Legendary Indian Star and former professional football player Wahoo McDaniel was the next man to mount a serious challenge to Nick Bockwinkel. McDaniel was a seasoned veteran having wrestled his first match in the mid 1960s and was very familiar to AWA fans from his stint in the early 70s and a brief stint during 1978. Wahoo was a very physical wrestler who had held championships in almost every territory in which he appeared. McDaniel and Bockwinkel faced each other several times during mid 1983. Here are some results of their matches: 

5/15/83 Milwaukee- Nick Bockwinkel and Wahoo McDaniel fought to a no contest 

5/19/83 Winnipeg- Nick Bockwinkel and Wahoo McDaniel fought to a no contest 

5/27/83 Denver- Wahoo McDaniel won by disqualification over Nick Bockwinkel 

6/11/83 San Francisco- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

6/12/83 Las Vegas- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

6/16/83 Winnipeg- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

6/23/83 St. Paul- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

7/16/83 San Francisco- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel by disqualification 

7/23/83 Chicago- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

7/24/83 St. Paul- Nick Bockwinkel and Wahoo McDaniel fought to a no contest 

8/10/83 Las Vegas- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

8/15/83 Salt Lake City- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

8/26/83 Rockford- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel 

8/28/83 St. Paul- Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel  

1983 saw Jerry The King Lawler wrestle on many AWA cards. Lawler's feud with comedian Andy Kaufman in Memphis, Tennessee gained national media attention thanks in part to a famous worked altercation between the two on Late Night With David Letterman. The Letterman skit led to Jerry appearing all over the United States including the Midwest where he challenged AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel a few times. Bockwinkel and Lawler also battled each other more than a few times in the Memphis based CWA territory during 1983. Lawler and Bockwinkel were not strangers to each other. They had their first match in Memphis way back in the Summer of 1978. Here are the matches between Jerry and Nick during 1982 and 1983. 

10/11/82 Memphis- Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler 

10/18/82 Memphis- Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler 

10/25/82 Memphis- Jerry Lawler beat Nick Bockwinkel DQ 

11/8/82 Memphis- Jerry Lawler beat Nick Bockwinkel 

Even though Bockwinkel had regained the AWA heavyweight title from Otto Wanz on October 9th, 1982 in Chicago, I don't think the AWA title was on the line in any of the above matches against Lawler. 

12/27/82 Memphis- Jerry Lawler beat AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel 

The AWA title was held up in Memphis but not in the AWA as a result of this match. Bockwinkel's foot was on the ropes when Lawler made the winning pin. Referee Jerry Calhoun did not see Nick's foot on the ropes and declared Lawler the new AWA champion. Bockwinkel got AWA figurehead president Stanley Blackburn to order a rematch. 

1/10/83 Memphis- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler 

2/14/83 Memphis- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry Lawler fought to a double countout 

2/22/83 Louisville- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler DQ 

3/15/83 Louisville- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler in a no time limit, no DQ match 

4/4/83 Memphis- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler DQ 

4/11/83 Memphis- Jerry Lawler beat AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel DQ 

4/16/83 Chicago- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Jerry Lawler 

5/21/83 Chicago- AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry Lawler battled to a no contest 

To get a much better explanation of the feud between Lawler and Bockwinkel, please read the CWA column by Tim Dills by clicking here http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/memphis/memphis-cwa10.htm.  

That's it for this month. I wanted to get to Blackjack Lanza and Jumbo Tsuruta this month but was unable to do so. We'll pick up there next month. 

NEXT MONTH:  

I'll continue covering Bockwinkel's career in the AWA and touch on his feuds with Blackjack Lanza, Blackjack Mulligan, Jumbo Tsuruta and Rick Martel.

Back to AWA Main