Steel Cage Match for the US Heavyweight Title: "Total Package" Lex Luger © vs. "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (11/26/87)

 

Dusty can't wrestle for 90 days if he loses and Johnny Weaver is the gatekeeper on the floor. This starts slow with both men posing and preening until Dusty starts with his offensive barrage of elbows and fists before going for the Weaver Lock a couple of times but Luger quickly got to the ropes both times to survive. Dusty then keyed on working over Luger's left arm with different holds before Luger caught him with a cheap shot and rammed Dusty face first into the cage. Rhodes is now juicing and Luger is relentless working over the cut until Dusty hit a desperation dropkick. Luger though recovered first and started working over Dusty's back setting up the Torture Rack which he would get but not clean as Dusty grabbed the cage to stop the hold. Luger then worked over the cut some more before going to work on Dusty's left arm as Dusty did his best to get crowd into the match and his comeback. Dusty would finally make the comeback and he was pumped up as hell yelling at Luger which got the crowd going crazy before hitting a funny looking DDT for a nearfall. Luger kept taking the fight to Dusty before finally getting in the Weaver Lock in the middle of the ring. Dillon then KO's Johnny Weaver and gets the key to the cage but can't get in so he throws a chair over the top of the cage as Earl Hebner got bumped. Luger goes to grab the chair but Dusty hits his funny DDT again on the chair and pins him to win. This may not have been as strong as some of the other Starrcade cage matches but I dug this match and it was a pretty damn fun performance from Dusty who really carried this match. I'm throwing this up as a mild nomination.

I enjoyed the early portion of this. Lex misses an elbow drop, and Dusty goes after the arm. The problem is the arm work isn't that interesting. Now I liked how Luger missed the elbow in the corner, and Dusty fired off a Bionic Elbow, but again the follow up arm work was lazy. A low blow sets up Luger's heat. I like Luger using the cage. Like him working the cut. Then he starts working the back . Then moves to the arm. I get the cut, and the back. The arm work makes no sense. This is where they lose me. They just sit in a lazy arm bar. It's close, but the negatives outweigh the positives. I go no.