Ryan Navigates '90 - #37 (5/26)
"If they gave you an IQ test, they would discover that your IQ is 1 point less than a banana."
Good day!
We have another Saturday special here for you today. We start off with an absolutely incredible six-man tag from All Japan that sets into motion significant change for the promotion. We will also get a famous angle from the WWF to set up a big summer rivalry, and both Memphis and WCW run race-related storylines, with one being FAR more successful than the other.
Plus, a Ninja Turtle shows up in the USWA. Cowabunga, dudes!
SATURDAY, MAY 26th
AJPW Super Power Series 1990, Night 10
Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Great Kabuki & Masanobu Fuchi - Some of the most celebrated things about All Japan were the Misawa & Friends vs. Jumbo & Friends six-man tags. While there were a few iterations already during this tour, this is the first one with true significance.
It’s a tad jarring for Spartan X to be playing without the crowd feverishly chanting “MI-SA-WA! MI-SA-WA!”. At least the ex-Tiger Mask II has the signature green tights, and Kobashi’s in his neon orange best. Taue’s a little over two years in at this point, only making his debut a few weeks after Kobashi.
Taue and Fuchi kick things off, with Taue’s size giving him the upper hand. He blasts Fuchi with a dropkick, then tags in Kobashi for a missile dropkick for two. Kobashi works the arm until Fuchi escapes and works Kobashi’s arm. Tsuruta tags in and gets immediately taken down with some chops and a dropkick, but he comes back with a flying knee, then has some elbows for Misawa and Taue! That pisses off Misawa, who tags in and lets Jumbo have it with a series of knees. However, Jumbo puts him in his place with a MASSIVE lariat that causes a very audible “OHHHH” from my end. I shit you not, I woke up my wife who was napping in the other room.
Jumbo drags Misawa back to his corner, tagging Kabuki in for some abuse. However, Misawa comes back with a dropkick, then boots him out of the ring before teasing a dive to the outside. After Kabuki re-enters, Taue dominates him for a bit until he hits a thrust kick. Fuchi tags in and pummels away at his younger prey until Taue escapes a cradle attempt and rains down some fists of his own. Kobashi tags in and drops the leg, BROTHER, for two, then Misawa checks in with a crossbody for another near-fall. Jumbo harasses Misawa from the apron, so Misawa absolutely LEVELS him with an elbow! The future Super Generation Army continue working over Fuchi while Kabuki checks on Jumbo.
Moments later, Fuchi takes Kobashi down and tags Kabuki in, who lights Kobashi up with kicks and other strikes. Jumbo recovers and makes a beeline for Misawa, and they get into an AWESOME, nearly shoot-esque scrap! The other competitors break it up, but only temporarily as Jumbo again sprints towards Misawa for more elbowing! As things start to cool down, Kabuki snatches Kobashi in a Fujiwara armbar, then Fuchi comes in for one of his own as Jumbo regains his bearings on the floor.
Fuchi works a hammerlock into a pinning combination, then he tags Kabuki back in, who immediately eats a rebound crossbody for two. Kabuki comes back with another thrust kick, then it’s back to barring some arm. Taue breaks it up, but Jumbo comes in with a big boot for two. Tsuruta drives Kobashi’s shoulder back down and continues the arm-based punishment until Misawa comes in to break it up. Misawa clobbers Jumbo with some elbows, then Taue comes in with a running elbow in the corner and a Russian legsweep for two. Taue hits a three-point stance lariat for two, then Kobashi comes in with a backdrop driver for another near-fall.
Jumbo comes back with some knees, then Fuchi tags in, tosses Kobashi, then drops him knee-first on the timekeeper’s table! Back in, Fuchi and Kabuki work over the compromised leg until Kobashi levels Kabuki with a lariat. Taue tags in and hits some tsuppari thrusts before dropping an elbow for two. After a Taue dropkick, Misawa comes back in and hits a beauty of a dropkick himself for a near-fall, then gets two off a twisting clothesline.
Kobashi tags in and tries a dropkick on Jumbo, who swats it away. Tsuruta pummels him with knees and kicks, then Fuchi comes back in to attack the knee. He gets a single-leg crab, but Fuchi releases when Misawa threatens to interfere. Kabuki comes in for a kneebreaker and a legbar, but Taue breaks it up. Jumbo tags back in and hits a couple of particularly vicious bodyslams on Kobashi. Yes, Jumbo is making BODYSLAMS look badass.
Jumbo gets an elevated half-crab, but Taue comes in and slaps him right in the face to stop the hold! Misawa comes in, a double dropkick is landed on Tsuruta, then Misawa gets a gutwrench suplex, a spinning heel kick, and a frog splash for two. Kobashi heads up for a missile dropkick, but Jumbo dodges! Jumbo then beheads him with a lariat…but Kobashi kicks out! The look of disbelief on Jumbo’s face says more than any words possibly can.
Kobashi catches an approaching Kabuki with a spinning kick, then gets a rolling cradle for two. He lands a crossbody for another two, then Taue re-enters with another three-point lariat for a near-fall.
Taue catches Kabuki with a DDT for another two, but Kabuki hits a back suplex and tags Fuchi back in. Fuchi hits a dropkick, but Taue catches a crossbody…but Fuchi rolls through with an inside cradle for another close count! Taue hits an atomic drop/back suplex combo for two, then gets Fuchi in a fireman’s carry. However, Kabuki chops Taue, allowing Fuchi to crucifix him for another two! Taue tags out to Kobashi, who drops a second-rope legdrop onto Fuchi, then gets a sunset flip…which Fuchi reverses into a jackknife pin that is broken up by Misawa.
Misawa whips Kobashi into a back elbow on Fuchi, then Kobashi whips Fuchi into a Misawa clothesline. Jumbo comes in to protest, but eats a double dropkick! Kobashi lands a German suplex for a VERY close two, then Misawa goes for a Tiger Driver on Fuchi…but Jumbo blasts him with a lariat! Misawa kicks out of a Fuchi pin, but Fuchi comes back with an enzuigiri. However, after some suplex reversals, Misawa hits a Tiger Suplex for the three!
***** - This was INCREDIBLE, not just for the action, but for what the match represented as a whole. I loved the story of the young guns looking to prove themselves against the old guard. Kobashi, the low man on the food chain, getting thoroughly destroyed throughout (especially by Jumbo) was compelling. He knows how to sell a beating with his gestures and facial expressions, he looked like a tough bastard after withstanding the abuse, and it made the times he did manage some offense really stand out. Fuchi was excellent with his counter-wrestling, and Kabuki brought the vicious strikes and matwork. Even though he’s the junior man on his team, Taue was the stabilizing force and acquitted himself well against the veterans. The near-falls at the end were truly exciting, and the pacing was spot-on.
However, the main draw here was Misawa vs. Jumbo. Their interactions were genuinely electric and heated, and Jumbo really made Misawa look formidable. I am stoked beyond belief to revisit their June 8th classic.
Also, Misawa getting the pinfall here, even if it was on Fuchi, was a major notch on his belt. More than anything, this match signaled a seismic shift in the main-event scene. All Japan was going to be just fine without Genichiro Tenryu.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This was originally marked as ****3/4, but upon further reflection, I couldn’t justify anything less than five for this one.)
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
We’re immediately graced by the presence of Koko B. Ware and Frankie shilling the WWF ice cream bars.
They are FAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC! Koko better be careful giving that parrot ice cream, though, unless he wants to spend the afternoon cleaning up bird shit.
On the Brother Love Show, Love introduces his guests for the week: Hulk Hogan and Earthquake. Hulk appears first, then Jimmy Hart (who is wearing a jacket that says “National Disaster”) comes out without his big lad. Hogan asks where Quake is, because the earth isn’t opening up to swallow the Hulkamaniacs, BROTHER!
Hart explains that Earthquake isn’t here due to doctor’s orders. He has a 105° fever and a sore throat! Hogan snatches Jimmy and demands Earthquake. Well, be careful what you wish for, Hulkster, because Quake comes out with a steel chair to blast Hogan from behind! Earthquake poses with one foot atop his fallen quarry.
Earthquake then hits a trio of buttsplashes to REALLY incapacitate the Hulkster, who kisses his cross necklace in an interesting detail. Officials come out to usher Quake away, then Hulk gets stretchered out as the concerned fans chant “HO-GAN!”. How Earthquake was able to take care of business like this with a 105° fever is nothing short of miraculous.
This was a very memorable, well-done angle to write Hogan off for a bit, build Quake up as a killer, and set up a feud that would actually do pretty good house show numbers (well, compared to the crowds Ultimate Warrior was drawing). With that, Hogan is now free to film the cinematic masterpiece that was “Suburban Commando”.
The stuff with Tugboat last week pretty much set him up as the big non-Warrior babyface in Hogan’s absence. Well, at least for now.
As an aside, while I’m not necessarily a fan of modern WWE, I’m still super happy that both Quake and Tugboat (as Typhoon) are getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. They seemed like genuinely lovely dudes, so I’m happy to see them get some flowers.
We catch up with “Ravishing” Rick Rude and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan next to a climbing rope inside what looks like a high school gym.
Rude learned that history tends to repeat itself, and he’s the one and only man to defeat Warrior. Rude scales the rope while Heenan says that they’re going to the top!
Rude touches the ceiling, then comes back down to tell Ultimate Warrior that the fall to the bottom will not be an easy one to take.
While these guys are still doing good work with the promos, we really needed more of Rude kicking ass than working out. It's nearing “we get it already” territory.
Next, Ultimate Warrior graces us with his presence to talk about the “normals” bleeding and running.
Warriors says he has a wound from prior battles (though he could very well be saying “womb”, and I wouldn’t be surprised). He commands his Warriors to TEAR THE SCAR TISSUE OFF THE WOUND! REOPEN THE INJURY AND LET IT BLEED! LET THE POISON FLOW! LET IT BECOME INFECTIOUS WITH THE DISEASE WE HAVE CARRIED FOR SO LONG! LET RICK RUDE KNOW THE REASONS WE BREATHE!
WARYAH babbles on about the Intercontinental World, then tells Rude that he’ll be infected by the poison of the Warrior! Yep.
You could not ask for a bigger tonal disconnect in the buildup for the Warrior/Rude program. You have Rude doing realistic athletic training while Warrior yaks on about his usual celestial nonsense. It’s no wonder this feud didn’t pack the arenas.
USWA Championship Wrestling (Memphis)
We're walkin’ in Memphis this week with clips from the Mid-South Coliseum. The Snowman, in the front row, gets into a heated shoving match with Eddie Marlin until wrestlers and security separate both parties.
Back in the studio, Marlin apologizes to the fans for what happened, but he is giving Snowman some time to say his piece. Before that, though, Dave Brown dons his meteorologist toque and alerts us of a severe thunderstorm watch in eastern Arkansas. Be careful out there, people!
After the commercial break, Marlin asks Snowman, who is seated in the front row of the studio, to come over so the situation can be civilly discussed. However, Snowman isn’t exactly quick to oblige.
Snowman eventually makes his way to the interview desk and again accuses Marlin of being racist and prejudiced. Marlin had an idea that these claims would come up, so he invites King Cobra to join the discussion. Cobra talks about his wrestling career while Snowman continuously interrupts him, telling him to speak up.
Marlin tells Snowman that he’s being given the opportunity to speak, and Cobra should be afforded the same. He then explains that Cobra has won titles and is a personal friend of his. Snowman says that the USWA keeps Cobra around because he’s not good enough to hold onto championships for very long. Cobra explains that belts are won and lost in the ring.
Marlin asks Cobra if anything had come up during his time in the CWA/USWA that would be considered racially motivated. Cobra says the organization itself isn’t racist, but he has encountered some problematic individuals over the years. However, Snowman yells that he’s lying, then calls a couple of Black fans/local business owners over, one of whom is the brother of Norvell Austin, a fairly prominent Black wrestler in the southern US. He says that Norvell didn’t get any respect, then claims that if you put Jerry “The King” Lawler in the ring with Snowman, you may as well put Snowman in there with Al Bundy.
Bohemian Brother then grabs the mic and says a few words, then Norvell’s brother explains that Snowman defeated Ted DiBiase, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Junkyard Dog, and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, so he shouldn’t have to start from the bottom.
Snowman explains that he wants Jerry Lawler, then the King himself comes out to a bevy of boos. King Cobra immediately leaves, implying that Lawler was one of the individuals he referenced earlier. Lawler grabs the mic with the intention of cutting through the crap. He’s tired of Snowman’s big fat mouth, then offers to give Snowman his match, much to Marlin’s protests. Lawler will fight Snowman anytime, anywhere!
Marlin tells Lawler and Snowman that HE runs the company and that HE signs the title matches. Snowman asks for the match for Monday, but Lawler’s already wrestling Jeff Gaylord. Snowman: “Who is Jeff Gaylord?”.
Lawler says that as long as Marlin maintains his current stance, it only gives Snowman more ammunition. After more posturing and accusations of racism, a frustrated Marlin tells them that they can have their match, but it won’t be sanctioned by the USWA. He hopes both guys beat each other’s brains out, then walks off the set.
Lawler tells Snowman that he’ll be there on Monday with the belt, then dares him to put up or shut up. Snowman promises to be there, too, before saying he hats his guts.
This was another hot, tension-filled segment that really sucked me in. Everyone continues to play their roles expertly here, creating some dynamic and interesting television. Even Norvell Austin’s brother cut a solid promo here. Again, all sides have credible points and flaws, like actual human beings. I’ve never been a big fan of race-related angles in wrestling (as you’ll see soon), but this is an exception.
Because it’s Memphis, we go from a gritty, realistic segment about race relations to a vignette for a NINJA TURTLE! Totally TUBULAR!
You can see Not Michelangelo at the Summer Gold Custom Car show all weekend, signing autographs and taking nightmare-inducing pictures with the children. He’ll also be there at the Mid-South Coliseum on Monday to talk to the kids. Oh, and BRING YOUR PIZZA! Seriously, bring it because Jerry Jarrett is probably too cheap to feed him.
God, I love Memphis and their propensity for really stupid shit. Kinda like Super Mario, the Ninja Turtle was there to draw in the youngsters.
However, this turtle looks much different than Kowabunga (or Cowabunga), the Ninja Turtle gimmick portrayed by Chris Champion that would come into the promotion soon after this. Some sources say that this is still Champion before the eventual repackaging, but I’m not entirely sure. The voice sure sounds similar. At any rate, we’ll be seeing Cowabunga during the course of this series, for better or worse. Emphasis on “worse” for reasons that I’ll get into in upcoming articles, but it’s pretty sordid.
Jerry Lawler is back out there with Dave Brown to re-address the Snowman situation, but the Man of Snow soon comes out and piefaces Lawler.
Both guys then trade blows in a REALLY heated fight. Eddie Marlin comes out to to diffuse the situation, but both guys are out of control. The crowd chants for Snowman as he’s forced out of the building by security. Lawler says he’s going to prove that Snowman’s always been a loser on Monday night.
It only lasted a few seconds, but that was a hell of a brawl. They threw punches that appeared more realistic than the typical worked wrestling punch. The USWA is doing all they can to make you believe that these guys hate each other, which may not have been completely out of the realm of possibility. All of this translated into box-office gold, as live event attendance apparently DOUBLED on the back of this storyline.
NWA World Championship Wrestling
It’s Ole Anderson’s first weekend of television shows as head WCW booker, so let’s see how she goes. First, we start with Ole and Ric Flair coming out to interrupt Jim Ross. Earlier in the show, Good Ol’ JR hinted at a big surprise for the Horsemen. Ole “politely” asks Jim what the revelation is, but Ross says that if he told them, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore!
Ole tells Jimbo he’s getting a bit smug, then Ole and Flair again demand to know what the surprise is. Ross says he’d love to tell them, but it’s time for a station break! The Horsemen leave pissed off.
Next, we get footage of Tony Schiavone interviewing a hospitalized Lex Luger three days before Capital Combat. Tony asks about Luger’s 103° fever and the condition of his leg as a result of his staph infection.
Luger says that it’ll take more than a little discoloration and swelling to keep him from facing Ric Flair in the cage. Luger doesn’t care if he has to rip the tubes out of his arm and crawl to Washington, he’ll be at Capital Combat.
Kind of interesting that they’d play this clip here instead of before Capital Combat, but it still makes Luger looks gutsy for working the match mere days after being in the hospital.
Also, like I said about the Natural Disasters earlier, it’s really nice to see Lex getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He’s someone who has really worked hard at turning his life around, and I’m happy to see him get some love from the industry and the fanbase while he’s still around to accept it.
We now jump to Jim Ross interviewing Rocky King. Rocky knows about the surprise, and he’s tall, big, bad, and from “my side of town”.
King was a longtime enhancement talent who worked chiefly with Jim Crockett Promotions, starting in 1984. I believe this was the closest he got to a major push. After he was done with wrestler duty, he’d be a referee in WCW until his retirement in 1998. King passed away in 2022 at the age of 64.
Once again, Jim Ross gets interrupted by Ole Anderson and Ric Flair, who repeat their demands to know what the surprise is. Flair says they “don’t even talk to guys like Rocky King”, then threatens to go to the ring and drag him by his neck.
Ross maintains his tight-lipped stance as we segue to…
Rocky King vs. Cactus Jack Manson - The match doesn’t end up happening as Ole and Flair hit the ring. Ole tells Cactus to take a hike.
Jack leaves without resistance, then the Horsemen try to bully King into spilling the beans on the big surprise. Flair refers to him as “boy” a couple of times and threatens King by saying, “you can’t moonwalk one foot with a broken leg”.
Suddenly, Junkyard Dog comes out of the crowd carrying his gear bag, I guess? Flair runs him down on the mic, then Ole tells Flair to “show him how we take care of people like this back in old Minnesota”.
Flair suckerpunches King, but JYD dispatches both foes to a pretty big fan reaction.
JYD grabs the mic and cuts a promo on the Horsemen, saying that if the Horsemen “can’t stand to eat, then get the hell out of my kitchen”. With that, Junkyard Dog is set as the new challenger to Flair’s belt.
Next, we jump to Jim Ross interviewing Ric Flair about the aftermath of what we just saw. Flair has been told that a title match has been signed for Clash of the Champions between him and “everybody’s Black hero”, Junkyard Dog. There’s a lot of people Flair doesn’t like in this business for professional reasons, but he doesn’t like JYD for PERSONAL reasons. Oh, boy.
Flair says that JYD will NEVER high-five Michael Jackson or Mike Tyson, nor will he appear on Arsenio Hall’s show as the first Black NWA champion. Over Flair’s dead body! When Janet Jackson wraps her arms around Flair, she’s not thinking of the Junkyard Dog. When Paula Abdul (zuh?) grabs Flair’s arm and says “ooohhhh, champ”, she says NOTHING about JYD. Flair promises to THUMP JYD at the Clash.
Well, this feud sucks.
When I discussed the Snowman angle in Part 35, I brought up wrestling’s rather dubious history of handling angles involving race. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for us to get a prime example of the bad kind of race storyline.
This whole deal reeks of Ole attempting an old race-baiting storyline that drew houses for him decades prior. However, it’s not something that’s going to necessarily work in the 1990s, especially not on a national scale and not with a Junkyard Dog whose drawing power has long evaporated.
I’m not entirely surprised given what’s come out about Flair, but you’d still have some hope that he would be above this kind of stuff. There’s been instances where he worked with Black opponents and didn’t need to stoop to racism.
Even putting aside the racial aspect, Flair feuding with an aging, out-of-shape Junkyard Dog is a steep drop-off from his last few title programs. Sure, JYD is a solid promo, but the bell has to ring sometime. They could have elevated an existing babyface instead.
However, if you just HAD to put JYD in there to occupy Flair until Sting came back, you could have easily positioned him as an underdog veteran looking for one last shot at glory. Flair could have antagonized Junkyard Dog simply because he wanted to usurp his throne.
Hell, you could still center it around JYD’s quest to be the first Black NWA champion. Just make it so that Flair wants to win to keep his title, not cut promos about his desire to prevent the next NWA champion from being a Black man. The matches would still be awful, but at least the storyline would be more palatable.
International Championship Wrestling
We haven’t seen these guys for a while, but we’re back with a Tony Atlas promo! He talks to Chief Thunder Mountain, putting over his massive size (6’2” and “400 and something odd pounds, and I MEAN ODD POUNDS!”), but says he lacks a brain. Chief apparently had to stay up all night to study for a blood test!
"If they gave you an IQ test, they would discover that your IQ is 1 point less than a banana."
He stuck his big fat nose in Atlas’ business, so he's gonna take him out! You don’t mess with the Champ!
Again, Atlas cuts a really fun promo with decent lines and awesome comedic delivery.
THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In Japan, Genichiro Tenryu held a press conference to officially announce his Super World of Sports promotion, complete with $40 million in backing from parent company Megane Super.
The Road Warriors are set to debut for the WWF in August under the “Legion of Doom” name. They still get to be known as “Road Warrior Hawk” and “Road Warrior Animal”, though.
They can still wear their makeup, but they’ll need to grow out their hair.
That last one didn’t end up happening.
The LOD are set to feud with Demolition almost right away, with the blowoff being at WrestleMania in a match where the losers would no longer be allowed to wear their facepaint.
That also didn’t end up happening.
May 19th saw the debut of another son of Bob Armstrong, as Bullet Bob teamed with youngest son Brian against Randy Barber and Jason at a Georgia indie show.
Yes, that would be Attitude Era luminary and SmackDown creative burnout Road Dogg.
With Ole Anderson in charge, there are talks of bringing Tully Blanchard back into the NWA fold.
That also didn’t end up happening.
NEXT TIME: El Dandy vs. Angel Azteca! Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto! Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo! Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee! Matt Borne vs. Kerry Von Erich in a cage! And more!
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