Holy shit Vader leading a "Bull Power" chant and then steamrolling Zhukov was awesome. White dominates early and Zhukov is not bad bumping around for him. They end up on the floor with Adnan distracting White leading to an opening for Zhukov. Since White is a fat guy, with fat based offense, Zhukov grabs him in a rear wastelock and charges him into the corner of the ring working over his obesity which is actually good psych. White takes a nice bump to the floor and now Zhukov is working Missing Link style headbutts to his mid-section. Crowd starts in with a pretty big U.S.A. chant and Bull Power takes a back tumble through the ropes to the floor. Zhukov foolishly locks on a bearhug so White powers out and then picks up Zhukov by the throat but Zhukov counters with a leaping kick to the gut. White has enough and start firing back with clubbing blows and hits a fat man avalanche but his primary weapon is his gut which is still hurting. He fights back up and hits a nice powerslam for a nearfall and then goes for a big splash but he gets the knees to the guts. Zhukov locks on an ab stretch but Vader counters out by latching onto his arm and he ends up doing a strange spot where he appeals to lead Boris through a dance twirl and then drills him with a short arm shoulder block. White hits this another time and he goes for it a third time but White takes another shot to the gut. Boris gets White down and goes for a diving headbutt but White moves. Vader starts throwing bombs and goes too finish him off with a three point stance charge but Zhukov ducks and White bumps to the floor. White pulls Boris to the floor and they end up in a double countout with both guys brawling on the floor. Story of ultimate fat man wrestler having his obesity worked over by dangerous communist with a hard head probably should not have worked this well but it did.

Leon White vs. Boris Zhukov

- Just think about all of the talent that the AWA had in the mid to late 80s and how they pissed it away with antiquated booking and Gagne’s stubbornness and unwillingness to change… oh, and push his son. Bull Power is just pushing Zhukov around early on but when Zhukov gets the advantage, he focuses on the mid section which is a weird part to work on when going against Vader. Still, it works and I actually didn’t hate Zhukov early on. Great spot as White has Zhukov in a standing choke and Zhukov knees him in the gut. Oh man, another coolspot with Vader about to win with a big splash but Zhukov gets the legs up and damages Vaders gut again! BZ capitalizes and hooks him in an ab stretch. Great psychology! Hell, Vader’s work on BZ’s arm was acceptable as well. Shit, this match is a war. Man, I wasn’t expecting Bull Power to shoot out of the ring late in the match. Shit ending with the interference but more than enough good stuff to move this through. Solid nomination.

"Bull Power" Leon White vs. Boris Zuhkov (2/21/87)

 

Leon as a fiery babyface with the fans chanting Bull Power was awesome. Leon was in great shape for him here and he was more mobile than even he would be as Vader. He put on a helluva performance here as well even making "Boreus" look good as he spent most of the match working over Leon's gut. Zuhkov was really good here with his stomach work and Leon was just as good making it work from a selling perspective. Leon made a fun comeback hitting a big slam for a pinfall but he lifted up Zuhkov in an inexperienced mistake as he wanted to hit his big splash but Zuhkov got the knees up allowing him to go back to work on the stomach. Leon though would grab Boris' left arm and started working it over as fierce as Boris was working over his gut but again Boris would counter back into some stomach work before missing a diving kneedrop from the middle rope. Leon made another comeback hitting a big splash in the corner and kept on the offensive before missing a bull rush going to the floor. Leon would soon drag Boris down with him and they would brawl to a double countout finish. This was a blast as Leon was great here. Fairly easy nomination.