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Loved this commentary from ya'll. Downloaded to mp3. Listen with steely keen eyes. Thank both ya'll for this 💎

😆 *PromoSM*

We look amazing and sound even better

Hogan pretty much always wrestled heel, even when he was top babyface. Raking of the eyes was always a staple of his repertoire. It's hard to think of now, but at the time, WWF was #3, in the country, behind NWA and AWA, with WCCW coming on strong. It went into overdrive with Vince, but Hulkamania's birth was in the AWA, which was on fire in '82-'83. Verne Gagne was the first of many to not understand the changing of the business and make Hulk's decision to leave for NY easier, with Okerlund and others following soon after. Hogan's prior heel run in WWWF ended because Vince Sr. fired him for doing Rocky 3, which hurt the business in Sr.'s eyes. He landed in the AWA after the movie was released and his popularity skyrocketed in Minnesota. Watch AWA Super Sunday for another good example of how over Hogan was, and the sheer idiocy of Gagne. State athletic commissions were a byproduct of kayfaybe. Wrestling promotions, because they tried to pass themselves off as legit had to go along with the grift of athletic boards. That's a large part of where the phrase "sports-entertainment" came from. McMahon was looking for a way out from under them (largely due to the fees they took). Funny you mentioned Chicago with the ref, the Chicago portion of WM2 featured a non-WWF ref in two of the matches, one of whom, I think shows up at Starrcade 87, and is awful both times as he's not "part of the act". Kudos for not mentioning the fairly obvious boner that Sheik has when he gets ready to apply the camel clutch.

Nice review. The event was shown as it happened live. The closed circuit would present on screens above the ring for the off-site matches. WM2 being in three locations was a dig at the NWA. Both events did well, with WM having a higher total attendance, while Starrcade had a higher average attendance. It was just a case of two different audiences, WWF gave you celebrities, NWA gave you blood. If there is one critique I have, it's that past events cannot be looked at through a current lens. Things were just different then. We knew that Krusher Kruschev was actually Russian, we just went along. No one watches a movie thinking it's real, we just don't want the actors breaking the fourth wall to tell the audience that it's all fake. Part of "Sports Entertainment" being a thing was to get rid of various athletic commissions (all of whom wanted their kickbacks). I cannot fault Vince per se on that point, and the internet would have eventually killed kayfabe, I would have just preferred a wink/nudge to a slap upside the head regarding the legitimacy. As somewhat of a testament to the time. I think part of the reason that the main event took place in Atlanta was that Flair was a still somewhat of a babyface in Greensboro as GA and NC/Mid-Atlantic were different territories and we were still in the death throes of the territories. The NWA tried to make Flair a heel, but it never fully took, hence the "tweener" status he would always have. The buildup of the main event is when the iconic "Hard Times " promo was cut. You are absolutely correct on the "Dusty Finish". The problem was not doing it, but overdoing it. You should only do that very sparingly, every few years or so, but the over-reliance on it is what burned fans on it. The production values are completely substandard by today's standard, especially with NWA/JCP, but coverage was still in it's infancy as the business was focused on house shows. The production of the first WrestleMania was far better than this, but still looks like an MSG Network broadcast and the "look" of WWF tv would not come into being until the next year. You are correct, the music for all but Flair's theme was dubbed over (by WWE after they bought the tape library, but before they sold to Peacock) as way to avoid paying royalties for the licensed music used at the time. Sam Houston was very over at the time as well as a good worker. He married Baby Doll a few months later and ran afoul of Jim Crockett ad Dusty Rhodes that summer, leading to his departure in '87 to the WWF, where Vince buried him almost immediately. Darsow fell out with Crockett in late 86 over money (a soon to be common thing). Billy Graham had a run in JCP at the time, feuding with Paul Jones and his army. He was actually planned to be at the inaugural Survivor Series, but his hip was legit too bad after the surgery and he couldn't work anymore, hence the Muraco angle. Buddy Landel was a rising star and was slated to feud with Flair, there was even talk of him winning the title. Unfortunately, his drug problems led to unreliability and he was fired after missing the tv taping that was to have started the run.

Kudos, you guys liked the event more than I did at the time. WCW was in total chaos at the time as George Scott was out as booker, having been there for only a few months. Jim Herd was exerting more control by now, and that is a bad thing. If you are unaware of the name, look him up. He had a large hand in digging the hole that WCW was never really able to get out of. The Oak Ridge Boys added nothing IMO. If you want to see a concert, go to a concert. The Muta match was mostly a showcase as I guess no one wanted to put him over. Rumor is that JYD was having big-time drug issues and missed the show. The best they could do was to tease a mini feud with Eddie Gilbert, which didn't really go anywhere. Ranger Ross, while he was an actual Army Ranger, never got over and was gone within a few months. The Dynamic Dudes pop was atypical, and due largely to Paul E. having atomic heat, having (kayfabe) run the Midnight Express out of the NWA. The Dudes were destroyed by the Skyscrapers at the Bash, where they were vociferously booed. Their popularity was affirmed at Clash 9 when Jim Cornette turned on them with the racket in a match vs. the Midnight Express, prompting the audience to erupt in a cheer. This was unfortunately, for me, a one match show. Steamboat and Flair had their last great match, capped by the obvious, though no less iconic, Funk turn. Luger vs. Hayes should have been much shorter. Lex regained the title not long after by pulling the tights, teasing a heel turn that came at the next clash, when he attacked Steamboat. On a side note, Ricky was able to pull a good match out of Luger at the Bash. The Roadies vs. Varsity Club feud could have gone on for some time, but I think the powers that be wanted to get rid of the VC as it was a Dusty thing. Rick Steiner was suffering a legit arm injury at the time and the match was a workaround for that. The US tag titles were temporarily deactivated soon after.

Enjoyed the video. I remember watching this show live. A time of massive transition, that highlighted what was good about JCP and felt like a legit sporting event. Notice the progression of matches, non-title matches, then titles in ascending order. Still a favorite to this day. Dusty Rhodes may have still been under contract at the time, but he was out the door after he was removed as booker around the time of Starrcade, and had clashed with Turner execs. The Russian Assassins weren't jobbers, having won their match at Starrcade, they were a JCP remnant. Initially, they were a replacement (in the Paul Jones Army) for the Powers Of Pain, who left some months prior. WM5 had a larger crowd, but the crowd at UIC was super hot. It was a different audience, and was IMO, the main thing that doomed WCW from the start. Don't imitate your competition. WCW always tried to out-Vince Vince. NWA/WCW fans wanted blood, believable wrestling, and long matches. Not "Sports Entertainment". The Haye/Russian Assassin match was, one of, if not the last appearance of Paul Jones, who had been an NWA staple the previous 3-4 years. Had it been 5-10 minutes shorter, with that time going to Windham/Luger the show would have been even better. Sting, when he was a heel, was billed from, "Every Man's Nightmare". He was in a heel faction led by Eddie Gilbert, who was billed from "Every Woman's Dream., all back in the dying days old the UWF/Mid-South. Butch Reed came in late in 1988, managed by JJ Dillon, and the plans were for him to become a Horseman, hence Matsuda, who "took over" the Horsemen after JJ Dillon left the prior month as he was a friend of Dusty. Condrey left as he has legit beef with Jim Crockett, who was still doing some booking, dating back to early '87, for leaving JCP high and dry. Dangerously never left, and continued has feud with Cornette for several months, culminating in their tuxedo match at the GAB. Rose showed back up not long after for a few matches as a jobber. The Steiner/Rotundo match is an anomaly as it's the only match on the card where the heel goes over. The Luger/Windham match was the long-delayed blow-off to Windham attacking Luger when they lost the tag titles to Tully and Arn. Luger went directly into his program with Flair. I don't think that Windham's hand injury was legit. After he punches the ring post, if you look, you can see him blading his wrist. It was done to "lessen" the effectiveness of the claw-hold, Windham's finisher when he turned heel. The Road Warriors in the WWF were not as imposing because of the red vests. They went from being bad-asses to lifeguards in hell. The Steamboat/Flair match is what happens when Flair doesn't have to work around someone, as he had spent the previous 6 months doing with Luger. The two referee finish, with Long and Young agreeing was a repudiation of the "Dusty Finish", signifying the changeover.

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