Sage Cortez
Clash of the Champions 7 is in the books, and it’s time for the NWA to keep things hot. They’re debuting a new show called the POWER HOUR, which is supposed to have big matches on it. By the looks of it, these sure do look like big matches. No doubt about that. I also have some debuts to go through, can’t wait to check them out!
– Taped to air June 17th, 1989, on Worldwide
The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) vs. Dick Murdoch
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a great way to kick things off. Murdoch has been in and out, I assume between Japan tours and that kind of thing. This seems like a perfect mix of wrestlers. Muta is ready for his push to be ramped way up.
Match Review: Muta spits green mist into the air before the match, and scares Murdoch with crazy looking kicks. That’s one way to stall. Murdoch takes Muta down from behind, then Muta responds with an arm drag. Back up they go, and Murdoch uses a hip toss and dropkick to send Muta to the outside. He gets back in, and gets wrecked with a shoulderblock. Muta uses his own hip toss, and kicks Murdoch out to the floor. Murdoch gets thrown back in by Muta, then slammed. Muta follows with his elbow drop, then goes to work on Murdoch by trying to crack his knuckles. Muta misses a charge to the corner, then Murdoch nails him with a back elbow. Muta takes a break on the floor, but his manager pushes him back up to the apron so Murdoch can suplex him back in. Hart grabs the leg to block the suplex, then Muta sprays MIST in Murdoch’s eyes thanks to the distraction. He covers, and that gets 3 at 6:58.
Scott Steiner decides to run out there and pop Gary Hart, and Muta starts trying to poke his eye out. Murdoch clears the ring, and I guess Muta vs. Steiner going to be a match the next week.
My Thoughts: This was a standard TV match, and the finish in play was that Muta sprayed his mist twice. The illusion and work is, how could he have done that? Well, we all know how, but that’s the trick to hook people in. *, this wasn’t particularly spectacular nor exciting.
– Taped to air June 17th, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from the Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia
Road Warriors & Lex Luger interviews
Strange to see the show head out of the studio this week. The first one was regarding the Road Warriors feud with the Samoan Swat Team. They explained that the SST would never get an easy win as long as the Road Warriors were around, and that the Road Warriors would always be in their business. Then, we got an interview explaining Lex Luger’s heel turn. His arrogance is off the charts. He says that Steamboat was a victim of circumstances, and that he was tired of catering to the fans. His explanation should have centered around not being #1 in the rankings, in my opinion. What he said suffices, though.
Terry Gordy vs. Steve Williams
Pre-Match Thoughts: Looks like a re-do of their match at Clash 7. Hopefully it’s much better. The company is also trying to create a situation leading to a WarGames match, so all the chaos and confusion is very fitting. I like where the overall storyline is going.
Match Review: Dr. Death runs out, forgoing his entrance to start the match. He chases Gordy from the ring, and follows him out there. Both guys brawl at ringside, and climb back in once Doc gets the better of it. He comes in with a double axehandle from the top, and Gordy tosses him back out to the floor. He sends Williams into the rail as well, and back in once again. Williams uses a floatover suplex for 2, Gordy comes back with hard elbows. He folds Doc up with a back suplex, it gets a 2 count. Dr. Death comes back with a hip toss, but he misses an elbow drop. Gordy clotheslines him in the corner, and goes for a piledriver. Doc reverses to a backdrop, but gets clotheslined on a rush to the corner, and Gordy covers for 2. A kick to the gut also gets 2, and Gordy lands another clothesline for 2. Many near falls here. Doc finally gets some offense in with a few turnbuckle shots, and he takes Gordy out with a clothesline. Dr. Death makes a much better babyface than heel, to me. After a big shoulderblock, Michael Hayes hits the ring. Doc picks Gordy up for the OKLAHOMA STAMPEDE, but Jimmy Garvin trips Dr. Death and Gordy rolls up the Doctor for the win at 6:58.
Jim Cornette has come out to ringside as well, and the Freebirds bring him into the ring the hard way. Haha. Now the Midnight Express are out there, fighting off the Freebirds! Here comes the New Zealand Militia! The Dynamic Dudes! All of these teams fight with each other, and here comes Norman the Lunatic for good measure. The Steiners are there now too!
My Thoughts: The finished served to promote their two man battle royals that they were running on the Great American Bash tour. It worked really well, and I was very much entertained by the brawl to close the show. This was not exactly common in nationally televised wrestling at the time. The match was much better than the one at Clash 7, but it needed more time to be a great one. Just **1/4, this time.
– Taped to air June 23rd, 1989, on the POWER HOUR
The Samoan Swat Team (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Great way to debut a new show, isn’t it? These guys needed to have a proper match with each other, and I guess it doesn’t carry the drawing capability for it to matter if they give it away on television. Jim Cornette and Jim Ross are the hosts of this new show, that sounds great to me! This was taped outside of the studio, and I don’t know where it happened. The pop for the Road Warriors entrance was enormous.
Match Review: The Road Warriors hit the ring, so here we go. Animal takes Fatu out with a flying shoulderblock, and Hawk does the same to Samu with a dropkick. The SST gets right back in the ring, and cleared right back out. The match restarts with Animal and Fatu in there, and Animal destroys Fatu with a clothesline. Dangerously trips Animal as he runs the ropes, and the referee is totally distracted now. Ellering chases Dangerously around the ring as the SST hits Animal with a double superkick, then Fatu powerslams Animal for a 2 count. Animal and Fatu collide in the middle of the ring, and here comes Hawk in legally for the first time. He dropkicks Fatu, and nails him with a flying shoulderblock of his own. Hawk uses a neckbreaker, and Samu breaks the cover. Animal rushes in for a clothesline, and Hawk hits Fatu with his own clothesline. Now the Freebirds are in there, leading to a disqualification win for the Road Warriors at 3:21.
The SST decides to kidnap Ellering while the Freebirds beat up the Road Warriors, that’s an unfair fight for sure. It’s 3 on 2! Dangerously breaks the cell phone over Ellering’s head, then Samu starts hitting him with a pineapple. They cover him with a Samoan wrap, and Jim Ross calls it a Samoan funeral. That’s great commentary.
My Thoughts: More good build towards WarGames. This wasn’t quite a proper match, but it served its purpose. This is how a company should be using their TV time. Gordon Solie’s advertised involvement is also a big bonus in that regard. For me, this was a *1/2 match with a hot angle at the end.
– Taped to air June 24th, 1989, on Worldwide
The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) vs. Scott Steiner
Pre-Match Thoughts: The novelty here is one of the reasons I’m watching. The other is because they set this thing up on the last episode of the show. Booking things as if the events of previous episodes matter is smart. Steiner also wants to defend the honor of Missy Hyatt. I hope these two young guys try to tear the house down.
Match Review: Steiner attacks from behind, and we’re underway! He clotheslines Muta, then gives him a belly to belly throw. Hart distracts the kid so that Muta can attack from behind, then Muta takes Steiner down with a headlock. They get up, and Steiner powerslams his Japanese foe for a 2 count. Muta uses another distraction to attack Steiner from behind, then he throws him out to the floor. Steiner makes it back up to the apron, and sunset flips his way in for 2. Muta replies with a kick to the jaw, and follows with an elbow drop. He uses a backbreaker on Steiner as well, and heads up top for the first time. His moonsault misses and he lands on his feet, so Steiner hits him with some dropkicks. After a backdrop, Muta shoves his fingers into Steiner’s throat, and it gets a 3 count after nearly 4 minutes.
The Varsity Club heads out there to laugh at him, and eventually start attacking him. These guys are evil bastards. After a double clothesline, Rick Steiner heads out to save his brother and beats down both of these clowns until he misses a clothesline and flies over the top. Now, Sullivan chokes Scott with his belt, until Rick recovers and gets back in the ring, causing the Varsity Club to run out of it.
My Thoughts: This could have been the best TV match of the bunch and was headed in that direction, but got cut off with a finish that didn’t make sense to me. I understand the need to build Muta up, but I don’t think Scott Steiner needed to be doing jobs either. This wasn’t the time to pay some dues. **.
– Taped to air June 24th, on World Championship Wrestling, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Eddie Gilbert interviews
Two get put together in this nice video. In the first one, he reintroduces Tommy Rich to the NWA. Rich was a big regional star, but he wasn’t quite a big national star, nor did he meet the criteria to be one. He got a big reaction during his interview, where he slammed Lex Luger. He cut a good promo. Back to Gilbert we go, at which point Gary Hart comes out there and calls Missy Hyatt a bimbo. Gilbert clocks him, and the Great Muta rushes out from the back to spray some RED MIST at Gilbert. He beats Gilbert down with a kendo stick, and uh…that’s how you put a guy over, isn’t it? This was building towards matches between these two on the GAB tour. On that tour, the guys would flip a coin. The winner would get their choice of match. The majority of the time, they were Dragon Shi matches. Not sure what that means.
The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes, w/Terry Gordy) for the NWA Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts:
I didn’t want to review the entire show, so let’s recap what has happened. Michael Hayes is generally the color commentator on this show. During a match where the Midnight Express were teamed with Dr. Death, Hayes threw out a lot of insults. Then, the Freebirds who were already on commentary decided to push the initiative, and they did one of those brawls where one member of the title holding team gets rolled up and pinned despite that not being an official victory. The Freebirds were so sure they’d win that they granted the Express a title shot. That can be found in the video above. I should also remember that Cornette has started managing Dr. Death, a good idea considering Doc’s babyface promos pale in comparison to his in-ring work.
Match Review: Garvin and Lane lock up, and Garvin goes right to the eyes. Lane backdrops him and bodyslams him, then does the same to Hayes. Eaton tags in for the first time, and they hit Garvin with a double back elbow. Garvin comes back with a clothesline, and here comes Hayes. Eaton backdrops Hayes, and Lane tags in for a snap mare and cover for 2. Eaton’s in again, and uses a headlock takeover that Hayes reverses into a head-scissors. He tosses Eaton out of the ring, and starts dancing for the crowd. Eaton flies in with a surprise missile dropkick from the top, and both guys tag out. Garvin grabs onto a headlock, but Lane hip tosses him as we go to a commercial.
Hayes throws Lane out to the floor when we return, but Lane rushes back in and returns the favor. The two trade punches inside the ring, and Lane uses a powerslam. Lane puts Hayes in a chinlock, as we seem to be using the heel in peril formula here. Garvin grabs Lane’s hair as he runs the ropes, that’ll put a stop to the punishment towards Hayes. The Freebirds land their own double back elbow, and Garvin drops Lane throat-first on the top rope. They run into each other after that, and both guys make the tag out! Eaton backdrops Hayes, gives him a swinging neckbreaker, and all four guys are in there now. The Freebirds get tossed into each other, and Hayes takes a bulldog from Eaton. Eaton heads up top for the finish, and Gordy walks over to him to punch him off…and Eaton takes one of the biggest bumps imaginable for the time period, flying into the rail. Of course, the Midnight Express are counted out at 7:14.
My Thoughts: That was a fantastic finish. Now the Express have an issue with Gordy as well as the other two that have continued to face them in these tag team matches. The bump Eaton took was excellent, of course. I thought the match was also much better than the one from Clash 7 with all of the mistakes. **1/2. The heat is building up…
– Taped to air June 30th, 1989, on POWER HOUR
THE SKYSCRAPERS DEBUT
SID IN THE NWA, YES! Sid on my screen, yes! Teddy Long managing these guys was a perfect fit. Everyone had taken him for being a joke, then he shows up with two enormous guys that look like they should be pushed to the top of the business. The match doesn’t quite square up to that belief, as Sid is still finding his way in the ring. Very impressive looking team, though.
Ron Simmons vs. Sting for the NWA Television Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s nice to see Simmons in a prominent match again. I’m a big fan of this guy, his athletic ability brought a lot to the table. Sting should win handily, though. He’s by far the more over guy and there’s no reason to protect Simmons seeing as he’s about to start wearing a mask.
Match Review: Simmons taunts Sting with some one-arm pushups, and Sting has no interest in doing them himself. Sting tries a cross body which Simmons quickly kicks out of, then hits Simmons with some dropkicks to send him to the floor. They finally properly lock up, and Simmons tries a whip and charge to the corner. He misses the charge, and the Stinger takes him down with an arm drag. They fight over a wristlock, and Simmons uses a stunner to take Sting down. He punches Sting over the top, then hits him with a double axehandle from the apron. After ramming Sting into the stairs, he drops him on the rail. Back in they go, and Simmons takes an elbow to the head. Simmons comes back with a punch and puts a chinlock on the champion, but Sting gets out and uses a DDT. He clotheslines Simmons too, then dodges another charge to the corner. Sting capitalizes with the STINGER SPLASH, and rolls Simmons up for the victory at 6:46.
My Thoughts: Standard television match here, which was brought down a bit by the commentary. Jim Ross commentating from the studio is quite frankly not so good. It’s hard to maintain interest in the match when somebody is talking in that kind of monotone fashion. I love Jim Ross but I also call it straight. Not his fault either. Just *1/4 for average or possibly even below average work.
– Taped to air July 1st, on World Championship Wrestling, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Ric Flair PRESS CONFERENCE
This is the moment the fans were waiting for, it’s Flair announcing whether or not he’d return. He thought he may have had to retire, but he’s NOT. RIC FLAIR WILL FIGHT ON, AND HE WANTS TERRY FUNK AT THE BASH! It will happen!
– Taped to air July 14th, 1989, on the Power Hour, from Cumberland County Civic Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina
The Samoan Swat Team (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Road Warriors in a STEEL CAGE MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: Man, this is great for TV. The televised cage match was an absolute rarity, although the cage doesn’t look very tall. Sadly, Paul E. came out there and started talking about the SST not showing up to the building. That sucks. His explanation was fantastic. It appears the new match is…
THE FABULOUS FREEBIRDS vs. The Road Warriors in a STEEL CAGE MATCH
Match Review: Gordy and Garvin will be the Freebirds taking part, and the Road Warriors rush into the ring, so here we go. Animal and Garvin lock up, and of course Garvin gets thrown across the ring. Animal hits Garvin with a big boot as well, and Gordy tags in. Gordy and Animal collide, with neither guy moving an inch. Gordy clotheslines Animal in the corner, that knocks him down. Now Michael Hayes walks out to ringside, as Gordy and Animal tag out. Hawk hits both Freebirds with big punches, and uses a flying shoulderblock on Garvin. A press slam on Garvin follows that, only for Gordy to destroy Hawk with a big right hand. Garvin chokes Hawk relentlessly, then gets out of there. Gordy clotheslines Hawk, bodyslams him, and drops a big elbow for 2. Gordy clotheslines Hawk in the corner, and picks him up for a piledriver that Hawk does his no-selling routine on. I love that, and so does the crowd. Gordy follows with a suplex anyway, it gets 2. Garvin tags in, and puts a sleeper on Hawk. I wasn’t really expecting that. Hawk powers out of it, but Gordy rakes the eyes. Now they collide, and both guys make a tag. Animal is the fresh man, he dropkicks Garvin in the face. He powerslams Gordy, and all four guys are in the ring now. About time, this is a cage match. We don’t need rules. Hawk beats up Gordy in the corner, and he piledrives him too. Now, the Samoans head out to ringside and steal the key to the door from the referee. Oh boy. They climb in there with a set of handcuffs and lock Animal to the ropes, as Hayes gets in there too. This is 5 on 2! Hawk gets beaten up by all 5 of them, and they throw him into the cage. Hawk juices big time, and the jobbers who try to run in to save him get beaten down as well. This is a great assault. How do you get 5 guys out of the cage? Once Hawk is beaten to the point of looking like a stab victim, they leave the scene.
My Thoughts: The angle there was a big time money move. They ran that thing to get some PPV buys, and from that perspective I think it worked. Hawk did a great blade job, but the Samoans showing up at the end was not so well disguised. Not like it matters. The match was strong and packed with action. It was about 10 minutes long, which was a good length for television. I’d give it ***1/4, and with the angle as part of it, I’d recommend the thing. Some people have said that the Road Warriors didn’t have great or even good tag team matches. I totally reject that idea.
– Taped to air July 23rd, 1989, on NWA Main Event, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
The Fabulous Freebirds (NWA Tag Team Champions) vs. The Steiner Brothers & Steve Williams
Pre-Match Thoughts: Once again, this could be a great match. Nice six man tag given away on TV, nobody can say that the NWA didn’t try to entertain. They did their absolute best. As Jim Ross said, the babyface team is made up of collegiate All-Americans. THAT’S THE WAY WRESTLING SHOULD BE.
Match Review: The babyfaces attack early, and throw all three Freebirds into each other to send them to the outside. Garvin and Rick Steiner will start the match proper, with Rick taunting the other two Freebirds while having Garvin locked up. Scott tags in and goes to work on the arm, then Dr. Death does the same. By the time something else happens, it’s Rick in there with Garvin, and Gordy tags in to destroy Rick with a clothesline. He suplexes him as well, and drops an elbow for 2. Hayes heads in and drops a bunch of elbows for 2, and Garvin stomps away at the former TV champion. Gordy tags in for a bodyslam, and he heads up top only for Rick to throw him down. Rick follows with a clothesline, but Garvin tags in and cuts him off anyway. He throws Rick to the outside, and the Freebirds launch him into the rail. The lady in the front row nearly crapped herself. Gordy tags in again, and punts Rick in the chest. Hayes is in there now, and Rick moves out of the way of Hayes attempt at a punt. Finally he gets out of there, and it’s Dr. Death facing Gordy. Gordy does a Flair flip in the corner after a whip by Doc, and all six guys brawl now. Referee’s worst nightmare. Gordy throws Doc into the post, and while Scott has Garvin rolled up, Paul E. Dangerously sneaks down and hands a loaded tennis racket to Gordy. Gordy hits Scott with it, Garvin covers, and that gets a victory. What the hell, man? Eventually, Jim Cornette heads out there, and gets the decision reversed.
My Thoughts: How can they reverse the decision like that? Is Cornette’s word that good? I think not. The match was a good way to spend 6 minutes. These are great for television as they further along the storyline without using squashes, instead these are competitive matches with teams people want to see. They furthered two programs here. WarGames and the upcoming match between Dangerously and Cornette. *3/4 for the weird finish, but overall it was the perfect thing to have on syndicated TV the day of the PPV.
That was a hell of a month. They tried so hard to build up WarGames and the match between Funk and Flair, but they didn’t build up much of anything else. I don’t recall it ever being announced that Sting was facing the Great Muta at the PPV. I do not believe Luger and Steamboat ever came in contact after Clash 7, either. The cage match here was great, as were the angles. Their singles stars didn’t make many TV appearances, other than Funk who they were continuing to attempt to get over. There were some things like Scott Hall and Brian Pillman making their debuts, but I didn’t review them. Next up for me, is Great American Bash 1989. This card has a reputation for being one of the best PPV’s ever put on, but I’ve never seen it before. Should be a fun watch!
Best: The Road Warriors vs. The Freebirds in a cage. Had to be.
Worst: Lack of Luger and Steamboat involvement. They should have been on the shows more.
