The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (7.30.1988)

-Cold open: Steve Williams rescues Sting from an attack and fights all three members of the Varsity Club at once.

-Originally aired July 30, 1988.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, and David Crockett.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs. AGENT STEELE & GARY PHELPS
-Robert Gibson punts Steele around and armdrags him. Ricky Morton tags in and hiptosses Steele. Steele gets caught in the Rock & Roll corner and they take shots at him from all sides. Chinlock by Morton. Phelps tags in and gets snapmared into a chinlock. Express boots down Phelps and takes turns getting two-counts on him. Phelps screws up the “jobber getting walked on” spot by rolling over while Ricky is walking on him, and Ricky faceplants. Morton actually seems to take that well and settles for chinlocking Phelps in retaliation. Double dropkick ends this.

-Rock & Roll Express promises to get nasty to win the World Tag Team Titles. Or not. This is actually the end of the Rock & Roll Express comeback, as Robert Gibson was disgusted by a lowball payoff for a week’s worth of Bash matches. The story seems to be that Gibson was much better with money than Morton, so after only a few years on top, he was perfectly happy doing indy shows or the lighter travel schedule of the Memphis territory, where as Ricky really did need to be in the major leagues.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. DAVID ISLEY
-Williams works the leg, then works the arm, as this is a pretty leisure pace for the squash matches so far, given that this is one of the short episodes. Williams stays on the arm until Isley throws forearms to break it. That just makes the doc mad, so he headbutts Isley down and tackles him. Stampede gets the three-count.

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-David Crockett talks to the good doctor, who warns the Varsity Club that they’re messing with his friends, and he’s ready to do something about it.

BARRY WINDHAM & RON GARVIN (with JJ Dillon) vs. TOMMY ANGEL & DALE LAPEROUSE
-This is a reunion for the former US Tag Team Champions, now that they’ve “realigned philosophically.” Garvin puts Angel in a facelock and chops him. Laperouse tags in and takes a few chops himself. Windham tags in and powerslams Laperouse. Laperouse winds up on the floor and Garvin attacks. Back in the ring, Windham ends it with the superplex…ah, no, wait, Garvin tags in and gets the honors with the hands of stone.

-David Crockett talks to the boys. Crockett makes a comment about something that happened in Baltimore, and JJ interprets it as a slight, snatches the mike, and shoves David off the set for a few minutes. Barry Windham runs down Sting for a moment before Gary Hart and Al Perez stroll in while Barry and JJ are still out there and that allows Al to pretend the crowd is reacting to him.

-We go to World Wide Wrestling, where Gary Hart is at ringside running down Dusty Rhodes until Dusty shows up and attacks Hart. The crowd reaction for Dusty is VERY subdued. Back in the studio, Ron Garvin piques my curiosity by getting censored when he suggests someone Dusty could have as a tag team partner if he wants to face Garvin & Perez.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (U.S. Tag Team Champions, with Jim Cornette) vs. LARRY STEPHENS & TOMMY ANGEL
-From Main Event, I think. Midnights hammer Stephens with forearms and knees. Angel tags in and gets suplexed by Eaton. Eaton drags him to the corner and Cornette rubs the US Tag Title belt across Angel’s face. Stephens comes back in and Eaton elbows Stephens down. Eaton throws him to the concrete and Cornette rubs Stephens’ face in the belt now. Lane whips Stephens into the barricade, which gives the fans at ringside a good scare. Back inside, the rocket launcher gets the win.

-Bob Caudle talks to the Express afterward when JJ Dillon comes out to have a friendly chat with Cornette. Cornette wants to know if “the box of contracts” arrived in the mail yet and JJ says that Cornette needs to think carefully about what he’s doing. Arn Anderson shows up to suggest that the Midnights should be grateful for the belts they already have and leave it at that.

-Ric Flair says that Lex Luger has a rematch for the World Title coming up soon…and it’s going to be the LAST shot ever for him. The Horsemen gradually trickle in to join him, and JJ says he’s trying to be VERY patient with people who think they can hang with this elite squad. Arn thinks Cornette is a clown who can’t do anything but be funny on TV, and Bobby & Stan are such losers that Arn had to give the two of them his leftovers when they went to the club together one night.

ARN ANDERSON & TULLY BLANCHARD (World Tag Team Champions, with JJ Dillon) vs TRENT KNIGHT & J.C. WILDE
-Tully and Arn take turns beating down Trent Knight while JR goes a little bit inside, remarking that Cornette’s success as a manager involves his massive tape collection. Arn with a spinebuster on Wilde. Slingshot suplex by Tully gets three.

-Lex Luger is here to talk about the contract for his upcoming rematch. JJ Dillon tried to stop it by making a series of outlandish demands, like caviar in the locker room, four limos, and a private jet, but Luger reveals that he’s agreed to give up a bunch of his own incentives to offset those costs so the match could happen, so Ric is stuck. That’s a nice story Lex just told, no joke.

STING vs. RICK ALLEN
-Sting slams Allen repeatedly and applies a rear chinlock. Stinger splash and the scorpion deathlock get the submission.

-David Crockett talks to Sting, who cuts a horrifying promo about Barry Windham’s family that forces me to picture Blackjack Mulligan’s loins.

THE FANTASTICS vs. MIKE JACKSON & LARRY STEPHENS
-Jackson misses a dropkick and the Fantastics headbutt him down. Stephens tags in and tries to work the arm, but Tommy Rogers hiptosses free and elbows him down. Bobby Fulton backdrops Stephens and works the arm. Atomic drop and a dropkick as Stephens’ life just SUCKS this week. Jackson tags in, locks up for five seconds, and tags Stephens back in for some reason. R0gers powerslams him and presses Fulton on top for three.

-The Fantastics reach out to the Rock & Roll Express to help take out the Four Horsemen.

6.3

The final score: review Average

The 411

The Horsemen and the Midnights are pretty great TV for the moment. Elsewhere, the fall of Dusty Rhodes is morbidly interesting.