-7/10/88
-From the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD
-Hosts are Tony Schiavone & Jim Ross
-Match 1: NWA World Tag Team Championship: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS Sting & Nikita Koloff
-Hot start for the challengers, and Sting almost pins Tully with a small package right off the bat. Sting dives over the top onto AA to a HUGE pop. Arn reverses a Nikita whip and stops to congratulate himself, allowing Koloff to clothesline him, then Tully. Match is clipped to Sting taking Tully down with an armdrag. Nikita forces Tully's shoulders down for several two counts, but can't pin him. After Tully misses a charge in the corner, the challengers work on his arm, including faking a tag while Arn has the ref distracted. Match is clipped again to the champions working over Nikita. Arn goes up, and flops right onto Arn's knees. Tags are made, and Sting takes over on Tully before hitting a huge bulldog on Arn. Sting gets the Stinger Splash, then the Scorpion Deathlock on Tully, but the time limit expires, and the champions retain. Match was clipped way too much to really be able to give an opinion on it. I didn't like the finish though, they did that way too often for it to be effective.
-Match 2: NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Fantastics [c] VS The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette)
-Stan Lane introduces Cornette as "the man who sold Mike Tyson his first workout video". This could be good. This is titles VS ten lashes, with Cornette placed in a straightjacket and locked in a cage that is hund over the ring. Cornette trying to bribe the ref as he's being placed in the straightjacket is awesome. This match is also heavily edited, pretty much going right to the finishing stretch, as Bobby Eaton KO's Fulton for the pin and the titles, to a big pop. The Fantastics protest, but the chain is in Fulton's tights, as Eaton placed it there while pinning him. The Fantastics get a hold of Cornette and give him lashes anyway. Jim Cornette getting prepared pre-match was longer than the portion of the actual match that was shown.
-Match 3: The Tower of Doom: Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda, Al Perez, The Russian Assassin, & Ivan Koloff VS The Garvins, The Road Warriors, & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
-The Tower is three levels, with each getting smaller as they go up. 2 men will start, and every two minutes, another man will enter. The first team to completely escape the Tower (fighting from top to bottom) will win, and Precious is standing in the ring with the key to the bottom cage, so she basically will determine who wins. The heels enter to an instrumental version of "Hooray for Mr. Touchdown", so I have Revenge of the Nerds flashbacks. Ronnie & Ivan start. The top cage is too small for them to do anything but trade blows. The trap door to go to the 2nd floor is only supposed to be open for 10 seconds, but Tommy Young can't get it open, and it takes Ronnie forever to get through it. Dr. Death and Rotunda enter, and because Garvin left the top cage my himself, it leaves Williams stuck 2-on-1. Animal and Perez enter next, and Animal helps Dr. Death make it to the 2nd level. Ivan gets out too, leaving Animal stuck 2-on-1 on the top level. Ronnie gets to the bottom level and out when Precious lets him out. Animal gets some offense in before falling to the numbers game while Williams works over Koloff. Animal & Perez make it to the 2nd level, making that 2-on-2, while Hawk and the Assassin enter, and the heels keep their 2-on-1 advantage on the top cage.
-The final period starts. Perez and Animal make it to the bottom and out. Jimmy Garvin is at the top cage with Sullivan and Rotunda, who just cannot make it down. Rotunda finally makes it to the 2nd level. Koloff, The Assassin, and Hawk make it to the bottom level. Hawk manages to escape, and the Russians follow. Dr. Death makes it down and out, leaving Jimmy Garvin in the 2nd level with Rotunda and Sullivan. Rotunda makes it down and out. Sullivan tries to make it out, but Garvin stops him. Jimmy tries to incapacitate Sullivan with the SPINNING TOE HOLD OF MILD DISCOMFORT. It doesn't work, and they both make it to the bottom level. Sullivan goes for Precious, who kicks him away. Jimmy gets the brainbuster, and after some struggle with the lock, gets out when Sullivan accidentally pushes him out.
-Sullivan locks the door, leaving him alone with Precious, forcing the babyfaces to climb back into and through the Tower to save her. Sullivan chokes Precious with something until Hawk makes the save. The match itself may have seemed like a great idea, but it ended up being like the WonkaVision, illogical and completely unneccessary. The whole point of the match seemed to be Precious turning on Jimmy, and that didn't happen. The best part was the post-match drama, with the faces having to through the Tower to save Precious from Sullivan.
-Match 4: NWA Television Championship: Mike Rotunda [c] (w/Kevin Sullivan) VS Sting
-This is from the Greensboro, NC stop on the tour. This doesn't go long before Sullivan and Rick Steiner try to interfere. Sting handles everyone, and the DQ is not called for, because Sting was never actually struck by anyone interfering. Sting controls the match until Rotunda manages to send him outside. Sullivan attacks Sting with a metal bar, and Steiner adds a cheapshot of his own. Rotunda keeps control with headlocks. Sting takes control and has Rotunda set for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Steiner runs in, and this time Tommy Young wastes no time in calling for the DQ. Nothing match. Don't know why this was included.
-Match 5: NWA United States Championship: Barry Windham [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS Dusty Rhodes
-We are back in Baltimore. Dusty controls early, and hits his SHITTY ASS FUCKING DDT. That move is annoying me more everytime I see it. Barry takes a walk, but Dusty keeps breaking the count. Dusty bounces around and pops Windham with several right hands, sending Windham to the outside. Dusty keeps the pressure on, laying Windham out with a clothesline on the floor. Windham comes back finally. They fight over a slingshot, and Dusty sends Windham over the top, to the floor. This does not draw a DQ. JJ distracts Dusty, allowing Windham to retake control. Windham gets the claw, but cannot keep Dusty down.
-Great spot as Dusty climbs up to the top while still locked in the Claw. He prepares to drop a big elbow, but simply does not have the energy, and he falls back down. Dusty fights out, and tries for a Figure 4, but Windham counters with the Claw. Windham gets Dusty set up for a superplex, but Dusty pushes him down, wiping out Tommy Young in the process. Dusty gets the Big Fat Elbow, but Young is still out. Ronnie Garvin rushes out...and nails Dusty with the Hands of Stone, to the shock of everyone. Dusty is out, and Windham applies the Claw for the pin to retain. Match was hot until the extended Claw sequences, but that was quite a swerve with the Ronnie Garvin turn.
-Backstage, Garvin receives a briefcase full of money, and apparently aligns himself with Gary Hart. I am guessing there was a bounty on Dusty at this point.
-Match 6: NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS Lex Luger
-Crowd just HATES Flair. Lex, of course, controls the early going. His smile after a Flair chop made me legit LOL. Flair sells a Gorilla Press like it killed him, rolling outside and falling over the guardrail. Cute bit as Flair calls Tommy Young outside to abuse him, only for Young to shove him back, then bail into the ring and hide behind Lex. Luger works on Flair's back, locking in a bear hug. Flair fights back, but Luger comes back with a flying clothesline for a near-fall. Flair tries going up top, and Luger shakes the ropes until Flair falls, crotching himself on the top rope. Flair finally seizes an opening and goes after Luger's knee. Flair gets the Figure 4, but has to release it when Luger almost turns it over. Some more back and forth, with Lex taking complete control at the twenty minute mark. Flair dives at Luger, and it takes forever for them to fall over the top to the floor. Flair screams bloody murder about his leg. Flair, then JJ ram Luger's head into the ringpost, busting him open.
-The announcers note that the Maryland State Athletic Commission commissioner is calling Tommy Young over. Lex's wound stops bleeding almost right away, which proves to be a huge problem. Lex gets Flair in the Torture Rack, and the crowd LOSES THEIR SHIT when it looks like Lex has won the title. However, the match was stopped because of the cut, and Flair retains. That was much, much worse than the finish to the Starrcade '84 main event. What was with Dusty and his apparent need to royally piss everyone off at least once per big event?
-Nothing particularly special here. The first two matches are clipped too badly to pass judgement on (especially the second). The Tower of Doom is ridiculous, and the bonus TV title match is on here for no apparent reason. The Ronnie Garvin turn was a nice surprise, but the finish of the main event completely ruins a decent match and a big moment that the crowd was just dying for.
No comments:
Post a Comment