The Chrononaut Chronicles – WWE 24/7: NWA World Championship Wrestling – Saturday, June 8, 1985
– The opening clip this week features “Ragin’ Bull” Manny Fernandez decking the Barbarian with a jumping clothesline, knocking him to the floor with a back-elbow, and then leaping over the top rope with a beautiful running dive out of a three-point stance (the Three-Point Plancha?) before we go to the usual NWA World Championship Wrestling opening. Damn, that was pretty awesome. Whatever happened to Manny?
– Tony Schiavone & David Crockett are your hosts as they run down the lineup for today’s program and interview NWA United States Champion Magnum TA, who states that he took Ric Flair to his limit and will soon be taking his NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
– “Ragin’ Bull” Manny Fernandez vs. George South
The commentators talk about Tully Blanchard hiring Abdullah The Butcher to crack Dusty Rhodes’ ribs and the Ragin’ Bull being a Vietnam veteran during this impressive squash that ends when Manny nails South with the flying forearm off the ropes. Afterwards, the Bull joins David & Tony at the table to explain how he fought for respect all his life and mentions that it’s “15 years too late” to erect a statue calling Vietnam vets “heroes” as he targets Blanchard & Ric Flair and finishes off with a message in Spanish. I think I see where Eddie Guerrero got some of the inspiration for his babyface persona in 2003-04, Manny has the same kind of energy if not the same charisma.
– Magnum TA vs. Mike Simani
Another quick squash for the US Heavyweight Champion as Magnum leapfrogs over Simani and slams him with the belly-to-belly suplex in under a minute.
– Tony interviews Dusty Rhodes, who claims that Abdullah The Butcher weighs “400,000 pounds” (Hogan’s tall tales got nothin’ on Dusty!) and advises Tully Blanchard to handle his own business instead of sending a big gorilla to do his dirty work. Tully & Baby Doll are in the ring as the American Dream adds that he’s thrown away better stuff than Baby Doll and rubs the strips of tape on his beergut.
– Tully Blanchard vs. Mark Hawk
Dusty Rhodes remains at the table to provide commentary as the NWA World Television Champion completely outclasses his larger opponent and attempts the slingshot suplex, but Hawk is TOO FAT so he accidentally flops out to the floor and Blanchard shouts “Too big!”. Tully stomps away at Hawk until Dusty comes into the ring and fires off a Bionic Elbow, but Baby Doll rakes his eyes and Tully works over Dusty’s ribs before the Dream can escape from the squared circle. No decision announced, but I’d guess it was a disqualification win for Blanchard.
– Tony interviews NWA World Champion Ric Flair, who mentions the Ragin’ Bull & Dusty Rhodes as he claims to be “the most talked-about man at the office” and repeats his line about the stewardesses asking “Rambo Who?” after seeing the Nature Boy walk through the airport. Flair denies that Magnum TA took him to the limit as he explains that the only time he’s been taken to his limit was when he had Linda Carter & Bo Derek back-to-back. Flair adds a message for Buddy Landel that the girls told him when they knock at Buddy’s door, nobody’s home. Is that some sort of double entendre?
– “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer vs. Randy Beason
The commentators mention that the Andersons tried to injure the Mad Dog’s eye and Beason tries to go after it, but Buzz ravages his big-bellied opponent in and out of the ring as Sawyer powerslams Beason for the victory and sells his eye injury.
– After a commercial break, Tony interviews Brett Wayne Sawyer, who states that he came back because the Andersons tried to take out his brother’s eye.
– Arn Anderson vs. Larry Clarke
Brett Sawyer remains on commentary with Tony & David while Arn mercilessly works over his opponent’s midsection until Anderson finishes off Clarke with the gourdbuster. Afterwards, Arn confronts Brett and likens him to “Dennis The Menace” as he wonders where his brother is, but Brett suggests that Buzz is probably in the shower so Arn cheapshots him. Brett removes his shirt as he heads to the ring and unloads on Arn, but Arn tosses him through the ropes and drops him face-first on the concrete floor with a nasty gourdbuster. Dick Slater comes out to check on Brett and Arn blindsides him too, but Slater slugs away and chases Arn off as Buzz Sawyer finally runs out to attend to his fallen brother and bellows like a wounded animal. Slater cuts an intense promo at the table vowing revenge on the Andersons and promises to show them how to really get nasty.
– Tony interviews NWA World Tag Team Champions the Koloffs as Ivan denies that Khrusher Khrushchev is a traitor to the US because his mother is Russian and “corrected her mistake” of marrying an American by getting rid of him. Ivan puts over some of the contenders for their titles as “fine competitors” and Nikita namedrops Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, and the Road Warriors as he grunts that they will all fall to Russian superiority.
– Nikita Koloff vs. Rocky King
Ivan Koloff is in his nephew’s corner while “Pistol” Pez Whatley briefly joins Crockett & Schiavone on commentary to announce that he’ll be taking Rocky King under his wing, probably because they’re the only two black guys in the NWA unless Thunderbolt Patterson is still around. I think it’s a lost cause though as King is thoroughly dominated for several minutes before Nikita annihilates Rocky with the Russian Sickle.
– National Heavyweight Title – Loser Leaves Town: Ron Garvin [champion] vs. Black Bart
“Loser Leaves Town” is one of those old-school stipulations that sends chills down your spine because you know you’ll never hear it again on a major televised wrestling show since everything is national or international now, but Tully Blanchard joins David & Tony on commentary to put over what a big deal it is since it means the loser won’t get to wrestle in Atlanta on TBS ever again. Garvin’s right hand is still heavily bandaged so he has to employ a different strategy from his usual “Hands Of Stone” fisticuffs as he attacks Bart with a kneelift, elbowsmash, kicks to the face, and a jumping headbutt for a quick one-count. Bart keeps trying to go after the hand, but Garvin fights him off with another jumping headbutt and a stomp for a series of pinfall attempts as he tries to keep the big Texan on the mat. However, Bart hits the hand to get to his feet and pounds the hand and arm while Tully explains that Garvin’s injury is like a boxer’s break where the knuckles got pushed up into his hand. Bart slams the hand against the turnbuckle and Garvin bails out to the floor to grimace in pain, but Bart targets the hand when Rugged Ronnie comes back in and attempts to throw chops. Garvin bails out again and Bart chases him around the ring, but Garvin gets back in first and stomps Bart back to the floor when he tries to climb in. Garvin suplexes Bart back in for a two-count and applies a crucifix-style armbar as Blanchard puts him over for being a great wrestler in addition to being a great puncher. Garvin stomps Bart’s hand and stretches his arm as the commentators suggest that Garvin is trying to even the score and we get a “Break It” chant. And people said ECW fans were heartless.
Garvin scores a one-count and Bart regains his vertical base as Garvin outmaneuvers him until Bart traps him in the corner and works over Ron’s hand, but the National Champion battles back with a headbutt and holds Bart down in a rollup for several pinfall attempts. Double-stomp to the gut gets two and Garvin grabs a front-facelock as Tully explains why it’s such a killer hold, but Bart shoulderblocks Garvin into the corner and legdrops the hand on the mat. Bart hammers the hand some more until Garvin manages to apply a sleeper, but he can’t hold onto it because of his hand and switches to an abdominal stretch instead while biting his fingers to sell the pain of his broken hand. Garvin releases the stretch and they slug it out until Garvin clocks Bart with a big right hand and collapses on top of him for a three-count, but Bart got his foot over the rope and the referee continues the match. Garvin mauls Bart on the ropes and the ref pulls him off while Baby Doll appears at ringside and slides a loaded elbowguard onto Bart’s arm. Crockett & Schiavone protest her involvement as Bart blasts Garvin with the loaded elbowguard for the three-count to win the Loser Leaves Town match and capture the National Heavyweight Championship. Blanchard is pleased with the decision and says it was an honor for him to provide his expert color commentary as the World TV Champion as he leaves the table. This was actually a solid match with good psychology, although it’s pretty obvious that Garvin will be back since he had the pinfall and Bart cheated to win. Tully did a great job on commentary and probably could have had a great career doing that after his wrestling days were over, but it just didn’t work out that way.
– Tony interviews the Koloffs again as Ivan notes that Black Bart turned Ronnie Garvin’s Hands Of Stone into sand and claims that guys like Magnum TA, Raging Bull, & Dusty Rhodes are jealous of successful champions like themselves. Nikita promises to destroy all American wrestlers and invites the Road Warriors to come and try to take their NWA World Tag Team Championship.
– Dick Slater vs. Paul Garner
Schiavone & Crockett talk about Dick saving Brett Sawyer from Arn Anderson earlier and blame Tully Blanchard & Baby Doll for Ron Garvin losing the Loser Leaves Town match while Slater cracks Garner with a flying elbowsmash off the top turnbuckle to end this squash.
– Tony interviews Dusty Rhodes, who says “Now THEN!” about 50 times as he promises to demolish Tully Blanchard and spank Baby Doll until she’s “redder than a beet” and chooses Dusty as her man. Nothing turns a woman around like a little physical abuse.
– After a commercial break, Tony interviews Black Bart, who states that he did everything he said he would and there’s not a “dadgummed thing” anybody can do about it now that he’s the National Heavyweight Champion.
– “Pistol” Pez Whatley & Thunderbolt Patterson & Italian Stallion vs. The RPMs (DJ & LP) & Randy Barber
I guess old Thunderbolt is still around after all. I have a feeling this is one match we will NEVER EVER see on a DVD release. Move along, folks, nothing to see here as Patterson pins Barber following a double-fist thrust to the throat to end our misery.
– Tony interviews Dick Slater & Buzz Sawyer, who turns red and seems to be on the verge of bursting into tears as he cuts an emotional promo about the Andersons trying to take out his eye and now laying out his brother. Christ, no wonder people thought this stuff was real. Buzz storms off as Dick invites the Andersons to jump him if they want to see how good they really are.
– Abdullah The Butcher vs. Mike Nichols
Tully Blanchard is in the Butcher’s corner as Abdullah squashes Nichols with the running elbowdrop in under a minute and rolls around on top of him afterwards. I’m a big Abdullah mark from his WCW stint in the early ’90s and I love to see any of his old stuff. I saw a biography of him on the Biography Channel (I think) and he seems like a down-to-earth guy who pays all of his elderly mother’s bills, which is the complete opposite of his character. You know, I think that “dual personality” aspect is one reason this business fascinates me so much, because the nasty vile heels are usually the nice guys in real-life while the sweet sugary babyfaces are the selfish pricks.
– Tony interviews Tully Blanchard with Baby Doll & Abdullah The Butcher as the World TV Champion informs Dusty Rhodes that Baby Doll is a “debutante”, not a “jezebel”, and explains that he hired Abdullah (“the baddest man in the world of all times”) so he doesn’t have to soil his hands on the likes of the American Dream.
– Ivan Koloff vs. The Green Shadow
Nikita Koloff is in his uncle’s corner for this squash as the Russian Bear relentlessly punishes the masked jobber before Ivan puts the Shadow away with a slightly-botched Russian Sickle off the top turnbuckle.
– Tony interviews Arn Anderson, who explains that Ole isn’t there today and suggests that if the Sawyers, Dick Slater, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, or “Manual” Fernandez want a piece of the Andersons, they should come at them 2-on-2 for the National Tag Team Championship.
– “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel vs. Gerald Findley
James J. Dillon is with the Nature Boy as the WWE 24/7 Terri-stories popup informs us that “Landell wrestled Triple H and other WWE Superstars in the late ’90s” and shows a brief picture-in-picture clip of Buddy hammerlocking HHH, which is a bit sad since Buddy has a potbelly and appears rather old there while 10 years earlier he is in great shape and looks very crisp. Those were definitely a rough 10 years. Following a corkscrew elbowdrop, Landel forces Findley to submit to the figure-four leglock and Dillon pretends to pull him off afterwards.
– Tony interviews Ric Flair, who puts over Arn Anderson and takes what I assume is a shot at the WWF as he states that professional wrestling isn’t rock-and-roll, it’s a “man’s sport” and if you don’t like it, go watch something else. The NWA World Champion threatens Dick Slater and claims that he’ll make Nikita Koloff his personal gardener because his house is bigger than the Kremlin, so he’ll feel right at home. Slick Ric refers to Magnum TA as “the heartthrob of the Western world” but notes that the Nature Boy has “WHOOOO’ed” every good-looking woman alive today and adds that he’ll make himself available for Buddy Landel too. Flair ends the show by explaining that everybody he faces becomes history after he’s done with them.
Afterthoughts: One thing that stands out in comparison with WWF shows around the same time period is that the titles were made out to be very important to everybody, both the potential contenders and the champions themselves. That’s not to say the WWF’s World, Intercontinental, & Tag Team Titles weren’t important, but the NWA did a great job of making the competition for all of their titles feel real as almost everybody here makes reference to some championship, especially the World Title. I like how not only babyfaces like Magnum & Dusty talk about challenging Flair, but even heels like Nikita & Landell wanted a piece of him too. One thing that always bothered me about the WWF was that their top babyfaces such as Jake Roberts or Ricky Steamboat would never talk about wanting to challenge Hulk Hogan, which seemed ridiculous to me even as a kid. So it’s refreshing to see this type of more realistic competitive atmosphere from the same era, and I look forward to seeing what happens.
