wrestling / Video Reviews

World Championship Wrestling (7.8.1989) Review

January 5, 2020 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
6.7
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
World Championship Wrestling (7.8.1989) Review  

-We’re at the end of the road for this era of NWA/WCW on the Network. If they ever upload new episodes I’ll come back and pick up where I left off…

-Cold open: Ric Flair confirms that he will not be retiring. Ever.

-Originally aired July 8, 1989.

-We’re on location this week in Marietta, Georgia at the Cobb County Convention Center. No wonder this company always had problems. Didn’t anyone there realize what happens if you ever take a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia?

-Your host is Jim Ross.

-PREVIOUSLY: Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotunda are mean to Robin Greene.

STEINER BROTHERS (with Missy Hyatt) vs. MARK SMITH & JOHN BREWER
-Frankensteiner right out of the gate as Kevin Sullivan joins us on commentary to warn Steiner about what’s gonna happen later tonight in the Boston Gahden. Steiner powerslams Brewer off the top rope and Scott rams him upside down into the corner. Smith tags in and he gets powerslammed. Rick whips out an oldie but a stupidy, doing his original “brush the teeth” finisher, and even having Missy Hyatt stick a finger in the guy’s mouth to do it herself. JR wisely ignores the site of Missy sticking her finger in a stranger’s mouth and talks about anything else happening in the company.

-Overhead suplex by Rick, and a blockbuster suplex by Scott finishes.

-Rick Steiner took Robin on a date recently and played a game of Pig with her. Also, Rick drops a bombshell, accusing Kevin Sullivan of not really being from Boston.

A&W CREAM SODA KING OF THE SLAMS!
-The Road Warriors are Kings! And they cream! A&W Cream Soda!

-Ricky Steamboat cuts a good fired up promo, DARING Lex Luger to defend the US Title in a No-DQ match.

FLYIN’ BRIAN vs. CRUEL CONNECTION #1
-Brian is wearing a helicopter pilot-style jacket, which is kinda cool-looking and not really intrusive, but I still think it’s funny that this company didn’t think high-flying moves were enough of a justification for calling him “Flyin’ Brian,” we had to make him a wrestling helicopter pilot first.

-Cruel Connector gets sent to the floor early on. Brian brings him back in and works the arm. Brian misses a corner charge and apparently, Jim Herd was VERY clear about branding for the new guy because JR starts to call him “Pillman” and stops himself. Cruel Connecting Guy goes for a bulldog, but Brian puts on the brakes and tosses him across the ring. Brian hits his own bulldog, and a Superfly-style splash gets the three-count.

-Lex Luger blows off Steamboat’s challenge and cuts a great conceited promo. Nobody who has a JOB can tell him what type of Rolex he should buy!

FABULOUS FREEBIRDS (World Tag Team Champions, with Terry Gordy) vs. STEVE CASEY & RANDY ROSE

-Of note is that they’ve been hyping tonight’s house show at the Boston Garden, and it’s a particularly great story (well, when Jim Cornette tells us) as one of the matches was all three Freebirds vs. Dr. Death and the Midnight Express. For whatever reason, being a Freebird went right to Jimmy Garvin’s head and the ego was starting to drive everyone nuts. For some reason, he wouldn’t sell anything during the six-man match, so Dr. Death finally had enough, grabbed a chair, and laid into him with some brutal chair shots, and the whole assault took on a weird rhythm. WHAM–“OW!”–“FUCK WITH ME!” WHAM–“OW!”–“FUCK WITH ME!” WHAM–“OW!”–“FUCK WITH ME!”

-Hayes hiptosses Casey and struts about. He slams Casey and poses about. He applies a side headlock, but Great Value Lex Luger fights back with armdrags. Bodypress gets two, and Jimmy Garvin tags in. Garvin rams Casey in the corner with knees, but Casey fights back, only to miss a dropkick. Hayes dropkicks him to the floor and Gordy suplexes him to some huge heat.

-Randy Rose tags in and cleans house, but he puts his head down for a backdrop and Garvin thinks quick and DDTs him for the win.

THE DANGER ZONE

-Been a while. Paul E. is wearing a Batman t-shirt, and I’m probably overthinking it but it’s probably an inside joke about how he got the name (the movie Johnny Dangerously, because young Paul bore a passing resemblance to Michael Keaton). Paul E. also mentions he might have Jack Nicholson on as a guest some day, which is a whole other Jim Cornette story.

-Paul’s guest is Terry Funk, who admits to being older and a little bit broken down, but he has heart, and Flair is gutless. Advantage Funk.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette) vs. NEW ZEALAND MILITIA
-This is a proud moment in the careers of Rip Morgan and Jacko Victory, as both of them are actually appearing on TV with exactly the same persona that they had the last time that they were on TV.

-Midnights double team Rip as Jim Cornette joins the commentary table, which kind of surprises me because that’s a non-verbal cue that the Militia isn’t to be taken seriously. Morgan gets fired up with a spinebuster and NOW Cornette heads to ringside to supervise. Jacko tags in and they trade punches. Bobby is in trouble for a while, and it’s amazing how over the Midnight Express still is despite their face run getting fucked up at absolutely every turn.

-Jacko has Bobby in a bearhug, but Bobby punches free. Rip Morgan manages to block the tag, but Eaton reverses an attempted double-team and whips the Militia into each other. Hot tag Stan Lane, but the referee gets confused when chaos breaks out and Eaton gets the pin after coming off the top rope with a knee. Pretty standard tag team match, but it was fine.

-Ric Flair is here to close the show and he’s ready to just straight up kill Terry Funk.

6.7
The final score: review Average
The 411
Well, I wouldn't say WWE Network's chunk of NWA on TBS ended with a bang, but it had a respectable cracking sound.
legend

article topics

Adam Nedeff