So, I was re-watching (2nd or 3rd time I've caught it) the WWE DVD release of "The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA"...the nearly 2h documentary is actually one of the E's best. A really solid look at the AWA as a whole. They bring in a lot of nerdy wrestling historians and get a lot of solid commentary from a plethora of guys with the company and outside the company. Pretty candid at times to, as Vern Gagne never pulls punches when talking about Vince Jr.
Anyway, some random AWA thoughts that I don't think any of us ever discussed (mostly because most of ya'll have only watched AWA on ESPN in all its horrible awesomeness.
- If there was ever a predominant pre-80's wrestler that I think was PERFECT for wrestling today, it'd be Nick Bockwinkel. In-ring, on the mic, the charisma...guy would really fit in well in this era of wrestling, I think. I think W2B would love the guy. He stood out in an era and territory that doesn't hold up at all. He's that one guy that does, IMO.
- I've always been impressed by Gagne mind for wrestling and think its a bit underrated and undervalued by the commentary on the DVD. They go so far as bashing him and saying the industry passed him by. I mean, to an extent, yes, it did. However, after Vince Jr. ransacked the AWA the first time around...Gagne, unlike any other territory or wrestling promotion, was able to bounce back and restock the roster. I can't recall of another territory or promotion being able to do that after Vince pillaged the roster once.
After he lost Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan, et al...yes, there was a down period, and the AWA on ESPN era was fucking awful, even with all of the talent that he restocked the company with (regardless of intentions by the talent) after the down period...but he ended up restocking the company with solid performers and future stars. Curt Hennig, The Rockers, Scott Hall, The Road Warriors, Vader, and women like Sherri Martel and Madusa. That's pretty impressive and I can't say any other company would rebound with talent like that after a Vince talent purge.
- Gagne though, burned every time he gave the belt to someone not in his circle or when the AWA's biggest star wasn't him. Hogan, Stan Hansen, Jerry Lawler...its funny that Lawler still has the AWA title sitting at his house because he didn't receive payment for SuperClash.
- Vince is always so "oh shucks" in every DVD released once they get to him stealing talent from other companies. I think they just re-hash the same interview over and over again. Its the same song and dance.
"I don't recall the details but..."
"I always tell performers to finish out their dates before they came to me..."
"I don't remember, but that's not how I did things..."
and then would go on to say
"Well, I don't think the promoters realized they now had competition because they never had it before..."
Yet, every single story is the same, not just in the AWA, but in every other promotion he's talked about. Once Vince got a little big and he started to break through nationally, he'd pillage talent from every promotion and very few of the performers would finish their commitments. They'd just randomly call or get a call from the old promotion and told them they were going to the WWF and that's it...95% of the performers did as such. Its obvious that Vince paid them not to finish them out.
I just wish Vince would admit to being rather cold blooded about it...because he was, and its ok...he made wrestling more successful and lucrative because of it and I have no problem with him wiping the territories off the face of the earth because that's how business should work.
- Toward the end of territory era of wrestling, the promoters had to be some of the most antiquated folks in any business, all-time. They couldn't work together to save their lives...literally.
