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The Straightshot- AWA to Awakening

Date Added: May 18, 2008
Story By: Greg Andrews

THE STRAIGHTSHOT- AWA to Awakening
(By "The Straightshooter" Greg Andrews)

The hottest subculture wrestling federation in the country right now isn't ROH and judging by their declining ratings, it certainly isn't TNA.

The irony is the company drawing the largest buzz right now went out of business nearly twenty years ago.

For weeks now, the AWA has been given a second life on ESPN Classic with the rebroadcasts of the old AWA on ESPN shows from the mid-80's. To longtime wrestling fans that have seen their interests wain in the last few years, the AWA harkens back to the days of territories, three major wrestling companies in the U.S and PWI magazine, days when fans might not have been as 'smart', but unquestionably more passionate about the business.

It's telling to see how much talent the AWA had on these shows. You'd think any company that boasted Curt Henning, Scott Hall and Shawn Michaels on its roster wouldn't have difficulty succeeding. But, in Verne Gagne's old school AWA, the personalities of these men, which were so key to their ascent towards becoming some of the biggest names in the history of the profession, were not allowed to shine through.

For all the flak WCW received over imploding from failing to utilize their young talent, perhaps no organization ever squandered as much young talent as the AWA. Men that went on to become Vader, Yokozuna, Dallas Page, Nailz, The Nasty Boys, The Orient Express, The Patriot and The Beverly Brothers all began in the AWA, yet barely had their potential tapped. Even Eric Bischoff started there as a broadcaster.

If that weren't bad enough, having a number of established veterans like Larry Zybysko, The Rock N Roll Express, Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Wahoo McDaniel, Nikita Koloff, Ronnie Garvin, Jimmy Snuka, Sgt. Slaughter and Col. DeBeers should have turned the AWA into a dynamic offering with even the slightest bit of sense.

Even as Vince McMahon was scooping up anyone he could find, there was simply too many reservoirs from which to draw talent from for the AWA to die the death it did because another company was raiding rosters.

But, the AWA never seemed willing to do what was necessary to survive.

The AWA and all its flaws are on display for us now in this era of armchair quarterbacking. Any fan can tell you now that AWA announcers often times appeared not to have any clue what was going on. Interview segments were rare and self-promotion was even harder find. Often, it seemed as if Verne Gagne was thumbing his nose at the modern style of wrestling by continually failing to attend to the details that were becoming more vital than the wrestling itself. Storylines, ones that existed, were simplistic and TV production was uneven, at best.

Yet, despite it all, the AWA has become the underdog hero to fans new and old everywhere. We are charmed by the ugliness of the Showboat Sports Pavilion and the fact that wrestlers had to stand around like fools in the middle of the aisle waiting to be introduced. Seeing the dim boxing lights and straining to hear the barely audible rock standards of the day reminds us of simplier times in wrestling, where wrestlers looked and acted differently from one another, before the days of banal, interchangable, generic looking sculpted Adonis' that are presented in a distracting package of bright lights and blaring sound to keep us from realizing how devoid of inspiration they really are.

The AWA is a lesson to many about changing times and the loss of innocence. The demise of the AWA was an unintentional final step on the road to a cultural awakening in pro wrestling. Not long after, the concept of wrestling as sports entertainment was born and fans were no longer attending matches, they were now seeing a show.

We stopped enjoying characters and started gravitating towards more 'honest' portrayals of people we could relate to. What's ironic is out of the big three, the AWA had fewer gimmicks and more 'honesty' than WWF or the NWA.

However, the straightforward approach worked for a while until companies began pandering to fans rather than catering to them in an attempt to restructure their fans base into trendy, bandwagon jumping nincompoops more receptive to degradation and nonsense over athleticism and substance. The result of these efforts today is one and half organizations trying desperately to hold on to these people with shock and awe because that's all they remember how to do.

Perhaps, as the pool of disgruntled fans from all periods in the business continues to swell, the AWA is here, once again unintentionally, to set us off into another cultural awakening in the business.

While the prospect of watching the Rocky Mountain Thunder's of the world botch move after move is not enticing, the sentiment of trying to please a crowd is one that should have never left with the AWA.

***This past week, I was given a video link by a fan of something that fits in with the nostalgic theme of this week's column. I submit the following for you to judge on your own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGHXTeKVkNg

(Questions, comments or thoughts? Send them to straightshooter72@hotmail.com)

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