NWA (JCP) at Greensboro Coliseum (July 16, 1988)

Original Airdate: July 16, 1988

From Greensboro, North Carolina

Opening Match: Larry Zbyszko and Rip Morgan v Tim Horner and Bugsy McGraw: Larry is the NWA Western States Heritage champion here. Larry and McGraw start (which honestly sounds like the name of an 80s buddy cop movie), and Larry actually gets right down to business for once in his life. He gets the first takedown, but an elbowdrop misses, and McGraw hits one of his own, followed by a bodyslam. McGraw works a headlock, and passes to Tim while holding it, and he comes in with a sunset flip for two. That pisses Larry off more than anything else, and he's on a tear, before passing to Rip. Morgan pounds Tim with forearms, and a snapmare leads to a chinlock. Tim fights back with a dropkick, and it's back to McGraw to put the boots to him. Rip goes to the eyes to buy time, and he passes back to Larry to pound McGraw with rights. Bodyslam gets two, and he works a front-facelock as the heels cut the ring in half on Bugsy. Larry misses a dropkick to allow the hot tag to Tim, and he's a house of arson - Roseanne Barr the door! Bodypress puts Morgan away at 8:09. This was solid tag wrestling, with a quick pace. ** ¼

Ron Garvin v Italian Stallion: We start with a criss cross, and Garvin ends up twisting his ankle while running the ropes, and he may not be able to finish the match. He uses that to sucker Stallion in, and he's ready with a solid right hand for the knockout pin at 1:09. Not really much of a match, but this was fun. ¼*

Dick Murdoch v Gary Royal: Murdoch powers him a bit out of the initial lockup, but Royal grabs a headlock, and sinks his teeth into that for a while. Murdoch gets his own headlock on, but Royal powers to a vertical base, so Dick pops him with some elbowsmashes. Royal comes back with some really ugly dropkicks, so bad that Murdoch bails to the outside just to distance himself from them. Dick comes back in by going for dick with a low blow, and he nails Gary with more elbowsmashes. To the outside, Royal gets introduced to the scaffold (set up for a Scaffold match later tonight), but Gary beats the count, so Dick greets him with more elbowsmashes. Bodyslam, but Royal holds on into a cradle for two, pissing Murdoch off, and earning him a stomping. Dick with a backelbow and a hanging brainbuster to put it away at 7:01. Huh, I was kind of expecting Royal to make a bit of a comeback first. ¾*

Rick Steiner v Jimmy Garvin: Rick is the NWA Florida Heavyweight champion, but this is non-title. Rick with a Steinerline right at the bell, and he chokes Jimmy down on the mat before taking him into the corner to pound. Cross corner whip hits, but a charge misses, and Garvin fires back with right hands. Meanwhile, Kevin Sullivan shows up to go after Precious, distracting Garvin, and allowing Steiner to attack on the outside. Back in, Rick goes for the kill, but Garvin pulls out a quick small package at 1:28. That was... something... I guess? DUD

The Rock 'n' Roll Express v The Sheepherders: Long stall from the Sheepherders to start, as they want to display their flag, and the crowd just won't shut up. Bunch of disrespectful rednecks. The Express finally put a stop to it by dropkicking them both out of the ring, and it's more stalling from there. The dust finally settles on Robert Gibson and Butch to start, and Butch immediately goes to the eyes. That allows him to get Gibson into the heel corner, and Luke tags in for some abuse. Backdrop, but Gibson counters with a sunset flip for two, so Luke quickly throws a knee to cut him off. Luke with a dive off the middle rope, but Robert dodges, and a kneelift gets him two - Butch breaking up the count. That draws Ricky Morton in for an assist, so Rip Morgan tries to do a run-in, but ends up hitting the Sheepherders instead to clear his team to the outside. This is all so basic, but it still works really well. I mean, how many modern matches have you seen where guys are doing all sorts of crazy spots, but they just can't connect to the crowd, and it all feels like it's going on in a void? Dust settles on Morton and Butch, and Morton uses speed to dominate. That draws Luke in without a tag, but Ricky manages to fight them both off to clean house again. Dust settles on Gibson and Luke next, and Robert tries working an armbar, so Luke throws kicks. That triggers a criss cross, and Gibson throws a bodypress, but the referee is distracted, and Butch whacks him with the flagpole before a count is made. That's enough to turn the tide, and the Sheepherders go to work on Robert. He manages to evade both guys long enough to hit a double bodypress, and that's enough for the tag to Morton - Roseanne Barr the door. Ricky uses a rollup on Luke for two, but Butch dumps him to the outside for a double team with Morgan. Meanwhile, Gibson has Luke in a sleeper, but with Morton down on the outside, Butch is able to make the save. The Sheepherders with a tandem stomachbreaker on Gibson, but they fail to notice that Morton has recovered, and he dives in with a flying bodypress at 14:08. These guys had the goods. ***

Brad Armstrong v Al Perez: I'm sure I've noted this somewhere before, but wow, Perez is could be Seth Rollins' dad. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Armstrong. That goes on until Gary Hart gets involved, and Perez is able to dive at Brad with an axehandle from the apron when Armstrong goes after the manager on the outside. Perez adds a bodyslam on the floor, and Hart rams Brad into the scaffold for good measure. Brad beats the count in, so Perez gives him a helicopter powerbomb to set up a kneedrop for two. Chinlock, but Brad fights his way out and tries to initiate a criss cross, so Al throws an elbow to the midsection right away to cut that off. Back to the chinlock, but Brad keeps fighting, so Perez shifts to a Mexican surfboard. Armstrong escapes, and he starts firing up a comeback, using a backslide for two. Small package gets two, so Perez dumps him to the outside to buy time. Al follows, but Brad fights off the attack, and delivers a bodyslam on the floor as payback for earlier. Inside, Armstrong keeps the comeback train rolling, and a dropkick sends Perez over the top. Brad tries bringing him back in with a suplex, but Hart sweeps his leg, allowing Perez to topple for the pin at 11:17. **

Handicap Bunkhouse Match: Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express v The Fantastics: The Midnight's are the NWA United States Tag Team champions, but that's not on the line here. The Fantastics want Cornette to start, but obviously that's not happening, and we get Bobby Eaton starting with Bobby Fulton in the Battle of the Bobby's. Which may or may not have taken place on the same night as Precious danced atop the NWA arena. Eaton manages to pup Fulton with an elbow in the corner, but Fulton wins a criss cross with a backdrop, and the Fantastics pinball Eaton in their corner. Over to Stan Lane (who looks like a dead ringer for Owen Hart with his Bunkhouse match gear), and the Express try a triple team with a chair wielding Cornette, but the Fantastics outsmart them. Dust settles on Eaton and Fulton again, and Eaton slugs him down. Eaton brings a chair in, but Fulton reverses an atomic drop onto it, and he bashes Eaton in the face with it to clear him to the outside. He follows to bash the Express' heads together, but Cornette avoids Tommy Rogers during a chase. The Fantastics settle for beating the Express with chairs instead, and they're desperate for a tag, but Cornette just won't have it. Dust settles on Lane and Rogers, with Rogers sending him flying to and fro, but Cornette still refusing to tag in. Well, honestly, do you blame him? If the world tag champions are getting killed, what do you think is going to happen to their manager? Lane finally has enough and tries to force Jim into the ring, but Eaton manages to intervene, and the whole mess allows them to nail Rogers, and dump him to the outside in the mix. Cornette coming over with a chair, but chucking it at Rogers from a safe distance is a thing of beauty. The heels go to work on Rogers, and with Tommy good and battered, Cornette finally comes in. He unloads, but seeing Jim's pudgy face just fires Rogers up, and he's ready to kill him before the Express are able to intervene. They go back to work on Tommy, but Cornette wants the glory of scoring the actual pin, and Tommy fights him off for the hot tag to Fulton. Cornette responds by grabbing a handful of powder, but it backfires, and the Fantastics double team him for the pin at 14:56. Not on par with the Great American Bash match, but then this was a house show! Still a really fun match, with tons of effort considering it wasn't even televised. Guys from this era never cease to amaze me with how hard they worked night in and night out, which is probably one reason why these guys are also dropping like flies. ** ¾

NWA Television Title Match: Mike Rotunda v Sting: Sting with a trio of dropkicks early on, so Rick Steiner and Kevin Sullivan run in on him, but Sting fights them off with dropkicks as well! Mike regroups, but Sting is still ready with a headlock once he's back in gear, and he adds a hiptoss and a bodyslam for two. Sting drops a leg to the groin, but Rotunda manages to sweep the leg, so Sting fires off a leg-feed enzuigiri! He grabs another headlock, so Steiner trips him up when he's by the ropes, and Rotunda pounces. Sting ends up on the outside for Sullivan and Steiner to abuse, and inside, Rotunda pops him with a backelbow. Elbowdrop gets two, so Mike works a chinlock. Sting fights free, but Rotunda cuts off a potential comeback right away, and he works a sleeper. Sting elbows free, so Rotunda bodyslams him to set up a dive off the top, but he takes too long getting up there, and Sting slams him off. Sting dumps him into the second ring (there for the WarGames main event), and he dives after him in there. Sting unloads in the corner, and the Stinger Splash sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, but Steiner runs in for the DQ at 10:14. Sting was fun and peppy here, and Rotunda generally didn't drag him down too much. It was also fun seeing how much Sting took from the Flair match at the Clash, and made it into part of his formula. * ¾

Scaffold Match: The Road Warriors v Ivan Koloff and Russian Assassin: It blows my mind that they were booking fucking SCAFFOLD MATCHES at house shows during this era. Anyway, it's a Scaffold match. You've seen one, you've seen them all. Lots of punching and kicking, as Hawk pairs off with Assassin, and Animal with Koloff. Animal actually tries a dropkick up there, but it's really poorly executed since he doesn't want to, you know, die. Animal manages to knock Koloff off, and now the Warriors can double up on Assassin. But here comes Ivan again, this time armed with his chain. He tries to choke Animal down with it, but Animal fights him off, and ties him up with the chain to keep Koloff at bay. That allows Hawk to knock Assassin off for the win at 5:29. I don't like Scaffold matches. It's definitely one of those things that sound cool in theory (especially when you're a kid), but never live up to the hype. DUD

Main Event: WarGames Match: Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and JJ Dillon v Lex Luger, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Steve Williams, and Paul Ellering: Flair is NWA World champion, Windham is NWA United States champion, and Arn and Tully are the NWA World Tag Team champions, so truly the glory days for the Horsemen here. Arn starts with Dusty (sense a pattern here?), and he's all bluster until he gets close enough to Rhodes, and eats some elbows. Rhodes/Anderson was never a particularly engaging match on its own, I don't know why they felt they had to go with this combo to start so many times. They proceed to work the same match as the previous WarGames (like, almost spot for spot), though there is a hilarious spot where Dusty chucks a bloody Anderson into the cage so hard that his blood splatters all over Luger and Koloff on the outside. Heh. Lex nonchalantly brushing it off is pretty amazing, too. Wrestling's a weird thing in so many ways, and not least of all how comfortable wrestlers seem to be with being covered in other people's bodily fluids. Both guys bleed before the first period is over, Windham joins in. Man, those babyfaces don't have a whole lot of luck with the coins, do they? Maybe Phoebe manages them? Barry gets Dusty in the Clawhold, allowing Rhodes to play his favorite game of 'sit around sell' for a while, until Williams gets in, and blitzes the Horsemen with multiple three-point stances. He pins Anderson down for some mounted punches as Rhodes tosses Windham into the cage a bunch, until Flair gets in, and starts blowing guys left and right. I mean low blowing, of course. Anderson hits Williams with a DDT, as Ric and Barry double up on Dusty, and boy, Rhodes is bleeding a real gusher here tonight! Luger comes in to a big pop, and goes right at Flair, of course. Powerslam hits, and one for Windham as well. He gets Flair in the Torture Rack, but Barry uses a low blow to save, as Dusty starts unloading elbows on anything that moves. Luger gets Flair in the corner for a ten-punch before launching him into the cage, then mounting Anderson for some punches on the mat. In comes Blanchard, and he brings a chair with him! He uses it on Luger right away, allowing Anderson to hold Lex for Flair to hit with a kneedrop. Arn adds a DDT, as Koloff enters. The Horsemen immediately pile on him at the door, but Nikita no-sells, and starts passing out clotheslines. In comes Dillon, and he joins hands with Windham to tandem clothesline Luger, then goes after a battered Koloff alone in the corner. That doesn't go too well for him, of course. Ellering enters to round out the field, and the Horsemen are on him like white on rice. They destroy him, but Williams is choking JJ out in the corner, and he comes close to submitting before getting saved. He slugs it out with Ellering, but loses, and eats an atomic drop - allowing Dusty to apply a figure four for the surrender at 21:07. It never ceases to amaze me how hard these guys worked. While this wasn’t the best WarGames match I’ve ever seen, you have to take into consideration that this wasn’t even televised! This was strictly a house show match as part of the Bash tour, and these guys were still going balls out. You have to respect that. ** ½

BUExperience: What a fun house show. And that’s honestly the best word – this show felt like it would have been fun to attend. I’ve seen house shows were the workers look like they barely want to be there, and it just sucks the life out of the crowd. But this crew was game, and turning in pay per view level efforts for a non-televised event. You’ve gotta respect that.

***