If you talked pro wrestling stereotypes in the 1980s, odds are it wouldn’t take long before the following items would come to mind: roids, bad hair cuts, and wacky face paint. From the Road Warriors to Demolition to the Ultimate Warrior, this was pretty much the prototype for wrestlers of the era.
Look no further than classic arcade games of the era such as Mat Mania! It’s all about INSANE WARRIOR BABY!
One of the more respected of the tag team clones of the day were Warlord and Barbarian, collectively known as the Powers of Pain. They were involved in a blood feud with the Legion of Doom in the NWA before mysteriously departing seemingly overnight for the WWF. Maybe there was a pay dispute or they were just inspired by Robert Irsay loading up the Colts and moving them from Baltimore to Indianapolis in the middle of the night, who knows. Someone get Dave Meltzer on the line.
Regardless, here they were and we have a good ol’ fashioned SQUASH of the Week on tap as they take on Bob Emery and Chance McQuade. Now THAT is a quality jobber name. It sounds like something out of a 1940’s movie serial!
Warlord gets us started by slamming Chance into the mat and following it up with a might fist drop. A quick tag to Barbie who hits a big ol’ chop and a boot to the face. Emery tries to play tough guy by jumping into the ring untagged and Barbarian kicks him in the kisser too.
Warlord back in and we get not only a gut wrench power bomb but also an inset promo from your favorite Sith lord and mine. Have to admit, I did not remember this particular WWF-Star Wars cross promotion. That’s weird, as I was a huge fan of both properties!
Undeterred by having his face kicked in moments earlier, Emery gets back in and decides perhaps some aerial tactics might help things. Nope! Instead Barbarian decides to use him as a weight bar, doing some curls before dropping him twice into Warlord’s knee for a backbreaker, then what the heck, once more on his own knee for good measure.
FEEL THE POWER(S) OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE!
I should also note that the Powers ain’t messing around today – this is like a gosh darned speed run, spamming move after move after move. Maybe Vince told them, “You have three minutes, hit every single move you’ve ever done in that time. And be quick about it!”
Especially after this finish, where Warlord powerslams Emery and Barbarian LAUNCHES himself a full 7/8 of the way across the ring for a diving headbutt! Yeah, that was pretty impressive. I was never the biggest fan of these guys during this period, but I totally get how folks would be after watching this. Oh, and of course that wasn’t Emperor Palpatine out there with those guys. But it was someone y’all may recognize.
And that is all the people need to know!