AWA TV 12-15-88 Dick the Bruiser returns to the AWA!
Dec 22, 2017 0:22:33 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Dec 22, 2017 0:22:33 GMT
AWA “PRO WRESTLING USA”
Airdate: Friday, December 15, 1988
Broadcast nationwide on Superstation WGN
Taped December 13, 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, a youngster by the name of Shane Douglas makes his AWA debut! The Samoan SWAT Team make their in-ring debut! Bret Hart will be in singles action, as he has claimed himself to be the #1 contender to the AWA TV title after pinning champion Terry Taylor in a tag team match recently, and tonight, Bret has said he will show everyone that he’s just as great as a singles wrestlers as he is as a tag team wrestler! We’ll see the final round-robin match of the Young Lions Cup, pitting two masked men against each other, as Tiger Mask meets Wild Pegasus! Tiger Mask has already clinched the other spot in the finals against Owen Hart, so he’ll be looking to gain some momentum going into that final with a win tonight!
And, in the main event, a big 6-man tag team match that was announced last week, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Gary Albright will team up with Sgt. Slaughter to face Paul Orndorff, Bob Orton Jr and Kamala!
Page says that he can’t wait for the fans to see his new team, the Samoan SWAT Team, in action tonight! He says that the SST won’t embarrass him like the Playboys did!
Trongard says that, speaking of the Playboys, they have left the AWA, and along with Tom Zenk being out of action, that leaves us two teams short for the big Christmas night tag team tournament! Tonight, we’ll find out which two teams will enter the tournament to fill those vacancies.
YOUNG LIONS CUP:
TIGER MASK (w/ Mr. Matsuda) VS. WILD PEGASUS. We open the show with an action-packed match, that sees Tiger Mask get a hard-fought win with the Tiger Suplex. This gives Tiger Mask 9 points, tying him with Owen Hart going into the finals on Christmas night in St. Paul.
Young Lions Cup
Final Standings:
Owen Hart: 9 points
Tiger Mask: 9 points
Fuji Yamada: 4 points
Wild Pegasus: 4 points
Johnny Smith: 3 points
Dave Finlay: 1 point
SHANE DOUGLAS VS. TOM RENESTO JR. Douglas is impressive in his AWA debut. He wrestles a clean, scientific match, and gets the win after dropping Renesto Jr with a picture-perfect standing dropkick, then catching him with the Belly to Belly Suplex. On commentary, Trongard mentions that Douglas was taught that move by their broadcast colleague, Magnum TA!
Trongard and Page are joined by Jimmy Hart, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, Bob Orton Jr and Kamala, along with his handler, the masked Kimchee.
Trongard mentions that Orndorff, Orton and Kamala will square off with Americas champ Sgt. Slaughter, Steve Williams and Gary Albright in tonight’s feature match.
As Paul Orndorff starts to respond, the crowd here at the Aragon Ballroom boos loudly. Orndorff covers his ears as Jimmy and Orton try to get the fans to stop.
Orndorff tells Trongard and Page that he knows why these fans boo him, if you’ll notice, it’s only the men booing him. He says that they boo him out of jealousy, plain and simple. Orndorff says that these men in the crowd, and the men that come out to the arenas, they see the way their women look at Mr. Wonderful, and they know that they’ll never look at THEM like that, they’ll never swoon the way they do when they look at Mr. Wonderful! He says that the men in the midwest all want to be him, and that’s where the jealousy comes from! He says that he gets it, but these men need to learn to live with the fact that, in this world, there are some people that are just simply better than everyone else . . . and he’s one of those people!
Jimmy and Orton agree, while Kamala just slaps his belly and looks around, wild-eyed.
Trongard says that they don’t seem the slightest bit concerned about tonight.
Jimmy says that there’s no reason for them to be concerned, his men are going to make Steve Williams and Gary Albright regret offering to join Sgt. Slaughter for this match.
Orndorff refers to himself as the true, uncrowned Americas champion, and says that Slaughter’s sham of a title reign is going to come to an end very soon!
THE SAMOAN SWAT TEAM: SAMU & FATU VS. JAKE MILLIMAN & BUCK ZUMHOFF. Poor Milliman and Zumhoff, they got destroyed last week by Hansen and Vader, and don’t fare any better this week! Samu and Fatu pounce on them as soon as the bell rings, and after about 2 minutes of pounding Milliman and Zumhoff into the mat, Fatu hits a top-rope splash for the pinfall.
As the Samoans get their hands raised, Page gloats about his new team on commentary, saying that soon everyone will see them for what they are . . . the most dominant force in the AWA!
Trongard and Page are joined by a man that the AWA fans know very well, the World’s Most Dangerous Wrestler, Dick the Bruiser!
Trongard welcomes the Bruiser to the show, shaking his hand. He says that it’s been far too long since the AWA fans have seen the Bruiser.
Bruiser says he’s happy to be back in the AWA, and to see all these fans again.
Trongard says that the Bruiser will be on hand at some upcoming AWA events around the state of Indiana, particularly a show coming up on December 21 at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis, where he’ll be the special troubleshooting referee for a match between Sgt. Slaughter and Terry Taylor against Paul Orndorff and Kamala.
Bruiser starts to respond, when Triple Crown champion Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader make their way out!
Hansen tells Bruiser to get lost, that it’s their interview time now, and nobody wants to listen to the Bruiser. He says that, back when Bruiser was wrestling, Dick had a habit of disappearing any time Hansen arrived in a territory that he was in, and suggests that Bruiser do the same thing now, before he gets hurt.
Bruiser goes toe to toe with Hansen, and says that Hansen’s just a loudmouth bum, and back when he was wrestling, he could’ve whupped Hansen with one hand tied behind his back!
Hansen blows a gasket, and starts throwing punches, but the Bruiser won’t back down and gets in some shots of his own, until Vader attacks him from behind.
Vader and Hansen pummel Dick the Bruiser, with Trongard trying in vain to get some order restored.
Vader pulls Bruiser up, and whips him towards Hansen, who hits a devastating Lariat!
Steve Williams and Gary Albright arrive on the scene, chairs in hand, and chase Hansen and Vader off.
Williams and Albright help the Bruiser up, as the show goes to a commercial break.
BRET HART (w/ Jimmy Hart) VS. ROCKY KERNODLE. Bret methodically wears Kernodle down, before locking on a hold that Trongard refers to as the Sasori-Gatame, or “scorpion hold”. He says that the hold was invented by Riki Choshu in Japan, though he hasn’t seen it used very often in the US.
Trongard and Page are joined by AWA President Nick Bockwinkel.
Bockwinkel says that, as Trongard and Page mentioned earlier, the Can-Am Express and the Playboys will no longer be taking part in the big 10-team tournament on Christmas night.
He has, however, put two new teams in to fill those vacancies:
The Samoan SWAT Team: Samu & Fatu!
And a team that spent some time in the AWA earlier in the year . . .
The Fantastics: Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton!
SGT. SLAUGHTER & STEVE “DR. DEATH” WILLIAMS & GARY ALBRIGHT VS. “MR. WONDERFUL” PAUL ORNDORFF & BOB ORTON JR & KAMALA (w/ Jimmy Hart & Kimchee). This is a wild one right from the opening bell! The match begins with all six men brawling in the ring, and it takes referee Randy Anderson a couple of minutes to get order restored. Slaughter and his team control the early going, but the Hart Foundation eventually get the rookie Albright in their corner, and they isolate him, tagging in and out, and wearing him down. Albright seems to have turned things around when he catches Bob Orton with a release German Suplex and launches him clear across the ring, but Orndorff charges into the ring and stops Albright from getting to his corner! Kamala then comes in and pummels Albright.
Late in the match, Slaughter is in for his team, but he gets thrown to the floor. Orton is the legal man inside the ring, and he distracts the ref while Orndorff and Kamala put the boots to Slaughter on the floor!
Suddenly, Terry Taylor rushes out! Taylor jumps on Orndorff and starts throwing rights and lefts with reckless abandon!
Orndorff tries to get away, but Taylor is like a man possessed, after Orndorff tried to end his career two weeks ago, and Taylor throws Orndorff back into the ring, then follows him in! Randy Anderson has no choice but to disqualify Slaughter’s team because of Taylor’s interference, and gives the match to Orndorff, Orton and Kamala by DQ.
At this point, everybody’s back in the ring, and a wild brawl takes place as the show comes to an end!
Trongard and Page quickly wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
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