Well seeing as I watch some old stuff on the Network quite often, and the PPV of the week seems to be dying off from lack of interest. I figured I might as well write some stuff down when I watch the shows and hopefully someone will give a shit
Without further adieu, I present Chi Town Rumble 1989!
NWA CHI TOWN RUMBLE
February 20, 1989
Chicago, Illinois
Russian Assassin vs Michael PS Hayes: This match was probably 10 minutes longer than it should have been. Even the jobber matches in old NWA were long lol. I’ll be honest I skipped parts of this match; it just wasn’t doing it for me.
Sting vs Butch Reed: It’s always cool to see surfer Sting, but he was still a bit green here probably. An okay match, although again it felt a little long. Butch Reed was nothing special, he was an alright brawler who would be more interesting in Doom later on.
Midnight Express vs Original Midnight Express: Seeing Paul E. and Cornette here was hilarious, they were both definitely from the 80’s here. That mullet of Heyman’s was impressive. Jack Victory takes the place of Dennis Condrey and didn’t do much of anything in this match but stand on the apron. Stan Lanes karate kicks were hilarious, not exactly the most intimidating. Decent match here, the crowd was into it near the end and the New Midnight’s send the oldies packing from NWA.
Rick Steiner vs Mike Rotunda: Scott Steiner’s debut in Rick’s corner! A far cry from Big Poppa Pump that’s for sure! This match was okay, Rick’s clotheslines were stiff as hell, Rotunda provided the technical wrestling. Kevin Sullivan comes out and threatens violence on Rick’s dog Spike, and surprisingly Rick doesn’t bite (see what I did there) and stays in the ring. Rick locks on a sleeper and falls to the ground with his shoulders down, and the ref counts, Rotunda wins the TV title and makes Rick look like a total idiot who pinned himself. Terrible finish.
Barry Windham vs Lex Luger: I always liked Windham, Lex not so much. Luger was alright in this match though, probably not as bad as I would have thought. He used some good power moves. Windham accidentally punches the post and damages his hand, rendering his Claw move powerless in a touch of good psychology. Windham hits the superplex and tries to pin Luger, but both mens shoulders are down. Luger lifts his up at two and wins the title. I can’t believe they had similar dumb finishes in back to back title matches, someone was asleep at the wheel booking these.
Road Warriors vs Varsity Club: Warriors are over as hell in their hometown. Typical tag match with two powerful teams, Hawk pins Sullivan with a top rope clothesline. I’m disappointed no Doomsday Device in this one, close but didn’t get it. For some reason I’ve never found Kevin Sullivan interesting on screen in anything I’ve seen him in.
Flair vs Steamboat: Some good technical wrestling to start this one, both guys strong point clearly. I found the commentary from JR interesting talking about the difference between the two, including Flair coming from a well off family and going to private school and Steamboat from a middle class family with public school education. It really got across the differences between the characters. It was weird to hear an audible “Steamboat Sucks” chant, Flair was Mr.NWA and clearly he had fans everywhere, even as a heel.
A great back and forth match, the crowd really picked up for this once sensing its importance and both guys had their working boots on. The finish was well done and Steamboat gets his big moment. The post match interview was fun too, with Steamboat having trouble opening his eyes thanks to the champagne shower.
Random Thoughts:
- Bob Caudle was oddly endearing as the backstage interviewer. Just something about an old guy with big glasses asking questions and having this goofy grin made me smile.
- I kind of liked how they would go from an interview backstage and suddenly both guys were in the ring and the match was ready to start. Maybe after sitting through long entrances over the years it was just refreshing.
- I liked young JR on commentary here, he upped his game for the later stages of the World title match too where you could almost hear the beginnings of Attitude Era JR coming out. Magnum TA was decent alongside, although he was kind of bland and didn’t provide much.
- Hiro Matsuda was maybe the most pointless manager of all time. I don’t even know why he was managing Flair and others here. He didn’t interfere or attempt to do anything. Strange.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT: Easily Flair/Steamboat, I knew it was good going into it, but it lived up to it. Both guys worked their asses off the dichotomy of the characters was easy to get across. The chemistry was there obviously.