NWA (JCP) World Championship Wrestling (May 17, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: May 17, 1986 (taped May 11)

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

Jim Cornette is out to interrupt the intro, still upset about that whole attempted lynching from Magnum TA and Dusty Rhodes. And, as soon as he proves that they’re under the masks, he’ll have them right where he want them

Magnum TA v Art Pritts: The NWA United States title is not on the line here, and before I can even finish typing that, Magnum drops him with the belly-to-belly suplex at 0:15. Few workers were as efficient as Magnum. DUD

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are out, but there are audio issues, so we can barely hear them drop their g’s

Manny Fernandez is out, and he has a common cause with Jimmy Valiant. And now I have a common reason to hate you both

Ron Garvin v Robert Burroughs: The fans chant for Garvin here, proving once again that there is no accounting for taste. Garvin with a punch at 3:36. DUD

Cornette is back, just in case we misses his ranting at the top

The Midnight Express v Rocky Kernodle and Vernon Deaton: The NWA World Tag Team title is not on the line for this. Cornette does guest commentary here, since keeping his mouth closed is not exactly one of his talents. Or even an ‘ability’ for him. The Express with a rocket launcher at 5:16. DUD

NWA National Champion Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon are out, and they hate Dusty, too. I’m starting to sense a trend. Maybe Dusty ought to look in the mirror

Manny Fernandez and Jimmy Valiant v Brodie Chase and Jerry Garmon: Valiant is dressed like the Hart Foundation’s deranged uncle here. His theme music is starting to get stuck in my head, though. The fact that anything to do with Jimmy Valiant is stuck in my mind is legitimately scaring me. Paul Jones comes out to observe, but the lighting is so bad that I thought I lost connection. The production values were really lacking compared to what the WWF was doing. Manny with a jumping forearm at 3:22. DUD

NWA Television Champion Arn Anderson is out, and promises that now that they’re done with ‘the human scab’ Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson is next. Oh, and the fourth Horsemen is on his way. A fourth Horsemen? They’re jumping the shark

The Road Warriors v Ray Traylor and Carl Styles: If Magnum has the most efficient squashes, these two are a close second. Baby Doll shows up at ringside to chat with Paul Ellering during the match, though we can’t hear what they discuss. Hawk puts Styles away at 1:04. DUD

Jimmy Garvin v Rocky King: Garvin has a great heat drawing gimmick and personality, but his ring work is so dull. That was a big problem with the Freebirds team in general. It would have been better with one guy doing the stalling and the heat stuff, and another guy as a worker. But we’ll get to that later. Garvin with a brianbuster at 1:57. Afterwards, Garvin swings by the desk, gloating about dropping Wahoo McDaniel with a brainbuster on the concrete on a recent show. This was a strong angle. Even if both of the workers weren’t any good at the technical aspect (or, at least, weren’t good at what I, personally, value in how wrestling is presented), at the end of the day it’s about drawing money, and this felt like money. DUD

Nikita Koloff and Ivan Koloff v Bob Peters and Jim Dawson: They really needed to break these two up as a team. Old man Ivan feels like such an anchor for the monster Nikita. Nikita with the clothesline at 2:48. Afterwards, the Russians swing by the desk to announce that they’ve come to terms for a title shot against Magnum TA. DUD

Gary Juster is out to announce Baltimore Maryland as the site of the 1987 Crockett Cup. Really getting ahead of themselves here

The Rock 'n' Roll Express v Randy Mulkey and Gene Ligon: The fans are really hyped up for everything this week, which is cool. The Express with a combo at a brisk 0:17. They are not usually this efficient. I welcome the change. DUD

NWA World Champion Ric Flair is out, and as always, the show immediately gets better. It’s no surprise at all that this guy was such a big star for such a long time

The James Boys are out, and they’re totally not Magnum and Dusty, so Jim Cornette should just shut up. Or, you know, they’ll lynch him again. Dusty doesn’t even bother to hide his giant gold chain that we see him wearing every week. I get that we’re ‘supposed’ to know it’s them, and that that’s the whole gag, but at least pay lip service to ‘hiding’

Barbarian and Shaska Whatley v Bill Mulkey and Mike Somaini: I never appreciated Barbarian much as a kid, but watching him lately (in this timeline, in the 1994/1995 Superstars timeline, and in the Nitro era WCW timeline), he’s been a lot more fun than I’ve been giving him credit for. Not the guy to build a promotion around, but a great big man hoss, and he’s almost always motivated. Barbarian with a flying headbutt drop at 2:38. ¼*

Dusty Rhodes and Baby Doll are out, and Dusty thinks those James Boys are pretty cool. Not that he knows much about them, of course. Also, Doll is going to embarrass Jim Cornette like he’s never been embarrassed before on the Great American Bash tour. She’s gonna make him manage Mantaur?

Baron von Raschke v Tony Zane: Baron is like the opposite of Barbarian. Baron with a clawhold at 1:41. DUD

Magnum is out, but before he can say anything, Ivan Koloff interrupts, reminding him that Nikita will take the US title soon

BUExperience: This was another 90 minute episode, and I continue to enjoy this format a lot more in smaller doses. Two hours is just a lot for a squash show, and while even 90 minutes is stretching it, this is a lot more tolerable.