Crockett Cup '87- Night Two

Legacy Review- From the Vault

Crockett Cup '87- Night Two

April 11, 1987 from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone

 

We're back for night two of Jim Crockett Promotions' second annual major tag team tournament. After knocking out all of the first and second rounds last night, tonight will kick off with the quarterfinals (truncated due to Ricky Morton's injury) and wrap up with the crowning of the second Crockett Cup winners and the $1 million dollars that goes with it (slight Jeff Probst voice there). The first night was less than spectacular to say the least so hopefully cutting things down to just the top teams will help. Also on the docket is a World Heavyweight Title defense. As with the first show Tony is doing solo commentary and Gary Michael Capetta is making his first major appearance for JCP as the ring announcer.

 

Quarterfinals: Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger (w/JJ Dillon) def The Armstrongs in 17:47- The Armstrongs (Brad and his dad "Bullet" Bob) are the last team left standing that had to wrestle in the first round. Another high pitched pop for Luger disrobing. It seems like the crowd as a whole wants to cheer for him, but won't yet because he's part of the Horsemen. Luger also didn't get the red gear memo. Blanchard and Brad start and Brad scores a quick armdrag. On the next lockup they trade forearms in the corner. Brad hiptosses Blanchard out and gives him a flying headscissors. Blanchard bails to the floor to regroup and slow things down. Back in both guys continue to be cautious. Blanchard tries to push out of a headlock but Brad holds on, literally dragging Blanchard by the head all the way across the ring. Blanchard tries both a tights hold and hair pull to escape, then lifts Brad up with an atomic drop attempt. Brad blocks it, spins around, atomic drops Blanchard and then armdrags him again when he rebounds off the ropes! Both son and father take turns working on Blanchard's arm. Blanchard tries to tag out and there's a small portion of the crowd that sounds like they're chanting "Luger". Blanchard actually makes contact with Luger's hand with his boot, but ref Earl Hebner's not having any of that. Behind him the Armstrongs swap without a tag! Another counter into a hiptoss from Brad and Blanchard's in the wrong part of town again. Brad wraps Blanchard's arms back right in front of Luger to continue to keep him from tagging. Blanchard gets free from Bob, but Bob runs over and chops Luger off the apron before he can tag in! It almost feels like both teams have swapped roles in this match. There's another small but definite "Luger" chant. Blanchard hiptosses Brad but Brad body blocks him from another tag! Another fight in the corner. Dillon lifts Luger's foot up to try to give him a bit more reach. The tag is made, but again Hebner won't allow it because Luger's feet weren't on the apron. And again the Armstrongs swap without a tag behind his back. This is tremendous stuff and again so much better because of the role reversals. Blanchard flat whiffs on a tag attempt when it looked like he was close enough. Eye rake on Brad and yet another fight. Brad goes full ground and pound on Blanchard as the Armstrongs continue to slowly dismember him. Finally Blanchard gets away from Bob just enough to get the tag! Not surprisingly the way this has gone, Luger gets a pretty big pop for finally tagging in. He easily powers Brad down out of lockups and the crowd loves it. On the third go Brad anticipates and uses Luger's own power to take him down, then hits a too close dropkick that actually catches Luger with his knees. Another dropkick and Luger powders. The crowd's pretty much said the hell with it and is cheering for both teams now. Back in Luger hits a knee against the ropes and clubbing blows. Brad ducks under off the ropes and gets a crossbody for 2. Luger wants a TO. He cranks some arm wringers as the Horsemen start working on Brad's arm. Brad dodges Blanchard in the corner and Blanchard crashes into the post! With the same arm the Armstrongs spent the whole first 10 minutes working on. Brad quickly goes up top. Missile dropkick! Blanchard just kicks out! Dillon pulls the top rope down and Brad crashes down to the floor! Dillon also gets a cheap kick in. Insult on top of injury. Barricade shot for Brad. Blanchard hits a standing elbow off the apron. Back suplex from Blanchard back in for 2. Back elbow from Luger for 2. Suplex for 2. Brad blocks a Blanchard hiptoss into a backslide for 2. He atomic drops Blanchard into Luger! Tag to Bob! He goes nuts on Luger, including Kojima style machine gun chops in the corner. Chops for both Horsemen as things completely break down. Dillon trips Bob from the floor. Blanchard and DILLON from the apron double clothesline Bob, and Blanchard covers to get the pin! Hell of a match. Only one match in and they've already blown everything from the previous night out of the water. This match is a great example of why I've long said Brad Armstrong is one of the most underrated guys of this era, he was superb in every aspect here. ****

 

Quarterfinals: The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) def The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) by DQ in 12:28- This is the second straight year these teams have met in the quarterfinals, last year won by the Roadies by DQ on their way to winning the whole tournament. Of course last year it was the Eaton/Condrey Midnights, now it's the newly formed Eaton/Lane combo after Condrey's sudden departure from the promotion. Eaton and Hawk start with Eaton poking his finger right in Hawk's face. Not sure how smart that is. Eaton gets a few shots in before Hawk pushes him hard into the corner, then both Midnights take hiptosses and dropkicks. Eaton takes a crazy shot into the barricade on the way out of the ring. Things get no better for Eaton coming back in, as Hawk presses him up and drops him face first snake eyes style on the top turnbuckle. Lane tags in to have a go. Again Hawk shrugs off shots and whips Lane into the corner so hard Lane flips upside down into it! Double back elbow from the Roadies and Animal drops an elbow for 2. Animal gorilla presses Lane and Lane sells it by grabbing his crotch. I guess that hit first. Lane tries to get out of an arm wringer by climbing over the top rope. Animal pulls him back in over the top rope! Hawk actually backs off and lets Lane recover and reset. I think they're completely confident in victory. For some reason Rogers gets riled up, hops on the apron, takes his hat and jacket off, and wants in himself. The rest of the team hold him back knowing it'd be a DQ. Someone yells "Chicken shit!", I think Ellering. Things resume in the ring with Eaton pushed into the wrong corner again and Hawk absolutely POPS him with a chop right across Eaton's mouth! On a rope break Eaton slaps Animal right across the mouth, then leads him in a chase across and into the ring. After a long speed run and a possible muffed spot (if it was they did a very smooth transition into attempt #2) Animal hits a powerslam for 2. Lane tries again but takes a back elbow from Animal and flops back into the ropes. Cornette tries to fan Lane awake with his racket while shouting "A MILLION DOLLARS!". Hawk tosses Lane with a gutwrench suplex like he weighed nothing, then hits a clothesline off the top. Eaton comes in and stomps Hawk in the head, then Lane eye rakes him. Fist drop off the second rope from Eaton as the Midnights finally have Hawk down. Eaton chokes him with what looks like one of Rogers suspenders. High knee from Eaton. The Midnights keep working the ref to try to get a racket shot in but the never have a big enough window. Lane settles for tossing Hawk over the top rope to the floor. While that's being argued about Eaton lands the racket shot to Hawk's midsection. Hawk looks like he had some bad food truck tacos. Lane hits his karate kick for 2. Hawk's kickout sends him out to the floor, but the Midnights keep Hawk isolated. Hawk gets a boot up in the corner and tags Animal! Animal goes nuts. A dropkick to Eaton sends the ref tumbling out of the ring. Animal hits a flying tackle on Eaton. Cornette gets in and throws a fireball in Animal's face! It all breaks down with racket shots, Rogers taking a flying tackle and other pandemonium. The ref is back in and calls for the bell. The official decision is Midnights by DQ! Not sure about that call, but stuff was happening all over the place there's no telling what the ref was supposed to see. That gets a "bullshit" chant from the crowd as the defending champs are out. Very good match before that though. ***1/2

 

Quarterfinals: The Super Powers def NWA World Tag Team Champions Manny Fernandez & "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Paul Jones) in 9:44- Like last night, Nikita is wrestling with a neck brace on. I feel safe in saying it was from a Horsemen attack but I don't remember for sure. Rude starts with Nikita and is more concerned with posing so Nikita shoves him in the back. Off the lockup Rude tries a corner whip but Nikita is just too damn strong to be whipped anywhere. Rude unloads with forearms and knees but Nikita still refuses to be moved. Brick Soviet shithouse. Reversal and Rude goes hard into the corner. Rude manages a nifty takedown and tries to work on Nikita's leg but Nikita easily pushes free. Rude finally targets Nikita's neck with some elbows, then hooks on a full nelson. That gets Nikita on the ropes, figuratively speaking. After arm drops Nikita powers up and free. Slam from Nikita. Both sides tag. Rhodes about kills Fernandez with a crossbody, then hits a slam and elbow drop. Full bionic elbow. After a reset Fernandez gets Dusty down and drops a bunch of kneedrops to his head. Dusty rolls out to recover and Rude runs him into the post! I'm shocked Dusty's not bleeding off of that. Back in Fernandez hits a chop and takes forever to cover for 2. Dusty tries to fire up off Rude punches but Fernandez runs him over. Jones gets a cheap shot in. Slam on Dusty from Rude, no easy feat. Rude goes up top and hits a fistdrop for 2. Again Dusty tries to fire up off Fernandez headbutts, hitting one of his own, but Fernandez puts him back down with a punch. Dusty ducks under and hits a flying clothesline on Fernandez. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Fernandez hits a crossbody off the top rope, but Dusty rolls through as best he can and gets a pin! The champs are out of the tournament. Solid enough match. **1/4

 

Later in the month while still holding the tag titles Rude would sign with WWF and take off up north, leaving both JCP and Fernandez high and dry. Rather than get Fernandez a new partner, JCP elected to put the tag titles back on a now healthy RNR Express via a phantom match that never actually happened. 

 

Semifinals: Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger (w/JJ Dillon) def Giant Baba & Isao Takagi in 8:53- The Japanese team of Baba and Takagi were the beneficiaries of Morton's injury, getting a bye into the semifinals. Given the state of both guys and what they could bring in the ring that was a 100% correct decision. Another interesting crowd mix here as the crowd doesn't want anything to do with the foreign team, but they still won't outright cheer the Horsemen. There's even a small section on camera loudly chanting "SUCKS" after Luger's intro. He's definitely getting big reactions already from both directions. Blanchard and Takagi start with Takagi hitting an armdrag out of the lockup. Blanchard takes a rope break to get out of an ARMBAR. Baba tags in and also does some arm work. Blanchard backs Baba into his corner and tags Luger. Baba gets out of trouble with chops that the Horsemen team do some crazy selling of. Now Baba does some weak arm work on Luger as the crowd gets restless for some action. Baba straight pulls Luger by the hair to back him into his corner, and falls down himself in the process. Don't think that was intentional. Takagi works a front facelock. Luger counters out into a half crab/legbar hold and works on Takagi's leg a bit. Blanchard continues in that vein. Takagi slowly counters around into an almost Asuka Lock type sleeper, then gives that up for another basic armbar. Baba tags in and again Blanchard has to crazy sell his weak looking offense. Luger and Baba is played off as some kind of huge power standoff but everyone knows better. Luger slams Baba to a pretty decent pop. Baba dodges an elbow drop. Russian leg sweep on Luger. Blanchard tags in and tries to fire away on Baba but gets put down with chops. Takagi takes both Horsemen down with shoulderblocks, including another three point stance one. Wonder if he played (American) football in school? It wouldn't be unheard of, that's Yota Tsuji's background and he's turned out great. My favorite wrestler in New Japan after Naito's departure. Baba gets a headlock takedown on Blanchard for 2. Big Boot of Death on Blanchard! Luger breaks the pin up! Both sides tag. Luger and Takagi have a weak slugfest. Luger dodges Takagi's three point stance charge, tries to get him up in the Torture Rack but can't hold him, then compensates by meekly dropping an elbow to get the pin and send the Horsemen team to the finals. Very not good. Easily the worst tag match you'll ever see prime Tully Blanchard be a part of, but he had absolutely nothing on the other side to work with and Luger was still putting all the pieces together. 1/4*

 

Semifinals: The Super Powers def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) in 11:12- I think this one's a foregone conclusion. No way will there be a heel vs heel final, plus the fact Dusty and Nikita were riding the "Magnum TA tribute" wave. Eaton's got a bandage on his head now even though I'm pretty sure he never bled the last match. Eaton and Nikita start to a huge "Nikita" chant. Nikita breaks clean on the ropes and of course Eaton complains about it. Eaton does not break clean, hitting a cheap punch and running for his life. They go out and back in into a speed run. Eaton sees the Sickle being loaded up and bails. Nikita flips him back in off the apron, then dropkicks him out to the floor. Lane tags in, hits a couple of shots on the ropes but then takes a hiptoss. Everyone on the heel team complains about a tights pull. Cornette: "Who you gonna believe, a commie or me?!". Well.....he's got a point there. Dusty tags in and quickly bionic elbows Lane out to the apron. Then he see saws Eaton in the ropes with elbows. Dusty hiptosses Eaton on the floor! Eaton complains about his back but Cornette screams at him "ONE MILLION DOLLARS" and orders him to get back in. Dusty's got elbows for everyone on the heel team, including Rogers when he gets on the apron. Another reset with Lane and Nikita. Nikita cranks an arm wringer. Cornette distracts ref Teddy Long so Eaton can hit Nikita off the top rope from behind! That finally gets the Midnights in control for the first time. Snap mare/elbow drop combo from Eaton and he goes to work on Nikita's hurt neck. Swinging neckbreaker from Lane. They work Long to choke Nikita on the ropes and Rogers gets a shot in. Cornette has another great line, "You're not a defector, you're defective!". Cover from Lane for 2. Eaton continues to grind away on Nikita's neck, going all the way to arm drops. Lane drops Nikita throat first on the top rope. Eaton gets Cornette's racket to choke Nikita with. Another shot from Rogers. Nikita reverses a whip and hits Eaton with a flying tackle! That gets a 2 count as everyone runs in. Nikita ducks and Eaton knocks Lane out of the ring! Sickle on Eaton! That gets the pin! Solidly good stuff. Dusty barely did anything this match knowing he still had a match to work. Cornette throws a grade A tempter tantrum after the match. ***

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def Barry Windham in 25:49- Windham signed with JCP in the fall and quickly found success. In December he and Ron Garvin dethroned the Russian Team for the US tag titles, only losing them back to Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch about a month before this show. In January he kicked off a feud with World champ Flair, the first major program for Flair after his title reign was unexpectedly extended thanks to Magnum TA's injury just before Starrcade, a match Magnum was scheduled to win. They've been tearing the house down across the territory and even a couple of times on weekly TV, and tonight will be the final blowoff. For now at least, these two will be doing a lot more together in the future. Windham offers a handshake after intros and Flair actually takes it with no games. Lockup, clean corner break and Flair "WOOOOOOOO"s Windham out of the corner. Headlock takedown from Flair and he puts on a arm wringer. Windham kips up and Flair QUICKLY backs off. A Windham headlock leads to a top wristlock fight that Windham slowly wins. First shoulderblock goes to Windham. On another corner break Flair hits the first chop, and it's a big one. But it has no effect on Windham! He smiles and Flair quickly hides in the corner, then tries to strut a bit to get in Windham's head. Another chop with the same result. On the other side Windham threatens to give Flair mounted punches but backs down. Flair then tries to reverse and sucker punch but Windham was ready for him. He hiptosses Flair out of the corner. Dropkick for 2. Flair tries a trip on a speed run but Windham hits the brakes and wraps him up in a headlock. Another speed run and Windham uses his long legs to trip Flair. Flair stumbles out of the ring but doesn't go down and is proud of himself after. Back in Flair does his hammerlock workaround. Windham reverses. Flair drop toe holds him down but Windham does a nice counter on the mat. More speed and Flair catches Windham with a hot shot for the first real high impact hit of the match. Short kneedrop from Flair and he tosses Windham out to the floor. Chop and guardrail shot for Windham. Coming back in Flair snaps Windham over the top rope again. Stomps from Flair with a crazy great evil maniacal laugh. He's enjoying himself. Short jab from Flair and he hooks on an ARMBAR. Classic snap mare/kneedrop combo from Flair for 2. As usual it's Tommy Young's fault for counting too slow. Windham starts slowly slugging back. Flair Flop! Flair begs off hard. This time Windham goes through with the mounted punches. He hiptosses Flair out of the corner. Flair dodges a dropkick! Right into the figure four! Having done no setup on the knee Flair immediately goes for rope leverage behind Young's back. Finally Young catches him and forces a break. Flair shoves Young and Young shoves back! He threatens to give the match to Windham by DQ and Flair quickly backs down. Windham comes out of the corner with a diving clothesline! Again Flair begs off. A back elbow sends Windham 360 over the top rope to the floor! Tony gives some lip service to the dumb over the top rope DQ rule. Flair sets up to piledrive Windham on the unpadded floor. Young straight up says he'll DQ Flair if he does it and Flair lets go. Coming back in Windham gets a sunset flip for 2. Windham blocks a hiptoss into a backslide for 2. Flair rolls out with a bit of a hitch in his step to try to kill Windham's momentum. Corner slugfest that Windham wins. Flair just barely kicks out before 3. Full ground and pound from Windham. Flair goes to the apron and Windham suplexes him back in for another long 2. Windham goes up top. Flair dodges a senton! Or a legdrop. Either way it hurt Windham bad. Flair goes for the figure four again. Windham rolls him over into a cradle for 2. Flair gets a sleeper on! Windham quickly pulls Flair to get free and Flair goes chin first into the top turnbuckle. Flair Flop 2! Well, 1.5, it was a short one. A Windham punch sends Flair 360 out to the floor. Guardrail shots for Flair. Now Windham tries for a piledriver on the floor. Flair backdrops free! Going back in Flair goes up top. He actually gets off with a crossbody, but Windham reverses it! Flair BARELY kicks out! Flair Flip in the corner! He falls all the way to the floor. Flair gets a sneaky low blow on the floor where Young couldn't see it! Great sell from Windham too, looking as surprised as hurt. Flair tries for an apron suplex. Windham blocks it and flips free! Windham sleeper! He counters Flair's escape attempt and gets him back in! Flair is so close to the ropes but can't quite get there and starts to fade. His shoulders go down and Young counts. Flair gets a foot on the rope to break the pin AND the hold! Brilliant. Windham sets Flair up in the middle of the ring in a very People's Elbow setup way. I'd love it if Windham hit that. Windham goes for a big splash but Flair gets his knees up! Flair goes up top again. This time it goes as well as usual. Great job from Windham milking the moment too. Windham puts on a figure four! After a couple of near falls Flair eye rakes free. Powerslam from Windham for 2. He goes for the figure four again but Flair eye rakes him before it's on. Flair ducks a lariat. Crossbody from Flair and they both tumble into the ropes and to the floor! I think they were supposed to both go over the top but couldn't quite do it. No big deal, it still looked good. Flair whips Windham into the post but it's only a glancing blow and Windham isn't hurt. Missile dropkick from Windham in the ring! Young counts 3! HUGE pop! BUT....Flair got a foot on the rope just in the nick of time! Young immediately realizes it and waves for the match to continue. Flying lariat from Windham! Another cover where Windham doesn't hook the leg near the ropes and Flair gets a foot up there again. Almost as big a tactical error as Tuchel parking the bus after getting one goal against Argentina in the '26 World Cup semifinal. Seriously, what the fuck was that? That's exactly what he was hired NOT to do after it became Gareth Southgate's trademark. I'm typing this the day after so the hurt is still fresh. Anyway, Windham hits another suplex and floats over for 2. He tries for another figure four but Flair immediately realizes it and pushes Windham into the corner. They headlock/headscissors counter into the bridge up/backslide spot and Windham gets another 2 count. Flair goes for a back suplex but Windham flips free, pushes Flair into the corner and rolls him up. Flair reverses, grabs two handfuls of trunks, and gets the pin to retain! Absofrigginglutely brilliant. He doesn't come up nearly as often as he should on the lists of Flair's best opponents, but Flair and Windham went together like peanut butter and chocolate. Both as opponents and, as we'll see later, teammates. *****

 

Before the main event none other than Magnum TA makes his way into the arena, his first public appearance since the car accident that ended his career and nearly left him paralyzed. His arm is in a sling and he's using a cane to walk, but he is walking. He looks extremely emotional to be back in the arena. Well, the main event result is a foregone conclusion. No way is the Magnum tribute team losing with Magnum in the building. 

 

Crockett Cup Finals: The Super Powers def Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger (w/JJ Dillon) in 17:30- No split crowd here, they're completely behind Dusty and Nikita. Dusty actually starts with his old foe Blanchard. They've been feuding on and off again for the better part of two years over multiple titles. Dusty hits the first elbow in the corner, then jabs Blanchard down when Blanchard charges him. Dusty works a headlock and keeps Blanchard just far enough from tagging. Blanchard actually gets both feet up on the top rope for a break. Dusty lets go and Blanchard falls face first into the mat! Blanchard gets Dusty in the wrong corner but Dusty quickly fights out. Luger tags in to another big 50/50 reaction. Nikita tags in to a big 100% positive reaction. Luger wins the first lockup power fight. Second time, same result with much posing and bragging from Luger. Third time Nikita wins and give Luger a return pose. Both guys fight for suplex leverage but neither can get it. Luger wants a test of strength. Nikita goes for it. He starts winning, so Luger kicks him to get him down. Nikita powers back up, backs Luger into the ropes, and monkey flips him! Blanchard tags in and spits at Nikita! Yeah, make him even more mad. Great strategery. Nikita blocks a kick and hits an atomic drop that sends Blanchard all the way out to the floor. Back in Nikita hooks on a bear hug. Luger hits him off the top rope behind Hebner to get Blanchard free. Blanchard tries to slingshot suplex Nikita. Nikita lands on his feet. Sickle! Sickle for Luger! Sickle for Dillon on the apron! Nikita suplexes Blanchard back in off the apron for 2. Nikita hits "the hammer" which is kind of a half chokeslam. He hits Blanchard with the Sickle against the ropes, but the momentum sends them both over to the floor! Pretty much a Cactus clothesline except Nikita (kayfabe) didn't intend to do it. On the floor Blanchard goes right for Nikita's neck brace, taking it off! The Horsemen are all over it on the floor. Big guardrail shot. Back in Luger continues the neck punishment. Swinging neckbreaker from Blanchard for 2. They continue to bait Dusty in to double team. Luger drops Nikita on the top rope and covers for 2. Nikita tries to fight back on Blanchard but the Horsemen quickly cut the tag off. Standing clothesline from Luger for 2. Elbow off the top rope from Blanchard for 2. Nikita flips Blanchard out of a chinlock but again the tag is cut off. Blanchard uses Nikita's singlet straps to pull him over the top rope to the floor. Dillon hits a shoe shot on the floor! Who uses a shoe, honestly? Blanchard slingshots Nikita throat first into the bottom rope and covers for 2. Guess it wasn't Dillon's usual shoe, that normally finishes off most people. Or Nikita's head is that hard. Blanchard tries coming off the second rope but Nikita catches him with a punch. Tag to Dusty! Bionic elbows all around. Dillon takes one. Dusty 3 point stance tackles on Blanchard. Blanchard dodges one and Dusty goes to the floor! Luger attacks him out there while Nikita and Blanchard fight in the ring. Blanchard accidentally takes Dillon out with his own shoe! He still hits Nikita with it. Blanchard tries to get Nikita up for a piledriver. Dusty goes up top, hits Blanchard with a crossbody, and gets the pin for the tournament win! Get a spatula and scrape Blanchard off the mat. Very nice tournament final match, especially considering both teams were working their third match of the night. ***3/4

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- You couldn't have a bigger contrast between the two Crockett Cup '87 nights. As bad as night one was, this was all the way to the other extreme awesome. The tournament results were a bit predictable, but the matches were almost all good with only one excusable turd, a great opener and a really good if again predictable finish. Flair and Windham throwing in an all time classic for the World title is a very tasty cherry on top.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A 

Crockett Cup '87- Night One

Legacy Review- From the Vault

Crockett Cup '87- Night One

April 10, 1987 from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone

 

The first Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Crockett Cup for short, was a resounding success, so Jim Crockett Promotions quickly made it an annual tentpole live event in the days of just one PPV show per year (Starrcade for them), alongside the summertime Great American Bash tour and the end of year Bunkhouse Stampede matches. One difference this year is there would be no cross promotion with UWF (the former Mid-South), so the event was moved from the Superdome in New Orleans to the Baltimore Arena, which will later be the semi-regular home of the GAB when it became a PPV. Ironically, right when this show was taking place JCP was finalizing the deal to purchase the nearly bankrupt UWF, their last major territory acquisition before nearly going belly up themselves. JCP would spend the rest of the year soundly burying almost everything UWF related in a way very similar to the 2001 WCW Invasion in WWF.

 

For tonight, other NWA territories not already bought out by JCP were invited to send wrestlers over, but the cross-promotion aspect isn't played up nearly as much as it was the first year and most everyone in the tournament is JCP connected one way or another. Pretty much everyone brought in was from their longtime partners in Florida, Dusty's old stomping grounds, plus the token Japanese team. They also changed the event schedule. Last year there were afternoon and evening "sessions" on the same day, this time it's a proper two night show. The first and second round will take place tonight on a huge 16 match card, the rest on night two. Each night will also have a major singles match for some variety. Once again it's a strange 24 team bracket, meaning 8 teams will get a first round bye and there will be an equal number of first and second round matches, barring draws or other double eliminations. 

 

Unlike the last Crockett Cup there is commentary being provided by Tony solo, but I'm not sure if he's live in the arena or if it was recorded later. My guess is live because the mix is awful and he gets drowned out a lot. There is also a bit of history for our ring announcer, as future WCW mainstay Gary Michael Capetta is making his first appearance for the company on a big show.

 

First Round: The Thunderfoots def Bobby Jaggers & Rocky King in 6:10- Jaggers normally teamed with Dutch Mantell as the Kansas Jayhawks but Mantell got hurt just before this show. Replacing him is King, a jobber who'd worked his way up the ranks and was generally loved in the locker room. Later in WCW he'd manage the Freebirds for a short time as Little Richard Marley, then work as a referee for most of the '90s. The Thunderfoots sound like they should be a babyface Indian team, but they're in fact a short lived masked heel team. King starts out with let's just call him Thunderfoot 1 since there's no way to tell them apart and honestly neither of them matter much in the long run anyway. King absorbs some early shots to hit a springboard crossbody for 2. TF 2 comes in and takes a dropkick as the heels take a powder. Back in King takes a shoulderblock then maneuvers TF whatever into a hiptoss. Jaggers tags in, looking more like Dusty Rhodes in gear and girth than ever, and continues pounding away on him. Another dropkick from King and the TF does a crazy fall the opposite direction of what physics should say and manages to tag out. The faces quickly get TF other on the ropes too. The heels manages to get Jaggers into their corner and choke him with the tag rope. Double back elbow on Jaggers for 2. Standard tag team heel offense from the generic masked heels follows. Random "this match sucks" observation: the Thunderfoots' gear has "Foot" then a couple of lightning bolts under it. Shouldn't that make them the Foothunders? Footbolts? Jaggers avoids a double team, hits a double clothesline and tags out. TF in the ring does a crazy flop after being run into Jaggers' boot then King hits yet another dropkick. And again after that the TF falls in position to tag out. Not brilliant tag team tactics on display here. A TF kicks King in the head and King flat forgets to sell it, then slowly falls down. That gets HUGE boos from the crowd, even in the kayfabe still alive '80s. They literally repeat the spot and TF indeterminate gets the pin with one simple kick. Woof. Not a great opener even before that disaster of a finish sequence, but we've got a long way to go. 1/4*

 

First Round: Bill Dundee & The Barbarian def Tim Horner & Mike Rotunda in 7:12- Rotunda and his former US Express tag partner/real life brother in law and best friend Barry Windham are both making their major show JCP debuts in the Cup, though via separate paths. Rotunda was on a stopoff back in Florida before signing with JCP full time and is the reigning NWA Florida Heavyweight champion. This is one of those shows where it's "Rotundo" instead of "Rotunda" but I always go with the generally accepted one. Barbarian and Rotunda start out with some lockup gamesmanship. Shoulderblock standoffs, which is a win for Rotunda. He gives Barbarian a couple of uppercuts, then puts him down with a shoulderblock. He then takes advantage of Dundee arguing with ref Earl Hebner to hit a legdrop a bit south of Saskatchewan. Horner tags in and tries to do some arm work. Barbarian laughs, scoops him up like he's a child and slams him. Dundee tags in and walks into a couple of armdrags and a dropkick. They trade arm wringers and Horner does a fancy little flippy bit all around Dundee for another takedown. Dundee keeps backing off, trying to slow Horner down. Barbarian tags in and tries to bait Horner into a test of strength, then says frak it and just pounds on him. Press slam, with Dundee hilariously coaching Barbarian to turn around and drop him in the ring, not on the floor. Horner counters a backdrop attempt and tags out. Rotunda comes in with a dropkick. He tries some arm work on Barbarian and gets a bit further than Horner did. Dundee kicks Rotunda in the back from the apron and Rotunda runs into Barbarian. The heels gets Rotunda isolated in their half. Standing big boot from Barbarian, followed by a clothesline for 2. Powerslam for 2. Rotunda gets tossed to the padless floor and Dundee runs him into the barricade. The is the first JCP show I can remember seeing with a more "modern" style barricade. Another big boot from Barbarian back in for 2. Barbarian puts on a weird chinlock that's almost a smother. Arm drops and Rotunda fights back up. Double clothesline. Barbarian is up first and slams Rotunda, then he goes up top. Rotunda dodges the headbutt! Tag to Horner! He hits a springboard crossbody on Barbarian. It looks like he's got a pin but both Dundee and Rotunda run in, distracting Hebner. Horner gets a sleeper on Barbarian. Dundee whacks him in the head, possibly with a foreign object, and Barbarian covers for the pin. Good stuff all around. Kind of weird seeing Rotunda work such a high energy style considering how he'll get later in his career. ***

 

First Round: Shaska Whatley & Teijho Khan def Lazer Tron & Jimmy Valiant by DQ in 5:56- Khan made his pro debut the previous year and soon joined the Paul Jones Army. He's portraying an Asian despite being white and not having a drop of Asian blood in his body, a not unheard of thing in wrestling history. Basically he's as Asian as Elizabeth Warren is Cherokee. Lazer Tron is Hector Guerrero under a mask with a *very* '80s name. Tron currently holds whatever version of the NWA Junior Heavyweight title is currently in circulation, it's hard to keep track. Incidentally, the device Tron has on his chest is the exact sensor that's used as part of the home Lazer Tag game that was available in toy stores at the time, and fairly hot too. I remember really wanting one as a kid but never got one. Old foes Valiant and Whatley start things off. After putting Whatley down with one punch Valiant takes off his bandanna and chokes him with it. Whatley is run into Tron's raised forearms (did ref Pee Wee Anderson check to see if those were loaded?), does a crazy delayed flop and Valiant covers for 2. Tron dodges Whatley's charge in the corner, resulting in another crazy flop that lets Whatley tag out. Tron literally has to position Khan while trying to whip him out of a headlock, not a good sign. They get a good speed run going and Tron hits a dropkick. That's enough for Khan and he tags back out. The heels get Tron stuck in their corner, until Tron does the telegraphed dodge and Whatley takes Khan out. Double atomic drop on Whatley from the faces. Khan takes one and collides with Whatley again. After a reset Tron ducks and the heels collide again like a couple of goofs. They finally manage a successful double team on Valiant. That gets Valiant in peril with his patented spasm selling. Whatley's strut is a sight to behold too. Valiant dodges an elbow drop and tags out. Tron lasers his way through the heels (sorry, I had to). He rolls past Whatley and hits a flying forearm, but Valiant and Khan start fighting in the ring too. Tron backdrops a charging Whatley over the top rope to the floor right in front of Anderson, and he has no choice but to call for the bell thanks to that stupid over the top DQ rule. Lame finish. But somehow, despite having three eternally useless guys and Hector hampered by the Lazer Tron gimmick, this wasn't nearly as bad as the opener. *

 

First Round: Ron & Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) def Ricky Lee Jones & The Italian Stallion in 2:22- Jimmy Garvin had just turned face and paired back up with the other Garvin, Ron. They teamed together semi-regularly in multiple territories. On screen they were portrayed as brothers, but in real life Jimmy was Ron's stepson. Jones is actually Ricky Gibson, older brother of Robert Gibson of the Rock N Roll Express. This is technically face vs face but the crowd wants nothing to do with the Stallion/Jones team. Code of Honor handshakes all around because this is face vs face, then Ron starts with Jones. We stay with a very distant hard camera shot for the first part of the match for some reason. Pretty even start as neither team can get an edge. Since they're all good guys neither team will press an advantage when they get their opponents into their corner. I suspect that won't last too long. Ron hits a backdrop on Jones for 2. Stallion gets a dropkick on Jimmy for barely 1. Sunset flip from Jimmy, and that gets a pin! Cagematch lists this match as going over 10 minutes, so I'm not sure if something got seriously clipped here because they're usually pretty reliable. For what was shown there wasn't a lot happening and they didn't have enough time to make anything happen. 1/2*

 

First Round: Denny Brown & Todd Champion def The Mulkey Brothers in 3:21- Champion is another guy that had recently made his pro debut under the JCP banner and would be a semi-regular face in WCW for years. His looking similar to '80s movie star Dolph Lundgren didn't hurt his career any I'm sure. The Mulkeys were a very short lived jobber tag team that as far as I know really were brothers, Randy and Bill. Capetta announces them as MULKEYMANIA and they're super duper over in Baltimore, so they've clearly got a Tomoaki Honma style lovable loser thing going on. Kokeshi make you happy. One Mulkey, I don't know which is which and Tony's sparse commentary isn't helping, starts with Brown and the crazy crowd reactions continue. Cheers for all Mulkey offense, boos every time Brown does anything. Champion hits a slam/legdrop combo to big boos. The Mulkey tries to fight out of a chinlock but much larger Champion gets him back down. Finally Tony tells us this is Randy Mulkey. Thanks for that. Randy gets a flash roll up for 2! Bill tags in for a go with Champion. It doesn't go well for him. Brown continues the punishment. Bill gets a hiptoss and armdrag! Double Mulkey back elbow on Brown for 2. Double backdrop for 2. Bill hits a suplex! Long 2 count! Brown counters with a suplex that Bill almost hits his head coming down on. Oklahoma roll and Brown gets the pin, killing the Mulkeymania dream stone dead in the first round. The crowd doesn't like that at all. I don't think it would have hurt anything to have given them a win in the first round and let them be destroyed in the second. *1/2

 

First Round: George South & Steve Keirn and Mike Graham & Nelson Royal 20:00 time limit draw- Keirn wrestled the '86 Cup still in the Fabulous Ones team with Stan Lane. With Lane now otherwise engaged (more on that later), he's been teamed up with jobber South here. Apparently it was a pretty last second deal too, with the Fabulous Ones originally being advertised. Pretty Florida feel here, as that was the primary territory for both Keirn and Graham. This is again face vs face with some Code of Honor handshakes to start. Graham and South start with some back and forth. Graham goes a drop toe hold into some leg work. Royal tags in and stays on that target. There's already some "boring" chants floating around the arena. They haven't seemed too pleased about the Fabulous Ones not teaming up. South gets a flash small package on Graham for 2 to end the leg work portion of the program. Keirn gets trapped in the wrong corner but since this is face vs face they let him go. Royal doesn't seem happy about it, pointing at Keirn and yelling something that clearly ends with "motherfucker". After tagging in Royal still seems bent out of shape about something. Trying to get some juice into this thing because it badly needs it. The endless corner stalemates don't help any. Against the ropes Royal gives Keirn a straight Greco Roman knee to the groin! Right in front of Hebner too but he doesn't do anything about it. Royal tries to work on Keirn's leg but Keirn fights out of it. I'm honestly having a hard time telling if this is all planned or if they're having some real life issues in there. Graham tags in and things seem to go smoother as he does start working on Keirn's leg. Keirn counters into some arm work on Graham while jawing at Royal. South holds an armbar for a couple of minutes before Graham slams out, but he's quickly right back into it. At this point the crowd's so dead they don't even have the energy to chant "boring" anymore. Tags and Royal tries to liven things up by heeling away on Keirn again. This time Keirn hits a shot against the ropes to take the edge and pounds away on Royal. Inverted atomic drop. After South tags in Royal backs him into the corner and gives him a knee to the nads. South sunset flip on Graham for 2. Once again Graham goes to the leg work. Fuck, we're only 10 minutes in. It's felt like 30. Keirn tags back in and hits a hot shot on Graham. Press slam from Keirn for 2. Graham takes a crazy bump off a corner whip. Kern gives him a shoulderbreaker and South covers for 2. South is at least trying to sell the leg that was worked on earlier. He hits a diving clothesline on Graham and covers for 2. Kerin hits an atomic drop, and Graham turns around and punches him as he goes down. Keirn shrugs it off and tosses Graham out to the floor. Keirn suplexes him back in as we mercifully get the 5 minutes left call. Kerin hits some shoulderblocks but goes down too in what I guess was supposed to be a 50/50 collision. Tags on both sides. Royal gives South about the worst Thesz press you've ever seen. I guess that's what that was supposed to be. Keirn comes in and cheap shots Royal from behind. That goes absolutely nowhere as the other two keep going like nothing happened. Royal flops over the top to the floor off a corner whip. Everyone in the ring looks like they want this to be done as much as the rest of us do. Graham hits a couple of suplexes on Keirn for 2. Capetta gives the two minutes left call and the crowd POPS for that! Holy crap that's fantastic. Baltimore doing their best Chicago impression during this match. Keirn literally just walks around after hitting Graham with a knee before tossing him out again. Behind Hebner's back he tosses Graham over the top rope and then flops down like he just got hit, but again the setup goes absolutely nowhere. Everyone argues and does some more weak brawling. The crowd counts down with Capetta's final 10 second countdown like it's the Royal Rumble as thank God this is over and both teams are eliminated. I want to say this died a slow death, but it was dead on arrival and for some insane reason kept lurching on for the entire time limit. The crowd didn't care, there was clearly no plan at all, and Keirn in particular looked like he didn't want to be there at all without his regular partner. A slow motion disaster of the worst order. DUD

 

The draw gives the Rock N Roll Express a bye into the quarterfinals. That's one reason this travesty was allowed to go all the way to the time limit, the RNR Express couldn't compete at all because Ricky Morton was injured, but they were trying to keep anyone in the arena from knowing about it until the last possible second. 

 

First Round: The Armstrongs def Ivan Koloff & Vladimir Petrov by DQ in 4:20- The slow dissolution of the old Russian Team continues after Nikita Koloff's seduction by the riches of capitalism (quite rightly). After Starrcade '86 Krusher Kruschev (Barry Darsow) departed for WWF to become Demolition Smash. His first replacement teaming with Ivan was, very strangely, the very southern Dick Murdoch. They held the US tag titles until Murdoch got hurt just before this show and were stripped. Petrov was a not all Russian (though no one in the team really was) former bouncer that had recently been recruited by JCP to train as a wrestler. He didn't last long. On the other side, Brad Armstrong is teaming with his dad "Bullet" Bob, still going strong well into his 50s. Ivan and Brad start. Speed run and Brad gets a monkey flip. Brad shrugs off an elbow to the gut and the Armstrongs do a double arm wringer double chop double team. Bob atomic drop on Ivan. Petrov knees Bob in the back from the apron, then tags in and does what little he can. Double back elbow from the Russians and Ivan hits a legdrop for 2. The Russians hit a weak double slam for 2. Petrov puts on that most reliable of holds for a learning power wrestler, the bear hug. Bob's attempts to get out push them into the Russian corner and Ivan tags back in. Midring collision. Tag to Brad. Backdrop and dropkick on Ivan. Dropkick for Petrov. Crossbody on Ivan. Petrov breaks the pin up as things break down. Petrov uses the chain, but right in front of ref Anderson, drawing an obvious DQ. This is another match that the shown time is much less than the Cagematch listed time. 3/4*

 

First Round: The MOD Squad (w/Bill Dundee) def Baron von Raschke & Wahoo McDaniel in 4:47- A former East German dictator and a no nonsense Indian walk into a bar.... Talk about an odd couple tag team. The MOD Squad were real life brothers that were a pretty regular midcard tag team across the southern territories in the '80s but this is their only semi-major show appearance. Capetta introduces them as the Florida tag team champions. Dundee has his yellow Elvis suit on to transfer from wrestler to manager for this one. He makes the mistake of getting in Wahoo's face and gets chopped down. After the heels confer Spike starts with Wahoo and also gets chopped down. After hitting a shoulderblock Spike runs into another chop. Raschke tags in and looks about 100 years old. He cranks a headlock on Basher. Basher tries to grab some hair to get free but that's not going to work on Raschke. Off a whip Basher pushes Wahoo into Raschke, knocking Raschke off the apron. Wahoo doesn't even notice, then he snap mares Spike so far over Spike is able to tag out to Basher. Again, not great tag tactics at play here. The heels get Wahoo in peril and Dundee gets a cheap eye rake in. Wahoo finally has enough, hitting a very Ric Flair style backwards low blow on Spike and he casually strides over to tag out. Raschke does as much of a hot tag run as he can. He starts goose stepping and slaps the claw on Basher. Dundee gives Spike knucks or something similar, he hits Raschke and the MODs take the win. 1/2*

 

So ends the first round. Honestly, it was kinda crap. But, we haven't seen any of the top teams yet thanks to all the byes so things should start picking up now.

 

Before the opening second round match starts Capetta announces Ric Flair to the ring to cut a short promo for his title defense on night two, and so the night one crowd can see Flair even if only for a moment. 

 

Second Round: NWA World Tag Team Champions Manny Fernandez & "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Paul Jones) def The Thunderfoots in 3:24- Fernandez and Rude took advantage of the RNR Express still being beat up from barely surviving the Andersons at Starrcade and upset them for the titles a couple of weeks later. Young Teddy Long is the ref for this match. This is heel vs heel, the first of several of these matchups in the second round. The bell rings and TF initial quickly tries to hide from Fernandez in the corner. Fernandez takes some forearms in the corner, this turns it around and hits a hiptoss. He then cranks away on the TF's arm. Rude continues that program. While holding an ARMBAR he looks into the camera and calls out the Road Warriors. That's never smart. The other TF tags in and thinks getting Fernandez in a headlock is an accomplishment. Fernandez responds by giving him a back elbow. Suplex from Rude for 2. The TF manages to eye rake Fernandez into a slam, then misses an elbow drop. Fernandez gets in the wrong corner for a half second and we go into a full on DONNYBROOK. Rude plants the TF left in the ring with a DDT, which is what the Rude Awakening was at the time, and gets the pin. The finishing move at least got a pop. Acceptable squash over an expendable team to get the champs going, but it probably went on a bit too long for what they were doing. 1/2*

 

Second Round: The Super Powers def Bill Dundee & The Barbarian in 6:07- The Super Powers are Dusty Rhodes teaming up with reformed communist Nikita Koloff, still in tribute to the injured Magnum TA. Nikita is in a neck brace (can't remember the story there but I'm willing to bet it's Horsemen related), but that's not stopping him wrestling. He's still the US champ. Dusty and Barbarian start. After the lockup Dusty starts right up swinging punches and dancing. Dundee tags in for a try and gets spun around into a bionic elbow. After some floor recovery time Dundee walks right into Dusty jabs. Barbarian tags back in and wants Nikita. I have to say, the work they've done on Nikita's face turn has paid off, the reaction he gets when he tags in is insane. He and Barbarian have some power lockup stalemates. Shoulderblocks with no one moving. Nikita flips the script with a quick standing dropkick! Nice. The heels again regroup on the floor. Back in Barbarian goes to the universal equalizer, an eye rake, to get Nikita in the wrong corner where Dundee chokes him. The heels work Hebner to double team and choke some more. Bear hug from Barbarian. Hebner gets worked some more for Dundee to hit a punch off the second rope and Barbarian covers for 2. Dundee tags in and his punches only piss Nikita off. Everyone runs in as things fully break down. Nikita hits Barbarian with the Sickle! Dusty slams Dundee off the top rope. Sickle for Dundee and Nikita covers him for the pin. Decentish. I cannot overstate how bonkers over Nikita is now his face turn has had a few months to settle in. **

 

Second Round: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def Shaska Whatley & Teijho Khan in 3:46- The Roadies kick off their defending champion campaign, winning the first Cup last year right at the start of their full time JCP run. They're announced as the "International tag team champions". Sure. Is it from that JCP International branch that later became the WCW International branch that made the WCW International World title? Anyway, the heels jump before the bell, which is not a good move because you're just going make the Roadies even angrier than they normally are. Hawk hits Whatley with a flying tackle. Animal dropkick for Khan. The heels roll out to rethink their choices with some A+ selling from Whatley. Reset with Khan and Hawk. I don't like the kid's chances. Hawk drags him up into a Canadian backbreaker and drops him. Animal barely gets Khan up for a press slam. Khan dodges an elbow drop and tags out. Animal takes a double back elbow and gets (very gently) pounded down in the heel corner until he gets out by shoving both guys across the ring. Khan stays on him with what little he was capable of. Double suplex from the heels. Animal gets his knees up on a Khan big splash and tags out. Dropkick from Hawk. Neckbreaker. Fistdrop. A powerslam gets the pin. Too much heel offense, this should have been a Roadies squash and move on. *1/4

 

Second Round: The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) def Ron & Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) by DQ in 6:20- There's been a change on the Midnight Express roster. Dennis Condrey suddenly left JCP in March for reasons still not known today. To replace him JCP turned to Stan Lane, who as I mentioned before had already been part of a successful tag team with Steve Keirn as the Fabulous Ones in Florida. This would be the version of the Midnights that got the most national exposure, staying through the early years of WCW, and in my mind they're pretty underrated too. Once they got in their groove they knocked out an insane run of great matches all over the place, just like the former Eaton/Condrey combo. We join this in progress with all four guys brawling in the ring as the bell rings. Sadly that means we don't get a feel of the crowd reaction for Lane's first intro as a Midnight member, which I was really curious about. The Midnights are whipped into each other and Jimmy gives them a double noggin knocker while Precious chases Cornette around the ring. Eaton drags Cornette into the ring to get him away from Ron! Ron has Cornette's shoe and hits Lane with it! That ricochets Lane into Eaton, who had Cornette's tennis racket and was looking to hit someone with it. The heels finally roll out for a full regroup while the faces brandish the weapons in the ring. Cornette screams and runs away from Precious, trying to hide behind his team while also wielding his other shoe at her. So great. "Bobby, you've got to do something about that because I don't like being embarrassed!'. Restart in the ring with Ron and Eaton. Eaton pounds on Ron in the corner but gets backdropped after a whip reversal. Both sides swap and Jimmy and Lane do a similar sequence, except with Jimmy hitting a back elbow and dropkick. Eaton comes back in for a try. The new Midnights already have good chemistry considering they barely started working together. Lane kicks Jimmy in the back from the apron to finally get the Midnights on top. Lane whips out his patented karate kick. He whips Eaton into back elbowing Jimmy for 2. Jimmy leapfrogs and the Midnights run into each other. Tag to Ron, who comes in and unloads with the Hands of Stone. One of those sends Eaton out to the floor. Ron sets up for a piledriver out there but Cornette hits him with his racket! Jimmy tries to lift Ron back in, but he's not in time and the Garvins are counted out. Cornette's Racket of Death strikes again. Solid match, they did as much as they could in the time allowed. There's definitely a better one in there. **1/2

 

Second Round: Giant Baba & Isao Takagi def Denny Brown & Todd Champion in 6:10- I regret to say extremely washed up Baba is here another year. Last year he teamed with Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa), which on paper should have helped but really didn't. This year he's paired up with Takagi (no relation to Shingo Takagi), a former sumo who would have a let's say checkered personal life in later years. No one knows how to pronounce Takagi's name right. Well, Baba probably does but no one gives him a mic. Takagi flips Champion out of a headlock to start, then Champion gets a headlock takedown. Baba and Brown exchange some shots. A Baba overhand chop puts Brown down. Slam from Takagi for 2. He armdrags Brown down into an armbar. Lots of clean corner and rope breaks as this is another respectful face vs face match. I do like how the tournament is not being predictable with nothing but face vs heel matchups, makes it feel more real. The crowd again seems to be getting restless as the lack of quality action. Arm work all around with nothing at all of note happening. Baba works Champion into a kind of Russian leg sweep, then hooks on a front facelock. Champion is then the first guy to not respect a rope break. Baba no sells everything and hits another overhand chop. Swinging neckbreaker from Baba. Champion wins a slugfest with Takagi and gives him some knees in the corner. Takagi reverses a corner whip and actually goes down into a 3 point stance before hitting an avalanche on Champion. Baba gives Champion the Big Boot of Instant Death and it's over. Not pretty. 1/4*

 

Because of Morton's injury the Japanese team will be the beneficiary of a bye to the semifinals. If that's announced on this night it's cut out of the Vault copy, but they won't be able to avoid it anymore the next night if it's not. 

 

Second Round: The Armstrongs def Arn Anderson & Kevin Sullivan in 5:33- Talk about an odd pairing. Earlier in the year the Four Horsemen kicked out Ole Anderson, turning him face. Arn's team with Tully Blanchard wasn't a set in stone thing yet even though they had teamed together at the previous Crockett Cup. Ric Flair was originally planned to be in the tournament teaming with Arn, but they scheduled a title defense on night two for him instead. As a last resort they brought in Sullivan from Florida, also soon before he'd sign with JCP full time. This is the first time he and Arn have ever teamed. We start out with easily the best options in this one, Arn and Brad. They have a very nice back and forth sequence to start. Arn gets caught in a drop toe hold. He eye rakes Brad before he can do too much leg damage and stomps him down on the apron. Tony mentions the announcement about the RNR Express, so I guess their injury forfeit was announced in the arena between matches tonight. Would have been nice if that was kept on this copy. Brad hits a crossbody off the top rope for 2. Fun's over as Sullivan tags in. He and Brad have a stiff chop exchange. Bob tags in and also deals out some chops. Arn hits a slam/kneedrop combo on Brad for 2. Sullivan does some arm work as the heels keep Brad isolated. Brad manages to escape from Arn and tag out. Arn quickly backs off the old man coming after him. He tries to trap Bob in the wrong corner but Bob quickly fights out. Sullivan hits a clothesline on Bob with a mess of a sell. Bob hits the brakes after an Arn leapfrog and unleashes punches. Sullivan trips Bob from the floor. Bob and Sullivan exchange slow strikes. Brad tags in with a flurry on both heels as things break down. Brad gets tossed to the floor. He comes back in with a sunset flip on Sullivan, and that gets the pin! Arn is the greatest tag wrestler ever and carried many guys to tag titles. Even he couldn't carry Sullivan to one win. The Armstrongs are the first team that wrestled in the first round to make it out of the second. All my digs at Sullivan aside, this was a damn good if short match with everyone doing their part. Even Sullivan. The Arn/Brad stuff in particular was by far the best thing so far tonight. ***1/4

 

Second Round: Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger (w/JJ Dillon) def The MOD Squad (w/Bill Dundee) in 6:31- Luger was the big new thing on the block, someone JCP saw huge future things in and right at a time they were desperate for a hot young prospect after Magnum TA's career ending injury. After cutting his teeth in Florida the past couple of years he signed with JCP at the start of the year, turned heel and became Ole Anderson's replacement in the Horsemen. For now. Blanchard is also the reigning TV champion. Another heel vs heel match this round here. Dundee didn't bother changing out of his wrestling gear into his Elvis suit this time. Luger disrobing gets a big high pitched pop. I'd even call it a shriek. Blanchard starts with I think Spike. Quick forehead jab from Spike. Blanchard does a workaround into a hammerlock and Spike quickly goes to the ropes. Luger works on Spike's arm, then hair pulls him back down. Dundee is FURIOUS Luger might be cheating. While he's distracting ref Teddy Long Spike hair pulls Luger down, but Luger quickly counters into a headscissors. We get a shot of Dillon already with his Shoe of Death off threatening Dundee with it. Both sides are definitely having fun with the heel vs heel setup. Basher tags in and quickly takes a Luger armdrag, then complains about a tights pull. Basher's able to get the edge on Blanchard. While Long's distracted Dundee gives Blanchard a long eye/face rake from the floor. Dillon then goes over and holds Spike's legs to try to keep him from getting involved. Luger tags in and hits Spike with a back elbow, then a slam. The Horsemen team keep Spike isolated for a bit. The Squad then get Luger isolated and choke him behind Long's back. I think they're swapping without tags too. Dundee and Dillon are still nearly going at it on the floor. Blanchard works Basher over and he falls all the way to the floor. Blanchard tries to suplex him back in but Basher falls on him! Dundee might have tripped him, we couldn't see. Luger breaks the pin up to trigger the final donnybrook. Blanchard takes Basher down in the corner, drops an elbow off the second rope and gets the pin. Dillon finally pops Dundee as the pin is happening too. Nothing amazing wrestling wise, but they kept the pace up all match and watching the two heel groups constantly try to out cheat each other was amusing. **1/4

 

Steel Cage Match: Ole Anderson def Big Bubba Rogers in 7:00- After all the tournament matches we're getting a singles grudge match to close things out for tonight. Rogers was the bodyguard for Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express, but the story here is the Horsemen hired him to take out Ole so now Ole is looking for revenge. This is more like a Texas Death Match than a regular cage match, to win you have to knock your opponent out so he can't answer the 10 count. As soon as his intro's done Ole jumps Rogers and gives him an early cage shot. Another cage shot. After some weak back and forth slugging Ole uses his shirt to give Rogers another cage shot. Rogers gets desperate and goes to the Greco Roman Nut Punch to turn things around. No DQ. Kneelift from Rogers. Ole takes a cage shot. Rogers continues to pound away and chokes Ole on the ropes. Ole's bleeding, the first guy all show. Unusual blood restraint from JCP tonight. It's not even that much blood either. Ole fires back and hits knees to the gut. Rogers puts Ole down with his own knee shot, then he chokes Ole on the mat. That gives us our first count of the match with Ole up at 8. Ole takes another big cage shot. He barely drags himself up at 9. Rogers gives him the cheese grater spot. Ole fires up after that and puts Rogers down with kicks out of the corner. The back and forth slugging continues. Ole has enough and gives Rogers a kick in the groin, then puts him down with a back fist. Rogers chokes Ole with his suspenders. When Ole goes down Rogers goes up top. Ole dodges a big splash! Piledriver from Ole! Rogers just barely can't get up in time and it's over. Kind of a dull brawl but not horrible. Rogers is still learning. **

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Bit of a slog, this one. Definitely not what you'd expect from peak or just past peak JCP, and it's a LOT of matches to get through in one show even if they are all kept short. Fortunately now all the riff raff is gone night two should be much better.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+