American Wrestling Organization
July 28, 2001
Faribault Armory
Faribault, MN

Am-a-teur: Noun French, from Latin amator--lover, from amare--to love.

The much discussed but little seen AWO promotion opened their Saturday show when Big Daddy Dolan came out, followed by Shimdog and Kaos. Their promo was interrupted by MPW wrestlers Ian and Ashley Xavier, and Shifty. Sheriff Johnny Emerald was also present wearing his gimmick but stood in the back. Shifty said that they were there to show them what pro wrestling is all about, and asked, "Can you give me a match?" Big Daddy Dolan, who looks like he wears a 6X, took off his shirt and the MPW group fled in terror. This card used the big MPW ring. Folding tables formed a barrier between the ring and the seats. The audience seemed almost exclusively female: moms, sisters, and girlfriends. The guy who introduced the matches was older, and wore a tie. He had the look of a school teacher; almost like Mr. Kotter in charge of the Sweathogs.

1.) Stuttering Mike Stanley defeated Billy "Boy Scout" somebody and Stroker Ace (w/ Playboy Aaron Corbin) to win the "Boy Scout's" Atlantic Title. The dressing room the wrestlers used looked for all the world like a big ice fishing shack. This trio didn't wear wrestling shoes or wrestling costumes. Through most of the match two of the guys would wrestle while the third rested. "Boy Scout" was thrown hard into the steel ring steps. Stunning Mike pinned "Boy Scout" after Stroker Ace hit that one with a steel chair. After the match Stroker Ace beat up his ring slapper (Playboy). Big Daddy Dolan had to call SMS back to the ring to accept his belt. Stanley wore a dragon print shirt and apparently had a Mikey Whipwreck low self-esteem gimmick going.

2.) Redneck Justice pinned Playboy Aaron Corbin (w/Stroker Ace). AJ wore a flag style do-rag. PAC looked like one time "Brat Packer" Anthony Michael Hall. The pair made a stab at mat wrestling with a pair of hip tosses early on. Later, when PAC came flying off a top turnbuckle to land with his head on a ringside table, a voice of motherly concern from the audience exclaimed, "Are you OK, honey?" RJ won with a stunner. After the match, Stroker Ace threw PAC into the steel ring steps. PAC by this time was favoring a hurt ankle but toughed it out to complete the next segment.

3.) Playboy Aaron Corbin defeated Shifty by DQ. Shifty and the Xaviers came out. Ian wore a shirt that said "I see dumb people." During a sunset flip, PAC pulled down Shifty's trunks to reveal thong underwear. At the end, Ashley tried to hit PAC, but hit Shifty instead, and the referee called for the DQ. After the match, MPW punked out PAC, notably with a big splash by Ian Xavier. AWO ran in to clean house. Playboy Aaron Corbin joins the illustrious list of those who hold a win over Shifty.

4.) Gator defeated Shimdog by submission. Griz was the referee for this one. Gator wore camo pants and the only pair of wrestling boots seen on an AWO worker. For readers familiar with hanky code, Gator flags white left. Shimdog looks a little like Big Daddy Hoofer. Griz ref'ed wearing sunglasses. After a flying elbow, Gator hung Shimdog in the Tree of Woe, and hit a slide kick into a chair covering that one's face. Afterward, Shimdog showed blood from the forehead. The finish was confusing when Gator applied the Tazzmission, and Griz started a DQ count. Gator broke the hold, got up, said something to Griz, reapplied the Tazzmission, and Shimdog tapped out.

5.) The Psychopathic Rydas (Suiside and Necromaster) defeated Wil E. Meane and Revelation to capture the Tag Team Titles. There were four guys on the Rydas side. The two who wrestled wore white Jason style hockey masks with black accents, and orange getups that read "Smiths Grove Sanitarium" on the back. One had 666 on the front of his shirt, the other WWSD. With them was another guy in a navy jumpsuit and a dark hockey mask, and a handler who wore a white lab coat and stethoscope. On the other side Revelation wore a black T-shirt and blue denim shorts, while Wil E. Meane had a kind of vampire gimmick with a black ruffled shirt and crushed red velvet pants. His footwear appeared to be beach socks secured with electrical tape. The referee was a girl who didn't look a day over fifteen. 666 hit a floatover DDT. WWSD connected for a senton upon Meane. Don't ask me who pinned who. One of the Rydas hurt his ankle during the match.

6.) Griz and Kaos fought to a no contest when the MPW contingent interfered. Griz came out with a baseball bat and a broom. He has a shaved head and looks older and larger than most of the AWO troupe. Kaos was smaller with blond hair and a do-rag, and appeared to know a lot of moves. Kaos hit a standing huracanrana (frankensteiner) early on. Later, a long haired guy identified as Nightstalker ran in to attack Kaos. He and Griz joined together to dispatch him. Kaos tried to slam Griz but dropped him on his head instead. Griz responded with as fallaway slam that looked more like a "rollaway slam." Next, he hit a top rope headbutt for a two count. Kaos tried the body slam again with better results, and followed up with a senton bomb. At the end Kaos got in a Spicolli Driver and a springboard body splash and looked to be the winner when MPW including Sheriff Johnny Emerald ran into the ring. The AWO locker room responded to empty the ring, which set up an 8-person tag match the next night in Albert Lea. After the card, many in the crew assembled outside Faribault Armory to enjoy cigarettes.

The AWO has been publicly criticized for not being real professional wrestlers, for being nothing more than a backyard fed, without training or skill. Maybe they are. Maybe they don't wrestle as well as Ace Steel. Well, Verne Gagne never wrestled as well as Ace Steel either. Their shortcomings are obvious. They need real boots and real tights. They need to get stronger. They need more training. But it would be unfair to demean their efforts. It would be more fair to call these guys amateur wrestlers, because they obviously love what they are doing. Their love of wrestling showed through more clearly than anything else. I've never seen a show that was more enthusiastic and less jaded. These guys were wholly into their performance, every second of it. They are without pretense and sham. They are exactly as they appear to be. And you've got to love them for that.

--doc d'X