Sage Cortez
Finally, it’s time for the last big show of 1988! Starrcade is here, and this looks like a great card to watch. The production has been really weird on these shows, but as somebody who isn’t paying full PPV price to watch them, I don’t really care. All that matters to me is that the product is good, there are some solid interviews with the talent, and the booking makes sense. The likelihood of the booking making sense is admittedly pretty small. The NWA was not able to fill the arena for this show, so I think a lot of people felt that way. Once again, I deliberately avoided the lineup and only know what has been advertised. I think they advertised everything! After the shenanigans last year with the WWF competing, they moved the show to December. Was the right thing to do, obviously.
– December 26th, 1988, from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia
The introduction shows Luger having Flair in the TORTURE RACK, from the Great American Bash. It also shows Bam Bam Bigelow giving somebody a big splash from the top, and the Road Warriors putting Dusty’s eye out. This seemed very professional and was well done. Tony Schiavone is one of the hosts, replete with a silly looking mustache. His co-host is Magnum TA! Jim Ross and Bob Caudle will be the commentators, and they’re PUMPED. There are five championship matches, and we’re about to watch the first one.
The Varsity Club vs. The Fantastics for the NWA United States Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: The Varsity Club members going for these titles are Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams. The Fantastics just won them, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot in wrestling. Seeing the dorks in the crowd cheering for the Fantastics was hilarious. The cool guys sat down and wanted nothing to do it it. Good for them. Seeing the Fantastics going around ringside greeting all the ugly women made me immediately dislike them. Sorry if you were an ugly woman who sat at ringside for this show, but I don’t quite expect that. I want the Varsity Club to win these belts.
Match Review: Sullivan and Fulton lock up, with Sullivan getting kicked down and hit with a THESZ PRESS from the second rope for 2. Rogers tags in, gives Sullivan a backdrop, and gets out. Sullivan is also able to tag out, bringing in Dr. Death. Why does the NWA always show Jason Hervey when he’s at ringside for these events? The Fantastics use some quick moves to make Dr. Death look like a dumbo, culminating in Fulton causing him to miss a charge. Rogers rushes in and they give Dr. Death a double monkey flip, then Fulton tries one of his own. He misses, and Dr. Death picks him up for a huge press slam. He tags Fulton with a clothesline, and out he goes. Fulton comes in with a dropkick, then the Fantastics knock Williams to the outside with a double dropkick. He comes back in and gives Fulton a back suplex, as Fulton and Sullivan fight on the floor. We didn’t get to see it, but we do see Williams missing an elbow drop. Rogers comes in with a dropkick, gets tagged and Sullivan heads in. They give Rogers a double clothesline, and Sullivan takes a charge at Rogers, only to tumble over the top after a missed clothesline. He climbs back in and Rogers flips through a backdrop to hit him with another dropkick. That was excellent. Rogers gets trapped in the Varsity Club’s corner, but he’s able to use a noggin-knocker to get out of it. The Varsity Club is giving them a LOT of offense. They give Dr. Death a double backdrop, and he comes back by hitting Rogers with a high knee to the back. He’s extremely pissed, so he rams, or rather spears Rogers head into the turnbuckles. He gives Rogers a delayed vertical suplex, which gets 2. Rogers does a surprise pin for 2, but gets cut off from tagging. In comes Sullivan, who hits Fulton to draw him into the ring, which allows the Varsity Club to use a double team punch. Rogers does a small package for 2, it was a good hope spot. A Thesz press gets 2 as well, and Fulton is able to tag in! Sullivan rams him into Dr. Death’s knee, and tags him in. Dr. Death puts Fulton in a bear hug, only to get thumbed in the eye. Doc is blind, so he can’t stop Rogers from making a tag. Sullivan rushes in, blocks a charge from Rogers, and heads up top only to be slammed down. Rogers tries a big splash from the top, but Sullivan blocks it with his knees. Dr. Death tags in, and nails Rogers with a short clothesline. Sullivan is in, hits Fulton for good measure, and hits Rogers with his own clothesline for 2. He puts Rogers in a chinlock, building the crowd up even more. After a tag, Dr. Death gives Rogers a leg drop. He follows that by dropping him throat-first onto the top rope, and with a diving headbutt for 2. He puts his own chinlock on Rogers, which goes on for much longer than the first one. Nothing wrong with that, as these guys have worked very hard. Rogers gets out and hits a dropkick, but Sullivan tags in first and cuts him off. Sullivan uses a bodyslam and some double stomps, which get another 2 count. Rogers then reverses a suplex into one of his own, and makes the tag!
Fulton comes in with fists of fury, and a backdrop to Williams. He nails Dr. Death a few more times, and goes for 10 punches in the corner. This was very disjointed, by the way. Dr. Death has his inverted atomic drop blocked, and Fulton clotheslines him. He puts a sleeper on too, but has it broken quickly. Dr. Death hits him with a HOTSHOT, which wins the match after a pin at 15:50! New champions already!
My Thoughts: The Fantastics were on their way out for an assortment of reasons, so it makes sense that they would lose this match. The cheer that Williams got for winning that match was utter rejection of the Fantastics as a babyface tag team. There were too many people who just didn’t like them because of their look and behavior. I was really into this match, but perhaps you need to be in the moment of watching all the booking to like it. All four guys worked really hard, and Sullivan took a lot of big bumps. The hot tag sequence wasn’t great, but the beginning of the match and the heat coming off of that made up for it. It was a hot start, and a clean finish in favor of a heel. I don’t remember that happening outside of a cage match in quite a while, especially from this promotion. ***1/2. What somebody thinks of this match is a bit of a litmus test in terms of whether or not they like Southern style tag wrestling. I should also mention that I love to see a wrestler(s) on their way out of the promotion get dominated. That happened here! I hope the Varsity Club has a bunch of televised defenses, and it wouldn’t hurt if they were able to use the Freebird rule to switch partners in and out of the team. I would expect Williams and Mike Rotunda to be the most commonly used team if that is the case.
I appreciate hearing Magnum TA’s thoughts on the matches after each one. This is a good use of a retired wrestler, he has a lot of insight to offer and people still cared about what he had to say. They also talk about other matches, and apparently if the Russian Assassins lose their match against the Junkyard Dog and Ivan Koloff, Paul Jones must retire.
The Original Midnight Express (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This feud was a brilliant idea all around. To have Dennis Condrey show up with a different tag team partner, to have that team call themselves the Midnight Express as well…is a rare case of great NWA booking. I expect the crowd to be hot for this one, as not only was it a great idea for a feud, but the angle they ran debuting the Original Express was hot. Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey look like pure sleaze.
Match Review: Eaton and Lane rush the ring immediately, each giving one of their opponents a backdrop. Cornette wants a piece of Paul E., and the crowd is loving it. Would have been money in a six man tag between these guys. After that, we get ring introductions! They gives Condrey a suplex back into the ring, and a hip toss as well. Lane knocks Randy Rose over the top, and the crowd is juiced up for this mess. Lane and Condrey get it going again, with Condrey being knocked to the outside. Cornette takes a big swing with his racket, and clocks him! Paul E. is irate, as Condrey gets back into the ring. He is given an inverted atomic drop, which causes Condrey to make a tag out. Eaton tags in too, and gives Rose an elbow drop after a drop toe-hold. An Eaton back elbow follows, and Rose gets knocked to the outside for a racket shot. Lane throws him into the post, and back in Rose goes. Lane tags in, and lands a cross body for 1. Condrey tags in, as does Eaton, who rams Condrey into the buckle. Up top Eaton goes, and down with a big elbow drop. Lane switches in, and puts a chinlock on his opponent. He lets go, tags out, and Eaton gives Condrey a bulldog. Rose heads in, and is now facing Lane, who hits him with another back elbow. Rose has a monkey flip attempt blocked, and Eaton gets tagged in for another back elbow. Way too many elbows here. Eaton misses a charge to the corner, and Condrey comes in to do work. Eaton winds up on the floor, which is where Rose gives him an atomic drop. Condrey gives Eaton a back elbow, and Eaton gets dumped to the floor again, for Rose to hit him with a clothesline from the second turnbuckle. Condrey gives Eaton a clothesline, and after Dangerously hits Eaton, Cornette chases him. Cornette grabs a chair, but Paul E. is too fast for him to get to. Eaton gives Condrey a swinging neckbreaker, but cannot tag out. Rose comes in with a clothesline, it gets 2. He puts Eaton in a dragon sleeper, then tries a piledriver. Eaton reverses it into a backdrop, and Rose has to tag out quickly. Condrey gives Eaton multiple knee drops, and uses some BACK RAKES. BEST HEELING. Rose comes in with a punch from the top rope, and Condrey chokes Eaton while the referee isn’t paying attention. Condrey tags in again, and gives Eaton a powerslam. Rose tags in before that powerslam, and tries the ROCKET LAUNCHER, which he misses.
Eaton makes the tag out, and this could be a lot of fun. Lane kicks both opponents multiple times, and hits Rose with an enziguri. The referee tumbles out of the ring with two of the other wrestlers, and Paul E. takes that opportunity to hit Lane with his CELL PHONE. Cornette runs into the ring, and clocks Dangerously with a big right hand! Teddy Long notices the cell phone in the ring while counting a pin, and refuses to count anymore. Eaton and Lane take that opportunity to give Rose their new double team move, the DOUBLE GOOZLE (clothesline and clip from behind combination). Lane pins Rose at 17:26, but this is hardly over despite their win. Condrey hits Eaton with the racket, and Rose has the cell phone. Condrey hits Cornette in the back with the racket, Rose hits him with the phone, and Dangerously stomps on his managerial counterpart. The heat for this is great. Eaton winds up with the racket, tees off on some guys, and that clears the ring. Damage done, though.
My Thoughts: I’m a little angry that the camera missed Eaton cleaning house, but it is what it is. This was a nice match that the crowd was really amped up for. I don’t think it was a classic or anything like that, but the finishing sequence and beginning prior to the Original Express taking control was great. I thought the finish with Long noticing the cell phone in the ring was nice too. It’s arguable that the Original Express should have won this match, considering that the feud was continuing. Having them give their opponents a big beatdown wasn’t a bad idea though. I didn’t like this more than the last match, so it’s a ***1/4 match.
Magnum TA is standing by with the Varsity Club, and he says that Doc made the difference in the US tag team title match. Doc does a WAY better job in this promo than he has done in any other previous to this. Sullivan and Rotunda talk trash about Rick Steiner in anticipation of Rotunda’s match against Steiner…this was not bad at all.
The Russian Assassins (w/Paul Jones) vs. Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s strange to see a show opening with three tag matches, but such is how it goes. This one is probably the lowest priority match on the show, but I think everyone can realize why it wasn’t the opener. It’s not very likely to be good. I wonder how much heat it will have given that the positioning is such of a match intended to cool the crowd off before the big matches later on. I would be surprised if they brought in JYD to lose, but for the stipulations. The stipulations here are that if the Assassins lose, Paul Jones loses his job with the company, and the Assassins must unmask. Given those stipulations, it would only make sense that JYD was brought in to lose. I do not like that the Assassins are wearing the same costume.
Match Review: There’s one thick Assassin and one that seems more tall, so I guess that’s how I’ll describe them. JYD headbutts the tall one, and throws him through the buckles and into the post. After a JYD clothesline, he covers for 2. The bigger Assassin tags in, and gets knocked over the top with a right hand. He gets back in and gets pinned for a 2 count, and Ivan tags in. He and JYD give this Assassin a double back elbow, and Ivan takes the guy down with a chokehold. The Assassin comes back with his own choke, but has his charge to the corner blocked by a big boot. Ivan heads up to the second rope, and down with a flying clothesline for 1. The taller Assassin tags in, and eats a back elbow. Ivan tries a sunset flip, but the cover gets broken. Why is Teddy Long the referee for all of the first three matches? JYD tags in, and there’s a double clothesline for an Assassin. JYD tries a diving headbutt too, but that misses. JR rattles off JYD’s football background, which…I didn’t know he had one. The fatter Assassin tags in, and holds JYD in place for a double axehandle from the top, but the guy misses and hits his partner. JYD covers for 2, but the Assassin rakes his eyes. They try a double team attack, which consisted of a charge to the corner that JYD moved out of the way of. Ivan tags in, slowly cleans house on his two opponents, and Paul Jones gets knocked off the apron. The Assassins get thrown into each other, and JYD picks one up for an atomic drop. Ivan follows with the SICKLE, and it appears that Jones have given one of the Assassins a weapon. That guy LOADS HIS MASK, gives Ivan a diving headbutt, and picks up the win after his cover at 6:47. THOSE DIRTY SCUM.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t very good at all, but it was short and flew by quickly. Didn’t feel like a nearly 7 minute match at all. Facing Ivan and JYD is a tough spot for any team to be in, but the Soviets did their best. I don’t have many things to say about this as I don’t care, but I like that none of the matches have ended with a DQ. 1/2*.
Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotunda for the NWA Television Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Kevin Sullivan will be locked in a cage for this match, let’s not forget! The crowd was sufficiently cooled off for this match, as Steiner didn’t get as big an ovation as I expected. Nothing wrong with that though, business is about to pick up. Sullivan gets shoved into the cage, and up above the ringside walkway it goes. No idea what to expect wrestling wise, but the crowd should be hot.
Match Review: They trade bombs to begin the match, with Steiner getting the better of that sequence to huge cheers and dog barks. He throws Rotunda across the ring with a belly to belly suplex, and puts a headlock on him. After that goes on for a while, Steiner hits Rotunda with a clothesline for 2. Rotunda gives him a drop toe-hold, but Steiner counters with a hammerlock. Why is Teddy Long the referee again? Doesn’t he need a break? Steiner bites Rotunda on the ass, which is disgusting. Rotunda transitions to a control position with the headlock, and Steiner reverses to a head-scissors that was broken up by the referee. Rotunda gives Steiner a belly to belly suplex, but misses an elbow drop. He hits Steiner on a break, which the crowd seems to have not picked up on. Steiner comes back with a cross body for 2, and Rotunda takes a break on the outside. A nice “Syracuse sucks” chant breaks out, and Rotunda responds to that by throwing Steiner out of the ring…and what a bump that was. That was the speed of Bret Hart’s turnbuckle bump, but flying straight out of the ring instead. Rotunda drops Steiner on the guardrail, and hits him with a baseball slide when he gets to the apron. Rotunda gives him a backdrop, and goes to a chinlock. Rotunda cheats by putting his foot on the ropes, it doesn’t get spotted for a while. When it’s broken, Rotunda gives Steiner a back elbow and elbow drop for 2. Back to the chinlock, and there’s a lot of heat for this match now. He destroys Steiner with a clothesline, but Steiner sunset flips him for 2. Rotunda misses a dropkick, and Steiner tries a small package, which gets 2. Steiner clotheslines him, and gives him 10 punches in the corner. Dr. Death walks down to ringside during a Steiner backdrop, and Steiner gives Rotunda a powerslam anyway, for 2. He gives Rotunda a belly to belly suplex, and Dr. Death rings the bell to distract him during the cover. WHAT THE FUCK? Sullivan’s cage gets lowered, and there’s mass confusion. Tommy Young talks to Teddy Long, and…Sullivan is part of that argument. The match will restart, but Sullivan is on the apron. Steiner throws Rotunda into Sullivan, which gets rid of him. Steiner covers Rotunda, both referees count 3, and Rick Steiner is the NEW TV Champion after 17:59! The pop is one of the loudest I’ve ever heard! Steiner runs around the ring like a crazy person, and, well…that’s a career defining moment I won’t be able to forget. If you’ve never seen it, the finish is below.
My Thoughts: This was perfectly booked. They completely confused the crowd with the finish, and they believed Steiner was about to get screwed. There were guys in the crowd flipping the bird at the officials, so they were perfectly conditioned to think that. I loved the way it turned out, and that may be one of my favorite finishes ever. The wrestling was good too, although the chinlock sequence went on a little too long. With that huge bump by Steiner, and the way the match flowed from one part to the next, it’s a *** match. Given all the horrible finishes I’ve seen while following this company through their timeline, this was a great payoff. The right guy definitely won and Steiner was deserving of a big push. That finish was so good I watched it a couple times. No higher praise for a TV Title match than that pop.
Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) vs. Barry Windham (w/JJ Dillon) for the NWA United States Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Bigelow getting a title match right after showing up was a smart thing to do. I don’t expect him to put Windham over clean, or take a pin at all. That’s the downside, but advertising this match would seem like a smart way to lure in some extra buys from WWF fans who never watched this company before. When I was a kid, I thought this matchup was so weird that I had to watch it someday. The guy with the tattooed head against the guy who was one of the New Blackjacks? Of course I had to see it. Sadly, this is the first time I have. Windham has changed his look a bit over the last few months, now he looks like a tough bastard as opposed to a pretty boy.
Match Thoughts: The match starts with a Bigelow shove, then he gives Windham a fireman’s carry drop…I can hardly even describe the move he used, but it looked great. Windham has to take a break, and when he comes back in, he gives Bigelow a back suplex. Bigelow no-sells it, and Windham goes to the outside again. He gets in, and ran over with a shoulderblock. Bigelow gives him a press slam as well, then 5 punches in the corner. Bigelow dropkicks Windham over the top rope, and gives Windham a headbutt when he crawls back into the ring. Bigelow suplexes Windham too, and covers for 2. He puts Windham in a chinlock, which Windham has to fight out of. When he does, he throws Bigelow out to the floor. Bigelow knocks Windham down from the apron, and goes in with a slingshot splash. Why did Bigelow stop the count at 2? He press slams Windham, and heads up top for the ATOMIC SPLASH…and it misses. Windham nails Bigelow with the LARIAT, but doesn’t go for a quick pin. He’s getting an equal share of cheers and boos after that move, and he follows with a back suplex. Windham gives Bigelow 5 in the corner, and dropkicks him to the outside. Bigelow gets rammed into the post, and back in they go. Windham puts the CLAW on Bigelow, but that doesn’t knock Bigelow out. It really should have. He gives Bigelow a bodyslam, and decides to go up top for a flying elbow, which he cannot land. Windham tries to give Bigelow a cross body, but they both fly over the top, with the camera man getting in the way and causing Bigelow to land on his ass. There is no padding at ringside. Bigelow atomic drops Windham into the post, but he misses a charge and headbutts it. The referee counts, and gets to 10 after 16:17, which means Bigelow has lost his chance.
My Thoughts: This was yet another solid match, but the finish was strange. Everyone knows why, because there’s no way he’d sign up with the company just to do a job at his age. He also left to tour Japan, so this was his one-shot type of deal. Both guys took some huge bumps, and they wrestled at a good pace. They didn’t want to tear the house down, but they were working at the pace of creating an epic match. If only the finish didn’t get in the way. ***1/2, it may be Bigelow’s best match in his career to this point. Without the finish, possibly his best match of his career at any point. This was really entertaining.
Magnum TA is with Rick Steiner, who doesn’t have a lot to say. He’s incapable of saying much! Then the mic cuts out. Very bad production. It eventually comes back, but I’ve already tuned out.
Dusty Rhodes & Sting vs. The Road Warriors (W/Paul Ellering) for the NWA Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: This has been pushed as being a huge match, and I expect nothing less. To the casual fan, this would be considered a dream match at the time. To someone looking back, it’s certainly interesting and sounds like it’s worth watching. To someone who has a more cynical view of things…this could be a bad match given how badly Dusty’s ability to put together a match has deteriorated. The Road Warriors are also difficult to root against, so I wonder how the crowd split will be.
Match Review: Animal and Hawk attack quickly, but Dusty and Sting fight back to clear them from the ring. Massive cheer for that. After the ring introductions, the match starts again. Animal and Sting get things moving, and Sting gives him a dropkick to knock him out of the ring. Dusty tags in, and the cheers for his strikes are really large, just like his belly. Hawk and Sting tag in, and Sting bites Hawk a few times. Hawk stomps a mudhole in him, and Sting comes back with a big right hand. The crowd is on fire for this stuff. Sting gives Hawk a powerslam, and drops an elbow as well. Animal makes a tag in, and gives Sting a press slam. He tries to drop Sting on the top rope, but Sting no-sells it and hits him with some clotheslines. Animal ducks to the outside, and Sting decides to fly off the top turnbuckle onto him. I have not seen anything like that on any of these shows to this point. Dusty tags in and trips Animal, then rams his leg into the post. Hawk tags in after that, and wants a test of strength. Dusty knows to kick Hawk in the gut, and goes for the figure-four. He gets poked in the eye somehow, and Hawk tries to gouge his eye out. Hawk gives Dusty a standing dropkick, and goes back to the eye. Dusty tries to work his way back to his feet, and gives Hawk a dropkick when he gets there. Animal tags in quickly, and starts biting Rhodes. He puts him in a neck vice, and Hawk comes in to put Dusty in a sleeper. Dusty breaks it, and finally gets out of there.
Sting and Animal are the men in, and Animal is given a bulldog. Sting dodges a charge to the corner, dropkicks Animal, and gives him the STINGER SPLASH! He goes for the SCORPION DEATHLOCK, and Hawk breaks that up immediately. Hawk throws Sting over the top rope, and the Road Warriors go to work on Dusty. Somehow Sting flies in with a flying bodypress from the top, and Paul Ellering breaks up the cover at 11:16. Of course, that gets the Road Warriors disqualified. Dusty grabs a hold of Ellering, and goes for his eyes. Sting hits Hawk with an enziguri to clear the ring and…I suppose that’s it.
My Thoughts: This match wasn’t as good as it could have been. The crowd was hot, but the action before Sting’s hot tag was nothing special. Sting was great here and the crowd was in love with him. Obviously this was the guy to push going forward, but as we know that didn’t happen for quite a while. This was nothing special and perhaps is the only match able to be classified as a disappointment. While there was nothing wrong with it, there was nothing great about it either, and the finish stunk. It really felt like a half-assed ending to Dusty’s feud with the Road Warriors, but that’s okay as he’s leaving the company. His presence as a booker or wrestler will no longer ruin shows. **1/4.
Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair (w/JJ Dillon) for the NWA Heavyweight Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This feud is long past the point of its best, but they’ve juiced this match up as best as possible. If Ric Flair gets disqualified, he loses his title. It’s somewhat to their credit that they were able to extend a feud, have it maintain some sort of heat, and headline two PPV’s with it. Luger isn’t even the top babyface at this point. JR mentions that Lou Thesz is in the building, which would explain the Thesz Press being used so much early in the card. JR also mentions that Luger dropped weight for this match. Maybe that’s true, but I really doubt it.
Match Review: These two lock up, with Flair being smart enough not to run into Luger on a shoulderblock attempt. That was a good spot. He does it again, and Luger clotheslines him over the top! Flair takes his time to get back in, and when he does, Luger puts him in a hammerlock. They break, and Luger destroys Flair with a shoulderblock. He also gives Flair a powerslam, and a press slam too for good measure. Luger uses a wristlock, and throws Flair hard into the buckle. Flair ducks to the outside, and Luger hunts him down only for the referee to get between them. Back inside, Luger throws Flair into the buckle again and follows by applying a hammerlock. Flair breaks it with an elbow, and gets hip tossed in reply. He thumbs Luger in the eye, and tries some chops. Eventually Luger stops selling them, and Flair runs away. Luger follows, and he hammerlocks his arm around the railing. Luger throws Flair into the post, and back in the ring, he uses an armbar. I like the slow build we have going on here. Luger hits Flair with a clothesline, it gets 2. Super close count. He gives Flair a suplex back in from the apron, that also gets 2. Luger tries to follow with an elbow drop, but whiffs. We’re about halfway through judging by the chapter markers, and the pace is just right. Flair hits Luger with a flying forearm, and throws him to the outside. Flair follows, rams Luger into the rail a few times, and waits for his opponent to get back in. He gives Luger a knee drop, and a double stomp too! He chops Luger a few times, and Luger stops selling again. He puts Flair in a sleeper, but Flair gets out with a back suplex. He goes for his figure-four, but Luger rolls him up for 2. Flair takes Luger down again and heads up top, but Luger stops him. Instead of slamming him down, he gives Flair a SUPERPLEX. Anyone who says Luger wasn’t a real wrestler or a good wrestler is totally full of shit. Good wrestlers should never be allowed to do that move. After a cover of 2, Luger puts Flair in the figure-four! The crowd is buying a title change here, as 20 minutes have passed. Flair reaches the bottom rope, so Luger has to break it. Luger accidentally hits Tommy Young, so Flair throws him over the top. Luger lands on his feet, climbs to the top, and flies in with a cross body for 2. That could have been 3, but for the ref bump. Some of these spots are spectacular. Luger tries a backslide, it gets 2 as well. Lex gives Flair 10 punches in the corner, and follows that by throwing Flair into the corner, with him taking the upside down bump. Luger decides to suplex Flair in from the apron, it gets another near fall. Flair begs for mercy, and Luger decides to give him a gorilla press slam. The fans want to see the RACK, but it isn’t time for that yet. Luger powerslams Flair, and NOW IT’S TIME. JJ gets on the apron, and Tommy Young has to deal with that mess. Flair trips Luger and grabs a chair, and hits Luger’s knee with it! Never spotted by the referee. Flair goes to work on that knee, with Luger blurting out some word that had to be bleeped out. Flair clips Luger from behind, and knee drops that leg as well. He finally puts the figure-four on, and really, this should be the end of the match. The crowd is going crazy for Luger though, so maybe there’s one hope spot left in it. Luger reverses the hold, but the damage is done. Flair focuses all his attention on the knee, and knee drops that leg again. Flair goes up top again, and this time Luger slams him down. Flair tries to throw Luger out of the ring, but Luger comes right back in. Luger press slams Flair again, and gets thrown to the outside again. Somehow Luger gets up, and gives a sunset flip to Flair for a 2 count. I am shocked that Luger has been able to go this hard without blowing up. Luger gives Flair a clothesline, it gets 2. Luger signals for the rack after giving Flair a clothesline, and puts it on Flair! Eventually his leg gives out, Flair covers with his leg on the ropes for leverage, and gets a 3 count at 30:59!
My Thoughts: That is as close as it gets to Flair beating Luger clean. Or much anybody else for that matter. This was a classic match, nobody can deny that. Nobody can deny that Luger’s performance in this match was anything other than exceptional. Flair did a great job putting that together, but there’s no doubt that Luger held up his end. Flair in this match is about as good as it gets though. His ability to have a great match was untouched. The match wasn’t perfect, but man. It was great. In the WON it states that people got in Luger’s ear to convince him not to do a clean job, and that was the right thing to do, I believe. With somebody as young and as primed to be pushed as Luger was, I don’t think that person should be taking a clean loss to the champion. Obviously they would take a step back from him, but he’s pretty clearly established. The right man won, too. Nobody else to that point was ever able to look that legitimate against Flair as a heel champion. Can’t say enough about how much of a classic that was. ****1/2 and massively recommended. Great capper to a stacked card.
In the background, a Bunkhouse Stampede is announced…not that I want to watch that. JYD won it. Ross and Caudle recap the action, and we get a special interview from Ric Flair! He does a great job of putting over the entire promotion as the best, nobody else was able to do something like that. The look on Magnum’s face during this interview was great. Flair says that he will never wrestle Luger again for the title. Unless Luger is supposed to earn a title shot by pulling it out of his ass, that should never have been said. That’s the end of a great wrestling card.
I was shocked at how good that was. They turned in stinker events for a while, badly booked stuff, and they came up with that. This was an amazing show with only one real down spot. JYD/Ivan against the Assassins was completely forgettable, so what we have is 2 hours plus full of good wrestling and promos. I am excited to see what’s in store, and I have a lot of videos for the year ahead. I’m glad that 1988 is behind me and that it’s time to move on. Both companies were not particularly spectacular, although the NWA put on two fantastic shows with Clash 1 and this. I do not know if Starrcade ’88 made any money for the NWA, it would seem to be unlikely. The buy chart I have seen was not particularly favorable. It looks like they have Steven Casey, Michael Hayes, Butch Reed, Jimmy Garvin, and Brian Pillman coming in. Everyone knows Ricky Steamboat was joining up too. Some good there, some bad. It is what it is, but the top of their card is looking great. Can’t wait to see more. Next up, I’ll be recapping WWF from Survivor Series 1988 to Royal Rumble 89!
Wrestling Time: 1:56:34. Only about 7 of that wasn’t any good. The rest was an excellently structured card.
Best: Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger. Classic stuff.
Worst: Probably the production. Having microphones cutting out during interviews is a major blunder.
Card Rating: 8.5/10. I don’t think it was as good as the first Survivor Series, but it was pretty damn close. There were so many good matches here, some great feel good moments, and a classic to finish things off. This wasn’t even the best card they ran that year!
