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It's not where I thought the AWA would go, either, but here we are

Hoo boy, this is where I throw away my carefull laid draft table and do something I am certain will get me certified as crazy (even crazier than passing on Terry Funk) ... the AWA welcomes the young Melissa Ann Hiatt AKA Missy Hyatt to the frozen north. We have sweetened her deal with plenty of fur coats.

Cactus Jack going to Memphis! Traylor was a hot pick, if he had been available I would have grabbed him for my second round but I pretty much knew he wouldn't last that long.

And the Blade Runners are gone ... no big surprise. Will be interesting to see what happens with them from here.

Tom Lintz and Steven Dunn are also listed twice.

Some rock solid rosters created, looking forward to seeing what you guys do with them. Glad the Long Riders went to a good home, I loved having them but they had gotten a bit played out in the AWA.

I didn't feel that Funk, amazing though he is, was a long term fit for what I was doing with the AWA. I was specifically looking for two big strong guys I could feasibly escalate quickly from a rookie status, and with his collegiate wrestling background, I figured Steiner for the best match. Funk is an awesome fit for Mid Atlantic.

Greg Cooley is listed twice. Mike Boyette is currently retired (although he will come back in a few years and do some shots for the UWF).

Bit of a surprise for some people, not going for the obvious pick, but with the 2nd and 3rd picks of the draft, the AWA welcomes Lex Luger and Rick Steiner.

There's a match of "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal wrestling Buddy Rose and Rip Oliver in a tag match in Portland in 1981, which would be about 3 years before Darren Matthews wrestled his first matches, so he would have come first.

Finally able to post a trade that took place a while back, the AWA sends Tito Santana to the WWF for a 1st round draft pick in the Fresh Faces draft.

Duly noted, thanks.

AWA show at the Saddledome, Calgary, Dec. 1st The Cuban Commandos vs. The Latin Lovers Cruz pinned Morrow after El Volantin Great Gama Singh vs. Ed Wiskowski Wiskowski won with the face first piledriver “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell vs. Rip Oliver Blackwell got the victory with an Avalanche in the corner Bad News Allen vs. Da Crusher Bad News won with the Bad News Blaster Paul Orndorff vs. Bob Roop Orndorff pinned Roop after a Piledriver AWA World Tag Title match : The Road Warriors © vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz The Road Warriors won by DQ after Sawyer attacked them with a chain Curt Hennig vs. Eddie Gilbert Hennig won with the Axe Lariat AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Greg Gagne Muraco won with a Powerslam

AWA show at the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Nov. 30th (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Lord Humongous, Bob Roop & Mr. Olympia vs. Mike Rotunda & Badd Company Lord Humongous got the win when he hit Tanaka with a side slam onto his knee Koko Ware vs. Rip Oliver Koko won with a top rope flying dropkick Da Crusher vs. Bob Sweetan Both men went to a double count out when they were brawling outside the ring Cage Match : Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert Rose pinned Gilbert with a belly to back suplex AWA Southern Tag title Cage match : Al Perez & Ricky Santana © vs. Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel Garvin and Wahoo went wild on the champs, hammering them with huge punches and chops. Al Perez wound up cowering in the corner, covering his face after too many Hands of Stone, while the challengers took apart Ricky Santana in the ring. Wahoo finally got Santana in the Indian Deathlock to put him out of his misery, and Garvin and McDaniel became the new AWA Southern Tag champs. Cage Match : Rick Martel & Ricky Steamboat vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz Martel did a schoolboy trip on Schultz as Steamboat came off the top rope with a flying cross body press to get the win. AWA World Title Cage Match (if Santana loses, he is gone from the AWA) : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana This was an epic, bloody battle, that looked like it could go either way throughout much of the mach. At 43 minutes in , Santana went up to the top rope, looking to finish him off with the flying clothesline as he did with Kamala. Patera caught him in mid air and turned it around into a power slam. Patera then went up to the second rope and came off with a crushing kneedrop to Santana’s sternum. One … two … THREE! Patera had defended his belt and the crowd was in shock as Tito Santana was now out of the AWA.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, November 30th Lord Humongous vs. Phil Lafon Last week, Humongous had put a brutal beating on Lafon’s partner, Tom Zenk. Lafon looked both keen to get revenge while still wary of Humongous’ size and power. Lafon started off with the same hit-and-run tactics that other light heavyweights had tried against Humongous, to try and keep him off balance while still staying away from his reach. When he managed to get the masked man a bit off balance, he tried for an arm wringer, to try to soften him up. While he seemed to be gradually wearing him down, Humongous then seemed to draw on a reserve of strength and rage when he grabbed Lafon by the throat and lifted him up for a massive chokeslam. This would usually set the stage for Lord Humongous taking apart his opponent, but things took a different turn when Mike Rotunda made his return by charging to the ring , wildly swinging a chair. He managed to clip the masked man in the shoulder before Sheikh Kaissie grabbed Humongous and rushed him out of the ring. The two men headed to the back while Rotunda stood tall in the ring with the chair, daring them to come back in. The Latin Lovers vs. Cuban Commandos These two teams are far from strangers to each other, but the Latin Lovers seemed very intent on being taken seriously. They were very focused in this match, forgoing their usual antics and playing to the crowd and instead delivering a steady barrage of double teams and dropkicks on the Commandos that caught the former Southern Tag champs off guard. The Commandos didn’t seem to know what to do with Valentino and Cruz, even their usual dirty tricks didn’t seem to faze the Latin Lovers. When Cruz slingshot Valentino into the ring for a cross body press onto Acevedo, they got a pinfall for a victory that stunned the crowd. Badd Company vs. Mr. Olympia and Bob Roop Perhaps the Sinister Syndicate had watched the previous match, as they didn’t give Tanaka and Diamond a single chance to breathe in this match. Olympia and Roop ruthlessly went after the two Young Lions, shutting down any attempt to coordinate their offense and trapping Diamond in their corner of the ring. Roop was particularly vicious in giving the Shoulder Breaker to Diamond, and then did it again before tagging in Olympia and knocking Tanaka off the ring apron. Olympia put Diamond in the Sleeper to end the match. The Syndicate are sitting like kings at the top of the AWA, and it will be a tough job to dethrone them. Buddy Rose vs. Rip Oliver While Rose has been mostly been dealing with Eddie Gilbert of late, he has been at war with the entire Bad News Breakers and this match was a sharp reminder of that. The Playboy went at it fist and fire with his old Portland former compatriot, who returned every shot in kind. Both men were busted open soon into the match, but that didn’t slow them down one jot as they they continued brawling intensely for several more minutes. Oliver looked like he had Rose set up for an over the shoulder neck breaker, but Rose fired off a swift elbow to Oliver’s face to break that up, followed by a swift Inside Out Backbreaker. Eddie Gilbert and Bob Sweetan ran out to try to break up the pin, but they were swiftly intercepted by Ed Wiskowski and Koko Ware, and Rose got the one-two-three. The Bad News Breakers and Playboy After Dark then brawled until the AWA officials cleared them off. Rick Martel & Ricky Steamboat vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dave Schultz Martel was very hungry to get a shot at regaining his AWA Canadian Title from Mike Shaw, but with Shaw currently on a tour of Japan, he had to satisfy himself with taking on Shaw’s Army comrades Sawyer and Schultz, alongside the Southern champ Ricky Steamboat. This was the quintessential matchup of the technicians against the brawlers, with control swinging back and forth between the two sides throughout the match. Things got to a head when Sawyer caught Steamboat in a choke hold and just would not let go. The ref got to the point of trying to physically pry Sawyer off Steamboat, to which the Mad Dog responded by whipping the ref into the ropes and power slamming him! Several more refs dashed out to the ring but it wound up being Rick Martel who was able to dropkick Sawyer out of the ring. Sawyer howled at the ring while Schultz held him back with a crazed look in his eyes. Tito Santana vs. Kamala The Ugandan Headhunter was the last hurdle for Santana to overcome before he would face Ken Patera in the cage, and Kamala’s goal was clearly to damage the Mexican firebrand as much as he could before the World Title match. Kamala tried to soften him up with chops and stomps and tried to slam him into place for the Air Africa splash, but Santana kept dodging out of danger and coming back with forearms and dropkicks. Kamala then started using his huge bulk to just bowl Santana over and knock him into the corner, setting him up for an avalanche. At the last second, Santana moved out of the way and Kamala went hard into the turnbuckle. Santana then leapt to the top rope and levelled Kamala with a flying clothesline. One … two … THREE! Santana got a pinfall on the seemingly unstoppable Kamala. Next stop : The World Title and Ken Patera.

Is Giant Kimala on the second tour Ben Peacock AKA New Guinea Man Eater/Botswana Beast who is on my full time roster, or is it the original James Harris version of Kamala?

I think it should be, take them in the draft or they go freelance.

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

AWA show at the International Amphitheater , Chicago, Nov. 24th Lord Humongous vs. Mike Rotunda Mike Rotunda won by DQ when he was attacked by Sheikh Adnan Kaissie Al Perez vs. Phil Lafon Perez pinned Lafon with a German Suplex Ricky Steamboat, Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dave Schultz & Col. Buck Robley Garvin knocked Robley cold with the Hands Of Stone punch and got the victory AWA World Tag Team Title Double-Chain Match : The Road Warriors © vs. Botswana Beast & Kamala The Road Warriors won when they pinned Beast after a chain assisted double clothesline AWA American Title match : Don Muraco © vs. Curt Hennig Both men went to a 30 minute time limit draw

Yeah, I like that.

AWA show at the Mecca, Milwaukee, Nov. 23rd (As shown on ESPN/TSN Super Cards) Lord Humongous vs. Tom Zenk Lord Humongous made Zenk submit to the Cobra Clutch Koko Ware vs. Great Gama Singh Koko won with the top rope dropkick Ron Garvin & Wahoo McDaniel vs. The Long Riders McDaniel pinned Bill Irwin after an overhand chop Ricky Steamboat & Curt Hennig vs. Don Muraco & Bad News Allen Steamboat pinned Allen after a top rope flying cross body press Falls Count Anywhere Match : Buddy Rose vs. Eddie Gilbert Rose pinned Gilbert with a running splash in the upper deck Da Crusher vs. Bob Sweetan Crusher got the victory after a running Bolo Punch AWA Six-Man Tag Title match : Paul Orndorff & The Road Warriors © vs. Bob Room , Kamala & Botswana Beast Paul Orndorff defended the belts with a double spike piledriver on Roop AWA World Title Match : Ken Patera © vs. Tito Santana Both men fought to a double countout

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN, November 23rd The Long Riders vs. Badd Company Badd Company are another team that has suffered at the hands of Lord Humongous and are looking to get back in the swing of things. They seemed eager to prove themselves, rapidly tagging in and out of the ring and doing many high flying and double team moves to try to stay one step ahead of the much bigger Irwin Brothers. While the Long Riders would keep coming back with their power offense to try to break down Tanaka and Diamond, it looked like Badd Company might just pull it off when Tanaka had Scott Irwin in a waistlock and Diamond was about to come off the ropes to Superkick Irwin into a German Suplex, “Wild” Bill Irwin snagged Diamond’s leg from the outside with the bullrope, sending him hurtling to the mat. Scott then used a backwards low blow kick to break out of the waistlock, followed by a mammoth vertical suplex on Tanaka to get the one-two-three. Lord Humongous vs. Master Gee As was the case last week, Lord Humongous was led to the ring by Sheikh Adnan Kaissie. The huge masked man then proceeded to dismantle the always popular Master Gee. The former tag champ couldn’t get any effective offense in as Lord Humongous bowled him over with a big clothesline and then powerslamming him all over the ring. After hitting a side slam onto his knee, Humongous put Master Gee in the Cobra Clutch to finally put an end to the match. The Sinister Syndicate have added an impressive new gun to their arsenal and are looking even more unstoppable than ever. After the match, Kaissie and Humongous were joined by the rest of the Syndicate at ringside to be interviewed by Ken Resnick. Interview : Ken Resnick stands at ringside with Sheikh Adnan Kaissie and the Sinister Syndicate Resnick : Sheikh Kaissie , it looks like you were the man behind the attacks by Lord Humongous on the Young Lions. What did they ever do to you? Sheikh : Rotunda! Do you remember Detroit? In that match, you showed me no respect! You always show the Sheikh respect! Now you see what happens when you don’t pay the Sheikh his due. First, Lord Humongous takes out your little friends, and now he is coming for you! Resnick : Lord Humongous is not the only member of the Syndicate making news. A week from now in Winnipeg, Ken Patera will be defending the World title, but I just got word that he has granted Tito Santana’s request and will be defending it in a steel cage! Why would Patera concede such an advantage to Santana? Sheikh : Oh, Resnick, you simple fool. Yes, we gave Santana his cage match. But what did he give up to get it? We would only give him the cage match on one condition … Patera puts up the World Title in the cage, and Santana puts up his AWA career! If … and when … Santana loses, he is gone from the AWA! You can’t outsmart the Sheikh! Patera : That’s right! You think I’m scared of a cage match, Santana? I beat Ron Garvin in a cage! I beat “Crusher” Blackwell in a cage! They put be between those steel walls and I still came out with the belt! So you’ve signed your last AWA match and I will finally be done with you. And nobody is going to be able to take this belt from around my waist … nobody! Buddy Rose & Da Crusher vs. Eddie Gilbert & Bob Sweetan After Sweetan used dirty tricks to get a win over Da Crusher last week, the Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous is now interjecting himself in “Playboy” Buddy Rose’s war with the Bad News Breakers. He provided a predictably unpredictable element to the match, with the Bad News Breakers having no idea when he might sneak into the ring and blindside them or chase them around the ring, which Rose clearly found vastly amusing. They tried to cinch in the victory with Gilbert and Sweetan trying to Spike Piledrive Rose, only for Crusher to knock Sweetan off the turnbuckle with a Bolo Punch. The Playboy took advantage of the distraction by hitting the Inside Out backbreaker on Gilbert and snatching the win away from the Bad News Breakers. AWA Southern Title match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. “Doctor D” Dave Schultz Ricky Steamboat has lately been defending his title against “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, so when he stepped into the ring with Sawyer’s partner Dave Schultz, it was only a matter of time for the Mad Dog to make his presence felt. It didn’t take too long, as after a back and forth match, Steamboat was driving Schultz back into the corner with chops when Sawyer charged into the ring and attacked Steamboat with a chain. Not caring about the DQ result, Schultz, Sawyer and Col. Buck Robley tried to do serious damage to Steamboat but were run off by a swiftly arriving Ron Garvin and Wahoo McDaniel. Tito Santana & Paul Orndorff vs. Mr. Olympia & Bob Roop While Santana is the top contender for Patera’s World Title, Orndorff isn’t too far behind, and both members of the Syndicate did their best to injure them in their role as blockers to the World belt. Olympia focused on the legs of his opponents to try and get them in the Powerlock, while Roop worked over their arms to set them up for the Shoulderbreaker. Midway through the match, Patera himself made an appearance at the back of the arena, intently watching the action. For all that the Syndicate gave them, Santana and Orndorff would not be denied, and Orndorff was able to tie up Olympia while Santana hit the Mexican Hammer on Roop to get the hard fought victory. Patera could be seen at the back, smirking and shaking his head.

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

Since we are closing in on the time we would be having this draft : 1) Any idea what the set date for the draft will be? and 2) Are we not snaking the draft? The initial order is not reflective of that.

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