Ryan Navigates '90 - #86 (11/10)
LOOK AT THIS ROPE, LEX LUGER!
Good day!
It's yet another Saturday Special at the Navigation, and it's replete with WCW TV matches.
We’ll see Arn Anderson putting his TV title up against Terry Taylor, a Sting vs. Bobby Eaton match with a bizarre ending, and a low-key banger between Brian Pillman and Rip Rogers.
Also, we get a glimpse of Demolition's new look (and reunion with an old manager), a major title change in Memphis, Terry Funk vs. Jerry Lawler in Pennsylvania, promos aplenty, and more!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10th
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
This week on the Brother Love Show, we have Mr. Perfect and the three members of Demolition, all sporting new bondage masks. Love wearing his tie around his neckbrace is awesome in a Joel Gertner way.
Love says he’s surrounded by the PERFECT team, and Mr. P claims he’s the greatest wrestling machine to ever enter the WWF. With Survivor Series on the horizon, Perfect senses trouble for anyone who gets in his team’s way.
He warns the Texas Tornado to watch out because he is what he says he is, and that’s perfect. Ax takes the mic and warns the Ultimate Meathead and the Legion of Doom that they belong to the NEW Demolition!
Crush says Survivor Series will consist of impressive teams, but there’s only going to be one Perfect Team.
Smash says Perfect will take out the Texas Tornado with a Perfectplex, leaving the Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom for the Demos. Curt says that when you put the perfect tag team with Mr. Perfect, you will get destruction for Ultimate Warrior’s team.
You think their team will be called “The Perfect Team”?
I’ve always enjoyed the promos during Survivor Series season, where everyone on the different teams cut them together. Survivor Series, when it was about teams of bad guys against good guys, was SO much better than the “brand supremacy” nonsense that plagued the concept in later years.
The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal) vs. The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) - I don’t see this going well for Mr. Fuji’s duo. Roddy Piper says this could be a main event anywhere.
Sure, Jan.
The Express try to blindside the Sanctum of Spiky Shoulder pads, but that goes poorly as Hawk and Animal hit simultaneous press slams. Tanaka tries another back attack, only to get wrecked with a Hawk forearm. Tanaka tries his luck with a corner whip, only to get met with a Hawk lariat that turns him inside-out.
Animal tags in and hiptosses Tanaka into the heel corner, daring Sato to come in. Sato does indeed enter and immediately gets trucked with a flying shoulderblock. Hawk comes in for a gutwrench, then pounds away a bit longer. Sato tries to fight back, but nothing fazes Hawk, who just slugs him back into the corner for a tag to Tanaka.
Tanaka tries a shoulderblock, but he just bounces off of Hawk like a tennis ball off a brick wall. Tanaka takes a run at Hawk, only to endure another press slam.
A momentary distraction allows the Express to gain control, with Sato landing a hook kick. While Sato kicks away, Piper shouts out his niece, Samantha, who’s fighting in the Middle East. We get a mid-ring collision between Hawk and Sato, allowing a tag to Tanaka and Animal.
Animal runs wild, hitting a huge back body drop on Tanaka, then a meaty powerslam on Sato. The LOD sets up the Doomsday Device, but Fuji calls Demolition down to the ring for assistance. That results in a DQ loss for the Orient Express as a six-on-two beatdown commences.
The Demos hit a Decapitation on Animal as WWF SUPERSTARS OF WRESTLING ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back as the beating continues. We’re approaching the end of the episode as Piper begs for more time in case somebody (like, you know, the LOD’s Survivor Series partners) come to the rescue. Alas, we go off the air while Hawk and Animal continue to get it put in their guts by Fuji’s cronies.
The match itself was very brief, but it was a pretty fun squash until the ending. Tanaka in particular was game for bumping his ass off for the Roadies. This also set up Mr. Fuji’s reunion with Demolition as they slide further down the card.
It’s also a rare Bill Watts-style “WE’RE DESPERATELY OUT OF TIME” cliffhanger for the WWF as you never really got that from them.
USWA Championship Wrestling
We now get some Mid-South Coliseum clips of Jerry “The King” Lawler (c) vs. Terry Funk for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship. Lawler drops a rapid series of second-rope fists as Funk does his twitchy selling. The Funker kicks out, then soon sends Lawler into the ref. Funk goes for a wild swing, but Lawler ducks and drops him with a piledriver.
There’s no ref to count the pin, so Eddie Gilbert attempts to attack Lawler, but the King moves, causing him to clock Funk instead. Seconds later, Lawler knocks Gilbert off the apron, then he drops another fist onto Funk. The ref’s still out as Eddie Marlin tries to keep Gilbert from further interference. Funk produces a chain (take a drink), blasts Lawler with it, then covers for the pin and the title!
I dunno, I love me some Funk, but having Lawler lose the title so soon after that marathon tournament does feel a bit cheap. Then again, it’s not like the Unified title is known for long reigns. Lawler alone won the damn thing 28 times in the nearly eight years it was active.
We now join Jerry Lawler for a pre-taped interview, where he addresses the loss to Funk. He says that Terry is likely very proud of himself, but he didn’t win the title; him and Eddie Gilbert did.
Lawler warns Funk that his days as champion is numbered, but Funk had already taken the belt with him on a tour of Japan for 21 days. Lawler hopes and prays that one of the Japanese wrestlers beats him for the belt, and he promises to be all over Funk when he gets back, like white on rice.
He’ll get Funk in a match where Eddie Gilbert can’t interfere, because he plans on taking Hot Stuff out for good this coming Monday night. He’ll pull double-duty, first promising to help “Superstar” Bill Dundee rid the USWA of one of the Internationals in a “loser of the fall leaves town for six months” match. Lawler promises to get mean and nasty, but not fully villainous, against the Internationals and Eddie Gilbert.
Gilbert’s reign as the new king is going to be short as they’ll face off in a Barbed Wire match! The barbed wire will prevent Eddie’s loser friends and idiotic brother from interfering, keep him from escaping, and will serve as a weapon for Lawler. He warns Gilbert that a real beating is in store for him.
A very good promo to sell Lawler’s anger at losing the title while explaining Funk’s absence, while also covering the stipulations for both his matches on Monday.
Funk went over to Japan for All Japan’s Real World Tag League, teaming with his brother, Dory Funk Jr. We’ll see some action from that tournament in the coming weeks.
Next, Craig Johnson in an awesome sweater jacket interviews Eddie Gilbert in the locker room after a successful Southern Heavyweight title defense against Jeff Jarrett.
Johnson insinuates that Gilbert was lucky to keep his title, to which Eddie ponders when everyone, from the announcers to the wrestlers to the fans, will stop using the word “lucky” in reference to him. Eddie reiterates that he’s the new king, he’s the #1 contender to Terry Funk’s title, and the man to beat in the USWA.
The last match him and Jarrett had was one where the first man to throw a punch loses, which Double J lost because he couldn’t control his temper. The next match will be a “Coward Waves a Flag” match, where each man will have a second in their corner as the designated flag waver, and the match continues until one cornerman waves the flag in surrender.
Gilbert doesn’t know who Jarrett will have in his corner, but Eddie will have Doug Gilbert or Sam Lowe/Bass in his, and neither of them will wave the flag, no matter if Eddie’s shoulder is broken or if he’s bleeding from the mouth. Jeff Jarrett, much like Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler, is YESTERDAY’S NEWS! The Gilberts reign supreme!
Jarrett can use this match to prove he’s a man to his family, to Lawler, and to the shrieking girls in the audience. Gilbert again states that his cornerman will not wave the flag.
Another very strong promo building to another match I want to see. I love Memphis and their creative stips.
Next, “Superstar” Bill Dundee heads out to the announce desk to chat with Dave Brown. He reminds us that, whenever there’s a new dog in town, they try to run him and Jerry Lawler out, but they’ve yet to succeed.
Eddie Gilbert can walk around and say he’s the king, but there’s only one, that being Jerry Lawler. There can only be one superstar, that being Bill Dundee. Superstar then promotes the upcoming match against Tojo Yamamoto’s Internationals with casual racism and blame for increased gas prices. He promises that him and Lawler will send at least one of the Sheiks back to where they came from.
This was fine, aside from the racism, but Lawler and Gilbert are on another plane as talkers.
We again hear from Eddie Gilbert, this time via pre-tape. He addresses Jerry Lawler, saying that this Monday isn’t about titles, but about Eddie proclaiming himself to be the king of Memphis.
He’s proven himself as the number one contender for the title, then he puts the crown down for a minute. Eddie wants to talk about him and Lawler, not titles or monarchy. He says he’s made Memphis his new home town, there’s Eddie Gilbert Boulevard, and he’s about to buy Graceland!
Lawler’s telling everyone that Gilbert helped Terry Funk win the title, but the Funker doesn’t need help to do that! He brings up the Barbed Wire match, saying that Funk imparted in him knowledge of Texas Death Matches and other barbaric match types.
He warns Lawler that this could be his LAST Monday night, so he tells Lawler to bring the cape, the crown, the tights with the crowns on them, the dogs, the bees, the dogs with bees in their mouth, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you. Well, maybe just the first three things.
After Gilbert takes out Lawler, he asks the redneck fans to look up at their new king of wrestling. He’s going to carry Lawler’s head out of the Mid-South Coliseum! Yet another strong promo from Gilbert here.
NWA Pro
This week on The DAAAAAAAANNNNNNGER Zone, Paul E. Dangerously welcomes someone else who hates Lex Luger’s guts, Stan Hansen. The Lariat does confirm that Paul E. got one thing right: he does hate the Total Package.
Hansen’s going to beat Lex Luger up next time they get in the ring, then he talks about having some common ground with the Motor City Madman: being big, nasty, and doing ANYTHING. Hansen’s been in some “pool bars” in his time, and he’s been known to swing a pool cue around. Luger’s got two big nasty guys to look out for.
Hansen reiterates not liking Paul E. (not exactly an exclusive club), then he warns Lex Luger to LOOK AT THIS ROPE. Luger’s going to have to get through that first!
A really fun promo from Hansen that puts over the Motor City Madman and lays the groundwork for Starrcade's bullrope match.
NWA World Television Championship: Arn Anderson (c) vs. Terry Taylor - Haven’t seen a TV title defense in a hot minute.
We get some spirited collar-and-elbow tie-up action to start, but that breaks down into a slugfest with Taylor getting the best of that. Arn comes back with a shot to the gut, then he starts to target the arm like a good Anderson. After some armbarring, Taylor fights out and gets a backslide for two, then an inside cradle for another near-fall, but Arn clubs the arm to regain control.
Arn works the hammerlock, getting a ton of two-counts in the process, but Taylor gets a jawbreaker to escape. The ex-Rooster tries to mount an offensive with some right hands, but Arn dumps him to the floor. Taylor punches away, but Arn sends him shoulder-first into the post as NWA PRO ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Arn getting a two-count, but Taylor gets a crossbody for another near-fall. Arn re-asserts himself with an armbar, then a top wristlock. Taylor bridges out, then converts that into a swinging neckbreaker. Three minutes remain as Arn kicks out of the cover. Taylor gets another jawbreaker for two, but Anderson attacks the arm, getting that sweet hammerlock bodyslam.
Arn works the cover for multiple two-counts as we’re down to two minutes. Anderson cinches in another armbar, then slugs away in the corner. However, Taylor gets a corner clothesline for two as we’re down to one minute!
Taylor hits an atomic drop/back suplex combo for another near-fall, but he charges into a corner knee for two. Thirty seconds remain as Arn’s DDT attempt is thwarted by Taylor holding onto the ropes. Taylor tries a bodyslam, but Arn shifts his weight, collapsing on top for two. Both guys slug it out as time expires, ending the match in a draw.
*** - This was ten minutes of very good meat-and-potatoes wrestling. Arn’s assault on the arm was varied and interesting, while Taylor sold it well and had some decent comebacks.
NWA World Championship Wrestling
Sting vs. “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton - It’s Bobby’s first match as a single after the departure of Stan Lane and Jim Cornette from the NWA, and he draws the world champion in a non-title affair.
The announcers plug a confrontation between Sting and the Black Scorpion at the upcoming Clash of the Champions show, where Scorpion will be locked in a cage to minimize the use of his spooky magic. Fuck my life.
Bobby kicks things off with a cheap shot in the corner, but Sting no-sells and gets a big right and a hiptoss. Sting escapes a headlock and gets a couple of shoulderblocks, but Bobby comes back with a knee to the guts. Sting gets the best of a leapfrog sequence with a monkey flip, then a bodyslam sends Eaton to the floor for refuge.
Back in, Bobby gets a cheap shot to the ribs and a kneelift to send Sting to the outside, but the Stinger catches an Eaton axehandle attempt with a fist to the breadbasket.
We get some fighting on the floor, with Sting and Bobby each eating some ringpost and Sting getting a hiptoss onto the pretty blue mats. Eaton goes to the eyes and leaps onto the apron, but Sting tosses him into the barricade as NWA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back in the ring with Eaton working the arm, but Sting counters into an armbar of his own. Eaton escapes and hits a back elbow, then lands a swinging neckbreaker. He heads up and hits a flying elbow for two, then Bobby continues working the Stinger over, hitting a lariat for another near-fall.
Eaton switches focus to the leg, cinching in a seated leg bar.
Some eerie music then starts playing while Sting mounts a comeback with some fists and the Stinger Splash. As Sting looks for the Scorpion Deathlock, the Black Scorpion taunts him over the house audio, distracting Sting long enough for Eaton to get the jump on him.
Sting fights back and hits a back body drop while Scorpion warns him to watch his back. Sting backdrops Eaton over the top rope, resulting in a disqualification…then two guys come in to attack him!
Sting easily fights off his would-be assailants while the Black Scorpion keeps yammering on.
*** - Another strong TV match for the day, at least until the Scorpion nonsense kicked in. Before that, Bobby Eaton shined as a singles with his offense and bumping, and Sting was dynamic throughout and sold well before the comeback.
While the stuff near the end was cheeks (what was the point of those two plainclothes schlubs?), Sting losing focus and ejecting Bobby over the top rope, costing him the match, was a nice detail and does help get across that the mind games are getting to the Stinger somewhat.
Jim Ross interviews Lex Luger in the back about the Sting/Black Scorpion situation. Love the shirtless fannypack look.
In a brutally bad, rambling, confusing manner, Lex offers Sting back-up if needed against the Scorpion’s nefarious tactics. Luger says him and some friends will be in Sting’s corner come the next Clash, then JR flat out says that the Dudes With Attitude will be back.
Flyin’ Brian vs. Rip Rogers - Hey, haven’t seen the Ripster since he hammed it up in Cocagne, New Brunswick.
Brian does the “limp wrist” taunt to insinuate that Rogers is a GIRLY MAN, much to the delight of the fans at Center Stage.
We get an exchange of slaps at the start, with Brian getting the best of that. Rip unloads with chops in the corner, then Pillman get some nasty ones of his own before getting a hiptoss and a dropkick. Pillman takes control with an armbar as Rogers loudly calls for a timeout.
Pillman gets a quick roll-up for a two-count, then we go back to the armbar for a bit. Moments later, they trade corner shoulderblocks, then Pillman gets a top rope axehandle for a near-fall. Brian gets a wristlock as again Rogers yells for a time-out in amusing fashion.
Rogers gets some cheap shots and a hard whip into the corner before clawing away at Brian’s face. Rip sends Brian to the floor and hits a Macho Man-style axehandle to the outside. We get another stiff chop exchange before Rogers sends Pillman into the ringpost to gain complete control.
Back in, Rogers works away, then dodges a blind charge to maintain the upper hand. Rogers chokes away until Pillman gets a sunset flip for one. Pillman roars back with a bevy of chops, but Rogers dodges an elbowdrop for a two-count. Pillman shifts his weight on a bodyslam attempt for two, but Rogers reasserts himself with a sleeper.
Rip drives his shoulder into the lower back of Pillman, but Brian sends him to the floor with a headscissors. He fakes a plancha, then catches Rogers with an Asai-style crossbody.
Another pair of massive chops and an atomic drop take Rogers out. Back in, Rogers tries for a vertical suplex, but Brian reverses to one of his own. Pillman heads up, but Rogers intercepts. He tries a superplex, but Pillman rebuffs him, and a crossbody keeps Rogers down for the three!
***1/4 - I liked this one the best out of the NWA TV matches today because of the pacing, both guys leathering each other with chops, Pillman’s aerial offense, and Rogers’ shtick. Rip is highly entertaining as a jobber to the stars.
Next, we jump to Jim Ross and Bob Caudle, who is holding a big gift box that is presumably for Theodore R. Long. JR and Bob go over the deal made last week between Long and Ric Flair regarding the upcoming Clash.
We get clips of said negotiations from last week, then we see Teddy checking out the staked limousine and yacht.
The boat in question is named “Magnificent Obsession”. It should have been called “Hahaha, No Fucking Way I’m Paying All This Debt Off”.
Long uses his association with Ron Simmons and Butch Reed to threaten the dock worker away from the yacht, allowing him to marvel at the interior. He puts Doom’s theme song on the stereo and struts around before getting kicked off the boat, which he promises to rename “Teddy Long’s SOUL MACHINE”.
I said previously that I didn’t care about the boat and limo being up for grabs, but Teddy was hilariously obnoxious in these clips, so it was worth it.
Back to the studio, where Long joins the announcers. Long invites Ross and Caudle for a limousine ride, and maybe a spin on the boat. Bob offers the present, but Long is initially hesitant as it could be from the Horsemen or from the Black Scorpion (with “all that voodoo and hoodoo”).
Long leaves without opening the box.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!?!
WWA Live Event
I couldn’t find a logo for this company at all, so I whipped that beauty up in a couple of minutes via Pixlr. #GraphicDesignIsMyPassion
USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship: Terry Funk (c) vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler - This is another one filmed via a single handheld.
Funk again has Dr. Mark Curtis in his corner. You can tell he’s a doctor because he’s wearing a lab coat. He takes the mic and runs down the crowd and Lawler, so the King retorts by saying he’s a proctologist. “He started at the bottom and stayed there”.
We get some intense collar-and-elbow action, with Terry nearly falling out of the ring and getting into a shoving match with the ref less than a minute in. Moments later, when the referee is enforcing a corner break, Funk clubs him across the back and blames Lawler! The ref gives the King a hard time for a bit, then Funk gets a poke to the eyes in lieu of a clean break.
After another cheap shot, this time to the guts, Funk bails to escape Lawler’s wrath. Back in, Dr. Curtis taunts Lawler on the house mic before we go back to the collar-and-elbow. Lawler finally gets a sustained advantage, hitting a battery of armdrags and scoop slams.
We hit the collar-and-elbow again, resulting in Funk taking a hard whip into the corner. Things get scrappy now, with both guys punching and pawing at each other like two drunk polar bears. We hit the floor for some brawling, with Funk walloping Lawler with some nasty blows and a trip to the ringpost.
Lawler makes it back in, but he gets immediately tossed back to the outside, where Dr. Curtis gets some unabated cheap shots. Lawler crawls back in, only to fall victim to a piledriver. However, he gets his foot on the rope to break the cover, but he earns another piledriver, this time on the floor.
The King makes it back in, and Funk pays him back with some big punches. Funk dumps him back out for more managerial abuse, but Lawler puts a stop to that by rolling Dr. Curtis into the ring for a piledriver! Funk hilariously drags the poor sod all the way to the back, returns to the ring, heads back to the locker room, then brings Eddie Gilbert to ringside with him.
Funk pummels Lawler in the corner, but Jerry fights back with a rapid-fire battery of fists, the last one sending Funk to the floor. Funk starts hurling chairs into the ring, so Lawler rewards him with a chairshot of his own.
The King punches away at Funk on the apron, but Funk regains the upper hand with a mule kick to the junk, which gets two. Lawler hits a back suplex out of a headlock, then he makes it rain rights on Funk’s forehead before giving Funk some ringpost to the balls.
Lawler hits a piledriver onto a chair, but Eddie Gilbert runs in and attacks the King (and the ref) for the DQ finish. Gilbert and Funk hit a spike piledriver, then Cactus Jack runs in to get himself a piece of Gilbert. Funk attacks HIM, but Cactus fights back and again beelines to Hot Stuff, who hits a low blow and escapes with Terry.
The announcer confirms that Lawler won by disqualification, but Funk remains the USWA champion.
***1/2 - Lawler and Funk had a very good weekend in terms of high-quality matches. Predictable DQ finish aside, this was some entertaining brawling with nutty bumps and palpable intensity.
I also like the continuity of Cactus Jack coming out to attack Gilbert to follow up on the prior night's show.
THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
So, there’s some issues cropping up regarding WCW and its use of the NWA branding.
Basically, the former Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW never actually applied for the rights to use the NWA name, and the NWA board of directors is going to be asking for money if this were to continue, even going to court if needed.
Adding to this is the fact that WCW isn’t technically a member of the NWA at this point.
Until they get things sorted out, Jim Herd has restricted use of the NWA name in any promotional fashion.
Not too far from where we are, the company will phase out the NWA branding entirely and will operate solely as WCW.
Ax and Smash of Demolition have both given the WWF notice and are set to leave on December 3rd.
The tipping point was the WWF changing their gimmick to masked wrestlers (as we saw earlier), which apparently fucked up an upcoming deal they had with New Japan.
They’re also not too fond of being used as cannon fodder for the Legion of Doom, especially since the LOD haven't caught fire like the WWF hoped.
Of course, Smash would end up sticking around to team with Crush while Ax left the company after Survivor Series.
At a WWF house show in Indianapolis on November 1st, a local radio DJ served as guest ring announcer for the main event, a WWF title match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage.
The Macho King won via count-out, but the DJ erroneously announced him as the new WWF Champion, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
The Ultimate Warrior went berserk, stiffing the DJ with a clothesline that busted his lip open.
Luckily for the very professional, sane Warrior, the DJ was just happy to be there and didn’t seek any kind of legal recompense.
On the October 25th Newborn UWF show, US indie worker Vince Torelli debuted against Yoji Anjo under the name “Ken Shamrock”.
Yeah, like that’ll stick.
NEXT TIME: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong meet again in a cage, hair vs. hair action, and plenty of 2-out-of-3 matches!
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