The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (9.27.1986)

-Wahoo & Tully do battle in front of an amped crowd.

-Originally aired September 27, 1986.

-Tony Schiavone & David Crockett talk about the upcoming National Title/US Title unification bout coming up at the Omni. Cornette promptly interrupts to announce the upcoming telethon, Warrior-Aid, for the helpless and injured Road Warriors. Dennis Condrey cuts another rednecky promo, saying that he’s a kicker, and he’ll be a kicker until he kicks the bucket.

GORGEOUS JIMMY GARVIN (with Precious) vs VERNON DEATON
-An electrifying “Vernon” chant from the fans as Garvin applies an arm wringer and sends Deaton into the turnbuckles. Garvin boots away as Schiavone complains about the deeply personal remarks that Garvin recently made about Magnum TA’s mother, and everyone knows how intense TA gets when someone badmouths his mother. So “common knowledge” is that Magnum was supposed to win the NWA Title at Starrcade ’86, but no, he was gearing up for a mid-level feud about someone being mean to his mom. I feel like there’s a real chance this guy would have cooled way the fuck off if he had kept going.

-Brainbuster finishes for the Gorgeous one.

-We go back a few weeks to a Wahoo/Nikita confrontation. Wahoo is in jeans and no shirt, and watching the young, jacked Nikita sell a chop for the old guy is just silly.

-Paul Jones happily announces that Ravishing Rick Rude is on his way into the NWA, and he has a feeling that he should start planning for a run at the World Tag Team Title now. He just hasn’t decided who Rude’s partner should be. Baron calls out Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes, in the interest of equal time.

SHASKA WHATLEY & BARBARIAN vs MULKEY BROTHERS
-Hilarious bit as Jones threatens to start brawling with the fans, so Barbarian goes over to “hold him back” while Shaska beats down a Mulkey. Barbarian tags in proper and gets powerslammed. He press slams Randy onto Bill. Good little spot sees him noggin-knock the Mulkeys and going in himself to add an extra headbutt, so both guys are taking two headbutts at once.

-Bill gets tossed to the floor and takes the riding crop, which could potentially cause a small cut, and if Bill is in enough pain after the match that he rolls out of the ring and onto the floor, it could cause a minor infection, so technically it’s dangerous. Dropkick by Barbarian. Shaska struts up and down the apron, yelling “Every day! Every day! Every day!” So apparently three fans at ringside are asking him how many times he went to Wendy’s in the past month.

-Barbarian heads upstairs and dives across the ring with the headbutt to finish.

-America’s Team is here, and they’re ready for the US Tag Title tournament tomorrow night. Dusty says fans from Kenya are gonna be in the Omni tomorrow for the tournament.

“Raging Bull” MANNY FERNANDEZ & HECTOR GUERRERO vs TONY ZANE & GOLDEN TERROR
-Zane slams Hector but misses an elbow. Manny drives knees into the ribs. Zane gouges him, but misses a charge and gets trapped in an armbar. Tony Zane New Bruise of the Week: Under the arm.

-Hector bodypresses both opponents at once and tags Manny back in. Manny wrings the arm, and finishes shortly after with the flying burrito off the top.

-Paul Jones suddenly shows up and asks to speak to Manny Fernandez. He reveals that he made a sizable cash offer to Manny Fernandez to join the army, and he’s going to offer him just a little more. Manny declares himself a Friend with a capital F for the Boogie Woogie Man and promises he’s never joining the army. Book it, done.

NIKITA KOLOFF (US Champion) vs BILL TABB
-Nikita tosses Tabb to the floor. Tabb comes back with shoulder rams and punches, and Nikita sells his ass off for it, which has the fans going crazy. Nikita finally fights him off and gives him the sickle to finish as soon as he can.

-Dick Murdoch reminds us that he’s a good friend of Dusty Rhodes.

“Boogie Woogie Man” JIMMY VALIANT vs BRODY CHASE
-Not sure if the Network edited the entrance or if TBS did it to begin with, but intros are totally missing and this one is joined in progress with the jobber on the floor. Valiant gives him a thumb to the throat and finishes with the Street People’s Elbow for three. It sucked, but it was joined in progress, so there was less of it, so I liked it.

-Jimmy Valiant gives Tony a big kiss and high-fives his best friend Manny Fernandez for not accepting Paul Jones’ offer. He gives “Willy Willy” (Manny) a big kiss, which probably explains what Manny’s about to do.

-Jim Cornette tiptoes in and does some Elmer Fudd shtick, hunting the Warriors.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette) vs ART PRITTS & PAUL GARNER
-Bobby rubs Garner’s face in the mat and comes off the top with an axehandle. Fans are really into the aerial moves, doing a building “oooooooOOOOOOOOO…” every time Eaton goes upstairs for a move.

-Condrey tosses Art Pritts to the floor while Cornette announces that this is technically a title match because the Midnights are the uncrowned champions. Eaton chokes out Pritts while Cornette calls Ellering for being a leech because he just takes all the money and glory while he lets two other guys do all the wrestling.

-Eaton slaps Pritts on the ass and shoves him into the corner so he can tag in Paul Garner. Big suplex by Loverboy. Powerslam follows, and Bobby gets rocket-launched onto him for three.

-We watch the Midnights’ attack on the Road Warriors again. This angle loses so much from the part where Hawk walks away totally unscathed.

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Another short show. This one was interesting as it was all about Manny/Jimmy vs. The Army, which is the kind of stuff Bill Watts and Jim Cornette occasionally dabbled in, but it was a change of pace for this show. I just wish there was a better feud to showcase for an entire episode.