AWA results for November 1984

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN and TSN for Nov. 2^nd

 

Keiichi Yamada vs. Paul Diamond

 

Diamond came to the ring accompanied not just by his Badd Company partner Pat Tanaka, but also by Steven Regal and Mike Rotunda, the other members of the Young Lions. They didn’t seem so much interested in the match itself, as they spent the duration of it patrolling around ringside, eyes open for any possible interference by Lord Humongous. The man in the hockey mask did not make an appearance, but the action in the ring was fast paced, with both men going all out until Diamond ducked his head at the wrong time and Yamada hit a brainbuster to get the victory. The Young Lions surrounded both men as a protective cordon as they left the ring.

 

Bad News Allen vs. Curt Hennig

 

This match seemed to be pitting the rough-house brawling style of Allen against the technical skills of Hennig. But things wound up being more complex than that, as Bad News had his own bag of wrestling tricks up his sleeve that he showed with a series of punishing suplexes, while Hennig showed himself more than willing to throw down with Allen as he matched him punch for punch and shot for shot. In a battle that waged back and forth, it looked like Allen was about to take the match when he had Hennig set up for the Bad News Blaster, only for Hennig to duck at the last second and Allen went crashing to the mat. Hennig then got Allen in a cradle suplex for the one two three.

 

Steven Regal vs. Phil Lafon

 

Once again, Regal was accompanied to the ring by Mike Rotunda. Regal and Lafon were in the middle of what was shaping up to be an excellent match when, out of the crowds, Lord Humongous came charging into the ring and levelled Lafon with a huge lariat. Regal was clearly not afraid of Humongous, executing two quick dropkicks on him that didn’t do more than push back the masked man. Regal was then grabbed bodily and pulled out of the ring by Rotunda, who clearly didn’t want his young pupil to risk injury by engaging any further with Humongous. Regal showed that his blood was still up when he grabbed the ringside mic and challenged Lord Humongous to a match, over the pleas and protestations of his mentor.

 

AWA Southern Title match : Rick Steamboat © vs. Buzz Sawyer

 

Sawyer has spent much of his time since his arrival in the AWA in tag action with his partner, Dave Schultz, but this time out was getting a singles shot against the Southern champ, Ricky Steamboat. He want at the Dragon full bore, with big swinging lefts and rights and high impact clothelines. Steamboat was initially caught off guard by the Mad Dog’s crazy brawling style, but gradually steadied down and started working the match back into his control. Sawyer spent much of the match working on Steamboat’s neck and trying to get him with the Bulldog headlock, almost hitting the move at several points only to have it blocked by the champion. Eventually, it looked like he was about to hit the Bulldog on Steamboat, only for the Dragon to reverse it with a high impact waistlock suplex that got the win for the champion. Sawyer didn’t take the loss well, dashing outside and grabbing his chain and rushing back in to swing it at Steamboat, who by now had bailed out of the ring. Sawyer stayed in the ring on his knees, screaming at Steamboat, who stood on the outside staring at him, wondering just what sort of madman he had provoked.

 

AWA Southern Tag Title match : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel

 

On a similar tack, the Southern Tag champs have been pretty cocky so far, but would be facing off against a newly formed tandem that have surprised people with their recent intensity. True to form, the two veterans, Garvin and Wahoo, were merciless in their attack on Ricky Santana, pummeling him with punches and chops and pulling his limbs every which way. Perez was extremely reluctant to get involved in the match but when Santana dove to the corner and tagged him, he had no choice. He ducked and dodged Garvin for as long as he could, but when the man with the Hands Of Stone tapped him with a right cross, the Latin Heartthrob decided he was not going to risk any damage to his handsome face and high tailed it back to the locker room, with Santana tailing behind. Garvin and Wahoo gave chase, and the end result was a double countout.

 

Tito Santana vs. Mr. Olympia

 

Santana had faced off with Mr. Olympia in the past couple of weeks but this time out, Olympia was accompanied by not just Sheikh Adnan Kaissie but also the World champ, Ken Patera. Not about to take any chances, Santana brought out Paul Orndorff to watch his back. Much of this match was a battle was a battle between Santana trying to get Olympia in the Figure Four leglock, and Olympia in turn trying to apply his own Powerlock, all while their cornermen glared at each other like hungry tigers. Olympia was the first to get his hold cinched in, but he was too close to the ropes and the ref forced a break. Later on, Olympia tried to hit Santana with the belly to belly piledriver, but Santana wriggled out if it, took Olympia down with a legsweep then swiftly applied the Figure Four. Before Olympia could submit, Patera made his presence felt by entering the ring and hitting a big elbow drop on Santana. As the ref called for the DQ, Orndorff came in to the rescue and the four men were battling it out as the credits rolled.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Met Center, Bloomington, Nov. 2^nd (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards)

 

Steven Regal vs. Tom Zenk

 

Regal won with an inside cradle

 

Greg Gagne vs. Bob Roop

 

Roop won with a shoulder breaker

 

Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Rip Oliver & Bob Sweetan

 

McDaniel got the win for his team by making Oliver give up to the Indian Leglock

 

Buddy Rose & Koko Ware vs. Eddie Gilbert & Bad New Allen

 

Rose got the pinfall with a roll up after Koko hit a dropkick on Bad News

 

AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Kamala & Botswana Beast

 

The Warriors won with a double top rope flying shoulder tackle on Beast

 

AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Curt Hennig

 

Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw

 

Tito Santana & Paul Orndorff vs. Ken Patera & Mr. Olympia

 

Santana was about to put Patera in the figure four when out of nowhere he was attacked by …. STAN HANSEN!!!! The former AWA world champion made his return on the side of the Syndicate by hitting the lariat on Santana and then Orndorff. The decision was a DQ and the Syndicate proceeded to beat down Santana and Orndorff until Blackwell came in to clear the ring.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Nov. 3^rd

 

Mike Rotunda vs. Great Gama Singh

 

Rotunda won with the Samoan Drop

 

Da Crusher vs. “Dr. D” Dave Schultz

 

Shultz won with a flying elbow drop

 

Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Cuban Commandos

 

Garvin got the win for his team with the Hands Of Stone punch on Morrow

 

Budy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert

 

Both men went to a double countout when they kept brawling at ringside

 

AWA Southern Tag Title match : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. The Nor-Am Express

 

Perez pinned Zenk with a rollup with a fistful of trunks. After the match, the champs were run off by Ron Garvin and Wahoo McDaniel

 

AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Buzz Sawyer

 

Steamboat won with a small package. Sawyer attacked Steamboat after the match.

 

Tito Santana, Paul Orndorff & Jerry Blackwell vs. Ken Patera, Mr. Olympia & Stan Hansen

 

Hansen got the win for his team with a lariat on Blackwell

[SirEdger]

Solid series of shows. Keep it up!

[kevinmcfl]

I agree. Very fun and all seems so planned out. I love your organization. Wahoo and Ronnie Garvin doing nice work here. Santana and Sawyer would be a fun watch.

 

You figure that the Road Warriors would come out on top but it would have been fun to see the carnage in the match with Kamala and the Botswana Beast.

[rainmakerrtv]

The Gavin/Wahoo team is a particular favorite of mine. It was sort of a running theme in my old TNM feds that I would always have Garvin and Orndorff either teaming or feuding, but with Garvin's run at the champ over and Orndorff gearing up for his, Ron was at loose ends. Wahoo was kind of floating around as well. Then the inspiration struck me. I have two guys with reputations for having very nasty chops, so I put them together as an unspeakably violent veteran babyface team who would be brutally stiff and scare the crap out of the heels. I figured they would make ideal foils for a pretty boy coward like Perez.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN and TSN for Nov. 9^th

 

Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig vs. Don Muraco & Bad News Allen

 

Hennig was gearing up for a run at the American title, currently held by Don Muraco, but for this match brought in his good friend Greg Gagne for his tag match with Muraco and his Bad News Breakers partner, Bad News Allen. Muraco and Allen tried to focus their attention on Hennig, keeping Gagne’s time in the ring limited and trying their best to hurt Hennig so he would be in no shape to challenge for Muraco’s belt. Gagne kept working his way into the ring and joining Hennig in double team moves, drawing in Bad News and distracting him while they tried to wear down Muraco. Ultimately, when the ref was trying to escort Bad News from the ring, Muraco got Hennig up for a huge power slam, only for a dropkick by Gagne to Hennig’s back to send the Magnificent One toppling over and Hennig got the pinfall. The Bad News Breakers were livid, but it certainly confirmed Hennig’s claims to a title shot.

 

AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Keiichi Yamada

 

The young Japanese superstar has had an impressive string of victories over some of the rookies in the AWA, and this managed to earn him a shot at Ricky Steamboat’s Southern title. This was an exciting technical bout that steadily picked up momentum as it went on, with Yamada trying more and more high risk moves to get the advantage over Steamboat until he went up top to try to hit a flying cross body press. Steamboat ducked it at the last moment and, after Yamada impacted with the mat, picked him up for a belly to back suplex that got the win. After the match, Steamboat raised Yamada’s hand to show appreciation for his wrestling skills.

 

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ricky Santana

 

Wahoo and his partner, Ron Garvin, have lately been gunning for the Southern Tag Titles, held by Santana and Al Perez. Both men had their partners at ringside but, while Garvin enthusiastically cheered on Wahoo, Perez didn’t seem to want to look at the match as McDaniel blasted Santana with intense chops and pulled his limbs every which way in a variety of submission holds and wear down moves. Santana never really got out of the blocks in this match as Wahoo worked him into the Indian Deathlock, forcing him to give up the match. If Wahoo and Garvin can ever corner Perez and Santana in a title match, the champions belts could be in serious jeopardy.

 

Lord Humongous vs. Steven Regal

 

This match has been building up for a while, with Humongous ambushing various friends of Regal and his mentor, Mike Rotunda. Regal was clearly eager to get the match started as he rushed to the ring, but Rotunda clearly had an apprehensive look on his face as he accompanied the Young Gentleman to the ring. Lord Humongous slowly made his to the ring and just stood there when the bell rang, waiting for Regal to bring the match to him. Regal wisely decided to forgoe his usual array of punches against a man wearing a hockey mask, instead going after Humongous with with chops and European uppercuts. This didn’t have much of an effect on the masked leviathan, who just continued to stand there impassively, so Regal opened up his offense by coming off the ropes with clotheslines that still failed to budge Humongous. This would cost him as after one attempt, the masked man got his boot up and knocked Regal to the mat. Humongous then proceeded to manhandle Regal with clubbing blows and big slams. Every time Regal started to fight back enough to gain the advantage, Humongous would cut him down with a power move. Regal did manage to come back and stagger Lord Humongous with some dropkicks and it seemed like the momentum had shifted in his direction when he managed to duck a big clothesline from the masked man, but Regal reflexively went for the Iron Fist punch, which only served to crack Regal’s hand on the hockey mask. As regal grimaced in pain, Humongous grabbed him and hit a mammoth side slam onto his knee. The was not enough for him , as he picked him up again for a brutal over-the-knee back breaker. With Regal in agony, Humongous could have pinned him at any time, but instead locked him in the Cobra Clutch until Regal was unconscious. Even after the ref called the match, Humongous dropped Regal hard on the mat and stomped on him until Mike Rotunda rushed in and covered Regal with his own body. Lord Humongous pointed at Rotunda before impassively plodding back to the locker room.

 

Ken Patera & Stan Hansen vs. The Latin Lovers

 

Stan Hansen, a former AWA World Champion, shocked many when he made his return last week, attacking Paul Orndorff and Tito Santana . Patera was looking like the provervial cat that ate the canary as he teamed with Hansen, letting the big Texan take care of most of the action as he mauled Valentino and Cruz. The Madman from Borger battered the two Latin Lovers around the ring before polishing off Valentino with a devastating lariat. After the match, he nailed Cruz with another lariat, just because he could. Orndorff and Santana will be hard pressed to be in any condition to take on the champ if they have to go through Hansen first.

 

Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert

 

The Playboy has had his hands full with “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert since Gilbert’s arrival in the AWA, and for this match decided to go with the tactic of being even more devious than the man from “Every Girl’s Dream”. Gilbert was caught off guard by having to deal with someone with possibly an even deeper bag of tricks than himself, being suckered into by taunts to get trapped by Rose or getting hit with low blows when Rose directed the ref’s attention elsewhere. Ultimately he decided to just bare knuckle it, fighting back with punches and eye gouges thar aroused the ire of the fans who were solidly behind the Playboy. He tried to set up Rose for the Hot Shot, but Rose caught him with an elbow shot to the face that sent them both tumbling from the ring. The two continued to brawl at ringside until they were both counted out.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, Nov. 9^th (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards)

 

Mike Rotunda vs. Ricky Santana

 

Rotunda won with the Samoan Drop

 

The Latin Lovers vs. The Cuban Commandos

 

The Commandos won when Acevedo hit an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Cruz

 

Curt Hennig vs. Bob Sweetan

 

Hennig won with the Axe Lariat

 

Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Long Riders

 

McDaniel got the win for his team with an overhand Tomahawk chop on Bill Irwin

 

AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Al Perez

 

Steamboat got the victory with a top rope flying cross body press

 

AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Don Muraco & Bad News Allen

 

The Road Warriors successfully defended their belts when they got Allen in the Doomsday Device

 

Paul Orndorff vs. Stan Hansen

 

Orndorff won by DQ when Hansen deliberately hit the ref with a Lariat. The two men continued brawling long after the final bell.

[SirEdger]

Ha! Typical Stan Hansen move to lariat the referee!

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Nov. 10^th

 

Mike Shaw vs. Vinnie Valentino

 

Shaw won with a running splash

 

Mike Rotunda & Keiichi Yamada vs. The Cuban Commandos

 

Rotunda won for his team when he hit a running clothesline on Gerry Morrow

 

Ed Wiskowski & Koko Ware vs. Bad News Allen & Rip Oliver

 

Wiskowski got the pin for his team with a running knee to the head of Oliver

 

Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz

 

Both teams went to a double DQ in a chaotic brawl

 

AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Curt Hennig

 

The match went to a 30 minute time limit draw

 

Falls Count Anywhere match : Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert

 

Rose won when he hit the Inside Out Backbreaker on Gilbert in the Concession Stand area

 

Paul Orndorff & Sgt. Slaughter (on loan from the WWF) vs. Ken Patera & Stan Hansen

 

As Hansen and Slaughter slugged it out in the ring, Orndorff hit the Piledriver on Patera outside the ring, leading to a victory for his team by countout

[rainmakerrtv]

Ha! Typical Stan Hansen move to lariat the referee!

 

"I told you to get out of the way, but no ..."

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, November 16^th

 

Can-Am Express vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz

 

Phil Lafon and Tom Zenk (going back to their original team name of the Can-Am Express) have had a difficult time of late, with both men being roughed up in recent weeks by Lord Humongous. They still seemed to be shaken up from that as they faced Sawyer and Schultz, reuniting after a few weeks of solo matches. The members of Col. Robley’s Army, giving the impression they had something to prove, overwhelmed the Express with their all-out offense, bowling them over with big clotheslines and driving them to the mat with slams. Any attempt at double teaming the two wild men would only gain them a temporary respite as the Mad Dog and Doctor D would come raging back and eventually a power slam by Sawyer followed by a running leg drop by Schultz on Zenk would spell the end of the match. The Army are well on their way to re-establishing themselves as contenders for any title they choose.

 

Da Crusher vs. Bob Sweetan

 

This match was as unrefined as you can imagine, with both veteran wrestlers sticking mostly with wide clubbing haymakers for their offense . The match raged back and forth until Sweetan snuck in an elbow to the face that sent Crusher staggering to the outside. Sweetan looked like he was allowing Crusher to get back in the ropes, but when Crusher was between the ropes, Sweetan rushed in and hit a knee to the side of Crusher’s head. “Bruiser” Bob then pulled the stunned Crusher back into the ring and hit a piledriver for the pinfall. Dirty pool, Bob.

 

Koko Ware vs. Keiichi Yamada

 

Before the match, it was announced that this would be Yamada’s final match before returning to Japan, so there was a lot of interest from the fans. After the previous two brawls, this match was a welcome technical matchup, with both men displaying their impressive skills throughout . After an initial feeling out period of the match, followed with a matwork section that ended in a stalemate. Both men started to escalate to more high risk offense, going to faster moves off the ropes and even off the top rope. At different points, both Koko and Yamada went for their brainbuster finishers, only to be blocked by their opponent. Yamada came off the top rope and hit a flying cross body press, only for Koko to counter with a rollover that got a 2 ¾ count. Koko then picked up Yamada, but then Yamada grabbed him in a waistlock and hit a German Suplex. Koko kicked out at the absolute last second and the bell then rang, signaling a 15 minute time limit draw. Koko still raised Yamada’s hand after the match and the crowd cheered the young Japanese superstar who had generated such excitement in his short time in the AWA.

 

Curt Hennig & Buddy Rose vs. Don Muraco & Eddie Gilbert

 

With Hennig currently a dangerous threat to Muraco’s American title, the Bad News Breakers clearly wanted to focus o damaging him to keep him out of contention. However, the hatred between Gilbert and Rose and the Playboy keeping on sneaking into the match continually stymied their attempts to focus on Hennig. The match continually broke down to all four men in the ring at once and when the ref was escorting Gilbert from the ring, Muraco was sufficiently distracted for Hennig to hit him with an Axe Lariat over a schoolboy trip by Rose to get the one-two-three.

 

Tito Santana vs. Bob Roop

 

Once again, we had a case of somebody trying to injure their opponent to take them out of title contention, in this instance Roop trying to stand in the way of Santana’s efforts to win Ken Patera’s World belt. He violently wrenched Santana’s arm throughout the match with armwringers and gave several big kneedrops to the arm, trying to soften him up for the shoulder breaker. Santana’s fire would not be put out, however , as he kept matching Roop blow for blow and working his way out of every predicament that came up. When Roop sent Santana into the ropes for a clothesline, Santana ducked under and came back with the Mexican Hammer forearm. He then applied the Figure Four leglock and forced Roop to give up. Next stop : World champ Patera.

 

Mike Rotunda vs. Lord Humongous

 

Lord Humongous has had a reign of terror on AWA in the past few weeks, ambushing members of of the Young Lions including a brutal dismantling of young Steven Regal in a match last week. Mike Rotunda was out to avenge his young pupil and looked apprehensive but ready as he headed to the ring first. There was a longer than usual wait afterwards but eventually, Lord Humongous slowly made his way to the ring, but this time he was accompanied by …. Sheikh Adnan Kaissie! Although Humongous and the Sheikh had no previous affiliation, the Sheikh looked smug as he followed close behind the huge masked man. Rotunda, like previous opponents, tried to work with a stick and move offense on Humongous, coming at him with big clotheslines, but Humongous would not budge. He then tried some amateur style take downs on the masked man, but could not get him off his feet. One attempt to hiptoss Humongous got him an elbow to the face, after which Humongous started pounding on Rotunda. Unlike the other members of the Young Lions, however, Rotunda was too big and too experienced to be bullied for long and kept working his way back onto offense, dodging out of some of Humongous’ moves and coming back with clotheslines or armlocks. He finally got Humongous in an abdominal stretch and started to wear him down, only for Sheikh Kaissie to enter the ring and give him a kick to the ribs. As the ref called for the DQ, he and Humongous put the boots to Rotunda until Badd Company came to the ring swinging chairs to run them off. Although they had lost the match, Kaissie looked well pleased with himself (Lord Humongous might have been pleased with himself too, it was hard to tell with that mask on.)

 

Stan Hansen vs. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell

 

This was a true clash of the titans, with two super heavyweights going at it full throttle. Stan Hansen , who was accompanied by Sheikh Kaissie, delivered blows that would have flattened other wrestlers, but Blackell was able to take it and dish it out in turn. It didn’t take long for somebody in this match to be busted open, as an elbow to the face by Hansen on Blackwell caused the claret to flow. Much later in the match, the action spilled to the outside and Blackwell got his receipt, slamming Hansen’s face into the corner post causing the Mad Man from Borger to start bleeding. He then dragged Hansen back into the ring and got him up for a huge powerslam, only for Kaissie to snag his ankle and cause him to trip with Hansen on top. Hansen got the cheap win , but let’s see how he does in his return match with Paul Orndorff.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Denver Auditorium, Denver, Nov. 16^th (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards)

 

Badd Company vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz

 

Schultz won with a Spike Piledriver on Tanaka

 

Greg Gagne vs. Great Gama Singh

 

Gagne won when he made Singh give up to the Gagne Sleeper

 

Buddy Rose, Curt Hennig & Ed Wiskowski vs. Bad News Allen , Eddie Gilber & Rip Oliver

 

Rose won with a schoolboy rollup on Oliver

 

AWA Southern Tag Title match : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel

 

Garvin & McDaniel won by countout when Perez and Santana fled from the ring. Perez & Santana retained the titles.

 

AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Koko Ware

 

Muraco won with the belly-to-belly piledriver

 

Tito Santana & “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell vs. Ken Patera & Bob Roop

 

Santana hit the Mexican Hammer forearm on Roop for the victory.

 

Paul Orndorff vs. Stan Hansen

 

Both men were brawling on the outside, when Hansen went for a Lariat on Orndorff, but Orndorff ducked it and Hansen wrenched his arm on the corner post. Orndorff then climbed on the ring apron and did a knee drop on Hansen’s injured arm, then made it back into the ring in time to win by countout.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Nov. 17^th

 

Lord Humongous vs. Tom Zenk

 

Humongous made Zenk give up to the Cobra Clutch

 

Cuban Commandos vs. Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel

 

Garvin knocked out Morrow with the Hands Of Stone punch

 

Bad News Allen vs. Phil Lafon

 

Bad News won with the Bad News Blaster

 

Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert

 

Rose after reversing a piledriver attempt with an small package

 

AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Al Perez

 

Steamboat won with a waistlock suplex

 

AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors ©vs. The Long Riders

 

The Road Warriors won with the Doomsday Device on Bill Irwin

 

AWA World Title match : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana

 

Both men went to a double countout

[SirEdger]

Love the series of matches involving Stan Hansen in this stretch!

[rainmakerrtv]

Just realized I had Hansen reserved for the 17th but didn't use him. Hope the good people of Salt Lake City can forgive me.

[SirEdger]

Just make it up to them by booking Hansen in a title match next time you're in town!

[kevinmcfl]

Love the ESPN show. Every match would keep you glued to the tv but the Lord Humongous vs Regal and Playboy Buddy Rose vs Eddie Gilbert were my favorites. Also any card with Hansen on it is a must see. Keep up the good work.

 

So many great choices to challenge Patera that I am looking forward to see what happens next at the top of the AWA

[rainmakerrtv]

I viewed the Lord Humongous storyline as my slasher film plot, with this mysterious monster in a hockey mask coming out of nowhere and brutalizing teenagers (in this case, rookies) until only the hero (Rotunda) is left to face him.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, November 23^rd

 

The Long Riders vs. Badd Company

 

Badd Company are another team that has suffered at the hands of Lord Humongous and are looking to get back in the swing of things. They seemed eager to prove themselves, rapidly tagging in and out of the ring and doing many high flying and double team moves to try to stay one step ahead of the much bigger Irwin Brothers. While the Long Riders would keep coming back with their power offense to try to break down Tanaka and Diamond, it looked like Badd Company might just pull it off when Tanaka had Scott Irwin in a waistlock and Diamond was about to come off the ropes to Superkick Irwin into a German Suplex, “Wild” Bill Irwin snagged Diamond’s leg from the outside with the bullrope, sending him hurtling to the mat. Scott then used a backwards low blow kick to break out of the waistlock, followed by a mammoth vertical suplex on Tanaka to get the one-two-three.

 

Lord Humongous vs. Master Gee

 

As was the case last week, Lord Humongous was led to the ring by Sheikh Adnan Kaissie. The huge masked man then proceeded to dismantle the always popular Master Gee. The former tag champ couldn’t get any effective offense in as Lord Humongous bowled him over with a big clothesline and then powerslamming him all over the ring. After hitting a side slam onto his knee, Humongous put Master Gee in the Cobra Clutch to finally put an end to the match. The Sinister Syndicate have added an impressive new gun to their arsenal and are looking even more unstoppable than ever. After the match, Kaissie and Humongous were joined by the rest of the Syndicate at ringside to be interviewed by Ken Resnick.

 

Interview : Ken Resnick stands at ringside with Sheikh Adnan Kaissie and the Sinister Syndicate

 

Resnick : Sheikh Kaissie , it looks like you were the man behind the attacks by Lord Humongous on the Young Lions. What did they ever do to you?

 

Sheikh : Rotunda! Do you remember Detroit? In that match, you showed me no respect! You always show the Sheikh respect! Now you see what happens when you don’t pay the Sheikh his due. First, Lord Humongous takes out your little friends, and now he is coming for you!

 

Resnick : Lord Humongous is not the only member of the Syndicate making news. A week from now in Winnipeg, Ken Patera will be defending the World title, but I just got word that he has granted Tito Santana’s request and will be defending it in a steel cage! Why would Patera concede such an advantage to Santana?

 

Sheikh : Oh, Resnick, you simple fool. Yes, we gave Santana his cage match. But what did he give up to get it? We would only give him the cage match on one condition … Patera puts up the World Title in the cage, and Santana puts up his AWA career! If … and when … Santana loses, he is gone from the AWA! You can’t outsmart the Sheikh!

 

Patera : That’s right! You think I’m scared of a cage match, Santana? I beat Ron Garvin in a cage! I beat “Crusher” Blackwell in a cage! They put be between those steel walls and I still came out with the belt! So you’ve signed your last AWA match and I will finally be done with you. And nobody is going to be able to take this belt from around my waist … nobody!

 

Buddy Rose & Da Crusher vs. Eddie Gilbert & Bob Sweetan

 

After Sweetan used dirty tricks to get a win over Da Crusher last week, the Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous is now interjecting himself in “Playboy” Buddy Rose’s war with the Bad News Breakers. He provided a predictably unpredictable element to the match, with the Bad News Breakers having no idea when he might sneak into the ring and blindside them or chase them around the ring, which Rose clearly found vastly amusing. They tried to cinch in the victory with Gilbert and Sweetan trying to Spike Piledrive Rose, only for Crusher to knock Sweetan off the turnbuckle with a Bolo Punch. The Playboy took advantage of the distraction by hitting the Inside Out backbreaker on Gilbert and snatching the win away from the Bad News Breakers.

 

AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. “Doctor D” Dave Schultz

 

Ricky Steamboat has lately been defending his title against “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, so when he stepped into the ring with Sawyer’s partner Dave Schultz, it was only a matter of time for the Mad Dog to make his presence felt. It didn’t take too long, as after a back and forth match, Steamboat was driving Schultz back into the corner with chops when Sawyer charged into the ring and attacked Steamboat with a chain. Not caring about the DQ result, Schultz, Sawyer and Col. Buck Robley tried to do serious damage to Steamboat but were run off by a swiftly arriving Ron Garvin and Wahoo McDaniel.

 

Tito Santana & Paul Orndorff vs. Mr. Olympia & Bob Roop

 

While Santana is the top contender for Patera’s World Title, Orndorff isn’t too far behind, and both members of the Syndicate did their best to injure them in their role as blockers to the World belt. Olympia focused on the legs of his opponents to try and get them in the Powerlock, while Roop worked over their arms to set them up for the Shoulderbreaker. Midway through the match, Patera himself made an appearance at the back of the arena, intently watching the action. For all that the Syndicate gave them, Santana and Orndorff would not be denied, and Orndorff was able to tie up Olympia while Santana hit the Mexican Hammer on Roop to get the hard fought victory. Patera could be seen at the back, smirking and shaking his head.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the Mecca, Milwaukee, Nov. 23^rd (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards)

 

Lord Humongous vs. Tom Zenk

 

Lord Humongous made Zenk submit to the Cobra Clutch

 

Koko Ware vs. Great Gama Singh

 

Koko won with the top rope dropkick

 

Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Long Riders

 

McDaniel pinned Bill Irwin after an overhand chop

 

Ricky Steamboat & Curt Hennig vs. Don Muraco & Bad News Allen

 

Steamboat pinned Allen after a top rope flying cross body press

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match : Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert

 

Rose pinned Gilbert with a running splash in the upper deck

 

Da Crusher vs. Bob Sweetan

 

Crusher got the victory after a running Bolo Punch

 

AWA Six-Man Tag Title match : Paul Orndorff & The Road Warriors © vs. Bob Room , Kamala & Botswana Beast

 

Paul Orndorff defended the belts with a double spike piledriver on Roop

 

AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana

 

Both men fought to a double countout

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA show at the International Amphitheater , Chicago, Nov. 24^th

 

Lord Humongous vs. Mike Rotunda

 

Mike Rotunda won by DQ when he was attacked by Sheikh Adnan Kaissie

 

Al Perez vs. Phil Lafon

 

Perez pinned Lafon with a German Suplex

 

Ricky Steamboat, Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dave Schultz & Col. Buck Robley

 

Garvin knocked Robley cold with the Hands Of Stone punch and got the victory

 

AWA World Tag Team Title Double-Chain Match : The Road Warriors © vs. Botswana Beast & Kamala

 

The Road Warriors won when they pinned Beast after a chain assisted double clothesline

 

AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Curt Hennig

 

Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw

[SirEdger]

I'm pretty confident that the Double Chain Match must've been bloody as hell.

[rainmakerrtv]

I'm pretty confident that the Double Chain Match must've been bloody as hell.

 

It was. It's a Chicago crowd, I wanted to give them their home town boys in a big match that they wouldn't forget.

[rainmakerrtv]

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, November 30^th

 

Lord Humongous vs. Phil Lafon

 

Last week, Humongous had put a brutal beating on Lafon’s partner, Tom Zenk. Lafon looked both keen to get revenge while still wary of Humongous’ size and power. Lafon started off with the same hit-and-run tactics that other light heavyweights had tried against Humongous, to try and keep him off balance while still staying away from his reach. When he managed to get the masked man a bit off balance, he tried for an arm wringer, to try to soften him up. While he seemed to be gradually wearing him down, Humongous then seemed to draw on a reserve of strength and rage when he grabbed Lafon by the throat and lifted him up for a massive chokeslam. This would usually set the stage for Lord Humongous taking apart his opponent, but things took a different turn when Mike Rotunda made his return by charging to the ring , wildly swinging a chair. He managed to clip the masked man in the shoulder before Sheikh Kaissie grabbed Humongous and rushed him out of the ring. The two men headed to the back while Rotunda stood tall in the ring with the chair, daring them to come back in.

 

The Latin Lovers vs. Cuban Commandos

 

These two teams are far from strangers to each other, but the Latin Lovers seemed very intent on being taken seriously. They were very focused in this match, forgoing their usual antics and playing to the crowd and instead delivering a steady barrage of double teams and dropkicks on the Commandos that caught the former Southern Tag champs off guard. The Commandos didn’t seem to know what to do with Valentino and Cruz, even their usual dirty tricks didn’t seem to faze the Latin Lovers. When Cruz slingshot Valentino into the ring for a cross body press onto Acevedo, they got a pinfall for a victory that stunned the crowd.

 

Badd Company vs. Mr. Olympia and Bob Roop

 

Perhaps the Sinister Syndicate had watched the previous match, as they didn’t give Tanaka and Diamond a single chance to breathe in this match. Olympia and Roop ruthlessly went after the two Young Lions, shutting down any attempt to coordinate their offense and trapping Diamond in their corner of the ring. Roop was particularly vicious in giving the Shoulder Breaker to Diamond, and then did it again before tagging in Olympia and knocking Tanaka off the ring apron. Olympia put Diamond in the Sleeper to end the match. The Syndicate are sitting like kings at the top of the AWA, and it will be a tough job to dethrone them.

 

Buddy Rose vs. Rip Oliver

 

While Rose has been mostly been dealing with Eddie Gilbert of late, he has been at war with the entire Bad News Breakers and this match was a sharp reminder of that. The Playboy went at it fist and fire with his old Portland former compatriot, who returned every shot in kind. Both men were busted open soon into the match, but that didn’t slow them down one jot as they they continued brawling intensely for several more minutes. Oliver looked like he had Rose set up for an over the shoulder neck breaker, but Rose fired off a swift elbow to Oliver’s face to break that up, followed by a swift Inside Out Backbreaker. Eddie Gilbert and Bob Sweetan ran out to try to break up the pin, but they were swiftly intercepted by Ed Wiskowski and Koko Ware, and Rose got the one-two-three. The Bad News Breakers and Playboy After Dark then brawled until the AWA officials cleared them off.

 

Rick Martel & Ricky Steamboat vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz

 

Martel was very hungry to get a shot at regaining his AWA Canadian Title from Mike Shaw, but with Shaw currently on a tour of Japan, he had to satisfy himself with taking on Shaw’s Army comrades Sawyer and Schultz, alongside the Southern champ Ricky Steamboat. This was the quintessential matchup of the technicians against the brawlers, with control swinging back and forth between the two sides throughout the match. Things got to a head when Sawyer caught Steamboat in a choke hold and just would not let go. The ref got to the point of trying to physically pry Sawyer off Steamboat, to which the Mad Dog responded by whipping the ref into the ropes and power slamming him! Several more refs dashed out to the ring but it wound up being Rick Martel who was able to dropkick Sawyer out of the ring. Sawyer howled at the ring while Schultz held him back with a crazed look in his eyes.

 

Tito Santana vs. Kamala

 

The Ugandan Headhunter was the last hurdle for Santana to overcome before he would face Ken Patera in the cage, and Kamala’s goal was clearly to damage the Mexican firebrand as much as he could before the World Title match. Kamala tried to soften him up with chops and stomps and tried to slam him into place for the Air Africa splash, but Santana kept dodging out of danger and coming back with forearms and dropkicks. Kamala then started using his huge bulk to just bowl Santana over and knock him into the corner, setting him up for an avalanche. At the last second, Santana moved out of the way and Kamala went hard into the turnbuckle. Santana then leapt to the top rope and levelled Kamala with a flying clothesline. One … two … THREE! Santana got a pinfall on the seemingly unstoppable Kamala. Next stop : The World Title and Ken Patera.