Leighty’s Retro Rankings: 1991 WCW and WWF PPV Matches

-We have made it through 1991 and thank you to everyone that read, commented, shared or just clicked on any of my reviews. As I have done with every previous year, it is time to rank every single PPV Match from WCW and The WWF. 1991 is one of those years that gets a bad rep as the WWF was dropping in popularity, and WCW kicked off their first year of existence by firing Ric Flair. Even with all that 1991 produced some great matches that have been long remembered as all time classic. The depth of great matches (even good matches) isn’t there like other years, but that is bound to happen.

-Also of note, this list is only for the PPV matches so anything from Clash of The Champions or Saturday Night’s Main Event is not included. My plan, assuming we continue to have access to all the shows in the coming years, is to do a ranking of every Clash and SNME match in the future.

-Finally, these are obviously my rankings and we all have our favorites as far as wrestler, style, etc. There is always room for healthy debate and discussion, but at the end of the day it is just my opinion. If you have a different take that’s cool, but just be respectful to anyone with a different opinion. Let’s get to it!

80) Scaffold Match: PN News and Bobby Eaton vs. Steve Austin and Terrance Taylor DUD (WCW Great American Bash)



79) Stretcher Match: Sid Vicious vs. El Gigante DUD (WCW SuperBrawl)

78) Come as You Are Match: El Gigante vs. One Man Gang DUD (WCW Great American Bash)

77) Mixed Tag: Steel Cage: Arn Anderson and Paul E Dangerously vs. Rick Steiner and Missy Hyatt DUD (WCW Great American Bash)

76) Van Hammer vs. Doug Summers DUD (WCW Halloween Havoc)

75) Black Bart vs. Big Josh DUD (WCW SuperBrawl)

74) Lumberjack Match: Big Josh vs. Black Blood 1/4* (WCW Great American Bash)

73) Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier 1/2* (WCW Halloween Havoc)

72) WCW Tag Titles: The Enforcers (c) vs. The Patriots 1/2* (WCW Halloween Havoc)

71) Michael Hayes and Tracy Smothers vs. Jimmy Garvin and Marcus Bagwell 1/2* (WCW Starrcade)

70) Bounty Match: The Yellow Dog vs. Johnny B. Badd 1/2* (WCW Great American Bash)

69) Oz vs. Ron Simmons 1/2* (WCW Great American Bash)

68) IRS vs. Greg Valentine 1/2* (WWF SummerSlam)

67) Chamber of Horrors Match 1/2* (WCW Halloween Havoc)

66) Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa 1/2* (WWF SummerSlam)

65) The Mountie vs. Koko B. Ware 3/4* (WWF Royal Rumble)

64) Natural Disasters vs. The Bushwhackers * (WWF SummerSlam)

63) Oz vs. Tim Horner * (WCW SuperBrawl)

62) The Creatures vs. PN News and Big Josh * (WCW Halloween Havoc)

61) Buddy Landell vs. Dustin Rhodes * (WCW WrestleWar)

60) The Royal Family vs. The Young Pistols * (WCW WrestleWar)

59) Richard Morton vs. Robert Gibson * (WCW Great American Bash)

58) Dustin Rhodes and Richard Morton vs. El Gigante and Larry Zbyszko * (WCW Starrcade)

57) Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Beverly Brothers and Nasty Boys vs. The Bushwhackers and Rockers * (WWF Survivor Series)

56) Scott Steiner and Firebreaker Chip vs. Johnny B. Badd and Arachnaman * (WCW Starrcade)

55) Ron Simmons and Thomas Rich vs. PN News and Steve Armstrong * (WCW Starrcade)

54) Nikita Koloff vs. Tommy Rich SQUASH (WCW SuperBrawl)

53) Russian Chain Match: Sting vs. Nakita Koloff * (WCW Great American Bash)

52) Rick Steiner and The Night Stalker vs. Vader and Mr. Hughes *1/2 (WCW Starrcade)

51) WCW Light Heavyweight Title: Brian Pillman vs. Richard Morton *1/2 (WCW Halloween Havoc)

50) Dustin Rhodes vs. Terrance Taylor *1/2 (WCW SuperBrawl)

49) Survivor Series Elimination Match: Colonel Mustafa, Bezerker, Skinner and Hercules vs. Texas Tornado, Tito Santana, Jim Duggan, and Sgt. Slaughter *1/2 (WWF Survivor Series)

48) WWF Title: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Undertaker *1/2 (WWF Survivor Series)

47) Ricky Steamboat and Todd Champion vs. Cactus Jack and Buddy Lee Parker *1/2 (WCW Starrcade)

46) Ricky Morton vs. Dan Spivey SQUASH (WCW SuperBrawl)

45) The Z-Man vs. The WCW Halloween Phantom SQUASH (WCW Halloween Havoc)

44) WCW Tag Titles: Doom (c) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds ** (WCW WrestleWar) 



43) The Z Man vs. The Diamond Studd ** (WCW Great American Bash)

42) Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Legion of Doom and The Big Boss Man vs. The Natural Disasters and IRS ** (WWF Survivor Series)

41) WWF Intercontinental Title: Bret Hart (c) vs. Skinner ** (WWF This Tuesday in Texas) 



40) Ted Dibiase and Virgil vs. Dusty and Dustin Rhodes ** (WWF Royal Rumble)

39) Johnny B Badd vs. Jimmy Garvin ** (WCW Halloween Havoc)

38) Steve Austin and Rick Rude vs. Van Hammer and Big Josh ** (WCW Starrcade)

37) Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Mike Graham ** (WCW Starrcade)

36) Battlebowl Battle Royal ** (WCW Starrcade)

35) WWF Title: The Undertaker (c) vs. Hulk Hogan ** (WWF This Tuesday in Texas)

34) Elimination Rules: The Freebirds vs. The Young Pistols and Dustin Rhodes ** (WCW Great American Bash)

33) Jailhouse Match: Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie ** (WWF SummerSlam)

32) Sting and Abdullah The Butcher vs. Brian Pillman and Bobby Eaton **1/4 (WCW Starrcade)

31) WCW Six Man Tag Titles: Ricky Morton (c), Tommy Rich (c), and JYD (c) vs. Big Cat and State Patrol **1/2 (WCW WrestleWar)

30) No DQ: Terry Taylor vs. The Z Man **1/2 (WCW WrestleWar)

29) WCW World TV Title: Arn Anderson (c) vs. Bobby Eaton **1/2 (WCW SuperBrawl)

28) WWF Tag Titles: Street Fight: The Nasty Boys (c) vs. The Legion of Doom **1/2 (WWF SummerSlam)

27) ThunderDome Cage: Butch Reed vs. Ron Simmons **1/2 (WCW SuperBrawl)

26) WCW World Title: 2 out of 3 Falls: Lex Luger vs. Ron Simmons **1/2 (WCW Halloween Havoc)

25) WCW World Title: Steel Cage Match: Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham **3/4 (WCW Great American Bash)

24) Texas Tornado, The Dragon, and The British Bulldog vs. Warlord and Power and Glory **3/4 (WWF SummerSlam)

23) Taped Fish Match: Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman *** (WCW SuperBrawl)

22) Brad Armstrong vs. Beautiful Bobby *** (WCW WrestleWar)

21) WCW TV Title: Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes *** (WCW Halloween Havoc)

20) The Warlord vs. The British Bulldog *** (WWF This Tuesday in Texas)



19) WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Sgt. Slaughter *** (WWF Royal Rumble)

18) WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs. Tatsumi Fujinami *** (WCW SuperBrawl)

17) Lex Luger and Arn Anderson vs. Terrence Taylor and The Z-Man *** (WCW Starrcade)

16) Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage *** (WWF This Tuesday in Texas) 



15) The 30 Man Royal Rumble Match *** (WWF Royal Rumble)

14) Big Van Vader vs. Stan Hansen *** (WCW WrestleWar)

13) Million Dollar Title: Ted Dibiase (c) vs. Virgil ***1/4 (WWF SummerSlam) 



12) The Big Boss Man vs. The Barbarian ***1/4 (WWF Royal Rumble)



11) WCW US Tag Titles: The Fabulous Freebirds vs. The Young Pistols ***1/4 (WCW SuperBrawl)

10) Itsuki Yamazaki and Mami Kitamura vs. Miki Handa and Miss A ***1/2 (WCW WrestleWar)

9) Survivor Series Elimination Match: Ric Flair, Ted Dibiase, The Mountie, and Warlord vs. Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Virgil, and The British Bulldog ***3/4 (WWF Survivor Series)

8) Ted Dibiase and The Repo Man vs. Virgil and Tito Santana ***3/4 (WWF This Tuesday in Texas)

7) Bobby Eaton vs. Terrance Taylor ***3/4 (WCW Halloween Havoc)

6) US Title: Lex Luger (c) vs. Dan Spivey **** (WCW WrestleWar)

5) WWF Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect (c) vs. Bret Hart **** (WWF SummerSlam) 



4) The Rockers vs. The Orient Express ****1/4 (WWF Royal Rumble)

-Kato is Paul diamond under a mask and funny enough I just did a review of the first episode of RAW and Diamond (as Max Moon) faced Shawn Michaels for the IC Title. Tanaka knocks Marty off the ropes before the bell and then Shawn GOES FLYING off a double backdrop. Marty back in with a dropkick to Kato and then a super kick to Tanaka. Double Slam by The Rockers as this crowd is ready to go here! The Express slow things down on the floor, so the Rockers hit stereo suicide dives to pop the crowd. Cool! The crowd starts a USA chant which kind of works I guess as Diamond was born in Croatia. Marty and Kato start and they fly all over the ring trading escapes and holds. Kato rolls over into a pin, but Marty up with a bridge and then into a backslide for two. Again, Cool! Tanaka gets a shove from the apron which lets Kato land a right hand. Blind tag, but Marty gets a leap frog and the Express run into each other. Marty with an armdrag on Tanaka and makes the tag to Shawn who comes off the top with a shot to the twisted arm. Shawn stays on the arm with an armbar and then drops a knee to the arm. Tanaka shoves off, but Shawn runs him down. Tanaka catches Shawn off the ropes with a flying forearm for two. Tanka hooks a chinlock as the crowd is all over Fuji at ringside. The crowd rallies Shawn but another blind tag. The Express nearly collide again, but put on the brakes. Shawn runs them into each other and then hits a high knee on Tanaka for two. Tanaka is the illegal man, but they are just rolling with it. Shawn with a sleeper, but Kato suckers Marty into coming in which draws the ref over. That lets Kato come off the top with a double ax to break the sleeper. Leg Sweep from Tanaka! They start trading blows and Marty gets pulled into the ring again. Shawn with a moonsault onto Kato and all four men are in the ring. The Rockers flip out of stereo atomic drops and hit stereo dropkicks. Shawn actually pulls out the fake that Rey used in WCW that became the 6-1-9. That’s awesome! Shawn off the top to the floor with a crossbody on Kato. That gets two back in the ring. Marty back in and double team elbow gets two. Shawn back in with a vertical suplex for two. He tries a monkey flip in the corner, but Marty gets sucked into taking the ref and that lets Kato grab Shawn and we get a stun-gun. Fuji gets a cane shot to the throat for good measure as Marty being a hot head keeps costing Shawn here. No wonder he tossed him into a window! Express with a leap-frog splash that gets two. Tanaka with a shot to the throat and then hooks a nerve hold. He is clean and sober now, but I chuckled when Piper said about Shawn, “he drugged himself in the ring.” Allegedly there were nights when that was true. Kato in and Shawn takes a Flair Flip in the corner. Tanaka superkicks him back into the ring and then a double clothesline has Shawn doing a 360 sell. That’s our early 90s Shawn! Shawn plants Tanaka face first to block a backdrop. No tag though as Kato cuts him off. Shawn avoids a double team move and the HOT TAG is made to Marty. He goes crazy with slams and right hands as the crowd is losing it. Powerslam on Kato gets two! Leaping back elbow gets one as Tanaka makes the save. Shawn is back in and takes Tanaka to the floor. Marty and Kato fight over a backslide and Tanaka is on with a kick to the chest to help Kato win the battle. The backslide gets two! Shawn trips Kato from the floor and Marty gets a two count. All four men back in the ring and The Rockers hit a double super kick. ROCKET LAUNCHER is aborted as Tanaka kicks Shawn off the top rope. Slingshot into a chop which probably sounded better on paper than it looked. Another slingshot, but Shawn decks Tanaka to double him over and Marty slings over with a roll-up for the pin at 19:15.

Winners: The Rockers via pin at 19:15

-This was fantastic! Just a great tag match with a hot crowd to kick off the show. I liked the story of The Express using Marty’s temper to stay in control of the match. Just lots of cool double teams and some stuff we weren’t used to seeing. The finish was pretty slick as well.

3) WCW World Tag Titles: The Steiner Brothers (c) vs. Sting and Lex Luger ****1/2 (WCW SuperBrawl)

-JR mentions The Steiners are also IWGP Tag Team Champions. Dusty says if there ever was a Main Event this is one. Except, it’s not! Probably should have been. Lex starts with Rick and a lockup goes nowhere. Another go and Rick backs Lex into the corner, but offers a clean break. Rick gets back control but Lex is able to get loose enough to grab the bottom rope. Lex grabs a side headlock, but Rick transitions to a head scissors. Lex makes the mistake out trying to out wrestle Rick and has to find a bottom rope to force another break. Rick tries a leaping shoulder, but he bounces off Luger. Lex gets a power slam for two as he has his first advantage of the match. Short lived though as he misses a charge in the corner and Rick sends him flying with a belly to back suplex. Steiner-line gets two! Whip to the corner and Lex gets sent flying with a backdrop. Another trip to the corner, but Lex fires out and hits a clothesline. Gorilla Press Slam and then a tag to Sting. He hits a clothesline that sends Rick to the floor. Sting goes flying over the top with a cross-body to the floor. That was clean! Dusty has a reason to be excited now. Face plant, but Rick just stands up and barks at Sting. Awesome! Sting runs Rick upside down chest first into the corner, which is Rick’s move. Cool! Stinger Splash misses and Scott gets the tag to a big reaction. Double undertook into a powerbomb and then a tilt-a-whirl slam as this place is exploding now. Sting is back though and gets a stun-gun! Luger back in with a suplex and tag back to Sting. Scott catches him with an inverted atomic drop. Scott puts Sting on top and brings him down with an overhead belly to belly for two. Scott tries to clothesline Sting off the corner, but misses and goes over the top and nearly takes out Dusty and JR. Luger back in and gets a two count. Scott with another suplex, but Lex catches him with a power slam. Lex looks for The Torture Rack, but Scott counters with a Side Russian Leg Sweep! Tag to Rick who comes off the top with a bulldog for two. Sting comes in with a dropkick off the top rope. Rick and Lex start punching each other in the face. They each duck clotheslines and end up colliding to leave both men down. Sting gets the tag first, but Scott soon follows. Now they exchange right hands. Suplex from Sting! Scott blasts him with a forearm and looks for a Tombstone, but Sting flips it over and connects with his own for two as Rick makes the save. Luger tackles him and that takes the ref out as he spills to the floor. Rick and Lex fight on the floor. Back in the ring Sting gets a Stinger Splash and here comes Nakita Koloff. Stings shoves Luger out of the way, but takes a chain shot from Koloff and Scott covers for the pin at 11:09.

Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers via pin at 11:09

-This was great though I wasn’t a fan of the ending. Still, a fantastic match that had the crowd rocking and was the best thing on this show by far. You just had to know these four would mesh so well together.

2) WarGames: Ric Flair, Sid, Barry Windham, and Larry Zbyszko vs. Sting, The Steiners, and Brian Pillman ***** (WCW WrestleWar)

-As mentioned, Arn is injured and out, so Larry is taking his place. Sting is rocking his Patriotic look in a nice call back to the night he beat Flair for the World Title. Pullman has his shoulder tapped it and is dumb as he sprints into the cage to start the match which seems to be a surprise to his teammates. I am sure he will be fine! Pillman brings the awesome early as he hangs from the roof off the cage and catches Barry with a kick and then a head scissors. Pillman does a head fake off the ropes and hits a dropkick from the middle ropes with his head scraping the roof. Again, I am sure he will be fine and that won’t come back to haunt him. Pillman lands a low blow which is cool to see as this is WARGAMES! Pillman runs Barry into the cage and then we get some cheese grater action. Windham is bleeding and we are less than 2 minutes into this one. More violence as Pillman bites Windham on his bloody forehead. More biting in the corner! Pillman goes to ground and pound as he is just beating the piss out of Barry. Another trip the cage wall! Pillman with a top rope clothesline and then a jawbreaker. Windham gets tossed from one ring to the other and just bounces off the ropes. Pillman is smart enough to get Barry to the ring near his team’s entrance as we have 1 minute left in this period. Barry tries a piledriver, but gets backdropped. Pillman off the top with a right hand as we get the coin toss. Shocker, but The Horsemen win the toss and Flair’s in the match. Flair and Pillman trade chops in the corner to pop the crowd. The numbers finally catch up to Pillman as he gets run shoulder first into the cage. Barry’s face is covered in blood as he runs Pillman into the cage again. The Horsemen pitch Pillman to their ring which is again smart as they know someone will be entering soon. The Horsemen work on the shoulder as Sting is next in the match. He is all over Flair and just unloads with kicks and punches in the corner. Double clothesline knocks down both Horsemen as the place explodes. Cool! Pillman and Flair pair off in one right while Sting plants Barry on his face. Flair gets one as well and he is crawling on his knees to get away from Sting. Pillman gets crotched on the top rope! Flair tries to send Sting into the cage and when that’ doesn’t work he fires off chops. Sting just stares at him and walks him to the corner. STINGER SPLASH! Larry is in next and Sting punches him in the face. STING LEAPS FROM ONE RING TO THE OTHER and hits Larry with a shoulder tackle. Pillman has a figure-four on Windham as this is just awesome carnage! The numbers catch up to Sting and Pillman again, or at least Pillman as The Horsemen have been focusing their advantage on him while Larry keeps Sting busy. That’s brilliant! Rick Steiner is in as Flair and Windham go over to wait for him. They try to maul him, but STEINER-LINE! Flair gets one as well! Rick pounds away on Flair in the corner as our heroes are all back on their feet. Belly to belly suplex for Flair and then Rick sends him into the cage. Sting gets caught with a reverse atomic drop. More cheese grater action for Flair and he is bleeding. I’m shocked it took this long! Rick and Barry just keep punching each other in the face as Sid is about to enter and wreck shop! The crowd knows our heroes are screwed! Rick gets sent into the cage and then Flair with a straight kick to the balls. Ouch! PIllman saves and rams Flair off the cage. Sid with a clothesline on Sting. The crowd is enjoying every second of this chaos and I don’t blame them. Larry saves Flair as Rick was rubbing his face on the cage. Flair Flop as Sting sends him into the cage again. Scott Steiner is the final man in and The Match Beyond begins. Surrender or Submission! Scott with a double clothesline on Barry and Flair. Butterfly powerbomb on Larry. The camera gets too close to Sid and Rick as they talk about the next spot which kind of sucks. Scott off the top with a clothesline on Sid. Sting hooks The Scorpion on Flair as they all know they need a submission now. Sid sends Pillman shoulder first into the top buckle as Arn yells to rip the tape off. I mean, the story here is simple yet effective. Man, Sid with his audible yelling of spots is kind of a bummer. Our heroes get Quad Figure Fours as the crowd explodes! Awesome! Flair goes to the eyes on Rick to save Barry. Dusty: “There is no way to get out, unless you get out.” Having Dream on commentary makes me happy. Sting with a Gorilla Press on Flair and he makes sure to press him into the roof a few times. Sweet! Sid with a clothesline on Rick as Sting unloads with right hands on a grounded Flair. Sid gets knocked off his feet by Rick as these eight are just trying to survive at this point. The constant screams only add to the match as it feels like a brutal battle. The Horsemen keep trying to double team Pillman, but he has survived so far. Pillman works Flair over in the corner and bites his blood forehead as well. DDT on Windham from Scott, but it is kind of sloppy though it makes sense as fatigue is setting in. These men shouldn’t be fresh as a daisy. SID ALLEY OOPS PILLMAN INTO THE ROOF OF THE CAGE AND THEN NEARLY BREAKS PILLMANS NECK WITH A POWERBOMB AS POOR BRIANS FEET HIT THE ROOF. DAMN! Sid picks up Pillman and gives him another powerbomb because why not I guess. El Gigante is out and rips the door open and the ref stops the match at 22:09.

Winners: The Four Horsemen and Larry Zbyszko via ref stoppage at 22:09
-Just total carnage and awesomeness. I loved the story of The Horsemen targeting Pillman throughout the match and always trying to get the numbers on him even if it meant someone else had to take a beating from Sting or one of The Steiners. The ending is one of the most infamous of all time, and adds to the match, but even if it was just a normal powerbomb, this match still ruled.

1) Career vs. Career: “Macho King” Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior ***** (WWF WrestleMania VII)

-Monsoon notes that Miss Elizabeth being here is fitting since she is such a huge part of Savage’s career. Warrior actually shows some smarts here as he doesn’t run to the ring and just walks to conserve energy. Even Heenan points out this is not what we usually see from The Warrior. He is rocking tights with The WWF Title Belt on the back and it reads, “Means Much More Than This.” That just add more gravity to this match. The crowd is rocking early as they start a Warrior chant. I love this match so much and I am going to enjoy every second of it again. Cautious start from both men which makes all the sense in the world. Lockup and Warrior backs Savage against the ropes. Savage tries to play mind games, but Warrior shakes it off and knocks him on his ass. Savage buries a knee to the ribs and lands a right hand. He clubs Warrior on the back, but gets knocked down with a shoulder. Savage bails to the floor and attacks from behind as Sherri distracts. Warrior shrugs that off and knocks Savage down again. He lifts him off the mat with a choke and then hits a reverse atomic drop. A regular Atomic Drop has Savage bouncing around the ring. Sherri in, so Warrior tosses Savage on her, which sends her to the floor. Savage eats another right hand and ends up tied in the ropes for a second. Warrior sets too early on a backdrop and Savage boots him in the chest. Clothesline from Savage! He heads up top as the crowd freaks out, but Warrior catches him. He calmly puts Savage on his feet and SLAPS HIM IN THE FACE! Awesome! Savage freaks out because being disrespected is even worse than punching him in the face. He tosses a chair in the ring, which seems to be him freaking out, but he uses it as a distraction so he can attack Warrior from behind. Cool! Warrior shakes that off though and stomps the piss out of Savage in the corner as the crowd counts along. Heavy right hands drop Savage as he is bumping like crazy! Whip to the corner but Warrior misses a splash and spills over the top to the floor. Sherri is right there and slaps Warrior in the face. Savage up top and comes down with the double axe. Nice! Sherri goes to the eyes and Warrior shoves her on her ass, but Savage attacks from behind and sends Warrior into the post. Sherri is relentless as she lays the boots into Warrior. Savage gets a two count back in the ring as Gorilla notes they have been told this is the largest PPV audience in history. Man, Vince just straight having Gorilla lie like that. Warrior back with a clothesline as he shakes off Sherri trying to distract him. He runs the ropes multiple times waiting for Savage, but misses a leaping shoulder as Savage side-stepped and helped drive Warrior into the mat. That gets a two count, so Savage hooks a chinlock. Warrior to his feet and he runs down Savage. He is up and we get a double clothesline. Sherri, showing great desperation, drags Savage over to her as she does all she can to wake Savage up. Sherri distracts the ref again as Warrior has Savage pinned with a small package. The ref gets there late and it ends up being a two count. Savage with a knee that sends Warrior into the ref, knocking him down. Sherri up top and tries to use her heel, but Warrior moves and Savage gets caught with it. Warrior is dumb and chases after her, which gives Savage a chance to regroup. He gets his hands on Sherri, but Savage is able to get a roll-up for two. Savage pulls the tights to send Warrior into the top buckle and drops Warrior throat first on the top rope. Savage uses the top rope to clothesline Warrior and then a slam for two. Here we go! SAVAGE OFF THE TOP WITH THE ELBOW AS THE CROWD FREAKS OUT! We aren’t done as Savage drops a second one! Hey, how about a third one! If you liked that, here’s a fourth one. Well, if you went that far, might as well drop a fifth one. The crowd reaction is great and somewhere little Bronson Reed was watching and got an idea. Warrior KICKS OUT THOUGH! Now Savage is baffled and isn’t sure what to do so he just starts throwing strikes. Warrior gets to the ropes and start shaking them as the crowd is losing it. Clothesline and another! He gets Savage up with The Gorilla Press Slam and drops him down as Liz sells her anxiety. The Splash that beat Hogan connects, but SAVAGE IS OUT AT TWO! OH MAN! Now Warrior is the one questioning life and starts talking to his hands as Gorilla talks about destiny. I love all this so much! Warrior decides it’s time to leave and the crowd stunned. The ref tries to talk sense into Warrior, but he won’t listen. Savage decks him to get his attention though. Sherri holds Warrior neck first on the railing as Savage heads up. Warrior pushes Sherri away and Savage ends up coming off into the railing in a beautiful camera shot from the floor. Savage is a pile of goo at this point. Warrior his the leaping shoulder and it knocks Savage to the floor. Warrior fires him back in the ring and hits another one that again, sends Savage to the floor. If Macho is going out, he is making sure he is selling everything like a champ. Warrior with a third one and again, Savage spills to the floor, but Warrior catches him sooner and pulls him back into the ring by the hair. WARRIOR PINS SAVAGE WITH ONE FOOT ON HIS CHEST TO END THIS ONE AT 20:49. FANTASTIC!

-Oh we aren’t done yet as everything that happens next only adds to the match! Warrior puts his jacket back on to celebrate as the ref checks on Savage. Warrior puts one more boot on Savage before taking his leave while Sherri freaks out on the floor as she has lost her meal ticket. She enters the ring and starts berating Savage and starts kicking the man while he is down. The crowd is pissed! Even Heenan is questioning what Sherri is doing at this point. The camera keep cutting to Liz and she finally has had enough, climbs over the barricade and sprints to the ring. She grabs Sherri by the hair and throws her to the outside as the crowd loses it. I can’t help by smile watching this and I have seen this hundreds of times. Savage comes to and isn’t sure what to think as he had no clue Liz was even there! Sherri is still bitching at him on the floor and Savage puts two and two together. Liz is crying as she stares as Savage and Heenan calls it sickening. SAVAGE AND LIZ HUG TO SEND THE CROWD INTO UTTER JOY! We see women in the crowd crying and again, I can’t help but smile every time I see this. Savage puts Liz on his shoulders like he did at Mania IV. More shots of women crying as Heenan questions if their shoes are too tight. Ha! “Must of had the chili dog with onions.” Liz holds the ropes for Savage like she always did, but not this time as Savage opens the ropes for her and it gets one the biggest pops of the night. Randy Savage just went from most hated to one of the most over faces they ever had and after he lost a retirement match. This is just brilliant!

Winner: The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 20:49
-This is one of my favorite matches of all time and it still rules. Some will say everything after the match shouldn’t affect the rating, but skip that. This was all part of a beautiful story. The match itself told a great story as both men were cautious and then threw everything they could at each other and both questioned what they had to do to get the win. In the end Warrior realized he just needed to beat Savage into a pile of goo to get the win. Then we had the next chapter in Savage’s WrestleMania career arc and it delivered one of the greatest and most emotional moments in WWE history.

-Picking Warrior/Savage over War Games may annoy some, but again, Warrior/Savage is one of my 10 favorite matches of all time and yes, a lot of that also has to do with the angle following the match. With that said, the match was epic and everything it needed to be as it told a great story and had one of the hottest crowds you will see. Not sure how well this match would have translated in a quarter full LA Coliseum, so probably a blessing it was moved to the smaller Arena setting. Thanks everyone for reading and see you in 1992.