National Wrestling Alliance

Uncensored 1990

2010-03-23T20:18:00.003-05:00

NWA/WCW Uncensored: Enron Field (Mid South) 31,305 Fans 1.43 Buy Rate

(Pre-Show) Bam Bam Bigelow & Kevin Sullivan defeated Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff “B-”
You know you have a stacked show when you have these four taking part in a “dark match” of a pay-per-view. I imagine none of them were too happy about it either.

(Pre-Show) Varsity Club (Mike Rotundo & Steve Williams) defeated Foreign Legion (Dino Bravo & Don Muraco) “B-”
This might be one of the last times we see Varsity Club for a while, as there appears to be plans to have both Rotundo and Williams take part in more singles matches. They beat Foreign Legion here, which was Dino Bravo’s first appearance in the NWA, teamed up with Don Muraco. Bravo and Muraco are old friends and insiders say they couldn’t be more pleased being teamed together. They should have a good run under their new tag name, Foreign Legion.

1. Super Zenith defeated Sid Vicious for the WCW United States Title “B”
Even though Sid Vicious man-handled Super Zenith for most of the match, Super Zenith managed a surprise pin doing a small package as Sid was playing to the fans. As soon as the bell rang, Super Zenith jumped from the ring and high tailed it to the back leaving a very angry Sid standing in the ring.

2. Midnight Express (Eaton & Lane) defeated Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes & Garvin) and The Texas Cowboys (Hansen & Orton) for the WCW World Tag Team Titles “B+”
Jim Cornette’s Midnight Express became the only two time WCW World Tag Champions when they won this match with the Freebirds and Texas Cowboys. As far as tag team matches go, it would be hard to top this match as the fans really seemed to enjoy the whole thing all the way through. So now, not only is Jim Cornette the general manager of the WCW, but he’s also the manager of it’s tag champions.

3. Rick Rude defeated Sting “B+”
In a well put together match between Rude and Sting, the fans really got behind it all the way. It had each wrestler having high spots and then comebacks and the flow was perfect throughout the whole match. As Sting came through the entrance to the back, he was heard to tell Greg Moe that he thought that he and Rude could do even better if they get another match soon. Though Greg didn’t reply to Sting then, you have to think he’d be more than happy to make that happen.

4. Hart Foundation (Kid & Neidhart) defeated The Brainbusters (Blanchard & A. Anderson) and Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) in a 3 team ladder match to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles “B”
This was the first ladder match of any kind in the NWA and it went over pretty well. It probably would have gone over even better in a singles match, but these three teams wanted to give it a try, and believe it or not, it was the Road Warriors who sold the idea to Greg Moe. Hawk and Animal aren’t known for being very agile, but they did better than what you would have expected. Before this match, it is rumored that Greg has already had a sit down with the Road Warriors and he supposedly told them that they would be regaining the tag titles again very soon after Uncensored.

5. Terry Funk defeated Jerry Lawler in a Cage Classic match to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title “B-”

Though this match was pretty good, people were left with the feeling that it should have and could have been better. According to Funk and a couple of the road agents, Funk has been having problems working with a few of the WCW top workers, such as Bob Orton and Junkyard Dog, and he may have shown some problems working with Jerry Lawler tonight. It’s hard to pin down the problems, but you have to wonder if Greg Moe in considering moving Terry Funk to the NWA roster or moving a few NWA stars to the WCW roster to give Funk other people to work with. Funk has expressed in the past that he’d like to get in on the heat the “Worldwide” show has been getting, but Greg assured him the heat for the WCW “Saturday Night” show would pick up, and it has, so we will have to wait and see what happens. A close friend to Funk however said that Terry wasn’t real happy about Sting joining the WCW roster only to feud with Rick Rude, as Funk was hoping it would be he who would be working with Sting.

6. Bret Hart defeated Lex Luger in a Cage Escape match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title “B+”
Bret Hart and Lex Luger had another great match that went back and fourth the whole time and with both wrestlers juicing to build it even hotter. Both Hart and Luger had many near escapes during the match and it ended when Bret Hart jumped from the top of the cage to the floor right past Lex Luger who was climbing down to the floor. Bret’s feet touched the floor first, just ahead of Luger’s giving Bret Hart the win. Hart sold it as if he really hurt himself having jumped from the top of the cage. The jump caused a huge pop from the crowd and an even bigger one when the seemingly injured Hart was handed the NWA World Title for the second time. Even more heat was built between Bret Hart and the Four Horsemen after Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson jumped Bret as he was being helped to the back by a couple of EMS workers.

7. Ric Flair defeated Roddy Piper in a Texas Death match when Piper couldn’t beat a 10 count following a pin “A”
Flair and Piper took this match past 30 minutes and each dished out some brutal punishment to each other. Both men were pinned a few times each, but each time they would beat the ten count to keep the match going. The match finally ended when Arn Anderson came out to distract the referee while Tully Blanchard smashed Roddy Piper over the head with a chair knocking him out completely making it impossible for Piper to answer the ten count after Flair got the pin. At the end of the match, you could feel the anger from the crowd thick in the air as Blanchard, Anderson and Ric Flair walked to the back holding up their four fingers and grinning from ear to ear while Roddy Piper lay knocked out in the ring. Arn Anderson even ripped a sign out of the hands of one fan that read "Imagine" and ripped it to pieces.

All and all, Uncensored’s A* rating was the highest rated show since Halloween Havoc in October of 1989.

Week 2, March 1990

2010-03-21T15:05:00.002-05:00

NWA Worldwide: American Airlines Arena (South East) 9,452 Fans “B+”

(Worldwide opens with the camera finding the Four Horsemen in the ring dressed in the finest suits money can buy, only they are minus Ole Anderson. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard stand slightly behind Ric Flair, who is holding a mic who raises it and begins to speak.)

FLAIR: “Woooo!” (Does his little strut causing the fans to roar with disapproval. Flair‘s face glows with anger as he finds a fat middle aged man in the front row who is holding his hand out with his thumb turned down and booing. Flair points at him.) “Shut your damn mouth fat boy!” (Tully and Arn look at the pudgy man and smirk. Flair continues.) “All of you, shut your mouths! The Four Horsemen are here!” (Long pause as the fans reach a fever pitch with their booing.) “Tonight is a great night for the Horsemen, and a great night for wrestling. Tonight the Four Horsemen announce their fourth member since we got rid of Ole Anderson.” (Flair looks and points right in the camera as his voice rises again.) “Ole! You’re out! You just couldn’t hang with the Horsemen! You just couldn’t style and profile with the Nature Boy! Woooo! (Struts once more.) “Woooo! So…..tonight we announce our newest and final member of the Four Horsemen. Lex! Lex Luger, come on out here!” (The three of them applaud as the Four Horsemen music plays and out from the back walks Lex Luger, shirtless, with dress slacks and shoes. The fans boo the once beloved “Total Package,” Lex Luger. He reaches the ring and climbs the steps and enters the ring with a big grin on his face as he walks up and shakes Ric Flair’s hand. Flair stands in front of Luger and once more begins to speak.) “Lex Luger….welcome to the Four Horsemen! Woooo!”

(Suddenly, Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s music plays and out from the back steps Bret Hart and right along with him is “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. The two walk to the top of the ramp, with Hart holding a mic. Hart flips his mirrored sunglasses up on his forehead and begins to speak.)

HART: “Well this has all been really touching Ricky, but I’ve had about as much of this crap as I can take!” (The fans all rise and cheer and Roddy Piper flips his kilt up at the Horsemen.) “Luger! Luger…I don’t care if you’re a Horsemen! I don’t care if you’re a boy scout! Hell…..I don’t care what you are! All I care about is getting your ass in the ring at Uncensored!” (Luger slams his hands down on the top rope and grabs and shakes them with anger and Flair puts the mic to his mouth and starts to talk only to have Roddy Piper interrupt him.)
PIPER: “Flair! Shut your mouth before I come down there and slap the taste out of it!” (Flair has a angry, shocked look on his face.) “Flair, you’ve got even bigger problems than your buddy Lex. That’s right! Flair, I want you! Just you and me at Uncensored! That is if you have the rocks!” (Flair’s eyes bulge out as he speaks.)
FLAIR: “You’re on! You’re on pal! You and me! (Hart and Piper smile and turn to return to the back as the fans cheer their moral victory.) “I’ll see you at Uncensored Piper! You and me pal! Woooo!”

1. Arn Anderson defeated Dynamite Kid “B”
Arn and Dynamite have a great match, with Dynamite showing he can carry himself in single matches pretty well. After this match, Ole Anderson completed a turn to face when he jumped Arn Anderson on the ramp leading to backstage. The turn went over really well as the fans bought into it completely. Greg Moe plans to pit Arn and Ole in a match at Uncensored if there is enough time found during the pre-production meeting set for late Saturday night.

2. Sting defeated Don Muraco to retain the NWA North American Title “B”
The Sting and Don Muraco match was fantastic and one the fans will remember for quite some time, and not only because each man performed well, but more because after the match, as Sting was celebrating in the ring, “Ravishing” Rick Rude did a surprise attack on Sting doing a really thorough beat down that both Rude and Sting sold beautifully. After Sting was down and out, Rick Rude stood over him doing various poses, showing off his well chiseled body that has no comparison, except for “The Total Package” Lex Luger and maybe Don Muraco.

(After the show comes back from commercial, we see Rick Rude, who is still standing in the ring after Sting had to be stretchered off to the back.)
RUDE: “Hey Sting! What’s the matter? Having a bad day?” (He smirks as he steps back from the ropes and does a few arm flexes then returns and leans his elbow on the top rope and continues.) “”Damn Sting. I was made to believe you were a tough guy, but hell, I just don’t see it. This whole show is full of a bunch of soft…weak….punks. (Rude does some more poses showing off his arms and abs.) “I imagine these ladies out here are craving…..just dying to see a real man like myself, and your husbands and boy friends are probably a little embarrassed now that they see what their ladies really want. They want the Ravishing One……Rick…..Rude.”

3. Bret Hart & Roddy Piper defeated The Wild Samoans (Fatu & Samu) “B”
Fatu and Samu did a marvelous job putting Hart and Piper over by letting the two have a great match against them. Insiders say The Wild Samoans were promised a push for doing the selling job they did. Look for them to get a title shot and maybe a title win somewhere down the line.

4. Ric Flair defeated Jim Neidhart “B+”
Jim Neidhart took part in his first singles main event match and did a great job working with Flair. After the match was over, Roddy Piper came out and jumped Flair in the ring and the two brawled until they were separated by agents and referees. Then, as the show ended, Piper and Flair attacked each other again fighting past the workers and traded punches again. The fans went crazy.

WCW Saturday Night: Hofheinz Pavilion 10,000 Sell Out “B+”

(The show opens with Sting in the ring as the fans are going crazy over the fact that Sting is on the WCW show. He lifts his mic and speaks to the 10,000 fans but more toward one man…..Rick Rude, who‘s somewhere in the building.)

STING: “Rude, just cause you’re on the WCW roster doesn’t mean you can hide! You think you can jump me on Worldwide then run here and hide? You’re mistaken! That’s right Rude! I’ll tell you what I did. As soon as Worldwide was over last night, I went right into Greg Moe’s office and demanded to be traded to the WCW roster! I gave up the (NWA) North American Title just to follow you here, and tonight, I’m going to get even! I swear it Rude! Tonight, you’re mine!”
(Suddenly Jim Cornette comes out from the back and addresses Sting from the top of the ramp.)
CORNETTE: “Sting, you want to come to the WCW? Well, tonight you’ve got yourself a match. But you don’t get Rude! No! You get Ivan Koloff!” (Sting yells back.)
STING: “You think that scares me Cornette? Bring Koloff on! Then bring on Rude!”
CORNETTE: “I’ll tell you what Sting. You beat Koloff tonight, I’ll give you Rude at Uncensored!”
STING: “You’re on Cornette!”
CORNETTE: “Sting, but if you lose, you’ll be cleaning toilets at Uncensored!”

1. Super Zenith defeated The Great Mute “B-”
Super Zenith did another fantastic job, this time beating The Great Muta.

(Before Super Zenith can climb out of the ring, Sid Vicious steps out from the back and addresses Zenith.)
SID: “Hey Zenith, or whatever your name is! You’ve been having a grand old time the last few weeks, haven’t you? (Zenith is in the ring and nods his head and looks out to the cheering fans.) “I’ll tell you what Zenith! I’m going to bring you back down to earth super hero!” (Sid smirks.) “You got the balls to meet me at Uncensored?” (Zenith nods his head again and looks out again at the fans who are cheering the idea. The camera shifts to the locker room where we see Stan Hansen and Bob Orton standing watching a monitor with looks of shock on their faces.)
ORTON: “He gets a shot at the United States Title?”
HANSEN: “What the hell!”
ORTON: “Don’t worry, Sid will punish that idiot!”

2. Midnight Express (Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton) drew with the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) “B+”
Midnight Express and the Fabulous Freebirds had a fantastic tag match. The match was setup earlier in the evening by Jim Cornette saying the winner would face The Texas Cowboys at Uncensored. However, since this match was a time limit draw, Cornette said it would be a three team tag match for the WCW World Tag Titles.

3. Jerry Lawler defeated Terry Gordy “B”
Terry Gordy put in his last match in the trade from All Japan, and did a great job here with Lawler. I’m sure Greg Moe would be interested in bringing back Gordy at some point.

(After the match between Jerry Lawler and Terry Gordy, Jerry Lawler was jumped from behind as he turned the corner as he entered the backstage area by Terry Funk. Funk did a masterful job beating down Lawler and finished it by power bombing Lawler through a catering table full of sheet pans full of hotdogs and French fries. Funk stands over the unconscious Lawler.)
FUNK: “Lawler! You don’t have to look for me! I’ll see your ass at Uncensored! Be there!” (Funk stands over Lawler laughing while looking at his beaten body.)

4. Sting defeated Ivan Koloff “B”
Sting and Ivan Koloff pulled off a great match together that also had Rick Rude come down to ringside and throw insults to Sting throughout the latter part of the match.

(After the match, Sting jumped out of the ring to chase Rick Rude who was by then standing at the top of the ramp. As Sting got closer to him, Rude stepped back through the entrance to the back and as Sting ran through the entrance after him, Bam Bam Bigelow and The Great Muta stepped out and clothes lined him knocking him to the ground. Then as Muta stomped him, Bigelow picked up a chair and began striking Sting with it and brought it down on Sting’s ankle. Rick Rude stepped forward and looked down at Sting.)
RUDE: “Hi Sting. Just making sure you don’t interfere in my match tonight.” (Rude laughs and then leans down and spits on Sting’s face before walking away past the beaming Bigelow and Muta.)

5. Rick Rude defeated Stan Hansen “B+”
With not fully knowing Sting’s intensions, Stan Hansen was distracted by Sting when he came down to ringside, which gave Rick Rude the opening to perform the “Rude Awakening” on Hansen and put the match away. Just as soon as the bell rang ending the match, Sting jumped in the ring and he and Rude began an all out brawl that continued until referee’s and road agents had to pull them apart. Rick Rude and Sting proved that they can carry a major match at “Uncensored.” Maybe even a main event.

Other events this week were the signing of “Ravishing” Rick Rude, as you should already know by now, but also, Greg Moe was able to sign a young up and comer from Calgary Stampede Wrestling, Chris Benoit and Vampiro, who they hope to send to development soon, and Dino Bravo, who Greg signed away from the WWF. So, as of now, in the war with the WWF, the NWA has managed to sign Roddy Piper, Rick Rude and Dino Bravo, while the WWF was able to steal Scott Steiner and Ronnie Garvin. So some of the bigger named wrestlers are starting to notice the NWA and the contracts that they have been offering. However, Roddy Piper set back the promotion $35,000 a month and now Rick Rude cost the NWA $45,000 a month. It is yet to be seen how hard these contracts will effect the NWA’s bottom line.

One other small tidbit was that Greg Moe determined that both the NWA and WCW Six Man Titles just weren’t doing anything for him, and moreover, the fans. So Greg has retired both titles for use in the NWA and WCW shows. This decision was made easier when Terry Gordy left to go back to All Japan anyway, who was one of the holders of the WCW Six Man Titles with Michael ‘P.S.’ Hayes and Jimmy Garvin.

Week 1, March 1990

2010-03-17T22:39:00.001-05:00

With a week left before the “Uncensored” pay-per-view, the NWA is a whirl of activities and hot storylines. There’s great things, like the signing of Rowdy Roddy Piper and the successful Worldwide feud of The Hart Foundation against the Four Horsemen, and then there’s a few bad things, like losing their contract with ITV, which broadcasted WCW Saturday Night in the United Kingdom and the slacking ratings of the WCW shows altogether. It’s this last issue that is causing head booker, Greg Moe, the most headaches. After this weeks shows, Ted Turner called a meeting of Greg Moe, Jim Cornette, Jack Lanza and Dory Funk Jr. The subject and meat of that meeting is posted on this page at the bottom, following the posting of the shows.

NWA Worldwide: Decatur Civic Center (Great Lakes) 5,000 Sell Out “B+”

The show opened with a in ring argument between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Horsemen Tully Blanchard. The argument started when Blanchard came out and interrupted Piper who was doing a general fan greeting with the 5,000 fans of Decatur Illinois. During the altercation, many insults were passed back and fourth, and ended when Tully Blanchard shoved Piper, who then came back with a quick poke in the eye of Blanchard with his thumb, which caused Blanchard to roll around on the canvas in agonizing pain. They were booked in a match for later on tonight.

1. Hart Foundation (Dynamite Kid & Jim Neidhart) drew with the Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles “C+”
This really should have been a better match. Insiders say that the Road Warriors are still upset about dropping the titles to Dynamite and Neidhart, and this performance may support that. Hawk and Animal seemed to just be going through the motions during this match. There are other rumors going around that Hawk has been popping pain killers by the handful before his matches, and if this is true, this too may be the reason this match didn’t really find it’s grove.

(After returning from commercial, we are in the dressing room of the Four Horsemen. Sitting around in front of their respective lockers, are Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson. The four of them are all getting ready in total silence and you can feel a tinge of tension in the room. Suddenly Ole breaks the silence.)
OLE: “So what’s going on fellas? What’s Luger been doing hanging out with you guys whenever I’m not around?” (Still the other three sit silent.) “Come on Arn, what gives?”
ARN: “Look Ole. You’re my brother, and I love ya, but damn Ole, things just aren’t going real great.”
OLE: “Yeah, I know, but are you telling me that all this crap has been my fault? Come on!” (Suddenly Ric Flair interrupts with a loud furry.)
FLAIR: “You’re damned right it’s your fault!” (Standing now yelling with a face turning red as a beet.) “Where have you been?! Where have you been!? You keep dropping the ball pal! Woooo! It’s you! It’s you!” (Ole looks at Arn, who has his head turned down refusing to look at Ole.)

BLANCHARD: “Ole, here’s what’s going to happen. Tonight, we talked Greg (Moe) into putting you in a match with Bret Hart.” (Ole shakes his head with disgust.) “If you can beat Hart, we’ll reconsider this, but if you don’t beat Hart, and show us something that’s Horsemen quality, you’re out. You’re out of the Horsemen and Lex Luger is in.” (Ole looks at Arn who still has his head down, then looks at Blanchard and Flair with a look of having been betrayed in his eyes, then walks out of the room.)
FLAIR: “You better show me something big man! Woooo! You show me something!”

2. Sting defeated Mike Shaw to retain the NWA North American Title “B”
Mike Shaw put in another great performance while working with the upper level workers of the NWA. He’s doing quite a bit for himself and his chances of someday headlining a show. Sting, of course did his usual great performance.

3. Bret Hart defeated Ole Anderson “B”
Though Ole put up a marvelous fight, he just wasn’t able to beat Bret Hart, who beat him by making Ole submit to the Sharpshooter. Bret held the Sharpshooter on Ole long after he tapped and the camera caught Ole’s face as if he was hoping his Horsemen mates would come out to help, but no Horsemen appeared. After the match, the camera follows Ole Anderson up the ramp, as he walked slowly toward the entrance on his way to the back. He hung his head low, and you could tell he was feeling really hurt and betrayed by the other Horsemen and knew his time with them was now over.

4. Tully Blanchard drew with Roddy Piper to retain the NWA United States Title “B+”

Blanchard and Piper really worked well together. The match was a piece of art, as each man took turns taking the lead, then giving the other a comeback. This went on three or four times throughout the match, and both really played well to the fans. The match ended in a draw when the referee rang the bell after Ric Flair and Bret Hart each did a run in at the end. The fans were standing and cheering the whole match, and Greg Moe now knows he holds this match in his pocket like a card shark holds a hidden ace of spades.

WCW Saturday Night: Hofheinz Pavillion (Mid South) 10,000 Sell Out “B-”

(The show opened with the camera on Jerry “The King” Lawler in the ring talking to the fans about how bad he wants a rematch with Terry Funk at “Uncensored.” The fans applaud seemingly agreeing to the idea and Lawler looked quite pleased with the response. Suddenly from the sound system, Terry Funk’s music plays, and he walks out from the back and right along beside him is the new WCW General Manager, Jim Cornette. The two men walk down the walkway to the ring to a choirs of boos. Lawler seems quite nervous, but puts on a good face acting as brave as a man should be allowed to be. Funk and Cornette climb in the ring, each holding microphones.)
FUNK: “You want what? You have to be out of your little old mind Lawler!” (The fans boos as Funk looks out to the hostile fans with a big, toothy grin.) “Yeah, you’re out of your freaken mind Lawler! I already beat you once, and hell, you’re not even the TV champion anymore.” (Funk once more teases the fans with his huge grin showing the big gap where someone had at one time knocked out one of his front teeth. Lawler looks out at the fans to gather courage.)
LAWLER: “Yeah, it’s true. You beat me last time, and I’m not the TV champ anymore…..but I’ll tell you this Funk. If you climb in the ring with me one more time……I’ll kick your sorry ass!” (Funk’s grin turns to a look of anger as he looks back at Lawler and out to the fans.)
FUNK: “Well hell Lawler, I’m in the ring with you right now. Why don’t you commence to kicking….my…..sorry…..ass!” (With each word, Funk pokes his index finger in Lawler’s chest. Right when Lawler appears to be ready to swing, Jim Cornette holds up his arms and holds the mic to his mouth.)
CORNETTE: “Now hold on there boys! Hold on! Let’s get a grip on this. Lawler, you say you want Terry in the ring, and Terry, you look like you’re more than ready to oblige Lawler, so what do you say we make this a match? (Funk and Lawler both seem like they are agreeable to what Cornette is saying.) “Yes, let’s make this at Uncensored. What do you say, the both of you?” (Funk and Lawler both nod their heads as the fans also seem to agree.) “Alrighty then. At Uncensored, Terry Funk will defend his title against Jerry Lawler.” (Lawler is quick to add.)
LAWLER: “Jerry….The King…..Lawler.” (The fans roar with approval.)

FUNK: “Oh, you want to be The King? Well Lawler, a King wears a crown, so we better crown your ass!” (The fans react to the sight of someone coming out of the fans behind Lawler, and we see that it’s Kevin Sullivan.) “Crown his ass Kevin!” (Funk steps back and before Lawler can turn to face the new threat, Sullivan is on him with a steal chair in hand and hit’s Lawler over the head with it. Lawler drops to the canvas and Sullivan continues to smash the chair on various parts of Lawler’s body. Terry Funk just stands and watches with his big grin that has now returned. Kevin Sullivan does a complete beat down on Lawler leaving him in a pool of his own blood. Funk finally steps forward and leans over the unconscious Lawler.)
FUNK: “See you at Uncensored…… King!” (He laughs like a man who has just escaped a funny farm, as the show goes to commercial.)

1. The Great Muta drew with Jerry Lawler to retain the WCW Television Title “B-”
Jerry Lawler appeared to still be out of it as he waited for Muta to come out and defend the TV Title against him. The Great Muta looked really sure of his chances, but during the match, Jerry Lawler started to gain some momentum, but it didn’t last long as Terry Funk and Kevin Sullivan each came out and picked up their earlier beat down once more. The referee called the match a no contest and a draw and the fans booed like there was no tomorrow as the show went to commercial.)

2. The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes, Garvin & Gordy) defeated Dick Murdoch, Dustin Rhodes & Eddy Guerrero to retain the WCW Six Man Tag Team Titles “C+"
The Fabulous Freebirds finally got a chance to defend their six man titles, and the match wasn’t too bad, but once more, the fans didn’t really get into the match like what was hoped for. In the match, Michael ‘P.S’ Hayes really looked good and put on his usual flamboyant show, really getting under the fans skins, which is what he was shooting for.

3. Super Zenith defeated Kamala the Ugandan Giant “B-”
Super Zenith really performed well once more and the fans really got behind him again, even though he was facing the big, awkward Kamala the Ugandan Giant.

(As Super Zenith reached the locker room after his match, he ran into Cowboy Bob Orton and Stan Hansen sitting there playing a hand of cards. They saw Zenith walk in and they tried to pretend like he wasn’t there or didn’t see him. Zenith walked up to them.)
ZENITH: “Playing cards huh? I like to play cards.” (Hansen and Orton pretend not to hear him.) “I say, I like to play cards too. Care if I sit in?” (Orton and Hansen stand.)
HANSEN: “Uh…..actually, we were just finished playing. We have to get ready for our matches.”
ZENITH: “You didn’t see? You guys aren’t on the sheet tonight. You’re not wrestling tonight.”
ORTON: “Oh, Hansen meant we needed to get ready for next week.”
ZENITH: “Next week? That’s silly. What do you have to do to get ready for next week?” (Hansen and Orton walk out the door and begin to close it.)
ORTON: “Did I say next week? Oh……..(closes the door and the two walk away down the hall.)
HANSEN: “Hurry….go…go!” (The camera returns to Super Zenith.)
ZENITH: “Huh, them boys must have been drinking or something.” (Puts his fingers to his chin in a questioning manor.) “I’ll have to talk to them about mixing drinking with wrestling.”

4. Kevin Sullivan defeated Rick Steiner “B”
Kevin Sullivan and Rick Steiner put on a marvelous match together with Steiner allowing Sullivan to really get over with the fans. Greg Moe asked Steiner to help Kevin out so that he can get over enough so that he can have a bigger role at Uncensored. The fans seem to have really bought into Sullivan’s ability to fight brutally while winning his match.

5. Terry Funk drew with Sid Vicious to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title “B”
In a rare double heel match, Terry Funk defended his title against Sid Vicious. The fans were really happy to get a chance to see these two face each other and the match was a big hit with them. The match was a draw when both men knocked each other out with some hard punches that each man was able to really sell to the fans. They were both counted out with a ten count, as each tried to stand by dragging themselves up using the ropes, but neither was able to beat the count.

Off Camera and after the show:

After the WCW Show completed, Greg Moe called in Jack Lanza, Dory Funk and Jim Cornette, and when each walked into Greg’s office, they were shocked to see Ted Turner himself sitting there at a large meeting table. He explained to them that Greg had expressed to him that the WCW show wasn’t holding up as good as the NWA show was, and Greg felt that something needed to be done. Ted Turner agreed and wanted to call this meeting.

Cornette spoke up and said the problem was that all the best stars were on the NWA show and the WCW lacked the star quality. This appeared to make Greg Moe angry and he replied that there’s nothing stopping the wrestlers on the WCW show from becoming stars themselves, and that’s what he expects from them. He charged Cornette with making it happen, and Ted Turner seemed pleased with Greg’s comments.

Greg also assured them that he thought he was on the verge of signing another top star, and that if he is able to pull the signing off, he is going to put him on the WCW roster right away. Greg said he’s a top heel in the industry and if the baby faces on the WCW roster can’t hold up their end in a feud with him, he was thinking of bringing Sting over from the NWA roster, but doesn’t really want to have to do it, but he promised them he would if it was needed.

They all left the meeting with a new fire under them and at the same time, in the back of their minds, they had a fear that Greg Moe could pull the trigger and get rid of each of them if he wanted to. So, insiders expect a new surge in quality of WCW shows in the near future to compete closer with the NWA shows.

Just one week away!!!

Week 4, February 1990

2010-03-15T15:55:00.006-05:00

This week, not much happened that didn't have a direct impact on the shows, so I don't want to do any "spoilers" here at the top. So, let's get right to the shows, keeping in mind, that to get the full effect and benefit of each show, requires you to read each in their entireties.

NWA Worldwide: American Airlines Arena (South East) 10,000 Sell Out "B+"

The show opens with the camera on Ric Flair in the middle of the ring. He waits for the fans to quite down a tad, and begins to speak into the mic.
FLAIR: "Last week the Hart Foundation attacked me in the bathroom!" (Fans cheer as Flair looks around the arena with a look of disgust.)" Yeah, yeah, that was real brave of them. Well listen up! That's not going to happen,.....ever again! Woooo! What they forgot, is that when you mess with me......you mess with the Four Horsemen! I just want to make that clear. Hell, boys....Arn, Tully, come on out here!"
(The music for the Four Horsemen begins to play and out from the back walk Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and a few steps behind them, Ole Anderson. They all walk to the ring smugly looking at the fans with their noses high in the air holding up four fingers on each hand out in front of them, making sure they show the camera that is walking right along with them. They all climb in the ring and stand behind Flair.)
FLAIR: "Things are a little different now! It's not three on one anymore, unless they think three on one is fair. Is that what is is Hart?" (Flair says as if he's trying to get Bret Hart's attention from the back.) "You think three on one is fair. How bout four on one? How bout that Hitman?! Come on Hitman, come on out here, and leave your boys back there, unless your scared! Come on Bret! Get your ass out here!" Woooo!"
(Ric Flair and the other Horsemen stand in the ring, with big smiles on their faces, knowing that Bret Hart will either have to come out or else look scared to all his fans. There's a long pause as the Four Horsemen and the fans wait to see if Bret Hart will appear from the back. As they wait, the Horsemen look even more sure of themselves, as still no Hart appears. Suddenly, the loud, generous sound of Scottish bagpipes play over the sound system, and fans immediately know what that must mean, and show their excitement and joy by all rising to their feet bellowing and roaring simultaneously. Yes, it's Rowdy Roddy Piper! Piper walks out from the back and stands at the top of the ramp basking in the fans approval. At this same time, the Horsemen look at each other in shock and seem lost in the moment not knowing what to do. They just stand there watching as Roddy Piper walks to the ring and climbs in and holding a mic and a big smile, begins to speak.)
PIPER: (Pointing right at Flair.) "I don't like you!" (The fans all roar once more.) "No, I never liked you!" (Flair steps forward then back, and then does a half assed Ric Flair Strut causing Piper to grin even larger. Then Piper points over Flair's head to the other Horsemen.) "I never liked any of you three stooges either! Nope! Never did!"
FLAIR: "I don't care what you like! I never...." (Piper interrupts Flair.)
PIPER: "Shut your damned mouth Flair!" (Flair whips himself around and swings his arms in anger.) "No Flair, you've done enough talking. Now I'm going to do the talking, and when it comes to talking, I like to talk with my fists!"
(With that Rowdy Roddy Piper cheap shots Flair and Flair does his "Flair flop" straight on his face. Before the other Horsemen could react, from out of the crowd behind them, the Hart Foundation members, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid and Jim Neidhart scramble into the ring and begin their beat down of the surprised Horsemen with Roddy Piper right there with them shoulder to shoulder. Finally Flair and the other Horsemen scamper out of the ring and up the ramp toward the back just as angry as four men could be, while Piper and the Hart Foundation stand in the ring trying to lure them back, with the sell out 10,000 fans almost blowing the roof off. Out from the back of the arena and meeting up with the Horsemen at the top of the ramp, Greg Moe comes out holding a mic.)
GREG MOE: "Ok Piper! Ok! You want to be the man?!? Well....beat the man! Tonight you and Hitman will be taking on Flair and "The Enforcer", Arn Anderson in the main event!" (The fans reach an even new height and almost do blow the roof off.)

1. Lex Luger defeated Sting to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title " B"

The match was won by Luger when Ric Flair came out and distracted the ref long enough for Arn Anderson to sneak in behind Sting and hit him with the ringbell. Luger then did a fist drop and cradled Sting for the 1-2-3.

(After a commercial, the camera is backstage outside a door with the words "Four Horsemen" on it. We see Ole Anderson walking up to the door, and just as he reaches out to grab the doorknob, the door opens, and out walks Lex Luger with a considerable grin on his face. After Luger walks away, Ole walks through the door and sees the other three Horsemen, Flair, Blanchard and his brother Arn, sitting there all with guilty looks on their faces.)
OLE: "What was Luger doing in here? What did he want?" (The three just sit there and look at each other and don't say a thing as the show goes to the next match.)

2. Buzz Sawyer defeats "Stunning" Steve Austin "C-"

Steve Austin got some TV time in what many think is the beginning of Buzz Sawyer's push that Greg Moe has been talking about in a few closed door meetings. Sawyer's got some real talent, and matching him with Austin, though it wasn't great, was just the first move in getting Buzz over with the fans.

(After this match, the camera is on Greg Moe in his office, while he watches the matches on a monitor. Suddenly the lights in the whole arena begin to go on and off, over and over. Greg picks up his phone to call the control truck to find out what's going on. It just rings though, and no one picks it up. Greg gets up muttering to himself calling the production crew idiots and he walks off to see what's going on. The next shot is from inside the production truck, and we see two guys sitting there with hats on with their head down and seemingly working when Greg Moe walks in the door.)
GREG: "What the hell is going on? The whole place is out of control." (The two workers don't answer. Suddenly from behind Greg, the door opens, and in walks Bret Hart. Greg sees him and steps backward and at this same time, the two workers remove their hats and stand up and we can see that it's Dynamite Kid and Jim Neidhart.)
BRET: "Time to pay up for what you did at Souled Out." (The camera zooms in on Greg's face as it is enveloped in fear and shock.)
GREG: "Oh crap." (Just as these words finished coming out from between his lips, the three Hart Foundation members begin their attack on the the stunned general manager as the show goes to commercial.)

3. Hart Foundation (Dynamite Kid & Jim Neidhart) defeated Don Muraco & Mike Shaw to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles "B"

This was a pretty solid match between the four. Muraco and Shaw really did a fine job and proved themselves worthy of bigger and better matchups down the road.

4. Roddy Piper & Bret Hart defeated "Four Horsemen" Ric Flair & Arn Anderson "A"

Just a fantastic match put in by these four workers. Greg Moe really couldn't expect much better, and Piper's performance was even better than what he had hoped for. During the match, referees and security guards had to hold back Tully Blanchard preventing him from getting involved. The match was one of the best the NWA has put on up to this point. The fans were thrilled beyond belief.

WCW Saturday Night: Hofstra Arena (Tri State) 5,000 Sell Out "B"

1. Super Zenith defeated Ivan Koloff "B-"

This match was won by Super Zenith when The Great Muta ran in and in a desperate attempt to help Koloff, he accidentally hit Koloff in the eyes with his famous green mist which he is somehow able to summon in times of trouble. This time he blinded Koloff, allowing Super Zenith the chance to do a quick roll-up and secure the win.

(After a commercial, we come back and find the camera on Jerry Lawler, Stan Hansen and Cowboy Bob Orton in the locker room, getting ready for their matches tonight. In walks Super Zenith returning from just beating Ivan Koloff.)
ZENITH: "See, that's the way you do it gentlemen. Quick and easy. If any of you have any problems tonight, you know who to call." (Hansen, Lawler and Orton just sit there dumbfounded. Now, after a big pause.) "You call me. You call me. Super Zenith!" (Zenith grabs a towel and heads off to the shower.)
HANSEN: (Talking to Lawler and Orton after Zenith has left the room.) "You know who that is don't you?"
ORTON: "Of course I do! What, you think I'm a idiot?"
LAWLER: "Come on! Of course!"
(They all sit there another few seconds.)
HANSEN: "Come on, let's go look!"
(They all get up and head for the showers to try to prove who Super Zenith is. When they get there, the camera shows Super Zenith in the shower behind a waist high dividing wall, supposedly naked, except for his mask, which he is lathering up with soap as if it were a full head of hair. The camera then turns to see Hansen, Lawler and Orton standing there with there jaws dropped once more wide open.)

2. Bam Bam Bigelow & The Great Muta defeated Dustin Rhodes & Eddy Guerrero "D"

The fans weren't thrilled in this match, but it was an attempt to get Bigelow and Muta over on the show.

(After the commercial break, we come back to see Stan Hansen standing in front of Jim Cornette's desk while Jim Cornette is leaning back in his chair.)
CORNETTE: "So you see Hansen, if you don't start falling in line with me and my boys, I won't fire you. No. I'll fire your good buddy Bob Orton....Is that what you want? You want to cost Orton his job?"
(Hansen just stands there and doesn't answer, then after a pause, he turns and walks out the door. The camera is on Cornette, who looks extremely pleased with himself.)
CORNETTE: (Calling after Hansen who is just closing the door.) "You think about that Hansen!"

3. The Texas Cowboys (Stan Hansen & Bob Orton) defeated Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed) to retain the WCW World Tag Team Titles "C+"

Fairly good match with Simmons and Reed agreeing to help put The Texas Cowboys over.

(The camera now finds managers Paul E Dangerously and Captain Lou Albano standing and talking in the back hall. The camera is able to over hear them a bit.)
DANGEROUSLY: "What makes Greg Moe think that Cornette can be the general manager?"
ALBANO: "I know, it's ridiculous!"
DANGEROUSLY: "Well, we've got to do something, and I mean right away!" (The both nod and turn and walk away when they see the camera on them.)

4. Sid Vicious defeated Mark Callous to retain the WCW United States Title "B"

This was a great match between these two big man. It was nice to see Mark Callous work right along with Sid on every level. This has to be good news for Greg Moe.

(The camera hurriedly catches the scene of The Great Muta and Ivan Koloff in the back hall punching and stomping Super Zenith. They are brutally beating him when Zenith reaches out and grabs a chain that appears to be hanging from the ceiling. He grabs it to try to help himself up, only when he pulls on it, it causes five stacks of folding chairs to fall from an overhead storage area and they fall right on top of Muta and Koloff knocking them out on the floor. This caused a huge crashing sound that caused many wrestlers who were backstage to come running to see what caused the loud noise. Three of the wrestlers were Hansen, Orton and Lawler, and when they got to the scene, Super Zenith was already standing over the two knocked out wrestlers. Zenith saw that everybody had come to see what had happened, and saw Hansen, Lawler and Orton's surprised faces.)
ZENITH: (Slapping his hands together dusting them off.) "And don't ever try this again, or you'll get more of the same!" (Zenith walks off with all the other wrestlers standing there with a look of sheer amazement.)

5. Jerry Lawler & Junkyard Dog drew with Terry Funk & Kevin Sullivan "B-"

Not the greatest match of all time, but the fans were really happy to see Lawler and Sullivan in the ring together again, giving Greg Moe the good feeling of knowing he can milk these two a bit more, and Lawler's pop when taking on Funk was just about as good.

Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons)

Helped put over The Texas Cowboys Tonight

Sting addresses the fans before his match with Lex Luger

Coming in two weeks!!

Week 3, February 1990

2010-03-13T00:40:00.004-06:00

Again, this is an exciting time in the NWA with the huge success of "Souled Out" and the many on screen and off screen events. Greg Moe has really dug in his heals now and the storylines are about to flow like melted butter. There was one negative event this week as The Iron Sheik walked out on the NWA, saying he was fed up of not getting booked in most of the NWA or WCW shows and when he did appear, he jobbed out to everyone. This however wasn't a huge deal for Greg as he was pretty fed up with the backstage stunts Sheik was pulling anyway. Everyone of the boys were pretty glad to see him go.

Let's get to the shows now, as there's lots to cover. Be sure to read these shows closely, cause there are a few embedded storylines written in among the match results. Make sure you don't miss any, cause things are just starting to heat up!

NWA Worldwide: Walter A Brown Arena (New England) 5,000 Sell Out "B-"

The show opened with Ric Flair and Lex Luger in the ring. They are standing there each holding a microphone and waiting for the boo's and jeer's to ease up before they begin to speak.
FLAIR: "Woooooo!" (He does the Ric Flair strut.) "Listen up! I want you to look at this man standing right here." (Points at Luger.) "I want you to give this man the credit he deserves! Wooooo! This is the man who took that punk, Bret Hart down at Souled Out. This is the N-W-A Champion! (The fans eager to give their disapproval by booing so loud the arena vibrated with a deep undertone.) "Shut up! Shut your mouths! Give this man credit damn it!" (Luger jerks his head around to face the loudest section of fans and waves his arms and points at a fat man in the front row.)

LUGER: "You people don't know a good thing when it hits you over the head." (He and Flair smirk at each other thinking back to Souled Out, when Flair hit Bret Hart over the head with a chair to help Luger secure the win and the title.) "You people don't know what a true champion looks like!" (Flair interrupts.)
FLAIR: "This is a real Champion! Woooooo!"
(Suddenly Bret Hart's music pierces the fan's earsplitting displeasure of Flair and Luger and Bret and his close friend Sting come out from the back and start their walk to the ring. This is just what the fans were hoping for and they gave their complete, thunderous blessing to the situation. Bret Hart and Sting climb through the ropes holding their own set of mics, as Flair and Luger give retreat to the farthest set of ropes. )

BRET: (Bret points at Luger and more directly to the NWA Belt around Luger's waist.) "Luger! Luger, you have my belt and I want it back!" (The fans explode once more with thunderous cheers as Luger shakes his head with an exaggerated motion.) "If you're supposed to look like what a real champion looks like, then it's no wonder Flair used to be champion, cause you both look like jackasses!" (Once more the fans erupt. Flair takes a step toward Hart only to retreat when Sting takes a step forward. Lex Luger turns and furiously kicks the bottom rope.)

(Suddenly on the huge video screen over the wrestler's entrance area at the top of the ramp appears the large face of NWA General Manager, Greg Moe, and the four men in the ring turn to face the cocky image of the NWA General Manager.)

GREG: "Hold on there gentlemen! Before you four do something you'll be sorry for, let me give you a bit of information. Bret, that's not your belt anymore, that's Lex Luger's. You lost that title fair and square at Souled Out." (Flair and Luger flash a smile of agreement while Hart and Sting look at the screen with hatred.) "That's right. You lost that title, fair - and - square, and Lex Luger is now the champion and there's nothing you're going to be able to do about it." (Long pause.) "Do you hear me!" (Not waiting for an answer.) "But here's what's going to happen tonight..... I'm going to give you a chance for some redemption..... Yes, tonight you and your buddy there, Sting, are going to face Flair and Luger in a match in the main event!" (Now Flair and Luger trade expressions with Hart and Sting as the fans reach an even higher level of approval that was thought impossible as the show goes to commercial.)

1. Tully Blanchard defeats Mitsuhara Misawa to retain the NWA United States Title "C+"

This was the second disappointing match Misawa gave while on trade with All Japan. As soon as Misawa came through the curtain to the back, Greg Moe sent him back off to All Japan hardly giving him time to pack his bags.

2. Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) defeated Taylor Made (Dave Taylor & Scott Taylor) "C-"

Greg gives the Road Warriors a rebound victory after putting Dynamite Kid and Jim Neidhart over at Souled Out, and also giving Dave and Scott Taylor some TV time.

(After the camera follows Hawk and Animal back up the ramp to the back, the camera suddenly shifts to a shot of Ric Flair in the locker room bathroom. It catches him coming out of the middle stall of three, and he walks up to the sink and begins to wash his hands. Suddenly Bret Hart walks in the bathroom door and he flashes a huge smile as he catches Flair as he turns to exit the room. Flair begins to back up and beg off to Hart.)
FLAIR: "Hold on there Hitman. You don't want to do this."

(As Flair backs up, suddenly both doors of the two stalls on either side of the one Flair came out of open and out steps Jim Neidhart and Dynamite Kid.... Flair sees them and drops to his knees as Bret walks up to him and grabs Flair's out stretched hand that he extends to beg Bret off with. With the precision of a Swiss watch, Bret, Jim Neidhart and the Dynamite Kid begin to punch and stomp Flair down onto the bathroom floor. At some point in the beating, Flair managed to juice himself and blood streamed from his scalp and pooled up on the white, tiled floor as the segment went again to commercial.)

3. Fatu, Samu & Don Muraco defeated Flyin' Brian, Stunning Steve Austin and Tommy Rich to retain the NWA World Six Man Tag Team Titles "D"

This match was a mess and only got worse when Tommy Rich got injured by cracking his sternum on the turnbuckle off a powerful Irish whip by Muraco.

4. Paul Orndorff defeated Ole Anderson "D+"

It's hard to say what happened in this match. There just never seemed to be a time when the match flowed at all. It looked like Ole Anderson was completely lost in the match and totally uninterested through the whole thing. Insiders say that while watching the match, Greg Moe was heard muttering to himself backstage and then seemed to snap into a state of joy with a hidden idea that overtook his devious mind.

5. Rick Flair & Lex Luger drew with Bret Hart & Sting "B"

The four men put on a excellent match that the fans really bought into. It ended in a "no decision" draw when the referee lost control of the match when Jim Neidhart, Dynamite Kid, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard all became involved. This was the perfect match to follow up on the Souled Out PPV, keeping the fans enthralled with this storyline.

WCW Saturday Night: Missouri State Armory (Mid West) 5,000 Sell Out "B+"

The show opens with the camera showing an office backstage with Greg Moe sitting behind a desk, and standing in front of him is a room full of workers existing of The Great Muta, Ivan Koloff, Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane, Dennis Condrey and in the front of the group, Jim E. Cornette, who is holding his famous tennis racket and is listening intensely to the NWA President and Worldwide GM, Greg Moe.
GREG: "Ok, listen Cornette. This is your chance. Probably the biggest opportunity you'll ever have in your life. As you know, I'm giving you the position of general manager of the WCW and WCW Saturday Night." (Cornette boyishly grins.) "Don't mess this up now. Oh, and one more thing in case you were wondering, I'm bringing Muta and Koloff here over from the NWA roster to help you keep control of this show. I don't want any screw ups! I mean it!"

CORNETTE: "Don't you worry, don't you worry! I've got this in the bag Mr. Moe. I'm going to run the show with an iron hand. Don't you worry!" (Muta and Koloff look at each other and roll their eyes.) "I'll have this show rolling like my dear, chubby, Mother on a steep hilltop." (Now Greg rolls his eyes.)
GREG: "Just look." If you have any problems with these guys out there, just turn to Muta and Ivan, and have them take care of it."
(Before the show goes to commercial, we catch a shot of Paul Dangerously standing outside the office where this is all taking place, and as he turns to walk away, we here him mutter.)
DANGEROUSLY: "General Manager my ass."

1. Terry Funk defeats Rick Steiner to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title "B-"

Wasn't the match it should have been. Though Funk and Steiner did a great job working together, the fans just didn't seem to buy into Steiner getting a title shot, which is quite understandable. Greg was just hoping for a great pop from the fans on this one, but it never really happened.

(After coming back from commercial, the camera is on Stan Hansen, Bob Orton and Jerry Lawler backstage in the locker room sitting and talking about what they thought was going to happen now with Cornette in charge. They knew things wouldn't be good for them as Cornette fell right in line with Greg Moe's underhanded tactics.... Suddenly, as the three of them sat talking, in walked a masked man with a gripping blue cape and matching boots.... He walked up to the three men sitting there.)

MASKED MAN: "I couldn't help but overhear the three of you talking, and I want to assure you that you have nothing to worry about." (Hansen, Orton and Lawler glanced at each other with puzzled looks.) "You don't have anything to fear from Cornette and his group of thugs." (The three men sit silent with looks of complete confusion. After a big pause the masked man continued.) "Don't you want to know why you have nothing to fear?" (Again the three remain silent.) "Well, I'll tell you. You have nothing to fear cause Super Zenith is here! Super Zenith will rule the day!" (The masked man flips his cape over his head and vanishes off screen. The camera is left on the three men sitting there with their jaws wide open and just staring to where the masked man had been standing.)

2. The Texas Cowboys (Stan Hansen & Cowboy Bob Orton) drew with Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) to retain the WCW World Tag Team Titles "B"

This was another great match between these four. It ended in a draw when Dick Murdoch and Dennis Condrey became involved and James E. Cornette sent the whole thing into a massive mess.

3. Super Zenith defeated Dennis Condrey "B-"

This was the first match of the new super hero like, masked figure, Super Zenith. He and Condrey did a decent job with Super Zenith looking great, and he got a huge response from the fans.

(Diary Note: I'm not going to tell you who Super Zenith is right now. If you've been following the WCW the last two months, you should be able to guess who Super Zenith is after you notice the absence of one of the shows upper mid-carders after a while. I'd be interested if anyone can guess either here on this website, or in my diary thread in the GD forums just who you think Super Zenith is. If someone can guess him, I'll be happy to give you absolutely nothing! Now who can't use that?)

4. The Great Muta defeated Jerry Lawler for the WCW Television Title "B+"

Though he was upset, Jerry Lawler agreed to drop his WCW TV title to The Great Muta in this match. Greg Moe was sorry to see Lawler upset, but promised Lawler bigger and better things and explained to Lawler that he needed to drop the title to build incoming heat for Muta, along with Cornette and Koloff. Muta won this match when Koloff interfered in the match allowing Muta to get the pin and win the title.

Souled Out 1990

2010-03-10T01:51:00.006-06:00

The NWA/WCW's "Souled Out" pay-per-view was a huge success played out in front of 33,302 fans inside the Astrodome. The show received a 1.28 buy rate and was rated as an "A" show by "Pro Wrestling Weekly " magazine.

Based on last Friday's "NWA Worldwide" show, the main event sounded like it was going to be a match between NWA World Heavyweight Champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart and the General Manager, Greg Moe, who on Worldwide took Hart's NWA North American Title by force with help from the Horsemen and Road Warriors and said he would take Hart's NWA World Championship at "Souled Out" himself.

The Show opened with Greg Moe in the ring and with him calling out Bret Hart to meet him in the ring. As Greg waited, Bret Hart's music suddenly blasted above the huge crowd noise that only got louder when Bret walked out from the back and started down the long ramp to the ring. Once in the ring, to the crowds approval, Bret Hart walked straight up to Greg and shouted right in Greg's face.

Bret: "If you want to do this, let's do this right now!"

Greg backing up a few steps.

Greg: "Now hold on Bret, we have plenty of time to settle this disagreement between us. I just want to take a few minutes to get something through your thick scull."

Again, Bret gets closer to Greg.

Greg: "Now I know I told you on Worldwide that I was going to take your North American title, and I did."

Bret: "That's right, you did!"

Fans boo so loud it's deafening. Then the boos turn to thunderous cheers as Bret gets nose to nose with Greg again.

Greg: "Now hold on Bret. I gave you a choice, remember? It's not my fault you didn't listen."

Bret takes a step back and looks out to the crowd, first left, then right as the fans try to urge Bret on to take a swing and Greg.

Greg: "I also told you that at Souled Out, I would take your World Heavyweight Belt from you too, and I think I may have said, myself."

Again the fans boo and jeer as Bret let's a look of antipathy permeate his face then a short smile as he listens to the fans reaction.

Greg: "Yeah, well, here's the problem Bret.....I lied. I've decided that I really don't need to do this myself when......"

Suddenly from out of the crowd jumps WCW's Lex Luger and before Bret could even catch a glimpse of him, Luger was in the ring behind Bret and laid Bret out with a massive forearm shot to the back of Bret's head putting him down in the ring. Lex Luger, who the fans were counting on to take down the powerful Sid Vicious tonight, began to stomp Bret over and over and over again, down into the ring. Greg with a look of evil lust on his face, began shouting at "The Hitman."

Greg: "See Bret, I don't have to take that title away from you! No! No! He's going to take your title! (Pointing at Luger as he continued to stomp Bret), Not me! No, tonight Lex Luger is going to take your title and maybe your lousy career!"

So, there it was, Bret Hart thought he was going to have an easy night of it stomping the crap out of Greg Moe, only to find out he would be defending his title against the man the fans used to love so much in the WCW. The man that once took down the evil Terry Funk, for the WCW World title. The man that fans thought could do no wrong, only now here he was stomping the most loved wrestler in the business, Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

NWA/WCW "Souled Out"

Pre-Show: American Starship (Scott Hall & Dan Spivey) defeated the Hollywood Blondes (Flyin' Brian & Steve Austin) "B-"

These two teams put on one hell of a match, trying the best the could to prove that they should have been on the main show.

Pre-Show: Don Muraco & Ivan Koloff defeated Mike Rotundo & Mark Callous "C"

It was really too bad that none of these four guys made it to the main show. All were deserving and I'm sure will be there again in the future. There just wasn't room this time around.

1. Sting defeated Ric Flair for the NWA North American Title "B"

Strangely enough, there were no run ins by any Horsemen in this match as I think Greg wanted to see these two in a clean match so the fans could enjoy watching the talent of these two great workers.

2. Hart Foundation (Dynamite Kid & Jim Neidhart) defeated the Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) for the NWA Tag Team Titles "C+"

The Road Warriors were finally beaten, but I'd expect these two teams to go back and fourth for quite some time. Hawk and Animal will be back. Their just too good to not carry the titles for very long.

3. Kevin Sullivan defeated Dick Murdoch "B"

This match came out of a request to Greg from Kevin Sullivan. He and Murdoch go way back and the two work together really well. Greg was quite pleased and you have to believe Sullivan's stock went up in Greg's eyes.

4. Steve Williams defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to retain the NWA Television Title "B-"

This was probably the last time we'll see Bigelow job for another worker. He has been promised a big push in the up coming month.

5. Sid Vicious defeated Junkyard Dog to retain the WCW United States Title "B"

You have to wonder if Sid was upset with this match since it was setup with such a short notice, with fans expecting Sid to be taking on Lex Luger tonight. However, Junkyard Dog did a great job and saved the match between the two big men.

6. "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner defeated the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael 'P.S.' Hayes and Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin) "B-"

Eddie Gilbert given a big win here with Steiner over the ever flamboyant Freebirds. Terry Gordy comes back tomorrow, so the Freebirds can defend their Six Man Titles.

7. Arn Anderson drew with The Great Muta "B"

These two can really put on a clinic when it comes to wrestling. They went all out the whole match and the fans say they could have stolen the show had it not been for the main event yet to come.

8. The Texas Cowboys ("Cowboy" Bob Orton & Stan Hansen) defeated Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) for the WCW World Tag Team Titles "B"

Just a fantastic match as the new Texas Cowboys beat James E Cornette's Midnight Express. The two teams work really well together. Look for a return match soon.

9. Tully Blanchard defeated Paul Orndorff to retain the NWA United States Title "B"

Tully Blanchard can just plain wrestle. You have to think it won't be long before he wins a Worlds title, and Paul Orndorff showed he can hold down a near main event match. Great news all around!

10. Terry Funk defeated Jerry "The King" Lawler to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title "B"

This match was golden. Funk and Lawler are great together, and you can bet on two or three more of these works of art.

11. Lex Luger defeated Bret "The Hitman" Hart for the NWA World Heavyweight Title "A"

During this match, that lasted for over 30 minutes, the fans were on their feet screaming, shouting and cheering the whole way through. Hart and Luger did a fantastic job together and the match ended when Greg Moe came out to the ringside area and distracted the referee just long enough for Ric Flair to run in and hit Hart over the head with a chair as Hart had Luger in the Sharpshooter just seconds away from getting the tap out. Hart went down and out and Luger managed to crawl and lay an arm on top of Bret to get the 1-2-3!

Sting and Ric Flair face off for the NWA North American Title

Lex Luger poses in the ring before his match with "The Hitman"

Terry Funk readies himself for Jerry Lawler in the ring

The Great Muta is hungry for Arn Anderson

Week 2, February 1990

2010-03-09T12:03:00.004-06:00

The second week of February finished up and coming up this weekend is the pay-per-view "Souled Out." Spirits are high all across the promotion as Greg Moe was able to get both TV shows renewed for another two seasons at even better terms for both shows with TBS.

The only real internal news this week was Greg calling in Bret Hart and telling him he needed Hart to drop his NWA North American Title since he was now the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Bret tried to tell Greg he could carry both belts and do a good job playing off that, but Greg persisted, and in the end, Bret agreed and suggested a good angle to make it appear more interesting than just having him vacate the title. Greg liked the idea and agreed to make it happen this week before "Souled Out."

NWA Worldwide: Alumni Hall, NY (Tri State) 5,000 Fans "B"

To open the show, Greg Moe came out to the ring and called Bret Hart to come out and meet him. Bret's music blared and out came Bret Hart to the roar of the fans. With both men in the ring, Greg told Bret that he wanted his NWA North American belt saying he couldn't hold both that belt and his NWA World Heavyweight Belt. Bret told Greg to go to hell and that he was going to keep it. So Greg told him to give him the World Championship belt instead, and again Bret told Greg to "Go to hell." Well, this made Greg very angry and started to scream at Bret and got into his face only to have Bret shove Greg back with a hard push that sent him sailing backward against the ropes. Greg started to come back at Hart, but stopped, and a big toothy grin came across his face. He looked at Bret and told him that if Bret isn't going to give him the North American belt, then he'd take it from him, only to do that he would make Bret wrestle tonight against an opponent for the title. When Bret asked who he would face, Greg smiled and said........"The Road Warriors."

1. Mitsuharu Misawa defeated The Iron Sheik "D"

Misawa was brought over in a talent trade with All Japan and Greg was hoping to give him a big push so he could have a big match at "Souled Out," but his match with The Iron Sheik was a big disappointment. He claimed that The Iron Sheik wouldn't work with him and that the Sheik purposely ruined his match by missing all his high spots. Greg knows he was probably telling the truth as the Sheik has been causing quite a bit of problems lately and more than likely is on his way out very soon.

2. Horsemen Flair & The Enforcer (Ric Flair & Arn Anderson) defeated the Hollywood Blondes (Flyin' Brian & Stunning Steve Austin) "B"

3. The Great Muta defeated Tommy Rich "C+"

Giving Muta a win here hoping to have him ready for the PPV in case he is needed. The match was ok, but Greg was somewhat disappointed in Tommy Rich's performance. This was a setback for Rich.

4. Dynamite Kid & Jim Neidhart defeated The Wild Samoans "B-"

Dynamite and Neidhart looked pretty good together and plans are for them to face the Road Warriors at "Souled Out" this weekend. Fatu & Samu aren't the greatest of workers, but Dynamite and Neidhart managed to carry them through this match, so Greg was pretty pleased with what they could do with Hawk and Animal.

5. Bret Hart drew with the Road Warriors "B"

This was the match to make Bret Hart's dropping of the North American Title seem more realistic. However, having the NWA's Champion lose right before "Souled Out" just wouldn't do, so the match was declared a draw after all four members of the Horsemen and the other two Hart Foundation members all came out and a huge brawl began. The Horsemen and Road Warriors managed to beat down all the Hart Foundation members and Greg Moe came out and grabbed the North American belt and stood with it over a beaten down Bret Hart and screamed at Bret telling him that this is his NWA and that he should have done what Greg wanted. He also told the bloodied Hart that because he wouldn't do what he said, he would take his World Title from him also and that he would do it himself at "Souled Out." The Horsemen and Road Warriors looked at each other as if they were shocked at what Greg was saying. "He's lost his mind!"

WCW Saturday Night: Ed Annen Sports Complex (Great Lakes) 5,000 Fans "B"

1. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious & Dan Spivey) drew with The Texas Cowboys (Cowboy Bob Orton & Stan Hansen) "B-"

Pretty solid match between some pretty decent workers, however at times, Dan Spivey appears lost in the ring. Greg's trying to give him a push, but it's beginning to look like that may be a lost effort. The Texas Cowboys are set now to face the Midnight Express at "Souled Out."

2. Jerry Lawler defeated The Dragonmaster to retain the WCW Television Title "B-"

Kevin Sullivan did a run in during the match building heat between Sullivan and Lawler though it now appears it will be Lawler facing Terry Funk at "Souled Out."

3. Junkyard Dog defeated Kamala the Ugandan Giant "C+"

Nice match between these two big men. Junkyard Dog is now ready for a spot at the PPV.

4. Bam Bam Bigelow defeated "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert "C+"

Not as good a match as was hoped for, but it was ok. Greg is really needing Bigelow to build some heat on the show to go up against the face heavy WCW roster.

5. Lex Luger defeated Michael 'P.S.' Hayes "B"

After this match was over, Sid Vicious came out and really did a masterful beat down on Lex Luger. Luger really sold it. The fans really got behind it and this sets up perfectly a match between the two at "Souled Out."

Is Lex Luger ready to go up against the powerful Sid Vicious?

This Sunday Night

Week 1, February 1990

2010-03-08T14:04:00.002-06:00

It was a shocking time in the NWA this week as the end of the month books were examined and it was discovered that for the first time since Greg Moe took over the booking of the promotion, the company lost money. The NWA lost just over $141,000 in January. This was mainly due to Greg directing the marketing and production departments to raise the level in marketing, merchandising and production. It was decided to give the current levels another month to see if a profit level could be reached again. Ted Turner isn't too worried since Greg has made him over $3 million since September of 1989, just five months.

Another exciting bit of news was that after several times before, Stan Hansen agreed to sign a one year pay per performance contract of $3,000. Stan is a really talented brawler and is really big all over the world, but huge in Japan. It is Greg's idea to send him to the WCW brand and team him up with "Cowboy" Bob Orton and make them a team called "The Texas Cowboys."

NWA Worldwide: Kaiser Convention Center (South West) in Front of 5,000 Fans "B"

1. Ric Flair defeated Stan Hansen "B"

Stan Hansen made one appearance on Worldwide after Ric Flair suggested that he could do more than any other wrestler to get Stan over to start off his run here in the NWA. Greg agreed and the match did come off really well and Stan did indeed look really good going up against the Four Horsemen and their dirty tactics.

2. Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) defeated Flyin' Brian and Tommy Rich to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles "C"

This was just a match to keep the Road Warriors in the public eye and to make them look as strong as they can be. Greg was really pleased once more with Tommy Rich however, and may have plans for a push for him some where down the line.

3. Steve Williams defeated Buzz Sawyer to retain the NWA Television Title "C+"

This match was held to start the feud between Buzz Sawyer and Dynamite Kid, as Dynamite ran in an interfered with Buzz causing him to lose a chance at the TV Title. It went over OK, but fans were left wondering why Dynamite had a problem with Buzz just out of the blue.

4. Bret Hart & Dynamite Kid drew with The Brainbusters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson) "A"

This was an absolute gem of a match with the fans standing and cheering the whole time through. After the match, both Bret and Dynamite told Greg they really didn't work well together and thought it was a bad idea to team them, though Dynamite thanked Greg for his chance in the Hart Foundation. Greg said to wait till next week, and see how he and Jim Neidhart worked together.

WCW Saturday Night: Hofheinz Pavillion (Mid South) in front of 10,000 fans. "B"

1. "Cowboy" Bob Orton & Stan Hansen defeated Cactus Jack & Bam Bam Bigelow "B+"

This was Greg's chance to see his dream child, "The Texas Cowboys" work together for the first time. They took on two solid performers in Cactus Jack and Bam Bam Bigelow and the match was fantastic. Orton and Hansen worked very well together and Greg couldn't have been more thrilled.

2. The Funk Brothers (Dory & Terry) defeated Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) "B"

Dory Funk Jr made a rare appearance in front of the camera here in this WCW Tag Title match, but the Funk's won by DQ after Dennis Condrey, the third "Midnight Express" member interfere in the match. Greg has been a good friend to Dory for years and when Dory signed on as a road agent, Greg promised him a match here and there with his brother Terry just to keep him in the public eye. The two brothers really work well together.

3. Paul Orndorff defeated Ron Bass "C+"

Another attempt to push Paul Orndorff here in the WCW show. The match was pretty solid and Ron Bass did pretty well selling to Paul throughout the match.

4. Jerry Lawler defeated Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin to retain the WCW Television Title "B-"

Kevin Sullivan had a run in during this match and hit Jimmy Garvin by mistake with a chair giving Lawler the easy win. Greg still has plans for a Lawler and Sullivan rematch at "Souled Out," the next PPV.

5. Lex Luger drew with Sid Vicious and Sid retained the WCW United States Title "B-"

This was the first one on one between these two powerful wrestlers and though it was a good match, neither guy was willing to do much selling for the other. Greg's not sure if it was a talent deal or a ego problem the two had. It's no secret Lex Luger thinks he's the greatest thing to ever strap on a boot, and though it's never really been a problem before, Greg has to wonder if it showed in this match. However, Sid didn't really help the matter.

Greg Moe was given an old picture of Hulk Hogan and Brutus the Barber this week and Greg leaked it to the press. It was clearly an attempt by Greg to show one of the WWF's biggest stars looking more like a "sissy boy" than a wrestling champion. The picture does look really strange and this was one of Greg's first swipes at the WWF now that the NWA is going head to head with them. People have to wonder what these two were thinking.

Week 4, January 1990

2010-03-07T16:33:00.000-06:00

After this weeks shows were complete, Greg Moe was rewarded with some assumed good news, and that is that he was finally able to sign the Dynamite Kid. Greg was able to lock him into a two year deal paying him just $3,500 per month. The Kid is a very talented wrestler, and was immediately assigned to the NWA Worldwide brand an put in the Hart Foundation's stable along with Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. The brand was in dire need of another talented face wrestler to go up against the Four Horsemen.

In other news, television networks will start talking to wrestling promotions about extending old shows and maybe making new ones in just one more day. Greg Moe is hoping to land a new show on the Ted Turner owned TNT, to go along with his two shows on TBS and the ITV network. If he can land a third show, it would be a cross brand show with wrestlers from both the Worldwide and Saturday Night shows. Greg thinks he has a good chance since the promotion has moved to international size. Greg would also like to have one of his shows shown in the UK on a regular bases, cause as of now, the UK only gets to see their PPVs. If the NWA is to go global, they have to be seen in the UK and Canada and maybe Japan or Mexico.

To the shows.

NWA Worldwide: Held at Club La Vela in front of 9,404.

1. Arn Anderson defeated Sting "B"
This match was won by Arn after Tully Blanchard tripped Sting on the ring apron giving Arn the pin. This match saw more Horsemen outside interference which has become their trademark. Greg is trying to give Arn Anderson a bit of a push so he can have a bigger role in the Horsemen feuds. Sting was happy to help Arn out.

2. Iron Sheik & Abdullah the Butcher defeated the Hollywood Blondes (Flyin' Brian & Stunning Steve Austin) "D+"

This match wasn't the best and was meant mostly to get these four on TV since they have had little chance to be on TV before. It could have been a lot worse.

3. The Wild Samoans (Fatu & Samu) & Don Muroco defeated Z-Man, Tommy Rich & Jerry Lynn to retain the NWA World Six Man Tag Titles "D"

Again, this match was to give some TV time to some of the wrestlers who have been missing out. That's what the Six Man Tag Belts were designed for. Jerry Lynn is a fantastic talent and Greg has some high hopes for him.

4. Tully Blanchard defeated Mike Rotundo to retain the NWA United States Title "B"

Typical Horsemen play here again as Ole Anderson helped Blanchard defeat Rotundo. This match proved to Greg Moe that Rotundo can be a good singles wrestler now as well into the future.

5. Bret Hart defeated Ivan Koloff in a non-title match. "B+"

This was a solid match between the young Bret Hart and the older Ivan Koloff. It went over quite well and Koloff showed Greg that he can be another major player in the promotion. We'd expect Koloff to have a third match with Steve Williams for the television title soon, and maybe on the upcoming PPV, "Souled Out."

During Worldwide, most the angles were designed to draw heat between the Horsemen and the Hart Foundation with a tad more going toward Sting and Ric Flair.

WCW Saturday Night: Held at Alumni Hall, NY in front of 5,000 Fans

1. Jerry Lawler defeated Butch Reed to retain the WCW Television Title "B-"

Butch Reed's performance was a nice surprise for Greg and will help him in his handling of the WCW. Reed would make a good opponent for the TV Title and maybe the US Title in the WCW.

2. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious & Dan Spivey) defeated Dustin Rhodes & Eddy Guerrero "C"

This was the first television appearance of both Eddy and Dustin, and both did a really nice job selling to Vicious and Spivey. They just might see more action on the televised matches helping get over some of the other heels on the show, or might even get small pushes themselves later on. The fans seem to really root for them.

3. Paul Orndorff defeated Cactus Jack "C+"

Not a bad match and is the beginning of an attempt to get Orndorff over as a babyface. Cactus Jack was happy to work with Orndorff and Greg promised Cactus that he would be rewarded with a push of his own a bit later.

4. Junkyard Dog defeated Dick Slater "B-"

Greg is trying to get Junkyard Dog a little more momentum heading toward "Souled Out." Dog has a decent feud going with Kevin Sullivan, but Greg's not sure if that's what he wants for Dog. Dog has been a great company man helping get the upper tiered heels over, but has asked Greg to give him a little more of a push of his own, and Greg agreed.

5. Kevin Sullivan defeated Lex Luger "B"

This was a major work for Lex Luger, agreeing to lose to Kevin Sullivan at this time. However, with Luger being over as good as he is, a loss to Sullivan didn't really hurt his momentum much, and Sullivan really needed this push. This just shows how big a team player Luger is for the company.

After the main event, as Luger lay out in the ring, Terry Funk came out and continued beating down Luger and he and Sullivan really laid some boots to Luger in the ring before Jerry Lawler ran out and made the save, and the fans gave a major pop to Lawler's appearance. There's a lot of heat now between Luger, Lawler, Sullivan and Funk, giving Greg a lot of options heading into "Souled Out" in a couple more weeks.

Teddy Long's tag team,
the "Skyscrapers", made up of
Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey, made
their first appearance on WCW
Saturday Night this week.

Week 3, January 1990

2010-03-05T13:23:00.004-06:00

There were a lot of happenings going on this week that warrant mention. This is a very exciting time for NWA fans everywhere, and I say everywhere for a reason. After this weeks shows, the NWA moved from Cult size, past National, all the way to International. Needless to say, Ted Turner is thrilled with the work and progress Greg Moe has been doing since he's taken over the head booker job. One of the instant benefits the NWA received, was they were able to rework both their existing TV deals having the shows move from one and a half hours, to two and a half hours. This will help Greg to keep his wrestlers happy, as some were getting annoyed with being left off shows. This was a big pressure off Greg's shoulders.

Also this week, Greg Moe was finally able to work a deal with Kevin Sullivan's valet, Woman. Greg had given up on giving her an extension, but after Kevin Sullivan talked with Greg about how important she was to him and after Sullivan told her that she needed to reduce her asking figures, she was able to agree to a reduced asking price, though the contract was $1,500 more a month than she was making, but the NWA will pay for her traveling expenses.

Greg was also able to have Paul Orndorff sign an extension and promised Orndorff a bigger role in the NWA. Greg promised him a turn to babyface and a major feud within the promotion to garner a larger push. Some are thinking a feud with Sid would be a good one, but no word from Greg yet on his plans.

Terry Gordy, who came over in a talent trade with All Japan, pulled a groin muscle working for another promotion and is expected out of action for around 27 days. This is a minor blow to the NWA, as Greg had plans for a good push for the Fabulous Freebirds stable and giving them a run with the WCW Six Man Tag Belts. This may turn into a good thing, prolonging the reign on the belts, unless Greg decides to hold up the belts and hold a new match for the titles.

To the shows. This week on NWA Worldwide, there was a assortment of matches that were really just a rebound off the success of SlamBoree. Greg Moe is trying to lay down his plans for the next PPV, which is "Souled Out" after the 2nd week in February. Insiders say Greg is leaning toward a match between Ric Flair and Sting, but a suitable challenger needs to be found for Bret Hart's NWA World Heavyweight Title. He's not sure if fans will continue to find the Flair/Hart feud as entertaining as they have been. So the show was kind of a "feeler."

1. Horsemen Ric Flair & Arn Anderson had a time limit draw with Sting and Z-Man "B-"
It was a good match, but not the overly great matches that have been happening based on the Horsemen and Hart Foundation feuds.

2. Mike Rotundo defeated Big Mike Shaw "C+"
Decent match with Rotundo showing that he may be able to pull off good matches as a singles wrestler.

3. Steve Williams defeated The Iron Sheik to retain his NWA Television Title "C-"
Steve Williams did a great job, but the Sheik sort of "mailed" in his performance, which caused the match to be less than it should have been.

4. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeated the Road Warriors "B-"

This was the Hart Foundations chance to get even with the Road Warriors who turned on them right before SlamBoree. The match was for the Road Warrior's NWA Tag Team Belts, but the Hart Foundation won by DQ after Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard interfered in the match, so the belts did not change hands. However, this match did show that there is great heat still between Flair and Hart and now pretty good heat between the Road Warriors and the Hart Foundation. Lots of avenues to go with the show.

WCW Saturday Night

1. Terry Funk defeated Rick Steiner in a non-title Match "B-"
This was a decent match between two pretty solid wrestlers. The two have different styles however, so the match lagged a bit more than it needed to. One of the main reasons this match was made, was to have Paul Orndorff run in and attack Terry Funk trying to get Orndorff over as he turned face. The turn however was reported as being a disaster.

2. Jerry Lawler defeated Michael 'P.S.' Hayes to retain his WCW Television Title "C"
Greg Moe is really high on both these guys, and we'd expect both to be major players in the NWA for some time to come. This match however, just didn't go over real well, since both were kind of lacking heat between them.

3. Lex Luger and Paul Orndorff defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Dan Spivey "B-"
This was a solid match, but whenever you have four big men like this together in the same match, it always has some dull moments in it. However, the four did a decent job and the fans seemed to enjoy it.

4. Sid Vicious defeated Junkyard Dog to retain his WCW United States Title "B"
These two, though big men, have a great working style between them and the match was pretty darn good. We'd expect these two to play off each other in the next month or two.

You will notice I'm starting to put down the letter grade the "Pro Wrestling Digest" is giving matches throughout the wrestling industry. I'm thinking it may give you, the reader, a bigger insight to just how the NWA is going over with the fans.

Is "Mr.Wonderful" Paul Orndorff due to receive a major push by the NWA? It would seem likely, however he continues to agree to only short time contracts making it hard for booker Greg Moe to pull the trigger to any hard deals with him. It's hard to overlook his appeal to fans however as he continues to melt the hearts of little old ladies everywhere. Now that he's been switched to a face gimmick, he should draw even more appeal from the ladies.

SlamBoree 1990

2010-03-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

SlamBoree 1990

NWA/WCW SlamBoree PPV was a smash hit receiving a "A" rating by wrestling, sports writers around the industry. The show also posted the highest buy rate of the other two PPVs Sunday held by the AWA and AJPW. Over 32,000 fans witnessed the show live in the Astrodome in Texas. The only thing that was any type of negative for booker Greg Moe, was the fact that both Terry Gordy and Arn Anderson decided to work the AJPW PPV instead of attending SlamBoree. Below is the complete show with match results.

1. Terry Funk defeated Lex Luger to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title

The match was won when Dory Funk Jr threw salt in Luger's eyes and Terry Funk caught Luger in a quick roll-up.

2. Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated Rick Steiner & Junkyard Dog and the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin for the WCW World Tag Team Titles

3. Cactus Jack & Bam Bam Bigelow defeated "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert & Mark Callous in a Table Match

4. Jerry Lawler defeated Kevin Sullivan to retain the WCW Television Title

Lawler & Sullivan put on a brilliant match causing the fans to really pop.

5. Fatu, Samu & Don Muraco defeated The Great Muta, Mike Shaw & Scott Hall for the NWA World Six Man Tag Team Titles

6. Tully Blanchard defeated Sting and Greg Moe to retain the NWA United States Title

Blanchard got the pin on Sting after Greg Moe was eliminated and when Ric Flair caught Sting from behind with a chair as Ole Anderson distracted the referee.

7. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed) and Dan Spivey defeated Paul Orndorff, Ole Anderson and Dick Slater

8. Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) defeated Jim Neidhart and Steve Williams to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles

This match was simply fantastic as Neidhart and Williams make for a great team and the Road Warriors looked like the extreme, powerhouse tag team as always.

9. Sid Vicious defeated "Cowboy" Bob Orton for the WCW United States Title

Sid Vicious and Bob Orton work so well together that the fans were so heated over Sid's performance as the ultimate heel that they threw water bottles, paper and paper cups full of sodas. Sid was lucky to even make it back down the aisle on the way to the locker room.

10. Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair in a Cage Classic match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title

Bret Hart slapped the "Sharpshooter" on Ric Flair causing Flair to tap right in the middle of the caged ring as Horsemen Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard desperately tried climbing the cage walls to reach Flair to make a save. Bret Hart win his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart

New NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Cage being lowered for the match between

Ric Flair and Bret Hart

at SlamBoree

Sid Vicious

New WCW United States Champion

Road Warriors Retain the NWA Tag Team Titles

Week 2, January 1990

2010-03-02T22:36:00.001-06:00

This was one hell of a week for the NWA, with both the NWA and WCW shows off the charts, with the promotion's SlamBoree PPV being held tomorrow night. Before this weeks shows took place, head booker, along with some help from his trusted friends, Dory Funk Jr, Jack Lanza and Adrian Street decided to do some house cleaning when it came to the promotions titles.

First thing they did, was introduce two new titles, the NWA and WCW Six Man Tag Team Titles. These are designed to give the lower pushed wrestlers something to fight and feud over. Because of this however, it was apparent that there were just too many titles in the promotion, so Greg decided to retire the NWA Television Tag Team Belts. This made Steve Williams and Mike Rotundo none to happy, but Greg promised them a $1,000 bonus a piece to help them "cheer up." Greg also explained to Bret Hart that he was going to make the MACW Heavyweight Title that he won at Starrcade a belt that would only be wrestled for at Starrcade each year. So Bret would remain the MACW Champion for a year until two other wrestlers fought for it next December, but he wouldn't get a chance to ever defend it unless he goes for it again next year, which won't be likely as Greg has other plans for him.

One bit of bad news was that wrestler Tracy Smothers was signed away from the NWA by New Japan Pro Wrestling when they gave him a written contract. Though Tracy wasn't getting much of a push in the NWA, he was used quite a bit by Greg in getting other wrestlers over, as Smothers is a good technical wrestler and knew how to work.

Ok, to the shows. NWA fans are a glow this week after witnessing two fantastic shows building heat for SlamBoree. In the "NWA Worldwide" show, The Wild Somoans and the Road Warriors each won in 'dark' matches, which put the crowd into a frenzy from the start. In the opening TV segment Bret Hart and Ric Flair were in the ring and traded insults before trading punches. NWA "Commissioner" Greg Moe came out and made it official, Ric Flair would face Bret Hart one more time at "SlamBoree" for the NWA Heavyweight Title. Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart and the Road Warriors, who had come out to help Hart when the Four Horsemen had come out to backup Flair, walked back to the back looking like they were given the gift that they wanted. Flair and the Horsemen started arguing with Greg Moe as they all stood in the ring as the show went to commercial.

The opening match had Horsemen Tully Blanchard, Arn and Ole Anderson go up against The Hart Foundation's Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart teamed up with Sting. The match was very good with the fans standing and screaming through the whole thing. Then out of the blue, just as the Hart Foundation was gaining the upper hand, out ran the Road Warriors, long time allies of Bret and Neidhart's. Hawk and Animal climbed in the ring to the confusion of Bret, Jim and Sting. Suddenly, they turned away from the Horsemen and faced their friends and began to beat down Bret and Sting. When Neidhart tried to make a save, the Horsemen now along with even Ric Flair and Paul Ellering, beat down Jim as well as Bret and Sting. It was a massacre! The fans went crazy at the Road Warriors turn heel on national TV. There was even a shot of an little old, portly lady throwing her shoe at Hawk as he walked by after the ruckus.

Also on the show, Varsity Club member Steve Williams beat Ivan Koloff for the NWA Television Belt in a good sturdy match that though it was good, it gave the fans time to catch their breath. But no sooner had the crowd settled down, out walked Horseman Tully Blanchard to give an interview with Gordon Solie in which he went off on a tirade about how he thought Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation, along with Sting were nothing but "sissy boys" and "spoiled punks" having everything given to them on a silver platter. The fans booed him so loud that nobody even noticed when Mike Rotundo climbed into the ring. Shortly after Ric Flair came out to face Rotundo and even defend his Championship against him. However, before the match started, of course out walked Arn and Ole Anderson and Blanchard walked over also, surrounding the ring. The match was full of typical Horsemen tom foolery. Every time Flair would throw Rotundo out of the ring, the Horsemen would stomp him into the ground. Finally, Steve Williams ran out to help Rotundo and when he started to get the boot too, out ran the Hart Foundation and Sting. It was a fairly even brawl on the outside as Flair and Rotundo wrestled in the ring. Then out came the Road Warriors giving the Horsemen the advantage once more. While this was going on, the referee didn't see Tully Blanchard hit Mike Rotundo with Flair's Championship Belt helping Flair to score an easy 1, 2, 3! The pop from the crowd was deafening.

Considering the rave reviews that "Worldwide" received just the day before, it was going to be hard for "WCW Saturday Night" to keep the momentum going, but not only did it keep going, it gained even more speed. The show opened with a match with Terry Funk and Sid Vicious taking on "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert and Mark Callous. The match was really drawing the fans in when suddenly out ran newly signed Jerry "The King" Lawler. Lawler went right after Funk on the outside while Sid and Gilbert wrestled in the ring. As Lawler was putting the boot to Terry Funk on the outside, out ran seldom seen, road agent Dory Funk Jr to rescue his brother, along with Kevin Sullivan to the great approval of the fans. While this was all going on outside the ring, few people even saw Sid Vicious choke slam Eddie Gilbert almost through the ring floor.

Afterward backstage, Jim Ross interviewed Jerry Lawler, who swore vengeance against Terry Funk but especially Kevin Sullivan who he says "got into his business." Sullivan walked out and the two had to be held back from each other by agents and security guards. Sullivan got so heated, he offered Lawler a match right then and there and put up his Television Belt. Lawler quickly accepted the match and after the break, the two stepped in the ring to face each other. The match was very good, with both men really selling the action to the crowd. The match ended with Lawler getting the three count after Terry Funk accidentally hit Sullivan over the head with a chair which got a huge pop from the crowd as Lawler's hand was raised. This ended Kevin Sullivan's reign as WCW Television Champion which he successively defended five times.

Also on the show the fans were treated to the ever flamboyant Fabulous Freebirds of Michael 'P.S.' Hayes, "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and Terry Gordy, who came over in a talent trade with All Japan Pro Wrestling. They went up against the three members of the Midnight Express, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane and Dennis Condrey. The match was for the new WCW Six Man Tag Belts and the six men really jelled well together. It was about as good as you could get for a six man tag match and the fans really got behind it. When it was over, the Fabulous Freebirds came out on top to win the belts. You never saw three men look so "over the top" in love with themselves. The Freebirds can really work a crowd.

The main event was a match between Lex Luger and Commissioner Greg Moe, who's no slouch when it comes to helping a wrestler get over, and that was exactly what Greg had in mind for Luger helping him draw heat for his match with Funk at SlamBoree. The match was very good with, of course Lex Luger winning in a stalwart effort. Lex Luger came out looking like he can't be beat, which is exactly what Greg had in mind. Greg expects Luger's match with Funk to be a great one drawing almost as much heat as Bret Hart and Ric Flair's match. SlamBoree should be a great PPV and the NWA hopes it can rival Halloween Havoc's quality and "Fall Brawl's" attendance which topped 37,000 fans.

Week 1, January 1990

2010-03-01T00:32:00.003-06:00

To start off the week, Greg Moe managed to re-sign Junkyard Dog to a two year contract extension, however paying more than he was wanting to. The deal pays Dog $16,000 a month and the NWA also had to give up 5% of merchandise sales. Though the signing was important to the company, it's a slippery slope when you start giving out incentives to wrestlers to sign a contract. The next guy who comes along may want the promotion to match this contract's incentives and so on and so on. However, with Junkyard Dog being so over with the fans right now, it was important not to let him go to the WWF.

In other news this week, The Sheik has announced that at the age of 63, he will be retiring from the ring and will soon hopefully find a job as a manager or road agent. He hasn't been working any where for the last four months, and insiders say Greg Moe may be interested in Sheik to work as a road agent for the NWA.

The NWA Worldwide show this week got good reviews, as did the WCW Saturday Night show with both having writers rate both as a "B." On Worldwide, Horseman Tully Blanchard successively defended his NWA United States title against recently healthy Bam Bam Bigelow. The newly revealed "Captain Lou's Misfits" stable, led by recently signed "Captain" Lou Albano, put The Wild Somoans out in the ring on the TV portion of the show and they beat Z-Man and Flyin' Brian. The main event was the Hart Foundation, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, with Elizabeth, defeating the Four Horsemen team of Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. It was another great match that sports writers gave an "A" ranking.

The WCW Saturday Night show was equally good with the main event being a three on three match, with the teams being Terry Funk, Sid Vicious and Television Champion Kevin Sullivan beating Rick Steiner, Junkyard Dog and "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert. The match drew a "B" rating and fans seemed to really be pulling for newly turned face, Gilbert. Other TV matches were "Misfit" Dan Spivey beating Mark Callous and Lex Luger defeating another of Lou's "Misfits", Bam Bam Bigelow who made the switch to the WCW brand right after his match with Blanchard on Worldwide.

With one week to go before SlamBoree, there is still a lot of heat between Lex Luger and Terry Funk. Though these two have faced each other three times since mid October, there is a chance the two may just be the WCW main event on the SamBoree PPV. If they do face each other again, and for the WCW World Heavyweight title, I don't think you'll see Funk dropping the title to Luger, though Funk has had some sub par matches with Bob Orton and Junkyard Dog, who are face main eventers on the WCW brand, so it's pretty certain Greg Moe is looking for a new WCW Champion to setup some good matches during the first of this year.

As mentioned above, "Captain" Lou Albano has revealed his new stable, he calls "Captain Lou's Misfits." In the stable, he has wrestlers from both brands and besides Bam Bam Bigelow and Dan Spivey, there is also "The Wild Somoans" Fatu and Samu. Rounding out the stable is wild man Kamala the Ugandan Giant. It's a pretty beefy group of monsters that he's put together, and they may be able to gather a strong push from Greg Moe over the next few months.

End of 1989 Awards Issued

2010-02-28T15:22:00.002-06:00

Being that it's the end of 1989, the wrestling community gave out the "End of Year Awards" at a banquet in Fort Worth Texas. The banquet was attended by many wrestlers and promoters from all over the world including some NWA wrestlers along with NWA head booker, Greg Moe.

The NWA/WCW's October PPV, Halloween Havoc was voted as the years "Show of the Year." The attendance of the show was posted as just over 33,000, so it wasn't the NWA's highest attended PPV, but it did receive the highest rating, posting a A* for the overall show by wrestling writers. The main event for Havoc was Ric Flair defeating Bret Hart in a cage for the NWA Heavyweight Championship.

According to the votes counted, the "Match of the Year" belonged to All Japan's Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada back in one of their October matches that were receiving big pops from crowds in Japan all fall long.

The "Veteran of the Year" was none other than Andre the Giant who has been splitting time between the WWF and AJPW. He's been a huge draw for both promotions and some of his matches with WWF superstar Hulk Hogan have made a lot of covers for many wrestling publications. Greg Moe is hoping that with his working agreement he has with AJPW, he can talk them into letting Andre come over and do a few shows for the NWA.

The big news on the night other than winning the "Show of the Year" award was Ric Flair winning the "Wrestler of the Year" award. It was said the voting wasn't even close. His two matches with Bret Hart toward the end of the year were said to be instant classics and Greg Moe knows that there will be at least one more at "SlamBoree" in the middle of this month.

As they listed "The Power 100" to the banquet, Greg Moe's face beamed with pride as the NWA has 4 of the top 5 wrestlers in Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Jerry Lawler and Tully Blanchard. With Lawler recently signing on for 2 years, things should only get better in 1990. There were reports that out in the lobby of the banquet after the Top 100 were read, that WWF owner, Vince McMahon and NWA's head booker, Greg Moe got into a shoving match that had to be broken up by hotel security.

On a side note for this same week, Greg Moe did receive one set back as Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid both turned him down when offered what would have been huge contracts. Both wrestlers have been tearing up Canada with Calgary Stampede Wrestling, working for Stu Hart. Greg was hoping that since both Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart already worked for the NWA, they could talk the two "British Bulldogs" to come work for the NWA. However, it looks like they are going to stay loyal to Stu Hart, with Davey working some shows for the WWF.

Up to Date Title Holders (Always Current)

2010-02-27T22:41:00.032-06:00

National Wrestling Alliance Champions

NWA World Heavyweight: Bret Hart (2)
NWA United States: Tully Blanchard (2) (Horsemen)
NWA Tag Team: Hart Foundation (Dynamite Kid & Jim Neidhart)
NWA North American:Vacant
NWA Television: Steve Williams

MACW Heavyweight: Bret Hart (Hart Foundation)
(MACW Title Fought For Every Starrcade)

World Championship Wrestling Champions

WCW World Heavyweight: Terry Funk (2)
WCW United States: Super Zenith
WCW World Tag Team: Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) (2)
WCW Television: The Great Muta

Number in (#) indicates number of times title was won.

NWA World Heavyweight

Champion: Bret Hart

WCW World Heavyweight

Champion: Terry Funk

MACW Heavyweight

Champion: Bret Hart

Pictured Below:

NWA World Heavyweight
WCW World Heavyweight
MACW Heavyweight (Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling)

Major New Signing

2010-02-27T21:01:00.009-06:00

Week 4, December, 1989:

Big news this week was the signing of Jerry "The King" Lawler to a two year written contract that will make him a major player in the NWA. He was assigned a position on the WCW brand as a upper midcarder and should soon become a main event draw. Two of his best friends are already on the WCW roster and they are "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert and Terry Funk. Gilbert was just turned babyface during the last WCW Saturday Night show and there may be plans to place Lawler and Gilbert up into a face tag team to go up against teams such as the Midnight Express and the Fabulous Freebirds. Jerry Lawler is a former AWA, USWA and WCCW Champion.

During this weeks shows, the NWA was pleased to see on the WCW show, that Eddie Gilbert and Terry Funk drew good heat from the crowd as they paired up in the WCW Saturday Night main event after Gilbert's turn to a babyface. Having Gilbert competing against Funk and the other top heels should bolster WCW ratings, and now with Jerry Lawler there too, things look really good. The brand could use one more good heel however, and Greg Moe may be thinking of sending Bam Bam Bigelow to the WCW off the NWA brand. The move should be smooth, as Bigelow hasn't really been in many matches so far because of his earlier knee injury.

On the NWA Worldwide show, Bret Hart agreed to drop his NWA United States title to Horseman Tully Blanchard. The match went nice and smooth and fans still love watching these two do their masterful, technical works. The plan still remains to have the SlamBoree main event be Bret Hart against Ric Flair once more for the NWA World Heavyweight title. Insiders say that Flair will be asked to drop the title to Hart to boost the heat between the two. Some say Flair may put up a fight about dropping the title though, so Greg Moe is a tad nervous heading into January's pay-per-view.

The begining of plans to give The Wild Somoans, managed by newly signed Captain Lou Albano, have started to peek it's head this week as they were given another "dark match" on Worldwide. Now that they have Albano managing them, plans are to give them a match on the main show and work them to a point of going up against the Varsity Club, made up of Steve Williams and Mike Rotundo who hold the NWA Television Tag Team titles. They won the titles against The Wild Somoans back in October and if a rematch is setup, look for Williams and Rotundo to drop the belts.

In other news this week, Greg Moe was unable to come to an agreement with Woman, who has been managing WCW Television Champion Kevin Sullivan. She was asking for more than what Greg was wanting to pay her, and neither side would give an inch. So look for Woman to be leaving sometime in early January. Odds are she will latch on with the WWF who are always looking to sign NWA talent, as the NWA is always looking to steal away WWF talent.

The Road to SlamBoree Starts

2010-02-26T20:57:00.020-06:00

With Starrcade over, both NWA brands, NWA and WCW are on the way to January's PPV, SlamBoree. Wrestlers are scrambling to set themselves up in the right position to make the card and the big paycheck.

Week 3, December 1989
NWA Worldwide: B+
There were problems with the main event when Bret Hart gave late word that though he would do it, he would rather not drop the NWA North American Title to Arn Anderson, so the match was made to be a non-title match with Hart the winner. The promotion has to find a way to work with Hart to get him to drop either the NWA North American or NWA United States title before SlamBoree so a match with Ric Flair can be setup for the NWA World Heavyweight title. The pairing should bring in a lot of fans once more.

The other notable match on the card was a 3 on 3 tag match pitting Sting and the Road Warriors against Horsemen Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and Ole Anderson. The match ended as a draw after Arn Anderson and Bret Hart interfered in the match.

WCW Saturday Night: C+
The Main Event saw Cowboy Bob Orton defend his WCW United States title against Lex Luger. It was a good match with Orton coming out on top. After the match, fans got excited when the two came together after the match and shook hands.

Terry Funk and Sid Vicious went up against Rick Steiner and Junk Yard Dog and the match ended with a double DQ after all hell broke out between the four. This meant that Steiner and JYD held on to the WCW Tag Team titles after winning them at Starrcade when they beat the Fabulous Freebirds, Michael "P.S" Hayes and Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin.

In the Beginning

2010-02-26T17:27:00.014-06:00

I was hired in the first week of September, 1989, and I will be picking things up here in the diary in the 3rd week of December. The main things you should know so far is that I have created a brand split in the company, breaking it into a established NWA and a takeoff called WCW, World Championship Wrestling. As of right now, I have two television shows, with one being “NWA Worldwide” and the other “WCW Saturday Night.” I’ve also up to this point held four PPV shows, “Fall Brawl,” “Halloween Havoc,” “Clash of Champions,” and the biggest the company will run, “Starrcade.”

There have been some titles changing hands over most of the companies titles, but the main one being the NWA World Heavyweight Title, it has yet to leave Ric Flair’s hands. He’s held the title twice against Bret Hart, once against Jim Neidhart and finally at Starrcade against Sting. For the WCW World Heavyweight Title, Terry Funk won it first, dropped it to Lex Luger and just won it back again at Starrcade. The promotion also bought the “Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling” belt, which most of the wrestlers recognize as being a very prestigious belt, and it was won at Starrcade by Bret Hart. I’ll be picking the diary up at this point, just past Starrcade and will go on from here.

NWA Owner, Ted Turner

NWA Head Booker,
Greg Moe

Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling Belt

Tournament Belt Won at "Starrcade" Each Year