AWA Superclash IV

Here's something a bit different; WWE Network had recently uploaded the American Wrestling Association's fourth and final Superclash supercard show thing onto the service as a hidden gem. This was a show that was believed to have never been televised, but leave it to the folks over at the Network to dig up this tremendous gem for the masses to witness the slow, decaying death of the AWA.

This show took place on April 8th, 1990 from the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota.




Jake "The Milkman" Milliman (a large fellow who would go on to win the AWA's Great American Turkey Hunt from a pink room) defeated Todd Becker. This was short, this was somewhat plodding, this was a thing that happened, and it was a perfect sign of things to expect on this here Superclash show. By the way, be prepared for plenty of "things that happened" being brought up here.

The Texas Hangmen (Killer and Psycho - what great ring names) defeated Brad Rheingans and D.J. Peterson. This was a thing that happened.

Baron von Raschke (sub. for Junkyard Dog) defeated Col. DeBeers by count out when Baron (a spry 50 at the time and looking ever like the elder statesman) was able to make it to the ring faster than the man five years his junior. The most generous thing I could say about this match is that this was a thing that happened and be done with it. Sadly, this was the standard we got from the AWA when guys who were main event threats back in the prime years of the promotion are still chugging along and looking more ancient than the most ancient person on the card.

God Bless the Baron, though; he's still going strong today, looking as prime for his age as ever, and more power to him. I'm pretty sure the only two wrestling things that would survive global extinction will be Impact Wrestling and Baron von Raschke.

Tully Blanchard (fresh off some rather explicit extracurricular activities) defeated Tommy Jammer in a thing that happened.

You know, I skipped the WWE PPV from last month because I feared most of the write-ups would be the same thing... and yet here am I, watching an old AWA show writing the same thing for every match.

John Nord defeated Kokina Maximus with the assist of a timely briefcase shot that was not a DQ in the AWA for some reason. This was - you guessed it - a thing that happened. Kokina would eventually go on to great fame in the WWF as the Samoan-turned-Japanese Sumo Yokozuna.

Larry Zbyszko defeated AWA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Saito to win the title that he would stick with until the end of time. I guess I should be thrilled that the last ever World Champion of the AWA was the guy who was married to one of Verne's kids and not a foreigner whose name I'll probably forget long after the fact. On the bright side, aren't you glad I didn't call this a thing that happened? Because that's what it was.

And in the main event, The Trooper and Paul Diamond defeated AWA Tag-Team Champions The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom) in a non-title Steel Cage match. What struck me about this match was someone telling the crowd to stick around because there's one more match and this is what they gave them; a thing that happened. Honestly, they should have ended the show with Larry winning the title. At least there was a title change there and it would've ended on a high note instead of this non-title cage match that went nowhere and the champions getting to walk away with their titles despite losing the match.

So, this was Superclash IV. The AWA's last big hurrah before being relegated to studio shows with no audience and eventually dying off the following year was indicative of a promotion on its dying breath. I can only imagine what someone watching this in 1990 would've thought of this show, but as someone watching this twenty-nine years later, this was an incredibly sad state of affairs. None of the matches were any good, much less exude any semblance of excitement or anticipation. This was a funeral paid for on the cheap and the stench of death was readily apparent even long after its demise.

Fun addition for the Network and I didn't really regret watching it for the curiosity factor, but that's about all I got out of it. This was a (sad) thing that happened... and that's all I've got to say about that, really.