Adonis/Ventura promo with Okerland. Adonis name dropping Jefferson Airplane is pretty classic. Ventura's follow up was just as good. This a good promo though devoid of context I don't see it as an extra.

 

Larry Hennig v. Adrian Adonis

 

JIP. Adonis is really good in this throwing stiff blows, selling his ass off for Hennig and moving around the ring really sharply. Adonis ends up brawling with Curt Hennig who jumps up on the apron to save his dad from a beating. To bad this wasn't more complete.

 

Adrian Adonis v. Greg Gagne

 

JIP though I don't think too much has been lost. Adonis targets Gagne's leg and then throws him out to the floor. Adonis clothesline's Gagne's leg on the bottom rope and actually looks pretty sick, then hits a really sweet looking backbreaker. Really cool spot as Adonis goes for a boston crab but Gagne fights it off so Adonis turns it into a slingshot on the to bottom rope then discards Gagne to the floor and starts shit talking the front row. Gagne fires up and Adonis ends up taking a slingshot on his fucking face on the bottom rope and then does his over the ropes/tied into the ropes flip bump, then eats a series of dropkicks with several cool Adonis big bumps. Gagne locks on the sleeper and they fall over the ropes to the floor for a DQ. This was short but very good stuff.

 

Jim Brunzell v. Adrian Adonis

 

JIP. I really liked the early grappling exchanges in this as they went beyond the elementary and did some pretty nifty stuff. Cool roll up off the ropes by Brunzell, a nice armbar takedown from Adonis, a cool full nelson spot from Adonis, et. Adonis stomp to the hand of Brunzell was pretty sweet and he followed that up with some pretty cool arm crank variations which Brunzell contorted well for. Brunzell attempts a deep escape of an armbar but Adonis drags him down by the hair. Brunzell comes back and ends up kicking Adonis to the floor where he hits an atomic drop and then face plants Adonis on a table. Brunzell hits a really huge forearm which results in Adonis begging off and hitting a cheapshot of his own. He follows that up with a huge uppercut which he then explains to the ref was an open palm strike. Adonis with a backslide for a nearfall but then he tosses Brunzell to the floor. Really great spot with Adonis eating a shoulder tackle and Brunzell charging at him but Adonis ducks and Brunzell flies back out to the floor. Huge Adonis suplex that bordered on a brainbuster for a good nearfall. Adonis with a huge spinning backbreaker but he misses his big splash and then gets punted into the ropes by Brunzell. Jim hits his dropkick and Adonis takes his backflip rope bump. Then he drags Adonis to the corner and wraps his legs on the posts multiple times. Spinning toehold attempt but Ventura shows up and distracts Brunzell who falls to a nasty running knee and a diving elbow. Another one that I wish we had in full but I don't think much was missing and what was shown was really great stuff from both guys.

 

Adrian Adonis v. Hulk Hogan

 

JIP though you get the feeling most of what was cut was Adonis stalling. Adonis with an early bump to the floor after Hogan mocks him. Adonis goes to some chain wrestling but Hogan easily reverses course and locks in a hammerlock of his own. They work some more amateur stuff than fire up for a big exchange with Hulk hitting some nice forearms and a big bodyslam and then dragging Adonis back into the ring with a headlock. Adonis wild selling of a turnbuckle smash was pretty great and Hulk going straight back to the headlock actually made sense. Adonis with a big bump to the floor off of a shoulder block. Adonis shoots Hogan into the ropes and hits a clothesline that spins both men around and to the ground. Adonis hits a couple of nice looking elbows to a downed Hogan and then decks him with a chair at ringside. Hogan hulks up but it's not egregious. He pays back Adonis for his chairshot then punches him into the standards Adonis backflip rope bump where he paintbrushes him and taunts him. Adonis takes another huge corner bump. Adonis goes for a foreign object but Hogan kicks out after taking a shot with it. He ends up hitting his leg drop for a pin while Adonis leg was on the bottom rope. Post-match Adonis beats down the ref and Hogan comes back in and chases him off. This was really good stuff.

 

Hulk Hogan/Andre The Giant v. Jesse Ventura/Adrian Adonis/Jerry Blackwell

 

JIP. This opens up with Hogan beating Blackwell and it really is a joy to watch Jerry take backflip bumps off of punches and hit wild running headbutts. Heels end up isolating Hogan and working him over 3 on 1 with Adonis providing most of the interesting work including some big clubbing blows and a nice diving elbow. Blackwell hits a nice splash on Hogan and Adonis a nice dropkick. Hot tag is really uneventful though we do get to see Adonis bump around for Andre. Andre takes a brief beating and ends up firing up and destroying Blackwell with a serious of seated splashes. Faces finally take the pin with Hogan pinning Adonis. This had some ups but I don't see it as being must see.

 

The High Flyers v. Adrian Adonis/Jesse Ventura

 

Early leg work on Ventura really doesn't mean much but I liked it because of how sharp it looked. In particular Gagne's Indian Deathlock was really tight and looked vicious. People can slag on Greg all they want but he could show fire and Brunzell was a good go to partner for him when it came time to really heat things up. Adonis/Gagne section was good and featured a cool rope running monkey flip spot. Brunzell comes in and immediately starts getting worked over by Jesse. I am not a Ventura fan by any means but Brunzell is really taking his offense well, leaping into turnbuckles, eating some tight looking shot, et. Cool spot with Brunzell and Adonis exchanging close nearfalls with neither of their partners able to break them up as this match had an immediate DQ for two men being in the ring at once. Adonis hits a dropkick for a nearfall than takes one from Brunzell which he does an epic sell for. Adonis and Ventura take their staple big bumps in this and take them well. Gagne goes FIP after a wild bump off a missed dropkick, which Adonis follows up with his great backbreaker an ab stretch. Ventura keeps the heat section going with an overhead backbreaker that Gagne reverses into a pinning combo for a good hope spot. Adonis with a huge over the top bump off of a missed splash. Brunzell in and the heels are pinballing, but Adonis kicks loose of a spinning toehold attempt and sends Jim to the floor. Match ends in a double countout when all parties spill to the floor on a sleeper. Strong match with everyone looking good marred by a typically bad 80's finish.

 

The High Flyers v. Adrian Adonis/Jesse Ventura (Cage Match)

 

JIP. This is a somewhat famous match. Multiple juicer and basically a firestorm of big heel bumps. I'm not sure you can appropriately call a match like this a "spotfest" but it is more fitting than any other label I can imagine. The high point of course is Adonis missing a huge big splash from the top of the cage which leads directly to the pin. I believe this match appears on the WWE DVD and I think a fair amount of it is missing. But ultimately I think it has to be at least an EXTRA.

 

Adrian Adonis v. Tommy Rich

 

This is post-WWF "Adorable" Adrian and he is managed by Paul E. This is a series of big bumps from Adrian that builds to an angle with him and Paul E. destroying Rich's arm. More angle than match though it was fun while it lasted.

 

Adrian Adonis v. D.J. Peterson

 

This was interesting to watch as this is basically an Adonis offensive showcase. Even at this late stage in his career Adonis had a pretty big bag of tricks to pull shit out of and he unloaded virtually everything onto Peterson here. Finish was stupid.

 

Finish of Adonis/Gagne with Bob Orton and Wahoo running out and a huge brawl commencing.

This starts with a promo by The East-West Connection regarding their upcoming match with Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens in Oakland. Good stuff.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. Larry "The Axe" Hennig (5/10/81)

 

This is JIP with Adonis pounding on Larry with a young Curt at ringside seconding his father. Adrian would miss a splash in the ropes allowing Larry to make a comeback but Adonis would cut him short. Adonis is sharp with his offense battering the Axe but Larry is pesky and would fight back with clubbing blows although Adonis just kept coming himself with offense which would bring Curt to the apron to go after Adonis for the DQ.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. Greg Gagne (11/7/82)

 

This is JIP with Adonis on offense working over Gagne's right leg then sending him to the floor where he would bodyslam him. Adonis is ruthless working over Greg's leg including a jumping leg clothesline on the bottom rope which was swank. Greg would fight off a boston crab so Adonis would just drag him to the bottom rope and slung him up neck first before sending him back to the floor. Gagne fired up coming back in the ring and teed off on Adonis giving him the same treatment on the bottom rope before tying him up in the ropes where he continued his offense before they battled to the floor for a double countout. I wanted to push this forward as a nomination but the finish was fucked up due to editing and it was a cheap finish at that so I'm going no here.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell (7/28/81)

 

This is JIP but it doesn't look like we missed too much because Brunzell is on offense at the start not Adonis in his control section. Brunzell works over Adonis' left leg with Adonis coming back working over Jim's left arm and both men did a good job here working over the parts. Brunzell would eventually send Adonis to the floor where he would hit an atomic drop featuring Adonis taking facebumps on the ringside table. Brunzell doing the JYD crawling headbutt on Adonis through the ropes was a nice spot. Adonis comes back in the ring with Brunzell unloading on him with Adonis selling like a madman before raking Jim in the eyes. Adonis just nails Brunzell with an uppercut for a nearfall before getting another nearfall on with a backslide prompting Adonis to throw him to the floor. Adonis cuts him off a couple of times before bringing him back in the ring with a suplex with Brunzell putting his foot on the bottom rope to save himself. Adonis then did his turning backbreaker which was sweet but missed a splash leading to Brunzell making his comeback hitting an awesome dropkick which tied Adonis up in the ropes before going back to the floor where he wrapped Adonis' left leg around the post. Brunzell then went for the spinning toehold which brought Ventura up to the apron allowing Brunzell to go after him and Adonis to take advantage of that with a knee to the back and a diving elbow off the middle rope to win. This was a very good match and moves forward.

 

"Incredible" Hulk Hogan vs. Adrian Adonis (10/17/82)

 

JIP but it starts with both men still jockeying for position. Both men would work some holds for a while but they keep it interesting as they are constantly moving plus Hogan mixes in some power moves before Adonis nails him with a clothesline giving him an opening to go on offense. Adonis sends Hogan to the floor where he hits him with a chair before going back in the ring to gloat but as he tried to pin Hogan he was launched in the air on the referee. Adonis comes back with a nice inverted atomic drop before firing off some punches with Hogan hulking up and teeing off on Adonis where he would hit him with a chair on the floor as revenge from earlier. Adonis does his tied up in the ropes spot after a Hogan punch and then Hogan starts slapping him in the face which was funny before he throws Adonis shoulder first into the ringpost which looked like it hurt. Adonis would go to his tights though hitting Hogan with something before catching him with an elbow off the middle rope for a nearfall but Hogan would hulk up a second time sending Adonis reeling into the corner then hitting the legdrop for the pin but Adonis got his foot on the second rope which the referee didn't see then told Adonis to take that foot off it was over which was hilarious. Shitty refereeing there. This was fun while it lasted and I'll push it forward.

 

Handicap Match: Andre the Giant & "Incredible" Hulk Hogan vs. Crusher Blackwell & The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis & Jesse "The Body" Ventura) (11/8/81)

 

This is JIP and Hogan is fresh into his babyface run teaming with his former rival Andre. This was very fun as Hogan was working FIP and taking all kinds of offense from the heels with Blackwell looking strong. Andre was fun on the hot tag with Adonis pinballing for him but he would get worked over as well and took quite a bit of punishment from the heels also before getting the hot tag to Hogan where everything broke down with Hogan slamming Blackwell which got a huge pop. Hogan would then put away Adonis with the legdrop to win and I liked this one more than Dylan did and I think it deserves a look as a nomination.

 

AWA World Tag Titles: The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis & Jesse "The Body" Ventura) © vs. The Hi-Flyers ("Jumpin" Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne) (3/1/81)

 

Greg's legwork on Ventura early was nice especially the Indian Death Lock which is one of my all-time favorite holds. Brunzell comes in and he has a nice back-and-forth with Adonis before Greg comes in to work over Adonis' left leg until he tags Brunzell back in who this time would get caught by the heels and Ventura would take him down with a grounded headlock to change the pace. Adonis & Brunzell would trade a couple of fucking awesome dropkicks before Brunzell would go to the wrong corner with Ventura dropping him neckfirst on the top rope. Greg would finally get the hot tag and he fired up on Ventura who takes some good bumps here surprisingly getting some nearfalls before Adonis comes back in where he takes some shots leading to his tied in the ropes spot as Greg continues to look really good on offense but he would whiff on a dropkick causing Adonis to go back on offense. Adonis hits his sweet turning backbreaker leading to an abdominable stretch but Greg would reverse into one of his own until Ventura would tag in to lock in his Canadian Backbreaker which Greg would reverse into a nearfall. Adonis would take a wild bump through the ropes to the floor but both men would get tags to their partners with Brunzell firing up on Ventura then Adonis who continues to pinball around before launching Brunzell to the floor as he tried to get a spinning toehold. Adonis would hit a sweet suplex for a nearfall on Brunzell when he came back into the ring but Brunzell would catch him with another one as a counter before Greg would come back in firing off dropkicks leading to a sleeper hold where both men would tumble off the top rope to the floor with help from Ventura. All four men would then battle on the floor as the referee called for a double countout. The brawl continued back into the ring with the faces coming out on top. This was an awesome match and a slam dunk nomination.

 

Next we get the Hi-Flyers/East-West title change in the cage which is clipped to death but almost every version of this I've seen is this clipped so this should go on as an extra no doubt.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. "Wildfire" Tommy Rich (October 1987)

 

Adonis is back here with Paul E. as his manager and even though he is a fat fuck he is still taking bumps like crazy. The match doesn't go too long before we get a ref bump leading to Paul E. coming in the ring and they injure Tommy's left arm as Adonis comes off the top with a splash.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. D.J. Peterson (10/28/87)

 

Adonis looked really good here and Peterson did an okay job in his role but this wasn't anything spectacular plus the finish completely stunk as DJ used Paul E.'s phone after a ref bump for the DQ.

Kris, you have this as 7/28/81

 

The screen says JUNE 28, 1981.

 

Who is right? You or the AWA TV?

6/28/81 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center

AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke

Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher dq

Tito Santana no contest Sheik Adnan

AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe

Handicap Match

Jerry Blackwell beat Ben Deleon & Juan Valez

Adrian Adonis beat Jim Brunzell

Brad Rheingans beat Laurent Soucie