Legacy Review
Starrcade '86: The Skywalkers
November 27, 1986 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC and The Omni in Atlanta, GA
Commentary: Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver (Greensboro), Tony Schiavone and Rick Stewart (Atlanta)
Last
year's two city experiment went off without a hitch so we're back to it
one more time this year, once again with half the show in JCP's
traditional home and the other half in their adopted home, and again
switching arenas with each match. There is one difference this year,
instead of one commentary team in Atlanta trying to also do Greensboro
remotely they've got a commentary team in each arena this time. Which
unfortunately means we have Johnny Weaver in the booth half the night.
The show's full tagline is "Night of the Skywalkers", but it's usually
shortened to just "The Skywalkers". It's not a Star Wars reference, it's
a reference to the scaffold match on the card. At four hours long this
would turn out to be the longest Starrcade ever.
The
show opens up with a very '80s style laser show in the Omni. The
scaffold structure is already up and will stay up all show. We then
smoothly transition to Tom Miller in Greensboro for the formal intro.
The two arena hookup working very well again. After the National Anthem
(dude holding his hand over his stomach thinking that's where his heart
is will never not be funny) the connection is tested further with both
commentary teams doing a bit of ballyhoo. I want to say this Rick
Stewart guy used to do commentary in the old Georgia territory but I
can't remember for sure. He doesn't last long in the big leagues
regardless.
Nelson Royal & Tim Horner def Don & Rocky Kernodle in 7:30 (Greensboro)- We
don't get intros for this match, the bell rings and we're off. And
Weaver is already stumbling over himself. Rocky and Horner start out
with some solid back and forth stuff. I think this is face vs face but
don't hold me to it. I know the Kernodles are faces. Don powerslams
Horner for 2. Royal tags in and the match's elder statesmen go at it.
Royal gets Don in an abdominal stretch. Don crashes in the corner and
Royal gives him a knee to the gut. Horner tags in and cradles Don for 2.
After a hiptoss from Don we get a bit of a reset. Royal hops on Don's
back with a sleeper. Don easily carries him over to tag out to Rocky.
Rocky comes in with a sunset flip off the top rope for 2. Royal dodges a
wild Rocky crossbody attempt and covers for 2. Powerslam from Horner
for 2. Small package for 2. Both guys try for leapfrogs at the same time
and hit heads! Looked like a corner kick from all the World Cup I've
been watching lately. Don comes in and gives Horner a VERY delayed
suplex for 2. Backdrop from Don, but Horner dodges the diving headbutt
follow up. Royal wants a tag but Horner hits a dropkick instead for 2.
Speed run and Don hits a clothesline. Don crawls over and tags out.
Rocky press slams Horner for 2. Both guys do some spiffy roll up
counters and Horner ends up on top, and gets a 3 count! Rock solid stuff
all around. **1/2
Brad Armstrong and Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) 15:00 time limit draw (Atlanta)- The
eternally underrated Brad Armstrong of the Armstrong wrestling family
(along with dad "Bullet" Bob Armstrong and brothers Road Dogg and ref
Scott Armstrong) is making his Starrcade debut after arriving in JCP
earlier in the year. Garvin gets the first full entrance of the night as
that's slowly becoming more and more common for everyone. Tony actually
gets up from commentary to do all the ring intros in Atlanta, and he
does a fine job of it too. As usual real life husband/wife tandem Garvin
and Precious have a kiss before things get going. Long rough lockup
stalemate. Another one in the corner as it's super intense early, these
guys want to tear into each other. Quick mat sequence that Armstrong has
the edge on, followed by a headlock/headscissors standoff. Long top
wristlock fight. Precious is yelling so loud the commentary mics are
picking her up. The wristlock fight finally ends with another stalemate
as this has been completely 50/50 so far. After a reset we're right back
in the wristlock fight. This time Armstrong wins it into an ARMBAR.
Both guys trade arm wringers. Armstrong grabs a headlock and Garvin uses
the tights to try to get a cradle pin. Garvin gets a leg takedown and
works on that a bit, while yelling "HE AIN'T GOING NOWHERE!". Garvin
wraps up a kind of modified cloverleaf and again reiterates his belief
that Armstrong's mobility is somewhat hampered. Armstrong does a nice
counter into a chinlock on the mat. Speed run and Armstrong gets a drop
toe hold into another armbar. Precious gets up on the apron to distract
ref Scrappy McGowan (yes his real name, or at least his ref name) and
that allows Garvin to hair pull Armstrong into a headscissors. Armstrong
slowly works into the handstand escape. More speed and Armstrong gets a
hiptoss, then another headlock takedown, but that gives Garvin an
opening to get him back in the headscissors. Another Precious
distraction lets Garvin choke a little. Armstrong escapes and works a
headlock for a bit. Scrappy catches Garvin using the trunks to try to
get a pin again. Tony gives the 10 minute call on commentary. That's the
ring announcer's usual job, and tonight in Atlanta he is the ring
announcer. Garvin finally back suplexes out of the headlock. Kneedrop on
Armstrong for 2. Garvin tosses Armstrong out onto the still unpadded
floor. Precious gives Armstrong a mouthful while Garvin gives him some
stomps in the head as he tries to get back in. Pain from two sides. Tony
says 3 minutes left. Seems a bit quick to me but whatever. Armstrong
gets back in and Garvin snap mares him over for 2. He drops Armstrong on
the top rope for 2. Backbreaker for 2. Midring collision at 2 minutes
left and both guys are down. Garvin tries a slam but Armstrong falls on
top of him for 2. Garvin gets a knee up in the corner and Armstrong goes
down hard. Cover for 2 as we hit one minute left. Another Garvin cover
for 2. He puts on a desperation sleeper. Armstrong quickly armdrags out.
Garvin his a knee to the gut and small packages Armstrong for 2.
Armstrong reverses it for 2. Slam from Garvin and he goes up top even
though there's almost no time left. As Armstrong dodges his big splash
the bell rings for the time limit. Good stuff. The wrestling was pretty
basic for most of it, but both guys' intensity and hard work more than
made up for it. They never for a second felt like they were stalling or
dogging it for the time limit. ***
Baron von Raschke & Hector Guerrero def The Barbarian & Shaska Whatley in 7:25 (Greensboro)- Either
this is heel vs heel or Raschke is having an extremely rare run as a
face. He does get a pop on his intro so I guess that confirms that. Full
2v2 brawl at the start. The heels get whipped into each other. Whatley
bumps off it while Barbarian casually steps out to the floor instead.
Whatley stays in and Guerrero stays all over him. A Whatley headbutt
finally turns things around for the heels. Barbarian hits a chop off the
second rope. Guerrero rolls under a big boot, then tries a crossbody
but Barbarian catches him and drops him on the top rope. Guerrero dodges
a charge and Barbarian flies through the ropes to the floor! Raschke
holds Barbarian and Guerrero hits a plancha! That's a big time high spot
for 1986. Whatley hops down, jumps Guerrero and runs him into the post.
Barbarian drops Guerrero on the guardrail that's about two miles away
from the ring. Why is there so much ringside space in Greensboro? No
such thing as a ringside seat, just closest to the ring. Back in
Guerrero stays in peril. Backdrop and big headbutt from Barbarian.
Double backdrop on Guerrero for 2. Whatley argues the count and just
barely holds Guerrero back from tagging. Barbarian chokes Guerrero with
the tag rope. Another go and this time he hits the big boot for 2.
Whatley sets Guerrero up for a backdrop. Guerrero spits in his face,
turns and tags! Raschke goose steps his way in and cleans house. Claw on
Whatley! Barbarian breaks it up. DONNYBROOK! Raschke dodges Whatley in
the corner, drops an elbow, and gets the pin. That could have been a lot
worse considering who was in there. Raschke's about done and looks it,
so Guerrero working almost the whole match made sense. *
Johnny
Weaver is outside Dusty Rhodes' closed locker room. Dusty's refused to
talk to any media leading up to this show to stay focused. Weaver gives
it another try but Dusty tells him to leave him alone.
No
DQ Match for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship: Ivan Koloff
& Krusher Kruschev (c) def The Kansas Jayhawks in 9:10 (Atlanta)- Other
NWA territories had versions of US tag titles, but in late '86 JCP
decided to create their own version for the first time, which would end
up being the definitive version and last well into the WCW years. To
give them some prestige from the start instead of creating them out of
the blue JCP unified the old territory Mid-Atlantic tag titles with the
National tag titles they inherited from the Georgia territory, both of
which had pretty much been sitting on a shelf for months, to create the
new title. This is a rematch of the finals of the tournament that was
held to crown the inaugural champions. The Jayhawks are Bobby Jaggers
and a very strange babyface Dutch Mantell. Mantell (looking like Albert
needing an all over shave) and Ivan start. Quick start with Mantell
hitting a backdrop and the Jayhawks knock him around while quick
tagging. Ivan gets a flash roll up on Jaggers but Jaggers gets him back
in a hammerlock on the mat. Ivan is able to reach out and gets a tag to
Kruschev (future Demolition Smash Barry Darsow). The Russians get
Mantell in the wrong corner for a bit. Mantell responds by getting
Kruschev into their corner. Kruschev dodges a Mantell drop toe hold
attempt and tags out. Corner dodge and Ivan posts his shoulder. Double
back elbow from the Jayhawks for 2. Kruschev trips Mantell from the
floor, then drags him out and gives him a shot on the commentary table.
Mantell gets crotched on the guardrail. Or I guess it was on the knee,
he's selling the knee. Ivan comes off the top rope with an elbow to
Mantell's back. Mantell ducks a double clothesline and double
clotheslines the Russians! Tag to Jaggers. Double noggin knocker on the
Russians. Clothesline on Ivan for 2. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Ivan sets up
to hit Jaggers off the top rope with his chain. Mantell gets his whip
and lashes Ivan in the foot, dropping him onto the top rope. Apparently
the whip is called "Sue Baby". I don't want to know. Indiana Jones never
named his whip. Kruschev takes a whip in the leg. He fights Mantell off
on the floor, hits Jaggers with the chain, and Ivan covers for the pin
to retain. Decentish, but didn't play into the no DQ stips as much as it
could have. **
One
more note on title histories because you know I'm obsessive when it
comes to them- the NWA National title from Georgia was unified with the
US title in September to deactivate that one as JCP tried to clean up
their title structure a bit. The Mid-Atlantic title was still out there,
I'll get to that here in just a bit.
Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel def "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Paul Jones) in 9:05 (Greensboro)- Rude's
early career tour of the southern territories landed him in JCP in
September, where he paired up with Manny Fernandez and Paul Jones
against Wahoo. Rude's music starts with a woman saying "Ricky, you're
sooooooo ravishing. Where did you come from?". That's hilarious. The
soft lounge music fits him almost as well as the stripper rag he'll have
in WWF. Rude makes a big show of disrobing like usual, then Wahoo gives
him what can only be described as a playful little shot with the strap.
Rude doesn't stall any more, cinches in and the bell rings to start.
Rude tries some forearms but Wahoo clotheslines him with the strap, then
chokes him with it. Rude tries a headlock of all things. In a strap
match. He gets a pretty ugly headlock takedown (on Wahoo, not him) and
mounts Wahoo but it doesn't go anywhere. Rude then pounds on Wahoo a
little in the corner. He tries one half hearted strap whip then chokes
Wahoo with the strap. More shots in the corner as I think Wahoo is
bleeding. Right on cue. Slam from Rude and he wraps Wahoo up to go for
corners. One, two, then Wahoo stops him and fights out. Wahoo's up with
strap assisted punches. Man, Wahoo's getting soft in his old age, he's
going super easy on Rude. None of his usual stiffness. Compare to his
strap matches earlier this year with Garvin on the Great American Bash
tour. Rude takes some full strap whips. He's also bleeding now. Wahoo
wraps him up to go for corners. Rude manages to stop him at 3. Quick
elbow .Rude goes up to the top rope and hits a fistdrop. He tries to
wrap Wahoo up again but Wahoo stops him before he gets anywhere. Rude
goes up top again and Wahoo flips him off with the strap, then drops an
elbow. Another wrap up and Wahoo gets up to three corners. Jones tries
to stop him but Wahoo chops him off the apron. Rude hits Wahoo from
behind, sending Wahoo into the final corner. Commentary thinks it's over
but the bell didn't ring. Rude ties Wahoo up on the ropes and he and
Jones pound away on him until H Guerrero and Raschke make the save. Huh,
guess that was the end. Hey, there's the bell! Finally. Ugly finish,
ugly match. Rude wasn't ready for prime time yet and Wahoo was getting
pretty past it. In fact this would be his final Starrcade as we start
slowly transitioning from prime JCP to early WCW the next year. 1/2*
Ivan
Koloff says they're looking forward to winning many "American dollars"
in the upcoming Bunkhouse Stampedes. Glad he specified. No one wants
those Canadian loonies. Also, winning that much money might get them in
serious trouble with the Party. Communists aren't allowed to better
themselves financially. Unless they have the right Party connections of
course.They also blame Dusty Rhodes for poisoning comrade Nikita's mind
with all that capitalism crap.
NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship: Sam Houston (c) def Bill Dundee by DQ in 10:24 (Atlanta)- As
other redundant territory titles fall by the wayside, another one rises
up to replace them. Central States was based in Kansas City and was one
of the original NWA territories. When the promotion fell into financial
difficulty they became the latest acquisition by the ever expanding JCP
in their battle to keep up with the WWF's increasing nationalization.
JCP vacated the title when they bought Central States out, then Houston
won a tournament under JCP's banner to crown a new champion. It takes
forever for the bell to ring for the start for some reason. Rough lockup
and Dundee tosses beanpole Houston into the ropes. Arm wringer tradeoff
and Dundee hair pulls out of an armbar. Corner whip reversal from
Houston and he gets a flying headscissors. A couple of armdrags and a
dropkick from Houston. Dundee hides in the corner and wants a TO. When
he gets up he gets another hair pull takedown. Houston hits some strikes
and gets a headlock takedown. He goes for the bulldog but Dundee
blocks. That leads to some roll up counters and this time Dundee pulls
tights. Fully going into the heel 101 playbook. And again as Dundee
tights pulls Houston to the floor. Houston hits an atomic drop on the
floor that sends Dundee flying over the barricade into the miles of foul
territory. He flips Dundee back into the ring for 2. Dundee gets
Houston down, goes up top and hits a fistdrop. He takes his time
covering and Houston kicks out. Elbow to the back of Houston's head for
2. Dundee starts dancing around and hitting jabs, then struts around a
bit. Another slow cover for 2. Dundee gets a Boston crab on. Houston
fights out and they end up in the ropes trying to counter each other.
Dundee chokes Houston on the bottom rope and tosses him out again.
Dundee walks part of the top rope to hit a double ax handle as Houston
gets back in for 2. Front facelock from Dundee. Houston backs Dundee
into the corner and starts the comeback flurry. Back elbow for 2.
Houston hits a slam but Dundee dodges a kneedrop. He sees the target and
starts working on Houston's knee. Houston pushes free of a spinning toe
hold and ref Scrappy goes down. Somehow Dundee gets Houston's boot off
and hits Houston with it. But Scrappy was already up and saw, and he
calls for the bell. Weak finish. Both guys were working with intensity
and crispness, but beyond that there wasn't a whole lot of "there"
there. The less said about what happened with the Central States title
after this the better. *1/4
Hair vs Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant (w/Big Mama) def Paul Jones (w/Manny Fernandez) in 4:00 (Greensboro)- I
am pleased to inform you that this is the honest to God final blowoff
of the Valiant/Jones feud that's been going for literally years. I am
even more pleased to inform you that this is Valiant's last ever match
at a Starrcade. The latest developments over the course of the Great
American Bash tour during the summer were Valiant won a match to shave
then Paul Jones Army frontman Shaska Whatley bald, then Jones defeated
Valiant later in the tour to shave Valiant bald. Since then Fernandez
became the latest in a series of guys to turn on Valiant during the
course of this feud. Music starts up for intros then we have an abrupt
edit. Guess it was edited out of the official WWE copy. Music rights
fees I'm sure, it always is. Oh, Tom Miller informs us it's not
Valiant's hair on the line this time, it's Big Mama's. Guess he didn't
want to have to grow it back again if he lost again. Fernandez is also
supposed to be suspended in a cage during the match. Earl Hebner checks
in to ref the rest of the Greensboro portion. We spend forever on
Hernandez stalling on getting into the cage until the face locker room
empties to force him inside. The cage is then raised up while Jones
tries to stop it. Once Fernandez is all the way up the bell rings to
start. Valiant jumps Jones from behind and knocks him around. Hiptoss
from Valiant. Valiant looks more out of control than ever with his
offense. While Hebner is forcing a corner break Jones gets some knucks
out of his tights and lays Valiant out with them. Valiant, as usual, is
bleeding. Jones drops some more shots and covers for 2. When Valiant
puts his foot on the rope to break up a pin Jones sees the target and
tries to drop a knee on the leg. Valiant gets his leg out of the way and
Jones knees the mat! OK, that was well done. Jones gets his
international object out and nails Valiant with it again. Another 2
count. Jones tries for some kind of leg hold but Valiant pulls him back
head first into the mat. Slow slugfest that Valiant wins. Sleeper!
Valiant sees Jones get the knucks out again, pushes Jones into the
corner, picks up the knucks and hits Jones with them. Valiant covers and
gets the pin to a huge pop! As soon as the bell rings Valiant already
has the shears in his hand and goes to work on Jones' hair. Well, it's
far from the worst match these two have had. I'm also inclined to go
easy on it because I'm happy it's all over. 3/4*
As
soon as Fernandez is out of the cage he attacks Valiant, and is soon
joined by his tag partner Rude. They double DDT Valiant on a chair, then
help get mostly bald Jones out. Fernandez and Rude were about to get a
huge push in the tag division. In fact they'd win the World tag titles
barely two weeks after this show.
Intermission
time in the arena means promo time on TV. But not wrestler promos this
time, promos for future JCP events. First up is a long and strange hype
video for the upcoming Bunkhouse Stampede matches, JCP's battle royales
with legal weapons for large purses. The whole thing is framed with
Nelson Royal describing the match as a cowboy around a campfire telling a
nighttime story. I'd say after a day of cattle rustling but his clothes
are way too clean. The constant guitar noodling behind the whole thing
is almost as bad as Rollergator. My fellow Rifftrax fans know what I'm
talking about.
After
a formal intermission Tony sets up the next hype video, this time for
the second annual Crockett Cup coming in April. This one is less weird,
it's a straight highlight package of the inaugural '86 edition. They
also say the '87 Cup will be two nights this time instead of having
afternoon and evening shows the same day, a good move. It'll also be in
Baltimore instead of the Superdome in New Orleans. No cross promotion
deal with Mid-South/UWF this year. Ironically when the Crockett Cup
rolled around in '87 it would come at almost exactly the same time JCP
ended up buying out UWF.
Louisville
Street Fight: Big Bubba Rogers (w/Jim Cornette) def NWA Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Champion Ron Garvin in 11:50 (Atlanta)- This is
"Louisville" because that's where Rogers (future Big Boss Man) is being
billed from even though he's legitimately from Cobb County, GA. This is
pin or 10 count KO rules. Rogers has spent most of the year as the
bodyguard for Cornette and the Midnight Express as he was still in
training to wrestle himself. The by now completely redundant
Mid-Atlantic title would finally be quietly euthanized just before the
end of the year. Since it's a street fight Garvin's in his jeans and
tank top while Rogers is wrestling in his usual ringside heavy suit.
Tommy Young is in to ref the remainder of the Atlanta matches. Garvin
tries some stick and move on the big man at the start. Rogers offers a
test of strength. Garvin offers a few more punches instead that finally
put Rogers down and he quickly rolls out to consult with Cornette. Off a
lock up Rogers grabs Garvin's jeans and tosses him out to the floor.
Back in Rogers hits a couple of clubbing blows and goes to toss Garvin
out again, but can't seem to decide which side to do it on and finally
decides on the side with the announce table. That was ugly. Garvin's ass
hits the table on the way down. On his way back in Garvin picks up a
cup of water or coke, then tosses it in Rogers face! That gives Garvin
the opening to get some more shots in. After he's taken enough Rogers
steps through the ropes for some more advice. Coming back in Garvin puts
him in a front facelock, then goes to a straight choke which is legal
in this one. They tie up again in the corner and Rogers squashes Garvin
there, then hits a kneelift. Rogers has a roll of quarters or something
in his hand from Cornette to hit Garvin with. After the last shot the
coins go everywhere in the ring. Garvin's bleeding off that too. Garvin
beats a couple of 10 counts and Rogers slams him. Big splash for 2.
Garvin beats another 10 count. He gets a rope out of his boot and chokes
Rogers. Then he uses it to try to hog tie Rogers like he's a calf! That
doesn't work so he ties Rogers to the top rope instead. Now Rogers is
bleeding a bit. Another clubbing blow and kneelift from Rogers. He hooks
on a bear hug. Garvin headbutts free, then lands some more punches.
Rogers goes 360 over the top rope to the floor! Thankfully since it's no
DQ they don't have to give any lip service to the over the top rope
rule. More punches and Rogers flops out to the floor again. Garvin
follows and continues laying in shots. Rogers turns things around with
another kneelift. He rolls Garvin back in and climbs up top. Garvin
slams him off the top rope! Cover and Young gets squashed on the
kickout. Garvin hits a piledriver! Cornette racket shot on Garvin! Young
gets up and both guys are out for a 10 count. Since there MUST be a
winner, we do the "first guy to his feet wins" thing. Cornette gets in
the ring to try to help Rogers and Young tosses him back out! Rogers
then pulls Young down so he doesn't see Garvin on his feet. Cornette
trips Garvin, and Rogers gets up and is declared the winner! Bit of a
"bullshit" chant for that. This had a very oil and water feel for most
of it, but they persevered and got it pretty decent by the end. **3/4
First
Blood Match for the NWA World Television Championship: Tully Blanchard
(w/JJ Dillon) def "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (c) in 7:30
(Greensboro)- Another feud that's been going off and on for well
over a year that's finally mostly wrapping up here. First it was over
the TV title, then the National title, and now they're back to the TV
title. Also our first Four Horsemen match of the night. The momentum
Blanchard had rising up the card in '84-'85 has started to stall out in
the last year. Dusty ended the long first reign of Blanchard's fellow
Horseman Arn Anderson in September to win this title for the third time.
We follow Dusty out of his locker room and all the way into the arena
for his entrance. I hadn't mentioned, there's actually a primitive
entrance stage set up in Greensboro, the first time we've had that at a
Starrcade. Dusty's got "Tully" cut into his hair above his ears to show
how super cereal he is for this match. He's also wearing a Magnum TA
shirt as a tribute. HAHAHAHA Dillon tries to put amateur wrestling
headgear on Blanchard before the match starts to keep him from getting
cut open! Hebner stops that real quick. Nice try though. Dillon then
tries to put Vaseline or something on Blanchard's forehead. Hebner gets a
towel and wipes that off, and none too gently. Dusty finally has enough
and pops Dillon! And Dillon's busted open! Regardless of how the actual
match goes all these preliminaries have been fantastic. So much fun.
That's actually smart psychologically too, it shows Dusty can bust you
open anytime with one shot from his elbow. The bell rings to start while
Blanchard is on the floor trying to help Dillon wipe his blood off.
Dillon is freaking gushing, man. His forehead is totally covered. In the
ring Dusty gets the first couple of shots and Blanchard quickly backs
up to get some space. Lockup and both guys are clearly looking to finish
it early, targeting each other's forehead and both playing defense.
Dusty does some of his strutting around and lounges in the corner to
rile up Blanchard. Again Blanchard plays defense when Dusty loads up to
hit him in the head. After another exchange Blanchard bails all the way
to the floor to keep from getting hit. He's like a soccer team parking
the bus and playing for a 0-0 draw in a group stage match. Again,
writing this while in the midst of World Cup watching. Back in Dusty
finally manages to land a headbutt, which staggers both guys. Dusty
shifts gears and lands a stomp on Blancahrd's knee, probably to try to
keep him from running. In the corner Blanchard covers up and goes for
Dusty's leg. Dusty blocks that and finally lands an elbow off it but it
doesn't bust Blanchard open. Again Dusty shifts to targeting Blanchard's
leg for a bit. Blanchard again rolls out before another shot can be
landed on his head. Blanchard tries again back in but still can't land
much offense. He finally manages to snap mare Dusty over, drops an elbow
then rakes at Dusty's face trying to cut him open. Dusty gets up and
puts Blanchard back down with more shots. Dillon grabs Blanchard's foot
in the corner and in the course of events Hebner goes down. Dillon gives
Blanchard his Shoe of Death and Blanchard goes to the second rope with
it. Dusty catches him and the shoe drops harmlessly to the mat. Suplex
from Dusty and that knocks Hebner down again! Dusty gets the shoe,
teases, then tosses it away. Elbow to Blanchard's head! Full ground and
pound from Dusty. Blanchard's bleeding! But Hebner's still down. Behind
Dusty Dillon wipes Blanchard's forehead off and rubs Vaseline on it.
Blanchard nails Dusty with a roll of coins! Again coins go all over the
place. Both arenas for that now. That busted Dusty open. Hebner gets up,
the first thing he sees is Dusty bleeding, and he calls for the bell!
Blanchard wins the title back! Dusty is FURIOUS! The psychology through
all of this was sound, but it didn't exactly lead to an entertaining
match. I do like it when the heels get genuinely clever though. **1/2
Scaffold
Match: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The Midnight Express
(w/Jim Cornette and Big Bubba Rogers) in 7:00 (Atlanta)- This isn't
the main event, but it might as well be based on how much it was hyped
up leading up to the show. Scaffold matches were invented in Memphis
with the first one in the early '70s and a couple more taking place in
the early '80s. The Midnights and RNR Express had one as part of their
original feud in Mid-South in '84. This is the first one to be held
under the JCP banner. This has never been one of my favorite gimmick
matches, I think when you've seen one of these you've pretty much seen
them all. The rules are you have to knock your opponents off the
scaffold and down into the ring (or to the floor if you're feeling
particularly brutal and want to recreate the Pit II stage fatality from
Mortal Kombat II), so the big selling point here is the perceived chance
to see someone fall nearly to their death. In practice of course
everyone usually found the safest way possible to make the sky/mat
transition. And the promised spectacle did sell tickets for this show, I
won't deny that. The Roadies waste no time climbing up the scaffold on
their entrance. The Midnights are a little more reluctant. Crazy side
note, Hawk is actually working this match with a broken leg. Fortunately
all he has to do it walk around the scaffold and his gear is covering
up whatever cast he's wearing for it. After intros the Midnights slowly
and reluctantly make their way up. I do love Condrey's US flag shirt.
How did he get away with that as a heel? Cornette goes to commentary and
calls the match "ludicrous" and "stupid" and I have to agree. The
Midnights finally get up, try to wobble up on their feet, and we're on.
Now for these guys to try to work on a narrow scaffold that's as high as
the ring lights. Not a whole lot you can do other than some weak
brawling. Both Midnights have powder and throw it into the Roadies'
faces. That gets them the edge for a bit. Hawk teases going off the
support structure and down onto the bare floor. That'd do a lot more
than break his other leg. Eaton works himself down to the underside of
the scaffold trying to drag Animal down. He saves himself by swinging
onto the support structure and climbs back up. It's the Roadies back on
offense again and both Midnights are bleeding. Condrey slowly works
himself down the support structure. Hawk follows so he can't get back up
that way. Hawk then goes down with him and they both tease falling. Now
Eaton gets shuffled down the support structure. All four guys use the
support rungs as monkey bars and dangle under the scaffold! Condrey goes
down! Animal kicks Eaton and Eaton goes down! The Roadies win! Like I
said, the safest way possible. After the bell Ellering chases Cornette
up the scaffold. Cronette gets trapped up there between Ellering and
Animal. He decides to also take the underneath route. Cornette
dangles.....AND FALLS! That fall absolutely destroyed his knee for real,
and you can see it on his face. Rogers was supposed to catch him,
but....missed. For what it was that was fine. If you ever watch one
scaffold match in your life, and you should only watch one as they're
all the same, this is the one you should go for. **
Next
up is some more future show hype, this time for the Great American Bash
with highlights from the '86 tour. I'm so glad two of those shows are
available now, but they show clips from shows beyond those two, leading
me to wonder what else might be out there. Though I'd prefer to get
something from the '87 GAB tour first as there's nothing released from
it right now as I write this, especially because it was on that year's
tour that War Games was first introduced.
A
second intermission? "We've already had first intermission, what about
second intermission?" Shut up, Pippin. We get the credits roll during
this intermission instead of at the end of the show.
Steel
Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Rock 'N' Roll
Express (c) def The Minnesota Wrecking Crew in 20:20 (Greensboro)- The
main event for the Greensboro portion of the show. The RNR Express are
on their third title reign, having taken them back from their forever
rivals the Midnight Express back in August. The RNR Express are so
bonkers over in Greensboro you can barely hear Tom Miller's intro for
them over the crowd. The Express apparently asked for the cage to keep
the other Horsemen from interfering. Ole and Gibson start and Ole wants
to TEAR into him. Ole tries to get Gibson trapped in the wrong corner,
and when that doesn't work they sucker Morton in to hit some double team
shots behind Hebner's back. Gibson fights Arn off and rams him into the
cage backwards. Again Gibson avoids the wrong corner, gets Ole over to
his side and tags Morton in. Arn and Morton have a small reset before
leaning into each other. Arn blocks Morton giving him a cage shot.
Morton keeps trying to crank the pace up and Arn keeps backing off to
slow it down. Arn dodges and Gibson crashes into the corner knee first.
While Gibson's sitting on the top rope Arn runs his leg into the cage.
The Andersons have a target, and that's never a good thing for their
opponents. Ole tags in and starts working away on Gibson's leg. Arn rams
Gibon's knee into the mat. Gibson pushes out of a spinning toe hold and
Arn goes face first into the cage! Crazy double bump off that from Arn.
Ole tags in, cuts off Gibson tagging and gets back on the knee. Both
Andersons continue the destruction of Gibson's knee. Gibson manages an
enzuguri! He gets free from Arn and tags out to Morton! Morton's hot tag
run is quickly cut off by the Andersons and Morton is the first one
properly run into the cage tonight. Now it's Morton's turn to be in
peril. He tries to fight back on Ole but he's in the wrong half of the
ring and Ole easily tags out. Arn bites on the cut Morton got from the
cage shots, then gives him the old cheese grater spot. Ole does a bit of
work on Morton's arm, which is always Ole's preferred target. Morton's
bleeding pretty good now too. Ole sends him shoulder first into the top
turnbuckle, then puts on his arm tearing off armbar. No one did an
ARMBAR like Ole Anderson, not even Chris Jericho's best ones from the
List. Hammerlock slam and kneedrop on the arm from Arn. Arn tries coming
off the second rope but Morton catches him coming down! And gives him a
DDT! Ole quickly gets in to cut a tag off and runs Morton arm first
into the cage. Shoulderbreaker from Ole for 2. Morton ducks an Arn
clothesline and hits a kneelift! Arn grabs Morton's tights to again keep
him from tagging out. Ole cranks a spinning toe hold type hold on
Morton's arm. While both guys are on their knees Morton tries to slug
back but still can't get away. Now he tries some hammy kicks and punches
on Ole. Again the Andersons keep him from tagging and double team beat
him down. Arn hits the World's Greatest Spinebuster! Gibson breaks the
pin up! Ole goes up top and drops a knee on Morton's arm. Another
shoulder dislocating ARMBAR. Morton has another flurry. Midring
collision! Ole gets to Arn and Arn gets to Morton. He switches gears and
cranks on Morton's neck. Morton starts to string some comeback punches
together. Down goes Arn! Ole JUST runs Morton over into the cage before
he can tag out! Morton flash small package on Ole! Arn quickly runs in
to break it up, triggering Gibson to run in too as Hebner loses control
and we go full on DONNYBROOK. Gibson dropkicks Morton's back as Ole was
holding him up, Morton falls on Ole and gets a pin out of nowhere to
retain! The furious Andersons continue the beating but the RNR Express
crawl out of the cage to get the hell out of town, too beat up to even
celebrate their win but win they did. Absolutely brilliant tag wrestling
from four of the best to ever do it. ****3/4
As
I mentioned earlier, the team of Manny Fernandez and Rick Rude would
upset the obviously still beat up and probably shouldn't have been
defending yet RNR Express for the titles a couple of weeks after this.
The RNR Express would win them back in April in a famous phantom match
that never actually happened because Rude had left for the WWF.
On
the other side, Ole Anderson would be kicked out of the Horsemen and
turn face in February, as well as start flirting with on again/off again
retirement. He'd also later take over as WCW's head booker for a time
while Dusty was off in the WWF. We can thank him for, among other
things, the Black Scorpion.
The
main event of Starrcade '86 was long planned to be the coronation of
Magnum TA as the new top babyface star in the NWA. JCP and NWA brass
thought he was the guy they could put up against Hulk Hogan in the
continued nationalization battle. I'm very dubious as to how that would
have played out, but that was the plan. But it would become little more
than one of the biggest what ifs in wrestling history, as everything
changed one night in mid October. That night Magnum, driving at night in
heavy rain, lost control of his car and crashed into a light pole.
Doctors were unsure if he would ever walk again, to say nothing of
wrestling. Fortunately he was able to eventually regain full mobility,
but his wrestling career ended that night. Plans for the biggest show of
the year would have to change, with barely over a month to change them,
which in those days was almost no time at all. It'd be like having to
rebook a Wrestlemania main event a week or two before the show today.
The decision was made to have Magnum's most recent rival who had just
defeated Magnum in a best of seven series to win the US title, Nikita
Koloff, turn face to take Magnum's place in the main event. The on
screen story was Magnum won Nikita's respect during their feud and
Nikita wanted to honor his fallen comrade. It also happened to coincide
with a period of cooling US/Soviet Union tensions as, little anyone knew
at the time, the USSR was fully on the path that would lead to its
collapse a few years later, so in that context it kind of worked. Spirit
of glasnost and all that.
After
Flair's entrance a tribute video for Magnum plays that can probably be
best described as cheesy and is definitely sappy, but it's still soon
enough after the accident emotions were still running pretty high so you
can forgive it.
NWA
World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) and NWA
United States Heavyweight Champion Nikita Koloff double DQ in 20:00
(Atlanta)- The crowd clearly hasn't fully embraced Nikita yet in
this forced role. Some "Nikita" chants during his entrance (mostly high
pitched) mixed in with pretty loud boos (mostly low pitched). But the
same guys booing Nikita sound like they're booing Flair too. They have a
staredown during Young's instructions, the bell rings and here we go.
Nikita easily shoves Flair out of the first lockups. After the second
time Flair teases locking up again, then backs up and steps out to the
floor. Back in Nikita cranks a knucklelock. Flair backs him into the
corner and hits some chops that have zero effect. Flair steps back out
and goes over the guardrail and all the way nearly into the crowd to
rethink. Coming back in he gives Nikita a short "WOOOO". Top wristlock
fight that again Nikita pretty easily wins. When Flair gets up he shouts
"Now you get your butt kicked!". He backs Nikita into the corner and
tries a hiptoss but Nikita blocks it. Reversal and Nikita hits the
hiptoss. Another Nikita hiptoss, followed up with a slam that tosses
Flair across the mat. Another one of those. Nikita poses and Flair begs
off. It sounds like the crowd might be getting a bit more behind Nikita
now. Off the ropes Flair runs into a bear hug. Flair goes down and
Nikita gets a near fall off of it. Nikita backs Flair into the corner
and hits a couple of shoulderblocks. Flair dodges a charge and Nikita
goes shoulder first into the corner. Flair then hits a delayed suplex.
Nikita pops back up! Flair backs the hell up, to the floor and again
over the guardrail. Back in Nikita cranks a headlock that Flair tries to
side punch out of but can't. He backs Nikita into the corner and hits
some chops that finally start to stagger him. Shoulderblock standoff,
then Nikita literally plucks Flair out of the air by the throat and
takes him down. Tony says that's the "Russian hammer". Well if that's a
new signature move it won't last long. Nikita loads up for a Sickle.
Flair dodges and Nikita tumbles over the top rope to the floor! Flair
grabs Nikita on the apron and posts his knee. Here we go. Chop block in
the ring. Sharpen your pencil and get your Trapper Keepers kids, we're
going to school. Flair mixes a couple of chops in with more knee shots.
Figure four! With added rope leverage behind Young's back. Powerful
Nikita still manages to reverse it and Flair lets go. Corner shots from
Flair start to fire Nikita back up. He is still selling the knee a bit.
Nikita shoulderblock. Off the ropes again Flair tosses him back out to
the floor. They go over and Flair runs Nikita into the scaffold support
structure. About time someone used that. Nikita is on the floor blading
for all he's worth, it's all caught on camera. When he gets back in he's
bleeding. Snap mare/kneedrop combo from Flair for 2. Back suplex for 2.
He pounds away on Nikita's cut. Again that just fires Nikita up.
Shoulderblocks and another toss slam from Nikita. Another hiptoss. Flair
Flip! He falls all the way to the floor right in front of a cameraman.
This time Flair takes a shot on the scaffold and goes down into blading
position. You knew Flair was going to bleed eventually. More scaffold
shots for Flair. Back in Nikita runs Flair's shoulder into the corner.
Strike exchange and Flair Flop! Flying tackle from Nikita and Young gets
knocked out of the ring. Nikita hits the Sickle! He crawls over and
covers but there's no ref. Scrappy is out but he's checking on Young.
Nikita tries to pull Young back up by his shirt collar. That lets Flair
hits Nikita with a knee in the back. Scrappy comes in to count and Flair
gets 2. Flair ducks and Nikita Sickles Scrappy! It's full on ref murder
tonight. Nikita chokes Flair in the corner. The recovered Young tries
to stop it but Nikita tosses him aside. Again Nikita tosses Young across
the ring. Young says that's it and calls for the bell. Eventually both
locker rooms empty to break the fight up. Young confirms on the mic that
it's a double DQ, modern online reports vary on that. Given the
circumstances I guess that was as good as you could have hoped for, and
it set it up for the feud to continue as they tried to figure out where
to go from here after the Magnum accident turned all long term plans
upside down. The match itself was pretty typical "Flair vs big man"
formula that'd he'd later perfect with a much more able partner, Sting.
***3/4
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Not
as great as Starrcade '85, but nowhere near the disaster '84 was.
Overall it's OK. They definitely could have trimmed some fat off the
card to get it closer to a normal 3 hour runtime and the show likely
would have been better for it. The last two matches are worth your while
though, especially the sensational World tag title match. This would be
the last time the two arena experiment would be tried, it'll be back to
normal single arena shows next year. This is also the last Starrcade to
take place in either Greensboro or the Omni as JCP would start to try
to branch out even further next year.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C
v2.0 posted 6/29/26
