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The first official review via The Network!
Great American Bash 1988
Sting/Nikita Koloff vs Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard NWA World Tag Team Championships
Sounds like a pretty solid way to start the show to me. Sting is super popular, but not a top guy yet. He's right on the verge and is definitely being groomed. Nikita has turned face and supports the end of the Cold War. Things start fast and furious with the Horsemen being knocked from the ring. They tried an ambush and got their asses kicked again. Looks like Sting and Tully are officially starting. Sting nearly wins with a small package, but the ref was distracted by the brawling. Sting hits a crazy dive over the top on Arn. Then he slows it down in the ring by taking Arn to the mat and tagging in Nikita. Sting/Nikita are ironically working over Arn's arm like they were the Andersons. Arn gets Nikita backed into the corner and throws some cheap shots. This crowd is SO LOUD. It's awesome. Arn thought Nikita ran into the corner, but Nikita blocked it and hit a lariatoooo and the crowd lost their fucking minds. Sting tags in and gets a knee in the corner, but is able to counter a sleeper and get Arn grounded again. Sting back flips out of a double top wrist lock and dropkicks both heels out. Tully is finally legally in the match. He quickly gets grounded and the faces work his arm. I love Tully and Arn solo and as a team. I think both were better than Flair and Tully did Flair's gimmick better, but with a sleazier edge. Faces are using traditionally heel tag tactics, much to the frustration of JoJo Dillon. The Horsemen just can not get any momentum. Tully finally gets a tag while in a hold. Arn comes in and is pissed that Nikita let go of the hold. And he's immediately taken to the ground. It's an interestingly laid out match, with the two young muscled up power dudes surprising the shit out of Arn and Tully by basically turning their own style against them. Arn gets out of a full nelson by kicking Nikita's knee. Tully looks pissed with Nikita tonight. Both men go over the ropes on a lariatoo. It was ruled an accident and the match continues. JoJo broke a pin. Nikita went after him and ended up giving the ring post a Russian Sickle. Arn then basically powerslammed him into the same post. The Horsemen finally get to do their limb based offense. Nikita Hulks Up only to get drilled with a DDT. Nikita kicks out! Nikita's gear rides up about as much as Big E's or Ahmed's. Half of his ass has been out the entire match. Hot tag to Sting! Press slams, drop kicks, back drops. Face buster. It slows back down. With 1 minute left in the time limit, Sting locks on a sleeper. Tully turns it into a sunset flip, but Sting holds on. The time limit expires while Sting has Tully in the Scorpion Death Lock. The match is a draw. Titles retained.
Tony and JR run down part of the card when the fight continues. Lol, Tony's mustache is so gross and 80s.
The Fantastics vs The Midnight Express NWA US Tag Team Championships
I liked Tommy Rogers a lot in the couple of matches he was in on the Memphis stuff. Happy to see him again. Cornette will be put in a straight jacket AND shark cage above the ring for the match. If the Fantastics win, they will get to whip Cornette 10 times. Fulton and Eaton start out. Some lighting troubles. Eaton gets the advantage, but Fulton comes back with a spinning head scissors and a rana. Stan is tagged in and does his "karate" kicks. I really have doubts that he ever learned any kind of karate. Fulton sends him to the floor and tags out to Rogers. He slows the pace down and takes Bobby to the mat. Bobby comes right back with a kitchen sink. Weird name for that move. I never understood it. Some quick 80s cruiser kind of spots. Double back drops from the Fantastics. They also somehow get Stan to back drop Bobby and then do the Fargo Strut. Bobby comes OUTTA NOWHERE with a bulldog while Rodgers had a pin on Stan. Drilled him with it. Bobby hits his sweet back breaker and the Midnights are in firm control. Tiltawhirl backbreaker from Bobby. Rogers sends Eaton into the ring post, but Stan is still in control in the ring. Alabama Jam from Eaton! Tommy gets his knees up on the Rocket Launcher. Hot tag to Fulton. It doesn't last long for him as he's slammed on the floor. Ref bump. Eaton punches Fulton with a chain around his fist. New champions! And they did it all on their own! WOOOO! Corny got whipped after the match because these faces are sore losers.
Ronnie Garvin/Jimmy Garvin/Road Warriors/Steve Williams vs Kevin Sullivan/Mike Rotunda/Al Perez/Russian Assassin/Ivan Koloff TOWER OF DOOM
The Tower of Doom is the three tiered cage that would be reused for Ready to Rumble, Slamboree 2000, and Russo's Revenge. It was actually used first in WCCW. The rules for this are even dumber than those matches. Every 5 minutes, all the doors unlock and one member of each team will get sent in. They will then have to work their way DOWN to the ring, where Precious holds the key to the door. The first team to have all members out of the bottom cage will win the match. Fucking stupid. That's some Russo shit if I've ever seen it. It takes forever to get started as Tommy Young is apparently terrified of heights and the doors are controlled by a crank that might not work. And the wrestlers don't climb up through the ring, they climb up on giant ladders on the outside. Wait, I guess the wrestlers come in every 2 minutes, but the doors open every 5 minutes. Or maybe the door is open for 5 minutes? Apparently not, as Ron Garvin made it to the second cage and closed the trap door, so it stayed closed. Ron Garvin makes it out of the bottom cage. This is terrible. The best part is the occasional shots of Precious with her tits way out. This had to be a Dusty idea. I wonder if the WCCW version had the same rules. It makes more sense to have something in the top cage. What kind of story or movie has someone fighting their way to the bottom of a tower? Especially one of DOOM? This thing looks so unsafe. The cage itself has a lot of support and cables/pulleys/braces, but it is shaky as fuck and the GIANT ladders are just leaning on the structure with camera men standing on one rung and part of the cage with no protection of any kind. And guys are getting thrown into parts where the ladders are leaning on. It came down to Jimmy Garvin and Kevin Sullivan. Jimmy was half way out and Sullivan shoved him out. So Garvin's team won. But then Sullivan locked the cage so he could rape Precious or something. Now the faces have to climb to the top and go through the trap doors again to save her. WHAT THE FUCK Sullivan grabs a rope and starts choking Precious. Jeeeezus Christ. That's pretty fucked up. Hawk and Jimmy save her and she didn't get choked to death or raped. So there's that.
TO THE CAUDLE. Bob Caudle talks about the match we just saw. A lot of down time to get the cages taken away.
Barry Windham vs Dusty Rhodes NWA US Championship
Barry is a member of the Four Horsemen, but was first a protege of Dusty Rhodes. It's a very personal affair in this match. More lighting problems. Dusty uses his size and experience to win the opening exchanged by hitting a huge shoulder block that sent Barry to the floor. Back in the ring, Dusty does a press slam. DDT. Top rope cross body from Dusty Rhodes! Flip flop and fly! JoJo gets an elbow. Barry is able to slow the match down and get in control of Dusty on the floor. He attempted a piledriver, but Dusty back dropped him and hit a lariatoooo. However, Barry gets back in control in the ring. Back to the floor momentarily. Barry gets brought OUT the hard way. JoJo distracts Dusty. THE CLAW! Dusty fights up to his feet, but can't stay up for long. He finally gets up to the second rope to break the leverage, but falls before he can drop an elbow. He eventually starts throwing 'bos and breaks the hold, but Barry gets it right back on. An era where two guys can work a claw for 7 minutes and the fans buy it is long gone. Dusty breaks it, but there was a ref bump. He misses an elbow drop, but is able to body slam Barry from the top. Bionic elbow! But there is no ref. Ronnie Garvin comes out and punches Dusty. SWERVE! MY GAWD WHAT A SWERVE! Barry wins! Title retained.
TO THE BACK. We see Ronnie Garvin rubbing money over himself with Gary Hart and JoJo.
Lex Luger vs Ric Flair NWA Championship
The opening lock up ends with Flair going flying. Lex smiles at some chops. He then hits a great dropkick. Press slam. The champ is in trouble. He rolls to the floor and falls over the railing into the crowd. Another press slam. Bear hug. Flair has really had no offense. Giant elbow drop. Lex misses the second one, but it didn't phase him. Flair begs off, gets hip tossed, and goes to the floor. Lex follows and gets an eye poke for his trouble. NOW, we go to school. Lex makes a brief come back, but not enough to stay in control. Flair goes up top and instead of getting press slammed, he crotches himself. Lex misses a dropkick and Flair flops. Lariatooo from Lex. Foot on the ropes. Lex fights for a sunset flip. He gets it, but only for 2. Flair now starts to attack the leg. He probably should have started that 10 minutes ago. Figure four. Lex gets out and the chops make him Hulk Up. He barely gets a press slam off before falling. He then misses a knee drop with his bad knee. Flair goes up top and gets slammed this time. 10 count punch in the corner. Atomic drop to counter, which I think Lex was supposed to block but fell, then got right up and hit a lariatoo. Flair Flip and Flop. Lex nearly wins with a backslide. Both men go over the top rope. Lex gets posted. JoJo sends him into it again while Flair has Tommy Young distracted. Lex is busted open. This just fires Lex up. The commission members/doctor is yelling for the ref. Lex puts Flair in the torture rack. The bell rings. New champion! The match was actually stopped due to blood loss. DUSTY FINISH! Flair retains the title. What's great is that Lex just has a little spot of blood on his forehead. Loud BULLSHIT chants to end the show. JR tries to cover that Maryland is extremely strict on blood loss and most states would have allowed the match to continue.
Pretty decent show over all. Opening tag was match of the night, but the US tag was good, Dusty/Barry was decent, and young Lex was very capable of being carried. But the tower of doom was awful.
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