The AWA 1986: Great Talent/Smaller Crowds

By Ken Phillips and DA White

In many ways, 1986 was the most important year in the decline of the AWA. For some reason, people are fascinated with the downfall of the American Wrestling Association. And truth-be-told, I plead guilty to being a part of this group. I began watching the AWA in the early 1980's and kept watching it through the bitter end in 1991. While every year during the 1980's tells a different, enlightening story, 1986 may represent the biggest twelve-month-shift in the Association's proud history.

1980-1983 were "business as usual" for the AWA. They can even be considered better-than-usual due to the arrival of Hulk Hogan. The way Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo ran the AWA went unchanged from the 1970's into the 1980's. The one notable exception was the video library. The AWA began keeping more of their footage instead of taping over it. The reels were very expensive, so taping over previous shows made sense, but the AWA was learning about the future value of keeping their old shows.

The wrestling world in general did not change that much either. Promotors were generally honoring one another's territory claims with only occasional "turf wars" like in Detroit and Los Angeles. But the same promotors who energetically started the NWA in 1948 were heading toward retirement and were not looking to make major waves or new investments in their product.

In 1983 Vince McMahon took over a key program/time slot on WTBS. Vince's product flopped as fans wanted their more traditional NWA-style wrestling. But McMahon sold the slot to Crockett and the money from this sale was crucial in Vince building his war chest.

Late 1983 was also when Vince McMahon convinced Hulk Hogan to abandon his plans with the AWA and immediately jump ship to the WWF. 1984 signaled the start of a totally new era in wrestling. The war between the territory promoters and Vince was on.

During 1984 and 1985 the territory promotors saw their top talent taken by Vince McMahon. No longer were the owners of the territories discussing wrestlers' end-dates and start-dates. The WWF was hiring talent and they were, in most cases, leaving immediately. This left the AWA and NWA territories with broken story lines and diminished overall booking plans. It also left many territories without the key performers they were planning to showcase. McMahon also took over key television time slots on the usual local stations. Instead of tuning in and finding the local promotion, fans would often find the new WWF product instead.

This ebook serves as an eye-opening introduction to the AWA and a great supplement for longtime AWA fans. It is not an "encyclopedia" and does not have an insider's view of the association. I am a passionate fan of the AWA and have poured through tons of information in order to provide this material in an easy-to-follow format.

For many readers, the end-part of this book will be the real crown jewel. I have included links to books, shoot videos and youtube clips that you are sure to love. Searching for these items is very time consuming, but now you have a place to go to get your AWA-fix. Fans of other wrestling territories will also notice a ton of interesting items. Wrestlers always crossed territories so there are a lot of shoot interviews, books and matches from Dallas, New York, Memphis, Japan, Florida, etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DA White
• Release date: Apr 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201690571

Ken Phillips

I have been making friends with strong, skilled women for two decades. I have met dozens of these women and others I have gotten to know quite well over the phone or online. The women featured explain why they started learning to kick butt and their favorite moments as an Alpha-Female. It's MY passion and you'll see why I love it so much when you read this boo!

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction/History/etc

Events and Special Profiles

Youtube Wrestling Videos

Youtube Shoot Videos

Recommended Books

My Other Books

The AWA 1986

Great Talent/Smaller Crowds

Introduction/History/etc:

In many ways, 1986 was the most important year in the decline of the AWA. For some reason, people are fascinated with the downfall of the American Wrestling Association. And truth-be-told, I plead guilty to being a part of this group. I began watching the AWA in the early 1980’s and kept watching it through the bitter end in 1991. While every year during the 1980’s tells a different, enlightening story, 1986 may represent the biggest twelve-month-shift in the Association’s proud history.

1980-1983 were business as usual for the AWA. They can even be considered better-than-usual due to the arrival of Hulk Hogan. The way Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo ran the AWA went unchanged from the 1970’s into the 1980’s. The one notable exception was the video library. The AWA began keeping more of their footage instead of taping over it. The reels were very expensive, so taping over previous shows made sense, but the AWA was learning about the future value of keeping their old shows.

The wrestling world in general did not change that much either. Promotors were generally honoring one another’s territory claims with only occasional turf wars like in Detroit and Los Angeles. But the same promotors who energetically started the NWA in 1948 were heading toward retirement and were not looking to make major waves or new investments in their product.

In 1983 Vince McMahon took over a key program/time slot on WTBS. Vince’s product flopped as fans wanted their more traditional NWA-style wrestling. But McMahon sold the slot to Crockett and the money from this sale was crucial in Vince building his war chest.

Late 1983 was also when Vince McMahon convinced Hulk Hogan to abandon his plans with the AWA and immediately jump ship to the WWF. 1984 signaled the start of a totally new era in wrestling. The war between the territory promoters and Vince was on.

During 1984 and 1985 the territory promotors saw their top talent taken by Vince McMahon. No longer were the owners of the territories discussing wrestlers’ end-dates and start-dates. The WWF was hiring talent and they were, in most cases, leaving immediately. This left the AWA and NWA territories with broken story lines and diminished overall booking plans. It also left many territories without the key performers they were planning to showcase. McMahon also took over key television time slots on the usual local stations. Instead of tuning in and finding the local promotion, fans would often find the new WWF product instead.

This ebook serves as an eye-opening introduction to the AWA and a great supplement for longtime AWA fans. It is not an encyclopedia and does not have an insider’s view of the association. I am a passionate fan of the AWA and have poured through tons of information in order to provide this material in an easy-to-follow format.

For many readers, the end-part of this book will be the real crown jewel. I have included links to books, shoot videos and youtube clips that you are sure to love. Searching for these items is very time consuming, but now you have a place to go to get your AWA-fix. Fans of other wrestling territories will also notice a ton of interesting items. Wrestlers always crossed territories so there are a lot of shoot interviews, books and matches from Dallas, New York, Memphis, Japan, Florida, etc.

***My other books are also linked at the end of this book. Other years are analyzed as well as special looks at Enhancement Talent and special Trivia Books!***

Special Profiles:

The Alaskans, Doug Somers, Mongolian Stomper, Leon White, Sgt Slaughter, Colonel DeBeers, Buddy Rose, Billy Anderson, Midnight Rockers, Larry Zbyszko, Scott LeDoux, Brad Rheingans, Steve Pardee, Alan West, Stan Hansen, Boris Zhukov, Yuri Gordienko, Silo Sam, Curt Hennig, Super Ninja, Mister Go, Sherri Martel, Ali Khan, Frankie DeFalco, Sonny Rogers

Events/Special Profiles

January 5th, 1986 – Minneapolis TV

Kevin Kelly defeated Larry Zbyszko (DQ)

Sgt. Slaughter defeated Ken Glover

Mongolian Stomper defeated Keith Eric

Bill Irwin and Scott Irwin (The Long Riders) defeated Paul Brown and Earthquake Ferris

The AWA and Verne Gagne believed that television needed to be done on a very specific way. It led to great arena attendance because the television interviews were geared toward the specific market. So the AWA television in Milwaukee had matches from the Minneapolis television studio, but the interviews were all aimed toward the next (monthly) Milwaukee show. The interviews were what made AWA TV so entertaining. At any given time the AWA had talkers like Crusher, Jesse Ventura, Superstar Graham, Nick Bockwinkel, Bobby Heenan, etc.

The downside to AWA television was the fact that the matches lacked drama. It was almost all matches between superstars and enhancement talent. Every so often they’d show bits of an arena match, but not much. Verne Gagne believed that if you showed the great arena events for FREE on television then fans wouldn’t need to buy tickets for the events. In other territories, such as Mid-South, the television would be fever-pitched. Fans in the AWA didn’t really know any different since you generally only saw one wrestling organization on your local TV. Keep this dynamic in mind as you see the television match-ups throughout this book. Also make note of the fact that the AWA was facing competition at this point from the WWF, so there are times during 1986 when you can tell the AWA is reacting to the changing dynamic of the wrestling world.

January 5th, 1986 Green Bay, WI

Jerry Blackwell, Curt Hennig and Baron Von Raschke beat Nord the Barbarian, Scott Irwin and Sheik Adnan Al- Kaissie

Nord the Barbarian and Bill Irwin defeated Baron von Raschke and Marty Jannetty

Scott Irwin Drew Scott Hall

Curt Hennig beat Sheik Adnan Al Kassie (DQ)

This was a totally revamped card with the main event still being a cage match. This is about as much as an event could ever change. There were many reasons for these occurrences during the territory era. In the AWA it could be due to winter weather or the somewhat informal way things were thrown together.

January 10th, 1986– Rosemont, IL

Cage Match: Road Warriors and Jerry Blackwell defeated Fabulous Freebirds Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts

Sgt. Slaughter defeated AWA Champion Stan Hansen (DQ)

AWA Tag Team Champions Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal defeated Curt Hennig and Scott Hall

Nick Bockwinkel defeated Larry Zbyszko (DQ)

Boris Zhukov and Nord the Barbarian defeated Marty Jannetty and Earthquake Ferris

Scott Irwin defeated Baron Von Raschke

Bill Irwin defeated Kelly Kiniski

This is considered a Chicago event. The AWA had a long history in Chicago. The AWA was part of a combined effort with Dick the Bruiser and Bob Luce for monthly matches at the Amphitheater.

Gene Kiniski was a superstar during Verne Gagne’s era. His sons, Kelly and Nick, both wrestled in the AWA. They were both very good wrestlers but their careers were probably curtailed because of the territory era coming to an end. With the WWF and Crockett/Turner as the two main employers of full-time wrestlers, the number of full-time salaries were limited. While the Kiniski’s were terrific athletes and wrestlers, they didn’t have Hogan-like physiques and weren’t in the rare Arn Anderson-category as workers.

January 11th, 1986 – Rockford, IL

TV Taping

Jerry Blackwell and Scott Hall defeated AWA Tag Team Champions Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal  (DQ)

Nord The Barbarian, Mongolian Stomper and Boris Zhukov defeated Marty Jannetty, Buck Zumhofe and Curt Hennig

Baron Von Raschke defeated