AWA TV 9-15-88 Huge 6-man tag match!
Sept 28, 2017 11:02:52 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Sept 28, 2017 11:02:52 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Friday, September 15, 1988
Broadcast nationwide on Superstation WGN
Taped September 13, 1988 at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA
“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 Diamond Dallas Page!
Tonight, we’ve got a big show in store, Mike Rotunda meets the young lion of the Holy Demon Army, Toshiaki Kawada. Bret Hart, with Jimmy Hart in his corner, squares off with the young man from Belfast, Dave Finlay. The other two-thirds of the Holy Demon Army, Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta, will challenge the British Bulldogs for the World tag titles.
And, in the HUGE feature bout, Sgt. Slaughter and Terry Taylor team up with AWA World champ Steve Williams to face Americas champ Paul Orndorff, TV champ Bob Orton Jr and Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart!
Prior to the start of the first match, Trongard talks about the last time that Mike Rotunda and Toshiaki Kawada met. Rotunda won that match, but when he offered a handshake to Kawada after the match, Kawada responded with a vicious kick to the head that knocked Rotunda out cold!
Page says that the same thing is going to happen to Rotunda right here tonight, the only difference is, this time it will be on national television instead of at an arena show!
TOSHIAKI KAWADA (w/ Mr. Fuji) VS. MIKE ROTUNDA. Things start off with a bang here, as Rotunda and Kawada go tooth and nail for 15 full minutes. Neither man can put the other away before the time limit expires, and the match is declared a draw.
Afterwards, Kawada again tries to cheapshot Rotunda, but this time, Rotunda is expecting it, and blocks the kick, then dives at Kawada, knocking him to the mat!
As Rotunda pummels Kawada, Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta hit the ring and pull Rotunda off their comrade, then the three members of the Holy Demon Army proceed to give Rotunda a vicious beating!
This brings Bob Backlund and Brad Rheingans to the ring, and we end up with all six guys in a donneybrook as we go to a commercial break.
Magnum TA is standing by with The Can-Am Express: Tom Zenk & Phil Lafleur. Magnum says that these two have been quite successful since coming to the AWA, and seem to be a hit with the fans.
Zenk says that he and Phil are very grateful for the opportunity they’ve been given here in the AWA, and they’re very grateful to these fans for their support. He says that they are going to kepe working hard, to climb the ladder, and hopefully soon they’ll be in a position where they can challenge for the World tag titles.
Lafleur agrees, and says that they will go out there each and every night, and give it their all for these great Midwestern fans!
BRET HART (w/ Jimmy Hart) VS. DAVE FINLAY. Finlay puts up a good fight, but Bret eventually gets the win following a piledriver.
AWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
THE BRITISH BULLDOGS: DAVEY BOY SMITH & DYNAMITE KID VS. THE HOLY DEMON ARMY: GENICHIRO TENRYU & JUMBO TSURUTA (w/ Mr. Fuji). On commentary, Trongard talks about how Tsuruta is no stranger to championship gold here in the AWA, as he held the World heavyweight title for about three months in early 1984, winning it from our current AWA President, Nick Bockwinkel in Tokyo. After a fast-paced, hard-hitting match, the champions retain the titles when Smith pins Tenryu after a running powerslam.
Trongard and Page hype “Super Sunday ‘88”, coming up on October 8 from the St. Paul Civic Center. The show will feature a unification match between AWA World champion Steve Williams and PWF and United National champion Stan Hansen, with the winner becoming the Triple Crown champion! Plus, two other matches have been signed, Terry Taylor will challenge Bob Orton Jr for the AWA TV title, and after Sgt. Slaughter’s win last week in the non-title match, Sarge will face Paul Orndorff for the Americas title!
Trongard and Page are then joined by AWA champion Steve Williams, Sgt. Slaughter and Terry Taylor. They talk about their title matches coming up at Super Sunday, with all three men feeling confident that they will leave St. Paul on October 8 with the belts.
They talk about the six man tag match coming up in just a few moments, with Terry Taylor promising to make all three men pay for the attack on him last week!
STEVE “DR. DEATH” WILLIAMS & SGT. SLAUGHTER & TERRY TAYLOR VS. “MR. WONDERFUL” PAUL ORNDORFF & “COWBOY” BOB ORTON JR & JIM NEIDHART (w/ Jimmy Hart). After nearly 20 minutes of wild, back and forth action, Doc’s team gets the win when Slaughter pins Orndorff after the Slaughter Cannon.
Trongard and Page wrap things up, then take a moment to hype next week’s show, and remind the fans to check out whether Super Sunday will be available at a venue in their area on October 8.
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
Working on it now.