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Jake "Milkman" Milliman? Pretty sure he was till doing jobs in the late 80's (in fact , was in the ill fated AWA Team Challenge Series)

http://www.tnm7.de/cgi-bin/rmcms.cgi?page=main Not so much a game as a booking simulator. I enjoy it but haven't used it as much lately with my energy going to the 1983 fantasy booking.

AWA show at the Mecca in Milwaukee, July 20th (as shown on AWA Super Cards) Mike George vs. ”Wild Man” Jack Armstrong George won with the Shoulder Breaker Al Perez vs. Vinnie Valentino Perez won with a schoolboy roll up assisted by a fistful of tights The Road Warriors vs. The Wild Bills The Road Warriors destroyed their long time rivals, press slamming Billy Jack through the ringside announcer’s table before flattening “Wild” Bill Irwin with a double flying shoulder tackle for the win. Billy Jack Haynes seemed very badly hurt after the match. One Man Gang vs. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell The match went to a double count out when both men were brawling outside the ring AWA World Tag Title match : The Mothership Connection © vs. Badd Company The Mothership Connection won when Master Gee got Tanaka to give up to the Master Lock AWA American Title match : Tito Santana © vs. Bob Sweetan In perhaps their most intense match yet, Santana looked like he would finally put Sweetan away when he got his big legs in the Figure Four, only for somebody to charge the ring and attack Tito. It was Bad News Allen! Allen, who had never before appeared in the AWA, savagely attacked Santana along with Sweetan. It looked like Santana would be rescued by his new friend Ricky Steamboat, only for him in turn to be waylaid by Don Muraco, making his return to the AWA by joining in on the three on two assault. After the AWA officials separated both sides, Allen got on the mic and declared themselves the Bad News Breakers, and they had just served notice to Steamboat and Santana Paul Orndorff & Ron Garvin vs. Ken Patera & Mr. Olympia After a ferocious brawl, Olympia sent Garvin into the turnbuckle and followed up for a loaded mask assisted headbutt, only for Garvin to counter with a Sunset Flip out of the corner for the win

AWA All-Star Wrestling for July 20th on ESPN Rick Rude vs. Javier Cruz This is the first match for AWA newcomer “Ravishing” Rick Rude, and he certainly seemed intent on making a big impression. Although relatively inexperienced, he was extremely aggressive with Cruz, showing a real anger in his punches and shots. Cruz kept his focus and looked like he had regained control of the match, but when he whipped Rude into the ropes and ducked his head too soon, Rude hit him with a DDT (which we later found Rude calls the Rude Awakening) and got a major upset pin. Of interest, Buddy Rose , Rip Oliver and Ed Wiskowski could be seen at the back, observing the match and nodding in approval. Could the Playboy Club be scouting the young rookie for a spot in their ranks? Stay tuned! Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick introduces his next guest and someone who has generated a lot of confusion and anger in the AWA of late, the Latin Heartthrob Al Perez. Resnick asked Perez why he turned his back on his partner in the Latin Lovers, Vinnie Valentino, at the Independence Day show. Perez replied that he has finally had enough and was sick and tired of Valentino and Cruz riding on his coattails. He said that he had been doing just fine with his winning streak in singles matches, but every time they would drag him into a tag match, they would just pull him down. He continued that the Metrodome show was the last straw, with Valentino making him bail him out of a tag match right after Perez had already had the match of a lifetime with Super Destroyer. The Latin Heartthrob had always been the true talent in the Latin Lovers, and from now on, he was taking care of Numero Uno, and Valentino and Cruz had best not cross his path if they knew what was good for them. Mike George vs. Tom Zenk George was making his in-ring return to the AWA, after his surprising attack on Jimmy Garvin at the Metrodome. The presence of Sheikh Kaissie at ringside indicates that George is back firmly within the fold of the Sinister Syndicate. He was taking on young up-and-comer Tom Zenk, currently one half of the Southern tag champions the Nor-Am Express. While Zenk went all out against the veteran George with fast offense and dropkicks, but George’s experience kept bringing the match back into his hands as he capitalized every time Zenk got too reckless. Zenk thought he was going to finish off George with a top rope cross body press, but George was playing possum and came into the corner with a clothesline that set the young rookie tumbling back into the ring. George then nailed him with the shoulder breaker to get the victory and prove that the Syndicate were now, if anything, even more dangerous. Mr. Olympia vs. Da Crusher This was a rematch from several weeks ago, and Crusher was clearly set on not getting caught in the same trap twice , tearing at Olympia’s mask every chance he got and peppering him with big fists to the face that caused a stream of blood from his nose. Every time Olympia would get Crusher roped into a hold, Crusher would burst out with a flurry of lefts and rights. Crusher whipped Olympia hard into the ropes and charged in for a Bolo Punch, only for Olympia to pull up his legs and send a hard knee into Crusher’s jaw. He then hooked Crusher’s legs and got the pin, the ref being oblivious to the fact that the masked man’s legs were high on the ropes for illegal leverage. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring. Resnick introduces his next guests, Ron Garvin, Paul Orndorff and “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell. The crowd robustly cheers all three men as they head to the ring. Resnick says to Blackwell that he surprised a lot of people by joining the fight against the Sinister Syndicate and asks what his motivation was for leaving their ranks. Blackwell says that, when the Syndicate kicked out Paul Orndorff, what Ken Patera said at the time really got him thinking and opened his eyes. He wasn’t going to be used by somebody else just to protect their title, he was going to gun for the title himself. He now had friends that would support him, not exploit him. Both Garvin and Orndorff added that Patera’s days with the belt were numbered and the only question was which of them would take it from him first. Bob Sweetan vs. Master Gee Sweetan was initially followed to the ring by Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver and Ed Wiskowski, but strangely he ushered them back to the locker room before the start of his match. Sweetan was showing a particularly vicious edge to his offense against one half of the World Tag champ Mothership Connection, hitting several low blows when the ref was not looking and dropping Master Gee hard down throat first on the top rope. It looked like the match was done when Sweetan got Master Gee in the piledriver, but that was not enough for Sweetan, who picked up Gee once more and hit a second piledriver before finally pinning him. He then got on the mic and announced that he had severed all of his ties with the Playboy Club and that he had plans of his own to take care of. Manny Fernandez vs. Greg Gagne Gagne was coming back from being injured at the Canada Day spectacular, and certainly wasn’t easing himself back into the pool, taking on the always unpredictable Ragin’ Bull. Fernandez immediately targeted Gagne’s hurt neck, wrenching it and hitting it with forearms every chance he got, but Gagne used his technical expertise to take back command of the match every time it seemed like Manny had him overwhelmed. He finally was about to finish off Fernandez with the Gagne Sleeper, only for “The Tank” Mike Shaw to make his presence felt, attacking Gagne. Both members of the Army put the boots to Gagne, but he was able to make his way back up to his feet and send them out of the ring with dropkicks. Afterwards, Gagne got on the mic and said that , if both of them wanted a piece of him, they could meet him next week in a tag match and he would have a partner that make them wish they had never stuck their nose in his business.

While the debut of Ricky Steamboat at the AWA's Independence Day show at the Metrodome has generated a lot of excitement, insiders have reported that the circumstances behind his winning the Southern title. Word has it that, in the days leading up to the show, there was some question as to whether then AWA Southern champion "Playboy" Buddy Rose (as well as Rip Oliver and Ed Wiskowski) would renew his contract with the AWA, With this in mind, arrangements were hastily made to move the belt from Rose to Steamboat, in case talks with Rose fell apart. In the end, Rose and his friends did reach an agreement with the AWA and the back office consider this a win-win situation, gaining a high profile debut for Steamboat while still keeping the always controversial "Playboy".

As in the WWF would run shows in St. Louis? I believe I am the promotion nearest to St. Louis and I am fine with this move.

AWA show from the Cow Palace, San Francisco, July 20th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company vs. The Latin Lovers Badd Company won when Diamond hit Cruz with a Superkick Manny Fernandez vs. “Wild Man” Bill Armstrong Fernandez won with the Flying Burrito forearm Great Gama Singh vs. Da Crusher Singh won with an inside cradle The Road Warriors vs. The Cuban Commandos The Road Warriors won in 11 seconds with the Doomsday Device on Morrow AWA Southern Tag Team Title match : The Nor-Am Express © vs. The Wild Bills In an epic match, it looked like the Bills would win the match when Irwin had Lafon set up for a bullrope assisted lariat, only for Lafon to duck at the last second and catch Iriwn with a crucifix to grab the win. AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat ©vs. Buddy Rose In a rematch from the Independence Day show, Steamboat caught Rose in a cross body block to retain the title. The Garvins & Paul Orndorff vs. Ken Patera, Mr. Olympia & One Man Gang Before the match, Stanley Blackburn announced that, owing to injuries received during the Independence Day show, Jimmy Garvin would be unable to compete in this match. The Syndicate laughed out loud at this news, but Ron Garvin and Paul Orndorff seemed to think they had an ace up their sleeves. They didn’t even introduce their partner, they just gestured to the locker room, and out came … “CRUSHER” JERRY BLACKWELL? The crowd was shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Kaissie and his men, since as far as they knew, Blackwell was part of their alliance. Kaissie started screaming at Blackwell , only to be backhanded out of the ring like an annoying fly. This set off a chaotic brawl which never truly got under control, and only ended when One Man Gang brought his chain into the ring and used it to attack Blackwell. This led the ref to call the match for Garvin, Blackwell and Orndorff by DQ, but this would not stop the action as both sides kept brawling long after the bell, with all men present getting busted open and forcing the AWA officials to come out in force and threaten fines and suspensions to get things calmed down.

IIRC, the reason that Regal was allowed in the first place was that one of the promoters wanted to bring him in as a rookie and slowly bring him up. That promoter left soon after, so we will never know how that would have played out.

AWA All-Star Wrestling for July 13th on ESPN The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers Both of these teams have suffered some setbacks of late, with the Commandos on the wrong side of a one sided beating at the hands of the Road Warriors and the Latin Lovers dealing with the uncertain status of Al Perez among their ranks. The Lovers, in particular, seemed to be badly shaken up by recent events and had a lot of difficulty getting coordinated and in gear in this match. The Commandos, on the other hand, seems intent on re-establishing themselves as a threat after their recent drubbing, and were all over Valentino and Cruz. Morrow was ultimately able to hit the over-the-shoulder neckbreaker on Valentino to hopefully move his team back up the rankings. “The Tank” Mike Shaw vs. Da Crusher In spite of being unable to wrest the American title from the hands of Tito Santana, Mike Shaw is always a major threat in any match and he showed that in his battle with the popular veteran, Da Crusher. Crusher battled bravely with the big Tank but just could not keep him under control, getting caught in the corner for a big avalanche before being pinned. AWA Six-Man Tag Title match : Badd Company & Chick Donovan vs. The Nor-Am Express The rookie team of Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond have gained a new edge since allying with the more experienced Chick Donovan, as shown by their becoming the first ever Six Man champions. They had a tough challenge in their first defense, facing the AWA Southern Tag champs and their partner, Jose Lothario. They used the canny tactic of taking the champions out of the equation by simply focusing all of their attention on Lothario. They brutalized the Hispanic veteran, double and even triple teaming him, and whenever he seemed close to tagging out, they would distract the referee and get the tag disallowed. Lothario was able to rally, shooting back wild punches at Donovan, but that was cut short by a vicious legsweep from Tanaka. Donovan followed up with a big kneedrop to Lothario’s leg, and then put him in the Figure Four leglock, forcing him to give up the match. This was not enough for Badd Company, as Donovan left the Figure Four on Lothario long after the final bell, in spite of the efforts of the ref and the Nor-Am Express. Lothario was clearly in a lot of pain as his partners helped him back to the locker room. Mask vs. Hair Match : Super Destroyer vs. Al Perez This match had been signed prior to the events of the July 4th card and the seeming falling out between Perez and his partners in the Latin Lovers. In fact, Valentino and Cruz followed Perez to the ring, clearly intent on getting some sort of explanation from him, but Perez refused to acknowledge them and the ref ordered them to return to the locker room and they had no place in this match. The fans were at a loss as to what to make of this match, disapproving of the recent actions of Perez but , at the same time, being no fan of the Super Destroyer. It seemed to be taking the usual path of their past matches, with Super D using his size and strength to beat down Perez and Perez countering with his speed and technical ability. However, as the match went on, Perez started using more and more devious tactics, sneaking in several cheap shots and even unlacing Super Destroyer’s mask to that he had to constantly adjust it to keep it from coming off during the match. In spite of these distractions, it looked like Perez would lose is luscious locks as Super Destroyer got him set up on the top turnbuckle for the Superplex. Perez , though, got Super D by surprise by grabbing his mask and twisting it sideways on his face, blocking his vision. When the Super Destroyer was thus caught off guard, Perez got a Sunset Flip from the top rope and got the pin, snatching the mask from Super D’s head at the 3 count. Perez ran around the ring with the mask, laughing as Super Destroyer was revealed to be Scott “Hog” Irwin, brother of this Army stablemate “Wild” Bill Irwin. Perez had won the final matchup but lost the esteem of the fans. Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana vs. Ed Wiskowski & Rip Oliver This was Steamboat’s first appearance on All-Stars since his shock appearance winning the Southern title, and the fans were extremely excited to see this fast rising superstar. They were doubly exciting to see him teaming with one of the most popular wrestlers in the AWA, Tito Santana, to take on members of the Playboy Club. Wiskowski and Oliver had been looking to avenge the recent losses of their Playboy Club partners, Buddy Rose and Bob Sweetan, but soon found themselves overwhelmed by Santana and Steamboat, who worked together like they had done so all their lives. They easily dominated the Club with polished moves and rapid fire tags before Steamboat staggered Oliver with a Karate thrust, followed by the Mexican Hammer forearm by Santana for the victory. The crowd roared its approval at this new ascendant force in the AWA.

Have their team name (or finisher) be the Barbarian Invasion!

Getting caught up on my programming after vacation, here are the soon to be posted cards. AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN for July 13th : The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers Mike Shaw vs. Da Crusher AWA Six-Man Title Match : Badd Company & Chick Donovan © vs. The Nor-Am Express Mask vs. Hair Match : Super Destroyer vs. Al Perez Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana vs. Rip Oliver & Ed Wiskowski AWA show at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, July 13th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Badd Company vs. The Latin Lovers Manny Fernandez vs. "Wild Man" Jack Armstrong Great Gama Singh vs. Da Crusher The Road Warriors vs. The Cuban Commandos AWA Southern Tag Titles match : The Nor-Am Express © vs. The Wild Bills AWA Southern Title re-match : Ricky Steamboat vs. Buddy Rose The Garvins & Paul Orndorff vs. Ken Patera , Mr. Olympia & One Man Gang

Quick correction : you and I have traded Hulk Hogan for Ricky Steamboat.

Tell the truth, I completely spaced that he was available. It's all good.

In a move that I know will annoy a lot of people, the AWA takes Chavo Guerrero. USWA has my next pick from a trade.

Once the draft is finished, anyone in free agency is available to people with space on their roster. And I think somebody who was using Rodney Anoia before had him as Yokozuna, if someone drafts him they can call him whatever they like.

AWA releases Jose Lothario to free agency.

From what would have been a deal with Portland, taking Don Muraco and Bad News Allen.

Independence Day Spectacular from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, July 4th (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Al Perez vs. The Super Destroyer The Latin Heartthrob had gotten a number of victories over members of Col. Robley’s Army through a combination of luck, speed and cunning. Super Destroyer was clearly determined to not let that happen again as he used his size advantage to pound Perez with lefts and rights. Perez fought back with his own punches , as well as working to wear Super D down with arm and leg locks, but the masked man kept coming at him full bore. Super Destroyer whipped Perez into the ropes and ducked down for a back body drop, but Perez came back off the ropes and went for a Sunset Flip. Super Destroyer blocked it, though, by grabbing Perez by the hair and pulling him up by the head through his legs and up onto his feet. He then went for a huge short lariat, but Perez blocked it, reversed into a waistlock, and in an impressive feat of strength, deadlifted him over into a German Suplex to get the pinfall. A very impressive win for Al Perez. AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. "Bruiser" Bob Sweetan After successfully defending his belt against one of his foremost rivals at the Canada Day show, once again Tito Santana was stepping into the ring with someone who had taken him to the limit several times. Sweetan pummeled Santana, trying to set him up for his trademark piledriver. Santana kept fighting out of it and came back swinging . One time Sweetan seemed close to hitting it, but with Santana’s thrashing about he ended up catching the heel of his boot in the eye and started bleeding from above the eye. Santana took advantage of this and came off the ropes with the Mexican Hammer forearm to get another hard fought victory. Street Fight : The Road Warriors vs. The Cuban Commandos The Road Warriors have had their hands full with the Cuban Commandos for the past while after the Caribbean team cost them the World Tag titles. For this match, however, it looked like they were fed up with them once and for all. The Road Warriors charged to the ring clad in jeans, t-shirts and weight belts and ploughed straight through the Commandos. The Cubans had no idea what hit them as they were blasted with a series of double tackles, slams and clotheslines. Animal gorilla pressed Angel Acevedo above his head and tossed him out of the ring like so much garbage before hoisting up Gerry Morrow for Hawk to come off the top rope with the Doomsday Device and the pinfall. It looks like the Road Warriors have put the final period at the end of this feud in decisive fashion. AWA Southern Title Match : Buddy Rose © vs. Greg Gagne Buddy Rose came to the ring with the Southern Title belt in tow, looking well pleased with himself. One he was there, AWA President Stanley Blackburn came out and got on the mic, announcing that , owing to injuries suffered at the Canada Day show in Calgary, Greg Gagne would not be able to compete tonight. Laughing out loud and figuring he was now done for the night, Rose looked like he was about to leave, but Blackburn told him to hold up, the AWA had been able to find a suitable replacement for the Southern Title match. He cued the back and the lights went out for a few confusing seconds. When the lights came up, who should be standing across the ring from Rose but …. RICKY STEAMBOAT! He was wearing a conspicuous bandage on his throat, but it was quite clearly the handsome Hawaiian superstar. Rose immediately protested but Blackburn ordered him into the match or he would be immediately suspended. The bell rang and Rose charged across the ring and tried to bowl over Steamboat but was met with a blistering series of chops and strikes. Steamboat outclassed Rose from the get go with his smooth as silk offense. Rose tried to sneak in a few cheap shots to his bandaged throat, but Steamboat deftly dodged out of the way. In desperation , Rose signaled to the back and summoned the rest of the Playboy Club to charge to the ring, but they were intercepted by Tito Santana and the Mothership Connection who proceeded to slug it out with Oliver, Wiskowski and Sweetan. Distracted by the failure of the cavalry to arrive, Rose was easy prey for a running karate chop from Steamboat, who followed up with a top rope crossbody block and got the one two three. The crowd exploded as Steamboat held his newly won Southern Title belt over his head. Paul Orndorff vs. One Man Gang Ever since Orndorff left the Sinister Syndicate, the remaining member have been gunning for his hide. To that end, they sent out the huge One Man Gang to collect some dues from Mr. Wonderful. The 747 was too big to use most of his power based offense, and Gang took advantage of this as he wore down Orndorff. Orndorff was able to battle back when he blindsided Gang with a running elbow to the head. He then hit a dropkick and a couple of running kneelifts to stagger Gang before finally hitting a clothesline that knocked him out of the ring. Gang was on rubber leg street but recovered enough to make it back into the ring before the 10 count, dragging his chain in with him. He promptly punched Orndorff in the face with the chain around his fist, leading to an immediate DQ, but Gang didn’t seem to care. He started to throttle Orndorff with the chain and fought off any attempt to get him off. Paul eventually hit an elbow to the midsection that double over One Man Gang, then went after him swinging the chain. The two kept fighting until the AWA officials finally separated them. Doesn’t look like it is over between Orndorff and the Syndicate by a long chalk. AWA Southern Tag Title Match : Nor-Am Express © vs. The Latin Lovers (special stipulation : if the Wild Bills show up during the match, they will be suspended for 90 days) These two popular teams have had a series of exciting but inconclusive matches for the Southern Tag titles, not helped by the interference from the Wild Bills. The champions were the first to the ring , slapping palms with the fans on the way there. The Latin Lovers were out next, but they were immediately ambushed from behind by the Wild Bills. The Bills knocked down Valentino with a double clothesline, then lifted up Javier Cruz and dropped him, ribs first, on the barricade. As Cruz writhed in pain, an angry Stanley Blackburn once again got on the mic and said that the Bills had violated the contract and would be suspended for 90 days. Col. Buck Robley, however, told Blackburn that the stipulations clearly stated that they would only be suspended if they showed up during the match, and since the match had not yet started, the stipulation did not apply. He then said that Javier Cruz was now clearly in no condition to compete, there were no challengers for the Southern Tag titles , a role the Wild Bills would be more than happy to fill. Blackburn said that, if Valentino could find a partner for the match, the Latin Lovers would still get the title match. Valentino rushed to the back and came out with Al Perez in tow. Perez was clearly reluctant to be in another match after the tough fight he had earlier in the evening, but Valentino persuaded Perez to be in his corner for the match. Showing consideration for his already tired partner, Valentino took on the Nor-Am’s by himself, using his dropkicks and high speed to keep them off balance. Gradually, though the numbers advantage took over, as the Nor-Am Express started tagging in and out and hitting combination moves to break down their Italian challenger. It finally got to be too much for Valentino as he ducked under their attempt at a double clothesline and dove to his own corner for the desperation tag. This tag was not forthcoming , however, as Perez simply stared at him before jumping off the ringside apron. Valentino looked at him helplessly as the Latin Heartthrob slowly walked back to the locker room. Valentino was thus distracted when Tom Zenk dropkicked him into a Cobra Clutch Suplex by Phil Lafon. The Nor-Am Express successfully defended their belts, but the real story was the seeming dissent in the Latin Lovers. What exactly is Al Perez playing at? AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Jimmy Garvin In recent matches, Patera had targeted Garvin’s right arm, trying to take out the DDT before it could be used. Patera continued that tactic in this match , wrenching it with big arm wringers and dropping painful looking knee shots onto it every chance I could. Garvin stayed in the fight and looked like he just might hit the DDT on a number of occasions. He looked like he had it completely set up, but Patera showed his immense strength by powering out, back body dropping Garvin out of the ring. He tried to go out after Garvin to continue his attack but the ref sent him back. While the ref was thus distracted, someone rushed down to ringside and attacked Jimmy Garvin. Mike George is back in the AWA! George grabbed Garvin and hit a huge shoulder breaker that left Garvin in agony. He then threw Garvin into the ring to Patera who locked the Gorgeous one in a full nelson. Garvin tried to hold out, but it was just too much for his injured shoulder, and he had to give up. Clearly, Patera will do anything to keep his grip on the world title belt. The Final Showdown - Hulkster's Farewell Match : Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. Olympia The crowd were in great anticipation for this match, as they knew it would be Hogan’s final match in the AWA. Mr. Olympia came out first, and the crowd loudly booed him for turning his back on his best friend. Hogan was next and the fans exploded in cheers. Hogan came out to the ring at full speed, tossing Sheikh Kaissie out of the ring and knocking over Olympia with several mighty clotheslines. Nothing Olympia did had any effect as the big Hulkster bounced him around the ring. Olympia decided dirty tactics were what was called for, as he slipped something inside his mask and hit a headbutt on Hogan, staggering the Hulkster. Olympia then began to work over Hogan’s legs, trying to set him up for the Power Lock. Hogan bravely pushed off any attempt to have that Figure Four put on him, so Olympia changed his approach and hit several nasty knees to the back of Hogan’s head before sinking in the Sleeper hold. It looked like it was lights out for Hogan as the ref dropped his arm once … twice … but the third time, his hand came up in defiance, to the appreciation of the fans. He showed his incredible strength by lifting Olympia up and driving him back first into the corner. He did this two more times and Olympia finally let go of the hold. He knocked Olympia down with a big boot before hitting the Big Leg Drop for the final one two three. The crowd screamed themselves hoarse as Hogan raised his hand in victory and bade farewell to the AWA fans.

Just a heads up, I am on vacation so running a bit behind but will get my big Metrodome show up as soon as possible.

They also did some shows in Brandon, Manitoba, I believe. In my home town of Ottawa, while they never did any shows here, they had syndicated TV as well as the show on TSN (the cable sports channel). There was also a presence in Quebec, I do recall the Road Warriors and Rick Martel on Lutte International TV being referred to as AWA champions. I wanted to do a Canada Day show as a tip of the hat to the first AWA show I ever did, and since I was already doing a show in Winnipeg the week before, I held it in Calgary for a one off as nobody is running shows there right now.

Hart and Neidhart vs. Barbarian and Viking sounds like it would have been a fun match, sort of like the Hart Foundation vs. Twin Tower match I enjoyed.

AWA Canada Day Spectacular from the Saddledome in Calgary, July 1st (as shown on ESPN Super Cards) Greg Gagne & The Nor-Am Express (Phil Lafon, Tom Zenk & Jose Lothario) vs. The Playboy Club (Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver, Ed Wiskowski & Bob Sweetan) From the get go, it was clear that the Playboy Club’s goal was not to win the match, but rather to make sure that Greg Gagne was in no shape to challenge for Rose’s Southern Title. They trapped him in their corner of the ring, took every opportunity to cheap shot or gang up on Gagne, and blocked every attempt by the Nor-Am Express to come to the rescue. Gagne, for his part, fought back like a lion and seemed almost on the verge of breaking out of the trap and tagging in one of his partners when the Playboy Club charged over and knocked the Nor-Am Express off the ring apron. The ref was incensed and ordered them back to their corner of the ring, only to meet a solid right hook from Rip Oliver. The Club then dragged Gagne over and Rose, Wiskowski and Sweetan hit a brutal double spike piledriver on Gagne. This was not enough for them, as they picked up the limp form of Gagne and hit the same move again. Who knows what they might have done next, but the Nor-Am express rushed over and shoved them away from their partner. Gagne was in very bad shape and had to be taken from the ring in a stretcher. His team had won by DQ, but at a very great cost. The Latin Lovers (Vinnie Valentino, Javier Cruz & Al Perez) vs. The Wild Bills & Super Destroyer The Latin Lovers have had some communication problems as of late, but everything seemed to have been straightened out in this match as they worked together seamlessly against their much larger opposition. The members of Buck Robley’s Army tried to pound down the Latin Lovers, but their quick tags and combination moves kept the momentum on the side of the fan favorites. The Wild Bills decided to take matters into their own hands as they brought their bullropes into the ring and whipped Javier Cruz into the ropes, coming off the opposite side for a bullrope assisted double clothesline. Cruz ducked down at the last moment, and as the Bills rebounded from the other side, Al Perez grabbed Billy Jack’s leg and trapped him while Cruz came back and hit a Thesz Press on Wild Bill Irwin to get the upset win for the upset victory. AWA American Title Match : Tito Santana © vs. "The Tank" Mike Shaw These men had crossed swords several times before, but this time Shaw seemed well and determined to wrest the American Title match from Santana once and for all. The big Tank waged an all out war on Santana, using his impressive bulk to wear him down and blast him with huge elbow smashes, slams and avalanches. Santana showed the courage and resilience that were a big part of making him so popular with the fans and he weathered out the storm and fought back hard with dropkicks and tackles. He ultimately hit a running forearm smash that caught Shaw unawares and stunned him. He then followed up by nailing Shaw with the Mexican Hammer flying forearm that left the Tank staggered and goggle eyed but, incredibly, Shaw managed to stay on his feet. Realizing that more extreme measures were called for , Santana ascended the top rope and came off with a huge flying clothesline. That proved to be the trick, as Shaw went crashing to the mat like a felled oak. Santana draped an arm over Shaw for the one two three. The Road Warriors & "Wildman" Jack Armstrong vs. The Cuban Commandos & The Great Gama Singh The Road Warriors have stepped up their campaign to get revenge on the Commandos for costing them the World Tag titles. This would be their last match before the big street fight in the Metrodome and they went all out in their offense, as did their good friend Jack Armstrong. The always tough Commandos gave as good as they got, but this was a real coming out for Singh, who not only took it to Armstrong (whom he had faced several times before) but both members of the Road Warriors. He even got Animal in the Camel Clutch, only for it to be broken up by Hawk giving an elbow smash to the back of his head. The Warriors decided enough was enough and hoisted up Singh up to hit the Doomsday Device and end the match. The next stop would be the Metrodome and their would be no backup for the Cuban Commandos. Last Man Standing Match : Da Crusher vs. Manny Fernandez These two have had some knock down, drag out brawls over the past several weeks and this was no different. Not a great deal of scientific wrestling on display, this was an out and out fight that left both men bleeding heavily. A couple of times , Crusher hit the running Bolo Punch to knock down the Ragin’ Bull, only for Fernandez to make it back up by the ten count. Similiarly, Fernandez managed to catch Crusher with the Flying Burrito forearm but was unable to keep him down. Crusher finally tried to take Fernandez out with the Crusher Clutch (double stomach claw) , but Fernandez was able to inch his way to the ropes. The ref tried to get Crusher to break the hold, but Crusher backhanded the ref and sent him sprawling before re-applying the hold. Col. Buck Robley took advantage of this by grabbing a steel chair and clobbering Crusher in the head with it, and Crusher toppled unconscious to the mat. When the ref recovered, he saw Crusher laid out and made the 10 count on him before awarding the tainted victory to Fernandez. AWA World Tag Title Match : The Heavenly Bodies © vs. The Mothership Connection The Heavenly Bodies have had a good run at holding onto the AWA World Tag titles, but were facing an extremely determined Mothership Connection. The Connection clearly had the whole crowd behind them as they went all out against the ever sneaky Heavenly Bodies and their devious manager, Jim Cornette. The battle went back and forth, with the Bodies just barely able to wriggle out of some tight scrapes. It did finally look like the belts would be within the Connection’s grasp when Master Gee was able to get Tom Prichard in the Masterlock (modified Fuller Leglock). The always wily Cornette, however , had aims to cut that short , as he was able to distract the referee with his antics while Eaton snuck into the ring with the tennis racket. Before he could get to Master Gee, Iceman Parsons came off the top rope with the flying Rumper Stumper ( leaping butt bump) and sent Eaton out of the action. With no rescue coming, Prichard had no choice but to surrender and the Mothership connection were the new AWA Tag champs, to the huge cheers of the crowd. Hulk Hogan & The Garvins vs. Ken Patera, Mr. Olympia & One Man Gang This would be the Hulkster’s final AWA match in Canada, and he would be teaming up with the Garvins against his hated rivals, the Sinister Syndicate. He fought with all of them but struggled to keep his hands on Mr. Olympia, as his former friend would bail out of the ring when things got too hot for him. The Syndicate, for their part, were focused on Jimmy Garvin, ruthlessly working over his right arm to damage it before the Independence Day show. On a couple of occasions, it looked like he might be able to take down Patera or Gang with the DDT, but was too badly hurt to apply it and they were able to inflict more damage. Ultimately the match broke down, with Hogan slugging it out with Olympia, Ron Garvin with Gang, and Jimmy and Patera (the legal men) battling on the outside. Patera tried to powerslam Jimmy into the corner post, only for Jimmy to slid off his back and sending Patera chest first into the outside corner. He was then able to hit the DDT with his left arm on the exposed concrete that knocked Patera for a loop. He was able to make it back into the ring to beat the count and got his team the victory by countout.

Confirmed with JHawk, AWA sends The Mongol to the WWA for Mike George.

Dang, that leaves me as the last original. Sorry to see you go, JHAwk, you did a great job with the WWA.

AWA picks up The Mongol (Gene Petit) to be our +1.