December 1988

Hulk Hogan vs Big Bossman - Boston 12/3/88 Bossman is an all time great Hogan opponent because he brings the size and the agility to the ring. By being a way better bumper than most Hogan opponents he adds so much to Hogan's shine. Hogan is a total ball of fire right out of the gate. Bossman takes a great bump to the floor and Beantown is rocking. Hogan keeps it up but some Slick distraction allows Bossman to attack the back. Hogan cant get him up for the slam and Bossman is on top of Hogan. He hits the Sidewalk Slam and only gets two. But a great false finish as Hogan just ran into it. Bearhug is a fine hold here. Bossman does a great job with the weeble wobbles but…

Aired on the International version of Challenge. Talk about it here

Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs Midnight Express - Clash of the Champions IV The Midnight Express had turned babyface after their feud with the Fantastics and were being positioned against Dangerously's Original Midnight Express. I have never seen that angle nor the subsequent matches I should fix that. I had seen this once before maybe ten years ago and had no real recollection of it. It is tremendous. The only reason I can imagine this does not get talked about more is the match exists in a vacuum. Flair was feuding with Luger and MX like I said with the OMX so there is not much build or follow up. Flair is the World Champion & Windham is United States Champi…

Cuban Commandos (Cuban Assassin & Gerry Morrow} defend the Stampede International Tag Team Titles

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich - AWA Superclash III In 1988, the WWF vs JCP arms race was flull blown and the last three major American promotions gave it once last shot to fight these two superpowers. The biggest promotion of the three, the AWA, put their money on the biggest independent star left in American wrestling, the King of Memphis Wrestling, Jerry Lawler. They lost their last homegrown star, Curt Hennig to WWF and had no other choice. The Memphis the smallest of the big American territories was the big winner as their biggest star was finally validated as World Champion. The missing piece was …

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW Real World Tag League 12/16/88 JBL would cream himself over how many MONSTER LARIATS are in this match. The last half of this match is basically legalized murder of Tenryu by Hansen & Gordy. This match embodies "Think shoot, but work" and is Hansen's definitive statement on pro wrestling. Every single thing is a struggle. If he can throw a wild kick, he will throw a wild kick. He is not going to wait on the apron, he is going to come in and smack the shit out of you to save his partner. Gordy took his cue from Hansen was great as Hansen Jr., but the difference was Hansen was just ab…

Rockers are clearly being sold here as the next big thing, both in the commentary and in how much flashy offense they get throughout the match. But it's Arn and Tully who are the real joys to watch. I don't know why Bobby Heenan on commentary, who was managing them at the time, doesn't play up their veteran experience compared to the young new kids. Even though not explicitly stated, that's the kind of match the Busters are working. Shawn and Marty start out in control, doing all sorts of cool moves and looking like they're going to win quickly. But then the Busters take a moment to confer with Bobby and each other, and they start to work their own way. They demonstra…

Backlund in UWF, looking bewildered as ever but somehow managing to pull it off, with his "whoa whoa-ing", his silly taunts, and his vicious elbow shots to counter Takada's stiff kicks. Backlund's quirkiness adds charm to the match, a fun, almost unpredictable element that distinguishes this from a lot of other shoot-style bouts of the 80's. I won't go through the whole match because at times, it's all over the place, but there are so many cool touches and moments. When Backlund is on the mat, working the arm, he throws his weight into the hold. He has answers for Takada's offense -- at one point, taking a rush of knees from Takada and turning into a backdrop before imme…

NWA United States Champion Barry Windham vs Eddie Gilbert - NWA World Championship Wrestling 12/24/88 I love the basic story here of Windham as the overconfident, arrogant champion taking the smaller Eddie Gilbert lightly at the outset only to be proven wrong. Windham would be facing the behemoth, Bam Bam Bigelow in two nights at Starrcade and this viewed as a tune up match by Windham and JJ. JJ has a smug grin on his face, nonchalantly strolling around ringside. Windham picks up Hot Stuff and places him on the top rope as if he is a small child. I like how they actually let Windham take the beginning of the match. They dont rush into Gilbert proving himself. Windham…

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Lex Luger – NWA Starrcade 1988 As great as the Total Package was in this match, Ric Flair was the undeniable man in this match. Understanding who the Nature Boy was in between those ropes as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. A lot of this was covered verbally during Part 1 of Fair to Flair, but lets go through the minutia using this match as a case study. The match begins with Flair cocky as ever going so far as to taunt the Total Package. At one point, he gets down on one knee and flexes! Flair’s goal early on is psych out the inexperienced challenger and assert himself. You see crowd Luger in the corner, but Luger’s …

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - WWF MSG 12/30/88 I love when two Carolina Boys hook it up and lay into each other in a WWF ring. Valentine was so wasted in 1988 being stuck with Brutus Beefcake, Bloated Don Muraco and fucking old as dirt George Steele. He did have a great match with Tito Santana at the previous MSG show to this one. Valentine has hair that would make the Glamor Girls jealous so Lord Alfred Hayes starts gushing over Judy Martin and that Rockin Robin is too skinny and not enough woman for him. They start as one would expect just blasting each other with chops. Garvin nominally has control of this as he is always moving forward and winning the exch…

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Bad News Brown - WWF MSG 12/30/88 This will probably sound weird to those older than me, but I have never seen a Bad News Brown match. I liked how he carries himself. He just looks like a mean, street-tough man. In the ring, he is fine, nothing awesome, but it is fine. Savage was awesome in this! He was a total Wildman. He came out all cylinders firing swarming Bad News before the bell. I don't know why he is pissed, but I am happy he is. I thought we were going to get this badass street fight, but Bad News hits a clothesline in the ring and things settle down to the normal heat segment. Bad News was fine wor…