Show Review: NWA/JCP Great American Bash 1987
Aug 19, 2017 7:53:29 GMT -5
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Post by Shatter Machine on Aug 19, 2017 7:53:29 GMT -5
The Great American Bash was Crockett Promotion’s July tour from 1985 through 1987, starting with stadium shows throughout the south featuring NWA World Title defenses from Ric Flair against various opponents (in 1985, the main show in Charlotte had a babyface Flair defending against Nikita Koloff, then in 1986, a heel Flair defended against Ricky Morton in Charlotte, then against Dusty Rhodes in a cage.) In 1987, they needed a bigger draw, so they added War Games, and it was the best business they ever did. Seriously, if you haven’t watched NWA from 1985 through the end of 1989, you are missing some pretty amazing stuff. Commentary in Atlanta is by Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross; other commentators are noted in their individual matches.
Champions:
NWA World Champion: Ric Flair (5th reign, 329 days)
NWA US Champion: Nikita Koloff (1st reign, 321 days)
NWA World TV Champion: Tully Blanchard (3rd reign, 219 days)
NWA World Tag Team Champions: Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (4th reign, 39 days)
NWA US Tag Team Champions: Midnight Express (1st reign, 49 days)
NWA Western States Heritage Champion: Barry Windham (1st reign, 14 days)
NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions: Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors (1st reign, 413 days)
UWF Champion: Big Bubba Rogers (1st reign, 76 days)
UWF Television Champion: Eddie Gilbert (1st reign, 118 days)
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA (the Omni, 13,500)
War Games: The Match Beyond
NWA World Champion Ric Flair, NWA World TV Champion Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, & JJ Dillon (with Dark Journey)
Vs
NWA World Six-Man Tag-Team Champions Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors, NWA U.S. Champion Nikita Koloff & Paul Ellering
This is from the Omni in Atlanta on the first night of the tour. The rules are convoluted, but it’s a great idea: Two rings, wrapped in a cage with a roof on it. Each team starts with one guy for a five-minute period, then there’s a coin flip. The winner of the coin flip sends their guy in for a 2-minute 2-on-1 advantage. At the end of that period, the other team evens it up. It goes that way until all ten men are in, then it’s submission or surrender. Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone are on commentary. Dusty and Arn start out, and Dusty controls, throwing Arn all over the place. He hits a low blow, then flips off the Horsemen. He hits a DDT, then runs Arn to the cage, and Arn blades. Arn gets a shot to Dusty’s bad leg, causing Dusty to scramble away, but Dusty catches him and runs him to the cage. Arn tries to escape, but he’s trapped. Dusty gets a figure-four, and Arn is about to pass out. The Horsemen win the coin flip, and Tully is in. Dusty handles them both, briefly, but Arn clips his leg and they beat the shit out of him for the rest of the period. They get a figure-four on him and work the leg, then Animal is in, and he massacres Tully, running him to the cage. I guess the secret is that when the Horsemen have the advantage, they control, and when it’s even, the babyface team controls. Makes sense. Dusty has bladed, Tully has bladed. Flair comes in next, and he and Arn run Animal to the cage. Flair humps the cage, because he’s Flair and he’s the fucking man. Koloff evens it up, but Flair gets a thumb to the eye as he comes in. Koloff clotheslines Flair and Arn out of the corner, then runs Tully into the cage. Dusty pummels Tully, Animal press-slams Flair. Rhodes and Koloff work on Arn’s leg, then Nikita catches Tully between rings. Arn low-blows Animal, and Koloff corners Flair and slams him, face-first, to the cage. Luger joins us and pounces on Koloff, hitting a powerslam. Flair and Tully hit a spike piledriver on Koloff, then another, then Rhodes comes in to cover him up as Arn and Luger pummel Animal. Hawk looks like he could chew through the door, and he just kills everyone when he comes in. He beats Luger unmercifully in the corner, and Jim Ross says it looks like a wreck on the interstate. Flair puts Rhodes in the figure-four, and JJ comes in, but he really doesn’t affect matters much. Hawk no-sells him and beats the shit out of him. Hawk does the cheese-grater spot on Flair, and Rhodes and Animal beat on JJ. Ellering comes in with one of the Road Warrior’s spiked gloves. He works on JJ with it, but Flair gets after him and steals the gauntlet away. JJ taps an artery blading. Koloff starts clotheslining everyone, as he and Dusty hold the Horsemen off and the Road Warriors nail JJ with their clothesline. Hawk just stands on JJ’s throat right by the cage, and he surrenders at 22:10. The first is always the best *****
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Barry Windham (UWF Western States Heritage Champion)
Vs
Rick Steiner
Clipped to Windham hitting Steiner with a dropkick. Steiner was just a generic goon in the employ of Eddie Gilbert, He clotheslines Windham a couple of times, getting a near-fall, then sending him to the buckle. Big backdrop, and Steiner fucks up a belly-to-belly, and Ross and Schiavone call out Steiner for taking too much time to follow up. An elbow sends Windham to the floor, where Steiner sends him to the post. Steiner suplexes him in, but they fuck that up, and Steiner winds up flipping himself over and getting pinned after about 4 minutes shown. *
1987.07.11
Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
NWA US Championship Cage Match:
Nikita Koloff (Champion)
Vs
Lex Luger (with JJ Dillon)
This is from after the War Games, with Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver doing commentary. They clip it to about twenty minutes in, with Luger pounding on Koloff’s injured neck. He works a headlock, taking Koloff down by his neck brace. He gets a neckbreaker, then continues pounding on it, even hitting a decent looking clothesline for 2. Koloff backdrops out of a piledriver, but Luger grabs a full nelson. Koloff fades, then comes back, then fades again. He puts Koloff on the mat for a couple of 2-counts, and Nikita hits an elbow to the gut. They start going toe-to-toe, but Luger flattens him and chokes him on the ropes. Koloff gets a knee to the ribs, then he rocks Luger with punches and an elbow. Koloff mounts the corner and punches away, but Luger hits him. Koloff comes out of the corner with the Russian Sickle, but he nails the referee as well. JJ throws a chair to Luger, who clobbers Koloff with it, knocking him out. Luger puts him in the rack and the ref stops it at 33:55 (of which we saw an interminable 10 minutes). Luger wins his first U.S. Title. * ½
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Texas Death Match:
Steve Williams (with Magnum TA)
Vs
Dick Murdoch (with Eddie Gilbert)
No idea what set this up because I’ve never watched much UWF. Doc has a cast on his arm. They clip it to Murdoch knocking Doc down with a shot to the shoulder from a wrench. He pounds on the bad arm, but Jim Ross might actually have an orgasm putting Williams over as a tough guy. He fires back, and Murdoch does his rubber leg routine. Doc hits a charge, but Murdoch moves on the next one. Gilbert distracts the ref, but when Murdoch comes off the top, Doc puts the cast up, and Murdoch crashes into it and Williams wins at about 10:00. We saw about 4 minutes. The heels try to work Williams over with a chair, but Magnum hands him his cane, and Doc clears the ring with it. *
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts
Vs
Manny Fernandez, Ivan Koloff, and Paul Jones
Pretty much what you’d expect from the babyface Freebirds. I will say this about Hayes, everyone always says that Gordy was the worker, but Hayes wasn’t 100% awful when he was younger and motivated. Buddy comes in, Jones hits a kick to the back, and Fernandez takes him down. Koloff hits a backbreaker, but Buddy gets a sunset for 1. Jones misses a knee and Gordy comes in to a MASSIVE pop. Six-way brawl, and Gordy takes Jones down with a clothesline and drops an elbow for the pin at 3:58. That was brief. **
1987.07.18
Charlotte, NC (Memorial Stadium, 25,000)
$100,000 Lights-Out, Barbed Wire Ladder Match:
Tully Blanchard (NWA TV Champion, with JJ Dillon and Dark Journey)
Vs
Dusty Rhodes (with Barry Windham)
Both men are in street clothes, or they would be if people wore kneepads over their jeans and weightlifting belts. The barbed wire is wrapped around the ropes, but this is mostly just them trying not to touch it. Dusty, of course, blades, as does Tully. Windham hands Dusty the ladder, and they do really primitive ladder spots, as Tully takes some bumps off it. He knocks Dusty off it and drops an elbow, but Dusty stops him as he gets his hands on the money. JJ throws a glove to Tully, who kayos Dusty with it. Tully sets up the ladder, and JJ knocks down Tommy Young. Barry Windham tackles JJ, and Dusty kicks the ladder out from under Blanchard. He takes the glove, clobbers Tully, scales the ladder, and grabs the money to win the match at 7:14. * ½
1987.07.11
Greensboro, NC
NWA World Championship Cage Match:
Ric Flair (Champion, with JJ Dillon)
Vs
Jimmy Garvin (with Precious)
This came about because Flair had been sending gifts to Precious, and since Garvin wasn’t really a contender, he had to put a night with her on the line against a title shot. This is clipped to them duking it out in the corner, and Garvin flooring him with a chop. Flair hits a low blow, then snap mares him over and drops a knee. Flair goes up, but Garvin slams him off and covers for 2. Garvin gets a figure-four and a couple of near-falls, but Flair makes the ropes. Garvin drags him to the middle and tries again, but Flair rakes his eyes. Flair goes for a suplex, but Garvin flips over and gets an O’Connor roll for 2. Flair gets chops, but Garvin hip tosses him out of the corner. Flair buries a boot, but Garvin blocks an attempt to run him to the cage and returns the favor. We’re fifteen minutes in, and Garvin does the cheese grater on the cage with Flair’s forehead. He pulls Flair back in and pounds the cut, but Flair tosses him off and tries to escape over the top of the cage. They duke it out again, this time on the top rope, and Garvin run his head to the top of the cage. Flair falls off and Garvin jumps down and covers him for 2. More cheese grating, then another 2 for Garvin. Jimmy mounts the corner and slugs away, then a big backdrop for 2. He goes for a backdrop, but blows his knee out on the landing. It’s like chum for a shark. Flair systematically dissects it, and we’re 20 minutes in. Ron Garvin comes out to support his brother, and Flair spits at him while mauling Jimmy’s knee. Flair hits a knee crusher, but Jimmy gets a brief flurry of punches. He’s all “My knee, Ronnie, my knee! I don’t quit!” but Flair just annihilates him. Jimmy gets another hope spot, battering Flair with punches and chops, causing Flair to climb the cage, but Garvin can’t follow because of his knee. Flair tries to escape again, and they fight on top. Flair crotches himself, and Garvin gets 2. He tries for the Brainbuster, but collapses, and Flair gets the figure-four. Some idiot fan tries to climb the cage, and security just beats the shit out of him, but the ref stops the match at 25:50, because Garvin passed out from the pain. We saw about fifteen minutes. Flair goes after Precious, but Ron nails him, setting up that program for the fall. This was excellent. ****
1987.07.04
NWA World Tag Team Championship versus U.S. Tag Team Championship:
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, World Tag Team Champions)
Vs
The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, U.S. Tag Team Champions, with Big Bubba Rogers)
Jim Ross compares these two teams to the Lakers and the Celtics, which I suppose was appropriate in 1987. Lane and Gibson do a little back and forth, and Lane winds up on the floor. They try again, and Morton comes in to work an armbar on Lane. He gets an armdrag for 2, but Lane is in the ropes, and Gibson is back in. Eaton tags in, then Morton tags back in. He and Eaton do a test of strength, and Morton literally walks over Eaton’s shoulders then busts out a Hurricanrana! Gibson goes for a headscissors, but Lane clobbers him from behind. He tags in and hits a backbreaker and they isolate Gibson for a bit. Eaton knees him out to the floor, then Lane takes a cheap shot. They do some great double-teaming, but Gibson makes a surprise hot tag to Morton, and all four men fight it out. The R’n’R hit Eaton with the Double Dropkick, but as referee Tommy Young puts Gibson out, Bubba Rogers hits Morton with the Bossman Slam. His hat falls off, and Young sees it and calls for the DQ at 10:00. Good match, but not nearly their best. ** ½
1987.07.31
Miami, FL (Orange Bowl, 16,000)
War Games:
NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering
Vs
NWA World Champion Ric Flair, NWA US Champion Lex Luger, NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and War Machine (Bubba Rogers) (with JJ Dillon and Dark Journey)
Same as the first match, with Dusty and Arn starting, doing most of the same spots. Dusty controls him for most of the first period, getting the figure-four as the coin flip goes. The Horsemen win that, and I notice that Tony Schiavone is doing commentary, but he’s wandering around ringside, so he must have been added in post-production. War Machine is the second man in, and he and Arn pound Dusty. Hawk is the second man for that team, and he hits War Machine with a dropkick. Dusty and Hawk control, obviously, as the formula sticks. Next man for the Horsemen is Flair, and hey, there’s Bill Alfonzo! Everyone filters in, next is Animal, then Blanchard, then Koloff, then Luger is the last one for the Horsemen. Flair hits a low blow, and it’s general chaos as everyone waits around for Ellering to come in with the spiked gauntlet. He runs Flair to the spikes, and the Road Warriors start dismantling War Machine, and after everyone clotheslines him, Animal jams the spikes into his eyes until he submits at 19:38. Awesome match. *****
AWARDS:
Best Match: Either one of the War Games, although I personally prefer the first one. That Garvin-Flair world title match is pretty good, too.
Worst Match: Luger versus Koloff. Holy shit was that bad. What masochist gave them half an hour?
Best performer: Flair. That dude wrestled everyone under the sun for the entire tour and put on great matches night after night.
Worst performer: Rick Steiner. Just for that terrible botch at the end of the match with Windham.
Bottom Line: This is a fun tape to watch. Both War Games matches are spectacular blood bath matches, and the World title match is so much better than I remember. Recommended Show 6/10.
Champions:
NWA World Champion: Ric Flair (5th reign, 329 days)
NWA US Champion: Nikita Koloff (1st reign, 321 days)
NWA World TV Champion: Tully Blanchard (3rd reign, 219 days)
NWA World Tag Team Champions: Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (4th reign, 39 days)
NWA US Tag Team Champions: Midnight Express (1st reign, 49 days)
NWA Western States Heritage Champion: Barry Windham (1st reign, 14 days)
NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions: Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors (1st reign, 413 days)
UWF Champion: Big Bubba Rogers (1st reign, 76 days)
UWF Television Champion: Eddie Gilbert (1st reign, 118 days)
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA (the Omni, 13,500)
War Games: The Match Beyond
NWA World Champion Ric Flair, NWA World TV Champion Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, & JJ Dillon (with Dark Journey)
Vs
NWA World Six-Man Tag-Team Champions Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors, NWA U.S. Champion Nikita Koloff & Paul Ellering
This is from the Omni in Atlanta on the first night of the tour. The rules are convoluted, but it’s a great idea: Two rings, wrapped in a cage with a roof on it. Each team starts with one guy for a five-minute period, then there’s a coin flip. The winner of the coin flip sends their guy in for a 2-minute 2-on-1 advantage. At the end of that period, the other team evens it up. It goes that way until all ten men are in, then it’s submission or surrender. Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone are on commentary. Dusty and Arn start out, and Dusty controls, throwing Arn all over the place. He hits a low blow, then flips off the Horsemen. He hits a DDT, then runs Arn to the cage, and Arn blades. Arn gets a shot to Dusty’s bad leg, causing Dusty to scramble away, but Dusty catches him and runs him to the cage. Arn tries to escape, but he’s trapped. Dusty gets a figure-four, and Arn is about to pass out. The Horsemen win the coin flip, and Tully is in. Dusty handles them both, briefly, but Arn clips his leg and they beat the shit out of him for the rest of the period. They get a figure-four on him and work the leg, then Animal is in, and he massacres Tully, running him to the cage. I guess the secret is that when the Horsemen have the advantage, they control, and when it’s even, the babyface team controls. Makes sense. Dusty has bladed, Tully has bladed. Flair comes in next, and he and Arn run Animal to the cage. Flair humps the cage, because he’s Flair and he’s the fucking man. Koloff evens it up, but Flair gets a thumb to the eye as he comes in. Koloff clotheslines Flair and Arn out of the corner, then runs Tully into the cage. Dusty pummels Tully, Animal press-slams Flair. Rhodes and Koloff work on Arn’s leg, then Nikita catches Tully between rings. Arn low-blows Animal, and Koloff corners Flair and slams him, face-first, to the cage. Luger joins us and pounces on Koloff, hitting a powerslam. Flair and Tully hit a spike piledriver on Koloff, then another, then Rhodes comes in to cover him up as Arn and Luger pummel Animal. Hawk looks like he could chew through the door, and he just kills everyone when he comes in. He beats Luger unmercifully in the corner, and Jim Ross says it looks like a wreck on the interstate. Flair puts Rhodes in the figure-four, and JJ comes in, but he really doesn’t affect matters much. Hawk no-sells him and beats the shit out of him. Hawk does the cheese-grater spot on Flair, and Rhodes and Animal beat on JJ. Ellering comes in with one of the Road Warrior’s spiked gloves. He works on JJ with it, but Flair gets after him and steals the gauntlet away. JJ taps an artery blading. Koloff starts clotheslining everyone, as he and Dusty hold the Horsemen off and the Road Warriors nail JJ with their clothesline. Hawk just stands on JJ’s throat right by the cage, and he surrenders at 22:10. The first is always the best *****
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Barry Windham (UWF Western States Heritage Champion)
Vs
Rick Steiner
Clipped to Windham hitting Steiner with a dropkick. Steiner was just a generic goon in the employ of Eddie Gilbert, He clotheslines Windham a couple of times, getting a near-fall, then sending him to the buckle. Big backdrop, and Steiner fucks up a belly-to-belly, and Ross and Schiavone call out Steiner for taking too much time to follow up. An elbow sends Windham to the floor, where Steiner sends him to the post. Steiner suplexes him in, but they fuck that up, and Steiner winds up flipping himself over and getting pinned after about 4 minutes shown. *
1987.07.11
Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
NWA US Championship Cage Match:
Nikita Koloff (Champion)
Vs
Lex Luger (with JJ Dillon)
This is from after the War Games, with Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver doing commentary. They clip it to about twenty minutes in, with Luger pounding on Koloff’s injured neck. He works a headlock, taking Koloff down by his neck brace. He gets a neckbreaker, then continues pounding on it, even hitting a decent looking clothesline for 2. Koloff backdrops out of a piledriver, but Luger grabs a full nelson. Koloff fades, then comes back, then fades again. He puts Koloff on the mat for a couple of 2-counts, and Nikita hits an elbow to the gut. They start going toe-to-toe, but Luger flattens him and chokes him on the ropes. Koloff gets a knee to the ribs, then he rocks Luger with punches and an elbow. Koloff mounts the corner and punches away, but Luger hits him. Koloff comes out of the corner with the Russian Sickle, but he nails the referee as well. JJ throws a chair to Luger, who clobbers Koloff with it, knocking him out. Luger puts him in the rack and the ref stops it at 33:55 (of which we saw an interminable 10 minutes). Luger wins his first U.S. Title. * ½
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Texas Death Match:
Steve Williams (with Magnum TA)
Vs
Dick Murdoch (with Eddie Gilbert)
No idea what set this up because I’ve never watched much UWF. Doc has a cast on his arm. They clip it to Murdoch knocking Doc down with a shot to the shoulder from a wrench. He pounds on the bad arm, but Jim Ross might actually have an orgasm putting Williams over as a tough guy. He fires back, and Murdoch does his rubber leg routine. Doc hits a charge, but Murdoch moves on the next one. Gilbert distracts the ref, but when Murdoch comes off the top, Doc puts the cast up, and Murdoch crashes into it and Williams wins at about 10:00. We saw about 4 minutes. The heels try to work Williams over with a chair, but Magnum hands him his cane, and Doc clears the ring with it. *
1987.07.04
Atlanta, GA
Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts
Vs
Manny Fernandez, Ivan Koloff, and Paul Jones
Pretty much what you’d expect from the babyface Freebirds. I will say this about Hayes, everyone always says that Gordy was the worker, but Hayes wasn’t 100% awful when he was younger and motivated. Buddy comes in, Jones hits a kick to the back, and Fernandez takes him down. Koloff hits a backbreaker, but Buddy gets a sunset for 1. Jones misses a knee and Gordy comes in to a MASSIVE pop. Six-way brawl, and Gordy takes Jones down with a clothesline and drops an elbow for the pin at 3:58. That was brief. **
1987.07.18
Charlotte, NC (Memorial Stadium, 25,000)
$100,000 Lights-Out, Barbed Wire Ladder Match:
Tully Blanchard (NWA TV Champion, with JJ Dillon and Dark Journey)
Vs
Dusty Rhodes (with Barry Windham)
Both men are in street clothes, or they would be if people wore kneepads over their jeans and weightlifting belts. The barbed wire is wrapped around the ropes, but this is mostly just them trying not to touch it. Dusty, of course, blades, as does Tully. Windham hands Dusty the ladder, and they do really primitive ladder spots, as Tully takes some bumps off it. He knocks Dusty off it and drops an elbow, but Dusty stops him as he gets his hands on the money. JJ throws a glove to Tully, who kayos Dusty with it. Tully sets up the ladder, and JJ knocks down Tommy Young. Barry Windham tackles JJ, and Dusty kicks the ladder out from under Blanchard. He takes the glove, clobbers Tully, scales the ladder, and grabs the money to win the match at 7:14. * ½
1987.07.11
Greensboro, NC
NWA World Championship Cage Match:
Ric Flair (Champion, with JJ Dillon)
Vs
Jimmy Garvin (with Precious)
This came about because Flair had been sending gifts to Precious, and since Garvin wasn’t really a contender, he had to put a night with her on the line against a title shot. This is clipped to them duking it out in the corner, and Garvin flooring him with a chop. Flair hits a low blow, then snap mares him over and drops a knee. Flair goes up, but Garvin slams him off and covers for 2. Garvin gets a figure-four and a couple of near-falls, but Flair makes the ropes. Garvin drags him to the middle and tries again, but Flair rakes his eyes. Flair goes for a suplex, but Garvin flips over and gets an O’Connor roll for 2. Flair gets chops, but Garvin hip tosses him out of the corner. Flair buries a boot, but Garvin blocks an attempt to run him to the cage and returns the favor. We’re fifteen minutes in, and Garvin does the cheese grater on the cage with Flair’s forehead. He pulls Flair back in and pounds the cut, but Flair tosses him off and tries to escape over the top of the cage. They duke it out again, this time on the top rope, and Garvin run his head to the top of the cage. Flair falls off and Garvin jumps down and covers him for 2. More cheese grating, then another 2 for Garvin. Jimmy mounts the corner and slugs away, then a big backdrop for 2. He goes for a backdrop, but blows his knee out on the landing. It’s like chum for a shark. Flair systematically dissects it, and we’re 20 minutes in. Ron Garvin comes out to support his brother, and Flair spits at him while mauling Jimmy’s knee. Flair hits a knee crusher, but Jimmy gets a brief flurry of punches. He’s all “My knee, Ronnie, my knee! I don’t quit!” but Flair just annihilates him. Jimmy gets another hope spot, battering Flair with punches and chops, causing Flair to climb the cage, but Garvin can’t follow because of his knee. Flair tries to escape again, and they fight on top. Flair crotches himself, and Garvin gets 2. He tries for the Brainbuster, but collapses, and Flair gets the figure-four. Some idiot fan tries to climb the cage, and security just beats the shit out of him, but the ref stops the match at 25:50, because Garvin passed out from the pain. We saw about fifteen minutes. Flair goes after Precious, but Ron nails him, setting up that program for the fall. This was excellent. ****
1987.07.04
NWA World Tag Team Championship versus U.S. Tag Team Championship:
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, World Tag Team Champions)
Vs
The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, U.S. Tag Team Champions, with Big Bubba Rogers)
Jim Ross compares these two teams to the Lakers and the Celtics, which I suppose was appropriate in 1987. Lane and Gibson do a little back and forth, and Lane winds up on the floor. They try again, and Morton comes in to work an armbar on Lane. He gets an armdrag for 2, but Lane is in the ropes, and Gibson is back in. Eaton tags in, then Morton tags back in. He and Eaton do a test of strength, and Morton literally walks over Eaton’s shoulders then busts out a Hurricanrana! Gibson goes for a headscissors, but Lane clobbers him from behind. He tags in and hits a backbreaker and they isolate Gibson for a bit. Eaton knees him out to the floor, then Lane takes a cheap shot. They do some great double-teaming, but Gibson makes a surprise hot tag to Morton, and all four men fight it out. The R’n’R hit Eaton with the Double Dropkick, but as referee Tommy Young puts Gibson out, Bubba Rogers hits Morton with the Bossman Slam. His hat falls off, and Young sees it and calls for the DQ at 10:00. Good match, but not nearly their best. ** ½
1987.07.31
Miami, FL (Orange Bowl, 16,000)
War Games:
NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering
Vs
NWA World Champion Ric Flair, NWA US Champion Lex Luger, NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and War Machine (Bubba Rogers) (with JJ Dillon and Dark Journey)
Same as the first match, with Dusty and Arn starting, doing most of the same spots. Dusty controls him for most of the first period, getting the figure-four as the coin flip goes. The Horsemen win that, and I notice that Tony Schiavone is doing commentary, but he’s wandering around ringside, so he must have been added in post-production. War Machine is the second man in, and he and Arn pound Dusty. Hawk is the second man for that team, and he hits War Machine with a dropkick. Dusty and Hawk control, obviously, as the formula sticks. Next man for the Horsemen is Flair, and hey, there’s Bill Alfonzo! Everyone filters in, next is Animal, then Blanchard, then Koloff, then Luger is the last one for the Horsemen. Flair hits a low blow, and it’s general chaos as everyone waits around for Ellering to come in with the spiked gauntlet. He runs Flair to the spikes, and the Road Warriors start dismantling War Machine, and after everyone clotheslines him, Animal jams the spikes into his eyes until he submits at 19:38. Awesome match. *****
AWARDS:
Best Match: Either one of the War Games, although I personally prefer the first one. That Garvin-Flair world title match is pretty good, too.
Worst Match: Luger versus Koloff. Holy shit was that bad. What masochist gave them half an hour?
Best performer: Flair. That dude wrestled everyone under the sun for the entire tour and put on great matches night after night.
Worst performer: Rick Steiner. Just for that terrible botch at the end of the match with Windham.
Bottom Line: This is a fun tape to watch. Both War Games matches are spectacular blood bath matches, and the World title match is so much better than I remember. Recommended Show 6/10.
