At one point, Blackwell went for a running cross body press on One Man Gang, only for Gang to catch him, but it soon was too much for the big 747 as he teetered over and both men spilled through the ropes and out of the ring. When they got back to their feet, they continued slugging it out outside the ring until the ref counted them both out. Their feud will reach a head as they face off, one on one, in Winnipeg.

This hurts my heart to say it, but Mike Boyette seems to be pretty much retired after 1983, apart from coming back in 1987 and doing some jobs for UWF. This is according to wrestlingdata.com , if anyone has any contradictory info, let me know.

You are on a long rough road but it sounds like you are making some headway. Will send strength to you, but you clearly have the fighting spirit, even though it might not feel like it for you right now.

A little niggling detail, but if possible, I would like that a couple of guys on my roster be listed as follows : Master Gee (George Wells) Steve Jones (William Regal)

Mike George has been back on the AWA roster for a while now.

If only Ricky Santana were around to sucker punch Prichard for Perez ...

Orndorff has been low profiling it of late, but that is just because I am gearing him up for a truly epic run.

The Playboy Club is dead. But we haven't heard the last from the Playboy.

My Picks for the first round : Butch Reed vs. Nikolai Volkoff - Reed Ricky Morton vs. Randy Savage - Savage Tom Prichard vs. Al Perez - Prichard Eric Embry vs. Terry Gordy - Gordy Tommy Lane vs. Raymond Rougeau - Rougeau Tito Santana vs. Superstar Graham - Santana Don Muraco vs. Bret Hart - Muraco (I know, I know, but it is 1984) Buddy Landell vs. Jacques Rougeau - by a hair, Rougeau Dick Slater vs. Barry Windham - hurts to say, but Slater Austin Idol vs. Dusty Rhodes - Rhodes Kerry Von Erich vs. George Steele - Von Erich Larry Zbyszko vs. Jay Youngblood - close one, but Youngblood Rick Martel vs. Bobby Jaggers - Martel Bret Sawyer vs. Ron Garvin - Garvin (oh please, oh please, not because Garvin is my guy but because I would love to see Garvin vs. Martel) Bob Orton vs. The Flame - going out on a limb here and saying the Flame Robert Gibson vs. Mike Davis - Gibson

AWA show at the International Amphitheatre, Chicago, August 25th Steve Jones vs. Paul Diamond Diamond won with the Superkick Al Perez & Ricky Santana vs. The Latin Lovers Perez won with the German Suplex on Cruz Koko Ware vs. Great Gama Singh Ware won with the top rope flying dropkick Curt Hennig vs. Mike Shaw Hennig won by countout when he hit the Axe Lariat on the outside Paul Orndorff vs. One Man Gang Orndorff won with a running kneedrop on One Man Gang Rick Steamboat & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Bad News Allen & Bob Sweetan The Bad News Breakers won when Allen hit the Bad News Blaster on McDaniel Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight : The Long Riders vs. The Road Warriors In a long bloody brawl where all four men were busted open by the Long Riders’ cow bells, the Warriors finally got the win when they double shoulder tackled Bill Irwin into the ringside barricade AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco This match went to a 30 minute time limit draw

AWA show at the Mecca , Milwaukee, August 24th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) AWA Six Man Tag Title match : Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. The Cuban Commandos & Gama Singh When the match broke down, Chick Donovan pulled out the brass knuckles and tried to hit Angel Acevedo with them, but Acevedo kicked him in the gut, took the knucks and used them to hit Paul Diamond (the legal man in the ring) to get the pin. The Cuban Commandos & Gama Singh won the AWA Six Man Tag Titles. Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ricky Santana McDaniel won with the running Tomahawk Chip Curt Hennig, Greg Gagne & Da Crusher vs. Manny Fernandez, Mike Shaw & Buck Robley Hennig’s team won when he and Gagne hit a double lariat on Robley One Man Gang vs. Crusher Blackwell The match went to a no contest when the ref ended up getting crushed in the corner between the two men The Bad News Breakers vs. The Playboy Club All six men were brawling in the ring when Buddy Rose held up Bad News Allen for Rick Rude to come off the top rope with an elbow smash on him, only for Allen to get out of the way at the last second and Rude hit Rose instead. Allen then gave a huge elbow drop for the pinfall. After the match, Rose berated Rude for his mistake until Rude responded with a vicious, open handed slap. The shocked Rose signaled Oliver to join him in responding to Rude, only for Oliver to knock Rose to the ground with a knee lift. Rude, Oliver and the Bad News Breakers put the boots to Rose until Rude lifted him up and got the Rude Awakening DDT on him. Don Muraco then brought a steel chair into the ring and Rude did another Rude Awakening on Rose onto the chair. Rose and Oliver left with the Bad News Breakers as Rose lay in a bloody heap in the ring. AWA World Tag Title match : The Mothership Connection vs. Mr. Olympia & Mike George With Parsons dealing with an injured shoulder, the Connection were at a distinct disadvantage in this match, but fought mightily in spite of it, and looked like they just might pull it off when Parsons went up top to hit the flying Rumper Stumper on George. Mr. Olympia dashed these hopes, however, when he shoved Parsons off the top turnbuckle and hit his own top rope flying dropkick on Parsons. Mike George then got the Shoulder Breaker on Parsons injured shoulder and got the pin. The Sinister Syndicate are the new AWA World Tag Team champs. AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Ron Garvin In a long, bloody match, Garvin had knocked Patera out of the ring with the Hands Of Stone punch. As Garvin tried to pull Patera back into the ring, Patera smashed Garvin in the face with the back of a steel chair outside of the ref’s eye sight. Patera then covered the unconscious Garvin for the win.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for August 24th Koko Ware vs. Chick Donovan This would be the first AWA appearance for Koko Ware, taking on part of the Six Man Tag champs, and he got a great response from the fans, dancing and showboating to get the crowd revved up. He easily took down the Golden One with a series of armdrags and dropkicks and kept Donovan off balance throughout the match. Several attempts by Donovan to cheat his way to an advantage could not keep the irrepressible Birdman down and when Ware went up top and hit a picture perfect flying dropkick, that was all she wrote. The fans were left buzzing with excitement over this charismatic new talent coming to the AWA. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick : Folks, my next guests are the members of the Playboy Club. (The crowd boos as Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver and Rick Rude head to the ring. Rose seems to be in good spirits, Oliver is stone faced and Rude looks like a bug flew up his nose.) Resnick : Buddy Rose, one of the most controversial topics in the AWA is the blow up between your Playboy Club and the Bad News Breakers. What’s the deal? Rose : The deal is this , Resnick . Bob Sweetan bailed on the Playboy Club because he knew he didn’t have what it takes to hang with us. No big deal, he wasn’t nearly handsome enough for the club . He then puts together his own gang and calls them the Bad News Breakers. Hey, no problem, his business is his business. But then they get their noses out of joint because we signed up Rick Rude before they could. Well, tough break, Bad News Bears! A prize stallion like this has no part with a bunch of broken down mules, he should be in a championship stable. This handsome devil is Playboy Club through and through. Resnick : Speaking of Ravishing Rick Rude, it seemed there was a bit of difference of opinion between you two in the past few matches. Are there some cracks in the Playboy Club? Rose : Now don’t go trying to stir up trouble, Ken. That’s just youthful high spirits. Rick is young, he has some definite opinions, but needs to learn to listen to the voice of experience. Once he starts to pay attention to his betters, he will start to really be something. Resnick : Is this true, Rick Rude? Rude : (twitches his mustache and is talking behind gritted teeth) It’s a great honor to be included in the Playboy Club. I am looking forward to showing just what I am capable of. Rose : Ha ha, that’s the spirit, Ricky! (Rose playfully musses Rick Rude’s hair, fails to notice that Rude is staring daggers back at him) Mr. Olympia vs. Master Gee Master Gee was once again having to go it alone against one of the members of the Sinister Syndicate. He seemed very determined to prove himself before his Tat Title defense, knocking over Olympia with tackles and working over his legs. He made a concerted effort to put Olympia in the Master Lock and at one point had seemingly got it locked in on the masked man. Olympia was too close to the ropes, however, and the ref forced Master Gee to break the hold. While the ref was ushering Master Gee back, Olympia slipped something inside his mask and, when Master Gee came back, Olympia staggered him with a loaded headbutt. After Master Gee was caught off guard, Olympia grabbed him and hit the belly to belly piledriver for the win. The Mothership Connection are going to have to really pull something out to keep their belts against the Syndicate. Greg Gagne vs. Manny Fernandez Fernandez is in the middle of a fight to destroy the new pairing of Gagne and Curt Hennig and, while his sights are clearly set on Hennig, he looked set to take out his frustrations on Gagne. Greg tried mightily to bring the match under control and counter Fernandez’ brawling with technical wrestling and scientific takedowns, Fernandez kept firing back with big fists and pure rage. Eventually Gagne had enough and started exchanging his own punches with the Ragin’ Bull. The ref tried to bring the match back within the rules but kept getting shoved aside by Fernandez and Gagne, ultimately getting knocked to the ground as the two brawled. The ref called for the DQ on both men as they continued to slug it out long after the bell. Rick Rude vs. Steve Jones This is the AWA debut for Jones, a cheerful young English rookie, and the crowd greeted him warmly as he high fived the fans on his way to the ring. He offered his palm for a handshake to Rude, who had Buddy Rose in his corner, but Rude was having none of it, who just glowered at the young Englishman. Determined not to let that throw him off his game, Jones started strong , displaying impressive technical skills with several big take downs and arm locks. Rude started to get riled up and started responding with some blistering punches. Jones was equally ready to exchange fists with Rude, managing to land a big right hook to Rude’s mouth that caused his lip to swell up and bleed. This shot to his handsome face enraged Rude, who proceeded to tear apart Jones with punches and slams before putting on an especially vicious Rude Awakening DDT for the pin. This wasn’t enough for Rude, who started kicking Jones before picking him up and setting him up for another Rude Awakening, only to be pulled off by Buddy Rose, who told him to calm down and get control of himself. Bad News Allen, Don Muraco & Bob Sweetan vs. Rick Steamboat, Tito Santana & ? Steamboat and Santana had been promising a big surprise for their match with the Bad News Breakers, and they certainly delivered, bringing out none other than Chief Wahoo McDaniel. The crowd exploded when the Chief came out, cheering as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Steamboat and Santana. The Bad News Breakers didn’t initially seem to be intimidated by McDaniel, but were clearly not ready for his all out offense, blistering them with chops and knocking them down to the mat. This match raged back and forth, with neither side holding a decisive advantage for long, but it took a strange turn when Buddy Rose snuck down to ringside, unseen by either side. When Sweetan and McDaniel knocked heads together , Sweetan stumbled to the ropes, where Rose jumped up on the ring apron, grabbed Sweetan by the head and snapped him throat-first onto the top rope. As Sweetan bounced back, he was greeted by a running overhand Tomahawk chop by McDaniel, which led to the pinfall by the Chief and his team. The Bad News Breakers were furious with Rose, but he had already scampered back to the locker room.

Guys, as you may have noticed, I have stepped up my writing from one house show posted per week in addition to the All-Star Wrestling TV broadcast to 2 house shows per week, one shown on ESPN Super Cards and one not. I know it might seem like a bit much, given my tendency to slip a week or two behind schedule, but the house shows for me are the easiest ones to plot and write. As such, I am sort of expanding my territory, running shows in towns where people are no longer running circuits. If anyone has a problem with me running with any of these towns, let me know and I will make alternate plans, and if anyone decides to re-open any of these circuits, I will gladly step aside and move those shows to other towns. Here is my planned monthly circuit : Week One - Bloomington , Detroit Week Two - San Francisco, Portland Week Three - Milwaukee, Chicago Week Four - Winnipeg, Calgary (For months that have 5 weeks, my skip week shows will be in Denver and Salt Lake City, where the AWA already ran shows)

Ah well, there goes any chance of Masao Orihara & Takeshi Ono being on the same roster. It was always one of my whims in a fantasy booking setting like this to have Minis versions of them called the Tonpachi Machine Pistols.

AWA show at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, August 18th Koko Ware vs. Chick Donovan Ware won with a top rope flying dropkick Rick Rude vs. Steve Jones Rude won with the Rude Awakening DDT Gama Singh vs. Javier Cruz Singh made Cruz submit to the Camel Clutch Chavo Guerrero vs. Manny Fernandez Guerrero won with the top rope flying senton AWA Southern Tag title match : The Nor-Am Express vs. The Cuban Commandos The Nor-Am Express won when Zenk hit Morrow with a slingshot splash AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen The match went to a double countout with both men fighting at ringside The Sinister Syndicate vs. Ron Garvin, Paul Orndorff & The Mothership Connection The Syndicate won when Patera locked Parsons in a Full Nelson after George hit a shoulder breaker on Parsons’ injured shoulder

AWA show at the Denver Auditorium, Denver, August 17th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Al Perez & Ricky Santana vs. The Latin Lovers Perez & Santana won when Santana hit a top rope flying kneedrop on Valentino Ricky Steamboat & Paul Orndorff vs. Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver The Playboy Club were joined at ringside by Rick Rude. Late in the match, Rose whipped Orndorff into the ropes and Rude reached out to snag his leg and trip him. However, at the last second, Orndorff reversed it and sent Rose into the ropes, and Rude mistakenly tripped Rose. Orndorff then took advantage of the staggered Rose and hit the Piledriver for the win. Rose and Rude argued on the way back to the locker room. AWA Six Man Tag Title match : Badd Company & Chick Donovan © vs. The Nor-Am Connection The Nor-Am Connection won by DQ when Donovan slugged the ref. Badd Company & Donovan retained the title. AWA American Title match : Tito Santana © vs. Don Muraco Tito Santana won by DQ when Rick Rude rushed to the ring to attack him. Upset at costing Muraco his title shot, the Bad News Breakers attacked Rude, provoking retaliation by Buddy Rose and Rip Oliver. After the ring was cleared, it was announced that the Bad News Breakers would square off with the Playboy Club at the AWA show in Milwaukee The Road Warriors, Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne vs. The Long Riders, Manny Fernandez & Mike Shaw The Road Warriors team won when Animal Gorilla Pressed Gagne onto Fernandez.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for August 17th Bad News Allen vs. “Wild Man” Jack Armstrong The previous week, Armstrong had taken on one member of the Bad News Breakers in Don Muraco, and now he was facing another in Bad News Allen. Allen had the rest of the Bad News Breakers at ringside during this match, and Sweetan and Muraco proceeded to taunt and jeer at Armstrong throughout the contest. This seemed to only fire up the Wild Man, who caught Allen off guard with an explosion of offense including a lot of big swinging haymakers that knocked him for a loop. He managed to keep on top of Allen with shoulder tackles and kicks and the crowd got their hopes up that possibly the beloved Wild Man was on his way to a major upset. This wound up being cut short when Armstrong whipped Allen hard into the corner and came charging in, only to get a face full of Allen’s big boot. Bad News then proceeded to unleash the fury on Armstrong, taking him down with a series of crushing suplexes and judo throws before standing him up and hitting the Bad News Blaster (double leg enzuigiri). This was not enough for Allen, who dragged Armstrong to his feet and hit another Bad News Blaster before finally going for and getting the pin. After the match, Muraco and Sweetan came into the ring and, seeking to inflict even more punishment on Armstrong, Muraco drove him into the mat with the belly to belly piledriver. Allen then brought in a chair from ringside and Sweetan looked set to piledrive Armstrong right onto the chair, which would have crippled the Wild Man. Luckily for Armstrong, Ricky Steamboat and Tito Santana rushed the ring and ran off the Bad News Breakers before they could complete their nefarious deed. Armstrong was still very badly hurt, and needed to be take to the back on a stretcher. Mr. Olympia & Mike George vs. The Latin Lovers The Latin Lovers continued to have trouble getting in gear in this match, as it seems like the betrayal by Al Perez has truly gotten inside their heads. The Sinister Syndicate, on the other hand, are in the middle of challenging for the AWA World Tag titles and dominated this match with ease. They bounced the Latin Lovers all over the ring, at some points seeming like they were toying with them, before George finally polished off Valentino with the Shoulder Breaker. If the Mothership Connection weren’t concerned before about the threat that Olympia and George posed to their World Tag Title reign, they certainly should be now. Curt Hennig vs. Pat Tanaka This was a match that pitted two up and coming, second generation wrestlers and, in spite of the reputation of Badd Company, was a fairly clean, technical match. Tanaka kept Hennig on his toes with a rapid fire series of martial arts chops and kicks, as well as some spectacular dropkicks. “Cool” Curt, however, showed he was deserving of the nickname as he calmly weathered out the storm before taking over the match. He kept Tanaka firmly in control before finally pinning him with a cradle suplex. He offered a handshake of respect to Tanaka after the match and, somewhat surprisingly, Tanaka accepted it, albeit begrudgingly. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell vs. “The Tank” Mike Shaw With this match of two super heavyweights, it got some wondering if the ring would survive the experience, with first one wrestler then the other slammed down hard onto the mat. The whole ring rocked as these two huge men knocked each other about the ring, with the pendulum of momentum of the match first swinging in one man’s favor, then the other. The match took a turn for the strange when Shaw whipped Blackwell into the corner then, not caring that the referee had gotten himself between the two of them, came in with an avalanche, crushing the ref. The two leviathans continued to slug it out for some time before the ref finally was able to drag himself to his feet, at which point he disqualified both competitors. Seems unfair but that was the decision. Al Perez vs. Master Gee Master Gee was a bit outside his element, wrestling without his Mothership Connection partner Iceman Parsons who had been hurt my Mr. Olympia last week. While Parsons was not at ringside, Al Perez had no compunctions about having his partner, Ricky Santana, accompany him. Santana liberally interfered in the match, either swatting at Master Gee to distract him or complaining to the ref to distract *him* . Master Gee rallied with some big tackles to gain the advantage, but when he went up top to go for a flying dropkick, Santana snagged his ankle to send him tumbling to the mat. Perez swiftly took advantage and got him in the Ally-Copter for the win. This won’t do the Mothership Connection’s confidence any good going into their defense against the Sinister Syndicate. Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver & Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat, Tito Santana & Da Crusher Of late, Ricky Steamboat and Tito Santana have been in the uncomfortable position of fighting a war on two fronts, fending off challenges from the Playboy Club on one side and the Bad News Breakers on the other. In this match, they had to face a particularly vicious offense from the Playboy Club, especially from the rookie Rick Rude. They had their good friend Da Crusher on their side, but even the flying fists of the Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous seemed overmatch by the Club. Sure enough, eventually the Bad News Breakers made their way to ringside, but strangely, they didn’t seem particularly interested in Santana and Steamboat. Instead, they looked to be incredibly upset with the Playboy Club. Allen, Muraco and Sweetan stayed close to the ringside area, scowling and hurling abuse at the Club whenever they could get their attention. It eventually got to be too much for Rose, who leaned over the ring ropes and started insulting the Bad News Breakers in response. This distraction came at exactly the wrong time, as when he turned his attention back to the match, he was blindsided with a huge running Bolo Punch by Da Crusher, who then swiftly covered Rose for the pin. When Rose had recovered enough to realize what happened, he rallied Oliver and Rude to rush to ringside to brawl with the Bad News Breakers. The AWA officials rushed to separate both factions while Steamboat, Santana and Crusher stood in the ring, trying to figure out just what was going on.

An excellent idea.

Poor Mae Whitman ... talented actress, lovely young woman, keeps being cast as the girlfriend that people hate (including her boyfriend)

The AWA releases "Wild Man" Jack Armstrong to free agency and picks up the young Darren Matthews AKA William Regal, who will be wrestling under the name of Steve Jones.

For me, in any given "3 Japanese guys in black trunks vs 3 other Japanese guys in black trunks" match, Kengo Kimura was always the guy I could never distinguish from anybody else. He always seemed to be the most CAW guy in the mix, so I ultimately dubbed him The Ann Veal of Japanese Wrestling. Of course, when the Best Of The 80's New Japan set came out and I watched it, I fell in love with him and his matches, so it just shows to go you. But I still give him that nickname for giggles.

I believe Stan Stasiak is pretty much retired at this point.

Will this mean that the Ann Veal of Japanese wrestling will be coming soon to MichiPro? Stay tuned!

Man, do I love this territory. Love the return of Bobby Eaton.