Monday, December 26th, 1988
Norfolk Scope
Norfolk, Virginia
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Off The Grid, Volume 6:
NWA United States Tag Team Championship Match
Kevin Sullivan & Steve Williams vs. The Fantastics
I don't care how many good tag teams you have, I am not a fan of having two tag team titles. The Fantastics use quick tags to try to slow down Sullivan. In comes Williams and he shows off his strength with a military press. Rogers ducks Sullivan and he goes flying over the top rope. The Fantastics try to use their fast-paced offense, but eventually Williams has enough. There have been a lot of sloppy spots in this match, most of which include Sullivan. Rogers runs into the boot of Sullivan, but is able to slam Sullivan off the top rope. Rogers goes for the splash, but Sullivan gets his knees up. They cut the ring in half and continue to work on Rogers. Fulton has hardly done anything here so far. Rogers finally makes the hot tag to Fulton. Fulton hits a Thesz Press, but Williams drops him on the top rope with a hot shot and we have new champions. There was some good action here, but it felt so disjointed and didn't really tell any type of story for a 15 minute match.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
The Midnight Express vs. The Original Midnight Express
We get some annoying overdubbed music and Cornette's version of the Midnights clear the ring to start. Babyface Cornette says he is going to kick Dangerously's butt. After a ton of shenanigans, we are finally getting going here. For some reason they keep going to the ringside camera because apparently they think we enjoy having the rope in the middle of the frame. Eaton hits a top rope elbow drop on Condrey. Eaton hits a nice bulldog as they continue to dominate. Eaton truly was one of the best American workers of the 80s/90s. The Originals finally get some offense in and it allows Dangerously to get in a cheap shot. Randy Rose just screams generic southern wrestler to me. The Originals miss with the Rocket Launcher and Lane gets the hot tag. Man, I love Teddy Long, but he is not a good referee. Dangerously comes in and hits Lane with his phone and Cornette chases him out. Long sees the phone and plays to the crowd to ask if they used it. Lane and Eaton hit Double Goozle and get the victory. Immediately after the match the losers attack, including Cornette stomping away at Cornette. Eaton gets the racket and the crowd goes nuts, but the terrible production team doesn't show it until after it's pretty much done. This was better than the opener, but again it was disjointed.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Magnum TA is back with Steve Williams, Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotunda. This is...not a good interview.
The Russian Assassins vs. Ivan Koloff & Junkyard Dog
JYD is one of those guys that I never really have seen any of his stuff when he was in his prime. I'm not really sure why you would put three tag team matches in a row to start the show. Koloff hits a variation of a chokeslam for a 2 count. #2 clubs away at Koloff, but runs into a boot. Koloff looks really old here. JYD misses with a falling headbutt and the Assassins take advantage. JYD ducks a second rope ax handle, but Long is distracted and misses the pin attempt. JYD moves out of the way for the Russian Missile and tags in Koloff. There's an awksard collision and then Koloff hits a clothesline. Paul Jones puts a foreign object in the mask of one of the Assassin outside the ring and he hits it right in front of Long and he allows him just to come in and pin him. This is why you don't see any wrestling company have the same referee do every match. This was simply terrible.
Match Rating: 1/4*
NWA Television Championship Match
Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotunda
Kevin Sullivan is hanging above the ring in the shark cage. I just heard the announcement for 5 minutes into the match, so I guess I probably should start typing something. We get a lot of mat wrestling to start and Steiner biting Rotunda's butt. This feels like a bad house show match, so it's only fitting that it's on their biggest show of the year. The closest thing to action we have here is Rotunda avoids Steiner and throws him out of the ring. Rotunda follows up by dropping Steiner on the fence outside the ring. Steiner finally fights back and hits a clothesline. I will say that Steiner is definitely over here. Dr. Death makes his way out as Steiner hits a back body drop. Steiner hits a powerslam for a 2 count. Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex and the bell rings as he goes for the pin. Dr. Death was ringing it. A second referee comes own to try and figure out what to do. Sullivan is out of the cage and is yelling at the refs. Steiner rolls Rotunda into Sullivan and Steiner gets the pin and a huge pop from the crowd. This match was terrible and they could have easily cut it in half.
Match Rating: 1/2*
United States Championship Match
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Barry Windham
Two top tier wrestlers here. Windham hits a back suplex, but Bam Bam no sells it and Windham rolls out of the ring. I'm still not really sure why Bam Bam's first stint in WWF didn't end up with him being a main event guy. Lots of stalling here from Windham. Bam Bam hits a military press into a powerslam and again Windham is out of the ring. Bam Bam hits a standing dropkick and this time Windham is over the top rope and to the floor. Windham finally gets some offense in and now he throws Bam Bam out of the ring. Bam Bam sells his knee on the fall. On the way back in, Bam Bam knocks him down and launches himself over the rope and onto Windham. Bam Bam goes up top, but misses with the flying headbutt. Windham hits a big lariat. He hits a dropkick and if you're following along at home here, he too falls to the outside. Back in the ring, Windham puts the claw on and then hits a body slam. Windham now goes up top, but he misses with the elbow drop. Windham leaps at Bam Bam and both men fall out of the ring. Seriously, they must have had a bet with someone backstage to go out of the ring as many times as possible. Windham is able to roll back into the ring and Bam Bam is counted out. This is about as disappointing of a match that these two were probably capable of in 1988. There was hardly any action due to stalling and sitting outside the ring. If you go that route, you better have a good finish and instead they came up with a lazy countout.
Match Rating: *3/4
Rick Steiner is back with Magnum TA and he cuts a pretty lame promo straight out of public access TV.
NWA World Tag Team Championship Match
Sting & Dusty Rhodes vs. Road Warriors
They start brawling as soon as the Road Warriors hit the ring and Sting and Rhodes get the better of it. The officials keep them apart so that they can make the announcements. Sting gets the better of Hawk in the early going and gets that strong John Cena type pop for everything. Sting hits a top rope dive to the floor on Animal and he's all fired up. Dusty is tagged in and he slams Animal's leg on the post. The Warriors are able to stop the momentum though and go to work on Rhodes. Hot tag to Sting and he hits a modified bulldog on Animal. He follows it up with a dropkick and a Stinger Splash. He locks in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Hawk immediately breaks it up. Stings hits a splash off the top rope and goes for the pin but Paul Ellering pulls the ref out of the ring and we have a disqualification . Two absolute garbage finishes in a row here. Sting and Rhodes celebrate after the ring. This was another disappointing match.
Match Rating: **1/2
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair
Early on, Flair does his normal routine and ends up being clotheslined and out to the floor. Luger hits a press slam and then goes to work on the arm. Flair eventually gets a thumb to the eye and this of course leads to us being explained that it doesn't matter how big and strong you are. Luger no sells the chops and Flair tries to escape. So Luger just casually grabs Flair from behind and goes to work on the arm again. Flair regains control and they once again spill outside. Flair's chops this time are effective and he smashes Luger on the rail. Luger fights back and puts Flair in the sleeper hold right in the middle of the ring. Flair escapes but then Luger hits a superplex for a nearfall. Luger slaps on the Figure Four right around the 20 minute mark. Flair is able to drag his way over to the ropes to break the hold. Luger accidentally hits the referee with his elbow in one of the weaker looking accidents I can think of. Flair throws him over the top rope, which should be a DQ, but there is no referee. Luger hits a top rope crossbody for another close call. After a distraction from JJ Dillon, Flair trips up Luger and then hits him with a chair to the knees. Flair naturally goes to work on the knees of Luger. Flair slaps on the Figure Four, but Luger reverses it and the hold is broken. Flair goes up top and Luger is able to slam him, but is struggling to follow it up. Luger hits a sunset flip for another 2 count. Flair hits a running forearm and Luger just stands there. Luger hits some more fists in the corner and then a clothesline, but Flair then fairly easily kicks out. Luger's was really pretty limited here. He puts Flair up in the Torture Rack, but his legs buckle. Flair falls on top and uses the ropes and gets the victory over Luger. Luger bounces right back up to argue with the referee and his leg appears to miraculously be healed. I know they always said that Flair could have a 4 star match with a broomstick, but that was not the case for me here. Luger gave a good effort, but it just wasn't compelling enough for me to be anything other than slightly above average.
Match Rating: **3/4
The announcers try to sell us on the fact that Luger is still such a threat. Meanwhile, you can hear them announce the Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal, which isn't even show on the pay-per-view.
We go to Ric Flair backstage and he's hyping up how good the action is here in NWA. Meanwhile JJ Dillon is wiping his ear and looking at what's on his finger. Again, you can hear the ring announcer talking about the Bunkhouse Stampede.
This was not a bad show, but it felt like a chore to sit through. There was nothing compelling here or worth going out of your way to see. The Windham/Bigelow match was a really big disappointment for me, as was the Tag Team Championship match. Flair vs. Luger is very overrated, especially since they got plenty of time to tear down the house. The booking here was also really poor and the event felt more like a time filler rather than a signature event.
Overall Rating: 50%
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