Episode #30 – Nick Bockwinkel vs Hulk Hogan – AWA Super Sunday 1983
We dig deep in the archives (for us at least) to review the main event from the AWA Super Sunday 1983 show – AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs the INCREDIBLE HULK HOGAN! These two men had been fighting off and on for awhile, but Hogan had never been able to defeat the sneaky Bockwinkel. Would he finally be able to prevent himself from throwing Nick over the top rope AGAIN and win the coveted (in the mid-west, anyways) AWA Championship? We discuss Verne Gagne’s family politics, read some great feedback from the Starrcade ’87 episode, read through every AWA house show result EVER and discuss the wonders of Nacho Berrera.
With the talent they had on the roster, it is mind blowing to think AWA could have packed 93.000 persons in the SodaDome of they had stuck to their guns and promoted Hulk Hogan vs Nacho Berrera.
It was great to hear about this one. It seems a lot of contributors to the smark jar have a historical blur when it comes to the AWA. We know a lot about it, but haven’t really seen it. And now their legacy has been reduced to turkey on a pole matches and inflated storirs about draws that didn’t draw before they moved to other promotions.
Based on your description of Nick Bockwinkle I officially dub him the original Cerebral Assassin.
The story about Gagne offering Iron Sheik a reward for breaking Hogan’s leg has always been intriguing to me. I wonder what would have happened if he did it. It must be pretty hard to break someone’s leg by accident, so it would probably be a legal case. Imagine a hearing with the Iron Sheik vs the Incredible Hulk Hogan 🙂
The SodaDome is a great name for a stadium!
And really Verne had everything to make it big. I suppose it’s not just the talent but also the brain that can promote it and make people buy tickets.
Knowing what I’ve heard about the business Hogan probably couldn’t have done much in retaliation if he wanted to do anything else in the industry.
Hi Guys this is trak9 aka trak2k a male from Boise, Idaho. I have been a wrestling fan since the mid 1980’s and I was a fan of the NWA (later WCW) along with being a fan of the current national TV companies WWE & TNA.
First of all Verne Gagne retired as the AWA World Champion and Nick Bockwinkle was awarded the championship when Verne retired on May 19th, 1981. The match when Verne Gagne won the belt and retired as the world champion is on the The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD.
I just wanted to pass along that according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWA_World_Heavyweight_Championship
& Royal Duncan & Gary Will’s 4th Edition of the Wrestling Title Histories book Hulk Hogan is recognized as a former AWA world Champion, but of course it was overturned by AWA President Stanley Blackburn due to Hogan’s use of an International (Foreign) object on the champion Nick Bockwinkle. The match in question is also on the The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD.
I believe the match you guys talked about on this podcast is on the
Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology DVD (the second Hulk Hogan DVD released by WWE).
Thanks again for the show and keep up the good work.
Thanks for the info. I keep meaning to rewatch the AWA dvd. It’s one of my favorite WWE documentaries (even with the obvious WWE bias).
I know I’ve heard that later the AWA added Hogan to the title lineage to assumably ligitimize their belt.
Here is some information about one of your favorite AWA enchancement talents Puppy Dog Peloquin: http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/peloquin_puppydog.html
I can only dream of having those sideburns.
I think Puppy Dog Peloquin is an over-rated worker.
#controversy
You’re fired.
I want to throw out my favorite jobbers Jake the Milkman Millman and “Sodbuster” Kenny Jay (So named because he was Verne’s legit landscaper!)
Your info about “Sodbuster” Kenny Jay is perhaps the best feedback we’ve ever received. Thank you!
Dre, I’m callin’ you out for kayfabin’ your hometown.
Loved Dre insinuating that Verne Gagne’s daughter was a cow.
Love it that Dre’s wife will not listen to the podcast.
Was that Eric Bischoff commentating along side Lee Marshal at the end?
And what was that clip before the closing theme? A Japanese commercial?
I have this match on an old Hulk Hogan AWA commercially released tape that has two matches. The other one is him and Andre vs. 4 guys, one of which I believe was Bobby Heenan.
Looking forward to the Christmas themed podcast! Hopefully it has nothing to do with Xanta Klaus!
Hardcore – You will soon get a PERSONAL RESPONSE to your comments.
Hardcore Badass. This is my way of saying thank you for the awesome podcast intro – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDk5QOb1GRc
Awesome, thanks for doing my work, Uncle Soda.