The SmarK Rant for NWA Great American Bash 85 – 07.06.85

The SmarK Rant for NWA Great American Bash 85 – 07.06.85

I had already done the hour-long PWI edited form of this show called “Ringmasters” a couple of years ago, but this is finally the full version of the show, posted to YouTube by the amazing folks at the Vault.

Taped from Charlotte, NC, drawing 27,000 to the Memorial Stadium

(No commentary for this show, sadly)

https://youtu.be/9nqDfXv9GIY?si=X2MjNYIGlFkji3fO

Buddy Landel v. Cowboy Ron Bass

Buddy immediately runs away before attacking in the corner, but that gets him nowhere and Bass beats on him and sends him packing again. Back in, Bass teases another big punch and Buddy runs away for comfort from JJ Dillon, so this time Bass chases and runs him into the post. Back in, Bass demands a test of strength and then goes to work on the arm, but Buddy fights back with chops and misses a charge. So Bass runs him into the turnbuckles by the shoulder and goes back to the arm again. Finally Buddy dumps him to the floor to escape the relentless armbarring and they fight out there, with Buddy ramming his head into the bell and then choking him out with the camera cable. This is somehow not a DQ, as Sonny Fargo is helpless to do anything but continue the count on both guys. Back in the ring, Buddy with the chinlock while JJ trash talks Bass and gets cheapshot behind the ref’s back, and it’s back to that chinlock again! Buddy misses the corkscrew elbow and Bass comes back with a small package for two, but Buddy goes right back to that chinlock again. And then we’re actually CLIPPED to them fighting on the floor again, so I guess this isn’t actually the “complete” show and we are robbed of Bass fighting out of the chinlock and will never know how it resolved. Back in the ring, Bass makes a comeback and slugs Buddy down before hitting a suplex for two. Bass with an elbow for two and he slugs away on the mat. So Buddy runs away again and Bass chases JJ around the ring before punching Buddy down again until the bell rings for a 20:00 draw, at 15:48 aired. Well they did warn us that the show was missing some stuff for technical reasons. A really dull opener that was mostly chinlocks and Buddy running away. *1/2

National tag team title: The Andersons v. Dick Slater & Buzz Sawyer

Slater and Buzz, somehow huge babyfaces here in 1985, storm the ring and chase Ole & Arn to the floor after winning a brawl. Back in, they try to settle it down and everyone immediately goes berserk again and slugs it out, resulting in the Andersons colliding and Mad Dog beating Ole down and out to the floor. Back in, Sawyer bites Ole’s arm and Arn tells him to chill out before tagging in to take care of the problem himself. But then he turns his back on Sawyer and gets clobbered in a funny spot and the babyfaces go to work on him. Back to Ole, who tries to reason with Sawyer and use holds, but Buzz takes him back to the corner for more abuse from Slater, who comes off the top with an elbow. Elbowdrop gets two and Slater goes for the leg next, but Ole finally manages to haul Slater into the Anderson corner and they start doing their thing. Ole takes him down and bends the arm, but then he goes up and Slater slams him off the top and makes the hot tag to Buzz. Powerslam on Arn gets two, and he follows with a flying forearm, but Ole nails him behind the ref’s back and switches off for the pin at 9:40 to retain. A tremendously fun tag match where they gelled together great. *** And then the ring announcer notes that “Gene and Ole Anderson win on a disqualification” which doesn’t make any goddamn sense. I mean, the least of which is that Gene Anderson wasn’t even in the match!

Superstar Billy Graham, the Barbarian & Abdullah the Butcher v. Sam Houston, Manny Fernandez & Buzz Tyler

Well this is certainly a combination of people. You know it’s the southern US in 1985 because there’s two guys named “Buzz” in unrelated matches. Barbarian gets pinballed around by the babyfaces and Manny chops him in the corner and hits a bodypress out of the corner for two. But then Abby comes in and just demolishes Sam Houston, as Sam goes flying off shoulderblocks and the heels kick the crap out of him. Sam comes back with a bodypress on the Superstar, at which point everyone runs in and Houston cradles Graham for the pin at 7:30, although the camera completely misses it and I had to rewind to catch what happened. **

Nothing much interesting here as far as the match goes, but Buzz Tyler was the Mid-Atlantic champion at this time, and this was his last major appearance in the sport. He vacated the Mid-Atlantic title on the way out of the promotion without dropping it, and then stole the physical belt and held it hostage until Dusty paid him for money he claimed he was owed. I guess Dusty never bothered to pay him, because they made a new belt and Buzz was basically erased from the sport from then on and never returned. Honestly I’m surprised it’s not a bigger story in retrospect.

Dog Collar match: Paul Jones v. Jimmy Valiant

Wouldn’t be a Crockett show without these two going at it. Paul’s good friend and confidante Abdullah the Butcher nails Jimmy before the bell, leaving him at an immediate disadvantage, and Paul goes to work with the chain while Jimmy bleeds all over the place less than a minute into the match. Jimmy sends Paul to the floor and comes back with an elbow in the ring, but he goes for a sleeper and Abby runs in and attacks him. But then Jimmy runs Jones into Abby, drops the big elbow, and gets the pin at 3:51. This was about what you’d expect. DUD

NWA World tag team title: Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev v. The Road Warriors

The Roadies are the AWA tag champs at this point, but only the NWA belts are on the line. The ring announcer mixes up Krusher with Nikita Koloff, which is fair because a lot of bald fake Russians from Minnesota look alike. I wonder if the Kremlin called Barry “Krasnov” as well? Uncle Ivan gets bounced around by the Warriors and Hawk powerslams him for two, so it’s over to Comrade Smash. He does the test of strength with Animal and then they trade shoulderblocks and get nowhere, which is honestly really silly because LOOK AT BARRY. This is not a man who was exactly jacked up in 1985. But still he slams Animal, but before doing flying off a shoulder tackle, and allowing Animal to drop him on the top rope after a couple of attempts. Yikes, that press slam did NOT go well. Ivan comes in and Hawk slams him off the top and puts him down with a chop before dropping a fist for two. And then they cut off the ring, actually tricking the ref into missing a tag from the heels for once and then switching off behind his back. Bet they learned that in the AWA! They double-team Ivan on the ropes and Hawk gets a press slam for two as you can see poor Ivan struggling to go up for it. They keep switching off on him, and then Krusher gets caught trash-talking fans at ringside and misses a chance to tag in. OK that was funny. So they all fight on the floor and finally the Repo Russian gets a cheapshot on Animal from behind and the commies take over. Come to think of it, “Hole in One” Barry Darsow was kind of a gimmick ahead of its time. A former Russian asset who spends all his time golfing and lying about his scores? Kind of genius. Animal takes a beating for a bit and Hawk gets the hot tag and wallops everyone, but they set up for the big finish and Blacktop Bolshevik grabs a chair and triggers a brawl for the double DQ at 14:39. You know there wasn’t gonna be a finish here but the heat was nuclear and it was exactly what it needed to be. **1/2

US title: Magnum TA v. Kamala

Interesting crossover with Mid-South here, as Kamala was running rampant for Bill Watts at this point. Kamala attacks and runs TA into the corner right away, but Magnum hits him with a crossbody and slugs away in the corner to send him running outside. Here’s a thing: What is with all the referees having non-standard uniforms for these shows? Hebner is in normal striped gear like a sane person, but Tommy Young here has an all black outfit, and Sonny Fargo wears some kind of tan suit like a madman. Back in the ring, Kamala cuts him off with chops and a back kick to take over before beating him down and choking him out. TA is bleeding from something, but we know he’s bleeding RED BLOODED AMERICAN BLOOD because he’s AMERICAN. So Kamala takes him down with a boob claw and that gets two while TA learns from his mentor Dusty and sells on the mat for a while to get a break. Kamala is really squeezing that purple nurple good, but Magnum fights out of it and Kamala cuts him off again and chokes him out on the ropes. Kamala misses a blind charge and TA makes the comeback FOR AMERICA and slugs away on the ropes, but Kamala won’t go down, so Akbar runs in for the DQ after three dropkicks at 6:44. Another one you knew wasn’t gonna have a real finish. *. But afterwards, TA slams him and hits his belly to belly suplex to get some heat back.

NWA World title: Ric Flair v. Nikita Koloff

Yes this is the GODDAMN HELICOPTER LANDING ENTRANCE for Flair. A man of the people as always. I don’t know who this ring announcer is, but he needs to never announce in a ring again. I assume some sort of local radio personality. I use the word personality very loosely there. David Crockett is the special referee here, and HE’S got a green polo shirt and tan khakis, just to bug me further. Ric with a takedown for one, but Nikita goes to a headlock and Ric fights him off. So Nikita immediately goes to a lengthy bearhug and beats Ric down for two. Back to the bearhug, but Flair chops him down and hits a backdrop suplex to take over, before going to the figure-four. Nikita quickly powers up and rakes the eyes to escape that, and then takes Ric down with a snapmare for two. Nikita was very very limited at this point and this match was always gonna be 100% depending on Flair to carry it, so luckily he knows exactly what to do in that situation.

Ric fights back with chops and goes for a sleeper, but Nikita runs him into the corner to break and we get a Flair Flip to the floor. Nikita lets him back in and then tosses him out again and runs him into the post, busting him open as the cameraman literally films Ric gigging himself at ringside. Back in, Nikita gets two. Flair beats him down with elbows and more chops, and cradles for two. Flair with a suplex and he drops an elbow for two. Back to the chops as he beats on Nikita in the corner, but Ivan gets a shot from the floor and Ric goes down, allowing Nikita to choke him out to take over again. Ivan gets involved and poor David is bumped as some redneck fan runs in and cops tackle him in a hurry. Flair with a Flip Flip into a flying bodypress for one as Koloff isn’t great at selling that one properly yet, and Flair takes him to the apron to neck him. But then Nikita tries a slam back into the ring and Flair grabs the ropes and falls on top for the pin at 23:30 to retain. The heat was just off the charts for the Russians here, with fans trying to rush the ring because they were so pissed at the Koloffs, and Flair HAD to win the match to cool things off a bit. ***1/2. But then they attack him afterwards and lay him out anyway. The fans are still so riled up and throwing shit that they have to tell everyone to clear the aisles and sent police out there so that the Russians can make it back to the dressing room. Match wasn’t technically great but this was just some of the craziest shit ever from the standpoint of heat.

NWA World TV title, cage match: Tully Blanchard v. Dusty Rhodes

Dusty gets Baby Doll if he triumphs here. And the TV title of course. Unclear what Tully gets should he win, but AHAHAHAHA come on now. Dusty didn’t mastermind a giant stadium show with himself in the main event so he could LOSE, baby. Tully is unable to make any headway with the BOOKERMAN, DADDY, and Dusty takes him down and goes to work on the leg. But he misses an elbow and Tully goes to the chinlock to slow down this raging freight train of excitement before it careens off the tracks. In retrospect, this was a rare misstep of self promotion on Dusty’s part, because there’s no chance they can follow fans storming the ring trying to murder Nikita Koloff in the last match. Tully fights up and Dusty rams him into the cage for some cheese grater action and then slugs him down while Tully retreats to the apron to escape. Tully chokes him out in the corner, but Big Dust slugs him down and hits him with a lariat for two. Dusty with the figure four, but Tully reverses it and still acts like he’s the one in pain before, before finally getting to the ropes to force the break. Dusty puts him down with an elbow, so Tully tries a piledriver and gets backdropped to the apron as a result. So he tries to climb out of the cage, but Dusty follows him up and elbows him down before trying a flying elbowdrop that misses. But then Tully tries to escape again, so Dusty just piledrives him and pins him at 11:20 to win the TV title and Baby Doll and whatever else he wrote into the contract in catering. They had many matches together and they were all the same match and this was one of them. **

Now this is the good stuff! Match quality aside, the atmosphere and vibe here is phenomenal, especially the Russians terrorizing the Crockett promotions at the time. Definitely give this one a watch.