NWA Weekly Programming Thread

[Darth Pipes 0]

This week's show starts off with David Crockett at an empty Fulton County Stadium with the Bash coming for a close. Tony is handling things in the studio and it's mainly a lot of long interviews with wrestlers and footage from the Bash, some of it already seen and some of it new, like Dusty/Flair and Valiant/Jones. Ivan Koloff has a funny bit where he's reading hate mail and says he can't say one of the words the writer called him.

 

The highlight is seeing Dusty Rhodes cut an interview as the NWA World Champion. It's a rarity on this show to see anyone but Flair hold the title. I'm surprised the Dusty promo wasn't on his DVD.

[KingPK 0]

That Buddy Landell promo was funny and sad at the same time.

[Diamonddust 0]

Jim Cornette is the guest host of the latest show... yippie!!!

 

I know it's been said before, but I'll say it again... Cornette ranting on Baby Doll is something else.

[Darth Pipes 0]

This was a good, hot show following the Great American Bash.

 

Interestingly enough, July 9th, 1986 was the day that Dusty lost the title back to Ric Flair. On this show, he's still champion and we see highlights (beginning and end) of him facing Ric Flair in what appears to be a midget ring. Dusty wins with a clothesline (Flair jobbing to a clothesline? You'd think Dusty is Hulk Hogan or something) and then gets a beatdown by Tully, Flair, and JJ. Flair is in studio and gives a great, manic promo. I've noticed that the rare times Flair appeared on this show without the title (Garvin's 1987 reign) led to him cutting super intense promos.

 

The Rock N Roll vs Andersons feud is heating up too. God, they weren't kidding when they said Robert Gibson mumbled his way through promos. He sounds like Boomhauer from King of the Hill.

[Diamonddust 0]

This was a good, hot show following the Great American Bash.

 

Interestingly enough, July 9th, 1986 was the day that Dusty lost the title back to Ric Flair. On this show, he's still champion and we see highlights (beginning and end) of him facing Ric Flair in what appears to be a midget ring. Dusty wins with a clothesline (Flair jobbing to a clothesline? You'd think Dusty is Hulk Hogan or something) and then gets a beatdown by Tully, Flair, and JJ. Flair is in studio and gives a great, manic promo. I've noticed that the rare times Flair appeared on this show without the title (Garvin's 1987 reign) led to him cutting super intense promos.

 

The Rock N Roll vs Andersons feud is heating up too. God, they weren't kidding when they said Robert Gibson mumbled his way through promos. He sounds like Boomhauer from King of the Hill.

 

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing about that ring.

[Diamonddust 0]

Flair has a definite "Miami Drug Lord" look going on in the latest episode.

[Darth Pipes 0]

All you need was Flair to utter "Say hello to my little....whoooooo...friend!"

 

Just finished watching it. Real good show. The highlight is we get to see footage of Flair reclaiming the title from Dusty Rhodes. Didn't know if any footage existed. Watching it, I have to say Magnum TA is the most useless friend a guy can have. He waits until several minutes after Flair hits Dusty in the leg with a chair to come down to ringside, doesn't bother alerting the referee to the fact that Flair used the ropes, and doesn't even run in to save Dusty's title. Dusty probably wouldn't have wanted to retain the title that way but damn, a friend helps a friend cheat!

 

One odd point in the match is Flair seemed willing to take a count-out win, despite the fact the title wouldn't change hands. You know, I think there is a logic flaw with the champion retaining the belt on a DQ or count-out. No matter how noble the good guy is, who could really resist taking a cheap way out to save the title?

 

Everything else was good, with highlights from the Magnum/Nikita series, the Rock N Roll Express, and Jim Cornette doing commentary. That got me thinking...could you imagine a feud between Roddy Piper and Jim Cornette? I don't think a wrestling promotion could contain those two.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Watched the newest NWA episode. Short but very good segment with a lot of big stuff happening. The Rock N Roll's are the new tag team champions and Nikita is the new U.S. Champion. We see footage of both, including Magnum piledriving Ivan on the concrete. We also see footage of Baby Doll betraying Dusty and joining up with Flair, leading Dusty to call her something on TV that got beeped out. I thought she betrayed Dusty much later on and it's interesting she turned heel again coming off of the red-hot Cornette feud.

[Darth Pipes 0]

I think what Dusty said about Baby Doll that was bleeped out was this...

 

"Last week, you asked me is that your horse outside? I said, no that was your ass and I'm not gonna ride that either!"

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Because I don't feel like going back to do it, somebody please count how many times Buddy Landell & Bill Dundee say "daddy" in their promo during the latest episode.

[Dolfan483 0]

I counted 7, which considering how long they were out there really isn't that much but i can still see why it's annoying.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Another very good show this week.

 

-New National Champion announced in Wahoo McDaniel and the U.S. Tag Team title tournment is also announced.

 

-Cornette is gold here once again and buries the hatchet with Baby Doll

 

-Garvin calls out Jimmy Garvin and again says "he was a male dancer in San Fransisco."

 

-Flair fights a tough match with a jobber. Flair always made good but I do sometimes question the logic of him, as the World Champion, making even jobbers look like gold. Jim Cornette wrote in his book how the WWF was portraying Hogan at this time as a dominant champion who won his matches in 7-8 minutes while Flair was losing his title to Dusty every night, only to have the decision reversed on a technicality.

 

-The show ends in a short but awesome brawl involving the Horsemen. Quite frankly, everyone had something good to do on this show today.

 

 

It's weird watching Magnum here because six weeks after this show, he's get in the car accident that ended his career and almost his life.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

That jobber (Mike Jackson) had a pretty awesome match with Arn Anderson (I think) on an episode a while ago.

[Diamonddust 0]

That jobber (Mike Jackson) had a pretty awesome match with Arn Anderson (I think) on an episode a while ago.

 

Ah... good old "Alabama Jr. Heavyweight Champion" "Action" Mike Jackson.

 

Anyone who has ever been to an indy show in Alabama should know good old "Action" Mike Jackson. He's the type that bills himself as "Former NWA/WCW Star Action Mike Jackson" and sells videos of him wrestling and "enhancing" people like Flair and Anderson. He's also never found a crowd where he couldn't generate a cheap pop, usually by referring to the high school team based out of the gym he's wrestling in or by using the Stunner or Diamond Cutter when they were in style.

 

I know every place has a guy like Jackson, but it's always fun to see him pop up on something like this.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Oh, that was the guy who gave Arn a good match? That guy did have a lot of talent.

[King Kamala 0]

Heh- that guy in Northern New England is former WCW job guy Rick Fuller. It's good to see Goldberg's whipping boy on top whenever I attend an indy show around these parts.

[Brett Wolverton 0]

Mike Jackson did a weekend swing of South Carolina in November, doing a show for Champions With Attitude in Columbia, South Carolina and for National Championship Wrestling in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

I announced the Greenville match and, at first I didn't recognize the name, but I overheard him mentioning something about the NWA and it clicked that I had seen him on 24/7.

[KingPK 0]

It's Tag Team Mania this week as they really are putting over the US Tag Title tournament. Of all the duos I could have thought of, Jimmy Garvin and Tully Blanchard would be pretty far down the list.

[Darth Pipes 0]

It's Tag Team Mania this week as they really are putting over the US Tag Title tournament. Of all the duos I could have thought of, Jimmy Garvin and Tully Blanchard would be pretty far down the list.

 

Love Garvin's promos but why does his squashes have to take ten minutes?

 

Yeah, it was tag team and Russian mania this week. Kind of a dull show. Cornette's near sobbing fit was great. I hope he went on to announcer some more shows after this though.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

On the topic of Mike Jackson, Scott Keith mentioned in one of his recent 24/7 reviews that it seemed like they were protecting him for whatever reason. Maybe they planned to push him eventually, and it just never materialized?

[cabbageboy 0]

Eh, I don't know if Jackson was being protected as much as he was in the role of the journeyman job guy who was there to have a solid match but end up losing a tough decision. His match with Flair on a recent show was also a good one.

[Hasbeen2 0]

Mike Jackson was a good talent and was/is a good guy. I never understood why they didn't use the NWA junior heavyweight belt (not that kayfabe Alabama title) to build guys into more credible enhancement (jobbers). Instead we got Laser Tron or whatever that was. Guerrero without the mask would have been much better, I don't remember Laser Tron getting over with anyone including kids.

 

Someone mentioned Flair looking weak with the Dusty finishes against Dusty, I think their logic was getting the fans pissed again and again so they'd keep wanting Dusty to get the belt eventually and keep hating Flair (and keep watching). I don't agree with that too much but I believe that was their goal.

[Darth Pipes 0]

The September 20th NWA is shown as 24/7 skipped over the previous week for some reason. They missed out on the news that Dusty won the TV title (which he never, ever defended on TV), Garvin won the Mid-Atlantic title (finally winning a title after failing multiple times to dethrone a Horseman) and footage of the Midnight Express beatdown on the Road Warriors. We do get to see that footage, which is just plain awesome and Cornette proves to be the all-star, cutting a killer promo. Even Dennis Condrey cuts a promo.

 

Flair has a terrific promo too and we have third episodes left until Magnum sustains his career-ending accident. Something was different about this show, either the lighting was really dark or the video quality has degraded.

[WWEwrestling 0]

NWA World Championship Wrestling

9/20/86

 

It looks like "Ravishing" Rick Rude will be heading to NWA World Championship Wrestling next week. I believe that's what Tony had mentioned during the program?

 

Is Rude going to tell the crowd that they're a bunch of TBS sweat hogs and the only thing 'Super' about them is they all stink? HA! I sure do miss Rude, I loved it when he got the crowd going in the WWE.

 

 

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Check out Earl Hebner reffing some matches in the latest installment.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I didn't know he was doing his stupid eight second long three count in the 80s.

[Darth Pipes 0]

This was one of the few not-so-good NWA shows this week. I read on the Mid-Atlantic blog that during this time, Crockett had wrestling on Saturday morning and Sunday so the Saturday night show was basically like a C-show and it felt that way. Even the video quality isn't as good. They don't show the whole set and David Crockett stays completely off-camera, not that I'm complaining there.

 

Weird seeing Magnum here and knowing he'll be in a car accident ten days for the airing of that show.

[KingPK 0]

You wonder why they even bothered this week since the show was barely 30 minutes. Though Jimmy Valiant's Dolly Parton promo was hilarious only because he did everything but pull a Costanza and say "That's it for me. Goodnight everyone!" before leaving. He at least needed a rimshot or some fanfare.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Another short episode of World Championship Wrestling but a good one, surprisingly because of Paul Jones's Army. They dominate this episode and with the addition of Rick Rude and Manny Fernandez, they're a hell of a lot better. There's also a development with Baron Von Rascke that I never knew happened.

 

-This show aired shortly after Magnum's accident and this is acknowledged by the fact that during Magnum's final interview, a small crawl on the screen lists the date it was filmed as October 12th or 13th. That makes it a day or two before his accident.

 

-Jimmy Valiant appears in a segment you would expect from the WWE.

 

-the Midnight Express have a less than one minute squash.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Another interesting bit is Flair talks about potential opponents and mentions Magnum. He says he'll hurt Magnum so bad he'll never be able to challenge him for the title again. Two days later...

 

It's going to be weird not seeing Magnum on these shows anymore. He was such a big part of JCP during this time and he was getting bigger and bigger with every appearance.