Wednesday, April 20, 2016

1987 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Stars (June-December)

I've been combing through the old issues of the WON looking for matches which Dave has rated. There's a lot of show results (5/27 card in Lubbock before 250 saw Steve Simpson pin Barry Colley DUD) where star ratings are given, but most of these are based on live reports from fans. I decided not to include those. If there is a match "missing" from the order, it's either because there was no rating given or that page of the WON was missing. The date before the matches is the WON issue where the review was found. Special thanks to Cory for all of his research and OCR work! Spellings and nicknames remain as originally printed. I've edited many of the match descriptions for length. Archives for 1987 started with the June 8, 1987 issue.
6/29/87

Jim Crockett's Western States tournament card on 6/20 in Houston. 
1. Steve Cox won a "$10,000" pole Battle Royal   ***
2. Shaska Whatley (sub for Terry Taylor--no mention at all at the arena as to why Taylor wasn't there) pinned Buddy Roberts in the first round of the Western States Heritage title tournament.   *1/4
3. Black Bart pinned Sting in a first round match.  *1/2
4. Rick Steiner and Terry Gordy were both disqualified in their first round match in 6:35.   ** (would have been rated slightly higher except for the weak finish--Steiner has awesome potential, but it seems his progress has stagnated in recent months, and without Sting, I can see him fading into prelims fast--with the exception of Williams, Gordy got the best reactions on the card)
5. Barry Windham pinned Chris Adams in the final first round match.   **1/4
6. The Lightning Express (Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner) downed The Enforcer (Doug Gilbert) & The Terminator (I believe Mark Laurinidas, but not sure but he's Animal's brother) to keep the UWF tag title.   *3/4
7. The Rock & Roll Express retained the NWA tag belts beating Big Bubba Rogers & Angel of Death.   **3/4
 8. Ric Flair retained the NWA title pinning Michael Hayes in 20:12.   ***3/4
9. Windham pinned Whatley in the semifinals of the tournament in 7:32 with the lariat.   **1/4
10. Steve Williams & Dusty Rhodes downed Eddie Gilbert & Dick Murdoch in a Bunkhouse tornado tag team match.   ****
11. Windham pinned Bart to win the tournament. ***1/2

7/20/1987

JCP in San Francisco market 7/7/87 
1. Misty Blue pinned Kat LaRoux in 5:02 with a splash off the top ropes.  1/2*
2. Big Bubba Rogers beat Chris Adams via count out in 4:52.   *1/4
3. Mike Rotunda drew Dory Funk over 15:00 to retain the Florida state title.   *1/2
4. Barry Windham pinned Black Bart in 9:04 to retain the Western States title.   **
5. Ron & Jimmy Garvin downed Ivan Koloff & Manny Fernandez in 8:07 when Paul Jones ended up in the ring, Ron G hit him with the knockout punch and pinned him.   **3/4
6. Dick Murdoch downed Steve Williams in a match where if Doc won, he'd get five minutes with Eddie Gilbert.   **3/4
7. Road Warriors downed the Midnight Express in 9:12 when Hawk pinned Stan Lane after a double-clothesline.   *
8. Nikita Koloff pinned Arn Anderson to retain the U.S. title after a sickle in 15:42.   -*1/2 (that's negative one-and-a-half stars)
9. The Rock & Roll Express downed Ric Flair & Lex Luger via DQ in 18:20 to retain the NWA tag team title.   ***3/4
10. Dusty Rhodes pinned Tully Blanchard in your typical let's bleed and go home 5:00 cage match.   1/2*

9/7/87

August 28- Sam Houston Coliseum - Houston, TX "Paul Boesch's final show"   
1. Sam Houston pinned Steve Lombardi with a bulldog headlock in 14:00.   **
2. Bruno Sammartino downed Hercules Hernandez in 6:00 via count out.   1/2*
3. Brutus Beefcake downed Johnny V in the hair vs. hair match with the sleeper in 7:30.   1/2* (just for the haircut, match was a dud)
4. Tom Prichard pinned Mark Lewin in 4:00 with an enzuigiri kick. It was all action for the time but the crowd wasn't into it. They both worked very hard while they were out there. *
5. Hulk Hogan pinned One Man Gang in 9:00 with the dreaded legdrop after a bodyslam.   *** (it was **1/4 worth or work but the heat has to be worth something since Hogan seemed to control the heat at will--all in all the best match on the card)
6. Sherri Martel pinned Flabulous Moolah in 10:00 to keep the women's title.  **
7. Junkfood Doa (final tabulations on keeping Junkfood's name were 117-to-19 in favor) & Tony Atlas beat Kimala & Sika when Junkfood reversed a bodyslam and pinned Sika in 4:00.   -*1/2 (that's negative one-and-a-half)
8. Terry Funk pinned Chavo Guerrero with an inside cradle in 7:00.   **3/4
9. Ted DiBiase pinned Jim Duggan after an elbow drop off the middle ropes in 8:30.   **1/2
10. Tito Santana (with a new haircut and outfit to make him look like a Tom Zenk clone) & Mil Mascaras (managed by Jose Lothario--by the way--Ernie Ladd managed Junkfood & Atlas earlier) beat Demolition via DQ in 9:00.   **1/4

UWF promoted the "Night of Champions" at the Summit in Houston
1. Misty Blue, that star of stage and screen, pinned Comrade Orca (probably a better name for her would be the One Woman Gang) with a cradle in 5:00.   *
2. Shane Douglas pinned Pez Whatley in 6:48 to retain the UWF "World" TV title.   *
3. Ron Simmons pinned The Enforcer (Doug Gilbert) in 3:30 with a flying tackle off the middle ropes ala Butch Reed (except Simmons lost his footing and more fell than flew off the ropes catching Enforcer in the belly instead of shoulders).   4* T
4. In a match for the rookie of the year trophy, Steve Cox pinned Gary Young with a cradle in 10:00.   *1/4
5. Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner kept the UWF tag belts beating Black Bart & The Terminator (Mark Laurinidas) in 10:12 when Horner pinned Terminator after Armstrong had dropkickdd him off the top ropes.   ***1/4
6. Terry Taylor pinned Chris Adams in 10:05 after hitting him with a foreign object.   ****
7. Steve Williams pinned Big Bubba Rogers in 7:28 with the stampede to keep the UWF title.   ***1/4
8. Sting dcwned Eddie Gilbert in a one fall Texas Death match (sort of a contradiction of terms).   ***
9. Dusty Rhodes beat Lex Lugar (on his robe it's spelled Lugar and I figure he knows best) via DQ in the U.S.   **
10. The Rock & Roll Express kept the NWA tag belts beating Blanchard & Anderson in 14:33 of an excellent match--much better than I'd expected.   ****
11. Ric Flair pinned Barry Windham in 26:45 when both collided and Flair fell on top for the pin.   ****

10/12/87

The WWF came to Oakland on 9/29 
1. Ron Bass pinned Scott Casey with his facebuster in 14:00. DUD;
2. Ted DiBiase pinned Outhouse Jack in 7:00 with a powerslam.  1/2*;
3. Sensational Sherri pinned Velvet McIntyre to keep the women's title in 13:00 by reversing a cross bodyblock and pulling tights.  *1/4;
4. Randy Savage pinned Harley Race in 8:00 with a reverse cradle.  *;
5. Jim Duggan beat Honkeytonk Man via a reversed decision DQ. *;
6. Siva Afi pinned Terry Gibbs with a flying body press in 11:00.  -1/2* (negative one-half, negative one-and-a-half for the first 7, one star for the last 4 because both tried and Afi was in pain);
7. Superstar Grahampa beat Butch Reed via DQ in 8:00.  *;
8. Hercules Hernandez pinned Hillbilly Jim with a cradle using the ropes in 9:00. DUD;
9. The Hart Foundation downed the Barbie Dolls (Roma & Powers) to keep the tag title in 13:00 of the only decent match on the card.  **

Titan: Results from 9/21 at Madison Square Garden before a sellout of 19,745 saw: 
1. Scott Casey pinned Steve Lombardi in 11:00 with the bulldog headlock.  *1/4;
2. Don Muraco pinned Bob Orton in 11:00 by reversing a piledriver into a backdrop and pin. **;
3. Islanders beat Rick Martel & Tito Santana in 14:00 when they did a switch after a collision and Haku pinned Martel after a diving head-butt. ***1/2;
4. Tiger Chung Lee pinned Brad Rheingans in 5:00 in the "Let's bore the crowd before the Hulkster" match.  **1/2;
5. Hulk Hogan double count out with One Man Gang in 8:00.  **3/4;
6. Jacques & Raymond Rougeau went to a time limit draw with Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo in a match which went 16:30. **;
7. George Steele beat Sika via DQ in 2:00 when Sika used a chair. Fans were booing most of the match, and I don't think it was because Sika was in control either. Just awful. -* (would have been even worse but I gave them credit for limiting it to two minutes);
8. Harley Race pinned Hillbilly Jim with a diving head-butt in 7:00. A bad match, but Race really tried to work with the guy. *;
9. Randy Savage pinned Honkeytonk Man in a non-title match in 11:00 with an elbow off the top ropes. Basically a brawl, but totally under control. Savage carried the guy to a good match, but Honkey's matches with Ricky Steamboat at the past two cards were a lot better. ***

NWA came to town on 11/9 with a card at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium 
1. Shaska Whatley pinned George Welles in 11:00 with a flying clothesline. *
2. Ron Simmons pinned Black Bart in 11:00 with a sunset flip.  -* (that's negative one star)
3. Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner ("The Newer Lightning Express") downed the Kodiaks in 7:40 when Horner pinned one of them.  *3/4
4. Nikita Koloff pinned Eddie Gilbert with the sickle in 7:18.  **3/4
5. Barry Windham went to a double count out with Larry Zbyszko in 10:12. ***
6. Road Warriors downed Luke Williams & Johnny Ace in 10:48 when Animal powerslammed his brother off the middle ropes and pinned him. No mention at all of Butch Miller. *3/4
7. Steve Williams beat Dory Funk via DQ in 17:00 when Funk tossed him over the top ropes. No heat at all. Bad isn't the word.
 8. Ron & Jimmy Garvin downed Ric Flair & Lex Lugar in an elimination tag team match.  ***1/2

11/30/87

The AWA returned to the Cow Palace in San Francisco on 11/21 
1. J.T. Southern pinned Soldat Ustinov in 12:33 with a cross-body block. DUD
2. Kevin Kelly & Nick Kiniski went to a 20:00 draw with Mitch Snow & Alan West.   1/4*
3. Tommy Rich went to a double count out with Adrian Adonis in 13:00.  *1/2 4. Ray Stevens & Greg Gagne & Wahoo McDaniel downed Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose & Dick Slater.   *
5. The Battle Royal   1/2*
6. Curt Hennig pinned D.J. Peterson in 22:58 using the ropes to retain the AWA title. **1/4

12/7/87

WWF SURVIVORS SERIES REPORT - November 26 - Richfield, OH Coliseum 
1. Jim Duggan & Randy Savage & Ricky Steamboat & Brutus Beefcake & Jake Roberts downed Harley Race & Hercules Hernandez & Honkeytonk Man & Danny Davis & Ron bass in 24:00.  **;
2. Velvet McIntyre & Jumping Bomb-Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno) & Rockin Robin (Robin Smith) & Flabulous Moolah beat Leilani Kai & Judy Martin (The Glamour Ghouls), Dawn Marie, Donna Christanello & Sensational Sherri Martel in 20:00.   **
3. The battle of the tag teams saw the babyface squad (Killer Zzzs, Barbie Dolls (Powers & Roma), Strike Force, British Bulldogs and Rougeaus) down the heels (Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo, Demolition, Hart Foundation, Islanders and Bolsheviks) in 37:00.   ****
4. Andre the Giant & One Man Gang & King Kong Bundy & Butch Reed & Rick Rude downed Hulk Hogan & Bam Bam Bigelow & Paul Orndorff & Don Muraco & Ken Patera in 22:00.   ***3/4

STARCADE 87 - November 26 - Chicago, IL Pavilion 
1. Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin & Sting went to a 15:00 draw against Rick Steiner & Larry Zbyszko & Eddie Gilbert.   **3/4
2. Steve Williams pinned Barry Windham in 7:00 to retain the UWF championship.  DUD
3. The Rock & Roll Express downed the Midnight Express in a scaffold match which lasted 9:35.   ***
4. Nikita Koloff pinned Terry Taylor in 18:20 to win the unification of the NWA and UWF television titles.   *
5. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson beat the Road Warriors via DQ in 14:00.   ***1/2;
6, Dusty Rhodes pinned Lex Luger (his rose now spells the last name "Luger" and I figure if anyone knows how to spell it, it's him) in 16:00 to win the U.S. title in the cage match.   * (the star is because I loved the finish, those who watched it with me all thought the match deserved negative stars)
7. Ric Flair regained the NWA title pinning Ronnie Garvin in 17:25 in the second cage match.   **1/2

12/21/87

December 11 - Tokyo Budokan Hall (All Japan Pro Wrestling) 
1. Masanobu Kurusu pinned Yoshinari Ogawa with an inside cradle at 11:00. *1/2
2. Isamu Teranishi pinned Mitsuo Momota with a reverse cradle. Momota is probably the worst wrestler in Japan.   DUD
3. Mighty Inoue & Masa Fuchi downed Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen via DQ in 7:25.   **
4. Tiger Mask & Takashi Ishikawa downed Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki in 18:25 of an excellent match.  ***1/2
5. Rusher Kimura pinned Isao Takagi with a bulldog headlock after a clothesline. *1/4
6. Dory & Terry Funk downed Chris & Mark Youngblood in 8:48 when Terry pinned Mark with the Thesz press.   ***
7. John Tenta & Kabuki downed Tom Zenk & The Terminator in 9:30 when Tanta pinned Terminator after an elbow drop.   **1/2
8. Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima downed Abdullah the Butcher & TNT from Puerto Rico.  ***
9. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara went to a double count out with Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy after a brutal and amazing 28:36.  ****1/2
10. The tournament championship match saw Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshaiki Yatsu down Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka in 16:51. ***1/2

 December 6 - Tokyo Korauken Hall (All Japan Women's Wrestling Association) 
1. Kaoru Kage pinned Sachiko Nakamura just after the 5:00 mark after a bodyslam.  *1/4
2. Doril Nakamae & Kuniko Iwamoto, two more of Dump's girls, beat Megumi Kudo & Noriyo Toyoda when Nakamae pinned Kudo after a backdrop. **1/4
3. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito beat Yumi Ogura & Reibun Amada. **1/2
4. After the intermission, Chigusa came out and did a musical number. It was tremendous and amazing to see the crowd reaction. The girls in the audience sing all the words to the song with her.
5. Chigusa came out once more for the 5:00 exhibition with Devil Masami. **1/2
5. Dump Matsumoto went to a double count out with Yukari Omori in 17:16 of one of the best matches you'll ever see.  ****1/2
6. The team of Lioness Asuka & Mika Komatsu & Kazue Nagahori & Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Etsuko Miita & Sachiko Nakamura won the match 11 falls to 10 over Chigusa Nagayo & Yumiko Hotta & Mika Takahashi & Mika Suzuki & Yachiyo Hirata.  *****

December 3 - Nagoya (New Japan Pro Wrestling) 
1. Akira Nogami pinned Tiger Katayama with a flying body press in 10:17. Pretty brutal match with both guys looking good and fighting hard. ***1/4
2. Tatsutoshi Goto pinned Yoji Anjo after one of the scariest back suplexes you would ever see ***
3. Black Cat pinned Dynamite Chris (Chris Benoit) with a standing scorpion hold into a pin after Chris missed a head-butt off the top ropes in 8:35. **3/4
4. Shiro Koshinaka & Kazuo Yamazaki & Keiichi Yamada downed Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Kensuke Sasaki in 10:26 when Koshinaka pinned Sasaki with a butt-bump and a german suplex.  ****1/2
5. Osamu Kido pinned Ron Ritchie with a neckbreaker in 7:08. Ritchie tries to work a crowd like Steve Lombardi does. Decent match but uneventful. **
6. Scott Hall pinned George Takano with a powerslam at 5:16. **4
7. Super Strong Machine pinned Ron Starr with the Machine suplex in 9:03. The move is grabbing an inside armlock, then taking the guy over in vertical suplex fashion and bridging while pinning the guy. Very nice move. Sort of slow paced but all the moves were solid and lots of the moves were very good. **1/2
8. Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Fujiwara downed Keiji Muto & Nobuhiko Takada in 13:17 when Saito pinned Takada with the Saito suplex. Muto got beat up a lot here. Basically a damn good match. ***1/2 ;
9. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura went to a double count out against Kerry & Kevin on Erich in 9:12. *3/4
10. Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch downed Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki in the main event.  ***

December 4 - Tokyo Sumo Hall (NJPW) 
1. Kensuke Sasaki made Osamu Matsuda submit to the Boston crab. *1/2
2. Don Arakawa made Akira Nogami submit to the "Wakigatame," a judo armbar submission in 10:58. *
3. Tatsutoshi Goto pinned Black Cat in 12:49 by reversing a sunset flip into a cradle pin. *
4. Kazuo Yamazaki & Nobuhiko Takada & Keiichi Yamada downed Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Dynamite Chris in a super match. ****1/4
5. Super Strong Machine pinned Scott Hall in 6:34 with a sunset flip. The match was average. **
6. Seiji Sakaguchi & George Takano downed Ron Starr & Ron Ritchie in 8:57. **1/2
7. Kevin & Kerry Von Erich downed Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Muto in 8:57 when Kevin pinned Koshinaka with the claw.  **
8. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura downed Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki in 7:12 when Fujinami pinned Nagasaki after a lariat. The finish was an excellent spot.  ***
9. Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch went to a 30:00 draw with Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Fujiwara. ****

December 5 in Numazu: 
1. Anjo beat Nogami with chicken wing in 13:55 **3/4;
2. Sasaki pinned Keniichi Oya with powerslam in 13:41. **1/2;
3. Yamada pinned Shunji Kosugi with Japanese leg crotch hold. ***1/2;
4. Honaga pinned Chris with a backslide. Lots of nice moves here. **1/2;
5. Saito pinned Black Cat with small package. ***;
6. Hall pinned Gotoh with powerslam in 3:28. *1/2;
7. Koshinaka & Takano beat Ritchie & Starr when Koshinaka pinned Ritchie with back suplex in 9:04. ***1/2;
8. Von Erichs beat Kido & Takada in 8:57 when Kevin pinned Kido with small package. **1/2;
9. Fujiwara & Saito beat Pogo & Nagasaki when Fujiwara made Pogo submit to the armbar. Lots of comedy by Fujiwara and Wakamatsu. **1/2;
10. Inoki & Muto & Murdoch beat Machine & Fujinami & Kimura when Inoki made Machine submit to the abdominal stretch in 11:27.  ***

December 7 in Osaka: 
1. Nogami pinned Katayama with flying body press in 11:50. A **1/4;
2. Arakawa pinned Kosugi with inside cradle. **1/2;
3. Yamada & Yamazaki beat Honaga E. Sasaki when Yamazaki made Sasaki submit to the chicken wing and cross face.  **1/2;
4. Goto pinned Chris in 11:08 with an excellent german suplex. ***;
5. Koshinaka pinned Ritchie with the butt-bump in 8:35. **;
6. Hall pinned Takano with the powerslam in 7:48.  **3/4;
7. Machine & Hiro Saito lost to Pogo & Nagasaki in 12:59 *1/2;
8. Fujinami & Kimura beat Masa Saito & Fujiwara to earn the tournament final spot. ***1/4;
10. Fujinami & Kimura won the tournament in 15:54 over Inoki & Murdoch when Fujinami pinned Murdoch. ***1/4

November 30 in Niigata: 
1. Masa Fuchi pinned Yoshinari Ogawa in 6:26 after a piledriver.  *;
2. Mighty Inoue pinned Haruka Eigen with sunset flip.   *1/2;
3. Fuyuki & Kawada went to a 25:00 draw with Teranishi & Takagi. **1/2;
4. Youngbloods beat Kimura & Tsurumi via DQ in 9:05 when Tsurumi hit Mark with a chain. *1/2;
5. Tenryu & Hara beat Kabuki & Tenta in 13:00 when Hara cradled Tents.   **;
6. Hansen & Gordy beat Tiger Mask & Nakano in 8:08 when Hansen lariated Nakano. ***1/2;
7. Baba & Wajima beat Terminator & Zenk in 8:24 when Wajima lariated Termie. DUD;
8. Funks double count out Tsuruta & Yatsu 17:33 *1/2;
9. Brody & Snuka beat Abdullah & TNT when Snuka superflied on TNT in 11:43. ***3/4

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