World Championship Wrestling (4.22.1989) Review

-Originally aired April 22, 1989.

-Your host is Jim Ross.

MICHAEL P.S. HAYES (with Hiro Matsuda) vs. GREG EVANS
-Ah, so that’s why JR is all alone. JR announces that due to his post-match altercation with Lex Luger last week, Hayes has been suspended from commentary. Man, JR goes through co-hosts like they’re made of Kleenex. Hayes hits the DDT and wins in seconds. Instant replay reveals Evans took a SICK bump on it too, coming straight down on the top of his head.

-Michael Hayes is tired of hearing about the Freebirds, because the Freebirds are history and finished, and he never even needed Terry and Buddy. Even though he turned heel because he resented being asked if Lex was part of that group.

-The Road Warriors aren’t gonna cry about their loss at Clash of the Champions…well, okay, but this is like the third week in a row where you’ve complained about it.

RANDY ROSE & RANGER ROSS vs. RIP MORGAN & JACK VICTORY
-So for those keeping track, last week Rip Morgan was aligned with Iron Sheik and dressing like him. This week, he’s aligned with Paul E. Dangerously’s bodyguard. Oh, and Paul E. Dangerously isn’t there. Randy Rose connects with a missile dropkick that sends Morgan to the floor, and Rose meets him out there with a bodypress off the ropes. It blows my mind that apparently the “Original Midnight Express” angle fell apart because people didn’t like Randy’s work. I could see saying they didn’t like his look (he just looks like a trashy kid’s dad) but he’s a damn fine worker.

-All four men end up battling in the ring. Morgan gets knocked to the floor while Randy Rose charges Victory in the corner. Victory rolls him up and goes for a pin with his feet on the ropes, but Tommy Young catches him and refuses to finish his count. Victory mistakes it for Tommy awarding him the match and gets up to celebrate, and Rose rolls him up to get the win. Heels attack after the match, clearing Ross from the ring and strangling Rose. Good match while it lasted.

-We recap the Dick Murdoch/Bob Orton feud, which gives us our first glimpse on this show of Lance Russell in WCW, as he interviews Orton and Gary Hart at ringside, but when the insults turn to Murdoch’s family, he heads to ringside and the brawl is on. Of note: Teddy Long getting in Murdoch’s way and trying to stop him from coming to ringside, and Murdoch shoves him. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say Murdoch shoved Teddy Long for standing in his way.

-We get words from Ricky Steamboat. Tentative, unsteady words.

TONGA THE POLYNESIAN SAVAGE vs. TRENT KNIGHT
-Debut of Tonga, formerly known as Tama the Islander, formerly known as the Tonga Kid. Tonga chops Knight and rips and pulls at his face. Knight goes AIRBORNE taking a backdrop from the Savage, and a suplex gets the win for Tonga. Impressive showing for Tonga, but we’re not going to see him again for six months, when he gets rechristened The Samoan Savage. I feel kind of bad for the fan at ringside who actually made a Trent Knight sign for this taping.

-Ric Flair cuts a rebuttal promo that reminds us all why he kept getting that belt back.

COWBOY BOB ORTON vs. BOB EMERY
-Orton has come full circle from “Bob Orton Jr.” to “Bob Orton” to his WWF name all in the span of two months. Orton lays into Emery with punches while Gary Hart takes the night off from managing to join JR for commentary. Orton slams Emery into position and drops a knee from the Vader bomb position while Gary Hart tells JR that Dick Murdoch’s dad was an alcoholic who liked to slap women. In the ring, Orton finishes with the superplex.

-Iron Sheik and Rip Morgan are here, like Morgan didn’t already have a match and an angle. Sheik has flown 10,000 miles to meet “Stink” for the TV Title and now he’s not even here, for reasons never explored. So Sheik swings the Persian clubs and JR promises us that next week, Sting will defend the TV Title AND swing the Persian clubs.

NON-TITLE: EDDIE GILBERT & RICK STEINER (US Tag Team Champions, with Missy Hyatt) vs. SAMOAN SWAT TEAM (with Paul E. Dangerously)
-SST gets whipped into each other right away. Fatu gets clotheslined hard by Rick Steiner, as we cut to ringside and see that Rick Steiner’s nerdy mega-fan from last week is in attendance again. Fatu tags in and beheads Steiner with a crescent kick. He targets Steiner’s head, which just makes him mad. Gilbert tags in and gets caught in the SST corner, so things aren’t looking good. Powerslam by Fatu gets two.

-Nerve hold by Fatu. Gilbert fights out but gets elbowed down and caught in the hold again. Gilbert fights out again but Paul E. trips him from the floor. Missy walks over and slaps him to the floor while Eddie rolls out of the way of some headbutts. Hot tag Steiner as Kevin Sullivan shows up to kidnap Missy Hyatt. Steiner goes to rescue her but gets clotheslined down by the hiding-in-wait Dan Spivey. Out comes Eddie Gilbert and all hell breaks loose on the floor…except, whoops, the SST is start enough to stay in the ring and let this play out without them, so they get the win by count-out.

JUNKYARD DOG vs. RED DEVIL
-Red Devil paints JYD with a series of punches, then lays him out like well-mixed lacquer with a bodyslam. JYD gets fired up and varnishes Red Devil with headbutts. He absolutely spackles Red Devil’s face with headbutts, and the Thump is all the sealant of victory for JYD. JR announces that JYD will be facing Gret Muta at WrestleWar. JYD says that his daddy Great Kabuki couldn’t beat him, so he’s not worried about the kid. Great Muta and Gary Hart show up for a rebuttal to “this nappy-headed character” and tell him that the match at WrestleWar will end JYD’s career. They’re almost right.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

The one-hour episodes of this show are so nice, they really are.