![]() It turns out, there’s no need to get the crowd pumped up about the upcoming match, as there is no crowd at all. Ralph Strangis, on the other hand, has an undeniable smarm – I mean, charm – his voice locked in permanent DJ mode as he promises the best in wrestling and rock music (which is nowhere to be found, perhaps due to licensing issues on the WWE Network).įive years late to the Rock ’n’ Wrestling Connection, you would think that the AWA would have learned a little bit from the WWF on how to incorporate MTV culture into a wrestling program, such as the use of celebrities (of which there are none on this show) or entrance music (of which there is also none on this show). Greg Gagne is very subdued as he promises the fans that they’ll get to feel exactly what he felt for 16 years in the ring. ![]() annoying) commentator, who joins Verne’s 41-year-old son Greg in a small production room called a “satellite base”. “This” is Ralph Strangis, AWA’s Pettengill-esque (i.e. While it’s pretty cool of AWA to use a theme song in 7/4 time, there has never, ever been a cheer in 7/4.īut if you mute the sound, you get the impression that this is going to be an awesome 39:33 of youthful excitement.Īfter teasing – or threatening – a comeback to the ring, old Verne explains how the AWA will now use modern technology to bring fans right into the ring! He then hands off the hosting duties to his youthful announce crew. The show gets off to a rocky start, with a cheesy synth tune that utterly clashes with the cheers of “Hey hey hey for the AWA!” by a group of swimsuit cheerleaders. Hence, this newly unearthed, never-before-seen pilot episode of “The New AWA”, just added to the WWE Network. But by 1989, even Verne could see that the present was the wave of the future – or something. ![]() In reality, though, the Series devolved into a string of absurd gimmick matches like the infamous Turkey-On-A-Pole match before the promotion closed up shop for good.Ĭonventional wisdom holds that AWA ultimately failed because its owner and booker, Verne Gagne, refused to keep up with the times. In the American Wrestling Association’s dying days, the company, faced with rapidly declining revenue and an exodus of stars, settled on a long-range booking plan called the Team Challenge Series, in which the entire roster was split up into three teams that competed against each other for points, with the eventual winners receiving a “million dollar prize”.Ī sound concept on paper, the Team Challenge Series allowed the promotion to continue its storylines and feuds without having to rely on any individual wrestler, who could very well jump ship to WCW or WWF at any time.
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