AWA All-Star Wrestling – 01.20.1990

We have completed our mission of going back and covering all the episodes available to us from October-December 1989 (for the most part), and to be honest, I was expecting a little bit more “LOL AWA”, but other than the Pink Room of Death, it was mostly ho-hum material. Plenty of production and editing issues, but the matches were mostly fine and we didn’t get too many wacky Team Challenge Series stipulations.

OK, now that we’re back in January 1990, let’s take a quick look at what has taken place on AWA TV in the three weeks sandwiched between this and the December 28th episode of Championship Wrestling… We have added Yukon John Nord (Baron’s Blitzers) and the Texas Hangmen (Larry’s Legends) to the roster and Team Challenge Series shenanigans; Larry Zbyszko defended the AWA Title against the Unknown Soldier, who ended up being Masa Saito in disguise (not the best disguise, either) and went to a non-finish, and for some TCS goodness, we got Baron von Rashke vs Wayne “The Train” Bloom in a Greco-Roman Rules Match (which was featured on two episodes we covered), Yukon John Nord vs Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie in a Bodyslam Match (a lame bait-and-switch with Kokina Maximus involved), a Football Clash between The Trooper and “Mean” Mike Enos, and lastly, a 6-Man/3-Tag Team Battle Royal.

Greg Gagne and Ralph Strangis welcome us from their perch in front of AWA’s $2 green screen, and if the Team Challenge Series MAIN EVENT doesn’t get you excited, we have some news from Joe Blanchard, the President of the AWA, laying some new rules on us, and what follows is AWA doing their own version of botch-a-mania, with flying moves to elevated wrestlers BANNED (clip of a guy taking the Doomsday Device and landing on his head), a flying top rope attack coming down on an opponent BANNED (clip of a Hangman falling like a sack of crap onto an enhancement talent), being thrown over the top rope BANNED (clip of a Tokyo Bullet taking an awkward bump on the concrete off a hip toss, not even a throw over the top rope). Rammed into the ring post? SUBJECT TO THE REFEREE’S DISCRETION.

The Trooper vs. Kent Carlson:
Trooper (representing Baron’s Blitzers) has put some money into his gear, trading in his standard black tights for standard blue tights… OK, I didn’t say a lot of money, but it’s SOMETHING. Trooper flashes the strength advantage, throwing Carlson to the canvas with ease. Carlson yanks the hair to escape a side headlock, but Trooper quickly regains control, taking Carlson over with a hip toss and grabbing an arm bar. We get some casual conversation on the TCS, as we’re a third through the season and the Baron’s team is in first place! Carlson escapes and gets a little flurry of offense before Trooper goes into the end-of-match comeback sequence and finishes with the NERVE PINCH OF DISPLEASURE at 3:29. Post-match, Trooper sticks a citation to Carlson’s face, and Paul Diamond shows up to give his congratulations!

Post-match, Eric Bischoff catches up with The Trooper and Paul Diamond. It wasn’t too long ago where they had a shot at the Tag Team Titles, and even held them for a few seconds before the decision was reversed! Trooper says the best thing to happen to him in the AWA is teaming up with Paul Diamond, and they did beat the Destruction Crew, even if it wasn’t the legal man! Unfortunately, that’s a major technicality!

Greg Gagne urges fans to call in and demand a rematch between The Destruction Crew and the duo of Diamond and The Trooper, and claims it was the fans who made today’s Main Event possible, a battle of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; Col. DeBeers and Magnificent Mimi (Sarge’s Snipers) battles Baron von Rashke and Candi Divine. DeBeers says in South Africa, we didn’t need a two-income home and women didn’t need to wrestle, and promised to take care of all the work. He also seems to take offense to being “the beast” of the team… but what if it’s the other way around, and Sarge has a secret crush on the Colonel?

Sgt. Slaughter vs. W.T. Jones:
It’s nice to see the Captain of the Snipers finally step in the ring for combat, even if it’s a no-doubt enhancement talent sharing the ring with him. Mr. Jones would make the occasional appearance for WWF syndication tapings, but not much else to say. Slaughter takes the tour around ringside, shaking hands with all the kiddos and while the arena is darkened to hide empty sections, I’ve seen much, much worse from them.

BREAKING NEWS: Next Week’s Team Challenge Series MAIN EVENT will be a Taped Fist Match with Sgt. Slaughter taking on the Russian Brute of the Baron’s Blitzers, and the FANS are responsible for making it happen! Lockup into the ropes, and Jones, the owner of the most minimal amount of hair that could be possible, complains with vigor that Slaughter keeps yanking the hair. Jones stuns Slaughter with a headbutt to the midsection and Slaughter takes the big chest-first bump in the opposite corner. Jones with a scoop slam but a diving headbutt misses the target. Slaughter throws a dropkick (I know, I’m surprised) and finishes with the Cobra Clutch at 4:01.

Post-match, Bischoff brings to Slaughter’s attention that his Snipers are trailing in the TCS Rankings, and by a substantial amount, with the pundits blaming him for shouldering too much of the burden and being too preoccupied with Col. DeBeers. He compares this to war, and some battles you win and some you lose. He’s visiting dying children and promoting G.I. Joe, but now he’s going to take his team to the top!

We get a hype package for the Russian Brute, set to Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker” (because he does the heart punch as the protege of Ox Baker… or just completely random and I’m trying to draw a connection).

TEAM CHALLENGE SERIES UPDATE with Lee Marshall!
It was last week when we witnessed the amazing FOOTBALL CLASH between The Trooper and “Mean” Mike Enos, with “Benchwarmer” Bob Lurtsema as the special (and biased) referee! It was a back-and-forth affair, and despite Larry Zbyszko’s attempts to interfere (and a babyface referee committing his own personal foul to favor), the Trooper scored the game-winning touchdown to secure two points for the Baron’s Blitzers. We see an updated scoreboard and WOAH, Sarge’s Snipers REALLY SUCK. Fire him and replace him with Bob Boone or something.

The Russian Brute (w/ Ox Baker) vs. Tom Bennett:
When I did a deep dive into late 80’s WWF years ago (elsewhere, not for the BOD), I came to the conclusion that Boris Zhukov was probably the worst wrestler on the roster for that stretch of his employment (and yes, I know, DINO BRAVO IS THE WORST because of his poor work AND steady pushes), but the Brute is somehow a worse wrestler and more lame fake Russian. He’s another guy who popped in on WWF syndication from time to time around this period, and recently a clip circulated on Twitter/X from KrisPLettuce showing him and (I believe) Tommy Jammer spectacularly blowing A BACK BODY DROP in such a way, it needs to be seen to believe.

With Brute lined up for competition next week against Sgt. Slaughter, this makes sense to give him a showcase to build interest… what little interest the audience had for the AWA. Bennett tries going for the first strike, but Brute shrugs him off and whacks him with a clothesline. Brute spams his taunt signalling the Heart Punch, and that seems to be what he’s best at. Brute busts out a swinging neck breaker and it looks like they smacked heads in the execution. Thankfully, this turd is finished soon after, via Heart Punch at 2:02.

Post-match comments from Ox Baker suggests that the Brute went to Kansas City and knocked out Harley Race for 13-minutes! He’s not going to only beat up Sgt. Slaughter, but he’s going to take an ambulance ride to the local medical facility!

We get some last words from the FRIENDLY Baron von Rashke and Candi Divine as we head into today’s Main Event…

Team Challenge Series; Beauty & The Beast Mixed Tag Team Match:
Baron von Rashke & Candi Divine vs. Col. DeBeers & Magnificent Mimi:
We have our standard rules when it comes to a mixed tag (as explained by Lee Marshall), of either DeBeers vs Rashke or Mimi vs Divine, which limits how many different stories you can tell, of course, with the only possible outcome of interest being that you build heat on the man to set up the big catfight that results from the hot tag (or you just don’t build to anything and do a fuck finish, that’s always a good option). Mimi and DeBeers come out to Gloria Estefan’s Rhythm is Gonna Get You, but I can’t make out the music of the other duo.

Mimi and Candi (the reigning Women’s Champion!) start, going back-and-forth with wrist and leg-locks. Mimi sends Candi flying across the ring with a sling-shot, but Candi quickly regains control, sending Mimi to the ropes and hitting her with a diving axe-handle across the chest. Mimi has finally had enough and tags in DeBeers, who quickly powders as soon as he’s confronted by Rashke. The song and dance continues for a bit before we send the women back in the ring. They bust out a series of pinning counters that doesn’t look too bad, though the bar has been set low thanks to people like the Russian Brute.

Candi gets caught in the corner as we go over how she won the title in a tournament in Canada thanks to the retirement of Wendi Richter (I guess kinda accurate, though the tournament part might be incorrect). They fight for control with a simultaneous hair-pull until Mimi hits a throw and transitions into an arm bar. DeBeers grabs a choke in the corner for some big heat. DeBeers cuts her off, yanking the hair as she runs the ropes, and an inside cradle is turned over, with Mimi on top for three at 7:56. OK, so DeBeers and Baron locked up for about 30-seconds or so. I guess it was for the best. Post-match comments from the losing side, with Baron saying Slaughter went about getting points for his team under the wrong circumstances. Points are points, crybaby. Besides, look at this scoreboard; Baron’s team has had WAY more chances to earn points!

NEXT WEEK: Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Russian Brute in a Taped Fist Match! Hold on… looks like the next episode I have with an assigned date to it is the January 27th episode of All-Star Wrestling, and it does NOT include that match. Nope, it will be on the February 5th episode of Championship Wrestling, so we’ll see it eventually!

Final Thoughts: Not much to say about the quality of wrestling here; a few squashes and our Team Challenge Main Event, which honestly could have been much worse if we depended more on DeBeers and the Baron to work in the ring. They’re trying to establish Trooper and Diamond as a team that can dethrone the Destruction Crew, and the strife between Sgt. Slaughter and his squad is something, at least. We really need more wacky antics to pace us through 1990.