The Name on the Marquee: NWA World Championship Wrestling (3.14.1987)

-Cold open: From World Wide Wrestling, Arn & Tully celebrate a win in a tag team match when Ole Anderson shows up. JJ walks away, saying he’s not interested in hearing an apology from Ole. JJ heads over to the interview area, where Jim Cornette and Big Bubba are standing by, and mentions a deal that he made with Cornette earlier. Cornette nods and tells Bubba to go to the ring.

-Originally aired March 14, 1987.

-Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & David Crockett.

-Ron Garvin & Barry Windham are here. They’re fighting champions and they’ll prove it today by defending the belts here in the studio.

GORGEOUS JIMMY GARVIN (with Precious) vs RANDY BARBER
-Shoulderblock and a slam by the Gorgeous One. Chinlock by Garvin, and he tosses Barber to the floor, then drags him in and rakes the back. Front facelock as Garvin ain’t feeling it this week. Backdrop by Garvin as David Crockett mentions that the Gladiators are debuting soon and he’s heard a lot of hype for that team’s skills in the ring. Meanwhile, a brainbuster. The end.

-Superpowers are here. They want one million dollars.

-Picking up where the cold open left off, Big Bubba heads to the ring to take care of Ole Anderson. Hard right by Ole sends Bubba right over the top and onto the floor.

BARBARIAN (with Superstar Bill Dundee) vs ZANE SMITH
-Barbarian shrugs off everything from Zane. He tries to press slam Smith onto the concrete, but Dundee warns him about the DQ rule, so Barbarian just drops him on the mat. Dundee goes to commentary to hype a big card in Daytona featuring Kevin Sullivan and the Mod Squad.

-Legdrop by Barbarian. Sharpshooter by Barbarian, but they treat it like a resthold here in 1987 and the jobber won’t give. Clothesline by Barbarian. Tombstone piledriver as Barbarian continues running the gamut of early 1990s finishers. And a Bam Bam Bigelow diving headbutt completes that trifecta.

-Frances Crockett narrates a brief video about the history of Baltimore. Next week, a look at the harbor. Is there a wrestling fan alive who would be on the fence about attending a big house show until they hear that the city isn’t completely terrible?

U.S. TAG TEAM TITLE: RON GARVIN & BARRY WINDHAM (Champions) vs. IVAN KOLOFF & DICK MURDOCH (with Vladimir Petrov)
-Windham and Koloff start. Windham throws a hard forearm and gets to work on the arm. Garvin chops Koloff hard and Koloff fires them right back. Elbow by Koloff gets two. Murdoch tags in and applies a front facelock as the fans chant traitor. One fan holds up a sign calling him a “Yellow Sucking Dog,” like he had two different thoughts while making the sign and accidentally wrote both of them.

-Legdrop by Koloff gets two. Elbow by Murdoch gets two more. Garvin teases a hot tag, but Koloff blocks it and they trade chops. Koloff tries a kneedrop but misses, and we get the hot tag at the exact moment that we have to take a commercial break.

-Back from commercial, Ivan breaks out of the sleeper and elbows Windham down. Shot to the throat takes the air out of Windham, but Koloff crotches himself on an attempted Bossman legdrop and has to tag out. Murdoch hammers Windham and gets two. Right hands daze Murdoch and Koloff heads back in. Boot to the face dazes Windham, but he catches Koloff coming off the top rope with a shot to the gut and a powerslam gets two.

-Murdoch tags in and doesn’t know what to do, seeing as Windham just shakes off everything. Atomic drop and an elbow by Windham get two and Murdoch heads for the hills. All four men end up brawling on the floor, with Murdoch going facefirst into a table and Tony Schiavone marveling that “the tables have turned” like Arnold Schwarzenegger is in his earpiece this week.

-Knee by Windham misses and we pause for another break. We return with Murdoch clamping a chinlock on Windham. Windham escapes, but Murdoch cuts off the comeback and faceplants him from the top rope. Crowd goes SILENT, expecting that to be it, and they’re completely relieved when Windham manages to kick out. Sickle by Koloff, and Windham kicks out of that too. Koloff goes back to the top rope but ends up getting crotched on the top rope.

-But the hot tag is cut off again and Koloff and Murdoch keep dishing out the beating until Windham hits a flying lariat on Koloff out of nowhere. Hot tag Garvin, with Koloff doing a hilarious Greg Valentine-style sell on a dropkick. Hands of stone looks to finish, but a brawl breaks out and out come Beautiful Bobby and Jim Cornette with the tennis racquet while the referee is distracted. Garvin gets KOed, Koloff gets the pin, and we have new US Tag Team Champions.

-Murdoch is too winded to cut his promo.

-Cornette is here with the Midnight Express and asks what’s going on because he was on the phone with his mama. Tony reports that there was a title change, and Cornette extends his congratulations to the new champs. It must have been a great match, Cornette suspects. Jim Cornette has a box of dog biscuits for Precious and scolds Jimmy Garvin for calling a number from a bus station wall to find himself a girlfriend.

BRAD ARMSTRONG vs EL LOBO
-Lobo! Lobo! Bring back El Lobo!

-Armstrong drags the masked man around and works the arm. College basketball star Winston Garland and Craig Sager are VIPs at today’s taping. I mention that because it gives me something to type other than “works the arm” and this match really ain’t giving me much to work with.

-We bafflingly return from commercial for the continuation of this match. Brad is working the arm. The arm is worked by Brad, and then El Lobo’s arm is the target of Brad’s offense. El Lobo wakes up the fans with an Irish whip, and a nice looking lariat and suddenly, Armstrong’s in trouble. Snapmare and a fist get two. He slams Armstrong into position and goes upstairs, but the splash misses, and a dropkick by Armstrong gets two. Russian legsweep ends it. Honestly, Lobo looked like the bigger star here.

-Brad and Daddy Bob promises to give 110% in the Crockett Cup, which doesn’t mean much because it means only each of them is giving 55%.

-We go to NWA Pro Wrestling, where Tony has words with Ole Anderson. He says that anybody who puts ANY line of work ahead of their family needs to check their priorities. His family was more important than running around attacking people with his running buddies. Ole announces his career is winding down, but he has enough left in him for one last ride, so whoever wants a piece of him, step up.

LEX LUGER, ARN ANDERSON & TULLY BLANCHARD (with JJ Dillon) vs. ALAN MARTIN, BILL MULKEY, & LARRY STEVENS
-Tully unloads on Mulkey as the commentators clarify that they were watching the promo on the in-studio monitor, and Ole pretty well singled out Tully as the member who ruined the group. Stevens tags in and Arn takes a crack at him, with a knee to the chest and a slam. Tully works on his arm. Larry Stevens tags in and Arn hits a powerslam before calling out Cousin Ole. Spinebuster as an “Ole” chant goes up in the studio, and the gourdbuster gets three.

-Arn politely ran a comb through his hair off-camera before cutting his promo. He tells Ole that the Horsemen have been more of a family to him in the past two years than him.

LAZER TRON (Jr. Heavyweight Champion) vs TOMMY ANGEL
-Friendly handshake and a side headlock by Lazer Tron, and he stays on the arm. Tony whips out the ridiculous “Protector of the Children” line for Lazer Tron, like Tommy Angel’s mullet is posing any kind of threat to children.

-Lazer Tron works the leg with a stepover toehold bridge, protecting the children from being subjected to less-interesting looking restholds. He rolls up Angel for two. Double forearm off the ropes gets three to end the match, protecting the children from a time limit draw.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) vs. MIKE JACKSON & DEXTER WESCOTT
-I feel like Jim Cornette should have something to say about that one jobber’s name.

-Eaton starts with Mike Jackson and they have some weird miscommunication that screws up a spot, and everyone in the studio notices it. Dexter Wescott, who should wear a wool singlet with the sleeves knotted around his shoulders, gets tossed out to the floor and tossed back in. Eaton hits the knee from the top rope, with Cornette pointing out that the studio lights are being hung higher now because he demanded it.

-Jackson tags back in and gets backdropped. Rocket launcher finishes off Dexter Wescott.

-Ricky Morton takes a shot at Wrestlemania III, saying the Crockett Cup is the biggest show in wrestling this year because the NWA doesn’t need rock stars and singers to sell their tickets. They’re gonna take the million dollar prize, and they’re taking their belts back.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs RANDY MULKEY & DENNY DALTON
-Morton shoulderblocks Mulkey down and backslids him for two. Gibson works over his arm. Dalton tags in and this has to be his first match, like, ever, because he’s visibly giggling nervously as Morton locks up with him, and they don’t even do anything with him, they just give him the double dropkick and pin him instantly.

-JJ Dillon scolds Ole for airing his dirty laundry in public. He declares Ole to be persona non grata and officially declares Lex Luger a Horseman with full honors and benefits.

-Ravishing & Raging are here. Nice touch: Rick Rude is wearing a gold necklace in the shape of an anchor, to match his tattoo. Manny Fernandez jumps on the Wrestlemania III-bashing bandwagon but trips over his own words like 40 times and it loses all possible impact.

MIKE ROTUNDO vs THUNDERFOOT #1
-Rotundo slams Thunderfoot around and applies the front facelock. Airplane spin gets three.

-Mike Rotundo is coming for YOU, Ed Gantner! And Rotundo takes his own vague shot at the WWF, saying that in the WWF, if you’re the best, you get a title shot, and he knows from experience that not every promotion is like that.

6.2

The final score: review Average

The 411

The Horsemen's beef is the most interesting thing happening right now, with everybody making me care about this thing and both sides having a pretty valid beef (Ole loves his family, the Horsemen feel snubbed). That said, they can't make me care about Florida, no matter how hard they try, and it just feels like dead air any time they try to do hype that area.