JCP Angles, Promos, Matches and Squashes Worth Watching in 1987

This is a supplement to Year in Review – Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987.

All of these recommendations are from the WWE Network only, unless otherwise noted.

Angles Worth Watching

New characters and gimmick matches popped up weekly, but the big angles were spaced out enough for it to really matter when something happened. The very best ones are noted with a *** until I figure out a better way to do it.

• The Four Horsemen beat down Barry Windham (WCW 1/3/87)
• J.J. Dillon comments on Lex Luger’s debut (WCW 1/17/87)
• Ric Flair interrupts a Brad Armstrong interview (Pro 1/31/87)***
• Barry Windham confronts J.J. Dillon and Lex Luger but gets attacked (WCW 1/31/87)
• Dick Murdoch turns on Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes (Pro 2/14/87)
• Jim Cornette throws a fireball at Ron Garvin and Jimmy Garvin responds (Pro 2/21/87)***
• Ole Anderson slaps J.J. Dillon and brawls with Tully Blanchard (WCW 2/28/87)***
• Lex Luger becomes a Four Horsemen (WCW 3/7/87)
• The Four Horsemen attack and kick out Ole Anderson (Worldwide 3/21/87)***
• Dick Murdoch returns and attacks Dusty Rhodes with The Russians (Worldwide 3/28/87)
• The Mulkey Brothers beat The Gladiators (WCW 3/28/87)***
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express confront Ron Garvin until Barry Windham saves (WCW 5/2/87)
• Dusty Rhodes/Tully Blanchard $100,000 NWA TV Title match negotiation (5/23/87)***
• The Four Horsemen attack Dusty Rhodes’ leg (Pro 5/23/87)***
• J.J. Dillon grabs Precious and Jimmy Garvin challenges Ric Flair (WCW 6/27/87)
• Ric Flair/Precious Dream Date (WCW 7/25/87)***
• Ricky Morton brawls with Tully Blanchard (WCW 8/1/87)
• Ron Garvin confronts and brawls with Ric Flair after Flair vs. Rocky King (Pro 8/8/87)***
• Ric Flair attacks Ron Garvin but Garvin pins him (Pro 8/15/87)***
• Dusty Rhodes puts Teijo Khan to sleep (Worldwide 9/5/87)
• Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard whip The Rock & Roll Express with belts (Worldwide 9/26/87)
• Terry Taylor and Eddie Gilbert steal the NWA TV Title (WCW 10/3/87)
• Hiro Matsuda demonstrates the sleeper on Tommy Young (Worldwide 10/17/87)
• Arn Anderson gets in a shot at Lex Luger (WCW 11/28/87)***
• Kevin Sullivan recruits Rick Steiner and Mike Rotunda (WCW 11/28/87 & 12/5/87)
• Lex Luger turns on the Four Horsemen at Bunkhouse Stampede (WCW 12/12/87)
• Ole Anderson returns to help Lex Luger against the Four Horsemen (WCW 12/26/87)***

Four Horsemen Promos Worth Watching

Promos are split up this year by ones done by the Four Horsemen and everybody else, because at some point that just made sense. Basically every (not Luger) Horsemen promo is worth watching, so I tried to pick the best of the best. Still ended up with a lot.

• Ric Flair on The Road Warriors and Nikita Koloff (WCW 1/3/87)
• Ric Flair on Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes (WCW 1/10/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on Dusty Rhodes and Barry Windham (WCW 1/10/87)
• Ric Flair on Barry Windham and being champion (WCW 1/17/87)
• The Four Horsemen and Lex Luger together (WCW 1/31/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on Ron Garvin (WCW 2/21/87)
• Ric Flair on The Four Horsemen and Precious (WCW 2/28/87)
• Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon and Lex Luger on recent travels (WCW 2/28/87)
• Arn Anderson on Ole Anderson (WCW 3/7/87)
• Arn Anderson on Ole Anderson (WCW 3/14/87)
• The Four Horsemen on Ole Anderson (WCW 3/21/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on Ole Anderson (WCW 3/21/87)
• Ric Flair reacts to Ole Anderson’s attack (Worldwide 3/28/87)
• Ole Anderson on Ric Flair (Worldwide 3/28/87)
• Arn Anderson and JJ Dillon on Ole Anderson (WCW 4/4/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on the TV Title (WCW 4/18/87)
• Arn Anderson on Barry Windham and going single (WCW 4/18/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on The Four Horsemen (WCW 5/2/87)
• JJ Dillon and Tully Blanchard on Dusty Rhodes (WCW 5/9/87)
• Ric Flair on Ron Garvin and Precious (WCW 5/9/87)
• Ric Flair on Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. (WCW 5/30/87)
• Ric Flair studio promo on Tully vs. Dusty and The Match Beyond (WCW 6/13/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on the Barbed Wire Match (WCW 6/20/87)
• JJ Dillon and Lex Luger on WarGames and Nikita Koloff (WCW 6/20/87)
• Ric Flair on WarGames (WCW 6/20/87)
• Arn Anderson and the Four Horsemen on the Horsemen’s intensity (WCW 6/20/87)
• Arn Anderson and the Four Horsemen on WarGames (WCW 6/27/87)
• Arn Anderson on WarGames and Barry Windham (WCW 7/4/87)
• Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on being the baddest (WCW 7/18/87)
• Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson on being a team (WCW 7/25/87)
• Ric Flair with JJ Dillon on The Garvins and Precious (WCW 7/25/87)
• Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and JJ Dillon on The Rock & Roll Express and Barry Windham (WCW 8/1/87)
• Ric Flair responds to Ron Garvin’s challenge (WCW 8/1/87)
• Ric Flair vows to retire Ron Garvin (WCW 8/8/87)
• Lex Luger with JJ Dillon on Dusty Rhodes (WCW 8/29/87)
• The Four Horsemen on Ron Garvin (WCW 10/10/87)
• Ric Flair on Starrcade and the party after (WCW 10/31/87)
• Lex Luger on Dusty Rhodes (WCW 11/7/87)
• Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson and JJ Dillon on The Road Warriors (WCW 11/14/87)
• Ric Flair on Ron Garvin and his golden spoon (WCW 11/14/87)
• JJ Dillon and Lex Luger on Dusty Rhodes (WCW 11/21/87)
• Ric Flair on Starrcade and Ron Garvin (WCW 11/21/87)
• Ric Flair on being a 5x World Champion (WCW 11/28/87)
• Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson on being Tag Champs (WCW 12/5/87)
• Ric Flair on Lex Luger and Michael Hayes (WCW 12/19/87)

Promos Worth Watching

The rest of the roster delivered plenty of greatness, though usually from the… usual… suspects. Note how the frequency of the non-Horsemen promos amp up as the year progresses as JCP introduces more people into the story.

• The Road Warriors on slugs (WCW 1/10/87)
• Barry Windham on Ric Flair (WCW 1/24/87)
• Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff on The Four Horsemen (WCW 1/24/87)
• Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff on Dick Murdoch (WCW 2/14/87)
• Jimmy Garvin on Jim Cornette (Worldwide 2/21//87)
• Jim Cornette impersonates Jimmy Garvin (WCW 3/21/87)
• Jimmy Garvin with Precious on Ric Flair (WCW 4/18/87)
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express on the U.S. Tag Titles and Ron Garvin (WCW 5/2/87)
• Dusty Rhodes in-ring promo on The Four Horsemen’s attack (WCW 5/30/87)
• The Road Warriors on The Four Horsemen (WCW 5/30/87)
• Magnum T.A. interview on being at Dusty Rhodes’ side (WCW 5/30/87)
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express challenge the Rock & Roll Express (WCW 6/13/87)
• Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. react to the TV Title finish (WCW 6/20/87)
• Bugsy McGraw on the Great American Bash (WCW 7/11/87)
• Tony Schiavone interviews Nikita Koloff after the Great American Bash (WCW 7/18/87)
• The Fabulous Freebirds on The Four Horsemen (WCW 6/6/87)
• The Road Warriors, Paul Ellering, Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff on WarGames (WCW 6/20/87)
• Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin challenges Ric Flair to a Cage Match (WCW 6/27/87)
• Dusty Rhodes on The Four Horsemen and The Great American Bash (WCW 6/27/87)
• The Fabulous Freebirds on the Great American Bash and NWA World Title (WCW 7/11/87)
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express on The Rock & Roll Express (WCW 7/11/87)
• The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering on The Four Horsemen and WarGames (WCW 7/18/87)
• Dusty Rhodes on WarGames and Lex Luger (WCW 7/18/87)
• Ron Garvin challenges Ric Flair (WCW 8/1/87)
• Ricky Morton on Tully Blanchard (WCW 8/1/87)
• Jim Cornette challenges The Mulkey Brothers (WCW 8/8/87)
• Kevin Sullivan on a favor for Dusty Rhodes (WCW 8/22/87)
• Ron Garvin on Ric Flair (WCW 8/22/87)
• Dusty Rhodes on Lex Luger and the U.S. Title (WCW 8/29/87)
• Ron Garvin on being NWA World Heavyweight Champion (WCW 10/3/87)
• Terry Taylor challenges Nikita Koloff (WCW 10/3/87)
• The Road Warriors on Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson (WCW 10/10/87)
• Sting on Starrcade (WCW 10/17/87)
• Ron Garvin on Ric Flair (WCW 10/17/87)
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express on the Scaffold Match (WCW 11/7/87)
• Paul Jones, Ivan Koloff and The Warlord on Mighty Wilbur (WCW 11/14/87)
• Terry Taylor and Eddie Gilbert on Nikita Koloff (WCW 11/14/87)
• Barry Windham on Dr. Death and Larry Zbyszko (WCW 11/14/87)
• The Rock & Roll Express on Jim Cornette (WCW 11/14/87)
• Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express on the Scaffold Match and WarGames (WCW 11/21/87)
• THE DANGER ZONE! (WCW 11/21/87)
• The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering on Starrcade (WCW 11/21/87)
• Larry Zbyszko with Baby Doll on the competition (WCW 11/28/87)
• Sting asks Ric Flair for a title shot (WCW 12/5/87)
• Dusty Rhodes on Bunkhouse Stampede (WCW 12/5/87)
• Lex Luger on fulfilling his destiny (WCW 12/5/87)
• The Road Warriors on the Four Horsemen and Bunkhouse Stampede (WCW 12/12/87)
• Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotunda on the World Title (WCW 12/19/87)
• Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff on their team (WCW 12/26/87)

Matches Worth Watching

These are in some kind of order of quality, though I would say they are all indeed worth watching.

• NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Barry Windham (Worldwide 1/24/87)
• WarGames: Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs. Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger & JJ Dillon w/ Dark Journey (GAB Omni 7/4/87)
• NWA Western States Heritage Title: Barry Windham [c] vs. Arn Anderson (WCW 9/12/87)
• No DQ Match – NWA World Tag Team Title: The Rock & Roll Express [c] vs. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/ JJ Dillon (WCW 9/19/87)
• NWA U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament – Final: Ron Garvin & Barry Windham vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette (WCW 5/16/87)
• Winner Takes All – NWA World TV Title & $100,000: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ Dark Journey vs. Dusty Rhodes [c] w/ Magnum T.A. (WCW 6/13/87)
• WarGames: Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs. Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger & The War Machine w/ JJ Dillon and Dark Journey (GAB Orange Bowl 7/31/87)
• Steel Cage Match – NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ron Garvin [c] vs. Ric Flair (Starrcade 11/26/87)
• Steel Cage Match – U.S. Heavyweight Title vs. Dusty Rhodes’ Career: Lex Luger [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Dusty Rhodes (Starrcade 11/26/87)
• NWA World Tag Team Title: Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. The Road Warriors w/ Paul Ellering (Starrcade 11/26/87)
• Lumberjack Match: Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Worldwide 1/17/87)
• NWA World Tag Team Title: The Rock & Roll Express [c] vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba Rogers (GAB Omni 7/4/87)
• NWA U.S. Tag Team Title: Ron Garvin & Barry Windham [c] vs. Dick Murdoch & Ivan Koloff w/ Vladimir Petrov (WCW 3/14/87)
• NWA World TV Title: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Nikita Koloff (Pro 8/29/87)
• NWA U.S. Heavyweight Title: Lex Luger [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Barry Windham (WCW 9/19/87)
• NWA U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament – Round 1: The Rock & Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette (WCW 5/9/87)
• Ron Garvin & Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin w/ Precious vs. Ric Flair & Lex Luger w/ JJ Dillon (WCW 6/27/87)
• NWA World TV Title: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Brad Armstrong (WCW 1/31/87)
• NWA U.S. Tag Team Title: The Midnight Express [c] w/ Jim Cornette vs. Nikita Koloff & Barry Windham (Pro 9/26/87)
• NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Michael Hayes (TV WCW 12/5/87)
• NWA Western States Heritage Title: Barry Windham [c] vs. Larry Zbyszko w/ Baby Doll (WCW 12/15/87)
• NWA U.S. Tag Team Title: The Midnight Express [c] w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba vs. Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (WCW 12/26/87)

Squashes Worth Watching

Not all matches are created equal.

• Dick Murdoch vs. Brodie Chase (1/10/87)
• Lex Luger (debut) vs. George South (WCW 1/17/87)
• Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson & Lex Luger w/ JJ Dillon vs. Bob Armstrong, Dutch Mantel, Eddie Roberts & Ricky Lee Jones (WCW 2/21/87)
• Arn Anderson vs. Mike Jackson (WCW 3/7/87)
• Ole Anderson vs. Keith Glover (WCW 3/28/87)
• NWA World TV Title: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Alan Martin (WCW 4/11/87)
• Ric Flair vs. Brodie Chase (WCW 4/18/87)
• Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson & Lex Luger w/ Ric Flair and JJ Dillon vs. Rocky King, Larry Stevens & Howell Moore (WCW 5/9/87)
• The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) vs. Alan Martin, Randy Barber & Lee Peek (WCW 5/23/87)
• Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson & Lex Luger w/ Ric Flair, JJ Dillon and Dark Journey vs. Chance McQuade, Cougar Jay & Mike Force (WCW 6/13/87)
• Ron Garvin vs. John Hardy (WCW 6/20/87)
• Arn Anderson vs. Dexter Wescott (6/27/87)
• JJ Dillon w/ Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson and Dark Journey vs. Alan Martin (WCW 7/4/87)
• Dr. Death vs. Alan Martin (WCW 7/11/87)
• Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/ Lex Luger vs. Larry Stephens & Tommy Angel (WCW 7/25/87)
• Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/ JJ Dillon vs. Keith Patterson & Dexter Wescott (WCW 8/1/87)
• Dr. Death vs. Mike Force (WCW 8/8/87)
• Ron Garvin vs. Dexter Wescott (WCW 8/15/87)
• Ragin’ Bull & The Barbarian vs. Rocky King & George Smith (WCW 8/15/87)
• Kevin Sullivan vs. Larry Stephens (WCW 8/22/87)
• Ivan Koloff & The Warlord w/ Paul Jones vs. Curtis Thompson & Max McGyver (WCW 11/14/87)

Random Reviews

Many of the matches listed above – and some not – are talked about in more detail below.

The Midnight Express vs. Mike Jackson & George South (WCW 1/3/87) – A good example of a Midnight Express squash with an aggressive beatdown and game opponents. Mike Jackson’s flying headscissors is so great they get a payoff out of it.

NWA World TV Title: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Brad Armstrong (WCW 1/31/87) – Low key but classic TV Title match with textbook punches, suplexes, and near falls. Brad’s pursuit of a win as the time runs out is as good as any there have been.

NWA U.S. Tag Team Title: Ron Garvin & Barry Windham [c] vs. Dick Murdoch & Ivan Koloff w/ Vladimir Petrov (WCW 3/14/87) – A not-so-obvious pair of teams delivers a great tag match, with Barry an excellent face-in-peril for a while before a Garvin hot tag that probably convinced Crockett to go all the way. It was always more serious when they got two commercial breaks.

NWA U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament – Round 1: The Rock & Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette (WCW 5/9/87) – The classic rivalry delivers another one. Enjoy the elite-level timing, arm dragging, heel foolishness, and newcomer “Sweet” Stan Lane bumping his way into the territory’s heart.

NWA U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament – Final: Ron Garvin & Barry Windham vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette (WCW 5/16/87) – A good tag match with the added layers of a tournament final and studio setting made this a great tag match. There’s just a lot of good STUFF here: Barry’s long arms reaching for the tag, Lane selling Barry’s punches, Cornette yelling stuff, Garvin’s double Morton roll for the hot tag, Windham’s superplex, and Eaton’s huge missed elbow drop. Cornette cheats to win.

Winner Takes All – NWA World TV Title & $100,000: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ Dark Journey vs. Dusty Rhodes [c] w/ Magnum T.A. (WCW 6/13/87) – Dusty has a little reputation for being the best wrestler ever who maybe didn’t always deliver in the ring, but this is a straight-up great match filled with massive drama and selling and just well-booked (and well-timed) entertainment that had the crowd going banana. Dusty does a wobbly kung fu guy pose on his comeback too. The finish is TERRIBLE, but the match itself is the best.

Steel Cage Match – NWA U.S. Heavyweight Title: Nikita Koloff [c] vs. Lex Luger w/ JJ Dillon (WCW 7/18/87) – I love this match just for the finish, where Lex knocks out Nikita with a chair J.J. throws over the cage then uses the cage itself to lift Nikita’s dead weight into the torture rack.

Steel Cage Match – NWA World Heavyweight Title vs. Night with Precious: Ric Flair [c] w/ JJ Dillon vs. Jimmy Garvin w/ Precious (WCW 7/18/87) – This is the most boring match with the most respectable psychology, as Flair sells and bleeds and works that knee. Gorgeous Jimmy fires back and throws his own Hands of Stone, then goes for a brainbuster but his knee gives out and Flair puts on the figure-four.

NWA Western States Heritage Title: Barry Windham [c] vs. Arn Anderson (WCW 9/12/87) – This is one of those professional wrestling matches that is just a testament to the sport itself, two guys using all their foundational tricks to out-wrestle each other until they’re visibly wrecked. Barry escaping a headcissors and applying a headlock early feels like a battle against every single odd, and they bring that commitment over half an hour and three commercial breaks.

Random Moments Worth Remembering

– Ric Flair does the Nikita Koloff flex (WCW 1/10/87)
– David Allen Coe says hello (WCW 1/24/87)
– Confused Winston Garland in the crowd (WCW 3/14/87)
– Baron von Raschke’s lowest leapfrog of all time (WCW 3/28/87)
– Lex Luger loses Jeff Pelk on a Torture Rack (WCW 5/2/87)
– Ric Flair searches for the Road Warriors (WCW 5/30/87)
– Lou Brock in the crowd watching Arn Anderson (WCW 6/6/87)
– 60-seconds of TV makes Road Warriors vs. Russians in Baltimore feel must-see (WCW 7/25/87)
– Kendall Windham’s competitive match with Gladiator #1 (WCW 8/15/87)
– Chris Champion says Sean Royal is alive (WCW 8/15/87)
– Ron Garvin switches up the finish (WCW 8/15/87)
– Road Warrior Animal wins with a clothesline (WCW 10/10/87)
– Alan Martin is squashed in matches aired back-to-back (WCW 10/24/87)
– Mighty Wilbur flubs a line (WCW 10/31/87)