wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (8.15.1987)

March 17, 2018 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
NWA World Championship Wrestling
5.3
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The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (8.15.1987)  

-Pardon the plugs to start off…#1, tune in or set your DVRs for a new game show, Genius Junior, premiering Sunday, March 18 on NBC. Neil Patrick Harris is your host as teams of child geniuses battle it out in contests of memory, math, and logic. It’s an exciting game…at least, I hope it is, because I was one of the question/puzzle writers.

-Cold open: The Garvins battle it out with the Midnight Express, as Ric Flair looks on from ringside.

-Originally aired August 15, 1987.

-Your hosts are David Crockett & Tony Schiavone.

GORGEOUS JIMMY GARVIN (with Precious) vs COUGAR JAY
-Garvin works the arm, then snapmares Cougar down for a side headlock. Garvin clubbers a bit and wraps up with the brainbuster.

-Tony talks to Jimmy Garvin, who says he and Barry Windham are forming a tag team soon…after we just saw him teaming with his brother at the open of the show. The “all over the place” nature of the NWA is rearing its head again.

KENDALL WINDHAM vs GLADIATOR #1
-Tony and David mention Kendall’s brother Barry and father, Blackjack Mulligan, and marvel at what large men the entire Windham family are and how Mama clearly fed all of them well. Is there a second Kendall Windham at ringside that the cameras aren’t shooting?

-Kendall with forearms. Gladiator tries a slam but misses an elbow. Backslide by Kendall gets two. Gladiator misses a corner charge as Tony mentions that a big NWA card is taking place September 25 in Detroit, and I swear, WWE Network should just dub in an ominous violin after he says that.

-Gladiator is in control and gets a backdrop for two. Gladiator rams Kendall into the turnbuckles. Kendall comes back with a bodypress. Hiptoss and a dropkick by Kendall for two. Bulldog ends it.

“Boogie-Woogie Man” JIMMY VALIANT vs TERRY JONES
-Valiant runs over and kisses Tony on his way to the ring. In the ring he applies an arm wringer on Terry “The Third Mulkey” Jones. Giving Jimmy his due after all my snark, there’s a genuinely funny bit where Jimmy exchanges high fives with Teddy Long, who doesn’t notice that Jimmy is choking his opponent. Big shitty elbow gets three.

-Jimmy Valiant says he and “Laser Beam” are ready for tag team action wherever they can find it.

SEAN ROYAL vs LARRY STEPHENS
-Commentators are wondering where Chris Champion has been the past few weeks and promise to ask him about it after the match.

-Snap suplex by Royal Sharpshooter applied, and it’s weird to see it being treated like a resthold. Royal just lets go of it for no reason and sends Stephens into the ropes for a dropkick. Royal misses a corner charge and Stephens takes control for a bit as Tony and David acknowledge the heel fans in attendance this week. Stephens tries for a monkeyflip, but Royal just shoves him off and comes off the top rope with a knee to the chest to win.

-Ric Flair montage again!

-Sean Royal explains that Chris Champion is here, but because of the technological limitations of 1987, we can’t see him. He has a conversation with Chris to demonstrate he’s here. Sean breaks out a Dusty Rhodes impression to demonstrate how unconcerned he is with getting a push.

RON GARVIN vs DEXTER WESCOTT
-Wescott takes him down, but Ron makes it work and just applies headscissors. Garvin keeps him tied up on the mat and just slaps him around for a bit before Dexter can clamp on a side headlock. Garvin tosses him and stretches the crap out of Dexter on the canvas. Front facellock by Garvin, and he gets Dexter against the ropes and headbutts him a few times. Hard chop makes David Crockett mark out like IHOP gave him extra butter. Hands of stone finishes Dexter off.

-Dusty’s here. Blue sport coat, yellow ball cap, Hard Rock Café t-shirt, blue jeans. Dusty says he’s perfected the Weaverlock, the hold Johnny Weaver used to win many matches and also to beat his wife, probably. Dusty says he’s looking forward to hanging out with Diana Ross at the big house show in Detroit on September 25.

-Ron Garvin says he can’t wait to get to Detroit on September 25 because a lot of friends from Canada are coming down to meet him.

-Ivan Koloff says that Paul Jones is having a meeting with NWA President Bob Giegel, demanding better competition and more title matches for his men.

“Ragin’ Bull” MANNY FERNANDEZ & THE BARBARIAN vs GEORGE SOUTH & ROCKY KING
-Weird visual of the week: Barbarian wears a jean vest to the ring.

-Manny armdrags South right away. He stomps at South. Rocky King tags in and Barbarian just plants him deep into the mat with the best damn powerslam I’ve ever seen. David Crockett sounds like he has to stop himself from screaming “Holy shit!”

-King’s had about all he can take and George South tries his luck again. Manny takes him down with an elbow to the jaw, followed by a backdrop. Rocky King comes in again and Barbarian is like “Hell yeah, let me do that again!” Barbarian hammers and chops King until he escapes again. South runs into a big boot. Manny throws South out to the floor and Barbarian suplexes him on the concrete.

-Back from commercial, Fernandez goes nuts on King with headbutts. Diving headbutt by Barbarian with some good air. That was BRUTAL. In a good way.

-We revisit that Garvins/Midnights match from the opening again. All four men are brawling in the ring when Ric Flair decides he wants to get in there and prove a point. Tommy Young tries to make him leave, but Flair blows him off and is kind of a dick about it, which becomes important in a minute. Garvin chops Garvin repeatedly, but Garvin chops right back. Barry Windham shows up to make it a fair fight. They fight it out some more before Garvin rolls Flair up, and out of spite, Young counts the pin just to get back at Flair, and Garvin gets a three-count.

-Flair is in the studio and he rips off his suit because the suit isn’t what Flair is about. The wrestling ring is what he’s about. The belt is what it’s all about, “and it’s MINE! MINE!” This is the Ric Flair we should be seeing this whole time. Not happy smiley Ric Flair who’s allegedly a heel but the commentators unabashedly love him. Heel Ric Flair—the Ric Flair who talks a big game but it take so little to rattle his cage, hides behind his friends, and gets paranoid when he sees a wrestler who shows some signs of being able to hang with him.

TEIJO KHAN vs KEITH STEINBORN
-We haven’t seen Teijo on TBS yet this calendar year and we’re all pretending he’s been here this whole time. “He just got back from a tour of Japan,” if you were wondering. Fistdrop gets two for Teijo. Teijo works the back a bit and an uppercut gets three.

-Jim Cornette shows off the Manager of the Year trophy he was awarded by the Jim Cornette Fan Club. Michael Hayes has to quit singing because of a throat issue—someone threatened to cut it. Also, Nikita has rug burns on his hands from being a knuckle-dragging animal.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (US Tag Team Champions, with Jim Cornette) vs RICKY NELSON & DAVE DIAMOND
-Cornette finally busts on the name Ricky Nelson like you know he’s been waiting to do. Dropkicks by Nelson cause Eaton to back off. Press slam by Stan Lane. Diamond gets thrown out to the floor and Lane beats up on him for a spell. Cornette’s just amazing on commentary here, as he hasn’t paused long enough for either Tony or David to say a word yet.

-Midnights debut a new move, the ping-pong, elbows from the top turnbuckle, from opposite sides of the ring. Ricky Nelson goes out to the concrete and goes back in. Diamond gets clotheslined into place by Stan Lane, and Eaton ends it with a top rope legdrop.

THE MOD SQUAD vs ITALIAN STALLION & DENNY BROWN
-Will this week be the week that I correctly identify the members of the MOD Squad on my first try, or will I have to go back and make an edit? Let’s find out!

-Stallion starts with the one that I hope is Spike. Stallion reverses an Irish whip and monkeyflips him. Stallion works the arm. Spike hammers away and tags in Basher…aha! Tony confirmed it, I got it right!

-Denny Brown tags in and gets double-teamed. Chinlock by Spike. Brown escapes and connects with a forearm. Clothesline by Basher gets two. Front facelock is applied, and then he sends Denny into the ropes, but Denny connects with a kick and makes the tag. Stallion is a house of fire, but he gets overwhelmed by the Squad and Basher ends it with an elbow off the top rope.

BARRY WINDHAM (Western States Heritage Champion) BARRY WINDHAM vs ED FRANKS
-Franks armdrags Windham. Windham snapmares him and holds him down with a side headlock. Windham slams him and suplexes him. Hard chop by Barry, who seems to have learned something from hanging out with Garvin. Flying lariat ends it.

-After the match, Barry calls out Arn Anderson.

IVAN KOLOFF vs COLT STEELE
-Koloff takes him down and drops the leg. Koloff sends him to the floor and rams him into the commentary table, leaving Tony and David’s papers strewn about. Back in Koloff pounds Steele. Steele fights back and they slug it out. Koloff resorts to choking and the Bossman legdrop, and the flying sickle ends the match.

5.3
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
Show was bloated this week with so much roster dead weight (Teijo, MOD Squad, Kendall) and established guys who are completely adrift right now (Valiant, Paul Jones' entire stable). Not much to it, I'm afraid.
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