Superstar Sleeze

I watched handheld. I didn't my review due to time constraints. I will when I get back from tennis

NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham - NWA Crockett Cup 1987 Wanted to start 2017 off with a bang with a classic that I had never seen before. I have seen the other two very famous Windham matches (Florida '86, Worldwide 1/87). If those two are the Oscar nominees, this is the action blockbuster. Very few people can make 25+ minutes feel like a sprint, but for these two competitors 25 minutes is just a drop in the bucket. From the outset of a Ric Flair match, there are three things to watch. How does he utilize space? How does he utilize motion? How does he utilize temperament? At the beginning, Flair is supremely confident in his abilities as a wrestler to win the day, but his temperament will gradually change as he becomes more and more frustrated. Windham overcomes Flair's attempts at takedowns. He hits through the chops and short knees. The short knee is such an underappreciated part of Flair's game and crucial to that feeling of struggle and the babyface having to earn his shine. Ric Flair is a master of both time and space. He is the king of the transient. It is how he creates opportunities for himself. Ric Flair is the greatest corner wrestler in history. He is so effective at using that part of the ring. That part of the ring is the definition of a transient. It will force a break and in very short time they will be out. Flair can do so much in that corner especially crowd in the corner or use the ref as a blocking piece. A lot of Flair's game is about changing space. In the corner he will crowd, in the middle of the ring he will throw a short knee. He is trying to get in close to break momentum and transfer it to him. Windham is able to thwart this with right hands and does not succumb to this tactic. However, what makes Flair so great is that he does not just rely on one tool. He is brilliant at using motion. I have described before Ric Flair's perpetual motion strategy. The idea is that success can be born out of chaos. By constantly moving, you are creating the possibility of a mistake. Heat segments are a condition of steady state. Someone is definitively in control. Whether it is a heel working a body part or a babyface throwing a heel around, there is a sense of inertia that this will continue unless otherwise disrupted. Flair creates disruption through movement. However, it takes multiple tries and it is a high risk strategy because he can fall prey to it just as easy. Notice on the first criss cross spot, he almost got tripped into a drop toehold. The second he dropped down and Windham shrugged his shoulders and dropped down into a headlock. He sticks with the strategy because in a static world, he cant win. He cant outwrestle Windham. That was established. He cant out-strike Windham, Windham's right hand has been winning the day. Windham has the leverage advantage so he cant outpower Windham. He must create a mistake. He does this by disruption through motion. By forcing Windham into motion, he creates chaos and in that chaos anything can happen. What happens in this match is he gets up earlier than Windham expects from a drop down and is able to catch him unawares and hotshot him against the ropes. And that my friends is why Ric Flair is the greatest American wrestler who ever lived. That was just the first five minutes. The rest of match is great, but I would not say it is the best Flair/Windham match I have seen. Flair definitely packed too much into this match as time went on. I thought the heat segment was good with Windham selling well.

NWA US Champion Dusty Rhodes vs Bobby Eaton - NWA Worldwide 2/27/88 Cage Match Solid cage match nothing that will change your life, but a fun 12 minutes. There is quite the gap between the ropes and the cage and so Eaton really has to hurl his body over the ropes into the cage. Eaton tries to escape this allows Corny to give him the racquet. He can jab Dusty with it. He has an object in his tights which he can rake Dusty's face. He gets some blood to flow and gets some good punches. Dusty never really feels in peril is my big knock on this. Dusty starts tagging Bobby with some lefts and Bionic Elbow. Liked the finish. Dusty slams Bobby from the top of the cage and from the top rope hits the Bionic Elbow. Not enough heat on Bobby's heat segment to make this feel like Dusty was in danger.

NWA US Champion Dusty Rhodes vs Bobby Eaton - NWA Worldwide 2/6/88 The main feud post-Starrcade, pre-Clash I for Dusty Rhodes was against the Midnight Express, which shows the Eaton/Lane team could be a main event act. It is often said the Condrey-MX was a main event act that Lane team wasn't. I think that is mostly true, but this is an exception. Really good match built around foreign objects. It starts with Dusty blowing a kiss to Corny and turning his backside to him. God Bless Dusty! Dusty was dazing Eaton with those looping lefts, take this opportunity readjust the junk and BAM! Just when it looks like the American Dream was going to run away with this, Cornette creates a distraction and Eaton uses the racquet to attack the knee of Big Dust. Carrying all that weight, always smart to go after Dusty's knees. Great work on the outside with the railing, chair and more racquet shots. Eaton was laser focused on the knee with all the usual trimmings and of course popping Dusty with that Sweet Home Alabama right hand. Dusty got his hope spots in like a DDT on the concrete, but he was too obsessed with hobbling after Cornette that Eaton was able to go back to the knee. Dusty throws a dropkick really had to swing those head, but they collide heads. Cornette throws a pair of knuckledusters in the ring and Dusty grabs a hold of them and wins the match! The ref finds the knux and disqualifies him! Setting up the rematch in the cage. Dusty slaps Cornette around and smashes Cornette's glasses. What a bully! Fun times. ***

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Lex Luger - NWA Great American Bash '88 One of my all-time favorite series of matches is the Flair/Luger contests and this match represents the only one I have never seen before. I think it has been marred by the bullshit blood stoppage finish and thus didn't seem as must watch as some of the other classics like Starrcade 88 and Wrestlewar 90. Before the lame blood stoppage finish, I thought this was great on par or even better than Capital Combat. Luger's shine was tremendous. He looked so agile and athletic. The leapfrog and the dropkick looked great. The Press Slams were fantastic just perfect form. You can see how hard those are to do and they looked so impressive. There was just an energy to Luger an exuberance really. Thought JR did a great job explaining the focus on the back with the press slams and lo and behold Luger goes to the bearhug smart, works a couple falls before executing a nice suplex. My one complaint in this otherwise fantastic shine was that Flair was a little big of ragdoll. One of my major points in Flair's favor is that he makes his opponent earn the shine by working through the chops, the short knees, the tricks and the rope running here not so much. The transition to the heat segment is a rake of the eyes on the floor and then a slam into steel railing. Not the most creative or impactful, but it gets the job done. I think this more about peppering in the hope spots. We see desperation clotheslines, crotching Flair on the top rope and missed dropkicks before Flair really takes command by cutting Luger down by attacking the knee. Figure-4! Great selling by Luger in all of this. Flair misses a seat drop on Luger's knee and this looks like Luger's big opening. Flair chops...NO EFFECT! I love this spot. No one is better at it than Luger. The way he revs up and flexes is just the best as Flair backpedals. Clothesline gets two. Flair Flip! Backslide gets two. They both go tumbling over the ropes and Flair starts HOLLERING about his leg. I thought this was great selling but really it was just a way to sucker Luger in to bash his head into the steel post and then JJ does it for goo measure. This is when he starts bleeding and yes I agree with everyone if you are going to do a blood stoppage finish he really should let it rip. Luger sees red and fires up massive powerslam and he signals for the rack and Baltimore is whipped into a frenzy. Torture Rack and Tommy Young calls for the bell. Baltimore EXPLODES~! Luger does his Clash I and actually does a really convincing acting job that he has won the World Championship. Big "Luger" chants. They make the announcement and Baltimore is pissed that Flair retains and a big "bullshit" chant breaks out. Hate this type of finish. It is just a real dick thing to do to the fans. Thus Luger the choke artist is born and he never can shake that label. Thought the match was great up until the finish. It is pretty unheralded. Shine was great and definitely showed how athletic and energetic Luger was. Flair's heat segment featured great hope spots and some good legwork for the figure-4. They had a good transition to set up the big comeback with no selling chops spot which was molten hot. Basically my complaints start there I would have liked to see a really big run up to the finish but that kinda hard when the finish was going to suck hard. So first 3/4 was great and they would go on to have two classics, I think the novelty is really the showcase of Luger's agility and energy early on. ****

NWA US Champion Barry Windham vs Dusty Rhodes - NWA Great American Bash 88 I will say NWA has had two molten hot crowds for their big events this year with Clash I in Greensboro and GAB in Baltimore. I have seen this match twice years ago. First time, I thought this was great, but the second time I thought it was horrible. I am now in the middle. The shine of this was excellent, super hot and the crowd loved it. Windham was great at feeding, bumping and selling for Big Dust. Dusty was his usual wicked charismatic self. DDT->Crossbody was a great early fall. Then I loved the big looping punches and Bionic Elbow for JJ! Crowd popped huge. Dusty got a couple more over on Windham. Then Dillon distracted Dusty and Windham jumped him. He put on the Claw for what seemed like an eternity and just dragged the match to a grinding halt. Ref got bumped when Windham went for the superplex. Dusty hits a press slam from the top and then big elbow but no ref. Here is his friend, Hands of Stone Ronnie Garvin to help him and he knocks out Dusty. WAIT! WHAT! He knocked out Dusty. Ref comes to, Windham applies claw and wins the match. In the back, Garvin is rubbing all of JJ and Gary Hart's money all over his body. Ronnie Garvin has been pretty aimless this year, but way too many shocking turns. Disapprove. Garvin was on his way out the door anyways. Amazing shine, everything else did nothing for me. ***

Varsity Club, Russians & Al Perez vs Garvins, Road Warriors & Dr. Death - GAB '88 Tower of Doom Damn Precious is hot! They should have just done a Wargames. Way too convoluted. No drama. Too claustrophobic for anyone to do anything. Nothing mattered until it was Jimmy vs Sullivan, which was the main crux of this feud anyway. Perez had been feuding with Nikita, but Nikita got moved to tagging with Sting. So he is kinda paired off with Dr. Death who has been completely aimless since Starrcade 1987. The Road Warriors had been feuding with the Powers of Pain who were being mentored by Ivan Koloff, but POP departed for the WWF leaving the Roadies without dance partners. So they put Jack Victory under the mask and called him the Russian Assassin paired him with the Russian Bear to give the Roadies someone to feud with. The main feud which was the Varsity Club represented by Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo (Rick Steiner wrestled a dark match) against the Garvins. Sullivan started the Varsity Club story post-Starrcade 87 by attending Rotundo and Steiner matches saying they had all the tools but were not realizing their potential due to their lack of a mean streak. Sullivan subverted these clean-cut All-Americans and basically brainwashed them into doing his bidding. Sullivan proved his worth early on in January of 88 when Rotundo won the Television Championship from a directionless Nikita Koloff. From there, Michael Hayes left for Texas leaving Gorgeous Jimmy on his own. Sullivan was lusting after the sexy Precious. He kidnapped her on TV and started speaking of their past together. I thought Sullivan and Steiner were great squash match wrestlers and that Jimmy Garvin was very fired up in his TV performances also. It all came to head in this triple cage structure which Sullivan had learned from his trips to Singapore to speak to the man with the Third Eye, Abbuda Dein, Hail Satan and all that good Satantic stuff. Precious was to have the key at the bottom to let the wrestlers out. There was literally no drama until the end. Ronnie Garvin exited within 5 minutes and did not get touched once. Nobody else was featured in a meaningful. No spots were created to be memorable. The babyface would kick some ass in the bottom leave and then the heel would get to his feet and also leave. So it felt like nothing had consequence. The ending was Garvin and Sullivan and even that did not come as telling a story. It was kinda heated but they did not take you on a ride. Garvin exited. There was no real drama with Precious. The post-match was dramatic with Sullivan cornering Precious and ultimately strangling her until Hawk clotheslined him to a huge pop! Jeez Gorgeous Jimmy did not even get to save his woman and get the glory. Way overthought. Just do Wargames. One of the most boring matches I have ever seen. It is really disappointing because I really liked the Sullivan/Garvin feud.

Hulk Hogan vs Geinchiro Tenryu - SWS Tokyo Dome 12/12/91 From a kayfabe standpoint, this is expertly worked given the styles of both men. Hogan knows he cant win a stand up game against the hard hitting Tenryu. His greatest strength is well his strength. If he cant use it standing up, he will have to take Tenryu down. We see that early with a flying cross armbreaker right at the bell. Of course, the one problem with Hogan's strategy is that his technique is lacking meaning Tenryu has not problem escaping. Tenryu is able to sneak in some chops much to Hogan's chagrin. Hogan is the one moving forward, but he seems nervous in a kayfabe sense because at any moment Tenryu could open a can of whoop ass. Hogan gets a palm near the eye of Tenryu. Tenryu complains to the ref and now Hogan is pissed because of the chops and thinks Tenryu is hypocrite. Hogan says fuck it and they start trading hands. Hogan cant win this game and starts raking the eyes repeatedly. Tenryu catches the Big Boot and gets a legbar. Hogan quickly escapes to the ropes. Hogan enters ring and hits a nice back elbow. Big boot lands, but only gets two. Back to chinlock and then his clothesline in corner to set up a Boston Crab. Everything is a quick move to set up a hold. It is all about containment. Tenryu tries for a rolling kappo kick, but Hogan easily avoids and I think the nonchalant Tenryu is annoyed. Hogan goes for a high knee, but lands wrong and hurts his knee! He powders, but Tenryu attacks the knee with a chair. Tenryu wraps up Hogans tree trunks for legs. Tenryu with the playful kicks to Hogan's head and POWERBOMB!!! Kick out!!! Hogan gets a quick thrust to the throat, what an ass. Bodyslam and ATOMIC LEGDROP~! Kick out!!! AXE BOMBAH~! He plays to crowd, but kick out! Hulkziguiri, but as Tenryu falls he wraps the legs up. Tenryu against with playful kicks and then wicked chops. They collide Hogan gets best of it. ATOMIC LEGDROP~! KICKOUT WHAT THE HELL!!! AXE BOMBAHS GALORE~! 1-2-3! I am shocked I shouldn't be it is Hogan, but I expected a fuck finish. Hogan destroyed Tenryu with that last AXE BOMBAH~! Not the best Hogan match ever as that distinction goes to Backlund in Philly in '80 and I liked the tag match with LOD more and I think Desert Storm so I would say Top 5. Logically, this was great, but Hogan left something to be desired early on. I would have liked more heated exchanges too. They had a really good one early. The knee thing was really cool, but was dropped quickly. The Clash of the Titans ending was awesome. Just throwing bombs like mad between two of the biggest main eventers ever in the Dome is always going to get over huge. Flawed, but the positives outweigh the negatives with a cool strategy story early of Hogan avoiding the stand up game by working holds, the heated exchange into a good Hogan heat segment, a cool transition then a badass bombfest. Those Axe Bombahs were great! Definitely check this out! ****1/4

Rubbish? Odd, I loved this! Hulk Hogan & Genichiro Tenryu vs Legion of Doom - SWS Tokyo Dome 3/31/91 Who pissed in Hogan's corn flakes this morning? He was ornery as hell bowling over a young boy, hurling the WWF championship belt at Hebner and kicking a camera man. When he tagged in, he slapped Tenryu hard and sort of shoved him out of the way. He never really settled down either as he was hurling out some pretty damn stiff shots. The beginning was awesome Clash of Titans style stuff. A lot people liked Hawk in this, I thought Animal looked way better than usual. The stereo press lam by the Road Warriors on Hogan & Tenryu was great but how about hurling Tenryu like a projectile. Loved the spot where Hogan hit two clotheslines and then Tenryu two enziguiris to set up the stand off. Four monsters of the ring going at it. Really cool vibe. HAWK NAILS A DROPKICK! Hogan throws Hawk out to the outside and has this wild brawl where both men juice. It is insane. I don't think I have ever seen a Roadie blade before. Animal hits a powerslam on Tenryu and Hawk hits a great shouldertackle. Hawk and Tenryu get into a great, heated chopfest with Tenryu winning and tagging out. Hogan calls for AXE BOMBAH~! I will say Animal and Hawk are up to their usual tricks of not really selling and definitely not bumping or even going off their feet. In this case, it actually adds to the appeal. Hawk tags out and Animal hits a big jumping shoulder tackle on Hogan. I thought the weakest part of the match was the Hogan FIP, not much happened and feel like Hogan was gassed at this point. Hogan vs Hawk would have been a great short program in 91. Set it up as LOD laying Hogan our with Hawk getting the singles matches or how about LOD vs Hogan/Warrior at Summerslam! I think Hogan realized he was gassed and rather work a compelling segment just trips Animal and tags out. Tenryu is out fire and Animal figgin presses Tenryu out to the floor from a pinfall. That's crazy. Insane brawl breaks out! Totally redeems the lame Hogan FIP. Hogan is swinging chair wildly at Hawk. Hawk responds by throwing a table at Hogan!!! Hulk Hogan in an insane brawl, this is great. Animal chucks Tenryu into the front row over the announce table. IT IS BREAKING LOOSE IN TOKYO! Nice belly to belly by Animal on Tenryu and liked Tenryu sell to try to tag Hogan, but Animal is on him. Tenryu gets back suplex and Animal immediately ties him up from making tag as Tenryu is desperate. Hawk hits Hogan on apron. Great tag wrestling here. Hawk sets early so Tenryu hits a Powerbomb hope spot. I love it! In a bloody, wild Clash of Titans, a powerbomb is a great hope spot. Animal decks Tenryu, but Tenryu still makes hot tag. Hogan shoots Animal in for the big boot and totally whiffs. Probably Animal's fault. ATOMIC LEGDROP~! Hawk saves. DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! Hogan cracks a chair over Animal's back. Wild brawl erupts and it is a double countout! Animal just destroys every young boy in the ring with a chair and then there is an awkward macho standoff where Hogan and Tenryu actually stand down at first but it is to get a chair and then finally the Road Warriors. Hogan & Tenryu hold the battlefield for the symbolic victory. Absolutely loved this. One part Clash of Titans, one part wild brawl. Legion of Doom's no selling, no bumping actually worked to increase the drama and it forced Hogan to get really nasty. Kind of like Hogan at Superbrawl V with Vader all his typical shit did not work so he had to get real nasty. I thought Hawk and Animal were energetic. Hogan was great at the wild brawling. Tenryu had some really good stiff shots and the only one who could bump in the match. Just a really cool heavyweight slugfest and don't mind the double countout at all they had been on floor repeatedly and showed that the ring really could not handle all this mass. Japan where dream matches come true. ****1/4

"Macho King" Randy Savage vs Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 4/13/90 I have been meaning to watch this for years and good God did it deliver in spades. Savage was getting nuclear heat from the Dome! Which is impressive because we all know how tough Dome crowds can be. Savage and Sherri showed up in all their heel glory and heel I'd say they turned it up to 11 for this match. Tenryu is such a great asskicker that he was super over with Dome crowd. The Dome erupted for his entrance for those rapid fire chops. Savage was getting massive heel heat just from powdering to avoid a chop. Sherri worked overtime constantly giving Macho Man opportunities to turn the match in his favor. He finally did on the outside with a high knee to the back and then throwing Tenryu into announce table drawing big time heel heat. From there, it was just great Macho Man heat segment choking, clawing, Sherri interference, double axehandles galore. He was just punishing Tenryu nothing fancy, targeting throat and just being a dick. Big elbow only gets two and a top rope crossbody (a new Macho move) hurts his knee. He gets up gingerly and Tenryu pounces with enziguiri and then a powerbomb to win. My only complaint which is the common one that this was way too short and finish felt abrupt. So glad this match exists. Savage shows his act can get over anywhere and Tenryu had no problem working in his world. Just a super fun, summer blockbuster Dome style match with two very colorful characters (Savage & Sherri) and the stoic asskicker (Tenryu). ****

Genichiro Tenryu vs George Takano - SWS 10/11/90 I don't blame them for showing the female announcer she was a cutie! Did a little research and according to Wiki SWS was split into three stables, two of which were Tenryu's crew of ex-AJPW and Takano's ex-NJPW. So this is a leader vs leader match, a pretty big deal for the promotion and as others have mentioned a very hot crowd is the result. Never seen a Takano match either as Takano or as Cobra in NJPW as a junior. Tenryu was his usual awesome nonchalant dickish self. After Takano was keeping him at bay, almost taunting him with sumo slaps (Tenryu a former sumo wrestler) Tenryu unleashes a pair of wicked chops to the throat. One ornery hombre. The first major turning point is Tenryu side-stepping Takano on a massive plancha and Takano going splat! It takes big balls to do that spot. Tenryu works the mid-section. I think there was a lot more they could have done with that before the they switched gears to a more bomb-heavy style. Takano's selling and Tenryu's sadism would have been compelling. Takano had pinned Tenryu the night before in a tag tournament with a German suplex and this move turns the match around for Takano but no pin. Tenryu hits a MASSIVE Powerbomb and then an insane suicide dive to bring the match back in his favor. Takano responds with a massive dive from the top turnbuckle to the floor. You don't really associate Tenryu with spotfests but hey this is a very damn good one. Takano goes for a German suplex to win, but Tenryu basically trips Takano by grapevining his toe around Takano's ankle causing him to take a spill and Tenryu to avoid the brunt of impact. Really, really nice spot that made me pop. Then it is just barrage of enziguirs and actually really, really good powerbombs (some ankle selling to boot!) to win the match. Nothing super awesome, they cut a brisk pace and it was action-packed 13 minute match. Lots of dives which surprised me, good playoff of Takano's upset win with the Germans and some really great powerbombs. A great Tenryu spotfest showing his versatility here. ****

The greatest spot in wrestling history.. not sure the match THANK YOU STEVEN!!! I first saw that back in College on a random Rob Viper comp. Thought it was the greatest thing ever and showed everybody. Couldn't find it for years. So glad you posted it!!!!

And Parv calls me Stardust...he was definitely on some sort of dust... IWGP Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs Steiners - NJPW Tokyo Dome 3/21/91 Sasaki is so fresh faced here. We talk about which Japanese wrestlers could have gotten over in America, but I think Hase has to make that list (Parv has probably made that point in the past) he just has boat loads of charisma and likes to play to the crowd. I think Steiners would have done well in AJPW, but I think they are the best suited Americans to work in NJPW with their legitimate amateur backgrounds. I did like Hase/Scotty amateur wrestling stuff at the beginning. Scotty going a Cloverleaf and so Hase had to roll to his belly to avoid being pinned but then he would be in pain so to avoid submitting he would roll to his back, the rinse lather repeat until he was in the ropes was a really smart spot. Hase outsmarting Scotty Steiner was fun. Sasaki just blasting Rick Steiner with all of Rick Steiner's moves (powerslam, lariat and bulldog and that bulldog was SICKKKK) was fun. Rick just didn't sell. Then it became lets manhandle Hase which was fun. Steiner just obliterate him with all sorts of suplexes. Even Hase does not feel like selling it will often just pop off a suplex back hell he did the Giant Swing on Rick Steiner! Finally after a bunch of Urnages he tags out to Sasaki. Sasaki is fucking awesome as a house of fire. On offense, I actually thought he was the best because he had some real zip to his dropkicks, powerslams. LOVED THE SUPERPLEX BY SASAKI ON HASE TO A PRONE RICK STEINER! Cool! Scotty breaks up some Doomsday Device thing and they hit that Steiner Bulldog which I actually think looks better than the Doomsday Device. Scotty hits a shitty Frakensteiner for the win. If you are going to do a spotfest these are the kind I like. Throwing people around and big power wrestling. Great for a Dome setting. Much like the Steiners it is a big, dumb match. ***1/2

WCW World Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger vs Brian Pillman - WCW 12/27/91 To say this is better than SuperBrawl II match seems a bit ridiculous to me, but I thought this was definitely a very good match dripping with effort. You can see the beginning of the post-modern style already in the finish run of this match with lots of bombs and no real transitions. This would not look out of place on RAW at all right now. The beginning was fine. It established them both as equals in terms of aerial assaults. I think Pillman had slight edge because of his headscissors takedowns which were effective in keeping Liger off balance. The best stretch of the match started about third of the way in. Liger took a tumble to the outside. Pillman having a little fun at his expense holds the middle rope open for him. Liger takes exception to this and beats the holy hell out of him. Some great shots to the steel and table. Instead the ring, Liger busts out some really cool moves like a somersault legdrop. I really liked the Pillman dropkick to Liger when he was perched on top. Thought that would have been a great transition back to Pillman instead it was just a hope spot. However, this exposed on a bigger issue on horizon. Things like Pillman taking his trademark chin bump out to railing then hitting Air Pillman or Pillman hitting a spinwheel kick then eating a LigerBomb. It was just spot-spot-spot. They were registering, but they were not selling. There was no consequence to the moves. They were just kicking ass. There was some neat symmetry stuff like Liger misses his spinwheel kick before Pillman hit his or knocking head when both went for leapfrogs. The finish is Liger takes a front suplex from the top but still rolls through a crossbody to retain the title. It was a fun spotfest down the stretch, but I thought the transitions were weak and they were just throwing spots out. For a house show match that's awesome and I would have lost my mind live in the moment, but does not hold up that well. SuperBrawl II is hands down better. ***3/4

Karl, the title switch in May on Worldwide is really great too if you have not seen it. I would put it slightly above the GAB match and below the Clash match.

NWA US Tag Team Champions Fantastics vs Midnight Express - NWA Great American Bash 88 Jim Cornette throws a ***** temper tantrum before being put in the straitjacket into the shark cage. Was this tailored? The sleeves are too long! The best he is a crackpot, he is an honest man! Pure hammy gold. Step down from the Clash I and title change, but still a damn great match. I thought the shine while there were different spots was lacking in that super funness we usually get. Normal story of MX controlling with strikes, but Fantastics use their speed to thwart them. There was the cut spot where Lane ends up back dropping Eaton by accident and then we get the booty shake high five strut combo that is well Fantastic! The transition was solid with Eaton getting a blind tag and bulldogging Rogers. Lane was wicked here, great kicks and busting out the dance moves. The kick combo into the Robinson backbreaker got a huge pop and even I was marking out. Baltimore definitely loved them some Midnight Express, very smart move to turn them babyface because they were over like rover. We even got an ALABAMA JAM!!! Rogers' and Eaton's sell of this move was great really put over the impact of move as Eaton came out needing a tag. Fulton breaks up the pin. Eaton was just on fire in this match offensively even Tony was remarking how good Eaton is. There were some right hands that were just right on the money. People talk about Condrey being this ornery heel, but I think Lane is underrated in this respect. The kicks are pretty good, but he is also very suffocating and like to chokes and be nasty. ROCKET LAUNCHER EATS KNEES!!! Hot tag to Fulton! Short hot tag to Fulton who has a great right. Same transition to quash Fulton with Eaton kneeing him in the back into the arms of Lane on outside, but this time it is a bodyslam on concrete instead of throat first on railing. Rogers slams Eaton's head into metal post. Lane had a chain, but Rogers knocked it out of his hand, but Eaton recovered the fumble and clobbered Rogers for the win to a mixed reaction, but pretty big pop for heel MX. Fantastics get some heat back by being able to whip Corny with a belt before MX saves. Missed something super special like that Fulton heat segment from the title switch and awesomeness of the Clash I energy and hatred to be a true classic, but this was an awesome Southern tag match. Fun MX spot at beginning, a really nice heat segment with lots of great offense and selling by Rogers. Liked the finish they take out Fulton with the bodyslam on concrete and then cheat to win with chain strong heel finish. I love the Midnight Express! ****1/4

I have. Loved it and gave it 4.5 stars. Yes in post-match Horsemen gave Windham the chance to haul off and hit Luger but he attacked Horsemen instead and I was aware of their history with Windham telling Luger not to join Horsemen from the beginning. Yeah I didn't watch Dillon's promo afterwards because I'm watching one TV a month. That's totally reasonable that Dillons has been in negotiations with him. My issue would have been it had already decided by Windham to join the Horsemen. There was an intra-match trigger that caused him to turn. I guess a little more friction between Luger and Windham would have been nice because it still felt a little abrupt. Like I said awesome but not perfect heel turn.

Love Barbarians Kick of Fear best part of any Powers of Pain match

NWA World Tag Team Champions Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - NWA World Championship Wrestling 4/23/88 Great tag team wrestling from these four. They did a great job emphasizing how important tagging is. Loved the heel in peril at the beginning Tully is so great at making faces look like a million bucks and Luger & Windham were so energetic. Loved how they would taunt the Horsemen by letting Tully getting close then dragging him away. Also fun was turning the "ref didn't see it" tag on its head by having him miss Tully's tag and forcing Arn to the apron. Tully used eye rake to break free and get tag, which is good heeling. Thought heel transition was weak cant remember what was even just all of sudden Windham started selling. Windham is such a great seller and so great at using his right as a hope spot. Hot tag to Luger who racks Blanchard almost immediately love that heat. AA attacks leg. Back from break, AA cements this with DDT and Spinebuster. Luger was TREMENDOUS in this! Selling his ass off. Luger had such a star presence. Love the way he was kicking out and the way he was moving around really making the Horsemen beatdown look so good. Tully applies a figure-4, which is a great chance for Luger to sell as the Horsemen are pouring it on. Love Tully being so cocky with his strut and Arn with his facial expression during the knucklelock. Great hope spot with Luger crawling and Arn holding the foot and Tully cutting off with elbow. Luger reverses suplex with his own! Luger is going the wrong way! Tully collides with Luger pushing him into Windham. Luger makes the hot tag to WIndham, but on the outside Luger gets his head smashed in by Blanchard on the post and he is busted open. Windham kicks some ass, but as Windham is kicking Arn's ass, Tully low blows him! Windham is looking for a tag and JoJo Dillon is pointing out that "He is not here just like I told you.". A bloody Luger crawls to apron and Windham tags him in all pissy and then bodyslams him?!?!?!? Windham LARIATS Luger and Horsemen win the tag team belts back! Windham leaves with Dillon and gives the 4 fingers. In the backstage arena, Dusty as the Midnight Rider (fallout from the assault on Jim Crockett) wants answers from BW (a member of the family because he is the son of Blackjack) and jumps on Horsemen and Flair jumps on him. Sullivan & Varsity Club and MX are there and they seemingly unmask Dusty, which could lead to a one year suspension. I like how the heel turn does not exist in a vacuum! Other wrestlers have reactions to it and it affects other storylines! Sullivan's promo is awesome talking about how Dusty's weakness is his heart and Dillon orchestrated this all to hit him where it really hurts and lure him into this trap to expose himself as the Midnight Rider. This is all really good. I think they did a good job covering for the heel turn happening at the end of the match. The most annoying thing is when a heel turn happens at end of a match and not at the beginning. You know why go through the motions. Dillon saying "He is not there, just like I told you." shows Dillon is in his mind and now is germinating that seed of doubt. I think a rational person who have realized that his partner was bleeding and cut him some slack. They also probably should have done some more foreshadowing maybe with Windham getting annoyed that Luger was starting to focus more on singles aspirations and Flair. Then this all coming to a head. The most important thing is this cant be a decision made before the match otherwise it is nonsense. It has to be a decision Windham makes part way through the match and I think they do an adequate job. It could be better and I know they wanted shock and foreshadowing takes away from shock. I think heel turn was totally the right call that heel side needed some bolstering and Windham was going to be a number four behind Luger, Sting and Dusty and this moves him to number two heel, which is a huge upgrade for him. I think this helps move the Midnight Rider stuff along, sets up the feud with Dusty and moves Luger to Flair where he needs to be. I would give this heel turn an A-, just a few things I changed, but overall a good decision that leads to lots of interesting possibilities. Match itself bordered on great but was really a backdrop for the angle. Thought the shine and Luger heat segment were the best parts, just did not have any memorable spots or a real hook until the big heel turn finish. Luger's selling was really friggin good though. Recommended for historical significance though. ***3/4

RIC FLAIR HAD THE SAME MATCH WITH TERRY TAYLOR AND RICKY MORTON?!?!?!?!?!?! LOL!!! You have no credibility dude after that statement. Just another anti-Flair troll that parrots the same talking points. Do you really think any of your talking points are novel? That you somehow came to some grand conclusion no one has ever come to before because you didn't, brutha. How about instead of tearing someone down, you build someone up. Positivity for the New Year! You know whats more redundant than a Ric Flair match, a post made by an anti-Ric Flair troll now that's something I can call before even reading it.

NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Taped 4/26/88, Chattanooga TN. Aired on NWA Worldwide 5/14/88 Midnight Express are the longest reigning US Tag Champs in history. JYNX! Another incredible match between these two teams they take the classic Southern formula and add really cool spots and high end selling to make it something special. I thought Stan Lane was incredible in this so intense throughout. When he was getting armdragged or countered he looked legit pissed that he could not keep up with the Fantastics. Very simple story in the beginning of the Fantastics frustrating the MX with their speed and ability to slip out of holds. Best spot was Rogers landing on his feet from the back drop and then dropkicking Eaton in one fluid motion. Fun spots with Fulton shaking the ropes causing Lane to crotch himself and then laying out on top rope like nothing happened and when ref is giving him the business he marches over and steps on Eaton's stomach. Love it! I have to say I think I prefer Fulton to Rogers. He has so much character and wicked right. Like he has a really good punch. The brawling on the floor was fun and Fulton really kicked some ass. The heel transition spot on Rogers was sick. Eaton hotshotted Rogers and Lane took his head and smashed his face into rope. It looked nasty. Lane was really aggressive in second half of the match. Really nice kicks. Lots of eyerakes from MX. Lane was barking at the ref. Really liked his demeanor in this. Rogers gets a dropkick on Eaton and then moves on a charge. Rogers goes the wrong way but falls back into the hot tag! Fulton's house afire was very short lived Eaton crashed into him with a knee and in one fluid motion he falls outside the ring into Lane who launches him like a lawn dart onto the railing throat first. The heat segment on Fulton takes this from great to classic. Fulton is selling the throat really well. Lane and Eaton choke and snap that neck. Lane is ferocious. He is pinning Fulton by tying up all appendages. He chokes Fulton hard. He then SNAPS and YANKS Fulton up y the hair and throws him down. PRIMAL SCREAM FROM SWEET STAN! He chucks him out and Corny cracks him in back on racket. Awesome, awesome heat segment. Fulton is getting killed. Lane with that pretzel cover loving this intensity. HAIR BIEL! Wicked roundhouse! Top Rope Elbow by Eaton! They are brutalizing Fulton in the corner. He cant defend himself. Lane and Eaton are killing him. The ref is looking to stop the fight. Rogers pleads not to and MX is prematurely celebrating. Eaton comes back with a wicked series of punches. The MX just cant put him away. Roger perches himself on top and Eaton turnsaround and eats a missile dropkick seamlessly into a schoolboy from Fulton 1-2-3!!!! NEW US TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! MASSIVE POP! Three crazy well-timed spots and awesome finish. The shine was good fun and the Roger heat segment was solid, but that Fulton heat segment was incredible. Great selling by Fulton and MX were just plain violently fierce. I thought the finish as really unique and cool. Fulton shows resiliency and instead of an unbelieveable comeback there was a surprise missile dropkick that got them the win! Love it! Another classic from this amazing rivalry this time showing a more ferocious side of the MX and just how damn good Bobby Fulton was. ****1/2

Horsemen (Flair, AA, Blanchard) vs Sting, Luger & Windham - NWA Main Event 4/3/88 If I understood Tony correctly on the Clash, this is the inaugural episode of Main Event so they loaded it up with quite the main event! Something I would show people to get a feel of 80s Crockett as you have six of the biggest players all in one match. I know the finances of Crockett had gone to shit but damn if the product did not seem red hot at this time. Sting, Luger and Windham all feel like cant miss prospects. There is just an electricity around each and all three were really differentiated from each other. It is too bad it did not really work out. Super fun, summer blockbuster action packed match. Windham looked fabulous on offense here. I have been raving about his selling in the past two matches I watched him in, but here he was just moving so fluid and those punches looked so good. Interesting choice with Luger playing the face in peril and I thought he did fantastic. Some really good collapses and facial expressions and peppered in those hope spots. Tully and Flair were good at stooging in the beginning. Flair is definitely meaner than Tully and it shows here. Arn was the credibility for the Horsemen again. He got the DDT on Luger to start the FIP and when Luger was starting to stir he quashed that with his trademark spinebuster. When Luger kicked out and when they did the knucklelock spot his facial expression was awesome! The vertical suplex no sell by Luger and then decking Flair was awesome. Windham gets the hot tag! I was sure it would be Sting. In fact, Sting did not do much. During the hot tag was when I said out loud "Damn Windham is good" just really fired up and steamrolling the Horsemen. Of course a fracas develops and Dillon tosses in some knuckledusters and Tully blasts Windham to get the pinfall. This sets up next week's main event on Main Event with Tully vs Windham, which I cant wait to see! Just a plain fun match with great performances from Luger (selling), Windham (offense) and Arn Anderson (the glue holding it all together). ***3/4

NWA World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs Lex Luger & Barry Windham - NWA Clash of the Champions I My post was eaten so we are going short and sweet just like this match. Balls out sprint! Luger killed it at the beginning. Manhandling the Horsemen and he came to win. Signals for Torture Rack and hoists Blanchard up, but AA attacks the leg. I love babyfaces going for quick victories. They work a short but energetic heat segment on Luger's leg, Luger kicks Arn into Tully and they knock heads. Here comes Windham to kick some ass. Powerslam, Lariat and sleeper. Love Blanchard in this he is a total schmuck in the best way possible. AA rubs his shoudlers after sleeper great spot. Windham gets clocked in ab stretch by The Enforcer who drops him in a heap on a DDT and then SPINEBUSTER1 Just like that the Horsemen are in control. Windham does some awesome next level selling. I love the extended barrage of hope spots needed to earn the hot tag. He is just throwing desperation right hand bombs against the Horsemen. SLINGSHOT SUPLEX! KICKOUT~! HOLY SHIT! Greensboro is fucking rocking tonight! MOLTEN ALL NIGHT LONG! Best crowd in US history? Windham clocks Blanchard and falls into the Total Package! LUGER DESTROY! JoJo Dillon has a chair and Luger sends Double A's skull into the chair. 1-2-3! GREENSBORO EXPLODES! ONE OF THE LOUDEST POPS EVER! Luger's celebratory leap is the number one thing I remember from this match having been burned into my mind from previous viewings. Blanchard made the faces look like a million bucks. Arn brought the street cred. Windham brought that awesome babyface selling and Luger was an offensive dynamo! Amazing sprint tag team match! ****3/4

Dusty Rhodes & Road Warriors vs Ivan Koloff & Powers of Pain - Clash of the Champions I Barbed Wire Match So the night before at 6:05 Eastern on Muthaship, Dusty took exception to Tully roughing up Magnum TA and savagely attacked him with a baseball bat and in the fracas nailed Jim Crockett. They devoted the rest of the show to Sullivan, Cornette and Dillon calling for Dusty's head and people like Sting shook by it. Great angle, Why he is out here now though? I don't get it. Could have furthered the angle by not having him out. Match was not violent enough. Very pedestrian. Could they not bleed on TBS? Stupid stipulation then. Animal's orbital bone was cracked during the weightlifting competition. He is earing a mask not much done with the mask. Not much going on. Too many bodies no energy. Finish was lame. Animal powerslam and Barbie headbutts Warlord by accident. Afterwards, taking the mask off Animal and working eye added drama should have happened during match proper. American Dream chases him off. First DUD of the night. More lame than bad.

NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Clash of the Champions I FUCKING AWESOME! Have loved this match for years nothing has changed, it is fucking incredible! If it was not for the Dusty Finish, this would be my choice for the greatest US tag team match of all time. I don't understand why it never gets *****, probably due to the finish who care they fucking deserve it! I almost feel like I don't need to write a review because everyone and their mother knows about this match and its sheer awesomeness. The energy and urgency is unreal. This is pro wrestling! This is what it gets me going! I will tell you what really added to this viewing watching the Pro match from the night before (3/26/88) which is a standard Southern tag with a big upset by the Fantastics in their debut. It really adds to that opening brawl. What a brawl! I was remarking on twitter the art of brawling is lost. I implore young talents to watch this, It is RAUCOUS MAYHEM! Then once it settles into a tag the party don't stop! Eaton is great taking that stooge bump. THE HOLY SHIT TRANSITION! Blind tag -> Total Elimination! Midnight Express are Gods and we are just mortals. I remember during the drop toehold and elbow sequence saying out loud "Bobby Eaton is fucking great!". Stan Lane's kicks looked awesome. Lane got mean in this too. Raking the eyes during the heat segment. Love that spot where Cornette holds up the table and they bash Roger's head into it. Fulton is great in trying to help Rogers, but hindering him at the same time. I forgot to mention there is a point in the opening brawl where Fulton hits such an awesome right to Eaton. Eaton punishing Rogers on the outside with bodyslam and bulldog on table was awesome. Rogers makes the tag but ref does not see it. I cant believe I forgot to mention Greensboro was MOLTEN for this throughout the match. Fulton is being impeded by the ref. Cornette is bashing Rogers with the racquet. Fulton basically says FUCK YOU AND TOSSES THE REF!!! CROWD LOSES THEIR SHIT! Cornette blitzes Eaton by accident with racket and Fulton clobbers Corny. ROCKET LAUNCHER~! TOMMY YOUNG 1-2-3!!!!!! Dusty Finish! BOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Awesome post-match brawl with MX kicking some Fantastics ass DOUBLE FLAPJACK and then they WHIP HIM LIKE THE DOG HE IS! Corny likes it! He really likes it! Rogers saves with chair. INSANE!!! The heat from the crowd and from the wrestlers just WOW! Everyone was turned to fucking 11! Love that brawl and what a heat segment. JUST WOW! Loved Fulton's reaction to the ref, the Rocket Launcher! It was important for MX to get some heat after losing the upset and then the visual Rocket Launcher loss so kicking ass at the end really adds heat to the rematch!!! Everybody stop being so damn stingy with your snowflakes! Writing this review, I actually think this is the greatest US tag match in history. ***** Cue the response, this was not even the best tag team match on the show. I will deal with you when I get to Luger/Windham vs Horsemen soon. Lol.