Ryan Navigates '90 - #10 (2/10)
Stan Hansen and Vader have an eye-popping brawl in the Tokyo Dome!
EDITOR’S NOTE: As this article was being written, the wrestling world said goodbye to Kuniaki Kobayashi, who had passed away on September 9th, 2024, at 68 years of age after a long battle with cancer. He was a stalwart of the emergent Japanese junior-heavyweight scene of the 1980s and famously feuded with the first two Tiger Masks (Satoru Sayama and Mitsuharu Misawa, respectively). He also innovated the fisherman’s suplex, a move popularized by Mr. Perfect in the United States.
After retirement, Kobayashi worked in the NJPW Dojo and did occasional commentary and the odd match here and there.
I admit that I haven’t seen a lot of his work, but his match with Misawa on 6/12/85 was absolutely incredible and well-worth seeking out. I’m always open to recommendations, so if there’s any other matches I should watch, let me know in the comments.
May he rest in peace.
Good day!
It’s another Saturday-only navigation this time around. In addition to the usual Saturday fare, we have four matches from NJPW’s gigantic Super Fight in Tokyo Dome, including three interpromotional bouts between NJPW and AJPW. One of those matches would be legendary due to a gruesome eye injury sustained by one of the participants.
*** I’m not necessarily going to include a screenshot of anything overly gory, but the match analysis may not exactly be for the squeamish. Reader discretion is advised. ***
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10th
NJPW Super Fight in Tokyo Dome
After discussing it in The Tugboat Tribune for the last several issues, we’ve arrived at the third wrestling show ever held at the Tokyo Dome. Hosted by New Japan, this features a few NJPW vs. AJPW matches and an AWA title bout.
Takayuki Iizuka defeated Osamu Matsuda with a Blizzard Suplex.
Iizuka would be known to newer NJPW fans as Takashi Iizuka, the crazy bald fella from Suzuki-gun who carried around an iron claw. Older WCW fans will remember him for enduring a horrific beating from the Steiner Brothers at Wrestle War ‘92.
Matsuda is the future El Samurai, sans mask.
Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid defeated Akira Nogami & Jushin Thunder Liger after Sano pins Nogami with a Tiger Suplex.
This was Chris Benoit’s first outing with the Pegasus Kid character as far as I can tell.
Blond Outlaws (Hiro Saito, Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto) defeated Hiroshi Hase, Kantaro Hoshino & Kuniaki Kobayashi when Goto pins Hoshino after a Samoan drop.
Oddly enough, Goto was the only one who is actually blond.
Brad Rheingans defeated Victor Zangiev with an inside cradle.
If Victor’s surname sounds familiar, he was the inspiration for the Zangief character in the Street Fighter video game series.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams pinned former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Salman Hashimikov after an Oklahoma Stampede.
AWA World Heavyweight Championship: Larry Zbyszko (c) vs. Masa Saito - The AWA was very much a desiccated husk of its former self at this point, but they’re still shambling along. The 47-year-old Saito was a former WWF tag champion with Mr. Fuji in the early 1980’s, but he also gained notoriety for wrestling Antonio Inoki on an island for two hours. He also served two years in jail for assaulting police officers after the infamous Ken Patera/McDonald’s incident. Saito also innovated the Saito suplex, a hold used by many in the game. He passed away in 2018 due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease at 75 years of age.
We get some fun grappling to start, with Larry working the mat and Saito countering and escaping. After Zbyszko dominates for a while, Saito manages to get the upper hand with a top wristlock, but Larry wriggles free. Saito gets a nice stepover takedown (osotogari) and a headlock, but Larry fights back with a kick to the guts and a vertical suplex for two. Larry works a crucifix pin for some near-falls.
Saito comes back with a snap suplex and a lariat for two, then cinches in a Prison Lock (kneeling figure four). Larry breaks it via the ropes, so Saito just keeps kicking his ass. He keeps going after the legs, securing another Prison Lock and whipping the crowd into a fervor. Larry finally reverses into a leglock of his own until it is broken up via the ropes. Saito again kicks Larry’s leg out from under his, uh, leg, then blasts him with another lariat for two. Saito then lands a pair of Saito suplexes, each netting a two-count.
Larry finagles his way into mule-kicking Saito in the junk, drawing mad heat from the crowd. After a vertical suplex, Larry rains down some punches, but SAITO HULKS UP! Saito returns fire and sends Larry to the floor. Saito catches Larry coming back in with an inside cradle, then Zbyszko gets one of his own for another two. Saito dodges a dropkick and drills Larry with a Saito suplex! Saito gets one more inside cradle for the pin and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship!
***1/4 - I didn’t exactly have my expectations sky-high for this one, but I really liked what we got. There was some fun mat wrestling, a nice little story, an exciting finishing sequence, and the crowd was very much behind Saito.
Larry also brought the old-school goods here. I won't say that I'm a fully registered citizen of Larryland yet, but I have come to appreciate his work more than I used to.
Saito’s championship glory would be short-lived, as he would lose the belt back to Zbyszko within a couple of months. Larry would end up being the last AWA champion; however, he was stripped of the title after leaving for WCW in late 1990. The company officially folded in January 1991.
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido - This is an interpromotional tag, with Jumbo and Yatsu representing AJPW, while Kimura and Kido rep NJPW. Yatsu was a former amateur standout and Olympian. He was a bit snakebitten when it came to the Olympics, though, as he did not place in the 1976 games in Montreal, missed Moscow in 1980 due to Japan following the boycott, and was banned from the 1988 games due to being considered a professional athlete, back before that was allowed.
Kimura was a long-time NJPW fixture, gaining his biggest success with four IWGP Tag Team Championships with Tatsumi Fujinami. Kido had been wrestling for over 20 years at this point, and even helped form NJPW with Antonio Inoki in 1972. Aside from a few years in the UWF in the 1980s, he spent most of the rest of his career with New Japan, and even had a hand in training the young lions. He passed away in 2023 at 73 years of age.
Kido’s rocking a moustache, much like his father figure Karl Gotch, and everyone is in plain black trunks.
Everyone shows respect before the bell, but Kimura jumps Tsuruta and nails a flying kick right off the jump. The NJPW contingent works Tsuruta over in their corner, then Kido hits a dropkick for two. Jumbo comes back with a flying knee as the crowd is HEATED. Yatsu checks in and is immediately cornered by his opponents. Yatsu and Kimura tussle about a bit, with Yatsu coming out on top with headbutts. Jumbo comes in for a big boot before Kido tags back in. Him and Jumbo fight over a knucklelock until Kido locks in a Fujiwara armbar, which Tsuruta escapes via the ropes.
Jumbo hits a knee to the guts, then Yatsu comes in for a nice belly-to-belly suplex for two. Yatsu looks for a scorpion deathlock, but Kido reverses into a leg grapevine of his own. Kido applies a nasty-looking rear facelock as Jumbo rallies the Tokyo Dome behind his partner.
They end up in the NJPW corner, where Kimura checks in and has his way with Yatsu. He tries a chop, but Yatsu comes back, hits a back suplex, and tags in Jumbo…who gets punched down by Yatsu! Kido tags back in as the New Japan guys target Jumbo’s leg. Kido and Tsuruta blast each other with strikes, with Jumbo coming out on top with a crushing forearm. Yatsu re-enters and scraps with an interfering Kido, but he ends up taking some abuse from the opposition.
Yatsu again tags Jumbo back in, but he is again immediately beset by Yatsu, who lights him up with kicks. Kido comes in for a double suplex, but Jumbo retaliates with a back suplex. Him and Yatsu hit a double-team chop, followed by a double flying knee strike! Yatsu applies a Prison Lock, which is broken up by Kido. Kimura lands a flying knee of his own and goes for a half-crab, but Tsuruta breaks THAT up. Kido tags back in and hits a dropkick and a neckbreaker for two.
Yatsu comes back with a powerslam, then Jumbo goes for a lariat…but Kido takes him down with a Fujiwara armbar! The crowd is losing their minds at this point as Jumbo finally makes the ropes. Kido gets the armbar again, but it’s broken up. Kido gets a small package and a crossbody, each for near-falls, but Tsuruta stun-guns him. Tsuruta soon catches Kido with a Thesz Press for the three!
***3/4 - This wasn’t necessarily blow-away awesome or anything, but this was a damn good back-and-forth bout with tremendous heat and an exciting closing stretch. Yatsu was really fun here, and Kimura held his own against the AJPW ace. Kido looked like he could have toppled Tsuruta for a minute, until Jumbo brought everyone back to reality.
Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask II vs. Riki Choshu & George Takano - It’s another interpromotional tag match, with Tenryu and Tiger Mask repping AJPW against NJPW’s Choshu and Takano. It’s a bit odd to see Tenryu and Tiger teaming up after Tenryu’s actions of late. Takano, the major outlier here given the pedigree of everyone else around him, spent quite a bit of time in Stampede and the WWF, wrestling as The Cobra. He would join Tenryu’s SWS promotion in July 1990.
Choshu and Tiger do a quick sequence before Tenryu tags in and gets WRECKED by Riki. Tenryu and Choshu fiercely grapple as the crowd is going ballistic for these two. Choshu gets a fireman’s carry slam and grabs a figure-four headscissors. After working the hold for a bit, Takano comes in and lands some kicks and a huge dropkick, then gets a German suplex for two. Tiger Mask tags in and hits his own dropkick and a mid-air crossbody, but Takano kicks his way out of a surfboard. Choshu tags back in and works at the Scorpion Deathlock, staring daggers into Tenryu the whole time. Awesome.
He finally cinches it in, then soon opts to tag Takano in for a flying kneedrop. Takano then stomps Tiger Mask into jelly before hitting a Tiger Suplex for two! Oh, snap, using a dude’s move against him! Choshu tags back in, but he’s backed into the AJPW corner for some double-teams, then Tenryu BLASTS him with chops.
Mask re-enters and hits a gutwrench suplex for a near-fall, then Tenryu tags back in for more punishment. Choshu hits a Saito suplex for two and looks for the Scorpion Deathlock, but ends up tagging out again to Takano. George trades blows with Tenryu, even felling him with a forearm after absorbing some good ones himself. Tenryu hits an enzuigiri and tags Tiger Mask back in, who hits some kicks before Takano retorts with his own. Takano hits a belly-to-belly, then him and Choshu hits a spike piledriver for two.
Tenryu tags back in and nails Choshu with some hard kicks to the face and back. He hits a couple of chops, but Choshu fires back with a lariat before tagging Takano back in. After a double-suplex, Takano rains down knees on Tiger Mask, but TMII catches a kick and gets Tenryu to help with the beating. That doesn’t last as Takano gets a sunset flip for two and a quick tag to Choshu…but Tenryu rushes him as he’s coming in!
Tiger Mask re-enters and hits some kicks before tagging Tenryu back in for some chops. He goes for his flying back elbow, but Takano suplexes him off the ropes! Choshu trucks Tenryu with a lariat, then Takano follows with a pescado to the floor! Enzuigiri from Takano misses, but George hits a headbutt to break up a pin attempt from Tenryu. Tiger soars across the ring with a missile dropkick onto Choshu, then hits a frog splash for two. Choshu comes back, and him and Takano hit a back suplex/top rope clothesline combo, followed by a Takano small package for two.
Choshu commits to the Scorpion Deathlock this time, but it’s swiftly broken up by Tenryu. Takano hits a pescado on Tiger Mask this time, then (with an assist from Choshu), hits a Saito suplex on the floor to Mask, who was standing on the apron!
Tiger Mask recuperates quickly and goes for a pescado of his own, but Choshu moves out of the way! Tenryu hits Takano with an enzuigiri, but Takano comes back with a spinning heel kick to thwart a Tenryu powerbomb attempt! Takano misses a cannonball into the corner, then Tenryu lariats him off the apron. Choshu takes Tenryu down and gets the Scorpion Deathlock, but they’re not the legal men! The referee is counting out Tiger Mask and Takano, but TMII rolls back in at 19! Takano is counted out, giving the win to Tenryu and Tiger Mask!
**** - This was even better than the last match, as we got tons of great action here in addition to molten heat. The fans were electric for the Tenryu/Choshu sequences, which were hard-fought and just felt like two guys who REALLY didn’t like each other. Takano worked like a man who knew he wasn’t on the same tier as everyone else as him and Misawa lit up the Dome with high-stakes offense.
I’m surprised that they went with a count-out decision rather than have Takano eat the pin. Methinks that politics are the source for some of these finishes.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader (c) vs. Stan Hansen - MEEAAAAATTTTTT!!!
Longtime fans of Japanese wrestling will surely be familiar with this one. Vader’s mastodon helmet is never not awesome.
Before the bell, Hansen whacks Vader with his cowbell (which legit broke Vader's nose). The meaty lads IMMEDIATELY clobber each other with both guys REALLY laying in the shots. It’s like watching two Kodiak bears on angel dust going at it. Vader's shoulder gets busted open the hard way, which should tell you how hard these guys were hitting. Stan misses an elbow, so Vader punishes him with a clothesline that knocks him a bit loopy. Hansen blasts him with forearms, then they scrap and claw at each other in the corner. In amongst that struggle, Hansen plunges his thumb into Vader's eye, then blasts him with some HARD lefts, the third causing his eye to POP OUT OF ITS GODDAMN SOCKET. Here's an exaggerated artistic interpretation:
Vader manages an honest-to-God armbar so that he can get a bit of breathing room to assess the situation. Vader releases the hold, undoes his mask, and dear God, it’s an ugly sight. It’s not like you can see his eye dangling out or anything, but you can tell something was wrong. Vader pushes his eye back in and uses his eyelid to keep it from falling back out.
Hansen accosts Vader, so Vader avalanches him in the corner. The eye is a swollen, disgusting grey lump at this point. Hansen comes back with a stiff elbow and grinds on a chinlock, but Vader bludgeons Hansen with sturdy blows. Hansen evades a corner splash and hits a back suplex, then they continue to run each other over until we hit the floor for some intense brawling. Vader just clobbers Hansen with a clothesline, dumps him gut-first onto the railing, then we head into the crowd for some more wanton violence.
Back in, Vader peppers Hansen with shots to the midsection until Stan rolls out for some reprieve. Vader follows him out and continues to maul him. We head back in, where a Vader powerslam gets two, then Vader follows with a flying shoulderblock for another near-fall. Vader continues the abuse with massive elbows to the breadbasket, then soon brutally clotheslines Hansen out of the ring again. Hansen dodges a clothesline against the ringpost and boots away at his opponent. Hansen resumes the kicking and stomping inside the ring before continuing the thrashing on the floor.
We return to the ring with Hansen dropping heavy elbows and knees for some near-falls. He calls for the lariat, but Vader thwarts that with a DROPKICK. They then clothesline each other silly before the fight spills back out to the floor. Both guys brawl on the floor until the ref reaches the end of his count, resulting in a double-countout!
****1/4 - Even though it’s almost entirely remembered because of Vader’s eyeball going into business for itself, this was still a big, wild, ugly, stiff, surly brawl, which is all I'd want out of these guys. Vader and Hansen are two of the hardest hitters in wrestling history, and they beat the absolute HELL out of each other. Not only that, but Hansen did a really good job selling Vader’s work on his midsection.
Vader’s eye and nose injuries resulted in him missing two months of ring time, but NJPW didn’t strip him of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. At least Vader had a sense of humor about it, as evidenced when he inducted Hansen in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
Koji Kitao defeated Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow.
This was former sumo Kitao’s pro wrestling debut. His career (both sumo and wrestling) would be marred by controversy to say the LEAST.
He also tried MMA and ended up with a 1-2 record. His one win? Against NATHAN JONES.
Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi beat Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto in a battle of the old guard vs. the new guys. Inoki pinned Chono after an enzuigiri.
Lou Thesz acted as guest referee.
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
FROM THE PAGES OF THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION MAGAZINE, THIS IS UPDATE!
Mean Gene throws it to snippets of the batshit insane promos Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior cut last week, then WWF President Jack Tunney makes the main event of WrestleMania VI official. I love that Tunney has pictures of Hogan and Warrior on his back wall.
However, Tunney doesn’t disclose whose title will be up for grabs as that will be determined at a later date.
Next, it’s the Brother Love Show, with “The Model” Rick Martel as this week’s guest. Martel comes out with something concealed under a silk scarf.
Love puts over Brother Model’s style and good looks, then Martel compliments Love’s attire. Martel removes the scarf and reveals an atomizer containing “Arrogance”, the fragrance of the ‘90s.
Martel gives Love a heaping whiff of Arrogance (like, a LOT of it was sprayed, enough to clear out an IKEA), and he seems to enjoy it. The Model tells Yves St. Laurent, Calvin Klein, et al, to MOVE OVER, because there’s a new cologne in town. This was pretty fun, and it’s neat to see the debut of ARROGANCE, which would go on to be a pretty big component of Martel’s gimmick and launch a few storylines.
USWA Championship Wrestling (Memphis)
We catch up with Robert Fuller & Brian Lee backstage. Fuller crows about winning the USWA Tag Team Championship back from the Southern Rockers (Rex King & Steve Doll, who would go on to WWF quasi-fame as Well Dunn) while Brian Lee kind of stands there. Not that it’s a bad thing because Fuller is awesome on the mic.
We move to Dave Brown and Jerry “The King” Lawler at the commentary desk. Lawler gets up and does his weekly rounds of insulting the fans. He tells a woman that she set “sex back 100 years”, then asks another one if they need a license to be that ugly. The best one was when he asks a kid, "Have you ever been to the Memphis Zoo? ... No, I meant as a visitor”. Rude!
The fans seem to enjoy getting roasted by The King.
We then cut to a video of Bill Dundee, who cuts a promo on Rockin’ Randy ahead of Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum. He explains that he may not be the biggest guy in the ring, but he’s got the mind for the business. Dave Brown then throws it to a video for Bill Dundee’s wrestling school, which is Dundee advertising his wares in a picture-in-picture promo over wrestling footage.
We get Lawler’s immediate reaction, which is him laughing his ass off. Dundee’s school didn’t really produce much in the way of alumni that I’m really familiar with (other than his son, JC Ice), so Lawler may have been onto something.
NWA Worldwide Wrestling
The Midnight Express (“Sweet” Stan Lane & “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton) vs. The Rock ‘N Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) - Morton and Gibson recently returned to the NWA, and it didn’t take long for the bookers to reignite an all-time great tag rivalry with the Midnights.
This is a quarterfinal match in a tournament for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. Advancing so far were the Freebirds, the Dynamic Dudes, and eventual winners Flyin’ Brian & The Z-Man.
The Midnights double-team Gibson to start, but the Rock N’ Rolls come back with a furious series of double-teams. We get a series of monkey flips as the babyfaces resume control until Lane hits a couple of martial arts kicks. Gibson returns fire with an enzuigiri, then he dominates Eaton with a hiptoss and a flying headscissors. Morton tags in and lands a victory roll for a close two on Eaton, then chases after Jim Cornette on the outside.
The Rock N’ Rolls exchange quick tags while working on Eaton, but Bobby tags Lane when Ricky tries a roll-up, and Sweet Stan comes in with a neckbreaker. Morton assumes his natural role as babyface in peril as the Midnights work him over with double-teams. Eaton hits a nasty backbreaker and works that into a pinning combination for a few two-counts.
Morton tries to fight back, but Lane catches him with a sidewalk slam and a series of kicks. Lane hits a nice clothesline for two, then Eaton comes in to resume the pummeling. Beautiful Bobby goes to the eyes to cut off another comeback attempt, then Lane hits a sweet powerslam for two. He ejects Ricky, which allows for Cornette to strike him with the omnipresent tennis racket. Morton rams Eaton into the ringpost, but Cornette distracts the ref to prevent a Morton pin via sunset slip.
The Midnights hit the Rocket Launcher, but Morton kicks out! Gibson stops the Alabama Jam, but Lane comes in to cut off a Morton tag attempt. However, Ricky thwarts a double-team attempt and it’s HOT TAG (in theory) GIBSON! Gibson fends off the heels and the faces hit the double dropkick…but Cornette pulls Gibson off the cover! The ending comes when Gibson rolls up Lane, but Eaton grabs the tennis racket and whacks Gibson, which the camera completely misses (it was focused on Cornette on the outside). Lane covers him for the pin.
*** - This was pretty good overall, but it doesn’t even sniff the best that either of these teams have done. For some reason, the match didn’t really have as much heat as you would have thought, and the ending was a complete mess from a production standpoint. However, Morton as the face in peril rarely fails, and the Midnights on offense were great.
We cut to the Four Horsemen backstage. Ole Anderson is happy that they can be their true selves again, and he again chides Sting for his decision to go after Ric Flair’s title instead of being loyal to the Horsemen. Ole’s wearing black because the Horsemen are in mourning, and they plan on burying Sting. OK, that line was pretty cold.
Arn Anderson chimes in, saying some people WANT things, and some people HAVE things. Sting didn’t want to do the parties, so the party will come to HIM. Flair rants about the Horsemen bleeding, sweating, and partying all over the UNIVERSE. He dares Sting to SHUT HIS BIG MOUTH and promises to take him out HORSEMEN STYLE.
USWA Championship Sports (Dallas)
Hey, you!
Yes, you!
Are you tired of not knowing what day it is, or what day it will be tomorrow?
Well, you’re in luck, because we have the first edition of the 1990 USWA calendar!
Packed with 13 -color photos of your favorite USWA Dallas stars, it can be hanging on the wall in YOUR kitchen, cubicle, garage, or toolshed for the low, low price of $9.95 (+$2.50 shipping and handling)!
In 2024 money, that amounts to about $3,294.82.
Still in a spending mood? Why not splurge on “The ABC of Professional Wrestling”, an instructional VHS tape presented by USWA Dallas star and trainer “Gentleman” Chris Adams! With this tape, you’ll learn how to:
Become a professional wrestler!
Become a TV star!
Increase your income!
Shine some pennies!
Mend some leather!
Krazy Glue your head to the bottom of a biiiiiiiiiiig steel girder!
Well, not so much those last few, but you’ll learn physical conditioning, basic moves, TV interviews, and more, all in one 75-minute cassette! Call that number or send a check or money order for $39.95 (plus $3.50 S&H) today!
Anyone got $43.45 in 1989 US dollars that I can borrow? I kinda want to see this, but I’m not sure if anyone dumped it out onto the internet as of yet.
Now, you may think your wallet has already taken a shellacking…
Do YOU want to flex the broad, rippling wrestling knowledge muscles that made you the toast of all the raves and box socials back in the day? Well, wrestling legends Captain Lou Albano and Bruno Sammartino challenge you to WRESTLE TRIVIA!
Just dial that 1-900 number, wreck the shit out of your parents’ telephone bill, and answer trivia questions for cash and prizes! It’s only $2.00 for the first minute, then $1.00 for each additional minute! Kids, remember to get your parents’ permission before calling!
You can win $100 a day! You may also take home the ULTIMATE ENTERTAINMENT PACKAGE, including
a VCR that you can use to watch your $40 Chris Adams tape!
a big-ass TV with Bruno’s ruggedly handsome mug plastered all over it!
a Nintendo Entertainment System!
the Power Glove! (IT’S SO BAD!)
Again, dial that number on your touch tone telephone (FUCK YOU, rotary merchants!) and take Bruno to the mat with TRIVIA!
That…may have been the greatest commercial I’ve ever seen in my life.
Also, there's a good chance that some of you readers have never seen a VCR, NES, or a rotary phone in your lives. Excuse me while I crumble into dust.
We move on to Jerry “The King” Lawler backstage calling the Sportatorium a dump, then runs down Kerry Von Erich, Jeff Jarrett, and Bill Dundee ahead of a trios match featuring those three against himself, Billy Joe Travis, and Terry Garvin. Dundee in particular is targeted with a battery of short jokes. Lawler then puts himself and Travis over, but questions Garvin’ readiness to be in there with his opponents. However, Lawler claims that him and Travis are enough to beat Kerry, Jeff, and Bill (“just like San Francisco beat Denver in the Super Bowl”).
Lawler rambles a bit before promising a Super Bowl-like blowout this Friday night. He declares that Garvin will be the one to pin Kerry in Dallas, just for that little bit of extra humiliation.
We now hear from Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee. Jarrett brings up the upcoming six-man tag and gets a cheap pop for mentioning Kerry Von Erich being in his hometown. He addresses Lawler and Travis, but he really targets Garvin, who had been primarily an out-of-the-ring antagonist. Jarrett has much hatred for Garvin, and he’s getting a beating on Friday night.
Dundee comes in and says that he’s the BADDEST 5’7” you’ll find and says that Garvin couldn’t measure up “in a man’s sport”, even if Lawler trained him for six months or six years. He calls out his three opponents (referring to Garvin as a “fruitcake”) and promises to win on Friday. Jarrett was much better here than in prior promos, and Dundee was again good and fired up.
We now throw it to a pre-taped promo from Kerry Von Erich. The Modern Day Warrior hard-sells the six-man tag and says that his teammates agree that he should have the first right to take Garvin’s head off. Once him, Jarrett, and Dundee take out Lawler and Travis, Kerry’s coming for Terry.
This was another pretty decent, surprisingly coherent promo from Kerry to compel the Dallas fans to part with their money to see Terry Garvin get his ass kicked.
Overall, aside from some slightly homophobic jabs that were taken at Garvin that I didn't include in the recap, everyone did a hell of a job selling that trios match, which we sadly won't have for review.
Now it's time for THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE!
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The WWF wasted no time inflating the numbers for WrestleMania VI ticket sales. The Fed claimed that 17,000 tickets were sold the day after the press conference, but the Ticketron service in Canada cites 6,000 as the actual number. Regardless, a LOT of people will show up to the SkyDome on April 1st.
Sid Vicious has signed a one-year extension with the NWA, putting to rest any rumors of him jumping to the WWF after returning from injury.
Also, just for fun, let’s look at some famous wrestlers that were been born in January 1990 (since it doesn’t look like there was any from February):
January 7th - “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher, former WWE Cruiserweight competitor. He was ousted from WWE after being named in the Speaking Out movement in 2020 for past abusive behavior. We’re off to a great start, guys.
January 14th - Kacy Catanzaro, former NXT and WWE Women's tag champion who currently wrestles as Katana Chance on the WWE RAW brand.
January 23rd (my 6th birthday!) - Alex Silva, former TNA Gut Check competitor.
We’ll continue the birthday thing as they come up, probably as a monthly thing.
NEXT TIME: Bret vs. Shawn before they REALLY hated each other’s guts, a barbed wire match, a double dose of Brian Pillman, and MUCH more!
Catch up on the rest of Ryan Navigates ‘90
Also, check out my other series!
That was another fun re-revisit to some forgotten memories for me! The NJPW stuff back then I only heard back second hand or read about, as I never did tape trading back then. I found it interesting what a huge name Stan Hansen was in Japan and in the U.S. it was limited on where he appeared when I watched in his prime. What's your take on why WWF or NWA never made a play for him back then?
AWA question - do you know if anyone owns the rights to the AWA name & tape library?