Great American Bash '86 (7/5)

Legacy Review

Great American Bash '86 (7/5 Show)

July 5, 1986 from Charlotte Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC

 

The first Great American Bash at Charlotte Stadium 4th of July weekend '85 was a success, so the next year Jim Crockett Promotions decided to not just run it back, but supersize it. In '86 the GAB was a full summer tour encompassing 13 events in 13 different cities, a good number of them in outdoor stadiums and some even going outside JCP's normal territorial bounds, encroaching on the WWF's traditional northeast territory as the fight over nationalization continued. It was by far the most ambitious series of events put on by JCP to date. Two of the shows, both in JCP's home of North Carolina, were taped and much later made available in the WWE Network Hidden Gems, then later in the WWE Vault on Youtube. First up is the return to Charlotte Stadium during the 4th of July holiday weekend. This was the fourth show in the '86 GAB series, following Philadelphia (Veterans Stadium), Washington (RFK Stadium) and Memphis (the Liberty Bowl). I mention all that just to show the scale and ambition of this tour. 

 

We start off with....skydivers. National champions apparently. Won the gold medal in Muskogee, OK, which is apparently a skydiving hotbed. All four guys land within reasonable proximity of their target and no one crashes so I guess we can call it a success. This is definitely the kind of thing that would be shown at 3 PM on a weekday afternoon on ESPN back then, well before the days of ESPN filling all their daytime programming with endless Sportscenters and idiots having shouty fake "debates" with each other. Like last year there's only a small section of field seats, which looks kind of empty but is actually pretty practical as far as making sure everyone can see. There's no commentary since this wasn't broadcast live or complete on TV. I'm assuming highlights and/or the top matches were shown later on JCP's weekly TV.

 

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Denny Brown (c) and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal 15:00 time limit draw- Steve Regal, not to be confused with Blackpool's own Lord Steven Regal, had spent most of his career in the AWA but was now venturing elsewhere as he started to wind down. Regal heels it up, and kills time, by making a big deal of needing space to take his jacket off after the bell. We do get a pretty energetic lockup after that though. Brown teases a rope break cheap shot but ref Earl Hebner backs him off. Regal hits a slam that I'm pretty sure I hear Brown yell "OH SHIT" during. Hiptoss and armdrag from Regal and he complains about it being too easy. Speed run and Brown rolls through the same three moves on Regal, with a couple of added slams. After some hammerlock tradeoffs Brown gets a snap mare and Regal does the heel complaining about a hair pull that didn't happen. Brown works a headlock for a bit. Speed run and Brown gets a crossbody for 2. He does a crazy walk up the ropes and flip over headlock takedown. Regal wins a top wristlock fight into an ARMBAR, likely thanks to a hair pull but we didn't see from the camera angle. As I type that we absolutely do see a hair pull on camera. More speed and Regal "hits" an elbow that Brown was already falling down for well before contact. Regal again goes to the heel 101 playbook, using a tights pull to keep Brown in a chinlock. At the 5 minutes left call Brown fights free and cranks up some comeback offense. Regal cuts it off with a knee to the gut. Suplex from Regal for 2. Regal makes the mistake of shoving Hebner, who always shoves back. Another elbow from Regal that fully connects this time. Another Brown comeback is cut off with a Regal knee up in the corner. He stacks Brown up in the corner, but doesn't put his feet on the ropes for extra leverage and therefore doesn't get the pin. Regal's a disgrace to heels everywhere. Back to the chinlock as the obvious time limit stall is really on now. Brown fires back with punches and Regal eye rakes him. Slam/elbow drop combo for 2. Backbreaker from Regal at the one minute left call. Brown dodges another elbow drop. Regal begs off and Brown stomps him in the corner. A big right hand puts Regal down. Brown legdrop for 2. Slow jabs from Brown as the bell rings for the time limit. Brown doesn't stop and hits Regal with a big delayed suplex. After he recovers Regal attacks Brown again and tosses him over the top rope to get his heat back. Hebner makes a nifty save of the belt for Brown. Moderately acceptable time limit draw. Babyface champion Brown looked lucky to escape with that, being on defense nearly the whole match. Not sure if that's what they were going for or not, it kind of looked like Regal was calling himself on offense the whole match just to be a dick. Purely speculation on my part. *3/4

 

Robert Gibson def NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Black Bart in 7:40- Ricky Morton is otherwise occupied tonight so Gibson is also getting a singles match, albeit a bit lower on the card. Gibson goes into dodge mode early, clearly at a power disadvantage. Even Gibson avoiding shots gets huge shrieks from the crowd the RNR Express are so bonkers over. Gibson hits a Thesz press that Bart seems to debate if he actually wants to sell or not. He eventually does. Gibson reverses a whip and hits a hiptoss, then a couple of flying headscissors. He keeps Bart down in the headscissors. Bart tries the handstand escape but Gibson drives his head into the mat! Nice. Bart stays trapped in the headscissors for an awful long time. Finally he powers out and drops Gibson with a clothesline. A single punch sends Gibson flopping across the ring. Another puts him out of it. Bart drops Gibson on the top rope. Backdrop from Bart. Fistdrop to the back of Gibson's head. Gibson tries to fire back with kicks but gets put down again and tossed out to the floor. Field. Whatever. They're going right onto the grass, there's nothing covering it up. Bart drops Gibson on the guardrail. Back in Bart continues the beating. Big double leg legdrop onto Gibson's chest. Gibson kicks out! Shoulderblock from Bart that he also swung a clothesline during for 2. Gibson blocks punches in the corner and starts landing his own. He catches Bart with a springboard reverse crossbody, and that gets a pin! Gibson tried but he didn't have much to work with. *1/2

 

The Minnesota Wrecking Crew def Nelson Royal & Sam Houston in 12:22- Not sure why Dillon isn't with the Horsemen team. Maybe they don't think Royal and Houston are enough competition to make it worthwhile. Which, they're probably right. As a native Texan I do appreciate Houston's Texas flag cape. This is the everyone got the red gear memo match, they're all red trunks of one shade or another. Houston starts with Arn. Arn looks at him and goes "Are you kidding me?". All Arn early and he runs the twig over. Long speed run. Arn blocks a hiptoss. Houston flips over and hits it, shocking Arn who quickly backs off. Arn tries to trap Houston in his corner but Houston does a nifty escape through the ropes. Both sides tag. Ole and Royal, the match's elder statesmen, are a bit more equal power matchup and we get some stalemates. Royal fights off both Andersons with punches. Back elbow on Arn. Royal wraps Arn up in a chinlock that Arn takes a rope break to get out of. Now the Andersons finally succeed in getting Royal trapped in their corner and they go into their usual arm work. Royal escapes and tags back out to Houston. He manages to stagger Ole with some punches, but Ole quickly recovers and gets the better of him. Now the Andersons really go to work on the easy target that is Houston, with their usual smooth teamwork keeping Houston trapped and in peril. Ole tries to wrench his arm right out of its socket. Houston manages a quick escape and tags out. Royal gets a bit of a hot tag run, until Arn traps his leg. Ole jumps him and goes back to work on the arm. Ole puts on the dreaded Armpit Pinch of Pinching +2. Armbar slam and kneedrop from Arn for 2. Royal is just barely prevented from tagging a couple of times. Another armbar slam from Arn and he goes to the second rope. Royal cuts him off and gets the tag! Big hot tag run from Houston. Bulldog on Arn! Ole breaks the pin up. DONNYBROOK! Houston gets Arn rolled up, but behind Hebner Ole comes off the top rope and nails Houston in the back of the head. Arn covers and it's over. Perfectly typical Anderson graduate level tag team course. ***1/4

 

Bunkhouse Match: "Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez def Baron von Raschke (w/Paul Jones) 9:04- Raschke is a guy I primarily think of as an AWA wrestler, but he had the occasional stint elsewhere during his long career, including right now when he was with JCP full time. Since it's a Bunkhouse match jeans and boots are the order of the day. Rashke is wearing that under his usual robe, which is hilarious. Jones is still in his generalissimo phase, dressed like a bargain basement South American dictator. The bell rings and Raschke immediately hides in the ropes, then lets the crowd get to him. Fernandez hits a few back elbows and chops off a rope break and Raschke rolls to the floor. Back in Fernandez hits a diving back elbow, then goes after Jones. Raschke can't take advantage and Fernandez hits a couple of kneelifts. Raschke dodges in the corner and Fernandez splats on the turnbuckles. Jones distracts Hebner so Raschke can get an Abdullah the Butcher like spike out and work Fernandez over with it. Distraction is really unnecessary, it's no DQ. Fernandez is our first bleeder of the night. Raschke takes his belt off and digs it into Fernandez's eyes. Clothesline with the belt. We get a couple of weak belt whips and some belt choking. Fernandez tries to fire back but Raschke puts him back down. But Raschke has a bigger problem. With no belt his jeans are collapsing. They're already getting down to about '90s Konnan levels. Raschke takes his boot off and hits Fernandez with it. His jeans are almost completely down. Fernandez manages to put him down with a back kick. Back elbow from Fernandez. He gets Raschke's boot and hits him with it. Now Fernandez takes his belt off and whips Rashke with it. Fernandez whips Raschke, which is a big mistake because his jeans are damn near down to his knees now and he can barely run. Fernandez wraps Raschke's shirt around his head and hits him again. Boot shot from the second rope. Another boot shot as this is seriously wearing out its welcome. Yet another boot shot and Raschke's got a bit of blood going now. Another whip attempt and Fernandez launches himself over the top rope. That was intended, but it looked accidental just because Raschke's jeans are pulling him down into a stoop. He FINALLY hitches them back up while Jones gets some cheap shots in. Raschke gives Fernandez a post shot. He tries to slam Fernandez back in from the apron, but Fernandez uses that to get a Paul Smackage for the pin. Sadly the saga of Raschke's collapsing trousers was by far the most entertaining thing in this match. 3/4*

 

Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel def "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) in 10:44- Wahoo to Indian Strap matches was like Andre the Giant to battle royales so the result is a foregone conclusion. Especially with an over the top flamboyant heel like Garvin for no nonsense Wahoo to put down. After the bell Precious makes a big show of disrobing Garvin, including taking his pants off while on her knees. Watch it, we're PG here. Kids in the audience. Garvin then does the usual heel stalling refusing to put the strap on. Wahoo says fine and whips him in the back with it. Precious actually gets in his face over it! She's got guts. Hebner gets the strap on Garvin, he gets one last kiss from Precious and we're on for real. Garvin tries to hide on the field but Wahoo pulls him back in. Another strap whip. They actually lock up (in a strap match?!) and exchange chops. Wahoo lays into Garvin with strap shots. Another lockup and Garvin grabs a headlock. Bad move, as that only allows Wahoo to yank the strap up into Garvin's crotch. Garvin gets a front facelock on. They go to the floor and have a strap tug of war around the post. Garvin gets in the ring and manages to leverage Wahoo backward through the barricade. Wahoo gets back up bleeding and absolutely pummels Garvin's chest with open hand chops. About .7 Walter/Gunther there. Back in Garvin snap mares Wahoo and covers, but there's no pins. He gets corner #1, then wraps up Wahoo's hands to drag him. Redo corner 1, then 2, 3....Wahoo kicks Garvin to put him down and break the count. More big chops from Wahoo. He digs the strap into Garvin's eyes. Strap assisted punch and now Garvin's bleeding. Wahoo wraps him up and starts for corners. After two Precious trips him! No DQ. Garvin goes up top. Another tactical error, that just lets Wahoo yank him down with the chain. I'm not saying jerk off, I'm not JR. Wahoo goes for corners again. When he gets to three Precious gets on the apron and tries to stop him again. Wahoo says screw you and easily gets corner #4 to win. After the bell Garvin attacks Wahoo with what I think was Precious' purse but it looks more like an aluminum wrapped burrito. Wahoo pretty much no sells it and Garvin runs. OK for a strap match. The wild contrast in characters helped, as did Wahoo's extreme stiffness. **1/4

 

Taped Fist Match: Ron Garvin (w/Wahoo McDaniel) def NWA National Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon) in 14:05- The title isn't on the line here because it's a gimmick match, but at this point it's honestly not worth bothering about. They're using its last few months of existence to give Blanchard a belt to carry around after his TV and US title runs. Both guys come in riding on golf carts. If I remember right young Dustin Rhodes was a cart driver for this show. Wahoo's done a quick bandage and clean up job after his match. Glad to see him in a Cowboys shirt too. As the stip suggests, both guys have their fists taped up. In fact this is going to be structured like a boxing match with ten 3 minute rounds, 30 seconds of rest in between, no pins. Tommy Young checks in to ref the second half of the show. Blanchard tries to jump but Garvin backdrops him with his robe still on! One punch and DOWN GOES TULLY! He's completely out too. Too bad the bell hasn't rung to start yet. Dillon is furious, but it's Blanchard's own fault. Dillon gets a bucket of water and throws some in Blanchard's face to get him up and going again. The bell rings and Garvin unloads with jabs again. He knocks Blanchard all over the place and Blanchard goes down again. Dillon reaches in and uses what looks like smelling salts to get Blanchard up before the ten count. Garvin takes the bait and stalks Dillon while Blanchard recovers. Garvin easily blocks Blanchard's swings and pummels him some more. Blanchard tires a kick but Garvin catches it and puts him down again. That's three knockdowns this round, if this was real boxing that'd be a TKO. Years of playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out taught me that. Blanchard hides in the corner while Garvin looks for openings. I guess corner or rope breaks aren't a thing here. At the round bell Blanchard tries another ambush and gets put down with a straight right! He really should stop trying that, it's not working. Dillon argues for extra rest time but Young is having none of it. Start of round 2 Blanchard is still out on the mat. He comes to enough to beat the count. Garvin stays on offense and Blanchard has a small cut on his forehead. They play the corner game again and Garvin hits a couple of headbutts that Young admonishes him for. Blanchard finally lands a kick, but Garvin hits another punch that puts him down for about the tenth time already. Blanchard tries a double leg takedown. Garvin blocks it, leading to the bridge up/backslide spot leverage fight. Blanchard flips over, then gets floored again. The end of round bell saves him. Dillon gets in and dumps some more water on him. The bell rings again and I don't think that was a full 30 seconds. Garvin stops caring about the count and pounds on Blanchard while he's down. Blanchard grabs Garvin's tights in the corner and pulls him into the post, sending Garvin down onto the field. Full post shot on the field for Garvin. Blanchard goes over and dumps the whole bucket of water on his own head! Nice. Wahoo helps now very wobblelegged Garvin flop back into the ring. Blanchard is all over him. The ring announcer says end of round 3 when there wasn't a bell. This thing is really floating rules wise now. As will later be WCW tradition. This time Wahoo needs to help Garvin recover for the first time. Round 4 starts with Blanchard still in control. Now bleeding Garvin tries to hulk up off his punches. He starts no selling so Blanchard slams him and drops an elbow. Cover. Young: "You can't pin the man!". Again Garvin hulks up and starts no selling punches. A punch puts Blanchard down again. He drags Garvin out to the field. Wahoo comes over and atomic drops Blanchard into a Garvin punch! Well that was uncalled for. Blanchard didn't lay a hand on Wahoo the whole match. Back in it's pummeling time from Garvin again. Again Blanchard is saved by the bell. There was a bell this time. Between rounds Dillon puts extra tape on Blanchard's primary hand, with presumably something a little extra underneath. Blanchard tries but can't land a shot with it, Garvin keeps dodging. Blanchard grabs a headlock that Garvin uses to hit a back suplex. Blanchard goes up top, but comes down into a Garvin punch! Both guys are down for the whole 10 count. Since there must be a winner we do the "the first guy to his feet wins" deal. Dillon gets in and FRANTICALLY fans on Blanchard with his towel! With Young dealing with that, Wahoo gives Garvin an assist in the form of a bucket of water in the face. Garvin is up first and it's over. Fine for what it was. Both guys were working their asses off to make it work, that's for sure. **3/4

 

Think they need to give the ring mat some time to dry off before the next match. 

 

Double Russian Chain Match: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The Russian Team in 5:40- These teams have been feuding off and on since last year's GAB show, when the Roadies were still in AWA. The Roadies are coming off winning the first Crockett Cup in April, which was also the start of their full time run in JCP. We're encroaching on gimmick overload here, both on the card in general and these stips in particular. So what is a double Russian chain match? Exactly what it says on the tin, there's two chains instead of one with each team member tied to one opponent just like a strap match. I can see a pretty direct metaphor on how communism actually works in this match too. It is pin to win rules, not touch all corners. Honestly it's not worth getting deep into details on this, it's all four guys fighting chaos the whole match with lots of chain shots and chain choking. Ivan's bleeding in almost no time at all. Young gets bumped out of the ring because why not, even though it's no DQ anyway. Nikita uses that opening to take his chain off and plant Animal with a Sickle in the ring. Ivan covers but Young's still down. Ivan goes up top but Ellering gets up and pushes him off, sending Ivan crotch first into the ropes. Animal crawls over, covers, and gets the pin. At least it was short. 1/4*

 

Hair vs Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant def Shaska Whatley (w/Paul Jones) in 10:42- The war between Valiant and Paul Jones' Army continues. Whatley came into JCP from Georgia and Florida initially on Valiant's side, but then turned heel on him to join Jones' stable and was now the frontman for them. Not the first or last time that happened to Valiant in this long feud. Guy had more guys turn on him than Sting. This match's segment starts right up with Whatley attacking Valiant at the bell, no entrances or intros. Valiant immediately goes into his crazy spasm selling while Whatley struts around. Jones hits a cheap shot from the floor and Whatley covers for 2. Whatley then tries a leverage pin the corner but Young catches him. Oh crap no, it's Hebner back in. Just caught that. Valiant boogies up and hits some of his wild over the top shots before Jones hits him with his riding crop from the floor. Whatley covers for 2 again while the ring announcer finally just now tells us the loser gets his head shaved in the ring. Better late than never I guess. Whatley lays into Valiant with headbutts, wanders around the ring bragging about it, then covers for 2. Hey, Valiant's bleeding. What a shock. Valiant boogies up again to eye rake out of a chinlock, but can't follow up. Yet another cheap shot from Jones gets Whatley another 2 count. Valiant blocks buckle shots and gives one to Whatley. That has no effect and Whatley hits another headbutt ("SUCKAAAAAAAA!" he yells to the crowd) for 2. Valiant lands a gut punch, but again Whatley's right back on offense. He hooks Valiant up in the tree of woe. Jones uses that position to choke him with his crop. On a slam attempt Valiant gets a flash small package for 2. Another boogie up gets killed with just another punch. Whatley bites on the cut. OK, let's see if this boogie up goes anywhere this time. Nope, another headbutt puts him down again. They're repeating essentially the same 60-90 second segment over and over and over again. Whatley does an arrogant one knee cover that Valiant absolutely does NOT kick out of in time, but Hebner has to pull up anyway because that's not the finish. Whatley finally mixes things up by dancing into an elbow drop attempt that misses by a mile. Shouting "I GOT HIS ASS!" first probably didn't help. Valiant finally strings together his first real offense of the match. Sleeper! Hebner vanishes, I think Jones took him out off camera. That allows Baron von Raschke to run in, thankfully jeans now held up with a belt, and he takes Valiant out. He puts on his LOADED GLOVE OF DEATH. Manny Fernandez runs in to cut that off. Valiant gets the glove, nails Whatley with it, and gets the pin. Freaking hell that got a huge pop. It's insane how popular Valiant was despite how much he sucked in the ring. That went way way WAY too long. You should know by now Valiant matches suck as a rule, but Whatley contributed absolutely nothing on his end either. DUD

 

The face locker room runs in and holds Whatley down so Valiant can give him his trim. He does a very thorough job of it too. I wonder if any barber's union ever protested wrestlers doing head shaving themselves without a licensed professional present? Of course I'd tell them to get stuffed, but still just something I wonder. Whatley of course freaks out when he comes too, and even tries to reattach his hair back to his head. That's more entertaining than anything in the match.

 

Steel Cage Match: "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA & Baby Doll def NWA World Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette (w/Big Bubba Rogers) in 10:06- I guess Cornette counts as a woman here. Magnum's US title was held up in May after he was provoked into attacking an NWA official. He and Nikita Koloff were contesting a best of seven series during the course of the GAB tour to determine a new champion. We'll be seeing one of those matches later on the Greensboro show. Cornette wearing multiple pads on his arms and legs is so great. Rogers (future Big Boss Man) looms outside the cage all match but never gets involved during it. Eaton goes for Doll but she armdrags him! Dusty then gives him a cage shot. The other heels bail. Cornette tries to hide on top of the top rope. Start proper with Eaton and Magnum. Magnum again beats Eaton to the punch. Literally. Another corner break and this time Eaton gets some shots in. Magnum hits a press slam, then press slams Condrey running in. Magnum gives Eaton a couple of big cage shots. He brings Eaton over so Doll can slap him, then tags Dusty in. Stereo jabs for both Midnights. I think Eaton is bleeding off those cage shots. Not Doll's slap. Dusty gives him the cheese grater spot. An elbow sends Eaton falling backwards into his corner and he tags out to Condrey. Condrey offers Dusty a free shot, which seems like a tactical error. Magnum tags in and hits a standing elbow off the top rope. Cage shot for Condrey. Now he's bleeding and gets a bit of cheese grater. Condrey hits a knee and tries for a quick piledriver but Magnum blocks it. Eaton finally runs in to help take Magnum down. With Magnum down Cornette now tags in. He goes for a crazy over the top elbow drop that of course misses. The regular wrestlers donnybrook for a bit until Eaton turns things around again with an eye poke on Magnum. Magnum takes a cage shot and hides his head to get some juice. Eaton goes all the way to the TOP OF THE CAGE and comes down with an ax handle. That was a huge move at the time. Eaton goes up there again. This time Magnum cuts him off with a punch! Both guys struggle to recover. Magnum gets a sunset flip that Condrey breaks up. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Doll runs over and flips Cornette in! She goes nuts on him! The guys trap Cornette, Doll puts him down with one punch, and she covers to get the pin! Perfectly fine, nothing special. **1/2

 

After the bell the Midnights hold Dusty for Rogers to beat down while Doll and Magnum are kept trapped in the cage.

 

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def Ricky Morton in 23:15- It's a testament to how insanely popular the Rock N Roll Express were that Morton is getting this spot. Like at last year's show, Flair makes his entrance via helicopter. Absolutely epic. Especially with the red carpet. Morton is wearing a face protector to sell damage he received from the Horsemen in the lead up to this show. Flair does a quick inspection of the cage stability after the bell, gives us a "WOOOOOO" and we're off. On the opening lockup Morton immediately scrapes Flair's forehead across the top rope and Flair quickly bails to the corner. On a corner break Morton climbs to the second rope and hits some jabs. Flair drags him back down and hits a chop. No effect, and Morton puts him down with one punch! Again Flair backs off for space. Flair gets a headlock takedown. Morton quickly counters with a headscissors, then rubs Flair's face into the mat! Really playing into Morton trying to get revenge for his face injuries. Flair runs all the way up the cage to get away but Morton pulls him back down, giving us a moon over Charlotte in the process. Mounted punches from Morton. Flair Flop! Morton blocks a hiptoss into a backslide for 2  Flair for some reason gets mad at Young about that, shoves him, then as usual takes a bump when Young shoves back. Always a classic. Both guys are very cautious coming back in. Flair goes for Morton's hurt face but Morton fights him off and hits a jab that Flair sells like Brutus freaking Beefcake while he was parasailing. Another punch to the nose and Flair goes "OH SHIT!" while falling backwards. Flair catches a quick kick and hits a huge chop that staggers Morton. Again Morton hits a jab to the face that Flair sells like a gunshot, then Flair yells I'm pretty sure "You motherfucker! Come on!". Again Morton climbs the corner to hit punches, then headbutts Flair with his face protector! Flair's had enough, he rips Morton's protector off and tosses it away! Morton uses the distraction to get a roll up for 2. He gets the protector and puts it back on. Flair begs off hard. Morton grabs a headlock and cranks on Flair's nose, but Flair's also grabbed a leg. He tries for a kneebreaker but Morton blocks it. Off the ropes Flair manages to hit a shot to Moton's face that really wobbles him for the first time. Morton ducks a chop and hits a crossbody for 2. Hiptoss from Flair. Morton pops up with a clothesline for 2. Morton fully mounts Flair to hit some more punches. Flair dodges an elbow drop. Another big chop in the corner. Flair takes the protector off again, then runs Morton into the cage! That's going to turn things around. Morton's busted open off that. Another cage shot. Flair takes the protector and puts it on himself! He takes the bandage off Morton's nose and runs him into the cage again. Then he takes the protector off and tosses it out of the cage. That's done. Flair's straight up torturing Morton now, with Morton selling the beating as only Ricky Morton can. Flair sees a ringside camera, asks if he wants a good shot, then grinds Morton's face into the cage right in front of the camera. Then he asks the other side of the crowd "You want some of this?" and runs Morton into the cage over there. Kneedrop from Flair. He points to I assume a woman in the crowd, says "You like that, huh?" and does a couple of hip thrusts right at her. I think she just got pregnant. Flair makes Morton pose for a few more shots for the ringside cameras. It's clearly over, but it's going to go on as long as Flair wants it to go on and he's having way too much fun right now. Snap mare and Flair does a two hand cover. Morton kicks out. He's not dead yet. Backbreaker from Flair and he does a full leg hook cover. Morton kicks out again! Flair's not fazed, mocking the crowd to chant "Rock N Roll". Suplex from Flair. He grabs a leg. "NOW!". The figure four is on! Flair wastes no time grabbing some extra rope leverage behind Young's back. But he gets cocky and Young catches him. He forces a break. Ground and pound from Flair. Morton grabs a small package! Flair kicks out! Another chop. Morton starts hulking up! More chops just fire him up. Morton swings back and we have a slugfest! Flair takes a cage shot! The crowd is going BONKERS for that. Another cage shot for Flair! Morton walks the top rope and scrapes Flair's head on the cage. Needless to say Flair's also bleeding now. More mounted punches from Morton. Flair tries an inverted atomic drop counter but Morton blocks it! More cheese grater for Flair. Again Morton goes for his nose. He straight faceplants Flair into the mat. Morton gets a sleeper on! Flair crawls near the cage so Morton rubs his face into it again. Morton hits a crossbody off the top rope! Flair kicks out! Flair tries to escape up the cage again. Morton joins him up there. Morton hits punches and Flair flops back down into the ring! Fistdrop off the top rope from Morton for 2. We get into another slugfest in the corner that Morton wins. Flair goes into the cage again! "AH SHIT!". Morton goes up top again. Shotgun dropkick! Flair kicks out! Young got squashed on the kickout. Flair lifts Morton up and crotches him on the top rope! He crawls over, gets his feet on the ropes for extra leverage, and gets the pin to retain. What a freaking match. From a kayfabe perspective you could absolutely question why "just a tag team guy" like Morton got this shot. But from a match quality standpoint you knew it would deliver, especially with both guys fully in their peaks, and my God did it ever. This is quite the long forgotten hidden gem that collected figurative dust in a vault for decades and I'm so glad it's out here for everyone to see now. ****3/4

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- There's nothing really must see here apart from the superb main event. On the whole it's probably a tick below the previous year's show and suffers from gimmick match overload, but it's still a good slice of JCP at their peak. From a pure match quality perspectives outdoor summer shows can be tough just because of the heat. I'm not looking up the temperature in Charlotte on this day, but the way everyone was sweating bullets just a couple of minutes into their matches I'm going with high.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+

 

v2.0 posted 5/29/26