Off Topic- Favorite Indie Games

Johnny Legacy's Off Topic Deep Thoughts

My Favorite Indie Games

Yes, yes, I know. Not wrestling. That's why it's called OFF TOPIC (thanks to Cody Kahne for the title idea). Gaming is another passion of mine, and I've been on the indie game train pretty much since it first left the station. This is an article I've been wanting to write for a long time, and now I have the platform, here it is. If people enjoy it I might sprinkle some more gaming thoughts in between the classic wrestling reviews. So here it is, my favorite games from the little guys, indexed into four distinct game styles.

1. Classic-Style Point and Click Adventure Games

• The Entire Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (2006-present)- If, like me, you grew up playing the point and click classics in the '90s (my teenage years), especially Lucasarts, it doesn't get any better than this. Wadjet Eye, led by Dave Gilbert, both develops games in-house and publishes outside titles, and for my money they might be the best collection of adventure games under one company's banner ever made. At least the best since the aforementioned Lucasarts classics.
• Dreamfall Chapters (episodic 2014-2017)- The sequel to 2006's Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, which was itself the sequel to what, even more than Monkey Island, is probably my single favorite point and click game of all time, 1999's The Longest Journey, Chapters is a satisfying conclusion to the saga. It's also quite graphically ambitious for a game developed by a small studio, almost rivaling some AAA games in visual quality. Though it does bring a good amount of closure, I would still really like the proposed The Longest Journey Home to be made and more closure given to April Ryan's story. Hell, I just want more from that game universe period.
• To the Moon series (To the Moon/Sigmund Corp Holiday Specials 1 & 2/A Bird Story/Finding Paradise, 2011-present)- Kind of borderline in the point and click category as there's not much in the way of gameplay in these games, but that doesn't matter when you have this much wit, character richness and warmth shining through. Eva and Neil are one of the best double acts in gaming history, and subsequent games in the series have also fleshed out other entertaining employees of Sigmund as well as included some very interesting big picture worldbuilding. The next game in the series, Imposter Factory, is currently in development.
• Thimbleweed Park (2017)- The triumphant return of Ron Gilbert to the genre that made his name. There's even on screen verbs! This is a game dripping with creativity and charm, as well as some very devious old school puzzles. The final act is a total mindfuck in the vein of cerebral sci-fi films of the '60s and '70s and I will under no circumstances spoil any of it here. You have to play it.
• Telltale's Golden Years (all 3 seasons of Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future, 2006-2011)- I might be stretching the definition of indie a bit, but in their early years Telltale was indie before there was really a such thing as indie games. Not to mention they were at the forefront of bringing back the point and click genre. The first season of Sam & Max is a little up and down from a gameplay perspective, but they get better as they go on and the character interaction is on point from the start. They're the wittiest games of all time, in my opinion. Tales is a worthy successor to one of the most legendary series in gaming and features the entire original voice cast. Back to the Future is a bit rougher gameplay wise, but the story (assisted by original movie writer Bob Gale) is worthy of a Back to the Future IV and several actors from the films return.

2. First Person Adventures/"Walking Simulators"

• Draugen (2019)- A new IP from Longest Journey saga creators Ragnar Tornquist and Red Thread Games, a peaceful exploration of a beautiful Norwegian village quickly turns into a surprisingly dark psychological horror. My biggest complaint is it's too short.
  
• Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (2015)- This one also pegs the creepy atmosphere meter, wandering around abandoned English villages with radios still playing emergency broadcasts, all leading to a very ambiguous ending.
  
• Firewatch (2016)- An interesting little personal narrative told well and in a unique way, framed by some absolutely gorgeous wandering scenery.
  
• Obduction (2016)- It's not really fair to put this in with the "walking simulators" (a term I generally dislike anyway). It's a Myst-style first person adventure from Cyan, the people who made....Myst. And most of the games in the Myst series, another series I played a ton of in the '90s and aughts. This is their first game since Myst ended with Myst V in 2005 and is a completely new universe not connected to Myst's story, but gameplay wise it's a worthy spiritual successor. With just as evil puzzles. Confession: I've never gotten through a Myst game without a walkthrough. But it's all about the story anyway, right?
  

3. Retro-Style 2D Action Platformers

• Shovel Knight (2015)- A loving tribute to the 8-bit action platformers of old, just as good and just as hard. Hard, but also generous, in that checkpoints are frequent and there are no lives so you never get a game over, just unlimited attempts to progress from the last checkpoint. During the late part of the game I could spend 30-45 minutes and many deaths in between checkpoints trying to crawl along. Hard, but very, very fair, and one my most satisfying game completions.
  
• Rogue Legacy (2013)- Another classic style platformer with tight and fun but difficult gameplay (expect to die a lot), enhanced greatly by the RPG and randomization elements, and surprisingly tricky big picture strategic decisions. Do I lock this version of the castle down and accept reduced gold in order to see if there's a good item in one of those chests or to take another stab at a boss? According to Steam I pumped nearly 40 hours into this game the first year or so I had it, about the equivalent of a full Final Fantasy game, while getting all the way up to about New Game +5, where the whole castle is filled with minibosses. And there's a sequel coming!
  
• Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013)- This one's a bit more modern than others in this section, with a wonderful cartoony art style and satisfying "kill a bunch of enemies at once" gameplay. One little niggle is that it's a bit of an easy game, certainly compared to the others in this section.
  
• Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (2013)- I've been an AVGN fan since he was only up to about episode 30 or 35. I've even referenced him in a couple of reviews. This is another 8-bit style game, and you wanna talk about hard? This mother frakker is HARD. I haven't poured a ton of time into it, but off and on over the years I've only cleared one level so far. ONE. There's also a sequel I need to get.

4. Unique Experiences

• The Stanley Parable (2013)- I love love love this game. Almost creepily. It's full of dry British wit, surrealism, and perfect poking at fun video game tropes. You can play through the whole thing and get all the endings in a couple of hours, but there's more crammed into those two hours than a lot of games get in ten. My suggestion for new players: follow the narrator and do the "proper" story first before wandering off the beaten path. I think it's more satisfying that way. Also, make sure to stand in the broom cupboard. And there's a new version with more endings coming!
  
• Tacoma (2017)- Another "favorite among my favorites". Tacoma features an atmospheric setting, deep characters, and a wonderful gameplay mechanic that lets you discover the story, as well as deeper character moments, through found footage and archived chats/emails at your own pace. The only little criticism I have is that, unlike most modern games, the story is locked in and doesn't have options for player's choice. A very minor complaint when everything is this good. Fullbright's other game, Gone Home, isn't on my list but it's still worth checking out. I really like how their games respect the player's intelligence and let you put the pieces of the story together yourself rather than banging you over the head with exposition.
  
• Papers, Please (2013)- Who says tedious work has to be, well, tedious? This was one of the first big breakout indie hits and showed what kind of quirky little game experiences were possible from small developers. And as a child of the '80s I'm always a sucker for takes on Soviet/Eastern European style communism.
  
• Orwell (2016)- Now this game will make you feel just plain dirty. As the name implies, this is a biting critique on overpowered government in the form of the surveillance state. The gameplay is simple and (almost too) addictive, and succeeds in making you feel like you're messing with the lives of real people. The sequel, Ignorance is Strength, is also worth playing though it's not as good (the characters are, frankly, more despicable and you don't mind messing with them as much, and it feels less real and more like a game).
  
• The Beginner's Guide (2015)- Another game from Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden, this is another one that I tend to play through in one sitting and get done in less than two hours, but it's a packed two hours. This is one you should really go into cold, anything I might say would, in my opinion, spoil the experience.
  
• Telltale's Poker Night at the Inventory 2 (2013)- Yeah, it's just poker. But it's poker with Ash Williams (sadly not played by Bruce Campbell), Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Claptrap from Borderlands, and Sam & Max (Sam plays and Max provides his usual acerbic color commentary) with Reginald van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island hosting and f'n GLaDOS from f'n Portal dealing. Poker has never been this much fun. My favorite is after getting all the unlockable collectables to turn on the whole Aperture Science set and let GLaDOS feel right at home.
  
• Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)- Another game from Papers, Please developer Lucas Pope. This is a very interesting mystery, trying to piece together the fates of everyone aboard an early 19th century East India Company ship using a supernatural equivalent of found footage. It also features the most retro art style I've seen in a game yet, going back to classic two tone PCs from the early '80s, with a choice of colors.

Starrcade '89

Legacy Review

Starrcade '89

December 13, 1989 from the company's new home arena under the Turner regime, The Omni in Atlanta

Commentary: Jim Ross with either Terry Funk (singles matches) or Jim Cornette (tag matches)

This year's tagline is "Future Shock", and the shock is this isn't a normal Starrcade or PPV. Instead of a regular card, this show features an "Ironman Tournament" for both the singles and tag divisions. Think of it as a one night G1 with small blocks of four that wrestle each other round robin style, and a unique points system: 20 points for a pin or submission win, 15 points for a countout win, 10 points for a DQ win, 5 points each for a draw (15 minute time limit). Every match on the show is a tournament match. Your participants are:

Singles: NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair, NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger, NWA World Television Champion The Great Muta, and Sting

Tag Team: NWA World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers, The Road Warriors, The New Wild Samoans, and Doom

The stage looks like it walked off the Top of the Pops set. There's a very forced and cheesy intro with the tag teams scattered dramatically all over the stage. The Samoans are a last second replacement for the Skyscrapers due to a Sid Vicious injury (supposedly a punctured lung suffered in their Clash IX match with the Steiners).

The Steiner Brothers def Doom (w/Woman and Nitron) by countout in 12:24- Nitron is Tyler Mane, who never did much in wrestling and ended up becoming an actor. We've got another "late arriving crowd" here. It is Atlanta. Even during their '90s dominance no one showed up to a Braves home game until the 4th inning. Scott and Simmons start. Scott gets a powerslam for 2. Very slow pace. Simmons gets a jawbreaker on Rick to get out of a hammerlock. Rick counters with a belly to belly. Jim Cornette goes full King of the Gimmick Table Rocky Romero and says the crowd are all at the Midnight Express merch stand. Reed dodges a Scott clothesline and he goes over and out. Nitron beats Scott down. Scott goes face in peril. Hope small package for 2 in between some Doom near falls. As usual Rick can't stop himself from running in. Scott counters a suplex by twisting it into a cover but the ref is distracted. A Scott belly to belly at the 3 minutes left call leads to the hot tag. Steinerlines for everyone! And....stalling. Doom double teams. As Rick runs the ropes Nitron trips him. All 4 guys brawl on the floor. Rick just gets back in before the 10 count and Doom is counted out. Messy finish. Underwhelming match, as neither teams was interested in getting out of 2nd gear with lots more work to be done tonight. The Steiners take an early 15 points. *1/2

Lex Luger def Sting in 11:31- Luger jaws with the crowd and threatens to take a walk. Sting chases him down and brings him back. It's all Sting to start. Luger dodges a Sting dive and he goes over the top, but grabs the rope, lands on the apron, and clotheslines Luger! Nice. Slingshot splash for 2. Luger tumbles through the ropes and out. Great sequence from Sting. Luger eats guardrail and gets wobblelegged. Sting with a crossbody off the top for 2. Sting locks in an armbar in the match's only pause so far. Luger tries an inverted atomic drop. Sting blocks it, and while Luger's celebrating hits him with a clothesline. Sting springboard crossbody off the second rope for 2. He tries to go off the top again, but Luger catches him and gets the inverted atomic drop. And another one. Gutbuster. Luger works the midsection and plays to the crowd. He's settled very nicely into his heel role after the recent turn, and the crowd hates him. Luger double ax handle off the 2nd rope for 2. Powerslam. Luger goes for the Torture Rack but Sting slips out and starts no selling. Full Sting comeback at the 2 minute call. At one minute left Luger rolls out to play for the draw. Both guys get back up on the apron. Both fall over the top rope, but Luger lands on top, grabs the rope for leverage and gets the 3 as Sting fights to get out (and honestly had both shoulders up at some point). Another messy finish. But, even though I've seen other reviewers give this low ratings, I didn't hate this. Both guys went for it and didn't worry about having something left for later. 20 points and the early lead for Luger. **1/2

The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def Doom (w/Woman and Nitron) in 8:31- Doom's already out again. No time to rest. Cornette to JR: "Is that scorecard girl your daughter? You called her baby." Frakking hell, that was Worst Lines of Jerry Lawler bad. If he starts screaming about puppies I'm turning the show off. Animal and Reed start. Lots of power shoulderblock standoffs. Hawk posts his shoulder and goes FIP. Doom rolls through power moves for near falls with a bit of heel 101 to keep Hawk in. After the 5 minutes left call (the clock they're using tonight is....variable) Hawk gets the hot tag. Donnybrook. Reed tries to piledrive Animal. Hawk gets the clothesline off the top rope and Animal gets the win. Doom falls to 0-2 while the Roadies take the lead over the Steiners 20-15 in the second quarter. *1/4

Oh hell, Norman is out here dressed as Santa Claus. Just...don't ask. I've not had to mention him yet since he'd only been on Clashes up to this point, but he's about to start getting PPV paydays so it's coming. Well, so are the Clashes.

Ric Flair (w/Arn and Ole Anderson) def The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) in 1:55- Flair is in the rarely seen pink gear tonight. It's a very short match so we get a very fast start. Muta blocks a hiptoss and lays in some punches. Handspring elbow. Reverse Flair Flop! Here come the chops. Flair gets the kneebreaker and hooks in the figure four. Hart calls down a couple of goons from the J-Tex Corporation to help but the Andersons stop them before they get to the ring. Muta with a backbreaker. He goes for the Mutasault but Flair gets his knees up, rolls him into a Paul Smackage, and it's done. Well, that's one way to end Muta's undefeated streak. It's like they suddenly realized he was about to go back to Japan. Flair ties Luger up top at 20. *1/2

The Steiner Brothers def The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) in 7:27- In other circumstances this would be a potential show stealer. Sadly, it's also the only major show that these teams would cross paths. Code of Honor handshakes and high fives at the start. Hawk gets an enzuguri on Scott. Scott mat wrestles out. Rick does a 360 sell of a Hawk clothesline! Rick counters with a huge Steinerline on Animal. Rick reverses and hits Animal with a belly to belly. Hawk makes the save. Hawk press slam on Scott. Now Rick makes the save and Hawk looks annoyed. Scott hits Hawk with a belly to belly off the second rope and Hawk almost lands on his head. He immediately tags out but shakes it off and keeps going. The doctor even sneaks in barely in frame to ask if he's OK. Rick saves a couple more pin attempts and Hawk finally has enough, running in illegally and attacking, triggering your mandatory end match donnybrook. Animal gets an assisted German suplex on Scott. All four shoulders are down, Scott gets one up just before 3 to win. Decent with the potential for so much more. I like they tried to get a little story in there instead of just having a Generic Tournament Match. The Steiners take back the tag block lead 35-20. **1/2

Sting def The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) in 8:41- Muta blows off some green mist steam before we get going. Full nelson tradeoff (and just when you think that's an antiquated moved that's dead forever, it gets brought back again, thanks Bobby Lashley). Mule kick from Muta on a corner break. They turn it up with a nice speed sequence. Sting goes for the Scorpion Death Lock but Muta gets to the ropes and powders. Back in Muta takes over with green mist covered fingers eye rakes. Muta locks in CATTLE MUTILATION! CATTLE F'N MUTILATION! (I'm a massive old school Bryan Danielson fan, this excites me) Sting powers and flips out of it. Press slam for 2. Muta hits the backbreaker and goes for the Mutasault. Sting rolls and Muta lands on his feet and nails him with a roundhouse kick. Muta goes up top again, but Sting dropkicks him while on the top rope, goes up, hits a superplex, and that gets the 3. Good, but not their GAB '89 match good. Sting ties Flair and Luger at 20. ***

The New Wild Samoans (w/The Big Kahuna) def Doom (w/Woman and Nitron) in 8:22- We've had face vs face, now it's heel vs heel. Long Fatu/Simmons lockup. Fatu hits a running powerslam. Reed barely sells it. A headbutt staggers both guys and both tag out. Savage no sells a Simmons powerslam and headbutt. Hard Samoan skulls. Doom takes over with a blind tag. Savage goes in peril for a long stretch. The Samoans are nominal faces here and it doesn't really work. Savage gets a sunset flip for 2 but then Doom uses ref distraction to double team. Savage dodges a dive off the second rope and tags. Donnybrook. Savage and Reed collide and collapse. But Savage collapses in the ropes. Humperdink pushes him over onto Reed and he gets the pin. All the no sells the first part of the match were mildly amusing but that's about it. Doom ends the night 0-3 and Woman looks extremely displeased (I'd say murderous, but, well, we know what ends up happening to her and I'm not going there). Soon after this she would leave Doom for the reformed Four Horsemen. Doom would pick up Teddy Long, lose the masks, and quickly become much more interesting. And just plain better. The Samoans are on the board with 20. 1/2*

Ric Flair and Lex Luger go to a 15:00(ish) time limit draw- The clocks are very subjective tonight. You could probably wrap a Doctor Who or Red Dwarf time flux plot around it. Flair gives Luger a little Slick Ric at the start. Luger's jawing with the crowd again. Luger pushes Flair back on a lockup. No one is impressed. A "Luger sucks" chant leads to more Luger stalling. Flair with a headlock. Luger pulls the hair to power out and reverse it. Flair rolls it into pin attempts. JR makes a really good point: the 15 minute time limit might be detrimental to Flair because that's usually how long he takes to warm up and really gets his claws into a match. Much like Kazuchika Okada today. Luger tries to no sell chops in the corner but Flair eventually chops him down and turns Luger's chest beat red. Flair works the arm. Double underhook suplex for 2. Luger tries to power out, but every time Flair outwrestles him back in. Luger finally goes to the heel 101 playbook, complaining about a hair pull then poking the eyes when the ref's not looking. Flair slips out of a slam and goes through a few Ricky Steamboat-like quick pin attempts. Luger takes over and rolls through the power moves. At the 4 minute call Luger is in control but getting a little desperate. Flair counters a suplex into one of his own. Flair backslide for 2. Flair Flip! He gets off the top rope but Luger hits him on the way down and gets a long 2 count off it. Flair goes up again and Luger gives him the Flair throw with under a minute left. Flair dodges a big elbow drop and locks in the figure four with 30 seconds left. Luger fights until the bell for the time limit. 5 points each for the draw. With one match left for all four guys it's Flair and Luger 25, Sting 20 and Muta 0. **3/4

The New Wild Samoans (w/The Big Kahuna) def The Steiner Brothers by DQ in 14:05- Everyone gets on all fours and the Steiners strike their pose. Rick makes fun of the Samoans' ceremony. The Samoans mock the Steiners' pose. Back and forth between Rick and Fatu with Rick still mocking. During a Steinerline one of Fatu's locks gets caught in Rick's headgear and pulled out! Rick keeps it on as a trophy. Major stalling from the Samoans. After a stiff clothesline exchange Fatu rolls out again. Savage complains about a phantom Scott hair pull to kill another minute. Rick ducks a double team and the Samoans hit each other. They tease a fight and Rick eggs them on but they end up hugging it out. Scott's thrown out and crotched on the barricade. More double teaming on Scott and more failed run ins by Rick. Rick runs in and bites Fatu's ass. A Samoan powerslam at the 2 minutes left call gets a 2 count. Scott gets a backslide but the ref is getting Rick out again. Frankensteiner! But Scott can't get the tag. Rick has enough and runs in for good. In the confusion Scott throws a Samoan over the top. The ref sees it and calls for the DQ. Another sloppy finish. This was another potentially good power match wrecked by the tournament format. The Steiners looked like they just wanted to go through the motions until they could hit the showers. With one match left the tag standings are Steiners 35, Samoans 30 and LOD 20. *3/4

Lex Luger def The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) by DQ in 14:15- Luger limps down to the ring. The knee gives out early on a leapfrog attempt. Muta targets it. Luger begs off. He rolls out but Muta chases. Back in Luger gets a kick with his good leg and tries a suplex but the leg gives out again. Muta works the knee for a long stretch with good selling from Luger. Almost New Japan-ish. Handspring elbow. Luger uses raw strength to separate Muta's hands on a hold and gets an eye poke in. Muta responds by kicking Luger's leg out of his leg again. Muta locks in a half crab, then turns it into the Mutalock. Luger gets to the ropes. At the 4 minutes left call Luger starts hulking up with punches. Muta counters with a reverse kick, but Luger kills him with a clothesline. Luger hits some power moves. Guess the knee suddenly got all better then. With under a minute left Muta sprays the green mist in Luger's face right in front of the ref and gets DQ'd. Woof. Another bad finish. For 10 minutes this was pretty good with solid Japanese style submission wrestling from Muta and Luger selling it well, but it was all downhill after that. Luger takes the lead with 35 points to Flair's 25 and Sting's 20. Muta takes the goose egg, going out on his back at the end of his WCW run. His last piece of business before wrapping up his excursion and going home to NJPW would be to drop the TV title to Arn Anderson on weekly TV in early January. **1/4

The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The New Wild Samoans (w/The Big Kahuna) in 5:18- Any Samoan win will give them the tournament. The Roadies have to get the full 20 points to win. A draw will lead to a Samoans/Steiners tiebreaker. Animal no sells a piledriver. Hawk and Fatu trade chops with Hawk whiffing on a couple of them. Hawk no sells a Samoan headbutt. The LOD is giving nothing. Animal takes a Samoan coconut to the gut and goes down. Animal dodges a Vader Bomb. Tag. A botch filled finishing sequence mercifully ends with Hawk getting the clothesline off the top to win the match and the tournament. The Steiners come out to congratulate. Both teams just phoned it in. 3/4*

Sting def Ric Flair in 14:30- Despite the screwy nature of the show Flair's streak of main eventing every Starrcade to date remains intact. Remember these guys have been on the same page and partners against Funk and Muta lately. There's lots of scoring possibilities here so lets just say a full 20 point win will give the winner the tournament and worry about the rest if needed. Much like Hirooki Goto in the 2016 G1, Luger can still backdoor a win if there's a draw. Sting comes out hot and Flair slows it down with a walk outside. They have a WOOOOO/Sting yell yell off. Sting works the arm. Flair shows his underrated strength by scooping him up into a fireman's carry. He places Sting on the top turnbuckle and...walks away. Mind games. They pick the pace up, ending with a Sting press slam. Flair starts getting frustrated and shoves. Sting shoves back harder. Flair slides out again much to Sting's consternation. Sting blocks a hiptoss into a backslide. Chop time! Flair turns Sting's chest red. Sting responds with a hiptoss and a couple of dropkicks. Flair begs off, suckers Sting in and throws him out. Flair is slowly starting to heel it back up as the match goes on. Flair delayed suplex for 2. He puts Sting in an abdominal stretch then uses it as a roll up for 2. Flair gets on Nick Patrick like he's Tommy Young. Sting charges out of the corner with a clothesline for 2. At the 5 minutes left call Sting starts no selling chops. Flair punches out of a sunset flip. Flair tries to suplex Sting out of the ring but Sting reverses it. More chop no sells. Stinger Splash at the 3 minute call. He hooks the Scorpion Death Lock in but Flair gets right to the ropes. Kneebreaker into the figure four. Sting gets to the ropes. Flair works the knee some more. Bridge up spot and another backslide for 2. At 1 minute left Flair hits a long delayed kneebreaker, then gets cocky and takes his sweet time putting the figure four on. With less than 30 seconds left Sting rolls him up into a Paul Smackage 3 to win the tournament! Afterward the Andersons come in and they tease a confrontation, but everyone, including Flair, congratulates Sting and Arn throws up the 4. Slow burn, kids, slow burn. Right after this the Horsemen would reform with Sting as a member. For a while. This isn't in the pantheon of great Flair/Sting matches, but it's still a good one with nice character work and foreshadowing as Flair slowly crept back heel. ***1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- WCW's great year of 1989 ends not with a bang, but with a whimper, kicking off what would be nearly two years of struggle with poor creative and worker apathy. In absolute classic WCW style, they take what could have been a decent idea and smother it with poor planning and execution. The night is filled with the most screwy finishes in a single show until Bischoff era WCW. This is really for completionists only, or people who want to watch every single step in the Flair/Sting feud.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+

The Wrestling Classic

Legacy Review

The Wrestling Classic

November 7, 1985 from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura with Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes hosting

This isn't in the lineage of the Big 4 PPVs, but this is the first PPV to follow up on Wrestlemania. Featured is the final blowoff of the longrunning Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper feud that the first Wrestlemania was built around, as well as a one night 16 man tournament for....pride? A winner's purse?

In a rare move it's Howard Finkel himself who does the voiceover on the intro video. Vince and Hayes are next to the giant tournament bracket. In a move that was still common for the time but wouldn't be much longer, they're using a local ring instead of a WWF one. It's a bit smaller and has no turnbuckle pads. Most matches are also reffed by local officials instead of the usual WWF referees.

First Round: Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) def Corporal Kirchner in 3:21- This is right after Adonis was traded from Heenan to Hart but before he started to adopt his....effeminate gimmick. Hart is dressed like he's trying out to be the mascot for the Bengals. Kirchner hits a couple of armdrags and Adonis stalls. Looooooooooooooooooooooooong headlock from Kirchner. Adonis Saito suplexes out. Kirchner goes for a suplex but Adonis blocks it and turns it into a DDT to win. Not a promising start. This is the kind of match that can make time stand still (proven by Gallifreyan research). 1/4*

First Round: Dynamite Kid def Nikolai Volkoff (w/Freddie Blassie) in :09- Dynamite lets Volkoff sing the Soviet national anthem.....but as soon as he's done hits him with a missile dropkick off the top rope for the 3! Smart and fun booking. NR

First Round: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Ivan Putski in 2:44- One of WWF's big angles over the summer was the introduction of Savage in the company (billed as "the hottest free agent in wrestling" by Vince) and his search for a manager. Literally every manager in WWF at the time offered Savage a contract, but he publicly spurned them all and introduced Elizabeth. Putski was a major part of WWWF in the '70s and was a former tag champ with Tito Santana but was on the last legs of his career. Classic heel Savage taunt and bail at the start. He teases coming off the top rope. Putski says "bring it" so Savage hops down and bails. Elizabeth is repositioned. Savage bounces off Putski trying to shoulderblock him. Putski uses the power of the punch to take over. Lots and lots of punches. While in the corner Savage gets a leg takedown, puts his feet on the ropes and gets a pin. About as good as it possibly could have been thanks to Savage. *

First Round: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Davey Boy Smith by ref stoppage in 2:54- Now this has potential. Both guys are faces so Code of Honor handshake to start. A nice chain wrestling sequence ends with DBS hiptossing Steamboat. They do the bridge/backslide spot. A couple of press slams from DBS get a couple of near falls (with an agonizingly slow count from the local ref). Steamboat shows off some power of his own with a delayed suplex. Steamboat dodges a dive and DBS ends up all tied up in the ropes. The ref checks on him and calls for the bell? He rules DBS can't continue due to a nutshot by the ropes. Steamboat helps DBS to the back. Weak ass finish. They were going very nice up until then. *3/4

First Round: The Junkyard Dog def The Iron Sheik (w/Freddie Blassie) in 3:27- The local ref stops JYD as he gets in the ring demanding he take the chain off. He and JYD have what looks like a legit argument over it. Sheik pulls the ISIS-Gun attack as they argue. He chokes JYD with all available pieces of ring gear. JYD hulks up on some punches to the head. Sheik tries a full nelson, JYD powers out. JYD gently taps Sheik with a clothesline and Sheik does a delayed slow motion bump off it. Sheik dodges a falling headbutt. Camel Clutch to break his back and make him humble! He doesn't lock it all the way in and lets go as JYD starts to power out. JYD comes back, hits one headbutt, and gets the pin. 1/2*

First Round: Moondog Spot def Terry Funk (w/Jimmy Hart) by countout in :26- The Moondogs were a stable with rotating members that bounced back and forth between WWF and the Memphis territories. Funk takes the mic and claims neither guy wants to wrestle the other, why don't they take a draw and call it a night? Spot agrees, if Funk goes first. But Spot takes the lead on the floor and Funk ambushes him from behind. Funk tries to get back to the ring but Spot stops him. Spot leans over Funk to get back in first, and Funk is counted out. DUD

First Round: WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana def The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) in 4:17- Santana is on his second IC title run, taking it back from Greg Valentine in July. Muraco is who Santana beat to win the title for the first time. Muraco's looking extra pudgy tonight. Like all the Fat Hardy and pudgy Chris Jericho jokes, but for real. It's all Muraco early. Santana gets some quick moves for a few near falls. Muraco with a .5 Flair Flip, he lands back in the ring. Muraco hits a powerslam that gets a 3 count, but Santana's foot was on the ropes (off camera). As Muraco's celebrating Santana wraps him up in a Paul Smackage for the real win. 3/4*

Mean Gene is with Bobby Heenan. None of Heenan's guys are in the tournament, but like the government or Amazon, he's always watching. He reminds us that he's got a $50,000 bounty on Paul Orndorff and expects someone to collect tonight. Man, I miss bounties in wrestling. Imagine the Lana/Lashley/Rusev triangle if Lana had put a $100K bounty on Rusev.

First Round: "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orton def "Cowboy" Bob Orton by DQ in 6:30- Orton hit Orndorff with his cast to cost the heel team the win in WM 1 main event, but the heels blamed Orndorff and turned on him to turn him face. Orton is still wearing the cast after about 8 months since the original injury. I don't think this is entirely on the up and up. Lots of energy from the start. Orndorff works the arm, and atomic drops Orton with momentum sending his shoulder into the post. Orndorff drops a knee on the cast. Orton gets a knee up in the corner to get momentum. He drops Orndorff throat first across the top rope. Orndorff tries a sunset flip, Orton tries to punch out of it, but longtime heel Orndorff grabs two handfuls of tights to get Orton over for a 2 count. Orndorff dodges a corner dive and Orton gets draped over the top rope. A punch sends Orton over and out. While Hebner's holding Orndorff back Orton makes some adjustments to the cast, then nails Orndorff with it. But Hebner saw it and calls for the bell. Decent, played well off the feud, and easily the best thing on the show so far. **1/2

Back to the bracket. Vince has to pry Hayes away from borderline molesting the Vanna White substitute working the board. Hayes then goes over the bracket after the first round and it sounds like he didn't watch a single match.

Quarterfinals: Dynamite Kid def Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) in 5:27- Rapid fire armdrags from Dynamite. Adonis powders, gets back in, and slingshots Dynamite into the top turnbuckle. Ventura leaves commentary to have a strategery confab with his buddy Randy Savage. Dynamite suplexes out of a chinlock but misses a follow up splash. Adonis works the knee for a bit then hooks in what would come to be called the Scorpion Death Lock or the Sharpshooter. Dynamite gets in the ropes. Dynamite vaults over onto Adonis' back in the corner and gets a spiffy roll up for 2. Adonis goes right back to the knee. Dynamite counters a bulldog. Adonis posts his shoulder. High octane comeback from Dynamite. A kneedrop off the second rope gets 2. Hart gets up on the apron. A roll up sequence ends with Adonis and Hart colliding and Dynamite dropping on top for the win. Afterward Adonis has a childish hissy fit. Decent. **1/4

Quarterfinals: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in 3:18- A year and a half before their legendary WM 3 classic Savage and Steamboat cross paths for the first time. Savage taunts, hides behind Elizabeth, and ambushes when Steamboat turns around. Steamboat slides under his legs and starts laying in the chops. In the corner Steamboat grabs a headscissors on a standing Savage, then uses his legs to leverage him over the top and out! Steamboat follows and hits more chops. Atomic drop on the floor. Back in Savage grabs the rope to stop himself and avoid a chop, charges, and gets chopped anyway. Savage ducks another chop and hits a belly to back suplex. He goes for the double ax handle off the top rope but Steamboat counters with a fist in the gut. Steamboat hits the high crossbody off the top but Savage kicks out. While on the apron Savage gets knucks out of his trunks, Steamboat picks him up to suplex him back in, and Savage waffles him with the knucks and gets the pin. That exact same finish would be used again when Savage beat Santana for the IC title the following February. That was so short it's borderline criminal. ***

Moondog Spot "promo". I can't decide if he's trying to be Captain Caveman or Gabby Johnson from Blazing Saddles. I think that's imitation frontier gibberish, not authentic.

Quarterfinals: The Junkyard Dog def Moondog Spot in :34- It's a dog eat dog world......I'll show myself out. Spot jumps JYD as he's getting in the ring but misses a dive off the second rope. JYD with the crawling headbutts. For some reason there's no ref in the ring. JYD counts 3 himself and somehow it counts. Ugh. DUD

Quarterfinals: Tito Santana and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff go to a double countout in 8:07- Code of Honor handshake. Santana's leg is taped up from the previous match. Long Santana headlock. Orndorff rolls it into a pinning position. Eventually he powers out but ends right up in a headscissors instead. Another long stretch before Orndorff flips it into a cover for 2. Reset. Orndorff grabs a hammerlock. Both guys tease letting it break down into punching but restrain themselves. Ventura wants it to happen. Orndorff with an atomic drop and Santana tweaks the hurt leg. He takes forever trying to get back up and Orndorff gives him the time before going after the leg. Scientifically. Face/face match and all that. No tweeners in this era. Santana pushes out of a figure four attempt. During a rope break Orndorff gives Santana a forearm shot. Ventura loves it. Santana falls outside and Orndorff follows. They fight on the floor and both get counted out. Not terrible, but they went at a ridiculously slow pace, especially for them. This could have easily been tightened up and more time given to Savage/Steamboat. **

With another round down it's back to the bracket wall. And now Hayes is trying to kiss the model! Grody! That should not be allowed on TV.

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper by DQ in 7:13- It's largely thanks to these two guys and this feud that Wrestlemania was a success and survived past its first year. In a sign that it's very early days for Hulkamania Hogan is in all white instead of classic red and yellow. They have a tug of war for the belt and Piper uses it to jump Hogan. Big brawl on the floor. Piper gets run into the guardrail. Back in the ring they have an eye poke exchange that goes advantage Piper. Hogan with a big clothesline in the corner. Piper sells it with a Valentine flop. Hogan rolls through the power moves and drops a couple of big elbows. The local ref stops Hogan punching in the corner and Piper gets a cheap shot in. Piper comes off the second rope but Hogan catches him in a bear hug. Piper eye pokes out. Sleeper! Hogan lays all the way down on the mat but get his arm up on the 3rd drop. Hogan throws himself over the top rope with Piper still on his back to break the hold. Nice. Piper gets posted and Hogan starts Hulking Up. This is well before the Hogan Formula Finish days. Big boot! Atomic drop! Piper reverses a whip and Hogan takes out the ref. Piper grabs a chair and gives Hogan a chairshot. Hogan stops a second one. They fight over the chair. Hogan wins and hits Piper with it. Hogan with a sleeper! Bob Orton runs in for the cheap DQ. Paul Orndorff makes the save. Pretty good match until the flat finish, but Piper never jobs. Hardly ever. **3/4

Semifinals: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Dynamite Kid 4:54- Now, talk about potential. This is oozing with it. Fast lockups to start with no advantage. Nice mat wresling sequence that ends in a stalemate. Savage goes out to have a think. They lock up and roll all around the ropes. Savage gets in a sucker punch on a break. Dynamite runs over Savage at 100 MPH on a shoulderblock. Big backdrop. Dynamite with a crossbody but Savage rolls them through the ropes onto the apron. Dynamite tries a sunset flip. Savage blocks it and drops on top of him. Both guys are flying off the ropes. Dynamite ducks an elbow. Double clothesline! Savage uses the ropes to stand and manages to crawl to the top rope. Dynamite runs across half the ring and dropkicks him while he's standing on the top rope! Savage is crotched. Dynamite goes up top with him. SUPERPLEX! But Savage uses the impact to roll through, roll up Dynamite's legs in a semi-small package, and gets the 3! Tremendous finish to a tremendous match. Savage has to be carried to the back. Much like Sting and Muta topped the scale for a sub-10 minute match at GAB '89, this was as good a sub-5 minute match as you're likely to ever see. It's a shame Dynamite never got a singles push in WWF, or got hurt before he could get one. ***1/2

Finals: The Junkyard Dog def "Macho Man" Randy Savage by countout in 9:43- Savage limps all the way to the ring but is fired up. JYD tries to attack at the bell but Savage gets Elizabeth between them. Savage grabs a chair and throws it at JYD. JYD catches it, headbutts it and throws it away. Lots of stalling from Savage. Finally they lock up and JYD tosses Savage around. Headbut to Savage's back. Bear hug! Savage eye rakes out. JYD keeps working the back. Savage turns it around with a diving clothesline out of a corner bump with an awful sell from JYD. Savage throws JYD out. Multiple double ax handles off the top to the floor. Savage gets another chair and hits JYD with it. Hebner lets it go because it's on the outside. I guess. Savage seems to be trying for a countout win since he's hurting so bad. Finally he gives up on it and throws JYD back in. He tries another double ax handle but JYD gives him a shot in the gut. Crawling headbutts with amazing Savage sells. JYD backdrops Savage over the top and out. Savage can't get back up and is counted out. The Junkyard Dog is the tournament winner. The wrong guy went over, but it wouldn't hurt Savage any. Savage drug JYD kicking and screaming to an almost decent match. *3/4

JYD is announced as the winner. Ventura comes in and protests because JYD got a bye and Savage wrestled an "extra" match. JYD does....nothing. Just stands there.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- For a one night tournament, this isn't that bad. In fact from a pure match quality and show flow standpoint I'd call it better than the WM 4 one. There's some good matches worth watching in there, and it generally gets better as it goes on. Definitely check out Savage and Dynamite Kid and wonder what could have been if it wasn't for Dynamite's injury.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

Halloween Havoc '89

Legacy Review

Halloween Havoc '89

October 28, 1989 from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia

Commentary: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

After peaking an incredible year with the Great American Bash the inevitable (especially for WCW) slow slide down was beginning. I think I can see Jim Herd pushing that rock downhill. He'd been hired earlier in the year and was slowly starting to flex his muscles. This is another new addition on the PPV calendar, and one that would stay all the way until the final demise of WCW.

"The Z-Man" Tom Zenk def Mike Rotunda in 13:23- It's amazing how quickly Rotunda went from important cog in the #2 heel stable and year long TV champ to just another guy. His penchant for endless stalling, a great skillset for a heel TV champ but not much else, might have had something to do with that. Zenk made his WCW debut the month before at Clash VIII and was getting his first serious push after a few years of bouncing around AWA, WWF, and Japan. Rotunda's still in his Varsity Club gear. Philly, being Philly, boos both guys. Zenk slips out of an amateur takedown and Rotunda complains he's got oil on. Zenk takes him down with a shoulderblock and Rotunda plays statues for a few minutes. Big "Syracuse sucks" chant. Rotunda reacts to it and takes a walk. Rotunda with an eye poke and he throws Zenk out. Zenk sunset flip for 2. Every time Zenk tries to turn it up Rotunda slows down and stalls. Philly is getting restless. Rotunda plays rope cat and mouse with Nick Patrick on a headscissors. Well, that's a different hold for that at least. Zenk grabs a headlock and there's some scattered "boring" chants. Rotunda uses Zenk's rope run momentum to send him out and that gets a cheer. For the next few minutes it's Rotunda lets Zenk sit outside and recover, then as soon as he moves to get in he hits him, rinse and repeat. Finally he suplexes Zenk back in. Rotunda abdominal stretch. Basically the Rotunda Ortonlock. A clothesline kills Zenk's comeback attempt for a second, but Zenk dodges a dropkick after. Rotunda does a nice springboard reverse crossbody off the 2nd rope. Zenk uses momentum to roll it over and get the 3. It's a Rotunda match, where you can measure the gap between moves in geologic time. *1/2

The Samoan SWAT Team (w/Oliver Humperdink) def The Midnight Express & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams (w/Jim Cornette) in 18:23- The Samoan Savage had jumped over from WWF to join his Samoan brethren and make it a trio. Paul E was being moved away from managing and into commentary so Humperdink took the team over, who also called him "The Big Kahuna". No idea why Williams is hanging out with Cornette, but hey, he works stiff and the Samoans work stiff so it's all good. Lane and Savage start. No, they're teasing a brawl on the floor. And have a 3 on 3 standoff in the ring. NOW Lane and Savage start. Lane clotheslines him over and out, and Eaton gives him a straight right on the floor. Another floor standoff. Back in Samu chops the hell out of Eaton. Eaton dodges a corner charge and Samu eats post. Williams punches out all 3 heels and they go out to regroup. Williams runs over Fatu with football tackles. Fatu blocks a Lane hiptoss and clocks him. Williams and Fatu hoss it up some more. The faces work Fatu's arm. Savage counters an Eaton bulldog and he crashes crotch first into the corner. Fatu and Samu give Eaton a barricade shot. Savage hiptosses Eaton on the entrance ramp where there's no pad and Eaton splats on the concrete with a smack that echos across the arena. .9 Cactus Jack bump, with less body padding. But Eaton comes right back with a sunset flip for 2. Samoan Nerve Pinch of Light Viceness +/-0. It's not a good one. Eaton plays face in peril for a while longer and sells the hell out of it. He was so good. Williams saves a pin attempt. Eventually Eaton counters a diving headbutt and gets the hot tag to Williams. Williams press slams everyone. Well, not the ref. Lane and Savage mess up a swinging neckbreaker where Savage doesn't swing. Enzuguri by Lane. Donnybrook! Cornette gives Humperdink a racket shot. Savage pushes Lane into Cornette, they bump heads, and Savage drops on him to get the pin. The brawl tease standoffs at the start went on a bit too long, but once they got their teeth into the match they got going real good. ***1/4

"Wildfire" Tommy Rich def The Cuban Assassin in 8:29- Oh, Tommy Rich. Probably the least impressive NWA or WCW world champion this side of David Arquette. He held the title for 4 days in 1981 while Harley Race was driving through Georgia. According to Race it was all politics to make sure the NWA affiliated Georgia territory stayed on top during a territory turf war in the state. With a name like "the Cuban Assassin" you'd expect him to be wearing a mask, but he's not. Philly does not like Rich. Ambush by Assassin to start. Rich counters with slams and a Dusty elbow. Loud "Tommy Rich sucks" chant. Assassin does a nice springboard reverse crossbody for 2. Rich hits an ugly sunset flip. He didn't get high enough, almost hit heads with Assassin, then has to almost crawl around his back to complete it. Big boos for that. Rich and Assassin trade arm holds for a bit. The best thing I can say about this match is they're keeping it back and forth with no one staying in control. But to say the crowd's checked out is an understatement. The ring could explode and they'd still get no reaction. Finally Assassin goes for another springboard crossbody. Rich dodges it and pins him with a Thesz Press. 1/2*

NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Fabulous Freebirds (c) def The Dynamic Dudes (w/Jim Cornette) in 11:28- As you would expect, Philly hates the Dudes. Cornette had taken on an "advising" role with them, which was a lead in for him and the Midnights to turn back heel now the Paul E feud was done. Badstreet USA is still awesome entrance music (OK, I'm going to go ahead and stop with that. Just assume it's there for every Freebirds match because it's true.) The Freebirds get pyro! And a face pop. Hayes seems to have forgotten his belt, they only have one. Douglas and Hayes start. Hayes does his usual start of match strutting and gets cheered for it. Standoff start with no advantage. There's a miscommunication where Hayes jumps up but Douglas goes for a clothesline. That didn't work whatever it was supposed to be. Ace outspeeds Garvin to get an edge. The Dudes work Garvin's arm to a big "Freebird" chant. Douglas does a nice rope assisted flip out of an armbar. More arm work on Hayes and more boos from the crowd. The Dudes clean out the ring with a double team and get booed out of the building. Another Freebirds chant. JR: "Really enthusiastic crowd here tonight. I guess there's some Freebird fans here." JR cites Cornette's influence as the Dudes are trying some Midnight-like double team moves. Ace has Garvin in a headlock and taunts him not being able to tag. Hayes runs in and Ace backdrops him while still holding the headlock. A flying headscissors sends the Freebirds outside again and the crowd shits all over it. "You suck" chant. Ace gets a roll up, Garvin pushes off, Ace goes all the way to the ropes and Hayes decks him with a left hand. A knee sends Ace outside to a pop from the crowd. Hayes clocks Ace with another left on the floor and the crowd loves it. "Freebirds" and "DDT" chants. After a short FIP sequence Hayes signals for the DDT and the crowd goes nuts. Ace counters out of it and tags. The Dudes double team again to massive boos. A double knee sends Hayes out. The Dudes go for their Wipeout finisher, but Hayes grabs Ace's foot from the outside, allowing Garvin to fall on top of Douglas and get the pin and a big pop for the Freebirds win. The match was fine even though it never hit high gear. It's worth watching just for the smarky crowd. **1/2

Steiner Brothers promo. Rick is asked about Woman and he says that if she gets involved he's going to "GIVE IT TO HER". And making the belly to belly suplex gesture just makes it sound even more dirty.

Here's the story of how Doom came about, because it's long and pretty good: Missy Hyatt managed Rick Steiner, then both Steiners when Scott came in. Not long after they started teaming Woman started showing up in the crowd under the name Robin Green with a Rick Steiner shirt professing her love for him. Rick, never the sharpest bat'leth on the ship, fell head over heels and let her start being their valet for matches. Scott was dubious, and Hyatt left in a jealous rage. Woman showed her true colors by costing the Steiners a title match against the Freebirds. Woman promised to bring the Steiners' "Doom" at Halloween Havoc. The team Doom itself she stole from longtime Steiner rival (and Woman's real life husband) Kevin Sullivan.

Doom (w/Woman) def The Steiner Brothers in 15:32- Decent pop for the Steiners. Doom comes out in Sith Lord robes and are wearing masks. No one knows who they are. We know now that it's Butch Reed recently heel turned Ron Simmons. The Steiners Suzuki-Gun Doom as soon as they cross the ropes and we're on. They run Doom into each other and give them stereo German suplexes. Doom roll out, get back in the ring and the Steiners clothesline them right back out. They settle in with Simmons and Scott. Scott with a clothesline on the back of Simmons' head. Rick tags in. Steinerlines! Doom rolls out again. Back in, Rick and Reed look a tad lost on what to do. Doom works Rick over a bit until Rick counters a suplex with a nice suplex/one arm slam combo. Scott with a clothesline off the 2nd rope. Not the buckle, the middle of the rope. Simmons gets a jawbreaker on Rick. Rick counters a backdrop and tags. A Scott face first suplex gets 2. Scott ducks a clothesline, immediately puts on the brakes, turns, and gives him a German. While Scott's running the ropes Reed hits him in the back of the head. Doom gives him a couple of Rock-style barricade drops and Scott goes face in peril. Lots of distracted ref chokes. Scott gets a Rick-assisted sunset flip for 2. Doom power moves get a few near falls. Simmons gets Scott in a front chancery, Scott literally picks Simmons up and drags him to the corner to tag. But the ref was distracted and didn't see it. A spike piledriver on Scott gets 2. Finally Scott fights over to make a tag. Steinerlines! Donnybrook! Scott hits a Frankensteiner on Simmons while Rick ground and pounds Reed. While the ref is outside breaking up Scott and Simmons Woman gets on the apron and slips an international object into Reed's mask. Reed gives Rick a headbutt and pins him. Pretty good stuff, and you can tell they have an even better match in them once they get more experience. The Steiners already knew how to carry a match. The loss wouldn't hurt them as a few weeks later they'd beat the Freebirds for their first world tag titles on weekly TV just months after starting to team up. In fact, by the summer of 1990 both these teams will have had title runs. ***

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: "The Total Package" Lex Luger (c) def Flyin' Brian in 16:49- Now this is an interesting matchup. Not just the clash of styles, but also the fact Pillman was getting this shot just months after joining the company. Pillman is accompanied by the world's oldest cheerleading squad on his entrance. Rough lockups to start with no one getting an advantage. The crowd sounds into it but unsure which side to take. Luger slaps Pillman around and throws him out. A pissed off Pillman runs right back in and football tackles Luger. A big backdrop and dropkick send Luger out, followed by a baseball slide that sends Luger into the guardrail. Pillman loads up a springboard dive but Luger bails before he launches. A reverse crossbody off the top rope from Pillman gets 2. Deep armdrag. Pillman flips out of a hiptoss and hits another dropkick. Luger tries a shoulderblock but Pillman gets a hiptoss of his own. No matter what Luger tries he ends up back in an armbar and he's getting frustrated. Pillman tries a splash off the top but Luger rolls out of the way. Luger works on Pillman's neck/throat area a bit while jawing with fans in between everything. Pillman dodges a clothesline and Luger goes over the top and out. Luger gets back in and plants Pillman up for a superplex but Pillman fights out. Sunset flip off the top for 2. Pillman hits a springboard flying clothesline! It's a sure 3 but they're too close to the ropes and Luger gets a foot up on it. Luger dodges a missile dropkick and hits a hot shot that gets the 3. This was well paced, virtually non-stop, and had a tremendous closing stretch. Luger was on fire in '89. Shame it wouldn't last. ***3/4

The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The Skyscrapers (w/Teddy Long) by DQ in 11:39- The crowd is all LOD. Animal and Spivey start. Animal clotheslines him twice and Spivey was supposed to go over but doesn't and rolls under the ropes instead. Hawk and Spivey have a shoulderblock standoff. Hawk gets him down with a flying tackle. Hawk ducks a Sid clothesline (another possible botch there) and hits one of his own that Sid no sells. Now Animal and Sid crash into each other without budging. Hawk wants a test of strength with Sid. After Sid gets the advantage Hawk turns it into a monkey flip. Sid kips up out of a headscissors and clotheslines Hawk. Helicopter slam. Spivey with a side suplex for 2. Hawk manages to reverse a Spivey suplex but the heels prevent a tag. While Hawk is in a facelock he manages to get to his corner and tag but the ref doesn't see it. That was almost exactly the same spot as the Steiner match. Hawk gets a boot up in the corner and gets the real hot tag. While everyone's donnybrooking the managers start fighting. Long tosses his giant key (I wish I could remember the story behind that, key to the city or something) to Spivey and Spivey uses it to get DQ'd. After the bell the heels beat Animal down until Hawk makes the save with the key. The Roadies carried the Scrapers to an acceptable power match. **1/4

Main Event Feud Recap- This was set up by the big end of show brawl at Great American Bash '89. Muta defeated Sting to un-vacate the TV title at a house show in September. No big deal for Sting, he was already on his way to bigger things anyway. In fact, Flair had already promised him that he would be the guy Flair would drop the world title to when the time was right, a promise that would cause quite a bit of backstage consternation in the coming months. But more on that when the time comes, because as a wise man once said, tonight is about tonight.

So, what is a Thunderdome you ask? Well, in a lot of ways it's a precursor to the Chamber of Horrors. It's a Hell in a Cell style oversized cage that allows some floor access. It's a bar style cage like WWF's blue bar one. There's no roof but the top of the cage is slanted to prevent anyone climbing out. In fact, there's no door at all. Once the cage comes down everyone's trapped until the cage raises again. To keep with the Halloween theme there's all kinds of set dressing on the cage: chains, rags, branches, skull faces and gargoyle-like bats on the top. Also, the cage is supposed to be "electrified". That doesn't last. And specifically to this match, the rules are that it can only end when one of the seconds, called "terminators" (not T-1000s) throws in the towel. So it's a bit like War Games in how it can end. Gary Hart and Ole Anderson (Anderson had just come out of retirement to take over from Flair as head booker) are the seconds.

Thunderdome Match: NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair & Sting (w/Ole Anderson) def NWA World Television Champion The Great Muta & Terry Funk (w/Gary Hart) in 23:46- WW(W)F legend and Pennsylvania's own Bruno Sammartino is your special guest referee. Funk jumps right onto the cage. I thought it was supposed to be electrified? Oh, now commentary covers and says the *top* is electrified. Some of the dressing on the top of the cage caught fire from the pyro and Tommy Young is trying to put it out. Muta goes up and green mists it! Fantastic. Now, if he had used the red mist would that have made the fire bigger? There's a lot of chaos in this one making it a bit hard to recap. Flair and Funk start as they try to stick to tag rules for now. Flair chops him and whips him into Sting. Big 2 on 2 standoff. Flair slams Funk over the top and out. Sting rams Funk into the cage. Flair with the rolling knee on Funk, and as he gets up he slaps Muta! Muta runs in and Flair chops everyone. Sting press slams Muta into Funk. Sting ends up in the heel corner and takes some hard shots from Funk. All four guys fight on the floor as they collectively say the hell with normal tag rules. Flair throws Muta over the top. Muta lands on his feet and casually strolls away. Sting ducks a spinning kick from Muta and face plants him. He goes for the Scorpion Death Lock but Funk breaks it up. Bruno tries to restore order but everyone ignores him, and to his credit he fades into the background and lets them have at it. Funk and Flair climb the cage and Funk takes a cage shot. Now Muta and Sting climb. Muta finds the one magic bar on the entire cage that's "electric" and jolts his hand back. Right after that Funk and Flair get up to the roof portion and commentary gives up on pretending anything on here is actually electric. Funk hangs from the top and Flair chops him, then gets his feet caught in a tree of woe like position on the way down. Sting and Flair swap. Muta sneaks under the ring and rams Flair into the cage. Flair recovers and hooks in the figure four but Muta gets out quickly. Muta kicks Flair in the back of the head. Mutalock on Flair! While this is going on Funk hogties Sting to the cage and gets in to help Muta. Anderson tries to get Sting free. Spike piledriver on Flair. Sting finally gets free and FLIES from the corner of the cage all the way to the middle of the ring onto Funk! Muta and Sting fight on the cage while Flair works Funk's knee over. Muta goes up for the Mutohsault but Sting crotches him. Figure four on Funk! Sting helps by hitting Funk with two splashes off the top rope. Muta gets back in and for some reason tries to take a shot at Bruno. Bruno dodges and punches him out. The seconds get in. Anderson waffles Hart, and while Hart's going down he drops the towel. Bruno sees it and calls for the bell. The heels are furious. It's OK. On the bad side, there was clearly not much thought or planning into how to use the cage (par for the course with WCW) and the hyped up "electrified cage" angle went nowhere. On the plus side, all four guys in the match were more than talented enough to paper over the cracks and turn what could have been a disaster into something at least watchable. This would lead to a reformation of the Four Horsemen with Sting joining the group (Arn Anderson would return from his WWF run in December), all part of the long term plan leading to Sting winning the world title from Flair. Meanwhile, Flair and Funk would have their final blowoff at the next Clash in one last Ric Flair '89 classic. **3/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Not bad, not great. By WCW '89 standards it's definitely low on the list, but it's a decent watch. This was the start of a period where the tag division would get a lot of emphasis, hence all the tag matches on this show.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-