This was the original GAB established by NWA Booker extraordinaire himself Dusty Rhodes under Jim Crockett promotions.
The Show opened with Jimmy Valiant vs Paul Jones in a Dog Collar match. This was a good decision as the gimmick match got the crowd going. 4/10 as it was way too short for my liking.
Next was a six man tag featuring the team of Buzz Tyler, Sam Houston, the real life brother of Jake Roberts, and 'The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez, a very underrated wrestler and former tag team champ of both Dusty Rhodes and Rick Rude. Their opponents were "Superstar" Billy Graham, The Barbarian and Abdullah the Butcher, the most bloodthirsty savage in Wrestling history. This was an average six man tag with some exciting moments and others lagging. 5/10
We then had another average thrown together match with the Nature Boy Buddy Landel and Ron Bass. Two regional stars with careers as national midcarders, Bass best known for his attack on Brutus Beefcake in the WWF. 5/10
We then had the great tag team of Ole and Arn Anderson defend the National Tag Titles against Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater. After his mid 90's WCW run it is weird to see Slater as a face. Another average match on an average show. 5/10
The show then begins to pick up as the crowd is back into the action. Next we have the NWA tag champs "The Russian Bear' Ivan Koloff former WWWF champ and Krusher Kruschev, the future Smash of Demolition against the AWA tag champs the Road Warriors. Despite a double DQ because they couldn't put one champ over the other this was a very enjoyable brawl in a very enjoyable feud. 7/10
Next we had our first major Title match of the evening as the US Title was on the line. Magnum T.A., who if not paralyzed in a tragic accident may have been the next big thing, defeats Kamala to retain the belt. This was a very average match, with nothing special about it but it put the babyface over an established heel as Kamala had worked everywhere in his career.
Our midcard main event saw the King of Charlotte Ric Flair
defend his NWA title in "Flair Country" against the quickly ascending Nikita Koloff. This was one of Koloff's first big matches as we would be in the main event scene for the next 5-7 years. This was a pretty solid title match and your average Flair Fair. During the match a fan got in and attacked Koloff slowing the pace a bit. 7/10
Then for the main event the man that created the show, Dusty Rhodes went over Tully Blanchard in a classic bloody cage match that was phenomenal for storyline purposes. With his win not only did the fans go home happy but Rhodes won the TV Title and the Services of Blanchard's valet Baby Doll for 30 days, a popular storyline idea TNA is still using right now, although not very well. This led to some great vignettes over the next month with Dusty having Baby Doll live the life of a "common woman". 9/10 for the classic match
The show itself was above average a 6/10 on my scale but not as good as it could have been.
The Show opened with Jimmy Valiant vs Paul Jones in a Dog Collar match. This was a good decision as the gimmick match got the crowd going. 4/10 as it was way too short for my liking.
Next was a six man tag featuring the team of Buzz Tyler, Sam Houston, the real life brother of Jake Roberts, and 'The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez, a very underrated wrestler and former tag team champ of both Dusty Rhodes and Rick Rude. Their opponents were "Superstar" Billy Graham, The Barbarian and Abdullah the Butcher, the most bloodthirsty savage in Wrestling history. This was an average six man tag with some exciting moments and others lagging. 5/10
We then had another average thrown together match with the Nature Boy Buddy Landel and Ron Bass. Two regional stars with careers as national midcarders, Bass best known for his attack on Brutus Beefcake in the WWF. 5/10
We then had the great tag team of Ole and Arn Anderson defend the National Tag Titles against Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater. After his mid 90's WCW run it is weird to see Slater as a face. Another average match on an average show. 5/10
The show then begins to pick up as the crowd is back into the action. Next we have the NWA tag champs "The Russian Bear' Ivan Koloff former WWWF champ and Krusher Kruschev, the future Smash of Demolition against the AWA tag champs the Road Warriors. Despite a double DQ because they couldn't put one champ over the other this was a very enjoyable brawl in a very enjoyable feud. 7/10
Next we had our first major Title match of the evening as the US Title was on the line. Magnum T.A., who if not paralyzed in a tragic accident may have been the next big thing, defeats Kamala to retain the belt. This was a very average match, with nothing special about it but it put the babyface over an established heel as Kamala had worked everywhere in his career.
Our midcard main event saw the King of Charlotte Ric Flair
defend his NWA title in "Flair Country" against the quickly ascending Nikita Koloff. This was one of Koloff's first big matches as we would be in the main event scene for the next 5-7 years. This was a pretty solid title match and your average Flair Fair. During the match a fan got in and attacked Koloff slowing the pace a bit. 7/10
Then for the main event the man that created the show, Dusty Rhodes went over Tully Blanchard in a classic bloody cage match that was phenomenal for storyline purposes. With his win not only did the fans go home happy but Rhodes won the TV Title and the Services of Blanchard's valet Baby Doll for 30 days, a popular storyline idea TNA is still using right now, although not very well. This led to some great vignettes over the next month with Dusty having Baby Doll live the life of a "common woman". 9/10 for the classic match
The show itself was above average a 6/10 on my scale but not as good as it could have been.
