Background: The Four Horsemen were coming after Ron Garvin after “The Hands of Stone” defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship starting with NWA Tag Team champion Tully Blanchard.
Worldwide
October 7, 1987
Cleveland, OH
Ronnie Garvin vs. Tully Blanchard
Stern collar & elbow tie up to kick this one off as they moved around the ring; refusing to let the other get an advantage. When Blanchard lost his grip, he exited the ring with Garvin in hot pursuit. Grabbing the NWA Heavyweight champ by the head, Blanchard dragged Garvin into the ring; only to get kicked somewhat low when they got up. The Four Horseman paid back his opponent with a European uppercut that put “The Hands of Stone” on the canvas for a knee drop-rear chin lock combo. Garvin broke free, swinging for the fences. Blanchard was right there with him, but the hands of Garvin had Tully out on his feet! In desperation, Blanchard latched onto Garvin’s tights and pulled him forward to send his fellow champ back to the outside. They were slugging it out on the floor with Garvin winning another battle of the fisticuffs. Tully unwisely reentered the ring while still out of it and prone to clubbing forearms. Showing incredible toughness, Blanchard took everything Garvin had before shoving him into the referee before blindsiding Ron with a shoe from his tights. The match entered a commercial break just as Blanchard earned a near fall.
They were actually wrestling when the match returned to air until Blanchard almost got pinned off a backslide. Blanchard was taking some heavy shots, climbing the ropes in hopes of pulling off something big when he was power slammed off the top rope. Blanchard stumbled right into the big haymaker from Garvin that dropped him like a bad habit. Four Horsemen manager JJ Dillon also felt the power of Garvin’s fist. Before Garvin could go for the pin, Four Horseman Lex Luger entered the ring to cause a disqualification in Garvin’s favor.
Winner: Ronnie Garvin (5:40)
Is It A Classic: Like many matches of the time this wasn’t necessarily special in any way, but happened in front of a crowd that made it feel like a classic. The best part of the match was Blanchard’s reactions to being peppered by Garvin’s fists. Blanchard looked punch drunk like it was a real fight that you don’t see in wrestling nowadays, or even in the WWF at the time.
