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AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington, March 7th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards ) The Can-Am Express vs. Doug Furnas & Brian Pillman A fast paced and exciting bout which ended when Pillman came off the top rope for a flying sunset flip on Zenk, but Zenk rolled through it and got the one two three Fit Finlay vs. Greg Gagne Finlay won with a kneeling reverse piledriver Roddy Piper & Bob Orton vs. The Youngbloods Orton pinned Wellington following a superplex Ron Simmons vs. Mando Guerrero Simmons got the victory with a spinebuster slam Playboy After Dark (Buddy Rose, Doug Somers & Leo Burke) vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Rocky Mountain Thunder Scorpio got the pinfall for his team after a Rocky Mountain Launcher on Rose Dusty Rhodes vs. Bam Bam Bigelow Rhodes was looking to try to stop a monster that has just rolled over all of his opponents since arriving in the AWA. What resulted was a war that looked like it might literally break the ring. Bigelow looked like he was going to put out Rhodes with a crushing bearhug, but Dusty was able to break free with a series of elbow smashes to Bam Bam’s skull. Dusty then looked to take him down with a big clothesline, but Bigelow caught him coming off the ropes with a belly to belly suplex. He then dazed him with a falling headbutt and went up to the top rope to crush him with the ballistic splash. One … two … THREE? The crowd was in shock as Bigelow got his biggest win yet over the American Dream. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Koko Ware Another fast paced and high flying match that ended with Koko going for the Brainbuster but it being blocked by Tanaka, who followed it up with a crane kick that got the pinfall NWA World Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Larry Zybyszko With his recent (dirty) victory over Martel for the AWA Canadian title, Larry Z. has leveraged that into a shot at Martel’s NWA World Title. Larry had Nick Bockwinkel in his corner, but for all of Larry’s badgering him to do so, Bock didn’t seem to show much interest in tipping the scales in Larry’s favor. Zbyszko was extremely aggressive with Martel throughout the match, but Martel kept his cool and showed the ring savvy that was a key factor in why he was such a strong NWA Champion. Larry started bellowing at Bock to get involved, but Nick clearly had no idea what exactly Zbyszko expected him to do. This , however, proved enough of a distraction for the ref, who went over and warned Bock to stay in his corner. This turned out to be part of Larry’s plan, as he took advantage of the diversion to go for a huge low blow kick on Martel. The champion, though, was far too smart to be caught in the same trap twice. He easily blocked the kick and countered with a leg sweep that took Larry down to the mat, following up with a double leg cradle. The ref spotted this and rushed over to count the one two three for the NWA champion. Larry and Bockwinkel proceeded to argue and shove each other back to the locker room. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Ken Patera This was the toughest match of Steamboat’s title reign so far, fending off the challenge of the former World Champion. The result was an epic battle that had the fans on the edge of their seats for much of it. It looked like Patera had Steamboat dead to rights as he went for the second rope kneedrop, but Steamboat rolled out of the way just in time and Patera landed hard on his own knee. Steamboat then proceeded to work over Patera’s wounded leg before coming off the top rope with the flying cross body press to get the hard fought pinfall.

I didn't include it in the write up, but I figured that Bock saved the day, but Larry getting bent out of shape because he figured Bock still should have kept him from eating the bicycle kick. 80's Troll logic

Tag matches on the Charlotte card looked all kinds of fun. Flair vs. Backlund was the epic it deserved to be. Loving the Stud Stable , so wonderfully hateable.

Glad to see Gama on the comeback trail. Love the continuing development of Owen.

That cage match would have had to have been insanely violent.

The Von Erichs vs. The Steiners would have been a dream match ... and then Kamala and Kokina! Makes me think of that fun Kamala / Botswana Beast vs. SST match from late 80s Texas.

Naturally loving the amounts of AWA on this card Glad to see my big men all looking strong, this is exactly why I want to send guys like Spivey, White and Simmons over every chance I can. Mike Shaw and Bigelow make that an honorary AWA match. The opener and the main event are junior dream matches for me.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, March 7th Nick Bockwinkel & Larry Zbyszko vs. The Youngbloods Bockwinkel and Zybysko have not been seeing eye to eye of late, to put it mildly. Bad enough with Bock losing the American title last week, but with Zbyszko’s recent taking of the Canadian title he has become especially insufferable . Nothing Nick did in this match, either in the ring or on the ring apron, seemed to be to Larry’s satisfaction. Not helped by the fact that the Youngbloods were especially determined to prove themselves against the AWA veterans. Every time Wellington and Blackman were able to get one over on them, Zybyszko would blame Bockwinkel for it. During one instance of berating Bockwinkel, Larry was sufficiently distracted to leave himself open for a bicycle kick from Blackman, but unknown to either of them , as Larry fell back, Bock tagged himself in. When Blackman went for a pin on Larry, Nick swooped in with an Oklahoma Roll for the one two three. Even though they got the victory, Larry and Nick continued arguing to the point of shoving each other, and might have come to blows had not the AWA officials intervened. The two did continue bickering all the way back to the locker room. The Can-Am Express vs. Vince Sly & Max Dawson The team of Tom Zenk and Phil LaFon have not been seen in the AWA for a while, as they had been on a tour of other promotions, but received a very warm reception from the AWA fans. Zenk in particular, who wrestled most of the match, dazzled the crowd with his new finesse before coming off the top rope and pinning Dawson with a flying cross body press. The level of competition in the AWA tag team division has gotten much more intense since they were last here, but the Can-Am Express look like they are ready for anything. Chavo Guerrero vs. Larry Cameron The Southern Tag champ was accompanied by his brother and partner Hector, while Cameron had his Black Irish partner Fit Finlay in his corner. Cameron went after Guerrero like an a mad bull, going for big tackles and power moves. The veteran Guerrero was able to keep out of danger for much of the match, but any time Cameron was able to land one of his big moves, you could tell he did a lot of damage. Chavo tried to rein in Cameron with chain wrestling and submission moves, but Cameron was generally too much to control. Chavo managed to get a waistlock to set him up for a German Suplex, but “Lethal” Larry broke it up with several big elbow shots to Chavo’s face. Larry then tried to get him set up for a running powerslam, but Chavo countered with a slide down, flipping behind Cameron’s back. Chavo was certainly not ready for Cameron’s response, when Cameron whirled around and flattened him with a mammoth spinning clothesline. One … two … THREE! Chavo was still groggy well after the final bell, as Cameron and Finlay celebrated in the ring. The champions clearly need to be on their guard if they end up facing Black Irish in a title match. Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. The Onyx Express The new union of Too Cold Scorpio and Leon White had an impressive debut as a team a couple of weeks ago, but becoming part of the Cobra Corps has given them focus and a sense of purpose. With Sgt. Slaughter waving the American flag in their corner, they had the entire crowd solidly behind them as they dominated Koko and Brickhouse, mixing power and speed before polishing off Koko with the Rocky Mountain Launcher. The Cobra Corps is back to being a force to be reckoned with now that these two fine athletes have joined the ranks. Buddy Rose vs. Paul Diamond With Black Irish gunning for the Southern Tag titles, it looks like the new tandem of the Razor Boys have their sights set on the World Tag titles held by Playboy After Dark. Once again, this would be a singles match with each man having their partner in their corner. Rose had a lot of experience in matches with Al Perez, but Diamond was largely unfamiliar to him, and the Playboy found himself on the defensive for much of this match. Diamond kept Rose backpedaling throughout the match with his fast paced offense, and even looked to finish him off with the flying back body press, only for Doug Somers to knock him off the top rope by hitting him with an elbow smash. As the ref called for the DQ to give the match to Diamond, the two teams continued to fight it out both inside and outside the ring. Jake Roberts vs. Buzz Sawyer Sawyer had engaged in a serious of vicious bouts with all three members of the Snakepit, but with Nord The Barbarian and Cactus Jack currently on a tour of Japan, the Snake would take on the Mad Dog one on one. What resulted was an incredibly savage match that clearly took a lot out of both men. The two wild warriors battered each other throughout the match, with Buzz coming close to getting the bulldog on Jake at a number of occasions, but finally getting lured into the DDT. One … two …. Wait, what’s happening? Two men came out of the crowd and rushed the ring to attack Jake! IT’S RODDY PIPER AND BOB ORTON! The two men had never been seen in the AWA before, but now come out of nowhere to assault Jake Roberts. Both of them brutally pummeled Roberts before Piper had Orton hold Roberts down while Piper took off his belt and started to whip Roberts with it! This ghastly attack continued until the AWA officials flooded the ring, at which point the deadly duo collected the still groggy Sawyer and retreated from the ring, with Piper manically cackling all the way. What fresh insanity is this?

Big shock in the Rougeaus loss, although those two monsters would be hard to put down. The two tag title matches look like they would be all kinds of fun.

The Hart Brothers match looks like it would have been awesome, love to see how this will play out.

So much good ... Hansen vs. Andre is really ramping up. Love the development with Sting.

I really don't think I did Big Dust justice. He really needed to be the center of focus, which I wasn't able to give him. In World Class, he will be able to get the spotlight he deserves. They are also getting two great workers with Texas backgrounds. In turn I get an awesome worker who can readily main event a card without having to always be center of attention (Garvin), a charismatic veteran who can fit in a variety of roles (Dundee) and an energetic rookie who can fit in with my youth movement (Douglas).

To be implemented during the month of March : AWA to WCCW : Dusty Rhodes, Koko Ware and Brickhouse Brown WCCW to AWA : Ronnie Garvin, Bill Dundee and Shane Douglas

Dusty Rhodes might be on the block.

Wow! Awesome action from beginning to end and lots of big shockers. I can only imagine the reaction from the crowd at that Lawler vs. Nikita match.

My home town gets another epic main event.

AWA show from the Canada Games Sportsplex, Lethbridge, Alberta, March 2nd Larry Cameron vs. Norman Smiley Cameron pinned Smiley after a powerslam David Finlay vs. Chris Adams An intense match that wound up going to a 15 minute time limit draw Steven Regal vs. Mike Rotundo Rotundo blocked the Regal Stretch and countered with a rolling cradle to get the pinfall Jake Roberts, Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. Buzz Sawyer & The Onyx Express Yet another crazy brawl with Nord nailing the running double knee drop on Brickhouse for the win Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Greg Gagne Bigelow once again dominated his opposition before polishing them off with a slingshot splash The British Bullies vs. The Razor Boys A thrilling match where, after a series of moves and countermoves, Perez blocked a straight jacket suplex by Jones and replied with a German Suplex to get the victory Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes & Too Cold Scorpio vs. Jeff Gaylord, Darryl Peterson & Kevin Sullivan Scorpio hit a flying top rope splash on Sullivan for the win Leo Burke vs. Doug Furnas Burke nearly caught Furnas in the Sleeper, but Furnas was able to execute a belly to back suplex and defeat Burke AWA Southern Tag Team Title match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero © vs. The Youngbloods Hector ducked under the bicycle kick from Blackman and came back with a running cross body press to defend their titles AWA Southern Title match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman A very fast paced match that finally ended when Tanaka was able to execute the rolling wheel kick for the win AWA World Tag Team Title match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Larry Zbyszko There was a lot of tension in the air for this match, as there was always the threat of violence erupting between Bockwinkel and Zbyszko. That being said, they managed for the most part to stay on the same page through this match, which turned out to be a long brutal bout, which ended in double DQ with both teams popping the ref and continuing to slug it out long after the final bell.

Full credit to you for putting the idea in my head and to SirEdger for making it possible.

Had to figure a way to one up the Bull Rope match

AWA show from the Saddle Dome , Calgary, March 1st Dog Collar Chain Match : Buzz Sawyer vs. Cactus Jack A bloody battle that ended when Buzz hit a chain assisted Bulldog on Cactus to get the pin Ron Simmons vs. Greg Gagne Simmons flattened Gagne with a flying shoulder tackle for the win Doug Furnas & Brian Pillman vs. The British Bullies A fast paced tag match where Taylor was able to catch Pillman in the British Suplex to get the victory Special Hockey Brawl : The Youngbloods vs. The Nasty Boys (courtesy of Lutte Internationale) The special referee for this match was the young, up and coming Canadian actor Keanu Reeves, here to promote his hit film, Youngblood. The Youngbloods came out wearing Calgary Flames jerseys, drawing cheers from the fans, while the Nasty Boys wore Edmonton Oilers jerseys, drawing boos. What ended up happening was a crazy brawl that went all over the building , and the finish was Wellington pulling Sags’ jersey up over his head and delivering several brutal punches to the head and ribs, followed by Blackman delivering the bicycle kick. Reeves rushed over and counted the one two three for the local favorites. Chris Adams vs. Steven Regal Regal ducked the Superkick and hit the Iron Fist Punch to score the pinfall Texas Death Match : Dusty Rhodes vs. Ken Patera Patera hit a second rope kneedrop on Rhodes to get the final pinfall. Rhodes was about to make it back to his feet to beat the ten count, but Sheikh Kaissie swept his leg from outside the ring to cost him the match AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Razor Boys Diamond caught Rose with a spinning back kick that sent him out of the ring, leading to a win for the Razor Boys by countout. Playboy After Dark retained the titles. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Mike Rotundo Rotundo was going for the Varsity Rush (Samoan Drop), but Steamboat countered with a crucifix. Rotundo was able to kick out and follow up with a leaping clothesline, but Steamboat was able to block that and counter with a roll up that got the one two three.

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, February 28th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Black Irish vs. The Onyx Express Cameron powerslammed Koko for the victory Doug Furnas & Brian Pillman vs. The Youngbloods Pillman hit a top rope sunset flip on Blackman to score the pinfall Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Mando Guerrero Bam Bam completely bowled over the former Southern Champion, dominating him before hitting a slingshot suplex for the win Nord The Barbarian & Cactus Jack vs. The British Bullies In a battle of brawling abilities against technical skills, Jones pinned Cactus after a takeover suplex AWA Tag Team Title match : Chavo & Hector Guerrero © vs. The Killer Bees Chavo caught Blair in a German Suplex to defend his title Chris Adams vs. Jake Roberts Adams was very close to hitting the Superkick on Roberts, but the Snake was able to dodge it and hit the DDT to win the match AWA Canadian Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Larry Zbysko Martel dominated Larry through most of the match, but Zbyszko had loosened the ropes during the match when Martel and the ref were not paying attention. When Martel went for the slingshot splash, the loose ropes threw him off sufficiently that Larry was able to dodge out of the way. Larry then followed up with the trifecta of low blow kick , fistful of tights and both feet on the ropes to get the shocking one two three. The fans were baying for the blood of both Larry Z and the ref but the decision stood and there was a new Canadian champion. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Leo Burke Steamboat was making his first World Title defense in Winnipeg against the Canadian veteran, Burke. After the shenanigans of the last match, Steamboat and Burke brought back the crowds with an engaging technical match that ended with Steamboat hitting the top rope flying cross body press to get the pinfall.

So much greatness, Flair vs. Magnum is probably my favorite.

Love the intensity of Martel vs. Gordy. Looking forward to see what happens with King Tonga.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN , February 28th Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Zane Knight Bigelow is a young up and comer who has been tearing up Puerto Rico of late and is making his first appearance in the AWA. Good news for him, bad news for Zane Knight, who got pretty much torn apart by Bigelow. The crowd was in awe as Bigelow whipped Knight from pillar to post and threw him to the mat like he was nothing before hitting a slingshot splash for the one two three. At a time when the competition in the AWA is at its most fierce, it looks like a major new player has entered the scene. Mike Rotundo & Brian Pillman vs. The Youngbloods If Kevin Sullivan has been the Bad Cop of the Varsity Club Rush, badgering and shouting at them as part of his leadership method, it looks like his “assistant coach” Mike Rotundo has been the Good Cop. While Pillman has been a particular target of Sullivan’s bad temper, Rotundo looked to be making a concerted effort to give guidance to the former Cincinnatti Bengal, tagging in and out and giving advice and coaching from the ring apron. Pillman seemed to respond well to this approach and gained confidence as the match went on, managing to hit a springboard clothesline to get the win over the always dangerous Youngbloods. Perhaps Sullivan could stand to take a page out of Rotundo’s coaching book. The Razor Boys vs. Drew Christie & Dale Wentworth With “Cuts Like A Knife” by Bryan Adams playing over the arena PA, the audience craned their necks to see just who the Razor Boys would be … then cheered when it turned out to be the new team name for Paul Diamond and Al Perez. With Pat Tanaka currently the AWA Southern champ, his partner Diamond is forming a new duo with Perez that made an impressive debut on All-Star Wrestling. They easily dominated their opposition with swift tags and slick double team moves before Perez hoisted up Wentworth for what looked to be the Ally-Copter, only for Diamond to send Wentworth crashing to the mat with a top rope elbow smash (a move that they dubbed the Straight Razor). Time will tell if the Razor Boys can have the success that Badd Company had before them. Interview : Ken Resnick stands in the ring Resnick : Folks, my guest is one of the big favorites among the many fans of the AWA … Sgt. Slaughter! The fans cheer loudly as Sarge makes his way to the ring. He seems , however, to be moving rather slowly, as though something was weighing on his mind. Resnick : Sarge, normally we would be seeing you out here with the Cobra Corps, but now you are out here alone. Sarge : *sadly* That’s right , Resnick. The Cobra Corps has suffered some casualties of war. Cpl. Hall lost a loser-leaves-town match. Pvt. Foley … I don’t even recognize him any more. Now I am the last survivor of the Cobra Corps . Resnick : But surely, you have been teaming with “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes of late. Sarge : Dusty Rhodes has been a good ally to me, but he has his own battles to fight. I have nobody left under my command. It looks like I will have to fight my last campaigns on my own. There is some commotion from the fans as somebody comes out and heads to the ring. It’s the members of Rocky Mountain Thunder, Leon White and Too Cold Scorpio. White asks for the microphone and looks Sarge directly in the eye. White : Very sorry to interrupt, Mister, umm, Sergeant, sir. I made some bad choices when I arrived in the AWA. Kevin Sullivan was the wrong leader for me, and he was trying to steer me down a bad path. My good friend Scorpio has been helping me find my way, and we both agree that there’s no better leader we could have than you. If you will take us, sir, we would be honored to serve you in the Cobra Corps. Sarge stares at them for a while, then slowly raises his hand in a salute. White and Scorpio return his salute as the fans cheer. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord vs. The Killer Bees Judging by the look on his face, Sullivan was hugely displeased that his former charge now was a member of the Cobra Corps (then again, Sullivan pretty much always has that look on his face). Poor Brunzell and Blair getting caught in the path of his ill temper, as Sullivan directed his two huge trainees to punish the Bees, and they certainly delivered. Peterson and Gaylord seemed to sadistically relish the chance to batter their smaller opponents, following Sullivan’s every command but adding a bit of extra venom to each shot. After his usual series of huge suplexes, Peterson looked like he had Blair set up for the Wakigatame, but Sullivan ordered him to tag out and have Gaylord finish him off. Gaylord obliged by throwing Blair around like a rag doll before hitting a massive backbreaker and get the pinfall. Clearly Sullivan is looking to bring out the brute in his Varsity Club Rush charges. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Mando Guerrero Tanaka took the Southern Title from Mando last week in what some considered an upset. Mando clearly was determined to show this as a fluke and make his title reign a short one. He went straight after Tanaka, looking to overpower him and break him down. Tanaka, though, was not about to be taken lightly, fighting back hard with all of his wrestling and martial arts expertise. Every time it looked like Mando would have Tanaka set up for a submission hold, Tanaka would work his way free. Every time it looked like Mando would have Tanaka in place for a high flying move, Tanaka would recover in time to dodge out of the way. It finally looked like Mando would be able to wrap Tanaka up in the Gory Special, Tanaka was able to wriggle himself out of his clutches, and when Mando turned around , Tanaka nailed him with a roundhouse kick to the face that knocked him straight out. The three count was academic, and Tanaka is clearly a champion that one underestimates at their peril. AWA American Title Match : Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Dan Spivey Spivey has been gradually gaining ground on Bockwinkel in their recent matches, impressing many with his efforts and improvement in the ring. When he came out and did his usual routine of ripping off his t-shirt and flexing while cupping his ear to the audience, he actually was drawing a fair number of legitimate cheers from the fans. Helping this response was likely the fact that a) Kevin Sullivan was not in his corner for this match and the always cantankerous Larry Zbyszko was in Bockwinkel’s corner. Both competitors tried to get down to the business of the match and try to ignore Larry’s yapping away. Bock was as cool as ever, fending off Spivey’s power offense and showing his strong technical expertise. But Spivey kept chipping away at him, making sure that evey shot, every slam counted and he was clearly starting to wear down the champ. He finally had Bock in place for the Spivey Bomber, but as he was coming off the ropes , Larry reached in to snag his leg and trip him. Spivey briefly stumbled, but regained his footing in time to duck under a lariat by Bock. While Larry was pointing at his head to show how clever he was, Spivey came off the opposite ropes and nailed the Spivey Bomber. One … two … three!!! Half the crowd was in shock, while the other half roared their approval. One of those in shock was Larry Z, who stared slack-jawed before trying to blame Bock for the loss. The two almost came to blows and still ended up arguing all the way back to the locker room. Meanwhile, Spivey raised the belt above his head as the Spiveymaniacs cheered on their new champion.

Glad to see my Bullies have some impact. Big upset for Fujiwara . Loved the Hansen tag and the main event.