Found them. Kind of a "duh" moment as the link above is the middle of a massive thread of Claw's results.

http://sportsandwrestling.mywowbb.com/forum2/10387-3.html


Blackwell debuts with the AWA on Christmas night 79 in an opener and two nights later Verne's got him winning a battle royal.

Attendance dates are much sparser here and Blackwell really stays down the cards for a while. The first attendance listed in 80 is:

2/1/80 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena
The Crusher & Lord Alfred Hayes & Mad Dog Vachon beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan & Super Destroyer Mark II
Adrian Adonis beat Dino Bravo
Greg Gagne beat Jesse Ventura
Jerry Blackwell beat Steve Olsonoski
Att: 6,857

Obviously Blackwell is a non-factor here.

First interesting result here is:

3/2/80 Minneapolis, MN @ Auditorium
Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat AWA Tag Team Champions Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon dq
Bodyslam challenge
Jerry Blackwell beat Dino Bravo
Bobby Heenan beat Lord Alfred Hayes
Super Destroyer Mark III beat Super Destroyer Mark II
Greg Gagne beat Buddy Wolff
Steve Olsonoski beat Buck Zumhofe

We don't have a figure, but it's clear that Blackwell is being thought about as a guy that could make Verne some coin. Blackwell semi-mains with Bravo around the horn but with no figures.

His first main is a spot show v. Crusher and he is a key part of a spot show sellout v. Crusher in the semi-main the next day. The smatterings we get from attendance aren't particularly impressive, but they aren't abysmal either. Call it "holding steady" type numbers.

He technically was in the second match from the top of the Commiskey show v. Dick The Bruiser but he was a last minute sub. Still he is starting to get more main events v. Crusher now and is being put over on tv something fierce. Really wish we had hard numbers here but the consistency with which they were running Crusher v. Blackwell on top, even over title matches, tells me that this had to have done at least solid business for the AWA in the summer. This included a run as the top act in the major buildings. Really very few figures and the numbers that pop up are in the 3,500 to 4,500 range usually for Green Bay and Milwaukee shows which seems like the rough average for these venues based on the other results I've seen.

Andre comes in and we have some numbers to go with it. Blackwell was his opponent and was probably the right opponent. They do 8,000 in Winnipeg which is a huge number for that venue with Andre v. Blackwell and a Battle Royal on top. Milwaukee does almost 6 grand a few nights later - about 2 grand above the average number from what I've seen - and you have to figure Andre v. Blackwell was the big "change" there as well. The follow up show in Winnipeg does a good number as well with Blackwell further down the card v. Tito but that was a loaded line up.

Blackwell essentially ends the year as a top of the card guy to, drawing typical numbers in AWA towns.

We don't have enough hard numbers on 80 to determine how much anyone was drawing, but based on the number of main event and semi-main bookings Blackwell got and the Andre numbers being so strong, you could certainly make a case he was one of - if not THE - top draw in the company in 1980.

81 stars off interesting as they do 5,000 in the Ampitheatre in Chicago for Blackwell/Studd v. Bruiser/Crusher. That SEEMS like a good number for that venue at the time but I could be off and confusing things.

From there Blackwell is shopped around against a variety of guys including Crusher, Tito, Andre in Oakland (no number, damn), teaming with Studd, et. They do this:

1/17/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Nick Bockwinkel & Pat Patterson beat Mad Dog Vachon & Buck Zumhofe
Brass knuckles match
The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell
Dino Bravo drew Steve Regal
John Studd beat Tito Santana
Brad Rheingans beat Adrian Adonis
att: 4,469

Which is a fairly standard number for the time, but feels impressive since I can't imagine the match on top was what "drew" and the rest of the card looks weak.

Blackwell continues to get main events, including a title shot v. Verne in Omaha.

Good number for Milwaukee in Feb. as they do 5,500 with Blackwell third from the top v. Robinson, and the tag titles on top.

This is an interesting show, though we have no previous number to see how this show looks relative to others.

2/22/81 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena
AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel no contest Jerry Blackwell & John Studd
Tito Santana beat Tully BlanchardBrad Rheingans beat Bill Howard
att: 6,677


This seems like a real good number for the time, seeing as how Verne v. Bock only did 2k more at an outdoor arena the year before.

3/14/81 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre
AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher COR
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Spike Huber beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Bobby Heenan
att: 10,000

Very good number for Milwaukee here
3/28/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena
AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jerry Blackwell & John Studd beat the Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq in 12:48
Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis 14:15
Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe 17:38
Tito Santana beat Steve Regal 16:18
Brad Rheingans beat Bill Howard 15:57
att: 6,381

Blackwell has been used somewhat oddly up to this point in 81 as he has had multiple programs, but the key is that he is almost always in the main event or semi-main event. Blackwell/Studd v. Crusher/Baron becomes a go to match for the company and it does respectable, but not lights out business based on the limited figures we have. Also worth noting that Jerry got a return match v. Verne at the Ampitheatre, though we don't have a figure for it.

Really bizarre result here:
5/10/81 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Verne's first Retirement Match
AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson & Bobby Heenan
Posedown
The Crusher beat Jesse Ventura
Baron Von Raschke beat John Studd
Tito Santana no contest Sheik Adnan
Larry Hennig beat Adrian Adonis
Brad Rheingans drew Jerry Blackwell
Att: 15,780

Blackwell opens the show v. Rheingans on the biggest show of the year. This despite the fact that he had been getting multiple shots against Verne for the title and had been a virtually constant main eventer at this point for over a year. No clue how to read that. Especially since he was in the main event on the next show they ran, and he did an 8,000 dollar show as the semi-main at the next big Chicago show. Random.
6/6/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena
The Crusher & Wahoo McDaniel beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
Steel Cage match
Baron Von Raschke beat Jerry Blackwell
Non Title Steel Cage match
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura
Laurent Soucie beat Billy Howard
Brad Rheingans beat Bobby Heenan
Sheik Adnan beat Ben DeLeon
Mike Graham vs Buck Zumhofe
att: 7,544

Loaded show, with a triple main event, but worth noting as a notch for Blackwell.

Blackwell essentially vanishes in June and attendance seems to dip a bit, though this could be the old Summer curse khawk referenced as much as anything.

7/16/81 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel drew Jim Brunzell 60:00
Jerry Blackwell & Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat the Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Sheik Adnan beat Tito Santana COR
Greg Gagne beat Puppy Dog Peloquin
Brad Rheingans beat Laurent Soucie
Att: 5,292

I think this is an interesting figure. Blackwell had been shunted down the card essentially as prelim guy for a month. The few numbers we have appear to be down. This is a good number for Winnipeg based on the averages I've seen and it's Blackwell back in the main even mix. Just saying.

Blackwell is wedded to Rheingans now, who I actually think was underrated, but it's not something that is going to put butts in the seats. As a semi-main it looks flat and feels it. It's August and Hogan is now on the scene.

9/12/81 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Sheik Adnan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq in 18:21
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell COR
Tito Santana & Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan & Ray Stevens
Ed Boulder beat Chris Curtis
Evan Johnson beat Tony Leone
att: 4,121

Kind of funny that did such middling business, but Adnan was not a serious contender. You wonder if Hogan had been champ v. Blackwell...?

However:
9/24/81 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Sheik Adnan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell
Non Title
Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
Billy Robinson drew Tito Santana
Baron Von Raschke beat Ed Boulder
Johnny Valiant beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 6,296

That's a good number for Winnipeg and Hogan and Blackwell + the tag title matches are the real main events. We don't have a number for a Blackwell v. Hogan Twin City main event which is annoying, nor do we have a main for the Hogan anchored v. Blackwell anchored six-mans.

10/21/81 Chicago, IL @ International Amphitheatre
Cage Match
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell
Bobo Brazil ddq Blackjack Mulligan
Billy Robinson beat Bobby Heenan
Wilbur Snyder beat Jacques Goulet
El Bracero beat George Gadaski

Really wish we had a number for this show.

Andre/Battle Royal does nearly 10k in Winnipeg which is a huge number for that town with Blackwell buried in the under card. They run an Andre v. Blackwell match to play off the previous years success, plus Hogan v. Blackwell around the horn so you have to figure this is doing well. The 5300 in Milwaukee is a good number. The handicapped match with Hogan/Andre teaming v Blackwell/Adnois/Ventura in Winnipeg does 5500 but they had to have been hoping for more. He closes the year still working on top often v. Hogan

Interesting year for Blackwell. We really need to have more figures to prove how big of a draw he was, but again aside from the worst drawing month long period of the year based on the composite we have, he was in main events basically all year, with some standouts. The Verne match is a big notch. Shame we don't have attendance for all of their matches and the Hogan matches but the fact that he became Hogan's first real go to opponent is a strong indicator that he was a guy who was considered "money."


I'll run through 82 and 83 tomorrow

My notes:



Blackwell was already being built here. He came in in Minneapolis on the 1/13/80 card and destroyed Ron Ritchie. Steve O made the save, moving towards O-Blackwell the next card. The heat in the Minny card was off the charts...I would imagine that Verne noted this and ran with a similar program in every town. To the same, reaction, I can't say, but the Minny version was strong enough that Verne jumped on it.



Blackwell and Bravo had a tv angle leading to this series of bodyslam matches. I can't recall without checking the tape again but I think there was some tv bodyslam controversy that started it off...Blackwell was doing a weekly tv slam challenge. Bravo may also have saved some jobbers from a beating to get things going. I have to check again...

Again, Blackwell generated so much hatred right off the bat when he debuted in the AWA that a quick progression to semi-mains is not surprising. Bravo was fairly new at this point as well, having debuted on TV beating monster-heel Super Destroyer II and unmasking him in late 1979.



Of note, Bruiser jobbed to Blackwell there. Bruiser rarely jobbed to anyone at that point, especially in Chicago. That result at the time was big news amongst Chicago AWA fans.



I think the sellout in Milwaukee was 6112. The fall Batleroyal series was always a big winner for the AWA, annually. Blackwell and Andre in the same ring both in singles and in the battleroyal would have been attractive, no doubt, but don'd discount how big the battleroyals were as a draw.

Blackwell got the main event in Minneapolis vs. Verne on 12/12/80 as well. This one was built very successfully as Verne vs. the Monster.



2 things working for this show: This is a Crusher going for revenge match after Vachon got put out of wrestling by Blackwell and Studd (Raschke was brought in most places), and this is possibly the last Verne match in Denver before he retired. I think it is an above-average number for Denver but I'm just speculating.



Don't discount Verne's farewell tour as being a big draw on both of these shows, and the Crusher-Raschke revenge matches were also heavily built up.



Sometimes, the AWA would run the same program a few months apart in different areas. This could possibly account for a few of Blackwell's odd matches in 1981, filling time between the Crusher-Raschke feud and Verne challenges.



Not so! Rheingans being only a few months in got a HUGE rub in holding Blackwell to a draw here, and Rheingans got in a big suplex or two on Blackwell that were remarkable demonstrations of strength. Blackwell was definitely used to help get Rheingans established.
Of note here is that this turned into a feud that eventually got Hulk Hogan involved and subsequently sealed his face turn in the AWA when Hulk saved Rheingans from a sneak attack in Winnipeg.



I noted Blackwell-Rheingans was the vehicle that got Hogan officially to turn face, and it must be noted that Kaissie was indeed a serious contender for the AWA title. Kaissie's challenge was used to re-establish Bockwinkel as the champion after the hit the title took when Verne retired with the belt and Bock was given it back. Raschke-Bockwinkel drew flies in June 1981 in Minneapolis, and Raschke was the top face in the AWA at that point and hugely over with the fans. The Kaissie-Bock series was quite successful in returning things "to normal" with the title. it's hard to think of Kaissie as a serious challenger based on seeing him later on, but at that time, he was a real threat in the fan's eyes.


IMO you have to make this a triple main event as per my thoughts on Kaissie-Bockwinkel previously noted.

Battle Royals were a massive draw and going back through for context Andre comes in for damn near all of them as well.

Other notes as I went back through 72 to establish some context:

That number for Milwaukee is definitely right around the official sellout number.

Surprised to see Slaughter under the hood as Super Destroyer II used as a consistent main event and semi-main event guy in 79. Pretty evident that he was effective in that role and he was on top or one down from the top of several cards that did very well at the gate. His feud with Crusher did really good business on both spot shows and in the Arenas and they did some really strong gates as the Super D's team late in the year also. Not enough to build an HoF case, but a key piece to the puzzle to argue against those who say Sarge was only really a draw for a 83-84.

If the High Flyers had the same resume they have in any other territory, and weren't hindered by having a promoters son on the team, they would have been on the ballot a long time ago and would be considered serious candidates. From the middle of 74-79 they were consistently main event or semi-main event guys. They were a part of some very strong houses and some very hot periods. Drew money against a wide variety of teams including Stevens/Bock, Stevens/Paterson, Duncum/Lanza and others (most of the time they were clearly top billing on these shows and these were hardly just spot show dates - far from it in fact). Took off from middle of 79 to the beginning of 81 where they were inserted against East-West which immediately became a strong drawing feud with very strong matches. The feud runs for over a year and never really gets cold drawing big houses throughout. From their they transition into a feud with Adnan/Blackwell that runs for 9 months or so and does big business. On the back end of this they are headlining shows against random teams like Bravo/Martel, Duncum/Patera and Bock/Jesse that are drawing big houses on top. By the time 83 hits they've come back to Blackwell/Adnan for a couple of months, including a Cage Match series that includes at least one very strong house. They end up feuding with the Heenan family, including teaming with Hogan in a lot of six-man's which bleeds into the feud with Blackwell/Patera which draws 14,000 in the first major match in the Twin Cities (Wahoo v. Bock was technically on top, but that doesn't feel like the money maker there). This feud is a key part of a hot period for the company that sees several shows do over 10,000 paid in a territory that didn't have a huge history of that over the course of the previous ten years (and these are really partial figures as the majority of shows don't even have attendance listed). Hot period continues into 84 with the Flyers working some big houses opposite Saito/Ventura and the Blackwell/Patera feud still doing big business. The blow off Cage Match does 19,000 paid in St. Paul, the biggest figure I've seen for an indoor AWA show through the 70's and 80's. This also effectively ended there run. I know they teamed up here and there after that but never again as a regular team for any sustained length of time. Still adjusting for time off as a unit that is almost 8 1/2 years as a tag team that was essentially in main events from day one, programmed effectively against a variety of teams from really different eras, had some really notable quality matches, and were on top for some very well drawing shows, more often than not as a part of a hot program. Edge doesn't have near that resume

Working on 82 and 83 composites for Blackwell, but I should have dragged over more figures for Blackwell in 84. Clear that the Sheiks were the hot heel act both in watching the footage and in looking at the numbers. Several extremely strong figures:

1/4/84 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan & Mr Saito
Billy Robinson beat Jesse Ventura (sub Hulk Hogan) dq
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR
Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe
att: 6,000

This is the biggest number I've seen for Vegas from the AWA.

2/26/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center afternoon
Baron Von Raschke & Jim Brunzell beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura dq
Anything Goes Match
Jerry Blackwell beat The Crusher
Harley Race beat Blackjack Lanza
Brad Rheingans beat Ken Patera dq
Blackjack Mulligan beat Chris Markoff
Steve Regal beat Kenny Jay
att: 14,000

This is up 3,000 from the previous St. Paul show that didn't have Blackwell, though to be fair this show had a marginally better line up.

3/3/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq
Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta beat Billy Robinson & Ronnie Garvin
Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan beat Stan Hansen & Nick Bockwinkel
Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly beat Brad Rheingans & Tom Stone
Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Buck Zumhofe & Steve O
att: 6,112 sellout

Milwaukee was FAR from a guaranteed sellout.

3/4/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Blackjack Lanza
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Blackjack Mulligan & Jerry Lawler
Stan Hansen & Nick Bockwinkel ddq Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher
Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher (sub Mad Dog Vachon) & Baron Von Raschke dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest Rick Martel & Dino Bravo
Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu beat Buddy Roberts & Ronnie Garvin
Billy Robinson & Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly
Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes beat Steve Olsonoski & Buck Zumhofe
Att: SRO 18,000+

Loaded show, but still.

3/11/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Billy Robinson
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq
Jesse Ventura & Mr. Saito beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkel
Giant Baba & Tenryu beat Steve Regal & Roger Kirby
Buck Zumhofe & Steve O beat Tom Stone & Chris Markoff
att: SRO 7,000

Tremendous figure for Green Bay. This is a pretty hot show, but if you follow the feuds from the area it feels like the tag title match is the clear main event.

3/15/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Greg Gagne & The Crusher
AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Jim Brunzell
Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura dq
Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu beat Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan & Nick Bockwinkel
att: 9,950

Really an excellent number for Salt Lake City.

3/22/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell & Mr. Saito beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon
Blackjack Mulligan beat Bobby Heenan
Billy Robinson beat Blackjack Lanza
Greg Gagne beat Ken Patera
Kevin Kelly beat Stan Lane
Steve O beat Chris Markoff
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
Att: 7,424

And an excellent number for Winnipeg too.

3/25/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Cage Match
Greg Gagne & The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan & Jerry Blackwell
Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan dq
Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
Steve O drew Larry Zbyszko
Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Jake Milliman & Jesse Ventura
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe to win AWA light heavyweight title
Kevin Kelly beat Kenny Jay
Att 19,000+

Incredible number and there is no fucking question what the primary draw on this show was.

3/31/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena
Cage match, Referee Buck Zumhofe
The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell
Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan
Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Roger Kirby
Greg Gagne beat Ken Patera
Blackjack Lanza beat Chris Markoff
Larry Zbyszko drew Brad Rheingans
Kevin Kelly beat Tom Stone
Att: 9,889

That number can't be right can it?

4/1/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq
Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq
Dick The Bruiser & Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Roger Kirby
Road Warriors beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe
Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal
Brad Rheingans beat Kevin Kelly
Att 18,000

Another supershow at the Rosemont does excellent business.

4/4/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne (sub Greg Gagne) beat Sheik Adnan & Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell
Blackjack Lanza beat Nick Bockwinkel dq
Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Larry Zbyszko
Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke
Curt Hennig beat Steve Olsonoski
Att: 9,433

SLC clearly loves to hate the Sheiks.

4/8/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
Cage match
The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat Jesse Ventura & Mr Saito & Jerry Blackwell when Crusher pinned Blackwell in 15:10
Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan dq when Mulligan tossed Bockwinkel beat the top rope in 11:39
Fabulous Ones beat Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan in 13:38
Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal via pin in 12:37
Billy Robinson beat Buck Zumhofe via pin in 15:16
Curt Hennig beat Kevin Kelly via pin in 11:12
Att: sellout 6,214

Another great number in a town that rarely sold out.

Things cool off some in April though there is this

4/29/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Cage match
The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke & Dick The Bruiser beat Jesse Ventura & Mr. Saito & Jerry Blackwell
Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta dq
Road Warriors beat Curt Hennig & Ronnie Garvin
Harley Race no contest Jim Brunzell
Blackjack Mulligan beat Ken Patera
Billy Robinson beat Larry Zbyszko
Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly
att: 17,000

5/10/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Greg Gagne beat AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta dq
The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell
Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre beat Despina Montagus & Leilani Kai
Fabulous Ones beat Jake Milliman & Jesse Ventura
Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko
Att: 8,600

SLC stays hot. This also has the look of a card where Blackwell v. Crusher was almost assuredly the top draw by a large margin.

5/11/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Blackjack Mulligan COR
The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan
Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Jesse Ventura
Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria beat Leilani Kai & Despina Montagus
Curt Hennig beat Larry Zbyszko
Billy Robinson beat Tom Stone
att: 2,616

Adnan works Blackwell's spot opposite Crusher and gives Jumbo no real support. The rest of the show is weak. Business had been trending down in some of these areas but this is a less than half full arena. Absence of Bock, Blackwell and The High Flyers looks to have hurt a whole lot.

5/26/84 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq
Dick The Bruiser beat Jerry Blackwell dq
Fabulous Ones beat Steve Regal & Steve O
Nick Bockwinkel no contest Blackjack Lanza
Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre beat Leilani Kai & Despina Montagus
Billy Robinson drew Curt Hennig
Greg Gagne beat Tom Lentz
Att: 10,000

I'm guessing this was near sellout at the UIC.

6/9/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Baron Von Raschke (sub Mad Dog Vachon) representing Crusher sat chained to Abdullah the Butcher, representing Blackwell.
The Crusher beat Jerry Blackwell on a 3rd fall dq in 14:42
Steve Keirn (sub Greg Gagne) beat Nick Bockwinkel dq 7:04
Baron Von Raschke beat Abdullah the Butcher dq 3:56
Fabulous Ones Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Larry Zbyszko (sub Jesse Ventura) & Steve Regal 18:44 when Steve Keirn pinned Regal
King Kong Brody beat Steve Olsonoski 5:03
Tom Stone beat Jake Milliman 12:49
att: 2,820

Really bad number for Crusher v. Blackwell even in the Summer. Rest of he card is lackluster but still.

6/10/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Jerry Blackwell eliminated King Kong Brody to win battle royal
Abdullah The Butcher & Jerry Blackwell beat Baron Von Raschke (sub Blackjack Mulligan) & Blackjack Lanza
King Kong Brody beat Steve O
The Crusher no contest Nick Bockwinkel
Fabulous Ones beat Roger Kirby & Chris Markoff
Dusty Rhodes beat Larry Zbyszko
Curt Hennig beat Steve Regal
att: 8,000

Good, but not great number at the Civic Center. Also the night Blackwell turned face in a great angle. Blackwell takes time off to sell the angle. Next big show is the can't miss Rosemont.

6/17/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
King Kong Brody & Abdullah The Butcher & Sheik Adnan beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza
Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Chris Markoff
Curt Hennig beat Roger Kirby
Fabulous Moolah & Judy Martin beat Desiree Peterson & Susan Starr
att: 2,000

Holy fuck. Awful number, Summer or not. Did WWF run town around this period?

6/24/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
Dick The Bruiser chained to Crusher's corner, Abdullah The Butcher chained to Adnan's corner
The Crusher beat Sheik Adnan via pin in 14:20
Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza via pin in 15:56
Curt Hennig beat Abdullah the Butcher (sub Steve Regal) dq
Larry Zbyszko drew Steve Olsonoski
Chris Markoff beat Tom Stone (sub Kevin Kelly) via pin in 10:02
att: 1,829

Yikes. GB is not a guaranteed sell out, but this is REALLY low for that venue.

7/15/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody dq
The Crusher beat Abdullah The Butcher dq
Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Larry Zbyszko
Road Warriors beat Steve O & Curt Hennig
Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal
Billy Robinson beat Chris Markoff
att: 8,500

Civic Center still holding pretty strong.

7/21/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel COR
Fabulous Ones drew Road Warriors
Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody dq
The Crusher beat Abdullah The Butcher dq
Curt Hennig drew Mr. Saito
Tony Atlas beat Larry Zbyszko
Billy Robinson beat Steve O
att: 14,000

Huge jump and it's hard to say why. Was Bock v. Martel that hot? Roadies v. Fabs help that much?

7/22/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin in 19:36
The Crusher beat Abdullah the Butcher dq
Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Bobby Heenan
Handicap Match
King Kong Brody beat Curt Hennig & Steve Olsonoski when Brody pinned Olsonoski
Billy Robinson beat Larry Zbyszko via pin
att: 2,416

GB is still bordering Death.

8/12/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke no contest Road Warriors
Handicap match
Jim Brunzell & Tony Atlas beat King Kong Brody dq
Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza & Stan Lane
Curt Hennig drew Billy Robinson
Brad Rheingans beat Larry Zbyszko
Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk
att: 5,600

Uh oh. St. Paul is sliding.

8/16/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Road Warriors beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O
Baron Von Raschke dcor Billy Robinson
Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal
Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Heenan beat Stan Lane & Blackjack Lanza
Curt Hennig beat Jim Mitchell
Steve O beat Rick Renslow
Tom Zenk beat Bruce Dean
Att: 5,964

Martel does pretty well in Canada

8/18/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors dq
Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan beat Blackjack Lanza & Stan Lane
Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan
Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal
Billy Robinson beat Curt Hennig
Brad Rheingans beat Rick Renslow
Steve O beat Tom Zenk
att: 6,000

8/19/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher no contest Road Warriors
Nick Bockwinkel beat Tony Atlas
Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan
Bobby Heenan beat Stan Lane
Billy Robinson beat Steve Regal
Curt Hennig beat Larry Zbyszko
att: 4,369

8/24/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq
Mr. Saito beat Stan Lane
Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan
Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal
Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko
att: 7,210

Rosemont figure is weak, especially with the Roadies on top. Milwaukee number is respectable but noticeably not on the level of the Sheiks hot period. SLC with Roadies on top still does a very good number, but also down some.

9/9/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Brad Rheingans
Martel refused to accept victory after Brad was injured
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Steve O & Jim Brunzell
Weasel Suit Match
Fabulous Ones & Blackjack Lanza beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito & Bobby Heenan
Curt Hennig beat Harley Race dq
Larry Zbyzsko beat Tom Zenk
Billy Robinson beat Steve Regal
att: 3,000

Awful. Bring back Jerry.

9/30/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Tag Team Champions Champion Road Warriors beat Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody
Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel
Billy Robinson beat Tony Atlas dq
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
Curt Hennig beat Chris Markoff
att: "just under 8,000", gate: $71,000.00

Jerry comes back - attendance more than doubles.

10/7/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
King Kong Brody drew Jerry Blackwell
Nick Bockwinkel beat Tony Atlas dq
Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Billy Robinson
Jim Brunzell beat Larry Zbyszko
Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff
Curt Hennig beat Steve Regal
att: 8,300

Jerry is back. Attendance up more than 2000.

10/14/84 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
AWA World Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig when one of the Warriors pinned Curt
Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan (sub King Kong Brody) via pin in 7:49
Fabulous Ones beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito when one of the Fabs pinned Saito in 17:57
Jim Brunzell beat Billy Robinson dq
Brad Rheingans (sub Tony Atlas) beat Steve Regal via pin in 12:52
Att: 3,735

Jerry is back. Attendance is up 1/3.

10/18/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won a tag team battle royal
Handicap Match
Jerry Blackwell beat Larry Zbyszko & Sheik Adnan
Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel
Att: 8,920

Battle Royal time. Attendance doubles. And Jerry is back and heavily pushed on the show.

10/20/84 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Tag Team battle royal
Order of elimination Brad Rheingans & Steve Olsonoski, Tony Atlas & Jim Brunzell, Larry Zbyszko & Billy Robinson, Crusher & Baron Von Raschke, Road Warriors, Fabulous Ones, Jimmy Garvin & Steve Regal, Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig, Mr. Saito & Nick Bockwinkel
Winners Boom Boom Bundy/Jerry Blackwell
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Tony Atlas & Jim Brunzell
Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan dq
Nick Bockwinkel drew Curt Hennig 20:00
Boom Boom Bundy beat Larry Zbyszko (sub Mr Saito)
Jimmy Garvin beat Steve Olsonoski
att: sellout 6,112

Battle Royal! Jerry is also back. Sell out crowd, up 1800.

10/21/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won tag battle royal
Lights Out match
Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody when Blackwell pinned manager Sheik Adnan
Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
Baron Von Raschke beat Paul Ellering
Jimmy Garvin beat Tom Zenk
Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00
Tony Atlas beat Mr. Saito dq
att: 17,000, gate: $150,000.00

I know, I know. Don't underestimate the Battle Royal. Attendance has been trending upward since he came back and he has a heavily promoted co-main event here. They do a fucking massive gate. Don't underestimate Jerry

10/26/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Fabulous Ones won tag team battle royal
Handicap match
Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & Larry Zbyszko (sub King Kong Brody)
Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal
Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00
Boom Boom Bundy beat Chris Markoff
Jimmy Garvin beat Tom Zenk
att: 9,203

SLC held strong all year. Funny though. When Jerry is on the cards though do noticeably bigger numbers than when he's not.

11/3/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Boom Boom Bundy & Jerry Blackwell won tag battle royal
Lights Out Match
Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody (Blackwell pinned mgr Sheik Adnan for the win.)
Non Title
Fabulous Ones beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00
Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
Jimmy Garvin beat Steve O
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
Att: 18,301 sellout

Verne's prayer checklist: 1. Thank You God for the Battle Royal series 1a. Thank You God for Jerry Blackwell's return. 2. Greg is ok I guess.

11/8/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Fabulous Ones Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Road Warriors dq
Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody
Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Jimmy Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Jim Brunzell vs Steve Regal
Tony Atlas vs Billy Robinson
Att: 4,376

Average show in Winnipeg

11/11/84 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
Jerry Blackwell & Boom Boom Bundy won tag team battle royal
King Kong Brody ddq Jerry Blackwell
Blackjack Lanza beat Paul Ellering dq
Nick Bockwinkel beat Steve Keirn dq
Mr. Saito beat Steve O
Jimmy Garvin beat Jerry Monti
att: 6,800

This is a huge number for the Cow Palace which had been utter dogshit drawing 2,000 or less all year. Praise be to Jerry and the Battle Royals

11/19/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Fabulous Ones
Jimmy Garvin beat Jim Brunzell
Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito dq
Jim Brunzell drew Billy Robinson
Blackjack Lanza beat Steve Regal
att: 3,002

SLC finally shits the bed. They were pissed. The companies lead babyface wasn't on the card. His name? Jerry Blackwell!

11/22/84 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center evening
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Boom Boom Bundy & Jerry Blackwell
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Billy Robinson
Cage match
Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan dq
Mr. Saito drew Curt Hennig
Fabulous Ones beat Luke Graham & Steve Regal
Jimmy Garvin beat Steve O
Cowboy Lang & Little Koko beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo
att: 16,000

Must have been the battle royal! Er.. Must have been the Roadies! Hmm. They didn't seem to draw as well on the loop without Jerry. Must have been the Cage Match! Probably didn't hurt. You know what it was though? Jerry Blackwell!!!

12/6/84 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin by reversed decision
Fabulous Ones & The Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Jerry Blackwell beat Billy Robinson
AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal beat Buddy Lane
Mr. Saito & Masked Superstar beat Curt Hennig & Steve Olsonoski
Att: 3,504

Winnipeg is slipping a bit. Seems like this show should have done better, though Blackwell is noticeably down the card and the main is really weak (though I liked their matches in the ring to be fair).

12/9/84 Salt Lake City, UT @ Cow Palace
Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jimmy Garvin dq
Curt Hennig beat Mr. Saito
Baron Von Raschke beat Steve Regal
Billy Robinson beat Tom Zenk
att: 4,235

Christ, why even book a show there without Jerry? Bloom is off the rose in SLC at this point.

12/16/84 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Fabulous Ones & the Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jimmy Garvin on a reverse decision dq
Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell no contest King Kong Brody & Sheik Adnan
Curt Hennig no contest Mr Saito
Curt Hennig beat Crazy Luke Graham
Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook
Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk
att: 8,500

Good, but not great number at the Rosemont. Pretty much holding steady at this point, by this point Vince has to be hurting a lot as well.

12/25/84 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin dq after Wally Karbo reversed the decision
Fabulous Ones no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
King Kong Brody & Masked Superstar beat Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne
Curt Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jim Brunzell drew Mr Saito 20:00
Baron Von Raschke beat Steve Regal
Billy Robinson beat Steve Olsonoski
att: 13,000

Strong number for St. Paul, especially with a title match that was not that appealing on paper.

That's the last number for 84. Pretty clear that the Sheiks were the biggest heel draws of the year for the AWA and their track record was impressive by any standard. Also clear that the company was FAR better off when Blackwell was around and that his face run helped business recover dramatically. In fact it's arguable he was the best drawing FACE in the company as well for the year. Notable that Vince was going national, raiding their talent, taking them on in their towns and they were still pulling some very strong shows and had a very good year over all - with Blackwell almost definitely as their most consistent draw.

Agreed on The High Flyers write-up. Brody injuring both on TV in April 1984 took them out of the tag picture until Brunzell's return in January 85, at which time they worked their way back into contention and had a Winnipeg program with the Road Warriors, one of their matches happening to be a six man with Ellering and Jerry Blackwell included. After that, Brunzell was taken by the WWF and Gagne began to flounder.

The AWA was primarily an area that focused on tag teams, so you're right about Gagne and Brunzell's drawing power being impressive.

Slaughter was trained by Gagne, and his run as SD II was a good one. With Lord Al Hayes as his Manager, and Neil Guay coming in as SD III for a bit, Slaughter was a force as a heel in the area for quite a while. Near the end of his run, he had a run as both a face and as a heel after Heenan stole him from Hayes after the Bravo tv upset victory, and subsequently turned on him later which saw some SD II - Bockwinkel matches in 1980 and some Bock-Heenan vs. SD II - Greg Gagne matches booked.

Make no mistake about it, SD II was a monster heel in the AWA. The chiseled jaw coupled with never speaking (Hayes did all the talking) made him a very imposing figure.

I recently picked up some really early "Bobby Slaughter" matches from the mid-70's in IWE Japan. Good stuff. You could see the talent even though he was still very green. I imagine as a trainee of Verne, Verne had some pull getting him sent over there for a tour or two, and liked the results well enough to bring him back later as SD II.

K, so i've never actually seen a Jerry Blackwell match.
Someone point me in the difrection of a match or 2 that'll show off how great he was, perferably something on youtube or elsewhear that's easily accesable.

I had no idea that the Showboat could even be configured to hold that many. a 2000 attendance figure seemed to be the max for the TV tapings that began there in 1986, and that looked to be about the right size of the room judging from the tv.



This show was all Crusher vs. Blackwell, no doubt. The 1/15/84 show capped the Bock-Vachon trilogy with Bock-Mulligan losing to Vachon-Crusher when Lanza came down and convinced Mulligan to abandon Bock and reform the Blackjacks. I don't think there was a card in between those two, and to go up from that January show (all three of the Bock-Vachon centered bouts drew well) is really something in my mind.



The whole month of March was big with new Champion Tsuruta coming in and tag team spectaculars with guys being brought in that weren't mornally there. I assume that Tsuruta et al ended their tour before the St. Paul show as it seems strange that Jumbo isn't defending at the home base show.



I *think* Milwaukee had a larger setup they would use once in a blue moon when they expected a large number...am I thinking of Green Bay? one of the two used to be able to do this...maybe even a second larger arena was used. Can't remember offhand...



A Verne comeback match used to draw decently as well. He did one or two a year through 1986 and they seemed to always do decently.



I would bet a lot of folks thought Greg might actually win the title, believe it or not.



Yep.



I have to dispute this number (I have previously). This show was a sell-out, no question. It is occasionally credited as such, but the 8,000 number come sup a lot and I am convinced it's wrong. I think someone dropped the 1 from the front of the 8000, honestly.



AWA Summertime blues once again. Seriously the summer numbers were always the shits, and quite frankly, Brody and Abby vs. Crusher/Raschke drew very poorly prety much everywhere they went with it. A no-dq match between the teams drew 1900 in Winnipeg, lowest number I've seen there.




Most people assumed Martel would lose the title to Bockwinkel the first time they met after Martel won the belt. Seriously. That's the reason for the attendance going up at a time when shows would traditionally do really low numbers.



Well....this is a pretty awful show.



Plus it’s martel defending the title for the first time, so the “will he lose it back?” aspect comes into play. This may also have been the LOD’s Winnipeg debut, which would have helped a lot.



Verne did some weird stuff sometimes, but here he was banking on the Weasel suit 6-man (Heenan’s Twin Cities farewell bout) to draw, and not the title match. No idea why it didn’t.

Also keep in mind that Blackwell was out “injured” by Brody after the June 17 battleroyal.


The revenge match against Brody draws well, as it should after a 3 month build. Same thing with the other shows, although Brody no-showing probably hurts Chicago and Green bay later. Brody-Blackwell was no doubt advertised as the big draw on all the shows, though.


Again, pretty sure Brody no-showed this one and the handicap match was a subbed in bout.



No shit, the roof fucking blew off at the end of Jerry-Brody when Gagne hugged and made peace with Blackwell. One of the greatest AWA moments of the 80’s no doubt.



No doubt hurt by Brody not showing up for the initial bout in the series. Bundy was on this show too, IIRC, as he ran in and got bloodied by Brody.

Actually that makes me wonder if the matches on the last two Winnipeg cards are screwed up since Bundy fought Robinson on the show…Atlas vs. Robinson on this one. Doesn’t make sense Bundy would be in only to get bloodied by Brody.




I don’t think people bought Garvin as a real title threat vs. Martel, and, given Blackwell’s opponent and position on the card, that would have been the match that was headlining.



Superstar had debuted with the Sheiks army on the last show, saving Adnan from Greg in the cage.




I have heard from some that Blackwell made huge money in 1984 after his face turn, which Verne sort of had to do to fend off Vince. There is a story that Jerry actually defected and went to a WWF taping in St. Louis, but left at the last minute and went back to the AWA out of a sense of loyalty to Verne since Verne had really pushed him into a star spot when he got to the AWA in 1980.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW0Npqt1oS0...f=results_video

Watch all 18 of these if you can, but Blackwell vs. Ritchie is in AWA 4 starting around 1:40. It's the start of Blackwell's "monster" push, almost immediately after his debut. Blackwell's original Bodyslam challenge is on AWA 6.

All of these are AWA tv stuff from Jan 1980 -April 1980, from the Home TV in St. Paul. great stuff.

That battle royal show damn sure looks like a sellout to me too, so I thought the 8,000 number looked iffy. I wonder what Schire's book says about it?

Either way thanks for adding the context Khawk. Really, really looks like 84 is a very valuable year for discussion of Blackwell as an HoFer. I think it is extremely hard to dispute his value to the promotion.

KHawk,Dylan just want to say good job here.

Schire's write-up about the Battleroyal has this line: "Twenty thousand fans cheered "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" as Blackwell was brutally beaten and stomped in the ring."

20 thousand is pushing it but it's clear that he's implying a sell-out. He would have been at the card as him and Karch were running a Fan Convention tied into the card on that weekend, according to the book.

Glad to contribute.

Blackwell in 82:

1/7/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Cage match
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura
Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell
Brad Rheingans beat Ken Patera dq
Baron Von Raschke beat Rene Goulet
Bobby Duncum beat Rick Hunter
Att: 7,728

Very good number for Winnipeg, with a triple main event. A little over a week later they kick start the High Flyers feud in St. Paul in a non-title match that main events, but we don't have a figure for it.

2/4/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan no contest Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
Greg Gagne drew Brad Rheingans
Jim Brunzell beat Rene Goulet
Ricky Hunter beat Dave Kochen
Att: 6,480

A little down for Winnipeg but this is still a good crowd for that town. Really wish we had a number for the Feb. Minnieapolis show.

2/10/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Greg Gagne beat AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Tito Santana & Hulk Hogan 15:33
Weasel Suit Match
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
Jerry Blackwell beat Jim Brunzell via pin in 15:00
Brad Rheingans drew Sheik Adnan
Baron Von Raschke beat Sgt. Jacques Goulet via pin in 13:12
Att: 5,677

Good crowd for Milwaukee with an interesting lineup. Can't really credit Blackwell for this, but was worth a mention. Blackwell is barely working and mostly undercards until he re-emerges here:

3/4/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana
Non Title
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke
Hulk Hogan beat Bobby Duncum
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
Brad Rheingans beat Sgt. Goulet
Att: 5,924

This is tough. The trend in Winnipeg is down, but this is still a pretty good number for that building. You can view this as a negative or a positive depending on how tight you want to look at things. I tend to think the fact that think the product was still hot, but they weren't lighting the World on fire.

We are missing a lot of figures as is the case with a lot of this stuff, but the key thing at this point is that Blackwell/Adnan v. The High Flyers is the most consistent and hot feud in the territory and is headlining or co-headlining consistency. For Example:
4/15/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Tito Santana
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan COR
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan
Bobby Duncum drew Brad Rheingans
Baron Von Raschke beat Fred Puppy Dog Peloquin
Att: 6,048

Another *good* Winnipeg number.

This feud went around the horn and everywhere for a good while so I dont' think the absence of figures indicates anything other than the fact that we don't have figures. By all accounts it must have been working and the footage sure as hell gives you the appearance that it is working as the crowds are red hot for it.

5/13/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana
Greg Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell
Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke
Ken Patera beat Brad Rheingans
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Duncum
Att: 3,564

Winnipeg starts to sink...
5/23/82 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan dq
Ken Patera beat Tito Santana
Bobby Duncum beat Pat O'Connor
Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt. Goulet
Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Billy The Kid
Brad Rheingans beat Tom Rocky Stone

Really wish we had a number for this show. This has the looks of a disaster. If this did even a respectable number it was entirely do to the main event. The fact that they had the faith to run the Civic Center with no real co-main event, no AWA title match and a weak undercard on the strength of High Flyers v. Blackwell/Adnan is actually amazing to me and further indicates it had to have been doing good business.

5/31/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Bodyslam match
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell
Ken Patera beat Tito Santana
Baron Von Raschke beat Bobby Heenan COR
Brad Rheingans beat Bobby Duncum
Rene Goulet no contest Buck Zumhofe

Another show I would kill to have a number for.

6/6/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Hulk Hogan beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Ray Stevens & Baron Von Raschke
Ken Patera beat Brad Rheingans
Buck Zumhofe drew Sgt. Goulet
Rick Martel beat Tom Stone
att: 4,210

Decent number for Milwaukee, but you get the feeling the fans still wanted to see the Flyers opposite Blackwell and friends.

6/17/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Non Title
Rick Martel beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke
Buck Zumhofe drew Rick Gault
Brad Rheingans beat Tito Santana
Att: 4,500

Winnipeg up some - in the summer.

6/26/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum dq
Sheik Adnan beat Baron Von Raschke
Jerry Blackwell beat Brad Rheingans
Buck Zumhofe beat Jacques Goulet
Att: 9600

This is the kind of number that pisses you off. That's a great number for SLC on a show with no Hogan or Verne. Clearly a strong notch for the Flyers. I love Jerry but I don't see how he can get much credit for this. What it makes you wish though is that we had more numbers to see if the town was red hot coming in. I'm guessing it was.

6/27/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell drew Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Rick Martel beat Ken Patera dq
Bobby Duncum beat Tito Santana via pin
Buck Zumhofe beat Jacques Goulet via pin
Att: 2,468

It's Summer time and no Hogan, but has Milwaukee tired of this feud?


7/15/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat Bobby Heenan & Nick Bockwinkel
Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke drew Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum
Jerry Blackwell beat Ray Stevens
Rick Martel beat Sheik Adnan
Jim Brunzell drew Brad Rheingans
Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt Jacques Goulet
Att: 5,196

Very solid number for a Winnipeg show in the Summer. Blackwell v. Stevens probably was a help as a "special attraction" on some level.

They seem to tease that they are shifting the Shieks v. 1.0 away from the Flyers but then comes the Cage

7/31/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Cage Match
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan
Bobby Duncum beat Otto Wanz dq
Rick Martel beat Jacques Goulet via pin
Brad Rheingans drew Steve O
Att: 5,486

That's a very good number for Milwaukee in the Summer.

8/12/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Rick Martel & Dino Bravo COR
Jesse Ventura & Bobby Duncum & Ken Patera beat Baron Von Raschke & Otto Wanz & Larry Hennig
Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan dq
Brad Rheingans & Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt Jacques Goulet & Bobby Heenan
att: 8,848

Excellent number and I think Blackwell/Adnan v. Stevens/Patterson coming off the Stevens novelty match had to fuel at least some of it. Two Canadians in the main event v. the super over Flyers didn't hurt either.

8/22/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum & Jesse Ventura beat Larry Hennig & Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Tito Santana & Rick Martel COR
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens
Buck Zumhofe & Brad Rheingans beat Jacques Goulet & Bobby Heenan
att: 4,231

Average.

8/28/82 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum beat Otto Wanz & Baron Von Raschke
Rick Martel & Tito Santana beat Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens
Bobby Heenan & Sgt Goulet beat Buck Zumhofe & Brad Rheingans
Att 9090

Flyers are still hot in SLC which appears to be doing very well across the board at this point.

Blackwell is off the radar for a bit.

9/18/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum
Adrian Adonis beat Larry Hennig
Rick Martel beat Jerry Blackwell dq
Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone
att: 3,309

Really odd show on paper. Don't know how this could have done well.

9/23/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Non Title
Dino Bravo & Rick Martel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel
Adrian Adonis beat Baron Von Raschke
Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens dq
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum no contest Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Sgt Jacques Goulet beat Buddy Lane
Att: 6,588

Interesting to see Patera on the opposite side of Blackwell. Bravo/Martel return match still does good business though not as hot as the first time.

10/10/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum
Hulk Hogan beat Adrian Adonis via pin
Otto Wanz beat Jerry Blackwell dq
Rick Martel beat Jacques Goulet
Brad Rheingans drew Sheik Adnan
Att: 3,629

I would have liked to see Wanz v. Jerry. You get the feeling they are sort of stumbling at this point figuring out what the fuck to do with the various parts they have and it's hurting the gates some. Battle Royal season hits, Andre comes in and the limited figures we have show an expected spike.

11/28/82 Milwaukee, WI @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Tito Santana
Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Ken Patera beat Larry Hennig
Rick Martel beat Bobby Duncum dq
Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Hillbilly Pete
Tom Lintz drew Tom Stone (sub Brad Rheingans)
Att: 5,878.

12/2/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Larry Hennig & Tito Santana & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Duncum & Bobby Heenan
Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon dq
Jesse Ventura beat Baron Von Raschke
Rick Martel drew Sheik Adnan
Tiny Tom & Lone Eagle beat Little Tokyo & Hillbilly Pete
Att: 5,212

Solid numbers, with the Milwaukee number being about 250 away from a sellout. You get the feeling things are going to stay hot. Blackwell closes the year main eventing with Adnan again in Green Bay and even at the Civic Center, with Hogan v. Ventura underneath but we don't have figures.

82 is tough because of the lack of numbers especially in the big towns. There isn't a Chicago figure all year. SLC appears red hot. Winnipeg started off fairly hot and it seems Blackwell was a part of that. The footage and the fact that he headlined so much with Adnan opposite the Flyers - including at least two main events in St. Paul - is a good sign that he was doing solid business on top at minimum. On the other hand the whole promotion seemed to lose a little focus during the summer and leading up to battle royal season. Not a home run year like 84, but a plus for Blackwell over all.

You should be able to at least get a feel for 1982 when you check out the AWA YIR 82 discs.

I'm looking to finish that batch of AWA over the next couple of weeks.

Will finish 83 either today or tomorrow.

At that point I'd like to figure out if there is a way to spread the Blackwell Should Be On The Ballot talk.

Blackwell in 83:

1/6/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Jim Brunzell
Hulk Hogan beat Ken Patera dq
Wahoo McDaniel beat Rene Goulet
Rick Martel beat Bobby Duncum
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
Baron Von Raschke beat Tom Lintz
Att: 6,848

Exhibit One - Winnipeg is still hot. Mad Dog had legs up there it would seem and Blackwell/Adnan has been a hot hand for some time now. Denver, Green Bay and Chicago all headline with the same match though we don't have paid figures for any of the shows. Milwaukee does a slightly below average 3,500 for that match on top, but the semi-main is an arm wrestling match with Ventura and Hogan which is pretty weak support.

2/3/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Cage match
AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel
Ken Patera beat Steve O
Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Duncum
Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe
Baron Von Raschke beat Rene Goulet
Att: 8,896

Return Cage Match in Winnipeg does 2,000 more than the previous show and really an excellent number for Winnipeg in general. SLC, Chicago, and Green Bay all headline with a variation of this match in some cases Adnan subbed out. Blacwell works second from the top at a St. Paul show with Mad Dog in here as well. Sadly we have no numbers again.

3/3/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Hulk Hogan dq
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Wahoo McDaniel no contest Ken Patera
Jesse Ventura beat Brad Rheingans
Rick Martel beat Bobby Heenan COR
John Tolos beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 8,320

Still hot in Winni and Blackwell is still right in the mix. They follow this up with Blackwell/Adnan headlining v. Flyers in LV, SLC and the Cow Palace but no figures. Still this feud is headlining more often than not at this point.
3/13/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel
Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Bobby Heenan & Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura
Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Brad Rheingans beat John Tolos
Curt Hennig beat Jacques Goulet
Steve Regal drew Buck Zumhofe

No number here - this could have been a huge show as Hogan and the Flyers were super hot faces, Heenan was regarded as the devil, Blackwell/Adnan were still hot and that title match seemed to have appeal in St. Paul in 84 (though that may have been the dynamic khawk noted earlier).

3/25/83 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel dq
No dq Match
Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura beat Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon
Greg Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell
Jerry Lawler beat John Tolos
Wahoo McDaniel ddq Sheik Adnan
Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone
A-5,710

Very good number for Milwaukee, near sell out really. Loaded show. Shortly after this they start to run Blackwell in matches Mad Dog that are middle of the card, but would have been extremely strong additions to those shows given both guys stature at that point.

4/13/83 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre
Hulk Hogan beat Jerry Blackwell
Jesse Ventura beat Mad Dog Vachon
Rick Martel beat Greg Gagne
Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Lane
Wendi Richter beat Velvet McIntyre
Joyce Grable beat Judy Martin
Att: 5,500

4/14/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Hulk Hogan & Mad Dog Vachon no contest Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Wahoo McDaniel beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura & Ken Patera
Rick Martel drew Brad Rheingans
Wahoo McDaniel beat John Tolos
Wendi Richter & Joyce Grable beat Velvet McIntyre & Judy Martin
Att: 6,444

I think this has to be read as an extremely successful double whammy. This is 12,000 people in Manitoba in 2 days. The towns are only 120 miles apart. I THINK this is the first time Brandon shows up in results. It is a town of 46,000 - now. No clue what it was then. 5,500 there leads one to believe that the AWA recognized they were red hot in Manitoba and could expand some with bigger shows. They were right and Blackwell main events both. Even opposite Hogan that's a clear notch in his belt.

4/24/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center Super Sunday
Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Hulk Hogan dq
Ken Patera & Jesse Ventura & Blackjack Lanza beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Rick Martel
Jerry Lawler beat John Tolos
Wahoo McDaniel beat Ed Boulder
Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone
Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter beat Judy Martin & Velvet McIntrye

No number, but this was a massive show and a grand slam sell out with close caption venues in neighboring buildings IIRC. Bock v. Hogan traditionally gets most of the credit, but Verne and Mad Dog teaming up was a HUGE fucking deal and Blackwell and Adnan were so fucking hated it was a match made in heaven. Verne on top wasn't entirely glory whoring on his part - it was a legit main event with Hogan v. Bock.

Blackwell continues opposite Mad Dog until they put him together with Patera

5/19/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Wahoo McDaniel
Non Title
Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe
Baron Von Raschke beat Jesse Ventura dq
Att: 3,972

Ok number at best, but this is a kick start to the Blackwell/Patera v. High Flyers feud.

5/21/83 Chicago, IL
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Jerry Lawler
Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza
Mike Graham beat Spike Huber
Jesse Ventura beat Rick Martel
Wilbur Snyder beat Rene Goulet
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal

Would kill for a number here. This looks like a potential disaster to be honest. To the extent there was a crowd you get the feeling it would have been a crowd there to see Blackwell v. Mad Dog with their respective partners just being there for all intents and purposes. They continue to run that match all around the loop though, with an occasional Mad Dog v. Jerry singles.

6/16/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel
Rick Martel beat Blackjack Lanza dq
Brad Rheingans beat Mike Graham
Billy Robinson beat Baron Von Raschke
Bob Burke beat Buck Zumhofe COR
Att: 3,288

Again it's Summer, but this is still a weak showing. Nick v. Wahoo isn't cutting it and the fans are not super interested in Flyers v. Sheiks - yet.

6/18/83 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Mad Dog Vachon beat Jerry Blackwell
Wahoo McDaniel & Jerry Lawler & Dick The Bruiser beat Nick Bockwinkel & Jesse Ventura & Blackjack Lanza
Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan
Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell
Rick Martel beat Bobby Colt
Mike Graham beat Nacho Berrara
Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff

Another figure I wish we had. If this did more than 8,000 I would almost consider it an epic victory for Blackwell as nothing else on this card is going to sell a ticket. Feels like Blackwell v. Mad Dog had to have been a fairly hot feud.

6/26/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel
Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell to win AWA Tag Title
Baron Von Raschke no contest Blackjack Lanza
Bobby Heenan beat Kenny Jay
Buck Zumhofe beat Mr. Saito dq
Brad Rheingans drew Rick Martel
att: 14,000

Bock v. Wahoo has bombed hard in Winnipeg twice. The rest of the card is weak. The Sheiks title win was almost assuredly the top draw on the show.

7/11/83 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Rick Martel & Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Heenan & Blackjack Lanza
Ken Patera beat Mad Dog Vachon
Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell
Greg Gagne beat Mr. Saito dq
David Shults beat Buck Zumhofe
Att 7900

Good number for the City. Hard to tell where the credit should go.

7/14/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Non Title
Mad Dog Vachon & Verne Gagne beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell
Wahoo McDaniel & Baron Von Raschke beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Heenan
Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan
Rick Martel drew Bill White
Mr. Saito beat Buck Zumhofe
David Shults beat Brad Rheingans
Att: 3,136

This is a huge disappointment. Verne should have spiked something especially against the Sheiks who appear to have legs already at this point.

7/24/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest Wahoo McDaniel
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Dick The Bruiser COR
Mr. Saito beat Rick Martel
Buck Zumhofe beat Mike Graham
Jim Brunzell beat David Shults
Baron Von Raschke beat Blackjack Lanza
Brad Rheingans drew Bill White

7/24/83 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran's Memorial Arena
Non Title
Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke beat AWA Tag team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell
Wahoo McDaniel beat AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq in 17:55
Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza in 9:35
Mr Saito beat Buck Zumhofe
Bill White drew Brad Rheingans

Same day shows or typo? Either way I'd be interested to see numbers. Wahoo v. Nick may have heated up some the more it ran.

8/18/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Baron Von Raschke & ??
Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito dq
Jim Brunzell no contest David Shults
Greg Gagne beat Blackjack Lanza
Rick Martel beat Bill White
Att: 5,916

Winnipeg spikes. Wonder who the fuck Baron's partner was. Blackwell ends up with a run of main events after this in Green Bay, San Fran and Milwaukee and working in the semi-main at the UIC under Hogan v. Saito.

9/17/83 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag team champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito & David Shults dq
AWA Light Heavyweight champion Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
Brad Rheingans beat Bill White
Steve Olsonoski drew Blackjack Lanza

Return of High Flyers v. Blackwell and Friends? It headlines right out the gate at a major show, which tells you Verne had confidence in this and high hopes - he was right to have those as 84 shows.

9/22/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat David Shults & Mr. Saito dq
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans COR
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Dino Bravo & Rick Martel
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR
Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan
Buck Zumhofe drew Bill White
Att: 7,860

Almost feels like Canadians v. Sheiks is the real draw here and it's a good number.

9/25/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Brad Rheingans drew AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
Handicap Match
Hulk Hogan beat Mr. Saito & David Shults dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Rick Martel beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Steve O drew Bill White
Att: 15,000+

Really good number. The numbers we have from St. Paul have been good all year. No way Rheingans v. Bock was the draw here. Hogan always helps a great deal, but that six-man would have been a huge factor.

10/20/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Rick Martel won a 20 man Battle royal
Rick Martel & Mad Dog Vachon & Andre the Giant beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Hulk Hogan no contest David Shults
Mr. Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne beat Bill White
Jim Brunzell beat Billy Graham dq
Att: 10,036

10/21/83 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena
Andre The Giant won a 20 man battle royal
Mad Dog Vachon & Andre the Giant & Rick Martel beat Superstar Billy Graham & Mr. Saito & David Shults when Martel pinned Graham in 13:21
Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera via pin in 10:53
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan COR in 7:45
Greg Gagne beat Bill White via pin in 14:08
Billy Robinson drew Ray Stevens 20:00
Also in the battle royal were Steve Olsonoski, Otto Wanz, Brad Rheingans, Baron Von Raschke, Chris Markoff and Sheik Adnan
att: sell out

10/22/83 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
Mad Dog Vachon won battle royal
Andre The Giant & Mad Dog Vachon & Rick Martel beat Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan
Hulk Hogan beat David Shults
Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan
Ray Stevens beat Bill White
Steve Olsonoski beat Chris Markoff
Att: 10,300

Battle Royal season, Andre is in, and Blackwell is a key support player, who would have been positioned as the bad fat guy to Andre's good fat guy in all of these six-mans.

10/23/83 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Mad Dog Vachon won a 20 man battle royal
Hulk Hogan no contest Mr Saito
Non Title
Mad Dog Vachon & Rick Martel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell
Otto Wanz beat Bill White
Blackjack Lanza & Ray Stevens beat Bobby Heenan & Mr Saito
Billy Robinson beat Chris Markoff
att: 19,120

10/28/83 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Rick Martel won battle royal
Non Title, Special Referee: Leo Nomellini
Rick Martel & Mad Dog Vachon beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell
Hulk Hogan drew David Shults
att: 10,640

Even without Andre the battle royals are hot and Blackwell is still right there in the top heel act in the promotion.

11/4/83 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Jim Brunzell won a 20 man Battle Royal
Hulk Hogan & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Baron Von Raschke beat David Shults dq
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan
Billy Robinson beat Bill White
Superstar Billy Graham beat Rick Martel
Brad Rheingans beat Chris Markoff
Att: 18,500

See above

11/9/83 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre
Andre the Giant won a 12 man Battle royal
Greg Gagne beat Superstar Billy Graham
Att: 6,000

11/10/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat David Shults & Mr Saito & Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera
Rick Martel beat Ray Stevens
Billy Robinson drew Brad Rheingans
Bobby Heenan beat Buck Zumhofe
Otto Wanz beat Bill White
Billy Graham beat Blackjack Lanza
Att: 7,804

Another great run in Manitoba, doing almost 14,000 between the two days this time with Andre as an added attraction to be sure.

11/24/83 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon dq
Special Referee: Ray Stevens
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq
Rick Martel drew David Shults
Brad Rheingans dcor Mr Saito
Superstar Billy Graham beat Buck Zumhofe
Billy Robinson beat Bill White
Lord Littlebrook & Little Koko beat Little Tokyo & Johnny Reb
att: 13,163

St. Paul is still really hot and that is a quality double main event.
11/26/83 San Francisco, CA
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Mad Dog Vachon
Special Referee: Ray Stevens
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell dq
att: 3,500

Believe it or not, this is a good figure for San Fran for the AWA at this point.

12/8/83 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera
Bunkhouse Match
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan
Mad Dog Vachon no contest David Shults
Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke
Superstar Billy Graham beat Steve Olsonoski
Bulldog Bob Brown beat Bill White
Att: 5,084

A hair disappointing, but still a good number.

12/18/83 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Lanza COR
AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera beat Greg Gagne & Rick Martel
Mad Dog Vachon & the Crusher (sub for Hogan) beat Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura
Billy Robinson beat Superstar Billy Graham
Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens
Brad Rheingans beat Bill White
att: 9,000

This is fairly close to a sellout. Hogan was advertised but was off to the WWF.

12/25/83 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Mad Dog Vachon beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
Greg Gagne & Baron Von Raschke & Ray Stevens & Jim Brunzell beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Mr. Saito & Sheik Adnan
Jesse Ventura beat Steve Olsonoski
Rick Martel beat Superstar Billy Graham dq
Billy Robinson drew Brad Rheingans 20:00
Buck Zumhofe beat Bill White
att: 18,000

Christmas night is huge again in St. Paul. I think Hogan was advertised here too, but given what we know about 84 I think we have to be careful about overemphasizing his value. Yes he was a draw and a huge one and the top face. But his departure did not kill the territory. Vince utilizing him well and Verne being Verne did. The point is this isn't purely a "came to see Hogan" number. In fact I think this would have done a similar number Hogan or not.

12/26/83 San Francisco, CA
Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Mad Dog Vachon beat Mr. Saito & Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera & Sheik Adnan
Rick Martel beat Billy Graham
Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Heenan
att: 3,000

Again it sounds crazy, but this is a decent number for San Fran at this point ESPECIALLY the night after Christmas.

12/30/83 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell no contest Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke
Rick Martel beat Jesse Ventura (sub David Shults) dq in 7:25
Bunkhouse Match
Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan via pin in 4:12
Ray Stevens (sub Hulk Hogan) beat Mr Saito dq
Greg Gagne beat Superstar Billy Graham via pin in 10:51
Brad Rheingans drew Billy Robinson 20:00
Att: 4,292

Respectable number.

Again you wish we had more numbers, but the Sheiks were the hottest heels in the territory, in particular Blackwell. Jerry was a big part of some huge shows all over the territory and was consistently in the main or semi-main event all over the loop. The Flyers feud was already looking like the huge draw it would prove to be. I'd say Blackwell's 83 has plenty in the way of evidence to show that he was a draw and a major factor in the AWA's financial success that year.

This was a huge show, and it set the table for the Super Sunday Verne comeback as he got laid out by Blackwell and Sheik trying to make the save for Baron and mad Dog. Incredible heat generated here by the Blackwell-Adnan team.


The Civic Center was sold out (18,000+ given as a number IIRC), and the adjoining Roy Wilkins Auditorium also apparently had 5000 or better in to watch in on closed circuit. Overall the numbers here were better than Wrestlerock at the Metrodome 3 years later.


Bob Burke – Leo Burke, FWIW.



This was around the time they were running the Death Matches between Vachon and Blackwell, a culmination of their 3-year feud, of sorts. This could very well have been a death match. These bouts spawned the infamous Vachon “Pine Box” promo with Mean Gene in the Dog’s workshop.



It likely was as this came right on the heels of Heenan selling Ken Patera’s contract for $500,000 to Sheik Adnan so Patera could team with Blackwell.



They sometimes did afternoon/evening shows so it’s possible that’s what happened here.



If I had to guess I’d bet Wahoo was Raschke’s partner for this one. Just a guess, though.



Hogan returning very close to this date after being away since the Super Sunday show (coupled with a big Fan drive to petition Hogan to return) cannot be discounted as a big attraction, either.



I agree as Christmas night in St. Paul was traditionally a very good drawing show.

That 3/83 Civic Center Show with the Mad Dog/Baron v. Blackwell/Adnan angle is great shit that everyone should see. On tape it does not look like a sellout, but it is a very big crowd and an insanely rabid one. The match itself is awesome and pre-match they do an angle where Wally Karbo comes out and says since Adnan has his cast, the babyfaces are going to be allowed to tape up there fist. Post-match when Verne is attacked by Sheiks v. 1.0 there is literally a riot, with fans punching Blackwell in the face as he races to the back. One of the hottest and craziest things I've seen from wrestling during that period. This is also my darkhorse favorite for #1 on the pending AWA Set

Blackwell interfered for the Sheik to beat Vachon, noteworthy as he either had just become affiliated with the Sheik, or this was the start of it. vachon vs. Sheik was an offshoot of Sheik-Bockwinkel from December 1981, with Vachon as the Special referee. Same finish as the more-famous St. Paul bout with Raschke as the referee, where the face ref ends up giving Kaissie an accidental chair shot while swinging for Bockwinkel, and then having to count out the Sheik since he was KOed. One post-match attack by the Sheik later, and the next feud is born...




I’d say based on the video of the 6-man from the Minneapolis show, it was likely a sell-out or near to it.



The setup for the Sheiks-Flyers feud was likely the same in every town: Karbo can’t find an opponent for the Flyers on short notice since the team he had lined up (Japanese or something like that) had to cancel, so Karbo asks the Flyers to do him a favour and wrestle the Sheiks in a non-title match. The Flyers are not happy but agree to take the match for Wally’s sake, but they make it clear that this new team has not earned any sort of title matches.

Sheiks win the non-title match, and out of it earn title shots…and the Flyers react suitably pissed in interviews promoting the title bouts. Very nicely done in the interview circle here.

The COR wins for the Flyers was interesting as the Sheiks scored the pin with one of the Flyers feet on the ropes. Titles are awarded to the Sheiks, and they immediately leave the ring and go back to the dressing room. Someone comes in (promoter, wrestler) and tells the ref about the feet on the ropes, and the ref restarts the match. Sheiks don’t know the match is restarted, and get counted out when they don’t return. Flyers win by COR. This finish was done pretty much around the horn in the Sheiks initial title challenge.



Patera and Duncum were red-hot as a team and seen by more fans as the team likely to beat Gagne and Brunzell, believe it or not. Even the Apter mags bumped up patera and Duncum to the top 5 or 6 in their tag rankings, something the rarely if ever did with AWA challenging tag teams (usually an entry in 9th or 10th in the ratings was as high as they would go with an AWA challenging team).



The Sheiks vs. Patterson/Stevens bout would have been a Number 1 contender match, with the winner getting a shot at the Flyers. But, then this…

9/23/82 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Non Title
Dino Bravo & Rick Martel beat AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
AWA Champion Otto Wanz beat Nick Bockwinkel
Adrian Adonis beat Baron Von Raschke
Bobby Heenan beat Ray Stevens dq
Ken Patera & Bobby Duncum no contest Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan
Sgt Jacques Goulet beat Buddy Lane
Att: 6,588

No kidding, the Flyers likely decided that they would give a rematch to Bravo and Martel and made the Sheiks have ANOTHER #1 contenders match for the next title shot. It was not above the Flyers to be made to seem like they were dictating their challengers at times. This was not uncommon for AWA champs in both divisions to pull. Verne and Mad Dog did the same thing against Ventura and Adonis in 1980.

Interesting that on the 11/82 card in Winnipeg, The Flyers gave the title shot to Patera and Duncum over the Sheiks, after the two teams had a no-contest. Perhaps the Sheiks got a shot on the October card?

Anyhow, it was a technique that the AWA braintrust used to spread out the length of their feuds, and not a bad one considering that the talent roster was somewhat limited in numbers.

Of note is that St. Paul on Christmas night in 82 had the Sheiks vs. the Flyers with Curt Hennig as the referee. Big heat for that one, and likely a very strong crowd (Hogan vs. Jesse was a co-main on that show..not sure if Bock defended or not).

It's excellent and the fact that the match is shot using the alternate "Raw Footage" camera with no announcers and no filter on the crowd noise amps it up even more.

Really basic aside but Wade Keller who grew up watching AWA always speaks highly of Blackwell as a BIG star/deal. I wonder what he thinks about it.

There's an interesting question in itself: Does Wade Keller get a HOF ballot?

Not sure on Wade but they seem to have had a good relationship at the time the HoF started even if they don't now.

One would hope SOMEONE with some clout with Dave would go to bat for Blackwell. I have no fucking clout with Dave but thought the case was worth exploring. At minimum Blackwell is someone who should be on the ballot and discussed seriously. I think the High Flyers are a lost cause, though I may pull some numbers over for them later this week and I suspect a lot of folks will be shocked at how important they were to the AWA for almost ten years.

Buddy Rose would be my other pet cause, but I'm not sure I can find Portland figures, nor do I think Dave would give a shit since he lives in a World where we are supposed to ignore the business models of various territories and/or analyze them senselessly. Rose is also hindered by the fact that the discovery of his footage is recent and Dave apparently despises going back and watching old footage. So even though Dave and smarks were high on Rose at the time and the consensus for years was that he was a great worker who's prime we would unfortunately never see so his real status will never be known, there will be no attempt to contextualize Rose as a worker now because it's "unfair" to judge things outside of the era when they occurred or some such shit.

Dave spoke of the AWA so condescendingly in his early newsletters that it would take someone pretty close to him to convince him of Blackwell's legitimacy as a candidate. He would need to see and study Blackwell from 80 - 84 to get it, if he had any inclination to "get it" in this case.

Same reason the High Flyers would never seriously get consideration, unfortunately.

This is interesting, and I think it's worth starting the conversation somewhere where Dave can see it and may respond for sure.

The reason I think this is a compelling case is because you're basing candidacy on ring work and attendance figures, not just one or the other. Usually, when someone like Dundee or whoever gets advocated, I can't get on board because there's something consistent about everyone who has been inducted based on ring work. They all have reps. A guy who is among the best ever in the ring who doesn't have the rep for being among the best ever in the ring isn't a HOF candidate. It's perception over reality when it comes to the HOF, which sounds like a backhanded compliment, but is really (mostly) not.

I actually think Buddy Rose has "the rep" from the perspective that he was widely regarded as a "Holy Grail" type. I.E. "damn I wish we had more footage, because what we have is great." Really think what kills him is that Dave is a fierce opponent of going back and exploring old footage "out of context" - even if it is in context with everything else from that era. This is also something that hurts the World of Sport guys. They have reps, even among voters and people who have been in the "smart fan" universe for years. The problem is that they aren't going to be watched, pimped, or promoted by the guy running the show.

Not sure that he still has one.

I do remember him talking about having one and kind of apologising on an audio when the subject came up stating not having time to devote to it during the time of his son's birth two or three years ago.

Probably ask him on Twitter now what he thinks.

I don't think Dave would be against putting Rose on the ballot. Indeed, I thought Dave's obituary in 2009 built a strong case that he was maybe an overlooked candidate for the HOF and put him over strong as a worker, so I'm surprised that he wasn't put on the ballot after his death.

The problem with the High Flyers, Blackwell and even Rose as HOF candidates is that a lot of the voters put great stock in getting over as headliners in multiple territories, especially places like New York and St. Louis. They'd be very hard to get elected given the electorate's current mentality.

True, but one could (and should) argue that teams or singles that maintained a strong, steady drawing power in one area for years, in an era where the majority or wrestlers travelled to different territories to stay fresh, are perhaps more impressive in their drawing power, in the sense that they keep drawing in the same core audience time after time.

Just wanted to add to the praise for the work here, guys. KHawk, that Blackwell stuff is outstanding.

There was a time that I thought I might sit out the AWA 80's set. Not after reading this stuff. Can't wait for it now.

You absolutely do not want to sit out on the AWA Set. In many respects it is the most "wide open" set because the company had such a huge variety of guys come through during the 80s and while there are a few usual suspects as far as top contenders go (Bock v. Hennig, if you have been around long enough Rose/Somers v. Midnight Rockers), the possibilities for number one are not as locked in as they are with the other sets. In other words I think there is less bias coming in and more opportunity to discover things that have been almost totally forgotten. Blackwell is great and will be one of the stars of the set.

To Keith's point about the "national star" talking point, I think that is precisely why Meltzer has not placed Rose on the ballot. McAdam made the same criticism of Rose recently in a thread at Classics where he insisted Adonis was a better worker than Rose largely because Adonis "made it" nationally and Rose didn't. Of course Rose/Somers was maybe the last consistently compelling heel act in the AWA, Rose got over very well in San Fran, he was a Backlund challenger in NYC and Philly and he largely didn't "make it" nationally because he could make huge money, working a close to home schedule, for the most honest promoter in the United States. But as I noted before Meltzer is not a huge fan of looking at those sort of contextual realities. Instead he wants to harp on about how Edge was the lead heel of "two different territories" at once, or how HHH was on a bunch of huge money making shows so is a much better candidate than guys who merely anchored successful territories for years by themselves (Colon, Rose).

It may be worth noting that Blackwell worked on top in Memphis v. Lawler and was over. Also worth noting perhaps that Blackwell was at least a star of some magnitude in St. Louis if everything I've heard is true. I tend to think those things are barely relevant to his candidacy, and I'm not certain he is an HoFer, but it is really absurd that he's not on the ballot.

High Flyers were never going to be national stars. Not because they weren't good enough, but because they were hugely important to the AWA and Greg was never going anywhere else for reasons that are obvious. Should I even bother with a High Flyers attendance breakdown?

K, so something i've been thinking about lately.

Someone mentioned pages & pages ago in this thread about Chris Daniels being a draw on the indies. A number of people have paid specifically to go see him wrestle so technically that's true but if that amount is only in the hundreds or even 1000 range it's hardly THAT impressive.

I know there's no magic # but in general, how large does a crowd have to be for it to be impressive enough that you can claim it on your resume as one of the factors in your HoF candidacy? More then a couple thousand? 5000+??? 5 digit range?

And once that person does reach that #, how many times does he have to hit it?

Would someone who consistently drew crowds of a few thousand but rarely anything mega huge be a better candidate then someone who has a few giant gates a year and then low level stuff the rest of the time?

My problem with Daniels isn't that he only drew 1000 people here or there it's that A. I don't think he was ever a draw in any meaningful sense and B. Even if he was in a more abstract sense he was never an anchor of a promotion that was financially successful.

To me the size of the crowds matters to the extent that someone who is the anchor of an indy in East TN that regularly draws 400 people doesn't belong in a Hall of Fame. But if you are the anchor of a promotion that runs a loop, is clearly financially successful, are regarded by most as the biggest draw in the history of that territory, et I see no reason why you shouldn't be strongly considered and I would definitely value the candidacy of a person like that over the candidacy of someone who just happened to get pushed for a couple of years after there was only one megashow left in town.

Decided to do 85 for Blackwell because why the fuck not? It's fun and it gives us an interesting look in general since the promotion was on the decline, but had some ups and downs of note:

1/8/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat King Kong Brody & Sheik Adnan
Fabulous Ones & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig
Brad Rheingans beat Sheik Adnan COR
Att 8987

1/10/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
TV Taping
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Sgt. Slaughter beat Mr. Saito dq
Jimmy Garvin beat John Nord dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Brian Jewel & Rob Rechsteiner
Att: 5,628

That's a very good figure for a Blackwelless SLC, but look at the show - it's fucking loaded. Hard to imagine a more loaded show for 85 AWA than that as you have Bock, Brody, Hennigs (with Curt doing double duty), a World Title match and Roadies v. Fabs. hard to say if the fact that it was a TV Taping helped Winnipeg or not, but that feels like a hot main event and the fact is it's up over 2,000 from the previous Winnipeg show where Blackwell was third from the top against aged Billy Robinson.

1/12/85 Milwaukee, WI
Fabulous Ones & The Crusher beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Lights Out Match
King Kong Brody beat Jerry Blackwell
Jimmy Garvin beat Jim Brunzell via pin
Nick Bockwinkel drew Curt Hennig
Masked Superstar beat Tom Stone via pin
Brad Rheingans beat Jake Milliman (sub Mr. Saito)
Att: 5,741
Note: Milwaukee Sentinel says Blackwell beat Brody

That's less than 500 away from a sellout in Milwaukee, with what looks like a very hot double main event and not much else of note on the show (Bock v. Curt didn't "heat up" til later and I'm not sure it ever did impressive business).

1/13/85 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center evening
Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
No dq match, Sheik Adnan handcuffed to Sgt. Slaughter
Jerry Blackwell beat King Kong Brody COR
The Crusher & Fabulous Ones beat the Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan
Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig dq
Baron Von Raschke drew Billy Robinson
John Nord beat Jimmy Doo
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
att: 11,000

This is a strong number, though the show is really loaded. You could argue it could have done better, but it seems wrong to pan a 10k plus show in the AWA. Hard to pinpoint what was moving business, but it is worth noting that Brody v. Blackwell is the hottest feud in the territory by a safe margin if you are going by the tv.

1/17/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion
Lights Out match
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar (sub King Kong Brody)
Jimmy Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Non title
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig (subs for Fabulous Ones) beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans
Jim Brunzell beat Steve Regal
att: 3,000

This is a very good number for Showboat I would imagine.

1/30/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
No dq match
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar (sub King Kong Brody)
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig (Subs for Fabulous Ones) & Baron Von Raschke beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Sgt. Slaughter beat Nick Bockwinkel
Pat Barrett drew Guy Lambert
Att 4900

Very good number for the Palace, bordering on great when you see how shitty that town had been drawing in prior years. Also interesting that Superstar v. Blackwell went on last and the title match was in the mid-card. I would venture to guess this had to do with what matches were garnering the most heat as Blackwell v. Brody was the hot feud. Also worth noting that Superstar was plugged in fairly effectively as a replacement for Brody from a storyline perspective which I think speaks well of Eadie, Adnan (who was hated) and Blackwell.

2/3/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Jerry Blackwell no contest Masked Superstar
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Sgt. Slaughter & Nick Bockwinkel dq
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat King Tonga & Sheik Adnan
Larry Hennig beat John Nord
Curt Hennig beat Drew Tossell
Tom Zenk drew Steve Regal

Would love a number for this. I doubt the crowd knew this would be Superstar and figured it would be Brody and yet Verne STILL put this on last. Again that speaks well of Blackwell as the top face at this point.


2/7/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Blackjack Lanza (sub Jerry Blackwell) & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga (sub King Kong Brody) dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Tom Zenk drew Steve Regal
Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig
Buddy Lane beat Rick Renslow
John Nord beat Drew Tossell
att: 4,108

Blackwell misses the show, presumably as a no-show of some kind, i.e. last second switch out. This is an ok number for Winnipeg, but I'm curious if they offer refunds as two subs in the main event could have caused some people to say "fuck this."


2/20/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
King Tonga & Masked Superstar beat Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
Steve Regal beat Tom Zenk
John Nord beat Sheik Adnan COR
Samoan Samula beat Guy Lambert dq
att: 1,981

2/21/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Lights Out Match
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar
Jim Garvin beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
King Tonga beat Tom Zenk
John Nord beat Steve Regal
Att: 7754.

2/22/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel dcor Bob Backlund
Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Mr. Saito & Masked Superstar & King Tonga beat Steve O & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
John Nord drew Tom Zenk
Att 10,000+

What's funny is that 2k is actually not awful for the Cow Palace, though it's less than half of the last show. Looking at the card that's no surprise. SLC is still holding really strong. St. Paul turns in another good number. Blackwell is notably placed in the last match of all of these cards. Pretty clear Verne sees him as his money making babyface and there is no reason to think he was wrong.

3/4/85 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada @ PNE Coliseum
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Brunzell
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Mr. Saito & Moose Morowski
Lights Out match
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar
Jim Brunzell beat Sheik Adnan
Buck Zumhofe beat Moondog Moretti
Steve Austin beat John Baker
Att: 1,500

At this point you see Verne starting to move into a couple of oddball spots out West. I have no clue why they were trying to run Vancouver now, unless Verne was just pissed at Tomko for some reason. No clue if this is a good figure for the town or not. Not surprising that they would run title matches on top in a "new" town.

3/7/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
King Tonga beat Sgt. Slaughter dq
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar
Jerry Blackwell drew Sheik Adnan
Billy Robinson beat Buddy Lane
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
att: 5,208

Winnipeg still holding pretty solid. Interesting card and if it is the show I'm thinking you clearly have to credit Blackwell for a lot of this. The result doesn't say it, but this was a match where If Blackwell beat Eadie he got five minutes with Adnan. Crowd was molten for it, it's a great match(es?), and it definitely felt like the biggest thing on the show.


3/8/85 St Louis, MO
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Missouri State Champion Jerry Blackwell beat Bulldog Bob Brown
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Masked Superstar & Mr Saito
Sgt Slaughter dcor Wahoo McDaniel
Mike Von Erich beat Jimmy Garvin
American Starship beat Marty Jannetty & Steve Olsonoski
Dick the Bruiser beat Mr Pogo dq
Rufus R Jones beat Ken Timbs
att: 2,610

Wow. No clue what to think of this. This is probably a Central States promoted show...or is it? Hard to tell. Feels like a shitty figure, but why the fuck was Verne running that town assuming this wasn't Geigel and friends?

3/9/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Special Referee: Verne Gagne
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga & Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
Curt Hennig beat Billy Robinson
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Candi Devine beat Diane Von Hoffman
John Nord drew Tom Zenk

Would like a figure here. Also worth noting that the High Flyers have re-emerged on the last several shows.


3/10/85 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran’s Memorial Arena
Strap Match
Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar
King Tonga beat Sgt. Slaughter dq
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito when Brunzell pinned Bockwinkel
Candi Devine beat Diane Von Hoffman via pin
Non Title
Buck Zumhofe beat AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal via pin

Wonder how this did. GB was an interesting town to monitor as it only seemed to draw huge for molten programs. This is followed up by a bizarre run of shows in modest sized upstate NJ towns. No fucking clue what the point of that was. No figures on them, but Jerry isn't on the shows anyhow.

3/16/85 Oakland, CA
If Blackwell wins, Jerry gets 5 minutes with Sheik Adnan
Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga dq when Adnan & Masked Superstar interfered
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel (sub Jim Garvin)
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Masked Superstar
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Jerry Monti beat Don Stevenson
att: 3,400

In a fit of insanity Verne is running split crews, with Slaughter headlining in NJ and Blackwell headlining here. Notable non-Cow Palace show in the Bay Area. Probably a wise move as this does a good figure for that general area by AWA standards of the time and it was probably cheaper to run this venue.

3/19/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Brunzell
Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne dq
Misty Blue beat Linda Dallas
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Att 4502

Verne the lunatic runs a split show again, this time with Baron/Backlund headlining against Nagasaki/Saito in NY. As a result both shows are weak and SLC shits the bed for the first time since Blackwell was MIA in 84. Not really an awful number for the town, but clearly a bad sign.

3/23/85 New Haven, CT @ Veteran's Memorial Coliseum
Tonga Kid won a $50,000.00 battle royal
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Sgt. Slaughter beat Kamala dq
Tonga Kid beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Bob Backlund beat Kendo Nagasaki
Mark Youngblood & Jay Youngblood drew The Samoans
Att: 7000

3/23/85 Middleton, WI
The Crusher & Larry Hennig & Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar & Mr. Saito & King Tonga dq
Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
Mr. Saito beat Curt Hennig
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Tom Zenk beat Rick Stoansky

The split shows continue. That's a good number for New Haven, but again you have to wonder why on Earth they are trying to run that area. No number on the Middleton show which looks to be a small town spot show. With that lineup I'd be shocked if it wasn't a sell out.

3/24/85 Denver, CO @ Auditorium Arena afternoon
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq
Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter drew Mr. Saito & King Tonga & Masked Superstar
Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Att 4719.

3/24/85 St Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Handicap Match
Jerry Blackwell & Sgt Slaughter no contest King Tonga & Masked Superstar & Mr Saito
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig & The Crusher beat Paul Ellering & the Road Warriors
Jim Brunzell drew Billy Robinson
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Tom Zenk beat Rick Stoansky
att: 5,500

We don't have a previous number of note in Denver so I have no clue if that is a good figure or not. This is a shit number for the Civic Center on a show that should have done well.

3/28/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq
Larry Hennig (sub The Crusher) beat King Tonga
Mr. Saito beat Curt Hennig
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Tom Zenk beat Brian Jewell
Att: 5,628

Winnipeg is still alive and kicking, Jerry or not.

3/31/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
The Crusher no contest King Tonga
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Kendo Nagasaki & Mr. Saito
Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko dq
AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Billy Robinson beat Tom Zenk
Att: 9,600

4/5/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Jerry Blackwell beat Mr. Saito
Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Att 2054

Finally a Rosemont number and it's a pretty good one for a hot double main event. No Blackwell on the show. Blackwell in the mid-card in SLC which continues to sink. They seem to be trying to ween off of Blackwell v. Adnan and friends on top.

4/10/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion
Handicap match
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq
Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne dq
Mr. Saito beat Jim Brunzell
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe

4/11/85 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada @ PNE Coliseum
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
Jerry Blackwell beat King Tonga dq
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke dq
Masked Superstar beat Moose Morowski
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Butch Reed beat Ricky Lee Jones
Att 1,000

I think this sort of illustrates the idiocy of Verne. This is a thousand mile turnaround, plus dealing with customs, for a new town, with a limited payoff. At this point shit like this is hurting the promotion as much as anything.

4/15/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Jerry Blackwell beat Mr. Saito
Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
att: 2,054

SLC is effectively dead at this point. I'd be interested to see the figures for the GB Cage Match and Milwaukee match with Slaughter/Blackwell v. Roadies from Milwaukee that proceeded this match.

4/18/85 Washington DC
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Bob Backlund COR
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff dq
Tonga Kid beat Larry Zbyszko dq
The Samoans beat Superstar & King Tonga
Handicap match
Kamala beat Tom Zenk & Steve O
Larry Sharpe beat Sean O'Reilly

4/19/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat King Tonga
Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko
Ugandan Death Match
Kamala beat Sgt. Slaughter
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid
Jim Duggan beat Kendo Nagasaki
The Samoans beat Tom Zenk & Steve O
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
Bobby Duncum beat Larry Sharpe
Att 10,000

East Coast swing. 10k is a good number for a Meadowlands show with essentially foreign talent. Blackwell stayed away from the East Coast swings as a rule.

4/21/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Cage match
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & King Tonga & Masked Superstar
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig dq
Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito
Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans beat Larry Zbyszko & Butch Reed
Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid beat Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum
Steve Olsonoski & Tom Zenk beat The Alaskans
att: 12,000

This is a really good St. Paul number at this point. Verne helped. Roadies helped. The fans were probably ready for the ultimate Blackwell blowoff against Adnan and this was it. Also a really great match.

4/23/85 Mound, MN
Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne beat Sheik Adnan & Nick Bockwinkel
Butch Reed beat Steve O
Jim Brunzell beat Alaskan II
Rick Stotsky drew Alaskan I
Att 1800

Rare spot show number. Almost definitely a sellout or close to it. It's clear this is a one match show.

4/24/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Cage match
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Jerry Blackwell beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Mr. Saito
Jimmy Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
Sgt. Slaughter beat Sheik Adnan dq
Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Butch Reed beat Brian Jewel
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Tom Zenk & Rick Stonsky
att: 6,636

Really good number for Winnipeg which remains a solid town, probably the most reliable in the territory. That main event would prove to be effective elsewhere.


4/25/85 Gayville, NY
Larry Zbyszko beat Bob Backlund COR
Samula & Tonga Kid beat Billy Robinson & Bobby Duncum
Tonga Kid beat Kendo Nagasaki
Larry Sharpe beat Jim ?
Att: 800

4/25/85 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre
Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan & Mr. Saito
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Hennig
Ray Stevens beat Ron Ritchie
Tom Zenk & Curt Hennig beat The Alaskans
Butch Reed beat Rick Stoansky

Another idiotic split show day, this time in two smaller towns. I wonder how that main event did in Brandon.

4/27/85 Madison, WI
Jerry Blackwell & Larry Hennig no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat King Tonga
The Crusher & Brad Rheingans beat Masked Superstar & Sheik Adnan
Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Jim Brunzell & Curt Hennig
Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal

4/28/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Cage match
Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell & Verne Gagne beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan
Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig drew AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne & Tonga Kid
Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher beat Butch Reed & Larry Zbyszko
Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito beat Brad Rheingans & Tom Zenk
Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal

5/3/85 Denver, CO
Cage Match
Jerry Blackwell & The Crusher & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin
Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel
Fabulous Freebirds beat Jim Brunzell & Steve O
Butch Reed beat Tom Zenk

How often did they run Madison? Interesting that they are running a variation of the successful St. Paul Cage Match around the horn (including a spot show at a high school I didn't list). I'm guessing that Rosemont show did a really good number.

5/5/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors drew Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin
Butch Reed beat Jim Brunzell via pin
King Tonga drew Brad Rheingans
Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
Att: 3,203

5/8/85 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
Cage Match
Sgt. Slaughter & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Cage Match
Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan
Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Brad Rheingans beat Butch Reed dq
Samula beat Drew Tossell
att: 5,000

Weak number for Milwaukee, though not total trash. Really fucking good number for the Cow Palace for a double cage main event.

5/10/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Sgt. Slaughter & Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig beat Road Warriors & Paul Ellering
Cage match
Jerry Blackwell beat Sheik Adnan
Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin
Butch Reed beat Buck Zumhofe
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
att: 10,455

This double cage main event continues to do good business. This is a MASSIVE number for a town that been dead to the World.

5/23/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko
Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke COR
The Crusher beat Rick Renslow
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Larry Zbyszko beat Ron Ritchie
att: 1,900

Winnipeg finally croaks. Show doesn't look awful, but isn't the strongest. Notable that Roadies, Blackwell and Sarge are all absent.

5/25/85 Chicago
Jerry Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter beat Road Warrior Animal & Paul Ellering (sub RW Hawk)
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Buddy Roberts (sub King Tonga)
Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts dq
Butch Reed no contest The Crusher
Nick Bockwinkel beat Brad Rheingans
Larry Zbyszko (sub Jim Garvin) beat Baron Von Raschke
Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe
Steve Regal drew Steve O
att: 5,000
Note: Terry Gordy also no showed.

Weak number. Probably did not help that they were coming off a massive show from before, but this is still bad.

Blackwell and Roadies goes into hibernation.

6/7/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Billy Robinson
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel
No dq match
Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O
Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 4043

6/8/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts & Butch Reed beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke when Reed pinned Von Raschke
Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq when Martel tossed Bockwinkel over the top rope
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq when Zbyszko hit the referee
Brad Rheingans drew Steve Regal
Ray Stevens beat Steve O via pin
Att: 2,848

Yikes

6/9/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel
No title change. Decision later reversed.
Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne & Steve Olsonoski (sub Jim Brunzell)
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Baron Von Raschke & Brad Rheingans & Buck Zumhofe beat Bobby Duncum & Billy Robinson & Steve Regal
Butch Reed beat Dave Wagner
att: 1,500

6/13/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig drew Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal
Handicap match
Butch Reed beat Rick Renslow & Brian Jewel
Larry Zbyszko beat Steve O
Buck Zumhofe beat Dave Wagner
att: 1,864

This is holy shit bad, Summer or not. Absence of Roadies, Blackwell is hurting every fucking town. Meanwhile Verne is still doing dumb shit like running Asbury Park.

6/21/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel
Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts & Butch Reed beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko to win Americas title
Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel
Ray Stevens beat Steve O
Brad Rheingans drew Billy Robinson
att: 4,000

6/22/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands
Boot Camp Cage match
Sgt. Slaughter beat Kamala
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Wahoo McDaniel beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne & Jim Duggan
Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke
Bobby Duncum beat Steve O
Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe
Little Coco & Little Mr. T beat Johnny Rebel & Lord Littlebrook

No number on the Meadlowlands but you can't blame them for running that show given the relative success of the previous show. Rosemont number is shit, down another thousand from the last figure we have there.

6/30/85 Milwaukee, WI @ Auditorium
Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy dq
Butch Reed beat Baron Von Raschke
Bob Backlund drew Larry Zbyszko
Ray Stevens beat Buck Zumhofe
Billy Robinson beat Steve O
Brad Rheingans beat Rick Gantner
Att: 2200

Milwaukee is quarter full and nearing death. Birds v. Old Men isn't moving anywhere, and Sarge is missing some of these shows too which makes the three hottest acts in the AWA MIA

7/10/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Showboat Sports Pavilion
Sgt. Slaughter won battle royal
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Fabulous Freebirds beat Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne
Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke
Billy Robinson beat Bob Backlund
Brad Rheingans drew Ray Stevens
att: 1500

7/11/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko
Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Roberts
Boris Zhukov beat Baron Von Raschke
Att: 1400

Vegas number is probably not bad, but half capacity at best in the Showboat. SLC is practically in the grave and will need something major to come out of it's funk.

7/14/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko
Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe
Boris Zhukov beat Baron Von Raschke
Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook
Att 2500

Roadies come black, Blackwell doesn't, number is still utter dog shit. Things may not be salvageable at this point. Expanding into other markets and having your three biggest acts off key shows even during your "down" period historically is awful business on Verne's part.

7/18/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Larry Hennig & Baron Von Raschke
Sleeper vs Sleeper Match
Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel reverse decision
Boris Zhukov beat Buck Zumhofe
Ray Stevens beat Brian Jewell (sub Curt Hennig)
Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo
att: 3,224

7/19/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko
Joyce Grable won a women’s battle royal
Baron Von Raschke drew Billy Robinson
Ray Stevens beat Greg Gagne dq
Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Roberts
Bob Backlund beat Larry Sharpe
Boris Zhukov beat Sean O'Reilly
Att: 4500

7/20/85 Chicago, IL
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes
Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne dq
Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat The Crusher & Buck Zumhofe
Billy Robinson beat Baron Von Raschke
Boris Zhukov beat Steve O
Cowboy Lang & Little Coco beat Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo
Bill Irwin beat Drew Tossell
Att: 3000

Winnipeg is up some but still weak. Meadowlands is not worth it at that point and it's notable that Roadies v. Birds did very little business. Chicago slides another thousand. Paging Dr. Blackwell?

8/8/85 Las Vegas, NV @ Riviera Hotel
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes dq
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
Boris Zhukov beat Steve O
Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke
Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe
Steve O drew Billy Robinson
Att 3000

8/9/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Boot Camp Match
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko & Nick Bockwinkel
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes
Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke
Boris Zhukov beat Steve O
Buck Zumhofe beat Ray Stevens dq
Steve O drew Billy Robinson
att: 7753

Ah, the Riveria Hotel! That's a good number for Vegas and SLC is up! Semi-shocking given how dead it had been.

8/11/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors no contest Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Curt Hennig & Rick Martel beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
Nick Bockwinkel beat Greg Gagne
Sgt Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko
Kabuki beat Chris Adams dq
Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq
Buck Zumhofe beat Iron Duke
Jim Garvin beat Kevin Kelly
Tom Zenk beat Rick Renslow

8/16/85 East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands
Sgt. Slaughter beat NWA Champion Ric Flair dq
Paul Ellering & Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Larry Zbyszko
Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq
Baron Von Raschke beat Davey G
Att: 7,000

No number for St. Paul which is too bad. Meadowlands number is respectable enough and up, but you still have to wonder why they are running there and this should have done better with two title matches, Roadies v. Birds and Flair on the show.

8/18/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Boot Camp match
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens
NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Billy Robinson
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts beat Rick Martel & Jerry Blackwell & Larry Hennig dq
Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov dq
Bill Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko
Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner
Att: 6000

This boot camp match has popped a few towns to Sarge's credit. This isn't a good number for Chicago really, but considering where it was this is progress. This is also the return of Blackwell and Flair is on the show.

8/19/85 Fairbanks, AK
Sgt. Slaughter beat Nick Bockwinkel
Jerry Blackwell & Greg Gagne beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Larry Zbyzsko beat Baron Von Raschke
Curt Hennig beat Billy Robinson
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 375

8/20/85 Anchorage, AK
Sgt. Slaughter beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Jerry Blackwell beat Terry Gordy
Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke
Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal dq
Att: 2250.

8/21/85 Kenai, AK
Jerry Blackwell & Buck Zumhofe beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Terry Gordy beat Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig
Billy Robinson beat Drew Tossell
Att: 325

Insane Verne strikes again. A part of me thinks it is almost impressive that they did any numbers in Alaska at all, but why the fuck were they even running there???

8/21/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Holy Cross School
TV Taping
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner & Monty Black
Tom Zenk drew Nick Bockwinkel
Scott Hall beat Man Mountain Mike Moore
Boris Zhukov beat Chris Basset
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Brian Jewel & Randy Rose
Tom Zenk beat Rob Rechsteiner
Rick Martel beat Man Mountain Mike
Scott Hall beat Bob Adams
Boris Zhukov beat Monty Black
Nick Bockwinkel beat Tom Lucas
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat T-Bone Brown & Chris Basset
Tom Zenk beat Brian Jewel
Scott Hall beat Rob Rechsteiner
Boris Zhukov beat Brian Jewel

8/22/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Boris Zhukov beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Tom Zenk & Larry Hennig & Jerry Blackwell beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
Baron Von Raschke beat Nick Bockwinkel COR
Tom Zenk beat Steve Regal
Bulldog Bob Brown beat Man Mountain Mike Moore
Scott Hall drew Larry Zbyszko
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Rob Rechsteiner & Buck Zumhofe
Bulldog Bob Brown beat Brian Jewel
Att: 4,208

More stupidity as Verne runs tv the day before in the same town. This is an averagish number for Winnipeg, but why the fuck would he essentially double book the same town??

8/26/85 Boston, MA
AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Nick Bockwinkel
Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov
Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal
Brad Rheingans beat Billy Robinson

Verne decides to try out Boston. God knows why. Blackwell is working on top on most shows without figures during this period.

9/8/85 St. Paul, MN
ESPN TV Taping
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Kamala dq
Terry Gordy beat Jerry Blackwell dq
Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko
Buck Zumhofe beat Sgt. Slaughter dq
Baron Von Raschke beat Bill Irwin
Larry Hennig drew Scott Irwin
Larry Clark beat Stan Hansen dq
Jerry Oski & Brad Rheingans drew Wild Bill & Scott Hog Irwin
Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal dq
Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Roberts
Stan Hansen beat Paul Garner
Billy Robinson beat Randy Barber
att: 4,000

Was this at the Civic Center? I'm guessing not.

9/14/85 Milwaukee, WI
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko & Nick Bockwinkel dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Michael Hayes
Terry Gordy beat Jerry Blackwell dq
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke & Curt Hennig
att: 3,672

Milwaukee trending up a bit, though this is still only a bit over half full and less than what you need.

9/17/85 Anchorage, AK
Sgt. Slaughter beat Michael Hayes dq
Boris Zhukov beat Brad Rheingans
Sgt. Slaughter & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Larry Zbyszko
Curt Hennig drew Bill Irwin
Scott Irwin beat Drew Tossel
Att: 1,800

9/18/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Brad Rheingans & Baron Von Raschke beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy dq
Magnum TA beat Ivan Koloff
Baron Von Raschke beat Jim Garvin dq
Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe
Brad Rheingans beat Buddy Roberts COR
Jerry Oski beat Billy Robinson dq

More WTF? Split crewish stuff from Verne.

9/19/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Wally Karbo Tribute Card
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov dq
Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes
Tom Zenk & Curt Hennig beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Jim Garvin beat Buck Zumhofe
Baron Von Raschke beat Buddy Roberts
Buddy Lane beat Steve Regal
Att: 3,600

Below average, but this is above the abyssmal number from the Summer. Probably would have been better - but Verne did tv at the high school the night before. At least it wasn't a huge tv like the previous one, but still. Blackwell continues to main event in the majority of shows around the loop.

9/28/85 Chicago, IL @ Comiskey Park
NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Magnum TA
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors to win title
(Decision quickly reversed by video replay)
Stan Hansen no contest AWA Champion Rick Martel
Kerry Von Erich beat Jimmy Garvin
Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff & Khrusher Khrushchev beat Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko
Sgt Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov dq
Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenyru beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin & Harley Race
Bodyslam match
Jerry Blackwell beat Kamala
Mil Mascaras beat Buddy Roberts
Sherri Martel beat Candi Divine to win the AWA Women's title
Steve Regal beat Brad Rheingans
att: 20,347

AWA loads things up and goes balls out. Blackwell v. Kamala is deep is mid-card and feels like an after thought. This is a good number, but you almost feel like it could have been a lot better.

9/29/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Road Warriors to win AWA tag title
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jumbo Tsuruta
Handicap Match
Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff
Jerry Blackwell & Little Mr. T beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Shohei Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenyru no contest Stan Hansen & Larry Zbyszko
Scott Hall beat Drew Tossel
Buck Zumhofe beat Rick Renslow
att: 2,000

Terrible, but this is a fucking stupid ass line up, almost designed to fail.

10/4/85 Los Angeles, CA
Stan Hansen won battle royal
Sgt. Slaughter drew Boris Zhukov
Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Baron Von Raschke & Jerry Blackwell
Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin
Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 2300

10/5/85 Milwaukee, WI
Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin dq
Jerry Blackwell & Rick Martel & Little Mr. T beat Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts & Jim Garvin
Handicap match
Stan Hansen beat Buck Zumhofe & Kevin Kelly
Larry Zbyszko beat Baron Von Raschke
Jerry Oski beat Kamala dq
Scott Hall beat Kevin Kelly
Att: 2432

Why are they moving into LA?? Milwaukee drops significantly off of a dogshit line up.

10/15/85 Anchorage, AK
Michael Hayes beat AWA Champion Rick Martel dq
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel
Scott Hall drew Larry Zbyszko
Baron Von Raschke beat Scott Irwin
Att: 1400

10/15/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Stan Hansen won battle royal
Greg Gagne drew Nick Bockwinkel 20:00
Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov
Stan Hansen beat Kevin Kelly
Steve Regal beat Jerry Oski
Jim Garvin beat Buck Zumhofe
att: 3,520

Blackwell on neither show, but Verne stupidly splits crews for no clear reward. Was Anchorage ever going to make him real money? Fuck no. Stupid. They are running Battle Royals in the spot shows at this point

10/17/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Mad Dog Vachon & Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff
Handicap match
Stan Hansen beat Brian Jewell & Ed Wilson
Larry Zbyszko beat Baron Von Raschke
Jim Garvin beat Stan Lane
Scott Hall beat Steve Regal
Sherri Martel beat Candi Devine to win AWA Women's Title
Kelly Kiniski beat Iron Duke
att: 3,528

Winnipeg still below what it should be with a weak line up and tv the day before in town.

10/27/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Rick Martel no contest Stan Hansen
Wahoo McDaniel & Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko
Michael Hayes beat Jerry Blackwell
Greg Gagne beat Jim Garvin
Bill Irwin beat Kevin Kelly
Greg Boyd drew Boris Zhukov
Leon White beat Scott Irwin
att: 3,000

11/2/85 Milwaukee, WI
21 person battle royal opened card to determine order
Scott Hall beat Jim Garvin to win battle royal
Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes dq
Stan Hansen beat Curt Hennig forfeit
Greg Gagne drew Larry Zbyszko
Larry Hennig beat Boris Zhukov
Nick Bockwinkel beat Bill Irwin
Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq
Greg Boyd beat Steve Regal
Jerry America drew Rob Rechsteiner
Kelly Kiniksi beat Jerry Oski
Att 4268

St. Paul is starting to feel like a "why bother? and the card looks weak. Milwaukee does a respectable number off of a battle royal.

11/3/85 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Road Warrior Animal won battle royal
Road Warriors beat Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Sgt. Slaughter beat Bill Irwin
Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne & Scott Hall beat Jim Garvin & Steve Regal & Larry Zbyszko
Handicap match
Stan Hansen beat Jerry O & Rob Rechsteiner
Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq
att: 9,500

Battle Royal pulls a solid number in IL.

11/13/85 Brandon, Manitoba, Canada @ Keystone Centre
Jerry Blackwell won a 25 man battle royal
Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov dq
Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Kelly Kiniski beat Bob Adams
Curt Hennig beat Rick Renslow
Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Kevin Kelly & Buddy Lane

11/14/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Cage Match
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Jerry Blackwell & Kelly Kiniski beat Buddy Roberts & Ray Stevens dq
Stan Hansen beat Kevin Kelly
Ray Stevens beat Buddy Lane
Att 6,012

11/15/85 Denver, CO
Road Warriors drew Fabulous Freebirds
AWA Champion Rick Martel drew Stan Hansen
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Fabulous Ones
Att 7500

Hot run. That's the best figure I've ever seen from Denver. Martel v. Zhukov blow off does well. I would bet Brandon did a good number off the battle royal.

11/18/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Road Warriors no contest Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
Buddy Roberts beat Paul Ellering
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig
Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Leon White drew Scott Irwin
Att: 9849.

Crazy SLC spikes again.

12/1/85 Chicago, IL
Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal dq
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Terry Gordy
Strap Match
Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes
Paul Ellering drew Buddy Roberts
Handicap match
Sgt. Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff
Larry Zbyszko beat Kevin Kelly
Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin
Leon White beat Scott Irwin dq
att: 8,000

Staying respectable in Chicago. Return of Roadies and Blackwell has clearly helped from the death that was the Summer, but the split crews, needless expansion, double booking in towns, et did nothing but help Vince's putsch.

12/7/85 Milwaukee, WI
Strap match
Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
Larry Hennig beat Boris Zhukov dq
Buck Zumhofe beat Mongolian Stomper dq
Scott Hall drew Scott Irwin
Kelly Kiniski beat Kevin Kelly
Att 2648

Bad number for an unappealing show. The Birds are clearly a package deal and people don't give a shit about Hayes v. Blackwell.

12/12/85 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
$100,000 Battle royal
Road Warriors beat Boris Zhukov & Chris Markoff
Scott Hall beat Jimmy Garvin
Stan Hansen beat Man Mountain Mike
Mongolian Stomper beat Kevin Kelly
Jerry Blackwell vs Kelly Kiniski
The Alaskans I & II vs Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Larry Zbyszko beat Buck Zumhofe
Att: 5,928

Battle Royal PLUS they didn't foolishly run tv the day before!

12/16/85 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
Taped Fist Match
Road Warriors & Paul Ellering beat Buddy Roberts & Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe & Scott Hall
Leon White beat Bill Irwin dq
Larry Zbyszko beat Kevin Kelly
Mongolian Stomper beat Kelly Kiniski
Att 1496

God damn what a crazy fucking town. This is a weak as fuck lineup though.

12/25/85 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Stan Hansen dq
Road Warriors no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Scott Hall & Curt Hennig & Jerry Blackwell
Baron Von Raschke beat Scott Irwin dq
Marty Jannetty beat Kelly Kiniski
Cowboy Lang & Little Mr. T beat Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook
Bill Irwin beat Kevin Kelly
Sherri Martel beat Debbie Combs
Att: 7000+

Poor number for Christmas night in St. Paul on a very poor line up. I don't think it's a reach to say that if they had found someone of note to feud with Blackwell they could have done business during this period. He really feels like he's being misused. Same with the Roadies.

12/29/85 Milwaukee, WI
Cage match
Jerry Blackwell beat Michael Hayes
AWA Tag Team Champions Jimmy Garvin & Steve Regal beat Scott Hall & Curt Hennig dq
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Kamala beat Baron Von Raschke
Little Mr. T beat Lord Littlebrook
Mongolian Stomper beat Eric Ferris
Leon White beat Marty Jannetty
att: 3,940

This is a borderline "average" match for Milwaukee but I almost feel like giving it a notch in the good column, since this lacked a World title match or the Roadies to bolster the card. Martel dropped to Hansen in NJ this day as well at a PWUSA show.

85 is an interesting year. No doubt Vince was hurting them, but Verne did a shit ton to hurt himself. Business was actually fairly strong up until the Roadies and Blackwell departed and the use of Sarge was scaled back. Summer or not that clearly had a hugely adverse effect on the companies drawing power. Blackwell and the Roadies were clearly misused for big chunks of the year and were probably the biggest draws in the company, with Sarge in third.

So what would you say about Martel? Maybe I'm misinterpreting but it seems like the conclusion is he wasn't much of a draw...

I think Martel was a draw in certain situations. He clearly did well in Canada. The AWA was better when Martel was on top than people think, but he got a bunch of shitty challengers, and I don't think there was ever a point when he was the top babyface draw in the company.

Would love to get some Montreal attendance figures with Martel though.

And for the fuck of it, 86:

1/10/86 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Cage match
Road Warriors & Jerry Blackwell beat Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Boris Zhukov & Barbarian beat Marty Jannetty & Earthquake Ferris
Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke
Bill Irwin beat Kelly Kiniski
Att: 13,000

Massive number for the AWA of this period, in some ways the last real impressive figure as Wrestlerock ultimately feels like it should have done far better than it did. The double main here would have been extremely hot.


1/12/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
Road Warriors beat Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Curt Hennig beat Earthquake Ferris
Marty Jannetty drew Steve Regal
Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke & Buck Zumhofe
att: 2,000

1/16/86 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada @ Arena
Nick Bockwinkel no contest NWA Champion Ric Flair
Non Title
Road Warriors beat AWA Tag Team Champions Steve Regal & Jim Garvin
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Rick Martel
Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov
Mongolian Stomper & Nord the Barbarian beat the Alaskans
Scott Hall beat Earthquake Ferris
Buddy Lane beat Brian Jewel
Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel to win AWA ladies title
att: 6,800

1/17/86 Denver, CO
Road Warriors no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Steve Regal & Jim Garvin
Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
Mongolian Stomper & Boris Zhukov & Barbarian beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall & Buck Zumhofe
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Scott Irwin beat Baron Von Raschke
Leon White beat Bill Irwin

Even with a shit card the degree to which St. Paul has died is really sad and almost hard to believe. Blackwell not being on the show had to have hurt as at this point they really needed all of their stars to draw a big gate. The Winnipeg number is good, but that is a really loaded show. The Denver show interest me because it is a rare Blackwell World Title shot. Shockingly low number of those over the years for a guy who was obviously a draw and a huge piece of puzzle almost from the moment he debuted.

1/30/86 Peoria, IL
Curt Hennig won a Battle Royal
Scott Hall & Larry Hennig beat Sheik Adnan & Mongolian Stomper
Jerry Blackwell & Leon White beat Nord the Barbarian & Boris Zhukov
Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Mongolian Stomper beat Curt Hennig
Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers
Note: First AWA card in Peoria since November 1980

1/30/86 San Francisco, CA
Rick Martel vs Jimmy Garvin

Blackwell being paired off against Zhukov in a feud tells you a lot about the state of the AWA. The fact that Verne insisted on doing a split crew still at this point is nuts. The fact that he did it in a town he hadn't run in 6 years and the worst town on his loop is fucking batshit crazy on a different level.

2/4/86 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat David Sammartino
Curt Hennig & Marty Jannetty beat Nord The Barbarian & Sheik Adnan
Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zhukov
Leon White beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Scott Hall beat Doug Somers

Another show that illustrates the weakness of these cards. You almost feel like Blackwell should have been turned heel and given the belt as it may have been something fresh if nothing else.

2/9/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Road Warriors & Paul Ellering beat Mongolian Stomper & Boris Zhukov & Barbarian dq
No dq match
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Sgt. Slaughter COR
AWA Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Curt Hennig beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin dq
Jerry Blackwell beat Earthquake Ferris (sub King Kong Brody) dq
Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers
Brad Rheingans beat Earthquake Ferris
Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe
Colonel DeBeers beat Rick Renslow
Marty Jannetty beat Jim Mitchell
att: 2,784

Dog shit card, aside from Hansen v. Sarge which is not really drawing at all. Sadly this is actually UP from the last St. Paul show.

2/16/86 Milwaukee, WI
AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Leon White
Greg Gagne beat Scott Irwin dq
Boris Zhukov beat Brad Rheingans COR
Colonel DeBeers beat Frankie DeFalco
Marty Jannetty beat Bill Irwin
att: 1,500

Milwaukee is a quarter full for an extremely weak card with no Blackwell or Sarge.

2/23/86 Rosemont, IL @ Rosemont Horizon
Sgt. Slaughter no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen
Road Warriors beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall & Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov & Mongolian Stomper & Nord The Barbarian
No dq Match
Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel
Midnight Rockers beat The Alaskans
Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe
Leon White beat Doug Somers
att: 7,000

This is probably only about 40% full in the Rosemont but I feel like it has to be seen as a success just because it's probably a show that made money. Blackwell is now MIA

3/9/86 St. Paul, MN
Bunkhouse Match
Sgt. Slaughter beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen COR
Road Warriors beat Boris Zhukov & Nord the Barbarian
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Brad Rheingans beat King Kong Brody as the Masked Maruader dq
Buddy Rose beat Scott Hall dq
Curt Hennig drew Colonel DeBeers
Midnight Rockers beat Alaskans
att: 5,000

Another bad number that is "good for 86"

3/15/86 Salt Lake City, UT
Jerry Blackwell no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen
Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq
Non Title
Boris Zhukov & Nord the Barbarian beat AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Sgt. Slaughter beat Sheik Adnan COR
Brad Rheingans beat Doug Somers
Marty Jannetty beat Colonel DeBeers dq
Shawn Michaels drew Buddy Rose
att: 8,600

Jerry gets a rare AWA title shot in SLC on a show that doesn't have much else and draws a really good figure. I know his health was an issue at that point but again I really feel like Blackwell with the belt should have been considered at this point.

3/16/86 Denver, CO
Non Title
Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen
Non Title
Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian beat AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq
Brad Rheingans beat Sheik Adnan COR
Midnight Rockers drew Buddy Rose & Colonel DeBeers
Leon White beat Doug Somers

Notable that this got a rematch in Denver. Leads me to believe the first show may have done a decent number.

Blackwell vanishes again.

4/9/86 Niagara Falls, NY @ International Civic Center
Road Warriors beat Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff dq
Sgt Slaughter & Scott Hall & The Destroyer (sub Curt Hennig) beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin & The Barbarian COR
Larry Zbyszko beat Nick Bockwinkel dq
Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov
King Kong Brody beat Earthquake Ferris (sub Jerry Blackwell)
Colonel DeBeers beat Buck Zumhofe
Doug Somers beat Mark Ragin
att: 4,000

Niagara must have been hard up for wrestling as that's a better number than you would guess.


4/20/86 Minneapolis, MN @ Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome Wrestle Rock
Cage Match
Road Warriors beat Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin
Cage Match
Verne Gagne beat Sheik Adnan
Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat King Kong Brody & Nord the Barbarian
Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
Scott LeDeoux beat Larry Zbyszko dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin
Sherri Martel won a 10 woman Battle Royal
Rick Martel no contest Harley Race
Shohei Baba beat Bulldog Bob Brown
Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo beat Fabulous Ones
Tiger Mask (Misawa) beat Buck Zumhofe
Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers
Colonel DeBeers beat Wahoo McDaniel dq
Brad Rheingans beat Boris Zhukov
Plus a midget tag team match
att: 22,000

4/24/86 Rockford, IL @ Boylan High School
Steel Cage Match
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Shawn Michaels beat Colonel DeBeers dq
Brad Rheingans beat Earthquake Ferris
Marty Jannetty beat Calypso Jim
att: 600

This is telling. They load up Wrestlerock and draw a good, albeit somewhat disappointing figure. The next show they can't sell out a high school gym for a Cage Match. Also worth noting that Rose/Somers and Midnight Rockers are starting to creep up the cards. Rosemont is down to 1800 for the next show without Blackwell or Sarge.

5/30/86 Oakland, CA
Jerry Blackwell won battle royal
Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Non Title
Midnight Rockers beat AWA TagTeam Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Curt Hennig beat Colonel DeBeers dq
Scott Hall beat Boris Zhukov
Nord The Barbarian beat Steve Pardee
att: 1,500

Rose and Somers have won the tag titles. Battle Royal with Jerry returning to the company does a Bay Areaish mediocre number.

5/31/86 Las Vegas, NV
TV Taping
Curt Hennig (sub Jerry Blackwell) drew AWA Champion Stan Hansen
Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Midnight Rockers
Taped Fist Match
Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Nick Bockwinkel & Brad Rheingans & Steve Pardee beat Colonel DeBeers & Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Midnight Rockers beat Don Fargo & El Siberiano
Nord The Barbarian beat Jesse Hernandez
Colonel DeBeers beat Dennis Stamp
Curt Hennig beat Jay York
Marty Jannetty beat Alex Knight
Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Gus Torres & Buddy Allen
Brad Rheingans beat Don Fargo
Larry Zbyszko beat Gus Torres

If memory serves this is the angle with Blackwell getting beaten senseless by Hansen pre-match when he tries to back out on Doctors orders. Hennig makes the save and has as tremendously great brawl that is another theoretical number one contender for the pending AWA Set.

6/8/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
Nick Bockwinkel no contest AWA Champion Stan Hansen
Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers & Boris Zhukov
Sherri Martel beat Princess Jasmine
Marty Jannetty beat Doug Somers
Shawn Michaels beat Buddy Rose dq
Madd Maxx & Super Maxx beat Brad Rheingans & Steve O
Alan West drew Earthquake Ferris
att: 1,700

Notice this ain't in the Rosemont.

6/15/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov beat Jerry Blackwell & Nick Bockwinkel
Greg Gagne & Scott LeDoux beat Larry Zbyszko & Mr. Go dq
Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers & Boriz Zhukov dq
Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Brad Rheingans & Alan West drew Madd Maxx & Super Maxx
att: 1,700

Terrible card. Jerry returns to the Twin Cities but he literally has no one to work against. I really think Jerry v. Bock could have done some business. Not great given the circumstances, but better than this.

6/22/86 Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veteran's Arena
Cage Match
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Nick Bockwinkel via pin
Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Verne Gagne beat Boris Zukhov & Nord The Barbarian & Sheik Adnan when Greg pinned Zhukov
Jerry Blackwell beat Boris Zukhov (sub King Kong Brody) COR
AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers when Somers pinned Shawn Michaels
Curt Hennig drew Larry Zbyszko
Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq
Taped Fist Match
Scott LeDoux beat The Mysterious Mr. Go dq
Sherri Martel beat Princess Jasmine via pin

Wish we had a number here. For 86 AWA this is a loaded show.

6/27/86 Salt Lake City, UT @ Salt Palace
AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Nick Bockwinkel
NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Curt Hennig
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers dq
Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko
Ali Kahn beat Jerry Blackwell
Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian
Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans
Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel
att: 11,557

SLC attendance remains the hardest to figure out. This is the biggest number they have EVER done in that building. Flair has spiked them some in other areas but this is by FAR the biggest spike. On the other hand this show does have three title matches. Still this is an insane number for the AWA from this period even if it is a "super show"

6/28/86 Oakland, CA
Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen dq
Nord The Barbarian beat Nick Bockwinkel
Curt Hennig & Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Alexis Smirnoff
Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko
Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans (sub Scott Hall)
Jimmy Snuka beat Jay York
Sherri Martel beat Candi Devine to win AWA ladies title
Earthquake Ferris beat Ali Kahn
att: 1,500

Notable because Jerry gets a shot. Sadly this isn't a terrible number for the Bay Area, just not a good one either.

7/19/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
Non Title
Nord the Barbarian beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
Jerry Blackwell beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall COR
Midnight Rockers beat Doug Somers & Mr. Go (sub Buddy Rose)
Madd Maxx & Super Maxx beat Alan West & Rick Gantner
Ali Khan beat Curt Hennig dq
Brad Rheingans drew Boris Zhukov
Earthquake Ferris beat Jake Milliman
att: 1500

Really thin card. The thing is Blackwell v. Bock was a FRESH MATCH, with two guys that had a name. No clue why they didn't go that route.

8/12/86 Asbury Park, NJ
AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers
Non Title
Larry Zbyszko beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq
Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov
Nord The Barbarian beat Dennis Mitchell
Joe Savoldi beat Pink Menace

8/16/86 Pittsburgh, PA
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Nord The Barbarian dq
Non Title
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq
Jimmy Snuka beat Larry Zbyszko
att: 587

8/17/86 Monogahela, PA afternoon
Midnight Rockers beat Nord The Barbarian & Boris Zhukov
Jimmy Snuka beat Buddy Rose
Scott Hall beat Doug Somers
Colonel DeBeers beat Tim Patterson
Last Warrior beat Tyree Pride
att: 592

8/17/86 Steubenville, OH evening
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Jimmy Snuka beat Barbarian dq
Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Colonel DeBeers beat Tim Patterson
Last Warrior beat Tyree Pride
att: 650

An East Coast swing capped off by double duty? Why Verne, Why?

8/28/86 San Jose, CA
att: 700

8/29/86 Stockton, CA
att: 500

8/30/86 Las Vegas, NV
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Boris Zhukov
Scott Hall dcor Colonel DeBeers
Shohei Giant Baba & Wajima beat ??
att: 1,500

Why is he running new towns in California of all places? WTF? Wajima!

9/7/86 Chicago, IL
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers to win title.
Decision later reversed as the wrong man (Somers) was pinned
Curt Hennig (sub Nord The Barbarian) beat Nick Bockwinkel to win AWA Title when Larry Zbyszko hit Bockwinkel with nunchakus
Later announced, Curt returned the AWA Title to Bockwinkel because Hennig could not accept winning it in an unjust manner.
Greg Gagne & Jerry Blackwell & Jimmy Snuka beat Sheik Adnan & Ali Khan & Boris Zhukov
Scott Hall beat Colonel DeBeers
Curt Hennig dcor Larry Zbyszko
Earthquake Ferris beat Tom Stone
Stoney Burke beat Rick Gantner
att: 1,000

And Chicago is officially dead for good as an AWA town of any value.

9/13/86 Oakland, CA @ Coliseum
AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Curt Hennig & Scott Hall dq
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Sheik Adnan (sub Nord The Barbarian)
Jimmy Snuka beat Colonel DeBeers COR
Midnight Rockers beat Ali Kahn & Boris Zhukov
Larry Zbyszko beat Greg Gagne dq
Earthquake Ferris drew Mr. Go
att: 1,374

9/14/86 Antioch, CA
Earthquake Ferris & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov
Midnight Rockers beat Larry Zbyszko & Ninja
Colonel DeBeers beat Scott Hall dq
Curt Hennig beat Sheik Adnan COR
att: 1,534

Sad when this is UP from he last Cali tour. St. Paul draws less than 1500 and they run a show in Waltman Mass days later... Rockers v. Rose/Somers are headlining a lot which makes sense because at least the matches are exciting but the lack of talent, the booking decisions, et. are almost stunningly awful at this point.

10/18/86 Las Vegas, NV
Curt Hennig won a battle royal
Jimmy Snuka beat Colonel DeBeers dq
Marty Jannetty ddq Buddy Rose
Earthquake Ferris beat Ken Timbs COR
Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Curt Hennig & Steve O
Curt Hennig beat Alex Knight
att: 3,000 sellout

10/19/86 St. Paul, MN
Curt Hennig won battle royal
Non Title
Larry Zbyszko beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
Midnight Rockers & Jerry Blackwell beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & The Blaster
Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov
Curt Hennig beat Colonel DeBeers COR
Super Ninja beat Earthquake Ferris
Steve O drew Ali Khan
att: 1,500
Note: Silo Sam, Ken Timbs and Billy Robinson competed in the battle royal

Battle Royal spikes Vegas some. It does not spike St. Paul.

10/26/86 Chicago, IL
Curt Hennig won battle royal
Midnight Rockers & Jerry Blackwell beat The Blaster & Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov
Curt Hennig no contest Colonel DeBeers
Earthquake Ferris beat Brian Knobbs
att: 1,000

Pathetic

11/27/86 St. Paul, MN
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko
Midnight Rockers & Despina Montagus beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Sherri Martel
Step Ladder match
Jerry Blackwell beat Colonel DeBeers
Curt Hennig beat Boris Zhukov
Leon White won handicap match
Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Buck Zumhofe & John Paul Demann
Super Ninja beat Steve Olsonoski
att: 4,000

11/30/86 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
Curt Hennig beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq
Jerry Blackwell beat Colonel DeBeers
Midnight Rockers & Despina Montagus beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Sherri Martel
Greg Gagne beat Larry Zbyszko dq
Leon White beat Boris Zhukov
Alexis Smirnoff & Yuri Gordienko beat Billy Robinson & Steve Olsonoski
att: 400
Note: I’ve also seen this card dated 11/26/86.

I wonder if that Blackwell v. Debeers Ladder Match was the source of interest in St. Paul as it was a completely fresh gimmick. The number still sucks, but is way up from previous shows. Meanwhile Chicago is the worst town in the territory.

12/14/86 Buffalo, NY @ Amherst Campus Alumni Arena
Postponed card from November 2
Battle Royal
Midnight Rockers vs Doug Somers & Buddy Rose
Larry Zbyszko vs Greg Gagne
Colonel DeBeers vs Jerry Blackwell

Last Blackwell date of the year.

12/25/86 St. Paul, MN @ Civic Center
Special Referee: Billy Robinson
AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Curt Hennig dq
Non Title Cage Match
Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
Mr. Saito & Super Ninja & Larry Zbyszko beat Scott Hall & Leon White & Greg Gagne
Colonel DeBeers beat Jimmy Snuka dq
Boris Zhukov beat Steve O
Earthquake Ferris beat Brian Nobbs
Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Wolff
Att: 3,500

12/27/86 Denver, CO
Colonel DeBeers beat Jimmy Snuka dq
AWA Tag Team Champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers beat Midnight Rockers
Super Ninja & Mr. Saito & Larry Zbyszko beat Scott Hall & Nick Bockwinkel & Leon White
Boris Zhukov beat Steve Olsonoski
Buck Zumhofe drew Buddy Wolff
att: 4,606

Verne had to be happy with these numbers - which is sad. When they were able to load up the shows they did okay business, but Sarge and the Roadies leaving, Blackwell being on again/off again, et really hurt them. What this really shows me is how terrible the AWA talent pool was at this time, but also how awful a promoter Verne was in terms of getting the most out of the guys he had. There aren't really plusses to be drawn here for anyone, though I don't think I could give anyone other than Verne any real negatives.

Blackwell in 1985—my general comments:



First thing to note is that the AWA did two types of TV. One was arena matches for TSN, specifically taped for TSN Wrestling in Canada. This began in and around late fall of 1984. That continued right through the end in January 1986.
The second type of TV was done at a local High School. Some of those matches made TSN occasionally, more towards the end of their run, but I have always assumed most of those TV’s were done for the local AWA TV show that wasn’t affiliated with TSN. I do not have much AWA Winnipeg TV, but it’s all I can think of when they would run a card with 10 squashes on it, most of which never saw the light of day on TSN.



Bockwinkel vs. Hennig was just a mid-card match at this stage. Good matchup but no real angle or stipulation that I can recall. Curt was coming into his own as a singles worker but at this time the idea was to promote him as a viable compliment for tags against the LOD (mostly with his father a bit later on).



Gagne and Brunzell’s reunion match on this card (first tag-up since Brody injured Gagne’s knee) was an important element of this show as well.



As noted in the 84 post, 2000 was a standard number there in the ESPN TV era and that number always looked very close to a sell-out. The 3-6000 numbers we have seen for that venue makes me wonder what the capacity actually was, and how much the room could be configured or re-configured for shows. So yeah, I would say 3 grand is a good number for sure.



Only caution I would put here is that I suspect Superstar might have been announced as a replacement very late, if not at the show itself, and if that’s the case, I would suspect it hurts future Blackwell-Brody bookings later on.





Slaughter still being fresh is important here as the Slaughter-Blackwell team was definitely looked at as a threat to the LODs title reign, possibly the last viable one left in the fans minds.



My assumption for this, the Alaska shows, and some of the other spots they tried to run is that instead of working on protecting their “home turf”, Verne thought spreading the AWA out to be even bigger was the way to go. Verne was a stubborn man and convinced that the AWA style was the style that the fans would prefer to see over the WWF. Up until this point, the AWA was holding up well against the invasion of the WWF in the Twin Cities and most of their other regular areas, so his confidence that they could translate that into more success in more places would have been at it’s peak.

I used to know who Brunzell subbed in for in the title match there, but I can’t remember now. I *think* it might have been Superstar, who was moved over to fight Blackwell when Brody no-showed. I assume the Moose Morowski sub is for Bockwinkel.
Brunzell could also be subbing in for Jim Garvin here.


The Garvin-Martel match is also their blowoff, and featured “Bertha Von Raschke” in the corner of Martel to counteract the interference of Precious. The interviews with The Baron in drag are really funny stuff.



As I recall Verne owned a piece of St. Louis at one point in the 80’s, and maybe it was around this time. The Central States influence is noteworthy, but there are also elements of the St. Louis “bring anyone in” mentality that made it a unique place to see wrestling.



Verne had his ribs injured either during or after this match by Adnan et al, and it lead to the Chicago version of Star Cage later on. Verne also liked to keep track of events over years that kept feuds going, and this match was mentioned often in the build to Wrestlerock as a big reason Verne wanted Adnan in the cage if Greg and Snuka beat Brody and Nord.



The point was Pro Wrestling USA was going at this time, and these NJ shows were an offshoot of that promotion in the sense that there were suddenly AWA guys on TV in that region.


I’m sure Brunzell must be a sub for someone else in Salt Lake. Garvin, perhaps?




As noted, these shows were tied into PW USA.



Aud/Arena was used for shows that were “average” in terms of expected draw. I think that’s around the normal number for it. McNichols would get some “bigger” shows here and there.

I think Denver attendance can largely be compared to Winnipeg’s attendance in terms of the ebb and flow of the numbers. I have talked to guys in Denver that attended many shows there and that seems to be what they wre implying without giving me anything more than a guess on the numbers. So, this is an ok number in my estimation.



Pro Wrstling USA Show, and of note Blackwell got called on his health problems in New Jersey at the big shows. He was forced to sit out the tag team battleroyal at the first PWUSA show, *think* because of high blood pressure. As I recall, McMahon made sure that the New Jersey Commission was aware of the potential health concerns of Blackwell and compelled them to check it out.
Vince did this on more than one occasion in different places during his was with the AWA et al. I would guess that Blackwell was kept out of New Jersey after the first time it happened because of that.


Star Cage 85, also televised closed-circuit in the Twin Cities. The April shows were beginning to become “special” shows in the Twin Cities. I actually think Verne expected a full sell-out with this one on his latest comeback alone, so the number might be considered a disappointment despite how it compares to other numbers in St. Paul from 85.
I get the tag team spectacular theme of the show but Martel really should have defended on it, IMO.




Star Cage in Chicago. This is the revenge spot for Verne from a few months back when he reffed a match between these teams and got attacked.


Zbyszko had no real push in Winnipeg up until this show, so the Main event would have been a “WTF” for most fans.
Part of the problem with Zbyszko is that they began his push after he had achieved complete mid-card status in the AWA, drawing with the likes of Curt Hennig and being massacred by Dusty Rhodes in a one-shot appearance by Rhodes in June 1984. I don’t remember if he had the Americas Title yet but in Winnipeg, who would have cared about it anyway?



I think Roberts actually subbed for Gordy against Martel…he and Hayes had a coin flip for the match.



I’ve stated it before, but the Freebirds either in singles or as a team did not draw well in the AWA at all. Roadies-Freebirds was the occasional exception but they never really ran it when they should have. They never programmed compelling opponents with them, often going with makeshift 6-man teams with older stars that didn’t mesh well with the Birds, with no real story to build the matches. Hayes as a singles challenger feuding with Martel was absolutely the wrong choice in the sense that it came right after Garvin…it felt like the same series of matches all over again.


Bruiser and Crusher were at the end of the line, and even their biggest supporters knew it. That tag main event sells out as late as 1983, I bet.


The Slaughter-Gagne vs. Bock/Stevens matches came off of the “Gagne in Boot Camp” vignette that turned Greg into Rambo Greg Gagne for a bit. Good matchup but a rematch of Hayes-Martel did not help at all (refer to my previous comments on that pairing), and while the Irwins were decent challengers and the matches were good, by this point the Roadies looked completely unbeatable AND were fan favourites, so nobody was showing up to see if they would lose.


Of note here is Zurkov attacked Martel after the match and laid him out cold with his head, setting up their trilogy. The Gagne-Bockwinkel bout was a “Sleeper” match (must win with the Sleeper) and was promoted as such.






From tape I’ve seen of the two tags on top, I would guess this was in the 2-3000 range, like the previous shows. Originally it was going to be Martel and Crusher vs the Freebirds, but either Crusher pulled out or they changed the main event late because Crusher was not selling tickets (I think it was both. Crusher had a history of holding Verne up for more money before big shows and Verne probably saw the advanced sales and said “fuck you” this time). Hennig and Martel is a more compelling team IMO, but it wasn’t back in 1985 as Curt was not getting any sort of main-event push yet.



Some Chicago people I have talked to went to this show went specifically for Robinson-Flair…”Student vs. Teacher” was how a lot of the tv interviews were promoted leading up to it. Some wrestlers were actually noted to have snuck out to see this one. Robinson-Flair was intriguing to a lot of people even with Robinson notably past his prime.



Not sure why doing a TV one night and a big card the next night would be considered stupid. Some of those matches were used on TSN and the rest likely on whatever local tv they still had, either that or kept in the can for future use on TSN. The concept makes sense to me.



The AWA was brought in with the Muscular Dystrophy association to hold this card, called “Wrestle for a Cure”. It was broadcast on local TV and proceeds from the event were donated to the MDA (right around telethon time, after all). The matches were notably short (10-12 minutes max for each, including the AWA title match…it was a 10 minute draw!)
This was held I think at Boston university, and I would peg the attendance at a near sell-out, which I think was around 5,000 for this venue. Sounds like you might need this for the AWA 80’s project.
The clear headliner and what the show was built around was Slaughter-Zurkov, FWIW.



If not, it was in Roy Wilkins Auditorium adjacent to it. The setup for the bouts around the ring make me think it’s NOT the Civic Center, but it could just be an odd configuration to make the TV look fuller. I have seen them do that later on in 1986 and in 1989 for shows for this reason.



I believe by this point, Verne had sold his interest in Winnipeg to Lanza and Bockwinkel. The whole story is over on Kayfabe memories somewhere, but Jack Lanza became a big part of why the AWA left Winnipeg after January of 1986…around when Jack went to work for Vince.



I never got why they only had about 40-50 people around ringside. The rest are all in the bleachers which were not close to the ring at all. Really strange visual for this show.


Too bad because Martel-Tsuruta is my favourite of all of their matches, and the Garvin-Regal title win deserved to be seen by a lot more people than that.





The big seller for this card was the teaming of “forever enemies” Bockwinkel and Vachon, to take on the Russians. That match is a fun sprint if you haven’t seen it yet. Looking at the rest of that lineup I’d say that it drew pretty well. Stan Lane is a typo also, it should be Buddy lane, advertised as a local product. He would challenge Regal for the Jr. title there at some point.


Lol…one more note about the tv: The High School it was held in did not have a big capacity, so maybe you had a hundred people in there watching the matches. Those TVs had zero effect on the big show in Winnipeg.


The number is still better than mostly anything they did in St. paul since April, though. LOD trying to regain their titles against competition so obviously inferior would have drawn some folks out (“how could they lose?” mentality), plus the Hansen-Martel feud was running pretty hot at this point Tv-wise. Nord and Stomper were new Sheiks Army guys so Blackwell is at least in a “get the Sheik” sort of angle here. I’m ok with this number based on the rest of the year.



The drop from early 1985 to the end of it overall was huge.

The problem with saying the Winnipeg TV had no effect on Winnipeg gates is that Winnipeg had been a hot town, dipped bad for the Summer, then they started doing double duty in the town and the numbers never came back up no matter what they put on the show. Correlation isn't causation, but that is an extremely curious coincidence to me. It could be that the town was just murdered dead over the Summer to the point where things weren't salvageable but if that's the case it still raises the question of why the fuck you would run TV in a dismal town. Apparently the answer is that Verne had sold the town for all intents and purposes. I also find it curious that they just gave up on Brandon.

On the East Coast swings I know that PWUSA started to air, but that really feels like an idiotic decision regardless, ESPECIALLY the decision to start doing split crews. The AWA could still draw in 85 but for the most part they had to load up there cards to pop a gate of note. This isn't going to happen when you've got Sarge working for 400 people in a North Jersey Elks Lodge.

On the Superstar thing I'm sure he was a last second sub for Brody in the Cow Palace, but if you look at the follow up numbers that hardly seemed to be a huge problem. Eadie was subbed in fairly seamlessly for the most part.

If you believe Matisyk, Verne had a piece of St. Louis going back to the 70's. What's notable about that show is that it's the first time I can recall a show that could be seen as an AWA show in the town - and the timing is terrible.

I think if you look at the over all picture in 85 Verne/promoters fucked themselves as much as Vince fucked them.

Verne certainly didn't help himself, no doubt. I think the numbers in Winnipeg did get better after the incredibly poor summer, however:

May
1984: 3628
1985: 1900

June
1984: 2620
1985: 1864

July
1984: NO CARD
1985: 3224

August
1984: 5964
1985: 4208 (w/TV at High School)

September
1984: 4708
1985: 3600

October
1984: 8920
1985: 3528

November
1984: 4376
1985: 6012

December
1984: 3584
1985: 5928

January 1985: 5685 (Arena TV)
January 1986: 6800

It might be reasonable to assume that the lower 85 numbers vs. 84 for most of the year can be partially attributed to a lack of "new" star power. 84 had new face Blackwell, Brody, Bundy, Road Warriors debut and push, and new champ Martel, all very compelling "new" draws for the terroitory. 85 had the Freebirds, Garvin, Slaughter, Superstar and Zurkov as "new" draws..compelling, but not as much in my mind as the 84 newbies, both situationally and as in 'new wrestlers'. The 84 feuds and matchups were also much better, with stories that wrote themselves (Blackwell turns good! Will Bock regain the title from martel right away? Holy shit, look at The Road Warriors!). 85 had the Freebirds vs. The Old Men and Young Kids, Martel defending against Bockwinkel AGAIN, Martel vs. Zurkov (done well, but only really ever done here, probably because they didn't have the confidence in it to run it in other markets), The Roadies running out of real title challenges by year-end, and Slaughter vs. less-than-compelling foreign heels like Tonga and Saito.

Verne brought in talent that should have worked, but how he matched them up in trying to build them wasn't good. Baron, Crusher, Larry Hennig, Buck Zumhofe, and other veterans of the area being used as fodder for the new guys did nothing for their buildup. Reed SHOULD squash Raschke. Even the die-hard AWA fan saw this, and when the old guys did well, even in losing, it didn't make you say "I wonder how a Martel-Reed matchup will go?"

It made you say "The Irwins just got beat by Hennig and Zenk. The Roadies will CRUSH them."

I hope my analogies are making sense.

Add in the WWF product becoming more and more recognizable and viewable by the fans in the area (and the "wer're the best" branding taking hold in the fans minds, something the WWF did better than anyone, period), and I see the slip in attendance being multi-faceted. The numbers were mostly down but honestly the trends were similar to 84, just with smaller numbers.

..and make no mistake, losing Winnipeg after drawing so well in the last three months of their run there had to have really stung the AWA as a whole.

I exaggerated a bit, but look at those dates again.

They do TV in Winnipeg, THEN go to Brandon which had been a hot town they had scaled back from with a big Battle Royal, THEN go back to the Arena for Martel v. Zhukov blowoff. That's November.

The Dec. Show was a battle royal which always drew well for the AWA as you note - it also did not have TV the day before.

There is no TV before the Jan. 86 show either.

The Winnipeg TV taping started running the day before the Arena shows in June which was one month after the disaster of a show in may that had no Sarge, Blackwell or Roadies and as you noted Larry Z foolishly on top. That formula stayed in place UNTIL Nov, when they decided to space things out by a day and add Brandon (which had been a hot town) back into the mix for a Battle Royal with Blackwell. After this they dump Winnipeg tv altogether and the last two shows the promotion runs there do good business - especially by the standards of that time for the AWA.

I'm not saying TV was the ONLY thing that killed the town, because it wasn't even the first strike. But TV the day before certainly didn't spike business, certainly didn't seem like a sound investment, and may very well have had an adverse effect on business. The correlation is clearly there.

My guess? The May show where the stars they did have weren't booked fucked the town. They needed to do something to spike it. TV came on air. Some people chose to go to those tapings, some people watched, no body liked what they saw.

I think the turnaround late in the year is directly correlated to Verne selling to Blackjack and Bockwinkel (however that exactly worked).

I also think people got used to watching the matches on TSN somewhat...there would have been no regional blackout for that show. If you knew that the card was "iffy", and that you could watch it over the course of a month on TSN (save for the odd match which didn't air, but most of them did), you might be likely to take a month or two off going to the shows and instead wait until you saw the talent level/booking rebound when they promoted it locally. TSN started in September of 1984, and the wrestling was a staple show from the start (I remember getting a converter box and a subscription to TSN and Muchmusic as a Christmas gift, lol). Eventually, I think it had an effect on business to a degree.

So factors in the 1985 Winnipeg attendance downturn could possibly be attributed to (a) poor booking of debuting stars and established draws, (b ) All the matches airing on TSN shortly after the cards were held, © TVs being done the day before at times taking away from the big shows gate the next night, and (d) some WWF influx into the market, at least via TV at this point.

For the other areas where attendance suffered a significant downturn, I would place (a) and (d) in the mix as primary factors, (a) being the most prevalent.

Going to post something about this stuff at Classics. Should I post a thread specific about Blackwell as an HoFer or something about candidates that should be on the ballot but aren't?

Speaking of which, Fujiwara is another one.

It all depends on how much of this content you're going to bring over there to argue in favour of Blackwell as a HOF candidate. There are some informed AWA guys over there but not many, so posting information for discussion might be better as opposed to asking for opinions first, and then posting discussion information.

Guys whose opinions you will want to seek out over there include Clawmaster, Tamalie, and Chitown Rich if he still posts there. There may be a few others but most of what I reaad on the AWA there is in the "boy they sucked, Verne was stoopid" range of opinion. Perhaps that's different in the WON HOF Forums as opposed to the regular board but I don't know.

Alternately I may drag this stuff over to a private AWA forum I frequent, to get opinions and additional information. Anything I gather there I'll bring over here, of course.

Still fascinated with the discussion over wrestlers who were never on the ballot, I did some research on those that received less than 10% of the vote & fell off the ballot over the years. If I interpreted it right I think the original rule was that once you fell off the ballot, you could go back on in 2 years. I think the criteria for that was either a continuing career that would make someone a stronger candidate or historical candidates that had more info uncovered on them and/or someone making a good case for them & promising to vote for them.

1998 (first year of voting): Fuerza Guerrera, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Mark Lewin, Lex Luger, Don Muraco, Kevin Nash, Paul Orndorff, Blue Panther, Ken Patera, Jake Roberts, Rick Rude, Hans Schmidt, Davey Boy Smith, Steiner Bros., Sting, Akira Taue, Barry Windham

1999: Curtis Iaukea, Bill Miller, Masa Saito, Tiger Jeet Singh, Sgt. Slaughter, Kerry Von Erich, Doc Death

2000: Lou Albano, Masa Chono, Masakatsu Funaki, Chavo Guerrero, Konnan, Bas Rutten, Sabu, Ken Shamrock

2001: Eric Bischoff, Cien Caras

2002: Andersons, Pedro Morales

2003: Yuji Nagata, Fuerza Guerrera, Yoshihiro Takayama

2004: Atlantis, Pepper Gomez, Gordman & Goliath, Gran Hamada, La Parka, Great Sasuke, Ben & Mike Sharpe, Dr. Wagner Jr.

2005: Lonnie Mayne, Don Muraco, Takayama

2006: Arn Anderson, Booker T, Davey Boy Smith

I stopped here due to not having later years on paper and figuring this proves that most if not all of the names we have been debating were obviously never on.

Some interesting things here in that Saito, Konnan, and Bill Miller fell off the ballot & eventually got in. So there were obviously some people championing Miller, Hans Schmidt, and maybe others to get them back on. I'm guessing Jake Roberts fell off & never went back on due to his career being pretty much over at the point he fell off. But you could probably say the same for Slaughter and now he's seen as one of the stronger candidates. I also found it interesting on the above list as compared to Dylan's research that I would assume guys like Lonnie Mayne and Gordman & Goliath were Meltzer favorites due to where he grew up & their #s & longevity couldn't hold a candle to Blackwell, Dundee, High Flyers, etc.

I think we have really uncovered some interesting stuff here as I would be curious to hear the original criteria for who was considered to go on & who not. I think we agreed last week that the main problems were probably when the original ballot was formulated & the difficulty in getting people added since to correct oversights. One other thing I noticed in research is just how much the balloting pool has grown over the years. The first year a guy could get in with 13-15 people voting for them. Last year it took 109 American votes for a guy in that region to get in. So obviously Meltzer isn't averse to adding voters, I guess you could just argue about how he finds them.

Miller and Schmidt have been championed by a number of historians. I can say with some confidence that if we knew then what we know now, they would have gone in the 1996 Class.

Konnan was always going to get back on the ballot. Was on it while semi-active. "Big Star", which means Dave will always toss him back into the mix if he fell below 10%.

Saito... probably a push from Japan, or Dave fondly remembering him. There haven't been a lot of fresh, quality Japanese candidates, and Dave does like to keep things from being too stale.




Sarge headline in New York/Philly/Boston against a World Champ, and has that fondly remember headlining feud opposite Steamboat & Youngblood. He has some "Big Star" cha-ching that would play to Dave.

Jake... just doesn't. For all we fondly remember him in the WWF, in the pecking order he was a way down from the top. He doesn't even have that Orndorff vs Hogan run, which in Paul's case ignores that they had an earlier first run. Jake probably to Dave is a "big name", but he had problems putting anything tangible on it.

That said, I doubt it would be hard to get Jake back on the ballot. When he drops dead, you'll see Jake back on. Obits tend to do that.




Possibly. But Mayne and Gordman & Goliath have obits that give them some attention. They're also in a different era grouping where fans look to vote for them.




*points to picture in Gong 500*

"Yes?"

"Yes."




There wasn't an original ballot.




We've talked about this item for years. Nothing new.

John