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1980s AWA Viewing Deadline - UPDATED OCTOBER 13TH


goodhelmet

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Keep those ballots a'coming!  [email protected] Right now, I have 22 ballots.  You should have received a confirmation message from me today if you haven't previously.

 Is this way down from previous sets or along the same lines? EDIT: Nevermind, I went to your site and I see now.
WWF: 119 (2006)OJ MEN: 66 (2007)MIDSOUTH: 77 (2008)MEMPHIS: 56 (2009)NJPW: 45 (2010)TEXAS: 47 (2011)AJPW: 43 (2012)I usually get about a quarter of the ballots in the final weekend/days leading up to the deadline, so I expect we'll be on par with the last three sets.
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hirteen matches have made the coveted "top 10 & bottom 10" list thus far:

Adrian Adonis vs. Hulk Hogan (10/17/82) - Who wants to raise their hand that this is in their top ten?
Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (12/25/86) - I think we all knew this was coming
Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon (Taped Fist Match) (3/13/83) - Surprised this made either list honestly
Crusher Blackwell vs. Mad Dog Vachon (Algerian Death Match) (5/22/83) - Loved this match a ton but know others (Parv) didn't at all
Da Crusher & Greg Gagne vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey (Cage Match) (3/25/84) - Really surprised this made a bottom ten
Jerry Blackwell vs. Billy Robinson (12/3/81) - Surprised this made either distinction
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson (3/11/84) -  Surprised this made either distinction
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (12/25/81) - Top 10?
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Hulk Hogan (4/24/83) - Top 10?
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Jim Brunzell (6/11/81) - very fun match, nowhere near my top 10
Stan Hansen vs. Curt Hennig (5/31/86) - Bottom 10?
Stan Hansen vs. Leon White (3/13/86) - Bottom 10?
Wahoo McDaniel vs. Manny Fernandez (Strap Match) (12/13/88) - I guess I can see this one

 

This whole list is baffling to me.

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I'm surprised about the Bock vs Robinson match making the top ten. I know their match from Japan was highly touted. Did someone get confused? I had it at 110 and I really like both guys. I had the Da Crusher cage match at 123 but I can't see it in the bottom ten, not really. 

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Keep those ballots a'coming!  [email protected]

 

Right now, I have 22 ballots.  You should have received a confirmation message from me today if you haven't previously.

 

Thirteen matches have made the coveted "top 10 & bottom 10" list thus far:

Adrian Adonis vs. Hulk Hogan (10/17/82)

Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (12/25/86)

Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon (Taped Fist Match) (3/13/83)

Crusher Blackwell vs. Mad Dog Vachon (Algerian Death Match) (5/22/83)

Da Crusher & Greg Gagne vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey (Cage Match) (3/25/84)

Jerry Blackwell vs. Billy Robinson (12/3/81)

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson (3/11/84)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (12/25/81)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Hulk Hogan (4/24/83)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Jim Brunzell (6/11/81)

Stan Hansen vs. Curt Hennig (5/31/86)

Stan Hansen vs. Leon White (3/13/86)

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Manny Fernandez (Strap Match) (12/13/88)

(At least one voter has thrown these matches on their top 10 list and another voter has thrown these matches on their bottom ten list!)

 

None of these was me.

 

I thought I'd be the high vote on Hogan vs. Bock. (#15)

 

And Chad, I had the Algerian Death match at #32 with a B+ rating.

 

I will not be apologising for that Martel - Brad Rhenigans match though. E was my original rating and I'm sticking with it. That was the Pete Roberts vs. Masa Fuchi of this set.

 

Here's my original comment on it:

 

This is so boring. Jesus Christ. Fuck Brad "the midcarder" Reinigans. And if this is what Verne loves in his wrestling then I am glad he went out of business. Matwork of this nature is something I can do without entirely.Did anyone tell Reingans this is pro wrestling and not the Olympics? That he's meant to be entertaining us here not scoring technical points or whatever. Rock bottom for me. Terrible finish too. E. Pathetic match. Crowd rightly shit on it too.

 

:)

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I had Rheingans v. Martel at 19.  I could have easily rated it a few slots higher or even a few slots lower, so I sort of crammed in the middle of the pack of where I thought it belonged,  I still don't understand how anyone could think it was a bad match, but we've been over that before.  

 

I did have that Wahoo/Manny strap match in my bottom ten, but it wasn't the lowest rated Wahoo strap match on my ballot

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Finally got my ass in gear and finished my ballot ...

 

Top 25

 

1) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig (11/21/86)

2) Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (1/17/87)

3) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel (9/20/84)

4) Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (8/30/86)

5) Stan Hansen vs. Curt Hennig (5/31/86)

6) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Wahoo McDaniel (8/28/83)

7) Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (12/25/86)

8) Da Crusher & Greg Gagne vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey (Cage Match) (3/25/84)

9) Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie vs. High Flyers (Cage Match) (4/18/82)

10) Crusher Blackwell vs. Mad Dog Vachon (Algerian Death Match) (5/22/83)

11) Stan Hansen vs. Leon White (3/13/86)

12) Stan Hansen vs. Nick Bockwinkel (4/20/86)

13) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig (5/2/87)

14) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel (8/16/84)

15) Alexis Smirnoff, Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers & Curt Hennig (6/28/86)

16) King Tonga, Masked Superstar, & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter (Cage Match) (4/21/85)

17) Jerry Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich (12/13/88)

18) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel (3/28/85)

19) Stan Hansen vs. Crusher Blackwell (6/28/86)

20) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rick Martel (9/29/85)

21) Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (2/23/86)

22) Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (1/27/87)

23) Rick Martel vs. Harley Race (4/20/86)

24) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Larry Zbyszko (11/27/86)

25) Mr. Saito vs. Rick Martel (4/24/85)

 

 

Bottom 10

 

141) Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans vs. Butch Reed & Larry Zbyszko (4/21/85)

142) Midnight Rockers vs. Kevin Kelly & Nick Kiniski (12/27/87)

143) Wahoo McDaniel & Tom Zenk vs. Manny Fernandez & Larry Zbyszko (2/7/89)

144) Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts vs. High Flyers (5/23/85)

145) Crusher Blackwell vs. Bruiser Brody (No DQ) (10/21/84)

146) Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura vs. Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon (1/16/83)

147) Crusher Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Dino Bravo & Steve O (8/28/83)
148) Adrian Adonis vs. Hulk Hogan (10/17/82)

149) Col. Debeers vs. Jimmy Snuka (Glove On A Pole Match) (2/21/87)

150) Steve Regal vs. Buck Zumhofe (11/28/85)

I ended up really enjoying this set -- real diversity at the top with a strong middle class of matches and very few that I regretted watching.

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Yo, mookieghana, do I need to give these guys more time? Lets call it on the 13th since I was looking at September's calendar when I put it on the 9th.

Yes!! That works well for me. I have 35 matches to rewatch still. At least I don't have a job right now thanks to the government shutdown.
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I suspect I may be the high vote on the Snuka/DeBeers Pole match. I re-watched it with the sound down because that's pretty much what you have to do if you've got Trongard and/or Blears announcing, and this time I actually figured out the finish. It's actually all on camera with the original glove going into the crowd, DeBeers pulling out another from his pocket and blasting Snuka with it. The decision reversal was still lame but I think the match itself was really well worked.

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I didn't participate in the Texas set, so for guys who've watched all the U.S. sets so far is this the set with the worst commentary? I know guys weren't very high on Marc Lowrance or Bill Mercer in WCCW but at least from the little WCCW I've seen they aren't as bad as Trongard or Blears. Mid-South and Memphis definitely had better commentary, even Joel Watts was better than the AWA crew.

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I didn't participate in the Texas set, so for guys who've watched all the U.S. sets so far is this the set with the worst commentary? I know guys weren't very high on Marc Lowrance or Bill Mercer in WCCW but at least from the little WCCW I've seen they aren't as bad as Trongard or Blears. Mid-South and Memphis definitely had better commentary, even Joel Watts was better than the AWA crew.

 

I have to admit, the Trongard/Blears combo has grown on me a little bit.  I think they could be very effective at times, either separately or together, like in the Bock/Hennig 60-minute match.  Other times they were insufferable but in a kind of fun way, like their pervy-ness during the Sherri/Debbie Tomato match. 

 

I thought Don Kent (or whoever it was on the early matches) was pretty bad, though, especially when he routinely confused names and admitted that he couldn't see or understand what was going on. 

 

Some of the guest commentators were awful as well, like marble-mouthed Blackjack Lanza.

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Mean Gene did commentary for a good chunk of the first disk. As great as he was an interviewer, he was that awful as a ringside announcer. He sucked the joy out of more than 1 match.

 

Good commentary was hard to come by, to the point where on the Jumbo Tsuruta matches, when they had GIANT BABA ON COMMENTARY,  I was much happier and it added to the match, despite me not being able to speak a word of Japanese.

 

Hearing the main announce teams shill for how AWA was world wide got really old, really fast. When you actually do tours around the world, you announce those dates, so that the people know that you don't just drive up and down interstate 75, and that you are, in fact, a WORLD Wrestling Federation.

 

Stole that I-75 line from Honky Tonk Man when he did some guest commentary on RAW in the 90's.

 

As to Blears noting that the referee was actually getting paid to stand very close to Martel & the Killer Tomato as they got up close and personal, forgive him. He's a wrestler and an announcer, and he used the tools at his disposal to convey the scene as he saw it. I can tell you that if Louis Armstrong was watching that match, he would have broken into "Wonderful World".  Because it is!

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I actually much preferred Okerlund's commentary to just about every other match on the set, but that is really damning with the faintest praise possible. I would take Lowrance and Mercer over the entire AWA crew without a second thought.Got my ballot wrapped up and submitted, might as well jump on the top 25 bottom 10 bandwagon.

 

1. Mr. Saito vs. Rick Martel (4/24/85)2. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel (8/16/84)3. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rick Martel (9/29/85)4. King Tonga, Masked Superstar, & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter (Cage Match) (4/21/85)5. Tito Santana & Rick Martel vs. High Flyers (8/29/82)6. Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie vs. High Flyers (Cage Match) (4/18/82)7. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel (9/20/84)8. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (8/30/86)9. Stan Hansen vs. Curt Hennig (5/31/86)10. Buddy Rose, Doug Somers & Sherri Martel vs. Midnight Rockers & Despina Montegues (11/27/86)11. Rick Martel vs. Brad Rheingans (9/9/84)12. Jerry Lawler vs. Curt Hennig (7/16/88)13. Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (2/23/86)14. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig (5/2/87)15. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (1/17/87)16. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon (Taped Fist Match) (3/13/83)17. Crusher Blackwell & King Kong Bundy vs. The Road Warriors (11/22/84)18. Mr. Saito vs. Curt Hennig (3/28/85)19. Stan Hansen vs. Nick Bockwinkel (4/20/86)20. Crusher Blackwell vs. Mad Dog Vachon (Algerian Death Match) (5/22/83)21. Mike Rotundo vs. Doug Somers (5/1/86)22. Terry Gordy vs. Rick Martel (August 1985)23. Big John Studd & Jerry Blackwell vs. High Flyers (2/20/81)24. The Road Warriors vs. High Flyers (3/28/85)25. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Wahoo McDaniel (8/28/83)141. Adrian Adonis vs. Hulk Hogan (10/17/82)142. Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts vs. High Flyers (5/23/85)143. Mando Guerrero vs. Pat Tanaka (6/12/88)144. Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. Saito (8/28/83)145. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Pat O'Connor (3/22/81)146. Crusher Blackwell vs. Da Crusher (No DQ) (2/26/84)147. Bobby & Jackie Fulton vs. Destruction Crew (11/18/89)148. Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito vs. Verne & Greg Gagne (4/21/85)149. Curt Hennig vs. DJ Petersen (8/29/87)150. Col. DeBeers vs. Buck Zumhofe (2/23/86)

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I will take credit for the Billy Robinson matches in the bottom 10. Did not get into his matches at all, and while I will admit that he has technical skills, he was a heat vacuum for me.

 

I really enjoyed the Martel-Rheingans match and ranked it 35th.

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Top 10 and bottom 5 for me. 

 

#1 Nick Bockwinkel vs. Wahoo McDaniel (8/28/83)

#2 Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (1/17/87)

#3 Stan Hansen vs. Crusher Blackwell (6/28/86)

#4 Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (8/30/86)

#5 Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (12/25/86)

#6 Crusher Blackwell vs. Bruiser Brody (10/21/84) (No DQ)

#7 Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Bunkhouse Match) (3/9/86)

#8 Crusher Blackwell vs. Bruiser Brody (9/30/84)

#9 Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon (4/24/83)

#10 King Tonga, Masked Superstar, & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter (Cage Match) (4/21/85)

 

Bottom 5

#146 Crusher Blackwell vs. Kamala (9/28/85)#147 Nick Bockwinkel vs. Pat O'Connor (3/22/81)#148 Greg Gagne vs. Super Destroyer Mark II (5/1/80)#149 Verne Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkel (7/18/80)#150 Wahoo McDaniel vs. Manny Fernandez (7/6/88)

 

Ballot is in!

 

Hooray! Now I can order the Lucha set!

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