Itsuki Yamazaki & Mami Kitamura vs. Miki Handa & Miss A
Fair play to these four because they turned a zero reaction crowd on their side. And they made great use of 7 minutes. It would be harsh to compare this to the success of the Jumping Bomb, but it was a good shout of it. Yamazaki was slowing down by this point but could still do good work in JWP as could Miss A, later Dynamite Kansai, who looked every bit as good as she would later become in this short amount of time. I don’t think I’ve seen much of Hanada and Kitamura, but they were just as good as the others too. Impressive. I wonder who brought them in because I didn’t take Dusty to be a joshi watcher. ***1/4
Buddy Landel vs. Dustin Rhodes
I had a glance at Dustin’s early WCW matches and it was a smart move to not only give Dustin streak to begin his career but put him against older Dusty guys who were loyal to him as professional enough to do the job and teach the kid. And boy did it pay off for Dustin. This isn’t a masterclass but it was a really good effort from Dustin and Landel looked like every bit of pro he was (attitude aside at times :p) ***
Big Van Vader vs. Stan Hansen
This has a lukewarm reputation, but I thought this was really cool. Not as good as their New Japan 1-2 series, and this was maybe hurt by the crowd never truly clicking with Hansen, although you can hear the fans getting into the wild action. But I thought this was snug and rough enough to enjoy. This also worked as a sprint which could’ve been further taken advantage of with a clean finish. But Hansen wasn’t going to job clean to Vader, even in WCW. My favourite spot of the match was Hansen dropping his whole body weight on Vader, while he was on his side. It just summed up Hansen for me. Pure instinctual pragmatism. Double DQ finish aside, this rocks. ***1/2
WCW United States Heavyweight Title Match: Lex Luger (c) vs. Dan Spivey
How goddamn good was Lex Luger in this era? Dan Spivey was at his peak here, just off a fruitful All Japan run, where he reached the RWTL Finals in a wicked match. But he and Luger gelled so well here. Luger did the babyface sell and comeback routine expertly here, but his early babyface shine was what really stood out. He looked great as the driving force before he took an excellent bump on a failed crossbody over and into the 2nd ring. A great bump that transitioned perfectly into Spivey working him and his neck over. Spivey’s work was really strong too. You can tell his form has carried over into here as it has a certain consistency and quality to it. Luger then finishes off his babyface comeback routine with a mini hulk up and retains the US title in a quality bout. ****
War Games Match: Larry Zbyszko & The Four Horsemen (Barry Windham, Ric Flair & Sid Vicious) (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Flyin' Brian, Sting & The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner)
An all timer Pilman performance who shines not only in the opening five minutes with Windham, who was excellent, but throughout and especially against Sid, who seemed to pick him out like a bully picking on someone smaller. And of course, the powerbomb spot is infamous. Crazy stuff. And Sid doing another powerbomb is crazy. Dumb shit. It reminds me of Kenny Omega hitting an OWA on an unconscious EVIL. Pilman was great here - on the cusp of something special but it just didn’t work out for him in the long run. The rest of the match was splendid. The finish docked some points because it’s rule breaking stuff and the multiple figure four was too modern of a spot, but the rest was tremendous work. This had a great mix of story beats such as Sting pressing Flair into the cage, Rick Steiner no-selling going into the cage, Sting’s dive over the rings, etc but even in the meatier moments of the match where everyone was punching and kicking, they kept the magic alive. It was near perfect. Even Arn on the floor. But damn, if El Gianate didn’t come down and call the match for Pilman, this maybe would’ve been on par with War Games 92. ****3/4
Other Star Ratings
6-Man Tag Team Title Match - 2
Brad Armstrong vs Bobby Eaton - 3.25
Royal Family vs Pistols - 1.5
Taylor vs Z-Man - 2.25
Doom vs Freebirds - 2.5
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