Posted March 28, 201114 yr comment_5468495 1. The Midnight Rockers v Alex Knight/Sally Ruiz This is pretty short, only 4 minutes or so. But the Rockers looked really solid here. Nice double teams. 2. “In This Corner” segment with Larry Zbyszko introducing Go the Ninja would make a Great EXTRA. Larry Nelson is the perfect foil for Zbyszko in this, claiming Go is a killer. "He is a ninja, and ninjas are killers!" And Zbyszko would just be like, "Look, we just train at the same dojo." EXTRA! 3. Bruiser Brody v Leon White This would also make a really good extra, as I imagine most people would want to see a Brody/Vader match, and the match itself is actually really good while it lasts. Brody attacks Leon before the bell with a chair, and injures his ankle. White sells the ankle really well and his comebacks are all really cool, with Brody actually selling everything. White comes back with big punches, a big headbutt, big burly shoulder tackles, all while doing really great selling. Ref stops the match ruling White couldn't continue. Fun stuff. EXTRA! 4. Nick Bockwinkel v Col. DeBeers This was a really, really good 15 minute draw. They start with Bock working a lot of legwork, and it's impressive the shape Nick is in at 52. The leg work is really good and Bock has some cool leg picks. He also is always throwing a bunch of nice forearms at the Colonel's face which always look great. DeBeers cheats to go back on offense and gets to do all his cool moves, even a Vader bomb which he got great height on. He goes for it again and Bock gets the knees up, then dominates the last 2 minutes until the time expires. Crowd was super hot for this one and it was a real engaging 15 minutes. Did a great job of putting over "Bock woulda beat him if there wasn't a time limit" and DeBeers freaks out on the fans afterwards, yelling about South Africa and calling a dude in the front row a transvestite. NOMINATE!
June 16, 201114 yr comment_5473508 The Midnight Rockers v Alex Knight/Sally Ruiz There were indeed some fun double teams in this, but also one really weird spot with Marty and Shawn just sort of running by each other on what I can only assume was supposed to be some sort of double team spot. Midnight Rockers promo. In the Corner with Larry segment introducing Go The Ninja. This starts with a video package of Larry and then escalates to Nelson freaking out about the presence of a Ninja in the AWA. EXTRA Bruiser Brody v. Leon White White is in his trucker hat and gets ambushed at the bell with Brody destroying White's leg with a chair before the match even starts. No bullshit, young Vader could really sell and that kinda makes this match. Brody can't sell for shit and every bump he takes is silly looking, but Adnan twisting Leon's leg off the ropes was a real cool cutoff spot. This should be an EXTRA for sure but the shit finish kills it as a match. EXTRA Sheik promo as Brody huffs Nick Bockwinkel v. Col Debeers The early work here was really gritty with the tight gripped, dueling facelocks on the ground, Debeers big crunching dive onto the hunched over Bock, Bock popping out of a backward role and going to an Indian Deathlock that he combines with sick forearm shots to the face. Seriously the opening few minutes of this are really low key, but really god damned good low key wrestling. Bock concentrates on the leg and does some really quick motion stuff. This mothefucker is fifty years old or thereabouts when this match took place and he's hitting flash drop toeholds with crazy precision. Seriously incredible if you think about it. Bock goes on the defensive after getting chucked to the floor and Debeers gets a nice near fall after a Vader Bomb. He's goes for second but eats the knees and musters a big comeback, including a near fall after a forearm smash. From there they sort of go into a cool sequence of stuff where Debeers controls the offensive pace but keeps getting caught with counter pin falls attempts or equalizing spots that keep him from securing a position of control. I thought the match kind of peaked on the sleeper spot with about 2 minutes left, but the finishing run was still pretty good. This was a really solid tv main event. Col. Debeers promo.
