NWA Superstars on the Superstation Review

NWA Superstars on the Superstation Review
December 27, 2022
By Ryan Porzl

Event: Superstars on the Superstation
Tagline: None
Date: February 7, 1986
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Live or Tape: Tape (Taped February 2, 1986)
Arena(s): The Omni
Attendance: 10,000
Announcers: Tony Schiavone and David Crockett
Interviewers: Magnum TA
Other: Magnum TA (host) and Linda Curry (host)
Broadcast: TBS

Superstars on the Superstation was a TBS special with the gimmick being that fans can vote for dream matches on the show by writing in the days and weeks leading up to this event. For younger readers, the term “Superstation” refers to TBS which was the first station considered a “Superstation” beginning in the 1970s and continued to have that tag throughout the 1980s and 1990s as the station was sometimes referred to as “Superstation TBS” or “TBS the Superstation”.

We start with Magnum TA and some woman named Linda Curry who are the hosts.

Schiavone and Crockett welcome us to the show and talk about the matches while mentioning most of the matches will be 20 minute time limits while the main event will be TV time remaining.

NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Rock n' Roll Express (c) vs. The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette)- I believe this was the first major match between these two teams in the NWA though they did do dark matches and matches at house shows. Despite that, they knew each other very well even in 1986 due to their 1984 rivalry in Mid-South where they traded the tag team championship. The Rock n' Roll won the championships at Starrcade '85 in November from the Russians. Speaking of the Rock n' Roll, they're ridiculously over as usual.

The Midnights jump the Rock n' Roll to start and work them over before Eaton throws Gibson out. The Midnights then double team Morton before throwing him out. Gibson gets back on the apron but the Midnights double team slingshot him back in and work him over. Morton gets on the apron and they try to double team slingshot him but Morton reverses and slingshots the Midnights over and out to a big pop. The Rock n' Roll work over The Midnights at ringside. Back in, Morton whips Eaton to a corner and Gibson whips Condrey into the same corner. Gibson catches Condrey coming out with a hip toss while Morton monkey flips Eaton out of the corner. The Rock n' Roll hit stereo atomic drops with Condrey and Eaton colliding into each other to a pop. The Midnights bail out to regroup. Back in, it's Gibson and Eaton with the two tying up with Eaton muscling Gibson to the corner, punches him, but Gibson gets out with a punch of his own.

They tie up with Eaton muscling Gibson to the corner and tries to hip toss him out of the corner but Gibson blocks, sends Eaton to the corner, and hits his own hip toss out of the corner to a pop. Gibson then gets a headscissor takedown. Tag to Morton who punches Eaton on the apron. Gibson exposes Eaton's stomach allowing Morton to kick it. Morton drops Eaton with a punch and then hits Condrey with one bringing him in but the referee won't allow it. Morton hits a fist drop and drives his knee into Eaton's knee while pulling back on the leg. Eaton fights out and knees Morton before throwing him out. Eaton follows and punches Morton. Morton comes back with a punch but Eaton rakes the eyes. Eaton charges at Morton but Morton catches him with a back body drop on the concrete floor to a pop. Morton and Eaton fight on the floor while Gibson and Condrey fight in the ring. Back in, Eaton punches Morton in the corner.

Tag to Condrey with Morton working him over. Tag to Gibson who gets a single leg takedown and twists the ankle. Tag to Morton who comes off the ropes with a leg drop on the leg. Tag to Gibson who comes in with a slingshot knee drop on the leg and covers for 2. Gibson gets a single leg takedown and applies a leglock but Condrey gets out with a rake to the eyes. Tag to Morton with the Rock n' Roll doing their somersault hyperextending the legs before punching Eaton to a pop. Morton gets another leglock but Condrey eventually fights out. Condrey whips Morton to the ropes and catches him with a knee to the stomach but uses the bad knee and then takes a goofy back bump. Tag to Gibson who does a slingshot stomp on the knee. Gibson applies a spinning toe hold but eventually releases and drops an elbow on the knee. Tag to Morton who comes off the second turnbuckle with a fist drop to the knee. Morton snaps back on the knee but Condrey is able to tag Eaton.

They tie up with Eaton muscling Morton to the corner and works him over. Eaton whips Morton to the ropes, misses the elbow, Morton comes off the ropes, Eaton drops his head too early, and Morton catches him with a suplex to a pop. Morton jumps off the bottom rope and drops a knee on the back. Tag to Gibson who covers for 1. Gibson gets a front facelock but Eaton muscles him to the ropes. Eaton whips Gibson to the ropes, drops his head too early, Gibson comes off the ropes with a leapfrog, and attempts a dropkick but Eaton grabs the legs and slingshots him into a Condrey forearm. Tag to Condrey who drops a forearm and works over Gibson. Condrey chokes Gibson on the second rope and distracts the referee allowing Eaton to work over Gibson with his knee and for Cornette to whip him with his belt. Condrey covers for 2. Condrey gets a side headlock and punch. Tag to Eaton who hits a snapmare and comes off the top turnbuckle with an Alabama jam.

Eaton goads Morton in which distracts the referee which allows Condrey some cheap shots. Eaton covers for 2. Tag to Condrey with Eaton exposing the stomach and Condrey punching it. Condrey whips Gibson to the ropes and attempts to catch him with an abdominal stretch but Gibson comes off the ropes with his own but Condrey hip tosses him off and covers for 2. Tag to Eaton with Condrey whipping Gibson to the ropes and Eaton catching him with an elbow. Eaton hits a snapmare, climbs the top turnbuckle, and comes off with a diving knee drop. Tag to Condrey who hits a short range clothesline for 2. Gibson tries to fight back but Eaton tags in and stomps him. Eaton then knocks Morton off the apron. Morton comes back in but the ref separates him and Eaton while Condrey chokes Gibson on the top rope while Cornette whips Gibson with the belt again. Eaton gets a snapmare for 2. Eaton applies a chinlock until tagging Condrey who hits a forearm and applies his own.

Gibson eventually bridges up and starts to power out but Condrey pulls the hair to send Gibson back down and into the chinlock. Morton comes in but the referee sends him back which allows Eaton to climb the top turnbuckle and comes off with a diving elbow. Condrey covers for 2. Back to the chinlock with Condrey scissoring Gibson's leg to prevent the tag. Gibson bridges up and punches Condrey off but is too tired to follow up and Condrey knees the stomach. Condrey whips Gibson to the ropes, drops his head too early, Gibson comes off the ropes with a leapfrog, comes off the ropes, Condrey drops his head too early, and Gibson connects with a kneelift to a pop. Both are down. Condrey gets to his knees and rakes the eyes. Tag to Eaton who gets a side headlock followed by a punch. Tag to Condrey who drops a knee and chokes Gibson. Condrey rams Gibson into Eaton's knee as the fans try to rally behind Gibson.

Tag to Eaton who hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Eaton applies a chinlock but Gibson eventually gets back up. Tag to Condrey with the Midnights double team whipping Gibson to the ropes, they drop their heads too early, and Gibson comes off the ropes with a sunset flip on Eaton for 2 while Morton dropkicks Condrey. Condrey and Gibson trade blows until Condrey hits a belly-to-back backbreaker. Tag to Eaton with the Midnights attempting the rocket launcher but Gibson moves. Hot tag to Morton who hits Eaton with a slingshot dropkick and is the house on fire. Morton whips Eaton into Condrey, then whips Eaton to the ropes, and comes off the other side with a high crossbody for 2. The Rock n' Roll hit Eaton with a double dropkick but Eaton bumps into referee Randy Anderson. They hit Condrey with one. Cornette jumps on the apron but Morton slingshots him in to a big pop while Gibson nails Eaton with Cornette's tennis racket and covers but no ref. Cornette cowers in the corner while Morton gets his belt. We get the infamous “whip him, whip him like a dog” quote from Crockett on commentary. However, Condrey comes back and knocks Morton out with the racket which kills the crowd. Condrey and Gibson fight on the outside while Cornette pulls Eaton on top of Morton, revives the referee, and the Midnights win the match and the titles at 16:27.

Thoughts: *** Good opener with good action which you expect from these teams and Eaton took a nice bump on the concrete which I give him credit for. The crowd was into it for most of it which is a plus. The offense was good especially the team work. My only complaint was the heel beatdown probably went a little longer than I thought. The finish was fine.

Magnum and Linda talk about the tag title match. Linda is amazed by the energy of the fans. It's pretty obvious Linda isn't much into wrestling as this feels like the first time she's seen a match. I don't think anything makes me cringe harder in wrestling then people or celebrities brought in and clearly don't have a clue to what's going on.

The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. The Russians- The Road Warriors were fairly new to NWA/JCP at this point as they were still going back and forth between them and the AWA. This was considered a dream match as you had two bad ass teams and something had to give. The Warriors and Nikita have interesting history as they were part of that group of Minnesota wrestlers that came up in the late 1970s/early 1980s that were trained by Eddie Sharkey. They later would be allies against the Horsemen a year later.

“USA” chant from the crowd as Animal and Nikita start with a tie up with Nikita muscling Animal in the corner. Nikita hits some shoulder blocks. Animal reverses a whip to another corner but charges into a boot. Nikita climbs the second turnbuckle and comes off with a double ax handle attempt but Animal catches him in a bearhug to a pop but Nikita rakes the eyes. Nikita hits a bodyslam and comes off the ropes but misses an elbow drop. Animal comes back with a bodyslam but misses a leg drop. They stare as they stalemate. Tag to Hawk as he and Nikita tie up three times but are left at a stalemate. Nikita taunts, Hawk taunts, and Nikita tries to cheap shot but Hawk blocks and hits his own. Nikita punches the stomach and gets a front facelock. Tag to Ivan who comes off the top turnbuckle with a diving double ax handle. Ivan hits a double throat thrust. Hawk reverses a whip to the corner but misses the charge.

Ivan climbs the top turnbuckle and comes off but Hawk catches him coming down with a punch to the stomach to a pop. Hawk hits a shoulderbreaker. Hawk whips Ivan to the ropes and catches him with a big boot. Tag to Animal who hits a gorilla press slam to a big pop. Tag to Hawk who hits a jumping fist drop for 2. Hawk then hits a headbutt. Ivan walks into the Warriors corner and Animal hits him with a forearm. Hawk drops him with a punch. Hawk works over Ivan. Tag to Animal with Ivan reversing a whip to the ropes but drops his head too early and Animal comes off with a kick. Baron Von Raschke comes to ringside as Animal hits a jumping elbow drop for 2. Tag to Hawk as Animal hits an atomic drop while Hawk comes off the second turnbuckle with a punch. Hawk punches Ivan and comes off with a shoulder block. Hawk comes off again but Ivan whips him into Nikita. Tag to Nikita who hits a bodyslam for 2.

Nikita sends Hawk to the Russians corner and distracts the referee long enough for Ivan to choke Hawk with his chain. Nikita hits a snapmare and comes off the ropes but misses the elbow drop. Tag to Ivan with Nikita holding Hawk so Ivan can hit a leg drop for 2. Ivan hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2 and then whips Hawk into Nikita's boot. Tag to Nikita with the Russians double team whipping Hawk to the ropes and catches him with a double team elbow. Nikita cheap shots Animal which brings him in which distracts the referee which allows Nikita to send Hawk to the Russians' corner where Ivan can choke him. Tag to Ivan who works over Hawk and hits a knee lift. Ivan whips Hawk to the ropes, misses a clothesline, and Hawk comes off with a jumping shoulderblock for 2 as Nikita breaks the pin. All four are in the ring but as the referee is distracted with Animal and Nikita, Raschke comes in with a kick that knocks Hawk down followed by an elbow drop.

Ivan covers for 2. Hawk comes back with a bodyslam and punches a downed Ivan. Hawk picks Ivan up and tries to come off the ropes but Nikita trips him and Raschke comes in to attack Hawk giving the Warriors the disqualification win at 6:55. Afterwards, the heels beatdown the Warriors. Ellering comes in and gets beat 3-on-1. They set him up for Nikita to clothesline him with the chain but the Warriors pull Ellering down and Nikita and Ivan went flying over and out to the floor. The Warriors and Ellering make the comeback. Animal whips Ivan into Hawk who clotheslines him with the chain. Ellering whips Raschke into Hawk who clotheslines him with the chain.

Thoughts: ** Decent hoss type match that was done well but a bit short and with an abrupt finish. The Road Warriors were their usual bad ass selves while the Russians came off well as a potential threat for the most part. Booking was done well with Ivan taking the punishment to protect Nikita's aura and Ivan using the chain behind the referee's back as he was the veteran of the match and would know all the tricks. The finish made sense to protect the Russians and this would lead to six man tags with Magnum teaming with the Road Warriors.

Magnum interviews NASCAR driver Benny Parsons. Parsons was a NASCAR legend who won the 1973 Winston Cup Series and the 1975 Daytona 500. Parsons thanks Magnum and says it's great to be here but wishes his son was here as he's a fan of wrestling and Magnum. They talk about NASCAR and cars but I'm not an expert on either one. Kind of creepy with Magnum talking about being in a speeding car giving what happened that October. Like most of these celebrity interviews, this one doesn't mean much.

We then see Schiavone interview “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes and Willie Nelson from Arizona as they were filming a movie called Stagecoach which was a remake of a 1939 movie of the same name which Rhodes had a bit part in. They talk about the movie, Rhodes admiring and being a friend of Nelson, and other things. Nothing to do with wrestling and again, doesn't mean much though I guess it's always a big deal to have your wrestlers mingle with celebrities.

NWA National Heavyweight Championship: Dusty Rhodes (c) (w/Baby Doll) vs. Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon)- To say the least, these two know each other really well as they wrestled dozens of times from 1985-1987. Ironically, Rhodes was trained by Blanchard's father Joe. There was a story here as Doll had been with Blanchard throughout 1985 but the two had a fallen out between Starrcade 85 and here with Blanchard hiring Dillon as his manager while Doll went with Rhodes. This was very early in the Four Horsemen's run as well. Rhodes became the National Heavyweight Champion in December 1985 after being awarded the championship when Buddy Landel was fired due to drug problems with the story being he won it on December 19^th in Albuquerque, New Mexico in what was actually a phantom match. It's pointed out by the announcers and camera angle that Rhodes is no longer wearing his white protective boot that he wore at the end of 1985 due to the attack from Flair and the Andersons. Rhodes gets a good pop.

They circle and tie up to start with Rhodes muscling Blanchard into the ropes but gives a clean break and taunts Blanchard to a pop as we go to commercial. We're back with Rhodes cornering Blanchard. They tie up with Rhodes getting a double leg takedown and twists the ankle. Rhodes drops an elbow on the knee and applies a leglock while Blanchard attempts a chinlock but can't get it. Rhodes gets up, twists the ankle again, and drops another elbow before applying another leglock. Rhodes gets up and applies a figure four leglock to a pop but Blanchard quickly reaches the ropes. Rhodes stomps on Blanchard as he bails to regroup for a bit. Back in, they circle with Blanchard hobbling on one leg. He tries to bail again but Rhodes grabs the leg, pulls Blanchard back in, and applies a spinning toe hold but Blanchard eventually escapes by kicking Rhodes off. Rhodes takes Blanchard down again and applies another spinning toe hold.

Rhodes then drops another elbow to the leg and applies a leglock while the fans chant “break it”. Rhodes goes to the outside, pulls Blanchard to the apron, and rams the leg into the apron. Rhodes then rams the leg on the turnbuckle post. Rhodes heads to the apron and hits a bionic elbow. Rhodes climbs the top turnbuckle and comes off with a diving bionic elbow but hurts his previously injured leg in the process. Blanchard then drives his knee twice into the injured leg. Blanchard drops an elbow to the leg and applies a leglock while getting some near falls. Ten minutes remain as Blanchard kicks Rhodes' leg. Blanchard drives a knee into the leg and applies a modified toe hold where he gets some near falls. Blanchard tries to grab the trunks for added leverage but gets caught and has to release the hold. Blanchard kicks the leg again which drops Rhodes and he drives his knee into it. Blanchard hooks in the figure four leglock and gets a few near falls.

Rhodes eventually reverses but Dillon pulls Blanchard to the ropes behind the referee resulting in a rope break. Rhodes comes back by reversing a whip to the corner, Blanchard jumps on the second turnbuckle, and comes off with a high crossbody but Rhodes catches him and hits a backbreaker. Rhodes follows with a belly-to-belly suplex but Dillon distracts referee Tommy Young. Rhodes gets up and argues with Dillon which allows Blanchard to hit a running jump knee to Rhodes' back which sends Rhodes to the outside. Rhodes gets near the apron where Blanchard punches him a few times from the ring and then rams him into the apron. Rhodes makes it back in where Blanchard works him over with five minutes remaining. Rhodes comes back by fighting out of the corner with punches and drops Blanchard. Blanchard heads to the apron but Rhodes suplexes him back in. Rhodes covers and Tommy Young counts 3 but Dillon puts Blanchard's leg on the ropes for the break and Young continues the match.

Rhodes goes outside to stalk Dillon but Blanchard jumps Rhodes as he heads out and works him over. Blanchard works over Rhodes and whips him to the apron before sending him back in. Blanchard jumps off the second rope with a knee drop and covers but Rhodes is in the ropes. Four minutes remain as Blanchard works over Rhodes with punches in the corner. Blanchard tries for a snapmare but Rhodes reverses with a backslide for 2 as Blanchard's leg is in the ropes. Rhodes ducks a punch and hits an atomic drop which sends Blanchard to the corner with three minutes remaining. Rhodes works over Blanchard and hits a three point stance tackle. Rhodes hits a polish hammer for 2. Two minutes remain with Rhodes punching Blanchard into the corner and working him over with bionic elbows. Rhodes whips Blanchard to another corner and hits a bionic elbow. Blanchard heads to another corner where Rhodes works him over until the referee tries to separate them which sees Rhodes shove Tommy Young and that allows Dillon to trip him from the outside, allowing Blanchard to cover for 2. Rhodes stalks Dillon again and Blanchard tries to jump him from the ring but Rhodes punches him with one minute left. Back in, Rhodes works over Blanchard until Blanchard knees the stomach. 30 seconds remain as Blanchard whips Rhodes to the ropes, drops down to the canvas, Rhodes comes off, jumps over, comes off, catches Blanchard on a leapfrog attempt, and applies a boston crab with the time running out at 20:00. After the match, Dillon comes in to attack Rhodes, Rhodes stalks him in the corner, and Blanchard sneaks up from behind with a kick to the leg and a piledriver. Blanchard and Dillon then steal the National Championship.

Thoughts: *** Good match but like the Rock n' Roll/Midnight match, you'd expect it given these two have history with each other. Probably the highlight was the leg work which made sense as Rhodes wanted to slow Blanchard down while Blanchard wanted to attack a weak spot. I also liked some of Rhodes' offense in the belly-to-belly suplex and three point stance tackle. The biggest weakness of the match was the finish as there was no drama as the babyface Rhodes was the champion and mostly on offense towards the end so the ending wasn't as exciting as it could've been since Rhodes didn't have to win but let the clock run out. Another potential weakness was both largely would later ignore the leg work done, especially Rhodes. The draw made sense as it set up stuff for the future. Sure enough, Blanchard eventually defeated Rhodes for the championship on March 4^th during a TV taping.

Magnum interviews Jim Crockett Jr. Magnum says 1985 was a big year for JCP and talks about events like Starrcade and the Great American Bash before talking about the first Bunkhouse Stampede. Crockett says the Buckhouse Stampede was very special to them as it took them ten days but they found out who the toughest man in wrestling is. We get some clips as Magnum then brings up Jim Crockett Sr. and how he revolutionized the business and that JCP has been running shows for 50 years before announcing a certain tag team tournament. Crockett says the NWA board of directors sanctioned it as well as named it the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup and says he hopes Charlotte is the home of the first Crockett Cup event. In a sign of things to come, Magnum brings up comments from the people of New Orleans who want to host the event in the Superdome. We then go to comments from Joel Watts, the son of Mid-South promoter Bill Watts as well as an announcer and producer of the promotion. Watts talks to Bob Johnson, the executive VP of the Superdome. Johnson says anybody in the facility business knows the reputation of Bill Watts and Jim Crockett as well as the events they run around the country. He says from preliminary talks with Watts' people and Crockett's people that they think this will be an athletic event on par with any in the country. Johnson brings up the sporting events in the Superdome and feels the best place to hold the Crockett Cup in the Superdome. Watts thanks Johnson and wishes everyone a good 1986 and Mid-South hopes to continue their relationship. Nice segment to announce and set up the 1986 Crockett Cup and how it eventually was held in the Superdome. I like the Superdome stuff as it made the event seem bigger by showing arena execs were vying for the event.

Schiavone interviews Gaylord Perry. Perry was a baseball player who played from 1962-1983 and was mostly known for his time with the San Francisco Giants. He praises the tag teams and the action. He brings up the Atlanta Braves and wishes them luck. They talk about conditioning and the world heavyweight championship match. Again, nothing special.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs. Ron Garvin- Ok. This voting for dream matches has to be a sham. I know in 1986 there wasn't many “smart” fans and Garvin had his fans but who would consider him challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship a “dream match”? This really ages poorly given how poorly Garvin ended up as World Champion a year later. If I'm not mistaken, I think this was one of, if not, the last major show to feature the domed globe or ten pounds of gold NWA World Championship belt since I believe the big gold belt debuted around a week later.

They tie up in the corner and trade chops. Tie up with Garvin getting a side headlock, Flair whips him to the ropes, and Garvin comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Garvin comes off the ropes, jumps over, comes off the ropes, Flair leapfrogs, Garvin stops, and catches Flair turning around with a chop that sends Flair bailing out to regroup. Back in, they tie up with Garvin getting a side headlock. Flair muscles him into the corner and works him over with shoulder blocks and chops. Garvin comes out with punches and a jumping headbutt that results in a flair flop. The fans are popping as Garvin works over Flair with chops and punches before dropping him. Garvin covers for 2. Flair is angry as he tries to regroup in the corner. They do a test of strength with one arm which Garvin wins but Flair grabs the throat with the other and muscles him into the corner. Flair hits a chop but Garvin sends Flair to the corner and works him over.

They tie up as Flair gets out of the corner. Garvin grabs the nose for a bit until letting go and Flair heads back to the corner. They tie up with Flair muscling Garvin to the corner, knees the stomach, and hits another chop. Garvin sends Flair to the corner and works him over with chops. Garvin whips Flair to another corner and catches him coming out with a back body drop. Flair begs off but Garvin grabs Flair's arm and repeatedly stomps on the hand. Flair comes back by sending Garvin to the corner where he forearms the chest but Garvin nails Flair and Flair falls to the outside. Back in, Garvin stomps on Flair. Garvin chops at Flair in the corner and whips him to another with Flair whipping shoulder first into the corner. Garvin takes Flair down with an arm wringer with Flair doing a front flip bump and then twists the arm. Flair eventually gets up and knees the back. Flair chops away while Garvin is on the ropes and Flair hits a punch.

Flair then throws Garvin out but Garvin quickly comes back in with Flair sending him to the corner where he hits chops and forearms. Garvin sends Flair to the corner and hits chops. Garvin continues to chop as Flair gets out of the corner until Garvin uppercuts him over and out to the floor. Back in, Garvin whips Flair to the ropes and catches him with a sleeperhold but Flair gets out with a belly-to-back suplex. Both are down but Flair gets up and hits a jumping double stomp. Flair hits a suplex for 2. Flair hits a knee drop for 2 as he sits on Garvin. Flair slaps and chokes Garvin but Garvin comes back with mounted punches and covers for 2. They trade blows until Garvin drops Flair with some punches for 2. Flair begs in the corner but Garvin hits some headbutts. Garvin whips Flair to the corner with Flair attempting a flair flip but doesn't quite get it and falls to the canvas. They fight over a suplex attempt but Garvin gets it and a couple of 2 counts.

Flair gets a side headlock takedown but Garvin counters with a head scissor. Flair gets out and lands on top for 2 as Garvin bridges and gets the backslide for 2. Flair sends Garvin to the corner and hits a chop. Flair whips Garvin to the ropes, misses a chop, and Garvin comes off the ropes with a high crossbody for 2. Garvin gets a punch but Flair briefly takes him down. They get up and Garvin muscles Flair into the corner where he works him over with chops. Garvin whips Flair to the corner, Flair does the flair flop, lands on the apron, runs across, climbs the top turnbuckle, and comes off but Garvin catches him with a punch to the stomach to a pop. Garvin gets a small package for 2 as the crowd is loud. Flair kicks Garvin, whips him to the ropes, misses the chop, but gets a kick, and the chop for 2. Flair argues with referee Tommy Young which allows Garvin to get an O'Connor roll but we get a ref bump as Young is knocked to the outside.

Garvin would've had it. Garvin whips Flair to the ropes and catches him with a punch. Garvin covers but no referee. Young climbs to the apron as Garvin checks on him which allows Flair to come off the ropes with a jumping knee to the back of Garvin. Flair covers and retains at 14:33 as Young fails to see Garvin's foot on the rope. After the match, Crockett continues to be annoying as he complains to Young before Flair tells him to shut up.

Thoughts: *1/2 Alright match with a very good crowd but it had the usual Flair stuff and was mostly punches and chops which got repetitive. I never viewed Garvin as a good Flair opponent like Rhodes or Koloff or Sting or Luger as he doesn't have the exciting style or charisma to fill in the blanks to Flair's mad libs. Perhaps another negative is Flair never once attempted the figure four or even tried to work on the leg despite it being his move. The finish was awful as Garvin is a midcarder so I don't see why you needed the overbooked ending as Flair could've won clean off a small package or something.

Magnum and Linda close things as we go to credits.

Final Thoughts
Superstars on the Superstation is mostly a Saturday Night's Main Event/Clash of the Champions type show. In some ways, you could argue it was Clash of the Champions two years before the specials began and for that, it's a pretty good show. Two matches are in the three star territory which is good for a TV special while another got a decent two stars. The main event was lacking but not atrocious or anything. There's also some historical stuff as we got a title change so it's definitely recommended if you're a big Midnight Express fan. The only bad stuff was the celebrity interviews as they largely meant nothing and were largely a waste of time while David Crockett's commentary was bad. I know most think of Crockett as a shitty announcer and anybody that's watched this show knows how cringe he can be so believe the hype. Still, for a 90 minute special, this is worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of 80s wrestling. There's no match of the year candidates but still a good way to spend 90 minutes.

Recommended

Superstars on the Superstation Facts
First of two straight February TBS specials from the NWA