Current NWA Nominations

[goodhelmet]

1986

 

Midnight Express vs. Rock N Roll Express (2/2/86)

- Man, the 2nd time I have seen the Irish whip butt bump to partner in 2 days. Eaton takes a painful looking backdrop on the floor. The first few minutes saw both teams tagging in and out with neither really gaining an advantage. Gibson plays FIP here but I was a little disappointed that the MX weren't more heelish or using more cheating tactics. Don't get me wrong, the match was ok but it feels like we have been here too many times before. The most memorable thing about this was the MX winning the World Title. I am going to throw this up as a nomination but I am not excited about it.

 

 

Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard (2/2/86)

- WTF is Dusty wearing??? This starts off slow wih Dust just casually working a leg hold. The fans try to get themselves interested and start chanting "BREAK IT, BREAK IT". The tide turns and then Tully begins to work on Dusty's leg that the announcers point out was recently broken. He even breaks out the Figure Four on Rhodes who reverses it ending the leg work. Once the leg work is over, Dust breaks out the MOVES with a backbreaker and belly-to-belly. End stretch sees Dusty getting frustrated ith Tully and JJ finding ways to get the foot on the rope during pinfalls. It ends in a draw which was fine with me. The match was pretty good but the corwd has been really subdued tonight. I'll throw this on the block for discussion but it is a low level nomination.

 

 

Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair (2/2/86)

- Early on, Garvin is just chopping the shit out of Flair and tries to rip out Flair's nose. While Flair is doing his shtick, this really is a Ron Garvin striking showcase match. Chops, slaps, punches, kicks, headbutts. For the first 8 minutes or so, this felt like an extended squash. This also has one of the few cases wheere it made sense for Flair to run the ropes since Garvin was looking the other way. The end run was a case of each man trying to pin each other in various ways with Ric finally getting the win even though garvin's foot was on the ropes. These two just work so well together that this gets a strong nomination for me. Again, the only weak point was the subdued crowd.

 

 

Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Battle of the Belts 2/14/86)

- The first 15 minutes or so are controlled by Barry. It may just be me but this match is flying by as Barry is keeping things going at a faster pace than I am accustomed to in Flair matches. Flair takes control after Barry runs into the corner and meets a Flair low-blow and they go outside which ends up with Barry being busted open. Inside, Barry turns the tide and puts Flair in the Figure-4. There are 2 ways you can look at it... either a typical Flair spot for the opponent to use Flair's move on him or a nod to the 1st Battle of the Belts. The last 15 minutes are just great back and forth action where the momentum keeps shifting and there are about 6 or 7 points where you think... this match is over. THe biggest problem might be that people knew there was no chance in hell that Barry was going to win but this was Florida and maybe it was possible he got a KVE run with the belt. This is an easy nomination but the big question now is which Flair-Windham matchup is the best. I think I may enjoy this one more than the 1/20/87 match (which was hurt by commercial breaks) but not as much as the Crockett Cup match. I'll have to revisit these when the sets are made.

 

 

Arn Anderson vs. Ron Garvin (TV Title) (TV 4/5/86)

- TV match based around Arn controlling Garvin with a headlock early on. I love how these guys wok their holds always keeing their hands moving trying to feel out their oponent. When an announcer says it is a human game of chess, I think of matches like this one. This also has the great post-match where Arn and Tully break Garvin's hand. This is great.

 

 

Arn Anderson vs. Manny Fernandez (TV Title) (TV 4/19/86)

- Manny Fernandez is like the Mr. Olympia of this set. There just needs to be more footage of him available. Early on, Arn channels Larry Z. and stalls trying to kill time everytime Manny gets the upper hand in the ring. Manny goes to town on Arn's leg in the middle of the match, maybe in an attempt to ground him and keep him from stalling? Time limit draw ends the match but it was good enough to go on the block.

 

 

Rock N Roll Express vs. Arn & Ole Anderson (TV 7/19/86)

- Classic RNR tag with both guys shining and playing FIP. However, the Andersons work Morton OVER during his FIP section really making this stand out. Awesome spot where Ole is about to come of the top rope and Gibson comes out of nowhere to hit him in the midsection on his way down. This ends in a draw and was not as good as the Starrcade cage but still worthy of a nomination.

 

 

Magnum TA vs. Nikita Koloff (Match 6) (WWW 8/16/86)

- Magnum controls the early portion and he channels Ron Garvin in twisiting Nikita up. He even attempts an Indian Death lock on the arm. He refuses to let go of the arm, hangs onto Nikita onto the outside and rams the arm into the ringpost. Fucking sweet. We miss Nikita regaining control during the commercial break. Still, during the remainder of the match, everytime Nikita has control, Magnum finds a way to end up hurting the arm to stop the punishment. The ref bump and restart was unnecessary but when Magnum pins Nikita, it is one of the biggest pops I have ever heard in the NWA. The crowd is goiong fucking NUTS! I love this match.

 

 

Magnum TA vs. Nikita Koloff (Match 7 of 7) (WWW 8/23/86)

- This is really wierd to watch as the first few minutes are a sped up version of the first ten minutes of match 6 complete with ramming the arm into the ringpost. However, after that spurt, it takes a differnt turn as Nikita focuses on destorying Magnum's back while Magnum thorws everything at Nikita that he can. Holy shit moment for 1986 as Ivan prevents a Magnum tag so Magnum piledrives Uncle Ivan on the concrete floor!!! Khruschev prevents the ref from counting and ends up hitting Magnum with the chain for the win. I loved this one almost as much as Match 6 and it is a definite nomination in my book.

 

 

Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (Pro 8/23/86)

- Dusty stays on offense for about the first ten minutes of this match allowing Flair to stooge and bump and keeps the amtch interesting as Dusty is playing it up. It also helps that the crowd is fucking HOT for this. The backstory is that Dusty's leg is hurt but as long as he was on offense, he wasn't in trouble but once Flair gains advantage, he attacks the leg. This also has the infamous Baby Doll turn and eventually ends in a DQ as Dusty attacks Flair with a chair. Shit, this has been my favorite Dusty-Flair match so far. The crowd was hot, you have the Baby Doll turn and these guys kept everyting exciting. I am nominating this.

 

 

Midnight Express vs. Kansas Jayhawks (WWW 9/13/86)

- Much better match early on than the Arn/Ole match. Eaton and Condrey just seem much more excited to be in the ring than the Andersons did in the studio match. It also helps that the crowd was pretty hot for this and both teams responded. Solid tag match that ended in an MX DQ when Big Bubba gave Bobby Jaggers two giant splashes. Nomination.

 

 

Arn Anderson vs. Dusty Rhodes (TV Title) (Pro 9/86)

- This was pretty sweet. Early on, Dust hurts Arn's ankle to remind him that he hasn't forgotten what they did to his leg. After Arn gets frustrated, he keeps Dusty grounded oin order to control the match but we go to a commercial break. After the break, I don't know how much we missed but now Arn is working on Dusty's leg. Dust gets some energy and goes for the Figure-4 but his leg is too damaged for him to carry it out. Onc eDusty is on his feet, he buys himself some time by tossing Arn out onto the concrete. Even when it looks like Dust is in control, Arn exploits the leg injury. Of course, we get a ref bump which sets up Arn bringing a chair into the ring. He tries to smash Dusty's leg but Dust moves and hits a BIG DDT onto the chair for the pin and the title. This was pretty much non-stop the entire way. The commercial break hurts it a little but this is still a nomination and one of the better Dusty matches I have watched so far.

 

 

Ricky Morton vs. Ole Anderson (WWW 10/11/86)

- This is pretty cool as both guys work each other over with rib shots. This is the kind of match I think Phil would mark out for as it consists of nothing but punches for most of the way. Hell, Ole even sells and bumps for Ricky. Ole gets Dqed for Arn interference but I was loving this. I don't think it would be the kind of match that would rank high but I was marking out and so was the hot crowd. Gotta include the Horsemen interview after the match.

 

 

Ivan Koloff & Khrusher Khruschev vs. Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner (WWW 11/1/86)

- This was really good early on since nobody plays heel-in-peril better than Ivan Koloff. Seriously, I don't know of anyone else in this set who lets the babyfaces shine more than Ivan. Pretty brutal spot where it looks like Horner was supposed to take a back body drop but ends up in a pancake and falls flat on his face. Horner's FIP section was more interesting than Armstrong's but alot of the credit goes to Ivan in both cases for knowing when to allow the hot tags and to create hope spots. It looked like the Lightning Express were going to win the match in the end but the time limit expires before the three count can be completed. Another nomination and Ivan rules.

 

 

Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel (11/8/86, Mid Atlantic)

-Manny is a bumping machine, making Wahoo’s offense look better than it really is… except for the chops. Those look like they hurt. Really solid match with Manny controlling, playing up his new heel persona. This only lasted ten about ten minutes but it had some blood, sweet Manny offense, and Wahoo’s chops. I’ll give it a lower-level nomination.

 

 

Bill Dundee vs. Sam Houston (Starrcade 11/27/86)

- Man, this might be the best Sam Houston match I have ever seen... but I'll admit I haven't seen many. Still, Dundee was in vintage form and both guys kept the action moving. The ending sucked pretty bad but you get a lot of bad endings in NWA matches. This was much better than several of the Dundee TV matches nominated in Mid South and I have no problem putting it up for discussion.

 

 

Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard (First Blood Match) (Starrcade 11/27/86)

- I remember talking to Loss on the phone after watching this match a few months back, and he may think I am nuts, but I enjoyed the hell out of this. This wasn't so much a match as it was a story and this is what I think of when I think of Tully Blanchard prick heel. Dillon bleeding in the first 5 seconds off a bionic elbow was a little over the top but it s one of the reasons I love this so much. I can see you guys knocking this down but fuck it, I am nominating it.

 

 

Rock N Roll Express vs. Ole and Arn Anderson (Cage Match) (Starrcade 11/27/86)

- This is one of my favorite Andersons matches and this is much better than the Russians-RNR cage from Starrcade 85 that I already nominated. Both RNRs take turns getting thier asses beat and the Andersons are complete dicks in this. I wish the Andersons would have dropped some blood but this is sill an easy nomination.

 

 

Bob & Brad Armstrong vs. Garvin & Dundee (TV 11/29/86)

- Impromptu challenge with Bullet Bob wearing jeans. Damn, Dundee has nice punches. I don't know if it is an illusion but Bullet Bob strieks and kicks seem much stiffer when in street clothes. The man is wrestling with dress shoes on. Great spot as Garvin is choking Brad on the top rope form the apron so Dundee lifts his legs and kicks him square in the nuts. Later, Brad would hit a sweet missile dropkick that sends Dudnee to the other side of the ring. This ends in a Double DQ but was enough for a nomination.

 

 

Rock N Roll Express vs. Ragin' & Ravishin' (TV 12/6/86)

- Damn, I would have loved a singles match between Morton and Manny. Early on, Fernandez gets frustrated by the RNR. After an extended RNR shine section, the heels work over Gibson's leg including a nice off the top rope knee from Manny Fernandez. Rude's leg work wasn't really inspired but it was great to see Robert give Rude a backdrop and collapse because of the weakened leg. Next up, after working over Robert's leg, they work over Ricky's arm. After an extended FIP, Gibson comes in and lights up Ragin' Bull. Gibson gets a roll-up but Rude gives him a vicious clotheline that whips Manny on top to give Ragin' & Ravishin' the pin and the titles. You really didn't get too many matches like this on free studio TV back in the day. The weakest point was Rude's offense or lack thereof as you could tell he was still findiing his way but the other three more than made up for it. Nomination.

 

 

Windham & Garvin vs. Midnight Express (TV 12/86)

- Early on, the story is that when Windham is in, he controls the match but when Garvin is in, the MX gain the advantage. It stays this way for about ten minutes until Windham gets a knee from Bobby but even when he gets the tag, GArvin still gets roughed up by the MX. I remember watching this match 20 years ago live and thinking how the MX were such a better team because of how long they controlled the match. I know Tim Cooke will disagree but I really like these studio matches because the intimate setting allows smaller things like headlocks and arm bars and eye rakes to feel a little bit more painful to the viewer because you are right up on the action. The match ends in a time-limit draw but Condrey thought he had Garvin pinned. The MX is upset and Cornette lays Garvin to waste with some racquet shots. This match was the beginning of the Garvin-MX feud that would last through the next year and peak with the fire incident. This is a personal favorite but I think it stands on its own and warrants a nomination. THe fact that Garvin was being abused by the MX the entire match and laid out after only makes it more interesting in my view.

[floyd]

The NWA TV special from 2/2/86 remains one of my favorites. Not cause of the awesome workrate or whatever, but cause it made me a wrestling mark when I saw it. Out of the 3 matches I think the Garvin/Flair match was the best. Even though it was short it was really a fun match. The tag match was good too, especially since it was the first time I'd seen the Midnight Express & Cornette ever as a kid.

[JHawk]

Arn Anderson vs. Ron Garvin (TV Title) (TV 4/5/86)

- TV match based around Arn controlling Garvin with a headlock early on. I love how these guys wok their holds always keeing their hands moving trying to feel out their oponent. When an announcer says it is a human game of chess, I think of matches like this one. This also has the great post-match where Arn and Tully break Garvin's hand. This is great.

I second this one. Great action, solid psychology, and a terrific postmatch angle to set up the Tully-Garvin series.