Hell yes! Flair in Memphis. This is an arena match from Memphis. Dusty Rhodes, fresh off his win in the bunkhouse match, is at ringside as an adviser to Koko Ware. Flair is bother, of course.
It starts basic and slow paced. They trade hard headlocks for a few minutes and back each other into corners for clean breaks. Ware hangs with Flair, as you’d expect. Them Flair bumps a bit to make Koko look like a hero. That’s probably going to be the story of the match.

I dig the excitement with which Hales and Russell announce the match with. It’s not over the top, just personalized, as they seem genuinely happy that Koko might be a world champion. Dusty riles up Ware when Flair/Ware get into a shoving match. This really heats up after Flair takes a moment to step outside the ring ropes. We get a series of heated exchanges where Flair ends up doing two face first Flair Flops. Ware is running over trying to get the pin as quick as possible. The fans are going crazy. Flair gets his foot on the rope the second time. Russell is calling the match of his life. Early going, but this is the best and most productive Flair formula match I’ve seen in a while (and I’m a huge Flair mark).

Flair gets bounced around one to many times and take a walk down the aisle. He tries to mat wrestle Ware but can’t keep him down. Now Flair’s pissed. He gets back in and chops Kok with some misdirection. Flair’s offense takes over and he’s in charge. We get a slower pace while Flair does little things to heel it up (foot on ropes for leverage). Did I mention we got the Flair-ref shoving spot? We did.

Flair cuts off the Koko come backs as soon as they gain some steam with the fans. The timing in this match is great. Koko comes back, throws punches, and the ref stops his fist so Flair knees him low. Just as good as when I saw that with Terry Taylor or Kerry Von Erich. Ware’s got a sleeper. Flair gets his foot on the rope. Flair makes a comeback of his own. He knows just when to milk the double KO to rest while fans go crazy without anyone working.

Now I’ve seen everything. Ric Flair did a double stomp to Ware’s stomach. It was Low Ki-esque. Flair puts the figure four on for a minute or two. Ware gets out, but man is it dramatic. Ware with the back slide. Two count. Flair throws Ware out of the ring. 20 minutes in to a brilliant match.

Ware puts Flair in the figure four. They milk that for a minute or two. Ware chops Flair a bunch. Bill Dundee runs to the ring and throws powder in Dusty’s eyes. He posts him for good measure. Ware gets distracted. Flair throws a Harley Race high knee at him from behind. He pins Ware, and though Ware gets his foot on the rope, the ref never sees it. Flair wins in 23 minutes. 4 and 8/10.

Match Discussion Here

A mixed tag match featuring the ladies. Sherri would become famous after her AWA run as Queen Sherri with Macho King Randy Savage, and later in WCW managing Harlem Heat.

The Ladies go right after each other brawling. Candi doesn’t seem very good. She’s tentative and doesn’t seem to keeo track of her spacing. Translation: it looks like a trainee learning how to wrestle. Everything she does looks fake and the opposite of smooth. Yet somehow the ladies are in far too much in this match.

Ware gets his hands on Dundee momentarily, and that’s a lot better. Some of the comedy spot to make the Ware/Divine team look good are a lot of fun, but this isn’t a best of match. It’s probably on the set for the variety of it. In that sense, it’s enjoyable.

Dundee hits Candi Divine and Martel covers for the first fall. This is pretty much missed as they head to commercial as it’s going down.

Second fall is much more intense. It’s still kind of a mess. Sloppy is a better word, and the men and women aren’t always on the same page. It’s decent with Koko and Dundee in. The match ends as it really should – in the middle of the second fall with nothing going on. Near dud. 2 and 3/10.

Match Discussion Here

This is a studio match with Ware as the babyface. Stubbs was also in Mid South under a mask as Mr. Olympia. He was also an early partner of Arn Anderson.

They start out with holds on the mat. Ware has the advantage throughout. Nice work that I don’t expect out of Koko, as he was very flashy the other times I’ve seen him in Memphis. Stubbs tries to use his size and strength edge, but Koko stays on him. It’s not pretty stuff, but it’s not quite gutter punk wrestling either. I’d term it second tier quality mat wrestling.

Koko stays on the left arm, so he’s establishing the work with strikes too. Bill Dundee joins the commentary booth, so I’m guessing he’s running in on Koko at some point. Picture in picture lets me know Dundee is dressed in a red tux complete with bow tie. He’s teaming w/ Masked Superstar. Bill is “Superstar # 1” Hilarious.

Masked Superstar uses some power wrestling on Ware. It’s pretty tough, but the match would be better served in an Arena with more heat. The fans aren’t up for Ware yet. Ware’s comeback isn’t too pretty, but his drop kick is. There’s a very creative and well done ref bump. Dundee distracts Ware and Masked Superstar gets a roll up pin in ten minutes. Well, that never really got going, and it did have some time. 2 ¼ and 4/10.

It’s Memphis and Falls Count Anywhere, so you know it starts with a brawl. Rich and Gilbert, as talented as they are, aren’t as fluid as the original Fabs. Gilbert comes off better then Rich though, as Rich never seemed to work on cardio, body, or be a natural athlete.

Rich/Gilbert makes the PYT look silly for a few minutes before Gilbert gets caught being other anxious and they work him over. Similar to their last match, but they brawl outside from time to time. In fact, the Falls Count Everywhere stip is almost irrelevant until after the heat and hot tag by the faces. Then it gets good.

They brawl out to the tunnel. Rich and Austin end up on a stage and Gilbert/Ware in the crowd. Great brawling and they knew how to play to the crowd here. Rich/Austin win the brawl but lose the match. The feud continues. I was bored or disinterested in much of this before that brawl, but part of that could be Lance Russell not announcing. Also, I don’t have much emotional connection to these two babyfaces, so that plays into my ranking. 2 ½ and 5/10.

Match Discussion Here

Gilbert and Rich are the (ill suited) new Fabulous Ones. Fab originator Jackie Fargo did an interview from his living room couch (no joke) explaining that Stan Lane and Steve Keirn wanted to go all over the place and not stay in Memphis, so he stripped them of the Fabs monitor. In their place he’s found two new young men to wear the top hats and kiss the girls at ringside. Enter Tommy “Wildfire” Rich and Eddie “Hot Stuff” Gilbert. Not my idea of perfect for the gimmick, but they are good workers.
Tonight’s test is the PYT of Norvell Austin and Koko Ware. Ware was last seen in an awesome team with Bobby Eaton, but now he’s got one of the original Midnights at his side in Austin. This one is straight from a spot show on what looks like two hand held cameras.

Rich and then Gilbert dominate the heels early with lock ups and hard punches/shoves exchanged. It’s built slowly so you can feel everything simmer until Gilbert gets into a punch ware with one of the heels (Austin I believe). Austin/Ware complain about the punches after having gotten the better of them early, which is always funny.

Lots of Fargo strutting as the babyfaces outsmart the heels early on. Acceptable stalling from the heels after every crowd pleasing moment. Arguments that end in hugs get them some heat.

Rich goes over the top rope off a missed punch and gets beaten down right in front of the candy guy. Bummer. The heels switch on and off on him, cheating a good bit, while the fans get whipped into a frenzy. Good heat for the match and really simple stuff to the ten minute mark. Nothing blow away in the simple department, but simple-good.

Hope spots and grounding Rich for the next few minutes until Gilbert gets the tag. He goes wild for a moment but gets outnumbered. Rich gets in and gets an awkwardly long and goofy looking pin for the victory. Okay match that didn’t have anything that wrong with it, but never really captured me. Went to the heat in unspectacular fashion and was to short for the opening it gave, but maybe I’m being too picky. 2 ¾ and 6/10.

Match Discussion Here

One of the Bruise Brothers (Porkchop Cash) looks like Kimbo Slice. The Other Bruise Brother is Dream Machine in yet another incarnation. The Grapplers are muscleheads in masks. Koko is wrestling as Stagger Lee, the mask gimmick JYD would use in Mid South. Jaguar is a short guy in a Tiger Mask mask. Finally, I’m loving a babyface Eaton here.

With all that said I’ve got little in the way of anything to say about the match. The faces worked like clockwork pulling stuff off at the onset. Mantell was a stand out. Dream machine looked good for the heel team while he was in. The Grapplers/Bruise Brothers were DQed in a little over three minutes to lose the first fall. Hopefully a second fall brings an escalation of story.

Grappler/BB team takes over in the second fall. Jimmy Hart is great talking about the First Family on commentary as they rule the ring during the fall. This is a solid studio effort, but I don’t have much in the way of my own commentary on it. The match develops with a long heel heat segment before the faces come back. I think I’d feel a bit more for it if I had an emotional connection to the charcters. Porkchop cash pins someone to win the second and final fall, as most of the TV 2/3 falls to TV tie finished this way. 2 ¾ and 5/10.

Match Discussion Here

Rogers insists that Jimmy Hart is not his manager, but Hart is already out at ringside in a seat waiting to watch the match. Interesting.

The exchanges early are quick and crisp. Even more impressive is the suplexes and spinebuster that Ware keeps hitting. The early stuff is great Koko Ware offense, though I think Rogers should be selling it more. These guys do a fun crisscross spot that ends with Rogers’ power slamming Ware. The timing and smoothness isn’t quite there between the two, and the mood isn’t urgent or big time, but the athleticism and desire is there. They have talent.

Hart starts getting verbally involved, but the crowd doesn’t really buy into it. Rogers tells him to leave, but he doesn’t. Roger’s offensive series doesn’t have quite the luster of Koko’s stuff, but Koko soon takes control again. Now we’re into some near falls for both. Match is so close to clicking physically, but mentally it’s far apart.

Roger’s falls into the ref eleven minutes in. Hart nails Ware with a chain. Rogers doesn’t want the gift, so he takes out Hart. Enter the Bruise Bothers, and this match is over. Oh Well. 2 ¾ and 6/10.

Match Discussion Here

My new favorite tag team of Eaton and Sugar. If only the young Cornette could have had these guys instead of Jimmy Hart leading them, my Hart would be content. Terry Taylor, a babyface here, would go on to success in Mid South, WCW, and even a stint in WWE. He’s far more successful collecting pay checks from WWE, WCW, and now TNA while wearing a suit. Oh, and Rougeau is most famous as a tag wrestler in the Quebecers, or as a single playing The Mountie. Enough background?

I can’t go far into this one without mentioning how great the opening Eaton-Taylor exchanges are. From the lock ups to the rope running this is some awesome stuff that still would hold up today. Taylor has the slight advantage, but Eaton shows off too.

Sugar and Jacques? Yep, they show off as well. The money flip on Sugar has to be seen to be believed. Rougeau could really make a headlock count. Great flow as Eaton and Sugar finally get the heat on Rougeau for a minute, he hot tags out for some fiery babyface shots from Taylor, and then they cut him off. Quick tags on and out as the heels cut off the ring. This match rules!

Only slight problem I’ve had so far was Sugar slamming Taylor to close to his own corner and then not realizing it would be easy for the face to make the tag. It’s not time yet, so he doesn’t, but it’s an odd two seconds.

Sugar puts on a sick sleeper like submission that Taylor tries to fight out of with all his might. Hot tag, Rougeau hits a second rope drop kick and Taylor takes care of the other man. 1-2-3 Taylor/Rougeau win. 3 ¼ and 6.5/10.

Match Discussion Here

A super face team of Memphis, plus Terry Taylor, takes on the first family, plus (not that) Sabu. Sabu looks like one of the Wild Samoans.

Eaton and Brown Sugar look king-sized early working on Dundee. A lot of quick tags from the heels in and out, which to me adds points in this match’s favor. I’m a fan of fast flowing teams from the 80s tags.

Eaton throws some really hard, reckless looking body slams. I’ve never noticed that before, but I’ve also never heard him called sloppy, so I assume they just look good.

I go back and forth on whether I like these semi-out of control 8 man tags. They move well, but a lot of time it’s tough to keep up with what’s going on. I start to feel a malaise at times from them, but then someone punches up the story again and it reclaims me. This is on the positive side for the most part. Too much talent in there not to be good.

Lawler has to put the strap down quick after getting tagged in. That’s how fast we’re rolling here. Sometimes these guys just no sell blows. Lawler rolls up McGraw for the first fall win. They get it under control during commercial and the same men start out the second fall.

It’s fun to see Lawler working with Eaton in there. Sabu selling of an atomic drop was pretty damn great. Ref Callhoun is doing a pretty good job of exerting his authority in an authentic manner without being a problem to the viewer. I love him pushing Eaton’s one leg out of the ring because he wasn’t the legal man. Lawler takes a big bump off the turnbuckle when he loses control.

Sabu and Terry Taylor seem to be the weak links in there, but they aren’t horrible by any means, just less good.

Dundee and Sugar go hard at the end, which looks good, but Sugar kicks out of the finish to soon. The call it a pin anyway. I’m conflicted on whether this match won me over or if I’m a slave to my tendency to dislike studio filler matches. 3 ¼ and 6/10.

Match Discussion Here