One reason Nick and Ray blended so well together as a tag team is they had contrasting personalities. Bockwinkel was the smug Beverly Hills, Californian snob while Stevens portrayed the rough San Francisco, Californian bar room brawler. On interviews, Nick would use big words ala Howard Cosell and refer to fans as humanoids. Ray was abrasive.

Stevens would look right into the camera saying he was going the kick his opponents' butt and came off very believable. The personality traits of both men drew ire from fans watching television at home and made the fans pay money to hopefully see Bockwinkel and Stevens lose their tag team titles on the next AWA house show.

The Bombs Away Knee Drop used by Ray Stevens throughout his career was a maneuver where Ray jumped from the top rope onto his opponent. Jumping off the top rope onto the body of an opponent was an automatic disqualification in the AWA. The disqualification rule in no way hindered Ray Stevens. In fact it helped Ray be even more detested by the fans. In one of Ray's first matches in the AWA, Stevens was battling Dr X at a house show. Dr X needed knee surgery so the AWA had Ray injure Dr X with the Bombs Away knee drop to explain why Dr X would be out of action. 

This injury to Dr X got the Bombs Away Knee Drop over as a lethal maneuver. Several different scenarios where the Bombs Away Knee Drop came into play developed during a match involving Ray Stevens. The referee would either be distracted by Nick Bockwinkel allowing Stevens to hit the maneuver or the referee would be busy talking to an opposing team member giving Ray time to jump off the top rope. Another way it would happen is when the referee would be knocking unconscious during the match. Almost every time Ray hit the Bombs Away Knee Drop without the referee seeing the maneuver, the end result was a victory for Bockwinkel and Stevens. If the referee did see Ray jumping off the top rope, Bockwinkel and Stevens would lose the match by disqualification but would retain the AWA tag team titles because under AWA rules the belts could only change hands by pinfall or submission.

During the latter part of 1972, Nick and Ray ventured to Hawaii to defend the AWA tag team titles against their AWA nemesis Billy Robinson and the Hawaiian promoter at the time Bill Francis. Robinson and Francis defeated Bockwinkel and Stevens on November 15th, 1972 in Honolulu Hawaii to capture the AWA tag team titles. This title victory by Robinson and Francis was not acknowledged anywhere outside of Hawaii and is generally ignored by most record books. Robinson and Francis did defend the AWA tag belts one time in Honolulu on November 29th, 1972 before being announced as having been stripped of the titles for failure to defend. While this title change is a piece of obscure wrestling trivia, it does show Nick and Ray defended the AWA tag team titles in territories other than the AWA. Bockwinkel and Stevens would continue to defend the AWA tag belt in different territories as the years went on when their schedule permitted them to do so.

Billy Robinson was an extremely talented wrestler from England. Robinson was considered the best wrestler in Europe during the 60s and made his North American debut in Calgary, Alberta Canada in 1969. Billy came to the AWA in 1971 and displayed his vast arsenal of suplexes. Robinson challenged Verne Gagne for the AWA heavyweight title several times and battled with Bockwinkel and Stevens with a variety of partners.

Even though Billy Robinson was considered the most serious threat to AWA champion Verne Gagne, fans still cheered Robinson. Billy and Verne despite meeting each other in the ring maintained a friendship which was played up in the AWA storylines of the time. Robinson and Gagne had mutual enemies in Bockwinkel and Stevens and formed a partnership in late 1972. The dream team of Billy Robinson and Verne Gagne defeated Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens on December 30th, 1972 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to win the AWA tag team titles. Bockwinkel and Stevens regained the tag straps from Robinson and Gagne one week later on January 6th, 1973 in St Paul, Minnesota.

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The saga of Bockwinkel and Stevens continues.