Post by turkeysandwich on Apr 20, 2011 16:49:13 GMT -5
I've been watching the AWA on ESPNClassic lately, and right now they are up to 1988 and the build up to Superclash III. The thing is that the AWA was so boring at this time, really the only interesting wrestlers they had at the time were Badd Company, and a lot of that had to do with the hype that DDP gave them as they entered. It seems like every episode at that time consisted of a Soldat Ustinov match, an elderly Wahoo McDaniel match, a Baron Von Raschke match, a Greg Gagne match, and maybe a tag team match. All filmed in front of a bored Las Vegas crowd.
However, the leading into Superclash they began using WCCW and CWA (Memphis) wrestlers, all of a sudden the shows are 1,000X more interesting. Almost every match with Memphis wrestlers turns into just non stop brawls with the crowd going wild. Lee Marshall and Verne Gagne on commentary can't keep up with the action, especially Verne (who you know had to be hating it.) Then the AWA portion would be something like Greg Gagne and Ronnie Garvin feuding over whether Garvin used a foreign object in their last match, with very little reaction from the crowds.
It's too bad that Lawler would never get paid for Superclash, thus ending the short lived association with the AWA, because they may have been able to keep up with the NWA and WWF, if they could have used the AWA exposure on ESPN with the excitement of the Memphis style, that could have been interesting. But alas they were destined to stick to their "old school" style and eventually invent the Team Challenge Series and soon go the way of the Dodo.
However, the leading into Superclash they began using WCCW and CWA (Memphis) wrestlers, all of a sudden the shows are 1,000X more interesting. Almost every match with Memphis wrestlers turns into just non stop brawls with the crowd going wild. Lee Marshall and Verne Gagne on commentary can't keep up with the action, especially Verne (who you know had to be hating it.) Then the AWA portion would be something like Greg Gagne and Ronnie Garvin feuding over whether Garvin used a foreign object in their last match, with very little reaction from the crowds.
It's too bad that Lawler would never get paid for Superclash, thus ending the short lived association with the AWA, because they may have been able to keep up with the NWA and WWF, if they could have used the AWA exposure on ESPN with the excitement of the Memphis style, that could have been interesting. But alas they were destined to stick to their "old school" style and eventually invent the Team Challenge Series and soon go the way of the Dodo.
