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Post by Baltimore Jack on Dec 28, 2004 11:49:39 GMT -5
1988 was a terrible year business wise for JCP (I guess that goes without saying), but there were two angles that I loved that year.
One was the Windham heel turn that Dusty crafted, but Barry Windham surprised everyone with, because he had this unexpectedly tremendous heel presence.
The other was the Rick Steiner turn over almost the entire year, which culminated in one of the best reactions at Starrcade 88, when he finally defeated Rotundo and did the victory laps around the ring in Norfolk. One of the real memorable moments of that show and that year.
People that only know Steiner from the tag years of the early 90s with Scott, or the later miss-guided "bad ass" years of the late 90s and now his indy stints, should go back and watch tapes of the Varsity Club in 1988. I could be wrong, but this has Kevin Sullivan's finger prints on it, not Dusty's. And I believe the whole story developed a life and momentum of its own because fans fell in love with the goofy Rick Steiner.
He was so over at that time that the inexperienced new management that took over after the Crockett sale, led by Jim Herd, wanted to give him the NWA title!
Anyway, those were two programs that made 1988 a little better year to live through, in my opinion anyway. Would love to know other's thoughts on that year.
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Post by GarvinStomp on Dec 28, 2004 11:58:07 GMT -5
Steiner was great in 1988 because that was the year that he talked to "Alex". The story back then was that some past car accident had made him kind of stupid but had not taken away his ability to wrestle.
The Great American Bash 1988 was an awesome pay per view. I have that tape and the Tower of Doom was just an awesome match to watch. The ending of the Flair/Luger match from that pay per view was certainly memorable with the match being stopped due to Luger's bleeding from the forehead. And Windham retaining the U.S. Title vs. Rhodes was great, especially considering Ron Garvin hit the ring and leveled Rhodes with the knockout punch.
I agree with you about the Windham heel turn. The best version of the four horsemen ever was Rick, Tully, Arn, and Barry.
Also in 1988 you had the Road Warriors turn heel and defeat the Midnight Express for the world tag team titles. And Sting and Lex Luger won the Crockett Cup.
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Post by bobbyryates on Dec 28, 2004 15:31:38 GMT -5
i still miss robin greene.
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Post by phinney on Dec 28, 2004 17:19:39 GMT -5
Mine is the Windham turn and all 4 horsemen having belts. I admit though, 1988 was sorta poor compared to earlier years
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Post by ssteward on Dec 28, 2004 20:23:05 GMT -5
1988 was a great year in the ring
The Windham turn was great
The Fantastics vs The Midnight Express was the best series of matches of the year, and the highlite of the year for me
Starrcade and the 1st Clash were great shows, and most of the rest of the big ones were at least good.
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Post by originalfour on Dec 29, 2004 11:21:30 GMT -5
1.The Fantastics debut against the Midnight Express 2.The Fantastics versus the MX at Clash 1 3.The Powers of Pain-LOD fued Confrontations between Jim Cornette and JJ Dillon(Awesomely classic!) 4.Dusty versus RW Animal at Clash 4 5.Barry Windham and Ric Flair versus the MX at Clash 4 6.Ric Flair still the man Note: Hated that the GAB tour lost its fizzle...foshizzle my nizzle. Happy Holidays brizzles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  |
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lobo
Rookie
Posts: 24
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Post by lobo on Jan 3, 2005 11:47:02 GMT -5
Tommy Rogers is one of those great underated wrestlers like Brad Armstong Fantastics vs. Midnight Express was awesome My memory is terrible but were The Lightining Express around in 1988  |
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Post by ssteward on Jan 4, 2005 23:59:05 GMT -5
Yes, they were, but they might as well have been called the "Invisible Express." They had a couple good tv bouts with the Sheeps and Midnight in 88.
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Post by stingmark on Jan 5, 2005 16:17:58 GMT -5
Barry's heel turn and MX's NWA world tag title win. ;D
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Post by phinney on Jan 7, 2005 17:03:17 GMT -5
I also really liked the first COTC, that Sting and Flair match was great!
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Post by GarvinStomp on Jan 10, 2005 17:10:40 GMT -5
The First Clash of The Champions match between Sting and Ric Flair was awesome and had to be the match of the year. Quite a classic confrontation. Sting and Flair wrestled many times and that probably was their best match. Although the match at Great American Bash '90 New Revolution in Baltimore was awesome as well and had one of the loudest pops ever when Sting won the world title.
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Post by ssteward on Jan 12, 2005 17:53:46 GMT -5
the ultra brief Midnight vs Tully & Arn feud was a highlite also. Thank god for fan cams! |
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Post by justahamandegger on Jan 17, 2005 18:59:00 GMT -5
1988 was a terrible year business wise for JCP (I guess that goes without saying), but there were two angles that I loved that year. The other was the Rick Steiner turn over almost the entire year, which culminated in one of the best reactions at Starrcade 88, when he finally defeated Rotundo and did the victory laps around the ring in Norfolk. One of the real memorable moments of that show and that year. People that only know Steiner from the tag years of the early 90s with Scott, or the later miss-guided "bad ass" years of the late 90s and now his indy stints, should go back and watch tapes of the Varsity Club in 1988. I could be wrong, but this has Kevin Sullivan's finger prints on it, not Dusty's. And I believe the whole story developed a life and momentum of its own because fans fell in love with the goofy Rick Steiner. I remember the Varsity club interviews. They wouldn't let Rick Steiner talk. Finally one week the interviewer (I think it was Mean Gene) Asked Kevin Sulivan why they didn't let Rick talk. Finally Kevin asked Rick if he wanted to talk. Rick said "yes". Kevin said "Then say something". Rick said "Well what should I say". lol Kevin slapped rick and then turned to Mean Gene and said "This is why we don't let him talk". Looking back, I think this was great stuff. This would later lead to the Woman/Steiner angel. |
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Post by RMF1973 on Jan 20, 2005 8:36:18 GMT -5
1. The Windham heel turn(always loved the heels).
2. Clash of the Champions
3.Flair
4.Flair
5.Flair
1,000,000.Flair
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Post by VR on Feb 19, 2005 2:41:01 GMT -5
Windhams turn
The Enforcer & The Enterprise
MX vs Fantastics
Runnels loosing the book, although I feel he still could of played a role in the company as a heel in 1989. Rhodes, Murdoch, and Orton. All three managed by Gary Hart. Rhodes and Murdoch making up the team while Orton does the dirty work. Helping to get the youth movement over.
Muta is manged by Matsuda instead.
VR
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