wrestling / Video Reviews
Hall’s WCW WrestleWar 1992 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WrestleWar 1992
Date: May 17, 1992
Location: Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura
WarGames. That’s about the only thing that needs to be said here, even if the rest of the card could be good in its own right. That being said, the main event is one of the best things that WCW ever did, as Sting’s Squadron faces off with the Dangerous Alliance in a ten man WarGames match, which should be nothing short of incredible. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is all about WarGames, as it should be.
Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff are the hosts and chat about the main event, including Sting’s injured ribs.
Commentary talks about WarGames as well, with Jesse Ventura talking about how he went to war and knows what it is about. Oh and the US Tag Team Titles are on the line too.
US Tag Team Titles: Terry Taylor/Greg Valentine vs. Fabulous Freebirds
The Freebirds are challenging and you can see why the titles didn’t last long after this. Hayes struts and dances at Taylor to start before strutting and stomping a bit more. Valentine and his very blue trunks comes in to get headlocked but comes back with some big chops. Hayes fights up and commentary isn’t sure why he’s staying in for so long. Some chops of his own allow Hayes to bring in Garvin, who avoids a charge to send Valentine into the post.
Valentine misses an elbow and the arm is in even more trouble. It’s back to Taylor, who gets his arm worked over as well. Hayes pulls him down by the hair and Garvin comes back in, only to get knocked down in a hurry. Valentine is knocked out of the corner for the timber fall though, followed by a splash (because Valentine is known for his splashes) to raised knees.
Taylor is back in to cut off the tag though and we hit the chinlock. Another comeback lets Garvin get the tag off to Hayes so house can be cleaned. Taylor hits the Five Arm (like a forearm, but more) to break up the DDT and Hayes is in trouble for a change. A doctor bomb gives Taylor two and it’s back to Valentine for more chops. The big left gets Hayes out of the corner though and it’s back to Garvin to clean house. Garvin hits a bunch of clotheslines but gets double teamed down, with Hayes making the save. As the referee gets rid of Hayes, Garvin DDTs Taylor for the pin and the titles at 15:58.
Rating: C-. Yeah it’s not exactly shocking that these titles were gone in about two and a half months. They didn’t feel remotely important here and having the Freebirds as good guys made them feel that much weaker. Just nothing to see here and far longer than it needed to be given the teams in there. Taylor and Valentine can work well enough, but the Freebirds weren’t exactly known for their in-ring efforts.
Tracy Smothers vs. Johnny B. Badd
Smothers wastes no time in accusing Badd of pulling the trunks before getting waistlocked into an armdrag. A crossbody and dropkick have Smothers in more trouble as Badd puts him down again. Back up and Smothers kicks him in the face for two, followed by a top rope back elbow (that looked great) for two.
A spinning high crossbody connects but Badd rolls through for two of his own. The chinlock has Badd in trouble, allowing Ventura to ask about the lips on his trunks. Back up and Badd’s top rope sunset flip gets two, followed by the big left hand (the Kiss That Don’t Miss) to knock Smothers cold for the pin at 7:05.
Rating: C. There wasn’t much to this, but you could see some of the skills coming together for Badd. He was always very athletic but it was starting to get together into more coherent matches. It helps to put him out there against the incredibly underrated Smothers, who could wrestle with anyone. That being said, this was a textbook example of a nothing match that was just there to fill in time on the card.
The Freebirds (with Precious of all people) are very happy with their win and want the Tag Team Titles. Even Schiavone points out that Precious (who is Garvin’s wife and had been for over twenty years at that point) hasn’t been around in years. She would be gone again later in the year when Garvin left the company.
Scotty Flamingo vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell
Flamingo is of course much better known as Raven. They start with the exchange of slaps, with Bagwell sliding back inside and tackling him from behind to take over. Back up and they slap each other some more until Bagwell punches him in the face. Bagwell’s belly to back and vertical suplex get two each but Flamingo sends him outside.
Back in and a belly to back suplex sets up a chinlock to keep Bagwell in trouble. That’s broken up and Flamingo crossbodies him over the top for the big crash out to the floor. They get back inside and slug it out until Bagwell gets the Yellowjacket suplex, only for Bagwell to grab the rope. With that not working, they go to an exchange of rollups, with tights, and Flamingo gets the pin at 7:12.
Rating: C. This is where we’re getting to the bad part of a lot of the old WCW pay per views, as they’re just not very interesting. You have a long stretch of midcard matches which don’t come off as important in the slightest. That’s never a good feeling and it’s all we’ve had on the show thus far.
Beach Blast is coming. That’s an all time WCW show.
We look at Cactus Jack and Abdullah The Butcher beating up Ron Simmons at SuperBrawl and Junkyard Dog coming out of the crowd for the save.
Cactus Jack/Mr. Hughes vs. Junkyard Dog/Ron Simmons
Hold on as Jack drops off to the side of the floor and attacks Dog on the ramp. Dog gets rammed into the ramp and the elbow to the floor leaves him laying. Simmons runs up for the save and we get the medics out here to check on Dog. That’s not going to go well as Dog is taken to the back, leaving Ventura to wonder why the bell isn’t ringing. Cue Simmons to clear the ring and it’s going to be a singles match instead.
Mr. Hughes vs. Ron Simmons
Simmons slugs away to start and grabs a hiptoss to send Hughes rolling outside. This lets Jim Ross explain their football backgrounds, allowing Jesse Ventura to mock Bill Watts’ football career at Oklahoma, meaning you can hear Ross’ glares. Hughes fights back and hammers away in the corner, with Jack getting in a cheap shot from the floor. Another hiptoss gets Simmons out of trouble so Hughes tags Jack…which the referee of course doesn’t allow.
Ventura continues to go on about how unfair this whole thing is to Hughes and Jack, with Ross finally snapping and saying he doesn’t know why the referee did it this way. Simmons gets in a backdrop so Hughes pokes him in the eyes. The spinebuster connects and Simmons takes Jack out, followed by a running shoulder to the knee to finish Hughes at 5:11.
Rating: C. This wasn’t great either, but it made Simmons feel like a star for winning a near handicap match. That’s hardly a surprise either, as Simmons was getting the push of a lifetime at this point, even winning the World Title in about two months. On the other hand, Jack was getting ready to finish his feud with Sting, so it makes sense to have a bodyguard take the fall instead.
The hosts chat for a bit.
Todd Champion vs. Super Invader
Champion was a big, muscular guy who was given a bunch of chances but it never went anywhere. Invader is a generic masked villain with Harley Race as his manager and is better known as Hercules. Invader jumps him to start and hammers away in the corner but can’t get anywhere with a test of strength.
A side slam puts Champion down and we hit the chinlock as Ventura asks why wrestlers would wear masks. He doesn’t get it for the men, though there are some women who should consider it (sarcastic Jesse can be great). Champion is sent outside for a crash but he gets his boot up to block to block a top rope splash. A running…we’ll say clothesline puts Invader down but he hot shots Champion without much trouble. Invader hits a powerbomb for the pin at 5:30.
Rating: D+. Good grief can we get a better match already? This was another nothing match with Invader doing a generic power offense (the powerbomb did look nice) against an even more generic big man. They could have put it on Worldwide or whatever and nothing would have changed, which makes a pay per view feel a lot worse.
Commentary talks about WarGames and Ventura teases doing something at Beach Blast involving chest measurements. Even he laughs at what he knows is coming.
Big Josh vs. Richard Morton
Yeah this is EVIL Morton, with pretty much no change to anything he had done for years. Morton bails to the rope to start and then does it a few more times. Some slams put Morton down and Josh does the Log Roll (stomping on the ribs) to sent him into the corner again. Morton is back with a running knee and rips Josh’s shirt (that’s not nice), followed by a belly to back suplex to put Josh down again.
Josh tries to fight up but gets pulled into an armbar. Morton’s cranking on the arm sets up…another armbar, as this match is managing to kill a show that was already dead. Josh FINALLY suplexes his way out so Morton goes to the eyes. Thankfully that doesn’t last long as Josh elbows him in the face and finishes with the Northern Exposure (running seated senton) at 7:33.
Rating: D+. I’m not sure how but they managed to make this show even less interesting. I was a Josh fan as a kid and he was fun enough with the lumberjack deal, but why would I want to see him face Morton in a cold match? Morton was officially a heel at this point but you would barely know it by watching him, as it was one of the lamest heel turns of all time. Much like most of this show.
We recap the Z-Man vs. Brian Pillman for the latter’s Light Heavyweight Title. Z-Man is annoyed that things aren’t going his way lately and wants some success. Pillman doesn’t like his friend losing focus and Z-Man wants the title, meaning things have gone from cordial to hostile.
Light Heavyweight Title: Z-Man vs. Brian Pillman
Pillman is defending and shakes Z-Man’s hand to start, though Z-Man isn’t impressed. They run the ropes early and try stereo dropkicks to no avail. Pillman takes him down with a faceplant and knee drop as Ventura is drooling over the idea of one turning on the other. An armdrag out of the corner lets Z-Man work on a hammerlock for a good while.
Back up and a headscissors takes Z-Man down, allowing Pillman to grab an armbar of his own. As Ventura loses his mind over the idea of Pillman being a nose tackle in college, Pillman gets in another takedown and works on the leg. More leg cranking has Z-Man in trouble so he grabs a suplex to bang up Pillman’s injured back. Some knees to said back keep Pillman in trouble so he goes right back to the leg.
Z-Man’s running charge misses in the corner and Pillman grabs the Figure Four. They slap it out until Z-Man remembers he’s in a lot of pain and gets to the rope for the break. Back up and Pillman takes him to the top, where he is knocked to the floor. A high crossbody connects but Z-Man goes too far and has to get back for the delayed two. Back up and they collide for another double down so Pillman goes up again. This time Z-Man boots him out of the air but misses a missile dropkick, allowing Pillman to get a rollup for the pin at 15:28.
Rating: B. See? They can indeed have a rather good match on the show. It helps that you have Pillman as an incredible talent and Z-Man as a rather underrated star in his own right. These guys had a heck of a match and the fact that it was due to some personal animosity and a championship helped quite a bit. By far and away the best match of the show, which granted only means so much tonight.
Steiner Brothers vs. Takayuki Iizuka/Tatsumi Fujinami
The Steiners’ Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line but the winners get an IWGP Tag Team Title shot. Scott and Fujinami start things off with Fujinami taking him down, only to get his leg tripped. Scott’s front facelock has Fujinami in trouble before he knocks Fujinami into the corner. Iizuka comes in for an elbow to the face and a top rope flip dive connects as well
The Boston crab has Scott in more trouble so he powers out and hits a tiger bomb. Scott throws Iizuka onto his shoulder for a top rope elbow from Rick so it’s back to Fujinami. A chinlock doesn’t do much to Rick so Scott comes back in for a heck of an elbow to the jaw. Rick comes back in and gets caught in an electric chair, only to powerslam Iizuka out of the air for a crazy landing.
It’s back to Fujinami to work on Rick’s leg but Rick is able to wrestle his way out, only for Iizuka to come back and crank on the leg again. That’s broken up as well so Scott comes in to wrestle Iizuka down. Fujinami gets a blind tag though and jumps Scott, followed by a cheap shot to Rick. The fight is on the fans are VERY interested, only to Fujinami to switch back to an abdominal stretch on Scott.
After a good deal of cranking, Scott gets up and beats the fire out of Iizuka before squaring off with Fujinami again. Fujinami takes over this time and it’s a spike piledriver to plant him hard. Iizuka’s missile dropkick connects and Fujinami grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up as well and it’s back to Iizuka and Rick as everything breaks down. A belly to belly superplex sends Iizuka flying and Rick gets the pin at 18:20.
Rating: A-. This was a straight up fight with the two teams beating the living daylights out of each other. The Steiners have a reputation of being incredibly stiff in the ring and Fujinami and Iizuka were more than capable of hanging right in there with them. I haven’t seen this in a long time and my goodness is it a hidden gem. Check this out if you get the chance.
We get a quick WarGames recap. The gist: Sting is feuding with every heel in WCW and five of the best of them have banded together with a ticked off Paul E. Dangerously (Heyman) leading the charge. Sting has some friends though and it’s time for the biggest fight this company has to offer. This absolutely feels huge and it still gives me some chills.
In case you’re not familiar with the original WarGames:
• Each team sends in a wrestler for the first five minute period.
• After two minutes, there will be a coin toss with the winning team getting a 2-1 advantage for two minutes.
• After two minutes, the team who lost the toss sends in another man to even the teams for two more minutes.
• The teams alternate entrances every two minutes until all ten are in.
• Once everyone is in, first submission (no pins or anything else) wins.
Sting’s Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance
Sting’s Squadron: Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham
Dangerous Alliance: Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, Steve Austin
Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa are at ringside as Austin and Windham start. Windham unloads on him with right hands but gets sent into the corner. Austin backdrops him, which only gets so well with Windham being so tall (as there’s a roof on the cage if that isn’t clear). Dangerously is going over battle plans and has diagrams, making it feel more like a war plan. Austin tries to grab the top of the cage but misses a kick and gets dropped hard.
Windham sends him into the cage and rakes the face across the steel as Austin is the first one bleeding. The Alliance wins the coin toss and Rude comes in to hammer Windham from behind. Rude fires off more shoulders to the ribs in the corner as Austin is back up to rake at Windham’s face as Rude rips at the throat. Steamboat comes in and is a house of fire on the comeback.
Austin gets kicked out of the corner and Steamboat uses what would become known as a hurricanrana to hammer on Rude. Anderson comes in and immediately DDTs Windham before grabbing a double crab on Steamboat (who taps, which still doesn’t mean anything). Back up and Steamboat is thrown into the other ring with Rude going after him as Windham is caught between the rings. Steamboat and Rude clothesline each other before Rhodes is in to even things up again.
Anderson’s head gets stuck between the rings for a crazy visual as Rhodes just unloads on Austin. Steamboat has Rude in a Figure Four and Zbyszko is in, with Windham being right there for the brawl. Madusa climbs the cage and hands Anderson Dangerously’s phone. Rhodes and Steamboat get knocked out as Sting is on top of the cage to chase Madusa down.
Austin is back up to beat on the also bleeding Rhodes. The clock runs out and it’s Sting coming in to somehow pick the pace up even more. Sting gorilla presses Rude into the top of the cage over and over before raking Anderson face first into the cage. The brawling stays on until Eaton is in to complete the Alliance. Sting rakes Rude’s face as he’s trying to loosen a turnbuckle, which has the top rope looking rather shaky.
Koloff comes in as the last man and saves Sting (they have had some major trust issues coming in) before shoving him out of the way of a double clothesline. Sting and Koloff fight back and do the big hug as they’re on the same page. Somehow the crowd gets even louder and Rude is going after the buckle again.
Windham and Rhodes double team Zbyszko and it’s a Stinger Splash to Anderson, setting up the Scorpion Deathlock. Eaton makes the save as the turnbuckle is completely detached. Rhodes (whose head is COVERED in blood) has a Figure Four on Zbyszko until Rude makes a save. Things start to slow down a bit as Zbyszko picks up the turnbuckle and…accidentally hits Eaton in the arm. Sting grabs an armbar and Eaton gives up at 23:37.
Rating: A+. Yeah this more than lives up to the hype and it works for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, you have the fact that they do not stop throughout the entire match. It is just straight up action throughout, as it feels like people wanted to hurt each other because of their absolute hatred for the other team. That’s the point of a match like this and they more than lived up to the hype.
The other good thing is they didn’t waste time. There was no big twenty minute stretch of brawling after everyone got in, as it went about four minutes from Koloff coming in and the end of the match. Also, they didn’t have to throw in a bunch of weapons as the only thing aside from the people was the cage or the ring itself. They kept it moving, it was violent and the talent level involved is incredible. Still easily one of the best things WCW ever did and more than worth a look. I’ve seen this a bunch of times and I still got pulled way into it all over again.
Post match the Alliance yells at Zbyszko as the winners all limp away.
The hosts and commentary wrap it up.
Results
Fabulous Freebirds b. Terry Taylor/Greg Valentine – DDT to Taylor
Johnny B. Badd b. Tracy Smothers – Kiss That Don’t Miss
Scotty Flamingo b. Marcus Alexander Bagwell – Rollup with tights
Ron Simmons b. Mr. Hughes – Running shoulder
Super Invader b. Todd Champion – Powerbomb
Big Josh b. Richard Morton – Northern Exposure
Brian Pillman b. Z-Man – Rollup
Steiner Brothers b. Takayuki Iizuka/Tatsumi Fujinami – Belly to belly superplex to Iizuka
Sting’s Squadron b. Dangerous Alliance – Armbar to Eaton
