American Wrestling Association

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AWA from '89 - '90 :

* Eric Bischoff does a sit-down interview with Wahoo McDaniel, who's suffering from a eye injuring at the hands of The Destruction Crew.

* Paul Diamond vs Akio Sato.

Future Orient Express members.

* The Destruction Crew vs Scott Norton & Ken Patera.

* Lee Marshall interviews Verne Gagne and Joe Blanchard, in mid-ring, about the upcoming Team Challenge Series.

* Sgt. Slaughter vs Larry Zbyszko; two refs, for AWA title.  

3  STARS

* The Destruction Crew vs Brad Rheighans & Paul Diamond; Cage match.

Afterwards, The Destruction Crew lock the cage and give Diamond two "Doomsday Device's".

* Nikita Koloff vs Larry Zbyszko; 2/3 falls.   2  1/4  STARS

Pretty decent in some areas, thanks to Zbyszko.

* The Trooper vs The Russian Brute.

Trooper, Del Wilkes, became The Patriot in Global and WWF.

* Kokina Maximus vs Sgt. Slaughter.

Interesting to see two of the WWF's top heel World champions (just two years apart, in fact) of the 90s go at it.

* Tommy Jammer, The Trooper, Baron Von Rashke, Brad Rheighans vs The Destruction Crew & The Texas Hangmen; "Behind The 8-Ball" match.

A 12 year old could come up with a better concept. This was a blatant rip of the Survivor Series signature matches.

* Curtis Hughes, Unknown Soldier, Buck Zhumoffe vs The Destruction Crew & The Texas Hangmen; "Behind The 8-Ball" match.

* The Trooper vs Jamie Magnum.

* Sgt. Slaughter vs Johnny Stewart.

I swear, Stewart and Chris Candido look like long lost brothers.

* The Destruction Crew vs The Trooper & DJ Petersen; AWA tag titles.

Trooper and Petersen win the straps.

* Team Challenge Battle Royal.

Jake "The Milkman" Milliman wins <?> Not to in any way sound hurtful, but a mentally retarded wrestling fan could book a ton better than this.

* The Destruction Crew & Tully Blanchard vs Paul Diamond, The Trooper, DJ Petersen; Elimination match.

* Curtis Hughes vs The Russian Brute.

* Wayne Bloom vs Brad Rheighans; Greco Roman match.

* Sgt. Slaughter vs Ox Baker; Taped Fist match.

* Larry Zbyszko vs DJ Petersen; AWA title.  2  3/4  STARS

Great Quality - 4 hours.

Trust me, there's a bunch of other stuff on here. What's funny is, the AWA was doing anything and everything to be different, but the exact opposite was quite evident.

AWA All-Star Wrestling from '91 :

* The Fabulous Ones & Blackjack Lanza vs Larry Zbyszko, Billy Robinson, Masa Saito.

* King Kong Brody vs Jerry Blackwell; Winnipeg.  2  1/2  STARS

Notice how when Blackwell was in with a good worker,he had good matches ? Brody get's the DQ for using a stiff chairshot - which leads to "Boom Boom" Bundy making the save. So, Brody is using King Kong Bundy's name, and Blackwell is using the "Crusher" name; so why couldn't Brody use the "Bruiser" name? Confused ? me too...

* Nick Bockwinkel vs Shiek Adnan Al Kaisey.

Bockwinkel has got to be the only wrestler to actually be in his prime in his 50s. That's incredible!

* Nick Bockwinkel vs Shiek Adnan Kaisey; rematch from St. Paul Civic Center.

* Adrian Adonis, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Blackwell vs Hulk Hogan, Jim Brunzell, Greg Gagne; St. Paul Civic Center.

Adonis is amazing here. He's to the 80s what Shawn Michaels was to the 90s. Tons of heat.

* Baron Von Rashke vs Shiek Adnan Al Kaisey.

* Rick Martel vs Jim Brunzell.  3  1/4  STARS

Very good match, as expected.

* Hulk Hogan vs Jerry Blackwell; St. Paul Civic Center.

* Mike Grahm vs Buck Zhumoffe.

* Jerry Blackwell & Abdullah The Butcher vs The Blackjacks.

* Otto Wanz vs Nick Bockwinkel; AWA title, from 8/29/82 St. Paul Civic Center.

Wanz wins the AWA title in an upset.

* The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs Larry & Curt Henning, The Crusher; from St. Paul Civic Center.

* Feature on the AWA's major events from the 80s.

Very well done piece with excellent footage.

* Curt Henning vs Wahoo McDaniel ; Indian Strap match, from Las Vegas 12/26/87.

Really good, all due to Henning.

* Feature on former AWA stars who've recently passed away.

Great Quality - 3.4 hours

This is a fantastic tape, with some rare, old matches  in excellent condition - quality wise. The shows are complete, and not just bits and pieces. Also note that Greg Gagne and Eric Bischoff / Nick Bockwinkel introduce each match.

"Yes, the AWA still existed in 1991, but this was literally the "AWA on life support" as almost everyone was gone and all they had left were reruns from the early 80's and Greg Gagne promoting upcoming Minnesota golf tournaments. Verne Gagne left this show on keeping the time slots as he thought the AWA could rebuild itself but never did."   -- Rusty Beames