Taped from Dallas, TX
Airdate: May 14, 1988 (taped 04/15)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Marc Lowrance
Can Adams dial up some comeuppance to Taylor, or does Taylor have something up his sleeve? Can Link and Sterling upset the tag champs? What’s on Hayes’ mind? Go on and dig into another meaty edition of Texas ‘rasslin’!
Opening montage.
Match 1: Black Bart (w/ General Skandor Akbar) versus Sweet Brown Sugar
Highlights:
- Bart shoulder-blocked him down to the mat twice, but SBS evaded him on a third attempt.
- When Bart landed feet first on the floor, SBS launched a plancha. Woohoo!
- He instantly tossed Bart back into the ring, hooked an inside cradle, and pinned the former World champion.
- Seriously, he only got 2.
- He reversed a cross corner whip and hip-tossed Bart.
- As SBS gave Bart a pair of flying headscissors, Lowrance mentioned the inversion of the arena camera-wise. How much do you bet the Kerry lookalike changes seats for the next taping?
- Nevertheless, Bart clotheslined and blasted SBS with an elbow smash.
- He attempted a head butt but regretted it immediately.
- After SBS stunned him with his own head butt, he nailed Bart in the midsection.
- He creamed Bart with a double high knee and got 2.
- While SBS shoulder-blocked him twice, Bart caught and dealt him a stun gun on the third try.
- He slammed SBS and mounted the second turnbuckle.
- Scoring with a flying leg drop, Bart pinned SBS at 4:09.
Rating: **
Summary: SBS had a fighter’s chance in there until he made an irredeemable mistake.
Highlights from Texas Stadium are shown. ICYMI, check out my PoC ’88 reflection.
POINT OF ORDER: I truly do not understand why these matches were not recorded in full and played on the weekly episodes. For years, WCCW did this well before ESPN knocked on the door. I believe it could have been a ratings bonanza for them on the cable sports juggernaut, but instead a five-minute video package culminating with Kerry’s reclamation of the World title airs here. The segment took a mere nine minutes total of the episode.
Backstage, Michael Hayes cuts a Ric Flair-style promo lamenting on the Steve Simpson tragedy at Texas Stadium.
Match 2 (non-title): WCWA Texas and Wild West tag team champions “Hollywood” John Tatum & the “Heartthrob of New Jersey” Jack Victory versus Missing Link & Jason Sterling (w/ Sheena)
Highlights:
- The tag champs employed subterfuge to gain the advantage on Link.
- As Victory clotheslined him, he fed Link a pair of elbow smashes.
- Since that didn’t faze him, Link hammered both Victory and Tatum with consecutive head butts.
- Sterling tagged in amid some Link chaos, ducked a clothesline, and dropkicked Victory.
- When Tatum stormed in, Sterling dropkicked him too.
- Tatum tagged in, yet the Dallas faithful chanted “go, Jason, go.”
- After Sterling leapfrogged Tatum, he missed a dropkick.
- Victory tagged in and planted Sterling with another elbow smash.
- While Link distracted referee Rick Hazzard, the tag champs sent Sterling soaring over the top rope to the floor. SNEAKY!
- Honestly, that must be seen to be believed. Sterling might have weighed the equivalent of a cruiserweight but got vaulted like a sack of garbage.
- Victory baited Link into the ring distracting Hazzard again, so Tatum mounted the second turnbuckle and decimated Sterling with a double axe handle.
- Getting a 2-count, Victory clotheslined Sterling and baited Link again.
- Behind Hazzard’s back, Tatum mounted the top turnbuckle and lowered some ignominious boom onto Sterling. How dastardly!
- Link stood up for his son for a moment, but the tag champs found another mortifying trick to dismantle Sterling–they double-guillotined him with the top rope. Evil!
- 1-2-3.
- Victory and Tatum won at 8:05.
Rating: **
Summary: Without a hot tag spot, the heat segment made this match terribly lopsided.
Match 3 (non-title) WCWA Texas champion Terry Taylor versus “Gentleman” Chris Adams
Highlights:
- Once again, Adams wore the catcher’s mask to protect his healing facial features.
- For some reason, this match was joined in progress.
- Adams reversed an Irish whip, but Taylor hooked a sunset flip.
- By blocking it, Adams fed Taylor a knuckle sandwich.
- Adams unloaded a superkick to the midsection, followed Taylor to the floor, and rammed him face-first into Pulley’s table.
- When Adams grabbed a chair, he WHACKED Taylor with it.
- He caromed Taylor a second time into Pulley’s table before setting up the chair on the floor.
- As Adams bounced Taylor’s noggin off the seat of the chair, Taylor fought fire with fire by smashing Adams with the house microphone.
- Taylor tried to ricochet Adams off Pulley’s table but forgot about the catcher’s mask.
- After Adams headbutted him with the mask, Taylor sold it comically.
- Back in the ring, Adams attempted his own sunset flip, but Taylor knocked him so silly that the catcher’s mask flew off.
- Adams quickly retrieved the mask yet nailed Taylor with it prior to placing it back on his head.
- While Adams countered a standing choke with one of his own, Taylor dropped to his knees and pounded Adams WAY DOWNTOWN.
- Following a commercial break, the match segued to the floor again, and Adams continued his Mavericks’ audition by dribbling Taylor face off the table again.
- Adams attempted a piledriver on the floor, but Taylor blocked it.
- Getting tied up in the ropes, Adams fought off Taylor successfully with his educated feet.
- He clotheslined Taylor who begged off.
- Jamming Adams’ recovering broken hand off the top turnbuckle twice, Taylor failed to unwrap the protected appendage.
- He suplexed Adams and got 2.
- Stymying Adams with an atomic drop, Taylor secured a rear chin lock.
- Adams countered with momentum sending Taylor face-first into the top turnbuckle.
- Guillotining Taylor with the top rope, Adams mounted the top turnbuckle.
- He destroyed Taylor with a flying double axe handle and tried to backdrop him.
- Countering with a DDT, Taylor forgot about the mask.
- Adams, feeling zero effects, unfurled another superkick to the midsection.
- Blocking a ten-punch count-along, Taylor fed Adams an inverted atomic drop.
- Adams rebounded with another clothesline followed by a Thesz press.
- Achieving his ten-punch count-along on the mat, Adams got pummeled by an incoming Mike George and Masahiro Chono.
- Referee Bronko Lubich called for the bell, and Adams won by DQ at 11:10 shown.
Rating: ***½
Summary: Wild match with a terrible finish as this saga continues.
After the match, the heels triple-team Adams. Taylor removes the mask and decimates Adams’ bruised face. As Chono attempts a spinning heel kick, he inadvertently clobbers George. Adams lands a superkick to Chono, retrieves his mask, and chases after Taylor up the aisle to end the show.
Conclusion: Considering this episode was taped prior to Texas Stadium, it’s rather exciting. Adams, despite his facial injury, gave Taylor everything he had until the schmozz finish. The tag champs made mincemeat out of Jason Sterling much to his parents’ chagrin. Also, SBS took Bart to the limit before succumbing to defeat. Summer’s coming, so expect the Texas ‘rasslin’ to get extremely hot.
Next week, Kerry and Adams battle Taylor and Parsons!
TV Rating: NONE
Stay tuned for WCCW 04-21-88!
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