AWA in St. Paul 4-20-88 Williams vs Abby for the AWA title
Apr 21, 2017 21:50:25 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Apr 21, 2017 21:50:25 GMT
AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1988
CIVIC CENTER
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
JOHNNY GUNN beats JACK FOLEY by pinfall in the opening bout.
BOB BACKLUND & BRAD RHEINGANS defeat THE CUBAN ASSASSINS: ANGEL & FIDEL. Backlund, a former World’s champion, and Rheingans, a former Olympian and NCAA champion, show off their considerable talent here, making short work of the Cuban Assassins. Rheingans gets the win for his team, catching Fidel with a bridging cradle suplex for the pinfall.
KING KONG BRODY beats “SUPERFLY” JIMMY SNUKA. After a hard-hitting bout, Brody nearly takes Snuka’s head off with a running big boot, and then connects with a kneedrop off the top for the pinfall.
THE ONE MAN GANG (w/ General Skandor Akbar) defeats JERRY BLACKWELL in a Body Slam match. Stipulations state that the only way to win this match is to bodyslam your opponent. Blackwell nearly gets the Gang up for a slam late in the match, but Skandor Akbar interferes, grabbing Blackwell’s legs and causing him to stumble, dropping the Gang. As Blackwell falls to the mat, the Gang repeatedly splashes him, before picking Blackwell up off the mat and slamming him.
After the bout, the Gang hits Blackwell with the 747 splash, then another, before leaving the ring.
SGT. SLAUGHTER & ICEMAN PARSONS defeat BIG VAN VADER & MR. SAITO (w/ General Skandor Akbar). This one is a real barn-burner, as these four throw the rulebook out the window and just brawl! Early on, all four are in the ring together, with Slaughter pairing off with Saito, while Vader pummels Parsons. Slaughter gets the better of Saito, then helps Parsons fight off Vader. Sarge and the Iceman hit Vader with a double clothesline that sends Vader through the ropes and to the floor. Vader, though, is back up pretty quickly, and pulls Slaughter out of the ring, and they continue the brawl on the outside! Inside the ring, Parsons battles Saito, with the wily veteran soon gaining the upper hand after a well-concealed thumb to the throat.
Outside the ring, Vader goes to whip Slaughter into the ringpost, but the Sarge reverses it, sending Vader into the steel post instead. Slaughter then climbs back into the ring, and attacks Saito, just as Mr. Torture is about to deliver the Saito Suplex. Slaughter stuns Saito with a flurry of rights and lefts, then delivers the Slaughter Cannon! Sarge covers Saito and the ref, having no idea at this point who the legal man is, makes the count! He counts to three, giving Slaughter and Parsons the victory!
AWA Tag Team Champions THE FANTASTICS: TOMMY ROGERS & BOBBY FULTON beat THE ISLANDERS: HAKU & TAMA (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) in a Best 2 out of 3 Falls match. The challengers take the first fall early, only about 5 minutes in, when Haku catches Fulton with a savate kick for the 1, 2, 3! Albano is ecstatic, and between the falls, he gets on the house mic and tells everyone in attendance that his Islanders will take two straight falls and regain the belts!
However, things don’t go quite as the Captain had planned, as the Fantastics even things up by taking the second fall when Fulton pins Tama after the Fantastic Flip!
Both teams go for broke in the final fall, the Islanders pull out every dirty trick they can think of to try to gain an advantage, but the Fantastics keep fighting back! In the end, Tama goes to the top rope for a diving splash, but Tommy Rogers rolls out of the way, and Tama crashes to the mat. Bobby Fulton comes in, and as Tama slowly gets back to his feet, he eats a double dropkick from Fulton and Rogers. Rogers, the legal man, then covers Tama, while Fulton hits Haku with a dropkick as Haku tries to break up the pin, and Rogers gets the 1, 2, 3 on Tama to successfully retain the Tag Team titles!
AWA Champion “DR. DEATH” STEVE WILLIAMS beats ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER (w/ General Skandor Akbar) by Disqualification. Williams doesn’t back down here, going toe to toe with the madman from the Sudan! Late in the match, both men are bleeding, and the Butcher has the upper hand. He has Williams down in the corner, and repeatedly jabs his fork into Doc’s throat and head! The referee tries to get the two separated . . . but Abby jabs him with the fork as well! The ref flops around on the mat, holding his head, while Abby continues to tear away at Doc’s head with the fork.
The referee is back up, and he calls for the bell, awarding the match to Williams by DQ! Abby punches the ref, knocking him back to the mat, and then puts the boots to Williams. Babyfaces flood the ring, but not before Abby hits Williams with the Butcher’s Axe elbowdrop. Some of the wrestlers that come in to help Williams take shots from the fork, but finally a group of them are able to pull Abby off of Williams, and Akbar and the Butcher are forced away from the ring while several wrestlers tend to Williams and the fallen referee.
Working on it now.