klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
AWA SuperClash III
Date: December 13, 1988
Location: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 1,672
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Ray Stevens, Verne Gagne
Ive been looking for a copy of this show for a long time and I finally got one. This is a very interesting show in that its a cross promotional show under the AWA banner. You have AWA, CWA (Memphis) and WCCW guys here with the main event being Jerry Lawler (AWA Champion) vs. Kerry Von Erich (WCCW Champion) to unify the titles. Basically WWF and the NWA were dominating everything in sight so the AWA had one last push to try to save themselves. This is their only PPV ever and theres a reason for it. Lets get to it.
The AWA announcers say they both favor Lawler in the main event.
We do the eternally annoying list of athletic commission credits.
Chavo Guerrero/Mando Guerrero/Hector Guerrero vs. Rock N Roll RPMs/Cactus Jack
WCCW vs. CWA. Ill list the companies for every match for the sake of sanity. Chavo is of course the senior version and Mando is the least known Guerrero. Hector is a dead ringer for Eddie and arguably better. The RPMs are the southern tag champions and are named Tommy Lane and Mike Davis. That Jack guy wont ever amount to anything. He was a total rookie at this point and almost the Abyss of his day: the guy that would take any bump asked of him so here he is as a result.
The Guerreros all have big sombreros and are about as stereotypical as you can get. Capetta (announcer) says this is AWA vs. CWA and thats just incorrect. Actually the Guerreros were in the AWA also so I guess its correct. Granted both companies would be dead in a year so does it really matter? Hector starts and makes the RPMs look like idiots. Off to Jack and Mando (barely taller than the top rope) with the Guerreros being so much faster its unreal.
They hit the floor and Jack actually gets beaten up even worse out there. Back to Hector and they work on the knee before Chavo, the oldest, comes in. Wait make that Mando. Oh and its Cactus Jack Foley at this point. The Guerreros tag in and out about every 8 seconds. Jack wants out of there badly and brings in one of the RPMs who I dont think the announcers know the difference between.
The RPMs finally double team Chavo and that goes even worse for them and its off to Hector. The Guerreros get in a big pile on and clear the ring. Jack vs. Chavo now and Jack finally gets something together. Off to Davis as its pretty clear the announcers dont know the RPMs names. Off to Davis again and never mind as its Jack now. Hot tag to Hector and everything breaks down again. Theres some heel miscommunication and the camera misses the big dives but you can hear the crowd gasping. A moonsault press from Chavo ends Lane.
Rating: C+. Total squash here and a way to get the crowd fired up with the Guerreros doing stuff no one had ever seen before. The speed stuff was good as they looked like an awesome team out there. The dives were good and they made the fans get into the show, which is exactly what the point of an opener is.
Theres a lingerie battle royal later and heres Nina who is the POWW (Powerful Women of Wrestling) champion. Shes more famous as Ivory.
WCCW Light Heavyweight Title: Eric Embry vs. Jeff Jarrett
WCCW vs. CWA here. Jarrett is also a rookie and from the CWA. He won the title recently before this to make the cross promotion thing seem legit. Embry would become a big deal in WCCW as a face after this and then in the USWA. He would book for awhile and liked to be naked while he did it. They do some very fast paced stuff to start and Jeffs Flair blonde hair is all over the place.
They trade a lot of counters and are moving insanely fast out there. Embry, the veteran, finally takes over a bit but walks into that gorgeous dropkick to give Jeff a breather. Hes sent to the floor though and is holding his arm. Eric works on his arm as Jeff is too young to really know how to carry a match at this point. Jeff goes up and hits a middle rope missile dropkick but lands on his shoulder and cant cover. Jeff sets a world record for most sunset flips in a single match and the final one is reversed for the title for Embry. He would drop it to Foley in like two weeks.
Rating: C. Just a quick match here for a midcard title change to be on the show. Jarrett was so young here that it was unreal but he would get better. Embry would become the biggest face not named Von Erich for awhile and then would go on to the USWA which was the successor to the CWA. For a four minute match, this was fine.
Embry says hes the best light heavyweight ever and says this is awesome. He leaves to see how Jeffs arm is.
The Terrorist, yes the Terrorist, says shell win the battle royal.
Wayne Bloom vs. Jimmy Valiant
AWA vs. AWA here, although Valiant is far more famous in Memphis so it might be CWA. Again, who cares. Bloom is a Beverly Brother and Valiant is an old guy that knows how to play a crowd. Bloom jumps him and gets taken down by a pair of elbows in 24 seconds. Good to see the veteran earning his pay right?
Bambi, another chick, says shell win. Dave McClane, ever the scumbag, says this is going to be awesome. Bambi gets cut off which is kind of funny.
WCCW Texas Title: Iceman King Parsons vs. Brickhouse Brown
WCCW vs. CWA. Brown is a no name, Parsons invented the term roody poo. Parsons is uh out there. Brown is built. And now lets look at Gagne instead of the wrestlers. Brown shoves Parsons down as I have no idea who is a face or a heel here. The crowd would imply Brown as the face though. Hes dancing a lot as Parsons is sent to the floor. Back in and Brown throws on a headlock.
They totally botch a backslide and Parsons hits the floor again. He has to be a heel based on the stalling. Parsons hits a clothesline to take over and things slow way down. Snap suplex gets two. Brown gets a crossbody for two. Parsons hammers away as this has gotten a lot more boring since Parsons went on offense. Brown hits a backdrop to counter and starts his comeback. A weak flying forearm gets two but Brown thinks its three. Theres a foreign object and Parsons retains. Brown would win the title in like two months.
Rating: D+. Total meh match here as it would have been far better suited on TV than a PPV like this. Parsons was just kind of weird and never went anywhere other than in Texas. Brown wasnt bad and with some more seasoning and training he could have gotten a lot better, especially with his look which was similar to a skinnier Shelton Benjamin.
Parsons rambles a bit post match.
Im not sure what theyre going to do with the time they have as theyre 1/3 of the way through the matches and have about two hours and fifty minutes to go. Of the 8 matches left, one goes over ten minutes. No idea what theyre going to do or if my videos timer is off but well see.
Brandy Mae and Pocahontas say theyll win and want to beat up the Terrorist. That David guy pops up again. He looks like he cant wait to see these girls lose their clothes and feels very dirty because of it.
Badd Company/Madusa Micelli vs. Wendi Richter/Top Guns
Ok quick recap here. Richter was the second biggest face in the WWF regardless of gender but left because of various issues. She recently beat Madusa for the AWA Womens Title. Badd Company, the AWA tag champions, are more famous as Tanaka and Kato (Paul Diamond here, minus the mask) of the Orient Express in the WWF a few years later. All titles are on the line here as per the usual stipulations. The Top Guns are Derrick Dukes and Ricky Rice, both of whom suck. Theyre the faces here. Oh and Badd Company/Madusa have none other than Diamond Dallas Page as their manager.
Richter gets a huge pop so Page, with hair longer than Shawn Michaels in 96, makes fun of Richter for getting a fluke win for the title and introduces his own team. Everything goes insane at first and genders have to match in this one. The good guys clear the ring and the Top Guns hit a double back elbow on Tanaka. Mike Enos, a future kind of star in the AWA and the guy that was in the ring when Hall jumped the guardrail in 1996, is the referee for some reason. Hes not a known wrestler yet but thats him.
Ok now were down to sanity with Tanaka and Dukes in there. Dukes really likes to work on the arm. Long headlock goes on as the girls yell at each other. Dukes hits a dropkick and lets try that headlock again. Diamond comes in and actually doesnt get destroyed as Dukes plays face in peril for a bit. Diamond misses a charge in the corner and its off to the girls. They do the usual girls in the 80s stuff here that isnt all that interesting or, you know, good. Everything breaks down again and Tanaka accidently kicks Madusa so Richter can pin her.
Rating: D+. Another pointless match here as they just did their thing for awhile and the guys meant nothing. I dont think Rice was ever even in the match. The girls didnt mean anything at this point but then again they didnt for a long time. This went nowhere at all and was way too short to be anything of note.
Madusa gets spanked post match and the announcer/referee mistakenly say the Top Guns win the tag titles because their team won, which isnt the case but they leave with the belts here. Genuine mistake there actually.
The heels argue post match.
Kerry Von Erich, with his daughter Holly (Laceys sister) says there will be one world champion and itll be him.
AWA International TV Title: Ronnie Garvin vs. Greg Gagne
AWA all around here. Ok so Gagne is the owners son and had the title made for him because he was horrible but he was pushed anyway. Garvin won the title in a screwjob but it was held up with this being the match to decide the champion. Gagne is the face and is booed out of the building. Garvin is the heel here and is being cheered to high heaven. When you suck as much as Garvin does, that says A LOT about Gagne.
Garvin seems to enjoy hammering away on Gagne which is probably at least half a shoot. Were into a chinlock early and Gagne breaks out, only to go into his jobber offense. This would be Garvins last match before heading to the WWF so the ending is pretty clear. Garvin fires off some headbutts and blocks a sunset flip. Gagne works on the arm as this is so boring Im on the verge of a nap. They slug it out and Garvin just mauls him. Five minutes in now and theyre spent. They badly go to the floor and Gagne slides in for the countout win to regain the title. Garvin refused to job to Gagne so theres your finish.
Rating: F. And thats not just because I cant stand Garvin. The match sucked and no one really cared about either guy, especially Gagne. The guy was the epitome of a guy there because of his papa and nothing else. Horrible match and these were the only two holders of that title. The fans HATED the ending.
They exchange sleepers post match in a nice metaphor for the match.
Gagne says Garvin is tough but hes better.
Verne Gagne talks about the rest of the card. DDP comes up to say Colonel DeBeers will beat Sgt. Slaughter. DDP and Gagne in the same picture is a weird combination if there ever was one. Page leaves and Gagne talks some more. This must be intermission.
We get a clip of Lawler vs. Von Eric in Tennessee. Von Erich gets the Claw which Lawler fights out of. The strap comes down and Lawlers eyes look awesome here. I know hes a comedy guy now but back in the 80s, this guy was a machine. They throw the referee out for the double DQ, setting up tonight. Kerry wants to keep going and Lawler says cool. They slug it out and another referee comes out and Von Erich gets the discus punch for the pin but it didnt count.
Lawler says the past doesnt matter and Von Erich wont take the title tonight. Its no DQ and no time limit tonight. The interviewer is taller than Jerry. It comes off as face vs. face here. Jerrys voice is deeper here and he comes off as someone that could beat the tar out of you here.
Lingerie Battle Royal
Pali the Syrian Terrorist, Luna Vachon, Nina, Pocahontas, Malibu, Brandi Mae, Laurie Lynn, Peggy Lee Leather, Bambi
This is a Beverly Hills Street Fight Battle Royal. You can win by over the top rope or ripping clothes off so its more like a bra and panties battle royal. Other than Nina (Ivory) and Luna, none of these girls ever meant anything. This is a POWW match and David McLane is on commentary here and sounds so horny he makes Lawler sound like a nun. The winner gets ten grand also. The girls start in regular clothes and are as gimmicked as you could imagine. In short, the girl named Leather wears leather etc.
What exactly do you want me to say here? Its a lingerie battle royal with a total of 2/9 girls being known names. Nina vs. the Terrorist is the main rivalry here. Lynn is out. Various amounts of clothes are torn off and this is really boring. Apparently this started with a pair of jeans being torn up. Pocahontas is gone.
Nina is also and were down to five. This is awful by the way. A loud TAKE IT OFF chant starts up. Peggy and Bambi are out, leaving us with Brandi, Luna and the Terrorist. Luna takes a bump from the top (called the third rope by McLane) and were down to the two that started this. After far too long, the Terrorist wins.
Rating: F. Just horrible here on all levels and an embarrassment to say the least. McLane is considered scum in wrestling and I cant say I really disagree based on what Ive seen from them. This was totally horrible and makes the Divas today look like Thesz vs. Gagne or something like that. Think about that for a minute.
The Terrorist says I told you so.
Some of the girls yell about losing, saying it was a conspiracy or something.
Some fans are acknowledged.
Bill Apter of Pro Wrestling Illustrated has a presentation to make to Lawler for most inspirational wrestler. They announce it here but the presentation isnt until later apparently.
Sgt. Slaughter says a boot camp match has no rules.
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Colonel DeBeers
This is a boot camp match and AWA vs. AWA. DeBeers is a white supremacist of all things. Thats a gimmick for you. In essence its a street fight. Page is with DeBeers here. Big brawl to start as DeBeers is a bit slow. Sarge uses the riding crop a lot but DeBeers takes over a few seconds in. DeBeers chokes with a belt as this slows way down in a hurry.
Its mentioned that the tag titles didnt change hands earlier. Sarge takes over again and stomps away a bit. DeBeers is thrown to the floor but its not a DQ here of course. DeBeers goes into the post and Page gets in the ring. Back in the Colonel has a helmet that Slaughter brought in with him but cant manage to use it. Page holds Slaughter up and Sarge moves. A few headbutts to the Colonel with the helmet puts DeBeers down allowing Slaughter to cinch up the Cobra Clutch to end it.
Rating: D. Short and bad here. Sarge would go to the WWF in a year or so and become a huge heel. Other than that though, this was nothing as DeBeers was part of the Team Challenge Series soon after this. Sarge would also but he left halfway through it. Weak match overall though.
Post match Iran Sheik and Sheik Adnan Al-Kassey come in for a big beatdown on Sarge. The Guerreros make the save.
Sarge says its not over.
We get the presentation of the award mentioned before that match.
WCCW Tag Titles: Samoan Swat Team vs. Michael Hayes/Steve Cox
The Samoans are Samu and Fatu with Buddy Roberts as the Freebirds are split up for awhile here. Cox is a no name and this is all WCCW. Cox and Hayes are the only team to beat the Samoans ever and theyve traded the titles for the last few months. Coxs nickname is Do It To It. The 80s were a weird time to say the least. The rows of empty seats are kind of funny.
Hayes and Fatu start us off and Marshall cant tell them apart either. Oh ok he called him Fatu. That helps some. Cox and Hayes work on the arm and its so weird to see Hayes as a face. Fatu misses a cross body and its back to the arm. Off to Samu as Hayes plays cheerleader. Heel miscommunication sends Fatu to the floor. Cox goes after him and eats table, shifting the momentum.
Big brawl breaks out and Roberts is able to get in a shot to Cox before sending him back inside. Samu slams him face first and the beating continues. Fatu (Rikishi) comes in off the top and Cox plays Ricky Morton for awhile. Theres a hot shot to Cox but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Hot tag to Hayes and everything breaks down. Cox and Fatu go to the floor as Hayes gets the DDT. Roberts comes in and drills Hayes though and Samu steals the pin to retain.
Rating: B-. Pretty good tag match here but its the late 80s so did you expect anything else? The SST would never lose the titles but would just leave the company, heading to the NWA again. Cox is a total no name and Hayes would be back in the NWA soon after this also I believe. Not bad here and a nice little surprise.
Hayes takes forever to leave the ring.
Sheik and Al-Kassey say Iran #1 and down with Slaughter.
Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel
No idea why this is here or where theyre from. AWA I think. This is an Indian Strap Match which is all four corners. Tatsumi Fujinami is here for no apparent reason and Fernandez yells at him. Fujinami holds him for a bit and Wahoo hits him. Fernandez stalls of course as we need to get this over with. The bell rings twice here and Wahoo uses the strap to start. No idea why these two are fighting.
Fernandez takes him down and goes for some corners which doesnt work of course. Wahoo is busted open and Manny tries again. The idea is that Wahoo has never lost one of these. They chop it out and Wahoo of course wins that. Manny is bleeding a bit. Wahoo gets three buckles but gets hit in the little Indians to break the streak. Manny gets three but then goes up top for no logical reason. Wahoo pulls him down and gets the win a bit after that.
Rating: D-. Weak match here as this match tended to be. Wahoo was old and fat at this point but apparently this was the best thing that he could do. No idea why this warranted 8 minutes on this show but Wahoo was still a name I guess. Weak and boring match here though that was totally paint by the numbers.
Wahoo says hes awesome and this isnt over yet because he wants Fernandez dead.
Gagne and Stanley Blackburn, the president of the AWA, wont say who they pick in the title match.
AWA World Title/WCCW World Title: Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich
This is a legit unification match which is rarer than anything youll ever see in modern wrestling. This would be like the TNA Champion and ROH Champion unifying their belts. See what I mean? The unification lasted like a month because no one could actually let that stand. Lawler comes out to Gonna Fly Now. That takes guts. Both guys are faces but Lawler is the de facto heel.
Kerry, ever the brilliant guy, cuts his left arm half to pieces TAKING HIS JACKET OFF, because thats where he was keeping his razor. There is literally blood dripping onto the mat 5 seconds into the match. Lawler rams it into the post like 40 seconds in to give it a reason to bleed, which shows some intelligence. Marshall manages to confuse right and left. And people wonder why this company folded.
Kerry hits a big right hand to take over and keeps checking his cut. Marshall says both of them have beaten Flair, Savage and Hogan. Thats true in Lawlers case but I dont remember ANY instance of Von Erich even facing Savage or Hogan. Then again he messed up left and right not 2 minutes ago so Id take that with a grain of salt. Von Erich gets a clothesline and Lawler is annoyed.
Still feeling out now. Again remember that Lawler is a legit tough guy here and not a comedy guy that is a grizzled veteran. School boy gets two for Kerry. They do a test of strength which even the announcers say is stupid for Lawler. Jerry misses a right hand and the discus punch gets two. Lawler sends him to the floor and takes over as were into the meat of the match now.
Piledriver is loaded up and hits but Kerry beats him to his feet. Another discus punch hits for two. Claw goes on but he cant quite cinch it in. A knee drop misses and Jerry gets a second wind. And there goes the referee about ten minutes in. Von Erich gets a Piledriver and theres no referee. There is blood everywhere. Outside and Kerry punches the post by mistake, shifting momentum again.
Lawler does the Memphis standard of pretending to have a foreign object to drive the fans nuts. Theres nothing in his hand but it looks great. Kerrys head is busted now and Lawler goes in for the kill, hitting the middle rope punch for two. He throws in the foreign object on the second one but Lawler jumps into the Iron Claw on the stomach (just go with it). The regular Claw goes on and blood is literally dripping off Von Erichs head. Jerry finally gets a rope but it goes on again, this time in the middle of the ring.
The referee keeps checking on the cut and Kerry keeps shaking his head to make it harder to do, probably thinking theres too much blood there. They get up and Kerry misses a charge in the corner to send Kerrys head into the post. I was wrong earlier as theyve found new places to bleed on. They slug it out and Lawler gets the object again for another shot.
Kerrys tights have blood on them and are half red now when they started as white. Jerry goes after the eye like a crazy man and just picks his shots now. Kerry misses a big swing and its Ali Shuffle time. Time for the object again and Von Erich hits the floor. Lawler gets a running punch back in and Kerry is somehow able to fight back.
Discus punch hits in the corner and the referee keeps wanting to check on the cut. They punch each other and the referee finally gets to check on the cut. The fans are totally behind Kerry here. Claw goes on again and Lawler is almost dead but gets his arm up at the last possible second a few times. The referee checks the eye again and stops the match with Lawler out cold. Not for Lawler passing out, but because Von Erich cant continue. WEAK ending, especially when Lawler is unconscious.
Rating: B+. This would have been a lot higher if they got the ending right. The blood thing works if theyre both down or something, but with Lawler out cold in the Claw and somehow winning there, I dont get how that exactly works. Still though, this wouldnt last long at all as the AWA stripped their title off Lawler in January or so and Larry Zbyszko of all people won it due to being Vernes son in law.
Lawler says the referee did the right thing because he would have blinded Kerry.
Kerry says Lawler was beaten and that this is absurd. We get some replays of the times Kerry has Lawler beaten. The AWA President says the match had to be stopped due to the blood. Did you expect a clean finish in a match like this?
We actually have a match left.
Jimmy Golden/Robert Fuller vs. Rock N Roll Express
CWA vs. AWA here I think. Golden is Bunkhouse Buck and Fuller is Colonel Robert Parker. Why in the world this is going on last is beyond me. Theres a different announcer here too for some reason. I really didnt want to see Parker in trunks. Golden and Morton start us off. Technical stuff to start and the Express clean the ring out quickly. Back to the starters as the crowd is gone after the real main event.
They fight over a front chancery as the fans chant boring. Morton gets a nice counter into a suplex kind of move as we get heel miscommunication. Off to Fuller and Gibson for a crisscross. Its pretty clear Fuller isnt the most sound wrestler in the world. Oddly enough Gibson is portraying Morton here and Golden throws on a bearhug. Double team abdominal stretch goes on after some cheating by the not Express manager. Hot tag brings in Morton to clean house and the double dropkick takes down Golden. We go to the floor and its thrown out.
Rating: C-. Just a tag match here with a bad ending. I have no idea what the point of having this on here to end the show was, especially when its just another match. Golden and Fuller were nothing of note and would be in WCW a few years later. The Express would go on to the indies forever and have some more time in WCW.
The Express says theyre still awesome.
Golden and Fuller say that wasnt fair.
Gagne says that was awesome to end it.
Overall Rating: D. Just a weak show overall here. There are 12 matches and one of them go over ten minutes. With no real stories to a majority of the matches youre left with just random ones in there with nothing of note to them. The world title match is definitely worth seeing and is on the Greatest Stars of the 80s DVD. Other than that though, this was like the 80s trying to die but no one would let them.
Obviously this didnt work as they were trying to put this up against Savage and Flair in the big two companies and it never worked. Too much politics in there and the whole thing went nowhere. Also, the show bombed big time and the company was gone soon, especially when Gagne wouldnt pay a lot of the young guys in the company for their work here. That can kind of hurt business. Anyway, weak show here but historical value helps it. See the world title match though as its a war.
Date: December 13, 1988
Location: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 1,672
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Ray Stevens, Verne Gagne
Ive been looking for a copy of this show for a long time and I finally got one. This is a very interesting show in that its a cross promotional show under the AWA banner. You have AWA, CWA (Memphis) and WCCW guys here with the main event being Jerry Lawler (AWA Champion) vs. Kerry Von Erich (WCCW Champion) to unify the titles. Basically WWF and the NWA were dominating everything in sight so the AWA had one last push to try to save themselves. This is their only PPV ever and theres a reason for it. Lets get to it.
The AWA announcers say they both favor Lawler in the main event.
We do the eternally annoying list of athletic commission credits.
Chavo Guerrero/Mando Guerrero/Hector Guerrero vs. Rock N Roll RPMs/Cactus Jack
WCCW vs. CWA. Ill list the companies for every match for the sake of sanity. Chavo is of course the senior version and Mando is the least known Guerrero. Hector is a dead ringer for Eddie and arguably better. The RPMs are the southern tag champions and are named Tommy Lane and Mike Davis. That Jack guy wont ever amount to anything. He was a total rookie at this point and almost the Abyss of his day: the guy that would take any bump asked of him so here he is as a result.
The Guerreros all have big sombreros and are about as stereotypical as you can get. Capetta (announcer) says this is AWA vs. CWA and thats just incorrect. Actually the Guerreros were in the AWA also so I guess its correct. Granted both companies would be dead in a year so does it really matter? Hector starts and makes the RPMs look like idiots. Off to Jack and Mando (barely taller than the top rope) with the Guerreros being so much faster its unreal.
They hit the floor and Jack actually gets beaten up even worse out there. Back to Hector and they work on the knee before Chavo, the oldest, comes in. Wait make that Mando. Oh and its Cactus Jack Foley at this point. The Guerreros tag in and out about every 8 seconds. Jack wants out of there badly and brings in one of the RPMs who I dont think the announcers know the difference between.
The RPMs finally double team Chavo and that goes even worse for them and its off to Hector. The Guerreros get in a big pile on and clear the ring. Jack vs. Chavo now and Jack finally gets something together. Off to Davis as its pretty clear the announcers dont know the RPMs names. Off to Davis again and never mind as its Jack now. Hot tag to Hector and everything breaks down again. Theres some heel miscommunication and the camera misses the big dives but you can hear the crowd gasping. A moonsault press from Chavo ends Lane.
Rating: C+. Total squash here and a way to get the crowd fired up with the Guerreros doing stuff no one had ever seen before. The speed stuff was good as they looked like an awesome team out there. The dives were good and they made the fans get into the show, which is exactly what the point of an opener is.
Theres a lingerie battle royal later and heres Nina who is the POWW (Powerful Women of Wrestling) champion. Shes more famous as Ivory.
WCCW Light Heavyweight Title: Eric Embry vs. Jeff Jarrett
WCCW vs. CWA here. Jarrett is also a rookie and from the CWA. He won the title recently before this to make the cross promotion thing seem legit. Embry would become a big deal in WCCW as a face after this and then in the USWA. He would book for awhile and liked to be naked while he did it. They do some very fast paced stuff to start and Jeffs Flair blonde hair is all over the place.
They trade a lot of counters and are moving insanely fast out there. Embry, the veteran, finally takes over a bit but walks into that gorgeous dropkick to give Jeff a breather. Hes sent to the floor though and is holding his arm. Eric works on his arm as Jeff is too young to really know how to carry a match at this point. Jeff goes up and hits a middle rope missile dropkick but lands on his shoulder and cant cover. Jeff sets a world record for most sunset flips in a single match and the final one is reversed for the title for Embry. He would drop it to Foley in like two weeks.
Rating: C. Just a quick match here for a midcard title change to be on the show. Jarrett was so young here that it was unreal but he would get better. Embry would become the biggest face not named Von Erich for awhile and then would go on to the USWA which was the successor to the CWA. For a four minute match, this was fine.
Embry says hes the best light heavyweight ever and says this is awesome. He leaves to see how Jeffs arm is.
The Terrorist, yes the Terrorist, says shell win the battle royal.
Wayne Bloom vs. Jimmy Valiant
AWA vs. AWA here, although Valiant is far more famous in Memphis so it might be CWA. Again, who cares. Bloom is a Beverly Brother and Valiant is an old guy that knows how to play a crowd. Bloom jumps him and gets taken down by a pair of elbows in 24 seconds. Good to see the veteran earning his pay right?
Bambi, another chick, says shell win. Dave McClane, ever the scumbag, says this is going to be awesome. Bambi gets cut off which is kind of funny.
WCCW Texas Title: Iceman King Parsons vs. Brickhouse Brown
WCCW vs. CWA. Brown is a no name, Parsons invented the term roody poo. Parsons is uh out there. Brown is built. And now lets look at Gagne instead of the wrestlers. Brown shoves Parsons down as I have no idea who is a face or a heel here. The crowd would imply Brown as the face though. Hes dancing a lot as Parsons is sent to the floor. Back in and Brown throws on a headlock.
They totally botch a backslide and Parsons hits the floor again. He has to be a heel based on the stalling. Parsons hits a clothesline to take over and things slow way down. Snap suplex gets two. Brown gets a crossbody for two. Parsons hammers away as this has gotten a lot more boring since Parsons went on offense. Brown hits a backdrop to counter and starts his comeback. A weak flying forearm gets two but Brown thinks its three. Theres a foreign object and Parsons retains. Brown would win the title in like two months.
Rating: D+. Total meh match here as it would have been far better suited on TV than a PPV like this. Parsons was just kind of weird and never went anywhere other than in Texas. Brown wasnt bad and with some more seasoning and training he could have gotten a lot better, especially with his look which was similar to a skinnier Shelton Benjamin.
Parsons rambles a bit post match.
Im not sure what theyre going to do with the time they have as theyre 1/3 of the way through the matches and have about two hours and fifty minutes to go. Of the 8 matches left, one goes over ten minutes. No idea what theyre going to do or if my videos timer is off but well see.
Brandy Mae and Pocahontas say theyll win and want to beat up the Terrorist. That David guy pops up again. He looks like he cant wait to see these girls lose their clothes and feels very dirty because of it.
Badd Company/Madusa Micelli vs. Wendi Richter/Top Guns
Ok quick recap here. Richter was the second biggest face in the WWF regardless of gender but left because of various issues. She recently beat Madusa for the AWA Womens Title. Badd Company, the AWA tag champions, are more famous as Tanaka and Kato (Paul Diamond here, minus the mask) of the Orient Express in the WWF a few years later. All titles are on the line here as per the usual stipulations. The Top Guns are Derrick Dukes and Ricky Rice, both of whom suck. Theyre the faces here. Oh and Badd Company/Madusa have none other than Diamond Dallas Page as their manager.
Richter gets a huge pop so Page, with hair longer than Shawn Michaels in 96, makes fun of Richter for getting a fluke win for the title and introduces his own team. Everything goes insane at first and genders have to match in this one. The good guys clear the ring and the Top Guns hit a double back elbow on Tanaka. Mike Enos, a future kind of star in the AWA and the guy that was in the ring when Hall jumped the guardrail in 1996, is the referee for some reason. Hes not a known wrestler yet but thats him.
Ok now were down to sanity with Tanaka and Dukes in there. Dukes really likes to work on the arm. Long headlock goes on as the girls yell at each other. Dukes hits a dropkick and lets try that headlock again. Diamond comes in and actually doesnt get destroyed as Dukes plays face in peril for a bit. Diamond misses a charge in the corner and its off to the girls. They do the usual girls in the 80s stuff here that isnt all that interesting or, you know, good. Everything breaks down again and Tanaka accidently kicks Madusa so Richter can pin her.
Rating: D+. Another pointless match here as they just did their thing for awhile and the guys meant nothing. I dont think Rice was ever even in the match. The girls didnt mean anything at this point but then again they didnt for a long time. This went nowhere at all and was way too short to be anything of note.
Madusa gets spanked post match and the announcer/referee mistakenly say the Top Guns win the tag titles because their team won, which isnt the case but they leave with the belts here. Genuine mistake there actually.
The heels argue post match.
Kerry Von Erich, with his daughter Holly (Laceys sister) says there will be one world champion and itll be him.
AWA International TV Title: Ronnie Garvin vs. Greg Gagne
AWA all around here. Ok so Gagne is the owners son and had the title made for him because he was horrible but he was pushed anyway. Garvin won the title in a screwjob but it was held up with this being the match to decide the champion. Gagne is the face and is booed out of the building. Garvin is the heel here and is being cheered to high heaven. When you suck as much as Garvin does, that says A LOT about Gagne.
Garvin seems to enjoy hammering away on Gagne which is probably at least half a shoot. Were into a chinlock early and Gagne breaks out, only to go into his jobber offense. This would be Garvins last match before heading to the WWF so the ending is pretty clear. Garvin fires off some headbutts and blocks a sunset flip. Gagne works on the arm as this is so boring Im on the verge of a nap. They slug it out and Garvin just mauls him. Five minutes in now and theyre spent. They badly go to the floor and Gagne slides in for the countout win to regain the title. Garvin refused to job to Gagne so theres your finish.
Rating: F. And thats not just because I cant stand Garvin. The match sucked and no one really cared about either guy, especially Gagne. The guy was the epitome of a guy there because of his papa and nothing else. Horrible match and these were the only two holders of that title. The fans HATED the ending.
They exchange sleepers post match in a nice metaphor for the match.
Gagne says Garvin is tough but hes better.
Verne Gagne talks about the rest of the card. DDP comes up to say Colonel DeBeers will beat Sgt. Slaughter. DDP and Gagne in the same picture is a weird combination if there ever was one. Page leaves and Gagne talks some more. This must be intermission.
We get a clip of Lawler vs. Von Eric in Tennessee. Von Erich gets the Claw which Lawler fights out of. The strap comes down and Lawlers eyes look awesome here. I know hes a comedy guy now but back in the 80s, this guy was a machine. They throw the referee out for the double DQ, setting up tonight. Kerry wants to keep going and Lawler says cool. They slug it out and another referee comes out and Von Erich gets the discus punch for the pin but it didnt count.
Lawler says the past doesnt matter and Von Erich wont take the title tonight. Its no DQ and no time limit tonight. The interviewer is taller than Jerry. It comes off as face vs. face here. Jerrys voice is deeper here and he comes off as someone that could beat the tar out of you here.
Lingerie Battle Royal
Pali the Syrian Terrorist, Luna Vachon, Nina, Pocahontas, Malibu, Brandi Mae, Laurie Lynn, Peggy Lee Leather, Bambi
This is a Beverly Hills Street Fight Battle Royal. You can win by over the top rope or ripping clothes off so its more like a bra and panties battle royal. Other than Nina (Ivory) and Luna, none of these girls ever meant anything. This is a POWW match and David McLane is on commentary here and sounds so horny he makes Lawler sound like a nun. The winner gets ten grand also. The girls start in regular clothes and are as gimmicked as you could imagine. In short, the girl named Leather wears leather etc.
What exactly do you want me to say here? Its a lingerie battle royal with a total of 2/9 girls being known names. Nina vs. the Terrorist is the main rivalry here. Lynn is out. Various amounts of clothes are torn off and this is really boring. Apparently this started with a pair of jeans being torn up. Pocahontas is gone.
Nina is also and were down to five. This is awful by the way. A loud TAKE IT OFF chant starts up. Peggy and Bambi are out, leaving us with Brandi, Luna and the Terrorist. Luna takes a bump from the top (called the third rope by McLane) and were down to the two that started this. After far too long, the Terrorist wins.
Rating: F. Just horrible here on all levels and an embarrassment to say the least. McLane is considered scum in wrestling and I cant say I really disagree based on what Ive seen from them. This was totally horrible and makes the Divas today look like Thesz vs. Gagne or something like that. Think about that for a minute.
The Terrorist says I told you so.
Some of the girls yell about losing, saying it was a conspiracy or something.
Some fans are acknowledged.
Bill Apter of Pro Wrestling Illustrated has a presentation to make to Lawler for most inspirational wrestler. They announce it here but the presentation isnt until later apparently.
Sgt. Slaughter says a boot camp match has no rules.
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Colonel DeBeers
This is a boot camp match and AWA vs. AWA. DeBeers is a white supremacist of all things. Thats a gimmick for you. In essence its a street fight. Page is with DeBeers here. Big brawl to start as DeBeers is a bit slow. Sarge uses the riding crop a lot but DeBeers takes over a few seconds in. DeBeers chokes with a belt as this slows way down in a hurry.
Its mentioned that the tag titles didnt change hands earlier. Sarge takes over again and stomps away a bit. DeBeers is thrown to the floor but its not a DQ here of course. DeBeers goes into the post and Page gets in the ring. Back in the Colonel has a helmet that Slaughter brought in with him but cant manage to use it. Page holds Slaughter up and Sarge moves. A few headbutts to the Colonel with the helmet puts DeBeers down allowing Slaughter to cinch up the Cobra Clutch to end it.
Rating: D. Short and bad here. Sarge would go to the WWF in a year or so and become a huge heel. Other than that though, this was nothing as DeBeers was part of the Team Challenge Series soon after this. Sarge would also but he left halfway through it. Weak match overall though.
Post match Iran Sheik and Sheik Adnan Al-Kassey come in for a big beatdown on Sarge. The Guerreros make the save.
Sarge says its not over.
We get the presentation of the award mentioned before that match.
WCCW Tag Titles: Samoan Swat Team vs. Michael Hayes/Steve Cox
The Samoans are Samu and Fatu with Buddy Roberts as the Freebirds are split up for awhile here. Cox is a no name and this is all WCCW. Cox and Hayes are the only team to beat the Samoans ever and theyve traded the titles for the last few months. Coxs nickname is Do It To It. The 80s were a weird time to say the least. The rows of empty seats are kind of funny.
Hayes and Fatu start us off and Marshall cant tell them apart either. Oh ok he called him Fatu. That helps some. Cox and Hayes work on the arm and its so weird to see Hayes as a face. Fatu misses a cross body and its back to the arm. Off to Samu as Hayes plays cheerleader. Heel miscommunication sends Fatu to the floor. Cox goes after him and eats table, shifting the momentum.
Big brawl breaks out and Roberts is able to get in a shot to Cox before sending him back inside. Samu slams him face first and the beating continues. Fatu (Rikishi) comes in off the top and Cox plays Ricky Morton for awhile. Theres a hot shot to Cox but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Hot tag to Hayes and everything breaks down. Cox and Fatu go to the floor as Hayes gets the DDT. Roberts comes in and drills Hayes though and Samu steals the pin to retain.
Rating: B-. Pretty good tag match here but its the late 80s so did you expect anything else? The SST would never lose the titles but would just leave the company, heading to the NWA again. Cox is a total no name and Hayes would be back in the NWA soon after this also I believe. Not bad here and a nice little surprise.
Hayes takes forever to leave the ring.
Sheik and Al-Kassey say Iran #1 and down with Slaughter.
Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel
No idea why this is here or where theyre from. AWA I think. This is an Indian Strap Match which is all four corners. Tatsumi Fujinami is here for no apparent reason and Fernandez yells at him. Fujinami holds him for a bit and Wahoo hits him. Fernandez stalls of course as we need to get this over with. The bell rings twice here and Wahoo uses the strap to start. No idea why these two are fighting.
Fernandez takes him down and goes for some corners which doesnt work of course. Wahoo is busted open and Manny tries again. The idea is that Wahoo has never lost one of these. They chop it out and Wahoo of course wins that. Manny is bleeding a bit. Wahoo gets three buckles but gets hit in the little Indians to break the streak. Manny gets three but then goes up top for no logical reason. Wahoo pulls him down and gets the win a bit after that.
Rating: D-. Weak match here as this match tended to be. Wahoo was old and fat at this point but apparently this was the best thing that he could do. No idea why this warranted 8 minutes on this show but Wahoo was still a name I guess. Weak and boring match here though that was totally paint by the numbers.
Wahoo says hes awesome and this isnt over yet because he wants Fernandez dead.
Gagne and Stanley Blackburn, the president of the AWA, wont say who they pick in the title match.
AWA World Title/WCCW World Title: Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich
This is a legit unification match which is rarer than anything youll ever see in modern wrestling. This would be like the TNA Champion and ROH Champion unifying their belts. See what I mean? The unification lasted like a month because no one could actually let that stand. Lawler comes out to Gonna Fly Now. That takes guts. Both guys are faces but Lawler is the de facto heel.
Kerry, ever the brilliant guy, cuts his left arm half to pieces TAKING HIS JACKET OFF, because thats where he was keeping his razor. There is literally blood dripping onto the mat 5 seconds into the match. Lawler rams it into the post like 40 seconds in to give it a reason to bleed, which shows some intelligence. Marshall manages to confuse right and left. And people wonder why this company folded.
Kerry hits a big right hand to take over and keeps checking his cut. Marshall says both of them have beaten Flair, Savage and Hogan. Thats true in Lawlers case but I dont remember ANY instance of Von Erich even facing Savage or Hogan. Then again he messed up left and right not 2 minutes ago so Id take that with a grain of salt. Von Erich gets a clothesline and Lawler is annoyed.
Still feeling out now. Again remember that Lawler is a legit tough guy here and not a comedy guy that is a grizzled veteran. School boy gets two for Kerry. They do a test of strength which even the announcers say is stupid for Lawler. Jerry misses a right hand and the discus punch gets two. Lawler sends him to the floor and takes over as were into the meat of the match now.
Piledriver is loaded up and hits but Kerry beats him to his feet. Another discus punch hits for two. Claw goes on but he cant quite cinch it in. A knee drop misses and Jerry gets a second wind. And there goes the referee about ten minutes in. Von Erich gets a Piledriver and theres no referee. There is blood everywhere. Outside and Kerry punches the post by mistake, shifting momentum again.
Lawler does the Memphis standard of pretending to have a foreign object to drive the fans nuts. Theres nothing in his hand but it looks great. Kerrys head is busted now and Lawler goes in for the kill, hitting the middle rope punch for two. He throws in the foreign object on the second one but Lawler jumps into the Iron Claw on the stomach (just go with it). The regular Claw goes on and blood is literally dripping off Von Erichs head. Jerry finally gets a rope but it goes on again, this time in the middle of the ring.
The referee keeps checking on the cut and Kerry keeps shaking his head to make it harder to do, probably thinking theres too much blood there. They get up and Kerry misses a charge in the corner to send Kerrys head into the post. I was wrong earlier as theyve found new places to bleed on. They slug it out and Lawler gets the object again for another shot.
Kerrys tights have blood on them and are half red now when they started as white. Jerry goes after the eye like a crazy man and just picks his shots now. Kerry misses a big swing and its Ali Shuffle time. Time for the object again and Von Erich hits the floor. Lawler gets a running punch back in and Kerry is somehow able to fight back.
Discus punch hits in the corner and the referee keeps wanting to check on the cut. They punch each other and the referee finally gets to check on the cut. The fans are totally behind Kerry here. Claw goes on again and Lawler is almost dead but gets his arm up at the last possible second a few times. The referee checks the eye again and stops the match with Lawler out cold. Not for Lawler passing out, but because Von Erich cant continue. WEAK ending, especially when Lawler is unconscious.
Rating: B+. This would have been a lot higher if they got the ending right. The blood thing works if theyre both down or something, but with Lawler out cold in the Claw and somehow winning there, I dont get how that exactly works. Still though, this wouldnt last long at all as the AWA stripped their title off Lawler in January or so and Larry Zbyszko of all people won it due to being Vernes son in law.
Lawler says the referee did the right thing because he would have blinded Kerry.
Kerry says Lawler was beaten and that this is absurd. We get some replays of the times Kerry has Lawler beaten. The AWA President says the match had to be stopped due to the blood. Did you expect a clean finish in a match like this?
We actually have a match left.
Jimmy Golden/Robert Fuller vs. Rock N Roll Express
CWA vs. AWA here I think. Golden is Bunkhouse Buck and Fuller is Colonel Robert Parker. Why in the world this is going on last is beyond me. Theres a different announcer here too for some reason. I really didnt want to see Parker in trunks. Golden and Morton start us off. Technical stuff to start and the Express clean the ring out quickly. Back to the starters as the crowd is gone after the real main event.
They fight over a front chancery as the fans chant boring. Morton gets a nice counter into a suplex kind of move as we get heel miscommunication. Off to Fuller and Gibson for a crisscross. Its pretty clear Fuller isnt the most sound wrestler in the world. Oddly enough Gibson is portraying Morton here and Golden throws on a bearhug. Double team abdominal stretch goes on after some cheating by the not Express manager. Hot tag brings in Morton to clean house and the double dropkick takes down Golden. We go to the floor and its thrown out.
Rating: C-. Just a tag match here with a bad ending. I have no idea what the point of having this on here to end the show was, especially when its just another match. Golden and Fuller were nothing of note and would be in WCW a few years later. The Express would go on to the indies forever and have some more time in WCW.
The Express says theyre still awesome.
Golden and Fuller say that wasnt fair.
Gagne says that was awesome to end it.
Overall Rating: D. Just a weak show overall here. There are 12 matches and one of them go over ten minutes. With no real stories to a majority of the matches youre left with just random ones in there with nothing of note to them. The world title match is definitely worth seeing and is on the Greatest Stars of the 80s DVD. Other than that though, this was like the 80s trying to die but no one would let them.
Obviously this didnt work as they were trying to put this up against Savage and Flair in the big two companies and it never worked. Too much politics in there and the whole thing went nowhere. Also, the show bombed big time and the company was gone soon, especially when Gagne wouldnt pay a lot of the young guys in the company for their work here. That can kind of hurt business. Anyway, weak show here but historical value helps it. See the world title match though as its a war.
