#1984WrestlingWars 4 AWA matches from Chicago, taped for Japanese TV, 3/2/84
Author's Note: This is such an interesting thing that All Japan Pro Wrestling did after Tsuruta won the AWA title. Not only did he and Baba and Tenryu work AWA dates between home tours, they bought an announce team over to do commentary! Using WGN cameramen! Makes it seem very legit from a sports perspective!
AWA card 3/4/84, Match #1 Brad Rheingans/Billy Robinson vs "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal/ Kevin Kelly(the future Nailz) The Video begins by showing some of the sites around Chicago with the "Star Wars" theme behind it, Ok....why?....Moving on.. We see the crowd standing for the National Anthem, again wrestling presented as sport! As you might guess early Robinson and Rheingans just chain and mat wrestle ther foes to near oblivion! No Wonder with Brad being on 2(one sadly being 1980 the year we boycotted Moscow)Olympic wrestling teams. Meanwhile Billy Robinson was one of the great "Catch" Wrestlers ever! From the hallowed "Snake Pit" in Wiggin England! ...The heels finally trap Brad in their corner and double team him. Both Kelly and Regal put on bearhugs!...At one point during this squence the Crowd beings chanting "USA, USA" but then after a minute they realize that Regal and Kelly are indeed, American as well! The crowd seems embarssed and just shuts up! Brad finally makes the tag to Billy but gets cut off with an eye rack fairly fast(two sets of "heat" in a 12 minute match...overkill anybody?) Rheingans gets a tag back in but misses a dropkick, so now he is down! Regal goes for a figurefoure, Brad kicks him off hits a monkey flip and makes the 3rd "hot" (more like luke warm at this point!) tag of the match! Robinson comes in and this time hits a good looking reverse neck breaker and his famed side backbreaker for the pin and victory! Good match did not need to be that long! https://youtu.be/Xipidqz86ws
Tenryu/Giant Baba vs "Freebird" Buddy Roberts and.... you guessed it....Ronnie Garvin....What the actual hell? Is this a fever dream!....Let me see if i can make sense of this....Roberts is at this moment in 1984 one third of the most hated villianous tag team in Texas Wrestling history....Garvin was a very popular hard nosed tough upstanding babyface in Georgia, So Vern Gagne's great idea fly them as a team to Chicago, were because of cable they are seen every week and put then against two Japanesse greats. Who nobody knows there, so nobody gets over and the crowd is confused???.... nope didn't help!.... The match has a very easy to understand story/flow. Roberts and Garvin would double team Tenryu who would fight and tag Baba and he would clean house! Finish was easy Tenryu hit his "Ghetto Blaster" full on Roberts, then Baba hit the big boot for the pin! https://youtu.be/GcsQamFqAFI
Match #3 AWA World Tag Team Title Bout Champions Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera vs Jerry Lawler and Blackjack Mulligan! Another odd tag pairing in this one but it somehow works better and I can at least understand why you put "The King" and the Tough Texas Cowboy together! Mulligan was a very popular babyface in Florida and Lawler was as always, a deity in Memphis! My goodness these four knew how to work a crowd! This was a pleasure to watch! Blackwell grabs the house mic and tells Mulligan if he says Blackwell is the tougher man he won't beat him up! BJ answers with a gloved right fist to Blackwell's skull and were off. After running the heels together midring Blackwell and Lawler proceed to pummel the hell out of Jerry with fists for several minutes untill he manages to tag Patera before looking dead laying on the apron! Patera looks very wary about getting in, after all they beat Blackwell into a seeming coma like state! Patera comes in and does the test of strength with Mulligan who gets the advantage and tags Lawler. He does left stinging jabs and the big windup right to Ken who takes the old "TIMBERRR" bump for them and the people pop! Heels get the heat by Patera jabbing Lawler in the throat and driving him back in his team corner. Where a semi recovered "Mountain from Stone Mountain", helps with the double team. Lawler takes back over just long enough to miss what I think was a leg drop from the top rope. Hard to tell exactly! Lawler was spectacular at giving those brief "hope" spots throuout the heat! The heat went on for damn near ever! Lawler moved out of the path of a Blackwell headbutt and made the tag! BJ comes in and chaos reighns! All four are in! Mulligan hits Blacwell with his flying back elbow and has a pin but the referee is with Patera and Lawler so the manager of the champs Sheik Adnon-El Kassie throws something in Mulligan's eyes The ref turns and Blackwell gets the three to retain the belts in a very flat finish to a good match! The WGN camera crew can be blamed for most of this as they missed alot of the finish! https://youtu.be/gqVjs7k4gBE
Match #4 AWA World Heavyweight Title Bout Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs BlackJack Lanza This match was ok and Sam Houston's dad was kinda tough!!!....All jokes aside Lanza did ok here he should really nice fire in spots. I doubt anybody in Chicago are watching then or now. Thought he would win the title but they tried! Lanza's finish was I am not kidding taking his knuckle annd digging it in the temple of his foe! Strange finisher to me but this crowd knew it and popped huge when he did it! Lanza was way over to these fans he had been a big star there on and off for 15 years or more! Jumbo finally makes it to the ropes breaking the hold. Lanza goes for a bodyslam Tsuruta slides behind him and hits the ropes and hits a sloppy looking half sitting Thez press, holds Lanza"s shoulders to the canvas and gets a slow slow three count to retain the title! That fisish was clunky and dead! The crowd hated this! I have seen Tsuruta win the belt and defend it twice! He deserves better he is a all-time great!...https://youtu.be/icE3HcmS09w
AWA card 3/4/84, Match #1 Brad Rheingans/Billy Robinson vs "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal/ Kevin Kelly(the future Nailz) The Video begins by showing some of the sites around Chicago with the "Star Wars" theme behind it, Ok....why?....Moving on.. We see the crowd standing for the National Anthem, again wrestling presented as sport! As you might guess early Robinson and Rheingans just chain and mat wrestle ther foes to near oblivion! No Wonder with Brad being on 2(one sadly being 1980 the year we boycotted Moscow)Olympic wrestling teams. Meanwhile Billy Robinson was one of the great "Catch" Wrestlers ever! From the hallowed "Snake Pit" in Wiggin England! ...The heels finally trap Brad in their corner and double team him. Both Kelly and Regal put on bearhugs!...At one point during this squence the Crowd beings chanting "USA, USA" but then after a minute they realize that Regal and Kelly are indeed, American as well! The crowd seems embarssed and just shuts up! Brad finally makes the tag to Billy but gets cut off with an eye rack fairly fast(two sets of "heat" in a 12 minute match...overkill anybody?) Rheingans gets a tag back in but misses a dropkick, so now he is down! Regal goes for a figurefoure, Brad kicks him off hits a monkey flip and makes the 3rd "hot" (more like luke warm at this point!) tag of the match! Robinson comes in and this time hits a good looking reverse neck breaker and his famed side backbreaker for the pin and victory! Good match did not need to be that long! https://youtu.be/Xipidqz86ws
Tenryu/Giant Baba vs "Freebird" Buddy Roberts and.... you guessed it....Ronnie Garvin....What the actual hell? Is this a fever dream!....Let me see if i can make sense of this....Roberts is at this moment in 1984 one third of the most hated villianous tag team in Texas Wrestling history....Garvin was a very popular hard nosed tough upstanding babyface in Georgia, So Vern Gagne's great idea fly them as a team to Chicago, were because of cable they are seen every week and put then against two Japanesse greats. Who nobody knows there, so nobody gets over and the crowd is confused???.... nope didn't help!.... The match has a very easy to understand story/flow. Roberts and Garvin would double team Tenryu who would fight and tag Baba and he would clean house! Finish was easy Tenryu hit his "Ghetto Blaster" full on Roberts, then Baba hit the big boot for the pin! https://youtu.be/GcsQamFqAFI
Match #3 AWA World Tag Team Title Bout Champions Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera vs Jerry Lawler and Blackjack Mulligan! Another odd tag pairing in this one but it somehow works better and I can at least understand why you put "The King" and the Tough Texas Cowboy together! Mulligan was a very popular babyface in Florida and Lawler was as always, a deity in Memphis! My goodness these four knew how to work a crowd! This was a pleasure to watch! Blackwell grabs the house mic and tells Mulligan if he says Blackwell is the tougher man he won't beat him up! BJ answers with a gloved right fist to Blackwell's skull and were off. After running the heels together midring Blackwell and Lawler proceed to pummel the hell out of Jerry with fists for several minutes untill he manages to tag Patera before looking dead laying on the apron! Patera looks very wary about getting in, after all they beat Blackwell into a seeming coma like state! Patera comes in and does the test of strength with Mulligan who gets the advantage and tags Lawler. He does left stinging jabs and the big windup right to Ken who takes the old "TIMBERRR" bump for them and the people pop! Heels get the heat by Patera jabbing Lawler in the throat and driving him back in his team corner. Where a semi recovered "Mountain from Stone Mountain", helps with the double team. Lawler takes back over just long enough to miss what I think was a leg drop from the top rope. Hard to tell exactly! Lawler was spectacular at giving those brief "hope" spots throuout the heat! The heat went on for damn near ever! Lawler moved out of the path of a Blackwell headbutt and made the tag! BJ comes in and chaos reighns! All four are in! Mulligan hits Blacwell with his flying back elbow and has a pin but the referee is with Patera and Lawler so the manager of the champs Sheik Adnon-El Kassie throws something in Mulligan's eyes The ref turns and Blackwell gets the three to retain the belts in a very flat finish to a good match! The WGN camera crew can be blamed for most of this as they missed alot of the finish! https://youtu.be/gqVjs7k4gBE
Match #4 AWA World Heavyweight Title Bout Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs BlackJack Lanza This match was ok and Sam Houston's dad was kinda tough!!!....All jokes aside Lanza did ok here he should really nice fire in spots. I doubt anybody in Chicago are watching then or now. Thought he would win the title but they tried! Lanza's finish was I am not kidding taking his knuckle annd digging it in the temple of his foe! Strange finisher to me but this crowd knew it and popped huge when he did it! Lanza was way over to these fans he had been a big star there on and off for 15 years or more! Jumbo finally makes it to the ropes breaking the hold. Lanza goes for a bodyslam Tsuruta slides behind him and hits the ropes and hits a sloppy looking half sitting Thez press, holds Lanza"s shoulders to the canvas and gets a slow slow three count to retain the title! That fisish was clunky and dead! The crowd hated this! I have seen Tsuruta win the belt and defend it twice! He deserves better he is a all-time great!...https://youtu.be/icE3HcmS09w
Comments
Post a Comment