Hey everyone. Welcome to my review of the very first edition of NWA/WCW’s Clash of the Champions of the 1990s. This show features a masks-for-titles contest over the Tag Team titles, a six-men steel cage tag match in the main-event and much more.
Here is the list of champions in the NWA/WCW at the time:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
NWA United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
NWA World TV Champion: Arn Anderson
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner)
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE Network
The hosts are Jim Ross & Jim Cornette Live from Corpus Christi, TX
‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams vs. The Samoan Savage(w/ ‘Big Kahuna’ Oliver Humperdink)
Williams was getting over huge at this point, having recently been named #1 contender to Lex Luger’s US title. For some reason Jim Herd decided it was a good idea to have him be a real doctor, as we see a pre-match video package of Williams throwing someone into an ambulance and saving him. Good lord. Unfortunately he would leave the company shortly afterwards and that Luger feud never came to be. Dr. Death runs wild at the bell with numerous clotheslines and shoulder tackles before Savage catches him with a clothesline of his own. That opens the door for some Humperdink to get in some shots and Woman joins us at ringside. Standard heel spot follows and eats up a couple of minutes, with Dr. Death unable to escape a few times. Savage dumps Williams so that Humperdink can add some more cheapshots, before throwing him back in. Savage goes up but his splash finds nobody, and instead Dr. Death follows that up with a VERY impressive walking press slam. Williams was just on fire at this point in his career! He surprises the Samoan by wrestling him down to the mat with a backslide and that’s all she wrote at 7:55.
Rating: This was perfectly acceptable for a Clash opener and considering how relatively short it was. I would have liked Dr. Death’s comeback spot to have been longer (easily one of the best comeback/hot tag guys in the business still to this day), and I will miss watching him on these shows. **
Promo: Terry Funk interviews the Four Horsemen – Ric Flair, Sting, Arn & Ole Anderson
Quick recap – Sting won the ‘iron man’ tournament at StarrCade 89, and the Horsemen embraced him in the group out of mutual respect. However, Sting decided to challenge Flair for a World title shot due to his win at StarrCade.
Ole Anderson wastes no time in getting to the point. He kicks Sting out of the group, but lets him live if he cancels the World title shot against Flair scheduled for that month’s WrestleWar PPV. Sting doesn’t want to give it up, but they give him until the end of the night to announce his decision. Flair grabs the microphone for one last warning. Sting refuses anyway, so the Horsemen beat him up to officially kick Sting off the group and turn heel. About time to bring back heel Ric Flair, his feud with Terry Funk was great but he was going nowhere as a good guy once that was over. Plus Flair is much better as a heel and a natural villain. Nice angle here.
Flyin’ Brian & The Z-Man vs. The MOD Squad (Spike & Basher)
The babyfaces are Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk, so I will call them by their more famous names. Pillman drops a knee to start and in comes Zenk to work on the arm. Off to Basher who eats a Zenk enziguiri for two. The heels catch Zenk and cut the ring in half working him over, until Pillman comes in for the save with the Air Pillman to clear the ring. The babyfaces continue with their kicks until heel choking cuts that off. Mucho heel choking on Pillman follows, as well as restholds. Spike goes up only to miss a flying elbow, which allows the hot tag to Zenk. He comes in running wild before putting Spike away with a high crossbody at 9:53.
Rating: Another decent little match here. It was a basic extended TV tag match between the two established wrestlers and two enhancement guys. It did what it had to do. *1/2
Mil Mascaras vs. Cactus Jack Manson
Hey, look who it is. This is the official debut of one Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy here on my reviews! Mascaras works in a fast bow and arrow to start, but… gives up and breaks the hold. Mascaras dropkicks Cactus instead, who takes a breather. Cactus is pissed and goes after Gary Capetta, grabs his chair and intimidates him. When he walks back still pointing at Gary, Cactus trips over the chair and lands on his ass in a really hilarious bit. That makes Cactus even more angry, and he gets back in only to get worked over yet again. Foley dumps Mascaras and sets up for the Cactus Elbow. He stops to taunt the fans though, but Cactus stops to taunt the fans while Mascaras rolls inside the ring. Once Cactus goes to do it he sees nobody there, turns around and Mascaras dropkicks him off the apron with Cactus TAKING A MOTHERFUCKING BACK BUMP ON CONCRETE. My god. Foley breaks the count-out back in because he’s nuts, but from there it’s only a matter of time. Mascaras puts him away with a flying crossbody at 5:00, with a nice headlock-like cover to really prevent Cactus from kicking out.
Rating: They were definitely trying hard out there and I appreciate that. They went for technique, Foley did everything he could to stand out (including nearly killing himself). The comedy spot with Foley tripping over the chair was really funny, and I love how he used that humiliation to get even more aggressive. Also, I would like to point out the very nice detail on that pinfall, it made it look more legitimate. Brief but solid match. **1/2
Meanwhile, a band is giving a concert during the break and Foley beats them up before getting into a fight with the lead singer. I know he was actually going to work in the company, possibly to feud with Cactus (one would assume after this), but that never happened.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Kevin Sullivan vs. Norman the Lunatic
They fight to the floor immediately with Norman sending Sullivan into the post. Back in for an assdrop and he goes up for a splash, but Sullivan moves out of the way. Sullivan dumps Norman back out with a dropkick and slams him on the floor for two. Sullivan destroys Norman’s bear and gives him a back suplex for two. Sullivan rakes the eyes, so Norman responds by headbutting him and choking him with his shirt. They proceed to fight all the way to the back, which the crowd boos. Oh joy. Gordon Solie is waiting for them in the back, and fight near the female restroom. A poor lady opens the door and runs away, so they take the fight there with Gordon and the cameras (and us) not following the action. Suddenly we hear a three count, and the ref comes out raising Norman’s hand, who was a toilet seat with him. Sullivan follows and takes a comedy face bump near Gordon. So yeah, Norman wins… off camera… at 7:26.
Rating: I better get used to this now that we’re getting into 90s WCW. This was a horrible idea and made no sense whatsoever. 1/2*
Terry Funk interviews Lex Luger
Funk suddenly turns heel for this promo. Long story short, Luger wants to be a World champion and promises to get there soon. The segment wasn’t awesome as Luger was never a great promo guy, but it got the point across.
Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)(w/ Paul Ellering) vs. The Skyscrapers (Mean Mark Callous & Danny Spivey)(w/ Theodore Long)
The LOD destroy a car in a pre-match video package. Speaking of debuts on my reviews, look who it is! Sid got injured a few months before this, and this new Skyscrapers member by the name of Mean Mark Callous would be in the WWF by that year’s November as ‘The Undertaker’. I’m sure you’ve heard of that gimmick once or twice, but we’ll get there. Spivey dumps Hawk to start and you just know that isn’t a smart move. And just as I type this, Hawk comes in and takes his head off with the mother of all shoulderblocks. Callous comes in to work some basic fundamentals with Animal. His work looks so smooth already, though you can clearly see Mark going easy on the veteran Animal with his rights. Mark misses a crossbody and both tag off to their respective partners. Hawk goes for a charge on Spivey in the corner but misses and eats buckle. Spivey goes after the arm and in comes Callous for Old School. Mark goes after the arm some more and goes for it again, but this time Hawk slams him off the top rope. Tag off to Spivey and hot tag Animal, who comes in running wild with a powerslam followed by an elbowdrop for two. He takes down both Skyscrapers with a double clothesline, at which point Callous comes in with a chairshot for the DQ at 7:26.
Rating: A solid match while it lasted. Mark’s work looked solid despite him being so new to the business at this point. Not bad, but not as memorable as what comes next… **1/4
The new Skyscrapers absolutely destroy both Road Warriors with the chairs, including rare shots to the head. They then go for a spike piledriver to Hawk on the chair, but Spivey is just so bad that he completely misses the chair and ruins the whole beatdown angle, with even JR having to acknowledge it. I almost feel sorry for Spivey, he was in Sid’s shadow and then went from that to being on Mark’s shadow! Instead they beat the LOD with the chair some more before walking out.
NWA World Tag Team Championship – Titles vs. Masks: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner)(c) vs. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed)
Simmons takes over on Scott to start only to get hit with a german. Off to Reed who also pounds away on Scott, who responds with a nice dropkick to send the masked heels bailing. Reed comes back in to slug away on Rick in the corner, but Rick backdrops him and goes after the mask. Simmons comes in only to miss a charge, as Rick suplexes him and brings in Scott. He makes the mistake of getting too close to the heel corner though, which allows Reed to clothesline him from the apron and give Doom control. They proceed to get some heat on the Steiners, even throwing Scott over the top rope behind the referee’s back. Simmons hits a good spinebuster followed by a double backdrop by Doom. Reed hits a piledriver for two. Scott gets dumped for some more heel shenanigans, followed by a Reed neckbreaker for two back inside. Scott hits the Frankesteiner from out of nowhere to make the crowd go bananas and the hot tag to Rick follows. Reed hits the Steinerline followed by a powerslam. Rick takes off Reed’s mask on a criss cross to reveal his face for a big pop. Rick knocks Reed into Simmons who falls off the apron, and rolls up Reed for the win to retain and unmask the challengers at 13:04. Simmons hesitates before unmasking as well.
Rating: Good job here. I liked the finish and how they delivered on the bout’s stipulation. The set up for the Frankensteiner and the eventual Steiners hot tag was really well done too. Solid match and a great effort by all involved. And finally Simmons and Reed no longer have these stupid masks. ***
Main-Event – Six Man Steel Cage Tag Team Match: The Four Three Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson) vs. The Great Muta, Buzz Sawyer & The Dragonmaster(w/ Gary Hart)
This is a weird main-event, as the match was already announced but since the Horsemen turned earlier that night, this became a all-heels match. Sawyer eats cage in the first stages of the match, but blocks a charge and boots AA for an actual pop. Cornette immediately points out he never thought he’d see the day where Buzz Sawyer got cheered. Off to Flair for some chops on Dragonmaster. Muta comes in for the handspring elbow on Arn. All of a sudden the crowd gets up and starts going wild, and a few seconds later the camera shows Sting trying to get inside the cage with various babyfaces and staff preventing him from getting in. Flair completely turns his back into the action and gets up on the top rope to confront Sting. All of a sudden the crowd starts a LOUD ‘we want Sting’ chant that goes on forever, as the match becomes more and more of an afterthought. Arn DDTs Dragonmaster to end this at 6:10.
Rating: More of an angle than a match, which gets even better after the match is done with. **
Immediately after the match, Flair leaves the cage and jumps on top of everybody to get into an epic brawl with Sting. The show goes off the air about a minute later with this chaotic and awesome angle still going, with the crowd on their feet cheering for Sting. Unfortunately he got legitimately injured during this very same segment, and had to be replaced at WrestleWar… Still a great angle nonetheless.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: As I said, it’s a shame that Sting got hurt and had to miss the PPV, but he ended up coming back shortly after the show. Lex Luger would end up replacing Sting as Flair’s challenger. As for this edition of Clash, it was nice and it featured some solid matches. More importantly, it built up the Flair/Sting main-event really well and it also allowed some future big stars to have their first experience on a major televised event. Nothing spectacular here, but a nice and effective TV show regardless. 6/10
POINT SYSTEM
Here are the points for all the wrestlers that worked this show. You can check out my point system here.
Wrestler
Star ratings
Result
Main-eventing
Extras
Total
Rick Steiner
3
1
0.5 for winning the fall 1 for successfully defending a title
5.5
Scott Steiner
3
1
1 for successfully defending a title
5
Arn Anderson
2
1
1
0.5 for winning the fall
4.5
Ric Flair
2
1
1
4
Ole Anderson
2
1
1
4
Mil Mascaras
2.5
1
3.5
Dr. Death
2
1
3
The Z-Man
1.5
1
0.5 for winning the fall
3
Hawk
2.25
0.5
2.75
Animal
2.25
0.5
2.75
Flyin’ Brian
1.5
1
2.5
The Great Muta
2
-1
1
2
Buzz Sawyer
2
-1
1
2
Ron Simmons
3
-1
2
Mean Mark Callous
2.25
-0.5
1.75
Danny Spivey
2.25
-0.5
1.75
The Dragonmaster
2
-1
1
-0.5 for losing the fall
1.5
Cactus Jack Manson
2.5
-1
1.5
Butch Reed
3
-1
-0.5 for losing the fall
1.5
Norman the Lunatic
0.5
1
1.5
The Samoan Savage
2
-1
1
Basher
1.5
-1
0.5
Spike
1.5
-1
-0.5 for losing the fall
0
Kevin Sullivan
0.5
-1
-0.5
And that’s all, folks. As always, thank you so much for your time reading. Coming up next here on the blog is my review of WWF’s ‘The Main Event III’, featuring a Hogan/Savage rematch from WrestleMania V. After that, we come back to the NWA for the WrestleWar PPV. Stay safe!
Hi everyone and welcome to my review of the very first SNME edition of the 1990s. This show features Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior teaming up to take on Mr. Perfect & The Genius, ‘Macho King’ Randy Savage putting his crown on the line against former holder ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, and more.
Here is the list of champions in the WWF heading into this show:
WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan
Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
World Tag Team Champions: The Colossal Connection (André the Giant & Haku)
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE Network
The hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura Taped from Chattanooga, TN
King crown: Randy Savage(w/ Sensational Queen Sherri) vs. Jim Duggan
Savage takes his sweet time coming into the ring on his carried-by-jobbers-thrown. He stops to meet his loyal peasants in attendance, and Duggan comes over and dumps him all the way down. That’s not how you treat a king. The bell rings and Duggan connects with a clothesline for two. He follows with an atomic drop, at which point Sherri distracts him and opens the door for a Savage cheap shot. Duggan bails and Savage meets him there with the flying double axehandle. Back in for another one that gets two. Savage necksnaps Duggan and charges at him but gets backdropped over the top, with Savage taking another beautiful bump on a backdrop much like he did at the hands of Dusty to get eliminated from that year’s Rumble match. Duggan is in control and we take a break.
Commercial
We come back with Duggan in control back inside. He slams Savage and drops a knee. Duggan follows up with a series of clotheslines as he starts running wild, forcing Sherri to distract him and Duggan chases her around the ring. Savage catches him with another double axehandle, and Sherri hands him the loaded purse behind the ref’s back. Savage hits Duggan and knocks him out cold, much like he did to win the crown from him a few months earlier, but this time it’s only good enough for a nearfall. And the kickout gets a big pop. Duggan gets in a desperate and sloppy small package for two, and he starts making a comeback. However, he’s not all there since he’s knocked out from the shot to the head, and that allows Savage to easily reverse a Duggan suplex and roll through for the pin to steal the win and remain king at 9:14.
Rating: This was a fun opener. Typical Jim Duggan match with his hot comebacks here and there, and Savage doing a great job of bumping all over the place for him and being a douchebag. Props to Duggan for the selljob at the end, as he was able to stay alive after the shot with the purse, but it ultimately ended up being what caused his defeat. Nice effort here and a decent match. **1/2
Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior vs. Mr. Perfect & The Genius
This is the first time Hogan and Warrior are teaming up, and it’s days after their famous face-to-face confrontation during the Royal Rumble match. The heels try to take over with a cheapshot to start, but the mega stars clean house as the crowd goes nuts. Perfect gets pissed and comes back in, but his frustration allows Hogan to catch him and whip him into the ring post for a flip bump, as Perfect is already doing everything to make both Hogan and Warrior look like a million bucks. Hogan pushes Perfect off the apron and Perfect flies 3/4 of the way across the ring, followed by a number of punches and another whip into the buckle as Perfect continues to kill himself in order to put these guys even more over. Meanwhile Genius decides to go to the floor and write some strategy on his board, while Perfect eats a Hogan big boot that bumps him all the way over the top and to the floor! Perfect finally turns the tables as Genius hands him the board and Perfect uses it on him. Hogan gets in a quick small package for two, but Perfect is immediately all over him. Perfect necksnaps Hogan and it’s off to Genius, while Warrior is becoming impatient and shaking the ropes on the apron. Perfect hits the Perfectplex on Hogan, but he releases the pinfall at two so that Genius can finish him off. Genius goes for the moonsault, but Hogan moves out of the way. Perfect comes flying off the top as well, but Hogan raises his boot and Perfect takes a spectacular bump. And finally here comes Warrior for the hot tag and a massive pop. Warrior comes in running wild, dumps Perfect followed by a gorilla press on Genius to set up the Warrior Splash. Perfect trips him up, though, but Hogan makes the blind tag and drops the leg on Genius to put him away at 8:02.
Rating: Very energetic match, with Perfect doing everything and anything he could to make these guys look like killers. Really fun tag match mostly thanks to Perfect. **3/4
After the match, the heels come back in to beat on Hogan but Warrior makes the save. He cleans house, and then accidentally nails Hogan with a clothesline, not knowing it was him. Warrior runs to the back and Hogan is left confused in the ring. The build-up to WrestleMania continues!
Jake Roberts vs. Greg Valentine(w/ Jimmy Hart)
Valentine works an armdrag to start, with Roberts already hooking him in the front facelock hold to nail the DDT, but Valentine blocks and he’s out in a hurry. A cheapshot back in allows Hammer to turn things around. Roberts hits the buckle off a hard whip, and Hammer follows that up with an elbowdrop for two. Kneedrop to the back of the head gets two more. Roberts catches him with the short-arm clothesline and goes for the DDT once again, this time with Valentine using a backdrop to avoid it. Roberts goes for the kneelift, only for Hammer to move out of the way and for Roberts to hit the buckle knee-first. Hammer goes for the figure four, Roberts shoves him off and into Jimmy Hart to knock him off the apron, and the DDT finally connects. Jake slowly crawls for the cover… but here’s DiBiase for the DQ at 05:16.
Rating: Watchable match, I enjoyed the simple psychology of Jake constantly fighting with all he had to hit that DDT. It also did a good job of setting up DiBiase/Roberts for WrestleMania. Fine match. **
Rick Rude(w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. Dusty Rhodes(w/ Sapphire)
In his pre-match promo, Rude says his goal is to seduce Sapphire because no woman can resist him. Rude cheapshots Dusty to get an unfair edge before the bell, but Dusty quickly turns it around a drops a big fat elbow right on Rude’s back. Off to the outside, where Dusty sends Rude back-first into the barricade. Back in with Rude getting a shot of his own and trying a bodyslam, but the back gives out and Dusty connects with a bionic elbow. Dusty misses another big elbowdrop as Rude works a chinlock. Heenan trash talks Sapphire, forcing the referee to send both Heenan and Sapphire to the back, and us to a break.
Commercial
We return with Rude sending Dusty into the ring post. Suddenly Sapphire appears with a ticket in hand, and sits in the front row. Rude tries to go for his seductive pose, but his back gives out and he can’t do it in a nice touch. Now this is dedication to your character work and selling all at once! Rude works an armbar, Rhodes escapes, shoots him off and we get a double KO spot. Back up with Dusty trying to make his comeback, but Rude pounds him down to stop it. Meanwhile Sapphire distracts Rude and draws him out to go after her, only for Dusty to follow as we get a slugfest on the floor. They brawl all the way up the ramp as the match is thrown out at 9:04.
Rating: I was expecting a really short match here, but it turned out to be really solid. Rude was feeling it here with his stellar selljob of the injured back, and Rhodes was electrifying as usual. Really nice surprise. **1/2
(Alleged) Main Event: Dino Bravo(w/ Jimmy Hart & The Canadian Earthquake) vs. ‘Rugged’ Ronnie Garvin
Bravo is very aggressive to start, throwing Garvin outside for an Earthquake shot. Back in, Bravo drops an elbow for two. Garvin tries to fight back for a while, but Bravo quickly cuts that off. Garvin goes after Jimmy Hart instead and sets up the Garvin Stomp, but Earthquake stops that. Garvin goes up to hit a crossbody, but Bravo rolls through for the win at 3:19.
Rating: Relatively short extended squash. 1/2*
After the match, Earthquake gives Garvin two Earthquake splashes. Garvin does an epic selljob, and is taken out on a stretcher to close the show.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: This was a really good show to follow up a great Royal Rumble PPV a few days earlier. The highlight was obviously the Hogan/Warrior angle, but the show also did an effective job at setting up Roberts/DiBiase for ‘Mania. Also, both the tag match (with Perfect determined to get everyone around him over) and Rhodes/Rude were loads of fun. Recommended show. 6/10
Welcome everyone to my very first review of the decade of the 1990s. We’re starting off hot, with the WWF’s Royal Rumble, the third annual in the event’s history. Along with the traditional thirty-man Royal Rumble match in the main-event, we have a number of other matches, including a submission match.
Even though this show has no championship influence, here is the list of the then-champions in the WWF at the time anyway:
WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan
Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
World Tag Team Champions: The Colossal Connection (André the Giant & Haku)
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE
The hosts are Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura (in a Mickey Mouse shirt because why not!)
Live from Orlando, FL
The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond)(w/ Jimmy Hart)
IMG credit: WWE.com
This is the Rougeaus’ first match back after a few months off, with Jacques rocking on a rare long beard. It will also be their last, as Raymond will step away from the ring while Jacques will go on to be the Mountie. I personally loved the Rougeaus’ run as heels in 88-90, and it’s a shame they were never the champs or even worked a long program with Demolition. Would’ve been twenty times better than the Powers of Pain. Anyway, I’ll miss watching the Rougeaus.
Raymond and Butch start. Raymond goes after Butch but biting ensues. Butch even bites the referee’s ass while the crowd goes insane for all this Bushwhacker nonsense. Off to Luke for some biting of his own as the Bushwhackers clean house for a second time and stop to do their trademarked pose with the crowd going wild for it. Meanwhile, Jesse and Tony YELL four about the third or fourth time that they couldn’t put another person in the arena if they tried… while I can see more than a handful of empty seats right in front of the hard camera. I assume everyone went to the toilet then.
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The Rougeaus finally turn things around with some classic All-American cheating, even choking the Bushwhackers with the tag rope in a very nice touch. Raymond comes in with the savate kick on Luke for two. Jacques comes in and he wants a time-out so he can show off his athletic ability for a while. This was always hilarious and the crowd hated it everytime! Luke lets him finish but then immediately bites his legs as the crowd goes bananas. The Rougeaus go back to cheating though, and that allows them to kill the Bushwhackers’ comeback. Luke tries to bite away once again, but thankfully for Jacques he’s close to his corner, so he tags Raymond in for a chinlock. Back to Jacques for a splash that misses and only finds knees, and we finally get the hot tag while the roof is nearly about to explode. Butch comes in and he runs wild all over both Rougeaus. It’s Battering Ram time, but Jimmy Hart sneaks in and grabs Luke’s foot to prevent the finish. That earns him a beating with the crowd (somehow) going even crazier, but the Rougeaus come in to save him with stereo dropkicks followed by a Jacques roll-up for a close nearfall. Raymond sets up Butch for the Boston Crab/knee combo, but Luke trips him up and the Battering Ram sends Jacques right into Raymond, who gets knocked off the apron. Butch pins Jacques at that’s all at 13:35.
Rating: You know what, this was actually waaaaay better than I expected coming in. This crowd was literally in love with the Bushwhackers, and they helped elevate this match a lot. The Rougeaus’ heel shenanigans were on point as usual, but the crowd going insane for each and every nearfall and false finish they did gave us a very energetic opener here. And again, I’ll miss the Rougeaus! **1/4
Meanwhile, Mean Gene is with Ted DiBiase & Virgil in the back. DiBiase reveals he got the number one in the Rumble match before going on a rant about how he’s the greatest talent in the world of wrestling. This was incredible promo work. Surprised? It’s Ted DiBiase.
Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius
IMG credit: WWE.com
In case you’re a younger reader wondering what in the blue hell is this doing on PPV, or in case you simply don’t remember, allow me to recap: The Genius is Mr. Perfect’s manager. Perfect is slowly starting a feud with Hulk Hogan. Brutus Beefcake is Hogan’s favorite friend from the midcard. There you go. In other words, Hogan’s minion vs. Perfect’s minion!
The Genius bails for a long time like he always does. Back in, Genius stretches and dances around with Brutus mocking him. They finally lockup, with Genius immediately going to the eyes to take over. Beefcake responds with an atomic drop that sends Genius all the way to the floor. Back in, Genius whips Beefcake into the buckle and tries to follow with a corner dropkick, but Beefcake moves and Genius lands in the Tree of Woe position. This match sucks balls but, I will admit, that was cool. Lanny Poffo was a tremendous athlete at the time. Brutus drops both knees on Genius’ head for two. Hey how dare you to go after the HEAD of a genius!?
Genius goes after the eyes yet again to take over once more, which allows him to follow up with a roll-up for two. Genius with a bodyslam. He goes up for that vertical leap that has no chance to hit the opponent and I HATE WITH A PASSION and guess what happens… go ahead I will give you a second. I’ll even give you a paragraph break for that matter.
IT MISSES LIKE ALL THE OTHER TIMES BECAUSE THIS MOVE IS DUMB AND SO IS EVERYONE WHO GOES FOR IT
All jokes aside it really is stupid and bad-looking. Anyway Beefcake hits a bodyslam of his own and sets up for the sleeper. He shoots Genius off the ropes and goes for it, but the Genius shoves him to break and bumps the ref. Seriously, in this nothing match? Beefcake finally catches Genius in the sleeper and puts him away, but there’s no bell because there’s no referee and this match must go on forever, apparently. Brutus actually stops to cut Genius’ hair before Mr. Perfect FINALLY runs in and takes out Beefcake with a chair and the Perfectplex as the match is thrown out as a draw at an eternity that Wikipedia describes as 11:07. I’ll go with that.
Rating: Don’t get me wrong, there were a few nice things in this match here and there, particularly some athletic moves by the Genius. However, the fact that is was so pointless and so long really hurt this match. Also the finish was ridiculous and is the set up for a very dumb conclusion to Mr. Perfect’s undefeated ‘perfect record’ gimmick – in my humble opinion, one of the dumbest in company history. Those who know what it is, you feel me! Bad match. 1/2*
Meanwhile, Mean Gene interviews the Heenan Family and turns the members against each other for a while by simply bringing up the possibility of them being the final ones in the Rumble. Fun little segment.
Submission Match: Greg Valentine vs. ‘Rugged’ Ronnie Garvin
IMG credit: WWE.com
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Both get jobber entrances – aka none. These two had been feuding all the way since after WrestleMania. Valentine defeated Garvin in a loser leaves town match in a match that aired on Prime Time (which I assume must’ve been taped for either Superstars or the Wrestling Challenge), after which Garvin became a referee and a ring announcer. He was constantly distracting Valentine though, and was signed as a wrestler yet again shortly after SummerSlam. This is (finally) the blowoff to their feud.
They trade nasty chops (the extra mustard kind) to start. Garvin wins that battle by taking down Valentine and… goes for a cover. The referee reminds him this is a submission match so they go back to exchanging really hard chops and fists. Garvin wins that yet again, with Valentine going down almost Flair flop-style. Valentine starts working the midsection with some knees and elbows and he too goes for a pinfall. And the referee again has to remind them there’s no such thing here. And then – guess what happened – back to the slugfest they went! Once again won by Garvin with a headbutt. Garvin got up first and went for a piledriver, but Valentine blocked as they went into a….. PINFALL reversal sequence. You idiots! They got up and went for another chopfest that ended in a double KO spot. Garvin got up first though, sent Valentine head first into the buckle and… went for a roll-up. A pin. Again. That allowed Valentine to take down Garvin with a chop and set up the figure four. Valentine locked it in but Garvin no-sold and did funny faces to annoy Valentine. No, believe me, I am honestly reporting what happened. Don’t believe me?
IMG credit: WWE Network
I told you to believe in me! This happens because Garvin has a knee brace that blocks the pain cause by Valentine’s evil knee brace of doom, which was called the Hammer Jammer. Valentine releases the hold and Garvin rolls him up once again as this is starting to get ridiculous. Doing it once out of desperation and/or instinct okay and actually a very good touch if done and sold well, but this has happened close to ten times now. Valentine works a torture rack but can’t lock it in, so he simply dumps Garvin to the mat and drops an elbow on him. Garvin responds with more nasty chops as they get in another massive NWA-style slugfest won by Garvin. Off to an Indian deathlock but Valentine’s close to the ropes and bails. Garvin follows him and goes for a piledriver on the outside, but Valentine backdrops his way out of it. Back in where Garvin misses a blind charge and eats turnbuckle before they both collide for a double KO spot. Garvin falls near the apron, so Jimmy Hart sneaks in and undoes the Hammer Jammer. NOW we’re going somewhere!
Valentine immediately goes for the figure four, and this time it’s locked in good. Garvin crawls and sells the hell out of it, eventually turning over to put the pressure on the back of Valentine’s legs, who immediately makes the ropes to break it. Valentine goes back to the figure four, with Garvin using an inside cradle to block. See, had they saved the pinfall spot for here and HERE ALONE, it would have been perfect. Garvin is in pain, he was in the figure four for about a minute just a moment ago, and tried the first reversal that came to his mind in order to prevent it again. Instead we’ve seen it 592 times already and it doesn’t mean as much. Valentine goes up instead but gets slammed off à la Ric Flair. And now it’s Garvin who takes off Valentine’s trusty knee brace for a great reaction. Garvin is limping, doing a great selljob of the injured legs, and even Jimmy Hart gets a beating to make the crowd happy. Valentine eats a shot with the knee brace to the head and a Sharpshooter puts him away at 16:55.
Rating: Look, the second half of this match was actually incredible. I absolutely loved the action and the story once the ‘Hammer Jammer’ angle kicked in, but up until that point the constant pinfalls get quite annoying. And it ultimately ruins the match overall, in my opinion. Like I said, had they done this once or twice with the proper story, it would have been quite the perfect touch. Unfortunately, they did it over TEN times and it lost all its meaning. Apart from that, the physical sequences between both men were very good too. Like I said, the first half was annoying and boring at times, but then the second half was a true classic. Overall, it was a good physical submission bout that could’ve been a little bit better, as the awesome second half showed. ***1/4
Meanwhile, Mean Gene is in the back with Mr. Perfect. He talks trash to Brutus Beefcake before announcing he got the ‘perfect number’ for the Royal Rumble match. You know what that means!
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The Brother Love Show W/ Dusty Rhodes, Sapphire, ‘Macho King’ Randy Savage & Sensational ‘Queen’ Sherri
Yes, a 10+ minute TV segment at a PPV with a one-hour match as the main-event. Welcome to the World Wrestling Federation! Basically Sherri and Brother Love ignore Sapphire and make fat jokes. Sapphire finally snaps and slaps Sherri, drawing Savage in. Savage teases beating up Sapphire, but Dusty arrives for the save and cleans house. Brother Love gets abused too and the babyfaces dance to end the segment and set up the mixed tag match for WrestleMania.
‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan vs. The Big Bossman(w/ Slick)
IMG credit: WWE Network
Duggan runs wild to start, forcing Bossman to bail after a number of clotheslines and shoulder tackles. Duggan follows but eats the post. Bossman charges and misses, as now he gets to eat the post. Back in for a nice Bossman enziguiri that Ventura puts over like crazy on commentary. It did look awesome for a guy as big as Bossman. Bossman chokes away to get some heat, and even Slick adds his shots behind the referee’s back. Bossman goes for a bearhug, but Duggan headbutts him to break and then dumps Bossman with a clothesline over the top. Back in for a Duggan missed charge right into a Bossman clothesline for two. Bossman goes up for a splash that misses, and they collide for a double KO spot. Slick sneaks in the nightstick for a few shots, but the referee catches him and calls for the DQ at 6:13.
Rating: This was nothing. Pointless and boring with an awful and lame (non) finish. There should be a picture of this match close to the word ‘filler’ in the dictionary. Slightly over DUD because Bossman’s enziguiri was nice. Apart from that, totally skippable. Moving on. 1/4*
After the match, Duggan hits both Bossman and Slick with the 2×4. After that, we get a very nice video package with comments from most of the Rumble match participants. Bring these back, please!
1990 Royal Rumble Match
IMG credit: WWE.com
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Ted DiBiase is number one as we already knew. Number two is Koko B. Ware. DiBiase attacks him before the bell to take over. Koko no-sells a number of shots in the turnbuckle and gets to run wild with his jobber offense for a while, only to miss a charge and fly all the way to the floor for our first elimination. DiBiase is waiting alone for the third entrant, who is The Rockers’ Marty Jannetty. Another short mini-match begins, with Jannetty getting in a number of dropkicks. DiBiase catches him with a clothesline but misses a charge, allowing Jannetty to make another quick comeback. DiBiase quickly stops that though, and Jannetty is gone soon afterwards, leaving DiBiase waiting for the next man all alone yet again. That man (at number four) is Jake Roberts, who DiBiase is in a personal feud with, which draws a big reaction. The fresh Roberts beats him up for a while, but then DiBiase goes for the Million Dollar Dream. Jake escapes that by sending Roberts into the post and hits the short-arm clothesline. He signals for the DDT and goes for it, but now it’s DiBiase who blocks, so Roberts catches him with a kneelift instead as Randy Savage comes in at #5. The two heels work together against Roberts until Roddy Piper comes in at number six to make the save. DiBiase is nearly eliminated but he hangs on. And Warlord is number seven as we get body after body joining and this is becoming harder and harder for me to recap. It’s mostly punching and kicking in the corner like every other Royal Rumble match in history. Bret Hart joins the party as number eight, drawing another big pop. Bad News Brown is #9 and Roberts finally catches DiBiase in the front facelock position to nail the DDT, but he’s close to the ropes and Savage clotheslines him over the top and out to eliminate Roberts. That was a nice move that got both Savage (for being a dick) and DiBiase (for being lucky) heat from the crowd. So with Savage having major heat, it’s only fitting that Dusty Rhodes is number ten to go after him and have the crowd go even more nuts. The genius of Pat Patterson, may he rest in peace. Anyway, with one third of the match gone, I’ll take a much needed paragraph break.
And I’m back! Savage and Bad News double team Dusty when he gets in, but then Savage charges and Dusty backdrops him out to eliminate him. That was a beautiful bump by Savage on his way out, as he went completely vertical on that backdrop. What an athlete. Andre the Giant is number eleven and Warlord is immediately the first victim, with Heenan and Fuji nearly going at it on the floor. Andre smashes Dusty into Piper for a double noggin knocker – god bless Gorilla Monsoon – as The Red Rooster is twelve. Good luck lasting twelve seconds, Taylor. Meanwhile Piper eliminates Brown, who proceeds to retaliate and eliminate Piper himself. They fight all the way to the back in order to set up their WrestleMania program. Oh god, we’ll get there… Rooster is gone at the hands of Andre while Demolition Ax replaces him at number thirteen. Ax pounds away on Andre (I loved Ax’s fire in his series of punches) and Andre eventually gets caught in the ropes like he does in every match. Cue Haku at fourteen to save his fellow tag team champion. Demolition Smash is in at number fifteen, and we get a Demolition double noggin knocker at the hands of Andre. Akeem is #16 as this is starting to get hard to follow yet again. Bret goes flying courtesy of DiBiase and he’s eliminated, and so is Andre at the hands of both Demolition to set up their tag title rematch at WrestleMania. Notice how business is being done for multiple people and programs throughout this Rumble match. Jimmy Snuka is in at #17 and he immediately dumps Akeem. Dino Bravo is #18. Canadian Earthquake is #19 which means it’s time to clean this house. Dusty and Ax are immediately gone and Jim Neidhart is number twenty.
With Neidhart in, pretty much everyone joins forces and put Earthquake out together. And before you get sad that Earthquake didn’t get to put more people out, Ultimate Warrior is in at #21! He instantly dumps Bravo, who was in a brief feud over the IC title with Warrior, before all the remaining participants get all together yet again to go against Warrior. Rick Martel is #22 and Haku superkicks Smash out. Tito Santana is #23 to go after his former Strike Force mate. Honky Tonk Man is #24. Neidhart is gone at the hands of both Warrior and Martel, and so is the first entrant DiBiase with a Warrior clothesline. Hulk Hogan is #25 and shit’s about to go down! Snuka and Haku are immediately gone (what do you have against people from the Pacific islands, Hogan?). Warrior eliminates Tito. Honky briefly chokes Hogan with his shirt but Hogan fights back and puts him out. Shawn Michaels is #26 only to be immediately thrown out by Warrior, followed by Martel. Suddenly Warrior slowly turns around and…….. guess who are the only two people left alone in the ring!! You can literally see the people stop and look at Warrior and Hogan with their mouths wide open, these two unstoppable larger-than-life characters who just did not lose. They go face-to-face and no-sell a number of shoulderblocks before colliding for a double KO spot. And Barbarian is #27. Lucky us. Rick Rude is #28 after completely ignoring the ten second clock in a funny bit. I can imagine Vince McMahon fuming backstage. Rude and Barbarian go after the mega stars, and Warrior saves Hogan from elimination. They then go after Warrior and try to put him out, so now Hogan returns the favour and… puts him out. Hulk Hogan, hero to millions! Hercules is #29 and goes after the heels. And finally, Mr. Perfect is number thirty.
Final five: Perfect, Hercules, Hogan, Rude & Barbarian
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Perfect goes after Hogan immediately and Hercules backdrops Barbarian out. Rude and Perfect work together to put Hercules out, leaving them and Hogan as the final three. Heel miscommunication ensues, which allows Hogan to fight back and whip Rude out – with a bit of an assistance from Perfect who’s on the apron and pushes the top rope down. And we have Hogan vs. Perfect in the end. Hogan goes after Perfect, but Perfect turns things around and hits the Perfectplex. Hogan obviously no-sells the most effective move in wrestling in 1989, as he proceeds to take Perfect down and catapult him into the corner. Hogan then picks him up and whips him into the buckle again, this time with Perfect taking a crazy bump over the corner and into the outside, giving Hogan the win at 58:46.
Rating: Well this was quite awesome. Even though this had its inevitable dead spots with loads of people out there at the same time, all Rumble matches have those. However, just look at the programs this match helped set up for WrestleMania. The tag title match between Colossal Connection/Demolition, Piper/Brown, Savage/Rhodes, and obviously the massive Hogan/Warrior main-event for the ages. That is incredible. Another highlights included Ted DiBiase’s great run from the number one entry and Earthquake’s brief moment of domination. I would argue Hogan didn’t REALLY need to win this, specially considering Perfect’s ‘perfect record’ undefeated run and entering with the ‘perfect number’, but that’s not a major issue as a bump over the top rope can easily be covered and Perfect can stay over. Plus Hogan has a big match coming up. I still would have given Perfect the win in order to give him massive momentum and to set him up for a big World title program with Warrior post WrestleMania, but again it’s not like a bump over the top rope will kill anyone’s career. Overall, awesome Rumble. ****
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: I had a great time watching this PPV. Sure, it had two boring and pointless matches (Duggan/Bossman and Beefcake/Genius), but everything else was awesome in their own different way. The opener was really fun thanks to Bushwhackers being over as hell and the Rougeaus being a tremendous heel team. The submission match, despite having its flaws, is also a very good physical and intense bout – once they stop with the silly pinfall spots – and then the Rumble match was great. Easily the best out of the three up until that point. Already a better PPV than all the four PPVs the WWF put out the prior year. Nice start of the decade for the World Wrestling Federation! Overall, I give this a solid 7/10.
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POINT SYSTEM
Considering this is a PPV with a very unique match, there will obviously be some changes to the point system. As far as all the regular preliminary matches go, I will use the regular point system, which you can see here. As far as the Rumble match itself goes, every elimination made will be worth 0.5 points. Getting eliminated will cost the wrestler 0.5 points as well. Also, for every full minute alive in the match, the wrestler earns 0.1 points. As for winning the whole thing, it will earn the victorious wrestler 5 points.
Here are the points for every wrestler who worked this event:
Wrestler
Star rating
Result
Main-eventing
Extras
Eliminations (Rumble match only)
Time (Rumble match only)
Total
Ted DiBiase
4
-0.5
1
1.5 (3)
11 (44 mins.)
17
Hulk Hogan
4
5
1
3 (6)
3 (12 mins.)
16
The Ultimate Warrior
4
-0.5
1
3 (6)
3.5 (14 mins.)
11
Haku
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
5.5 (22 mins.)
11
Dusty Rhodes
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
4.5 (18 mins.)
10
Jimmy Snuka
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
4.25 (17 mins.)
9.75
Smash
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
3.75 (15 mins.)
9.25
Bret Hart
4
-0.5
1
4 (16 mins.)
8.5
Andre the Giant
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
2.5 (10 mins.)
8
Roddy Piper
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
3 (12 mins.)
8
Ax
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
3 (12 mins.)
8
Randy Savage
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
2.5 (10 mins.)
7.5
Rick Martel
4
-0.5
1
1(2)
2 (8 mins.)
7.5
Jake Roberts
4
-0.5
1
2.5 (10 mins.)
7
Rick Rude
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
1.5 (6 mins.)
7
Bad News Brown
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
1.5 (6 mins.)
6.5
The Warlord
4
-0.5
1
2 (8 mins.)
6.5
Dino Bravo
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
1.5 (6 mins.)
6.5
The Barbarian
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
1.25 (5 mins.)
6.25
Canadian Earthquake
4
-0.5
1
1 (2)
0.5 (2 mins.)
6
Mr. Perfect
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
0.75 (3 mins.)
5.75
Hercules
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (1)
0.75 (3 mins.)
5.75
Tito Santana
4
-0.5
1
1.25 (5 mins.)
5.75
The Honky Tonk Man
4
-0.5
1
1 (4 mins.)
5.5
Akeem
4
-0.5
1
0.5 (2 mins.)
5
Koko B. Ware
4
-0.5
1
0.25 (1 min.)
4.75
Marty Jannetty
4
-0.5
1
0.25 (1 min.)
4.75
The Red Rooster
4
-0.5
1
0.25 (1 min.)
4.75
Ronnie Garvin
3.25
1
0.5 for submission fall
4.75
Shawn Michaels
4
-0.5
1
4.5
Bushwhacker Butch
2.25
1
0.5 for winning the fall
3.75
Bushwhacker Luke
2.25
1
3.25
Greg Valentine
3.25
-1
-0.5 for losing via submission
1.75
Raymond Rougeau
2.25
-1
1.25
Jacques Rougeau
2.25
-1
-0.5 for losing the fall
0.75
Jim Duggan
0.25
0.5
0.75
Brutus Beefcake
0.5
0.5
The Genius
0.5
0.5
Big Bossman
0.25
-0.5
-0.25
As always, thank you so much for your time reading the review. Make sure you don’t miss the next article, where I’ll review the January 1990 edition of WWF’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring Hogan & Warrior teaming up. As far as PPVs go, the next one will be from the NWA-WCW side, with WrestleWar featuring Ric Flair and Lex Luger going at it over the NWA World Championship. Once again thank you for your support and make sure you stay notified as we get closer and closer to the WWF’s WrestleMania VI!
Hello everyone and welcome to my final article on 1989. In this special piece, we will take a look back at some of the best matches in both the WWF and NWA/WCW. First of all, I will mention the top five matches for each company, followed by an overall top five list for both companies overall. After that, we will see who were the wrestlers in both company (followed by overall, much like with the matches) that got more points. This will be according to the point system I use on every show, which you can see here.
Before starting, I have one last announcement regarding the point system. I thought it would be fair to award points to the wrestlers involved in the top five matches of the year, so I will. Here’s how it will be done: the wrestlers involved in the 5th best match of their particulary company get 1 point, those in the 4th best get 2 points, those in the 3rd best get 3 points, those in the 2nd best get 4 points, and those in the best match of the year will get 5 points. As for the overall list (both companies put together), the points will double – meaning the participants in the 5th best match will get 2 points, and so on. Let’s start the top matches list with the World Wrestling Federation.
TOP FIVE WWF MATCHES IN 1989
5) Brain Busters vs. Demolition – WWF World Tag Team Championship (Saturday Night’s Main Event, July 29th)
IMG credit: WWE Network
After a really long feud with the Powers of Pain that was never that good or memorable to begin with, Demolition needed something fresh in order to get back some momentum. That would happen on the edition of SNME right after WrestleMania (the same one that saw Hogan and Bossman battle inside the cage), a match that was won by the Brain Busters by DQ, setting up a 2-out-of-3-falls rematch at the July edition. The two teams delivered a very good – not to mention historic – bout, which saw Demolition’s long reign finally come to an end at the hands of the Heenan family members. The match told a very good story of the heels cutting the ring in half in classic heel tag wrestling fashion, which got Demolition more and more upset to the point where the Brain Busters were able to walk away with the belts. Good way to kickoff our list. (Rating: ***1/4)
4) Brain Busters vs. The Hart Foundation (SummerSlam)
IMG credit: WWE Network
Look, here they are again! This shows how, quietly, Anderson and Blanchard were one of the highlights of the Federation. Bobby Heenan was able to make this a non-title match since the contract was signed before July 28th, the date when the Brain Busters dethroned Demolition to capture the tag titles. Despite the titles not being on the line, the two teams put on one of the best matches on that year’s SummerSlam. Even though they did miss the peak of the match by a while (they went 16 minutes), there is no denying the great tag team work as well as the technical finesse in this bout. (Rating: ***1/4)
3) Rick Rude vs. The Ultimate Warrior – WWF Intercontinental Championship (SummerSlam)
IMG credit: WWE Network
One of the reasons why I said the match in the prior entry was one of the best at that year’s SummerSlam, it’s because this match exists! Having already been in a really good match earlier that year at WrestleMania, Warrior had his rematch for the IC title at this show. The two managed to top their ‘Mania match while Warrior got back his belt, thanks to a distraction by Roddy Piper that would start one of the best feuds of that whole year, full of great interactions between Piper and Bobby Heenan on episodes of Prime Time Wrestling. (Rating: ***1/2)
2) Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart (Prime Time Wrestling Nov. 6th)
IMG credit: WWE Network
It’s now time to take a quick stop in Hidden Gem City. Here is a match that was not reviewed here on the blog, between two of the finest and most determined young wrestlers in the Federation. Curt ‘Mr. Perfect’ Hennig and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart went at it on a random episode of Prime Time in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, and they came close to putting on the best WWF match of that year. In what was a great showcase of their talents and a preview of what these two would do on bigger stages down the road (SummerSlam 1991, King of the Ring 1993), Curt came out on top and extended his perfect record. (Rating: ***3/4)
1) Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage – WWF Championship (WrestleMania V)
IMG credit: WWE.com
At the end of the day, when people think of 1989 WWF, this is the match that always comes to mind first. Featuring one of the best and most dramatic build-ups in the entire history of the business and the sport (still to this day), the two former Mega Powers arrived at Trump Plaza and put on a bout for the ages. With Elizabeth playing a great role and helping the participants tell an even better and more emotional story, she was helpful in making this match #1 as well. Savage was a superb douchebag throughout the whole main-event, playing the antagonist role as well as anyone ever did against the Hulkster. The result was a massive box office success along with a great match, while Hogan won his second WWF Championship. (Rating: ****)
TOP FIVE NWA MATCHES IN 1989
5) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk – NWA World Heavyweight Championship (The Great American Bash)
IMG credit: WWE Network
Once the feud with Steamboat came to an end, which we will (spoiler!) cover up later in this list, Terry Funk made his presence felt by giving the champ a piledriver on top of a table. That took Flair out for close to a month due to a broken neck, and turned Flair babyface. Flair naturally came back looking for revenge, and he himself gave Funk a title match just so he could legally get his hands on the Funker. That match turned out to be painful for both wrestlers, with Funk obviously going after Flair’s previously broken neck, only for Flair to retaliate and hit several consecutive piledrivers during his comeback before retaining the gold with a sweet pinning reversal sequence. (Rating: ****1/2)
4) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk – I Quit Match (Clash of the Champions IX)
IMG credit: WWE.com
Now comes the difficult part, as these next four matches are legit four of the greatest matches of all time, personally. So it will tough for me to rank them. I will start with the I Quit match, simply because it was non-title… and it had to be one of them!! With the gold not up for grabs as I already mentioned, the two made up for it by each promising to raise the winner’s hand, with Flair even saying he’d forfeit the gold if he lost. In what was an ugly affair (in a good way) that saw Funk once again viciously going after Flair’s neck, perfect callbacks particularly the piledriver through the table spot that started the whole rivalry in the first place, Gary Hart getting paranoid over Funk losing and starting to turn on him, the story was simply done to perfection. Flair was able to turn things around and win with the figure four, while Funk turned babyface after the match after his humiliated manager Gary attacked him. Funk shook Flair’s hand as promised, and this spectacular feud was done – much like Funk’s wrestling career. Well, kinda! (Rating: *****)
3) Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair – NWA World Heavyweight Championship (WrestleWar)
IMG credit: WWE Network
Once again, I have no idea why this match is in third place and not higher, but one of them had to be here! In what would be their and final meeting of the epic trilogy, then-champion Ricky Steamboat and challenger Ric Flair put on another beautiful classic match. Their original rematch at the previous Clash of the Champions saw Steamboat controversially pin Flair in the last fall, hence the need for judges at ringside in this final encounter. In what was an intense, physical, fast-paced technical affair like their other two matches, Flair captured the World title back. And then came the legendary angle with the Funker, who broke Flair’s neck in the judges’ table with the piledriver, setting up their own amazing feud. (Rating: *****)
2) Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair – 2/3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (Clash of the Champions VI)
IMG credit: WWE Network
In what was Ric Flair’s original rematch against Steamboat after losing the gold at WrestleWar, this match featured a special two-out-of-three-falls stipulation with a one hour time limit. Both wrestlers brought back some spots from their Chi-Town Rumble meeting, reversing them in order to show that they were ready this time, knew each other better and/or studied the tape. Flair won the first fall and spent the next number of minutes trying to kill time and keep the 1-0 lead (in order to win via time limit), getting more and more confident with each minute while Steamboat took the punishment like only he can. Steamboat was able to tie things up with a double chickenwing submission, and then the frustrated Flair went after the legs which didn’t allow Steamboat to lock in the hold again in the final fall. Awesome! Steamboat managed to retain with a controversial finish (Flair had his leg under the bottom rope). Another epic match between the two with a lot of callbacks, psychology, emotion and logic. (Rating: *****)
1) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – NWA World Heavyweight Championship (Chi-Town Rumble)
IMG credit: WWE Network
Finally, here’s the number one. The very first match of the incredible trilogy. With Flair as the reigning champion and Steamboat looking to capture a World Heavyweight belt for the first time, the two created pure magic inside those ropes. The physical and intense brutality in each spot, the smooth wrestling sequences and reversals left the whole crowd in awe, including a very young Dave Meltzer sitting in the front row. In the end, Steamboat won and got his much deserved moment in the sun as the World’s champion. Amazing! (Rating: *****)
TOP 5 OVERALL MATCHES IN 1989
5) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk – The Great American Bash (NWA)
IMG credit: WWE Network
4) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk – I Quit Match, Clash of the Champions IX (NWA)
IMG credit: WWE Network
3) Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair – WrestleWar (NWA)
IMG credit: WWE Network
2) Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair – 2/3 Falls Match, Clash of the Champions VI (NWA)
IMG credit: WWE Network
1) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – Chi-Town Rumble (NWA)
IMG credit: WWE Network
TOP 5 WWF WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
Note: this is based on my point system used throughout each and every show of the year
5) Mr. Perfect (23,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Coming up at number five is someone who’s slowly climbing up the ranks in the World Wrestling Federation. A flawless win/loss record certainly helped Mr. Perfect make this list, with Hennig yet to taste defeat on television as he gets closer and closer to the main-event scene and the Hulkster.
Mr. Perfect’s best match in 1989: Vs. Bret Hart (Prime Time Wrestling)
4) Randy Savage (26,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
The previous year’s #1 WWF wrestler drops three positions, yet he’s still able to make the list. Despite slowly falling down the card after WrestleMania V, there is no denying the greatness of Randy Savage. The ‘Macho King’ gimmick couldn’t have come at a better time for Savage, as hopefully we can keep him on the top five list in years to come, where he deserves to be.
Randy Savage’s best match in 1989: Vs. Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania V)
3) Tully Blanchard (30,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Like I mentioned during the Brain Busters’ matches that made the top five list, Blanchard and Anderson were easily 1989’s “silent assassins”. They put on a number of solid matches throughout the year, particularly with Demolition, The Hart Foundation and The Rockers, won the tag belts and were pretty much featured on every card. Surprising? Perhaps, but they certainly deserve to be here, they put on a good effort consistently.
Tully Blanchard’s best match in 1989: w/ AA vs. The Hart Foundation (SummerSlam)
2) Arn Anderson (33,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
There’s not much to add from the prior entry. Anderson has more points than Blanchard because he got more falls and was pinned less times.
Arn Anderson’s best match in 1989: W/ Tully vs. The Hart Foundation (SummerSlam)
1) Hulk Hogan (52,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Surprised? Don’t be. Even though Hogan is in this spot thanks to a lot of victories, a lot of main-event appearances and a lot of wins in title matches, he’s worthy of being here. Hogan did a great job in the famous feud with Randy Savage and deserves praise for having to carry a non-wrestler (Zeus) throughout most of their matches in the second half of the year. And then there are also some other highlights, such as the bouts with The Big Bossman – inside the cage – or The Genius. And also being a part of the #1 best WWF match! So yeah, at the end of the day, he deserves the spot. Now let’s see if he’s able to keep it in 1990.
Hulk Hogan’s best match in 1989: Vs. Randy Savage (WrestleMania V)
TOP 5 NWA WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
5) Freebird Michael Hayes (31,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Now here’s another one I wasn’t expecting, kicking off the NWA list. Hayes had a brief reign with the US belt in the first half of the year, ultimately designed to put over then-babyface Lex Luger. Hayes would move back to the tag division afterwards, capturing World Tag Team gold as a member of the Freebirds. A surprise because I was totally expecting Terry Funk to be on the list, but he wasn’t around for long. Hayes is certainly worthy of being here, as he was one of the highlights of NWA’s 1989.
Michael Hayes’ best match in 1989: WarGames (The Great American Bash)
4) Sting (36,75 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Now here’s an entry who is everything but a surprise. Sting organically climbed up the NWA ranks throughout 1989, as the World’s TV Champion running through enhancement talent or older wrestlers (ie: The Iron Sheik) in short matches, getting more popular with each win. A number of barnburners with The Great Muta – particularly at The Bash – was the launching pad that Sting needed, with the energetic up-and-coming babyface wrestling in main-events for the rest of the year. The highlight of that year came at StarrCade in December, which saw Sting cleanly pin the World Champion Ric Flair.
Sting’s best match in 1989: Vs. Ric Flair (StarrCade)
3) Lex Luger (44,25 points)
IMG credit: WWE
Here’s a man who had one hell of a year in 1989, and was certainly one of the highlights of the whole industry. While he did have a solid enough run as a babyface working with the likes of Michael Hayes, it was after the heel turn that his work truly began to shine. With some superb heel work, a fantastic look, an all-time great US Title reign and numerous classic matches with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, The Great Muta, Flyin Brian (Pillman), Tommy Rich and others, Luger was unquestionably one of the best.
Lex Luger’s best match in 1989: Vs. Ricky Steamboat (The Great American Bash)
2) Ricky Steamboat (54 points)
IMG credit: WWE
There isn’t much to say about these two final entries, I think the history and their actions speak for themselves. There is obviously the work with Flair and the World title win as the clear highlights from the Dragon’s year, but some of the matches he had with workers such as Terry Funk and Lex Luger were also classics. A great year for the legendary Ricky Steamboat.
Ricky Steamboat’s best match in 1989: Vs. Ric Flair (the whole trilogy)
1) Ric Flair (79,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
And finally, the man. No gimmick, no nickname, simply the man indeed. There was no one able to even come close to being on Flair’s level in 1989, and that picture up above is a great way to describe him stylin’ and profilin’ his way to the top of the NWA (and overall) list of top wrestlers in 1989. Steamboat came close, yes, but ultimately longevity is what gave the big edge to the champ. Steamboat left after the Bash, while Flair kept on putting barnburners with everyone. To name a few – Terry Funk, Sting, Lex Luger, The Great Muta, etc. No one deserves the #1 spot in 1989 apart from Ric Flair. WOOOOO!
TOP 5 OVERALL WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
5) Sting – NWA (36,75 points)
IMG credit: WWE
4) Lex Luger – NWA (44,25 points)
IMG credit: WWE
3. Hulk Hogan – WWF (52,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
2) Ricky Steamboat – NWA (54 points)
IMG credit: WWE
1) Ric Flair – NWA (79,5 points)
IMG credit: WWE
And that’s it for 1989. The NWA was by far superior and more consistent to the WWF, and that is shown in the year-end lists of top matches and wrestlers.
We now leave the 80s behind and move on to the 90s and 1990, starting with the WWF’s Royal Rumble PPV. Let’s see who will be able to make the lists at the end of this next year! Until then, stay safe and thank you for reading!
Hello everyone. Welcome to my review of StarrCade 1989, which will be my final review of the 80s. It’s also the last PPV for NWA in 1989, one of the best years that any company has ever had.
A win by pin/sub is worth 20 points, a count-out win is worth 15, a DQ win is worth 10 and a draw gives both wrestlers/teams involved 5 points each. But forget all that, the only point system that you need to care about is here!
Before starting, here is the list of then-NWA champions:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
NWA World TV Champion: The Great Muta
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)
Enjoy the review!
The hosts are Jim Ross, Jim Cornette (for the tag tournament) and Terry Funk (for the singles tournament)
Live from Atlanta, GA
Tag Tournament Match #1: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed)(w/ Woman & Nitron)
Also, there is a fifteen minute time limit for each and every match, in both the singles and tag tournaments. Scott takes over on Simmons to start with a powerslam. Scott misses a charge but a quick Steinerline puts him back in control. Both tag off to their respective partners, with Reed cheating for a while before walking into a Rick powerslam for two. Back to Scott as they get into a weird atomic drop fest, before Scott simply goes for a roll-up for two. We hit the chinlock for a while until a heel distraction allows Reed to pound Scott down. Scott makes a brief comeback but Doom hit a double backdrop to keep him grounded.
That makes Rick angry on the apron, which distracts the ref and allows Doom to double-team Scott behind his back. They throw him over the top rope (illegal in the NWA) just to be dicks and even do some choking. Gary Capetta announces there are only two minutes left in the match (incorrect, but we’ll go with it), which is cue for the Steiners’ big comeback. Scott blocks a piledriver and explodes with a belly to belly suplex. Hot tag Rick who comes in hot with a powerslam on Simmons for two, followed by a clothesline to both Doom members. Nitron gets involved and draws both teams to the floor for a brief brawl, before Rick manages to get back inside the ring at the count of nine for a count-out win at 12:24.
Rating: What a weird opener this was. It took a while to get the action going due to numerous reasons, and then once it got going just well… they gave us this lame finish. Why can’t the tag team champions beat freaking Doom? Oh that’s right, because the Steiners aren’t winning the tournament. Thirteen minutes for a count-out finish because this tournament (with nothing on the line) is a thing that needs to exist. Not a bad match, though, all things considered. **
JR says on commentary these two are the future of NWA and the wrestling industry in the 90s, and calls back to their friendship before Luger’s heel turn earlier that year. So of course their long-awaited meeting takes place in the first round of this meaningless tournament. This is like doing The Rock vs. Stone Cold in the second round of the Deadly Games at Survivor Series 1998 instead of waiting until the main-event of WrestleMania. Not even Vince Russo was that dumb!
Sting wins a popularity contest to start, so Luger wants none of this – to be fair, why would he? He has nothing to gain and could possibly get hurt and risk his US title reign – and simply walks away. Sting goes after him and brings him back inside. Sting picks up the pace as the crowd comes alive with him, but Luger cuts him off with an atomic drop. He stops to point out his intelligence, though, which allows Sting to clothesline Luger’s head off his shoulders. A Luger charge into the corner only finds boot, and Sting follows that up with a dropkick that gets two. He goes up only to jump into another atomic drop. Instead of pointing to his head Luger actually hits another one, which allows him to actually stay in control!
Meanwhile, Capetta announces we’re ten minutes in with only five remaining, when it’s not even close to that. Lex begins to target Sting’s midsection setting up for the Rack. Sting fights back with an attempt at a quick little comeback that is quickly killed by Luger, and he tries to take it home with the Torture Rack. Sting escapes that as Capetta announces there are three minutes remaining, but Luger pounds him down some more. Another Sting comeback goes nowhere as time is about to expire, and they fight on the apron. Sting goes for a suplex back inside (I think so), but instead just they fall back and Luger lands on top of Sting while literally holding on to the ropes with his hands and his feet to steal the win and the 20 points at (a real) 11:31.
Rating: I feel like I will be saying the same thing over and over for every match, so I’ll try to make it as short as I can. It was easily much better than the opener tag match, but then it all had to stop so they could work in this ridiculously lame finish just to fit the rules of this pointless tournament. Also, there was no reason to do this match so soon, this meeting could and should have been a much bigger deal than this. Still a good enough match. ***
Tag Tournament Match #2: The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)(w/ Paul Ellering) vs. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed)(w/ Woman & Nitron)
Hawk and Simmons do a battle of no-sold shoulderblocks for a long time to start before Hawk catches him with a powerslam. Animal comes in to hit a chinlock as Capetta is ALREADY telling us we’ve hit the five minute mark! It has barely been two. I know this idea is pointless and these matches mean nothing, but if you’re going to rush through them like this, why did you book them in the first place? The genius of Jim Herd. Simmons responds with a powerslam of his own to Hawk into his own chinlock, and suddenly we hit the ten minute mark. Well, if you say so. Animal comes in running wild off the hot tag with a powerslam (yes, another one) for two. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, and Reed hits a piledriver on Animal only to eat a flying clothesline by Hawk for the pin and the 20 points at THREE THOUSAND MINUTES AND FORTY FIVE SECONDS! In reality, 8:31.
Rating: What a mess. Nothing but powerslams, chinlocks, repeat. The finish was pretty cool, I’ll give them that. But the rest was just not interesting as this tournament continues to be nothing but a complete waste of time. 1/2*
Singles Tournament Match #2: Ric Flair(w/ Arn & Ole Anderson) vs. The Great Muta(w/ Gary Hart)
Arn Anderson is back, one month or so after being one-half of the WWF’s World Tag Team Champions! Also, Great Muta is still undefeated at this point, so you can already see them fucking this up one way or another, given the pattern this show is on at this point already. Muta runs wild all over Flair to start, pounding away in the corner. Quickly into the corner for a very fast handspring elbow followed by another elbowdrop. Flair fights back and chops away, though. Atomic drop into the kneecrusher as Flair is already thinking figure four, but Hart runs in which also draws the Andersons in. Muta takes advantage of this distraction to hit a quick Mutasault, but Flair moves out of the way and simply cradles Muta to end the undefeated streak at 1:55.
Rating: So Doom already has 20 minutes worth of action, but we have to cut time in this match? And in the process end Muta’s undefeated run with a roll-up of all things in less than two minutes? Not a DUD because the action was fast and furious while it lasted, but if I had to describe this match in the nicest way possible, it would definitely be to simply call this a bunch of bullshit. 1/2*
Tag Tournament Match #3: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)(w/ Paul Ellering)
Honest question: I know this is not supposed to mean anything and there’s nothing on the line, but the Samoans haven’t been in one single match yet heading into match #4 in the tag tournament. Meanwhile, every other tag team will have to face them with one (or more) matches already under their belt. In what world does this make sense? Have I mentioned how much of a mess this whole thing is?
Another big match between the two top babyface teams that should NOT be happening anytime soon, but here it is because… of course it is. Hawk and Scott start, with the latter going after the leg only to eat an enziguiri. Tag off to Rick but Hawk says hi with a nasty lariat. How nice of him! In comes Animal for a couple of shoulderblocks until Scott catches him with a suplex that gets two. Clothesline by Animal puts the LOD back in control, though, and Hawk comes in with a backbreaker. He follows that up with a deadlift right into a gutwrench suplex. A human being should NOT be able to do something like that! Hawk makes the mistake of going up which earns him a belly to belly off the top courtesy of Scotty. Animal manages to tag in and grabs Scott for a bearhug, and suddenly all four guys are in the ring. IT’S BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA! The Road Warriors clean house and finish off Scott with the Doomsday Device, but Scott gets his shoulder up at two while Animal’s shoulders are down in a bridge position until the count of three. That means the Steiners get a pinfall win over LOD and 20 points at 7:27.
Rating: All problems aside, this was a pure fight between four guys trying to hit each other as hard as they could. Unsurprisingly, that gave us the best match in the tag tournament so far. There’s no doubt this match should’ve been done WAY later down the road and should’ve been a much bigger deal, but I had fun watching it. Good and intense little match. **3/4
Singles Tournament Match #3: Sting vs. The Great Muta(w/ Gary Hart)
So this was quite the feud over the TV title throughout 89. Muta starts off quick yet again with a mule kick off an attempted full nelson hold by Sting. Muta grabs a headlock only for Sting to monkey flip his way out of it. Suplex gets two. They tease another Muta squash with Sting going for the Scorpion Deathlock already, but Muta holds on to the ropes for dear life and bails.
Back in, a rake to the eyes turns things around for the TV Champ. Muta adds an elbowdrop and it’s off to an awesome bridging double chickenwing. Sting pounds away and a slam gets two. Sting tries to play Muta’s game with his own elbowdrop, and that quickly goes nowhere as Muta turns the tables and chokes away in the corner. Muta is thinking Mutasault, which Sting blocks but ends up eating a spinkick anyway. Muta goes up for it yet again but Sting follows him and brings him down with a superplex for the win and 20 points at 8:41.
Rating: Nice job by both men here. Though you can’t compare this with their classic matches over the TV belt earlier that year due to obvious reasons, they put on a very good effort. ***1/4
Tag Tournament Match #2: The New Wild Samoans (Fatu & The Samoan Savage)(w/ ‘The Big Kahuna’ Oliver Humperdink) vs. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed)(w/ Woman & Nitron)
So, this is the Wild Samoans’ first match in the tournament, while Doom have already wrestled twice and already have no chance to win. Reed and Fatu trade powerslams to start. The Samoans no-sell a few headbutts as well as a Ron slam. The crowd couldn’t care less about any of this, and neither do I. Tama misses a flying headbutt and Reed scores with a neckbreaker for two. Capetta announces there are ten minutes left, as this is still going on for some reason with an already eliminated team and one that is working their first match. All of a sudden all hell breaks loose with everyone inside the ring, and Humperdink shoves Fatu on top of Reed to give the Samoans the win at 8:22.
Rating: This was nothing. This was way too long (for some reason went four times longer than Flair vs. Muta did) and simply bad. 1/4*
Singles Tournament Match #4: Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger
This is more like it. Luger bails and walks around for a while to play mind games. Flair grabs a headlock to start which Luger turns into his own. Luger goes after the hair to keep Flair grounded, so obviously Flair responds with some badass chops with extra mustard. Luger runs away for his life while Flair follows him around and keeps throwing the chops. Back inside goes Luger and Flair backdrops him out of the corner as Luger starts asking for mercy.
Luger finally catches Flair going for another chop and starts working the back setting up for that Rack. Flair catches him with a suplex though, and goes after the arm but Luger goes back to the hair. Flair once again chops the heck out of Luger and continues to work the arm with a hammerlock which Luger breaks by dropping Flair on the top rope. Luger starts going after the neck as we get the last five minutes announcement – it was late, but here I don’t mind it because this is kicking some ass. Luger sends Flair into the corner, Flair flip into the apron but Luger meets him there with a great clothesline! Flair almost catches Luger by surprise with a quick sunset flip for a nice nearfall, but then Luger misses an elbow and Flair starts working the leg with a minute left on the clock. Ric locks in the figure four as Capetta does a countdown for the final ten seconds. Luger hangs on in that hold until time expires, which means it’s a draw and five points for each wrestler at 17:15.
Rating: Well thank goodness! This is finally a match worthy of being on a NWA 1989 pay-per-view. The crowd was alive, both workers were feeling it and they just put on one hell of a match inside those ropes. This could’ve been an all-timer without the rules of this meaningless tournament, but it was still pretty amazing as it was. ****
Tag Tournament Match #5: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. The New Wild Samoans (Fatu & The Samoan Savage)(w/ ‘The Big Kahuna’ Oliver Humperdink)
So basically this is the Steiners’ final bout in the tournament, while the Samoans still have to face the Road Warriors. Before the bell, Rick Steiner mocks the Samoans’ pre-match ritual over and over in a funny bit. After mucho stalling Scott scores with a lariat on Tama, but the Samoan complains about hair-pulling that didn’t happen. They’re taking their time here but it’s actually working, as they try to get inside each other’s heads and the crowd’s into it. Next up Rick throws one Samoan into the other and tries to turn them against each other, they hug it out. A very young Dr. Shelby must’ve had a big smile on his face at this time.
Scott comes in as the action actually gets going. Scott runs wild for a bit but ends up missing a dropkick on Fatu, who drops him on the railing. The Samoans cut the ring in half and get in some classic heel double-teaming before locking in a bearhug on Scott. Young Scotty escapes but walks into a powerslam as we have two minutes left in the NWA’s imaginary clock. Steiner suddenly hits a Frankensteiner and reaches for the hot tag to Rick, who comes in to clean house. As all hell breaks loose and the match is about to end in a time-limit draw, Scott blocks an attack from Tama (I believe) by backdropping him over the top rope, which is illegal in the NWA, so the ref calls for a Samoans DQ win at 14:05.
Rating: I was actually feeling this one. I enjoyed the mind-games in the beginning, even though they did go a little longer than they probably should have, and the action that came afterwards was good too. The show is much better now and the crowd is alive and into things, which I very much appreciate. Better than I expected. ***
Singles Tournament Match #5: Lex Luger vs. The Great Muta
So yeah, Muta has no chance of winning the tournament and is pretty much only fulfillig his duty like a good employee. Luger comes out selling the leg from the Flair match, so you know this will kick some ass. Fast action to start – much like in every Muta match on this show. Luger shoots Muta off the ropes, criss cross, leapfrog… but Luger lands on the bad leg and that allows Muta to kick him in the leg and take over. Lex smartly walks away much like he did earlier with Flair’s chops, only for Muta to go after him with kicks to the leg on the outside. Muta works an anklelock back in as Luger continues to run away from him, this time to the corner, only for Muta to meet him there with the handspring elbow.
Muta goes back to working on the leg with a number of holds. Lex has to rake the eyes to escape, only to miss an elbow and for Muta to catch him in an Indian deathlock. Thankfully for Luger he’s close to the ropes, so he grabs them and stays in it. Poor Luger tries to make another comeback but the bad leg once again allows Muta to take him down, this time with a spinkick. Luger finally takes Muta down the hard way with a nasty lariat. He runs wild (always selling the leg), as Capetta starts with the time announcements. Muta cuts that off with a sunset flip for two before walking into a Lex powerslam, so Muta finally says “fuck this” and gives Luger the green mist right in the eyes in front of the ref for the DQ at 14:15.
Rating: Another great match with some badass psychology by Luger. Lex had one hell of a 1989, so it’s only fitting he ends the year with one last fantastic match. I loved the selling by Luger, the failed comebacks due to his leg constantly giving out, Muta going after it viciously as he should have. Really great stuff as this show has been somewhat saved with a series of competent matches. Awesome work here. ***3/4
Tag Tournament Final Match: The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) vs. The Wild Samoans (Fatu & The Samoan Savage)(w/ ‘The Big Kahuna’ Oliver Humperdink)
In case you care about this tournament, we have three possible winners – the Steiners finished with 35 points and are in the lead, while the Samoans are right behind with 30 and LOD have 20. Here’s how each team can win:
Steiners: they have already finished their work in this tournament, so they have to pray for a LOD win by DQ, which would give LOD 30 points and the win to the Steiners;
Samoans: at 30 points, a draw would tie them with the Steiners. Which means that basically any kind of win for the Samoans in this match gives them the win in the tournament.
LOD: they are 15 points behind the Steiners, who are in the lead, and 10 points behind the Samoans. Any kind of loss in this match gives the Samoans the win, while a victory via DQ works for the Steiners. A count-out win ties the LOD with the Steiners, so LOD has to win via pinfall/submission only in order to win.
Animal no-sells a piledriver to start and the LOD are soon in control with power moves. Savage with a takedown on Hawk that looked terrible, which Hawk rightfully no-sold and responded with a dropkick. Off to Animal for a powerslam, before they botch something big time and just fall awkwardly fall down together. Ew. Savage chokes away but misses a splash, allowing Hawk to hit the flying clothesline and (thankfully) take this one home at 5:18.
Rating: Nope, this was terrible. At least it had some drama due to being the final match in the tournament and having three possible winners, but otherwise this sucked. Visually ugly botch festival. 1/4*
So with that, the final result in the tag tournament:
Once again we have three possible winners – Flair, Sting or Luger. Here’s how each man can win:
Lex Luger – currently in the lead with 35 points, a draw would work for the US champ. A Sting DQ win would also give him the win in the tournament.
Ric Flair – a DQ win is only good enough to tie him on top with Lex. A count-out win works, and obviously so does pin/sub.
Sting – a DQ win gives Luger the win, while a CO win ties him with Luger on top. Sting has to win by pinfall or submission.
Sting goes after Flair with a headlock but Flair escapes and bails. So Flair is smartly embracing the heel-in-peril role in this babyface/babyface encounter. Flair work a hammerlock back in, but Sting counters that and turns it into a hold on Flair’s leg. Flair overpowers Sting and puts him on the top rope to break the hold, and then Flair… gives him the clean break?? Mind games city WOOOOO! Sting is visually surprised at this turn of events, so it appears to be working.
Back to the center of the squared circle they go for a nice wrestling sequence, but Flair soon bails yet again. Five minutes have gone by and Flair gets back in with a hiptoss, which Sting blocks and turns into a backslide for a good nearfall. Flair missing that hiptoss pissed him off as he explodes with the chops. Ric goes for another one but Sting blocks once again and actually turns it over and hits his own! Now Flair is done with the games, but Sting catches him getting up with a number of dropkicks. NOW Flair has had enough of being Mr. Nice Guy, and that means poor Sting gets to eat the railing on the outside. Back in, Flair uses the ropes to attack Sting in order to fully embrace the heelish role, and a very nice abdominal stretch cover gets two. Roll-up gets two. Suplex gets two. Flair is starting to complain with the ref after each Sting kickout! This match is beautiful, if only there was something on the line.
Sting finally stops Flair with a clothesline, and Flair is out of there for yet another breather. Sting follows Flair only to walk into the classic chops, which Sting NO-SELLS! Hopefully you can imagine the Road Warrior pop this gets once Sting looks Flair dead in the eyes. Sting throws him back in for a sunset flip, but Flair loads up the closed fist and drops it right on Sting’s face – notice how Flair shows the fist at the crowd before dropping it just to be a dick, because he knows exactly how to work. Capetta has announced we have five minutes left a while ago, but I’m so lost in this match that I forgot to write it! Flair loads up more chops which only gets Sting even more fired up, as the Stinger runs wild in the corner. Hiptoss out of the corner right into a clothesline. Flair into the corner, Sting with the STINGER SPLASH! Sting wants the Scorpion Deathlock, but Flair is lucky enough to be very close to the ropes. Sting breaks the hold, which gives Flair enough time to hit the kneecrusher. Oh no! It’s time to go to school baby WOOOOO! Flair is all heelish going after the leg, slowly stomping on it and walking on top of Sting’s leg while taking his time. Flair was naturally born a douchebag and it’s a pleasure to see him do it! Off to a great pinfall reversal sequence as we apparently have only one minute left (damn it). Flair stops the fun with another blow to the leg, and gives him another kneecrusher. Off to the ropes where Flair sits on top of Sting’s leg to punish him some more. Time is about to expire but Flair still walks on Sting’s leg some more, and only then does he want the figure four. Capetta is doing the final ten seconds countdown, but Sting catches Flair and turns the figure four into a cradle for the win and the tournament at 14:30.
Rating: Simply incredible. This shows how much better and how much more natural Flair is when working heel. Sting was on fire as a babyface as well, and it just clicked. Imagine if something actually important (like say, the World title perhaps…) had been on the line! A great match to close the book for NWA-WCW pay-per-views in 1989, one of (if not the) best year in company history. Simply spectacular. ****1/4
After the match, the Andersons and Flair confront the winner Sting. They tease the heel turn but ultimately raise Sting’s hand as the winner, accepting Sting in the Four Horsemen. The winners Road Warriors and Sting have an interview with Gordon Solie, but the show fades to black during it. Well that was… okay then!
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: You know what, they managed to save this show somehow. The first half is ridiculously horrible, specially when you have to sit through eight minutes of Doom vs. the Samoans (with one of them already eliminated) while Flair vs. Muta goes one minute in what was the opening match for both. This is a great example that no matter how shitty creative might be, when you have badass talent like this a miracle is indeed possible. Overall I would say watch the second half of this show, it’s REALLY good – maybe apart from LOD/Samoans. As far as the first half goes, it’s worthy of taking a big shit on it. It sucks, stay as far away from it as you can. The great talent plus the ‘how you leave them’ effect ultimately outweighs the (incredibly) bad. 6/10
Finally here are the points (mine!) for each wrestler to close the book on 89 and the 80s:
(Note: the tournament winners will get an extra point because why not)
Sting: 13,5 points (10,5 for star ratings + 2 for two pinfall wins + 1 for main-eventing + 1 for winning the tournament – 1 for a pinfall loss)
Lex Luger: 12,25 points (10,75 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 0,5 for a DQ win)
Ric Flair: 9,75 points (8,75 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for a pinfall loss)
The Great Muta: 5 points (7,5 for star ratings – 2 for two pinfall losses – 0.5 for a DQ loss)
Scott Steiner: 9.25 points (7.75 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 0.5 for a CO win + 0.5 for winning a fall – 0.5 for a DQ loss)
Rick Steiner: 8.75 points (7.75 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 0.5 for a CO win – 0.5 for a DQ loss)
Hawk: 6 points (3.5 for star ratings + 2 for two pinfall wins + 1 for winning the tournament + 0.5 for winning a fall – 1 for a pinfall loss)
Animal: 5.5 points (3.5 for star ratings + 2 for two pinfall wins + 1 for winning the tournament + 0.5 for winning a fall – 1 for a pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing a fall)
Fatu: 4.5 points (3.5 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 0.5 for a DQ win + 0.5 for winning a fall – 1 for a pinfall loss)
Samoan Savage: 3.5 points (3.5 for star ratings + 1 for a pinfall win + 0.5 for a DQ win – 1 for a pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing a fall)
Ron Simmons: 0.25 points (2.75 for star ratings – 2 for two pinfall losses – 0.5 for a CO loss)
Butch Reed: -0.5 points (2.75 for star ratings – 2 for two pinfall losses – 0.5 for a CO loss – 1 for losing two falls)
Note: RIP Butch Reed, who died this week while I was already working on the review for this show that has him on it. My condolences go to his family and all his friends and loved ones.
As always, thank you for reading. With 1989 now behind us, I’ll do a special year-end article to see who were the top wrestlers of the year in both the NWA and the WWF, as well as overall. Make sure you don’t miss that, as we then move on to the 90’s. Stay safe everyone!
Hi everyone. Welcome to my very last WWF review of the year and the decade. In this memorable edition of SNME, Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior put their titles on the line against The Genius and André the Giant, respectively. Also The Rockers face the Brain Busters in a two-out-of-three-falls main-event match, and more. Check out the point system here.
Before starting, here is the list of champions in the WWF heading into this edition of SNME:
WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan
Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
World Tag Team Champions: Demolition (Ax & Smash)
Enjoy the review!
The hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura
Taped from Topeka, KS
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Ultimate Warrior(c) vs. André the Giant(w/ Bobby Heenan)
Warrior is all fired up to start as usual but André attacks him before the bell and we’re underway. André chokes away but Warrior turns things around and does some choking of his own using André’s singlet. André dominates for a while with his… let’s say methodical offense. Warrior eventually escapes that and dumps André to the outside with a clothesline. And we take a break.
Commercial
We return from the break with André fighting back, choking Warrior because that’s the only thing he can do at this point in his career. I have no idea why this match is still going on. Warrior puts André in a ridiculous bearhug until André fights back with headbutts. Warrior retaliates with a weird charge to the corner that looked horrible and completely missed, yet André sold anyway. This match is ugly in a very bad way and just won’t end. André puts Warrior in a bearhug of his own but Warrior starts making his big comeback. Bobby Heenan runs in to attack Warrior for the DQ at a ridiculous 07:46, finally putting this match out of its misery.
Rating: I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to have this match go nearly eight minutes, but that person clearly forgot to take his meds that day. We’re talking about André the Giant five months before his retirement – the poor big man could barely walk at this point in his life due to his health, let alone wrestle. And across from him was the Ultimate Warrior. The Ultimate Warrior! If anyone was going to get a watchable match out of André at this point in his career and his life, it was not him. This is easily one of the worst matches I have ever seen. A total trainwreck. DUD
WWF World Championship: Hulk Hogan(c) vs. The Genius
The Genius starts the match with a left-handed handshake to piss off Hogan, who replies with a right-handed one. Just as Genius goes to meet him, Hogan offers his left hand and points to his head. HANDSHAKING MIND GAMES! Hogan uses his power early on, but Genius nips up and flies all over the ring like a little princess as the crowd literally wants to come over and punch this idiot in the face. Another lockup sees Hogan overpower him yet again… so Genius bails and writes some strategy on a paper. It’s an equation with the result being: “HULK DOWN!” When getting back in, Genius of course shows off his art yet again by doing carthweels and nip-ups.
Another lockup goes to the corner, and Genius slaps Hogan on the clean break as Hogan is starting to get visually pissed. Genius actually manages to armdrag the champ and immediately starts celebrating as you can see young children and their parents yelling at Genius! Hogan calmly stays in the corner and tells Genius to “go ahead” and celebrate, with The Genius doing so. That’s when Hogan EXPLODES out of the corner with a nasty lariat followed by a couple more with the crowd loving it. Hogan runs wild on Genius and stops to fly around like The Genius as the crowd literally DIES WITH LAUGHTER! AND SO DO I! This sh*t is hilarious!!!!
Cue Mr. Perfect, who comes out to ringside and has his hands on the Hulkster’s gold belt. That distracts Hogan for a while and kills the comeback, allowing Genius to post Hogan. Hogan gets back in to break the count-out, though walks into an impressive and unique (for that time) moonsault. Genius covers but… HOGAN HULKS UP!! Hogan does the usual comeback routine but Perfect distracts him before the leg drop, drawing Hulk to the floor yet again. Genius follows for another cheapshot but gets his ass kicked this time and gets thrown back inside, with Perfect knocking Hogan out with a belt shot to the back of the head. The ref counts and gets to ten at 07:34. THE GENIUS BEATS HOGAN!!
Rating: More of a story/angle development between Hogan and Perfect than an actual match, but this is very good and features some spectacular crowd psychology and control. The Genius gets ridiculously annoying at various points in the match and gets Hogan over as a babyface even more. Highly highly recommended, and probably the best example of comedy done well in pro wrestling! **3/4
Dusty Rhodes vs. The Big Bossman(w/ Slick)
Bossman tries to attack before the bell but Dustin turns that around and takes over to start. Bossman gets a shot and Slick adds some choking, pissing off the loyal Dusty fan in the audience (the future Sapphire). Bossman pounds away until he eventually misses a charge. Bossman uses the ropes to choke Dusty, though, as he stays in control. He makes the mistake of showing off to the crowd which allows Dusty to roll him up for the win at 04:47. Dusty celebrates with Sapphire to end the segment.
Rating: Short and inoffensive. 1/2*
Mr. Perfect(w/ The Genius) vs. The Red Rooster
So these two are back to try and save this show even more. Rooster takes over to start with his glorified jobber offense until Perfect cuts him off with a suplex. Perfect snaps his neck and Rooster gets a quick sunset flip for two. Perfect talks some trash and allows Rooster to hit a bulldog for two. Backdrop gets two more. Perfect has had enough and finally puts him away with the Perfectplex to remain undefeated at 04:13.
Rating: Nothing more than a glorified squash, with Perfect’s undefeated streak always creating some nice nearfalls. Even when his opponent is The Red Rooster. *
Main Event – Two Out Of Three Falls Tag Match: The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard)(w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty)
So yeah, the Brain Busters’ final match in their relatively short WWF stint. Anderson would go back to the NWA a few months later while Tully failed a drug test and eventually joined the AWA in the spring. Jannetty headlocks Blanchard to start and turns that into an armbar before getting a sunset flip to get the first fall quickly.
Winners of the fall:The Rockers (Rockers 1-0 Brain Busters)
Heenan had had enough of the Brain Busters and walks out on them, allowing the Rockers to take over with their unique fast paced double-teaming. Michaels catches Blanchard with a quick hurricanrana as the Rockers sends them flying. With Blanchard back in, Michaels kneelifts him for two. He goes for a headscissors near the heel corner, allowing Anderson to give him a nasty clothesline while he’s doing the move. That looked great. Blanchard covers and wins the second fall.
Winners of the fall: The Brain Busters (Rockers 1-1 Brain Busters)
Well I wasn’t expecting that given the circumstances. The Busters take over on Michaels who is still hurt from the second fall. Anderson gives him the classic spinebuster but Michaels kicks out at two. Anderson catapults Michaels and Blanchard comes in with a high knee before they dump Michaels like he’s trash. Michaels comes back in with a great looking high crossbody for two. Anderson takes back control for the Busters for a while until he collides with Michaels for a double KO spot. Michaels gets the hot tag to Jannetty and all hell breaks loose. The Busters take advantage of the confusion and set up the Brain Buster piledriver, but Michaels comes in with a high crossbody on Anderson for the final fall and the win at 07:32.
Winners of the match: The Rockers (Rockers 2-1 Brain Busters)
Rating: Solid match to end the brief WWF tenures of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Heenan walking out on them after they quickly lost the first fall was the WWF’s way to write them off the Heenan Family and the product. I wasn’t expecting the Rockers to lose a single fall due to this being the Busters’ final match, but I didn’t mind it that much as the spot looked nasty and Michaels got to kick out of Anderson’s vicious spinebuster a few minutes later. Arguably the Rockers’ biggest win in their young careers up until this point. Solid yet brief match. **1/2
Mr. Perfect is in the back with Mean Gene to close the show. He destroys Hogan’s WWF title with a hammer and demands a shot at the belt. Now THAT is a way to end a show with a banger!
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: Well I don’t know what to do with this one. While Warrior/André is one of the worst matches I’ve seen in a long time – and for some reason it’s the longest match on this show – Hogan/Genius on the other hand is one of the funniest matches in wrestling history. The closing segment was one of the greatest of all time as well. The rest of the matches are either solid enough or inoffensive, yet nothing you will remember. So yeah, this show is not hard to rate as it features the absolute worst and on the other hand, the absolute best. Overall, it was a pretty memorable show that I’d give 6/10.
Here are the show for the final WWF show of the year and the decade:
Marty Jannetty: 5 points (2.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing + 1 for winning + 0.5 for winning a fall by pinfall)
Shawn Michaels: 4.5 points (2.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing + 1 for winning + 0.5 for winning a fall by pinfall – 0.5 for losing a fall by pinfall)
Hulk Hogan: 3.25 points (2.75 for star rating + 1 for successfully defending a title – 0.5 for CO loss)
The Genius: 3.25 points (2.75 for star rating + 0.5 for CO win)
Tully Blanchard: 2.5 points (2.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing + 0.5 for winning a fall by pinfall – 1 for losing – 0.5 for losing a fall by pinfall)
Arn Anderson: 2 points (2.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for losing – 0.5 for losing a fall by pinfall)
The Ultimate Warrior: 2 points (1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title)
Mr. Perfect: 2 points (1 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Dusty Rhodes: 1.5 points (0.5 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Red Rooster: 0 points (1 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Big Bossman: -0.5 points (0.5 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Andre the Giant: -1 point (for pinfall loss)
As always, thank you so much for your time. Coming up next is the NWA’s StarrCade event to finish the year and the decade of the 80s for good. After that, I will do a special year-end article for 1989. I will see who were the best wrestlers in both promotions as well as overall, according to my point system given to all the wrestlers involved in the shows throughout the whole year of 1989. Until then, stay safe!
Welcome everyone to the last WWF PPV of 1989, the third annual Survivor Series. Considering this is a “special” PPV with its own particular match type, some changes to the point system will be made. Considering one wrestler can very well be eliminated in seconds and still technically emerge victorious, only the survivors will get 1 point, while every member of the winning team (those eliminated included) will get 0.5. Each elimination will be worth 1 point, as usual.
The champions at this point are (not that it matters on this show, but still here it is):
WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan
Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
World Tag Team Champions: Demolition (Ax & Smash)
The hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura
Live from Rosemont, IL
The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana & The Red Rooster) vs. The Enforcers (The Big Bossman, Bad News Brown, The Honky Tonk Man & Rick Martel)(w/ Jimmy Hart & Slick)
The team captains are Dusty and Bossman who are feuding over “justice”, but the biggest issue here is between Santana and Martel, the former Strike Force. Rooster plays chicken-in-peril to start, getting his crest beaten up by all the heels for a number of minutes. The heels do a solid work of cutting the ring in half and prevent the Rooster from tagging out. Bad News Brown, ever the lone wolf, wants nothing to do with this and never reaches for a tag. That is a great touch that I very much appreciate, with Brown staying true to his character all the way. Martel comes in and shows off a little bit more than he should, allowing Rooster to bring in Santana for the hot tag. And instantly the crowd wakes up! Santana is all over Martel for a very good babyface comeback, but then Martel rolls through a Tito roll-up for the first pin at 9:15.
Tito Santana eliminated (1 point to Rick Martel)
I’d also like to point out the amazing heel in-ring work by Martel, constantly cheating in a way the referee can’t see. Little details like pushing the back of the hair really hard for a “takedown” is how a real heel should wrestle, and Martel does things like that all the time, and does them well. Meanwhile poor Rooster comes in to get his ass kicked a little bit more (god Terry Taylor must’ve missed the NWA a lot at this time…) and we have our first look at Sapphire in the audience. Sapphire was a massive fan of Dusty Rhodes – plant, of course – who would then join him shortly afterwards, with the two feuding most notably with Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri. Rooster pisses off Brown, finally bringing him in to get the beating of his life. Brown destroys Rooster until his teammates start giving him instructions. Brown is having none of that, so he simply walks away and gets eliminated via count-out at 15:26.
Bad News Brown eliminated
With three guys left on each team, it’s down to Beefcake and Honky inside the ring. And just like that, Beefcake quickly pins Honky with a high knee to the face at 17:24.
The Honky Tonk Man eliminated (1 point to Brutus Beefcake)
Martel comes in with a rather long chinlock on Beefcake to keep him down. Brutus strikes with a shoulder tackle and Martel retaliates with a hard knee to the mid section. Brutus flips over for a sunset flip, but Martel lands on top for the pinfall with a handful of ropes. The ref sees this though and finally catches Martel cheating, refusing to count which distracts Martel and allows Beefcake to roll over and complete the sunset flip for the pin and the elimination at 20:13.
Rick Martel eliminated (1 point to Brutus Beefcake)
So this leaves Bossman alone against three. The Bossman Slam quickly (and FINALLY) puts the chicken away at 21:00, leaving it down to Brutus and Dusty for the babyfaces.
The Red Rooster eliminated (1 point to Big Bossman)
Dusty and Brutus smartly work together against Bossman, tagging in and out to take over on the big man. Dusty fires away with the classic Dusty Rhodes fury of punches, knocking Bossman silly. A big fat running crossbody takes him down and puts him away at 22:02.
Big Bossman eliminated (1 point to Dusty Rhodes)
Winning team: The Dream Team (0.5 points to everyone member)
Survivors: Dusty & Beefcake (1 point to them)
Rating: I don’t know if I’m in a good mood, or maybe it’s because this was the opening match, but I really liked this. I’ve seen other reviews from multiple other websites calling this average and even boring, but I very much enjoyed this. Even though I will say it’s nothing out of this world and it’s not particularly memorable, it had some very good stuff. I loved Martel’s work, he was by far the highlight of this match in terms of the wrestling, taking every opportunity he could and then some to take shortcuts. I love that, it’s a lost art in wrestling to see heels wrestling like… heels! Also Bad News Brown being the lone wolf and walking away like he did the prior year. It makes sense according to his character and sometimes that’s all that is needed. Also, the crowd was very much alive for this (particularly for Dusty but also for Santana) and that made it better, in my opinion. Good opener. ***1/4
After the match Bossman gets his heat back, hitting Brutus in the mid section with the nightstick before destroying poor Dusty with it. Slick handcuffs Dusty and Bossman continues the beating, eventually leaving him with a black eye and a cut above it.
The 4x4s (Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, Hercules & Ronnie Garvin) vs. The King’s Court (Randy Savage, Dino Bravo, Canadian Earthquake & Greg Valentine)(w/ Sensational Queen Sherri & Jimmy Hart)
The captains here are Savage and Duggan, with Savage having beaten Duggan for the ‘king’ moniker/gimmick in the summer. So they’re also the bigger (and really, the only) feud in this match. I’d also like to mention Earthquake, who made his debut a few weeks earlier by joining Bravo and leaving the IC Champion Ultimate Warrior laying.
Hercules gets to run wild on RANDY SAVAGE to start, so you know he is jobbing in quick fashion here. Valentine comes in but walks into a Hercules atomic drop, and here comes Duggan. And the crowd comes alive. HOOOOOOOOOOO! Duggan whips Valentine into the corner and brings in Garvin, who was also doing nothing in the WWF and probably missing the NWA and his days of wrestling Ric Flair for the World Title. We get Garvin vs Valentine for a while, though, so that’s nice. Garvin throws some chops with extra mustard before Valentine tags in the big Dino Bravo. Bravo scores with an atomic drop on Garvin and he too tags out, bringing in Hercules. Hercules takes down Bravo with a number of clotheslines, before Bravo takes him down with a clothesline of his own. In comes Earthquake to finish the job on Hercules with his splash at 3:57.
Hercules eliminated (1 point to Earthquake)
Hercules turned into quite the geek jobber to the stars after the babyface turn and split from Heenan. It’s honestly shocking as he was (one would assume at least) a Vince McMahon kind of guy, obviously on steroids, was still over with the audience and was actually a very solid in-ring wrestler.
Duggan comes in for the 4x4s but he too is no match for Earthquake. Bret enters and gets on all fours behind Earthquake while Duggan goes for a shoulder tackle, finally getting the big man off his feet. Valentine and Garvin both tag in yet again, with Valentine in control. He goes for the figure four with Garvin blocking and rolling through for a nearfall. Valentine brings in Savage who strikes with the classic Macho Man flying double axehandle on Garvin. Back to Valentine for another chop exchange with Garvin. Garvin brings in Duggan and the 3 Point Stance clothesline gets rid of the Hammer at 7:32.
Greg Valentine eliminated (1 point to Jim Duggan)
Savage joins the action immediately after the fall to take back the advantage for his team. He brings in Earthquake for a massive elbow drop, but Duggan’s out of there and Earthquake goes down. Off to Bravo and Garvin, with Garvin taking him down to set up the classic Garvin Stomps. Garvin tries to follow up with a hold but Bravo goes after the eyes to break free. And it’s off to Randy Savage and Bret Hart! Great match these two had two years prior to this at a Saturday Night’s Main Event with the roles reversed, so it’s nice to see them clash again. Hart runs wild with an atomic drop quickly followed by a knee, so Savage is out of there in a hurry. In comes Bravo for the heels while Bret tags Garvin back in, and the sidewalk slam puts Garvin away at 11:17.
Ronnie Garvin eliminated (1 point to Dino Bravo)
Duggan goes after Earthquake again, again with the same luck – none. So Bret joins him yet again to even things up, connecting with a double clothesline. It’s back to Bret and Savage, and hopefully it stays like this for a good while. Savage gets tied in the ropes so Hacksaw and Bret can both beat him up. Once Savage gets away from there, Bret is waiting for him and catches him with a backbreaker for two. Small package gets two more. Bret tries to follow up with the middle rope elbow, but in comes Bravo to break that up and put Bret in a bearhug. Off to Earthquake for some choking as Bret plays face-in-peril. Savage comes in while Bravo holds Bret for an attack, only for Bret to move out of the way and the heels collide for a good pop. That always gets a nice reaction. Bret gets the hot tag to Duggan, but Duggan tags Bret back in a few moments later. That’s… not very smart. And indeed, Bret misses a charge to the corner on Bravo and takes one of his classic badass turnbuckle bumps. Bravo tags in Savage, Macho Elbow, sayonara Bret at 19:06.
Bret Hart eliminated (1 point to Randy Savage)
And we’re left with a three-on-one situation. Second match of the night, second time this is happening. There are more ideas to use in these kind of matches, dear WWF agents of the late 80s! Earthquake goes for the kill on Duggan with the big splash but Duggan blocks, backdrops Bravo and clotheslines Savage to clean house. And the crowd loves it. HOOOOOOOOOO! The heels regroup and get back in, only for Savage and Bravo to run right into a Hacksaw double clothesline… but Earthquake comes in with a cheapshot from behind to take over. Off to Savage for the double axehandle. Savage goes up but misses and eats an atomic drop by Duggan. Bravo gets up on the apron to get the ref’s attention, allowing Sherri to pull the ropes on the other side and knock Duggan over and out to the floor. Earthquake connects with a forearm right to the back of the head, putting Duggan down and out for the count of ten and the win for Savage’s team at 23:25.
Jim Duggan eliminated
Winning team: The King’s Court (0.5 points for each member)
Survivors: Savage, Bravo & Earthquake (1 point to them)
Rating: I wasn’t feeling this one as much as the opener. Sure, it had its moments – such as the nice exchanges between Savage and Bret or Valentine and Garvin, but that was pretty much all. The match suffered from featuring the exact same final scenario as the opening match, with Duggan being left against three opponents like the Bossman. Only this one had a dumber ending and got no one over. This was not horrible or anything, but it’s very forgettable and an easy recommendation to skip, as it’s way longer than it needed to be at nearly 24 minutes. *1/2
And then Duggan beats up the survivors with the 2×4 after the match… like the loser of the opening match did. I’ve already talked about this enough, but the final five minutes or so of both matches (plus the post-match angles) felt exactly the same and that doesn’t help this show.
Mean Gene announces Dusty Rhodes is injured. Meanwhile, The Genius has a Thanksgiving poem for us.
The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts & Demolition (Ax & Smash)) vs. The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus & The Powers of Pain (The Warlord & The Barbarian))(w/ Virgil & Mr. Fuji)
Before you even start thinking there’s a small chance the heels win this match, they get a back-from-commercial-like jobber entrance, while Hulk’s team gets INDIVIDUAL ENTRANCES FOR EVERY MEMBER!!!! Come on now! The heels prevent the Hulkamaniacs from entering the ring so Roberts gets the snake out of the bag to clean house. We’re underway with Hogan and Zeus while Monsoon says we’ve been waiting for this for months. Wasn’t this in the main-event of SummerSlam or are we ignoring that? Might just be me dreaming, but I think I already saw Hogan pinning Zeus at that show. There was no reason for them to extend this feud, but here we are. Hogan hits a shoulder block but is the one who takes the bump and falls on his ass. Zeus no-sells some more so Hogan, hero to millions, rakes the eyes and body slams him… which Zeus no-sells. Again. And then Zeus chokes him until he’s DQ’d at 3:21.
Zeus eliminated
So yeah, this was done because A) Zeus wasn’t good at all in the ring and B) they were going to have another match in December because THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE FOR HOGAN TO FEUD WITH AND THIS FEUD MUST CONTINUE. I’m glad the WWF Champion has had zero feuds over the title in his seven-month reign as the title holder since WrestleMania. I’ve always hated this feud and I still do. Despite all that, RIP Zeus.
DiBiase works over Hogan for a while before he brings in Roberts. Roberts and DiBiase were the other people feuding heading into this match – and at this point, they’re the only feud left, with Zeus being gone. Off to Demolition for some BADASS pounding on DiBiase. That was loud and looked awesome! Even Hogan joins them for a three-on-one beating, but his punches look and sound weaker. Nice try Hulkster, but no, that’s their deal. DiBiase finally gets a shot with a back elbow and he tags out to the Powers of Pain. They work together against Ax, whose brief comeback gets killed by a trip from Mr. Fuji. Warlord drops a half-assed elbow for the pin to make it three-on-three at 9:50.
Ax eliminated (1 point to The Warlord)
Smash comes in after his partner’s elimination, but now he’s the victim of the heels’ double-teaming. Basically, it’s the same sequence as before, only with Smash instead of Ax. Off to DiBiase (finally) but he misses the middle rope million dollar elbow. Smash stunguns DiBiase and goes for the cover, having not seen Barbarian get the blind tag on Ted. The ref lets him know, and Smash gets up and turns around right into a flying clothesline from Barbarian to put the tag team champions away at 13:42.
Smash eliminated (1 point to The Barbarian)
We have the Rockers, the Hart Foundation, the Fabulous Rougeaus, the Brainbusters and other great-to-legendary teams on the roster, but these two are pinning both members of Demolition on PPV. I really hope these two don’t get pushed to the moon again after this show, because their work is not enjoyable. There’s a reason fans from any era know or at least have heard of the teams I mentioned up above. When it comes to the Powers of Pain… I’m not sure if many have. Anyway, moving on.
Off to Roberts as now he gets to play victim to the Powers of Pain’s generic heel offense. They literally irish whip Roberts into the turnbuckle about four consecutive times as I nearly fall asleep. Some minutes later Roberts finally gets to show some life by avoiding a diving headbutt from Barbarian, and Hulk Hogan gets the hot tag to finally switch gears. I have never been happier to see Hogan in my life! Hogan comes in and runs wild on Barbarian before Warlord comes in for a cheapshot. Hogan tried to fight back on both of them at the same time, but they continued to ignore the ref’s count and gave him a double spike piledriver. The ref finally has had enough and calls for the bell at 19:51. And both get eliminated!! FINALLY!!
The Powers of Pain eliminated
Hopefully it picks up from here, but god it’s already been twenty minutes. Nothing’s been REALLY bad but the Powers of Pain’s boring and super basic offense (not in a good way) makes it harder to sit through.
We’re down to Hogan and Roberts for the babyfaces with only DiBiase left for his team. Hogan is still out from the spike piledriver by the Powers of Pain so DiBiase puts him in the Million Dollar Dream, with Roberts having to come in and save. Hogan gets out of there and gets some rest, with Roberts coming on to face his nemesis DiBiase. Roberts comes in hot with three consecutive knees to the back as this gets three hundred times better and more interesting in a hurry. Roberts adds a clothesline, drawing Virgil up on the apron. Roberts brings him in and plants him with a DDT, but before he can get back up, DiBiase drops a quick million dollar fistdrop on Jake to put him out at 23:42.
Jake Roberts eliminated (1 point to Ted DiBiase)
And we’re down to Hogan vs DiBiase, with Hogan still injured from all the attacks by Zeus and the Powers of Pain. DiBiase clothesline gets two. DiBiase hits the chinlock but Hogan gets out of there quickly and they collide with a double clothesline for the double KO spot. They both get back up but Hogan has his back turned to DiBiase, who gives him a back suplex. Hogan hulks up though, and you know what follows. No no no, YOOUUU, wham wham wham, off the ropes big boot, big leg, thanks for coming Ted & co. at 27:32.
Ted DiBiase eliminated (1 point to Hulk Hogan)
Winning team: The Hulksters (0.5 points to every member)
Sole survivor: Hulk Hogan (1 point to him)
Rating: This was solid at times but mostly a struggle to sit through. I’ve had just enough of the Powers of Pain and their ridiculous push in the tag division, while the actual legendary teams are in the undercard wrestling Boris Zhukov or something. They were not interesting at all and dragged this match way down. Zeus getting DQ’d early was very predictable as Zeus wasn’t getting pinned weeks before their match at No Holds Barred in December – and no, I am NOT going to review that. Have mercy on me! The match was never bad, it’s just predictable in a lot of ways and way too long. And boring. But solid. Also interesting to see Hogan working a midcard match on a PPV. **
Randy Savage and Zeus cut a promo in the back promoting the steel cage tag team match at No Holds Barred.
Meanwhile, Hogan and Beefcake meet in the locker room to celebrate their respective wins. Eventually they to cut a promo on Savage and Zeus, who come out and beat up the babyfaces.
Roddy’s Rowdies (Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka & The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs. Rude’s Brood (Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect & The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond))(w/ The Genius & Jimmy Hart)
Piper and Rude are the team captains here, having been involved in one of the best feuds of that year since the summer. There’s also the undefeated Mr. Perfect involved in this match. Perfect outwrestles the babyfaces to start, so the Bushwhackers bite him to turn things around. Even Snuka joins them and bites him. Well that’s certainly an effective way to do it! Perfect is out of there in a hurry, tagging in Jacques Rougeau. Jacques says not so fast, and he does a big flip over the top to the ring followed by a big celebration. “WOOHOOO!” This is hilarious! Snuka wants to go, but… not so fast! Jacques wants to show off his nip ups. He does a couple of them while Gorilla says that’s impressive for someone with his weight. I’ll have what Gorilla Monsoon had this night. Snuka has had enough of Jacques’ little games, taking him down with the classic Snuka chop off the ropes. Snuka hits a backbreaker and the Superfly Splash is enough to put Jacques away at 4:01.
Jacques Rougeau eliminated (1 point to Jimmy Snuka)
Rude and Perfect come after Snuka at the same time, but he sends their heads against each other for a double headbutt. Or as Monsoon used to say, the DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! It’s off to Perfect for the bad guys, with Piper’s team using quick tags to stay in control. Perfect runs away again and brings in Raymond Rougeau, while Piper comes in. And the crowd stands up! Piper gets in a quick roll-up for two before walking into a savate kick by Raymond that gets two. Piper catches him with a piledriver for the pin at 7:30.
Raymond Rougeau eliminated (1 point to Roddy Piper)
With both Rougeaus eliminated, this leaves Perfect and Rude for their team against all the members of Piper’s team. And we get an interesting match up, with Piper facing off against the undefeated Perfect. I wouldn’t mind watching this singles match on a big stage! Perfect snaps Piper’s neck to take control early, before a Piper slingshot into the turnbuckle sends Perfect flying all the way to the floor in a typical Perfect bump. Butch comes in for a while but Piper is back in shortly afterwards again. He runs wild on Perfect with his classic series of punches, and Perfect sells the last one with a flip bump. Gorilla Monsoon: “WHAT A PUNCH, THREE SIXTY!” I love good old Gorilla! Butch comes in to bite Perfect’s ass (no, I am not making it up, it happened) but Perfect rolls through to steal a pin and get rid of Butch at 10:46.
Bushwhacker Butch eliminated (1 point to Mr. Perfect)
Luke comes in to replace his partner while Perfect brings in Rude. Luke bites Rude’s face for a while, but Rude simply kicks him in the gut to stop that, and the Rude Awakening turns this into a tag team match at 12:14.
Bushwhacker Luke eliminated (1 point to Rick Rude)
Snuka replaces the eliminated Luke for the babyface team, but walks into a fantastic dropkick by Perfect. Still one of the best in the history of the business to this day. He had a perfect dropkick indeed, no pun at all. Off to Rude for a while as he hits the chinlock, before bringing Perfect back in. Snuka almost steals it with a roll-up for a great nearfall, and Snuka strikes with a headbutt. Snuka follows that with a flying forearm before they collide with each other for a double KO spot. Double tag off to the big rivals and team captains, with the crowd coming very much alive for that confrontation. Piper runs wild with his usual flurry of punches. Piper follows with a backdrop as Rude bails. Piper goes after him and takes the fight to the outside. They fight all the way to the backstage area and it’s a double elimination as a result of a double count-out at 18:35.
Roddy Piper & Rick Rude eliminated
We’re left with a singles match – Perfect for Rude’s team, Snuka for Piper’s. Perfect picks up the pace with a series of quick armdrags followed by a dropkick that sends Snuka flying to the outside. Snuka comes back in with a really nasty chop in the corner. High crossbody by Snuka gets two for another great nearfall. I love how the crowd buys into each and every single pinfall attempt on Perfect, who still had never been pinned. Snuka whips Perfect into the turnbuckle, Perfect blocks that and grabs a quick Perfectplex for the three and the victory at 21:27.
Jimmy Snuka eliminated (1 point to Mr. Perfect)
Winning team: Rude’s Brood (0.5 points to every member)
Sole survivor: Mr. Perfect (1 point to him)
Rating: Good match, mostly carried by Mr. Perfect who was there for a very long time for his team. Everything was done well in this match, with the double elimination by Piper and Rude making sense and extending their program. Even the tag teams of the Bushwhackers and the Rougeaus got their little moments to shine – the Rougeaus via Jacques’ ridiculous yet funny show-off skills, and the Bushwhackers with the biting. In the end, Perfect got to extend his undefeated ‘perfect’ gimmick with a win over a big legendary name like Jimmy Snuka, but not before Snuka got a number of believable nearfalls on him. Good stuff. **3/4
Main Event: The Ultimate Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) & Jim Neidhart) vs. The Heenan Family (André the Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson & Bobby Heenan)
Warrior and André are the respective captains. Heenan is wrestling here instead of Tully Blanchard, who (along with Arn) was about to leave the company anyway. The heels went after the babyfaces before Warrior could even make his entrance. He finally came out for the save and to get the match officially underway, knocking André to the outside with a clothesline over the top for the quick count-out elimination at 0:27.
André the Giant eliminated
André could barely walk at this point in his life, so this was not a surprise. Haku replaced André while Neidhart came in for Warrior’s team. André was hit a couple more times by Warrior and the Rockers while he was walking to the back. Anderson tried to distract the ref only for Neidhart to hit him, but that allowed Haku to superkick Anvil in the back of his head and eliminate him at 3:32.
Jim Neidhart eliminated (1 point to Haku)
Michaels joined the ring to pick up the pace a little bit. The Rockers used quick tags and their quickness and agility to throw Haku off his game, as Haku catched a flying Jannetty on his arms only for Michaels to dropkick them as Jannetty landed on top for a nearfall. Arn tried to help his partner but the Rockers connected with a double superkick on both of them. Warrior got in with a backdrop only to miss an elbow. Haku wanted to tag in the fresh Heenan, but Heenan demanded the tag to Anderson instead. Awesome work by Heenan as usual while Gorilla gets to verbally destroy Heenan on commentary. And here come the weasel chants! Heenan gets tagged in for the first time in the match, but he’s out of there immediately after kicking Jannetty in the gut. Anderson comes in for a knee, Haku hits a superkick and Heenan comes back in for the easy pin, but it only gets two. Heenan adds a kneedrop to the back of the head to eliminate Jannetty anyway at 8:53.
Marty Jannetty eliminated (1 point to Bobby Heenan)
Remember what I mentioned about the Powers of Pain pinning both members of the legendary Demolition? Well as you can see, the Rockers were busy being pinned by an inactive heel manager on the same show. There you go.
Warrior got in with a bearhug on Arn, who went after the eyes to escape. Haku got tagged in, but Warrior had a bearhug waiting for Haku as well. Warrior turned that into an atomic drop before Haku could cheat his way out like Anderson did, and Michaels came in with a great dropkick for two. Back to Arn and Warrior, who whips Anderson into the turnbuckle. Back to Michaels for a top rope splash with a little extra push from Warrior. Haku came in but missed something off the top, allowing Michaels to hit a high crossbody to eliminate Haku at 12:54.
Haku eliminated (1 point to Shawn Michaels)
Heenan came in with a number of half-assed punches to Michaels, but quickly tagged Anderson in once Warrior got the tag from Michaels. Off the ropes into a double headbutt for the double KO spot. Back up and Anderson’s spinebuster knocks Michaels’ smile right off his face. Count to twenty, ref. Michaels is gonzo at 15:47.
Shawn Michaels eliminated (1 point to Arn Anderson)
That leaves Warrior alone against Anderson and Heenan, with Gorilla saying it’s one-on-one as Heenan doesn’t count. The interactions between these two will never get old! Warrior ran wild with shoulder tackles before Anderson knocked him over the top and to the outside. Heenan asked for the tag, but he quickly tagged out once Warrior came back inside. Warrior sent Anderson into Heenan to knock him off the apron anyway, which the crowd loved. Gorilla slam followed by the Warrior Splash put Anderson out at 18:19.
Arn Anderson eliminated (1 point to The Ultimate Warrior)
We’re down to Warrior and Heenan, who nearly has a heart attack once he looks at a furious Warrior across the ring. Warrior catches him and sends him into the turnbuckle for the famous Bobby Heenan flip turnbuckle bump. And a second one. Heenan has had enough and is more than happy to take the count-out loss, but Warrior grabs him and puts him back in the ring. The shoulder tackle sets up the Warrior Splash for the win at 20:28.
Bobby Heenan eliminated (1 point to The Ultimate Warrior)
Winning team: The Ultimate Warriors (0.5 points to every member)
Sole survivor: The Ultimate Warrior (1 point to him)
Rating: This match was all about Warrior getting to beat up Heenan in the end, and it was all building up to that moment. There’s nothing wrong with that as the match was good enough, and the crowd loved each and every second of it. Warrior main-evented this show and did really well, so there’s no surprise he moved up the ranks shortly afterwards. The match was solid. **
Heenan does a half-assed selljob for Warrior on his way up the ramp. Heenan wasn’t the biggest Warrior fan and was hurt by Warrior a few times during their feud, so I wasn’t shocked to see this. It’s quite noticeable if you’ve ever seen Bobby Heenan sell an attack by a major babyface. Warrior runs to the back and nails Heenan with one last clothesline to the back on his way up the ramp to close the show.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: The only way I’d recommend this show is based on historical reasons. It’s not a horrible or even a bad show, but it’s incredibly boring at times and it’s something I will never want to go back and see ever again. But again, if you’ve never seen it, do it. The second match really feels like a repetition of the opening bout in more ways than one, and Hogan’s match had three eliminations by disqualification. There were negative points like these and much more, but there’s also great stuff such as Mr. Perfect’s performance, Warrior beating up Heenan to close things, and a very nice surprise in the opening match which was much better than I expected. Overall, I give it a high 4/10.
Finally, here are the points for the wrestlers on this show:
Brutus Beefcake: 6.25 points (3.25 for star rating + 2 for two eliminations by pin + 1 for surviving)
The Ultimate Warrior: 6 points (2 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 2 for two eliminations by pin + 1 for main-eventing)
Mr. Perfect: 5.75 points (2.75 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 2 for two eliminations by pin)
Dusty Rhodes: 5.25 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin + 1 for surviving)
Hulk Hogan: 4 points (2 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 1 for an elimination by pin)
Rick Rude: 3.75 points (2.75 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin + 0.5 for winning – 0.5 for being eliminated by CO)
Randy Savage: 3.5 points (1.5 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 1 for an elimination by pin)
Dino Bravo: 3.5 points (1.5 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 1 for an elimination by pin)
Canadian Earthquake: 3.5 points (1.5 for star rating + 1 for surviving + 1 for an elimination by pin)
Shawn Michaels: 3.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Roddy Piper: 3.25 points (2.75 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 0.5 for being eliminated by CO)
The Big Bossman: 3.25 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Rick Martel: 3.25 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Haku: 3 points (2 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Arn Anderson: 3 points (2 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Bobby Heenan: 3 points (2 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Bad News Brown: 2.75 points (3.25 for star rating – 0.5 for being eliminated by CO)
Jimmy Snuka: 2.75 points (2.75 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Tito Santana: 2.75 points (3.25 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
The Red Rooster: 2.75 points (3.25 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
The Powers of Pain: 2.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for each scoring an elimination by pin – 0.5 for each being eliminated by DQ)
André the Giant: 2.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 0.5 for being eliminated by CO)
Marty Jannetty: 2.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Jim Neidhart: 2.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Fabulous Rougeaus: 2.25 points (2.75 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for each being eliminated by pin)
The Honky Tonk Man: 2.25 points (3.25 for star rating – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Jim Duggan: 2 points (1.5 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 0.5 for being eliminated by CO)
Ted DiBiase: 2 points (2 for star rating + 1 for an elimination by pin – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
The Bushwhackers: 1.75 points (2.75 for star rating – 1 for each being eliminated by pin)
Jake Roberts: 1.5 points (2 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Demolition: 1.5 points (2 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for each being eliminated by pin)
Zeus: 1.5 points (2 for star rating – 0.5 for being eliminated by DQ)
Greg Valentine: 1 point (1.5 for star rating + 0.5 for winning – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Bret Hart: 0.5 points (1.5 for star rating – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Ronnie Garvin: 0.5 points (1.5 for star rating – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
Hercules: 0.5 points (1.5 for star rating – 1 for being eliminated by pin)
And that is it for the WWF’s pay-per-views of 1989. Before closing the year, there is still an edition of SNME left for the WWF and StarrCade for the NWA. Once I finish the year, there will be a special year-end article to see who were the top wrestlers in the last year of the 1980s. Stay safe everyone!
Hi everyone, and welcome to what could possibly be my last review in the insane year that has been 2020. Before getting to it though, I hope you had a safe Christmas this year. And more importantly, rest in piece Jon Huber, better known in the pro wrestling world as WWE’s Luke Harper and more recently AEW’s Brodie Lee. He was arguably one of the greatest big man wrestlers in this generation and apparently a spectacular husband, father and co-worker. He will be missed by all of us.
Today I bring to you the ninth edition of NWA-WCW’s Clash of the Champions event, featuring a US title rematch from Halloween Havoc between Lex Luger and Brian Pillman and a violent ‘I Quit’ encounter between Ric Flair and Terry Funk. Check out the points system here.
Here is the list of champions in the NWA heading into this event:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
United States Champion: Lex Luger
World TV Champion: The Great Muta
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin)
Enjoy the review!
Live from Troy, NY
The hosts are Jim Ross & Gordon Solie
The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)(w/ Paul Ellering)
This is non-title. Technically they weren’t the champions anymore at this point, as the Steiners won them on November 1st, but it only aired three days after this show. I still listed the Freebirds as the champs in the list up above because kayfabe rules! Hayes starts with Hawk and you probably know where that goes. Hayes runs away from him and points at his head to tell the crowd how smart he is. That one never ends well, does it? Animal catches him and puts him back inside, allowing Hawk to hit a press slam. Garvin gets involved to allow the heels some cheap double-team attacks, but Hawk no-sells that lame stuff and explodes to take down both Freebirds. A suplex is also no-sold, this time by Animal, and that’s enough for the Freebirds to bail and think some better strategy. Back in with the Road Warriors in control yet again, with the Freebirds constantly trying to cheat behind the ref’s back. That pisses off Hawk, who comes in and beats up everyone but his partner for the DQ at 5:18.
Analysis: Hm, what exactly was this opener? When the heat spot started, the match ended with a cheap DQ finish. At least both teams were over in their respective roles. 1/4*
– Meanwhile, Garry Hart asks Terry Funk not to quit because he represents Texas. But even more important than that, Funk can’t quit on live TV because he represents Gary. If you’ve watched wrestling for longer than three weeks, you know this means babyface turn coming soon.
– In the ring, Bill Apter of Pro Wrestling Illustrated is in the house with a couple of awards for two very special NWA wrestlers. A young Sting wins ‘Most Popular NWA Wrestler Of The Year’ and the legendary World Champion Ric Flair wins ‘Wrestler Of The Decade’.
Doom (#1 & #2)(w/ Woman) vs. Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert
Doom consists of Ron Simmons & Butch Reed under masks, but they’re called #1 and #2. Rich goes to work on Reed with a number of quick armdrags before Eddie comes in for a headlock. Reed powers out of that with a sideslam though, and Simmons comes in to work the back. Press slam into a backbreaker by Simmons as Reed comes back in to assault Eddie’s back some more. Rich gets in but doesn’t do much better than his partner. His brief hot tag comeback doesn’t last long and a Demolition’s Doomsday Device-like double-team move gives Doom the win after 5:15.
Analysis: Good enough squash with some psychology added to it. But nothing more than that, a squash. *
– Meanwhile, Jim Cornette interviews the Steiners about Scott’s new move (the hurricanrana) as well as their match later tonight with the Skyscrapers. Scott reveals the name as ‘Frankensteiner’ – which you probably knew by now – before Cornette puts over the move. He wonders if he can even do it to someone as big as Sid, just to make sure it gets REALLY over when it happens later that night (spoiler). The young Scott gets lost in his promo, though, so Rick tells some ridiculous story about their mother slapping them when they were kids to save it. Ridiculous in a good way, of course. Tremendous job by Cornette putting over the Frankensteiner, and poor Scott was still a few months into his run.
The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) vs. The Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace) – Jim Cornette In A Neutral Corner
Hopefully we’re done with the squashes and/or lame DQ finishes. Cornette was obviously the Midnight’s manager for years at this point, but had also been occasionally working with the Dudes recently during this babyface run. The Midnights were also in a losing streak at this point, so there’s your story heading into this one. Eaton works a headlock on Douglas to start, but Douglas turns that into an armdrag. Lane comes in only for Douglas to work on his arm as well, with Lane having to pull the hair to escape that hold. Cornette actually gets on the apron and tells the ref of the shenanigans taking place behind his back, allowing Douglas the chance to sneak in with the ROLLUP OF DEATH. Thankfully for Lane though, this isn’t an episode of RAW in the last ten years or so, so he gets to kick out of the most effective wrestling hold in recent years.
Ace comes in running wild with a series of dropkicks to Lane. Eaton comes in but he falls victim to Dropkick Power as well before bailing, but Douglas comes in with a dive immediately. Back in with Douglas getting in a series of quick armdrags with Eaton trying to fight back. They go up top for what I assume would’ve been a superplex, but Douglas fights back with a roll-up for two and a high crossbody for two. Ace comes in but he gets worked over in the Midnight Express’ corner. He tries to fight back with a monkey flip on Eaton followed by a flying headscissors, but Lane catches him with a massive clothesline from the apron. That looked cheap and great. That allows the Midnights to take over for a while, until Ace gets both knees up to block a Lane splash off the top. He gets the hot tag to Douglas, but the crowd doesn’t really buy the Dynamic Dudes as babyfaces. Not so much People Power here, huh big Johnny?! Eaton brings a chain inside the ring for more cheating, drawing Cornette inside the ring to even the odds. All hell breaks loose from there, but Corny absolutely destroys Douglas with a racket shot to the back to go heel once again. Eaton covers for the win at 9:22 and Cornette leaves with the Midnight Express, as he should have.
Analysis: This was a good tag match with an even better story carrying it. Cornette works better as a heel and is the legendary manager of the Midnight Express, so the finish made sense. Good match here. ***1/4
Dr. Death Steve Williams vs. The Super Destroyer
And back to Squash City we go. So basically Dr. Death runs over him a few times, press slams him, does a few overhead reps, Oklahoma Stampede, bye bye at 1:41.
Analysis: A Goldberg squash years before Goldberg squashes were cool. 1/4* because Dr. Death is over like crazy and is AWESOME in this role.
The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious & Danny Spivey)(w/ Teddy Long)
Once again, the Steiners were technically the tag champs but the match only aired three days later. God bless TV tapings. The Steiners start hot as usual by throwing suplexes and with Rick dumping Spivey with a clothesline to the floor. Spivey comes back in with a tombstone piledriver for two. Rick fights back and tags in Scott for the Frankensteiner, which draws a monster reaction from the fans. Scott follows that with a fallaway slam on Sid. Sid misses a charge and gets worked over until Spivey comes in to double-team Scott. Spivey goes for a dropkick but totally misses and dropkicks the air, but Sid makes up for it by immediately taking Scott down with a lariat. That looked really bad on Spivey’s part. Like REALLY bad. He kind of makes up for it a few seconds later by hitting a nice big boot. Scott turns things around with a suplex but Doom and Woman run in for the DQ finish at 6:08.
Analysis: This was a surprisingly solid match until the awkward finish to set up the “iron team” tournament at StarrCade. The Steiners were on fire at this point and the perfect team to dethrone the Freebirds. The Road Warriors were more than established and didn’t really need the belts at this point in their career. Again, solid match. **3/4
NWA United States Championship: Lex Luger(c) vs. Flyin’ Brian
Rematch from Halloween Havoc, where Luger just barely escaped with the US title. Luger tries to piss off the fans by stalling after the bell and then he catches Pillman with a knee. Luger pounds away but Pillman fights back with some dropkicks as Luger bails yet again. Luger catches Pillman on his way back in and takes over, but then goes back to the floor once Pillman starts fighting back. Pillman finally catches Luger and runs wild on him with numerous chops as he picks up the pace, but Luger moves away from a charge and Pillman goes flying over the top rope. Luger gets all cocky and starts showing off, only for Pillman to pull a Ricky Steamboat and skin the cat back inside behind Luger’s back, who then turns around right into a Pillman spinkick. Very good work.
Pillman catches Luger with a crossbody for two before going to work on his arm, even using the railing to cause more damage. Pillman locks in an armbar back inside and Luger’s not happy as he struggles to break the hold. He finally powers out of that with a backdrop suplex followed by a press slam to put Pillman down for good. Luger adds a few elbows for good measure while Pillman tries to fight back using chops. Lex suplex gets two and a Pillman roll-up gets two for him as well. Luger goes for the powerslam but Pillman gets another roll-up for two more before making his big comeback with a huge backdrop to Luger. He goes for Air Pillman but the ref gets bumped. Pillman tries to bring him back to life, allowing Luger to grab a chair on the outside and nail Pillman right in the head. Luger gets back in and covers for the win to retain the US title at 12:38.
Analysis: Wow. Lex Luger was on fire at this point in his career. Another really good match that I enjoyed from this spectacular US title reign, with Pillman taking Luger to the limit yet again and looking great, only for Luger to retain after cheating. I liked their match at the PPV a little bit more than this one and I also enjoyed Luger’s title match with Tommy Rich at Clash 8, but that’s not an issue at all. Every match is different and this was another great one for Lex Luger in 1989. ***1/2
– Lex continues to beat up poor Brian after the match until Sting comes out to make the save. Luger and Sting come face to face and tease a fight, but Luger bails at the last second to REALLY piss off the fans. Great post-match angle.
Main-Event – I Quit Match: Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk(w/ Gary Hart)
The title is not on the line here but they make up for it very well. Both wrestlers promise to shake the winner’s hand should they quit on a televised event and Flair even promises to give up the belt should he lose anyway. Those are really good touches that put over the importance of the match despite being non-title. Funk gets the mic and offers Flair the chance to quit without suffering any pain, but as JR puts it ‘Terry, save your breath’. Flair responds with nasty chops, knocking Funk over the top rope and to the floor. Funk gets the upper hand back inside the ring, pounding down the champion while also talking some trash. Funk asks Flair to quit yet again and that earns him an atomic drop courtesy of the champ. Funk comes back with a neckbreaker and they take the fight to the outside, where Flair literally going nuts on Terry with violent chop after another. Flair puts Funk back inside and tells him to quit while choking him out. Funk doesn’t like that idea, so Flair goes after the branding iron. That only gives Funk some much needed separation, though, allowing him to catch Flair with a neckbreaker and stop him.
Funk teases another piledriver and asks Flair to give it up before doing it – remember Funk broke Flair’s neck earlier that year – but Flair says no, so Funk does it. Funk is really pissed now as he proceeds to assault Flair’s neck aggressively. He gives Flair another piledriver, this time on the floor! Flair is still not going to give Funk the pleasure of giving him the victory, so Funk pretty much says ‘fuck this’ and sets up a table like he did at WrestleWar. Flair ends up tossing Funk into the table himself out of desperation though, and this starts turning into quite the ugly fight. Which is exactly what makes it great. Funk gets crotched on the railing to finally give Flair some time to catch his breath, who then starts laying in the chops to Funk.
Flair hits the kneedrop back inside as Funk starts trying to run away in desperation, but now it’s Flair who has him right where he wants him. What a great story. And now that Flair is in control, it’s time to go to school. WOOOOO! Shot after shot to the leg puts Terry in even more danger, as Flair just keeps laying them in on poor Terry. Flair goes to work on the leg with chop blocks and knees while still giving him the classic chops every time he tries to get back up to his feet. Funk finally has enough and tries to run away from the match, but he’s not fast enough and Flair brings him back to ringside with a knee crusher. Flair throws him back inside to put him away once and for all but Funk goes after the eyes to prevent the Figure Four. He tries to follow up with a suplex but Flair blocks it and hits one of his own onto the apron. Back in, Flair literally chops and beats Funk to death while Gary Hart yells at Funk to keep fighting to protect Gary’s name. Funk finally goes down and he has nothing left, so Flair puts him in the Figure Four. Terry still tries to fight it for a while, but he eventually asks for the mic and gives Flair the clean victory at 18:33.
Analysis: I have no words. All I have to say is: watch this. What a spectacular story these two told throughout the second half of 1989. They had a really great match at The Great American Bash over the World title earlier that year, but it has nothing on this bout. The violence, the courage of both men, the commentary by JR & Solie, the beautiful ugliness of this pure FIGHT, everything! This match is perfect and a reminder of why I love professional wrestling. There’s no better feeling after watching a wrestling match than that – and this gave me that. Easily one of the best I Quit matches ever done and one of the best matches in the whole sport, period. Is there even a question as to what this gets? *****
– After the match Gary Hart is not happy with Funk for quitting. Funk ignores him anyway and raises Flair’s hand as he promised, but here comes The Great Muta to beat them up alongside Gary, turning Funk babyface in the process. At this point you just want to see Funk punch that asshole Gary in the mouth, this is so well done. He doesn’t get the chance to do so however, as Lex Luger joins the party to beat them up some more. That draws Sting in to make the save for the babyfaces until Luger gets the last shot with a chair. The heels go up the stage and destroy Flair and Sting’s awards given to them earlier in the show, drawing mega heat and making me super excited to watch StarrCade! THIS is how you close a show. Incredible.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: Great show. Granted, the opener kind of sucked to be honest and there were a few squash matches on this show, but you have to consider this is NOT a pay-per-view. Had it been a PPV I wouldn’t have been as satisfied, but the whole point of this event was to sell StarrCade to the viewers. And guess what, here I am three decades later watching this show and I’m excited to see it! The main-event is one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in my life and it would’ve been enough to make this a recommended show. Add a great a US title match between Lex and Brian as well as a good tag match between Cornette’s Midnight Express and the Dynamic Dudes with a number of really good angles and you have quite the show here. What a tremendous show. 8/10
Finally, here are the points given to the wrestlers on this show:
Ric Flair: 7 points (5 for star rating + 1 for winning + 1 for main-eventing)
Terry Funk: 5 points (5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for losing)
Lex Luger: 5.5 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title)
Bobby Eaton: 4.75 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 0.5 for winning the fall)
Stan Lane: 4.25 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Steiner Brothers: 3.25 points (2.75 for star rating + 0.5 for DQ win)
Flyin’ Brian Pillman: 2.5 points (3.5 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Skyscrapers: 2.25 points (2.75 for star rating – 0.5 for DQ loss)
Johnny Ace: 2.25 points (3.25 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Doom: 2 points (1 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Shane Douglas: 1.75 points (3.25 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing the fall)
Dr. Death Steve Williams: 1.25 points (0.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Road Warriors: 0.75 points (0.25 for star rating + 0.5 for DQ win)
Tommy Rich: 0 points (1 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Fabulous Freebirds: -0.25 points (0.25 for star rating – 0.5 for DQ loss)
Eddie Gilbert: -0.5 points (1 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing the fall)
The Super Destroyer: -0.75 points (0.25 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
And that’s it. Thank you for your time as always. Like I said earlier, I am really excited to watch NWA’s StarrCade next. Before getting there though, and coming up next, is WWF’s Survivor Series 1989. Make sure you don’t miss that review. Stay safe everyone and hopefully your 2021 is even better than the I Quit Match!!
Hello everyone and welcome to my review of the very first edition of NWA/WCW Halloween Havoc, featuring a rare “thunderdome cage” tag match in the main-event, Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman fighting over the US title and much more. You can check out the point system here.
Before starting, here is the list of champions in the NWA at the time:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
United States Champion: Lex Luger
World TV Champion: The Great Muta
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin)
Enjoy the review!
The hosts are Jim Ross & Bob Caudle
Live from Philadelphia, PA
Mike Rotunda vs. ‘The Z-Man’ Tom Zenk
Quite the weird opener. Rotunda pretty much runs away and bails to start. Back in and a hiptoss sends Rotunda to the floor yet again. Rotunda briefly turns things around with a thumb to the eye but Zenk catches him with a sunset flip for two and Rotunda bails yet again. Zenk catches Rotunda in a hammerlock that Rotunda reverses and turns into a rope-assisted headscissors, but the ref catches him and forces the break. And Rotunda bails… again. Zenk catches him in a headlock back in that Rotunda explodes out of, dumping Zenk. Rotunda proceeds to necksnap Zenk on the ropes before bringing him back in with a suplex for two. Rotunda goes for an abdominal stretch with another illegal rope-assistance, and the referee catches him yet again. Zenk escapes a chinlock and tries to make his comeback but he ends up running into a nasty lariat. Zenk makes his big comeback and eventually blocks a crossbody and rolls through for the win at 13:23.
Analysis: Technically fine albeit too long. They tried everything they could and then some to get Zenk over as a babyface in Philly, including Rotunda stalling a lot. It did (kind of) work near the end, but it made the match feel ridiculously long. Still a completely fine and watchable bout. **
Meanwhile, Bruno Sammartino is ready to referee tonight’s main-event.
Dr. Death Steve Williams & The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane)(w/ Jim Cornette) vs. The Samoan SWAT Team (Fatu, Samu & The Samoan Savage)(w/ Oliver Humperdink)
The Samoans are no longer managed by Paul E. Dangerously (Heyman), as they have Oliver Humperdink – who recently managed Bam Bam Bigelow in both the WWF and NWA. ‘The Samoan Savage’ is Tama, former member of the WWF’s Islanders tag-team alongside Haku and managed by Bobby Heenan. Both teams stare at each other as Stan Lane strikes Savage with a clothesline to start. The Express double-team the Samoans and bring them all inside, allowing Williams to come in with massive shoulderblocks as the crowd goes BANANA! RIP Pat Patterson. Williams’ next house-cleaning-move of choice is a clothesline. Every heel eats multiple of those as the crowd goes insane. The Samoans all run away from Dr. Death and Cornette does the chicken dance on the outside to mock the heels. This is so awesome!
Lane gets tagged in on the babyface side and he controls Samu, making him stall a little bit more and talk some strategy with the other heels. Fatu gets in but gets caught in an armbar, only to catch a Lane crossbody and turn that into a powerslam to take over. Lane manages to tag Eaton, though, who goes back after the arm. Eaton goes for a bulldog but Savage simply runs him into the turnuckle as Eaton takes a fantastic bump. Savage then dumps Eaton and drops him on his… ahem.. crotch(!) on the railing. Eaton understandably takes an extra second or two before getting back in, but Fatu comes in and surprises him with a hiptoss right on the concrete. Eaton fights his way back and actually manages to sunset flip for two, but Fatu gets in with a nasty headbutt for two. Eaton shows some life and decides to fight back by ramming Fatu’s head on the mat, with the only problem being… he’s Samoan! So Fatu completely no-sells it and just kills poor Eaton with a violent superkick. The Samoans now take turns beating up Eaton as Savage hits a sideslam for two. Double headbutt by the illegal heels while Savage goes up, but he only finds Eaton’s knees and the crowd smells hot tag. Eaton milks it even more by literally crawling… and struggling… and crawling even more… before finally making the hot tag to Dr. Death and in the process TAKING THE GODDAMNED ROOF OFF THE ARENA! Williams obviously destroys everything that moves with power moves, even press slamming one of the Samoans into the other two. It quickly starts BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA and even Cornette hits Humperdink with the tennis racket! In the middle of all the confusion Lane gets a tag and hits Savage with an enziguiri, but he gets kicked right into Cornette and Savage gets the pin and the win for the Samoans at 18:23.
Analysis: This match was simply fantastic. The crowd was simply in love with Dr. Death, who has without any question one of the most explosives hot tags you’ll ever see. Meanwhile, the Samoans did a tremendous job of playing the badass heel roles, and the same goes for the Express playing faces-in-peril and literally crawling all over that ring to make Dr. Death’s hot tags even better. Great match with a fantastic finish that leaves a lot of question marks up in the air, thus making people want to keep following the story. Tremendous match. ****
Meanwhile, Terry Funk wants to turn Flair and Sting into fried chicken in the main-event. Well, Terry Funk is Terry Funk, you know!
Tommy Rich vs. The Cuban Assassin
This is basically your cooldown match after Dr. Death took everyone’s energy away for a while. Former World champion Tommy Rich is getting another run here after coming up short in a fantastic match with Lex Luger at the last Clash of the Champions over the US title. Cuban goes after Rich to start but that ultimately takes him nowhere, as Rich easily fights back with slams and an elbow dumps him. Rich gets a ‘Tommy Rich sucks’ chant just to make sure he remembers in which town he’s working! Rich goes after the arm before getting a really bad sunset flip for two. And back to the armbar he goes. Cuban slams him to escape but then Rich puts it back in on him. I’m already getting quite tired of this never-ending match. Now Assassin gets in an armbar of his own just to make really clear that we’re not doing anything other than holds here. Cuban tries a piledriver but misses, so instead he chooses to go for… a chinlock. Oh joy! Cuban goes up only to miss whatever the hell he was going for and Rich FINALLY ends this with the Thesz Press after 8:20 that felt more like 8 hours and 20 minutes.
Analysis: Not horrible, just really fucking boring. Avoid this if you can. *
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin)(c) vs. The Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace)(w/ Jim Cornette)
The heel champions Freebirds get a tremendous reaction while the poor Dynamic Dudes get booed out of the building, with not even Cornette saving them. Hayes and Douglas get into a pinfall sequence to start, with the crowd booing when Douglas is covering and getting up when he’s the one getting pinned! Douglas puts Hayes in a headlock and hits a neckbreaker before tagging in Johnny. Garvin comes in as well only to eat a Johnny dropkick. Johnny works the arm and, once Garvin tags Hayes back in, starts working his arm as well. The Dudes run wild on both Freebirds with stereo dropkicks as the crowd boos the poor guys even more. So much for “people power”, huh Johnny!? Ace hits a bulldog on Hayes for two as the reaction gets more and more nasty. They do a few more spots trying to get the Dudes over as babyfaces, but it completely dies. Ace puts a headlock on Garvin and the crowd then goes crazy for a Hayes cheapshot on the apron followed by a Garvin kneelift. Hayes is just having the time of his life on the apron playing to the smartass crowd! Hayes and Ace get into a slugfest in the corner but Garvin comes in to backdrop Johnny before launching Hayes right into him for a corner clothesline. Hayes goes for the DDT but Johnny survives and makes the “hot” tag to Douglas. He runs wild for a little bit while the crowd shits all over everything he does, before Hayes trips him on a suplex attempt and Garvin falls on top for the pin to retain the titles at 11:28.
Analysis: I won’t be too hard on them here. They obviously had planned the match one way before the entire crowd forced them to work a completely different one on the fly. It was still a good enough match. If nothing else, you will at least be entertained at the crowd’s pure hatred of the Dudes and them cheering for literally everything the Freebirds did. I’ve seen a few people being negative towards this match, but I personally enjoyed and had a good time watching it. There’s no question it would’ve been much better had the reactions been “normal”, however. ***1/4
The Steiners (Rick & Scott) vs. Doom (#1 & #2)(w/ Woman)
Despite being simply called #1 and #2 by the announcers, the members of ‘Doom’ here are Ron Simmons and Butch Reed. The Steiners start running wild with multiple suplexes and not even resist cheering them like crazy. Doom bail for a while but then come back in only to eat stereo clotheslines that send them flying back to the outside. Back in, Simmons briefly takes control only for the Steiners to clean house yet again. Reed tags in but doesn’t do much better and Rick hits the chinlock. Simmons gets in and goes for a suplex only for Rick to block that and powerslam him. Scott comes in with a clothesline off the corner but Reed stops him with a clothesline of his own. Scott comes back with a german on Simmons followed by an elbowdrop for two. Heel double-teaming in the corner follows. Scott briefly catches Reed with a sunset flip for two, but Reed immediately gets up and hits a neckbreaker for two. Powerslam by Simmons gets two and so does a double-team slam by the Doom. Hot tag Rick but the ref is distracted with the Doom members and misses it, allowing Doom to hit a piledriver behind his back for two. We hit the chinlock before Scott breaks and finally makes the hot tag. Rick backdrops Reed followed by a powerslam while Scott takes care of Simmons with the Frankesteiner. The ref gets distracted with Scott and Ron, though, allowing Woman to put some foreign object inside Ron’s mask behind the referee’s back. A headbutt on Rick gives Doom the surprising win at 15:32.
Analysis: Solid yet unspectacular tag match. The Steiners are over and pretty much everything they do gets a reaction, so that helps. The shocking result is what makes this match somewhat memorable, though. **
NWA United States Championship: Lex Luger(c) vs. Flyin’ Brian Pillman
Pillman does not pass the “babyface in Philadelphia” test! The crowd is clearly on Lex Luger’s side. Lockup gets things going. Luger uses his power to win that but Pillman backdrops him and dropkicks him all the way to the floor. Luger bails a little bit but Pillman meets him on the outside with a baseball slide. Pillman goes for Air Pillman back inside but Luger moves out of the way and runs away yet again. Pillman follows him and eventually Luger catches him with a knee while Pillman’s going after him on the way back inside the ring. Luger pounds away before Pillman connects with a quick bodypress for a nearfall. Pillman goes after Luger’s arm but Luger’s strength advantage allows him to escape, but then Pillman uses his speed to catch Luger with a hiptoss followed by a dropkick as Pillman goes back to the arm immediately. And by now, all of a sudden, most of the hardcore Philly crowd is on Pillman’s side thanks to his awesome babyface work. For those younger readers out there, this should tell you how great Brian Pillman really was. Luger manages some distance but eats turnbuckle on a charge. Pillman goes up for a flying splash but finds no water in the pool and Luger proceeds to faceplant him. Luger stunguns Pillman, clotheslines him and then gives Pillman a delayed suplex for two. Luger arrogantly dumps Pillman, who then surprises Luger and almost steals it with a quick sunset flip that gets two. Luger gets thrown off his game and reacts with a clothesline, allowing Pillman to simply move out of the way as Luger goes flying to the floor. Back in with Pillman going after the champ before Lex quickly cuts him off with an atomic drop. Luger takes him up for a superplex that Pillman blocks and turns into a sunset flip off the top for a very good nearfall. Chopfest is won by Brian who then hits Air Pillman, but Luger is close to the ropes and that saves him. Pillman gives him a neckbreaker and proceeds to put the “miss” in missile dropkick, as then Luger stunguns him to steal the win and retain the US title at 16:49.
Analysis: Lex Luger is simply on fire as the heel US champ. Ever since turning in the summer, there was the classic with Ricky Steamboat at Bash, then the terrific match at Clash with Tommy Rich, and now this one with Pillman. I loved the story with Luger being able to take control everytime the pace was slow, and Pillman when it was quicker. It’s simple psychology that everyone can understand, as Luger is the stronger guy and Pillman is the quicker of the two. I also loved Luger taking the easy out in order to save his title, in the process putting Pillman over as a threat to his belt. Very good stuff. ***3/4
The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)(w/ Paul Ellering) vs. The Skyscrapers (Sid Justice & Dan Spivey)(w/ Teddy Long)
Animal/Spivey staredown to start. Animal takes down Spivey with a couple of clotheslines as Hawk comes in to work Spivey’s arm. They trade shoulderblocks with neither one selling before Hawk finally manages to take Spivey off his feet with a massive flying shoulderblock. Sid comes in and immediately starts by botching a clothesline. Well, I’ll be positive and say his performance could only go up from here! He proceeds to no-sell a lot before a flying shoulderblock by Animal takes him down too. Hawk goes to work on Sid’s arm but falls victim to his incredible helicopter slam. That move already looks great but it looks even better on a big tough guy like Road Warrior Hawk. Spivey comes in with a sideslam for two. Sid drops Hawk on the railing and then Spivey gets a suplex for two more. Double clothesline by the Skyscrapers in the corner. Hawk fights back with a suplex and then Spivey misses a charge before getting Animal in for the hot tag. He takes Spivey out of the picture with a shoulderblock and powerslams Sid, but Teddy runs in for the DQ at 11:39.
Analysis: This wasn’t bad, but it was ridiculously long and the Skyscrapers weren’t ready at all to go ten minutes with LOD. It exposed the youngsters a little bit, especially Sid who botched a bad clothesline and was visually nervous, but it was mostly okay otherwise. **
Main-event: THUNDERDOME CAGE FULL OF ELECTRICITY MATCH – Ric Flair & Sting(w/ Ole Anderson) vs. Terry Funk & The Great Muta(w/ Gary Hart)
This is no DQ and the winning team will be determined after the rival manager throws in the towel. Bruno Sammartino is the special referee here. There is electricity on top of the cage to prevent the guys from getting there. The cage even gets on fire before the bell rings, which Muta himself puts out with the green mist! Yes, indeed! Funk slams Flair to start who then responds with a number of chops. Funk is already eating cage after Sting whips him on the outside. Flair throws more chops and the classic Flair kneedrop back inside. Sting adds a dropkick as Funk continues to get his ass kicked by both babyfaces. Muta comes in but he doesn’t do much better, as Flair atomic drops and chops him while Sting throws him into the cage. Everyone goes at it on the outside before Muta takes over back inside with an elbow followed by a legdrop on Sting. The heels double-team Sting for a while before Flair comes in to save with chops and a suplex. Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock on Muta but now it’s Funk who comes in to save his partner. Back to the floor as Sting and Muta actually start climbing the cage and fight up there, with Muta touching the top and getting shocked. Now that’s working the gimmick of the match! Meanwhile Flair and Funk fight each other on the cage as well over on the side, with Funk hanging upside down and Flair beating him up. Sting and Muta go back inside, with Sting hitting quite the impressive delayed press slam on Muta. Sting had him up there for at least ten seconds. Flair and Sting trade places so Flair can go chop Muta for a while, and Sting goes after Funk who’s on top of the cage because he’s Terry Funk and he’s nuts. Sting literally grabs one of the ropes up there and uses it to kick Muta like Tarzan. This whole thing is so stupid yet it works for some insane reason. Don’t ask me, but I sure as hell am enjoying it. Meanwhile back in the ring Muta catches Flair with an enziguiri to take control, and up there Sting gets caught with the Tarzan rope and they fight on top. Flair gets hit with a piledriver inside the ring but Tarzan Sting comes flying off the rope with a crazy dive for the save. Now Flair and Funk stay in the ring with Flair taking Funk to school (working his legs to set up the figure four), while Sting and Muta go at it on the outside. Flair puts Funk in the figure four while Sting is in control of Muta on the floor, but still Gary won’t throw in the towel. Muta decides to go after Sammartino but that obviously doesn’t go well, and then Ole punches Gary and his towel goes flying into the ring to give the babyfaces the victory at 23:46.
Analysis: I will admit, they proved me wrong here. Years of watching Vince Russo made me raise an eyebrow after looking at the name of the match, the whole rules and even the little things such as the electricity on top. I didn’t know what to expect going into this one. It had potential to be one of the most visually ugly disasters of all time, but on the other hand the four wrestlers involved were all way too talented that they could pull a miracle and somehow deliver something special here. Thankfully, they did. The whole match was stupid like I was expecting, but in a good way. I loved the small touches such as Muta touching the top of the cage and getting shocked, and them using the goofy ropes that were on the cage to actually hurt their opponents and/or save their partner instead of just using it because wrestling is silly and we’re all performing for fun. I wouldn’t call this a classic or anything, but it was very good and I had a great time watching it. ***1/2
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: Come on, it’s 1989 NWA, of course it was a great show. Apart from Tommy Rich vs. Cuban Assassin, nothing even came close to being boring and the shows flies by despite lasting 2h50 on the WWE Network. Don’t worry though, because I promise you an episode of RAW feels a week longer than this show despite being only ten minutes longer! The six men tag was fantastic and my favorite match of the whole card, with Dr. Death being the highlight of that match and maybe even the whole show. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say his hot tags made the comeback have multiple collective orgasms. The US title match was also tremendous and got both guys more over than they were in the beginning, as Luger continues to shine as a heel and Pillman is the exciting babyface newcomer at this point and clearly has a great future in wrestling ahead of him. And then came the main-event, which is one of those matches that I liked but I can’t really explain why. It’s stupid and I can understand those who might possibly even hate it, but I wasn’t offended by it as they actually used the whole environment to hurt each other instead of doing stupid shit for the hell of it. Overall, a very good show. And the fact that it’s so far the worst (for lack of a better word) PPV of the NWA in 1989 should tell you how great their product was at the time. Yep, they deliver once again – a big thumbs up for this PPV! 7/10
Finally, here are the points for the wrestlers who were part of Halloween Havoc 1989:
Lex Luger: 5.75 points (3.75 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title)
Jimmy Garvin: 5.75 points (3.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title + 0.5 for winning the fall)
Ric Flair: 5.5 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for winning + 1 for main-eventing)
Sting: 5.5 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for winning + 1 for main-eventing)
The Samoan Savage: 5.5 points (4 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 0.5 for winning the fall)
Michael Hayes: 5.25 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title)
Samu & Fatu: 5 points (4 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Terry Funk: 3.5 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for losing)
The Great Muta: 3.5 points (3.5 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for losing)
Bobby Eaton: 3 points (4 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Dr. Death Steve Williams: 3 points (4 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
The Z-Man: 3 points (2 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
“Doom” Ron Simmons: 3.5 points (2 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 0.5 for winning the fall)
“Doom” Butch Reed: 3 points (2 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Flyin’ Brian Pillman: 2.75 points (3.75 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Road Warriors Hawk & Animal: 2.5 points (2 for star rating + 0.5 for DQ win)
Stan Lane: 2.5 points (4 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing the fall)
Johnny Ace: 2.25 points (3.25 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Tommy Rich: 2 points (1 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Shane Douglas: 1.75 points (3.25 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing the fall)
‘The Skyscrapers’ Sid Justice & Danny Spivey: 1.5 points (2 for star rating – 0.5 for DQ loss)
Mike Rotunda: 1 point (2 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Cuban Assassin: 0 points (1 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Thanks a lot for reading. Stay safe everyone, hopefully 2021 is better for all of us. And have a Merry Christmas!
Welcome everyone to my latest review. Today I bring to you the 22nd edition of SNME, featuring Hogan vs. DiBiase for the title, Roddy Piper returning to the ring on a SNME for the first time in a couple of years and more. Check out the point system here.
Before starting, here’s the list of champions in the WWF at the time:
WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan
Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior
Tag Team Champions: The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard)
Enjoy the review!
The hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura
Macho King Randy Savage(w/ Sensational Queen Sherri) vs. Jimmy Snuka
This is Savage’s first appearance on SNME since winning the crown from Jim Duggan. We get a great backstage rap from Savage and Sherri because they are the best. Savage attacks Snuka while the ‘SUPAH SUPAH SUPERFLY’ theme song is still playing but immediately eats Snuka’s usual opening chop. Snuka follows up with an atomic drop but Sherri trips him, allowing Savage to turn the tables and drop a knee for two. Savage dumps Snuka and connects with the flying double axehandle. He gets back in while Sherri chokes away behind the referee’s back. Savage follows up with a knee to Snuka’s back before Snuka makes his comeback and has Savage in trouble in the Tree of Woe position. Sherri hands Savage the DEADLY PURSE OF EXCRUCIATING DOOM, allowing Savage to hit Snuka and roll him up for the win at 05:37. Savage tries to hit the Macho Elbow post-match, but misses and Snuka cleans house.
Analysis: Watchable match. There’s not much to see here, but it’s okay and the right guy goes over. *1/2
WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan(c) vs. Ted DiBiase(w/ Zeus)
Before starting, RIP Tommy ‘Zeus’ Lister, who passed away recently. I am not a fan of his WWF run but that’s the least important thing in such a hard time for his family and loved ones. My condolences to them.
Hogan obviously wins a slugfest to start, but Zeus trips him up to allow DiBiase to hit a clothesline. That brings out Jake Roberts – who’s feuding with DiBiase – to even things up, giving Hogan the chance to roll him up for two. DiBiase goes for his million dollar elbow but misses and meanwhile Virgil runs in to steal the snake, drawing Roberts away from ringside. And we take a break.
Commercial
We return with DiBiase hitting a clothesline for two. Suplex gets two more. The million dollar middle rope elbow gets two more. DiBiase hits the chinlock and Hogan does a tremendous selljob. Hogan escapes that and it’s a double clothesline for a double KO spot. Zeus adds in a shot of his own and DiBiase drops a flying kneedrop but Hogan hulks up. From there it’s no no no, punch punch punch, the big leg… but Zeus gets involved. That distracts Hogan for a while and DiBiase gets back up, but Hogan cradles him for the pin to retain anyway at 08:24. After the match, Hogan gets face-to-face with Zeus and Vince on commentary says “it’s the match we all want to see”. First of all, Hogan had already pinned Zeus at SummerSlam. Second of all, no. It was more than time for Hogan to move on to a feud with actual contenders for his title.
Analysis: The match was your typical Hogan match, it followed the same formula as all of his other matches do, only with Zeus stuff added to the picture. **
Roddy Piper vs. Haku(w/ Bobby Heenan)
Piper is obviously in the best feud in the company at the time with Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan, and he’s on a mission to take out members of Heenan’s family one by one. Piper goes after Heenan after the bell but that obviously allows Haku to take over. A back elbow is followed by a shoulderblock for two. Haku adds a legdrop and goes up for a diving headbutt but totally misses and Piper plants his face on the mat. He follows up with a belly to belly suplex and that’s… it? Wow. The match only went (surprisingly) 3:02. After the match Piper signals to the camera ‘one member down, four to go”. Piper’s charisma is just ridiculous.
Analysis: Yeah, this was much shorter than I expected. As far as the proper wrestling goes there’s not much to say, but Piper’s post-match warning makes you want to keep following the story. *
Tito Santana(w/ Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake & The Red Rooster) vs. Rick Martel(w/ Akeem, The Big Bossman, The Honky Tonk Man, Slick & Jimmy Hart)
This is FINALLY the Strike Force explosion everyone had kind of been wanting to see since WrestleMania V. I’m not joking, when Martel was in control of his matches against weekly TV jobbers, the crowds would all chant ‘Tito’. But then this quickly turns into a big Survivor Series ad as members of each guys’ teams join them at ringside. Which I understand, but you know… I wanted to see just these two! They all get into a major brawl on the outside and Santana gets a sunset flip back inside for two. Choking follows and Tito transitions from that into an armbar before a crossbody gets two. Martel turns the tables and puts Tito in the Tree of Woe position, but Tito quickly fights back and hits the flying forearm only for everyone to join for a brawl as we go to a break.
Commercial
We return with Tito backdropping Martel but getting thrown to the outside and back in Martel goes to work on the back. They fight over a backslide and the crowd gets into it a lot, which Santana wins and gets two. Martel chokes away and goes for the Boston Crab but Tito’s in the ropes and that saves him. Santana turns that into a pinning position for two. Martel catches him with a backdrop and goes up, but Tito shakes the ropes like The Ultimate Warrior and brings him down. Santana follows up with the figure four but everyone gets in for the sportz entertainment finish at 09:41.
Analysis: While the action inside the ring was very solid, this was ultimately nothing but a major advert for their Survivor Series tag match. ***
(Alleged) main-event: The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau)(w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke)
We’re all American boooooys… Sorry, I just can’t resist when I see a Rougeaus match! The Bushwhackers go after Jimmy before the match and take off his pants to send him to the back. This does provide the Rougeaus a distraction, however, as they work over Butch. The Bushwhackers quickly get the hot tag though and finish Jacques with the double headbutt followed by the double gutbuster for the win at 03:15.
Analysis: Comedy match. 1/4*
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: This wasn’t bad. The wrestling isn’t great or even good (apart from Tito-Martel), but you shouldn’t even expect that when it comes to SNME. With that said though, most matches were entertaining and either got characters or feuds more over than they were previously. Good show. 6/10
Finally, here are the points for this show:
Hulk Hogan: 4 points (2 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for successfully defending a title)
Tito Santana: 3 points (for star rating)
Rick Martel: 3 points (for star rating)
Bushwhacker Butch: 2.75 points (0.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for main-eventing + 0.5 for winning the fall)
Randy Savage: 2.5 points (1.5 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Bushwhacker Luke: 2.25 points (0.25 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win + 1 for main-eventing)
Roddy Piper: 2 points (1 for star rating + 1 for pinfall win)
Ted DiBiase: 1 point (2 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Jimmy Snuka: 0.5 points (1.5 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Raymond Rougeau: 0.25 points (0.25 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for pinfall loss)
Haku: 0 points (1 for star rating – 1 for pinfall loss)
Jacques Rougeau: -0.25 points (0.25 for star rating + 1 for main-eventing – 1 for pinfall loss – 0.5 for losing the fall)
As always, thank you for your time reading. Don’t miss the next review, where I’ll be looking back at NWA/WCW’s Halloween Havoc 1989. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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