Post by fifthhorseman on Feb 18, 2014 22:12:14 GMT -5
Joey Styles: And hello from Denver, Colorado! We are live for AWA Wednesday Night Warriors, the greatest two-hour wrestling program in the world today! My name is Joey Styles, and working with me tonight is the inimitable Josh Mathews. We have six - count 'em - six excellent matches on the book tonight, including our main event, the finals of the AWA Television Championship tournament. The American luchadore, the "Love Machine", Art Barr faces off against the Japanese legend, the Great Muta! Also on tap, one of the AWA Heavyweight semi-final matches: the "Rated-R Superstar" Edge battles the behemoth, the colossal, Big Van Vader! Josh, let's hear the rest of the card.
Josh Mathews: My pleasure, Joey. You will also see another semi-final match-up, only this time it will in AWA Intercontinental title action, as Bruiser Brody and Nigel McGuinness square off to see who moves into the finals. In another contrast of styles, "the" Brian Kendrick meets "the World's Most Dangerous Man", Ken Shamrock, an important match for both TV contenders. We'll also see two tag-team contests tonight in the stacked AWA Tag division, with the Natural Born Thrillers - Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak - locking up with the Herculean duo of Chris Masters and Paul Orndorff, better known as FlexForce. But to kick things off tonight in the Mile High City, Badd Company - Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka - get re-acquainted with Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, the Rock and Roll Express... in a Loser Leaves Town match!
Joey Styles: Here we go!
VS.
An evenly-matched contest between the former AWA champs and former NWA champs. They threw everything they had at each other, taking it to the ground, the air, and even outside the ring from time to time. It was a see-saw affair in every sense of the word, but in the end, Badd Company avenged their first-round loss to the Rock and Rollers. Tanaka landed a devastating - and legal! - superkick on Gibson; three seconds later, the Company celebrated their victory, and Gibson was forced to depart the American Wrestling Association.
VS.
Atypical of what some might expect from a Brody match, he and McGuinness kept it in the ring for most of their minutes. Though outweighed by about 50 pounds, the London native kept Brody at bay by keeping him grounded as much as possible. Whenever Brody was able to get to his feet, though, he got in the majority of the offense - and ultimately, by escaping McGuinness's grasp, he was able to score the jumping high knee for the pinfall. Brody moved on to the AWA Intercontinental Championship tournament finals, where he will meet Tully Blanchard.
VS.
As exciting as this match looked to be on paper - pitting the air game of Kendrick versus the MMA-styled offense of Shamrock - it never got a chance to produce. With the match only two minutes old, Verne Gagne ran down to the ring and tackled Shamrock, giving him the disqualification victory. The celebration was extremely short-lived, as the two men brawled their way back to the dressing room area, leaving a frustrated Kendrick in the ring.
VS.
Power versus guile. Mass versus speed. Gary Hart and J.J. Dillon's respective strategies were put to the test as their clients battled, with Vader taking control of the contest early. However, Edge survived the initial onslaught, and went to work on the mastodon's right leg, hoping to wear him down and keep him down. For a while, it worked, but he underestimated Vader's conditioning. The big man took over again, pummeling Edge at every opportunity. The endgame, nearly 25 minutes from the opening bell, unfolded when Vader missed a big splash. Edge found a running lane and went for the spear - but missed, and hit the ringpost insead. This gave Vader just enough time to land a crushing powerbomb. With the pinfall, Big Van Vader moved into the AWA Heavyweight Championship final.
VS.
Jindrak and O'Haire, led by Dillon, looked to cut the ring in half early, separating their former mentor Orndorff from his partner. The (relative) youngsters wrestled an old-school, Southern-style tag match, with Masters barely seeing any in-ring action for the majority of the match. When the Masterpiece finally did make the tag, he was the proverbial house on fire, sending Jindrak sprawling to the outside before locking his lethal full-nelson on O'Haire. Before he could make the Thriller tap, though, Jindrak landed a perfect dropkick to the back of Masters' head, and O'Haire was able to make the cover.
VS.
Barr's march to the finals led him to the Great Muta. This was an instant classic, as fast-paced as one could imagine given the talent of these two competitors. The contrast of styles made it difficult to predict either man's next move, let alone a winner. At about the 15-minute mark, the two managers (Vickie Guerrero and Gary Hart) were barred from ringside, insuring that interference would be less of a factor - and it was not. About five minutes later, Muta took command, and after a series of kicks, downed the game Barr long enough to take flight and land his patented moonsault cleanly. Your new AWA Television champion: the Great Muta.
Josh Mathews: My pleasure, Joey. You will also see another semi-final match-up, only this time it will in AWA Intercontinental title action, as Bruiser Brody and Nigel McGuinness square off to see who moves into the finals. In another contrast of styles, "the" Brian Kendrick meets "the World's Most Dangerous Man", Ken Shamrock, an important match for both TV contenders. We'll also see two tag-team contests tonight in the stacked AWA Tag division, with the Natural Born Thrillers - Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak - locking up with the Herculean duo of Chris Masters and Paul Orndorff, better known as FlexForce. But to kick things off tonight in the Mile High City, Badd Company - Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka - get re-acquainted with Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, the Rock and Roll Express... in a Loser Leaves Town match!
Joey Styles: Here we go!
VS.
An evenly-matched contest between the former AWA champs and former NWA champs. They threw everything they had at each other, taking it to the ground, the air, and even outside the ring from time to time. It was a see-saw affair in every sense of the word, but in the end, Badd Company avenged their first-round loss to the Rock and Rollers. Tanaka landed a devastating - and legal! - superkick on Gibson; three seconds later, the Company celebrated their victory, and Gibson was forced to depart the American Wrestling Association.
VS.
Atypical of what some might expect from a Brody match, he and McGuinness kept it in the ring for most of their minutes. Though outweighed by about 50 pounds, the London native kept Brody at bay by keeping him grounded as much as possible. Whenever Brody was able to get to his feet, though, he got in the majority of the offense - and ultimately, by escaping McGuinness's grasp, he was able to score the jumping high knee for the pinfall. Brody moved on to the AWA Intercontinental Championship tournament finals, where he will meet Tully Blanchard.
VS.
As exciting as this match looked to be on paper - pitting the air game of Kendrick versus the MMA-styled offense of Shamrock - it never got a chance to produce. With the match only two minutes old, Verne Gagne ran down to the ring and tackled Shamrock, giving him the disqualification victory. The celebration was extremely short-lived, as the two men brawled their way back to the dressing room area, leaving a frustrated Kendrick in the ring.
VS.
Power versus guile. Mass versus speed. Gary Hart and J.J. Dillon's respective strategies were put to the test as their clients battled, with Vader taking control of the contest early. However, Edge survived the initial onslaught, and went to work on the mastodon's right leg, hoping to wear him down and keep him down. For a while, it worked, but he underestimated Vader's conditioning. The big man took over again, pummeling Edge at every opportunity. The endgame, nearly 25 minutes from the opening bell, unfolded when Vader missed a big splash. Edge found a running lane and went for the spear - but missed, and hit the ringpost insead. This gave Vader just enough time to land a crushing powerbomb. With the pinfall, Big Van Vader moved into the AWA Heavyweight Championship final.
VS.
Jindrak and O'Haire, led by Dillon, looked to cut the ring in half early, separating their former mentor Orndorff from his partner. The (relative) youngsters wrestled an old-school, Southern-style tag match, with Masters barely seeing any in-ring action for the majority of the match. When the Masterpiece finally did make the tag, he was the proverbial house on fire, sending Jindrak sprawling to the outside before locking his lethal full-nelson on O'Haire. Before he could make the Thriller tap, though, Jindrak landed a perfect dropkick to the back of Masters' head, and O'Haire was able to make the cover.
VS.
Barr's march to the finals led him to the Great Muta. This was an instant classic, as fast-paced as one could imagine given the talent of these two competitors. The contrast of styles made it difficult to predict either man's next move, let alone a winner. At about the 15-minute mark, the two managers (Vickie Guerrero and Gary Hart) were barred from ringside, insuring that interference would be less of a factor - and it was not. About five minutes later, Muta took command, and after a series of kicks, downed the game Barr long enough to take flight and land his patented moonsault cleanly. Your new AWA Television champion: the Great Muta.