Post by fifthhorseman on Apr 28, 2024 21:19:38 GMT -5
AWA ALL-STAR WRESTLING
EPISODE 79
EPISODE 79
Short “Saturday Night's Main Event”-styled promos from Rick Rude, Damian Priest, PAC, Samoa Joe, Buddy Matthews, AJ Styles and Arn Anderson, and Verne Gagne and Terry Funk. Pyro from San Francisco, California – calling the action, Joey Styles and Don West.
Cold open with the Four Horsemen and Freddie Blassie in the ring... sort of. Lee Marshall started things with their legendary manager, Freddie Blassie. “You might have noticed that Tully Blanchard isn't here with us tonight. He has some personal matters to take care of back in San Antonio. And that's all I'll say about that.”
MJF was next up, and he gloated over the alleged “fact” that he was the reason Nick Bockwinkel was no longer in the territory. “I sent that old-timer packing, and good riddance. He represented the old AWA... take a good look at the new AWA! And Shawn Michaels, buddy, I'm only gonna say it once – step off now, or else you're gonna wish you were still a Rocker.”
The AWA Intercontinental champion, Batista, was next to speak. “By the end of the night, I'll know who I'm facing at Spring Slam. I've held this title for over eight months, and no matter who it is, no matter how optimistic he is... he's going to lose, just like everyone else before him.”
To finish it off, the AWA World Heavyweight champion, Ric Flair. “Woooooo! Dave, we all know it's true! Big man, you can't be beat, and that contenders match later tonight gave me a great idea. Jack Tunney, if you want to make real money and show the UWA where the best action is, you have to put Space Mountain on the Spring Slam card! So let me make your job easy for you. Later tonight, you have two all-time greats in this sport, Terry Funk and Verne Gagne, taking on yet another former World champion, AJ Styles, and a man I know very, very well, Arn Anderson. Aside from the Horsemen themselves – wooooo! - you'd be hard-pressed to put four greater athletes in the ring at the same time. So here's the deal. Whoever wins the match for their team, whoever makes the pin or submits their opponent... I want to wrestle that man at Spring Slam. Tunney! Put it in writing! Wooooo!”
The Horsemen left, and after West and Styles quickly analyzed what they said and went through the night's card, the show was back underway with mid-heavyweight action.
BLITZKRIEG vs. AUSTIN GUNN (w/Jimmy Hart):
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The cocky second-generation star was no match for the high-flying newcomer. Blitzkrieg hit Gunn for every angle imaginable, much to his manager's dismay, and finished him off in a few minutes with a Phoenix Splash.
COMMERCIAL
Another Chris Candido vignette was shown; he is debuting on All-Star Wrestling next week.
The BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (w/Jim Cornette):
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Business as usual between these two teams. They put on a clinic, with each duo controlling long stretches of the match. Smith's power was the X-factor, and he press-slammed Lane and Eaton early on much to Cornette's chagrin. Unfortunately, the AWA time-limit rules came into effect here, and after 15 hard-fought minutes it was declared a draw. Both teams were unsatisfied with the result – even the heels legitimately wanted more time to prove themselves the better squad – and the Bulldogs vowed they weren't done yet.
COMMERCIAL
A split-screen was shown of the four men competing in the AWA Intercontinental title contender's match. Suddenly, on the screen where Damian Priest was throwing punches and kicks in the air, a second man entered the scene - “Classy” Freddie Blassie.
NON-TITLE MATCH
The PATRIOT (w/Marcus Bagwell) vs. RICK RUDE (c, w/Percy Pringle III):
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The PATRIOT (w/Marcus Bagwell) vs. RICK RUDE (c, w/Percy Pringle III):
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The UWA Universal champion was all business, and kept the theatrics to a minimum. The 275-pound Patriot got a fair bit of offense in but even with Bagwell coaching from the outside, he eventually fell to the Rude Awakening. After the win, Rude finally addressed the jeering audience – and Bryan Danielson. “Danielson, you scrawny little pale-skinned puke. You want to fight a real man? You want to try a heavyweight like 'Ravishing' Rick Rude on for size? You got it. At AWA Spring Slam, I'm gonna take that Pat O'Connor Cup of yours and cram it right up your backside, and I'm gonna do it right in front of your old lady, too!”
COMMERCIAL
Eric Bischoff was backstage with Ted DiBiase, who expressed frustration over his recent inactivity in the ring. “After I sent Mike Rotunda packing, I've been itching to put myself in title contention, but I haven't been given the opportunity yet. Well, I think I've earned the right to float this out there. I need on this Spring Slam card. President Tunney, I don't care who it is or what kind of match it is – you put Ted DiBiase on the show, and you won't regret it.”
FATAL FOUR-WAY MATCH
WINNER FACES BATISTA AT SPRING SLAM FOR AWA INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
BUDDY MATTHEWS vs. PAC vs. DAMIAN PRIEST vs. SAMOA JOE:
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WINNER FACES BATISTA AT SPRING SLAM FOR AWA INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
BUDDY MATTHEWS vs. PAC vs. DAMIAN PRIEST vs. SAMOA JOE:
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The IC champion sat with Styles and West at the broadcast table, dressed in about five figures worth of suit and shoes, eager to see who his opponent would be.
It was unbridled chaos, just like you'd expect. The two mid-heavyweights tended to focus on each other, leaving the bigger men to brawl it out. The four men battled inside and outside the ring and at various altitudes as well, thanks to PAC and Matthews. Each of them all had a chance to shine, and two-counts were barely broken up throughout the battle. With the time limit looming, Matthews stunned Priest with a bicycle kneestrike before he was then tackled out of the ring by PAC. Samoa Joe darted in and quickly hit Priest with a Muscle Buster to earn the victory.
Batista stood up and very slowly walked down the ramp, and Joe waited for him. However, “the Animal” timed his tardy arrival so that Priest was able to recover, and he hit the Samoan with an enziguri kick. He tossed Joe to the outside, and as Batista watched, he nailed Joe with South of Heaven on the floor. The champion nodded his approval and positioned his next challenger for the Batista Bomb, but AWA officials ran out before he could connect with it. They checked on Joe as Batista and Priest left ringside... together.
COMMERCIAL
Shawn Michaels walked onto the stage, where he was met with loud cheers and interviewer Eric Bischoff. HBK said, “MJF, you kinda remind me of me in my youth. I dare say, you might even be better than me at this age than I was. But dammit, I don't ever remember being so obnoxious as you, and that's saying something. A lot of people are calling their shots for Spring Slam... but why wait that long? How about you and me, next week.”
Before the next match began, Joey Styles excitedly confirmed that the winner of the main event tag-team match would indeed face Ric Flair for the AWA World Heavyweight championship at Spring Slam.
BUTCH REED (w/Ron Simmons) vs. RICKY STEAMBOAT:
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West noted that Steamboat asked for the match after Reed attacked him after the bell last week. The two veterans wrestled a back-and-forth match, power versus technique, until “the Dragon” pinned his opponent by reversing Reed's lazy cover with a crucifix. And just like the week before, the former NWA World champ was targeted by the outside man – in this case, Simmons – but Steamboat rolled outside before Doom could get him.
When he got to the stage, Steamboat asked for a microphone. He said, “Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me. It sure seems like I'm definitely bothering Rock Nation, and no doubt one of them in particular. So let's just get right to it – Ron Simmons, you're next. Let's battle it out next week. And if I beat you, just like I already beat Montez Ford and 'Hacksaw' Reed, then I want the Rock, one on one, at Spring Slam.”
COMMERCIAL
A pre-taped promo was shown; the AWA World Tag-Team champions, America's Most Wanted and their manager Gail Kim, looked cool and confident. Kim did the talking: “After James beat that redneck Terry Gordy last week, it gave us the right to pick the stipulation for our match at Spring Slam. Not that we really need a special stipulation against those two clods, but here's the deal – it's going to be a Texas Tornado match!”
ARN ANDERSON and AJ STYLES vs. TERRY FUNK and VERNE GAGNE:
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Joey Styles: “This match suddenly got even more important – and yet, part of me wonders if that's just the 'Nature Boy' making it all about him! What an ego on that guy!”
Whether that was the case or not, the dynamics of the bout were different than one would have imagined at the beginning of the night. Anderson and Styles made more frequent tags, but they still tried to finish the match as often as they could. On the other side of the ring, Gagne and Funk – who were ultra-competitive regardless – wanted to monopolize their ring time to score the all-important pin.
Nonetheless, the four men put on a show. The two rivalries – Anderson and Funk, and Gagne and Styles – manifested themselves often, and the wrestlers worked “together” for most of the match. But as the TV time limit approached, Styles and Gagne had had enough, and began fighting to the back. Funk was angry that his partner was leaving him – but worse, he was distracted. “Double A” snuck in with a schoolboy pin and kept the ornery Texan down just long enough to get the three-count. When the dust settled, the former Horseman was the winner, and Anderson would be facing Flair at AWA Spring Slam.