wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (11.28.1987)
Image Credit: NWA
Loading...-Cold open: Ric Flair walks to the ring at Starrcade ’87. It’s like the damn montage we’ve been seeing every week, except this footage is only 48 hours old.
-Originally aired November 28, 1987.
-Your host is Tony Schiavone and he brings the hype this week, saying these have to be the two most tremendous hours in the history of wrestling on WTBS. Big news to lead off, and hopefully you’re sitting down for this. Nelson Royal is once again the Junior Heavyweight Champion, having purchased the belt at Lazer Tron’s garage sale.
-Nikita Koloff comes out wielding both TV Title belts and says his match against Terry Taylor was the greatest of his career. He’s ready for the Bunkhouse Stampede.
ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs LARRY STEPHENS & TRENT KNIGHT
-Ricky locks up with Larry Stephens. Morton hiptosses and armdrags him around, then gets to work on the arm. Trent Knight comes in and eats a dropkick. Morton applies a side headlock and tags in Robert. Robert noggin knocks the jobbers and Morton comes back in and gets Stephens on the mat for another side headlock. Gibson snapmares Stephens and applies a chinlock as we continue taking our sweet-ass time moseying towards an obvious outcome.
-Morton works the arm of Stephens. Arm wringers are traded until Stephens gets caught on the mat in an armbar. Stephens gets free and tags in Trent Knight. Double backdrop sets up the double dropkick to end it.
-The Midnight Express is here and Cornette trash-talks the Rock & Rolls completely surrounded by his men. The Rock & Roll Express is making noise about getting a US Title shot, but Cornette won’t give them one because screw them. And Dusty Rhodes cheated Big Bubba out of the Bunkhouse Stampede last year, but he’s not going to cheat his way to Bull of the Woods again. Big Bubba, “the only man who could strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride through Ethiopia,” is going to win it.
MICHAEL P.S. HAYES & GORGEOUS JIMMY GARVIN (with Precious) vs THE GLADIATORS
-Tony announces that Hayes & Garvin are now number-one contenders for the World Tag Team Titles, so apparently a 15-minute draw at the biggest show of the year elevates you in wrestling-land.
-Hayes drops an elbow on #1 and brings in Garvin. Garvin works #2’s arm while #2 frantically adjusts his mask until it’s comfortable. Hayes works the arm and hiptosses him. #1 heads back in and gets booted. Garvin slams him a few times and goes to the chinlock. Aww, shit, it’s going to be this kind of week? Garvin, sensing my dread, politely goes right to the brainbuster moments later to end it.
-We take a look back at the US Title match from Starrcade. It’s crazy to see how bad the camera work is, and Tony’s recap of this event on his podcast is that the director caught hell from Jim Crockett for the spots he was missing all night.
-We go to what I guess is supposed to be a post-match press conference, with Dusty, Jim Crockett, Johnny Weaver, and three guys in suits. Dusty is very gracious toward Lex Luger and gives him his props for a great match. Dusty gets choked up, talking about how lucky he was to win because after sixteen years, his body is starting to break down, and even if Luger didn’t end his career, it’s to a point where he needs to think about what he’ll do next. This was the point where Dusty was itching to do a “Dusty Rhodes Retirement Tour” and it became one of the rare ideas of Dusty’s where Crockett actually pushed back, so it didn’t happen.
LARRY ZBYSZKO (with Baby Doll) vs BOB RIDDLE
-Larry stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and locks up with Riddle. Lock-up goes nowhere, so Larry stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls.
-Larry clips Riddle’s leg and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls and stalls. Riddle finally just attacks him. Larry kicks him and hammers him down. Suplex and a boot by Larry. Neckbreaker gets three.
-Larry says that Barry Windham’s time is up. And Baby Doll teases that he has some info about Dusty Rhodes that Larry should be interested in.
-We go to one of the last UWF TV shows, with Barry vs. Larry. Larry gets the win with a foreign object, Tim Horner runs in to tattle on him, and Larry takes him out with a neckbreaker.
-Back to Larry, who promises to etch Barry Windham and Dusty Rhodes’ images in Stone Mountain with all the losers who get immortalized there.
-Ric Flair is all smiles and getting a huge standing ovation from the studio audience.
-We watch the last five minutes or so of Garvin vs. Flair from Starrcade, which is a nice way to make your closed circuit and PPV audience feel stupid for paying.
-Back in the studio, Flair promises to be “more obnoxious, more overbearing, and make all of you learn to love it!”
STING vs DAVID ISLEY
-Sting hiptosses Isley all over the ring. Funny bit where Sting beats on his chest and Isley is so intimidated that he just flings himself out onto the concrete. Back in, Sting works the neck and arm, rubbing Isley’s face in the mat while he’s at it. Stinger splash, and the scorpion (a finisher with a name that needs a little modifying) gets the submission.
-Sting calls out Ric Flair and says he plans on tying him up in the scorpion hold. Mmm….no, not “hold.” Call it something more threatening.
-We get words from Jim Crockett, who’s back to being President of Jim Crockett Promotions and not President of the Wrestling Network. Dusty Rhodes’ announcement caught him off-guard, and at this time, Dusty is prepared to defend his title during the Bunkhouse Stampede, but Jim has no other info at this time.
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (US Tag Team Champions, with Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) vs THUNDERFOOT #1 & #2
-Cornette basically says the team has beaten all of the babyface jobbers, so he had to go into “our own dressing room” and offer the Thunderfoots a match. Eaton whips #1 back and forth. Stan Lane headbutts the ribcage and faceplants him while Cornette laments David Crockett’s absence. “I don’t hate David Crockett, I just hate the man who turns on his microphone.”
-#1 ends up on the floor and Big Bubba attacks. Back in, Bobby suplexes him and the Midnights double-team him in the corner. Clothesline by Beautiful Bobby, followed by a flapjack for three.
-Lex Luger congratulates his fellow Horsemen on their victories. He takes his hat off to Dusty Rhodes and tells him that he lived up to his reputation. Luger says that he and Dusty are part of that elite special group who make it to the top in pro wrestling, and he promises he’ll be around for at least another decade in this sport. JJ stays silent in the background the whole time, looking like he has a lot on his mind…
“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS (UWF Champion) vs TOMMY ANGEL
-Williams pounces right away and throws a dropkick. Arm wringers are traded and Williams manages to turn his into a hammerlock. Press slam, followed by the football tackle, and the Oklahoma stampede finishes.
-Steve Williams says that Starrcade was “one of the hardest matches ever in his professional.” He says there’s no controversy in the match to speak of. Guys in wrestling get hurt. You capitalize. It’s not his fault that Barry Windham didn’t take advantage of an opening to win the match. Also, Bunkhouse Stampede. Nobody can decide on how many men will be in the ring during these matches. Tony has said 20 men, Nikita said 25, and Steve here says it’ll be a 35-man match. Steve ends this on a really weird note, declaring himself “the fossil remaining from UWF.”
-We go to Montreal-born Ron Garvin, wearing a trucker’s cap that reads “American by Birth and Southern by the Grace of God.” Ron Garvin says he wants the belt back. Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes come out to commend him for a great match. In Michael’s eyes, Ron Garvin is still the champion. People, PLEASE! Can we focus for a minute? Ron Garvin hasn’t mentioned his truck yet. Is it okay? Did he have to sell it?
RON SIMMONS vs RICK STEINER
-Hey, this looks promising!
-They stalemate on lock-ups. Simmons shoulderblocks Steiner down and drops an elbow. Snapmare into a side headlock. Steiner keeps rolling over to reverse it into a pinfall attempt but Simmons manages to keep kicking out. Steiner gets to his feet and suplexes out. Simmons shakes it off and elbows him down. Back to the side headlock. Steiner backs him into the corner and a fistfight breaks out.
-Back from the break with Steiner having an armbar clamped on Simmons. Kevin Sullivan suddenly shows up at ringside and looks like he’s trying to get Steiner’s attention. Tony says Kevin Sullivan has been making noise lately about how Rick Steiner could be more successful but he keeps listening to the wrong people.
-Powerslam by Steiner and he’s taken by surprise as Sullivan just starts berating him from ringside. Steiner casually throws Simmons over the top rope to get himself disqualified, then calmly walks away from the ring with Kevin Sullivan. It was all right while it lasted.
SPAM SLAM OF THE WEEK
-Dr. Death’s Gorilla Press Slam is your Spam Slam.
ARN ANDERSON & TULLY BLANCHARD (World Tag Team Champions, with JJ Dillon) vs ROCKY KING & CHANCE MCQUADE
-Arn snapmares Rocky King and Rocky already wants out of there. Arn puts the boots to McQuade and tags in Tully. Tully just punches away and brings Arn back in. Arn works the arm and brings Tully back in, and the slingshot suplex gets three.
-All the Horsemen are here. Arn & Tully gloat about their victory at Starrcade. Arn suddenly says that there’s a “void” in the Horsemen now because not everyone can say they’re a champ. Guys who get offers for movies and endorsement deals don’t have their head in the game. The marquee says wrestling, not “go make commercials.” Lex looks a bit irked.
-Mike Rotundo cuts generic promo #37B about taking on all comers.
BARRY WINDHAM, MIGHTY WILBUR, & RICKY SANTANA vs IVAN KOLOFF, WARLORD, & BARBARIAN (with Paul Jones)
-All six men brawl to start. Teddy Long finally gets it down to Ivan and Mighty Wilbur. Ivan snapmares Wilbur like it’s no big deal in a not-remotely-believable spot. All six men wind up in the ring again, and now it comes down to Barry and Ivan. Windham backdrops Koloff and Ricky Santana comes in to help with a double elbow for two.
-Wilbur tags back in and misses an attempted splash. Ivan flings him out to the floor, and Wilbur should not be bumping around like that! What the hell? Paul Jones attacks him with the riding crop and we get another brawl on the floor. Back in, Ivan chokes out Wilbur in the corner while Paul Jones holds a foot so Wilbur can’t get free. Wilbur shoves Koloff down but misses another splash.
-Windham tags back in and applies a sleeper on Koloff. We get another six-man brawl, and Wilbur gets fed up and steals Koloff’s chain from the corner, which sends the heels retreating to the corner and suddenly everyone wants to play nice and goes out to the apron. Ivan and Wilbur slug it out and Ivan gets pinballed by the babyfaces.
-Windham comes in and suplexes Koloff. Kneedrop misses and Koloff FINALLY makes the tag, bringing Barbarian in. Powerslam by Barbarian gets two and in comes Warlord, still in the process of figuring out what wacky haircut will make him a star. Koloff tags back in and Windham elbows him down. Ricky Santana tags in and backdrops him and WE ARE DESPERATELY OUTTA TIME!
