-11/22/84
-From The Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
-Hosts are Gordon Solie & Bob Caudle
-A laser show gets the crowd pumped.
-Match 1: NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Mike Davis [c] VS Denny Brown
-Earl Hebner is the ref, and that announcement draws some boos. Pretty generic wrestling until Brown falls to the outside, and Davis actually climbs outside to make sure he is okay. Davis then promptly attacks Brown's injured back as soon as they get back into the ring. They work in a couple double-KO spots, despite the match not going for very long. Davis takes Brown down with a belly-to-back suplex, and they do the “guy taking the move lifts his shoulder while the guy giving the move does not” finish, and Brown wins the title. Caudle & Solie are confused as hell, and when they show a replay of the finish, it stops before Brown lifts his shoulder. Very TNA-like. Crowd didn't seem to care a whole lot about this match.
-Tony Schiavone hypes the main event.
-Match 2: “The Japanese Terror” Mr. Ito VS Brian Adias
-Big reactions for the introductions. Adias controls the match. Ito gets a couple strikes, then Adias responds with some very shitty strikes of his own, including possibly the worst knife-edge chop I've ever seen. Adias gets Ito into the Airplane Spin...and that gets the pin. Wow. That knife-edge by Adias makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.
-Match 3: Florida Heavyweight Championship: Jesse Barr [c] VS Mike Graham
-Good mat wrestling early, with Graham controlling until Barr pulls his hair. Barr with lengthy arm holds, and this match dies at that point. No reaction for anything until Graham finally goes back on the offense. Test of strength threatens to kill the match again, but the crowd gets into Graham's struggle to get out of it. Barr steps on the bottom rope to regain the leverage when he gets in trouble, a nifty move I don't think I've seen before. Graham finally gets back into the match, and goes for the Figure 4, but Barr is able to avoid it. Barr takes control with a head lock, and uses hair pulls to keep it on. Graham finally gets the Figure 4 and blocks Barr's attempted hair pulls, but Barr gets into the ropes. Ref is bumped, so he misses a visual fall for Graham. Naturally, Barr manages to get Graham into the corner, and puts his feet on the ropes to retain the title. Match would have been better is Barr's offense wasn't so boring, since he controlled about 85% of the match.
-Video recap of Tully Blanchard, J.J. Dillon, and The Long Riders (Ron Bass & Black Bart) attacking Ricky Steamboat and Dick Slater.
-Replay of the finish to the previous match.
-Match 4: Tag Team Elimination Match: The Zambuie Express (w/Paul Jones) VS The Assassin #1 & Buzz Tyler
-Buzz does a little dance to “The Theme from Footloose” before the introductions. The Express look like Men on a Mission meets Mr. T meets The Truth Commission. Tyler and one of the Express brawl on the outside and get counted out. Assassin collides with the other one, and Tyler pushes Assassin, causing him to fall over and get the pin to win the match. Caudle doesn't seem to understand that the match is over. Did he & Solie not get clued in to the finishes before the show? Too short to really mean anything. Decent heat though.
-Tony interviews Dusty, who is laying against a wall with a jacket draped over him that has DUSTY written on the back in big letters. Dusty wags his finger while he talks, like a parent scolding a child that has been bad.
-Match 5: World Brass Knuckles Championship: Black Bart [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS NWA World Tag Team Champion “The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez
-No actual belt for this match. Today's odd entrance music choice: “Beat It” for Raging Bull, although seeing the ref kind of move a little bit while waiting for Bull to come out was pretty funny. No brass knuckles to be found either, just taped fists, which the announcers do note are bare underneath them. Match is no-DQ. Big difference between this match and the others so far in that it's all striking, mainly punches. Bart busts Bull open for the first color of the night. Bull quickly returns the favor. Bart turns the tide with a low blow. Bart grabs his rope from JJ, ostensibly to do something dastardly, but gets rolled up and pinned by Bull for the title. To quote Ace Ventura: “Alrighty then...”
-7 Minute Intermission Time!
-Replay of the finish from last year's main event.
-Tony is ready to interview Ricky Steamboat, but the scene promptly cuts back to Solie & Caudle before Tony can finish the intro of Steamboat.
-Back to Tony and Ricky. Ricky is mildly perturbed about the attack on him from a few days ago, plus other shenanigans from the past year. He is putting up $10K in his TV Title match against Tully Blanchard tonight, and Tully can lose his title on a DQ or if he runs away. Ricky goes so far as to call Tully a “yellow-bellied coward”. Don't get too worked up there Ricky.
-Caudle & Solie buy time recapping the stipulations for Steamboat/Blanchard.
-Tony is now with Tully & JJ, who deny trying to injure Steamboat before the match tonight. Tully talks about “carrying” Steamboat to time limit draws, and has something in his teeth I can't quite make out.
-Match 6: Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight: Paul Jones (w/one of the Zambuie Express) VS Jimmy Valiant (w/Assassin #1)
-Valiant throws the ring announcer off guard by giving him a kiss during Valiant's entrance. Valiant ties Jones to the top rope right off the bat. Valiant quickly strips Jones down to his shoes and underwear. Jones is busted open and is put out by a sleeper, but Jones' second distracts the ref. Valiant hits the ref, allowing JJ to run in and nail Valiant, which in turn allows Jones to crawl on top for the pin. That's literally all there is to this match, but that's all there should have been.
-Tony interviews Ric Flair, who is a lot more like I remember him to be at this point, a lot more cocky, but he doesn't seem to be 100% heel at this point.
-Match 7: Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship: Ron Bass [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS Dick Slater
-Bass is also one-half of the Mid-Atlantic tag team champions at this point. Odd seeing Slater as a babyface, and I'm guessing it doesn't last long. Slater stupidly keeps going after JJ. Slater keeps Bass off-balance early. Slater works in the “I'm caught in between the ropes, so every time I get hit, I have no choice but to bounce right back up” spot. Bass peppers Slater with punches, and Slater's “I'm getting fired up” move is walking around the ring, looking like a chicken. Slater tosses the ref aside and no-sells JJ's interference. Slater has a chance for the pin, but the ref DQ's Slater for tossing him down earlier. This was OK when Slater was in control, but boring when Bass was working him over, as pretty much all he had was punches.
-The national anthem is played. Why didn't they do this at the beginning of the show, like normal people?
-Another laser show kills more time.
-Match 8: Keith Larson & Ole Anderson (w/Don Kernodle) VS The Russians
-Larson is the brother of Kernodle. The Russians are the Koloffs. Well this gives some reason for the national anthem to be played when it was. Big heat for the Russians. I think this is my first look at Ole as a face. The faces bum rush the Russians at the bell. Larson controls Ivan early. Old works over Ivan's arm. Ivan just cannot get any offense in for a long while. Ivan finally gets the tag to Nikita, who comes in and dominates Ole. Nikita with a lengthy bear hug on Ole. Ole breaks free, but Nikita tags Ivan, who finally is able to get some offense in. Back to Nikita and the bear hug. Ole and Nikita very clearly talk over the next spot while in the hold. Hot tag is made to Larson. Larson misses a dropkick to turn the tide again. Nikita knocks Kernodle down on the outside. Ivan whacks Larson with a chain for the pin, which the announcers miss. The Russians have Larson set up for a Demolition Decapitation using the chain, but Kernodle makes the save with his crutch. If this wasn't the longest match of the show so far, it certainly seemed like it.
-Seriously, did someone forget to tell Solie & Caudle what the finishes were? They don't even acknowledge the pin from the last match.
-Match 9: NWA Television Championship $10,000 Challenge: Tully Blanchard [c] VS Ricky Steamboat
-Tully can lose the title on a DQ, or an intentional count out. Both men have also put up $10K, winner takes all. Strike exchange is won by Steamboat. Tully goes to work on Steamboat's injured back and ribs. Steamboat counters by working over Tully's head and neck. They circle each other, and Tully ups the ante by spitting in Steamboat's face. Steamboat has had enough of this...poop, and really goes after Tully. Steamboat gets a really good spray of spit into Tully's face. Big time “screw you” from Steamboat, as he gives Tully a slingshot suplex, but that only gets two. Tully is busted upon, possibly hard way from the chops to the head. Tully catches Steamboat with an international object, but can't get the pin. Steamboat tries a sunset flip, so Tully pulls the object out of his tights and nails Steamboat in the forehead for the pin. How the hell did Tommy Young miss that? Best match of the show so far by miles, as they actually worked at a pace faster than neutral.
-The heels have won four in a row, and are now 6-2 for the night (I think the opener was a babyface match).
-Match 10: NWA United States Championship: “Chief” Wahoo McDaniel [c] VS “Superstar” Billy Graham
-Graham comes out to “Kung Fu Fighting”. The face/heel alignment is backward from what I would have thought it would be, with McDaniel as the heel, and Graham as the face. McDaniel controls early, until Graham gets his Full Nelson on, forcing Wahoo to get to the ropes. I don't know about you, but when I think of Kung Fu, I think of Full Nelsons. Wahoo gets a quick pin off a chop. You don't see that finish everyday. Not much to this one. Graham complains that Wahoo pulled his trunks, but it wasn't even close. The heels have now won 5 in a row.
-Tony is with the judges for the main event. Joe Frazier will be a judge and the guest referee. Kyle Petty is also a judge. I know that if I was wrestling for a world title, I would want 2 of the 3 judges to have never actually wrestled before.
-Solie & Caudle try to send it to the ring, but they're not ready yet. Their reaction is pretty funny. Dusty's entrance music hits, but the camera is still on the announcers, so they sit there awkwardly for a moment before Solie starts talking about the match again. There's a pyro blast, but they don't know who or what it's for. Dusty FINALLY comes out to the strands of “Purple Rain”.
-Match 11: NWA World Heavyweight Championship $1,000,000 Challenge: Ric Flair [c] VS Dusty Rhodes (special guest referee “Smoking” Joe Frazier)
-There's some spotlights for Flair's entrance, but the whole thing gets messed up. Flair comes out to a song about how hard it is to be humble when you're perfect. Flair gets a stronger face reaction than Dusty, including a loud “We Want Flair!” chant during an awkward pause in his entrance. Mixed reaction for Dusty during the ring announcements. Flair then gets some boos during his as well. They go back-and-forth for a bit, before Flair misses a knee drop, and Dusty follows up with a Figure 4. Flair takes a big flip in the corner off an Irish Whip and falls to the outside. Flair fights back and goes up top, and you should know how that worked out for him. Dusty gets posted on the outside, and blades off of that. Frazier keeps looking at the cut, and Flair pounds on it every chance he gets. The match is stopped because of the cut, and Flair retains. Way too short to mean anything. Dusty wants a piece of Frazier, but is held back. I would have been pissed had I bought a ticket and got that for a main event.
-Flair isn't happy about how it happened, but he is thankful for walking out with the World title and the million dollar check.
-Dusty is PISSED. “Flair, if you call that a victory, then you better go home and kiss your momma!”.
-A really strange show with short matches, a lot of fuck finishes, and awkwardness with the presentation. Anyone have any insight on the reaction to this show as it happened? I can't imagine it was that great, especially with the fans not having a whole lot to cheer for throughout the night, especially after the intermission.
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