NWA Power Hour 7/7 - 7/21/89

 

7/7

Scott Steiner vs. The Bounty Hunter

- I don't know who the Bounty Hunter was but this wasn't good.

 

Wrestling News Network w/ Gordon Solie

 

Tommy Rich vs. Jim Bryant

- Nothing match.

 

Funk’s Grill w/ Paul E

 

Wild Bill Irwin & New Zealand Militia vs. Dynamic Dudes & Brian Pillman

- Too many six-man matches that smoke this.

 

7/14

Ricky Steamboat vs. Jack Victory

- OK match but not a standout for Steamboat.

 

Wrestling News Network w/ Gordon Solie

 

Skyscrapers vs. Randy Rose & Dewayne Bruce

- Nothing match.

 

Funk’s Grill w/ Gary Hart & Great Muta (EXTRA)

 

Road Warriors vs. Terry Gordy & Jimmy Garvin (Cage Match)

- This was pretty good until Hawk rubbed me the wrong way by no-selling the Gordy piledriver. Fuck that! Anyway, while this was a decent tag, they didn't use the cage at all. Its sole purpose was to allow the SST to steal the key and come in to help the Birds gang up on the Roadies. I guess this sets up the Wargames at the Bash but no vote.

 

7/21

Sid Vicious vs. Davey Rich

- Sid's nerve hold was not exciting.

 

Wrestling News Network w/ Gordon Solie

 

Brian Pillman, Tommy Rich & Scott Hall vs. Bill Irwin, Iron Sheik & D.J. Meadows

- Blah six-man

 

Funk’s Grill w/ Gordy, Garvin & Hayes (EXTRA)

 

Dick Murdoch vs. Terry Gordy

- Criminally short and lacking the awesomeness of their UWF matches. I love both guys but I can't vote for this.

Funk's Grill is an Extra

 

Road Warriors vs Freebirds Cage Match

 

The Freebirds are Gordy and Garvin. Super hot crowd. Warriors dominating early with power moves. A cheap shot sets up the heat.The cage hasn't been used at all. SST and Hayes come in and all hell breaks loose. If the War Games match goes on the ending of this should go on as an extra.

 

Murdoch vs Gordy

 

This is from the Power Hour and is billed as a battle of the bulls. This was just 2 guys punching each other right in the face. They had 2 rings to work with and Murdoch did some fun stuff with it. The match was on the short side like 6 minutes. Still I liked it and decided to throw it up on the block.

NWA Power Hour 7/7/89

Scott Steiner vs. The Bounty Hunter (7/4/89)

Scott has a hard time putting away the big masked man but he gets him eventually. Scotty also hits the Frankensteiner for I think the first time on TV as well.

Next we get Wrestling News Network where Solie talks about Rick Rude & Ultimate Warrior, Antonio Inoki being injured, Georgia Power winning the SCW Tag Titles, & Crusher Blackwell's health problems. Amazing how Joe Pedicino got SCW talked about on TBS.

Tommy "Wildfire" Rich vs. Jim Bryant (6/19/89)

Wildfire is back in the NWA and it was fun at the time seeing him come back to TBS.

Then we get Funk's Grill with Paul E. Dangerously which was hilarious. Extra material.

The Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace & Shane Douglas) & Flyin Brian Pillman vs. Wild Bill Irwin & The New Zealand Militia (Rip Morgan & Jacko Victory) (6/19/89)

Decent match nothing special.

Ross & Cornette then close out announcing Great Muta as Wrestler of the Week.

NWA Power Hour 7/14/89

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Jacko Victory (7/4/89)

Steamer is at his old stomping grounds so the fans are nuts for him. Jim Ross on commentary talks about Jacko's personality disorder from working so many gimmicks. Steamer doing Jacko's chant right in his face was funny. The way that NWA did TV at this time is the template on how you do wrestling television. This had some really good back and forth action with Steamer making Jacko look like a very credible threat before getting the win with a cross body block off the top rope. I dug this match a good bit and I'm throwing it up for a low-end nomination.

Then we get the WNN with Solie talking about Stampede Wrestling, Atlantic Coast, & AWA and Robert Gibson teaming with Sam Houston.

The Skyscrapes ("Dangerous" Danny Spivey & Sid Vicious) vs. Dewayne Bruce & "Ravishing" Randy Rose (7/4/89)

Skyscrapers totally maul these guys.

Next we get Funk's Grill with The Great Muta & Gary Hart and this is good stuff. Funk gushing over Muta is hilarious it's like Piper & Kabuki in 1982 GCW and they even do the same mist spraying on the arm deal. Extra material.

Steel Cage Match: The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy "Jam" Garvin & Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy) vs. The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) (7/6/89)

The Samoan Swat Team was supposed to be in this match but Paul E. said that they had plane issues so the Birds were taking their place. The cage is set up as a buildup for War Games at the Bash. Gordy & Animal in the ring together was always a fun watch and it was no different here as these two big mofos teed off on each other. Hawk would come in and run wild before Gordy laid him out with a clothesline. Hawk works FIP and the Birds work him over as Hayes comes down to ringside to watch. Gordy hits a piledriver but Hawk no-sells like only Hawk can and he fights back but Gordy would hit a snap suplex to get him back down. Animal gets the hot tag and comes in taking out both Birds before Hawk joined him and the fans are going nuts. The SST show up and they help Hayes get the key from Tommy Young then they run in with handcuffs cuffing Animal to the ropes as everyone beats down Hawk. The heels bloody up Hawk and he had to leave on a stretcher. The match was kind of a disappointment considering the teams and the stipulation but it was all done to advance the War Games angle. Animal then cuts a pissed off promo in the locker room aftewards. I think this should go on as an extra though because you rarely ever saw the Roadies get beaten down like this.

Ross & Cornette then announce Lex Luger is Wrestler of the Week.

NWA Power Hour 7/21/89

Sid Vicious vs. Davey Rich (7/16/89)

This was taped at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth which was the former home of UWF Power Pro Wrestling. Davey tries to keep it competitive early but Sid would just lay him out with a clothesline and it was pretty much over after that.

Then we get the WNN with Solie talking about the Bash that Sunday night as well as news from WWF which is always hilarious.

Scott Hall, Flyin Brian Pillman, & Tommy "Wildfire" Rich vs. Iron Sheik, Wild Bill Irwin, & DJ Meadows (7/16/89)

Wow what a cast of characters in this match and Pillman/Rich made for a fun team.

Next we get Funk's Grill with The Fabulous Freebirds and this is good stuff. Extra material.

Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy vs. "Capt. Redneck" Dick Murdoch (7/2/89)

This is from The Omni which I was at this show of course. Gordy vs. Murdoch on paper is a fucking dream match. Garvin & Hayes is at ringside of course. This is nothing but a slugfest early on and there are some fucking great punches thrown by both men holy shit this was awesome. There are 2 rings here because of the 2 ring battle royal later in the show so of course Murdoch would take the action to the other ring which was fun. The fans were going nuts for Murdoch's awesome punches before Gordy would go for a piledriver which Murdoch countered out of. Murdoch caught Gordy with a big elbow before Garvin would run in and dropped an elbow of his own on Dick. This match went about 8 minutes but holy shit the punches thrown here were insane and this was a total slugfest. Will was disappointed in this 7 years ago but I think this is a solid nomination.