At the first AWA All-Star Wrestling TV Show under my watch, I wanted to see what the fans reacted to.
And oh boy, They reacted.
AWA World Title storyline between Bockwinkel and Bravo had biggest heat.
That was the hottest story we had. Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan opened the show with Dino Bravo, and that segment was perfect, in my opinion.
We closed the night with Bockwinkel getting away with the victory in his match. After that, Dino Bravo watched him celebrating the win. That had good heat and reaction from the crowd too.
So we had our main story.
Nick looked like the champion. Bobby made him stronger, and Bravo looked like the man chasing him.
That was the right start.
The next story was including Bobby Heenan and Super Mark Destroyer II, who really did very well together. Their segment told me that Bobby had to be one of the most important parts of the show, because he can draw.
Not only as a manager.
Even as a troublemaker.
Bobby can make a wrestler feel more important just by standing next to him. He can also make people angry in the same way.
The third story was Ventura vs Greg Gagne.
That had lowest, but not low, heat from all of our storylines.
Jesse Ventura insulting Greg Gagne segment was good and the fans knew exactly what the issue was.
Jesse says Greg only has his spot because his name is Gagne.
Greg says he earned it.
That is easy to understand, and that is why it worked.
After the first TV show as I was in charge, all stories were above the line we needed. The office was happy with the job done.
That gave us a strong base for the next show.
The booking lessons were clear.
The first show also gave me production notes.
The final rating was good, and the show raised our popularity in three regions. That was good news.
But the report said our broadcast quality were worse than our rivals.
That hurt the show a little bit.
The AWA had money to fix it. We had cash, and the financial estimate looked healthy and growing.
So I upgraded broadcast quality.
We moved it to in house.
That cost $10,000 up front and $7,500 per month.
I approved it because television is too important to look second-rate. If AWA All-Star Wrestling is going to carry our stories and build for the big PPV shows, the picture has to be strong.
After that, I looked at the roster again.
The first show proved we had good pieces, but the roster was thin. We had weekly TV, house shows, and monthly supercards, and that schedule can wear people down.
The top of the card also had age on it.
Bockwinkel was still strong. Verne could still go, and Mad Dog and The Crusher still had value.
But we needed young talent.
So I made the first three contract offers.
The first offer went to Curt Hennig.
Curt felt like an AWA wrestler. He was young, he had upside, and he fit the kind of serious wrestling we wanted.
I was not bringing him in to take over right away.
I wanted him to learn and build.
The second target was Barry Windham.
Barry was only 19.
You do not rush someone that young. You teach him, protect him, and let him find his way.
The third target was Butch Reed.
Reed had power, presence, and youth.
That mattered because the AWA needed different kinds of wrestlers. We needed workers, talkers, fighters, and young men who could still be here when the older stars slowed down.
I did not want to bring in too many people at once.
That can upset a locker room fast.
So I stopped at these three offers. But there are some roadblocks ahead - rivals are trying to make better offers, so obviously I have to do the same. So the latest update is that all of the three potential signings, said to me, that our offer is the strongest and they should sign with us.
So, we just have to wait and see if that is true. But I'll do whatever I can to sign them.
That is how I'm building the AWA.
Not by changing everything in one day.
By watching, learning, and making the next move better than the last one.