Ryan Navigates '90 - #13 (2/24)
It'S ROOS...or ELSE!
Good day!
It’s another Saturday Special at the Navigation! This time, we get to see Brother Love get his ass kicked, Memphis awesomeness, new NWA US tag champs, and the first series appearance of Angelo Savoldi’s ICW promotion.
However, this week belongs to ROOS.
Because it’s ROOS…or ELSE!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24th
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
It's time for The Brother Love Show! Love pisses and moans about Ted DiBiase getting his Million Dollar Belt stolen before introducing today’s guest: Jake “The Snake” Roberts, or, “Jake ‘The Thief’ Roberts” as Brother introduced him. Oh, torched him.
Love bitches at Jake for the belt theft, so the Snake invites DiBiase to come and get it out of the bag. Jake then brings out the newly-turned Big Boss Man. Jake tells Love that “birds of a feather flock together” to describe the Roberts/Boss Man union, then Boss Man tells Love to “flock off”.
After Roberts and Boss Man leave, Love goes on a tirade about snakes being the lowest form of life…other than a law enforcement officer that won’t take money. Because Love was stupid enough to shout that into the microphone for everyone to hear, Boss Man returns and ARRESTS Brother Love! Good! Love gets handcuffed to a guardrail.
Not done with the police brutality, Boss Man brings out an old-fashioned ball and chain. He uncuffs Love, drags him to the ring, lays him out with a spinebuster, then drops the ball and chain onto Love’s midsection!
Watching Brother Love get his just desserts is always a good time, and it was a fun way to get Boss Man even more over in his new role.
USWA Championship Wrestling (Memphis)
We start this week’s extensive Memphis coverage with Jerry “The King” Lawler getting a Coke delivery from manservant (and longtime Memphis manager) Nate the Rat. Because this is wrestling, I have to clarify that it’s Coca-Cola.
Lawler tells Nate to procure a glass, preferably on a silver platter, as he refuses to consume Coke directly from the can. Nate scampers off in search of the requested drinking vessel.
We clip back to Nate, who has successfully located the desired glassware and the silver tray on which to present it. Nate pours the joyous potable into the glass and hands it to The King, having finally earned his approval. I just spent three paragraphs talking about a dude getting a fucking Coke, but Lawler’s antics elevate it.
The King now plugs his “Jerry Lawler Sings a Whole Bunch of Songs” album on audio cassette, then him and Dave Brown discuss a recent radio appearance before Lawler gets in another quality zinger (“you didn’t know you could listen to AM radio in the afternoon”).
Lawler then declares that he’s hungry, so he sends Nate to McDonald’s for a Big Mac, fries, and a large Coke. Damn, I kinda want some Rotten Ronnie’s now.
(Editor’s note: I got McDonald’s the day I wrote that line. Yes, I like terrible food.)
Dave then brings out the Stud Stable (Robert Fuller & Brian Lee), who had recently lost the USWA tag straps to the Southern Rockers. Fuller cuts an impassioned promo against the new champions, then Brian Lee actually says something for once, telling Fuller to chillax.
Lee declares the Southern Rockers one of the best teams they’ve ever faced, and Fuller blows a gasket. He tears a verbal strip off Lee, blaming him for the team’s shortcomings. Lee goes back at it with Fuller, then we get a shoving match that results in Lee knocking Fuller to the floor! Fuller calls Lee back under the guise of reconciliation, says that Lee’s right…then suckerpunches the HELL out of him and DDTs him on the floor! Oh, shit!
Lee is busted open as Fuller continues the assault, sending him careening over the announce table. Eddie Marlin has to come out and break it up, but Fuller shoves HIM down! Marlin gets back up, lays down the law, and finally puts an end to the violence. The Stud Stable is now kaputski.
I don’t necessarily feel for Lee because he has the personality of a dry sponge, but the turn is still effective because Fuller’s that awesome. Great promo, excellent beating, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that first punch was legit.
We return to the announce table with Dave and The King, but Kerry Von Erich and his tiny shirt saunter out as high-pitched screams fill the WMC-5 studio. Kerry says he’s here for Jimmy Valiant, but Lawler chirps away at Von Erich, who he refers to as “Brain Damage”. Kerry says that the Boogie Woogie Man has a present for The King, then walks away to retrieve it.
Moments later, Kerry brings out said present, which is a bucket of water that he dumps onto the King! Lawler is PISSED.
Lawler demands that Brown calls Valiant on the telephone. Brown gets him on the horn, and Valiant wants to know if Lawler is ‘cool’. Jerry snatches the phone and lays into Jimmy as we get footage of Valiant costing Lawler an NWA title match against Harley Race years ago. Lawler FORGAVE him for that and took him in as his partner, but that friendship is now OUT the window. Lawler continues to rant and rave about how much he HATES Valiant, but Jimmy hung up long ago.
Lawler continues shouting threats to Jimmy Valiant, but poor Nate, who has just the WORST timing, has returned with some McDick's! Lawler was not in the mood for cold, terrible McDonald’s fries, so he throws the food back at Nate and shoves him onto his duff.
Next, it’s a music video for Jimmy Valiant, set to “Boogie Woogie Man” by Charlie Daniels. We get clips of Valiant doing his wrestling thing spliced with footage of him flying the American flag, kissing random people, and picking up some ladies. Handsome Jimmy certainly was charismatic if nothing else, even if he looked more at home in a ZZ Top tribute band.
Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. Ben Jordan - Sweet baby Jesus, it’s an actual match! It’s a quick one, though, as a still-incensed Lawler storms the ring, slams Jordan on the floor, and pounds away at him unabated.
Lawler continues the humiliation on the floor until Chris Champion comes out to put a stop to it. The King tells Champion and his long, stringy hair to get out, then Lawler decks Champion from behind and piledrives him on the floor!
The match is thrown out as Lawler rams Champion’s and Jordan’s heads together. Champion’s got color from the forehead as Lawler continues to unleash his rage against the former New Breed member. Jordan tries to interject but gets hurled over the announce desk. Lawler DDTs Champion on the studio floor and talks shit to him on the house mic. Lawler dumps the desk onto Champion and drives it further down until Eddie Marlin again intervenes.
That proves futile, though, as Lawler continues attacking Champion, tossing him into the ring and DDTing him onto a chunk of the desk.
A cabal of wrestlers come out to run the King off to finally end the assault. That was a crazy heel beatdown. It’s like Lawler saw Robert Fuller’s earlier attack on Brian Lee and said, “hold my Coke”.
This was an awesome angle and all, but the only criticism I have is that I would have done the Fuller turn on a different week given that both segments featured many similar elements (blood, DDT on the floor, Eddie Marlin intervening, etc.). The Fuller turn gets a bit overshadowed here, especially by someone like Lawler who’s already all over the show.
Chris Champion Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. The Destroyer - Not surprisingly, this Destroyer is not the legendary Dick Beyer. As Champion got thoroughly wrecked by Lawler in the prior segment, the King takes his place. He spits at the Destroyer and pummels him as the bell rings.
He tosses the Destroyer to the outside and assaults him with a stepladder.
Jerry rolls him back in for more abuse. A flying fistdrop finishes a fast and furious squash for the King.
Man, that was a LOT of Jerry Lawler this week, but at least it was highly entertaining. Seemed like quite the episode of television overall, with Lawler and Fuller bringing the heat.
NWA Worldwide Wrestling
We made it to the finals of the US Tag Team Championship tournament! The US tag titles were deactivated in May 1989 after then-champions Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner split up (so Rick can team with brother Scott). I’m not entirely sure why the titles were resurrected other than just to add more midcard belts.
We pick it up at the end of Flyin’ Brian & The Z-Man vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael “P.S.” Hayes & Jimmy Garvin).
Everybody brawls it out until Brian hits Air Pillman on Hayes, and Z-Man gets the pin and the titles.
NWA World Championship Wrestling
This week, it’s all about the ROOS!
For those sneaker non-aficionados, KangaROOS (or “ROOS”) is a manufacturer of athletic shoes. The big appeal back then was that there was a teeny, tiny little pocket on the side of the shoes where you can (in theory) store change, small bills, keys, narcotics, etc. That way, you wouldn’t need to get bulky workout clothes that have pockets. Like the name suggests, it was kind of like a kangaroo pouch, but with a lot less mucus.
ROOS got some traction in the mid-80s, with notable athletes like WWE Hall of Famer William “Refrigerator” Perry, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, “Sweetness” Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and Springfield Mystery Spot victim Ozzie Smith among its wearers. However, the brand’s popularity waned by the end of the decade, and the deal with the NWA was pretty much a last-ditch effort to cling onto any shred of relevance. It didn’t entirely work out, but not for lack of effort from the NWA.
Despite the shoes not really having much in the way of distribution at the time of the agreement, you couldn’t watch four seconds of NWA television without having the ROOS brand hitting your eyeballs. The ringposts were adorned with gigantic ROOS logos, and a particularly devastating maneuver could be named the “ROOS Move of the Week”, much like the Quizno’s Slamwich of the night for Wrestling Society X. It was like the Draft Kings, Prime, or Dude Wipes of 1990.
Hell, the potential of a ROOS tie-in was used as a bargaining chip to try to keep talent from leaving the company. Not surprisingly, the idea of having a gimmicky shoe from a dying company was not enough incentive to keep the likes of the Great Muta from departing.
Around July 1990, the partnership just…kinda ended, and ROOS sheepishly exited the footwear marketplace. Surprisingly, though, for something that could have been easily relegated to the dustbin of history as a passing fad, the company had a surge of nostalgia-fueled popularity in the late 1990s. KangaROOS is still active as of October 2024.
If you want to read a more thorough analysis of the NWA/ROOS partnership, this article on the WCW Worldwide site comes highly recommended. That’s where much of the above information and a couple of the pictures came from.
Now, let’s look at some commercials!
First up, it’s Rick Steiner! Because he’s the Dog Faced Gremlin, he’s sporting some ROOS on his hands as he’s walking after a very small doggo.
He then goes to stop by a fire hydrant, but the ad mercifully ends before this story further unfolds.
What the hell am I doing with my life?
Next, we see Sting on an honest-to-God surfboard! Actual Surfer Sting!
Well, not really. He’s just a GREAT BIG PHONY!
WATCH OUT FOR THAT SHARK!
Thankfully, Sting swatted it away before he became fish food.
As an aside, Sting’s ROOS are goddamn SICK. When I shuffle off this mortal coil, I want to be buried in these…
…and the Arby’s meat tracksuit…
…and Sea Bass’ hat from “Dumb and Dumber”…
Hey, I wanna look my best when I’m meeting St. Peter at the gates.
Finally, we come to the Road Warriors, Hawk and Tuah Animal. They’re in a post-apocalyptic street, wrecking stuff.
ROOS! Shoes for your feet, pockets for your stuff!
I can only imagine the street value of what Hawk was carrying around in those.
Lex Luger vs. Rick Fargo - Fargo was an enhancement talent for the NWA/WCW, with his last TV appearance being in 1996, where he was defeated by The Taskmaster. He had one last dark match after that, teaming with The Gambler (otherwise known as the greatest professional wrestler to ever don stretchy fabric) in a losing effort to Fire ‘N Ice (Scott Norton & Ice Train).
Luger clobbers away at Fargo and hits a big clothesline. Powerslam and Torture Rack finish in about 30 seconds.
As Luger polished his opponent off, the Horsemen come down to confront Luger one last time before tomorrow’s WrestleWar PPV. The Steiner Brothers come out to offset the Andersons as Luger begs Ric Flair to come get some!
The Horsemen hesitate before slowly backing up the aisle.
International Championship Wrestling
Welcome to the Navigation, ICW! Not to be confused with Angelo Poffo’s International Championship Wrestling promotion of the late 1970’s and early 80’s, this ICW was owned by another Angelo, that being Angelo Savoldi. Angelo, along with his sons Mario, Tom, and Joseph, primarily ran ICW out of Boston, but would eventually expand their operations throughout the American northeast.
In another similarity to Poffo’s ICW, Savoldi’s promotion was considered an “outlaw” promotion, meaning that it operated outside of the NWA. It didn’t recognize the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and would sometimes run shows that conflicted directly with nearby NWA territories. Savoldi also had some interesting partnerships over the years, such as with Puerto Rico’s World Wrestling Council (WWC), Verne Gagne’s AWA, and even Atsushi Onita’s FMW promotion. We’ll see the fruits of that last relationship later on in this series.
In 1991, ICW would undergo a name change to further separate themselves from Angelo Poffo’s promotion. They would reach an agreement with Kevin Von Erich to use the World Class Championship Wrestling name, which he retained the rights to after the promotion itself was sold to Jerry Jarrett and Jerry “The King” Lawler in 1989 to create the USWA. Thus, ICW was rebranded as International World Class Championship Wrestling, or IWCCW.
There was an idea to merge the IWCCW title (held by Tony Atlas) and Kevin Von Erich’s WCCW Texas title into one championship to further cement the union of the two entities, but the plans eventually fell through. Despite this, IWCCW would keep the name until the promotion ceased operations in 1995.
In terms of future stars, many ECW, WWF, and WCW alumni would get early exposure here under various gimmicks. Taz, Cactus Jack, Tommy Dreamer, The Public Enemy, Roadblock, a couple of Dudleys (Big Dick and Dances With), Chris Candido, and Val Puccio had runs with ICW/IWCCW.
Hell, even half of the main event of the first episode of WWF Monday Night RAW, Damien Demento, had a run in the promotion as Mondo Kleen.
We start our look at ICW with Paul E. Dangerously, who newer fans may know as future ECW owner and WWE manager Paul Heyman. He’s sitting at the commentary desk next to announcer Bob Dow, who kind of looks like Cowboy Bill Watts and Lou Thesz did the fusion dance. The video quality here isn’t great and the audio is a bit tough to make out, but that’s to be expected with some of this uncommon footage that was taped from what was likely public access cable.
Even with the iffy footage, we can still see Heyman rocking a wild fit with the leather Hard Rock Cafe jacket and Zubaz pants.
Paul E., who is managing the Lethal Weapons (Dennis Condrey & Doug Gilbert), rants against Vic Steamboat (brother of Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat) and Phil Apollo. Dow alerts Dangerously that Apollo is filming promotional pieces downstairs and Paul E. loses his mind, rampaging around the studio to find why he’s there.
We clip to later in the show, where Paul E. is still in shambles over Phil Apollo being in the building.
Heyman gets an absolutely INSANE line here:
“Mrs. Apollo got pregnant a few months before Roe v. Wade was passed, and that’s the ONLY reason why Phil’s family plagued America with the ‘Fabulous’ Phil Apollo.”
Good lord. Dow apologizes for Dangerously’s comment before throwing it to ICW titleholder and “Mr. McMahon” documentary MVP, Tony Atlas. We see a brief music video of Mr. USA before we cut to a green-screen promo.
Atlas cuts a rather unhinged promo about smacking down those who try to dethrone him (“defeat all across the board”). He calls the fans a bunch of geeks and says many men wish they were him, while the women look at their husbands and wish they had a man like him. Atlas wants NO GIRLFRIEND! He only needs a woman for two hours before he sends them away! There’s only one Atlas, and you’re looking at him!
I had NO idea Atlas had that kind of promo in him. It was a bit rambling, sure, but it did a great job getting the character across. We’ll see many more ICW Atlas promos in the future, and I look forward to diving into those.
We now return to Bob and Paul, as Dow tells Dangerously that he owes everyone an apology for his earlier remarks. Paul E. refuses, stating that the only one who should apologize was the tadpole who swam upstream that resulted in Phil Apollo. Jesus, dude. Apollo steps in to confront Paul E. as the footage cuts out.
Don’t get too used to Paul E. in ICW, as he managed to get himself fired before his first set of television tapings were completed. Heyman’s efficient if nothing else. He’d be back in the NWA before too long.
Now THIS kind of stuff is why I love doing these deep dives using the Goodhelmet sets. Sure, I’ll watch all kinds of great (and not-so-great) stuff from the big players in North America, Mexico, and Japan, but I also love getting these little nuggets from smaller companies like ICW that would otherwise completely fly under the radar for me.
Now it's time for THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE!
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Some new arrivals in the WWF include “Playboy” Buddy Rose as an enhancement talent, and the Orient Express (Pat Tanaka & Akio Sato). Terry Gordy was rumored to come aboard, but that wouldn’t end up happening.
Rose showed up with a significant amount of extra poundage, which really pissed Vince McMahon off at first. However, they’d turn it into a bit of a gimmick for him where he’d ‘correct’ the ring announcer when his weight was divulged.
Plus, there was the famous “Blowaway Diet” skit.
Damien, Jake Roberts’ pet snake, has been suspended for a couple of weeks after biting Jake. As such, for a few episodes of TV, Jake had been carrying around a rubber hose in his bag in lieu of the suspended serpent.
Considering the apparent mistreatment that animals had undergone backstage at that time, I can’t exactly blame Damien for fighting back.
Giant Baba showed up for a WWF TV taping to do an angle with Andre the Giant to help build to the match with Demolition at the big Tokyo Dome show.
It will air in Japan, but not in North America.
Danny Spivey has been fired from the NWA for missing a bunch of dates.
Despite missing some shows, he was still getting paid, because the NWA.
In a rare bit of Oregon news, Art Barr, working as the copyright-infringing “Beetlejuice” character, introduced future WCW and WWF jobber J.W. Storm as his tag partner, “Big Juice”.
I am NOT touching that one.
NEXT TIME: War were declared. WrestleWar, that is! Plus, lucha galore and Newborn UWF shoot-style action!
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Those Roos were so awesome!!
That was a fun revisit to ICW, a promotion largely forgotten in time. It's easy to forget there were smaller promotions trying to make a go of it in that era. I learned a lot about Roos from this post too and this brought back how heavily they were pushed for a time, leading me to wonder why I never bought those Sting shoes as a collectible?!