TAPE 585

Quality: VG/EX

Length: 8 hrs (4 DVD)

NWA TV 1/89 - 5/89 (Fabulous tape that shows how great the NWA was in early '89. Lots of good angles and numerous great matches to be found here. If you're at all a fan of 1980s wrestling, pick this one up. Quality is VG/EX or better throughout, super-nice.)
FANTASTICS VS ORIGINAL MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (2/3 Falls - Fabulous match that goes 35+ minutes and ends when Jim Cornette HELPS the Fantastics.) Original Midnight Express vs Dustin Rhodes & Kendall Windham Barry Windham vs Eddie Gilbert (Terrific match - they pushed Eddie hard as a main eventer in this period) Rick Steiner vs Mike Rotundo Michael Hayes & Junkyard Dog vs Russian Assassins Michael Hayes vs Russian Assassin #2 RIC FLAIR & BARRY WINDHAM VS RICKY STEAMBOAT & EDDIE GILBERT (This is famous match/angle where Steamboat returns to the NWA as Gilbert's mystery partner and pins Flair to set up his run to the NWA title. Match isn't great, but angle is ****+) Larry Zbyszko & Al Perez vs Dustin Rhodes & Kendall Windham Michael Hayes & Junkyard Dog vs Russians (Who did I piss off to have these two teams meet twice on one tape?!) Abdullah the Butcher vs Bob Emory Barry Windham & JJ Dillon vs Kendall Windham & Eddie Gilbert (Come on, did you honestly NOT see the heel turn in this one coming?) Ricky Steamboat vs Russian Assassin #2 (Flair runs in and we get a wild brawl that ends with Flair kneedropping Eddie Gilbert's face into the concrete floor) Road Warriors vs Randy Hogan & Bill Holliday (Randy Hogan is a Hulk Hogan "lookalike") Barry Windham vs Junkyard Dog Kevin Sullivan vs Rick Steiner (There's a guy at ringside who looks just like John Studd) Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs Lex Luger & Eddie Gilbert Ric Flair vs Cougar Jay Great Muta vs Jerry Price Road Warriors vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, All Japan (JIP - Hilarious as Jim Ross, supposedly this great announcer, gets completely shown up for his lack of knowledge in this one. JR then takes a shot at the WWF saying the Roadies "haven't sold out") Great Muta vs Mike Justice Sting vs Butch Reed, Omni Midnight Express vs Samoan Swat Team, Omni Michael Hayes & Butch Reed vs Cougar Jay & Tony Suber (Cougar Jay takes a hellacious bump to the floor) Great Muta vs Bob Emory Midnight Express vs Snake Brown & The Raider Lex Luger vs Kendall Windham Bob Orton vs Shane Douglas Sting vs Rip Morgan, 4/2/89 Randy Rose vs Jack Victory Great Muta vs ??? & ??? Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner vs Lee Scott & Snake Brown Ricky Steamboat vs Rip Morgan Great Muta vs Bob Emory & George South Lex Luger vs Michael Hayes Bob Orton & Butch Reed vs Dick Murdoch & Bucky Siegler Great Muta vs Greg Evans Randy Rose vs Jack Victory Ricky Steamboat vs Ron Simmons (Steamboat defends the NWA World title) Ricky Steamboat vs Jack Victory Bob Orton vs Trent Knight Junkyard Dog vs Ron Simmons (Simmons wins after an ultra-fast 3 count by Teddy Long) Great Muta vs Lee Scott Michael Hayes vs Steve Casey Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo vs Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner (Perfect example of what I'm talking about when I say '89 TV was great - here we've got the World tag Champs vs the US tag champs on regular TV. Pretty good match that ends when Kevin Sullivan tries to cut Eddie Gilbert's hair. Missy Hyatt jumps on his back and he THROWS her several feet and she takes a nasty bump. Sullivan then tries to cut her hair and the Road Warriors run in for the save.) Great Muta vs Bob Emory Iron Sheik & Rip Morgan vs Ranger Ross & Steve Casey Road Warriors, Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner vs Steve Williams, Mike Rotundo, Dan Spivey & Bob Orton (An 8-man match on TV!) Ric Flair & Michael Hayes vs Ricky Steamboat & Lex Luger (JIP - little-seen tag match that ends with Luger doing a not-so-clean pinfall job leading to the promo a couple matches down...) Road Warriors vs Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo (JIP) Sting vs Danny Spivey Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner vs Jack Victory & The Raider Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Greg Evans & Bucky Siegler (Before the match, Lex Luger gives a promo saying he's tired of being walked on and that he's, basically, going to start cheating to get what he wants. This is the start of his heel turn that would culminate at the Clash of Champions a month later) Butch Reed vs Cougar Jay Road Warriors vs Samoan Swat Team Sting vs Ron Simmons