Post by fifthhorseman on Nov 25, 2021 0:31:19 GMT -5
AWA ALL-STAR WRESTLING
EPISODE 4
EPISODE 4
Pyro from Winnipeg, Manitoba, then the TV credits ran, a 60-second of classic AWA action interspersed with close-ups of several members of the reborn AWA roster.
Lee Marshall was in the ring, and introduced Verne Gagne. He waved to the crowd, who had surprisingly mixed feelings about him. The AWA icon said that since his “good friend,” Mad Dog Vachon was going to fight just one week before SuperClash, then to keep things even, he would as well. So he introduced his opponent to the ring... the very young, very inexperienced...
JUNGLE BOY vs. VERNE GAGNE:
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Gagne shook Perry's hand and then the two locked up. The veteran threw Jungle Boy to the mat and kept him there, switching holds and positions for as long as he wanted to. He was making his adversary look foolish and weak – and he knew it. In fact, Perry didn't get a single punch or kick or move in, and Gagne finished him off in a short match that felt too long, submitting him with a sugar hold.
The former AWA champ left him lying in the ring, and there were very few cheers as he left. When he passed by the broadcast table, Joey Styles ran down the rest of the card, and then the scene shifted backstage. Miro was standing in a darkened hallway, and he issued an open challenge for SuperClash. “If I'm not fighting for the AWA championship, then I must prove my worth another way! I dare someone to accept my challenge tonight!”
COMMERCIAL
JACOB FATU, DON LEO JONATHAN, and KANYON vs. BAD NEWS BROWN, JEFF COBB, and the SPOILER:
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This was literally a big six-man tag-team match, given that every one of them tipped the scales at at least 250 pounds. Over the last few weeks, they had battled in various singles matches, but AWA Commissioner Stu Hart wanted to see how they'd interact together.
The result: chaos. After only a couple of minutes, Brown threw his hands up in disgust and left his teammates in the ring; he was the ultimate loner. But before he left, he circled around to the other side of the ring and pulled Fatu off the apron, and the two fought to the backstage area. Meanwhile, Jonathan and the Spoiler slugged away at each other, until Kanyon and Cobb tagged in. Even that match-up was a hard-hitting slobberknocker, and it ended when Cobb hit “the Innovator” with the Tour of the Islands.
After the bout ended, and speaking of big men, a vignette aired for Brodie Lee. It was a bit of a repackaging; he wasn't a Bludgeon Brother anymore, he wasn't Luke Harper... he was the “Big Rig”, and he was going to run over some people.
COMMERCIAL
A VTR aired of the contract signing earlier that week for the match for the vacant AWA Southern championship. Tyler Bate and Ilya Dragunov was on opposite sides of a table, where Hart and other AWA officials were witnessing their signatures. At the beginning, each man was very respectful of the other... but as often happens, by the end of the signing, the two men were going nose-to-nose, and the officials were practically holding them back.
Back to live action, and Styles welcomed Nick Bockwinkel to the table – and the audience responded with a loud and positive ovation. He was there to provide color for the next match, but in actuality, it was simply meant to get him on-screen, where the fans could cheer, and he could try to make sense of Gagne's sudden change of heart.
SHANE HELMS vs. AUSTIN THEORY:
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This was Theory's AWA debut, and it only took him about 15 seconds to let the crowd know that he was a star in the making... and a man worth booing. He toyed with the younger Helms, using his superior strength to push “Sugar Shane” around the ring at will. Helms got one brief offensive flurry in, but Theory ended things quickly with the ATL (cutter). When it ended, Theory cut a promo in the ring with Marshall, claiming that he was the future of the American Wrestling Association.
COMMERCIAL
A video package was next, a “compare and contrast” video featuring the North and the New Age Outlaws. Neither team was there in Winnipeg in person; it was made clear that the two squads were too busy training. But the highlights made it perfectly clear that they both deserved to be in the AWA Tag-Team championship match at SuperClash.
Appropriately enough, the next match was a tag-team match. Styles was solo at the desk again.
The GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS vs. the KILLER BEES:
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Two of the most cohesive teams in the territory put on a clinic. Blair and Brunzell weren't as high-impact as their opponents, but their teamwork and double-teaming was flawless. Conversely, the Brits also used a variety of double-team maneuvers, but they did many of them illegally, behind the ref's back. It was a see-saw match, and the Bees won it when Brunzell pinned Drake with a top-rope cross-body block.
After the match, the Nasty Boys confronted the Bees on the stage, and with the GYV circling them from behind it made for a tense scene. However, a swarm of AWA officials ran out to separate the three teams before there was any shenanigans, but not before Brian Knobbs challenged the other two duos to a match at SuperClash.
COMMERCIAL
A mysterious vignette aired, of a tall, lanky but muscular wrestler, training in a very darkened environment. It was impossible to determine his identity... but that was the point. It ended with the sound of an ominous howl.
Styles was excited to announce that Commissioner Hart had finalized three more matches for SuperClash: a triple-threat match between the GYV, the Nasty Boys, and the Killer Bees; a taped fist match between Don Leo Jonathan and the Spoiler; and a lumberjack match with Jacob Fatu on one side of the ring, and Bad News Brown on the other!
But before Styles could throw it down to Marshall for the main event, he was interrupted by Masato Tanaka, who said just three words: “Miro. I accept.”
The former ECW champ departed, and the video of Sawyer attacking Vachon with a chair the previous week was shown.
BUZZ SAWYER vs. MAD DOG VACHON:
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As Vachon walked down the ramp, Sawyer jumped outside the ring and the two fought before the bell. Styles noted their various similarities in addition to their nicknames: their compact physiques, their heights and weights, even their amateur wrestling backgrounds. Eventually they returned to the ring, and the referee finally signaled for the match to start.
It was as stiff and brutal as you'd expect, and it went another ten minutes before Vachon locked on a sleeper. But before Sawyer's hand could fall three times, the hold was broken by Jeff Cobb, who hit Vachon from behind. Cobb and Sawyer laid the boots to the Frenchman for several seconds, and only stopped when Verne Gagne ran down to the ring with a chair in hand. Then, to solidify his turn, Gagne told the two heels to pick Vachon up... and he nailed Vachon with the chair. The AWA legend collapsed to the mat, and Gagne hit him several more times. The three villains only left the ring when Nick Bockwinkel, and Larry and Joe Hennig, ran down to make the save. The last shot of the night was on Gagne, pointing to his waist, alongside his newfound allies.
Sorry it's a bit late and a bit short... just started a new job, it has me busy!