I went to submit my AWA ballot but needed to fit in the matches from Disc 1. I couldn't remember them so Johnny Sorrow, Kris Zellner & I re-watched the first half. Really enjoyable 2 hours. We are going to try and knock out the 2nd half this weekend so all of the discs will be accounted for.

 

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkC...6382&cmd=tc

 

 

Matches watched.....

 

 

Lord Alfred Hayes vs. Bobby Heenan (1/13/80)

Greg Gagne vs. Super Destroyer Mark II (5/1/80)

Verne Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkel (7/18/80)

Greg Gagne & Super Destroyer Mark II vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan (10/3/80)

Big John Studd & Jerry Blackwell vs. High Flyers (2/20/81)

East-West Connection vs. High Flyers (3/1/81)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Pat O'Connor (3/22/81)

East-West Connection vs. High Flyers (Cage Match) (3/22/81)

Did you ever consider doing a bonus disc of 1990 AWA? I know it wouldn't be part of the 80s project but it would be a nice addition to the set.

I could suggest a few matches probably if so, though some of my notes were on the old board.

You would think if they drew 20k or less that would be an indictment on Verne as a babyface draw instead of Bock as a champion draw. Instead, they needed a different person to unseat Bockwinkel. Instead of saying, Bockwinkel's entire 5 year reign comes down to this card and how well it draws. Yes, you could make the argument that people were tired of Bock, but they certainly were not up for Verne so I would expect a different face would have helped. Also, who did Verne defend against? Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey only? Maybe some Crusher Blackwell, could be interesting?

How was business in the year after Verne regained the title?

Verne defended mainly against Bockwinkel but worked a lot of tags with Vachon against East-West.

Verne defended against the following:

 

Nick Bockwinkel

Jerry Blackwell

Jesse Ventura

Billy Robinson

 

Plus he had some tags with Vachon, as mentioned, against Ventura & Adonis. Oddly, his Retirement match in Chicago was not until November of 1981, where he beat Adrian Adonis.

 

Verne winning the title back was a big ego thing for Verne, but it also capped a 5 year chase storyline that had seen Verne pursuing Nick and being denied title matches over and over, save for the occasional challenge designed to screw Verne and have Bock declare no more title matches...and on went the cycle. It was a good way for Verne to scale back his own wrestling and continue to be more of a special attraction.

Will not being able to get over the clipping in Verne/ Bock is the best. Lol

And in time my Bock impression is gonna rule.

As good as teh show was....I gotta hunt down the complete set of Barney Miller....didnt watch it back in the day, but am going to now!

I tried watching it a few months ago... Brutal.

 

However, when I was teaching summer school, I burned through the entire 1st season of Welcome Back Kotter in a. Few days. WBK rules.

Kotter aged great. It's all about wordplay and Marx Brothers' influence.

I tried watching it a few months ago... Brutal.

 

However, when I was teaching summer school, I burned through the entire 1st season of Welcome Back Kotter in a. Few days. WBK rules.

Brutal? NO....dont ruin the hope!!! As for Kotter...Always will be CLASSIC....The SweatHogs would have been a cool stable in the 70's....Heel or Face?

Cool heels.

 

Also, I could not be happier we revisited Disc 1 as the last disc. I was underwhelmed with the disc as a whole the first run through. LOVED IT the 2nd time around and all matches got a boost.

Cool heels.

 

Also, I could not be happier we revisited Disc 1 as the last disc. I was underwhelmed with the disc as a whole the first run through. LOVED IT the 2nd time around and all matches got a boost.

 

Do you think that last disc of AWA had fallen off the most of any of the best of the 80's sets? That's not a slam, because I really liked the set and I'm almost done with a ballot.

Can't speak for Will and I liked the last disc more than the guys doing the podcast did IIRC, but I would have to say yes. Having said that you still have two matches on that disc that will do very well on my ballot (Kerry v. Jerry and the Olympians tag)

I agree with Dylan. There were some good matches but 1988 and 1989 as a whole felt lie a big letdown. People need to keep in mind that when matches are nominated, the usually are Not watched in chronological order and are nominated in relation to what didn't make the set. Matches that feel like easy nominations early in the process might not hold up next to the heavyweights that end up ranking high.

Part of it was that the AWA was truly dieing. I mean all the territories were going down the drain, but it seemed other places were trying something different. In WCCW you had the Eric Embry stuff and morphing into Memphis, you had the UWF being bought out by Crockett and still had a lot of good wrestlers. Memphis still had it's biggest star in Lawler. So to me the AWA decline seemed more finalized.

Yeah the later matches were good but some were made better because of the total garbage that was surrounding it when watching it in order.

I watched as much AWA TV as I could find, all the way into 86-87 or so. Full years, really. When I got to 88-89, it was available, but I just gave up.

Maybe I just like shitty wrestling as much as good, as I enjoyed 1988 - 1989 AWA...not as much but definately had some good wrestling on it....and the bad interviews just make it better..

 

But I also love Late Era WCW....so....

Was the post-Barney Miller Max Gail show that was discussed Normal Life? I remember that one, the elder two Zappa kids were in it.

 

Glad to hear automatic Big John Studd hate officially debunked. He wasn't an awesome technician, but he could be fun, I really enjoyed this one teaming with Blackwell.