Beach Blast '93

Legacy Review

Beach Blast '93

July 18, 1993 from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, MS

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura

In a rare move of consolidation in this period of PPV expansion, the second Beach Blast moves from June to July and takes the Great American Bash's spot in the calendar. The GAB name, traditionally WCW's second biggest and second oldest show after Starrcade, would be rested until '95.

 

Before diving into the show proper I have one note I need to preface it with- the Disney Tapings. In what was viewed as a cost cutting move, a couple of weeks before this show the whole WCW crew went to Orlando and recorded literally months worth of TV over a 3 day period at Hollywood Studios in Disney World. This was the arena with the ring on a spinning turnstile. There was no paid attendance, instead they invited park guests to be in the audience whether they were wrestling fans or knew anything about wrestling or not. They were given merch to wear on camera and coached to cheer or boo on cue. This had two negative effects: 1. it put WCW in a box as far as future booking went, which would become an issue very quickly, and 2. in an era where kayfabe was still hanging on, it seriously exposed the business to all in attendance with different guys coming out as champions as the tapings went on, giving away future booking plans. This was one of the reasons for the final NWA/WCW divorce in the fall of '93.

The raised entrance ramp continues its comeback and the whole stage area set up like a beach. Jesse Ventura gets an overly extended intro, drinking at the bar and forgetting what time it was then dragging all the women with him to the announce table.

WCW World Television Championship: "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (c) def "The All American" Ron Simmons by DQ in 11:15- Orndorff can lose the title on a DQ. He spends a while getting all bent out of shape at the Paula chants again. There's even Paula pennants now. Wonder if those were handed out or if people actually bought them. While Orndorff's agitated at the crowd Simmons punches him off the apron. Orndorff gets wobblelegged in the ring. Simmons dropkick for 2 and Orndroff rolls out. Back in Simmons goes to some arm work. Orndorff hits back elbows and locks on a sleeper. Simmons tries to run him into the corner to get out, but Orndorff anticipates and pushes Simmons into it, then hits a back suplex off the ricochet. Simmons dodges a kneedrop off the top rope and starts working said knee. Figure four, but Orndorff is right by the ropes and easily gets out. Orndorff rolls out again. Simmons follows. Orndorff catches him and rams his head into one of the TV monitors. He cuts off a Simmons comeback with kneelifts, gets a boot up in the corner and faceplants Simmons for 2. Simmons reverses a whip into a powerslam for 2. Simmons sunset flip for 2. Orndorff goes for a dropkick but Simmons either dodges or no sells it, it's hard to tell. Clothesline and back elbow from Simmons for 2. Orndorff goes for a piledriver. Simmons backdrops him over the top rope, and that causes a DQ. Simmons hits a tackle off the top rope and covers but the ref tells him it's over. Your usual decentish Orndorff match. Even this late in his career he was a textbook high floor/low ceiling guy. **1/4

 

2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell def Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger in 12:48- Pierce and Slazenger are best known for their mid-'90s WWF run as the Godwinns. They're in matching gear but only Pierce wears a mask. Bagwell and Pierce start. Pierce does some jawing and spitting. Shoulderblock standoffs. Bagwell goes into dodge mode and hits a crossbody for 2. Everyone gets in and there's a brawl on the apron with Scorpio doing a springboard off the second rope for shits and giggles. The faces win out and the heels go to the floor for a think. Reset with Slazenger wanting Scorpio in. Scorpio confuses him with some dancing. Slazenger hits a backdrop that Scorpio gets a huge lift off of and he flies all the way into the top rope. Scorpio crossbody off the second rope, dropkick and armdrag. The faces hit a double hiptoss. The heels tag a couple of times but both times walk right into a move that sends them into the canvas. Bagwell floatover suplex for 2. Slazenger pops Bagwell in the throat to turn things around. The heels work Bagwell's arm for a while. Bagwell gets a sunset flip for 2. Slazenger kills him with a clothesline. Pierce hits a nice gutwrench powerbomb. Scorpio saves the pin. Bagwell dodges an elbow drop but Slazenger keeps him from tagging. Heel shoulderbreaker/elbow drop combo for 2. Another Bagwell dodge and Pierce crashes into the corner. Hot tag to Scorpio and house cleaning commences. Huge big splash off the top on Pierce for 2. I can think of several Golden Age ROH venues where Scorpio would have been through the ceiling on that one. Everyone in the pool! The heels get whipped into each other. Scorpio hits the 450 splash and it's done. Wasn't a whole lot of flash, but it was a lot of action with almost no resting. The heels looked a hundred times better here than at any point in their WWF run. **3/4

 

Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) def Erik Watts in 7:31- Zero reaction for Watts, which in a lot of ways is an improvement. The boys in the tuck couldn't even be bothered, they give Watts Regal's graphic. Capetta's got the "stone" thing right this time. If you've never seen a match from Regal in his younger days, he was a lot like ZSJ in that his mat wrestling/catch as catch can style would often be the dominant style in his matches no matter who he was wrestling. Regal oozes arrogance, refusing to lock up. Watts mocks him by doing the same thing. Long lockup. Regal cranks the arm. Watts reverses, stays out of range of Regal's counter attempts and rolls through when he does get one. Regal snap mares him into an armbar. Watts bridges out of a leverage pin. Drop toe hold by Regal and more good mat counters. Regal flips Watts over to try to get out of a hammerlock, but Watts turns it into a sunset flip for 2. Watts has ably countered his arm work so Regal changes gears and start to work Watt's ankle. European uppercuts and forearms in the corner. Watts gets a single leg crab and turns it into the STF. Sir William slaps him behind the ref's back. That fires Watts up. Regal comes from behind, rolls him up and grabs a handful of tights for the pin. I've constantly been hard on Watts, but he was an accomplished amateur wrestler, meshed with Regal well and was a good foil for Regal's ground game. Of course Regal could make anyone look good. If you're a fan of the British style like me, this was a decently fun match. **1/2

Ad for the next PPV, the first Fall Brawl. War Games moves to another date on the calendar, this time to stay for most the rest of WCW's run. In an interview with Ventura Regal challenges Orndorff for the TV title. Interesting as they're both heels.

 

Johnny B Badd def Max Payne in 4:50- Payne stole Badd's Baddblaster then shot him in the face with it to set up this grudge match. Badd's got a mask on to cover his wounds and it looks like wallpaper that would be on the walls of your grandmother's house. Or Randy Savage's tights at Summerslam '92. Badd immediately takes Payne down and gives him some ground and pound. Crossbody for 2. Payne dodges and Badd flies over the corner to the floor. Snap suplex from Payne. Hammerlock slam. After a comeback attempt Payne hits a backbreaker for 2. He goes for the Paynekiller but Badd's already in the ropes. Another suplex for 2. Payne's already used up his moveset. Badd dodges a clothesline and elbow, goes for a crossbody but gets caught. After getting slammed Badd dodges an elbow drop. A dropkick sends Payne outside. While the camera's focused on Payne Badd dives onto him from the ring. That might have been cool if Payne knew how to sell. Back in Badd tries coming off the top rope, slips off, and settles for a half crossbody half tackle off the second rope to get the pin. 1/2*

 

Unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Hollywood Blondes (c) def Arn Anderson and Paul Roma in 26:14- Three guys that absolutely rule....and Paul Roma. He's been in a lot of tag teams though so at least he knows how to work the formula. Roma and Austin start. The Blondes hop out to jaw at the crowd. Pillman looks like he's about to go loose cannon on a fan. Austin gets in Roma's face on a corner break. Roma throws the first punch and Austin rolls out. Pillman tells the ref to check Roma's giant elbow pad, then messes with something in his tights and it's not his wang. Sadly that would end up going nowhere later in the match, a rare miscue on match psychology from these guys. Pillman uses his agility to dodge around Arn, hits a hiptoss and gives him the camera crank. Arn goes into his old heel playbook and responds by pulling Pillman down by his hair. Austin backdrop on Arn. Austin offers a handshake. Arn, wily veteran, takes it and kicks Austin. After some arm work Austin dodges a Roma crossbody and he crashes to the mat. Arn catches Pillman leaping in the corner and drops him over the top rope, then slingshots him into the Horsemen corner and Roma punches him. Pillman's knee "gives out" on a whip attempt and the Blondes want a time out. Of course it's a RUSE and Pillman clips Arn's knee. Arn gets tossed outside. He dodges a Pillman dive and Pillman crashes into the guardrail. Arn gets a sneaky tag to Roma while fighting a Pillman suplex attempt. Roma comes off the top with a sunset flip. Austin breaks it up. Roma goes after Austin and Pillman hits him from behind. Austin drops Roma on the guardrail and Roma is Horseman in peril. Austin gutwrench suplex. Short clothesline. Lots of great Austin mocking. Pillman gets a drop toe hold and Austin elbows Roma in the back of the head to cut off a comeback. Roma comes off the top with a dropkick. Pillman tries to counter it with a dropkick and they both miss. Both sides tag. Arn backdrop on Austin and DDT for Pillman. While the ref is holding Roma back Austin elbows Arn in the back of the head. Pillman covers for 2 as Arn is now in peril. Austin elbow off the top for 2. Arn fights back in the corner. Austin chokes him with his boot. Arn flop! Austin tries to piledrive Arn on the floor but Arn backdrops out. Back in Arn tries to give Austin a DDT but Austin lifts him up and drops him on the apron. Think that was supposed to be a crotch shot but they didn't pull it off quite right. Arn gets a small package but the ref is distracted by Roma trying to get in and doesn't see it. Dumbass Roma. Worst Horseman ever, even worse than Mongo. Midring collision. Austin cuts the tag off with a back suplex. Arn gets on the apron and Austin tries to suplex him back in. Arn blocks it and suplexes Austin to the floor! Austin doing Pillman's usual spot there. Again Pillman cuts the tag off. Flying headscissors from Pillman. He tries coming off the second rope but Arn chops him. Tag to Roma. DONNYBROOK! World's Greatest Spinebuster on Austin! Pillman breaks up the pin. Roma rolls Austin up. With the ref's tied up with Arn Pillman clotheslines him and Austin reverses with a handful of tights for 3! The Horsemen were supposed to win the titles here, however word leaked out on the embryonic version of the internet there was at the time of Arn and Roma at the Disney tapings with the tag belts so this was Bischoff's attempt to swerve everyone. I know, I know, Bischoff and swerves, we'll never hear that one again. All this pretaping and swerving around the tag titles would come back to bite them in the ass at the next Clash. The match itself was still good but below most of these guys' standards, especially the tear the Blondes were on at the time. There were some atypical lapses in psychology, a sign they were going through the motions. I hate to say it for these guys, but I think they got too much time for what they were doing too. Shave 10 minutes off and it's probably a better match. ***1/4

 

30 Minute Iron Man Match for the Vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: "Ravishing" Rick Rude and "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes draw- The US title had been held up for nearly two months at this point after multiple matches between these two with inconclusive finishes. This is supposed to settle it once at for all. Rude's injury really killed his momentum, he's not getting nearly the crowd reactions he was last year. Of course the end of the Dangerous Alliance probably had something to do with that too.

FALL ONE: They go nose to nose. Long, rough, rollaround lockups that ref Nick Patrick has to physically separate. Both guys yell at each other to break. Rude pounds Dustin's back and gives us a hip swivel. Classic Rude forearms. Dustin gets a backdrop and corner whips with the usual great Rude selling. Double chinlock to crank Rude's back. Dustin mocks the hip swivel. I think that's in the contract for any match against Rude to do that. Rude gets his knees up and Dustin gets crotched. Rude ax handle off the top. Bear hug. Dustin tries to elbow out so Rude turns it into a belly to belly suplex. Now it's Rude's turn to work the double chinlock. Dustin lifts him into an electric chair and drops him. Rude gets knees up again on a splash. 10 minutes are gone, 20 left. Dustin hits kicks to the hammy and starts working Rude's knee. He hooks in a kind of reverse cloverleaf. Rude eye rakes out. Rude Awakening! That gets a pin!

FALL TWO: Rude goes up top. Dustin staggers around forever. Finally Rude hits a clothesline off the top for 2. More Rude trash talking. He's been vocal the whole match, which has probably been the highlight. 15 minutes gone as we hit the halfway mark. Dustin goes out to the ramp and Rude's willing to take a countout. Dustin gets back in and Rude gives him a snap mare and chinlock. Dustin elbows out. Corner whip, Rude gets a boot up. They do the same tombstone reversal with Dustin hitting it spot they do every match of theirs. Rude kicks out. Rude dodges and Dustin flies over the top to the floor. Back in Rude hits a series of suplexes for 2 counts. 10 minutes left. Rude takes his time with another suplex and Dustin reverses it. Rude tights pulls Dustin into the turnbuckle. Another ax handle off the top. That one caught Dustin really stiff. "You ain't shit Rhodes!". Rude goes into slow, cocky beatdown mode, clearly playing prevent defense until the match is over. Sleeper. They do the arm drops a couple of times and Dustin jawbreakers out. 5 minutes left. Rude blows some snot on Dustin and continues the cocky, time killing beatdown without seriously trying to get another decision. Dustin blocks a buckle shot. Rude spits in his face. It got in Dustin's eyes and he tumbles outside. Rude blows more snot on him. He must have a cold. Dustin does some dodging, fakes Rude out and hits the bulldog! 3 count! It's tied up!

FALL THREE: 3 minutes left. Dustin bionic elbow off the top for 2. 2 minutes left. Dustin hits a piledriver. Rude gets a foot on the rope. Dustin ground and pound and big elbow drop for 2. 1 minute left. Dustin forever clotheslines get a 2 count. He hooks on a sleeper. Rude jawbreakers out. 30 seconds. Rude goes up top. Dustin dodges and hits a DDT! Time expires as he covers, and it's a draw. The US title remains in purgatory, and it would be nearly two more months before it was finally settled. Crap decision. The match was fine but nowhere near the level of the Rude/Steamboat Iron Man match the previous year. The draw stalling down the stretch was pretty obvious. **3/4

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair def Barry Windham (c) in 11:15- These guys wrestled each other a ton in the '80s so there's familiarity. For some reason Flair's music cuts off during his entrance. Opening slugfest/chopfest in the corner. Windham gets whipped into the corner but pops out with a huge lariat. More chops and Windham ducks under the bottom rope to stall. Back in Windham hits a shoulderblock and does some ground and pound. Flair Flip! And a huge one, his legs hit the post and he fell all the way to the floor. Windham hits a clothesline on the floor and suplexes Flair back in. Flair goes to the ol' eye poke for some breathing room. Corner clothesline and chops. Flair with a sleeper! Windham moves over to the corner. Windham ducks down and Flair rams his own head into the turnbuckle. That was a bit sloppy. Flair Flop! Windham with a Samoan drop. Powerslam for 2. A diving lariat gets a long 2. Windham argues balls and strikes with the ref, giving Flair an opening to get some punches in. There's another ugly spot where it looks like Flair's going for a crossbody but he launches straight, flies into Windham shoulder first, and Windham flops over the top rope to the floor. Windham drags Flair out and slams him on the floor. Flair counters mounted punches with an inverted atomic drop. Snap mare/kneedrop combo. Windham blocks a suplex and sets Flair up on the top. Superplex! Flair's selling out to the cheap seats. No cover. Windham goes up top again and misses an elbow drop. Flair small package for 2. Flair Flip 2! He runs across, bounces up top and hits a crossbody. Windham rolls through it for 2. Midring collision. Flair hits a back suplex and kicks Windham's knee. After a few attempts he gets the figure four on! The ref counts Windham's shoulders down, and even though it both looks like Windham got them back up and he's still selling like the match isn't supposed to end, the ref counts 3 and calls for the bell. OK then. Weird ending. It catches everyone off guard, even Flair's music takes a bit to start up. Regardless, all is right with the world as Flair once again has the Big Gold Belt for his record 10th NWA world title reign (12 world titles overall counting his WWF titles, and that's not even getting into the disputed title changes). Disappointing match though. Both guys were off and it showed. We're now officially in post-peak Flair, and while he'll still be good for a long time, he's not going to go out and lay 4+ stars down night after night anymore. **

It's never shown or even mentioned during the PPV, probably because they knew how awful it was, but WCW produced one of their infamous mini-movies to hype up tonight's main event. I won't go into the details, just watch it in all its Rifftrax level glory:

Sting and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader and Sid Vicious (w/Harley Race and Col. Robert Parker) in 16:44- Vader forgot the belt again. Everyone stands off and stares. Sting and Sid start. Sid shoves. Sting takes him down and pounds away, then hits a couple of face plants. Sid chokeslam! Sting gets beat down and choked in the heel corner. They do the spot where the faces get thrown out, go to the top rope, and tackle both heels. Reset with Bulldog and Vader. Big time Vader corner beat down. Sid walks over and gets a stomp in from the apron, which is kinda funny. Bulldog with a DELAYED suplex on Vader for 2. Vader hits a tackle. There's a small but audible "Vader" chant from somewhere in the crowd. Vader clothesline/Sid big boot combo. Sid decides things have been moving too quick and locks on a chinlock. Another Vader tackle. Sting wants in and takes a swing at Vader. The mask is off! Bulldog tries to roll Vader up from behind but gets pounded down again. Sid double ax handle off the second rope for 2. He locks in the Nerve Pinch of There's No Way I Can Keep Up With What Vader's Doing +3. Race holds Bulldog but Vader takes Race out. Tag to Sting. More unintentional comedy from Sid as he seesaws in the ropes while Sting cleans house. Sting dodges a Vader avalanche but Sid hits him from behind. Sid goes into slow beatdown mode and Vader hits more potatoes in the corner. Tackle off the second rope. Sting fights out of a Vader superplex attempt. Sid misses an elbowdrop and Sting tags Bulldog. After an initial flurry Bulldog runs into a Sid boot. Vader Samoan drop for 2. Vader bomb! Sting saves the pin. Sid takes Sting out and they go up the aisle. Vader goes up to the second rope again....no, to the top rope..... VAAAAAAAAADERSAULT! The honest to God motherfrakking accept no substitutes VADERSAULT! Sting dives over the top rope to break the pin up! Bulldog wraps Vader up in a crucifix and gets a very anticlimatic 3 count. Man, if you're going to debut the Vadersault there's no way in hell that shouldn't be the finish. That complaint aside it was still a fun match that was absolutely carried by Vader. He's in his peak here and it's glorious to watch. Sid spelling Vader to let him rest a moment between his unleashing of awesomeness is not a bad tag team dynamic. ***

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- As middle of the road as middle of the road gets. Nothing really great, nothing really awful. Having months worth of TV in the can isn't exactly a great motivator for the wrestlers.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C