[1990-06-30-NAWA] Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne / Ricky Steamboat vs Robert Fuller

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Childs]

So what was the deal here? Was Steamboat semi-retired and simply taking a quick payday? In any event, these were a well-executed but very compact pair of matches. Steamboat and Borne filled their time with some intense strike exchanges, and then Ricky hurt his knee while delivering a move. Borne looked set to capitalize only for Steamboat to catch him in a quick roll-up. Steamboat, of course, sold the hell out of the knee, which carried into the tournament final against Fuller. They worked it as a doomed effort, with Steamboat showing his fighting spirit for about a minute before succumbing to Fuller's assault on his leg. Again, this was a solid, professional effort from everyone involved, but I was surprised they didn't go for something more drawn out given that it was a championship tourney and that they paid to bring in Steamboat.

[Loss]

Steamboat/Fuller I believe went 27 minutes, but was edited down on television. I'm looking forward to seeing this particular clip.

 

I think he took this gig as a favor to booker George Scott, who was always a big Steamboat (and Flair) supporter.

[Childs]

Oh, that makes a lot more sense. They made some reference to jumping ahead in the action, but I had no idea it was that much. I wish the whole match existed on tape. I bet it was really good.

[Matt D]

How much of the Scott promotion is out there? That's something I've always been pretty curious about

[Loss]

Gotta love how a promotion so much smaller than WCW is basically able to create a setup that's about on par with WCW production values. It makes me wonder why they never even tried to invest in looking major league until the Bischoff era. The action for Steamboat/Borne is really good, especially the strike battle. Steamboat secures the win, but injures his knee in the process, and Borne worsens the problem after the match.

 

Steamboat/Fuller has Fuller doing some great work on a desperate Steamboat, as they are selling that Steamboat has suffered a major injury. Fuller picks up the win quickly when Steamboat's knee collapses. Lou Thesz is there to present the championship of course, but he insists on presenting it under protest.

 

Steamboat is interviewed after the match and I wonder if he was always capable of talking like this. This is a seriously solid interview. If Steamboat's interview is solid, Fuller's is GREAT. I wish he could have wrestled in WCW.

 

I may have been wrong about the 27-minute time because they officially announced the time as 1:57. But I think found results online that had 27 minutes if I recall correctly.

[PeteF3]

I think Steamboat had a stake in the promotion itself.

 

WrestleMania I: The Sequel! Borne and Steamboat are JIP just smacking the shit out of each other. Borne gets to kick out of the flying karate chop. Steamboat goes for a high knee and hurts it in the process. Borne goes after the knee but gets small-packaged on a figure four attempt. The announced time is about 6:27 but both guys look like they've gone through a war.

 

Steamboat is a mess by the time Robert Fuller gets to the ring. Fuller is relentless tearing after the knee from the opening. Steamer does his trademark backflip-out-of-the-suplex counter but hurts the knee again in landing, and Fuller seamlessly scoops the leg up, applies a stepover toe hold cradle, and gets the pin! Markout city for that upset. This seriously may be the greatest 90-second match in wrestling history. They told every single thing they needed to tell in that time. This is also another one of those "That guy wrestled that guy?" matches, but it's the best one of the set so far. Mid-Atlantic meets Memphis with Memphis winning this one.

 

Steamboat is interviewed afterward and gives what might be the promo of his career. Fuller is awesome as usual.

 

NAWA/SAPW was a promotion that was actually really deep with talent, both veterans like we see here to go with Vince Torelli/Ken Shamrock, Chris Chavis, the American Bulldogs/Pitbulls, and the Nasty Boys. But the changing face of television would doom them just as it would Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

[soup23]

We get the excedrin headache # 9 joke in this match.

 

Brawling looked a little off to me but it may just be that I am so unaccustomed to see Steamer in that type of match.

 

I loved everything Fuller did in his match and the post match and it felt like a pretty big moment for his career. I don't see how it was so obvious him and Borne were in collusion though.

[shoe]

Steamer is tremendous in selling the leg. Heck he even looks pained in the interview. Fuller is such a stud on the stick. No pun intended.

[Kevin Ridge]

Random to see Steamboat after his big year in 89 to not be in a big federation. Borne wins the chop battle. Just remembering that these two faced each other at WrestleMania. Steamboat hits a high knee but hurts himself in the process. Steamboat gets the roll up for the win. Good little match.

 

Steamboat still hurting from his previous match. Fuller goes to work on the knee right away. They only gave Steamboat two minutes between matches. Fuller smartly continues to go after the knee. Spinning toe hold into pin type finish for Fuller. Wanted more. Really short amount of time be giving your final match to determine your new champion. I know these guys wrestled earlier on card but only two minutes? Thesz presents title to Fuller but Lou has some choice words for Robert.

 

Steamboat considers his injury to be just part of the wrestling business. Ricky won’t let the fans down and will bring the gold home. Tennessee dud! Steamboat promises he won’t have a gimp knee next time.

 

Fuller refers to the NAWA Title as the most influential belt in wrestling. Very good heel promo by Fuller.

[garretta]

I think Lou said that they gave Steamboat a ten-minute intermission. Also, the Fuller match was definitely two minutes long, because the ring action wasn't clipped. The tape picked up right as the ring announcements started.

 

I think they were trying to build collusion between Borne and Fuller so they could reform the Stud Stable in this promotion with Borne as a member; if he would have done the same character he did in the USWA, he would have been a perfect fit. I liked how Fuller didn't mess around; he knew Steamer's leg was hurt and he went right for it. Pity they showed a replay of Steamboat pinning Borne instead of Borne's postmatch attack; we needed to actually see more of the damage he did.

 

I didn't really like Lou taking shots at Steamboat's conditioning; if Ricky had a spare tire, it was barely noticeable. It seems like most of the promotions he worked for after 1987 took some kind of shots at his dedication or conditioning from time to time. I guess taking time out to see your children being born is frowned upon in a business where immature frat-boy type behavior is the standard.

 

I liked both interviews after the title match. Steamer's interview wasn't as big a surprise to me as it was to some of you; he can bring the goods when he's really fired up. Fuller was superb as usual, even throwing a sideswipe at Borne when the announcer suggests collusion between the two of them.

 

Speaking of the announcer, does anyone know who he was?

 

WGGT-TV (the station this tape was taken from) was a Greensboro independent, so the NAWA had some good wrestling markets right off the bat. It's a shame we don't seem to have anything else from them on this set.

[drew wardlaw]

Cool set of matches, Steamboat looks out of context but I especially like the more brawling aspects and strikes.

[dawho5]

Great matches for how short they are. Could have done with much more.