AWA TV 11-24-88 Bret/Neidhart vs Can-Am Express!
Dec 9, 2017 0:56:16 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Dec 9, 2017 0:56:16 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Friday, November 24, 1988
Broadcast nationwide on Superstation WGN
Taped November 22, 1988 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois
“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 have another Young Lions Cup match-up, as Tiger Mask, who just recently joined Mr Matsuda’s Yamazaki Corporation, takes on Johnny Smith. Triple Crown champion Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader will be in tag team action, as will Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Gary Albright.
Our feature match will see the Can-Am Express, Tom Zenk and Phil Lafleur, challenge Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart for the AWA World Tag Team titles!
YOUNG LIONS CUP:
TIGER MASK (w/ Mr. Matsuda) VS. JOHNNY SMITH. Smith wrestles a more rugged, mat-based style, while Tiger Mask is flying all over the ring! After a back and forth match, Tiger Mask comes off the top rope with a diving shoulderblock, then uses the Tiger Suplex to pin Smith.
After the match, Trongard and Page talk about the Young Lions Cup. Trongard says that this tournament has provided the fans with some great wrestling action from six of the top up-and-coming young stars in the sport.
A graphic then pops up on the screen, showing the standings for the tourney so far:
Young Lions Cup
Owen Hart: 7 points
Tiger Mask: 5 points
Fuji Yamada: 4 points
Wild Pegasus: 4 points
Johnny Smith: 2 points
Dave Finlay: 0 points
STAN HANSEN & BIG VAN VADER VS. THE YOUNG STALLIONS: PAUL ROMA & JIM POWERS. The Stallions are a talented young team, but they’re just no match for Vader and the Triple Crown champion Hansen. The Stallions do manage to gain the victory, though, when Vader lets his desire to punish his opponents lead him to assault the referee as the ref tries to get Vader to stop pummeling Roma in the corner. Vader shoves the referee to the mat, and when he gets back to his feet, he calls for the bell and awards the match, by DQ, to the Young Stallions!
Vader responds by PUNCHING THE REF! Poor Gary DeRusha tumbles through the ropes and to the floor, and Vader and Hansen continue to gleefully pummel Roma and Powers!
HERE COMES THE CAVALRY!!! Steve Williams, Sgt. Slaughter and Gary Albright rush to the ring, and clear Vader and Hansen from the ring. Once the heels leave, Williams and Slaughter check on Powers and Roma, while Albright helps referee DeRusha to his feet.
Trongard and Page talk about what we just saw. Trongard suspects that Vader and Hansen will be receiving a fine, if not a suspension, for their actions.
Page says that the referee put his hands on Vader first, and Vader was just defending himself against a crazed official! He says that Trongard is probably right, though, about the fine and/or suspension, because Nick Bockwinkel and the AWA have been out to get Vader and Hansen since day one!
Trongard: “Defending himself?!?! Against a REFEREE?!?! Gimme a break!”
OWEN HART & DAVE FINLAY VS. THE CONQUISTADORS. The high-flying Owen Hart and Finlay, the brawler from Belfast, team up to face the masked duo who hail from “somewhere in Latin America”. Owen and Finlay get the win when Owen catches one of the Conquistadors with a Northern Lights Suplex, then bridging into a pin.
MAGNUM TA is standing by with Jimmy Hart and the AWA World Tag Team champions Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart.
Magnum says that the champions will put the titles on the line against the Can-Am Express in tonight’s main event, and then we’ve got the 10-team tournament coming up at the St. Paul Civic Center on Christmas night, and the team that wins that tournament will be named the new #1 contenders to the titles.
Bret says the Can-Am Express will be a warm-up match for them, because they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of beating him and Neidhart.
Neidhart calls Zenk and Lafleur runts, saying he and Bret are going to grind them right into the mat! Neidhart then says that he can’t wait to see who wins the Christmas tournament, because they’re getting tired of beating up on chumps like the Can-Ams and the British Bulldogs, and they want some new teams to beat up on!
Jimmy Hart says that the tag titles aren’t going anywhere, they’re going to stay with the Hart Foundation, and it’s only a matter of time before Paul Orndorff regains the Americas title, and Bob Orton Jr regains the TV title, and then his Hart Foundation will be right back where they belong, at the top of the AWA!
STEVE “DR. DEATH” WILLIAMS & GARY ALBRIGHT VS. BLACK BART & KILLER TIM BROOKS. Williams and Albright dominate the match and get the win when Williams pins Brooks following the Oklahoma Stampede.
A highlight video airs of the SAMOAN SWAT TEAM, with the announcement that they’ll be appearing on USA Pro Wrestling soon!
Trongard and Page talk about the 10-team tag team tournament that will take place on Christmas night in St. Paul. Trongard says that each team will put up $2,000, with the winning team walking away with the $20,000 and a shot at the World Tag Team titles.
Trongard then runs down the teams that will take part in the tournament:
Steve Williams & Gary Albright
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
The Playboys: Tom Pritchard & Jimmy Del Ray
The Young Stallions: Paul Roma & Jim Powers
The Killer Bees: Jim Brunzell & Brian Blair
The British Bulldogs: Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid
Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow
Mike Rotunda & Brad Rheingans
The Can-Am Express: Tom Zenk & Phil Lafleur
Paul Orndorff & Bob Orton Jr
Trongard says that these are 10 of the very best teams in wrestling, including several former World Tag Team champions! He asks Page if he could imagine what could happen if Orndorff and Orton win the tournament? That will make them the #1 contenders to face their stablemates in the Hart Foundation, Bret and Neidhart, for the titles!
Page says that could be interesting, but we’ll never get to see it, because his Playboys are going to win the tournament, the money, and go on to beat Bret and Neidhart for the World Tag Team titles!
THE PLAYBOYS: TOM PRITCHARD & JIMMY DEL RAY VS. JAKE MILLIMAN & BUCK ZUMHOFF. The Playboys get the win when Pritchard pins Zumhoff after a double Flapjack.
AWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
BRET HART & JIM NEIDHART (champs) (w/ Jimmy Hart) VS. THE CAN-AM EXPRESS: TOM ZENK & PHIL LAFLEUR. We’ve seen these two teams meet recently at house shows, and the matches have been pretty even, most of them ending in time limit draws.
As the match progresses, the champions gain the upper hand, and after a brief brawl with all four men in the ring, they toss Lafleur to the floor, and double-team Zenk. Bret Hart works over Zenk’s leg, then locks him in the Figure-4 Leglock.
Neidhart then hoists himself up on the middle turnbuckle . . . AND JUMPS OFF, RIGHT ONTO ZENK’S KNEE!!!!!
On commentary, Trongard says they could hear a snap all the way at the broadcast table, and he thinks Zenk could be seriously hurt.
The ref checks on Zenk, and after a moment, he waves to the timekeeper to ring the bell. Larry Nelson informs us that the referee has decided to end the match, awarding it to the Hart Foundation, and the ref then motions for medical personnel.
The champions don’t seem too concerned about Zenk, as Bret shoves the referee aside, and Neidhart repeatedly stomps the Z-Man in the knee! Phil Lafleur has climbed back into the ring, with a chair in hand, and he clears the champions from the ring.
Moments later, the medical team loads Zenk onto a stretcher, as he clutches his knee. Lafleur is at his teammate’s side as they wheel Zenk from the ring and to the back.
Trongard and Page talk about what we just saw, with Trongard saying we should have an update on Tom Zenk’s condition next week, and then they hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
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