wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (1.31.1987)

April 24, 2017 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
NWA World Championship Wrestling
7.5
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (1.31.1987)  

-Cold open: Ron Garvin and Barry Windham win a squash match, only to be ambushed by Jim Cornette’s guys after the bell.

-Originally aired January 31, 1987.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and David Crockett.

GORGEOUS JIMMY GARVIN (with Precious) vs GEORGE SOUTH
-Garvin hiptosses South and celebrates with a strut. Crowd is torn this week, with half the fans popping for every little thing Garvin does while the other half gets a chant started for George. Garvin chokes out South and backdrops him, and the brainbuster does its thing for the win.

-At the commentary table, Jimmy complains about Tony’s mother calling in the middle of the night to ask when his next TV match will air. Garvin is on fire this week, asking if anybody wants to come out of the crowd and wrestle him, and then answering his own question with a big goofy “Noooooo!” It doesn’t sound like much, but he really is entertaining as hell here. If managers didn’t fall out of vogue in the 1990s, I think Jimmy could have been something.

-Brad Armstrong is going for the NWA TV Title this week, and he’s ready to take the belt and the cash.

RON GARVIN (US Tag Team Champion) vs GARY ROYAL
-Garvin keeps it a basic wrestling match to start. Royal surprises him by throwing punches, and Garvin’s just so…disappointed in him for that. Garvin punches and chops Royal all over the place. He applies a crucifix, but just holds onto it instead of going for the pin with it. Royal has a death wish because he throws hard chops at Garvin. Garvin knocks him down and stomps the shit out of his hand, then yanks the straps of Royal’s singlet. Garvin works each arm, one at a time. Hands of stone finish.

-Ron Garvin warns Jim Cornette that he’d better have better ammo for the US Tag Team Champs than a tag team that hasn’t had a title in months and a big fat guy that Garvin already beat up at Starrcade.

-Paul Jones is here with R&R. Everybody wants the belts so they’ll have top seeding in the Crockett Cup, but it ain’t gonna happen.

TV TITLE + $10,000: TULLY BLANCHARD (with JJ Dillon) vs BRAD ARMSTRONG
-Armstrong surprises Blanchard with a sneak attack before the bell and throws him out to the floor. They brawl on the floor and head back in. Armstrong connects with elbows for two. Tully tries to escape but Armstrong drags him back in and just focuses on winning the match as possible, going for a series of pins without actually dishing out any punishment on Tully.

-Tully fights back with some aggressive offense, and it turns into a fist fight. Tully targets the eyes and connects with a kneelift. Armstrong fights back with a hard Irish whip that sends Tully sailing over the top and onto the concrete. JJ is demanding the match be stopped immediately. Referee refuses while Armstrong goes out and just kicks Tully’s ass for daring to still be alive.

-Back in the ring, Tully gets a handful of tights and throws Armstrong out to the floor. Back from the break, Tully has a cut on his forehead and Brad drops a knee on it for two. Backdrop gets two more. Tully hits the post shoulder-first, but Brad can only get another two from it. It’s a full-blown fight at this point as Tully is too frustrated to try for mat wrestling. Brad outfights him and hits a powerslam for two.

-Tully rolls out of the ring, looking like he’s going for a breather, but instead, he BOLTS back to the dressing room. Brad sprints back to the dressing room and literally runs back to the ring with Tully on his shoulders to finish the match. Armstrong continues beating on him and hits the Russian legsweep right as the bell rings. I think it exposes the business JUST A LITTLE when time limits always expire right when a babyface hits their finisher, but Jim Crockett had assloads of money in early 1987 with an unlimited future ahead of him, so what do I know? Hell of a good match, by the way, with Armstrong throwing Tully off his game by making it a fight right away, and Tully struggling just to keep up with him.

-Dick Murdoch cuts another bland promo. It’s amazing to me how colorless Dick Murdoch, of all people, could be when he worked babyface.

-Jimmy Valiant and his will-to-live vacuum are here to thank all the fans for the cards and letters that he can’t read, which, by the way, is why he’s friends with the Baron.

LEX LUGER (with JJ Dillon) vs TOMMY ANGEL
-Commentators are all “Wait, what?” when they see JJ with Luger even after the Horsemen clearly declined his request to join the group. Luger makes real quick work of Angel and finishes with the torture rack in seconds.

-JJ formally declares that Luger is NOT a Horseman, but “There’s room in the limo for one more,” so he’s now an associate to the Four Horsemen. Tony tries to get some clarification about the difference between an associate Horseman and a full member, and JJ refuses to explain it.

-Baron Von Raschke announces he’s signed a bunch of open contracts, and that he’s setting a weasel trap to capture Paul Jones. So that’s still gonna be a thing in 1987, I guess.

RIC FLAIR (World Champion) & OLE ANDERSON vs TIM HORNER & EDDIE ROBERTS
-Ole starts with Horner. Horner tries to make it a fistfight, but Ole takes him down to the mat. Horner holds his own there, too, so Ole hastily tags out. Flair throws chops but gets shoulderblocked down and slammed for two. Horner works the arm but Flair backs him into the corner. Ole comes back in and goes to the mat with Horner again, and this time, Ole comes out on the better end, applying a side headlock and keeping it clamped on for dear life.

-Flair throws Roberts out to the floor and he & Ole gang up on him out there. We pause for a break and come back to Ole keeping Roberts tied up on the mat. Back suplex by Flair, and the Horsemen stretch Roberts in the corner. Ole chokes him down, which Flair refers to as “the Horsemen training session.” Hot tag to Horner and he cleans house. Elbow on Ole gets two.

-Horner foolishly tags Roberts back in immediately, and the Horsemen just go to town on him. Flair drags him over to the commentary table so they can get some extra mics on the hard chop that he throws, then drags Roberts back in to rub his face in the mat. Roberts tags Horner back in and Flair backs off from Horner. Horner goes for the natural bridge, but Flair manages to resist until Ole can run in and boot Horner away to break it.

-Critical mistake as Roberts is again allowed to enter the ring. He gets beat down again in short order. Ole connects with a knee from the top rope, and the armbar gets a submission win.

-JJ Dillon celebrates the Horsemen having the best week ever. Barry Windham comes out to confront Lex Luger one more time. He gets in JJ’s face, and Luger kicks the shit out of Windham, destroying the commentary table in the process for maximum effect. Ron Garvin & Friends come out to make the save, but it’s too little, too late, and Barry’s writhing on the floor.

-Ivan Koloff & Vladimir Petrov are here as this feud continues to spin its wheels. No mention at all of “The Big Red Machine” that Ivan teased last week, so somehow, the wheels on this thing are simultaneously spinning aimlessly AND falling off.

VLADIMIR PETROV vs ZANE SMITH
-Powerslam, followed by the Russian hammer to finish right away.

-Superpowers are here. Division of labor, Nikita threatens the Russians while Dusty threatens the Horsemen.

RAVISHING & RAGING (World Tag Team Champions, with Paul Jones) vs ROCKY KING & PAUL GARNER
-Manny starts with Rocky. Rocky gets him down to the mat with a side headlock. They go off the ropes and have some really awkward miscommunication. Funny, as the commentators can’t make sense of how to call the mistake and they remain completely silent until Rude finally tags in. Rude is super aggressive with King and rams him into the turnbuckles. Weirdness: Rude’s tights have POCKETS.

-Manny drops a knee on Garner as Tony again gives R&R the most backhanded compliments, saying that the team is getting better and better with each week. They’re the champions! Rude Awakening ends things.

-Jim Cornette busts on Tony’s haircut. “I don’t know what the barber got for that, but I hope it was 20 years.” I didn’t want to say anything because I made a joke about it last week and the week before that, but yeah, Tony’s hair has been distractingly strange-looking this month. It’s like seeing Calvin’s hair on a real person, almost.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette & Big Bubba) vs VERNON DEATON & LARRY STEVENS
-Dennis Condrey stomps away at Deaton. Bobby Eaton tosses him out to the floor. Larry Stevens tags in. Stevens must have been doing his own thing for a gimmick at indy shows because for no reason, he’s wearing pink & purple boots, and purple tights with hearts all over the ass, and of course Cornette’s all over that.

-Eaton puts the boots to Stevens. Suplex by Condrey. Eaton applies the abdominal stretch, and it leads to a cute bit as the Express basically has a contest to see which one of them can apply a lazier version of the hold while still inflicting punishment. Decapitator by the Express, with Eaton using the knee instead of the elbow, and that wraps it up. Condrey AGAIN does the bit where he checks on the jobber after the match, and I love him for it.

-Ric Flair is here in a fur coat, which is interesting because it’s 1987, so we’re officially at the point where it’s not cool anymore. Flair gives the prices of everything he’s wearing and busts on Dusty for his “nothing happening Celtics jacket and honky boots.” He’s on his way to Charleston, West Virginia to defend the belt against Nikita, and dammit, it’s West Virginia, so I automatically have to care and look it up…

Bobby Jaggers & Dutch Mantell defeated Thunderfoot #1 & #2
Baron Von Raschke defeated Shaska Whatley
Ivan Koloff & Vladimir Petrov defeated Ron Garvin & Tim Horner
NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard defeated Barry Windham via disqualification
Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson fought NWA Tag Team Champions Rick Rude & Manny Fernandez to a draw
NWA World Champion Ric Flair fought NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff to a draw

-I’d buy a ticket for that.

-JJ Dillon is here to gloat about what they did to Barry Windham earlier in the show, and now it looks like he’s not even going to make it out here for his match. Tim Horner comes out, extremely fired up about what happened earlier. Barry’s in no condition to wrestle, but dammit, Horner’s so mad he’s gonna fight this match himself!

TIM HORNER vs ARN ANDERSON (with JJ Dillon)
-Horner connects with dropkicks and right hands. Horner tries to bridge him right away, but Arn drops to his knees and Horner strangles himself on the top rope. Arn tosses him to the concrete and posts him. Back in, Arn hits the spinebuster and could probably finish, but he rubs Horner’s face into the mat, and Windham suddenly resurrects and comes into the ring, laying a quick ass-whoopin’ on Anderson until he gets outta Dodge.

-Barry declares war on the Horsemen. IT’S ON.

-Cornette & Pals are back and we see the full video from the top of the hour. The goal was specifically to take Garvin out of pro wrestling, but Windham saves his partner before the serious damage can be done.

-JJ & Tully are back to remind us they still have the $10,000. They play the tape of what happened to Barry Windham this week once more, hopefully so other wrestlers can learn something about what happens when you try to stir shit with the Horsemen.

-The show closes with the Four Horsemen in full force with Lex Luger…wait a second, Ole’s not there.

7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
This was a hell of a good show. They laser-focused on the Horsemen, who all had clear stories to tell and put together a string of decent matches to tell those stories. This show just whizzed by, too. Running time of 1:16, but it feels like 45 minutes. It's just amazing how much faster two hours can feel when you actually do something with it.
legend

article topics :

NWA, Adam Nedeff