Superbrawl IV

Legacy Review

Superbrawl IV

February 20, 1994 from the Albany Civic Center in Albany, GA

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

I forgot to mention when I did the January Clash, the start of '94 saw another change in the head booker seat at TurnerBischoffland, with Ric Flair taking it from Dusty Rhodes. Flair did a damn fine job with it in '89 before he was politicked out for giving the top star in the company too many title runs, which just so happened to be him, so I call it a potential win.

The show opens with Johnny B Badd's intro for his match. His opponent Michael Hayes comes out in a wheelchair, being wheeled out by old Fabulous Freebirds partner Jimmy Garvin. Garvin's been out of wrestling for two years working his post-retirement job as, I kid you not, a commercial airline pilot. Hell of a career path. Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel joins Mean Gene to ask what happened. Hayes says he fell down the stairs, Garvin says he slipped on a banana peel. Bockwinkel smells a rat. Garvin produces a doctor's note that Bockwinkel concedes looks genuine. While Bockwinkel is reading it Garvin makes his bed by saying he could beat Badd with one arm tied behind his back, so Bockwinkel, due to the fact the Freebirds still have an active contract in a filing cabinet somewhere (amazing how he knows that off the top of his head), makes him lie in it by unretiring him and putting him in the match in Hayes' place! Fairly funny stuff but it went way too long. Badd's entrance was unnecessary.

Harlem Heat def Thunder & Lightning in 9:47- Harlem Heat are still called Kane (Stevie Ray) and Kole (Booker T). One look at Thunder and Lightning and they scream "vanilla jobbers". One of them, Lightning, hung on to be NWO Sting in a couple of years. Lightning, well, let's put it this way- he only has one page of listed matches on Cagematch and the page isn't full. They look so bland and generic similar it's hard to tell them apart. Kole starts with Tony says Lightning so we'll go with it. Lightning has trouble with Kole putting an arm wringer on him right. Waistlock switches and Lightning gets a takedown. They go speed with Lightning getting a hiptoss and dropkick. The faces work Kole's arm. Kole gets a slam and tags. Thunder ducks a clothesline and hits a diving tackle on Kane. More face arm work. T&L double team kneelift on Kole for 2. Kane distracts, er, Thunder. I think. Kole clotheslines him 360 to the floor, with Thunder taking quite a journey to work his way down there. Harlem Heat go into generic heel double teams and chokes. A Kole flying forearm is by far the best thing in the match so far. We get a live feed from Flair's locker room to confirm yes, Flair is in his locker room. Thunder dodges a Kole elbow off the top and gets a "hot" tag. Kane does the worst dropkick sell ever. Donnybrooking. Lightning rolls up Kole, Kane gives him a generic stomp in the head, and Kole covers for the pin. Bare bones basic. That was more like a training match than something that should have been on TV. Harlem Heat were still a ways away from being good themselves and nowhere near ready to carry a couple of greenhorns. 1/2*

Mean Gene documents the Goldberg level security between Flair and Vader's locker rooms, mostly due to Vader threatening to take Flair out before the match even starts.

 

"Jungle" Jim Steele def The Equalizer in 6:31- Speaking of nowhere near good enough to carry a green wrestler, here's Evad. Steele looks like a poor man's Jimmy Snuka and his music has a bunch of jungle sounds. I'm going to save you most of the torture for this one. Equalizer controls most of the match with his kicky punchy rest holdy "offense" while Tony marvels at the fact Steele's had a match this long. Really. Heenan takes the whole show over with jokes on commentary and Tony lets him fly. Heenan also interestingly mentions Hulk Hogan. Long term foreshadowing. After both guys fumble around while going home Steele hits a Thesz Press ("Steele Trap") to win. Another match that should have been in the Power Plant instead of on TV. DUD

Hotline shill! Bockwinkel returns along with Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat already has an agreement with Flair for a future title shot (Flair's really back on the book), but now it's official, he will challenge the winner of tonight's world title match.

 

Terry Taylor def Diamond Dallas Page (w/Diamond Doll) in 11:45- Taylor's transitioning to backstage work but is still up for the occasional match, and actually is someone capable of making a green wrestler look good. After working some PPV matches for WCW in '91 Page had been away for a couple of years, healing an injury and continuing to learn and improve. It's all up for him from here. I'm not sure Page's Diamond Doll tonight isn't a Diamond Dude. DDP uses the DD as a shield and tries to ambush Taylor but is cut off. Nice hook kick from Taylor. Flippy slam for 2. Some mat jostling that Taylor stays one step ahead on and he hooks on a cross armbreaker. DDP gets to the rope and rolls out. When he gets back in Taylor goes back to the arm. In a nice bit of cross-promotion continuity Tony mentions Heenan used to manage Taylor, and Heenan complains that he "wouldn't take direction". A DDP sunset flip sets off a series of reversals, ending with Taylor stacking DDP up for 2. Hiptoss from Taylor and both guys kick each other off the mat. Great sell from Taylor on his. Taylor clothesline for 2. DDP turns a whip reverse into a vicious back elbow. He hits some more back elbows in the corner and Taylor flops out. DDP slam suplex for 2. Gutwrench gutbuster! Nice. DDP back suplex for 2, then he hooks on a cobra clutch. Taylor goes down and almost gets pinned before escaping. DDP with a clothesline for 2. An eye poke cuts off a Taylor comeback. Taylor reverses out of a chinlock and hits a back suplex. Dropkick. DDP again kills his momentum by countering a backdrop with a faceplant for 2. DDP then shows some inexperience by seemingly running out of ideas and going back to the chinlock. Taylor crossbody for 2. DDP FLOORS Taylor with a straight right. Corner shoulderblock. Taylor dodges another, and off DDP's ricochet off the buckle rolls him up for 3! I see this match get panned online but I honestly don't see why, I enjoyed it. Taylor was winding down but still plenty good enough and DDP had gotten better in his time away. Not good yet, but better. This was a breath of fresh air the show desperately needed. **1/2

 

Johnny B Badd def Jimmy Jam Garvin (w/Michael Hayes) in 10:48- No Badstreet USA. Boooooooo. Garvin stalls and struts. After a headlock/headscissors exchange Garvin bails and goes to talk with Hayes. Speed run, hiptoss blocks, and Badd gets a headlock takedown. Mat exchange with Badd staying in control. Garvin gets a rope break and soaks in the boos. Badd slam and armbar. Garvin pulls Badd's hair to get out and hides in the corner. He wants a time out and goes out to consult Hayes again. Badd gets a drop toe hold and goes back to the arm. Garvin hits knees in the corner and gets a boot up in the opposite corner. Snap mare and sleeper. Garvin knee to the gut for 2. He hooks up for the DDT but Badd backdrops out. Flying headscissors from Badd. Backdrop. Garvin ducks the Tutti Fruitti punch but Badd catches him from the opposite side with an uppercut. Sunset flip off the top rope and it's over. After the match Badd goes after Hayes and Garvin attacks him from behind, laying him out with the 911 (a stunner). Given Garvin's layoff you really couldn't expect much. Like DDP, Badd was on the cusp of serious growth and improvement but wasn't quite there yet. 1/4*

Mean Gene pokes his nose in Vader's locker room and almost gets it smashed in by a chair.

 

WCW World Television Championship: Lord Steven Regal (c) (w/Sir William) def Arn Anderson in 29:54- Flair's got the book again and look who's back in prominent matches. Not like he doesn't deserve it. Arn offers a handshake and Regal looks disgusted by it. Long lockup and stalemate, but after Regal complains about his ear getting hurt. Arn cranks a headlock, which doesn't help Regal's ear. Shoulderblock by Arn and more stalling by Regal. Arm work tradeoff. Long test of strength. Arn finally takes a shot at Regal's taped up thigh to break it up. Back to the arm. Regal European uppercut. He grinds Arn down with a partial chickenwing. Arn reverses and hits a hammerlock slam. Shoulders in the corner. He goes out and posts Regal's arm. Regal checks the time with William. Forearms from Regal back in. He hooks in the cravat for near falls. Arn gets out into a hammerlock. 15 minutes gone in the 30 minute time limit. Regal headscissors and back to the cravat. Arn hits a backdrop and stretches out an armbreaker. Another Regal European uppercut. Hard corner shot for Regal. Another European uppercut sends Arn to the apron. William gives him a brolly shot in the throat. 10 minutes left. More Regal uppercuts in the corner. Single leg crab with rope leverage that the ref quickly spots. Regal hooks in a modified STF. Arn gets a leg takedown and finally focuses on Regal's taped leg after being laser focused on the arm the whole match. Regal fights off a figure four. Another William brolly shot to the back of Arn's head. Arn pulls Regal down from the floor and gives his leg a shot across the apron. Regal gets a desperation takedown and wraps Arn up, trying to ice the match for the time limit. 5 minutes left. Arn fires back at 3 minutes left. Slugfest. Regal drops and Arn covers for 2. 2 minutes left with Regal trying to get a leverage pin. Arn hooks up a body scissors. Regal tries to turn it into a Boston Crab but Arn flips him out. Arn with a sleeper! Instead of holding it he pushes Regal into the corner and rolls him up for 2. Arn small package for 2. World's Greatest Spinebuster! Arn can't cover. William distracts again. Arn with a sunset flip off the apron. Regal blocks, drops down, grabs the top rope and pins Arn with less than 10 seconds left. Technically sound, but it never got in high gear. They didn't use all the time they got well at all, you could cut half this match out and it wouldn't make a difference. **

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne def The Nasty Boys (c) by DQ in 12:37- Jack and Payne beat the Nastys in a non-title match at the last Clash to set themselves up as #1 contenders. Commentary points out Missy Hyatt is nowhere to be seen. Heenan says she's at the Mayo Clinic getting gum replacement surgery after getting kissed by Jack. I would think that kiss was more dangerous for Jack. In reality, Hyatt had just been fired by Bischoff over some back and forth complaints about sexual harassment that would lead to Hyatt filing a lawsuit against the company. The Nastys bring a guitar to the ring which I'm sure won't play into the match in any way whatsoever. Payne and Knobbs start. Payne quickly grabs a waistlock and hits a German suplex! Then he catches Sags and gives him an exploder suplex! Commentary raves about the fact that Payne "can actually wrestle", not just brawl. Nice try, guys. Payne ducks a Knobbs clothesline and gives him a uranage. Sags runs in and gets powerslammed. Jack comes in with some forearms and the faces hit a dual elbow drop. After the Nastys have some floor recovery time Jack outbrawls Knobbs. Apron leg drop. Payne faceplants Knobbs for 2. A Knobbs clothesline/Sags clip combo finally gets Payne down and the Nastys work the knee a bit. Payne dodges a Knobbs legdrop off the second rope and tags. Jack with a kneelift. Cactus Clothesline on Knobbs! Sags cuts off the apron elbow drop. Knobbs pulls the mat up. Sags knocks Jack off the apron and he splats down straight on the concrete! Foley bump. Commentary acts like they just watched Jack die. Knobbs runs Jack's head into the guardrail for good measure. Back in the Nastys switch off holding a Boston Crab. DAMMIT TONY STOP BRINGING UP LOST IN CLEVELAND. While the ref is busy with Sags, Payne pulls Jack over toward their corner. Smart. But then the Nastys distract the ref again and he doesn't see the tag. Good use of ref distractions by both sides. Jack gives the Nastys a double DDT! Now he tags out. A belly to belly from Payne drops Knobbs right on his head and shoulder, and his shoulder is clearly bothering him right after. Paynekiller on the non-legit hurt arm. Sags gets the guitar from ringside and nails Payne with it for the cheap DQ. Crap finish to a pretty decent brawl, but it plays in well to what's to come in this feud. **1/4

Mean Gene is in the back with Flair, who drops some more Hogan hints but says he needs to get done with Vader first, and Steamboat is next in line after. Dramatic cage lowering! Remember the Thundercage is basically WCW's Hell in a Cell, a jumbo size cage with floor access inside the cage. It doesn't have a roof but it does have a slanted top to prevent anyone climbing in or out.

 

Thundercage Match: Sting, "Flyin'" Brian Pillman & "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes def WCW International World Heavyweight Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude, WCW United States Heavyweight Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/Col. Robert Parker) in 14:36- Sting and Rude start. No, Orndorff. No, Sting pisses Rude off with a hip swivel mock and he's back in. Rude forearms. Sting backdrop and clotheslines. Rude bails to the corner. Austin and Sting crank up the speed. Austin tweaks his knee. Sting jumps right on it and hooks him in the Scorpion Death Lock! All the heels come in break it up. Austin uses the distraction to get a roll up with a tights pull for 2. Guess it was a ruse. They go outside. Sting whips Austin and Austin THROWS himself back into the cage! That's an awfully wobbly cage. If anyone did try to climb it, it might fall over. Pillman comes in to work over his old tag partner and mocks him with a camera roll. Chop exchange on the floor. Austin leads Pillman on a chase and runs Pillman into the cage. Pillman ducks his head under the ring forever, presumably to blade, but doesn't do a good job of it. There's a bit of already dried looking blood. Rude works the cut and Pillman is face in peril for a bit. Orndorff back suplex. Rude knee off the top rope for 2. Austin elbow off the second rope. He goes for it again but Pillman dropkicks him in midair! Tag to Sting. He clears all the heels out. Orndorff gets run into the cage and busted open a little. Dustin pummels Orndorff with a little Dusty sauce and follows with some ground and pound. Orndorff uses Dustin's tights to run him into a turnbuckle and makes a wobblelegged tag to Rude. Dustin goes for the bulldog but Rude lifts him up onto the opposite corner. Back superplex. Rude bear hug that he turns into a belly to belly suplex when Dustin tries to fight out of it. Austin gets dropkicked off the apron and falls leg first into the cage! He's been taking some crazy ass bumps in this match. Pillman is in with Austin again. Everyone in the pool! Pillman and Sting double backdrop Austin, then Sting presses Pillman onto Austin for the pin. Really good nonstop action, but it was also very much a spotfest with no attempt at any kind of story or feud development. ***1/2

Long recap of the Flair/Vader saga. Vader hurt Flair so bad at the last Clash that Bockwinkel tried to postpone this match. An enraged Vader attacked Steamboat and Arn to rile Flair up. Flair demanded the match go on as scheduled. Bockwinkel wanted doctor's clearances, Flair got them, and we're back on.

 

Thundercage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) in 11:32- The Boss (Big Boss Man) is the special guest referee. Vader's got some special gear tonight. It's still weird seeing Flair with the globe and stars belt, the belt that was created after Flair went to WWF with the Big Gold Belt. Boss locks the cage door and takes the key. Vader charges for an avalanche right when the bell rings. Flair dodges and lays in a punch/chop corner beatdown. A back elbow sends Vader 360 to the floor. Flair gives him a chairshot! WOOOOOO and strut in the ring. Flair rips Vader's mask off! Corner whip and Vader does the Flair Flip in the corner! That's freaking fantastic. Flair walks into a Vader tackle. Slam and Vader Bomb! Short clothesline. Vader goes up top. VADERSAULT! Flair rolls! But Vader sees the roll and lands on his feet! Seriously, how great was Vader to do that stuff at his size, and that's only part of his game! Vader tosses Flair out and Race chokes him on a cage bar. Vader potato shots on the floor. Corner potatoes. Flair chops back and chokes Vader out of desperation. Another Vader tackle sends Flair back to the floor. Headbutt from Race. Vader suplexes Flair back in. He sets Flair up top. Superplex! Flair dodges Vader elbow drops. Boss stops Race from interfering again and tries to handcuff him. Vader hits Boss from behind, then he and Race handcuff Boss to the cage! Race gets the door key and gets in. Heel double team beatdown. Arn comes out but can't unlock the door. "SHIT!" Steamboat tries to break the lock with a chair. Flair gets Vader to tackle Race and tries to make a comeback, but the two on one is too much for him. Boss gets free by straight breaking the handcuffs and attacks Vader, hitting him in the knee with his nightstick. Flair hooks in the figure four, with difficulty. Boss immediately calls for the bell! I smell a screwjob. A furious Vader confronts commentary after, saying he never quit. They were going pretty good, not to the level of their Starrcade match but good, but once the overbooking hit everything after was completely flat. Vader would move out of the title picture for the first time in nearly two years and start a feud with the Boss, while Flair would move on to other challengers while everyone waited for the Hogan contract to get done. **3/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Not the greatest start to the WCW PPV year. The last two matches barely saved this from being an all time stinker, though with Flair back booking the whole show has a bit more of a smoother feel. Better things were on the horizon.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+