Posted November 9, 201014 yr comment_5458128 Martel immediately opens up on Zukoff but quickly gets cut off. Zukoff ends up focusing in on Martel's arm. Zukoff is working a hard head gimmick so a lot of this arm work consists of headbutts to the arm which Martel does a good job selling like death. The arm selling from Martel really makes this and builds the tension very well. Great nearfall with Martel landing a perfect looking back cradle for a nearfall. The heat in this one is really great. Martel finally makes a comeback and hits some great punches. He's got Zukoff reeling but ends up eating knees on an out to inside slingshot splash. Zukoff's manager ends up tossing something into the ring and Zukoff gets decked with it and takes a big bump to the floor with Martel getting DQ'ed. For a match that is 80% arm work from a really uninteresting worker this was WAY better than it should have been.
November 9, 201014 yr comment_5458154 The pre-build to this match (actually this was a three-match feud in Winnipeg) helps explain why this "worked", I think. Zurkov had attacked Martel and laid him out after a Martel-Zbyszko title match the month before. Boris laid out Martel with headbutts...pretty much a stretcher job as I remember. Boris's head being such a lethal weapon was a focal point to his build in Winnipeg. I recall Boris squashing Buck Zumhofe a month or two earlier in Winnipeg as being big on selling Zurkov's head as a real tool of destruction. His manager, Chris Markoff, added an element that isn't present in a lot of later Martel AWA title matches. Though he received title matches later against Nick Bockwinkel, this was the most effective Boris push during his tenure in the AWA, and possibly ever, at least as a singles challenger.
September 28, 201114 yr comment_5483658 AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel © vs. Boris Zuhkov (8/22/85) Martel coming out to Glory Days by Springsteen and waving the Canadian flag was great. Martel is pissed from what happened last month so he takes the battle to Boris throwing punches and working over his left leg but Boris would soon get the upper hand and worked on Martel's left arm for what seemed like forever. Martel is great here selling the pain as Boris headbutts the arm. Martel makes a fiery comeback and works over Boris until he eats all knees on his slingshot splash and as this happens, Chris Markoff distracts the referee so he could throw something to boris but Martel takes it and uses it to knock Boris over the top rope for the DQ. This was all Martel as he made the match interesting but I preferred the Zbyszko match to this one although I think this also deserves a look.
