January 5, 1990 – NWA Power Hour #28
The returning Arn Anderson reunites with Ole Anderson to defeat The New Zealand Militia when Arn pins Rip Morgan. Flyin’ Brian Pillman scores a win over newcomer Cactus Jack Manson and Z-Man beats Galaxian II.
January 6, 1990 – USWA Challenge
January 6, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
January 12, 1990 – NWA Power Hour #29
Coming off of his disappointing performances at Starrcade, The Great Muta continues his losing streak by dropping the NWA TV Title to Arn Anderson. Both Buzz Sawyer and The Dragon Master interfere in the match but Anderson is still able to get the win after a DDT. NWA World Champion Ric Flair is also in action, pinning Eddie Gilbert with a small package.
January 13, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
January 19, 1990 – NWA Power Hour #30
The feud between the Four Horsemen and J-Tex continues with Buzz Sawyer challenging NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson. Former champion The Great Muta and The Dragon Master interfere, causing Sawyer to be disqualified, but the J-Tex group lays out Arn and Ole Anderson after the match. U.S. Champion Lex Luger pins Eddie Gilbert in a non-title match. On an installment of his Funk’s Grill segment, Terry Funk interviews newcomer Cactus Jack Manson.
January 21, 1990 – WWF Royal Rumble
After buying #30 the previous year, Ted DiBiase draws #1 in the 30-man Royal Rumble and quickly eliminates #2 entrant Koko B. Ware and #3 entrant Marty Jannetty. DiBiase manages to last 45 minutes in the match until finally being tossed by #21 entrant The Ultimate Warrior. Hulk Hogan enters the match at #25 and quickly eliminates several wrestlers, including Haku, Jimmy Snuka, and The Honky Tonk Man, while Warrior dumps Tito Santana, Rick Martel, and Shawn Michaels, leaving Hogan and Warrior alone for a showdown in the ring. The battle without a clear winner until The Barbarian, Rick Rude, and Hogan team up to eliminate Warrior. Hogan eventually goes on to eliminate #30 entrant Mr. Perfect to win the match. In other bouts, Ron Garvin defeats Greg Valentine in a submission match and Brutus Beefcake and The Genius battle to a double disqualification.
January 27, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
January 27, 1990 – Saturday Night’s Main Event #25 (broadcast version & 24/7 version)
Following their confrontation in the Royal Rumble, Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior team up to face Mr. Perfect & The Genius. Hogan pins The Genius with a legdrop, but after the match Warrior accidentally clotheslines Hogan while trying to run off their opponents, leading to a staredown between the two. In preparation for his upcoming title shot against Hogan, Randy Savage successfully defends his crown by defeating former WWF “king” Hacksaw Jim Duggan. In other bouts, Jake Roberts gets a disqualification win over Greg Valentine when Roberts is attacked by Ted DiBiase, and Rick Rude battles Dusty Rhodes to a double countout.
February 6, 1990 – NWA Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout
The Four Horsemen tell Sting that he is no longer a member of their group and that he must back out of his title shot against Ric Flair at WrestleWar by the end of the night. When Sting refuses, the Horsemen attack him and Flair again warns him to get out of the
February 10, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
February 17, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
With Sting out of action due to injury, U.S. Champion Lex Luger is chosen to receive the World Title shot against Ric Flair at WrestleWar. The Horsemen offer Luger the same ultimatum as Sting and advise him to back out of the title match, but Luger refuses and attacks the Horsemen. Brian Pillman also voices his disappointment in Flair for his actions toward Sting and challenges Flair to a match. Pillman comes close to defeating Flair in the non-title bout, but Flair ultimately rolls through a crossbody and uses a handful of tights to pin Pillman. The Andersons continue the Horsemen’s rampage as they first attack The Steiners and then NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson attempts to injure Shane Douglas in a title match. The referee stops the match when Douglas cannot continue and the Andersons continue to assault him afterwards until The Steiners make the save. In first round matches from the ongoing U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament, The Midnight Express make use of Jim Cornette’s tennis racket to defeat The Rock n’ Roll Express and The Freebirds advance with a win over Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert.
February 23, 1990 – WWF The Main Event #3
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defends the title against Randy Savage with new boxing World Champion Buster Douglas as the special referee, having replaced originally scheduled referee Mike Tyson. Hogan pins Savage, who complains of a fast count and is knocked out by Douglas afterward. WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior also makes a successful defense of his title, pinning Dino Bravo. Afterward Bravo and Earthquake attack Warrior, but Hogan makes the save, leading to another confrontation between Warrior and Hogan.
February 24, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
On the night before WrestleWar ’90, The Horsemen continue to torment Lex Luger and The Steiners, who stand their ground heading into their title matches at the pay-per-view. Courtesy of Worldwide Wrestling, the semifinals of the U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament are shown, with The Freebirds defeating The Dynamic Dudes and Brian Pillman & Z-Man upsetting The Midnight Express to make it to the finals. Also in action are Doug Furnas, The Road Warriors, and the team of Kevin Sullivan & Cactus Jack Manson.
February 24, 1990 – U.S. Tag Team Title Tournament Final: The Freebirds vs. Brian Pillman & Z-Man (Worldwide Wrestling, Brian Pillman: Loose Cannon DVD)
The eight-team tournament to revive the U.S. Tag Team Title comes down to The Freebirds and Brian Pillman & Z-Man meeting in the finals. After a back-and-forth contest, Pillman hits a springboard dive onto Garvin, allowing Z-Man to get the pin and become the new champions.
February 25, 1990 – NWA WrestleWar ’90: Wild Thing (Turner Home Video & WWE 24/7 versions)
U.S. Champion Lex Luger, replacing the injured Sting, gets his opportunity to challenge NWA World Champion Ric Flair in the main event. Sting comes to ringside on crutches and is attacked by The Andersons, leading Luger, who had Flair in the Torture Rack, to leave the ring and save Sting, getting counted out and sacrificing his title shot in the process. The Andersons also get a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Title, but lose to The Steiner Brothers. New U.S. Tag Team Champion Brian Pillman & Z-Man also retain their title, defeating The Freebirds in a rematch from the tournament final. In other bouts, The Road Warriors defeat The “New Skyscrapers” team of Mean Mark Callous and a masked mystery partner in a street fight and The Rock n’ Roll Express get a win over old rivals The Midnight Express.
March 3, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
March 10, 1990 – USWA Challenge
March 10, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
March 17, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
March 18, 1990 – All Japan TV
March 19, 1990 – WWF at Madison Square Garden
As Wrestlemania draws near, WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior defends his title against Mr. Perfect, with Warrior handing Perfect his first televised pinfall loss to retain the title. After promising to end the career of Hulk Hogan, Earthquake scores a dominant win over Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Earthquake later gets involved in a match between Dino Bravo and Brutus Beefcake, attacking Beefcake outside the ring and allowing Bravo to win by countout. In other bouts, The Orient Express defeat Demolition by countout and Bret Hart battles Rick Martel to a 20-minute draw.
March 24, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
March 31, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
In a match from last week’s episode of NWA Main Event, NWA World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers face Ole Anderson’s masked Minnesota Wrecking Crew II in a non-title match. The Crew work over Scott Steiner’s arm until an injured Steiner is unable to get back into the ring and is counted out. Captain Mike Rotunda, with his friend Norman at ringside, defeats The Cuban Assassin, but the duo are then attacked by Kevin Sullivan and Cactus Jack Manson. Norman’s mysterious black box is opened to reveal Abdullah the Butcher, who helps Norman and Rotunda run off Sullivan and Manson. Eddie Gilbert gains a win over Jimmy Garvin of The Freebirds when The Rock n’ Roll Express come to ringside and distract Garvin.
April 1, 1990 – WWF Wrestlemania VI: The Ultimate Challenge (Anthology version & Coliseum Video version)
In a showdown with both belts at stake, WWF Champion Hulk Hogan battles WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior. After a series of near falls, Warrior avoids Hogan’s legdrop and hits a splash for the pin and the WWF Championship. Afterward, Hogan hands over the title belt and gives the spotlight to the new champion. Another title changes hands when Demolition defeat Haku & Andre the Giant to reclaim the WWF Tag Team Title for a third time. After the match, Bobby Heenan blames Andre for the loss, leading the Giant to lay out Heenan and Haku. Ted DiBiase defeats Jake Roberts by countout and in the process reclaims his Million Dollar Belt. In other matches; Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire beat Randy Savage & Queen Sherri in a mixed tag team match, Brutus Beefcake pins Mr. Perfect, Big Bossman defeats former partner Akeem, and Roddy Piper battles Bad News Brown to a double countout.
April 7, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
April 14, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
A special 3-hour edition of World Championship Wrestling promises an announcement from Sting about his future, with rumors being that he may retire from wrestling. Instead, Sting announces that he will return at Capital Combat and be seconded by Robocop. In a 2-out-of-3 falls main event, The Rock n’ Roll Express defeat The Freebirds two falls to one. A singles match between Z-Man and Stan Lane ends in a disqualification when Lane’s partner Bobby Eaton gets involved, leading to a brawl between The Midnight Express and Z-Man and Brian Pillman. Samu fails to show up for a rematch with Eddie Gilbert, leading to Gilbert instead defeating the masked Punisher, but Samu appears after the match to atack Gilbert. The rivalry between Tommy Rich and Joel Deaton also continues, with Rich getting a victory with a roll up.
April 15, 1990 – All Japan/WWF Wrestling Summit
April 15, 1990 – NWA Main Event
Brian Pillman & Z-Man continue their successful reign as U.S. Tag Team Champions with a victory over challengers The Minnesota Wrecking Crew II. Eddie Gilbert gets his rematch with Samu but the match ends in a time-limit draw, although both men continue the fight after the bell. Mark & Chris Youngblood also make their debut and pick up a win over Galaxian I & Rick Fargo.
April 20, 1990 – NWA Power Hour
The feud between U.S. Tag Team Champions Brian Pillman & Z-Man and The Midnight Express continues, this time with the Express using manager Jim Cornette’s racket to help them beat the champions in a non-title match. Rick Steiner and Butch Reed meet in a singles match, with Steiner getting the win by disqualification when Ron Simmons interferes. Mean Mark Callous also gets a victory in a handicap match over Rockin’ Rebel and Terry Bronson.
April 22, 1990 – NWA Main Event
April 28, 1990 – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #26
The Ultimate Warrior makes his first TV defense of the WWF Title, successfully defending the belt with a win over Haku. Former champion Hulk Hogan ends his rivalry with Mr. Perfect with a decisive pinfall victory. Top tag team contenders The Hart Foundation and The Rockers battle to a double disqualification and Earthquake gets a dominant win over Hillbilly Jim.
April 29, 1990 – All Japan TV
May 5, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
May 6, 1990 – NWA Main Event
May 12, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
May 19, 1990 – NWA Capital Combat (Turner Home Entertainment version & WWE Network version)
Lex Luger gets another opportunity to challenge NWA World Champion Ric Flair, this time in a steel cage match. The Horsemen are still able to interfere, however, as they manage to raise the cage, allowing Barry Windham and Arn Anderson to enter the ring and attack Luger, causing a disqualification. Both sets of tag team titles change hands, as Doom upset The Steiner Brothers for the NWA World Tag Team Title and The Midnight Express take the U.S. Tag Team Championship from Brian Pillman & Z-Man. In a “Corporal Punishment” strap match, The Rock n’ Roll Express defeat The Freebirds.
June 13, 1990 – NWA Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush
Ric Flair defends the NWA World Title against the Junkyard Dog in the main event, but the match ends in a disqualification when the Four Horsemen interfere, but are then run off by Sting and the Dudes with Attitudes. The rest of the Horsemen have a rough night, as World TV Champion Arn Anderson is pinned in a non-title match by Paul Orndorff and U.S. Champion Lex Luger gets a shocking quick pinfall on Sid Vicious. The only Horsemen to come out a winner is Barry Windham, who pins Doug Furnas. In other title matches, NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom win a rematch over The Steiners and The Rock n’ Roll Express win by DQ over U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express.
July 7, 1990 – NWA Great American Bash ’90 (Turner Home Video & WWE 24/7 versions)
Sting returns to the ring following his knee injury, looking to gain revenge on NWA World Champion Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. Sting’s allies run off interference from the Horsemen, allowing the challenger to gain a clean pin and capture his first world championship. Other champions manage to hold on to their titles, as U.S. Champion Lex Luger turns back a challenge from Mean Mark Callous, NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom get a win over The Rock n’ Roll Express, and U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express retain their belts in a classic battle against The Southern Boys. The show also features two major debuts, as Big Van Vader dominates the Z-Man and the 7’7″ El Gigante teams with Junkyard Dog and Paul Orndorff for a disqualification win over the Horsemen trio of Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, and Sid Vicious.
July 28, 1990 – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #27: Wild Kingdom
Rick Rude challenges The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Title, but the match ends with interference from manager Bobby Heenan and Rude being counted out, setting up a steel cage rematch at SummerSlam. Hulk Hogan also announces his official return for SummerSlam to challenge Earthquake. In other title matches, the Demolition team of Smash & Crush beat The Rockers to retain the WWF Tag Team Title when Ax interferes and WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect beats Tito Santana. Newcomer The Texas Tornado makes his TV debut, defeating Buddy Rose.
August 27, 1990 – WWF SummerSlam ’90
Hulk Hogan returns to the ring after being injured at the hands of Earthquake for a showdown that ends in a countout victory for Hogan. The second half of the double main event sees WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior defeat longtime rival Rick Rude inside a steel cage to retain his title. Two other title matches end in new champions being crowned, as The Texas Tornado pins Mr. Perfect to capture the WWF Intercontinental Title and The Hart Foundation win their second WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating Demolition in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. In other matches, Randy Savage scores a quick pinfall win over Dusty Rhodes, Jake Roberts wins by DQ over Bad News Brown in what would be Brown’s last WWF match, and the new duo of Power & Glory upset The Rockers.
September 5, 1990 – NWA Clash of the Champions XII: Fall Brawl ’90, Mountain Madness
The mysterious Black Scorpion arrives to challenge Sting for the NWA World Title after weeks of sending cryptic messages to the champion. Sting easily defeats the challenger but does not discover his identity, and after the match a second Black Scorpion appears to stare down Sting. U.S. Champion Lex Luger defends his title against Ric Flair in a match that ends in disqualification when Stan Hansen attacks Luger. Two new tag teams have successful debuts, as The Nasty Boys defeat Jackie Fulton & Terry Taylor and The Master Blasters roll over Tim Horner & Brad Armstrong. New U.S. Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers also get a dominant win over Maximum Overdrive.
October 8, 1990 – USWA Title Tournament, Round 1: Jimmy Valiant vs. Eddie Gilbert (Superstars of Yesteryear DVD)
October 13, 1990 – USWA Championship Wrestling
Eddie Gilbert comes out the confront Southern Champion Jeff Jarrett, accusing Jarrett of ducking him and being protected by his father, promoter Jerry Jarrett. The war of words heats up and leads to Gilbert blindsiding Jarrett and then bloodying him with a shoe. The injured Jarrett still appears later in the show to team with Jeff Gaylord in a USWA Tag Team Title defense against Doug Gilbert and the Dirty White Boy, but Eddie shows up again to interfere. Jarrett ends up being counted out, allowing Doug and the Dirty White Boy to win the USWA Tag Team Title. In other matches, Bill Dundee gets a disqualification win over Tojo Yamamoto’s Great Samurai and Sheik Abdul Hussein pins Joey Maggs.
October 13, 1990 – NWA World Championship Wrestling
October 13, 1990 – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #28: Oktoberfest
WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior teams with the Legion of Doom to defeat all three members of Demolition in a six-man tag team match. Hulk Hogan teams up with Tugboat in another big tag team match, defeating the Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine by disqualification. Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes renew their rivalry for one final battle, which sees Savage win by countout when Rhodes leaves the ring to aid his son, Dustin, who gets into a fight in the crowd with Ted DiBiase. In other matches, WWF Intercontinental Champion The Texas Tornado pins Haku and the returning Sgt. Slaughter beats Koko B. Ware.
October 20, 1990 – USWA Championship Wrestling
October 27, 1990 – WCW Halloween Havoc 1990
In a wild main event, Sting seemingly loses the NWA World Title to Sid Vicious after the two battle out of the arena and then return to the ring. A closer look reveals, however, that Sid pinned a fake Sting–Barry Windham in disguise–and the real Sting returns to pin Vicious after the referee restarts the match. In a major upset, Stan Hansen ends the 17-month reign of Lex Luger to capture the United States Title. U.S. Tag Team Champions The Steiners retain their belts in a hard-fought war against The Nasty Boys, while NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom battle to a double-countout against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. The show also features the final match of The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette in WCW, as they lose to the team of Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton just days before Cornette and Stan Lane would quit the company.
November 18, 1990 – WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1990
Heading into Survivor Series, WWF Intercontinental Champion Kerry Von Erich represents his team against Smash of Demolition. Mr. Perfect and the rest of Demolition get involved, leading to Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom making the save. Big Bossman takes on Earthquake but loses by countout when he is distracted by Bobby Heenan outside the ring. In other matches featuring members of opposing Survivor Series teams, Rick Martel pins Marty Jannetty, Bret Hart defeats The Honky Tonk Man, and Sgt. Slaughter defeats Tito Santana.
November 20, 1990 – NWA Clash of the Champions XIII: Thanksgiving Thunder
The feud between the Four Horsemen and Doom continues with Ric Flair defeating Butch Reed in the main event when Arn Anderson interferes, earning another World Tag Team Title shot for the Horsemen. Mike Rotunda announces that he will now be known as Michael Wallstreet and introduces his new manager Alexandra York before defeating the Star Blazer. In other matches, Lex Luger pins Motor City Madman, Sid Vicious beats The Nightstalker, and The Freebirds beat The Southern Boys.
November 22, 1990 – WWF Survivor Series 1990
For the first time, the Survivor Series features an added stipulation in which the winners return for a final match of survival. WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior is the sole survivor of his team, winning a match over the three members of Demolition and Mr. Perfect. Warrior is joined in the final match by Hulk Hogan, who is the sole survivor in a match against Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku, and The Barbarian. Tito Santana also joins their team by being the last survivor of Nikolai Volkoff’s Alliance in a victory over Sgt. Slaughter’s Mercenaries. Rick Martel’s team of The Visionaries, including The Warlord, Hercules, and Paul Roma, survive in full with a clean sweep of Jake Roberts’ Vipers team. Ted DiBiase is also the sole survivor of his team, defeating Dusty Rhodes’ Dream Team by last pinning Bret Hart. But the match is more notable for the debut of DiBiase’s mystery partner, The Undertaker, who pins both Koko B. Ware and Rhodes before being counted out. In the final match of survival, Warrior and Hogan are the last men standing with Warrior getting the final fall over Hercules after Hogan pins DiBiase with the leg drop.
November 24, 1990 – WWF The Main Event #4
November 24, 1990 – WWF at Madison Square Garden
Hulk Hogan and Earthquake battle again, this time with Dino Bravo interfering and causing Hogan to lose the match by countout. Bravo and Earthquake team up on Hogan after the match until Tugboat makes the safe, setting up a tag team match for the following month. Texas Tornado successfully defends the Intercontinental Title against Mr. Perfect with Roddy Piper as special referee, but Perfect attacks Piper after the match over what he believes is a bad call on the pinfall. Ted DiBiase and Virgil team up to defeat Dusty and Dustin Rhodes when Virgil pins Dustin, and The Rockers get a disqualification win over Demolition.
December 16, 1990 – NWA Starrcade ’90: Collision Course
In the final battle between Sting and The Black Scorpion, Sting retains his NWA World Title in a steel cage title vs. mask match, forcing the Scorpion to unmask and revealing him to be Ric Flair. The Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament sees eight teams from around the globe compete to determine the best team in the world, with U.S. Tag Team Champions The Steiners taking the trophy with a victory over the Japanese team of The Great Muta & Mr. Saito in the finals. In other title matches, Lex Luger regains the United States Title in a bullrope match against Stan Hansen and NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom retain their belts by going to a draw against Arn Anderson & Barry Windham in a street fight.
December 24, 1990 – WWF Prime Time Wrestling #301
December 28, 1990 – WWF at Madison Square Garden
Roddy Piper gets a shot at the WWF Intercontinental Title in the main event but fails to capture the gold when champion Mr. Perfect is counted out of the ring, allowing him to retain his title. Hulk Hogan continues his rivalry with Earthquake as Hogan teams with Tugboat to defeat Earthquake & Dino Bravo. Another team falls apart when Greg Valentine goes after manager Jimmy Hart, who accidentally hits Valentine with Honky Tonk Man’s guitar after Valentine loses by disqualification to Saba Simba. In another tag team match, Sgt. Slaughter and manager Gen. Adnan defeat Dusty Rhodes & Hacksaw Jim Duggan when Slaughter knocks Dusty out with the Camel Clutch.
Wrestling History Preserved 