- What do you get when you’ve had a banner year quality-wise, but blew off your biggest feud (Flair v. Funk) months earlier and can’t decide who your next main event feud should involve? Why, hold an Iron Man tournament, of course, and that’s exactly what the NWA tried in the last days of the Flair/Ross booking era. It was a monumentally stupid idea because of time constraints and the fact that the only fresh, high-level match on the card was Road Warriors v. Steiners. Everything else had either been done (Flair/Luger, Flair/Sting) or held no interest for the fans. The relatively complicated scoring system meant that too much thinking was involved for the fans. As a result, this show drew flies and was a total bomb, one that pretty much signaled the end of Flair’s run with the book.

- The Rules: Competitors get 20 points for a pinfall or submission, 15 for a countout win, 10 for a DQ win, and 5 for a time-limit draw. Whoever has the most points after wrestling the other three people in the tournament wins. All matches are 15 minute time limits.

- The Competitors: For the Iron Man tourney, it’s Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting and the Great Muta. For the Iron Team portion, it’s The Steiners, The Road Warriors, Doom and the Wild Samoans (who are subbing for the Skyscrapers).

- Live from Atlanta, GA

- Your hosts are Jim Ross & Terry Funk for the Iron Man matches, and Jim Ross & Jim Cornette for the Iron Team matches.

- Opening match: Doom v. Rick & Scott Steiner. The arena is so empty to start that the announcers have to make excuses to cover it up. Doom still has the masks, and Woman, and that doofus bodyguard Nitron. Simmons and Scott start, and that goes badly for Ron. Slow start as Scott works on Reed with some basic stuff. Nitron (who later became Big Sky, an early partner for Kevin Nash during his Vinnie Vegas run) attacks Scott on the outside to gain the advantage. Fashion note: Bad-asses don’t wear spandex tights and leather jackets. Scott bumps around a bit to make Doom seem like they might have a hope in hell. Scott gets the hot tag to Rick as the 15-minute time limit is approaching. Rick stampedes over Doom with clotheslines, and everyone fights on the floor, with Rick rolling in to beat the count to steal a win and 15 points. I’ve always hated that finish. Bad choice to rev up an already indifferent crowd. *1/2