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Held to pay tribute to the then-recently deceased David Von Erich, WCCW Parade of Champions 1984 drew what was said to be -at the time- the largest ever crowd for a professional wrestling show in the United States.
Sadly, with David -then the company's biggest attraction- gone, WCCW would never quite draw a crowd like this one again, but for now, the jam-packed Texas Stadium was fired up and ready for some good old professional wrestling.
I'm basing this review off this YouTube video, so I believe that there are some parts of the show (including a tribute to David Von Erich) that aren't included.
Regardless, let's review what's in the video, shall we?
Welcome to Parade of Champions
Our show tonight began with a shot of Planet Earth from space. Every now and again, a little animated yellow spaceship would fly around the planet and shoot a laser at Texas which would cause a clip of WCCW stars fighting to blast off into space.
Now, it looks a little cheesy, but I imagine this was a pretty cool visual for 1984.
With that out of the way, announcer Marc Lowrance welcomed us to what he promised would be 'the greatest wrestling card in the world.'
As you'll see in a moment, that proved not to be true at all. Lowrance was as excited about tonight's card as he was about the television premier of The Fabulous Freebirds' Bad Street USA video, but before we got to that, there was this:
Mixed Tag Team Match Gentleman Chris Adams & Sunshine vs. Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin & Precious
This was actually the last match on the card, but for some reason we get it first on the home video release shown on YouTube.
Prior to the bell, Gino Hernandez stormed the ring, referred to both Precious and Sunshine as 'deranged' and then challenged the winner of the match, whether that be Chris Adams or Jimmy Garvin.
The match got underway and was perfectly fine if not exactly outstanding.
Naturally, both Adams and Garvin did the bulk of the work, engaging in some basic back-and-forth that was only interrupted by the occasional sloppy cat-fight between the women.
Eventually, things broke down as most tag team matches tend to do, and as the cameras focused on Precious and Sunshine, Adams got the pin over Garvin.
Your Winners: Chris Adams & Sunshine
Post match, Precious returned to the ring and walloped Sunshine over the back of the head with her purse but then she and Garvin were chased off to the back by Sunshine and Adams.
'Hacksaw' Butch Reed vs. Chick Donovan
This one started with a lot of stalling as Hacksaw Butch Reed strutted around the ring, flexing his muscles and boasting about how big, strong, and wonderful he was.
That backfired when Chick Donovan caught him by surprise with a quick flurry of offence which, unfortunately for him, didn't last long.
Reed soon regained the advantage and began to throw Donovan around like a rag doll, trash talking him with every move before finally putting him out of his misery with a sloppy shoulder tackle.
A great match that was not, but it was a decent squash-type effort that made Reed look like a star.
Your Winner: Hacksaw Butch Reed
Up next, this:
Kimala The Ugandan Giant (w/ Skandor Akbar) vs. The Great Kabuki (w/ Garry Hart)
Kamala was billed as Kimala in the title graphic during his introduction, but whatever you call him, his match here with The Great Kabuki was..well..it was pretty bad.
Kabuki was super over with the Texas faithful thanks to his colorful mask, nun-chuck prowess and green mist, but all of that wasn't enough to stop him being dominated by The Ugandan Giant in a slow plodder of a match in which almost nothing happened.
Gr
For the longest time, Kamala held Kabuki in what Lowrance told us was a nerve hold, though it actually just looked like Kamala was grabbing his opponents tits for five minutes and giving them a gentle play.
The only time anything exciting happened was at the finish when Garry Hart and Skandor Akbar both ran in, causing the double disqualification.
Double DQ
The two sides continued to brawl after the bell until it was eventually broken up.
Junkyard Dog vs. The Missing Link (w/ Skandor Akbar)
This wasn't much of a great match either.
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
I get that Junkyard Dog was a hugely popular character, but I've yet to see a match of his that I genuinely enjoyed.
That includes this one, which was basically a messy series of kick-punch-clobber-headbutt-repeat until The Missing Link fell on top of JYD and pinned him while Akbar held the leg down.
Just when the referee was about to award the match to Link, a second official came into alert him about Akbar's nefarious interference.
That was enough for the decision to be reversed and the whole thing was officially over.
Your Winner via Disqualification: The Junkyard Dog
If you hadn't seen enough of Skandor Akbar, you'd be getting more of him next.
WCCW American Tag Team Championship WCCW American Tag Team Champions The Super Destroyers (w/ Skandor Akbar) vs. Buck Zumhofe and Iceman King Parsons
After a couple of lackluster performances, we got our first genuinely good match of the night as 'Rock 'n' Roll' Buck Zumhofe and Iceman King Parsons took the fight to reigning champions The Super Destroyers.
Zumhofe and Parsons came to the ring carrying a boombox which was apparently playing We Are Family by Sister Sledge.
It was an odd choice for a song a little cheesy, but once that was over with, the two challengers put in a spirited performance, going up against a championship team who themselves looked impressive in the ring.
After a very enjoyable back and forth, Parsons took down one of the destroyers with a flying forearm to capture the titles for his team.
Your Winners: Buck Zumhofe & King Parsons
Prior to the next match, we got the debut of a song that would forever become a part of wrestling history, Bad Street USA.
Like much from around this time, the video itself looks kind of corny now, but it was full of the kind of excursiveness that made up most 1980's rock videos, and there's no denying that it worked.
The Fabulous Freebirds would be in action next.
WCCW Six Man Tag Team Match WCCW Six Man Champions The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael 'P.S' Hayes, Buddy Rogers, and Terry Gordy) vs. The Von Erichs (Fritz, Kerry, and Mike Von Erich)
Prior to the match, the referee took to the microphone to announce that even though there were no rules in this match, he was going to enforce the rule that only two men could be in the ring at once and that tags were necessarily.
Unfortunately for the overwhelmed official, he had little success in enforcing this rule.
The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs was one of -if not the- hottest feuds of the time, and the intensity and passion displayed by all six men truly made you believe that they hated each other.
Fought under traditional Six Man rules (albeit with the caveat that you could take your boot or belt off and whack your opponent with it), any attempt to stick to the rules was only ever in vein as multiple men rushed the ring on several occasions to take each other out.
Though it wasn't a classic from an action standpoint, the believability and the white-hot crowd made this a truly fantastic spectacle to watch.
After an intense battle, Kevin Von Erich planted Buddy Rodgers with a flying crossbody off the top to capture the win.
Your Winners and New WCCW Six Man Champions: The Von Erichs
The fierce brawl continued after the bell with Killer Khan rushing in to attack The Von Erichs. Apparently, Marc Lowrance had no idea who Khan was, so he kept referring to him as a 'huge, deadly oriental,' which I'm sure wouldn't fly today.
Eventually, the smoke cleared, the dust settled, and t was time for our main event of the evening.
National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nature Boy Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich
Just months after beating Harley Race for the title back at Starrcade '83, Flair put the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Kerry Von Erich in what would become one of the most famous NWA title matches of all time.
This NWA title match was originally supposed to be David Von Erich's opportunity, but since he wasno longer with us, the second most popular Von Erich, Kerry, stepped in to face Flair in an emotionally-charged match for the ages.
With every single member of the audience firmly on his side, the future Texas Tornado got the better of Flair several times during the match, and it was only when The Dirtiest Player in the Game struck with a blow below the belt that he was able to put together a modicum of offence.
Unfortunately for Flair, it wasn't enough.
After a wildly entertaining back-and-forth battle, Von Erich scored the three count over Flair thanks to a simple backslide.
Your Winner and NEW NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Kerry Von Erich
Sadly for Kerry, he wouldn't hold the title for too long and would drop it back to Flair sooner rather than later.
For now though, he was embraced as a hero both in the ring and in the show-closing backstage interview where he dedicated his win to both his brother David and the state of texas.
For all intents and purposes, WCCW Parade of Champions 1984 wasn't the greatest show on earth. The undercard bouts ranged from decent to dreadful, and it was only with the tag team, six man, and world title fights that the show began delivering performances befitting an event of this magnitude. This isn't necessarily an event I'd recommend checking out for in-ring action, but for historical significance, it's certainly worth a quick glance
November 26, 1987 IC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois Despite being pro wrestling's premier event a good two years before Wrestlemania, Starrcade didn't actually make it's way until PPV until this, the 1987 event.
Not only was Starrcade '87 the first NWA PPV, it was also the first Starrcade to emanate from a single venue since Greensboro exclusively hosted the 1984 event.
Yet as interesting as those two 'firsts' happen to be, neither happened to be as historically significant as another first:
This was the first NWA Starrcade to take place since Jim Crockett promotions bought out the original Universal Wrestling Federation.
That was a big deal, because in buying the UWF, the brand brought across a number of big name stars, including the future face of the company, a man called Sting.
Of course, even with the lure of PPV and major stars, Starrcade 1987 would be a failure from a financial standpoint as Vince McMahon promoted the first annual Survivor Series on the same night just to stick to it to the NWA.
Still, that didn't mean that the show couldn't deliver from a creative and in-ring standpoint.
Here's what went down when the National Wrestling Alliance turned up the Chi-Town Heat.
Welcome to Starrcade
First things first, tonight’s show marks the first PPV to feature the one and only Jim Ross on commentary. Years before the two would serve as the lead announcers for rival brands at during the Monday Night Wars (and certainly years before things came full circle with them reunited under the AEW banner), JR joined forces with Tony Schiavone to welcome us to tonight’s event and call the action.: The two talked about the nights five title matches before we went to the ring for yet more NWA PPV debuts.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
Rick Steiner, ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert and Larry Zybysko (w/ Baby Doll) vs. Sting, Michael P.S Hayes, and ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious)
Yep, only Jimmy Garvin, Precious and Baby Doll had appeared at Starrcade before, making this the first time we’d seen Sting, Michael Hayes, Eddie Gilbert, Larry Zybysko, and Rick Steiner on a major NWA show.
Also, you know what I miss? Sting‘a bad ass rat tail.
Anyway, all that aside, this was probably the best opening match on a Starrcade show so far.
Whereas most Starrcde openingbouts upto this point had been heavy on the weardown holds and submissions, this was pretty much non-stop action from the moment the bell rang to the moment the whole thing was ruled a draw due to the time-limit expiring.
A great match given the standards of the time, this was a lot of fun. Time Limit Draw
After some post-match analysis from Ross and Schiavone, we went backstage where Missy Hyatt told us that she was standing by ready to interview the stars of tonight’s show.
Missy was lying though. We neither see nor hear from her for the rest of the event.
Universal Wrestling Federation Championship UWF Champion Dr. Death Steve Williams vs. NWA Western States Herritage Champion Barry Windham
In the mid-1980s Bill Watts tried to take his Mid-South Wrestling promotion national by rebranding it as the Universal Wrestling Federation. This failed, and the company was sold to Jim Crockett Promotions who decided to keep the UWF title. Here, Dr. Death Steve Williams defended that title against his buddy Barry Windham in a match that the crowd absolutely hated but which this writer thought was a decent face vs. face match. Ignoring the obvious disdain and loud ‘boring’ chants coming from the audience, the two looked as if they were genuinely trying to out-wrestle one another. Not hurt each other. Not even necessarily beat each other, just out-wrestle each other. While it wasn’t poor, the crowd took a dump all over it only popped once, when Steve Williams tried a leapfrog but went bollocks-first into Barry Windham’s head. Ever the good sport, Windham gave his friend time to recover, but Williams didn’t repay the favour. When Barry got knocked to the outside, he climbed back in the ring but got immediately rolled up and pinned by the champion. Your Winner and Still UWF Champion: Steve Williams Up next, a maybe that has been universally derided over the years
Skywalkers MatchNWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Sweet Stan Lane w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba Rogers) vs. The Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)
The biggest criticism people seem to have of this scaffold match is that The Midnight Express and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were capable of having great wrestling matches but sticking them on a narrow platform twenty feet in the air removed that capability and forced them to do very little. That’s a fair argument, but you have to wonder if those who criticise this match have seen the atrocity that was the Starrcade ‘86 scaffold match between The Midnights and The Road Warriors. Compared to that match, this match was a five-star classic. OK, so it would have still been infinitely better if they’d just been allowed to wrestle, and OK, a scaffold match really was the worst idea of all time, but this was still more exciting than the 1986 version thanks to some Big Bubba Rogers interference, the use of Jim Cornette’s tennis racket, and the overwhelming popularity of Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson. Naturally, the good guys won after Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane hung on the underside of the platform and took very careful bumps to the canvas. The crowd didn’t care about that. They didn’t care how little action there’d been. They loved Ricky & Robert and went crazy for them. Your Winners: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Afterwards, Big Bubba Rogers climbed up the platform and challenged Ricky Morton to a fight. Hilariously, Morton smacked Rogers in the balls and ran off. I’m still laughing at that just thinking about it.
A (Really Long) Word With Gorgeous Jimmy
Out in the back, Bob Caudle stood by for an interview with Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S Hayes, who weren’t officially wrestling as The Fabulous Freebirds at this point. With Precious by his side, Garvin did all the talking for his team, and man did he talk. This was a really long, but really enjoyable promo in which he ran down most of the card and spoke in depth (and I mean in *serious* depth) about the matches that mattered most to him. First, he warned us that he and Hayes would be challenging the winners of the upcoming Road Warriors/Horsemen clash for the tag team titles. Then he turned his attention to his kayfabe brother Ronnie Garvin, who would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Nature Boy Ric Flair later on in the show. After turning face by saving Ronnie from an attack by Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express, Jimmy was all about his brother retaining the gold tonight.
Dr. Death - The Wrestling Machine
This was followed by Caudle interviewing Steve Williams. Far less entertaining than Garvin, the UWF stumbled his way through a shouty, clumsy promo in which he told us that he was the Wrestling Machine of the Year, as if somebody had given him an award. After putting over Barry Windham, Williams then told us he was the Wrestling Machine of the World, which I suppose made a little bit more sense. Finally, the Wrestling Machine of the Year of the World promised to defend his UWF title forever. Unbeknownst to him, the belt would be deactivated a few weeks later.
World Television Championship Title Unification MatchUWF World Television Champion Terry Taylor (w/ Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert) vs. NWA Television Nikita Koloff
There was a point early in this match when your reviewer was tempted to write this whole thing off as one long arm bar. Thankfully, I stuck with it, because as soon as Terry Taylor took control of the match it got better and better, giving us some of the best professional wrestling seen on a Starrcade show so far. There will be some critics who say that this nigh-on 20 minute match went too long, but that’s not the case here. The first half dragged, sure, but the second half was wonderful. To the surprise of no one, fan-favourite and NWA star Nikita Koloff defeated the villainous UWF TV champion Taylor to win the match and unify the gold. Your Winner and Unified TV champion: Nikita Koloff Moving swiftly on...
National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship NWA Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (w/ James J. Dillon) vs. The Road Warriors (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal w/ Paul Ellering)
Take a red hot crowd, the pure spectacle of a dominant power team like The Road Warriors and the talent of two performers like Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, and what you’ve got is a recipe for an excellent tag team match. Pure fun from start to finish, this one was at its best when Anderson and Blanchard were selling for their challengers, not just selling but really making Hawk and Animal look like the scariest, baddest dudes in all of pro wrestling. That said, it was still pretty entertaining even when the champions were in charge. In fact, the only disappointing aspect was the finish. Blanchard knocked referee Tommy Young to the outside. The LOD hurled Anderson over the top rope and hit Blanchard with the Doomsday Device. Earl Hebner ran in and counted the pin, but Young argues that he’d seen Anderson get thrown over the ropes and since that was naughty, he was giving the win to the champs. Your Winners via DQ and Still Tag Team Champions: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard Backstage, Jack Gregory and Magnum T.A. ran down tonight’s card before sending it to Bob Caudle for some interviews.
First up, Nikita Two Belts put over Terry Taylor before boasting about how good it made his heart feel to be the unified TV champion. Next on Koloff’s list of goals was to become our new TV champion. Then, James J. Dillon admitted that whilst he was glad Arn & Tully we’re still the champs and he had been helping Flair train for his title match, he had mostly been focusing on Lex Luger facing Dusty Rhodes for the US title. Both promos were pretty effective in their own way, even if Nikita’s was the more entertaining of the two.
Steel Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance United States Championship NWA US Champion Lex Luger (w/ J.J. Dillon) vs. Dusty Rhodes
If Dusty Rhodes loses, he can’t wrestle in the US again for 90 days My goodness, this was insanely boring.
Early on, Dusty Rhodes decided that the best way to really sell the violence and intensity of a steel cage match was to stand in the middle of the ring holding Luger in an arm bar for eight thousand hours. Luger then made a comeback and decided that since the arm bar had worked so well on him, he was going to use it too. Dusty bladed because of course he did, but to be honest I’m not even sure how it happened. The whole match was so deathly dull that I sort of passed out and missed that. Rhodes won the title, but I’m honestly not sure why everybody sung the guy’s praises so much. We’re now on the fourth Starrcade show and I’ve still yet to see him do anything entertaining.
Your Winner and NEW US Champion: Dusty Rhodes And finally, ladies and gentlemen, your main event of the evening.
Steel Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ronnie Garvin vs. Nature Boy Ric Flair
Ronnie Garvin’s brief 1987 run with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship has been universally panned over the years. Even on the night, the Chicago crowd loudly booed the babyface champion’s offence and greeted him with loud ‘GARVIN SUCKS’ chants. But Garvin didn’t suck. At least not on this night. He and Flair went at it in what was easily the best Starrcade main event since Flair was last in the challenger role back at the inaugural event in 1983. It was an intense fight with Flair at his best -as he always was- when getting his ass kicked. Even then, the crowd wanted him to win and went nuts when he finally wrapped up Garvin and pinned him. Your Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair Afterwards, Flair celebrated with his title before Schiavone and Ross closed the show and sent us to a highlights package.
On the whole, Starrcade 86 was a good show.
Sure, the Rhodes/Luger thing was enough to put anyone to sleep, and not every match was a classic, but the TV, tag team, and world title matches were very enjoyable and worth watching.
For this fan, the best thing about this show was that it finally felt like it had all the NWA/WCW stars that are so synonymous with the brand.
As well as Flair, we saw Sting, Luger, The Road Warriors, Rick Steiner, The Freebirds, all the classic stars.In other words, this is a good one to watch.
November 27, 1986 Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia
For the second year in a row, the National Wrestling Alliance's marquee event of the year came to us live from two different venues in Greensboro and Atlanta.
I thought I'd read somewhere that there was also a Kansas portion to this show, though that seems not to have been the case.
Thank goodness too, because with just the two venues, Starrcade 1986 ran to four hours long, setting a record for the longest Starrcade in history that would remain unbroken by the time of the last event in 2000.
Still, unlike the four-hour chore that would be Wrestlemania 4, this event proved that having a super-long event didn't have to mean compromising on quality entertainment.
Don't believe me? Here's what went down on the Night of the Skywalkers.
Welcome to The Night of the Sky Walkers
Tonight was the first Starrcade to feature anything like a proper intro. While all of the previous shows had started with the action already in the ring, Starrcade ‘86 went full-on 80s with a seizure-inducing light show and rocking guitar riff.
This super cool intro gave way to an awesome shot of the arena with the scaffold for tonight’s main event looking large over the ring.
As fired up as ever, ring announcer Tom Miller played MC at the Greensboro venue, welcoming us to the show and inviting us to stand for the playing of the National Anthem before sending it over to Atlanta where Tony Schiavone and his glorious mustache were standing by with fellow commentator, Rick Stewart.
The Atlanta commentators were psyched about the big scaffold match while their counterparts in Greensboro -Johnny Weaver and Bob Caudle- were more interested in the rest of the card, starting with our opening match.
Tim Horner & Nelson Royal vs. The Kernodle Brothers (Don & Rocky Kernodle)
Honestly, I’m happy to see Don Kernodle competing on this card. The guy had appeared at every Starrcade event so far yet this was his first time actually wrestling at the NWA’s marquee event.
Though it wasn’t the longest match in the world, it was pretty good and featured some quality wrestling and fast-paced action from bell-to-bell.
After a solid six-or-so minutes, Horner got the roll-up on Rocky Kernodle and This one was over. Your Winners: Tim Horner & Nelson Royal
Moving on...
Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious) vs. Brad Armstrong
This was another great match.
Brad Armstrong spent so much time floundering in the lower echelons of the card during his time on the main stage that it’s easy to forget what a talented performer he really was. Combined with Jimmy Garvin’s unquestionable charisma and flamboyance, it made for an entertaining contest that told a simple story.
As the aggressor, Garvin continually looked to wear down Armstrong and eventually put him away, but his resilient opponent refused to stay down and took the Gorgeous one quite literally to the limit.
The time expired, rendering this a draw, but as the minutes went by, the crowded were swept up in the story of Garvin growing ever more desperate to win and Armstrong sneaking near falls wherever he could. Time-Limit Draw
Afterwards, Precious distracted Brad so that Garvin could attack, but Armstrong met him with a flurry of fists and sent him packing, much to the delight of the live crowd.
The Barbarian & Shaska Whately vs. Barron Von Rashke & Hector Guerrero
Yes, Barron Von Rashke was a babyface now but hadn’t actually changed anything about his character, making for an odd moment when the crowd cheered loudly for a guy doing a goose step despite all the connotations.
The match itself was one of those that the live crowd clearly enjoyed yet didn’t translate well to television viewing, at least not 34 years after the fact.
After a passable but forgettable contest, Rashke picked up the pinfall for his team. Your Winners: Barron Von Rashke & Hector Guerrero
Post-match, Shaska Whately and Barbarian threw Hector Guerrero out of the ring and beat up on Rashke until Guerrero returned for the save.
Leave Me Alone, Johnny
Backstage in Greensboro, Johnny Weaver told us that Dusty Rhodes had been uncharacteristically quiet as of late, refusing to give any interviews about his upcoming World Television Championship defence.
Just to prove it, Weaver poked his head inside The American Dream’s dressing room and asked him to come out. As a viewer, all we heard was the champion encouraging Weaver to leave him alone.
No Disqualification Match for the National Wrestling Alliance United States Tag Team Championship NWA US Tag Team Champions Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev vs. The Kansas Jayhawks (Bobby Jaggers & Dutch Mantel)
Despite the stipulation, this was mostly just a normal tag team match in which it appeared that nobody involved actually had any idea it was No DQ.
That was decent enough -not great, not the kind of thing that anybody would be raving about afterwards, but decent and inoffensive- though when all hell broke loose in the final minute and whips and chains got involved, it suddenly turned into a lot of fun.
That wild brawl at the finish culminated in Krusher Khruschev blasted Bobby Jaggers in the back of the head with Ivan Koloff’s trusty chain. Koloff himself made the cover and that was all she wrote. Your Winners and Still US Tag Team Champions: Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev
‘Ricky, you are so ravishing, where do you come from?’ asked a sultry voice as Ravishing Rick Rude’s weird theme music played. Honestly, I don’t know if this is a WWE Network dub or his actual NWA theme, but my goodness it was strange.
Indian Strap Match Ravishing Rick Rude (w/ Paul Jones) vs. Chief Wahoo McDaniel
A lot of other reviewers have ripped this match to shreds but this writer -ever the optimist- quite enjoyed it.
Ok, so it wasn’t a technical marvel or anything, but the crowd were firmly into it, and that made all the difference.
Wahoo McDaniel won after touching the first three corners and then being pushed into the fourth by Rude. Your Winner: Wahoo McDaniel
Rude and Paul Jones attacked the chief after the bell but Barron Von Rashke and Hector Guerrero came to his aid.
Backstage, Rick Stewart interviewed Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev.
Proud of themselves for getting past ‘the jaywalkers’ Ivan and Krusher had their sights set on an upcoming bunkhouse stampede match, though not before paying attention to their former ally Nikita Koloff and his World Heavyweight Championship match with champion Ric Flair.
The Russians were angry at Dusty Rhodes for ‘Americanising’ Nikita but still hoped Koloff won anyway so that they could challenge and defeat him for the title.
Although not the greatest promo in the world, this was pretty compelling stuff that did a great job of advancing the storylines.
National Wrestling Alliance Central States Championship NWA Central States Champion Sam Houston vs. Bill Dundee
Seriously, how many different titles did the NWA have?
This match probably has its critics too, but honestly, I enjoy any match where two guys just wrestle each other and look like they desperately want to win.
Again, this won’t ever be regarded as an all-time classic, but both men did the best they could with what they had and the results were enjoyable.
Towards the finish, referee Scrappy ‘Good Name’ McGowan got bumped in the corner. Bill Dundee used this opportunity to yank Sam Houston’s boot off and hit the champion over the head with it, only for Scrappy to reveal he’d seen the whole thing and disqualify him. Your Winner and Still Central States Champion: Sam Houston
Up next, the latest in the never-ending rivalry between Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones.
Hair vs. Hair Match Jimmy Valiant (w/ Big Mama) vs. Paul Jones (w/ Manny Fernandez)
Valiant had already lost a Hair vs. Hair match to Jones on that summer’s Great American Bash tour, so if he lost today it would be his valet Big Mama who would lose her locks.
Since the aforementioned Bash, Valiant’s former ally Manny Fernandez has betrayed him and aligned himself with Jones. Tonight, he would be suspended in a cage above the ring for the duration of the match even though it took four babyfaces to get him in there.
The match itself was, like most Jimmy Valiant matches from the mid-80s, not very good. Still, the crowd loved it so what can you do?
After a few minutes of nothing noteworthy happening, Valiant seized possession of Jones’ random International Object, blasted his nemesis in the face with it and won the match. Your Winner: Jimmy Valiant
Post-match, Valiant got to work on turning Jones into a bald-headed geek but was eventually attacked by Fernandez and Rick Rude. The two hit The Boogie Woogie Man with a wicked-looking spike-DDT on a chair that was the best spot in this whole part of the show, but then Barron Von Rashke and Wahoo McDaniel chased them off.
Welcome to Intermission
While the show went to intermission, we cut to a vignette in which Nelson Royal invited us to join him for a cup of coffee by a roaring campfire as he explained the backstory of the Bunkhouse Brawl and the Bunkhouse Stampede event.
The whole thing seemed a little goofy at first but actually made for a fascinating watch as we learned the kayfabe story behind the whole thing.
For the curious, Royal told us that, once upon a time, cowboys working on ranches used to take lodgings in bunkhouses and there’d be so many guys living under one roof that issues were bound to come up. When they did, the men who were at odds with one another would go outside ‘just as they were in their jeans, their shirt, their spurs’ and fight until only one man was left standing.
We’d see this combined with a pro wrestling battle royal at the second annual Bunkhouse Stampede event, coming soon.
The Louisville Street Fight rules gave he and Ronnie Garvin carte blanche to go anywhere in the arena and basically do anything they wanted. Instead, they stayed exclusively in the ring (give or take the odd time Bubba got thrown outside) and did nothing more extraordinary than having Garvin choke his opponent with a piece of cord and throw a Pepsi in his face.
It was pretty disappointing, especially when the finish was a straight rehash of the same one Garvin had used in his taped fist match with Tully Blanchard on the first night of that year’s Great American Bash tour.
Referee Tommy Young got knocked down. Garvin took out Bubba with a piledriver but got clocked over the head by a tennis-racket-wielding Jim Cornette.
Young came to and when neither man stirred before the count of ten, he declared that there must be a winner and the first man to his feet would be it. That part was exactly the same as the aforementioned Garvin/Blanchard match. Where things differed was that when Garvin almost got to his feet, Cornette once again whacked him with the tennis racket, allowing Bubba to get to his feet and win the match.
The whole thing got better towards the finish, but you got the feeling they could have done a lot more with this. Your Winner: Big Bubba
If you hadn’t yet had enough of gimmick matches, or if blood being featured in almost every match you were in for a treat as our next match would give us both.
First Blood Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Television Championship NWA TV Champion Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard (w/ James J. Dillon)
Years before the WWF would do this regularly, we saw Dusty Rhodes walking through the backstage area en route to the arena. It was a cooler site than I can adequately describe.
He wore a Magnum T.A t-shirt in tribute to the superstar whose career had been tragically cut short following a tragic automobile accident that October, and had the word ‘Tully’ painted on the side of his head because why wouldn’t he?
Once he got to the ring, he and Blanchard delivered a fun performance, not so much because of their actual wrestling but because of the storytelling and theatrics of it all.
Before we began, James J. Dillon drew some major heel heat for his man by putting a head guard on him. When referee Earl Hebner made him take it off, Dillon started to coat his man’s face in Vaseline to protect him from getting cut open.
While Hebner was busy wiping that off the challenger’s face, Dusty hit Dillon with his patented bionic and bust him open. Yep, the NWA loved blood so much in the 1980s that even the managers couldn’t resist blading.
After a short, decent brawl, Hebner got bumped, because who says having two ‘the referee was knocked out’ finishes in back-to-back matches is overkill?
With him down, Dusty used his elbow to make the challenger bleed, but Dillon covered up the cut with Vaseline and handed his man a roll of quarters that Blanchard used to cut open the champion.
Hebner came to, and there was a hilarious bit where he looked at the blood gushing down Dusty’s face with a state of utter disbelief, wiped it on his own finger, stared at his own hand in shock then looked at Dusty with a double-take and did it again.
Without bothering to look at Tully, our man Earl called for the bell and we had ourselves a new champion. Your Winner and New TV Champion: Tully Blanchard
Afterwards, Dusty cried out in shock and dismay before protesting to Hebner. When the official refused to change his decision, The American Dream tossed him from the ring.
As I said, the actual wrestling wasn’t great, but the story was a lot of fun.
Scaffold Match The Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Loverboy Dennis Condrey w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal w/ Paul Ellering)
I started watching this match with anxious trepidation, knowing the sickening injury Jim Cornette suffered at the finish.
Indeed, the whole thing was more of a morbid curiosity than an actual wrestling match. Being the hesitant heels that they were, Beautiful Bobby and Loverboy Dennis took several years just to get on top of the scaffolding. When they got there it quickly became apparent that everyone -including the badass Road Warriors- was absolutely terrified.
Even Hawk and Animal clung tightly to the sides as they moved timidly and with trepidation in an attempt to give us some kind of match.
“This is absolutely spectacular,” said Schiavone, lying.
Admittedly, things did get a little bit more exciting towards the finish when all four men began scaling their way down the support structure and ended up swinging from the underside of the platform.
It was a cool visual that resulted in The Midnight Express taking some sick bumps down to the canvas, thus losing the match. Your Winners: The Road Warriors
Afterwards, Paul Ellering chased Cornette, who, in his fear-inducing stupidity, climbed to the top of the scaffold.
Ellering and Animal met him up there, so Cornette had no choice but to jump down. I say jump, it was a nasty fall that saw him land on his feet and immediately crumple to the mat with a broken knee bone and all kinds of ligament and cartilage damage.
Ouch.
Great American Bash Highlights
If you missed that summer’s Great American Bash tour, no worries, the Starrcade ‘86 control center had a highlights package for you.
You can also read reviews of two of the shows in this blog.
The highlights package was followed by another intermission during which time Tony Schiavone hyped up the rolling of the credits like it was some big deal.
I don’t know about you, but it strikes me as somehow fitting that a company that would become the badly-managed WCW would put the end credits in the middle of the show.
Sure enough, they rolled away, giving a Senior Producer credit to the one and only Virgil Runnels.
Schiavone also told us that there were only two matches left on this show, so these must be som pretty long matches.
Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Andersons (Ole & Arn Anderson)
You know, it never fails to amaze me just how insanely over the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were in their prime. I bet you could put them in the same ring as Hulk Hogan at the height of Hulkamania and it would be difficult to tell who was the most popular.
Speaking of amazing, this tag team title classic truly is a gem worth watching.
Both teams were at their best here, The Andersons as evil heels taking great pleasure in the pain they were able to inflict on their opponents and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express as they courageous babyfaces who refused to surrender.
Together, it made for incredible drama, the crowds cheering their heads off as Morton played face-in-peril role that he did so well it became named after him, and took it to a whole new level. At one point, he came within a fingertips length of making the hot tag to Robert Gibson only to be cruelly denied by Ole and Arn.
There was, however, good news for the champion’s loud and diehard audience. After the match broke down into an all-out brawl, Morton got the win after Gibson dropkicked him on top of his opponent. Your Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express
Post-match, The Andersons attacked the champions until Ricky & Robert we’re able to escape the cave.
National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nature Boy Ric Flair vs. NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff
According to all sources, this was originally planned to be Flair defending the title against Magnum T.A. since Magnum’s accident had put paid to those plans.
As a tribute, we first saw a video paying homage to T.A That had him running down along a beach and holding hands with his mother. As far as I can gather, this was originally set to a the song ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ but due to licensing it was replaced with a weird song that made it seem as though Magnum was in love with his mum.
Anyway, that aside, this was a quality match. Maybe it wasn’t the best main event of all time, but it was certainly compelling and made for an enjoyable watch.
After a grilling back and forth battle, referee Tommy Young got knocked to the outside.
Nikita Koloff took down Flair and covered him, giving us the old routine where the babyface should have won because he technically covered the heel for the count of three but there was no referee.
Scrappy McGoodname then got involved but he too got flattened. Young returned, but then got pushed down by both men, resulting in the double DQ finish. Double DQ
Afterwards, half the heels who had competed on the show (but strangely none of Flair’s Four Horsemen teammates) helped the champion attack Koloff, only for the babyface contingent to rush to the rescue.
After that, Schiavone and Stewart reminisced over some of the show’s highlights and that was Starrcade over with for another year.
Starrcade had started with a bang with a good show back in 1983 but had suffered from two lackluster installments in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, however, the brand came back strong with its most enjoyable episode to date. Though not every match was world-class caliber stuff, only the poor Valiant/Jones match left a bad taste in the mouth while everything else ranged from decent to awesome. Even the scaffold match -though not good in the technical sense- was intriguing enough to make it watchable. The tag team title cage match stole the show and must have been up there as a serious Match of the Year contender. On the whole, a pretty good show, even if it was on the long side.
March 27th, 1988 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina By now, there shouldn't be too many long-term wrestling fans who don't know the story of how the NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions TV specials came into existence. In the days before the Monday Night War, the precursor to WCW as we remember it today were locked in a strategic battle with Vince McMahon's burgeoning World Wrestling Federation, with both companies using the PPV market as their battlefield. WCW presented Starcade and Bunkhouse Stampede, McMahon countered with Survivor Series and the first Royal Rumble. Having taken just about as much as they could from Titanland, Jim Crockett promotions looked to fight back by pitting a new, PPV caliber TV event, Clash of the Champions against McMahon's flagship event, Wrestlemania.
The results didn't work out in Crockett's favour, with 'Mania trouncing Clash every which way. Yet despite the poor return on investment, the show was a hit with fans, and would continue to run all the way up until 1997, the height of the war between the two companies.
When I was last posting regularly on this site (and I know it's been a while, I'm sorry), I was mainly covering WWE events from the mid-1990s, though I decided to change that around just recently. I cancelled my WWE Network subscription after Wrestlemania 32, and decided that for the proverbial shizzles and giggles, I'd watch -and review- some content that I won't be able to get my hands on elsewhere.
With that in mind then, let's turn on the Network and review the first ever NWA Clash of the Champions.
Is Sting finally ready to knock Ric Flair off his throne and become NWA Champion? With Dusty Rhodes by their side, will the Road Warriors take revenge on the men who brutalized them, Ivan Koloff and the Powers of Pain. Are wrestling's new breed of young gladiators equipped with what it takes to be victorious on a day where anything goes? There are so many questions, and the time has finally come to find out the answers. Now, TBS Superstation presents...Clash of the Champions
After that dramatic introduction, complete with footage of the stars in question, generic 80s Movie style music played over pictures of the NWA championship belts before Tony Schiavone (complete with terrible 80s mustache) and Bob Caudle welcomed us to the show, running down tonight's big matches.
It was a simple, no-frills introduction that worked well in setting the tone for tonight's show, and ultimately took us to a youthful Jim Ross standing at ringside.
Ross put over our next match, and with that, it was up to the ring.
NWA Television Championship
NWA Television Champion Mike Rotundo (w/ Games Master Kevin Sullivan) vs. Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious)
"Just like in amateur rules, a one count will count as a fall, and there will be three, five minute rounds" decreed the ring announcer before the future IRS and the future Freebird locked up in a textbook opening contest.
With the Greensboro crowd popping huge for moves most modern fans wouldn't bat an eyelid over (hiptoss, bodyslam, hiptoss, work the crowd) both men went to-and-fro in a match which -though short- was as good as any card-starter you could hope for.
After trading the advantage in the first round, things became much more heated in the second round, with the respective managers getting involved. This was enough to distract referee Teddy Long (who I'm sure was itching to book a tag team match there on the spot) and for Rotunda to grab the quick one fall and retain his title. Your Winner and Still NWA Television Champion: Mike Rotundo. Post match, more shenanigans ensued, with Rick Steiner entering the fray, only to be drilled across the spine with a 2x4 courtesy of Precious, who then went further in her efforts to save Garvin from a Varsity Club beatdown by choking out Sullivan with -of all things- a coat hanger.
Dr. Death Steve Williams Promo
Though I'm sure he no doubt had plenty of fans, I never really saw the appeal of the late Steve Williams. Whilst I'm willing to accept that's probably because I've never actually seen most of his best work, his wooden promo here certainly did little to endear me to JR's favourite.
Asked by interviewer Bob Caudle about the recent events surrounding Dusty Rhodes, Willliams ranted on for at least a minute, mentioning Dusty by name at least every few seconds and sounding for all the world like he hadn't got a clue what Rhodes had been upto without actually admitting as such.
After that, I admittedly switched off, only barely paying attention when Williams said "one more thing...and another thing," and claimed to be ready for an NWA title shot against Ric Flair.
NWA United States Tag Team Championship Match
NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express ('Beautiful' Bobby Eaton & Sweet Stan Lane w/ Jim Cornette) vs. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers)
Introduced by their manager, a slim, young-looking Jim Cornette, Beautiful Bobby and Sweet Stan wasted no time in going after their Fantastic Opponents in a wild match where chairs were used liberally in the early moments like something out of ECW's heydey.
The pace of this one was pretty relentless. A fast, furious stormer of a match, with the heels doing everything to batter down their opponents (including slamming them onto folded-up tables at ringside ECDUB! ECDUB!) and keep the crowds up on their feet, cheering and roaring for Fulton and Rogers to fight back.
After one of the best tag team matches this writer can remember seeing for a long time, The Fantastics looked to do just that after Rogers leapt off the top rope onto Eaton and pinned him for the three count. The babyface celebration was shortlived however, as Fulton had -for whatever mad reason- tossed the referee out of the ring (a second ref appeared from nowhere to make the three count). The ref then returned, reversed the decision, and allowed the champs to retain their gold by DQ. Your Winners via Disqualification and Still NWA United States Tag Team Champions: The Midnight Express.
Man, that was fun. It wasn't over yet though, as Sweet Stan, Beautifully Bobby and even Jim Cornette ganged up on the Fantastics, the latter lashing one of the Fantastics with his belt as the former two held him over the ropes. This. Is. Hardcore.
After a quick advertisement for NWA Main Event, Bob Caudle showed us the barbed wire being wrapped around the ropes ready for our next match before taking us to a pre-taped segment with Ken Osmond from Leave it to Beaver and Jim Cornette.
Though I'm sure it made more sense at the time (and I'm aware that Cornette's gimmick was that he was a spoiled rich kid using mama's money to play wrestling manager), this was just a bizarre segment in which the two talked more about Cornette's mum and her mansion than they did The Midnight Express.
Moving back to Caudle next, who was standing by with Al Perez and his manager Gary Hart. The interview mainly involved Perez looking confused whilst Hart hyped his charge's US title shot against reigning champion, Dusty Rhodes. Perez finally spoke up, insisting that the only way Rhodes could beat him would be to strike him with a baseball bat.
"Let's just hope they legalise baseball bats, Dusty Rhodes...." said Hart finally, before adding he indeed, invented the Dirty Deeds. Somewhere, a young Dean Ambrose was probably taking note.
Jim Crockett Snr. Memorial cup
Up next, Frances Crockett announced the top ten seeds for the upcoming Jim Crockett Snr. Memorial Cup, all whilst looking as though it was the last place in the world she wanted to be.
Chicago Street Fight: Six Man Barbed Wire Match
NWA United States Champion Dusty Rhodes and The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal, w/ Paul Ellering) vs. Ivan Koloff and The Powers of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian, w/ Paul Jones)
Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors, among the very greatest of all time. There was no possible way this could be bad, right?
Wrong?
OK, maybe bad's the wrong word here. Let's try boring. Uninteresting. Not worth watching. Yeah, that's more like it.
Indeed, I think the most interesting thing about this match was that Animal was wearing a hockey mask to sell the very face injury that had led us to this match, and that Dusty was wearing L-O-D style facepaint.
Beyond that, this was just several minutes of guys standing by the ropes rubbing each other with barbed wire and occasionally punching each other. Somewhere amidst the melee, you're likely to have seen Hawk busting out his trademark press slam/fist drop spot, and Barbarian accidentally nailing Warlord with a headbutt to give the win to the good guys, but that's only if you were still paying attention at that point. Your Winners: Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors Post match, the heels pretty much no-sold the loss, getting back up, ripping Animal's mask off and attacking him until his partner's made the save.
Nikita Koloff Reveals his New Look
After Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross stood around at ring side hyping the new NWA Main Event show, it was back to our man Bob Caudle for an interview with Nikita Koloff. Wearing a white suit, white shirt, and white tie, this was apparently Koloff's 'new look.' Since I was four at the time, and this is about the furthest I've ever gone back in watching NWA/WCW footage, I have no idea what his old look was, but hey, more power to the man.
Looking sharp in his new suit, Koloff claimed that he'd spent the last two months talking to young people about taking care of their health, cleverly transitioning this into talking about how the heels of the company had tried to take his health, making him a fighter.
I'll be honest, the thick, faux-Russian accent made it hard to understand every word of Kolloff's promo, but the points were delivered well enough, and despite not being particuarly memorable,t his was so far the best promo on the show.
NWA World Tag Team Championship Match
NWA Tag Team Champions 'The Enforcer' Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (w/ JJ. Dillon) vs. Barry Whindham & Lex Luger So much of me wants to refer to the champs here as The Brainbusters, but I'll refrain, and instead tell you what an enjoyable bout this was.
Following the same non-stop pace of the first two matches, this was another textbook, old-school match with barely a dull moment in sight. All four men worked hard, the big, brawny challengers putting their size and strength up against the smaller champions speed and dastardly heel tactics, the very same tactics which ultiamtely cost them the match.
After a good match, JJ Dillon jumped up onto the apron with a chair, only for Lex Luger to throw Arn Anderson head-first into it. One pinfal later, and The Total Package leapt into the air, celebrating his and Windham's victory.
Your Winners and NEW NWA World Tag Team Champions: Lex Luger & Barry Whindham Prior to our main event, we were introduced to the match judges; Gary Juster from the National Wrestling Alliance, former wrestler Sandy Scott, Penthouse Playmate Patty Mullen, Jim Cornette's buddy Ken Osmond, and 'The Wonder Years' Jason Harvey, all of whom randomly stood around at ringside looking like they couldn't find their seats.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
NWA World Heavyweight Champion 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair vs. Sting (w/ JJ. Dillon)
With JJ suspended in a cage at ringside, WCW's two biggest stars went at it in an gripping main event that proved why both men still enjoy the kind of acclaim they do today.
Challenger Sting fought desperately to claim the title, using everything in his arsenal to take it to the champion. Flair meanwhile, played the cowardly heel to perfection, backing into the corner whenever Sting went on the rampage, begging for mercy and taking cheapshots whenever possible.
Though it may not have been the best match the two would ever have (that's certainly not for me to say), this one was certainly a riot from start to finish.
Speaking of the finish, both men went the full forty-five minutes, leaving the decision up to the judges. The fact that three celebrities held the fate of the most prestigious wrestling title in the world at that time in their hands kind of spoiled things a little bit for this fan, but only a little bit, and I'll admit I'm nitpicking here.
In the end, the match was -somewhat predictably- declared a draw. Match Result - Draw: Ric Flair retains the NWA Championship
And that was all she wrote folks. Though not the greatest event ever recorded in the history of televised professional wrestling, this was nonetheless a very good card, with the only low-point being the dull barbed wire match and a couple of wooden promos. In fact, I enjoyed the whole thing so much, that I'm seriously reconsidering cancelling my WWE Network subscription.
Writing this has been just the thing I needed to rediscover my passion for pro wrestling, and this blog, a passion which has been slowly battered away by a current WWE product that I can sadly no longer relate to.
New reviews of classic WWF/WWE events recalling every moment from Wrestlemania 1 - 30. You'll also find reviews of WCW, ECW, TNA and the occasional indie event, along with a look at old school magazines, merchandise and more.
