JHawk
May 1987, Monday, Week 4
Regarding Magnum T.A.’s guest spot on commentary last night, I understand he’s not under any type of contract and simply was in the area and was asked to help out. Jim Ross said he would doing commentary next week as well. Not sure if he’ll actually be signed to any type of longer contract or not but that’s the deal as of now.
Backstage last night, Buddy Roberts got into an altercation with Jimmy Garvin which led to a fight almost breaking out between the two. Apparently there’s a rumor going around that Garvin will be used as the third Freebird and Roberts took offense to it. Apparently Garvin either isn’t aware of becoming a Freebird or is playing dumb as he said he had no clue what Roberts is talking about. Roberts has since apologized for the incident.
Attendance at the Tulsa Convention Center last night came in at 3,451.
May 1987, Tuesday, Week 4
The UWF has officially announced that the June major event on Saturday, Week 2, headlined by Barry Windham vs. Big Bubba Rogers for the UWF Heavyweight Title, will be named Untouchable.
May 1987, Wednesday, Week 4
There is at least talk of doing a midweek TV taping to see if they can get Ted DiBiase on TV on occasion before his contract runs out. However, the word I have is that SportsChannel America is demanding Power Pro Wrestling air live every week and as of now is not willing to allow a pretaped show or a one week change in the time slot.
May 1987, Thursday, Week 4
AWA President Stanley Blackburn has officially retired.
May 1987, Friday, Week 4
Iceman King Parsons vs. Steve Cox is being advertised for this Sunday’s Power Pro Wrestling broadcast.
May 1987, Saturday, Week 4
The world of professional wrestling has officially been turned upside down today as it was announced that NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair has officially signed his deal to work exclusively for the World Wrestling Federation. I have heard no details of the contract, but it is reportedly a multi-year deal. The NWA is in an uproar right now, as emergency meetings are currently ongoing to determine how to proceed with the NWA title. It should be noted that Flair’s deal doesn’t begin until next weekend, so Jim Crockett Promotions should be able to move the title on World Championship Wrestling tonight if the Board of Directors can agree on a successor.
May 1987, Sunday, Week 4
The replay of Power Pro Wrestling on KWTV drew another 0.02 rating.
No agreement was made regarding a replacement for Ric Flair as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, so he will most likely be leaving Jim Crockett Promotions as champion.
UWF Power Pro Wrestling coverage (May 1987, Sunday, Week 4)
Another week of TV from the Tulsa Convention Center. Once again we look to be about half full.
In a non-title match, UWF Tag Team Champions Sting & Rick Steiner defeated Action Jackson and Art Crews in 2:09 when Sting defeated Crews by submission with a Scorpion Deathlock. After the match, Bill Watts announced that Sting and Steiner would defend the titles against The Lightning Express on TV next week.
Barry Windham pinned Sid Steele in 1:28 with a Superplex. Windham continues to look fantastic and should win the title in New Orleans in two weeks.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Iceman King Parsons drew with Steve Cox in 10:00 when the time limit expired. It looks like they’re protecting Cox which is interesting given he hasn’t really set the world on fire.
In a non-title match, Big Bubba Rogers (w/Skandor Akbar) pinned Mike Jackson in 1:16 with a Bubba Slam.
Magnum T.A. joined Jim Ross on commentary for the rest of the show.
Terry Taylor pinned Sam Houston (w/Baby Doll) with a Five Arm in 44 seconds. I can’t believe the match was that short. After the match, Eddie Gilbert grabbed the microphone and repeated what he said last week about being there for Taylor whenever he was needed.
Vladimir Petrov pinned Savannah Jack with a Russian Sickle in 45 seconds.
Jim Ross interviewed Big Bubba Rogers backstage. Rogers said he didn’t break a sweat earlier in the evening and was issuing an open challenge for the UWF Heavyweight Title with two stipulations. One, the opponent must be ranked in the top ten. Two, he couldn’t be Barry Windham because “he’s already getting a shot he doesn’t deserve in New Orleans in two weeks!”
Buddy Roberts (w/Sunshine) pinned Butch Miller by submission in 2:36. Don’t ask me why Sunshine is still with Roberts. I think everybody else forgot she was.
Jim Ross interviewed Vladimir Petrov backstage. Petrov said his goal was to prove that Russian athletes were superior to Americans. The best I can say about this interview is it was short.
In a bout that had a good crowd and some decent in-ring action, Jimmy Garvin answered the open challenge and defeated UWF Heavyweight Champion Big Bubba Rogers in 12:32 by disqualification when Skandor Akbar interfered. Rogers and Akbar double teamed Garvin until Barry Windham made the save.
This show was good and did a decent job of building the Windham-Rogers match for New Orleans but not much else of note happened here.
