The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (3.28.1987)

-Cold open: Ric Flair calls commentary for a squash involving the other three Horsemen…and out comes 260 pounds of piss and vinegar called Ole Anderson.

-Originally aired March 28, 1987.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & David Crockett.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs CHANCE MCQUADE & BILL TABB
-Ricky starts with Bill Tabb, and it’s only through the power of four years of effective booking that Ricky looks like he has a chance in hell. So he takes control and Robert follows with slams and a side headlock. Chance McQuade, the jobber of 1987 with the name of 2017 NXT, tags in and takes a bunch of elbows to the nose from Ricky and Robert.

-Ricky goes to work on the arm. Double dropkick finishes.

-Rock & Roll talks about Crockett Cup, here to stay, Paul Jones sucks, so forth.

-Jim Cornette is here. Big Bubba’s gonna finish Dusty in a cage in Boston real soon. And by the way, Ole Anderson is a legend…a made-up story that got exaggerated.

BEAUTIFUL BOBBY EATON (with Jim Cornette & Big Bubba) vs VERNON DEATON
-Eaton hammers away at Deaton while Tony congratulates NWA fan Kenny Bolin on the birth of his first child in a completely unexpected 30-year teaser for Cornette’s podcast.

-Eaton tosses Deaton out to the floor and Bubba casually tosses him back in. By the way, Cornette introduced him as “one half of the Midnight Express” but there’s no mention of Dennis at all. Not even in terms of “Bobby’s partner.” Deaton goes to the floor again and Bubba throws him back in. Legdrop from the top wins it for Beautiful Bobby.

-So we revisit the cold open, from World Wide Wrestling. Flair is all over Ole for being past his prime and losing his passion, and Ole comes out demanding the title chance that Flair never had the guts to give him. Ole lays a beating on Flair while shredding the suit right off his body. The Horsemen try to make the save but Ole gets out of town just in time. Flair goes on a crazy rant afterward, declaring that Ole has made the mistake of his life. Good angle, but the live crowd does NOT give a shit, which is so uncharacteristic for this period.

-Back in the studio, Ole says he’s never been impressed by any single Horsemen, they’re only intimidating as a group. Ole wants Tully Blanchard more than any of them, because he’s the interloper who screwed things up for the family.

OLE ANDERSON vs KENT GLOVER
-Ole just beats on Glover and chokes him. Ole stays aggressive for a bit before finally focusing on the arm. Knee from the top rope by Ole, and the armbar gets the submission.

-Frances Crockett recommends Harbor Place in Baltimore while you’re visiting the town for Crockett Cup.

KANSAS JAYHAWKS vs RANDY BARBER & MIKE FORCE
-Bobby Jaggers clotheslines Barber before bringing in Dutch for their usual rapid-fire switches. Force falls into a chinlock by Dutch Mantell. Elbow by Jaggers, suplex by Dutch. It’s strange, there’s stuff going on in the match, but it’s hard to recap because there’s no flow to it. It’s just, “I thought of another move I can do.”

-Force comes to life with forearms, but Dutch gets really fired up and just lights into him with punches. Short clothesline by Jaggers as the studio fans aren’t into this one either. Dutch trades arm wringers with Force. Jaggers actually looks more heelish clean shaven than he did with the beard.

-Double elbows by the Jayhawks. Big elbow by Jaggers gets the win.

-Paul Ellering is here, to tell us that the Road Warriors are back from Japan. Ellering announces that they won the International Titles during their tour, and they want the Japanese wrestlers to come to America if they want those belts back. It’s about time. If there’s one problem the NWA had during this period, it’s that there weren’t enough fucking titles.

-We go to NWA Pro, where Nikita Koloff finishes up a squash match, and in comes Dick Murdoch for a sneak attack. He takes it outside and gives Nikita a brainbuster on the concrete, then gets out of town right when Dusty Rhodes shows up.

-David Crockett announces a big-ass fine for Dick Murdoch, and big brother Jim has basically said that the run-ins and sneak attacks need to STOP.

-We go to pre-taped words from Dusty and Nikita, with Nikita in a neckbrace. Dues gon’ be paid.

-Back in the studio, the Armstrongs are prepared for the massive flux of talent in the Crockett Cup. Brad issues a challenge to Ric Flair for the NWA Title. Bob Armstrong tells a long story about Dick Murdoch’s military career, basically that he washed out repeatedly and kept getting transferred because different units just wanted to be rid of him.

WAHOO MCDANIEL & BARON VON RASCHKE vs LARRY CLARKE & RICK SULLIVAN
-Side headlock by the Baron. Gingerly shoulderblock follows, and in comes Wahoo with a series of chops on Rick Sullivan. More chopping before everybody tags and Baron battles with Larry Clarke. By the way, Crockett Cup update: The Japanese team to be named is Giant Baba & Mister Tahaki…or Takagi. Whatever.

-We pause for commercial with the best tease ever, as Tony announces that we’ll be getting our first look at the Gladiators during the second hour! Back from the break, Wahoo connects with a big chop, and a suplex gets three.

-Mike Rotundo says that he and Tim Horner are ready for the Crockett Cup, and he’s been training hard for all that money, but the fans in Baltimore have always been behind him. He says he and Horner want the money, and that he’s coming to Baltimore for only one reason: the money. They should have called Rotundo and Horner the Damn-Bland Connection.

-Wahoo and Baron are ready to HURT people in the tournament. Wahoo says he’ll even be like his old heelish self if he needs to do that to win.

BIG BUBBA ROGERS (with Jim Cornette) vs COUGAR JAY
-Cougar Jay tries a flying headscissors, but Bubba just holds onto him and makes it a powerbomb. Backbreaker by Bubba. Bubba comes off the top with a double axehandle. Bubba goes to the surprising route of finishing with a hammerlock, with Jim Cornette saying on commentary that anything Ole Anderson can do, Bubba does better.

-The Russians and Dick Murdoch are here. Ivan hopes his nephew suffers the way Russia has suffered ever since Nikita betrayed them. Murdoch offers a rebuttal to Bob Armstrong, calling him a plumber’s friend. Well, I mean, YOU were Dusty’s tag team partner, so…rubber and glue.

-Bill Dundee will do anything for $1 million, which is why he entered the Crockett Cup with Barbarian has his own partner, while also signing as manager of the MOD Squad for a second chance at the million.

LEX LUGER & TULLY BLANCHARD (with JJ Dillon) vs TODD CHAMPION & DENNY BROWN
-Luger works the arm of Champion, then drops an elbow that totally misses and Champion doesn’t seem sure if he should sell it or not. THE GLADIATORS WILL BE HERE LATER IN THE HOUR!

-Jobbers come to life and go to work on the arm. Tully Blanchard tags in and gets dropkicked out to the apron. Denny suplexes him back in, but Lex kicks Denny’s leg out of his leg so Tully crashes on top of him. Tully finishes Denny with the slingshot suplex.

-JJ hates Ole Anderson. And now that the world knows that Nikita’s mortal, Lex wants a US Title shot.

ARN ANDERSON vs TIM HORNER
-Arn’s friends stay at the commentary table to watch. Arn slugs it out and tosses Horner to the floor. Horner makes the best of that by hooking Arn’s leg, tripping him, and ramming it against the post. Horner is all over the leg back in the ring. Arn grounds him with legscissors and they kinda stalemate. Arn’s hurt, though, so as soon as Horner collects his bearings he goes back to the leg.

-Arn tries to mount some offense…with a kneelift, so he hurts himself as badly as he hurts Horner. Horner connects with a bodypress for two. Horner rolls him up for another two. Horner tries a backdrop, but Arn elbows him down. He goes for the gourdbuster to finish…but Horner flips and lands on his feet. He turns it into a natural bridge, and all of the Horsemen leave commentary and DIVE into the ring to stop this from happening, and Horner runs out of the ring, taking the match by DQ.

-Arn basically declares the match a victory. Arn reveals that he’s going to be in the Crockett Cup, and he’s had to go outside the Horsemen to find a partner…

-And here’s his partner, Kevin Sullivan. Kevin was forced to do this because Ole’s lost his passion. Kevin knows what that’s like because he has a brother that he had to give up on and put in an institution.

-Ric Flair’s here, woo. The Horsemen are the best that the sport of wrestling has to offer, and they’re comin’ to Boston to prove it.

BARRY WINDHAM vs DAVE SPEARMAN
-Flying lariat. That was fast.

-Rick Rude unexpectedly runs down Ric Flair, declaring himself the TRUE sixty-minute man in professional wrestling.

RAVISHING RICK RUDE (with Paul Jones) vs LARRY STEPHENS
-Rude elbows Stephens down and clotheslines him. Rude Awakening ends it in seconds.

-The Garvins are here. They’re looking forward to the Cup, and Ron Garvin still wants a piece of Jim Cornette. Jimmy is upset about Ric Flair’s insulting comments toward Precious and announces that he’s signed matches against Flair, but that he doesn’t even care about winning the gold. Jimmy just wants the match for her.

GLADIATORS (West Coast Tag Team Champions) vs MULKEY BROTHERS
-They’ve been hyping the Gladiators as the break-out team to watch for in the Crockett Cup. They storm into the ring and attack the Mulkeys right away. Bill gets tossed to the floor. Gladiators gang up on Randy. One of the Gladiators lifts Bill back into the ring for a slam, but accidentally stumbles over Randy’s body and crashes with Bill on top of him for the surprise three-count. Studio audience and David Crockett all lose their shit over this. David attempts a post-match interview, but the Mulkeys were so unprepared for the prospect of actually winning a match that they can’t think of anything to say.

-One of the Gladiators cuts a hilarious promo after word, repeatedly adjusting his mask because it keeps slipping over his mouth.

6.9

The final score: review Average

The 411

Much better show this week as everything seemed more focused and a lot of feuds got air time. The completely random Mulkey victory made for a hilarious segment, as a bonus.