wrestling / Video Reviews
UWF Power Pro Wrestling (2.7.1987) Review
Image Credit: UWF
Loading...-Cold open: Bill Watts announces that the UWF Tag Team Titles are now vacant. Terry Taylor & Jim Duggan were the reigning champions, but One Man Gang just defeated Duggan in a Loser Leaves Town match and Duggan is GONE from the UWF. Duggan had actually been trying to leave the company for about six months (with rumors getting so loud that they acknowledged the rumors on TV at one point) but after the WWF took over the world, Bill Watts was one of the first guys to figure out contracts, and he held Duggan to his to make a point to the rest of the locker room. Anyway, there will now be a one-night tournament for the Tag Team Titles at the Cowtown Coliseum next to Billy Bob’s, where the all-you-can-eat buffet has 3 types of ketchup and 5 types of catsup.
-Originally aired February 7, 1987.
-Your hosts are Jim Ross & Michael P.S. Hayes. Maybe reading too much into this, but they’ve changed the announcer staging for the opening so instead of sitting three feet from each other in director chairs, Jim Ross and Hayes are now standing up, directly against each other, and sharing a microphone. To my eye, it looks like somebody straight up said “Like Vince and Jesse do it.”
ANGEL OF DEATH (with Sunshine) vs. MIKE REED
-Oh my god, lighting the crowd this week is a mistake because the third through fifth rows are absolutely empty. And they hadn’t figured out the trick where you just move all of the fans to one section for a TV taping, I think they had enough to at least get away with that this week.
-Suplex by the Angel, and he kicks Reed and finishes quickly with a Samoan drop.
-Mean Bruce Prichard interviews Dark Journey, who introduces her new tag team of The Missing Link and Chavo Guerrero.
-Back to Jim Ross and Michael Hayes in a segment that was definitely done in post after the building emptied out for the night (and JR even slips in a cute remark about Michael’s hair to call attention to the obvious edit). Together they review last week’s no-DQ match pitting the Freebirds against Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams. Eli the Eliminator & Bill Irwin come to ringside to beat up on DiBiase, and Hayes professes ignorance looking back on it and promises that he didn’t encourage that. A bunch of babyfaces head to ringside to even the odds and the Freebirds get out while they can.
-Bruce Prichard chats with Eli and Bill. They’re ready for the tournament!
-Buddy Roberts cuts a promo, and he’s such a cartoon character that he gets Sunshine to break character.
-Next we hear from Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams, as they are really, REALLY trying to move some ticket sales for the TV taping tonight at Cowtown.
SUPER NINJA vs. BOBBY WALKER
-Ninja is Ryuma Go, while Bobby Walker is a skinny, barefoot white guy who does not appear to be a hard worker in any way. Ninja kicks repeatedly and with great velocity. Walker finally levels him with a dropkick, but a salto and a superkick by Ninja put him away.
-ANOTHER promo from DiBiase and Williams, and damn, NOW this looks like a dying promotion.
TED DIBIASE vs. JEFF GAYLORD
-JR says the fans want more scientific wrestling for this one, and Bruce Prichard is glad that this is one match where we don’t have to worry about rules being broken. Hmm.
-They lock up over and over again with either guy able to get an advantage. Gaylord tries a side headlock. DiBiase turns it into a top wristlock. Then they do that same sequence with the roles reversed. DiBiase tries a wristlock, but immediately lets go when Gaylord makes the ropes. DiBiase goes for a side headlock again but Gaylord counters with headscissors. JR and Bruce casually discuss how Gaylord is too inexperienced to actually win, but being in the ring with DiBiase will be a good learning experience for him, and if the match at least takes a while, it’s a win for the youngster.
-DiBiase slams Gaylord and goes back to the side headlock, as DiBiase is absolutely determined to make that hold work. Gaylord slams DiBiase and snapmares him. Right as gaylord gets something going, DiBiase cradles him for a three-count, and DiBiase gives Gaylord a disgusted look before suddenly changing his tune and offering a friendly handshake. This was apparently the beginning of a very long-term story that was going to end with DiBiase turning heel again, but he ended up in the WWF before that ever happened.
THE MISSING LINK (with Dark Journey) vs. BUDDY JACK ROBERTS (with Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, Angel of Death, and Sunshine)
-So obviously something’s up, and they don’t even allow the pretense of a match, as everyone attacks Link the moment he steps through the ropes.
-And then in a weird moment, Jim Ross and Bruce Prichard TELL US that a bunch of babyfaces hit the ring to even the sides and the brawl took “fifteen minutes” according to Jim. So now Jim takes us to what happened after the lengthy, exciting, action-packed brawl ended, because why the hell would we actually want to see the lengthy, exciting, action-packed brawl? DiBiase has the microphone and he’s in the ring with Chavo, Dr. Death, and bloody Link, and he wants the Freebirds and Angel of Death out here now, and he vows that he’ll hold up this entire TV taping until they’re out here.
-Grizzly Adams eagerly hustles away from his awkward conversation with Chris Hansen in the locker room and enters the ring to tell everyone to clear out. DiBiase has his heels dug in and tells Grizzly that he means it, they aren’t leaving. Freebirds and Angel come to ringside, stare for a little while, and then leave. DiBiase simply says he’s made his point and they’ve shown what they’re made of, and from now on, there’s always going to be a group waiting whenever the Freebirds try to gang up on someone.
CHAVO GUERRERO vs. ELI (with Bill Irwin)
-We’ve rebranded, with “The Eliminator” being removed from Eli’s name. Also, he’s a member of Devastation Inc. being “mentored” by Irwin, with no sign of Skandar Akbar anywhere.
-So DiBiase, to make a point about what he just said, comes to the ring with Chavo, and since Irwin is there, DiBiase just immediately picks a fight with him, so the match never actually starts, and for reasons never adequately explained, Chavo wins by DQ.
-We get another batch of promos AND a music video to run out the hour. This isn’t good.
