AWA TV 3-25-88 The World Tag Titles change hands!
Mar 30, 2017 14:45:32 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Mar 30, 2017 14:45:32 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Saturday, March 25, 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 12-man Battle Royal to determine a new #1 contender to the World TV title. Plus, the Islanders put the World Tag titles on the line against the Fantastics, who beat the champions in a non-title match two weeks ago!
ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER (w/General Skandor Akbar) VS. JOHNNY GUNN. Gunn uses his speed to hit and move early on, and it seems to work for him, but once Abby traps him in the corner, things go downhill in a hurry! Abby pummels Gunn, and with the youngster slouched in the corner, Abby opens up a gash over Gunn’s eye. The referee eventually just stops the match, as Gunn isn’t even defending himself anymore. Abby isn’t finished though, he shoves the ref aside, then pulls Gunn out to the middle of the ring, slams him, and hits the Butcher’s Axe.
Larry Nelson talks with General Skandor Akbar and Abdullah in the ring after the match. Akbar is decked out in cammo fatigues and says that his army is ready for WAR! He says that Sgt. Slaughter made his intentions clear last week, and as a result, Slaughter will be the first casualty of this war, but he won’t be the last! He says that his men have set their sights on championship gold and he will not rest until he holds all the gold and everyone who opposes him has been crushed!
Throughout the whole segment, Abby just stares, wild-eyed, into the camera.
Back from the commercial break, Larry Nelson is in the ring with “Hollywood” John Tatum and “Sensational” Sherri Martel. Nelson says that last week, they had an altercation with the International Women’s champ, Madusa Miceli.
VTR: Last Week on Pro Wrestling USA:
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!
END VTR
Nelson says that Tatum had no right to put his hands on Madusa, but Tatum says that Madusa sucker punched Sherri, somebody had to do something. Sherri says that Madusa cheated to beat her in Japan, and now Madusa’s ducking her, because she knows she won’t get away with that again. Sherri challenges Madusa to come out and face her right now, but Nelson reminds her that Miceli is wrestling in Mexico City this week. Sherri thinks that’s a lie, Madusa just hiding somewhere, because she’s afraid to face Sherri again!
Tatum then talks about his taking part in the Battle Royal tonight, to determine a #1 contender to the World TV title. He says that all week, Hollywood celebrities and world-famous athletes have been calling him, he actually just got off the phone with his buddy Sly Stallone, who wished him luck in the match. Tatum says he doesn’t need luck, though, because he’s so much more talented than all the other nobodies that will be in the Battle Royal, the result is a foregone conclusion.
STAN “THE LARIAT” HANSEN & KING KONG BRODY VS. THE BATTEN TWINS: BRAD & BART. Hansen and Brody destroy the Batten twins, with Hansen clobbering Bart with the Lariat, then tagging in Brody, who delivers a flying kneedrop for the pinfall. Bart is then fitted with a neckbrace and taken from the ring on a stretcher.
12-MAN BATTLE ROYAL
WINNER BECOMES #1 CONTENDER TO THE AWA WORLD TV TITLE
The participants are: “Hollywood” John Tatum, Baron von Raschke, Big Van Vader, Dick Slater, Scott Hall, Wahoo McDaniel, Mr. Saito, “Mr. Magnificent” Kevin Kelly, Bob Backlund, Rip “the Crippler” Oliver, Steve Doll and Cactus Jack Manson.
The 12 combatants all attack each other as the match starts, but soon we see some alliances start to form, with most of the babyfaces in the match turning their attention to Vader, the biggest guy in the ring. Even some of the heels get involved in trying to remove Vader, realizing that their chances for success increase with Vader gone.
Mr. Saito tries to help his tag team partner and stablemate, but he’s knocked to the mat. The other wrestlers attacking Vader get him up and over the top rope, but he pulls Baron von Raschke over with him, leaving us at 10 in the ring.
With Vader gone, things break off into several separate pockets of action. John Tatum and Kevin Kelly work together to send Wahoo McDaniel over the top and to the floor. While that’s going on, Bob Backlund delivers an Atomic Drop to Cactus Jack Manson, with enough force that the momentum sends Cactus right over the top rope!
Kevin Kelly eliminates Steve Doll, but Scott Hall then grabs Kelly and tosses him over as well!
Dick Slater and Rip Oliver are brawling along the ropes, each trying to force the other out, when Mr. Saito hits a running clothesline that sends both Oliver and Slater over the top!
We’re down to four participants: John Tatum, Scott Hall, Mr. Saito and Bob Backlund.
Backlund eliminates Mr. Saito, but Tatum then shoves Backlund over as well, leaving us with just John Tatum and Scott Hall in the ring!
Tatum and Hall brawl for a minute or two, with Sherri then tossing her loaded purse to Tatum. Tatum charges at Hall with the purse, but Hall quickly ducks, then backdrops Tatum up and over the top rope!
Scott Hall has won the Battle Royal!!
Hall takes a moment to talk with Larry Nelson about winning the match, and says he’ll see Butch Reed next week, but suddenly Hall is attacked from behind by a livid John Tatum! Tatum smacks Hall in the back of the head with the loaded purse, and then screams at Nelson that he should have won the match, that should be his title match! Nelson sends us to a commercial break as Tatum continues to rant and rave.
Back from the break, Rod Trongard and Magnum TA talk about the match we just saw, with Trongard saying that Hall will challenge Butch Reed next week for the TV title, and John Tatum was obviously not too happy about Hall getting the shot instead of him!
Rod and Magnum are then joined by AWA World champion Steve Williams, Sgt. Slaughter and Jerry Blackwell. Trongard says that Slaughter and Blackwell teamed up last night at the Civic Center to face Abdullah the Butcher and the One Man Gang, and we’ve got some footage of that match.
VTR: Slaughter/Blackwell vs Abby/Gang, JIP:
This is a wild one that sees all four men bleeding before it’s over. Nothing is settled, as all four men brawl in the ring, with Abdullah bringing a chair in, and bashing Blackwell over the head with it, then connecting with the Butcher’s Axe while Slaughter and OMG brawl. Slaughter gets ahold of the chair moments later, and uses it to clear Gang and Abby from the ring.
END VTR
Trongard says that in two weeks, they’ll be back at the Civic Center, and on that night, Slaughter and Blackwell will be joined by the reigning World’s heavyweight champ Steve Williams to face Abdullah, One Man Gang and Big Van Vader! Slaughter says that things got out of hand last night, but when they return to the Civic Center on April 7, they’ll be ready, and they’ll have Doctor Death with them as well!
Williams says that he’s had some run-ins recently with Akbar’s goons, and he can’t wait for this match on April 7, so he, Slaughter and Blackwell can get their hands on Abby, Gang and Vader all at the same time!
AWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
THE ISLANDERS: HAKU & TAMA (champs) (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) VS. THE FANTASTICS: TOMMY ROGERS & BOBBY FULTON. The Fantastics come to the ring to ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” and a loud ovation from the fans. Capt. Lou then leads the World tag champs to the ring. These two teams have wrestled to time limit draws several times, and the Fantastics even scored a non-title win over the champs a few weeks back on TV. This time, the titles are on the line, with TV time remaining.
The action goes back and forth in the early part of the match, with the Islanders eventually gaining the upper hand after the Captain shoves Tommy Rogers off the top rope as he was preparing for a high flying move. The Islanders take advantage, keeping Rogers in their corner, where they work him over, double-teaming him every chance they get.
Rogers is finally able to make the hot tag to Fulton, making a mad dash for his corner and slapping Fulton’s hand just as Tama grabs him. Fulton comes in and cleans house, but a moment later, a jab to the throat from Haku stops Fulton dead in his tracks. The champions pummel Fulton, again using double-team maneuvers to keep Bobby in a bad way.
Things look bleak for the Fantastics, but the momentum is about to shift again. As Tama holds Fulton, and Haku goes to deliver a thrust kick, Fulton ducks out of the way, and Tama, the legal man, takes the kick right in the jaw! Tommy Rogers rushes back into the ring, and he and Fulton hit a double dropkick on Haku, sending him through the ropes and to the floor. Rogers then goes to the top rope and the challengers deliver the Rocket Launcher onto Tama, with Fulton then covering him for the 1, 2, 3!!!!
The Fantastics have won the AWA World Tag Team titles!!!!!
Trongard and Magnum congratulate the new champions, then wrap up the show and hype next week’s program, where Scott Hall challenges Butch Reed for the World TV title!
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
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