Saturday Night's Main Event X

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event X

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

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

Saturday Night's Main Event IX

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event IX

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

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Halloween Havoc 1992

Legacy Review

Halloween Havoc '92

October 25, 1992 from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-

Saturday Night's Main Event VIII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event VIII

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

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Saturday Night's Main Event VII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event VII

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

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great American Bash '92

Legacy Review

Great American Bash '92

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

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

G1 Climax 30 Wrapup

Johnny Legacy's Deep Thoughts

G1 Climax 30 Wrapup

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

A Block

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

B Block

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Until next year!