The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (5.7.1988)

-Cold open: A flashback to a few weeks ago, when Paul Boesch emphatically voiced his disapproval with the suspension of Dusty Rhodes.

-Originally aired May 7, 1988.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, David Crockett, and Jim Ross. HALLELUJAH! David Crockett says Paul Boesch convinced the NWA Board of Directors to have a second meeting and they revisited their previous decision. Dusty Rhodes has been reinstated, however, the US Title is still vacant, but Dusty is allowed to enter the tournament this Friday night. I love that this bombed so hard that they killed it before they even made it to the tournament.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette) vs. JERRY PRICE & DARK STARR
-Stan Lane kicks Price around. Amazing tilt-a-whirl into a backbreaker by Bobby Eaton, and Price goes out to the concrete and back again a few times. Price gets bieled across the floor and lands with a loud crack, and Cornette grabs a microphone and conducts an interview with him while Eaton chokes him out. Dark Starr comes in while Jim Cornette tells us that the Midnight Express’ anniversary party is coming up later in the show, and none of the commentators are invited. Rocket launcher finishes this one. Damn that was fun.

-Jim Cornette knows that Jim Crockett is supposed to hand down his decision about the US Title shortly, and he’s excited about getting his guys’ belts back.

JUNE 8: CLASH OF CHAMPIONS II–MIAMI MAYHEM! Shouldn’t there be a “THE” in that graphic somewhere?

STING vs. BOB EMORY
-Emory signs his own death certificate by mocking Sting’s “OW!” and Sting enziguiris him right out to the floor as we get a clarification from Jim Ross…Dusty Rhodes cannot enter the US Title tournament, however the Midnight Rider has signed a contract and will be competing in the tournament. Dusty Rhodes will merely be in the building as a special guest. Honestly, if they’re going to go in that direction, they should have just kept the Midnight Rider around and had Dusty invent the Faces of Foley gimmick a decade early. Stinger splash and the scorpion deathlock close this one out.

-Sting is ready for his one-hour rematch with Ric Flair in Houston, and he’s mad that he didn’t get invited to Jim Cornette’s party, and he thinks Barry Windham is suffering some sort of mental illness. Classic NWA here-there-and-everywhere promo.

-We’re back, with Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express in party hats. They have a cake and a six-pack of sodas. Cornette dumps confetti all over Jim Ross and says he’s still waiting for the official word from Jim Crockett. JR looks like he really, really wants to laugh and he’s doing his best to hold it in. Cornette promises an accordion player will be here later to provide the music.

JIM ROSS: What a party! You’ve got three plates, three forks, and three spoons!
CORNETTE: Everyone who contributed to the success of the Midnight Express is invited. That’s me, Stan, and Bobby!

-David Crockett shows up, probably for a free slice of cake, suspects Cornette. He just got off the phone with his brother and the Fantastics are still the US Tag Team Champions! David walks away, and the Midnight Express follows David, pleading with him to make his brother reconsider…which leaves Cornette all alone with the cake. And the Fantastics run out, shove Cornette’s face in the cake, and split. It’s impressive how fast this plays out, the Midnights are only gone for a few seconds, Fantastics are there and gone even faster than that, and Cornette managers to get his head and torso absolutely COVERED with cake in that time. Cornette’s in tears as we wrap this segment up.

AL PEREZ (with Gary Hart) vs. GARY ROYAL
-Snapmare and a knee by Perez. He applies the chinlock, but uh, I guess it’s an EVIL chinlock, because Perez is a heel. Royal gets some offense but Perez elbows him down to a pop. He’s handsome, talented, and too bland to cheat. This guy isn’t the next big heel, he’s Hispanic Ricky Steamboat. Perez finally shows a sliver of meanness by choking Gary Royal. Backdrop by Perez. Royal comes back to life and throws punches, but Perez just boots him down while Tony gives a shout-out to Don Owen and mentions he has a big event in Portland tonight. Be there! Spinning toehold by Perez finishes.

-Gary Hart says that no one in Texas will cheer for Nikita Koloff because Al Perez is a hometown boy in Sam Houston Coliseum! You’re probably right! That’s a problem!

POWERS OF PAIN (with Paul Jones & Ivan Koloff) vs. CURTIS THOMPSON & RIC PARADISE
-Paradise tries a top wristlock, but Barbarian just shoves him down and slams him. Boots by Barbarian until Paradise gets fed up and tags. Thompson tries a sunset flip but gets punched and booted right in the jaw. Warlord waffles Thompson with a clothesline and drops the leg. Thompson winds up on the floor and Koloff whips him with his chain, leaving some nice visible welts on his back. Paradise tags back in. Suplex/clothesline combo could have finished, and the Hart Attack does finish.

-Tony Schiavone talks to the 6-Man Tag Team Champions, and The Warlord is sweating so much that they might as well change his name to The Rotunda.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. KEITH STEINBORN
-Williams clubbers away, although JR assures us that he’s a teddy bear when he’s around children. Oklahoma Stampede finishes.

-Williams basically says everyone is surprised that Windham was the one that turned heel instead of him, and then doesn’t tie that point to anything else he has to say. He talks about not finding a special envelope the last time he checked the mail, so instead of kissing babies, he’s going to get in the ring and beat Ric Flair.

“Games Master” KEVIN SULLIVAN vs. ROBBIE AUMEN
-Sullivan is surprisingly working alone out there. He dumps Aumen on the floor and does his double stomp out there. Back in, Sullivan stomps him some more. Punch in the face off the ropes finishes it. As a bonus, Sullivan answers a question I’ve had for a while about these TBS tapings. He’s still in the ring and he repeats verbatim something that Tony says on commentary, so yeah, you actually could hear the commentators. I feel like it would be weird to hear the commentary as you’re wrestling.

-JJ Dillon thinks the NWA made a bullshit decision by reinstating Dusty Rhodes but lays out the logic. Barry Windham makes the Four Horsemen too powerful, and the NWA Board of Directors has an anti-Horsemen agenda, so they needed to reinstate Dusty to keep all of the anti-Horsemen people united. He touches on the Midnight Rider somehow being in the US Title tournament and JJ is just kind of over it at this point.

BARRY WINDHAM (with JJ Dillon) vs. LARRY DAVIS
-Barry is wearing a black glove now, so we know he’s on the dark side. Windham punches and slams Davis. He takes the fight out to the floor and Barry is being ultra-aggressive, as he’s making sure every bit of his office is audible. Flying lariat finishes. But even though Barry’s won the match, he uses the black glove to apply the clawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Nothing can stop the claw! Run boy, run!

-Barry Windham says he’s tired of doing all the working, bleeding, and sweating in tag team matches. He’s ready to be part of a REAL team, and make the most money of his career.

THE FANTASTICS (US Tag Team Champions) vs. JOE STRICKLAND & TONY BOWEN
-The Fantastics, nice boys that they are, make it a point to stop at the interview platform on their way to the ring to thank Jim Crockett for their ruling. Fantastics work over the arm with double-teaming. Fantastic rocket launcher wraps it up with ease.

-Kevin Sullivan knows the truth about Patty. He warns Jimmy Garvin that he’s putting together a devious plan to get back the woman that Garvin took from him.

IVAN KOLOFF (with Paul Jones) vs. DAVID ISLEY
-Isley gets a series of snapmares on Koloff, but Koloff responds with a punch, with Tony putting it over as a clever manuever for countering the snapmares. Clothesline gets two. Isley fights back but runs into a boot. Bossman leg drop by Koloff, but Isley still shows signs of life, connecting with an elbow to the face. Bodypress by Isley gets two. Koloff is getting frustrated at this point and starts choking Isley. Koloff rams him in the corner, but Isley still has fight left in him. They trade punches, but Isley goes to the second rope and goes splat, and Koloff comes off the second rope with a sickle for the three-count. Giving the jobber offense isn’t going to affect Koloff’s spot in the company pecking order, and it was a hell of a lot more interesting than six minutes of the star leaving the jobber for dead.

-Update from David Crockett: Jim Cornette is STILL cleaning himself off in the back.

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

The Midnights and the Fantastics alone make this week a keeper. Best of all, people talked about shit other than Dusty!