World Championship Wrestling 29th Feb 1992 (Superbrawl preshow)
Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura host. These two had legit heat and it shows here. Ross had a beef with Ventura because he found out he was making more moeny then him for fewer dates. The two rundown the big matche with some video footage telling the story of each feud. So for Sting and Lex we see Luger's world title win at the previous Great American Bash. Sting's first World Title win (NWA Title) at the Bash 90, and their road to Superbrawal 2 including them teaming up at the first Superbrawl against the Steiner Brothers. In a novel twist Ross and The Body switch roles when predicting matches. Ventura actually predicts the face Steiner Brothers to beat Arn and Bobby whereas Ross picks the heels to retain. There was never a chance of Jesse not picking Rude for the win though
. Ross gives Jesse the eyeroll when Ventura takes a pop at him for putting him on the spot
. There's some weird attempts at comedy and Jesse at one point starts wiping JR's head with his scarf
U.S. Tag Team Championship: Ron Simmons & Big Josh (C) VS. The Taylor Made Man and Greg "the Hammer" Valentine
The Hammer recently returned to the company his last big WWF appeareance being at The Royal Rumble. I quite like the team of him and Taylor, both bring something different to the mix and its unlikely either were going to get big singles pushes at this stage, so might as well give them a tag run. We get a slick start to the match with Simmons and Valentine butting heads. Valentine scores a two on Josh with a nice belly to back surplex. Taylor tags in, but his sunset flip is blocked and he takes Josh's logrolls stomps. Simmons hits a powerslam off the ropes, but is then double teamed by the heels on the outside. Simmons and Valentine have a mid-ring collision and the Hammer gets two with a headbutt to the never religions. Taylor returns and gets two from a nice looking backbreaker. Josh gets the hot tag and gives the heels a classic "double knockin' knocker"!
. Josh hits his Northen Exposure finisher on the Hammer, but the ref is tied up putting Simmons out, this allows Taylor Made Man to nail Josh with his 5-Iron forearm proving the knockout blow, Valentine gets the pin and we have new U.S. tag champs. This is good news for Simmons too who was only being held back in the US tag ranks. **1/2
Coming up next Superbrawl 2 described by Ross as the biggest PPV in WCW history. Probably true, but lets see if it can live up to the hype?...
WCW Superbrawl II
29th Feburary 1992
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Miller Highlife Theatre)
Attendance: 5,000 (roughly)
Tagline: "Best Friends Now Bitter Rivals Brawl for It All"
We open with a cheesy 90s video packege with bright naff looking graphics.
As well as Ross and Ventura announcing WCW also give as co-hosts Tony Schivone and Eric Bishchoff discussing the matches and making predictings and Missy Hyatt backstage looking interviews (Missy's comic turns backstage started at last year's Superbrawl where she was chased from the heel locker room by a half naked tabacco chewing Stan Hansen
). Missy wears a rediant gown
Tony and Eric have decent chemistry and there's some nice banter. Them further hpying things up also builds things further, though the pace of the show sags a bit too. They cut to JR in the ring who brings out Jesse who's only riding a fliping Harvey Davidison
.
Light Heavyweight Title Match: Jusin "Thunder" Liger (C) VS. Flyin' Brian Pillman
The perfect opening match, and possible the match of the night straight out the door. Liger not only enters a typically great performance and puts Pillman over strong, but he also plays the perfect heel working the crowd effectly. The two start with chain wrestling, and just to see how evenly matched they are, both have the same idea with drop kicks at the sametime. Brain grounds the champ with a hammerlock, a crisp headscissors takeover, then hits a baseball slide through the ropes, the crowd pop early for the challenger and home country faveourite. Its then Liger's turn to ground Pillman, but is on the wrong end of some stinging chops, but the Japanese legend hits an impressive top rope moonsault for a two count. Liger's fake out in the corner is beautiful, as Pillman moves out the way, the Champ spins himself around stopping any negative contact.
Brian comes back with an old school abdormal stretch
and headscissors. Liger slips out and locks on a bow and arrow, Pillman also slips out before too much damage is done. Liger fires back with a stiff dropkick in the corner. Brian looks truly stunned, Pillman counters Liger off the ropes with a sweet looking crucfix for a dramatic two count. The masked superstar slides across Pillman's body turning him into a sunset flip for another two. Pillman comes back with a belly to back surplex for two. Pillman misses with a knee in the corner, like a shark that smells blood Liger zeros in on the weakened knee, locking on the figure four leglock. Pillman is in so much pain he is nearly pinned in the hold as he struggles to escape. In a nice spot the pair chop back and forth "
USA" charts ring out. Finally Pillman turns the hold over, Liger reverses it back, and the pair end up in the ropes. Liger stays on top with a half crab. Pillman makes the ropes and comes back with a nice looking spinning martial arts kick. Pillman is shot outside and Liger delivers an awesome top rope moonsault to the floor
They rumble on the apron, Pillman surplexes Liger inside out, Liger hits the apron hard, this spot looks sick! The crowd pop again. In another highlight Pillman hits a perfectly timed crossbody off the top onto Liger on the floor, the height Pillman gets this is some major hang time. Pillman takes one chance too many, missing Liger and hitting the guardrail on a second high risk move. Liger seems ready to put the match to bed, but is then caught with a dropkick as he dives off the top. They then dropkick each other. A Brian power slam gets two and an half. Liger hits a sharp looking German Surplex for another near fall. The Championt then counters a Pillman top rope crossbody for two once again. A sitout powerbomb and Pillman barely escapes. Brian credle roll into a DDT, but Liger's too close to the ropes. The pair butt head centre of the ring. The Champ recovers first and hits a superplex for another near fall. Smelling victory Liger heads up top looking to hit his top rope headbutt, Pillman moves out of the way, locks on a rolling credle for the 3 count and his second Light Heavyweight title win. This match has a timeless legency because it changed the game for light heavyweight wrestling in the US. It was Pillman's biggest match of his career and it could not have gone any better. Liger looked like a star even in defeat and earnt the respect of the crowd. The announcers also did a great job in putting it over. The pair shake hands at the end to another good response. *****
Missy interviews The Taylor Made Man. Taylor mocks Bagwell for not accepting the good life with him. Says, "I was going to teach you how to be a winner, now I'm going to teach you to be loser".
Taylor Made Man VS. Marcus Bagwell
What a come down after a top draw opening. WCW couldn't have picked a worse follow up. The match is flat as is the crowd. There's a lot of sloppy or awkward exchanges. The first half feels a bit like a brawl/boxing style match. The story of the match is Taylor underestimating the rookie, with lax covers or pulling Bagwell up instead of going for the pin, like after his gut wretch powerbomb. The finish is lame too. After Bagwell kicks out of a top rope splash, he rolls up Taylor for the win after the heel argues with the ref after about the count. Taylor gets some heat back with his 5-Iron after the match. Its just as well Taylor is one half of the US tag champions. *1/2
Missy goes hunting for Lex Luger who has been in hiding training ever since his main event with Sting was signed. Instead she gets Harley Race
Cactus Jack VS. Ron Simmons
These two clicked nicely, and this proves one of the better matches outside of the bigger matches. The madman Jack gets the early edge attacking Simmons before the bell, but hangs himself up in the ropes in a sick looking spot
. Pressing forward The All American nails a face plant followed by a bodyslam and legdrop for a two count. Jack bounces back up as we get a shot of JYD in the crowd who Jesse says looks like a waiter
Jack hits a good looking DDT and running elbow drop for a two. The fight is taken outside, Jack's playground where he nails his elbow drop off the apron for a "BANG BANG!"
. Back inside Simmons hits a drop kick, but only gets two. The former Doom member then goes to his Football background but misses a shoulder tackle. The action returns to the ramp, Simmon's spinbuster looks sweet
. Jack comes back with a thumb to the eye and hits a bulldog on the ramp. Simmons gets the win catching Jack coming off the top rope with a powerslam. Jack's buddy Abdullah the Butcher shows up and nails Simmons with the candle stick. JYD runs in for the save clearing the ring of the heels. This sets up a tag match between the four at Wrestlewar. This JYD's return to WCW having last been seen in early 91 when he held the short lived 6-man tag title
. ***
Vinnie Vegas and Richard Morton VS. Z-Man and Van Hammer
92's answer to a pissbreak match
. Vegas and Morton are such a random team and whoever put them together deserves a slap. The power guys start the match and of course it looks terrible. There's a bit more of spark when Morton and Z-Man are in, sadly their not together very much. The booking is backwards too. Hammer takes most of the match for the faces, so makes a slow comeback before a hot tag to Zenk. With how limited Hammer is he should have been the one waiting for the hot tag. The highlight of the match was probably Ross claiming that Vegas played Basketball in Europe
. In the end Z-Man gets the pin with a sunset flip on Morton. *1/2
Barry. Windham and Dustin Rhodes VS. Stunning Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko (W/Madusa)
The first Dangerous Alliance match of the night and its a full on grudge match brawl. All four start as they wish to go on. Austin is paired off with Rhodes and Windham takes the fight to Larry outside. The Natural scores a two from a backslide. The TV Champ takes a pounding with the bonic elbow followed by a top rope lariat for another two count. Barry in with a nice dropkick, but he wants Zbyszko the man who put him on the shelf. The Crucher gets a karate kick on the outside but then has a piledriver blocked and is backdropped on the ramp
. Barry's flying lariat is on the money, but instead of going for a pin he wants to further punish Zbyszko. The Rhodes Windham duo really get into their groove with a nice double dropkick after Windham drills Larry with a spiked DDT. Barry gets a two count from a gut wretch. A piledriver attempt is cut off by Austin. Barry tastes the guardrail outside as the tide turns to the heels. The pain goes on for the former NWA champion who is straddled on the rail and takes a stiff clothesline from Austin. A smooth back surplex back inside gets two. The Dangerous Alliance duo cut off the ring, the crowd who so far have been very good (in the right matches) are solidly behind Windham. A Zbyszko sleeper is countered by a jawbreaker. Rhodes gets the hot tag and onloads with a barriage of moves including an elbow drop, lariat and roll-up, Dustin is spun around and take a clothesline. A Madusa slap drawns Rhodes outside, he is then nailed on the ramp, his in-experience maybe coming into play. "
Larry Sucks" charts. Following a criss-cross Rhodes gets two from a crossbody, but his short lived comeback is cut off with a stiff Austin clothesline. Dustin also gets a near fall from a package. The heels keep the fresh guy in as Austin grounds Rhodes with a chinlock and a good old fashioned feet on the rope
. Rhodes gets a break using Austin's own stungun on him, tags Windham he flys in with stiff blows on both heels. The Texan hits the lariat, his superplex. Larry is caught on top by Rhodes and shot off this sets things up for Windham to hit a top rope clothesline for the win. ****
Missy goes looking for Ricky Steamboat and finds him mediating with candles
. She is thrown out by the Ninja. Madusa tries her luck looking to influence the Dragon ahead of the US Title. She flirts with the Ninja and offers him Sushi much to Missy's amusement
. In the end he chases her away and Missy is staying on the spot
.
WCW Tag Team Championship: Arn Anderson and Beautiful Bobby Eaton (c) (W/Paul E. Dangerously) VS. The Steiner Brothers
The Steiners are going for their first World tag title in almost two years (they dropped the belts to Doom in May 1990). Just when it looked like Dangerously would have his one managing gig of the night, WCW and new boss K. Allen Frey has other plans barring the pride of Wallstreet from ringside. Of course the fans and faces pop, of course Dangerously sells it like a Pro, of course Jesse smells a conspiracy
. Another Body highlight is him challenging Ross on the Steiner's IQ and the idea they had a college education
. As part of building the Steiners up as faveourites the announcers claim The Steiners have never been beater by pinfall, this of course is false. Madusa replaces Dangerously. Scott opens with Eaton, Bobby gets a swinging neckbreaker, but is caught coming off the ropes with a nice belly to belly surplex. Arn and Rick tag in and we get power vs. power. The Dog Face Gremlin taughts Arn on all fours
Anderson's leap frog is turned mid-air into a powerslam
. Scott wins a test of strength after bridging up. In an awesome spot the younger Steiner flips both Arn and Bobby over at once
. Rick hits two Steiner lines to clear the ring. Ross takes a shot at Jesse's political background
. Bobby takes another big bump from a Scott tilt to whirl slam on the ramp, orch! Back inside we get some wrestling with a carmel clutch, the crowd shout "
We want Blood" Eaton is caught up top on Rick's shoulders and set up for a Scott top rope clothesline. Arn comes in to make the save. The heels double team Rick. Scott evens up the odds and the Steiners hit stereo surplexes on the Champs. Scott's vertical surplex gets two on Anderson. In a good old fashioned Anderson family tantic, Arn runs Scott's head into his own partners
. Eaton scores a two with a knee drop off the top. Arn's classic DDT looks great. Double A tries to pin Steiner down to the mat Roman style. The Dangerous Alliance find their groove. Arn hooks on a Boston crab placing Scott perfectly for a Bobby top rop elbow. Bobby applies a carmel clutch as Rick is desperate to get in the ring, but is given a cheap shot. Bobby's rocketlauncher onto Scott on the ramp looks great! Rick finally gets in. In maybe the highlight of the match Steiner is placed on Arn's shoulders, Bobby flies off the top with a crossbody but is caught in mid-air and turned into a powerslam for a red hot two count!
. Rick hits a top rope bulldog, Bobby makes the saves and with the ref's back turned he tosses powder into Rick's eyes. Blinded Rick mistakes the ref for a wrestler and surplexes him instead
. The match goes on and the replacement ref counts the 1-2-3 after a Frankensteiner! New Champs! New Champs! NEW CHAMP.....?.... Hold up? Amongst confusion in the arena (Jesse's hot), the original ref recovers and overturns the decision. The Dangerous Alliance overcome the odds to retain the straps winning by DQ. And what a bullshit finish!
. This would become a theme in the next two matches, both excellent matches let down by lame finishes. Clearly WCW wanted to protect the Steiners, but keep the belts on Arn and Bobby retaining their heat, but this was the wrong way to go about it. If they were going for a DQ finish it would have made more sense to have the heels get the DQ. This feud will go on. ****
U.S. Heavyweight Championship: Ravishing Rick Rude (c) VS. Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat (w/The Ninja)
If you want to see how over Rude was as a heel in his prime just check out the crowd reaction as he attempts to get out his normal pre-match promo at the expense of the crowd. Loud boos keep cutting Rude off, the US Champ keeps looking legit pissed
.
The match starts with a feeling out process. The Dragon smartly focuses on Rude's arms with an armbar hoisting him up and dropping him down. The classic Steamboat armbar is on point. Showing a more agressive side (selling how personal this match is), Steamboat wraps the champions arm around the ringpost. Rude's selling is top notch. Both guys are at the top of their games. This was a mid-card feud in WWF. The challenger keeps on top with a karate kick to the arm and hammerlock slam. The former NWA Champion picks up the pace with a crossbody off the top for a two count, before returning to the arm. Rude himself flies with a crossbody, his momentum taking both outside. The Ravishing one runs Steamboat into guardrail, and surplexes Ricky back inside. The Champ fights on with one arm and even finds time to pose which Jesse loves
. Turning up the heat Rude drops the Dragon on the top cable, a sweet looking swinging neckbreaker and piledriver for a near fall. Another two count follows from a belly to back surplex. Returning to Rude's leg, Steamboat locks on a figure four, Rude is able to stretch to the ropes. Rude is on target with a snake eyes and top rope axe handle. Because of nis injuried arm Rude struggles to get a proper pin on Steamboat. The champ then goes to ground with a chinlock, and carmel clutch. We get a classic slow comeback by Steamboat who powers Rude up onto his shoulders for an electric chair. The pace picks up again as they butt heads in the middle of the ring after both going for a leap frog. Rude hooks on a sleeper, which the Steamboat quickly breaks out of before applying one of his own. Rude breaks with a jawbreaker, but is then straddled on the top, as Steamboat hits a beautiful superplex for a dramatic two and an half count. Dragon keeps rolling with a back drop, low bridge clothes (which gets two), and a flapjack. He then goes back up top for a couple of forarm blows, suddenly as Rude grabs at the ref, the Ninja pops up on the apron and wacks the Dragon with two full on blows with a CELLPHONE!!! WTF?!!
. A stunned ref (nice touch) slowly counts the three and Rude retains the title. Jesse has fun pretending that the Ninja isn't one Paul E. Dangerously
. This is confirmed moments later when Missy catches Dangerously in Ninja get up in the lockeroom
. The finish isn't as silly as the tag title one, but its still a bit of a flat finish to an otherwise top notch match full of great drama and heat. The whole thing with the Ninja was always a bit goofy, but fun in a batshit insane kind of way. The twist at least is a nice payoff to Dangerously's confidence that Rude would still pull through by sticking to the plan.... If you look too hard at it does it really add up?...
. It keeps Rude's heat and set up a re-match. Their match at Beach Blast in June maybe even better, but that's for another review. ****1/2
WCW World Title Match: The "Total Package" Lex Luger (C) (W/Harley Race) VS. Sting
Still best friends behind the scenes the Stinger and Luger close a very good show and their slow burning feud with a whimper. Luger was often known for phoning his performances in, but he takes it to all new levels here. In reality Lex has signed for Vince Macmahon's WBF and is leaving WCW (within a year he would have signed a contact to wrestle for WWF). The departing champ can barely munster a strut to the ring, while Sting draws a strong response from the crowd. This is Sting's big night, and his best friend can't even be bothered giving him the rub on the way out the door. With friends like those huh?...
We start off with a classic face to face and war of words (another thing I miss from modern wrestling). The match soon petters out into a medicore 12-minute power match with some lack lusture moves, more importantly it lacks any real spark or heat. This didn't feel like a heated feud closing match for the most the important title in the company. It pales in comparasion with the greatless of the light heavyweight title, tag title and US title matches. The finish is comes out of the blue too. Luger back drops Sting outside, as the Champ poses, Sting jumps back up on the apron and hits a top rope crossbody for the 3 count and his second World title win and that's it!
. Luger's WCW title run which hardly set the world on fire comes to a limp end. Its possible Lex was made to look like a bit of a jobber by management knowing he was leaving. The finish comes off as a bit of fluke for Sting not the way to kick of his reign. The announcers couldn't help but take shot at Lex. Jesse slams his half hearted piledriver, Ross later adding: "
After the first few minutes the result was never really in doubt in my opinion". **
At the post-Superbrawl press conference Sting is approached by Rude who makes his intentions to be World Champion known. The US champ and new WCW Champ get into a decent brawl as Nikita Koloff (recently returned to the company) helps his former foe Sting out. What's weird is in typical WCW fashion they don't pull the trigger on a proper Sting-Rude headliner feud which would have made sense given their history.
Overall PPV Rating: 8.5/10
Match of the Night: Liger VS. Pillman
Runner Up: Rude/Steamboat
Updated Top Ten Rankings
1. Beautiful Bobby Eaton
2. Arn Anderson
3. Rick Rude
4. Ricky Steamboat
5. Flyin' Brian Pillman
6. Cactus Jack
7. Dustin Rhodes
8. Ron Simmons
9. Jushin "Thunder" Liger
10. The Taylor Made Man
The next PPV is Wrestlewar in May. We're in for some great treats on that show too.
