-9/5/90
-From Asheville, NC
-Hosts are JR & Bob Caudle
-Match 1: The Fabulous Freebirds (w/Buddy Lee/Jack Roberts) VS The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (Bullet Bob Armstrong)
-This was supposed to be a six man, and Chapetta announces it as such, but JR points out that Roberts is injured, so it's a regular tag match. JR also refers to Roberts as both Buddy Lee and Buddy Jack. Both teams love themselves some stars and bars. Freebirds go the full nine with face paint.
Smothers drops Garvin with a superkick. Freebirds double-team Smothers, who leads them into a cross-body from Armstrong, and the 'Boys try to double-pin Garvin. Smothers takes a beautiful bump off a Hayes bulldog, which gets two. Hayes locks in a rear chinlock as Smothers blatantly relays the next spots to him. Garvin gets in, but Smothers catches him going up top with a slam. Smothers makes a diving tag, and Armstrong cleans house.
Roberts provides a distraction, which allows Hayes to roll up Armstrong. The ref is not looking, so Bullet Bob nails Hayes, and Armstrong gets two off that. Roberts tries to through an international object to the Freebirds, but Roberts' throw is Mark Sanchez-esque, and the 'Boys hit stereo sunset flips for a double pin as the Freebirds look for the object. Freebirds attack after the bell, and lay out Bullet Bob with a double DDT. Decent opener.
-Tony Schiavone is with the NEW U.S. Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers. Scott stumbles over his lines (shocking, I know). No one knows anything about the Steiner's opponents Maximum Overdrive. Rick mumbles something about wrestling bums while trying to get another world title shot against Doom.
-Match 2: Buddy Landell VS Mike Rotunda (w/Sydney Anderson)
-Sydney won a Burger King contest to get her spot as Rotunda's valet. Landell has Skid Row on his shoulder. Basic wrestling. Landell locks in the always-excting ropes-assisted abdominal stretch. Landell goes up top, but gets caught with a punch on the way down. Rotunda drops a leg for two. Rotunda pins Landell with a backslide. This was a lesson in how to get paid for a match without actually doing anything.
-Tony is with the Freebirds. Roberts says General Robert E. Lee is telling them to get rid of the Southern Boys. Hayes introduces a video of The Freebirds going to Hollywood. They get mobbed by a small group of fans at the Holiday Inn, dance with the Hollywood sign in the background, and get hot dogs.
-Match 3: Tim Horner & Brad Armstrong VS The Master Blasters (Kevin Nash as Steele, Corey Pendarvis as Iron)
-Nash has an orange mohawk. This is the Blasters' debut. Both Blasters are so tanned they're almost black, and covered with "soot". Blasters demolish Horner, and the crowd is not impressed. Armstrong gets in, and takes a powerslam from Nash for two. Iron loves to use the flying shoulderblock. Horner gets back in, and is quickly finished with a double shoulderblock. NOT. GOOD.
-Tony is with Brian Pillman. Pillman has no idea who the Black Scorpion is. Pillman will be the first man to run the Gauntlet. To run the Gauntlet, a wrestler draws three names, and he will wrestle those guys on the WCW Friday-Sunday shows. The the man running the Gauntlet makes it all the way through undefeated, he wins $15,000. If he loses one of the matches, the three opponents split $15,000. Not a bad concept, actually.
-Missy Hyatt introduces Ric Flair as "the Greatest World Champion of ever". Flair does his usual.
-Match 4: The Nasty Boys VS Jackie Fulton & Terry Taylor
-Fulton uses his speed advantage. Taylor hits Knobbs with a neckbreaker for two. Faces control the first few minutes until it's time for Taylor to play the face-in-peril. Knobbs hits a splash in the corner for two. Taylor makes the tag after the Nastys run into each other. Fulton hits Knobbs with a bridges German suplex for two, as Sags breaks it up. Knobbs catches a flying Fulton with a powerslam, and Sags finishes with a flying elbow. Taylor tries to get a measure of revenge after the bell. Bad match, good finish.
-Tony Schiavone interviews Sid. Sid wants a shot at Sting.
-Match 5: Bill Irwin VS Tommy Rich
-Irwin cracks a whip, and gets booed out of the building. Irwin hits a nice high knee. Rich tosses Irwin over the top, but does not get DQ'd. They go back-in-forth with nothing particularly exciting happening, until Rich slickly counters a tilt-a-whirl into a sleeper. Rich ends it soon after with the Thesz Press. I can't get over that being a finisher.
-NWA TOP 10 RANKINGS:
10. Buddy Landell (WTF?)
9. Tommy Rich
8. JYD
7. Brian Pillman
6. Stan Hansen
5. Sid Vicious
4. Barry Windham
3. Arn Anderson
2. Ric Flair
1. Lex Luger
Ok, did anyone see Rich or Landell ever getting a world title shot?
-TOP TEN TAG TEAMS:
10. Rotunda & Horner
9. JYD & El Gigante
8. Pillman & Zenk
7. Samoan Swat Team
6. Fabulous Freebirds
5. Southern Boys
4. Midnight Express
3. The Horsemen
2. Rock and Roll Express
1. Steiner Brothers
Were the bottom three teams even still together at this point?
-Tony is with Stan Hansen. Hansen has chew in his mouth, and dripping all over him. Hansen is pissed that he's only ranked sixth.
-Match 6: LPWA Women's World Championship: Susan Sexton [c] VS Bambi
-Well, you can't say either were hired for their looks. JR & Bob ignore the match for a bit to talk about hiring kids to get a free Sting watch at the next Atlanta show. Caudle chides JR, saying the winner gets a dinner date with him. They're trying, but the crowd couldn't care less. Bambi gets a nice cradle for two. Sexton hits a nice springboard into a flying forearm. Bambi gets a small package for two, but Sexton reverses it for the pin. Biggest reaction was Sexton getting booed during the introductions, despite them both apparently being babyfaces. This reminded me of when the WWF tried having midget matches on PPV in 1997-early 98.
-Match 7: NWA United States Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers VS Maximum Overdrive (Jeff Warner & Tim Hunt)
-The heels should have had Emilio Estevez as a manager. I have no idea which member of MO is which. Steiners toss MO around for a little bit. Rick actually sells a couple moves, before going back to beating on his opponents. Scott hits a DDT from the top, and Rick gets the pin. Quick squash, which it should have been.
-Match 8: Stan Hansen VS Tom Zenk
-Zenk gets a loud, high-pitched reaction. Not liking Z-Man's chances. Hansen immediately roughs Zenk up on the outside. As Hansen pounds on Zenk, they show Tony in the back with Luger, and they intercut Luger accepting Hansen's challenge (should Luger get by Flair) while Hansen continues to demolish Zenk. Zenk hits a couple dropkicks. Hansen finishes with the lariat in short order, as JR credits Hansen with inventing the clothesline/lariat. Needed more murder of Zenk.
-Match 9 for the NWA United States Championship: Lex Luger [c] VS Ric Flair
-Luger no-sells some chops, and clotheslines Flair to the outside, before hitting another clothesline on the floor. Luger hits a big Gorilla Press, but misses an elbow drop. Flair fakes a shoulder injury to gain the advantage. Flair has fun whipping Luger into the guardrail. Flair really works Luger over on the outside, as the ref doesn't even consider counting both men out. Luger finally gets tired of getting beat on and lands a series of punches before getting poked in the eye.
Luger gets a backslide for two. Luger decides it's time to start no-selling again. Luger hits a big clothesline for two. Luger hits a Gorilla Press for two. Luger hits a powerslam and calls for the Rack. Luger hits a superplex for two. They tumble outside, and when Luger gets back in, he is blitzed by Stan Hansen, drawing a DQ. Match was usual Flair/Luger, elevated by a really hot crowd. I was wondering if either man would actually job in this match.
-Hansen chokes Luger with his rope, and spits all over him.
-The Black Scorpion says he'll reveal who he is if Sting wins tonight.
-Match 10 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting [c] VS The Black Scorpion
-ProWrestlingHistory.Com has Al Perez playing the Scorpion on this show. Scorpion is all nondescript jobber offense. Sting tries to unmask the Scorpion, but he can't do it. Scorpion wears Sting down as JR & Bob put the NWA title as tracing back to 1905. Sting finishes out of nowhere with the Stinger Splash. Crowd was into it, but this match S-U-C-K-E-D!
-Sting rips off the Scorpion's mask...to reveal another mask. Sting dispatches the man he was wrestling as another Black Scorpion makes his way onto the ramp for a staredown. Sting is sufficiently bewildered, and Nick Patrick holds him back from going after the other Black Scorpion.
-JR interviews Sting. JR makes it clear that the second Scorpion is the real one. It's implied that the Scorpion is someone Sting trained with. Sid Vicious jumps in to challenge Sting. Sting makes the mistake of brushing Sid off, and gets jumped on the ramp for his troubles. Sid makes it known that he rules the world.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: Nothing to see here. Some bad matches, and the decent ones are matchups you can see elsewhere.
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