The SmarK Rant for NWA Worldwide – 02.04.89

The SmarK Rant for NWA Worldwide – 02.04.89

OK one more 89 Worldwide to catch up with and then we can start doing these for the same timeframe as 89 Superstars.  .

Taped from Albany, GA, I think?

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & David Crockett

Eddie Gilbert v. Max Macgyver

Kind of a nothing squash as Eddie finishes with the Hotshot at 2:00, although the most notable thing was Max taking the bump on the top rope weird and nearly falling out of the ring before landing back inside and getting pinned.

Abdullah the Butcher v. Keith Steinborn

Al Perez is with Abby, which throws off my timeline because Perez quit the NWA a couple of weeks before this show aired. The Butcher chops Steinborn down and drops the big elbow on him for the pin at 1:30. I guess he’s supposed to be a heel but the announcers are talking about him teaming with the Road Warriors to face the Varsity Club. And he’s got Al Perez in his corner. So I have no earthly idea where they were going with this and Abdullah probably didn’t either. Also I wouldn’t wanna be the guy who had to try to explain it to him.

Meanwhile, Magnum TA talks with Paul E about the impending six-man at Chi-Town Rumble, where the loser of the fall has to leave the NWA and he’s risking getting sent out of the promotion. But Paul is obsessed with Cornette’s demise, and he knows that Rose and Condrey can handle themselves just fine but it’s always the managers who do the jobs in these matches. Last time, he beat Cornette to within an inch of his life, and this time he’s going the WHOLE INCH.

Butch Reed v. Randy Hogan

Yes, it’s famous jobber Randy Hogan, who has a very familiar look to him, brother. Another sign of taping way in advance because JJ was gone by this point but he’s ringside with Butch here. Reed chokes Hogan down, brother, and backdrops him to set up the flying clothesline to finish at 1:10.

Meanwhile, Magnum chats with Reed and JJ, and the first target is Sting.

The Brothers Windham v. Mike Jackson & Mark Collins

The Windhams blitz the ring and Barry hits Collins with a lariat, superplex, and then Kendall comes in with a bulldog to finish at 1:07. Thank God Kendall at least tied back his hair so he doesn’t look like a human Q-Tip anymore. He just looks more like a counterfeit Barry.

The Windhams join Tony afterwards and Barry notes that Blackjack taught them to finish the job if need be, and the new Four Horsemen promise to take care of the Ricky Steamboat problem. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure Kendall is an expert on doing jobs already.

Meanwhile, the Road Warriors use Old Spice stick deodorant and so should you! Honestly I don’t think I’d want to smell like Hawk given the places he hung out.

Al Perez v. George South

Perez takes him to the floor and drops him on the railing, and back in for a back elbow. South misses a blind charge while Tony notes we’re going to be seeing great things from Perez all through 1989. Well aside from the fact he already quit the promotion before this show even aired, sure. Helicopter slam finishes at 1:20 and thankfully this would be the last we’d see of Al as far as I know.

Meanwhile, Magnum talks with Ricky Steamboat, who is back in the NWA and coming after Ric Flair’s World title. He thinks Ric might be a little insecure, in fact. Newcomers coming in, oldcomers going out. Is oldcomers a word? Guess it is now.

Kevin Sullivan & Mike Rotunda v. ???

Not familiar with these jobbers, but Kevin tosses one of them around and Mike hits a backdrop driver on the other one. Kevin takes them both to the floor and hits them with chops. Back in, Rotunda with an elbow drop and Kevin double-stomps the other guy and sets up Rotunda for a butterfly suplex to finish at 2:34.

Eddie Gilbert joins Magnum and he’s really fired up about the Windhams, which logically should have led to him getting the US title shot against Barry Windham at the PPV. But, as always, Eddie gonna Eddie and they went with Luger instead.

Michael Hayes, Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff v. The Russian Assassins & Paul Jones

Although Nikita Koloff could pull off beloved Russian babyface, Ivan could not. Some people should not be good guys. Hayes works the arm on #2 and slugs him down to block a leapfrog, and it’s over to #1. Hayes hits him with the famous Michael Hayes Left Hand and demands Paul Jones enter the ring, but Paul obviously saw the interview with Paul E. earlier about how managers always do the jobs in six-man matches. Dog and Ivan go to work on #1 and Ivan goes for the mask, but Ivan goes into the enemy corner and gets beat up as a result. So Paul Jones finally comes in and gets a couple of shots in, because really he needs the Boogie Woogie Man to be involved in order to really get motivated to participate. Dog gets a hot tag and puts everyone down with headbutts, and Paul gets tagged in and pinned by the Dog at 5:20. See, Paul Heyman proves to be a prophet again!

Meanwhile, Ric Flair is still pretty worked up about this Ricky Steamboat stuff.

Steven Casey v. ???

Not sure of this jobber’s ID either, and Casey gets some generic babyface offense and pins him with a legsweep at 1:40. Casey got a bit of a push in early 89 and then settled into his more familiar role of losing all the time once the bookers remembered why they hired him.

The Varsity Club joins Tony to end the show, with Kevin Sullivan talking about his travels to the Far East and getting strapped to the Tree of Woe, which means he’s not afraid of Abdullah the Butcher and fear is no longer in his vocabulary. Also he knows that Abdullah is afraid of voodoo and he’s gonna use that against him if need be. Rotunda: “How many U of M graduates do you know that talk to their hands?” Tony: “I don’t know many Michigan graduates to tell you the truth.” And with that, we’re done for the week.

The weird transitional period from Big Dust to George Scott continues, with guys appearing on TV after they’re gone from the promotion, plus heels teaming with babyfaces and a few directions that didn’t go anywhere, but at least Kendall looked a bit more comfortable as a heel this week. So there’s that.