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Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW Fall Brawl ’96

wcwfallbrawl1996

WCW Fall Brawl ‘96
September 15, 1996
Winston-Salem, NC
Reviewed on September 7, 2014

WCW is getting its ass kicked.

Not by Vince. Oh no, at this point WCW had left Vince and the WWF in the dust ratings wise. They were about 10 weeks into their eventual 84 week streak.

It’s because they were getting their ass kicked by the NWO.

For two months the NWO had been destroying WCW in one of, if not the best, angle in North American pro wrestling at that point. Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were the most destructive group in wrestling and had beaten up WCW at pretty much every turn. Ted Dibiase joined them shortly afterwards, and then The Giant followed.

On paper the Giant joining was brilliant. It showed that any top guy would join the NWO, and it helped plant the seed that Sting could join. The Giant had no previous ties to the WWF, unlike Hall, Nash, Hogan and Dibiase. Of course, the Giant in the NWO didn’t quite work out and they used him to be that “first loss” at Starrcade, and then he left and re-joined WCW. If they kept the NWO as a group that only allowed top members and no one would want to leave it would have been great, but Giant leaving showed that it wasn’t the end-all be-all to join.

Still, the major angle, is Sting joining the NWO? Him doing so could kill WCW dead! He attacked Luger afterall! (Not really).

The only way to decide this war? WAR GAMES!

The Card

We get a pretty awesome overview if the dominance of the NWO over the past few weeks.

Bobby Heenan points out that War Games was created for the Four Horsemen and is confident the NWO will be wrestling their last match tonight. It’s pretty awesome that WCW felt this was the big comeuppance for the NWO. I’ll explain why later.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

You know, for all that WCW didn’t create new stars bs, what do you call DDP?

It’s hard to see Chavo go toe to toe with DDP, knowing where both would go in a couple years.

Pretty good start. It’s weird that Chavo was a better worker when he started than he was later.

Weird timing spot which was impressive as Chavo actually delayed standing on the top rope (not corner). Still technically a botch again.

DDP tosses Chavo from one ring to the other. I love spots like that.

Semi-botched sidewalk slam. Ah well, it was good enough.

Incredible spinning gutwrench powerbomb from Page. Wow. (Ok, the landing was a bit off but still looked great.)

Diamond Dallas Page wins by pin in 13:07. Page goes for the Diamond Cutter, but Chavo reverses into a backslide. Page blocks the backslide by stomping on Chavo’s foot, and gets the Cutter for the win. Big reaction too. Pretty awesome opener and a great start to the show.

WCW SPECIAL REPORT. Goes over the NWO angle at this point. Which is pretty incredible at this point.

Submission Match
Scott Norton vs. Ice Train

Watching the first Nitro, it’s interesting what a big deal Norton was…and where he is at this point.

The story here I think is the Fire and Ice team breaking up.

Ice Train is managed by Teddy Long! Holla Holla!

Not a bad start though. Standing frog splash from Train was nice.

This seems more like an “I Quit” Match as the ref has a microphone.

Ice Train makes Scott Norton submit in 7:08. Scott Norton has Train trapped in an armbar, but Teddy Long tried to interfere. Norton takes care of him but gets trapped in a Full Nelson and he taps out (so much for the microphone?). Not horrible or anything, there was solid power stuff in here.

AAA World Championship
Konnan© vs. Juventud Guerrera

They call it the Mexican Heavyweight Title, but my research (read: wiki) says the AAA title.

No one knows who Juvi is at this point. Konnan is known as he joined the Dungeon of Doom. He was also the US Champ for a while. He is in his gangsta look he would have for basically the rest of his career.

Yellow is not a good color for Juvi.

Pretty sweet release German suplex where Juvi flips over.

Konnan sends Juvi flying!

Konnan just stands that as Juvi does this triple jump spin kick (two leapds on the 2nd ring, then one from the 1st). Weird that Konna just stood there.

Great aerial stuff early on.

Nice powerbomb on the floor!

Mike Tenay says Juvi gives up 50 pounds of weight. Konnan is not 215, and Juvi was listed as 165.

Pretty badly botched headscissor-like move from one ring to the other.

Juvi makes up for it with more crazy flying.

Backdrop over the top rope and Juvi ends up hanging on the other rope! Nice!

Bad moonsault. Konnan seems to take exception and powerbombs Juvi. Pretty sick.

Damn rolling Germans from Konnan. I actually thought Benoit invented that.

Odd rest spot where Juvi just walks arounf and Konnan talks to Jimmy Hart.

Pointless backflip from Juvi? Leads to him getting dropkicked by Konnan.

I know I trash Konnan a lot, but this is the best Konnan match I’ve ever seen and it’s in spite of Juvi, not because of him.

450 is even slightly off, and doesn’t finish anyway.

Konnan busts out a Muscle Buster…but that doesn’t finish. Juvi might have missed some spots, but he’s taking moves like a champ.

Konnan pinned Juvi in 13:45. Splash Mountain Bomb! Nicely done and it’s over. Very good match only hampered by Juvi missing some spots and some weird spots in general (like Juvi’s backflip). Everything else owns though. Best Konnan match I’ve ever seen.

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

Jericho’s awful 1st theme!

Jericho had just debuted. The story here is simple: two guys just looking to have a great match.

Benoit is super over here.

Tony says he expected Mongo instead of Benoit here. Thank goodness it’s Benoit.

Benoit puts Jericho in the Lion Tamer! I wonder if Jericho was using it at this point.

Jericho looks great early on against Benoit.

Jericho with a crazy springboard back elbow to the outside from Jericho!

I believe this is the match where booker Kevin Sullivan said he wanted Benoit to have 90% of this match. Then Benoit and Jericho just did it 50-50 anyway.

Nice back jumpkick from Jericho.

Backsuplex to the outside with a twist! Some crazy ideas here.

Pretty perfect Swan Dive from Benoit. I like it better than his Diving Headbutt (the difference is how they land, although surely they’ve been called differently each time).

Jericho Tombstones Benoit!

Chris Benoit pins Chris Jericho in 14:36. Back Superplex for the win! Great match! Jericho looked like a star here and surely WCW will capitalize on someone who looked like the next Shawn Michaels here! (lol…at the push part). Great match though. A great back and forth contest.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Rey Mysterio Jr.(c) vs. Super Calo

I was once told that Super Calo was named that way as shorthand for supercalifr-whatever. Bobby Heenan then makes that joke immediately.

Super Calo is like a power cruiserweight, if that makes sense. I liked that roll through on the slam.

Mike Tenay says Super Calo is named after a Mexican rap group. Thank goodness.

Nice missile dropkick off the top to the outside by Calo!

Ridiculous somersault senton from the inside out from Calo!

Really surprising that Super Calo has been on the offensive basically the whole match.

Funny botch where Super Calo doesn’t go over the top rope…but Rey tries his damnest to get him over. The ref helps!

Rey Mysterio with the greatest hurricanrana off the apron I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t explain it. It was nuts.

Rey Mysterio Jr. retains by pin in 15:47. Double springboard hurricanrana finish for the win! Another great match…but it had ONE flaw, which was NO one was buying Calo winning this thing. As a result, it felt pretty long. Oddly Calo had 80% of the offense too. Still great though.

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Harlem Heat© vs. The Nasty Boys

I expect the match quality to drop quite a bit here…

How great was Sherri Martel? She could play so many roles.

Kinda surprised the Nasties never had a random ECW run.

CLUBBERIN! How can someone be the master of CLUBBERIN?

Match is pretty boring. Only excitement so far was Sags chasing Sherri.

That might have been the worst looking roll up by Sags ever.

Nice piledriver from Sags!

Harlem Heat retain when Booker T pins Knobbs in 15:31. Sherri whacks Knobbs with a cane and that’s that. WAY too long. Match was pretty horrid and only big spots were involving Sherri. Fans reacted though, so there is that.

We get a Savage interview! One of the best of all time for sure.

The Giant vs. Randy Savage

Giant joined the NWO, Savage is still a defender of WCW here.

Giant still has the creepy music he had before…then it turns into the NWO theme.

Giant had the potential to beat Nash’s sidewalk slam…but opted for a weak backbreaker sadly.

Boston Crab from the Giant just seems like an odd visual.

Savage slams the Giant! That would lose its luster years later as everyone slammed him.

The Giant pins Randy Savage in 7:47. Savage drops the big elbow, but Hogan is out here! He goads Savage to the entrance and the Outsiders beat Savage up with a chair. Giant distracts Nick Patrick, and then gets the win when the NWO rolls him back into the ring. Pretty bad all around. It was just 7 minutes of the Giant beating up Savage and a terrible finish.

War Games
WCW vs. NWO

The story here is simple: the NWO is here to take over WCW. This is another battle in the war…but it’s a big one as War Games is one of WCW’s primer match types.

Also, Mike Tenay asks Ric Flair which Horseman has replaced Sting in the match, but Flair doesn’t answer the question. All three of them, Luger, Anderson and Flair, are acting like Sting joined the NWO on Nitro. Sting then shows up and says it wasn’t him. Luger doesn’t believe him. This is all fantastic.

Rules are simple. There was a pre-match coin toss (usually always won by the heels, as it was here). Two men start, one from each team. The team that won the coin toss gets to bring man #2 first, then so on and do forth. When all 8 men are in, you can only win by knockout or submission (or as Michael Buffer says it, surrender or submission…)

We start with Scott Hall for the NWO and Double A for WCW.

Crowd is super hot for this. I think a lot of people thought WCW was winning this.

The announcer’s hype up the coin toss deal with a minute left. Sadly…they find out the NWO has won. Kevin Nash is next.

Outsiders beat the crap out of Double A for the next couple minutes.

Lex Luger shows up early to even the odds. I wonder how that’s legal? Anyway Luger regains control for WCW.

Here comes Hogan! NWO has the advantage once again.

Crowd goes bonkers when Double A and Luger beat up Hogan, but the Outsiders end that.

Huge “We want Flair” chants…so here he comes! HUGE reaction.

Hogan vs. Flair faceoff! When Flair gets a punch in the crowd roars!

Brass knucks for Flair! Flair has taken over!

WCW is owning…but then Sting shows up for the NWO…and everyone is dismayed. Some boos there. Some people definitely bought it.

We get some “We Want Sting” chants. And there are some who definitely knew the real deal here.

The NWO wastes away Flair, Luger and Anderson…but here comes the REAL Sting!

Sting destroys EVERYONE! Stinger Splashes everywhere!

“Is that good enough for you? Is that proof enough?” Genius. Sting walks out on WCW, and WCW doesn’t last long.

NWO wins when NWO Sting and Hogan make Luger submit in 18:15. A Scorpion Deathlock and a Front Headlock get it done. While not the best War Games from a match quality perspective (not a drop of blood!), it told a tremendous story and set the wheels in motion for the red hot Sting story arc for the next 15 months. This showed that only Sting could deal with the NWO, no one else. Brilliant. This is the main reason why WCW made bucket loads of money the next two years.

NWO and WCW go at it a big, and Savage tries to help, but the Giant takes him out. The PPV ends with another big NWO beat down. They even spray paint Miss Elizabeth when she comes out to help Savage…which is a nice touch. We get a Hogan promo too to hype up the Hogan-Savage Halloween Havoc match.

Overall, a great show! The only thing that was bad was the tag title match and Giant vs. Savage. Everything else ranged from decent (the submission match) to pretty good to great. Great matches, good wrestling, and a really well done storyline with WCW not trusting Sting. Historically, it was a huge moment that helped carry WCW through 1997 as the #1 promotion in the US over the WWF.

This PPV tore the hearts out of WCW fans. The Four Horsemen and WCW lost War Games? Sting left us? What will we do?

Just brilliant.

Final Grade: A

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW Great American Bash ’96

GAB_96

WCW Great American Bash ‘96
June 16, 1996
Baltimore, MD
Reviewed on May 11, 2014

WCW was coming on strong now. WCW had more than held its own since launching Nitro opposite of RAW every Monday Night. Eric Bischoff used every tactic he could to get the upper hand on the WWF…and it worked. Reveal RAW taping results? Did it. He even put the show on at five minutes before the hour…just to get the lead-in advantage. But the biggest change happened when Scott Hall showed up on Nitro in late May. Hall was one of the WWF’s top guys from 1993 through 1995. Kevin Nash showed up a few weeks later…and in 1995 he was THE top WWF guy. Let history show that the Nitro right before this show, the June 10th edition, would be the last victory in the Monday Night ratings war for the WWF until April 13th, 1998.

WCW had more than Hall and Nash though. It had the best matches. It had some of the biggest stars in wrestling (Hogan, Savage, Flair etc.). It had fresh main eventers (The Giant). Overall it was just a more compelling company at that point. Vince had several lawsuits going on against WCW, even some involving Hall and Nash, but it didn’t matter (although it would matter for a segment on this show).

The 1996 edition of the Great American Bash was the first PPV that was a part of 83 weeks of dominance from WCW.

The Card

There’s a lot going on with this show. Bobby Heenan has a team going up against a Randy Savage team tonight. I actually forgot about this.

The Steiner Bros.(c) vs. Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice is Scott Norton and Ice Train. Norton would gain some fame for his run in the nWo and Japan. Ice Train…actually I have no idea what he did after feuding with Norton.

An okay power match so far. It seems like Ice Train is WAY out of his league here though.

Yikes Scott Steiner drops Scott Norton on his head with a suplex. That was almost a broken neck.

Admittedly a great spot where Norton locks in an armbar. When Rick Steiner tries to break it, Norton no sells a bunch of kicks to the face. It was pretty bad ass.

The Steiners win when Scott pins Norton in 10:29. Flying Bulldog…then a horrible Frankensteiner for the win. Not a good start when the first finish is botched. Match…was okay. A good point was that it was non stop action, not one rest hold. The bad point is several botched moves.

Some hype for the Falls Count Anywhere match between Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit. Not really digging the promo though. Somehow Sullivan is making it NOT about Benoit, but more about Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

WCW United States Championship
Konnan© vs. El Gato

Seriously? This is the best we can do in WCW 1996 for WCW’s 2nd biggest singles title?

El Gato is Pat Tatanka.

Konnan is wearing the stupidest mask.

There’s some good Konnan offence to start. I don’t say that often.

Konnan retains in 6:03 by pin. Ugly sunset flip to the outside to El Gato. Konnan then got a jackknife pin in the ring for the win. It had a good start…then sucked the rest of the way. Not really a good start to this show.

Sting mocks Steven Regal…and it’s pretty funny to be fair.

Lord of the Ring Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Marcus Bagwell

This is for Page’s Battlebowl ring…I think?

It’s jarring to see Page as the chicken-shit heel and Bagwell as the good guy.

Page hilariously misses? a kick and sells it like a mullion dollars…even if it wasn’t a million dollar move.

DDP pins Bagwell in 9:39. Diamond Cutter for the win. Okay back and forth match…but three okay matches isn’t the way to start a PPV.

Jimmy Hart is questioned about his allegiance to The Giant or Lex Luger. He’s with the Giant here. Giant’s early promos were pretty funny. He does look badass as World Champion here though.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Dean Malenko© vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey Jr’s debut here.

I like that Rey began with the technical wrestling…and not Malenko.

Really good sequence to start with a double nip up.

Nice over the head sunset flip from Rey.

Malenko expertly works on the arm. He does a hold I never seen that I can’t explain, pulling the arm then kicking it away.

Malenko traps Rey’s arm in the guardrail then kicks the guardrail. Ouch!

Malenko counters the hurricarana by flipping Rey back to his feet then leveling him with a clothesline! Nice!

Malenko with my favorite hold, the surfboard! Then he turns it into a pin! Only two though.

Malenko is dominating this match…but it’s a great way to put over Rey’s resilience.

Perfect springboard somersault to the outside from Rey!

Dean Malenko retains by pin 17:50. Mysterio is on a roll hitting a lot of high flying spots…but a hurricanrana turns into a stiff powerbomb! Malenko uses the ropes as well for the pin. Great match that has kicked this PPV into high gear. Malenko looked great and Rey looked great. This match is also the match that kicked the Cruiserweight division into high gear. There were talks of ending the division before this.

Lex Luger interview. He’s already a tag and TV champ. Will he add the World Title tonight?!

Big Bubba vs. John Tenta

Enzugiri from Big Bubba!

Awkward fall from Tenta that had Bubba land on him.

John Tenta pins Bubba in 5:24. Big slam to win. Basically the opposite speed wise of the match before. Match was slow…and not good. Tenta can barely move here.

We get an interview with Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene. I always thought it was weird Greene became this part time wrestler, but he wasn’t horrible.

Falls Count Everywhere
Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit

A blood feud spawning from the Dungeon of Doom vs. the Horsemen.

They don’t even get into the ring, as Benoit attacks in the aisleway and they end up going through the crowd.

In the men’s bathroom now! HE PUT HIS HEAD IN THE COMMODE!

Now out of the bathroom, Sullivan knocks Benoit down the steps in the crowd. Really entertaining brawl.

Benoit and Sullivan both try spots on the table…but it doesn’t break either time. Clearly a non-gimmicked table.

Chris Benoit pins Kevin Sullivan in 9:58. Benoit hits a superplex off the top using the table to stand. Pin gets three. Arn Anderson comes down to stop Benoit from beating down Sullivan…but then attacks Sullivan, showing allegiance to the Four Horsemen. That gets a huge reaction. Really good brawl here, even if some of the bathroom stuff was kinda funny. Even though this match wasn’t the first WCW Falls Count Anywhere match, it has a lot of influence on the later WWF Hardcore division. Still, at the time some people called this one of the greatest matches they’d ever seen…but I wouldn’t go that far. Just a really good brawl with some originality.

Reunited Horsemen interview. But there are only three of them!

Bobby Heenan managing the Horsemen kinda owns.

Sting vs. Lord Steven Regal

Story here: Regal thought the WCW Championship committee overlooked him and he wanted to make a statement.

Here’s someone who got lost in the shuffle when the nWo showed up: Steven Regal.

Regal was such a good unique heel even then. He just had a style no one else used.

Regal had some awesome heel taunts as well.

Match has had a great story, with Regal working on the arm and using cheap tactics anytime Sting makes a comeback.

Sting makes Steven Regal submit in 16:30. Sting superman comeback…but it had a nice small varation. Regal actually counters the Stinger Splash by getting his knees up…but falls to the Scorpion anyway. Pretty good match here, it definitely made Regal look like he was at a comparable level to Sting. Too bad Regal wasn’t pushed much later in the year.

Legends of the Gridiron vs. Legends of the World of Wrestling
Ric Flair and Arn Anderson vs. Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene

This was an extension of the Flair vs. Randy Savage feud. Savage was suspended for something and couldn’t wrestle…but was in Greene and McMichael’s corner here.

This might be Debra McMichael’s debut.

Sorry to spoil the ending, but there is some great commentary here. Tony talks about a story that Mongo signed with the Packers of the Bears for money. I like forshadowing.

There’s some funny stuff with Flair and Greene in here. Flair tricks Greene into the three point stance before stepping on his hand. Greene later tosses Flair out and does the Flair strut.

It’s kinda jarring to see Steve McMichael put a Figure Four on Ric Flair.

All the women at ringside chase each other to the back. This also will be significant soon.

Watching this re-enforces the idea to me that Kevin Greene would have been a decent full time wrestler.

Some expert heeling from Anderson and Flair…but Savage attacks Anderson. Benoit comes out to attack Savage.

Debra is back out here with a briefcase!

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson win when Flair pins Greene in 20:51. Debra shows Mongo that the briefcase is full of money and a Horsemen shirt! Of course Mongo accepts, and smashes the briefcase over Greene’s head and Flair gets the pin. Very well done, and there’s your 4th Horseman! Match wasn’t good, but it had entertaining moments and Greene isn’t even a wrestler, so it’s all good. But the finish was what mattered, and it was good.

Ok this next segment is one of the most revolutionary segments in professional wrestling history. Eric Bischoff comes out and talks about the interruptions that’s taken place on Nitro, that being Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Nash and Hall come out. Nash and Hall made a challenge for a three on three. Bischoff says it will be at Bash at the Beach. Bischoff asks them both if they work for the WWF, which they both say no. That ended some lawsuits right there. Bischoff refuses to tell Hall and Nash who team WCW is, that it will be revealed on Nitro. Hall gets pissed and nails Bischoff. Nash then powerbombs Bischoff through a portion of the stage. This was HUGE at the time. Nothing had been seen on national wrestling TV like it. WCW as we knew it would never be the same, as the nWo era had been in full gear now.

WCW World Championship
The Giant© vs. Lex Luger

Seeing the Giant with the WCW World title makes me think about what a waste it was when the nWo just buried him.

Match starts with Luger running into a big boot of the Giant. I don’t know why, but I thought that owned.

Sting chases Jimmy Hart away…so it’s a real 1 on 1 now!

The Giant retains by pin in 9:58. Luger goes for the Rack, and has him up…but collapses (and Giant lands on his head…that could have been a lot worse). Chokeslam for the win. Um…I mean it’s obvious this match was boring and sucked right? I mean that’s the ceiling for Giant vs. Luger (I liked their Starrcade match better to be fair). Right man went over though, Giant was the man at the time.

This show constantly gets brought up as one of the greatest PPVs ever and in that first hour I wasn’t sure why. Then Malenko vs. Mysterio practically created the Cruiserweight division. Then Benoit and Sullivan had their great match. Then Sting and Regal had a good match. Flair and Arn did entertaining stuff. Nash and Hall changed the business. A lot of damn good stuff happened here.

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives…but this still isn’t nearly the greatest PPV ever. It’s very good, but there was too much crap to really get there (Big Bubba vs. John Tenta? Page vs. Bagwell?). I don’t think Sullivan vs. Benoit is the five star classic people said it was (still, it was very good). Maybe if the main event was better, it would be close to the elite, but Giant vs. Luger was pretty bad.

I would normally say this is in the B, B+ range…but the historical value of this show is quite high. The Hall and Nash stuff alone just blew everyone away at the time. And that Rey Mysterio guy kinda became a big deal.

Final Grade: A-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW Starrcade ’95

Starrcade95

WCW Starrcade ‘95
December 27, 1995
Nashville, TN
Reviewed on April 27, 2014

Background: There’s little point in going over the background of WCW 1995 leading up to this event. While yes, WCW was coming on strong with Nitro doing well against RAW earlier on, and Hulk Hogan had given them the national recognition they were looking for (the short term gain that eventually turned into a huge long term loss) none of that really matters for Starrcade 1995.

How does that make sense? Because Starrcade 1995 is a war between New Japan and WCW.

You’ve gotta give Eric Bischoff credit. He did everything he could to make WCW different that the WWF and it couldn’t be more evident here. The New Japan vs. WCW war was a really cool idea that actually serves as the prototype for the nWo later in 1996.

Here’s what you need to know: Seven New Japan vs. WCW matches, best of seven. Winner gets a big Cup.

The Card

World Cup of Wrestling Match 1
Chris Benoit (WCW) vs. Jushin Liger (New Japan)

I’m hyped for this.

Benoit was just named as a Horseman.

I like Liger’s rolling spinning heel kick.

Surfboard from Liger. One of my favorite holds.

Crowd randomly erupts on a Benoit superplex. Not sure why the crowd went crazy there.

Jushin Liger pins Chris Benoit in 10:29. Kevin Sullivan provides a distraction, and Liger gets a botches hurricanrana for the three. Good match, although it was getting really good right as it ended. I guess considering who was involved it could be considered disappointing. 1-0 New Japan.

Mean Gene with Eddy Guerrero. Talking about the Benoit-Liger match. This is bland face Eddy.

World Cup of Wrestling Match 2
Alex Wright (WCW) vs. Koji Kanemoto (New Japan)

I guess WCW didn’t want to bring out their best seven. I mean, how else does Alex Wright get a spot?

We get a USA chant. You know Alex Wright is German.

It’s kinda clear early on that Wright isn’t in Kanemoto’s league.

Nice kick combo with a spin kick from Kanemoto.

Definitely a botch there with Alex Wright running from an over the top bodypress…which Kanemoto just hit where Wright stopped running.

Nice moonsault from Kanemoto.

That dropkick that not hit as Kanemoto came off the top.

Koji Kanemoto pinned Alex Wright in 11:44. Jackknife pin for the win. Alex Wright was still pretty raw here and it showed. Not a bad match though, pretty decent. New Japan leads 2-0.

WCW HOTLINE!

World Cup of Wrestling Match 3
Lex Luger (WCW) vs. Masahiro Chono (New Japan)

Luger’s a heel here…but people are cheering him I guess because WCW is down 2-0. Which is smart match placement to be fair.

What a boring match. Chono and Luger skipped the importance of selling somewhere in their career.

That’s not fair I guess. Luger looks like he’s trying at least.

Ha, the famous Dusty and Heenan getting on Schiavone about the Mafia Kick call. Great stuff.

Lex Luger makes Masahiro Chono submit in 6:41. Torture Rack for the win. Commentary owned. Match did not. A whole lot of nothing happens with Chono and Luger selectively selling movies. 2-1 New Japan.

Sting interview. Okerlund brings up that Kensuke Sasaki beat Sting for the US Title a few months ago, which Sting hilariously responds too. They also talk about the Triangle Match later for the World Title shot.

World Cup of Wrestling Match 4
Johnny B. Badd (WCW) vs. Masa Saito (New Japan)

Sonny Oono trashes Kimberly, which ends with him telling Badd to control his woman because we (the Japanese) do. Good heel stuff, I laughed.

I think it’s interesting that two Johnny B. Badd valets in a row did Playboy. Kimberly here, and Sable later.

Johnny B. Badd wins by DQ in 5:52. Saito tosses Badd over the top rope to get the DQ. Pretty much a waste of time. A lot of choking and chopping…then of course a finish with the dumbest rule in pro wrestling. Series tied at 2.

Luger interview. More hype on the Triangle Match.

World Cup of Wrestling Match 5
Eddy Guerrero (WCW) vs. Shinjiro Otani (New Japan)

Really cool variation of the monkey flip from Otani.

Really nice fold up powerbomb from Eddy on Otani.

Awesome height on the springboard dropkick from Otani!

Sick German from Otani.

Eddy busts out the Flying Edge into a Sitout, which is really nice.

Springboard corkscrew press from the top from Eddy to the outside! Nice!

Shinjiro Otani pinned Eddy Guerrero in 13:43. Some crazy pinning combinations lead to Otani holding Eddy down for one. You don’t see that finish a lot, and I liked it. Really good match that was a bit slow at the beginning, but picked up perfectly. 3-2 New Japan.

Savage interview. TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

World Cup of Wrestling Match 6
Randy Savage (WCW) vs. Tensan (New Japan)

Savage is the Champ. Probably one of the more obvious results you’ll ever see here.

Randy Savage pins Tensan in 6:55. Savage seemingly botches a suplex or some attempt of one into the ring…then hits the elbow off the top for the win. Finish came out of nowhere and I think was Savage’s only offense. Just a boring 7 minutes of Tensan beating up Savage before the quick comeback. Bad match. Anyway, we are tied at 3!

I think Bobby Heenan is drunk.

Ric Flair interview. Weird that he’s not part of the WCW team here…but Alex Wright is?

World Cup of Wrestling Match 7
Sting (WCW) vs. Kensuke Sasaki (New Japan)

There is some history here. Sasuke is the US Champ…and he beat Sting for it.

Sting makes Sasaki submit in 6:52. Scorpion for the win. Had the exact same formula as the last match, which is pretty lame. Crowd popped huge for the Scorpion. WCW wins 4-3.

Triangle Match: Winner gets a WCW World Championship Match
Sting vs. Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair

Interesting dynamic in this match as only two are in the ring, and someone will be on the apron and needs to be tagged in or out.

Not nearly sure on this, but this has to be one of the first type of three way matches on a national stage. I know WWF didn’t have one until 1996.

We start with Sting and Flair.

Typical good Sting vs. Flair stuff. This is probably going to be three matches in one, which I am fine with.

Flair shoves Sting into the corner and Luger gets tagged in. Interesting that we get 1991 face Luger here.

Flair works on the leg, of course.

Flair always got the best matches out of Luger. Kinda similar to Bret Hart and the British Bulldog.

Flair tags in Sting and I like the logic, forcing “best friends” Luger and Sting to go at it.

Ric Flair wins by countout in 28:03. Flair sends Luger and Sting to the outside when they were the legal men…and gets the countout win when Luger “inadvertently” pulls Sting back outside. Finish furthered the story at least. The match is pretty good though, as it’s basically three one on one matches. Very well done. I really like the tag dynamic for the three way for whatever reason.

WCW World Championship
Randy Savage© vs. Ric Flair

Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage: The only match to be a world title match on Wrestlemania and Starrcade.

There’s a Jimmy Hart dynamic here too. He hates the Horsemen. He was aligned with Luger, but when Flair won he came to ringside. So I guess he’s just gold digging and will align himself with the Horsemen if needed. Fine I guess, lol.

Flair had to be the best heel in the business at this point. He’s just cheating everywhere and it’s awesome.

Chaos begins with Jimmy Hart tossing the megaphone in…but Savage gets control and hits him with it…and Flair is bleeding everywhere!

Ric Flair wins the title by pin in 8:41. The Horsemen show up and cause all kinds of problems. Arn Anderson nails Savage with brass knuckles and Flair gets the pin. Crowd pops huge for the pin, showing that WCW is still Flair country even if he’s a heel. Not a bad match, even though Flair himself hated the finish (“I didn’t win the title, they won the title”), but I thought the finish was okay, although disappointingly not clean. Match was decent. A little short.

Starrcade 1995 is a strange show. Let’s break it up in parts.

The concept: The USA vs. Japan War seems out of place. I get WCW was trying to maximize their agreement with New Japan, I just don’t think this concept works in 1995. It doesn’t help that we don’t get the best Japanese guys either. No Great Muta? The WCW team is pretty random too. Why didn’t Flair wrestle in it but Alex Wright did? Was there really no one better than Alex Wright? Also, no surprise that Guerrero, Benoit and Wright all lost and Luger, Savage and Sting won (Badd won through BS). I think this idea works perhaps in the early 90s, but 1995 was pushing it. Starrcade only had 90k buys, which had to be disappointing. Of course, no Hogan was probably a factor there too.

But, you have to give WCW credit for trying something new. Especially since this idea was the prototype for the ultra popular nWo later. No point in shoving out the same old formula if you don’t have to.

The matches are hit or miss. Benoit-Liger, Guerrero-Otani, Triangle are hits. Tensan-Savage, Sasaki-Sting and Saito-Badd are misses. Main event was okay for what it was.

Unfortunately, this show has almost no historical value at all outside of the idea that this served as the prototype for the nWo. The Flair-Savage-Sting-Luger main event scene sounds awesome…but Hogan would overshadow them all in the coming months so it wouldn’t matter. And while Evil Japan still had a presence in WCW (Starrcade 96 even began that way), this invasion didn’t really lead to anything significant.

Mostly a well wrestled show, but the concept doesn’t work enough for me. Would have preferred a clean finish in the main event of the biggest PPV of the year too.

Final Grade: C+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WCW Wrestlewar ’92

WW_92

WCW Wrestlewar ‘92
May 17, 1992
Jacksonville, FL
Reviewed on May 26, 2014

We are now in a post Ric Flair, post Lex Luger and I believe a post Jim Herd WCW. With losing Luger and Flair, WCW was down to one main eventer (Sting), but a lot of potential.Rick Rude had come in and the Dangerous Alliance storyline was a big deal. As all big stable angles end up going, Wrestlewar would feature the War Games.

1992 was an interesting year for WCW as a lot of the pieces seen on this show would end up never truly making it and getting ousted in one way or another by 1995. Also, perhaps with the exceptions of Rick Rude, Ricky Steamboat and Arn Anderson, it’s clear that Sting was in a different class than everyone else in WCW at the time. WCW was still ways away from challenging the WWF to anything resembling a rivalry, but at least they had gotten past the worst of the Jim Herd era.

The Card

WCW US Tag Team Championship
The Taylor Made Man and Greg Valentine© vs. The Freebirds

Terry Taylor as the Taylor Made Man just looks awful.

I don’t think these titles had any real value at this point.

I often wonder how Greg Valentine ended up with such gimmicky teammates. Honky Tonk Man and Taylor are two examples.

The Freebirds as faces here is also a bit strange to me.

The crowd is very into the Freebirds though.

The Freebirds win the title when Jimmy Garvin pins Taylor in 16:02. Garvin sets Taylor up for the DDT and backdrops Valentine while keeping the head locked. Hayes holds Valentine back and Garvin gets the DDT and the win. Good finish to an otherwise boring tag match. Fans popped big.

Johnny B. Badd vs. Tracy Smothers

The story revolves around Johnny B. Badd’s boxing history and the use of a closed fist.

Nice twisting bodyblock from the top from Smothers, but the Badd rollover counters is botched a bit, but it’s passable. I never pictures Smothers as a high flying guy.

Nice top rope sunset flip by Badd!

Johnny B. Badd pins Tracy Smothers in 7:03. Left hook gets the win, which was predictable due to the commentary. A lot better than I expected, considering I expected nothing. Wasn’t too bad at all.

Missy Hyatt interviews the Freebirds! Obviously they are happy.

Scotty Flamingo vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell

Raven vs. Buff Bagwell here. How strange.

Quite the bitchslapping contest here.

Pretty bad back suplex from Flamingo, although I think Bagwell didn’t go up for the move.

There’s a double over the top sequence that the commentators wonder on whose fault it was. I guess we were in the Bill Watts era? Seems too early though.

Scotty Flamingo pins Marcus Bagwell in 7:11. Bagwell rolls Flamingo over, but Flamingo counters and holds the tights for three. Nothing to say here really. Both guys were still young…and Flamingo would get better. Pretty subpar first fifth minutes to the PPV though.

Junkyard Dog and Ron Simmons vs. Mr. Hughes and Cactus Jack

Story here: Abdullah the Butcher and Cactus Jack beat up Simmons, and JYD made the save. No idea why Hughes is Jack’s partner.

Jack attacks JYD on the outside…and Jack drops the big elbow off the ramp on JYD!

Simmons takes out Jack on the ramp.

Mr. Hughes and Cactus Jack has to be up there with oddest tag teams ever.

Simmons helps JYD to the back, but then comes out and cleans house.

This is now Hughes vs. Simmons.

Ron Simmons pinned Mr. Hughes in 5:22. Big Spinebuster, then Simmons attacks the interfering Jack. Simmons hits a chop block for the win. You know what…not bad! This should have been horrible, but Hughes’ offense was okay and Simmons showed off some damn good power slamming around the 400 pound Hughes. Cactus Jack being around is a good bonus too. Probably the best Mr. Hughes match I’ve ever seen (not really saying much there). No surprise this launched a Simmons push.

Todd Champion vs. Super Invader

Super Invader is Hercules I believe. Hercules sucks, so I think that’s a bad sign for this match.

This match has sucked, but Champion does take a surprisingly good bump to the outside into the guardrail.

Champion’s offense is terrible.

Invader pins Champion in 5:26. Powerbomb wins it. Pretty bad. Champion can’t really hit clotheslines correctly. Invader’s offense is a bunch of punches and headlocks with the occasional move like a backbreaker (just like Hercules). Squash here. Funny enough, I felt like this match would have been on a 1993 RAW with Champion being the babyface Vince would push. Whatever. This didn’t belong on PPV.

Big Josh vs. Richard Morton

For some reason Ricky Morton goes by Richard here.

Of course, Big Josh is the future Doink the Clown.

The story is Josh’s power vs. Morton’s er…flying ability? Also, how disgusting Josh is. Like he’s a Godwinn before the Godwinns were a thing.

Big Josh pinned Morton in 7:33. Josh hits a flying butt drop (I like how he used the Whoopie Cushion before he was Doink) for the win. Really boring match. Sorry, but no one has ever cared about the Rock’N’Roll Express when they were in singles matches. A very basic back and forth match.

WCW Lightheavyweight Championship
Flyin Brian Pillman© vs. The Z-Man Tom Zenk

Story here: Former partners. Pillman thinks Zenk didn’t have any gratitude for Pillman helping him out recently. Zenk says Pillman is arrogant, sticking his nose into things that don’t involve him.

Zenk gets scared by his own pyro. Great start there.

This is an example of a really good back and forth match. First match with any type of psychology as well, with Pillman working the leg, and Zenk working the back.

I’ve already see two figure fours now in this match. I wonder how many were done when Flair was around.

Pretty awesome counter to the over the top rope dive by Pillman when Zenk seamlessly slammed him out of it.

Awesome selling of the crossbody from Pillman there.

Pancake from Zenk and Pillman goes sky high for it!

Brian Pillman retains by pin in 15:30. Pillman goes to the top but eats a superkick on the way down! Zenk gets two on the cover, as Pillman got his foot on the ropes. Zenk comes off the top with a dropkick but Pillman sidesteps then folds Zenk up in a jackknife pin for the win. Pretty good match here. It built up to the frantic climax and had a good ending.

#1 Contender to the IWGP Tag Team Championship
The Steiner Bros. vs. Tatsumi Fujinami and Takayuki Iizuka

Steiners are the WCW World Tag Team Champions…I wish this was just for those belts. I wonder if people back in 1992 really cared about the Japanese titles. It bothers me that the Steiners would go for other tag belts. They are the World champions! Who cares about the other belts!

Fujinami has some WCW cred though, as he had that WCW Title/NWA Title deal with Flair in 91.

Nice elbow off the top from Rick in Iizuka when Scott had him in the rack.

Rick just dropped Fujinami on his head with a German suplex. Ouch.

Fujinami has Rick in the Doomsday Device setup, but Rick actually catches Iizuka and slams him when he comes off the top. Never seen anything like that. I do think Rick’s knee landed on Iizuka’s face though.

Man Scott Steiner just no sells a legdrop when he was on his knees. Steiners have dominated and it seems obvious to me that they aren’t being professional with Fujinami and Iizuka.

Really awesome counters by Scott Steiner of a double wristlock. I really can’t explain what he did though.

The Steiners win when Rick pins Iizuki in 18:05. Belly to belly off the top for the win. Someone is going to have to convince me that the Steiners didn’t purposely bury Fujinami and Iizuki here. The Steiners had 75% of the match, won in convincing fashion and there was some no selling from both Rick and Scott, and there was definitely some stiff takedowns from both Steiners.

NOTE: I did some research, and apparently the PWTorch had an article written about his match. Spoilered for length.

PWTorch Article About Steiners vs. Fujinami and Iizuka

Fuck the Steiners. The more old stuff I watch of them the more I hate them.

War Games
Sting’s Squadron (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham and Ricky Steamboat) vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Rick Rude, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko)

Sometimes it’s easy to forget Paul Heyman did stuff before ECW.

Austin and Windham start. I believe Windham won the TV title from Austin recently, so there is history here.

Nice DDT from Windham to Austin.

Austin’s busted open 4 minutes in. Good opening period from Windham and Austin.

Heels win the coin toss, and they waste no time. In comes Rick Rude!

Ricky Steamboat is the Squadron’s choice! There is history between Steamboat and Rude too!

Steamboat is owning everyone.

Alliance sends in Arn Anderson. A lot of great workers in that ring right now.

Massive spinebuster to Steamboat. Wow.

Steamboat gets thrown over BOTH top ropes into the other ring. What a bump.

Dustin Rhodes is in!

Larry Z is in, and Dustin beats the hell out of him!

Madusa climbs to the top of the cage and drops the cell phone (huge at the time) into the ring for Anderson, who uses it as a weapon. Sting goes up there to chase her away!

Huge pop! Here comes Sting!

Sting kicks all kinds of ass of course.

Sting just backdrops Austin into the cage! Austin hit hard!

Austin with a great clothesline that Windham sells like a million bucks. Wow!

Bobby Eaton is the last member of the Alliance in.

Larry Z messes with the turnbuckle.

Koloff is in! Match beyond begins!

Koloff and Sting had their issues in the past, but Koloff shows his allegiance by saving Sting from an attack and then they hug!

We have a rope torn down!

Sting’s Squadron wins when Sting makes Eaton submit in 23:27. Larry Z gets a metal hook from the broken ring rope. Eaton holds Sting, but Sting moves and Larry smacks Eaton on the arm with the hook. Sting takes out Larry, then puts Eaton in an arm bar for the submission. Post match the Alliance bitches out Larry Z for the screw-up. So, wow. What a match. Nonstop action for 24 minutes. Literally. It doesn’t stop starting from Austin vs. Windham all the way until the submission. Just wow. I am blown away here. Also, I think it’s something that Paul E. sucks chants were the biggest for any heel in 1992. Heyman owns.

I was wondering what the big deal was all the way until the main event, and I got it. This is basically a two match show, unless you think the Steiners match was good (which I don’t). War Games was awesome and Pillman vs. Zenk was solid. The rest? I mean nothing was mindblowningly bad, but it all ranged from boring to average at best (except Invader vs. Champion, that sucked). It makes sense though, all the workrate was in the Lightheavyweight title match and the main.

Funny enough, this card reminds me of Great American Bash 2004. One big bloody brawl. One good lightheavyweight/cruiserweight match. And a lot of disappointing crap. I’d say this is the much better version of that though. Maybe if there was some historic stuff here I’d give it a higher grade, but the only man who really did anything of note regarding their match here was Sting. Austin would be gone in three years. Rhodes in and out. Rude retired soon. Steamboat hung around but also retired soon. Windham probably peaked here. Etc. etc.

Final Grade: B-