Ryan Navigates '90 - #12 (2/18 - 2/23)
The Megapowers Explode for the last time in the WWF with Buster Douglas in the mix, the Horsemen entertain with the Rock N' Roll Express, and more!
Good day!
The theme for today is “classic rivalries”. The NWA revisits a storied rivalry from the 1980s, we’ll see a little bit of the latest installment in a long-running Memphis beef, and The Main Event gives us the final chapter (well, in the WWF at least) of one of the most lucrative main-event feuds The Fed’s ever had. We’ll also have a bit of USWA Evansville content to round things out.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18th
NWA Main Event
The Rock N’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Horsemen (Ric Flair & Arn Anderson) - The Horsemen and the Express definitely have some history, with many a tag match having been fought throughout the ‘80s. Morton's also had many acclaimed singles matches with Flair over the years.
Arn and Ricky start us off, with Morton keeping Anderson at bay and fighting off both opponents in the heel corner. Everybody skirmishes in the ring, with the R&Rs coming out on top after sending Flair and Anderson to the floor. Gibson checks in and rams Arn repeatedly into the top turnbuckle, then the middle turnbuckle, then the bottom turnbuckle. That’s always a delightful spot, especially with Arn’s bumping and selling. Flair tags in and gets slapped by Gibson! OH!
Flair tries to retaliate with punches, but Gibson slaps him again! Morton tags in as the crowd is rabid for the Rock N’ Rolls. Morton fights through some chops and hits Flair with a back body drop and a hurricanrana as Naitch bails and flops over the guardrail. Back in, Morton takes Flair down and applies the Figure Four! Arn comes in and Gibson puts him in one of his own!
Flair goes to the eyes to break, then Arn clobbers Ricky when he attempts a roll-up. Gibson tags back in and soon hits Arn with an enzuigiri, and the Express again stand tall as Anderson powders. Back in, the Horsemen finally get a brief advantage, working over Morton…until Ricky fights back! Flair ends up in the tree of woe, allowing Ricky some unabated shots. Gibson tags and we get a double dropkick, but Arn breaks up the pin! Ricky sends Flair into the ringpost, which ends up busting the Nature Boy open. Morton goes for a blind charge on Flair, but Arn pulls him out of the way, allowing Ricky to drive his shoulder into the post!
Anderson works Morton over, focusing on the arm. Flair and Anderson take turns pounding away on Ricky as the camera does its best not to show the blood on the side of Flair’s face. Morton manages a desperation flying crossbody for two before resuming his role as whipping boy.
Arn takes a swipe at Gibson, who dodges. This results in Arn and Ricky clashing heads, but Arn hits an inverted atomic drop to halt a tag. Flair heads in and pummels Morton in the corner, but Morton comes back by sending Flair over the corner and onto the apron, where a right hand from Gibson awaits him. However, Arn attacks Morton behind the ref’s back, and the Horsemen hit a double-team stun gun. Arn covers, yanks Morton’s leg off the ropes, and gets the three!
**** - My verdict for this match:
This was an interesting and highly entertaining subversion of the usual Rock N’ Roll Express formula. Typically, the faces would shine for a bit before Ricky gets his ass kicked, we’d get the hot tag to Robert, and he’d clean house before the finish. In this case, there was no hot tag, but the Rock N’ Rolls got a TON of time to shine before the Horsemen took over. Ricky got his clock cleaned by the heels for a few minutes, took a devastating double-team maneuver behind the ref’s back, and got pinned.
Flair and Arn have always had top-notch chemistry with the Rock N’ Rolls, and this was no exception. The Horsemen bumped and sold like CRAZY to put the Express over. Add in a hot crowd that loved the babyfaces, and you have a great piece of television.
Speaking of television, one thing that I haven’t brought up yet is that the NWA TV shows had recently been doing banger numbers. Like, double what they were doing the last 2-3 years. For instance, this episode of Main Event ended up with a 4.4 rating. WWE or AEW would barter with a crossroads demon to get that kind of rating nowadays.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21st
USWA Evansville TV (Memphis)
We get a rare bit of midweek Evansville TV here! We start with Jerry “The King” Lawler, who talks about his team with Billy Joe Travis putting fear into the babyfaces and USWA management. Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee will go DOWN this week in Evansville! Short and sweet from the King this week.
Junkyard Dog cuts a promo to build up a match with him and The Soultaker. The Dog posits that he has to get through Soultaker in order to get to Jerry Lawler. He says that Soultaker will BITE THE DUST because anyone can be beaten (“just ask Mike Tyson”).
Another decently fun promo from JYD, but the prospect of an out-of-shape Junkyard Dog vs. a super-green Soultaker…
I’m not even a JYD hater or anything; far from it. You won’t see me using stupidly childish names like “Junkfood Dog”, but he really was far removed from his peak in 1990.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd
USWA (Dallas)
We join Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. “Superstar” Bill Dundee in progress, as this is the conclusion of the prior week’s USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship match. Lawler rams Dundee’s head into Terrence Garvin’s lovely pink chair.
The King lands a flying punch from the top rope, then tosses a few more jabs. Lawler stumbles around making fun of a punch-drunk Dundee, so Superstar makes him pay with a huge right hand! Dundee peppers Lawler with fists, but Lawler socks him in the gut to halt the comeback. Lawler misses a top rope kneedrop, and Dundee goes for a spinning toehold…but Lawler knocks him into the referee! I, for one, am shocked that a USWA title match has a ref bump.
Lawler removes his boot, clobbers Dundee with it, grabs some trunks, and gets the pin to retain.
Post-match, Lawler tells the crowd that they smell bad.
Seemed like a super-heated match from what we got. Lawler and Dundee have unrivaled chemistry, like God put them on this planet to antagonize each other. Always a fun pairing.
WWF The Main Event III
We close out this issue with a look at The Main Event, an NBC TV special in the same vein as Saturday Night’s Main Event, but it took place on Friday nights. There were five total Main Event specials, with this being the third.
As discussed in previous Tugboat Tribunes, Mike Tyson was to be the guest referee for the WWF title match, but James “Buster” Douglas happened. Also, Tyson’s sister had actually passed away a few days before this show, so even if he was still world champion, he may have still opted out of this appearance.
We start with the cold open. “Macho King” Randy Savage tells Buster Douglas to stay in line, or he’ll give him a THRILL!
Jack Tunney appoints Buster Douglas the outside official, while Earl Hebner is the troubleshooter inside the ring! Buster’s manager, John Johnson, hypes him up!
Hulk Hogan says that something’s gonna explode! Oh, dear.
Everything other than Hogan/Savage and Warrior/Bravo were dark matches:
Earthquake defeated “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin in a squash.
Around this time, Earthquake dropped “Canadian” from his name. This was likely done to circumvent any possible babyface heat at the Toronto-set WrestleMania VI.
Dusty Rhodes beat Mr. Perfect via inside cradle.
Ted DiBiase defeated Jake “The Snake” Roberts via countout after over 21 minutes.
The Colossal Connection (André the Giant & Haku) defeated Demolition (Ax & Smash) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship after Haku pinned Smash.
“The Model” Rick Martel defeated Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake via pinfall with assistance from the ropes.
According to Dave Meltzer, this one stank up Joe Louis Arena something fierce.
Seemed like a pretty good card on paper, but a lot of these matches were apparently lousy, with house show-level effort abound.
WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. “Macho King” Randy Savage - GRAPHICS!
We kick it to “Mean” Gene Okerlund, who is with Randy Savage. He’s happy that Mike Tyson isn’t reffing this match because Tyson’s great-grandmother was a card-carrying HULKAMANIAC, thus impacting his ability to be unbiased. Savage tells Buster Douglas to call it down the middle, or he’ll have to face a higher authority. A ROYAL authority! Sensational Queen Sherri promises a title win for the Macho King.
The royal couple gives us the classic entrance.
Mean Gene is chilling with Hulk Hogan, who says him and Buster Douglas have a lot in common. They both had to scratch and claw their way to the top, and they both believe in God, family, and country. Hulk suggests that this may be the last time he faces Randy Savage, then threatens to take Douglas’ world heavyweight boxing title if he doesn’t call it right down the middle! Yeah, that’s how it works.
Mean Gene is now with Buster Douglas, who says he knocked Mike Tyson out for himself, his country, and his mother. Was Tyson anti-American or something? Okerlund asks why he would get in the ring to officiate a wrestling match. Douglas says that Tyson ran away, so Douglas stepped in. Plus, they advertised the world heavyweight champion, so he had to make good on the promise. Man, they’re just heaping on the salt in Tyson’s wounds.
Gene asks if he’s going to be unbiased, to which Douglas says he will call it right down the line, but he’ll K.O. anyone who steps out of line.
Douglas gets a pretty healthy pop coming out. Hogan gets the best of Savage early on, but Douglas stops Hulk from going after Macho King on the floor. Savage gets a quick advantage with a necksnap and a high knee to the back to send Hulk to the pretty blue mats. Savage heads up top for a presumptive axehandle, but Douglas prevents that. Hulk goes after Sherri, who hopped up onto the apron, but Savage errantly clobbers her with a flying knee to send her to the floor!
Hogan hits the AXE BOMBAH and assaults Savage in the corner, then in the opposite corner. Hogan hits a running elbow smash and drops some elbows before raining down some mounted fists.
Hogan continues his dominance with an atomic drop, but Sherri grabs his foot as he’s running against the ropes. He grabs at Sherri again, allowing Savage to attack the Hulkster from behind (and knock Sherri on her duff in the process). Savage hits a hard falling clothesline on Hogan for two before laying in some choking. Sherri strangles Hogan behind Hebner’s back, so Buster ejects her from ringside! He follows her backstage to make sure she complies as THE MAIN EVENT ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Douglas jogging back to ringside as Savage has Hogan locked in a sleeper. Hogan makes his comeback, BROTHER, and they dodge each other’s offense until Savage hits another snappy clothesline. He goes for the COCKY PIN on the Hulkster…
…but Hogan surprisingly kicks out of that devastating maneuver. Savage hits the axehandle to the floor this time, then lands a follow-up axehandle in the ring for another near-fall! Savage repeatedly goes for near-falls, but Hulk keeps kicking out. Savage keeps pounding away on Hogan and hits the flying elbow…but Hogan HULKS UP and hits the big boot to send Savage to the outside. Savage gets a desperation eye rake, but Hogan is unaffected! Savage bumps into Hebner, then Hogan drops the leg, BROTHER! Hulk covers, Douglas slides in and counts the (admittedly fast) pin! Hogan retains!
After the match, Savage takes umbrage with the refereeing. Douglas defends himself, so Savage gets good and riled up. Savage challenges Douglas to fisticuffs, then slaps him! Oh, no. This won’t go well for the Macho King.
After more goading, Hogan shoves Savage into Douglas, who lands a couple of jabs to expectedly knock Savage out.
*** - This was the prototypical Hogan/Savage match, but that’s not a slight. Savage has always been a great opponent for Hulk, and he (and Sherri) did an awesome job bumping and heeling while Hogan did his thing. Everyone kept the match moving, and it was fun as a result.
In the earlier promo, Hogan said that this match with Savage would likely be their last. Well, he was kind of right. This would be the final match that these guys would have against each other in the WWF. Of course, we’d get some bouts between the two in WCW, the last of which being on the July 12th, 1999, episode of Monday Nitro. Shockingly, Hogan won.
We clip to the end of The Ultimate Warrior vs. Dino Bravo. The Canadian strongman has WARYAH in a bearhug, but Warrior reverses to one of his own. Bravo manages his Side Suplex, but Warrior kicks out. Bravo assaults the back, but Warrior absorbs the punishment and comes back with a headbutt and some clotheslines. Warrior polishes Bravo off with a flying shoulderblock and the running splash.
Earthquake immediately comes in, and Bravo pops back up to help with the double-teaming. Warrior attempts his own comeback, but Earthquake puts a stop to that. After some big elbows, Quake heads to the second rope, but Hogan runs out for the save before Earthquake could create the Ultimate Pancake.
Hogan knocks Quake to the floor, but Warrior takes exception to Hulk’s intervention. They have a heated exchange, with both guys shoving away officials in the process.
To close out the week, it’s a series of promos! First, Vince McMahon asks Hulk Hogan about the Royal Rumble. Hulk says that he felt Hulkamania at its peak, but Warrior was the strongest force they’ve ever encountered. He does maintain that the friendly fire clothesline on Saturday Night’s Main Event was an accident. Vincent (as Hogan calls him) asks if the run-in earlier tonight was to steal attention from Warrior. Hogan says he’ll be watching Warrior’s back 24/7 so he’s at his best for THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE.
Hogan says that Warrior is WrestleMania ready before closing with the usual.
Mean Gene then asks Ultimate Warrior about what happened tonight. Warrior says that he did not need HO KOGAN tonight or at the Rumble. He needs not HO KOGAN’s protection, saying that the Warriors who could not be with him tonight fueled him. Warrior will stand tall against HO KOGAN at WrestleMania because he is the chosen one!
Hogan’s promo was a bit more in line with reality this time, which is almost a shame because Hogan’s ridiculous promos were highly entertaining. Warrior continues to be completely and utterly incomprehensible.
We return with Mean Gene, who asks Buster Douglas if he had fun tonight, and if he was able to Wang Chung tonight. Well, maybe not so much that last one. Douglas says he had a blast, and that Hulk Hogan is his kind of guy. I somehow doubt that Hogan would reciprocate that feeling.
Douglas’ next move? Him and Hogan are going out drinking!
Fear not, though, as Hogan is a buttermilk man, whereas Douglas is into whole milk. Phew, I was worried about the future of America’s moral fabric for a second there.
Douglas would end up being a total flash in the pan, losing the title to Evander Holyfield in his first defense on October 25th, 1990. Buster, who turned in a lackluster fight after showing up out of shape, retired after the loss. He came back in 1996 and fought until his actual retirement in 1999. He ended his career with a 38-6-1 record.
Douglas also had his own Sega game, which was kinda mid. It’s actually one of the few Genesis games I own with the case (no manual, though).
Tyson definitely kicked his ass in the video game department.
Bad News Brown defeated Tito Santana with the Ghetto Blaster.
Tito allegedly served as a replacement for “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka.
Rowdy Roddy Piper and “Ravishing” Rick Rude battled to a double disqualification in a Lumberjack match.
Now it's time for THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE!
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Some top matches have been announced for the massive NJPW/AJPW/WWF Tokyo Dome show on 4/13. Those include:
Hulk Hogan vs. Terry Gordy as the main event
Genichiro Tenryu vs. “Macho King” Randy Savage
The Ultimate Warrior vs. Ted DiBiase
Tiger Mask II vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart
Andre the Giant & Giant Baba vs. Demolition
Riki Choshu vs. Big Boss Man
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Mr. Perfect & “The Model” Rick Martel
…and more!
Some of those would end up changing (notably the main event), but we mostly got everything listed here.
The initial plan was apparently Hogan vs. Tenryu on top, but Tenryu laying down for the legdrop didn’t work for him, BROTHER. Gordy would, so that was the new plan (for now).
Several workers in the NWA were given their 90-days’ notice that they will be canned if they don’t sign a reduced contract when their current deals expire in May. Among those on the prospective chopping block are the Dynamic Dudes, the Samoan Swat Team, the Samoan Savage, and, most puzzlingly, the Midnight Express and Jim Cornette.
Apparently, the company wanted to keep Cornette around and ditch Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, but all three negotiated as a package deal.
That would especially stick in future head booker Ole Anderson’s craw, which should make for some entertaining Tugboat Tribunes in the future if nothing else.
Really, you want to get rid of the Midnight Express of all talent? I get trimming the fat, but you’re cutting off muscle at that point.
The Royal Family (Rip Morgan & Jack Victory) were just straight-up released as they were working without a contract.
NEXT TIME: It’s another Saturday special! Lawler-mania continues to run wild in Memphis, the NWA wants us to buy ROOS, and Angelo Savoldi’s ICW makes its series debut!
Catch up on the rest of Ryan Navigates ‘90
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The Rock-n-Roll Express were wildly popular at their peak although I always found myself cheering for The Midnight Express for some reason even though they were supposed to be the "bad guys". Do you think if The Rock-N-Roll express had gone to WWF at their peak they would have had high level success or been lost in the mix?
Really enjoyed this post. Brought back some really great memories. That Buster Douglas moment was so good!!