AWA SuperClash II (May 1987)

Original Airdate: May 2, 1987

From San Francisco, California; Your Host is Ron Trongard. Unlike WrestleRock the year before, the AWA wisely switched back to an arena this year, instead of running a half full stadium again. Unfortunately, they’re still overshooting the mark, as they only managed to draw a laughable 2,800 for this show, which would have been more at home at a high school gym. How the mighty have fallen...

Opening Match: Adnan Al-Kaissie v Buck Zumhofe: Zumhofe refuses to even shake Al-Kaissie's hand before the bell, because if there's one thing Buck Zumhofe is known for, it's moral righteousness. Al-Kaissie stalls to start, giving us a look at the embarrassingly small crowd as he walks around on the outside. The worst part isn't even that they've drawn a measly 2,800 people to an arena that can hold around 13,000, but that they've chosen not to scale the building to any degree. Like, they didn't even bother making sure the side opposite the hard camera was full first, and so there are giant sections of empty seats in view at all times. See, that's the difference between Vince McMahon and pretty much every other promoter out there. Vince would have taken that 2,800, and through all sorts of smoke and mirrors, you'd never even notice the 10,000 empty seats. I remember they ran a RAW taping at the Key Arena in Seattle back in the summer of 1996, and the building couldn't have been more than half full (a quick check shows they drew 6,755 to a venue that can accommodate around 16,000), but you'd never have known there were 10,000 empty seats while watching on TV. They go back-and-forth with punchy-kicky stuff for an eternity, until Zumhofe catches him with an earringer, then takes him down to start working the knee. Adnan tries pounding him down, but Buck largely ignores it, and starts throwing hiptosses and dropkicks. He's all fired up, but Adnan suckers him into the corner, and scores the pin with two feet on the ropes at 10:45. This match sucked, but I enjoyed talking about building scaling. So there's that. DUD

Super Ninja v DJ Peterson: Peterson was actually trained by famed midget wrestler Lord Littlebrook, which I find interesting and unique. Ninja keeps trying to sucker him in the early going, but DJ evades. They go to a stalemate trading wristlocks and doing collar-and-elbow tie-ups, until Ninja tries a cheap shot, but gets taken down with an armdrag into an armbar. Peterson with a crucifix cradle for two, and holy shit, Ninja actually has a fucking swastika painted onto his hand wraps. Like, what the fuck? Peterson, meanwhile, apparently raided Ted DiBiase's reject pile for his gear - walking around with dollar signs on the sides of his boots. Another cheap shot puts DJ on the outside, and Ninja goes after him with a flying axehandle off the apron, followed by a whip into the post. Vertical suplex back in, but Peterson counters into a backslide for two, so Ninja blasts him with a shining wizard. Knife-edge chop sets up a kneedrop for two, and he grabs a nervehold. You know, if we're being honest - and I hope that we are - I don't find his particular Ninja to be all that 'super.' But then, I suppose 'Average Ninja' doesn't quite have that same ring to it. Peterson fights out of the hold, but walks into a superkick (averagekick?), and Ninja adds a 2^nd rope flying kneedrop. Reverse chinlock, and holy fuck, how are they not talking about the swastikas, like, at all? Ninja with a bodyslam and a Boston crab, as the parade of shitty submission holds continues to go nowhere. Another slam sets up a 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop, but Peterson dodges, and starts mounting his comeback. Fists of fury and a backdrop leave Ninja begging off, but DJ shows no mercy with a vertical suplex for two. Jumping backelbow gets two, but a dropkick misses, and Ninja capitalizes with a roundhouse kick. Spinheel kick is worth two, but Peterson counters a backdrop with a sunset flip - only for time to expire at 15:00. Ninja actually had to kick out of the sunset flip, as the timekeeper was keeping accurate time for once, and missed his cue to ring the bell. Decent match, once it got going. **

AWA Women's Title Match: Sherri Martel v Madusa Miceli: Madusa has got some epic 80s hair going on here. She attacks as Sherri jaws with the crowd, and the champ bails after getting thrown around. After some stalling, Sherri takes her down by the hair for a short-armscissors, though I blame Madusa as much as Martel on that one, because with hair that big, you're asking for it. Sherri works the arm in aggressive fashion, but Madusa escapes, and unloads on her with some badly worked punches until Sherri bails again. Those rights were looser than... actually, you know what, I'm going to leave that one alone. Back in, Madusa controls a test-of-strength, but Martel takes a cheap shot, and stomps her down. Odd looking dropkick sets up a reverse chinlock, but Madusa escapes a bow-and-arrow with a leglock. Vertical suplex gets two - Nick Patrick's 'windmill count' alive and well! Madusa takes her turn at working the arm, but Sherri counters with a mat-based headscissors. Madusa escapes, so Martel goes to the eyes, but loses a slugfest, and ends up back down in another armbar. Bodyslam gets two, and a clothesline is worth two. Airplane spin looks to finish, but Doug Somers hops onto the apron to prevent a count, and Martel schoolgirls her with a handful of tights to retain at 11:50. This was decent, and kept a good pace, but Miceli wouldn't get to the next level as a worker until after going to Japan a couple of years later. That finish was right out of a bad episode of RAW these days, though. * ¾

Main Event: AWA World Title Match: Nick Bockwinkel v Curt Hennig: No idea why this isn't going on last, but it is the billed main event. First couple of lockups go to stalemates, and the third ends in them trading waistlocks to a stalemate as well. Yep, it's going to be one of those matches, settle in. Bockwinkel gets a waistlock out of a fourth lockup, but Hennig escapes, so Nick grabs a standing overhead wristlock. Curt hiptosses his way free, so Bockwinkel tries again - same result. Things continue down that path with stop-start reversal sequences, until both men execute bodyslams, and Curt controls with a mat-based headlock for a series of near falls. Bockwinkel comes back with a hiptoss and a series of armdrags, but the tenacious challenger wrestles him back down to the mat in another headlock. Nick, frustrated with getting outwrestled at every turn, decides to slug his way free his time, but Hennig holds his own returning fire. Curt with a cross corner whip, but he misses a follow-up charge, and takes an EPIC spill to the floor - just FLYING out onto the exposed concrete! Bockwinkel sees the opening and zeroes in on the shoulder immediately, hammering the part on the outside, then bringing Hennig in for an armbar. The crowd busies themselves taunting Larry Zbyszko, who's hanging out at ringside following a pre-match challenge to face the winner, as Bockwinkel grinds at the shoulder with holds. Criss cross goes Curt's way with a knee, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and eats a kneelift for two. Back to the shoulder with another armbar, but Curt won't quit, and goes after the champs leg upon escaping. Spinning-toehold does some damage, and a figure four has Bockwinkel scrambling to stay in the game! He manages to get the ropes to escape, but it's only a brief reprieve, as Hennig goes right back after the leg. Leglock, and Bockwinkel abandons all pretense - openly grabbing at the hair to force a break. He slugs Hennig down for two, and a knee to the gut gets two - though it hurts Bockwinkel as much as it does his challenger. Curt's tights make him look like Dean Malenko tonight. Bockwinkel with a cross corner whip for two, but Curt counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two. He drives Nick's face into the mat a couple of times for two, and an atomic drop sets up a rollup for two. Hennig with a bodypress for two, and a somersault cradle is worth two - Bockwinkel will not go down without a fight! Forearm smash gets two, and Curt is getting frustrated! Piledriver hits, but Hennig doesn't even bother covering - instead stopping to add a standing dropkick before covering. And it STILL only gets two! Cross corner whip, but Bockwinkel barrels out of the corner with a lariat, and he fights through the bad knee to side suplex his challenger. Double knockout spot leaves both guys scrambling, and suddenly Larry gets up, and casually hands Curt a roll of coins - Hennig taking advantage and knocking Bockwinkel out for the pin at 23:40. Despite the obvious heel move, the crowd still loudly cheers the change. Oh, but out comes Stanley Blackburn, and you can just feel the Dusty Finish coming. Well, I think we've solved the mystery of this not going on last, if nothing else. They end up deciding to hold the title up pending review, but ultimately it went to Hennig a few days later - likely due to such positive fan response to the victory here. The match took a while to get off the ground, but once became a near fall filled war of attrition, it was terrific. ** ¾

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Ray Stevens and The Midnight Rockers v Buddy Wolfe, Kevin Kelly, and Doug Somers: Wikipedia mistakenly identifies Wolfe as 'Buddy Rose.' Whoops! He starts with Shawn Michaels, and holds a waistlock, but Michaels counters with a standing hammerlock, then armdrags him over for an armbar. Tag to Stevens, and Buddy is quick to bail to Kelly. Wow, if I didn't know that Kelly would later work as Nailz in the WWF, I'd never believe it's the same guy! He looks more like Lex Luger here than anyone resembling the guy in the orange jumpsuit. Kelly beats the piss out of Marty Jannetty, and the heels take turns abusing the Rocker in their corner as they cut the ring in half. Man, they weren't wasting any time in getting into that heat segment there, were they? Trongard is setting what has to be an all-time record for using the word 'crippler' on commentary - referring to Stevens by his full billed name (Ray 'The Crippler' Stevens) every time he talks about him. Which is often. Marty pinballs all over the place for the heels, while working in well timed hope spots along the way. He takes a wild bump to the floor following a cross corner whip from Kelly, which results in a bench clearing brawl between the two teams. Dust settles right back on Marty getting worked over by the heels. I loved when people used to bring those long banner signs they made on dot matrix printers back in the day. Just printing up 'Sherri Sucks' takes up, like, four pieces of paper, and needs two people to hold it up. Marty manages to escape a leglock from Kelly with a monkeyflip, and reverse a vertical suplex from Somers to get the hot tag to Shawn, finally ending this overlong heat segment! Michaels is a crack house of fire to ignite a brawl, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Finish comes when Stevens catches Somers with an inside cradle at 17:28 - of which about sixteen minutes was Jannetty getting the shit kicked out of him. Watchable, but nothing special. * ¼

Jerry Blackwell v Boris Zhukov: Hard to believe Blackwell is still in his thirties at this point, he looks ancient. The weight and the beard aren't doing him any favors in that department. It also makes it all the more surprising that Buck Zumhofe is willing to stand in his corner tonight. Zhukov stalls on the outside as we start, until Blackwell catches up with him and unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes. Elbowdrop gets two, and that's about all Jerry's got in the tank, so it's chinlock time. Zhukov rakes the eyes to fight Blackwell off in the corner, and coupled with some biting, it's enough to turn the tide. Boris chokes him on the ropes and holds an armbar, but Jerry escapes, so Zhukov rakes the eyes again. I'm sure the play-by-play here is just riveting to read. Back to the armbar, but Blackwell counters into a cradle for two, so Zhukov tries a 2^nd rope axehandle, but gets nailed on the way down. Eyerake again, but Blackwell shrugs it off this time, and whacks him with a headbutt. Clothesline leaves Boris in trouble, so he throws the referee into Blackwell to try and cut off the comeback - allowing Adnan Al-Kaissie to join in on the fat attack! Blackwell fights them both off, however, and Buck rolls the referee in to count the pin at 12:13. Really boring, lazy wrestling here. –½*

Jimmy Snuka and Russ Francis v The Terrorist and The Mercenary: I can see why this is going on last, given the shitty finish in the title match, and Francis' status as a former San Francisco 49er. Terrorist is Brian Knobbs and Mercenary is Ron Fuller, both under masks. After some intense negotiations over who will start for each team, things devolve into a brawl with all four guys going at it, and Francis ends up chasing both heels to the dressing rooms. Hey, less Brian Knobbs is never a negative thing. The dust finally settles on Snuka and Mercenary to start things proper, with the Superfly destroying him with ease. Jimmy ends up in the wrong corner and gets clobbered, however, and the heels cut the ring in half on him in energetic, but punchy-kicky fashion. Snuka manages to fight off Terrorist long enough to tag, and Francis destroys him with shoulderblocks and slams - he and Snuka finishing Terrorist with stereo Superfly Splashes at 11:29. Dull stuff, but it send the crowd home happy. ¾*

BUExperience: A couple of decent matches, and a solid main event, but certainly nothing worth checking out – outside of as a historical curiosity. It was at least a reasonable length this time though, unlike the four hour slog that is WrestleRock

DUD