12 Times American Football Crossed Over Into Wrestling

Before 1990’s Super Bowl, the AWA capitalized on America’s football fever with a unique new type of match. And I mean truly unique, as no promoter has dared to put on another match like it in the 27 years since.

Both Mike Enos (the future Blake Beverly) and 'The Trooper' Del Wilkes (the future Patriot) donned the authentic uniforms of the Minnesota Vikings to compete in a “Football Clash”. Not quite as authentic was the set-up of the ring, which sported various lines taped onto the mat and miniature hockey goals set up in opposite corners.

The object of the match was to take turns running a football from mid-ring to the opponent’s net, with victory going to the first man to score five goals. Now, an NFL field is about 100 meters long. The distance from the center of an AWA ring to the turnbuckle, however, was about two meters. This meant that the stop-and-go action would feature a minimum of excitement (and wrestling) and a maximum of pushing and crawling.

This excruciatingly dull “match”, which was part of the infamous “Team Challenge Series” from the promotion’s dying days, ended when the guest referee, 'Benchwarmer' Bob Lurtsema, blatantly tackled Enos to lead Wilkes to victory. Wilkes and Lurtsema were the good guys here, incidentally.

Fortunately, good sense and bankruptcy prevented the AWA from holding another Football Challenge match in 1991.