Ryan Navigates '90 - #29 (4/29 - 5/4)
What shows up here? Awesome lucha trios action, Ponytail Ric Flair, John Tatum being a douchebag, and, you guessed it, Frank Stallone.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sadly, the wrestling world lost journeyman wrestler and trainer Black Bart on January 9th. If you watched wrestling in the 80s and early 90s, you likely would have seen this guy because he was EVERYWHERE, hitting nearly every territory in the States. Bart had a WWF stint in 1990-91, mostly as an enhancement talent, and was a member of WCW’s infamous Desperados stable. He even resurfaced in 1995 as part of the World War 3 three-ring battle royal as Big Train Bart.
Also, we lost the legendary Bob Uecker on January 16th, 2025. Aside from his contributions to baseball broadcasting and pop culture (“Juuust a bit outside!”), he was also a top-tier celebrity guest in wrestling, notably his appearances at WrestleMania III and IV.
Rest in peace, gentlemen.
Good day!
Today, we end April with another Ric Flair AWA promo and more developments in the Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown saga. We then cross over to May with some USWA Dallas action and a hot trios match from EMLL.
SUNDAY, APRIL 29th
WWF Wrestling Challenge
We start by revisiting Bad News Brown opening a birthday present containing a rubber snake, resulting in him getting physical with “Mean” Gene Okerlund. Gene then brings Jake “The Snake” Roberts to the interview platform for a chat.
Jake apologizes for Gene getting roughed up by Brown as he was the one who sent the offending rubber snake. I mean, Okerlund had it coming after waving that thing around when Brown was clearly freaked out of his gourd. Jake explains that everyone has their fears, then tells Bad News that if he wants to “jerk a little man around, why don’t you jerk ME around for a little while”.
Jake says that talk is cheap, and asks Brown if he’s more afraid of snakes, or the DDT. He closes by saying that Brown will see the snake again.
Luckily, Brown’s dead possums specially bred mutant sewer rats will take care of that.
Again, this has to be up there with Edge and Booker T squabbling over a Japanese shampoo commercial in terms of idiotic ways to kickstart a feud. At the very least, Jake is still an engaging enough talker to not make it complete codswallop, as the Brits might say.
The Jerry Lawler Show
Yes, Jerry “The King” Lawler had his very own local Sunday morning talk show on WMC-5 in Memphis. That’s how popular the guy was. It started in 1983 and lasted until January 1993 (!).
There’s really nothing unique about this particular episode. We just get the closing credits, set to the instrumental section of “Far from Over” by, you guessed it, Frank Stallone.
The song’s a low-key banger, even if the movie that spawned it (1983’s “Staying Alive”) was not. It was also the Starrcade theme from 1983-1987. I guess pro wrestling just couldn’t get enough of Sly’s brother.
Airport Toyota and Jerry Lawler: ONE HECK OF A TAG TEAM!
Most of it is just long shots of Jerry’s crown.
This was included on the Goodhelmet Yearbook set just for the sheer “this thing was still going?” factor. It’s a fun curiosity if nothing else.
MONDAY, APRIL 30th
AWA Championship Wrestling
Ahead of Saturday’s Twin Wars ‘90 show, we get some more Ric Flair. But not just any Ric Flair, but PONYTAIL Ric Flair! This just seems…wrong. He looks like Super Macho Man from the Wii version of “Punch-Out!!”.
Do you know what it’s like to have beautiful women around you 24 hours a day, or spend more than enough money on Rolex watches and custom suits to put you in millions of dollars of debt that you’re still trying to pay off to this day? Well, don’t ask Larry Zbyzsko, because Ric Flair knows!
He heard Larry Z call Flair’s name the other night, then says that when people think of world champions, they think of the Nature Boy! Next Saturday night, it’s the triumphant return of Ric Flair to the Twin Cities! Wade Wilson, Kent Hrbek, and Kirby Puckett don’t want to be there, because it’s time for a WINNING athlete to walk that aisle! Brian Pillman is the candidate for torture, and Flair plans on making him an example in his hometown. Flair will build the stadium around him and plans on beating Zbyszko next.
Another solid, entertaining promo from Flair to build to his homecoming match with Pillman, and also to plant seeds for a possible champion vs. champion showdown with Zbyszko. I’ll get more into AWA Twin Wars ‘90 next time.
Before moving onto the next item, I teased last week that we’d have Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn. However, the match that was on the to-do list was from April 1991, so I’m going to hold off on doing that one until I eventually get to that point in my 1991 review. I apologize if you were looking forward to reading about it, but card subject to change and all that.
FRIDAY, MAY 4th
USWA Challenge (Dallas)
USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship: “Hollywood” John Tatum (c) vs. “Superstar” Bill Dundee - Tatum spent pretty much his entire career working in the southern U.S. territories, most of it in World Class Championship Wrestling. He also had a brief tenure in Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation between World Class stints. Here, Tatum is a blonde and tanned douchebag, and he has his valet, Tessa, in tow.
Tatum, who holds a significant height advantage, taunts Superstar until Dundee pops him in the corner with a right. Dundee keeps grabbing for holds, but Tatum immediately scampers to the ropes. Bill hits a hiptoss and treats us to the SUPERSTAR STRUT.
Tatum exaggeratedly complains of a trunks pull, then, during a tie-up near the ropes, grabs a handful of Dundee’s hair and decks him. Tessa’s not sure about Tatum’s dirty tactics as USWA CHALLENGE ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Dundee stomping Tatum into a fine paste on the apron. Tatum starts bitching out Tessa, then gets a reluctant kiss before heading back into the ring. Tessa wipes her lips after that one. Dundee gets a near-fall with a roll-up, then slugs Tatum against the ropes.
Tatum is EXASPERATED and loudly complains to referee Tony Falk about the closed fist. Dundee backs Hollywood into the corner, so Tatum clocks him with a surprise right to take over. Tatum hits a bodyslam with extra mustard, then reaches for Tessa’s purse. She refuses, then Dundee comes back with fisticuffs…but Tatum withstands the blows and clobbers him down.
Tatum hits a thrust kick before unleashing more abuse against the ropes, but Dundee gets a desperation boot to the mush, then hits a flurry of punches, the last of which sends Tatum to the mat for a two-count. Falk gets bumped, so Tatum demands the handbag from Tessa. When she again declines, Tatum snatches her by the hair! Dundee goes to intervene, so Tatum blasts him with the purse! Tatum covers for the win to retain.
**3/4 - The action itself didn’t entirely stand out, but it was still fairly solid. However, the real draw here is the story, which is kind of like USWA Dallas’ version of the Randy Savage/Miss Elizabeth storyline from the 1980s.
We got to see how much of a complete dickhead John Tatum is, and his character stuff, selling, and bumping carried the match. Just from this one match alone, you wanted Tessa to get away from him and for someone to kick his ass. Bill Dundee is a pretty decent choice of savior. I’m curious to see how this story plays out during the course of the project.
EMLL Super Viernes
MS-1, Emilio Charles Jr & Ulises vs. Atlantis, El Dandy & El Satanico - Satanico and MS-1 were founding members of Los Infernales, the stable that helped popularize trios matches as THE staple of lucha libre, so there’s some inherent intrigue in those guys squaring off.
Ulises is Tony Salazar under a mask, and he’s 25 years into his active career at this point. He’d retire in a few years, and he currently works as a ring announcer for CMLL among other backstage roles. Salazar is actually an uncle to Místico, one of the current top draws in Mexico. We saw Satanico a couple of times during the course of this series, including one of the best matches of the year in the Hair vs. Hair match with Jerry Estrada. Along with Satanico, we also looked at Atlantis and Charles in Part 17.
Charles floors Atlantis with a cheap shot before the ring introductions. Rude!
PRIMERA CAIDA: Atlantis starts by slugging Charles while he’s on the apron. Emilio keeps dodging Atlantis while MS-1 avoids contact with Satanico. Dandy and Ulises start the match proper by trading arm holds and grounded leglocks. Charles tries to break that up, but Atlantis cut him off, sending Emilio scurrying all the way up the aisle!
Ulises soon gets a double wristlock on Dandy, but the Dandy One fights out with a somersault kick. MS-1 and Satanico square off now, after some reluctance from the former. They have a heated armdrag-fueled sequence, with Satanico ending up on top. Satanico headlocks MS-1 and peppers him with punches to send him out of the ring, then Atlantis and Charles re-enter the contest.
Charles disorients Atlantis with some hard rights, but Atlantis comes back with a punch of his own…until Charles takes him out with a clothesline.
Atlantis comes back with a quebradora, resulting in Charles flopping and flailing to the floor. Ulises and Dandy re-enter and trade monkey flips, then evade each other’s offense until Dandy blasts his masked opponent with a huge right hand. Atlantis and MS-1 are now legal, and they do a crazy acrobatic reversal sequence involving flips and rapid-fire flash pins that ends with a top-rope armdrag from Atlantis. Ulises gets double-teamed, and this results in the tecnicos getting a TRIPLE SUBMISSION for the first fall.
SEGUNDA CAIDA: Atlantis flies in with a crosschop on Ulises but misses with a second one. Atlantis fights back with a monkey flip, then kicks Ulises into the ropes to send him packing. Dandy and Charles square off, with Dandy getting a clothesline after a breezy sequence. Dandy somersaults out of a monkey flip, then hits a spinning heel kick to dispatch Charles. MS-1 immediately bails when Satanico comes in, allowing Ulises to attack the latter from behind. MS-1 is now more than happy to come in and work over his ex-stablemate.
Dandy tags in and stares down MS-1, who won’t release his chinlock on Satanico. Ulises accosts Dandy from behind with a hairpull, opening him up for a free shot from Charles. Atlantis tags in, but Ulises continues working over Dandy, then Charles whips him into the corner, buggering his abdomen on the top turnbuckle. Charles and Ulises double-team Atlantis for a bit, attacking the midsection.
The rudos continue their assault of Atlantis until he tags out to Dandy, who is immediately beset by Ulises and Charles. Alabama Slam from Charles gets the pin on Dandy, while MS-1 taps Satanico out to a grounded octopus. Even after being awarded the second fall, MS-1 continues pummeling Satanico while Ulises repeatedly runs Atlantis back-first into the ringpost.
TERCERA CAIDA: The rudos assault Satanico with double-teams, but Satanico fights back by kicking and kneeing the shit out of Ulises! Dandy reverses a Charles wristlock into one of his own, then stops a sunset flip attempt with a good old-fashioned fist to the face. Charles regains the upper hand with a corner clothesline and a back body drop, then applies a double-armbar submission until Atlantis boots him in the face to send him out!
Ulises and Atlantis come in, with Atlantis appearing to be in trouble due to his battered ribs. However, he manages a quebradora and a knee to the head, then a grounded abdominal stretch that MS-1 breaks up. MS-1 takes over with a back body drop and a surfboard that is halted by Satanico. MS-1 and Satanico have an awesome little slugfest on the canvas until Satanico gets a standing hammerlock.
Ulises puts a stop to that, but Dandy comes in and creams him with a kick to stop a back body drop. Dandy tries a cobra clutch, but Charles breaks THAT up. Him and Atlantis paste each other with blows, then dodge each other’s dropkicks. Atlantis full-nelsons Charles with the intention of holding him in place for a Dandy clothesline, but Charles ducks! Dandy takes out Atlantis in error! Charles charges Dandy, but Dandy backdrops him out…ONTO ATLANTIS! Atlantis sells that like death, and it made a HELL of a thud on the wood floor.
MS-1 pounds away at Satanico, but Satanico counters a powerslam into an inside cradle for three! Dandy traps Ulises into La Magistral for another three, giving the third fall and the match to the tecnicos!
Post-match, Atlantis makes it back in and starts to have words with his partners over the miscues from El Dandy.
**** - Great lucha action here, with some awesome athleticism from Atlantis, El Dandy showing brawling and finesse, Ulises and Charles bringing inspired rudo work, and fiery sequences from Satanico and MMS-1.
The match was well-paced with many nice storytelling elements, like Atlantis’ rib injury and MS-1 and Charles avoiding their rivals. There’s also some intrigue over potential fallout from the miscommunication spots between Dandy and Atlantis.
THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
YOUR apparent candidates for the open head booker position in the NWA are:
Jim Crockett, Jr., who received an offer, but refused.
Dusty Rhodes, who also declined because he wouldn’t be allowed to be an active performer.
Bill Watts, the top candidate at this point.
Jerry Jarrett, sparking rumors of involvement from Jerry Lawler.
Greg Gagne for some reason.
Jim Herd has laid down the LAW in the NWA! From this point forward, no more using the guardrail, no more profanity in the ring, and no more cheapshots to the coinpurse!
These rules were, of course, immediately ignored.
Contrary to earlier reports, Ric Flair had NOT, in fact, signed a two-year contract extension. The WrestleMania VII rumors are BACK ON!
On April 30th, Aja Kong won the AJW All Pacific Championship, her first singles title after changing her name from Erica Shishido.
I’d say things continued to go well for her over the years.
Also, since it’s a new month, here’s some wrestlers who were born in May 1990:
May 1st - Ace (or Acey) Romero, American indie wrestler who chiefly appears in Limitless Wrestling. He also had a significant run in TNA and made appearances in MLW and AEW.
May 2nd - Mahabali Shera, current TNA and OVW wrestler. He had a brief NXT run as Amanpreet Singh.
May 3rd - Heather Monroe, U.S. independent wrestler who made appearances in WWE, AEW, and NWA, among many other companies.
May 5th - Boulder, one half of AEW’s Iron Savages tag team. Used to be a bear.
May 8th - Io Shirai, former Stardom ace, ex-WWE Women’s Champion, and Damage CTRL stable member who currently wrestles on the RAW brand as Iyo Sky.
May 25th - Bo Dallas, former NXT Champion who currently wrestles for WWE’s RAW brand as Uncle Howdy in the Wyatt Sicks table.
May 31st - Montez Ford, athletic freak of nature and multiple-time tag team champion in WWE as one half of the Street Profits.
NEXT TIME: Another Saturday special, with Luger vs. Flair on free TV, tons of USWA Dallas, and I talk a bit more about AWA Twin Wars!
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