-2/20/89
-From the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL
-Hosts are Jim Ross & Magnum T.A.
-Match 1: Russian Assassin #1 (w/Paul Jones) VS Michael Hayes
-Match is clipped to RA working Hayes over with a rope burn and a rear chinlock. Hayes fights back with a crossbody, but eats a clothesline for two. After some more boring offense from RA, Hayes fights back and tries a bulldog, but gets thrown off by RA. More boredom until RA lowers his head early and takes a DDT for the pin. Match was boring enough clipped to about 6 minutes, must have been terrible at 15 1/2.
-Match 2: Butch Reed (w/Hiro Matsuda) VS Sting
-Pretty slow start. Sting gets tired of Reed falsely claiming that Sting is cheating, so while he has him in an arm wringer, Sting bites Reed's hand, which JR misses. Reed takes over after throwing Sting to the outside. Reed locks in a rear chinlock for way too damned long before Sting finally breaks it. Sting tries what would end up being names a Vader Bomb, but Reed gets his knees up. Reed misses a flying clothesline, and awkwardly stumbles out of the ring. Sting gets two off a suplex, but Reed takes over again. Reed locks in another rear chinlock. Sting gets out of it with a jawbreaker. Sting gets FIRED UP. Reed blocks a sunset flip and twice tries to use the ropes to get the pin, but both times Teddy Long breaks Reed's grip on the ropes, and that allows Sting to finish the move for the pin. Looks like they really wanted to keep Reed strong by having him dominate and not take a really definitive pin, but Reed sucks, and so this match sucked.
-Match 3: Loser of the Fall Leaves NWA: The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette VS Randy Rose, Jack Victory, & Paul E. Dangerously
-Dennis Condrey was supposed to be in this match, but from what I've read, quit before the show, so he's replaced by Victory. Lane goes at it with Rose for a bit before Victory is tagged in. The Midnights hit a drop toe hold/elbow drop combo, and Cornette add an elbow drop of his own to a big pop. Rose sets Lane up for a slap from Paul E, but Paul doesn't watch what he's doing, and you can figure out what happens. Eaton punches Rose out of the ring, but Rose walks around, sucker punches Eaton in the stomach, then rocket launces him off the apron into the guardrail. Paul gets a couple stomps in, but bails and tags Rose when Eaton almost clocks him. Cornette wants Paul, but he waits until Rose lays Cornette out with a bodyslam before getting into the ring. Paul beats on Jim, but stops to pose, and gets popped by Jim a couple times before tagging out. Lane becomes the face-in-peril, but the crowd is more interested in chanting "Paul E. Sucks" than anything. Lane fights back, and Eaton nails Rose with a Missile Dropkick. Cornette lays waste to Dangerously until Rose makes the save. The match breaks down, and the Midnights hit a two-man flapjack on Rose, allowing Lane to get the pin. Match was the best so far by miles, but Condrey being absent hurt the suspense.
-NWA TV Champion Rick Steiner is ready to defend the TV title against Mike Rotunda. Rick had a surprise; his brother Scott. Scott explains that Rick is the way he is because of an accident. Rick says he has "Alex" (a face drawn on Rick's hand) with him, because sometimes he forgets things.
-Match 4: NWA World Television Championship: Rick Steiner [c] (w/Scott Steiner) VS Mike Rotunda (w/Kevin Sullivan)
-Rotunda outwrestles Rick early, but gets frustrated when Rick counters. Match is clipped to Rotunda getting out of a headlock, but taking a big clothesline. Match is clipped again to Rotunda insincerely offering a handshake. Rotunda locks in an abdominal stretch and uses the ropes for leverage , until he gets caught by Teddy Long. Match is nothing special, at least from what is shown. Steiner looks like he's starting to build momentum when Kevin Sullivan gets on the house mic and implies something bad is about to happen to Rick's dog Spike. This doesn't end up playing into the finish, as Rick puts Rotunda to sleep, but because of the position they're in, Rick ends up pinning himself to give Rotunda the title. Finish played to Rick's lack of intelligience, if nothing else.
-Match 5: NWA United States Championship: Barry Windham [c](w/Hiro Matsuda) VS Lex Luger
-Luger gets a sleeper on right away, but Windham counters with a belly-to-back suplex. This doesn't really affect Luger, who dominates the early going. Luger goes for a flying shoulderblock off the top, but Windham ducks out of the way, and Luger goes all the way outside the ring. Windham pounds away on Luger, but once they go to the outside, Windham accidentally punches the ringpost with his claw hand. Windham ends up locking the claw in, but because of Windham's injury, it is ineffective and Luger is able to break it. Windham still manages to stay on the offensive, even hitting a superplex for a big pop. Windham gets a German suplex, but Luger rolls his shoulder up while Windham does not, so Luger gets the pin for the title. Match was shockingly short and one-sided in Windham's favor, and I am glad that finish has pretty much disappeared.
-Match 6: NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors [c] (w/Paul Ellering) VS Steve Williams & Kevin Sullivan
-LOD are over huge in their hometown. They outbrawl Dr. Death, until Animal is sent to the outside, and Sullivan nails him with a chair. Dr. Death breaks out a flying leg lariat! Animal is face-in-peril for a little bit. Tags are made on both sides, and Hawk massacres Sullivan until Dr. Death makes a save. LOD get Sullivan in position for the Doomsday Device, but Dr. Death breaks that up. Hawk nails a flying clothesline on Sullivan anyway. Hawk pins Sullivan while Williams pins Animal, but since Hawk & Sullivan are legal, the champions retain. Was hoping for something more chaotic, so this was disappointing. Another surprisingly short match. My guess is they wanted to give as much time as they could to...
-Match 7: NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair [c] (w/Hiro Matsuda and some ladies) VS Ricky Steamboat
-Trumpet players harold Flair's arrival before Flair's music kicks in. What can I say? It's Flair VS Steamboat. They wrestle and beat the shit out of each other, and the crowd LOVES it. Flair actually gets the crossbody from the top, but Steamboat rolls through for a near-fall. Flair doesn't bother with any legwork, quickly locking on the figure 4 at the first opportunity. Steamboat doesn't give in, and Tommy Young eventually catches Flair using the ropes, so he breaks the hold. Steamboat fires up as JR loses his shit. Steamboat stops selling the leg to leap off the top a few times. Steamboat gets the crossbody, but they fall into Tommy Young for a ridiculous ref KO. Flair tries the Figure 4, but Steamboat counters with a small package, and Teddy Long counts the pin to give Steamboat the title. A good start to the series, not the best match out of them, but that's a ridiculously high bar to clear. It seemed like the crowd was waiting for some kind of Dusty finish when Tommy Young got up, and they exploded even more when Young also raised Steamboat's hand.
-Bob Caudle interviews the new champion in the lockerroom. Steamboat can't open his eyes until the end because he got whatever he was drinking poured over his head.
-Not a great show by any means, as the undercard was either bad or disappointing. The main event is really good, but the two would have better matches later on.
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