Chuck Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 In typical Chuck fashion my WWF 1996 Diary has been cancelled... my roommate "Joshua" was supposed to start a WCW 1996 Diary to accompany this but has been busy recently with work and hasn't found time to. I was inspired to do this Dynasty after reading pretty much everything Save_us_Necro has been writing... very big fan of what he has going on and his writing style... Along with Oldschool... so if it seems like a ripoff of those two guys... it is. http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/AWA3.jpg "Originally when it all started back up in 1993 we were doing small shows in Minnesota and Illinios and drawing decent crowds of around 700... I pretty much carried the company on my back at that point because nobody (At first) knew who a lot of the younger guys were. I had just finished my last run with WWF at that point and people were really into my work and I elevated a lot of guys up to a new level. 1994 rolled around and we were doing 3 shows a month adding in California/Las Vegas to our circuit and started drawing around 1,500 per show. Verne was really smart to not try and do to much to fast and build up new young talent and having Cornette as the booker was genius as Verne would've killed the show by trying to have it run like a 1960's wrestling show in the 90's. 1995 was the year AWA exploded and we added a lot more towns onto our schedule and started to draw close to 2-4,000 a show and people started buzzing about us getting a Television or PPV Deal. By this point I wasn't the only "Superstar" to speak on the show and the AWA seemed like it was going to be big. Of course as you know yesterday (January 1st 1996) Verne announced to us and the fans that starting in February we would be on ESPN every Thursday with a TV Show. Be expecting big things from the AWA and Davey Boy Smith in 1996." January 1996 Edition of PWI Interview with "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith on the AWA's ESPN TV Deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 AWA Wrestler Profile: "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/DaveyBoySmith018.jpg Ever since the revival of the AWA in January 1993 Davey Boy Smith has been at the center of attention. After being released by Vince McMahon from WWF in December 1992 many people believed he would either go back to Japan to make a living or go to World Championship Wrestling and go onto win gold. However fate intervened whenever Jim Cornette (The AWA's Headbooker) contacted Davey Boy and offered him a big money contract and promises of Heavyweight Title glory. Although reluctant at first Davey Boy eventually accepted the contract and became the first signing of the new AWA. Davey Boy since then has held the AWA World Title twice and the AWA World Tag Team Titles once with his apprentice Chris Benoit. Most recently has been dominating the Tag Team Division although with a TV Deal approacing the AWA in February many believe that Davey Boy will be given Tag Team Competition that rivals his skill set or be moved back into World Title status. Davey Boy Smith AWA Title History: 1. AWA World Heavyweight Champion (Crowned Fourth Saturday of January 1993 by defeating Jake Roberts in the finals of an 8 Man Tournament... would lose the belt in October of 1993 with the debut of Animal the Warrior) 2. AWA World Heavyweight Champion (Won the belt from Scott Norton in November of 1994... would lose the title in June of 1995 to Perry Saturn) 3. Current AWA World Tag Team Champion (Won the belts with Chris Benoit in August of 1995 by defeating The Machines (Taz and Scott Norton)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/AWA3.jpg The History of the AWA: The Beginning (Late 1992-1993) -----The AWA was reformed in November of 1992 whenever AWA Owner and Founder Verne Gagne sold the original AWA Library of Footage to Viacom for a reported 3 Million Dollars. This enabled Gagne to have a strong enough backing to restart the AWA (And with Viacom's blessing use footage from time to time to promote upcoming shows). Gagne knew this time around that he would have to find a good booker to run his shows as he didn't want the same mistakes made this time around and wanted someone who truly knew how to run a wrestling show in today's world. It didn't take long for Gagne to find that someone as Jim Cornette was soon on the unemployment line whenever his company (Smokey Mountain Wrestling) was forced to file bankruptcy due to mismanagement of funds. Cornette would take over the book of the AWA in December of 1992 with only one month to plan it's debut show (AWA: Superclash Alpha). -----The first move that Jim Cornette made as head booker of AWA was to secure the recently released "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith to a full time AWA Contract. Although still an independant promotion Cornette was smart enough to realize that he needed a big star at the helm of his shows. From that point Cornette secured Jake Roberts and a bunch of younger guys to verbal deals. In January 1993 at a small High School in Robinsdale, MN the AWA was reborn with a 1 Night 8 Man World Title Tournament featuring Davey Boy Smith, Jake Roberts, "High Society" Paul Helmsley, Scott Norton, Chris Benoit, The Lightning Kid, Jerry Lynn and the late Kerry Von Erich. The show opened up with Norton and Davey Boy taking on each other in a technically sound big guy match in which Davey Boy managed to get the win with his running Powerslam to advance to round 2 in the Tournament. The next match was what many people have called the Match of the Year with Lightning Kid defeating Jerry Lynn in an excellent Junior Heavyweight Contest to advance to round 2 in the Tournament. Jake Roberts and Kerry Von Erich put on a good entertaining match (In what turned out to be one of Kerry's last professional wrestling appearences) with Roberts winning via the DDT. Chris Benoit and "High Society" Paul Helmsley put on a decent match considering nobody really knew who they were with Benoit getting the win with a beautiful Diving Headbutt. Round 2 consisted of Davey Boy and Lightning Kid having a good enough match with the crowd recieving it well... Davey Boy would win with a Sitout Powerbomb after Lightning Kid looked to put him away with a Hurricanrana. Benoit and Roberts had a good match as well with Roberts making Benoit look really good before putting him away with a DDT. The finals were good enough as Roberts and Davey Boy tore the house of 400 people down with an amazing technical wrestling match. Davey Boy would end up winning after a hard-fought bout of Roberts trying to cheat to stay on top. -----The AWA show in February 1993 was again in Robinsdale at the same high school and drew around 550 people. The show was opened up by a good tag team contest between the debuting Rock N Roll Express and the Lightning Kid/Jerry Lynn with the Kid and Lynn getting the upset win (Although not really getting along with each other), Jake Roberts made quick work of a local guy, Chris Benoit wrestled (And beat) Jimmy Snuka (In his only AWA Appearance) in a good match and the Main Event of the show was Davey Boy Smith successfully defending the AWA Title against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. The main highlight of the show was after the match Jake Roberts jumping Davey Boy and demanding that Davey Boy give him a title shot. -----March 1993 saw the AWA continue to grow as they put on two shows... one in Robinsdale of course with Davey Boy and Chris Benoit vs. Jake Roberts and Greg Valentine Main Eventing in a Tag Team contest (Won by those dastardly heels Valentine and Roberts)... other things to note were a good singles match (Won by Honky) between "High Society" Paul Helmsley and The Honky Tonk Man (As a babyface) and Lightning Kid wrestling against a local and making quick work of him. The other show was in Chicago, IL and featured Davey Boy vs. Jake Roberts for the AWA World Title which went to a 30 Minute Time Limit Draw, "High Society" Paul Helmsley forming a team with Greg Valentine and defeating the Rock N Roll Express, Jerry Lynn beating Chris Benoit in a great Juniors match and Lightning Kid defeating another local guy! -----April consisted of two shows (Robinsdale and Chicago) and each roughly drew around 600. Robinsdale was a normal show with Davey Boy defeating Paul Helmsley (With his new mentor Greg Valentine in his corner) in the Main Event to retain the AWA Title. The rest of the show was your typical spot show that AWA had been doing other than Jake Roberts promising he would eventually find a way to get the title off of Davey Boy Smith! The Chicago show was a AWA World Tag Team Title Tournament with the 8 teams being the Rock N Roll Express, High Society (Helmsley and Valentine), Lightning Kid and Jerry Lynn, Chris Benoit and Davey Boy Smith, Jake Roberts and the debuting King Kong Bundy plus 2 local teams! Sadly neither local team advanced to round 2! The finals ended up being High Society winning the belts after beating Lightning Kid and Jerry Lynn after Lynn turned on Lightning Kid by leaving the match 10 minutes into it. Other things to note were Davey Boy and Jake Roberts brawling all across the arena right before the Main Event match. -----May saw the AWA reach new heights as they moved to the Robinsdale Event Center and packed in over 700 fans for a show that saw Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy and Jerry Lynn defeat Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart (On loan from WWF for one night as part of an attempt to convince Verne to sell Davey Boy's contract (Which failed)) and The Lightning Kid! As part of a pre-match stipulation each man would get any match they wanted. Jerry Lynn demanded a match for June's Robinsdale show against the Lightning Kid and promised to reveal a secret after the match unless he could beat Lynn! King Kong Bundy demanded a match against Davey Boy Smith at the Chicago show and Jake Roberts said he would wait until later to reveal his demands. Bundy and Davey Boy headlined Chicago with a surprising outcome to the match... at one point the referee was knocked down and Bundy went for his Big Splash! However Jake Roberts (Who had been at ringside with Bundy) attacked Bundy before he could do so and laid him out with a vicious DDT! Davey Boy then went on to win the match with an amazing Powerslam onto the HUGE King Kong Bundy. After the match Jake Roberts revealed that in June he would be facing Davey Boy Smith for the AWA World Title in a CAGE MATCH! Other things to note are High Society succesfully defending the AWA Tag Team Titles against the teams of Chris Benoit and Honky Tonk Man and The Rock N Roll Express. -----June was the AWA's biggest month in 1993 as they packed the Robinsdale Event Center with 900 people for the Roberts vs. Smith Cage Match, The Tag Team Title Match of High Society vs. Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson (Who had left WCW for AWA in late May) and Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn with Lynn getting to reveal a secret if he won. Lightning Kid lost to Jerry Lynn in a hard-fought match in which after the match Lynn revealed that Kid had turned his back on the AWA by signing a WWF Contract!! Eaton and Anderson put up a good battle but were defeated by High Society whenever Helmsley hit a new double underhook facebuster on Anderson. The Main Event Cage Match was definitely Main Event worthy with Davey Boy and Jake Roberts battling for an epic 36 minutes in a Steel Cage... Davey Boy ended up retaining the title yet again (And looking untouchable) with Davey Boy escaping the cage after Roberts took a huge bump to the inside of the ring! Chicago was a decent show with the AWA taking it pretty easy by having High Society and Jerry Lynn defeat Benoit, Anderson and Eaton in the Main Event. -----The rest of the summer was pretty uneventful (Jake Roberts was fired by the AWA for repeated drug charges right after the Cage Match) with Davey Boy having good matches with Jerry Lynn, Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit. High Society held onto the belts and a bunch of new local guys were getting chances (And still losing). October however was a big month for AWA as Road Warrior Animal (Now known as Animal the Warrior) debuted and beat Davey Boy Smith for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in Chicago after Powerbombing him onto Concrete (Putting Davey Boy out of action until March 1994). The AWA took off November and December of 1993 as the holidays are hard to draw for smaller companies but promised a big year in 1994! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 AWA Wrestler Profile: "The Crippler" Chris Benoit http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/ChrisBenoit019.jpg If there is one man that embodies the spirit of the new AWA then it is "The Crippler" Chris Benoit. Wrestled in the World Heavyweight Title Tournament in the first two rounds by soundly defeating "High Society" Paul Helmsley in the first round and putting up a good fight against Jake Roberts in round 2 but coming up short. The rest of 1993 served Chris Benoit well as he wrestled such names as Jimmy Snuka and Jake Roberts and teamed off an on with Davey Boy Smith. 1994 was the breakout year for Benoit after a gruesome series of matches with King Kong Bundy that made the wrestling world buzz and a best of seven series with the Iceman Dean Malenko that many people have called the best series of matches ever. Benoit made 1995 a significant year by capturing the AWA World Tag Team Championships with his mentor Davey Boy Smith by defeating "The Machines" Taz and Scott Norton. With the year 1996 creeping up you have to wonder if Chris Benoit can keep his hot streak going and eventually capture the AWA World Heavyweight Championship! Chris Benoit AWA Title History: 1. Current AWA World Tag Team Champion (Won the belts with Davey Boy Smith in August of 1995 by defeating The Machines (Taz and Scott Norton)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 AWA Wrestler Profile: "High Society" Paul Helmsley http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/62.jpg Paul Helmsley debuted at the first ever new AWA Show and wrestled in a losing manner to Chris Benoit... the next few months Helmsley didn't improve his record until forming the team "High Society" with Greg Valentine. Valentine and Helmsley went on to dominate the Tag Team Scene winning the AWA World Tag Team Titles and hold onto them for an astonishing 13 months. In fact the only reason the belts were lost is because Helmsley turned his back on Valentine in the middle of the match and nailed him with his Double Underhook Facebuster dubbed the Pedigree. The rest of 1994 was spent feuding with Valentine until January 1995 whenever the two met in an epic "Loser Leaves AWA" Street Fight. Valentine ended up losing the match. In October of 1995 Paul Helmsley achieved the ultimate career high by winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Perry Saturn. Paul Helmsley AWA Title History: 1. AWA World Tag Team Title (Won with Greg Valentine in April 1993 lost to the Thrillseekers (Lance Storm and Chris Jericho) in May 1994) 2. Current AWA World Champion (Defeated Perry Saturn in October 1995 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 AWA Wrestler Profile: Jerry Lynn http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/10.jpg Jerry Lynn is another guy that the new AWA has helped put on the map. From his first match in the AWA against Lightning Kid (Now known as 1-2-3 Kid in the World Wrestling Federation) and the war he had with him throughout 1993 (Until Kid's departure to the WWF). In the year 1994 Lynn wasn't featured in the AWA a lot as he toured Japan and Mexico. 1995 was a big year for Lynn as he resurfaced in the AWA and managed to capture the AWA World Tag Team Title's. Lynn and Malenko however lost them in only one month but have proved to be a pretty difficult challenge for the team of Davey Boy Smith and Chris Benoit. What does 1996 hold for Jerry Lynn? Jerry Lynn AWA Title History: 1. AWA World Tag Team Title (Won with Dean Malenko in June 1995 by beating the Machines (Scott Norton and Taz) and lost the belt to the Machines in July of 1995) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/AWA3.jpg The History of the AWA: Growing up Gagne! (1994) -----1994 was a big year for the AWA as they continued to grow and hit new markets and began taking off internationally with a Video Tape distribution deal. January was hot for the AWA as Davey Boy Smith and Animal the Warrior main evented all THREE shows (First Match Davey Boy won by DQ, second Animal won cleanly and third went to a 45 minute time limit draw) as the Robinsdale/Chicago circuit had a new member to it named San Diego. High Society continued its hot streak by beating The Rock N Roll Express, Anderson/Eaton and a local team. Other things to note were Chris Benoit wrestling against Japanese Star Jushin Lyger on all three shows as well. -----February-April saw the AWA grow in attendance with pretty basic shows (As all of them have been because there was no TV Deal so only one or two feuds were needed to carry the show) and really good matches. Attendance reached an all-time high in April as each show drew around 900-1200. Animal the Warrior showed why he was a credible champion after having great contests with Arn Anderson (Who departed for WCW with Bobby Eaton and the Rock N Roll Express in April), Bobby Eaton and Chris Benoit. The main highlight of these months were the King Kong Bundy vs. Chris Benoit matches. -----In May the AWA suffered a huge blow whenever Animal the Warrior signed with the WWF to reunite with his old partner Hawk. A 10 Man Battle Royale was signed for the Chicago Show featuring Paul Helmsley, Greg Valentine, Chris Benoit, Davey Boy Smith, King Kong Bundy, Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko, Scott Norton, Jake Roberts (Back for one night only) and Lance Storm to determine a new champion... to everyone's surprise Scott Norton (Who had been featured in an Uppermidcard role from January 94-April 94) won the match and the title and started his reign where Animal left off. May also saw Lance Storm and Chris Jericho (The Thrillseekers) win the AWA World Tag Team Titles from High Society after months of chasing the belts. Experts believe the only reason the belts were won from High Society is due to Helmsley backstabbing Valentine and nailing him with the Pedigree. Helmsley turned on Valentine due to Valentine eliminating Helmsley (On accident) from the 10 Man World Title Battle Royale. -----In the summer King Kong Bundy and Chris Benoit finished there feud off with a Cage Match in which Benoit broke Bundy's neck via a German Suplex earning him the name the Crippler (Bundy actually wanted to take time off but it was all a lie to earn him a WWF job). The Thrillseekers kept the tag team titles on them throughout the summer after beating local guys and the team of Jerry Lynn and Dean Malenko (Who would be featured heavily in 1995). Scott Norton dominated the World Title division with a series of matches against The Ultimate Warrior (Who was beaten by Norton every time and fired in August due to unprofessional behavior). Valentine and Helmsley had a slow build to one of AWA's bloodiest feuds by continually jumping each other. -----Fall 1994 was big for the AWA as Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit started an excellent Best of Seven Series in September that concluded in November with a 30 Minute Iron-Man Match (Won by Benoit). Valentine got his hands on Helmsley at last in an epic Dog Collar Match (Won by Valentine but afterwards Helmsley destroyed Valentine with a Pedigree onto the concrete floor). Norton dropped the AWA World Title to Davey Boy Smith (The best Champion of the new era) in a good singles match in November. The Thrillseekers lost the AWA Tag Team Championships in October of 1994 to the Canadian Suicide Blondes (Sexton Hardcastle and Christian Cage) who had been built slow as the next top heel team to replace High Society. Scott Norton introduced his protege Taz and began teaming with him as the Machines. Gagne took the month of December off to give his wrestlers time to rest and to get ready for 1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Save_Us.Necro Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Very good stuff Chuck, thanks for the nod early on, incredibly appricated. I do like the builup of DBS as ur Franchise guy and Benoit as well. Overall very very good stuff sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Very good stuff Chuck, thanks for the nod early on, incredibly appricated. I do like the builup of DBS as ur Franchise guy and Benoit as well. Overall very very good stuff sir. Thanks man. Loving your work. Davey Boy Smith was in the wrong place at the wrong time throughout so much of his career (Quitting WWF with Dynamite, Getting fired from WWF for trafficing roids (Although everyone did it), that bar fight in WCW and so on and so forth) and I believe that if things could have gone differently he could've reached Main Event status. Benoit... well he is just damn good. Basically the whole concept here is to take a lot of guys never given a good run in WCW and WWF and make them stars in my sick little AWA World (Which is honestly just ROH a few years too early with bigger guys and more angles). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 AWA Wrestler Profile: Scott Norton http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/ScottNorton009.jpg The import from Japan Scott Norton burst onto the AWA Scene in 1994 in what many people call Norton's biggest year with him winning the AWA World Heavyweight Title in May 1994 in a 10 Man Over the Top Rope Battle Royale. Norton's run as a champion was very forgetable as he had a few matches with the Ultimate Warrior that people are still trying to forget and eventually dropped the belt in October 1994 to Davey Boy Smith in a match that redeemed his title run and made it at least "average". In November Norton told the fans he wasn't focused on the World Title and had brought in a protege and friend of his known as "Taz". Taz and him began teaming as "The Machines" and began to tear through the competition and chased the Suicide Blondes for the AWA Tag Team Titles until May of 1995 whenever Norton and Taz managed to capture the gold but were unable to hold onto it for long as Dean Malenko and Jerry Lynn proved to be a better team on one occasion in June 1995... however in July 1995 the team of Taz and Norton recaptured the Gold and seemed poised for a longer run with the belts. That was until AWA did a joint show with the New Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion and Norton/Taz dropped the belts to the team of Davey Boy Smith and Chris Benoit in August 1995. Norton and Taz have been trying to get back on the right track since then but have come up short every time in taking the belts off of Benoit and Smith. Will the Machines bounce back and make 1996 the year they deserve in Tag Team Wrestling? Scott Norton AWA Title History: 1. AWA World Championship (Won a 10 Man Battle Royale for the Vacant Title in May 1994 and dropped the belt to Davey Boy Smith in October 1994) 2. AWA World Tag Team Championship (Won from the Suicide Blondes with partner Taz in May 1995 and dropped them in June 1995 to Jerry Lynn and Dean Malenko) 3. AWA World Tag Team Championship (Won from Jerry Lynn and Dean Malenko in July 1995 and then lost to Davey Boy Smith and Chris Benoit in Japan in August 1995) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 AWA Tag Team Profile: The Thrill/Heat Seekers Chris Jericho and Lance Storm http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/01.jpg The Thrill Seekers arrived in AWA debuted in February of 1994 and had a slow build towards the tag team titles by defeating a few local teams, Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton and the Rock N Roll Express. In May the team got there big shot at the AWA Tag Team Titles against High Society and won them due to Helmsley's vicious turn on his partner Greg Valentine. There tag team title run came at a bad point in the history of the new AWA as star-power was low and the only credible team to challenge the Seekers was the team of Dean Malenko and Jerry Lynn and the newly debuted Canadian Suicide Blondes. The Blondes (Cage and Hardcastle) would eventually end up taking the belts off of the young duo in October 1994 in a classic Tag Team Match. After this point the Seekers left the AWA until August of 1995 to get experience worldwide in Japan, Mexico and even Germany. The Seekers resurfaced in 1995 whenever Davey Boy Smith and Chris Benoit won the Tag Team Titles from the Machines. Jericho and Storm came to the ring to congratulate the team of Smith and Benoit but quickly turned on them taking both men out with there double Superkick move (Now known as the Heatseeker). The next few months Jericho and Storm would show up at random shows to attack Benoit and Smith although they haven't met the two in the ring yet. The Thrillseekers have abandoned there fans and there original name (They now demand to be referred to as the "Heatseekers"). Will the Heatseekers explain there actions once AWA debuts on TV and what does the future have for this young and talented team? Thrill/Heat Seekers AWA Title History: 1. AWA World Tag Team Championships (Won from High Society in May 1994 and lost to The Canadian Suicide Blondes in October of 1994) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Btw this isn't dead... took a few weeks off due to school starting and me being back on the road of wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 <p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee351/joshuamont/AWA96/AWA3.jpg</span><p> <span style="font-family:'Arial Black';"><span style="font-size:12px;">The History of the AWA:</span></span></p><p> <span style="font-family:'Arial Black';"><span style="font-size:12px;">The Cusp of Nationalism (1995)</span></span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:left;"><p><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">-----</span></span></span><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#000000;">1995 was an even bigger year for the AWA. Davey Boy Smith the leader of the the new AWA led the once fledgling company to it's biggest house to date in February 1995 whenever he successfully defeated Ric Flair (On loan from WCW in an attempt (Much like WWE's previous attempts) to get a working relationship going with the AWA.). Smith wasn't challenged by anything to big from January to April of 1995 but May brought in a new era.</span></span></span></span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><div style="text-align:left;"><p> <span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">-----</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#000000;">As the year continued to progress so did AWA drawing an average of 2,000-2,500 per show throughout the year with constant big matches. In May 1995 out of nowhere the man they call Saturn arrived and instantly made an impact jumping champion Davey Boy Smith and breaking his arm with his submission manuever known as the Rings of Saturn. Saturn would then go onto defeat Chris Benoit in a few matches during Davey Boy's temporary absence. Against doctor's orders Davey Boy put the belt on the line against Saturn in June 1995 and lost the belt in less than 10 minutes after Saturn yet again locked in the Rings of Saturn. This time however Chris Benoit was there to stop the choas and took out Saturn with a German Suplex.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">-----</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#000000;">The World Title scene heated up even more in the summer with Chris Benoit attempting to beat Saturn for the belt the entire summer while also winning the tag team belts (More on that later). Benoit would come close on many occasions but Saturn ended up keeping the belt each and every time. In July of 1995 Paul Helmsley (Who had been mainly against WCW Talent that was sent to the AWA in order for the AWA to give up Davey Boy Smith's contract) stepped up to the plate and made it known he wanted a shot at the belt.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">-----</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#000000;">Paul Helmsley would however have his title shot status challenged by both Chris Benoit and the returning Davey Boy Smith and a Triple Threat Match was made for the first time in AWA History in July 1995. The ending was contravesial as Benoit had German Suplexed Davey Boy and both men's shoulder's were pinned to the mat. Paul Helsmley was declared the winner but AWA Matchmakers made a match set for October 1995 (Same night as Paul Helmsley vs. Saturn) in which Davey Boy and Benoit would wrestle each other for the right to a title shot anytime they wanted... this move was contraversial as Davey Boy and Benoit were Tag Team Champions together. Davey Boy bested Benoit after rolling him up while Benoit had his Crossface submission hold locked in. Davey Boy would cash in his title shot the same night against Paul Helsmley and Saturn and would go onto lose the match after Helmsley nailed Saturn with the Pedigree!</span></span></span></p><p> </p><div style="text-align:left;"><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">-----</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';"><span style="color:#000000;">The Tag Team scene also had plenty of turbelence with such teams as the Suicide Blondes, Davey Boy Smith/Chris Benoit Dean Malenko/Jerry Lynn, The Machines and the returning Thrillseekers making impacts. The Blondes held the belts until May 1995 and dropped them to the Machines who would then lose the belts to Jerry Lynn and Dean Malenko a month later... one month after that The Machines claimed the belts back but would then drop them a month after that Davey Boy Smith and Chris Benoit won the belts. Upon winning the tag team titles from the Machines Smith and Benoit were congratulated by the recently returning Thrillseekers (Now known as the Heatseekers) who would jump both men throughout the rest of 1995 but have yet to have a legitimate reason as to why.</span></span></span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p></div><p></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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