July 2^nd aired a 1987 episode of Verne Gagne’s AWA All-Star Wrestling from the Showboat Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas Nevada. (Programming note: AWA aired one hour earlier at 12am on ESPN Classic)  

Mitch Snow versus Lance Allen 

A headlocked Allen picks up Snow and throws him off. Snow catches Allen with a hip toss and arm drags to an arm lock. Allen places his foot on the rope to break the hold. Commentator Rod Trongard mentions that Allen was the 1980 Wisconsin State body building champion in 1980, and had been competing in pro wrestling for nine years in the mid-west. Allen flashes a double arm flex after forcing Snow into the corner.

Snow is forced quickly to his knees after engaging in a knuckle lock test of strength. Snow stomps Allen’s foot, then twist for a backslide position but instead does a backwards roll over Allen’s back. Snow monkey flips Allen out of the corner, and sits on Allen’s chest as he punches down on him. Snow knee drops Allen’s left arm after an arm drag. Snow ducks Allen’s clothesline, and catches Allen in the ribs with a flying cross body press for 2. Allen eyes rakes and chokes Snow on the rope.  

Allen yanks Snow’s neck on the top rope, body slams him and lands an elbow drop. Snow escapes the pin at 2, is corner whipped but moves away from a charge. Allen’s left knee hits the turnbuckle and he flies over the ropes to the floor. Snow yanks the ropes, cauing Allen to be slingshotted in. Snow punches Allen down, then whip him to a dropkick for a 2 count. Allen reverses the Irish whip, but Snow ducks the clothesline and delivers the Slam Jam (powerslam/hiptoss combo) for referee Marty Miller’s count of 3 count, closing the match in under seven minutes.  

Chris Curtis & Billy Bold Eagle versus AWA world tag team champions Boris Zhukov and Soldat Ustinov 

Zhukov wristlocks Curtis and headbutts the upper arm. A tagged Soldat boots down Curtis for a leg drop. A tagged Zhukov assists Soldat in nailing a whipped Curtis with a double boot. Curtis moves away from a charging Zhukov, who hits the corner, and is then punched down by Curtis. Zhukov is back elbowed, then Curtis gains a 2 count after a snap mare.  

Curtis and Bold Eagle tag back and forth, holding Zhukov while the other strikes. Bold Eagle reverses Zhukov’s wristlock. A tagged Curtis charges down Zhukov, but Zhukov retaliates by knocking down Curtis with a clothesline. A tagged Soldat clubs down Curtis in the corner, then knocks Curtis down with a fall forward clothesline.  

A tagged Zhukov assists in delivering a double back elbow to a whipped Curtis. Zhukov is struck with a flying double handed slap by a tagged Bold Eagle. After Bold Eagle misses a corner splash, Zhukov slammed Bold Eagles head into Soldat’s boot. Soldat whips Bold Eagle for a clothesline, then steps on his back. Soldat with a tagged Zhukov whip Bold Eagle backwards into their corner.  

Zhukov distracts referee Gary DeRousha as Soldat chokes Bold Eagle on apron. Zhukov back body drops and back suplexes Bold Eagle. A tagged Soldat lifts Bold Eagle for an over the shoulder body vice, forcing Bold eagle to submit. Zhukov and Soldat win the match that was over six minutes. Zhukov and Soldat shake hands before leaving the ring.

At AWA studio, world champion Curt Hennig that is doing great. Hennig said he had to get a secretary due to many calls from Hollywood and Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White. When asked about a change in his attitude, Hennig that it’s nothing, because he always wrestles within the rules. Hennig didn’t want to hear anymore about the controversy regarding Larry Zbyszko’s involvement in Hennig’s win of the AWA world title. Hennig said that he outwrestled and outsmarted the previous champion Nick Bockwinkel, and that Greg gane would never get a title shot. Hennig said "one by one I will show them why I am the heavyweight champion of the world!" 

Another interview at AWA studio had "Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko compared himself to being like Oliver North in the Iran Contra scandal. Zbyszko said that the nation went from being against North to seeing him as a hero worthy of being president. Zbyszko said that "history is going to prove that when smokes settles and dust clears that there was no roll of dimes, and Hennig beat Bockwinkel all by himself" Zbyszko went on to say "1987 is the year of his destiny, when I will become heavyweight champion of the world" 

Jim Evans versus "Adorable" Adrian Adonis  

The purple haired Adonis was accompanied by the striped gray suited Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman). Adonis rolled to Evans and reached in, tripping Evans. Adonis kneed Evans in the stomach, racked his back, and choked him on the ropes. Adonis knee dropped Evans, then burned his knee pad over Evan’s face. Adonis picked up Evans for an atomic drop, and dropped Evan’s butt on the mat.  

Adonis wrapped his arms around Evans’ head for his Good Irene sleeper hold. Evans was out, and referee Gary DeRousha signals the bell, awarding the match by submission victory to Adonis. This match was under three minutes. Adonis risked a disqualification by holding on to the move, let’s go, but refuses the ref’s request to wake Evans. A commentating Verne Gagne warned kids not to try that hold.  

At AWA studio, Larry Nelson interviewed Paul E. Dangerously. Heyman..I mean Dangerously had Nelson sit on a stool, and called him McMahon. Dangerously soon clarified that he meant Johnny Carson¢s sidekick Ed McMahon (Tonight Show, Star Search). Dangerously said that "Adorable" Adrian Adonis’ Flower Shop (Piper’s Pit type show in WWF/WWE) was the hottest show in wrestling, but that former manager Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart couldn’t handle his managerial duties.  

Dangerously said that Adonis called New York for Dangerously, because he is a known big money person. Dangerously told Nelson to shut up, when he tries to interject, and Dangerously went on to explain that Adonis "didn’t want to be (WWE’s) cartoon, he wants to kick some butt" Dangerously said he would lead Adonis to the heavyweight championship, and would even get Adonis a partner to win the world tag titles.  

Dangerously said it would be a dandy day to have Adonis and his partner face Dangerously’s other team the original Midnight Express (Dennis Conrey & Randy Rose), because that way he would get both the winners¢ and losers¢ share of the purse. Dangerously said that he doesn’t have to scream to get his point across, because he is just that good, as he "takes the Dangerous Alliance to the top of the wrestling world. Don’t like it? Get out of town" 

Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell & Steve "O" Olsonoski versus "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey & "Ravishing" Randy Rose of the Original Midnight Express (accompanied by manager Paul E. Dangerously)

Blackwell shakes hands at ringside, as Paul E. Says that this was the match that the "Playboy channel couldn’t get" Dangerously quickly flees the ring, and Blackwell holds the microphone to Dangerously asking "is this what you wanted?" Dangerously would get back in the ring to announce his team, saying that they are "Adorable" Adrian Adonis’ favorite tag team.  

After stalling to talk with Dangerously, Rose attempts to body slam the nearly 500 lbs Blackwell. Rose can’t, but Blackwell scoops up Rose for a slam. Rose walks back to his corner on his knees, and stalls to talk with Condrey. Blackwell gets Rose in a cross face headlock, then fights back both Midnights in their corner.  

Rose leaps on Blackwell with a flying cross body. Blackwell holds him, but trips when moving backwards. Rose is thrown off, through the ropes when Blackwell kicks out of a pin cover at 2. Verne Gagne mentioned that Blackwell is back from a long absence due to injured ribs. Rose pushes off a tagged Steve O (not the guy from MTV’s Jackass/Wild boyz) headlock. Condrey attempts to attack on the apron, and is hit by Steve O. A tagged Condrey is arm dragged, charged down, then Steve chasing Dangerously from the floor to the ring.  

Many chants for Steve O ring out, as Steve holds Condrey for a tagged Blackwell kick to the arm. Blackwell steps over the arm for a leg drops, then a tagged Steve drops a knee on Condrey’s arm. Steve O presses Condrey’s arm for a tagged Blackwell splash on it. An entering Rose distracts Blackwell from his hammerlock, Condrey strikes Blackwell, but is nailed with a flying ax handle by Steve O from the middle rope in the corner.

Blackwell then holds Condrey for Steve O’s middle rope flying tomahawk chop. Rose is knocked through the ropes by Blackwell’s headbutt, Condrey takes down Blackwell with a throat shot, gaining a 2 count. Blackwell takes a knee lift and throat attacks, then knocks the Midnights down in their corner with headbutts. Rose is seated on the middle rope, holds on to the tope rope to not fall from the headbutt, and seesaw’s himself into two more Blackwell headbutts before falling back completely.  

Condrey is on his knees pledging for mercy, and is hip tossed over by Steve O for a 2 count. After Condrey stalls in the corner, he takes Steve O backwards to the mat with a knuckle lock. Dangerously hits Steve O with the cordless phone. Condrey slams Steve O’s head on the timekeeper’s table. Back in the ring, Condrey Irish whips Steve O, then whips Rose to clothesline Steve O. Steve kicks out at 2, is suplexed and back suplexed by Rose, and kicks out at 2 after a pin attempt was made after each move.  

Steve O is posted against Rose’s knee in a chinlock, then elbows to escape and charges Rose down. Rose delivers a throat shot to another chinlock. Steve elbows Rose to the corner, but is given an interverted atomic drop, when attempting a monkey flip. Rose holds Steve for a tagged Condrey rib strike, gaining a 2 for Condrey’s pin attempt. A tagged Rose attempts a back body dropped, but the whipped Steve O punts Rose for lowering his head too soon. 

A tagged Blackwell chops down Condrey, headbutts down Rose, then jams Rose in the corner. Condrey rakes Blackwell off Rose, and Dangerously pulls Balckwell’s arm to assist the Express’ rope choke. Rose holds Blackwell for a Condrey knee, then Rose throat chops Blackwell in corner. The Express whip Blackwell for a double back body drop, and from a leg drop, Rose gets a 2 count after Steve O pulls him off the pin.  

Though Condrey didn’t tag, the distracted referee Marty Miller thinks he is legal, as Condrey chinlocks Blackwell. Condrey flies off the middle rope in the corner, and Blackwell catches him with a punch to the face. A tagged Steve head slams a tagged Rose from one corner to another. Steve O strikes Rose down in corner, body slams him, but his pin is kicked off at 2 by Condrey.  

Blackwell knocks Condrey to the floor, Steve O hops over Rose, pushing him to the ropes for a roll up pin. The referee isn¢t there to count, as he tries to get Blackwell out of the ring. Condrey clotheslines Steve O down. Rose hooks the leg on his pin cover on Steve O, and Blackwell goes to headbutt Condrey down on the ring apron, instead of kicking off the pin cover. The Original Midnight Express get the pin victory, in this match that was just under twenty minutes.  

Catch the legends of the AWA Monday to Friday at it’s new time of 12am est on ESPN Classic. 

David  http://www.myspace.com/unrulyghouly