wrestling / Video Reviews
Universal Wrestling Federation (10.17.1987) Review
Image Credit: UWF
Loading...-Cold open: Nikita Koloff and Terry Taylor battle it out in the WTBS studio.
-Originally aired October 17, 1987.
-As we rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, your hosts are Jack Gregory, Magnum TA, and Missy Hyatt. They’re using the same generic news studio set that they’ve been using for the past few weeks, but Jack makes it a point for some reason to tell us that they’re taping in Cleveland.
LEX LUGER (U.S. Champion, with JJ Dillon) vs. COUGAR JAY
-So we’re just abandoning all pretense of the UWF being its own thing; it’s just an NWA show with a different label slapped on it now. Jim Ross is on commentary, telling us that this will be one of the most exciting hours in wrestling history. As we begin a Cougar Jay match.
-Lex throws Cougar Jay out to the conc…oh, wait, we’re in a basketball arena this week. So he throws Cougar out onto that, then brings him back in. Powerslam by Luger, and the torture rack finishes. Luger gestured that he was about to do the hold, and got a pop. So you pretty much HAVE to turn him face at that point.
-Lex Luger says he’s willing to meet Dusty Rhodes and defend the belt, but he throws out the same warning that we got from JJ last week; they have to pick the stipulations and the stipulations have to heavily favor Lex.
STARRCADE CONTROL CENTER
-President Crockett confirms that Ron Garvin will defend the World Title against Ric Flair in a steel cage with no time limit for the main event. Ron Garvin manages to cut an entire promo without mentioning truck ownership, saying that being the NWA Champion feels better than winning a million dollars or having a kid.
-Back at the WTBS studio, Terry Taylor and Eddie Gilbert gang up on Nikita Koloff and steal the NWA TV Title belt. Jim Crockett declares that there will be a TV Title unification match at Starrcade. Tony Schiavone promises that this card will be “the big one.”
STING vs. COLT STEELE
-Sting works the arm. This is our second straight squash after JR promised one of the greatest hours of all time. Our feature is Ron Garvin vs. Tully Blanchard and that’s probably going to be a quality match, but why hype THIS card like that?
-Stinger splash finishes this one.
ROAD WARRIORS (with Paul Ellering) vs. MIKE FORCE & BOB MORGAN
-Jobbers attempt a sneak attack before the bell and pay dearly for it. Doomsday Device finishes.
-Dusty Rhodes music video.
-We go back to ringside for an interview with the Road Warriors. So…we had to make the Road Warriors stick around for two minutes while we remembered how great Dusty Rhodes is?
-We go to NWA Pro, where Jim Cornette rants about what a staggering drunk Ricky Morton’s dad is. Ricky Morton is here to say something about it. He gives Cornette a hard slap that knocks him right on his ass.
-Later, the Rock & Roll Express battles Arn & Tully, and Ricky Morton has an injured arm. The Horsemen just maim his arm until Robert Gibson demands that the match be stopped, and the referee declares that a title change. This was supposed to be a heroic defeat to keep the Express strong, but damn, it ended up just completely derailing them, and they were out of the company before February.
RON SIMMONS vs. TOMMY ANGEL
-Clothesline and forearms by Simmons. Football tackle from the turnbuckle gets the win.
-Jim Ross cuts a promo with Dusty Rhodes and Ron Simmons. Dusty wants the U.S. Title match at Starrcade, and let’s stop talkin’ about it and let’s start doing it! Ron says he’s been a fan of Dusty for years and learns a lot from him. I say this without sarcasm, I think they did a tandem promo with these two so Ron Simmons could get a breather. I remember this from when I was reviewing the TBS shows, Ron Simmons took a while to get a handle on his conditioning, and any time he cut a post-match promo he sounded like he was going to pass out.
RON GARVIN (NWA World Champion) vs. TULLY BLANCHARD (with JJ Dillon)
-So it turns out that I have a weird copy of this episode, in that they lock up, Garvin throws chops, and then we pretty much skip straight to the finish, with various Horsemen and anti-Horsemen babyfaces brawling.
