wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW SuperBrawl III
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-WCW’s first PPV offering of the year and we are slowly getting out of the Bill Watts era. I hear a former World Champion just left Titan and may be heading South again. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Feb. 21, 1993
-Asheville Civic Center, Asheville, NC
-Attendance: 6500
-PPV Buys: 95,000
-Buys are the same as the last PPV (Starrcade), but down 65,000 from SuperBrawl II.
-Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt welcome us to the show and then throw it to Johnny B. Badd, who makes his entrance and joins them on the stage. They then throw to our announce team. Okay then!
-Jim Ross is gone as he is only weeks away from showing up at WrestleMania IX. It’s an upgrade though as I always felt Tony/Jesse worked better together.
-Maxx Payne plays The National Anthem on his guitar.
-They also have a unique setup for this one as there are two entrances with a set of fans between the two aisles. I don’t remember that look at all.
Brian Pillman and Steve Austin vs. Erik Watts and Marcus Alexander Bagwell
-Still not known as the Hollywood Blondes yet, but they are wearing matching gear. Bagwell starts with Austin and nothing happening from the opening lock-up. The crowd chants “Austin,” but he plays it off as if they are annoying him. Austin shoves Bagwell away in the corner and then uses the ropes to hide to frustrate Bagwell. Arm-drag into an armbar from Bagwell and you can hear the boos. Austin counters to a top wrist lock and Bagwell ends up winning the test of strength and takes Austin to the mat. Austin backs Bagwell into the corner and lands a back elbow. Austin blocks a roll-up attempt, but eats a right hand and bails to the floor. Bagwell sends him back in and tags Watts. Many boos from the crowd! Double team backdrop and Pillman rushes in and eats a clothesline. Blind tag by Pillman as Watts fights his way out of the corner. Pillman shoves, but Watts shoves back and Pillman lands on his ass. Japanese armdrag followed by a dropkick and another armdrag. The boos are just raining down on Watts. Bagwell back in and at least he gets the women cheering for him. Austin in and Bagwell catches him with a dropkick and another one fore a headlock on the mat. Watts back in to many boos as the announcers are just ignoring it. He hooks an abdominal stretch and this crowd is not happy. Bagwell back in and gets cheered just because they don’t want Watts in the ring. Then they go back to booing Bagwell. Austin drops an elbow and Pillman gets the tag. He comes off the top with a double axe, but gets caught with a Gorilla Press Slam. Pillman ducks one clothesline, but points at his head, which leads to Bagwell hitting a clothesline. Watts back in and Jesse wonders why the crowd is booing and Tony thinks they are saying Wooo. No way! They did the Simpsons gag before that episode ever released. A Star is Burns released in 95, so they beat it by three years. I am blown away! Pillman in and Watts tries for the STF, but Pillman gets to the ropes. He then fakes a knee injury which Watts falls for and he ends up getting dumped to the floor. Pillman fakes a dive, but gets caught coming off the apron and sent into the railing. Back in the ring Pillman forces Watts into his corner and Austin takes advantage. He gets the tag and dumps Watts over the top. People are rallying Watts, but the boos are still audible. Austin gets a slam on the floor and hey, I may not have noticed the last few shows, but the mats are back on the floor. I am sure the boys are thrilled. Watts blocks a sunset flip, but Pillman rushes in to deck him. The Blondes work Watts over in the corner as the crowd is enjoying this beating. Austin uses the ropes to choke with his boot while Pillman has the ref. Blondes rule! Watts gets a sunset flip, but the ref is late to get there as he was with Austin. Pillman runs his face in the mat and brings Austin back in. He comes off the top with a first to the face. Chops from Austin! The crowd is into this I will say that. Austin decks Bagwell to sucker him into the ring and then The Blondes cheat behind the ref’s back. Rocket Launcher misses as Watts gets the knees up. Race to the corner and Pillman wins, so Austin is in and hits a belly-to-back suplex. Austin and Watts collide heads which causes Austin to miss a move. The race is on again to see who gets there first. Tag to Pillman, but Bagwell is in as well. He punches Pillman in the corner and lands on one Austin as well. Powerslam to Pillman. Everyone is in the ring bow. Watts gets forced back to his corner as Bagwell hits a Perfect-plex. Austin comes off the top to break that up and Pillman gets the pin at 16:34.
WInners: The Hollywood Blondes via pin at 16:34
-This was a really solid match as The Blondes are always fun. They probably should have steamrolled Watts and Bagwell a bit more, but they were still protecting the young guys a bit. ***
-Eric and Johnny drop the news that Ric Flair has returned to WCW.
-Missy Hyatt is outside and tries to interview Ric Flair, who arrives in a limo, but security keeps her away.
-Back to Jesse and Tony as the crowd loudly chants, “We Want Flair.” Jesse notes it has been a long time coming for him and Flair to be in the same place.
Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
-Benoit is wearing some zebra print tights and Scorpio is rocking some hot pink tights with a scorpion design. I wonder if they repurposed those for Sting to save some money? Benoit hits a snap suplex as Jesse and Tony talk about Stu Hart. Interesting they mention him after he was just at The Royal Rumble in support of Bret. Scorpion hits a spinning kick which sends Benoit to the floor to regroup. Back in he gets a wrist lock and they start flipping and reversing control. Scorpio gets a flip but Benoit takes him down to the mat. The crowd cheers what they are seeing. Scorpio back to his feet and uses the ropes to flip out and he takes Benoit to the mat. He transitions into a hammerlock and then traps it between his boots and falls back to add pressure. Ouch! That’s kind of cool! Benoit is able to reverse but Scorpio flips over his back and catches a charging Benoit with a Japanese arm-drag. The crowd is digging this so far! They battle over a knuckle lock and we get more cool reversals and counters. Scorpion ends up with an armbar again. Benoit punches his way out and hits a head-butt. Scorpion tries a dropkick, but Benoit sways him away. He misses an elbow and Scorpio catches him with a super kick and back to the armbar. He gets a two count and switches back to a hammerlock. Benoit kicks and punches his away out again and runs Scorpio into the top buckle. Scorpio misses a spin kick and Benoit hits a clothesline. Hooking clothesline follows and Benoit shakes out the arm to get some feeling back into it. Back breaker and he holds it as he bends Scorpio backwards. Scorpio goes to the hair which pisses Jesse off and it lets him land a knee to break the hold. Benoit stays in control as he hooks a reverse chinlock. Benoit drops Scorpio gut first on the top rope and stomps him to the floor. They fight on the apron and Benoit gets sent into the buckle. Scorpio up top, but he misses a missile dropkick. Back to a reverse chinlock. Scorpio throws elbows to break but gets caught with a spinebuster. Not sure why but Ross and Tony have been calling it a sidewalk slam. Boston Crab but Benoit releases and goes back to the reverse chinlock. We are told there are 5 minutes left but that’s their accelerated clock talking. Benoit with a nasty looking belly-to-back suplex from the top rope. Benoit sells it as he cracked his head on the way down and takes too long to get the cover. Scorpio is out at two. Side Russian Leg Sweep gets two. Scorpio falls back for a two count on another suplex attempt. Scorpio sets too early on a backdrop and Benoit hits a powerbomb into a pin for a two count. Another attempt and Scorpio tries to get a sunset flip, but it doesn’t go well and they end up in the ropes so no count. Scorpio with an enziguiri as they are getting a little sloppy here. Spin kick misses once and twice, but he does land a clothesline. Cool! Benoit backs off in the corner as we reach 17 minutes in this one. Whip to the corner and Scorpio hits a spinning splash. He heads up top and hits a twisting splash as there are 45 seconds left. Victory Roll is blocked as Benoit slams Scorpio on his face. Benoit off the middle rope with a leg drop for two. Small package by Scorpio for two. Benoit goes for the Dragon Suplex, but Scorpio counters into a pin and it gets three as one second remained on the clock.
Winner: 2 Cold Scorpio via pin at 18:20
-Cool finish as they timed it well with the ring announcer counting down the final 10 seconds. Not sure why they couldn’t just give them the extra 1:39 but that’s wrestling time for you. Good match where I really enjoyed the opening ten minutes and then the final five minutes. It got a little boring in the middle, but still fun and the crowd stayed with them. ***1/2
-Eric Bischoff is with Maxx Payne and he wants Eric to shut up and let him talk. Maxx is taking Ron’s place against Dustin Rhodes tonight as Ron has a shoulder image. This was a darker Maxx Payne as he was hearing voices in his head and called his guitar Norma Jean. He plays Taps to let Dustin Rhodes know what’s going to happen tonight.
Wild Bill Irwin vs. “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith
-Bulldog was a big signing for WCW after his run in the WWF where he headlined Wembley and got to be IC Champion for a few months. Coincidentally WCW is going to the UK in March. Smart! Jesse notes if you put Bulldog on a card in Wembley it will sell out. Sure, but what’s the drop count? Bulldog overpowers Irwin to start, so Irwin complains about a hair pull. Irwin delivers some forearms, but gets knocked down with a shoulder. Another one! We get a cross-cross of the ropes and Irwin holds the ropes as he tries to outsmart Bulldog. Instead Bulldog clotheslines him to the floor as Jesse notes that could be a DQ. Gorilla Press Slam and Irwin bumps around like Shawn against Hogan as he spills to the floor. Bill continues to complain about his hair being pulled. Jesse thinks Bill should choke Bulldog with one of his cornrows. Running clothesline in the corner from Irwin. He then lands a back elbow for a one count as Bulldog kicks out with ease. Another two count as he runs Bulldog throat first into the top rope. Bulldog again kicks out with some power. Irwin hooks a reverse chinlock as the crowd comes to life trying to rally Bulldog. They start trading punches and Bulldog gets the delayed vertical suplex. Bulldog with a clothesline as Jesse and Tony discuss why it’s called an Irish Whip. Irwin gets a boot in the corner, but makes the mistake of coming off the middle ropes. Bulldog catches him and hits the powerslam for the pin at 5:49.
Winner: Davey Boy Smith via pin at 5:49
-Probably went longer than it needed, but the crowd was into Bulldog and he looked like a star. *
-Tony interviews Bulldog and screws up by saying he wants to become “World Championship Heavyweight Champion of The World.” He wants Vader and will eat him up with all the support of his fans.
-Missy is with Johnny B. Badd get to talk. -Eric is with Mr. Wonderful and Cactus Jack runs at him with a shovel and their match is underway.
Falls Count Anywhere: Cactus Jack vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff
-Jack swings at Wonderful with the shovel as he backs to the ring. The ref gets the shovel away from Jack which is suspect in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. That lets Wonderful run Jack into the railing and then he chokes with a TV cable. Another head first shot into the railing. Jack responds with a right hand and he sends Wonderful into the railing. The mats get pulled up from the slam and Jack gets a slam on the concrete. He drops a running elbow for a two count. Oh man, that atrophy with Paul’s arm is rough to look at. The cost of making a ton of money with Hogan and not taking time to heal. Jack off the ropes with a sunset flip on the concrete which hurts him more and lets Wonderful take over. He hits a clothesline back in the ring and rips at the mouth. Back to the floor and of course Jack takes a flat back bump out there and bounces off the railing again. They head down the aisle and Jack goes flying over two safety railing and they end up brawling behind the mosh pit area. Wonderful gets dumped over the railing as they are back in one of the two aisles. SUPLEX ON THE RAILING! Jack made me clinically insane as that had to suck and then the bump he took when he bounced off. Wonderful runs his face into the railing. He then traps the knee under the railing and goes to work on that. Back in the ring Wonderful comes off the top with a blow to the back as Jesse worries about Tony throwing up over the violence. Wonderful rips the knee brace off Jack and continues to work on it. Another unique spot as he suplexes Jack over the top and Jack just lands on his feet on the apron. That probably looked better in their minds than what we got. Figure Four which lets Tony mention Ric Flair is back. The crowd starts getting into it as they wants Jack to get back into this one. Wonderful grabs the ropes and Jesse rightly questions why the ref would make him break. Same thing with the shovel earlier. Jack hobbles around the ring and a clothesline sends him to the floor. He drives the knee into the concrete and that looks like it sucks. My knees are hurting as I have my own knee issues from years of pick-up basketball. Brace shot to the head and of course Jack bumps off the apron and lands on the back of his head. It’s kind of amazing he even made it to the WWF let alone made it our of 1993 with a career. Wonderful brings a chair into the ring and he goes right for the knee. One shot and another as Tony is yelling for the Lord and Jesse wants the ref to stop this. Wonderful is calling for a piledriver and does the Hogan ear cuff. He doesn’t see Cactus grab the shovel and one shot to the head finishes this one at 12:18.
Winner: Cactus Jack via pin at 12:18
-We have seen crazier things from Jack but that doesn’t take away from the numerous bumps he took in this one. This was really good though it was very much dominated by Wonderful before Jack got the shovel and landed his home run shot. ***3/4
-More from Eric, Badd, and Missy. She tells us that Ric Flair will address the crowd tonight.
The Rock N Roll Express vs. The Heavenly Bodies (w/ Jim Cornette)
-First time Cornette has been in WCW for a bit. The Bodies are Eaton, Lane, and Prichard. The refs send Eaton to the back as this has to be 2 vs. 2 and that means it’s Lane and Prichard representing the Bodies. Prichard starts with Gibson as they work in the corner. Gibson gets a beell and then a flying head scissors. Tag to Morton and he gets a rana, that Tony calls a victory roll. Lane gets a blind tag, but gets tossed with a beell. Rock N Roll dominate the ring and sends both Bodies to the floor, where they regroup and hug Cornette. Back in the ring Dr Tom and Morton start trading right hands. Morton wins the exchange and gets an atomic drop that sends Prichard into Lane. Cornette is bitching to the ref about a pull of the trunks. Gibson lands an enziguiri as we are just seeing some moves that are now staples, slowly being introduced to American audiences. The crowd continues to chant for “Rock and Roll,” as this is their kind of rasslin. We have another stalemate as all four men stare each other down and we start over with Lane and Morton. We get a comedy spot where they criss-cross and Morton slides to the floor to chase Cornette while Lane continues to run the ropes. Cornette runs into the ring and Lane runs him down. We get another comedy spot as Cornette takes another bump. After the laughing is done, Cornette gets a trip and The Bodies take over. Cornette lands a racket shot on the floor for good measure. It took nearly 7 minutes but The Bodies are now in control and Ricky Morton can be well, Ricky Morton. Jesse wonders if Dr. Tom is a gynecologist. Yes, that was said on this show. Tony clarifies he is the Dr. of Disaster according to Cornette. Lane gets a swinging neckbreaker and then we get a double snap-more and double choke hold. Jesse: “That’s twice as bad as a single choke hold.” Lane off the ropes behind the ref’s back with a shot to the throat. The ref won’t allow the tag though since he didn’t see it. Suplex from Dr. Tom with Lane assisting gets two. Morton gets a sunset flip and blind tag, but the ref was with Cornette so no go on a count or the tag. Sit-out powerbomb from Dr. Tom as again, it is cool seeing these moves that have become staples some 30 years later. Lane back in with a nice powerslam for two. Double backdrop is countered as Morton drops both Bodies with a Double DDT. Hot tag to Gibson and he hits a double clothesline. Backdrop to Dr. Tom followed by a right hand to Sweet Stan. Morton gets knocked off the apron as The Bodies double team Gibson with a back drop. They try another but Morton back in and we get a clothesline and double dropkick, but no ref to count. Cornette gets brought into the ring and cowers from Gibson. Dr. Tom hits a bulldog, but again, the ref is late getting there so it only gets two. Cornette has the ref again as Gibson gets backdropped to the floor. Morton with an atomic drop, but Eaton is back and comes off the top. Morton rolls away and Dr. Tom gets hit by mistake as the crowd is going crazy over all of this. Gibson is the legal man and hits a splash while Morton holds Lane back and that gets the pin at 12:52.
Winners: The Rock N Roll Express via pin at 12:52
-Fun tag match as you would expect and the crowd are up everything they saw. The comedy stuff in the beginning was cute, but this really took off once the Bodies started controlling before the comeback. I wouldn’t say great, but it was a lot of fun. ***1/2
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Maxx Payne
-Payne is substituting for an injured Ron Simmons and this is under WCW rules which means “if you come off the top with a knee to the throat you are disqualified,” according to Tony. That’s a weirdly specific rule! Payne controls with a side headlock, but Dustin punches his way out and Payne rolls to the floor. Another go and Dustin catches Payne coming back into the ring. Leaping Lariat and Payne rolls to the floor again. We go again and Dustin gets a side headlock. Payne shoves off, but Dustin gets a roll-up for two followed by an arm-drag and Payne bails to the floor again. We for for the fourth time and Dustin gets arm control. Jesse asks Tony if he found out where Euphoria is yet? Maxx is announced as hailing from Euphoria. Dustin continues to work the arm and Jesse wonders if Maxx has jitters with this being his first Championship Match. We are getting a decent amount of empty seats as I guess this is the match people are going to get food or use the bathroom. I know Maxx has good amateur skills, but he was much more suited for kick ass brawls. Payne misses an elbow and Dustin goes right back to the arm. Payne lands a back elbow in the corner for two and Payne complains to the ref. Whip to the corner, but Dustin gets a boot up. Payne reverses another whip and pulls Dustin down by the arm. Now he gets to work the arm which makes sense as his finisher is an arm submission. He hooks an armbar and that goes for a bit. I wonder if they are just keeping it super basic because Payne was a fill-in and they just want to get through this. Dustin counters the Pain Killer and hooks a head scissors. Maxx gets to the ropes and then is up first so he hits a clothesline. He grinds his knee on Dustin’s shoulder. Double ax to the back and now Dustin rolls to the floor. Maxx follows and bends the arm around the bottom rope. Backdrop from Payne but Dustin fires back from his knees. He fires up and hits a running boot to the head, but Dustin is the one that drops to a knee. Payne stays on his feet and we get a collision in the middle of the ring. Dustin goes for a cross-body, but gets caught and slammed. Elbow misses as Dustin rolls out of the way. Dustin lands a mule kick and starts firing off right hands. Lariat hits and Dustin is good and fired up now. Suplex gets two! Dustin hooks an abdominal stretch and blah! Payne pulls the ref into Dustin and we have a DQ at 11:28.
Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Dustin Rhodes via pin at 11:28
-Not good as it was 8 minutes of arm work and a brief flurry before an abdominal stretch leading to a DQ. I had hopes for this one and I guess I learned a lesson. I am sure the injury to Ron messed up what they wanted to do and they tried to make the best of it. 1/2*
-Payne hits a shoulder-breaker on the floor, but Dustin sends him into the post. They continue to brawl before being separated.
-Ric Flair is introduced to a thunderous reaction and of course he has two women with him. He is back wearing a suit for all those that complained he never wore one in WWF. Flair seems happy to be back, so good for him, but we will always have 1992 WWF. Flair mentions the next match is for the “title I never lost.”
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: The Great Muta (c) vs. Barry Windham
-NWA World Title matches on PPV have had an awful run so let’s see if this can turn things around. Spoiler: Nope! The Big Gold Belt on Muta looks pretty cool though. So this match is under NWA Rules. The crowd chants “We Want Flair.” Man, sucks to be Muta and Barry with him out there. It’s a DQ if you are thrown over the top or into the post, but you can come off the top rope. Flair is on commentary so we get the rare combo of Jesse and Flair working together. Lockup and Muta gets a go behind, but Barry gets to the ropes. Test of Strength and Barry gets a suplex out of it. Flair notes it is tough for him to sit and watch it. Jesse laughs as he says he enjoys retirement. Muta gets a shoulder tackle and hits a spin kick and then back to a side headlock for a one count. Flair: “I should call him Mayor Ventura.” Jesse: “Soon to be Senator.” Jokes on Jesse as he only ended up as Governor. The headlock continues so I’ll just keep my focus on Flair/Ventura on commentary. Barry lands a right hand as Tony notes it was the first high impact move of the match. Muta with a dropkick and back to the side headlock. Guess we had too much high impact. Belly-to-back suplex from Barry, but Muta holds the headlock. 10 minutes have passed and I wish, but it’s only been seven. Barry forces a break and lands a right hand in the corner. Muta escapes a suplex and hits one of his own. Power Elbow Drop and right back to the side headlock. Windham nearly escapes, but Muta maintains the hold. Barry tries another escape, but this headlock won’t end. Windham gets to his feet and finally escapes with elbows. He lands an elbow to the face and fires off with right hands. Muta reverses a whip, but misses a dropkick. DDT from Barry but no real follow up. A right hand sends Muta to the floor. Barry gets a belly-to-back suplex on the floor. The match is so thrilling that we get camera shots of Flair’s security sitting round the ring side area. Barry gets two off a suplex and lands a slam. He drops a knee and another for two. No clue why they are moving so slow out there. Not sure if Flair coming back has Windham realizing the Title is going to Flair ASAP so he is checked out? Sleeper from Barry and the ref checks Muta’s arm. It doesn’t even drop twice. Barry uses the ropes for added leverage and plays keep away from the ref. The arm is checked and again, Muta is still in it. The ref catches Barry using the ropes a third time and forces a break. Flair talks about a good looking blonde and it cracks Jesse up on commentary. Elbows from Barry and he gets another two count. Flair notes you become NWA Champion by going after it hard and fast. Hard is possible, but there is nothing fast about this one. Muta gets pitched to the floor and they fight near Flair. Muta eats a right hand and collapses against the apron. He gets a rush of energy so Barry drops a double ax. Twenty minutes according to their watch, but only 17:00, so that 10 minutes was about right on at least. The crowd is just dead for all of this. Barry gets a slam and drops an elbow for two. Hey a reverse chinlock. Did everyone holding this belt think the matches needed to be like something from the early days of the NWA? Muta starts firing off strikes, but a right hand blocks a sunset flip. Clothesline is ducked and Muta gets a cross-body for two. Barry stays in control as he runs Muta into his boot in the corner. Piledriver is countered with a backdrop, but again, Barry is up first and drops an elbow to the back of the head. Windham beats Muta down with punches and elbows. He drops a leg for a two count. Muta lands a spin kick to catch a breath, but again, Barry is right back on him and goes to the eyes. Flair has been quiet on commentary as I wonder if he has decided to hit on someone in the crowd. Barry looks for the superplex, but Muta punches him down to the mat. He comes off the top with a chop and hits the Hand Spring Elbow in the corner. The crowd boos but at least it’s a reaction. Muta misses the moonsault (barely), but escapes a suplex and hits a belly-to-back to leave both men down. Muta with another rush of energy and again, the crowd boos the “bad foreign man.” Moonsault is blocked as Windham gets the knees up. Lariat and elevated DDT gets the pin to the biggest pop of the match at 24:08.
Winner and New NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Barry Windham
-Not good, but still better than the previous NWA Title Matches we had to sit through so, yay for progress. Reports are Muta was sick and perhaps they just toned it down and again, I wonder if Flair being back affected the motivation of Barry. *
-Flair brings The World Title into the ring and wraps it on Barry. The crowd goes crazy for Flair as they know what’s going to happen. Poor Barry! Flair leaves and Barry gets to soak in the biggest moment of his career.
Lights-Out: White Castle of Fear Strap Match: Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) vs. Sting
-Yes, the mini move has been played throughout the night and it may be cheesy, but I still remember all the mini movies WCW was using to hype PPV matches at the time. Since this is non sanctioned, Vader’s WCW Title is not on the line. This is touch all four corner while dragging your opponent rules. Vader shows he has the power game as he just yanks on the strap and Sting goes tumbling across the ring. Sting tries to get a better grip but Vader pulls him across the ring again and then poses. That makes Jesse happy! They get nose-to-nose and then Vader pulls Sting in to hit a clothesline. Vader drops an elbow as Jesse notes this is kind of like the spider vs. the fly and that’s a good call. Another elbow and the crowd really doesn’t like Vader. We get our first lashes from Vader. He heads to the middle ropes and comes off with a splash that looked like it caught Sting’s head and not much else. Vader makes the mistake of getting the strap between his legs and Sting pulls the strap to cause some Vader to low blow himself. He gets Vader off his feet and looks to head up, but Vader is apparently out of position so Sting goes down and hits an enziguiri. Sting then goes back up and hits a dropkick and then to the other corner with a splash. We know how Shawn handled Vader being out of place four years later. Sting off the top with another splash. Vader is out on the mat so Sting gets his lashes back as the crowd goes crazy. Harley takes a shot with the strap as well because it’s Harley and he probably demanded it before the match. They head to the floor and Sting pulls Vader into the post and a second time. That has become a staple of strap matches. Sting picks up Vader with ease and slams him on the floor. Sting touches the post on the floor and starts dragging Vader on the floor. He makes it to post two, but Vader yanks back and Sting goes flying head first into the railing. Vader is bleeding from the back in a rather nasty, but impressive visual. Back in the ring Sting continues to show off the power with a Samoan Drop. Sting gets dumb again and charges at Vader. That usually doesn’t end well and sure enough Vader drops him. Sting tries again and the same result. He tries a third time because he’s our hero and Vader kicks him in the gut. Powerbomb is called for, but Sting backdrops out. He goes up for another splash, but Vader rolls out of the way. He hits his own splash and tees off with forearms to the head. Vader with his own Samoan Drop and he follows with a Vader Bomb. The reaction from the crowd when he hits that move is great. Vader whips Sting as Jesse notes that’s what Tony does to his kids. Tony tells Jesse to shut up as I wonder if that really annoyed him. Vader to the middle ropes with Sting for another Samoan Drop. Sucks to be Sting! Vader touches the first corner and then the second one. Sting gets in a kick to break the run and they are back to even. Vader misses a second Vader Bomb and that nearly went wrong as Sting rolled inside and Vader just missed him. Sting still doesn’t have anything to fight back yet, so Vader heads up top. Sting pulls on the strap and Vader falls balls first on the buckle and then gets pulled down as he bumps to the mat. Jesse notes that after all that, Vader is the first to his feet. Again, sucks to be Sting! He gives credit to Sting for even taking this match. Superplex from Vader! Vader makes it to three buckles as the crowd freaks out, but Sting wraps his legs around the bottom rope to keep Vader from dragging him to the last. He knocks Vader off his feet and that ends that run. Again though Vader is up first and he boxes Sting in the corner. The ref warns Vader about a closed fist, but that’s dumb since this is Lights Out. Jesse rightly points out the ref has no say. Sting is bleeding from the head now. Vertical Splash from Vader so Sting gets resourceful and hits a flipping heel kick. He ducks a clothesline and shows his first real flurry of offense and he powers Vader over with a German Suplex. DDT follows! Now Sting beats Vader down in the corner in impressive fashion and he still sells the fatigue as he falls backwards after all the punches. Sweet! Sting carries Vader around the ring as he hits two corners, but the ref got bumped by Vader’s boot so he isn’t seeing any of this. He can’t get to the fourth though as he trips over the ref and Vader falls on top of him. Ouch! Vader is pouring blood out of his ear. Tony: “God, what a fight!” No kidding! Vader ties the strap around Sting’s legs and starts dragging him around the ring. He gets three corners with relative ease, but again Sting hangs on to the ropes. Harley tries to help, but Sting has a death grip on the ropes. Sting kicks at Vader which causes him to fall backwards into the final corner for the win at 20:56.
Winner: Vader at 20:56
-Just an absolute war! It’s Sting vs. Vader on PPV so at the worst you are guaranteed very good and most often get excellent. I think I still like the Starrcade match better, but this was a better fight. The story was great as Sting threw all he had at Vader to start, but once Vader got rolling Sting was toast. Every time Sting would hit something, Vader would be up first and Sting could not capitalize. The one time Sting got close he tripped over a ref to crush the fan’s hopes. Vader controlled this one, but toook a beating as he was bleeding from the back and ear. Vader winning was the right call as he was The Champion and this was his match. Sting fought like the valiant hero, but the hero doesn’t win every battle. ****1/2
-Sting beats Vader up after the match, but Sting only had himself to blame there.
-Eric is with Missy and Badd, and those two leave to fix their make-up. Barry Windham joins Eric and he wants Muta’s name off his Championship Belt and tells anyone to take their shot.
-Tony and Jesse wrap things. Thanks for reading!
