Paid Members air_raid Posted February 6, 2025 Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 (edited) Welcome to a brand new flavour of House Show Happenings - we're going to do WCW from the point at which it started to exist as a promotion, crown jewel of the sprawling NWA, through the death in March 2001. Obviously, I can't promise they will be as interesting to read as the WWF/WWE equivalents. 100% I can't promise these will come as often as when I was doing one a day due to the volume of shows involved, but I'll do my best to make it worth clicking into. We will begin with the month that Turner acquired JCP and rebranded the company as World Championship Wrestling which until that point had been the title of a TV broadcast only. NOVEMBER 1988 THE MAIN EVENTS 6th in Roanoke - this might not surprise you - we are in the era of Ric Flair vs Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight title (double count-out). 10th in Johnstown PA Luger & Sting beat Flair and US Champ Barry Windham by DQ, 11th in Pittsburgh it's Flair vs Luger to another double count-out, 12th in Columbus Flair beats eternal rival Dusty Rhodes, 13th in Huntington (5000) Flair gets DQ'd opposite The Stinger. 15th in Albany GA and next night in Raleigh The Road Warriors vs The Midnight Express goes on last. 18th in Washington I think somebody missed their connection - Flair & Animal lose to Luger & Sting, next night in Philadelphia (5000) and 20th in Chicago we start with the Roadies vs Sting & Luger for the belts to a no contest. 23rd in Baltimore (9000) it's Flair vs Rick Steiner for belt - dry run for the Starrcade title match that Dusty's pushing for but doesn't happen? Our monster tag title match goes on last 24th in Atlanta (8000), 26th in Greensboro (7500), 27th in Richmond (3500), 29th in Vegas (2500) and 30th in San Francisco (2700). Fun fact - this is the legendary Chicago show which was the impetus for Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson to kick off about Dusty's booking, convinced they should be on last with the Road Warriors. A weekend cursed by no shows, including Dusty (claiming illness) - which meant Kevin Sullivan and Gary Juster had to step in and book the shows, because the talent didn't know what their finishes were. One month into the life of WCW and we already have LOLWCW. Of course, Tully and Arn are already long gone by this point - voicing their discontent on 9th September about payoffs and that they weren't being signed to contracts in lieu of the Turner purchase like many of their peers, dropping the titles to the Midnights on the 10th, and wrestling their first match for Vince on 5th October in Fort Wayne. THE CARDS NWA World Heavyweight Champion and United States Champion alike play support to the tag title in Atlanta and Greensboro where it's Dusty Rhodes & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Ric Flair & Barry Windham. Tag title of The Road Warriors vs Lex Luger & Sting is the hot ticket, repeating in Baltimore and as a main event in every other city. We also get Windham vs Sting for the US title (DQ finishes) in Pittsburgh and Columbus, Windham also weasels out vs Bam Bam in Roanoke and Huntington and Rick Steiner in Albany then Washington, Philly and Chicago. Hawk & Animal vs The Midnight Express is our tag title match in Johnstown, Huntington, Albany and Raleigh, they're with Ron Simmons & Italian Stallion in Pittsburgh & Columbus. Pittsburgh through Huntington have three nights of Mike Rotunda vs Nikta Koloff for the TV title and Eddie Gilbert vs Steve Williams. Lots of crossover between the Varsity Club and their enemies - Dr Death vs Simmons (ouch) in Johnstown, Raleigh and Chicago, Rotunda retains vs the Stallion in Albany and Chicago, then it's the "Dog Faced Gremlin" vs Williams (double ouch) to a DQ or double DQ and Rotunda vs Simmons for the TV title in Greensboro, Vegas and San Fran - which all have Simmons vs Stallion as an opener before Simmons TV title shot later on the cards. If all that wasn't complex enough, month end it's Flair & Baz beating Bam Bam & "Hot Stuff" in Vegas and San Francisco. Otherwise... the Midnights beat Cruel Connection (Gary Royal & George South under masks) in Greensboro and Richmond, it's (newly returned) Original Midnight Express vs The Fantastics in Washington and Philly, the old Midnights beat Mike Justice & Curtis Thompson (Firebreaker Chip!) in Raleigh, Greensboro and Richmond then we finally move to Midnights vs Midnights (no finish) in Vegas and San Fran. The Russian Assassins (Angel Of Death & Jack Victory) go over Nikita & Ivan Koloff in Roanoke and Raleigh but lose to them in Chicago, in Baltimore and Atlanta (a pair of chain matches) and in Greensboro. There's also Ivan vs Assassin #2 (Victory) in singles in Philly and Richmond (chain match). Our final repeat is Tommy Rogers vs Rip Morgan in Baltimore and Atlanta. Today I learned that everywhere I have read "Italian Stallion" on old cards, it's Gary Sabaugh who I used to see doing jobs on WWF Superstars in 95 when I first got Sky. VARIATIONS Results early month are sparse but we can find that Stan Lane vs Rogers happened 4th in Louisville and Lane vs Bobby Fulton 5th in Dayton. Only in Roanoke, the Fantastics beat The Sheepherders. In Johnstown there's Rotunda vs Bam Bam (double count-out), Kevin Sullivan vs Gilbert and the original Midnights vs Stallion & Dante DeNucci (a trainee of Dominic, you maybe remember him better under the name Cody Michaels, challenging classmate Shane Douglas for the ECW TV title at High Incident). Pittsburgh has Dusty & Bam Bam beat Eaton & Lane by DQ while Condrey & Rose beat DeNucci & Jack Flash. In Columbus the Express lose to Luger & Bigelow, Huntington the old Express beat Simmons & Stallion. Raleigh has Eddie vs Stallion and Fulton vs Cruel Connection #1. Washington sees Rotunda vs Lane, Nikita vs Assassin #1 and Bam Bam vs #2. Philly get Bam Bam & Simmons vs Dr Death & Rotunda and Lane vs Stallion, in Chicago there's Condrey & Rose vs Jonnie Stewart & The Mighty Thor (I'm not making this up). Unique to Baltimore are Windham vs Dusty for the US title, Rotunda vs Fulton for the TV title, old Express vs Stallion & Joey Maggs and current Express vs Ted Tyson & Tony Stetson (who you may remember from mid 90s ECW.. a name I always saw next to Johnny Hotbody in Apter mags). Atlanta, it's Steiner & Simmons vs Dr Death & Rotunda and Condrey & Rose vs Gilbert & Stallion. Greensboro, Morgan & Larry Zbyszko lose to the Fantastics and Stallion loses to Al Perez (yes, one of the guys who played The Black Scorpion) and finally in Richmond Flair & Dr Death lose to Bam Bam and Steiner in a cross-feud tag, Simmons beats Morgan and the Fantastics beat Stallion and Thunderfoot. TVs There isn't much in the way of data if any matches were dark matches nor any interesting job guys that became stars, but 1st in Savannah the Roadies tape a successful defence over the Midnights, and 25th in Charlotte there's a 5000 gate for the Road Warriors vs Sting & Luger title match to a doube DQ which airs on the Christmas Day episode of Main Event. DEPARTURES The Sheepherders appearance at Roanoke is their last match for JCP/only match for "WCW" - they'll be debuting in the WWF after Christmas as The Bushwhackers. Amusingly by the end of the month the Meltz is reporting that "The Bushwhackers" are going to debut but he doesn't know who they are yet, and thinks Ron Garvin is going to be one. That would have been a sight. Edited April 14, 2025 by air_raid Serving Hard Time from the copyright cops already. Quote
Paid Members gmoney Posted February 6, 2025 Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 Hell yes. Let's keep a tally of Jack Victory gimmicks. Quote
Paid Members RedTwoster Posted February 6, 2025 Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 I’m so glad you’re doing this - that was a brilliant read, and I can’t wait for the next post. Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 6, 2025 Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 Yes Raid! 5 hours ago, air_raid said: Today I learned that everywhere I have read "Italian Stallion" on old cards, it's Gary Sabaugh who I used to see doing jobs on WWF Superstars in 95 when I first got Sky. Ah yeah, most memorable being when Shawn Michaels took him so seriously that he didn’t even bother taking his hat and chaps off while squashing him. I remember Italian Stallion was a regular jobber on WCW Worldwide in 92 as well. Him along with Jumpin’ Joey Maggs, Bob Cook, Pat Rose and a few others. Of the lot, Stallion stood out as looking particularly shit, I thought. With his green pants, frizzy long hair and short and chubby build. Hardly a ‘Stallion’. On a more positive note, I’d kill to see that Midnight Express vs Arn & Tully title change. Wonder if it was filmed. If it was, it’s definitely one of my ‘holy grails’ for The Vault down the line. Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 6, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 5 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: On a more positive note, I’d kill to see that Midnight Express vs Arn & Tully title change. Don't do it!! Quote
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 6, 2025 Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 And with that, lives were saved. Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 6, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 6, 2025 7 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: And with that, lives were saved. I'd love to know your thoughts on that finish. I mean... Christ, you'd have thought it was going out on TV, wouldn't you??? "Get good value out of these two losers, Vince!" Quote
Snitsky's back acne Posted February 6, 2025 Posted February 6, 2025 6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: Yes Raid! Ah yeah, most memorable being when Shawn Michaels took him so seriously that he didn’t even bother taking his hat and chaps off while squashing him. I remember Italian Stallion was a regular jobber on WCW Worldwide in 92 as well. Him along with Jumpin’ Joey Maggs, Bob Cook, Pat Rose and a few others. Of the lot, Stallion stood out as looking particularly shit, I thought. I always liked jobbers with monikers or mini gimmicks. WCW had masked jobber Zan Panzer, WWF had Brooklyn Brawler and Iron Mike Sharpe. As was mentioned above 'Jumpin' Joey Maggs (who NEVER jumped from what I recall). WWF had The Executioners and the Black Phantom (who I believe was Gangrel) in the 90s too Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 7, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 7, 2025 7 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said: I always liked jobbers with monikers or mini gimmicks. WCW had masked jobber Zan Panzer, WWF had Brooklyn Brawler and Iron Mike Sharpe. The less said about the WWFs revival of the concept in 96, the better. Alex “the Pug” Porteau, Freddie Joe Floyd, The Goon, Who and of course, TL Hopper, the wrestling plumber. Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 7, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 7, 2025 (edited) DECEMBER 1988 THE MAIN EVENTS We're still running The Road Warriors vs Lex Luger & Sting 1st in Albuquerque, we assume 2nd in Amarillo (no full report available), 3rd in Houston (just 1200) and 4th in Lubbock (900). 10th in Philadelphia it's down as an elimination match and the report says Sting & Luger win but I assume some kind of schmozz ; next night in Richmond the Roadies and Barry Windham vs Sting, the Package and Dusty Rhodes goes to a no contest though the faces do win 16th in Winston-Salem. Christmas Day there's a matinee in Greenville with a Bunkhouse Stampede on last but I can't find who won, that night in Charlotte we have a title match - Ric Flair vs Eddie Gilbert. After Starrcade we have more Bunkhouse Stampedes won by Luger 27th in Washington, Larry Zbyszko (huh??) 28th in Chicago (atop Sting/Luger/Dusty vs Roadies/Barry), Dick Murdoch 29th in Milwaukee and Junkyard Dog 29th in St Louis (4500) - all are supported by Flair vs Rick Steiner for the belt. Doesn't seem fair to Flair. THE CARDS Rick Steiner vs Steve Williams resumes with a DQ finish early month as does Mike Rotunda vs Ron Simmons. Steiner & Eddie Gilbert vs Rotunda & Williams repeats in Richmond and Winston-Salem. Lex Luger & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Barry Windham & Abdullah The Butcher - what a mix that is - goes three times month end. The Midnight Express vs The Original Midnight Express with a variety of finishes is a bit of a sandwich month, in Philadelphia and Richmond the old boys beat Dustin Rhodes & Kendall Windham, then the "Texas Broncos" rebound after Christmas beating The Commandos (Ray Candy & Grizzly Boone) four straight nights. Ivan Koloff vs Russian Assassin #2 (Jack Victory - @gmoney) runs three nights mid month including one death match and one chain match. Bobby Fulton vs Randy Rose goes to two non finishes in Milwaukee and St Louis. VARIATIONS Albuquerque - Rotunda vs Italian Stallion, Bam Bam & Eddie vs Windham & JJ Dillon, Ron Simmons vs The Halfbreed. Houston - Ric Flair & Windham vs Bam Bam & Eddie, Tug Taylor vs Tony Torres. Lubbock - Windham vs Bam Bam (count-out finish), Steiner vs Alvin Martinez, Eddie vs Ted Heath (surely not...). Philly - Dusty Rhodes & Steiner vs Kevin Sullivan & Dr Death, Windham vs Gilbert, Russian Assassin #1 vs Stallion, for the US tag title (remember that?) The Fantastics vs Rip Morgan & Jonathan Holiday. Richmond - Bam Bam vs #1, Fantastics vs Morgan & Mark Fleming. Winston-Salem - Tommy Rogers vs Morgan, Broncos vs Cruel Connection, Fulton vs Stallion. DC - The Road Warriors vs Sting & Dusty, Fulton vs Zbyszko. Chicago - Bam Bam vs Abby, original Midnights vs Fantastics. Milwaukee - Junkyard Dog vs #1, Animal beats Dusty vs DQ. St Louis - Dick Murdoch vs #1, Dusty & Sting beat Animal & Larry Zbyszko - is Hawk no showing the odd show already?? TVs 7th in Chattanooga (8000) is a Clash Of The Champions - The Fantastics beat Eddie & Ron for the US tag titles, Animal beats Dusty in a singles to win the rights to all of the soon to be defunct Six-Man Tag titles that the Roadies had shared with the Dream before turning on him - they'll award his share (briefly) to Genichiro Tenryu. Nothing of note to add to two tapings 12th and 15th, Starrcade on Boxing Day draws a 10,000 gate to Norfolk - on a day the WWF runs THREE double shots including 12,500 at the Capital Center and 15,000 at Maple Leaf Gardens, a FUCKTON of wrestling fans went to shows this day. Kev and Doc win those US belts from The Fantastics, Dog Face wins the TV title from Rotunda, Sting & Luger draw a DQ from the Roadies, and Flair retains the belt against Lex with a finish I recall reading about in my very first Superstars Of Wrestling mag - Lex collapses with Flair in the Rack and Ric gets his feet on the ropes for the pin. Dark after the PPV to send them home happy, JYD wins a Bunkhouse battle royal. DEPARTURE Nikita Koloff quits, over a travel dispute but also because he feels like he's fallen out of favour with Crockett and Dusty - Dusty's on his way out as booker anyway. Koloff takes a sabbatical to care for his wife Mandy who has Hodgkin's disease and doesn't wrestle anywhere for a year until he resurfaces in the AWA after her passing. As for booking - don't worry, Jim Herd is on the way in, fresh from Pizza Hut. I can confirm, this was known to Observer subscribers at the time, it's not WWE revisionist history. He literally was a Pizza Hut regional manager. Edited April 9, 2025 by air_raid Damn Quote
TheScarlettChad Posted February 7, 2025 Posted February 7, 2025 Can't wait for him to ask Ric to cut his hair she wear an earring. Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 12, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 12, 2025 (edited) JANUARY 1989 CHRIST, they ramp up the road schedule this month!! MAIN EVENTS Including 3rd in Albany, early month cards have the Bunkhouse Battle Royal usually (but not always) on last with various babyface winners, there's Ric Flair vs Rick Steiner for the title 6th in Philadelphia, vs Sting 7th in Baltimore and vs Junkyard Dog 8th in Greensboro. Crowds are still rubbish. 9th in Greenville it's The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette on last. 11th in Seattle (4000) and 12th in Portland both in conjunction with Pacific Northwest its Flair vs Sting, 13th-15th Luger wins all the Bunkhouses, it's The Nature Boy vs The Stinger in Vegas and Oakland then vs The Dog-Faced Gremlin in Dallas. 20th in St Louis Flair vs JYD goes on last, 21st in Kansas City they go underneath Steiner winning the Bunkhouse, 23rd in St Petersburg the Nature Boy vs Eddie Gilbert sits underneath The Road Warriors vs Sting & Dick Murdoch for the tag titles. 26th JYD wins the Bunkhouse in Roanoke as - I can't believe I'm writing this - Flair appears to get a night off - then next night in Norfolk (just 1000) its the battle royal that takes a break, Boy vs Dog for the title on last. 28th in Richmond (3000) its Flair vs Steiner underneath another Bunkhouse, 29th in Charleston (2500) again no Flair (which isn't fair), Lex Luger winning the battle royal closes. B shows run overlapping big cities - cards topped by The Midnight Express vs The Original Express run 8th in Fayetteville, 10th in Columbia (SC) then through Virginia, in Bassett on the 11th, Harrisonburg on the 12th and Hillsville on the 13th as well as Cherryville NC 14th and again 17th in Savannah and 20th in Georgetown. 21st in Sumter SC, Beautiful Bobby & Jim Cornette beat Rose & Paul E Dangerously, 23rd in Elberton GA Eaton & Lane beat The Russian Assassins, then its again Midnights vs Midnights 25th in Kenansville and 26th in Washington (both NC). Rather randomly despite his WWF affiliation and just three months before his return at Mania V, local legend Roddy Piper enters the ring before Flair vs Sting to shake both mens' hands. THE CARDS Those first three big city shows all feature Dusty Rhodes, Lex Luger & Sting vs The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering, 3rd through 10th it's twice The Original Midnight Express vs The Fantastics and four rounds of Dustin Rhodes & Kendall Windham vs Larry Zbyszko & Al Perez (repeating in Cherryville) and routinely a managers edition of the Bunkhouse Battle Royal with various winners though its usually Jim Cornette. For the US title, Barry Windham vs Eddie Gilbert goes down in Baltimore and also rolls around again in Cherryville, St Louise and Kansas City, Windham vs Luger happens in St Petersburg and Roanoke. Mid month we have three rounds of Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff vs The Russian Assassins and Dick Murdoch vs Ray Candy. There's double of Scott Peterson & Steve Doll (Steven Dunn) vs the Assassins on the two PNW shows. Some lovely B show consistency sees two rounds of Eddie vs Kendall (repeats from Philly), Fantastics vs Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda, Steve Casey vs Kevin Sullivan (repeats in St Petersburg) and Dustin & Curtis Thompson vs Zbyszko & Agent Steel and four rounds of Ron Simmons vs Grizzly Boone and Heidi Lee Morgan & Misty Blue vs Linda Dallas & Kat LaRoux - that one's actually booked in Norfolk too. Month end we get a run of Fantastics vs Cruel Connection and repeats of Midnights vs Midnights which is near constant, plus twice Casey vs (Commando) Boone. VARIATIONS ALBANY there's Rick Steiner vs Assassin #2 for the TV title, later Junkyard Dog & Michael Hayes vs the Assassins (yes, double duty) plus Dustin & Kendall vs Mike Jackson & Max Miles. PHILLY see Zbyszko vs Kendall and Perez vs Dustin as singles matches. BALTIMORE it's JYD vs Assassin #1. GREENSBORO get Midnights vs Assassins and Rick & Dick vs old Midnights. GREENVILLE, Simmons vs Assassin #1, Eddie vs Assassin #2, Dr Death vs Casey, Koloff vs Rotunda and Rick & JYD vs original Midnights. SEATTLE there's Col DeBeers vs Mike Golden, Top Gun vs Abduda Dein, Buddy Rose & The Grappler vs JYD & Ivan and Luger/Steiner/Murdoch vs Candy & The Road Warriors. PORTLAND, Luger/Steiner/Top Gun vs Candy/Hawk/Animal goes on last, Murdoch beats DeBeers by DQ, Golden beats Al Madril and Carl Styles beats Rex King (Timothy Well). VEGAS it's Golden vs King and Rick & Hayes challenge Hawk & Animal for the tag belts. OAKLAND, Golden vs CW Bergstrom and Luger/Steiner/Hayes vs the Roadies & Ellering. DALLAS it's flipped to Sting/Luger Hayes vs Roadies/Precious Paul. BASSETT have a one off of Fantastics vs Sullivan & Rotunda. HILLSVILLE, Dustin & Curtis lose to Zbyszko & Brad Anderson and Rogers misses it so Dr Death & IRS beat Fulton & Casey. ST LOUIS its the big one, Roadies vs Sting & Luger for the straps plus Steiner & Murdoch vs Williams & Rotunda, Casey vs Abdullah The Butcher and PS vs Cruel Connection #1. KANSAS CITY see another variant, Luger/Hayes/Murdoch vs Roadies & Ellering plus Sting & Steiner vs Williams & Rotunda, Abby vs Gary Royal (Cruel #1 without his mask, remember) and Casey vs Perez. ST PETERSBURG - Steiner & JYD vs Williams & Rotunda, Sullivan vs Casey and Gilbert vs Bob Cook. ROANOKE get Thompson vs Chris Champion, Gilbert vs "Commando Ray" (Candy) and Steiner vs Dr Death for the TV title. NORFOLK, Hayes vs Commando Ray and Luger & Steiner vs Williams & Rotundo. RICHMOND it's Luger/Hayes/JYD vs Sullivan/Williams/Rotundo, Casey vs Cruel Connection #1 and Koloff vs Assassin #2. Finally CHARLESTON - some sysmmetry in Luger/Steiner/JYD vs Sullivan/Williams/Rotundo, Koloff beats a Trent Knight and - former partners collide! - Dustin beats Curtis. TVs 1st at the Omni - that's better! - there's a near 10,000 gate for a TV taping that includes Flair vs Sting for the big belt to a time limit draw for The Main Event. 2nd in Columbus Flair retains over "Hot Stuff" in addition to everything that airs. 3rd in Albany Rick Steiner vs Assassin #2, Hawk winning a Bunkhouse and Luger/Sting/Steiner vs Road Warriors/Ellering are all dark matches. 4th at WTBS studios there are a handful of title matches including continuation of Steiner vs Varsity Club, 16th in Macon it's another Midnights civil war and a Bunkhouse dark, and the same next night in Savannah. 18th back in Atlanta is where they tape Ricky Steamboat returning as the mystery partner of Eddie, beating Flair & Windham when Steamer pins the champ but nothing dark to report from then or night after. Finally 30th in Chattanooga, Flair & Baz lose to Stinger & Hayes for TV and its Midnights vs Midnights yet again. DEPARTURES Bam Bam Bigelow stops taking bookings for WCW because they want him contracted and he wants to keep accepting New Japan gigs. He'll be back. As touched on last month, Dusty Rhodes takes a hike after TVs to go book in Florida. Al Perez & Dick Murdoch get poached by Dusty. Larry Zbyszko was on Dusty's radar too but his Mrs (Kathy Gagne) is expecting his second child so guess what? He's headed back to the AWA. Guess what? Verne is going to make his son-in-law champion again on February 7th. Obviously. Edited February 14, 2025 by air_raid WHOOOOO Quote
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 14, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted February 14, 2025 FEBRUARY 1989 To my relief, there are fewer shows than last month. The Nature Boy only wrestles 12 times this particular 28 days? AND he loses the title??? That's not fair to Flair. THE MAIN EVENTS 3rd-4th in Johnson City and Philadelphia (just 2000 at the Convention Hall, not the Spectrum) it's Sting & Eddie Gilbert vs Ric Flair & Barry Windham, 5th in Cambridge MD The Road Warriors vs Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda goes on last, next night in Greenville Doc & IRS tag with Kevin Sullivan to lose to Rick Steiner, Junkyard Dog & Michael Hayes. 8th/9th in Raleigh/Hampton it's back to Stinger & Hot Stuff vs The Horsemen underneath more "$25,000 Bunkhouse Stampedes" won by P.S. then on last 11th in Charlotte (WHOOO!) Flair & Baz lose to Eddie and - here he is - Ricky Steamboat. After the title change, 23rd in Baltimore the Roadies might be closing against Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdoch but the gate is really drawn by Steamboat vs Flair for the title. Sunday 26th a matinee in Carbondale IL has another of Sting & Gilbert vs Flair & Windham then that evening in St Louis (<2000) Flair & Windham vs Gilbert & Lex Luger sits underneath Sting/Hayes vs Williams/Rotunda. End of month some B show overlap - 24th Walterboro SC (wheresville?) The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette vs Randy Rose, Rip Morgan & Paul E Dangerously sounds random as hell until you realise Dennis Condrey has left the territory, and on a date lost to time at the end of the month in Anderson SC the Midnights beat Rose & Kendall Windham. THE CARDS Barry Windham vs Eddie Gilbert runs for the United States title in Cambridge then finally rolls around again in Baltimore three days removed from Baz dropping the title to The Total Package. Repeating on 2 or 3 of the opening four shows are Rick Steiner vs Russian Assassin #2 for the TV title, Michael Hayes & Junkyard Dog vs Original Midnight Express and Butch Reed vs Steve Casey (which also repeats in St Louis). Abdullah The Butcher vs Kevin Sullivan (memories of a bloodbath in Florida there) repeats in Cambridge/Hampton/Charlotte, Raleigh and Hampton both play host to the Gremlin vs Randy Rose, The Midnight Express vs The Commandos (Ray Candy & Grizzly Boone) and P.S. & JYD vs Assassin #2 & Kendall Windham, and we get The Road Warriors vs Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda for the tag titles in both Hampton & Charlotte. VARIANTS - FUCK. JOHNSON CITY - Road Warriors vs Williams & Sullivan, Steiner vs Russian Assassin #1, Ivan Koloff vs #2 and Abby vs Rotunda. PHILLY - Roadies & Paul Ellering vs Sullivan, Doc and Rotunda, Lex Luger vs Candy (huh?), Abby vs Bob Bradley. GREENVILLE - Eddie vs Kendall W, Midnights vs Assassins, The Fantastics vs old Midnights, Butch vs Dustin Rhodes (The Natural vs The Natural!), Casey vs Candy. RALEIGH - Animal/Ellering/Steiner vs Williams/Dan Spivey/Rotunda, Reed vs Dick Murdoch. CHARLOTTE - Sting vs Boone (WTF) opens, Casey vs Rose, Murdoch vs Candy, Koloff vs Kendall, Hayes & JYD vs Assassins. BALTIMORE - I really don't understand this show at all. It reads as though Ricky Steamboat & Gilbert beat Ric Flair & Barry in a tag, after which Barry pins Eddie as above, then for reasons unknown Steamboat defends THE WORLD TITLE against Kendall (who already opened the show with Bradley) before, as above, defending against the Nature Boy. Plus Luger & Dok Hendrix vs Doc Death & Rotunda, Steiner vs Sully for the telly title and Casey vs Assassin #1. CARBONDALE - Hawk & Animal vs Luger & Murdoch for the tag titles, Steiner/Hayes/JYD vs Sullivan/Rotunda/Williams. ST LOUIS - Road Warriors vs Koloff & JYD, Steiner vs Spivey and K. Windham beating a Drew Tossel. WALTERBORO - Fantastics vs Jack Victory & Paul Lee, Dustin vs Trent Knight, Vincent Young vs Cruel Connection #1 and George South vs Mike Justice. Finally in ANDERSON, Gilbert beats Casey, JYD/Hayes/Murdoch beat Assassin #2, The Midnight Mauler & The Blackmailer (Victory, LOL @gmoney), Kendall is permitted to beat Ron Simmons (DAMN) and Dustin jobs to Koloff. TVs Several tapings at WTBS don't have any dark matches but 12th, Bobby Eaton beating Candy by DQ (LOL) and Natural vs Natural both happen before the matches that make air and Flair vs Sting after them. On the 15th, CSU Convocation Center (home of the Cleveland Vikings) hosts the live Clash of the Champions, only the 5th at this point in history. 5000 is a great gate compared to some house shows in bigger markets, but they were probably disappointed as the venue hosts more than double that amount. Should have stayed down South, Jimmy. The only notable match for my money is the main, on which World Six-Man Tag Champs Hawk, Animal & Genichiro Tenryu (!) got to a double DQ with The Taskmaster, Dr Death and Rotunda. 18th/19th tapings have no dark matches that I can find but - fun - David Heath (yes, Gangrel) does a job in a tag to the Midnights and The Samoan Swat Team (Fatu/Samu version) debut and get scouted by all the heel managers during their squash. 20th in Chicago (duh) about 7500 including comps attend the big one, Chi-Town Rumble, a hugely eventful PPV on which the Roadies turn back Doc & Sully, IRS wins the TV title back from Rick, Luger wins the US title from Baz, the Midnights & Corny win the Losers Leave Town match against Rose, Jack Victory (!) and Paul E, and of course, Steamboat wins the first of the three legendary televised matches with Slick Ric to become the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Now, dear reader, you're probably thinking Flair vs Steamboat doesn't need a dark match thereafter, and definitely not one featuring relative nobodies, but nevertheless after the PPV goes off the air, Kendall beats Casey around 25 minutes in - the brass forgot they were out there and didn’t give them the signal to go home. FUCK ME, LOLWCW. Finally 28th taping in Columbia has Hot Stuff & the Gremlin relieve Sullivan & Williams of the - remember these? - US Tag Team belts. DEPARTURES Already not high on Crockett's Christmas card list for disappearing without notice last time out, Dennis Condrey finishes up this month in remarkably similar circumstances. With George Scott (who had heat with Rose) installed as head booker, the Chi-Town Rumble is scheduled to write the old Midnights out. But Dirty Den decides he doesn't even want a cheque to take the loss, and fucks off back to Continental instead. The Fantastics also leave after the Clash, their falling out being with Sullivan, and you probably can't blame them for that. I'm also going to count this, as I've had to type his name several times as an active wrestler - by virtue of that loss on the PPV, Paul E Dangerously "has to leave the promotion." Though he'll be a regular on commentary fairly soon. Tony Schiavone features on the 5th episode of The Main Event then leaves for the WWF - prompting a quip from Paul E about “that Italian fella” on the show the week after, tee hee. Quote
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