NWA World Championship Wrestling 4/30/88
- We open the show with PTB Homeboy, JJ Dillon…he talks about all the changes he has seen throughout his career, but through them all, the Horsemen dominate and set the trend…and he officially announces the signing of Barry Windham to complete the group…Blanchard & Anderson are tag champs once again and with Ric Flair holding the big gold, that just leaves the vacant US title for Windham to bring home…good stuff as usual with JJ
- The opening animation brings us into the studio where Schiavone, Ross & Crockett welcome us…Tony has a sports coat on that would make a movie theatre usher jealous…they talk about the fallout from Windham’s defection last week and Ross congratules Luger & Sting for winning the Crockett Cup…David congratulates the Fantastics on winning the US tag titles…lots of changes over the past week I see…Tony sends us to our opener
- Al Perez vs. George South…Tony talks about the impeding US title tournament and considers Perez to be a favorite…the tourney is on May 13 in Houston…Gary Hart is with Perez, of course…South has hella impressive 80’s hair…Ross thinks Perez would love to take out Nikita Koloff in the tournament en route to wining it…Perez hits a nice German for a near fall as we get more Windham talk…Teddy Long is the referee as usual…Perez works the arm as the announcers continue to push him as a tourney favorite…South misses a charge and eats a huge right hand…Perez follows with a spinning crucifix bomb and a leaping kneedrop…Perez looking good this week and is getting a lot of time to show off his offense…he cracks South with a forearm and finishes him off with the spinning toehold…solid opening squash
- Crockett is with Perez and Hart and they talk about the tournament, selling the card for all in the Houston area to come down and check it out…nice work by Hart there…he says the Latin community in their home area will come out and support Perez on 5/13…after a quick comment by Perez, Hart rags on the Midnight Rider and promises to dive off the Astrodome if the Rider isn’t Dusty Rhodes…he calls out Nikita and wraps up…hard sell there
- Back from break, Ross & Tony talk about Windham’s turn, taking us to highlights from the closing moments of last week’s show…we actually get a big chunk of the match into the finish…Tony is now with JJ, who says none of this is really a shock…Flair made it clear at the end of 1987 that Windham was the best choice to fill the Horsemen void but everyone was in disbelief and never thought it would happen…JJ then made it happen, hitting on three points…he was able to prey on Barry feeling like he was in Dusty’s shadow, he was able to push the idea of money, endorsements and appearances and finally, he convinced Barry that Luger has his priorities mixed up and that would cost Barry at some point because he would let him down when he needed him the most…excellent stuff from JJ as always…we head to break, but Tony tells us Windham will join them when we return
- And we are back with Tony, JJ and Barry, who emerges to some great heat…he congratulates Tully & Arn…he craps on Lex always taking the glory from their successes…Lex will always be left laying on the mat as Barry continues to climb the ladder…he has done everything for Lex but everything Luger has will be Barry’s…and we get more Rider talk as JJ talks about having trouble locking in the proof to rid NWA of Dusty…Windham produces the Rider’s mask as we check the clips from last week when the Rider barged into the Horsemen dressing room and was beaten down and demasked…after the clip, Tully & Arn join the party and they all trash Dusty…Arn has some interesting shades on, they barely fit his face…Barry is heated ripping on Dusty and Lex…Tully welcomes Barry to the elite group and now he is talking about Dusty…Barry wants the US title and now Arn is talking, but I am too mesmerized by his sunglasses to hear what he is saying…he finally takes them off and, oh, he is talking about Dusty…this is a bit much now…Barry fit right in immediately…outside of all the Dusty stuff, that was fun to watch as always…time for another break
- Ivan Koloff vs. Larry Davis…Larry has Jeff Garlin in his corner and is looking pretty, pretty good…Ivan with Paul Jones as usual…Ivan is still a beast even at this age, one of my favorite heels of the era…he tosses Davis all around the ring with abandon…Teddy still the ref here…we will hear from Lex coming up in a bit…Koloff chokes away as Ross pimps tonight’s card in Detroit…Davis has gotten zero offense here as Koloff is just pounding him into dust…Jones looks like he is working the Vegas Strip after this show…Davis tries to charge but eats a boot followed by a clothesline off the middle rope and that is all she wrote…dosvedanya, Larry Davis…get back to work on your car periscope
- Crockett is at the desk and he sends us to Tony, who is with Lex…we see the video again as Lex gives his thoughts over it…he kind of mumbles and stumbles through it, but I will give him a pass due to the double cross of his pal…I think this segment has aired in full on this show three times since it first happened…Lex basically had no idea what was happening at the time since he was so out of it from the match…Lex warns Barry that the Horsemen are not his friends and he vows to make Barry pay…finished strong after a shaky start
- Sheepherders vs. Angel & Stevens…new flag bearer Rip Morgan is with the Sheepherders and Ross tells us that he is the nephew of Luke & Butch…they salute the New Zealand flag as the fans chant “USA” to continue this bitter feud between these countries…Ross likes their patriotism…Luke starts hot as Ross plugs tomorrow night’s Main Event show, which will see the Sheepherders & Morgan battle former flag bearer Johnny Ace, Ricky Santana and Kendall Windham…that is a main event anywhere in the country for sure…Angel finally makes the tag but it doesn’t matter as Butch just keeps clubbing away…Ross puts over their unique style or methodical offense, aimed to frustrate and annoy opponents…they land the double gutbuster and pick up the win…Ross says the Sheepherders may have issues with Horner & Armstrong on the way…time for break
- When we return, Crockett is with Jim Cornette…he is not happy about the Fantastics violating all laws and stealing the US tag titles from the MXE…now we get clips of the title change as Cornette narrates…he even comments on his own facial expressions, which is great…once again they are showing us a good portion of the match…fans went wild when the Fantastic won…Cornette claims Eaton was not the legal man in the ring and therefore the change should not stand…back in studio, Cornette calls that change a fiasco and his mother is bringing the video tape to Jim Crockett and the Board of Directors…next week, we will have a decision…Cornette’s mom was set to throw the MXE a big anniversary party next year, as it would be one year since they first won the titles…Cornette expects to have the belts back to the MXE next week and the party will go on as planned…and David is not invited to the party, of course…vintage Cornette, but you knew that already
- Jimmy Garvin vs. Alan Martin…Precious is with Jimmy and Teddy Long is in the ring as well…still lots more to come tonight…Garvin stomps and kicks away as Ross talks about the Rider yet again…Garvin works a front chancery as Tony talks about Garvin’s big Prince of Darkness Death Match against Kevin Sullivan that went down during the Crockett Cup…Ross pimps tomorrow big Main Event show, which will see Sting & Luger face Flair & Anderson…Jimmy hits the brainbuster and gets the easy win
- Crockett joins Jimmy & Precious at ringside…they are in shock and disgusted about Barry Windham’s actions…he then moves on to his problems with Sullivan…lots of fire, calling out Sullivan for talking trash…Precious will always be his woman…he has a film of his own to show…the clip is from the Death Match, which was won by Jimmy…after the bout, Rick Steiner assaulted Jimmy, leading to a save by his bro, Ronnie…Rotunda got involved, leading to Sullivan ramming the golden spike into the chest of Ronnie…the Varsity Club tried to get Precious but some wrestlers broke that up…Ronnie was seriously injured by that attack
- Rotunda & Steiner vs. Cruze & Bellamy…Sullivan leads his boys out for our next matchup here tonight…Teddy never gets a break…Tony says the VC are a rowdy group…Rotunda lands a great dropkick…they quick tag a bit, just overpowering their opponents…Tony believes Sullivan has some sort of mysterious control over the VC…Steiner snaps off a nice belly-to-belly, followed by a butterfly suplex from Rotunda for the win…that was a dominating win
- Back from break, David is at the desk with the Varsity Club…Sullivan says Windham chose the right path in joining the Horsemen…however he wants the Horsemen to stop calling themselves elite…one night he was in Bangkok and saw an undefeated jackal defeat four wolves in an animal fight…the morale of the story is that the war is not over until the Rider’s mask comes off…sigh…there are about 110 days left until Dusty comes back and he will destroy everyone if the Rider isn’t unmasked first…they took out Ronnie Garvin and offer their help against the Rider if the Horsemen couldn’t get it done…Sullivan drops more hints about banging Precious to sew more seeds of doubt in Jimmy Garvin’s mind…that was a lot of storyline in just a few minutes, but nobody does that better than Sullivan
- Sting vs. Steve Atkinson…fans love Stinger…and Teddy Long loves to referee…Ross talks about Sting winning the Crockett Cup with Luger and the cash prize that came with it…very quick squash as Sting hits the Stinger Splash and then hooks in the Scorpion for the win
- Crockett catches up with Sting…he thinks Windham is whacked out…now he is talking about surfers or something…weird promo…he hopes someone snaps Windham out of this mindset…and he thinks maybe the Rider could do it…now he is just name dropping random people…he holds the Horsemen signal upside down, calling it the sign of diddly squat…well then
- After a break, David Crockett welcomes in the Midnight Rider to a mixed reaction…Rider gives Dusty some compliments and this is now a whole other level of meta self promotion…he won’t allow himself to be caught…he calls out the Horsemen and says he knows Windham better than anybody…he has been taught, molded and weaned to be a champion but has now chosen the path of the Horsemen…he needs to sew his wild oats but should come to his senses and not upset Dusty or else the Rider will come get him…what the fuck was that
- Nikita Koloff vs. Trent Knight…the upside down Horsemen signal is catching on as Nikita does it too…Teddy is still in there…more Horsemen and Rider talk…Rider is at ringside with Nikita…he smashes Knight and finishes him with the Sickle…Ross credits a new diet and training regimen for the change in mass on Nikita’s frame…I see
- Crockett is back the desk and he brings in Nikita and the Rider…Nikita puts over both Rider and Dusty…this is a bit much now…he talks about the Crockett Cup and Windham but I can’t make out much more…I still love you, you crazy Russian…Rider just stalks menacingly in the background…time for break
- Powers of Pain vs. Price & Steinborn…Jones & Koloff are ringside with the POP…Warlord uses his Hoss Powers to wipe out Steinborn…Ross reminds us that the POP & Koloff are the six-man champs, having knocked off Dusty and the Road Warriors to win the belts…Barbarian keeps the assault on as these jabronis stand no chance of even getting a punch in…Ross again pimps all the live action, including tonight’s Detroit show…Price is tossed outside and Warlord follows him out, scoops him up and slams him down onto the concrete…Barbarian hits a belly-to-back suplex, and Ross credits Koloff’s influence for the expanded moveset…he also believes the POP/Road Warriors feud is far from over…Warlord hoists Price up into a vertical suplex and Barbarian comes off the top with a clothesline…they finish with a Hart Attack for the win…all sorts of Hoss Love for that squash…break time
- Crockett is at the table with the Sheepherders & Morgan…they call Ace a traitor to the team and the country of New Zealand…it has been too long since we have had a New Zealand team in wrestling…Ace has a yellow streak down his back and they couldn’t drain out the Yankee blood…so, they brought in their own nephew, Rip Morgan…he is from NZ, so the loyalty is there…they will win both the standard and six-man tag team titles…Butch did all the talking and that was a hell of an angry promo from him
- Rip Morgan vs. Ryan Wagner…Morgan is acting all sorts of crazy in the ring…doing the New Zealand War Dance before assaulting Wagner…Morgan gets decent height on a flying clothesline and follows with a scoop slam…they are really plugging the hell out of tomorrow’s Main Event…Morgan finishes it with clubbing forearm drop from the middle rope
- Ross, Tony & Crockett are all at the desk and talking about the Rider one last time…they discuss Barry producing the mask and how Rider is a marked man…tease that his adversaries don’t need to wrestle him, just take his mask and there could be traps set up all over the country…they wrap the show and we are out…good episode and the Rider stuff is compelling, but they just beat it into the ground so damn much…I will give them credit though, because this is definitely a a great hook to get fans out to the houses
Review Date: March 2013
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