Question about AWA

[jameslofton]

What went wrong with this organization? I was a huge wrestling fan in the 80's, and watched just about every wrestling program on tv. For about a 2 year period, I was really into AWA. It just seemed to disappear, and I dont remember exactly what caused them to collapse. Low ratings? I remember quickly losing interest during the period when the Road Warriors lost the belts to Jimmy garvin and Steve Regal and Martel lost to Stan Hansen.


Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I didn't see a specific section for AWA.

[bobbyryates]

well, really, this entire board is dedicated to the old Mid-Atlantic area. any other topic would go under the "everything else" forum. but that's cool, glad you have joined us here.
as for your question...i can try with my opinion. first off, i think losing hulk hogan was the biggest factor in late '83. he could have been utilized right and really sparked the company. but i feel the mindset of the management could not, or would not, work such a hot potato it had. the AWA was very traditional in everything. hogan was no where near any tradition they had. same with the freebirds and road warriors. they dropped the ball on these guys.
always felt ESPN gave them some national exposure. but way far from enough. or even treated like it was a big deal either.
using the 'lessar' talent to be headliners didn't help. it's like the AWA was a feeder system for the WWF. if they had a good wrestler or gimmick, they lost them to vince.
just my initial thoughts.

[clawmaster]

Hogan and the Road Warriors really weren't that much different than Dick The Bruiser and The Crusher in their respective primes. The tradition stuff is overblown. Not every wrestler in AWA history was a former amateur wrestler or football player. Look at Mighty Igor for instance. The AWA was the first territory where Dick Garza debuted the Mighty Igor gimmick. Igor got over in a huge way and was pushed hard. Igor certainly was not a ring technician.

Where Gagne blew it was not changing his philosiphy in signing wrestlers to long term contracts after Hogan left. The Road Warriors leaving the AWA for JCP really was the beginning of the end. Not having Hawk and Animal locked up long term came back to bite Verne. The Warriors were the last true draws the AWA had.

[bobbyryates]

losing the road warriors and hogan is my point. it hurt the AWA by losing them. i feel keeping them would have helped bigtime as draws.
as for comparing them to crusher-dick the bruiser, you're right.

[sniperniles]

I think, it really started hurting more, when Martel, Hennig, Zenk, Midnight Rockers to name a few left the AWA for the WWF. Verne couldn't and wouldn't pay more then he was spending at the time, and that really hurt them.

Plus the whole Team Series, which was a not bad concept (until all the stupid stipulation match.....Remember the Turkey on a pole match.) killed the promotion.

Plus having the big PPV Super Clash 3, which the live attendance and the Purchase rate was not great, so they lost a lot of money.

Even after Hogan and the Roadies left the AWA was still great with guys like Hennig, Bockwinkel, Midnight Rockers, Badd Company, etc. So saying that losing Hogan and the Roadies is where the trouble began is not necesaraly (sp??) true.

[bobbyryates]

oh no, not exactly where it started, but i feel it was a big part of the beginning. if not the biggest part, talent wise.
they did have those names you said, but like i said, they had them and lost them to vince.

[jameslofton]

But wasn't Hulkamania a creation of Mcmahon? Or did Hogan have that idea in the AWA days? Even if Hogan had stayed in AWA, that whole Hulkamania craze may never have occured. So in my opinion, the loss of Hogan wasn't a factor(although in hindsight I can see why people would think so).

Good points about the Road Warriors. They were huge from the moment they first stepped in the ring, and any organization losing them would have been dealt a severe blow(especially to an organization like AWA).

Why did they drop the ball on Martel? If memory serves me correctly, he was quite popular. Almost every single wrestling magazine(there were alot in those days) had articles on Martel, and who could ever forget those dream match scenarios discussed featuring Flair/Hogan/Martel? In my opinion, losing Martel was a much bigger blow to the organization than losing Hogan.

The AWA had legitimacy. The NWA and AWA titles were widely recognized as world titles, while the WWF's was not.

I guess its like you guys said. Total mismanagement by Gagne. Being on ESPN was HUGE. Talk about bringing some legitimacy to your organization. 20 years later, and AWA is still the only wrestling to have been broadcast on ESPN.

[bobbyryates]

the term Hulkamania by vince...not sure. someobody else can say so that knows better. but hogan was over HUGE in the AWA. he and bockwinkle had some big drawing bouts from what i have always read.
imagine the business the AWA could have had a bit later with hogan as the AWA champ against the likes of stan hansen and jumbo tsuruta. or even chasing that title from them.

[jameslofton]

bobbyryates said:

the term Hulkamania by vince...not sure. someobody else can say so that knows better. but hogan was over HUGE in the AWA. he and bockwinkle had some big drawing bouts from what i have always read.
imagine the business the AWA could have had a bit later with hogan as the AWA champ against the likes of stan hansen and jumbo tsuruta. or even chasing that title from them.

Good point. I also just thought of something else. Had Hogan stayed in the AWA and been champion for a good length of time, the wrestling world might have seen the ultimate dream match between Flair/Hogan in the 80's instead of in the mid 90's when it wasn't nearly as relevant.