-Today, we conclude our look at the AWA by looking at SuperClash IV.
-SuperClash IV took place on April 8, 1990, from the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, MN. There were 2,000 in attendance.
-The National Anthem plays. An announcement is made that there is no smoking in the auditorium. People are upset, but the announcer is like hey, don’t be mad at me. They then announce that the Junk Yard Dog tore a ligament the night before in his knee. They announce Baron Von Raschke as his replacement to a nice pop.
-Jake Milliman VS. Todd Becker: Becker with the early advantage. Crowd cheers a Milliman comeback. He works Becker’s arm. Gets a monkey flip. Then an arm bar. Becker comes back with a slam and a headlock. Gets a two count. Milliman wins with a sunset flip.
-Texas Hangmen VS. DJ Peterson and Brad Rheinghans: Too much stalling by the Texas Hangmen before they even lock up. Hangmen are Frank Vizi, better known by the ring names Bull Pain, Rick Gantner and Psycho, and Tom Beninghaus, better known as KILLER. Rheinghans starts. They finally lock up. Rheinghans choking Psycho in the corner. Psycho comes back with a cheap shot. Back and forth. Rheinghans with a hip toss and an arm drag. Killer tagged in then Peterson also tagged in. He works an arm hold. Faces do a couple of phantom tag spots. Rheinghans with an arm bar. Hangmen cheat to gain an advantage. Fans making noises but that dies down. Rheinghans ducks as Psycho comes off the top rope and he clotheslines Killer. Peterson tagged in and he cleans house. He gets a two count on a power slam. Double clothesline. Really annoying fans near the camera mic. Hangmen get the win with an inside cradle.
-Baron Von Raschke VS. Col. DeBeers: The Baron with an early advantage, so DeBeers bails out. They exchange wristlocks, Von Raschke gets an arm bar. DeBeers comes back with a headlock. Von Raschke threatens the claw, so DeBeers falls out of the ring to avoid it. Both are past their primes, but could get away with it with this crowd. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse has come down for DeBeers. DeBeers goes up top, but gets caught by Von Raschke and slammed off. DeBeers comes back and batters Von Raschke in the far corner. DeBeers goes off the top rope with a head butt, but Von Raschke moves. Von Raschke comes back, hits a knee off of an Irish whip. Fans yell for the claw. DeBeers tangles up in the ropes. Von Raschke signals for the claw. Al-Kaisse blocks it with his briefcase, so Von Raschke goes after him. He gets the claw on Al-Kaisse, but DeBeers attacks him from behind. They fight outside, but Von Raschke makes it back in before the count and wins by count out. DeBeers and Al-Kaisse attack him after the match.
-Tommy Jammer VS. Tully Blanchard with Christopher Love: This is where Blanchard lands after he gets fired from the WWF and can’t go to WCW because the offer is rescinded from WCW after it is leaked that Blanchard failed a drug test in the WWF. Love is longtime wrestling guy Bert Prentice, who made a name for himself in Memphis and Nashville. It takes some time to start after they both get in. Starts and stops with some clean breaks and stalling by Blanchard. He goes out and Jammer drags him back in over the top rope. Blanchard keeps getting to the ropes and stalling. Jammer is clumsy, but Blanchard is trying to make him look good. Jammer with an arm bar, Blanchard again gets to the ropes. Jammer pulls him back and Love grabs his leg and it’s a tug of war between Love and Jammer with Blanchard as the rope. Then it’s the rest hold by Jammer, Blanchard gets to the ropes game over and over again. They announce 5 minutes have gone by in the match and it feels like 15. More of the same. Jammer with a hip toss into an arm bar. A minor go Tully go chant goes up and Blanchard gets a thumb to Jammer’s eye. He throws Jammer out. Jammer gets back in and goes back to the arm bar. Blanchard with several pin attempts. Jammer with his own thumb to Blanchard’s eye and Blanchard rolls out. Back in, Blanchard throws Jammer out and Love kicks him. Back in, Jammer gets a knee up at a Blanchard charge. Jammer with an abdominal stretch. Blanchard outside on the apron and Jammer suplexes him in and they do the Warrior/Rick Rude spot from WrestleMania V with Love playing the Bobby Heenan role of grabbing Jammer’s leg so he can’t kick out except it isn’t that good. Blanchard gets the win. Jammer goes after Love and Blanchard attacks him. They brawl into the crowd and Blanchard attacks Jammer with a chair.
-Intermission.
-Kokina Maximus with Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse VS. John Nord: Lumberjack match. Adnan has a bounty on Nord that Kokina is trying to collect. Kokina is the future Yokozuna. Here taking on the future Bezerker. This takes forever to get started. Shoving to start. Test of strength. Kokina knocked outside and the lumberjacks gently help him back in. Lumberjacks are most of the wrestlers we have seen already. Nord is trying to knock Kokina off of his feet. He finally does it. Kokina knocked out again and put back in. Kokina with a nerve hold on. He has it on for several minutes. Nord coming back. Nord goes out and there is a scuffle trying to get him back in. Kokina back on the offensive. The crowd and some of the lumberjacks try to rally Nord. Kokina misses a corner charge. Nord hits a big boot. Adnan grabs Nord’s leg and the lumberjacks throw him in. Nord gets Adnan in the corner and Kokina goes to corner charge and hits Adnan. Nord opens Adnan’s briefcase and hits Kokina with it. Paper flies everywhere, proving that Adnan didn’t have the money in the case to pay Kokina the bounty. Nord pins Kokina. Kokina and Adnan start arguing and Kokina punches Adnan to a big pop. He then splashes Adnan. A Kokina chant goes out.
-AWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Mr. Saito VS. Larry Zbyszko: Some dignitaries, including Verne Gagne, are introduced and they call Verne wrestling’s greatest legend and how people would love to see him come out of retirement one more time. He does get a nice ovation. Nick Bockwinkel is announced as the special guest referee. They start out slow. Saito on the offensive. Zybyszko is frustrated, but does take Saito down. Rope break. Zybyszko with an arm bar. They slug it out and Zybszko goes down. Saito choking Zybyszko and Bockwinkel breaks it up and Bockwinkel then threatens Saito when Saito comes after him. Saito gets a sleeper on, Zybyszko gets to his feet. He gets out of it, but Saito gets it back on. He gets out again and kicks Saito down. Zybyszko then choking Saito and he and Bockwinkel start going at it. Zybyszko with an abdominal stretch. Back and forth. Zybyszko running Saito head into the corner. Saito chopping Zybyszko who falls out. Saito runs Zybyszko into the corner. Zybyszko with a sunset flip for a two count. Saito misses a charge. Saito gets the Scorpion Death Lock on Zybyszko. Zybyszko gets to the ropes. Saito going after Zybyszko hard. Saito with an inside cradle for a two count. A big suplex gets two. They both get knocked down. Back up, Saito gets another suplex and a double pin where both men’s shoulders are on the mat, but Zybyszko gets his shoulder up at the last minute. Saito thinks he has won, and is announced as the winner, but Bockwinkel raises Zybyszko’s hand. Saito argues with Bockwinkel. The crowd is bewildered too. A Larry chant goes out. Zybyszko is awarded the belt, Saito attacks him. Kathy Gagne explains the ruling to a smattering of boos and applause.
-Intermission while they set up the cage.
-Cage Match: The Destruction Crew Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos with Tully Blanchard VS. Paul Diamond and The Trooper: Bob Lurtsema is the special guest referee. They finally get in. All four brawl. Faces in control. They run Enos into the cage. He’s bumping and bleeding for the business. Faces doing quick tags. Can’t get the three count though. Bloom tagged in and makes a small comeback. Tries to climb out of the top of the cage. The Trooper brings him back in. Trooper misses a top rope elbow drop. Heels take over. Gets a two count. Blanchard holds a chair against the cage and they run The Trooper into it. Heels double teaming. Trooper run into the cage. He’s now bleeding. More double teaming. The Destruction Crew throw Lurtsema towards the door to a mild pop. They do the doomsday device on The Trooper. Lurtsema throws Bloom aside and does a leg drop on Enos and puts The Trooper on him and counts the pin. The Destruction Crew and Blanchard attack Lurtsema in the cage and Blanchard locks them in. The Faces try to get in and Blanchard keeps them away. They finally get in and the heels retreat.
-Outtakes and highlights of Eric Bischoff’s interviews with the participants: Mr. Saito and his manager Hitori say they are disappointed in Nick Bockwinkel and America. Col. DeBeers talks about the bounty on John Nord and the suitcase of shredded paper. DeBeers says Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse isn’t taking advantage of anyone and that thieving Americans took the money. Outtakes of Col. DeBeers cutting a promo. Bischoff is then with Nick Bockwinkel who explains his decision. Bockwinkel is just the greatest. Bischoff with Larry Zybyszko and Larry is gloating over his win. Bockwinkel has the Holy Grail and Larry is the champion. Bischoff is then with The Destruction Crew. They say they are still the champions. Lurtsema saved the faces and he better stop hiding. Tully Blanchard comes in and talks about Lurtsema interfering. Then Blanchard and Christopher Love talk about Lurtsema. Bischoff then talks to Lurtsema. He says he was right to get involved. Outtakes and highlights of Eric Bischoff talking to The Trooper about the cage match.
-For the fate of the AWA, let’s turn to Wikipedia: Despite falling behind the WWF and NWA as a major promotion throughout 1986 and 1987, Gagne still managed to find and/or develop legitimate young talent like Scott Hall, The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), "Bull Power" Leon White (later known as Big Van Vader), The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags), and Madusa Miceli during that timeframe.
The SuperClash 2 Championship debate: After further review by on-air AWA President Stanley Blackburn, and following weeks of speculation by AWA fans, the decision was upheld and Hennig was the new champion. Gagne pushed Hennig and The Midnight Rockers throughout 1987 and into 1988, but the WWF came calling and all three of his top stars would soon be gone.
During 1987, in an attempt to remain relevant and survive, Gagne renewed a relationship with Memphis-based promoter Jerry Jarrett and the CWA and even allowed Mid-Southern territory legend Jerry "The King" Lawler to win the AWA World Title from Curt Hennig in May 1988. This was after the AWA flirted for months with the idea of giving Greg Gagne the belt, even awarding the belt to Gagne at a couple of house shows, only to return it to Hennig on a technicality. It was widely speculated that the idea of the younger Gagne as heavyweight champion did not play well with AWA fans, who seemed more interested in the involvement of Verne Gagne and Larry Hennig in the feud than they did with Greg Gagne actually winning the title, so Verne decided to go with Lawler instead. Michaels and Jannetty would drop the titles to Badd Company around that same time.
Facing financial trouble of their own, WCCW then allied themselves with the AWA and CWA, and Jerry Lawler would challenge WCCW Heavyweight champion Kerry Von Erich to a title unification match at SuperClash III in December. Super Clash III was the AWA's first venture into the Pay-Per-View market and wrestling's first collaborative PPV between several promotions. However, after months of hype, the end results were somewhat contentious and relatively unsuccessful. Following the event, the collaborative effort was over and Lawler was stripped of the title in January 1989. Lawler kept the AWA Title belt and continued promoting himself in Tennessee, Texas, and on the independent circuit as the unified World Heavyweight Champion. Lawler did this in an attempt to leverage PPV revenue from Gagne that was owed to him, but Gagne never paid him and eventually commissioned a new title belt of similar design.
In February 1989, Larry Zbyszko, a one-time employee and Verne's son-in-law, returned to the AWA and won the vacated World Title in an 18-man Battle Royal, eliminating Tom Zenk to end the match. It was also during this time that Joe Blanchard replaced Stanley Blackburn as AWA President. Zbyszko's first title reign would last for a little over one year. During this time he would defend the title against Zenk, Greg Gagne, Wahoo McDaniel, Ken Patera, Nikita Koloff, Brad Rheinghans, The Trooper Del Wilkes, and Masa Saito. Zbyszko would eventually lose the title to Saito in February 1990 in front of 65,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome at the NJPW/AJPW Super show. Zbyszko would regain the title in May 1990 at SuperClash IV. During 1989 and 1990, the AWA also pushed Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom as the top tag team. In early 1989, Eric Bischoff, who was performing office work for the AWA at the time, mostly in sales and syndication, was placed in front of the camera to replace Larry Nelson as interviewer and occasional commentator. The AWA was Bischoff's first exposure to the world of pro wrestling. He would later become a dominant force in the industry, leading World Championship Wrestling to prominence in the 1990s.
The AWA would become inactive in the fall of 1990 (the last television taping occurred on August 11). As a result, Zbyszko signed with WCW. As his last official act, Verne Gagne stripped the already-departed Zbyszko of the AWA World Title in December 1990. In 1991, Gagne and his inactive promotion officially filed for bankruptcy. Gagne did promote two cards in Minnesota in May 1991, featuring the return of Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel and other stars such as Baron von Raschke, Buck Zumhofe, and The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom), but he was unable to revive the promotion. Despite this, the AWA continued re-running matches in their weekly ESPN time slot, and on their syndicated All-Star Wrestling show. The company also managed to release a commercial tape (Hulk Hogan's Highlights) during 1991.
On the Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD, Eric Bischoff revealed that one of the main reasons the AWA shut down was that Verne Gagne was leveraging money against a valuable property he owned along Lake Minnetonka. Local officials wanted to turn the property into a park. Gagne fought the decision for several years, but eventually lost the eminent domain case, leading to the creation of Lake Minnetonka Regional Park. As a result, he lost the financial resource he was using to keep the AWA up and running and had no choice but to shut down the promotion. In an interview during the late 1990s with Minneapolis television station KARE, Gagne spoke of the devoted fan base in Minnesota and joked about how he may promote again someday, but nothing ever materialized. Gagne died in 2015.