Bobby Eaton vs. Nikita Koloff

- A really good Bobby Eaton performance. Still, I don't really enjoy seeing Nikita go 20 minutes in any setting but he had improved leaps and bounds since '85. Still, this was a match where it started off really hot and was winding down in the last 8 minutes. Wierd and a no vote.

 

Larry Zbysko vs. Barry Windham

- Typical Larry matwork and stalling to begin the match but they picked things up the 2nd half of the match. I know Larry was working on the leg but I have to question how effective his heel lock was or if Barry sold it enough to get over the effectiveness of the hold. The last 5 minutes were really good with both guys going to the outside and taking big bumps. I am interested to see what others think but I am going to hold off on nominating this.

 

Road Warrior Hawk vs. Ric Flair

-Hawk hasn't improved dramtically since the Bash 86 match and this is another no vote.

 

Steel Cage Bunkhouse Stampede

- Man, I really wanted to love this as I love anything goes cage matches but the rules for elimination kind of prevent this from being great. First off, a guy has to be thrown out of the cage. For a standard sized cage, a guy has to climb the cage to be put in the position to be tossed over. Why in the hell would anyone climb the corner? They can be thrown out the door but with only one door, only one set of wrestlers can be at the door at any given time. I think if the cage was about the same height as the wrestlers, you could still have some awesome cage bumps as well as a more reasonable way of getting guys out of the ring. Once the belts and boots are taken off, the action picks up immensely with some nasty weapons shots and belt choking. Arn, Tully and Luger all eliminating each other left little doubt who would win between Dusty and Barbarian. This was actually pretty action packed and I'll throw it on as a low level nomination.

NWA World TV Title: "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff © vs. "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton

 

Eaton tries to catch him with 2 right hands early but Nikita brushes them off and just powers Eaton down to the mat to show his strength advantage. Nikita the babyface loved working arm holds on the mat and this was no different. Eaton would send Nikita to the floor and chased after him for a fun little slugfest before going back to the ring where Bobby would work a side headlock for a bit which prompts a boring chant so Eaton just nailed Nikita with a right hand to send him back to the floor. Eaton now just takes it to Koloff on the floor before being posted and then Nikita rams him arm first into the post then hiptossed him right on the concrete at the 10:00 mark. Eaton though is pesky as hell and roughhouses Nikita back into the ring where Eaton starts working over Nikita's left arm. Eaton would come off the top with a great missile dropkick for a nearfall before going back to the hammerlock while the crowd chanted Cornette Sucks. Cornette by the way is working his ass off on the floor talking shit on Nikita and it's great. Tony Schiavone starts the minute countdown by minute and there is the telegraph that this is going to a draw right as Nikita hits a desperation Russian Sickle but there wasn't enough on it and Eaton was able to go back to the mat with the hammerlock. Nikita tries to fight back but Eaton would find a way to get him back down to the mat and the total lack of urgency on Eaton's part is ridiculous as Schiavone is loudly calling the time. Koloff comes back with 30 seconds left and hits the Sickle with a second left. Lane & Corny would help Eaton beat on Nikita after the match with the fans chanting for Dusty who never showed up. This match had some good action but wow the time limit draw psychology was terrible.

 

Western States Heavyweight Title: Barry Windham © vs. Larry Zbyszko

 

Baby Doll provokes Windham as the match starts but he isn't taking the bait so she leaves. Both men work hard to start the match with Windham getting the best of Larry who goes into classic Larry stalling to try and subdue Windham. Zbyszko though would get a good drop toehold on Barry which leads to more work on the ankle trying to keep Barry grounded but Barry comes back with a desperation enzuigiri then jacks Larry's jaw with a right hand. Barry forgets about selling the leg as he goes up top and misses a big diving elbow so Larry makes him pay by going back to the ankle again. Barry breaks free but Larry gets him back down with a side headlock although that was squelched with a backdrop suplex so Larry goes back to the ankle. Barry came into the match with a knee issue so Larry was smart to work it over but Barry would just forget at times to sell the significance of everything when he went back on offense. Barry would lock on a sleeper hold and got Larry on the mat but Larry would get to the ropes and dropped to the floor which brought Barry out with him. Barry beat him down but would get posted by Larry who stomps on his head forcing Barry to stay on the floor all the while Larry is working with a wedgie. Barry would then grab Larry's legs from under him and crotched him in the ringpost but would miss a cross body block where he tumbled to the floor again. Larry now takes his turn bashing Barry's head on the table before Barry comes back in with a sunset flip only to met with a right hand by Larry. Both men now are fatigued and it's becoming a war of attrition to see who can get the advantage. Barry gets that advantage before throwing Larry into referee Dick Kroll and Baby Doll counted a pin which Windham thought was Kroll. Windham thinks he won the match when Baby Doll gave Larry her high heel which he used on Windham to get the win. I think if Barry sold the leg better this would've been a nomination but the lazy selling was a detriment to the match.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair © vs. Road Warrior Hawk

 

You could run a match like this on this show with the Bunkhouse Stampede as the main event but it still didn't make sense for a natural tag guy to be fighting for the NWA World Title especially someone so known for being in a team. There was no way the Roadies were going to break up so the fans knew that there was no way Hawk would win the title. Also if you are going to have Flair work one of the Roadies....Animal was the better worker but Hawk always got the shots which was probably because he was a better promo. Regarding the match, it was fine but it was Flair outside of his comfort zone and not in the good way although both men work hard it's just not a good matchup. Not to mention you get the screwy ref bump with Dick Kroll laying on the floor FOREVER which was ridiculous. The end of the match was starting to get really good until Flair got DQed for using the chair and it was like blah.......

 

Steel Cage Bunkhouse Stampede - Participants: Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes, Ivan Koloff, Lex Luger, The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian & The Warlord), & Road Warrior Animal

 

This was very fun for what it was but I can't in good spirits give this a nomination because of how long it went plus the rules that was involved was convoluted. There was some good action in this but it was a clusterfuck in many ways. The fans also lost hope on a different winner when Dusty was left with Barbarian so they got deflated in a way.