UWF Power Pro Wrestling (4.18.1987) Review

-Originally aired April 18, 1987.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross and Ken Mantell. JR holds up a drawing that his five-year-old daughter made because he promised he’d show it on TV. D’awwwwwwwwww….

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS (with Steve Cox) vs. BOB BRADLEY
-Williams shoves Bradley on his ass while he gets his own kissed by the commentary team. He’s the measuring stick for the future of this industry, he’s the man that champions have to contend with before they can call themselves champions…Williams was good and he merited a spot in the upper level of the card. but I never got the contingent that thought he was elite-level and I never got pushing him as a babyface. Stampede finishes this one with ease.

GARY YOUNG vs. JEFF RAITZ
-Gary looks confused and annoyed because the fans are booing him, and also because Jeff Raitz is holding his own against him. Young turns up the aggression with strikes and ramming. Raitz fights back but collides with the referee…oh come on, a ref bump for THIS match? Young capitalizes, taking Raitz to the floor and ramming him into the post, then going to the top rope, which is illegal this week. But Chavo Guerrero isn’t having in, elbowing Young and putting Raitz on top right as the referee revives, and Raitz gets the surprise win. Young throws a tantrum as Raitz picks up his first win ever on Power Pro

-Brother Bruce is with Eddie Gilbert and King Parsons. They’re ready for their Tag Team Title shot. Iceman says that Terry Taylor’s mama is Big Bird from Sesame Street. Well, you know what? Hang onto that insult for about 16 more months, because Terry Taylor’s career is going to take a turn, and then…

ANGEL MOHAMMED (with Wild Bill Irwin & General Akbar) vs. KEN MASSEY
-Dark Journey takes over on commentary as Angel connects with a high dropkick. Massey avoids an elbowdrop…kinda…it was a “glancing blow,” which was always JR’s way of covering for bad timing. Massey tries a bodypress off the second rope, but Angel slams him off and finishes with a piledriver.

-We get a special feature on returning sensation “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyaaaaaaaaaand he’s gone.

-The Freebirds declare war on Akbar’s men. “People may not like us, but at least we’re American!”

FABULOUS FREEBIRDS vs. THE GLASSMAN & MIKE REED
-It’s Roberts and Gordy while Hayes supervises on the floor. Reed gets elbowed and snapped. Gordy throws a big dropkick and he’s done with Reed, tossing him to the corner and demanding that Glassman gets in there. Powerslam off the second rope finishes Glassman off as JR speculates that Gordy might be able to do that move to the One Man Gang. Alas, we’ll never know.

TAG TEAM TITLE: GENTLEMAN CHRIS ADAMS & TERRY TAYLOR vs. ICEMAN KING PARSONS & EDDIE GILBERT
-Adams clamps on a side headlock to get things going. Eddie sends him into the ropes, but Adams turns it into an atomic drop, and we get a cute spot where Gilbert backs into the corner to tag out so he can keep an eye on Adams, except he backs into the wrong corner and gets punched in the face by Taylor.

-And the Jerry Lawler fixation comes out in full force, as Eddie just stalls FOREVER while the fans egg him on, and yes it gets a reaction but…that’s why you do it at a house show. It’s such dead air when you do it on TV. And to illustrate that point, when Eddie finally decides he’s done enough and we get back to wrestling, we pause for a commercial! We’re going to miss two minutes of actual action after two minutes of circling the ring.

-We return to…an Akbar promo.

-And then two more minutes of commercials!

-And we return to the show, with Terry Taylor applying a wristlock. A WRISTLOCK, we missed absolutely all of the action in this match.

-Gilbert throws Taylor out to the floor and Parsons does some stealth stomping. Taylor gets dismantled by Parsons, who gets a few near-falls but just can’t put him away. Bodypress by Taylor gets two, then he hurries out of there and makes the hot tag to Adams. Adams is a house of fire until he gets overwhelmed by both opponents. We get the TV time warning from JR as Adams is now fighting for his life after an intense 45 seconds. Double clothesline wipes out both men. Credits roll and Sting & Rick Steiner storm the ring for the DQ as the show closes.