Since we posted a clip of Bobby Heenan discussing the AWA yesterday, I thought it would be fun to dive into some old AWA action. 

(11/28/1987) AWA World Title Match: Curt Hennig (champion) v. Wahoo McDaniel: This was probably almost exactly what you would expect from these two. Hennig was bumping and selling his ass off for Wahoo, whose shit looked good until the bitter end of his career. Wahoo broke out the blade during the heat because, of course, he did, and the crowd was really into the match. Later, they were gasping at a few tight near falls for Wahoo on Hennig. Rod Trongard and James Blears were blasting the referee for being slow in a way that would make Gorilla Monsoon blush. You can argue some of Curt’s bumps from chops were a little silly, sometimes, somehow jumping vertically into the air like he had a rocket up his ass, but both men were tremendous at drawing the crowd into their story. They fought outside and were both counted out at 16:05, but it was still an excellent match. Yes, it would have been better with a finish, but they built the emotions to where it made sense that they were beating the hell out of each other on the floor and forgot they were in a match. I’m a mark for both of these men, so I’m sure I’m biased, but so are Fox and CNN. ****

(06/28/1986) AWA World Title Match: Stan Hansen (champion) v. Jerry Blackwell: This turned out to be very fun and very wild, which probably isn’t surprising given the participants. Blackwell was mauling Hansen relentlessly early, almost like watching Hansen in an All Japan match. Hansen not only bladed but tried to slam Blackwell and couldn’t, just really putting Blackwell over as a badass big man. They were doing their best to make it look like Blackwell was on the verge of winning the title by taking so much of the match. They might have gone a little too one-sided because the ever-popular Blackwell wasn’t getting much of a response, almost as if they felt sorry for poor Hansen, who was taking an epic ass-kicking. Blackwell also got a visual pinfall when there was a ref bump, but Hansen ended up hitting Blackwell with his cowbell for the DQ at 8:34, causing Jerry to bleed, too. Other referees came in, and Hansen absolutely destroyed them until leaving the ring while Blackwell was trying to get at him. Hansen almost worked as a small man here instead of a big man wrestling a bigger man, if that makes any sense. It really speaks to his versatility because this was a good match with a wild ending, even if we got another non-finish here. ***

(10/03/1985) AWA World Title Match: Rick Martel (C) v. Terry Gordy: Man, talk about disappointments. They did some cool chain stuff early, but it turned into a very dull Rick Martel headlock clinic. The bored and frustrated crowd actually chanted “boring” at one point. The last ninety seconds or so were incredible, with both men showing what most of us expected, but this ended in a fifteen-minute draw at 15:05. Watching Martel’s babyface comeback to a bumping Terry Gordy was a cruel tease. This should have been great, but  fuck, what a letdown. **