I remember when this first aired on TBS WCW Saturday Night. I was sitting in my living room with my uncle Phil and our friend Kevin and we knew there had been a cage match the previous week between Ole and JJ against Dusty and a mystery partner. We knew that Magnum TA was to be the partner but his accident had happened recently and he was done wrestling.
This was long before the internet and dirt sheets that gave things away ahead of time and when there was a mystery partner it was truly a mystery until the match. There were several wrestling organizations so anyone could be the partner for Dusty but we literally gasped at the sight of Nikita Koloff with Dusty Rhodes. Nikita was truly the most hated wrestler next to the 4 Horseman and even Ric Flair was cheered when he faced Nikita for the World title on several occasions in 1986 and 1987.
As you can see, the crowd was RABID and ready to explode and when Nikita starts attacking Ole it was like a cork popped and all that emotion was deafening. You just dont see natural spontaneous cheering of that level anymore. People were scared of Nikita and really wanted, to a certain extent, done a way with but they never expected this the reaction is proof.
This kind of story line is not possible today with truly one organization, unless somehow the can hide Kurt Angle or Sting or even Goldberg returning to the WWE ring...but I dont think that will ever happen.
Enjoy this, because it is one huge happy wrestling memory for me...at time when we all believed.
