Superstar Sleeze

I have been watching a lot of 92 WCW. Since the WWF and WCW were both in a state of transition, I thought it would be interesting to do a little compare and contrast between where WCW was at the time of SuperBrawl II and where WWF would be a month later at Wrestlemania VIII. I went back and forth on the criteria I would use to judge who had the advantage. First and foremost, I am a fan so in-ring quality and entertainment are the most important factors to me. However, drawing power, booking and just overall star power were taken into consideration on how the talent would contribute to the overall health of the promotion. Top Talent Leaving Hulk Hogan/Sid Justice/Jake Roberts/Roddy Piper vs Lex Luger In one fell swoop, the WWF lost two out of three top babyfaces and heels coming off Wrestlemania VIII. Jake Roberts was just hitting his stride as a sinister heel in the Savage feud and would have served well as a No. 2 heel under Flair to facilitate the rise of talent. Sid is a strange cat. You just can't put your finger on why he is over, but he always finds a way to get over with the live audience. He could have went either way as a main event face or heel and would have given WWF a big man option when it was about get a lot smaller. Finally, you have the two cornerstones of the Hulkamania Era. You can go either way on their departure. You never want to lose big time talent like Hogan and Piper that have a history of drawing. However, they were able to parlay Piper's exit into a big time Wrestlemania victory for their now number 2 face, Bret Hart. Hogan's rub for Sid even if half-assed was moot because of Sid leaving shortly after Hogan. When the main event of your biggest show does not even stick around for Summerslam, that's going to send the WWF reeling. 1992 was a time of transition by the time Hogan returns in early 1993 it is evident that Vince could not stop the bleeding and they had careened into the Dark Ages. WCW also had a main event leave after SuperBrawl II, but Luger for all intents and purposes had been written out of the storylines. He was just there to put over the new top dog, his buddy, Sting. Going into Luger's 1991 WCW World Title run is a whole another blog, but suffice to say Vader had everyone saying Lex Who? EDGE: WCW. WWF had way too much top talent leave all at once. WCW was better prepared for their exit building around the Dangerous Alliance and gaining Vader and Miracle Violence Connection. Ace Face Sting vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage Up until the '97 Crow Sting character, this was Sting at his height in terms of crowd reaction and card positioning. He was feuding with Cactus Jack, Luger and the Dangerous Alliance all at once and holding his own. He was on his way to the historic Sting/Vader series, one of the few WCW series that gets talked on the same level as WWF series by WWF fanboys. Still there was seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel for WCW in terms of business. Was that Sting's fault or WCW's business direction? A lot of folks have poked holes in Sting's WON Hall of Fame candidacy due to his inability to draw. However, that is hindsight coming out of SuperBrawl II and looking towards Vader, it seems like the sky is the limit for WCW and the main event scene. On the other hand, things look bleak for Savage as the remaining bastion of the Hulkamania yesteryear gone by. His story from Wrestlemania II to Wrestlemania VIII (just tracked by Wrestlemanias) is amazing and climaxed him with getting his girl back, returning from retirement and winning the World Title. Unlike movies or TV, wrestling never ends, but it should have ended there for Savage. Don't get me wrong Savage had plenty left to give, the way story arc was setup it was hard to go anywhere. He had a dearth of opponents. They seemed content to let Flair work on top for the rest of 92, but never be The Man. They lost Sid and Roberts leaving a newly minted singles Shawn Michaels to be the number two heel. The fact that story felt like Savage was an old man coming back for one last hurrah and just not having any opponents made this a bad situation for Savage. EDGE: WCW. Savage had two things going for him. He was a better wrestler than Sting and he had Vince McMahon. The WWF promotional machine could buoy Savage even if he did not have much in the way of talent. Sting had his charisma and better opponents and booking. As a businessman, I'd take Savage and Vince, but I am not a businessman. I am a fan and give me Sting and Vader. Nuclear Heel Rick Rude vs Ric Flair Flair in WWF was just weird. I need to do some more research on Flair's post-Wrestlemania run up until his departure in January of 1993. He was definitely the top heel in the promotion, but was seemingly never really featured again. He was just an odd fit in the WWF. I know he would regain the title and have two great matches with Bret, but it just did not seem right. Rick Rude on the other hand was just hitting his stride. The heat he was getting at SuperBrawl II and how well he was wrestling. Rude's 92 is on par with just about any single year heel runs. I am talking Flair in '85 or '86 or Savage in '86 heel run level. EDGE: WCW. This is a slam dunk. Flair is Flair, but WWF was not letting him run the show. Rude was getting to Flair levels in '92. He was besting him at his own game. Biggest Return Ricky Steamboat vs Ultimate Warrior The fan in me says this is an easy decision. Steamboat all day, BABY! However, in the sea of departures, Warrior was the lone bright spot for the WWF. He was young enough not to be considered to be a part of the old guard, but old enough to have veteran experience working in Wrestlemania main events. He was a huge boon to Vince to utilize him with Savage to give Savage a partner and opponent on his level. However, Warrior was also batshit crazy and would flame out anyways. Steamboat was cool and calm. Every week, you knew Steamboat was going to have a great match with anybody. He was a great utility player helping out Dustin and Douglas as a tag partner, Austin as a opponent or carrying the company as the top feud with Rude. EDGE: WCW. Closer than you would thinking going in, but Steamboat offers too much flexibility and proved to be able to work on top with Rude. Warrior is just too unstable. Rising Heel Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels This is where WWF starts to pick up the slack. It is almost like 1992 was this role reversal. For years, WWF was so strong on top while WCW could claim a higher amount of good working depth. However, WWF had a strong crop of young talent. Austin would end up being one of the biggest crossover superstars of all time and destroying Shawn Michaels, but in 1992 there was no way you could tell that. He barely had any offense. He was strong in the fundamentals, but still too green. Shawn has been kicking ass with the Rockers since 1986 and was a veteran at this point. Yes, he was in a new role as a singles heel, but having watched a shit ton of Rockers footage this guy could flat out go. He was thrusted into a number two heel role that he was not really ready for, but still had great matches with Savage and Bulldog on the year and main evented Survivor Series '92. Not too shabby for a tag team specialist, right Gorilla. EDGE: WWF. Hindsight, give me Austin every time. In 1992, this is a slam dunk, HBK crushes Stunning Steve. Rising Babyface Ron Simmons vs. Bret Hart WWF may have had a bleak present, but the future was so bright that their next top talent needed to wear shades during promos. Ok, that cant all be gems. In Simmons' defense, he was a decent power wrestler. I would need to see more of his promos to gauge his charisma. He was overpushed too soon to attempt recreate Junkyard Dog's magic, but I think he was a solid hand. Bret offers a Steamboat like flexibility with a promotional machine that could manufacture Sting-like charisma. Bret did have charisma, it was subtle and mostly demonstrated in the ring, but McMahon is a genius because his booking and promoting extracted the most out of it. EDGE: WWF. The future is bright from a fan's perspective for WWF. Creepy Character Catcus Jack vs Undertaker This one is the toughest of the match ups. Undertaker had a great mystique and character. The matches, which in part were due to his opponents, were just bad. The wild man Cactus was having better matches and also being pushed harder in the main event. He was Sting's opponent at Beach Blast and the main thorn in Simmons side (he was injured and forced to be a manager). EDGE: WWF. However, at SuperBrawl II, Cactus seemed like a niche character, before being pushed up the card. Whereas, Undertaker seemed like a huge deal beating Jake at Wrestlemania VIII before being put in his own little world where he fights strange monsters. So just looking at the two events I would take Taker, but down the road I would say Cactus. Top Heel Tag Team Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton vs Money Inc. As much as I hate to say, Anderson & Eaton are overrated on name value. If they stayed together longer or positioned better than maybe they could be an all-time great tag team. Instead they are dream team that does not live up to the hype. They felt behind the Rude/Steamboat, Austin/Windham and Windham/Zbyszko feuds in the Dangerous Alliance pecking order. Whereas, Money Inc carried the shallow WWF tag division through '92 into '93 even being Hogan's opponents for his return at Wrestlemania IX. EDGE: WWF. Money Inc. was a solid ace heel tag team and a good use of DiBiase and Rotundo in the twilight of their careers. Anderson & Eaton should be better on paper, but were overshadowed by their fellow Dangerous Alliance members. Top Face Tag Team Steiners vs Natural Disasters I don't care how many people tell me the Steiners are just spot monkeys. They are my kind of spot monkeys. Two big Michigan Men throwing around jabronis. I don't know if they make my top ten tag teams of all time, but they are two of my favorites. I don't care how many people tell me John Tenta is not that bad. One half of the Natural Disasters is the fuckin Shockmaster! EDGE: WCW. GO BLUE! Did WWF have anymore tag teams? Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham vs Field LOD/Nasties were horribly misused by the WWF, which could have had a deeper tag division. The WCW was downright shallow by their standards, but I wanted to spotlight how good the Dustin/Barry team was because they are so neglected. They had classics against Zbyszko/Austin, Rude/Austin and Miracle Violence Connection. I would actually say they were a better tag team than Steiners in '92. Also, what a great learning experience for Dustin and a way to protect him from a singles run too soon and a great way to keep Barry relevant and help out the kid. EDGE: WCW. Definitely check out a lot of Windham & Rhodes in '92. Overall: WCW wins 6-4, but in an uncharacteristic fashion. WCW, to me, has always been the deeper promotion. In this comparison, they won based on their strength on top. Sting, Rude, Steamboat and later Vader is a murder's row of main event talent. However, WWF has a stronger midcard with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels waiting in the wings to rise to the top. Austin and Dustin were a lot greener than Hart and Michaels, but were certainly promising prospects. The tag division in both promotions were much more shallow than they had been in the 80s, but Dustin & Windham still turned in a year really strong year as a team. WWF struggled to find a groove in 1992. WCW had a remarkable first half to 1992 before strange booking decisions (hey it is WCW, after all) torpedoed any momentum.

I have been watching plenty of wrestling, but have been lazy about writing it all up well this week changed all that as I have a lot to say about the Dangerous Alliance. The Dangerous Alliance if nothing else has been a great device to create awesome match-ups. Steamboat versus any of these 5 has just been friggin' awesome. Rude is on fire throughout the beginning of the year. Zbyszko & Paul E. are a total heat magnets. Austin is really coming into his own. Match Listing: Larry Zbyszko w/Paul E. & Mad USA vs Ricky Steamboat - Worldwide 01/25/92 (Great post-match angle that adds more heat to Steamboat/Rude) WCW TV Champion Steve Austin w/Mad USA vs Ricky Steamboat - Power Hour 2/8/92 *** (Austin has such a solid grasp of heel psychology and Steamer is on fire) WCW US Champion Rick Rude w/Paul E. vs Brian Pillman WCW Pro 2/15/92 ***1/2 (Great showcase for the type of year Rude is having) Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko) vs WCW (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) WCW Saturday Night 2/22/92 **** (Great build to Rude/Sting confrontation, great Dustin FIP and great Steamboat hot tag. Cant ask much from a TV multi-man tag) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/06/burniate-history-of-dangerous-alliance.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unlike usual, where I focus on looking at a specific promotion, wrestler or stable, I go more traditional to review a whole show. I did not have the patience to review the whole show, but I did review the five major matches of SuperBrawl II. As much of a Luger defender as I am and I do defend him in the review, there is no denying it is just an average match that main events the show even though Sting winning title there feels like a much bigger deal than in 1990. It is such a shame because this PPV should be considered one of the greatest supercards of all time with three matches clocking in at ****+ by my count. WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Brian Pillman WCW SuperBrawl II ****1/2 (Match of the night for me in a loaded night. This holds up remarkably well that not only showcases Liger and the New Japan Junior style, but it is also a string struggle for the newest WCW title. I loved the finish as a "live by the sword die by the sword" spot) Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin) w/Mad USA vs.Lonestar Blonds (Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) - Superbrawl II ****1/4 (One of the best tag team matches in 90s WCW history. Barry and Dustin are red-hot looking for revenge and Zbyszko & Austin are excellent heels in every way. This is a must-see match) WCW World Tag Champions Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) w/ Mad USA vs The Steiner Brothers - SuperBrawl II ***1/4 (Dream match on paper underwhelms. They did not seem on the same page and nothing really flowed) WCW US Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW SuperBrawl II ****1/4 (This match is not talked about enough. Yes the Beach Blast match is better and candidate for best WCW match of the 90s. This match does have the sort of weak finish, but features some absolutely great wrestling and Rude proving why his '92 run is one of the greatest in history) WCW World Champion Lex Luger w/Harley Race vs Sting - WCW SuperBrawl II (This is not Luger being lazy. He was leaving for a new job and was conditioned for that new job. It is clear early that he was trying hard to get his buddy, Sting over. Even if the match is underwhelming, Sting has come such a long way since 1990 and really feels like the Ace of WCW) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/06/superbrawl-ii-review-history-of.html

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06 What a difference two years makes! This is a vast, vast improvement over there very uneven Dome '05 main event and the first real indication that New Japan is turning things around from the Dark Ages of Early 00s Inoki-ism. I do not know the exact timetable, but I am pretty sure that Inoki has been ousted or will be by year's end. I remember Brock was the first champion of the Inoki Genome Federation (which is oddly still around and has just signed Shinya Hashimoto's son). This change over in power has refocused on the company on pro wrestling, a novel concept, but as we have seen from Vince Russo sometimes wrestling companies forget they are wrestling companies. I remain impressed with Tanahashi's ability to energetically work on top when it so much easier for a babyface to work underneath. He does so with vulnerability as he does a great job selling the ribs in the middle portion of the match. Nakamura has developed a lot and is not just relying on flash submissions, but is varying his offense and seems more sure of himself. In the beginning as expected, Tanahashi bests Nakamura on the mat and I really liked the one spot where Tanahashi goes for the sunset flip and Nakamura back rolls out. Any wrestling fan at this point just expects Nakamura to dropkick Tanahashi in the face. Except Tanahashi rears back and avoids him thus he ends up getting a nearfall on Nakamura. It is neat little spot at the beginning. As in a lot of 00s puroresu matches, the struggle of a suplex signals a critical point in the match as Nakamura is able to hit a front suplex and follow that up with knee lifts to the ribs. A great spot during this fantastic rib work (Nakamura on point and Tanahashi sells beautifully) is Tanahashi is able to create separation looks to dive onto Nakamura ala Dome '05, but wary of this Nakamura rushes back in and spears Tanahashi right in the injured ribs.That is some good pro wrestling right there. They use the dragon sleeper reversal here again and it does get a good pop so like the tombstone reversal I see its value. I am disappointed a forearm exchange is the transition to Tanahashi's control segment. It is so cliche by this point. Tanahashi hits Sling Blade to cement his advantage and works a pretty good control. Nakamura traps him in a flash triangle where Tanahashi's arm drops twice, which was a pretty heated nearfall. Nakamura kicks out at one on Sling Blade. I think a well-timed one count can be pretty effective tool ala well-timed no selling. That one count was not well-timed. Tanahashi's High Fly Flow eats knees leaving him prey for Landslide, but that only gets two. Tanahashi blocks the Super Landslide attempt and defeats Nakamura with the impressive combination of a powerbomb, High Fly Flow and Tiger Suplex. I do not know all the intricacies of New Japan booking at this point, but this match seemed pretty definitive in defining their future roles. Tanahashi was going to be the ace of his generation and was being set up to wrestle current Ace, Nagata, whom he ultimately vanquish in a changing of the guard. Nakamura would his Tenryu to his Jumbo or Kawada to his Misawa, the number two who will get the title and run with it, but never be the Ace. From a kayfabe point of view, Nakamura does not seem to be able match Tanahashi's firepower. He worked the ribs well, but really could not get the job done. Then he had to rely on his two big bombs: a flash submission and his Landslide, but it was too little too late. Tanahashi demonstrated his dynamism being to work effectively in control and underneath. The finish stretch needed to be built a little better, but baby steps and this was a great body of a match with a good finish. ****

That makes sense you want the yearbook to be more of a survey than just a concentration of good stuff. Bobby Eaton w/ Paul E. vs. Dustin Rhodes - WCW Power Hour 5/8/92 Wow! This one should not have snuck up on me given who is involved, but when I saw the 9 minute length on the video I thought I would I get a fun, but uneventful bout. Instead, Dustin and Bobby brought their A games and packed about as much as they could in less than 9 minutes. Stone Cold is so right it all begins with the lockup. They have an intense lockup and everything falls into place. Bobby hits his big right hand only for Dustin to return the favor. You are not going to intimidate this youngster. Bobby takes a huge bump off a shoulderblock to the floor. It is little things like that transform the otherwise ordinary shoulderblock into a spot. Dustin somehow starts bleeding hardway from his nose and in retaliation throws Eaton's head into the post, hits a huge dropkick on the floor and lariat on the outside. Dustin is PUMPED! Back in the ring, Eaton is able to chopblock Dustin and take over on the knee with some really good work including busting out a spinning toehold. I need to watch some Ricky Morton because I am really starting to think that '91-'94 Dustin cant be touched in the selling department. The ref gets bumped off a push off on the spinning toehold attempt. Dustin gets a sort of half bulldog/cross body on Eaton because he is selling the leg. Dangerously calls for help. Austin tears Dustin's head off with a wicked clothesline. If you are only going to have one move make it a badass one. Austin just so happens to be facing Dustin's partner Windham in a TV title match later that same weekend. Windham makes the save and the Lonestar Blonds clear house. Dustin was on fire here and Eaton matched him with great bumping early and knee work here. About as good of a 8ish minute match as you will get. ***1/4

Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko) w/Mad USA vs The Steiners - WCW Saturday Night 3/21/92 The Steiners are great TV match workers because they have a ton of spots to pop a crowd that make you want to watch them in longer matches even if those matches do not always result in excellent matches. It does not get much better than Eaton and Zbyszko stooging and bumping for these powerhouses. The one element that Zbyszko brings that Anderson does not is heat and lots of it. The Larry Sucks chants started early and did not let up. The first three quarters of this match is a Steiners showcase. Scotty is so good at combining power moves with his amateur moves that make for a lot of cool spots. Rick is always there to knock the heels down the peg when they are feeling smart with a Steinerline. Eaton finally looks to get something going with an eyerake, but Scotty catches him with a belly to belly on the floor, but as Scotty ducks under Eaton he eats a spinkick from The Living Legend. I liked how that transition was earned rather than just abruptly changing course. Scotty is no great shakes as a FIP, but the heels were good at taking it to him with choking, sweet Eaton punches and a flying elbow. Would have liked to seen a Zbyszko piledriver that they teased. Scotty hits a Tiger Driver and tags in Rick for the home stretch. Madusa gets sandwhiched between Larry Z and the ropes. Scotty detains Eaton while Rick hits a belly to belly and the Steiner Bulldog for the win. It is an excellent showcase match for the Steiner, but without making the Dangerous Alliance to be jabronis. They still got their heat and Larry Z added a lot of heat to this match.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07 I don't know if Makabe banged Nagata's wife or owes him money, but Nagata came out of the gate guns blazing. It set the tone for the rest of the match. This was not going to be a wrestling match; this was going to be a fight. It was one hellacious fight. Makabe had made the transition from junior heavyweight to heavyweight and in addition bleached his hair and joined Great Bash Heel, which to the shock of no one is a heel New Japan stable. I love the matchup between the Ace and a pure heel brawler because you get so many technically proficient title matches. It is always a great change of pace to watch a violent Japanese brawl. Especially since Nagata's biggest problem is that he is so, so dry. He exuded real hate in this match and you felt that he wanted to destroy Makabe. Makabe for his part went balls to the wall heel using every dirty trick and just being a general asshole. Right off the bat, he tries to duck out the ropes to stall and Nagata ain't having any of that and Makabe straight away goes for the eyes, but Nagata will not denied. That hot opening establishes everything you need to know about these two. Nagata is willing to fight fire with fire brawling in the crowd and chairshots, but the ref keeps getting in his way and he ends up wearing a chair for a collar around his neck, always a nasty visual. Makabe busts out scissors and rips Nagata's forehead open. I'm sold, I love this match! Makabe works the cut and sends Nagata to the wolves and a melee ensues with the Young Boys attempting a save. While Makabe is complaining about the ref's count, Nagata fires up and hits these HUGE elbows. These are fuckin Misawa-level elbows and Makabe is covered in blood. I am a sucker for the double juice! Nagata looks to rip Makabe's arm off and when he makes the ropes the ref has to tackle Nagata off him. This is intense! GBH is in and it is mayhem! Nagata beats them back. Makabe hits a low blow on a back drop driver attempt. He hits a German and Death Valley Driver, but only gets two! Makabe flips the crowd off and wraps his arm in the chain, but the ref sees it and won't count. That ref has some big cajones to stand up to this lunatic. A chair is discreetly slipped in (I had to rewind to catch it) and Makabe piledrives Nagata on it. When the ref sees the chair, he flips the fuck out and bounces against the mat. This ref deserves a cut of the gate he is working overtime to put this whole shebang over. Makabe misses King Kong Knee Drop triggering the finish stretch. Back drop driver and Makabe kicks out at 1 and beats on his chest. Nagata kicks his head off twice and then hits a back drop driver to polish him off. I love chaos, violence and brutality. This matchup had it in spades. Everyone including the ref had their roles down pat. This is the best that Nagata has ever looked as the New Japan ace. He was fighting for pride and the championship. Makabe was such a low-down heel. There was such urgency and struggle throughout. This along with Kobashi/Ogawa has been one of my favorite finds from doing this project. I need to rewatch it again to finalize my rating, but I am going err on the high side and go ****1/2

I have not watched Sasaki/Kawada '01 or Takaia/Fuji, with the deadline extension I will give them a shot. Did not like that Hash/Nagata vs NOAH tag, but everyone else did. Should rewatch that. You definitely liked 2001 better than I did. The only match I would add is Tenryu/Fuchi vs Kawada/Araya. 1. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 2. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01 3. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01 4. Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - AJPW 6/30/01 5. GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 07/27/01

I would put the Misawa/Kawada Carnival match over the Misawa/Kobashi carnival match. I would add the Hashimoto/Ogawa tag from the Dome show. Other than that, I would say that is a remarkably similar list to mine. I have Misawa/Akiyama number one in 2000, but Kobashi/Takayama is a closer second than I think most would have it. This is my top ten 2000 matches: 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 3. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 4. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 5. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 6. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title 7. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murkami - Tokyo Dome 01/04/00 8. Kenta Kobashi vs Takao Omori - Champions Carnival Final '00 9. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00 10. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00

Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/06 Nagata has really come into his own as the New Japan ace in these interim years of 2006-2007. He is not on par with Choshu or Hashimoto and few are, but he is wrestling more confidently and decisively. There were times like in 2001 Mutoh match where he would take Mutoh down and just not have a clue what to do like Dan Severn in an early UFC fight. Here and later in the Makabe fight, Nagata takes charge and ownership of the match. Now Kanemoto is no slouch and someone I need to explore more, but is a very good junior heavyweight. Since weight classification means more in Japan than in America, Nagata works on top most of the match similar to how I have seen Tanahashi work and similar to a Bruno or Backlund where the "better" wrestler is actually "winning" the majority of the match. Nagata gained his advantage during the opening matwork sequence when he was able to grab an arm and apply short arm scissors and a deep armbar. For pretty much the rest of the match, Nagata would hone in on that arm for a cutoff or pressing an advantage. Kanemoto sold this really well immediately and realizing the trouble he was in would fire off a couple quick hope spots like a roundhouse kick to the head, but Nagata would respond with these home run shots by coming up swinging and never letting Kanemoto land combinations. Again, Kanemoto would have an opening by hitting a dragon leg screw and following up with dropkicks to the knee, but Nagata had taken so much out of him that Nagata was able to cut off a suplex attempt and suplex him out on the floor and then an Exploder onto the floor. Make no mistake about it, Nagata was not just no selling these hope spots, he sold the roundhouse kick for an 8 count and sold the knee once he finished his rally for a minute or two after. He was fighting through the pain and taking advantage of Kanemoto's weakened state. Now we arrive at my problem with that match. At around this point, Kanemoto sells too much and what I mean is that he looks so beaten to a pulp that it seems impossible for him to make a comeback. I would say that ends up hurting the finish. Kanemoto finally hits a combination of a jumping knee, facewash and senton, but Nagata catches him with a super exploder and a Shining Wizard for two. If that was the finish then I would rate this match a lot higher. Kanemoto had his last gasp and Nagata finally had enough of this and demolished him with two huge moves. Instead the match goes on for another 5 superfluous minutes. We move into the submission trading section of the match with Kanemoto's heel hook and Nagata's crippler crossface competing for dominance. Now they trade bombs with Kanemoto getting his wicked pretty moonsault and Nagata hitting a back drop driver and two brianbusters. Then I hear the time announcement. I roll eyes. They run through some small packages, which is smart and Nagata grabs a pitch perfect cross-armbreaker, but time expires. I have no problem with a draw finish, but it just did not jive with this match. Instead of making, Kanemoto look string hanging with Nagata, it made Nagata look like a chump for not being able to take out Kanemoto when he kicked his ass for 75% of the match. If Kanemoto did not die halfway through and instead kept struggling and fighting like a Steamboat maybe I could buy it. The first 75% of this was great and was the best Nagata has looked. Like I said, they had a perfectly fine finish with the super exploder and Shining Wizard, but the extra 5 minutes and draw finish just felt forced. ****

Yeah and on top of that he plays the Simmons card of trying to force an over-arching narrative to wrestling (Reality Era, I cringed when HHH used that just because I bet fuckin Showmaker came in his pants). When Simmons does it, you can usually tell he is joking and just having fun with it. When his minions do it, it comes off as too self-serious and overbearing. I decided to read his latest article the mailbag, my first Shoemaker article in months. He managed to piss me off in the first three sentences. "Shield/Evolution growing mold" are you shitting me??!?!? It is just getting good. Jeez, they could milk this until Summerslam and still put on quality TV. You got to let things breathe, dude.

Paige screams a lot and her spots are overwrought (submission is lame and her spinny single leg takedown sucks). Emma is fun and has an arsenal of good spots. There has not been anytime for her to try to attempt to have a real match, but in terms of showcase Emma clearly has the more sympathetic, interesting character with the better spots. Paige is just annoying.

Alicia Fox's big boot is my favorite move in wrestling right now. She is my favorite character on the roster and hell may even be my favorite wrestler soon enough. I have not watched Paige in NXT, but she has not done anything for me at all. Get the title on Alicia and feud her with Emma. It is just going to be gold. I really think an Alicia/Emma match with a good build and 20 minutes could contend for MOTY.

Add me into "How have I not seen this before" group. I would say outside maybe the Savage/DDP matches that this is the best nWo match I have seen. The Wolfpac delivered a great old school heel performance here. Hall mocking Flair non-stop and spitting on Piper. Syxx weighing in at 220 lbs of disrespect, being an little scummy goon, Bronco Buster. Nash as the heavy hitter, but still bumping around for Greene. Those were three guys not trying to be cool. They were obnoxious pricks and you wanted to see them get beat up. Good God Almighty, why aren't there babyfaces anymore that have as much energy as these three. I rather you be too amped or overeager than some of the tepid performances you get now. Flair returning to the ring in Charlotte. I got goose bumps in 2014. Nuclear heat throughout the match and a great crowd-pleasing finish. In '97, you really cant top Eddie/Rey, but other than that I would put this in contention for second best WCW match of 1997.

You know I have a book that covered early ECW and the Gordon/Coraluzzo war pretty in depth. I know I will forget to post the book's title unless I write this post. Details forthcoming.

I am interested to hear people's thoughts on who thought they thought was better on the team. Outside of the Rockers, I cant think of a more even team. I know that a lot people say Rogers was better than Fulton and I can buy that from an athletic standpoint, but I thought Bobby had a very solid grasp on wrestling psychology. I have really only seen their Crockett stuff from '88-'89 and loved it. I prefer MX/Fans to MX/RnRs overall. I don't think I would go so far to say the Fantastics were better than the MX, but they are one of my favorite babyface tag teams. At work, I can expand some more later.

WCW US Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW SuperBrawl II Rude gets nuclear heat during his pre-match spiel. He can't even get a word in edgewise until he brute forces his way through their jeers and boos. From that all the way to the end of the match, Rick Rude looked like the heir apparent to Ric Flair as the lead heel in WCW for the foreseeable future. I am not saying he is the next Ric Flair because there are plenty of differences, but the way he carried himself and structured a match is in the mold of an ace NWA touring champ heel. He shines up his opponent with lots of stooging and bumping and when it is time to get heat he is a mean sumbitch. I'm actually kinda pissed that the injury derailed him so much because I really think he was something special. His 1992 is nearly untouchable from a one calendar year standpoint as a heel. You'd have to go back to Flair in '86 or so to come close. Then imagine the 1-2 punch of Vader and Rude on top. I don't care if WCW sucked at promoting, it would be helluva lot fun to watch in retrospect. That Dustin series with '92 Rude would have absolutely killer. Enough dwelling on what could have been and let's be grateful for what we have and that is a most excellent Rude/Steamboat series. As much as Rude was the star of this, Steamboat looked tremendous in this. I have run hot and cold on Steamboat. Sometimes, he can just be too mechanical, but that may just be a by-product of the WWF environment because re-watching his '94 stuff and the work against Dangerous Alliance he was been on point. Steamboat was on fire early looking to avenge the belt-whippings and Rude Awakenings he had received. He was just all over the arm and not just with the typical armbars and armdrags, but wrapping the arm around the post. Rude really shines here in the way he sells the arm and continues to sell the arm throughout the entire match! Steamboat does not forget this is a championship match so he does go for a pinfall early. The struggle in this match was great with Rude desperately trying to stymie Steamboat and when he would be forced to use his left arm he would sell it and not be able to capitalize. Steamboat was always fighting back during Rude's brief spells of offense. This was the perfect time for a chinlock. You have a hot babyface opponent that got off to a wicked fast start and you want to slow the match down, sap some of his energy and get some wind back into your lungs. If people just thought about when they used chinlocks (looking at you, '92 Austin) then it would not be reviled as a resthold. You gotta love Rude selling his left arm during his hip swivels and poses. He is just the man at this point. At this point, Rude is really targetting the neck especially after delivering the two Rude Awakenings from Clash 18. He hits a hoshot and a piledriver. Great arm and neck psychology, this match is just rocking. Steamboat, who is in dire straits, grabs anything he can get his hands on and delivers a kneecrusher and applies the figure-4. Rude recovers and it is clear the arm is hindering him more as he delivers forearms off the top. We hit the Rude staple electric chair drop out of the chinlock. Steamboat levels the playing field after some back and forth with a top-rope superplex, but cant get the three. Steamboat gets a little cocky ans starts mocking the hip swiveling, but looks more like he is trying to show us some surfing moves. Would have liked to seen that spot earlier in the match as now is the time to get down to business. Steamboat hits the flying judo chop and goes for the second one, but his Personal Ninja smashes a brick cell phone over his head. I wonder who that could be? Tack on a real home stretch and a better finish and this is a MOTYC easy. I know the Beach Blast match is better and some go as far as saying the best 90s WCW match and I look forward to rewatching that, but this match definitely deserves more praise. The body of this match is terrific with the dueling arm/neck psychology. They are struggling through every transition neither man is giving an inch. Rude and Steamboat both put on a clinic in selling and how you can make each other and match so much better by taking the time to make every spot meaning something. The finish stretch was a little abrupt and would have liked to seen an extended one. The swerve with Dangerously as the Ninja was great for extending the feud. I have no problem with the finish just that run up was too abrupt. ****1/4

WCW TV Champion Steve Austin w/Mad USA vs. Scotty Steiner - WCW Saturday Night 3/14/92 Paul E. describing Madusa as Oliver North of WCW made me chuckle. The Pride of Michigan and Champion of the West hit the Tiger Driver/Frankensteiner combination on Austin, but Paul E. called for Plan B and the World Tag Champs Arn Anderson & Beautiful Bobby stormed the ring, but big brother Rick made the save. Scott Steiner seemed more restrained and focused in this match than in previous outings. He worked the mat really well and established early that he would dominate in that domain unless Austin pulled the hair. In addition, he was following up his highspots (suplexes and throws) with covers or matwork. He did have a tendency to start each exchange with a kick to the gut or a whip into the ropes. This over reliance seemed lazy and demonstrated poor transitions. Austin was perfect in bumping and selling for Steiner. Outside of the clothesline, Austin really had nothing in the way of offense. Pretty much Scott hurting himself or a Madusa kick was the majority of Austin offense. His over reliance on the chinlock is not 2005 WWE bad because he does work in some cheating, but overall it leaves a lot to be desired. Steiner delivers a hot finish stretch, which as a bomb thrower is his specialty. Steiner is adequate at selling and with some better transitions I thought this was the best showcase for Scotty Steiner as a future main eventer. Austin knows the fundamentals, but there was still plenty room to grow.

Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin) w/Mad USA vs. Lonestar Blonds (Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) - Superbrawl II Paul E. must have hired a Director of Wardrobe Operations as Madusa looks a million times better in that green dress, but what the fuck Stunning Steve. You go from tights that have a floral lampshade pattern to the design of birthday party plates for a seven year old. Dr. Tom was right. What the hell is so Stunning about Stunning Steve? Well his clothesline duh. At this point, it was pretty much Austin's only offensive weapon, but boy was it one helluva weapon. Anytime, he got in trouble he would bust that bad boy out and Dustin sold it like a sumbitch. I will say just to get the negative out of the way early: Austin's greeness rears its ugly head in this match and is what drags this match down just a tad as he really does not have the offense to compete at this level. His reliance on the chinlock especially during the Dustin FIP took a match that I would say otherwise is a MOTYC down a notch. I hate to sound down on the match because I was rocking and rolling with them in lock step and I was looking forward to the Dustin FIP because he is so great in that role, but I thought Austin stymied him with such a blase control segment that it cooled off the match. Enough dwelling on the negative, when there is so much positive in this match namely Larry Z getting his ass royally kicked. The Texans whoop the Dangerous Alliance's ass early. This is where Austin is in his element. He may not have much in the way of offense, but he ain't afraid to show ass and bump around for the babyfaces. Of course, Larry Z made his career on being an obnoxious heat-seeking magnet. When Big Barry is done playing around with Austin and throws him to Larry, the crowd is on Zbyszko with a big "Larry Sucks" chants and he has a conniption fit on the apron. What ensues is some of the best babyface revenge you'll ever see with The Cruncher bumping, stooging and screaming for Barry & Dustin. When Barry picked up Larry from the cover, it is those type of small things that really put over a blood feud match. This is not about wins and losses, but inflicting pain and gaining retribution. The little things are what separate the classic matches from the great ones. I loved Dustin going after the hand of Larry and would have loved to seen that explored more in depth. In contrast to the Dustin FIP, the Windham FIP was really well-done with Barry working in some great hope spots (like going for the lariat, but only propelling himself over the top rope to the floor) and selling really well. The Dangerous Alliance was really on point with using the guard rail and keeping things moving with Windham. The Dustin hot tag was fun because Austin and Zbyszko are just so good at maximizing the impact of a babyface's offense at this point. They really make you feel that everything has gone off the rails and they could be beaten at any moment. Then Austin blasts Dustin with a clothesline. I discussed the Dustin FIP above and wished we would have saw more Cruncher at this point. Dustin hits Austin with a nasty Stung gun where Austin's forehead looks to catch the top rope. Windham is in like a Zbyszko-seeking missile and crushes with a barrage of lariats capping off with one off the top to win that match. Short of calling this a street fight and adding blood, this is about as damn good a heated, revenge match you will see in the context of a normal tag rules match. The babyfaces were out for revenge and came out swinging early. The Dangerous Alliance bided their time and when the opportunity arose they cheated like muthafuckas to get the advantage and Austin had Dustin's number with the clothesline. Dustin and Windham would not be denied on this night and picked up the victory and a modicum of revenge. Dustin still looks wise beyond his years. Windham was red-hot and looked great in his face in peril. Larry Z is perfect for these matches with his verbal selling and stooging. Austin would eventually become the complete package, but in terms of bumping there were few better at this time. One of the best WCW tag team matches and a great showcase for the heat that Larry Z could generate. ****1/4

WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Brian Pillman - WCW SuperBrawl II I have this match on the Brian Pillman DVD set and have always thought it was great, but at the time they were editing out Jesse's commentary. I have to say I was really impressed with The Body and how much he put over Liger. Dusty, God bless him, I think really did like the luchadores, but just did not take them seriously. The less said about Heenan and the Luchadores the better. Here, Jesse was putting over how intimidating Liger looked, how great he was both on the mat & the air, and how he had earned the respect of the crowd and that the USA chants were just out of reflexive patriotism. I used to think it was a close call between Jesse and Heenan, but the more and more I watch the more it is becoming a no contest in favor of The Body. Watching the match this time around, it definitely came off more as an exhibition and showcase of Liger and Pillman's talents as athletic wrestlers. I would not call this an out and out spotfest because the transitions were still pretty tight, but it was clear that story was to WOW. After the early establishment that they were equals, I did like that Pillman was wrestling his usual rugged style (dropkick to the outside, chops, matwork) as a contrast to Liger's moonsault and back handspring (nice pop for that one). It was weird they did not payoff the Liger surfboard attempts. It is always great when an opponent has something scouted and give maximum effort to avoid it, but I thought after wearing him down more that we would get the surfboard for a good nearfall type spot. There were some parts of the match that I did find too back and forth. Like Pillman hitting a nasty back drop driver and then pretty much immediately taking heat to the knee. I thought Pillman had been working pretty effectively as the subtle heel so maybe this was to reestablish him as the babyface, which seemed to work because in the figure-4 was when the U-S-A chants started. After the figure-4, Pillman starts to mount a comeback, but Liger drops him over to the floor and heads to the top. It was cool to watch the crowd all stand and be stunned by the somersault from the top to the floor. This is an example of why I would not say this was a total spotfest at this point they has demonstrated that Liger is a high-flyer so they want to showcase Pillman in that role so they have an epic struggle over a suplex back into the ring and ends up with Pillman running Liger's head into the turnbuckle leaving him prone to Air Pillman. Sure, Pillman blows off the legwork, but hey at least he did not just hit Air Pillman they actually bothered working a transition. Now Pillman hits a suplex over the top rope to the floor, which I always mark out for because it is so rare and then a cross body from the top to the floor. Two can play at that game, Mr. Liger. Here again is where it gets a little spotty with Pillman taking signature chin bump on the railing (always nasty), but then meeting Liger with a dropkick (pitch perfect) as he came off the top. Too often you will only see wrestlers establish they are equals by going for the same moves early on, but I like they continued that thread later into the match with both going for dropkicks and spinning wheel kicks. It felt like you were watching the two of the best in their respective styles. They do a really hot Japanese-style finish stretch with a ton of bombs and nearfalls that is very reminiscent of the Pillman/Badd finish stretch at Fall Brawl '95. I am not going to do a laundry list of moves as it much better to watch it yourself, but I will give them praise for their urgency and struggle they gave these spots. Also shout out to Liger for taking that super front suplex hard on his stomach. The build to the superplex was well-done and when it did not get Liger the fall, it got a nice pop. Liger going for the kill with the diving headbutt, but crashing and burning was an excellent finish. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. I am surprised my man, Jesse The Body did not bust out that cliche because that was a perfect way to sum up the finish. ****1/2

Super 8 is looking positively svelte in that photoshop. Did you rip that from his alleged online dating profile? Or are you trying to flatter him out of hiding?

With all the big Tanahashi/Nakamura and Tanahashi/Nagata matches in the mid-00s, I am surprised there was seemingly no big build to a Nagata/Nakamura match. I figure there are some G-1 Climax matches littered throughout the decade, but did they ever build to a showdown between the two?

Yuji Nagata vs Giant Bernard - New Japan Cup Finals 04/30/06 The trick with Bernard/Albert/Tensai is if you respect his size as a booker and as an opponent then he does have some value as a monster heel. However, he will not be able to get himself over through his own efforts. He is a mediocre wrestler in just about every way that just happens to be quite large. So if a company (WWE) or his opponent treats him like shit, there is no overcoming that. This is just my thesis after two New Japan matches with him. Both are better than anything in WWE, but it is not because Japanese water turns Bernard/Albert into a super worker it is because he is treated with respect by his opponent and the promotion. He had only been with the promotion for four months and they booked him to win the New Japan Cup to face Brock Lesnar at the May 3rd show for the IWGP title. Now part of that maybe to give Brock a familiar opponent, but even after the Brock departure Bernard was pushed to the the consequent IWGP Title Tournament Final, the semi-finals of the G-1 Climax and a IWGP tag champion. He was positioned as a strong monster gaijin. In turn, Nagata and Tanahashi treated Bernard as a credible monster worth overcoming rather than an oversized jabroni. The interesting twist in this match was that Nagata was able to wound the monster, but Bernard was able to overcome the injury and secure the victory. It illustrated that even Nagata best arm work was not even enough to topple this new monster thus instantly establishing Bernard in the upper echelon of the New Japan scene. Nagata established early that he was going to hit and run with a focus on the arm. Bernard is not really good at the wild swing-miss-where'd he go spots. He was entertaining at the "Gimme my damn arm back" spots when Nagata would go for armbars. This shine is significantly shorter than really fun Tanahashi one as Bernard squashes Nagata like a bug with his size. The resulting heat segment is pretty pedestrian though Bernard has one of the better worked full nelsons I have ever seen. At some point, they show Scott Norton and I mark out. I don't know why I did, but I did. They had a lazy transition to Nagata's comeback as Bernard starts to slap Nagata and this wakes him up. Nagata rattles off his bombs like the exploder before applying a deep cross-armbreaker and then an armbar to give this match a hook: can Nagata put away the injured Bernard or will Bernard overcome his bad wing through sheer brute force. Bernard hits a quick big boot and follows up with a Vader Bomb and Baldo Bomb, but then he can't finagle a powerbomb due to his injury. This affords Nagata the opportunity to hit three Shining Wizards...KICK OUT! I am sure Keiji Mutoh was thrilled with that. Wrist-clutch Exploder! KICK OUT! I am sure Jun Akiyama was thrilled with that. Nagata is tapped out of energy and just does not look he has enough to get him to the finish line. There is an epic struggle of Bernard trying to hit a powerbomb before finally pulling it off and only getting two. He hoists him up for the lame Rikishi style tombstone piledriver to get the win. I was actually very surprised at the finish as I thought Nagata was higher than Bernard on the NJPW totem pole, but it is those kinds of victories out of the gate that build a new wrestler into a credible threat. I like the inverted story with the monster having an injury to overcome and the underdog having to combat his own exhaustion to try to put away the big man. In this battle, it just took too much out of Nagata to overcome Bernard's size advantage. Bernard did some really nice selling of the arm to out over his own struggle. The first half or so of the match was pretty useless, but once Nagata injures Bernard's arm it gets a whole lot better. Comparatively, the Tanahashi/Bernard rocked at the beginning and went off the rails. As the cliche goes, it is all about how you finish so I have this one a little bit ahead and thus in my mind it is Albert/Bernard's best all time match. ***3/4

1992 must have been stacked with the previous match and this one not making the cut. WCW World Tag Team Champions Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) w/ Mad USA vs The Steiner Brothers - SuperBrawl II On paper, Anderson & Eaton versus The Steiners is a dream match, but like so many it falls short of expectations. It is not a bad match per se, but when you have two greatest heel tag team workers paired up against one of the most over babyface tag teams the expectations are high. The story of the K. Allen Frye regime in early 1992 WCW are matches dripping with effort due to monetary incentives. However, Arn and Eaton who never needed bonuses to compete at high level actually turned in a rather lukewarm performance. There was very little of the characteristic big bumps from Eaton or Arn's stooging and cowering. In fact, the timing seemed off and a little bit awkward such as the outside bit and the double suplex hope spot. They seemed more synchronized once the heat segment on Scott kicked in, but it was a little too late to salvage a classic. The Steiners were their usual bomb throwing selves. It was clear that Scott had no idea how to follow up any of his spots. He looked like an early UFC wrestler who knew how to take his opponent down, but had not clue what to do with him once he got him there. So you get a lot of really cool, power amateur spots taking Eaton, but he just kinda lets him back up. In some ways, it is the Steiners' fault for not knowing how to wrestle a complete match, but Anderson and Eaton have carried lesser teams to great matches so I am putting the blame on them for not being more into match and feeding the Steiners. I really liked Scotty's tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the ramp, Rick being a goofball and the Doomsday Device. However, these are just spots and there was no real flow to the match. They tease a Dogface Gremlin in Peril section before settling into one with Scotty based off Arn running Scott's head into Eaton's head, which is such a bitchin' transitions. From there, the match picks up with the Dangerous Alliance hitting their bombs on Scotty like Eaton's kneedrop, Arn's DDT and the Rocket Launcher on the ramp. The last move takes a lot of Eaton and he tags into Arn who gets sent into Eaton's foot. The hot tag to Rick is short and features an awkward attempt at Rick trying to slam Eaton while hoisted on Arn's shoulders. Rick looks to have secured the victory with a Steiner Bulldog, but Eaton saves and Madusa hands powder to Arn throw into Rick's face. The temporarily blinded Rick Steiner suplexes the ref, which Jesse says should trigger the DQ. Scott runs through his finishing sequence hitting a Tiger Driver and Frankensteiner to seemingly win the WCW World Tag Team Titles. However, the refs convene and it is decided that belts be returned to the Dangerous Alliance since Rick suplexed the original ref. Scott Steiner was an offensive dynamo, but a definite spot monkey that really had no idea how to connect his spots. Rick is a fun hard hitting wrestler. You would think with two ring generals and capable heels like Anderson and Eaton they would be the glue to fill in between the Steiners spots, but the match felt cold and awkward at times. I am not the only who felt that way as the crowd was lukewarm until the hot finish run even chanting "We Want Flair". It is not classic that you would think it should be, but it is still a pretty decent match. ***1/4

WCW World Champion Lex Luger w/Harley Race vs Sting - WCW SuperBrawl II Most reviewers take this match to the woodshed and given that it was World Title Change, yes it was underwhelming, but it was not a bad match. My biggest bone to pick is people blaming Luger's laziness/apathy. Yes, clearly given his enhanced bodybuilding physique, wrestling was not his number one priority. However, if you watch his performance he was trying his damnest to give his buddy Sting a good match. In fact, at the beginning of the match, I thought they were wrestling at a clip that would have made this a great match. Luger was explosive and it was during this time the crowd was at its hottest until the finish. It was a well-done story of one up manship. Luger started of offense and Sting hit the Stinger Splash. Luger hit the powerslam and Sting his the German Suplex. Luger goes for the Rack and Sting puts him in the rack. Once Luger wriggled free, I first noticed him breathing heavy. The match quality and heat declined precipitously with Luger meandering around the ring trying to get his wind back during his heat segment. It was interesting to me how much Luger incorporated Flair's style into this match. He used corner cheating twice and begged off twice. Sting's kick out of the piledriver was very anticlimatic. Sting's comeback was ho-hum, but his punches looked better than usual and Luger sold pretty well for him. The cross body sure is a popular finish for world title changes as the initial pop was small because it was unexpected, but the sustained ovation shows that Sting was definitely over like rover with the WCW crowd. As soon as, Luger lost his wind so did the crowd and the match never recovered. I would blame Luger's physique rather than his attitude for the failure of this match. I would have loved to see Luger bumping around for Sting before the win, but still it was a nice moment for Sting. Sting feels like a bigger deal in 1992 than he does in 1990 and it finally feels like he has arrived.

Weird. I thought I had posted this. I would say this is a top 5 Hogan match easy and maybe his best babyface performance in terms of him making you believe how much of a monster Vader was not just through selling, but by changing his offense to try combat the Mastodon. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs WCW US Heavyweight Vader Superbrawl V February 19, 1995 Baltimore, MD Not much of a story to this one, except it was one of the big dream matches since Hogan had arrived in WCW and really logical. Hogan had made his star by wrestling these big monsters and vanquishing them (Studd, Bundy, Andre, Earthquake). However, there is no more versatile big man than Vader, who combined the size of those men with an explosive quickness. Also, Hogan’s star was on the wane as his 10 year old character had grown stale and passé especially in the South, which expected a higher level of wrestling than the cartoon stuff that Hogan liked to shovel. This led to this weird dynamic of Hogan getting pretty brutally booed the entire match against monster heel, Vader. Tony lets us know that Ric Flair is indeed here in the front row. Hogan had “retired” Flair in October of 1994. They begin by both men are of equal strength. Hogan unleashes some pretty wicked slaps and his whip/elbow combo. Vader just screams “NO PAIN! NO PAIN! NO PAIN!” I was totally marking out during this segment. I just wanted Vader to maul Hogan. In a cool twist, Hogan realizes the power game is ineffective and actually attempts to wrestle Vader. WHAT!!??! He even busts out a flying cross arm-breaker (juji-gatame for MMA fans). Vader breaks that up by stepping on Hogan’s face like a boss. Hogan is betwixt and between. Vader mauling in the corner is combined with a wicked short-arm clothesline. Hogan powders and Vader eats his railing bump and nearly wipes out Flair. Well, I think Hogan may have found something that worked. Hogan works some chops in the corner, the 10 punch count and then a rebound lariat to a small pop. Hogan uses some of his heel tactics: boot on throat and eye-rake, but he goes for the bodyslam attempt too early as Vader drops on top of him. Vader runs through some strikes and then connects with the powerslam/Vaderbomb combo for two. The Vadersault misses and Hogan in desperation whips Vader back into the rail and blasts him with the best Hogan chair shot I have ever witnessed. VADER FEELS NO PAIN! Vader chokeslams the fuck outta Hogan. I don’t think Hogan intended to take that wicked of a bump. The Hulk-Up comes off a vertical suplex. Vader KICKS OUT of the LEGDROP at ONE!!!! HOLY SHIT! A Vader body attack wipes out the ref and Vader hits the powerbomb and he counts a visual three along with Flair, but there is no ref. Hogan makes his comeback and clears him outta the ring only for Flair to attack. Finally the ref calls for the DQ. Savage and Sting make the save against Flair & Vader. There is a lot to love about this match up until the finish. I loved the beginning story with Hogan trying to wrestle Vader and then using his own dirty tactics out of desperation because Vader was such a monster. Vader comes across as this unconquerable monster with the no-selling at the beginning, the killer offense and of course kicking out of the vaunted leg drop at one. A lot is made about how, Hogan no sold a Vaderbomb previous to this match and how it killed Vader’s drawing power. I can only say he definitely tried to make up for it in this match because Vader looked awesome here. All of the traditional Hogan transition are ineffective against Vader and they only way for Hogan to sustain offense is through Vader mistakes and illegal tactics like chairshots really makes Vader seem like an unstoppable force. The finish is pretty unsatisfying. A Vader victory and subsequent matches against Sting and Savage would have drawn well while Hogan questions if he still has it would have been an interesting wrinkle to the Hogan character. I like the Boss match better because of the efficiency of spots and the better finish, but this one was remarkably good and one of the Top 5 Best Hogan matches I have ever seen. ****