[NWA] UWF in Shreveport, LA - 05/30/92

[Chief]

Universal Wrestling Federation
Wednesday, May 30th, 1992
Live at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana



Junkyard Dog defeats The Masked Assassin at 3:22 following the “Big Thump.” The crowd roared when “Another One Bites the Dust” hit and their old favorite JYD strutted out. JYD squashed his masked foe rather easily to the crowd's delight.

Gary Albright defeats Rex King at 6:55 after knocking him out with a German suplex then applying a seated arm bar. The pain caused King to regain consciousness before immediately tapping. Albright looked like a stone cold killer.

The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy) defeated Hector and Mando Guerrero at 15:19 when Gordy nailed Mando with a crushing belly-to-back suplex. Jim Cornette's must have gotten inside the head of Hayes as he chose to start the match. He held his own early on but got frustrated when he couldn't put Hector away. His frustration got the best of him and the Guerreros used that to put him in peril. Finally Hayes broke away and tagged in Gordy who man-handled both Guerreros both before Mando away. Michael Hayes look dejected after the match but cheered up when Gordy showed him how much the crowd was behind them.

INTERMISSION – Jim Cornette came out to repeat the long list of accomplishments of Big Van Vader and to remind them that he is bringing the NEXT BEST team to the UWF in under three weeks. The crowd did not like Cornette on bit.

Brian Lee vs. Dutch Mantell – Just like on TV, Dutch did not respect the abilities of Lee and paid for it. This time however, as Lee got on a roll, Dutch grabbed his bullwhip 'Betsy' and nailed Lee with it! Nick Patrick disqualified Dutch Mantell at 19:33 but when Dutch went to continue his assault, Brian took the bullwhip from him and hit HIM with it! Nick Patrick finally got the bullwhip away from both men but the bad blood between them continues!

“Nature Boy” Buddy Landel vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams – Unluckily for Buddy that his opponent is one pissed off Steve Williams. Buddy tried the best he could but Dr. Death was so fired up from his confrontation with Big Van Vader that he just couldn't be stopped. The “Nature Boy” begged off and pleaded with Doc not to hit him in the face. Dr. Death wound up and drilled Landel in the face which popped the crowd huge. The 'Oklahoma Stampede' finished Buddy off at 15:12.

Big Van Vader (with Jim Cornette) vs. Jim Duggan – The Auditorium was a buzz as the two combatants made their way to the ring. The match started off much like Vader's match with Paul Orndorff as Vader allowed Duggan a free shot. Jim couldn't budge Vader and the two went at it throwing the hardest, stiffest strikes you've ever seen. No matter what Duggan did he couldn't get Vader off of his feet.

With all options exhausted Jim was able to stagger Vader into the corner. He went to the opposite corner and went down into the three-point stance. The crowd went hushed as Jim Duggan charged out of the corner like a wild bull only to be RUN OVER by the shoulder of Big Van Vader! The impact was so hard that Duggan flopped and rolled back into the corner. Big Van Vader pulled him out from the corner and debuted his second devastating finisher – the Vader Splash. Jim Duggan was not getting up from the corner slingshot splash and Vader stayed on him for the three count at 16:24.

Big Van Vader went up for a second Vader Splash when “Dr. Death” Steve Williams rushed out from the back curtain. He pulled Jim Duggan out of the ring and then went literally face-to-face with Vader. The ENTIRE locker room of staff, officials, wrestlers, and even Jim Ross and UWF President Bill Watts emptied just to separate these two men.

There was not a single person sitting down when “Dr. Death” ran down to save Jim Duggan. In the midst of the chaos Joel Watts thanked everyone for coming and said the UWF would be back here soon.

You don't want to know how long it took to get the two big bulls out of the ring.

© UWF, 1992

[appstorm]

Felt sorry for Duggan but the thought of Dr. Death going after Vader is awesome. Landell and Williams was a solid semi-main event. i like the Lee and Mantell rivalry brewing here. Hayes feeling like he needs to accomplish even more could lead to some hot Freebird action. I wasn't a big follower of Albright in real life but, if he was as good as fantasy wrestling writers have portrayed him, it is my loss. JYD in Mid-South just fits like a glove.

Love the real life feel of this Mid-South. Keep it coming just this way.

[Grape Ape]

Solid card with all the big guns in place.

Nice to see lots of the familiar Mid-South faces.

Dugan got steamrolled as did Orndorff, if you somehow held off Vader and Dr. Death for a few more weeks to build, the blow-off would be off the hook.

[Chief]

Wrestling Observer - What Happened After the UWF House Show on 05/30/1992
- Dave Meltzer

I just got a report in from a fan who stuck around the Municipal Auditorium after Joel Watts announced the show was over. Apparently while Vader and Williams were being separated, an angry Jim Duggan awoke on the outside and wanted revenge. Grabbing his 2x4, Duggan stormed into the midst of the chaos and nailed Vader in the back with it, snapping the 2x4 into pieces. Vader of course no-sold it and laughed. Duggan was pulled back before anything else happened but even he had a very shocked look on his face.

It's clear that Watts is pushing Vader to the moon. Let's hope that Watts putting all of his eggs in the Vader basket works out because if not, Vader running through all of the top faces in the promotion is going to dearly hurt them down the line.

[Deleted]

Fantastic show man, loved the little observer notes about the Vader push. Hey if there was one guy in '92 to fully invest in, Vader is that guy! Could totally see Vader with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when all is said and done. First Mr. Wonderful, now Duggan? Fantastic stuff man. The money is of course in Dr. Doc Vs. Vader, but honestly the longer you hold off on it the bigger it will feel. This was just a small little tease, and it was great!

JYD in the opener was a pretty wise move. He can't physically be a force here in the Mid South like he was in years past, BUT he can pop a crowd so tossing him out there for a generic mask man in the opener was spot on.

Albright is another killer man, curious if he ever gets to mix it up with Vader too? They had a super fun bout in the UWFI that saw Vader bust out his rarely used deathlock STF for the win.

The Birds with a hard fought win, good stuff there and nice little mention of what happened on TV.. setting them up for a feud with Jimmy Cornette's new team. Always marked for the Guerreros so it's good to see the match getting time.

Speaking of getting time, Dutch is the right guy to toss Brian Lee in there with and give the match a fair amount of time. "Dirty" Dutch is so experienced, enough to drag baby face Lee thru a match and make it worth while. Should be a fun feud man.

Poor Budro drew the short straw and ended up with the Doctor. Good stuff. Buddy is a strong asset for sure, but him putting over Dr. Death felt right. Good stuff there too.

This was a great house show man, looking forward to this weeks Power Pro Wrestling to see if the Vader/Duggan bout is covered.

[somethingsavage]

I'm a bit behind on my reading & reviewing, but I'm seriously stoked about getting back into it over here, courtesy of this show. Great evening of action, man. Now this feels like Mid-South again! Absolutely love the presentation & roughhouse, gritty style you're bringing to the fore-front, man. Can't express how much I'm digging that.

The Vader push is stellar stuff. With the back-story you've implemented for him, this run for him just feels like a huge deal. He's on a tear, and that's always loads of fun to see. Everything is being executed flawlessly thus far, with Vader just being built & built. That's how it's meant to be done. Build the heat. Have him seize & conquer. Then present him with believable opposition, pinning the hopes on a hero that may (or may not) come to the rescue. That's the whole premise behind these stories. Huge fan of the simple stuff like that.

Nice touch with the Observer notes. I must agree. Of course it's a gamble & a risk to pile everything onto the shoulders of this Vader angle, but I don't see that as the case. With the way things are going, Doc is still very much alive as a "go-to" guy and a way out, if Vader were to ever flop or fail miserably. Don't see that happening, but I'm just saying. You've smartly kept Dr. Death just as strong, so - if the need were to arise - Bill Watts could easily shift directions & just go with Doc on top here.

In any case, that was a cool peak behind the curtain, so to speak. Loved the main event. Duggan gave it all he had, but Vader is still a juggernaut. The guy's unstoppable at this stage. Having him bulldoze through familiar faces & fan-favorites, like Duggan and Orndorff, really puts him in another league. The impending showdown with Steve Williams is going to feel freaking EPIC, so long as you give it enough space & time to breathe & resonate for a while.

I'm cool with you rushing things with Hacksaw, Mr. Wonderful, and others. They're all building blocks. But don't get trigger happy with the money match. I sincerely doubt you need to be told that, but hey. Just saying. ;D Also, I know it's nitpicking - but the Vader Bomb actually was the Vader Splash, in real life. The Powerbomb was simply called a Powerbomb, even in Vader's arsenal. Don't know why. I think I actually prefer them being coined the way you have them here.

I'm still on board for the Brian Lee experiment. Mantell is the perfect doormat to welcome him into the fold, I'd say. He's completely versatile & entertaining enough to put Prime Time over as something meaningful. Lots of fun stuff you could do in this feud. I like that you're running the concept of Lee being capable of getting down in the dirt with Dutch instantly. Good stuff.

Hmm. Betsy the bullwhip, huh? I do wonder if she knows about Shoo-Baby?

I'm enjoying all the under-card stuff. The seeds you're planting with Cornette & the "weak link" premise is neat. It takes a lot to chip away at an egotistical guy like Michael Hayes. Purely Sexy doubting himself could make for some interesting moves down the road. Albright blends in with this crowd, too. I liked the no-nonsense approach you gave to him.

And I agree with Drew about the Junkyard Dog. You seem to know his status & limitations at this point. His placement on the card reflected that. At the end of the day, the guy will forever maintain his popularity & crowd appeal, ESPECIALLY here in Mid-South. So he's going to always hold value. And, if there ever comes a time when Vader gets his hands on the Dog? Wow. Talk about heat. The Rocky Mountain Monster pummeling the beloved JYD into oblivion would give you a license to print money, man. Major sympathy factor there.

Big thumbs up. I'm hooked on the product, for sure. Can't wait to get all caught up on this week's TV & all that.

[Chief]

Fantastic well thought out and in depth feedback somethingsavage. I always appreciate hearing from you. I try to model mine after yours.

Just a couple of points.

Overall I would say this stuff has already surpassed my Las Vegas promotion. That's just my opinion of course.

I thought the Observer would be a cool way to add something I completely forgot to the show. Dave was very opinionated back then in the newsletter and taking a step back I could see how someone would think I'm banking everything on Vader.

I will tell you this - everyone who's been beaten (squashed) by Vader minus Rex King isn't done with him. Their loss is a major plot point in the overarching story I'm crafting and all of them will be touched on. Duggan and Orndorff being steamrolled is just another chapter to their story.

I'm glad everyone thinks I'm booking Dr. Death just as good as Vader. I hope it lives up to the hype when these two finally clash.

I didn't know till recently that the Vader Bomb was the actual splash. I thought that was stupid and Vader's power bomb has always looked too devastating to be called a regular power bomb. Plus we have one more BIG finishing move to go...

I hate the name "shoo-baby" and refuse to use it. 'Betsy' will be an integral part of Dutch's feud with Prime Time. Those two just naturally match up in my mind.

The stuff with Cornette and Hayes has been the best stuff for me to write so far. The Michael Hayes character may be my best when all is said and done.

I will get the WCFL Las Vegas ending to you soon, SS, I promise!

[somethingsavage]

Hey. Appreciate that, man. You know I'm on the lookout for it! ;D

I'm cool with dropping "Shoo-Baby" in exchange for "Betsy", as it actually sounds like a more affectionate pet name to give an object anyhow. Dirty Dutch is such a colorful character. Something like that is a minor detail. It's just my style to point out things like that. Likewise with the Vader Bomb. But, as I said, I actually tend to prefer what you're doing with all that over the way it went down in real life.

And yeah. I saw you mention the point about Duggan & Orndorff not being totally done with Vader after these encounters. I posted about it in last week's thread, I believe. Knowing that (now) makes it all the easier to grasp onto the idea & really embrace it. Knowing that you aren't just having these guys do full-scale stretcher jobs or "leave town" situations makes it really worth investing an interest. Liking that.