Ryan Navigates '90 - #42 (6/9)
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Good day!
What better way to come down from the high of the legendary Misawa vs. Jumbo match than a Saturday special?
Today, we have more developments in the Jerry Lawler vs. Snowman feud, a whole bunch of insanity from the NWA and USWA Dallas, and other odds and ends.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9th
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
We join “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, who took a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia. Hopefully he read the signs and respected the law and order; otherwise, he'd serve hard time.
Ted’s been told about how fair and just Big Boss Man was as a prison guard, but he came to Cobb County today to prove how that's a bunch of BUNK. He interviews a man shoveling dirt, who happened to spend some time in Cobb County Correctional Institute. He claims that Boss Man would handcuff him and beat him ALL! NIGHT! LONG!
Ted surmises that Boss Man treated this fellow like a dog, and the ex-con says that even dogs don’t get treated like that. Well, I sure hope not. DiBiase then closes by saying that, much like what the man is shoveling, the Big Boss Man is a big pile of DIRT!
We then get footage from later that week, where “Mean” Gene Okerlund made his own journey to Cobb County, looking to chat with that same individual. He talks to the foreman of the job site who explains that no ex-convict was employed shoveling sand.
The foreman says that the Boss Man never beat him up, and that he is a fine man. If it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have his job! Mean Gene says that this is an example of true Cobb County justice, and not another “con job” by the Million Dollar Man.
I’m sure a certain someone would disagree with that assessment of Boss Man.
Hell, even for years as a babyface, Boss Man would still handcuff jobbers to the ropes and beat them with a nightstick after he won.
There was all kinds of video evidence of Boss Man's warped interpretation of justice, but DiBiase spent money on plane tickets to Georgia and hired a plant to play a tormented prisoner because he's just that petty a bitch.
USWA Championship Wrestling (Memphis)
We open with clips of another Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. The Snowman match for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship from the Mid-South Coliseum. It’s another scrappy affair with wild punches and palpable intensity.
They continue boxing for a bit until Snowman pops Lawler. They tussle for a bit until special referee and fellow wrestler Lou Winston pulls Snowman off of Lawler and shoves him into the opposite corner. We clip to Snowman slugging Lawler down for a two-count, then he continue pummeling and choking his foe on the mat. Winston again pulls Snowman off, allowing for Lawler to regain the advantage.
We fight some more until Snowman stumbles, catching Winston on the way down with an errant forearm. Winston calls for the bell, resulting in a technical loss for the Snowman!
He shoves Snowman after the bell, so the Man of Snow paws at him a bit before Lawler gets some shots in. Winston breaks it up, but Snowman shoves him back down. Snowman and Lou now trade blows, and they keep doing so even after the officials come down to break up the melee. At one point, Snowman picks up a chair and tosses it at Winston!
The action looked great, though it felt slightly more “pro wrestling” at points than their prior match. The chaos at the end with Lou Winston was tremendous and adds another element to the story.
Dave Brown then calls Lou Winston over to the commentary desk for an interview. Big Lew says that he promised to referee the match without putting his hands on either Lawler or Snowman, so long as they didn’t put their hands on him.
He then tells Snowman, who is again sitting in the front row, that when Lawler is done with him, Winston will be coming after him next!
Next, Dave beckons the Snowman over for a chat. Snowman talks about the drive that he has, and that he had Lawler beaten both times. He addresses Lou Winston, saying that he must have gotten “paid pretty good” for his “officiating”. He then says that Winston couldn’t beat him, then asks who Winston ever beat.
Snowman then asks Dave to bring Eddie Marlin out. As Marlin makes his way out, Dave brings up Winston’s prior tag team with Jerry Bryant, Memphis Vice, but Snowman retorts by asking what Winston’s done lately.
Snowman and Marlin argue over the officiating for the matches, with Snowman not liking the jobs done by Jerry Calhoun and the aforementioned Winston. Marlin responds by stating he picked a guest referee for their next match who hates Lawler as much as Snowman does, that being Kerry Von Erich.
Marlin says that if Snowman wins, he’d be more than happy to come in and strap the title around his waist as he’d be proud to have a Black man as champion. There’s millions of Black people in town, and Marlin wants to see every single one of them at the Coliseum! Having millions of people in a building that holds about 10,000 sounds like a serious fire code violation, but I totally get what Marlin’s going for. He did a great job explaining what having a Black champion would mean to Memphis.
However, Marlin is not super into Snowman complaining and taking over the television show. Marlin reiterates that Kerry will be the referee, and Snowman likes that! Eddie guarantees that THIS Monday night, there will be a 1-2-3, whether it be Snowman’s shoulders or Lawler’s shoulders on the mat.
Snowman says that he initially thought that Marlin was completely against him, but he’s glad that Eddie set the record straight. They shake hands before Marlin leaves.
Snowman promises he’ll be the new champion now that he’s getting a fair shake in the refereeing department, then heads back to his seat.
This continues to be a very engrossing storyline, with new elements and directions. Snowman is pretty much set up as the babyface here, but there’s definitely some shades of gray there to add depth and realistic human reaction.
As a promo, Snowman was clumsy and rambling, but it kind of worked. Snowman not being a natural talker kind of added to the gritty realism that’s made this angle stand out. Marlin continues to excel in the authority figure role. It was actually nice to see the two bury the hatchet after talking through their issues like honest-to-God adults.
Next, we get a pre-tape from Jerry Lawler, who is standing in front of a green screen fire. He accuses Snowman of having his hand out the last several weeks, and the hand kept getting filled with title matches and special referees.
Lawler rants about the deck being stacked against him, as Kerry Von Erich has harbored a grudge since Lawler took his World Class title years back. Lawler then talks about the spring sun melting an actual snowman, then says that he’s going to turn the heat up on The Snowman this Monday night at the Coliseum. Lawler tells Snowman that he may want to invest in a fire extinguisher. Because fire.
Not exactly subtle with the imagery and metaphors here, but this was a strong promo from Lawler to build to that title match. I can see why this feud doubled attendance for the Mid-South Coliseum shows.
NWA World Championship Wrestling
We start off with the ever-electric Jim Herd addressing the bullshit surrounding the finish of the Capital Combat main event. The Four Horsemen have been fined. For her involvement, Woman has been suspended (in other words, fired in real life), but Herd doesn’t have enough evidence of Ole Anderson’s involvement in raising the cage. However, if any further wrongdoing on Ole’s part is brought to light, Herd will suspend his ass.
With that, Woman is officially written off as an on-screen character. Herd’s on-screen presence was so bland that you could cook and serve it to patients recovering from heart surgery.
We get a look at the reaction of the Horsemen, who are none too happy. Ole is in disbelief that he’s getting investigated, and says his lawyer’s are going to get involved before storming off. Sid Vicious is STILL wearing that tux!
Barry Windham comes in as Arn Anderson rants against Lex Luger crying foul because he couldn’t beat Ric Flair. It’s the Horsemen against the world! Windham addresses Jim Herd, saying the Horsemen took advantage of the incompetence of those he hired.
Next, Jim Ross chats with Arn, Barry, and Sid on the interview platform. JR runs down the Clash of the Champions XI card, specifically Barry Windham vs. Doug Furnas, Lex Luger vs Sid Vicious, Arn Anderson vs. Paul Orndorff, and Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog.
Barry says that JYD will need all the help he can get, then says that while Doug Furnas may be the World’s Strongest Man, he’s short on brains. Arn says he’s SICK AND TIRED of all the collusion against the Horsemen! Who died and made the Dudes With Attitude the saviors of the NWA?!? The Horsemen plan to divide and conquer at the Clash!
He then turns his attention to Rocky King, who he calls a “human licorice stick”. Arn doesn’t like that King had been calling him out on TV, saying that he doesn’t associate with his kind, let alone talk to him. Jesus, dude. Arn threatens to squash him when he gets him in the ring.
We jump to Jim Ross interviewing the full complement of the Horsemen (sans Ric Flair). Sting, Junkyard Dog, and Paul Orndorff saved Rocky King from a Horsemen beatdown, and Ole is upset!
The idea of Rocky King sends Ole into conniptions, so Arn takes over. He says he doesn’t know “what project you came from”, but King has signed his death warrant. Arn wants Rocky King on national television, and Ole will work to ensure the match is made.
Barry says he’s a professional and doesn’t need this! He’s making a list of his enemies! Arn tells Rocky King that he wants him NOW before the interview ends.
Arn is a fantastic promo, but I really could live without the Horsemen turning into the Klansmen. Unlike what’s happening in Memphis, the race stuff just reeks of laziness and desperation.
Now it's time to hear from the Dudes With Attitude!
Sting, JYD, and Mr. Wonderful grace the interview platform. Orndorff goes batshit insane talking about unity and fighting back against the Horsemen. JYD promises to win the belt from Ric Flair on Wednesday night, then Sting says they’ll continue to be there to put a stop to Horsemen interference.
While I’m not exactly in throes of excitement about the Clash card, these guys at least put on a fun, fired-up babyface promo. Give me Orndorff and Sting zipping around like they’re fueled by methamphetamine and Red Bull any day of the week.
USWA Championship Sports (Dallas)
We jump to the finish of “Stunning” Steve Austin vs. Shane West, a warm body sent out to take offense from the rookie. Austin presses the hapless jobber and tosses him onto the hardwood floor in a nasty bump.
Austin then hits a brutal gutwrench suplex, then a vertical suplex, both on the bare floor. Good grief. Austin bodyslams the poor sod on the floor, then picks him up and holds him in place for some unabated Jeanie slaps as the fans chant for Chris Adams.
Chris and Toni Adams chase Austin and Jeanie up the aisleway, then the Adamses head back to ringside to check on West and talk with Craig Johnson. Toni is a VERY angry young lady! She asks Jeanie what her problem is, and concludes that she’s real sick! She needs psychiatric help, then explains that they used to be friends back in the day. Then, one day, Jeanie shows up out of nowhere with Steve.
She says that Jeanie will stop interfering in their matches and will stop trying to ruin Chris’ career. Most of all, Toni isn’t scared of Jeanie in ANY WAY. Toni then pulls out a clump of Jeanie’s hair and says that was only a portion of what will happen to her if she interferes again. It’s OVER the next time Toni gets her hands on Jeanie!
Chris calls Austin a low-down punk, then says he’ll show him what “Stunning” really is! Chris challenges Austin, and Toni challenges Jeanie, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE!
Note to self: do NOT piss off Toni Adams. Great amped-up promo from Toni here, and the crowd is very much into the idea of the heels getting theirs. Also, I hope that jobber got a nice payday for getting absolutely destroyed by Austin out there. Seriously, those were Mulkey-level bumps.
Next, Chris Von Erich takes the mic from Craig and explains that he felt humiliated after the attack from “Maniac” Matt Borne. Because of that, he didn’t want to leave his parents’ ranch.
However, he recalls something his father and brothers always said: if you fall off the horse, just get back on. Chris is here to see Kerry Von Erich deliver justice to Borne, but he won’t be able to if Percy Pringle keeps interfering.
Speak of the portly blonde devil, and he shall appear. Pringle comes out and asks if Chris is ashamed of himself. He says that Fritz is ashamed of his son, saying he’s not a man, and that he still buys his clothes from the boy’s section in K-Mart!
Percy goes to slap him, but Chris blocks it and kicks him down! YEAH! He goes to deliver more punishment, but Matt Borne comes out and accosts the youngest Von Erich. Kerry comes out to even the odds, and we get a pretty great pull-apart brawl!
Meanwhile, Pringle challenges Chris to fisticuffs, but Chris staves him off with a teased head kick.
We then cut to a ringside interview with Pringle and Borne, the latter of whom got busted open during the earlier brawl. A crazed Borne rants and raves about all the stipulation matches he’s had with Kerry, then promises he’s going to GET Kerry and Chris next Friday! He’s gonna GETCHA!
Pringle grabs the mic and addresses Fritz and Doris Von Erich, saying that if they don’t keep Chris away, they’ll have “another one that’s gonna be put six feet under”. OH MY GOD.
Percy then rants against the people turning their back on him! He takes credit for Eric Embry and for the USWA being a thing. I…wouldn’t take credit for that first one, personally.
Borne is awesome here as the crazed heel, and that line from Percy was absolutely unhinged. It was definitely crass and exploitative of the Von Erich tragedies, something Fritz himself probably would have approved of given the tasteless storylines he ran in WCCW during the 80’s.
The promo did solidify Pringle as someone who had been driven over the edge, and he’s pretty good at playing crazy, so at least there’s that. The pairing with Borne is terrific. All of this definitely gets much more sad considering what happens with Chris about a year later, though.
Next, we get the finish to the June 1st match with Jerry “The King’ Lawler vs. “Superstar” Bill Dundee. It was shown the prior night on TV, but it was filmed June 1st. It’s the battle of Lawler’s neon green ensemble vs. Dundee’s Hamburglar realness.
As you can read in the prior review linked above, Lawler rolls Dundee up after “Hollywood” John Tatum comes down and tries to abduct Tessa, then the heels engage in a 2-on-1 beatdown. The footage stops before Jeff Jarrett and Chris Adams come to the rescue. Dundee and Tessa come down for a chat with Craig.
Dundee talks about love at first sight, then accuses Tatum of “closing the barn door after the horse leaves”, saying he should have treated Tessa better if he wanted to keep her. Dundee and Tessa are thinking of getting married, then threatens to KILL Tatum if he puts his hands on her again.
Dundee plants one on Tessa before they head to the back. Not a whole lot of new developments here, but Dundee casually saying he’ll kill Tatum is pretty funny.
We close off USWA Dalls this week with a commercial for, oh dear God, the KERRY VON ERICH HOTLINE. You see, Kerry doesn’t always have the time to stop and chat with the people at the Sportatorium, so we have said hotline.
“It’s a 900 number…and it’s something new!”
You can ask him anything, and he means ANYTHING as he leans suggestively into the camera. Oh, sweet Jesus.
JOIN THE KERRY VON ERICH FANCLUB and listen to his voice on a variety of topics! Dial that number! It’s only 95 cents per minute! Kerry wants you!
I’ve seen a few people use that reference when discussing the Kerry Hotline, so shoutout to you if you’re reading this!
So, yeah, this was something. I imagine this led to fights in many a Texas household where teenage girls or their unhappy mothers had to explain the source of their inflated phone bill.
International Championship Wrestling
We close the week with another Tony Atlas promo, or “Tracking” as the chyron indicates.
There’s an awful lot of people coming into ICW who have to shout or brag about how much they eat to be overweight, but people tell Atlas that he’s the man with the body, the looks, and the belt! When he walks down the street, people look at him and say, “there goes the champion”.
Today, he’s taking care of the Italian champion (not really sure who that is), and you never hear Tony yell and scream because he is THE MAN. Another fun, entertaining promo from Tony. I do wish he had someone to play off of, though.
As an aside, I watched his Dark Side of the Ring episode that just came out, and it’s definitely interesting to hear about what he went through, especially around this time. At this point, he was homeless and sleeping on park benches, or at least isn’t too far away from doing so. Also, seeing him taking care of his hospitalized wife was actually really sweet. I’m happy that he was able to rebuild over the years.
THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Hulk Hogan has inked a two-picture deal with New Line Cinema.
I believe Suburban Commando was the first one.
The second one: Mr. Nanny!
The Ultimate Warrior has been beating Rick Rude clean as a sheet on the house show circuit, which isn’t exactly helping drive PPV sales for SummerSlam, and there’s still a whole two-plus months before THAT show.
Paul Roma and Hercules will be paired together for what Dave says is a “low-level babyface team”.
POOOOWWWEEERRRRR AND GLOOOOORRRRYYYYYY!!!
Cactus Jack has given notice and will be donezo with WCW shortly.
NEXT TIME: Stan Hansen and Vader lock horns again, Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush, and more!
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