wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: World Championship Wrestling (11.12.1988)

October 21, 2018 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
wcw World Championship Wrestling, WCW Night, Bill DeMott, Ted Turner Jim Crockett Promotions Image Credit: WWE
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The Name on the Marquee: World Championship Wrestling (11.12.1988)  

-Cold open: Jim Cornette gets a phone call during last week’s episode.

-Just for shits and giggles, I thought this week I’d take note of all the wrestlers visible in the opening title sequence. The roll call includes the Rock & Roll Express, Big Bubba Rogers, Manny Fernandez, Tim Horner, Big Bubba a second time, a guy I straight up don’t recognize, Bobby Jaggers, Ravishing Rick Rude, Ole Anderson, Tully again, and Baron Von Raschke.

-Originally aired November 12, 1988.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, and David Crockett. David promotes the upcoming Battlestars ’88 as “the road to Starrcade,” so I’m guessing this week is when they bust out the giant logo for Dusty Rhodes to point to.

-Jim Ross welcomes Paul E. Dangerously, and Dangerously snatches the mic and introduces his team in Cornette-like fashion.

THE ORIGINAL MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Paul E. Dangerously) vs. JERRY PRICE & RICK ALLEN

-Condrey hammers Allen and slams him while JR lends a touch of realism to the whole story, admitting that he heard rumors that Paul was negotiating with the NWA but as of air time last week, they hadn’t heard confirmation of anything. Randy Rose adds his shots. Jerry Price comes in and ends up on the concrete. Axehandle off the second rope by Randy Rose. Rose and Condrey have to be the least wrestlery-looking wrestlers on the roster right now. Any bar in America, you see them yelling “Come oooooon!” at the TV.

-Rose elbows Price down, and the Express double-teams him in the corner. Life continues to suck for Price, and a second rope fistdrop by Rose gets two. Vader bomb by Rose, and the face-first Russian legsweep by Dennis Condrey gets the three-count.

-Paul E. has been telling the world for 18 months that Dennis Condrey carried the team for five years, and last week, they proved it when the team was carried by the paramedics.

-Clash of the Champions IV: Seasons Beatings!

BARRY WINDHAM (US Champion, with JJ Dillon) vs. CURTIS THOMPSON

-Fireman’s carry takedown by Windham as JR says that Thompson is watching a lot of tape and hitting the gym lately, and he has a great future in the NWA. Right on cue, Windham gives him a back suplex as JJ Dillon drifts over to commentary and promises that the Four Horsemen aren’t a passing fad and that there’s news to come. Uppercuts by Windham as JJ says he’s instructed Windham to drag this match out to illustrate everything in his arsenal so that challengers will take the hint about what he’s capable of.

-Chinlock by Windham while JJ continues addressing the Horsemen rumors, saying he manages the World Champion and the US Champion, so he’s really in no hurry to fill holes in the group right now. Windham suplexes Thompson and throws him to the concrete, and we pause for a breather.

-Back to action with a belly to belly on Thompson. Knee drop and a right hand, and he finally lets Thompson have a turn with a suplex, but Barry just rolls over on impact and covers the exhausted Thompson for two. Punch and a backdrop by Windham as Windham is living up to his promise to keep dragging this one out. Superplex could finish, but Thompson throws a weak punch to show signs of life, so Windham goes to a flying lariat to finally finish it after TEN MINUTES.

-JJ Dillon calls out Bam-Bam and Oliver Humperdink. Bam-Bam and Oliver answer the challenge, and holy shit, this is the first time the fans have ever shown any indication of giving a shit about Bam-Bam. Bigelow throws the first punch and takes Barry in the ring, and they brawl while Oliver stays on the floor and puts up his dukes, daring JJ to try something. He gorilla presses Windham and heads to the top rope to finish him off, and JJ reaches in there and pulls him out to get him away from ringside. Telling moment of the week as Dusty Rhodes comes to ringside to give Bam-Bam the coveted Dusty rub and the crowd starts booing, which Dusty completely ignores as he has a stream of blather to unleash.

TV TITLE: MIKE ROTUNDA (Champion, with Kevin Sullivan & Rick Steiner) vs. DAVID ISLEY

-Worth noting that WWE Network apparently removed some pre-match shenanigans where Steiner led the studio audience in a chant of “Retardo.” So we jump in after the bell has already sounded, with the chant switching to “Steiner’s Number One” while the commentators discuss the opposite-of-earth-shattering announcement that “Oh yeah, by the way, Steve Williams is in Varsity Club now.” Crowd continues egging Rotunda on with “Syracuse stinks.” Rotunda throws Isley to the concrete, and Steiner stops Sullivan from attacking him and helps Isley back in there.

-Rotunda drops Isley throat-first on the top rope and goes to a chinlock. Rotunda keeps this going as this week seems to be a test of how long squashes can be before it becomes unreasonable, and Rotunda closes this one with the double underhook.

-David Crockett talks to the Varsity Club. Kevin Sullivan has big plans for the US Tag Team Title tournament, but Steiner interrupts to complain that he didn’t get the match against Ric Flair this week like he asked, and he says he could beat Ric Flair, Mike Rotunda, or Kevin Sullivan, and he walks off by himself, with Kevin in shock.

BAM-BAM BIGELOW (with Sir Oliver Humperdink) vs. BILL HOLIDAY

-Bam-Bam hiptosses Holiday and applies a chinlock. Back suplex as JR piques my curiosity by promoting a house show in Huntington, WV, and holy DAMN it’s a good one…

Curtis Thompson defeated Gary Royal
Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose defeated the Italian Stallion & Ron Simmons
Steve Williams defeated Eddie Gilbert
NWA TV Champion Mike Rotunda fought Nikita Koloff to a draw
NWA Tag Team Champions the Road Warriors defeated Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane
Bam Bam Bigelow fought NWA US Champion Barry Windham to a no contest
Sting defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification

-Diving headbutt finishes while I finish calling Ticketmaster and building a flux capacitor.

-The Sheepherders discuss the US Tag Team Title tournament, with a poster of the USA and a toilet to illustrate the key points of their hypothesis.

LEX LUGER vs. TRENT KNIGHT

-Knight tries a top wristlock, but Luger turns it into an armdrag while Tony hypes the TV taping on Thanksgiving Day, which ends up being a pretty historic show. Luger loses his grip on Knight in mid-press, then tries a powerbomb with more success. Torture rack finishes.

-Lex Luger wants a piece of the Road Warriors!

RIC FLAIR (World Champion, with JJ Dillon) vs. GEORGE SOUTH

-South shoulderblocks Flair and surprises him by turning an attempted hiptoss into a pinning combo for two. South moves onto a side headlock, as Flair clearly wants to see how good he can make this guy look, just to challenge himself. Bodypress by South gets two, and Flair goes to the floor, but just to straighten his hair. Commentators explain South’s sudden productivity in the ring: even if it’s a non-title match, wrestling the champion is such a huge opportunity that he’s reached down for something extra.

-South applies a hammerlock, but Flair makes the ropes to break. Chops by Flair, but South surprises him by chopping just as hard and dropkicking him. Flair retreats to the corner while JR touches on the champion’s travel schedule as another element in South’s favor this week. Flair throws him out to the floor and chops him so hard that Tony dubs South’s chest “the red badge of courage.” Back in the ring, South gets fired up, throwing punches and backdropping Flair as we take a break.

-We return with Flair having the advantage with an armbar. Flair throws punches and chops, dedicating his offense to Dusty Rhodes. He heads to the top, but South gets slammed off. South goes to the top rope, but he’s so far away from Flair that once he’s up there he realizes he can’t do anything, and he just falls off. Flair clamps on the figure four and gets the submission after a valiant effort. I met George South at an indy show years back and asked him about this match, and what he remembered was that Flair was laughing his ass off afterward because South had never gone ten minutes before and Flair thought it was hilarious that he was so blown up after a match that was like a day off for Flair.

-Ric Flair’s not afraid of Bam-Bam Bigelow.

ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER (with Gary Hart) vs. RANDY HOGAN

-Abdullah lunges at Hogan before the bell and throws him to the floor. He targets the throat and tears away at Hogan’s face. Hogan gets thrown back out to the floor and posted. Abdullah brings him back in, walks on him, and drops a big elbow for three. Gary Hart puts a hood over Abdullah after the bell to sedate him.

-Abdullah takes actual bites out of the commentary podium while Gary Hart calls out the world.

-Jim Cornette walks out with his blood-stained white coat from last week as we take another look at last week’s surprise assault. Mama Cornette called and said that she was going to send a lawyer to the NWA and straighten out this whole mess…and Cornette told his mama to step back and let him fight his own battle for once, which gets the biggest pop the TBS Studio heard in 1988. There’s not a joke in this, Cornette just cuts an amazing, intense five-star promo that I can’t do justice to.

EDDIE GILBERT & RON SIMMONS vs. GARY ROYAL & BRET HOLIDAY

-Gilbert slams Royal and dropkicks him down. Simmons comes in and Royal tries to elbow him down, celebrating the move while not noticing that Simmons didn’t budge. Holiday comes in and Eddie Gilbert works his arm over, and a top rope tackle by Simmons gets the win.

-WWE Network thoughtlessly edits out a commercial for “The Best of Starrcade,” one of the single best VHS releases in wrestling history.

-David Crockett talks to the Road Warriors. They can take pain and Sting & Lex Luger can’t. Paul Ellering reveals himself to be anti-whale-saving, cementing this heel turn.

THE FANTASTICS vs. AGENT STEEL & TERRY JONES

-Jobbers attack but quickly get rammed into each other. Fantastics work the arm of Agent Steel. Tower of Quebec gets the win.

7.1
The final score: review Good
The 411
You get the sense that the new ownership suddenly created a need to make the TBS show a lot more important than it's been, and the result is another hot, angle-packed show. The longer squashes aren't really working, save for Flair's, duh.
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