NWA (JCP) World Championship Wrestling (March 14, 1987)

 

Original Airdate: March 14, 1987

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

NWA United States Tag Team Champions Ron Garvin and Barry Windham are out, ahead of their title defense against Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff later

Jimmy Garvin v Randy Barber: Babyface Garvin doesn’t work for me. Maybe if he tweaked his act even just a little, maybe then it might. Don’t get me wrong, I hate it when they take a cool heel character and then neuter him because of a face turn, like with Diesel in 1995 or Shawn Michaels in 1996. But those were heel characters that the crowd essentially turned face, and didn’t need any modifications. Here, Garvin needs to win the fans over to get them to accept him as a bayface all of a sudden, but he’s still doing the exact same heel act they were booing a month ago. It doesn’t work for me. Garvin with a brainbuster at 3:43. DUD

NWA United States Champion Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes are out to talk about the Crockett Cup, and I can’t even imagine how doing that voice all the time must have fucked with Nikita’s vocal chords 

Barbarian v Lane Smith: Barbarian with a flying headbutt drop to end this lengthy squash at 4:42. DUD

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: Ron Garvin and Barry Windham v Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff: Lots of posturing early on, and Garvin gets into trouble with Murdoch. The heels take turns holding him in front-facelocks, but he fights them off long enough to take Barry. Windham runs wild on Koloff, and gets him in a sleeper, but Ivan fights it off. Barry tries an elbowdrop, but misses, and Murdoch tags back in to hammer on Barry with fists. Ivan tries a flying axehandle, but gets slugged on the landing, and Barry powerslams him for two. Ivan scurries away to tag Dick back in, but Barry gives him an atomic drop, then an elbowdrop for two. Murdoch bails, so Barry goes after him, and smashes him into the announce desk. That draws the other two guys over for a proper brawl, and inside, Windham hooks Murdoch in a sunset flip for two. Tag to Ivan, and he kicks Barry in the head before Windham can keep the momentum going. Barry fights him off with a side suplex, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop, but Koloff dodges. That allows the tag back to Murdoch, and he grounds Windham in a chinlock. The heels cut the ring in half on Barry, until Windham manages to catch Koloff with a jumping clothesline, and he makes the hot tag to Garvin! Garvin runs wild, and hooks Ivan in a small package for two. A dropkick and a backdrop follow, and he hits him with a big knockout punch, but Murdoch comes in to save. That triggers a big brawl, and Vladimir Petrov tries to get involved, but the babyfaces shrug him off. Unfortunately, the Midnight Express show up as well, and Garvin gets blasted with the tennis racket, allowing Ivan to pin him at 19:13. This was solid work. Afterwards, Murdoch and Koloff swing by the desk, blowing off any questions about interference. **

The Midnight Express are out, and they’re shocked to hear that Windham and Garvin lost the belts. First they’re hearing of it

Brad Armstrong v El Lobo: Brad with the Russian legsweep at 8:25. Yes, it really took him almost eight and a half minutes to squash a guy. Afterwards, Brad and Bob Armstrong swing by the desk to talk Crockett Cup. DUD

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Lex Luger v Bill Mulkey, Alan Martin, and Larry Stephens: Arn finishes with a gourdbuster at 4:19. DUD

JJ Dillon is out, hinting at a big announcement 

The Horsemen are out, and they think Ole turned his back on his real family: them

Lazer Tron v Tommy Angel: The NWA Junior Heavyweight gold is not on the line here. Lazer Tron is apparently the ‘protector of the children,’ which is a really fucking weird gimmick. Tron with the pin at 4:20. DUD

The Midnight Express v Mike Jackson and Dexter Wescott: Jim Cornette sits in on commentary here, doing what he does. The Express wrap this up at 5:26. DUD

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are out, and I still have no idea how these guys were making women scream with anything other than terror 

The Rock 'n' Roll Express v Randy Mulkey and Darrell Dalton: The Express get a little playful this week, before finishing at 1:45. At least it was the correct length for a squash match. They should give the rest of the promotion notes. DUD

Lex Luger and JJ Dillon are out, and Lex is ready to make the Horsemen his real family, unlike that Ole Anderson piece of shit

NWA World Tag Team Champions Rick Rude and Manny Fernandez laugh off the competition in the Crockett Cup

Mike Rotunda v Thunderfoot I: Rotunda with the airplane spin at 2:15. Afterwards, Mike swings by the desk, and he’s happy to be here in the NWA. DUD

BUExperience: I was pretty bored with this one, but it wasn’t terrible.