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Had a huge smile on my face throughout reading this. Keep up the good work.

Independence Day Spectacular from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, July 4th Ivan Putski vs. Ed Wiskowski Once again, the holiday Spectacular starts off with a slugfest between two big power wrestlers, in this case the former members of the Brotherhood Of Poland. Putski really hammered on the Polish Prince, clearly still holding a grudge for his betrayal. Putski kept pounding on Wiskowski, coming back with huge blows no matter what the Prince threw at him, but when he came at him with the Polish Hammer, he was cut off with a big boot to the midsection. Wiskowski then went to town on Putski with massive elbow smashes and kicks before executing the Face First Piledriver to get the win. The Zambuie Express vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Da Crusher Wahoo’s alliance with the Cobra Corps has put him in the crosshairs of the Zambuie Express, and tonight he brought in Da Crusher to be his partner against Muhammed and Akeem. These two veterans were not about to cave in to the Sheikh’s men and, for all that the Zambuie’s went full bore, Wahoo and Crusher gave as good as they got. It looked like they might just pull off the upset when Wahoo went to the ropes to hit the running Overhand Chop on Akeem, but Sheikh Al-Kaissie reached in and snagged his ankle, staggering him. Akeem quickly took advantage , hitting a brutal elbow smash to the back of Wahoo’s head and getting the pinfall. Dirty pool on the part of the Sinister Syndicate, and likely they haven’t seen the last of Wahoo. Greg Gagne vs. Jimmy Garvin (courtesy of USWA) It had been a year since the last time Jimmy Garvin wrestled in the AWA, but the last he was here he was on the same side as Greg Gagne. With that in mind, Gagne readlily offered Garvin a friendly handshake before the match, but he was in for a rude surprise. Garvin made it known that he was not happy about him and Precious being “dragged back” to the AWA for even one night, and slapped aside Gagne’s hand. The USWA champion clearly has picked up some bad habits in his time away, as he responded to all Gagne’s attempts at technical wrestling with cheap shots and dirty tactics. When the ref finally had enough and got in Garvin’s face, Gorgeous Jimmy responded by giving a DDT to the ref. Another ref dashed to the ring and called for the DQ, but by then Jimmy had gathered up Precious and headed to the back, as annoyed with the fans as they clearly were with him. The PYT Express vs. Memphis Vice The PYT Express have been on a treacherous slide lately in the AWA, and it all seemed to start with their loss to Memphis Vice. No matter what Koko and Brickhouse tried, Winston and Bryant always found a way to come out on top. They were clearly determined to make sure that ended here, as they threw every double team move they could think at Memphis Vice, getting progressively more desperate as the match went on. This wound up costing them, as Brickhouse tried to whip Winston into Koko’s boot on the ring apron, only for Winston to reverse it and send Brickhouse colliding into Koko, making Ware fall into the ringside barricade. Winston then rolled up Brickhouse to get the pinfall. After the match, Brickhouse and Koko finally had it out, shouting at and shoving each other. They were about to come to blows when someone rushed into the ring and separated them. It was Tony Atlas! The muscular superstar grabbed both of them by the scruff of the neck and started bellowing at them. He then dragged both of them out of the ring and back to the locker room, berating them all the way. Nick Bockwinkel vs. a mystery opponent There was much anticipation going into this match, with both Nick Bockwinkel and the fans wanting to know just who Buddy Rose had brought in to face him. Nick had already said he was ready for any big bruiser the Playboy had selected to face him, but Rose seemed very smug, as though he had an ace up his sleeve. He was out and out cocky as he got on the mic and announced that Bockwinkel’s opponent would be … former NWA champion Harley Race! Bockwinkel certainly wasn’t anticipating this but was game as Race stormed the ring and started peppering him with headbutts . Bock fired back with lefts and rights, and when Race started wrenching in several arm wringers, Nick was able to escape before too much damage had been done. Race eventually got Bockwinkel down in the corner and hit some nasty knee strikes that did some real damage. Once again, Bockwinkel was able to work his way out of it but was clearly left groggy. Bockwinkel kept on trying to weather the furious assault of Race until they both spilled out of the ring. They kept exchanging punches until the ref counted them both out and even after that. Bockewinkel has clearly not seen the last of Race. No DQ : Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Moondogs Pretty much every match that the Moondogs have had since arriving in the AWA has ended in chaos. With the announcement before the match that it would be contested with a No DQ stipulation at least helped ensure that there would be a definite finish to this match. Nevertheless, there was certainly plenty of chaos, with both sides throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other. Chairs , tables, even Buzz Sawyer’s chain ended up coming into play, with all four men a bloody mess late into the match. It looked like it would go into the hands of the Moondogs when Spot had Sawyer dead to rights and was about to nail him in the head with the ring bell. He had failed to notice that Col. Buck Robley had loaded up his arm brace and snuck up behind him. Robley jacked Spot in the back of the head with his arm brace, sending him down to the mat. Robley pointed at both his men, who executed a double bulldog on the Moondog, Sawyer getting the pin that finally put an end to a wild match. Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Roop Steamboat has had many battles with various members of the Sinister Syndicate, but it has been the enforcer of the Syndicate, Bob Roop, who has given him the most persistant challenge. Roop spent the match working over Steamboat’s back , trying to soften him to execute the shoulder breaker. Steamboat kept coming back, his chops and kicks slowly chipping away at Roop. Roop looked like he might just be able to hit the shoulder breaker, but Steamboat was able to escape it by sliding down his back. Steamboat got Roop in a waistlock and executed a rollup, just barely able to keep his shoulders to the mat for the one two three. AWA Southern Title match : Al Perez © vs. Buddy Rose Buddy Rose came out waving a piece of paper, saying he had brought an injunction barring Nick Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig from appearing at ringside for this match. The ref swiftly added that, as a condition of this injunction, the other members of Playboy After Dark were also banned from appearing. Regardless, Rose was very determined to ensure that Perez’s Southern Title reign was a short one, working in all sorts of sneak attacks and cheap shots while bailing out of the ring any time it looked like Perez would be going for the German Suplex. Perez, realizing how Rose was wary of his main weapon, shifted gears and took a different tack, switching over to working over Rose’s right arm. Perez hit several wrenching arm take downs and kept Rose in a painful short arm scissors until Rose was finally able to make it to the ropes. Perez then got Rose up in a waistlock, looking to execute the German Suplex, but Rose broke it off with a back kick to the leg. Rose then went for the Inside Out Backbreaker, but too much damage had been done to his arm, and Perez was able to counter it with a single arm takedown. Perez then locked Rose in an arm breaker submission in the middle of the ring, and the Playboy had no choice but to submit. If anyone before had thought Perez’s title reign was a fluke, there was no doubt as to his legitimacy now. Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ?? & ?? After their victory over the Cobra Corps in Calgary, all eyes were on this match to see who else the Sinister Syndicate would bring in to try to destroy Sgt. Slaughter and his men. First out with Kaissie and Nagasaki was, of course, Great Kabuki, but it was the next man out that got the biggest reaction …. King Kong Bundy! The huge “Walking Condominum” strode out behind the Sheikh’s men, coldly focusing his eyes on Sgt. Slaughter. Throughout the match, Slaughter and Hall tried their best to protect Foley , who had taken an hellacious beating in the Calgary match, but with the pounding they were taking from the Syndicate , eventually they had no choice but to tag the still hurt Private into the match. Kendo and Kabuki both began picking Foley apart, with brutal kicks and punishing blows, before bringing in Bundy to finish him off. Bundy picked up Foley for a power slam … then immediately put him down again, clutching his back as though it had been strained. Kendo then got in Bundy’s face, demanding to know what was going on … and Bundy swiftly grabbed Kendo and power slammed him! He then quickly hit a running splash on Kendo and placed Foley on top of him, letting Foley get the one two three. While the Sheikh had a fit at ringside, Bundy slowly turned towards Sgt. Slaughter and then saluted him. Sarge saluted him back and the crowd exploded in cheers, still confused but clearly delighted with the outcome. AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Lex Luger Orndorff had fought off a lot of challenges from the Syndicate for his world title, but while Orndorff had the edge of experience in this match up, he was facing someone who was much younger and even a bit stronger than him. This was apparent when Luger was able to bowl over Orndorff in a few tests of strengths, something the powerfully built Mr. Wonderful was definitely not used to. Luger kept up his attack with some clubbing elbows to the back of the champs head, keeping him staggered and off balance. Luger got cocky and posed to the jeering crowd, which was a very bad idea as Orndorff was able to gather his wits and come back with a clip to the back of Luger’s leg. Orndorff kept up is assault on Luger’s leg, hoping to take the Human Torture Rack out of the equation. Eventually, Luger was able to get the advantage back with a scoop powerslam and got ready to put Orndorff up in the Torture Rack. He tried once, twice, but the damage to his leg was too great and wasn’t able to follow through, when Orndorff broke up the attempt for good with a jackhammering elbow smash to Luger’s face. He then got Luger’s shoulders to the mat with a single leg roll up, grabbing a fistful of trunks for leverage, and kept them down for the three count. Orndorff had held on to his title, if just barely … but then someone charged into the ring and attacked him. It was the Magnificent One, Don Muraco! He hadn’t been seen in the AWA for the past couple of months, but now he was battering Orndorff and, with Luger, hit the world champ with a crushing Spike Piledriver. Ricky Steamboat, Wahoo McDaniel and the Cobra Corps rushed out to run the Syndicate, but it was too late. Orndorff had clearly been hurt badly and, if Muraco was now with the Sinister Syndicate, his World Title was now in much more danger than before.

Canada Day Spectacular from the Saddledome in Calgary, July 1st Cpl. Scott Hall vs. Jack Victory The opening match for the Canada Day Spectacular pitted two big young rookies against each other, with the strong man of the Cobra Corps taking on the bodyguard for Col. Buck Robley’s army. As one might expect, this was a battle of big power moves and slugging punches, with Victory trying to set up the mighty Corporal for the Victory-Plex. Victory nearly had him ready for it but was cut short by a series of jackhammering elbows to the face by Hall. Hall then executed the Corporal Punishment (fallaway slam) and that was it for the match. Kevin Sullivan & Dan Spivey vs. British Steel Regal and Spivey were accompanied to the ring by Da Crusher, who has taken a paternal interest in the young, up and comers. Sullivan and Spivey both took the approach of trying to bully their much younger opponents, with Spivey using his considerable size advantage to batter the members of British Steel and then bringing in Sullivan to kick them when they were down. For their part, British Steel were able to regroup and came back, getting the advantage by tagging in and out and using their considerable technical skills. Regal was able to get ready for the Iron Fist Punch and whipped Spivey into the ropes, but Spivey caught him self in the ropes and cut off the momentum. He then came back with a huge clothesline, but Regal in turn ducked it and took Spivey to the mat with a single leg takedown. He then swiftly applied the Regal Stretch and, try though he might, Spivey was unable to escape. Regal forced him to give up in what had to be a major upset. "The Tank" Mike Shaw vs. Chavo Guerrero (courtesy of Lutte Internationale) The big Tank has quite a history in Calgary, so the fans knew what he could deliver against Chavo Guerrero, making a one night return to the AWA. The canny Latino veteran wisely used cat and mouse tactics against Shaw, sticking and moving before Shaw could get his hands on him. Several times, Shaw thought he had Guerrero dead to rights, only for Chavo to break free and keep up his hit and run attacks. He was able to knock Shaw out of the ring with a dropkick and then hit a running dive, but Shaw caught him, drove him back first into the ring post and power slam him onto the ground. He then hit a quick splash on Chavo before making it back into the ring to get the victory by countout. Nick Bockwinkel & Curt Hennig vs. Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski Bockwinkel has been feuding with Rose since his return to the AWA, and the Playboy’s loss of the Southern title last week certainly didn’t help. While Bockwinkel didn’t directly interfere in the match, Rose has blamed Nick’s “distraction” for his loss to Al Perez. He kept the Polish Prince in for a long time to try to punish Bock and Hennig, coming in when the advantage was solidly in their corner, but they couldn’t keep them down for long. Curt and Nick came roaring back with a vengeance, knocking down Wiskowski with a series of double team moves before Hennig put him down for good with the Ax Lariat. While Hennig got the pinfall, Nick stood by him, daring Rose to come in the ring, but the Playboy wouldn’t budge, and as he left the ring, Rose could be overhead muttering that Bockwinkel would be in for an unpleasant surprise at the next show. AWA Southern Title match : Al Perez © vs. Ricky Steamboat After Perez’s title win at last week’s All-Star Wrestling, this match was changed to a Southern Title match, and as a former Southern champ himself, Steamboat was a particularly tough first contender for Al’s newly won belt. To his credit, Perez went toe to toe with Steamboat , countering Steamboat’s high speed offense with his own razor sharp technical skills. The momentum swung back and forth throughout the match, with neither man holding the upper hand for long, and soon after Perez countered Steamboat’s cross body press with a rollover that got a 2 ¾ count, the bell rang, signaling a 20 minute time limit draw. After the match, Steamboat and Perez shook hands as a sign of respect, and Steamboat raised Perez’s arm to the cheers of the fans. AWA Southern Tag Title match : Leo Burke & Doug Somers © vs. Badd Company With all being chaos for Playboy After Dark right now, Burke and Somers have just barely been hanging to their Southern Tag belts, and certainly had their work cut out for them in facing the red hot Badd Company. Sunshine’s men went all out against the champs , with extremely fast paced offense keeping Burke and Somers off balance throughout the match. They were able to cheat their way back into the match with a few dirty moves, but when Burke tried to interfere when he was not the legal man, he was met with a Paul Diamond Superkick that pretty much put him out of the match. Somers was then dispatched with a Tanaka thrust kick/ Diamond back suplex combo the put the titles officially over to Badd Company. The crowd cheered as Diamond and Tanaka lifted Sunshine up onto their shoulders in victory. Sgt. Slaughter & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ? Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie has been saying how he had spent a lot of money to bring men who would help him eliminate the Cobra Corps, and it turns out he had purchased the services of one of the deadliest mercenaries available … the Great Kabuki! The crowd gasped when the face painted warrior came out to the ring, and he and Kendo proceeded to brutalize Mick Foley. Sgt. Slaughter kept trying to bowl his way into the match, but the Sheikh’s men kept Foley solidly in their corner, and when they hit him with a double thrust kick, that was it for the scrappy young rookie. They kept attacking Foley after the end of the match, only leaving when Slaughter rushed in to run them off. Kaissie was overheard laughing that this was nothing compared to what Slaughter would be facing in Minneapolis. AWA World Tag Title match : The Varsity Club © vs. The British Bulldogs The Varsity Club have kept a very tight grip on the World Tag titles since they won them, but the Bulldogs have come out of nowhere to become a substantial threat to their reign. In spite of the size and power that Rotundo and Steiner had on their side, they found themselves completely unready for Dynamite and Davey Boy’s relentless offense. Even though the Varsity Club were able to battle back, the Bulldogs made sure it wasn’t for long. This was the cue for Sullivan and Spivey to come out to turn the tide, only to find themselves intercepted by Da Crusher and British Steel. Steiner was able to get Dynamite set up for a belly to belly superplex, but Dynamite cut it off with a series of brutal headbutts to the face that sent Steiner crashing to the mat. Missy Hyatt shrieked at them from ringside, but this did nothing to stop Dynamite from coming off the top rope with a flying headbutt. Rotundo’s attempt to break up the pinfall was met with a powerslam by Davey Boy, and Dynamite was able to make the one two three. The crowd exploded in cheers and Crusher and British Steel congratulated the Bulldogs on their well earned title victory.

I think I am the only person who has been here non-stop since the start. I've really enjoyed working with you guys, it has been a lot of fun.

For some strange reason, I have always had a fascination for the Hollywood Blondes vs. Mark Starr & Frankie Lancaster, where both of the Blondes end up crippling themselves against the job guys.

With the results of the most recent AWA TV and Super Cards, the main event for the July 4th Independence Day Spectacular is now in place : AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Lex Luger There is also one more match added to the already stacked card : AWA Southern Title rematch : Al Perez © vs. Buddy Rose

I thought that move might be a bit ahead of the time, but I figured since Superfly had already gone off the top of the cage, this wouldn't be too much of a leap (tee hee).

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, June 28th (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Zambuie Express vs. Memphis Vice The Zambuies won with a double elbow drop on Lou Winston Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Gagne made Somers submit to the Gagne Leglock for the win. Kendo Nagasaki vs. Wahoo McDaniel After catching Wahoo McDaniel with the Green Mist while the ref was incapacitated, Kendo caught him with a thrust kick to the head before pinning him. Elimination Match : The Varsity Club vs. The British Bulldogs & British Steel 1st Elimination : Spivey pinned Smiley after a running legdrop 2nd Elimination : Regal knocked out Spivey with the Iron Fist Punch 3rd Elimination : Sullivan pinned Regal after a sneak attack by Rotundo 4th Elimination : Davey Boy pinned Sullivan with a running power slam 5th Elimination : Dynamite pinned Steiner after a belly to belly piledriver 6th Elimination : Davey Boy press slammed Dynamite onto Rotundo for the final pinfall Winners : The British Bulldogs Loser Leaves Town Cage Match : One Man Gang vs. Ricky Steamboat A bloody match where Gang went all out in trying to crush Steamboat. The resilient Hawaiian kept coming back and would not be held back for long. The Big 747 tried to put him out for good with an Avalanche in the corner, but Steamboat ducked out of the way just in time and One Man Gang went staggering back. Steamboat swiftly ascended not just to the top turnbuckle but to the very top of the cage and came off with a flying cross body press. One … two … three. And with that, One Man Gang’s epic run in the AWA came to a close. AWA World Title No DQ Loser Leaves Town Cage Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Rick Rude In an epic match with a lot of stipulations and a lot on the line, Rude savagely attacked Orndorff, waging an all out assault on his neck with blows and elbow smashes to try and soften him up for the Rude Awakening. As the battle raged back and forth, Rude was able to finally hit the Rude Awakening on Orndorff, but Orndorff was able to get his foot on the ropes to break up the pin. Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie decided to take matters into his own hands, and he tossed a folded steel chair over the top of the cage into the ring. Rude picked up the chair to use against the champ, but Orndorff was able to snatch it out of his hands and hit Rude with it. Orndorff clobbered Rude with the chair, then set him up for the piledriver and hit it on the chair. This was not enough for Orndorff, who executed one more piledriver on the chair and looked to be considering another before choosing to go for the pin and get the one two three. Mr. Wonderful was still the champ and the Ravishing One was out of the AWA.

With the title change, I'm trying to get over the German Suplex as a sort of Diamond Cutter type finisher that can put away anyone out of nowhere. As far as the top of the card goes ... well, some big things will be kicking off at the Holiday Spectacular shows.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for June 28th Badd Company vs. The PYT Express This was showdown between 2 teams heading in different trajectories. Sunshine’s men are going into the Holiday Spectaculars on the path to a big Southern Tag Title match with Playboy After Dark. Meanwhile, The PYTs have been on a drastic decline, looking to get some sort of momentum before facing Memphis Vice, the newcomers that have somehow had their number of late. The PYTs took a very aggressive tack against Badd Co., but Tanaka and Diamond just came roaring back with their trademark high energy style. After a fast paced match, Koko tried to put Diamond away with the brain buster, but Tanaka dashed in and interecepted it with a big leg sweep. When Koko was finally able to make it to his feet, he was met with a Paul Diamond Superkick that put an end to that match. Post match, Brickhouse was clearly displeased with Koko, and once again the two argued all of the way back to the locker room, seemingly just barely keeping from coming to blows. AWA World Tag Title match : The Varsity Club © vs. British Steel The champions seemed especially wary in this match , keeping an eye out throughout for any possible appearance of the British Bulldogs. While Davey Boy and Dynamite did not get involved, Rotundo and Steiner more than had their hands full with Steven Regal and Norman Smiley. The young Regal was especially impressive in the ring with Rotundo, having exciting chain wrestling exchanges with his former mentor and catching the Syracuse letterman in several submission holds that he was just barely able to escape. Smiley continued his team’s success for a while but wound up being caught flat footed by a leaping clothesline from Rotundo that turned the tide. Rotundo tagged out to Steiner and, after a crushing series of slams and suplexes, Steiner drove Smiley to the mat will a bulldog headlock that put an end to their title challenge. Steiner seemed to want to inflict more punishment on Smiley after the mat, but Rotundo held the “Wild Dog” back, possibly not wanting to draw the attention of the Bulldogs. Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki The raw recruit of the Cobra Corps did his best to hang in with the Japanese veteran, but Nagasaki looked to be wanting to inflict a lot of punishment on the rookie going into the Holiday Spectaculars. Kendo relentlessly attacked Foley’s leg with kicks and submission holds, before finally taking him to the mat and putting him in a leglock that forced the young Private to submit. This was not enough for Kendo, who refused to release the screaming Foley from the leglock until threated with the result being reversed. Sheikh Kaissie has promised that he has spent big money to bring in men to take out the Cobra Corps at the Holiday Spectaculars, and with Foley going in hurt, things aren’t looking too good for Sgt. Slaughter’s men. AWA Canadian Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Ed Wiskowski The popular Canadian champ showed all of his trademark finesse and charisma in his title defense against the Polish Prince. While Wiskowski tried to use his size and power to dominate Martel, Martel kept one step ahead of Wiskowski and caught him on a criss cross with a cross body press to get the pinfall and keep his tight grip on his title belt. AWA Southern Title match : Buddy Rose © vs. Al Perez Al Perez has surprised a lot of people by taking out the members of Playboy After Dark one by one to get a shot at the Southern Title, but Buddy Rose has returned from a short trip to Japan determined to put a stop to his challenge once and for all. Rose ruthlessly attacked Perez throughout the match, sneaking in low blows, eye rakes and other cheap shots to keep Perez off balance. The Latin Heartthrob, however, kept after Rose, using his considerable technical skills to get out of a lot of tight spots and put Rose on the defensive. Deep into the match, Nick Bockwinkel appeared at ringside and proceeded to give dirty looks to Rose, but this just made the Playboy even more mad as he attacked Perez. He pointed at Bockwinkel as he picked up Perez and had him set up for the inside out back breaker. Rose should have kept his focus on the match, as Perez was lightning quick in reversing the set up, caught Rose in a waistlock, then hit a devastating German Suplex. One … two … three!!! Perez has won the Southern Title! The Playboy was in shock but the crowd exploded as Perez rushed out of the ring, grabbed the title belt and held it above his head. Bockwinkel went over to Perez and shook his hand before returning to the locker room. AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. One Man Gang This might have been for the World Title, but Gang really didn’t seem to have the championship on his mind. Much like several wrestlers on the show, his focus was more on doing as much damage as possible to Mr. Wonderful before the Loser Leaves Town match in Winnipeg with Gang’s stable mate, Rick Rude. The Big 747 used his incredible size to try to wear down the champ, but Orndorff came roaring back with some mighty running shoulder blocks to stagger Gang. This was the cue for Rick Rude to come tearing out and attack Orndorff, leading to a DQ. While Rude held Orndorff, Gang went out of the ring to grab his chain and use it to pummel the champ. He was swiftly intercepted by the arrival of Ricky Steamboat, who yanked the chain out of his hand and started swinging it wildly, sending Gang and Rude fleeing from the ring. Both feuds will finally come to a head at the upcoming show in the Winnipeg Arena.

Just a reminder that, starting in June, the Moondogs are in the AWA.

Listening again to the Exile On Badstreet podcast The Price Of Ridiculous pt. 2. Mention is made that there were strange circumstances regarding the departure of Al Perez from NWA/WCW, but they would discuss it when they got to a podcast on 1989. As that podcast has not yet happened, could somebody please fill me in on what happened?

Osaka would be the natural next step if I add Fairbanks , Alaska, to the AWA loop, just like Verne tried to do IRL.

The lineup for the upcoming holiday special cards has now been released. Once again, instead of the usual weekly broadcast of All-Star Wrestling and Super Cards, there will be 2 special editions of Super Cards, one of each card. Canada Day Spectacular from the Saddledome in Calgary, July 1st Cpl. Scott Hall vs. Jack Victory Kevin Sullivan & Dan Spivey vs. British Steel "The Tank" Mike Shaw vs. Chavo Guerrero (courtesy of Lutte Internationale) Nick Bockwinkel & Curt Hennig vs. Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski Ricky Steamboat vs. Al Perez AWA Southern Tag Title match : Leo Burke & Doug Somers © vs. Badd Company Sgt. Slaughter & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ? AWA World Tag Title match : The Varsity Club © vs. The British Bulldogs Independence Day Spectacular from the Hubert H. Humprey Metrodome in Minneapolis, July 4th Ivan Putski vs. Ed Wiskowski The Zambuie Express vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Da Crusher Greg Gagne vs. Jimmy Garvin (courtesy of USWA) The PYT Express vs. Memphis Vice Nick Bockwinkel vs. a mystery opponent Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Moondogs Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Roop Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ?? & ?? AWA World Title Match : either Paul Orndorff © vs. Lex Luger *or* Rick Rude © vs. Curt Hennig (dependent on the results of the loser leaves town match in Winnipeg the week before)

Badd Co are still one year into their careers at this point. I'm trying to play the Moondogs in Memphis "out of control crazies who hate everyone" mode, rather than WWF glorified jobber mode.

AWA Show from the International Amphitheater, Chicago, June 22nd The Moondogs vs. Badd Company The Moondogs won when they hit Tanaka with a double elbow smash to the head Steven Regal vs. Jack Victory Regal knocked out Victory with the Iron Fist Punch Takashi Ishikawa & Masahiro Chono vs. The PYT Express Chono pinned Brickhouse after a front kick to the chest Curt Hennig vs. Bob Roop Hennig got the victory after the Ax Lariat Nick Bockwinkel vs. Ed Wiskowski Bockwinkel made Wiskowski submit to a Figure Four Leglock AWA Southern Tag Title match : Doug Somers & Leo Burke vs. Memphis Vice Burke forced Bryant to give up to the Sleeper Hold to defend their belts Falls Count Anywhere match : One Man Gang vs. Ricky Steamboat Steamboat hit the top rope flying cross body press to the outside to send Gang crashing into the ringside barricade and get the pin

I was just looking this one up to try to remember who I drafted, and was amused to realize that, while I had traded away my first 2 picks, I still ended up with a lot of people from this draft on my roster

Gotta maintain that kayfabe

Breaking news from the AWA : Hot on the heels events the recent AWA Milwaukee show as well as All-Star Wrestling, there has been a big announcement regarding next week's show from Winnipeg. There will be a double main event for that show. Loser Leaves Town Cage Match : One Man Gang vs. Ricky Steamboat AWA World Title Loser Leaves Town Cage Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Rick Rude With the stipulations of the World title match, this puts the main event of the upcoming July 4th spectacular from the Metrodome in question. It has been announced that there will be 2 possible main events for that show. Should Paul Orndorff win and remain in the AWA, the main event of the Metrodome show will be : AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Lex Luger Should Rick Rude win and remain in the AWA, the main event will be : AWA World Title Match : Rick Rude © vs. Curt Hennig Obviously, this should make for an exciting show, no matter what the main will be. The main event for the July 1st Canada Day show from Calgary has also been announced : AWA World Tag Title Match : The Varsity Club © vs. The British Bulldogs The Bulldogs made their AWA debut less than a month before in Calgary and have taken the tag division by storm. This should make for an absolute barn burner. There has been 2 more matches announced, one for each show. Calgary : Sgt. Slaughter & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ? Minneapolis : Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & ? & ? There has been wild speculation on who Kendo's mystery partners will be. Sheik Adnan Kaissie has declared that he has spent big money to bring in the best talent in the world to help rid him of the Cobra Corps.

AWA show from the Mecca, Milwaukee , June 21st (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) The Moondogs vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz In a crazy brawl, both teams ended up being disqualified. Curt Hennig, Greg Gagne & Al Perez (accompanied by Nick Bockwinkel) vs. Ed Wiskowski, Doug Somers & Leo Burke Perez caught Somers in a German Suplex to get the win for his team Dan Spivey vs. Da Crusher Crusher nailed Spivey with a running Bolo punch and scored the victory AWA World Tag Title match : The Varsity Club © vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Masahiro Chono In a brilliant technical matchup, Steiner finally pinned Chono with a belly to back suplex to defend their belts Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall & Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Kendo Nagasaki & The Zambuie Express After Nagasaki took advantage of a ref distraction to spray the green mist in the face of Foley, Kareem Muhammad side slammed the Private to score the win AWA World Title Texas Death Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Rick Rude Rude was able to get the Rude Awakening on Orndorff no less than 3 times to get the pin, but the Champ would just not stay down for the 10 count. Getting frustrated, Rude brought a folded metal chair in to finish him off, but Orndorff was able to strip him of the chair, then hit the pile driver on the chair to put Rude down for good.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for June 21st The PYT Express vs. Memphis Vice The PYTs have been seeing a lot of the two AWA newcomers lately, but it hasn’t been a good experience for them. For all of the skill, experience and ruthlessness that Koko and Brickhouse bring to the ring, it has just seemed that they can’t get the job done against Bryant and Winston, and their frustration is beginning to show. For their part, Memphis Vice seemed to have gained a lot of confidence from their victories over the PYTs. Every time Koko and Brickhouse would break out a double team or underhanded move, Bryant and Winston would fire back with a double team move of their own that sent the more experienced team reeling. Koko thought he would be able to put away Jerry Bryant for good with the brain buster, but he had failed to notice that Bryant had been able to make a blind tag out to Big Lou Winston. As he was about to pick up Bryant, Koko was caught in a schoolboy rollup by Winston that got the one two three for Memphis Vice. As Bryant and Winston celebrated in the ring, Koko and Brickhouse argued all of the way back to the locker room. The British Bulldogs vs. Dan Spivey & Kevin Sullivan Davey Boy and Dynamite have come seemingly out of nowhere to join the ranks of the contenders for the AWA World Tag Titles, currently held by Mike Rotundo and Rick Steiner. This time, though, they would be facing the other half of the Varsity Club, who were determined to to cut off the Bulldogs challenge before it even got to the champs. Sullivan left much of the heavy lifting to Spivey, just working in the occasional cheap shot here and there, and for a while, the Georgia Bulldog was able to make headway against the British Bulldogs. Then, all of a sudden, the British Bulldogs seemed to kick into another gear, exploding out of the blocks with a big double clothesline on Spivey and then putting him through a series of brutal stretches and power moves. When Davey Boy caught him coming off the ropes with a lightning quick power slam, it was lights out for Spivey. Rotundo and Steiner must be concerned about this impressive new challenge to their belts. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie vs. Pvt. Mick Foley Ever since Foley signed up with the Cobra Corps, Sheikh Kaissie has made a mission of trying to run him out of the AWA, and this time out, he would be personally getting his hands dirty. Although Kaissie is primarily a manager these days, he has a wealth of experience as both an amateur and professional wrestler, and proceeded to work over the youn rookie with a painful series of moves and holds before locking him in an abdominal stretch. He snarled at Foley to give up, but Foley refused to break, showing the benefit of his toughness training at the hands of Sgt. Slaughter. Kaissie switched tactics and whipped Foley into the ropes, but Foley came back with a running discus clothesline that flattened Kaissie. At this point, Kendo Nagasaki and the Zambuie Express charged towards the ring to try to interfere, but found themselves intercepted by Sgt. Slaughter, Cpl. Scott Hall and Wahoo McDaniel. Foley swiftly capitalized on his advantage by hitting a running senton and hooking the leg to get shocking pinfall. Pvt. Foley was clearly overjoyed at his first singles victory in the AWA, and the crowd cheered him in celebration. Al Perez vs. Ed Wiskowski One of the more surprising stories in the AWA of late has been Al Perez dispatching members of Playboy After Dark and moving into contention for Buddy Rose’s AWA Southern Title. The fans have started to rally behind Perez in his quest for the belt, and Perez has shown a real change of heart towards the fans and shown appreciation for their support. With Rose currently in Japan, Wiskowski’s mission was clearly to neutralize the threat of Perez for good before the Playboy’s return. The Polish Prince used his size and power to try to bully and break down Perez, but the Latin Heartthrob used his considerable technical expertise to get out of danger and applied a series of arm submissions to counteract Wiskowski’s strength. Wiskowski tried to hit the face first piledriver, but his arm had been too badly damaged to cinch it in, and Perez swiftly turned it around into a German Suplex to get the victory. That German Suplex has been the key to Perez’s winning streak against Playboy After Dark, and Rose had best learn to either counter it or fear it. One Man Gang vs. Ricky Steamboat Steamboat has been caught in the crossfire of the Sinister Syndicate’s war with his good friend, Paul Orndorff. The Big 747 in particular has caused a lot of damage to the Dragon, and Steamboat is determined to settle the score with One Man Gang. This match was out of control from the start, with Gang throwing wild punches and Steamboat firing back with karate chops and kicks. The match swiftly spilled to the outside of the ring, with both men continuing to brawl long after the ref had counted both of them out. Looks like no ring is enough to contain these two.

If you want to use a slot that way, I think that should be fine.

If I had Windham and Hart on my roster, I'd probably never run any other match.

AWA show at the Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, June 15th Pvt. Mick Foley vs. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie Foley got the win with a running senton Ricky Steamboat vs. Al Perez In a highly technical matchup, Perez was going for a German Suplex, but Steamboat blocked it, and countered with a single leg roll up for the win. After the match, both men shook hands. The Zambuie Express vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Cpl. Scott Hall The Zambuies hit a side slam / elbow drop combo on Hall to score the win. Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer In a bloody match, McDaniel got the victory with a running overhead chop. Curt Hennig vs. Ed Wiskowski Hennig blocked a face first piledriver attempt and countered with a cradle suplex to get the pinfall. AWA Southern Title 2/3 falls match : Buddy Rose © vs. Nick Bockwinkel Rose won the first fall by countout. Bockwinkel won the second fall with a small package. Bockwinkel won the third fall and the match by DQ when Rose slugged the ref. Rose retained the title.

AWA show from the Cow Palace, San Francisco, June 14th (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Dave Schultz & Buzz Sawyer vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Masahiro Chono Ishikawa and Chono won by DQ when Sawyer attacked Chono with a chain Curt Hennig vs. Leo Burke Hennig pinned Burke after the Ax Lariat The PYT Express vs. Badd Company Tanaka hit a spinning thrust kick on Koko to get the pinfall The Varsity Club (Mike Rotundo, Rick Steiner, Dan Spivey & Kevin Sullivan) vs. The British Bulldogs & British Steel Davey Boy Smith Gorilla Pressed Dynamite Kid onto Kevin Sullivan to get the victory for their team AWA Southern Title match : Buddy Rose © vs. Nick Bockwinkel Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw. AWA American Title match : Lex Luger © vs. Ivan Putski Luger hit a running forearm smash to the side of Putski’s head to successfully defend his title. Paul Orndorff & Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude & One Man Gang Gang ambushed Steamboat when the ref was distracted to set him up for the Rude Awakening, which got the win for the Syndicate.