AWA Chicago. 10-19-93. Champs decided!

[1mississippifan]

UIC Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois Saturday, October 19, 1993

1. Single Match. 1-fall 15-minute time limit. Steve Cox used an inside cradle to beat The Great Wojo. (8:13).

2. Single Match. 1-fall 15-minute time limit. Brad Rheingans won by disqualification over 'Macho Man' Randy Savage when 'Macho Man' tied Brad in the ropes and refused to stop punching him. Referee James Beard had no choice to disqualify him. (2:21). Savage took the microphone and told the fans they will see him again tonight then left.

3. Special Four Man Tag Team Match. 1-fall 20-minute time limit. The Southern Boys (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smotherns) edged Money Inc. (Ted Dibiase and Mike Rotounda) w/mgr. Woman. (14:44). Steve and Tracy used the double drop kick on Dibiase as Armstrong gets the pin. Smotherns traps Rotounda in the corner as Woman was too late to break up the pin. Following the loss, Money Inc. attack the Southern Boys, throwing Steve over the top rope to the floor and double-teaming Tracy until help arrives.

4. Bonus Match. 1-fall 20-minute time limit. The Ultimate Warrior went time limit draw with 'Hacksaw' Butch Reed (20:00). Reed worked the clock, leaving the ring when in trouble and escaping near pins but was save by the bell as Warrior had a two-county on "Hacksaw' following a pair of hard-hitting clotheslines.

---10-minute intermission---

5. AWA Women's Championship Match. 1-fall 30-minute time limit. Wendi Richter used the sit out DDT to defeat Madusa Miceli for the belt. (13:45). Miceli attacked Richter at the beginning of the match and never let up until Wendi turned things around following a botched attempt by Madusa to post the Richter and it backfired.

6. AWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Match. 1-fall 30-minute time limit. 'Mr. Electricity' Steve Regal used the figure-four leglock to defeat Steve Simpson. (10:10). Close match with Simpson's high flying tactics countering Regal's cheap shots.

7. AWA Tag Team Championship Match. 1-fall 60-minute time limit. (Champs): The Barbarian and the Warlord successfully defended their belts against (Chall): Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas) when the Warlord hit a running powerslam and the Barbarian used a diving clothesline on Kroffat for the win. (13:10). Brutal brawl from start to finish. Furnas was posted and bloodied near the end of the match as the champs set up Dan for the pin. Can-Am made a run early on but the big brutal champs were too much for them.

8. AWA Heavyweight Championship Match. 1-fall 60-minute time limit. 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig used the Perfect Plex to defeat a game but injured Bob Backlund for the belt. The match almost never got started as Savage made an unwelcomed appearance, wanting to take Backlund's place. When that failed, Randy began taughting Curt. Bockwinkel and other officials came down and escorted 'Macho Man' back to the dressing room. Hennig controlled the match from the beginning as Bob spent most of the time on the defense, trying to protect his back. Near the end, referee Dave Hebner collided with Hennig and was temporarily out. Back from the dressing comes 'Macho Man' who goes after the dazzed Hennig this time with punches and kicks. Backlund has had enough and he nails Randy with a couple of rights and Savage hit the mat. When Bob goes to check on Curt and the official, Savage climbs the top rope and dives off, knee first, onto Bob's back. Here comes the Ultimate Warrior from the dressing room! Warrior hits the ring as Randy leaps to the floor runs back to the dressing room with Warrior hot on his tail. Hebner comes too and sees both Curt and Bob down. He begins counting as both men slowly get up. Backlund moves in with an atomic drop for quick pin but can't keep Hennig down. Curt comes back and hits the Perfect Plex on Bob for the 1-2-3 for capture the heavyweight belts. The fans are standing and cheering. The Warrior comes back down with Bockwinkel and shakes hands with Curt and Bob. And Warrior also issues a public challenge to Hennig to put the belt up against him. Hennig smiles, doesn't answer and leaves the ring as AWA champ.

[somethingsavage]

Really digging your roster. It's a fun blend of characters & gimmicks with the serious, more sports-oriented and competition-based stuff you'd expect from Minnesota. Good stuff.

I'd be a little leery about booking Warrior into too many twenty-minute encounters or ANY broadways, actually. It just seems like risky business. The guy's practically blown up & gasping after most of his entrances, so yeah. Just know what you're working with and - more importantly - know your audience. Does anyone REALLY want to see Warrior go for 20 minutes? Probably not. Similar to the Goldberg phenomenon. It works, because it works.

In other words, Warrior got over doing powerhouse moves and squashing guys. When you filter out critical parts of that equation, he just doesn't seem so fascinating anymore. Ya risk ruining the shine on a guy of his caliber when you stop working to accent his strengths. Here, in a 20-minute match, they're wide out in the open - capable of being exposed, and capable of seeing through his whole act. Like I said, it's just risky business.

Beyond that? Loved everything else here. The Powers of Pain against Furnas & LaFon actually sounds like a (strangely) strong match. There's obviously a difference in dynamics there, but I think they're styles of working would mesh rather than clash. Think it'd make for a neat chemistry in terms of HOW the action panned out between those guys.

You're drawing all your big names together around your top belt, and that's key. So I'm enjoying that approach. Puts all the major emphasis on your prize. Smart move.

And hey. The treatment for the Macho Man has been tremendous here. He's leaving a whirlwind of mayhem & bedlam in his wake, wherever he goes. It's just what the doctor ordered, in terms of selling us on his whole "Madness" persona. Fun stuff, too.

Bob versus Curt is a quality main event to have up top. Ya certainly went with the right guy to hold the strap also. So yeah. There's a lot to look forward to here. Keep it coming, man.

[1mississippifan]

Thanks for feedback.

[somethingsavage]

No problem, man. Also gotta say - I'm liking the appeal of having Woman paired with Money Inc. It's a fun dynamic on the surface that ya could probably get some decent mileage out of, to be honest.

Woman was doing some truly neat stuff on the East Coast at the time, as I always REALLY bought into her silent, stoic femme fatale act.

Could be great for programming them with another team for an engaging series of matches. Just gotta be careful not to beat 'em too much around the circuit first.

[Deleted]

Time aside, I was more surprised that Warrior did not just go over in that match. I think a 20 minute Warrior match might not be the most exciting thing, but could easily work with the right smoke and mirrors. Unless it is the main event though where the build and hype would keep fans into it, given it is a house show, could easily shave some time off. Back to the result, the reason I was surprised was Warrior coming out at the end and challenging Hennig when he just got off a draw with Reed.

Savage on the other hand, really looks strong here. I might place him a little better than the second match for a house show when he is such a drastically bigger star than a lot of these names, but that is really minor. This is approaching the time frame where I feel like despite being the heel, fans would be cheering him. Backlund could still work around now, but his reactions as a face were pretty dead and that was returning to the area he was main eventing in 10 years earlier, so pairing the 2 up, I could definitely see the fans getting behind Savage's more intense personality.

Hennig was a good choice for the first champion. While I do not think being more known in the area 5 years earlier would matter much to getting over relative to Savage or Warrior by 1993 given national expansion and the AWA going dead for so long, he does have a history there that kicks things off a little better for the title's legacy I think. He is a face now, but that ending puts some doubt there. I think I would be a little more into the idea of face vs face, Hennig vs Warrior for the title if Warrior had actually won to be more of a clear cut #1 contender, but there is still time to do something before getting here.

Your tag team division is what really shines here. You have some good working teams, even if Money Inc. is on borrowed time with DiBiase getting that career ending injury in another 2-3 weeks. Personally I have never liked the big muscles on top because they are just so hard to beat, while keeping that aura to them. It is why The Road Warriors have not been champions for me, but that said, Powers of Pain keeping the titles does keep them strong. More just a matter going forward. It really has to be the right team to beat them, size wise and push wise. Neither the Can-Ams or the Southern Boys seem like that team unless the PoP are on their way out at any point, but the match quality should not suffer at least. They were a team that seemed to always have if not great, good and watchable matches with teams like The Rockers and The Hart Foundation, and knew how to play their role.

Steve Regal as junior champion in 1993. I will have a bit of a hard time getting into that long term with this roster, although you might be in the same boat since he was not even in the match originally and was subbed in after it was announced. Like Hennig, he makes to a good throwback to the old AWA to start, and he would work fine if it was in a more indy type place where he was a bigger name, but it seems like here with this division being built around guys 5 years past the spotlight with no real future like Regal and Simpson, it could use a Jerry Lynn to pick it up and bring it into the 90s.

Also the use of women is a good twist here, or anywhere for that matter. They seem to get ignored and cast off to the side all too often in terms of "in ring" in this stuff, so it is good to see them actually getting ring time. This is 1 area where I think keeping closer to the old AWA roster works for 1993 because their women's division was actually a lot better than WWF's by the time the whole thing faded out in the late 80s. Not to mention you pretty much have your pick to make whatever match you want here. Richter and Madusa could be a good series of matches.

There are more than a few names yet to see action on your roster, roughly 15, and some could be big players so hopefully they get in there in some form soon. Bret Hart, The Heavenly Bodies, Rick Martel, the 3 Japanese names.

[Grape Ape]

Not much more to add that hasn't already been said by JP and Savage. Looking forward to the fallout from this card as well as the introduction of those guys we have yet to see.

Count me amongst the surprised of Warrior going the distance with Reed who I was sure would go on to become the next #1 challenger. It would appear that he has some unfinished business with Butch Reed, maybe pushing Savage into that position?