Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie v. Jerry Blackwell

 

This is actually about two minutes of the Adnan v. Blackwell five minute match after the Superstar match that we have on another disc.

 

Scott Hall/Curt Hennig v. Jimmy Garvin/Steve Regal

 

JIP. The opening is fun as Scott Hall dominates with power moves and his size and Regal actually refuses to tag in at one point rather than deal with Hall. Hennig comes in and works a headlock on Regal but they end up doing a rope running exchange that ends up with Garvin distracting the ref and Hennig taking a huge bump over the top to the floor. The AWA staple of babyface selling and getting kept at bay on the floor can fall flat sometimes but Hennig sells it really well here and takes an awesome bump off of a running forearm once he gets back in the ring for a good nearfall. Regal's running elbow looked sick here and Hennig took the head cracker real well. They really do a wonderful job with the teases here as every hope spot ends with Hennig taking a dangerous looking bump. Hennig is great desperately trying to work his way to the tag and the spots with him getting pulled back and then pummeled by the heels worked well. Hennig takes his great double knockout bump and the crowd explodes for the hot tag to Hall. Regal takes some nice theatrical bumps for Hall who ends up steamrolling right through both guys. Regal ends up accidentally backslding Garvin for a fall? Regal holds Hall but Garvin misses and hits his own man and Hall/Hennig take the fall. Good match.

 

Rick Martel v. Boris Zhukov (Cage Match)

 

Martel does a cool rope running spot and dominates Zhukov early. Zhukov is back up to avoid Martel who comes forward with strikes and scores with a cradle for a nearfall. Zhukov gets some licks on and tries to force Martel's face into the steel but Rick manages to fight him off. Martel goes for another rolling cradle but Boris ducks down and Martel hits the steel. Martel takes bump after wild bump into the steel and blades. Zhukov starts biting at the cut and gets a good nearfall of a lariat that Martel bumps well for. Zhukov goes for another lariat but Martel ducks and he hits the steel. Martel back drops out of a piledriver attempt and starts firing up. Martel is pissed and starts punching at the bloody head of Zhukov. Martel hits a piledriver for a nearfall and then picks him up and spikes Boris into the cage on a running charge. Zhukov ends up ramming Martel into the steel almost in desperation. Boris hits a suplex and a standing clothesline for nearfalls. Boris misses a diving knee off the top and Martel wins. Finish did not look all that great and Boris did not have the offense to keep his heat section as dynamic as it should have been but this was still a good cage match and a really strong effort from Martel.

 

Battle Royal

 

This was pretty quick and relatively uneventful.

 

Jerry Blackwell v. Masked Superstar

 

Not complete and a repeat from a previous disc.

 

Nick Bockwinkel v. Ric Flair

 

We have this already nominated.

 

The Road Warriors v. Steve Regal/Jimmy Garvin

 

JIP. Bearhugs usually suck but watching the myriad of ways they worked compelling bearhug spots in the first minute of this was impressive. Regal gets steamrolled for a few here eating a lot of offense and having everything he does dismissed. Jimmy refuses to tag in and Regal eats a huge diving shoulderblock from Hawk. Hawk misses a diving headbutt and ends up sort of working FIP? He's on the defensive for a bit but does the old "no sell of the piledriver" spot. The Warriors end up hitting the suplex/powerslam combo finish but the ref is knocked out. This was fun at times but not a nomination.

 

Blackjack Lanza v. Rick Martel

 

JIP at about 8 minutes. This starts with Lanza working the arm but Martel reverses things and takes over on Lanza's arm. Decent off the ropes spot with Martel dragging Lanza down. Lanza actually works pretty well underneath, selling the impact of the holds and strikes. Blackjack comes back by choking and biting Martel and is pretty entertaining stalking around and setting up Martel for cheapshots. Martel busts out of the claw and hits a nice dropkick. Lanza goes to the tights and clubs Martel. The ref doesn't see it but still disqualifies him. Lame finish.

 

Crusher v. Jerry Blackwell

 

JIP. This starts with Blackwell on the floor. This is Crusher dominating with weak looking shit until Blackwell takes over with shots from a foreign object. I enjoy Blackwell working the hidden foreign object bit but this was a pretty shitty match.

 

The Road Warriors v. Boris Zhukov/Chris Markoff

 

The opening of this is all the Warriors doing their leaping offense and the Russians bumping in relatively uninspired fashion for it. Real cool momentum swinging spot as Markoff ducked on an Animal lariat attempt and Zhukov pulled down the top rope causing Animal to crash and burn on the floor. The Russians actually do a decent job during the heat segment and Animal's powerslam was a nice hope spot. Naturally the Russians end up using the chain. Hawk hits a diving clothesline and Animal pins Markoff. Probably better than it should have been but still nothing special.

 

Billy Robinson v. Brad Rheingans

 

JIP. This starts off pretty hot. Rheingans hits a piledriver for a nearfall and ends up hitting a nice neckbreaker. Robinson stalls on a duck down and drills Rheingans with a forearm. Rheingans hits a powerslam off the ropes for a nearfall. Billy takes an awesome bump off of an atomic drop and spills to the floor. Rheingans hits a nice backbreaker and this is really starting to heat up when Rheingans gets DQ'ed for throwing him over the top. This is a five minute fragment of what looked to be a great match that went about 17 minutes. Too bad.

Scott Hall & Curt Hennig vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin & "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal (11/14/85)

 

This is JIP but it doesn't look like we missed a whole lot. The faces shined early on and there was some fun moments with Regal refusing to tag in and some good selling by the heels period. Hennig would get thrown over the top rope by Regal as Garvin had Marty Miller occupied and that would start the heel control section which was done well as they took the punishment to Curt who was very good at selling everything. Curt's hope spots were fun as well and the fans were into it before he got the hot tag to Hall who was good here taking it to both men leaving them confused enough for Regal to backslide Garvin by mistake. Garvin would then hit Regal by mistake off the top rope and the faces got a big win. This was a fun match and I'll push it forward.

 

Steel Cage Match for the AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel © vs. Boris Zuhkov (11/14/85)

 

John Ferguson who was a long-time GM in the NHL and at one point for the Winnipeg Jets is the referee here and he isn't every very good in his role thus taking away from the nearfalls and the fans were booing his slowness at getting down. This was totally the Martel show here as he worked circles around Boris making him look like a worthy challenger. Martel bled here so it gave Boris the chance to work the cut for a while along with using the cage as a weapon. Martel makes a fun comeback and has Boris ready to go after a piledriver but Boris comes back on his own before missing a diving kneedrop off the top rope allowing Martel to win. This was fun thanks to Martel and although it could have been better it is still good enough to be a nomination.

 

Next we get a battle royal from 12/12/85 won by the Roadies.

 

Then we get clips of Blackwell/Superstar.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair © vs. Nick Bockwinkel (1/17/86)

 

It sucks we only got a little over 10 minutes here but this is a famous match and it has to be on the set I think. Great stuff by both men here and it's especially fun watching Flair working Bock here as this has a different feel to it. Like I said this has to be on the set somewhere.

 

The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin & "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal (1/17/86)

 

This is JIP and felt like this was the Roadies getting their revenge on these guys before leaving for JCP.

 

Then we get clips of Martel/Lanza and Crusher vs. Blackwell.

 

The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) vs. Chris Markoff & Boris Zuhkov (12/12/85)

 

About what you would expect here.

 

This finishes with clips of Robinson vs. Rheingans which looked great.