AWA Super Sunday (April 1983)

Original Airdate: April 24, 1983

From St. Paul, Minnesota; Your Host is Ron Trongard

Opening Match: Brag Rheingans v Rocky Stone: Gene Okerlund acts as the ring announcer tonight, and boy, thank God he didn't stick with that role for the rest of his career, because I can guarantee you he wouldn't be so well remembered if he had. His style is really much better suited to interviewing than announcing or any sort, including commentary. Handshake to start. Rheingans controls on the mat in the early going, putting Stone through the wringer with a long armbar. Brad runs into a shoulderblock during a criss cross, however, and Rocky capitalizes with an elbowsmash to the neck, then follows up by snapmarring him over for a chinlock. Kneedrop only gets two, so he tosses Rheingans to the outside for a bit. You know it's a different era when kicking out of a kneedrop is enough to frustrate your opponent. Rheingans makes a comeback as he gets back in, and blitzes Stone with an earringer and a pair of dropkicks before finishing him off with a gutwrench suplex at 7:00. ¾*

Steve Regal v Buck Zumhofe: Different Steve Regal, of course. Same Buck Zumhofe though, unfortunately. Buck sticks and moves in the early going, and he dodges a monkeyflip before blasting Regal with a dropkick. They trade bodyslams, and Zumhofe applies an overhead wristlock, but Steve escape with a hiptoss. Regal dazes him with a few turnbuckle smashes, and a snapmare puts Buck down for an armbar. Regal with a 2^nd rope elbowsmash for two, and he works a chinlock. Buck makes the comeback in the corner, however, and a hiptoss sets up a dropkick to put Steve on the outside. Buck keeps coming with a bodyslam on the way back in, and a 2^nd rope pump-splash finishes Steve off at 8:37. ¾*

Jerry Lawler v John Tolos: I think this may be the first time I've actually seen Tolos work a match, as my only exposure to him until now has been his WWF stint in 1991. Tolos jumps him from behind, and unloads in the corner before applying a wristlock on the King. He keeps after the arm with a pair of 2^nd rope flying stomps to the part, then back to the wristlock. Jerry escapes and works an aggressive side-headlock, and boy is Trongard a fan of the King! Jerry works a chinlock, but Tolos escapes with a backdrop, but the King counters to a sunset flip for two. Double-knockout spot follows, and these 80s crowds are so hot for wrestling that they actually LOUDLY count along with the double count for this! I just watched Extreme Rules 2016 the other day, and the crowd could barely be bothered to politely applaud for high spots, and these motherfuckers are losing their shit over a count. Tolos with a backbreaker for two, and a kneedrop gets two. Jerry pops up and snapmares him down for some punches, and a 2^nd rope fistdrop gets two. I just noticed that they don't have a ring skirt here, which is an odd look, to say the least. Jerry keeps pounding, but misses a charge in the corner, so Tolos tries a 2^nd rope kneedrop, but the King dodges, and finishes with the Piledriver at 7:53. Too bad for John, but I'd bet he'd be perfect for a career in coaching. Lawler really knew how to work a crowd, and this was engaging. * ¼

NWA World Women's Tag Team Title Match: Wendi Richter and Joyce Grable v Judy Martin and Velvet McIntyre: I think this may be the only time I've ever actually seen this particular title defended. Although, a quick check shows that this belt actually became the WWF Women's Tag Team Title later in 1983, and I've definitely seen it defended there as such. Wendi and Velvet start, and Richter violently throws her out of the ring. Trongard notes that Richter was actually one of the original Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and God help us all if that's actually true. Back in, Velvet catches her with a headscissors takedown, and Richter quickly bails to Grable. Joyce gets caught in an armbar, and the challengers take turns working her arm. Eyerake allows the tag back to Wendi, but she runs into a bodyslam from Judy, and held down with a wristlock. Trongard notes that this match will run forty five minutes or less, which sounds distinctly like a threat. Wendi manages to escape a series of arm holds to get the tag, and Joyce works her own series of arm holds on McIntyre. She throws Velvet around with a fun series of snapmares via hair pulls, as the champions work to cut the ring in half. Judy gets the tag and blitzes Richter with clotheslines for two, but gets knocked into the wrong corner, and tied in a tree of woe. They cut the ring in half on their new victim, but Martin manages to snap off a clothesline to escape for the tag! Velvet is a fabric store of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! All four girls miss individual splashes, and Richter puts Velvet in an overhead backbreaker, but she won't quit. Bodyslam and a backbreaker get two, so the champs get sick of her, and finish with a backdrop/powerbomb combo at 13:46. That finish was crazy for 1983 (the powerbomb didn't catch on as a move in North America until over six years later), but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. *

Wahoo McDaniel v Eddie Boulder: I know it was sort of a standard thing for the period, but Trongard's need to re-introduce himself to the audience at the start of each match is becoming incredibly annoying. This aired on closed circuit, man, no one's channel surfing! And he's still wetting his pants over Jerry Lawler, too! Handshake to start, and Wahoo works a wristlock, but loses a slugfest, and Eddie drops a pair of knees. My God, the future Brutus Beefcake is barely recognizable at this point. Legdrop is worth two, and a bodyslam sets up another pair of kneedrops for two, as Trongard completely ignores the match to talk about Jerry Lawler. He even goes so far as to bring the King out for an interview, mid-match! McDaniel with a vertical suplex for two, and a series of turnbuckle smashes put Boulder down for an elbowdrop to finish at 7:06. This was, in a word, 'notgood.' ¼*

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Rick Martel and The High Flyers v Jesse Ventura, Blackjack Lanza, and Ken Patera: Martel starts off with Patera, and he uses his speed to throw the powerful Patera around. Over to Jim Brunzell with an atomic drop for two, and he holds Ken in an armbar, but Patera manages to power into the corner to tag Jesse. He runs into trouble in the form of a flying Greg Gagne for two, and Greg tries a fujiwara armbar, but gets immediately overpowered, and walloped in the heel corner. Jesse minus the bandana is jarring. Lanza tags in, but loses a chopfest with Gagne, and Martel tags in to 'plant' a dropkick on him for two (it missed by about a mile). Trongard notes that Bobby Heenan (manager of the heels) could 'get upset about anything!' And then proceeds to list off some examples, like 'Sunday, Monday, five o'clock!' That must be exhausting. The heels try cutting the ring in half on Brunzell, but Gagne comes in with a sleeper on Patera to save - only to get blasted by Ventura. They go to work cutting the ring in half on Greg, but Lanza gets reversed into the corner, and Martel gets the hot tag! He unloads on Lanza, but misses a dropkick, and Patera drops an elbow on him for two. Ken with a vertical suplex for two, but Rick blocks a backdrop from Lanza, and tags off to Brunzell. Jim is a hive of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Finish comes when Patera pins Brunzell after using a Heenan provided weapon at 17:03. Solid, well paced match. **

AWA World Title Match: Nick Bockwinkel v Hulk Hogan: The pop for Hogan's entrance is mesmerizing. It's dumbfounding that they wouldn't take a chance with this guy. Master of subtlety, Hogan sports a 'We Want the Belt' t-shirt, with 'Now or Never' printed on the back. Bockwinkel immediately bails to the floor at the bell, and starts a stall session. And you can't blame him, since as soon as he makes contact with Hogan for the first time, he's on his ass courtesy of a shoulderblock. More stalling, until Nick manages to get Hogan in a standing side-headlock, but Hulk uses his power to escape. More stalling, until Bockwinkel comes in and starts throwing knees, but Hulk responds in kind, and gets the better of that exchange. Backbreaker gets two, and a cross corner shoulderblock leaves Bockwinkel reeling, but he manages to pop a shot to the breadbasket to put the challenger down for two. Nick tries a mat-based front-facelock, but can't hold the Hulkster down. Piledriver, but Hogan counters with a backdrop, so Nick starts desperately throwing low headbutts to keep Hogan at bay. He tries following in after a cross corner whip, but eats boot, and Hulk unloads a series of punches for two. Running forearm smash sets up an elbowdrop for two, and a shoulderbreaker is worth two. Didn't see that move out of Hogan very much during the WWF years. Forward-powerslam gets two, but Bockwinkel dodges the Legdrop, and railroads his challenger into the corner. Bodyslam, but Hogan topples him for two, and whips him into the ropes for a big boot (to the midsection?). Running forearm smash sets up another elbowdrop for two, but a corner charge misses. This may be the longest match Hogan worked for years and years following. Nick gets the Sleeper on, but Hulk manages to snapmare his way out - taking out the referee in the process. Uh oh. Nick gets the hold back on, but the referee gets bumped a second time as Hogan falls into the corner to escape. Double uh oh. Bockwinkel applies the hold for a third time, but this time Hulk dumps him over the top to the floor to escape, then brings him back in with a vertical suplex. Legdrop, and we have a new champion at 18:12! The crowd pops, but they've seen Hogan screwed out of victory against Bockwinkel numerous times before, and they're somewhat reserved... you can tell they're just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And they don't have to wait for very long, as AWA President Stanley Blackburn comes out and awards the bout to Bockwinkel via disqualification, since Hogan dumped him over the top rope. And NOW the crowd is anything but reserved, LOUDLY booing the decision, and pelting the ring with trash to express their disgust. Maybe not the best match in history, but certainly historically significant, and worth seeing. * ¾   

Main Event: Mad Dog Vachon and Verne Gagne v Adnan Al-Kassie and Jerry Blackwell: Verne's got to have balls of steel to come out there and face the crowd after that last finish. Gagne starts with Blackwell, and unloads on the guy with gusto. Backdrop and a splash get two, and Mad Dog delivers a double-stomp for two. Tag to Adnan, but he gets destroyed by Vachon, but Adnan starts using his cast covered arm as a weapon to knock Mad Dog to the floor. He follows him out to unload a shot with the ring bell to bust Vachon open, but Gagne makes the save. Verne grabs a chair to exact revenge with, but the damage has been done to Vachon, and the heels cut the ring in half. Mad Dog fights Blackwell off long enough to tag, and Verne is a retirement castle of fire - only to run into a front-powerslam for two. Jerry tries a big splash, but misses, and Gagne dodges an avalanche as well to setup a sleeper. That draws Adnan and Mad Dog in, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Finish comes when Verne and Vachon corner Adnan with an assault on the cast covered arm, and Gagne hits a 2^nd rope flying high knee to the arm for the pin at 12:23. Shit match, but it sent the crowd home somewhat happy following the clusterfuck in the World Title bout. ½*

BUExperience: I know I promised Survivor Series 1989 up next, but this surprise Network drop of three major AWA supercards supersedes it! You’ve got to love the Network! Good thing this didn’t exist when I was a kid, or I’d have never left the house!

As far as a wrestling show a fan in 2016 can enjoy goes, this is pretty weak, but from a historical significance point of view, it’s certainly worth checking out. Especially so if your starting reference point for a lot of these names (Ventura, Hogan, Brunzell, Richter, Okerlund, etc) is their WWF tenures, it’s particularly interesting to see them working prior to that.

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