Hall’s WCW SuperBrawl II Review

SuperBrawl II
Date: February 29, 1992
Location: Mecca Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura

You don’t see shows on that date very often and hopefully it should make for a worthwhile event. The biggest match (by far) is Lex Luger defending the World Title against Sting. Luger has not been around much as of late, mainly due to WCW using up so many of his dates, so Sting has been handling most of the build on his own. That’s not a bad idea as Sting is the biggest star in the company by a mile but that’s pretty much the only major match on the show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the show’s title matches.

Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff welcome us to the show and give some quick predictions on the big matches.

Missy Hyatt promises some big interviews.

Tony and Eric do more of the same.

Jim Ross is in the ring and introduces Jesse Ventura as his new broadcast partner, so here is Ventura on a motorcycle. Ventura hypes up some of the matches and suggests Ross start wearing a cowboy hat, because he’s really good at this. With that rather cool segment done, we’re ready to go. Ventura adds so much to the show as he comes off as a huge legend and someone special for WCW.

Light Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Brian Pillman

Liger is defending and they fight over wrist control to start. With that not working, Liger starts running the ropes, with Ventura getting right back into his old style, saying Pillman might be smart to go low against a high flier like Liger. In other words, he’s offering actual analysis instead of just chattering about nothing, which gave him some credibility. Imagine that.

They both try dropkicks and that means we have a standoff. Pillman sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes and it’s time for a staredown. Back in and Liger takes over on the leg before sending Pillman outside, leaving Liger for a handspring into a moonsault. Pillman is back inside and gets taken down again, only to come back with a belly to back suplex. Liger goes right back to the leg and grabs a Figure Four. They slap it out with the hold still on and Liger is actually knocked backwards for two, which isn’t something you see very often.

That’s broken up so Liger goes to a half crab, with Pillman bailing outside. Liger is right back with a top rope moonsault to take him down and they head back inside. This time Pillman knocks him to the floor for a dive but a second one from the apron only hits barricade. Pillman is able to dropkick him out of the air back inside and Ventura thinks it’s a big mistake to not go for the pin. Instead he tries a missile dropkick, which is dropkicked out of the air to leave them both down.

Pillman’s powerslam gets two, as does Liger’s bridging German (not yet named that) suplex. Liger takes him up top but gets slammed down, setting up a high crossbody for two more. Back up and a powerbomb gives Liger two so Pillman DDTs him for two of his own, with Liger having to grab the rope. They both try crossbodies and collide for a double down, with Liger getting up first. Liger’s top rope splash misses though and Pillman hooks his arms for a bridging rollup and the title at 17:00.

Rating: A-. This was outstanding stuff, which shouldn’t be a surprise as these two are both incredibly talented stars. Liger is one of the best high fliers of all time and Pillman was able to hang with him move for move. They turned it into a battle of can you top this and then they kept doing it, with a match that felt like it was way ahead of its time. Incredible match and still one of the best openers of all time.

The Tailor Made Man (Terry Taylor) is ready to take out Marcus Bagwell.

Terrance Taylor vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell

A fan gets to be the guest ring announcer and he’s as nerdy as you could imagine, which is made even worse as his top half is in a tuxedo and his bottom half is in basketball shorts (I kind of like it). Taylor easily takes him down to start as commentary talks about how Bagwell turned down Taylor’s offer to team up, which is more of a story than I was expecting here.

Bagwell wins a slugout, which has Ventura explaining the basic rules all over again. They go out to the ramp, where Bagwell hits an atomic drop and clotheslines Taylor right back in. The headlock has Taylor down again before a shoulder sends him bailing out to the ramp. Back in and Bagwell grabs a sleeper, with Taylor rolling him outside for the big crash. A sitout powerbomb gives Taylor two back inside and a sunset flip does do much for Bagwell.

Taylor’s suplex puts Bagwell down again and Ventura stops to admire Bagwell’s hair, as he should. A top rope splash gives Taylor two (that’s a weird one for him) but he can’t hit a piledriver. Instead they seem to mistime something until Bagwell grabs an O’Connor roll for the pin at 7:35. They keep going despite the bell and Taylor hits his running forearm, followed by a DDT.

Rating: C. Taylor was the definition of a good hand and that’s about all. There wasn’t much that he could do and being rich and well dressed wasn’t likely to be the big key to making him into a top star. At the same time, he’s a great choice to have in there to help Bagwell learn. I’m not sure what the ending was, but it was more dull than anything else.

Missy Hyatt asks Harley Race if Lex Luger is ready for his match. Race is sure that Luger is that ready and he’ll be World Champion tonight and tomorrow.

Cactus Jack vs. Ron Simmons

Dang I love Simmons/Doom’s old theme. Simmons slugs away to start but charges into a raised boot, only to miss a charge, with Jack’s head getting tied in the ropes. Naturally Simmons is right there to hammer away before shoving Jack’s head through the ropes because Jack is a crazy man. Simmons sends him hard into the barricade, with Ventura wondering if Simmons learned that at Florida State. Back in and a legdrop gives Simmons two but Jack grabs the double arm DDT.

We see the Junkyard Dog (in a white tuxedo) in the crowd as Jack’s legdrop gets two more. Simmons is sent outside for the middle rope elbow and we go back inside for the required chinlock. That’s broken up but Simmons misses a charge out to the ramp. Jack goes after him and walks into the spinebuster (which of course looks great coming from Simmons), only to go up top. That means a dive into a powerslam to give Simmons the pin at 6:30.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have a ton of time here but Simmons was underrated in his time and is always worth a look. At the same time you have Jack, who is starting to figure out the stuff that would make him a star. His big stuff with Sting was coming and that would change everything for his career. Nice match here, though I could have gone for more time.

Post match Abdullah The Butcher comes out to help beat Simmons down, with the Junkyard Dog taking his time getting in the ring and, after beating up security, making the save. JR: “LIKE FIGHTING IN THE HOOD!” At least that’s what it sounded like he said.

Vinnie Vegas/Richard Morton vs. Van Hammer/Z-Man

What is this, the Lethal Lottery? Ventura: “Why is it that every guy I know named Vinnie wears the ugliest suits and half a tube of Brillcream in their hair?” He goes on to talk about Z-Man going from bodybuilding to wrestling because everyone knows there’s no money in bodybuilding. Hammer and Morton start things off with Morton being whipped into the corner, setting up a gorilla press as the fans seem to like Hammer quite a bit.

It’s off to Vegas for the big power lockup and pokes Hammer coming out of the air. Vegas actually tries a leapfrog (my goodness) but they mistime it and both go down in a weird landing. Back up and Vegas goes with the right hands, with Ventura thinking he’s going to that too much. Hammer’s right hands in the corner are driven hard into the other corner but he drops Vegas with a clothesline. Z-Man’s missile dropkick gets two on Vegas with Morton actually making a save.

After fixing his hair, Vegas tells Z-Man to bring it, making sure to get the right part covered of course. Morton comes in and gets sent outside but takes Z-Man into the corner back inside. Vegas wants Hammer again and knocks him down, allowing Morton to come in for an atomic drop. A big boot drops Hammer again and Vegas does a little dance as he signals rolling the dice.

That sounds more like a Vinnie Reno move to me. Morton comes in for a shot to the ribs and it’s already back to Vegas for the big right hands. Vegas’ powerslam gets two and Morton grabs the chinlock, which doesn’t last long. It’s back to Vegas, who gets dropped with a shoulder and Z-Man gets to come back in. House is quickly cleaned and it’s a powerslam to Morton, followed by a sunset flip for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: B. For a match that felt as random as you could get, this wound up being good stuff, which is probably due to Morton doing a bunch of the old spots that worked for years as part of the Rock N Roll Express. The Vegas vs. Hammer stuff worked for a power fight and Vegas was as motivated as I’ve ever seen him. I’m sure that wasn’t due to the WCW boss offering a cash bonus to the people who had the best match on any given night. Either way, it worked out well.

We look back at Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson breaking Barry Windham’s arm at Halloween Havoc. Now it’s time for revenge. Makes sense.

Larry Zbyszko/Steve Austin vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes

Madusa is here with Zbyszko and Austin. After Ventura says Madusa’s chest is proof she’s been hitting the gym a lot, it’s a brawl to start until Austin and Rhodes officially get things going (with the heels on the far side for a weird look). Austin goes up top for some reason and dives into a clothesline, sending him out to the ramp. Back in and it’s off to Windham for a dropkick, meaning Zbyszko gets to come in. Well eventually, as he isn’t happy with getting the tag.

A spinning kick to the gut sends Windham out to the ramp, where he backdrops Zbyszko down. Windham hits a heck of a clothesline for two back inside and his jumping DDT knocks Zbyszko silly. The piledriver is blocked though and Windham is sent outside for an ax handle from Austin (that cheater). Back in and Windham misses a jumping clothesline to fall right back out to the floor, allowing Austin to grab a chinlock back inside.

Zbyszko comes back in to kick away before he and Windham collide for the double down. That’s enough for the tag to Rhodes, who comes in with a heck of a dropkick to Austin. Everything breaks down and Windham brawls up the ramp with Zbyszko. Austin turns Rhodes inside out with a clothesline and Zbyszko grabs a DDT. Madusa gets in a slap to Rhodes, who stalks her up the aisle (looking like an annoyed psycho), earning a cheap shot from Zbyszko.

The chinlock goes on again until Rhodes fights up for a double crossbody. Zbyszko offers a distraction so Rhodes’ small package doesn’t get a count and Austin takes over again. Back up and a nice Stun Gun drops Austin for a change and Windham comes in to slug away. The superplex is broken up but Rhodes shoves Zbyszko off the top, setting up Windham’s top rope clothesline for the pin at 18:29.

Rating: B+. There are certain matches where you see the names involved and know it is going to be good. That was the case here and it absolutely worked well, with Windham getting some revenge and Austin showing a lot of the abilities that would turn him into the mega star just a few years later. This was a good old fashioned tag match and I had a rather nice time with it.

Missy Hyatt wants to talk to Ricky Steamboat and, after getting permission from the Ninja (ok then) sees Steamboat messing with fire. Madusa comes up and can’t get into Steamboat’s dressing room. Even flirting doesn’t work so she slaps the Ninja, which is never a good idea, resulting in a chase.

Tag Team Titles: Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton vs. Steiner Brothers

The Steiners are challenging and Paul E. Dangerously is here with the champions. Actually hang on as he is barred from ringside, sending him into a great eruption, even as Madusa takes his place. Scott and Eaton start things off as Ventura tries to figure out why Rick wears mismatched boots. Eaton realizes the power isn’t going to work so we’ll try wrestling, which doesn’t work on Scott either.

A swinging neckbreaker does put Scott down so Eaton goes up, only to dive into a belly to belly. That’s enough for Eaton so we’ll go with Anderson instead and of course he slow things down a bit. Rick comes in as well and runs in circles while barking (Ventura: “There’s your college graduate from Michigan at his finest.”). Anderson tries to drop down so Rick drops next to him and then crotches him on the post.

Back up and a powerslam has Anderson bailing into the corner for an already needed breather. Rick slugs both of them down in the corner, meaning it’s time for a meeting with Madusa. Scott comes back in to bridge out of Anderson’s top wristlock and then double armdrag the champions. A double Steiner Line clears the ring as this is all Steiners thus far. Back in and Anderson manages to send Scott outside as Ventura goes on a rant against WCW boss K. Allen Frey which talking about what he has to do as Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Back in and Scott pulls Anderson into a dragon sleeper (that could have been a great finisher for him) before giving Eaton a tilt-a-whirl slam onto the ramp. It’s back to Rick, who gets slammed but is fine enough to pick up Eaton in an electric chair for a middle rope Doomsday Device. A top rope clothesline is countered with what appears to be a low blow and the champs finally take over. Eaton takes him down by the arm for a hammerlock but Scott is in to break up a double suplex.

Instead the Steiners hit stereo suplexes and it’s back to Scott for more suplexes. Anderson gets smart (I think?) by ramming Scott into Eaton and the knee drop gets two. Eaton’s top rope knee gets two and Anderson comes back in for a Boston crab. That doesn’t work either so it’s off to Eaton for a reverse chinlock. The comeback is cut off though and Scott is sent back to the ramp for a Rocket Launcher as we go even more old school.

Back in and Scott manages to ram Anderson into the buckle and there’s the big tag off to Rick. The champs get him into an electric chair but Eaton’s crossbody is countered with the belly to belly for a huge crash (that always looked great). The top rope bulldog connects with Anderson making the save and getting some powder from Madusa. Rick is quickly blinded and suplexes the referee by mistake. Another referee comes in and the Frankensteiner gives Scott the pin and the title at 20:06. And never mind as the referees agree that’s a DQ.

Rating: B. I’ve watched them for a long time now but I’m always impressed by how great the Steiners were at this point. They’re absolutely in the running for best team ever and this was no exception, as they smashed through a dream team in Eaton and Anderson. The ending was the best way they could have gotten out of the match, but dang the Steiners were feeling it here.

WrestleWar is a show that is going to happen.

The Ninja returns to Ricky Steamboat’s dressing room and walks with him towards the ring.

US Title: Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat

Steamboat, with the Ninja, is challenging and the fans boo Rude out of the building during his traditional introduction. They fight over a lockup to start until Steamboat faceplants him down for two. The armbar goes on for a good while until the arm is wrapped around the post for quite the impact. That means the armbar gets to go on again but this time Rude fights out and hammers away in the corner.

Steamboat gets smart by going with kicks to the arm and the armbar goes on again. That stays on for a bit until Rude fights out again, only for a crossbody to…not send Steamboat outside and the stay inside. They head outside and Rude drops him onto the barricade to take over for the first time. A suplex brings Steamboat back inside but the arm is so banged up that Rude can’t stay on him.

Rude hits a clothesline and hurts his own arm again but he’s able to hit the chinlock (Ventura is right there to explain how he could turn this into a smother). With that not working, Rude grabs a piledriver for a rather arrogant two. A belly to back gives Rude two more and we hit the chinlock again. This one doesn’t last as long though as Steamboat pulls him into a Figure Four as we change direction.

We also change camera shots to see the crowd for some reason and come back with Rude making the rope. A top rope ax handle knocks Steamboat down again and Rude even manages to pose with one good arm. The good arm clothesline gets two and the chinlock goes on again. This time Steamboat powers up with the electric chair for a crash as the Ninja…continues to look into the crowd with his back to the ring. Back up and they collide for a double down and things stay slow.

The fourth chinlock goes on, but this time Steamboat reverses into a sleeper. That’s broken up with a jawbreaker and they’re both down again. They go up top with Steamboat hitting a top rope superplex for a rather near fall, with even JR praising Rude for kicking out. Steamboat gets back up and does his own hip swivel, followed by a basement clothesline for two. The top rope chop drops Rude again and Steamboat teases going up again, only for the Ninja to hit him with a huge cell phone. Rude gets the pin on the out cold Steamboat at 20:02.

Rating: B. This was a slower paced match but as usual with Steamboat, it got going near the end and they were in a groove. The Ninja thing is pretty obvious, but at least he didn’t get a ton of focus until the end of the match. Steamboat is the definition of someone who can make anything work and Rude was doing the best stuff of his career at this point so there was no way this was going to go badly. Another good match in a string of them.

Missy Hyatt tries to talk to Rude in the back and opens his locker room door, revealing Paul E. Dangerously in a Ninja costume. Thankfully only Hyatt sees this as a surprise.

Commentary hypes up the main event, with Ventura breaking down both Sting and Lex Luger’s strengths and what they want to do. It’s still amazing to see how well that can go.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Lex Luger

Luger, with Harley Race, is defending and looks uninterested even by his standards. They stare at each other and talk trash for the first minute plus as commentary tries to hype this up as much as they can. They shove each other as we finally get some physicality two minutes in before a lockup goes into the corner and…nothing else. Luger actually starts throwing the punches before no selling a Stinger Splash and hitting a clothesline.

Luger’s powerslam looks to set up the Rack but Sting slips out and grabs a rack of his own. Sting drops him back with something like an Angle Slam and a jumping DDT sends Luger rolling out to the floor. After a ram into the barricade, Sting comes back in and stomps away, followed by a backdrop for two. The threat of the Scorpion Deathlock sends Luger straight over to the rope and he goes to the eyes to take over.

Sting starts fighting back and is immediately low blowed, followed by an atomic drop to make it even worse. The gorilla press puts Sting down again and Luger, naturally, poses. The Attitude Adjustment (piledriver) gets two, as do some elbow drops. Sting gets fired up and swings away before rubbing Luger’s face into the mat. Luger is dropped throat first onto the top and Sting rakes his back. A running dive misses for Sting and he crashes out to the floor, where he backdrops Race out of a piledriver attempt. Back in and Sting hits a high crossbody for the really quick finish and the title at 13:02.

Rating: C. Yeah there wasn’t much of a way to save this one, as Luger didn’t care and the result wasn’t exactly easy to hide. It didn’t help that the match just kind of ended out of nowhere with little in the way of build. Luger did his big stuff but Sting just shrugged it off, hit one move and then won. That’s kind of a weird way to go and it was a pretty flat finish, but now it’s off to the races with Sting, who seems more ready to be champion this time.

Sting celebrates and takes some bows, with even Ventura admitting he earned it.

Roll credits.

 

Results
Brian Pillman b. Jushin Thunder Liger – Arm trap bridging rollup
Marcus Alexander Bagwell b. Terrance Taylor – Rollup
Ron Simmons b. Cactus Jack – Powerslam
Z-Man/Van Hammer b. Vinnie Vegas/Richard Morton – Sunset flip to Morton
Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes b. Larry Zbyszko/Steve Austin – Top rope clothesline to Zbyszko
Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton b. Steiner Brothers via DQ when Rick suplexed the referee
Rick Rude b. Ricky Steamboat – Pin after a cell phone shot from the Ninja
Sting b. Lex Luger – High crossbody

 

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9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

Between the instant classic opener and that string of awesome tag matches/Steamboat vs. Rude, this was a heck of a show, with only the main event and I guess Bagwell vs. Taylor not being rather good. This is a forgotten show as only the main event and maybe the opener are remembered, but dang it wound up being one heck of a card. Definitely check this out as it’s one of the best shows WCW ever produced.