UWF Power Pro Wrestling (5.25.1986) Review

-Originally aired May 25, 1986.

-Your host is Jim Ross.

CHAVO GUERRERO vs. BOBBY JAGGERS
-Weeeeeee head tooooooooo Sam…Houston Coliseum, with…Pauuuuuuuuuul Boesch onnnnnnnnnnn commentary…30 years intooooooooooooo his commentarrryyyyyyyyyy careerrrrrrrrrr and somehow still managinnnnnnnnnng tooooooooo…sound…like he has…neverrrrrrrrrr seen pro-fession-al wrestlinnnnnnnnnnnggggg in his life….annnnnd is trying tooooooooo fake his way through it. I would not have become a wrestling fan if I had grown up in this area, I could not sit through this man talking for one hour a week.

-Elbows by Jagger get a one-count, and he goes to a chinlock. And we make ourselves nice and comfy in that chinlock as we get the five-minute announcement from the timekeeper before Chavo finally breaks out. Dropkicks by Chavo, and a, uh…wow…a Chavosteiner, I guess, gets the three-count.

TED DIBIASE (North American Champion) vs. ED WISKOWSKI
-From all the way back in December 1981.

-Bob Roop reminds us that he HAS to stay at the commentary table, otherwise he’d go right to the ring and slap Ted DiBiase. Wiskowski, who bought his tights at the same sale Bob Roop went to, goes to a side headlock while Roop sings his praises as a “heady wrestler.” I hear those kinds of wrestlers are chock full of heady goodness. DiBiase escapes with a forearm to the stomach (“a foul,” according to Roop) but Wiskowski goes back to the side headlock. DiBiase drops a knee, which Roop considers illegal due to the bony surface of DiBiase’s leg giving it extra potency, and DiBiase works the arm.

-Wiskowski comes back with a cradle suplex. DiBiase kicks back and lights into Wiskowski with punches and forearms, and Roop goes on a great Jesse Ventura tangant about fans cheering for DiBiase in the wake of all these closed fists. Powerslam looks to finish, but DiBiase goes for a stepover instead. Wiskowski goes t the second rope with a bodypress, but DiBiase rolls through and pins Wiskowski. I love the Mid-South squashes so far. Everybody gets a little bit of a shine, which makes the match more interesting and it makes the stars look even bigger for being able to defeat guys who look like actual competitors.

-Jim Crockett Promotions is returning to the Superdome for a JCP/UWF cross-promotional supercard on June 14! Korchenko & the Koloffs battle Steve Williams, Dusty Rhodes, and Bill Watts in a street fight; Ric Flair defends the NWA World Title against Ricky Morton; Sheepherders vs. Fantastics in a New Zealand Boot Camp Match; Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Kamala; and more!

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN & KOKO B. WARE vs. KORCHENKO & BLADE RUNNER STING (with Eddie Gilbert & Rock)
-From a few weeks ago…Two odd pairs here. So the story here is that it’s supposed to be Korchenko & Gilbert, but Gilbert is faking an injury as an excuse to get Sting in there and do the dirty work for him.

-Joined in progress as Koko manages to tag in and throws an awesome dropkick, so Sting & Korchenko go back to double-teaming to regain control. Pier sixer beaks out, but Rock heads into the ring and attacks Koko to get the DQ.

-Post-match, Koko gets dumped out to the concrete, leaving Duggan all alone with Gilbert and his crew, and it’s a 4-on-1 beating, complete with a busted flagpole coming into play as a weapon. Duggan is out cold, and they prepare for the Soviet flag burial ceremony, but Dr. Death isn’t having THAT. He storms the ring and decides he’s up for fighting four guys at once.

-Noble effort, but yeah, four guys are too much for Williams too. Akbar heads in and prepares to throw a fireball, but Duggan recovers and blocks it with a chair, so Akbar burns himself. I love how the promotions that bellyached the hardest about Vince McMahon turning wrestling into a circus were the promotions that booked FIREBALLS.

BUDDY ROBERTS vs. TOMMY WRIGHT
-And we are going way, WAY back in the video vault for this match. Jim Ross pinpoints the date to 1980, and they haven’t even moved into Irish McNeil Boys’ Club yet; this is when the promotion did their tapings in a studio.

-Wright armdrags Roberts a few times, and Roberts is a little irked at getting manhandled by the jobber so quickly. Roberts comes to life with chops and forearms. Nasty-looking knee from the second rope by Roberts, and a slam gets two. Elbow misses, as Wright still has some life left in him. Roberts shakes it off and finally gets the figure four clamped on Wright for the win.

-We revisit Bill Watts brawling with the Russians and then training for his return to the ring in a half-shirt and jean shorts.

KERRY VON ERICH & STEVE CASEY vs. KAMALA & ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar & Gary Hart)
-Quite a feature for TV. Kerry and the Gang start. Gang takes him down with a single shot, but Kerry kips up and dropkicks Gang to the floor. Kamala tags in the heels attempt some chicanery, but Kerry clears both of them from the ring with more dropkicks, and there’s dissention between Kamala and the Gang because this is going so badly for them.

-Kerry works Kamala’s arm, but Kamala makes a tag without Kerry spotting it, which Joel Watts, on commentary, zeroes in on as a hint that Kamala actually DOES understand wrestling, but chooses to be an untamed savage. So Gang beats Kerry down and tags Kamala back in. Kamala applies a bearhug, then chokes out Kerry in the corner as Gang lends a hand.

-Kerry fights off Kamala enough to tag Casey in. Casey takes on both opponents, but gets overwhelmed by Gang and dumped to the concrete. Back in, the forces of fatness just dominate, and Kamala chokes him out.

-But Kerry’s had enough bullshit with all the double-teaming and comes in to take some free shots of his own, and he manages to give Casey enough of a recovery break that Casey manages to apply a sleeper on Kamala. Casey looks like he’s getting a miracle, but the referee gets distracted again and Akbar KOs Casey with a riding crop, allowing Kamala to get the pin. Good match with a hot crowd.