American Wrestling Association
Nick Bockwinkle. The name alone sounds tough. Kind of like
a cross between Rocky & Bulwinkle, don't ya think? How else
could this guy hit his peak at 50, and still be wrestling today
in his 60s? He won his only AWA World Title by getting a roll of
quarters handed to him by Larry Zybysko and punching out the champ!
What a chump!!
Jerry Blackwell was one of the fattest bastards in wrestling
history. He and Jake the Milkman Milliman were terrible wrestlers,
and occasionally Blackwell even won a match now and then.
"The Milkman" even won 1 match in his career.
My all time favorite AWA wrastler was "The Clawmaster," Baron
von Raschke. Once he slapped the claw on you, it was over!
I can remember watching the commercials for AWA, and it went
something like this: "AWA Wrestling on Channel 26! It's all you need
to know!!" And the Baron would come at the camera with his famous claw.
He also was the first wrestler I can remember having a signature saying.
He always said, "I'm the Clawmaster, Baron von Raschke. That's all you need
to know!" And that was ALL YOU NEEDED TO KNOW!
This was one arrogant dude. Col. DeBeers did everything
he could to make us hate South Africa during the height of
the apartheid in S. Africa. He was a pretty good wrestler,
but he always cheated to win. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisie was
his manager, and would usually spear DeBeers opponents with
the South African flag, enabling the Colonel to pick up
the easy victory.
Sgt. Slaughter was the opposite of Col. DeBeers. This guy was
as All-American as you could get. He was loud and proud of his
American heritage, although he did try to make more money by
going to the WWF as a heel. It didn't work, and he should
have stayed a good guy forever!
Believe it or not, Marty Jannetty was the more popular of the Midnite
Rockers during their stint in the AWA. Of course, Shawn
Michaels completely overtook him once they went into the WWF,
but only because Marty got hurt. These guys were some High Flyers and
were really fun to watch!
The Road Warriors, with Precious Paul Ellering, got their start
in the AWA. They were tag champs until they got beat by the Fabulous
Ones. They then moved on to the NWA, then into the WWF, winning
titles in all 3 leagues. The "Legion of Doom" were by far one of the
most popular tag teams in the history of the sport.
Go to my home page!
Email: 80sguy@angelfire.com
