WWE Network Conversation

[SirSmUgly]

16 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

WWF were so out of gas they had a Jerry Lawler's Stank Foot Match. Think about that. 

And not only that, but it was easily the best match on the card! 

[Vgmastr]

1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

Gotta love how they had these doormen at the KOTR PPV in 95 and 96 before Ahmed wiped them out in 1996.

Not sure if you recognized them, but the doormen for this show were a very young Matt and Jeff Hardy.

[Cobra Commander]

26 minutes ago, Vgmastr said:

Not sure if you recognized them, but the doormen for this show were a very young Matt and Jeff Hardy.

wait they used Matt and Jeff for that role in both years? I remember hearing about them in that role but it would be impressive dedication if the WWF managed to use them in back to back years

for the mention of Mabel in 1993 WCW.. the Hardys are also guys that surprisingly didn't do much/anything with WCW after sending that one video in back in 1993. Did they actually check IDs and not let them work a Disney taping while 16 years old?

edit: I don't know if Nasty Boys vs teenaged Hardy Boys would have been any good, but you know the Nasties would have loved the chance to beat the crap out of guys who bump like the Hardys

Edited February 14 by Cobra Commander

[twiztor]

16 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

The 1995 WWF King of the Ring:

Mabel during this period in-between his heel turn and his King run might actually have the best look he's ever had in the WWF/WWE. But he has a lot of shitty looks in the WWF/E.

i think i give his best look award to the "Big Daddy V" run from WWECW. simple but effective. 

[Cobra Commander]

3 hours ago, twiztor said:

i think i give his best look award to the "Big Daddy V" run from WWECW. simple but effective. 

Big Daddy V was probably the best ring name he had in the WWE. But the Big Daddy V look was a very Emmanuel Yarborough sort of look. He would have looked better going for the title or the Undertaker in 1995 if he wasn't dressed like a mattress though

[Cobra Commander]

More wrestling, this time it might not be shitty.

World Championship Wrestling (2/11/1989)

Last week, Ricky Steamboat took it to Ric Flair in the ring. Something that probably happened in some form in the studio in Mid-Atlantic before people thought to preserve tapes.

It's only an hour today. Jim Ross is with Magnum TA. You can tell they have a lot of material because it's an hour long show and they're gonna show us a match from 'this morning' on Championship Wrestling (hey there's even more WCW wrestling not on the network). Why is this only an hour? TBS was airing taped coverage of the Kodak Invitational Track and Field Meet from Johnson City.

Ric Flair shows up with Hiro Matsuda to kick the show off. Ric Flair accuses Ricky Steamboat of working with the people at TBS to embarrass him (just you wait). "You're a one woman man, I like all kinds of women". No wonder he ended up a face after all this. Ric also declares that if he wants to walk the streets with LaToya Jackson, he will. Ric Flair, racial tolerance pioneer.

Match 1: Lex Luger vs Kip Montana. Billy Gunn's dyed blonde mullet is in full effect this week. Barry Windham is also scouting this matchup. Feels like we got a Billy Gunn vs Barry Windham matchup in 1997 that sucked because Barry was well past washed up by then. Lex unleashing the offense for this one. Lex powerslams Montana and then beats him with the Torture Rack.

Magnum TA joins Jim Cornette, who reveals that Paul E. Dangerously got an accidental sex change. Aw, late 1980s humor. Jim also has information for what Paul E can do after he loses and says Paul E. picks up his boyfriends at the bus station. 1980s humor. You see, he's still a jerk but he's a jerk against people the fans don't like, so it's cool now.

Match 2: Hacksaw Butch Reed vs Trent Knight. Jim laying on the references to Shreveport with Butch Reed in the ring and TA at his side. Hiro Matsuda being at the ring side means that Jim Ross is talking about the Japanese conglomerate. Jim goes on an extended talk about how sushi is called "bait" in Oklahoma. Reed wins with the top rope shoulderblock. Feels like one of those people insisting on using the spear as a finish could switch to a top rope shoulderblock.

Chi-Town Rumble, Monday February 20th (not actually the WCW event that is coming up next). Card Subject to Change. Yeah, i'd say.

NWA Main Event, Sunday at 6:05 Eastern.

Lex Luger joins Jim Ross at the table. You see, if Lex Luger becomes the US Champion, that'll make him the Number One Contender to Ric Flair.

Match 3: Dick Murdoch and Michael PS Hayes vs Ric Allen and Mike Thor. Hayes and Murdoch, a team brought to you by alcohol. Jim Ross is gonna mention that "Reba McIntire's favorite wrestler is Dick Murdoch" thing again if you didn't hear it the first time. Jim Ross says Murdoch remembers the significance of Pearl Harbor, I mean he's not that old, Jim. Hilarious that they're running with the "Dick Murdoch will never take money from Japan" when he disappears from US TV to go work in Japan. Jim really selling for the Omni show like they need a crowd or else the Turner Executives will fire people. Murdoch beats Allen with the Brainbuster. Also got a Killer Karl Kox namedrop as the inspiration for Murdoch's brainbuster (among other things)

Going back to this morning: Paul Ellering and the Road Warriors vs Mike Rotunda, Kevin Sullivan and Dr. Death. You see, this show totally wasn't a replacement of the 2nd hour of the Saturday Night show because Jim Cornette is on commentary with Jim Ross. Despite it being taped in Techwood and likely taped before this episode of Saturday Night. Dr. Death trying to mat wrestle the Road Warriors is a fun visual. Paul Ellering unleashing dropkicks for this occasion. Cool spot of Dr. Death hitting Animal in the arm with the podium. Hawk breaks the podium tossing it at Sullivan. Welcome to WMC 5 wrestling at Techwood. Animal is in peril from some arm work. I don't know if they're pretending that the Road Warriors still heels because they're clearly not heels here. Hawk eventually runs past Tommy Young and things are breaking loose. Paul Ellering goes shoulder-first into the post. And after all this, the match ends on a DQ because the Varsity Club tossed Hawk over the top rope. Hawk responds to this by getting a chair and swinging for the downs on Kevin Sullivan (Sullivan gets out of the way and the Chair hits the turnbuckle/post).

Post match interview, Road Warrior Hawk is very angry. Animal is also angry.

St. Valentines Day Massacre, February 15th at 8:05 (as I've typed before, yes they're running a Clash and a PPV within a week of each other and they're only hyping PPV matches, you might find out tomorrow the downside of this strategy)

The Varsity Club joins Jim Ross for some words about the Road Warriors. Considering the current Varsity Club feuds, I'd imagine a Rick Steiner and Road Warriors trio would murder all the pudgy TV job guys of 1989.

Match 5: Rick Steiner vs Pretty Boy Lloyd. Yeah, they're doing this matchup again. Lloyd must have made someone mad. Steiner still has his jacket on as he flattens Lloyd with a Steinerline. Rick Steiner slams Lloyd into a pile of chairs on part of the stage because fans fled. Rick Steiner finally takes his jacket off. Then he hits Lloyd with the Belly to Belly for the victory.

Paul E. Dangerously and the Original Midnight Express joins Jim Ross. They have a sign saying "Bye Bye Jim Cornette". Paul E says he took Jim Cornnette's team, gimmick, and will take his job.

Match 6: Midnight Express vs Cruel Connection 1 & 2. Got a closeup shot of Cornette staring down Paul E. at ringside. How the hell are we supposed to know which one is Cruel Connection 1 and which is Cruel Connection 2. There's a height difference. Just pretend that the Midnights are beating up Ninja Turtles for this one. Or as Jim Cornette calls them "Kermit the Frog 1 and 2". Double Flapjack wins the match for the Midnights.

And that's all, folks! Tomorrow it's Clash of the Champions: St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

[Cobra Commander]

Just remembered one of my favorite parts of the Shawn Michaels/Kama match from KOTR 95. When Shawn Michaels was leaning back to evade punches like he's trying to be Muhammad Ali

Considering what they were about to do with Jarrett at the next IYH.. it might have been a better idea to have Michaels go to a draw with the Roadie somehow, and then have Kama beat Bob Holly and lose to Savio Vega maybe with the latter involving the Undertaker helping defeat Kama

edit: also just remembered that they made Joe Frazier attend KOTR 95

Edited February 15 by Cobra Commander

[Cobra Commander]

Things I Remember From NWA Clash Of The Champions 5: St. Valentine's Massacre (2/15/89):

Guess it's just St. Valentine's Massacre since this show isn't on Valentine's Day

This Arena in Cleveland has an interesting look. Between this crowd and what I know about the impending card, it has a very "two hour edition of NWA Worldwide" feel to it.

Also, the ring looks a little smaller than I'm used to. But that might be the Coors Light ads.

And the ring announcer (Jack Reynolds), who lasts one night, botches the first ring introduction he does, saying the word "Kilos, Russia". Show's starting great!

Paul Jones looks like the world's angriest dad in his current role. Like Paul Jones has to be almost gone, right?

Midnights vs Russian Assassins goes on for awhile (recurring theme). Paul E. does a prerecorded promo and then does some commentary too. Midnights win with the Rocket Launcher.

Butch Reed vs Steve Casey goes for-fucking-ever. They keep finding fans to put on screen for this match. There were some sloppy moments. Butch wins with the Shoulderblock. It went 17 minutes, for the record.

Ric Flair shows up with some lahdieees... Ricky Steamboat shows up to note his disapproval of Ric Flair. Ric lights up the whole family man thing that Ricky is doing. I notice one of the cameras is messed up. Ricky Steamboat tears Ric Flair out his clothes. We see Ric Flair in his underwear. Ricky Steamboat walks tall and gets a visual fall on Flair.

Lex Luger beats The Blackmailer (Jack Victory) with the Superplex in a match that had no business going 13 minutes. For all the complaints about superfluous long matches these days, it's Jack Victory working his 9th masked gimmick. Can we manage time better here? Although considering the rest of the card, unless you're adding a match or giving the Fantastics 40 minutes instead of 13, then yeah, this problem is hard to solve.

Varsity Club vs Fantastics was a good enough match even if it seemed like Dr. Death was trying to kill both Fantastics at times. A very strong contender for best match of this card. Okay, it's also the only match on this card that wasn't essentially a enhancement match. Although it kinda was.

Ricky Steamboat's big tuneup for Ric Flair is Bob Bradley. Boy does this promotion not have any expendable top heels now or what. Bob Bradley faceplants on a whip into the ring. Bob Bradley does some things well enough but it's Bob Bradley. Steamboat wins with the bodypress.

Rick Steiner beats Rip Morgan in a few minutes by countering a bearhug into a belly to belly

Kevin Sullivan just casually strolls by Bob Caudle and locks the babyfaces in a part of the arena. For all the infamy of this angle. That is an amazingly quiet way to do it.

So the Varsity Club takes the place of the babyfaces and everybody just agrees to work that match. Meanwhile they eventually figure out how to break a lock and the faces escape. Finally the faces figure out how to get to the ring in this place and they do a run-in and chaos ensues.

Chi-Town Rumble, Monday February 20th!

Boy, did the total lack of any hype for this Clash on the Saturday Night show end up serving as a warning about this show.

Also, the whole switcheroo in the main event caused All Japan to break off their relationship with WCW. Oops. Would they have had Muta working NWA in a few months if not for this? maybe. Would these guys have nuked their All-Japan relationship before we got 1990s All-Japan guys cameoing in WCW? Perhaps.

So, it was a historic card in the sense of what it meant for Japanese wrestling in the US.

But holy hell.. we swear this promotion is about to get better. But yeah...

At least the Cleveland Convention Center looked like a place where you could watch some wrestling and smell like a cigarette by the end of the night.

[Godfrey]

When I have spare time I sometimes search 'Bret Hart vs' on Youtube and pick a random match. They never disappoint, even the bad ones are at least interesting in how they are bad and the timeframe their in. Bad news is Vince is the lead commentator on a lot of Bret's matches and hearing his voice makes me nauseous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8IXXAcZl6c&ab_channel=WorldofWrestling

Bret Hart vs Rocky Maivia (Intercontinental Title Match - March 31st, 1997)

This one seemed timely since Rocky has just turned and this match takes place right after Bret turned at Wrestlemania 13. Weird start as Rocky backs Bret into a corner and holds him there so long he should have been disqualified twice. Eventually, Bret just bails on his own. Tony Atlas is in the crowd, nobody is kicking him in the face so he looks a little bored. Maivia gets the early advantage with his superior athleticism, Bret takes over using a more aggressive style and heel shortcuts. Hart's systematic dismantling of Young Rock drags a little, Bret hasn't spiced up his in-ring heel work yet so it's a lot of punches to the back. Right before Rocky hits a nice fisherman suplex for 2 we are assured that no matter how long this match goes we will still be able to watch all of La Femme Nikita. Rock with a body press off the top but Bret rolls through for a close 2. Finish comes right after as Bret lures Maivia into the figure four around the ring post for the disqualification. Steve Austin comes out to break up the hold but Owen and Davey Boy are there for the triple team. The Road Warriors come out to even the odds and the not-yet-named Hart Foundation bail into the crowd and exit past a fan in an NWO shirt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Gxz63ax54&ab_channel=ToomuchWrestling

Bret Hart vs Dr. Tom Prichard (Feb 21, 1994)

The difference in audiences between 94 and 97 is stark. Technical exchanges to start and Hart grinds Prichard down. Nikolai Volkoff is in the crowd and Donnie Wahlberg calls in to promote his album, it's a real who's who. Tom takes over and it's not the most exciting heat segment, the crowd still gets way behind Bret. Cornette tries to hit Bret with the tennis racket but Randy Savage steals it, in the process Jim falls head first into the steps and is out cold for a few minutes. Owen comes out to taunt his brother but Bret gets the Sharpshooter anyway for the win. The Hart boys almost duke it out but don't, thrilling! And I just realized this match is the beginning of the Bret/Owen feud and the previous one was right after the reconciliation so I went full circle in reverse

[Cobra Commander]

Only one more show (on the Network) before Chi-Town Rumble..

World Championship Wrestling (2/18/1989)

Before the intro, we flashback to the Clash where Ric Flair walks out with his lady friends.

Jim Ross and Magnum TA are here. There's a new member of the Varsity Club, Dan Spivey. As introduced on the Saturday Morning Show that isn't on the network.

Ricky Steamboat is at the table to kick this off briefly.

Match 1: Midnight Express vs Billy Holiday and David Heath. Jim Cornette introducing his team in the ring like it's 1984 in Shreveport. Paul E. Dangerously quickly walks out to the deck. Paul E. is in a Bill Cosby sweater. They're really selling the concept that all 3 of the losing team is leaving the NWA (that doesn't turn out to be the stip they use). Paul E cuts his promo during this one. Cornette hits David Heath with a right hand on the outside. The fans are getting fired up for this squash match/angle. Cornette drops by for some words. Midnights win with the Veg-o-Matic.

Chi-Town Rumble, February 20th.

Dan Spivey and the Varsity Club join the table. Danny Spivey went to the University of Georgia, for the record. Kevin Sullivan recounts his dream of breaking the Road Warriors. Danny Spivey somehow appears to be the most insane person in a promo segment involving Kevin Sullivan. Dr. Death and Mike Rotunda also have words.

Match 2: Danny Spivey vs Tony Suber. Prime seats have been released for the Chi-Town Rumble. Jim Ross runs down upcoming events during this one. Bearhug transitions into a Belly to Belly Suplex. Dan Spivey does the Abdominal Stretch cheating spot with Mike Rotunda. Spivey wins with a side slam.

This is the NWA and We Wrestle. Also, Varsity Club vs Fantastics on the Main Event this week (hey wasn't that just on the Clash)

Magnum interviews Lex Luger. Lex says he's plugged into his power source to win the US title.

Match 3: Ricky Steamboat vs Jerry Price. Sports writers are split on who'll win the Chi-Town Rumble. Jerry Price hits some offense and does his best sell of a top rope chop. Steamboat wins with a bodypress off the top.

Chi-Town Rumble! February 20th!

This is the NWA. We Wrestle.

Match 4: Road Warriors vs Ned Brady and Julio Barrera. The Chi-Town Rumble ads pretend that the Warriors are still heels. Hawk unleashes his dropkick on Nasty Ned. Jim Ross selling Kevin Sullivan as a college educated amateur wrestler in contrast to the Road Warriors. Roadies win with a powerslam off the top.

Some words from the Road Warriors and Paul Ellering. Hawk concludes that the Varsity Club added Danny Spivey because they need help. Paul Ellering looking like he's primed to shoot some zoo animals.

Chi-Town Rumble. Monday Feb 20th.

Match 5: Sting vs Mac McGyver. Of course Jim Ross notes that Max McGyver played college football. Butch Reed has some words at the table about his match with Sting. Sting is a big Chicago Bears fan. Brad Muster will be at the Chi-Town Rumble. Sting wins with the Stinger Splash and Scorpion Deathlock.

Chi-Town Rumble. February 20th at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central

Hiro Matsuda, Ric Flair and Barry Windham join Jim Ross. Flair is in prime Ric Flair promo form.

Match 6: Barry Windham vs Allen Kinsey. Jim Ross is nervous about the big show at the Greensboro Coliseum. One fan has drawn a picture of Barry Windham. Nice dropkick from Barry Windham back when he had knees that worked. You can listen to the Chi-Town Rumble on the Hotline, which feels like it would be more expensive than just buying the PPV. Windham wins with a lariat.

They left a TBS bumper in this one.

Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express join Jim Ross.

Match 7: Vincent Young vs Trent Knight. Alright, it's a "guys who'll be working WWF TV matches in 6 months" feature. Vincent Young is showing more energy in a match than years of Chief Jay Strongbow. Young wins with a Sleeperhold and then starts breakdancing.

Match 8: The Samoan Swat Team vs Dale Lapyrouse and Bob Emory. The SST delay a Sting interview by starting their match directly out of the break. All the heel managers are watching the SST. One fan is pumped up seeing the SST slam these job guys around. Paul E. Dangerously and Gary Hart talking to each other watching this match. Paul Jones is talking to Kevin Sullivan. Fatu gets the pin with the top rope splash that JR miscalls at first.

Now, it's time to talk to Sting. Sting saying that face vs face matches just aren't as interest as face vs heel matches (without directly saying that). Sting says he gets excited every time he thinks about Butch Reed, which is a bold claim to make in 1989.

Hiro Matsuda, Barry Windham and Kendall Windham join Jim Ross. Gotta love the World Championship Wrestling house style of heels getting multiple promos in a short period of time because sure. Kendall Windham stands in the background looking older than he is.

Match 9: Lex Luger vs Keith Steinborn. Lex Luger unleashing some technical wrestling for this occasion. Lugar gets mad, unleashes some big moves, and wins with the Rack.

Chi-Town Rumble, the ultimate wrestling event of the year. Also, this is the NWA. We wrestle.

Paul E. Dangerously joins Jim Ross at the table.

Match 10: Michael PS Hayes and Dick Murdoch and Mac Anderson and El Negro. Paul E. decides to stick around to add some commentary. Paul yells to insist he's not upset after Michael Hayes taunted him. Eventually Hayes hits a DDT and Murdoch hits an elbow drop and they get the win.

Ricky Steamboat joins Jim Ross.

Match 11: Abdullah the Butcher vs Ric Allen. Paul E. is still commentating. Someone celebrating their 18th birthday gets called out. Abdullah wins with an elbowdrop.

Match 12: Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert vs Cruel Connection 1 and 2. Steiner and Eddie, it's like 2 years ago. Paul E adds "no wonder Sherman burned this town to the ground". Rick Steiner wins with a Belly to Belly.

Rick Steiner and Eddie join Jim Ross as Eddie casually books an angle of putting the pieces back together that doesn't actually go anywhere.

In the scheme of things, this was a little more star-studded than the Clash (no actual competitive matches) but a good lead-in for the Chi-Town Rumble. Which is February 20th.

[Cobra Commander]

Things I Remember from NWA Chi-Town Rumble:

35 years ago tonight!

Michael Hayes vs Russian Assassin I went on and on and on. They tried their best to act like the Kremlin would care about Russian Assassin's match with Michael Hayes. Hayes wins with a DDT. Also I noticed they're still putting Illinois shapes on the referees outfits (as seen at Starrcade 87)

Sting vs Butch Reed also went on for awhile and ended with cheating reversed into a sunset flip. Brad Muster has ringside seats with his buddies.

Dennis Condrey has been replaced for strategic reasons (he no-showed) and replaced by Jack Victory. A man that Jim Cornette will know nothing about. This stip of this match has been clarified to state the loser of the fall leaves the NWA. Lots of build to the concept of Cornette facing Dangerously, with both of them getting some action before that. Eventually chaos ensues, Randy Rose gets pinned, and that's that. Randy Rose would be back on TV in about a month. Dangerously would go on to the SST. The Midnights would take a vacation because of their problems with George Scott although Scott would be fired before the vacation started if I recall correctly.

Speaking of things that come up as reasons Scott got fired, the finishes of 3 consecutive matches

• Rick Steiner pins himself applying a sleeper to Mike Rotunda.
• Lex Luger lifts a shoulder to avoid a double pinfall
• Simultaneous pinfalls in a tag match where the Roadies are deemed the winner.

Three matches in a row with cliffhanger finishes!

Although it does sorta make sense for Rick Steiner to lose a title because he pinned himself. Scott Steiner is at ringside. Kevin Sullivan shows up to distract Rick Steiner by saying they're messing with his dog but nothing comes of that tonight. Well, welcome to the transition from "Rick Steiner, singles babyface" to "Rick Steiner, tag team with his brother".

edit: just remembered Jim Ross going into Mike Rotunda's two separate experiences in the Punt Pass and Kick competition. Jim Ross is like Vin Scully only in the sense of noting the football backgrounds of anybody he sees.

Meanwhile, Lex vs Windham looked good enough. You wouldn't know from the postmatch attack that Windham was pretty much gone from the promotion and they wouldn't follow up on that angle for a little bit.

I believe that Road Warriors vs Sullivan/Dr. Death is meaty men slapping meat. It probably ages better than one would expect.

Rick Steamboat vs Ric Flair is what you've heard it was. Nice of them to use the recent history of screw finishes to suggest another one before saying "Nah, we're not screwing the fans tonight". All the stars are here tonight, Eddie Einhorn, Brad Muster, Brad Muster's teammate, a man who looks suspiciously like Brian Adias.

The Babyfaces are spraying Ricky Steamboat with champagne for the occasion.

I think this promotion has kicked off the run of trying to not be terrible that they would go for until the end of 1989. I don't know when exactly George Scott gets canned. I don't know exactly when Hiro Matsuda disappears. It was a solid card with a great main event.

Edited February 21 by Cobra Commander

[Gorman]

On 2/20/2024 at 4:38 PM, Cobra Commander said:

"Nah, we're not screwing the fans tonight".

Sitting in the crowd, I was stunned that Steamboat really won the title, and so was my one wrestling-interested friend when I got back to the dorm!

[Technico Support]

On 2/20/2024 at 4:38 PM, Cobra Commander said:

Rick Steamboat vs Ric Flair is what you've heard it was. Nice of them to use the recent history of screw finishes to suggest another one before saying "Nah, we're not screwing the fans tonight". All the stars are here tonight, Eddie Einhorn, Brad Muster, Brad Muster's teammate, a man who looks suspiciously like Brian Adias.

Impeccable timing!  Because we were discussing the Flair/Steamboat series in the other thread, and all I could remember from my rewatch a few years back was that I only liked match 1, I've decided to go back and re-rewatch all three.  Here's some writing about match 1.  I hope you like bullet points because I do!

 

• Meltzer always says that Flair told him that he and Steamboat had far better matches than this series that never made tape.  I wonder how carny those claims are.  Anyway, somebody here mentioned that they had a better bout at something called Boogie Jam 84.  I have no idea what a Boogie Jam 84 is, but go ahead and pick your own joke:
  • It's a convention for nose picking enthusiasts
  • It's a convention for people who think a monster is living in their closets
  • It's the name of a low calorie spread (less than 90 calories per serving!) made from mucus
• Brad Muster and Big Dave are at ringside.  It's funny because they go in on a tight shot to show Muster in order to not acknowledge the presence of that kayfabe murdering bastard and his rag sheets.  Dave is bigger than 3/4 of AEW's roster here.
• I need to go back and watch more 80s Flair.  The shine in this match was magnificent.  In a simpler bout, the babyface just dominates the heel before the cutoff and heat.  There's a little more parity here but there's also no question who the better wrestler (in kayfabe) is.  It's a competitive match during the shine but Steamboat gets back on top after every bit of Flair offense.  It's like the heel equivalent of hope spots if that makes sense.  Was that a regular Flair thing?  Because it's awesome.  Flair finally gets the heat by pulling Steamboat out of the ring and ramming him into the guard rail.
• I hate these ring skirts.  You know, they're the lime green ones with the questionable logo that's supposed to be a stylized "NWA" but ends up looking like "AWA."
• This is the first match I recall seeing where the workers do that incredibly safe version of the back suplex.  It's the one where you get the opponent up for it, then fall in such a way that they come straight down and take a flat back bump, as opposed to falling back and taking the bump on their neck and shoulders.
• The heat is a lot like the shine.  Flair is on top but he gives Steamboat enough that the Dragon is absolutely put over as better than Flair.  Even though Flair's on top, you're sure Steamboat can win this.  It's really masterful.  It built upon the way the shine worked and it's tremendous.
• Ross, at some point, points out the difference between them men, how Flair is the son of a doctor and went to PRIVATE SKEEEW while Steamboat matriculated at PUBLIC SKEEEEEWS.  Looking online, I'm actually surprised that it's true.  All I could think of was when Luger was a heel, Ross talked about what a disciplinary problem he was at Miami.  But when he was a face, Ross touted his 4.0 GPA.
• As @Cobra Commander mentioned, they do a finish reversal fakeout.  Is this history's first Dusty Finished Dusty Finish?  Steamboat wins the belt for all the baby-having, hard working, public SKEEEW going common men out there while Flair throws a beautiful hissyfit and Hiiro Matsuda looks surprised to be there.
• Amazingly good, simple 20-some minute match.  I'm looking forward to either reminding myself why I didn't like the other two, or reevaluating them.  I can say that going to a 2/3 falls match, then back to one fall, is a weird way to book a series.  We'll see.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

Edited February 23 by Technico Support

[Curt McGirt]

5 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

the questionable logo that's supposed to be a stylized "NWA" but ends up looking like "AWA."

THANK YOU!!! Somebody FINALLY pointed that out! God, I hate it when I see those and when it pops up on the screen with the wrestler names over top. It actually confused me in earlier years as to what it actually meant and, yes, I've always thought it looked like AWA too.

[Cobra Commander]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

Meltzer always says that Flair told him that he and Steamboat had far better matches than this series that never made tape.  I wonder how carny those claims are

I’d imagine that going 40+ in front of the loudest fans that North Carolina had to offer would be an experience

I wanna say that the lime green ring skirt outlasts Techwood (they’re moving from Techwood to Center Stage sometime in 1989?) and that skirt might have seen 1990.

But yeah, they brought the ring skirt for a NWA Worldwide episode to a PPV.

Also it might not have been as apparent because Ricky would take sabbaticals and Ric Flair really didn’t but is it possible that Steamboat was as much of a formula worker as Flair? This could be interpreted as downplaying how much Ric Flair played the hits but Steamboat had his spots too and probably kept mixing them up enough to not get stale (also he would leave TV for periods which probably kept him fresh)

[odessasteps]

I can see the argument that they had better matches without the constraints and pressures of live TV/PPV, where you have to worry about playing to the hard cam or hitting their time cues and so on. 

[Hamhock]

11 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Anyway, somebody here mentioned that they had a better bout at something called Boogie Jam 84.

It's-a-me who said that. The entire card is on the Network as a Hidden Gem (also has a very good Valentine vs. Slater cage match on it), but I found the Flair/Steamboat match here.

Edited February 24 by Hamhock

[Godfrey]

25 minutes ago, Hamhock said:

It's-a-me who said that. The entire card is on the Network a a hidden gem (also has a very good Valentine vs. Slater cage match on it), but I found the Flair/Steamboat match here.

Maybe it's just my search history that it's going off of but that link has very NSFW ads

[Hamhock]

3 hours ago, Godfrey said:

Maybe it's just my search history that it's going off of but that link has very NSFW ads

Sincerest apologies - I use an adblocker and didn’t see that.

[zendragon]

must...not....make...joke...about fuck finish

[RazorbladeKiss87]

4 hours ago, Godfrey said:

Maybe it's just my search history that it's going off of but that link has very NSFW ads

That site has a lot of wrestling on it but also a lot of content that would fit into the old board's pants free section.

[zendragon]

but seriously thanks for posting that Flair v Steamboat rivals Bret v Austin for favorite all time rivarly so this is a total "but wait there's more!" moment

[Curt McGirt]

Valentine/Slater sounds stiff as fuck. 

[Cobra Commander]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Valentine/Slater sounds stiff as fuck. 

On checking CageMatch, Greg Valentine only faced Terry Funk in two places: 1976 Louisiana (New Orleans/Shreveport for Tri-State) and 2002 Texas (Lubbock/Amarillo for XWF). So the stars didn’t quite align for that one.

[Curt McGirt]

I was also interested in Valentine/Garvin and they had a whole feud. Shouldn't I know about that? Why is that a blank spot? Is it because it was in WWF?