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AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington, Feb. 7th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) The Onyx Express vs. The Youngbloods Brickhouse pinned Blackman after a top rope missile dropkick Jesse Barr vs. Cactus Jack Cactus won with a flying forearm smash to the head Greg Gagne vs. Ron Simmons Both men went to a 20 minute time limit draw Larry Zbyszko vs. Dan Spivey Zbyszko trapped Spivey in a roll up with his feet on the ropes, but failed to notice that Spivey had gotten his shoulder up just before the three and the ref had not made the full count. While Larry was arguing with the ref, Spivey nailed him with the Spivey Bomber lariat to get the win Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes & The Great Kabuki vs. Ken Patera, Jerry Blackwell & Sheikh Adnan Al Kaissie Sgt. Slaughter scored the victory for his team when he hit the Slaughter Cannon on Kaissie AWA Southern Title Match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Too Cold Scorpio Mando reversed a sunset flip attempt by Scorpio to successfully defend his title Ricky Steamboat & Nick Bockwinkel vs. Paul Orndorff & Kevin Sullivan Steamboat hit a top rope flying cross body press on Sullivan for the victory

I see this as my place among the various promotions. While big promotions like the WWF and the UWF might focus on established characters, the AWA is the place where they get their initial experience and seasoning. I give them programs and training and work them in matches with veterans who teach them the ropes. That way, when it is time for them to move on to the bigger promotions (like Lex Luger to the UWF or Rick Steiner to the WWF) , they can be credibly be presented as big names, having already done the ground work.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for February 7th Masa Saito vs. Mark Caruso Saito had Larry Zbyszko in his corner for this match, but unlike his appearances during Nick Bockwinkel’s matches, Larry pretty much kept his opinions to himself. This could have been because of Saito’s intimidating presence (Saito could give even Ron Simmons lessons in the cold, hard stare) , or it could have been the fact that Saito clearly needed no “advice” in this match. Saito picked poor Caruso to pieces with his hard edged, strong style moves, mangling the rookie’s legs before hitting not one but two of his trademark Saito Suplexes, knocking him out. Even then, Saito chose not to go for the cover, instead wrapping the unconscious Caruso up in the Scorpion Deathlock until the ref called for the bell. One has to feel sorry for the next person who steps in the ring with Saito, especially if they should somehow make him mad. Doug Furnas vs. Leo Burke Kevin Sullivan did not make an appearance in this match, but Furnas was accompanied by Varsity Club members Mike Rotundo and Dan Spivey, who did offer coaching to the big Tennessee Volunteer throughout the match. Furnas had quite a challenge in this match, as the veteran Burke was not cowed by his power and physique and used his considerable technical expertise to stymie Furnas’s offense. Furnas found himself blocked at several turns by Burke’s counter wrestling, and would head to the outside to consult with Rotundo and Spivey. The more experienced Varsity Club hands seem to be able to give the advice and motivation he needed, as he was able to assert control of the match and start to land his power moves on Burke. It looked like Burke would still pull it off when he was about to cinch in the sleeper hold, but it turned out Furnas was drawing him in for a huge belly to back suplex that got the pinfall. Rotundo and Spivey both slapped Furnas on the back and congratulated him as they led him away from the ring. Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell vs. The Killer Bees Jim Brunzell was no stranger to this pairing, having faced both men in various configurations back in his old team of the High Flyers. Perhaps this was why the Sheikh’s team was not able to run roughshod over the Bees like they had their past opponents. Brunzell and Blair used their speed and coordinated offense to keep one step ahead of the Syndicate for much of the match. They kept this up until Blair went for a running cross body block on Blackwell, only to be caught in a , yes, crushing power slam. From there on, the Syndicate lowered the boom on the Bees, culminating in a shoulder breaker by Patera to finish off Blair. A game effort by the Killer Bees but they came up just short. Leon White vs. Too Cold Scorpio Kevin Sullivan was certainly present for this match, as he had a personal interest in making sure that the young rookie who had defeated him last week would get his come uppance. One major complication in this match was that it had come out that White and Scorpio had actually been very good friends in the past in Colorado. Sullivan couldn’t seem to be satisfied with anything that White did in this match. When Scorpio was able to duck and dodge White’s initial offense, Sullivan was furious with his Varsity Club Rush prospect. And when White was able to catch Scorpio in several big slams, it didn’t seem to be enough for Sullivan, who was on White’s case to not just beat Scorpio but punish him. White clotheslined Scorpio out of the ring, but Scorpio was able to land on his feet. Sullivan was screaming at White to follow up on Scorpio, but at this point his bellowing was so incoherent that it only confused White, who turned to the Games Master to try to figure out what he wanted. A costly mistake, as Scorpio had swiftly made it back in and dropkicked the huge Colorado Buffalo to the outside. To make things worse, White landed on top of Sullivan, and the two got so badly entangled that the ref was able to count to ten and give the win to Scorpio. Sullivan was livid as he angrily berated the embarrassed White all the way back to the locker room, even smacking him in the back of the head. AWA Southern Title Match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Paul Diamond With Sunshine still nowhere in sight, Diamond, still tending to a damaged shoulder from Starrcade, certainly had his work cut out for him. He gave it the best shot he could, going at it hard with the champ and getting several near falls. He tried to finish him off with a flying back body press, but Mando dodged just in time and Diamond landed hard on his hurt shoulder. Mando put him in the Gory Special, and Diamond had no choice but to give up the match. AWA American Title Match : Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Kevin Sullivan Another match where Sullivan was coming in with a lot of pent up aggression to work off. Bockwinkel, with Zybyszko once again in his corner, was clearly getting progressively more annoyed, both with Sullivan’s flailing antics and with Larry’s constant badgering from ringside to take more short cuts. The two factors combined seemed to distract the usually unflappable Bockwinkel, who found himself on the defensive for much of the match. He would invariably work his way back into control, only for Sullivan’s cheating or Zbyszko’s histrionics to send him off kilter. He almost was able to finish off Sullivan with a sunset flip, only Sullivan to grab a hold of the ropes and get the champion in a pinning position. This provoked Zybysko to jump on the ring apron and clothesline Sullivan. This broke up the pin, but before the ref could take any action, he was knocked out by the Fallen Angel, wielding Sullivan’s Golden Spike. This led to the AWA officials rushing out and declaring the match a no contest, then stating that Fallen Angel was now indefinitely suspended for directly assaulting an AWA referee.

I was ahead on my writing so I decided to throw in an extra card and make it an NXT/learning excursion type show. Over half the matches are rookies working with members of the training staff so they would be getting more match time with experienced hands in front of an audience . Then I would cap the show off with a fun brawl with some big names to send the fans home happy.

I just like the idea of Calgary and Edmonton being run by different promotions, keep that rivalry going.

Gordy takes the belt on Badstreet! Awesome card!

Normally, if I throw in an extra show in at this part of the cycle, it was in Edmonton, but since that's one of your big towns, I had it in Lethbridge.

AWA show from the Canada Games Sportsplex, Lethbridge, Alberta, February 2nd The Youngbloods vs. The Onyx Express Wellington caught Koko in a belly to belly piledriver for the win Jeff Gaylord vs. Leo Burke In a match that went close to the 15 minute time limit, Gaylord caught Burke in a power slam off the ropes for the win. Jesse Barr vs. Too Cold Scorpio Scorpio hit a top rope splash to get the victory Greg Gagne vs. Darryl Peterson Both men went to a 20 minute time limit draw Mike Rotundo vs. Nord The Barbarian Nord was going for a short lariat, but Rotundo countered it with a crucifix for the pinfall Cactus Jack vs. Buzz Sawyer A reckless brawl that saw Cactus hit Buzz with an elbow smash off the second turnbuckle to the back ot the head to get the win AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero © vs. Brian Pillman & Ron Simmons Chavo hit a flying top rope somesault senton on Pillman to defend their belts AWA Southern Title Match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Doug Furnas Furnas was able to give him a hell of a fight, but Mando was ultimately able to catch him in the German Suplex for the one two three Double Alberta Bullrope Match : Sgt. Slaughter & Dusty Rhodes vs. Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera A lengthy brawl where all four men were busted open and only ended when Slaughter nailed Patera with the Slaughter Cannon, followed by the Bionic Elbow Drop by Dusty to finish him off

Calgary has a long and storied history of terrible refs. Should probably do something about that.

AWA show from the Saddledome, Calgary, February 1st The Youngbloods vs. Brian Pillman & Doug Furnas With wrestlers with Calgary connections on both sides (Wellington is a Calgary native, and Pillman played for the Stampeders), the crowd was deeply into this match, which was an exciting bout that went back and forth until Pillman was able to counter a running kick attempt by Blackman with a roll up to get the pinfall. The fans cheered as both teams shook hands after the match as a show of respect. Cactus Jack vs. Jesse Barr Cactus won by countout after hitting a diving elbow drop off the ring apron Nord The Barbarian vs. Buzz Sawyer Nord countered a power slam attempt with his own front slam and got the pin Larry Zbyszko & Masa Saito vs. The Onyx Express Larry low blowed Brickhouse to set him up for a Saito Suplex by Saito to bring them the victory Jake Roberts vs. Jeff Gaylord Gaylord unleashed a brutal assault on Jake and managed to punish him with several crushing power moves but in the end his hot head got him in troublewhen he went for a running tackle and Jake got him with a DDT that spelled the end. After the match, Kevin Sullivan and Darryl Peterson attacked Roberts, leading to Nord and Cactus charging in and brawling with the Varsity Club AWA Southen Tag Title match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero © vs. The British Bullies In a match that saw both incredible technical wrestling and a textbook course in cheating from both teams, they ended up going to a 20 minute time limit draw, with both sides slugging it out well after the final bell Sgt. Slaughter vs. Ken Patera In a bit of a shocking result, Jerry Blackwell snuck into the ring when the ref was distracted and hit an avalanche on Sarge, setting up the pinfall by Patera AWA American Title match : Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Chris Adams Outside interference seems to be the theme of the night, with both Zybyszko & Saito and the British Bullies getting involved in this match. In the end , though, the deciding factor was the Great Kabuki sneaking into the ring and blasting Adams with the Green Mist, setting him up for the Piledriver and a victory for Bockwinkel

Clearly, that's what Raymond should have tried this time. Live and learn, Ray

I was going off TNM where Ray's singles finisher is also called La Bombe Rougeau. The tag finisher is where Jacques elevates the opponent and Raymond comes off the top rope with the sort of Thesz Press sort of thing, whenever it happened in a singles match I figured it would be Raymond just trying it off the top rope on a non-elevated opponent (sort of like in mid-80s singles matches, where Bret would hit the clothesline part of the Hart Attack without the elevation as a singles finisher).

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, January 31st (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Leo Burke vs. Too Cold Scorpio In a match that came very close to the 15 minute time limit, Scorpio hit the top rope flying splash for the victory Mike Rotundo & Doug Furnas vs. Nord the Barbarian & Cactus Jack The Varsity Club won by DQ when Nord clotheslined the ref. Both sides kept brawling long after the match ended Chris Adams vs. Steven Regal Adams blocked a Regal Stretch attempt with a small package assisted by grabbing the trunks to get the pinfall *Special Video Screen simulcast of NWA Lutte Internationale match from Peers , Alberta* Contract on a Pole Match - Winner gets in the NWA National Heavyweight Championship Match at the Omni in Atlanta on February 2nd: Quebec Heavyweight Champion Armand Rougeau vs. Bobby Fulton Both men use their speed and athleticism throughout the entire match as both Armand & Fulton are trying to get to the pole and grab that National title match contract. While he's mostly a tag team specialist, Bobby Fulton is doing pretty good in this one as he has been a lot of singles matches lately, just like his partner Tommy Rogers. Bobby Fulton almost grabs the contract as Armand seems to be out of it but seeing that Armand is getting back up, Bobby Fulton turns around and attempts a missile dropkick but Armand dodged and Fulton missed his target! That finally allows Armand to climb on the turnbuckle and grab the contract! Armand Rougeau is headed to Atlanta & the National Heavyweight title match! Quebec Heavyweight Champion Armand Rougeau beat Bobby Fulton in 13:43 AWA Southern Title Match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Jacques Rougeau Both men went to a 20 minute time limit draw NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Rick Martel © vs. Ray Rougeau Although Rick Martel is also AWA Canadian Champion, this match is for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. In an exciting technical matchup, Rougeau went for la Bombe Rougeau, but Martel was able to dodge it, take Ray down with a dropkick and follow up with a slingshot splash to defend his title Ricky Steamboat vs. Danny Spivey A truly epic battle that left both men exhausted and could have gone either way. Spivey had Steamboat set up for the Spivey Bomber lariat, but Steamboat ducked at the last second and caught Spivey with a karate kick to the jaw on the rebound, following up with a belly to back suplex for the win. The crowd gave both men a standing ovation, then roared their approval when Steamboat got on the mic and said it was time for Paul Orndorff to quit ducking him and give him a title shot AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Dusty Rhodes Orndorff won by DQ when Ken Patera pulled down the top rope and caused Dusty to fall out of the ring. The two slugged it out until AWA security intervened.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for January 31st Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Bill Posley & Matt Quinlan At the end of 1985, with the Sinister Syndicate losing several key members, it looked like the sun was setting on Sheikh Kaissie’s crew. But now, with both the debut of the British Bullies and the return of Ken Patera, the Syndicate are even more terrifying than before. Patera and Blackwell pretty much rolled over Posley and Quinlan, destroying them with big power moves before Patera forced Posley to give up to the Full Nelson. To add insult (and further injury) to injury, Blackwell dropped a running splash on both of them after the match. The tag team ranks have just had a major new force join the game. Leon White vs. Jesse Barr White has easily dominated his opposition thus far as part of the Varsity Club Rush, but was now facing one of his toughest tests yet in Jesse Barr. White tried to overpower Barr, as he had his previous opponents, but the wily Barr showed his experience by always being able to dodge White’s attacks and keep one step ahead of him. Barr stymied White by getting him down on the matt and actually taking control of the match, working over White’s legs in an attempt to cinch in the Figure Four. Kevin Sullivan was clearly frustrated with White as he shouted at him from ringside. Barr even managed to get White set up for a running bulldog, but White showed his fearsome strength by powering out of it and tossing Barr hard to the mat. White then gave out a huge roar and flattened Barr with a mighty clothesline. He then hit him with a backbreaker, which actually seemed to hurt his leg after the punishment that Barr had given earlier, but it was still enough to put away Barr. Sullivan showed clear approval at this show of aggression, but White seemed almost embarrassed by it afterwards. Ron Simmons vs. Norman Smiley If Sullivan showed frustration in the last match, he was strangely subdued during this one. Simmons was clearly listening to his instructions during the match, but any time Sullivan seemed like he was being more critical of his performance, Simmons would give him a pointed look and Sullivan would pipe down. The former Florida State Seminole showed an easy going confidence in his match with Smiley, not getting flustered when Smiley got the better of a number of chain wrestling exchanges and readily came back to reassert his dominance, catching Smiley off the ropes with a big spine buster slam for the win. Simmons helped Smiley up from the mat after the match and shook his hand, but if Sullivan took exception to this display of sportsmanship, he chose not to give voice to it in Simmons’ presence. Kevin Sullivan vs. Too Cold Scorpio Busy night for Sullivan. Sullivan looked like he had a fair amount of annoyance built up from his rookie charges bucking his authority, and was set to blow off some steam by taking it out on the young rookie Scorpio. The scrappy youngster did a good job and ducking and dodging Sullivan’s attacks for much of the match, firing back with dropkicks and and fast paced moves, but eventually Sullivan got him trapped in the corner and started beating him down. He got Scorpio hung up in the tree of woe and came running in with a double stomp, but in an impressive show of athletic ability, Scorpio was able to pull himself up at the last second and Sullivan crashed down hard into the corner. Scorpio got himself untangled and swiftly came off the top rope with a flying splash. One … two … THREE!!! Scorpio got the win! Sullivan looked like he was about to pitch a fit as Scorpio rushed to ringside and celebrated with the fans his biggest victory yet. Nick Bockwinkel & Larry Zbyszko vs. The Onyx Express Possibly the frequent presence of Kevin Sullivan on this show started to rub off on Larry Zbyszko, as he was backseat driving throughout the match, loudly calling Bock out whenever he didn’t take some sort of shortcut in the ring. A bit rich, given that Bock is a multiple World Title champion of the past, and Nick seemed to be getting irritated by Larry’s ongoing commentary. It wasn’t though he didn’t have his hands full as it was with the Onyx Express, who haven’t let the loss of Tony Atlas slow them up one bit. Koko and Brickhouse gave Nick and Larry a real run for their money with their rapid tags and smooth double team moves, and might well have pulled off an upset when Koko went up for a top rope dropkick, but Larry snuck up on him from behind and knocked him off the top turnbuckle to the mat. Bock swiftly capitalized with a double leg roll up to get the pinfall. Larry continued to give him an earful after the match, and it looked like it was all Bock could do to keep from backhanding him, but he gritted his teeth and the two left the ring together. AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Killer Bees Playboy After Dark seemed like profoundly unlikely contenders for the World Tag Titles when they first started challenging the dominant British Bulldogs, but since winning the belts and then sending the Bulldogs out of the AWA, they have shown no sign of ever letting the titles go. The Killer Bees gave them a particularly intense challenge, but every time Rose and Somers seemed like it would be slipping away, they would claw their way back in with some underhanded move. It looked like their luck would run out when the challengers hit the Bee Stinger on Rose, followed by Blair locking him in the Sleeper, but as the ref was ushering Brunzell out of the ring, Somers slipped something in his elbow pad then came off the second turnbuckle with an elbow smash to Blair’s head, knocking him out. He then put Rose on top of Blair, and the ref turned around just in time to make the three count for the champs. A dirty win, but business as usaual for Rose and Somers.

David "Fit" Finlay used to be on the old New Japan roster. Is he still available for use?

I love me some Guerreros. Can put them in any place on the card and pretty much guarantee a good time.

AWA show from the International Amphitheater, Chicago, January 25th Doug Furnas & Brian Pillman vs. Jesse Barr & Buzz Sawyer Barr pinned Pillman after a bulldog headlock Leon White vs. Leo Burke White defeated Burke with a power slam The Killer Bees vs. The Onyx Express Koko executed the brain buster on Brunzell for the victory AWA Southern Title match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Too Cold Scorpio Mando got the win with a moonsault Ricky Steamboat vs. Dan Spivey Steamboat caught Spivey in a top rope flying cross body press for the win AWA Southern Tag Team Title match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero © vs. British Steel Chavo hit a top rope flying somersault senton on Smiley to defend their belts Sgt. Slaughter & Dusty Rhodes vs. Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera Sarge caught Blackwell with a Slaughter Cannon to get a fast one two three. Both sides kept brawling long after the bell AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Al Perez Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw

Hard tangent here, but I had pretty much thought of Keanu Reeves making his first significant appearance in Bill & Ted. But a quick scan of IMDB shows that he had not just done Youngblood but also Permanent Record, River's Edge and even Dangerous Liaisons before Bill & Ted came out.

Ahem, *Pillman* and Scorpio There actually was a tag team called the Youngbloods consisting of Wellington and Benoit, I swapped in another Calgary guy in Blackman for my version.

AWA show from the Mecca, Milwaukee, January 24th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Brian Pillman vs. Too Cold Scorpio In a match that really got the crowd going, Pillman ultimately pinned Scorpio with a top rope flying clothesline. Both men shook hands after the match, to the pleasure of the fans and the displeasure of Kevin Sullivan The British Bullies vs. The Youngbloods Jones beat Wellington with a belly to belly piledriver Ron Simmons vs. Jesse Barr Simmons defeated Barr with a flying shoulder block Al Perez vs. Chris Adams Adams won by DQ after he was attacked by The Great Kabuki Loser Leaves Town Match : Killer Khan vs. Dusty Rhodes This was a bloody brawl with both men fighting like wildcats to stay in the AWA. Khan kept trying to get Rhodes in the Oriental Thumb Choke, but ultimately Rhodes was able to get out by biting down hard on Khan’s arm. He then jackhammered down on Khan’s head with big elbow smashes before taking him down with a flying clothesline for the one two three, sending Killer Khan out of the AWA for good. AWA World Tag Team Title match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. Badd Company In a match with a lot of near falls, Rose finally but down Diamond with the Inside Out Backbreaker AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Nick Bockwinkel This was a truly legendary match, with several times where it looked like Bockwinkel would take back the Title. It seemed that he would finally trap Orndorff in the Figure Four Leglock in the middle of the ring, but Orndorff was able to counter with a small package to get the pinfall. After the match, Orndorff got on the arena mic and said that Bockwinkel would never get another World title shot for as long as he was champion.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for January 24th Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. The Youngbloods The Patera and Blackwell combination were very close to unstoppable in their previous stints in the AWA and they are looking to put up where they left off. The up-and-coming team of Blackman and Wellington put up a valiant effort, but in the end they were just overwhelmed by the power and aggression of the Sheikh’s men. Patera hit the shoulder breaker on Wellington and that was that. The tag division of the AWA now has a dangerous new addition to the ranks. Ron Simmons vs. Shannon Elkins As per usual with Varsity Club Rush matches, Kevin Sullivan was at ringside to give instructions to one of his newest charges. For all of Sullivan’s hectoring, Simmons didn’t seem to pay much attention to it as he easily dominated Elkins, only once giving a very direct look to the Games Master when he got too loud. Strangely, this actually seemed to intimidate Sullivan, who kept quiet for the rest of the match. After Simmons polished off Elkins with a spine buster slam, Sullivan seemed to want to keep a bit of space between himself and the Florida State alum as they walked back to the locker room. Could it be that Sullivan may have gotten a bit more than he bargained for in some of his new recruits? Jake Roberts, Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. Kevin Sullivan, Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord If Sullivan had some concerns about keeping discipline with Ron Simmons, he certainly had no need for any concerns with Peterson and Gaylord. For all that this was a wild and intense match, the two prospects followed his instructions throughout to the letter, tagging in and out at his command. Even the arrogant hot head Gaylord showed deference to the Games Master, although significantly less so to the ref. Gaylord went power move for power move with the huge Barbarian, while the dark and brooding Peterson contrasted his suplexes and takedowns with the more crazed brawling of Cactus. Peterson, as per direction by Sullivan , switched tactics and slugged it out with Cactus before tagging Sullivan in. Then Roberts tagged himself in and the match pretty much went out the window. All 6 men wound up in the ring at the same time and the ref had no choice but to declare a no contest. It looks like the feud between the Snakepit and the Varsity Club has gotten even more volatile with the addition of these impressionable rookies. Steven Regal vs. Marty Jones Jones came out with Dave Taylor, Chris Adams and Sheikh Adnan Al Kaissie in tow, but Regal had his own backup in the person of his partner, Norman Smiley. In spite of his smug attitude, “The Lancashire Lion” kept mostly with a remarkable exchange of matwork and technical holds with the “Young Gentleman” Regal. As the momentum swung back and forth , the crowd were riveted to see who would prevail. It looked like this might get spoiled when Adams was about to climb up to the ring apron to interfere, but he was suddenly yanked back down to the floor. It was the Great Kabuki! While Kabuki and Smiley brawled at ringside, Jones pulled Regal up from the mat , looking like he was going to go for the belly to belly piledriver, bur Regal made it to his feet and took Jones down with a cravate, following up with an Oklahoma Roll to get the one two three. AWA Southern Title Match : Mando Guerrero © vs. Pat Tanaka Guerrero may have wrested the Southern Title from Al Perez, but all of the Sunshine Boys have indicated that they are far from done with the Guerrero Brothers. This was an incredibly fast paced match, with Tanaka coming very close to scoring knockout shots on the champion. He had him lined of for a thrust kick, but Mando was able to duck it and counter with a legsweep, following up with a cradle roll for the pinfall. Mando may have won this match, but Tanaka, Diamond and Perez are going to keep coming after him and his brothers. Ricky Steamboat vs. Dan Spivey Steamboat squared off with Spivey in a tag match last week, but now it would be one on one. The so-called “Danster” came out to the ring and did his usual Spiveymania schtick, posing and puffing out his cheeks while tearing off his t-shirt, but once it was clear that Steamboat was neither impressed nor intimidated, Spivey got straight to business. This is clearly a new Spivey since his return from Japan , not simply cocky but confident in all of his exchanges with Steamboat. Steamboat was far too skilled and experienced to be kept down by Spivey’s power offense for too long, but every time he came back, Spivey was always ready and waiting for him. Spivey had knocked Steamboat out of the ring with an Axe Bomber, and once again Steamboat managed to catch himself on the top rope, but when he pulled himself back on the rope, he found that Spivey had spotted it and followed up with a big boot that sent him out hard to the outside. The two brawled at the ringside area before Spivey dragged him back in the ring and set him up for a running power slam into the turnbuckle. Steamboat had one last trick left, however, and slid down Spiveys back and drove him hard, chest first, into the corner. When Spivey bounced back out, Steamboat used his momentum to catch him in a belly to back suplex that got the one two three. Spivey went after him post match, but the ref separated the two.

Not looking to bring this guy in myself, but wondering about somebody being available as a free agent. The late Lethal Larry Cameron is listed in both Wikipedia and Cagematch as having started in 1985, but Cagematch only has records of his matches going back to 1988. Should he be available?

Without going too deep into my plans and process : Sullivan's stated goals with the Varsity Club Rush (from their first appearance) was not just to find the best wrestlers but the ones with "the right mind set" for his stable. Peterson and Gaylord are being shown as recruits who are readily following his instructions and adapting to his philosophy. He is sending them out as part of his war with the Snakepit and isn't likely to tell them to play fair. Add in Cactus Jack's hatred of anybody associated with the Varsity Club, and it makes for a volatile mix. If you can imagine Sullivan at ringside hectoring them to do whatever it takes to take out Cactus and Nord, you can see how it would break down very quickly.

AWA show from the Great Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, January 18th The Onyx Express vs. Brian Pillman & Doug Furnas Koko pinned Pillman after hitting the Brainbuster Jesse Barr vs. Too Cold Scorpio Barr countered a running cross body press into a power slam for the victory Leo Burke vs. Ron Simmons Simmons hit a spine buster slam to get the win Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord An out of control brawl that ended with both teams being disqualified Buzz Sawyer vs. Masa Saito Another crazy fight that Saito won by countout when he gave the Saito Suplex to Sawyer on the concrete Jake Roberts vs. Mike Rotundo Rotundo was going for the Varsity Rush, but Roberts blocked it and hit the DDT for the win The Great Kabuki, Al Perez & Pat Tanaka vs. Chris Adams & The British Bullies Tanaka was pinned by Taylor with the British Suplex after Chris Adams Superkicked him from behind AWA American Title match : Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Dan Spivey In what many in attendance called Spivey’s best match since arriving in the AWA, he had Bockwinkel set up for a running power slam, but Bockwinkel countered with an inside cradle to successfully defend his title