CLASSIC AWA 4/15 TV REPORT
- 04/15/2008 (9:45:52 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
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April 15th airs a 1986 episode of Verne Gagne’s AWA from the Showboat Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas Nevada. Like episodes before, this one only specifies the year.
Steel Gladiator & Jesse Hernandez versus King Kong Brody & Nord The Barbarian
Brody and Nord charged the ring and attacked their opponents with forearms and kicks before the bell. Though Jesse and Steel were towered by their opponents, Steel grabbed Brody’s leg, but was power over by a Brody hip toss before getting thrown from the ring. Nord hip tossed Jesse before throwing him in the ring. Steel returned, trying to work a move on Nord, but Nord just threw Steel’s head into Brody’s draped over the top rope boot.
A commentating Greg Gagne said that he was anxious in his match against Brody and Nord at WrestleRock, because he believed that they hadn’t met his partner Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka before. A tagged Brody body slammed Steel and then threw him out of the ring. Brody knocked Steel’s head into a ringside table, and then Brody threw Jesse’s head into the ring steps after he tried to attack Brody from behind. Steel tried to help his partner, but Brody shoved him down into the table. Nord picked up Jesse in a body slam before referee Scott LeDux signaled for the bell to disqualify Brody and Nord in this under three minute match.
Apache Pistol Pete versus Brad Rheingans
Both men shook hands and Pete took Rheingans down with a three quarter nelson and a bit of a hair pull. Rheingans pushed Pete against the ropes to break the front face lock, and threaten to use his fists. Greg Gagne mentioned that Rheingans uses a 250 lb log that is 4 ½ feet long to practice his suplexes with. Pete escapes a hammer lock to the ropes, then applied an arm twist that Rheingans would escape with a fireman’s carry take over.
Pete complained and then tried to roll up Rheingans, who twisted his body to a bridge while locking the arms with his leg. Larry Nelson mentioned that he made a mistake on Pete’s weight in the announcement. Greg Gagne agreed with him that Rheingans is reminiscent to
Milwaukee’s own Crusher in shape and style.
Rheingans hooked the arm and shifted his weight to flip over Pete in a headlock, then after Pete escaped, Rheingans would take him over again with this move off the ropes. Rheingans front locked Pete’s head and right arm, then twisted him into a dropping neck breaker that earned a two count. From the corner, Pete would eye, punch and then thumb poke a headlocked Rheingans.
Nelson said that it looked like Pete applied a nerve hold to the trapezius muscle, but Gagne thought it was a choke because referee applied a count, before further inspection. Pete would get a near fall, before Rheingan stood, swatted off the hold and downed Pete with a fall away dropkick.
Pete went right back on Rheingans, applied the nerve hold from behind. Nelson and Gagne commented on how Rheingans looked to be going out. Rheingans would get whipped into the ropes, and Pete lowered his head too soon for a back drop and got kicked back. Rheingans looked to have aggravated a knee injury that Gagne explained was originally caused in a match against Boris Zhukov.
Rheingans looked to be going for a piledriver, but his leg wouldn’t allow the weight. From a head vice leg lock on Pete, Rheingans hopped up and brought his feet down for a head cracker. Rheingans pounded on Pete in the corner, whipped him to the opposite corner and rolled him over with a back drop. An exited Pete would return to be Irish whipped into a mid section headbutt. Then after a Rheingans atomic drop, Pete was gut wrench suplexed over for LeDux’s count of 3, ending this match just past the seven minute point.
In the post match interview, Nelson asked Rheingans what his opponent’s nerve hold was called, and Rheingans said that he under estimated his opponent, that he was thinking too far ahead in his re-match with Boris Zhukov. Nelson asked about the knee injury, and Rheingans said it was almost back to 100%. Rheingans commented that Sheik Adnan El Kassey is wrong to think that money is the way to the top, when it was really about hard work. Rheingans said that Zhukov didn’t finish the job in putting him out of wrestling, but that he planned to do that to Zhukov in their upcoming match.
Next was Larry Zbyszko’s In This Corner segment. Zbyszko explained to Nelson that a reason why this is this the first segment in awhile, is due to working with his lawyer on making that match with Scott LeDux at WrestleRock. Zbyszko said that out of the goodness of his heart, he would treat the teenyboppers who had written him, by having on the Midnight Rockers. After a video of The Rockers winning in a match against "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, The Midnight Rockers joined Zbyszko and Nelson in the studio.
Zbyszko kept referring to Shawn Michaels as Gene, and thought Shawn was a pampered rich kid. When Shawn said that his dad slapped him around everyday, Zbyszko said that is why Michaels is in hiding with Marty Jannetty. Zbyszko looked to the camera and told the girls, that one day the Midnight Rockers will be scarred, bruised and ugly. He went to tell Michaels that his dad would take away the car and the credit card, when he sees that Shawn can’t handle responsibility. Zbyszko then said that Jannetty would be back in Georgia, pushing a boom and mumbling to the head principal.
Zbyszko said that entertaining the 13 years olds won’t earn them the big money, and questioned if the Rockers were grown up enough to leave the nest, and possessed the vicious streak needed to be professional wrestlers. Michaels denied Zbyszko’s claims of whining about Rose and Somers, and said that maybe one day they will be be as ugly as him. Jannetty said he didn’t think they could, and asked Zbyszko to get a partner to face them. Zbyszko said that he couldn’t find anyone skilled enough, and Jannetty felt that nobody wanted to be Zbyszko’s partner. Michaels knocked away a Crayon, as Zbyszko gave them a Crayon box to answer their fan letters.
After the commercial, Nelson was joined by Ray "The Crippler" Stevens for the Mat Classic segment. The match spotlighted was a September 29th 1973 encounter between Ray Stevens and Red Bastien. As the archival footage showed Ray signing autographs in the ring, Stevens commented that Red wasn’t among the bigger wrestler, but he was one of the greatest world traveling wrestlers.
Stevens said that just before this match, he and Nick Bockwinkel won the tag titles from Bastien and Hercules Cortez. Nelson mentioned that Stevens set an attendance record in Madison Square Garden, Candlestick Park and his hometown of Richmond Virginia.
The match showed Stevens breaking a headlock, and flipping Bastien with a knee shot as he bounced off the ropes. Bastien would fight Stevens out of the corner, get eye raked and get a shoulder jam from a corner whip. Bastien grabbed the ropes when whipped to the opposite corner, propel himself over a charging Stevens, who hit the corner then a Bastien punch and hip toss.
When asked to compare Bastien with wrestlers of today, Stevens said that he saw Bastien’s speed in Curt Hennig, Jannetty and Michaels. Stevens added that although Bastien was a little lighter than them, that Bastien gave him a tougher fight than most wrestlers over 300 lbs.
Stevens looked to be caught in awkward looking head scissors roll. Steven whipped Bastien into the ropes, Bastien flipped out of it, head scissored Stevens and added multiple chops down with the leg. An off ropes collision would down both men, then
Stevens would take a headbutt that took both men down again.
When Nelson brought up that Bockwinkel’s World title win that happened the year after this match, Stevens said he was happy for Nick but Steven’s preferred path was that of tag team matches. Nelson brought up that Stevens had held a singles title in the United States title. Stevens said he held the title seven times and being champion feels like being a big bruise with the meanest coming at you all the time.
After taking an elbow, Steven launched a gut punch and threw Bastien out of the ring. Nelson said that he didn’t understand the point of doing that since time was running out in the match. Stevens said that it really took the wind out of his opponents sails when a fight is brought to the floor. Bastien would pull Stevens out to hammer him, but Stevens hopped back in the ring just in time to win by count out.
Mike Rotundo versus "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers in the main event
This was Rotundo’s tv debut in the AWA, and Greg Gagne mentioned that Rotundo recently held the WWF tag title with Barry Windham. Gagne added that Rotundo just came back from a month long tour wrestling in Japan. Somers, unaccompanied by his manger Sherri Martel, backed Rotundo in the ropes and then pushed off Rotundo’s headlock to criss cross the ropes. Somers stopped and caught Rotundo off the ropes with a body slam, but was immediately dropped back when Rotundo mule kicked Somers down.
Rotundo took Somers over with a headlock, but Somers pushed off the hold and ducked down as Rotundo leaped frogged over him. Somers would try to hip toss Rotundo coming off the ropes, but Rotundo reversed this into a hip toss on Somers. Somers escaped the headlock and backed Rotundo into the corner, chest chopped him, then whipped him to the other corner. Somers charged to the corner, but Rotundo moved, causing Somers to fly over the top rope.
The crowd cheers, and Somers looked to have hit his left shoulder on the ring post. Rotundo went to the floor, gave a vicious slap to Somers before throwing him back in the ring. Upon his return, Rotundo traded punches until dropping Somers with a European uppercut. Rotundo received a 1 count on his pin cover, and when Somers got up, he was flipped over with a headlock take down. A head locked Somers used Rotundo’s trunks to turn him over for a pin, but referee LeDux saw this and moved Rotundo back to his seated position.
Somers back suplexes out, but misses a top rope headbutt. Rotundo gets a 2 count after an elbow drop. Rotundo goes from a chinlock to a front face lock, but Somers lands a low shot to escape. Somers tells Ledux it was a gut shot, then lifts Rotundo in a mid gut wrench suplex into a gut buster on the knee. Somers gets a 2 count aftre a knee drop, then lands stomps on Rotundo. Somers then nudges LeDux after being warned about the headlock punch he just used on Rotundo.
After another short headlock punch, a cornered Rotundo fires back with knife edge chops. Somers would eye rake, chest chop and then rope burn Rotundo with the top rope. Somers kicked Rotundo from the ring, and looked to almost get into a fist fight with referee LeDux. Somers proceeded to stomp Rotundo from the ring apron. Somers slammed Rotundo’s head on the apron and threatens Greg Gagne at the commentator’s table. The camera then shows that Rotundo is open up, which may have been the results of the apron smash, but I think it started with the rope burn.
After more stomping and Gagne threatening, Rotundo leps sweeps Somers and drags him to where the ring post is between Somer’s legs. Rotundo slams the right leg, then the left leg to the post. Rotundo received a headbutt when he returned to the ring, and Somers wrapped his arm around Rotundo’s head and bit at the cut. After receving forearm shots, a corner whipped Rotundo, met a charging Somers with a high back body drop.
Rotundo knocked Somers in the corner, then stood on the middle rope to land fists. Rotundo then lead Somers by the hair to a turnbuckle smash in the opposite corner. Somers fell back, took a knee but broke the pin count at 2 with a foot on the bottom rope. Rotundo would land on the inner thigh of that leg with a seated drop, then as Somers grasped the middle rope, Rotundo yanked Somers up and to the mat by the left leg.
Somers forearms Rotundo’s stomach, then throws him through the ropes.
Gagne felt that the referee should take a look at Rotundo’s cut. Somers stomps at a returning Rotundo, then lifts him off the apron with a suplex. Mid way through the move, Rotundo shifts his weight and turns the suplex into a cross body press. Somers falls back and LeDux slaps the mat 3 times for a Rotundo victory, in this thirteen minute match.
Nelson shook hands with Rotundo after the match, and commented that the eye looked rough. Rotundo said that he came to "the beautiful city of Las Vegas and found out that this is what it’s like in the AWA" Rotundo said that he proved that you can excel if you believe in yourself like he and his tag partner Barry Windham believe in their selves. Rotundo said that they would take their dues and their lumps, pushing hard as it took in order to get to the top. Nelson asked about Windham’s injury. Rotundo explained that Windham injured his ankle in a match in St. Petersburg Florida, and he hoped Barry would be back in 3-4 days. Rotundo said that his team was looking forward to wrestling at the Dome (WrestleRock). Nelson congratulated Rotundo on a sensational match.
Catch the legends of AWA Monday to Friday at 1am est on ESPN Classic.
David
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