I am a huge mark for the WWC style Barbed Wire Match where you tease the big spots in the barbs and half the match is guys struggling to avoid it, but I will be the first to say that I am skeptical of any Steve Strong match. They go right to the teased spots early which I was fine with and there was a cool moment where TNT looked to be going into the wire when he quick headbutted Strong. Then Ivan Koloff popped up in a little box for a random promo which was odd given the gravity of what was going on in the ring. TNT gets Strong into the wire and we get the old mouth/barbed wire spot. TNT finally gets put into the wire and it is fucking sick as hell. You can sort of see his head get raked across the wire and he bleeds a massive gusher. Up until this point, this was a pretty middling match, though I did like the psychology of it. But once TNT starts juicing I think this picks up and you get the war you want with TNT getting a couple of great near falls off of side kicks, before they go to a couple of really well done double knock down spots. Good finish too as TNT locks on the Cobra Clutch and Strong fights out barely by shoving him into the wire. TNT goes for the kill off the ropes but gets hit with a hot shot into the wire (about as good a highspot as you were going to have involving the gimmick in this era) and pinned in the middle of the ring. WWC is a promotion known for blood and guts, and while this wasn't high end WWC blood and guts, the second half of this was very good. It deserves a serious look for the set.

Barbed Wire Match for the Universal Heavyweight Title: "Sadistic" Steve Strong (DiSalvo) © vs. TNT (August 1989)

 

Bloody match but not very good.

I thought this was good as shit. They teased and built to the barbed wire remarkably well here. It took a lot out of both guys to try and put the other in the wire. I liked the visual with Strong fighting with all his might as the wire starts edging towards his face and eventually gets in his mouth. The big payoff is TNT getting bloodied and him making awesome comebacks with some of his best looking kicks ever as they connect with Strong's head almost every time. I loved the head chop war and this whole segment of the match with the kicks. It was great selling from both guys. I loved Strong escaping the Cobra Clutch by backing TNT into the wire and the finish is fucking scary with TNT going for a big move off the ropes and Strong wildly drops him into the wire. Pretty much every WWC barbed wire match saves us from worker's limitations and that's exactly what happened here with Steve Strong. This was quite good. I agree with the SOLID nomination.