Ryan Navigates '90 - #18 (3/18-3/23)
Time limit draws, Hair vs. Hair, and the AWA somehow continues to exist.
Good day!
It’s a varied and busy issue of Ryan Navigates ‘90, with a couple of WWF matches from Madison Square Garden, a couple of excellent lucha matches including a super-heated Hair vs. Hair showdown, a No Referee bout in Dallas, and the AWA is somehow still a thing, giving us a fun elimination tag.
As an aside, I’ve been much more active on BlueSky lately as Twitter/X continues to descend further into ‘cesspool’ status by the minute. If you’re on that platform, feel free to add me. The vibes there are so much better.
SUNDAY, MARCH 18th
WWF Wrestling Challenge
“Mean” Gene Okerlund welcomes “Macho King” Randy Savage and Sensational Queen Sherri to ye olde interviewe platforme.
Gene asks about the mixed tag match at WrestleMania VI, saying that it’s history in the making. Savage says that Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire are WAYYYYYYY PAST THE DANGER ZONE, YEAH! Sherri then says that, because of the humiliation bestowed upon the Kingdom of Madness, she will exile Sapphire’s polka-dot butt from the WWF.
Sherri will remove Sapphire from Dusty’s managerial position and send her back to the peasants where she belongs! Gene says that Sherri makes “Leona Helmsley look like Dinah Shore”, and Savage refuses to dignify that thought, as would anyone who was under 800 years of age watching this.
Savage says that after WrestleMania VI, him and Sherri will be the American Dream! Fun little promo here. Savage and Sherri were unspeakably awesome together.
AWA All-Star Wrestling
Oh, man, late-era AWA! The match was taped on 3/18 for air on 5/5.
Elimination Match: The Trooper, DJ Peterson & Paul Diamond vs. Tully Blanchard & The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos) - As documented over the course of this series, Blanchard was fired from the WWF for flunking a cocaine test, and the NWA low-balled him on a contract offer, so he declined. With supremely limited options, he landed in the AWA for a spell.
The Trooper (YOU TAKE MY LIFE, BUT I’LL TAKE YOURS, TOO! YOU’LL FIRE YOUR MUSKET, BUT I’LL RUN YOU THROUGH!) is the late Del Wilkes, who would later achieve international fame in AJPW, WCW, and the WWF as The Patriot. DJ Peterson wrestled in different US territories in the 1980s and ended up being one half of the final AWA tag champions with Trooper. He sadly passed away from a motorcycle crash in 1993.
Bloom, Enos, and Diamond would be in the WWF within a couple of years. The Destruction Crew would trade in their dignity and sledgehammers for purple tights and capes as the Beverly Brothers, while Diamond would don a mask and pretend to be Japanese as Kato (and would later inherit the Max Moon gimmick after the original wrestler slated for the gimmick, Konnan, left the WWF in 1992).
This match is part of the infamous Team Challenge series, where whatever was left of the roster was split into three teams. Yes, this was the series that gave us the Football Clash match, the One-Armed Bandit Challenge, and The Great American Turkey Hunt, among other atrocities. Tully's team represents Larry’s Legends (headed by Larry Zbyzsko) while the others rep Baron's Blitzers (fronted by Baron von Raschke). Sarge’s Snipers (headed by Sgt. Slaughter) is the only team not represented here.
Bloom rams Trooper’s head into the turnbuckle to start, but Trooper pays him back multifold. Bloom bumps his ass off for Trooper’s offense, then we brawl on the floor until both men are counted out and briskly eliminated.
Diamond has his way with Enos, raining down the rights, and Peterson comes in to help with some double-teaming. Blanchard tags in for a double-team on Peterson, then he takes over with a second-rope elbow smash. DJ counters a hiptoss into a backslide for a close two, then Peterson fires back with punches before sending Tully out via a corner whip.
Peterson suplexes Tully back into the ring for two, then Diamond tags back in…and gets immediately beset by Blanchard and Enos. Diamond drops an elbow for a near-fall, and Peterson tags back in. He tries a hiptoss reversal but ends up taking a clothesline from Enos. Tully tags back in and pummels DJ, then distracts the ref to allow Enos to drop him onto what passes for a guardrail, collapsing it in the process. Back in, Tully misses an elbow and it’s HOT TAG DIAMOND!
Diamond hits a monkey flip on Tully and continues his dominance over both opponents. However, Tully blocks a monkey flip attempt on Enos, and Mean Mike covers Diamond to eliminate him. It’s down to Peterson vs. Enos and Blanchard!
DJ dodges an Enos blind charge, and shortly after, Peterson evades some grappling from Blanchard. Baron von Raschke catches Tully with THE CLAW from the outside!
A beleaguered Tully makes the tag to Enos, who quickly goes to work on DJ’s leg. Larry’s Legends punish the leg, including a figure four from Tully…which Baron breaks with the claw! Peterson makes a comeback until Enos rocks him with a headbutt. Enos comes in for a piledriver, but Peterson makes the ropes to break the pin. Seconds later, Peterson thwarts an Irish whip/top rope clothesline combo and pins Enos, who whiffed on the clothesline. Only Peterson and Blanchard remain.
Peterson hits an atomic drop and tries a roll-up, but Blanchard reverses, grabs a healthy handful of trunks, and gets the pin! Tully Blanchard is YOUR sole survivor!
*** - The match wasn’t a lost classic or anything, but I had fun. Tully looked super-sharp here; it’s a shame that the NWA deal didn’t pan out because he still had so much left in the tank. His selling, bumping, and heeling was awesome. The Wrecking Crew were good here, too, bumping and working hard. DJ Peterson wasn’t the most engaging wrestler, but he sold the story quite well by the end. Baron, a babyface, employing THE CLAW in plain view of the ref was odd, but Tully at least sold it spectacularly.
MONDAY, MARCH 19th
WWF Madison Square Garden
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. “The Model” Rick Martel - This was originally supposed to be Rowdy Roddy Piper facing The Model, but Hot Rod was taken off of the house show circuit ahead of WrestleMania.
Bret gifts the sunglasses to a kid wearing an absolutely wild-looking Mario shirt, like one his mom created.
Martel gets the early advantage, working Bret over in the corner and rolling out of a corner charge, but Bret immediately clocks him with a clothesline. A punch to the gut and a small package gets two for Bret, so The Model regroups on the floor. After a bit of the ol’ stalleroo, we get some more dodging and feeling out before Bret settles on the arm.
Hart blocks a Martel hiptoss with a backslide for two, then resumes barring the arm. Martel escapes and hurls Hart out of the ring, where the Model follows up with some abuse and plenty of hotdogging. The Model suplexes Bret back in for a near-fall, then stomps away before Bret takes a hard Irish whip into the corner. Martel locks in an abdominal stretch, allowing Gorilla Monsoon on commentary to complain about the application as he is often wont to do. Martel milks that for a while, grabbing some occasional rope to maintain the upper hand.
The ref kicks Martel’s grip loose from the rope, and Bret mounts a comeback with an inverted atomic drop and his usual comeback offense. Martel keeps kicking out at two, with an especially close near-fall after of a Russian legsweep. Hart continues the offensive between stints of The Model powdering to the floor. Bret hits a nice dropkick, but Martel again bails. Rick goes to the eyes, but Hart slams his face into the apron and continues pounding away on the floor…but the 20-minute time limit has expired! The bout is a draw!
*** - This wasn’t a hidden gem or anything blow-away great. It took a bit to get going, and this was house show Bret, who didn’t always put in a premium shift, wrestling a Rick Martel who was more about cheap heat than anything of substance. However, this was still quite a solid, workmanlike contest with a nice finishing sequence, and the 20+ minutes didn’t honestly drag as much as I probably made it sound.
Post-match, Martel clobbers Hart from behind, but Bret fights back and sends him to the outside.
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Mr. Perfect - I really dig these entrances from the backstage area. It adds so much to the presentation and to the unique feel of these MSG shows.
The announcers speculate on the whereabouts of The Genius (Gorilla: “I hope he’s sick!”), but Lanny was losing to Jim Neidhart at the Miami Arena show that was happening at the same time, back when the WWF would do multiple tours at once.
The WARYAH sprints into the ring and runs the ropes, so Mr. Perfect tries a criss-cross, only to get bounced out of the ring in short order. Hennig stays away from the Warrior to start as it looks like the IC champion is sucking wind already. Warrior launches Perfect into the corner out of a tie-up, so we get more Perfect stalling. Perfect takes a big bump out of the ring off a shoulderblock, then Warriors grabs the hair and slams his face into the mat.
Warrior sends Hennig nuts-first into the ringpost before clotheslining him out. Warrior chops the hell out of Perfect on the floor, resulting in another big bump, but Perfect soon counters a splash with some knees to the bread basket.
Perfect takes over with some stomps and chops as the MSG fans try to will the WARYAH back into the match. Warrior tries…something, but Perfect drop-toeholds him to cut him off. Perfect abuses him on the floor, but Warrior gets a sunset flip (!) back in for two. Hennig regains control, paying particular focus to the back before hitting a beautiful dropkick for two.
Perfect applies a camel clutch/rear chinlock, and that goes on for a rather long time until Warrior escapes. Warrior’s SHAKING THE ROPES! He’s fired up! Warrior hits some clotheslines, a flying shoulderblock, a gorilla press, and the splash for the three (with Perfect kicking out at 3.1). This ended up being the very first singles loss taken by Perfect on WWF television.
*1/2 - Other than Perfect’s bumping, there wasn’t much to see here. Warrior was clumsy, and his cardiovascular conditioning was always terrible, but Perfect did a fine job launching himself like a pinball for Warrior’s offense and kept the match from completely falling apart.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21st
USWA Evansville TV (Memphis)
It’s another spot for the Evansville market, this time from Robert Fuller. He really doesn’t care for SLIMEBALL Indiana and everything in it, other than Brian Lee coming to Evansville.
Lee thinks he wants a piece of the Tennessee Stud, but Fuller tells Lee that he’s not to be fooled with, as evidenced by Fuller wiping the television studio floor with him a few weeks ago. Fuller assures Lee that Sylvia was not the problem as she’s gone, then promises to take him out in Evansville!
Fuller continues to be a hell of a promo, and him running down the local market was fun.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23rd
NWA Power Hour
“Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert vs. Cactus Jack - Here’s a pairing that will certainly gain a level of notoriety over the next couple of years.
It’s a bit weird seeing Gilbert as a glad-handing babyface as I mostly know him as a dickhead heel. He still has that swagger, even if he’s literally picking up children out of the crowd.
Jack clobbers Gilbert from behind to start the contest and has his way until Eddie rams Cactus’ face into the turnbuckle and sends him FLYING out of the ring via a corner whip.
Your weekly reminder that the NWA is brought to you by ROOS!
Hot Stuff follows with an axehandle to the floor, but Cactus attacks him as he re-enters the ring. Jack gets some corner punches, but Eddie fights back with a pair of atomic drops and a dropkick to send Cactus to the floor. Back in, Gilbert bends the rules with some shots to the throat as he works a side headlock. Jack escapes and gets a drop toehold, then they’d wrestle over a grounded headlock and a top wristlock.
They continue with some really well-done mat sequences as we get a call for ten minutes remaining from the ring announcer. You may as well flash a graphic on the screen that says “This match is SO ending in a time-limit draw”. Gilbert gets a rebound crossbody for two, then takes Cactus down for some more headlockery.
Jack fights out and pulls some hair, then they do a waistlock reversal sequence that ends with a Cactus back suplex. Jack hits a top rope axehandle and continues working on top, garnering some near-falls and grinding Hot Stuff down with a rear chinlock that goes on for quite a while. A long while. We have five minutes left as Gilbert fights out…only to get tossed out by Jack!
Cactus follows with a dropkick off the apron (with the blue mats thankfully being there to break his fall) and continued castigation in the ring. Side Russian legsweep gets two for Jack, then he goes after the face before reapplying the chinlock. Jim Ross explains Gilbert’s prior broken neck as the reason for Jack repeatedly going to the chinlock well.
Jack stops Gilbert from fighting out and heads up top, but Gilbert cuts him off with a fist to the gut. Eddie lights him up with rights, but he misses a corner charge. Jack knees him off the apron in a huge bump from Gilbert, but Jack charges him and flies over the barricade after Eddie ducks! Gilbert then suplexes him back to ringside and tries a sunset flip, only to be blocked by Cactus as we have one minute left!
Gilbert gets an inside cradle for a close two, but Jack comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for his own near-fall. They battle over a backslide, with Gilbert getting another near-fall out of it. They clothesline each other down as time is nearly up! They grapple on the mat as time expires! We have another time-limit draw!
***1/2 - Gone with the Wind-length chinlock from Jack and the long-distance telegraphing of the finish aside, this was a splendid television bout. This was a far more conventional match than the more hardcore fare they’d be known for later on, and it had some strong mat wrestling from guys not necessarily known for it. The last few minutes were REALLY good, and both guys (especially Jack) were not shy about taking some crazy bumps. Definitely an early highlight for Mick Foley’s career, and Gilbert is probably up there for most underappreciated wrestlers of all time.
We catch up with Jim Ross and Gordon Solie, who have Ric Flair with them. Ross asks Naitch about Lex Luger having the most bonafide chance of unseating Flair, and Ric agrees that Luger has the credentials.
However, Flair has fended off hundreds of qualified athletes over the years. Flair promises to end the controversy, 1-2-3. Short, but sweet.
USWA Challenge (Dallas)
No Referee: Steve Austin vs. “Gentleman” Chris Adams - While there’s no zebra in the ring, referee Tony Falk is on the outside and will count the pin when necessary.
Austin attacks Adams to start, but the Gentleman quickly fights back, hitting a superkick to the belly. Austin bails, so Adams gives chase as the Sportatorium fans cheer on the former judoka. Adams again thwarts an Austin offensive and hits him with a clothesline. Adams lands a back suplex and tosses Austin as the announcer lays out their entire history. Adams tries a piledriver on the floor, but Austin backdrops out, resulting in a nasty bump for Chris. Ironically, Austin would use that spot in many of his main-event brawls.
Austin presses his advantage by clobbering Adams at ringside. However, Adams runs Austin into the ringpost and onto the timekeeper’s table. Back in, Adams hits an axehandle from the top onto the rookie, then successfully nails the piledriver this time. Austin dodges an elbow from the top and rains down some punches and a couple of shots to the leg.
Stunning Steve ties Adams into the ropes for some free shots as USWA CHALLENGE ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Adams still in the same predicament.
Austin grabs a chair as the fans start freaking out. However, Adams kicks the chair back into Austin’s face and finally frees himself! Adams grabs the chair and scrambles Austin’s brain with it. Phew, good thing Austin’s not a “CTE guy”, or he’d be in trouble.
Members of Devastation Incorporated (Sheik Braddock and Jeff Gaylord) come down, but Adams quickly dispatches them. A DDT onto the chair secures the win for the Gentleman!
Post-match, Devastation Inc. assaults Adams until Matt Borne runs in for the save.
**3/4 - This was a pretty good, short brawl between the two. It’s a fairly simple stipulation, but it worked quite well here. Austin is still raw, but he’s definitely showing more and more promise. Wrestling an extended program with your trainer and being forced to change it up every week certainly helps.
EMLL Super Viernes
Angel Azteca vs. El Dandy - WHO ARE YOU TO DOUBT EL DANDY?!? OK, had to get that one out of my system.
It’s a pair of tecnicos going at it. Hell, we even see Azteca signing autographs in the ring while waiting for Dandy. That’s kinda wholesome. More babyfaces should be doing stuff like that.
PRIMERA CAIDA: Azteca drops all pretense of kindness, getting into an immediate shoving match with Dandy and dropkicking him out of the ring. They brawl on the floor before heading back into the ring for the match proper. Dandy gets a couple of slick reversals before Azteca boggles him with armdrags. Dandy catches him with an especially hard armdrag before PROCURING THE CROSSFACE CHICKEN WING.
Azteca eventually wriggles his way to the ropes, then rolls to the floor to regroup. Dandy heads out and socks him, but Azteca whips Dandy into the barrier under the ring apron a couple of times. Back in, Dandy lands a vicious uppercut, then the cobra clutch. Dandy soon applies La Magistral for the pin and the first fall.
SEGUNDA CAIDA: Dandy hits a high kick to the battered shoulder, but soon misses a blind charge and buggers up his own arm. Azteca applies a hammerlock abdominal stretch, but Dandy makes the ropes. Dandy now goes after the leg, locking in a figure four, but Azteca breaks it via the ropes and fires back with a dropkick and an armdrag. Azteca returns to the arm, applying a hammerlock variant before transitioning to a chinlock. The referee suspects a choke, so he grabs at Azteca’s mask to break it!
Angel misses a dropkick but blocks an enzuigiri, then he secures a Russian legsweep into a grounded octopus hold for the submission and the second fall!
TERCERA CAIDA: El Dandy tosses Azteca and whips him against the ring apron before kicking him in the guts. Back in, Dandy offers a handshake, but that turns into a double-underhook backbreaker (WELCOME TO CHICACO!). Dandy locks in a figure-four headscissors, but Azteca escapes and takes Dandy out with a clothesline. Dandy brute-forces through another Azteca clotheslines, then starts DRAGGING HIM AROUND BY HIS MASK. Rude!
Dandy grapevines the legs and one of the arms, but Azteca fights out and hits a vertical suplex for two. Azteca misses a twisting senton, so Dandy makes him pay with a camel clutch and some mask-ripping. Angel fights out and gets his own camel clutch as this thing is really starting to cook. Dandy powers out and hits a nice German suplex for a VERY close two. As Dandy argues with the ref, Azteca gets an inside cradle for his own near-fall. Moments later, Dandy misses a senton, resulting in a two-count. Azteca dispatches him and follows with a tope suicida!
Seconds later, Dandy dropkicks Azteca off the apron and goes for a pescado, but Azteca turns that into a gutbuster! That wrecks Azteca’s knee, but damn, that was an awesome counter. They both head back in, where Dandy takes an alley-oop into the turnbuckle for two, then Azteca sends him back out for ANOTHER tope suicida, sending Dandy several rows deep into the crowd! Azteca tries to re-enter the ring, but Dandy yanks him off the apron and into the fans. It’s not entirely clear, but we’ve reached the time limit. It’s Time Limit Draw #3 this week!
Post-match, they stare each other down and tentatively circle the ring. They chirp at each other, then Dandy just decks Azteca!
**** - The first couple of falls had some decent wrestling, but the third fall was where it’s at. The action got really intense and built to a fever pitch, and we got some fantastic moves. Azteca impressed with his high-flying, and the story with El Dandy descending further and further into Rudo Town by the end was well-realized.
Hair vs. Hair: Jerry Estrada vs. El Satanico - We finish off the article with the BIG ONE, an apuestas (wager) match. As demonstrated in last week’s trios match, these guys aren’t exactly fond of each other, so it’s time to settle their beef by putting their luscious locks on the line.
PRIMERA CAIDA: Estrada starts fast with a dropkick before Satanico LAUNCHES him out of the ring and follows with La Silla from the apron! Satanico locks in a standing figure four for the immediate submission and the first fall!
SEGUNDA CAIDA: Satanico continues having his way with Estrada, pounding away in the corner until the ref pulls him off by the hair. That allows Estrada a brief advantage before Satanico takes back over with a high-angle spinebuster. Estrada kicks out of a grounded cradle, then stumbles out of the ring after slapping Satanico. Estrada tries to drag Satanico out of the ring, but he gets kicked deep into the ringside seats. Jerry manages to slam Satanico’s face into the ring apron, then rolls him back in for some abuse.
Both guys exchange blows, but Estrada desperately holds onto his opponent to maintain the upper hand. Estrada biels Satanico across the ring a couple of times, but Satanico’s had enough and returns the favor. Satanico hits a bulldog (after the first attempt went a bit awry), but Estrada blocks another attempt and hits a dropkick to send Satanico out. He follows with a somersault plancha and takes a rough landing.
Estrada, somehow still ambulatory, rolls into the ring, and Satanico is counted out to give the second fall to Jerry.
TERCERA CAIDA: Estrada slide-kicks Satanico through the ropes on the floor and continues the beating, focusing on the right arm. We head back in where Estrada continues his advantage with a hammerlock. Satanico’s got the ropes, but the ref isn’t looking. Estrada’s even using the ropes for leverage and the ref barely gives a shit, only breaking it up when it becomes super-obvious.
Satanico fights out and beats away at Estrada, then we brawl on the floor with Estrada ramming the arm into the ringpost. In the ring, Satanico turns the tables and goes after Estrada’s arm. The ref stops Satanico from clubbing it, allowing Estrada to again dominate. We get a surfboard, which Satanico escapes, then it’s more clobbering and a nasty bump for Estrada to the floor. Satanico follows with a tope suicida to send Estrada a couple of rows deep into the crowd!
Back in, Estrada ensnares Satanico in a double-armbar, but Satanico powers out. Jerry fights back, but collapses on the apron before making it up to the top rope for the senton…which misses! Estrada kicks out of a pin attempt and out of a sunset flip, then hits a dropkick for his own near-fall. Satanico is sent to the floor, then Estrada hits a huge plancha from the top rope!
Both guys roll back in, with Estrada continuing his attack, though Satanico is becoming more resistant to the offense. Estrada goes to head upstairs again, but it looks like a FAN is trying to stop him! Security pulls him away, but Estrada misses with the splash! Satanico locks in the pendulum, but can’t put Jerry away. Estrada goes for a Boston crab, but Satanico again powers out! Both guys are just trying to cover each other as their gas tanks are very much on “E” at this point. Suddenly, Satanico snatches a backslide and gets the pin and the third fall!
Post-match, respect is shown, and Estrada gets snipped. Estrada looks like he wants to get back into it with Satanico, but ends up leaving before any more fisticuffs can ensue.
****1/2 - This was a hell of a battle that got super-heated by the end. They told a fantastic story here, with both guys trying to empty the clip on each other, but Estrada just couldn’t finish the job, allowing the wily Satanico to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Estrada took all kinds of crazy bumps, and both guys did an incredible job selling the exhaustion by the end. Estrada collapsing on the apron when trying to climb the ropes was masterful, as was neither guy being able to hold onto a submission for more than a few seconds. Even the fan interference (staged or not) worked, as it may have been the reason that Estrada missed a potential finishing blow. One of the top matches so far this year.
Now it's time for THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE!
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Robert Goulet (*Jay Onrait voice* CANADIAN!) is set for a WrestleMania celebrity appearance.
He’d end up singing “O Canada” and doing a pretty nice job of it.
Also set for WrestleMania: the inventor of the POG, Steve Allen!
The big WWF/AJPW/NJPW Tokyo Dome show will be called the “Wrestling Summit” and seems likely to draw a $3 million sellout gate.
Tony Schiavone’s WWF contract will expire after WrestleMania, so he’ll be returning to the NWA/WCW, where he’d remain until the company’s demise in 2001.
For clarity, Michael “P.S.” Hayes was suspended 30 days for cocaine usage. Sorry if this unexpected development caused you to drop your monocle in horror.
NEXT TIME: More Hogan and Warrior nonsense, including a contract signing! Plus, Ric Flair takes on Ricky Morton, and plenty of USWA action!
Catch up on the rest of Ryan Navigates ‘90
Also, check out my other series!
The Wrestling Society Xperience
If you're into classic metal, check out Ryan Ranks on the CGCM Rock Radio!
Add me on BlueSky!
Also! If you’re not getting this in your email inbox, it might be in your junk/spam folder. Just mark me as “not spam”, and you’ll get the emails again!
Love it. Particularly here for all Sensational Sherri content! Also...any recommendations on who to follow on BlueSky? Haven't used it before but sure as hell won't be using Twitter anytime soon.