Great American Bash '88 (Greensboro)

Legacy Review

Great American Bash '88 (Greensboro)

July 16, 1988 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

 

Less than a week after the first ever GAB PPV, Jim Crockett Promotions returns to their home arena as part of the ongoing annual GAB tour. Little did anyone there know that this would end up being one of the last shows they'd see under the JCP banner. Like the '85 and '86 tour shows available in the WWE Vault this was recorded without commentary, I assume to be chopped up and later shown on weekly TV.

 

We get the "presented in the most complete form possible" disclaimer at the top. Seeing graphics originally created for the WWE Network is still a bit of a gut punch given what's happened to the library since. Tony Schaivone is making another one of his irregular appearances as ring announcer. Shame Tom Miller didn't work this show, it would have been great to have seen him one more time before JCP got assimilated into the Turner Borg collective.

 

Bugsy McGraw & Tim Horner def NWA Western States Heritage Champion Larry Zbyszko & Rip Morgan in 8:09- Zbyszko kind of slumming it on this card. It was during this tour that JCP realized the Western States title wasn't working as intended, in fact it was a massive flop, and decided to slowly kill it off by still keeping it technically active, but never defended. After ref Teddy Long rings the bell New Zealander Rip Morgan takes the mic, blows a raspberry into it, then starts to do a Kiwi tribal chant to get the crowd riled up. After that silliness Bugsy starts with Zbyszko. After that is more silliness with Zbyszko hitting a slam, Bugsy dodging a bunch of elbow drops, then hitting his own elbow drop and slam. It should be obvious to anyone watching Bugsy is not a serious man. He grabs a headlock that Zbyszko can't escape. Horner tags in, hits the jets all around Zbyszko, and hits a sunset flip for 2. Zbyszko's had enough and tags Morgan in. Morgan works Horner around into a chinlock. More speed and dodging by Horner and he hits a dropkick. The faces work Morgan's arm and Bugsy straight pulls Morgan's hair to get him down. The heels manage to get some shots in on Bugsy. Front facelock into the good old phantom tag spot. Teddy Long, not a tag team expert just yet. Horrible Morgan clothesline on Bugsy for 2. Bugsy dodges a splash or diving headbutt. Morgan counters a backdrop attempt with a crazy delayed sell from Bugsy. The two smoothest wrestlers ever these guys are not. Whip reversal and Zbyszko goes face first into the corner, but again Bugsy tries more offense instead of tagging out and it bites him in the ass. Then Morgan bites him in the head. Morgan gives Bugsy the worst shoulderblock or chokeslam I've ever seen and covers for 2. Bugsy dodges a Zbyszko dropkick. Crawl and tag to Horner. After a brief hot tag run he hits a crossbody on Morgan and that gets the pin. Very bleh. Naturally the two by far worst workers not just in the match but also just about the whole company right now got most of the time. *1/4

 

Ron Garvin (w/Gary Hart) def The Italian Stallion in 1:15- Garvin had just pulled off a shocking and somewhat nonsensical heel turn at the GAB PPV, attacking Dusty Rhodes during his match with Barry Windham for the US title and costing Dusty the match. Afterward backstage we saw Garvin being handed a briefcase full of money for his soul by Four Horseman manager JJ Dillon and Gary Hart, who signed Garvin into his stable. After entrances Garvin shows how much a heel he is now by demanding the match take place IN THE OTHER RING. THE SCOUNDREL. From ring 2 to ring 1 we go. The scaffold for later is above ring 2 by the way. They're going to have to take that down to get the War Games cage down after. That's going to be a hell of a lot of furniture moving later. Both guys get a mixed reaction as Garvin's turn hadn't really sunk in yet and Italian Stallion is.....Italian Stallion. Garvin again shows his new evilness by teasing tossing his towel into the crowd, then tossing it to Hart instead. No chance to sell that on eBay for anyone After a speed run leapfrog Garvin falls and grabs a twisted ankle like he's Susan in a Terry Nation written Doctor Who script (maybe 5 people reading this will get that but I don't care). When Stallion gets close Garvin decks him with a HAND OF STONE! THE CUNNING BASTARD HE WAS FAKING! WHAT A VILLAIN! Garvin literally sits on Stallion and gets the easy pin. A logical squash to get Garvin over as a heel. About that though.....NR

 

Garvin's heel turn would be very short lived. In fact he never wanted to turn heel at all, which led him to jumping over to the WWF, as a face of course, barely a month after this.

 

Dick Murdoch def Gary Royal in 7:02- After Garvin's last second switch this is our first match in ring 2 tonight. From a TV perspective it's immediately problematic, as the scaffold structure is blocking the hard camera's view of most of the ring. Murdoch is making one of his rare short stops in JCP. The only thing worth saying about Gary Royal is he's not related to Nelson Royal. Not that it's the only place I go for research, but the dude's Wiki page is like two paragraphs. Short ones. After the bell Royal seems to want to compare height for some reason. After an initial lockup clean break Royal cranks a headlock, and hangs on into a takedown when Murdoch tries to power out. Murdoch tries a bunch of cradle counters and then gets into it with Long after Long breaks and resets. "What are you doing?" "You were grabbing the man's tights, you know better than that!" "I NEVER TOUCHED HIS TIGHTS!" That's a plus of no commentary shows, you can pick up stuff like that. Now Murdoch grabs a headlock takedown. Another random observation, for a Greensboro show there's a LOT of empty seats out there. As good a sign as any that the end was near for JCP. Now Murdoch gets Royal in the corner and yells at Long for trying to back him off. He hits a punch right on Royal's schnoz. Royal ducks a clothesline and hits a couple of horrible one foot dropkicks. Murdoch goes out for some space. When he gets back in he goes right back on offense. He gives Royal a couple of apron elbows, then walks him around the floor and runs him into the scaffold support. Murdoch continues to get all over Long about how he's conducting his job. He tries to slam Royal from the apron back into the ring, but Royal rolls through it into a cover for 2. Murdoch takes that as a sign to stop playing with his food, hits a very delayed brain buster, and that's that. A very extended, completely one sided squash. 1/4*

 

"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) def Rick Steiner in 1:25- The GAB PPV saw the longrunning Kevin Sullivan being obsessed with Precious angle come to an end in the atrociously awful Tower of Doom match, but since this is a long tour Garvin is still tangling with other Varsity Club members. The exact second the bell rings Steiner ambushes Garvin from behind. He had that timed absolutely perfectly, like a defensive lineman jumping a QB's snap count. Steiner gives Garvin some basic eye rakey chokey heel offense. Garvin dodges in the corner and Steiner runs elbow first into it. Punches from Garvin. The crowd goes nuts for something. Sullivan is going after Precious again! Didn't anyone tell him that story was over? Get over it already. After Garvin saves his woman and gets back in Steiner goes for a slam. Garvin blocks it into a Paul Smackage for the pin! Well OK then. 1/4*

 

Garvin's big babyface run came to an abrupt end in the fall when he suffered a broken leg. When he came back in the summer of '89, it was partnered up with Michael Hayes as the newest and final version of the Fabulous Freebirds. 

 

The Rock 'N' Roll Express def The Sheepherders (w/Rip Morgan) in 14:08- The RNR Express are in the midst of a "blink and you'll miss them" run back in JCP. They had been mired in contract disputes with the company which had caused them to leave at the start of the year. They settled things enough to return in time for this tour, but then they'll leave again in the fall. The crux of the dispute is the fact they clearly weren't the huge draw they had been the middle part of the decade anymore. The women certainly still love the RNR Express. Big high pitched pop for their intro. Ref Tommy Young rings the bell to start, but Morgan is still in the ring and the Herders want everyone to salute the Kiwi flag before getting going. That, of course, gets the crowd riled up good and proper. Butch gets on the mic and calls the crowd "Yankee scumbags". Calling a North Carolina crowd "yankees" is the easiest heel heat getter you will ever see. Morton then takes the mic and offers the Herders to kiss his posterior. Undeterred, the Herders continue to display their flag in the ring. The RNR finally have enough and jump them. A pair of dropkicks send the Herders out to the floor. Reset with Gibson and Butch. The Herders quickly beat Gibson into their corner. Gibson fires back on Luke with a running cradle for 2. A knee to the gut from Luke then puts him back down. Luke tries a splash off the second rope but Gibson dodges. Kneelift from Gibson and Butch breaks the pin up. Another double dropkick from the RNR put the Herders down again. Morgan gets in the ring and also takes a double dropkick as the heels clear out again. Morton follows Morgan to the floor and gives him some more shots. Rereset with Luke and Morton taking over in the ring. Once again the Herders' brawling quickly takes control. Morton dodges around Butch, then hits a dropkick and slam. Slam for Luke running in. Double noggin knocker and again the Herders go to the floor to regroup. Luke tags in to have a try with Gibson. Morgan gets on the apron to distract Young. Gibson hits a crossbody on Luke, but Morgan and Morton fighting on the apron still have Young tied up. Butch comes in and hits Gibson with the flagpole! That'll change momentum. Gibson goes fully in peril. Morgan pulls Gibson to the floor and Butch gives him another flagpole shot. Back in Gibson tries to fight back with kicks and a kneelift but the Herders double team him back down. Luke puts on a very loose chinlock to slow things down. Gibson fights free but another double team keeps him from tagging. Butch hits a fistdrop for 2. Gibson counters a backdrop attempt but again can't make the tag. Another Luke chinlock/sleeper that's barely on. Gibson fights off a double team and crossbodys both Herders! Tag to Morton! He cleans house. Dodge and Luke wipes out Morgan. Gibson rolls up Luke but Butch breaks it up. Butch grabs Morton and tosses him out onto the unpadded floor. Action all over now with Morgan and Luke working Morton over on the floor. while Gibson has Luke on the ropes in the ring. He gets a sleeper on Luke but Butch comes in to break it up. Double gutbuster from the Herders. While they pose after that Morton sneaks up the top rope behind them. Crossbody on Luke! That gets the pin! Damn good stuff with both teams playing to their strengths and meshing perfectly. ***1/4

 

Al Perez (w/Gary Hart) def Brad Armstrong in 11:18- Two chronically underrated guys here. Or to put another way, two guys that were extremely technically sound but a bit lacking in the charisma department. We get some lockup jockeying at the start, both guys being cautious and looking for an opening that's not there yet. Armstrong grabs an arm wringer and hangs on despite Perez's escape attempts. Perez manages to back Armstrong into the corner and hit some shots, but coming out of the corner Armstrong grabs the arm wringer again. He uses a counter attempt out of an armbar to do a full armdrag. Perez finally ducks into the ropes to take a break. Next lockup Armstrong grabs a headlock and takes Perez down into another armbar. When Perez forearms free Young is in a bad spot and almost inadvertently (for real) gets taken down. Off the ropes Armstrong gets a hiptoss back into the armbar. Another backup into the corner and Perez hits some gut shots, then snap mares Armstrong over. Armstrong dodges an elbow drop and again back to the armbar. You can't say he doesn't have a gameplan. In the corner Hart slaps Armstrong's thigh to get his attention. It works. Hart hides in the scaffold structure while Perez ambushes Armstrong from behind. He slams Armstrong on the floor! Hart runs Armstrong into the scaffold support! Perez hops back out and rams Armstrong's back into the apron, AKA the Hardest Part of the Ring. Back in Perez lifts Armstrong up and hits the twirly bird helicopter slam. Kneedrop and cover for 2. He wraps Armstrong in a chinlock and pulls his hair to get him all the way down. Armstrong fights free but takes a punch in the gut off the ropes. Now Perez hooks on a double chinlock. Variety! He cranks it back good, putting his knee in Armstrong's back. He hits a trio of knees into Armstrong's back, then puts him in a bow and arrow. Perez's own shoulders go down and Young counts 2 on him. Perez is less than thrilled with that call. Armstrong fires back with a kneelift out of the corner. Perez dodges and Armstrong goes shoulder first into the top turnbuckle. Coming off the ropes Armstrong manages to grab a backslide for 2. Small package for 2. Perez tosses Armstrong back to the floor. Armstrong literally beats him to the punch down there, then gives Perez a receipt slam on the concrete. Punch to Perez's gut back in. Standing dropkick and Perez goes over the top to the floor! Armstrong drags him back up and tries to suplex him back in. Hart grabs Armstrong's foot to trip him, then holds it down as Young counts 3! What will become known as the Wrestlemania 5 finish the next year when it's used in the Ultimate Warrior/Rick Rude IC title match. Very nice little midcard neither guy is ever going anywhere match. ***

 

Handicap Bunkhouse Match: The Fantastics def NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette in 15:10- The Midnights and Fantastics had been feuding over the US tag titles most of the year, with the latest chapter being the Midnights winning them back at the GAB PPV. Tonight the titles are taking a back seat as the Fantastics try to get some good old fashioned revenge on both the Midnights and their ever annoying manager. Since it's a Bunkhouse match everyone's in "come as you are" gear. Except Cornette, who's in his usual wrestling bodysuit with pads everyone he can get them. I'm thinking Eaton's Alabama tank top wouldn't be a huge heat getter here, it's ACC country. Man, I miss the old college conferences that actually made sense. The Fantastics make a big show of gladhanding and even hugging the ringside crowd during intros. The Express do their usual prematch hugging routine to rile the crowd up. Cornette even adds in a kiss on Eaton's cheek. Rogers takes the mic and says he wants Cornette to start the match. Cornette is less than interested. Fulton does a funny bit shaking the top rope to make Cornette mad. Like at the PPV the Bobbys Fulton and Eaton start us off. Eaton backs Fulton into the corner and punches him right on the nose. Fulton pops out with a receipt punch and again demands Cornette tag in. Then he shows how serious he is back taking his shirt off. More Eaton shots in the corner put Fulton down. Long speed run and Fulton hits a backdrop. Eaton ends up in the wrong corner and takes some ricochet punches. Lane tries to get in but gets the middle rope jerked right into his crotch! Rogers and Eaton fight to the floor. Cornette gets a chair and tries to sneak in but Rogers sees him and takes it away. Cornette gets the hell out of danger. Back in the Fantastics do their strut while the Midnights regroup on the floor. When we reset we stick with Eaton and Fulton. More punches from Eaton, then he goes to the floor to get a chair. He sets it up in the ring. Fulton counters and atomic drops Eaton into the chair! Chairshot to the head on Eaton! Rogers gets the chair and whacks Eaton again, sending him off the apron to the floor. More chaos down there as Rogers chases Cornette around while the others fight. More chairshots for Eaton. Fulton gets a chair and chases Lane and Cornette off. Eaton's still taking a pummeling with the chair on the floor. Like Mick Foley taking chairshots level. Finally his teammates get him some space to recover. Eaton gets in the ring, crawls over and tries to tag Cornette in! Cornette wants NOTHING to do with that and hops off the apron before Eaton can touch him. Eaton says fine and tries to go at it with Rogers. He punches Rogers down, then turns around and tags Lane in. Lane walks into a Rogers hiptoss. Another one. Lane ends up in his corner and now he tries to tag Cornette! Again Cornette bails, furious that they're even trying to get him in. That's one thing I've always liked about this version of the Midnights, they would often get mad at each other during the heat of the match. Lane goes to his karate offense on Rogers, then tries to toss him over the top. Rogers skins the cat back in and hits a couple of dropkicks. Again Lane tries to tag Cornette! Cornette is beside himself. Frustrated Lane goes to the floor, grabs Cornette and threatens to punch him! The crowd LOVES it. The Midnights literally drag Cornette into the ring! Lane continues to threaten to punch him. Cornette gets on his knees begging. Eventually cooler heads prevail. Rogers comes over and gives the Midnights a double noggin knocker, and Fulton punches Cornette off the apron! While Rogers is whipping him Eaton blind tags Lane in. Lane hits a running Rogers completely in stride with an enzuguri and Rogers flies out to the floor! That looked amazing. Cornette sneaks over with a chair and tosses it onto Rogers! Eaton grabs the chair he took so many shots with and hits Rogers in the gut with it. Lane double ax handle off the apron onto Rogers. Cornette hits an elbow drop on the floor! Now the Midnights are all getting along again. Lane gets a TV camera cable and chokes Rogers with it. Cornette is the one that throws Rogers back in the ring. Lane snaps Rogers over the top rope. Big clothesline. NOW Cornette tags in now it's perfectly safe. He hits a fistdrop and elbow drop, and even struts a bit after. He gets really full of himself and pulls Rogers up, then starts to punch him. That only fires Rogers up! Eaton saves Cornette with an eye rake on Rogers and tags back in. Eaton has a spike and hits Rogers with it. All legal in this match. Lane atomic drops Rogers into an Eaton backbreaker. Slam from Eaton and Cornette tags in again. He wraps a chain around his wrist and hits Rogers with it. Cornette tries to slam Rogers! That's not happening. Eaton comes from behind, helps Cornette get Rogers up and complete the slam! Then Cornette flexes like he did it all himself! So freaking great. Russian leg sweep from Lane. The Midnights set up on the top rope. The rocket launcher hits! Eaton covers, but Cornette is shouting at him. Eaton gets up out of the cover at 2. Cornette says "Let me do it!'. Eaton, clearly against his better judgment, tags Cornette back in to finish it. Cornette struts around a bit, then arrogant covers Rogers. Rogers kicks out! He gets across and tags Fulton in! DONNYBROOK! Eaton eye rakes Fulton and holds him for Cornette, who has a fist full of powder. Fulton ducks and Eaton takes the powder! Cornette is all alone in the ring with the Fantastics, and is the legal man! Rogers slams him as Fulton fights the other Midnights off. Double clothesline! Fulton covers Cornette and gets the pin! Absolutely tremendous stuff. Great wrestling and even better character work. The whole thing is so much fun. ****1/4

 

NWA World Television Championship: Sting def Mike Rotunda (c) (w/Kevin Sullivan & Rick Steiner) by DQ in 10:16- JCP continues to be cautious with Sting after his big time limit draw with Flair at the first Clash of the Champions, but it's getting to the point where one could argue they're being a bit *too* cautious. Sting's music has been dubbed over with some of his later music. Kind of cool hearing Tony do the classic "This is STING" intro. Rotunda wastes zero time breaking out the stalling. Speed run, Rotunda his a shoulderblock, then Sting responds with a trio of dropkicks. Steiner and Sullivan get in and both take dropkicks, then Sting gives Rotunda and Steiner a double noggin knocker. Get some order, Young. The Varsity Club all regroup on the floor. Rotunda then complains to Young about something or other to slow things down a bit longer. Sting grabs a headlock. More speed and Sting hits a shoulderblock, hiptoss and slam for 2. Rotunda tries a sneaky kick on a corner break but Sting grabs it and spins him into a punch. He gets Rotunda in Scorpion Death Lock position with Rotunda begging like crazy. Sting takes advantage of Steiner distracting Young again to hit a legdrop to Rotunda's, er, lower area in general. Rotunda gets a leg takedown and drags Sting around by the leg. Sting uses that to hit an enzuguri! Rotunda backs into the corner and wants a TO. Sting, his inexperience showing, lets him get away with it. On the floor TV focuses on Sullivan maybe hiding some foreign object or other in his robe. Another headlock from Sting. When Rotunda pushes free Steiner trips Sting. Off the distraction Rotunda jumps Sting from behind and tosses him out to the floor. Sullivan shows us what he's been hiding, a lead pipe I think, and he hits Sting with it. Back in Rotunda hits a back elbow. Snap mare/elbow drop combo for 2. Chinlock time. Sullivan provides some extra leverage. Sting fights out but runs into a flying clothesline. And right back to the chinlock. Slam from Rtounda and he goes up top. Not at all his wheelhouse. Sting catches him and slams him off! He tosses Rotunda across rings. Sting hits the ropes, runs over and dives over BOTH top ropes onto Rotunda! Amazing move for 1988, and one we'll see regularly from Sting in the future on these two ring setup shows. Sting's all fired up. Stinger Splash! He goes for the Scorpion but Steiner runs in to break it up. Young calls for the DQ. NOW you do? After all the times the VC has already run in during this match? Weak. The heels try a team beatdown but Sting is already out of the ring and walking away with that "man that was a dumb match" look we'll also see from him in the future that's obvious when you look back at it. The Rotunda/Varsity Club reign of terror with the TV title continues, and Sting's day will have to wait a bit longer yet. **1/2

 

Scaffold Match: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def Ivan Koloff & Russian Assassin #1 (w/Paul Jones) in 5:34- Like the GAB PPV this was originally scheduled to be the Roadies taking on their longtime rivals the Powers of Pain, but the POP had jumped over to WWF just before the start of the GAB tour. Ellering is in wrestling gear because he'll be the faces' manager entrant opposite JJ Dillon in the main event War Games match up next. I'm not going to get deep into this because I have very little patience for scaffold matches, they're all exactly the same. It is crazy the scaffold is so high the wrestlers can almost touch the bottom of the hanging War Games cage. Anyway, the whole thing proceeds exactly as usual with everyone trying to brawl as best they can while getting the crowd, particularly the kids, to shriek at every supposed near fall off the scaffold. Poor RA1 (Dave Sheldon I think) looks particularly uncomfortable up there. I don't think he ever gets out of the very end by the support structure, nowhere near the middle. Animal tries a dropkick! That's freaking gutsy, I'll give him that. Eventually the heels slowly work themselves down to the scaffold underside and take as safe a fall into the ring as they possibly can. Next. 1/2*

 

War Games: "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, "The Total Package" Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams & Paul Ellering def The Four Horsemen in 21:07- War Games was originally created for the '87 GAB tour, but as of this writing none of those shows have been released, making this the earliest War Games widely and officially available for viewing. It's also a grand finale of sorts for the peak version of the Four Horsemen, an era that would come to abrupt end when Arn and Blanchard left for the WWF in September. The Horsemen come out first, every one draped in gold: World champ Ric Flair, US champ Barry Windham, and World tag champs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, along with manager Dillon who will be wrestling tonight. Arn and Tully are wearing some sweet ass sweet white Four Horsemen jackets. I want one. Flair and Luger is still the big ongoing feud here after Flair escaped with his title on the techniest of technicalities at the GAB PPV. Both teams huddle up to confer and strategize before the bell. The strategy of who went in and in what order was a huge part of the classic War Games. Absolutely traditional rules here: 5 minute opening period, 2 minute periods thereafter where one team member enters with the teams alternating, and the match can't end until all 10 men are in the cage and The Match Beyond begins. After that the only way to win is by submission or surrender.

P1. Dusty Rhodes & Arn Anderson- Big Dust wastes no time getting in while Arn is a bit more casual about it. They start in opposite rings. Arn beckons to Dusty to join him and Dusty does. A quick bionic elbow puts Arn down. He scrambles to the corner and calls a TO. None of those allotted in War Games. Arn decides to back up into the other ring.  Dusty cautiously follows. Arn tries a sunset flip but Dusty's got too much girth for that. Dusty hits a DDT! Arn takes the first cage shot. Dusty pummels him into the cage and Arn is our first bleeder of the match. And the night amazingly enough. While he's down Arn lands a kick into Dusty's eternally problematic knee. Arn's got some kind of international object, it looks like a pair of pliers, and he works Dusty over with it. Now Dusty's bleeding. Arn digs the pliers right into Dusty's forehead. Dusty fires back with a gut shot that Arn gives a great over the top sell of. He tries coming off the second rope but Dusty punches him on the way down. Dusty hooks on a figure four! Arn's in that as the period ends and we have the coin toss to see which team has the advantage.

P2. Barry Windham- The heels won the coin toss! What a completely unprecedented turn of events! Might as well call the match over now. Windham hops right in to renew acquaintances with his most recent US title rival. Dusty is all over him and Windham tries to back off. Dusty bionic elbows on both heels! Down they both go. Arn comes from behind and clips Dusty's knee again. Windham puts the Claw on! Windham keeps it on the rest of the period and Dusty goes down.

P3. Steve Williams- Finally getting Dusty some help. The Horseman jump him as he comes in. Double clothesline from Williams! Football tackles for everyone! They pair off, Williams and Arn in one ring with Dusty and Windham in the other. Dusty tosses Windham over the top ropes into the other ring. Cage shot for Windham. Williams blocks a cage shot attempt from Arn and gives him another one. Dusty and Windham fight in the gap between the rings.

P4. Ric Flair- Champ going in early. But the fact the managers are in this match alters the strategy a bit. Normally you want to put a big closer in there last, but in these circumstances the best move is to hold off your non-wrestling managers for last so they don't have to be in the match as long. Flair comes in and tries to chop Williams, which only pisses him off. Williams grabs Flair. Flair low blow! All legal. Williams takes a cage shot. In the other ring Windham and Arn are working Dusty over with no resistance. Williams is bleeding after multiple cage shots. Arn comes over and gives him a DDT. Flair crosses over and gives Dusty's bad knee a kick, then goes over and shouts and spits at Luger.

P5. Lex Luger- Goes right for Flair. Double clothesline on Flair and Windham! Powerslam for Flair. Windham takes a powerslam. Luger gets Flair in the Torture Rack! A Flair submission wouldn't count here, but Luger sure can hurt him for later. Windham sees and low blows Luger to break it up. They try to double chop/punch Luger in the corner but that only fires Luger up. Flair tries a cage shot and that has no effect on Luger either. They get isolated in one ring while all the other guys work in the other ring. Flair takes a cage shot!

P6. Tully Blanchard- To my point earlier of leaving the managers for last. Blanchard gives Williams a cage shot as soon as he gets in. Blanchard got a chair, I guess he brought it in with him, and works Luger over with it. Arn and Flair continue to keep Luger down while the other four go at it in the other ring.

P7. Nikita Koloff- Ideally he would definitely be the face team's closer but, managers. Flair grabs him as soon as he gets in the ring. Classic Koloff no sells of all of Flair's, and Windham's, stuff follows. Sickle for Flair! One for Windham! Dusty and Williams have gotten the advantage of Arn and Blanchard in the other ring. Koloff puts a figure four on Flair! Flair escapes and tries a cage shot but Koloff blocks it. Tony loses track of his stopwatch: "One minute left.....Well, a little more than one". The Horsemen have regained general control as the period comes to an end.

P8. JJ Dillon- Time for the managers. Here's a thought: the Horsemen might be at a *disadvantage* winning the coin toss with this team, because it means Dillon will have to be in longer than Ellering. It's these little strategic wrinkles that make classic War Games so interesting, and are lost in the modern spotfest version. Dillon and Windham double clothesline Luger. That was a good start so Dillon decides to go after Koloff. Not sure how wise that was. Koloff easily overpowers him. Williams gives Flair the cheese grater spot on the cage. Dusty gives Dillon and Blanchard a double noggin knocker. Luger has a figure four on Arn.

P9. Paul Ellering- The Match Beyond begins. The Horsemen swarm on Ellering as he gets in the ring. Right move. But unfortunately for them, Williams has got Dillon isolated in the other ring. Windham sees and goes to make the save while the others continue to work on Ellering. Dillon manages to go over, grab Ellering, and they go into a ring by themselves. Ellering dodges a Dillon dropkick. Atomic drop on Dillon. Dusty comes over and puts a figure four on Dillon! With rope leverage! Dillon submits! An expected finish with the managers being involved, but a crowd pleasing one. Overall it's a rock solid classic War Games but not anywhere near a top shelf one. There were a lot of these matches on this long tour so some guys could be excused for not going fully 100% in this one. ***3/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- An overall solidly good night, especially once you get past the early matches, on what would turn out to be the last GAB tour under the JCP banner, and one of the last JCP shows to be held in the company's longtime home arena before home base was moved to Atlanta and the Omni under the Turner regime. It's worth a look for the earliest readily available War Games match if nothing else, and you can never ever go wrong with the Fantastics and the Midnights.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B

 

v2.0 published 10/2/26