AWA All-Star Wrestling – February 17, 1990: I’m As Surprised As You Are
IMG Credit: WWE
AWA All Star Wrestling
Date: February 17, 1990
Location: Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, Minnesota
Commentators: Greg Gagne, Ralph Strangis
The AWA is a promotion that has never done much for me but someone wanted me to look at something from their final year. This is in no way representative of what they were capable of doing and the promotion is basically dead on its feet at this point. I’m not sure what this is going to look like but it isn’t likely to be good. Let’s get to it.
We have a big cage match main event but the Trooper (better known as the Patriot) cannot be here because his parents were in a car wreck. The match is still taking place but Paul Diamond will need to find a new partner.
DJ Peterson vs. Jimmy Magnum
Peterson is being pushed as a young guy with a lot of potential. They circle each other a bit until Peterson takes him down by the leg. The cranking is on, followed by a legdrop between the legs. The leg is tied together with Peterson ripping at the face as we hear about AWA World Champion Mr. Saito defending the title in Moscow. I’m a bit dubious on that. Peterson hits a suplex and a top rope shoulder, setting up a Sharpshooter (with Peterson kneeling) for the submission at 2:58. Peterson looked muscular but there were a lot of people who could have done the same thing.
Eric Bischoff interviews Paul Diamond about the main event and he has an idea for a partner. That would be former Olympian Brad Rheingans, who seems to have some issues with the Destruction Crew and would love some revenge.
Larry Zbyszko vs. The Cobra
Larry is a big deal around here (not an interesting one, but still big) and the Cobra is your generic masked guy. Commentary brags about the AWA’s gate at the Tokyo Dome being bigger than Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas the next night. I’d love to see some non-AWA proof of that. Or proof that it wasn’t a New Japan show with an AWA match included. Larry drives him into the corner to start and hammers away, followed by the choking on the mat. A suplex connects and Larry rants about how unfair it was to lose the World Title to Saito. The piledriver finishes Cobra at 2:00. Total squash.
Post match Larry rants about thinking Charles Darwin being a crock but then he saw the Japanese and knew what Darwin meant by the slime of the earth. Larry rants about Japanese cars and knowing that he is the real World Champion.
Next week, Larry Zbyszko vs. Nikita Koloff in a Team Challenge Series (rather long and complicated series of matches with the roster divided into teams and the most points winning) match. We see some clips of the match that set it up…..I think. Commentary makes it sound like this is the match we’ll be seeing next week.
Nikita Koloff vs. The Annihilator
Annihilator jumps him from behind and has all of the success that you would expect. A slam and shoulder set up the Russian Sickle to finish Annihilator at 1:08.
Post match Koloff says he’s ready to face Zbyszko in a 2/3 falls match next week so he can become #1 contender. It’s about the title and the pride.
The Destruction Crew, behind a piece of cage, is ready for the cage match, even though Mike Enos is horribly claustrophobic. Enos panics and Wayne Bloom has to calm him down.
Brad Rheingans and Paul Diamond are ready too.
We get a Team Challenge Series update. Sarge’s Snipers have cut Baron’s Blitzers’ lead to just two points after a Triathlon match (a tug of war was involved) and we’re on the way to the second half of the season. Larry’s Legends are in third.
Here are the current standings:
Baron’s Blitzers – 23
Sarge’s Snipers – 21
Larry’s Legends – 17
Destruction Crew vs. Paul Diamond/Brad Rheingans
The Crew’s Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. That would be Larry’s Legends vs. Baron’s Blitzers and the winners get two points. Rheingans, who was put on the shelf by the Crew for nine months, starts fast and the brawl is on in a hurry. Enos tries to escape but gets pulled down by Rheingans as we settle down to a regular match, including tags. In a CAGE match. A piledriver plants Enos and it’s off to Diamond for a headlock.
Some running shoulders drop Enos but he avoids a charge to send Diamond into the cage. It’s time to go after the busted open head and Enos grabs a chinlock. Bloom comes in for some more rams into the cage, plus a rub across the steel (always a good thing). Diamond reverses Enos’ suplex into a gordbuster and the hot tag brings in Rheingans to beat on Bloom.
A catapult sends Bloom into the….well top rope actually as he doesn’t quite hit the cage. It busts him open anyway so Rheingans hammers away but still manages to punch Enos out of the air. It’s back to Diamond for a hard clothesline but a dropkick misses. Bloom comes in and cheap shot Rheingans as Enos goes up, only to get crotched on the top. The referee gets bumped as Diamond grabs a victory roll on Bloom. Another referee slides in to count the three at 9:17.
Rating: B-. Better than expected here and that’s a nice thing to see. The Crew was one of the last big acts for the company and while I can see the potential, I don’t quite get the entire appeal. Then again that might be because they wound up being the Beverly Brothers in the WWF and that didn’t quite go so well.
Post match Rheingans gets out but Larry Zbyszko slams the cage door on Diamond’s head, leaving him alone with the Crew. The beatdown is on, including the Wrecking Ball (Doomsday Device) as Rheingans chases Larry, who threw the key in the ring, to the back. Another Wrecking Ball leaves Diamond laying as Rheingans runs back for the way too late save attempt.
Back from a break and Diamond has to be helped out of the ring.
Commentary wraps it up.
Overall Rating: C-. Actually better than I was expecting here with a pretty good main event and a big match being set up for next week. It wasn’t a great show or even a good one, but for the AWA in 1990, this was as close to a masterpiece as they were going to get. They got a decent amount of stuff in and while it isn’t exactly thrilling, I’ll take a watchable show over the usually slow and weak events this promotion is known for.
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That was a New Japan show & it also included a tag team match with Chris Benoit & Jushin Liger on opposite teams & an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between Vader & Stan Hansen. The only AWA match was Saito winning the Heavyweight Championship from Larry Z.
Indeed, but never let the AWA stop itself from telling a bigger story.
I imagine, for you, hell would be Zbyszko v Garvin in a 60-minute Iron Man that goes Broadway, ad infinitum.
You could see why the AWA was dead on it’s feet at this point as it was just so boring compared to it’s rivals.