rainmakerrtv

I just want to give public thanks to kevin for holding back on posting one of his big shows until I could get caught up on mine so that I could wrap up Blackwell and Patera before they made their big appearance.

AWA Show from the Saddledome, Calgary, Feb 23rd. Badd Company vs. The Latin Assassins Badd Company won after Diamond superkicked Angel Acevedo into a German Suplex by Tanaka Lex Luger vs. Javier Cruz Luger made Cruz submit to the Human Torture Rack The Can-Am Express vs. Bob Roop & Mr. Olympia LaFon hit the reverse flying bodypress on Olympia for the win Buddy Rose vs. Leo Burke Rose won with a running splash AWA Southern Tag Title match : Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel © vs. The PYT Express Garvin knocked out Brickhouse with the Hands Of Stone Punch to get the victory AWA Southern Title match : Bad News Allen © vs. Ricky Steamboat The match went to a no-contest owing to blood stoppage on both men

AWA Show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Feb. 22nd (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Al Perez vs. Curt Hennig Hennig pinned Perez with the Cradle Suplex Leo Burke vs. Ron Garvin Burke won with a rollup with a fistful of trunks Rick Rude vs. Ed Wiskowski Rude hit the Rude Awakening to get the win Loser Leaves Town Match : Mike Shaw vs. Jerry Blackwell Shaw , once again, spent much of the match working over Blackwell's injured leg. When Blackwell gained dominance in the match, he tried to put away Shaw with a powerslam , but his knee gave way and Shaw landed on top of him for the pinfall. This sent Blackwell out of the AWA. Buddy Rose vs. Doug Somers Somers went for a big elbow smash when Rose was trapped in the corner, Rose dodged out of the way, Somers hurt his elbow on the turnbuckle post and Rose rolled him up for the pin AWA American Title match : Da Crusher © vs. Bob Roop Crusher hit the running Bolo Punch on Roop to get the win in his first title defense AWA World Tag Title Loser Leaves Town match : The Road Warriors © vs. The Varsity Club The first surprise came at the start of the match when Steiner came out with his Varsity Club partner ... Mike Rotundo! There was a lot of confusion in the crowd as the former fan favorite was now on the side of the Varsity Club. As the two did battle with the Road Warriors, things once again got chaotic as Lex Luger came out , looking to interfere, but was intercepted by Norman Smiley, likely looking for revenge for both himself and his British Steel partner, Steven Regal. This proved a sufficient distraction, however, for Mike Shaw to rush into the ring while the ref was not looking. He quickly crushed Hawk with an Avalanche, then squashed him with a splash, swiftly bailing from the ring and leaving Rotundo to make the cover. One ... two ... THREE!!! The Varsity Club are now the AWA World Tag champs, and the Road Warriors are gone from the AWA, in the most shocking manner possible. AWA World Title Loser Leaves Town match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Ken Patera In a lengthy and epic battle, Patera tried to put Orndorff away with a massive bearhug, but Orndorff kept raining down on Patera's face with elbow smashes, and when Patera lost his gripp, Orndorff dropped him with a Piledriver to get the victory. Orndorff was finally done with his biggest rival.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for Feb. 22nd Norman Smiley vs. Angel Acevedo Smiley has had a tough time of late against the Varsity Club and was hoping to use this match to get back on track. He certainly would be facing one tough customer in the "Cuban Assassin" Angel Acevedo, who certainly wasn't about to roll over for the popular British rookie. Acevedo used a variety of dirty tricks against Smiley, who in turn kept his cool and kept Acevedo wrapped up with his matwork skills. It looked as though Acevedo was about to put Smiley away with a DDT, but Smiley reversed it into a takedown and sunk in the Norman Conquest (Crossface Chicken Wing) in the middle of the ring. Acevedo had no choice to give up, and Smiley had picked up a very impressive win. The Can-Am Express vs. The PYT Express The Can-Ams were coming back from an impressive run in the New Japan Tag tournament, while the PYTs had just had an equally impressive title match against McDaniel and Garvin. Both teams kept the fans on the edge of their seats with fast paced action and a lot of near falls, until Tom Zenk finally managed to hit Koko with a Superkick, then slingshot Lafon into the ring for a splash that got the victory. Lex Luger & Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotundo & Steven Regal Regal managed to leverage his victory over Rick Steiner last week into another tag match with the Varsity Club, bringing along his mentor Mike Rotundo to be his reluctant partner. There was some chaos early on in the match when the Road Warriors came out, looking to get a piece of Lex Luger for costing them the Six-Man Titles last week, but the AWA officials forced them to return to the locker room, saying they would get their chance later and that there would be an announcement to that effect after this match. Regal was, as usual, very keen to start the match, but Rotundo talked his young partner into letting him start the match. This proved a wise plan, as Rotundo was able to counter Steiner's amateur wrestling skills as well stand toe to with the powerful Luger. This worked well until the Varsity Club managed to provoke Regal into trying to get involved in the match, and while the ref was ushering him out of the ring, took Rotundo down with a brutal double team. Luger than started to wear down Rotundo with a series of slams and stretches while Regal urged his partner on from ringside. Luger then tagged in Steiner, who hit several suplexes on Rotundo before locking him in a painful headlock to grind him down. Eventually, Rotundo broke out by whipping into the ropes and when Steiner came back, the two men knocked their heads and fell to the mat. As luck would have it, Rotundo fell close to his own corner, and Regal took advantage of this to tag back in to the match. He immediately started with dropkicks on Steiner and tried to get him lined up for the Regal Roll. As he did so, Rotundo gradually recovered on the ringside apron and started calling on Regal to tag him back in. Regal was determined to finish off Steiner and, after he was able to stop a suplex attempt by Steiner, he took the U. of Michigan alum down with a legsweep and once again went for the Regal Roll. Steiner, however, had scouted the move and blocked it by grabbing his throat, then using his incredible power to pick him up and driving him down with a chokeslam. Steiner then hoisted up Regal in a crushing belly-to-back suplex to get the pinfall. Rotundo looked about to explode as the Varsity Club took a victory lap around the ring. He stood and stared as Regal struggled to get up after the match and, when the Young Gentleman finally got to his feet, flattened him back down with a jumping clothesline! The crowd was aghast as Rotundo left with the laughing members of the Varsity Club , leaving his partner on his back in the ring. After the commerical break, it was announced that at the AWA show in Winnipeg, the Varsity Club would face the Road Warriors in an AWA World Tag title match .... that would be Loser Leaves Town! Buddy Rose vs. Leo Burke Once again, Rose was facing one of the Bad News Breakers, and the self-proclaimed "Canada's Greatest Wrestler" proved his worth as he really seemed to do some damage to the Playboy. He managed to trap Rose in a number of painful looking stretch holds, and it was only the wily Rose's instincts to consistently get to the ropes in time that saved him from serious injury. Rose was able to , little by little, work his way back into the match and get dominance over Burke. Burke tried to gain it back with a bulldog headlock, but Rose was able to block it and, in a last ditch move, pull out the Inside Out Backbreaker. He was just barely able to make the cover and get the pin in this hard fought match. Paul Orndorff & Ricky Steamboat vs. Ken Patera & Mr. Olympia Before the match, it was announced that the World Title match in Winnipeg between Orndorff and Patera would also be Loser Leaves Town. This raised the stakes for this match, as for one of the participants, it would be their last match on All-Star Wrestling. Orndorff and Patera tore into each other throughout the match, trying to do as much damage as they could before the World Title match. In the end, though , the decision came down to their partners, as Steamboat managed to hit Olympia with the top rope flying cross body press for the pinfall. The show in Winnipeg is looking to be one of the all time biggest for the AWA.

AWA Show from the International Amphitheater, Chicago, Feb. 16 Mike Rotundo vs. Jack Victory Rotundo won with a schoolboy rollup The PYT Express vs. British Steel Koko hit the Brainbuster on Regal for the win Leo Burke vs. Buddy Rose Leo caught Rose in the sleeper, but Rose kicked out of the corner and bridged back for the pinfall AWA Southern Title match : Bad News Allen © vs. Wahoo McDaniel Allen hit the Bad News Blaster on Wahoo to succesfully defend his title AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz The Roadies got some revenge for the previous night when they hit Sawyer with a double flying clothesline and got the victory AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Ken Patera Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw

I wanted to make sure Crusher won the title in the main event at his home town, figured it would be a waste to do it anywhere else.

AWA Show from the Mecca, Milwaukee, Feb. 15th (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Jack Victory vs. Vinnie Valentino Victory won with the bridging cradle suplex Ricky Steamboat vs. Al Perez Perez was attempting to put Steamboat away with a German suplex, but Steamboat reversed the waistlock and hit a Tiger Suplex for this win. Perez threw a tantrum in the ring afterwards Killer Khan vs. Javier Cruz Khan forced Cruz to submit to the Oriental Chokehold Badd Company vs. Mr. Olympia & Bob Roop Olympia charged into the corner on Tanaka and Tanaka caught him with a thrust kick to the jaw that knocked him sparko. Tanaka then covered Olympia for the shocking victory Lord Humongous vs. Curt Hennig Hennig countered a Cobra Clutch attempt with an inside cradle for the win AWA Six-Man Tag Title match : The Road Warriors & Paul Orndorff © vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dave Schultz & Mike Shaw Partway through the match, Lex Luger came down to ringside. Animal was about to take down Schultz with a huge clothesline, but while Buck Robley distracted the ref, Luger hit Animal in the back with a chair when he came off the ropes. Schultz then hit the felled Animal with a big running legdrop. Orndorff tried to break up the pin but just couldn't get past big Mike Shaw and Schultz got the victory. Col. Buck Robley's Army are the new Six-Man Tag Champs! The crowd were in shock, unable to believe what just went down. AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Da Crusher Crusher was attempting a Claw hold but Muraco kept blocking it until he whipped Crusher into the ref, knocking him to the ground. He then tried to get Crusher in the belly-to-belly piledriver, but Crusher elbowed his way out of it , then came off the ropes with a big running Bolo Punch. The ref still had his wits about him to crawl over and make the count. One ... two ... THREE! Da Crusher won the American Title! The home town crowd expoded in approval and gave him a standing ovation as the Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous held the title belt over his head in one hand and hoisted a beer keg over his shoulder with the other.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for Feb. 15th Steven Regal vs. Rick Steiner Conspicuous by his absence for this match was Regal's mentor, Mike Rotunda, who let it be known that he disapproved of Regal getting involved in his feud with the Varsity Club and was concerned that he would end up badly hurt by Steiner and Lex Luger. Regardless, Regal had issued a challenge to Steiner and was not going to back out of it. For all that he rushed out to the ring, Regal was clearly being much more cautious with Steiner, having learned from his previous matches and deciding to keep his natural exuberance in check. He kept quickly peppering Steiner with shots and shifting away, refusing to lock up, much to Steiner's frustration. For all that Steiner kept shouting at him to come at him, and Missy Hyatt kept screaming at him from ringside that he was chicken, Regal kept up his hit-and-run tactics, chipping away at Steiner's defenses. Then, he was just a second too slow dodging out of the way and caught a nasty clothesline to the head. Steiner then decided he was going to teach Regal a lesson, dismantling him with a series of suplexes that left Regal clearly looking dazed. Steiner then got set to finish him off with a belly-to-back suplex, but Regal dug in and blocked it, before reversing the waistlock and taking Steiner to the mat with a legsweep. Regal swiftly came over him with a modified Oklahoma Roll that got Steiner's shoulders to the mat. One ... two ... THREE! Steven Regal beat Rick Steiner! Regal swiftly dove out of the ring and celebrated with the fans before rushing back to the locker room, while Steiner and Hyatt hollered at him to get back in the ring. Leo Burke & Doug Somers vs. The Brotherhood Of Poland The war between the Bad News Breakers and Playboy After Dark has swung back and forth, with both sides getting victories, and this match was no different, with the momentum swinging back and forth between the two teams. Just when it would seem that the Brotherhood would keep the advantage with their size and power, Burke and Somers would steal it back through underhanded tactics. After a period where both teams were brawling in the ring, it looked like Putski might just put it away when he got Burke in the Polish Bearhug, but while the ref was distracted getting Wiskowski out of the ring, Somers came off the top rope with a vicious elbow smash to the back of the head. When the ref turned around, he saw Burke covering Putski and counted the victory for the Bad News Breakers. Mike Shaw vs. Jerry Blackwell "The Tank" Mike Shaw clearly had no interest in getting a clean win over "Crusher" Blackwell, he was out to hurt him. Shaw relentlessly went after Blackwell's right leg, attacking it with knee shots and chop blocks, and when Blackwell refused to go down, Col. Buck Robley tossed in a chair and Shaw jammed it hard into Blackwell's right knee. The ref called for the DQ, but Shaw didn't seem to notice or care as he kept battering Blackwell's leg with the chair until the AWA officials threatened him with suspension. Blackwell was clearly in a lot of pain as he was helped from the ring. AWA Southern Tag Title match : Wahoo McDaniel & Ron Garvin vs. The PYT Express The PYT Express have been hot on the heels of the Southern Tag champs for the past fews, and looked determined to make the most of their shot at the belts. They surprisingly kept their act clean for most of the match, perhaps wanting to prove that they were legitimate contenders. They put up an intense challenge to the champions, looking at a number of instances like they might just take the belts away from Garvin and McDaniel. The end came when Koko went up top for a top rope flying dropkick, but Garvin moved out of the way at the last second, and Koko went crashing to the mat. Garvin then wrapped up Koko in a Natural Bridge and got the pinfall. Garvin and McDaniel, clearly impressed with the efforts of Koko and Brickhouse, offered handshakes as a show of respect. The Express looked like they would respond in kind, but instead gave them each a right cross to the face for their efforts. This just made the champs mad, and they chased the PYT Express back to the locker room. So much for good sportsmanship. Curt Hennig vs. Ken Patera Hennig has managed several impressive victories over members of the Sinister Syndicate of late, and now he was facing the big man himself, former World champ Ken Patera. Hennig kept after Patera with dropkicks and rapid fire moves, while Patera would keep coming back with his array of thundering power moves. Time and again, it looked like Hennig might just eke out the victory, only for Patera to muscle his way out of it. The crowd gasped at every near fall, cheering on the second generation wrestler who was their clear favorite. Finally, Hennig had gotten Patera set up for the cradle suplex, and the fans roared in excitement that he just might pull it off. Patera brought them all back down to earth when he broke up the attempt with a knee to Hennig's abdomen, and he then hoisted him over his shoulder and drove him down to the mat with a crushing powerslam that brought him the win. Patera was not going to stop until he got back the World belt, but nevertheless, Hennig had proven himself with his gallant effort.

I'm not as familiar with Florida so I tend to think of Roop from his time in Mid-South, as a brutal shooter, which is how I generally use him.

Wow , amazing show that Sherbrooke got. The crowd must have been going insane.

AWA show from the Portland Memorial Coliseum, Feb. 9th The PYT Express vs. Badd Company Badd Company took the PYT Express to the limit and went to a 20 minute time limit draw in a result that surprised a lot of people Killer Khan vs. Jerry Blackwell Khan got the win after a second rope kneedrop to Blackwell's ribs The Brotherhood Of Poland vs. Leo Burke & Doug Somers Wiskowski hit the Face First Piledriver on Somers for the win Curt Hennig vs. Botswana Beast Beast went for a sitdown splash on Hennig, but Hennig pulled himself out of the way just in time. Hennig then hit a leaping neck snap on Beast and covered him for the one-two-three. Buddy Rose vs. Rick Rude Rude was going for the Rude Awakening, but Rose countered out of it with a backwards kick low blow. He then hit the Inside Out Backbreaker on Rude to the victory. AWA Southern Title match : Bad News Allen © vs. Ricky Steamboat Both men ended up brawling outside the ring for a double countout finish

AWA Show from the Cow Palace, San Francisco, Feb. 8th (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Mike Rotundo vs. Mr. Olympia Rotunda countered a Powerlock attempt by Olympia with an inside cradle to get the pinfall The Latin Lovers vs. The PYT Express Brickhouse Brown pinned Vinnie Valentino after a swinging neckbreaker Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne vs. Botswana Beast & Killer Khan Khan forced Gagne to submit to the Oriental Choke AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. The Latin Assassins The Road Warriors got the win after hitting the Doomsday Device on Acevedo Buddy Rose vs. Rick Rude Rude was going for a Rude Awakening, but Rose blocked it and grabbed Rude's trunks for a roll up to win AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Da Crusher Muraco got the belly-to-belly piledriver on Crusher for the victory

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for February 8th Badd Company vs. The Latin Assassins Diamond and Tanaka were making their first appearance on AWA TV since their loss to the Varsity Club and were sporting a slick new look, with shades and black & silver striped tights. It looks like their treatment by Steiner and Luger has intensified their determination to prove themselves, as they were all over Perez and Acevedo from the get go. Perez barely got a look in for this match, as Badd Co. swiftly hit a double superkick on him that sent him flying out of the ring, before they got to work on Acevedo. They used a variety of double team moves and quick tags before Diamond superkicked Acevedo into a Tanaka German Suplex for the win. Perez threw his now trademark hissy fit after the match, but that did not detract from the fact that the new look Badd Company are clearly a force to be reckoned with in the AWA. Norman Smiley vs. Lex Luger This was also a return to action for Smiley, who clearly had revenge on his mind as he took on the Total Package. Luger had a clear size advantage over the British rookie, but Smiley showed considerable ring savvy as he used a variety of moves in an attempt to get Luger down on the mat. He grew increasingly reckless as the match wore on, and this eventually cost him when he came off the ropes for a running cross body press, only to be caught by the powerful Luger and hit with a painful looking over-the-knee backbreaker. Luger then looked like he would put Smiley in the Human Torture Rack, but out of nowhere, Mike Rotundo charged into the ring and attacked Luger. The ref awarded the match to Luger by DQ, but by then, the Total Package had his hands full, slugging it out with Rotundo until the AWA officials intervened. Leo Burke vs. Ivan Putski The war between the Bad News Breakers and Playboy After Dark moved into its next phase with "Canada's Greatest Wrestler" (self-declared) squaring off with the Polish Powerhouse. Burke dug into his deep arsenal of scientific wrestling tricks to take the lead on Putski, only for the popular muscle man to power out of several tight scrapes. It looked like Putski would finally get the better of Burke when he came off the ropes for the Polish Hammer, only for Burke to dodge out of the way at the last second, and when Putski came back off the opposite ropes, Burke caught him and dropped him throat-first on the top rope. Burke then wrapped Burke in a schoolboy roll up to get the pinfall. Curt Hennig vs. Bob Roop Speeaking of scientific wrestling, these two AWA stars put on a clinic of matwork and technical skill that amazed the crowd. Hennig has proved to be a real thorn in the side of the Sinister Syndicate of late, and Roop was determined to get him out of their hair for good. Roop used a variety of holds to try to stretch Hennig and soften him up for the shoulderbreaker. Hennig, in turn, showed his own peerless instincts as he escaped every trap that Roop set for him. Roop had Hennig just about set up for the shoulderbreaker, but Hennig slid down his back, and when Roop turned around, Hennig sent him down to the mat with the Ax lariat for the victory. After the match, the crowd stood up and applauded both men. Jack Victory vs. Javier Cruz Victory has been a constant presence at the side of Col. Buck Robley the past few weeks, but this was the first chance to see what he could do in the ring. He used his considerable height and power to overwhelm Cruz, using a variety of side slams before hitting a bridging cradle suplex to put him out for good. Clearly, Col. Robley is not taking any chances and has brought in a considerable new talent to be his bodyguard. AWA World Title Match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Killer Khan The Sinister Syndicate has taken every opportunity to attack Orndorff since he won the title, and usually it has been Killer Khan who has been the point man for those attacks. Finally, Orndorff would have a chance to face him , one on one, in the ring. Khan viciously attacked Orndorff with big Mongolian chops, taking every opportunity to choke him when the ref's attention was elsewhere. Orndorff would not be at a disadvantage for long, fighting back with his own power moves , even bodyslamming the giant Khan to the astonishment of Sheikh Kaissie as well as the fans. Khan persisted and had Orndorff trapped in the corner, but when he came in with a big knee lift, Orndorff dove out of the way and Khan hurt his knee on the corner turnbuckle. Orndorff then hit a swift running kneedrop on Khan and got the one two three. Now Ken Patera will have to face Orndorff on his own if he wants to win back the belt.

AWA show from Cobo Hall, Detroit, Feb. 2nd Mike Rotunda & Steven Regal vs. Rick Steiner & Lex Luger Steiner pinned Regal after a belly-to-belly super plex Curt Hennig vs. Mr. Olympia Hennig won with the Cradle Suplex Rick Rude vs. Buddy Rose Rude won with a Rude Awakening after an eye gouge AWA Southern Title match : Bad News Allen © vs. Ricky Steamboat Steamboat came off the top rope with the flying cross body press, but Bad News reversed it and grabbed a fistful of trunks for the illegal pin AWA Southern Tag Title match : Wahoo McDaniel & Ron Garvin © vs. The PYT Express McDaniel forced Koko to submit to the Indian Deathlock AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Lord Humongous Humongous tried to lock Orndorff in the Cobra Clutch, but Orndorff countered with a lariat, followed by the Piledriver to succesfully defend his title.

AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington, Feb. 1st (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz vs. The Can-Am Express Schultz pinned Zenk after a flying elbow drop Buddy Rose & The Brotherhood Of Poland vs. Rick Rude, Doug Somers & Leo Burke Rose got the victory for Playboy After Dark when he hit the inside out backbreaker on Somers. Mike Shaw & Jack Victory vs. "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell & Curt Hennig Shaw won with a running slpash on Blackwell AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Da Crusher Crusher won by DQ after Muraco hit the ref. Muraco retained the American Title AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Lord Humongous & Botswana Beast Hawk pinned Humongous after a top rope flying clothesline AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Ken Patera Patera spent much of the match trying to work Orndorff into a Full Nelson, but ultimately Orndorff was able to reverse it into a backslide to get the one-two-three.

I've been dealing with some personal issues of late but have all of my backed up shows laid out and will be posting the results in short form. Should be relatively caught up soon. My apologies to everyone for this, including Kevin who has had to hold back on one of his shows because of delays on my end.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for February 1st Mike Rotundo & Steven Regal vs. The Varsity Club This match has been in the works for some time, with Rotundo wanting to make Luger and Steiner pay for their harassment of him and their bullying of the AWA rookies. Regal was very keen to start off the match but Rotundo told him to let him take the lead. For a while , Rotundo's considerable technical skills kept him one step ahead of his huge opponents, but their size and athletic ability started to wear down the handsome young competitor. It was while Rotundo was doing his best to block a suplex attempt by Steiner that Regal, eager to get in the match and help out his mentor, tagged himself into the match. It was at this point that things went pear shaped for Rotundo and Regal. Regal was able to pick up some momentum with some quick dropkicks that staggered Steiner, but he failed to notice when Steiner had tagged in Luger, who then flattened Regal with a massive lariat. Several punishing powerslams later, and Luger pinned Regal, leaving Rotundo on the ring apron, shaking his head. Ron Garvin vs. Brickhouse Brown With the PYT Express gunning for the AWA Southern Tag Titles held by Garvin and Wahoo, it was inevitable that at some point Garvin and Brickhouse's partners would get involved, and when Wahoo and Koko Ware did run in, it led to a double DQ decision, putting a premature end to what had up to that point been an exciting match. Road Warrior Animal vs. Buzz Sawyer Another singles match between tag team rivals, which was a very aggressive, rough-and-tumble bout that ended when Animal exploded out of the corner and bowled over Sawyer with a huge running shoulder tackle that knocked the wind out of Buzz long enough for Animal to get the one-two-three. For all that he got the win, Animal and Hawk have clearly not seen the last of the challenge from The Colonel's Army. Buddy Rose vs. Doug Somers A very rugged match that took a wild turn when an errant elbow from Rose caught Somers in the face and busted him open. This managed to enrage Somers to the extent that he truly unleashed the fury on the Playboy, savagely pounding him with elbows to the face to make him pay. This ultimately proved his downfall, as one missed elbow smash gave Rose the opportunity to trap Somers in the Inside Out Backbreaker and get the pinfall. Even then , Somers kept on attacking Rose for a long while after the official end of the match. AWA Southern Title match : Bad News Allen © vs. Greg Gagne This was Allen's first title defense since his shocking victory over Ricky Steamboat in Calgary. Winning the gold doesn't seem to have mellowed Bad News' disposition significantly, as he tore into the AWA favorite with whalloping punches and brutal takedowns. For all that Gagne's deep reserve of scientific wrestling skills kept him in the match, he ultimately couldn't dodge the Bad News Blaster, which spelled the end of his title shot. Bad News placed his foot on Gagne's chest and defiantly held his fist in the air as the ref made the count. Ken Patera, Killer Khan & Lord Humongous vs. Paul Orndorff, Curt Hennig & Ricky Steamboat Patera and his band of monsters were clearly looking to hurt the AWA World champion Paul Orndorff, clearing the path for Patera to take back the title. While Orndorff was able to hold his own against the Sinister Syndicate, it was Steamboat, perhaps a bit off his game since losing the AWA Southern title, who took the worst of it. After absorbing a savage pummeling at the hands of Humongous and Khan, he finally succumbed to a crushing kneedrop from the second turnbuckle to the ribs from Khan and was pinned. Clearly, the Syndicate will stop at nothing to get back the World Title belt they see as rightfully theirs.

Strangely, the title change itself was a bit of a last minute decision. I had definitely planned for Bad News to take the belt at some point in the future, but it was the main event in Calgary and I didn't want a screwjob finish, so I figured, what the hell.

AWA Show from the Saddledome, Calgary, Jan. 26th The Latin Assassins vs. The Latin Lovers Acevedo pinned Valentino after a Corkscrew Neckbreaker Steven Regal vs. Rick Steiner Steiner won after hitting a Bulldog Headlock Lord Humongous vs. Curt Hennig Lord Humongous went for a lariat but Hennig countered with a crucifix to get a quick pinfall Mike Shaw vs. "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell Blackwell missed a running splash and Shaw came back with a running Big Leg Drop for the win AWA Southern Tag Title match : Ronnie Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel © vs. The PYT Express Garvin tagged Koko with the Hands Of Stone punch to succesfully defend their belts. AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen Allen had Steamboat set up for the Bad News Blaster, but Steamboat ducked at the last second and Allen missed. Steamboat then wrapped him up in a small package, but Allen grabbed a big fistful of trunks and reversed it. One ... two ... THREE? Bad News Allen beat Ricky Steamboat for the AWA Southern title! The crowd looked on in shock as Bad New raised the belt above his head with one fist.

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Lex Luger vs. Paul Diamond Luger made Diamond give up to the Human Torture Rack Mike Rotunda vs. Rick Steiner Steiner won by countout when Rotunda was brawling with Luger at ringside Curt Hennig vs. Bob Roop Hennig pinned Roop after hitting the Ax Lariat Da Crusher & Buddy Rose vs. Don Muraco & Doug Somers Crusher snuck in the ring and Bolo Punched Muraco into a roll up by Rose for the win AWA Canadian Title match : Rick Martel © vs. Leo Burke The two men went to a 30 minute time limit draw, but still continued fighting even after the final bell AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Dave Schultz & Buzz Sawyer Hawk caught Schultz with a lariat to get the pin, but right after, Sawyer brought in a chain to attack Hawk. Animal then came swinging a chair and it took all of the AWA officials to separate the two AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff © vs. Killer Khan Khan responded to an attempt by the ref to stop choking Orndorff by spraying the green mist in the ref's face. This led to a DQ win for Orndorff, but Khan and Sheikh Kaissie kept attacking Orndorff until Curt Hennig and Mike Rotunda ran in to chase them off.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for Jan. 25th Dave Schultz, Buzz Sawyer & Mike Shaw vs. Mike Rotunda & Badd Company The members of Col. Robley's Army have let it be known that they are gunning for the AWA Six-Man Tag Titles and looked to be using this match to stake their claim on a title shot. They spent most of the match working over Pat Tanaka, keeping him trapped in their corner of the ring and preventing him from tagging out to Paul Diamond or Mike Rotunda. Strangely, mid-way through the match, Rick Steiner and Lex Luger showed up at the back of the arena, observing the match and pointing at Mike Rotunda while snickering. This provided a sufficient distraction to Rotunda that he started jawing with them from the ring apron, which caused him to not be there for Tanaka when he was trying to take out. This in turn led to Tanaka being on the wrong side of a lariat from Schultz, followed by a piledriver that spelled the end of the match. Luger and Steiner clearly found this vastly amusing and then swiftly disappeared to the locker room while Rotunda fumed in the ring. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick introduced his next guest as the rookie sensations collectively calling themselves the Varsity Club, Lex Luger & Rick Steiner. Luger and Steiner, along with their "cheerleader" Missy Hyatt , came out and immediately started crowing about their success since arriving in the AWA, saying that the day of the old men in the AWA was done and they were the future of wrestling. This prompted Mike Rotunda to storm out to the ring, with Steven Regal tagging along. He immediately got in the face of the Varsity Club, saying they had a lot of nerve bragging about beating up a bunch of smaller rookies. He then called them out for sticking his nose in his matches and their overall dismissive attitude towards him, demanding to know what is exactly their problem with him. Luger gave his trademark smirk and condescendingly explained that he thought that Rotunda had a lot in common with him. Luger was a former college and pro football star, and Steiner was a top college wrestler. Rotunda was clearly a thoroughbred, like them, but insisted on squandering his potential by associating with losers like British Steel and Badd Company. ("Losers!" interjected Missy Hyatt.) As long as he kept hanging around the dregs of the AWA, Rotunda would never be able to reach the level of the Varsity Club. Luger added that they would be more than happy to prove it to Rotunda and Regal in the ring next week, if they insisted on pushing the point. Before Rotunda could answer, Regal immediately accepted the challenge and offered to throw down right now. The Varsity Club laughed and left Rotunda in the ring, trying to calm down Regal. The Can-Am Express vs. The PYT Express The Can-Am Express were gearing up for a big tournament appearance in Japan. The PYT Express, on the other hand, seem to have set their cap for the AWA Southern Tag Titles, based on Koko's underhanded victory over Wahoo McDaniel last week. What followed was a brisk, exciting match with a lot of high flying and combination moves from both teams. The PYTs past behaviour came back to haunt them when the Southern Tag champs, Garvin and McDaniel, eventually showed up at ringside to argue with them. They smugly brushed it off, but it was enough of a distraction for Brickhouse to turn around and find himself caught in the face with a superkick from Zenk. The Can-Ams picked up the win before heading to Japan and the PYTs were furious. Killer Khan vs. Greg Gagne The always popular Greg Gagne did his best to hold the huge Mongolian monster in check, firing off dropkicks and using his technical skills to try to bring Khan down to the mat. In the end, though, it just wasn't enough to overcome Khan's enormous size. Khan caught him coming off the ropes with a side slam, then immediately trapped Gagne in the Cobra Clutch. Greg was forced to surrended, and you know that somewhere, Paul Orndorff had to be looking on with concern. Rick Rude vs. Ivan Putski Rick Rude has made quite an impact since his return to the AWA and looked to be taking out his frustrations on not just Buddy Rose but all of the members of Playboy After Dark. This time he was facing one half of the Brotherhood Of Poland, Ivan Putski, who seemed unimpressed with Rude's physique and "sexy" posing, responding with his own muscular poses that drew the cheers of the fans. An incensed Rude tore into Putski with a vicious offense, but Pustki more than held his own with his big power moves. It looked like Putski might just pull off the upset when he caught Rude in the Polish Bearhug, but Rude got out of it with an eye gouge followed by a nasty low blow knee shot. He then hit Putski with an over the shoulder neckbreaker before saying "Now that's a real Rude Awakening!" before pinning him. Rude's notorious temper certainly didn't seem to have cooled in his time away from the AWA , and only time will tell what Buddy Rose will do to deal with that. Rick Martel & Da Crusher vs. Don Muraco & Leo Burke Da Crusher has been proving to be a real thorn in the American champ's side as of late. While Crusher turned to his long time friend, Rick Martel, Muraco brought in one of the newest members of the Bad News Breakers, Leo Burke, the man claiming to be Canada's Greatest Wrestler. Burke soon proved his worth, displaying truly impressive technical skills to take the Canadian champ to the mat and then cruelly stomping him when he was down. The two men kept trying to put Martel down for the count, but the handsome French Canadian could not be kept down for long. Once again, overconfidence was the Achilles Heel for Muraco as he failed to notice that Martel had managed to tag out while his back was turned, and when the Magnificent One turned around, he caught a big running Bolo Punch from Crusher right to the face. The ref made the three count and Crusher and Martel celebrated. Their celebration didn't last long, however, as Burke immediately went after Martel again, and the two had to be separated by the ref and other AWA officials.

Orndorff is fighting a war on two fronts. Patera wants to take back his belt, Khan just wants to destroy him.

AWA Show from the International Amphitheater , Chicago, Jan. 19th Tom Zenk vs. Dave Schultz Schultz won with a Piledriver Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne vs. The Latin Assassins Hennig pinned Acevedo with the Cradle Suplex Mike Rotunda vs. Lex Luger Both men went to a double DQ after the ref got caught in the crossfire of them brawling AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Bad News Allen Steamboat got the victory with an Oklahoma Roll after Allen missed the Bad News Blaster AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Mr. Olympia & Bob Roop The Road Warriors got the win after a double flying shoulder block on Roop AWA World Title match : Paul Orndorff vs. Ken Patera Orndorff countered a Full Nelson attempt with an inside cradle to succesfully defend his world title against the former champ. After the match, Killer Khan attacked Orndorff and the two brawled back to the locker room.

AWA Show from the Mecca, Milwaukee, on Jan. 18th (as shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Lex Luger & Rick Steiner vs. The Latin Lovers Luger made Valentino submit to the Torture Rack Buddy Rose vs. Rick Rude Both men went to a double count out Buzz Sawyer vs. "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell Sawyer won after nailing Blackwell with a chain while Dave Schultz distracted the ref AWA Southern Tag Title match : Wahoo McDaniel & Ronnie Garvin vs. The PYT Express Garvin pinned Koko with a Sunset Flip AWA World Six-Man Tag Title match : Paul Orndorff & The Road Warriors © vs. Ken Patera, Killer Khan & Mr. Olympia Orndorff got the win for his team with a Piledriver on Olympia AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Da Crusher Da Crusher won by DQ when Muraco slugged the ref while caught in the Crusher Clutch. Muraco retained the American title.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN/TSN for Jan. 18th Lex Luger & Rick Steiner vs. British Steel British Steel came out to the sound of "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest while Luger and Steiner, strangely, came out to the sound of marching band music. On the surface, these were two teams of close to equal experience, with the "Young Gentleman" Steven Regal having a slight edge over the other three men in the ring. In practice, Luger and Steiner ran roughshod over the popular British Wrestlers, using their impressive power to toss Regal and Smiley all over the ring. The two powerhouses showed a real cruel streak as they worked in eye gouges and cheap shots in with the slams and suplexes when the ref was not looking, for no more reason than they could. They even laughed when a double back body drop left Smiley clutching his head in pain, while Missy Hyatt shrieked her approval from ringside. After a nasty looking Bulldog from Steiner, Luger hoisted Smiley up in the Human Torture Rack and forced him to submit. This was not enough for Luger, who kept Smiley in that painful hold long after the bell rang, only releasing him from that painful hold when the ref threatened him with disqualification. Regal immediately got in Luger's face, at which point Steiner clobbered him from behind with a big clothesline to the back of the head. Luger looked set to put Regal in the Torture Rack when Mike Rotunda charged out to the rescue. The two big men arrogantly brushed past Rotunda, Luger smirking as he did so, while Mike tried to help his fallen friends. Wahoo McDaniel vs. Koko Ware Koko was accompanied by his partner in the PYT Express, Brickhouse Brown. Ware tried for a duck-and-dodge approach with Wahoo, not wanting to get on the wrong side of the Chief's vicious chops. He was mostly succesful, peppering McDaniel with punches and slipping out of range of any counter attacks, but got caught a few times in the corner and paid some serious dues. McDaniel had managed to gain the advantage and was looking to put Koko away with a high overhand chop off the ropes when Brickhouse reached in and snagged his leg, tripping Wahoo and causing him to stagger. Koko swiftly took advantage by nailing Wahoo with the Brainbuster for a shocking victory. Koko and Brickhouse celebrated like they had just won the Super Bowl, but they may be in for more than they can handle when Wahoo and Ronnie Garvin come after them for revenge. Leo Burke & Doug Somers vs. The Latin Lovers This was the first in ring appearance in the AWA for the newest members of the Bad News Breakers, after Burke and Somers joined in last week on their attack on Buddy Rose and the other members of Playboy After Dark. Burke and the "Pretty Boy" might not be the prettiest wrestlers in the ring, but they manhandled Valentino and Cruz, alternating between Burke's technical mastery and painful holds with Somers hard punches and elbow smashes. Burke eventually locked Cruz in the sleeper hold and forced him to give up, showing that the Bad News Breakers have two deadly new weapons in their war with Playboy After Dark. Curt Hennig vs. Al Perez Perez had been challenging for Ricky Steamboat's Southern Title not too long ago, and seemed to catch Hennig off guard with how much of a fight he put up. Perez managed a fair number of impressive takedowns of Hennig and caught him in several leg and arm locks that Curt had to fight hard to escape. Hennig, for his part, matched Perez with his own fiery offense of dropkicks and suplexes in a match that went back and forth. Perez looked like he might just pull off the upset when he was about to put Hennig in the Ally-Copter, but Hennig countered with a slidedown of Perez's back and, when Perez turned around, nailed him with the Ax Lariat to get a quick one two three. After the match, Perez threw a tantrum, arguing with the ref that he was the victim of a fast count and, when the decision stood, started kicking the ropes. AWA Six-man Tag Title match : Paul Orndorff & The Road Warriors © vs. Killer Khan, Botswana Beast & Lord Humongous A lot of beef was on display in the ring as the champions took on three huge members of the Sinister Syndicate. As you can imagine, this was pretty much a big brawl, with the Syndicate focusing on trying to hurt Orndorff and the World Champ and the Road Warriors battled back with their own power moves. The end came when Killer Khan was throttling Orndorff in the corner and responded to the ref's attempts to break that up by spraying him in the face with the green mist. The match completely broke down with both sides slugging it out, but things got even more chaotic when Mike Shaw, Buzz Sawyer and Dave Schultz charged out and joined in the attack on the champs. Hawk took a lot of damage that only ended when Animal and Orndorff brought in two chairs to clear the Syndicate and the Army out of the ring.