1. “Rock n’ Roll” Buck Zumhofe vs. Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie
Watching the transition of Buck Zumhofe from fired up young guy to fat grizzled dude is pretty amazing. It’s even more fun to go forward almost a decade to Triple H’s WWF debut where Buck is full on sleazy fat fuck. Buck and Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie open the show, do pretty much nothing, and still end up with a decent match. Impressive, fun in an opener kind of way. **
2. DJ Peterson vs. Super Ninja w/ Mr. Go
DJ Peterson vs. Super Ninja (seconded by a masked Ryuma Go, of eventual gay pornography fame) is decent and paced fairly well, but has to go to a 15-minute draw for no good reason so it gets pretty boring. Another stupid finish by the AWA. *3/4
3. AWA World Women’s Title: Sherri Martel [c] w/ “Pretty Boy” Doug Somers vs. Madusa Micel
Sherri Martel vs. Madusa Miceli is pretty good, Sherri who’s actually trying to wrestle is pretty fucking great. Way over as a heel. They’re doing wrestling holds, working hard face vs. heel. It’s wonderful. **1/2
4. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Nick Bockwinkel [c] vs. Curt Hennig
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig for the AWA World Heavyweight Title is a ton of fun. They base the entire thing about a bunch of headlocks, armlocks, and ducking and dodging. And these are two guys great at that stuff. Hennig also brings out a crazy bump through the corner post. I’m writing this after watching WWE Money in the Bank 2016, and Baron Corbin does this thing in the Dolph Ziggler match where he’s wearing him down so slowly that you almost think he’s intentionally trying to bore the crowd, but it’s still not very good. Here, Bockwinkel infuriates the crowd as he wears Hennig down with boring ass wrestling holds. It’s a much more impressive way to do that shtick. What I’m trying to say is Baron Corbin needs to watch some Nick Bockwinkel matches if he’s ever gonna be anything. Both guys sell exhaustion towards the end so well … this is just beautiful, pretty-looking wrestling but not in an overly choreographed kind of way. ***1/2
5. Ray “The Crippler” Stevens & The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) vs. “Pretty Boy” Doug Somers, “Mr. Magnificent” Kevin Kelly (Nailz) & “Hackensack Hammer” Buddy Wolfe w/ Sherri Martel (Special Guest Referee: Scott LeDoux)
Midnight Rockers and “Crippler” Ray Stevens vs. Buddy Wolfe, Doug Somers & Kevin Kelly (who went on to become Nailz in the WWF and then went on to choke Vince McMahon in real life) is reaaalllyyy cool. Marty Jannetty takes a LOOOONG beating and the crowd is so into it, as there’s a billion tag tases. At one point Shawn Michaels desperately SLAPS Marty to get him back into it. HYOOOOOGE pop for the hot tag. The finish comes a little quick after that and Stevens gets the pin despite being the illegal man, but you know. Fun! Wrestling! ***1/4
6. “Crusher” Jerry Blackwell w/ “Rock n’ Roll” Buck Zumhofe vs. Boris Zhukov w/ Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie
Jerry Blackwell on these AWA supershows is a revelation. Always heard about the guy but never saw him actually wrestle. He’s past his prime at this point but awesome. The man has a big fat fucking gut, but he’s so smooth in the ring. The matches aren’t amazing but Jerry Blackwell doing his thing is what pro wrestling is all about. He’s a big fat guy; you always need a big fat guy. And he moves well, sells well, works heel or face well. He plays good guy against Boris Zhukov here and it’s not amazing or anything but totally worth watching. **1/2
7. Russ Francis & “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka vs. The Terrorist (Brian Knobbs) & The Mercenary (Ron Fuller)
The main event is “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and legit NFL star Russ Francis taking on The Terrorist, who is Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs under a mask, and The Mercernary, who is Ron Fuller under a mask. This match has stalling, a criss-cross spot, a football player wrestling, guys named The Terrorist and The Mercenary. There’s so much goofy bullshit that it’s almost charming. It’s not really good, but fun in its own weird deep wrestling fandom kind of way. **1/4
Show ends with them talking a lot about the contested finish of the AWA Title match. A LOT.
Empty seats, referee bumps, trash finishes. So they sang the story of the AWA. There’s a few good matches here but most of it is underwhelming. 3/10
