Talk about Disc 2 of the 1990 Yearbook here!
I've added my own thoughts from 2012 along with each entry. Not sure if I still feel this way about everything or not, but here it is.
DISC 2
Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWF 1/16/90)
I don't think this was a great match, but it was a really good one that felt like a big main event. Takada is the aggressor for most of this while Maeda works from underneath, which is not the role I am used to seeing him in. Takada shows a lot more fire than I often see from him in his more acclaimed matches. Maeda's 3/4 crab (a half crab and a half-half crab) was a highlight for me. As the match progresses, Maeda, despite having taken more punishment, looks fresher, and this match starts to look like a big rope-a-dope. Maeda starts to look like the surefire winner as the match gets close the finish. In the end, it wasn't enough to close the gap and Takada outskills him and comes back yet again. This was a nice story, and it feels like a chapter in a feud more than it does a great match on its own. There are probably some 1988-1989 prerequisites worth checking out to appreciate this even more, but I did like this a standalone match quite a bit. Very simple, but very good.
Bill Dundee, Chris Adams & Eric Embry vs. Billy Travis, Gary Young & Skandor Akbar (USWA TX 1/19/90)
I love the early comedy spots between Dundee and Travis. Adams sneaking in the punch, and Travis's selling of it, is just great. They are building to a couple of things early on, keeping Adams and Travis apart, and keeping Akbar out of the ring. Adams goes to the well too many times, then the heels work over his knee, with Gary Young in particular doing some nice stuff.
Kind of a wow moment, as FLIK said, later in the match, when Embry shoved Toni Adams down for no real reason, which sets off a slugfest between partners Adams and Embry. Dundee tries to break it up to no avail while the heels cheer them on from the outside, which is funny. They finally use this as an opening to work over Dundee.
This was a good match with a fun angle.
Funk's Grill: Cactus Jack (Power Hour 1/19/90)
Well, how's this for a piece of trivia? Cactus seems really nervous and doesn't know which camera to look into. I wouldn't have pegged him a promo guy at this point. It's amazing how he got so much better by the time he returned to the promotion in '91. I'm not sure what experience he would have really had that would have made him so much better during that time, but yeah, Terry has to carry him through this one.
Cactus would rather hurt a man than love a woman, and onions taste a little like owl. He sounds awfully young.
Arn Anderson vs. Buzz Sawyer (Power Hour 1/19/90)
Sawyer is past his prime at this point, but still has a lot in the tank. The highlight is Sawyer biting Arn just to break an armbar. I don't think this match quite lives up to the hype I've heard for it over the years, but it is a really solid match, and it is fun to see Arn as a very over singles babyface for a sort-of-extended run. J-Tex run in and spray mist on Arn and spike piledrive him. Ole runs in for the save and it's 3-on-1, but he don't sell nothin' for no one. Ole ends up eating a top rope splash from Buzz, which is sold in a big way. The post-match is super hot.
Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Isao Takagi (AJPW 1/20/90)
Jumbo and Tenryu really light each other up, which is great to watch. I agree that this match is better than the other one, mainly because we get more of Jumbo vs Tenryu. Love all the chaos with the seconds at ringside. Jumbo and Kawada have a really spirited finishing stretch while Tenryu throws furniture on everyone at ringside. He must have been cut in the fracas because he has blood on him. Great scene and very good match.
Brother Love: Hulk Hogan (Superstars 1/20/90)
The glory days of Hulkamania. Self absorbed, bragging about his body, and downplaying the idea that other wrestlers in the WWF have any talent. Hogan calls out Warrior in a way that anyone who dared do to him would be considered a horrible person. As I said, the glory days of Hulkamania.
Royal Rumble Report (Superstars 1/20/90)
Gene does a complete rundown of the participants in the Royal Rumble. I really do think these segments on Superstars were a difference maker in selling PPVs. I have nothing to prove that, but I sincerely believe it. Good look at the WWF roster at the time, with quite a few brief cut-in promos. The Andre one is amusing.
Ted Dibiase + Jake Roberts (Superstars 1/20/90)
At the conclusion of a Jake squash, DiBiase sends Virgil to reclaim the Million Dollar Belt, which is in the bag with Damian. Virgil takes off running after contact with the snake and DiBiase still doesn't have his belt back. Fun segment.
Jerry Lawler Promo (USWA 1/20/90)
Lawler says the idea of Dave Brown showing footage of JYD pinning him is ridiculous and it will never happen. He managed to procure the tape to ensure that it doesn't air on television. Lawler returns to his Zach Morris cell phone and we're out.
Junkyard Dog Promo/Jerry Lawler Promo (USWA 1/20/90)
JYD does an empty arena promo in Dallas hyping his return to Memphis. He sets his sights on Lawler. This is a good way to present him. Lawler responds. By the way, Lawler responds from "outside the studio", likely taped earlier in the week, as Lawler worked the Dallas taping that morning. The guy can do a lot of things, but being in two places at one time is a skill I didn't know he had.
Jeff Jarrett music video (USWA 1/20/90)
To the tune of "Born To Be My Baby". Arena footage interspersed with Jeff Jarrett getting ready for the world first thing in the morning. HAWT. A DJ is doing wraparounds during this, and calls him the "new sensation", which segues to the INXS song of the same name. This caps off with Jeff Jarrett coming into the room to do a radio interview.
Jerry Lawler vs. Junkyard Dog (USWA TX 1/20/90)
Some will complain that this is too showy without much wrestling, and it is, but if you compare this to the Flair/JYD match at the Clash, I think Lawler's approach looks better. It's a lot of build to just a few spots, and Lawler plays hide-the-chain. Not a good match, and not really a fun one, but an interesting one worth watching nonetheless. The match ends in a DQ when Terrence Garvin interferes on Lawler's behalf.
Ultimate Warrior Interview (Challenge 1/21/90)
I honestly didn't remember them teasing a Hogan/Warrior confrontation prior to the Royal Rumble.
Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius (Finish only) (Rumble 1/21/90)
Last few minutes. We get a ref bump, and Beefcake puts Genius to sleep. He starts cutting his hair, but Mr. Perfect cuts him off. Beefcake was facing the aisle, but I was guess was too blind to notice a man in a neon orange singlet running at him. Genius ended up with a huge bald spot on his head and the heels work Beefcake over with a chair. I wasn't sure why this was a double DQ, then I remembered Brutus bringing shears into the ring, so yeah.
Ron Garvin vs. Greg Valentine (Submission Match) (Rumble 1/21/90)
Another good match between these two. I think the announcers explained the instinct to go for a pin quite well, and it's not something I had a problem with at all. Both guys throw punches from boxing stances and hit each other really hard. The idea that a figure four won't hurt if you wear a brace is silly, but that's really the only negative thing that stood out. Really good, and outside-the-box for the WWF.
Bobby Heenan Family Interview (Rumble 1/21/90)
They tease dissension in the Heenan Family during the Royal Rumble!
Royal Rumble (JIP) (Rumble 1/21/90)
We start with 10 seconds to go before Hogan's appearance. The Hogan/Warrior standoff is something iconic. I know it's the popular point, but I don't think there was any reason to put Perfect over in this match when he was drawing poorly against Hogan on the road. I do see value in putting Warrior over, though.
Toy Commercial / Roddy Piper vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlefest 1/22/90)
This is a match I always thought the WWF should have run on a big show. In fact, I would have rather seen Savage/Piper and Dusty/Bad News at WM 6, instead of the other way around. This started out fun with the Piper/Sherri comedy, got pretty pedestrian, then picked up again when they battled each other over the airplane spin. Savage totally made the match when he fell off the top rope because he was so dizzied by the airplane spin he just performed on Piper. I knew this wouldn't have a finish before even watching it. It's a Roddy Piper WWF match after all.
Jumbo Tsuruta, Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki (Finish Only) (AJPW 1/25/90)
Just the finish of Tenryu snapping. This was put on to show that he was clearly being phased out as early as January, as a match involving these guys would not have ended this way a few months earlier. Sounds like we just included the good part, but I'm interested in checking out the match in full sometime based on what we see here. I want to see it for myself. 
Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Sting vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dragon Master & Great Muta (Power Hour 1/26/90)
This is some crazy heat! Forget WCW, this is a Jim Crockett Promotions crowd. Johnson City, TN rocks! This has been a really good month for wrestling in WCW. Flair/Eaton is better than this, but this has a much hotter crowd, and they kept the pace and energy up. Flair and Sawyer having the chop battle was awesome. Flair is FIP during most of this and does a really good job of it. Muta sprays Sting in the eyes to end this on a DQ, then Sawyer splashes him from the top rope. Great way to build heat on the Clash, and yet another indicator that turning the Horsemen when they did just killed the 1989 goodwill they had with the hardcores.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Billy Joe Travis (Guitar on a Pole match) (USWA TX 1/26/90)
This would have been a MOTYC with 10 more minutes and more momentum shifts. As it stands, it was still tremendous. Travis takes some wild bumps on the floor, including a back body drop and a piledriver. Lawler, doing commentary at ringisde, runs in and attacks Jarrett after the match, breaking the guitar over his head! Kerry Von Erich finally makes the save and both guys bump like mad for him. Eventually the numbers catch up to him though, and Lawler starts attacking him with broken pieces of the guitar. Eventually, Jarrett makes the save with a chair. The post-match stuff is a hell of a brawl on its own, and taken together, this is a GREAT segment.
Ted Dibiase Interview (Superstars 1/27/90)
DiBiase is fired up over losing his Million Dollar Belt. He challenges Jake Roberts to a match next week.
Robert Fuller & Brian Lee Interview (USWA 1/27/90)
Robert Fuller has a broken heart! His Georgia peach has left him! He brought out a guitar and decided to play a song. He's actually pretty good. Bill Dundee is out crying crocodile tears, which (rightfully?) infuriates the Stud Stable. Brian Lee suggests doing a Star Search to find him a new woman. Fuller needs a woman who don't mind bein' the first one on the bus ready to ride! Robert Fuller is so awesome.
Jerry Lawler Pissed Off (USWA 1/27/90)
Lawler shows pictures to prove that he knows celebrities. There is one of Rodney Dangerfield and one of Art Modell. He promises video footage of himself and Christie Brinkley next week. He is quite angry about his reputation being soiled. Dave Brown got him worked up!
Funk's Grill: Teddy Long & Mean Mark Callous (WWW 1/27/90)
Mean Mark Callous debuts in the NWA. The interplay with Funk and Long is really hilarious. Yes, med2089, this is the segment you think it is!
Four Horsemen Interview (WCWSN 1/27/90)
Jim Ross asks Sting how he is adjusting to life in the fast lane, and he says he's handling it just fine. He also asks if he is prepared to beat Ric Flair for the World title at Wrestle War on February 25. Before he can answer the question, the Horsemen are out with women, perhaps binders full of them! Woman interrupts the party and makes an offer to Flair once again. She tells Flair when he's finished with girls, to let him know when he's ready for a woman. Good segment.
Rock N Roll Express & Dynamic Dudes vs. Midnight Express & Fabulous Freebirds (WCWSN 1/27/90)
This crowd is SO excited to see the return of the Rock & Roll Express. Another excellent WCW TV match in January. This is laid out like you would expect, but it's given 20 minutes and is executed very, very well. Cornette takes a nice bump off of the dropkick. Shane Douglas - who is in a bad spot with the bookers at this point - eats the fall.
Show opening (SNME 1/27/90)
I love Saturday Night's Main Event show openings! That's why they are all here.
Comments (1)
Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWF 1/16/90) Takada lands the first big shot, knocking Maeda down. Kicks exchanged in the corner, Maeda barely whiffs on a knockout blow. Maeda does a great job selling his wariness of Takada's kicks. Maeda has the advantage on the ground early, constantly threatening the armbar. Maeda scores the next knockdown, then starts working over Takada's knee with leg kicks. Takada shoots a single-leg and eventually gets it to the ground, but Maeda is able to gain control and work again towards an armbar. At one point Takada tries to escape and in the ensuing rolling Maeda latches on a deep single-leg Boston crab, using it to transition back to side control, then a kneebar. Takada's is now at a points deficit despite having nore success on the feet. Given how the grappling's gone, Takada needs to stand it up, but once they do Maeda really starts pouring it on, earning a 9 count with a brutal knockdown. Takada gets it to the ground and is stymied yet again, burning another two rope breaks. On the strike exchange following the stand up, Takada lands a blow to Maeda's eye which causes a 9 count and a brief delay. Bill Dundee, Chris Adams & Eric Embry vs. Billy Travis, Gary Young & Skandor Akbar (USWA TX 1/19/90) It's the Billy Joe show to start, he is bumping and stooging all over the place and it is wonderful. Gary Young and Chris Adams tag in and Young ends up tied in the ropes. When Adams attempts a flying knee Young ducks and Adams' knee gets hung up on the rope, leading to the heat. The heels all work over the leg for a while and Adams does a decent job of selling it. Eric Embry looks so sleazy. It really doesn't make a lot of sense for him to shove Toni, but you do buy it. Once Adams realizes what happened he goes after Embry (which the announcer blames on Adams' fiery temper, but if someone shoved your wife on her ass I don't thibk a fiery temper is required to take a swing at the guy) and the match is thrown out. Funk's Grill: Cactus Jack (Power Hour 1/19/90) Cactus Jack is nervous. Funk walks him through some lines that seem prepared and some which might have been bad improv, either way not an auspicious debut for this wonderful pairing. Arn Anderson vs. Buzz Sawyer (Power Hour 1/19/90) Anderson takes control early and works over Sawyer's arm. Sawyer takes control for a while and he might be limited, but he does what he can still do very well. About on par with the last week's match, maybe just a bit weaker, which is no small feat to me. The heels all run in to cause the DQ, and Ole attempts the save by himself. Ole gets taken down and splashed by Sawyer; it's the only thing he sells, but he does a tremendous job. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Isao Takagi We switch out the younger wrestlers for this one. Takagi is awesome going right at Tenryu at the bell, Tenryu repays him with some smacks to the mouth befoelre tagging out. Kawada looks pretty good to start, til Tenryu tags in and lays him out with one blow, before he smacks Tenryu, dragging him into a little showdown to heat the crowd up. Tenryu and Jumbo both have pretty short fuses this match, their exchanges are very spiteful and fun. As fun as Shawn standing on the top rope to cheer Marty 9n was last disc, Jumbo may be the king of fulminating on the apron while his partner suffers the beatdown. The seconds getting fed up with Tenryu and exacting some revenge is absolutely awesome, and the table-throwing tantrum and brief brawl that ensure are a fun capstone to the match. I liked it a bit less than the previous Tenryu v Jumbo tag, but it certainly did the job of continuing the rivalry in a compelling way. Brother Love: Hulk Hogan (Superstars 1/20/90) I cannot stand Prichard as Brother Love. Even without him this promo would be pretty brutal, just by the numbers Hogan stuff without any of the fun coked-up imagery he could sometines conjure up. Royal Rumble Report (Superstars 1/20/90) Piper cuts a fun lil promo, otherwise this pretty forgettable. Ted Dibiase + Jake Roberts (Superstars 1/20/90) Virgil is great here essentially playing against the bag. The bump through the ripes for the snake reveal is awesome. Jerry Lawler Promo (USWA 1/20/90) Junkyard Dog Promo/Jerry Lawler Promo (USWA 1/20/90) Lawler cuts a brief promo letting us all know that JYD could never pin him, and he has locked away the only footage that could dispute that fact. The Dog cuts a decent humble babyface promo about coming to the area and challenging Lawler, then Lawler responds in a pretape with an allegory about monster trucks; see, Lawler is gonna crush JYD just like those monster trucks crush a regular car. He messes up the time of the match at one point, in fact he stumbles over a couple of lines but clearly didn't care to try a second take. Must be nice to be the boss! Jeff Jarrett music video (USWA 1/20/90) Jeff Jarrett puts his pants on two legs at a time. Pretty great juxtaposition at the very end, with Michael Hutchence intoning 'new sensation!' over footage of about twenty old grannies celebrating a Jarrett win. Jerry Lawler vs. Junkyard Dog (USWA TX 1/20/90) Impossible not to compare this to Flair/JYD due to the proximity, and I also find this the far superior match. It's not great, but Lawler is a master of schtick and it's a way better use of JYD's skillset than plugging him into Flair's preset suite of spots. Having Garvin interfere and (I assume) switching the feud to Garvin/JYD is a decent way to get out of a definitive finish. Ultimate Warrior Interview (Challenge 1/21/90) Warrior blathers on incoherently and they further foreshadow the Hogan/Warrior faceoff. Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius (Finish only) (Rumble 1/21/90) Beefcake again seeks to humiliate his opponent, but Mr. Perfect make the save. Double DQ when the heels counteract Beefcake's shears with a steel, and Beefcake ends up selling his mid-section quite theatrically. Ron Garvin vs. Greg Valentine (Submission Match) (Rumble 1/21/90) Garvin and Valentine have a very high floor, it's always fun to watch them smack the shit oyut of each other. I can't really buy the 'muscle memory' excuse when Valentine does a double-bicep pose pinfall attempt on his downed opponent, but maybe for the resulting Garvin sunset flip. The figure four stuff with the brace is pretty goofy, but this still high-end stuff for 1990 WWF. Between Garvin here and Kawada earlier, this disc has been pretty headbutt-heavy so far. Bobby Heenan Family Interview (Rumble 1/21/90) Dissension is in fact teased! Inoffensive enough little segment. Hogan enters and the field is quickly winnowed down en route to the famous Hogan/Warrior showdown. I forgot the actual finish to this, it was fairly anti-climactic. Toy Commercial / Roddy Piper vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlefest 1/22/90) I thought this was pretty fun, Piper is a great meat and potatoes guy and it keeps up a fair amount of energy. Love the varied punches Piper throws in the corner. Sherri is the epitome of Heenan's 'manage like a wrestler' dictum. Savage trying to one-up Piper with the sped-up airplane spin but falling victim to his own hubris was brilliant. Some fairly deft camerawork at the end of the match, then the expected non-finish. Jumbo Tsuruta, Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki (Finish Only) (AJPW 1/25/90) I thought what was included kinda ruled. Virtually the first thing we see is Inoue getting enziguried right upside his head, then the next few minutes are him getting smacked or suplexed/dumped right on the back of his skull while he just grabs at his head in agony, as far as heat segments go it's pretty legit. Eventually Tsuruta and Kabuki have seen enough and they rush the ring, things spill outside and chairs are swung, people are thrown into bsrricades, etc. Inside, Kawada is kicking away at Inoue before falling victim to a backdrop. Tenryu is on the arpon, busying himself with stomping a yoyng boy's head, when Inoue hits him with a flying headbutt and he is KOed I guess. Pretty weird finish, then Tenryu comes back with a chair, the preening thug who'll pretend he didn't just get his comeuppance. Jumbo is more than willing to remind him who the real top dog is, and he ends up standing tall mid-ring as Tenryu throws more furniture around and storms off. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Sting vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dragon Master & Great Muta (Power Hour 1/26/90) This crowd is fucking awesome! They are so into everything. Sawyer up first for the heels and he is stooging for everyone, including the crowd, it is glorious. Sting press-slams Muta onto the heels gathered outside and then, when the heels attempt to isolate him the corner, he just makes his own comeback and beats all their asses. Muta takes a crazy bump on a monkey flip and nearly brains himself. The shine is quite extended, but this is as it should be when the babyfaces are the Four Horsemen. Flair plays face in peril long enough to do the turnbuckle bump and eat a handspring elbow before giving the hot tag to Sting, and the crowd gets even louder somehow. Sting gets hit with the mist at the finish, and a splash from Sawyer leaves him laying. Awesome stuff. Jeff Jarrett vs. Billy Joe Travis (Guitar on a Pole match) (USWA TX 1/26/90) The match is short, but everything it should be, Jarrett just beats the tar out of Travis with some beautiful-looking punches and then hits him with two piledrivers. He grabs the guitar to win, but Lawler runs in to lay him out from behind. Lawler hits Jarrett with a nasty guitar shot and the heels beat him down until Kerry Von Erich runs out to make the save. By this point Jarret has seemingly been disposed of, so the heels are able to take the advantage on Kerry with plunder shots until Jarrett can return swinging a chair to run them off. Helluva bit of TV. Ted Dibiase Interview (Superstars 1/27/90) Sets up a match with Jake Roberts. Robert Fuller & Brian Lee Interview (USWA 1/27/90) The Tennesee Stud is running Star Search '90, since his lovely Sylvia has left him to be a barmaid at a lounge in Columbus, GA. He says that 'in the tradition of Elvis, Billy Joe Travis, some of the better singers' he'll treat us to a song for his Geoegia peach. Bill Dundee comes out to mock Fuller, then Brian Lee confusingly acts like he just thought up the Star Search idea and Dave hadn't brought it up at the top of the segment. Jerry Lawler Pissed Off (USWA 1/27/90) Lawler shows off some mark pics. Funk's Grill: Teddy Long & Mean Mark Callous (WWW 1/27/90) Teddy Long is dancing around, and he introduces us to Mean Mark. Funk is pretty funny playing off of Long here. Four Horsemen Interview (WCWSN 1/27/90) We get to hear yet again how excited Sting is to be the newest Horseman. When the topic turns to Flair vs Sting, the other Horsemen enter with a bevy of women to change the subject. Woman comes out to let Flair know she's still waiting on him, and she's already slightly better than the last interview. Rock N Roll Express & Dynamic Dudes vs. Midnight Express & Fabulous Freebirds (WCWSN 1/27/90) The Rock n' Rolls are mega over here, and the match is as good as you would expect with Morton doing his thing as the heels cut off the ring and cheat liberally. JR is right, there really should be two refs out there. The Dynamic Dudes look as good as a couple of putzes could throughout, and Douglas has a nice little run at the end prior to eating the pin. Show opening (SNME 1/27/90) I don't have any nostalgia for this stuff (though I am reliably told I started watching wrestling in '93, I don't have any wrestling-related memories prior to like late '95), so it may be a little lost on me. Jesse looking cool here though, very Spider Jerusalem