SuperClash (1985)

SuperClash '85
PromotionAmerican Wrestling Association
DateSeptember 28, 1985[1]
CityChicago, Illinois[1]
VenueComiskey Park[1]
Attendance20,347[1]
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SuperClash '85 – The Night of Champions was the first SuperClash professional wrestling supercard event promoted by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). It was billed as AWA's flagship supercard, their biggest event of the year. The event was held at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois on September 28, 1985, only a few months after WrestleMania, which was promoted by the rival World Wrestling Federation (WWF) promotion.

The show drew a paid attendance of 20,347, although it was announced as 25,000. 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 (NWA) 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]

The show featured numerous championship matches including three world heavyweight championship matches. On the show, Mil Máscaras defended the IWA World Heavyweight Championship against Buddy Roberts, despite the fact that the International Wrestling Association 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] Also on the show the team of Jumbo Tsuruta, Giant Baba, and Genichiro Tenryu were billed as defending the Asian Six-Man Tag Team Championship, a championship that was never mentioned outside the promotional material for the SuperClash show.[4] 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] In the semi-main event, Ric Flair successfully defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Magnum T. A. The main event match between champion AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick 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]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Clash1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Tim Hornbaker (2007). "Promotional Wars". National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 250–271. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
  3. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: International Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 395. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  4. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "All". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.