Ryan Navigates '90 - #51 (7/7)
Zeus, Kowabunga the Karate Turtle, glasnost in the WWF, five-star tag action, volatility in Dallas, and Sting wins the big one!
Good day!
We may have passed by the 4th of July in our 1990 timeline, but the REAL Bash of the Great American variety happens here. A MASSIVE Saturday Special examines WCW’s latest PPV offering, where Sting tries to finally dethrone Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. We’ll also see a match of the year contender for the US tag titles and other assorted action from that show.
We’ll also have some AJPW tag team action as the Misawa vs. Jumbo war rages on, tons of developments from Memphis, including a major return and another martial arts turtle, glasnost in the WWF, a reiteration of a Memphis angle in Dallas, and Abdullah the Butcher vs. Zeus from Puerto Rico!
Take a deep seat, friends, because this is going to be a LONG one.
SATURDAY, JULY 7th
AJPW Summer Action Series 1990, Night One
Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada) vs. Tsuruta-gun (Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu) - Another installment of Misawa & Friends vs. Jumbo & Friends? Don’t mind if I do!
Yatsu powers out of Kawada’s offense to start before targeting the arm. Yatsu switches to some knees to the guts, which REALLY pisses off Kawada who launches into an absolute blitz against the ropes, even getting a couple of shots at Jumbo on the apron for the hell of it. After things calm down, Yatsu captures the leg and tags Jumbo in, who hits the FLYING KNEE, then just PASTES Misawa on the apron.
Kawada comes back with a rebound crossbody and tags Misawa in, who gets a MAMMOTH reaction. Even Jumbo doesn’t know what to make of it. Jumbo goes for a jumping knee, but Misawa evades and hits a twisting lariat, then he lights Tsuruta up with a series of kicks for two. Kawada tags in, and the Super Generation Army hit Jumbo with a double back elbow and a tandem elbow drop that gets two.
Kawada grounds Tsuruta with a figure four headscissors, but Jumbo escapes and asserts his will with a bodyslam before tagging Yatsu in for a nice gutwrench suplex for two. Yatsu continues to grind away at Dangerous K before Jumbo re-enters to deliver more punishment with a high-angle Boston crab.
Misawa cracks Jumbo in the face to break that up, then Kawada comes back with a lariat and a timely tag out. Misawa hits a dropkick and a gutwrench for two before grounding Jumbo with his own figure-four headscissors. Jumbo wriggles out and tags Yatsu in for some leg kicks and a standing figure four variant. Kawada breaks that up, but Yatsu retains control and continues torturing the leg.
The fans rally behind Misawa, who makes the ropes to break. Jumbo checks back in for a double wishbone, a standing leglock, and another Boston crab. Misawa frees himself and fights back with a succession of kicks before tagging Kawada back in for some double-team kickery. Yatsu blocks a Kawada suplex, but Kawada pummels him with knees and some corner kicks. Another suplex attempt is met with fierce resistance, so Kawada settles for a rolling solebutt and a tag.
Misawa hits some jumping kicks before tagging Kawada in for a double suplex. That earns a two-count, then Kawada blasts Yatsu with kicks, capping off with a lariat for another near-fall. Jumbo enters to stomp away at Kawada, so Misawa hits an illegal crossbody on Yatsu. Kawada lands some kicks, but one is caught with a back suplex from Yatsu.
Jumbo and Misawa both tag in and it’s ON. Jumbo blocks a German suplex, but Misawa rolls him up for two. Rebound headbutt, a senton, and a basement dropkick send Jumbo to the floor, where Misawa follows with a plancha! Kawada tags in for a missile dropkick for two, then he gets a fisherman’s suplex for another close count. Misawa tags and hits a top rope splash for another two.
Small package nets another near-fall, then Kawada comes in for a spinning heel kick for two. Kawada peppers Tsuruta with some stiff kicks, but he runs in to a big boot and a JUMPING KNEE! Yatsu comes in for a huge shoulderblock and a powerslam for two, then gets a running elbow in the corner and a bulldog for another near-fall. Kawada fights off a powerbomb, then Misawa hits a dropkick to halt another bulldog attempt.
Jumbo tags back in, only to fall victim to a Kawada lariat. Misawa tags in and elbows Tsuruta into jelly, even catching a jumping knee to deliver an elbow. However, Jumbo surprises him with a lariat out of NOWHERE for two.
Jumbo goes for a backdrop driver, but Kawada comes in for the save and some kicks. A glancing double spinning heel kick catches Tsuruta, then Kawada hits a moonsault press (!) for two. After some reversals, Jumbo downs Kawada with a jumping knee, but Kawada shifts his weight on a backdrop driver for a VERY close two-count! Kawada almost got HIS big moment over Jumbo.
Yatsu and Misawa continue brawling on the floor as Kawada heads upstairs. However, Jumbo intercepts him and hits an second-rope back suplex for the three!
***1/2 - This one took a long time to really get going, but once it did, it got truly exciting. Misawa was RIDICULOUSLY over, and his interactions with Jumbo were genuinely engaging. Kawada’s still working on finding his in-ring identity, but he delivered the nasty kicks and exuberance, and Yatsu was fine, if not remarkable.
Capitol Sports Promotions 17th Aniversario 1990
Hey, it's a rare appearance from Puerto Rico's Capital Sports Promotions! Later renamed the World Wrestling Council (WWC), the promotion was founded in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Gorilla Monsoon. The company had a strong decade in the 1980s, as being a member of the NWA allowed for frequent world champion Ric Flair to headline some of their bigger cards. Colón himself famously got an unofficial title win over Flair in 1983.
Despite some MAJOR controversy over the years that would have shuttered most companies (most notably, the stabbing death of Bruiser Brody in 1988 by booker/wrestler José Huertas-González, a.k.a. Invader I), WWC is still operational as of June 2025, having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Colón and Jovica are still listed as the owners.
Zeus vs. Abdullah the Butcher - OH MY GOD, YES! This is a real match that somebody spent way too much money to make happen, and God bless them for it. Much like when Atsushi Onita wrestled Tony Atlas earlier in the year, I very much appreciate the fact that this match-up exists, regardless of how much it stinks.
This one starts off pretty wild, with both guys brawling on the floor as the fans go apeshit. They throw trash throughout the match, which may be a harbinger for the overall quality.
Zeus lands some really funny-looking clubbing forearms, like Abdullah was a giant egg he desperately didn’t want to crack.
Zeus enters the ring and poses for his adoring public while Abby collects himself on the outside.
Butcher re-enters, and Zeus rains down more awful clubbing blows before settling in for some choking. He applies the bearhug, even lifting Abby for a bit! OK, that was pretty beast. Zeus continues to gently massage his opponent in the corner before moving on to low-impact head-bopping.
Abdullah comes back with some shots to the throat, but Zeus some back with more lightweight blows. Abby is somehow BLEEDING from this as we go back to more choking. Abby gets a headbutt and goes for his trusty fork, but Zeus fights him off and uses it for himself! Well, by that, I mean “weakly bludgeon Abdullah with his forearm while the fork is in his hand”. No tine-on-skull action was involved.
We now return to our regularly scheduled bearhug.
Abby rakes the eyes to escape, then he starts gnawing away at the face before punching Zeus down. He drops the big elbow, but barely nets a two-count. After one of the worst Irish/hammer whips in history, we stalemate with a couple of shoulderblocks. Zeus tries for a horrendous clothesline (how do you screw THAT move up?), and both guys just kind of awkwardly grapple for a bit.
Zeus locks the bearhug back in, but Abby breaks free and slugs the Z-Man down (Zeus, not Tom Zenk). Abby applies a nerve hold, allowing Zeus to make funny faces in lieu of selling.
Abby lets go and runs towards a grounded Zeus, but Deebo surprises him with a MONKEY FLIP?!? Holy hell. It wasn’t a GOOD monkey flip, mind you, but that’s still pretty cool.
Zeus follows up with more choking and some of the worst strikes ever committed to magnetic recording tape. Abby fights back by kicking Zeus in the junk and slowly beating him down near the ropes. Zeus retaliates with more lousy forearms while Abby retorts with headbutts. Zeus falls out of the ring, but he ensnares Abdullah in the dreaded bearhug against the ropes, shoving the ref away during every attempt to break.
Zeus yanks Abby out, and they weakly brawl until the ref counts both guys out.
-** - This was as delightfully awful as expected. Zeus had an absolutely incredible look for a wrestling villain, but the bell had to ring. He had absolutely zero idea what he was doing, and those strikes were laughable. Abdullah the Butcher did Abdullah the Butcher things, but he did seem to try to salvage what he could. This went 12 minutes, which is about 11 too many for Zeus.
On the plus side, I'm very happy that this match exists. Sometimes, you just need to watch a dogshit match and have some cheap laughs. The monkey flip was pretty awesome, too.
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
FROM THE PAGES OF THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION MAGAZINE, HERE’S UPDATE!
“Mean” Gene Okerlund lets us know that Hulk Hogan is feeling better! Next week, Hulk will make the most important announcement of his career. Gene then throws it to some comments from other WWF superstars regarding the Hogan situation.
The Rockers hope that the Hulksters and the Rockers (I guess that’s what they call their fans) band together to will Hogan back to the ring. Hillbilly Jim emerges from the mothballs to tell us that Hogan will reach deep down and return. Slick (with The Warlord) says Hogan will NEVER come back! Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake talks about the SPECIAL BOND with him and Hogan, and says Earthquake is NOT MAN ENOUGH to take Hogan out of wrestling. Speaking of, Jimmy Hart asks ‘Quake if Hogan’s going to come back, and Earthquake replies that Hogan won’t after all those butt splashes.
Remember, you have one week left to write to PO BOX 911 to let the Hulkster know how you feel.
Next, it’s time for The Brother Love Show! The camera focuses on a larger lady in the crowd, and Vince McMahon goes “you think there’s any relation” as the camera switches back to Brother Love. What an asshole.
Love’s guest this week is a TRAITOR and a disgrace to his motherland! That guest is…Nikolai Volkoff, who gets a pretty decent pop. Love asks Nikolai why he wants to participate in this HOAX they call “world peace”. Nikolai says that world peace is NOT A HOAX, and that the people of the Soviet Union and the United States can live as equals.
Love asks why he turned his back on Boris Zhukov, to which Volkoff says the only mistake he made was letting Boris attack him from behind. Nikolai can take him in a one-on-one situation, and he hopes all the American fans are behind him! Suddenly, Hacksaw Jim Duggan shows up, drawing the ire of Brother Love.
In the spirit of glasnost, Duggan gifts Nikolai the American flag, then offers to adopt him as a neighbor and a friend. GOD BLESS AMERICA! They shake on it, setting up a rather short-lived tag team. Volkoff waves Old Glory as “Stars and Stripes Forever” plays, and a bald eagle catches a touchdown pass from Uncle Sam before settling down for some of Mom’s apple pie. ‘MURICA!
Even though the team wouldn’t exactly last long or put on anything resembling a good match, this was kind of a fun moment. It’s nice to see Nikolai get some shine as a babyface, and Love was actually a decent foil instead of completely grating.
USWA Championship Wrestling (Memphis)
To kick off a LOT of Memphis content this week, Jerry “The King” Lawler hangs out at the commentary desk with Dave Brown. The King fires back at some hecklers (“you guys can go home. Your cage is, I’m sure, cleaned out by now”), then he asks a fan to explain what they’ve been chanting over the last several weeks. The fan, J.J., helpfully clarifies that they’ve been saying “get buck”, NOT “kick butt” as SO MANY OF US thought it was. It means to get buck wild or go crazy, and was used to fire everyone up.
Lawler is embarrassed that he’s not the champion again, and he has some footage to explain what happened. First, though, Lawler addresses Downtown Bruno and Ronnie P. Gossett. Doesn’t Lawler know that we don’t talk about Bruno?
After they both managed him for a period, everyone got into an altercation backstage that resulted in Gossett getting punched in the face. THE MAN HAS A HEART CONDITION!
Bruno then offered to corner Lawler by himself for free for the most recent match with The Snowman, but Lawler claims that Bruno ended up costing him in the end.
To illustrate his case, Lawler presents clips of The Snowman (c) vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship from the Mid-South Coliseum. What the hell are these tights?!? We’ve seen Lawler’s highlighter chic before, but Snowman’s orange and green quasi-checkerboard number is pug fugly.
Lawler sticks and moves against Snowman, but the Man of Snow fights back with a boot to block a back body drop. Some fists are dropped, and Snowman covers. Sure enough, Lawler got his foot on the rope, but Bruno knocked it off, resulting in a three count and a successful defense for Snowman.
Lawler concedes that Snowman and Bruno aren’t in cahoots, but it was likely that Bruno was retaliating against Lawler for humiliating him earlier in the evening. Lawler then speaks to Snowman, still in the crowd.
He says Snowman LOVES wearing that title, and was seen at the Waffle House with the belt. His wife even has belt marks on her back! Lawler says his reign is coming to an end soon as we have yet another match between the two for the Mid-South Coliseum, this time with TWO referees! Snowman stands up as the crowd chants “GET BUCK”.
Lawler then threatens Downtown Bruno (“if someone put a dime on your head, you’d look like a nail”) with a fist down his throat should he interject himself again. Speaking of Bruno, he and the Wild Things come out. Jeff Gaylord says that Bruno has honor and integrity, and he’ll take the Wild Things a long way!
The real reason Lawler lost the belt was because he’s a LOSER! Oh, got his ass. Scott Braddock tells Lawler to leave so they can do THEIR interview, so The King exits. Bruno lavishes the “tag team of the future” with praise as they pose behind him…
…but Lawler calmly strolls out with a baseball bat! Lawler threatens to stick said bat where the sun don’t shine if they interfere in his business.
Next, it’s MSC arena clips of “Superstar” Bill Dundee vs. “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony. Superstar pins Tony with a sunset flip, but DWB assaults him after the bell. Dundee fights back, but Dirty White Girl attacks him and starts whipping him.
Tessa runs in and scraps with White Girl until the latter rolls out of the ring. Tessa gives chase as Dundee pummels away at Anthony…until “Hollywood” John Tatum (in his very light Daisy Duke jorts) comes out to wreck him. Tatum blasts Dundee with the California Kick and assists with a spike piledriver.
Tatum holds Dundee up for a lariat from DWB, then it’s another California Kick. Some undercarders try to interfere, but Tatum fights them off as White Boy delivers a DDT on Superstar. Dundee eats ANOTHER spike piledriver, then it’s more stomping until Joey Maggs and Rex King finally penetrate the human shield and protect Dundee from more abuse. That was a pretty awesome heel beatdown, if slightly long.
Back in the studio, Dundee comes out with Tessa, looking no worse for wear. My man, could you at least wear a neckbrace or do ANYTHING to sell that thumping? Lawler quickly interrupts, saying that was the worst beating he’s seen anyone take. Dundee said Lawler dished a few of those out himself.
Dundee talks about making a deal with the devil, saying he put down $5,000 of his own hard-earned to bring in someone to help him with the Tatum/Anthony problem. Lawler says that Dundee could have just given him the five grand and not have dealt with the devil. After some delay, backstage worker Guy Coffey comes out and tells everyone that Dundee’s partner won’t come out as long as Jerry Lawler is there.
The King begrudgingly leaves the desk, and “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert shows up, fresh off his WCW release!
Gilbert was as surprised as anyone that Dundee offered him that kind of cash, but he’s the best friend money can buy! He even touches on his past dealings with Tatum in Bill Watts’ UWF territory. Tessa then calls Dirty White Girl the most unladylike woman she’s ever met, and that prompts the Dirty White Boys and DWG to attack her and Dundee while Hot Stuff does absolutely nothing to help.
Dundee is perturbed at Gilbert for not assisting, to which Gilbert says Dundee only paid for help at the Mid-South Coliseum, not on television. Hot Stuff is apparently set to wrestle today, but he didn’t know that! He didn’t even bring his stuff! However, he’ll corner Dundee for his match “because that’s free”.
We now join “Superstar” Bill Dundee vs. Ken Wayne in progress. Good lord, what is that hair on Wayne?
The Dirty White Boys jump in and assault Dundee, giving Ken Wayne the dreaded TECHNICAL LOSS. Tessa pleads with Gilbert to jump in to help, but he snatches her by the hair and tosses her to the concrete instead. This prompts Jerry Lawler to run in and BLAST Gilbert with a right! The King then hops in the ring and helps Dundee (!) clear house, sending the White Boys scurrying to the back.
Lawler and Dundee then stop by the desk, with Dundee asking Lawler to be his partner instead of Gilbert. Lawler says screw the $5,000 and accepts Dundee’s request to team up against Anthony and Tatum!
After weeks of shades of gray during the Snowman feud, Lawler is finally a full-fledged babyface again, something the fans have been craving for months. Seeing him team with Dundee is fun.
Next, we take a look at footage of an anthropomorphic turtle practicing martial arts as sick synth music plays and some vaguely Japanese voiceover explains the backstory. Those are some pretty good moves, actually.
Kowabunga THE KARATE TURTLE has been lurking in the shadows, waiting on the right moment to strike! He fights for truth, justice, and a bigger slice of pizza!
The identity of the previous tortoise we saw was a bit dubious, but Kowabunga is definitely Chris Champion under the hood. Some would call this a shameless ripoff of some franchise involving adolescent tortoises, but this turtle practices karate, not ninjutsu, so it’s a completely original creation.
Dirty White Boys (Tony Anthony & Tom Burton) vs. Joey Maggs & Rex King - King and Maggs are the current tag champions, but the belts are not on the line.
Anthony corners King with some chops, but Rex comes back with an armdrag and a quick tag to Maggs that leads to a double chop. The faces continue peppering Tony with quick offense, but he manages to tag Burton in…who runs into some armdrags and dropkickery. Anthony tags in and sustains more offense from King until he catches him with a sidewalk slam.
The White Boys work King over with a double headbutt and a Burton clothesline. Things break down after White Girl tries to trip King up, with all four guys going at it. Anthony drops Maggs with a DDT amid the pandemonium.
The chaos ensues until Lawler (with a baseball bat) and Dundee (with a trash can) run in to get some of the DWBs. That leads to a TECHNICAL LOSS for the tag champs, but they’re not unhappy about it.
The match itself was decently peppy for the couple of minutes it lasted, but the takeaway was Lawler further cementing his alliance with Dundee.
Moments later, Tony Anthony and Dirty White Girl come out. Anthony rants about the interference and tells Lawler and Dundee that the chair he’s holding will look good around their necks! He’s going to STOMP Dundee’s stinkin’ brains out!
Eddie Gilbert then says he’s out of his head right now. He got up EARLY this morning to come to the studio FOR FREE to pick up his check from Bill Dundee, and now he doesn’t believe that he’s going to get that $5,000! If Jerry Lawler is the reason that he doesn’t get his money, the King better watch his back, because you haven’t heard the last of Eddie Gilbert!
Downtown Bruno and the Wild Things then resurface for some reason, restating their focus on the tag titles. Lawler’s got Bruno distracted as the fans chant “GET BUCK” and dance around. That’s awesome. I love watching the studio fans having fun like that.
Bruno says nobody should call him a WEASEL. Lawler made him look bad, and now it’s Bruno’s turn to make HIM look bad.
Dave expresses relief that nobody else is coming out to hijack the broadcast.
Anthony delivers another great pissed-off promo, and the injection of Gilbert into the mix to reheat his old rivalry with Lawler should REALLY make things interesting. I like how they didn’t pussyfoot around the obvious outcome for a couple of weeks and just turned Hot Stuff heel right away.
Bruno is…not such a great talker, though his face does have that punchability factor that helps him with getting heat. The Wild Things posing in the background like preening idiots was really funny, though.
NWA World Championship Wrestling
Ahead of tonight’s Great American Bash showdown, Ric Flair and Sting join Gordon Solie on the interview platform. Gordon’s been assured that there will be NO CONFRONTATION.
Solie asks Sting if he’s 100%, so Sting puts Flair’s credentials over strongly before confirming that he is indeed one hundred percent. Flair tells Sting that NOBODY needs to tell the world who Ric Flair is! Sting’s going to have to show “these idiots”, Gordon, and even Flair himself, that he is THE MAN.
Ole Anderson then comes out. Bullshit! WE WERE PROMISED NO CONFRONTATION! This looks like confrontation to me!
Ole threatens Sting (“one of the Super Dudes”) with a two-on-one beatdown, which Solie futilely tries to discourage.
Ole says Sting may REALLY learn a lesson tonight, and the lesson will come at the hands of the Nature Boy. Flair grabs the mic and tells Sting to make his LAST demand, and Sting calls over his amigo, El Gigante! Holy crap, Sting actually thought ahead for once!
Gigante creeps up behind Ole like a 7’7” Argentinian housecat.
Ole pretty much soils himself upon turning around. Sting says he got everyone at ringside, and we’ll see who REALLY IS The Man around here. Flair loses his marbles after Sting leaves. ONE HOUR FROM NOW, YOU WILL BE MINE!
This was a really good last minute hard sell for the pay-per-view. Yes, Gigante is pretty lame, but Ole sold the hell out of him, and Sting and Flair brought heaps of manic energy.
USWA Championship Sports (Dallas)
At ringside, Craig Johnson questions “Hollywood” John Tatum about him superkicking Tessa on the July 4th show. Tatum says Tessa reminds him of a wild thing he used to picked up at a bar. At 8pm, she looked good. At 10pm, a little better. Midnight, she was beautiful, and at 2am, she was a goddess. Then he woke up at 10am and she was a DOG. Holy hell.
Tatum calls Tessa a DOG before addressing “Superstar” Bill Dundee’s challenge for a First Blood match this coming Friday. Tatum used to be called the “Punk Slapper” at the local bars, and Dundee is the SHORTEST punk he knows! He’s going to knock Dundee out, and he’ll be bleeding like a PIG! Awesome pissed-off promo from Tatum here.
We now get a taped rebuttal from Dundee, who talks about the match taking place on the spookiest of days, Friday the 13th.
He promises a SCARY night for Tatum. He’ll be in John’s face from the opening bell on. Tatum’s blood will be flowing like wine, and his lights will be punched out!
Not a bad retort from Dundee, but Tatum wins the promo battle hands-down this week.
Next, Jeff Jarrett and Billy Joe Travis make their way to ringside. Travis addresses General Akbar and Devastation Inc., saying they got rid of Chico Torres, and a tag match with Sweet Daddy Falcone and Gary Young is on the horizon. Him and Jarrett will take out as many Dev Inc. members as needed to get to Akbar.
Jarrett talks about repaying Chico Torres with a figure four for the hot sauce incident and directs more threats at “rag head” Akbar. Suddenly, Iceman King Parsons heads down to the ring and accosts Jarrett as security tries to diffuse the situation. Craig reminds him that he’s not employed by the USWA. Oh, gee, I wonder what storyline they’re trying to recreate.
Parsons rants against Jarrett as John Brozell comes out to tell him that he’s trespassing. The fans seem to remember Parsons as a vocal contingent chants “ICEMAN! ICEMAN!”. That, or they’re big Val Kilmer fans.
Things get very volatile for a few minutes until Iceman is finally escorted from the area.
We then jump to a bit later in the show after Double J beats Ed Robinson in a squash. Jarrett goes to leave, but Iceman Parsons re-emerges and they get into a HELL of a brawl on the floor.
Billy Joe Travis and Brickhouse Brown come out to pull Jarrett off while Sweet Daddy Falcone and Gary Young hold Parsons back. Jarrett breaks free and FLIES at Parsons, resulting in more spirited scrapping. Finally, Parsons is handcuffed as some of the fans chant “BULLSHIT”.
Jarrett demands a match with Parsons, and he doesn’t give a (bleep) if he works with the USWA or not! Oh, Jarrett made a swear! Billy Joe then tells Jarrett, ON CAMERA, “don’t worry about that (n-word)”. Jesus Christ, dude.
So, yeah, this feels like a revisiting of the Jerry Lawler/Snowman angle, but not quite as successful when it comes to creating a shoot-like feel; well, at least in the initial segment as the production didn’t feel quite as spontaneous. It’s also not quite as clear what the driving force is behind Parsons’ animosity towards Jarrett, but we may find out more in the weeks to come.
At the end of the day, I’m still curious to see where this goes, and the massive brawl after Jarrett’s match was excellent. THAT definitely made the storyline feel more unpredictable.
I really could have lived without Travis dropping that slur, though, or Dave Meltzer printing the word completely uncensored when discussing the segment in the Wrestling Observer.
To wrap up the Dallas coverage, “Stunning” Steve Austin and Jeanie come down for a chat. Craig brings up the mixed tag from the 4th of July show as Austin recounts the splash that took Toni Adams out. Steve says he’s sorry…that he didn’t break every bone in her back! Oh, got her ass.
Austin threatens to cripple her for life if she ever gets in his business again! Yikes. Austin says that, with every stipulation Chris Adams comes up with, him and Jeanie destroy him. Steve didn’t have time to buy a get well card, so he made one this morning!
“Toni,
Get well fast, you stupid tramp.
‘Stunning’ Steve Austin and Jeanie”
He tells Chris that both him AND Toni will end up in wheelchairs. Jeanie then runs down the “9-to-5, scuzz of the earth people”, saying they should be honored to be in her presence. Jeanie’s body is TOTALLY NATURAL, while most women pay $3,000 to look like that.
Jeanie tells Toni she’s at home where she belongs, with that nasty, manipulative man! Chris Adams can’t even pack his own wrestling gear! Jeanie accuses Craig of sneaking a peek down her cleavage, then she kind of runs out of gas as the segment sputters to a close.
Man, Steve Austin sounded like a vicious asshole here, like a beta test of the Stone Cold character. Jeanie came off like a complete bitch, though she didn’t stick the landing with the promo. Also, while there are some good lines in there, you can only have the same central conceit in your promos for so long before they get same-y.
NWA Great American Bash: NEW REVOLUTION
This year’s Great American Bash is the third in a row to emanate from the Baltimore Arena in, shocker, Baltimore, Maryland. This will be the last GAB under the NWA name.
The show ended up drawing 10,000 to the arena and scored a 1.7 buyrate, or 200,000 purchases. That’s a great number; the best WCW buyrate until Bash at the Beach 1994, the one with Hulk Hogan’s in-ring debut.
In the pre-show dark match, David Sierra defeated Mr. X.
David Sierra is otherwise known as Fidel Sierra and the Cuban Assassin.
Mr. X was another name for Randy Colley, a.k.a. the original Demolition Smash and Moondog Rex. It was not this Mr. X:
Flyin’ Brian pinned “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel after a crossbody.
Captain Mike Rotunda defeated The Iron Sheik via a backslide.
Doug Furnas dispatched “Dirty” Dutch Mantel with a belly-to-belly suplex.
Harley Race vs. “Wildfire” Tommy Rich - Until his Dark Side of the Ring episode aired, I honestly forgot that Harley wrestled some matches after his WWF run. It’s a battle of former NWA World champions as Rich’s marathon four-day run as titleholder in 1981 came between Race’s fifth and sixth reigns.
Race has the off-center crown on his ass from his WWF days, but because of legal reasons, they can’t refer to him in any kind of monarch-related terms. NO KINGS.
Except for Brody King. He can stick around.
Rich gets a couple of shoulderblocks, but Race retaliates with a clothesline. Rich regains control with a headlock, but Race backs him into the corner for some punches. However, Rich reverses a whip to send Race shoulder-first into the ringpost, and Rich works over the arm. Moments later, Race retaliates with the high knee. JUMPING KNEE IN THE BALTIMORE ARENA!
Race gets a piledriver, resulting in a crazy bump and sell from Rich as he pops up to his feet and oozes onto the floor. Race hits a suplex on the ramp and drops a knee, then continues belaboring Wildfire before tossing him back to the outside. Rich fights back in and clotheslines Race to the floor, then dishes out more punishment on the floor, including a scoop slam.
Rich suplexes Race back in, then comes off the second rope with a fist drop for two. Race comes back with a couple of knees as Jim Ross quips if Race is a fan of the Sacramento Kings in order to explain his regal tights.
Race gets a nice belly-to-belly for two, then blasts Rich with a clothesline and a swinging neckbreaker. Rich fights back with some right hands and a big kneelift. However, Race fights back with a headbutt, and both guys end up tumbling to the floor.
Fists are traded on the floor, and both guys head back in. Rich comes off the top with a crossbody, but Race rolls through and gets the pin!
**3/4 - Honestly, this was a REALLY entertaining, compact match between a couple of clever veterans. I wasn’t expecting much considering how old and physically beyond repair Race was, but he brought some fun offense and bumping. Rich was also game for taking some big bumps and selling his ass off.
NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Midnight Express (“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton & “Sweet” Stan Lane) (c) vs. The Southern Boys (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) - This one finished third in the Wrestling Observer Match of the Year poll, so we’ll see how this holds up.
The Midnights get a hero’s welcome, probably because they’re awesome and not decked out in Confederate regalia.
Eaton attacks Armstrong from behind, and it’s a melee on the floor! Back in, the Southern Boys land a BIG back body drop on Bobby, then take him down with a double shoulderblock. They deck Lane off the apron, and the Midnights take a moment to regroup.
After Eaton re-enters, Armstrong takes him down with an armdrag, but Bobby retaliates with some cheap shots in the corner. He scales the ropes, but Steve hurls him off and catches him with a monkey flip. Some lefts and a dropkick follow, then Armstrong scores with a top rope clothesline to send Bobby to the floor for a respite.
Beautiful Bobby returns to the ring, but he falls victim to a double armwringer into a double chop from the Southern Boys. Smothers goes for a powerslam, but Bobby blocks that with a punch. He goes for a slam of his own, but Smothers escapes and hits some REDNECK KUNG FU, nearly taking Bobby’s head off with a thrust kick.
Bobby again has a comeback attempt snuffed out with another thrust kick, then Sweet Stan finally tags in for a KARATE SHOWDOWN with Smothers! YES!
Lane catches Tracy with a swift backhand, then follows with some kicks. However, Tracy catches a kick and responds with his OWN backhands and kicks! Superkick for Eaton! That whole exchange was AWESOME. The fans are now getting behind the Southern Boys after some early hostility.
Moments later, Smothers and Lane do a bit of chain wrestling that ends with a Lane poke to the eye. Eaton tags in, only to run into an armdrag and an armbar. Eaton escapes in the corner, but Smothers gets a slingshot dropkick, then follows with a dropkick through the ropes, earning a nice reaction from the crowd.
The Midnights earn a slight moment of control, but Smothers weaves through them, and Steve leaps off the top with a crossbody on both guys! Repeated pin attempts and a double noggin knocker follow, sending the Express to the outside for a conference with Jim Cornette.
Moments later, Smothers goes for a roll-up, but Eaton gets the blind tag. Jimbo distracts the ref as Lane HURLS Tracy over the top rope.
Corny whacks him with the racket for good measure, then Lane knocks him off the apron back-first into the railing. The Midnights FINALLY get a sustained advantage, with Eaton hitting a backbreaker on Tracy’s injured back. A lariat cuts off a comeback bid, then it’s a double-team leapfrog press and some karate kicks from Lane. Smothers gets a desperation thrust kick, but Eaton overwhelms him and hits the Alabama Jam!
A dazed Bobby tags Stan back in, who gets caught with a quick sunset flip for two, but the Midnights quickly re-establish dominance with a savate kick/neckbreaker combination. The punishment resumes with Bobby slingshotting Smothers back into the ring and a butterfly suplex from Lane for two. After a punch to the face, Bobby tries slingshotting Smothers again, but Tracy turns the tide and flings Bobby out of the ring!
However, Lane catches Smothers with a clothesline and cuts off another comeback attempt. Smothers counters a double back body drop with a DOUBLE sunset flip!
Tracy deftly rolls into his corner, and it’s HOT TAG STEVE ARMSTRONG! He slugs away on both guys with fists and chops, then lands another big shoulderblock for two. The Southern Boys hit a double-team dropkick, but the referee is preoccupied by trying to get Tracy out of the ring, allowing for a kickout.
Armstrong heads up, but Eaton shoves him off, and it’s the Rocket Launcher…but Steve kicks out! While Bobby’s distracted, Smothers switches places with Armstrong! TWIN MAGIC! He catches Eaton with an inside cradle, but Lane breaks it up! Smothers runs the ropes, but Lane catches him in the back of the head with a kick, allowing Eaton to small package him to eke out the three!
Well, the Southern Boys came out dressed as Confederate soldiers, so they should be used to losing.
***** - Yeah, this is still one of the best tag matches of all time. This was peak Midnight Express; slick double-teams, crisp execution, impeccable timing, and making the other team look incredibly strong with selling and bumping. Again, Jim Herd wants to get rid of these guys!
The Southern Boys rose to the occasion and proved to be excellent foils for the MXE. They managed to rally the Baltimore crowd behind them through sheer athleticism and babyface fire alone. It was amazing to witness.
The match was super-fun and immaculately paced throughout, with the appropriate peaks and valleys, and tons of athleticism. The last few minutes were white hot with crazy near-falls and a finish that made the challengers look strong in defeat while putting over the craftiness of the champions. Plus, the redneck martial arts showdown with Lane and Smothers will live rent-free in my head.
If this wasn’t THE best tag match to ever take place on American soil, it has to at least be in the conversation.
In his NWA/WCW debut, Big Van Vader defeated The Z-Man with a splash.
The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) beat The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Jam Garvin & Michael “P.S.” Hayes) after Rick hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Hayes behind the referee’s back and placed Scott on top for the cover.
The Dudes With Attitude (Paul Orndorff, Junkyard Dog, & El Gigante) defeated The Four Horsemen (Sid Vicious, Arn Anderson, & Barry Windham) via disqualification after JYD gets tossed over the top rope.
El Gigante never legally tagged in.
We now join Lex Luger (c) vs. Mean Mark Callous in progress, with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship on the line. Mean Mark hits a vertical suplex, which is no-sold by Luger! That’s kind of funny considering Mark would make a entire 30-year career out of not registering offense. Lex comes back with a series of clotheslines, then muscles him up for the Torture Rack!
The referee gets knocked down in the process, so Paul E. Dangerously blasts Luger with his cellphone. Mark drapes his arm over him, but Luger kicks out! Mark sets up for the heart punch, but Luger breaks free, knocks Paul E. off the apron, and pins Callous after a clothesline.
This would actually be Mean Mark’s last NWA PPV. Ole Anderson, premiere talent scout he is, told the future Undertaker that no one would ever pay to see him wrestle, so Mark persistently worked to secure, and eventually got, a meeting with the WWF. Callous would work with the NWA until September, when he was finally granted his release. Have all the opinions of The Undertaker you want, but Ole driving him into the arms of Vince McMahon is another unforced error on his résumé.
NWA World Tag Team Championship: Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed) (c) vs. The Rock ‘N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) - I will never not pop for Jim Ross running through the football backgrounds for THE TEAM OF DOOM.
Simmons overpowers Gibson to start, forcing Robert to stick and move. After Gibson gets a quickie roll-up for two, Reed checks in and continues asserting his will, but Gibson counters a slam with one of his own and catches Reed with an elbow. Morton tags in and quickly gets bowled over with a couple of Reed shoulderblocks.
Gibson gets a blind tag and the Express take over with rapid double-teams, including a double shoulderblock on Reed and a double suplex on Simmons. Gibson tries a hiptoss, but that proves to be a fool’s errand as Reed just wrecks him with a clothesline.
Gibson endures a beating, including getting tossed over the top rope, but he gets a desperation sunset flip for two. Reed regains the upper hand with a swinging neckbreaker for two, but Gibson gets a high knee and make the tag to Morton! Ricky gets some white meat babyface offense and rolls Reed up…but Simmons cracks him with a clothesline to the back of the head.
Ricky assumes his usual duties of getting thoroughly shellacked by the heels, though he gets a brief glimmer of hope by catching a blind charge with a boot.
Reed tags back in and counters a blind charge with a knee to the face, then he gets a second-rope elbow for two. Moments later, they fight over a backslide, with Gibson sneaking in for an assist to net Morton a two-count. However, Doom continues their walloping, with Simmons hitting a nice powerslam for two. Reed gets an axehandle from the second rope, then drops some SOUPBONE rights for two.
Reed works a rear chinlock (with assistance from Teddy Long and Simmons), then hurls Morton off the top behind the ref’s back. Back in, Morton continues taking a pounding, running into a deadlift powerslam from Reed. However, a Reed splash hits knees, and it’s HOT TAG GIBSON!
Gibson gets a glancing dropkick on Simmons and continues fending off both guys. He manages a sunset flip for two as it’s now a FOUR WAY FRAY! Long erroneously finds his way inside the ring and gets thwacked by Gibson.
However, Reed comes off the top with a HUGE shoulderblock for the pin!
*** - A perfectly fine tag match with some good selling from the Rock N’ Rolls and fun power stuff from Doom, but this was pretty heatless, a tad slow, and never really kicked into that next gear. This was positioned in the death slot before the main event, which didn’t exactly help.
In an interview with Gordon Solie hours before the show, Ric Flair promises that he will remain THE MAN.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs. Sting - This was, of course, originally supposed to happen at Wrestle War in February, but *that* knee injury derailed everything.
Sting’s rocking his iconic ‘MURICA gear and facepaint. He’s one of the few guys that can pull something like that off and not look like a giant cornball. It's absolutely one of his best looks, and will probably win Gear of the Year for 1990.
This feels like a quasi-lumberjack match as the Dudes With Attitude (Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff, and the Steiner Brothers) surround the ring, and Ole Anderson will be handcuffed to El Gigante. There will also be no disqualifications.
As often the case, Sting harnesses his power to dominate Flair in the early stages. Flair tries for some chops, but Sting absorbs the blows and catches him with a press slam. After a dropkick, Flair rolls to the ramp for a reprieve. but Sting follows and continues no-selling the chops before hiptossing Flair on the ramp and clotheslining him back into the ring.
Flair gets an eyepoke to create a bit of space, then drops a knee and lands a vertical suplex…but Sting no-sells! He blitzes Flair with clotheslines and gets a top rope crossbody for a near-fall, then Naitch bails to the outside for a breather.
After Flair re-enters the squared circle, he kicks away at the leg, but Sting comes back with a clothesline out of the corner. Flair tries for the figure four, but Sting easily shoves him off, and it’s a “WOOOOOO”-off! Flair gets a couple of forearms out of a knucklelock, then gets a chop to register before tossing Sting to the ramp for some punishment.
Back in, Sting is really limping around, but he fights back with a flurry of blows in the corner. However, Flair evades a dropkick and goes back to work on the leg. Sting dodges a Flair buttdrop to the knee, resulting in trauma to the coccyx. Moments later, Sting avoids a kneedrop and locks Flair in the figure four! Yeah, finisher theft!
Flair scampers to the ropes to break, then drags Stinger to the floor for some abuse. Sting no-sells a whip into the railing, then chases Flair back in for some mounted punches. Flair heads up, but Sting tosses him off the top, then Sting gets a backslide for a very close two. However, Flair slewfoots Sting as he was arguing with the ref about the cadence of the count.
Flair maintains the upper hand with the knee-based assault, but Sting again blocks a figure four attempt. Ric repays him with some blistering chops in the corner, but Sting weathers the blows as the adrenaline takes over. Sting gets another press slam and a clothesline for a VERY close two. Flair does the turnbuckle flip, and Sting clothesline him on the apron, then suplexes him back in for two.
Flair begs off, but that doesn’t prevent the STINGER SPLASH! Gigante stops Ole from intervening as Sting applies the Scorpion Deathlock!
The Horsemen run down, but the Dudes cut them off at the pass as Flair makes the ropes. Flair covers Sting with his feet on the ropes, but Scott Steiner knocks the feet off. Sting gets a quick roll-up for two, then we get a bridge sequence that leads to a backslide battle. Sting wins that one, but Flair BARELY gets a shoulder up!
Flair chops the shit out of Sting to no avail, but he dodges a flying knee in the corner! Flair looks for the figure four, but Sting traps him in a small package for the three and the title! JR proclaims that “THE STINGER HAS DONE IT”! The crowd goes absolutely batshit insane, as they should.
WCW production even surprise the new champ with a large cutout of his head, festooned with pyrotechnics.
Sting tells Gordon Solie that Flair is the greatest world champion of all time, and he’s got big shoes to fill. He’s going to do the best he can do!
***3/4 - This was prototypical Sting vs. Flair, which is usually at least very good. They always have a fun dynamic and a specific formula, though it doesn’t produce matches quite as excellent as Flair’s bouts with Lex Luger. Flair brought the guile and the strategy, but also bumped and sold his absolute ass off to make Sting look like a worldbeater. The Stinger brought the fire and had the crowd in the palm of his hand.
However, there was feelings of disappointment in this match because some fans were looking for something epic, like the Flair vs. Luger match from Wrestle War. Rather than nearly 40 minutes, this one went around 16. WCW likely didn’t want to tempt fate by having Sting out there for such a long match after nearly four months on the shelf. Sting also returned far ahead of schedule, so there may have been doubts about him being 100%.
Despite some expectations not being met, I still think it’s a great match with tremendous late-game drama and molten heat. The finish, with the Horsemen finally being unable to bail Flair out, was satisfying, and Sting finally getting his big championship win over the Nature Boy is always going to be an all-time moment, regardless of what comes after.
THE TUGBOAT TRIBUNE
As always, the news comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Ole Anderson’s justification for getting rid of Cactus Jack: he believes that Foley’s insane bumps expose the business.
Again, that Ole sure had an eye for talent.
Speaking of, Ole REALLY wants to fire Missy Hyatt, but Jim Herd wants to keep her around for the ratings.
She’d actually stick around longer than Ole.
Ahead of the Great American Bash, Sting actually did return at house shows in the weeks leading up, but he didn’t exactly pop business as one would expect.
That’s likely because they kept him on television throughout his injury, which is the opposite of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. I can understand that they’d want to keep Sting in the spotlight, but scaling back his appearances could have made his return feel like a MUCH bigger deal. We’ll see how things go with him on top now.
Stan Hansen continues working ridiculously stiff at the WCW tapings. This go-round, he fractured the skull of enhancement fellow David Riordan.
Good grief.
Genichiro Tenryu opened up the SWS gym, but none of the wrestlers he snagged from AJPW or NJPW can appear because of the mountains of litigation hovering over everyone’s heads.
NEXT TIME: Jeff Jarrett vs. Iceman King Parsons, Masanobu Fuchi takes on Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in AJPW, and more!
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Zeus vs Abdullah is my favorite worst match ever. So wild Tiny Lister had an outside booking.
GAB '90 might be my favorite WCW PPV. Pudgy Iron Sheik is so funny to me, dude couldn't even really bend for the roll-ups