#Starrcade 1986

[ringthedamnbell]

Fact Cat: Useless Pro Wrestling Facts, Stats and Trivia

Hello all! Here we go again! Another robust round of facts, stats and other useless knowledge of the business of professional wrestling.

Brian Damage Hello all! Here we go again! Another robust round of facts, stats and other useless knowledge of the business of professional wrestling. Some of these facts you may be well aware of and some maybe not so much. In either case, they are just meant to be fun and educate just a smidge. So let’s go and learn a little something… Continue reading Fact Cat: Useless Pro Wrestling Facts,…

[astralbondpro]

November 27, 1986 -

Jim Cornette falls from the scaffold and crashes in a heap at the NWA's Starrcade 1986 event. The plan was for Big Bubba Rogers to catch Cornette, breaking his fall. As you can see, the plan failed. Cornette would end up tearing tendons, breaking a bone, and damaging the cartilage in his knee. The subsequent blood drained from his knee was said to fill a bedpan.

[machobusta]

Sam Houston gets set to defend the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship against Bill Dundee. Starrcade ‘86 November 27, 1986

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Crying For Magnum: The Story of Nikita Koloff’s Face Turn In The Time Of Tragedy

TW: Mentions of a car accident, paralysis, and death

Hey Everyone! I hope you all are doing well! Professional Wrestling has a lot of amazing storylines and gimmicks. I consider it to be emotional on a few occasions. With this article , I’m going to explain what I mean by that statement. This is the story of how a Heel turned into a Babyface after a tragedy.

In the Spring of 1986, Magnum TA, the most popular star in Jim Crockett Promotions , had a storyline with Ivan Koloff. During the feud , Koloff would say his nephew, Nikita Koloff , would challenge Magnum for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and go on to take it from him. Magnum recently won the championship back from Tully Blanchard after winning their legendary , ‘ I Quit ! ’ match at Starrcade ‘ 85. The promoter of NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions , Jim Crockett Jr., would have a contract signing in May for the United States Championship match. Nikita was accompanied by Ivan as Magnum was accompanied by his mother. A fight between the two wrestlers happened after Koloff ridiculed Magnum’s mother. He would soon be stripped of the championship and have to fight for it in a ‘ Best of Seven ’ series of matches . These took place on the Great American Bash Tour for 1986. The series ended in the Summer on August 17,1986 with Koloff becoming the new NWA United States Heavyweight Champion.

Magnum TA was in talks to become the new NWA World Championship after the storyline with Koloff. However , this would never happen . On October 14, 1986 , Magnum TA was in a near fatal car accident in Charlotte , North Carolina. He lost control of his Porsche while it was raining and crashed into a telephone pole. It was claimed that he was speeding , however, he was actually doing the speed limit. He would be trapped in the car for two hours until someone who came upon the wreck called for help. Magnum was transported to Carolinas Medical Center with a broken C-4 and a C-5 vertebrae. Thus, the doctors had doubts that he would never be able to walk for the rest of his life. Magnum TA’s in ring career would end due to months of paralysis on the right side of his body due to the injuries sustained in the accident .

Therefore, after losing Magnum as a top wrestler and Babyface , NWA booker , ‘ The American Dream ’ Dusty Rhodes , made the decision to make his rival before the crash, Nikita Koloff , into a Babyface. Koloff claimed that he gained respect for his colleague and wanted to substitute for him , going by their storyline . Thus, this led to Koloff being on the cover of the Spring 1987 edition of ‘ Wrestling’ 87 ’ Magazine . Nikita would be seen on the magazine crying with the words , “ I cry for Magnum TA ”.

Koloff would state on the show , ‘ Dark Side Of The Ring ’ that he got the news about Magnum when he came back from Japan. It took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Magnum would make his TV return in 1987 would be an interview with commentator and backstage interviewer, Tony Schiavone. He would return in front of a live crowd with the help of two referees and a cane to help him walk to wish Nikita and Dusty good luck before they faced Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger. He would also manage Rhodes and Koloff.

In March of 2024, Koloff and Magnum would be seen in the crowd at AEW Revolution to witness Sting’s retirement match.

Nikita Koloff is now a Motivational Speaker and a Preacher.

My Final Thoughts:

Just hearing this story always breaks my heart. Knowing that Nikita would rise up and do something like that for his rival , that amazes me. Seeing that magazine cover with him on it really shows me that it does not matter if someone is a Face or A Heel, if something happens to a wrestler , it’s okay to show emotion and that if affects everyone in a locker room and a promotion. I also hope to meet Magnum and Nikita this year at WRESTLECADE.

( Fun fact: My Dad got to change a tire on Nikita’s car and talk to him. I’m jealous . )

Love You All,

- Kay

[mattprivettwrites]

Ode to Ron Garvin, the man with the hands of stone

(originally written 24 Nov 2018)

I’ve been a wrestling fan for over thirty years. Some of my favorite childhood memories include going over to my uncle’s house to watch wrestling on pay-per-view. On Thanksgiving that meant turkey leftovers with barbecue sauce, and in 1987 that meant Starrcade, the premiere event for the NWA (i.e., Jim Crockett Promotions). JCP was based in Charlotte, where we lived. The NWA was a big part of my life.

The hottest period for that territory was undoubtedly 1986 and the early part of the 1987. That was the time in which Ric Flair really solidified what would become his legendary status. He was the man, and his feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Morton, and Barry Windham filled arenas and lit up television screens all over the Mid-Atlantic and southeast.

But by the late summer of 1987, in retrospect, you can begin to see the decline of the promotion begin to set in. Flair was finishing up a feud with Jimmy Garvin that made for some entertaining television, and the way it ended set up Jimmy’s storyline brother (real life stepfather) Ron Garvin as Flair’s next challenger.

Flair and Garvin had some fantastic matches in the winter of 85–86, including a good televised bout on the 12/28/85 edition of World Championship Wrestling, and later a cage match that went to a one hour draw, highlights of which were shown on the weekend shows. No one at the time thought Garvin would actually beat Flair to win the title, though. He was just one of several credible challengers Flair could have a great match with.

Fast forward a year and half and not much had changed. Garvin was still capable of being a solid challenger in arena main events with Flair, but no one saw him as a realistic candidate to carry the belt. He had not been booked in any way to elevate his status apart from matches with Flair, and he did not have the natural charisma of a Rhodes or even a Morton, much less the interview skills.

Still, as summer faded into fall in 1987 the booker, Rhodes, had to be thinking about Starrcade on Thanksgiving night. JCP would be moving Starrcade out of Greensboro that year (a pretty big mistake in hindsight), so the desire to make Starrcade memorable, say, with a title change, had to be on their minds. Instead of crowning a new face to hold the title going forward, they decided to have Flair drop the title in the fall so he could win it back at Starrcade.

But who could beat Flair and have that two months on top? Rhodes? No. Been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt. Koloff? Maybe, but he had cooled off considerably after some initial hot months as a babyface. Perhaps “Dr. Death” Steve Williams? I think this could have worked, but he was the UWF World Champion at the time, so the thought of another promotion’s champion was probably a non-starter (even though Crockett had bought the UWF earlier in the spring). Windham? This may have been the best choice in hindsight, as it would have elevated Windham and fans would have bought it after their classic series of matches earlier in the year.

Nevertheless, on Friday, September 25, at JCP’s first event in Detroit, at the Joe Louis Arena, Ron Garvin pinned Ric Flair in a cage match with a sunset flip from the top rope to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

The match itself was very good. The Starrcade rematch I watched at my uncle’s on Thanksgiving night is criminally underrated. Now, thirty-one years later, Ron Garvin is remembered as a failed champion.

Why?

The blame should, in no way, be laid at the feet of Garvin. He did everything that was asked of him.

The blame is on the late Rhodes and JCP in general — first, for putting Garvin in a position to fail as a champion fans wouldn’t buy; second, for doing little to nothing to support him as champion when he had the belt.

To the first point, Garvin had held the by then defunct Mid-Atlantic Title, then the U.S. Tag Team Titles (with Windham), but had not even really challenged for a major title, much less held one, in the time since that first great series with Flair. Fans had no reason to buy him as Big Gold material.

To the second point, Garvin had zero clean wins over serious competitors on television in the two months he held the title. A disqualification victory over Tully Blanchard is his biggest match. After that, Jim Crockett, Jr. announced Garvin wouldn’t defend the title until Starrcade, to save the big main event. This did nothing to enhance Garvin, though, and by the time he stepped into the cage at Starrcade he was booed more than cheered against Flair, who fans popped big for when he dropped Garvin head first into the post of the cage and fell on him for the pin.

But this post is titled, “Ode to Ron Garvin,” so at this point I just want to say: he deserves better. Garvin should be remembered as a legitimate Worlds Heavyweight Champion. Flair is the greatest, of course, but in the opinion of this writer Garvin is on the short list of people who could have the best matches with Flair (Steamboat and Windham are the others on that list). “The Man with the Hands of Stone” was utterly believable in the ring.

It’s hard to blame him for bolting the NWA in 1988 when it became clear he was being turned heel so Dusty could beat him. It’d be hard to blame Garvin for being a little bitter for the way he was handled as champion. His reign left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that fact has left a bad taste in Garvin’s. His lack of love for Rhodes was later documented.

That said, if you are so inclined after reading this far, do yourself a favor and seek out some of those old Garvin-Flair matches. Start with 12/28/85. And really, if you’ve actually read this far, why wouldn’t you?

[lostinyourears]

Masked Matches of May IV : Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Solitario, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match, September 23rd 1981, NJPW

Video link to the match on YouTube : https://youtu.be/jRC9NuFQVPE

Cagematch page for this match(Some matches won’t have this because they aren’t listed on Cagematch)

Who’s Who?

Tatsumi Fujinami

Tatsumi Fujinami is considered by many to be one of the best Puro talents to every lace up boots. At this time he was still a Junior Heavyweight and positioned that way. By this point Fujinami had won the NWA World International Junior Heavyweight Champion and WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion twice and was still holding the WWF Junior title. Soon he would grow past the Junior Heavyweight Division in 1983 capturing his first Heavyweight Title the WWF International Heavyweight Champion and later the UWA Heavyweight and even later than that becoming one of the main names associated with the IWGP Heavyweight title once that was made and became the main belt of NJPW in 1987. The only man to hold the belt more times than Tatsumi Fujinami is the more contemporary name Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Tatsumi Fujinami has a career full of classics, but probably became most widely known to The United States fanbase in 1991 when at an event called 1991 Starrcade in the Tokyo Dome Fujinami beat Ric Flair in a match where Flair put up his NWA Heavyweight Championship vs Fujinami’s own IWGP Championship. Fujinami would then go to The States to drop it back in a rematch where both put up belts again, this time Flair had the WCW to Fujinami’s NWA at an event titled WCW SuperBrawl - “Return Of The Rising Sun”.

NJPW worked with lots of companies over Fujinami’s tenure which meant he worked in places most might not think. UWA, Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Stampede, Championship Wrestling From Florida, WCWA, WWF and ECW. He was in NJPW until in 2007 he decided to found his own promotion Dradition Pro Wrestling which is a fairly small indie company in Japan which he still owns to this day. He has worked at least 1 match each year in that promotion since founding it, though he has yer to work there in 2018.

El Solitario

As of the time this match happened El Solitario was the most seasoned of the four and the most famous. Being a star in EMLL and debuting in 1960 while the rest of the field all made their debuts in the 1970′s. So Solitario is the relative veteran here. Being a Mexican superstar while the rest of these guys were just starting to make an impact. Much like Solar a bit of Solitario’s history is lost to the record books. Though magazines and other publications from the 60’s and 70s featured him and his many peers. By the time Solitario was in this match he had already had 4 three hundred plus day reigns with 4 different UWA or NWA branded belts.

Sadly, unlike the rest of the guys in this match El Solitario is no longer with us. In 1986 at the age of 39 he suffered an injury in the ring. Which ended up resulting in internal bleeding, he died on the operating table. At the time one of the biggest names in Lucha Libre. Although he may be gone, his son El Hijo del Solitario continues to carry his legacy. Mostly in the indies, though he was in major companies all of the 90′s and into the early 2000′s. His son currently being 46 and age that the original Solitario sadly never saw.

How is the match?

Very very good, I’d say the best match covered so far this month. Fujinami has some excellent headscissors takedown and nice suplexes, with Solitario trying to slow down the contest and keep Fujinami from working the pace he likes by keeping him grounded. By modern standards this probably won’t blow anyone away, but it is one of the oldest matches we will cover this week. This is a continuation of these two having a long rivalry. This was the 3rd and final time the two met for the a belt. First was the UWA World Light Heavyweight Title which Solitario retained, then WWF Junior Heavyweight which ended in a tie which allowed Fujinami to retain and then this match where Fujiwara finally slays the luchador who he couldn’t put away last time. This match is a little shorter than I’d like with 12 minutes of action, but there two icons do a fine job within that given time. I don’t know if I’d call it great, but more than worth a watch to see two of the biggest guys from Mexico/Japan clashing.   

Highlights :

Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs El Solitario WWF Junior Heavyweight Title, September 23th 1981 in NJPW

[shitloadsofwrestling]

Tully Blanchard attacks Magnum TA [March 1988]

In the 1980s, one of the most popular wrestlers to never step foot in a WWF ring was the handsome, well-conditioned athlete known as Magnum TA. With a natural charisma and the physique of a champion, Magnum won the hearts of anyone who saw him wrestle- especially live. Crowd were known to raise the decibal level every time he stepped foot in the ring, namely during his feud with Tully Blanchard, which climaxed in a steel cage "I Quit" Match at Starrcade.

Sadly, in October of 1986, Magnum TA's career was cut short after he wrecked his Porsche while driving in the rain, causing his C-4 and C-5 vetebrae to "explode" and for the right side of his body to be paralyzed for months. Magnum would continue to appear for the NWA, working as a commentator and a manager for Dusty Rhodes and Magnum's former rival, Nikita Koloff. This segment aired after Magnum came to Dusty's aid, preventing Tully Blanchard from gaining the unfair advantage and fending off the Horseman with a baseball bat. It was because of this segment that Rhodes was suspended by the NWA and would return under a mask as The Midnight Rider. This is by far one of the hottest segments featuring Rhodes and Magnum, who always made sure to have each other’s backs.

[dynared]

They were, but if the season ends around 1986, then it occurred a month after Starrcade.

There was no women wrestling at Starrcade. There was Jim Cornette falling off a scaffold, but no women. The AWA had some female wrestling (Wendi Richter retreated there after the original Screwjob) and considering AWA filmed their weekly syndicated show in Vegas until 1989, Carmen going to work for Verne but still being close to GLOW could make a very interesting dynamic.

Then again I’m trying to fully apply real world events to a fictional TV show. If that is the case, then we have four more seasons of GLOW due (GLOW ceased production in 1990).

It just hit me with GLOW Season 3

Carmen wants to wrestle on a proper show, but anyone who knows about wrestling in the late 80’s and 90’s knows that if she wants to wrestle that style she has to go to Japan, and foreigners were not getting over in Japan at the time.

The alternative was waiting a few years for well...Vince.

Carmen would not work well under Vince.

[brainbusterradio]

BBR Presents Mystery Wrestling Theater Roppongi 3069: The Scaffold Match

This week BBR “walks the skies” as we fire up three of the most dangerous Scaffold Matches to ever take place! If you don’t know what a Scaffold Match is, you are in for an insanely death defying time! Taking place 20, 25, sometimes 30 feet in the air; this is possibly the most reckless match that could ever booked and we are watching some of the best to ever take place. Fire up the links below and DON’T LOOK DOWN!

MATCHES

Vic Grimes vs. New Jack - XPW Freefall

Chicky Starr vs. Invader III - WWC Puerto Rico

Midnight Express vs. Road Warriors - Starrcade 1986 Night of the Skywalkers

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

[amtushinfosolutionspage]

Remembering Paul Jones, the Believable Heel

Bruno Sammartino died last week, and was buried yesterday. Quite rightly, his death has dominated the wrestling news of the past week. He was a massive star and a legitimately likeable, decent man with a fascinating personal story. If you read one retrospective, David Bixenspan’s eulogy at Deadspin is beautifully written and comprehensive.

Sammartino was a giant and giants cast large shadows. In the shadow of his death, the news that “No. 1” Paul Jones had died the same day was muted. Jones, a tag team legend of the Southern territories and an even better heel manager after he was done as a full-timer, deserves a bit of a retrospective of his own.

I’d be a liar if I said I was well-versed in Paul Jones’s wrestling. His in-ring career was in the 1960s and 70s. The footage of him during his best years as a wrestler is grainy or overexposed, coming from darkened house shows in local coliseums around the South. It’s not the neatly produced pro wrestling which even the 1970s WWWF, the current WWE’s forerunner, created.

But the sound is still there. Listen to the clip below. The match is Paul Jones and eternal babyface Ricky Steamboat versus the heelish Ric Flair and Masked Superstar. From the time the clip starts, there’s a high-pitched shriek from the crowd which never stops. It’s the sound of a crowd buying into the proceedings, wholly and completely, with their lungs and hearts.

The work between Jones and Steamboat is smooth and fast, and if it would be foolish to say that Jones was the bigger star of the two, it would be equally foolish to say that Jones was simply a stand-in. The end of the match, which sees Jones take out Flair so that Steamboat can get the pin, reaches an absolute roar the second Jones’s hand connects with Flair’s flesh.

Despite serving as a moral Swiss army knife for whatever promotion he was working for at a given time, Jones was not a natural babyface. He kind of looked like an asshole, and he was a burly type built for brawling. When he turned on Steamboat in 1979, after three Mid-Atlantic tag team title runs as a team, he reached his internal equilibrium. They had what amounted to a blood feud which is, again, defined by sound: every clip of them wrestling around this time has the same heart-palpitating thrum to it. It’s the thrum of bloodlust, and it’s the sort of thing which didn’t and doesn’t just happen on its own.

Jones entered the modern pro wrestling consciousness when he retired in 1982 and became a manager. He formed a large stable called Paul Jones’s Army, a sort of holding pen for weirdo, violent heels which, in retrospect, seems like a forerunner of WCW’s Dungeon of Doom without some of the high camp weirdness (the Army was low camp and gritty, but still definitely camp). Abdullah the Butcher was part of it, as was Baron Von Raschke, a mild-mannered Minnesotan cosplaying as a Nazi in a cape. The Barbarian, a man made of face paint and muscles, came in. Less weird was “The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez, a legitimately frightening and legitimately violent guy who teamed with Rick Rude as The Awesome Twosome under the Army’s auspices.

Despite never being the biggest, fastest, best, or most articulate, he felt believable.

Jones took his barrel-chested physical presence and amped it up. He started wearing safari style khakis and carrying a riding crop. Alarmingly, he grew his moustache out but began cutting it shorter and shorter, until the entire ensemble of moustache, shock of black hair, and khakis had him looking like Hitler. Anything for heat, and if it doesn’t threaten to cause a riot, is it really pro wrestling? He was asked to stop trimming it; even Von Raschke didn’t go that far.

Jones’s defining feud would happen during his days as a manager, not as a wrestler. He was managing the Assassins, who were feuding with “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant. If you’re not familiar with Valiant, picture a guy who wasn’t the greatest wrestler in the world but who had a huge beard and seemed to be made of raw charisma. He’d dance with his valet, Big Mama, and shout a lot about the fans. He was awesome and a beloved mid-card act in the early to mid 80s.

The Assassins and Jones couldn’t really get one over on Valiant, so in 1984 they figured the best way to get him was to cut off his beard. So they beat him up and cut a big chunk out of it. This kicked off a legendary feud which lasted for years.

The best way to put it is that the feud was, ultimately, about hair. Valiant didn’t like losing his beard, so he started putting his hair up against the Assassins’ masks. His friend, Pez Whatley, turned on him—after Valiant qualified that Whatley was the best black athlete in the world rather than the best overall—and cut his hair. Valiant went on a rampage. He shaved the Army’s hair until only Jones remained.

Quite opposite of expectations, the feud remained white hot and buoyed the second and third tier stories of the era. At Starrcade 1986, Valiant put up Big Mama’s hair against Jones’s in a match between the two. Of course Valiant won and of course the crowd bayed and howled once again for a match involving Jones, years after his peak.

I remember being a kid and finding myself enthralled by the storyline. The 1986 vintage of Valiant vs. Jones and his proxies helped define my nascent pro wrestling fandom. Starrcade ’86 is still my favorite pro wrestling show and the Valiant-Jones match one of my favorites on the card. Not because it’s a great match in any technical sense, but in a dramatic sense. It was one of the most perfect feuds in pro wrestling history and had a perfect ending.

Central to that was Jones. It’s hard to quantify, but despite never being the biggest, fastest, best, or most articulate, he felt believable. There are promos he cut during the Valiant feud and he seems so spittingly angry at the entire situation, so frustrated that he couldn’t get his final victory over Valiant and that damned beard, that he’s reduced to barely being able to speak. It rules.

That’s what Jones seemed to bring as well as any of his contemporaries: believability. He seemed real in a way an awful lot of his Army, in their capes and face paint, didn’t. And whatever character motives kicked off his hatred of Valiant, it seemed to boil down to frustration. That’s a relatable feeling, the way we don’t like something or someone and we just want to scream or shave a beard or punch a wall or just do something to let it out. That was Jones. He was the one who let it out. It made him a villain, but one that felt tangible and real, despite everyone loving Jimmy Valiant, and it made him and that feud one of the touchstones of mid-80s Southern wrestling.

Remembering Paul Jones, the Believable Heel syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

[derpa-smashed]

NWA - VHS ads 1986 to 1988 

Starrcade 86 / Crockett Memorial Cup Tournament / Great American Bash 86 Great American Bash 87 / The Danger Zone / Starrcade 87 / Great American Bash 88 

The Wrestling Collector

[wwenetworkchronicle-blog]

Today In Wrestling History Via WWE Network (11/27/2017): Starrcade 1986

As a daily feature, WWE Network News posts a comprehensive list of everything that took place on this day in wrestling history. Or at least everything that is currently available to watch on the WWE Network. This list is courtesy of the Reddit version of WWE Network Bot.

Disclaimer: Any incorrect dates are taken directly from the WWE Network’s code. Basically, they goofed, not us. If you notice…

[maloned]

My 30-year Love-Affair with Professional Wrestling, Part 2

Is this real? My story of Saturday Night Main Event.

Hulk Hogan and tag team partner Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff talking through a disagreement before their big match versus the Heenan Family. Watch video: https://youtu.be/7JVSNEh8PKI

Previously on Superstars of Wrestling, we left our hero, the World Wrestling Federation champion, Hulk Hogan, betrayed and beaten after being spiked on his head by a serious, career threatening piledriver, by his one-time tag team partner, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff.  Orndorff turned his back on the Hulkster and joined forces with the sinister wrestling manager, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and his evil stable of villains, The Heenan Family. (Read Part 1: Click here).

At ten years old, watching all this lead me directly to question, what kind of sport was this? Athletes were blatantly breaking the rules and assaulting rivals outside of competition. The boxing that my uncle loved didn’t allow this. My father’s favorite, the NFL, didn’t stand for this sort of thing.

My friends and family would chuckle at my pure shock. “You know wrestling’s fake, right?” “Why don’t their faces get bruised?” “It’s all scripted and choreographed!” Those are familiar phrases to just about every wrestling fan. I’d live with statements like this for the rest of my fandom. But for our legion of fans, we understand that being “real” isn’t the point.

At ten years old, of course, I didn’t know what to believe. But, like my fellow fans, I also didn’t care. Whatever wrestling was, whether sport or entertainment or a hybrid, I wanted to, no, I needed to find out if the Hulk was going to get his revenge on Mr. Wonderful. Week after week,

I would tune in Saturday and Sunday morning to hear the Hulkster and Paul Orndorff exchange insults and challenges in backstage interviews with WWF broadcaster, Mean Gene Okerlund.

As a kid, I bought completely into the theater as reality. As an adult, I understand its theater and also brilliant storytelling in its own way. Because, at the end of every episode, whether it was 10-year-old me or me now, I wanted to know one thing: When and where was this grudge match happening?

Today, the answer to that is a Google search away. Back in the 1980s, it was not that simple. But, as fate would have it, I was watching our local NBC affiliate, then Channel 4 WTVJ. On a Saturday night in October of 1986, I might’ve been tuned into the A-Team, Knight Rider, or The Golden Girls. Whatever was on TV, I was delighted to see the Hulkster appear during a commercial break promoting the long-awaited match with his nemesis, Mr. Wonderful. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the ad went on to say that the brawl in the squared-circle would be tonight on a show called Saturday Night Main Event (SMME)! Wait, what?! What was this show coming on at 11:30pm? Why had I never heard of it before? Weekly series like Superstars of Wrestling or Wrestling Challenge never advertised SNME.

“Mom,” I said, “Can I stay up late tonight? I want to watch Hulk Hogan wrestle Mr. Wonderful.”  

“No.” Mom quickly replied.

But, almost as quickly, mom changed her tune and gave me a choice. I could stay up late OR go to the circus the next day. It should come as no surprise that I have an affinity for Carnie Culture and the Circus.

In the spirit of all the clever kids in 80s movies, I came up with a plan. Using my VCR skills, well-practiced after months of recording my grandmother’s novelas (Spanish soap operas), I would record SMME. Now, I could sit under the big top for some circus action and still get to watch the Hulkster seek vengeance on that Benedict Arnold, Mr. Wonderful.

Excited by experiencing my this win-win scenario I went to bed and woke up the next day ready for some clown and elephants. At the Greatest Show on Earth, however, I couldn’t focus. I could not wait to get home, rewind that VHS tape and find out if the Hulkster got his revenge.

The circus was a blur that day. When I got home, I immediately popped some popcorn and poured some Pepsi; what would become my SNME go-to snack combo for years to come. As I started to watch, even then, I knew there was something special about this show. The production value of WWF’s weekly programming was above and beyond that of other wrestling companies at the time, which were typically in smoked filled rooms and a few hundred (if that) locals to sit and cheer. Saturday Night Main Event, however, was on a whole new level of quality. I know now that NBC Sports handled the broadcast of SNME. These were not the same squash matches against no-name local journeymen (“jobbers”) that were typically served up on Saturday mornings. The matches on SNME were epic clashes between superstars. Legends like Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat battled Jake “The Snake” Roberts; the British Bulldogs teamed fought the Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine; “Rowdy” Roddy Piper faced off against the Iranian juggernaut known as Iron Sheik. As incredible as SNME was, the resolution I sought for between Hulk Hogan and Mr. Wonderful, never happened.

Hyping matches that only pseudo-materialize is nothing new for wrestling fans. On SNME, the match between Hogan and Orndoff featured many escapes by Mr. Wonderful to the outside of the ring. Orndorff’s strategy would disrupt Hulkster’s momentum each time. And each time, Orndorff would seek instruction from his wease of a manager, Heenan. I learned another staple of wrestling from SNME — the shocking ending that sets up another fight. In another moment when Hogan seemed to gain the upper hand, a woman, no, a wrestler dressed in drag, interfered with the match. The wrestler was Adrian Adonis, and the bout ended in a disqualification. No revenge for Hogan. Instead, the stakes were higher, the need for vengeance greater as Hogan is cheated once more. The quest for revenge would continue in a Steel Cage.

Hogan! Hogan! Hogan! My story of the Steel Cage Match.

It was January 3rd, 1987. I was well on my way to turning 12 when Saturday Night Main Event (SNME) premiered the first-ever national broadcast of a Steel Cage Match.  The first time that a nationwide audience would see the imposing structure.

A Steel Cage Match wasn’t anything new. Eventually, more matches in steel cages captured my imagination. Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum T.A. At Starrcade ’85 in the “I Quit” match, the first Thunderdome Cage Match, or the iconic image from Apter Magazine of Jimmy Snuka standing on top of the cage. Steel Cages were a common gimmick, but this one was my first.

Hosts Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura sold the dangers of this match.

“It’s a match to end all feuds and rivalries!” urged the hosts, then reminded us “The Cage is a barrier and a weapon!”

The ultimate point of sale for how deadly a match the Steel Cage would be the complete lack of rules. The Steel Cage would serve to keep Mr. Wonderful’s inside and his friends out, but that didn’t mean it would be a straightforward match otherwise. No count-outs, no disqualifications, no referees, no submissions, and no pinfalls! No holds barred and no rules. The only way to win is to escape the cage through the door or by climbing out of the cage. But, of course, this meant having to incapacitate your opponent first.

If you haven’t come to realize it by now, each chapter in my series serves to illustrate what formed and cemented my love for wrestling. The Steel Cage Match between Hogan and Mr. Wonderful was mesmerizing. Whatever this “sport” was, it was outrageous, exciting, and never ceased to fascinate me; a fascination that’s lasted for three decades.

Years later, my love for wrestling and cage matches would lead me to host and publish SteelCageMatch.com from 2001 to 2011. On the site, I asked the eternal question, “How did a legit, technically graceful sport like wrestling become faux barbarism?” Wrestling had evolved into the outrageous, introducing matches fought within steel cages for utmost brutality (albeit feigned). On SteelCageMatch.com I chronicled the history of steel cage matches and the evolution of a newlegitimate sport, Mixed Martial Arts. Things would come full circle, as MMA happens in a cage.  (All my data compiled during this time is published here: Click here).

The steel cage match between Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff took place on December 14, 1986, in Hartford, Connecticut and taped for broadcast on the January 3rd, 1987 edition of SNME. The rivalry was at a fever pitch, pushed to new heights as both Hogan and Mr. Wonderful entered the arena to the same song — Real American by Rick Derringer. Both combatants claimed the song as their entrance music since they used it when they fought as a tag team. So, as if the stakes weren’t high enough, the winner would take the song which became so iconic in the World Wrestling Federation.

The wrestlers were in the ring, but the drama mounted even more before the bell rang. Outside the ring, two referees, Senior WWF Official Joey Marella and veteran official Danny Davis, argued over who was assigned to officiate the match. In the end, both referees decided to stick around at ringside. The audience thought nothing of it since one path to victory was clear to everyone.

Finally, the match began. For much of it, Mr. Wonderful overcame Hogan’s size advantage by making the most of his compact, pit bull-like strength and aggression. However, each wrestler took turns blaming into the unyielding, classic blue bars of WWF cages. In the end, both competitors found themselves bruised, bloodied, and lying on the canvass. Hogan and Orndorff picked themselves up off of the mat on opposite sides of the ring at the same time. They grabbed the cage and began to climb. At the same time. It was a race to the top between the two exhausted warriors.

The camera frantically cut back and forth as both wrestlers made their way out of the cage. Mr. Wonderfull took the early lead, but Hogan made up lost ground. McMahon and Ventura unabashedly cheered for their respective favorites.

Camera cut, after camera cut drew both opponents closer to the bottom of the cage. And, in what I understand now as a brilliant moment in choreography, both wrestlers jumped down and landed at the same time. Who landed first? On one side, Referee Marella raised Hogan’s arm in victory. On the other side, Referee Danny Davis had Mr. Wonderful’s arm up in victory. Derringer’s Real American played over the speaks sending the jam-packed arena — and me — into an absolute frenzy. Who won this match?!

Referees Marella and Davis argued over the result of the match. The refs turned to NBC Sports to help determine who won. Using a split-screen and a timecode, it’s clear both wrestlers landed at the same time. What now? Both referees ordered the match to continue!

The match restarted, and it looked like Hogan had no fight left in him. Mr. Wonderful pummeled Hogan, and it was only a matter of time before the Hulkster would fall. All hope seemed lost.

At this point in my short but immensely sweet wrestling fandom, I had never seen Hogan compete against a formidable foe. My heart sank as I thought my hero was done for. But I was not aware of the wrestler’s ability to mount a comeback powered by the “Hulkamaniacs,” the collective name for his legion of fans. It’s a familiar moment to wrestling fans today, but it was the first I’d seen it, and you never forget your first time.

The chant began …

“HOGAN! HOGAN! HOGAN!”

As if feeling the raw energy projected by his fans, Hogan began to tremble. The power overcoming the champ paralyzed Mr. Wonderful. Hogan’s body filled with energy from Hulkamaniacs, fists tightly clenched, as he turned to look Mr. Wonderful dead in the eye. Mr. Wonderful attacked again and again with punches that had no effect on Hogan. Mr. Wonderful swung again, but this time Hogan snapped out of his moment of “Hulking Up” and blocked the attack.

In the blink of an eye, Hogan took complete control of the match. The Hulkster sprung into action, hitting Mr. Wonderful again and again with powerful punches. Hogan grabbed a dazed Mr. Wonderful and shoved him into the ropes, bouncing the rival off of the ropes. As Mr. Wonderful returned, Hogan slammed a boot into his face. Mr. Wonderful hit the mat hard. Most wrestlers would pause to grandstand, but Hogan continued the assault. Hogan ran into the ropes, catapulting himself back toward Mr. Wonderful who lay helpless at the center of the squared circle. Hogan leaped into the air, stretching out his tree-trunk like leg, and slamming it down across Mr. Wonderful’s head, neck, and chest. The blow finished Mr. Wonderful. Hogan made his way up and out of the cage for the victory long before Mr. Wonderful could mount a serious effort.

Hogan’s journey for revenge against his former friend was complete. The iconic song was his. And there seemed to be no one who could ever defeat the Incredible Hulk Hogan! There also appeared to be no end to my complete infatuation with professional wrestling.

Another week and Saturday Night Main Event proved to be must-watch television for me. The long week ahead to the next episode loomed. But my adoration for wrestling knew no bounds and would carry me. Little did I know, that something bigger, better, badder than I ever imagined was in store — Wrestlemania.

My 30-year love affair with professional wrestling concludes in part three and my story of Wrestlemania.

More Wrestling Posts: http://maloned.tumblr.com/tagged/Wrestling

Edited by Ruben Diaz

[fromtheringapron]

NWA Starrcade 1986

Date: November 27, 1986

Location: The Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia.

Attendance: 30,000 (combined)

Commentary: Bob Caudle and Johnny Weaver (Greensboro), Tony Schiavone and Rick Stewart (Atlanta).

Results

1. Tim Horner & Nelson Royal defeated Don & Rocky Kernodle.

2. Brad Armstrong fought Jimmy Garvin w/Precious to a time limit draw.

3. Hector Guerrero & Baron von Rascke defeated Shaska Whatley & the Barbarian.

4. No Disqualification Match for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Russian Team (Ivan Koloff & Krusher Kruschev) (champions) defeated the Kansas City Jayhawks (Bobby Jaggers & Dutch Mantel).

5. Strap Match: Wahoo McDaniel defeated Rick Rude w/Paul Jones.

6. NWA Central States Championship Match: Sam Houston (champion) defeated Bill Dundee. 

7. Hair vs. Hair Match: Jimmy Valiant w/ Big Mama defeated Paul Jones. 

8. Street Fight: Big Bubba Rogers w/Jim Cornette defeated Ron Garvin.

9. First Blood Match for the NWA World Television Championship: Tully Blanchard w/ James J. Dillion defeated Dusty Rhodes (champion) to win the title.

10. Skywalkers Match: The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) w/Paul Ellering defeated the Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey) w/Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers.

11. Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) (champions) defeated the Anderson Brothers (Ole & Arn).

12. NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair (champion) fought Nikita Koloff to a double disqualification. 

Analysis

Perhaps you wouldn’t know by watching it, but Starrcade 1986 takes place right at the beginning of Jim Crockett Promotions’ downfall. NWA’s cornerstone promotion is struggling to amass a wider audience like its rival WWF, most of it their own doing. However, what makes it all seem cruel are the events beyond their control. This edition of Starrcade was to mark a new era. Magnum T.A., their answer to Hulk Hogan, was to become the top babyface when he challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. But tragedy struck one month before the show. Magnum T.A. got into a car accident and sustained career-ending injuries. Nikita Koloff took his place to challenge Flair, without much time to develop a title chase.

So, despite the grave misfortune, how does Starrcade 1986 hold up? Well, it’s not a disaster. There’s no doubt this show would be more fondly remembered if Magnum T.A. emerged triumphant at the end, but it works fine as a testament to Jim Crockett Promotions’ iconic roster. The Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are just a few of the legendary figures involved. Several of them are in the midst of storylines and matches still discussed today. Nikita Koloff fairs quite well in the main event despite having been a career heel just a few weeks prior. The double disqualification ending is unsatisfying, but it’s clearly the right decision. Having Koloff or Flair win would have been too risky to pull on an audience still reeling from Magnum T.A.’s sudden exit.

One can’t help but notice how Jim Crockett Promotions is doing its best to differentiate Starracde from the WWF’s family-friendly WrestleMania. Several matches on this show feature blood or more extreme match types like street fights. The most notable example is the scaffold match, the other selling point of this show. The clip of Jim Cornette falling from the scaffold remains one of Jim Crockett Promotions’ enduring moments, to the point where it’s forgotten the match itself is incredibly dated. It harkens back to wrestling’s carnivalesque desire for spectacle, with little regard for the well-being of its performers. The Road Warriors and the Midnight Express do play it safe for the most part, but that’s more out of protection for their bodies than anything.  

The show probably would have been better off if it didn’t go overboard with the gimmick matches, as it mistakes quantity with quality in that regard fairly often. The street fight and no disqualification tag match barely register. The most disappointing of them all is the first blood match, which should’ve been a classic but instead is just set a piece to screw Dusty Rhodes out of the World Television Championship. It’s screwy endings that are beginning to alienate Jim Crockett Promotions’ fanbase and one of the factors leading to their downfall, especially when it comes at the expense of beloved babyfaces. Even if Magnum T.A. went on to main event this show as planned, it’s not hard to imagine fans around this time fearing he’d be screwed out of the world title as well.

My Random Notes

It’s good scaffold matches aren’t a thing anymore. The concept is too dangerous and you just know with all the high spots wrestlers take today it would probably result in death eventually.

Who could’ve imagined the Hector Guerrero here is the same Hector Guerrero who plays the Goobeldy Gooker four years after this?

During my research for this show, I discovered how Pez Whatley turned heel, and I think it’s pretty warped. I’m not expecting a mid ‘80s wrestling promotion located in the southern region of the country to be progressive, but it’s to my understanding that Whatley turned heel when Jimmy Valiant made a racist comment about him and this, um, made Valiant the good guy? It’s so backwards, but the situation leading to the heel turn still occurs today. Marginalized people are vilified for reacting to microaggressions in any way that’s less than compliant. It’s just as true now as it were in 1986.

I can’t just ignore the Magnum T.A. video package airing right before the main event. Like, I get they wanted to show a tribute video for him, but surely they could’ve just used footage of his best moments in the ring and not him running across a beach. The WWE Network version also plays this corny yet catchy country song over the video, which pretty much completes it.

I’m in favor of random filler matches and all, but I must say the opening match seriously looks like it were put together by drawing four names out of a hat.

Not really sure on the reasoning behind having this show take place from two separate locations, although I will say they do it much more seamlessly than the WWF did with WrestleMania 2 earlier in the year.  

Pretty bizarre hype job for the Bunkhouse Stampede, eh? It’s Nelson Royal reminiscing about the match over an open fire with a tone of voice suggesting he murdered a few campers right before filming.

I like how the early Starrcades give regional titles like the Central States Championship a chance to shine. The surplus of titles in the NWA gives Jim Crockett Promotions this expansive, universal feel even when it mainly operates in the southern region of the United States. There are rivalries even over the smallest championships, which builds an aura of competitiveness around the promotion.

The camera pans to the crowd during the National Anthem, all of them clearly not giving a fuck except for one woman who seem really happy to be there. #merica

[shitloadsofwrestling]

NWA United States Champion Magnum T.A. [1985]

Magnum T.A. had a great year in 1985, not only as one of the most popular wrestlers in the NWA, but also for his legacy as a champion. In March, Magnum T.A. began his first reign as NWA United States Champion by defeating Wahoo McDaniel. Magnum's reign lasted only two days shy of four months before he was defeated by Tully Blanchard in Charlotte, North Carolina. The two continued to wage war, both over the championship and in tag team matches, until the feud culminated in an "I Quit" Steel Cage Match at Starrcade in November. Magnum captured the title from Blanchard, and would continue to reign as champion until May 1st, 1986 when he attacked NWA president Bob Geigel and was stripped of the championship.