NWA (JCP) World Championship Wrestling (May 10, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: May 10, 1986 (taped May 4)

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Host is Tony Schiavone

Robert Gibson is out, and he’s disgusted by what the Midnight Express and Jim Cornette did to Baby Doll

Ron Garvin v Maurice Cooper: I’ve never really heard anyone call a kick as a ‘right foot’ before, like one might with a hand. It makes perfect sense, yet still sounds odd. Which is like a descriptor of Tony a lot of times. Garvin with a giant swing at 3:38. ¼*

Manny Fernandez wants a payday 

Wahoo McDaniel is ready to hit a woman. Cornette and the Midnights are, like, the biggest heels in the territory right now for doing the same thing, but since he’s a babyface, it’s cool? There are some major contradictions here, Father

Robert Gibson v David Dillinger: Sadly, this is not Doug Dillinger in his early days. Gibson with a sunset flip at 2:10. DUD

Magnum TA and Dusty Rhodes are out to clarify that Baby Doll is, in fact, a lady. Was that… in dispute…?

Nikita Koloff v Tony Zane: Unlike Ivan, at least Nikita is usually pretty efficient with these squashes. Koloff with the Russian Sickle at 3:14. DUD

Jim Crockett and Sandy Scott are out to announce the details of the Great American Bash tour. “We’re going down to Atlanta,” notes Scott. You’re in Atlanta! 

Tully Blanchard v Rocky King: The NWA National title is not on the line here. King had a pretty good look, if a little on the skinny side to make it as a top star in that era. No matter, Blanchard writes him off with a slingshot suplex at 3:47. DUD

Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express are out, and when are they going to switch over to the more familiar design for the tag title? Because this one looks like shit. We’re so close, too, with all the other belts already getting upgraded to the Reggie Parks designs (save for the world title, which is its own thing). Anyway, they’re pissed off about the ‘James Boys,’ who are Dusty and Magnum under masks. Not that I blame them, as they show footage of the masked Boys tying Cornette to the back of a pickup truck and trying to drag him at a recent show, which, yeah, I’d be pretty pissed off about too

The Midnight Express v The Mulkey Brothers: The NWA World Tag Team title is not on the line here. Man, Stan Lane was such a better fit for this gimmick than Dennis Condrey. Condrey looks so out of place, even in the gear. Bobby Eaton with a flying elbowdrop ahead of a suplex from Dennis at 4:53. Well, on the bright side, they got it in under the five minute wire. Afterwards, the Express go back over to the desk for another rant session on Magnum and Dusty, so Jim Crockett comes out, and tells Cornette that there’s nothing he can do unless Jim can provide hard evidence that the James Boys are, in fact, who he says they are. How about the hard evidence that they literally tried to lynch him? Is that nothing? Also, kind of funny to me that both JCP and the WWF were running basically the same angle in 1986, and it was great both times. DUD

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson v Bob Owens and Carl Styles: Flair’s hair is in all its glory here. The guy who played him in the Iron Claw did him dirty in many ways, and the hair was a major one. I’m not even going to bother looking up the actor’s name, that’s how bad he was. Flair with the figure four at 5:45. Afterwards, Flair and Anderson swing by the desk, and Flair reminds me why I got so annoyed with nameless-guy in Iron Claw. DUD

Jimmy Valiant and Manny Fernandez are out so Jimmy can show off his Pez Whatley t-shirt. Bet this idiot still calls Muhammad Ali ‘Cassius,’ too

Manny Fernandez and Jimmy Valiant v Larry Clarke and Paul Garner: Hey, at least by combining two acts I can’t stand into a team they reduce the amount of time they’re on TV. Sadly, they used the same strategy for Flair and Anderson this week. Fernandez with a jumping forearm at a brisk 0:55. Well, thank you. DUD

Magnum is back out, and Jim Crockett promises to sign his match with Nikita Koloff for TV soon

Paul Jones leads Barbrain, Baron von Raschke, and Shaska Whatley out, and how could anyone cheer Valiant and Fernandez over these guys? And by ‘these guys’ I mostly mean just Whatley. He’s wearing a white tuxedo and top hat! I’m automatically cheering him

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Barbarian, Baron von Raschke, and Shaska Whatley v Kent Glover, Butch Brannigan, and Art Pritts: The heels seem to be feeling their oats with this angle, putting some mustard on everything in the ring this week. Barbarian gets to finish at 2:20. ¼*

Nikita Koloff and Ivan Koloff are out, and excited that Nikita’s match with Magnum is getting signed soon

Jimmy Garvin v Jim Dawson: I may not like this show in general, but it has given me a new appreciation for Garvin. He’s a lot of fun as a heel. And he finishes with a brainbuster at a brisk 0:23. Dumped him right on his head with that one, though it looked perfectly safe. Afterwards, Garvin and Precious swing by the desk to imply that Dusty and Magnum are gay together. Honestly, maybe focus on the fact that Wahoo is threatening to beat your woman? That seems like a more pressing issue. DUD

BUExperience: An abbreviated episode this week (ninety minutes instead of two hours), and all the better for it.