The SmarK Rant for UWF at the Superdome – 06.14.86

The SmarK Rant for UWF at the Superdome – 06.14.86

https://youtu.be/4kX7gMGOsx0?si=oEbKDflpHsiU4oRe

You knew I was gonna be all over this one. Cowboy Bill Watts was betrayed by Eddie Gilbert and beat up by a bunch of dirty Russkies, and you KNOW he’s not gonna stand for that shit.

Taped from New Orleans, LA, drawing a respectable 11,000.

No commentary for this one but it’s pristine video quality.

One Man Gang v. Brett Wayne Sawyer

Sawyer rolls around to evade the Gang to start and then gets goaded into a test of strength, which allows Gang to beat him down in the corner. Gang with a slam and he beats on him with more forearms, giving him a pretty nasty-looking shot to the face before choking him out on the ropes. Gang with the two-handed choke and they fight to the floor, where Gang grabs a chair and beats on him for the DQ at 3:38. This was a whole lot of nothing. ½* Afterwards, Gang beats him down further and adds a 747 splash in the ring.

Robert Gibson v. Baron Von Raschke

So I guess we’ve got overlap with Crockett going here in addition to Watts using the Russians. Robert backdrops the Baron out of the corner and dropkicks him to start before grabbing a headlock. Baron hiptosses out, but misses an elbow before regrouping with a big boot that puts Gibson on the floor. Back in the ring, Baron slugs away and goes to a chinlock. Robert somehow fights out of that, so Baron tosses him and beats on him on the apron, until Robert reverses a slam into a cradle for the pin at 6:54. ½*

Jack Victory v. Koko Ware

Well now we’ve got Jim Ross on commentary! So that’s something. Victory slugs away in the corner, but Koko dropkicks him to the floor. Back in, Jack beats him down and chokes away in the corner, but Koko makes a comeback and then misses a blind charge in his excitement. Jack chokes him out on the ropes and adds a slam before going to the middle rope for an elbow. This brings out Dark Journey to distract Mad Maxxine, , and that allows Koko to roll up Victory for the pin at 4:00. This prompts a catfight between the women, but Koko breaks it up and Dark Journey tosses powder in Maxxine’s face and then kicks her RIGHT IN THE COOCHIE and sends her running away. Well that was sure something. Journey shrieking “YOU WHORE!” while Maxxine is escorted out by Victory is pretty wild stuff for 1986.

The Blade Runners v. The Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts)

Oh my. Michael Hayes calls Eddie Gilbert “Hot Shit” before the match for a big pop, and the brawl is on. Sting and Buddy slug it out in the corner and the ref can’t get control, so he stops the match and tells everyone to settle it down or else he’ll throw it out. So they all calm down and Sting immediately bearhugs Roberts and just keeps hanging onto it. “You’d better get Terry Gordy in there!” notes some helpful redneck at ringside. Over to Rock, and he backdrops Buddy despite being so swole that he can barely bend over at the waist. Back to Sting, who drops an elbow for two. I am SHOCKED that Sting became an elite worker relatively soon after this period because these two guys look greener than grass here. The Blade Runners do a double-team and Gordy has had enough and comes in for another brawl, as we get the sight of Terry Gordy rolling around on the mat and scrapping with the future Ultimate Warrior. Talk about a crazy matchup. They clothesline each other for a double down and the ref finally just stops the match at 5:18 and calls it off. A glorious trainwreck of awful but with a terrible finish. -*

UWF TV title: Terry Taylor v. Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer

This is of course a rematch from that last episode we watched where Taylor won the belt in an upset win as the show was going off the air. Buzz desperately wants a handshake of sportsmanship despite the crowd’s skepticism, and that proves to be well-founded because he attacks Terry and chokes him out in the corner right away. Taylor goes to the arm and works on that, but Buzz puts him down with a backbreaker, which still can’t dislodge the armbar. They criss-cross off that and Taylor gets a bodypress for two, and he goes back to the arm again. Buzz fights out of that, so Terry tries another bodypress and misses this time. That allows Buzz to toss him to the floor to take over. Back in with a suplex that gets two, and Buzz goes to the bearhug. Back suplex gets two. Buzz goes to a bearhug and then drops Taylor with a back suplex, but he goes up and misses a flying headbutt, allowing Taylor to gets a sunset flip to retain at 11:30. A solid match for both guys. ***

Ted Dibiase v. Michael Hayes

Dibiase asserts that PS stands for “Prissy Sissy”, which I somehow doubt. They criss-cross and Hayes runs away from a punch. And we get even more stalling, as Hayes struts around and gets a cheapshot, so Dibiase punches him out of the ring and does his own strutting. So Hayes threatens to leave (oh no please stop don’t go) to kill more time. Back in the ring, Hayes runs Dibiase into the corner to take over, but he misses a kneedrop due to too much strutting. So Dibiase goes to work on the leg off that. Dibiase keeps working a toehold as JR talks about how Dibiase proved himself to be a truly changed man by turning down Akbar’s $50,000 offer. But what if it was a MILLION DOLLAR offer? Hayes gets another cheapshot to take over and they fight to the floor, giving Hayes another chance to take a breather from all this action and do more stalling in the ring. JR notes that a lot of athletes would be maintaining pressure on their opponent, but that’s not Michael’s style. NO SHIT. Hayes with a chinlock and they slug it out, but Hayes runs Dibiase into the turnbuckle and puts the boots to him on the apron. Back in for the bulldog from PS, which gets two. Hayes goes to another chinlock, but Dibiase fights out and makes the comeback. He rams Hayes into the turnbuckles and follows with a backdrop, which sets up the powerslam. And then Terry Gordy runs in, but Dibiase powerslams Gordy and pins HIM at 15:00. That was a pleasant surprise, since it was looking like a DQ finish but turned into Dibiase pinning the UWF World champion instead. And the Freebirds brutalize Dibiase afterwards and bust him open, but Ted loads up the ISOTONER OF DEATH and chases them off. **1/2

Dusty Rhodes, Cowboy Bill Watts & Steve Williams v. Uncle Ivan, Nephew Nikita & Weird Brain-Damaged Cousin Korchenko

Bill Watts is WALKING TALL and he doesn’t put up with Russians and their commie shit. We get the big brawl to start and Doc just beats the crap out of Nikita with punches and a headbutt. The Russians double-team Williams on the ropes, however, and Ivan slugs Dusty down with a chain to immediately bust him open. But then Cowboy cleans house, beats the hell out of Korchenko, and pins him at 3:00. Well that was a disappointing main event. DUD. And of course the American babyfaces clear the ring and stand tall to end the show.

I can see how this would have been a blast live at the time, but for a show today it doesn’t really have a lot to offer. The main event in particular felt like a warmed-over “Cowboy gets his revenge” deal that we had already seen multiple times by then. But hey, it’s only an hour long and they managed to pack a lot into it, so it’s worth a look for yourself.