AWA Championship Wrestling – 12.28.1989

We’re back with more AWA as we finish up 1989 (unless SOMEONE finds and uploads that damn episode with the Great American Turkey Hunt). I’m hoping for something a little wild and out there, as the last time we checked in on the promotion, it was a mostly dull experience; just a handful of squashes and a by-the-numbers tag team main event. We did get the storyline dismissal of Johnny Valiant, though it was done in a very sloppy post-production manner, with Wayne Bloom yelling at him off camera that he was finished, which gave us this great comment that I needed to share, I found it amusing as a legitimate possibility…

Lee Marshall and Ralph Strangis are hanging out at ringside, which means they will be calling all the action in post-production. Eric Bischoff is also doing his usual routine of hanging out in front of the world’s worst green screen. In the next hour, we’re going to see Jonnie Stewart, the AWA Champion Larry Zbyszko, and the Tag Team Championship will be defended when the Destruction Crew takes on the challenge of BRUTE FORCE.

“The Illustrious” Jonnie Stewart vs. Red Tyler:
The shrinking roster means I get to rehash talking points for the AWA talent regularly, so here it goes; Jonnie Stewart is a 3-year veteran (which doesn’t sound like much, but then you have guys like Tommy Jammer literally learning and training on the job), an obnoxious flamboyant heel billed from Pacific Palisades, CA with a bionic knee. He’s on Sarge’s Snipers, and he doesn’t get along too well with his team Captain. Red Tyler, another mid-west regular, was brought in routinely as enhancement talent when the WWF came around to tape for syndication.

Looks like everything is taped on December 16th from the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN (unless otherwise noted). For those curious, cagematch lists 18 matches taped, which will be chopped up and pieced together repeatedly to fill four weeks of DAILY ESPN CONTENT, not to mention their syndicated All-Star Wrestling (which I can’t imagine was in too many homes). Stewart stops off at the announcer’s table for a chat. He goes to work on Tyler immediately after the bell and dumps him to the floor where he’s quick to introduce Tyler to the ringside table. Back inside, Stewart hits an avalanche and yells about his Porsche while Lee and Strangis talk about Rob Lowe. Stewart with a suplex and powerslam, and finally the bionic knee finishes off Tyler at 2:36. Post-match, Tyler gets dumped again and thrown into the guardrail for his troubles. I’m disappointed we didn’t mention anything about Stewart having beef with someone on the AWA roster, it was all throwaway gobbledygook.

Brute Force vs. The Menace & The Tokyo Bullet:
We’re not just getting Bruce Force challenging for the Tag Team Titles, but here’s a special look at them in action, and don’t look, but both matches were taped on December 16th. Ricky Rice has been around AWA for a bit, recently teaming with Derrick Dukes (who was written out as a coward after some backstage dispute) and also moonlights as the Unknown Soldier that is part of Sarge’s Snipers in the Team Challenge Series. I can’t find much on Kasper, other than a handful of appearances exclusive to the AWA in 1989-90. As for the opposition, they’re masked men and your guess is as good as mine in regards to their identity.

Kasper (‘roided to the gills and standing at about 5’9”) starts with the Bullet, doing the strongman spots of having the other guy bounce off him like a super-ball. Whip into the corner and the Bullet brings up the boot. Kasper escapes the corner and Rice comes in with a flying body press. Nice of the referee to allow the switch without a tag. Rice with competently done professional wrestling before switching out and letting Kasper slow things down with an arm-bar. Tokyo Bullet throws a dropkick and comes off the ropes with a twisting elbow drop for two. The masked men can’t hold control for more than 20-seconds and it’s hot tag time to Rice, who gets so much height, he’s actually throwing them ABOVE the heads of his opponents at times. Menace blocks a monkey-flip, but he’s looking gassed and Rice springboards off the turnbuckle with a flying sunset flip for three at 4:36. Kasper can’t help himself and throws a dropkick of his own to block a save attempt, LANDING ON TOP OF HIS PARTNER in the process. I have seen worse, but oh boy, Kasper makes Tommy Jammer look like Bobby Eaton out there.

Non-Title Match: Larry Zbyszko (AWA Champion) vs. Todd Becker:
Are we just ignoring the Team Challenge Series these days? Larry has reigned as AWA World Champion since February, having won a Battle Royal to crown a new Champion after Jerry Lawler was stripped of the belt. I guess you could say he’s also a “fighting” Champion, as he name drops everyone imaginable, even people who don’t work for the company! As for Mr. Becker, he’s another local who got a few gigs when the big time came to town, and later moved to New York where he earned a medical license and opened a small practice in the Bronx.

Becker moves in for the collar-elbow lock-up, but Zbyszko hooks the waist and takes him down into a pinning combination. Zbyszko continues to outclass his opponent, countering another lock-up attempt with a single-leg trip. Larry connects with a back breaker and suplex and pulls Becker up at two on subsequent pin attempts. More trash talking, a little more punishment, and the piledriver finally finishes at 2:58. Post-match, Eric Bischoff gets words from Zbyszko, who dragged out the match to prove a point, and mentions putting wrestling on the map when he sold out Shea Stadium in August 1980 and retired Bruno Sammartino. He further promises to rule professional wrestling for the next decade (and name drops Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair).

This feels like an extra cobbled-together episode, as Eric Bischoff pops in for 30-seconds between every match to throw it to the next. We mention Larry taking on the Unknown Solider last week, but SWERVE BRO, the masked man ended up being Mr. Saito, and he’s in action…

Masa Saito vs. Bad Boy Brown:
Poor Saito worked THREE matches on this taping! I hope the pay was per-match. Saito is a 20+ year veteran at this point, with accolades from all over the world, whether it was Japan or in the States for the NWA and WWF. As we mentioned in the previous segue, he competed under the mask as the Unknown Soldier and took on Larry Zbyszko (the match ended in an inconclusive manner). On an unrelated note, for whatever reason, I keep typing Soldier as “Solider”, and it’s really annoying that I am aware I do it and KEEP doing it. Nothing to say about Mr. Brown, maybe he went on to be a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers or something.

Before I continued with the recap, I had to make sure I didn’t cover this already, and nope, a follow-up episode features Saito’s match with Zbyszko and his other squash. Lockup into the corner and Saito doesn’t hesitate in throwing kicks. Saito with a snap mare and scoop slam before dumping the Bad Boy onto the concrete. Back inside, Brown mucks up a hip toss in spectacular fashion. Side angle suplex from Saito, and he finishes with the Scorpion Death Lock at 1:56. Lee Marshall not only calls it a FULL NELSON, but a Boston Crab as well (on top of identifying it as the Scorpion!).

TEAM CHALLENGE SERIES UPDATE WITH LEE MARSHALL
We’re in for quite the update this week, because it’s all about Masa Saito. In a Martial Arts Match (taped on November 18th), Saito was picked as a Wild Card to represent Larry’s Legends, defeating Pat Tanaka of Sarge’s Snipers to help push the Legends into 1st Place (looks at the graphic displayed on TV)…

But then, without context, we see highlights of Saito as the masked Unknown Soldier fighting Zbyszko (and the Soldier is a member of Sarge’s Snipers). AND I TYPED IT AS “SOLIDER” AGAIN! What does this mean for Larry’s reign as AWA Champion? I don’t know, and neither does the editing team!

We throw it to a pre-tape from “Mean” Mike Enos, but he’s quickly interrupted by “Benchwarmer” Bob Lurtsema, hyping an upcoming “Football Clash” involving Enos and The Trooper. Every time Enos attempts to get a word in, Lurtsema does the Wayne Bloom routine of cutting him off with a “don’t worry, I got this” and continues to address the home audience. This was surprisingly fun and goofy shenanigans, at least for the people who noticed the routine of how a Destruction Crew promo usually plays out. Also, I have covered an episode of AWA TV with that Football Clash, and it’s about as Team Challenge Series as you can guess.

AWA Tag Team Championship Match:
The Destruction Crew (c) vs. Brute Force:
Oh bless you, good Lord, for giving me not one but TWO matches with Dave Kasper inside of one hour of AWA content. The Crew are no longer managed by Luscious Johnny Valiant, who was fired in a clumsy and confusing post-production edit, and RIGHT BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS. I was surprised to see that Valiant was ONLY 43-years-old at the time, I figured he was well into his 50’s, but I guess that explains a lot of people from the era.

Before the match, Lee Marshall, on behalf of Bill Apter, awards the Destruction Crew with PWI’s Rookie of the Year Award. Bloom says they would thank those responsible for their success, but they did it all on their own and threw the award down, suggesting next time to put more money into it and maybe throw in a check.

Enos starts with Rice, showing off his strength advantage with a pair of shoulder blocks and Rice bumping like he studied from the book of Curt Hennig. Rice fires off a series of arm drags, sending Enos to the floor to talk strategy. Back inside, BRUTE FORCE takes turns working the arm of Enos. Bloom in to suffer the same fate and Rice surprises us with a flying sunset flip for a near-fall. The challengers continue to dictate the pace until Bloom counters a test-of-strength by capturing Kasper in a wrist-lock and brings him to the corner to punish the arm. Enos misses a flying splash, setting up Rice for the hot tag. He throws more dropkicks (great height, and with Bloom and Enos, on the money as well) and hits Enos with a combo suplex and jumping leg drop for two. Kasper manages to lose his footing jumping from the second turnbuckle for an axe-handle and poorly applies a bearhug. Enos comes in from behind with a double axe-handle smash and Bloom rolls on top to retain at 11:12. The usual from the Destruction Crew, Kasper looks like he has no idea what he is doing, and Rice had some sizzle to his work, so clearly out there to make Kasper look good (nope).

Final Thoughts: With that, we’re done with 1989, and will catch up to where it all began so many months ago. Another episode that didn’t have a Team Challenge Series match, but at least the Update from Lee Marshall gave us our dose of “does anyone know what they’re doing around here” post-production brain mush. Here’s Masa Saito representing Team Larry, but we’re just going to splice in footage of him wrestling Larry, and also fail to properly keep score of this nonsense! The work is what it is, some of the guys seem motivated, some seem lost out there, it’s the crapshoot of the era.