NWA (JCP) World Championship Wrestling (December 28, 1985)

Original Airdate: December 28, 1985 (taped December 15)

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Tony Schaivone and David Crockett

Dusty Rhodes joins us right away to talk about how excited he is about his new haircut

Sam Houston v Tony Zane: Zane basically looks like a pudgier Houston. And kind of Louie Anderson, too. Houston spends a while working the arm, since this promotion apparently thinks people want to see endless armbars in squash matches. Like, he’s a jobber, we all know where this is going, just beat him already. The announcers keep putting Houston over as Magnum TA’s protege, he could have at least picked that up from him. Bulldog finishes at 3:38. This wasn’t really that long, it just felt really long. DUD

Tully Blanchard swings by, and if this dude isn’t high and/or drunk on something, then I don’t know what. It’s like a Drunk Uncle as Wrestler skit, or something

Jim Cornette stops by, and he takes the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express’ silence as an admission that the Midnight Express are better than them

The Midnight Express v Josh Stroud and Mark Cooper: Cornette sits in on commentary for this one, so he can keep his rant on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express going uninterrupted. And when I mean ‘uninterrupted,’ I mean it - even the announcers note that he needs to take a breath. The Express with a combo at 3:18. ¼*

Arn Anderson v George South: Arn may not have been the best at any one thing, but he was really solid at everything. Just watch him work here, every move has purpose, and looks smooth. Just strong execution all around. Anderson decimates the arm with glee for a few minutes, before finishing with a gourdbuster at 3:04. ¼*

NWA World Champion Ric Flair stops by the desk, and the girls in the crowd are definitely more into him than they were Dusty Rhodes. Dusty was getting cutaways to heavyset, middle aged women. Flair is getting them to the attractive twenty-somethings. Also, Ron Garvin is going down tonight. Much like those attractive twenty-somethings

Rocky King v Mac Jeffers: What is this, two jobbers? Meanwhile, the announcers speculate that Flair might like to keep his championship. Deep, thoughtful analysis there. King with a bodyslam at 3:57. This man is not the king of the Rockys. DUD

NWA United States Champion Magnum TA, and I swear, he, Rhodes, and Flair must have been involved in some sort of bet over who could get the biggest pops from the women in the crowd. It’s Flair - Rhodes - Magnum today, but the way

Black Bart v Jim Jeffers: I’ve hardly hidden how dull I find this show from week to week, but you have to give it to them: they had their roster, and they featured their guys with good focus. Another slow, dull squash here, with Jeffers actually getting more in than you’d expect, before getting killed with a legdrop at 4:31. DUD

Cornette is back to give Tony a tie for the holidays. And take more shots at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, of course. Well, ‘tis the season

NWA United States Title Match: Magnum TA v Ole Anderson: No games here, they get right into a furious lockup, and here we go! Ole powers him into the corner with a bearhug, but Magnum blocks the punch, and slugs the challenger into another corner, so Ole goes to the eyes. That allows Anderson a knee, and a turnbuckle smash puts the champion down. Anderson with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop for two, and he traps Magnum in an armbar from there. Ole tenaciously works the arm, but Magnum fights him off with right hands, so Ole goes low to buy time. That leads to slugfest on their knees, and Magnum gets the better of it. Forearm smash gets the champion two, and he cranks on the arm as well, but Ole gets into the ropes, and rakes the eyes again to shake him off. Ole hammers, but Magnum gets fired up, and wins another slugfest before Anderson can put it away. Magnum with a bodyslam for two (what is this, 1985? Oh…), and it’s back to the armbar to ground the challenger. Ole makes the ropes, and manages to get a bearhug on him in the corner, and then pounds the champion with headbutts after the forced break. That rattles Anderson as well, however, and Magnum throws rights to fight out of the corner. Ole desperately dumps him to the outside to buy time, and a snapmare brings the champion back inside, as Arn Anderson makes his way down to ringside. Ole cranks on a chinlock, as Dusty Rhodes shows up to counter Arn’s appearance. That inspires Magnum to fight out of the chinlock, so Ole throws an elbow to the throat to cut him off. Ole goes for a 2nd rope axehandle, but Magnum throws a gut punch to block, and he makes a comeback. Punch gets the champion two, so Ole goes low again, and tags him with a big boot for two. Piledriver, but Magnum counters with a backdrop, and he throws a dropkick for one. Small package, but they’re in the ropes, and Ole rakes the eyes as soon as the break is given. That allows Anderson to ropechoke him, and a turnbuckle smash drops the champion. Again, but Magnum reverses this time, and unloads on Anderson in the corner. Ole flops, but a legdrop misses, and Magnum has messed up his knee now. Ole goes in for the kill, but he’s slow, and Magnum is fiery. They end up colliding on a criss cross for a double knockout spot, and they stagger up for a slugfest - won by Magnum. Headbutt finds the mark, but it leaves Magnum loopy as well, allowing Ole to throw a kick down low. Bodyslam leaves Magnum down and out, but Ole is still pretty slow, and not putting it away. That allows Magnum some recovery time, and he runs wild in the corner, but Ole throws a knee, then blasts him with a headbutt. Backelbow sets up an elbowdrop for two, so he tries a leveraged pin, but gets busted at two. Magnum manages to fight him off in the corner, and a standing dropkick connects. 2nd rope axehandle seems to have it won, but time expires at 20:13. Oh what a shame! And apparently Jim Crockett Jr agrees, because he comes out, and demands that the match end by pinfall or submission! I like this man! Okay, so we restart, and Ole manages to take control, blasting Magnum with a turnbuckle smash. Bodyslam sets up a series of elbowdrops, but Magnum dodges the third. He looks for a bulldog, so Arn trips him up. That earns him a beating from Dusty, and Magnum is able to capitalize with a rollup at 20:58. This was great, and I liked how it felt like an actual fight, as opposed to a bunch of choreography. I mean, the majority of the match was punching and kicking, but the psychology and intensity were so good that it didn’t matter. I thought the stop/start at the finish hurt the overall piece, but this was still quite the gem. *** ¾ 

Jim Crockett Jr stops by the desk to let us know that they’ll be opening up the floor to suggestions, and fans should write in to vote for four matches - any four matches with any wrestlers on the roster - and whatever the winning four matches are will be featured on a special in February called Superstars on the Superstation 

NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Ron Garvin: Garvin takes him down with a pair of headscissors to start, and he grounds Ric in one. Flair fights to a vertical base and cracks him with a chop, and a criss cross ends in Ric delivering a hiptoss, but missing an elbowdrop. That allows Garvin a hiptoss of his own, and he takes the champion to the mat in a short-armscissors. Ric wrestles to a vertical base and gets into the ropes, and they trade chops, with Garvin getting the better of it. Flair wisely bails to regroup, and a slugfest on the way back in does not end well for the champion either. Garvin with a somersault cradle for two, and he grabs a front-facelock, but Flair fights free. Garvin keeps control with a backdrop to set up an elbowdrop for two, and it’s back to the front-facelock, but Ric gets into the ropes. Ric takes a cheap shot on the break, but Garvin shrugs it off, and slugs him down. Garvin grabs a standing headlock, but Flair uses the hair to get into the ropes, and he dumps his challenger to the outside. Flair follows to chuck him into the post out there, and Ron is hurt, but he knows he doesn’t have the luxury of the count. He fights to get inside, so Flair greets him with a choke, and mounted punches follow. Garvin fights him off, and a cross corner whip flips Flair to the floor. Ron chases him with some brutal chops on the outside, and he hustles the champion back inside for a bodypress for two. Ric manages a side suplex to buy time, and he capitalizes with a kneedrop for two. Flair goes to town in the corner, but Garvin reverses a vertical suplex, and man, Flair’s selling is so darn loud. Ron with a splash, but Flair is in the ropes, so no count. Sleeper, but Ric uses a kneebreaker to escape, but it backfires when Garvin gets so fired up that he looks like he might literally kill Flair in the corner. Flair tries chops to slow him down, but Ron is having none of it, and goes on the comeback trail. Pinfall reversal sequence ends in Ron hooking a backslide for two, and he pops him with a punch, but Ric is in the ropes at two. Flair drops him across the top rope to buy time, but why take chances, so he beats up the referee to draw the intentional DQ at 16:24. This was okay, but the rematch at Superstars on the Superstation was better. Afterwards, Dusty runs in to make the save, but Arn and Ole make the save for Ric. That draws some other babyface out, but the heels fight them off like they’re the nWo in 1997, allowing them to do a real number on Dusty. **

Flair and the Andersons stop by the desk to clarify that they’ll drop the belts when they’re ready, and not before. Ah, the Bret Hart plan

Italian Stallion v Pablo Crenshaw: Oh, good luck to these two trying to follow all the craziness of those last few segments. Stallion with a crisp powerslam at 3:09. DUD

JJ Dillon stops by to let us know he has some big surprises for 1986. Well, he wasn’t bluffing on that one

Magnum, Dusty, and Garvin storm back out, fuming, and promising revenge on Flair and his crew. Good fire here

Tully Blanchard v Kent Glover: Thankfully, this is it for us tonight, because the show really needs to wrap up. It’s hit the high points, time to make a Costanza exit. Blanchard with the slingshot suplex at 1:57. DUD

BUExperience: I might not get the charm of the competitive squash heavy format this show is all about, but boy, when they wrestle, they wrestle.