Kevin’s Random Reviews: NWA Chi-Town Rumble 1989

NWA Chi-Town Rumble
February 20th, 1989 | UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois | Attendance: 8,000

This a rather famous NWA event. It features the first match in the 1989 trilogy between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Flair joined the booking committee around this time and helped bring Steamboat back from the WWF. This was the only Chi-Town Rumble event in history.

Jim Ross and Magnum T.A. are on commentary. They run down the card before throwing to a video package highlighting some of the guys on the card.

Michael Hayes def. Russian Assassin #1 w/ Paul Jones in 15:48
There’s a spastic promo from Hayes before the match where he runs down all the titles and it’s honestly nonsense at times. The Russian Assassin is Jack Victory under a mask. The crowd likes Hayes but barely react to most of the Russian’s offense. Hayes shows bursts but the Russian uses rest holds to death. Hayes gets going behind the crowd after what feels like an eternity. The Russian blocks a bulldog, meaning the match has to continue. They announce we’ve reached the fifteen minute mark, which is outrageous. Hayes hits ten corner punches and wins with a DDT. Goodness that went way too long. I wish the WWE Network had the original version of this, which was clipped to about 8 minutes, though that’s still probably too long. ¼*

Ricky Steamboat, his wife and baby Richie are interviewed about the main event. It’s generic babyface stuff.

Sting def. Butch Reed w/ Hiro Matsuda in 20:07
Jim Ross gushes over Sting being as good as he is after just three years in the business. He also brings up Reed’s football past because poor JR can’t help himself. It’s like he believes a football past means something in the ring. Sting fires up and uses dropkicks to send Reed packing in the first few minutes. Five minutes in and Sting works a lengthy headlock. Reed takes over with tons of chinlocks and cheap shots from Matsuda. More football talk from JR during one of the chinlocks. A jawbreaker gets Sting free and wakes the crowd up. Reed stops the momentum by tossing Sting outside for a bit. He tries a cheap win by using the ropes for leverage but gets caught. Sting turns it around and rolls him up for three. Another match that got hurt by its length. Reed didn’t seem to know what to do with the time so he just used rest hold after rest hold. Give this about ten and I’d enjoy it more since it wasn’t bad outside of the chinlocks. *

Loser Leaves NWA: The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette def. Jack Victory, Randy Rose and Paul E. Dangerously in 15:51
The Original Midnight Express was supposed to be with Paul E. but Dennis Condrey bailed since the new booker, George Scott, didn’t care for he and Rose. Victory, in his second match of the evening, is the sub. Paul is dressed like he’s ready to golf rather than wrestle. The wrestlers trade stuff early until Lane clotheslines Rose to the outside. Cornette is having a blast. After a drop toe hold/elbow spot by his guys, he adds an elbow and the Fargo strut. It’s hilarious and the fans eat it up. Everything he does has lots of enthusiasm. He gets tagged and demands Paul but Rose hits him from behind. Paul only comes in once he’s down. Heel work 101. Cornette escapes to tag in Lane but now it’s Lane’s turn to take the heat. Rose hideously mocks Lane with some dancing. “Beautiful” Bobby gets the real hot tag and does his thing. He brings in Paul to an enormous pop and tags Cornette. Corny kicks his ass but a pin gets broken up by Rose. Down the stretch, Victory and Rose bump into each other. That leaves Rose open to fall to a double flapjack. He must now leave NWA. That was fun and a tick up in qualify for the show. Cornette was the star here, bringing a ton of fire. ***

Ric Flair gets interviewed backstage and kills it as always. He guarantees a win in the main event.

NWA Television Championship: Mike Rotunda def. Rick Steiner (c) w/ Scott Steiner in 16:21
Judging by their attire alone, you’d think this was an amateur wrestling contest. They open with lots of grappling and jockeying for position. Steiner has the advantage at every turn, forcing Mike to go to the ropes or take a break outside. JR reaches for football talk, discussing Rotunda participating in “Punt, Pass and Kick” when he was a kid. It’s a Rotunda match so there’s an abdominal stretch spot with the ropes for leverage. He also does a middle rope cross body, which blows my mind. It’s the most interesting thing he’s ever done. Steiner goes high risk himself, missing a top rope splash. Rick hits a powerslam but Kevin Sullivan is out with a mic. He seems to threaten Rick’s dog. He leaves but Rick’s mind is elsewhere. Scott convinces him to get back in but he takes a back suplex. Steiner still fights back and slaps on a sleeper. He makes the mistake of falling back with it, so Rotunda is on top and his shoulders get pinned for three. Not great but possibly the best singles match I’ve seen Rotunda have. He put in effort and Rick was good here despite the lame finish. **¾

The Road Warriors are interviewed backstage. It’s a typical angry Warriors promo.

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Lex Luger def. Barry Windham (c) w/ Hiro Matsuda in 10:43
About ten months earlier, Windham turned on Luger to join the Horsemen. They finally get their blowoff here. Luger overwhelms the champion with his power early. They do a great job showcasing how Luger has the physical edge. He misses a diving shoulder block, which opens the door for Windham. Of course, JR takes this opportunity to discuss their football backgrounds. He cannot help himself. Outside, Windham misses a punch and hits his claw hand on the ring post. HE BLADES HIS HAND! That’s something you don’t see everyday. Barry sells the shit out of it. He hits a superplex for a very close near fall. He hits a bridging back suplex but both shoulders are down. The referee counts and Luger gets his shoulder up so Barry gets pinned. I dug the psychology and selling from Windham. Luger did fine with his fire spots. My issue was the finish. It’s not a bad finish typically but to do it after a similar one in the match prior wasn’t a good idea. ***

Mike Rotunda warns Rick Steiner to stay away from him. He says he’s gonna be champion for a long time but drops it a little over a month later to Sting.

NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors (c) w/ Paul Ellering def. The Varsity Club in 8:27
The Varsity Club is represented here by Steve Williams and Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan always seemed out of place in that stable. Williams exchanges power stuff with both champions until eating a double clothesline. The challengers turn things around by sending Animal over the top and hitting him with a chair. This leads to Animal getting worked over in the heels’ corner. Hawk gets the hot tag and things are all Road Warriors from there on out. Hawk takes out Sullivan with a diving clothesline, while Animal pins Williams. Ho-hum tag stuff. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. It felt rushed too despite this seemingly being a wheelhouse for the champs and Williams. *½

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ricky Steamboat def. Ric Flair (c) w/ Hiro Matsuda in 23:18
They do a great job recapping the feud up to this point. Steamboat gets a near fall in the opening seconds on a shoulder block, surprising the champ. He picks up several more in the opening exchanges. They go in a sick sounding chop exchange, with Steamboat getting the better. It’s a great blend of Ricky wearing down Flair on the mat and lighting him up with quickness at each opportunity. After a chop and near fall, Flair takes a powder. The next exchange sees Steamboat move at a crazy pace with a head scissors, dropkick and back to the headlock. Flair gets something going but takes a double chop that sends him outside. Flair pulls Ricky outside and sends him into the guardrail, finally taking over. He wears Ricky down with chops and offense, picking up near falls. Steamboat has chops of his own ready. Flair does his corner bump, running to the other corner and coming off the top with a cross body. Steamboat rolls through for a near fall that the fans go NUTS for. Flair applies the figure four as the crowd is now firmly behind Steamboat. Flair cheats with the ropes for leverage, even using the top one but Ricky won’t quit. He gets caught so he’s forced to break the hold. Flair sends him into the post and hits some suplexes for more near falls. He blatantly cheats with feet on the ropes for pins but again, Ricky won’t quit. He school boys Flair for two of his own. Steamboat misses a cross body but hits a butterfly suplex. Flair gets his foot on the rope to the crowd’s disbelief. Ricky comes close again a few times but then hits the big flying chop. He follows with a cross body but takes out the official with Flair. Ric rolls him up with a handful of fights but there’s no referee. Flair sends Ricky over but he hangs on. He tries a cross body again only for Flair to move. Flair tries the Figure Four but Ricky pulls him into a small package to win the title. Breathtaking match here. You could see a lot of Steamboat/Savage here with all the near falls. Spectacular work from both men from start to finish. Flair looked overmatched early but found ways to even things out. In the end, Steamboat refused to quit and it led him to the title. ****¾

Ricky Steamboat gets interviewed backstage while the faces douse him in champagne.

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Most of the undercard leaves a lot to be desired but I have to give this show a positive score and thumbs up, if only for the main event. Steamboat/Flair is a classic series and despite how great this match was, it’s possibly the worst in their trilogy. I did rather enjoy Luger/Windham and the Loser Leaves NWA match. The TV Title was solid too. It would be best to avoid the first two matches and the Tag Titles though. I might have enjoyed the show more if I got the original clipped version. You have to watch Flair/Steamboat though. It’s a must.