Dylan Waco Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Yeah I want to do one for Valentine too and I've got another side project I'm working on, but with the AWA Set out and people enjoying their matches, I really want to do a big results thread for them. It may be slower moving than the Blackwell/Patera stuff, but they are certainly a team that deserves more credit. Before I get to the results stuff I'll note two things that I found interesting about the Flyers. The first is that they actually won a PWI tag team of the year award in 1982 and finished in the top four three other times. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Wrestling...eam_of_the_Year I know people will scoff at this, but it's important to remember that PWI - particularly during that period - was a very good indicator of star power in the wrestling business. It's also worth noting that the AWA was NOT a territory that PWI showered with coverage, particularly in comparison to the East Coast promotions. The other thing I found interesting was this quote from James Melby via Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson's book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams: "The High Flyers, when I worked in the wrestling business, were the best tag team in wrestling. In their era nobody compares." In and of itself that may not mean much and it is possible he was just being kind for some reason. But it is worth noting that Melby is widely regarded as one of the two or three best wrestling historians who ever lived. It doesn't seem likely that Melby would flippantly give them that degree of praise and that degree of praise from him suggests that my touting of them as one of the more underrated/most successful tag teams of all time isn't reaching on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 I think Brunzell is the real surprise out of the AWA set so far. I knew Martel was good (though not AS good). I believed people about Blackwell, Debeers, and Buddy. But Brunzell is a guy I never really gave a second thought to. The Killer Bees are not the most dynamic of the 80s WWF babyface teams. I'd watch the Rogs or Harts or yeah, Bulldogs if had a choice, generally, though I have a list of every Brunzell WWF match that probably made tape to check out after the AWA project is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 Brunzell fucking ruled. Gagne in cage matches climbing onto and jumping off of everything rules as well, but I generally agree with Matt that Brunzell has been the surprise of the AWA set (although I'm only 3 discs in at this point). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack2k Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 I think a big reason the High Flyers don't get the love they deserve is due to Greg Gagne's later years, when AWA was big on ESPN (86-89) and his singles run. I didn't even think that was bad (check out his match with Jumbo in Japan for the AWA Title, good WRESTLING match). But due to the negativity that is given to him (his physique and look mostly, as that started to matter much more in the later 80's) causes many to lump everything he did, including his tag years earlier, together and just say "He sucks" I think Greg was great in the ring (except his drop kick, which I hated!)....but I enjoy a lot of WRESTLING, building to a peak where things take off later in the match toward an ending. And Greg was good at that. AWA Champion? No. Part of a GREAT early - mid 80's tag team that could go with ANYONE? Yes. Brunzell did fuckin rule too...he is one of the most underrated tag wrestlers EVER. The Bee's were a great team to, just didn't get the chance to truly shine. Best Dropkick in the business, EVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 So, just like Patera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 So, just like Patera. In many ways yes, but I still think Patera is an easier sell because he doesn't have the stigma of nepotism hovering around him the way any and all things Greg does. I'll be posting details on 74 tonight. Maybe 75 too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack2k Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 So, just like Patera. I don't know if like Patera as it sounds like when I hear or read Patera talked about, a distinction is made between his early work in WWF / AWA and his later WWF / AWA work post jail...He is definitely not thought of well post jail, but his pre-jail years are usually thought of different Greg, on the other hand, because of what was seen of him in the later 80's automatically applied to his whole career. Almost like people saying "He really held the tag titles back in the day? That MUST have been all his dad's doing as well" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 1974 5/4/74 Minneapolis TV Superstar Billy Graham beat Chi Chi Rosario Baron Von Raschke beat Tom DeMarco Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bill Howard & Joe Guzman Larry Hennig beat George Gadaski Bull Bullinski beat Pancho Vasquez This is their first appearance as a team that I can find. They worked the following week on tv too and a few other tv tapings I didn’t list later on. As will become obvious there was a slow build for the team in many ways. Both guys had been working in openers and low in the mid-card so “Greg didn’t pay his dues/got pushed purely on nepotism” is something we can cast aside as obvious bullshit. 5/18/74 Minneapolis TV Ivan Putski beat Armando Rodriguez Superstar Billy Graham beat Frank Hill Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Bob Amel Larry Hennig beat Caesar Pabon Baron Von Raschke beat George Gadaski Not really notable, but Perschmann is Buddy Rose, so of course it’s going to get a bit of a mention from me 5/22/74 Duluth, MN @ Arena Indian Strap Match Wahoo McDaniel beat Buddy Wolff Geoff Portz beat Superstar Billy Graham dq after Graham rammed Geoff's head into the ring post Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Hennig & Paul Perschmann Larry Heiniemi beat Bull Bullinski via pin As far as I can tell this was their first Arena match together as a tag team. They would work Hennig/Rose in both singles, tags and handicap matches fairly regularly. 5/29/74 Fargo, ND @ Civic Auditorium Strap Match Wahoo McDaniel vs Buddy Wolff Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell vs Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman Ivan Putski vs Larry Heiniemi Larry Hennig beat Bull Bullinski Mildly interesting as the Flyers are working second from the top against two guys that were presented pretty strongly during the period. Probably the first time they were presented on a card in a “drawing capacity” though Fargo was not a major town. 6/6/74 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Indian Strap Match with Buddy Wolff strapped to Ivan Putski outside the ring Wahoo McDaniel beat Larry Heinemi Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq Ray Stevens beat Gene Kiniski dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Pershmann & Buddy Wolff 2/3 1. Buddy Wolff won 1st fall 2. Gagne & Brunzell won 2nd fall 3. Gagne & Brunzell won 3rd fall Baron Von Raschke beat Geoff Portz by submission with a claw hold Horst Hoffman beat Bull Bullinski by submission with a claw hold Mike Snyder beat Bobby Jones 12:00 6/8/74 St Paul, MN @ Auditorium Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Wahoo McDaniel & Dick Murdoch 2/3 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Hennig & Paul Perschmann Baron Von Raschke beat Bull Bullinski Horst Hoffman beat Billy Howard via pin Geoff Portz beat Caesar Pavlon via pin att: 9,000+ SRO The Flyers are getting the “up and coming” babyface act push, solidly in the mid-card but not really a major part of the shows. The number for St. Paul is very good for this time period. 6/12/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena 10th Anniversary Show Steel Cage Match, Special Referee: George Gadaski Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel to regain the AWA Tag Team Title when Stevens pinned McDaniel in 16:12 Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq in 7:19 when Baron Von Raschke interfered and pounded Putski Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff 2/3 1. Wolff beat Brunzell in 11:22 2. Heiniemi & Wolff were dq'ed at 3:13 for tossing Gagne over the top rope 3. Brunzell pinned Wolff in 5:32 Baron Von Raschke beat Geoff Portz in 21:59 Kay Noble (sub Cora Combs) beat Vivian Vachon via pin in 12:14 Larry Hennig beat Paul Perschmann via pin in 8:00 att: 7,206 Note: Crusher & Wahoo were billed as the AWA Tag Team Champions by two different newspapers going into this match. Both papers reported Bockwinkel & Stevens regained the AWA Tag Team Title from Crusher & Wahoo. Strong number for Denver during the period. The card is solid up top, with Flyers again working third from the top, albeit in a decidedly complimentary role. It is notable to pay attention to these main events though as it shows you how strong tag matches were promoted/could draw in the AWA if you had stars or teams that were over. 6/15/74 Minneapolis TV Wahoo McDaniel beat Inca Peru Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Bob Amel & Peter Lee Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Billy Howard & Percy Pringle Larry Hennig beat Tom DeMarco Billy Robinson beat Frank Diamond Superstar Billy Graham beat Chi Chi Rosario 6/15/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke were co-winners of a two ring 24 man $50,000 battle royal Nick Bockwinkel drew Wahoo McDaniel Baron Von Raschke beat Frank Nixon Superstar Billy Graham beat Oddjob via pin Larry Hennig beat Bull Bullinski via pin Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza & Paul Perschmann also in Battle Royal: Geoff Portz, Ray Stevens, Horst Hoffman, Andre Rousimoff, Larry Heiniemi, Chris Taylor, Buddy Wolff, Billy Robinson, Ivan Putski, Moose Cholak, Ken Patera. att: 10,550 Was this the Percy Pringle? Lanza was the guy Rose emulated the most at during this time period if you believe him so it must have been cool for him to team with him here. Flyers work the opener on a show with a battle royal which always did well in the AWA and Crusher in Milwaukee which was huge during this period. 6/29/74 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham COR Billy Robinson beat Larry Heiniemi via pin Handicap Match, Hennig must beat both men within 20 minute time limit Larry Hennig beat Jim Brunzell in 13:00 but was unable to beat Greg Gagne in the remaining 7:00 Vivian Vachon beat Mars Monroe via pin Bull Bullinski beat Tom DeMarco via pin Paul Perschmann beat Doug Somers via pin att: 6,426 It’s interesting to me that they went to these handicap matches on a lot of shows during this run. In a way it probably worked well as a way to further build the credibility of Brunzell and Gagne. 7/12/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Ivan Putski beat Billy Graham dq in 10:15 when the referee caught Graham using brass knuckles The Crusher beat Ray Stevens dq in 12:00 after Stevens jumped off the top rope onto Crusher Billy Robinson beat Baron Von Raschke dq in 14:55 when Baron tossed Billy over the top rope Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Hennig & Paul Perschmann 2/3 att: 5,112 7/13/74 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Special Referee: Don Curtis AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Geoff Portz 2/3 Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Hennig & Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff Wilbur Snyder beat Bull Bullinski 15:45 Paul Perschmann beat Kenny Jay att: 5,320 Interesting six-man here that was positioned second from the top largely on the strength of Verne’s involvement. This is actually a fairly average figure for Summer in the AWA in the Twin Cities at this point. 7/20/74 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre Billy Robinson beat AWA Champion Verne Gagne 2/3 (no title change, Gagne's foot ruled to be on rope) AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel 2/3 Ivan Putski beat Baron Von Raschke dq Mitsu Arakawa beat Moose Cholak dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff 2/3 Mike Snyder beat Paul Perschmann 7/27/74 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Superstar Billy Graham & Baron Von Raschke beat the Crusher & Ivan Putski 2/3 Ray Stevens beat Wahoo McDaniel via pin Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq Larry Hennig beat Buddy Wolff Horst Hoffman beat Bull Bullinski via pin Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Billy Howard & Paul Perschmann Working deep underneath now, but both of these cards are stacked shows. You get the feeling they are just looking to find the right opponent for them. 8/9/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena The Crusher & Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham & Baron Von Raschke 2/3 1. Crusher pinned Von Raschke 2. Von Raschke beat Crusher 3. Putski pinned Graham Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson Handicap Match: Larry Hennig must beat both Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell in 20 minutes Larry Hennig beat Jim Brunzell via pin in 9:10 but could not beat Greg Gagne within the 20:00 time limit so Gagne & Brunzell were declared the winners Horst Hoffman beat Bull Bullinski by submission with a claw hold att: 5,212 Another one of those handicap matches. 8/10/74 Minneapolis TV Ivan Putski beat Bill Howard Larry Hennig beat Julio Rodriguez Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq Bull Bullinski beat Pancho Vasquez Kenny Jay beat Angel Rivera Unusual tv match between two teams of some note, though obviously the Flyers will still very green as a unit. I don’t know this but I assume they did some injury angle involving Greg here as he was off most shows for the next month and Brunzell was working singles. 9/12/74 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Billy Robinson dq Ivan Putski beat The Brute Larry Hennig beat Buddy Wolff Chris Taylor beat Horst Hoffman Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Pershmann & Khosrow Vaziri Dave Muir beat Frenchy Dubois Att: 7,231 Good number in Winnipeg for a solid tag main event. Note that Buddy is teaming with Sheik v. Flyers here. 9/13/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Horst Hoffman beat The Crusher via pin in 9:50 Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Larry Hennig dq Billy Robinson beat Buddy Wolff via pin Bobby Heenan beat Jim Brunzell att: 4,897 Note: Another listing has The Crusher winning the main event Not a particularly good number in Denver, but not awful either. Interesting as they team Greg with Larry up top and work Brunzell against Heenan in the undercard. 9/14/74 Minneapolis, MN Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan beat Larry Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Horst Hoffman beat Billy Robinson dq Handicap Match Ivan Putski drew Buddy Wolff & Paul Perschmann Chris Taylor beat Khosrow Vaziri Yugo Babich beat Bull Bullinski att: 5,189 The first real involvement of the High Flyers in a main event match. Average number. 9/16/74 Davenport, IA @ John O'Donnell Stadium Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell 20:00 Horst Hoffman beat Billy Robinson dq Buddy Wolff drew Geoff Portz Larry Hennig beat Yugo Babich dq The first time the Flyers work a main event without a partner. Note that this is an outdoor show in a baseball stadium. I actually know someone who attended this show and he claims it was a capacity crowd, but that can’t be documented and I would be somewhat skeptical of it (capacity probably would have been 5-6k depending on if they allowed seating on the field). 9/20/74 Duluth, MN @ Arena Larry Hennig beat Ray Stevens Nick Bockwinkel beat Geoff Portz (sub Billy Robinson) Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Paul Perschmann 2-0 Khosrow Vaziri drew Yugo Babich Fuck this is maybe my all time “which footage existed” heel tag team. 9/21/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Billy Robinson dq European rules match Horst Hoffman beat Ivan Putski Larry Hennig beat Buddy Wolff Geoff Portz beat Stan Pulaski Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Billy Howard att: 8,870 Milwaukee really was the best AWA town during this era easily. The Flyers still aren’t getting anything of note in that town. 9/28/74 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Horst Hoffman dq when Hoffman refused to release a claw hold on Gagne while both were outside the ring at 26:00 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens when Nick & Ray swere unable to beat Greg & Jim within 20 minutes Billy Robinson beat Stan Pulaski 16:30 Geoff Portz beat Bull Bullinski 13:20 Bob Backlund beat Billy Howard Vivian Vachon beat Mars Monroe 11:15 att: 5,101 Another average number in the twin cities, with the Flyers surviving in a time limit challenge second from the top. 9/29/74 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 2/3 1. Bockwinkel & Stevens won 1st fall 2. Crusher & Robinson won 2nd fall 3. Crusher & Robinson won 3rd fall Larry Hennig beat Larry Heiniemi Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Paul Perschmann 2-0 Geoff Portz drew Buddy Wolff Crusher still rules Wisconsin. Flyers v. Heenan/Rose 2/3 falls – even straight falls – seems to awesome to actually exist. 10/4/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Horst Hoffman via pin Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Larry Heiniemi beat Larry Hennig Buddy Wolff beat Geoff Portz att: 3,117 Not a good number in Denver. I question how much people bought Hoffman as a challenger, but you can’t absolve Flyers v. Bock/Stevens entirely. 10/5/74 Minneapolis, MN AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Larry Hennig no contest Larry Heiniemi Horst Hoffman beat Chris Taylor COR Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Yugo Babich & Stan Pulaski Geoff Portz drew Buddy Wolff Back down the card in Minneapolis. 10/9/74 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School Larry Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan Horst Hoffman beat Billy Robinson dq Kim Duk beat ? George Gadaski beat ? Note: El Bracero Jose Martine lost to either Duk or Gadaski. Spot show main event. 10/17/74 Cheyenne, WY The Crusher beat Nick Bockwinkel Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig Geoff Portz beat Paul Perschmann Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff 10/18/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Larry Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan AWA Tag Team Champions Billy Robinson & the Crusher beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff Geoff Portz beat Paul Perschmann att: 3,567 Another less than impressive figure in Denver, though I don’t think it was horrible for the time period. Slightly up from the previous show without an AWA title match on the card at all and another six-man main event for the High Flyers. 10/19/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Horst Hoffman beat the Crusher COR Chris Taylor beat Buddy Wolff Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Ivan Putski beat Yugo Babich Geoff Portz beat George Gadaski att: 6,112 sellout This is the smaller venue in Milwaukee and no surprise it sells out with Crusher on top. Interesting that Chris Taylor worked the semi-man over Bock/Stevens here. Verne and his amateur fetish? 10/23/74 Peoria, IL Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq Ivan Putski beat Buddy Wolff Chris Taylor beat Yugo Babich Bobby Heenan beat Tom DeMarco 10/26/74 Duluth, MN @ Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan Horst Hoffman beat Ivan Putski Chris Taylor beat Baron Von Raschke dq Geoff Portz drew ? Another couple of smaller market main events. You get the sense that Verne trust them as a go to for spot shows, but isn’t sold (rightfully at this point) that they can do much in the big towns. 10/27/74 St Paul, MN Non Title Verne Gagne & Larry Hennig beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson dq European Rules Ivan Putski drew Horst Hoffman in 5 rounds Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Yugo Babich & Paul Perschmann Boris Breznikoff beat Doug Somers att: 6,233 Pretty good number for the era with the Flyers out of the main event picture in the bigger market. 11/2/74 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell COR Billy Robinson & Ivan Putski & Chris Taylor beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman & Larry Heiniemi Mil Mascaras beat Yugo Babich Geoff Portz beat Torpedo Guzman I would be really interested to see a number for this show. It’s possible that Mascaras could have drawn some, but on paper this looks like a show that could have been a disaster. This comes across like a real test of the Gagne/Brunzell’s ability to work on top in the bigger towns. 11/9/74 Minneapolis TV Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Yugo Babich & Paul Perschmann Horst Hoffman beat Armando Rodriguez Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff beat Caesar Pabon & Bob Amel Interesting tv main event. 11/9/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman beat The Crusher & Billy Robinson Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Frank Hill Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq Geoff Portz beat Paul Perschmann att: 6,112 sellout Following the test in the Twin Cities area they get booked second from the top in Milwaukee. Of course Crusher draws this house, but it is interesting to see the feeling out process. 11/16/74 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center Auditorium Larry Hennig & Ivan Putski & Chris Taylor beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman & Superstar Billy Graham 2/3 Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell COR Geoff Portz drew Larry Heiniemi 20:00 Yugo Babich beat George Gadaski via pin Rock Riddle beat Kenny Jay att: 5,817 They stay hovering near the top in the Twin Cities, but not in the driver’s seat. 11/23/74 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre Dick the Bruiser no contest the Sheik Boris Breznikoff beat Larry Hennig Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Mitsu Arakawa & Kim Duk Pepper Gomez beat Big K Rock Riddle drew Clem Turner Mike Snyder beat Mark Manson This is actually a better position than it looks on paper as they are working “evil foreigners” in a major town one of whom had been a major tag star in the area in years previous. Odd to see how light this show was on their top names. 11/29/74 Sheboygan, WI @ Municipal Armory Arm Wrestling Superstar Billy Graham beat Ivan Putski Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq in 24:11 Larry Hennig beat Larry Heiniemi 2/3 1. Hennig pinned Heiniemi 2. Heiniemi beat Hennig 3. Hennig pinned Heiniemi Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Paul Perschmann (subs for Yugo Babich & Rock Riddle) 2/3 in 28:40 1. Brunzell won 1st fall with a submission hold in 10:20 2. Heiniemi pinned Brunzell in 20:40 3. Gagne & Brunzell won 3rd fall in 28:40 Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann via pin in 12:16 att: 3,431 Looks like this is a case of the Flyers working on the bottom in a hot opener. That Putski v. Graham match sounds horrifyingly long on paper. 12/6/74 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre The Crusher beat Boris Breznikoff dq AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Wilbur Snyder & Pepper Gomez Arm Wrestling Ivan Putski beat Superstar Billy Graham dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Rock Riddle Larry Heiniemi beat Clem Turner Geoff Portz beat Big K Back down the card in Chicago for a much more heavily loaded show. 12/14/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat the Crusher & Ivan Putski Boris Breznikoff beat Larry Hennig dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rock Riddle & Yugo Babich Chris Taylor beat Baron Von Raschke Geoff Portz beat Bob Sweetan att: 6,112 sellout 12/26/74 Moline, IL @ Wharton Field House Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig Ivan Putski beat Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Yugo Babich & Boris Breznikoff 12/27/74 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena No dq, No Time Limit Match The Crusher beat Boris Breznikoff Baron Von Raschke beat Superstar Billy Graham Ivan Putski beat Buddy Wolff 2/3 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Yugo Babich & Rock Riddle 2-0 att: 4,327 It’s interesting to see this Babich/Riddle program. They are sliding back down the cards some and you wonder how or if this was set up on tv. 12/28/74 Minneapolis, MN The Crusher & Ivan Putski no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens Khosrow Vaziri & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff & Rock Riddle Larry Hennig beat Boris Breznikoff Baron Von Raschke beat Scotty Campbell Geoff Portz beat Yugo Babich att: 5,276 Twin Cities Christmas show does decent with the Flyers in a bizarre six-man semi-main behind a main that looks like it would have drawn more on paper. 12/29/74 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium The Crusher beat Boris Breznikoff in 12:20 Superstar Billy Graham beat Baron Von Raschke dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff Pepper Gomez drew Dale Lewis Sailor Art Thomas beat Big K Paul Perschmann drew Caesar Pablon att: 6,112 sellout 12/30/74 Fargo, ND @ Civic Auditorium Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig dq Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Big K beat George Gadaski Bob Remus beat Kenny Jay They circle back to Heiniemi/Wolf who they had worked some earlier in the year. 74 is a kind of test year for The High Flyers as they introduce them to the promotion, put them in there with some top guys, some mid-card guys and some undercard guys. They get a few main events and flirt with the top of the card at times, but are more accurately solid mid-carders for the bulk of the year. Total number of main events = 7. Total number of major market main events = 3. I’ll try and keep track of that and some other rough stats going forward though it is deceptive as at times you can easily argue The Flyers working second from the top was the draw and other times working on top were splitting the weight with a match beneath them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Jim Ross put over Greg as a really good wrestler on the Legends show and his blog. He thinks he would have been been better off long term, if he had a run or two in another territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack2k Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Jim Ross put over Greg as a really good wrestler on the Legends show and his blog. He thinks he would have been been better off long term, if he had a run or two in another territory. Greg mentioned in his shoot that the WWF offered him to come up (not sure if this was with Brunzell or not) to work there, but he wouldn't leave as the AWA was "family" business.. So the chances were there... He also mentioned being in St. Louis for a few shows but getting a HORRIBLE payoff from Sam Muchnick and never going back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 1975 1/9/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena The Crusher & Ivan Putski & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Boris Breznikoff 2/3 1. Heenan pinned Hennig 2. Hennig won 2nd fall 3. Putski pinned Breznikoff Referee Merv Hunter Billy Graham no contest Baron Von Raschke 12:00 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Lars Anderson & Buddy Wolff when the time limit expired in the 3rd fall Geoff Portz beat Ivan Crankovic 11:00 Scotty Campbell beat Bob Tuck Att: 7,000 There first listed date of the year. This is a pretty strong number for Winnipeg during this period, though the Flyers are presented as more of a solid mid-card act than anything else here. 1/11/75 Peoria, IL AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Cowboy Lang beat ?? Geoff Portz beat Khosrow Vaziri Tom Demarco beat Raul Guzman Jesus talk about a one match show. I am a Cowboy Lange fan, but when that is your semi-main things are looking rough. 1/19/75 Duluth, MN @ Arena Baron Von Raschke beat Superstar Billy Graham COR (ref was Bullinski) Ivan Putski beat Horst Hoffman dq Larry Hennig beat Big K Khosrow (Carmen) Vaziri beat George Gadaski Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rock Riddle & Buddy Wolff Boris Breznikoff vs Mystery Opponent 2/1/75 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Superstar Billy Graham beat Horst Hoffman Dusty Rhodes beat Nick Bockwinkel Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan COR Geoff Portz beat Rock Riddle Att: 6,112 sellout I think it’s worth noting that Dusty v. Bock was not on top here to give you an idea of how AWA shows would often times not officially be headlined by matches that are pretty clearly headline level matches. Heenan/Breznikoff was a fairly common opponent for the Flyers at this point and Greg was often working Bobby in singles matches on cards where he and Brunzell weren’t booked as a team. 2/6/75 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell 2/3 1. Brunzell pinned Bockwinkel 2. Bockwinkel won by pin 3. Bockwinkel won by pin Superstar Billy Graham ddq Baron Von Raschke when both men charged at referee Danny Loos Boris Breznikoff beat Geoff Portz 12:01 Dusty Rhodes beat Buddy Wolff via pin in 11:24 Major market main event here. Would be nice to have a number of course, but you are starting to see this match up creep into the top slot of more towns. 2/7/75 Sheboygan, WI @ Municipal Auditorium Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens on a 3rd fall dq 1. Gagne & Brunzell won 1st fall in 6:14 2. Bockwinkel & Stevens won 2nd fall in 13:20 3. Stevens sluuged the referee Horst Hoffman beat Larry Hennig via pin in 14:55 Dusty Rhodes beat Buddy Wolff via pin in 18:42 Geoff Portz beat Khosrow Vaziri via pin in 19:45 att: 2,592 Like for example Sheboygan ïŠ Pretty sure I’ve seen figures considerably higher than this in Sheboygan though I could be wrong and this is not a particularly strong card. 2/8/75 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Horst Hoffman beat Superstar Billy Graham dq when Dusty Rhodes interfered Baron Von Raschke beat Dusty Rhodes Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan Bull Bullinski beat Rock Riddle Down the card some at the home base. 2/11/75 Moline, IL @ Wharton Field House Dusty Rhodes beat Horst Hoffman Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan One of the two matches listed, which tells you this probably had a weak undercard. 2/13/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Superstar Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman Ivan Putski beat Nick Bockwinkel dq when Bockwinkel jumped off the top rope on to Putski Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Larry Heiniemi & Buddy Wolff when Gagne beat Heiniemi by submission with the sleeper hold in 28:00 Larry Hennig drew Boris Breznikoff 20:00 Geoff Portz beat Khosrow Vaziri Ivan Crankovic beat Joe Corona att: 5,118 Attendance is back down to Earth in Winnipeg with no Crusher on the card, though this is still not a bad number. 2/15/75 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell on a 3rd fall dq when Gagne came off the top rope on to Bockwinkel Dusty Rhodes beat Horst Hoffman Billy Robinson beat Larry Heiniemi Geoff Portz drew Buddy Wolff Khosrow Vaziri beat Paul Perschmann Att: 4,214 This is not a good number for St. Paul in this era, but not a terrible one either. I would note this is a Civic Center show which meant a lot of empty seats. Curious why they were back and forth between buildings in the Twin Cities area so much during this period. 2/18/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski Billy Robinson beat Boris Breznikoff dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Buddy Wolff Horst Hoffman beat Geoff Portz Strange card on paper as Hoffman who had been working some up top is working bare bottom, Bock is in the middle and a battle of the ethnics is up top. Looks sort of like a “throw stuff to the wall and see where it sticks†show. 2/20/75 Cheyenne, WY @ Storey Gym Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 2/3 Boris Breznikoff beat Larry Hennig Geoff Portz vs Buddy Wolff Khosrow Vaziri vs Joe Scarpello 2/25/75 Moline, IL @ Wharton Field House AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Billy Robinson beat Bobby Heenan Pepper Gomez beat Don Fargo Bull Bullinski beat Rock Riddle Couple of main events here in the b-towns. It’s notable that Wharton held 6k plus for wrestling though I don’t know of any figures from that venue. 3/1/75 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell on a 3rd fall COR Baron Von Raschke no contest Andre the Giant Billy Robinson drew Boris Breznikoff 20:00 Horst Hoffman beat Larry Hennig Geoff Portz beat Frank Hill Dick Reynolds beat Rock Riddle Att: 6,112 sellout A sellout for the Flyers as main eventers which is great BUT – this is Milwaukee which was still the AWA’s hottest/most consistent town at that point AND Andre is on the show. Andre is a massive draw in the AWA literally and figuratively. 3/5/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman beat Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Putski 2/3 1. Putski beat Von Raschke in 6:15 2. Raschke beat Putski in 10:58 3. Hoffman beat Graham in 25:32 Andre the Giant beat Boris Breznikoff via pin in 13:02 Greg Gagne beat Buddy Wolff dq in 26:01when Wolff tossed Gagne over the top rope Jim Brunzell beat Billy Howard (sub Khosrow Vaziri) via pin in 18:30 Bobby Heenan beat Bull Bullinski via pin in 16:10 att: 8,420 I included this to give further evidence of Andre as drawing card and to show what the Flyers were doing on a lot of these shows where they weren’t paired with each other. 3/6/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Dusty Rhodes & Billy Graham & Andre the Giant beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman & Boris Breznikoff when Rhodes pinned Breznikoff in 30:00 Non Title Handicap Match, If Bockwinkel & Stevens can't beat Gagne & Brunzell within the 20:00 time limit, Greg & Jim will be declared the winners and will earn a Tag Title shot on a future Winnipeg card. Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 20:00 so Greg & Jim were declared the winners Billy Robinson beat Buddy Wolff 19:00 Ivan Putski beat Geoff Portz 9:00 Ali Vaziri beat Bobby Jones 7:00 Scotty Campbell drew Joe Corona I almost guarantee you this card did close to 10k as Andre seemed to do particularly well in Winnipeg. I think it speaks well of the Flyers that they are going to the as opponents of Stevens/Bock in almost all of the major towns at this point. Here they set up an angle for a future title match and while they are clearly not the main drawing card on the show, it’s safe to say it was a match hat had fan interest and was positioned to try and get a good number when Andre wasn’t around. 3/14/75 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq Andre The Giant beat Boris Breznikoff Billy Robinson drew Baron Von Raschke Buddy Wolff beat Khosrow Vaziri Another main event. 3/15/75 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Billy Robinson beat Dr. Big Bill Miller Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan Handicap Match Chris Taylor beat Jimmy Valiant & Paul Perschmann Mike Snyder beat Rock Riddle Bobby Bold Eagle beat Johnny Kace These Chicago lineups were extremely interesting as they were often double, triple and later even quadruple main events of sorts. They also brought in/back a lot of the older talents for these shows as they did with Miller here in the semi-main. Heenan subbing for Bock so he could get a title shot makes sense and would have worked well as a match just below top billing. 3/16/75 Duluth, MN @ Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens on a 3rd fall dq Ivan Putski beat Boris Breznikoff Handicap Match Chris Taylor beat Rock Riddle & Bobby Heenan Geoff Portz drew Khosrow Vaziri You know the drill – another market where these teams work each other up top. 3/25/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Baron Von Raschke beat Superstar Graham via pin in the 3rd fall after Horst Hoffman distracted Graham allowing Raschke to hit Graham from behind 1. Raschke beat Graham a face claw 2. Graham pinned Raschke after of series of elbow smashes 3. Raschke pinned Graham Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin Horst Hoffman beat Khosrow Vaziri (sub Chris Taylor) Boris Breznikoff & Bobby Heenan beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Joe Scarpello (sub Khosrow Vaziri) beat Rock Riddle Note: Taylor was reportedly snowbound in Michigan Bizarre to see how everyone gets booked in Omaha relative to some of the other towns. The Flyers jobbing to that team at this point is just odd. 3/27/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell on a 3rd fall COR 1. Brunzell pinned Stevens in 8:00 2. Stevens pinned Gagne at the 10:00 mark 3. Gagne & Brunzell were counted out of the ring Billy Robinson beat Boris Breznikoff 20:00 Dusty Rhodes beat Baron Von Raschke via pin in 14:00 after an elbow smash Chris Taylor beat Rock Riddle via pin in 6:00 after a body slam Buddy Wolff beat Scotty Campbell 12:30 AWA Women's Champion Betty Niccoli beat Jean Antone 10:00 Jean Antone beat Pam Riddel to earn a shot against AWA Women's Champion Betty Niccoli Shame we don’t have a number for this as it was built as the main event from the previous show with Andre. No way they did an Andre level number but something 6500 or up would have to be seen as a strong plus. 4/12/75 St Paul, MN @ Auditorium Superstar Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes & Andre the Giant beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman & Boris Breznikoff 2/3 Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq when Robinson tossed Bockwinkel over the top rope Chris Taylor beat Geoff Portz Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kenny Jay & George Gadaski Khosrow Vaziri beat Rock Riddle att: 5,340 Note: Robinson reportedly received a $500 fine for tossing Bockwinkel over the top rope Gotta love the Flyers getting a random undercard match v. two career jobbers on the home front. 4/22/75 Moline, IL @ Wharton Field House Dusty Rhodes & Superstar Billy Graham beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Horst Hoffman & Buddy Wolff Ivan Putski beat Boris Breznikoff Geoff Portz beat Rock Riddle 4/26/75 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel Bobby Heenan beat Ivan Putski COR Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Horst Hoffman & Buddy Wolff Dusty Rhodes beat Boris Breznikoff Khosrow Vaziri beat Billy Howard Geoff Portz beat Rock Riddle Att: 3,997 The Twin Cities shows continue to be sort of middling at best. I could be wrong on the capacity in these venues of course, but this seems like mediocre number for the home base. 5/1/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena Dusty Rhodes & Ivan Putski (sub Billy Graham) beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 2-0 to win the title 1. Rhodes beat Stevens in 5:00 2. Putski beat Bockwinkel The decision was overturned days later as manager Bobby Heenan stated that Bockwinkel and Stevens were contracted to defend against Rhodes and Billy Graham. The belts were returned to Bockwinkel & Stevens as a result. British Empire Champion Billy Robinson beat Guy Mitchell 28:00 Handicap Match, Putski must beat Heenan with in the 10 minute time limit or Ivan will lose the match Ivan Putski drew Bobby Heenan 10:00 so Heenan was declared the winner Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Buddy Wolff (sub Baron Von Raschke) & Horst Hoffman when the 30:00 time limit expired in the 3rd fall 1. Brunzell won 1st fall 2. Wolff beat Brunzell 3. The time limit expired before either team could score the winning fall Moose Morowski beat Yugo Babich 11:00 This is a bit of a tumble from the semi-main and main on the previous two Winnipeg shows, though not uncommon for even a hot tag team in the AWA. 5/17/75 Davenport TV Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rock Riddle & Julio Rodriguez Horst Hoffman beat ? Cortez Ivan Putski beat Angel Rivera Nick Bockwinkel beat Fred Torres Billy Robinson beat Paul Perschmann Tossed this in here to note they were working almost exclusively on tv as tag teams during this period, despite the fact that they weren’t tagging on every show. I.E they were still being presented as a tag team during this entire run. 5/18/75 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Loaded Glove Match Dusty Rhodes (sub Superstar Billy Graham) beat Baron Von Raschke Handicap Match, Putski must win in 10 minutes or lose the bout Bobby Heenan beat Ivan Putski COR Billy Robinson (sub Dusty Rhodes) beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Buddy Wolff & Boris Breznikoff 1. Wolff & Breznikoff won 1st fall 2. Gagne & Brunzell won 2nd fall 3. Gagne & Brunzell won 3rd fall Horst Hoffman beat Geoff Portz with the claw hol That main event sounds hilarious. The Flyers are working underneath on a show that looks pretty wild on paper. 5/24/75 Peoria, IL Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq Ivan Putski beat Boris Breznikoff Billy Robinson beat Horst Hoffman Buddy Wolff beat Khosrow Vaziri They main event in Peoria again. 5/29/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq when Ray jumped off the top rope onto referee Al DeRusha Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson dq when Robinson tossed Baron over the top rope Chris Taylor (sub Ivan Putski) beat Boris Breznikoff via pin in 7:26 Buddy Wolff beat Bull Bullinski via pin in 10:20 Khosrow Vaziri beat Rock Riddle via pin in 14:50 att: 3,612 Far from a high number in Omaha but it’s very hard to say how good or bad it was for the year at this point. The Flyers have not been booked strongly in Omaha all year so it’s somewhat surprising they got the main event here. 5/31/75 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dusty Rhodes & Larry Hennig Billy Robinson no contest Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rock Riddle & Frankie Hill Khosrow Vaziri drew Buddy Wolff att: 3,183 I don’t see any way this could be considered a good figure. Flyers are really doing nothing here. 6/8/75 Duluth, MN @ Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan Dusty Rhodes beat Buddy Wolff dq Billy Robinson beat Ali Vaziri Bull Bullinski beat Paul Perschmann Another main event in Duluth, this time with Heenan in the Bock slot. 6/12/75 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Billy Robinson COR Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Ray Stevens Dusty Rhodes beat Siegfried Steinke Ivan Putski beat Buddy Wolff dq Roddy Piper beat Scotty Campbell Att: 3,800 Poor number for Winnipeg even in the Summer. When you consider that this had a Verne title match it’s even worse. Bock isn’t on the show and you wonder if he would have made a difference. 6/28/75 St Paul, MN @ Auditorium AWA Champion Verne Gagne no contest Baron Von Raschke 25:00 Chris Taylor beat Mad Dog Vachon COR 15:20 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Mitsu Arakawa & Kim Duk Larry Hennig beat Ivan Crankovic Bull Bullinski beat Frank Hill On the home front the Flyers get a solid mid-card match against evil foreigners, including something of a regional legend in Arakawa. 7/11/75 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Dusty Rhodes beat Ray Stevens 2/3 Handicap Match Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Ivan Putski beat Baron Von Raschke dq in 13:28 Jim Brunzell drew Bobby Heenan Kim Duk beat Bull Bullinski in 10:34 Wanted to include this again to show what they were doing on some of these cards where they weren’t booked together. Lots of cases of one guy working Heenan and other paired against Bock or someone else. 7/16/75 Davenport, IA @ John O'Donnell Stadium Bobby Heenan handcuffed to Larry Hennig at ringside AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Billy Robinson beat Mitsu Arakawa & Kim Duk & Buddy Wolff Baron Von Raschke beat Larry Hennig dq This is a pretty strong outdoor card on paper though the full undercard isn’t listed. The Flyers are in a novelty 6-man semi-main that looks fun on paper. 7/20/75 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Chris Taylor & Ivan Putski & Dusty Rhodes beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan & Baron Von Raschke (sub Ray Stevens) Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Buddy Wolff & Kim Duk Jimmy Valiant (sub Baron Von Raschke) beat Larry Hennig Bull Bullinski beat George Gadaski (sub Paul Perschmann) Another strange card. 7/22/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan Baron Von Raschke beat Larry Hennig Billy Robinson beat Paul Perschmann Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant drew Chris Taylor & Jim Brunzell Buddy Wolff beat Bull Bullinskiat Paul Perschmann I note this because Greg was moved up to some main slots teaming with Verne during this period and this is a good example. The Valiants were being groomed for a solid run, so Jim isn’t exactly being wasted. 8/13/75 Pekin, IL Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Jos Leduc & Pampero Firpo Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kim Duk & Buddy Wolff Working a spot show opener is pretty rare for the High Flyers at this point but there you have it. 8/19/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium AWA Champion Verne Gagne no contest Billy Robinson Loser Leaves Town Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski Nick Bockwinkel beat Bull Bullinski Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kim Duk & Buddy Wolff Bobby Heenan beat Paul Perschmann (sub Jos Leduc) They are working the Duk/Wolff team on a lot of shows, presumably to get re-established after failing to capture the tag titles in a program that played in every market of note. 8/23/75 Davenport TV Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bob Amel & Juan Hernandez Buddy Wolff beat George Gadaski Dusty Rhodes beat Armando Rodriguez Bobby Heenan beat Kenny Jay Bull Bullinski beat Caesar Pabon Another example of the Flyers teaming on tv which shows how they were being presented by the promotion. 8/29/75 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School Nick Bockwinkel & Baron Von Raschke beat Larry Hennig & Billy Robinson 2/3 Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell dq Jos Leduc beat Bobby Heenan Kim Duk beat Khosrow Vaziri The Valiants move into a more featured slot v. The Flyers albeit it on a smaller show. 9/6/75 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat the Legionairres Goulet & Lebeouf Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson dq Ox Baker beat Moose Cholak Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant Pampero Firpo beat Kim Duk Sailor Art Thomas beat Bill White Another loaded Chicago show with several non-regulars. Bruiser/Crusher have the belts at this point, which means the Flyers are in a holding pattern. But there are worse teams you could work on a major show in the 70’s than the Valiants. 9/7/75 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson via pin in 24:51 Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant on a 3rd fall dq Nick Bockwinkel beat Pampero Firpo COR in 20:20 Jos Leduc beat Buddy Wolff via pin in 16:31 Att: 3,638 9/9/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson when Raschke made Robinson submit with a Claw Hold in the 3rd fall at 30:10 Pampero Firpo no contest Nick Bockwinkel after Bobby Heenan interfered in 7:28 Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell 17:30 Kim Duk beat Bull Bullinski 12:10 Jos Leduc beat Buddy Wolff 16:10 att: 3,342 9/11/75 Winnipeg, Mantoba, Canada @ Arena Nick Bockwinkel ddq Pampero Firpo Johnny Valiant & Jimmy Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Baron Von Raschke beat Gene Kiniski dq Kim Duk beat Joe Corona Jos Leduc beat Ivan Crankovic Att: 4,000+ Flyers v. Valiants is going around the horn to all the major loop towns a the semi-main level. Presumably this is being done to groom the Valiants for a run v. Crusher/Bruiser but it shows the worth of this relatively young team that they are getting this run and seen as a team you have to go through to get to the belts. None of the numbers on these shows is particularly impressive. 10/3/75 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Billy Robinson beat AWA Champion Verne Gagne dq in 20:14 when Gagne tossed Robinson over the top rope The Crusher beat Nick Bockwinkel dq Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Kim Duk beat Pampero Firpo dq 10/8/75 Duluth, MN Cage Match Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Robinson Pampero Firpo beat Buddy Wolff Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne &Jim Brunzell 2/3 Jos Leduc beat Kim Duk Khosrow Vaziri beat George Gadask Two more places they take the match here. Notable that they are working a gimmick main event in Duluth and Denver has a title match and Crusher/Bock. Really seems like they are trying to pop business however possible here. 10/11/75 St Paul, MN AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Baron Von Raschke Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Jos Leduc beat Boris Breznikoff Bull Bullinski beat Frank Hill Bob Slaughter beat Dick Reynolds att: 4,526 This is actually a pretty good number by the standards of some of the other shows from the Twin Cities that year. 10/19/75 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena Jimmy Valiant beat The Crusher via pin Baron Von Raschke beat Pampero Firpo dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan when the time limit expired in the 3rd fall Johnny Valiant beat Bull Bullinski via pin Crusher v. Jimmy to set up the inevitable tag feud in the main event here, so Bock and Heenan draw the Flyers card. 10/24/75 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 2/3 Baron Von Raschke beat Pampero Firpo Jos Leduc beat Kim Duk Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Odd that they are working this far down the card in Denver at this point. 10/25/75 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Kim Duk via pin Johnny Valiant beat the Crusher via pin Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Jimmy Valiant Chris Taylor beat Don Wade via pin Paul Perschmann drew Bull Bullinski 20:00 att: 4,312 This is not a good number for the AWA in Milwaukee at this point, especially on a show with Crusher and title match. The Valiants being broken up this way is interesting. 11/1/75 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Ox Baker Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher dq Baron von Raschke no contest Pampero Firpo Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Pepper Gomez beat Sgt. Jacques Goulet & Soldier LeBoeuf & Johnny Valiant Wilbur Snyder beat Chuck O'Connor Jimmy Valiant beat Billy Robinson Bobby Duncum beat Bull Bullinski Kim Duk drew Moose Cholak Another big Chicago show that almost reads like a who’s who of the era. Flyers are in a middle of the pack match, but it’s cool to see them paired with Gomez. 11/7/75 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School Jimmy Valiant beat The Crusher dq Pampero Firpo beat Baron Von Raschke Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Paul Perschmann (sub Bobby Heenan) Johnny Valiant beat Bull Bullinski I wanna see a Bock/Rose team yesterday. 11/8/75 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center Nick Bockwinkel beat Verne Gagne to win the AWA Title after Bobby Duncum interfered Pampero Firpo no contest Baron Von Raschke Billy Robinson beat Kim Duk dq Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Duncum & Buddy Wolff Jos Leduc beat Don Wade Att: 6,322 Not surprisingly Bock v. Gagne draws the biggest number of the year in the Twin Cities. It’s also a title switch. The Flyers are stuck near the bottom rung. 11/9/75 Milwaukee WI @ Auditorium Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat The Crusher & Pampero Firpo dq Baron Von Raschke no contest Jos Leduc Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Paul Perschmann Bobby Duncum beat Dick Reynolds Bull Bullinski drew Don Wade att: 5,281 Not a sellout, but not bad. Another match v. Bock/Buddy. I wonder if Firpo was subbing for The Bruiser here. 12/3/75 Peoria, IL Jimmy Valiant beat The Crusher Jos Leduc beat Johnny Valiant Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Don Wade & Kim Duk Bobby Duncum beat Bob Backlund Very little from the Flyers in November and they reappear v. Kim Duk and friend which seemed to be there go to at this point in between feuds. 12/9/75 Moline, IL @ Wharton Field House The Crusher & Pampero Firpo beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant Bobby Heenan & Bobby Duncum drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell Larry Hennig beat Kim Duk Bob Backlund beat Don Wade Not a bad slot for the Flyers here, though Moline is not an A town. 12/13/75 Minneapolis TV Bobby Duncum beat Santiago Acosta Bull Bullinski beat Dick Young Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Paul Perschmann & Tom Demarco dq 12/16/75 Omaha, NE @ Civic Auditorium Larry Hennig & Jos Leduc beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan dq Bobby Duncum beat Bob Backlund Kim Duk beat Don Wade Valiants are getting a strong main event push at this point. Flyers are still being treated as relevant working against Bock and friends as a means of working their way back up. 12/17/75 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant & Baron Von Raschke beat Larry Hennig & Pampero Firpo & Jos Leduc Chris Taylor beat Kim Duk Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan dq Bobby Duncum beat Bob Backlund Khosrow Vaziri beat Don Wade att: 4,458 Milwaukee has really lost momentum. 12/29/75 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan 2/3 Verne Gagne ddq Bobby Duncum 17:02 Bull Bullinski beat Don Wade Kim Duk beat Bob Backlund via pin Amazingly The Flyers get a major market main event over Verne. 12/30/75 Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Auditorium Baron Von Raschke beat Pampero Firpo Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant Larry Hennig dcor Bobby Duncum Jos LeDuc beat Kim Duk Bobby Heenan beat Bull Bullinski att: “record crowd estimated at 3,500†Cool to see this listed as a record crowd. Not sure how many dates there are for Lincoln or how often Verne even ran there, but this is still impressive. Raschke is a local IIRC which may have been a big factor, though it’s cool to see the Flyers end the year on a couple of solid showings. 1975 is a bit of a roller coaster year for the Flyers and the AWA. It really does not appear that any of the regular towns were particularly hot during this period. Some of them have tapered off and it looked like they attempted a few things to heat things up. The Flyers had their fair share of singles matches and middling bouts v. teams out of the top tier. On the other hand they worked a program with Bock/Stevens for the title that hit every major market at least once, and was a main event in almost all of them. They also had a strong run of semi-mains v. The Valiants who were being groomed for a run v. The Crusher and friends up top. Though they did technically main event a sellout in Milwaukee, one would think the majority of credit for that would be given to Andre’s appearance on the card. Still this is a year that shows us the Flyers are going to be a staple of the tag division and get more than their fair share of main event matches in the AWA in coming years. Major market main events = 6. Total main events = 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 The Twin Cities shows continue to be sort of middling at best. I could be wrong on the capacity in these venues of course, but this seems like mediocre number for the home base. I believe Minneapolis Auditorium held around 10,000 full. St. Paul Civic Center could hold between 18 and 20 grand (a number rarely reached in any era). A key thing here is you have a St. Paul card on April 12 and a Minneapolis card on April 26th. That's two cards in two weeks that drew a total of 9,000 people. Not bad. Verne was often running Minne and St. Paul like two separate entities even into 1982. The Civic Center wasn't always used, either--He would run the adjacent St. Paul Auditorium which held about 5-7,000, a number better suited for shows running almost bi-weekly at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 The Auditorium sat 7300 absolute capacity for wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 The Auditorium sat 7300 absolute capacity for wrestling. No kidding? I always thought it was closer to Ten K. Changes the perspectives on the attendance somewhat for me. It's too bad there isn't a percentage of capacity stat floating around, since that is so much more a measure of how a show draws than the raw numbers are, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 That's the St. Paul Auditorium for the record. And that is pretty much the absolute max you could pack in. Very similar in size and dimension to the local building in Charleston WCW used to run all the time. You are right about the Minneapolis Auditorium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Ok, got it. That makes more sense to me. I was at the (now) Roy Wilkins Auditorium in October 2000 for the ECW PPV where Jerry Lynn won the ECW title. Decent-sized venue for wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 High Flyers vs Road Warriors - 2/85 Winnipeg This is not the match on the AWA set, but actually the one that sets that one up. I was surprised by how much the Road Warriors were willing to give in this. I shouldn't have given that the Road Warriors knew where their bread was buttered. This match is almost all High Flyers and the Road Warriors are totally willing to sell for them and hell even Hawk takes a bump to the floor off a Brunzell dropkick. Initially, the match looks like it is going to be the Road Warriors gobbling up their opponents before the Brunzell dropkick and then the arm work. I actually dug that Hawk was "like enough of this shit" and basically dragged one of the High Flyers over with him and tagged in Animal. It displayed that Hawk was getting frustrated, but at the same time was still strong enough to escape the nuisance. Thus now in my mind I am thinking "Oh shit, so what will the High Flyers have to do to overcome this." The Road Warriors offense looks great here and it is just your standard power fare. In a really interesting wrinkle, Animal hurts his own knee because he does a backbreaker too hard. It is a transition I have never seen before. Basically the message there is the only way a Road Warrior can be harmed is by fucking himself up. The High Flyers do some really high quality leg work and Animal to his credit really milks by doing stuff like desperately trying to tag Hawk while Brunzell is holding his leg. The finish is Brunzell has Animal in a figure 4 and Gagne cuts Hawk off at the pass with the Gagne Choke Hold before Ellering gets involved and everything gets thrown out. I was not expecting to enjoy the High Flyers control segments as much as I did. They were really worked and the Road Warriors put them over big. It felt like a much more emotional, heated match than the random AWA tag with Backlund. I have as much trouble as anyone buying Greg Gagne's look, but he was never put in a position that made him look out of place against the Road Warriors. He spent most of the time out-smarting and working the mat against the Road Warriors so it was all logical as far as I was concerned. This actually ranks among my favorite Road Warriors matches of all time, but I think speaks more to overall quality of Road Warriors matches as this was more just an entertaining affair than anything truly amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claw64 Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 There were three Percival Pringles. 1 Percival Pringle & Chauncey Pringle that wrestled for Bert Rubi in Michigan in the early 1960s. 2 The Percy Pringle that shows up on AWA TV and Kansas City cards during the mid 70s. 3 The fat guy later known as Paul Bearer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sosnowski Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 The Winnipeg match is February 7, 1985 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 23, 2017 Report Share Posted June 23, 2017 There were three Percival Pringles. 1 Percival Pringle & Chauncey Pringle that wrestled for Bert Rubi in Michigan in the early 1960s. 2 The Percy Pringle that shows up on AWA TV and Kansas City cards during the mid 70s. 3 The fat guy later known as Paul Bearer. IIRC he went by Percival Pringle III in Texas at least for a while, always wondered why until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sosnowski Posted June 23, 2017 Report Share Posted June 23, 2017 I'm looking forward to watching the match against Steamboat and Onita from All Japan 6/8/82 (Drive) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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