NWA Starrcade ’85: The Gathering

Live from Atlanta, GA & Greensboro, NC

Airdate: November 28, 1985

Attendance: 30,000 (combined)

Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Bob Caudle

Forty years ago, this spectacular was born. Can Rhodes capture the World title? Who will say “I Quit”? How will the Rock’n’Roll Express fare in a cage against the Soviets? With a total of six title matches, will JCP continue to provide an entertaining Thanksgiving tradition?

For those unaware, Jim Crockett, Jr. became President of the NWA for the second time in 1985. His goal was to make Jim Crockett Promotions the home for the National Wrestling Alliance. With JCP televised on Superstation WTBS, he had a national presence but felt the pressure of the globalization of the World Wrestling Federation.

Since both Starrcade ’83 and ’84 were successes, Crockett wanted to one-up the WWF by having this event in both major hubs of the promotion. While one arena had a match, the other showed it via closed circuit. Following the event, JCP sold a videotape of the event for $39.95. Ya think I got my hands on a copy?

Match 1 for the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic title: Sam Houston versus Krusher Khruschev

Highlights:

Our first match transpired in Greensboro.
When Houston employed some stick’n’move strategy, Khruschev informed him that he’ll “break him in half.” Classic Darsow.
He dealt Houston a kick to the midsection followed by a standing choke.
As Khrushchev missed an elbow drop, Houston used his agility to land feet-first from a back drop.
He leapfrogged Khrushchev twice, blocked a hip toss, flipped over him, and delivered a flying headscissors.
After Houston held a headscissors, Khrushchev stood up and placed him atop the top turnbuckle.
Houston leaped over Khrushchev and stymied him with a dropkick.
While Khrushchev reversed an Irish whip, he flapjacked Houston.
He pounded Houston and got 2.
Gorilla-pressing Houston, Khrushchev flapjacked him again.
Khrushchev locked him in a bear hug, but Houston used the POWER OF AMERICA to escape.
Thwarting a back drop attempt with a punt, Houston got slammed.
Khrushchev mounted the top turnbuckle, but Houston crotched him. OUCH!
Punishing Khrushchev into Minnesota-flavored Soviet Stroganoff, Houston gave him a cross corner whip.
Houston bulldogged him, but Khrushchev placed his foot on the bottom rope at 2.
Prematurely celebrating his title victory, Houston succumbed to a Russian sickle.
1-2-3 despite Houston’s left leg being on the bottom rope.
Khrushchev won at 9:28.
WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Rating: **

Summary: Solid opener with a victory that would receive Kremlin approval.

Match 2 (Mexican death): Abdullah the Butcher (w/ Paul Jones) versus Manny Fernandez

Highlights:

Our second match happened in Hotlanta.
Objective of the match was to retrieve the sombrero atop a pole. Somewhere, Vince Russo contemplated having either ribs or Tex-Mex for dinner.
At the onset, Abdullah ambushed Fernandez, yet referee Stu Schwartz was occupied by hanging the sombrero.
Abdullah immediately punctured him with a plastic knife, and Fernandez was BUSTED OPEN.
As he headbutted Fernandez, Abdullah snagged the timekeeper’s mallet and bludgeoned him with it.
Fernandez rebounded with a monkey flip, mounted the second turnbuckle, and waffled Abdullah with his right boot.
When a BUSTED OPEN Abdullah evaded him, he stole the boot and clobbered Fernandez with it.
He attempted to retrieve the sombrero, but Fernandez nailed him WAY DOWNTOWN.
After Abdullah fell to the mat like a sequoia, Jones jumped on the apron only to be subdued by Schwartz.
Fernandez valiantly tried to get the sombrero, but Abdullah battered him with the boot.
While Abdullah made a second attempt, Fernandez removed his belt and whipped him.
He wrapped his belt around his fist and tenderized Abdullah into hamburger.
Kicking Fernandez in the throat, Abdullah headbutted him.
Abdullah missed an elbow drop, so Fernandez clotheslined him with the belt.
Suplexing Abdullah, a bootless Fernandez climbed the turnbuckles only to get stabbed far below deck.
Abdullah unleashed a pair of head butts, but Fernandez responded with a flying burrito.
Mounting the second turnbuckle, he launched a lariat knocking Abdullah down.
He mounted the top turnbuckle, leaped, but there wasn’t any water in the pool.
Giving Fernandez a cross corner whip, Abdullah came up empty on his follow-through.
In fact, he fell to the apron.
Fernandez ascended toward the sombrero and attained it.
As a result, Fernandez won at 9:07.

Rating: ***

Summary: Although it’s a prototype for what would become a hardcore match, this match was much better than I would have thought with Fernandez’s in-ring charisma, aerial ability, and drive. Abdullah also did everything possible to make Fernandez look good.

Back in Greensboro, Johnny Weaver interviews Khrushchev, but I chose to locate some borscht instead.

Match 3 (Texas bull rope): Black Bart (w/ JJ Dillon) versus “Cowboy” Ron Bass

Highlights:

Should Bass win, he’d earn five minutes against Dillon.
Bass grabbed the cow bell first and blasted Bart with it.
When Bart became BUSTED OPEN, Bass placed the cow bell atop the top turnbuckle and forced Bart to eat it.
Bass knocked Bart silly before pounding him into ground veal. Meatballs, anyone?
As Bart hammered Bass WAY DOWNTOWN, Dillon knelt on the apron to encourage him.
Bart clanged the cow bell on Bass who also became BUSTED OPEN.
After Bass rammed him face-first into the mat, he grated the rope against Bart’s forehead. Ick.
Bart set him prone against the ropes, charged, but sailed over the top rope to the concrete floor.
From the apron, Bass unloaded a bell shot that rang throughout the Greensboro Coliseum.
Bass clobbered him back in the ring and got 2.
While a mid-ring collision occurred, Bart reached his feet first, lunged, but came up empty.
Another bell shot by Bass gained a 2-count.
Mounting the second turnbuckle, Bass annihilated Bart with the bell.
Bart fell like a ton of bricks, so Bass pinned him at 8:33.

Rating: **

Summary: Bloody brawl with a bell, but each sold the violence realistically. With the victory, Bass earned five minutes with Dillon.

Match 4 (Texas bull rope): “Cowboy” Ron Bass versus JJ Dillon

Highlights:

Immediately following the bell, Dillon stormed into the ring and kicked down Bass.
Referee Sonny Fargo attached the bull rope to Dillon’s wrist, and Dillon rang Bass’ bell for 2.
As Dillon choked him with the rope, Bass rallied much to Dillon’s astonishment.
He repeatedly creamed Dillon with the bell while the Greensboro faithful cheered.
When he swung the rope, Bass inadvertently knocked down Fargo.
Although he decimated Dillon, Bass could only earn a false pin.
Bart returned to the ring, destroyed Bass, and followed with a piledriver.
After he placed the unconscious yet BUSTED OPEN Dillon atop Bass, Fargo counted the pin.
Dillon won at 3:29.

Rating: DUD

Summary: The numbers game caught up to Bass and cost him.

Match 5 (arm wrestling): “Superstar” Billy Graham versus the Barbarian (w/ Paul Jones)

Highlights:

In this vintage Atlanta struggle, the winner received $10,000.
Since Barbarian’s right arm was in a cast, he’d arm-wrestle left-handed.
Barbarian got the early advantage, but Graham rebounded.
Upon losing their chairs, Graham took Barbarian’s arm down for the win.

Rating: NONE

Match 6: “Superstar” Billy Graham versus the Barbarian (w/ Paul Jones)

Highlights:

Right after Graham won, Jones whacked him with the cane.
Referee Stu Schwartz removed the chairs and table from the ring allowing Jones and Barbarian to double-team Graham.
As Graham became BUSTED OPEN, Barbarian headbutted him.
He dealt Graham a thrust kick followed by a big boot.
When Barbarian missed a leg drop, Graham gave him a cross corner whip.
On the other hand, Barbarian steamrolled him out of the corner.
He mounted the top turnbuckle but missed a diving head butt.
After Graham applied a bear hug, Jones jumped into the ring to hit him from behind.
Schwartz called for the bell, and Graham won by DQ at 3:02.

Rating: *

Summary: Graham knew how to carry Barbarian due to his relative inexperience but couldn’t muster a decent match out of him. There’s a reason people call him “Superstar.”

Sorry, Chester.

After the match, Graham blocks a cane shot, grabs it, and disintegrates Jones. Barbarian bulldozes Graham from behind knocking him out of the ring. Adding insult to injury, Barbarian makes Graham HIT THE POLE. Graham spills over the steel railing, so Barbarian follows and makes him taste that too. Grabbing a steel chair, Barbarian smacks Graham in the midsection with it. Schwartz ultimately gets between them to end the chaos.

Match 7 for the NWA National title: Terry Taylor (champion) versus “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel (w/ JJ Dillon)

Highlights:

Upon our return to Greensboro, our second title match of the evening stood before us.
At the onset, Dillon didn’t accompany Landel to the ring. Methinks he had quite a headache.
Landel gave Taylor a cross corner whip but ate boot on his follow-through.
When he backdropped Landel, Taylor landed a knee drop for 2.
A bandaged Dillon wearing a suit finally approached ringside.
As Taylor countered a side head lock with a belly-to-back suplex, he dealt Landel a backbreaker.
He scored with a leg drop, but Landel put his foot on the rope to halt the count.
After Landel reversed a cross corner whip, he clotheslined Taylor for 2.
Taylor countered a vertical suplex attempt with an inside cradle for 2.
While he suplexed Landel, Taylor got another 2.
He gave Landel a cross corner whip and bounced him off the top turnbuckle.
Trying to remove the wrestlers from the corner, referee Sonny Fargo got caught in the crossfire.
Dillon got up on the apron, and Fargo tried to stand up.
Shoving Taylor into him, Landel successfully removed Fargo from the match.
Taylor reversed an Irish whip sending Landel into Dillon on the apron.
With Dillon deposited on the concrete floor, Taylor leveled Landel with a forearm shiver.
He hoisted Landel atop the top turnbuckle and joined him.
Since Fargo wasn’t 100%, Dillon took advantage and interfered during Taylor’s superplex. Clever!
Landel landed atop Taylor and pinned him at 10:28.
Due to heel shenanigans, WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Rating: **½

Summary: Dillon’s chicanery enabled Landel to capture the title, but Landel’s behavior following this event would cost him both the title and his job at JCP. In December, Taylor would venture to Mid-South.

Match 8 for the NWA National tag team titles: Ole & Arn Anderson (champions) versus Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Jack Haynes

Highlights:

Back in Atlanta, our third title match of the evening began.
Arn leapfrogged him, but Haynes promptly military-press-slammed him.
As Ole tagged in, Haynes tattooed him.
McDaniel tagged in and chopped Ole.
When Arn tagged in, the Andersons worked on McDaniel’s arm mercilessly.
Ole tagged in, slammed McDaniel, landed an elbow drop, and got 2.
After Arn tagged in, the Andersons double-teamed McDaniel.
That prompted Haynes to both rescue McDaniel and distract the referee.
While Ole tagged in, McDaniel chopped out of harm’s way.
Hot tag Haynes.
Conducting a meeting of the minds, Haynes dealt Arn a face crusher.
All four wrestlers were in the ring, and McDaniel chopped Ole like a Ginsu knife.
Tagging in, McDaniel chopped down Arn like redwood but only got 2 thanks to a save by Ole.
Haynes distracted the referee again thus enabling Ole to trip McDaniel coming off the ropes. SNEAKY!
Upon getting a 2-count, Arn baited McDaniel into the heel corner.
Ole subsequently tripped McDaniel behind the referee’s back. How dastardly!
1-2-3.
The Andersons retained at 9:00.

Rating: ***

Summary: With the tag formula in place, the match flowed smoothly. Since McDaniel and Haynes were imported from CWF for this show, it made sense that the Andersons retained albeit nefariously. Contrarily, the Andersons, as a JCP staple, had reasons to stick around.

Back in Greensboro, Weaver interviews Landel with Dillon. You can already see snowfall in his eyes.

Match 9 for the NWA US title (steel cage/”I Quit”): Tully Blanchard (champion w/ Baby Doll) versus Magnum T.A.

Highlights:

Blanchard took down Magnum by the leg, and in a display of pure hatred, they scrapped on the mat.
When Magnum got the worst of that, they traded fisticuffs culminating in Blanchard’s being knocked down through the ropes.
He tried to ram Blanchard face-first into the cage but got blocked.
As Tully escaped in an ungentlemanly manner, he climbed the ropes and dealt Magnum a flying elbow smash.
He tossed Magnum into the cage while Baby Doll screamed in both glee and terror.
After Blanchard hooked a rear chin lock, Magnum powered out in a great visual.
Blanchard thwarted Magnum’s final efforts with a knee to the midsection.
While Magnum rebounded by guillotining him with the top rope, Blanchard used momentum and trunks to send Magnum back into the cage. Magnum was BUSTED OPEN!
Blanchard grabbed the microphone, but Magnum wouldn’t concede.
Despite referee Earl Hebner’s testing and placement of the microphone, he somehow dodged Magnum’s violent posting of Blanchard into the cage.
Magnum vaulted Blanchard shoulder-first into the cage, and both wrestlers were bleeding.
Grabbing the microphone, Magnum implored Blanchard to quit to no avail.
Blanchard, instead, headbutted Magnum in the midsection.
Viciously, Magnum bit Blanchard’s arm, but Blanchard raked the eyes to escape.
Blanchard grabbed the microphone, but Magnum cried: “Oh, no!”
Unhappy, Blanchard bonked Magnum with the microphone.
Magnum again refused to give up.
Showing some strength, Blanchard vaulted Magnum face-first into the cage.
He mounted the top turnbuckle and assaulted Magnum with an axe handle.
Once again, Blanchard grabbed the microphone, but Magnum relented.
Blanchard landed an elbow drop but missed a second attempt.
Getting his turn with the stick, Magnum jammed it in Blanchard’s face, but Blanchard declined in horrific fashion.
Magnum belted him with the microphone but couldn’t achieve a submission.
On their knees, they slugged one another, and Blanchard perfectly kicked Magnum’s elbow dislodging the microphone.
Magnum unleashed a flurry of punches in the corner, but Blanchard countered with an inverted atomic drop.
Retrieving the microphone, Blanchard pleaded with Magnum to surrender but came away empty-handed.
Blanchard scored with a pair of elbow drops before tossing Hebner down like a rag doll.
Following another elbow drop by Blanchard, Baby Doll tossed a wooden chair over the cage and into the ring. That spells trouble!
Blanchard splintered it instantly, grabbed a wooden spike, kicked down Hebner, and sauntered after his prone opponent.
With everything he had, Magnum prevented Blanchard from pushing a spike into him. Unreal!
Magnum escaped Blanchard’s clutches, gained the spike, and dug it into Blanchard’s forehead.
Appropriately, the microphone laid in the middle of the ring, and Magnum asked if Blanchard would quit.
Blanchard emphatically yelled “Yes,” and Magnum won at 14:44.
WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Rating: *****

Summary: Without question, this is the best and most remarkable cage match in wrestling history. Nothing can or ever will top it due to the amount of sheer violence shown while crafting a horror story. If Stephen King was booking this match, I would believe it. Highly recommended.

Following the match, Magnum looks at Blanchard with disgust as to the lengths he had to endure to beat him. Baby Doll comforts her beaten and bloodied charge while Magnum exits the cage and almost catches Hebner with the belt going over the shoulder.

Match 10 (Atlanta street fight): The Midnight Express (w/ Jim Cornette) versus the “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant & Miss Atlanta Lively (w/ Big Mama)

Highlights:

What in the world? The Midnight Express wore tuxedos to the ring and resembled wedding crashers.
Condrey attempted some subterfuge to attack Valiant, but Lively threw powder to combat the onslaught.
As the dust settled, Valiant nailed Condrey in the midsection with a plastic chair.
Valiant switched partners and hip-tossed Eaton on the concrete floor.
When all four wrestlers were in the ring, Valiant and Lively sent Condrey into an incoming Eaton.
Condrey was BUSTED OPEN!
After Valiant hooked a sleeper on him, Condrey escaped and tossed powder at him.
Eaton threw powder at Lively as Valiant became BUSTED OPEN!
While Condrey whipped Valiant with his belt, Lively hammered Eaton with her purse.
Condrey pantsed Lively who fortunately was wearing bloomers.
Coming to Lively’s defense, Valiant choked Eaton with his own jacket.
He ripped off Eaton’s shirt, but Eaton’s DIABOLICAL RIGHT HAND knocked Valiant from the ring.
Climbing into the ring, Cornette decimated a restrained Lively with the tennis racket.
Eaton mounted the second turnbuckle and launched an axe handle to the BUSTED OPEN Lively.
Upon disposing of the referee, the Midnight Express double-clotheslined Valiant.
Eaton mounted the top turnbuckle, leaped, but Lively caught him square in the mush.
1-2-3.
Lively and Valiant won at 6:36.

Rating: *

Summary: Necessary comic relief due to the previous violent match.

Afterward, Valiant catches an unsuspecting Cornette, and he and Lively strip him to his boxers bearing hearts. HA! Before any further humiliation can be administered, Condrey rescues his manager.

Back in Greensboro, Weaver interviews Magnum who probably shouldn’t be around other folks for the rest of the evening.

Match 11 for the NWA World tag team titles (steel cage/no-DQ): Ivan & Nikita Koloff (champions w/ Krusher Kruschev) versus the Rock’n’Roll Express (w/ Don Kernodle)

Highlights:

Ready for more Cold War theater?
Morton dropkicked Nikita who rebounded with a kick to the midsection.
When Ivan tagged in, Morton blocked a trip to the cage, connected with a cross body block, and got 2.
Ivan baited Gibson into the ring causing a distraction of referee Earl Hebner.
In the meantime, Ivan crotched Morton on the top rope. Evil!
Gibson tagged in and dropkicked Ivan.
As he slammed Ivan, Gibson landed a knee drop for 2.
Morton tagged in, planted Ivan with a fist drop, and got another 2.
After Gibson tagged in, he rolled up Ivan but couldn’t get 3.
He mounted the second turnbuckle and lowered the boom onto Ivan for yet another 2.
While he rammed Ivan into the cage twice, Gibson held Ivan at bay.
Morton mounted the top turnbuckle and clobbered Ivan.
Sending the now BUSTED OPEN Ivan into the cage again, Morton mounted the opposite top turnbuckle and belted Ivan for a fifth 2-count.
Gibson tagged in, mounted the second turnbuckle, and lowered even more boom onto Ivan for 2-count #6.
Next, Nikita tagged in, caught Gibson in a bear hug, and crunched him into the cage thrice.
He baited Morton into the ring further distracting Hebner which led to some retaliatory boom from Ivan.
Illegally switching with Nikita, Ivan projected Gibson into the cage yet again.
Gibson was BUSTED OPEN, but Ivan exercised Soviet apathy by scoring with an elbow drop for 2.
Tagging in, Nikita slammed Gibson and followed with more taunting.
Said taunting led to more Hebner distraction, so the Soviets seized control with more retaliatory boom from Ivan for another 2.
Ivan delivered a back elbow to Gibson’s back but missed a running guillotine.
Doubling Gibson over with a boot to the midsection, Ivan proved USSR’s equality to America with a leg drop yet couldn’t get 3.
Ivan missed a second leg drop but tagged out.
Although Gibson escaped a rear chin lock, Ivan tagged in and headbutted Gibson.
He unleashed a knee to the midsection for yet another 2.
Taking another turn, Nikita flung Gibson directly into the cage again.
He baited Morton in again tying up Hebner so he could overtake Gibson like the Cuban Missile Crisis.
With Kernodle stirring up a “U-S-A” chant from the Greensboro faithful, Ivan tagged in only to eat another dropkick from Gibson.
Meanwhile, Hebner was knocked sillier than Yakov Smirnoff.
Gibson could only earn a false pin, so Morton tried to intervene only to eat a Russian sickle.
Upon bulldozing Gibson, Nikita placed Ivan atop Gibson, but Hebner hadn’t recovered.
Morton tagged in, yet Ivan backdropped Gibson.
Hooking an O’Connor roll, Morton pinned Ivan at 12:22.
WE HAVE NEW CHAMPIONS!

Rating: *****

Summary: Phenomenal tale told by all four wrestlers as the quickness and agility of the Rock’n’Roll Express overtook the Soviets’ power and presence. Could the Berlin Wall be crumbling?

After the match, Nikita disposes of the useless American Hebner and hurls Morton over the top of the cage down to the concrete floor. Khrushchev enters the cage, and the Soviets triple-team Gibson with a chain. Horrifying! While Nikita hoists Gibson up, Ivan and Khrushchev mount the top turnbuckle and double-Russian-sickle him.

How does Khrushchev enter the cage, you ask? Because he blasts Kernodle into obscurity on the concrete floor. Ivan whips Gibson with the chain until the babyface locker room empties to rescue him. The war is NOT over.

Match 12 for the NWA World title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (champion) versus the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes

Highlights:

Two months earlier, following a cage match between Flair and Nikita, Rhodes tried to rescue Flair from a Soviet attack. Despite prevailing, Rhodes became the first victim of the newly-formed Four Horsemen by suffering an ankle injury at their hands. The “hard times” promo ensued. You must see it to believe it.
Rhodes won a battle of fisticuffs and sent Flair reeling to the concrete floor with a bionic elbow.
As Flair sought refuge and made his return, he succumbed to a series of bionic elbows.
Rhodes leapfrogged Flair and devastated him with yet another bionic elbow.
When Flair rebounded with a knee drop, he got 1.
Flair kicked him right in the injured ankle, and Rhodes screamed like he vividly imagined Goldust.
After Rhodes returned to the apron, he unfurled a series of elbows to Flair and sought retribution by working on Flair’s ankle.
Flair escaped, attempted a vertical suplex, but his ankle failed him.
While Rhodes successfully suplexed him, he continued his mission to turn Flair into the one-legged man.
Flair, however, trapped him in a sleeper, but Rhodes used momentum to send Flair face-first into the top top turnbuckle.
Exiting the ring, Rhodes rammed Flair’s injured ankle against the ring post. Could you blame him after what I described earlier?
Rhodes missed an elbow drop, so Flair mounted the top turnbuckle.
Snaring Flair, Rhodes slammed him down to the mat.
Rhodes attempted a figure-four leg lock, but Flair kicked him away.
Simultaneously, Rhodes landed on his injured ankle.
Flair tried to hook his own figure-four leg lock, but Rhodes blocked it.
Seeking to further injure the ankle, Flair ate a head butt.
Rhodes gave him a cross corner whip resulting in a Flair flip.
Joining Flair on the concrete floor, Rhodes made him HIT THE POLE.
He bounced Flair’s head off the railing, and Bill Apter snapped Flair’s photo at ringside.
Attacking the BUSTED OPEN Flair on the apron, Rhodes inadvertently caught referee Tommy Young in the crossfire.
Flair took advantage of the opportunity and tossed Rhodes over the top rope. Conniving!
Mounting the top turnbuckle, Rhodes dealt Flair a cross body block.
Young, unfortunately, hadn’t quite recuperated but stumbled enough to get 2.
Pulverizing Flair with elbows, Rhodes uncorked a ten-punch count-along.
Flair, weary, performed a Flair flop.
Targeting Flair with a Flip, Flop, and Fly, Rhodes gave him another cross corner whip.
Flair flipped over the top turnbuckle again, held his balance on the apron, mounted the adjacent top turnbuckle, leaped, but ate a shot to the midsection.
Trying to kick a 70-yard field goal, Rhodes missed Flair and kicked the second turnbuckle with his injured foot.
Flair took advantage and worked on Rhodes’ injured ankle.
Applying a figure-four leg lock, Flair put himself in position to retain.
Rhodes persevered and reversed the hold, but Flair grabbed the ropes to break it.
No-selling Flair’s chops, Rhodes clotheslined Flair for 2.
He yanked Flair so hard that Young went reeling down to the concrete floor.
Overcoming two blocked attempts, Rhodes flattened Flair with another bionic elbow.
He secured his own figure-four leg lock, yet Young remained incapacitated.
Coming to Flair’s aid, Arn charged at Rhodes but ate boot.
Ole took his turn and squarely nailed Rhodes in the back with a knee.
Substituting for Young, Schwartz crawled into the ring to count 2 for Flair.
Rhodes countered a slam with an inside cradle.
Do we have a new champion?
1-2-3.
Yes!
Rhodes won at 22:07.
WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Rating: ****

Summary: Remarkable match marred by interference from the Four Horsemen. However, with the World title changing hands, Jim Crockett Promotions sent the fans home happy.

Regrettably, the title change did not have 100% NWA approval; therefore, on the following episode of World Championship Wrestling, the title was returned to Flair. Although the finish had been used previously, this truly was a Dusty finish.

Following the match, the babyface locker room empties to celebrate with Rhodes. Concurrently, the Andersons assist Flair back to the heel locker room.

Back in the locker room, Schiavone interviews the NEW World champion who gets doused with sparkling wine. Rhodes attributes his victory to those blue-collar folks he noted in the promo I mentioned earlier.

Conclusion: Screwy main event finish aside, this was a phenomenal show top-to-bottom. Once again, the “I Quit” match must be witnessed if never seen. In addition, the World tag title match was incredible. If you like bloody matches where many of which ended feuds, this show contains several. If you desire managers getting either pummeled or humiliated, you’ll enjoy this show. Unquestionably, my highest recommendation.

Comments? Suggestions? Send them to me at rsg@rockstargary.com and follow me on Twitter (@rockstargary202).