Saturday Night's Main Event XII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XII

October 3, 1987 (taped September 23) from Hersheypark Arena in Hersheypark, PA

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan

Honky Tonk Man promises Elizabeth will be leaving with him tonight. Savage gives his famous "danger zone" promo.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def The Honky Tonk Man (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) by DQ in 13:00- Rough lockup and rolling around the ropes. Honky gets a cheap shot over the ref while he tries to get a break. Savage counters a backdrop and gives Honky the top rope clothesline. Honky begs off. Hart walks over toward Elizabeth. Savage comes out to stop him and Honky hits him from behind. Savage runs the ropes at 100 MPH, ducks a clothesline, and hits an elbow. Honky dodges a kneedrop and hits a fistdrop off the second rope. He walks out and starts wooing Elizabeth. Savage ambushes. Double ax handle off the top to the floor! Savage gives Honky a couple of buckle shots and rolls him, but Hart pulls him off. Back suplex, another cover, and Hart pulls him off again. Double ax handle off the top. Hart gets Honky's foot on the rope. Savage drags Hart in and puts his lights out. Honky tries a sunset flip. Savage punches out. Honky rolls out and tries to revive Hart. The Hart Foundation come out. Anvil carries Hart back to the locker room and Honky goes with him. When he comes back the Hart Foundation is still with him. How did he not get counted out? Savage goes right back on offense. Honky dodges a corner charge. Backdrop. Honky showboats more for Elizabeth. Savage takes advantage and hits a .5 spinebuster for 2. Honky tries the fistdrop off the second rope again but Savage dodges it. Savage backdrop. Honky begs off again. Back elbow for 2. Suplex for 2. Honky rakes the eyes and throws Savage out. The Harts work him over. Honky drops an elbow and covers. Savage kicks out! Honky goes for the Shake, Rattle and Roll but Savage backdrops out. He goes up top....Savage elbow! The Harts come in and draw the cheap DQ. It's the usual Honky Tonk IC title defense circus, but Savage was on fire and Honky looked like he was actually trying to keep up with him. ***

After the match the heels continue to beat Savage down. Honky gets his guitar and loads up a shot with it. Elizabeth runs in and blocks it! Honky almost whacked her with the guitar! Elizabeth refuses to move so Honky shoves her out of the way! We're used to stuff like that now, but anything physical happening to Elizabeth was shocking back then. Elizabeth runs to the back with security. Honky waffles Savage with the guitar. Elizabeth comes back, and she has Hulk Hogan with her! The heels jump Hogan when he gets in the ring, but he and Savage soon fight them off. Hogan and Savage hit back to back, turn around, and everything stops. Savage offers his hand, and Hogan takes it! Something special is happening here.

 

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def Sika (w/Mr. Fuji and Kim Chee) in 7:59- Another rough lockup and another cheap shot over the ref while trying to break. Fuji chokes Hogan with his cane and whacks him in the throat with it. Hogan dodges a falling headbutt and does a mini hulk up. A short clothesline sends Sika out. Early match big boot. Elbow drops. Punches send Sika falling into the ropes. Kim Chee gets on the apron and takes a shot. Sika uses the distraction to clothesline Hogan over and out. Sika gets posted. Fuji tries another cane shot but Hogan grabs it and tries to hit Fuji back with it, but the ref stops him. Hogan comes back into the ring with the cane and two refs come in to take it away from him. Hogan dodges a charge and Sika slams into the corner. Hogan tries a big splash (wow) but Sika gets his knees up. Samoan spike throat shot. More Fuji cane choking. Another throat thrust gets 2. Sika locks on the Titty Twister of Extreme Torque +2. They do the arm drop spot. Hogan tries to come back but is on the losing end of a shoulderblock. Sika hits a falling headbutt, covers, and we get the full Hulk Up. Punches, slam, legdrop, good night. Hogan beats down the managers after. Not good, but perfectly decent. Better than I expected it to be. **1/2

 

King Kong Bundy def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/Oliver Humperdink) in 8:00- Orndorff got positive crowd reactions when he came back from injury soon after Wrestlemania 3, so he turned face by firing Bobby Heenan for the second time. Heenan is choosing to stay on commentary instead of go to ringside, and he's not concerned. "I could not be in the building and manage by two way radio and Bundy would be fine." He's also been teasing a big surprise all show. Bundy jaws with the crowd and Orndorff catches him from behind. Bundy doges a dropkick and starts the big man beatdown. Orndorff gets a sunset flip for 2. After Orndorff dodges a big elbow drop Heenan starts to lose it. Orndorff double ax handle off the second rope and a fistdrop for 2. Heenan's had enough and leaves commentary. Orndorff dropkick for 2. Andre the Giant comes out to ringside. Heenan returns to the booth: "How's that for surprises!". Both sides confer. When they get back in reset with a lockup. Orndorff pounds Bundy down in the corner. Bundy kneedrop for 2. Orndorff drops elbows, but Bundy dodges on the third one. Long Bundy chinlock. Orndorff dodges a charge. Andre grabs his tights to hold him in the corner, and the Bundy avalanche finishes it. Neither guy was exactly digging deep in their movesets, but it was another max effort match with good intensity that overachieved. **1/4

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hart Foundation (c) def The Young Stallions in 4:35- Jimmy Hart is absent to sell his beating from the IC title match. Anvil and Roma start. Roma dodges and hooks in a deep armdrag. Anvil slams out of an armbar. Bret walks in to a backdrop. Powers with a sunset flip for 2 and a crossbody for 2. Bret kills his momentum with a knee to the gut and hits the backbreaker. The Harts double team Powers. Powers leapfrogs and manages to get the tag. Donnybrook! The Harts are whipped into each other. Double dropkick on Anvil. Roma powerslams Bret but Anvil just breaks it up. The Harts hit the Hart Attack and get the 3. Fine for the time it got. **

Mean Gene is with Hogan and Savage. The Mega Powers are officially born. Hogan while going in for the soon to be famous Mega Powers handshake: "I'm a little afraid to lock up here, the whole planet might blow up." The stuff of wrestling legend.

The show closes with the world premiere of the Piledriver music video, sung by Koko B Ware and starring several other wrestlers as construction workers. A meh ending to an otherwise superb show, possibly the best SNME yet.

Saturday Night's Main Event XI

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XI

May 2, 1987 (taped April 28) from the Edmund P Joyce Center at Notre Dame University

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

After the usual opening promo run we get footage from "earlier tonight" of Ken Patera beating up Bobby Heenan after a "debate". They don't say what the debate was about but I can't imagine Patera debating anything other than how not to give a promo. Heenan is in a neck brace for the whole show following the attack.

Mr. Fuji is announced as Kamala's new manager. In a completely unprecedented and original idea, Kamala is scared to death of Damien.

Kamala (w/Mr. Fuji and Kim Chee) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 4:18- Roberts gets Damien out as soon as he hits the ring and Kamala bails. As he's putting Damien back in the bag Kamala hits him from behind. Superkick! Well, back kick to the gut but from Kamala that's something. Kamala cuts off a Roberts comeback with a double thrust to the throat. Roberts stomps Kamala's bare foot to get out of a bear hug. He kicks Kamala's hamstring and stomps the foot again. Kamala chops out of an arm wringer. Lots of chokes. Roberts rolls out after a headbutt and taunts Kamala to chase him. Kneelift ambush as Kamala gets back in. Knee off the second rope! Roberts calls for the DDT. Fuji distracts the ref and Kim Chee comes in and hits Roberts. Kamala hits the big splash and good night. After the bell Kim Chee takes off his mask...and it's the Honky Tonk Man! OK, that was well done. He beats Roberts down and hits him with the Shake, Rattle and Roll. It was a Kamala match. 1/2*

 

Lumberjack Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def George "The Animal" Steele in 6:44- Oh bloody hell how is this feud not over? Fine, one more time, we can do this. I hope. Steamboat and Hercules have words during Savage's entrance. Steele paws Elizabeth again. How has she not gotten a restraining order? Savage jumps Steele with all his entrance gear still on. Steele gives him a huge buckle shot. Savage is still riding a high from his classic with Steamboat at WM and isn't letting Steele stop him from trying to make something good out of this. He rolls to the apron and the face lumberjacks keep him in the ring. Savage gives Steele a buckle shot of his own. He goes out and the face lumberjacks get him back in. Savage double ax handle off the top rope. He throws Steele out again and the heel lumberjacks beat him up. Duggan chases them off and through the ring with his 2x4. Multiple refs come in and toss him from the match. Steele pops Danny Davis, and back in murders another innocent turnbuckle pad. Foam in Savage's face. Savage is thrown over the top and out. Twice. On the second time he and Steamboat come to blows. Giant lumberjack brawl! In the confusion Davis sneaks in and nails Steele with the ring bell. Savage hits the elbow and it's over. Afterward everyone brawls in the ring until Roberts comes back out and chases them all off with Damien. The real Kim Chee plays with Damien for a bit. This was a rare instance of lumberjacks helping make the match better, thanks to Steele's limitations. I never want to see another Savage/Steele match as long as I live. *1/2

Mean Gene conducts a sit down interview with Heenan and Andre the Giant. Heenan says that all the WWF referees, Jack Tunney, the ring crew, the arena concession guys, the guy that writes the programs, WWF Magazine, the TV production truck and camera guy 2 are in Hogan's back pocket. We get footage from Wrestlemania 3 and Heenan and Andre argue the early match near fall was a 3 count and Andre is the rightful champion.

Okerlund riles up Jimmy Hart and Danny Davis to the point Davis tries to jump him and the Hart Foundation have to drag him away.

2 out of 3 Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The British Bulldogs (w/Tito Santana) def The Hart Foundation (c) (w/Jimmy Hart and Danny Davis) by DQ in 9:48- Matilda attacks Jimmy Hart again, tears a small hole in his trousers and tries to eat his megaphone.

FIRST FALL- Bret and DBS start. Some sweet arm based basics. Bret kips up and seamlessly grabs a headlock. DBS hits a monkey flip. Crucifix for 2. Bret gets a knee to the gut and DBS goes in peril. The Harts work the ref for cheap shots while the 80 guys outside the ring take shots at each other. Seriously, it's like a second lumberjack match out there. Bret backbreaker for 2. DBS gets a boot up in the corner and tags. Bret bump! Anvil runs in and the Harts double team until they get DQ'd.

SECOND FALL- Dynamite starts in peril. The Hart modified Decapitation Device gets 2. Bret barely holds Dynamite back from tagging. He suckers DBS in and Anvil chokes Dynamite. Dynamite has a bloody nose. He dodges a Bret dive and Bret gets tangled up in the ropes. Hot tag. Near falls on Anvil. Anvil counters a backdrop. DBS dodges a double team and Anvil hits Bret. DBS press slams Dynamite onto Anvil, and that gets a pin! The crowd pops like it's a title change and the Bulldogs celebrate. But the Harts grab the belts and leave. Because the first fall was a DQ there's no title change. Weak. Should have made the second fall the DQ, that would have made much more sense, especially as it's a very selectively enforced rule. If that was the case why even bother continuing with the match after the DQ? These two teams were capable of putting on an all time tag team classic like NWA teams were doing at the time, but they never got the chance to do it on TV. **1/4

Hogan celebrates his WM 3 win. He put his own spin on the same early match footage we saw earlier and thinks Heenan's appeal is a bunch of malarkey. Meanwhile, Savage is watching (at a proper TV watching angle) and rooting for Steamboat to win so he can beat him to get the title back.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (c) def Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 6:42- Clubbing blow/chop exchange. Herc wins that. Steamboat slides under and hits a couple of dropkicks. Herc falls out of the ring and Steamboat chases. Atomic drop on the floor. Herc grabs tights and pulls Steamboat into the buckle. Picture in picture of Savage rooting for Steamboat. Back and forth slugfest. Steamboat hits a swinging neckbreaker. Herc rakes the eyes and slaps on the full nelson. Savage runs out and distracts Herc. Steamboat is out. Herc goes for a splash off the top rope but Steamboat gets his knees up. Steamboat dodges a couple of elbows and finally gets some offense in. Lots of chops. Mounted punches. Herc counters with an inverted atomic drop. He gets the chain and chokes Steamboat with it, getting DQ'd. Herc continues choking until Steamboat passes out. Savage comes in, feigns helping Steamboat, and hits him with the elbow off the top. Make Steamboat look good, that match did not. They showed zero faith in him as champion, and his reign wouldn't last long. Savage's soon to happen face turn would mess the plan up a little, and Steamboat dropped the title to Honky Tonk Man on weekly TV in June. *3/4

Duggan is still barred from ringside following his outburst during the lumberjack match, but he vowed to stop the Soviet national anthem and found another way- he bought a ringside ticket. How did he buy a ticket after the show started?

 

The Can-Am Connection (w/Jim Duggan) def Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik (w/Slick) in 4:45- Duggan jumps the rail as Volkoff sings the Soviet national anthem and hits him with the 2x4. As the match begins Vokoff and Martel slug it out. The faces double team Sheik. Sheik takes over with shots from the spiked boots. Gut wrench suplex. Regular suplex. Boring Volkoff offense. Belly to belly suplex. Abdominal stretch. Zenk hiptosses out. Sheik spits on him and throws him out in front of Duggan. After throwing Martel out on the opposite side the heels double team Zenk right in front of Duggan. Duggan has enough, jumps the rail again, and gets into the ring. Zenk uses the distraction to roll Sheik up and get a pin. Facking bullshit! The heels beat up Duggan again after the match until the faces run them off. *1/2

Starrcade '92

Legacy Review

Starrcade '92

December 28, 1992 from The Omni is Atlanta

 

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

 

Another year, another gimmick Starrcade. This year has a couple of different things going on. First is the return of the Lethal Lottery and Battlebowl, which fortunately does not make up the whole show this year. Several guys in the Lethal Lottery will be pulling double or even triple duty during the show. Second is the finals of the King of Cable tournament, more or less WCW's one off version of King of the Ring, an 8 man tournament that had been held on weekly TV. Mixed in with this are a few world title matches.

 

The show open has a really cool montage of the title screens of all the previous Starrcades. Next year is the 10th anniversary, but this is the 10th show so they're celebrating early. The announcer calls it "the 10th annual Starrcade '92". Ummmmm, they didn't all happen in '92. The opening video also still advertises Rick Rude for the WCW world title match, but Eric Bischoff tells us from a direct ripoff of the WWF Update set (I mean direct, apart from WCW action in the screens it looks exactly the same) that Rude is out with an injury and Steve Williams is in.

Before we get going, Bill Watts is in the ring with Ted Turner buddy and the second greatest hitter of all time (after Ted Williams) Hank Aaron to present Sting with a ring for winning Battlebowl '91 and says that the winner of every Battlebowl from now on will also win a ring.

Lethal Lottery Match: Van Hammer and "Dangerous" Dan Spivey def Johnny B Badd and Cactus Jack in 6:51- The draw for this match happened at the last Clash so Jack and Badd got a warmup match on weekly TV and didn't work together very well (in storyline). Jack and Hammer start. Jack gets a corner double leg takedown and tries a quick rope leverage pin. He holds Hammer for a double team, but Badd shakes it off like a pitcher rolling through a signs and slaps on a headlock instead. Badd hits a couple of Japanese armdrags. And a hurricanrana! That gets a 2 count. Spivey hits a big boot and big clothesline. Badd shrugs off another double team setup. Spivey knees Badd in the back from the apron on a rope run. Hammer doesn't look pleased about that but goes with it. Spivey hits a Rock Bottom slam and works Badd's back. Hammer's already used up his whole moveset. Badd/Spivey midring collision. Jack works a hot tag sequence. He looks to tag out, but Badd's on the floor recovering. Hammer hits a flying tackle. Badd tries to break the pin up but ends up dropping an elbow on Jack. Jack gets up and jaws at him. Badd says screw it and pops him with a right hand, and Hammer rolls him up for the pin. Meh. It's missing the usual big Foley bumps. *1/4

 

Lethal Lottery Match: Big Van Vader and "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes def Kensuke Sasaki and The Barbarian in 6:56- Vader and Barbarian open. They're both heels so we have a Code of Dishonor handshake. Power guy standoffs. Short clothesline no sells. Vader no sells a slam. Shoulderblock standoff. Vader pops Barbarian with some potatoes in the corner. There's a miscommunication where Barbarian looks like he dodges a big boot Vader didn't expect him to dodge, then Barbarian hesitates forever before hitting a clothesline. Vader and Rhodes hit a Hart Attack! The ref delays counting getting Vader out of the ring and Barbarian kicks out. Barbarian gets a Saito suplex for 2. Rhodes has bells on his trunks. Is he trying to bring back the Ding Dongs or something? Sasaki comes off the second rope but Rhodes hits him in midair with a dropkick. Vader squashes Sasaki off the second rope. Vader powerslam for 2. Sasaki suplexes Vader! Rhodes with a flying clothesline on Barbarian. Sasaki breaks the pin up. Rhodes and Sasaki have a chopfest as Sasaki gets back on the apron. Barbarian charges, but Rhodes dodges it and he runs into Sasaki, and Rhodes rolls him up to win. As the ref is raising their hands Vader murders Rhodes with a blindside clothesline because he doesn't need him anymore. Freaking awesome. **1/4

 

Lethal Lottery Match: The Great Muta and Barry Windham def "Flyin'" Brian Pillman and 2 Cold Scorpio in 6:59- Windham and Pillman are challenging for the tag titles later in the show, but the Lethal Lottery sticks them on opposite sides here. Scorpio, one of the first wrestlers to use the 450 splash, debuted in WCW in November, his first run for a major company in the US. Windham and Scorpio commence proceedings. Very fast start. Scorpio hits deep armdrags and rolls through a backbreaker attempt. Pillman and Muta have a great speed sequence. Windham and Pillman hook it up with no hesitation. Chopfest. Both guys are enjoying it. Muta hits Pillman with a spinning back kick. Windham hits a flying lariat and a legdrop for 2. Muta and Windham do a double dropkick! JR drops the fact that Muta is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion while Scorpio hits him with a rope assisted legdrop. Another Muta spinning back kick sends Scorpio to the ramp. Scorpio gets Muta down and does a slingshot 360, but he over rotates and knees Muta hard right in the gut. Windham breaks the pin up. Donnybrook! Windham hits a DDT. The Mutasault completely misses. Muta recovers to get a sit down pin on Scorpio. Really good match before the botches at the end. I would have loved another 10 minutes of this. **3/4

 

Lethal Lottery Match: "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Sting def Jushin Thunder Liger and Erik Watts in 9:08- Man, Liger has been absolutely screwed like no one else ever when it comes to the Lethal Lottery draw for partners. Bill Kazmaier last year, Erik Watts this year. Erik is Bill Watts' mostly talentless son that had no business being on TV for a major promotion, a fact obvious to everyone but Bill Watts. Liger and Sting start! Oh hell yeah. The crowd is pumped for it. Liger cartwheels out of a monkey flip attempt. Sting dodges a dropkick. Williams and Liger give us some sweet AJPW vs NJPW interpromotional action. JR even mentions they work for different companies in Japan. Watts hits armdrags on Williams. Williams responds with a big clothesline. Williams for the most part goes easy on Watts and lets him get offense in where most guys like Watts wouldn't because he's buddies with Papa Watts. Watts ducks a couple of clotheslines and hits a crossbody for 2. Hard Williams chops. Watts gets a sneaky tag to Liger and he ambushes Williams with rapid fire kicks. Williams blocks a monkey flip and kills Liger with a clothesline. Sting puts Liger up in a Canadian backbreaker and runs him face first upside down into the corner! Liger gets a sunset flip but Sting backs up into the ropes. Sting and Williams take control on Liger. Liger dodges the Stinger Splash but Sting still tags first. Williams locks on a single leg crab. Liger ducks under a clothesline and hooks on a sleeper. Williams suplexes out of it. Finally Liger counters a backdrop attempt and tags out. Slugfest. Watts hits a atrocious dropkick that almost knees Williams in the face. He goes to hook in the STF but Williams gets to the ropes. Williams catches Watts on a crossbody attempt, drops him over the top rope, and gets the pin. Watts is awful, but the other three are awesome enough to make up for it. Plus, Williams walking Watts through the match helped a ton. **1/2

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Masahiro Chono (c) def The Great Muta in 12:49- This is their second meeting for the title, following a successful Chono defense on a New Japan show. Muta goes to lock up but Chono has other ideas and pops him with a right. Headlock/headscissors spot. Chono hits a modified enzuguri and Muta powders. Muta rolls out of a test of strength. Chono counters with a suplex. Muta floats over into a full nelson, then an abdominal stretch. Chono reverses it. The crowd is definitely pro-Muta. Muta hiptosses out and hooks in an armbar. They do some gamesmanship with throwing each other out of the ring but none of it goes anywhere. Chono goes up top. Muta follows and hits a superplex! Both guys recover. Big backdrop. Muta hooks in a single leg crab, then switches it into the Mutalock. They literally just lie there not moving for a solid minute or two before Muta breaks the hold. Chono gets to the ropes, pops up and goes right back on offense like nothing happened. A Muta spinning back kick sends Chono out. Handspring elbow! Chono rolls out of the way of a Mutasault. Muta lands on his feet but jams his knee. He gets a desperation small package for 2. Both guys try for dropkicks! Chono hits a Saito suplex. He goes for a second one, but Muta spins over and turns it into a cover for 2! Chono counters a dropkick and hooks in the STF. Muta has to submit. Not completely awful, but definitely not up to normal New Japan standards. Rumor is Watts asked them to hold back and not overshadow the WCW matches on the show. Muta would finally win the Big Gold Belt in a title for title match with his IWGP Heavyweight title also on the line at the joint WCW/New Japan Tokyo Dome show January 4th. **

Rude comes out and says his doctor screwed him. Rumor is he was scheduled to finally win his first world title on this show while still US champ. JR mentions that a #1 contender's tournament for the US title had already been scheduled to start on weekly TV (likely in anticipation of Rude vacating the US title after winning the world title), and if needed the finals would be for the vacant title instead. Rude's injury kept him out of action until the spring so he was stripped, and Dustin Rhodes won the tournament for his first singles title. Rude's consolation prize would be a long run with the "WCW International Title" version of the Big Gold Belt in '93-'94.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Ron Simmons (c) def "Dr. Death" Steve Williams by DQ in 15:12- Williams offers a handshake. Simmons hesitates but eventually takes it, and it's legit. Simmons cranks away on a headlock. Shoulderblock standoff. Simmons wants some football, so they both get down into 3 point stances and have at it. The crowd loves it. They go down again, but this time Simmons leapfrogs and hits a clothesline. Williams escalates things with hair pulls. Simmons eventually has enough and we have a slugfest. Simmons tries a tackle off the top rope but Williams dodges and splats him. He gives Simmons a knee shot on the apron and twists his knee around the rope. Single leg crab. Williams spends a good chunk of the match working the knee with some small hope spots from Simmons. Williams goes down to the 3 point stance again and clips Simmons in the knee. Again. On the third one Simmons counters with a clothesline. Spinebuster. Simmons stopped selling the knee. He goes down and hits low football tackles of his own. On the third one of those Williams dodges and Simmons falls outside, on his feet, with no selling at all of the knee. Slugfest on the floor. Simmons is posted but holds Williams back from getting in and both guys are counted out. Williams keeps fighting after the bell and hits Simmons from the top rope. The ref reverses the decision to a Simmons win by DQ. Dumb on top of dumb. If given proper planning time and a definitive finish these guys could have had a decent match, but this ain't it. *1/2

 

NWA and WCW Unified World Tag Team Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Shane Douglas (c) def Barry Windham and "Flyin'" Brian Pillman in 20:02- Windham attacked the champs backstage with a chair a couple of weeks ago so there's a little blood feud going on here. Steamboat works the match in Enraged Dragon mode so that's always good. Douglas and Pillman open. Pillman hits a .9 Flair chop and a hiptoss. He tries a crucifix but slips down into a roll up attempt. Douglas punches out. Really great extended high octane sequence there. Pillman blocks a roll up attempt but gets dropkicked out by Douglas. The faces hit multiple double teams on Windham with the ref just letting it happen before he powders too (Windham, not the ref). Windham's hot, tags in, and wants Steamboat. Steamboat chops him down. Windham suplexes out of a Douglas chinlock. Steamboat clotheslines Windham over the top and out and follows it up with a slam on the floor. Douglas slams Windham on the ramp and Steamboat throws him over the top and back in. Windham jaw jacks out of another chinlock and tags out. Pillman whips Douglas into the heel corner and Windham back elbows him. Douglas responds by dropkicking Pillman off the apron, and he flies all the way into the guardrail! As Pillman gets back in Douglas goes up top, but Pillman dropkicks him off all the way down to the floor! Windham follows with a clothesline. Douglas goes in peril. Windham taunts Steamboat in so Pillman can cheap shot Douglas. Douglas fights back but Pillman prevents a tag and Windham throws him out again. While Pillman has the ref tied up Steamboat takes advantage and whacks Windham with a chair! Pillman still cuts the tag off. The heels gets several near falls as Douglas wears down. Finally Douglas gets a punch on Windham while in good position, leans back, and gets the tag! Windham kills the hot tag sequence dead quickly with a powerslam on Steamboat. Windham also does the Triple H sitting on his knees sucking wind recovering sell. Pillman suckers Douglas in and throws Steamboat over the top and out again. Windham posts him. But Steamboat recovers and climbs the ropes midring, springboards off the top and hits Pillman with a chop. Pillman with a tiltawhirl flying headcissors for 2! Steamboat dodges a Windham punch off the top rope. Superkick! Face plant! Tags on both sides. Donnybrook! Steamboat crossbodys Windham over the top and onto the ramp. Douglas catches a running Pillman with a belly to belly suplex and that gets the 3! Really good match, and refreshing to see a tag match outside the usual Watts formula during his era. ***3/4

 

King of Cable Final: Sting def Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) in 16:50- Serious big fight feel here with the crowd as hot as it's been all night. No one gives a damn about the King of Cable, but they give a damn about these guys. Cautious start. Vader pushes Sting out of a lockup and wipes face paint off his hand on his tights. No sells of Sting punches. Sting tries a charge and that doesn't end well. For him. Vader presses Sting and drops him on the top rope. Twice! Sting rolls out. He comes back in to potato shots. Sting ducks a clothesline and hits a rolling kick, followed up with a dropkick that hits Vader more like an enzuguri to his face. Sting German suplexes Vader! Cactus Clothesline! Vader's mask came off as they went out. Now he's mad. Sting comes back in, sets up, AND PLANCHAS BOTH VADER AND RACE! Now Vader's really mad. Potato shots in the corner. Sting dodges an avalanche and hits a deep armdrag. He goes for the Stinger Splash but Vader gets a boot up. Sting counters with big boots of his own. Sting with a DDT! He picks Vader up and sets him on the top rope! GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY F'N SUPERPLEX! That gets a 2 count. Sting hooks the Scorpion Death Lock on. Vader grabs a rope and rolls out. Sting sets up the Stinger Splash on the floor....but Vader dodges and Sting eats guardrail! He barely beats the count back in. Vader hits a short clothesline. Avalanche! More stiff punches. Big splash! But Vader's own momentum rolled him out of the cover. Vader butterflys Sting's arms while twisting his neck. Clothesline while both guys are on their knees for 2. Sting blocks another short clothesline into a backslide for 2! Sting tries a sunset flip, and anticipates Vader countering with a sit down squash and rolls out of the way of it! Vader pops him again. More pounding in the corner. Vader props Sting up on the top rope. Sting fights out of a superplex attempt and both guys are down. Vader is up first and pounds away again. Sting asks for more. He's trying get Vader to punch himself out. He starts hulking up and punches back. Sting deadlifts Vader into a Samoan Drop! Damn. Just, damn. Sting hits a big splash from the top rope! Vader kicks out! Race distracts Sting and Vader pops him from behind. Big splash off the second rope! Again Vader's momentum kills the pin attempt. Vader goes up top, but as he's coming off Sting catches him, powerslams him, and gets the pin! What a freaking match. They're now tied up 1-1 in PPV matches. I think a rubber match is in order. ****3/4

 

Battlebowl- The Battlebowl battle royale is only one ring this year, so we don't have to deal with the convoluted rules that made the first one such a mess. Vader's got his mask back on. He jumps Sting on the entrance ramp! They fight there while everyone else starts in the ring. Off camera Sting escapes and gets into the ring. Vader DIVES OVER THE TOP ROPE ONTO HIM! "I'm not finished with you!" All we need is Vader flipping over an ambulance with Sting in it to make this complete. Muta lays chops on Williams in the corner. Former tag champs Windham and Rhodes go at it. Vader and Sting finally get separated. Hammer tries to work with Vader and Vader completely ignores him. There's a pecking order son, and you aren't even in it yet. As is typical for a WCW battle royale they're taking forever to have any eliminations. Rhodes bionic elbows Vader. Windham and Rhodes fight onto the ramp. Rhodes hits a bulldog on the ramp! Williams dumps Hammer out for the first elimination. See? Pecking order. Williams Saito suplexes Vader. Sting throws Spivey over onto the ramp. That's good enough. Spivey's gone. Vader tries to get Muta over but Sting hits him in the back with a Stinger Splash. Vader with the Cactus Clothesline on Sting! Both he and Sting are gone. The crowd doesn't like that. Rhodes busts Windham open. Windham counters with a DDT. He dumps both Rhodes and Williams out. It's down to Windham and Muta. The crowd is firmly behind Muta. Windham with a suplex and he tries to get Muta out but Muta hangs on. Superplex! Muta's thrown out, but he skins the cat. A couple of Muta dropkicks send Windham over and out! Muta wins it! Decentish match, fun choice for a winner. **1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Another mostly disappointing mostly gimmick Starrcade. Sting/Vader is absolute must see, and the tag title match is worth a look. The rest is completionist only. As the calendar turned to 1993 Bill Watts would be ousted and Eric Bischoff would talk himself into the top spot, though through most of '93 he would be heavily overseen by Ole Anderson and Dusty Rhodes and wouldn't really get full control until '94. Oh yeah, and a guy named Ric Flair was also on his way back.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

 

BONUS MATCH REVIEW: (12/30/92 from Baltimore, MD) WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) def Ron Simmons (c)- This comes to us from the wonderful Hidden Gems section of the WWE Network. Tony Schiavone is on solo commentary for this one, and there's only one ringside camera filming it. Tony mentions Vader's IWGP title reigns. Both guys play to the crowd before locking up. Vader wants a test of strength. Simmons hesitates, and when they start locking up Vader suddenly pulls out. Vader: "He's got shit on his hands!". Vader turns another lockup into a short clothesline. Slugfest in the corner. Vader goes for an avalanche. Simmons cuts him off with a clothesline. Another clothesline sends Vader over and out and almost on top of the only cameraman. Simmons follows and slams Vader on the floor. Vader takes a while to recover. Race grabs the house mic and tries to psych Vader up by shouting "NO PAIN!". When Vader gets back in Simmons stays on the attack. Vader tries coming off the second rope but Simmons powerslams him! Another slam for a 2 count. Simmons butterflys Vader's arms while Race is still shouting "no pain" on the mic. Vader gets a boot up in the corner and hits an Earthquake splash. Big elbow drop. Another butt splash gets 2. Simmons ducks a clothesline and hits a spinebuster for 2. Powerslam! Race gets on the apron, and by the time Simmons covers Vader has a foot on the rope. Vader dodges a football tackle and Simmons flies out. Vader tries to suplex him back in but Simmons slips out and hits a back suplex for a long 2. Vader catches Simmons on a rope run, hits a shoulderbreaker, and gets the pin! Bit of an abrupt finish, but Vader has regained the world title! It's a pretty typical house show match, only memorable for the title change. **1/2

Saturday Night's Main Event X

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event X

March 14, 1987 (taped February 21) from the Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

We're two weeks out from Wrestlemania 3. Multiple promos from Hogan and Andre set up their confrontation in the battle royale later tonight, and their much bigger confrontation later.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) def George "The Animal" Steele by countout in 4:30- This match is also for the managerial services of Elizabeth. Well, the way they make is sound it's for Elizabeth's mind, body and soul in a way that even makes me, very far from being a card carrying member of the PC police, a little uncomfortable. She's in a decorated lifeguard's chair in the middle of the floor so she's not technically in anyone's corner. Steele immediately comes out to paw her. Savage ambushes him from behind with a double ax handle off the top rope. He grabs Elizabeth and tries to walk her to the back. Ricky Steamboat comes out and stops them. As Savage is getting back in the ring Steele jumps him. Savage gets waffled and takes a wild swing at Hebner. Battering ram. The buckle pad foam is out. Savage hits a high knee to Steele's back while he's busy eating. Double ax handle off the top. Steele bites his arm again. Another buckle pad dies and has its guts spilled all over the ring. Savage, and then Hebner, get face fulls of foam (which should be an automatic DQ as Ventura correctly points out). Steele tries to take Elizabeth again. Savage attacks him, drops the lifeguard chair on top of him, and Steele is counted out. Thank God this feud is finally over. Faffing around with Steele forever was a complete waste of Savage in his peak years. Thankfully it'd get much better for him from here. Steele gets a giant poster of Elizabeth as a consolation prize (sadly not one of the posters Ric Flair threatened to put on the jumbotron at WM 8) and poses with the IC belt Savage left behind. 1/2*

20 Man Battle Royale- Participants are: WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Paul Orndorff, Billy Jack Haynes, Koko B Ware, Ax, Smash, Sika, Tama, The Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, B Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Butch Reed, Haku, Blackjack Mulligan, Hillbilly Jim, Ron Bass, Nikolai Volkoff and Lanny Poffo.

Andre stares Hogan down as he enters. Orndorff gets the jump on Hogan as the bell rings and we're off. Hogan eliminates Honky and his crazy suspenders. Glad those went away quickly. Andre eliminates Sika, fights off a whole mess of guys, and eliminates both Haku and Poffo. Poffo is gushing blood on the floor from one of Andre's headbutts. That's fantastic. As the heels try to get Hogan up off his feet Poffo does the stretcher job (the old school stretcher that has to be carried instead of being on wheels). Hogan eliminates Bass. Demoliton double team Jim. Andre eliminates Mulligan. Hogan eliminates Volkoff. Andre eliminates Blair. Orndorff and Herc get Hogan propped up in the corner. After Hogan gets down they whip him straight into Andre. And the entire world comes to a screeching halt. This is when you know you've got magic. Hogan charges for a clothesline but Orndorff and Ax jump him. Hogan eliminates Orndorff. Andre grabs Hogan from behind, hits a headbutt to the back of Hogan's head, and tosses him out! Andre looks down on Hogan with a great "That was it? Get the hell outta here." expression. As usual, horrible loser Hogan has to be drug out by the refs. Ware tries to wrap Andre up while he's watching the show and he back elbows him off without even looking or flinching. Brunzell tries to jump on Andre and he's on the floor before he knows what's happened. Everyone else in the ring gangs up on Andre and slowly work him over the top rope and eventually over. Herc eliminates Tama. Smash eliminates Jim. A Ware dropkick eliminates Reed. Haynes saves Ware from being eliminated? Kinda dumb. Herc throws him off and eliminates Ware anyway. Smash and Herc double team Haynes. Haynes dodges and Smash goes flying out. Final two slugfest. Heenan gets on the apron. Haynes gets distracted, and Hercules sneaks behind to eliminate him and win! Very solid for a regular battle royal. The Hogan/Andre stuff was fantastic, after they were gone we got an underdog winner, and they kept it short and lively. **1/2

King Kong Bundy (w/Bobby Heenan) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts by DQ in 6:14- Roberts tries to work the arm. Bundy counters with clubbing blows. On a whip Roberts grabs the ropes to stop and Bundy loses his temper. Roberts hits kicks to the thigh to try to seize Bundy's leg up. Bundy dominates a test of strength and gets a near fall from it. Roberts gets another kick to the thigh to get out. Bundy pounds him down in the corner. Front facelock. Roberts counters a backdrop attempt with a kneelift. Punches knock Bundy down. Roberts goes for Damien. Heenan snakenaps Damien and carries him to the back. Roberts follows and returns with the bag and Heenan nowhere to be seen. Bundy gets control back. Big clothesline. Bundy starts playing around knocking Roberts down and taunting him to get up again. Eventually Roberts dodges and Bundy runs into the turnbuckles. Short jabs and Bundy's down again. Roberts goes for Damien again. The ref tries to stop him and gets a knee in the gut. Roberts is DQ'd. He hits a postmatch DDT and Damien comes out to play. Pretty decent with the solid psychology you expect from Roberts matches up until the crap finish. **

Highlights of the Harts winning the tag titles under dubious Danny Davis refereeing. After that match Davis has been suspended for life as a referee. Or until the angle's over, whichever comes first. Jimmy Hart has hired Davis for this match as an "observer".

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hart Foundation (c) (w/Jimmy Hart and Danny Davis) def Tito Santana and Dan Spivey in 5:31- Santana and Spivey teaming is....random. Spivey is in his bleached blonde, red white and blue tights Hulk Hogan v0.5 phase. Really fast start. Spivey hits a crossbody for 2. He reverses a double team attempt but then atomic drops Anvil into his own corner to tag out. Santana and Hart tease greatness for about 5 seconds before Spivey gets back in. Anvil breaks up a pin attempt, the Harts hit a double team, and Spivey is beach ball tights in peril. Anvil drops him over the top rope. The Harts do the slingshot big splash! That gets 2. Spivey tries to fight out of the heel corner but the Harts are too much. Phantom tag spot. Spivey dodges a double team and gets the real tag. Bret bump! Flying frijoles pintos on Anvil! Davis takes a shot. Flying frijoles negros on Bret! But he doesn't cover and goes for the figure four instead. Davis sneaks in with the megaphone, whacks Santana, and the Harts have their first successful TV title defense. Good for the time it got. It's clear the Harts are becoming something special. **1/4

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def The Iron Sheik (w/Slick) in 3:29- Savage is at ringside. He jaws at Steamboat for a bit, leaves through the crowd, and joins commentary. Sheik hits Steamboat from behind and works him over while Savage is getting himself comfortable. Steamboat eats boot spike. Sheik tries to throw Steamboat out but he skins the cat, slides under Sheik's legs, and hits a back suplex. Steamboat locks on a front facelock and they both roll out to the floor. Sheik gives Steamboat a stair shot. Suplex back in gets 2. Abdominal stretch to stretch his abs and make him humble! Steamboat hiptosses out. The chop off the top rope finishes it. Officially *, but also tack on another unofficial * for Savage on commentary.

The show closes with a tribute to the "retiring" Roddy Piper. Well, he really was before it was Meltzered. That's insider speak for plans changed.

Saturday Night's Main Event IX

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event IX

January 3, 1987 (taped December 14, 1986) from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

It's the new year and we're on the on ramp getting on the road to Wrestlemania 3. With no Royal Rumble or other PPVs it was still up to regular TV to carry the whole load.

Steel Cage Match for the WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby Heenan) in 10:42- This is the final blowoff of the longrunning Hogan/Orndorff feud before Hogan turned his attention to Andre the Giant and WM 3 build. Orndorff is still coming out to Real American. Vince is shocked and appalled that increasingly crooked referee Danny Davis has joined assigned ref Joey Marella at ringside. It's traditional WWF cage match escape only rules. Hogan takes the long way in, and as soon as his feet hit the mat Orndorff jumps him. He whips Hogan with the belt and throws it away like Naito abusing the old IWGP IC belt. He goes for the door but Hogan stops him. More Orndorff beat down. He tries to climb the cage, manages to get over and starts descending before Hogan can stop him. Hogan drags him back up, dangles him upside down (a suplex back into the ring from this position would be a hell of a spot) and rams Orndorff into the cage. Hogan chokes him with his headband. Hogan tries to climb and gets stopped. He goes for the door, but Davis "forgets" to unlock it. By the time Marella gets it open, Orndorff is there. Double cage shot and both guys are down. When they recover they start climbing opposite sides of the cage. Both go over and go down......and both hit the floor at seemingly the same time! Marella calls Hogan the winner, Davis calls Orndorff the winner. Davis shoves Marella down! Hogan threatens Davis, and while he does that Orndorff ambushes him from behind. While that's happening Marella gets to Finkel and says the match is a draw, but since a cage match has to have a winner, this match MUST CONTINUE! Commerical.

Back on, Orndorff is beating on Hogan outside the ring. As they get back in the cage Orndorff hits an elbow off the top rope. Davis is carried out after Hogan's frank discussion about rule technicalities with him. Orndorff hits a short clothesline. Hogan randomly Hulks Up. Punches and chops. Cage shots. Backbreaker, followed by the legdrop. Hogan starts to climb. Heenan gets in the cage and stops him. Heenan takes his bumps, Hogan beats Orndorff a bit more, and climbs out to win. The false ending was pretty decent, but the action was bare bones basic, partially due to Orndorff working through an injury. *1/2

 

The replay shows Hogan and Orndorff's feet hitting at the same time on the first finish. Ventura vehemently argues Orndorff won because "his legs are straight and Hogan's are bent".

Recap of Steele hitting on Elizabeth the past few months. He promises a surprise for Savage tonight.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage  (c) (w/Elizabeth) def George "The Animal" Steele in 8:30- Steele brings out an action figure of himself and gives it to Elizabeth. He's giving himself to Elizabeth, see? Pretty deep for a man that's supposed to have the mental capacity of a coconut. Savage is less than impressed. As he's turned around Steele ambushes him. Battering ram into the top turnbuckle. After some slams Steele calls someone down to the ring. Savage jumps him from behind. As Savage goes to the top rope Ricky Steamboat runs to the ring! Steamboat hadn't been seen since the famous attack where Savage injured his larynx with the ring bell on weekly TV in November. While he's distracted Steele slams Savage off the top rope and throws him over the top and out. Steele jumps out, scoops up Elizabeth and runs to the back with her. There's an editing gaffe here: while Steele is walking down the ramp you can see Savage in the ring behind him watching, but when the shot cuts its to Savage still recovering on the floor. Savage and Steamboat play cat and mouse for a bit while the refs hold Steamboat back. Hey, there's a female ref here! I'm sure she's local and not WWF but still, female ref on a WWF show in the mid-'80s. Groundbreaking. Steele runs back out and jumps Savage from behind again. How did he not get counted out? Also, where's Elizabeth? Locked in a cage? Steamboat returns to the back. Savage and Steele resume the match, going through a long and horribly uninteresting coda to a match that really already should have ended by CO or sportz entertainment finish, ending with Savage whacking Steele with the ring bell behind the ref's back and getting the pin. Good build for Savage/Steamboat at WM though. 1/4*

Footage of Race's coronation as King of the Ring. WWF had no plans to put any titles on him at his age, but recognizing his legendary NWA career they decided to have him win the second ever King of the Ring tournament and run with it like a title.

The Junkyard Dog def "King" Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 6:00- Danny Davis is reffing, setting Vince off again. Heenan wants JYD to bow. JYD turns his back instead. Davis distracts JYD with instructions and Race punches him. High knee. Race's shoulder gets posted but he recovers to hit a belly to belly suplex. Fall down headbutt. Well that was strategically unsound. JYD shrugs it off and hits the crawling headbutts. Race flips over the corner and out. JYD doesn't follow, but gets the King gear and tries it on. Heenan is furious. He runs in and takes another beating. Vince wonders why Davis hasn't counted Race out. While JYD is still working Heenan over Race hits him from behind with an elbow off the top rope. He and Heenan pound away on him. Davis has no choice but to call for the bell, but does little else to stop it. In fact, he stops JYD from retaliating and gets a headbutt for it. These guys would meet again at WM. 1/2*

In the locker room, Orndorff is furious. Heenan calms him down and promises to protest straight to Jack Tunney with the replay footage that he says shows Orndorff clearly won.

Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper by countout in 3:35- Adonis is returning from the injury suffered from the crutch shot at the last SNME. Piper throws his kilt over Adonis' face and jumps him. A kneelift sends Adonis over the top and tied in the ropes. Piper works the injured arm over. He starts jawing with Hart, giving Adonis an opening. Piper comes back with some huge punches. Adonis reverses a whip and locks in the Good Night Irene. Piper tumbles them both out to the floor. Hart takes a shot. Adonis squirts his perfume in Piper's face. A blinded Piper can't find his way back to the ring and gets counted out. Vince is so pissed off at the injustice he says "crap". Another WM match set. Fortunately not a Blindfold Match. 3/4*

Hogan is completely unconcerned about Heenan's appeal with the replay, and is ready to move on to bigger challenges. That he is.

Blackjack Mulligan def Jimmy Jack Funk in 2:31- Mulligan had been floating around WWF for a few years winding down his career but hadn't wrestled on TV much apart from doing a stint as one of the masked Machines working with Andre. This is billed as the "Battle for Texas". The female ref is working this match! History made. Mulligan has spurs on and is forced to take them off before the bell. Yes, he's the face here. Funk jumps him while he does. Mulligan reverses a corner whip and Funk takes a Bret bump. Clothesline over and out. Funk gets backdropped on the floor. We go picture in picture with a Mulligan promo. Yup, this is definitely a jobber match. Mulligan sounds like he's deliberately trying to do a Dusty Rhodes impression. In the ring there's a press slam. A flying back elbow ends it. 1/2*

Halloween Havoc 1992

Legacy Review

Halloween Havoc '92

October 25, 1992 from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

The original Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal. Since they're in Philly they get Bruno Sammartino in for the show again, this time hosting with Tony Schiavone. They discuss the fact that Rick Rude is scheduled for two title matches- defending the US title he's held for nearly a year now, and challenging for the NWA world title. Bill Watts has also seen a bit of reason, as top rope moves have been quietly unbanned. Still no mats on the outside of the ring though.

"The Z Man" Tom Zenk, Johnny Gunn and Shane Douglas def Michael PS Hayes, Arn Anderson and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton in 11:02- Hayes was starting to transition into broadcasting and winding down his in-ring career, but he's working with the Dangerous Alliance as a "consultant". Gunn might be best known for his late '90s WWF run as Salvatore Sincere. Yeah, "best known" is a very relative term here. Philly starts right in with booing the faces on their entrance. Look at who's across the ring, you can't be surprised. Arn and Gunn start. Arn plays with him a bit and lays in a knee in the corner. Gunn counters with a pretty ugly dropkick. Arn goes to the top rope. Zenk runs in and dropkicks him off! The faces clean the ring out to a chorus of boos. When things settle down Arn schools Zenk a bit. Eaton pops Zenk with a hard right and gets an even louder pop from the crowd. Eaton blocks a hiptoss to another pop. Zenk hits a backdrop and the crowd boos. Hayes tags in to more cheers. He bitches about a phantom tights pull and actually gets the crowd to back him up. "Bobby" chant for Eaton. Douglas tries to get the crowd straight with a huge flying headscissors followed by a dragon screw leg whip, but the crowd's having none of it. Arn comes in to more cheers. Zenk locks in a sleeper. Arn suplexes out. DDT chant for Hayes. Eaton gets a sneaky tag to Arn, who sneaks behind Zenk and ambushes him. The crowd goes *nuts* for that. Douglas tries to suplex Arn, but Eaton comes in and clips his knee to another huge pop. Arn picks the knee apart, and when he tags out fully embraces what the crowd's giving him and goes full babyface on the apron. The crowd loves it. Eaton locks in a figure four with assistance from Hayes. Douglas reverses it but in the heel corner so Eaton tags. Douglas gets a desperation atomic drop on Arn, who ricochets off the corner and they both collide. Tags on both sides. Gunn works a "hot" tag sequence to zero reaction. Donnybrook! Gunn hits a Thesz Press on Eaton to win. The crowd boos that like Santa Claus just showed up in Philly. **1/4 match, ****1/2 crowd reactions

Harley Race keeps Missy Hyatt out of Rude's dressing room. Good, because that's a dead horse of a joke we did not need to revisit. Which is why I'm also choosing to ignore what Hyatt said afterward. Also, why is Race in Rude's dressing room anyway?

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def "Flyin'" Brian Pillman in 10:25- Pillman had just turned heel at the last Clash. They start with an early chopfest. Steamboat goes for quick covers and gets a skin the cat in. Pillman's booed early, giving this match a sense of normalcy with the smarky Philly crowd. Steamboat pulls a Bret Hart move, playing dead to sucker Pillman in. DEEP armdrag. Basic arm work that quickly makes the crowd restless. Steamboat cranks things up with some high impact moves. Pillman goes heel 101 with a near low blow and eye poke. The crowd's either chanting "Brian sucks" or "Cincinnati sucks". Didn't realize the Bengals were big Eagles rivals. Steamboat gets uncharacteristically aggressive with a big choke hold. Pillman goes limp on whip attempts, suckers Steamboat in and waffles him. Pillman with a tiltawhirl flying headscissors! Steamboat gets a backslide for 2. Pillman puts Steamboat on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but Steamboat blocks it and drops Pillman down face first. Steamboat comes off the second rope, but Pillman catches him in midair with a dropkick! He hooks a sleeper in. Steamboat runs him into the turnbuckles to get out. Pillman goes up top but Steamboat slams him off. Pillman powders. Steamboat chases and Pillman ambushes him getting back in. Chopfest 2. Pillman begs off and tries the same outside to inside ambush move again, but this time Steamboat counters it. Pillman gets a high knee and crossbody off the top for 2. Steamboat goes up top and hits a huge top rope sunset flip for 2. Pillman tries to counter, but Steamboat counters the counter into a cradle for 3! Not all it could have been. Pillman was still settling into his heel role. **3/4

Teddy Long is in the back with Masahiro Chono and his New Japan entourage. Both guys in the NWA title match can choose their own refs, and Chono's crew chooses Kensuke Sasaki. The whole thing's worth it just to hear Teddy Long stumble through Japanese names.

Bill Watts joins Tony. He announces that Harley Race is Rude's choice for referee. He also announces that Big Van Vader will be replacing Rude in the US title match.

 

No DQ Match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader def Nikita Koloff in 11:35- Vader is basically defending Rude's title for him. If Koloff wins, he's the champion. Rude and Race lead Vader to ringside. Medusa had already been barred from ringside, so Ole Anderson goes the whole hog and tosses Rude and Race as well. Flex off to start. Koloff's fairly popular in Philly. Bit of a surprise. If US fans had better access to tapes from Japan back then they'd probably be going nuts for Vader. Vader gets a potato shot. Koloff shrugs it off. More potatoes in the corner. Koloff near 360 sells a clothesline. Vader: "This is all you've got?" before hitting a headbutt. Vader plays to the crowd and Koloff jumps him from behind. Cross body to Vader's back! Koloff rolls him over and gets 2. More potatoes in the corner. Koloff dodges an avalanche and gets a roll up for 2. Another cross body for 2. Vader takes a breather. Koloff follows and eats barricade. Vader with a charishot. No DQ. Philly is warming up to Vader. Except that guy that just threw a full cup of beer in his face. At least it wasn't a battery. Koloff tries a sunset flip but Vader squashes him. Slugfest. Vader wins that. Choke slam! Vader with a big splash off the second rope. Koloff kicks out! Vader hooks in a chinlock and they do the arm drops. Koloff tries to suplex out but Vader drops on him. Koloff recovers and gets a DDT/suplex combo so set off a comeback. Flying tackle for 2. Bodyslam on Vader! The Sickle sends Vader over the top and out. On the outside Vader dodges and Koloff Sickles the post. Back in, power bomb, good night. Possibly Koloff's best singles match, at least outside of Flair. 1990s Vader was just a force of nature when let loose. Koloff was on his way out of WCW anyway, but suffered an injury in this match that sadly forced him to retire. ***1/2

Promo for Starrcade, which will feature Battlebowl again. Yay?

 

OK, I need to set up all the events leading up to the tag title match so stay with me here. Windham and Rhodes beat the Miracle Violence Connection for the unified tag titles on weekly TV a few weeks before this after the planned continuation of the MVC/Steiners feud was cut short by a Rick Steiner injury (leading to Scott turning heel and wining the TV title for his first singles title but I digress...). The MVC were All Japan talent and were uncomfortable working with WCW and their increasingly close relationship with New Japan. Loyalty is everything in Japan. Terry Gordy solved the problem, for him, by removing himself from the equation and no showing this event. It's announced on TV as a breach of contract and suspension. Steve Williams played nice and worked out his contract through the end of the year. Steve Austin was plucked out to be Williams' emergency partner for this match. On top of all this Windham and Rhodes were also showing tension, which would later lead to a Windham heel turn. Clear? Excellent.

WCW and NWA Unified World Tag Team Championship: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham (c) and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams & "Stunning" Steve Austin go to a 30 minute time limit draw- William and Rhodes start. Ventura digs JR for Oklahoma losing to Kansas that weekend. Kansas?! The football team is just the basketball team killing time until their season starts. Shoulderblock standoffs. They do a couple of football line hits, with Williams leapfrogging and hitting a clothesline on the second one. Rhodes counters with a big clothesline of his own. Good Williams/Windham back and forth. The faces work Williams' arm. Philly gets restless and starts a "We want Flair" chant. Soon enough guys, soon enough. Austin pounds away on Windham. Nice Austin/Rhodes speed sequence. Those guys had already wrestled each other a ton during their TV title feud and had effortless chemistry. Rhodes with a sudden back elbow. Flying clothesline for 2. Williams ducks a Windham flying clothesline and he flies outside. The heels start getting their team chemistry going with some double teams. Windham tries a sleeper but Williams counters out. Windham is befuddled and tries to tag out in the heel corner. Powerslam from Williams for 2. Austin tries a superplex, but Windham counters out and Austin launches himself across the ring. Windham with a clothesline off the top! Midring collision. Windham uses his height to reach over for the hot tag. Rhodes cleans house. Bulldog on Austin! Williams breaks the pin up and blindsides Rhodes behind the ref's back to make him the latest Texan in peril. Avalanche from Williams. Boston Crab. Austin hooks in a Canadian backbreaker. Rhodes slides out and they do the bridge/backslide spot. 10 minutes left. Rhodes tries to come back but Austin pops him while he loads up the bionic elbow. Desperation small package for 2. Williams hits a couple of belly to belly suplexes. 5 minutes left. The heels start getting desperate. With 3 minutes left they do the phantom tag spot. The heels throw Rhodes over the top and out behind the ref's back. Windham keeps fighting and the ref gets knocked out. Windham rolls up Austin but Williams murders him with a clothesline. A replacement ref comes in and counts 3 for Austin! The bell rings. But the original ref comes in and waves it off because Winham wasn't the legal man. Rhodes rolls up Austin and Austin *just* kicks out, but the bell rings again! What a cluster. The crowd is confused as hell. The donnybrook continues. Rhodes gets another near fall. With 30 seconds left Rhodes counters Austin and hits a tombstone, then sits there until more time's gone before covering. Williams comes in to break it up. Time expires. Minus the badly executed false finishes it was solid enough, but it's also really got me hankering for some RNR/Midnight style tag wrestling instead of these endless grind it out matches that Watts loves. ***1/4

Tony is with Vader, Race and Paul E Dangerously. Paul E takes credit for mastermining the whole US title match substitution and happily gives Vader and Race the match's purse money. Medusa charges in and pushes Paul E out of the way to congratulate them. Paul E grabs the mic and he's had it up to here with her, and proceeds to cut an absolutely classic "You suck because I'm a man and you're a woman" heel promo, topped off with the legendary "The other hooker I had in mind for your job had a previous engagement" line. Paul E fires Medusa. Medusa responds with a kick to the head and a beat down.

It's wheel spinnin' time. Sting comes out. The wheel takes forever to rise up out of the floor, though the overall visual design of it is very good. Now we wait for a tech to hook up the big lever. Tony just stands around and proves as good as he is on commentary, he's no Mean Gene when it comes to interview work. Finally Sting pulls the lever, and off the wheel goes. And goes. And goes.....finally slowing down......and it stops....Ventura: "Coal miner.....?". Sting tries to look excited for half a second, then shakes his head in a WTF way and walks off. In true WCW bad planning fashion, no one rigged the wheel and it was a legit random spin, landing on about the least interesting option possible.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Medusa) def Masahiro Chono (c) by DQ in 22:23- Chono beat Rude in the finals of the tournament in Japan for the revived Big Gold Belt, which (unmentioned on TV) was also the 1992 G1 Climax, which back then had a bunch of different formats and was a 16 man single elimination tournament that year. It was the second of Chono's record 5 G1 wins. Philly seems mostly pro-Rude. He looks surprised and lays on his prematch promo super thick to try to get some heat back. Medusa is still with him despite her firing by Paul E earlier. There's a coin toss to determine the placement of the refs. Rude wins, so Race is the main ref inside, and Sasaki will be outside. Right at the bell there's a HUGE "We want Flair" chant. Cautious start with clean breaks. Chono Saito suplexes out of a headlock. Rude plays to the crowd. Some semi-listless mat wrestling and there's some WOOOOOOOOOOs floating around the crowd. Chono works Rude's back. Rude powders and Medusa tries to massage it until Sasaki stops her. Chono suplexes him back in. Young Lion Submission Hold 1A, the Boston Crab. Rude jawjacks out of a double chinlock. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. And back to the rest holds. Chono gets a drop toe hold and goes for the STF. Rude blocks it. Things finally pick up a bit with a slugfest. Rude hits a piledriver. Slow cover, and when he finally does Chono gets a foot on the rope. Rude puts on a sleeper. The crowd gets distracted by something happening elsewhere in the arena. Like the wrestlers needed an excuse to go even slower. Chono dodges a dropkick off the top rope. Rude dodges a charging big boot from Chono and Rude eats it! Chono throws Rude over the top and he lands on both refs! Rude recovers, gets back in, and hits the Rude Awakening! No ref to count. Chono dodges a top rope kneedrop and hooks in the STF. Sasaki comes in and calls for the bell. He declares Chono the winner. Rude argues and says Rude wins by DQ for the over the top rope throw. Either way, Chono's still champ, a fact seemingly lost on commentary. Not even being in the Tokyo Dome would save this turd. It was DOA with the crowd and between that and the screwy finish, they barely tried. *

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Ron Simmons (c) def The Barbarian (w/Cactus Jack) in 12:41- Simmons pulled off one of the biggest upsets in WCW history by beating Vader for the world title on weekly TV in August. On the B show no less. Speaking of the B show, that's where Barbarian getting a title shot should be, not a major PPV. Jack would have been a much better opponent. Or someone like Arn or Eaton, who could heel it up like crazy to get Simmons babyface sympathy, and have a great match to boot. Simmons has the full boxing-like entourage on his entrance with Teddy Long playing Don King and carrying the belt. Lockup standoffs. Big boi collisions. Double clothesline with no sells. Simmons finally gets Barbarian down with a flying tackle. Barbarian pounds away in the corner. Simmons counters with double ax handles. Barbarian powders. He drops Simmons throat first across the top rope. Simmons gets posted. Quick sunset flip from Simmons for 2. Barbarian locks in a cobra clutch. After forever Simmons backs him into the corner to get out. Barbarian goes for an elbow off the top but Simmons dodges. Ugly spinebuster for 2. Barbarian has been selling like shit this whole match. Simmons hits a football tackle. Jack's up on the apron so Simmons takes him out. That lets Barbarian get a big boot to the back of the head. Barbarian hits his headbutt off the top finisher but Simmons kicks out. Barbarian hits the ropes. Simmons hits the powerslam outta nowhere, and that wins it. It's bad, but no worse than you'd expect. 1/2*

 

Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Coal Miner's Glove Match: Sting def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 10:34- Roberts debuted in WCW in August and immediately went after Sting. This is an unsanctioned lights out match, but they don't turn the lights out before it starts. Does that mean it's sanctioned after all? I know Roberts has never been a body guy, but he looks completely out of shape. He tricks Sting into checking out the crowd so he can try the pole first. Fortunately for Sting the pole is about 50 feet tall and he catches Roberts easily and pulls him down. Roberts grabs the ropes so Sting misses a dropkick and he throws Sting out. Sting dodges a charge and Roberts gets posted. Sting rams Roberts' arm into the post several times. Sting tries the pole, but Roberts pulls him down and suplexes him. He hiptosses Sting over and out, but Sting lands on the apron. Roberts tries to climb again, but Sting crotches him on the top turnbuckle. They go outside again and Roberts gives Sting a chairshot. Back in he chokes Sting with wrist tape. Roberts dodges the Stinger Splash. Short clothesline. DDT! He adjusted and hit it with the left arm, but the right one that Sting posted earlier still got hurt more and he can't follow up. At least the psychology is holding up. Roberts goes for the pole, but Sting runs across the apron, flies around the pole, and hits him. As Sting climbs the pole Cactus Jack runs out and gives Roberts the bag with the cobra in it. Sting gets the glove, but Roberts has the cobra out. Roberts' back is still to Sting. Sting punches him with the glove, but Roberts doesn't react to it at all. Instead he puts the cobra to his face, begs it to bite him, falls down, and Sting pins him. That, folks, is one of the ugliest finishes to a wrestling match there's ever been. Afterward the cobra finally gets some traction and draws some blood. Roberts stumbles out with Jack's help. Sting stays in the ring and looks embarrassed to have ever been a part of that. Like Victory Road '11 embarrassed. This was one of Roberts' worst times for battling his personal demons. He would be out of the company a few weeks later and wouldn't appear again for a major promotion until his WWF return in '96. 3/4*

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- It started decent, had a couple of good matches in the middle, then crashed and burned hard down the stretch. Like when Jim Herd was in charge, the wheels are starting to come off the wagon for Bill Watts.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-