As 1988 came to a close, wrestling fans were treated to three pay-per-views in 32 days featuring the top talent from every major promotion in the United States. Let’s do a deep dive, courtesy of Scott Keith’s reviews, a panel of experts, and some comments from those involved with the shows themselves.
The Survivor Series: November 24, 1988
From the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, with Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura before a crowd of 13,500:
Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Blue Blazer, Sam Houston & Jim Brunzell v. Honky Tonk Man, Danny Davis, Greg Valentine, Ron Bass & Bad News Brown
Hammer slugs it out with Beefcake to start as Gorilla astutely notes that Valentine shouldn’t start because it takes 20 minutes for him to warm up. Davis comes in and attacks Beefcake, but a sleeper puts his lights out at 1:20. A few minutes later, Brunzell misses a blind charge on Bad News and the ghetto blaster sends Jumpin’ Jim jumpin’ back to the dressing room at 5:20. Sam Houston is up next, and Brown beats the hell out of him, but Valentine accidentally hits Bad News, and that ends Brown’s foray into tag team wrestling, as he walks out of the match at 7:45. Ron Bass comes in and powerslams Houston out of the corner for the pin at 10:12. After some tags, Blue Blazer hits a crossbody on Honky for two, but Honky wisely tags out to Valentine, and the figure-four ends Blazer’s night at 12:18. Not long after, Honky and Beefer are in the ring, but Honky bails to the floor to escape and Beefcake follows for the double-countout at 15:45. This leaves Warrior alone with Bass and Valentine and they go work on him, but Warrior no-sells Hammer’s stuff until getting run into Bass’s boot in the corner. Warrior comes back and clotheslines both guys and hits Bass with a double sledge for the pin at 17:28. That leaves Hammer one-on-one with him, and another sledge finishes at 17:50. ***3/4
Sole Survivor: The Ultimate Warrior
Scott Keith: We get the music of the team captain, and otherwise everyone just comes out at the same time and we’re underway two minutes into the runtime of the show, and it’s literally all action. Welcome to simpler times.
Brian Bayless: The match did what it needed to do, making the Ultimate Warrior look strong.
Rock Star Gary: Warrior was held back for the most part until the finish which is smart booking.
Demolition, Conquistadors, Bolsheviks, Brainbusters & Fabulous Rougeaus v. Powers of Pain, Young Stallions, Hart Foundation, Rockers & British Bulldogs
Everyone runs through their basic stuff before Bret gets a small package on Raymond for the pin at 5:35, and the Rougeaus get the heck out of Dodge because Dynamite Kid was threatening to kill them after the match for a rib gone wrong. (You’ll notice that Pat Patterson made sure to book the match so that the Bulldogs were in the ring for a long time afterward.) The match continues rolling, with Jim Powers eventually getting a hot tag and hitting a crossbody on Zhukov, but Boris rolls through for the pin at 15:45. A bit later, Shawn comes in and hits Zhukov in the gut, and Marty flips in with a sunset flip for the pin at 18:25. After some more action, Bret enters and hits Tully with the backbreaker and inverted atomic drop before slugging away in the corner and getting a german suplex in the corner for the pin. BUT WAIT. Tully got his shoulder up, so the Hart Foundation is gone at 27:00. Dynamite gives Tully a tombstone piledriver while Bret argues with the refs and that gets two, and then the Rockers and Brainbusters are BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA and both teams are DQ’d at 28:44. The surviving teams keep going at it, and Kid gets the snap suplex and goes up with the diving headbutt, but that misses and Smash clotheslines him for the pin at 36:18. So this leaves the Powers of Pain alone against Demolition and the Conquistadors, and Fuj the Stooge pulls the rope down as Smash bumps to the floor and gets counted out at 39:47. So the Demos thus decide to end their business relationship with Fuji by slamming him on the floor, and the Powers pick him up and dust him off, adopting him as their new manager, before finishing off the Conquistadors to win the match at 42:21. ***
Sole Survivors: The Powers of Pain
Scott Keith: Holy crap, switch out the Conquistadors for the Islanders and this is 80s tag team wrestling nirvana!
Bruce Prichard: We shot this one better than the tag team match in 1987. There were 20 guys out there, most of them standing around the ring, and so you couldn’t use traditional camera angles. But we learned what worked in 1987 and were able to present it better in 1988.
Rock Star Gary: Excellent match that incorporated the strengths of each team. Additionally, a double turn by the Powers of Pain and Demolition added intrigue to the finish.
Arn Anderson: That was some pretty damn good excitement we had going on there.
Smash: Me and Bill (Ax) weren’t sure about the double-turn because we didn’t want to change anything. Everything seemed to be working, and we liked having Mr. Fuji as our manager. But we were getting some cheers because a some of fans liked us, so it worked out the way it did.
Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Scott Casey, Tito Santana & Ken Patera v. Dino Bravo, Andre the Giant, Harley Race, Ravishing Rick Rude & Mr. Perfect
Originally, Junk Yard Dog was supposed to wrestle for the faces, but he had left for the NWA, so Brian Blair was penciled into his spot. Then Blair couldn’t make it, and we ended up with Scott Casey. (No idea who was next in line, but Dennis Stamp and Rene Goulet were probably on standby.) Patera starts with Rude, and after some tags, it comes back around to the two of them with Patera charging into a boot, and the Rude Awakening finishing him at 8:18. A minute later, a side suplex from Bravo takes out Casey at 9:29. Next up, Tito is a house of fire and eventually scores a pin on Race at 13:20. Over to Andre, who just destroys Tito in an epic foul mood. Tito fights back, but Andre chops him down and sits on him for the pin at 14:45. Duggan immediately clobbers Andre, but Hacksaw eventually grabs the 2×4 to counter Frenchie Martin’s interference and gets DQ’d at 21:40, leaving Jake by himself against 4 heels. Eventually, Rude goes up with the flying fist and then stops to gyrate, but Jake pops and the DDT finishes Rude at 28:44. Then Andre decides that it’s time to finish this, so he comes in and just MAULS Jake in the corner like a grizzly bear, choking him out viciously until the ref calls for the DQ at 29:38. But Jake is out, so Perfect pins him at 30:00 to win the match. That’s some high level strategy there. ***1/2
Survivors: Mr. Perfect and Dino Bravo
Scott Casey: I wasn’t supposed to wrestle that night, but I was there and Vince walked up to me and said, “Blair can’t make it. I need you to wrestle.” That’s the only reason I was on that. But you know, I was talking to Tito about the match the other day, and I said, “Do you realize all the guys we wrestled that night are no longer with us today?” And he said, “Yes, I was thinking about that too.” But that’s life, isn’t it? None of us are going to make it out alive.
JWBraun: What a murderers’ row on the heel side! Andre, former WWF champion, Race, former NWA champion, Hennig, former AWA champion, Rude, former World Class champion, and Bravo, former Canadian international heavyweight champion.
Rock Star Gary: The match itself came to a screeching halt after the DDT.
Brian Bayless: This was the worst match of the show. Guys like Patera (in his final WWF match), Casey, and Bravo looked awful here. I liked the story they told at the end with Jake against four guys but the action was extremely dull.
Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hercules & Hillbilly Jim v. Akeem, Big Bossman, Ted DiBiase, King Haku & The Red Rooster
After some basic stuff, Koko and the Rooster have a battle of the birds before Koko hits missile dropkick, Hulk hits the big boot and Savage drops the big elbow to end Terry’s cock-a-doodle-day at 6:07. (Can you imagine if Terry had decided to kick out?) We move along to Hillbilly Jim and Akeem going at it, with Akeem squashing Jim in the corner and flattening him with the big splash to eliminate Hillbilly at 9:54. Koko eventually gets into it with the Big Bossman, which of course ends with a Bossman slam to finish Koko at 11:54. After some more action, Herc slugs away on DiBiase before hitting some clotheslines, but Virgil trips him up from the floor and DiBiase gets the cheap rollup for the pin at 16:35. So the Megapowers are left 4-on-2, although Savage runs in and rolls up DiBiase (who’s distracted by Hercules) for the pin at 17:00. Eventually the heels cuff Hogan to the bottom rope, and that results in Bossman getting counted out at 23:38. This leaves Haku and Akeem, and they double-team Macho until Akeem gets DQ’d at 25:00. So the Megapowers are left with Haku 2-on-1, and the King works on Savage with an elbow for two. Slick stupidly taunts Hulk with the handcuff key while Haku misses a dropkick and Savage makes the comeback. Slick tries to interfere and Haku superkicks him by accident, allowing Liz to dig in his pocket and find the keys to free Hogan. Hogan then gets the tag and hits the big boot and legdrop to finish at 29:13. Macho is dazed and confused after getting pummeled in the ring but turns around just in time to see Hogan sweep Elizabeth off her feet with a big hug, and the show fades to black as Savage’s eyes bug out. ***1/4
Survivors: Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan
JWBraun: After Slick taunted Elizabeth and then turned his attention to the handcuffed Hogan, it would have been great to see Elizabeth more proactive, pushing Slick into Hogan to allow Hogan to get the key. But the aftermath with Savage and Hogan was gold.
John Canton: As a kid, I didn’t even notice the part where Savage was mad at Hogan when Hogan lifted up Elizabeth in celebration. Back then, I was just happy the good guys won! It was that simple. It’s interesting to look at it again today.
Brian Bayless: I thought the action was pretty good here and I loved the booking. Sure, there was a lot of “sports entertainment” going on at the end, but it all made sense and it kept the future Twin Towers and Mega Powers looking really strong. And most important of all, it planted the seeds for one of the top feuds of the 1980’s, which was the split of the Mega Powers.
Final Thoughts:
Rock Star Gary: This was an absolutely fantastic show with only a couple minor glitches.
Brian Bayless: This was without a doubt the top WWF PPV of 1988. It started the Twin Towers vs. Mega Powers feud and saw the double-turn between Demolition and the Powers of Pain. The Tag Team Survivor Series match was superb and all fans should check that out as well as the main event. The show was also a turning point as they phased out several of the talents and put over the wrestlers and teams that would be showcased heading into 1989.
Scott Keith: Recommended show, of course.
SuperClash III: December 13, 1988
From the the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois with Lee Marshall and Ray Stevens before a crowd of and 1,672, this was the first (and last) pay-per-view presented by the AWA and included the WCWA, CWA, and POWW in an attempt to take many of the remaining U.S. territories and put them under one umbrella to compete with the WWF and NWA.
Cactus Jack & The Rock N Roll RPMs v. Hector, Mondo & Chavo Guerrero
Obviously this is very early in Mick Foley’s career and late in the career of the Guerreros. Some back and forth before Chavo hits both RPMs with a bodypress and the Guerreros all dogpile on him and clear the ring. Chavo gets caught in the heel corner and worked over, but he doesn’t particularly sell and just rolls away to make a tag to Hector. It’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA and Lane hits his own partner by mistake, allowing Chavo to finish Davis with a moonsault at 6:36. **1/4
Sean Sapp: Hector Guerrero was outstanding. Amazing to think he’d be the Gobbledygooker a couple years later. And Mike Enos is the damn referee for this match.
Scrooge McSuck: The Guerreros were energetic and tried to get the crowd into it, so kudos to them.
Kevin H: This opener is underrated. Good action & unique stuff from the Guerreros that you didn’t see in WWF/WCW, plus early Cactus Jack taking huge bumps.
World Class Light Heavyweight title: Jeff Jarrett v. Eric Embry
Very early in the career of Jarrett, when he was just a skinny babyface with great hair. They do a bunch of reversals to start and Embry hits him with a cheapshot clothesline, which the Chicago crowd cheers loudly. Jarrett makes a comeback, but misses a bodypress and lands on the floor, and the hostile Chicago crowd cheers him getting injured. Back in the ring, Embry goes to work on the arm, but he charges and misses, and Jarrett gets a missile dropkick and a sunset flip, but Embry reverses for the pin and the title at 4:11. **1/4
Scott Keith: Short but OK.
Mike Fitzgerald: Too short to be rated higher, but what we got was well-wrestled action.
Scrooge McSuck: This had potential, but had a start, a finish, and no middle.
Lee Marshall talks to the mild mannered man responsible for mediating the talks between wrestling companies. Word is that shortly after this interview, the individual was spotted looking for a phone booth.
Jimmy Valiant v. Wayne Bloom
Wayne attacks to start and slugs away, but Valiant finishes him off with the elbow combination at 0:23.
Mike Fitzgerald: Was there even much point even having this on the show?
Scott Keith: This was originally supposed to be Valiant teaming up with Jeff Jarrett for some kind of tag match, but plans changed rapidly leading up to the event.
World Class Texas title: Iceman Parsons v. Brickhouse Brown
Some back and forth before Brown gets a headbutt for two and thinks that’s he won the match because he’s a moron (and the timing of the near-fall was all messed up), and Iceman pulls out a foreign object and knocks him out to retain the title at 5:55. * Sadly, poor sportsmanship rears its ugly head after the match, as Iceman declares him to be a ROOTY POOT.
Mike Fitzgerald: This had the odd sloppy moment but it was a decent overall.
Scrooge McSuck: Another rushed match, but I’m not complaining here. All punch-kick or sloppy in general.
The Top Guns & Wendi Richter v. Badd Company & Madusa Miceli
The stips for this one are bizarre and convoluted, as Wendi is the AWA Women’s champion at this point, and Badd Company are the tag team champions, and both sets of titles are on the line. However, as was clarified AFTER the match, the titles only changed hands if the specific champions got beaten. Everyone brawls, but Tanaka accidentally superkicks Madusa before Richter gets the pin at 5:48. Gary Michael Cappetta announces the Top Guns as the new tag champions, but that would prove to be incorrect. ½*
Scott Keith: This was a complete mess.
chrisH: Interestingly, two weeks later Cappetta was the ring announcer at Starrcade.
Mike Fitzgerald: Dukes getting beaten up by Badd Company was decent, everything else wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Larry Nelson talks with Kerry Von Erich, who has a mind-blowing epiphany, seemingly on the spot: There’s only one Eiffel Tower, and only one Mona Lisa, so how can there be more than one World champion?
AWA International TV title: Ron Garvin v. Greg Gagne
The title was held up at this point. They slug it out and somehow Gagne is able to go toe-to-toe with Ron Garvin, but eventually they end up on the floor with Greg sending Ron into the post and beating the world’s fastest count at 5:55 to regain his the belt by countout. DUD
JWBraun: Garvin was already wrestling in dark matches for the WWF at this point, which is why the AWA had him drop the title before this match, afraid he wouldn’t show up and lose it here.
Scrooge McSuck: Nice of Greg to job the belt to himself, then never lose it before retiring.
Mike Fitzgerald: Greg Gagne was a solid mid-level wrestler and had a good tag run with Jim Brunzell, but he was never really cut out to be a top star and the fans were starting to actively resent him whenever the AWA tried to push him in that role.
Meanwhile, Jerry Lawler thinks that working the leg against Kerry is a dead end because it’s 100% healed after his motorcycle accident.
$10,000 POWW Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royale:
A little bit of Nina’s what I see.
This is a bunch of two-bit POWW wrestlers, with only Nina (Ivory) and Luna Vachon being worth anything, with the commentary team of Lee Marshall and David McLane calling the action. Long story short, it comes down to Brandi Mae, Luna, and the Terrorist, but Brandi puts Luna out and then starts tearing the catsuit off of the Terrorist. (“They’re yelling for Brandi Mae!” notes David while the crowd is actually chanting “Take it off.”) Terrorist fights to the ropes and puts Brandi over the top to win at 8:50.
Scrooge McSuck: This was an absolute disgrace to women, wrestling, and anyone with an ounce of decency.
JWBraun: Other than that, it was fine.
Boot Camp match: Sgt. Slaughter v. Col. DeBeers
Sarge, who has ballooned to the size of the Hindenburg at this point, warns us before the match that if we can’t stand the sight of pain, we should “go to the refrigerator right now and do what you gotta do.” Slaughter slugs away while Lee talks about the “massive crowd” in Chicago even as you can literally see rows of empty seats behind him. DeBeers puts on a helmet and hits Slaughter in the gut, but he charges and knocks DeBeers’ manager Diamond Dallas Page off the apron by mistake. Then Sarge uses the helmet to headbutt and beat on DeBeers. This sets up the cobra clutch and DeBeers holds on longer than any other human being ever, but Adnan El-Kaissie runs in for what’s supposed to be a DQ, but he’s about two minutes late and they have to call for the bell and call it a submission at 6:00. So then another 2:00 later, Iron Sheik “runs” in and adds to the assault, but the Guerreros make the save and everyone brawls to the back. -** Slaughter does his usual promo afterwards and some guy in the front row yells “Shut up!” during a pause with perfectly timed snark.
Scott Keith: Slaughter was a pathetic shell of his former self at this point, and astonishingly he would be WWF World champion two years later and main event a Wrestlemania! Anyway, this was horrible.
Mike Fitzgerald: The match itself was a pretty lousy brawl, although Slaughter did sell very well.
Meanwhile, Bill Apter presents a plaque to Jerry Lawler for Inspirational Wrestler of the Year.
World Class tag team title: The Samoan Swat Team v. Michael Hayes & Steve Cox
After some initial action, Fatu goes to a nerve hold as Lee lets us know that manager Buddy Roberts demands that his men squeeze Cox some more. Eventually, Hayes gets the hot tag and runs wild, and Cox does a nice dive on Samu while Hayes hits Fatu with the DDT, but Buddy Roberts nails him and puts Fatu on top for the pin at 7:59 to retain. ***
Scott Keith: This was a totally cromulent tag team match, which isn’t surprising since they worked together about a million times that year and could probably do this match in their sleep.
Scrooge McSuck: Not great, but lively. And I didn’t expect Hayes to take the fall.
Mike Fitzgerald: This was really good tag action, as they worked the formula and it ended up being a fun match
Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel v. Manny Fernandez
After Tatsumi Fujinami, the IWGP champion, shows up for no adequately explained reason, Wahoo and Manny start trading chops and the crowd could not care less, which is really sad because Manny was only a year removed from being half of the NWA World tag team champions. And since this is a strap match, they do the same ending they always do in strap matches and battle for three corners before the heel accidentally shoves the babyface into the fourth one for the win at 7:45. * Manny attacks Wahoo afterwards, but Fujinami (“the Japanese champion” according to our announce team) makes the save.
Scott Keith: If you like old guys bleeding, this is your jam.
Manny Fernandez: It was an Indian strap match with Wahoo, so I knew I was going to be peeled like a tomato, and it was brutal. I came out with welts at least a quarter inch off my back.
Mike Fitzgerald: It’s a match where if you like blood and brawling then this will probably provide you some entertainment, but there’s very little actual wrestling going on, so if that’s what you want then you probably won’t enjoy this.
JWBraun: At least we have established that these matches won’t be stopped for blood.
AWA World title v. WCCW World title: Jerry Lawler v. Kerry Von Erich
Lawler immediately rams Kerry’s arm into the turnbuckle, and Kerry bleeds all over. As the match progresses, Kerry is eventually busted wide open, and the referee checks the cut. Frank Dusek, at ringside, gets the line of the match with “He’s from Texas, don’t worry about it!” Kerry charges and goes headfirst into the post to bust himself open further and Lawler uses a phantom object for more damage and all credit to Lawler because he knows EXACTLY how to work this crowd into a frenzy. So he slugs away on Kerry’s eye and does the Ali Shuffle in the corner to rub it in while the crowd gets more infuriated, and he adds another shot with the “object” behind the ref’s back. Kerry makes the comeback with a discus punch, but they both hit each other at the same time and both are down. Kerry gets two off that and goes to the Iron Claw to finish things off, clearly in control and able to see, but the ref calls for the bell at 18:55 and awards the match to the guy unconscious on the mat with his shoulders down, making Jerry Lawler the “unified” champion. ****
Dean Coles: A week before the show, the WWF went to the Illinois State Athletic Commission and tried getting Kerry Von Erich removed, citing a 1920s law preventing anyone with an artificial limb from competing.
Jerry Lawler: Going into the show I thought Kerry was probably going over, and I think he thought he was going over. Eventually, we got together before the match with Verne and everyone, and they were telling us what they wanted us to do, where Kerry basically beat me but I won. And then Kerry was scratching under his arm and forgot about a blade he had taped to his index finger and ripped himself open. Blood started shooting out, and everyone was like, “oh my God!” So they had him come out with his robe on, and I attacked him right away and attacked his arm to make it look like I did it.
MyronB: Von Erich accidentally cutting himself with his hidden blade was so Kerry Von Erich.
Scott Keith: All time stupid finish aside, this was a hell of a match and makes me appreciate the genius of Jerry Lawler all the more.
The Rock N Roll Express v. Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden
After the usual stuff, Ricky gets a hot tag and the RNR hit the double dropkick, but everyone brawls and it’s a double DQ for no particular reason at 7:00. *1/2
Scott Keith: I have no idea why they put this out there to die after the main event and with time running out.
Scrooge McSuck: I don’t see the point of “one more match”, other than to send the fans home happy, but then you give the fans a go home happy match and screw that up too! Way to go.
Final Thoughts:
Scott Keith: You know what, with a brisk pace and a great main event, I’d call this not the worst PPV I’ve ever seen. It’s a trainwreck, but it’s a fascinating trainwreck that’s worth watching as a piece of wrestling history.
JWBraun: The show isn’t the worst, but it’s easy to see why it was a commercial and critical failure.
Michael Fitzgerald: And if that wasn’t bad enough, Verne ended up hoarding any money the show did make, thus angering the other companies and bringing their short-lived alliance to an end.
Greg Gagne: You have to remember, Vince had a pay-per-view going and Crockett group had one going, and they sandwiched us right in-between them. So people spent $39.95 the night before. How are you going to get fans to pay another $24, $25 the next day?
Jerry Lawler: It did as good as it could, but it was almost like our “remember the Alamo” moment. It was our last stand against the WWF and the NWA. And then I never got paid for my match, and I told them I wouldn’t wrestle until I was, so they stripped me of the titles.
Starrcade 88: True Gritt, December 26, 1988
From the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia with Jim Ross & Bob Caudle before a crowd of 10,000
US Tag titles: The Fantastics v. Steve Williams & Kevin Sullivan
This was previously announced as the Fantastics defending the belts against the Sheepherders, but a WWF talent raid changed that plan. As the action goes back and forth, the heel fans in the audience just want to see Dr. Death come in and beat the tar out of people. The Fantastics double-team Williams again as the boos get louder, but Doc cuts off the comeback again and puts Rogers down for more of a beating. Eventually, it’s BONZO GONZO and Fulton pounds away in the corner and gets a sleeper, but stupidly releases it and charges at Doc, walking into a stungun to give Williams the pin and titles at 15:55. **1/2
Jim Ross: This was a damn good opener. Dr. Death was always at his best as a villain, and he’s certainly one of my favorite wrestlers of all time.
Paul Matthews: It was refreshing to see a clean heel victory, and opening the PPV with a title change is a hot way to start the show.
Rock Star Gary: The Varsity Club showed us they would not lose to the pretty boy tag team, a dynamic had run its course in wrestling by this point.
Scott Keith: You can’t say they weren’t given enough time, but the heels were having no part of selling anything for the Fantastics here and the teams just didn’t mesh.
The Midnight Express (Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton) v. The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose)
This was the absolutely brilliant feud that paid off Condrey’s original disappearance the year before, and also introduced Paul E. Dangerously to the national stage. The Original Midnights jumped from the AWA, giving the thing a dangerous “these guys aren’t supposed to be here” edge to it, as they attacked the Midnights on TV and instantly turned Cornette’s team into mega-babyfaces. Eventually Eaton finally misses a blind charge to make him face-in-peril, and it’s the crushing irony of Bobby Eaton having to play Ricky Morton. Dangerously immediately declares victory to the fans at ringside, milking his moment for everything he can. Condrey powerslams Bobby to set up the ROCKET LAUNCHER, but it misses and it’s HOT TAG Lane as these guys have timing run by an atomic clock. Lane & Eaton hit the DOUBLE GOOZLE for the pin at 17:00. ****1/4 It’s the heel beatdown of the century after the win, as even Jim Cornette gets the boots put to him until Bobby finds the tennis racket and cleans house again.
Scott Keith: How the hell could they cut this down to like 2 minutes on the video tape?!? Unbelievable energy from everyone here, as they had a hot angle and ran with it.
Paul Matthews: Cornette and Heyman did a great job of keeping this one entertaining.
Eric Ames: Paul E. Dangerously is the only guy in the world who could make Corny a loudly cheered personality.
JWBraun: Sadly this was the last we’d see of these four going at it as Condrey decided to leave once again.
Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff v. The Russian Assassins
This was supposed to be the reunited Koloffs, but Nikita left the promotion and was replaced by JYD instead. Heel miscommunication allows Dog to come back after a beating, but the Russians load up their masks, switch places, and one of them pins Koloff at 7:00. DUD
Scott Keith: Given that the stipulations were that the Russians had to unmask and Paul Jones had to leave the NWA if the heels won, the finish here was pretty obvious.
Scrooge McSuck: Match was pretty boring, but it was kept short. Koloff would vanish from WCW television shortly after, so this feud never really had a blow off. As if anyone cared.
Jim Ross: I think this match hurt the card. It gave guys work, but it didn’t need to be on the show. With the age of the guys and the shape they were in, they shouldn’t have been booked here.
World TV title: Mike Rotunda v. Rick Steiner
Kevin Sullivan is suspended in a cage here, and this is the blowoff to end all of them, as Rick Steiner had been abused and demeaned by the Varsity Club all year, with the jock heels basically bullying him until he finally stood up for himself and snapped. Lots of long stalls from Rotunda, and it seems like we’re headed for the 20 minute time limit when Steiner makes the comeback with a backdrop and powerslam as Steve Williams joins us at ringside. Belly to belly suplex looks to finish, but Doc rings the bell and Teddy Long thinks that it’s a time limit draw. Luckily, Tommy Young is there to set him straight as Sullivan is released from the cage, and we start again. Steiner rams the Varsity Club together and pins Rotunda to win the TV title at 18:00 (with both referees counting at the same time for a neat visual), drawing a monster pop from the crowd that continues as Steiner runs around the ring with the belt. **1/4
Paul Matthews: This match started slow, but it had a very hot ending. The crowd was rabid for Steiner’s win.
Scrooge McSuck: The reaction to the finish alone means one of two things, or possibly both… the crowd really took a liking to and felt bad for Rick Steiner or they really, really hated Rotunda and Sullivan. It’s amazing how fictional storylines can tug at people like that.
JWBraun: It’s good to see Teddy Long be fair and square, unwilling to let Mike Rotunda and Steve Williams get away with any shenanigans. Hopefully this continues in 1989.
Rock Star Gary: Great story told here as the recently-dismissed Steiner gets his comeuppance against the Varsity Club by beating Rotunda for the TV title.
US Title: Barry Windham v. Bam Bam Bigelow
The usual stuff before Bigelow appears to have Windham pinned only to uncover and make the idiot decision to go up top, missing the flying headbutt as a result. Windham makes the comeback as if he was the babyface, hitting the running lariat and a backdrop suplex. He dumps Bigelow and runs him into the post, and back in for the IRON CLAW. Bigelow falls into the ropes to break, so Windham goes up and misses a flying elbow. Brawl outside again, and this time Windham beats the count back in to retain at 16:30. **
Scott Keith: Boy, that was quite the cop-out finish. I’m thinking Bigelow decided he didn’t want to a job here.
Rock Star Gary: Bigelow was more or less tied to New Japan, so he wasn’t laying down. And from what I could see, the Norfolk faithful saw Bigelow as a WWF guy so most of them rooted for Windham.
Scrooge McSuck: The match had no story to it and a slow pace that never seemed to pick up.
NWA World Tag team title: The Road Warriors v. Dusty Rhodes & Sting
The Warriors had violently turned heel on Dusty and Sting, and this should have been the bloodiest bloodfeud to ever bleed on PPV with super babyfaces Dusty and Sting avenging themselves against monster bully heels the Road Warriors… but it just never found that next level. After some early action, Animal goes to a neckvice and Dusty fights up, but walks into a sleeper from Hawk. Dusty quickly escapes with a jawbreaker and makes the hot tag to Sting, but the crowd is kind of not wanting to cheer or boo either side. Sting dropkicks Animal into the corner and follows with a Stinger splash into the Scorpion, but Hawk breaks it up and tosses Sting. The Warriors double-team Dusty, but Sting comes in with a flying bodypress on Animal, resulting in Ellering pulling out the ref for the DQ at 11:18. **1/2
Scott Keith: You’d think these guys would have some chemistry, but they just didn’t and it was basically a tag match and nothing more. Your thinking blood, chairs, mayhem…but nothing. And a lame finish to boot.
Paul Matthews: It was obvious from the crowd reaction that the Road Warrior heel turn wasn’t working, so it was thankfully dropped fairly soon.
Jim Ross: Listen, the Windham/Bigelow match was a countout, then this match was a DQ. That’s not good booking. And with the story they were telling, the Road Warriors, by hook or by crook, should have beaten Dusty. He needs to drop right to the bottom of the barrel to work his way back up to the top. Instead, he went halfway down the barrel and came back. It didn’t work, and I didn’t like the match. And with the Road Warriors, they weren’t going to beg off, they weren’t going to cheat. So why make them heels? Why should I hate them? Because the company couldn’t figure out what to do with them? The Warriors should have been babyfaces all the way and been used as an attraction. Were they going to have great matches every week? No. But you didn’t need them to.
NWA World title: Ric Flair v. Lex Luger
Some back and forth before Lex slugs away in the corner and we get the Flair Flip, followed by a Luger suplex for two. Flair fires back with chops, which Lex no-sells, and he hits the press slam to set up the seeming end for Flair. Powerslam signals the Rack, but he stops to go after JJ and that’s all Flair needs. He takes Luger down and smashes a chair into his knees (with the ref distracted by JJ of course), and now Luger is in trouble. Flair goes to work on the knee like a surgeon, using all the greatest hits to set up the figure-four. JR is something else on commentary here, perfectly conveying the story and writing off Lex’s chances. Luger uses his last energy to reverse the hold, but Flair goes right back to the leg and drops a knee on it. Then Flair goes up for whatever reason and Luger slams him off, but the exertion hurts the knee further. A powerslam sets up the rack again, but the knee gives out and Flair falls on top for the pin to retain at 30:54. ****1/2
Mike Fitzgerald: Personally I would have had Luger win just due to how amazingly over he was in this and the superman comeback win would have probably given WCW a genuine chance of having their own Hogan level babyface.
Paul Matthews: This was easily Luger’s best match so far. I’m also surprised that they didn’t give Luger the title here, but that’s okay. Flair’s next feud is a legendary one, so I’m okay with him retaining.
Jim Ross: Luger got shortchanged to some degree. If he had been made champion on this night, it would have worked out fine because he was just where he needed to be. But by getting pinned in such an unglamorous way, he never really regained that momentum. But Lex couldn’t wrestle Ric every night. Was he good enough to lead a match and get other wrestlers over like Ric had gotten him over? The answer was no, and so I think the finish went the right way. I had no vote in it, but I agree with it.
Final Thoughts:
Jim Ross: I thought we had a fun show. I give it a thumbs up. I liked the Midnights, Doc, and that last match. Bob and I called it the best we could.
Scrooge McSuck: From top to bottom, a pretty good card, with one exception, and that match was only a few minutes long, so it’s not too big of a concern. While nothing on this show is memorable in one of those lasting images for a best all time kind of thing, there’s some really good tag team wrestling and all of the championship matches with significant importance really delivered.
Paul Matthews: This was a really good show. Almost all of the matches delivered, despite some bad finishes. It was a good way to close out 1988.
Rock Star Gary: Hands down, this is the best wrestling show of 1988. With two ****1/2 matches and some other good ones, this show is an 80s wrestling fan’s dream.