- Scott Keith

This is another much-requested rant, even more so today considering the current pathetic state of WCW and the numerous comparisons to the AWA that have come from it. This show is the AWA’s one and only foray into pay-per-view (at the time), and after months of promotion with a hot main event, the show drew a mere 1,500 people to the Chicago Pavillion (and even that number is suspect) and a so-so 0.5 buyrate (By point of comparison, the NWA’s poorly promoted Starrcade 88, with a stale Luger-Flair main, did a 1.8 buyrate a couple of weeks later). In other words, if the AWA was the Titanic, this show was the iceberg. The AWA’s answer to their problems was the same one that many desperate promoters have resorted to in order to save their hides: Cross-promotion. In this case, this show was a joint effort of the AWA, World Class (WCCW) and Memphis (CWA). Ironically, the "weakest" of the bunch, the CWA, would be the only survivor two years later.

- Live from Chicago, IL. Original airdate: Dec. 13, 1988.

- Your hosts are Lee Marshall, Ray Stevens and Verne Gagne.

- Opening match: Chavo, Hector & Mondo Guerrero v. Cactus Jack & the Rock N Roll RPMs. Oh, geez, where to start? This is CWA v. WCCW. The Guerrero brothers here are the older brothers of Eddie, and the uncles of Chavo, Jr. Cactus was nothing at this point – little more than a indy bump machine who generated a bit of buzz in a couple of territories and was thus used for a shot on PPV. The RPMs are Tommy Lane and Mike Davis, a perennial midcard tag team who bounced around the territories in the 80s and didn’t do anything of note. My tape is missing the first couple of minutes, as we join it with the Guerreros confusing the hell out of the heels. Cactus looks like a deer caught in the headlights here, having not yet learned to deal with the pressures of wrestling on live TV. He also hadn’t started wearing a shirt all the time. Another weird one: Future semi-star and AWA tag champ Mike Enos is a referee at this point. Chavo gets a hot tag and a big brawl erupts, and the Mexicans start pulling out all sorts of crazy-ass highspots that stun the crowd. Chavo moonsaults Tommy Lane for the pin. **1/2

- Larry Nelson interviews POWW champion Nina Ferrari about her participation in the lingerie battle royale later in the show. Those of you three or four steps ahead of the rest will of course realize that Miss Ferrari bounced around the women’s feds for many a year before settling in the WWF in 1998 as…Ivory.  More...