January 5, 2008
Matt Peddycord

NWA World Championship Wrestling
April 22, 1989
Atlanta, GA
Center Stage Theatre

Your host is Jim Ross. Hayes must be still licking his wounds from the beating he took last week. I’m just playing along.

Interview with the Road Warriors: Paul Ellering told Hawk that “vengeance is for the victims” and that’s what he plans to get at Wrestle War. Animal tells the Varsity Club to bring ALL their fancy book learning with them to Nashville, because they’re going to need it to beat them again.

Ranger Ross & Randy Rose vs. Rip Morgan & “Secret Service” Jack Victory

Rose quickly gets off a crappy crucifix hold on Morgan for two. Morgan takes a dropkick out to the floor so Rose can dive out on top of him. Back in, that gets two. Ross tags in and becomes our face-in-peril for a moment. Morgan misses a legdrop and Ross tags in Rose. The heels get whipped into one another. Shortly after, Victory tries for the Ric Flair corner pin, but Tommy Young catches him in the act. Victory argues with Young and gets rolled up by Rose for 1-2-3. (3:12) Wow, the crowd erupts! Nothing really wrong with that at all. Ross gets tossed and Rose gets double-teamed with the assistance of a leather strap. *½

We recap the past few weeks where Dick Murdoch continues to get ambushed by Bob Orton Jr. and Gary Hart. It’s just getting too wild, I tell ya. That leads to an interview with Dick Murdoch: He says his son is going to be big enough to KO Gary Hart before you know it. That’s about it.

Interview with Ricky Steamboat: The pressure on him is intense! The competition is at a fever pitch! Will he survive Wrestle War? Ahh, it’s all just too much!

Tonga vs. Trent Knight

This is Tonga’s WCW TV debut. He’s the brother of Fatu on the SST, and the future Samoan Savage. Suplex into a float-over gets the 1-2-3. (0:54) Next.

Interview with Ric Flair: Either he’s wearing the same suit and tie from last week, or he cut two promos in one day. Who am I kidding, Ric Flair doesn’t wear the same thing ever! He’s THAT freakin’ rich! Pretty much standard Flair stuff here.

Bob Orton Jr. (w/Gary Hart) vs. Bob Emery

Gary Hart joins JR on commentary to insult Dick Murdoch. Short match from Orton this week. He wrestles Emery to the mat, knee drops the throat, and finishes him off with a SUPERPLEX. (1:54) Are you man enough to take out Orton, Mr. Murdoch? In the pre-match interview, Orton makes fun of Murdoch’s late father and calls him a has-been and Dick a never-was. What is with the Orton family mocking the dead?

Recap of the Sting/Sheik confrontation from last week. Next week, Sting and Sheik will square off in a PERSIAN CLUB CHALLENGE!

Next up, JR airs footage of Sullivan beating up Gilbert in the Omni on April 9, followed by the slap from Missy last week.

NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner (w/Missy Hyatt) vs. The Samoan Swat Team (w/Paul E. Dangerously)

This should be good. Steiner gets another hug from Nancy Sullivan a.k.a. Robin Green. The SST do a Pearl Harbor job early on and both miss corner splashes. Once the match settles down, Rick gets on all fours and bites Fatu on the butt. Gilbert tags in and takes a knee to the back off a whip to set up a nerve hold. Gilbert elbows out, but Paul E trips him up. He still avoids all kinds of falling headbutts from the Samoans to make the hot tag to Rick. Meanwhile, Missy slaps the CRAP out of Paul and now he’s got to call somebody. The SST deliver a double-headbutt to Rick because a double noggin knocker on those guys mean NOTHING. Meanwhile on the floor, Kevin Sullivan is out and drags Missy away by her hair. Rick comes to her aid, but Dan Spivey comes in out of nowhere and blasts him with a clothesline! Eddie Gilbert is the one who finally beats Sullivan away from Missy, which results in a big brawl that gets the First Family counted out. (4:43) Fun stuff, and I just love the Varsity Club. **¼

Junkyard Dog vs. The Red Devil

Haha, another random masked jobber. Red Devil gets in some early jobber offense, but he stomps him in the head and that never works. JYD makes the comeback and finishes him off with the BIG THUMP. (1:36) JYD meets Muta at Wrestle War. Boy, somebody on the booking staff is on some BAD crack. JYD mentions beating Kabuki in the early ‘80s, which brings Gary Hart and Muta out to confront JYD about that. Hart says Muta will retire him in Nashville. I think not!

YOUTUBE IT: Check out the US tag titles match for some fun. This whole show is turning into getting the mid-card ready for the PPV. The thing about that is, the undercard isn’t that good for Wrestle War ’89, so it’s fairly uneventful stuff.

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