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