rainmakerrtv

My Music Geek hat is coming out ... "Easy Lover" is actually by Philip Bailey (lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire) with Phil Collins. It appears on Bailey's album Chinese Wall. That little detail aside, awesome show.

I find that, as we go on in this project, the temptation becomes greater to move things up sooner in the timeline. I find that , as keep going through various combinations of events and matchups, I start looking more to later events for inspiration (after all, I have the Varsity Club as world tag champs in 1985). That being said, if you implement events like you suggested gradually (as you said, starting with house shows), I'm all for putting in future elements like Survivor Series matches etc. After all, that makes them fair game for other promoters to steal

As I said, just curiosity, I remember him being in the game but now he has disappeared. Don't really have room for him on my roster.

On a similar note, and this is just curiosity, what is the current status of "No Class" Bobby Bass? He doesn't seem to be on anyone's roster, I don't seem him on Free Agents and I'm pretty sure he was active at this time.

We've been sitting on this for a while, but I've slowed up on getting my next shows posted, so will just announce a massive, multi-stage trade between the AWA and the USWA : USWA gets Ken Patera, Jerry Blackwell, The Road Warriors and Mr. Olympia AWA gets Sgt. Slaughter, Kevin Sullivan, The Fabulous Ones and Dan Spivey

Adonis sure does know how to make an entrance. Exciting stuff, for sure.

AWA releases Angel Acevedo and picks up Mick Foley.

I have a plan for my draft pick that I have been waiting years to use, pre-dating the 1983 project. I was looking in the Wikipedia article on Scott Hall to see where he was in his career at this time and spotted this : The team defeated Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal for the AWA World Tag Team Championship on January 18, 1986, in a 58-minute match in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 58 minutes? With "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal? ... THE HELL????

Keeping with the tradition of keeping draft commentary out of the draft thread proper : really looking forward to Bam Bam in New Japan!

We will now rebigulate the AWA by welcoming "Big" Scott Hall.

Made the mistake of looking at the Mempho roster and now there is one guy I am full on praying that I get.

Not really my business, but Toru Tanaka (who is on the MACW roster) seems to be pretty much retired at this point in 1985. Cagematch has his last matches in November of 1984, apart from a one off house show appearance in January 1986.

Just requesting a little change on my roster, Steve Jones is now going by Steven Regal. Also, I noticed on the USWA roster, Precious is misspelled as Previous.

I checked, and it was back on September 1st that I traded Chavo Guerrero to you for Mike Rotundo. Literally everything Rotundo has done since then in the AWA has led up to this point.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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