WrestleMania III

Legacy Review

WrestleMania III

March 29, 1987 from the Pontiac Superdome Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, the first large stadium Wrestlemania.

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

Welcome to the peak of the 1980s wrestling boom. The first Wrestlemania showed the idea was viable, and didn't bankrupt WWF in the process. Wrestlemania 2 was an interesting but lackluster experiment in a multiple arena show (which the NWA/Crockett were also doing with Starrcade). This show would be the template for every Wrestlemania that came after, and features the most hyped, most anticipated and biggest wrestling match in history to date- Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant.

Vince welcomes us to Wrestlemania THREE! I guess he didn't mind numbering them back then. Maybe he can't count above 30. Aretha Franklin belts out a Motown version of the National Anthem According to Vince, America The Beautiful.

This is the first of two Wrestlemanias to use the legendary motorized carts dressed up as miniature rings to take the wrestlers to and from the ring. Seriously, who doesn't want these back? Other than Vince.

The Can-Am Connection def "The Ace" Cowboy Bob Orton & The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) in 5:37- In-ring intros here. Entrance music was still a hit or miss thing. Orton is not the Ace in the way that Hiroshi Tanahashi is THE ACE. He's not particularly well remembered now, but Muraco is a two time Intercontinental champion in an era where they didn't hand out secondary title reigns to practically everyone who walked in the door. He was also The Rock before The Rock was....er, The Rock. Or Rocky Maivia. Anyway. Muraco and Martel start. The faces go through a nice double team sequence. Monsoon calls Orton the "excellence of execution". Gimmick infringement! The heels try a double team of their own and fail miserably. Muraco does the Triple H flip in the corner. DONNYBROOK! Muraco mistakenly backflips Orton, then Martel hits him with a crossbody and Muraco trips over Zenk, allowing Martel to get the 3. Serviceable opener. **

Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) goes to a double countout in 7:44- This is one of those "who has the better full nelson" feuds. Very rough lockup, and Haynes rolls through some power moves. A stiff clothesline from Herc cuts him off. Herc goes for a pin but pulls Haynes back up at 2, wanting to finish him with the full neslon. Herc gets it on but doesn't fully lock it in and Haynes powers out. After a double clothesline Haynes locks in his own full nelson. Herc rolls them both through the ropes outside, but Haynes locks the full nelson right back in, refuses to break during the count, and both guys are counted out. Afterward Herc attacks Haynes with his chain and busts him open. Haynes showed some spunkiness when in control, while Herc was his usual sluggish self. The British Bulldog and The Warlord would have a much better "full neslon power" match at WM 7. *1/2

Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid and Little Beaver def King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook by DQ in 3:25- In his prematch promo Bundy promises to squash some midgets and scoop them up with a spatula. Bundy's going from main eventing Wrestlemania 2 with Hogan to this. Heenan is still managing Bundy but isn't with him because he "doesn't deal with midgets". Mixed tag rules here: big guys vs big guys and small guys vs small guys. For the record, none of the midgets come up from Little People Land under the ring. Beaver and Tokyo start, but all four are in the ring almost right away. 4 way little crisscross! Nothing screams wrestling's carnie history more than midgets doing comedy spots. Beaver gets pushed into the heel corner and tries to elbow Bundy in the gut. Bundy gets tagged in and goes for Beaver but Beaver dodges and Jim comes in to make the save. Jim goes for a pin and the face midgets pile on top of him, but Bundy throws them all off. Beaver keeps going after Bundy. Finally Bundy catches him and bodyslams him (gotta say, he was kinda asking for it), then drops an elbow on him. The ref calls for the DQ. Bundy goes for the splash, but the face and heel midgets team up to save Beaver. 1/2*

Guest celebrity Mary Hart (anyone younger than 30 will probably need to look her up) tries to interview Elizabeth but Savage interrupts and, as usual, won't let Elizabeth talk and shoos her away. DOWN THAT AISLE, YEAH!

"King" Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan and The Fabulous Moolah) def The Junkyard Dog in 4:22- The stipulation in this match is the loser must bow to the winner. Race had won the most recent King of the Ring tournament and would, with Heenan's assistance, make all the jobbers he beat on weekly TV bow down to him after the match. There's no denying JYD was over, he gets the biggest pop of the night so far. Heenan grabs JYD's foot almost immediately. JYD chases and gets nailed from behind by Race. Race goes for the fall down headbutt from the apron onto the floor but misses! Race does a 360 back into the ring from the apron, then gets 360 clotheslined out again! I'll give it to Race, he's getting older but he's still willing to bump like a champ. Race gets the fall down headbutt in the ring, but he's hitting JYD in the head, it has no effect other than hurting Race. Race does the Flair Flip out of the corner! JYD starts hitting the crawling headbutts. Monsoon: "JYD is on all fours, his favorite position!". Er........ Heenan distracts him again, allowing Race to get a belly to belly suplex and the pin. JYD, per the stip, gives Race the tiniest little bow you've ever seen, then attacks Race with his own chair. What a sore loser. Race was getting to the end of his all-time great career, but he had a mile or two left on the bumpometer. *

Vince, of all people, is backstage with Hogan. Typical Hogan promo, but I bring it up because of how Vince manages to keep the exact look of bewilderment on his face the entire time.

The Dream Team (w/Luscious Johnny V and Dino Bravo) def The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers in 4:03- The Rougeaus are (bland) babyfaces here, which is weird to see when you know how great they were as heels. Raymond and Beefcake start. The Rougeaus break out the for the era flippydo early and often. Valentine ducks a Jacques reverse crossbody attempt off the 2nd rope. While the heels are in charge Bobby Heenan storms into commentary, claiming to be 2-0 so far on the show. Beefcake accidentally hits Valentine. The Rougeaus hit their finisher, but the ref is distracted, allowing Bravo to come in and clobber Jacques, roll Beefcake on top, and the Dream Team wins. But all is not well after the miscommunication earlier, as the rest of the group leaves Beefcake behind after the match, breaking the team up and giving Beefcake a de facto face turn that would be solidified shortly. You know, the Rougeaus would be a hell of a team today. I could see them having killer junior tag matches in New Japan. *3/4

Hair vs Hair Match: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper def "Adorable" Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:33- This was billed as Piper's retirement match. No, really. OK, stop laughing and compose yourself, I'll wait. Right. This was set up when Adonis stormed Piper on Piper's Pit and destroyed both Piper and the show's original set. Adonis is a fat guy (I'm a fat guy, I can say that) that liked wearing women's clothes and makeup. Draw your own conclusions. No cart for Piper, he walks/jogs to the ring and gets a MASSIVE ovation for his supposed last match. Piper is hiding his belt in his trunks, and as soon as the match starts takes it out and starts whipping Adonis right in front of the ref. He tries to choke Hart out with it, allowing Adonis to hit him from behind then start using the belt himself. Adonis does the Flair Flip in the corner! He was big but he could move. Jimmy Hart is all over this match too. He's taking as many bumps as Sherri would. Hart squirts Piper in the face with Adonis' Fragrance (exactly the same as Rick Martel's Arrogance) and Adonis puts on the Good Night Irene, his sleeperhold. Piper is going out, but Adonis lets go after the ref only gets two arm drops and he and Hart celebrate like he won. During that Brutus Beefcake comes in and revives Piper, who locks in his own sleeper. Adonis goes out and the ref calls it. Beefcake helps Piper cut Adonis' hair off, kicking off his Barber gimmick and finalizing his face turn. Finkel announces Piper wins in his FAREWELL MATCH. Uh huh. A fan runs in to celebrate with Piper and you can see security tackle and drag him out in cuffs as Piper leaves. Piper actually did take a break from wrestling to try to start a career in Hollywood, most notably starring in John Carpenter's 1988 cult classic They Live, but he would be back with the WWF by 1989. Adonis would be fired by WWF barely a month after this, and he was tragically killed in a car accident the following year. **1/4

Intermission time, most of which has been removed for the WWE Network version. Shame. You can see that night is starting to fall and the stadium is getting darker, only making it look better. 

WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart) def The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana in 8:52- This is part of one of the first heel referee angles in wrestling. Davis was involved in numerous controversial finishes, including a Hogan/Orndorff steel cage match on an early Saturday Night's Main Event. The Harts beat the Bulldogs for the tag titles in January, a match that Davis also reffed and the heels won by cheating. That was the last straw, and Jack Tunney banned Davis from refereeing for, in the words of Gorilla Monsoon, "life plus 10 years". They even worked Santana into the feud by pointing out that Davis was the ref in the match that he lost the IC title to Randy Savage, which Savage also cheated to win. Officially this is Davis' debut as a wrestler, but he had already been working matches the past few years as a masked jobber called Mr. X. As soon as the faces hit the ring Matilda tears for Jimmy Hart and attacks him. Seriously. I don't know how they got the dog to do it but it looks legit. With that distraction the faces Suzuki-Gun the heels while the Harts still have the belts on. Davey Boy fights off a heel double team attempt. Santana gets backed up into the heel corner but escapes. Bret bump! Dynamite Kid goes face in peril, and once it's safe enough Davis finally tags in. He kicks Dynamite twice then tags right out again. Davis' arrogant strut is something to behold. The Harts slingshot Davis in, but Dynamite gets his knees up and gets the hot tag to Santana. Santana unloads on Davis. He hits the flying taco but refuses to go for the pin. Davey Boy hits a tombstone on Davis, but also doesn't try for the pin. They want to kill this man. Davey Boy squashes Davis with the powerslam, but the Harts break up the pin. DONNYBROOK! In the confusion Davis nails Davey Boy with Hart's megaphone and gets the pin. This all made perfect sense storyline wise, but I would have loved to have seen an all-out Harts/Bulldogs PPV match. ***1/4

"The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Slick) def Koko B Ware in 3:39- Not much to this one. Koko uses the speed, Reed uses the power and heel tactics. Reed reverses a crossbody and grabs a handful of tights to win. After the match, Santana (who I guess was hanging out in Little People Land between matches) runs in, beats up Slick and tries to tear his fine threads off. Yet another TV loss for Hall of Famer Koko B Ware. 3/4*

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (w/George "The Animal" Steele) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) (w/Elizabeth) in 14:35- I know this match. You know this match. Tons of ink, real and digital, have been used in discussing this match. How about you and I, dear reader, dive into it one more time? This all started when Savage crushed Steamboat's larynx with the guardrail and the ring bell. When Steamboat returned he brought old Savage foe Steele with him, who always had a thing for Elizabeth and tried to (literally) steal her away again. Savage's title reign stands at a then-record 414 days as of this match. Savage is still a heel but gets a face pop so big even Monsoon mentions it. After the initial lockup Savage jumps right back out and repositions Elizabeth. Steamboat with the classic DEEP armdrags. Savage tries to work the throat right away, while Steamboat works on Savage's arm. They go back and forth, back and forth so much it's hard to keep up. Savage gets tied up in the ropes. Now on Irish whip spots they keep reversing and reversing. Steamboat starts going for quick pins, which is the theme of this match. Savage gets a high knee to the back and tries to throw Steamboat out, but Steamboat skins the cat. Savage congratulates him by clotheslining him back over and fully out this time. Savage knocks Steamboat over the timekeeper's table AND the guardrail. Steele helps Steamboat get back in, much to Ventura's consternation. As soon as he's back in, Savage throws him right back out again! Double axe handle off the top to the floor. Double axe handle off the top in the ring. Now Savage goes for a series of quick pin attempts. Steamboat fights back and backdrops Savage out. Steamboat hits the karate chop off the top and it's another series of quick covers. Steamboat gets a sunset flip to kick off a series of roll up attempts. Steamboat slingshots Savage into the post, and then they start countering each other's roll ups into more roll ups! This match is absolutely breathless. I have no breath. I don't know how they have breath. Savage grabs the tights and pulls Steamboat face first into the turnbuckles. Ref bump! Savage hits the elbow off the top but there's no ref. Savage goes out, gets the bell and goes up top to destroy Steamboat with it again, but Steele pushes him off. Steamboat counters a bodyslam attempt into a Paul Smackage and it's over! Elizabeth consoles a dejected Savage all the way to the back. They would listen to Savage's reactions and turn him face soon after this. Steamboat unfortunately as the ultimate babyface forever was more suited as the chaser than the chasee, and would drop the title just a couple of months later to the Honky Tonk Man, who would go on to break Savage's record. This was the first ever classic Wrestlemania match, and still holds up today as one of the best of all time. *****

The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts (w/Alice Cooper) in 7:04- Yes, that's the musician Alice Cooper. This got started when Honky attacked Roberts on the set of his Snake Pit talk show, which also solidified Roberts' face turn after Vince tried to use him as a heel but fans kept cheering for him, even against Hogan. Looking at how elaborate the Snake Pit set is, I miss those old school talk show sets. Snake Pit, Piper's Pit, Barber Shop, Brother Love Show, Funeral Parlor, they all looked great. Roberts jumps up from the floor and *over* the bottom rope on his entrance in one clean movement. That's impressive. Roberts attacks Honky while he's dancing with his back turned on the apron. Honky tries to bail but Roberts follows and rips off his entrance gear. Honky slips out of the DDT, rolls out and manages to catch Roberts and throw him into the guardrail. Honky takes over and slooooooooooooooooooooooows everything down. Roberts backdrops out of a Shake Rattle & Roll attempt. Roberts goes for the DDT again but Hart grabs his foot, Honky rolls him up and grabs the top rope for leverage to get the pin. You know, I get suspension of disbelief, we all happily do it as wrestling fans, but come on, grabbing the *top* rope? There's no way the ref couldn't see that. Alice Cooper and Hart have words after. Cooper takes his jacket off and he's smaller than Cheeseburger. Roberts dodges a guitar shot as Honky leaves the ring. *1/2

Mean Gene joins us in the ring to announce that Wrestlemania 3 has set a new indoor attendance record of 93,173. Over the years wrestling journalists, and "journalists", have disputed this number, and the alternative numbers they've proposed have themselves been disputed. I'm not wading into the weeds on this. I'll just mention that I was at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas when this show's record was broken. Suck it, Detroit. 

The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) def The Killer Bees by DQ in 5:44- The Soviet Union and Iran teaming up for evil. How very 80s (just for the record I am a child of the 80s and would never have it any other way). Slick's clothes are still torn up from Santana's attack earlier. Nice continuity. The newly WWF signed Hacksaw Jim Duggan runs in and chases the heels off during Volkoff's traditional singing of the Soviet National Anthem, declaring that he'll never let it be sung in the USA again. The heels Suzuki-Gun attack before the bell. Duggan stays at ringside, enraging Ventura. The faces fight off the attack and start working on Sheik with fast tags. Ring Gearhead fact: the Killer Bees are wearing sneakers (Nike, to be specific) and high socks instead of boots, two of the first wrestlers to do so. There's trash all over the ring that was thrown in by fans during the national anthem singing. We're late in the show and I suspect alcohol consumption has gotten to high levels. Volkoff takes over and Brunzell goes face in peril. Sheiky Baby puts him in the camel clutch to break his back and make him humble. Duggan has been chasing Volkoff around the ring, and as they go through the ring Duggan stops and whacks Sheik with the 2x4, causing a DQ for the faces. FACKING BULLS&*T! Duggan was never a genius. The Bees kept it lively while they were in control, and the booking works. **

Main event feud recap- Hogan and Andre were BFFs. Andre was legitimately the first person in the locker room to celebrate with Hogan after he won the title. On a January edition of Piper's Pit, Jack Tunney presented Hogan with a trophy to signify him reaching three years as WWF champion (a common title reign length at that time). Andre came in to celebrate but was clearly annoyed. A week later, Tunney presented Andre with a much smaller trophy for being "undefeated for 15 years" (Completely not true but there was no internet to fact check such things back then. I'm sure the fanzines were screaming). Hogan came in to congratulate Andre but, being Hogan, sucked all the oxygen out of the room, and Andre just turned around and left the set. A week after that Jesse Ventura told Piper that he can produce Andre next week if Piper can produce Hogan. Piper agreed. On that following Piper's Pit Andre showed up with longtime Hogan foe Bobby Heenan for the first time and challenged Hogan for a title match at Wrestlemania. Hogan gave his always awful "Oh God this can't be happening" acting, so Andre showed how serious he was by ripping his shirt and crucifix necklace right off him. The biggest match in wrestling history was ready to go.

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) in 12:01- Heenan's tuxedo is amazing. The trash throwing is a near epic levels on Andre's entrance. About .7 NWO. Ventura complains that Andre hasn't gotten a title shot in 15 "undefeated" years. Monsoon points out that he never asked for or even wanted a title shot until Heenan got in his ear. No cart and a massive pop for Hogan. Hogan and Andre have the epicest of epic staredowns while Monsoon gives his legendary, if not totally original, "The irresistible force meets the immovable object" line. Hogan goes for a bodyslam early, but can't fully lift and Andre falls right on top of him. Hogan BARELY gets his shoulder up at 2.9. Andre and Heenan both argue it was 3, and would continue to for months afterward. The crowd sucked in so much air on that I'm surprised the dome roof didn't collapse. Andre works Hogan over until Hogan ducks a headbutt in the corner and Andre headbutts the turnbuckle. Hogan tries to take control but Andre counters with a big boot. It's the bear hug! (anyone that hasn't seen the clip of Daniel Bryan on commentary ranting about wrestling bears and then flipping out over a bear hug needs to do that posthaste) Hogan wakes up on the 3rd arm drop and powers out, but Andre chops him back down. Andre has had an answer for everything so far. They go outside and Hogan ducks another Andre headbutt, causing Andre to headbutt the ring post. On the original broadcast and several home video releases after you can clearly see Andre stop a good few inches before the post, so on the current Network cut the camera switches for a few seconds to the hard camera angle. Hogan pulls up the mat outside and goes for a piledriver, but Andre powers out. Back in the ring a shoulderblock finally drops Andre for the first time in the match. Hogan Hulks Up, then in the single most iconic moment in Wrestlemania, if not all of WWF/E history, picks up Andre the Giant and bodyslams him. The legdrop, a 3 and we're done. Bobby Heenan hold his head in his hand dejected on the whole ride back to the locker room. The carts weren't just cool looking, they were also a good storytelling aid. Andre's mobility hadn't been completely hampered at this point yet. He was very limited but he could stand comfortably without leaning on the ropes, which wouldn't last much longer. Hogan hadn't yet fallen into the formula finish trap either. It's a *3/4 match and a ***** spectacle. Split the difference and call the whole package **1/2.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Don't let the lack of snowflakes outside of Savage/Steamboat fool you. This is very much a "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" type of show, and highly entertaining from start to finish. It features both one of the greatest matches of all time, and one of the greatest spectacles of all time. Every Wrestlemania since owes a debt to this show, and every wrestling fan should see it at least once.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-

Superbrawl II

Legacy Review

Superbrawl II

February 29, 1992 (why didn't they call this show Lethal Leap Year, Chett?) from the MECCA in Milwaukee, WI

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura in his WCW debut

Welcome to the first PPV of the short but glorious Kip Frey era. Frey took WCW over in late '91 on an interim basis after Jim Herd was finally run out of town (hopefully by a pitchfork wielding mob) and oversaw the company's hottest creative period in between the excellent Flair-booked and spearheaded 1989, and the start of the NWO. One of the main reasons for the success of this period, the Dangerous Alliance, is just starting to hit its peak.

Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff open it up from the then-traditional host position. They cut to Missy Hyatt, who says she's going to get the backstage interviews only she can get. I don't want to know how, and I'm pretty positive the answer's not appropriate for a PG show. Next we cut to JR in the ring. He announces the newest member of the WCW announce team, Jesse "The Body" Ventura! Small pyro flash and Ventura rides down the entrance ramp on a motorcycle. Pretty good reaction for him, even before he gets a cheap pop by mentioning Harley Davidson to the Milwaukee crowd. He tells JR he should wear a cowboy hat. Obviously that stuck in JR's head.

WCW Light Heavyweight Championship: "Flyin'" Brian Pillman def Jushin Thunder Liger (c) in 17:00- Liger beat Pillman for the title on a Christmas Day house show in WCW's home arena, the Omni in Atlanta. Liger gets a pretty nice pop. Like Great Muta before him he was getting over with the US fans through sheer awesomeness. Feeling out start. Speed run with both guys doing leapfrogs, and both try a dropkick at the same time! While Pillman does some mat work JR mentions Liger is a "former" IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion. Nothing former about it, at the time of this show he was on the 5th of his record 11 reigns. Pillman leaps over Liger in the corner, grabs a flying headscissors, and dropkicks Liger to the floor. Nice rope assisted modified baseball slide that sends Liger into the guardrail. Liger takes a moment to recover. Now it's Liger's turn to control some mat work. Pillman hits the match's first strikes. Liger floats over Pillman in the corner, runs across, springs up to the top rope and hits a quick moonsault for 2! He dropkicks Pillman to the floor, tunes up a dive, but Pillman starts to dodge so Liger handsprings off the ropes back to the middle of the ring instead. That gets a really nice cheer from the crowd. Pillman works a headscissors. Liger escapes and tries to hook on the surfboard but Pillman quickly gets to the ropes before it's applied. Corner dropkick from Liger. Quick Pillman crucifix for 2. Liger slips out of a slam, flips over and cradles Pillman for 2. Pillman back suplex, almost a Saito, for 2. Liger dodges a high knee in the corner and Pillman knees the top turnbuckle. Liger immediately starts picking the new target apart. Figure four! Liger gets a near fall out of it, then Pillman hulks up. Open hand slap slugfest. Pillman fights and reverses it. Rope break. Pillman tries to hit chops but Liger kicks his leg out of his leg again. Single leg crab from Liger. Pillman fights up and nails Liger with an enzuguri! Pillman tiltawirl flying headscissors. Liger backdrops him down to the floor. Cannonball off the top to the floor! Again the crowd shows Liger plenty of love. Apron suplex fight. Liger tries to switch gears and run Pillman into the turnbuckle but ends up taking the shot instead. Pillman springboard clothesline! He moves to the apron and suplexes Liger from the inside down to the floor! Crossbody off the top to the floor! More Pillman chops. He sets Liger up on the guardrail and dives off the apron. Liger dodges and Pillman crashes into the rail! Liger rolls Pillman back in and goes up top. Pillman intercepts him in midair with a dropkick! Pillman goes up top. He goes for a missile dropkick, but Liger tries to counter with his own dropkick and they both crash to the mat! Simultaneous spinning heel kick attempts! JR gets his football talk in by saying this is like two teams both running the run & shoot offense. Pillman powerslam for 2. Liger German suplex for 2. Pillman fights off a superplex attempt and hits a crossbody off the top for 2. Liger counters a backdrop into a powerbomb for a long 2. He goes for another one, but Pillman does a nice escape and rollover into a cover for 2. Pillman DDT. Liger gets a hand on the ropes at 2. Long speed run and midring collision! Pillman goes up top again, but Liger hits the ropes to crotch him. Superplex! Pillman kicks out! Liger goes up again. Pillman dodges and Liger splats on the mat! Pillman wraps Liger up in the Euro clutch. It looks like Liger might have just squeaked out, but the ref counts 3! Pillman wins the title back! Standing ovation from the crowd after that incredible match. They hug it out after. The Japanese junior heavyweight style comes to the US with a match years ahead of its time. ****3/4

Marcus Alexander Bagwell def WCW United States Tag Team Champion "The Taylor Made Man" Terry Taylor in 7:38- The random veteran team of Taylor and Greg Valentine had just won the rapidly dying US tag belts on weekly TV (a title that I've honestly grown a big soft spot for, done right there's a place for secondary tag titles). Rookie Bagwell refused Taylor's offer of mentorship to set this match up. Taylor plays mind games by clean breaking in the corner off a lockup. He tries some mat wrestling but Bagwell escapes. Bagwell hits a hiptoss and Taylor did not like that. Lots of jawing and shoving. No clean break in the corner this time. Bagwell responds by decking Taylor with a right hand! Now Taylor's really mad. He tosses Bagwell out onto the ramp. Bagwell intercepts him with both an inverted and regular atomic drop, then clotheslines Taylor 360 back in the ring. Crossbody off the top from Bagwell for 2. Taylor fights out of a headlock and tosses Bagwell out again. Bagwell springs right back up, sneaks behind, and.....puts the headlock back on. The kid's still learning. Bagwell shoulderblock and quick cover for 2. Taylor slides out to cool off the kid's momentum. Some fans are chanting "Rooster!" at Taylor. See, there were smarks before the internet. Bagwell slips out of a suplex attempt and locks in a sleeper. Taylor gets to the ropes, then flips Bagwell back out to the floor. Rail shot. Taylor jawbreaker back in. He gives Bagwell some arrogant slaps. Bagwell tries fighting back. Taylor gets a gutwrench powerbomb for 2. Corner clothesline and kneedrop for 2. Bagwell badly overshoots a sunset flip but Taylor sticks with him. Taylor suplex. Splash off the top for a long 2. Bagwell backdrops out of a piledriver. Taylor turns to the old eye rake and hits a reverse neck snap for 2. Both guys standing switch. Bagwell gets the advantage, rolls Taylor up, and gets a pin! After the bell Taylor waffles Bagwell with the fivearm (or Taylor Made Forearm as it was called then), then plants him with a DDT. Watchable. As I've always said it was almost impossible to have a bad match with Terry Taylor, and he walked a green but game Bagwell through it fine. *3/4

"The All American" Ron Simmons def Cactus Jack in 6:34- After the big Doom breakup and getting a title shot against Luger at Halloween Havoc Simmons has been relegated to midcard hell a bit. Midcard purgatory? Simmons got Doom's music in the divorce. As always, JR gushes over Simmons' Florida Sate football history. Jack gets a cheap shot in the corner and it's a brawling start. Simmons dodges a Cactus Clothesline and Jack gets hung in the ropes! Literally. By the neck. The ref has no luck getting him out so Simmons does it while making it look like he's attacking Jack. Back in Simmons counters a backrop with a faceplant, then hits a slam and legdrop for 2. Jack hits a back elbow in the corner and a clothesline. We get a shot of Junkyard Dog in the crowd. WAY up in the crowd. Could they not afford a better seat for him? Nice white tux though. Double underhook DDT from Jack. Legdrop for 2. Jack takes it to his playpen outside and hits the Cactus Elbow off the second rope to the floor. He snaps Simmons over the top rope coming back in. Simmons does an amateur takedown out of a chinlock and hits an ugly dropkick. 3 point stance charge. Jack dodges and Simmons goes out onto the ramp. Jack chases. Simmons spinebuster on the ramp! Jack misdirection faceplant back in. He comes off the second rope, but Simmons catches and powerslams him! That gets the pin. The fight continues after the bell as Abdullah the Butcher waddles his way down. Jack and Abdullah were either best friends or mortal enemies depending on what day it was. Abdullah whacks Simmons from behind with a stick it looks like he stole from Papa Shango so I guess it's friends today. JYD makes his way down from the crowd, fights off security, and makes the save. **1/4

"Heavy Metal" Van Hammer and "The Z Man" Tom Zenk def Vinnie Vegas snd Richard Morton in 12:01- If you want to know why anyone is teaming with anyone else in this match....so do I. Morton is still "Richard" even though the York Foundation is no more. Vinnie Vegas was attempt number 53 by WCW to find a gimmick that would get Kevin Nash over, and they're getting closer. It's a damn sight better than Oz. Hammer is disturbingly over. I say it's because people like stomping their feet in rhythm. Hammer and Morton start. Morton tries the heel 101 eye rakes early but runs into a Hammer press slam. Being Morton, he sells the hell out of it and tags out. Vegas runs into a Hammer armdrag, then they discus things a bit. With shoving. Long, rough lockup all over the ring. Vegas does a cheap thumb to the eye and goes onto the attack. They badly botch a spot where Nash goes for a leapfrog but Hammer doesn't duck down and they crash into each other. Fugly. Hammer recovers to work a hammerlock. No pun intended. Slugfest and Hammer mounted punches. Vegas counters by running him all the way over to the opposite corner, but Hammer pops back out with a clothesline. Tag to Zenk and he comes right in with a missile dropkick for 2. Vegas fixes his hair and tells Zenk to bring it. Zenk and Morton do a nice speed counter sequence that ends with Zenk clotheslining Morton 360 to the floor. Zenk plancha! He hiptosses Morton on the floor! Morton begs off back in to get an eye poke. It looks like the heels are going to pound Zenk down in their corner but Zenk squeaks away. Vegas wants Hammer back in. Ignore the guy that can make you look good through talent and go straight for the lout that can't wrestle to make you look good by default. Typical Nash. Vegas back suplexes out of a headlock. Short clothesline for 2. Hammer goes face in peril. The heels sucker Zenk in to double team and Vegas hits a gutwrench suplex for 2. Big boot. More heel quick tags and double teams that Zenk doesn't help any by running in. Hammer gets a flash powerslam for 2. Morton takes Zenk out before he can tag and the heels double team again. Flying tackle from Vegas. Nash did not keep that in his moveset. Hammer tries to fight back but Vegas suplexes him for 2. Midring collision. Nice wobbly selling from Vegas as he tags. Hammer hot tag to Zenk! Big backdrop on Morton. He takes Vegas out. Powerslam on Morton. Morton kills the momentum with a thumb to the eye. Zenk floats over Morton the corner, rolls him up, and gets the pin! Not a bad little match, especially considering who was in there. Those nightly best match bonuses Frey gave out certainly made a difference. You can see Nash is slowly starting to realize his potential. **1/2

Barry Windham and "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes def WCW World Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin and Larry "The Cruncher" Zbysko (w/Medusa) in 18:23- Our first Dangerous Alliance match of the night. This is a grudge match set up when Zbysko and Arn Anderson jumped Windham and Dustin in the parking lot at Halloween Havoc, crunching Windham's hand in a car door. Hence Zbyszko's new nickname. Dustin and Austin had also been feuding over the TV title. The heels try to jump at the bell but get jumped instead. Windham backdrops Zbyszko and tosses him to the ramp, then drops him down to the rail. Austin goes out and Windham clotheslines him back in. Dustin backslide on Austin for 2. Austin blocks a monkey flip and tries to come off the top. Dustin clotheslines him in midair for 2. Windham hits Austin with a dropkick, then deposits him in the heel corner and demands he tags Zbyszko. A Zbyszko eye rake and back kick send Windham to the ramp. Windham backdrops out of a piledriver on the ramp, hits a clothesline and tosses Zbyszko back in. Windham is all kinds of fired up and refuses to even try a pin on Zbyszko, he want to hurt him. Big leaping DDT. Double backdrop from the faces. Dustin pounds Zbyszko with some great selling. No Zbyszko stalling tonight. Windham gutwrench suplex for 2. He hooks up for a Gotch style piledriver, but Austin runs in and takes him out with a clothesline! Dustin comes in to argue and the heels toss Windham over the top to the floor. Austin double ax handle off the apron. Zbyszko lifts and crotches Windham on the rail. Short clothesline and suplex from Austin back in. Windham misses a running knee and flops over the top to the floor again. That miss looked accidental but the way they play it I guess it was intentional. Zbyszko pounds him on the floor again. Swinging neckbreaker from Zbyszko back in. Austin back suplex for 2. Ventura tries to get JR worked up by running down OU football. Zbyszko hooks on a sleeper. Windham jawbreakers out. He still wants to punish Zbysko and doesn't even try to tag. Midring collision. Windham falls backwards from a charging Austin and uses his long reach to get a tag. Dustin inverted atomic drop and dropkick on Austin. Big diving lariat with a 360 Austin sell. Zbyszko breaks the pin up. Windham and Zbyszko take it to the ramp again. Austin blocks a roll up and MURDERS Dustin with a clothesline, getting his own 360 sell in. Now Dustin is in peril. Zbyszko swinging neckbreaker for 2. Dustin chops back. Zbyszko DDT for 2. Dustin counters a backdrop with a kick, then flops down exhausted. Medusa slaps Dustin! Dustin stalks her up the ramp. Austin charges in from behind with a clothesline. Watching Austin fly around the ring before his knees were shot was really something, rope to rope he's still one of the quickest moving guys I've ever seen. Chinlock to slow things down and let things simmer. Not a bad spot for that the way this match has been. Dustin fights out. Long speed run. Both guys go for crossbodys with Dustin winning for 2. Another big Austin clothesline with another 360 sell. Dustin reverses a Zbyszko suplex. Zbyszko uses a drop toe hold to cut a tag off. The heels sucker Windham in, and while the ref is with him Dustin gets a small package with no count. Austin chinlock with rope leverage. More speed and Dustin hot shots Austin! Austin barely got the rope on that. Straight right from Dustin on Zbyszko and tag to Windham! Pummelings for everyone. Lariat on Zbyszko for 2. Zbyszko fights off the superplex but Dustin knocks him off the top rope. Windham lariat off the top! That gets the pin! Four of the best doing what they do, but it was missing that something extra to get it to the next level. ***1/2

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Arn Anderson and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton (c) (w/Paul E Dangerously Medusa) def The Steiner Brothers by DQ in 20:06- Paul E comes out with the champs, but he had already been banned from ringside for the US title match so he's being kicked out here too. Medusa comes out and takes his place. Commentary plays up the fact that the Steiners had to drop the titles due to Scott getting hurt (legit), they were never defeated, and the champions are generally considered the underdogs here. How great a tag wrestler was Arn Anderson? He's won the tag titles twice since the Steiners dropped them in July, with two different partners. Eaton and Scott start. Scott gets a fireman's carry takedown and lets Eaton think about it. Double leg pickup and slam, almost a spinebuster from Scott. He works Eaton on the mat a bit. Eaton gets a swinging neckbreaker. He comes off the top rope, right into Scott's waiting arms and gets belly to belly suplexed! Tag to Arn, who wants Rick. Arn drops down on a speed run. Rick drops right next to him, smiles, gets up and kicks Arn right into the head, backing Arn into the post crotch first. Ouch. Arn leapfrog. Rick caches him in midair and powerslams him! Arn tries to get Rick in the heel corner but Rick fights out. Arn has enough and rolls out to rethink. Scott/Arn wristlock leverage fight. Eaton comes in to help. Scott flips out, and a Rick double Steinerline sends the champs 360 and out! The Steiners strike their pose while the crowd goes bonkers. Quick kick from Arn and he tosses Scott out to the floor, signals Eaton to go down and gets Rick in to distract the ref. Scott reverses Eaton's whip. Arn just dodges Eaton, but gets inverted atomic dropped and Steinerlined by Scott. The heels get Scott in their corner and Eaton takes him to the ramp. Scott gives Eaton a tiltawhirl slam on the ramp! Eaton goes for Rick's eyes to try to get going. He gets up to the second rope, but that only lets Rick get him up on his shoulders. While he's up there Scott jumps off the second rope with a doomsday device clothesline! Not the turnbuckle. The middle of the rope. Rick goes for the bulldog off the top but Eaton subtly catches him in the Steinerfruits out of the ref's view to finally slow the Steiners' momentum. Rick gets worn down for a bit. He catches Eaton with a back elbow but runs into an Arn forearm for 2. Rick blocks an Arn suplex. Eaton and Scott both run in, and the Steiners hit stereo suplexes on both heels! Brock Lesnar built Suplex City, but Kurt Angle drew up the blueprints, and the Steiners wrote the original founding documents. Eaton gets a punch on Rick leaving the ring to put him down again. Arn comes off the second rope...right into a Steinerline! Tag to Scott. Big backdrop and suplex for 2. Wily Arn sacrifices his own partner by ramming Scott's head right into Eaton's! Classic Anderson trick. Now Scott goes Steiner in peril. Eaton kneedrop off the top for 2. Arn plants Scott with a DDT but can't keep Scott down for 3. Scott counters a mat leverage fight with a body scissors. Arn uses that to turn him over into a Boston crab. Eaton drops an elbow while Scott's in that then hooks in a double chinlock. Scott tries to drag Eaton over to tag but Eaton takes Rick out. The champs set Scott up on the ramp and hit him with a rocket launcher out there! Arn goes to ram Scott's head into Eaton's knee but Arn gets it instead. Hot tag to Rick! STEINERLINE! STEINERLINE! Rick sets Eaton up for a belly to belly superplex. Arn breaks it up and lifts Rick on his shoulders. Eaton comes off the top, but Rick flips him over in midair into a cover for 2! Bulldog off the top on Arn! DONNYBROOK! Medusa slips Arn some powder and Arn gets Rick with it. A blinded Rick gives the ref a belly to belly suplex! He's dead. Scott hits Eaton with a double underhook powerbomb as a backup ref runs in. Frankensteiner! The backup ref counts 3! New champs!......But wait, here comes senior ref Nick Patrick. He has a conference with the other two refs, then reverses the decision and DQs the Steiners for Rick suplexing the original ref. Hello Dusty Finish, but with the Dangerous Alliance being involved it works a little bit better. The Steiners would win the tag titles back on weekly TV just before the next PPV, Wrestle War in May. Dusty Finish aside this match was fantastic. I would have watched another 20 minutes with no complaints. ****

Speaking of the next PPV, we get an ad for Wrestle War. WAR GAMES! You read that in Regal's voice. After that Tony says Missy Hyatt and "abreast" in the same sentence. Well, I laughed.

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: "Ravishing" Rick Rude (c) def Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (w/the Ninja) in 20:02- As stipulated, Rude is out by himself. He gets NUCLEAR heat trying to get his normal prematch shtick out, getting interrupted by loud boos several times. Fantastic. He was unquestionably the right choice to be the frontman for the Dangerous Alliance. I can't remember where exactly Steamboat picked this masked Ninja guy up but since Steamboat trusts him I'm sure we all can too. Rough roll around lockup. Speed run and Steamboat whips out the DEEP armdrags. Kick and faceplant for 2. Steamboat goes to the arm and Rude sells an ARMBAR like his arm is being ripped off. Steamboat posts his arm! He is not messing around tonight. More arm work. Rude gets out with some hard forearms and a shot to Steamboat's throat. Steamboat kicks the hurt arm and gets back on it. Hammerlock slam. Long speed run. Steamboat crossbody. Rude kicks out quickly but then takes another DEEP armdrag. The camera tries to get a close up shot of Ninja, who tries to hide his already covered face. That's weird. Still, being a ninja I'm sure privacy and anonymity are important to him. I'm sure it's on the up and up. Steamboat continues to crank the arm but both guys are plenty good enough to keep this basic work interesting. Chops from Steamboat. In a rare mess up for either guy, they badly botch a spot where Rude is supposed to crossbody them both over the top, but Steamboat bounces off the ropes instead of going over and they both drop down in the ring. Rude stomps Steamboat out to get back on track and drops him on the guardrail. Rude's still selling the arm. He suplexes Steamboat back in. Steamboat tries to chop back. Rude pummels him with clubbing blows and hits a clothesline. He's still selling the arm. I just noticed the belt is sitting in a corner of the ring. That's weird. Steamboat puts his head down for a backdrop. Rude kicks him and kills him with another clothesline. Stiffness was a very underrated part of Rude's game. He drops Steamboat on the top rope and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Piledriver. Steamboat kicks out! He tries a headlock but Rude instantly drops him with a back suplex for 2. Steamboat kneebreakers out of a headlock and quickly hooks on a figure four! Rude gets to the ropes. Steamboat goes for it again but Rude pushes out and hits him from behind with a clothesline. Ax handle from the top with an incredible slow rolling flop sell from Steamboat. Another fist off the top and clothesline for 2. Steamboat powers out of a double chinlock and electric chair slams Rude down. Slugfest. Simeltaneous leapfrog collision! Rude sleeper. Steamboat goes down and fights back up. Escape and Steamboat hooks on a sleeper! Rude jawbreakers out. He goes up top but Steamboat kicks his leg out and he gets crotched. Superplex (with a little difficulty)! Rude kicks out! Clotheslines from Steamboat and a kind of enzuguri to Rude's back. Backdrop and diving clothesline for 2. Vintage Steamboat chop off the top rope. Ninja jumps on the apron. He's got a portable phone. He nails Steamboat with it! Isn't that Paul E's phone? What's going on? Rude crawls over and gets the pin. Hell of a match. These guys gelled perfectly. The finish works in context of the whole Dangerous Alliance angle. They'd have an even better rematch at Beach Blast in a 30 minute Iron Man match. ***3/4

Missy Hyatt is way too excitedly headed for Rude's dressing room (insert your own joke here). The whole Dangerous Alliance is in there and they quickly slam the door, because, quoth Missy, "Owe my gawd, that was Paul E Dangerously in a neenjah outfeet!"

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting def "The Total Package" Lex Luger (c) (w/Harley Race) in 13:02- Super special entrance for Sting with a tall ladder of stairs, smoke, and as much pyro as WCW could afford. Even walking down the ramp Luger already looks checked out, summing up his whole title run. The bell rings and Luger....slowly meanders around the ring. Then they stand in the middle of the ring have what looks like a whole conversation. Luger's probably telling Sting how much Vince is going to pay him to just oil up and flex. Finally, Luger shoves Sting, Sting shoves back, and they have a vicious lock up. Ref Nick Patrick gets in the middle to physically break it up. Luger gets the first shots in. Sting dodges in the corner. Corner whip and early Stinger Splash! Luger no sells it and kills Sting with a clothesline! Powerslam. Now Luger goes for the Torture Rack early but Sting flips out, hits a German, and puts Luger in the Rack! Luger fights out pretty easily. Huge leaping DDT from Sting. Luger takes a powder. After a minute Luger drags Sting out and tries to give him a rail shot but takes it instead. Sting goes for the Scorpion Death Lock! Luger quickly gets over to the ropes before Sting can fully get it on. Luger very slowly gets up and gets a cheap eye poke over the ref. Now we get the typical '91 checked out Luger, er, "methodical" power offense. Sting chokes Luger in the corner. Luger uses Patrick trying to break that up to get a low blow behind his back. Press slam. Luger's spending way more time playing to the crowd than doing anything with Sting. He hits the Attitude Adjustment piledriver. Sting kicks out! Luger drops some unenthusiastic elbows and covers again for 2. Sting starts slugging back and backs Luger into the corner. Luger pretty much goes "OK, fine, whatever". Sting does as much of a pillar to post beating as Luger will give him. He even gets some back rakes in. Luger dodges a dive and Sting goes over the top to the floor. Race tries to piledrive Sting on the floor but Sting backdrops out. He goes up top, hits a crossbody, and gets the pin for his long overdue second world title win! Luger doesn't sell for a second, he pops right back up and gets the hell out of town. He was probably halfway to Stamford before Sting even finished his shower. Think the match ran short too because Sting spends more time than usual celebrating for a WCW show. That sure felt like a mercy killing of Luger's awful first world title reign. He'd head to Vinceland, where the initial plan was for him to be the face of Vince's new World Bodybuilding Federation, but after that folded he'd get back in the ring for WWF. **1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The main event is a bit of a disappointment, though not a surprise given what Luger had been doing, and Sting's title win is a great moment and definitely a promise of better things to come. But outside of that, this show has the complete top to bottom quality that's associated with the Kip Frey era and is a great kickoff for a short but red hot run for WCW.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-