There was some ambition in running a wrestling/rock concert stadium show in 1986 and with the hindsight of 30 years I can say it was a bad fucking choice. This is a fun two-hour show stretched out to an ungodly amount of time.
1. Brad Rheingans vs. Boris Zhukof w/ Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie
2. Cowboy Lang & Little Mr. T vs. Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook (Guest Referee: Special Gary Lumpkin)
3. Wahoo McDaniel vs. Col. DeBeers
4. “Rock n’ Roll” Buck Zumhofe vs. Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa)
5. Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda vs. The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn)
6. Giant Baba w/ The Great Wajima vs. “Bulldog” Bob Brown
7. Rick Martel vs. Harley Race
8. $15,000 10-Lady Battle Royal (Featuring: Candi Devine, Debbie Combs, Sherri Martel, Misty Blue Simmes, Despina Montagas, Taylor Thomas, Rose Divine, Luna Vachon (announced as Leona), Kat LeRoux and Joyce Grable)
Whole undercard is terrible, despite the uniqueness of Giant Baba and Tiger Mask Misawa showing up. America vs. USSR singles match (1/4), a 10-minute midgets match (1/2), Wahoo McDaniel vs. Col. DeBeers (1/4, what has to be one of the worst Misawa (as Tiger Mask) matches ever with quickly-aging Buck Zumhofe (), the former US Express vs. The Fabulous Ones in a lame tag (*3/4), Giant Baba vs. “Bulldog” Bob Brown (notable for the only Network appearance of All Japan's founder and that guy Chris Jericho makes fun of sometimes on his podcast) (DUD), Rick Martel vs. Harley Race which is decent for a few minutes and then goes to a weak-ass double contout (**1/2), and a 10-woman battle royal that at least has a cool Sherri Martel promo (3/4*). When you read that it might sound cool, I don’t know – America vs. USSR, midgets, Fabulous One, I get it. But it’s not good at all. And I think most of the crowd showed up late, so you get boring matches in front of a dead crowd.
9. AWA America’s Title: Sgt. Slaughter [c] vs. Kamala w/ Skandor Akbar
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Kamala is kind of fun, and Mr. USA guy vs. Ugandan freak giant is much more pro wrestling than your basic USA vs. USSR shit. **
10. AWA World Tag Team Title: Curtis Hennig & “Big” Scott Hall [c] vs. The Long Riders (“Wild” Bill Irwin & Scott “Hog” Irwin)
Scott Hall and Curt Hennig vs. The Long Riders of Bill and Scott Irwin is a fine tag match with an extra special great performance from Curt Hennig, who was so above this promotion at this point it wasn’t even funny. **3/4
11. European Rules Boxing Match: Scott LeDoux w/ Bob Lurtsema vs. Larry Zbyszko w/ Golden Ninja (Special Guest Referee: Larry Hennig)
There’s a Boxing Match with legit former boxer Scott LeDoux taking on Larry Zbyszko which is pretty fun as Zbyszko just flails around like a nut. None of the drama of real boxing, but just amazing theatrics by Larry Z. **1/2
12. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen [c] vs. Nick Bockwinkel
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Stan Hansen for the AWA World Heavyweight Title is a top shelf match – physical and real as fuck, with masterful timing from two all-time greats. Garbage finish but otherwise so good. ***1/2
13. Steel Cage Match – If Greg and Snuka Win, Verne Gagne gets 10 Minutes with Sheik : Greg Gagne & “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka w/ Verne Gagne vs. King Kong Brody (Bruiser Brody) & Nord the Barbarian (The Berzerker) w/ Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie
The show ends with three steel cage matches which is appreciated for the weirdness of it. Jimmy Snuka teams with Greg Gagne against Bruiser Brody (known as King Kong Brody in AWA, because Brody RESPECTS THE BOYS IN THE BACK and didn’t want to rip-off Midwest legend Dick the Bruiser) and Nord the Barbarian (who eventually became Bruiser Brody rip-off the Berzerker in the WWF because he doesn’t give a fuck). It’s nothing special but the crowd is fired up, an amazing feat given how long this show was – I mean Waylon Jennings had to have a great fucking performance. The bad guys bumping all over the place is great fun, let me tell you. **3/4
14. Steel Cage Match: Verne Gagne vs. Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie
Because Snuka and Greg Gagne win the match, Greg’s dad and owner of the company Verne Gagne gets 10 minutes in the cage with Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie, who at this point I believe was an Iranian sympathizer but it could have been Iraq. Either way he’s a Sheik and that means he’s a fucking dick. For a 60-year-old dude grappling with a middle-aged dude this is pretty sweet. Nothing fancy but effective. **1/4
15. Steel Cage Match: The Road Warriors (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal) w/ Paul Ellering vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin)
Then Michael “PS” Hayes and “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin take on The Road Warriors, again in a cage. It didn’t re-wire my brain or anything but it was fun. **1/4
I’m a weirdo and wrestling is usually something I can watch for any length of time – WrestleMania’s these days are four hours and I have no issue watching that and probably some shit on the Network beforehand. I mean I’m a psycho, but as a wrestling fan that is pretty normal stuff. But this is four-hours of AWA wrestling and it mostly sucks. And they cut a Waylon Jennings concert and Midnight Rockers tag too, and you’d have to think those would at least be some of the better things on the show. The back half of this is actually alright, but it’s all a bunch of decent stuff as opposed to great stuff and after two-and-a-half hours of shit stuff, a bunch of decent stuff is not how you want to go out. OK!? 3/10
