[1987-09-19-NWA-Worldwide] Tully Blanchard vs Ricky Morton (Texas Death)

[Superstar Sleeze]

Tully Blanchard vs Ricky Morton - NWA Worldwide 9/19/87 Texas Death

Tully & Morton are embroiled in the red hot Arn & Tully vs Rock N Rolls feud. I kinda panned the really long tag match that was around this. I was told either my footage of the match ended prematurely or I ended it prematurely. I will have to go back and watch it at some point. It is really, really long so I think I go to save that for a weekend night. Lets rock on this one! No tag title change yet. Chad/Soup gave this high marks, but does it live up to the hype?

Firefight in the corner, Morton wins and Blanchard is overwhelmed and falls outside the ring. Morton gives chase and gives him a couple more licks for good measure. This is a great fistfight so far. Morton comes charging in and eats a knee in the corner. Thus stymies Morton and this is a very quick end to shine. Slingshot Suplex?!?! NO! Morton reveres O'Connor Roll 1-2-NO! Morton nails him! I should have known a shine never ends that quick in Crockett. Huge Rock N Roll chant as Tully powders. Criss Cross, Morton gets the better of that, fist drop and Blanchard tries to escape to the outside, but Morton gives him no sanctuary. Punches him in the face. Tully is stumblin and bumblin outside the ring. Tully rubs some dick cream on Morton's face. I dont know what else to call it. He was futzing him with pants and then rubs Morton's eyes after touching himself. It was most likely a phantom object/chemical. I rewound, it looks like it may have actually been a rag of some sort. Perhaps with ether. Tully hurls him over the top rope. Morton sells well. I hope we get to see Tully show a mean streak. Morton peppers in some shots and Blanchard uses the tights to send him into a post. Tully jumps off the apron and elbows Morton. Morton nails Tully right in the face. David Crockett points out Morton can fight not just fly around. Hell Yeah! He is more of a puncher than anything else and God Bless Him for it. Tully is working the leg. David points out that you have to be able to stand to not lose so this is smart psychology. Nice dropkick by Tully, you dont see that too often! Nice bridge by Morton to avoid the pinfall. Kneedrop by Tully. Morton back drops out of the piledriver. Morton punch and rake across the top rope! Tully is so good at selling. Morton claws at his face as Tully tumbles to the outside. Tully finds a cord under the ring. Trips Morton with it and the chokes him with it. Versatile foreign object. Morton starts working a comeback. Morton brings him in the hard way with a back suplex. Morton punches to the face. We head to commercial with Morton punching Tully repeatedly. David Crockett lets us know during the break JJ nailed Morton with a shoe. Tully does not get the pin and Morton comes from behind with O'Connor Roll. Top Rope Cross Body for 2! They do this insane workrate sequence that needs to be seen to be believed. People would go nuts for that in 2020. Morton works the leg. Very Crockett in the sense that Morton has looked very strong and taken most of the match. Tully is such a great seller. Morton climaxes with the Figure-4 but JJ rakes eye. I like matches with more meaningful momentum shifts and less quick transitions, I have to admit. Blanchard crashes down with elbows on the apron. I will say this is the strongest Blanchard has looked compared to most matches I seen him in. Blanchard gets caught coming off the top as I write that sentence and it is back to Morton. Blanchard yanks him by the tights and through the ropes. Both men look exhausted and this been a war of attrition. Tully goes for the Slingshot but reversed into a Morton suplex, that is a very common Tully spot. Dropkick by Morton and punches. Morton Atomic Drop, Tully Ricochets off the buckles and they crack heads. Both men do not look like they are going to make to their feet by ten, but at a count of 9, Morton makes it to his feet. Tully is out cold. Arn comes in and GORDBUSTER on Morton! Lets get some heat on this! Where is Gibson? Here comes the trash! Tully whips Morton like a dog. Barry Windham chases the Horsemen off. 

I thought this was very good, definitely better than the Superbouts match. I thought match was a little noisy for my tastes and this is a problem I think I have with Tully. I think a lot of the complaints people have towards Flair is how I feel about Tully. With Flair, I see the psychology and also Flair is much stronger offensive wrestler. With Tully, I just see a dude that is perpetual motion and it is just action for the sake of action. That being said it is not devoid of its entertainment, Tully commitment to heel selling, feeding & bumping makes this must see. I thought he out-sold Morton. Morton was phenomenal on offense. I just would have liked to see stronger momentum shifts. ***3/4