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AWA show from the Kingdome, Seattle, May 9th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards ) Can-Am Express vs. Mando & Hector Guerrero Furnas pinned Mando after a running Canadian Backbreaker smash Tom Zenk vs. Norman Smiley Zenk made Smiley give up to a Sleeper Hold Dan Spivey, Mike Rotundo & ?? vs. Kevin Sullivan & Death Sentence The surprise partner turned out to be Brian Pillman. An action packed bout which ended when Pillman hit Sullivan with a flying dropkick after Rotundo and Spivey clotheslined the members of Death Sentence out of the ring to get the victory for the former Club members The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Blackwell won after hitting an avalanche in the corner Sgt. Slaughter & Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. Buddy Rose, Doug Somers & Col. Debeers Debeers pinned Scorpio after a face first piledriver Roddie Piper & Bob Orton vs. Jake Roberts & Cactus Jack Piper got the pinfall on Cactus after a sneak attack by Piper’s mysterious new ally AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Dave Taylor Taylor gave Tanaka an hellacious challenge but Tanaka was finally able to put him down with the turning leaping forearm smash AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. Larry Zbyszko & Masa Saito Another close one where it looked like Larry would put Perez down with an over the shoulder neck breaker, but Perez blocked it and reversed it into a German Suplex to defend their belts AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Nick Bockwinkel Both men went to a one hour time limit draw

Just chiming in about that Horsemen promo ... every line, I could hear in the voice of the wrestler saying it. Loving this new era of the WWF.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for May 9th The Can-Am Express vs. Alan Ball & Patrick Bolton After being betrayed by his partner Tom Zenk last weekend, Phil Lafon has quickly reformed the Can-Am Express with the big Tennessee Volunteer Doug Furnas. The pair worked as though they had been teaming together their whole lives, swiftly tagging in and out and blending the strength of Furnas with the technical expertise of of Lafon before polishing off Bolton with the dropkick-Cobra Clutch Suplex combo. It looks like Lafon has landed on his feet with his new partner. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick : Ladies and gentleman, my next guests are the former AWA World Tag Team champions … Playboy After Dark! The crowd boos as all of Playboy After Dark make their way to the ring, not just Buddy Rose and Doug Somers, but also Leo Burke and the mysterious masked man in military fatigues who first appeared last week. Rose has a look on his face that is incredibly self-satisfied, even for him. Rose : I didn’t particularly care for your snooty tone when you said *former* champions, Resnick. You might want to mind your manners, or I will have to ask my friend to give you a little lesson, just like we taught Sgt. Laughter! Resnick : That’s just why I want to talk to you, Buddy Rose! You challenged Sgt. *Slaughter* to a match on the condition that there would be no members of the Cobra Corps and Playboy After Dark at ringside. Then this masked man comes out of nowhere and attacks Sarge! Who is he and what gives? Rose : Ah, that just proved I am a better tactician than that so called Sergeant! You see, I had long suspected that Slaughter wasn’t what he claimed to be. His actions were never what you would expect of a so-called American hero. Then I found out the truth about him from the best possible source : a top special forces operative who had been investigating him. A military master of stealth and subterfuge so brilliant, he managed to conduct this investigation right under my incredibly handsome nose, without anyone suspecting who he was. Why, this guy is almost as much of a genius as me! And when he revealed to me who he really was, I knew I had just the man to show up Slaughter for the Great American Phony he truly is. He dropped his mask to me, and now he will drop it to all of you. Slaughter, meet your worst nightmare … (the man peels off his mask) Col. Debeers! Resnick : Wait a second, that’s Ed Wisk- Rose : Don’t say that name! That was just an incredible disguise that he used so he could observe Slaughter without him suspecting. And all of you idiots bought it! Now he is dropping the cover, and nothing is stopping him coming for him. Resnick : *muttering* I’m telling you, it’s Ed Wisk- Debeers : *grabbing Resnick by the scruff of the neck* You were told not to use that name, Resnick. Don’t make me tell you again. Slaughter! I’ve completed my investigation and I know the truth about you. You are a coward and a disgrace to the armed forces. I am here to show you up for the fraud that you are and run you out of the AWA with your tail between your legs. This is war , Slaughter! And it is a war that you won’t survive! Ron Garvin & The Youngbloods vs. Chris Adams & The British Bullies Ever since his return to the AWA, Garvin has established a reputation as everyone’s friend, readily lending a hand to everybody from the World Champion Ricky Steamboat to rookies like Wellington and Blackman. Adams, on the other hand, has been waging an ongoing campaign to regain respect, determined to show that he can win his matches without interference or other shortcuts and , by extension, prove he is worthy of another shot at Garvin’s Canadian title. Adams fought hard to prove himself in this match, digging into his deep technical and martial arts skills to keep himself in control for much of the bout. Blackman was able to rally for his team and had Adams lined up for the bicycle kick, but as he was coming off the ropes, Adams’ manager Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie reached in the ring and tripped him. When Blackman stumbled, Adams nailed him with the Superkick and went for the cover. The ref, however, saw Kaissie’s interference and called for the bell, signaling for a DQ victory for Garvin and the Youngbloods. When Adams realized what had happened, he looked like he was going to lose his mind and started to argue with his manager. Kaissie told him that he did what he judged to be necessary, and ordered him to return to the locker room with the rest of the Bullies. Adams acquiesced , but was clearly not happy about it. Mando Guerrero vs. Shane Douglas Speaking of people looking to prove themselves, young Shane Douglas has been on a quest to establish himself against the Guerreros. His first match with them two weeks ago, against Chavo, ended in a close loss for him, but last week he went the distance in a 15 minute time limit draw against Hector. In spite of that, the Guerreros were still not taking him seriously, with Mando telling his brothers to go back to the locker room, since he wouldn’t need any help in taking care of the rookie. Douglas did not let this lack of respect distract him, and worked hard to stay competitive throughout the match. Whenever it looked like he might lose his cool, his mentor Bill Dundee knew just what to say to calm him down and get him focused back on the match. Shane was able to get Mando in place for a belly to belly suplex, but as he had done in recent tag matches, Mando blocked it and reversed to set him up for a German Suplex. However, this all turned out to be a trap by Douglas, who was able to reverse one more time for a rollup. One … two … THREE! Mando was in shock but Douglas was jubilant, celebrating this impressive victory with Dundee as the crowd cheered. Interview : Ken Resnick stands (again) in the ring Resnick : Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest are always the center of controversy here in the AWA … Kevin Sullivan and the Varsity Club! The crowd explodes in boos as Sullivan heads out to the ring, followed by Mike Rotundo, Dan Spivey, Maxx Payne, Jeff Gaylord, and finally the latest member of the Varsity Club, Tom Zenk. There are some interesting expressions on the faces of some of the members of the Club : cockiness for Zenk, disgruntlement for Sullivan, and seemingly barely suppressed rage for Rotundo. Resnick : Tom Zenk, you have been partners for a long time with Phil Lafon, but last week, out of nowhere, you betray him and leave him on his own against the Varsity Club! What gives? Zenk : Resnick, you said it yourself. I have been partners for a long time with Lafon … too long. Waaaay too long, I have been carrying him around on my back. Ever since we came back to the AWA, any time I was on my own, I got the win. But when I have to team up with Lafon, he kept dragging me down. Well I’m done being his chump. He was always jealous because I was the strongest, smartest, most skilled and best looking member of the team. He can stick with that loser Doug Furnas. I’m going where I am appreciated. Kevin Sullivan has promised he would get me title opportunities I could never get with Lafon *camera shot of Rotundo grimacing in the background* and I am giving my loyalty to him! Sullivan : That’s enough out of you, Resnick! Get lost, there’s Varsity Club business to discuss. (Resnick scuttles out of the ring, clearly glad to get away from the Club members) Now , it has come to my attention that somebody has not been happy with the way I have been running the Varsity Club! They have been questioning some of my decisions! (Sullivan paces back and forth before stopping in front of Mike Rotundo and jabbing a finger in his chest) You! Rotundo! If you have something you want to say to me, you can say it right now to my face! Rotundo : Oh, I’ve got something to say , alright. When I joined the Varsity Club, you convinced me that I was joining an elite team of champions. Our code was that we were the best of the best. Well, you sold me a bill of goods! Then you start the Varsity Club Rush. You said that we were going to develop the next generation of superstars. The best of the best, you said! And I went out with them and trained them and guided them and did everything I could to help them. What did you do? You screamed, you bullied, you shouted, and then you ran them off! Leon White … Brian Pillman … Ron Simmons … Doug Furnas … we had some of the finest young athletes in North America, and you treated them like crap and kicked them out! And who was left that you decided to accept into the Varsity Club? A psychopath and a goon! (Maxx Payne and Jeff Gaylord look at each other, then look at Rotundo and scowl) And then , after all that effort to develop new talent, right out of nowhere you arbitrarily decide to bring in *this idiot*! No offense. Zenk : (continuing to smirk) None taken. Rotundo : How is he even Varsity? Did he even finish high school? (Zenk’s grin starts to fade a bit and he starts to tense up, clearly getting annoyed with Rotundo) Where is your elite wrestling group now? Spivey and I busted our tails to train the next class of premiere athletes, and instead you fill the Varsity Club with the dregs of wrestling … and I want to know why! Sullivan : Why? WHY? Because I said so! Because they do what I tell them to! Because I can trust them to think like me! I said right from the beginning, I was looking to find who had the right mind set and who had what it takes to work for me. And these guys have it … and I’m starting to think you don’t! But since you are questioning my leadership, let’s put it to a vote. Anybody who thinks Rotundo is right, stand with him. Anyone who chooses to accept my leadership, stand with me! The members of Death Sentence don’t need to think about it, they line up behind Sullivan. Zenk smugly moves to join them. Spivey looks first at one side, then the other, then shrugged and steps over to Sullivan’s side, behind Death Sentence. Rotundo looked disappointed, but still determined, and raised his fists , ready to take on whatever Sullivan and his crew were going to throw at him. Then Spivey ran the ringropes … and clotheslined Gaylord and Payne in the back of the head! Spivey and Rotundo then threw all of the other members of the Varsity Club out of the ring, and played King of the Mountain, giving a swift boot to anyone who tried to enter the ring. The show then went to commercial with Spivey and Rotundo standing tall in the middle of the ring, while Sullivan was swearing vengeance. Roddy Piper vs. Cactus Jack The various members of Piper’s Pit have been trying to get the better of the New Mexico Madman, but the wily Cactus has proved hard to keep down, getting some upset victories. This time out the boss was taking matters into his own hands, and the one man possibly crazier than Cactus himself was going to try to put a stop to him. The match was just as insane as you could imagine, with the two lunatics brawling all over the ring as well as ringside. It was during one of these spells outside that Cactus had Piper lined up to come off the ring apron with a flip plancha, when out of nowhere, somebody tackled Cactus from behind and threw him to the floor. While the ref called for the DQ, Piper and this mysterious stranger proceeded to beat the stew out of Cactus. Jake Roberts and Nord The Barbarian tried to run out to save him, but were intercepted by Bob Orton and Buzz Sawyer. When they finally managed to fight their way through, the damage had been done and Jack had taken a lot of damage. Piper left cackling with glee, as his strange new cohort glowered silently.

I thought he was a graduate of the Terry Garvin School Of Self Defense?

AWA show from the Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, May 4th Chris Adams vs. Biff Wellington Adams countered a suplex attempt with his own belly to back suplex for the win Death Sentence vs. Mando & Hector Guerrero Both teams went to a double DQ Leo Burke vs. Steve Blackman Burke looked like he would get the sleeper hold locked in, but Blackman was able to block it and counter with a single arm takedown, followed by a cross armbreaker that forced Burke to give up the match Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon vs. Kevin Sullvan & Tom Zenk Furnas dropkicked Sullivan into a Cobra Clutch Suplex by Lafon that got the victory for their team. After the match, Zenk ambushed Furnas with a superkick to the back of the head, then proceeded to beat down Lafon until the officials cleared them off Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers The masked man made his presence felt at ringside, and while White was chasing him, Playboy After Dark double teamed Scorpio to get the win Jerry Blackwell vs. The Great Kabuki A bloody match that ended when Sheikh Kaissie tried to interfere, but Kabuki sent Blackwell crashing into the Sheikh, and followed up with a thrust kick to the jaw to score the hard fought victory AWA Southern Tag-Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas Douglas was going for a running cross body press, but Cameron caught him and reversed it into a power slam that retained the titles for Black Irish AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman In a bout that many called the match of the night, Tanaka and Pillman went to a 20 minute time limit draw Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper Piper won by DQ. During a clash in the corner, Piper hit a nasty eye gouge on Roberts, and when the ref tried to separate the two, Piper shoved the ref from behind into the blinded Roberts, who reflexively DDTed the ref. When the ref came to, he disqualified Roberts Ricky Steamboat & Ron Garvin vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Masa Saito Steamboat and Garvin worked over Saito’s legs for much of the match. When Saito was trying to put away Steamboat with a Saito Suplex, Steamboat was able to counter it with a cross body press to get the one two three.

Lots of amazing action so far. Definitely looking forwad to seeing how the final matches of the tournament play out. Sad to see my AWA boys out but they went out in classic style. White went down to a more experienced opponent, Pillman put in a valiant effort that impressed the crowd, Piper made a reckless miscalculation, and Rose was hoist by his own petard. Can't wait to see how night 3 plays out.

AWA show from Cobo Hall, Detroit, May 3rd Biff Wellington vs. Leo Burke Wellington won with a Tombstone Piledriver Steve Blackman vs. Chris Adams A martial arts showdown where Blackman went for the Bicycle Kick, but Adams countered with a legsweep and then trapped Blackman in the Super Lock until he was forced to quit. After the match, Adams helped Blackman up and congratulated him on a good effort Nord The Barbarian vs. Bob Orton An out and out slugfest where Nord blocked a backbreaker attempt and followed with a side suplex for the win Doug Furnas vs. Kevin Sullivan Furnas won by DQ when he was attacked by Tom Zenk Too Cold Scorpio vs. Doug Somers Scorpio pinned Somers after hitting a moonsault Tom Zenk vs. Phil Lafon Zenk won with a Superkick. After the match, Zenk and Kevin Sullivan brawled with Lafon and Furnas AWA Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match : The Guerrero Brothers © vs. Ron Garvin, Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas A fast paced match that ended when Douglas went for a top rope flying cross body press on Chavo that was reversed with a roll over that got the one two three for the champs AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Marty Jones A battle of wits that ended when Tanaka was going for a German Suplex, which Jones blocked and countered with his own attempt at a German Suplex, that in turn Tanaka stopped with a back kick, followed by a savate kick to finally get the victory AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. British Steel Both teams went to a 30 minute time limit draw AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Buzz Sawyer A bloody match that ended with Sawyer catching the Big Dan Boot, followed by the Big Dan Leg Drop to successfully defend his title

AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington, May 2nd (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Nord The Barbarian, The Great Kabuki & Ron Garvin vs. The British Bullies & Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie Nord pinned Kaissie after a double running knee drop Cactus Jack vs. Bob Orton Cactus won by DQ after Orton punched the ref in the face Death Sentence vs. The Youngbloods Gaylord dropped Wellington throat first onto the top rope to get the win Too Cold Scorpio vs. Leo Burke Scorpio won with a flying somersault legdrop Mike Rotundo vs. Larry Zbyszko Larry was going for an over the shoulder neckbreaker, but Rotundo blocked it and executed the Varsity Rush to score the pinfall Phil Lafon vs. Tom Zenk Lafon came to the ring accompanied by Doug Furnas, while Zenk came out with Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan caused sufficient distraction that it caused Lafon to leave himself open to the Superkick by Zenk, who got the tainted victory Chavo & Hector Guerrero vs. Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas Douglas was going for a belly to belly suplex, but Chavo blocked it and countered with a German Suplex to get the one two three AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Masa Saito When Saito went for the Saito Suplex, Spivey countered with a bulldog headlock to defend his title AWA Southern Tag Team Title match : Black Irish © vs. British Steel A frenzied match that got completely out of control, leading to a double DQ to be declared AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Nick Bockwinkel A long , tough match that finally ended when Bock went for a piledriver, but Steamboat countered with a back body drop and was able to hold down Bock’s shoulders for the three count

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for May 2nd The Youngbloods vs. The British Bullies The Youngbloods have been turning a lot of heads of late. Fresh off a very successful tour of Japan, Wellington and Blackman have made their mark as a hot young team on the rise. They were clearly looking to capitalize on their momentum as they squared off with the British Bullies, who had Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie. Jones and Taylor brought the full brunt of their technical ability to the fight, but the Youngbloods kept firing back with quick tags and hard hitting moves. It looked like they would take down the Syndicate members when Blackman had Jones set up for the Bicycle Kick, but as he was coming off the ropes, Kaissie tripped him, causing him to stagger. Jones swiftly capitalized with a jarring knee lift, followed by a takeover suplex that got the one two three. A tainted win, but further proof that you don’t dare let your guard down for a second with the British Bullies. Chris Adams vs. Greg Gagne In sharp contrast to his British Bullies teammates, Adams started the match by ordering Sheikh Kaissie back to the locker room, determined to do this on his own. Kaissie was clearly not happy with this, but acquiesced. Adams has been coming off a series of challenges for different singles titles, all of which have gone to time limit draws. This has clearly stuck in Adams’ craw, but has only doubled his focus on proving himself worthy of championship gold. He worked a very focused, scientific match with the second generation veteran, clearly pulling back from some opportunities to take the low road and really taking it to Gagne. This paid off when he was able to dodge the Gagne Dropkick and nail him with the Superkick to get the hard fought victory. After the match, it was announced that Adams would get a rematch for the Canadian Title with Ron Garvin in Winnipeg, and that it would be a No Time Limit match. Jake Roberts & Cactus Jack vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton The war between the Snakepit and Piper’s Pit has been tearing up the AWA rings of late, with both Roberts and Piper engaging in psychological warfare with the other. The wild card in this equation has turned out to be the New Mexico Madman himself, Cactus Jack, with Piper increasingly having his hands full having to adapt to his unpredictable opponent. Both he and Orton worked hard to break down Cactus, but he and Roberts kept swiftly tagging in and out and keeping them off balance. Orton was trying to take out Roberts with a piledriver, but the Snake dug in and kept blocking it, and when Piper came in to assist, he was sent flying out of the ring by an out of control Cactus Clothesline. Roberts took advantage of the ref being distracted to hit a low blow on Orton, followed by the rapid execution of the DDT and the pinfall. After the match, Piper was helping up Orton and screaming at Cactus, “You’re a dead man!” Shane Douglas vs. Hector Guerrero Last week, Douglas went down in a close loss to Chavo Guerrero. This time, once again, Douglas was backed up by Bill Dundee, while Guerrero’s two brothers were in his corner. While Douglas still showed the fire and enthusiasm that has made him a solid favorite among the AWA fans, he took a more measured approach to this match, reining in his more reckless tendencies and working in more mat work and counter wrestling. This seemed to be the influence of Bill Dundee, who gave both instruction and encouragement from his spot at ringside. Douglas was consistently able to block the double underhook suplex, but looked it would be all for naught as Hector went for the Guerrero Clutch. Douglas was still able to roll through it and get his on cover for a 2 and a half count, and soon after the bell rang, signaling a 15 minute time limit draw. While he wasn’t able to get the win, Douglas certainly made his mark in this match. Doug Furnas & The Can-Am Express vs. Kevin Sullivan & Death Sentence After being kicked out of the Varsity Club last week, Furnas was clearly out for revenge, and had brought in the team of Phil Lafon and Tom Zenk to help him get it. While Darryl Peterson and Jeff Gaylord may have been newly dubbed Maxx Payne and “The Black Knight” Jeff Gaylord, they remained just as subservient to the will of Sullivan as ever, following his commands throughout the match. The powerful Furnas maintained the upper hand through much of the match, using his considerable strength to rock them with mighty clotheslines and power moves. After he tagged in Lafon, the skilled Canadian competitor kept the momentub going before being brought low by a nasty double team by Death Sentence. The Varsity Club proceeded to work over Lafon, drawing in Furnas to try to make the save and capitalizing by double and triple teaming Lafon while the ref sent Furnas back to his corner. Lafon was able to rally and came very close to tagging out to Zenk … but Zenk pulled back his hand at the last moment, letting Lafon get pulled back into the enemy corner. When Furnas shouted at Zenk, demanding to know what gives, Zenk responded with a superkick to the face, sending Furnas careening off the ring apron and into the ringside barricade. While Zenk headed back to the locker room, abandoning his partners to their fate, Payne and Gaylord hit the Execution on Lafon, putting a brutal and shocking end to the match. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Buddy Rose Since losing the World Tag Team titles, the members of Playboy After Dark have struggled to find their footing again, particularly in some tough losses to various combinations of the Cobra Corps. For this match, it would be the leaders of these two factions facing off, with none of their allies at ringside. Rose was able to keep the upper hand for the first part of the match, but the double tough DI came roaring back with a vengeance, pinballing the Playboy all over the ring. It looked like it was all over for Rose when Slaughter put him in the Cobra Clutch, but a huge men, dressed in military fatigues and a black mask, charged into the ring and attacked Sarge. He and Rose put the boots to Slaughter while the other members of Playboy After Dark and the Cobra Corps rushed out and did battle in the aisle. Eventually, Rose and the masked man left Sarge lying in the ring to be helped out by Leon White and Too Cold Scorpio. Who is this mysterious menace that has seemingly joined the Playboy’s campaign?

Do you know what your schedule and venue will be? I run shows out of the Cow Palace every second Friday of the month, but can work around your schedule, and even find a new venue if needs be.

Haven't done this in a while ... AWA Champions AWA World Champion - Ricky Steamboat AWA American Champion - Dan Spivey AWA Southern Champion - Pat Tanaka AWA Canadian Champ - Ron Garvin AWA World Tag Team Champs - The Razor Boys (Paul Diamond & Al Perez) AWA Southern Tag Team Champs - Black Irish (Fit Finlay & Larry Cameron) AWA Six Man Tag Team Champs - The Guerrero Brothers

AWA show from the Canada Games Sportsplex, Lethbridge, Alberta, April 27th Fit Finlay vs. Mando Guerrero Finlay won by blocking a German suplex and countering with his own German suplex The Youngbloods vs. British Steel Blackman knocked out Smiley with the “out of nowhere” bicycle kick Brian Pillman vs. Leo Burke Pillman got the victory with a top rope missile dropkick Greg Gagne vs. Larry Cameron Camerson scored the pinfall after a running power slam Roddy Piper vs. Bill Dundee Dundee caught piper with a running cross body press, but Piper countered with a rollover with a fistful of trunks to get the tainted pinfall Doug Furnas & The Can-Am Express vs. Mike Rotundo & Death Sentence Although Rotundo and his partners were clearly not on the same page for most of this match, the Varsity Club were victorious when the members of Death Sentence hit the Execution on Lafon Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers RMT executed the Rocky Mountain Launcher on Somers and came away with the win Shane Douglas vs. Bob Orton Douglas put up a valiant fight but went down to a lariat, followed by the Superplex AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. The British Bullies Diamond hit the flying back body press on Jones to defend their titles AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Buzz Sawyer Sawyer went all out against Spivey but still went down to the powers of Spiveymania and the Spivey Bomber

The fun thing is that Finlay, at this point, is only 28, and yet is already a 14 year veteran.

Side note : I screwed up the posting of my previous card, giving it the wrong venue. I have now corrected that.

AWA show from the Saddledome, Calgary, April 26th Too Cold Scorpio vs. Leo Burke Just back from a show in Japan, Scorpio dazzled the crowd when he executed a spectacular Top Rope Somersault Legdrop to beat Burke Phil Lafon vs. Buddy Rose The Playboy won with the Inside Out Backbreaker Jake Roberts vs. Buzz Sawyer Roberts executed the DDT for the victory Tom Zenk vs. Doug Somers Somers was going for the loaded elbow pad shot but ended up eating a Superkick to give the win to Zenk Dan Spivey & Mike Rotundo vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton Rotundo hit the Varsity Rush on Orton and went for the cover, but Piper broke up the pin. When the ref tried to send Piper back to his corner, Piper hit the Piledriver on the ref. This led to a DQ win for the Varsity Club team AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman Tanaka was coming off a bruising six man tag match in Winnipeg in which he had been put through the wringer. Pillman, in turn, was just returning from a very intense elimination match. In spite of the wear and tear they were both bringing into the match, both men put on a technical gem of a match, with lots of fast exchanges and high flying. The end came when Tanaka ducked under a clothesline from Pillman, then came back off the ropes with a turning leaping forearm smash to successfully defend his title. The fans gave both men a standing ovation after the match. AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The Youngbloods The Youngbloods are also returning from Japan , where they had scored some very impressive victories over tough competition. Blackwell and Wellington really gave the champs a run for their money, in what many in the crowd said was their best match in the AWA. Blackwell even caught Finlay with the flash Bicycle Kick, but in falling back the Irishman was able to tag out to Cameron, who flattened Blackwell with a massive leaping clothesline to score the victory. The fans still gave a round of applause to the Youngbloods afterwards AWA Canadian Title 2/3 Falls Match : Ron Garvin © vs. Chris Adams 1st Fall : Garvin caught Adams in a sunset flip out of the corner for the pinfall 2nd Fall : Adams pinned Garvin with a belly to back suplex 3rd Fall : Both men went to a 45 minute time limit draw . Adams looked like he was about to lose his marbles after yet another time limit draw.

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg , April 25th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Cactus Jack vs. Hector Guerrero Cactus blocked a double underhook suplex attempt and hit the Russian Legsweep for the victory Leo Burke vs. Leon White White won with a power slam Bill Dundee& Shane Douglas vs. Larry Zbyszko & Masa Saito Douglas put in a courageous effort but wound up going down to an over the shoulder neckbreaker by Larry Nord The Barbarian, The Great Kabuki & Pat Tanaka vs. Jerry Blackwell, Ken Patera & Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie There was a lengthy Face In Peril sequence where the Syndicate worked over Tanaka, but the Southern Champ was able to tag out to Kabuki, who pinned Kaissie after the thrust kick to the jaw Jake Roberts vs. Bob Orton Roberts hit the DDT for the victory AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. The British Bullies Diamond scored the pinfall with a flying back body press on Jones Co-Promotional Match with Lutte Internationale : Rick Martel, The Killer Bees & Doug Furnas vs. Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotundo & Death Sentence Death Sentence turned out to be Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord, now dubbed Maxx Payne and “The Black Knight” Jeff Gaylord. This was a very intense match, with many instances of Rotundo arguing with his partners. After a miscommunication between Rotundo and Sullivan, Furnas combined with NWA World Champion Martel to hit a Rocket Launcher on Sullivan to score the victory for their team. Rotundo kept arguing with his partners all the way back to the locker room. AWA Canadian Title Match : Ron Garvin © vs. Chris Adams Another lengthy match for Adams where Garvin kept ducking the Superkick and firing back with brutal punches. As the match wound down, Adams kept trying to make Garvin give up to submission holds and put him away with suplexes, but the bell ended up ringing to signal another 30 minute time limit draw. Garvin ended up raising Adams arm in respect, but Adams was clearly at his wits end, trying to figure out what it will take to get the gold. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Nick Bockwinkel Bockwinkel kept working over Steamboat’s legs to try and put him away with the Figure Four Leglock, but Steamboat ultimately countered with an inside cradle to get the one two three. After the match, Nick was looking at Steamboat and miming pointing at an imaginary wristwatch, telling the champ that his time was running out.

Great job of setting the scene for the Top Guns vs. Shining Wizards match. Facekickers kicking faces! Gotta love the Youngbloods pulling off the victory. Even at this early stage, Owen vs. Yamada had to be awesome. That elimination match had to be epic. Sting press slamming Hashimoto was super impressive. Fackickers as the most stoic champions ever.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for April 25th Fit Finlay vs. Phil Lafon Ever since the return of the Can-Am Express to the AWA, Phil Lafon has struggled to make headway in the wake of the singles success of his partner, Tom Zenk. While Zenk has pulled off some impressive singles wins of late, Lafon has found himself on the wrong side of some losses in both individual and tag team matches. Determined to turn his luck around and possibly position for a title shot, Lafon would be taking on one half of the Southern Tag Team champs. Finlay certainly wasn’t making it easy for Lafon, tearing into him with his trademark Irish fury. Lafon countered with his own technical expertise and came back with several takedowns and aerial moves. It seemed like he just might pull it off with a flying back body press, but Finlay caught him and, in an impressive display of power, power slammed him into the corner turnbuckle. Finlay then followed up with a leaping double footstomp that put Lafon away. A tough break for the young Canadian. Ken Patera vs. Nord The Barbarian A couple of weeks ago, Nord had scored a surprising win over the former AWA World champion. Patera was clearly determined to even the score as he went all out against the towering member of the Snakepit. Nord gave as good as he got, and the two waged another war of brawling and power moves. Nord was determined to prove that his first win was no fluke and had Patera set up for a running leg drop, but Jerry Blackwell took this as his cue to charge the ring and attack Nord, leading to the DQ. The two men continued to attack Nord until Kabuki came in swinging his nunchaku, clearing the Sheikh’s men from the ring. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shane Douglas Shane Douglas had his mentor , Bill Dundee, in his corner, while Chavo was backed up by his two brothers, Mando and Hector. In spite of the imminent threat of interference, this wound up being a purely technical matchup, with Chavo’s experience and ring savvy countering the youth and vigor of Douglas. Douglas kept trying to finish off Chavo with the belly to belly suplex, but Chavo kept blocking it, and was ultimately able to turn it around into a German Suplex to get the one two three. Although Douglas had suffered a loss, Dundee was encouraging afterwards, tell him that he would get him next time. “Cowboy” Bob Orton vs. Cactus Jack Of late, it seems like the youngest member of the Snakepit has become the focus of their feud with Piper’s Pit , with Piper swearing vengeance on the wild man from Truth Or Consequences. This time out, he was sending out his Ace, who pounded Cactus with big lefts and rights before unleashing some jarring suplexes and back breakers. Cactus, showing his trademark resilliance, kept bouncing back and rallied before knocking Orton out of the ring with a clothesline. Piper picked up Orton to send him back into the ring, but Cactus came off the apron with a flip plancha that crashed into both of them. Cactus was able to dodge back into the ring and get the win by countout. Piper was livid at the result and screaming that Cactus would regret what he did. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring. Resnick : My next guests have gone through a lot of upheaval of late. Ladies and Gentlemen, Kevin Sullivan and the Varsity Club Rush! The crowd boos as Sullivan comes out, looking like he is about to rupture a blood vessel. The remaining members of the Varisty Club Rush (Darryl Peterson, Jeff Gaylord & Doug Furnas) followed close behind him. Sullivan grabs the microphone from Ken Resnick . Sullivan : Get out of here, Resnick! This is Varsity Club business and has nothing to do with you! (A clearly intimidated Resnick scuttles out of the ring. Sullivan starts pacing back and forth as his men stand at attention behind him.) I am *very* disappointed. Very disappointed indeed! I started the Varsity Club Rush to help groom the next generation of Club members. I thought I had found some of the best athletes in the country. And what happens? First, Leon White is such a wimp that he won’t finish someone off, just because he used to be a friend of his. Then, Brian Pillman spends too much of his time kissing up to the fans that he won’t learn what I teach him and he fails to win the Southern title. Finally, Ron Simmons not only doesn’t listen to my orders, but he dares to lay hands on me! I made sure he’s not going to be seen in the AWA again. And that brings me down to you three. So I am going to declare an end to the Varsity Club Rush. No more! Two of you are in, one of you is out. (Sullivan keeps pacing back and forth in front of his men, staring them up and down. He then finally stops in front of Furnas, jabbing his finger into his chest.) Sullivan : You! You failed to get the job done against the Guerreros. You’re cut! Get him, boys! (Gaylord and Peterson gleefully pounce on Furnas and start putting the boots to him. They land some hard shots on the startled Furnas before Phil Lafon, Bill Dundee, Shane Douglas, Sgt. Slaughter and Leon White charge out to the ring and pull him out. Sullivan cackled maniacally as he led Gaylord and Peterson back to the locker room) Sgt. Slaughter & Leon White vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Playboy After Dark were coming off losing the World Tag Team titles to the Razor Boys and were determined to show they were still in contention to get the belts back. White’s partner, Too Cold Scorpio, was in Japan so he brought out his leader in the Cobra Corps, Sgt. Slaughter. Rose and Somers proceeded to pick on the huge White, digging into their deep bag of dirty tricks and keeping him trapped in their corner as they worked him over. They wound up taking it too far, pushing White until he snapped. White started throwing the two of them around the ring with huge slams and clotheslines, bellowing like a gored bull. He looked determined to finish them off, but was huffing and puffing so much that Sarge ordered him to tag out. Slaughter then started to dismantle Rose and Somers before nailing the Playboy with the Slaughter Cannon to get the pin. Once he had recovered, Rose got on the mic and challenged to a singles match next week on All-Star Wrestling, with no members of the Cobra Corps or Playboy After Dark at ringside. Sgt. Slaughter accepted the challenge before the fade to the closing credits.

"We're not ones to say We told you so, but ... WE TOLD YOU SO!" Thanks for an incredible moment.

Wow! Huge shock with the title change . Love Satanico, but wondering what this spells for the Freebirds.

Yeah, I think the key is to book in a way that plays to the strengths of : a) your wrestlers, your territory (at least, your vision of your territory), and c) your writing style. Other bookers can get their stories across through their interviews or TV commentary, but I find those exhausting to write , so I have to focus more on my finishes because sometimes that is all I have. Everybody having a different approach is part of what I love about this project, and wrestling in general.

Sadly, my one chance to see Cheap Trick was cut short by a hurricane that caused the stage to topple over. True story.

You're booking completely different of me, as I very rarely use DQs in my matches. And I think this is when promo segments and specific angles are useful to further your programs. Maybe it's just a matter of having a different mindset but taking a little bit of everyone to add to your booking can be somewhat helpful sometimes. Nonetheless, your shows are really good. Heck, everyone is doing awesome. I agree that screwy finishes have an important place and you are doing a great job of booking in a way that works with your own particular territory. I just take a very close look at my individual cards and try to make sure there aren't too much of the same type of finish on the same show. This last one had a bunch of changes in both finishes and match order to try to avoid it. Sometimes I worry that I am burning through some of my angles and feuds to quickly (Chris Adams vs. Kabuki was a particularly glaring example) or that I am itching too much to move onto the next thing. I have worked hard to figure out methods to help draw them out. A straightforward method is using tag or multi-man matches. The junior members of the team can take the fall, All-Japan style, but even they can be kept strong by getting wins back in individual matches. Having most of my rosters in duos or factions has it's drawbacks, but it can be a big help in long term booking. Bockwinkel's alliance with Saito and Larry Z has been a godsend to the feud with Steamboat, since he can keep sending them out to take on the champion, while still keeping his hand in and putting off having a definitive conclusion to the feud. Similarly, Piper can keep sending out Orton and Sawyer to take losses for him while getting off scott free. I also try to escalate match results to gradually build up to the big matches. I had Kabuki and Blackwell swap countouts, then swap pinfalls but with outside factors, to postpone having the big blowoff finish. I probably have more time limit draws than is truly realistic, but I keep it down to no more than one per card, and keep it to people I figure can realistically do it and pull off making an entertaining match from it. The biggest key for me is to play to the strength of the indivudal wrestlers. I can't say I've watched a comprehensive sampling of the work of everyone on my roster, some of them I've only vaguely known about. But I learn what I can about each of them, their history and move set, to come up with somewhat realistic and interesting finishes. I noticed some time ago that Jake Roberts has lost a lot of his matches. But he was always considered a threat because he was cunning, vicious, ruthless, sneaky , and has that deadly finisher. Similiarly, Ronnie Garvin can take a loss, but still be a contender because he is a tough old SOB. Piper, on the other hand, had a lot of his allure from being a Karma Houdini, always being able to slip through the fingers of his rivals, and I have done my best to preserve that. This percolates down to the mid and lower cards. The British Bullies are hard as ten bears and can tear you apart, but can still credibly take a loss to the Youngbloods, because the rookie team have shown that they can sneak in a flash pin or submission if their opponents leave the window open. The Guerreros have been eating some losses in singles and tag matches, but put them all together at the same time and they are nearly impossible to beat. Hope some of this helps.

My Sunday shows tend to have as many rookies as I can manage to get in matches , as part of paying their dues. This does have some more high level matches than usual for a small market show, but I think the people of Rockford deserve a treat, if only for giving us Cheap Trick. As near as I can tell, Furnas only had the one match. The AWA version of the Can-Am Express is Phil Lafon and Tom Zenk.

AWA show at Boylan High School, Rockford, IL, April 20th Bob Orton vs. Doug Furnas Furnas was going for a Canadian Backbreaker, but Orton countered with a slide down his back followed by a trunks assisted sunset flip for the pinfall Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder Saito and Larry won by DQ when White bowled over the ref trying to break up Saito’s Jailhouse Lock on Scorpio Bill Dundee, Shane Douglas & Brian Pillman vs. Mike Rotundo, Jeff Gaylord & Darryl Peterson Throughout the match, Rotundo was extremely reluctant to get in the ring with Pillman. This led to some arguing with his partners, which in turn led to Gaylord being sufficiently distracted to fall victim to a rollup by Dundee. After the match, Rotundo and his partners continued arguing back to the locker room Steve Blackman vs. Leo Burke Blackman caught Burke with a roundhouse kick to the jaw to get the win Greg Gagne vs. Ken Patera Patera made Gagne give up to the Swinging Full Nelson Chris Adams vs. Steven Regal A technical matchup where Steven was going for the Regal-Plex, but Adams blocked it and countered with a belly to back suplex and got the one two three. Strangely, even though Adams had harsh things in the past to say about Regal, he offered his hand to his opponent after the match. Regal couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but reluctantly shook his hand. AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The British Bullies A furious match that went to a 20 minute time limit draw Buzz Sawyer vs. Nord The Barbarian Nord won with a running double knee drop The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Sheikh Kaissie interfered in the match, leading to Blackwell pinning Kabuki after a power slam and splash AWA Six-Man Tag Team Title Match : The Guerrero Brothers © vs. Ron Garvin & The Can-Am Express Mando pinned Lafon with the German Suplex Cactus Jack vs. Roddy Piper Cactus was going for the Russian Legsweep, but Piper grabbed onto the ropes to block it , then continued to use the ropes for leverage to pin Cactus AWA World Tag Team Title Match : The Razor Boys © vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers The champs defended their belts with the Straight Razor on Somers