Magnum T.A. and Nikita Koloff have a major confrontation with the Russian Chain involved and Arn Anderson puts his World TV Title on the line against Ronnie Garvin. Will the Four Horsemen get involved? Plus, Paul Jones’ Army grows and the hype for the Crockett Cup continues.
We open with a clip of last week’s confrontation between Ric Flair and Ricky Morton…
Tony Schiavone and David Crockett are our hosts this week. They hype the upcoming TV Title rematch between Arn Anderson and Ronnie Garvin. Tully Blanchard and J.J. Dillon come out. They put down Garvin and note that he doesn’t deserve another shot at the TV Title. Blanchard calls out Wahoo McDaniel, who’s in the ring, and Tully hands J.J. an envelope with two round trip tickets to Paris.
To the ring, Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ray Traylor. The future Big Bubba Rogers/Big Bossman fared very well against Ivan Koloff last week. Traylor gains the early advantage against the ropes, but Wahoo reverses and lays in some stiff chops. He takes Traylor down with a snap mare and chops away some more. Wahoo struggles to lift Traylor up for a body slam and converts it into a powerslam. Traylor keeps clawing back, but Wahoo eventually puts Traylor away with more chops. *1/4
Magnum T.A. comes to the podium to introduce a clip of a recent confrontation between him and Nikita Koloff. The video shows the Koloffs double-teaming Rocky King and whipping him with the Russian Chain. Magnum comes out to save the day. The crowd goes nuts. He takes out Ivan Koloff with a dropkick. Nikita swings the chain at Magnum, but misses. Magnum slugs him, grabs the chain and wraps around Nikita’s neck. Magnum throws Nikita over the top rope and he’s hanging him! The crowd goes absolutely berserk…
Back live, Magnum says Nikita has been trying to intimidate him with the Russian Chain Match challenges, but nothing intimidates Magnum.
“This is what it’s all about,” Magnum says, pointing to his U.S Title. “This is what’s pushed this confrontation to a head and if it’s a Russian Chain Match, that’s just fine. They make steel right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. too and I can handle it just fine. Remember real well what it felt like when I choked up on that chain because I’ll never forget it and I’ll get the opportunity to do it again. Let’s get it on.“
Once again, a good, intense promo from Magnum.
To the ring, Joe Nighthawk Coltrane vs. Tony Zane. This is our first look at Nighthawk in the ring. He’s a good sized, fairly muscular guy. Coltrane uses basic power moves and ends it quickly with the over-the-knee shoulder breaker. *
Jimmy Garvin & Precious join Tony. Garvin has some bad news. He found out Wahoo McDaniel has a dreaded disease called swamp fever and he’s not going to wrestle someone with a nasty disease. The sure signs are Wahoo’s swollen nose and his hair is falling out.
After a break, Ragin’ Bull Manny Fernandez vs. Bob Owens. The usual Fernandez match, which is a combination of strikes and mat wrestling. He wins with the Flying Burrito.*
Wahoo McDaniel comes to the podium. Referencing Jimmy Garvin’s comments earlier, Wahoo says he’s always had a big nose. He played pro football for 10 years and had his nose broken 11 times. Wahoo challenges Garvin to sign the contract and meet him face-to-face.
After a break, Ronnie Garvin joins Tony. He’s still after Ric Flair, but says there’s a lot of titles out there, and he’ll be there any time there’s an opportunity, including today vs. Arn Anderson for the TV Title.
To the ring, Ivan Koloff w/ Nikita Koloff vs. Gene Ligon. Ligon is a longtime JCP jobber who has been around since the late 70s. He would later become Thunderfoot II. Ligon comes out firing but Ivan quickly responds. Ivan misses a knee drop off the second rope and Ligon applies the spinning toe hold. Ivan kicks him off and all the way out of the ring. The match goes back and forth. Ligon grabs Ivan’s leg and rams it into the post! It continues to be a competitive match. Ligon gets dumped outside again and Nikita hammers him in the back with the Russian Chain. That helps Ivan win it after a knee to the midsection. **
After a break, it’s Dusty Rhodes & Baby Doll. He talks trash on the Four Horsemen and notes that Ole Anderson has yet to reappear. Dusty hypes a cage match tomorrow with Arn Anderson in New Orleans.
“Double A Arn Anderson, prepare yourself for a broken leg, broken jaw, and broken heart. Because broken hearts are dished out by Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream daily, whether it be man, woman or child or beast that crawls this earth, broken hearts are handed out by Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. Titles are dictated by Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. (That’s a shoot.) Ric Flair. Tully Blanchard. And life is dictated by Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream, because the American Dream lives in this country. I have no equal. I have only one thing, the greatest sports attraction in the world today. The greatest revenuer, producing revenuer product on the Ted Turner the Superstation in this country is Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream.
To the ring, it’s Hector Guerrero vs. Carl Styles. This is Hector’s TV debut. He and Chavo Guerrero (Classic) will team up in the Crockett Cup. Hector displays his speed and agility with arm drags and dropkicks. He does a nice forward roll under a back elbow attempt. Guerrero hits a double-flying forearm that is similar to Manny Fernandez’ Flying Burrito. He locks in a stretch hold and Styles bites Guerrero’s fingers to escape. Hector locks a version of in the Indian Death Lock and bridges back. Nice move. Hector continues to work the legs of Styles and wins with a reverse splash. *1/2
After a a break, six-man tag action with Pez Whatley, the Barbarian & Baron von Raschke vs. Rocky Kernodle, Brodie Chase and Bill Tabb. We now know for sure that Pez Whatley, who turned on Jimmy Valiant last week, is aligned with Paul Jones, who also comes out with Teijho Khan. Whatley holds up the pony tail he cut from Valiant. Pez very aggressively dismantles Kernodle. The Baron does the same. The Barbarian press slams Big Bill Tabb. Impressive show of strength. Whatley bites Brodie Chase’s face. Jones takes several shots at Chase on the outside, right in front of the referee, who does nothing. The Barbarian and Baron botch a double elbow. The Baron then trips over Chase and the fans laugh. Barbarian lands a stiff flying shoulderblock on Tabb. The squash continues for way too long. Whatley ends it by running the ropes into a flying headbut on Tabb for the pin. 3/4*
Arn Anderson comes out. “Have you ever seen a nicer group of guys in your life,” Arn says regarding Jones’ Army. Funny. Arn says he already gave Ron Garvin a chance at greatness. He says he’s fulfilling his promise to defend the TV Title weekly. Arn tells the camera to zoom in on his face. His forehead is heavily scarred. He says he earns it every night, facing Wahoo, Magnum, Garvin and others and he will continue to be the TV champ as long as he wants. “Once again, it’s been your pleasure.” Good stuff, as usual, from Arn.
After a break, it’s Jim Cornette. He’s happy and even the sideshow freaks in the audience can’t put him out of his good mood. Cornette says after the Midnight Express wins the Crockett Cup, they’re going to burn him at the stake for being a witch because of his supernatural powers in predicting it. Cornette hypes upcoming showdowns with the Road Warriors. “If brains were gasoline, the Road Warriors couldn’t propel a flea’s motorcycle around a raindrop. They’re stupid.” He says without the tag titles, the Road Warriors are just another couple of musclebound clowns. He then starts talking about the Rock & Roll Express…
The Rock & Roll Express’ music plays, interrupting Cornette. They’re facing Larry Clarke & Art Pritts. Morton controls with quick arm drags. He tags Gibson and they do the double team move where Morton punches the opponent in the gut and Gibson hits the running kneelift. Cornette must have left. David & Tony don’t bother to tell us. They work the leg for several minutes and end it with the double dropkick. The usual R&R showcase. *1/2
Morton & Gibson join Tony at the podium and hype the Crockett Cup, their upcoming matches with the Midnight Express for the tag titles, and their new feud with Ric Flair. We see last week’s footage where Morton got the better of Flair. The fans in the studio absolutely love the R&R.
To the ring, Magnum T.A. vs. Randy Mulkey. Can MulkeyMania overcome Magnum’s usual quick squashes? Nope. 15 seconds and it’s over after the belly-to-belly suplex.*
Paul Jones’ Army joins Tony. The Army is complete and they’re ready for war on Jimmy Valiant. Jones says Pez Whatley’s attack on Jimmy Valiant was planned by him. Pez has now been renamed Shaska Whatley. He calls Nighthawk Coltrane an Uncle Tom, and says Jimmy Valiant is “a white Uncle Tom”, whatever that means.
To the ring, Arn Anderson vs. Ronnie Garvin for the NWA World TV Title. 10-minute time limit. They wrestled to a draw on the March 1 program. Good mat wrestling early on as the advantage goes back and forth. Garvin catches Arn’s boot and nails him with the right hand and open handed chops. Garvin sends Arn down with the headbutt. Garvin ties up Anderson “like a pretzel” as the crowd chants encourages Garvin to break Anderson’s arm. Sadists. Fisticuffs, which Garvin gets the better of and Arn ducks outside. Back in, Arn pulls the tights to get Garvin down and works the arm. Garvin escapes into a rear chinlock and drops elbows on Anderon’s head. He locks in a sleeper and we go to a break…
We’re back Garvin is in control. Tully Blanchard & J.J. Dillon join the ringside commentary. Garvin decks Arn with the closed fist, which Blanchard notes is illegal. Garvin suplexes Anderson, but Arn catches him with the shoulder to the gut, then applies a gutbuster, followed by the body scissors. Garvin pokes the eyes and lands more chops. A backdrop by Garvin and he sets up for the knockout punch. Arn sees it coming and wisely ducks outside. Back in, they collide heads and both men are dazed. Garvin locks in the abdominal stretch and Tully interferes to break it up. Garvin wins by DQ.**1/2
But that’s not the whole story. Tully & Arn hit the double gourdbuster on Garvin. Along with J.J. Dillon, they stretch Garvin and wrap his hand around the ringpost. Blanchard uses his cowboy boot to pound away repeatedly on Garvin’s right hand, the vaunted “hand of stone”. Blanchard says Garvin won’t be able to use that illegal punch ever again and Arn says he and Tully are THE team for the Crockett Cup.
After a break, Jim Cornette comes back out and compares his Midnight Express with the Rock & Roll Express, saying the MX is like a mirror image of the R&R. It’s like wrestling a dark side of themselves. Cornette hypes the Crockett Cup and some of their past battles with teams in the tournament like the Fantastics and the Fabulous Ones.
To the ring, Cornette’s Midnight Express vs. Mike Simani & Denny Brown. Brown, the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion, fares well early on vs. both Bobby and Dennis. Brown tags in Simani and that ends quickly. Bobby drags Simani over to the podium and slugs him in the face. Back in, he delivers the top rope kneedrop to the back of Simani’s head. Dennis ends it with the full nelson facebuster. *1/2
Ivan & Nikita Koloff come out. Nikita is pissed about Magnum putting their chain around his neck. He rips off his shirt and shows off the roided up neck and shoulder muscles. Ivan says Nephew Nikita is too strong and too well conditioned to be hurt. Ivan keeps ranting and Tony says time is up. Ivan’s says don’t you cut him off as the credits roll.
Another good show this week. Thanks for reading.
