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No way I would have figured George Wells would be the first to go. Not a dig on your pick, I was slightly hoping we would be able to grab him (but not too optimistic given our placement) but not the guy I would have figured to be grabbed first.

How much longer until we skip down to dawho?

Fabs should have known better than to mess with the Wild Bills.

Just a heads up, my shows will be a couple of days late this week. Just the way the week has worked out. They should be up by the weekend. Thanks for your patience.

The AWA World Tag Team champions : The Wild Bills ("Wild" Bill Irwin & Billy Jack)

Cool idea except for the abbreviation

Verne just hasn't had his medicine today.

See, how could I possibly leave the AWA and all of this awesomeness?

Here is the upcoming schedule for the AWA for the month of August, 1983 : Wednesday, August 3 : TV Taping, St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN Friday, August 6 : AWA All-Star Wrestling Friday, August 6 : Met Center, Bloomington, MN Friday, August 12 : AWA All-Star Wrestling Friday, August 12 : Boylan High School, Rockford, IL Wednesday, August 17 : TV Taping, St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN Friday, August 19 : AWA All-Star Wrestling Friday, August 19 : The Mecca, Milwaukee, WI Friday, August 26 : AWA All-Star Wrestling Friday, August 26 : Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wednesday, August 31 : TV Taping, St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN

I am going to pull the trigger and take my name off the waiting list (which, at this point, means the list is empty). If for some reason CFCW decides to bow out (which I am certainly hoping he does not do, I am enjoying working with him), I would be interested in assuming full control of the AWA but for now, I am happy with my current situation and not interested in taking over another territory. I will let folks know if that changes.

sorry it took so long to get back, I was on the road for most of the day and have been recovering for the rest. I am officially staying put ... I am sure lowblowbooking will do a great job with Mid South.

You should be more concerned that he tried to sexually assault Laverne. A libellous allegation. Cruz would never dream of laying a hand on her, given that AWA President Stanley Blackburn is quite clearly Laverne's father.

For pity sake, Col. Buck Robley's Army is sleazy, it is not *classless*!

I strongly disagree with Javier Cruz being referred to as a "jobber", since he is one half of the beloved tag team the Latin Lovers.

After the big events at the AWA Milwaukee show, the line ups of the upcoming AWA TV and House Shows have been released. AWA All-Star Wrestling for the weekend of July 29th The matches were taped before the Milwaukee show, but the interviews were recorded in the studio afterwards "The Polish Prince" Ed Wiskowski vs. "Rock & Roll" Buck Zumhofe Iceman "King" Parsons vs."Big" Bill Rathke Ken Patera vs. "The Flying Samoan" Samu Mr. Olympia vs. "Buffalo" Bill Cody NWA Canadian Champion Rick Martel vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie Da Crusher vs. Boris Zukhov Plus interviews with Sheikh Kaissie and his stable, Col. Buck Robley's Army and Hulk Hogan July 29th, Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg Moose Cholak vs. "Buffalo" Bill Cody Making his AWA wrestling debut, Eric Embry vs. "The Flying Samoan" Samu Mr. Olympia vs. Prof. Toru Tanaka The mysterious Lord Humongous vs. "Rock & Roll" Buck Zumhofe Da Crusher vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Wild Bills ("Wild" Bill Irwin & Billy Jack) © vs. The Latin Lovers (Vinnie Valentino & Javier Cruz) NWA Canadian Champion Rick Martel vs. Boris Zukhov (non-title) Cage Match : AWA Light Heavyweight Champion "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin vs. Iceman "King" Parsons (non-title)

When did Precious make her first appearance? Would she be a part of this draft? She is the one person i am interested in at this point.

If Embry had been picked first, I would have pushed for Ron Starr to be our next pick, given what I decided to do with Embry. As it stands, though , Embry is a perfect fit for what I want. The Colonel's Army : Col. Buck Robley, Maj. Cal Manson, Eric Embry, Lord Humongous , "Wild" Bill Irwin and Billy Jack. Folks, I give you the scummiest stable in the history of wrestling. I was saying to CFCW, it's a shame there is no way I could work Mister Donnie into the mis.

Garvin is a bit of an odd case for me. I definitely have plans for him, but have him percolating so he can come to a boil at the right time, since I am looking at the fall and I will be losing first OMG then the Hulk to Japanese tours.

Oh, and the masked man will be developed more on the next TV show but clues are there in past results.

1) They cheated 2) They are greedy and want as much gold as they can get their hands on (Sorry I didn't let you know in advance, it was a big surprise and I didn't want anyone to know until it happened.)

Just posted the latest AWA House Show results and lots of major goings on, including new World Tag Team champions : http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/31376-american-wrestling-association-results/

AWA at the Mecca, Milwaukee, July 22nd , 1983 World Tag Title Tournament – First Round Match 1 : The Wild Bills (“Wild” Bill Irwin & Billy Jack) vs. The Latin Lovers (Vinnie Valentino & Javier Cruz) The popular Latin Lovers tried to use their speed to get the advantage over the Wild Bills, but the Bills were having none of it, beating them down every chance they could . Their escalating risks in the attempt to knock down the Bills finally cost the Lovers, as Valentino’s attempt at a flying cross body press was caught in mid-air by Billy Jack into a jarring powerslam for the win. The Wild Bills advance in the tournament. Match 2 : Jimmy Garvin & Ed Wiskowski vs. Iceman Parsons & Samu Both teams had each other well scouted going into the match, having faced each other both on TV and at house shows. Parsons and Samu clearly have learned to spot the dirty tricks of Garvin and Wiskowski, as Garvin’s attempt to knock out the Iceman with a pair of brass knuckles was ducked by Garvin, only for the “Gorgeous” one to run straight into a thrust kick to the jaw by Samu. Parsons tied up Wiskowski as Samu got the pin on Garvin. Iceman Parsons & Samu advance in the tournament. Match 3 : The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) vs. The Minnesota Heartbreakers (Jeff Sword & Rocky Brewer) The Heartbreakers haven’t had a lot of luck lately. Their luck got worse and the Warriors showed every intention of making good on their promise to run straight through the tournament. Tom Stanton was nowhere to be found, having clearly gotten enough of the Road Warriors the last time he faced them. Brewer was left wishing he had been able to get out of this match as a flying clothesline by Hawk looked like it nearly took his head off before they finally pinned him. The Road Warriors advance in the tournament. Match 4 : The Zambuie Express (Elijah Akeem & Kareen Muhammed courtesy of Central States Wrestling) vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie & Boris Zukhov This was the first look the AWA crows had of the visiting Zambuie Express, and they made quite the impression on the crowd and on Kaissie and Zukhov. The rulebook clearly went out the window as the match immediately disintegrated into a brawl, with both teams slugging it out and referee Marty Miller trying in vain to keep only 2 men in the ring at a time. The end came when Akeem and Zukhov were struggling to gain possession of Zukhov’s chain, and Miller’s attempt to take it from them resulted in both wrestlers clotheslining the ref. When he finally got to his feet, he disqualified both teams, but they kept on fighting after the final decision. Both the Zambuie Express and Kaissie & Zukhov have been eliminated from the tournament. Match 5 : Mr. Olympia vs “Leaping” Lanny Poffo (courtesy of ICW) The Fortunate Son, Lanny Poffo has been on quite a tear lately in ICW and he showed why in an exciting match with the popular Mr. Olympia. Both men impressed the fans in a back and forth match that looked like either men could take it at any time. The match came to a roaring finish when it looked like Poffo was going to polish off Olympia with his Skydrop backflip off the top rope, only for Olympia to get his knees up at the last moment and, while Poffo clutched his ribs, hit a precision dropkick to get the win. The crowd eagerly cheered both men at the end and, while Poffo wanted no part of it, Olympia gratefully acknowledged the response of the fans. Match 6 : AWA World Heavyweight Title Match – “The Incredible” Hulk Hogan © vs. “The World’s Strongest Man” Ken Patera Patera came to the ring with Boris Zukhov and Sheikh Adnan Kaissie, both still battered and bruised from their match with the Zambuie Express. Hogan was no fool and brought out his own support, his good friend Mr. Olympia. The two powerhouses battled in a lengthy match and on a number of occasions , it looked like Patera might take the title, only for Hogan to dig deep and rally back against the Olympian. Going for desperation tactics, Zukhov tried to throw his chain in the ring to Patera, but he was stopped by Mr. Olympia. However, Olympia in turn got a surprise and was attacked from behind by … the One Man Gang! Gang then charged into the ring and attacked Hogan, leaving the referee no choice but to call for the bell. The ref couldn’t stop what happened next though, as Patera dragged Olympia into the ring, put him a Full Nelson and forced him to watch as Zukhov wrapped his chain around Hogans neck and Kaissie held down his legs while One Man Gang gave the champ two brutal running splashes to the ribs. AWA President Stanley Blackburn rushed to the ring and threatened Kaissie’s men with suspension if they didn’t leave the ring immediately. Hogan many have technically won the match, but he sure doesn’t look like he is winning the war. World Tag Title Tournament – Semi-Finals Match 7 : The Wild Bills vs. Iceman Parsons & Samu Parsons and Samu were looking to extend their winning streak and challenge the Road Warriors in the finals and kept using their combination moves to fluster the Wild Bills and come close to winning the match on several occasions. The crowd were rooting for them every step of the way, but they came up short when Irwin caught Samu attempting a Thesz press and dropped him throat first onto the top rope. One side slam later and the Bills ended Samu and Parsons’ dream of winning the title. The Wild Bills advance in the tournament. World Tag Title Tournaments – Finals Match 8 : The Road Warriors vs. The Wild Bills for the vacant AWA World Tag Team titles The Road Warriors got a bye straight to the finals, courtesy of Kaissie & Zukhov and the Zambuie Express knocking each other out of the tournament, and they took advantage of it by charging to the ring to take on the Wild Bills the moment the last match ended. The Bills still had plenty of fight in them, but the Road Warriors would not give them a single moment to breath, hammering them with a hurricane of high impact offense. The match proceeded to take a strange turn, however, when who should come to ringside but Col. Buck Robley, followed by Maj. Cal Manson and … Eric Embry? Since when does he work here? The three men jawed at ringside with the ref while the Road Warriors taunted them as they pounded on the Bills. Things got even more bizarre, though, when, while the ref and the Road Warriors were distracted by the three interlopers at ringside, a large, muscular man clad in black gear and a sinister white hockey mask rushed to the ring area . As the ref tried to shoo away the Colonel and his companions, the masked man jumped in the ring and staggered Animal with a hard, mask-assisted headbutt to the face, setting him up to be leveled by a nasty lariat by Irwin. He gave another headbutt to Hawk for good measure and clothesline him out of the ring before leaping to ringside himself. When the referee finally turned back, all he saw was Billy Jack hit a piledriver on Animal and counted the pinfall. Your new AWA World Tag Team Champions, the Wild Bills. But that wasn’t enough for this dastardly new ensemble, as Robley brought a folded metal chair into the ring and Embry set Hawk up over it before he, Manson and the masked man gave a sickening double-spike piledriver onto the chair. The crowd howled for their blood, but five of the six men simply stood over the crumpled bodies of the mighty Road Warriors, turned to face Buck Robley and all five of them slowly gave him a military salute. Robley waited for a moment and then returned the salute. All six of them marched to the ring as security tried to keep the rabid fans away from them. Match 9 : Lights-out Falls-Count-Anywhere Match – “The Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous” Da Crusher vs. Professor Toru Tanaka The crowd calmed down slightly when the lights went out, but went back into a frenzy when they came back on and the Oriental superstar was walking to the ring, carrying a Japanese flag and a bucket of salt. He ignored their boos as he performed the sacred salt ceremony in the ring. The crowd immediately switched to cheering themselves hoarse when the hometown favorite, Da Crusher, made his appearance, carrying a keg on one shoulder as he drank from a cup of beer. When he got to the ring, Tanaka tried to ambush him by throwing salt in his face, but Crusher deftly ducked it and fired back by spitting beer in Tanaka’s eyes. Their fight raged in and out of the ring, up and down the aisles, into the stands and all over the arena. Crusher brutalized Tanaka’s ribs with pummeling fists, trying to set him up for the Crusher Clutch (stomach claw). Tanaka fought back with his own martial arts chops and kicks. They finally ended up near the concession area where they threw everything they could find at each other. Crusher brought his keg over to the concession area and, after he had knocked Tanaka down, would go over and help himself to a cup of refreshment from the keg. He finally knocked the Professor down the last time with a wild swinging Bolo punch . He followed up with a running double footstomp to Tanaka’s ribs and then, for good measure, dropped the keg down hard on his abdomen. He locked in the Crusher Clutch and Tanaka had no choice but to scream out his surrender. Crusher then went back to the ring and demanded the microphone. “I can’t believe I had to waste a beer on that crumb bum!” *crowd cheers* “Well, dere’s only one thing that tastes better than kickin’ his heinie, and dat’s chasin’ it down wit a cold Old Milwaukee! Whaddaya say?” *the crowd roars* Da Crusher then left the ring and the arena leading his throng of fans, no doubt to go out and attempt to drink every tavern in Milwaukee dry.

AWA All-Star Wrestling , July 22, 1983 Match 1 : One Man Gang vs. “Big” Bill Rathke One Man Gang has been pretty rough on his opponents the past few weeks, but this time out he was downright sadistic. He manhandled Rathke, driving him hard into the mat and pulling him up several times when it seemed a three count was assured. He even hit the Gourdbuster on Rathke, usually the sign for the end of the match, but that wasn’t enough for the One Man Gang, who went to the second turnbuckle to land the 747 Splash and finally put Rathke out of his misery. Rathke had to be taken from the ring in a stretcher. Match 2 : “The Polish Prince” Ed Wiskowski vs. “Buffalo” Bill Cody The Prince made his entrance accompanied by the AWA Light Heavyweight Champion, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin, and 3 women dressed in bikinis. Cody is an established veteran in the Midwest but his experience wasn’t enough to compensate for the raw power of Wiskowski. Wiskowski stretched Cody with a variety of painful looking submission holds before finally polishing him off with the face first piledriver. Match 3 : “The Flying Samoan” Samu vs. Tom Stanton “The Flying Samoan” came out to the cheers of all of the fans in attendance. “The Minnesota Heartbreaker” came out to the excited squeals of … well, no one, really. Samu was coming off a big tag team win last week and that seemed to put some spring in his stride, bouncing around the ring and befuddling Stanton with his high flying offence. A thrust kick to Stanton’s jaw set up the Flying Samoan Splash from the top rope to get Samu the one-two-three . Cut to Mean Gene in the ring with Col. Buck Robley. Robley has a leather brace wrapped around the forearm that was injured last week by the Road Warriors Mean Gene : Buck Robley, you took an hellacious beating at the hands of the Road Warriors last week. Vengeance has to be on your mind, but do you really think you will get it against these two huge monsters? Buck Robley : Call me Colonel, Okerlund! Road Runners, you called me old … you said I was past it … you said I had no guts. Well nobody calls me yella! You poked the hornet’s nest, boys, and in Milwaukee, you will wish you never crossed the Colonel! Mean Gene : Colonel, the Road Warriors will be fighting in Milwaukee for the World Tag Titles. You aren’t even in the tournament. How do you figure you will get back at them? Buck Robley : You never mind that, boy, the Colonel has a trick or two up his sleeve. They may think they have it all going for them, being young and big, but I’m old and dangerous, and they have no idea what they got themselves into. Match 4 : NWA Canadian Champion Rick Martel vs. Jeff Sword (non-title) This was the first appearance of the visiting Canadian champ Rick Martel to the AWA and, based on the reaction of the ladies in the audience, he is welcome to return at any time. If Sword was hoping to get the same reaction he was in for a rude awakening as he was outclassed thoroughly by Martel, both in looks and wrestling. After a brief but exciting display of technical wrestling, Martel dispatched Sword with ease after a slingshot splash. After the commercial break, cut to Mean Gene in the ring with the One Man Gang Mean Gene : One Man Gang, what you did to Bill Rathke was utterly uncalled for. What gives? One Man Gang : Okerlund, I just went to Tennessee where some punk named Ronnie Garvin thought he could go around calling himself the One Man Gang. Well I taught that boy a lesson, and he doesn’t call himself that no more. That’s what I just did to “Big” Bill Rathke … ain’t so big now, are you? I take no prisoners, and that is a lesson all of the AWA are gonna learn real soon! Match 5 : The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) & Da Crusher vs. The Wild Bills (“Wild” Bill Irwin & Billy Jack)& Major Cal Manson The Road Warriors charged to the ring in their typical, high energy style, with Da Crusher following close behind. They immediately set in on Manson, hurling him from the ring with violent force. Manson took a nasty spill to the outside and clearly seemed knocked for a loop. Not too long into the match, who should come to the ring but Col. Buck Robley? He said something to the dazed Manson and led him to the back, leaving the Wild Bills at a 2 to 3 shortfall. Is this Robley’s big plan, forming a new team with Manson to take on the Roadies? Only time will tell. Strangely, the Road Warriors didn’t press their numbers advantage, refusing to tag in the enthusiastic Crusher who was left waiting on the ring apron. After they finally put Bill Irwin away with a power slam, they left the confused Crusher standing alone in the ring as they left. Mean Gene (awaiting the Road Warriors at ringside) : Hawk and Animal, you wouldn’t let your partner, Da Crusher, even have one second in the match! What on earth were you thinking? Hawk : Gene, Da Crusher maybe meant something a long time ago, but the Road Warriors are what is happening now. We showed that broken down, pathetic , has-been Col. Buck Robley last week, the age of the old men is done! This is the age of the Road Warriors and we don’t need any help from them. In Milwaukee, we are going to show them how it is done and walk out with those Tag Team belts! Match 6 : AWA World Champion “The Incredible” Hulk Hogan & Mr. Olympia vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie & “The Russian Menace” Boris Zukhov Hogan and Olympia had the match well in hand, dominating the Sheikh and Zukhov, but Ken Patera clearly couldn’t wait until Milwaukee to get his hands on Hogan, as he charged the ring and attacked the champ. The ref called for the DQ as the two teams brawled in the ring and the show faded to black.

Here is the line up for the upcoming episode of AWA All Star Wrestling, the last broadcast before the big World Tag Title tournament : One Man Gang vs. "Big" Bill Rathke "The Polish Prince" Ed Wiskowski vs. "Buffalo" Bill Cody "The Flying Samoan" Samu vs. Tom Stanton The NWA Canadian Champion Rick Martel vs. Jeff Sword The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) & Da Crusher vs. The Wild Bills ("Wild" Bill Irwin & Billy Jack) & Major Cal Manson "The Incredible" Hulk Hogan & Mr. Olympia vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie & "The Russian Menace" Boris Zukhov Plus interviews with Col. Buck Robley and the One Man Gang

AWA at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, July 15th, 1983 One Man Gang vs. Bill Rathke More swift and massive destruction from the One Man Gang. He pretty much ran straight over Rathke before crushing him with the second rope 747 Splash. The Latin Lovers (Vinnie Valentino & Javier Cruz) & Samu vs. The Minnesota Heartbreakers (Jeff Sword, Tom Stanton & Rocky Brewer) This was the first appearance by all 3 Minnesota Heartbreakers in the ring at the same time. It didn’t do them this much good, as the Lovers and the Flying Samoan completely outclassed them, ending with a Love Missile on Stanton followed by a top rope splash by Samu. Mr. Olympia vs. Ken Patera This was a tough back and forth battle between the two powerful wrestlers. Patera was aggressive with the masked man but couldn’t seem to get the decisive advantage over him. Olympia kept making bigger and bigger risks to try to put away the veteran wrestler but it ultimately it cost him in the end. He went for a flying cross body press, but Patera caught him and gave him a big power slam into the corner turnbuckle followed by a second rope knee drop for the pin. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) vs. The Wild Bills (“Wild” Bill Irwin & Billy Jack) Another lengthy and chaotic brawl between these two teams of wild bulls that only ended when the Wild Bills brought in their bullropes and attacked with the cowbells. That may have ended the match but didn’t end the fighting as the two teams went at it fist and fire for a long time after the final bell. AWA Light Heavyweight Title Match : “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin © vs. Iceman “King” Parsons Parsons was coming off a big pinfall win over Garvin in a tag match and was determined to take the belt. Garvin was equally determined to hold onto his newly gained title and brought along his enforcer, Ed Wiskowski, to keep the belt around his waist. Wiskowski interfered liberally in the match until referee Marty Miller sent him back to the locker room. Parsons looked on a number of occasions very close to getting the pin over Garvin , which must have scared Garvin who went straight to gutter tactics after Parsons missed a top rope Rumper Stumper and accidentally hit the ref. When Parsons tried to help up the ref, Garvin pulled a set of brass knucks out of his trunks and popped the “King” with them, cinching the pin with a fistful of trunks. Time will tell if he can keep this up to maintain his grip on the belt, as Parsons is not the sort to give up easily. “The Incredible” Hulk Hogan & Da Crusher vs. Boris Zukhov & Prof. Toru Tanaka Anytime Tanaka and Crusher were in the ring together, it was an out and out fight. Anytime Hogan and Zukhov were in the ring together … it was still and out and out fight. This is two sets of people who just don’t like each other. After another lengthy brawl, Sheikh Kaissie tried to toss the big steel chain to Zukhov, but Crusher grabbed the chain out of his hands and used it to throttle Tanaka. Zukhov was left high and dry in the ring waiting for a chain that would not come, and Hogan surprised him with an Axe Bomber for the victory. Kaissie and Zukhov tried to double team Hogan post-match but Crusher came back in swinging the chain, clearing them from the ring.