NWA (JCP) Starrcade 1986 (Version III)

 

Original Airdate: November 27, 1986

From Greensboro, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver (Greensboro), and Tony Schiavone and Rick Stewart (Atlanta)

Opening Match: Tim Horner and Nelson Royal v Don Kernodle and Rocky Kernodle: From Greensboro. Horner and Rocky start, and Tim dominates him with takedowns. A reversal sequence ends in Rocky missing a dropkick, but Tim misses an elbowdrop, and Don tags in. Tim slams him for two, but a criss cross allows Don a front-powerslam for two. I can totally see why they paired Don with Sgt. Slaughter. Royal tags in, and a criss cross allows him to grab an abdominal stretch. Don hiptosses free, and corner whips him, but misses a charge in. That allows Royal a knee, and he passes to Tim for a schoolboy for two. Tim holds a standing headlock, but Don whips him into the ropes, and catches him with a hiptoss. Tag back to Royal, and he grabs a headlock of his own, and another criss cross sees Royal turn it into a sleeper. Don makes a tag while in the hold, allowing Rocky to dive in with a flying sunset flip for two to break the sleeper, and a bodyslam gets another two, but he misses a bodypress. That allows Royal to cover for two, and Horner tags in with a powerslam for two. Tim with a small package for two, but a criss cross results in a double knockout spot. Rocky is closer, and Don tags in, hitting the dazed Horner with a hanging vertical suplex for two. Don keeps coming with a backdrop, but a headbutt drop misses, and Tim capitalizes with a dropkick for two. A criss cross allows Don to throw a clothesline, and he passes back to Rocky for a press-slam for two. Rocky tries a side suplex, but Tim blocks. Rollup, but Rocky reverses - only for Horner to reverse back at 6:01. This match wasn’t in the V1 review, so this is only the second look. And it was a lot of fun, with a fast pace, and lots of action. I shortchanged it last time. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

Jimmy Garvin v Brad Armstrong: From Atlanta. They scrap around a bit to start, posturing. They take it to the mat, where Brad gets a side-headlock, but Garvin shifts it into a few cradles for two counts. They fight over the headlock for a bit before getting into the ropes, and Garvin manages a takedown into a leglock as they get back to a vertical base. Brad fights it off, and gets an armbar, and they fight over that for a while next. We’re ten minutes into this, and it’s like all feeling out kind of stuff thus far. Finally, Garvin dumps him on his head with a side suplex for two while escaping a headlock, and he tosses Brad to the outside to get this thing into gear a little bit. Garvin keeps him from getting back inside, but finally brings him in with a snapmare for two. Jimmy drops him across the top rope for two, and a backbreaker is worth two. A criss cross results in both guys knocking heads, both left looking up at the lights. Garvin is up first, but he’s dazed, and Brad topples a bodyslam attempt for two. Garvin hammers him, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. Brad follows in, but hits a knee, and Garvin covers for two. Garvin smashes his face into the mat for two, and grabs a chinlock, but Brad quickly escapes. Garvin hooks a small package for two, reversed by Armstrong for two. Garvin with another bodyslam, and he goes to the top, but a flying splash misses, just as time expires at 14:56. This was incredibly boring, if technically solid. ¾* (Three review average rating: 1.08)

Shaska Whatley and Barbarian v Hector Guerrero and Baron Von Raschke: From Greensboro. A big brawl to start, and things settle on Whatley and Guerrero. Guerrero with a 2nd rope bodypress for two, and a dropkick follows, so Whatley pops him with a headbutt. Tag to Barbarian for a 2nd rope axehandle, and he works on Hector, but misses a charge, and goes flying out of the ring. Man, he wasn’t shy about taking that bump! Hector dives after him with a plancha, but Barbarian clobbers him before Hector can get it back inside, and Barbarian drops him across the guardrail. Whatley rolls Hector in for Barbarian to press-slam, and he adds a legdrop. Tag to Whatley for a backdrop, and the heels cut the ring in half on Guerrero. He slips away for the hot tag to Baron, and Whatley is caught in the clawhold, so Barbarian saves, and Roseanne Barr the door! Shaska misses a corner splash on Baron, allowing Baron an elbowdrop for the pin at 6:19. This was fine. * (Three review average rating: 1.58)

Backstage, Weaver hangs out outside NWA Television Champion Dusty Rhodes’ dressing room, and it’s cute that Johnny notes that Dusty has been ‘quiet’ in the weeks leading up to this defense. He’s on every show, cutting multiple promos per episode! Anyway, for the first time in recorded history, Dusty doesn’t take the bait of a live microphone, telling Weaver to get lost

NWA United States Tag Team Title No Disqualification Match: Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev v Dutch Mantel and Bobby Jaggers: From Atlanta. Ivan and Dutch start, and Mantel reverses him into the corner, then delivers a backdrop on the rebound. Tag to Bobby, and Jaggers nails Ivan with a backelbow. The challengers dominate Ivan with quick tags, but fail to properly cut the ring in half, and Krusher catches a tag during a wristlock. Krusher pops Mantel with a knee, and hammers him on the ropes, before double teaming with Ivan. Backdrop, but Dutch blocks, and throws a series of right hands to send Krusher into the babyface corner. The challengers double up on Krusher, but Mantel misses a baseball slide, and Koloff catches a tag. He hammers Mantel for a cross corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Dutch uses a cross corner whip of his own. The challengers with stereo backelbows for two, but Koloff railroads Mantel into the heel corner, and Krusher is waiting to get a shot in. Mantel ends up on the outside, where Krusher feeds him the announce table, then drops him knee first across the rail. Inside, that allows the Russians to work Mantel over, until Bobby comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door. I’m surprised it took that long, considering it’s no DQ. Ivan grabs the chain, but Mantel uses his bullwhip to knock it away, and the brawl continues. Jaggers looks to put Ivan away, but gets clocked with the chain by Krusher while running the ropes, and Koloff covers at 7:49. A little punchy/kicky, but energetic. ¾* (Three review average rating: 1.17)

Indian Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel v Rick Rude: From Greensboro. Four corner rules apply here. Wahoo dominates early on, and he gets Rude down to choke with the strap. Rude grabs a standing side-headlock, and he forces Wahoo to the mat, where he returns the favor with the strap choking. Rude ties his hands with the strap to do some dragging, but fails to get all four, and Wahoo chokes him with the strap again. Wahoo ties the hands and goes for the corners, but Rude cuts him off after three. Rude hits a flying kneedrop, and he goes up for another one, but Wahoo uses the strap to pull him off. That allows Wahoo an elbowdrop, and he gets the corners at 8:11. I’m not suggesting it would have been a classic as a standard match, but the gimmick definitely hurt this more than it helped. DUD (Three review average rating: 0.08)

Backstage, Stewart catches up with the Russians, who gloat about keeping the US tag belts, and are excited at spending their US dollars at the Kansas Jayhawks’ expense 

NWA Central States Title Match: Sam Houston v Bill Dundee: From Atlanta. This must have been during one of the weeks when Houston was not a jobber. Posturing to start, with good fire from both guys. Dundee gets him down in a headlock, but Sam fights free, and uses a headscissor takedown into headscissors hold. Dundee escapes, but eats a dropkick, and Bill hides out in the ropes to break the momentum. Dundee manages a takedown in a chinlock, but Sam escapes, and goes to a headlock. Sam tries for the bulldog, but Bill blocks, so Sam uses a rollup for two. Dundee hides in the ropes again, and he dumps Houston to the outside when the champ goes after him. Dundee follows to smash him into the apron out there, but Sam fights him off with an atomic drop on the floor. He leaves Bill out there to take the count, but Dundee beats it inside. Sam covers him for two, but eats a boot while trying to corner the challenger, and Dundee dives with a flying fistdrop for two. Dundee uses a snapmare into a chinlock, and an elbowsmash gets him two. Dundee with a series of jabs, and Sam is on dream street. Dundee throws a knee for two, and he puts Sam in a Boston crab, but Houston counters to a cradle for two. Dundee gets him into the ropes for a choke on the kickout, and Bill tosses him out of the ring after the break. Sam beats the count, so Dundee dives with a flying axehandle for two, and he grounds the champion in a front-facelock from there. Sam slugs free, and tags Dundee with a backelbow for two. A kneedrop follows, and Houston uses a bodyslam to set up another kneedrop, but Dundee dodges. That allows Bill to go to work on the leg, but Sam blocks a figure four, and bumps the referee in the process. That allows Dundee to nail Houston with a cowboy boot, but the referee sees it at 10:22. Bad finish, but a solid match. * ¼ (Three review average rating: 1.0)

Hair v Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant v Paul Jones: From Greensboro. It’s Paul’s hair against Big Mama’s here, and Manny Fernandez is suspended in a shark cage. Valiant attacks as Jones is busy screaming about Manny, and Valiant goes to work with his usual punching and kicking. Jones turns it around with some cheating, and he goes to work with his usual punching and kicking. Valiant manages to get a blade job into this sub-five minute match, since it’s JCP. Valiant makes a comeback, so Jones goes for a weapon, but it backfires, and Valiant wins at 4:22. I hate Valiant, and I hate this endless feud, but the crowd liked it, and at least it paid things off. DUD (Three review average rating: 0.00)

Bob Taylor hypes up the second annual Bunkhouse Stampede. I like how they sell it as ‘twenty or twenty five’ men. Well, which is it? That leads to a vignette with Nelson Royal sitting around a campfire, reflecting on all his nights fighting in bunkhouse stampedes. Didn’t they just say this is going to be the second one? The math on this show is driving me mad

Intermission

Taylor takes us back to highlights of the Crockett Cup, and hypes a second Cup for 1987. Of course, Nelson Royal’s probably been Cupping since 1972

Street Fight: Ron Garvin v Big Bubba Rogers: From Atlanta. Garvin measures him to start, until Bubba grabs hold of him, and tosses him to the outside. Ron comes back in with a cup of coffee to blind Bubba, allowing him a flurry of shots, putting Rogers on the outside. Back in, Garvin grabs a front-facelock, then shifts it into a blatant choke. Bubba fights him off, and delivers an avalanche, as I wonder if the jacket Jim Cornette has on here is the same one he wore at WrestleMania X. Sadly, it is not. God bless Google. Bubba with a bodyslam and a splash for two, but Garvin beats the count, though he’s bloodied. Ron pulls out a rope to choke Bubba down with, and he tries tying him up, before just going with punches instead. Gosh, this whole thing is turning into a WrestleMania X tribute match. Bubba gets a bearhug on, but Garvin throws headbutts to escape, and Bubba ends up falling out of the ring. He beats the count in, so Ron tees off on him with punches, and Bubba falls out again. Ron follows to keep unloading the shots on the outside, but Bubba goes to the eyes. Bubba goes upstairs on the way back in, but Garvin slams him off the top for a one count. Garvin muscles through a piledriver, so Cornette whacks him with the tennis racket, leaving both men down for a double knockout at 10:40. But the referee thinks that would be stupid, and decides that the first man up wins. Cornette comes in to try and aid his charge, but the referee shoves him out to make it a fair fight. Both guys stir, and Garvin is up first, but the referee misses it, since Bubba is holding his leg. Ron then collapses due to his knee being hurt, and Bubba is able to get to his feet in view of the official at 11:46. This was a stiff brawl, but there was nothing going on beyond punching and kicking, and that’s just not my thing. ¼* (Three review average rating: 0.33)

NWA Television Title First Blood Match: Dusty Rhodes v Tully Blanchard: From Greensboro. This is the famous match where Dusty has ‘Tully’ painted on the side of his head. JJ Dillon tries to give Blanchard a protective head covering before the bell, but Dusty responds by beating poor JJ bloody. Posturing to start, with Dusty knocking him around a bunch. Tully ends up on the outside, and man, Dillon really let it rip with the blade, wow. Inside, Dusty just keeps punching him over and over, so Dillon passes Blanchard a shoe. Dusty blocks the shot, and suplexes Blanchard, but the referee gets bumped in the process. That allows Dusty to use the shoe, and he tags Blanchard with the elbowsmash. A series of mounted punches bust Tully open, but there’s no referee. Dusty keeps pounding him, but Dillon wipes the blood off before the official can recover, and he passes Blanchard a weapon. Tully blasts Dusty with it to draw blood on him, and the dazed referee sees the blood at 8:35. I guess the top of the card sucking wasn’t unique to the Hogan era for this promotion. DUD (Three review average rating: 0.17)

Skywalkers Scaffold Match: The Road Warriors v The Midnight Express: From Atlanta. First team to knock the others off the scaffold wins. Gosh, not only is it so high up, but it doesn’t look especially stable, either. Like, the railings at either end are wobbling all over the place as both teams get up there. So… yeah… play-by-play is not really a thing for these types of matches. It ends with the Warriors knocking them off at 7:31. ¼* for sheer nerve. (Three review average rating: 0.58)

Highlights of the 1986 Great American Bash Tour. Presented by this Taylor fuck

NWA World Tag Team Title Cage Match: The Rock 'n' Roll Express v Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson: From Greensboro. What was up with the belts changing all the time? One week they have the Reggie Parks versions, one week they have the previous seven-plate version. “A most unusual match,” the announcers note, regarding the cage. Really? In JCP? Really?! Robert Gibson and Ole start, and Ole keeps trying to corner him, but Gibson sticks and moves. Tag to Arn for some double teaming, and Ricky Morton’s attempts to save don’t go well. Gibson manages to fight them off alone, and the dust settles back on Gibson and Ole. Ole pops him with a kick to the gut, but again fails to trap him in the corner, and Morton gets the tag. He comes in with fists of fury, so Ole tags out. Finally, the Horsemen manage to get control by clipping Gibson’s leg, and you’d better believe they go to work. Robert fights off a kneebar long enough to tag Gibson, but his fury is quickly quelled when Ole launches him into the side of the cage a couple of times. Morton blades, and the heels go to work cutting the ring in half on him. For a long ass time. Finally, Morton manages to win a slugfest with Ole, and he hooks a small package, but Arn saves at two. That draws Gibson in without the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Ole tries to slam Ricky, but Robert dropkicks Morton’s back, and Ricky topples Ole for the pin at 19:02. People really love this match. It’s not my thing. Sure, the Horsemen kicking the shit out of an increasingly bloody Ricky Morton is classic stuff, but there’s very little actual work going on, aside from them just hammering him over and over. It’s okay. * (Three review average rating: 2.33)

Magnum TA tribute music video. The beach stuff with his mom is a little over the top

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Nikita Koloff: From Atlanta. Koloff's NWA United States title is not on the line. Flair throws some fire at the bell, but Koloff just absorbs and no-sells it all, so Ric bails to the outside to strategize. Back in, Flair tries more attacks, but Koloff just keeps staring at him, and this time shoves the champion down. Koloff grabs him in a bearhug, and holds it down into a few pin attempts, but Flair gets the shoulder up at two each time. Koloff keeps grinding the hold on, so Flair tries some stuff, but gets choked down. Koloff goes for the Sickle, but Flair ducks it, and Koloff goes flying out of the ring. He hurts his knee on the landing, and the Nature Boy capitalizes by wrapping it around the post. Flair clips the leg as they go back inside, and he slaps the figure four on in short order. Koloff gets to the ropes as he works on a reversal, so Flair ropeburns him, and fires off chops in the corner. Koloff starts no-selling, so Flair kicks at the knee, but Nikita is on a roll. Flair tries more chops, no dice. He goes for a blatant choke, but Koloff muscles him off, and advances on him in the far corner. Flair forces a criss cross, however, and he dumps Nikita out of the ring. Flair follows to feed Koloff the scaffold, and the challenger is busted open. Inside, Flair ropeburns him again, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Flair with a side suplex for two, and he hammers on the cut, but Koloff gets fired up. He tackles Flair in the corner, and a bodyslam drops the champion. Koloff keeps coming with a hiptoss, and a cross corner whip flips Flair out of the ring. Koloff chases, so Flair goes low. He tries to send him into the scaffold again, but Nikita reverses, and now the champ is busted open as well. Inside, Koloff sends him shoulder-first into the turnbuckle, so Flair kicks him in the gut, and tries firing off chops, but Koloff turns it into a slugfest - which he wins. Koloff with a jumping shoulderblock, but the referee goes down in the process, and you can hear the crowd collectively groan, as they smell the screwjob coming. Flair with a corner whip, but Koloff rebounds with the Sickle! Cover, but there’s no one to count. Koloff lets off the cover to go revive the referee, but that allows Ric to recover with a high knee for two - counted by a new official. A criss cross sees Koloff throw another Sickle, but Ric ducks, and Nikita takes out the second referee. Furious, Koloff chokes the champion in the corner, but the original referee is recovered now. He tries to intervene, but Koloff shoves him down for the DQ at 19:13 - officially a no contest when the referee decides to simply throw it out. This built into a really good match by the end, but then they did a stupid screwy finish, when this really needed a better one. Not even necessarily a clean one, but better. ‘Nikita shoves down the referee’ is a bullshit finish for a major title match, but especially on the biggest show of the year. But that’s very on brand for this promotion. ** ½ (Three review average rating: 2.75)

BUExperience: I enjoyed aspects of this, but it was long at four hours, and a lot of the top matches really underdelivered. The production values also hurt this one a lot, as it looked really dark, and low rent compared to the WWF’s TV product.

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