AWA Wrestling on ESPN Classics (1986?)

Jay York vs. Nick Bockwinkle - 4

Always nice to see a Bockwinkle match. I recall all of the great matches he's had (including my favorite match of his, a draw with Curt Hennig) and was pretty excited to see him opening the show. I'm not familiar with Jay York, but enjoyed what I saw. He had a unique way of making Bockwinkle look like Superman. I enjoyed how he bumped out of the ring and laid there, try to "catch his breath." York sold well in-ring too. He would pretty much just crumble every time he would get struck. This match was really to put over Bockwinkle, who won with a sleeper. Just another match for Bock. Great seeing Bock walk over to Jay to wake him up. When Nick slapped his head, York convulsed like he had been struck by lightning. Decent opener.

Alex Knight & Dennis Stamp vs. The Midnight Rockers (Michaels & Jannety) - 3

Going into the match I thought that Knight and Stamp would be doing the job to the Rockers, but the action went back-and-forth. Stamp looked pretty good here in that he seemed to legitimately question his teams' likelihood of winning against the young, brash Rockers. Knight took a sick suplex (especially for an 80s style match) and sold it to go into the finish. Kind of a match that was just there.

Brad Ringans vs. Pete Sanchez - 2

Bockwinkle was on commentary for this match putting over Rignans as a great Greco-Roman wrestler. Rignans did have good mat wrestling, but emotionally, I felt nothing. Sanchez's selling was nice. He would shake his whole body over a simple punch. Rignans gave a sick headbutt that looked really stiff, but the lack of emotion really held the match back.

Doug Summers & Col. DeBeers & Larry Zbyszko vs. Curt Hennig & Jimmy Snuka & Greg Gagne - 6

Ok, now this lineup, I can dig! Laughed my ass off when DeBeers said he wouldn't wrestle someone who wasn't 100% Caucasian. Just thought about how you couldn't say shit like that today. My Lord, Zbyszko is a selling god. My favorite thing about this match was the balance. Everyone had a good amount of time in the ring. Gagne played the face in peril, at one point so confused and disoriented he would go to the wrong side of the ring for the tag, only to be met with a barrage of punches. Hennig looked really well, too. Even before he went to the WWF, he was perfect. Good match. This is the quintessential 80s match with great selling and story-telling. Watch it, its good!