AWA
LEGENDS:
NICK
BOCKWINKEL Vol. 1: The
Up-and-Comers” (GOOD - VERY GOOD QUALITY) 2
HRS
Nick
Bockwinkel is a name synonymous with
AWA
wrestling. As a perpetual veteran of
AWA
rings he was constantly matched up against rising young stars. The following
video shows Bockwinkel ad his best against the up-and-coming stars of the
AWA
.
By
Kevin Cerutti
1)
Gene Okerlund interviews Nick
Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan about an upcoming match against Tito
Santana. Bockwinkel is
trying his best not to laugh at Heenan’s one- liners. (
AWA
TV, 1981)
(2:00, EX-)
2)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Tito
Santana (Winnipeg, 1981, JIP).
(19:00, VG)
3)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Jim
Brunzell (Winnipeg, 1982, JIP)
non-title match. (11:15, EX-)
4)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Dino
Bravo (Winnipeg, 1980, missing first
minute). (21:00, EX-)
5)
Bockwinkel is interviewed about his upcoming challenge of the new
AWA
champion, Rick Martel.
6)
Rick Martel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Nick Bockwinkel
(Winnipeg, July 1984, JIP). The end pinfall in this match is an example
of the
great subtlety that wrestlers like
Martel and Bockwinkel could pull off. Hot crowd!
7)
Another interview with Nick regarding his rematch against Martel because of the
above bout. Nick’s interviews rock!
8) Rick Martel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Nick
Bockwinkel (Winnipeg, March 1985, JIP).
Martel scores a controversial pinfall.
9)
Nick is interviewed about the above rematch, and he’s NOT happy. (total
time for the 5 Martel segments:
21:00
. Clips are all
VG/VG+)
10)
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Raymond Rougeau (Montreal, 1984, JIP).
Good match! (6:50, VG).
11)
A face to face interview between Nick
Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig, conducted by Larry Nelson, concerning one of
their
upcoming title bouts (1986,
AWA
TV).
2:00, VG
12)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Curt
Hennig (St. Paul, MN,
12/15/86
). A great, underrated matchup from the
AWA
’s
“Brawl in St. Paul”.
(28:00, EX-)
13)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Brad
Rheingans (1982,
St. Paul
,
MN
, end clip).
Wild ending as it appears Rheingans has
won the title, twice! (4:00, G/VG-)
14)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Bret Hart
(Calgary, 1982, JIP). Final 7 minutes of a 2/3 fall match. Bret is VERY
young
here. NOTE—this bout isn’t great
quality. There is a shadow from the images likely due to the channel it was
recorded off of
having not-so-great reception. I
included it here because of the rarity of the clip (
7:00
, G/VG-)**NOTE:
Listen to Ed Whalen’s
description about where Nick won the
title and who he won it from, and the
AWA
title history in general. It’s nothing short of
head scratching!
AWA
LEGENDS:
NICK
BOCKWINKEL Vol. 2: “The Veterans” (GOOD - VERY GOOD QUALITY) 2
HRS
This
chapter of Nick Bockwinkel’s
AWA
career examines his matches against Veteran, experienced opposition. The variety
of challengers shows how versatile Nick was as a wrestler…he could have a good
match against all styles and types of opponents.
By
Kevin Cerutti
1)
Verne Gagne (
AWA
champion) vs. Nick Bockwinkel
(February 1975, Chicago, film clips). Bockwinkel and Bobby
Heenan do commentary with Al
Lerner. Believe it or not this is a different clip that any which appear
on my Verne vs. Nick comp! (4:30,
VG+)
2)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
champion) vs. Billy Robinson
(December 25, 1981, St. Paul, JIP). Excellent bout between two of the
best. (18:00, VG+)
3)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
champion) vs. Dick The Bruiser
(Chicago, November 7th 1978, film clips).
5:00, VG+
4)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. The Crusher
(Minneapolis, February 1979, JIP, Cage match).
6:00, EX-
5)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Mad Dog Vachon
(St. Paul, December 25th, 1983, JIP). Crusher is in Mad
Dog’s corner. 6:00, VG
6)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Blackjack Mulligan
(Winnipeg, January 1984, JIP). 8:00, EX-
7)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Wahoo McDaniel
(Winnipeg, 1983, JIP). 7:00, EX-
8)
Nick Bockwinkel vs.
Pat O’Connor (St. Paul, March 1981, JIP). O’Connor looks
physically terrible but the crowd loves him and damn if he still couldn’t
wrestle great! 7:00, VG/VG+
9)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Baron Von Raschke
(Minneapolis 1981, JIP). 11:30, VG/VG+
10)
An Interview
with Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan
re: an upcoming no-DQ match with Sheik
Adnan Al-Kaissie. (2:00, G/VG-)
11)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie
(Non-title No DQ match, September 1981, Minneapolis). Baron
Von Raschke is the special referee. Violent, exciting match with a wild
ending. 10:00, EX-
12)
An interview
after the Kaissie match with Nick and Bobby Heenan.
2:00, G/VG-
13)
Nick
Bockwinkel (
AWA
champion) vs. Super Destroyer II
(Minneapolis, 1979, JIP). The crowd is firmly behind Super D in this one.
6:00, VG-/VG
14)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
champion) vs. Hulk Hogan
(June 1982, St. Paul, End clip). I included this clip because it’s a
rarely talked about and rarely seen clip of the pair’s second St. Paul
encounter. Hogan goes berserk at the end of the bout! (5:30, EX-)
15)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. “Superstar”
Bill Dundee (Memphis, March 1980, JIP). Someone besides Jerry
Lawler receives a title shot in Memphis! The crowd is really up for this one.
(4:00, G/VG-)
16)
A face-to-face verbal confrontation
between Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry
Lawler. Great stuff! (
4:00
, VG+)
17)
Music Video: Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. Jerry Lawler
(
12/26/83
,
Memphis
). Good montage of one of their many title
matches.
2:15
, VG+
18)
Interview: Nick Bockwinkel, a few
hours after the
12/26/83
match shown in the previous video. Nick is at his
best in this one. 6:00, G/VG-
19)
Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
Champion) vs. “Dr. D” David
Schultz (Calgary, Summer 1982, non-title). Hard to believe Schultz
was a face at one time.
6:20
, VG/VG+
AWA
LEGENDS:
NICK
BOCKWINKEL Vol. 3: “THE
SUPERBOUTS” (VERY GOOD QUALITY) 2
HRS
By khawk20
This
chapter in the Nick Bockwinkel series focuses on some of the bigger, more widely
known shows that Nick wrestled on. Not by coincidence, his opponents were all
big names in the sport and the bouts are all really good for a variety of
reasons.
By
Kevin Cerutti
1)
“THE SUPERBOWL OF WRESTLING”,
Houston, TX., 1978: Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
World Champion) vs. Bruiser Brody
(JIP). Nick defends the
AWA
title in
Houston
against one of the most volatile men in the
sport. (I had to dub the finish in from a source a few generations away from the
first 7 minutes or so. Still good to watch, though.)
10:45
, VG+/VG-
2)
“SUPER BOWL 6”,
Comiskey
Park
,
Chicago
,
Ill
,
July 18th, 1980
: Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
World Champion) vs. Verne Gagne
(clipped). Verne regains the title for the last time. Gene Okerlund does
commentary over the film of the match.
16:30
, EX-
3)
“SUPER SUNDAY ‘83”,
St. Paul
,
MN
,
April 20, 1983
: Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
World Champion) vs. Hulk Hogan.
The famous title change that shoulda been…
21:14
, EX-
4)
“FINAL
AWA
SHOW
AT THE
WINNIPEG
ARENA”,
January 16th, 1986
: Ric Flair (NWA World Champion) vs. Nick
Bockwinkel (JIP). Good bout between two of the best ever. The
AWA
closed their run in
Winnipeg
on a very high note with this bout. This was the
only time these two greats ever met in the ring to my knowledge.
16:00
, EX-
5)
“WRESTLEROCK ‘86”,
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome,
Minneapolis
,
MN
,
April 20, 1986
: Stan Hansen (
AWA
World Champion) vs. Nick Bockwinkel
(Clipped). Nick is a clear favourite with the crowd and the fans are really
there when Nick almost wins the title on a couple of near-falls.
8:00
, EX-
6)
An interview with Nick following his
Wrestlerock match (
1:20
, EX-)
7)
“SUPER CLASH II”,
May 2nd, 1987
,
Cow
Palace
,
San Francisco
,
CA
: Nick Bockwinkel (
AWA
world Champion) vs. Curt Hennig. This
is a great match, fast paced, old-school wrestling that you can really get into.
Some of the post-match controversy and a Nick interview are included at the end.
28:17, EX-
8)
“TOKYO DOME
CARD
featuring Lou Thesz vs. Masa Chono”,
Tokyo
,
Japan
, January 1990:
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Massa Saito. Good bout, and one of Nick’s
last appearances aside from the occasional spot exhibition bout.
14:22
, VG.
