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Chicky Starr and Jos Leduc always makes for crazy, fun times.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for August 22nd Brian Pillman, Shane Douglas & Mark Starr vs. Des Quilty, Evan Jones & Peter Feighehen After a break for coverage of the International Sportsball Championship, the AWA returns to ESPN / TSN with a fast paced six man match. Recently Bill Dundee has taken some of the younger wrestlers under his wing in a group that has been dubbed Superstar Unit, and this time out he was at ringside as his young charges took on a trio of Dundee's fellow Australians. Pillman got the most cheers with his boundless enthusiasm and charisma, and Douglas pulled off some impressive suplexes and dropkicks, but it was Starr who got the victory with a lightning quick running cross body on Quilty that got the pinfall. These talented up-and-comers clearly are learning a lot under the guidance of the veteran Dundee. Harley Race vs. Too Cold Scorpio The legendary Harley Race has proven to be a tough new addition to Playboy After Dark, and Buddy Rose was looking pleased as punch to have the multi time NWA world champion fighting under his banner. He was using Race as his personal attack dog to go after the junior member of the Cobra Corps, and Race showed all the cunning and ring savvy that made his such a dangerous force in pro wrestling. To his credit, Scorpio did his best to hang in there with Race, making the most of his speed and energy to try to get the advantage over his opponent. Race was never flustered, patiently waiting for his spot to bring Scorpio down and get the ball back in his court. Scorpio attempted a late rally with a series of dropkicks that knocked Race down, but Race ended up colliding with the ref, and when Scorpio went up top, Rose took advantage of the distraction by sneaking up behind and shoving Scorpio hard off the turnbuckle to the mat. Race then pounced on Scorpio and trapped him in an Indian Deathlock that forced the young Colorado native to give up. Race kept the hold on Scorpio long after the bell, clearly looking to injure him, until Sgt. Slaughter and Cpl. Scott Hall charged into the ring, running off Race and Rose and helping their comrade from the ring. Doug Furnas vs. Biff Wellington The rivalry between the Youngbloods and the Can-Am Express has been getting white hot of late. On the last episode of All-Star Wrestling, Steve Blackman prevailed over Phil Lafon, and Wellington seemed to be carrying on his team's momentum with a series of quick suplexes on the Tennessee Volunteer. But something switched on in Furnas and he switched into a whole new gear, using his considerable strength to block several suplex attempts before levelling Wellington with a series of brutal power moves. He then hoisted Wellington over his shoulder and drove him hard into the turnbuckle with a running Canadian backbreaker before getting the one two three. It looks like this rivalry has a ways to go before reaching a conclusion. Greg Gagne vs. Nord the Barbarian Normally, Greg Gagne would have his work cut out for him in taking on the huge Barbarian. But now, with the new bloodthirsty attitude in Nord encouraged by Jake Roberts, the AWA mainstay didn't really stand a chance. Nord unleashed an hellacious assault on Gagne, bouncing him all over the ring like a ragdoll before coming off the top rope with a kneedrop that spelled the end of the match. The Snakepit are getting more and more terrifying with each week that goes by. The Sheepherders, Roddy Piper & Bob Orton vs. The Sunshine Boys (The Great Kabuki, Pat Tanaka & The Razor Boys) Ever since Piper's Pit and the Sheepherders conspired to take the World Tag Team titles from the Razor Boys, Sunshine and her men have been determined to get their vengeance. Meanwhile, Roddy Piper and his associates have been equally determined to take the Sunshine Boys out permanently. What followed was a crazy brawl that only ended when the Sheepherders clobbered Pat Tanaka with a chair, then hit the referee for good measure. The two deranged Kiwis then went to town on Tanaka with the chair, which seemed to catch even Roddy Piper off guard. He ordered them out of the ring, which they only did when Kabuki came after them swinging his nunchaku. Tanaka was clearly in bad shape as his partners helped him out of the ring.

Yeah, I found that out later ... had no access to the internet in my teens in the 1980s

I remember watching late 80s French Canadian WWF TV and wondering why they kept calling Andre "Le Geant, Jean Ferre".

I was figuring Steamboat vs. Zenk would be a mix of Zenk wrestling over his head and carrying on with the strong momentum he had built up, with Steamboat doing everything he could to make him look good while still maintaining his own credibility as champion. If Steamboat was given the order from the road agent to go the distance with Zenk and build him up, this would be the result.

AWA show from the Kingdome, Seattle, July 13th Cactus Jack vs. Mark Starr Cactus won with a Russian Legsweep Chavo & Hector Guerrero vs. Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko Larry was going for an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Chavo, but Chavo countered with a backslide that got the pinfall Chris Adams vs. Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie Adams finished him off with a Superkick The British Bullies vs. Brian Pillman & Shane Douglas Pillman pinned Jones with a top rope flying sunset flip AWA Canadian Title Match : Ron Garvin© vs. Leo Burke Both men went to a double countout while brawling outside the ring AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Roddy Piper & Bob Orton © vs. Black Irish Piper blocked a powerslam attempt by Cameron and countered with a rollup assisted by a fistful of tights to defend their titles Buddy Rose, Harley Race & Col. Debeers vs. Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall & Too Cold Scorpio Slaughter and Hall took down Debeers with a massive double lariat to get the win AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Tom Zenk In what many onlookers called Zenk's best AWA match, he and the World Champion went to a 30 minute time limit draw. While Kevin Sullivan intervened on a number of occasions to try to tip the balance in his man's favour, Zenk hung with Steamboat throughout the match and impressed the crowd with his resilience and cunning.

AWA show from the Cow Palace, San Francisco, July 12th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) The Youngbloods vs. The Can-Am Express Furnas pinned Jones after a power slam Hector Guerrero vs. Larry Zbyszko Hector caught Larry in the Guerrero Clutch for the one two three Jake Roberts vs. Shane Douglas Jake won with the DDT The Sheepherders vs. The Razor Boys A crazy brawl that ended when the Sheepherders hit a double stomach breaker on Diamond AWA American Title Match : Bob Orton © vs. The Great Kabuki Orton defended his title with a lariat Sgt. Slaughter & Too Cold Scorpio v. Buddy Rose & ?? Rose's partner turned out to be … former NWA World Champion Harley Race! The match never really got off the ground as very soon into it, Rose ordered Col. Debeers and Leo Burke to attack the Cobra Corps, leading to a no contest. Playboy After Dark continued to beat down the Cobra Corps until somebody charged out of the audience and into the ring and started tossing Rose and his men around, sending them scattering back to the locker room. It was Cpl. Scott Hall, making his return to the AWA! Hall embraced Sarge and Scorpio as they celebrated his fortuitously timed return to the Cobra Corps. AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : British Steel © vs. Black Irish Regal pinned Finlay after a Regal Plex AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. TNT The latest challenger Roddy Piper has brought in to take on Ricky Steamboat for the World Title turned out to by Puerto Rican firebrand TNT. TNT gave Steamboat a ferocious fight but the Champ looked like he might just prevail when he went up to the top rope for a flying cross body press, only to be knocked off by Roddy Piper, leading to the DQ. Both men attacked Steamboat until he was able to grab a chair from ringside and fend them off.

AWA All-Star Wrestling On ESPN / TSN for July 12th Tom Zenk vs. Paul Diamond Zenk has let it be known that he has designs on the Southern Title, currently held by Diamond's compatriot Pat Tanaka. Diamond was clearly intent on not being looked past as he put in a mighty effort to shut down Zenk. It looked like he would pull it off when he hit the flying back bodypress, but Zenk reversed it with a rollover and grabbed a fistful of tights to cinch the pinfall. Dirty pool, but it just goes to show that Zenk will stop at nothing in his pursuit of the gold. Death Sentence & Kevin Sullivan vs. The Sheepherders & Mark Starr After blaming their loss at the Independence Day Spectacular on Mark Starr, it seemed strange that the Sheepherders would be tagging with their young flagbearer in their match against the Neighborhood Of Evil. Their plans became clear as the match wore on, as Butch and Luke showed no interest in tagging in or even helping young Starr in any way. As Gaylord, Payne and Sullivan battered Starr from pillar to post, the Sheepherders stood on the ring apron, either yawning or jawing with the crowd. When Starr was finally able to make it to his own corner, both members of the Sheepherders jumped to the floor and marched back to the locker room, leaving their partner to his fate. One Execution later, and that was the end of the match. But not the end of the punishment, as the Neighborhood of Evil continued to tear into Starr, then set him up for a Spike Piledriver. This was interrupted by Brian Pillman, Bill Dundee and Shane Douglas, who ran off the members of the Neighborhood and saved Starr from potential serious injury. Masa Saito vs. Chavo Guerrero After Saito took the Six Man Titles from the Guerreros with his partners, Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko, the three brothers have been determined to show that they are worthy of a rematch. The result was this incredibly intense match where both men stretched each other six ways to Sunday and Chavo was able to block a Saito Suplex and reverse it into a rollup to score the one two three. Chavo might have just put himself and his brothers back into contention. Steve Blackman vs. Phil Lafon The Youngbloods and the Can-Am Express are two rising young teams that have been thrilling the crowds with some exciting matches recently. Blackman and Lafon kept up that pace in a tight singles match where Blackman dodged a thrust kick and came back with a flash bicycle kick and pulled out the victory. Lafon was clearly unhappy with the result but still shook hands with Blackman after the match. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Buddy Rose Ever since the mysterious disappeance of Leon White, Sarge has been on a roaring rampage of revenge, blaming both Piper's Pit and Playboy After Dark for the loss of his Cobra Corps colleague. Thus far, Sarge has destroyed both Buzz Sawyer and Doug Somers, and looked set to make the Playboy his next victim. He whipped Rose from pillar to post until the Playboy, in a flagrant display of cowardice, bailed out of the ring , deliberately getting counted out. To rub salt in the wound, Rose got on the ringside mic and goaded Sarge, saying that if he really wanted to get his hands on him, he and Scorpio would face Rose and a partner of his choosing in a tag match in San Francisco, a challenge that Sarge angrily accepted.

I suppose it is a bit of a moot point. As I tend to say, there is more than enough imaginary audience for all of us. It's just a courtesy I am asking so that I can maintain the presence I had built up in the Pacific Northwest before Miz joined the project, while trying on my own part to respect his territory. Houston was a large city with multiple venues (Astrodome, Sam Houston, Summit , etc.) that could conceivably have multiple events on the same day. Not so likely with Eugene, Oregon. What would happen if I posted an event taking place in one city on the same day another promoter posted one in the same city? Nothing, really. I'm just trying to avoid Miz and myself stepping on each others' toes.

Just a heads up, my second week of the month is my West Coast swing, which goes as follows : Friday : San Francisco Saturday : Seattle (it used to be Portland, but I moved when the Portland territory opened up) Sunday : Eugene I am good with Portland running shows in Seattle and Eugene, just asking that they don't do it on Saturday and Sunday.

The one I used in my Portland shows is the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

Besides, who is Vader? It's Leon White that Sarge is looking for.

It's an Apter mag ... by the time Sarge reads it, it is too late.

The war between Death Sentence and The Sheepherders could have no other battleground.

AWA Independence Day Spectacular from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, July 4th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards Special ) Buddy Rose vs. Too Cold Scorpio Rose caught Scorpio in the corner in a roll up with a fistful of trunks and both feet on the ropes to get the dirty pinfall Jake Roberts, Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. Bill Dundee, Shane Powers & Greg Gagne Roberts finished off Gagne with the DDT Barbed Wire No DQ Match : Death Sentence vs. The Sheepherders The Sheepherders came out with a young man identified as their flagbearer, Mark Starr. Death Sentence came out with Kevin Sullivan. What followed was an incredibly violent, bloody brawl with both teams going all out against each other. Eventually , Luke Williams demanded that Starr hand him the New Zealand flag to use as a weapon, but Starr stared at him in blank incomprehension. Ultimately, Williams just grabbed the flagpole out of his hands, but by this time Gaylord had gotten the Golden Spike from Sullivan and hit Williams in the head with it, thus scoring the pinfall. After the match, it looked like Williams was going to attack Starr, but Butch Miller whispered something in his ear, and the two Sheepherders grinned evilly as they handed the flag back to Starr and ordered him to follow them back. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Tom Zenk After fending off several top Japanese contenders over the past month, Tanaka was facing off against one of his most devious contenders in Zenk. Zenk tried to work in every dirty trick in the book , but Tanaka was always able to pull himself out of trouble. It looked like Zenk might just pull it off when he caught Tanaka in the Sleeper Hold, but Tanaka worked his way out of it and soon after the bell rang signaling a 20 minute time limit draw. After the match, Zenk tried to ambush Tanaka with a Superkick, but Tanaka dodged it and fired back with his own spin kick that sent Zenk scrambling. I don't think we have seen the last of this challenge. Chris Adams & Ron Garvin vs. The British Bullies Adams was able to get his revenge on the British Bullies, nailing Jones with the Superkick while Garving knocked out Taylor with the Hands Of Stone Punch. AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Roddy Piper & Bob Orton © vs. The Razor Boys Diamond and Perez worked hard to try to get their titles back from Pipers Pit, with lots of quick tags and plenty of double team and combination moves. Diamond came incredibly close to pulling it off when he caught Piper with a rollup, but while the ref was escorting Perez from the ring, Orton came off the ropes and nailed Diamond with a huge lariat, and Piper was the one to score the pinfall. Once again, Piper's Pit were able to pull off the sneaky win. Boot Camp Match : Sgt. Slaughter vs. Col. Debeers Slaughter has been on a rampage ever since the disappearance of Cobra Corps member Leon White, taking it out on those he sees as responsible. Debeers was certainly not going to roll over, and the two looked like they might just break the ring and everything around hit. The tide turned for good when Slaughter was able to bust open a cut on Debeers' forehead . Sarge then took off one of his own combat boots and started to blast Debeers over and over in the head with that boot. He then locked in the Cobra Clutch, but Debeers was pretty much unconscious by then anyway, so the end was pretty much academic. It looks like Sarge isn't going to start until he gets some answers. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bam Bam Bigelow Coming off a bruising title defense against Jerry Blackwell at the Great American Bash, Steamboat was pretty banged up going into this match. Bigelow, with Roddy Piper in tow, took advantage of that and tried to bully the champion all over the ring. Steamboat managed to stay one step ahead of Bam Bam for much of the match, but Bigelow was able to catch him in a series of slams and throws that drove the champ down to the canvas. It seemed like we were in for a new champion when Bigelow ascended to the top rope for the Nuclear Splash, but Steamboat rolled out of the way at the last second, and Bigelow crashed hard onto the mat. Steamboat was able to make it up top and come off with the flying cross body press to get the one two three, giving Bigelow his first loss in the AWA. The champ had held onto his belt, but at what cost?

Also effective November 1st, the AWA sends Too Cold Scorpio to the WWF in exchange for Tonga Kid.

I have a few trades to catch up on posting, these were all more or less effective at the beginning of the month. The AWA sent Buzz Sawyer to Mid Atlantic for Harley Race The AWA sent Mike Rotundo to UWF for Scott Hall.

Where is Chris Champion these days?

So glad Dougie went to a good home.

AWA Canada Day Spectacular from the Saddledome, Calgary, July 1st (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards Special) The Can-Am Express vs. Mando & Hector Guerrero LaFon dropkicked Mando in a belly to back suplex by Furnas to get the win The Great Kabuki vs. Chavo Guerrero An intense bout that ended when Chavo finally hit the top rope flying somersault senton for the victory Larry Zybyszko & Masa Saito vs. The Youngbloods Larry clipped Blackman from behind and set him up for the Jailhouse Lock by Saito, which forced Blackman to give up the match AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : British Steel © vs. Black Irish Finlay had Smiley set up for the Rolling Hills, but Regal nailed him with the Iron Fist Punch, and Smiley followed up with a crucifix to get the pinfall 2/3 Falls Match : Brian Pillman vs. Leo Burke 1st Fall : Burke pinned Pillman after a piledriver 2nd Fall : Burke was going for the Sleeper Hold, but Pillman blocked and countered with inside cradle to take the fall 3rd Fall : Pillman was able to hit a top rope missile dropkick to get the final fall and the match. Post match, Burke did not shake Pillman's hand, but gave him a surly nod of respect Loser of the Fall leaves the AWA : Dan Spivey & Mike Rotundo vs. Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell Spivey was going into the match with a badly damaged arm from recent matches, and the Syndicate went after it like hungry jackals on a carcass. They relentlessly tore into his arm with nasty slams and limblocks, and Spivey was clearly in much pain throughout the match. Rotundo eventually took out both of his opponents and dragged Spivey over to their corner, forcing the tag. He gave an heroic effort and at a few instances looked like he might just pull it off, but after a double team by Patera and Blackwell they started beating him down like a rag doll. Spivey kept frantically pleading to be tagged in, but Rotundo refused, insisting on going it alone until a shoulder breaker by Patera led to a one two three for the Sinister Syndicate. After the match, the two partners tearfully embraced for the last time. Rotundo had sacrificed his AWA career to protect his friend from a potentially career ending injury. AWA Canadian Title Match : Ron Garvin © vs. Nick Bockwinkel A truly epic match full of nasty chops, jarring submission holds and counter wrestling that wound up going to the full 60 minute time limit. The crowd gave both men a standing ovation for their incredible efforts in the ring

AWA releases Doug Somers and picks up Mark Starr.

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, June 27th ( as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards ) The Youngbloods vs. The Can-Am Express Both teams went to a double count out while battling at ringside. Once they had calmed down, they shook hands after the match. Masa Saito vs. Hector Guerrero A wild match that ended with Saito pinning Hector with the Saito Suplex Ron Garvin & Chris Adams vs. The British Bullies Garvin knocked out Jones with the Hands Of Stone Punch Sgt. Slaughter & Too Cold Scorpio vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Pretty much a one man show as Sarge took his frustrations out on Somers, annihilating him before clamping on the Cobra Clutch. One again, it took the threat of suspension to get him to release it, and Somers was taken out of the ring on a stretcher AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton Piper came to the ring carrying a metal briefcase, which he put on the timekeeper's table at ringside. The champions had taken quite a battering at the hands of Death Sentence and the Sheepherders but still kept their hold on the titles, and kept one step ahead of the challengers for much of the match. Things took a turn for the chaotic when the members of Death Sentence charged out to the ring, looking to interfere, but found themselves intercepted by the Sheepherders, and the two teams proceeded to brawl at ringside. This provided enough of a distraction for both the champs and the ref for Piper to sneak the briefcase into the ring and jam it into the ribs of Paul Diamond. This left him open for Orton to hit him with a back breaker and go for the cover, and the ref turned around just in time to count the one two three. Piper and Orton are the new World Tag Team Champions! After the match, Piper opened up the briefcase and revealed many stacks of money, then closed it and handed it to the Sheepherders while shaking their hands. Piper and the Herders were in cahoots the whole time! It seems the whole war between the Herders and Death Sentence was all part of some nefarious master plan by Piper, and tonight was the pay off, in more ways than one. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Gran Hamada Tanaka has had a series of classic title defenses of late, and this was another epic match, this time against the Japanese legend Gran Hamada. This went back and forth and had the fans on the edge of their seats, with Hamada looking on several occasions like he would take the title. In the end, Tanaka held out until the 30 minute time limit ran out, leading to a draw. Both men embraced and raised each other's hands post-match as a sign of respect. Ricky Steamboat & Rick Martel vs. Tom Zenk & Kevin Sullivan One one side, a dream team of the AWA champion and the former NWA champion. On the other, the Dark Master of the Neighborhood of Evil and their shining jewel, who was looking for revenge for his only recent singles loss (which Zenk claims "doesn't count" because it took place outside the AWA). Zenk gave a very good accounting of himself against these two superstars of the sport, but it wound up being Sullivan who took the loss when a combination of a running cross body press by Steamboat and a schoolboy trip by Martel put his shoulders to the mat.

Unfortunately having to yadda yadda through the next few shows to try to get caught up. My sincere apologies. AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for June 27th Chris Adams vs. Dave Taylor Adams had Ron Garvin in his corner for this match, while Taylor had Marty Jones and Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie in his. A tight technical match with an edge throughout it that ended when Taylor fell prey to the Superkick. Jones and Kaissie looked like they might try to get some payback after the match, but the presence of Garvin made them think twice about that. The Can-Am Express vs. The Youngbloods A showdown between two of the up and coming teams in the AWA. The fans were really revved up for this match and both teams went to increasingly riskier moves as they tried to get the pinfall in a match that wound up going to the 15 minute time limit. Both teams shook hands after the match, but seemed eager to have a rematch to decide who was truly superior. Larry Zbyszko vs. Mando Guerrero Mando was trying to get one back on Larry after he and his partners took the Six Man Tag Titles from Mando and his brothers. It looked like he might just get it when he had Larry set up for the German Suplex, but Larry countered with a back kick that hit Mando low. While Mando was incapacitated, Larry hit a swinging neckbreaker that got him the pinfall. Dirty pool, but that is what you can expect from the nefarious Larry Z. Cactus Jack vs. Shane Douglas The recent change in attitude by the Snakepit has led to the already wild Cactus Jack becoming completely unhinged. Douglas, who graduated from Dominic Denucci’s wrestling school alongside the former Mick Foley, fought valiantly against the New Mexico madman, but in the end fell prey to a leaping elbow smash to the back of his head. Cactus’ mentor Jake Roberts nodded in approval from ringside. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Buzz Sawyer The members of Piper’s Pit absconded with Leon White of the Cobra Corps and he hasn’t been seen since. Sgt. Slaughter was clearly livid at this and took it out on the “Mad Dog”. He tore Sawyer apart in this match and Buzz couldn’t get a move in, before locking him in the Slaughter Cannon. He kept him trapped in the hold long after the end of the match, and had to be threatened with suspension before he finally released it. Sawyer wound up being taken out on a stretcher. AWA World Title Match : Rick Steamboat © vs. Roddy Piper This was Piper’s first shot at the champion, but he seemed very reluctant to get in the ring and engage with the champ. After a long period of stalling and arguing with the ref, they finally locked up. The match was just starting to get underway, with Steamboat gaining the advantage, when Piper suddenly called in the dogs, namely Bam Bam Bigelow , Bob Orton and Sabu. It had all been a trap to ambush Steamboat, who took a fair amount of damage before Ron Garvin, Chris Adams and Greg Gagne rushed out to send the jackals scattering.

I am back from vacation and will try to get something posted soon.

AWA show from the International Ampitheatre, Chicago, June 21st The Sheepherders vs. The Can-Am Express The Sheepherders pinned Lafon after a double stomach breaker Brian Pillman vs. Leo Burke Pillman won with a running cross body press Fit Finlay vs. Bill Dundee Finlay scored the victory with the Rolling Hills Larry Cameron vs. Chris Adams Adams ducked under a Cameron lariat and came back with a Superkick to get the win AWA Southern Tag Title Match : British Steel © vs. The British Bullies Regal made Jones give up to the Regal Stretch AWA Six Man Tag Team Title Match : Nick Bockwinkel, Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko © vs. The Guerreros Bock pinned Mando after a piledriver AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. Death Sentence The Sheepherders charged in and attacked both sides, leading to a No Contest. The Razor Boys were badly hurt in the attack. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Buzz Sawyer A ferocious battle where Sawyer had Steamboat lined up for a running bulldog headlock, but Steamboat countered with a belly to back suplex to get the one two three