NWA (JCP) at American Legion Memorial Stadium (July 5, 1986)

Original Airdate: July 5, 1986

From Charlotte, North Carolina

Opening NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Denny Brown v Steve Regal: Cool outdoor stadium vibe here, though the layout is so weird. Like, they fill the bowl (or, well, mostly), but the seats on the field are only limited to a few rows on each side of the ring. It looks fine in tight shots, but when they go wide, it looks dinky. Also, before the bout, we get a skydiving demonstration, with a team of skydivers parachuting into the stadium. They measure each other to start, and into a feeling out process, full of old school heat tactics from Regal. Basic, yeah, but great, and never gets old when used appropriately. Brown fights through all of Regal's bullshit and dominates with a headlock, so Steve tries whipping him into the ropes, but Brown is ready with a bodypress for two. Denny goes back to the headlock, so Regal tries rolling it into a cradle, but Brown keeps getting a shoulder up at two. Back to the headlock, but Regal manages to use the hair to counter to an armbar this time. Again, great and heat generating, but so simple. Brown forces a criss cross, but eats an elbowsmash for two (weird spot, as it looked like they were on different pages, and Brown sold the move before Regal even hit it), and Regal works a chinlock. Brown fights free, and manages to throw a shoulderblock, but a second one gets blocked with a knee from the challenger. Regal with a vertical suplex for two, but he gets into an argument with the referee, and Brown manages to hit a facebuster. Regal cuts him off and hooks a cradle for two, and it's back to the chinlock, with two minutes remaining. Brown escapes, and starts unloading rights, so Regal goes to the eyes. The challenger uses a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop for two, and a backbreaker sets up another elbowdrop, but this time Denny dodges! Brown makes a comeback (including some really phony looking stomps in the corner), and a legdrop gets him two. He keeps coming with a series of jabs, but time expires at 15:02 for a draw. Basic, but effective. **

Black Bart v Robert Gibson: Bart is the NWA Mid-Atlantic Champion, but this is non-title. And what a beautiful belt that is compared to the butt ugly one from the opener. Gibson sticks and moves in the early going, and dig the POP for those headscissor takedowns! Gibson grounds him in a headscissors for a bit, until Bart manages to kip-up, and throw a clothesline. Bart knocks him to the outside with a right hand, but Gibson rushes back in, so Bart turnbuckle smashes him. Bart with a backdrop and a fistdrop before tossing Gibson back to the outside, and he follows this time for a drop across the guardrail. I love how they set the ring up right on the grass for this - no platform, or even mats. Back in, Bart hits a double-legdrop for two, and a clothesline is worth two. He starts unloading in the corner, but Gibson returns fire, and starts making a comeback. Bart tries cutting that off with a corner whip, but Gibson lands on the middle, and dives back at Bart with a bodypress for the pin at 7:35. This was fine. *

Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson v Nelson Royal and Sam Houston: Arn holds the NWA Television title here. All four guys are sporting the same style of short tights, all four in the same shade of red. That shit would never fly in the WWF. Arn and Sam start, with an arrogant Arn casually dominating the youngster, but getting a hiptoss reversed on him. That gets Arn's attention, and he tries pulling Sam into the heel corner, but Houston is smart enough to get out of the ring before he gets into trouble. Tags made all around, and Nelson manages to dominate Ole with right hands, until Ole can retreat to a tag. Arn tries to come in for a double team, but Nelson fights them both off with rights, and Arn eats a knee. Royal works a chinlock, and he tags back to Sam, with Houston coming in all fired up on Ole. He gets overconfident by going after Arn on the apron at the same time, and that backfires on him but good. Serves him right, frankly. What business did he have going after Arn? He was just standing there, not even taking cheap shots, or anything. The Andersons go to work on Sam, but he manages to fight off a double team long enough to get the tag off to Nelson. Unfortunately for Royal, he's going it alone against both Anderson's, and he gets overwhelmed fighting a two front war. That allows Ole to throw him shoulder-first into the corner, and the heels go to work on the part. Arn with a hammerlock-slam for two, and he cranks an armbar, so Nelson starts throwing rights. He shakes Arn off, but Ole blocks the tag, and goes back to the armbar. Nelson manages to fight Ole off long enough to go for another tag, but this time Arn cuts him off, and it's armbar time again. They're doing a great job of building the drama here. Arn goes up with a dive off the middle, but Nelson nails him on the way down, and there's the hot tag to Sam! Bulldog on Arn looks to finish, but Ole breaks the count at two, and Roseanne Barr the door! Sam tries a rollup on Arn, but Ole dives off the top with a flying axehandle to break it, and Arn hooks the leg at 12:22. Maybe just a little bit too long, but on point. **

Bunkhouse Match: Manny Fernandez v Baron von Raschke: Baron's bunkhouse outfit should be a meme, if it isn't one already. Baron stalls in the early going, with Manny dominating him every time they engage. Ever since Modern Family, I can't help but look at Manny Fernandez as a grown up version of Gloria's kid. Fernandez misses a charge in the corner, allowing Baron to pull out at spike, and he starts jabbing Manny in the throat with it. Fernandez bleeds in no time, of course. I don't think I've ever seen one of his matches go bloodless. Baron takes off his belt and stretches it across Manny's eyes, then uses it to clothesline him, and whip him. Baron chokes him with it, then wraps it around his fist to use that way as well. He's getting a lot of mileage out of that thing. Unfortunately, his pants are now actively falling down, but that's the cost of winning, I suppose. Watching Baron beat on Manny while looking like an extra from a 2003 rap video is pretty funny. Baron takes off his boot to beat Fernandez with that, but Manny gets hold of it, and returns fire. He pulls off his belt to beat on Baron with, but luckily Fernandez was smart enough to buy tight jeans. Manny dives off the middle with the boot to bust Baron open, but a bodypress misses, and Fernandez takes a bump to the outside. Watching Baron try to run the ropes with his pants slipping lower and lower is fucking hilarious. Baron follows him to the outside for a trip into the post and rail, and I don't understand why Paul Jones isn't just openly attacking Fernandez. It's anything goes! Baron tries a slam on the way back in, but Manny holds on into a cradle for the pin at 9:05. ¼*

Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel v Jimmy Garvin: Garvin tries to stall in the early going, but he can't hide out on the floor, since they're connected to each other. Wahoo uses the strap as a weapon, but Jimmy manages to get him down in a front-facelock, so Wahoo shifts his weight to the outside to escape. That leads to a tug-of-war, and Garvin lets go of his end, causing Wahoo to topple over the rail. He takes out a camera guy in the process, and Jimmy pops out to go after him with the strap - McDaniel bleeding. Inside, Garvin bootchokes him in the corner, and a snapmare allows Jimmy to make an attempt for the corners, but he only manages three. Wahoo fights him off, and uses the strap in the corner, then ties Jimmy up with it to make a drag attempt. He makes two, so Precious trips him up on the way to the third. Garvin goes upstairs, but Wahoo uses the strap to pull him off, and Jimmy is bleeding now as well. Wahoo ties him up with the strap again, and despite Precious' interference, he guts out all four corners at 8:30. I found this pretty boring, but the crowd seemed to like it, and Garvin gave them a hell of a bladejob. ¼*

Taped Fist Match: Tully Blanchard v Ron Garvin: Tully is the NWA National Champion here, but this is non-title. They're presenting this with rounds (three minutes each), like a boxing match. Tully tries a sneak attack during the introductions, but that goes very, very badly for him, and Blanchard is laid out before the match even starts. JJ Dillon manages to revive him, and we're underway!
ROUND ONE: Blanchard is still on dream street as the match officially starts, and Garvin unloads on him. A series of shots puts Tully down for what looks like the count, but Dillon manages to revive him with some smelling salts in time. Garvin goes to town on him in the corner from there, and poor Tully is just getting killed here. He tries to cheat with a kick, but Garvin catches the boot, and puts him down with more punches. Tully is left cowering and covering up in the corner, with Garvin not backing off as the round ends.
ROUND TWO: Tully, of course, tries a sneak attack between rounds, but Garvin is ready with a right, and Blanchard ends up knocked the fuck out again. Poor Dillon has his work cut out for him tonight. Garvin keeps pounding on him as the second round starts, and Tully is busted open early in the round. Not much of a bladejob there (I doubt they can even see it beyond the first row), but I guess that's to be expected given that Blanchard's hands are, you know, taped up. Ronnie keeps totally and completely dominating this thing, as Tully's cut finally starts properly flowing. Blanchard tries to fight him off with a backdrop, which somehow leads to a pinfall reversal sequence in a match that has no pinfalls, and Garvin takes a big knockout swing, but Tully is saved by the bell.
ROUND THREE: Dillon dumps water on Blanchard to try and get him going, but he still gets destroyed, and even the referee can't get between them. Blanchard finally gets some traction by dumping Garvin to the outside, and Tully sends him into the post out there to buy time. Ronnie's busted open now as well, and Blanchard targets the cut as they head back inside, until the round runs out.
ROUND FOUR: Tommy Young may be a great wrestling referee, but this dude has no clue what he's doing in the world of boxing. Who starts a round when one guy is slumped down in the corner? Blanchard goes to work, but Garvin glares at him, so Tully uses a bodyslam. Garvin beats the count, so Tully tries pounding on him with fists in the corner, but Garvin just won't back down. He manages to tag Tully with a wild haymaker, and both spill to the outside, when Wahoo McDaniel hits Blanchard with an atomic drop. Back in, Garvin takes control of the round, and puts Tully down, but Blanchard beats the count. Ronnie responds with another but shot, but the round is over before he can finish Blanchard off.
ROUND FIVE: Dillon adds more tape to Tully's fist between rounds, stuff that the referee doesn't have a chance to inspect. No matter, Garvin destroys him again, so Tully tries a headlock, but Ron counters with a side suplex. Pretty sure Ali did the same thing to Foreman in '74. Tully responds by going to the top with a flying punch, but Garvin blocks with his own punch, and both guys are taking the full ten count. Looks like we have a draw, but the referee rules that the first man up wins. Dillon tries reviving his man with a towel, but Wahoo uses a bucket of water on Garvin, and Ron makes it up at 2:05 of the fifth round (14:05 total). This wasn't a wrestling match in the traditional sense, but it was entertaining for what it was, and probably one of the better wrestlers-doing-boxing gimmick matches I've seen. ** ½

Russian Chain Match: The Road Warriors v Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff: Hawk is shackled to Nikita, Animal with Ivan, and it's tornado rules. Everyone trade shots to start, with the Russians dominating. Ivan chokes Animal down with the chain, but runs into a backelbow, as Hawk manages to beat Nikita down. Nikita responds with a low blow, as Animal uses the chain to pull Ivan into the post to draw blood. It wouldn't be Crockett without copious amounts of blood in every damn match. Animal manages to slam Ivan off the top for two, as Hawk goes to town on Nikita with the chain. The Russians double up on Hawk to wear him down, then over to Animal for the same. They go back and forth with double teams on each of the Warriors, but Hawk manages to nail Nikita with the chain via a dive off the middle, and Animal uses a standing dropkick on Ivan. Cue a ref bump, and Ivan unties himself from the chain so he can hit Animal with another weapon. They go for the pin, but the referee is still down. Ivan responds by going to the top, but Hawk manages to shove him off, and Animal hooks the leg at 5:43. I actually think a straight match between these four might have been interesting, but this gimmick didn't do it for me at all. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Hair v Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant v Shaska Whatley: We skip ring intros for this one, with Whatley just beating on Valiant, and the ring announcer running for cover. Valiant's 'I'm having a seizure!' selling style is really off-putting. It's one thing when used sparingly (like when Hulk Hogan would do it), but with Jimmy it's literally every minute of every match. Valiant tries a charge in the corner, but he's moving like he's covered in molasses, and Whatley easily dodges. Whatley tries a leveraged pin, but the referee catches him, so Whatley headbutts him down for two instead. Whatley with a series of headbutts for two, which busts Valiant open, and gives Whatley something to pound on. Chinlock, but Valiant escapes, and tries slugging his way to a comeback, but Whatley headbutts him again. This is so bad. Like, it's boring, and the execution is amateurish as well. Whatley with a tree of woe, but his 'kicks' are so loose that he may as well be petting a newborn puppy. Valiant tries a flash pin with a quick cradle out of nowhere, but it only gets two, and Whatley goes back to pounding the cut. Valiant no-sells, so Whatley just keeps hitting him until he gets the message, and covers for two. I like Whatley's little dance between his move and the cover. Whatley punishes him by biting on the cut, but that fires Valiant back up, and now he's a dancing fool. Whatley responds with another headbutt for two, then puts his knee across Valiant's throat for another cover... for three? Referee totally counted three because Jimmy missed his cue to kick out there, but they ignore it and move on anyway. Whatley misses an elbowdrop, allowing Valiant to grab a sleeper. That brings Baron von Raschke back out (with his pants thankfully properly hitched), but Manny Fernandez cuts him off. That allows Jimmy to grab a loaded glove that Baron dropped, and Whatley gets nailed at 10:43. Good to know my intense dislike of Jimmy Valiant as a worker hasn't faded. –½* (Original rating: -*)

Six-Person Tag Team Cage Match: Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express v Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, and Baby Doll: The Express are the NWA World Tag Team Champions here. Bobby Eaton starts with Magnum, and he pounds him into the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Magnum press-slams him on the rebound. That brings Dennis Condrey in without a tag, but Magnum easily deals with him as well, and the referee restores order. Eaton tries pounding Magnum into the corner again, but ends up getting tossed into the cage a couple of times for his trouble, and Magnum holds him for Doll to slap. Tag to Dusty, and he unloads on both Midnight's with jabs, then goes for Cornette. Jim hustles up the side of the cage to hide until his team can save him, and poor Bobby pays the price with some cheese grating action to draw blood. Tag to Dennis, and he tries begging off, but Dusty's too smart. Over to Magnum to hit Dennis with a flying elbowsmash, and Dennis takes a ride into the cage as well to draw more blood. Baby Doll gets the honor of grating him, so Dennis tries fighting Magnum off with a piledriver, but that goes badly for him. In comes Eaton with a knee to try and help, and he manages to blast Magnum with it before the referee bounces him. That leaves Cornette confident enough to tag in, but he misses an elbowdrop, and Doll tags in. That sends Jim running for the hills, but the Express manage to hit Magnum with a cheap shot to keep control of the match. Bobby comes off the top of the cage with a flying axehandle for two, and Dennis sends Magnum into the cage to draw another bladejob. No matter how much I see of this era, I'm never done being shocked by just how MUCH blood there was in those days. Eaton tries another dive off the top of the cage, but Magnum throws a right hand to block him, and a sunset flip gets one when Dennis breaks the cover. That draws Dusty in to retaliate, and Roseanne Barr the door! Doll gets to knock Cornette around, of course, and Jim succumbs to a slap from her at 9:39. I'm honestly stunned Dusty didn't blade as well. Not a major work, but it was good, simple fun. Ah, and then Dusty gets beat up by Big Bubba Rogers after the match, and there’s the juice. * ¾ (Original rating: ½*)

Main Event: NWA World Title Cage Match: Ric Flair v Ricky Morton: Local sportscaster Harold Jackson acts as the guest ring announcer tonight. Oh, and he flies Flair in on the channel's news helicopter, with Ric landing right in the stadium for his epic entrance. Neat that they added this show the same year as Charlotte paid tribute to this with her entrance at WrestleMania. Morton's sporting a protective mask after suffering a brutal attack from Flair that left him with a broken nose. He goes right at Ric, shrugging off Flair's attempts at cheating, or chopping. Flair tries a takedown into a headlock, but Morton dominates that exchange as well, so Ric just decides to run away instead. He climbs the cage, but Ricky pulls him down, and unloads a ten-punch to flop the champion. Morton with a backslide for two, so Flair starts taking out his frustrations on the referee, but Tommy Young don't take no shit off nobody. Ricky unloads in the corner, openly and deliberately trying to break Flair's nose with shot after shot. Headbutt puts Ric down, so Morton starts clawing at the nose, and a rollup gets him two. Flair backs off and tries stalling, so Morton goes to a standing side-headlock, but Ric is ready with a kneebreaker. Morton hangs on through the move, so Flair forces him into the ropes, and manages to tag him in the back of the head with an elbow. Again, but a criss cross goes badly when Ricky rebounds with a bodypress for two. Flair tries a hiptoss, but Morton pops back up with a clothesline for two, and he grounds the champion for mounted punches to the nose. Elbowdrop, but Ric dodges. He pulls the mask off and tosses the exposed Morton into the cage, and Ricky is bleeding right away. I love how he was pounding Flair with something like a hundred shots without juice, yet it only took one trip into the cage to get him bloody. Flair wears the mask as he tosses and grates Morton with the cage, then throws the thing out of the ring to keep Ricky from getting it back. With Morton exposed, Flair methodically works the injury, and Ricky sells it all like hellfire, of course. Snapmare gets two, and a backbreaker is worth two. Flair with a vertical suplex to set up the Figure Four, and Morton is in trouble! Ric uses the ropes for additional leverage, but gets busted, and the referee forces a break. Tommy Young's refereeing is great for many reasons, including how he never played it oblivious. Like, he could miss things that the heels did, but never in a 'how dumb can this ref be' kinda way. Flair cracks Ricky with chops, but Morton starts getting a second wind, and the champ takes a trip into the steel! Second one draws blood, but Morton shows no mercy, grating him. He goes up for a dive, but thinks better of taking such a big risk, and uses a ten-punch instead. Flair tries an inverted atomic drop, but Morton fights through, and slugs the champion back down again. More grating, and the crowd is ready to see a title change right now! Morton starts bashing Flair's face into the mat as a little payback for the nose breaking, and he slaps on a sleeper to try and put it away. Flair fades, but manages to get into the ropes to save himself, so Morton grates him again. He decides to take a chance with a flying bodypress, and manages to stick the landing, but it only gets two. Flair tries bailing over the cage, but Morton catches up to him, and wins a slugfest to send the champion crashing back to the mat. Ricky dives after him with a flying axehandle for two, so Flair tries cornering him, but Morton wins another slugfest. Ric begs off, but Morton shows no mercy, and dives with a flying dropkick for two - the referee getting bumped on the kick out. That allows Ric to drop him crotch-first across the top rope, and a leveraged pin retains at 23:11. Good action here, with a uniquely interesting performance from Ricky Morton. I liked how he played it both righteously pissed off, but also cautious, like he doesn't want to blow his big chance with an unnecessary high risk maneuver. It was also really weird/cool watching Morton as this bad ass tough guy type. *** ¾

BUExperience: The Network’s Hidden Gems section continues to impress! Not everything about this show holds up, but the main event remains great, and I can definitely see how this would have been a very satisfying show to attend live in 1986. Plus, the atmosphere is great. The whole thing feels like a warm summer evening, the perfect blend of high production values and low-key aesthetics. Stuff like, say, the skydivers or Flair’s helicopter entrance. Both were neat, but while also feeling kinda bush-league at the same time.

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