01/15/1988 JCP: Western States Title Match: Barry Windham (C) NC Tully Blanchard in 21:10.

This was a phenomenal match between two men who would both be in the Horsemen within a few months. I positively loved the psychology here. Tully did his normal, great bumping and selling heel routine for the much bigger Windham, but once Tully started working the leg, Barry gave a master class on believable selling. He made everything look so fucking good, and they didn’t even really do a full-on comeback. Instead, Barry would get stuff in and eventually succumb to the pain in his knee, setting up his patented superplex, his leg giving out, and both men awkwardly falling off the top. Just brilliant stuff right there. They were counting down the time limit to a couple of minutes when Windham hit his lariat, and the bell rang during the count. Lex Luger came down to show Tommy Young, ON REPLAY, that JJ rang the bell until the match was restarted. Tully got a quick, small package, but Lex stopped the count and started brawling with Tully. The other Horsemen came out and had the numbers until Sting finally saved the day and evened the odds. The crowd was hot AF for the match, but the post-match was another level. This was a time when a non-finish helped. I loved this match for so many reasons. ****1/2

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