NWA (JCP) Starrcade 1986 (Version II)

Original Airdate: November 27, 1986

From Greensboro, North Carolina & Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver in Greensboro, and Tony Schiavone and Rick Stewart in Atlanta

Opening Match: Don Kernodle and Rocky Kernodle v Tim Horner and Nelson Royal: From Greensboro. This wasn't on the version of this show the original review was done on for whatever reason. Rocky and Royal start off (which I'm pretty sure was also the name of an animated detective show in the early 90s - or, at least, should have been), and trade armdrags. Tags all around, and Don misses a charge in the corner, allowing Nelson a schoolboy for two. They cut the ring in half on ol' Don, but he manages to make a tag while in a sleeper, and Rocky comes in with a flying sunset flip for two, but misses a jumping forearm. Horner cradles him for two, but both guys knock heads during a criss cross, and Don gets the tag with a hanging vertical suplex for two. Backdrop, but a falling headbutt misses, and Horner dropkicks him for two. The Kernodle brothers exchange quick tags, but Rocky ends up getting reversed off a rollup, and pinned at 7:30. Not bad, not good. Just kinda there. ¾* (Original rating: N/A)

Jimmy Garvin v Brad Armstrong: From Atlanta. The referee's rocking one of those long haircuts that somehow make a guy look balder here, ala a young Larry David. Also, his name is apparently Scrappy McGowen, which officially makes him the best thing ever. They fight over lockups for a while, until Brad manages to wrestle him down in an armbar. They trade a bunch of reversals on the mat until Garvin manages to grab a toehold, but Armstrong counters back to an armbar. They trade headlocks and headscissors next, and while this is certainly on the slower side, it should be noted how well the announce team is getting over the psychology of the holds, as opposed to today, where that kind of thing is totally lost on them. They also note the time limit repeatedly, in case you weren't sure where this is going. Garvin escapes a headlock with a side suplex for two, and tosses Armstrong to the floor as things start to pickup with only five minutes left. Brad has the audacity to beat the count, so Jimmy snapmares him for two, then drops him throat first across the top rope for two. Backbreaker gets two, but a criss cross ends in a double knockout spot. Jimmy gets the best of it, but he's still dizzy as he tries a bodyslam, and Armstrong topples him for two - only to run into a knee during a corner charge. That gets Garvin two, with only a minute left. Jimmy tries a sleeper, but Brad escapes, so Garvin hooks an inside cradle for two - reversed by Armstrong for two. Garvin with a bodyslam to setup a flying splash, but Brad rolls out of the way - right as the time limit expires at 15:08. No shocker there, given how mat focused the first ten minutes were. The first two thirds were on the slow side (not bad, just really slow), but things really picked up in the final five minutes. ** (Original rating: ½*)

Hector Guerrero and Baron Von Raschke v Shaska Whatley and The Barbarian: From Greensboro. Ring announcer: 'weighing in a 233 pounds, the very popular, Hector Guerrero!' Big brawl to start, with the faces cleaning house. The dust settles on Guerrero and Whatley, and Hector backdrops him, then hits a 2^nd rope bodypress for two. Dropkick gets two, but he runs into a knee, and Barbarian tags in with a 2^nd rope punch, followed by a drop across the top rope. Blind charge misses, however, and Barbarian goes flying to the outside - Hector on him with a plancha. That triggers another brawl out there, but Guerrero ends up getting double-teamed, and rammed into the post and guardrail. Back in, the heels cut the ring in half on Hector in energetic fashion, but Whatley gets cocky, and Guerrero literally spits in his eye as a counter. Don't see that one everyday. Tag to the Baron, and it's Clawhold time, but Barbarian breaks it up. That triggers a brawl, but Whatley misses a cross corner splash, and Baron pins him at 7:30. This was some wild, wild stuff for 1986, with the Baron taking it easy on the apron, and Guerrero throwing innovative stuff between getting the shit kicked out of him. ** ½ (Original rating: * ¼)

NWA United States Tag Team Title No Disqualification Match: The Russian Team v The Kansas Jayhawks: From Atlanta. Ivan Koloff starts with Dutch Mantel, and goes to work in the corner, but gets reversed on a whip, and backdropped. The challengers trade off with quick tags on Koloff, but Bobby Jaggers ends up getting rolled up for two. God, neither Jaggers (with his belly and pasty loose skin) or Mantel (with his forest of back hair) would ever get a even a passing look from the WWE today. Which is kind of a shame, because while neither looks like an oiled up bodybuilder, both look like they could handle themselves in a legit barroom brawl, and frankly, that's more important than looking good with your shirt off. Tag to Krusher Khruschev, and the Russian's double up on Dutch, but Khruschev telegraphs a backdrop, and gets trapped in the babyface corner. Mantel ends up missing a drop-toehold (of all things) to allow Khruschev to tag back out, but Koloff misses a cross corner charge, and the faces stay in control. A well timed bit of cheating leaves Mantel on the outside, however, and Khruschev rams him into the announce table, then drops him crotch first onto the rail. Back in, the Russian's cut the ring in half on Dutch, but Jaggers takes advantage of the no DQ stipulation, and comes in to help out. The referee desperately tries to restore order, but it's no DQ, so no one gives a shit, and in fact, Mantel ups the ante by bringing a fucking bullwhip into things. He cleans house, but the Russian's retaliate by using a chain on Jaggers to retain at 7:51. Hey, Mantel shot first. Energetic stuff here. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel v Rick Rude: From Greensboro. Four corner rules apply here. Rude wastes time posing at the get-go, so McDaniel tags him with the strap to turn his attention to the match. Tug-of-war goes Rude's way, but he gets reversed into the ropes, and choked down with the strap. Rude tries a headlock, but McDaniel escapes, so Rick wraps the strap around his fist, and slugs him down instead. Bodyslam, and he tries for the corners, but only gets two before McDaniel slugs him down, and chokes him in the corner. Big knife-edge chop allows Wahoo to try for the corners, but Rude cuts him off after three, and delivers a nice flying kneedrop. He tries for the corners, but McDaniel is still showing signs of life, so Rick heads back up to finish him off, but McDaniel uses the strap to pull him down - knocking Rude out for a trip to all four corners at 9:05. Yo, Wahoo - no means no! Knocking a guy out and forcing him on a trip against his will? That's just rude. Strap matches are almost always very limited in terms of how much the guys can do, and this wasn't an exception. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

NWA Central States Title Match: Sam Houston v Bill Dundee: From Atlanta. Dundee looks like he doesn't know where he is at the bell. He also looks like Verne Gagne in a jet black wig. Sam takes advantage by wrestling him down, but Bill manages a side-headlock, so Sam whips him into the corner, and brings him down to earth with a headscissors takedown. Sam with a pair of armdrags and a dropkick to send Dundee fleeing for the ropes, but he manages to get the best of the next exchange, and ground Houston in a hammerlock. Sam chops his way free and goes back to the side-headlock, so Dundee tries a side suplex, but Sam counters with a rollup for two - reversed by the challenger for two. Dundee dumps him to the floor for a ram into the apron, but ends up taking a bump into the crowd off of an atomic drop. Houston uses the top rope as a slingshot to bring Dundee back in for two, but he runs into a well placed boot in the corner, and Bill delivers a flying splash for two. Snapmare sets up a chinlock, and Dundee unloads a series of rabbit punches for two. Boston crab, but Houston won't quit, so Bill tosses him to the floor, then plants a flying axehandle for two on him as he climbs back in. Mat-based front-facelock, but Houston fights free in the corner, and backelbows him down for two. Bodyslam sets up a kneedrop, but Dundee dodges, and works the leg. Figure four, but Sam shoves him into the corner to block - causing his boot to come off in Dundee's hands. Bill turns around and blasts him with it, but gets disqualified in the process at 10:21. This was okay, but felt a bit stilted. * ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Hair v Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant v Paul Jones: From Greensboro. Manny Fernandez is suspended in shark cage for this one - which he vocally objects to, but is forced into by a bunch of babyfaces. I should write another book, just on how much I hate Jimmy Valiant's act. I do like that his valet (Big Mama) is referred to as "Big Mama" with quotation marks on the on-screen graphics, as if that's allegedly her name, or something. Valiant attacks and destroys him at the bell, but Jones pulls an object out of his tights to takeover. Bunch of shots with that are worth two counts, but an attempt at an Indian deathlock is blocked, and Valiant grabs a sleeper. Jones goes for his weapon, but Valiant gets it away from him, and knocks him out for the pin at 4:00. Uh, yeah. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Street Fight: Ron Garvin v Big Bubba Rogers: From Atlanta. Hey, that Garvin fella looks a shit-ton like Miss Atlanta Lively, doesn't he? Both guys size each other up in the early going, sticking and moving with jabs. Garvin's got his work cutout for him there - Bubba is a lot to size up here. Art Donovan would be freaking out right now. Garvin peppers him with punches to put Bubba on the outside, and he tries a front-facelock as the big man lumbers back in. Ron chokes him with his own suspenders, but that's the line, and Bubba starts freaking out - beating Garvin bloody for a few near knockouts. Bodyslam sets up a splash for two, so Garvin finds some cable, and chokes him down with it. He tries tying Bubba up with it ('like a Thanksgiving turkey,' per the announcers), but there's not enough rope in the world, and Bubba hugs him like a bear. Garvin uses a series of headbutts to escape, and a series of punches send Bubba flying out of the ring. Ron follows him out for more rabbit punches, and he slams Bubba off the top rope for two as they re-enter. He then makes the stupid decision to try and piledrive Bubba, and nearly breaks his neck doing so. Well, that was pretty reckless. Jim Cornette apparently agrees, and decides to whack him with his tennis racket in retaliation - leaving both down for the ten count. The referee doesn't want a draw, however, so the first man up wins it. Garvin stirs first, but Cornette bops him with the racket again while Bubba distracts the referee, and Rogers gets the win at 11:50. Took a while to get going, but even once it did, it was all punch-kick, and not particularly exciting. ¼* (Original rating: ½*)

NWA Television Title First Blood Match: Dusty Rhodes v Tully Blanchard: From Greensboro. Tully tries to wear amateur style headgear for the match, but the referee isn't having it. He tries having JJ Dillon rub half a jar of Vaseline on his face next, but the referee is wise to that one as well. Finally, Dusty has enough, and takes JJ out with an overhead elbowsmash (Dillon actually doing a nasty bladejob off it to establish that it can draw blood), and Blanchard is terrified. Lots of stalling as Dusty threatens him with the elbow - which is totally entertaining if only because Dusty is so unbelievably charismatic. Dusty finally catches him long enough to plant a headbutt on him, and he goes after the leg to try and prevent Blanchard from running again. Into the corner, Rhodes unloads, but Tully covers up, so Dusty suckers him into the overhead elbowsmash! It doesn't draw blood, however. He keeps after the leg, but Blanchard manages to escape to the floor to take a breather. Back in, Blanchard manages a snapmare, and he claws at Dusty's face, but doesn't draw blood. Rhodes slugs him down and unloads a turnbuckle smash, but a vertical suplex takes out the referee along the way, and he doesn't see Dusty bust Blanchard open with another elbowsmash. The lack of referee allows JJ to clean the blood off Tully's face as Rhodes works to revive him, and Blanchard blasts Dusty with a roll of coins to draw blood at 8:41. Not much as a match, but entertaining due to the personalities involved, and good development of the psychology of the gimmick. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Skywalkers Scaffold Match: The Road Warriors v The Midnight Express: From Atlanta. First team to knock the others off the scaffold win. The Express are reluctant to get started, so the Warriors give them a helping hand, and hammer away. The Express use handfuls of powder to turn the tide, and Bobby Eaton tries to pull Animal off, but can't manage it. Eaton swings down off Animal's leg to try and weigh him down, but quickly abandons that particular strategy. Yeah, I'm gonna say that plan was a tad flawed. The Warriors slug back to bust both Midnight's open, and all four guys fight underneath the scaffold - swinging like monkey bars. The Express don't last long there, however, as the Warriors kick them off in short order at 7:07. Obviously a legendary match (or, well, at least it used to be - I don't know if kids today talk about this one the way they did when I was growing up), and it's entertaining from a novelty standpoint, and certainly works in the context of the feud, but there's not much here as a wrestling match. This is also probably the best Scaffold Match in history, if only because (while still limited) everyone involved worked really hard to make it as entertaining as possible, and to sell the danger as much as possible. ½* (Original rating: *)

NWA World Tag Team Title Cage Match: The Rock 'n' Roll Express v The Minnesota Wrecking Crew: From Greensboro. Robert Gibson starts with Ole Anderson, and uses his speed advantage to dodge him, but runs into a double-team. Tag to Arn Anderson, but he fails to keep control in the corner, and Robert bounces him off the cage a couple of times. Cross corner high knee misses, however, and Arn immediately pounces on the leg like a good Horsemen. The challengers take turns working the leg, as I wonder why they didn't just go all-in with the concept, and call Ricky Morton 'Ricky Fender,' or something? The Crew wreck the knee as they cut the ring in half, but Gibson manages to throw an enzuigiri to escape Ole's grip, and make the tag. Morton comes in hot, but runs into a double-team, and Ole launches him into the cage a few times to take the pep out of his step. Snapmare gets two, as the Crew begin to cut the ring in half on their new victim - targeting the wrist. Ricky manages to gut-punch Arn during a 2^nd rope axehandle attempt, and he follows with a DDT, but Ole cuts off the tag, and throws him into the cage for getting uppity. Shoulderbreaker gets two, and Ole tries for a submission with a stepover wristlock, but Ricky won't give in. Arn with the spinebuster to finish, but Morton kicks out at two. Ole with a flying high knee, but Ricky fights his way out of a headvise - only to have the tag cutoff again at the last possible moment! Great timing there! Ole tries a slam, but Ricky manages an inside cradle for two, and we have a four-way brawl - Gibson dropkicking Morton onto Ole for the pin at 19:03. Tremendous heel tag team psychology from the Anderson's here, excellent selling from Ricky Morton (as usual), and great timing all around - though I've cooled on this one significantly since the initial review. ** ¼ (Original rating: *** ¾)

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Nikita Koloff: From Atlanta. Dramatic stare down to start, and Koloff easily shoves him around during the first few lockups - sending Flair to the outside to regroup. Back in, Ric tries a test-of-strength, but only to sucker Koloff into a barrage of chops in the corner - all promptly no-sold. Flair's bug-eyed reaction followed by a calm hop out of the ring and over the rail is something to behold. Back in, the champ tries a hiptoss, but gets reversed, and Nikita bodyslams him a couple of times to make sure he gets the point. Ric keeps stupidly trying to play a power game with Koloff but ends up trapped in a bearhug. He manages to dodge a corner charge and hit a hanging vertical suplex, but Koloff no-sells, so Flair wisely takes a breather on the floor. Back in, Koloff grabs a standing side-headlock, but Ric kidney punches him into the corner for a series of chops - this time adding an eyerake to make sure Koloff sells. Koloff goes back to power, but gets overzealous as he tries to sway the momentum, and goes flying over the top rope on a missed Russian Sickle. Flair capitalizes by posting and clipping his knee on the way back in, and the locks on the Figure Four - with help from the ropes, of course. Koloff still manages to reverse, but Ric's in the ropes to quickly break. Flair keeps after the leg, but Koloff starts no-selling him again (looking like a can of tarter sauce in the process), and the Russian starts throwing shoulderblocks with reckless abandon again, so Ric just casually sidesteps him, and lets him go flying out of the ring again. He follows him out for a bash into the scaffold to bust Koloff open (doing a really obvious bladejob), and back in, a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Side suplex gets two, so Ric starts working the cut, but Koloff no-sells him, and hits a bodyslam. Hiptoss and a cross corner whip leave Flair flipping to the floor, and he gives the champ his own blood drawing trip into the scaffold. Weak bladejob from both guys tonight - so tame that if this were today, I'm not even sure the referee would bother pulling out the latex for it. The referee goes down as they criss cross on the way back in, and Koloff manages the Sickle for a visual pinfall. He drags the official back in, but that allows Flair to recover with a high knee for two. Sickle, but Flair ducks, and Koloff takes out the referee with it. He chokes Flair in the corner, but gets too handsy with the referee when the official tries to step in, and the match is ruled a no contest at 19:12. Though I still hate the bullshit finish, the match itself was solid, with Flair selling like crazy for Koloff throughout. ** ¼ (Original rating: *** ½)

BUExperience: What I find most interesting about doing this V2, is that I upgraded pretty much everything on the undercard, but was significantly less impressed with the top matches this time around. Overall, for a four hour show, this has a solid card, and is entertaining throughout.

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