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WCW does a tremendous job in building atmosphere for the main event. They devote 7-8 minutes into showing Vader coming to the show earlier today and training extra hard and then Flair’s goodbyes to his family, all of whom are quiet and sombre. This is a big match and they made it feel so.
2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell (w/Teddy Long) vs. Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma) (w/The Assassin)
Bagwell looks very, very white dancing next to 2 Cold Scorpio. I love their dynamic though. It’s endearing. Roma is fine but he does have moments where he shows why he wasn’t considered good enough for the Horseman. Bagwell and Scorpio are doing double team sequences with him, Bagwell hits a hip toss and Scorpio goes for a splash but Roma sits up in the process and Scorpio almost paralyses him by landing on his neck. Luckily Scorpio caught himself and took all the pressure off the drop. Where Roma stood out was him screaming “he’s hurting my arm” while Bagwell is applying a shoulder lock. He works well with Orndorff, too. Together, they make a pretty good, solid unit compared to the fan favourite, underdog babyface style of Scorpio and Bagwell. Scorpio was over with the crowd, getting “whoop there it is” chance and getting some good reactions for his hot tag. During which he nails The Assassin, who is on the apron, but that receipt comes back when Assassin nails him during one of his flying head scissors attempts. Pretty Wonderful got the win but the crowd was buzzing after the match. Perfect opening bout in that regard. ***
Flair and Mean Gene are in the Limo. This reminded me of the O’Brian Episode of ‘Seinfeld’. Mean Gene even has similar hair to Constanza.
The Shockmaster vs. King Kong
Gary Cappetta announced Kong as Awesome Kong but he’s listed as the other one, King Kong. So I don’t know who is in the ring. It’s impossible to tell. This match was utterly pointless. The Shockmaster, even as a repacked version, is dead as a TV act. Nor does this show need a squash match. The crowd didn’t care either. The Shockmaster put Kong 1 away quickly for a non-existent pop. The best part of the match was Kong 2 coming in afterwards and hitting a splash on his prone partner by accident. But seriously, what is this doing on a PPV? SQUASH
WCW World Television Title Match: Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat
Unfortunately, this doesn’t have any notable reputation, even compared to their Fall Brawl 1993 match, which I consider to be a great match. But I thought this was a really good television style match. This began with a strong lock-up with Regal winning when he used his foot to bring Steamboat to his knee. Something Jesse Ventura loves. Ventura loves Regal and always marks out to what Regal does. It’s a great listen. Unlike the Fall Brawl match, Steamboat was fully fit without any clear injuries which gave this a more equal footing. They worked the match at a moderate pace, typical for both wrestlers - Regal primarily worked the leg while Steamboat worked the arm, although Regal switched targets when needed. One thing I’ll criticise the match for is the lack of urgency when it comes to the final minutes. The sequence from the armbar to the headscissors into the double wrist lock was magical stuff but better suited elsewhere. Sir Willaim was a great distraction. He was able to lure Steamboat into chasing him, wasting time, before bringing him back to Regal, who nailed a dropkick. His role is a forgotten one but he makes himself useful in this match. The final 30 seconds had the crowd on its feet with Steamboat just missing the flying cross body for a great close call. Regal retains via a draw. ***1/2
Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. Shanghai Pierce & Tex Slazenger
When you have the team of Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger, who would later become the Godwins, on a PPV, it makes me question their thought process of them breaking up the Hollywood Blondes. Pilman not being on this card is a head scratcher too. Nevertheless, this is the match we got. Cactus Jack is stuck with Maxx Payne for way longer than he should’ve been but he always remains over with the crowd and has a knack of getting *something* out of this pairing. Despite their size, Tex and Shanghai work small. Tex Slanzgers bumps big on a double clothesline and then again later, taking a brutal bump to the floor on a catapulte. He had his working boots for this show, to be fair to him. Shanghai Pierce was awkward and clumsy by comparison.Thankfully he’s the one who takes the pin following a double arm DDT by Cactus Jack. This was a much better tag team match than I would’ve thought, with Tex Slazenger showing himself to be rather solid, if unspectacular, and Cactus Jack being fun to watch even in these minor roles. **1/2
WCW United States Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match: Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker)
Yet another seemingly exciting match with no real reputation to speak of. The 1991 Halloween Havoc match is the touted match. This is two out of three falls which makes it a tricky match to call as there are plenty of scenarios that could occur. This mixes between them working holds and them exchanging punches, usually ending with Austin flying around the ring before calling for a time out. It made for an exciting first fall; a perfect table setter. The first fall ends with Dustin firing up, teaming a hot comeback until he throws Austin into Col Robert Parker and the collision sends Austin to the outside, causing the DQ. Not a bad finish. Dustin then slams Austin into the post and draws blood, although the commentators say that it comes from the collision with Parker. The second fall began with the lights going out - an omen - and Dustin goes to town on Austin’s cut for a short bit before Austin rolls him up, using the tighets, to get the second fall and the US title. It’s such a lame finish. This was promising but wasn’t given the time to use it. 15 minutes isn’t enough time when the first fall takes up 13 minutes of it. Ridiculous. The short second fall made Austin’s blading totally useless as well. ***
WCW International World Heavyweight Title Match: Rick Rude (c) vs. The Boss
A fun 1990 WWF Midcard match for WCW’s second world title. The Boss is on a bit of a hot streak during this run, working for All Japan and then going into 1994 having a good feud with Vader. This is Rude’s post back injury phase which doesn’t get positive reviews but I’ve barely seen any of it, if I’m honest. The match was solid. The Boss worked Rude’s back, doing the simple things of hitting loads of body slams and hitting a massive back body drop. Rude sells the back well unlike any other person. The Boss threw some good punches before going to a bearhug. Rude working from underneath was a good refreshing story, compared to the norm of the heel dominating. Rude is sneaky and unlikable which made it work. The finish was just that - Rude used the ropes to set The Boss for a sunset flip, which got the win. I liked that, so I’ll be generous. ***
WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) (w/Missy Hyatt) (c) vs. Road Warrior Hawk & Sting
So. What to say about this disaster. I went looking for Metlzer’s star ratings and he’s harsh with everything except this despite it being by far the worst match on this show, including the Shockmaster match. First of all, I recognise that there is a storyline reason for why the Nasty Boys were stalling for time so they'd get a draw because in no way were they pinning Sting or Hawk. It’s logical and an interesting story to tell but however this was done in an extremely dull and reductive way. The Nasty Boys can’t draw heat to save their lives in this match. Any, if at all, was Hawk and Sting smashing into the Nasties. When the Nasties were applying weak chin locks, the fans were sitting on their hands. Honestly, there isn't much to talk about this match. It was a stall and rest hold match for 29 minutes until Missy Hyatt interferes and gets the Nasty Boys disqualified. All that for a DQ finish. A 30 minute draw would’ve been better. *
WCW World Heavyweight Title Match: Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) (c) vs. Ric Flair
This was a truly fantastic culmination to the return of Ric Flair and all the build spent with him returning to WCW earlier in the year. Despite Sid being picked for this spot, Flair replacing him was only natural and made for a fantastic and touching moment. This had me cheering and rooting for Flair like I was in the crowd, like I’m a Carolina native myself when that couldn’t be further from the case. Every spot, every single thing Flair and Vader did hooked me fully. Perhaps the finish could’ve been better executed, with it being a poor roll-up which never looks good. However the clear plan from Flair to tire Vader out at the beginning of the match was great. Vader reacted well, in turn, slowing the pace of the match down to suit him. Then Flair started using his punches and chops to stagger the big man before then working on the leg for the figure four. Vader was terrific in the big final boss roll. His cut offs were timed spot on, in my opinion. I enjoyed the fact that he recovered quickly from Flair’s offence as well. It really leaned into the idea of Vader being an unstoppable force, forcing Flair into a higher need of urgency. He had to put Vader away with a one-two punch knockout otherwise he’d be gone. Flair himself was able to adapt to Vader, becoming a great babyface underdog to compliment the crowd which had come alive for Flair after being dead for the whole show. He was crafty and smart while being sympathetic at the same time. It was a vintage performance by the “direstest player in the game”. Harley Race’s role was a plus. The added history with him and Flair, linking to the idea of the 10 year anniversary, and the match itself. The well timed interference spot and then eventually the comeuppance at the end. This was a wonderful effort and a wonderful title match. The only thing is the finish but I can’t complain too much as I threw my hands up in the air at the count of three. It didn’t matter to me in that moment. ****1/2
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