Wrestle War '90

Legacy Review

Wrestle War '90

February 25, 1990 from the former home arena of Jim Crockett Promotions, the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

Commentary: Jim Ross and Terry Funk

I hope you like tag matches.

The opening video is infamous. One of the worst show openers ever. Funk has some Jesse Ventura-like earring action going on. Also, the ring posts have padding on them and advertising for Roos (KangaROOS shoes), which JR forces in mentioning about once a match. We're just over a year after the Turner buyout of Crockett and the WCW name is starting to supplant the NWA one.

JR takes us straight to Gordon Solie, who's with Teddy Long for some breaking news. Dan Spivey is "out with an injury" (left the promotion), so Long has hired another wrestler to take his place in the Skyscrapers tonight but doesn't say who it is. He also promises another surprise tonight.

Kevin Sullivan and Buzz Sawyer def The Dynamic Dudes in 10:15- Sawyer is one of those guys that was a borderline legend in midsize and smaller territories but never really caught on with the big national promotions (probably because if his rep, and rap sheet, are correct, he was a pain in the ass to work with). His match with Tommy Rich in The Last Battle of Atlanta was the stuff of whispered legend until WWE finally found the tape a few years ago. I'll get around to that one sometime. Sawyer and Ace start. Ace hits a monkey flip and dropkicks Sawyer out. Douglas follows up with a tope suidcida! Mini-donnybrook on the outside. The Dudes hit a double team that just knocks Sawyer into his own corner. Some stiff chops from Sullivan. Ace fights out of the heel corner. Sullivan and Sawyer have a disagreement with some slaps. JR: "Sawyer is one strange individual". And Sullivan makes him almost look normal. Sawyer does a huge lead in to a corner charge....and posts his shoulder. Sullivan leverages Douglas to the outside and Sawyer suplexes him on the floor then laughs about it after. Back in, huge Sawyer belly to belly for 2. Douglas tries to come back but eats a boot on a corner charge and Flair flops. Douglas and Sawyer trade chops. Douglas sneaks between his legs and gets the warmish tag. Dropkicks on both heels. Ace tries a flying headscissors, Sawyer says "screw that" completely no sells it, and hits him with a suplex. Sawyer then goes up top and hits an ugly looking big splash for the pin. Serviceable, mostly thanks to Sawyer. This was the Dudes' last major match. Ace was wrestling more for All Japan, and Douglas would leave for a short WWF stint after raising multiple stinks backstage over booking. **

Norman hits on Missy Hyatt. First he wants a hug. Then a kiss. Then....well, I guess he's read the dirt sheets.

Norman the Lunatic def Cactus Jack Manson in 9:33- Norman actually had a decent pedigree before coming into WCW, working as a monster heel in early '80s WWF and in Stampede. He started as a heel here, but turned face and became very much a precursor to Eugene. He's announced as from "the state hospital". He's....shockingly over. It was a simpler time. Jack, meanwhile, was in his initial "tryout" stint with WCW and had all kind of buzz from what passed as the paper version of the IWC in pre-internet days. He's also very svelte here. Hasn't built up his bump padding at all. Once Norman's thrown all his teddy bears into the crowd Jack ambushes him. Norman's got on one wrestling boot and one sneaker. Jack makes the cardinal mistake: you can't hurt Norman's head. Too many lobotomies. A headbutt sends Jack down. Jack's bumping like a champ. Avalanche from Norman. Jack does the Triple H flip in the corner! On the outside he charges Norman, but takes a backdrop over the guardrail and splats on the concrete! There's your Mick Foley bump. Norman gets posted. I just noticed one of the rafter banners is for the Hotline, and it's the same number as it will be in the days when Mean Gene is shilling the hell out of it. Norman lifts Jack up into an electric chair and plants him but misses a splash. Jack tries a piledriver but Norman counters. Jack turns it into a sunset flip attempt, but Norman sits on him and that gets 3. Way, way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too long for any match involving Norman. 1/2* for Foley's bumping

The Rock N Roll Express def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in 19:31- There's a guy at ringside with a "We've HERD Enough" sign. If you think it's bad now just wait until mid-1991. Finally, the RNR and Midnights are having a proper PPV match (their only other one was a scaffold match at Starrcade '87). It's a few years later than it should have been, but we'll take it. Long introduces Cornette as "the man that stole Ivana from Donald Trump". Gibson and Lane start. A speed sequence ends with Gibson giving Lane a fist drop. Lane rolls out and Cornette fans him with the racket. Cornette starts jawing at ref Nick Patrick, gets on the apron, and they trade finger pokes, that Cornette sells! Cornette takes his jacket off, jumps in the ring, goes after Patrick and wants it to be ON LIKE DONKEY KONG. The RNR egg Patrick into it! Patrick says OK, untucks his shirt and jumps at Cornette. Cornette dives back, does a see saw in the ropes, falls out and bails. That was fun. Pointless, but fun. Morton atomic drops Lane into Eaton. As they're outside recovering Lane shoves Eaton onto the floor! Cornette makes peace. Lane gets some stiff slaps on Morton and tags, but Eaton runs right into an armdrag. Test of strength. Morton climbs up Eaton! Then he uses Eaton's shoulders to dive onto Lane! Then Gibson comes off the top rope onto Eaton! The heels bail again. That was awesome. Lane tries to hide in the ropes from Morton's punches, so Morton kicks him in the ass! Cornette grabs Morton's foot on a rope run. Morton chases, grabs Cornette's foot as he's trying to get into the ring and gets him stuck across the top rope, and Gibson gives him a shot. As Cornette's lying on the floor Lane gives him CPR! Hilarious. Mid match donnybrook! Eaton gets double clotheslined over and out. Gibson squeaks out of the heel corner. Lane gets a gut punch on Morton and throws him out. Morton blocks and Lane gets posted. Not sure how much that really hurts on this show, what with the ROOS padding on it and everything. Eaton and Morton slugfest. Morton hits a crossbody on Eaton but it's by the ropes and both guys tumble over and out. Lane sneaks over, slams Morton on the floor, and Morton is officially playing Ricky Morton. The Express start hitting their silk smooth double teams. Cornette gets a racket shot. Lane hits his karate kicks. Eaton with a .5 jackhammer style suplex for 2. Lane hits a powerslam, Gibson makes the save. Morton eats a guardrail drop as the ref is getting him out. Cornette punches Morton but that only seems to wake Morton up a little. Eaton gets posted but Morton can only get to about mid-ring. Lane covers him for 2. Morton gets a desperation sunset flip but Cornette is distracting Patrick. Morton slips out of a slam and tries to roll up Lane, but he blind tags Eaton, who hits a neckbreaker. Morton takes a huge face first drop into the top turnbuckle. This is classic stuff. I'll say it again, no one in wrestling history sold a beating like Ricky Morton could. Eaton goes up top but doesn't go for the Alabama Jam. Instead it's an elbow drop. Gibson saves again. The Express start working on Morton's shoulder. A triple reverse sequence ends with Eaton taking a Bret bump. He backs into Morton and they knock heads. But Morton still can't get the tag. The Express look to finish it with the Rocket Launcher, but Morton gets his knees up! He rolls away from Lane and gets the hot tag! Gibson rolls up Eaton but Lane makes the save. DONNYBROOK! As Gibson's running the ropes Cornette nails him in the back with the racket. Eaton covers....but Gibson kicks out! The Express go for a double flapjack. Morton dives in to knock Eaton out of position, then Gibson twists in midair and turns Lane over into a Paul Smackage! 3! This is two all time great teams, in the longest running tag feud of all time, taking full advantage of finally getting a match on a major company PPV and leaving it all in the ring. Another in the long list of RNR/Midnight classics. ****3/4

Chicago Street Fight: The Road Warriors def The New New Skyscrapers (w/Teddy Long) in 4:59- When Sid Vicious suffered an injury, WCW newcomer "Mean" Mark Callous (you might know him as some guy named the Undertaker) took his place. Now Spivey has packed his bags and left. To replace him for this match WCW plucked Mike Enos out of AWA (where ironically he was half of the tag champs there at the time), put a mask on him and threw him out there. Everyone's in street fight clothes. Before the match starts Ellering calls Long in and pops him with a punch. Not much to recap here, it's a Pier 6 brawl from start to finish with all four guys in the whole time. After a bit Doom, minus masks and plus tuxedos, wander down to ringside and Long joins them. The Roadies backdrop Callous out and he says the hell with this and walks. Doomsday Device on Masked Enos to finish it. Doom comes in and both teams brawl for almost as long as the actual match went on. This was the end of the Skyscrapers, and mostly just a device to transition into Doom as Long's new team. 3/4*

NWA United States Tag Team Championship: Flyin' Brian and "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk (c) def The Fabulous Freebirds in 24:32- This is a rematch of the tournament final for the revived titles. The Freebirds call a couple of women into the ring to take their jackets off, but the faces shoo them away and ambush the Freebirds. They try the jackets on and for some reason the sound guys play Badstreet USA while they do. Hayes does the usual strutting and moonwalking at the start. Zenk and Garvin have a spunky back and forth sequence. Pillman gets a crucifix for 2. Hayes fixes Garvin's hair. Pillman springs off the apron straight to the top rope, then hits a reverse crossbody for 2. Garvin gets Zenk in a headscissors and brags "He ain't going anywhere!" right before Zenk slips out of it. Pillman goes high octane for a bit. Garvin grabs a headlock, tags, and a Hayes gut shot kills Pillman's momentum. Hayes sleeper on Pillman. JR and Funk seem to be having a competition over who can name drop the most wrestlers from the '40s. Pillman tries a charge but eats the patented straight left hand from Hayes. Hayes goes high risk and hits a crossbody off the top, but Pillman reverses it for 2. Pillman and Garvin collide and Pillman finally tags out. Zenk locks Hayes in a sleeper. Garvin sneaks to the top rope and nails Zenk in the back of the neck. Hayes covers and Pillman makes the save. Slugfest on the floor. Pillman loses his temper and the heels swap without a tag. Zenk hits a powerslam but instead of trying to tag goes to drop an elbow and misses. Garvin suckers Pillman in to double team. Long 2 count on Zenk. Hayes hits a bulldog and Pillman makes another save. Zenk counters a backdrop attempt into a DDT and gets the hot tag. Dropkicks for everyone. Pillman hits a crossbody off the top to win. The Freebirds attack with DDTs after to get their heat back. It definitely went too long, but it was still good and told a solid story of the wily veteran heels versus the skilled determined babyfaces. ***

NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) def Arn and Ole Anderson in 16:05- Arn is in one of his many reigns as TV champ. Ole temporarily came out of retirement to replace Tully Blanchard, who WCW changed their mind on re-signing after his failed WWF drug test. Scott and Arn start. Arn pops Rick on the apron and grabs the rope to bail on a Scott clothesline. Rick retaliates by hitting him from behind on the floor. The first part of the match has the Andersons being cautious, followed by the Steiners taking control and clearing the ring out on donnybrooks. Arn tries a leapfrog, Rick catches him in midair and turns it into a powerslam. Arn tries going to the top rope. He sees Rick ready to counter him, screams, backs off and jumps down. Ole tries to work on Scott's arm. Scott fights out of the heel corner and Arn eats an inverted atomic drop with an amazing sell. Figure four on Arn! Ole and Rick run in again and it breaks down and resets again. Scott deadlifts Ole up into a suplex. Freakzilla. The Andersons manage to get Rick down in a double team in the corner. Rick and Ole have a slugfest on their knees, which Rick wins and he tags out. Scott elbows Arn out. He goes for a clothesline on the floor but Arn dodges and Scott nails the post. Target acquired and the Andersons go to work. Scott counters an Arn dive off the second rope. Frankensteiner! Both sides tag. Steinerlines! During the end match donnybrook Rick rolls Ole up into a Mr. Small Package for the 3. Damn good stuff from four stiff workers. It's amazing how great the Steiners were right out of the gate, and Ole held up well for a guy technically in retirement. ***1/2

MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- This was originally to be the culmination of the Sting/Horsemen betrayal angle, and Flair keeping his promise to Sting to drop the world title to him. Unfortunately, Sting suffered a legitimate knee injury at Clash X when the Horsemen kicked him out of the group. Luger was originally scheduled to defend the US title against Steve Williams. Instead he was quickly turned face (he and Sting were buddies) and put into the title shot against Flair. Everyone, I mean everyone from Jim Herd to head booker Ole Anderson on down, wanted Flair to still drop the title here and give Luger a run with it. Flair, however, was adamant that he keep his promise to Sting and refused to drop the belt until Sting was healthy enough to take it. This would be the first of many points of friction between Flair and Herd that would lead to Flair's eventual jump to WWF in mid-'91.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) (w/Woman) def NWA United States Heavyweight Champion "The Total Package" Lex Luger by countout in 38:08- Sting is introduced first and comes out on crutches. They do the whole "standoff during instructions" bit and I have to say, they do a good job giving this a big match feel even though it's been thrown together at the last second, and we got a ton of Flair/Luger in '88. Chain wrestling and shoving start. Luger outpowers Flair. Flair and Nick Patrick have some words and Patrick shoves Flair! If it had been Tommy Young Flair would have sold for him. A shoulderblock sends Flair walking outside. Back in he gives Luger a little Slick Ric. Luger gets whipped into the corner but charges out with a clothesline. Flair takes a long walk all the way to the entrance ramp. Luger chases him down, picks him up, and carries him back to the ring. Press slam. Flair begs off, suckers Luger into a kick, actually gets a shoulderblock on the bigger Luger, but then runs into another press slam. Luger threw him halfway across the ring on that one. JR gets the plane crash story in. Flair lays in the first chops of the match, which Luger no sells. Press slam 3. Bear hug. The ol' eye poke gets Flair out. Luger with mounted punches. Flair Flop! Flair dodges a charge and Luger flies over the top and out. Luger eats barricade. Flair hits a chop, throws Luger out again, then calls Woman up to the apron to distract Patrick while he gives out some more barricade punishment. Vintage Flair snap mare/running knees combos. He covers but Luger kicks out hard and Flair goes flying. More Luger no sells on chops and he punches back. Flair dodges a corner charge and Luger goes shoulder first into the top turnbuckle. Flair goes to work on it, putting on hammerlocks and getting added rope leverage. Luger gets a clothesline to turn momentum. Flair gets it back with an eye poke. Woman takes a shot. Luger tries to hulk up, but Patrick stops him punching and Flair uses the opening for a kick. Kneedrop on the hurt shoulder. Flair tries for rope assisted pins but Luger powers out. Getting desperate, Luger chokes Flair. Whip and Flair Flip! It looks like Flair might have legit slipped on the apron coming across and fell down. If it was an accident they covered very well for it. Back in, Luger locks in a sleeper. Flair fades but gets a foot on the bottom rope. Luger puts it on again but Flair quickly suplexes out. Flair tries to suplex Luger out of the ring but Luger reverses, then drags Flair to the corner and wraps his knee around the post. Luger tries to put a figure four on but does it all wrong and Flair gets away. It's not the Paradise Lock, how hard is it to figure out a figure four? Luger powerslam, long 2 count that the crowd bit big time on. Luger blocks a hiptoss and rolls over a backslide for another long 2. Flair successfully gets off the top rope with an ax handle. Twice! Flair hooks a sleeper on. Luger gets 2 arm drops then starts to power back. Flair pushes him face first into the corner and rolls him up for 2. Flair hits the kneebreaker. Get your #2 pencils sharpened kids, we're going to school! Classic Flair knee work followed by the figure four with rope leverage. Sting hobbles out and jaws with Flair. Luger uses the distraction to roll over into the ropes. Sting gets in Luger's face and pumps him up. In almost any era after this everyone would expect Sting to turn on Luger there. Luger hulks up and no sells more chops. Flair rolls out. Luger no sells a barricade shot. Press slam 4. Flair gets clotheslined over and out, then Luger suplexes him back in for a 2 count. Another powerslam. Luger calls for the Rack, but then covers Flair in a position where Woman can slap him (slightly contrived, that). Luger drags her onto the apron. Flair hits him with a running knee in the back that takes Patrick out. Flair Flip 2! He gets around and off the top rope, but Luger nails him with a clothesline on the way down. Cover, no ref. Superplex! No ref. The Andersons run in. Luger fights them off. Torture Rack! Flair is out and has no chance, he's not even moving. Patrick is stirring and asking Flair if he submits. Before he can or Patrick can call it, the Andersons attack Sting! Luger chooses his friend over the belt and goes out to save him. The Andersons wrap him up and get him counted out. Fantastic ending. The Horsemen beat Luger down a bit more until the Steiners run in to chase them off. Watch this match right after Luger's '88 matches with Flair and it's easy to see how much he grew during his US title run in '89. Great stuff, and even at nearly 40 minutes it never once felt like it was going too long or dragging. ****1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- This was a tremendous recovery from the very disappointing Starrcade to close out '89. If you're looking for a show that showcases how great tag wrestling can be, this is one to go for. Two good tag matches, one Rock N Roll/Midnights classic, and topped off by your typical 4+ star Flair title defense.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-