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AWA show from Cobo Hall, Detroit, April 5th Shane Douglas vs. Leo Burke Douglas won with a running cross body press The Youngbloods vs. Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko Larry hit an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Wellington for the win Chris Adams vs. Bill Dundee Adams executed the Superkick for the victory British Steel vs. Hector & Mando Guerrero Smiley countered a German Suplex attempt by Mando with a go behind and roll up and scored the pinfall The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Blackwell hit a running splash on the outside and wound up winning by count out AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The British Bullies A ferocious battle that ended when Black Irish executed a Spike Piledriver on Jones to defend their titles Roddy Piper vs. Nord The Barbarian A match that featured much of Piper doing everything he could to avoid contact with Nord ended in Piper winning by DQ when he was attacked by Jake Roberts AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Bob Orton In a match where Mike Rotundo ended up blocking Roddy Piper from interfering in the match, Spivey was victorious with the Spivey Bomber

Getting caught up on this, quick correction (doing as I listen, I apologize if this gets noted later in the show) : The Vinnie Vegas vs. Tony Atlas armwrestling match, to the best of my recollection, was not a part of the Jesse The Body tournament. Van Hammer had already won the tournament, but Atlas had challenged him to a match because he had been excluded from the tournament. Hammer was out with an injury, but Vegas (who had been eliminated early on in the tournament) stepped in for the challenge match, as he was left handed and had lost his match using his right hand. Vegas and Atlas arm wrestled left handed and Vegas won, which of course led to ... nothing. But it all occured after the end of the tournament.

Leon White fits in with my approach of trying to start with wrestlers where they were at the time, then do my own take on their evolution to become what they would become. I'm playing the character of Leon White as a big guy with a big heart. In 1986, he was raw, inexperienced and a bit clumsy, but with a lot of power and definite charisma. There was a match IRL where he and Jesse Hernandez took on Rose & Somers, and the heels outsmarted and distracted White while they took out his partner. Right now in my writing, he is making mistakes but earnestly trying to learn from them. Where he goes from there ... stay tuned! When I decided to make Steamboat the World Champion, I knew ultimately that his first big ongoing program would be with Bockwinkel. Ever since the start of the year, everything I have done with Bock has been moving him to be in position for that. This feud is just getting started.

Promoting the Japanese appearances gives a boost to both the JWA shows and the brand of the individual wrestlers, and by extension the AWA. As per my Dirt Sheet articles, Burke is pretty much the head trainer, so part of his duties is to have matches where he puts the rookies through their paces before ultimately putting them over. Once the current crop of rookies gets established, I am hoping to get him in a more focused program with just one newcomer, much like his past program with Regal.

Now that was the way to pay off a mystery partner reveal!

AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington , April 4th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. The Youngbloods White pinned Wellington after a power slam Cactus Jack vs. Buzz Sawyer Cactus was able to catch Buzz with the Russian Legsweep for the victory. Ater the match, the other members of Piper’s Pit attacked Cactus, leading to a clash with the other members of the Snakepit The Sheepherders vs. The Can-Am Express The Sheepherders got the pinfall on Lafon after hitting a double stomach breaker Greg Gagne vs. Ron Simmons Simmons won with a spinebuster slam Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord vs. Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell A knock down, drag out brawl that went to a no contest with the ref getting caught in the crossfire between the two teams Brian Pillman vs. Mando Guerrero Pillman scored the victory with the Air Pillman AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Razor Boys Diamond caught Somers with a back heel kick that knocked him out of the ring, leading to a win by countout. Playboy After Dark retained the titles. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Chavo Guerrero Tanaka knocked Chavo out with a roundhouse kick to defend his title. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Nick Bockwinkel A long intense match that ultimately spilled to the outside and ended in a double countout. Both men continued going after each other long after the final bell and they had to be separated by a horde of AWA officials.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for April 4th Ron Simmons & Brian Pillman vs. The Youngbloods Here we have a match featuring a group of wrestlers who will be appearing in Japan this month, with Pillman and the Youngbloods set to wrestle in the Young Lions Showcase and Simmons in a special tag match. Varsity Club bad cop Kevin Sullivan was once again absent from the proceedings, leaving Pillman with the good cops Mike Rotundo and Ron Simmons, both of whom have taken Pillman under their wings of late. Both Wellington and Blackman were very wary of the imposing Simmons , and used their speed and coordination to keep themselves just out of reach of his dangerous power offense. Sensing a change of gear was needed, Simmons tagged in Pillman, and he was able to match the Youngbloods move for move. With Rotundo cheering him on from ringside, and Simmons doing the same from the ring apron, Pillman really got the crowd going with his impressive aerial tactics. It looked like Blackman might just take him out with the bicycle kick, but Pillman was able to catch himself on the ropes, then follow up with a big dropkick to get the advantage. He rushed to the ropes and hit the Air Pillman to get a spectacular victory. Simmons and Rotundo both congratulated their colleague , something you know Kevin Sullivan would not be caught dead doing. Tom Zenk vs. Chavo Guerrero Zenk has been pulling double duty of late, wrestling both in singles and as part of the Can-Am Express, but has been having more success on his own. Contrarily, the Guerreros have struggled a bit of late individually, but have been incredibly tough to beat when defending their Six Man Tag Team Titles. Chavo fought with determination to end that streak, calling on his considerable technical skills as well as cutting some corners on occasion to try to take down Zenk. Zenk showed real fire and kept coming back at Chavo, ultimately catching him coming off the ropes with a Superkick to score the victory. Could big things be on the horizon for Zenk. Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord Rocky Mountain Thunder had Sgt. Slaughter in their corner, while the Varsity Club were joined by Kevin Sullivan. Leon White was keen to get his hands on his former stablemates, but this wound up being a detriment , as the Varsity Club capitalized on his eagerness by drawing him into the ring when he was not the legal man then double teaming Scorpio while he was being ushered out of the ring. They kept this up, getting White progressively hotter under the collar, until they were able to hit the Execution on Scorpio to end the match. Sullivan, for once, seemed pleased by the efforts of his recruits. White was very distressed at having cost his team the match, but Sarge and Scorpio assured him that everything was alright and that they would do better next time. The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell These two men have had some ferocious battles of late, and both men tore into each other with incredible intensity. Kabuki would pick Blackwell apart with brutal martial arts kicks and shots, but Blackwell kept roaring back with his incredible size and power. The action spilled out to the ringside area, and Blackwell had Kabuki trapped in the corner and went for a running splash, but the Japanese legend rolled out of the way at the last moment, sending Blackwell dropping hard onto the concrete. Kabuki was able to get back into the ring in time to win by countout. The two men kept going at it for some time after the bell. It looks like the war is showing no sign of stopping soon. Shane Douglas vs. Leo Burke Douglas, a relative newcomer to the AWA, has made a strong impression on the fans, with his mentor Bill Dundee guiding him to some impressive victories. Dundee was in his corner, rallying the crowd behind him as he faced the tough Canadian veteran Burke. Burke gave a very stiff challenge to Douglas in a match that went back and forth. Burke looked like he was taking the advantage over Douglas when he whipped him into the ropes for a back body drop, but Douglas was playing possum and caught Burke with a cradle suplex for the one two three. The younger generation has been rising in the AWA and Douglas continues to be a stand out part of this movement. Ricky Steamboat & Ron Garvin vs. Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko Garvin had recently made his surprise return the the AWA , taking the Canadian title from Larry Z, and was now making his first appearance on All-Star since his comeback, teaming with the World champion. Larry’s fortunes have waned of late, taking some tough losses including his shockingly quick defeat to Garvin, but actually worked pretty well as a teammate for Saito. With Nick Bockwinkel in their corner, the two functioned incredibly smoothly in tandem as they kept Steamboat in the ring for a long time as they did their best to damage him. Steamboat was ultimately able to dive into his corner and bring in Garvin, who went after Larry and once again caught him coming off the ropes with the Hands Of Stone punch, putting an end to the match in decisive fashion. Although his colleagues had lost the match, Bockwinkel seemed pleased with the results as he led his men back from the ring.

Mind *blown*!!!

Just want to clarify something regarding retirement, given the current situation with Bob Roop (not looking to pick up Roop either way). My understanding was that we had revisited the rules at the end of last year, and while the rules remained that if a wrestler passes away IRL, they are unavailable from that date onward, but if a wrestler retired during a particular year (barring extreme circumstances, such as Magnum TA), they would be available until the end of that year. Is that not still the case, or has that changed? Not looking to argue, just wanting clarification.

Fallen Angel was on my roster, but I let her go to make room for Black Irish. I'm glad she has found a place on your roster.

I was wondering about having the main in Calgary be the defense of the number 3 singles title, but I figured the Stampeders connection and the potential for match quality would be enough of a draw. When I added regular Sunday shows in small markets, the idea was for the rookies to get more experience in matches against each other or trainers, with a sprinkling of super stars to bring in the fans. I've started working in the idea that some of the wrestlers would take advantage of the fact that they were working off the beaten path and would try some experimentation in their matches, have some fun, and maybe get a little crazy. Hence Simmons/Cactus, Piper/Roberts, and the main.

AWA show from the Canada Games Sportsplex, Lethbridge, Alberta, March 30th Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell vs. The Youngbloods The Youngbloods put up a valiant efford but Wellington ultimately was crushed by a Blackwell running splash Falls Count Anywhere Match : Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack A crazy match that ended when Simmons caught Jack with a spinebuster slam on the arena floor for the victory Ronnie Garvin & British Steel vs. Playboy After Dark Garvin and Regal took down Burke with the Hands Of Stone Punch / Iron Fist Punch Brian Pillman vs. Mando Guerrero Pillman won with the Air Pillman Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko vs. The Can-Am Express Saito knocked out Lafon with three Saito Suplexes before locking him in the Scorpion Hold. As Lafon was unable to respond, the ref gave the match to Saito and Larry Z Chris Adams vs. Too Cold Scorpio A long, back and forth match that ended with Adams hitting the Superkick on Scorpio to get the one two three The Razor Boys vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero The Razor Boys won after executing the Straight Razor on Chavo Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper Pure chaos that went two a double DQ when both men would not stop brawling AWA Southern Tag Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The British Bullies Finlay forced Jones to give up to an Indian Deathlock AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Nord The Barbarian A battle of the titans which shook the ring and ended when Spivey was finally able to hit the Spivey Bomber on Nord and successfully defend his title

AWA show from the Saddle Dome, Calgary, March 29th Leo Burke vs. Shane Douglas Douglas won with a belly to belly suplex The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Kabuki hit Blackwell with the Green Mist on the floor and won by countout Greg Gagne vs. Ken Patera Patera won with a shoulder breaker Tom Zenk vs. Larry Zbyszko Zenk hit a Superkick for the victory The Cobra Corps vs. Kevin Sullivan, Dan Spivey & Mike Rotundo All of the members of the Cobra Corps were incredibly over with the fans, but both Spivey and Rotundo got a huge amount of cheers too, while Sullivan was booed ferociously by the crowd any time he stepped in the ring. Slaughter pinned Sullivan after hitting the Slaughter Cannon Cactus Jack vs. Bob Orton A slugfest that Orton won with a Bulldog headlock Buzz Sawyer vs. Bill Dundee Sawyer was setting up Dundee for a Bulldog, but Dundee countered with a small package to get the pinfall AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. British Steel A very intense match that ended with Black Irish having to execute a Spike Piledriver on Smiley to put him down for good AWA Six Man Tag Team Title Match : The Guerreros © vs. Doug Furnas, Jeff Gaylord & Darryl Peterson Furnas was trying to get Hector in a Canadian Backbreaker, but Hector blocked it and trapped him in the Guerrero Clutch for the victory AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Youngbloods Blackman had Rose ready for the Bicycle Kick, but Somers ambushed him coming off the ropes with a loaded elbow smash to the back of the head, and Rose followed up with the Inside Out Backbreaker to defend their titles AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman An incredibly exciting match that had the fans on their feet throughout as the former Calgary Stampeder Pillman go the distance to a 30 minute time limit draw with the Southern Champ Tanaka. Both men embraced after the match as the fans roared their approval for the remarkable display of wrestling they just saw.

Danger Zone are rapidly becoming my favorite heel duo. Good to see the AWA trio getting over with the fans even during a loss, cool to see all of them sport the Crimson Mask courtesy of Abby Stabby. Would have loved to see the #1 Tag Contenders match. Very Tall Machine must be crazy strong to get Blackwell in an Underhook Suplex. Some classic heeling from Power Rush. Bigelow vs. Tenryu brought the card to a glorious hold.

That's the idea

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, March 28th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Chavo Guerrero vs. Doug Furnas Chavo was going for a running cross body press, but Furnas caught him and countered with a power slam for the win The Sheepherders vs. Shane Douglas & Bill Dundee The Sheepherders pinned Douglas after a double running kneedrop Mando Guerrero vs. Ron Simmons Simmons won with a spinebuster slam Ken Patera vs. Phil Lafon Patera made Lafon give up to the Spinning Lifting Full Nelson Jake Roberts & Cactus Jack vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton Piper and Orton got the victory after hitting a Spike Piledriver on Cactus Hector Guerrero vs. Tom Zenk Zenk caught Hector in a top rope flying cross body press for the victory AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder Scorpio was going for a top rope dropkick, but Buddy Rose interfered by knocking him off the top rope to the floor and Black Irish won by countout AWA Canadian Title Match : Larry Zbyszko © vs. ? Larry came out with Nick Bockwinkel in his corner and claimed that he was ready for any opponent. Then the crowd erupted when Ronnie Garvin, making his return to the AWA, came out to make his challenge. Larry immediately got on the mic and claimed that it wasn’t fair and that he hadn’t had time to prepare. Regardless, the moment the bell rang, he went right after Ronnie and whipped him into the ropes, going for a lariat. Ronnie ducked under it with ease, then came back and nailed him with the Hands Of Stone Punch. One … two … THREE! Just like that, Larry Z’s title reign had ended and Ronnie Garvin was the new Canadian champ! Bockwinkel gave what now seems to be a permanent smirk as he took Larry from the ring. NWA World Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Chris Adams Adams had gone to the time limit in recent American and AWA World title matches, and wound up going 3 for 3 in an exhausting technical showdown with the NWA Champ. Both men were working hard to get the other to submit all the way up to the 30 minute time limit. Martel raised Adams’ arm as a show of respect, but Adams was clearly frustrated at having gone the distance once again and still not coming out the victor. AWA World Title Cage Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Masa Saito Once again , Nick Bockwinkel was in Saito’s corner, observing. Saito really put the champion through the wringer in this one, with both men getting bloodied, but Steamboat just kept firing back. Saito was going for a Saito suplex, but Steamboat blocked it and reversed into his own belly to back suplex and was able to get the pinfall. Bockwinkel helped Saito from the ring but still gave a cocky grin and pointed at Steamboat as he left.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on EXPN / TSN for March 28th AWA Six-Man Tag Team Title Match : The Guerreros © vs. Greg Gagne & The Can-Am Express The Guerreros have lost some ground of late in the AWA, having dropped both the Southern Title and the Southern Tag Team Titles, but they still hold onto the Six-Man Tag belts and are determined to keep them around their waists. Greg Gagne and the newly returned Can-Ams were equally determined to take the titles away from them, but once the brothers had gotten Lafon in their corner, they kept him trapped and put in a concerted effort to break him down. Zenk frantically reached out to tag him out and it looked like he might just make it, but Lafon went for a sunset flip on Mando and Mando rolled through for a two count. He then swiftly got Lafon in a waistlock and hit a German Suplex for the pinfall. A disappointing result for the Can-Ams, but proof positive that the Guerreros are far from done. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Nord The Barbarian Bam Bam has been pretty much rolling over his opposition since arriving in the AWA, but the big Barbarian was looking to provide a much tougher challenge to The Beast From The East. These two rocked each other with big power moves and slugging blows that shook the ring. It looked like Nord just might pull off the impossible when he came after Bigelow with a big running boot, but Bam Bam ducked under it and Nord got caught up in the ropes. Bigelow took him out with a waistlock suplex then followed up with a slingshot splash that took Nord out for the one two three. Who will be able to stop the rampaging Beast? The Sheepherders vs. Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas The wild men from New Zealand have had a big impact on recent AWA house shows, but now they were making their debut on All-Star Wrestling. Dundee and Douglas put up a gallant challenge, but the crazy Kiwis were too much to reign in. They seemed to get sadistic joy out of beating on the handsome young Douglas, although he kept refusing to go down for good. Miller and Williams finally hit the double stomach breaker on Douglas to get the pinfall, then kept putting the boots to him after the match had ended until Dundee pulled his partner out of the ring. Clearly, there is no limit to their viciousness. Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay After all of the chaos of the three way war between Black Irish, British Steel and the British Bullies, the ref let it be known that there would be no shenanigans tolerated in this match, stating that he would punish any interference from their partners or the Bullies with immediate suspension. Regal and Finlay proved more than capable of providing their own chaos, letting the language of this match be mostly lefts and rights with briefs interludes of technical wrestling. When they were brawling in the corner, the ref tried to get between the two of them and caught a double punch for his troubles, leading to the match being thrown out. The two kept at it long after that, and it looks like nothing is going to keep this war from continuing. Mike Rotundo, Doug Furnas & Brian Pillman vs. Pat Tanaka & The Razor Boys Kevin Sullivan was nowhere to be seen for this match, leaving “Captain” Mike Rotundo to lead the Varsity Club Rush recruits into battle, and the result was an incredibly exciting bout that looked like it could go either way. Highlights included a matwork showdown between Rotundo and Perez, a display of power moves by Furnas on Diamond followed by Diamond taking Furnas down with a flying back body press that came close to getting a three count, and a high flying showdown between Pillman and Tanaka. Tanaka looked to take out Pillman when he whipped him into the ropes for the rolling wheel kick, but Pillman caught himself on the ropes and followed up with the Air Pillman for the shocking three count. The Varsity Club jubilantly celebrated Pillman’s biggest victory yet, and even the members of the Sunshine Boys gave Pillman credit for a well deserved win. AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Cactus Jack Sullivan was definitely at ringside for his man Spivey’s title defense against the unpredictable youngster Cactus Jack. Cactus proved to be quite handful for the powerful champion, showing little regard for his own well being as he threw himself at Spivey, but the self-proclaimed “Danster” kept a cool head in the face of this unconventional offense and kept firing back. Things took a turn for the strange when Roddy Piper showed up at ringside. Both the ref and Spivey started telling Piper to keep his distance, but this just provided the needed distraction for Bob Orton to sneak up from the other side and snap Jack’s neck on the top rope. Spivey turned around to see the staggered Cactus and reflexively hit the Spivey Bomber for pinfall, but once he realized what had happened, he was livid. Sullivan ordered him to accept the win and move on.

That was the late Leroy Brown.

AWA show at Boylan High School, Rockford, IL, March 23rd The British Bullies vs. The Youngbloods Blackman managed to catch Jones with the Bicycle Kick for the win The Cobra Corps & Greg Gagne vs. Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotundo, Jeff Gaylord & Darryl Peterson Gaylord and Peterson hit the Execution on Gagne to score the victory for their team Doug Furnas vs. Leo Burke Furnas won with a running Canadian Backbreaker into the corner The Great Kabuki vs. Sheikh Adnan Al Kaissie Kabuki bloodied the Sheikh before finishing him off with a piledriver Tom Zenk vs. Mando Guerrero Zenk got the win with a Superkick Jake Roberts, Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. Roddy Piper, Bob Orton & Buzz Sawyer A crazy brawl that wound up breaking down completely and being declared a no contest Phil Lafon vs. Chris Adams Adams got the win with a Superkick British Steel vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero A very intense matchup that ended with Regal pinning Hector with the Regal-Plex AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman This was a very exciting technical bout that went to a 20 minute time limit draw. Post match, Tanaka bowed to Pillman in a show of respect, which Pillman returned AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas Rose pinned Douglas after the Inside Out Backbreaker

AWA show from the International Amphitheater, Chicago, March 22nd Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord vs. The Can-Am Express The Varsity Club pinned Lafon after hitting the Execution Brian Pillman vs. Hector Guerrero Brian hit the Air Pillman for the win Mike Rotundo & Doug Furnas vs. Shane Douglas & Bill Dundee Furnas caught a running cross body attempt by Douglas and countered with a power slam for the victory Leo Burke vs. Norman Smiley Smiley pinned Burke after a floatover suplex Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Cactus Jack Cactus put up a hell of a fight but still ended up going down to a slingshot splash AWA World Tag Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Razor Boys Both teams went to a 30 minute time limit draw Nord The Barbarian vs. Bob Orton Nord won by DQ when he was attacked by Piper and Sawyer. This led to a brawl between Piper’s Pit and the Snakepit AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Chavo Guerrero A very intense match that ended when Tanaka was able to knock out Chavo with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head to defend his belt AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Sgt. Slaughter An incredibly tough battle that went back and forth and only ended when Buddy Rose (who was sneaking around at ringside) pulled down the top rope and caused Sarge to fall out and lose by countout. When Spivey found out afterwards what had happened, he was furious.

AWA show from the Mecca, Milwaukee, March 21st (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards ) Shane Douglas & Bill Dundee vs. The Youngbloods A fast paced match that ended with Douglas making Blackman give up to an Indian Deathlock Doug Furnas vs. Phil Lafon Both men went to a 15 minute Time Limit Draw The Cobra Corps vs. Dan Spivey, Jeff Gaylord & Darryl Peterson While Spivey was able to hold off Sarge and White, Gaylord and Peterson hit the Execution on Scorpio for the victory. The Cobra Corps were very over with the fans, but Spivey was getting a lot of cheers as well Tom Zenk vs. Kevin Sullivan Zenk won with a Superkick Masa Saito vs. Greg Gagne Saito won by KO when Gagne was rendered unconscious by a series of Saito Suplexes Roddy Piper & Bob Orton vs. Jake Roberts & Cactus Jack Piper clipped Cactus from behind while Orton hit him with a lariat to give the win to Piper’s Pit AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero ©vs. Black Irish A ferocious battle that ended when Cameron hit a lariat on Hector that looked like it would tear his head off, then he and Finlay hit a spike piledriver to get the one two three. The fans were in shock as Black Irish became the new Southern Tag Tem champs. The Last Roundup – Bunkhouse Barbed-Wire Texas Death Match : Dusty Rhodes vs. Ken Patera As could be expected, this was a long and bloody fight that finally came to an end when Dusty took off his cowboy boot and started repeatedly clobbering Patera over the head with it until he finally hit the mat, then followed up with the Bionic Elbow to put him down for good. Dusty gave a heartfelt goodbye to the fans on the ringside mic before leaving to a chorus of cheers. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Larry Zbyszko Although he hasn’t been looking too good of late, the Canadian champion put up a pretty tough challenge for Steamboat. Once again, Nick Bockwinkel was at ringside, patiently observing the match. Zbyszko was attempting an over the shoulder neckbreaker, but Steamboat blocked it and countered with a backslide to get the one two three. Post-match, Steamboat engaged in a stare down with Bockwinkel, but Bock just met his gaze before turning and heading back to the locker room with Larry Z trailing behind.

Love the name the Caspian Empire. The Mid-Atlantic tag division is really on fire, and the main event is a great example of that.

Wow, Bad News going out like that is a major shock.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, March 21st Doug Furnas, Ron Simmons & Brian Pillman vs. Greg Gagne & The Can-Am Express The last time Gagne faced a team of Varsity Club Rush prospects, it was a study in contrasting coaching styles. That was the case once again this time, but the contrast was within the Varsity Club itself. The rookies were accompanied by both Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo, and while the “Captain” of the team gave clear instruction and encouragement from the outside, the self styled “Games Master” seemed to feel that all he needed was a loud voice and belligerent manner. Simmons started the match and dominated the opposition, as he is wont to do, throwing them around with his considerable power and aggression. Rotundo then directed him to tag out, to prevent from burning out to quickly, and it was Pillman’s time to show what he could do. Pillman has been very impressive of late in a number of matches, and his high flying and athleticism kept him on the advantage with Zenk, but then Zenk and Gagne were able to come back with a double dropkick, and the momentum shifted. Sullivan’s disgust at this turn of events was evident, and he let his disapprobation be known with a series of insults directed that way. Gagne grounded Pillman with limbwork to try and set up the Gagne Leglock, and while Furnas trying to reach in and make the tag to save him, both Simmons and Rotundo gave increasingly sour looks at Sullivan’s bad attitude. Pillman kept blocking the Leglock, so Gagne tagged in Lafon, who worked over Pillman some more before shooting him into the ropes for a dropkick. Pillman was able to catch himself on the ropes, sending Lafon falling to the mat, and Pillman was able to tag in Furnas. It was Lafon’s turn to be on the defensive, as Furnas opened up with his jarring array of power moves while Zenk frantically tried to tag in to save his partner. Lafon started to rally and Zenk called on him to tag out, but Lafon tried to take out Furnas with a flying back body press. This cost him , as Furnas caught him in mid air, hoisted him up in an incredibly impressive Gorilla press, then hit a crushing front slam to get the one two three. Furnas then helped Pillman to get to the back, while Rotundo and Simmons interposed themselves between Pillman and Sullivan, so as to spare their partner the ire of the “Games Master”. British Steel vs. Black Irish Before the match started, Regal got on the mic and demanded to know why Finlay, after seemingly saving them from the British Bullies, then attacked him and his partner Smiley. Finlay replied that he had no mercy for any Englishman, and as far as he was concerned, British Steel and the British Bullies were both cut from the same rotten cloth, and both teams could go to hell. This triggered a furious fight between the two teams, with Black Irish bringing a lot of power and viciousness to the battle, and British Steel fighting back with spirit and determination. The battle wound up exploding into chaos when the British Bullies charged out and attacked both teams , leading to the match being thrown out and a brawl that ended up being cleared up by a rush of AWA security. A three way way has erupted in the tag ranks, and only time will show which team will ultimately prevail. The Cobra Corps vs. Playboy After Dark Rocky Mountain Thunder has given a number of challenges recently to the World Tag Team champs, but now they have brought in their leader, Sgt. Slaughter, as they face off against Rose, Somers and Burke. Sarge did his usual stand up job of marshalling his forces, as he and the two rookies were consistently one step ahead of the Playboy’s crew. Every time Rose and company would cheat their way back into contention, the Corps would have each other’s back and seize back control. Rose became consistently more frustrated as the match went on, and he ultimately ended up getting blasted with the Slaughter Cannon to give the victory to the Cobra Corps. After the match, Rose rolled out of the ring and grabbed the Tag Title belts, swearing vengeance on Slaughter and his men. The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Having gotten her revenge on Chris Adams, Sunshine has set her sights on the person she considers ultimately responsible for the attack that temporarily put her out action : Sheikh Adnan Al Kaissie . To that end, she has sent the man she calls her Personal Assassin, The Great Kabuki, to face off with one of Kaissie’s toughest soldiers, “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell. But the Mountain From Stone Mountain was certainly no pushover. While he was brought down for a moment when Kabuki laced into him with several martial arts to the legs, he came back after the Japanese legend with his own devastating power and size. The action wound up spilling to the outside, with both sides knocking over ringside tables and sending each other into the corner posts, until the both were counted out of the ring. I think we have a long way to go before this matter is settled for good. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Biff Wellington Steve Blackman had gotten banged up pretty severely last week, both in the match with Bock and Larry and several intense house show matches, so Wellington came out alone. Nick came out with his retinue of Larry Zbyszko and Masa Saito. Bock has had the fans solidly in his corner since his return to the AWA, but his recent reversion to his old ways seems to have dissolved all of that audience goodwill. Nick didn’t seem to care about the audience reaction one way or another, remaining cool as the proverbial cucumber as a sharp contrast to Wellington’s hot blooded quest to avenge his partner. This gave the advantage to Bockwinkel, as he skillfully drew Wellington into making some key mistakes throughout the match and keeping any cheap shots just out of sight of the ref. Bockwinkel tormented Wellington like a cat toying with a mouse before finally finishing him off with a piledriver. Even after the match, once Wellington made it back to his feet, Bockwinkel tripped him on his way out. Bockwinkel is looking to provide a truly dangerous new challenge to World Champion Ricky Steamboat. Roddy Piper vs. Cactus Jack With members of both Piper’s Pit and the Snakepit at ringside, this match was bound to be chaotic, and it certainly delivered. There was always the threat of raw violence coming from outside the ring, and the spectacle of raw violence was consistently delivered in the ring. Not a lot of finesse , just crazed violence. As could be predicted, the decision came when the ref was disctracted by brawling at ringside, when Cactus went for a second rope elbow smash, but was tripped off the ropes by Bob Orton. Piper swiftly covered him and grabbed a fistful of trunks for leverage to get the pinfall. This didn’t end the fight between both sides, and Jake Roberts managed to hit the DDT on Orton to avenge his friend . The war between these two factions shows no signs of ending soon.