Saturday Night's Main Event VIII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event VIII

November 29, 1986 (taped November 15) from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

During Ventura's stand up into there's a match going on in the background. Guess it's not anyone that matters. The IC title belt has seen much better days. They'd finally get a new one made after WM. Roberts scares Okerlund from behind with Damien. Ventura: "I don't know if Okerlund was holding a microphone or a vibrator."

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) (w/Elizabeth) and Jake "The Snake" Roberts go to a double DQ in 9:30- This is heel vs heel, but plans were already in place to turn Roberts face due to the reactions he was getting, even in house show matches against Hogan. Damien is out of the bag during the intros and Roberts scares Savage off with him. Savage hides behind Elizabeth. Commentary speculates on who the fans will get behind. Ironically by the middle of next year both guys will have turned face. Trade off of hair pulls to start because they're heels. Savage ends up in the same corner as Damien and has a freak out freak out. More hair pulling. Roberts with the early DDT tease, Savage squirts out. Roberts gets a kick to the gut, tries the DDT again, but Savage backs him into the corner. Savage gets his knees up on a charge. The big kneedrop gets 2. Savage rolls through quick pin attempts. He ties Roberts in the ropes, takes Damien's bag out of the corner, and hides it under the ring. As Savage is getting back in Roberts ambushes him with a kneelift, then goes and saves Damien from Little People Land (or saves Little People Land from Damien). Short clothesline. Roberts drops Savage with a face first suplex to a big pop. Another DDT attempt. Savage hooks himself in the ropes. They go outside and Savage hides behind Elizabeth again. Roberts starts to open the snake bag. Savage ambushes him from behind. Double ax handle off the top to the floor. Double ax handle off the top in the ring for a 2 count. Savage goes for it again but Roberts catches him with a punch. Slugfest. Both guys throw Hebner away so they can fight, the second time with Hebner ending up on the timekeeper's table and spilling someone's non-diet soda. He calls for the bell and throws the match out. Even with the screwy finish this was good stuff, with both guys in arguably the best stretches of their careers in terms of in-ring work. ***1/4

Clip of Bobby Heenan buying Hercules' contract from Slick. Slick demands cash because he knows Heenan's checks are made of rubber.

 

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def Hercules Hernandez (w/Bobby Heenan) in 6:30- Herc supposedly has a big advantage here because he's "just as strong" as Hogan. Hogan's mixing the gear up again tonight, with blue kneepads. We're close to the point the yellow and red will become standard. Test of strength start. Herc headbutts Hogan in the chest and carries him into the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and hits the corner clothesline. Herc ducks a clothesline, looks completely out of control going into the ropes again, and Hogan hits a high knee. Heenan gets on the apron and Hogan chases him. Back in Herc dodges an elbowdrop and works the usual scintillating Herc power offense for a bit. He gets Hogan up into the "Hercules backbreaker" (a torture rack). Moron Herc drops Hogan down thinking he's submitted even though there's been no bell and no sign from Hebner. Herc stalls with the crowd for a bit and covers. Hogan Hulks Up. Pillar to post beating, big boot, legdrop, Vince has an orgasm, and it's over. Meh. *1/4

Video recap of Piper and Orton being stablemates before Piper's face turn.

 

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper def "Cowboy" Bob Orton (w/Jimmy Hart and Don Muraco) in 3:48- Orton is working as Adrian Adonis' heavy now so Piper has to go through him to get to Adonis. Orton and Muraco are both in kilts to mock Piper. Like wearing a kilt is some awful thing. This is getting my Scottish blood riled up and you don't want that. I might toss a caber at you. Muraco grabs for Piper right away and Hebner has him escorted from the premises. Slugfest. Piper hits a bulldog. Orton begs off. Piper bites him in the corner. Orton with a .5 Flair Flip. Orton counters a backdrop to get some breathing room. Gutbuster. Hart holds Piper down, Piper dodges, Orton manages to stop in time but Piper runs them together, rolls Orton up, and wins. There was intensity but also something missing, besides them not getting much time. *

 

The Killer Bees def The Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart) in 9:00- Bret and Brunzell start. Brunzell hits a high knee. The faces work Bret's arm. We go picture in picture for a Bees promo in their masks and they do their version of Monty Python's Life of Brian "I'm Brian!" scene while in the background Bret reverses a roll up for 2. Anvil tags in and runs into an armdrag. Bret knees Brunzell in the back on a rope run and we have our bee in peril. The Harts hit a Decapitation Device-like double team for 2. Anvil uses the tag rope to choke, causing Blair to run in and allow more double teaming. Bret throws Brunzell out. Brunzell sunset flips back in and gets a 2 count. Desperation backslide for 2. Brunzell gets a dropkick but Anvil tags in and holds him back. Both Bees get knocked to the floor. They stick their heads under the ring and put the masks on. The fresh Bee (Blair) goes house of fire hot tag on the Harts. Sleeper on Anvil. Bret hits him from behind to break it up. While Hebner's getting Bret out the Bees swap again. Brunzell wraps Anvil in a Paul Smackage to win. Despite this loss the Harts would take the tag titles from the Bulldogs in January in the match ref Danny Davis turned heel. Pretty disappointing. This was far from either team's A game, and too reliant on the Bees' mask gimmick. *3/4

 

Koko B Ware def Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) in 2:30- Ware had just arrived in WWF about two months earlier. Volkoff ambushes before the bell. Ware uses the second rope to leapfrog over him. Dropkicks for 2. Volkoff gets a high knee and drops Ware over the top rope. Ware dodges a kneedrop. A top rope missile dropkick gets 2. Volkoff presses Ware and drops it into a backbreaker. Slick calls him over to tell him something. Ware sneaks from behind, rolls Volkoff up, and wins. STOP THE PRESSES! KOKO B WARE WON A TV MATCH! ACTIVATE THE DRUDGE SIREN! Also, Volkoff needs to fire Slick ASAP. He cost him the match. 1/2*

 

The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) def "The Rebel" Dick Slater in 2:05- The match is JIPped with Muraco in control. He puts Slater in a fireman's carry but Slater slips out and rolls him up for 2. Slater with an elbow off the top rope. Fuji puts Muraco's foot on the rope to kill the pin. Then Fuji trips Slater. Muraco hits an ugly clothesline, gets his feet on the ropes for leverage and gets the pin. 1/2*

Saturday Night's Main Event VII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event VII

October 4, 1986 (taped September 13) from Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, OH

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

The show starts with the usual SNME intro promo run. Johnny Valiant bleeps himself saying "British bullshit". If only this was on cable. Vince opens up by saying the recently face turned Roddy Piper is expected to be out with an injury. We get a clip from weekly TV of Adrian Adonis and Don Muraco attacking Piper on Piper's Pit, injuring Piper's knee (and destroying the original Piper's Pit set). Mean Gene is with Hot Rod himself, who in true Piper insane rambling fashion says that no doctor is going to order him to not wrestle.

 

To lead into the WWF title match we get the clip of Orndorff flipping back heel by turning on Hogan, kicking off a good, and moneymaking, feud that often gets forgotten because it's sandwiched between Hogan's famous feuds with Piper and Andre the Giant. During his promo Hogan says to Orndorff "You're an old dog that can't even wag his own tail". Euphemism?

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 10:00- As he'd been doing the whole feud Orndorff comes out to Real American and it just keeps playing for Hogan's entrance. Well I think it does. Like a couple of SNMEs ago the audio mix is atrocious, with sub-Thunderdome quality fake crowd noise and Vince & Ventura obviously in studio instead of the arena, burying what little real arena sound there is with Triple H's best young lion shovel. Hogan starts out hot. He no sells Orndorff's punches. Heenan distracts and Orndorff clotheslines Hogan 360 and out. Orndorff tries an apron shot but eats it instead. Back in Hogan with chops and buckle shots. Corner clothesline. Heenan gets on the apron and takes a shot. Orndorff gets a punch to Hogan's throat to take over. Hogan falls off the apron and the timekeeper takes a bump. Hogan tries to get back in but Orndorff gives him a hip attack like shot. Suplex for 2. Hogan reverses a whip and hits a high knee. When he hits the ropes again Heenan grabs his foot. Orndorff charges but Hogan dodges and Orndorff flies over the top and out. The ref boots Heenan. A whole pack of security comes in, physically pick up Heenan and carry him to the back! Hilarious. As we go to commercial they lock Heenan out of the ringside area and ignore his pleas to get back in. Back from break, Orndorff gets Hogan to chase him around the ring and ambushes him getting back in. Orndorff with chokes. Elbow for 2. Short clothesline. Orndorff calls for the piledriver. Hogan backdrops out and starts to Hulk Up. Big running elbow. Hogan hits his own short clothesline! He goes for a piledriver! As he cinches it up Adrian Adonis runs in and his him for the cheap DQ. The heels 2 on 1 Hogan until Piper hobbles to the ring on a crutch and fights them off, giving Adonis a stiff whack in the arm in the process. Hogan and Piper tease a fight but Piper backs off and walks away without the crutch. The match was approaching decentish before the weak finish. **

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 6:19- This is the continuation of the feud that started when Roberts tried to murder Steamboat with a DDT on the bare concrete floor at the last SNME. This is advertised as a "Snake Pit" match like The Big Event but is worked like a regular match. Speaking of Big Event, they show a clip of Steamboat winning that match. Both guys bring out their respective animals again. They open with arm wringer tradeoffs and Steamboat chops. DEEP armdrag. Steamboat drags Roberts to the dragon corner. A Steamboat flapjack leads to a quick cover for 2. They do a nice extended speed sequence out, around, and back in the ring that ends with another deep armdrag. Steamboat dodges a charge and slingshots Roberts into the top turnbuckle. He goes for a splash off the top but Roberts gets his knees up. Gutbuster for 2. Short clothesline. Roberts doesn't go for the DDT, but instead slows things down and taunts Steamboat to get up. He slaps Steamboat! Steamboat fires back with chops. Roberts gets a kneelift. Steamboat keeps getting back up. STEAMBOAT goes the shortcut route with an eye poke! Roberts recovers and hits an inverted atomic drop that Steamboat does a Rick Rude-like sell of. Roberts whips him, but Steamboat comes off the ropes with a shock crucifix and gets a flash pin with it! Roberts attacks him after the bell and rams his back into the post. Both guys go to their corners, and the animals are out. Steamboat and the dragon chase off Roberts and Damien and stand tall. Really good for the short time, but you'd expect no less with these two. ***

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper def The Iron Sheik (w/Slick) in :43- Pedro Morales is in the ring expected to substitute for Piper, but Hot Rod comes down the isle and, ahem, asks Mr. Morales to please vacate the ring. Sheik tries to ambush and gets a crutch in the back for his trouble. A stiff shot, with welt marks on his back. Slick distracts and Sheik tears Piper's shirt off and chokes him with it. He lifts up Piper for a suplex, but Piper rolls it into a Paul Smackage, with a slight handful of tights assist for the 3! 1/4*

 

2 out of 3 Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The British Bulldogs (c) def The Dream Team (w/Johnny Valiant) in 13:09- After two Big Event rematches, now we have a Wrestlemania 2 rematch. Ventura complains about the best of 3 "European rules" because Cleveland ain't in Europe.

FIRST FALL- Dynamite and Valentine start. The faces bounce Valentine around a bit with headbutts. Valentine wastes no time, immediately kicking Dynamite in the knee and going to work on it. Dynamite fights it off and both sides swap. DBS looks extra large tonight. The heels double team and work DBS's arm. After a quick in peril segment he tags out. Dynamite gets some forearm shots. Valentine counters with an inverted atomic drop. Shoulderbreaker for 2. Dynamite tries a suplex but Valentine hits him in the knee again and hooks in the figure four. Dynamite submits.

In between falls we go to Mean Gene with a medical update on Adonis. Apparently it's a separated shoulder from Piper's crutch shot.

SECOND FALL- Valentine stays on the knee. Dynamite pushes out of another figure four attempt. More knee work. Beefcake comes in and doesn't work the knee because, frankly, I don't think he knows how to. Double team for 2. Dynamite dodges a Valentine elbow off the second rope and gets the hot tag. DBS delayed suplex for 2. He hits Valentine with the powerslam but Beefcake runs in. DBS hoists him in a fireman's carry, tags Dynamite in, and Dynamite uses Beefcake as a springboard from the top rope and hits Valentine with a diving headbutt! That gets a pin.

Ventura mentions the final diagnosis for Adonis is a shattered elbow.

THIRD FALL- Since Dynamite's legal again Valentine goes back to the knee. Slugfest. Dynamite headbutts Valentine down. Snap suplex. Valentine dodges a falling headbutt and drops some hammers. Another heel double team for 2. Dyanmite pushes out of the figure four again. Tags on both sides. Big Beefcake clothesline for 2. DBS gets a sunset flip for a long 2. Beefcake hits a high knee. Dynamite comes in to break the pin up. Donnybrook! DBS hooks Beefcake in a Perfectplex to win. Perfectly acceptable tag wrestling. **3/4

Kamala (w/The Wizard and Kim Chee) def "Leaping" Lanny Poffo in 1:44- Poffo tries to speed around. Doesn't work. Kamala hits a few back kicks, a real expansion of his repertoire. Poffo dodges a shot and tries to hit some punches. Kamala no sells it all. Throat shot, slam, big splash, good night. Squashiness. 1/2*

Great American Bash '92

Legacy Review

Great American Bash '92

July 12, 1992 from the Albany Civic Center in Albany, GA

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Another year, another show centered around a tag team tournament. This time, the NWA and WCW agreed to revive the NWA World Tag Team Championship, with a worldwide tournament held on WCW TV to crown the new champions. The entire first round and one quarterfinal match took place on Clash of the Champions XIX, with most of the international teams getting bounced on that show. But the WCW world title would not be forgotten, and this would turn out to be a pivotal match in the title's history.

Bill Watts is with Eric Bischoff and clarifies that in the NWA sanctioned matches, and NWA sanctioned matches only, moves off the top rope are legal. Well, thanks for something at least.

Quarterfinals: Nikita Koloff and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Jushin Thunder Liger and "Flyin'" Brian Pillman in 19:26- Here's three guys that absolutely rule, and Koloff. After tearing it up against each other in singles matches at the start of the year Pillman and Liger are an inspired choice for a team. All four guys are faces so Code of Honor handshakes at the start. Pillman and Koloff open. Koloff throws him out of a headlock. More power from Koloff so Pillman tries a drop toe hold. Koloff picks him up and sits him on the top buckle. Pillman dodges a charge and gets a sloppy roll up for 2. Liger and Pillman work quick tags on Koloff's arm. Koloff looks annoyed, like mosquitoes are biting him. Liger bounces off a shoulderblock attempt, slides under Koloff and hits dropkicks. Koloff counters with a back elbow and tags out. Steamboat flips Liger in off the apron. Double noggin knocker and Pillman and Liger are both on the floor. Steamboat and Pillman speed it up. Steamboat catches him trying a leapfrog and hits an inverted atomic drop. DEEP armdrag. Pillman and Liger counter with a double dropkick. Big backdrop and elbow drop by Pillman on Steamboat for 2. Liger unleashes the kicks. Talk about a dream singles match, Steamboat vs Liger. Moonsault! Steamboat kicks out! The crowd really bit on that one. Liger hits a tombstone for another 2. Steamboat hits some power moves, backbreakers and a powerslam. Pillman breaks up the pin. Ventura drops a reference to The Predator in. Why mention the good movies he was in? He needs to make more Abraxas references. Liger counters a Steamboat backdrop with a kick and gets a semi-hot tag. Pillman chops Steamboat out of his boots and dropkicks Koloff off the apron. Liger hits a missile dropkick and flippydo tackle for 2. Liger tries to kick Koloff down, but Koloff wins the exchange with punches. He calls for the Sickle. Pillman dropkicks him in the back. Koloff does a horrible sell of another dropkick so Pillman tries it again. He pushes Pillman off over the top but Pillman lands on the apron. Springboard clothesline! Missile dropkick! But he takes a second to dropkick Steamboat off the apron, giving Koloff enough time to recover and kick out at 2. Pillman tries to jump onto Koloff's back to hook a sleeper on but slips off in another botch. He recovers and gets the sleeper. Koloff jawbreaks out. Tags on both sides. Liger hits an enzuguri for 2. Steamboat/Liger quick cover exchange. Sneaky tag to Pillman. There's a very rare Steamboat botch as he and Pillman can't get the bridge up spot right. They maneuver around to still do the backslide. Donnybrook! Pillman hits a crossbody off the top, but Steamboat rolls through and reverses it to get the win. I'm not sure the right team won there. There was the awesomeness you'd expect with who's in there, but also some rough patches that kept it from the upper echelon. ***1/2

 

Quarterfinals: Hiroshi Hase and Shinya Hashimoto def The Fabulous Freebirds in 9:16- A bit of history here, as this is the Freebirds' final PPV as a team. They recently dropped the US tag titles to the scintillating team of Dick Slater and the Barbarian. The US tag belts themselves, one of the last vestiges of the territory days, would be deactivated for good at the end of the month. Hashimoto is an injury replacement for Akiro Nogami, who suffered a legit eye injury after the teams' opening round win at Clash XIX. Hase and Hayes start. Usual Hayes strutting and moonwalk. Good basic back and forth. Hase squirts of a headscissors. A roll up sequence that I don't think went the way it was intended gets a 2 for Hayes. Garvin and Hashimoto do a hammerlock switch/drop toe hold sequence. Hase hits some chops. Hashimoto starts unleashing kicks that JR had been building up since before the match started. Hayes locks in an armbar. Hashimoto counters with thrusts to the throat. Hase with a senton for 2. The Japanese team targets Hayes' gut/ribs. Spinning heel kick from Hashimoto. Garvin breaks up a pin. The Japanese double team. Garvin runs in to stop it, which leads to more double teaming. Hayes whips Hase into Hashimoto, hits straight lefts on both, and gets the hot tag. Slams for everyone. Slugfest. Hase gets a Northern Lights suplex on Hayes that gets 3 and a surprise win for the Japanese team. This never gelled. *3/4

Tony is with Bill Watts, Hiro Matsuda and WCW's brand new Big Gold Belt. The legal wrangling after Ric Flair left for WWF with the original Big Gold has been settled. After the NWA tag title revival, WCW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will be co-hosting a tournament for a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, with the finals to be held in Tokyo. Watts specifically mentions Flair as the previous champ, and floats the idea of a unification match between the NWA and WCW world champs at some point.

 

Quarterfinals: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham def "Stunning" Steve Austin and "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Madusa) in 19:15- Rude and Austin are still US and TV champs respectfully. Austin and Windham start. Lockup standoffs. Ventura complains that Windham is using that old heel trick of taping up an injury that healed long ago for an advantage, namely the taped fist from the Anderson/Zbysko car attack 9 months ago. Austin gets a backslide and tries a roll up with a handful of tights. Windham punches him with the taped fist and Austin flops like an NBA player. After a mat exchange he gives Austin an open hand slap with taped hand, Austin ricochets into a Rhodes punch from the apron, and rolls out for a think. Rude and Rhodes have a good back and forth. Rude hooks up a tombstone. Rhodes reverses and hits it. Austin breaks up the pin. Rude gets his knees up on a splash attempt and Rhodes goes mild Texan in peril. Austin with a charging clothesline out of the corner for 2. Rhodes gets a knee shot in and kicks Austin across the ring and out of it. Windham with a clothesline off the top rope for 2. Austin turns the momentum with a backdrop and Windham goes full Texan in peril. Rude hits some forearms to the kidneys. Austin sets Windham on the top rope. Windham headbutts him and Austin does a super sell across the ring. Seriously, I think Rock learned how to sell the Stunner watching that. Medusa gets on the apron and Rude trips Windham up. Rude missile dropkick for 2. Piledriver. Rhodes saves. Rude holds Windham's tights to prevent the pin and Austin hits a double ax handle off the top. The heels keep the ring cut in half very well, but do it legally with little shenanigans. Austin tries to sneak in a rope leverage pin then plays the rope leverage game with a chinlock. Windham with a hope small package for 2. Double clothesline. An Austin back suplex prevents the tag. Windham hits Rude with an inverted atomic drop and we get the classic Rude sell. Windham literally falls across the ring toward his corner and tags! Rhodes dropkicks Rude over and out and hits Austin with a reverse elbow off the second rope. Donnybrook. Rhodes hits a clothesline off the top rope to win. Average for these guys, so, good. It went on too long and they didn't fill the time as much as two polished reagular teams might have. Windham looks about out of gas. ***

 

Semifinals: The Miracle Violence Connection def Nikita Koloff and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in 21:39- The MVC were already WCW World Tag Team champs, having defeated the Steiners at a house show in Atlanta the week before this show. They also bounced the Steiners from this tournament in the quarterfinals match on Clash XIX. Two big stiff veteran workers, they were definitely Bill Watts' team. The crowd isn't nearly as enamored with them. Very little reaction one way or the other. Steamboat and Gordy start. Steamboat trying to power out of a headlock doesn't work so he works the speed instead. The first 7-8 minutes of the match is an extended mat wrestling sequence with all four guys trading off. Solid stuff, good ground building for a long match. Williams flips Koloff over and plants him right on his head. He's fine. Then they try to throw each other around and it ends in a stalemate. I think there might be some shooting going on in there. Steamboat speeds around and hits a chop followed by a DEEP armdrag. Williams hits a huge clothesline. He and Steamboat roll around the mat trying for covers. Steamboat tries a crucifix but Williams backs him into the corner. Chop exchange. Gordy hits a couple of big slams and Steamboat's worked into full in peril mode. Heels with a double team tackle for 2. They sucker Koloff in for more double teams. Steamboat chops back. Williams catches a crossbody attempt and hits a backbreaker. Steamboat counters a backdrop with a DDT and slowly crawls over to just get the tag. Koloff runs all over the heels until Gordy uses his momentum to face plant him. Outsmarting Koloff, not the greatest challenge in the world. Williams drops him throat first on the top rope. More Koloff and the heels unloading on each other. Koloff knees the buckle. Gordy hooks in an STF. Williams with a Boston Crab. He hits Koloff with a powerslam for 2, then cinches him up for the Oklahoma Stampede, but Koloff pushes him into the corner. Tags. Steamboat whips the heels into each other. Chop off the top rope. He goes up top again but Gordy pushes him off and Williams catches him, hits a modified spinebuster version of the Stampede, and gets the 3. Apart from some Steamboat spots this was 100% an MVC style match. There's the running gag of "more stars in the Tokyo Dome", but this was a Japanese style match that would have played better there. Of course I love Japanese style wrestling, but while this was fine it was also missing that something extra. **1/2

 

Semifinals: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham def Hiroshi Hase and Shinya Hashimoto in 14:55- Hase and Rhodes start. Cautiously. Arm work tradeoffs. Lots of clean breaks and sportsmanship early. Windham gets a hammerlock slam on Hase. The Japanese start pounding on Windham as things finally start to break down/crank up. Hashimoto hits kicks and a spinning heel kick on Rhodes. Spike piledriver on Rhodes! He rolls to the apron to avoid getting pinned. The Japanese start heeling it up, taunting the crowd and taking the foreigner heat. Hase with stiff chops. Rhodes elbows back. Windham runs in to break up double teaming. Suplex by Hashimoto for 2. Hase hooks in a Boston Crab that Windham breaks up. Rhodes dodges a Hase kneedrop off the top and tags. Windham suplex for 2. Powerslam for 2. Donnybrook. Big Texas lariat from Windham on Hase and that gets the pin. Eh. **

Ron Simmons stumbles through a promo and does everything but directly challenge the Sting/Vader winner to a title match. He stays in the host box with Tony and Magnum TA to watch the match. Bill Watts made history and did huge business with The Junkyard Dog as the first major territory black wrestling champion in Mid-South, and he's got his eye on Simmons for the same thing.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) def Sting (c) in 17:17- Sting's in his traditional GAB red, white and blue. Kind of a tough spot for this match, being in the middle of a tournament that the crowd's been very disconnected from, but they manage to give this the old big fight feel and the crowd wakes up. Face to face trash talking before the bell. Vader hits early stiff forearms to the chest and some potato shots in the corner. Short clothesline. Sting has to roll out to recover. Race taunts him while he's outside. Vader no sells a clothesline and pushes Sting down on a crossbody attempt. Sting dodges an avalanche. Sting with a back suplex! He clotheslines Vader 360 over and out! Vader needs some time on the floor to recover. Back in Vader wants a test of strength. Sting takes the bait....then eye pokes him! And stomps his foor before punching him down. A dropkick sends Vader to the apron. Vader's showing he's not just a dominant big man, he can sell too. Sting suplexes Vader from the apron back in! One punch puts Vader back on top. Sting grabs the ropes after a whip and kicks Vader down. Small package for 2! Vader powders again. Sting with a sunset flip, but Vader counters by sitting on him. Big elbow drops and a big splash from Vader for 2. Vader hooks in a stepover toe hold, then turns it into Sting's own Scorpion Death Lock! Sting gets two arm drops, then tries to power out, but Vader squashes him back down. Sting slowly hulks up again.....and pushes Vader off! Vader pops Sting with a Suzuki-like shot and Sting flops down. Powerslam for 2. Sting punches back. Rolling kick! Sting with a DDT! But he can't capitalize. A shoulderblock sends Vader to the apron but Sting goes down too. Vader climbs up top. Sting kicks him and he falls draped over the top turnbuckle. Sting hits a few kicks, lifts him up, slooooooowly carries Vader to the middle of the ring (legit amazing strength here), and Samoan drops him! Vader kicks out! Sting tries to German suplex (!) Vader but it's blocked. They switch, Sting flips around, and hits the German with a bridge! Vader JUST kicks out! Stinger Splash! Stinger Splash 2 on Vader's back! But Sting overshot and hit his head on the post! He's bleeding and clearly out of it. Vader covers. Sting kicks out! Vader easily dodges some wild Sting punches. Vader hits the powerbomb, and gets the 3 count! The former 3 time IWGP Heavyweight Champion wins his first major title in North America in a clean as a sheet win. Tremendous story of Sting getting too cocky for his own good, in over his head and losing the match because of his own mistake instead of heel shenanigans. These guys were magic together. The best part is, this is just the start of a long feud. ****

Finals for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Miracle Violence Connection def "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in 21:10- Storyline senior ref Ole Anderson is reffing the match. I hope he's been to referee school since his last PPV appearance. Before the match starts the Steiners come to ringside. Ole and Doug Dellinger stop them and send them packing back to the locker room. Williams and Windham start the match. Cautious basics. Rhodes hammers Gordy with bionic elbows and starts working the knee. Windham hooks in a figure four. Gordy gets to the rope. Williams hits a belly to belly suplex on Windham and follows up with a knee to the face. Another long sequence of stalemate mat wrestling. The crowd's totally out of it. Lots of things of little significance happening. Rhodes gets caught in the heel corner and beat down. Gordy hooks in the STF. Rhodes elbows out and tries a sleeper. Sneaky heel tag and Williams nails him from behind. Desperation rollup from Rhodes for 2. Gordy puts a Boston Crab on. Windham breaks it up. Williams hits a powerslam for 2. Rhodes fights over and gets the tag. A little hot tag sequence from Winham gets the crowd off their phones for 30 seconds (yes I know it's 1992, just go with it). Suplexes for near falls. Ole's doing a better job of being in the right position than his last PPV match, but his count cadence is all over the place. Windham runs straight into a ducking Williams and gives him a knee to face that looked unplanned. Williams hooks in a cobra twist. Windham gets to the ropes. Gordy and Windham midring collision and both sides tag. There's a small pop for Dustin storming in, and the arena completely deflates 15 seconds later when the MVC stop him and the match dead. Williams starts hitting the Oklahoma Stampede, but before he can finish it off Windham dropkicks Rhodes onto him for 2. Rhodes dodges an avalanche and goes for the bulldog but Williams counters it. Huge lariat with a 360 sell from Rhodes, and it's over. The MVC have all the tag team gold. Bill Watts really loves them. The WCW and NWA tag titles would be presented and defended as unified titles all the way until the NWA's final split from WCW in September '93. You know those awesome New Japan matches when you hear the minutes elapsed call and can't believe it's been that long already? This is the exact opposite of that. *1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The whole is less than the sum of the parts. At a glance the match ratings don't look too bad, but the issue is that every tag match was booked and executed almost exactly the same, so by the time the show was over it feels like you watched the same match six times over. Outside the world title match the crowd was deader than dead. Definitely check out the first of many Sting/Vader classics.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

G1 Climax 30 Wrapup

Johnny Legacy's Deep Thoughts

G1 Climax 30 Wrapup

The greatest time on the wrestling calendar has come and gone again. While this wasn't what many would consider to be an all time great G1 it was still fantastic, and considering the circumstances surrounding it I'm sure we're all glad it happened at all. Let's take a look wrestler by wrestler how they did, and how my predictions ended up.

A Block

1. Kota Ibushi (14 points, projected 12-14)- What can you say except dominance? Ibushi scored 14 points for the second straight year (a very rare feat in itself), became the first man ever to make the finals in three straight G1s, and became the first person since Tenzan in '03-'04 to win back to back G1s. He is now the modern King of the G1. And the match quality followed the results. From another great match with Okada on the opening night to his late tournament masterpieces with Suzuki and Taichi, and looking at instant reaction while the final with SANADA was very divisive, I loved it. Can Ibushi do what he failed to do last year and turn this win into IWGP Heavyweight gold in the Tokyo Dome? I have a hard time believing they gave him a second straight tournament just to lose again.

 

2. Jay White (12 points, projected 10-14)- The Switchblade avoided his slow start from a year ago by taking down both Okada and Ibushi early in the tournament, giving him a massive early tiebreaker edge and eventually letting him control his own destiny going into the final night. Unfortunately for him, Ishii had other ideas and White just missed the final. He did hit 12 points for the 3rd straight G1, proving that he will continue to be a force year in and year out, and should eventually finish off a tournament win one day. In the immediate future, it appears all is not well within Bullet Club again. You invite a snake in (Gedo), eventually you're going to be bit....

 

3. Will Ospreay (12 points, projected 8-12)- Looking at it objectively, Ospreay had a great tournament, hitting 12 points and, while not quite looking like 2019 wrestler of the year Ospreay, still had a slew of great matches. But all that is secondary to what happened on A Block's last night: Ospreay getting help from Great O-Khan and Bea Priestley to defeat and turn on Okada, leave CHAOS, and announce he's forming his own faction. New Japan's stables have been on the stagnant side recently, it's a good time for things to be mixed up again, and no matter how you feel about him after some of the real life allegations that have come out, Ospreay is a great choice to coalesce a new group around.

 

4. Kazuchika Okada (12 points, projected 12-14)- One of the biggest stories of the tournament was Okada leaving his best weapon, the Rainmaker, on the bench and instead closing out matches with his new cobra clutch submission hold, the Money Clip. While an interesting story, whether Okada was bored and needed a new challenge or just didn't trust the Rainmaker anymore, it also came with an across the board downgrade of the quality of his matches. He still managed to pull out a classic against Shingo, and from a kayfabe perspective still won with the Clip, as befits one of the all time greats. But being on the receiving end of Ospreay's betrayal ended up being his biggest story. A non-title showdown in the Tokyo Dome between these two seems inevitable, continuing to keep Okada out of the title picture until after Wrestle Kingdom at the earliest.

 

5. Taichi (8 points, projected 6-8)- Two years ago I wasn't just a Taichi doubter, I was a Taichi hater. I groaned every time he walked down the entrance ramp, unless it was a big show and he at least had possibly the most beautiful woman in Japan Miho Abe with him. Two G1s later, I'll never be a fan, but I am a believer. Taichi had a really good tournament, starting 3-0 before struggling down the stretch, and leaving most of the shortcuts at home and bringing Dangerous T more often than not. He capped it off in one of the most unique matches any of us have ever seen, his magnificent kickfest with Ibushi. I think he's got his ticket punched as a mid-block runner in G1s for the forseeable future.

 

6. Tomorhiro Ishii (8 points, projected 8-10)- Big Tom had a rough start, opening the tournament 0-3. But looking at his remaining schedule, I knew that meant he would have at least one major upset at the end of the tournament. And that he did, taking out Jay White the final A Block night to keep him out of the final. Beyond that, it was a typical Ishii tournament, with a middle block finish and some great matches along the way. His match with Ospreay was a particular standout for me.

 

7. Shingo Takagi (8 points, projected 8-10)- I thought there was an outside chance Shingo might get a breakout run. That didn't happen, but he did prove time and again there's few people on the roster that you can count on more to deliver in big match situations. He main evented two nights, losing a classic to Okada, but also handing Ibushi one of his two losses. He also got to revisit the 2019 match of the year with Ospreay, and continue his stiff fests with Ishii and Suzuki. Shingo is definitely a guy that needs to be looked at for an IC title run once the top belts are separated again. And I'm putting this prediction down right here for all to see: before he's done, Shingo will win a G1.

 

8. Jeff Cobb (8 points, projected 6-8)- Cobb acquitted himself well in his second G1, showing improvement over last year and even getting a big signature win over Jay White. While I've never doubted his athletic ability, I still don't see top guy potential in him. If he stays with New Japan full time, he should become a staple of the NEVER Openweight division, a belt he's already had a short run with. Given his, er, lack of charisma, he's also a guy that needs to hook up with a faction (Ospreay's replacement in CHAOS? Go dark and join Ospreay's new faction?).

 

9. Minoru Suzuki (6 points, projected 6-10)- The King started out with 6 points in his first four matches, giving fans like myself a bit of hope he might have a really good tournament. Alas it was not to be, as he dropped all his matches after that. Still, the things this guy does in the ring at age 52 are absolutely mind blowing and I hope he never, ever retires. There's going to be a long line of challengers for his NEVER Openweight title, but it appears that Shingo is at the front of the line.

 

10. Yujiro Takahashi (2 points, projected 2-6)- Yujiro finally got a win over Cobb in his last match to avoid becoming the first wrestler since Honma in 2014 to go winless, and instead settled for the lowest point total since New Japan Dads Nagata and Kojima each got 2 in their final G1 in 2017. He managed to create drama in most of his matches, and his shenanigans filled match with White seems to be the catalyst for much of the current drama within Bullet Club.

 

B Block

 

1. SANADA (12 points, projected 8-10)- From my preview: "SANADA's been in 4 G1s. He's scored 8 points every time. There's not much reason to expect anything different this year. He could get a decent run, but I'm not banking on it". Whoops. SANADA had his breakthrough tournament, scoring 12 and beating both Naito and EVIL to make it to the final on tiebreakers. Even though he came up short against Ibushi, it was another step forward for the man who always seems on the cusp of hitting the upper echelon. Like Shingo and ZSJ, he would greatly benefit from an IC title run to follow up on this. When it comes to next year's G1, he won't be an afterthought. And he's got history on his side to eventually winning one. In the last decade the only wrestlers to make a G1 final and not win one at some point are Jay White, who also will win one soon, and Karl Anderson, who was a shock block winner back in 2012.

 

2. EVIL (12 points, projected 10-12)- After a slow 1-2 start that included getting Yano'd, EVIL got a win over Bullet Club stablemate KENTA to get his momentum back and controlled his destiny going into the final night. Like his BC teammate (rival?) White, he faltered at the end, losing out to former LIJ teammate and longtime tag partner SANADA. He did claim another victory over Naito, and looks to be next in line for another shot at the double gold at Power Struggle, where I hope the Naito/EVIL story will be put to bed for a while. If Bullet Club is about to explode, it could well happen that night.

 

3. Tatsuya Naito (12 points, projected 12-14)- Naito got the usual reigning champion run most expected, lots of points but just missing out on the final. Like Ibushi, the match quality equaled the match results. Naito was on fire the whole tournament, putting on 4+ star matches with nearly everyone: his early match of the tournament contender with Tanahashi on night 2, another great match with ZSJ, memorable bouts with Juice and HASHI, and even cutting lose and matching Yano step for step in comedy. His issues with Bullet Club are far from over after losses to both EVIL and KENTA. With Okada firmly ensconced in the midcard for the time being, Naito is getting his first true run as New Japan's unquestioned top star, and from the outside looking in he appears to be loving every minute of it. I'd be shocked beyond belief if he didn't walk into the Tokyo Dome with both belts intact. After that, time will tell.

 

4. KENTA (10 points, projected 10-14)- I predicted KENTA to be the top BC man in B Block, not EVIL. Whoops. Instead, he sat at a disappointing 4 points after 6 matches, putting him almost fully out of the running early. He did recover to win his last 3 matches, including beating Naito on the final night, but it was too little too late. Having him carry a briefcase for a US title shot is a good placeholder until New Japan can finally get Jon Moxley back in for a show, and he has no shortage of challengers lining up for it. He also needs a new one after cracking the current one open over Tanahashi's head. But what's most interesting is he's the quiet man on the side in the feud that seems to be starting to bubble over between White and EVIL. Watch him when those cracks lead to earthquakes.

 

5. Zack Sabre Jr (10 points, projected 12-14)- Another miss. I thought ZSJ had a great shot to win the block and take another step forward. Instead, it was SANADA, and ZSJ's G1 high point continues to be the quiet 12 he scored in 2018, the same year he won the New Japan Cup and temporarily established himself as possibly the best tournament wrestler in the company. This year, he won all the matches he should have won, but lost to everyone equal or above him except EVIL. Somewhere he lost his swagger and needs to find a way to get it back. He's going to continue to hold the tag belts down with Taichi until Wrestle Kingdom at the earliest. ZSJ is the last of the trio that I'd book the IC title around once it gets on its own again.

 

6. Hirooki Goto (8 points, projected 6-10)- Another year, another middle of the road performance from Goto, both in results and match quality. His biggest highlight was out-Yanoing Yano to score the quickest win in G1 history, 18 seconds. He continues to inch toward New Japan Dad status.

 

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi (8 points, projected 8-12)- Speaking of inching toward New Japan Dad status, there's The Ace. Quality wise, Tanahashi had a fine G1, looking like the Tana of old at points and showing he can still go just fine. Results wise, it's clear his time is coming to an end. The run with the tag titles was fun, but with tag partner Ibushi winning another G1 and off to defend and eventually cash in the briefcase again, Tana is left drifting without much direction. Where he ends up on the Tokyo Dome cards will be something to watch carefully. A two night show means there should at least be a special singles match in there for him somewhere. Tanahashi vs Suzuki on the big stage one last time perhaps?

 

8. Juice Robinson (8 points, projected 6-10)- Juice's G1 streakiness continued, with 4 straight losses after a 3-1 start, concluding with another final night win. You have a feeling that this was a bit of a reintroduction and warm up run for him, to be followed by defending the World Tag League championship with David Finlay, and possibly another run at the US belt.

 

9. Toru Yano (6 points, projected 6-8)- Our favorite sublime master thief started 3-0 and gave us hope that, like last year, he might be able to stay in contention deep into the tournament. Sadly, 6 straight losses ended any chance of that. Fortunately he's still got that shiny new KOPW trophy, which gives him a chance to have classic Yano shenanigans singles matches outside the normal G1 calendar. Proposal: Yano defends that trophy on every televised show of the Power Struggle tour (and keeps it).

 

10. YOSHI-HASHI (4 points, projected 4-6)- HASHI does what HASHI does. He showed a lot of fire, a lot of spirit, and still lost a lot of matches. Some things never change. I'd prefer if he was left out of next year's tournament.

Until next year!