AWA TV 11-3-88 Williams/Albright vs Tsuruta/Tenryu!
Nov 20, 2017 14:05:48 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Nov 20, 2017 14:05:48 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Friday, November 3, 1988
Broadcast nationwide on Superstation WGN
Taped November 1, 1988 at the Wilkens Auditorium in St. Paul, MN
“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, the Young Lions Cup continues with two more matches, Fuji Yamada vs Johnny Smith and Tiger Mask vs Owen Hart! We’ll see TV champion Terry Taylor team up with Americas champ Sgt. Slaughter! Paul Orndorff and Bob Orton Jr will be in tag team action as well! Big Van Vader will be here!
The feature bout will see “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and his young protégé, Gary Albright, taking on Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu! Plus, we’ll hear from a representative of this mysterious “Yamazaki Corporation” that bought the contracts of Tenryu, Tsuruta and Toshiaki Kawada from Mr. Fuji a few weeks ago!
YOUNG LIONS CUP:
FUJI YAMADA VS. JOHNNY SMITH. We get some international flavour to our first match, as Yamada, from Japan, faces England’s Johnny Smith. Both men are extremely talented young wrestlers, and the match is fairly even throughout, but in the end, Yamada slips out of a powerslam attempt, and knocks Smith to the mat with a standing dropkick. From there, Yamada goes to the top rope and wows the fans in attendance with a move that Trongard calls a Shooting Star Press! Yamada gets the 1, 2, 3 and earns two points in the Young Lions Cup tournament!
Larry Nelson is joined in the ring by Toshiaki Kawada, Genichiro Tenryu, Jumbo Tsuruta and a man who introduces himself only as Mr. Matsuda. Matsuda says that he represents the Yamazaki Corporation.
When Nelson asks about the Corporation, Matsuda is vague, saying that it’s a multinational conglomerate with interests in a wide variety of fields. He says that they wanted to move into the world of professional sports, and sent him to America to scout the top wrestlers. He says that’s what he did, and after seeing the natural talent that Mr. Fuji had put together in his stable, Matsuda make Fuji an offer, and now here he is!
Matsuda says there was one more wrestler he was interested in, and offered the man a contract. He says that he is happy to announce, along with Tsuruta, Tenryu and Kawada, the newest member of the Yamazaki Corporation . . . Tiger Mask!
Tiger Mask comes out and joins the men in the ring. Matsuda says that his goal is to completely dominate the AWA, and now he’s got all the pieces in place to do just that!
YOUNG LIONS CUP:
TIGER MASK (w/ Mr. Matsuda) VS. OWEN HART. Tiger Mask wrestles a more aggressive style than we’ve seen him from since he arrived in the AWA, but Owen Hart doesn’t back down. We get a fast-paced, exciting match from these two, and neither can put the other away before the 10-minute time limit expires, and the match is declared a DRAW. As as result, both men receive one point in the tournament, and Trongard says that puts them in a tie for first place, with 3 points each.
Trongard and DDP talk about the main event from two weeks ago, where Sgt. Slaughter defended the Americas title against the man he took the belt from, Paul Orndorff.
VTR: Slaughter vs Orndorff, 10/20/88:
Orndorff, with the object still in his hand, but concealed from view, covers Slaughter. Anderson counts . . .
ONE
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TWO
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THREE!!
Paul Orndorff gets the three count and regains the AWA Americas title!
Hold the phone, here comes Terry Taylor! Taylor jumps into the ring and gets Randy Anderson’s attention. He points to Orndorff, saying he hit Slaughter with a foreign object and to check Orndorff’s hands.
The ref comes over to Orndorff, and says he wants to see his hands. Orndorff and Hart refuse, but Anderson threatens to reverse the decision. Hart throws a fit as Orndorff, with one hand behind his back, holds the other out, palm up. There’s nothing in it, but Anderson wants to see the other hand! Orndorff has both hands behind his back for a second, then holds out the other, palm up, and again there’s nothing. Anderson isn’t falling for this, though, and he wants to see both hands together!
This doesn’t sit well with Orndorff, and he yells at Anderson, saying he won fair and square, but Anderson tells him to show him both hands, or he’ll reverse the decision.
Orndorff still refuses, but Terry Taylor grabs him, and hits Orndorff with a right hand. Orndorff, stunned, drops the object, and the referee immediately informs ring announcer Larry Nelson that he has reversed the decision, and disqualified Orndorff for using the foreign object!
Orndorff, Jimmy Hart and Bob Orton are all livid as Randy Anderson grabs the Americas title belt back from Orndorff and hands it to Slaughter, who’s just now getting back to his feet.
Orndorff and Orton knock Slaughter to the mat, then jump on Taylor and pummel him as the show comes to an end!
END VTR
Trongard says that Slaughter then faced Bob Orton on last week’s show.
VTR: Slaughter vs Orton, 10/27/88:
Taylor comes out to the ring to watch Slaughter’s back after what took place between Slaughter and Paul Orndorff on last week’s show.
This match is an exciting, hard-hitting affair, and Slaughter gets the win when he locks Orton in the Cobra Clutch right in the middle of the ring. Jimmy Hart tries to help Orton, but Terry Taylor pulls him off the apron and drops Hart with a right hand!
END VTR
Trongard says that, tonight in St. Paul, Slaughter and Taylor will face Orton and Orndorff in a tag team war!
SGT. SLAUGHTER & TERRY TAYLOR VS. FRANKIE LAINE & KEN JUGAN. Slaughter and Taylor get the win after Slaughter drops Laine with the Slaughter Cannon, then locks on the Cobra Clutch for the win.
“MR. WONDERFUL” PAUL ORNDORFF & “COWBOY” BOB ORTON JR (w/ Jimmy Hart) VS. JAKE MILLIMAN & THE MASKED MARVEL. Jimmy Hart has men firing on all cylinders, and they make short work of Milliman and the Marvel. Orndorff drops the Marvel on his head with a Piledriver, at the same time that Orton drops Milliman with a Piledriver of his own, and they cover both men for the win.
After the bout, Paul Orndorff grabs the house mic from Larry Nelson. Orndorff goes on a tirade, about how Terry Taylor and a crooked referee cost him the Americas title two weeks ago! Orndorff says that it’s obvious to each and every person in the Midwest, and all around this country, that he is the better man, he’s better than Slaughter in every way, but the AWA continues to do everything they can to stack the odds in Slaughter’s favour! He says that now Slaughter gets a shot at the Triple Crown on Christmas night, that should be HIS title match!
Orndorff continues to rant and rave, as Jimmy Hart tries to calm him down. Orton takes the mic, and says that Orndorff is going to take care of Slaughter and regain the Americas title, and he is going to bring the AWA TV title back where it belongs, around his waist!
BIG VAN VADER VS. JACKIE FULTON. Fulton is a talented young wrestler, but he’s just no match for Vader here, as the behemoth from the Rockies pummels Fulton, and eventually delivers a vicious Powerbomb for the pinfall victory.
STEVE WILLIAMS & GARY ALBRIGHT VS. JUMBO TSURUTA & GENICHIRO TENRYU (w/ Mr. Matsuda). We’re treated to a real slobberknocker here, as these two teams knock the stuffing out each other! Albright, who Trongard refers to as the Master of the Suplex, gives his team an advantage after hitting Tenryu with a release German suplex that sends Tenryu sailing across the ring before falling right onto the back of his head! Tenryu and Tsuruta still manage to fight back, though Tenryu seems awfully shaken up after that suplex. In the end, Williams catches Tenryu with the Oklahoma Stampede for the pinfall victory, while Albright brawls with Tsuruta and keeps him from breaking up the count.
Trongard and Page wrap things up, and Trongard hypes next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
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