Legacy Review- From the Vault
Superstars on the Superstation
February 7, 1986 (taped February 2) from the Omni in Atlanta, GA
Commentary: David Crockett and Tony Schiavone
Somehow I missed this when I was first marking out full shows in the WWE Vault to review, so I'm going back to do this a bit out of order. Not that it matters to anyone reading this but still. This is very much a forerunner or early test from Jim Crockett Promotions for what would later be Clash of the Champions, a mini PPV level card being broadcast on basic cable TBS. There was also a fan interaction component, as the fans got to vote (phone vote I assume) on what "dream matches" they wanted to see. Both the Omni and being on TBS were recent additions to the JCP portfolio too, they had just reached a deal to buy the old Georgia territory and the accompanying TBS timeslot from WWF in the aftermath of the whole Black Saturday fiasco.
Current US champ Magnum TA is the host for tonight. Sadly, that's a role he's soon going to have to get used to. I didn't catch the name of the "lovely lady" next to him and I have no idea who she is. I like the "SuperStation" logo on the ring mat. Presentation wise they've really gone all out for this show considering the time period. Tom Miller has come over from the Greensboro Coliseum to be the ring announcer tonight. Commentary then does their intro and make sure to point out that all matches tonight will be 20 minute time limits due to TV time constraints.
NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) def The Rock 'N' Roll Express (c) in 16:27- This alone is worth the price of admission. JCP and WCW didn't get nearly enough Midnight/RNR matches onto their major shows, especially the Eaton/Condrey version of the Midnights. The concept of career defining forever rivals is a bit more prevalent in Japan than here (Mutoh/Chono, Liger/Kanemoto, Suzuki/Nagata to name a few), but if there was ever a pair of wrestlers or teams that were the definition of forever rivals in the US it was the Midnights and RNR Express. This is nowhere near the start either, at this point they had wrestled each other across the southern territories, mainly Mid-South, for nearly two years and the rivalry had already reached legendary proportions. Like everywhere else in the newly expanded territory the RNR are BONKERS over in the Omni. The Midnights jump during intros! Gotta get going, a 20 minute time limit is a short match by these teams' standards, they regularly went 30+ with each other. Gibson gets tossed out and Morton is isolated in the ring. After a few shots he's tossed out too, then Gibson is flipped back in to take a beating. They try the same with Morton but Morton uses the top rope to flip both Midnights down to the floor! The RNR take over on offense on the floor and in the ring. Condrey gives Eaton an inadvertent stinkface, then the RNR atomic drop both Midnights into each other. After that we have a reset as the Midnights regroup on the floor, then settle in with Eaton and Gibson. Eaton tries a cheap shot on a corner break and Gibson gives it right back to him. Gibson blocks Eaton hiptoss attempts and hits his own, then a flying headscissors. Morton slows things down a little working on Eaton's leg on the mat. Eaton eye rakes free and tosses Morton out to the floor again. Morton backdrops Eaton on the floor! The still unpadded floor. Back in Eaton fights Morton off and tags Condrey in. Gibson gets a leg takedown and works on Condrey's leg a bit. Morton does a straight up senton onto Condrey's leg. The RNR stay on that as the target. Condrey fights back and tries to give Morton a knee to the gut, but it's with the knee that's been worked on and it hurts him more than Morton. Not A1 strategery there. Gibson goes into a full spinning toe hold on Condrey. Morton then makes his own tactical error, letting Condrey get too into the center of the ring and he's able to scurry over and tag out to Eaton. Eaton POPS Morton with some open hand strikes in the corner. Gibson comes off the ropes and hits a flash suplex on Eaton. Gibson tries a dropkick but Eaton blocks it and slingshots him into a Condrey clothesline! TV goes to commercial, but thanks to the magic of pretaping we come back to the exact same spot we left off at with nothing lost. Eaton holds Gibson against the ropes so Cornette can whip him with his belt! Condrey covers for 2. Eaton snap mares Gibson over and goes up top. Alabama Jam! Though it wasn't called that or a finisher yet. Eaton gets into a slugfest with Morton so Condrey can hit some extra shots, then covers for 2. Gibson and Condrey get into an abdominal stretch fight that Gibson wins. Condrey quickly hiptosses out. Eaton hits a back elbow. Another snap mare and he goes up top again. Kneedrop off the top this time. Condrey pulls Gibson up to hit him with a HUGE clothesline and covers for 2. Wait, is Tony right? That's Pee Wee Anderson reffing this match? I didn't recognize him under the freaking afro. The Midnights work the distraction game again so Cornette can hit some more belt shots. Gibson fights up in a Condrey chinlock into a top wristlock fight. Condrey pulls his hair to get him back down. Morton comes in to protest that, allowing Eaton to hit an elbow off the top on Gibson. Condrey covers for 2. Gibson leaps over a Condrey backdrop attempt and hits a kneelift! But he fell into the wrong corner and still can't tag. Gibson stays isolated and in peril. Swinging neckbreaker from Eaton for 2. Gibson counters a double team attempt with a sunset flip on Eaton. Condrey tries to hold Eaton up but Morton comes in and dropkicks him down! 2 count on Eaton. Condrey then covers Gibson for 2. Backbreaker from Condrey. The Midnights set up for the rocket launcher. Gibson dodges! Tag to Morton! DONNYBROOK! Morton gets a crossbody on Eaton but there's too much chaos for the ref to count. Double dropkick on Eaton! But Anderson was behind Eaton and he tumbles out of the ring! Double dropkick on Condrey that sends him out. Cornette gets on the apron and the RNR flip him in. Morton has the belt and loads up to hit Cornette with it. Condrey sneaks in from behind and WHACKS Morton with Cornette's tennis racket! Cornette drags Eaton on top of Morton, pushes Anderson back in the ring, and the Midnights get the pin to win the titles! Just another night at the office for these teams. ****1/4
Magnum is SHOCKED that the Midnights would use such nefarious means to win the match. The lady with him says some stuff about how great the crowd and energy are, clearly clueless and just there for likely some network cross promotion of some kind.
The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The Russian Team by DQ in 6:55- The continuation of a months long feud. At this time the Roadies were still with AWA though they had dropped those tag titles, but they would soon be signing full time with JCP. They also got their start in Georgia so they're pretty popular in the Omni too, like everywhere else they ever stopped in. Tommy Young is in to ref this one, with no afro. Nikita and Animal start. Animal no sells everything Nikita throws at him. A boot up from Nikita staggers him a little, but then he catches Nikita coming off the second rope into a bear hug. Nikita eye rakes free and slams him. Animal dodges an elbow drop, hits his own slam but misses a legdrop. Hawk tags in for a go. Lockup stalemates. Nikita gets a punch to Hawk's gut and Ivan hits an ax handle off the top rope to Hawk's back. Ivan tries coming off the top again but Hawk catches him in the gut and hits a shoulderbreaker. Big boot from Hawk. Animal press slam on Ivan. Classic Hawk fistdrop for 2. While the Roadies continue to pound on Ivan commentary notices someone new at ringside. It's Baron von Raschke. He goes into the Russian corner. A German teaming up with the Soviets? I guess the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is active again. Wait, Raschke is supposed to be East German. Makes more sense then. Meanwhile Hawk goes to the running tackle well once too often, as Ivan sidesteps him and pushes him into the brick wall that is Nikita. He tags in and slams Hawk for 2. Ivan uses his chain to choke Hawk in the corner. Ivan hits a legdrop for 2. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Double back elbow from the Russians. They work Animal to chain choke Hawk in the corner again. Hawk ducks an Ivan clothesline and hits a flying tackle. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Raschke comes in and puts Hawk down. Ivan covers for 2. Hawk gets back up and slams Ivan. Someone off camera trips Hawk, then Raschke comes in again and attacks Hawk in front of Young for a cheap DQ. The fight continues for a bit until the Roadies take the Russians out with their own chain. The epitome of meh. *1/2
Magnum TA is with......BENNY PARSONS?! What? As an old school NASCAR fan this is, frankly, awesome. BP was still an active driver at this point. He's even in his freaking firesuit tonight, I guess that's the only way they thought he'd be recognizable. Ah, BP says he's going to be doing commentary instead of racing at the Richmond race in February, which TBS had coverage of at the time. Network synergy.
After commercial we go to tape of Tony interviewing Dusty Rhodes and Willie f'n Nelson. OK, so Nelson was filming a new made for TV western movie called Stagecoach that Dusty a bit part in. Wouldn't be surprised if Turner had a stake in it too. The best part about this is Dusty being chill and talking more as real life Dusty than wrestler Dusty.
NWA National Heavyweight Championship: "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (c) (w/Baby Doll) and Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon) 20:00 time limit draw- Tully and Dusty had also been feuding off and on for months. First it was over the TV title, now it's over the old Georgia territory title that would soon be phased out. Baby Doll was also involved in all that. Dusty initially "won" her for 30 days at Great American Bash '85, but she's since fully turned face. The on screen reason was Blanchard was being (PG) abusive to her, but the plain fact was there wasn't room for two managers in the Horsemen after they officially formed. After a rope break Dusty does a little strutting. Another commercial break with a probable clip this time, but not too much of one. Blanchard is trying to keep his distance but Dusty gets a leg takedown and starts up with some leg work with lots of posing and stalling. Quick figure four wrapup from Dusty. Blanchard quickly reaches over and gets a rope. Blanchard slowly drags himself off the apron to the floor, making it look like his knee has been completely destroyed. Back in Blanchard tries to beg off while limping around. Dusty grabs him by the bad leg and goes to work on it again. The fans starts chanting "Break it!". Well that's just mean. Like going to a football game hoping to see an injury. Well, if it was Tom Brady that'd probably be OK. Dusty hits a standing elbow off the top rope, but when he lands he aggravates the ankle the not quite yet Horsemen broke in the build to Starrcade! Now Blanchard has his target and goes to work on it. Blanchard hits a kick right on it and goes into some spinning toe holds. Figure four from Blanchard! Dusty slowly fights over and reverses it. Dillon gives Blanchard an assist for a rope break. Blanchard tries a reverse crossbody but Dusty catches him into a backbreaker! Belly to belly suplex from Dusty! Magnum must have taught him that one. He's got the pin but Dillon has Young distracted. Blanchard charges in with a knee that barely catches Dusty in the back and Dusty goes tumbling out to the floor. We get the 5 minutes left call as Dusty gets back in. He starts slugging back with jabs on Blanchard. Blanchard goes to the apron and Dusty suplexes him back in. Young counts 3, but Dillon put Blanchard's foot on the rope just before 3! Dusty goes out and stalks Dillon, giving Blanchard an opening to hit him from behind. The side. Whatever. Back in Blanchard slugs away on Dusty. He tries a snap mare but Dusty blocks it into a backslide. Blanchard's feet fall on the ropes so no count there. Atomic drop from Dusty. 3 minutes left. Dusty goes down into a 3 point stance and clips Blanchard's knee. Cover for 2. 2 minutes left. Bionic elbows and chops from Dusty in the corner. Dusty tosses Young away, allowing Dillon to trip Dusty in the corner. Blanchard falls on top for 2. Dusty goes to the floor after Dillon again at the one minute left call. This time he cuts off Blanchard's ambush attempt. More jabs from Dusty. He gets Blanchard down in a Boston crab. The bell rings for the time limit before Blanchard can submit. After the bell Blanchard lays Dusty out with a piledriver. Blanchard would succeed in taking this title from Dusty in March. Just fine but no more. Blanchard was giving it his all, as he always did in this period before his personal life crash and burn. **1/2
After commercial Magnum is with JCP owner Jim Crockett Jr.. After pushing the Bunkhouse Stampede a bit they announce a huge new event they have upcoming: the Crockett Cup, co-promoted with Mid-South and being held in the Superdome. The clip provided by Mid-South with the Superdome owner is hilarious, as the Mid-South interview guy is clearly not even in the same building as the guy he's supposedly interviewing. Thanks to the magic of time travel, or accidentally going out of order, I've already reviewed that one. Quick summary: it's long, but well worth your time. After that we go ringside to Tony, who's with another guest Turner celebrity, Gaylord Perry. He's here to promote the Braves on TBS. They needed all the help they could get too, the mid-late '80s Braves were trash and permanently stuck in the NL basement.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def Ron Garvin in 14:33- This is good old "TV time remaining". Garvin's a bit of an odd choice, not an obvious world title contender. Maybe him being from Georgia had something to do with it? And a bit ironic considering Garvin would end up being the unexpected beneficiary of Flair wanting to win the title back at Starrcade '87 instead of retain it again. Flair's still got the 10 Pounds of Gold, this is *just* before the Big Gold Belt was introduced. Like weeks, if that long. Flair's out for his usual slow, feel your way in start but Garvin wants to GO right now. Flair gets him in the corner and hits a chop. Garvin responds with his own. Speed run and Garvin hits another big chop. Flair rolls out to kill the momentum. Back in Garvin grabs a headlock. Flair tries a kneebreaker counter but backs him into the corner instead. More Flair chops. Garvin fires back with punches and hits a headbutt. Flair Flop! More huge Garvin chops. He lived up to his Hands of Stone moniker, that's for sure. He tries a cover but Flair gets out and has about the most pissed off beg off you'll ever see. Garvin cranks a knucklelock but Flair straight grabs his throat in a choke and backs him into the corner. More chops. It's like he's determined to prove he can hit as hard as Garvin. Garvin fires back with his chops. Flair shoves Garvin by the throat as it's breaking down into a fight more than a wrestling match. The intensity meter is pegged for sure. Garvin grabs Flair by the nose! Flair regroups in the corner again. Again we do the chop exchange into a shoving fight. Corner whip and Garvin backdrops Flair. Garvin stomps away on one Flair arm while cranking back on another. Forearm to Flair's chest and Flair flops right out of the ring. Young holds Garvin back and Flair rolls back in. More Garvin chops. Flair's chest is hamburger by now. Off a whip Flair goes shoulder first into the corner and Garvin wraps that arm up on the mat. Flair fights out with a knee, more chops, and tosses Garvin to the floor. Garvin pops right back up into the ring! More stiff strikes exchanged in the corner. A Garvin shot sends Flair over the top rope to the floor! Of course we have to have the whole "momentum" thing mentioned to cover for the stupid over the top DQ rule. My only big issue with JCP/NWA in this period, that stupid rule. Back in Garvin gets a sleeper on! Flair counters with a back suplex to get free. Leaping double stomp to Garvin's midsection! Suplex from Flair for 2. Kneedrop. "WOOOOOO!". Flair mounts Garvin and slaps him to try to humiliate him. Again it devolves into a fight on the mat. Advantage Garvin there. Another stand up slugfest. Down goes Flair! Garvin covers for 2. Flair begs off hard in the corner. Corner whip. Flair Flip! He falls back into the ring. Garvin grabs a front facelock. Flair tries to counter into a suplex but Garvin blocks it. Garvin suplex! That gets a long 2 count. Flair gets a headlock takedown. Garvin counters with a headscissors and we get the bridge up/backslide spot. Garvin gets a crossbody for 2. Not at all his wheelhouse. More chops from Garvin. He bites Flair! Another Flair Flip! He goes over onto the apron, runs across in one smooth motion, hops up top, gets off but right into a Garvin punch! Garvin small package! Flair kicks out! A Flair chop puts Garvin down for 2. Garvin tries a roll up, but Young got knocked out of the ring. Full Hand of Stone punch! Flair's out, but Young is still on the floor. He drags himself up and Garvin checks on him. Flair knee to Garvin's back! Cover and he gets the pin, even though Garvin's foot was on the rope. Where Young was positioned he couldn't see it. Crockett shouts at Young "His foot was on the rope!" and Flair yells at him to shut up. Fantastic. As was the match. You can debate about Garvin being a realistic world champ (a real debate that will be had later), but this match was brilliant as Flair let Garvin take the reins and work his style, and Flair adapted perfectly. Stiff, intense and awesome. ****1/4
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- When two out of four matches are as great as that the other two almost don't matter. This ruled, and is a great forerunner to what the Clash would later be. One negative, if you've never heard David Crockett on commentary before, he is as useless as his reputation suggests. Tony was clearly still learning at this point too.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-
