Talk about it here.

Not their best match. I used to like this and not understand why it wasn't exactly looked upon favorably at the time, but this time I got it. Disappointing heat and lots of downtime.

The Judges totally gave away the finish and thus my enjoyment in the match. Had some ok spots but just dull. Reminds me of Sting/Flair match from Clash 1 except that match was 20 times better but same finish.

I was like Loss in that I liked the match before and didn't get why people didn't like it. The difference is I still like it. I didn't think the heat was bad. The bout got a little samey. Still they told a good story. The finish was telegraphed. I wish Sting would have got the Scorpion earlier, it may have added to the drama.

Never saw this one before, and although Rude on control can be dull at times, I think this was a perfectly good match, and they worked an exciting final stretch. Nice sellings and transitions, I don't see what's disapointing about it. I liked the judges finish becaus it protected Rude from being pinned.

Sting turned in a very good performance and Rude did some fine selling, but it did taper off mightily when Rude was in control. I'm beginning to see the complaints about Rude sitting in holds, because we get a lot of that here. And yes, we suddenly have judges at ringside for the King of Cable matches. I like the idea, but Ventura in particular spends way too much time talking about how they're scoring points that the ending is pretty much a given. This was still a good match, but it like this whole tournament didn't feel very consequential, and I think these two have a better long match in them.

Zbyszko, Hiro Matsuda & Ole Anderson are our judges just in case it’s a draw. Sting's working Rude's midsection was solid. Then things slow down. A lot. This felt a lot longer than it was.

 

**1/2

There was a lot of good in this match. The offence was solid and the selling was well done. Unfortunately, there was too much bad that its lasting impression is less than favourable. They telegraphed the finish badly so there was never any expectation that there was actually going to be a finish, which took away a lot. It also dragged a fair bit in the middle.

I knew there was no finish going in, so that didn't bother me much. What did bother me more and more and more as time went on is that the wrestlers wrestled like they knew there wasn't going to be a finish. There was no sense of urgency, no drive for either man to actually try to win the match. There were lots and lots of submission attempts, and Rude sold his ribs particularly well, but they just seemed content to try to hurt each other rather than win, which would have let me know even if I didn't already that there wasn't supposed to be a winner.

 

That all being said, I saw absolutely nothing wrong with Jesse constantly talking about the judges. They needed to get a new concept over quickly, since there weren't any judges in the first round from what we saw. I suppose they could have just ignored it like they did at the first Clash with Sting and Flair, but there was a ton of hype about the judges beforehand then. I would have made it even a little more authentic by actually giving the judges' "scores" at the end, like they do in boxing matches that go the distance. I notice that they had Zbyszko vote for Rude, which was surprising given how Larry was booted out of the DA.

 

It just hit me that Rude made out pretty well; if he'd beaten Sting, he wouldn't be able to wrestle Simmons for the World title at Starrcade. Sometimes, the sweetest victories are the ones you don't get.

 

Not to nitpick over something that ultimately didn't matter, but why couldn't Watts have been one of the judges? After all, who better to be impartial than the man who signs both wrestlers checks?

 

I liked Jesse saying that Rude's hip swivels would score points with the judges. Take a look at those three, Bod. Zbyszko I'll give you just for laughs, but what makes you think a couple of old fossils like Matsuda and Ole would care one damn bit about bumping and grinding? They've probably neither seen it nor done it in the last fifty years!

 

Line of the Night goes to Jesse: "What makes you think you can trust those three (the judges)?" Talk about the former pot calling the kettles black!

 

I hope we can see these two go at it in a match where the whole point isn't to spotlight a new way to determine a winner. I think these two have at least one more pay-per-view quality classic in them.