CLASSIC AWA 3/13/08 TV REPORT
- 03/13/2008 (10:31:50 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
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ESPN Classic presents a 1986 episode of Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association.
The Super Ninja defeated Tom "Rocky" Stone in under 4 minutes with a butterfly suplex and bridge combination, on December 21, 1986 at the Showboat Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas Nevada. Larry Zbyszko seconded the Super Ninja, who was a different ninja than Mr. Go. Stone tried to work on the arm, and found himself twirled to the mat by a Super Ninja arm drag takedown. Stone would try to take the offense again, slowing Super Ninja for a few moments after many punches. Super Ninja stopped the onslaught with a kick to Stone’s chest, and when Stone reversed a whip into the corner, the 6 ‘ 6 ninja assassin immediately shot back with a high extension side kick. Super Ninja would apply a nerve hold on Stone’s right shoulder, Stone fired out of it with elbows and forearms, but Super Ninja got the better of this exchange with his forearms and chops. As Stone was Irish whipped into the ropes, his face met a high crescent kick, followed by a double under hook suplex (Butterfly suplex) with a bridge as referee Rober Warren counted the pinfall.
An in ring interview with Larry Nelson would follow, as the camera was on a little girl that held up a sign that read "LARRY ZBYSZKO Im 5 AND I EVEN Think YOURE A SPUDHEAD". Nelson asked Zbyszko why Super Ninja has formed an alliance with him. Zbyszko responded by saying that they have similar interests (I assume Martial Arts and Scrapbooking), and said that Super Ninja was brought in to fend off the thugs sent by AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel and AWA president Stanley Blackburn, to obstruct Zbyszko’s path to world title. Zbyszko said that he doesn’t see a man in North American who can match Super Ninja, and that they will help each get to the title.
The next match was joined in progress, and showed Greg Gagne pinned Ken Glover after under five minutes of mat action. Throughout the match, Glover was unable to fool referee Scott LeDux with his false accusations of rulebreaking on Gagne’s part. Glover would be the rule breaker, by hair pulling and using a closed fist many times in the match, as the crowd booed. Gagne had enough, and would drop Glover with punches, roll him to the mat with an arm drag, and flip Glover twice with a back body drop. Gagne then planted two dropkicks on Glover and cover him for the pinfall victory. After the match was an in ring interview with Larry Nelson, but the interview that aired was a replay of the one reported from the March 12th update, after Greg’s match that saw him defeat Tony Leone.
The third match, was also joined in progress, but was from AWA’s mega event Wrestle Rock 86 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis Minnesota on April 20th 1986. This bout saw a tag team encounter of little people. Cowboy Lang and Little Mr. T defeated Lord Little Brook and Little Tokyo, when Lang pinned Little Brook with a rolling body scissors in under 10 minutes of aired action. Little Brook and Tokyo, who would perform at WrestleMania 3 the year after, tried to maintain their upper hand through choking and eye gouges. A fireman’s carry take over by Lang on Tokyo, would gain him a tagged Little T, who went on to head butt Tokyo and then an apron standing Little Brook.
T would dropkick then slingshot (move where a wrestler laying on back with legs under opponent’s arms, is sprung forward when opponent levers back) Tokyo near Lang’s corner. Tokyo would fight back, getting Little T back to Little Brook’s corner. Little T would find his head trapped between Little Brook’s legs and choked, as Brook jumped on the middle rope. Lang tried to break this up, and found himself also getting choked on the middle rope by the bouncing Little Brook. When released, Tokyo tried to throw Little T back into that choke, but T pushed Tokyo into it instead. Little Brook kept choking Tokyo as if he was an opponent. Lang prevented the ref from breaking this up by tugging on the right arm of Lasowski, causing the referee to tumble over.
Little Brook looked distressed at what happened, and a disappointed Tokyo tagged out. After enduring some shots while in Little Brook’s headlock, T broke free and got Little Brook into a full nelson. Lang came in to strike the trapped Little Brook, but T turned around so Tokyo would hit Little Brook, as tried to hit T to break Little Brook free.
Now Tokyo looked distressed as Little Brooked got up and looked disapproving to him. T would cinch in the full nelson again on Little Brook. The ref stopped Lang from hitting Little Brook, as T turned around, Tokyo stopped as Little Brook flailed his arms for Tokyo to stop. Tokyo stopped, turned around and when he looked back he saw that Little Brook had T in the full nelson. Tokyo charged in, and T ducked away, causing Tokyo to knock down Little Brook again. As T tagged to Lang, Little Brook tagged Tokyo in. Both men raced the ring, criss crossing each other, and almost colliding with Lasowski. Lang would press down, Tokyo leaped over and then got caught in a hip toss. Tokyo would counter a whip in the ropes with a knee. After both men tagged out, a headlocked Little Brook got T to Tokyo’s corner.
After a back body drop and karate chop, T would floor Tokyo with a head butt. T would then whip and catch Tokyo into fireman’s carry into a fast airplane spin for seven rotations. Little Brook came in to break the pin, but T avoided the kick when he lifted up. T got Tokyo into another airplane spin for four rotations, and this time when T lifted off his pin attempt, Little Brook came in and accidently stomped on Tokyo. T would head butt Little Brook down, then Lang came positioned Tokyo to where his feet would be against Little Brook’s feet. Then Lang hoped over his foes, as he and T sat and moved their opponents’ legs with a double row boat action.
Then Lang grabbed referee Lasowski left leg, and the ref found himself tackled by T, which would lead to a pile on the ref by all four wrestlers. T would get up and kick Lasowski in the back as the crowd was a mix of cheers and laughs. The referee let it go, as T would punch Tokyo’s stomach then flip him with a back body drop. Little Brook was then tagged and found himself also getting hit in the stomach and flipped off the ropes with a back body drop, from a freshly tagged Lang. Then a seated Little Brook had Lang’s legs wrapped around him from behind. Lang would roll with Little Brook, and on the fifth roll, Little Brook was upside down in a pin position, as the referee counted three. Announcer Gary Michael Cappetta entered the ring to announced Cowboy Lang and Little Mr. T the winners.
Larry Nelson was sitting at what looked like a carpeted desk, with a tv behind, as he was introducing a Sherri Martel match. Nelson said she was at the top her field as AWA women’s champion, and mangeress of AWA tag champions Buddy Rose and Doug Somers. Nelson said Martel had been defending her title all over the world, and whether you love her or hate her, Sherri Martel is a tremendous talent that is going to go down in history as one of the best ever.
Sherri Martel defeated The Killer Tomato with a top rope slash before the seven minute mark. This match was back at the Showboat in Las Vegas, as Killer Tomato in a red outfit and a funky blonde perm would work over Sherri’s left arm with a hammerlock, and arm twist into a seated arm stretch. Sherri rolled out the hold and got Tomato in a seated side headlock. Tomato turned this into a head scissors, and kicked Sherri as she broke free of the hold. Tomato then gave a fireman’s carry take over, and after commentators Rod Trongard and Lord James Blears said that they thought she was going for an airplane spin, Tomato picked up Sherri and rotated her three times with the airplane spin before dumping Sherri to the mat. Sherri retaliated with a punch to Tomato’s stomach, then with a yanking grip to the single portion of Tomato’s outfit, covered her for a two count.
Trongard miscalled a play when he said that Tomato broke the pin with a knee to the back of Sherri’s head, but that did not happen. Sherri would sit on Tomato’s back and pull Tomato’s head back with the hair and then a chin lock for a surfboard, which is a move Blears said a Samoan wrestler named Ken Miama made famous. Tomato found herself whipped into the ropes, hit with a dropkick. Sherri was thrown off her pin cover at two, onto referee Gary DeRousha, and gave an annoyed look to him when he flashed the peace sign that signaled a two count.
Sherri gave an ax handle smash to Tomato’s back, choked her on the top rope, then flung the rope back to make Tomato fly on to the mat. After a a leg drop, Sherri picked up to punish Tomato some more with an eye rake. Tomato would yank Sherri’s right leg out, causing Sherri to crash her back to the mat. With Sherri on her back, Tomato kept Sherri’s legs up and then split Sherri’s legs wide apart when both of Tomato’s come down on Sherri with a leg drop. The crowd cheers as Tomato repeats this move on Sherri. Tomato whipped Sherri into the ropes and took her down with a clothesline.
On a second whip, Sherri revered it and drove down Tomato with hangman’s clothesline (where the clothesliner keeps there arm on the opponent on the way down). After a double leg drop, and smash into the corner, Sherri then nailed Tomato with a slow shin kick to the inner thigh. Sherri then body slammed and squashed Tomato with a Superfly like leap off the top ropes, leading to DeRousha’s count of three. Then Nelson was shown again at AWA studio, restating that Sherri Martel is at the top of her profession.
Brad Rheingans beat Don Fargo before the eight minute mark with a second rope shoulder tackle, at the Showboat in Las Vegas. Fargo would have to break his hold on Rheingans’ left arm as the referee spotted the hair pulling that brought Brad to the mat. Blears mentioned that before he retired about six years before, that he broke two ribs in a battle royal when Rheingans ran into him. Blears also confirmed that Don Fargo was from the infamous Fargo tag team with Jackie Fargo (Jerry Lawler’s Mid South wrestling area).
A forearm smash to Brad’s stomach while on the ropes, would break the headlock on Fargo. After a Fargo turnbuckle smash and elbow to the back, Rheingans fires back with two shots to Fargo’s stomach. Then Brad smashes the grimacing Fargo’s head into the top turnbuckle. Rheingans looked to be trying to turn a front face lock into a neckbreaker, when Fargo backed him in the ropes and lowered another elbow to the back. Brad would arm drag out of Fargo’s first Sleeperhold attempt. Brad elbowed out of Fargo’s second Sleeper attempt, but Fargo would rush to apply again after falling to a shoulder tackled down. Fargo kept the hold by pulling the hair, then releasing briefly to deliver an elbow and a choke on the middle rope.
Brad would eventually elbow again and then be the successor of fist exchange with Fargo. Then after being whipped into the corner, Fargo had his head wrapped up in Rheingans’ arms for a sleeperhold. Fargo would push Brad off into the ropes, then find himself getting knocked to the mat with a Rheingans dropkick off the ropes and then a Rheingans shoulder tackle off the ropes. Brad then mounted the second ropes from the cornered and shot into Fargo with a flying shoulder tackle that he calls The Bullet. Referee Larry Lasowski raised Brad Rheingans hand after the pin on Fargo.
Earlier in the episode was an interview with Greg Gagne that aired the night before, and the last match on this episode was a replay from the same show, that saw Colonel DeBeers pinned Mike Richards with the front face pile driver before the three minute mark at the Showboat in Nevada. The in ring interview with Nelson was also a replay from the night before.
You can catch classic AWA wrestling from Monday-Friday at 1am eastern standard time on ESPN Classic.
David
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