SuperClash was the title of a series of major professional wrestling shows promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA) between 1985 and 1990, often co-promoted with other North American wrestling promotions. AWA held a total of four SuperClash shows, with the third being broadcast on Pay Per View (PPV), AWA's only PPV show.
SuperClash '85 – The Night of Champions was a professional wrestling event promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). This was billed as AWA's flagship supercard, their biggest event of the year held only a few months after WrestleMania I by rival the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The event was held at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois on September 28, 1985. The show drew a paid attendance of 20,347, although it was announced as 25,000, who sat through cold outdoor temperatures. SuperClash – Night of Champions was one of the co-promotional efforts by the AWA, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) to compete with the WWF's increasing national presence and popularity. The jointly promoted venture was known as Pro Wrestling USA.[2] Reportedly, promoters Verne Gagne (AWA) and Jim Crockett disputed the live gate for the show, with Crockett claiming $288,000 and Gagne claiming $200,000 was made. Due to the money dispute, several NWA stars set to appear on Gagne's upcoming AWA events were pulled, with some cards then cancelled altogether.[2]
On the show Mil Máscaras defended the IWA Heavyweight Championship, despite the fact that the International Wrestling Association in Mexico had closed down in 1978. Since then Mil Máscaras continued to defend the championship, basically as his own personal championship used to give an air of prestige to some of Mil Máscaras' matches.[3] This practice was not unique to Mil Máscaras but has been a common occurrence in Lucha Libre.[4] Also on the show the team of Jumbo Tsuruta, Giant Baba, and Genichiro Tenryu are billed as defending the Asian Six-Man Tag Team Championship, a championship that was never mentioned outside the promotional material for the SuperClash show.[5] Records did not indicate if the trio wore title belts to the ring or not. In the tenth match of the night it appeared as if The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy) defeated The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship. During the match Hayes used a set of Brass knuckles on Animal to win the match. Moments later promoter Verne Gagne reviewed the instant replay and decided to give the championship back to the Road Warriors, disqualifying the Freebirds.[1] The main event match between champion AWA World Heavyweight ChampionRick Martel and Stan Hansen only lasted a couple of minutes as the champion and the challenger fought first at ringside and then into the dugout of Comiskey Park, resulting in a double count-out.[1]
SuperClash II took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California on May 2, 1987. The show was promoted as the AWA's most important show of the year. Unlike SuperClash I and SuperClash III, the second event featured mainly AWA wrestlers. While not the last match of the show the main event was a match between Curt Henning and Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. The show featured six additional matches that were taped for television and shown as part of the AWA's weekly television shows in subsequent weeks.
SuperClash IV was a professional wrestling event promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and was held at the Saint Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 8, 1990. Larry Zbyszko pinned AWA World Champion Mr. Saito to win the title at 16:01 after Saito delivered the Saito Suplex, with both wrestlers' shoulders down and Zbyszko lifting his shoulder during the three count. Nick Bockwinkel served as special guest referee and awarded the championship to Zbyszko. During the show, NWA World Champion Ric Flair and Brian Pillman were announced as appearing at the next AWA event in St. Paul on May 5 but neither wrestler appeared. There were no TV cameras were present for this event and the matches were not recorded. The Junkyard Dog was reportedly injured the previous night during a show in Norfolk, Virginia.
^ abTim Hornbaker (2007). "Promotional Wars". National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 250–271. ISBN978-1-55022-741-3.
^Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: International Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 395. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "All". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^ abRoyal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^ abcdefghijklmnopq"Historical Cards". 2007 Wrestling Almanac and Book of Facts. Kappa Publications. p. 159. 2007 Edition.
