- NWA WrestleWar 1989 has always been said to feature one of
the greatest (if not THE greatest) match of all time between Ric Flair and
Ricky Steamboat. Lets see how it holds up in the HITMAN383 Rant for NWA
WrestleWar 1989! (This was originally written in 2000)
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to let YOU, the readers, pick the next HITMAN383 Rant!
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- BTW, I use this system: ***** - Excellent, **** - Great,
*** - Good, **- Okay, * - Decent, DUD - Awful.
- Live from Nashville,
Tennessee.
- Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle.
- Opening Match: The Great Muta vs. Doug Gilbert:
This was supposed to be Muta/JYD, but I don’t think anyone complained about the
change. Muta catches Doug with a swift kick to start, and then another to
follow. He tosses the fat ass to the floor, and posts him. Muta is just an
iceman here. Back in, and Gilbert hits a series of cross bodies, knocking Muta
out. Back in, Muta hits a stiff elbow and the handspring elbow. Muta catches
him with a backbreaker, and goes for the moonsault (making the crowd hot) but
misses (still landing on him feet!) Doug bails, so Muta slingshots out after
him, and then hits his sweet moonsault for the pin at 3:07. Squash, **. (How
the hell does a three minute squash warrant two stars? Like, yeah, it was a
really energetic squash, but let’s keep our pants on, 2000 Me)
- Butch Reed vs. Ranger Ross: They wrestle around to
start, and a criss cross leans to a Ross hip toss. Another criss cross leads to
a shot to the gut (called “Martial Arts Blow” by (Jim) Ross), and he dumps
Reed out. He rolls him right back in, but Butch catches him with a kick to the
chops. He hits a vertical suplex, and heads up for a flying shoulderblock
getting the pin at the 2:20 mark. Nothing match, DUD.
- Bullrope Match: Dick Murdoch vs. Bob Orton: Murdoch
is announced as “Captain Redneck.” What a dumb gimmick, but it’s the NWA so, ya
know. (Yeah, as opposed to those crazy awesome WWF gimmicks like Mantaur or The
Goon. Also, it wasn’t really a ‘gimmick,’ per se, but more a nickname)
This is basically a strap match type affair, but going for a pin, not four
corners. Orton takes the Redneck down with an elbow, and goes up, but Dick
pulls him off and hog-ties him. How exciting. The redneck fans liked it,
however. He drops a couple elbows, and then pins Bob at 1:05. I’m not sure if
it was clipped, but it sucked, that’s for sure. (Clipped down from about five
minutes) DUD. Afterwards, Orton hangs him.
- The Dynamic Dudes vs. The Samoan Swat Team: The
Swat Team are the Headshrinkers. Johnny Ace starts with Fatu (Rikishi), and
they do a couple of false lock ups. Fatu takes control, but gets slammed, and a
brawl breaks out. The tape cuts to Fatu powerslamming Ace for two, and tagging
Samu. He gets the famous Samoan nerve hold on, and that eats up a few minutes.
Ace breaks, and actually successfully smashes Samu’s head to the mat. He tries
to tag, but gets stopped, and Samu gets him in a Boston Crab. What a boring
match. He finally tags out, and Shane Douglas (as a pretty boy?) dropkicks
everybody. A criss cross stops him effort though, as Samu kills him. Fatu hits
a great top rope splash for two, saved by Ace, and then Shane gets a fluke
crossbody for the three count at 5:30. Big, big pop for that. Nothing match,
¾*.
- NWA US
Title Match: Lex Luger vs. Michael Hayes: Luger was MEGA-over as a babyface
here. Lex threatens to punch Hayes to start, which gets the crowd pumped. Man,
wrestling fans used to pop for ANYTHING back then, didn’t they? Hayes gets a
side headlock (talk about a hot start), and hits a cross body for two. Back to
the headlock. A criss cross leads to a crappy Hayes Russian leg sweep for two,
and then Lex punches him in the chest, earning a big pop. See what I mean?
Luger slaps him, and a slugfest ensues, won by Luger, and he backdrops him.
Mike bails, as is his style. He poses a bit, and then rams Luger to all the
corners. He hits a flying clothesline, and tries the DDT, but Lex pulls back.
Hayes bails once again. I hate Hayes. He finally comes back in, and Luger uses
an arm-bar for the hell of it. Bum. A criss cross leads to a Luger backbreaker
for two, and he goes back to the arm-bar. Lex no sells a clothesline, and kills
Mickey getting some big pops. He tries a flying bodypress, but Hayes moves, and
Lex takes a nice bump to the floor, over the top. Michael follows out and
pounds him, then hits a suplex to get him back in for two. He goes to the
chinlock to follow, being such a great wrestler. Once he breaks it, he hits a
bulldog for a series of two counts, then heads right back to the chinlock.
Michael tosses Luger to the floor, where Luger takes some abuse from Hayes’s
manager. Back in and Mike drops an elbow for a series of twos. Back to the
chinlock. Hey Hayes, YOU SUCK! Lex makes a comeback, throwing Hayes across the
ring off a bulldog attempt. Nice spot there. He beats on Mike, and hits a
clothesline for two, and a big press slam. He hits another, and then a third.
Go, Luger, Go! He calls for the rack, but Hayes escapes and hits his DDT! They
struggle to their feet, and Hayes knocks Luger over, but is too hurt to cover.
Terry Gordy runs out, and pushes Mike on top of Luger, and holds Lex’s foot off
the bottom rope to allow Mike the pin, and the title, at 16:23. Not a good
match, by any means, but still decent. **. Luger would win the title back not
long after.
- NWA TV Title Match: Sting vs. The Iron Sheik: They
make a special point to introduce the Sheik as “former worlds champion” so when
Sting beats him everyone will know he pinned a former WWF title holder. The
Sheik jumps him from behind, and chokes him with a towel, but Sting starts no
selling. He pounds the Sheik, and follows suit by choking HIM with the towel.
The Sheik comes back, and hits a gutwrench suplex for two, and takes it to
Sting. Sting has enough of this crap, and hits the Stinger Splash, and then
hooks the Deathlock for the win at 2:19. Another squash, but the crowd loved
it. DUD.
- NWA World Title Match: Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair:
And THIS is why we’re all here. Flair, being Flair, brings forty women out with
him, and Steamboat brings his wife and kid. Good thing Bill Watts isn’t
booking, of Ricky would get fired. (Heh) This match also has three
judges at ringside, giving their views every twenty minutes incase there is a
time limit draw. The judges are Lou Thesz, Pat O’Conner, and Terry Funk. They
start off slow, in a feeling out process, and a criss cross leads to a
Steamboat hip toss. They trade slaps in the corner, and Ric backs down to the
Dragon. Ric gets him to the corner, and hits some absolutely crazy chops, but
Steamboat comes back with his own, beating Ric all around the ring. Even the
ref. is flinching from those shots. Ricky hits a backdrop, and Flair bails to
the floor. Back inside, and they fight over an overhead wristlock. You must be
thinking, “Wrist lock … boring!” But Flair and Steamboat make it work. Big
time. Steamboat goes to work on the arm, with an arm-bar, but again, it isn’t
boring. Flair utilizes a drop-toe-hold to try to escape, but it’s STEAMBOAT so
he gets him back on the mat! Flair gets desperate to break, so how do you knock
over a big tree? CHOP it down. Flair does so, but Steamboat WILL NOT let off,
and keeps on the wristlock. He finally breaks, after a series of stiff forearm
shots, and pounds the Dragon. Steamboat comes back with his chops, and Flair
flops from it. Back to the arm-bar. Good psychology, setting up the move he won
the title with, the chicken wing. They also keep it interesting, so we, the
fans don’t get bored during the psychology portion. Ricky dropkicks him to the
floor, but Flair plays dirty to comeback. It backfires as Steamboat does his
famous arm-drags, and into the arm-bar. Criss cross leads to a big Flair hip
toss, but he misses an elbow, so the Steamer goes back to the arm-bar. Flair
uses everything he has to break out, and then hammers the Dragon. You know, you
don’t know how to appreciate this match until you’ve reviewed it. Just watching
it doesn’t do it justice. They trade chops, which is something that they should
be arrested for, considering the viciousness. Steamboat will not quit, and
pounds Flair in the corner with a ten-punch count. He gets Ric in the Tree of
Woe off a Flair flip, but Ric escapes, and tosses the Dragon over the top. He
lands by the rail, and some dumb-ass fan keeps pushing him. Lousy rednecks. As
the Dragon tries to crawl back in Flair stiffly kicks him in the head, and
chops him into the crowd. Back in the 80’s, however, fans were really calm, and
don’t go psycho like they would today when a wrestler crosses the rail. I mean
here they don’t even need security. (Interestingly, now it’s sort of swung back
around again on that front) Steamboat chops his brains out on the
floor, and then runs him back in for some serious ass whooping. He hits what
Ross calls a “Judo Chop” (so THAT’S where Mike Myers got it from), and goes
back to the arm-bar. The Dragon tries a crossbody, but misses, and falls to the
floor, over the top. Ouch. Flair drags him back in, and hits a shin drop. He
chops Ricky like crazy, but Steamboat just won’t stay down! Flair hits a big
side suplex for a series of two counts, and Ricky keeps coming. Flair hits
another shin drop, and a butterfly suplex for two. Flair with a big elbow for
two, and it’s now officially the “Flair” portion of control for the match. He
hits a stun gun on the Steamer, and covers, but Steamboat is in the ropes. It
spills outside, and Flair suplexes him on the floor. Back in, and Steamboat
gets a near fall off a roll up. A criss cross leads to a Flair cross body, and
both men topple over the top to the floor. This is just non-stop action. Ricky
slams him off the top, in a great bump, and Flair is dead. Steamboat hits a
ten-punch count (to big pops), and hits a backdrop. Steamboat gets another near
fall on another roll-up, and superplexes Flair! He hooks the chicken wing (the
move he won the belt with), but Flair makes the ropes before it’s fully on. The
Dragon goes up stairs and connects with a big chop, and tries again, but this
time Flair shakes the ropes, and Steamboat beats Jeff Hardy by ten years and
falls all the way to the floor. Ouch. He crawls back in, selling the injury,
but Flair is a shark and goes right to the bad knee. He hits a hanging vertical
suplex, and keeps the hurt on the knee. Flair hooks the figure four (driving
the crowd mad), and Steamboat does the usual great sell-job. He eventually
makes the ropes (to a big pop), and Flair kicks at the knee. More chops by
Flair. Steamboat fights with his own chops, but Flair won’t stop pounding the
knee, so Ricky hits an enzuguri. He tries a slam, but Flair rolls through for
the pin, and the title, at 31:38. Oh. My. G-D. Afterwards Steamboat raises
Flair’s arm, showing great sportsmanship. This was a classic. And you can’t
really appreciate it until you actually review it. Just watching it, I thought
it was good, but not great, but reviewing it, it’s easily *****, and one of the
best matches I’ve ever seen. (No
doubt that it’s a great match, but I wouldn’t go the full monty on it. **** ¼.
And yes, I know most everyone would (and do) disagree with me there, but I
state my case on that front in the BUExperience for this show, and I stand by
it)
- Afterwards, Terry Funk comes in to congratulate Flair on
his new title, and kiss his ass. Flair is grateful, and then Funk makes a
challenge to Flair’s world title. Flair tells him, rightly, no because he isn’t
a contender and hasn’t been in a while. That pisses Terry off greatly, and he
attacks Flair on the floor, giving him big time beating. He then piledrives him
onto the judges table, and smashes his head with a chair which “broke his neck”
and set up the big angle of 1989 to be blown off at Great American Bash 1989.
Oh Yeah!
- NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Varsity Club vs.
The Road Warriors: I don’t see why we need anything after that title bout.
This should have been earlier. (Yeah, really, in what world does
Flair/Steamboat not close this show? And, it’s not like they weren’t expecting
a classic… this was already the rubber match of the legendary series) A
4-man brawl to start, which the Warriors easily win. Nikita Koloff is the ref.
for this, BTW. Williams officially opens with Animal, and manager Kevin
Sullivan gets in Koloff’s face, so Nikita evicts him from the building. Mike
gets tagged in, and a criss cross leads to a dropkick. He tries a flying bodypress,
but Animal hits a powerslam for one, as Williams comes in. Both men tag, and
Williams slams him. He misses an elbow so Hawk slams him and Steve bails. Hawk
hits a nice flying clothesline on the floor, but misses a charge and hits the
post. Williams works the now bad arm on the floor, and they head back in. Steve
keeps the hurt on the arm, and they do a double clothesline spot. Both men tag,
and Animal hits an atomic drop, and is a house of fire. He hits a shoulderblock
for two, and a 4-man brawl erupts. Mike flies to the floor, and the Warriors
hit the Doomsday Device on Williams, but out runs Dan Spivey to attack Koloff!
Another 4-way breaks out, which the Warriors win, and Nikita awards to bout to
the LOD by DQ in about 6:00. Not a classic or anything, but not boring either.
* ½.
- Main Event, NWA U.S. Tag Team Title Match: Rick
Steiner and Eddie Gilbert vs. The Varsity Club: This time it’s Sullivan and
Spivey. For those wondering where Scott Steiner is, he would make his PPV debut
at the NEXT PPV, the Great American Bash. A 4-man brawl opens, and Dan hurts
Rick as Eddie takes it to Kevin. Slugfest between Kevin and Eddie, won by
Kevin, and Dan tags in. Gilbert bails as a result to check on the injured Rick.
Back in Spivey works him over, as Sullivan gets cheep shots on Steiner. Eddie
keeps trying to check on Rick, but Dan keeps stopping him, allowing Kevin more
shots. Dan hits a chokeslam, and a dropkick, followed by an overhead
backbreaker. This is just a squash at this point. Spivey with a sidewalk slam
for two, and a big boot. I’m surprised the fans haven’t walked out yet here.
Dan with a Bossman slam for two, and he tags Sullivan. Kevin slaps him around,
so Rick runs in and nails him, allowing Gilbert a roll up on Kevin for the pin
at 6:51. Eh. *. Afterwards, the Varsity Club assault the U.S. Champions.
- Bottom Line: This is a damn bad show. I mean, it’s
overall just a bunch of squashes with a surprise U.S. Title change. Until Flair
and Steamboat came along. These two saved this whole show from sucking (and did
a great 30-minute job of it) but it still is a stinker of a card.
- Mildly Recommended, if you look at it as an entire
card. (Definitely a one-match-show. But what a match!)
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