Universal Wrestling Federation (11.1.1986) Review

-Cold open: Terry Gordy battles Ted DiBiase in a cage in Houston. Gordy is a bloody mess and DiBiase piledrives him for…a three-count? Non-title or Dusty Finish? Stay tuned to find out.

-Originally aired November 1, 1986.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Duggan, sporting his new official Hacksaw Jim Duggan t-shirt. Apparently, it was around this time that Duggan gave his notice, but Bill Watts, who was one of the first promoters to smarten up and start holding guys to contracts when the WWF took over the world, pointed out that his contract was valid through March 1987, and he refused to grant Duggan a release to make a point to the rest of the locker room.

GARY YOUNG vs. ART CREWS
-Commentators say that this is an important match for both men’s careers. Young armdrags Crews and dropkicks him to the floor. Back in, Crews wins the battle for a top wristlock and starts pounding on the Youngster. Young fights back, but Crews tosses him to the floor and slingshots him back in. Big elbow by Crews misses, and Young connects with a bodypress for the three-count. Decent showing by both guys.

SAVANNAH JACK vs. THE LIBYAN
-General Akbar and Buddy Landel are here. Akbar has been looking for someone who can get rid of Savannah Jack, and Buddy Landel has made a business deal with Akbar to do the job for him. Landel challenges him to a match next week, but makes the mistake of punctuating the challenge with “boy” and Jack knocks his head off with a superkick. Libyan tries to capitalize on that distraction with a sneak attack, but Jack just pastes him with another superkick and pins him to win in seconds. Jack is getting “You are a babyface so yayyyyyy” reactions from the crowd, but when they cut to a shot of people in the crowd, it’s kind of clear from the vacant expressions that he’s not what the UWF is hoping he’ll be.

-John Tatum and Jack Victory cut a promo and Tatum’s facial expressions when he’s conveying anger are so GOOFY, like a guy making fun of wrestling on a sitcom.

-Eddie Gilbert and his friends offer a retort, and Missy shows off a giant canister of hairspray that she promises to bring to the ring next time.

-Bruce Prichard is in the ring with Dark Journey. The WFIA convention held a vote for “Most Outstanding Female Personality of 1986,” and the winner is Dark Journey, so Bruce presents her with a dozen roses as Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt head to the ring, threatening to start something. Dark Journey slaps Eddie across the face with the roses and walks off. Eddie salvages one of the roses and gives it to Missy. JR is distraught that they ruined the ceremony like this but….Dark Journey was the one who destroyed the flowers. Eddie and Missy hadn’t done anything yet.

-Off to the Sam Houston Coliseum to once again see Ted DiBiase get a pin over Terry Gordy…and JR is declaring Ted DiBiase the new UWF Heavyweight Champion….so….

-Okay, here we go, we go to a pre-taped interview with Michael Hayes. It was supposed to be Steve Williams, and Ted DiBiase was a last-minute substitution, which seems like BS because when have you ever seen an NFL team switched out of a game for other opponents? Gordy prepared for WILLIAMS, not DiBiase that night. We get a good fired-up postmatch interview with Gordy covered in dried blood and demanding his belt back from Ted DiBiase. Michael Hayes promises a big surprise next week….

-Back at the arena, Jim Ross is live in the ring with Ted DiBiase. It was Steve Williams’ match, not DiBiase’s, and DiBiase never signed a contract, which means he is NOT the new UWF Heavyweight Champion.

-Akbar and his men are excited about a big six-man tag team match later in the show, and Akbar demands that the FREEBIRDS show some guts and sign a match with Gang, Irwin, and Brown.

-Chavo Guerrero takes over for Duggan on commentary, because Duggan is a part of that six-man.

TERRY TAYLOR & ICEMAN KING PARSONS vs. “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL & JACK VICTORY
-Two weird teams here.

-Knee and a chop by Landel. Parsons clears the ring with dropkicks, and he does a celebratory dance…I’m not saying Iceman was “the guy” either but it’s just instantly noticeable that his dance is getting a bigger reaction than Savannah Jack.

-Taylor tags in and tries to work the arm, but Landel rakes the eyes and tags out. Taylor recovers quickly and just works Victory’s arm before tagging Iceman back in. Heels take over until Iceman knocks Victory silly with a kneelift and tags Taylor back in. We have all four men in the ring until Taylor connects with a five-arm and pins Victory. Felt like an Attitude Era RAW match, with the hot tag happening like three minutes in and a 20-minute match crammed into a four-minute window.

HOLLYWOOD JOHN TATUM vs. EDDIE GILBERT (with Missy Hyatt)
-JR suspects that Missy’s hairspray is actually spraypaint.

-Tatum strolls to the ring and just starts throwing punches during the introduction. Gilbert comes back quickly and targets Tatum’s neck. Slugfest goes Tatum’s way and he backdrops Gilbert down. Gilbert mounts another comeback and the battle goes to the floor. Tatum tries to bring the bell into the ring, but Gilbert boots him and Tatum loses his grip. Tatum reverses a suplex and throws right hands as the crowd is finally picking a side here, cheering for Tatum as he drops an elbow for two.

-Dark Journey sprints to the ring to get a piece of Missy Hyatt. Eddie comes to her aid, knocking out cold with the loaded purse and dragging her into the ring. Missy pulls out her hairspray, and it turns out JR’s theory is correct, as Missy and Eddie paint her yellow until Terry Taylor, King Parsons, and the Missing Link hurry to the ring.

GENTLEMAN CHRIS ADAMS, HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN, & THE MISSING LINK vs. ONE MAN GANG, BAD BAD LEROY BROWN, & WILD BILL IRWIN (with Skandor Akbar)
-We’ve reached main event time and I’m noticing we aren’t getting the Duggan/Gordy match from last week that we were promised. Missing Link doesn’t come to the ring because he’s tending to Dark Journey, so it looks like this is going to be a handicap match, but Duggan and Adams share similar feelings about asking quarter so they manage to fend off all three opponents in the opening brawl.

-Aha, I didn’t realize this was actually going to come up when I started typing the recap; JR actually brings up “rumors that Jim Duggan is leaving” and assures the fans that Akbar was probably the one who started that. Adams slingshots Irwin into a “grade A ham” by Duggan, which thankfully means a punch.

-Adams charges at Irwin and runs into a boot. Adams gets sent to the floor and Akbar takes advantage, ramming Adams into the post while the referee is distracted. They get Adams back in the ring and Leroy keeps up the beating as the fans are begging SOMEBODY, Link or anybody, to get to the ring and even this up.

-Big boot by Irwin gets a two-count. Gang tags in as the credits start rolling, and this is fucking OBNOXIOUS, as Missing Link finally runs down the aisle as the credits start rolling. Link hits the ring and starts attacking….and Tommy Gilbert calls for a DQ, I guess? It was Link’s scheduled match!

7.6

The final score: review Good

The 411

Not a fan of the screwjob (especially the logic of it in a promotion where substitutions HAVE won titles) but the rest of the hour was a blast.