wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Beach Blast ’93
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-We are on a run with WCW shows as this is the second in a row and we still have one more Clash before getting to SummerSlam. I have to mention the mini movie that they used to hype the Tag Team Main Event. WCW liked doing mini movies and this may be the funniest one. Go find it and spoofs of it on YouTube. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, MS
-July 18, 1993
-Attendance: 8600
-PPV Buys: 100,000
-PPV buys held steady from Slamboree as they are on a run where every show is hitting 95,000 or 100,000 after doing a big number for Havoc 91. The bottom would drop out in November, but we will get to that.
-Missy Hyatt and Eric Bischoff welcome us to the show and Eric is wearing his baseball cap backwards like all the cool kids.
-They throw to Tony Schiavone and he is also wearing his cap backwards. He throws to Jesse who is at a tiki bar with women in bathing suits. He makes his way down to the announce table and the women come with him.
WCW World Television Championship: “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (c) vs. Ron Simmons
-If Wonderful gets disqualified he loses the TV Title. This match was supposed to happen at The Clash last month, but Paul was injured. I have no memory at all of Wonderful being TV Champion. Good for him! The crowd is all over Wonderful with the Paula chants and some even have “Paula” Pennants. Jesse complains that Ron decked Wonderful before the bell, but there was a bell. It was just very faint. Hard back elbow from Ron followed by a dropkick for two. Wonderful rolls to the floor and is greeted by more Paula chants. Back in Wonderful gets a drop toe hold, but misses an elbow. Ron works the arm and shoulder as Jesse hints about all the sex he had with the ladies. “I can’t help it Tony, it just happens.” Hammerlock but Wonderful breaks with an elbow to the face. Effective! Jesse talks about how this is wrestling and not football, so they don’t wear helmets. Vince Russo immediately pops in my head. Wonderful hooks a sleeper and Ron tries to run him into the corner, but he slides off and Ron goes chest first. Suplex from Wonderful and he heads up top, but misses a knee drop. Ron goes right to the knee with kicks. Oh wait, Jesse mentions Florida State and gives me a chance to not the Pitt Panthers went into FSU and got the win last weekend. Ron goes to work on the leg, but Wonderful gets to the ropes and scurries to the floor. Ron tries to follow and Wonderful beats on him by the announce table. Back in the ring Wonderful gets a reverse chinlock. Ugh! Ron fights out but gets caught with a knee-lift. Front facelock now because reason. Ron punches his way out as Jesse gets annoyed as usual about the ref allowing closed fist punches. Wonderful back to the reverse chinlock as the camera pans the crowd. Ron snaps off a powerslam and that should have probably been the end because he beat Vader with that move, but Wonderful is out at two. Sunset flip for Ron gets two. Wonderful tries a dropkick and just bounces off Ron. Not sure what that was as I assume it was just a spot that looked weird. Back elbow from Ron gets two. Suplex gets two as Wonderful gets his arm on the rope. Wonderful lands a thumb to the eye and preps for the piledriver. Ron backdrops Wonderful to the floor and that’s a DQ at 11:15.
Winner and Still WCW Television Champion: Paul Orndorff via DQ at 11:15
-This was bad! Boring match and crappy ending. Not the way you want to set the tone of a show. No clue why this was the opener. 1/2*
-Ron hits a shoulder tackle off the top, but this match is over.
2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs,. Tex Slazenger and Shanghi Pearce
-It’s The Godwins before they became pig farmers. Shanghi is Henry Godwin in a mask and Tex is Phineas without a mask. They yell Texas a lot! Bagwell and Pearce start and Marcus gets a flying body press. Everyone in the ring and 2 Cold Buff clear the ring. Scorpio tries to leap off Bagwell’s back to hit a dive on the ramp, but that goes all kinds of wrong. Jesse is right there to call it out. They were kind of lucky the camera was pulled back to show the crowd as Scorpio lost his footing and tripped over the ropes. Scorpio and Tex have a go and Tex gets a shoulder tackle. Backdrop and Scorpio’s feet hit the ropes. That was kind of cool, but a few feet more it could have been ugly. Scorpio blocks some strikes and gets a dropkick from the middle rope. He hits another dropkick and goes to work on the arm. Bagwell in for a double hip toss for two. Tex throws forearms and brings Pearce back in, but he charges into a drop toe hold. Peace runs the ropes a ton as Bagwell keeps avoiding. Bagwell catches him with a hip-toss. Tex back in and he gets caught with a headlock. Peace lands a boot on the apron and The Texans take over. Single arm DDT into a hammerlock. Peace in and he comes off the middle ropes with a boot to the hamerlocked arm. The Texans are quick in and out with the tags as they work the arm. Sunset flip from Bagwell gets two, but Tex runs him down with a clothesline for two as Scorpio makes the save. Peace back in off the ropes. He drops a knee for a two count. Reverse chinlock because those always make me happy. Bagwell punches his way out, but Pearce hits a sit-out powerbomb for two as Scorpio again makes the save. Slam from Pearce, but he misses an elbow. Tex in to cut off the tag to Scorpio. Jesse amuses himself by telling lawyer jokes. Bagwell avoids a charge in the corner and makes the hot tag to Scorpio. He runs wild and hits a side kick on Tex and a super kick on Pearce. He comes off the top with a splash, but Tex makes the save. Everyone in the ring and The Texans get run into each other. Dropkick sends Tex to the floor. Bagwell with a belly-to-back and Scorpio hits the 450 Splash for the pin at 12:45.
Winners: 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell via pin at 12:45
-Just a basic tag match with one noticeable screw up early. It was fine. **
-Missy is at the entrance beach with Mr. Wonderul and The Equalizer (Dave Sullivan). Wonderful cuts a weird promo as Equalizer breaths hard. Weird!
Erik Watts vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William)
-They have Watts resorting to handing out US Flags to the fans now. Didn’t help him gain fans. Jesse asks Tony who won the British Open today and Tony’s not sure. Jesse gets informed it was Greg Norman. I was about to check. Who am I kidding? I am going to check anyway. Norman wins at Royal St Georges with a -13 score with Faldo finishing in second. Don’t worry you haven’t missed anything with that match as it takes Regal a bit before making contact. They take about a minute trading wrist locks and armbars. Regal gets a monkey flip, but Watts holds on to the wrist lock. Jesse takes shots about living in Oklahoma and I wonder if those are directed at a certain former WCW announcer? We are nearly five minutes in and it’s all been wrist lock and armbar work. Regal gets a pin but Watts counters and then Regal counters back to get another two. The crowd doesn’t care as Jesse wonders why they don’t applaud. Tony wonders if fans today are conditioned to cheer for moves like that. Yep, we can be fickle. Daniel Bryan tried to warn all of us. Watts works a hammerlock now, but Regal counters and goes after the leg. He fires off Euro Uppercuts and then forearms in the corner. He goes for a knee, but misses. Watts goes for the STF, but he is too close to Sir William who slaps hm. Regal gets a roll-up with the tights for the pin at 7:30.
Winner: Lord Steven Regal via pin at 7:30
-This was a match that happened. I was hoping we would see Regal stretch and beat up Watts, but it was all mat wrestling and then cheating to win. *1/2
-Fall Brawl: War Games commercial! That would be the debut of Fall Brawl as a PPV.
-Jesse promised he would interview whoever won the last match, so he gets Regal. I laughed as Regal, pouring sweat, notes he didn’t even break a sweat beating Watts. He has his eyes set on Wonderful’s TV Title and quotes Churchill.
Maxx Payne vs. Johnny B. Badd
-Badd is wearing a mask as Payne used the Badd Blaster to shoot Badd in the face. Badd catapults himself to the floor as Payne side steps. Suplex from Payne! Hammerlock slam follows. Payne pounds Badd down in the corner and hits a back splash in the corner. He snaps Badd over and goes to work on the arm. Badd goes to his boxing background and punches his way out, but Payne catches him with a backbreaker for two. He goes for the Pain Killer, but Badd is close enough to the ropes to force a break. Another suplex into a cover for two. Badd fights to get a sunset flip for two. Badd tries a crossbody, but gets caught and slammed. He misses an elbow and Badd dropkicks him to the floor. Badd with a slingshot dive to the floor and both men are down. Payne sends Badd into the post, but Badd avoids a charge which leads to Payne running into the post. Back in the ring Badd gets a cross-body for the pin at 4:52.
Winner: Johnny B. Badd via pin at 4:52
-It’s been a rough start to this show. This picked up a bit as they fought on the floor and we needed more of that with this being a grudge match. Sadly, we didn’t get much more of it. *
WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Hollywood Blondes (c) vs. The Horsemen (Arn Anderson and Paul Roma)
-Bell sounds and we stall for time so Jesse lets us know The Blondes are Stallone’s favorite tag team. We know Stallone is a Hogan guy. Austin and Roma start us off but first Austin goes to the floor to hold Pillman back from hitting fan. Austin mocks the crowd for chanting “Horsemen” and then we get a lockup at the 2 minute mark. Austin backs Roman into the corner, pushes his face and backs off as he is playing mind games. Another go and Austin repeats and he has a smile on his face. Side headlock from Austin into a hammerlock, but Roma reverses and punches Austin in the face. Jesse is pissed! His battle with closed fist punches is truly something. Pillman in and he wants the ref to check the elbow pad and digs into his tights behind the ref’s back. Apparently nothing to use right now. Arn in and he catches Pillman with an elbow to the mouth. Pillman gets a hip-toss out of the corner and rolls camera. Arn pulls Pillman down by the hair and then catches Austin rushing in with an arm-drag. Austin with a backdrop and he drops an elbow for two. Arn back with forearms and Austin spills to the ramp. Austin offers a handshake and they milk this for a bit. Arn just kicks Austin in the stomach which shouldn’t shock Austin. Roma gets the tag and comes off the top with a forearm. Roma works the arm for a bit before Austin gets a brief bear hug. Roma counters into a sunset flip for two. Backslide for two and Roman catches Austin with an arm-drag. Roma misses a flying body press and that brings Pillman back into the match. He fires off chops in the corner, but gets caught with a choke. Clothesline from Roma gets two. Fans cheering Roma is weird! Arn back in and he goes to work on the arm. We are obver 10 minutes and they are still in first gear. Snake Eyes by Arn as he caught Pillman on his shoulders in the corner. Catapult sends Pillman into a right hand from Roma. Pillman’s knee gives out and Austin wants a time-out. Of course Pillman was faking and he hits a very weak chop block that poor Arn had to sell. They head to the floor and Pillman dives off the apron, but crashes into the railing. Pillman beats the count in and tries a suplex, but Arn makes a blind tag and Roman comes off the top with a sunset flip. Roma ends up on the floor so Austin drops him throat first on the railing. Back in the ring Austin gets a gut-wrench suplex. Austin talks some trash and drops down to give us some push-ups. Got to get that work in whenever you can. Austin with shoulders in the corner, but runs into a boot in the opposite corner. Austin decks Arn to prevent a tag and brings Roma back to his corner. They double team behind the ref who was getting Arn back out of the ring. Roma runs Pillman into the corner and heads up top. They each try a dropkick with neither connecting. Race is on and hot tag to Arn. He runs wild on both men including a DDT on Pillman. Austin decks him from behind though and Pillman gets a two count. Austin back in with a slam and he heads up top and drops a forearm. Used to seeing that from the second rope, so cool to see him do it from the top rope. Arn tries to fight out of the corner, but doesn’t have much behind it. Pillman in and he goes for multiple covers, but Arn is out at two. Austin back in and he pitches Arn to the floor. Piledriver is blocked and Arn gets a backdrop on the floor. Pillman is there to lay the boots in and that lets Austin to get back in the ring first and cut off Arn from making a tag. Arn tries a DDT, but Austin hangs him on the top rope. This match is rather long! Arn blocks a spinebuster and hits an ugly stun-gun. I see what they were going for there. Arn gets a small package on Pillman, who tagged in, but the ref is with Roma so no count. Pillman and Arn collide heads and both men are down. Austin in first and he hits a belly-to-back suplex. Arn tries another comeback and actually suplexes Austin to the floor which should be a DQ. Tony tells Jesse since Arn was on the apron it doesn’t count. Jesse asks what difference that makes and I agree with Jesse. I am so glad they eventually got rid of that rule. Pillman in with a head scissors and he calls Arn an “old man.” To be fair Arn has looked like an old man his high school days. Pillman off the top but Arn decks him and the Hot Tag is made to Roma. That’s weird to type! Everyone in the ring and Arn hits a spinebuster and Roman jumps on for a two count. Roma with a roll-up, but Pillman hits a clothesline as the ref puts Arn out and Austin rolls into his own roll-up and uses the tights for the pin at 26:15. Tony mentions that a lot of people are probably surprised by The Blondes retaining. More on that in a second.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Hollywood Blondes via pin at 26:15
-Tony notes we have seen a tag team classic. I disagree! Long (or in this case really long) doesn’t mean classic. Just ask HHH. The work they did was solid, but it didn’t need to be 26 minutes. ***
-So WCW had taped shows were Roma and Arn were Tag Team Champions, but they opted to not switch the Titles here to work the smarts. I am sure it will work out fine for all involved.
30 Minute Iron Man Match: WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dustin Rhodes vs. “Ravishing” Rick Rude
-Probably should have spaced out the last two matches as we are going from a 26 minute match to one that has to go 30 minutes. Last year Rude and Steamboat gave us a BANGER with this stipulation. Kind of unfair to put Dustin in this spot at this point in his career and Rude is a little more banged up than he was a year ago. Let’s see what they can do! Neither man is Champion as they have been battling over the Title all summer and we have a dispute on who should be Champion. They jaw at each other to kill the first 30 seconds. Lockup and they jockey for position as they roll around the ropes. The ref gets in to separate them. We go and they do the jockey around the ring thing again. More jawing as we have killed two minutes without anything happening. To be fair, I understand the idea is that they are being cautious. Rude goes to the eyes and fires off forearms to the back. Dustin gets a backdrop and sends Rude hard into the corner. Another whip to the opposite corner. And another one leads to a reverse chinlock. Makes sense, but ugh! Dustin drops his weight on Rude’s back and then swivels his hips to taunt Rude. Back to the reverse chinlock as we hit 5 minutes. Now Dustin gives up a few pumps instead of a swivel. Dustin tries one time to many as Rude flips over and Dustin’s golden globes hit knees. Rude heads up top and comes off with a forearm smash to the head. Rude goes to the swivel, but his back is hurting. Forearms to the back and a bear-hug as we have time to kill in this one. Tony reminds us of Rude/Steamboat last year and yes it was awesome. Dustin breaks with elbows, but Rude regains control and hooks a reverse chinlock. We pan the crowd and back to Rude controlling with the reverse chinlock. Dustin powers up and has Rude in Electric Chair position and sure enough drops back with it. He goes for a splash, but Rude gets the knees up as we hit the 10 minute mark. Rhodes throws leg kicks as he works the hamstring area and follows with a leg lock. He rams the bad leg off the apron and then fires off a right hand. Elbow to the knee and back to a leg hold. Rhodes stands for a grapevine and Rude has to fight off his shoulders to avoid a pin. Back to the seated version and Rude hooks a crossface to see who will release first. Rhodes twists the ankle so Rude goes to the eyes to get the break. Tony: “Both men moving slowly now.” No kidding! Rude snaps off a backbreaker and hits The Rude Awakening for the first fall at 13:19.
-Rude up 1-0: Rude off the top with a clothesline for two. Another and Dustin is out at two again. And again! More trash talk from Rude as Jesse and Tony discuss if Rude should try to put it in the deep freeze. Jesse thinks it’s too early for that as we hit the 15 minute mark. Rude snaps Dustin throat first off the top rope and he bounces back and splats off the ramp. Nice bump! Dustin back in at six, so Rude hooks a chinlock. Sigh! Dustin mounts a brief comeback, but gets caught with a knee in the corner. Tombstone, but Dustin climbs up and reverses to one of his own. Ugly one too! Rude kicks out at two. Dustin tries to dive at Rude, who goes south, so Dustin splats over the top to the floor. Snap suplex back in the ring from Rude gets two. Dustin hits an uppercut so Rude goes to the eyes and then hits another snap suplex for two. Rude takes way too long to try another suplex. Dustin blocks and gets one of his own for a two count as we have passed the 20 minute mark. Rude pulls Dustin by the tights face first into the top buckle. Rude up top and he hits another forearm smash. Dustin gets his face run across the top rope as even Jesse is calling out the trash talk at this point. Rude gives us a back pose we we have 8 minutes remaining. Back to the reverse chinlock and this time at least it is getting the crowd into the match. Dustin elbows his way out and throws right hands. He walks into a sleeper though as we have are down to 7 minutes. Dustin’s hand only drops once as the ref tell them six minutes left, but it’s really about six and a half. The arm drops twice, but not a third time though Jesse is annoyed as he felt it touched the mat. I couldn’t see because they were tight on the face. Dustin throws elbows and gets a break with a jawbreaker. We are down to five minutes. Rude blows a snot rocket which has Tony apologizing. Now, he is in AEW where that doesn’t even register as offensive. Dustin spits on Rude which has Jesse pissed! He didn’t see the snot rocket. Rude goes to the eyes again and Dusty goes flying out of the ring. Another snot rocket from Rude as it has become one of the better offensive matches of the match. Dustin gets a bulldog out of nowhere and gets the pin at 26:55.
-Tied at 1: That scoreboard graphic they flash on the screen is so early 90s. Dustin off the top and gets a two count. Two minute warning! Piledriver from Dustin gets two as Rude got his foot on the ropes. Dustin unl time oads with right hands as Jesse notes we might not get a champion. Well, that would be stupid! Dustin drops an elbow for two. 60 seconds left as Dustin goes crazy with clotheslines and gets another two count. Sleeper which seems like a dumb move with only 35 seconds to go. Rude with a jawbreaker and he heads up top with 20 seconds to go. He misses and Rhodes gets a DDT, but the time runs out before the count.
Time Limit Draw at 30:00
-The crowd booed the crap out of that decision. Just a pick a winner as this is a PPV Match with an Iron Man stipulation. You need to give people a winner. The match was a lot of rest holds because Dustin is no Ricky Steamboat (few are) and he wasn’t ready for a match like this yet. The nature of the stipulation made for some solid drama in the final five minutes, but it took a while to get there. I am also not a fan of Iron Man matches that have minimal decisions. Kudos to them for going out there for 30 minutes, but I wasn’t a fan. **
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Barry Windham (c) vs. Ric Flair
-Flair is a 9 Time Champion at this point and we have been building to this match since he returned at SuperBrawl. They start fast with Windham peppering Flair with right hands in the corner. Flair responds with chops, but Barry hits a clothesline out of the corner. Flair back with chops and Barry bails to the floor. He slows things down as he glares at the crowd and slowly makes his way back into the ring. Shoulder tackle by Barry and he fires away with right hands again. Whip to the corner and Flair goes up and over to the floor. Barry gives chase and runs Flair down with another clothesline. Suplex back into the ring. Flair with a loud chop and Barry responds. Flair goes to the eyes because well, he’s Ric Flair. Another shoulder tackle by Barry, but Flair catches him off the ropes with a sleeper. Barry runs Flair head first into the buckle to break and we get a Flair Flop. West Texas Samoan Drop! Powerslam gets two. I like Barry using the power game! He drops a leg, but he’s not Hogan and this isn’t a year late at Bash at The Beach. Lariat gets two. Barry argues with the ref and eats a right hand and another one. Flair flips over for a roll-up for two. Chops from Flair! Ugly crossbody from Flair where it looked like Barry was supposed to catch him so both went over the top, but it didn’t happen. Barry pulls Flair to the floor and gets a slam. Back in the ring he gets mounted punches in the corner, but Flair brings him out with an inverted atomic drop. Flair drops the knee and we get a WOOO. Barry blocks a suplex and puts Flair up top. Superplex and Flair sells it like death as always. Barry up top and he misses which leaves both men down. Windham still crawls over and gets a two count. Small package from Flair gets two. Loud chop in the corner! Windham back with punches and this time Flair lands on the apron off the whip to the corner. He runs up the ropes and hits the crossbody, but Barry rolls with him and gets a two count. This crowd is dead for this for some reason. Maybe they even know it’s a foregone conclusion and are just waiting for the celebration. Nearly 11 minutes in, Flair finally goes for the knee. He lands one kick and gets the figure-four and Barry gets pinned I guess at 11:27. No clue what happened there, but neither man seemed to know and we had a delayed reaction. Tony tries to fill us in and notes that Barry had his shoulders down as he was trying to get to the ropes.
Winner and New NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair via pin at 11:27
-This was not the classic these two were capable of giving us. It wasn’t the disaster of some other NWA Title Matches in the last year at least. The ending was all kinds of wonky but we got the result everyone had been calling for since Flair returned. **1/4
-Jesse interviews Flair, who puts over Barry and then tells everyone to bring it if they want his World Title. He lives and dies for this. Well, you can’t say he was lying with that statement.
The Masters of the Powerbomb (Big Van Vader and Sid Vicious) (w/ Harley Race and Colonel Parker) vs. Sting and The British Bulldog
-Sting and Sid start as they renew their rivalry from a few years earlier. Sting gets a quick take down and throws right hands. He plants Sid face first into the mat and then a second time. Clothesline as Sid is bumping all over the place. He has had enough though and drills Sting with a chokeslam. Cool! Sting gets trapped in the corner so Bulldog rushes over to help, so Sid punches him in the face. Sting and Bulldog get dumped to the floor, but they head up top to the same corner and come off with stereo clotheslines. That sends Vader and Sid to the floor as the crowd comes alive. Vader and Bulldog each get the tag and the crowd wants to see these two go at it again. Vader boxes Bulldog in the corner and pounds him to the mat. Sid throws in a kick from the apron for good measure. Short-arm clothesline! Bulldog floats over on a suplex and gets an impressive delayed vertical suplex on Vader. Sweet! Vader is up first though and decks Bulldog as he charges. Early 90s Vader in WCW as just a different animal man! Vader with a standing splash and Sid follows with a big boot. Sid steps on Bulldog’s throat and hooks a reverse chinlock. The crowd roars for Bulldog but he can only muster enough to break the hold. Vader in and he throws his mask off as he and Sting just start punching each other. I always liked that Sting had no issues throwing down with Vader. He knew Vader loved being the bully, so the best thing was to just stand up to him. Sid in and comes off the middle ropes with a double axe. He hooks a nerve hold, which as we know, is my least favorite move ever. Where has this crowd been all night? Bulldog punches his way out and gets a slam, but has hurt his back. Vader back in and Race holds Bulldog. Of course Bulldog moves and Harley gets decked by Vader. Harley just wanted to be one of the boys and take a bump. Hot Tag to Sting who cleans house on both men. Sting avoids a splash from Vader, but walks into a shot from Sid. Vader follows with a clothesline. Sid back in and he slugs Sid down to the mat. Sid chokes on the ropes and then with his boot in the corner. Parker takes the ref as Vader and Sid work Sting over in the corner. Vader back in and Sting covers up in the corner as Vader throws bombs. Vader to the middle rope and he flattens Sting with another vertical splash. Up top again as Vader looks for a superplex, but Stiing punches and bites until Vader drops. Sting collapses off the ropes, but can’t get to the corner as Vader drops an elbow on the back. Slam from Sid and he tells Sting to move and sure enough, Sting rolls to avoid an elbow. Tag to Bulldog and he runs wild on Sid! Too much running though and Sid catches him with a boot to the face. “Vader” chant from the crowd! Nice! Rocky Mountain Samoan Drop gets two! Vader Bomb connects and Sting has to make the save. Everyone in the ring for a brief second as Sid and Sting fight up the ramp. Vader goes all the way up and hits a MOONSAULT! Sting rushes down the ramp and dives over the top and in to make another save. Bulldog is somehow still in this and gets a crucifix for the pin at 16:42.
Winners: Sting and The British Bulldog via pin at 16:42
-Fun Match! Finally something for the crowd to sink their teeth into. The result gives Bulldog a reason to expect a WCW World Title Match. Sting knows how to work giants and Bulldog got to show off the power game. Vader hitting that moonsault blew everyone’s mind back in 1993 and it’s still rather impressive today. ***1/2
-Thanks for reading!
