Royal Rumble '93

Legacy Review

Royal Rumble '93

January 24, 1993 from the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA

Commentary: Gorrilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, for sadly the last time on a PPV

After having the '92 Rumble match for the vacant WWF title be such a success, this year introduces the stipulation that's made the Rumble the massive event it is every year: the winner will be the challenger for the WWF Title at Wrestlemania.

The Steiner Brothers def The Beverly Brothers in 10:34- The Steiners are making their WWF PPV debut. Unfortunately for them, WWF's tag division has atrophied to the point that the get the Beverlys here, AKA the Vanilla Heels. The Steiners get a real nice pop, proving once again that badass wrestling will get you over anywhere and across companies. In classic Heenan fashion, 10 seconds in he asks why Rick is wearing earmuffs, then goes on a diatribe on how having cauliflower ears is a sign of constant losing. Will you stop! Scott and Blake start. The first few minutes are Scott grabs a move, Blake heel 101 bitches about phantom tights or hair pulls, repeeat. Scott goes for a tiltawhirl slam but Blake can't hold his end of the deal and it only goes about halfway. Beau tags in, takes a shot at Rick on the apron, and quickly hides in the heel corner. When Rick gets in he playfully pushes Blake off the apron. Beau hits a powerslam. After a nice extended speed sequence Rick grabs Beau midair during a leapfrog and powerslams him. Scott comes in and hits a belly to belly suplex. He goes for a double underhook, but Blake runs in and clotheslines him. The Beverlys work Scott's back as he goes Steiner in peril. They choke him with the tag rope. Blake puts on a Boston crab. Scott channels some early Big Poppa Pump and starts doing pushups while in it. Beau drops an elbow on him to stop it. Scott blocks a suplex and hits his own but the Beverlys cut the tag off. Scott counters a backdrop by grabbing and hitting a double underhook suplex, then *just* leaps over to get the tag. Rick his a backdrop and a HUGE German suplex. The Beverlys try to stop his momentum...Steinerline! Steinerline! Mini-donnybrook. Scott got tagged in again somewhere in there. The Beverlys go for their finisher with Scott on Blake's shoulders, but Scott ducks the top rope clothesline and gets a roll up for 2. Frankensteiner! Good night, Beverlys. The Steiners carried this to an almost fun match. How generic were the Beverlys? I'm pretty certain I've had them backwards this whole match, but I can't be bothered to double check or fix it. **1/2

Recap of the epic Rockers breakup angle from just over a year earlier. I mean, how could anyone not know Shawn was turning heel that day in the Barber Shop. He's wearing all black! The angle wasn't immediately followed up on, partially so Janetty could sell the injuries, but also because he spent most of '92 fired from WWF and serving six months house arrest for assaulting a police officer. Wonder if they asked if he made a man disappear when he was 13. Anyway, once Janetty's legal issues were resolved WWF brought him back in the fall of '92, where he reemerged on weekly TV to attack Shawn from the crowd. He tried to hit Shawn with his mirror, but Sherri took the shot and Shawn did the scardey runaway. This played into Shawn and Sherri teasing dissension ever since the Summerslam '92 match with Rick Martel.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) def Marty Janetty in 14:20- Sherri comes out first by herself and parks it in a neutral corner. Shawn tries to get her in the ring to disrobe him but Sherri ignores him. Shawn shoves. Janetty punches. Shawn bails. Janetty gives Shawn a face plant. Corner flip! A kneelift sends Shawn over the top rope and to the floor. Janetty flips him back in, then 360 clotheslines him back out again. Shawn's in overdrive selling mode early. TOPE SUICIDA! That move is still so new in WWF that Monsoon and Heenan barely react to it. Janetty hits a fistdrop off the top to the floor and Shawn 360 sells it. Janetty goes for it again but Shawn counters him. He hoists Janetty up and posts his shoulder. Now, small problem here. Shawn rammed Janetty's right shoulder into the post, but Janetty sells the *left* shoulder! I guess that was some serious reverb. Shawn rams the left into the post for good measure, then hits a shoulderbreaker back in the ring. They go outside again and Shawn slams Janetty on the floor. More shoulder work in the ring. Janetty's shoulder is run into the top turnbuckle. Shawn hits a double ax handle off the top to the shoulder. Janetty tries to come back. Shawn kills it with another slam on the shoulder. Wild swing from Janetty that Shawn casually ducks. Janetty starts to punch back so Shawn gives him the ol' eye poke. He comes off the second rope, but Janetty gets a boot up and Shawn does the fish flop sell. Janetty dodges a charge and Shawn posts his shoulder. Slugfest. Shawn tights pulls Janetty to the floor. He tries to suplex Janetty back in, but Janetty blocks and reverses it, suplexing Shawn from the ring to the floor! Sherri inches toward Shawn and slaps him silly! Janetty back suplexes Shawn back in the ring and bridges for a long 2 count. Corner whip and Shawn flips over the top to the floor! Stair shot. Janetty hits a powerslam. He goes for a fist drop off the top rope. Shawn anticipates it, but Janetty anticipates the counter, lands on his feet, and hits a DDT! That gets another long 2 count. Janetty ducks Shawn's superkick. Janetty superkick! Shawn just kicks out! Shawn hits a sunset flip and they do some reverses until Shawn gets slingshot into the post followed by another long 2. Ref bump! Janetty hooks Shawn and Sherri comes in to hit him with the Shoe of Pointy Justice +3, but Shawn ducks and Janetty gets it! The faces are undone by their own cheating! It's kind of poetic. Superkick! Shawn covers and it's over. Sherri runs off in distress. Now, the obvious flaw: all the emphasis on the shoulder work the middle of the match ended up going nowhere. But once they got in their groove after that, yeah, sweet ass match. ***3/4

Mean Gene tells Sherri to "DAMN IT CALM DOWN, you're hysterical!". Shawn gets in her face and Janetty tackles him from behind, triggering another brawl. This isn't over, folks.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow def The Big Boss Man in 10:10- Two big guys that can move, so this has some potential. Ironically Bigelow had just returned to WWF after long runs in Japan broken up by short US stopovers in WCW, while Boss Man was about to leave the company. Bigelow ambushes from behind and beats Boss Man down. Avalanche and trash talking. Boss Man Bret bumps and a Bigelow forearm in the back sends him to the floor. Boss Man ducks a clothesline and hits two of his own to put Bigelow down. Bigelow back suplexes out of a headlock. Boss Man dodges a falling headbutt. Boss Man charges but Bigelow backdrops him to the floor. After a long recovery (might have given Boss Man time after he whacked his back on the apron) Bigelow goes to work on the back. He puts on a reverse bear hug. Boss Man powers out but Bigelow catches him on a run and gives him a hot shot for 2. Back to the reverse bear hug. Boss Man's in it for a while before he tires to power out again. Bigelow kills it with a headbutt to the back. Boss Man ducks a wild Bigelow dive that I guess was supposed to be a crossbody. Bigelow gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline. The headbutt off the top rope finishes it. Pretty disappointing. *1/4

Footage of Razor Ramon attacking Owen Hart on weekly TV to get Bret riled up.

 

WWF Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) def Razor Ramon in 17:52- Ramon flicks his toothpick at the kid that got Bret's sunglasses and Bret jumps him from behind. Slugfest. Ramon hits some knees in the corner. Bret his his usual 150 MPH corner bumps. After the second one he dodges and Ramon knees the top turnbuckle. Target acquired. Bret rolls through the knee work. Figure four! Ramon and his super long arms quickly get to the bottom rope. More knee work. Bret posts the knee. Ramon reverses a corner whip and Bret slides down gut first into the post! Freaking hell, I still don't know how Bret made all those hits look so good yet never got hurt. Ramon hits some backbreakers on the floor and posts Bret's back. Beatdown in the ring partially targeting Bret's hurt ribs. Ramon fallaway slam for 2, then he gets 2 off a Bret bump. Abdominal stretch. Bret fights it and manages to reverse. Ramon hiptosses out. Bret dodges an elbow and gets a crossbody for 2. Bret sunset flip. Ramon sits on him, but Bret reverses that for 2. Ramon locks in a bear hug and they do the arm drops. Bret bites Ramon's face to get out and backdrops him to the floor. TOPE SUICIDA! MAMMA MIA! Back in the ring Bret is pissed off, refusing to go for any wrestling holds and bombarding Ramon with punches until he finally goes down. Now he cranks up the Five Moves of Doom. After a Russian leg sweep he sells the ribs again. He goes for the Sharpshooter. Ramon quickly scrambles for the ropes. Bret gets him out and starts to hook it in. Ramon fights it and Hebner ends up getting dragged down, breaking the whole thing up. Ramon goes back to the ribs. He mounts Bret on the top turnbuckle. Bret back elbows, rolls over Ramon's back and hits a back suplex! He tries coming off the second rope but Ramon gets a boot up. He calls for and goes for the Razor's Edge. Bret fights out and turns it into a backslide for a long 2 count! Ramon wraps Bret's hands in knuckle locks and goes into humiliation mode. After a bit Bret uses the hold to leverage Ramon around and flips him over for a 2 count. While they're both down Bret locks in the Sharpshooter, rolls over and that's it. Perfectly standard Bret Hart title defense, with Ramon getting his first taste of the main event. ***1/2

Bobby Heenan leaves commentary for his big presentation. For the last few weeks he's been teasing this amazing new specimen: Narcissus. And now we are getting the big debut of Narcissus: Lex Luger! This was Luger's re-debut after the collapse of Vince's World Bodybuilding Federation. Luger poses and stares in mirrors while Heenan orgasms on the mic. Heenan and Luger both call out Heenan's former wrestler, Mr. Perfect. It's an OK if overlong segment (and was serving as the replacement for the then-traditional intermission so it needed to kill time), but it was a bit weird making Heenan the point man on this when he wasn't managing anymore.

The over the top Las Vegas theme for WM 9 cranks up early with "Caesar and Cleopatra" coming out to make a proclamation that one and all are invited to the "family entertainment capital of the world". Family? That's not what season 3 of GLOW looked like.

 

Royal Rumble

1 & 2. Ric Flair and Bob Backlund- Now this is an interesting pairing. Flair, one year removed from being the centerpiece of the greatest Rumble ever and his first WWF Title win, is making his final WWF PPV appearance until after the fall of WCW. His loss in a Loser Leaves WWF match with Perfect on Raw the night after the Rumble had already been taped. Meanwhile, Backlund, who was the main WW(W)F Champion in between the runs of Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, had come out of retirement to attempt a comeback at the ripe old age of 43. It's hilarious listening to commentary talk about him like some ancient relic. Flair is just under a year older than him! Backlund, still in his old babyface persona, offers a handshake and Flair blows it off with some Slick Ric. Flair sells Backlund's '70s offense, including a huge sell and Flair Flop off an atomic drop. Flair tries an eye poke but Backlund doesn't do anything so he does it a second time. They struggled to get on the same page multiple times.

3. Papa Shango- He pounds on Backlund. Flair sneaks in behind and eliminates Shango. Backlund goes over the top but lands on the apron. Chop exchange.

4. WWF Tag Team Champion "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase- The heels double team Backlund but he manages to hang on.

5. Brian Knobbs- Remember (I say that because until I watched Survivor Series '92 again even I forgot!) the Nastys are faces here. He takes out the heels with a double clothesline. After a double noggin knocker Flair looks like he's about to Flair Flop again but Knobbs grabs him and throws him over. Flair lands on the apron. All four guys split into pairs.

6. Virgil- DiBiase jumps him as soon as he hits the ring. Virgil slides under his legs and hits an inverted atomic drop. DiBiase dodges a Knobbs charge and Knobbs flies over and is elminated.

7. Jerry "The King" Lawler- The King of Memphis, one of the last territory megastars not to work with WWF or WCW, is finally making his big WWF in-ring debut after working as a commentator on Superstars for a couple of months. He's much more Memphis Lawler here and not the weasel chickenshit heel he'd soon become in WWF. Flair grabs and chops him. Lawler punches back. Flair rolls under the bottom rope to get some breathing room but the refs quickly usher him back in.

8. Max Moon- There's few things that scream "crappy mid '90s WWF gimmick" more than Mr. Moon. Flair tosses Moon but he skins the cat. Lawler eliminates Moon during the countdown for #9.

9. Genichiro Tenryu- He has a chop off with Flair in what would be a pretty big dream match. Flair Flop 2!

10. Mr. Perfect- Heenan freaks out on commentary as he tears right for Flair. Huge energy face off. Flair goes up top and gets slammed off. Neck snap. Flair gets an eye poke and chops to slow things down. Perfect chops back as Monsoon hypes the Loser Leaves Town match tomorrow night on Raw. You know Perfect's super cereal because he's already got a strap down. Everyone else in the ring is going about quarter speed to let Flair and Perfect take center stage.

11. Skinner- He interrupts Flair and Perfect then wanders off. Vince probably yelled at a ref to yell at him to get the hell out of the way. Perfect eliminates Flair! Heenan has a complete meltdown.

12. Koko B Ware- This is the High Energy era and Ware hikes his pajama bottoms all the way above his nipples. Skinner skins (pun unintentional) the cat, but Perfect dropkicks him out.

13. Samu- Afa literally throws him into the ring. He and Ware trade no selling headbutts. Lawler and Perfect get together to renew their classic '88 AWA World title feud.

14. The Berzerker- HUSS! HUSS! This would end up being one of Nord's last WWF matches. The match slows down for a second as everyone seems to lose their place, stop, then start going again. Perfect eliminates Lawler. DiBiase gets Perfect on the apron and tries to push him off while Lawler tries to pull him down. After a bit of struggle Perfect is eliminated and he and Lawler fight a bit on the floor. Perfect hilariously gives a resting DiBiase a casual quick chop on his way out.

15. The Undertaker- Business has picked up. Taker was hyped as a favorite in this match. Samu works him over. Backlund and Berzerker end up on the floor. Berzerker gives him a chair shot. Taker eliminates Samu. Berzerker pulls the mat of the floor and slams Backlund on the straight concrete. Taker eliminates Tenryu.

16. Terry Taylor- NOT the Red Rooster, thank goodness. I honestly forgot Taylor had a WWF run here. He was in a period where he'd bounce from WWF to WCW every year or two. Taylor and Ware fight. DiBiase sneaks up and dumps both of them. Taker choke slams and eliminates DiBiase. Taker and Berzerker are the last two in the ring as Backlund is still recovering on the floor. As Taker eliminates Berzerker to clear the ring, Giant Gonzalez makes his way to the ring in his WWF debut. Commentary wonders who, or "what", is this guy. One of the worst wrestlers you'll ever see, that's what. The body suit spray painted to look like he's naked with strategically placed fur is a disaster too. After Taker took Kamala out in their casket match, Harvey Wippleman had promised to drop a "bomb" to get revenge on Taker. Gonzalez, not an official entrant, gets in the ring and stares Taker down as the countdown for #17 runs.

17. Damien Demento- Demento comes in offscreen as the camera stays with the two giants. They go nose to nose (well, nose to chest) to highlight Gonzalez' one asset as a wrestler: he's tall. Really, really tall. Taker takes a swing but Gonzalez beats him to the (literal) punch, chops him a couple of times, and Taker goes over the top and out. But that's not enough as Gonzalez continues the beatdown on the floor. He rolls Taker back in and hits a chokeslam.

18. WWF Tag Team Champion Irwin R Schyster- Gonzalez still isn't done, posting Taker's knee multiple times. Finally a gaggle of refs and officials get him to leave. Taker tries to sit up but can't. The match resumes with IRS and Demento beating on the recovered Backlund.

19. Tatanka- Taker's still lying in the corner. Paul Bearer comes out and uses the power of the urn to get Taker to sit up and limp to the back.

20. Jerry Saggs- He uses IRS's tie to beat him up as the match starts to bog down.

21. Typhoon- This doesn't help the bad case of jobberitis the match is starting to develop.

22. Fatu- Samoan headbutts for everyone. Still a lot of random brawling with not much happening.

23. Earthquake- Quake goes after his tag partner Typhoon! Every man for himself! After a bit of fighting Typhoon hits Quake with an avalanche. Quake dodges a second one, lifts up and eliminates Typhoon, giving him an "it is what it is" look on the way out. This wasn't technically a heel turn or breakup, just the Rumble, but Quake did leave after this for a run in the WWF-partnered SWS promotion in Japan, while Typhoon would hang around for a few singles months before jumping to WCW and being the front man in the most infamous botched entrance of all time.

24. Carlos Colon- Tatanka throws Demento over but he lands on the apron. Colon eliminates Demento. Backlund fights Quake off.

25. "El Matador" Tito Santana- Backlund eliminates Fatu. He's looking pretty gassed. Unlike Flair the previous year, he's taking a lot of breaks between spots. Santana gets Backlund over but not out.

26. "The Model" Rick Martel- As always, he goes right for old tag partner Santana. Heenan even calls it before it happens! Quake eliminates IRS. Again Santana gets Backlund over but not all the way out.

27. Yokozuna- Business is here. He trades chops with Tatanka. Yokozuna eliminates Tatanka, then Colon. Quake and Yoko take center stage for a superheavyweight collision. Shoulderblock standoff.

28. "The Rocket" Owen Hart- Quake clotheslines stagger Yokozuna. Avalanche. Yokozuna dodges a second one and belly to belly suplexes Quake over the top (with some difficulty on both sides) and out.

29. Repo Man- Goes straight for Yokozuna. Bad move. A minute later Yokozuna gets on the ropes and everyone in the ring gangs up on him to try to get him out. Yokozuna fights them all off.

30. "Macho Man" Randy Savage- At least we have two guys that could realistically win in there now. Sorry Backlund, great run but you don't count. Yokozuna eliminates Santana. Owen eliminates Saggs. Owen needs two tries to skin the cat after Martel throws him over. Yokozuna eliminates Owen. Savage eliminates Repo.

FINAL FOUR: Backlund, Martel, Yokozuna and Savage. Martel spends a lot of time trying to lift Backlund, finally gets him up and slowly tries to get him over. Backlund fights out, lifts Martel up in a suplex but places him on the top rope, and knocks him off to eliminate him! Then Backlund tries to go after Yokozuna. A couple of dropkicks stagger him. Backlund charges, but Yokozuna eliminates him. We're down to Yokozuna and Savage. Yokozuna beats him down for a while, not even trying for an elimination. After a long choke Savage goes into desperation comeback mode. Clotheslines stagger Yokozuna. Double ax handle off the top. A second one gets Yokozuna to one knee. Yokozuna comes back with a superkick and belly to belly suplex. Legdrop. Avalanche! Savage dodges a second one and Yokozuna goes down for the first time in his WWF career! Savage elbow! But for some insane, lunatic, whacked out reason he covers Yokozuna to pin him! Yokozuna presses Savage over the top rope and out to eliminate him and win the Royal Rumble! Yokouna is going to Wrestlemania!

This was another Rumble that was really good for the first half and bogged down in the second. The Taker/Giant Gonzalez stuff went on a bit too long but got the point across, especially since it was really the first time anyone's ever gotten the better of Taker in his WWF career. The less said about the matches that followed the better (which I am dreading watching again to review). The Yokozuna/Savage mini-match at the end was also pretty fun. I'm a sucker for long mini-match final two showdowns in Rumbles. So overall, good, not great. ***1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Two really good title matches (with Shawn and Bret, of course) and a solid Rumble get 1993 off to a decent start. Unfortunately, the Worst Wrestlemania Ever is looming on the horizon.....

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B

WrestleMania VIII

 

Legacy Review

WrestleMania VIII

April 5, 1992 from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, IN (the last large stadium WM until X7)

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan

It's the first Double Main Event Wrestlemania! After originally scheduling the Hogan vs Flair dream match everyone knew was coming after Flair signed with WWF, they changed course and paired Hogan up with Sid Justice and moved Randy Savage over to challenge Flair for the WWF title, cutting his blood feud with Jake Roberts short. A lot of people are still unhappy about that, but to me instead of getting the two biggest stars of the '80s, we got the two best wrestlers of the '80s in a match for the WWF title at Wrestlemania, and I'll take that tradeoff. They also tried to drive the buyrate up by heavily teasing that this could possibly be Hogan's "farewell match". Yeah, and Roddy Piper retired after WM 3.

This is the last of the three WMs that have what I consider to be the best WM theme music ever. Reba McEntire opens and shockingly sings the National Anthem instead of America the Beautiful. Bobby Heenan gives us the classic "That's Tito's sister! It's Arriba McEntire! WOOOOOOO!".

Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) def "El Matador" Tito Santana in 10:38- This is Shawn's PPV singles coming out party after showing Marty Janetty how bad he wanted to kiss that barber shop window. Santana's late career conversion to El Matador was a prime example of Vince's early/mid '90s crazy gimmick obsession. Stalling start. After some shoving and speed Santana hits a crossbody for 2. More shoving. Shawn tries to push out of a headlock but Santana holds on. Shawn sees a punch coming and grabs the rope to slam the brakes, but Santana clotheslines him 360 and out. While Shawn's on the apron Santana grabs another headlock and drags Shawn back in over the top rope. Shawn hits a couple of leapfrogs on corner whips, with Santana anticipating the second and going back to the headlock. Shawn tries some rollover pin attempts. Santana counters a Shawn backdrop attempt into a small package for 2. They get running again and Shawn uses momentum to send Santana to the floor. Sherri lurks but shockingly doesn't get involved. Back in Shawn hits a .3 tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. Don't think that happened the way it was supposed to. Superkick! Shawn goes for the side suplex that was his original finisher but Santana punches out. Flying quesalupa! (hat tip to my good friend, former podcast partner and Taco Bell aficionado Cody Kahne for that one) Shawn rolls to the floor. Santana follows and gives him a stair shot. Santana with a slingshot tackle! Kneelift, ricochet into the top turnbuckle, and inverted atomic drop and now Shawn's putting on the selling clinic. Santana hits his new El Paso De whatever finisher but Shawn rolls out again. Santana scoops him up off the apron to slam him, but Shawn grabs the top rope and falls on top of him (Sherri might have also grabbed a boot, it's hard to tell from the angle) and gets the 3 count. This wasn't at the pace you'd expect from these two, it came in starts and stops and had some moments of sloppiness, but was still a serviceable opener. **1/2

Mean Gene is on the interview stage for surprise guests, the returning Legion of Doom, who had been away a few months, and the very returning Paul Ellering in his WWF debut. They give a great old school Road Warriors promo full of promise, including the killer Hawk line "You know what we've been? We've been a runaway train. Nobody driving it. Scary, huh? Yeah. Scarier now. Look who's driving the train!". Unfortunately, this would all be undone in weeks in typical early '90s WWF fashion by a ventriloquist dummy named Rocco. Don't ask.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 6:36- These guys teamed up to torment first the Ultimate Warrior, then Savage after Warrior's post-Summerslam disappearance, but after Savage got moved to the title match Taker turned face (he was getting a lot of cheers anyway) and replaced him in this match to put a bow on the whole thing. Roberts is sans reptile by order of President Tunney. Lots of stick and move from Roberts to start with slow stalking by Taker. A punch sends Taker 360 to the floor and he lands on his feet. He drags Roberts out and posts him. As Taker's getting back in Roberts hits him with a kneelift. Taker no sells a corner whip, reverses, and rolls through the usual slow zombie Taker throat shots, corner whips and chokes. He hits the leaping clothesline. Roberts slips out of a slam and hits a DDT outta nowhere! But he doesn't cover. Taker does the zombie situp. Roberts hits the short clothesline and another DDT! Again no cover. He goes out after Paul Bearer instead. Taker grabs him from behind and tombstones him on the floor! He's dead, Jim. Taker rolls Roberts' carcass back in the ring and good night. Taker goes to 2-0 at WM. The match likely would have been better with reversed roles, but long term wise both guys were where they should be. This would be Roberts' last match in WWF before taking some time off and heading to WCW for a short and hugely disappointing run later in the year, "highlighted" by his disaster of a match with Sting at Halloween Havoc. Meanwhile, Taker would move on to one of the longest runs of awful feuds (match quality wise) in wrestling history. 3/4*

 

Mean Gene is in the back with Hart and Piper for an all-time classic promo. This was a very modern style feud, throwing normal face/heel associations out the window and just having two guys that both happened to be faces fighting over the title, and both showing willingness to cross the line and do whatever it took to keep or regain it, which plays perfectly into the match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (c) in 13:51-  Piper is all business heading to the ring. Nose to nose before the bell. They trade armdrags out of lockups, feeling each other out. Piper gets a takedown and does some mat wrestling. Bret leverages him through the ropes to the floor. Piper jumps back in pissed off, shoves Bret and spits on him! Test of strength. Piper breaks out into an arm wringer but Bret reverses it. Piper chops, gives Bret a buckle shot and spins him around but can't get out. Bret hits a dropkick, but hurts his shoulder on the way down. The ref stops Piper to check, but it's a RUSE. When Piper gets close Bret wraps him up in a small package for 2! Now Piper's really pissed and slaps Bret. Jawing. Bret goes for a crossbody. Piper catches him, but the momentum sends them both slowly flopping over the top and to the floor. All these years, I've never been 100% sure if that was planned or a happy accident. Bret backs off a bit and Piper invites him back into the ring. Bret gets a clean entry and things might be cooling down....until Piper tells Bret he has a boot untied and UNLOADS a straight right on him. Bret gets busted open. Piper with a bulldog for 2. He keeps working the cut. Kneelift. Bret gets a sunset flip for 2. Piper hits rapid fire jabs for a long 2 count. Bret comeback and slugfest. A running forearm sends Piper outside again. He runs back in and they hit a double clothesline! Piper's the first one up and he slowly climbs the top rope, not a usual place for him. But Bret was playing possum again, leaps up and crotches him! Five Moves of Doom! Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Piper blocks it. Bret drops an elbow on him. He goes up to the second rope for another elbow but Piper gets a boot up. Slugfest on knees. Bret hits a headbutt. Piper pushes him, but Bret runs into the ref! They both go to the floor and Piper gives Bret a stair shot. Piper rolls Bret back in, detours and picks up the ring bell. He brings it into the ring, teases uses it and is egged on by Heenan. "Waffle him with it! What the hell, use the bell! Hit him! Give it to me, I'll hit him!" Piper realizes he's going to far and throws the bell away. Sleeper! Bret climbs up the corner, falls back, and gets the pin and the title! After the match Piper teases heelishness but eventually gives Bret the belt and they leave together. Absolutely amazing match, the best of Piper's career. Lots of guys had their best match with Bret Hart. ****1/2

 

Lex Luger makes his WWF debut in a remote interview from his home. He was coming in to be the cornerstone and big star of Vince's short-lived World Bodybuilding Federation. By '93 the WBF would be dead and Luger would be wrestling again.

The Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Sgt. Slaughter and Virgil def The Nasty Boys, Repo Man and The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:33-  This year had the shortest WM card since the first one so this is the "get a bunch of random midcarders a PPV payday" match. Virgil's wearing a basketball style faceguard for a broken nose that I can't remember if it was legit or not. Vince might have just thought the faceguard looked cool. Family Feud host Ray Combs guest ring announces, hitting the heels with some OKish jokes before the Nastys turn into Bad Luck Fale and run him off. We're donnybrooking! The faces take charge and hit a quadruple clothesline. Repo comes in to get beat around a bit and the heels regroup. Heenan has a very important announcement: "Shawn Michaels has left the building!". Monsoon is not impressed. Reset with Duggan and Saggs. Saggs manipulates Duggan to play to the crowd then hits him from behind. Duggan hits some big clotheslines and atomic drops Saggs into the face corner. Slaughter and Knobbs do some back and forth. Boss Man hits big helicopter uppercuts. Knobbs dodges a charge and Boss Man crashes hard in the corner. Boss Man and Repo do some back and forth. Repo gets crotched. Virgil hits a crossbody off the top. Knobbs breaks up the pin and Virgil is face in peril. Saggs pumphandle slam for 2. The Mountie jumps into a Boss Man spinebuster and everyone runs in. DONNYBROOK! Saggs tries to hit Virgil with the face guard but Knobbs gets it instead, and Virgil covers for the pin. Not much cohesion here, but it was a pacey and mostly inoffensive spotfest. **

SEMI-MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- WWF used some clever long term booking maneuvering to get the WWF title on Flair without having a straight match with Hogan. Two late '91 Hogan/Undertaker PPV title matches were marred with outside interference (usually Flair), so Jack Tunney held the belt up and said whoever won the '92 Royal Rumble would be the undisputed champion. That match was, of course, won by Flair from the #3 spot in the greatest Rumble match of all time. When Flair's opponent changed from Hogan to Savage they had to throw together a feud on the fly. Fortunately, it's Flair and Savage and the answer was obvious: Flair claimed Elizabeth was riding Space Mountain before she ever met Savage. Flair and Perfect even went so far to promise to post photos of Elizabeth on the jumbotrons in the stadium after winning. Artistic photos, tastefully done. You can barely see the staple holes in the stomach. Cue Savage's usual jealous rage, and it leaps from thrown together to classic feud.

WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage def Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (c) in 18:04- Savage flips his jacket and hat off and goes right for Flair. Brawl on the entrance aisle! Perfect pulls Savage off Flair and drags him back to ringside. Back in, Flair hits the first chop. Savage counters with a clothesline and a knee to the back sends Flair into the corner. Pillar to post beating. Savage charges. Flair counters with a backdrop that sends Savage a mile high over the top rope and to the floor. Flair goes to work in his playground, ramming Savage's back into the ring apron. Flair chops and the big delayed suplex. Flair goes into beatdown mode. Kneedrop. They go back outside and Savage gets rammed into the apron again. Flair suplexes him back in for 2. Flair goes after Hebner like he's Tommy Young. After a bit more beatdown Savage starts to punch back in the corner. Flair tries to pin him down and chop, but Savage keeps coming back. He counters a Flair backdrop into a neckbreaker. Heenan starts panicking. Flair gets wobblelegged off punches but gets an eye poke in. He goes up top and as usual gets slammed off. Savage gave it some extra Wrestlemania world title match oomph by getting up on the bottom rope before throwing Flair. It's the little things. Savage hits some clotheslines and Flair begs off. Flair Flip! He gets across and comes off the top rope, but Savage counters and covers for a *long* 2 count! The crowd really bit on that. Flair gets clotheslined 360 and out. Savage double ax handle from the top to the floor. Flair bounces off the guardrail, blades and we've got a classic Ric Flair crimson mask going. Stair shot, posted, Flair Flop! Savage suplexes Flair on the floor! Double ax handle off the top in the ring for another long 2 count that got the crowd again. Slam, Savage goes up top....SAVAGE ELBOW! It's all over! He covers, but MR. PERFECT PULLS HIM OFF FLAIR THAT SON OF A BITCH! Savage chases Perfect around and through the ring. While Hebner's trying to separate them Perfect tosses Flair some knucks. Flair waffles Savage with them and covers. Savage kicks out! While Flair has Hebner distracted Perfect grabs a chair and nails Savage in the knee with it. Make sure you've got your homework kids, we're going to school! Elizabeth makes her way to the ring, with WWF officials (including young Shane McMahon) trying to stop her. Flair rolls through the knee work, hits a kneebreaker and slaps on the figure four. Savage fights it while Elizabeth cheers him on and refuses to leave. Flair slaps Savage but he keeps fighting....fighting....and reverses! Flair lets it go. He goes for a slam, but Savage reverses it into a small package for 2! He knows he's knee's gone, he's doing whatever he can to try to win. Flair props Savage up in the corner closest to Elizabeth, says "It's for you, baby!" and pummels Savage with chops. Another kneebreaker. Flair keeps hold of the leg, but Savage blocks a punch, spins Flair around, rolls him up with a very obvious handful of trunks and gets the pin and the title! MASSIVE, EXPLOSIVE pop! That was a roof buster. The crowd started out lukewarm, but by the end they were eating every last bit of it up. Savage continues selling the knee as he's awarded the belt and Elizabeth celebrates with him. Flair breaks it up, asks Elizabeth "What about me?" and kisses her! You thought Savage was mad before? No. He TEARS into Flair, trying to murder the man. The officials eventually get them separated. Savage continued selling the knee the whole time. This remains one of my absolute favorite matches of all time. The only thing I can say against it is in the first part of the match Flair was trying to work more the regular WWF main event style rather than his own and it came off a little square peg/round hole (for contrast check out the home video exclusive match where he drops the title to Bret Hart, which is a 100% NWA style match in a WWF ring). But once they really got rolling the drama and intensity were off the charts and the psychology was tight, especially Savage getting desperate for a win in any way possible after his knee was destroyed. ****3/4

Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. Flair and Savage give dueling postmatch promos. On Flair's side, Perfect and Heenan are apoplectic and complain about the tights holding, but Flair calms them down and gives the great line "You did it once, now let's see you do it again. One time means NOTHING to my career". Savage says he just got a piece of Flair and is coming for the rest. Savage, a man ever dedicated to his craft, sells the knee the entire promo. Flair would end up keeping his promise, continuing targeting Savage's hurt knee and slowly planning retribution, eventually winning the title back in the fall. Ironically, this would also be Elizabeth's last major WWF appearance. She and Savage divorced a few months later.

Tatanka def "The Model" Rick Martel in 4:33- Tatanka had just arrived in WWF and was undefeated. Martel pounds away in the corner. Tatanka hits a hiptoss and some slams. Martel ducks a chop and goes outside to regroup. Heenan absolutely loses his shit on commentary over Flair losing with Monsoon egging him on the whole time. "Don't jump! It's a long way down." Martel posts his shoulder and Tatanka works the arm. He blocks a hiptoss. Martel counters with a .4 chokeslam and throws Tatanka out. The usual Martel back work follows. He goes up top, but Tatanka shakes the ropes and he gets crotched. Big Tatanka chops. Martel counters a backdrop. Tatanka hits a crossbody for a shock pin. Meh. *1/2

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) by countout in 8:38-  The Disasters became the latest team to turn on Jimmy Hart when Hart snuck Money Inc into a title match with LOD that the Disasters were originally scheduled for, and worse they did what the Disasters hadn't done- win the titles. Earthquake and DiBiase start. No, IRS. No, DiBiase tags in. Make up your minds. Quake throws DiBiase around. Disaster clotheslines for both heels. After a double team noggin knocker the heels regroup. IRS's arm gets worked a bit. DiBiase ducks a Typhoon charge and the 'Phoon slowly works his way over the top and to the floor. IRS gives him a stair shot and Typhoon is disaster in peril. Money Inc hits double teams. IRS puts a facelock on. Typhoon powers him into the corner and they do the phantom tag spot. More double teams and a 2 count. DiBiase and Typhoon double clothesline. Tags on both sides. Quake works IRS over and the crowd almost wakes up. Donnybrook. The heels get whipped into each other. Typhoon splashes IRS and Quake loads up the Earthquake splash. Before he can hit it Hart drags IRS out, DiBiase grabs the belts and the heels walk while the Disasters stand there like a couple of loons and don't do anything to stop them. Now that's a shit finish. That's what you do in the build match, not at WM. Up until then Money Inc were carrying this to scratching borderline decent. *1/2

"The Rocket" Owen Hart def Skinner in 1:36- Owen's still in the awful New Foundation oversized pajama pants and suspenders. When he backflips into the ring Skinner spits chewing tobacco in his face. Disgusting. Skinner literally controls the entire match, not letting Owen do a thing, until Owen skins the cat and get a shock roll up to win. Next. DUD

 

MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- Hogan and Sid had been circling each other ever since Sid debuted in WWF in mid-'91 and was the guest ref for the Summerslam main event. Sid eliminated Hogan in the Rumble, costing him the title (and getting a pretty big pop for doing it, Hogan's act was getting very stale by this time). Ever the gracious loser, Hogan helped Flair eliminate Sid out of spite and the two had a mid-ring standoff after the match. Sid's heel turn really started when Hogan was declared the challenger for WM, going off on a jealous fit. It was solidified on the pre-WM Saturday Night's Main Event, when he abandoned Hogan to die in a tag match. After turning Sid started carting out ambulance loads of jobbers on stretchers to get him over as a monster and his powerbomb over as a super finisher. Meanwhile, Hogan took up a whole episode of Prime Time Wrestling dedicated to his career highlights and didn't give a straight answer on whether he was retiring or not.

Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice (w/Harvey Whippleman) by DQ in 12:28- Hogan is announced at his usual 303 pounds but looks noticeably smaller due to the ongoing federal investigation into WWF's steroid use. As soon as he hits the ring Sid jumps him. Hogan comes back, punches Sid out, and clotheslines him off the apron, all while his music is still playing. Finally he does the shirt tear, the music stops and the bell rings. Sid takes his sweet time getting back in. Jawing at each other ends with a Sid knee to the gut. Slow beatdown. Hogan punches back and Sid falls to the floor again. More stalling. When he finally gets back in Sid wants a test of strength. Monsoon comes up with the name Psycho Sid, which would end up becoming Sid's real ring name a few years later. Sid gets the advantage. Hogan slowly works back up and Sid puts him down again. When Hogan gets up again Sid pushes him into the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and hits the corner clothesline. He takes a swing at Whippleman. Sid grabs a goozle and hits a chokeslam. Hogan starts the spasm selling. The crowd is mostly the usual pro Hogan, but there's definitely some people cheering Sid, just like at the Rumble. He slowly works Hogan's back a little. Hogan falls to the floor. Sid gives him a couple of shots with Whippleman's doctor bag. Back in Sid locks in the Nerve Pinch of Extreme Time Killing +4, as if this match hasn't crawled enough already. After a bit Hogan does the arm drops and comes back. Sid kills it with a side suplex. He calls for the powerbomb and hits it. Hulk Up. Punches, buckle shots, big boot, big man slam, legdrop. Hogan covers but the booked finish is running late so everyone has to improvise. Sid kicks out and Whippleman runs in, drawing the DQ. After the bell the guy that was supposed to cause the DQ but missed his cue, Papa Shango, finally comes to the ring. The heels beat Hogan down, until.....BAH GAWD THAT'S THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR'S MUSIC! Warrior makes his surprise return after being gone since Summerslam, also much smaller than he used to be. He's also got a different hairstyle, sparking the urban legend that the "original" Warrior died and this was his replacement. He and Hogan clear the ring and celebrate to end the show. Of course Hogan wouldn't fully retire yet, but he did end up taking nearly a year off, returning in early '93 for the build to WM 9. This match is one of the worst main events in WM history. I don't know if anyone's ever overpromised and underdelivered more in big matches than Sid, and Hogan didn't look very motivated either. 1/2*
 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Definitely a tale of two halves. The first half is mind-blowing spectacular, Great American Bash '89 level stuff with two 4.5+ star title matches, a serviceable undercard and a great LOD return promo. The second half is utter trash, with no redeeming features other than Warrior's shock return and Monsoon and Heenan's continued awesomeness on commentary. Speaking of them, this and the '92 Rumble are the pinnacle of the legendary Monsoon/Heenan combo and the whole show is 100% worth watching just to listen to them. How many modern shows can you say that about?
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

Clash of the Champions XI

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush

June 13, 1990 from McAlister Field House on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, SC

Commentary: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

We're on the road to the Great American Bash and Sting finally winning the big one after his very badly timed knee injury. The famous raised ramp makes its Clash debut here. I loved seeing that again on the recent NXT Takeover. A lot of terrible ideas came out of this period of WCW, but the raised entrance ramp was not one of them.

The Southern Boys def The Fabulous Freebirds in 7:29- The Southern Boys are getting the new boy push after arriving in the company in the spring. Hayes really went to town with the eyeliner. He's also got Fantasia on his tights, a bit of foreshadowing for the group's coming expansion. The Freebirds pull the Suzuki-Gun ambush. The Boys avoid getting whipped into each other, hit double backdrops and shoulderblocks to send the Freebirds outside. Reset with Garvin and Smothers. Garvin gets a knee up in the corner and covers for 2. Hayes is whiffing pretty bad on some of his corner punches. The Freebirds try to double team but get blindsided by a HUGE Armstrong crossbody off the top. Hayes tags in and does the usual stalling and strutting. Armstrong blocks a rollup attempt. He hits a clothesline, looks lost for a second, then goes up top. Garvin punches him off the top rope from behind before he can do anything. The heels gets some near falls on Armstrong. Armstrong tries to come back but Hayes gives him a clubbing blow in the back of the head on a backdrop attempt. Hayes slowly goes up top. Armstrong throws him some punches and slams him off. Tags on both sides. Smothers rolls through the hot tag sequence and we're donnybrooking. Smothers rolls Garvin up. Hayes nails him with a clothesline to break it up. Garvin gets a knee to the face but the ref is distracted. Armstrong hits him with a headbutt off the top and Smothers covers for the upset win! Perfectly acceptable. **1/2

"Wildfire" Tommy Rich def Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) by DQ in 3:46- Bigelow's sporting the rare sleeveless look tonight. The first half of the match is Bigelow tossing Rich around, Rich uses his quickness to get away and get some shots in that do little but piss Bigelow off, rinse and repeat. Rich tries a headbutt, but a minute later Bigelow shows him how to do that. Rich dodges an avalanche and rolls Bigelow up for barely a 1 count. After some mounted punches Bigelow picks Rich up, carries him around a bit, and hits an inverted atomic drop. Press slam. Bigelow chokes Rich, and won't break even when the ref tries to pull him off. Bigelow gets DQ'd. Humperdink eventually has to drag him off. The hell was that? Bigelow comes in, squashes Rich in 30 seconds, looks like a monster and we all move on with our lives. It's not hard, Ole. I guess maybe they were worried that might get people cheering Bigelow when they wanted him as a heel, so this was the solution? Maybe? 1/2*

We get a video package of the soon to debut Big Van Vader, using New Japan footage since he'd primarily worked in Japan to that point. After that, Gary Capetta brings out another new signee: El Gigante. He's tall. He's very very tall. Capetta tells us how tall he is with lots of numbers and fun Gigante facts to know and learn. Gigante waves to the crowd and looks tall. Capetta chats with him in Spanish for a bit and provides translation. The crowd is more polite than others might be *coughPhiladelphiacough*, but still doesn't seem to care very much.

"The Z Man" Tom Zenk and "Captain" Mike Rotunda def The Samoan SWAT Team in 5:25- This is a three quarters rematch from the last PPV, Capitol Combat (the one with Robocop, I'm legally required to mention that), with Zenk replacing Tommy Rich. This is the 2.0 version of the Samoans with the Samoan Savage replacing Samu. They do their usual ritual at the start, with the usual crowd booing stalling shenanigans. Once they finally get done Fatu dives right in with Rotunda. Good back and forth start. Savage tries to come in without tagging but the ref stops him. A Zenk slam and dropkick sends Savage to the floor and the heels regroup. Rotunda hits a crossbody on Savage. All four guys get in and Fatu hits him in the back of the head behind the ref's back. The heels pound Rotunda around a bit with some near falls. Rotunda tries to reverse a hiptoss but eats clothesline instead. He get thrown to the floor and slammed outside. Zenk gets suckered in and the SST try another double team, but Rotunda takes them both out with a double clothesline and tags. Dropkick party. Zenk makes the cardinal mistake of trying to headbutt Samoans. Why does no one ever learn? Fatu Samoan drop on Zenk. While the ref is getting Savage out Rotunda and Zenk swap without tagging and Rotunda rolls Fatu up in a super ugly small package to win. How the hell did the ref get the face legal man confused, they look nothing alike! Sadly, very badly executed finishes, especially in tag matches, is a staple of Ole Anderson's reign as head booker. Also, the randomly thrown together team not going anywhere beat the established tag team. You'd think Vince McMahon was booking this. All that aside though, the majority of the match was OK. **1/4

Mean Mark Callous (w/Paul E Dangerously) def "Flyin" Brian Pillman in 5:40- Paul E distracts Pillman and Callous takes him out from behind. Pillman leapfrogs over Callous in the corner and hits a dropkick. Callous shrugs it off and goes right back on offense. A big boot sends Pillman flying off the apron and into the guardrail! Pillman flips out of a side suplex attempt and tries a crucifix. Callous backs him into the corner. Chinlock city. Another Pillman comeback is killed with a clothesline for 2. Big Pillman chops. Callous stops that with a throat punch. A side suplex gets 2. Pillman dodges a flying elbow in the corner and hits more chops. Still not happening. Callous hits a powerslam but Pillman dodges the follow up legdrop. Callous tries to throw him out but Pillman skins the cat, goes up top and hits a missile dropkick! Paul E takes a shot. They have a miscommunication and have to redo a spot because it's the finish. Pillman tries a springboard crossbody but Callous catches him, gives him a hot shot, and the ref counts 3 even though Pillman clearly kicks out at 2. Another terribly executed finish, but the stuff before that was mostly fine. It's too bad Pillman's already doing enhancement stuff after a hot start to his WCW career, but Callous looked like a monster going into his US title match with Luger at GAB and flashed the potential that would convince Vince to pluck him away soon after. *3/4

Sting pops in for a quick word with Tony, saying the Dudes with Attitudes are keeping an eye on Flair.

NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Rock N Roll Express def The Midnight Express (c) (w/Jim Cornette) by DQ in 12:08- Not even Ole Anderson's booking could make this suck. The Midnights were in the middle of an insane stretch where they were putting on 4+ star matches every damn PPV with whoever they were paired with. Eaton and Gibson start. Eaton does some heel ducking in the ropes and complaining about phantom rule violations to Nick Patrick. After a bit Patrick pulls Eaton aside for a word to get him to stop moaning. They go speed and Gibson hits a hiptoss and flying headscisscors. He keeps the headscissors locked in on the mat. Eaton maneuvers him into the heel corner but Gibson just squeaks out. Lane comes in firing karate kicks. Gibson counters with an enzuguri. Morton comes in and continues to be a step ahead of Lane. Morton slides under Eaton's legs and hits a dropkick and a hurricanrana! Now it's Morton's turn to barely escape the heel corner. Gibson atomic drops Lane into the heel corner and he butts heads with Eaton! More RNR running rings around the Midnights. Morton gets a rollup for 2. He tries another armdrag, but Eaton was ready this time and pokes him in the eye. He sits Morton on the top turnbuckle and sets up a superplex, but Morton slips out and gets another roll up. Lane runs in, grabs Morton by the hair and runs him into the middle turnbuckle. He gives Gibson a kick for good measure. Donnybrook! Express double backdrop on Gibson. The Express turn around and do a double rollup! The ref doesn't seem to know what to do and everyone settles down and resets. The Express hit a decapitation device like double team on Morton. Big Eaton suplex. Express neck snap/elbow drop combo. Morton dodges a charge and Eaton runs into the ringpost. Tags. Donnybrook II! Morton cactus clotheslines Eaton! Gibson puts a sleeper on Lane. Eaton recovers and hits Gibson in the back off the top rope and Lane covers. Gibson kicks out! Hell of a near fall there. The RNR double dropkick Eaton! Lane grabs the ref to stop the count. After a bit more confusion the bell rings and the match is awarded to the RNR by DQ. The end sequence was a mess yet again, but even a lower tier RNR/Midnight match is a damn good match. ***1/2

Barry Windham def Doug Furnas in 5:40- Windham had just rejoined the company to help fill the Horsemen back out after his '89 WWF run was cut short by off-field issues. Furnas is one of the long line of powerlifters turned wrestlers, but unlike others he had some spotty flippydo in his game. After some jawing Furnas runs Windham over with a shoulderblock, shocking Windham. Leapfrog, leapfrog, leapfrog, finally Windham catches him. Furnas turns it into a sunset flip for 2. Another rough shoulderblock sends Windham to the floor. Windham comes back with slaps and punches in the corner. After a corner whip Furnas jumps up to the top rope and backflips over Windham. Furnas press slam. Windham tries an inverted atomic drop off mounted punches but Furnas blocks it and hits a stiff clothesline for 2. Windham gets a knee up the the corner and gloats over finally getting Furnas down. Furnas turns a slam attempt into a powerslam for 2. Belly to belly suplex for 2. A (whiffed) dropkick sends Windham 360 over the top rope. Furnas tries to suplex him back in. Windham slips out, hits a back suplex with a bridge and puts his feet on the ropes for the cheat leverage pin. Eh. Furnas is sloppy but watchable in an amusing way (including the giant wedgie he has all match from the junior trunks he's wearing), and Windham ring generaled him to a fairly tolerable match. *3/4

NWA United States Heavyweight Champion "The Total Package" Lex Luger def Sid Vicious (w/Ole Anderson) in :26- Vicious joined the Horsemen about the same time that Windham came back, letting Ole get out of the ring and into JJ Dillon's old manager role. Luger didn't bother to bring the belt since it's a non-title match. Luger goes for Ole and Sid hits him from behind and gives him the ol' back rake. Sid goes to check on Ole, who's still in the ring, and when he turns around Luger wallops him with a clothesline and pins him. Da fuq? Is the show running long or did Sid piss in someone's cornflakes? NR

NWA World Tag Team Championship: Doom (c) (w/Teddy Long) def The Steiner Brothers in 11:19- This is the Steiners' Contractually Obligated Rematch after dropping the belts to Doom at Capitol Combat. Scott and Simmons start and go nose to nose. Scott hits the fallaway slam! Fallaway slam for Reed! Simmons Bret bumps in the corner and Scott nails him in the back of the head with a stff Steinerline. Scott/Reed shoulderblock standoff. Simmons lulls Rick in and punches him literally behind the ref. He tries a belly to belly, but Rick blocks it and hits it. Rick & Reed block each other's hiptosses. Rick ends the stalemate with a Steinerline. Rick gets a rollup for 2, then has to fight out of the heel corner. He cocks for another Steinerline, but Reed sees it and bails. Rick chases and Doom double teams him on the floor. Back in Rick 360 sells a clothesline. Reed double ax handle off the top. They sucker Scott in and throw Rick over the top and out again. Rick gets posted. Reed hits a double underhook suplex. Rick dodges a charge and Reed knees the top turnbuckle. Rick takes a chance with a double ax handle off the second rope, but it works and both sides tag. Scott hits dropkicks. Powerslam on Simmons. DONNYBROOK! Long tosses Reed an international object (called that unironically by JR because we're in that period). Scott props Simmons up and gives him a superplex! Reed pops Scott with the foreign object. Simmons covers Scott, and for some reason at the same time Rick pins Reed even though neither are legal. The ref ignores them and counts Scott down for the Doom win. Another solid match from two teams that worked well together, and didn't mind if things got a bit snug. ***1/4

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff def NWA World Television Champion Arn Anderson in 11:39- Orndorff debuted in WCW as a face in May after having taken a couple of years off to heal longstanding injuries (Including, apparently, death, at least according to some media reports. He got better.) and quickly joined up with Sting's anti-Horsemen Dudes With Attitudes group. Before the bell Orndroff poses with the TV belt, a title he would actually end up winning in 1993. Orndroff cranks a headlock and catches Arn trying a monkey flip, raking his face with his boots. Arn tries a hiptoss but Orndorff counters into a backslide for 2. Things get heated with some shoving and punching. Orndorff gets a sleeper. Arn reverses it. Orndorff runs him into the corner to break it and covers for 2. Orndorff figure four! Arn gets to the ropes. Orndorff stays on the knee, posting it. Arn desperation World's Greatest Spinebuster outta nowhere! He works on Orndorff's back a little. Orndorff does a sunset flip and digs into his old heel playbook, pulling Arn's tights down to try and get him over. Arn punches out. The whole section opposite hard camera got the full AA there. Arn puts on an abdominal stretch and plays the rope leverage game with the ref. Orndorff ducks a punch and hits an atomic drop that sends Arn into the turnbuckles, but in the ricochet off that he and Orndorff collide and both guys are down. When they get back up Orndorff wobblelegs Arn with punches while Arn swings wildly at the air. Orndorff forearm, elbow drops and kneelift. He tries coming off the second rope but Arn gets his knees up. Arn wraps up a small package, but Orndorff reverses it and gets the win! Your usual solid but unspectacular Orndorff match. **3/4

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: The Junkyard Dog def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) (w/Ole Anderson) by DQ in 6:37- They bring back the old belt and lightning graphic for Flair's introduction! Nice. To say JYD is past his prime is an understatement. I'm really not trying to be cruel here, but I'm not sure if he's going to wrestle Flair or eat him. They exchange slaps, with JYD winning. Multiple JYD pushes out of lockups. JR calls JYD "thick". Unintentional shoot comments FTW. Flair continues his mad Flair bumping. A punch sends Flair 360 over and onto the ramp, followed by the most random Flair Flop of all time. Back in JYD no sells chops and gives Flair the pillar to post beating. Flair gets an eye poke and the chops start to have some effect. JYD no sells the kneedrop. More punches and Flair Flop 2. Flair snaps JYD's throat over the top rope and steals Bob Caudle's chair from right under him. JYD no sells a chair shot to the head. Were Jim Herd and Ole Anderson watching videos of Zeus in WWF and thinking that was a fun idea to try? Flair Flip! He runs across and gets off the top rope but JYD punches him as he comes down. Ole sacrifices himself to allow Flair to get a knee in the back. Flair goes up top and gets slammed off. Finally Ole runs in for the cheap DQ. Woof. Talk about Flair wrestling himself for six minutes. And the match was so short he barely had time to get warmed up. Easily the worst major show Flair match of his peak years. *

After the bell the Horsemen run in for the beatdown. The Dudes come out and everyone does the big brawl. Sting tries to chase down Flair but Flair bails. After commercial everything's calmed down and Sting officially challenges Flair to a title match at Great American Bash. Flair runs back in as the show closes and Sting and Flair work a mini-match as the credits roll. "Call the Hotline to find out what happens folks, we're out of time!"

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Like most first half of '90 WCW shows the tag division does the heavy lifting, but there's no good to great Flair main event to salvage the rest of it on this one. The top two tag matches are worth a look, but both pairings have better ones on other shows as well.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+

Saturday Night's Main Event XXVII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XXVII

July 28, 1990 (taped July 16) from the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, NE

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

For the second straight year there is a special summer edition of SNME, and this year for some random reason it's themed around the famous nature TV show Animal Kingdom. In between every match there's a comedy (or "comedy", your mileage may vary) skit with Lord Alfred Hayes and Mean Gene "Jim" Okerlund parodying that show with the help of some of the wrestlers.

WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 9:43- Tonight's Warrior belt strap color is light blue. He's also going with the rare painted logo on each cheek look instead of full face paint. Rude does the ambush from behind but Warrior quickly fights him off. Atomic drop with the usual perfect Rude sore ass sell followed by a 360 clothesline. Warrior gives Rude and Heenan a double noggin knocker. Warrior double ax handle off the top rope. Rude dodges a big splash and Warrior rolls outside to recover. Rude grabs the title belt and whacks Warrior with it while Heenan distracts the ref. Rude tries to come off the top rope but Warrior gives him a shot in the gut, followed by an inverted atomic drop with more of that magic Rude selling. He stops selling just long enough to get a knee up in the corner on a charging Warrior, followed by a clothesline. Rude tries a slam. Warrior blocks and reverses. On a second slam attempt Rude squeaks out and locks on a sleeper! Rude jumps on Warrior's back and he start to go down. The ref lifts Warrior's leg to check if he's out? That's a new one. Of course Warrior comes back after two drops and jawbreakers out. He tries to Warrior up but Rude pounds him down with punches. He goes for the Rude Awakening but Warrior powers out. Rude ducks a clothesline, and kick wham Rude Awakening! Warrior kicks out! Now the full Warrior up happens. Forever clotheslines. Flying tackle, splash, cover...but Heenan pulls Warrior off! Warrior chases. Rude follows and they have a quick fight in the middle of the entrance aisle. Warrior presses Rude over his head and carries him to the ring, but Heenan gives him a shot in the back. Warrior corners Heenan in the ring and beats him down. After Heenan's gone the ref calls for the bell and gives Warrior the match by DQ. Slow start, good middle that started to echo their really good '89 IC title matches, crap finish. This would lead to a very disappointing steel cage rematch at Summerslam before Rude left the company for greener pastures. **1/4

Next up is a video tribute to Hulk Hogan, featuring some serious subliminal advertising (HULK RULES flashing on and off screen for a tenth of a second at a time) and the footage of Earthquake taking him out for a couple of months with an injury. After the video Vince brings Hogan into the ring for his big return. He thanks all the Hulkamaniacs that prayed for him and send him cards or letters and promises to respond to each and every one (Which makes me wonder if he did. Vince probably had a bunch of interns in the basement of Titan Towers mailing out generic thank you cards in Hogan's name for months.). They talk about Hogan's scheduled match with Earthquake at Summerslam. Hogan says Tugboat will be in his corner to neutralize Dino Bravo. Speaking of, Quake, Bravo and Jimmy Hart make their way to the ring. They corner Hogan as Hogan holds them out with his YAPAPI weightlifting belt until Tugboat comes out to even the odds. The heels leave with no contact made.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: Demolition (c) def The Rockers in 9:31- Both the Rockers and the Hart Foundation were chasing Demolition's tag titles, but all three teams were faces so something had to give. The champs not only turned heel, they brought Crush in to always give them a numbers advantage (and to let Ax rest his broken down body). All three Demos come out, and it's unsurprisingly Smash and Crush in the ring for this one. Smash and Janetty start. Smash smashes. Janetty hits an armdrag, followed by a clothesline and knee clip. A dropkick sends Smash out. The Rockers hit double team flying headscissors and dropkicks. After a sneaky Rocker behind the back tag they hit another (sloppy) double team. Crush says eff this, runs in and clotheslines both Rockers out of their boots. Crush lifts Janetty out of a headlock and places him on the top rope. Janetty comes off the second rope with a sunset flips that Crush totally fraks up the selling of for 2. Arm work on Crush. Janetty slides under Smash's legs on the apron but gets greeted by an Ax clothesline on the floor. Janetty goes Rocker in peril. Crush press slams Janetty from the floor over the top rope back in the ring. Then Crush comes off the top rope and hits a tiltawhirl backbreaker. He catches Janetty running off the ropes and choke slams him. Smash hooks in a bear hug. Shawn helps Janetty get out. Janetty with a Bret bump! He ducks a clothesline, counters a backdrop and gets a hot tag to Shawn. Shawn hits a flying tackle and dropkick. The Demos are whipped into each other. Double dropkick. Double superkick! They go up top and hit a double fist drop off the top rope! Crush breaks up the pin. Shawn rolls Smash up, but the ref is distracted. Ax comes in, clotheslines Shawn to hell, and covers him with his face hidden to get the pin. After the bell the Hart Foundation run in to argue, followed by the recently signed Legion of Doom! Well there's only one way to settle this: a fatal four way match! Man, how awesome would that have been. Elimination rules of course, like all four ways should be. The Rockers carried the Demos to a fun match, and the booking got the new three man Demolition unit over so I'll call that a win too. ***

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Mr. Perfect (c) (w/Bobby Heenan) def Tito Santana in 10:11- Quick Perfect start. Santana comes back with a lightning sequence of a hiptoss, armdrag and dropkick. Perfect flip sells a Santana chop on the floor. They have an arm wringer trade off in the ring. Perfect counters a backdrop and hits a clothesline, followed by a kneelift. Slugfest. Perfect locks in a neck wringer. Heenan distracts the ref so he can also choke. Santana grabs Perfect's hair and punches out, with a great delayed sell by Perfect. Santana gets a boot up in the corner, followed by a clothesline with a 360 Perfect sell. After a punch Perfect lands on Hebner's leg, injuring it. Santana clips Perfect's knee and locks the figure four in! But Hebner's writhing in pain with his back conveniently turned and can't see it. Flying tortilla! Hebner takes forever to get in position, slow counts, and Perfect JUST kicks out! Santana gets a diving clothesline off the second rope, followed by another slow count and near fall. Santana is pissed at Hebner. A replacement ref runs in and Hebner is taken to the back. Santana gets a crossbody for 2. Perfect recovers and hits the snap mare/neck snap combo. Another slugfest ends with a Perfect .5 superkick. Santana punches in the corner and Perfect flies 360 over the top and out. Another 360 sell on the floor. They do the spot where Santana slides Perfect across the ring and Perfect slides all the way crotch first into the ring post. Santana follows that up with an inverted atomic drop, working the hurt body part. Then a regular atomic drop, where Perfect slingshots himself (there's no logical kayfabe way to justify that) into the corner, and Santana covers for another long 2 count. Santana hooks in a small package, but Perfect reverses it and gets the clean pin! A heel IC champion that can still win matches legitimately, what a concept. Great wrestling match from two fantastic workers, let down a bit by the unnecessary ref bump shenanigans in the middle. ***1/2

 

"The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich def "Playboy" Buddy Rose in 3:09- This is Tornado's WWF debut. He was the most well known of the many Von Erich sons, and had a quick cup of coffee with the NWA World Heavyweight Title in 1984 while Ric Flair was visiting Dallas, one of the few early '80s regional world title changes that got recognized by the NWA, probably because of how high profile the Dallas territory was. Rose had also just returned to the WWF, working as a high profile name jobber to wind down his career. Giving to the next generation, just like you should do. Rose slaps Tornado in the corner and runs away. Tornado blocks hiptoss and slam attempts and hits his own. After a couple of corner whips Rose goes upside down into the last one. He gets tied up in the ropes and Tornado gives him a couple of shots. After getting out Rose flops to the floor. Back in he gets a little token offense in until Tornado slams him off the top rope. The discus punch finishes it. Perfectly acceptable introductory squash. *

The show closes with Rude and Warrior hyping up their steel cage match at Summerslam.

Saturday Night's Main Event XXVI

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XXVI

April 28, 1990 (taped April 23) from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

It's a few weeks after Wrestlemania 6 and the torch has been passed (in theory) to The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior vacated the Intercontinental title after winning the WWF title because being a double champion wasn't a thing back then like it is nowadays.

The show opens with Vince and Ventura on horseback. Vince's horse is....less than cooperative. It was promptly fired after the show and signed with WCW the next week, repackaged by Jim Herd and Ole Anderson as Glue Factory. 

Hulk Hogan def Mr. Perfect (w/The Genius) in 8:03- Putting a bow on this feud before both guys move on. Perfect does a huge corner bump after Hogan tosses him out of the lockup, then jumps over the top rope to the floor to bail. Perfect hits a hiptoss and wants some acknowledgement. Hogan acknowledges with a hiptoss of his own, followed by slams. Perfect gets some punches and chops in the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and goes for the big boot, but Perfect grabs the rope to stop and slides out. Hogan follows and Perfect gets posted. Pillar to post Hogan beating with the usual big clotheslines and elbows. He throws a few chops in too. A back elbow sends Perfect 360 over and out again. Genius tries to sneak behind Hogan. Hogan catches him, but Genius drops the scroll and Perfect nails Hogan with it. Perfect teases a top rope dive to the floor but Hebner stops him. Back in Perfect hits the neck snap and some elbows. Hogan dodges the last elbow and does a mini hulk up. Perfect counters a backdrop. Perfectplex. Hulk Up. 3 punches, big boot, legdrop, LOLHoganwinz. Afterward Genius tries to attack Hogan and Perfect leaves him to die, setting up his managerial change to Bobby Heenan. Have to say, I think there's some wrongbook happening here. A win would have helped set Perfect up nicely for the IC title tournament that he would go on to win, and more importantly a Hogan loss would have continued his downward spiral after the WM loss, which would have given even more weight to his coming injury angle with Earthquake and give him an even bigger mountain to climb upon his return. *1/2

 

Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) def Hillbilly Jim in 1:58- Jim dodges a Quake ambush attempt before the bell and punches and chops Quake across the ring. Buckle shots. Jim takes time to do a cartwheel for no reason and that gives Quake time to recover and squash him in the corner. Jim counters an avalanche attempt. Hart gets on the apron and steal's Jim's horseshoe. Quake gets him from behind on the distraction. Big elbow drop, followed by the Earthquake splash and the end. Quake hits his aftershocks and Jim does the stretcher job. Squash. 1/4*

 

The Hart Foundation and The Rockers go to a double DQ in 9:30- Both teams are faces and both are chasing the new tag champs Demolition, who are also currently faces, so someone's got to give at some point. The Harts lean a little more heelish during their promo and work the match as nominal heels, which makes sense given their history. This is implied as a de facto #1 contender's match. Bret and Janetty start. Janetty turns on the agility early and often, sliding under Bret and slipping away from him. He tries a roll up but Bret grabs the rope. Great chess match stuff. Shawn comes off with a crossbody off the top but Bret counters it for 2. The Rockers hit some double teams until Anvil has enough and runs in to kill them both with clotheslines. He runs Janetty over with a shoulderblock. Janetty goes to the agility again and gets a drop toe hold on Anvil. Shawn tries to slam Anvil. Not happening. Anvil laughs and reverses it. Shawn slips out and hits a dropkick. Bret catches Shawn leapfrogging and hits an inverted atomic drop and does the gut stomp. After tagging out Bret digs into the old heel bag of tricks and gets his knee in Shawn's back on a rope run. Jimmy Hart must be so proud. Shawn does his classic mile high bump off an Anvil backdrop and goes Rocker in peril. The Harts do the double team slingshot shoulderblock. Shawn gets a sunset flip on Bret for 2. Demolition makes their way down to ringside to scout the competition. Bret sees them and wants them gone. While he's distracted Shawn dropkicks him in the back and Bret falls to the floor! After getting up he gets in a shoving match with Demolition as we have a short commercial clip. Back in with Bret and Shawn doing Bret and Shawn things. Their chemistry was down day 1. Bret hitting stiff European uppercuts in the corner and Shawn spit selling them is something we'll see for the next 7 years. Shawn dodges a Bret elbow off the top rope and tags. Janetty cleans house. Powerslam on Anvil! SUPERKICK! That gets a 2 count. Janetty gets a rollover corner sunset flip for 2. Bret hits a neckbreaker and tags. He primes Anvil for the slingshot splash, but Janetty dodges and tags! Anvil catches Shawn but Shawn uses the momentum to drop Anvil into a cover for 2. The kickout sent Shawn to the floor. Demolition gets too close for Janetty's liking and he goes out to help, and before you know it it's ON LIKE DONKEY KONG! All 3 teams brawl in the ring as the ref throws the match out. The screwy finish makes sense from a long term story standpoint but it still takes away from what was otherwise the outstanding crisp, clean match you'd expect from two of the best teams ever. ***3/4

 

WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def Haku (w/Bobby Heenan) in 4:49- Tonight's Warrior belt strap color is white. Haku hits Warrior with chops during his entrance. Warrior fights back and hits a backdrop with the belt still on. A clothesline was supposed to send Haku 360 and out but he missed and ended up flipping around in the ring. Warrior works the arm a bit, spinning Haku around the ring by the arm. Haku gets a knee up the corner and hits clotheslines. Dropkick for 2. Backbreaker for 2. Back suplex for 2. Haku hits a splash and Warrior Warriors up without the ropes because a normal like Haku isn't worthy of the full rope Warrior up. Clotheslines, flying tackle, big splash, and it's over. Not the most promising start to a title reign, match quality wise. 1/2*

Clip of Ted DiBiase attacking the Big Boss Man before his match at WM.

 

The Big Boss Man def Akeem (w/Slick) by DQ in 3:18- This is a Wrestlemania rematch as the old tag partners try to settle the score one last time. Another quick start. It's all Boss Man early. Akeem gets a corner clothesline. Stinkface! Well, slightly more high impact. Ass splash? Slick holds Boss Man down in the corner so Akeem can hit him. Akeem big splash for 2. He hooks up a piledriver but Boss Man backdrops him down to the floor! Then Boss Man flips him back in. He hits Akeem with buckle shots, and Akeem keeps ramming himself into the corner long after Boss Man stopped. Boss Man Slam. Boss Man stalls for time until DiBiase runs in for the cheap DQ. Akeem and Slick skedaddle as their feud is officially over and DiBiase's is officially on. The heels handcuff Boss Man to the top rope. Virgil gets the nightstick. Boss Man gets his key out, unlocks himself and chases the heels off. Very spunky little sprint before the DQ. *

In between every match on the show there's been a short bit for Rick Martel's Arrogance spray. This last one features a car, a woman, and a lot of suggestive double entendres. Is this cologne or liquid Viagra?

The show closes with Bobby Heenan saying he spotted some weaknesses in Warrior's game, and when Rick Rude is back from "the most intense training any wrestler has ever been through" they're going to exploit them so Rude can beat Warrior for a title for the second time. Warrior responds in the usual insane Warrior way. "THE DISEASE IS OUT OF CONTROL!" Yeah, so's this promo.

Clash of the Champions X

Legacy Blog

Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout

February 6, 1990 from the Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, TX

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jim Cornette

The Turner graphic boys have finally (and sadly) completely dispensed with the classic "lightning and belts" opening from the original Clash. Because this show is in Texas, the intro consists of a bunch of static cardboard South Park-style but with even less animation cutouts of wrestlers being shot. Some in the head. It might be horrific if it wasn't so cheesy. Cornette instantly jumps into the sub-Jerry Lawler one liners and I'm sad to say it goes on the whole show.

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams def The Samoan Savage (w/The Big Kahuna) in 7:55- We get another Jim Herd Special gimmick video package during the intros. Williams is Doctor Death, see, so let's make him an ACTUAL doctor. In an ambulance. Saving people. "Get this man to a hospital!". Gurning for the camera on the way out. Yeah, it's little wonder Williams said "screw this shit, I'm going back to Japan" right after this. Williams jumps Savage from behind at the bell. After a huge clothesline Savage bails. Football tackles. Savage counters with a clothesline of his own. He throws Williams out and Humperdink gets a choke in. Woman comes down and takes a seat at ringside, scouting for new talent after dumping Doom. Savage hooks in the Nerve Pinch of Samoan Pinchiness Prowess +1. Williams tries to come back but Savage kills it with a powerslam for 2 and goes back to the nerve pinch. Williams tries a sunset flip. Savage chops him in the forehead but Williams no sells it before missing an elbow drop. Savage side suplex. Williams dodges a splash off the top rope. Huge delayed press slam. Williams blocks a hiptoss and rolls up a backslide to win. Big disappointment. Plodding and not nearly as stiff as you'd expect from these guys. *1/4

Commercial for the upcoming Wrestle War PPV. It advertises the currently scheduled top two matches: Flair vs. Sting and Luger vs Williams. Like the man says, card subject to change.

Terry Funk is in the ring to interview the reformed Four Horsemen: Flair, Sting and Ole & Arn Anderson (Ole coming out of retirement to replace Tully Blanchard). Ole has some words for Sting, and he's going to stand there and listen because it's 3 on 1. That's ominous. Ole says Sting is no longer a Horseman. He wasn't even in the group long enough to get his Horseman card laminated. Ole says Flair brought him and Arn back in to take Sting out. Sting got a reprieve because he helped Flair out against Funk. They were set again to take him out at Starrcade, but Flair waved them off at the last second. But now, Sting's signed for a title match against Flair. That's an unforgivable sin. But, Sting helped Flair so Flair owes him one. They're going to save his life tonight. Ole gives Sting an ultimatum: go to the promoters and cancel the match by the end of the show tonight, or face Horseman justice. Sting refuses and tries to grab Ole. Flair blindside punches him. The Andersons hook Sting up and Flair tells him to do the smart thing and walk away, and slaps him. The 3 Horsemen leave Sting laying in the middle of the ring. Just tremendous long term storytelling. Unfortunately it would all get derailed later in the show.

 

"Flyin'" Brian Pillman and "The Z Man" Tom Zenk def The MOD Squad in 9:53- Pillman and Spike start. Basic back and forth. The faces work Spike's arm. Pillman and Zenk do a big boot/enzuguri double team on Basher. Spike saves the pin. The Squad try to double team, but Pillman takes them out with a slingshot double clothesline! Pillman gets a backdrop and whiffs on a spinning heel kick, but Spike sorta sells it anyway. Shades of the Aleister Black/Lars Sullivan NXT title match Black Mass botch. Random side thought: has WWE botched post-NXT main roster booking any worse than Black? (and I know that's a very competitive list) Guy should be a star. Well, him and Almas. Anyway, Spike face plants Pillman and they go into a bland a face in peril sequence. Pillman gets a leapfrog and diving back elbow follow up but the tag is cut off. After Spike misses an elbow off the top Pillman gets the hot tag. Zenk hits a springboard reverse crossbody to win. Pillman and Zenk were a dynamic team but they didn't have much to work with here. Between this show and Wrestle War they would win the tournament for the revived US tag titles. *1/2

 

Mil Mascaras def Cactus Jack Manson in 5:00- Gary Capetta Lillian Botches Foley's entrance, calling him captain instead of Cactus. Foley famously wrote in one of his books how much he hated this match. Apparently Mascaras wasn't interested in working with him or his style, and it shows. After initial lockup jockeying Mascaras hooks up a bow and arrowish hold, transitions to a cloverleaf then tries for a cover. Foley escapes. During a test of strength Mascaras wraps up a headscissors. A flying headbutt and dropkick send Foley out. Foley goes after Capetta for messing up his name like Bad Luck Fale charging down Abe-san, but backs up and trips himself over a chair. Back in Mascaras hooks in a full nelson. Foley backs him into the corner and they slugfest a bit. Mascaras puts on a Liontamer style Boston crab. Foley gets to the ropes, gets some shots in and throws Mascaras onto the floor. He hits a backbreaker on the floor and sets up for the Cactus elbow 1.0 (off the apron instead of the second rope), but Mascaras sneaks behind him, hits a dropkick, and Foley splats down straight on the concrete! I'm pretty sure his head really hit the floor. Mascaras suplexes him back in, hits a crossbody off the top, and good night. Apart from the crazy Foley bump this never got out of first gear. 1/2*

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Norman the Lunatic def Kevin Sullivan in 7:26- Sullivan does the ambush and they go right outside. Norman reverses a whip and Sullivan gets posted. Back in Sullivan tries a sunset flip but Norman sits on him. Norman Flair throws Sullivan off the top but misses a splash off the second rope. Sullivan slams Norman on the floor for 2. Back suplex (barely) on the floor for 2. Long, dull sequence of Sullivan in the ring keeping Norman on the floor. Norman comes back with headbutts. They brawl up the aisle and tease something good actually happening with the stip. A rail shot on Sullivan gets 2. They go up the stage and to the back. Sullivan hides in a women's bathroom. Norman won't go in at first because it says women's, then decides screw it, I'm going in anyway. The camera doesn't follow. Instead, the door closes, there's sounds of fighting, the door opens and Sullivan collapses out, Norman comes out holing a toilet seat and ref Nick Patrick says he's the winner. Oy vey what a shit (no pun intended) finish. The stip was ahead of its time and they didn't have a formula down for it yet, and this was the wrong pair of guys to try to pull it off. DUD

Once again Tuxedo Terry Funk is in the ring, this time to interview Lex Luger. Funk does the heel super butter up job and Luger gives a weird promo about not wanting a fresh Sting to jump in line and take out a "wounded" Flair, and all but challenging for the world title. Funk cuts him off mid-promo just as he was getting to his scheduled US title defense against Williams because of time constraints and a hard commercial break coming up. Very odd segment, especially in context of what would happen later in the show and the next few weeks.

 

The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) def The Skyscrapers (w/Teddy Long) by DQ in 7:26- We've got two teams that practically never lose clean so the ending should be interesting. This is the 2.0 version of the Scrapers, with future Undertaker Mean Mark Callous replacing the injured Sid Vicious. Spivey and Hawk start. Spivey thinks he uses Hawk's momentum to throw him out, but Hawk slammed on the brakes and he whacks Spivey from behind with a clothesline. Cool bit where Hawk tries for a neckbreaker but Callous grabs Spivey to keep him from being dropped. Callous/Animal shoulderblock standoff. Callous has got some serious pinkness going on his back. If that's a sunburn those back bumps must be killing him. A surprisingly long speed sequence ends with Animal ducking a Callous crossbody. Hawk does his usual posting his shoulder and crashing to the floor. Spivey scoops him up and rams it into the post again. Callous does the rope walk! Hawk tries a clothesline with his bum arm but Callous grabs it and wraps it up again. He tries the rope walk again but Hawk flips him off (of the rope). Tags on both sides. Animal powerslam on Spivey for 2. There's a bit of a miscommunication in the next sequence. The heels start to whip Animal, but then pick him up instead and Animal flips out. During all of that Hawk kept starting and stopping getting into the ring, not sure where his cue was. A double clothesline sends Callous to the floor. Doomsday Device on Spivey! The ref decides to get Hawk out instead of counting, allowing Callous to come off the top rope with a chair to the back of Animal's head. Ellering also pops Long. In the mayhem the ref ended up on the floor. The Scrapers go to town on the Roadies with the chair and walk out. No decision is given on TV. Meh. This was supposed to set up a big blowoff brawl at Wrestle War, but Spivey hopped on the same plane to Japan that Williams got on, leaving WCW to scramble to put the pieces back together. *

 

Title vs Masks Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) def Doom in 13:04- Scott and Doom 1 (non-elbow pad) start. Lockup and some speed end with a Scott powerslam and some mat wrestling. D1 does the Bret bump and Scott German suplexes him off the ricochet. Doom 2 (elbow pad) and Scott do a shoulderblock standoff. A dropkick sends Doom out to regroup. Scott goes after the mask. Rick tags in. He wants to mat wrestle but Doom stalls. And stalls. Finally they get going with Rick whipping him into two corners followed by a backdrop. Rick goes for the mask and D2 rolls out again. Belly to belly suplex on D1. Scott tries to fight out of the heel corner but Doom gets some double teams and Scott is Steiner in peril. Doom throws him out and drops him on the guardrail. D1 spinebuster for 2. Double backdrop. A clothesline puts Scott outside again. Slugfest on the floor. Scott gets a sunset flip for 2. D2 with a neckbreaker for 2. Frankensteiner! JR miscalls it a Steinerline and Cornette corrects him. Hot tag! Rick atomic drop. Steinerline! Powerslam! Steinerline! Rick goes for the mask again and gets his half off. D2 hits the ropes, and Rick grabs the mask on his way across and gets it off! It's Butch Reed! Bah Gawd it's Butch Reed! (Like most everyone hadn't figured it out by now, JR even acknowledged as much early in the match.) Rick puts Reed's mask on, pushes him into D2 and rolls him up to win. D2 stalls with the mask removal until he's threatened with suspension. Finally he takes it off and it's.....Ron Simmons! No time to feign more shock, we're going to commercial. Of course it would turn out that losing the masks would be the best thing that happened to Doom. Match was borderline decentish. **1/4

 

Steel Cage Match: The Four Horsemen def Gary Hart International in 6:10- Weird dynamic here as Hart's crew were established heels and the Horsemen just turned back heel by turning on by far the most popular guy in the company. Gary Hart International/The J-Tex Corporation was barely even a thing anymore. Hart's not even here and this would be their last gasp. They've also got the short cage out tonight. That's certainly not 15 feet high. Huge "we want Sting" chant before the bell. Arn goes after Sawyer in a "well, we gotta do it, let's get this crap over with" way while everyone else is still in the ring. Arn dodges and Sawyer dives into the cage. Sawyer gets a boot up in the corner and Arn takes a cage shot. Guys keep running in the ring without tagging, and then going back out to get tagged. Another tag team cage match, like Halloween Havoc '89, where they couldn't figure out beforehand how much tag rules would matter. Muta amusingly uses the cage to get bicycle kicks in Arn's face. More cage shots. Flair and Sawyer have a chop exchange. Muta is trying his damndest to get the crowd into it. Ole and Dragonmaster slugfest. Muta tags in to a pretty big pop. Like the crowd suddenly collectively decided "screw it, we're cheering for Muta". Handspring elbow on Arn with an amazing Arn sell flopping out of the corner. As Muta puts on the Mutalock Sting runs out to by far and away the biggest pop of the whole night. He tries to climb the cage but a combination of officials and face wrestlers stop him and drag him back up the aisle. Flair gets up on the top rope to yell at and taunt Sting. During this whole thing Muta is also standing on the top rope, just because. Maybe he's trying for a better view. Sawyer gets backdropped into the cage. Sting gets away and goes to climb the cage again, but you can almost see the point on TV as he's running he lands wrong and hurts his knee. He feebly tries to climb the cage again but can't get far and limps away while the crowd surrounding him tries to make it look like they're holding him back while being very gentle with him at the same time. Sawyer goes to the top of the cage and misses a splash. Arn hits the World's Greatest Spinebuster on Dragonmaster. Donnybrook! Arn plants Dragonmaster with a DDT and gets the pin. Flair tears out of the cage, up the aisle, and LEAPS onto Sting, damn near clearing him midair. They brawl and get separated as the credits roll. Yes, the "match" is all angle, everything in the ring was secondary and hardly mattered anyway. But I'm going to go higher on the rating than might be expected, because despite all that there was some serious effort going on inside the ring from everyone involved to try to get something decent out of all this, and that should be acknowledged. **1/2

 

As documented in my PPV reviews, Sting suffered a knee injury during the main event that knocked him out of action a few months and blew up the long laid plans of him winning the title at Wrestle War. Instead, Luger turned back face to wrestle Flair the next couple of PPVs (and would have won the title if Flair hadn't been adamant about keeping his promise to Sting to drop the belt to him) before Sting finally won the big one in his comeback match at Great American Bash '90.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Well, seeing as how this show is in Texas and I'm a native Texan, I think I can say "all hat and no cattle" unironically, because that's this show. The Sting/Horsemen angle work was great, especially the early show promo, but none of the matches here are worth bothering with unless you're watching everything.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+