Universal Wrestling Federation (8.30.1986) Review

-Originally aired August 30, 1986.

-Your hosts are JR and PS. The other Freebirds are patrolling the commentary area to prevent anyone else from picking a fight with Michael Hayes during the show.

ART CREWS vs. BRETT WAYNE SAWYER
-Crews has a new and very of-the-times Brian Bosworthish hairstyle.

-They duel for a top wristlock and Crews overpowers him. Crews stays with the wristlock and elbows him down. Sawyer fights back with dropkicks, but he crashes and misses with one, and Crews gets a neckbreaker for the pin. Crews had a pretty solid territory career for a few years, but read the tea leaves and pretty much left the business a couple of years after this, and…I kind of get it. He looks exactly like a guy that would always have a place in one of a couple dozen territories, but he’s exactly the kind of guy who would fall through the cracks and become “his opponent standing to my left” once it got down to two big dogs.

-Referee Tommy Gilbert announces that he is recommending to the UWF that they hold up the Tag Team Championship, due to the chicanery that his own son Eddie engaged in when the title changed hands. The Fantastics cut a good fired up promo promising to get those belts back, whether it’s with barbed wire, a scaffold, or a cage.

JACK VICTORY & RICH STEINER (with Eddie Gilbert) vs. KEN MASSEY & JEFF GAYLORD
-On the opposite end of the spectrum from Art Crews is Jeff Gaylord, who today would get a WWE ID contract and draw an “Advance to NXT” card immediately after.

-Victory applies a side headlock on Gaylord. Gaylord escapes the onslaught and Massey gets mauled. Steiner tags in and puts him away quickly with a belly-to-belly.

CHAVO GUERRERO vs. THE LIBYAN
-Hammerlock is turned into a hiptoss by Guerrero. Chavo works the leg. Libyan fights back but Chavo counters a slam for three. Countering a slam is the finish? Is this a Survivor Series? Did the other six guys no-show?

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. SAVANNAH JACK (with Skandar Akbar & One Man Gang)
-Duggan fearlessly charges into the ring and just fights all three guys, which means this match is never actually going to happen. Akbar and Gang manages to hold Duggan in place while Savannah Jack whips him with a leather strap, but Dark Journey comes to ringside, sees what’s happening, and gives a high sign, and here’s the Missing Link, who cleans house and stands tall with Duggan afterward.

TV TITLE: TERRY TAYLOR (Champion) vs. HOLLYWOOD JOHN TATUM (with Missy Hyatt)
-Tatum slams Taylor, and misses an elbow drop that’s so telegraphed that the crowd pops when he bounces off the ropes because they just already know that it’s going to miss.

-Tatum gets knocked to the floor and cries while Missy consoles him. Back in, Taylor works the arm while JR mentions again and again that, as we all know, the TV Title means that Terry Taylor is automatically the #1 contender for the UWF Heavyweight Title. Not sure they’ve ever actually mentioned that, but hey, seed-planting, yay.

-Tatum takes a cheap shot to take over as Eddie Gilbert heads to ringside to watch over things. Taylor comes back, driving a knee into the skull and hammering Tatum with rights. Taylor accidentally stunguns himself while trying to put Tatum away and we get this weird moment where Jim Ross tries to explain what the ropes are made of.

-Taylor interrupts his train of thought by recovering and KOing Tatum with a five-arm. Missy Hyatt hits the ring with her loaded purse, but Taylor sees her coming and they have a staredown until Tatum gives Taylor a knee to the back, causing him to collide with Missy (and we have what appears to be a post-production edit to hide Missy’s bump). While the referee is tending to Missy, Eddie Gilbert heads into the ring with some white powder, surprise, but Taylor counters him and Eddie accidentally blinds Tatum, allowing Taylor to roll him up when the referee turns around, so Taylor hangs onto the belt. Good match, and JR’s commentary made it feel hotter than hell.

TED DIBIASE, “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS, & COWBOY BILL WATTS vs. THE FABULOUS FREEBIRDS
-Freebirds get knocked to the floor instantly and that’s about it because TV time is gone.

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

The TV Title match was pretty good, the rest was fine. This is the first week, to me, where it feels like there's a "wheels are starting to loosen" vibe.