NWA (WCW) Power Hour (August 18, 1989)

 

Original Airdate: August 18, 1989 (taped August 14)

From Charleston, West Virginia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Cornette

Sting v Ron Simmons: They get in each other’s faces, and Ron takes the first shot, but Sting fights him off, and uses a side suplex before throwing a pair of dropkicks to send Simmons to the outside. Back in, Ron throws fists to leave Sting on the ropes, and a clothesline knocks Sting over the top. Ron follows with a headbutt on the outside, and he feeds Sting the steps out there. Inside, Ron delivers a powerslam, and he grounds Sting in a chinlock from there. Sting escapes, and throws a bodypress for two, but Simmons quickly cuts him off with a turnbuckle smash. Ron chokes him on the ropes, and uses a snapmare to buy time to get to the top rope, but not enough, as Sting crotches him up there. Sting knocks him off for a bump to the outside, and he snaps Simmons’ throat on the top rope, before adding a baseball slide. Sting follows to the outside to feed Ron the guardrail, and he takes him inside for a backrake. Into the corner for a ten-punch, but Ron fights him off with an inverted atomic drop. Ron adds a bodyslam for two, and he goes back to the chinlock, but the referee deems it a choke, and breaks it up. Ron tries a clothesline, but Sting ducks, and drops him with a facebuster. Sting keeps coming with a few turnbuckle smashes, and a vertical suplex gets him two. Ron rakes the eyes to buy time, and he dumps Sting to the outside, coming off the apron with an axehandle after him. To the post, but Sting reverses, and he drops Simmons across the rail for good measure. Inside, Sting dives with a 2nd rope clothesline, but Ron fights him off in the corner, so Sting wisely bails to break the momentum swing. Ron tries to suplex him back in, but Sting counters into a schoolboy at 9:55. Really strong back-and-forth action here. Both guys worked hard, and the storytelling was good. ***

Gordon Solie is in the studio with Wrestling News Network. Not much here, mostly just hype for the Clash of the Champions. I did get a chuckle out of Solie referring to Sting as ‘the Sting’

NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Cuban Assassin: They’ll give just anyone a shot, I guess. Assassin gets Flair on the outside and sends him into the post right away, and he keeps coming with right hands, leaving the champion rattled. Inside, Assassin keeps slugging, but Flair fires back with chops. Assassin tries a corner whip, but Flair flips over the buckles, and rebounds with a flying axehandle. Ric adds a kneedrop and an elbowdrop, then takes Assassin into the corner for chops. Assassin rakes the eyes to buy time, but he can’t follow up, and Flair backdrops him. Ric adds a gutwrench suplex for two, and he grabs a wristlock from there. Assassin makes the ropes, so Flair corner whips him, and uses another backdrop on the rebound. Flair with a backelbow, and a vertical suplex, followed by the figure four at 5:08. Assassin never looked like a threat here, but Flair didn’t gobble him up, either. ¾*

Terry Funk hosts Funk’s Grill with guests Norman the Lunatic and Teddy Long. Funk tries to change Norman’s gimmick on the fly, but I don’t think Norman needs any help in that department

NWA United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Tommy Rich: The announcers make a point of making sure that we understand that Luger does not ‘enjoy interacting with the fans,’ which is part of his gimmick at this point, but also very, very, very much the truth. And then, the WWF picked this guy as their top babyface, and put him on a cross country bus tour where he has to shake hands and kiss babies. Luger uses some power early, but Rich fights through, and uses a pair of dropkicks to put the champion on the outside. Inside, Rich gets an armbar locked, until Lex manages to escape. Lex starts running away to force Rich into a chase, and the champion nails him from the high ground. That allows Luger to feed Tommy the rail, but Tommy manages a small package for two as they head back in. Luger cuts him off with a clothesline, but he wastes time jawing at the fans, and Rich corners him for a ten-punch. Luger shakes him off with an inverted atomic drop, and Lex adds a bodyslam to set up a pair of elbowdrops for two. Lex gets a sleeper on, but Tommy drops into the corner to shake him off. Lex stays focused with a bodyslam, but Rich blocks a flying axehandle, and tags Lex with a backelbow. Rich adds a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, and a Thesz press is worth two. Rich with a 2nd rope fistdrop, and Luger is left begging off. Rich keeps coming with fists, so Lex bails to the apron, but Rich is on him. The referee intervenes, allowing Luger a cheap shot, and a slingshot splash allows Lex a leveraged pin at 12:33. Solid, but not especially engaging. It got more interesting as it went along, though. *

BUExperience: A really good episode this week, with a standout Sting/Simmons match.