NWA 1989 Recap

The first week of 1989 was a recap of 1988. They showed the 45 minute Sting/Flair draw from the first Clash of the Champions. Luger, Flair, Cornette and Dangerously all had interviews to set up things for 1989. This is the first week of new action.

The week of 1-14 was back to regular action and featured two main events.  In the first one Barry Windham defended the U.S. Title against Eddie Gilbert and lost by DQ.  In the second Rick Steiner defended the TV Title against Mike Rotunda and won by DQ.  Both matches were fun and watchable but they weren't super memorable or anything.

The big angle this week was Eddie Gilbert challenging Ric Flair and Barry Windham to a tag team match on next week's show.  Gilbert has a mystery partner that I won't reveal in this post.  But if you have any familiarity with the main feuds of this year, you'll already know who it is.

Random Thoughts:

The Road Warriors are still heel here.  It's a total failure as the fans don't want to boo a couple of crazy ass-kickers. You can tell the heel turn had already failed by this point but the bookers haven't given up on the idea yet.

The Varisty Club is awesome.  Right now the group is Kevin Sullivan, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Mike Rotunda.  Just a group of relentless monsters and they make for a fun mid-card act on the show.

Michael Hayes might be the most boring face ever.  He's brilliant as a heel and with the Freebirds but he just is too bland as a wrestler to be a singles face wrestler.

Overall Results:

NWA United States Title Match: Eddie Gilbert d. Barry Windham (c) by DQ
Michael P.S. Hayes pinned Paul Lee with the DDT
NWA United States Tag Team Champions Kevin Sullivan and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams d. Randy Hogan and Mike Collins with the Oklahoma Stampede
NWA World Tag Team Champions Road Warriors d. Dale Laparouse and Mike Jackson with the Doomsday Device
The Original Midnight Express d. Trent Knight and Bob Emory with the Human Cough Drop
Larry Zbyszko and Al Perez d. George South and Curtis Thompson with the Alicopter
Dick Murdoch pinned Eddie Sweat with the Brainbuster
Midnight Express d. Keith Steinborn and Gary Royal with the Veg-O-Matic
NWA Television Title Match: Rick Steiner (c) d. Mike Rotunda by DQ
Lex Luger and Sting d. Agent Steel and Bob Holiday with the Scorpion Deathlock