Posted February 22, 201114 yr comment_5465835 Battle Royal I've been looking for this for a while as we have the clipped ending on a previous disc and it was really great. This is one of those deals where I think on paper it seems totally crazy to include a battle royal but in practice I'm not so sure. There are lots of fun spots in this and eliminations. In particular Gagne getting wildly tossed to the floor by Kamala and the Roadies going to eliminate Sarge only for Sarge to duck down and send both guys flying over the ropes. The finishing run is really awesome as Kamala and Billy Robinson work over Sarge who is insanely over here. Sarge keeps fighting back with double clothesline, double head butts and eventually eliminates Kamala by ducking him over the top and then pins Robinson with a lariat. I really can't quite bring myself to nominate it but this should be an EXTRA Road Warriors v. Jerry Lawler/Baron Von Raschke I have to say it was fun to watch the Warriors shctick with Lawler. Lawler took some great bumps off the press slams and I dug him trying to get in a cheap dropkick to no avail. I generally hate Hawk's piledriver no sell but Lawler's facial expression made it more tolerable. Baron goose stepping in off the tag amused me. Hawk actually selling fear of the claw was awesome. Lawler coming in and peppering Animal with shots was cool. I also liked how Hawk ate the corner charge boot and then Lawler used that as a way to get in his flying fist drop before tagging out to Baron who was really fun. Baron locked on the claw but ends up getting caught with a clothesline from Animal after evading one from Hawk for the fall. To me this is enough of a curiosity and has a unique enough feel where it at least deserves to be looked at by the rest of the crew. Rick Martel v. Jimmy Garvin Martel starts up fired up and runs off a string of solid offense. I really dug Jimmy's fireman's carry and the countering on the mat leading to Jimmy in control and talking shit was nicely done. Really awesome sequence with Martel hitting a nice throw and digging in for a comeback only to eat a knee off the ropes and take super fast bump. Another cool series of spots with Martel trying to wristlock out of a headlock and then eating a big boot on a corner charge. Martel finally comes back as Garvin misses a corner charge and gets hung up. Martel hits a nice rana and then lands some punches. He hits a backbreaker for a nearfall. Martel hits a suplex for a nearfall. Precious trips Martel on a slam attempt leading to a Garvin nearfall. Martel ends up pitching Garvin over the top rope for the DQ. This was really good BUT it was heavily clipped if the ring announcer is to be believed. Not sure how much of the match this was. Would be interested to find out. For now I'll flag it as a low end nom Jimmy Valiant/Steve Keirn v. Ivan Kollof/Krusher Kruschev Is this even considered an AWA match? I don't see why it would be. I watched it anyhow and enjoyed it largely due to Ivan and Keirn but I don't see how this would eligible for the set one way or the other. Harley Race v. Ric Flair Now this DEFINITELY wasn't an AWA match.
February 22, 201114 yr comment_5465838 I have no problem putting a Battle Royal on a set if it is good enough
February 22, 201114 yr Author comment_5465841 I'm on the fence about it because it really isn't blow away great. If the crowd wasn't so hot it's hard to say whether or not it would even stand out that much. Having said that the final few minutes are really awesome stuff.
February 22, 201114 yr comment_5465853 If any Battleroyal is going on the set as an extra, the 6/10/84 St. Paul one with Brody, Kaissie and Abby killing Blackwell is probably a better choice, as it's infamous and historical as Blackwell's face turn. If you ask an AWA fan to remember an AWA battleroyal that really stands out, the Blackwell turn one is the answer you'll get. This precludes any Battleroyals being included for match content, of course...I'm talking about if one is going to be included as an extra when all is said and done.
February 22, 201114 yr Author comment_5465857 Yeah I am pretty sure that I have that tagged as an EXTRA. The post-angle stuff from backstage with Blackwell laying on the ground in a pool of his blood is great too
March 17, 201213 yr comment_5497307 The opening to this with World Class wrestlers talking in Japanese was awesome. Tag Team Battle Royal (2/24/85) This was fun with some solid action and yeah it needs to be an extra with all the random star power here. AWA World Tag Titles: The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) © vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler & Baron Von Raschke (2/24/85) Lawler & Baron is quite the team for sure. Lawler ragdolls for the Roadies early bumping like crazy and the crowd is nuts for the Roadies here so they are booing Lawler which is funny. Hawk no selling Lawler's piledriver to a massive pop was great too as the NYC fans just didn't give a shit for the faces. The faces did get a shine run on the Roadies though with Hawk selling and the fans kind popped for Baron and the claw but it wasn't long before Baron ate a big clothesline from Animal on the apron to put him away. This was fine for what it was and it was a fun match but not a nomination to me. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel © vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (2/24/85) This had some really good back and forth action as these two had developed a chemistry at this time and worked well off of each other. Martel is great at what he does and Garvin is a solid opponent for him to work off of. There is some clipping here that seems like a nice chunk of the middle was gone so it kinda hurts the flow of the match. There were some fun nearfalls before a bad DQ finish which sucked. If this was in full I think we could push it forward but the clipping to go along with the finish hurts it for me. No nomination.
