AWA TV 3-18-88 Reed vs Wahoo!
Mar 16, 2017 19:29:12 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Mar 16, 2017 19:29:12 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Saturday, March 18, 1988
Broadcast nationwide on Superstation WGN
Taped on March 17, 1988 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota
“From coast to coast, border to border, and continent to continent, this is the AWA, the major leagues of professional wrestling!”
Rod Trongard opens the show, and welcomes his co-host, Magnum TA. This week on Pro Wrestling USA, a main event featuring two of the toughest men in wrestling, both former football players, as TV champ Butch Reed defends the title against the big chief, Wahoo McDaniel!
At that point, Trongard and Magnum are interrupted by General Skandor Akbar. Akbar says that he brought some footage that he wants the fans to see.
VTR: Abdullah the Butcher vs DJ Peterson, JIP:
Abdullah pounces on Peterson before the bell, and batters the youngster, before connecting with the Butcher’s Axe for the pinfall.
VTR: Williams & Slaughter vs Vader & Saito, JIP:
A few minutes in, Williams and Slaughter have the upper hand, as they keep Saito in their corner, but suddenly Abdullah the Butcher hits the ring! Abby attacks Slaughter with his trusty fork, while Vader and Saito and gang up on Williams. This brings Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka to the ring, to help even things up. At this point, all hell has broken loose, and the referee calls for the bell, throwing the match out!
Snuka and Williams brawl with Vader and Saito, while Abby uses his fork to turn Slaughter’s face into a crimson mask. Skandor Akbar gets involved as well, attempting to throw a FIREBALL at Williams, but luckily Snuka, weilding a chair, gets the chair up in front of Williams to block the fireball. Snuka then batters Akbar with the chair as Williams hits Saito with the Oklahoma Stampede. Vader then pounces on Williams and pummels him with rights and lefts, but as he sets Williams up for the powerbomb, Snuka whacks Vader across the back with the chair!
A group of officials and prelim wrestlers hit the ring to try to stop the chaos. At first the prelim guys get tossed around like ragdolls, but finally some sense of order is restored as we go to a commercial break.
END VTR
Akbar says that, at the beginning of last week’s show, he declared WAR on the AWA, and what we just witnessed was Devastation Inc firing the first shots of that war! He says that anyone who opposes him will fall, and it won’t be long before Devastation Inc holds all the gold in the AWA!
ONE MAN GANG (w/General Skandor Akbar) VS. JOHNNY GUNN. Gunn goes on the offensive right away, hitting his huge opponent with everything but the kitchen sink. It’s all for nothing, though, as the massive Gang turns the tables, and hits the 747 splash for the pinfall victory.
ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER (w/General Skandor Akbar) VS. BRAD RHEINGANS. Rheingans holds his own for the first few minutes, but Abby’s violent style eventually gives him the upper hand, as he puts Rheingans on the mat with a vicious jab to the throat. Abby pulls out the trusty fork, but before he can do much damage with it, Sgt. Slaughter hits the ring!
Slaughter was bloodied by Abby’s fork during the brawl last week, and he’s not about to watch someone else suffer the same fate! Slaughter jumps into the ring with a chair, bashing Abby over the back with it as the Butcher tried to get away. Abby falls through the ropes, and he and Akbar hightail it to the locker room.
Slaughter checks on Rheingans, then is joined by Larry Nelson. Slaughter says that he heard Skandor Akbar’s comments earlier, and if Akbar wants a war, then he’s got one!
JIMMY “SUPERFLY” SNUKA VS. THE MASKED TERRORIST. Snuka gets the win over the masked man with the Superfly Splash for the pinfall.
Larry Nelson is in the ring with “Sensational” Sherri Martel and the International Women’s champion, from Italy, Madusa Miceli. Nelson says that Martel and Miceli recently had a match for Madusa’s International title in Tokyo for the All-Japan Women’s promotion. The match has been called one of the best women’s matches of recent years.
We see the final three or four minutes of the match, where Martel is in control, but Miceli turns things around and hooks Sherri with a German suplex into a bridge for the pinfall victory. Afterwards, Madusa offered her hand to the challenger, but Sherri slapped it away, and stormed off.
Sherri gets in Madusa’s face and says that everyone knows she’s the better wrestler of the two, she’s the face of women’s wrestling, and that belt should be hers! Madusa says Sherri had her chance to prove that in Tokyo, but she couldn’t beat her. Martel says Madusa had ahold of her tights during the pin, but the camera angle didn’t allow the people watching to see it. She demands that Miceli give her a rematch for the belt. Madusa says that Sherri will have to wait her turn, as she’s got challengers lining up all around the world, looking for a shot at the belt. She says that she’s got matches coming up this week in Mexico City, then she’s headed to her hometown of Milan, Italy for a series of matches, before going back to Japan to work some more dates with All-Japan Women.
Sherri freaks out, accusing Madusa of cheating to beat her in Japan, and now ducking her. As Sherri continues hurling insults at the champion, Madusa loses her cool, and slaps Sherri!
This leads to an all-out brawl between the two. Suddenly, “Hollywood” John Tatum arrives on the scene, pulls Madusa off of Sherri, then holds Miceli while Sherri repeatedly slaps her across the face!
Several officials rush out and break things up.
Trongard and Magnum talk about last week’s show, where the Fantastics, Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton, defeated the World Tag Team champs the Islanders in a non-title match.
VTR: Islanders vs Fantastics, JIP:
These two teams are quite evenly matched, and neither team could get much of an advantage throughout the match. As we near the end of the time limit, the Fantastics take over, and after a flurry of offence, they hit Tama with a double dropkick, allowing Fulton to pin him, as Rogers keeps Haku from breaking up the cover.
END VTR
Trongard says that with that non-title win, the Fantastics have earned themselves a shot at the belts, which they will get this coming Friday night, March 24, at the St. Paul Civic Center.
Magnum then mentions some other matches that will take place on March 24, including Devastation Inc members Abdullah the Butcher and the One Man Gang facing the duo of Sgt. Slaughter and Jerry “Crusher” Blackwell, and “Hollywood” John Tatum taking on a young man who just recently made his AWA debut, Scott Hall.
“HOLLYWOOD” JOHN TATUM (w/ Sensational Sherri Martel) VS. STEVE DOLL. Doll is a very talented young man, and he takes the fight right to Tatum here. Doll dominates the early going, and gets several nearfalls, but Tatum eventually turns the tables when he sidesteps Doll as the youngster attempts a crossbody block from the top rope. Doll crashes to the mat, and Tatum takes over. He wears Doll down, and eventually hits the California Kick, catching Doll right on the chin, for the pinfall victory.
Larry Nelson is backstage with Stan Hansen and King Kong Brody. Hansen says that he and Brody have already conquered Japan, the last time they went on a tour of the Orient, not a single one of those egg-suckin’ dogs would sign a contract to wrestle them! He says that wrestlers would quit the promotion rather than get in the ring with them! He says that now they’re here in the AWA, and he hopes the wrestlers here have more guts, because he and Brody are just itchin’ for a fight!
AWA WORLD TELEVISION TITLE MATCH
“HACKSAW” BUTCH REED (champ) (w/ Percival Pringle III) VS. WAHOO MCDANIEL. This is a battle between two former NFL players, and two of the toughest men in the sport today. Wahoo lays into Reed with his trademark chops, the impact can be heard throughout the building, but Reed doesn’t back down, and hits Wahoo with some knife-edged chops of his own that have the big chief reeling. Reed controls the next few minutes, but can’t put Wahoo away. As Wahoo battles back, Percy Pringle gets up on the apron to distract him. Wahoo grabs Percy, but senses Reed coming up behind him, and moves out of the way at the last second, just as Reed leaves his feet for a dropkick. The champion connects with Pringle instead, sending Percy crashing to the floor!
Wahoo stays on the offensive, and delivers a vicious chop that puts Reed on the mat. Hacksaw bounces back up, only to take another chop that drops him to the mat, and again he’s right back up, only to take yet another chop! This time, Reed is slower to get up, and when he does, Wahoo grabs ahold of him, whips him into the ropes, and connects with another vicious chop! Wahoo covers Reed, but the champion kicks out at 2. Wahoo pulls Reed up off the mat, but the champion jabs a thumb into Wahoo’s eye, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Reed goes on the offensive, pummeling Wahoo, but the big chief soon battles back and turns the tables. Wahoo soon has Reed in a very bad way and looks to be on his way to victory when the bell rings, and the referee informs the two men that the time limit has expired, and the match is a draw!
Trongard and Magnum wrap up the show, with Trongard hyping next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
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