The SmarK Rant for AWA Major League Wrestling – 01.01.88

The SmarK Rant for AWA Major League Wrestling – 01.01.88

Congratulations to our new RAW reviewer, Kat Bourne! I have no doubt we’ll get lots of in depth coverage of everything Rhea Ripley does from now on. If anyone wants to tackle Smackdown, Impact, or Collision, I’m also taking applications for those shows. Send me a sample if you’re interested.

Just some random classic AWA tonight, which showed up in the May drop of the premium Fish & Chips tier. This is sourced from a U-Matic master tape and sent to what I assume is a Winnipeg TV station.

Your hosts are Milt Avruskin & “Cowboy” Trey Travis, although the matches themselves don’t have commentary so I’m guessing whichever station would record their own.

For those who follow me on Instagram, I visited the Neon Sign Museum while I was in Vegas and had a wave of nostalgia because they actually had the sign from the Showboat Pavillion there, so I was in the mood for some AWA.

JAMMIN Mitch Snow v. Ryan Costello

I love that the ring announcer has to clarify that Snow is “very popular” because otherwise we wouldn’t know. Costello grabs a headlock and we get an honest to god criss-cross off that, with Snow doing these weird half-assed leap-frogs where he only gets one leg in the air. Snow with a top wristlock, and they do another criss-cross, only for Snow to drop a fist on him. Snow goes up and Costello brings him down with a back suplex, but Mitch is JAMMIN on him with punches to make the comeback, and then hits a sloppy dropkick and a hiptoss for the pin at 5:33. Yup.

The Danger Zone with Paul E. Dangerously, as he has an exclusive phone interview with Tommy Rich after Adrian Adonis turned on him and put a dress on him. Tommy’s side of the conversation veers suspiciously into the realm of someone doing an impression of Tommy sucking up to Paul E. And then the camera accidentally cuts to Paul doing both sides of the interview, and he cuts the segment off. Did you know Tommy is actually from New Jersey and not, as he claims, Tennessee?

Nick Kiniski v. Steve O

Apparently this is part of the International TV title tournament that was unsurprisingly won by Greg Gagne, and we’re joined 5:00 in with Steve working a headlock on the mat. He gets a rollup on Nick for two, prompting Nick to retreat to the floor and think it over. Back in, Olsonowski pulls him off the ropes with a headlock and wins a test of strength. Kiniski takes him down with a chinlock and you can hear ALL the conversations and called spots without the commentary. Kiniski keeps up the chinlocks and chokes him on the ropes for two, but he misses a blind charge and lands on the floor. Steve O tries to slingshot him back in, but Nick grabs the ropes and it is Steve who flies over the top, compelled by the forces of irony, and they slug it out on the floor. So Kiniski runs him into the post and draws the DQ at 15:43. Well this was not good. ½*

Meanwhile, Larry Nelson chats with Paul E. Dangerously, who now manages the AWA World tag team champions, the Midnight Express. So actually by the time this show was airing in January of 88, the Rockers would have won the belts, but I believe it took a few weeks to make TV so wouldn’t be acknowledged at this point.

Donna’s Report: Fans are sick of all the hype and all those other promotions who don’t do WRESTLING, so all the top stars are coming back to the AWA! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard this week considering that Vince was picking off their stars like someone shopping for produce in a supermarket. And we get a highlight package showing their top stars, like JAMMIN Mitch Snow and Boris Zhukov! The fact that Vince even bothered to poach Boris Zhukov from the AWA shows how incredibly petty he could be, to be honest.

JT Southern & DJ Peterson v. Tom “Rocky” Stone & Dennis Stamp

JT & DJ was Verne’s next attempt to make a teenage heartthrob team, using a pair of guys dressed like Brutus Beefcake and looking like members of a LA Guns tribute band. I think they might have worked better if they were an odd couple team, with DJ Peterson playing an actual DJ, with turntables and stuff. Would have been years ahead of their time. JT, who later had a cup of coffee with WCW as Max Payne’s evil guitar playing foe, works the arm on Stone to start, and then they work the arm of Stamp and double-team him. JT takes Stone down with a headscissors and they finish with an elevated Hart Attack at 5:10. DJ ended up half of the final tag team champions in 1990 and then sadly died young in a motorcycle accident.

Dirty Dick Slater v. Jim Evans

Slater puts the boots to Evans and tosses him, and then back in for a ride on the mat and a chinlock while he’s calling for Wahoo. Gotta say, I was a weekly viewer of the AWA at this point and I don’t call Slater being around at all. Slater tosses the guy and we get a view of the surprisingly ENORMOUS amount of space at ringside. Back in, Evans gets a small package for two, but misses a dropkick and Slater slugs him down before going up with a middle rope elbow to finish at 3:10. Well that was certainly a better fit for Slater than the dumb Rebel gimmick he escaped in the WWF.

Meanwhile, Larry Nelson talks with Dick Slater and Curt Hennig and asks the tough question: Did Hennig bring Slater into the AWA to eliminate the top contenders so that Hennig doesn’t have to defend against them? They just hang out at ringside together because they’re big admirers of each other!

Meanwhile, Tommy Rich chats with Larry, and calls Adrian Adonis the TOOTH FAIRY, and also he wants a shot at Curt Hennig in Atlanta, which is where he won the NWA World title in feels like a lifetime before this show.

And hey, let’s take a look at a random battle royale set to a song I don’t know, featuring Sgt. Slaughter winning somehow.

I really do love the AWA but this was not the most exciting example of their stuff. I thought the U-Matic tape aspect was fascinating, though, complete with space left in the show for commercials and audio cues for transitions. And hey, if you want to hear Mitch Snow calling spots, this is the show for you.