Dusty Rhodes vs Tully Blanchard (NWA, 11-27-1986)

NWA Starrcade, Greensboro, NC

This is a first blood match for Dusty’s TV title. Dusty’s got the sides of his head shaved and TULLY written on his skull. Tully was every bit as great a Dusty rival as Flair in many ways. This is one of the two big matches for the Greensboro side of Starrcade ’86, going on before the Arn/Ole-Rock n’ Rolls match that headlined there. Atlanta got Flair-Koloff and the Road Warriors-Midnights “Skywalkers” match.

Crowd is wild for Big Dust, and goddamn it they hate Tully Blanchard. JJ Dillon puts some protective headgear on Blanchard. Rhodes objects, and Earl Hebner is over to tell him to take that shit off. So they’re forced to remove it. Then Dillon covers Blanchard’s face in Vaseline, which is what boxers do. Hebner aggressively wipes it off with a towel. Tully shoves Hebner, who shoves back, the diva.

Dillon gets in Dusty’s face, so Dusty drops him with an elbow. Tully approaches, Dusty raises the elbow, and Tully backs off. Dillon, bless his goddamn heart, has bladed to show us that a single atomic elbow from Rhodes could be a match-ending shot.

Blanchard is helping Dillon outside as the bell sounds to start the match. He gets back in and Dusty has a calm confidence about him, while Blanchard is already off his game. Crowd chanting loudly, “Dusty, Dusty, Dusty.” Blanchard misses a charge into the corner.

Dusty has his hands up as they get close, then throws a leg kick and knocks Tully down. Tully scrambles to get separation and back to his feet. Dusty blocks a punch, goes for Blanchard’s head, but Tully scurries away. Tully approaches, Dusty raises the elbow. Dusty strutting, prancing, really, shaking his hips and showing the world he’s in control. Dusty lazes in the corner, Tully makes a move, and Dusty raises the elbow high, stopping Tully in his tracks.

Tully lands some shots, but he’s so afraid of really engaging with Rhodes, of taking a shot in return, punch or elbow. C&E now, Tully goes to the ample gut of the Dream, bu misses a fistdrop after a takedown. Tully runs away again, going out to get some surely sage advice from the bloody Dillon.

Dusty with a headbutt after Blanchard comes back him. Referee checks both; Dusty, after all, has a lot of scar tissue. Dusty lazily takes Blanchard down, then stomps the leg. Rhodes approaches Blanchard in the corner, goes downstairs to the body to drop the arms, but Tully gets his hands back up to block a headshot. There’s the elbow, and Dusty wants Tully checked. No blood.

Dusty drops Tully again when he gets up, then goes for a toehold. In a first blood match. Why not? Dusty again showboating to the crowd, then drops the elbow into the knee. Back up and he does it again. Dusty going for him again, Blanchard leaves the ring again.

Back in and they knuckle lock it with one hand, but Tully swings and misses a wild southpaw uppercut. Blanchard to the breadbasket again, then takes Dusty down and drops an elbow. Blanchard claws at Rhodes’ forehead, but Rhodes flips him over and stomps Tully in the forehead. Big double sledge swing from Dusty puts Blanchard back down. No blood.

Rhodes and Blanchard in the corner, struggling a bit, and Rhodes hits the referee by accident. Dillon throws Tully a shoe, but Dusty gets ahead of him and knocks it out of his hands. Rhodes suplexes Blanchard, but Tully hits Hebner again. Rhodes has the show, throws it away, and hits the elbow. Raining down right hands in abundance, looking to crack Tully open, and he does.

Rhodes pointing at the blood, but there’s no referee. Blanchard trying to fight, but Rhodes puts him down again. Dillon gets involved, wiping the blood off Tully’s head and rubbing him with Vaseline again. Then Blanchard cracks Dusty with a roll of quarters. So Dusty’s busted open, down right by Hebner, who is getting back up. Hebner sees the blood on Dusty, touches it twice, and calls for the bell.

Dusty screams out in anguish when he realizes he’s being jobbed of his TV title right here in Greensboro.

Rating: 3/5. The “workrate” of this is nothing special — bad, even. They don’t do much at all. But they have the crowd hanging on every moment, the finish is classic pro wrestling dramatic bullshit, and that dickhead Blanchard gets away with a crime yet again, at the expense of our great blue collar hero, Dusty Rhodes. (But don’t forget that Dusty is also rich and famous.)