411’s AWA on ESPN Classic Report 06.16.08

411’s AWA On ESPN Classic Report

AWA Championship Wrestling

Larry Nelson welcomes us to the program and says that next week they’ll be coming from Nashville and that the announcement that they have been pimping for months will be coming next week, as will a main event of Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel. I’m going to scoop the AWA and make my announcement right at the end of this column! Take THAT, corpse of Stanley Blackburn!!

Match One: AWA World Tag Team Championships
Mike Enos and Houdini vs. Badd Company (c) w/Diamond Dallas Page

Page talks about how everyone wants a shot at the greatness of the AWA Tag Champions before calling the Top Guns the “Pop” Guns. He calls them nobodies and says that they’ve never beaten anyone ever. CRANKUPDAMUSIC!!! Here comes Badd Company to the ring and they’re B-A-Double D, BADD!! Paul Diamond does a little talking to referee Gary, DeRusha and the match starts out with Enos and Tanaka as we get a close-up of the tag team championship belts. Tanaka pushes Enos against the ropes and we actually get a clean break before Enos grabs a side headlock. Tanaka shoots him off into the ropes with a handufl of hair and gets shoulderblocked down before Enos reverses a hip toss into one of his own. He hits a couple of armdrags into an armbar but Tanaka goes to the eyes to break up the hold, slamming Enos and tagging in to Diamond. Diamond charges but gets caught in another armdrag, leading to Houdini tagging in. Diamond takes over and rams Houdini face-first into the turnbuckle. Front suplex from Diamond and they get their Diamond Drop for the 1-2-3!!

Winners: Badd Company (pinfall, Diamond Drop)

Match Analysis: Squasherino!! As usual, Badd Company are entertaining no matter how long they’re in the ring for. Could have been a bit better, but at least they got to hit one of their awesome finishes.

Larry Nelson again pushes the big announcement, saying that no one knows what it is and that he knows nothing, besides that it got Verne Gagne suspended. He brings in the Top Guns and they’re real excited to be there. He asks them about the announcement and they have no idea but they hope that it’s going to be for a title shot. Paul talks in airplane terms like afterburners and the like as Rice again states that they want to be tag team champions. The paint drying in my hallway thought that this promo was a little boring and I’d agree. Bland from Rice and uncomfortable from Paul leads to BORING!!

Oh joy, Donna’s back to talk about the Fan of the Week!! It’s some amateur wrestler who talks some shit on Soldat Ustinov and he says that all the American wrestlers are going to win the gold medals in Seoul. He asks Soldat about the Russian team and here’s Soldat with his response. Soldat says that the he’s picked up the leading amateur wrestling magazine and that the Russians have dominated wrestling for more than 25 years. He mocks the Kosolosolooski brothers and that if they’ve been training in Russia like they said they have been, that the Russians will have taped their matches and will know all their moves. He calls the fan of the week stupid in a “pot calling the kettle black” moment if I’ve ever seen one, and then finishes things up.

Match Two: AWA World Heavyweight Championship
Mike Smith vs. Jerry Lawler (c)

Lawler chases after Smith a little and Smith doesn’t seem sure of how to handle it, choosing to just lean outside the ropes. They get a lockup in the corner and Smith gives Lawler a clean break, laughing about it, which really doesn’t make much sense to me. Lawler gets a side headlock and Smith just throws him off to the mat before he does some flexing. Side headlock again from Lawler and he’s shot into the ropes where they collide with a shoulderblock and neither man moves. Smith offers a test of strength then kicks Lawler in the gut and Lawler gets a big dropkick that sends Smith rolling out of the ring to the floor. Dare I say it, but Smith just might be cheating in this match. I’m as shocked as you are. They finally get the Greco-Roman Knucklelock but Smith breaks it immediately with a knee to the gut and he picks Lawler up for a HUGE bodyslam. He tries an elbowdrop but Lawler rolls out of the way and hits some piston right hands while sitting on Smith’s head. Standing dropkick by Lawler, which is impressive because he got all the way up to the chin of Smith, who is a good five or six inches taller than the King. Lee Mullet makes me laugh by saying he’s never seen Lawler throw a dropkick before, despite Lawler hitting one not a minute earlier in the match. Bring back Rod! Bring back Rod! Bring back Rod!! Lawler rams Smith into the top turnbuckle and Irish whips him into the ropes for a reverse elbow before Lawler gets the big slam into the second-rope fistdrop. One cover and one three-count and this match is all over.

Winner: Jerry Lawler (pinfall, second-rope fistdrop)

Match Analysis: Lawler didn’t even get to take the strap down so that should tell you how competitive this match was. Oh well, the dropkick was pretty impressive though so this match wasn’t completely worthless. Sad that outside of Kerry Von Erich and those matches, the majority of Lawler’s title defenses were jobber matches.

Larry Nelson’s with Manny Fernandez in the interview area and Manny calls him Mr. Microphone before mocking Wahoo, Greg Gagne and calling Jerry Lawler a Burger King. He calls himself the greatest and says that there’s nothing that can stop him when he steps into the ring. He even tries to coin a catchphrase by saying that “once you get on the back of the Bull, you’re in for a long, hard ride.” Sad to see him steal a catchphrase from what appears to be the tag line to a gay porn movie, but I guess we know what Manny had been up to in Vegas the night before the taping.

Match Three: Mat Classic
Jimmy Snuka vs. Larry Zbyszko

This isn’t really here for the match though, and you’ll see why in a minute. This is 1986 and we’re still at the Showboat, joining the match in progress with Snuka climbing the ropes as Zbyszko is out flat on his back in the middle of the ring. Here comes Col. DeBeers up the steps and he SHOVES SNUKA OFF THE TOP ROPE!! He heads to the floor and gives Snuka THE PANCAKE PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR!!! Someone in the crowd is ready to come across the barricade with a CHAIN at DeBeers. Here comes the babyface brigade and they clear the ringside area as DeBeers just calmly walks to the back.

Winner: Jimmy Snuka (disqualification, Colenol-ference)

Match Analysis: This was mainly here so they could show that DeBeers/Snuka angle to try to set their feud up again for once Snuka returns. Even in the after piece, Gagne’s talking about how DeBeers has had his suspension lifted and that Snuka will be back as well and he tells us to watch for that match-up in hushed, serious tones.

We’re only HALF A REPORT away from the HUGE announcement folks!!! Can you feel the buzz? I promise you this will be worth it.

Match Four:
Bryan Costello vs. Col. DeBeers w/Diamond Dallas Page

Page makes the annoying intro of Col. DeBeers, though he again makes note to announce DeBeers’ weight in kilos which is cool. Little to no reaction for DeBeers which shows just how small the crowd is and how little they’re interested in the product.DeBeers appears to be at about a 7 on the Hasselhoff scale, so he must have hit a buffet or two in Vegas since he’s come back to the AWA. DeBeers gets a drop toehold right into a side headlock takeover, before picking Costello up for a short-clothesline. Knee to the gut from DeBeers and he pushes Costello into the corner for a flurry of punches. He runs Costello all the way across the ring to ram him into the top turnbuckle and then just stomps at the top of his head. Costello gets a couple of right hands in but DeBeers just kicks him in the gut and grabs a headlock, ramming Costello into the buckle again with the headlock. HUGE slam from DeBeers and he gets the Vader Splash off of the second rope for a two-count, picking Costello up before three. Costello takes offense and fires some right hands, ramming DeBeers into the canvas and AGAIN!! More right hands from Costello and he tries an Irish whip into the corner but it gets reversed and DeBeers is back in control. DeBeers up to the second rope and he puts his knee right into the middle of Costello’s back, riding him down to the canvas with a curb-stomp type motion that lays Costello out. DeBeers covers and gets another two-count, picking him up before the referee can get to three DeBeers gets the pancake piledriver, the pin attempt and 1-2-3, it’s all over, with DeBeers looking into the ringside camera and badmouthing America.

Winner: Col. DeBeers (pinfall, pancake pilderiver)

Match Analysis: The usual DeBeers match again. The most entertaining parts for me were his post-match soundbyte and him stepping on Costello’s throat after the match. DDP is funny afterwards too, doing the same thing and getting another couple of cheap shots in while the referee isn’t looking. Decent enough but it was just kind of there.

Larry Nelson gets the treat of interviewing Soldat Ustinov and Teijo Kahn, asking where Sheik Adnan El-Kaissie has been and if he’s still their manager or not. Soldat tells him he asks too many questions and that it’s highly secret where the Sheik is. He says that he’s overseeing the Iran/Iraq peace meetings and Nelson seems to find the claim a little dubious. He tries to get a word from Teijo Kahn but gets nothing and Ustinov screams at him, saying that Soldat or the Sheik will tell him what to say.

After another commercial break, Larry Nelson reminds the fans that the AWA is going to be in Denver on October 14th and then he shows us the incident between Fernandez and Wahoo when Fernandez tore up Wahoo’s headdress and RAPED HIM OF HIS DIGNITY. That leads to comments from Wahoo McDaniel, who says that he’s not coming over-confident and he’s not coming for revenge. He talks about all the letters he’s received from the Indian fans begging him not to let Manny get away with it. He threatens to put Fernandez out of wrestling and promises that he won’t let those fans or the millions watching this show down. Call me crazy, but I highly doubt the millions number.

Match Five:
Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel

Fernandez bails just as Wahoo gets into the ring and the referee gets the count in on him, forcing him back into the ring. They hit a lockup and Fernandez pushes Wahoo into the corner, unloading with a huge chop before Wahoo fires back with one of his own. Irish whip into the corner from Wahoo and he gets a NASTY chop out of the corner that sends Fernandez to the floor. Big “Wahoo” chant from the crowd and Fernandez slowly makes his way back into the ring, faking a kick before they hit another lockup. Fernandez gets a headbutt and a right hand, Irish whipping Wahoo into the ropes but Wahoo ducks the clothesline attempt, chopping Fernandez right out of the ring again. Fernandez’s chest is already red from the chops and there’s only been about five or six of them. Fernandez is abck int the ring again, getting a standing arm-wringer on Wahoo, pulling the hair to take him down to the mat. Stepover armbar from Fernandez and McDaniel fights his way to his feet but gets yanked down by the hair again, working over the arm with some knees before going back to that stepover armbar. Wahoo gets his foot across the bottom rope and causes a break in the hold but Fernandez holds onto it and hits a chop. Wahoo fires back with a HUGE chop of his own and holds onto an armbar of his own.

Fernandez gets to his feet and pushes Wahoo into the corner, hitting a couple of headbutts before Irish whipping him across and charging. Wahoo moves to come out of the corner and they botch the spot with the two men ramming headfirst into each other. Fernandez is stunned across the top rope for a moment but recovers enough to start choking Wahoo with his boot. He picks Wahoo up and snap mares him over but misses the elbow drop and Wahoo goes right back to the armbar. Fernandez struggles back to his feet and hits a chop before trying an Irish whip into a back bodydrop. Wahoo sees it coming though and kicks Fernandez right in the chest before sinking that armbar in again. Fernandez fights to his feet again and Irish whips Wahoo into the ropes, dropping down and letting Wahoo run over him before hitting a HUGE reverse elbow to the face. Manny drops a short knee to the face and just starts choking away, biting at Wahoo’s head before hitting a thrust uppercut to the throat. Irish whip into the ropes and Manny gets a big clothesline that puts Wahoo down for a long two-count.

Reverse chinlock from Fernandez now and he’s turning it into a sleeper with Wahoo starting to go down. Fernandez lets go of the hold and just slaps Wahoo in the face and they trade chopes as they both get back to their feet. Wahoo into the ropes and he shoulderblocks Fernandez down, running the ropes again but eating another reverse elbow as he comes in. Fernandez picks Wahoo up and rolls him over, goign to the second rope for THE BIG KNEEDROP!! Fernandez backs off and gets another short kneedrop and Wahoo’s cut open. Headbutts from Fernandez and a big chop in the corner with Wahoo firing back with chops of his own. He chops Fernandez OVER THE TOP ROPE!! Fernandez and Wahoo are on the floor and Fernandez has Wahoo by the hair, trying to ram him into the ringpost and WAHOO REVERSES!! HE RAMS MANNY INTO THE RINGPOST!! Fernandez is bleeding now and the referee’s thrown the match out completely. The bell is ringing and they continue to brawl on the outside and back into the ring and more referee’s are coming down. Wahoo gets a HUGE chop off the ropes and Fernandez has had enough of that and just rolls out of the ring and struts to the back.

Winner: None (double-disqualification)

Match Analysis: A pretty good main event, and they really started to amp up the intensity at the end of the bout. To me though, the blood feud aspect should have been played up from the beginning. I’m guessing that that was probably what Wahoo was talking about before the match when he said he wasn’t going to be out for revenge. Of course, this would lead to more matches between these two and the infamous Wahoo promo where he threatens Fernandez with the gun in his trunk. Good but not great. Ah well, I’m sure that my announcement will make up for the somewhat lackluster night of wrestling.

In the aisle, Fernandez tries to get a chair and here comes Jay Strongbow Jr. to help out Wahoo. He gets into the ring and gives Wahoo a big hug. Lee Mullet talks about how they saw a great match and yet nothing was settled so the feud will go on!! That’s it for today’s show, now stay tuned for the HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Final Thoughts

A somewhat boring show from beginning to end. The matches were bland, the promos were even blander and there was nothing that really stood out and made this show worthwhile which means it’s a thumbs-down from me. Now, let’s get to the REAL news..the MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!! I’ve fought and clawed and scratched and…I’m going to tell you right after I get to the comments. It’s a “flow of the column” kind of thing, but trust me, your faith will be rewarded hugely!!

Fun With Comments

A lot of comments on Lori Lynn from the last report! First from The Wrestling Monk:
“Lori Lynn was an actress named Lori Weathers. She played Colonel
Ninotchka on GLOW.”

From Electrichotdog:
“Yeah I recognized lori lynn also, shes wearing the same outfit but its
not the russian read and I believe black she had goin on.”

From Guest#5163:
“The woman Mag. Mimi wrestled (Lori Lynn)was that so called Russian
woman heel from the terrible G.L.O.W. promotion.”

Whatever you want to call her, she was the best worker in the match and the best worker on that particular show. I actually remember her now from Ninotchka and she was probably there because they would start their working relationship with all the smaller promoters, including former G.L.O.W. honcho Dave McClane.

From Guest. :
“One of my first shows on 86 AWA was watching in the main event Nick
Bockwinkle as the champ vs. Boris Zukhov. I am a huge Bockwinkle
mark, so I watched the match, and saw how Nick made Boris, a
perennial tag-team jobber as far as I knew him, look like a million
bucks, and made me for a sec think Boris, in spite of being just
completely outclassed by Nick, was going to beat him. I saw a lot
of that here, where Lalwer took another wrestler way out of his
league in Khan and made him out to be a million bucks. It wasn’t the
Hennig bump around like a pinball to get a guy over style, but they
had their own way of making bad guys look great.

Only other thing I came out of the show thinking was that Lori Lynn
did one hell of a carry job on Mimi. To me, Mimi looked real green,
with some fancy moves, being led through the match by Lynn, which is
why were were so many “break points” in the match where
they went back to circling to lock-up. Looking into the future, Mimi
wasn’t in the Superclash battle royal, and Lynn was, so Verne might’ve
had the same thoughts as myself. Still very attractive though, Mimi.”

Mimi seemed like a bit of a diva to deal with so Verne probably dropped her for a combination of backstage reasons (too much money) and her somewhat poor ring work. Lawler’s match was great because honestly, he could have done the same thing with anyone. The style completely covers up his opponent’s short-comings while making anyone seem entertaining. It’s more about Lawler’s charisma carrying both men rather than both men working together, and there are only a select few that can do that on a regular basis.

From Non Guest:
“Just wanted 2 say you’re doin a great job. I never got 2 see the AWA
in Michigan(Thanks to Vince) so it trips me out to see how bad it
got. It’s literally like watching someone decay right in front of
your eyes.

Oh and Lori Lynn would AND could get it. Fo sho.”

Yeah, sad to see the way things ended but still interesting in a historical sense. Thanks for the support and I’m glad you enjoy the column!

From Guest#7192:
“I’m at the point where I pretty much don’t care about the
announcement. Just one thing, I hope it’s not StupidClash 3. I mean
hell, that kind of announcement would only get 2 buh’s from Teijo and
he’s easily impressed”

I agree that they milked the announcement bit WAY too long, something that I have learned from, which is why I will deliver my announcement at the end of these comments! And honestly, with the timeframe, I don’t think it can be anything but SuperClash III. Sigh.

From TJ:
“I wonder why Trongard didn’t last long in WWF. A pity he never got to
work with Ventura or Heenan. Whats funny is in March 1989, he was
replaced by the voice of soon to be WCW, Tony Schiavone.”

I don’t know but it’s a real shame because I loved Trongard’s work on the house shows I saw him on with the WWF.

From The Kid:
“It sucks we won’t be hearing Rod Trongard screw up jobbers names
anymore. I’m curious to know if he kept his “Coast to Coast;
Continent to Continent ” bit going in the WWF. I swear he missed
have used five different variations of it on one episode a couple of
weeks back. “From Sing-Sing to Singapore, from Middle Earth to
the Middle East.” God, you got to love that globe-trotting old
coot.”

I believe he used to use the Coast to Coast, Border to Border line on occasion in the WWF, but I think that he was probably told by Vince to tone things like that down, which would have essentially left him as a shell of his former self.

From G-Walla:
“I haven’t watched in ages, but I hate I missed Lawler and Kahn…

And Wayne Bloom! Or am I thinking of Matt Bloom. Oh, yeah.
Nevermind.

And did they ever make that announcement.”

Good to see you again, G! The announcement is coming on tomorrow’s episode, by MY big announcement is mere moments away!! SMELL THE EXCITEMENT!!

From Adam:
“By my estimation, this show is the beginning of September. Hennig is
already in the WWF at this point. They already showed some shows
from November, so I’m hoping 2-3 more weeks and we won’t have to
revisit the AWA 1988 again.”

That’s my hope as well. That since they’ve already shown the SuperClash stuff, we’ll skip right past it. I don’t think I could stomach all of that crap again.

From OB1Jabroni:
“Good re-cap as always, looks as if u have some new fans here, the more
the merrier I say. The Lawer match was passible, but lacking in
building a feud or a championship run. But if it is all we have, it
is still better than the 08 crap Vinny is stuffing down our mouths,
it is the weekend I am getting drunk, until then…….”

Thanks OB1, and I appreciate that there’s a good mix of new fans and old favorites through here now. As I said in this report, it’s sad to think that the majority of Lawler’s matches with the title were squashes. I agree that it’s more fun to watch this show than most of the stuff on TV now, but who knows, Raw seemed to turn a little corner last night just by finally trying something different so there may be hope yet.

From Scrotum Pole:
“No prob Harrison. My comment was in response to the Epic Fail comment
and I told whoever posted it that it was staler than Bea Arthur’s
vagina. Your column is still the best on 411 right up there with
Dunn.

Tramp stamp comment:”Lee Mullet compares Teijo Kahn to The Great
Kabuki. Well, they were both fairly terrible workers so I guess it’s
an apt comparision.” Bullseye!”

I consider even being mentioned in the same sentence as Dunn high praise, so thank you for that. In regards to your comment, it’s funny and I pretty much agree with it because I’ve seen Epic Fail in about every single column’s comments for the past month solid. Hopefully it’ll be all over soon.

Finally, from KayFaber:
” “Poor Verne, he tried to catch up but the train had already left
the station when it came to mixing celebrities and wrestling.”

I couldn’t agree more — that was something no one in the remaining
promotions ever got. Vince knew how to hype the Rock-and-Wrestling
connection to connect with his demographic and other celebrities to
attract attention beyond wrestling: Cyndi Lauper, Alice Cooper, Mr.
T, Joe Frazier, William “The Refrigerator” Perry, Barbara
Walters, etc.

Verne got Barry f-in’ Zevan and Don Rickles. To be fair, nothing was
as bad as the NWA (or WCW) attempt to cash in at the same time: for a
few weeks, they zoomed over to Butch Patrick — the guy who played
Eddie Munster — sitting in the audience dressed like a vampire.
Vince owned them all on that.”

That’s the one thing that was always said about Verne and still to this day is said. By the time he got around to doing what everyone else was, it was FAR too late and he was scraping the bottom of the barrel for music, entertainment and celebrities and everything else. I don’t remember the Eddie Munster bit, but yeah, that seems like the coup de gras of shitty celebrity involvement.

The comments are through and now it’s ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!! Here, in it’s entirety is a match review of HENNIG/BOCKWINKEL FROM NEW YEAR’S EVE ’86!!! A great deal of thanks go to friend of the column, Patrick Mullin for hooking me up with the link and for taking the time to upload the match for me. I owe you more than a shout-out for this and if you’re ever in my neck of the woods, drinks are on me for the whole night! Each paragraph covers five minutes of action in the match and without any further delay, let’s get to this all-time classic!!

BONUS MATCH! AWA World Heavyweight Championship:
Curt Hennig vs. Nick Bockwinkel (c)

It’s December 31, 1986 and Rod Trongard and Lord James Blears are the commentators for this classic contest.

We pick up the feed right as Larry Nelson’s making his way out of the ring and Nick Bockwinkel is handing the belt over to Gary DeRusha. Both men get checked out in the middle of the ring and they do a staredown as DeRusha runs down the rules and they shake hands before Bockwinkel DROPKICKS HENNIG FROM BEHIND!! Ten seconds in and Bockinwkel’s already made me smile! He pick Hennig up for a HARD bodyslam and gets a quick two-count before Hennig rolls out to the floor to regroup. Hennig makes his way back into the ring and they hit an angry lockup with Bockwinkel pushing Hennig into the ropes, actually giving him a clean break. Another lockup and Bockwinkel surprises me by again giving a clean break as Hennig makes the ropes. Quick go-behind by Bockwinkel and Hennig breaks it into one of his own, with Bockwinkel taking Hennig over and Hennig getting a headscissors in before they do a stand-off in the middle of the ring. Hennig pushes Bockwinkel into the ropes off of a lockup and gives a clean break as both guys seem to want this to stay technical. Bockwinkel gets a quick roll-up off of a lockup for another two-count and is one move ahead of Hennig early on. Hennig tries an armbar but Bockwinkel forces him into the ropes to break the move and they do it again with Hennig trying a go-behind and Bockwinkel making the ropes. Bockwinkel gets a side headlock into a takeover and cranks up on it, forcing Hennig to his back a few times, getting a couple of one-counts before Hennig makes his way back to his feet. Forearm to the ribs by Hennig and he shoots Bockwinkel off into the ropes but eats a shoulderblock and gets taken right back over with the side headlock by Bockwinkel again.

Hennig tries to force Bockwinkel back into a headscissors but Bockwinkel fights out of it and keeps the pressure on until Hennig gets to his feet again. Hennig shoots Bockwinkel into the ropes again, takes another couple of hard shoulderblocks and gets taken over AGAIN with the side headlock. Hennig reverses Bockwinkel over for a two-count before trying again to break it with a forearm across Bockwinkel’s face. They roll through and Bockwinkel holds on until they roll into the ropes and the referee forces the break. There’s a lockup and a go-behind into a side headlock by Bockwinkel but Hennig is able to reverse it immediately into a headscissors, cranking and circling his legs around Bockwinkel’s head as Lord James Blears talks about the list of guys that Bockwinkel has competed against. It’s really impressive when you hear them all rattled off like that. Guys like The Funks, Harley Race, Rick Martel, Ric Flair, Billy Robinson, Wilbur Snyder, Gene Kiniski, Verne Gagne, Buddy Rogers, Curtis Iaukea, etc. and as Blears is reading the list Bockwinkel front flips out of the headscissors back into the side headlock, Hennig gets the headscissors again and they both snap back to their feet for another stand-off. Side headlock takeover from Bockwinkel and he holds his head lower this time to avoid getting reversed into the headscissors in a great little psychology move. Hennig gets to his feet and shoots Bockwinkel off, eating a shoulderblock and they mess up a hip toss spot but Hennig gets it the second time around with Bockwinkel kicking him away and grabbing him for a bodyslam. Hennig kicks Bockwinkel away and gets a BIG bodyslam of his own into a couple of armdrag takeovers, moving that into an armbar.

We come back from a commercial break without having missed any action and Hennig still has the armbar cranked on Bockwinkel as Bockwinkel tries to sit up to alleviate the pressure of the hold. He slowly makes his way to his feet as Hennig continues to hold onto the armbar and Bockwinkel gets a handful of hair to shoot Hennig into the ropes. Hennig runs the ropes over the prone Bockwinkel, then stops and gets another big armdrag, taking Bockwinkel back down to the mat. Rod Trongard runs through the list of titles Bockwinkel has won and it’s just as impressive as the list of men he’s faced off against, including a shout-out to Winnipeg as he mentions the Bockwinkel/Stevens title win at Winnipeg Arena over The Crusher and Billy Robinson in October of 1974. They talk about Bockwinkel’s start in wrestling at age sixteen as Hennig hits a legdrop on the arm before moving right back to the armbar. Bockwinkel gets a trip and moves up Hennig’s back for a side headlock but Hennig reverses that into a hammerlock with Bockwinkel biting his own hand in pain. Hennig drops down with his legs wrapped into the hammerlock before returning it back to the regular version of it, hooking Bockwinkel’s other arm to force him onto his back for a two-count. Bockwinkel BRIDGES to break the count and rolls back over to his stomach to keep from being pinned. Bockwinkel makes it back to his feet and pushes Hennig back into the ropes to break the hold.

Reverse elbows to the body from Bockwinkel off of the “clean” break and he Irish whips Hennig into the opposite corner. He charges in but Hennig moves and BOCKWINKEL HITS THE POST!! Shoulder-first into the post and Bockwinkel’s in trouble as Hennig goes back to the armbar, dropping a knee onto that shoulder joint. He goes back to the armbar as Bockwinkel gets to his feet and Bockwinkel goes to the hair again, shooting Hennig into the ropes for a knee to the stomach. A couple of hard bodyslams for Bockwinkel and Hennig gets the kick-away again into another DEEP armdrag takeover into the armbar. Hennig sits back with it and pulls on it hard, forcing screams from Bockwinkel as he smacks the mat in pain with his hand. Hennig forces Bockwinkel back down to the mat and moves to a short-arm scissors in the middle of the ring. Bockwinkel does a great sell of it, smacking his own hand and bending it back and forth to keep the blood flowing to the fingers. Bockwinkel rolls backwards and flips Hennig onto his back for a two-count before Hennig flips it right back to get a two-count on Bockwinkel with the hold. Bockwinkel reverses it again for another two-count and Hennig flips it back for a one-count before Bockwinkel starts the great selling again. Bockwinkel fights and powers Hennig’s legs apart, forcing them open and reversing the armscissors into a toehold at the twenty minute mark.

Bockwinkel continues to take a strategic breather while working over Hennig’s leg with the toehold and he slowly turns it over into a reverse double toehold, using his arms to yank back on Hennig’s leg and increase the torque even further. The audio drops out for a few seconds as Bockwinkel tries to hook an arm as well but there’s nothing there and Hennig actually grabs Bockwinkel’s head, using the headlock to break free before moving to a front-facelock and then to an armbar as both men make it to their feet. Bockwinkel pushes Hennig into the ropes and hits some forearm shots to the gut before snap maring Hennig over into a front-facelock of his own. Hennig makes it to his feet and grabs the arm of Bockwinkel again, dropping the knee down onto it once more before dropping into the short-arm scissors. Again, Bockwinkel slaps the mat in pain and tries to work his way out of it as Hennig rolls Bockwinkel around on the mat with it to increase the pressure. Bockwinkel catches him on one of the rolls and grabs a handful of tights to get a two-count before he slips out to the floor between the middle and bottom rope. Bockwinkel takes advantage of the time outside, using the ringpost to stretch his arm and get the circulation going again before stepping back up into the ring.

Bockwinkel does a little talking to Hennig as they work to get into a lockup with Hennig grabbing the side headlock again. Bockwinkel shoots Hennig off into the ropes and gets taken down with a shoulderblock but catches Hennig with a drop toehold off the ropes, right back into the double toehold. Bockwinkel cranks on it, transitioning to a single leglock, wrenching back as Hennig screams out in pain. Bockwinkel grabs the foot and starts grinding and circling the ankle while still putting the pressure on the hold. Hennig grabs Bockwinkel by the hair to try to break it but the referee makes him let go as Bockwinkel ups the pressure even further. Another handful of hair and another crank from Bockwinkel when the referee makes him let to. Hennig grabs an armbar while in the toehold, hammering with forearms to the shoulder until Bockwinkel lets go of the hold. Hennig stomps on the shoulder as he gets to his feet and drops a knee to Bockwinkel’s shoulder but it’s the bad knee and HE SELLS IT! Tremendous work from Hennig and Bockwinkel takes advantage of the miscue turning Hennig over into an INDIAN DEATHLOCK!! Bockwinkel still shaking the hand and trying to get feeling into it while delivering forearms to Hennig every time he tries to sit up to alleviate the pressure. Bockwinkel gets a couple of two-counts from the submission move as Larry Nelson announces thirty minutes of elapsed time in this main event.

Bockwinkel continues to wear Hennig out with the Indian deathlock until Hennig gets a handful of hair and a right hand, stunning Bockwinkel enough to roll him over to the ropes for the break. Bockwinkel gets three HARD knees to the ribs of Hennig and pushes him off the apron to the floor with the bottom of his boots. Hennig limps his way back into the ring and Bockwinkel pushes him into the corner, catching Hennig with a short forearm before Irish whipping Hennig across the ring. One Bret Bump later by Hennig and it’s BOCKWINKEL SLEEPER TIME!! He switches to the opposite hands to grip and Hennig pulls himself and Bockwinkel out through the ropes but they end up taking referee Gary DeRusha with them outside!! Hennig rams Bockwinkel’s head on the ring apron and gives him a hard kick to the ribs, following it up with a chop to the chest. He drags Bockwinkel back into the ring and Irish whips him into the ropes for a HUGE chop that sends Bockwinkel flying. He makes the cover and here comes DeRusha crawling into the ring. ONE, TWO, NO!! Bockwinkel BARELY gets his shoulder up and Hennig gets the kick to the ribs again before snapping Bockwinkel’s arm over the top rope. Hennig on the floor and he WRAPS Bockwinkel’s arm around the ringpost!! Hammerlock from Hennig but Bockwinkel holds onto the ropes to make him break the hold. Hennig Irish whips Bockwinkel into the ropes and ducks for a back bodydrop but Bockwinkel kicks him square in the face.

Bockwinkel tries to set Hennig up for a figure-four leglock but Hennig rolls and flips him over. They run the same sequence again before Bockwinkel hits Hennig in the gut with a hard right hand and drops him with one to the face that gets a long two-count. Bockwinkel Irish whips Hennig into the ropes and tries for a clothesline but Hennig ducks it into a FLYING BODYPRES!! ONE, TWO, NO!!! Bockwinkel kicks out!! Hennig’s back to the armbar and works it until Bockwinkel rolls near the ropes and throws Hennig out through the middle and bottom ropes to the floor. He rams Hennig’s head into the apron a couple of times and follows that up by ramming his head into THE RING STEPS!! Hennig looks glassy-eyed on the floor and takes a couple of boots from Bockwinkel who is standing up on the apron. Bockwinkel puts the bad-mouth on him a little and Hennig goes to the midesection from the floor, landing some right hands to the gut before tripping Bockwinkel down and WRAPPING HIS LEG AROUND THE RINGPOST!! HENNIG DOES IT AGAIN!! He makes his way back into the ring at the count of seven and gets a hamstring pull on Bockwinkel, limping back over to him and locking in a stepover toehold. Hennig turns it into a straight toehold now and stretches Bockwinkel’s legs to work them over. Bockwinkel grabs one of Hennig’s legs and trips him, getting to the ropes for a break. Bockwinkel chokes Hennig across the top rope and slingshots him back into the middle of the ring, picking him up for a HUGE bodysl…HENNIG REVERSES AND ENDS UP ON TOP!! ONE, TWO, NO!!! Bockwinkel just kicked out at the last possible second.

Hennig tries another cover and gets another long two-count before grabbing a side headlock. Bockwinkel shoots him into the ropes and turns Hennig inside out with a kneelift to the stomach. Bockwinkel sets Hennig up in the middle of the ring and hits the PILEDRIVER!! ONE, TWO, NO!!! HENNIG GETS A FOOT ON THE ROPES!! Bockwinkel staggers to his feet and drops all of his weight down onto Hennig’s leg before getting a sitting version of the toehold on near the ropes. Hennig shakes his head no, hammering his hands onto the mat as Bockwinkel pushes his foot on the bottom rope for extra leverage. Hennig gets a pair of right hands and a headbutt to break the hold and PUNTS Bockwinkel in the gut three or four times before just dropping all of his weight onto Bockwinkel’s lower back. Hennig locks in a modified camel clutch and Bockwinkel reaches out to grab the bottom rope, forcing Hennig to release the hold. Hennig works over Bockwinkel’s hamstrings again and drops a leg into the midsection of Bockwinkel!! Bockwinkel fires back with right hands to the gut and gets a hard uppercut to the throat as he makes his way to his feet, putting Hennig on his back. Another uppercut and Hennig’s back down on the mat allowing Bockwinkel to go for a cover but he only gets a one-count. Hennig to his feet with a HUGE kneelift that sends Bockwinkel staggering into the ropes but Bockwinkel comes off of them with a forearm that puts Hennig down. They both get to their feet and Hennig gets a double-leg into a BOSTON CRAB! Hennig sits down on the back of Bockwinkel and really puts the pressure on with the submission hold as Bockwinkel powers up with his arms but he can’t break the hold.

Bockwinkel does it again and turns Hennig over, getting a two-count before Hennig tries to sunset flip him but Bockwinkel is in the ropes so there’s no count. Front facelock from Bockwinkel and Hennig shoves him into the corner before ramming him with some shoulderblocks to the stomach. NASTY chop from Hennig and he pulls Bockwinkel out of the corner, grabbing him and rolling him into a small package for a long, LONG two-count. Hennig sets Bockwinkel up and gets his own PILEDRIVER!!! ONE, TWO, NO!!!! Bockwinkel’s foot is on the bottom rope!! DOUBLE RIGHT HANDS!! BOTH MEN ARE DOWN!! They crawl to their feet and Hennig gets a side headlock but Bockwinkel turns it right into a belly to back suplex. He crawls over and drapes an arm over Hennig. ONE, TWO, NO!!!! Hennig gets his foot on the ropes!!! Bockwinkel thinks he’s won and Hennig gets a ROLL-UP OFF THE ROPES!! ONE, TWO, NOOOO!!! Bockwinkel just shoves him off before the three count. Hennig drops FOUR elbows in a row and covers for another LONG two-count before hitting a knee right into the middle of Bockwinkel’s back. He stomps Bockwinkel in the face and pushes him into the corner for the Irish whip into the opposite corner. Right hand from Hennig and a SNAPPING chop that he follows with a BEAUTIFUL standing dropkick that Bockwinkel sells with a near-somersault. Hennig drags him to the middle of the ring and covers but only gets two before Bockwinkel fires a shot to the gut and a chop to the throat that gets HIM a two-count.

Irish whip from Bockwinkel and he locks in the Abdominal stretch but Hennig is able to push him into the ropes. Irish whip from Bockwinkel again and he follows Hennig across with a knee to the gut. Bockwinkel with the knee to the gut again and gets a long two-count before Hennig drops down and gets a double-leg takedown, working a stepover toehold until Bockwinkel kicks him off. Hennig goes through the ropes and hits his shoulder on the ringpost!! He falls out of the ring and lands face-first on the concrete floor!! Hennig is face down on the floor and leaving little puddles of blood on the concrete as he makes his way to his feet with the help of the apron. Bockwinkel leans out through the ropes and RAMS Hennig’s head into the apron before smacking his left wrist loudly, mocking Hennig and the lack of time left in the bout. He leans back outside and gets some right hands that put Hennig back down to the floor. Bockwinkel continues to keep Hennig out of the ring, slamming him into the apron one more time before HAMMERING away with right hands. He grabs Hennig by the hair and drags him back into the ring, ramming Hennig OVER the turnbuckle into the ringpost!! Hennig is gushing blood from that cut as Bockwinkel just pops him right in the forehead with some hard punches, getting a two-count off of them. Bockwinkel continues with the punches, putting Hennig back down to the mat for another pin attempt. ONE, TWO, NOOO!! Hennig’s back up, he fires away with a right hand and Irish whips Bockwinkel into the ropes and HITS THE AXE!!! Another Irish whip and he HITS THE AXE AGAIN!!! BOCKWINKEL’S BLEEDING!!

Right hands from Hennig and they push each other into the corner with Hennig hammering away with all the strength he can muster. Irish whip from Hennig and IT’S ANOTHER AXE!! Bockwinkel’s down on his face and Hennig rolls him over for a pin attempt but Bockwinkel has his arm draped on the bottom rope. Mounted punches from Hennig and both men get to their feet with Hennig landing a couple of shots and a savate kick that staggers Bockwinkel and puts him across the second rope. Hennig drops all of his weight down onto Bockwinkel’s back, clotheslining him against the second rope as Gary DeRusha checks Hennig’s cut. He rules that the match can go on and Hennig gets an Irish whip into the corner for the FOURTH AXE!! Bockwinkel flops down face-first and Hennig gets a pin attempt but is so weary he forgets to turn Bockwinkel over. DeRusha is so weary he actually counts to one before realizing Bockwinkel is on his stomach. Hennig is POURING blood and he’s ramming Bockwinkel’s head into the turnbuckle over FIFTEEN TIMES!! Right hand from Hennig and he just rakes his bootlaces across Bockwinkel’s face. Delayed vertical suplex by Hennig and he finally manages to roll over onto Bockwinkel after a few seconds. ONE, TWO, NOOOOO!! Hard forearm uppercut from Hennig and a knee lif that he follows with a kick to the face before he drops an elbow on Bockwinkel and covers. ONE, TWO, NOOOOOOO!!! Kick-out from Bockwinkel!!! Hennig gets up and grabs Bockwinkel’s legs to lock in the FIGURE-FOUR LEGLOCK!!! Hennig is a bloody mess, Bockwinkel is a bloody mess and there’s one minute left!! Hennig shakes his head as he’s cranking the pressure and a spot of blood ends up hitting the camera lens on one of the ringside cameras making for a cool visual at the end of this epic contest. Rod Trongard makes a call as this happens that lives on even today and never fails to elicit a chill. “We’re in the final minute, we are in the final minute! I will never forget it, as long as I live, however this ends. With less than sixty seconds remaining, these two men have given everything that there IS to give. Not only that they have to give, but there IS to give to the sport of professional wrestling.” Wow. Hennig continues to crank on the figure-four and there’s thirty seconds left!! Bockwinkel grabs onto referee Gary DeRusha’s arm to try to keep from submitting. Larry Nelson counts it down with the crowd and the bell rings!! Gary DeRusha RAISES HENNIG’S HAND!! THE CROWD ERUPTS…but he goes right over to Bockwinkel and raises his hand as well. It’s a sixty-minute, time limit draw!!

Rod Trongard is completely spent and Blears gives us a little rundown of his thoughts on the match. Greg Gagne makes his way into the ring and shakes Hennig’s hand before going over to Bockwinkel and doing the same. Hennig drops to a knee and talks to the ringside camera, saying that he KNOWS that he has Bockwinkel’s number. After a commercial, Larry Nelson is in the ring with Curt Hennig now.

Larry Nelson: Possibly one of the greatest wrestling matches anyone has ever seen anywhere. Curt Hennig, I know you’re cut, I know you’re tired. You did one HELL of a job battling the champion of the world.

Curt Hennig: Larry, I’m..I..I’m not..I don’t have a lot to say here. I think it’s all been said. I’m ready to keep going, man. There’s no way on Earth! I came into this match prepared to the max. I take my hat off to Nick Bockwinkel. I thought I could outlast him. I still believe I can outlast him and I know now, brother, I have got your number Nick Bockwinkel. After ten minutes, twenty minutes. You went the limit, sixty minutes and I know deep down in my heart and I think the whole world knows now Nick, that you’re MINE.

Larry Nelson: Curt Hennig. I know, I know you’re unstable. Gary DeRusha, time limit draw, the champion…

Gary DeRusha: The official decision, it was a sixty-minute time limit. The time ran out. Nick Bockwinkel, still heavyweight champion.

Larry Nelson: Greg?

Greg Gagne: I just want to say one thing. I watched this match from start to finish and this young man here. I have to give both men credit, both Nick Bockwinkel and this man. One of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen and it has to go down in the classics with Lou Thesz and Buddy Rogers, Lou Thesz/Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkel/Verne Gagne matches. This was definitely a classic, classic match and uh Curt, congratulations. You fought one heck of a match partner.

Larry Nelson: Curt, we’re gonna go let you clean up after a tremendous wrestling match, giving the champion all he had!!

Match Analysis: What can be said really? This match is a classic and one of the greatest matches in the history of the AWA. I haven’t seen it in a little over a decade and it’s still just as great as I remember it being. This was the first real glimpse into the greatness that was inside Curt Hennig and this was almost something that could be viewed as a symbolic passing of the torch in a way. Bockwinkel was the standard-bearer for the AWA for so many years and for Hennig to go neck-and-neck with him the entire sixty minutes was a testament to what he could do in the ring and Bockwinkel made him look spectacular. Add to this the fact that Bockwinkel was FIFTY-TWO YEARS OLD and this match is all the more amazing. I never do match ratings or anything but if I did, this would easily be the full magilla. A great match and an absolutely wonderful trip back in time for me. Simply incredible.

That was a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to your feedback on it and I’m hoping that the announcement lived up to the hype, unlike the AWA’s announcement which will inevitably fall flat. Thanks for reading and see you all tomorrow everyone!