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AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Feb. 24th Tournament for the vacated AWA Southern Title – First Round Greg Gagne vs. “Mad Dog” Pierre Lefebvre Gagne won after he hit the top rope kneedrop on Lefebvre Buddy Rose vs. Samu Rose won after Rip Oliver knocked Samu off the top rope and Rose hit a running elbow drop Mr. Olympia vs. Rip Oliver When the ref was distracted by Buddy Rose trying to interfere, Samu came in and hit Oliver with the thrust kick to the jaw, leading Mr. Olympia to get the pin “Ragin’ Bull” Manny Fernandez vs. “Wild Man” Jack Armstrong In an all out brawl, Fernandez won with the Flying Burrito Forearm AWA Canadian Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Ed Wiskowski Martel won with the top rope flying crossbody press Semi-Finals Buddy Rose vs. Greg Gagne Rose won with a roll up while grabbing a fistful of trunks Mr. Olympia vs. Manny Fernandez Mr. Olympia won with a tombstone piledriver AWA Southern Tag Title match : The Cuban Commandos © vs. The Mothership Connection Both teams went to a 20 minute time limit draw AWA Southern Title Tournament Finals Mr. Olympia vs. Buddy Rose After a grueling bout, Rose was finally able to hit the inside out backbreaker to win the AWA Southern Title Hulk Hogan & The Road Warriors vs. Ken Patera, One Man Gang & Ted Dibiase The Sinister Six team won when Dibiase hit Hawk with the loaded glove, followed by a running splash by One Man Gang

AWA All-Star Wrestling for Feb. 24th Can-Am Express & The Latin Lovers vs. The Assassins & Badd Company A match that showcased the depth of the AWA tag team division, with four of the newer teams combining for a fast paced match. Things naturally got heated whenever rivals Badd Company and the Can-Am Express were in the ring together, but it wound up being the bigger Assassins who got the victory for their side when Assassin #1 caught Vinnie Valentino off the ropes with a crushing powerslam for the pin. Greg Gagne vs. Rip Oliver Greg Gagne has been having a lot of difficulty as of late with an injured arm, courtesy of Paul Orndorff, and this has provided a target to a lot of his opponents. Rip Oliver proved no exception to this trend as he wrenched and kicked Gagne’s taped arm whenever opportunity presented itself. Gagne did his best to grit it out, taking Oliver down with his trademark precision dropkicks and, while the Sleeper was taken out of the equation, he was ultimately able to get the Gagne Leglock on him to get the submission. While this was able to score the victory, it did leave Gagne vulnerable for an attack by the Playboy Club, who rushed the ring and put the boots to him before being run off by the officials. The Garvin Brothers vs. Manny Fernandez & Mike Shaw The Garvins recent altercations with the latest member of Robley’s Army, Super Destroyer, seems to have led the Army to start and all out assault on both Jimmy and Ron. Tonight , they would square off with the Ragin’ Bull and the Tank and they certainly had their hands full, both with Fernandez’ craziness and with Shaw’s size and power. It seemed like it might be all over for the Brothers when Fernandez went for the Flying Burrito forearm on Jimmy, but Jimmy was able to duck at exactly the right time and Fernandez went right over him and landed hard on the mat. By the time Fernandez had gotten back to his feet, Jimmy had tagged in Ron who nailed Fernandez with the Hands Of Stone Punch for a quick pin. Shaw was unable to get there in time to break up the pin but landed a huge elbow on the back on Ron’s head just out of spite, and the Brothers and the Army continued to slug it out long after the end of the match. Angel Acevedo vs. Iceman Parsons The Cuban Assassin was coming in hot from the Commandos winning the AWA Southern Tag Titles from the Sheepherders, and had his partner Gerry Morrow in tow. Showing he was no fool himself, Iceman Parsons brought along Master Gee to watch his back. This match went back and forth , with Acevedo’s viciousness being matched by Parsons speed and enthusiasm. When Parsons went up to the top turnbuckle, Morrow looked set to interfere, but Master Gee was quick to intercept him, and Parsons was able to hit the Rumper Stumper for the pin. After the match, the Mothership Connection got on the mike and challenged the Commandos for the Southern Tag titles. After the match, there was an announcement on the screen that the Winnipeg Arena show would host a tournament to name the new holder of the currently vacant AWA Southern championship. Participants in the tournament would be Greg Gagne, “Mad Dog” Pierre Lefebvre , Buddy Rose, Samu, Mr. Olympia, Rip Oliver, Manny Fernandez and “Wildman” Jack Armstrong . Rick Martel & Da Crusher vs. Ed Wiskowski & Bob Sweetan Martel was facing a Canadian title defense against Wiskowski and tonight he would be teaming with his old friend, Da Crusher , against the Polish Prince and his Playboy Club teammate, “Bruiser” Bob Sweetan. This matched looked like it could have gone either way, with momentum shifting from one way to the other on a dime. It looked like it was all over when Martel and Crusher knocked down Sweetan with a double clothesline and Crusher got him in the Crusher Clutch, but Wiskowski took advantage of the ref escorting Martel from the ring to hit Crusher with a set of brass knucks and put Sweetan on top of him. Martel protested but the Playboy Club still got the victory. AWA American Title match : Tito Santana © vs. Super Destroyer Tito has ducked no challengers in defending his American title, but the newest member of Col. Buck Robley’s Army would prove to be his stiffest test yet. Super D has been on a real hot streak of late, getting several major victories, and he showed why as he bowled over Santana with several big power moves. Santana would not be held down for long, firing back with big punches and dropkicks. He was able to sink in the figure four leglock that might have spelled the end for the Super Destroyer, but the masked man was able to drag himself towards to the ropes to break the hold. Super D was still able to fight his way back into control, getting Santana up for the Superplex, but the American champ rallied back by punching Super D off the turnbuckle then coming off with a devastating flying clothesline from the top rope. Super D’s long limbs wound up saving him as he was just able to get his foot on the ropes in time. Santana picked him up and came off the ropes for the Mexican Hammer to put him away, but Super Destroyer came charging in with a massive lariat that got the 2.99999 count. He then whipped Santana again into the ropes for a powerslam, but then the bell rang , signaling the 20 minute time limit draw. Clearly , Santana has not seen the last of this formidable challenger.

Glad to see Lord Humungous found a good home. That is how to make a debut with impact.

AWA show at the Mecca, Milwaukee , Feb. 17th Can-Am Express vs. Badd Company Can-Am Express won when Lafon hit the Cobra Clutch Suplex on Tanaka Greg Gagne vs. Super Destroyer Super Destroyer won when he executed the Superplex on Gagne The Mothership Connection vs. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell & One Man Gang Kaissie’s Krew won when Gang hit Master Gee with the 747 Splash Jimmy Garvin vs. Buddy Rose Garvin won by DQ when he was attacked by Manny Fernandez AWA Southern Tag Title : The Sheepherders © vs. The Cuban Commandos This match was as brutal and crazy a brawl as you can imagine. The visiting Sheepherders and the Commandos took turns having dominance in the match but the tide fully turned when the Commandos hit a double DDT on Butch Miller on the concrete outside the ring. Luke Williams fought them off as long as he could but when they got him with a Spike Piledriver, that was that and the Cuban Commandos were the new AWA Southern Tag champs. Da Crusher vs.”Mad Dog” Pierre Lefebvre Crusher won when he landed a running Bolo Punch on Lefebvre AWA World Tag Title : The Road Warriors vs. The Assassins The Road Warriors won when they hit a double flying shoulder tackle on Assassin #2 Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana & Mr. Olympia vs. Ken Patera, Ted Dibiase & Masked Superstar The Sinister Six team won when Superstar got the Corkscrew Neckbreaker on Mr. Olympia

AWA All-Star Wrestling, Feb. 17th Ted Dibiase & The Masked Superstar vs. The Can-Am Express Dibiase & Superstar had made a shocking appearance at the show in San Francisco and looked set to approve their devastating performance was no fluke. They bullied the young rookie Tom Zenk and kept him in their corner, keeping him from tagging in Lafon, pounding him mercilessly before Superstar finally put him away with the Corkscrew Neckbreaker. Dibiase laughed as Superstar pinned Zenk, showing his contempt for the AWA competition. Paul Orndorff vs. Jack Armstrong Orndorff came to the ring accompanied by Sheikh Adnan Kaissie, showing he is now firmly in the camp of Kaissie’s Krew and the Sinister Six. “The Wildman” was not intimidated and went all out against “Mr. Wonderful” , leading to a crazy brawl between the two powerful men. Armstrong though he might just be able to take out Orndorff with the running clothesline, but Orndorff had it spotted and caught him with a quick powerslam , getting the flash pin with a handful of trunks. The Mothership Connection vs. Badd Company The rookie team of Tanaka and Diamond have been proving increasingly dangerous of late, getting a number of impressive wins. This time they were taking on the popular team of Parsons and Master Gee and showed no reluctance to double team and work in a number of sneak attacks when the ref wasn’t looking. They looked like they might just pull off the upset when they had set up Parsons for Tanaka to superkick him into a Diamond German Suplex. Parsons was able to reverse it at the last moment and Tanaka hit Diamond instead, causing Parsons to Suplex Diamond while Master Gee tied up Tanaka. The Mothership Connection got the win but, in their usual display of bad sportsmanship, Badd Company dropkicked them out of the ring before high tailing it back to the locker room. Ken Patera vs. Al Perez In spite of his recent loss of the American Title, Patera has been in particularly brutal form lately, and looked like he was making an example of the handsome Perez. He never really let the Latin Heartthrob get into the match, blasting him with power moves before locking him in the Full Nelson until Perez was forced to submit. Jimmy Garvin vs. Super Destroyer Super Destroyer just recently scored a major win over Jimmy’s brother, Ron Garvin, and shocked the crowd by coming out with Col. Buck Robley and Manny Fernandez. Is Super D the latest member of the Army? Garvin tried not to be distracted by the men at ringside, but both Robley and the Ragin’ Bull were not above taking potshots every chance they got. Garvin almost had Super Destroyer ready to be put away with the DDT, but that prompted Robley to jump upon the ring apron, and when the ref went over to get him down, Fernandez came in and hit Garvin with the Flying Burrito and put Super Destroyer on top of him for the pin. When Garvin got to his feet, Destroyer, Robley and Fernandez attacked him. This prompted Ron Garvin to come to his brother’s aide, but this in turn led to him being attacked by Mike Shaw until the AWA officials got both sides separated. It looks like the Army has declared war on the Garvins. Hulk Hogan & Mr. Olympia vs. Buddy Rose & Bob Sweetan As payback for his friend helping him out against the Sinister Six last week, Hulk Hogan is lending a hand to Mr. Olympia in his ongoing feud with the Playboy Club. Neither Rose nor Sweetan were particularly keen to get in the ring with the champ, stalling all they could. When they did, Hogan, in spite of wearing a collar to protect his injured neck, was quick to knock them around the ring. When it was time for Olympia to come in the ring, he showed how he was one of the most dangerous competitors in the AWA as he blasted both men with dropkicks. The course of the match turned, however, when Patera, Blackwell and One Man Gang showed up in the aisle to goad Hogan. When he went out to confront them, he was attacked from behind by Dibiase and Masked Superstar, who once again took him out with a Corkscrew Neckbreaker. This left Olympia alone in the ring to be double teamed by the Playboy Club, who were eventually able to grind him down until Sweetan hit the piledriver for the pin.

Off topic, but folks should check out the Lanny Poffo shoot interview. Good story teller with a very grounded assessment of his own abilities.

AWA at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, Feb. 10th Phil Lafon vs. Pat Tanaka Lafon won with the Cobra Clutch Suplex The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers The Commandos won with a double DDT on Valentino Tom Zenk vs. Paul Diamond Diamond won with a superkick on Zenk The Mothership Connection vs. Manny Fernandez & Mike Shaw Both teams went to a 20 minute time limit draw after Master Gee was just able to kickout after three pinfall attempts by the Army Ron Garvin vs. Super Destroyer Super Destroyer won after getting a power slam on Garvin Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Jimmy Garvin & Samu Garvin and Samu won after Garvin got a DDT on Wiskowski 12 Man Tag Team Match : Hogan's Heroes vs. The Sinister Six Hogan’s Heroes (Hulk Hogan, the Road Warriors, Mr. Olympia, “Wildman” Jack Armstrong & Tito Santana) came out to huge cheers from the fans. Ken Patera, “Crusher” Blackwell, One Man Gang and Sheikh Adnan Kaissie (wearing his wrestling gear) came out after that to loud boos. Patera got on the mike and announced that their partners in the Sinister Six were … Ted Dibiase and the Masked Superstar! The crowd gasped as Dibiase hadn’t been seen in the AWA in quite some time and Superstar hadn’t been seen there at all. Hogan’s team were clearly determined to get the match started but Patera held up his hand in a “not so fast” gesture. He said that, nowhere in the contract had they ever mentioned that Sheikh Kaissie was going to wrestle tonight, that Hogan had just assumed that. In fact, the final member of the Sinister Six was …. “MR. WONDERFUL” PAUL ORNDORFF! Hogan and his friends were livid at what they felt was a clear deception, but there was nothing they could do about it as Patera was right and the contract said nothing about Kaissie wrestling, so the match was underway. This set the stage for a 37 minute epic that included : Road Warrior Animal powerslamming the huge “Crusher” Blackwell ; Mr. Olympia holding on tight to a to a sleeper hold on Blackwell in spite of being crushed hard into the corner back first by Blackwell, until Patera finally forcibly dragged Olympia off ; Hogan going for the Axe Bomber on Dibiase, only for Dibiase to duck it and then Hogan getting leveled going the other way by a slingshot clothesline by Superstar ; Santana getting incredibly close to a three count on Gang after the Mexican Hammer only for Orndorff to break it up at the last minute ; Kaissie leap on the apron to interfere only to get spectacularly clotheslined off by Armstrong ; Patera catching a cross body press attempt by Armstrong and gorilla pressing him high over his head before dropping him face first onto the turnbuckle. This set up a lengthy period of Patera and then Orndorff working over Armstrong, and it seemed like it would be all over for Hogan’s Heroes when Orndorff gripped Armstrong in a tight bearhug. The Wild Man toughed it out, however, and broke out of the hold with big punches to Orndorff’s face before staggering into his corner and tagging in Hulk Hogan. The crowd exploded as the Hulkster charged into the ring and started cleaning house, knocking everyone flying. But then the match descended into chaos as the Assassins came out of nowhere and yanked the Road Warriors off the ring apron and started fighting with them, leading to unruly brawling between all 3 factions. Amidst the confusion, Hogan tried to put away Orndorff with the Axe Bomber, but Dibiase caught him as he came off the ropes and jacked him in the back of the head with a loaded glove. Hogan was dazed and staggered out to be hit by Orndorff with the Piledriver. One … two … THREE!!!!! The crowd gasped at this shocking defeat, but that wasn’t the end of things, as Masked Superstar dashed into the ring right after the three count, picked up Hogan and got him in a nasty looking Corkscrew Neckbreaker. The rest of Hogan’s Heroes rushed the ring to clear off the Sinister Six, but the damage had been done and Hogan had to be taken away in a stretcher with his neck immobilized.

Full Card : AWA at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, Feb. 10th Phil Lafon vs. Pat Tanaka The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers Tom Zenk vs. Paul Diamond The Mothership Connection vs. Manny Fernandez & Mike Shaw Ron Garvin vs. Super Destroyer Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Jimmy Garvin & Samu 12 Man Tag Team Match : Hogan's Heroes vs. The Sinister Six

AWA All-Star Wrestling for Feb 10th Greg Gagne vs. Buck Robley A rare wrestling appearance for the leader of the Army, the Colonel seemed determined to show that he was still dangerous in the ring, going after Gagne’s taped up arm like an attack dog. Gagne seemed equally determined despite his injuries and fought back just as hard as Robley. Gagne was able to hang in just long enough and take advantage of a mistimed lariat by Robley, ducking under and coming back with one of his trademark high-impact dropkicks to get the pin. Robley was screaming at Gagne as they left the ring. Tito Santana & The Latin Lovers vs. The Super Destroyer & The Cuban Commandos For their newly started rivalry with the Cuban Commandos, the Lovers brought in the man they called their “Latin Brother”, the newly crowned American Champ Tito Santana. In turn, the Commandos brought in the huge Super Destroyer who seemed determined to make up for his recent setbacks, knocking both members of the Latin Lovers across the ring every chance he got. In a match that went back and forth, it looked like The Lovers might just eke out a victory when they set up Gerry Morrow for the Love Missile. Super D put a quick end to that when he bowled over both Perez and Morrow and knocked Valentino down hard, crotching him on the top turnbuckle before executing the Superplex for the victory. Master Gee vs. Mike Shaw Master Gee definitely had his work cut out for him, taking on the huge Tank of the Colonel’s Army. He kept trying to knock Mike Shaw down to get him set up for the Masterlock. Mike Shaw just refused to go down and showed a lot of ring savvy for such a huge man, dodging out of a few narrow predicaments that Master Gee had lured him into. Master Gee got more and more desperate, going for higher risk moves and peppering him with dropkicks to try to get him off his feet. He finally went for a Thesz Press, but Shaw caught him in a bearhug before dropping him throat first onto the top rope. One running splash later it was all over for Master Gee. Iceman Parsons vs. Manny Fernandez Lately, it has seemed like the Ragin’ Bull has been more interested in hurting people than getting victories. If he thought he was going to intimidate the Iceman, he had another thing coming, with Parsons seeming like he was toying with Fernandez, even laughing at him when he dodged an attempt at a clothesline in the corner leading to Manny going face first into the turnbuckle. This infuriated Fernandez beyond all reasoning, and he finally went over the edge and clobbered Parsons with a chair grabbed from ringside, leading to the DQ. He looked set to tee off on him again but Parsons’ partner, Master Gee, came to the rescue, pulling him out of the ring. Interview : Mean Gene stands in the ring. Mean Gene : Folks, my next guest is returning to the AWA from another successful tour of Japan and looks to be facing possibly the biggest challenge of his career … ladies and gentlemen, AWA World Champion Hulk Hogan! The crowd roars their approval as the Hulkster, World Title belt, confidently walks to the ring, giving high fives to every fan he can along the way. Mean Gene : Hulkster, good to see you back with the World Title! Since you’ve been gone, there have been a lot of developments in the AWA, significantly Ken Patera throwing down the gauntlet on behalf of the so called Sinister Six for you to face his team in San Francisco. How do you respond to that? Hogan : Well, y’know , Mean Gene, I have never been one to back down from a challenge. I don’t care what two guys Patera has in his back pocket to join him, Blackwell, One Man Gang and Kaissie. I’m not scared of any of them , and I’m certainly not scared of the unknown. Because I know I’ve got friends to back me up. Good friends, like my best friend, a man I know will do anything to help with me, and knows I will do anything to help him , one of the strongest men in the AWA … Mr. Olympia! The crowd cheers as the masked man comes to the ring and hugs Hogan, posing with him in the middle of the ring. Hogan : Next, I went and got a couple of guys who will not back down from Blackwell and Gang, two guys who will not be intimidate by a big team because they are plenty big themselves, the AWA World Tag champs … The Road Warriors ! The crowd roars as the tag champions run full tilt to the ring, getting in the ring and bouncing off the ropes. Hogan : Then I thought, what is the best way to face the unknown? You bring in a wild card, a guy so unpredictable, so wild that there is no way the other team will know what to do … the Wild Man himself, Jack Armstrong! The crowd claps and roots on the wild man as he charges to the ring, howling to the fans. Hogan : And for the final spot, I found a man who I knew could get the job done, a man who has shown he can beat Patera and show no fear, the new AWA American champion … Tito Santana! The crowd explodes as the newly crowned American champ races to the ring. Hogan stands with a proud look on his face as his team poses in the ring. Hogan : Now this is a team that is going to have Patera and his clowns quaking in their boots. So what are you gonna do, Sinister Six, when Hogan’s Heroes run wild on you? Ed Wiskowski vs. Mr. Olympia Olympia may have made his commitment to helping out Hulk Hogan, but at the same time he seems to have his hands full with his ongoing battles with the Playboy Club. He battled ferociously with the latest member of the Club, the Polish Prince, who had Buddy Rose accompany him to the ring. The two big men waged an intense war until Olympia was able to knock Wiskowski out of the ring where Rose stood and dove on top of him. Both men paid no attention to the count as they slugged it out and ultimately the decision was a double count out. When the bell rang, Rose summoned Rip Oliver and Bob Sweetan to gang up on Olympia, but they were swiftly followed by Hulk Hogan who proceeded to chase them off. AWA World Tag Title Match : The Road Warriors © vs. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell & One Man Gang These two teams were no strangers to each other, and with the revelation that they would be on opposing sides in the big 12 man tag match, the stakes seemed that much higher. These two huge teams went full tilt at each other, and for most of the match , it seemed like it go either way. Hawk went up to the top rope, looking to finish off One Man Gang with a flying clothesline (just as Tito Santana had last week) but that was when Sheikh Kaissie got involved, knocking Hawk off the rope and drawing the DQ. Kaissie and Patera then entered the ring to attack the Road Warriors, prompting a response from Hogan, Olympia, Santana and Armstrong, but Kaissie’s Krew promptly bailed from the ring, indicating that if Hogan’s Heroes wanted to get their hands on them, they would have to wait until San Francisco.

Thanks to Low Blow for reminding me that I hadn't got the page started yet. Stan Hansen April 3rd – USWA April 6th – Mid-South April 7th – Mid-South April 10th – USWA April 17th – USWA April 23rd – USWA April 30th – USWA Bruiser Brody April 3rd – USWA April 6th – Mid-South April 7th – Mid-South April 10th – USWA April 17th – USWA April 23rd – USWA April 30th – USWA Mil Mascaras April 3rd – USWA April 6th - Mid-South April 7th - Mid-South April 10th – USWA April 17th – USWA April 22nd - Stampede April 23rd – USWA April 29th – Stampede April 30th – USWA Andre The Giant April 6th – Mid-South April 7th – Mid-South April 13th – AWA Abdullah The Butcher April 3rd – USWA April 6th – Mid-South April 7th – Mid-South April 10th – USWA April 17th – USWA April 23rd – USWA April 28th – USWA April 30th – USWA Minis Women April 5th – Mid-South April 7th – Mid-South April 12th – Mid-South April 14th – Mid-South April 19th – Mid-South April 21st – Mid-South April 26th – Mid-South April 28th – Mid-South April 30th - USWA

AWA show at the Met Center, Bloomington, Feb. 3rd The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers The Commandos won when Acevedo got an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Valentino Manny Fernandez vs. Samu Fernandez won when he hit the Flying Burrito forearm on Samu The New Can-Am Express vs. Badd Company Badd Company won when Diamond blindsided Zenk with a superkick to the back of the head Paul Orndorff vs. Iceman Parsons Orndorff won with the Piledriver on Parsons Buddy Rose, Buddy Landell & Rip Oliver vs. Mr. Olympia & The Garvin Brothers Rip Oliver jumped on the ring apron and tried to interfere, and when the ref directed him to get down, Ed Wiskowski of all people snuck in the ring and hit Olympia with a set of brass knucks. Landell then followed up with a corkscrew elbow drop and got the win. Wiskowski left the ring with Rose’s team. It looks like the Polish Prince now stands with the Playboy Club Da Crusher vs. "Mad Dog" Pierre Lefebvre The match went to a Double DQ with both men a bloody mess and slugging it out in the middle of the ring The Road Warriors & Moose Cholak vs. "The Tank" Mike Shaw & ? The Tank came out with what turned out to be the newest members of Col. Robley’s Army, the Assassins. The Army won when the Assassins hit a Double DDT on Cholak AWA American Title match : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana This was a lengthy, epic match that went for 27 minutes. After a grueling battle that went back and forth, Santana went up to the top rope for the flying clothesline that finished off One Man Gang, but Patera was again playing possum and ducked out of the way. He then picked up the felled Santana and tried to go for a powerslam, but Santana broke out of his grip and slid down his back, Orndorff was able to grab Santana again and whip him into the ropes for a massive clothesline, but this time it was Santana who ducked under and came back with the Mexican Hammer. One … two … THREE!!!!! TITO SANTANA IS THE NEW AMERICAN CHAMPION! The crowd went berserk as their favorite held the title belt proudly over his head.

AWA All-Star Wrestling for February 3rd The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers This was the AWA debut of Angel Acevedo and Gerry Morrow and they showed they meant business, catching the Lovers off guard with their ferocious brawling. Try though they might, the Latin Lovers just could not get it in gear against the Cuban Commandos and when the ref was trying to separate Acevedo and Valentino, Morrow hit a nasty swinging neckbreaker on Al Perez to get them their first AWA victory. Ron Garvin vs. “Mad Dog” Pierre Lefebvre Not a lot of finesse went into this match. Lefebvre clearly had a bee in his bonnet about his ongoing feud with his former friend, Da Crusher, and looked set to take it out on Crusher’s good buddy, Ron Garvin. The Man With The Hands Of Stone was no pushover and gave just as good as he got with the big Mad Dog, matching him punch for punch and kick for kick. The match took a strange turn when Crusher showed up at ringside and distracted Lefebvre. Lefebvre turned to Crusher and started to hurl abuse in his direction, but Garvin immediately took advantage and caught Mad Dog in a school boy rollup to get the quick pinfall. Lefebvre was livid at the decision and quickly grabbed his axe handle, charging off to the locker room to go after Crusher. The New Can-Am Express vs. Badd Company The rookie team of Badd Company had just recently gotten an impressive victory over the Can-Am Express, and things didn’t seem to be looking up for the Express when word spread that Jim Brunzell had moved on from the AWA for new opportunities. Phil Lafon, however, didn’t seem to be showing concern as he came out to the ring by himself, got on the mic, and announced that the Can-Am Express would continue going on with his new partner, young rookie Tom Zenk. The crowd cheered on the handsome newcomer, especially the ladies, but Badd Company seemed less impressed, attacking Zenk with their newly aggressive style. Zenk fought back just as intensely in a very fast paced match, with both sides getting the advantage at different points. Zenk tried to finish off Diamond with a top rope flying body press, but Diamond had it spotted and ducked down. Zenk managed to correct himself in the air, however, and instead caught Diamond in a modified flying sunset flip to score the pin. The crowd roared it’s approval as the ref raised Zenk’s hand in victory, but Badd Company didn’t give him time to enjoy it as they attacked him from behind in a display of bad(d?) sportsmanship. Lafon came to his partner’s aid as the two teams continued their fight well after the final bell. Paul Orndorff vs. Master Gee Mr. Wonderful has been on a hot streak of his own lately and was looking to continue it against one half of the Mothership Connection, Master Gee. Gee looked to take a page out of Greg Gagne’s book by working over Orndorff’s legs, weakening him from hitting the piledriver and setting him up for his own Masterlock. Orndorff clearly had this tactic already spotted, however, using his own technical expertise to get out of various leglocks and firing back with his own power moves. Gee tried to change his approach and take Orndorff down with big flying tackles, but he went to the well one too many times and Orndorff caught himself in the topes, sending Master Gee falling to the mat. Orndorff followed up with a big running knee drop to the back of Gee’s head before picking him up for the Piledriver and finishing him off. Interview : Mean Gene stands in the ring. Mean Gene : Folks, my next guest is the current AWA American Champion … Ken Patera! The crowd boos loudly as Patera and his manager, Sheikh Adnan Kaissie, head to the ring. If anything, this reaction seems to please Patera as he grins nastily. Mean Gene : Ken Patera, word has it that you and the Sheikh were responsible for bringing in Stan Hansen to win the AWA World Title from Hulk Hogan. If that’s true, it looks like that was all for nothing as the Hulkster took the title back the next week. Patera : Hansen keeping the title was never the plan! Yes, we arranged the contracts to bring in Hansen, but him winning the championship was only the first step. He proved that Hogan can be beaten, and he beat the tar out of Hogan by the end of his championship. Hansen did his part and has been paid handsomely for his efforts. Hogan know that his grip on his belt is weakening and that is why he ran off scared to Japan to regroup. But he is coming back soon, and when he does, he is in for a living nightmare courtesy of the Six. Mean Gene : What, the Six? There’s you, Blackwell, One Man Gang and the Sheikh … who else is in on this scheme of yours? Patera : Time will tell, Okerlund. I know you are watching, Hogan! If you are half the man you say you are, you will answer this challenge. Put together a team of your own, assuming anyone is stupid enough to stand beside you, and face the Sinister Six in a tag match a week from now in San Francisco! Let’s see what you are made of! Jimmy Garvin vs. Ed Wiskowski Garvin was finally able to get his hands on the Polish Prince after he had gone after his manager, Precious, and Wiskowski no longer had his former partner, Ivan Putski, to back him up. These two had once been as thick as thieves, but there was no trace of that as they went at it fist and fire. Wiskowski tried to use his size and power to wear down the Gorgeous one, but Garvin was fired up and motivated by his desire to avenge his lady. Ultimately, Wiskowski tried to get Garvin in the face first piledriver, but Garvin was still able to power out of it with a back drop. Wiskowski still had enough strength to whip Garvin into the ropes, but he ducked his head down for too long and Garvin gave him a venomous look before hitting a stiff DDT. Garvin had gotten his revenge on the Prince. Tito Santana vs. One Man Gang The crowd had really been rallying behind Tito Santana as of late, but he would need all the support he could get against the massive 747. This was a classic cat and mouse match, with One Man Gang trying to bully Santana with his overwhelming bulk and Santana ducking and dodging and firing back with rapid fire strikes. At one point , it seemed like it was all over for Santana as Gang had him in position for the running splash, but he was able to roll out of the way and it was Gang who took the full impact of the fall. Santana went up to the top rope and, when Gang staggered to his feet, Santana leveled him with a flying clothesline that looked like it nearly took his head off. The ref counted to three and the crowed exploded as he got his most impressive victory yet.

I recall we were discussing possibly having one more manager allowed with the next increase. Any way that could go through? I find myself having a bit of a need for one more heel manager, owing to having moved one manager over to the face side.

Work and weather are holding things up a bit, but there is a big rumour about the San Francisco house show main event : AWA at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, Feb. 10th Hogan's Heroes vs. The Sinister Six

I'll just say Hogan is in for a world of trouble when he gets back. The Sinister Six will see to that.

Fingers crossed I can get this one up this weekend. AWA show at the Met Center, Bloomington, Feb. 3rd The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers Manny Fernandez vs. Samu The New Can-Am Express vs. Badd Company Paul Orndorff vs. Iceman Parsons Buddy Rose, Buddy Landell & Rip Oliver vs. Mr. Olympia & The Garvin Brothers Da Crusher vs. "Mad Dog" Pierre Lefebvre The Road Warriors & Moose Cholak vs. "The Tank" Mike Shaw & ? AWA American Title match : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana

We tend to get a bit gimmicky in the AWA when Hogan is in Japan.

Glad to see Ivan went to a good home.

The AWA is releasing Eddie Mansfield and Ivan Putski to free agency and signing up Angel Acevedo and Gerry Morrow.

AWA at the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, January 27th Can-Am Express vs. Badd Company The Express went for their dropkick into a Cobra Clutch suplex finisher on Tanaka, only for Tanaka to pull himself out of the way at the last second and Brunzell hit Lafon instead. Badd Company then hit a superkick into a German Suplex on Brunzell to shock the audience with their first win in the AWA Manny Fernandez vs. “Wildman” Jack Armstrong Fernandez won with the Flying Burrito forearm. The Assassins vs. The Latin Lovers The Assassins won when Assassin #1 hit a powerslam on Al Perez Samu vs. Ed Wiskowski Wiskowski won when he hit samu with a set of brass knucks after the ref was knocked down, followed by a face first piledriver. The Garvin Brothers vs. One Man Gang and “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell Both teams went to a double countout when they would not stop brawling at ringside Mr. Olympia vs. Buddy Landell Landell was making a special appearance from Southeastern wrestling and proved a tough challenge for the popular masked man. He had a deep bag of tricks that he dug into in avoiding both the Powerlock and the Sleeper, and on a number of occasions came very close to pinning Olympia. Olympia was finally able to get the Sleeper in the middle of the ring, but this led to Buddy Rose and the rest of the Playboy Club rushing the ring and attacking him, leading to a DQ. Rick Martel & Tito Santana vs. The Heavenly Bodies This dream pairing of Martel and Santana was evenly matched with the exciting tag team out of Southeastern, and the match looked like it would go to the full 30 minute draw. Hoever, in the 29th minute, Bobby Eaton desperately tried to put Santana away with the top rope Alabama Jam, only to be pushed from the top turnbuckle by Martel. Martel then followed up with a flying splash for the last minute victory. Loser-Leaves-Town Cage Match : Da Crusher vs. Ivan Putski This feud finally came to a head with both men determined that they would be the last one standing in the AWA. Both Ed Wiskowski and Mad Dog Lefebvre showed at ringside, hoping in some way to tip the balance for Putski , but they were soon run off by the Garvin Brothers. Both men were a bloody mess by the end of the match, and it looked like Polish Power would prevail when Putski got a big bearhug on Crusher, but Crusher rallied with big punches to the face on Putski to finally break his grip. He managed one more lunging Bolo Punch on Putski before putting him in the Crusher Clutch. The barely conscious Putski was unable to break out of it and had to submit, putting himself out of the AWA. AWA World Tag Title Cage match : The Road Warriors © vs. The Wild Samoans Buck Robley’s latest challengers for the Road Warriors’ tag belts seemed to be in their best position to win the title. Hawk was coming in with taped ribs, having been badly hurt by the Samoans in a cage match last week, and Afa and Sika mercilessly went after them. Strangely, a mustached man wearing a black beret could been seen in the aisle to the ring, observing and seemingly taking notes. As the battle raged on, the Samoans went back to the tactics that worked for them last week, cutting Hawk off from his partner and keeping him in their end of the ring. When they tried to take him down with a double clothesline, he ducked and knocked them both down with his own double clothesline before getting the hot tag to Animal. Animal exploded on the Samoans, knocking them down with shoulderblocks before jack hammering Sika into the corner with multiple tackles. He then hoisted up Sika and Hawk hit the flying clothesline to once again defend their belts. After the cage was opened, Col. Robley proceeded to berate the two Samoans for failing to bring him back the belts. Bad move. Afa and Sika attacked Robley and then left the ring in the company of the mustached man.

AWA All-Star Wrestling for the weekend of January 27th The Assassins vs. The Can-Am Express The Express had been on a bit of a hot streak lately, but that all came to a screeching halt when they hit the roadblock that was AWA newcomers The Assassins. The fans were shocked as the masked men opened up on the Can-Am Express, giving a brutal beatdown to Brunzell and keeping Lafon out of the ring. Brunzell tried to rally with his trademark dropkicks, but the second Assassin pulled the first out of the way of one and when the felled Brunzell struggled to his feet, he was hit with a nasty diving second rope elbow smash to the back of his head that got the win for the Assassins. “Wildman” Jack Armstrong vs. Eddie Mansfield Initially, “The Continental Lover” came out without the rest of the Playboy Club, but he seemed determined to succeed on his own against the fan favorite Armstrong, but the Wildman kept powering out of Mansfield’s attempts to wear him down. Not too long into the match, Buddy Rose, Bob Sweetan and Rip Oliver did come out to the ring, but it was clear that they were not there to help Mansfield, instead hurling insults from ringside. Eventually, this proved to be too much for Mansfield, who turned to shout back at them. Unfortunately for him, this was enough of an opportunity for Armstrong to blindside him with a massive clothesline, followed by a pinfall. After the match, the Playboy Club dragged Mansfield from the ring and put the boots to him, culminating in Oliver and Sweetan giving him a nasty spike piledriver on the concrete. Mansfield had to be taken to the back in a stretcher. Buddy Rose vs. Greg Gagne Gagne was still showing the effects of the last week’s match with Paul Orndorff , coming out with his arm heavily taped. Not a good idea to give a target like that to the Playboy, who might not look like the most athletic competitor but is an incredibly dangerous opponent. Rose went after the injured arm every chance he got, wrenching it with armbars and elbows and giving a cheap shot kick to it when Gagne tried to rally. Gagne still tried to take Rose out with his trademark Sleeper, but Rose reversed it into a waistlock from behind, and when Gagne tried to elbow his way out, Rose dodged them and trapped Gagne in a schoolboy rollup, grabbing a big handful of trunks to ensure the pin. After the count, Rose pointed to his head, seeming very please with himself for getting such a cheap win. One Man Gang vs. Ron Garvin These two had some intense matches last year, and it seemed like time had done nothing to mellow out the hatred that the two had for each other. This was another chaotic brawl, with Gang’s size and power matching up against Gagne’s toughness and ferocity. Garvin did manage to stagger Gang with a right hook coming off the ropes, but when he peppered Gang with lefts and rights, this proved to be the cue for “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell to charge into the ring and attack Garvin, leaving to a DQ. Jimmy Garvin came in to even the sides, and the two sides brawled until the AWA officials cleared them out of the ring. Interview : Mean Gene stands in the ring. Mean Gene : Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest is possibly the most controversial wrestler in the AWA. Many people say he showed his true colors when he betrayed Da Crusher in their match last week … “Mad Dog” Pierre Lefebvre. The crowd explodes into boos as Lefebvre heads down to the ring. Lefebvre , in turn, shouted back at the fans. Mean Gene : Mad Dog, Da Crusher was the man who brought you into the AWA, but you repay him by attacking him in the middle of your tag match with the Brotherhood Of Poland. What gives? Mad Dog : (waving the tip of his axehandle under Mean Gene’s nose) You watch your mouth, Okerlund, or you get some of this! Crusher did bring me to the AWA. Promise me a fight! The Mad Dog is always up for a fight! But you think we are your friends, huh? You think the Mad Dog is your boy? The Mad Dog is nobody’s boy! The Mad Dog has no friends, needs no friends, don’t want no friends! The Mad Dog is through with being in your shadow. I’ve sunk my teeth into you, and I am never going to let go! AWA American Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Master Gee For all that people might object to Patera’s tactics, he certainly hasn’t been ducking any challengers, this week taking on one half of the up and coming tag team of the Mothership Connection. Patera had taken the American Title from Master Gee’s partner, Iceman Parsons, and Master Gee seemed to have Patera well scouted, catching the big man off guard with his rapid fire, high impact offense. Patera kept steady, however, and waited for his opportunity, and when Master Gee went for a flying shoulder tackle from the top rope, Patera showed he was playing possum and dodged it with ease. Patera picked up the felled Master Gee and hit a running powerslam on him to successfully defend his belt. AWA Canadian Title Match : Rick Martel © Manny Fernandez The wildly popular Martel returned to defend his belt against the wildly unpredictable Ragin’ Bull. Fernandez brought a lot of pent up frustration into the match and seemed more interested in hurting Martel than winning the title. Martel showed his trademark cool in getting out of any trap that Fernandez put him in, which only served to infuriate Fernandez more. Fernandez finally blew his stack and dragged Martel out of the ring , attacking him with a chair and getting DQed. He kept after Martel until Tito Santana ran out and the two fan favorites finally managed to send off the Ragin’ Bull. One commentary, Ron Trongard said that the pairing of Martel and Santana had a lot of potential, possibly calling themselves something like the Attack Team. God damn it, Ron …

Man, great bunch of shows. LOVE your tag division!

I know the current system is that we can only pick up one free agent per week, but I have been running behind and am just starting to get caught up. I had hoped to have phased out a couple of people in order to bring 2 people in as a tag team, but am only just coming to that point where I can drop them that I had hoped to be a couple of weeks ago. Would anyone object if I dropped 2 people and picked up 2 people to specifically act as a tag team?

AWA show at the Mecca, Milwaukee, January 20th The Garvin Brothers vs. Badd Company The Garvin Brothers won when they hit a spike brainbuster on Tanaka "Bruiser" Bob Sweetan vs. "Wildman" Jack Armstrong Sweetan won when he got Armstrong in a piledriver The Mothership Connection vs. Rip Oliver & Eddie Mansfield Mansfield once again tried to get a cheap win by hitting George Wells with a set of brass knucks but Wells dodged out of the way at the last time and Oliver took the shot. Wells pinned Oliver and afterwards, Oliver, Buddy Rose and Bob Sweetan beat down Mansfield until the refs cleared the ring "Playboy" Buddy Rose vs. Mr. Olympia In what is considered something of an upset, Rose beat Olympia with the Inside Out Backbreaker Da Crusher & "Mad Dog" Pierre Lefebvre vs. The Brotherhood Of Poland The Brotherhood kept double teaming Crusher and resisting any attempts to get one of them in the ring at a time until Wiskowski punched the ref in the face, leading to a DQ. Lefebvre came in swinging an axe handle and ran them out of the ring … then started savagely attacking Crusher with the axe handle! The Brotherhood gleefully jumped in the ring and tried to get in on the attack, but Lefebvre swung his axe handle wide, letting them know their help was not wanted. They instead high tailed it back to the locker room, and it was the Garvin Brothers coming in and swinging chairs that finally got Lefebvre off Da Crusher. AWA American title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Samu Samu went for the Dynamite Dive, but Patera rolled out of the way at the last moment , and the champion then hit a second rope knee drop on the back of Samu’s head to successfully defend his title 10 Man Tag Cage Match : The Road Warriors, Moose Cholak, Tito Santana & Greg Gagne vs. The Wild Samoans, "The Tank" Mike Shaw, "Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez & Col. Buck Robley In a shocking result, the Army trapped Hawk in their corner, cutting off the ring as they brutally attacked him. Shaw hit two assisted running splashes to his ribs before Sika hit a sitting splash from the second rope to get the pin. AWA World Title Cage Match : Stan Hansen © vs. Hulk Hogan Kaissie’s Krew showed up at ringside and surrounded the cage during this match, but apart from jeering at Hogan they did not attempt to enter the ring or otherwise interfere. This was a brutal brawl with both men a bloody mess by the end of it. Ultimately, Hansen tried to put Hogan away once more with the Lariat, but this time it was Hogan who ducked it and Hansen went crashing into the cage. As he staggered back, Hogan got him in a back suplex and then followed that up with the big leg drop for the pin to win back the title. As he left the ring with the belt held high, he gave the death glare to Kaissie’s Krew, but they just gave it back to him.

AWA All-Star Wrestling for the weekend of January 20th The Mothership Connection vs. Badd Company The hot new combo of the Mothership Connection has been getting a lot of attention from the fans of late, and that kept up as they took on rookie sensations Badd Company. Tanaka and Diamond, for their part, have started showing more aggressive tendencies, not out and out cheating but working in more sneaky double teams against Parsons and Wells. In the end, though , the Connection kept calm and was able to get the win when Wells blocked a Diamond Superkick and turned him around for an atomic drop that set him up for the Rumper Stumper by Parsons. Samu vs. Rip Oliver Oliver came out with his Playboy Club stablemate , Buddy Rose, at his side and with Eddie Mansfield trailing behind. Samoan Dynamite did his best to keep his focus with all of the distractions coming from ringside bur Rose and Mansfield did everything they could to rattle him , taking a swipe at him when he got too near the ropes and laughing at him when Oliver took advantage and clobbered him from behind. Ultimately, Rose jumped up on the ring apron and when the ref came over to argue with him, Oliver caught Samu with a nasty eye rake and held him in place for Mansfield to hit him with a set of brass knucks. Samu managed to pull out of the way at the last second, however, and Mansfield staggered Oliver instead. Samu threw Mansfield over the top rope before hitting a thrust kick to the jaw on Oliver and getting the pinfall. Rose and Oliver were both livid and loudly berated Mansfield on the way back to the locker room. Tito Santana vs. The Super Destroyer Santana had taken on a lot of tough competition since his arrival in the AWA but the huge Super Destroyer would prove to be his sternest test yet. The big Destroyer took every chance he could to bully and beat down his smaller apponent, but the intense firebrand kept shooting back with his own punches and dropkicks , enraging the big man. It seemed like all would be over when the Super Destroyer set Santana up on the top turnbuckle for the Super Plex. Santana showed he was not out yet, though, as he exploded with a series of punches that knocked Destroyer from the turnbuckle. He then went up top and levelled him with a flying clothesline that got him the come from behind victory. Mr. Olympia vs. "Bruiser" Bob Sweetan Sweetan came out with Buddy Rose in tow, who off handedly snarled to the camera man as he came to the ring that he had ordered Eddie Mansfield to stay in the locker room. Taking the cue from his friend Samu, Olympia did his best to block out the ringside hectoring of the Playboy, but Sweetan was a very dangerous competitor on his own merits. The tough Bruiser mercilessly attacked Olympia, constantly trying to get him up for his trademark Piledriver only for the masked man to just barely get out. Olympia rallied and was able to dropkick Sweetan out of the ring. When Sweetan tried to get back in the ring , Olympia hooked him up and tried to bring him back into the ring with a vertical suplex. However, Buddy Rose snagged Olympia’s leg so that Sweetan landed down hard on him going back into the ring, holding him down just out of sight of the ref to get the tainted pin for the Playboy Club. Interview with Mean Gene, the Garvin Brothers and Precious Mean Gene said he was surprised that the Garvin Brothers came out together, given how they had been at odds since Ron came to the AWA. Ron explained that one of the reasons he had come to the AWA was to get his younger brother to see some sense and realize that the Brotherhood Of Poland were bad news. He said that , while they would sometimes have their troubles as brothers do, they shared the Garvin name and that was a bond that would always win out. Jimmy added that he saw the light when Wiskowski and Putski went after Precious. When they did that, they crossed a line and that could never be taken back, and now the Garvin Brothers were back together and gunning for them. Da Crusher vs. Ivan Putski Crusher had been looking to get to Putski for quite some time, ever since Putski had betrayed him in a tag match. He looked to be set to take out all of his frustrations on Putski, bombarding him with big lefts and rights and not giving Polish Power a moment to recover. Ultimately he had Putski trapped in the corner and pounding him with his fists and, when the ref tried to pull him out of the corner, he got a right hook of his own , leading to the DQ. Ed Wiskowski then rushed to the ring to attack Crusher, leading to a two on one attack until Mad Dog Lefebvre came out swinging his axe handle to clear the ring of the Brotherhood. Greg Gagne vs. Paul Orndorff These two had faced off many times in the past several weeks and Orndorff seemed particularly aggressive this time out. While the last time they faced off, Gagne targeted Orndorff’s legs, this time out Mr. Wonderful went after Gagne’s right arm with a vengeance, brutally savaging it with armbars and kneedrops. This played a big part in the match, as Greg was unable to effectively sink in the Gagne Sleeper when he tried to put Orndorff away. He looked to compensate for this disadvantage by hitting a number of big dropkicks, but went to the well one time too many when Orndorff grabbed the ropes and Gagne missed the dropkick, crashing hard down on the mat. Orndorff followed up with a big running kneedrop to his head and then picked up Gagne and hit a piledriver, getting a shocking win over the AWA favorite.