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What the HECK?/Intro- AWA Team Challenge Series #3!
Back for our FINAL installment of the AWA's TCS. This doesn't mean these were the
LAST EVER AWA matches... just the last batch I have laying around. But with the action
so hot and heavy in the Team Challenge Series, let's throw it to Greg Gagne
and Ralph Strangis, who have an important TCS update!
There's been a trade in the TCS! Sgt. Slaughter has traded the disgruntled
Col. DeBeers to Larry's Legends for Masa Saito. Sarge calls it
another important victory for the Marines, just like Iwo Jima and
Panama (Panama?! oooo..current events!!). Sarge elaborates a bit
by saying that while he's proud to have Saito, the man he was
really after was Jake "the Milkman" Milliman, due to his
intestinal fortitude and heart.
Match 1: AWA Women's Championship:
Candi Devine (c) (Baron's Blizters) vs. Magnificent Mimi (Sarge's Snipers)
TCS and a title match, to boot.
'Cuz it just wouldn't be the AWA without another Candi Devine-Mimi match!
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"do you find me...pleasing?" |
But this match is fairly nifty for one reason. Mimi comes into the ring, teasing
the crowd in an oversized t-shirt. She removes the shirt in her best stripper
performance, then...we see the opening graphics AGAIN! EDIT! When this match aired
on ESPN, Mimi bent over and used the shirt as butt-floss before tossing it to the crowd.
Ralph and Greg almost have coronaries. Ralph asks: "Did you ever see the
Crusher or Mad Dog Vachon do that?!" Score this as a face turn, cuz' the crowd
starts chanting "Mi-mi! Mi-mi!". Anyways...match begins
as they trade leg takedowns. Mimi is wrestling with a cast on her wrist and
will be disqualified if she uses it as a weapon. The ol' Hot Chic with a Cast
gimmick... which wouldn't be seen for another 15 years when Trish Stratus
did the same. Devine kicks away and hooks a step-over toehold.
Ladies go to the mat and questionable camera work tries to
get some JUGG SHOTS. Devine hooks a body scissors and Mimi bridges back for 2.
They break the hold and Devine is dropkicked out. Mimi with a backdrop
and a suplex for another 2. Devine with her own suplex, then misses
a splash off the second rope. Mimi monkeyflips her out of the corner
and follows with another suplex for 2. Devine gets all punchy/kicky, until
Mimi grabs her legs and catapults her over the top rope, drawing a DQ.
Remember, non-WWF matches of the era included the wacky top-rope
DQ rule. The gals brawl around ringside and even on top of the announce table!
The referee grabs Mimi and hauls her back into the ring. Mimi gets a BIG pop
from the crowd, then hops out to sign autographs and to deliver high-fives and
hugs.
Match 2: AWA Tag-Team Championship:
Destruction Crew (Wanye Bloom & Mike Enos)(c)(Larry's Legends) vs.
The Trooper & Paul "Hard Rock" Diamond (Baron's Blitzers)
Match is joined-in-progress, courtesy of ESPN from Dec. 21 1989, with Lee Marshall
and Eric Bischoff on the call. Johnny V has apparently
left as he's nowhere to be found and isn't mentioned. Trooper
and Diamond are taking turns beating the snot out of Enos.
Bloom enters and a four-way erupts. Trooper and Bloom roll out to ringside
while Diamond slingshots in over the top rope and PINS
Mike Enos with a sunset flip! Trooper and Diamond are announced as NEW
Tag champs, and the crowd claps approvingly. But wait, what's this?
Bloom wanders over to AWA legal counsel Bob Ryan, who is seated at ringside.
Bloom was the legal man..so Diamond pinned the wrong man. Thus, the decision
is negated and the Crew are still champions. Where's Dusty?! Actually, the match should
be re-started, since no decision had been made... but the teams leave. The Crew are still
champs..but HOW did they win? By DQ?!
LOGIC IN WRESTLING!
A promo from the Destruction Crew. They're pissed because they're set for a
rematch against Diamond/Trooper in 15 minutes, and now "Benchwarmer"
Bob Lurtsema has been added as the special referee.
Match 3: AWA Tag-Team Championship:
Destruction Crew (Wanye Bloom & Mike Enos)(c)(Larry's Legends w/ Larry Z) vs.
The Trooper & Paul "Hard Rock" Diamond (Baron's Blitzers)
Special referee: "Benchwarmer" Bob Lurtsema
Zbyszko is at ringside, acting as a manager or sorts for the champs.
Big brawl to start,
with the Crew delivering slams. Trooper and Diamond respond with
stereo atomic drops and dropkicks to clear the ring.
Good guys parade around with the Crew's construction vests and hammers. Bad guys slap the
mat and voice their disapproval.
Match resumes, as Diamond goes to work on Enos with a series of uppercuts.
Trooper comes in for a double backdrop. Diamond whips Enos right into a Trooper
power slam for 2. They tee-off on Enos for a bit, getting another 2.
Diamond and Enos collide with a dual shoulderblock attempt, allowing Enos to
tag Bloom. Bloom with a slam, then goes up to the second turnbuckle. Diamond tosses him off
and delivers a kneelift. Irishwhip into another Trooper slam and 2 count.
Trooper works a reverse chinlock, until Bloom fights out.
Crew pounds away on Trooper for a bit until a BIG shoulderblock is delivered.
Trooper with a backdrop and suplex on Enos. Diamond comes in for a flying clothesline
and 2. Irishwhip into a Trooper dropkick and small package for a quick 1.
Diamond delivers a nice superkick, but then Larry Z gets up to distract. Lurtsema and
Trooper are over to argue with Larry, while Diamond is lifted into the
dreaded Wrecking Ball finisher. Diamond is hoisted on Enos's shoulder, while
Bloom connects off the top-rope with a flying clothesline. Illegal at the time, because
the AWA had banned all top-rope maneuvers. Why? Logic in.. oh, hell.
Big 6-way brawl erupts, with Lurtsema squaring off with Larry! Lurtsema
hits a charging clothesline to send Enos spinning over the top. DQ win for Trooper
and Diamond.
Afterwards, Eric Bischoff gets a few words from Trooper and Diamond. They're sick of the Destruction
Crew running and want them in a CAGE!
Match 4: D. J. Peterson vs. "The Thumper" Frankie DeFalco
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Recently bowled a 300 |
Return match for Peterson.
He enters to AC/DC's "TNT". Oy! DeFalco has upgraded a bit since tape 1...
he now has a snazzy BOWLING JACKET for his ring wear. DeFalco starts with two
vicious hip-tosses, but on the third try, Peterson
flips over and delivers his own. Peterson takes him down, working the arm
and dropping a leg. Step-over armbar from Peterson. Whip to the turnbuckle,
but Peterson misses the follow-up charge. DeFalco with a powerslam for 2.
Peterson reverses DeFalco's irishwhip, hits a backdrop and slam for 2.
DeFalco tries to hit a high charging knee, but nails the turnbuckle.
Peterson grabs the injured leg and applies a scorpion leg-lock/sharpshooter
to get the submission. Oy! Eric Bischoff gets a few words from Peterson.
He's back in the AWA for one reason- to get the World Title currently held
by.. Masa Saito. Hmm, guess that happened off-screen. Peterson mentions
his past with Saito, over in Japan.
Greg and Ralph update us on some the happenings around the AWA.
There's a few new "wildcard" members in the TCS-- Curtis "the Cat" Hughes
and D.J. Peterson. I guess "wildcard members" are guys who
aren't officially on the team, and can fill-in on any team as needed.
Maybe?
Lee Marshall is standing by with a TCS update. He recaps
the Trooper/Diamond vs. D-Crew situation and mentions the
upcoming CAGE match. Only, it won't be for the titles.
WTF!?! Also, that big trade between Sarge and Larry?
it's now null and void and both DeBeers and Saito have been returned to
their original teams. Why was it void.... it just WAS, okay!
Match 5: Tommy Jammer (Baron's Blitzers w/Baron Von Raschke) vs.
Texas Hangman Killer (Larry's Legends w/Psycho)
Tommy's ditched his mullet look and enters to "Surfin USA". He's kinda'
dynamic, dude. Texas Hangmen were a couple
of stocky dudes in black masks. I'm not sure if they were the same Hangmen who
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NOT the Conquistadors |
showed up on Nitro in 1998. Considering their ring names, the Hangmen should
have used the old Talking Heads song as their intro. "Psycho Killer!
Qu'est-ce que c'est?! Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa !" Anyways, this
was a MAIN EVENT for an episode of All Star Wrestling. Match begins as Jammer works
an armdrag and takes Killer to the mat. Killer gets up and tries throwing a right.
Tommy ducks and uses a fireman's carry to take him back down. Killer, being a heel,
goes to the EYES and follows with a whip to the ropes. Jammer ducks a
flying clothesline and hooks a backslide for 2. Killer bails to get a hug from
his partner. Back in, where kicky/punchy dominates. Jammer with a wristlock
and an abdominal stretch. Ralph and Greg sell it like it's the figure four!
They're probably just amazed that Jammer used an actual wrestling hold.
Psycho hops onto the apron to distract Jammer. Killer
thumps, tosses Jammer to the turnbuckle, hits a snapmare and drops
an elbow. Chinlock time as Greg Gagne mentions "Michelle Pfeiffer likes
Tommy Jammer"...okay, that was certainly random. Jammer is whipped to the ropes
and responds with a high crossbody for 2. Killer
punches back, nails a side slam and a belly-to-belly suplex. Jammer reverses
an irish whip and hits a dropkick to send Killer out of the ring. Killer hits the floor
and PSYCHO rolls back in! Psycho quickly hooks Jammer in a small package for
the 3 count and 2 points in the TCS! Jammer and BVR are upset and clear the ring.
Eric Bischoff interviews them at ringside, where they challenge the Hangmen to a
tag match. In a moment of peculiarity, I see that the Baron is wearing a Great American
Bash t-shirt.
Greg and Ralph introduce a special video on Jake "the Milkman" Milliman, set to the
tune of "Charlie Brown". Then it's Larry Zbyszko with a LarryLand segment.
Larry calls Jake an "inspiration and a tower of strength" and mentions
that his team voted him the "almost valuable player".
Match 6: Tag-Team Triathlon:
Yukon John Nord & Todd Becker (Baron's Blitzers) vs. Col DeBeers & an Unknown Partner (
Sarge's Snipers w/Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie)
Also known as "3 stages of hell"! Cuz, damn this is hella' boring!
Sheik has a bounty on Yukon John and DeBeers is still
aiming to collect. A gimmick match in 3 parts with each part worth 2 points. First is
an arm wrestling match, second is an "over the top rope match" and
third is the always exciting Tug of War! I believe there was an originally
scheduled FOURTH round-- a hot dog eating contest. DeBeers' right arm is in a sling,
allegedly due to an injury he suffered in a match against
jobber Todd Becker. Thus, DeBeers gets on the mic and
introduces his partner. "I was down in Tallahassee on rehab and noticed
this man! He probably abuses steroids, like all Americans...but here he is..
the Nightstalker!" Out comes the future Adam Bomb/Wrath/Kronik -- Bryan Clarke --
in a low-rent Ultimate Warrior
knock-off. Believe it or not, but the steroid abuse was part of his gimmick! This is his debut
and since this is "the first time we've seen him", Ralph and Greg IMMEDIATELY
tell us that he's 6-8 and 320 pounds. Well, so much for the mystery! Logic in Wrestling!
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Renegade?! |
Due to his bum arm, DeBeers can't arm-wrestle Nord, so Nightstalker takes his place
in the first round.
Thankfully, it's timed at only one minute! Golly, this is more
exciting than Lincoln Hawk's march to the grand arm-wrestling championship!
Match ends in a draw, so the 2 points carry over to
the next round. DeBeers celebrates with BOTH arms, revealing that his
"injury" was a fraud. Ref realizes this
and assigns DeBeers to the next round. Ox Baker has been watching and
wanders down to ringside.
Second round is "toss your opponent over the top", now worth 4 big points, and
lasting one minute.
Yukon John chops away and hits a big boot. Both guys takes turns running into
the turnbuckles for added fun. Nord picks up DeBeers and is about to slam him
over the top, but the Sheik reaches in trips the big guy. Match again ends in a draw
and the 4 points carry over to the next round.
Third round, for 6 BIG POINTS is the time-honored pro wrestling tradition:
the Tug of War. Todd Becker and Nightstalker come in
to help their teammates. Greg and Ralph scare the hell out of me as they
mention "this round will go as long as it takes!" Guys flex and hold rope....
excitement! Sheik reaches in and starts tugging on the slack. Nord spots this
and steams over to attack. Todd Becker is yanked across the ring and the Snipers
team wins 6 BIG POINTS! A big brawl breaks out with Yukon John
clearing the ring.
Greg and Ralph preview the upcoming steel cage (non-title) tag match
between Diamond/Trooper and the Destruction Crew. But that's
next week, as that's all the time we have for "ALL! STAR! WRESTLING!"
Why'd You Tape This??
Well, I thought this tape was longer...but you could score the Tag Team Triathlon as
3 matches in one! You can see some of the haphazard BS that the AWA threw out there.
The phantom title swap with the Crew was the highlight, but to cap it off
with a NON-TITLE cage match!? That's worse than the initial screwjob. And WHY
the heck was that Saito/DeBeers trade reversed? I'm assuming it's because Saito
beat Larry Z, his team captain, for the belt....but having opposing forces
on one team was nothing new to the Team Challenge Series.
Bright spots do exist amongst this. Yukon John Nord is actually pretty amusing. Despite
his eye-boinks, DeBeers is also a more accomplished wrestler than I remember, especially
on the mic.
He was thrown into stupid angles, but he went into them fullsteam and wasn't shy about
talking them up. Tommy Jammer improved slightly from the first review, but
that's not saying much and he never made it on the big scene (unless HE
was the "fake Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 8"!?!). I'm just a little
bit bummed that Baron Von Raschke didn't wrestle on this tape. He did give some fun
promos, including his famous line of
"and 'dat is all da' people need to know!" After a few matches would enter the ring to goose-step and display THE CLAW!
The AWA went on
for a few more months before drying up in late 1990. There are several signs that point
out that the infamous Secured Environment or "pink room of doom" was NOT the last batch of AWA
matches. All of these matches were taped in live arenas. Small crowd, but a live
arena is a live arena. The AWA would spread out their live tapings over their
programs, but the fact that Johnny V disappeared, Jammer's hair was cut, Mimi's
arm was injured, Pat Tanaka left and other factors prove that these live shows occurred after
the Secured Environment. So what WAS the "last-ever AWA match?"
It's unproven, but probably a fundraiser in late 1990. There are rumors that the Destruction Crew vs. Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel at a state fair in 1991
could have been THE last match. So, if there's
anything you can take from this--- it's to dispel the myth about
Jake Milliman and the Great American Turkey Hunt. Also, Magnificent Mimi was damn hot!!
That's it for AWA retro fun. It started out relatively inoffensive, but
the last 8 matches or so made me long for Koko B. Ware vs. Skinner. There's a few
oddball rasslin tapes still floating around the eStragand Complex...maybe someday I'll cover
those.
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questions are encouraged.
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