Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Airdate: July 15, 1986 (taped 07/05)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, Lord James Blears, & Nick Bockwinkel
Can Zhukov upset Bockwinkel to become World champion? What do Snuka, DeBeers, and the tag champions have to say these days? Prepare yourself for a wild ride!
Live from Oakland, CA
Airdate: June 28, 1986
Attendance: 1,500
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, Lord James Blears, & Greg Gagne
Can Blackwell achieve greatness by defeating Hansen? Will Devine retain against Sherri? What will Bockwinkel do against Nord the Barbarian? How will the Midnight Rockers and Hennig fare in the main event? Let’s uncover the mystery right now!
The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 10.12.85
Taped from Shreveport, LA
Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & Bill Watts
Live from the Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN
Airdate: April 20, 1986
Attendance: 23,000
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Rod Trongard, & Ken Resnick
Can the Road Warriors get revenge against the Freebirds? Will Bockwinkel regain the World title? How will Snuka and Greg fare against Brody and Barbarian? What’s going on with the Midnight Rockers? Let’s dig in and find out!
The SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 02.22.86
Taped from Charlotte, NC
Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Johnny Weaver, sober since…whoops, never mind.
The SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 02.15.86
OK, I know the 82 stuff gets ignored on here, but I don’t get why there’s not more love for 86. It’s Jim Crockett Promotions in its prime! This is the closest we’re ever getting to Worldwide Wrestling the Network so I’m going back to it again. SO THERE.
Taped from Charlotte, NC
Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Johnny Weaver
The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 10.05.85
OK, time for a cooldown rant, like the women’s battle royale after the cage match at All Out, because the blog was NUTS on Sunday and Monday and frankly my bank account needs a break from all the money that Tony Khan was pumping into it. Not only that, but I always insist on getting paid with the giant novelty cheques like Happy Gilmore and those things are a bitch to store. And since I’m fresh out of AWA to review, it’s back to Bill Watts!
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 03.26.88
I had that dream again last night for my birthday. You know the one, where Greg Gagne pops out of a cake singing “Happy Birthday” and wearing nothing but his AWA International TV title. I think we’ve all been there.
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Verne Gagne
Taped from Dallas, TX
Airdate: July 27, 1985 (taped 07/12)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Bill Mercer
Will Kabuki win a lumberjack match against Gang? Or will Hart change the outcome? How will Mike survive against Brooks? Will Casey topple Lewin? Let’s crank this up and get going!
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 03.19.88
Taped from Las Vegas, NV. I bet if Verne actually put 50,000 tickets on sale, he’d have beaten this year’s Summerslam attendance by himself. Greg Gagne could probably still main event today, if they gave him a shot.
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Donna Gagne
Taped from Dallas, TX
Airdate: July 20, 1985 (taped 07/12)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Bill Mercer
Can Kevin defeat Adams and blow the roof off the Sportatorium? Will Kerry beat the odds by defeating Gang in a Chicago death match? What does Hart have in store for us this week? Let’s get ‘er started!
The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 09.28.85
Screw it, I can’t find anything else on the WWE Network at the moment because they literally removed the sections for all the old WWF TV shows last week and haven’t added them back again. Why would I want to watch classic WWE content on the WWE Network? THAT’S MADNESS.
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 03.12.88
I wish I could quit you, 1988 AWA.
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Lee Marshall
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 03.05.88
Taped from Las Vegas, NV, back in the more familiar Showboat Casino setting.
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Lee Marshall
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Airdate: March 11, 1986
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Ken Resnick, & Greg Gagne
Will David Sammartino win the AWA World title? How will Michaels fare against the nefarious Somers? Who’s this Colorado rookie up against the returning yet dastardly Zbyszko? What’s that, Al?
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 02.27.88
Taped from Minot, ND
Your hosts are Rod Trongard and Donna Gagne
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Airdate: March 4, 1986
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Ken Resnick, & Greg Gagne
Will Blackwell destroy Zhukov as well as Al-Kaissie in the main event? What’s going on with the Long Riders? And who are these young newcomers to the AWA? Let’s sift through this in hopes of gold!
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 02.20.88
Taped from Minot, ND. The city’s motto is, I believe, “Minot? Why not!” Actually after the world stops being so infected with disease I want to go down to Minot and do some shopping so I shouldn’t make fun of them so much. I also want to visit Fargo, because DUH.
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Donna Gagne
Taped from Atlantic, City, NJ
Airdate: December 31, 1985 (taped 12/11)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Larry Nelson, Doug McLeod, & Verne Gagne
Who will win the battle royal? Can Zumhofe beat Graham and win the light heavyweight title? What’s going on with Slaughter, the Long Riders, and Al-Kaissie? Plus a BONUS MATCH! Let’s finish 1985 with a bang!
The SmarK Rant for AWA Championship Wrestling – 02.13.88
OH HELL YEAH. I’ve been dying for more AWA for years now and they finally dropped another 8 episodes on the Network out of nowhere. Shitty end-of-the-line era stuff, but I don’t care, I’m reviewing it all and I don’t even mind if it dies on the blog like the lovechild of Mid-Atlantic and Lucha Underground jobbing to Jeff Hardy on RAW in 4:00.
