WCW House Show
Date: March 13, 1993
Location: G-Mex, Manchester, England

This is a show from the WCW European tour, which was apparently filmed back in the day and now we get to see what happened during a pretty bad period for the company. It should be fun though as this is a different kind of presentation from WCW and not something that has been seen before. Let’s get to it.

We open with a look at fans’ thoughts on WCW, even with some of them saying they like WWF better. This goes on rather long and apparently Arn Anderson has a big fan base in England.

The show is sold out so they’re doing ok enough.

We see Gary Michael Cappetta welcoming the fans to the show and the arena does look full. Not the biggest place, but there are people there. Cappetta tells us about the new NWA Champion (Barry Windham) being crowned at SuperBrawl. We run down some of the matches and wrestlers appearing tonight, plus we hear some rules, because that’s how you get the fans going.

Oh and Cappetta has one more announcement: Sting won the WCW World Title in London a few days ago and is defending the title tonight.

The cameras are a bit wide but this was clearly filmed to air somewhere rather than just being for internal use.

Johnny B. Badd vs. Scotty Flamingo

Flamingo (better known as Raven) dances to the ring, with the referee coming behind him for a weird visual. Badd backs him into the corner to start and Flamingo isn’t happy, only for Badd to do it again. An exchange of arm wringing goes to Badd so Flamingo grabs the hair (as he had falsely accused Badd of doing), only to get caught like a good heel should.

Flamingo’s arm is sent into the corner and we hit the armbar on the mat to keep him in trouble. Eventually they get up so Flamenco can hit a clothesline, only to get taken right back into the armbar. It works so well that they do it again, though this time Flamenco manages to elbow him in the face to actually take over. A snap suplex gives Flamenco two and it’s choking into the reverse chinlock.

Badd fights out of the regular chinlock…and is pulled right back down into the same thing. Another comeback attempt is cut off with a knee to the ribs but Badd is able to get up a third time for the real comeback. Flamenco whips him hard into the corner a few times though and a clothesline gets two. Back up and Badd has had enough of this and drops him with the left hand for the win at 15:21.

Rating: C+. This was a match where they had the chance to set things up and it worked out well enough. I could have gone for some more variety, but at the end of the day, this was about having Badd pop the crowd with his flamboyant style. Also, there’s something so effective about a finisher of just hitting the other guy in the face. Nice enough opener here and the fans seemed to like it.

Maxx Payne vs. Michael Hayes

So this is grunge vs. southern rock and…I don’t think anyone was asking to see it but at least it’s something. Hayes punches away to start and doesn’t get very far so they slow back down (I’m sure Hayes is disappointed). They take turns asking the crowd to cheer before Payne takes him to the mat with a headlock.

That’s reversed into a headscissors before they both get up as we’re somehow more than four minutes into this thing. A backdrop puts Hayes down and we hit the nerve hold to really keep the intensity up. Payne switches to choking on the ropes, followed by a belly to back suplex to cut off a comeback.

The chinlock goes on as this is setting a new level for dragging. Now we switch to a nerve hold, allowing us a few shots of the utterly bored crowd. Nice job WCW, as you’ve killed a crowd in less than half an hour. Hayes fights up and hits a clothesline to actually start the comeback, including a boot out of the corner. The DDT is blocked though and the Payne Killer (Fujiwara armbar) makes Hayes give up at 12:33.

Rating: D. This is the second Payne match I’ve seen recently and my goodness he was awful. It’s a bunch of dull holds and shrugging off Hayes’ already limited offense before finishing with an armbar. Ignore that he didn’t touch the arm before the finish so it comes right the heck out of nowhere.

Rick Rude/Barry Windham vs. Dustin Rhodes/Van Hammer

Hold on though as Windham and Rhodes get in a fight on the floor and Rhodes is beaten down. Van Hammer (in his not so great cowboyish phase) makes the save and apparently we’re getting something else.

Rick Rude vs. Van Hammer

Windham just vanished so this is all we have left. They take turns shoving each other into the corner and posing before Rude gets in a top wristlock. He even manages to throw in a hip swivel for the fans, which unfortunately doesn’t have Jesse Ventura there for the cheering. Hammer fights up and whips him into the corner, meaning we get to hit the reverse chinlock.

Some counterfeit hip swiveling gives Hammer a nice enough response but he misses a sitdown splash. Back up and Rude gets caught in a bearhug, with Hammer shaking him around, I guess trying to get the hip swiveling going again. Rude pokes him in the eyes to cut that off but gets clotheslined back down. A splash hits knees though and Rude swivels his hips, only to hurt his own ribs in the process.

The reverse chinlock goes on again but Hammer picks him up for an electric chair (Rude flailing his arms with his mouth wide open is a great visual). Hammer goes up and dives into raised boots, only for Rude to go up and dive into raised boots. Rude grabs a sleeper for a bit, with Hammer jawbreaking his way to freedom. The slingshot suplex gives Hammer two but he misses a charge into the corner, allowing the Rude Awakening to finish at 16:01.

Rating: C-. The good parts of this were ALL from Rude as his mannerisms were carrying things. I loved the early days of Hammer with the Heavy Metal stuff but once he lost his initial push, it was all downhill in a hurry. That was the case here, as he was doing almost nothing and even that looked bad. Rude on the other hand was great, and the fans were way into booing him.

Here is Johnny B. Badd for a special presentation. A woman announces that Badd is receiving an award from the British National Institute Of Sign Language. Badd seems appreciative and thanks everyone involved before getting in the ring to show off the certificate he received. There were some kids there with the woman presenting it so this is hard to complain about.

Intermission (cut out of course).

Davey Boy Smith vs. Vinnie Vegas

Vegas is a rather generic villain who is better known as Kevin Nash. Believe it or not, Bulldog (who is very new at this point) is crazy popular in England. They trade running shoulders to start until Bulldog hits a dropkick, leaving Vegas to pose. The fans like Bulldog’s posing more and also approve of him knocking Vegas outside. Back in and the test of strength goes to Vegas until Bulldog powers up and tries a slam…which fails.

Something like a Samoan drop gives Vegas two and he cuts off the suplex attempt rather quickly. The side slam plants Bulldog for two and we hit the sleeper. This goes on for a good while until Vegas hits a big boot and yells a lot. Bulldog fights up and makes the clothesline comeback, followed by the running powerslam for the win at 12:10.

Rating: C+. Gee do you think Bulldog was going to be over here? This was still brand new into his run with the company so not only was he in front of his crowd but he was fresh as well. Bulldog did most of his usual stuff here and looked good, though there was only so much anyone could get out of Vegas at this point.

Post match a kid gets in the ring to pose with Bulldog. Yeah that’s always going to work.

Vader vs. Cactus Jack

Harley Race is here with Vader, who poses at Jack a lot, giving us a rather amused look from Jack. Vader shoved him into the corner a few times and then runs him over with the standing splash. The big forearms in the corner connect and Race gets in some choking on the rope, as he is supposed to do. Back up and Jack gets a boot up in the corner, followed by a pair of DDTs.

A sleeper is broken up with a crash down onto the mat and they go outside. Vader misses a charge and crashes over the barricade, allowing Jack to slug away. A slam onto the concrete has Vader in more trouble and with Race yelling at the referee, Jack drops Vader with some chair shots.

Back in and Jack unloads in the corner but Vader gets a boot up and hits a middle rope clothesline. Kid in the crowd: “Come on Mr. Jack!” So polite. Vader sits down on Jack to cut off a sunset flip and (I’m assuming) the same kid says “YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED!” Vader clotheslines Race by mistake but knocks Jack down again and hits the Vader Bomb. A second Bomb connects for two and Jack starts to get up, earning the classic Vader response of HITTING HIM REALLY HARD IN THE FACE.

After some spit for a bonus, Vader misses another sitdown splash but is right back with a middle rope splash. The second misses though and the Cactus Clothesline…well you know what it did as it’s the only thing it can do by definition. Jack flip dives off the apron and hits the double arm DDT but Race has the referee. That earns Race a beating but Vader hits a splash in the corner, followed by the powerbomb for the pin at 14:04.

Rating: B+. Yeah these guys always worked well together and this was no exception. Vader could work the smash mouth style like almost no one else and you know Foley is going to be right there with him the whole way. This was by far the best thing on the show thus far and I could watch these two hit each other in the face for a good while.

A fan who is described as “loud” gets a free program. Eh cool.

Cappetta thanks the fans for coming, which is always a nice touch.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Paul Orndorff

Sting is defending, having won the title two days earlier. Orndorff grabs a headlock to start before they run the ropes, with Sting grabbing a backdrop to send Orndorff bailing for a breather. A wristlock works better for Sting but Orndorff kicks him out to the floor. The fight over a suplex goes to Sting though and he’s back in for an armbar. That’s broken up as well and Orndorff chokes on the rope, followed by some rammings into the barricade.

Back in and the front facelock goes on, with Orndorff even tying up his arms as well. Sting finally fights up but misses a Stinger Splash, allowing Orndorff to hit a dropkick. Back up and Sting hits a crossbody, only to get pulled back into the front facelock. With that not working, Orndorff calls for the piledriver but Sting backdrops his way out. Some right hands have Orndorff rocked and the Stinger Splash retains the title at 14:59.

Rating: C. The whole point of this was to have Sting out there defending the title against a warm body and Orndorff worked as well as anyone else. It was never going to be some classic and while the title wasn’t in jeopardy in theory, one would have thought the same thing when Vader was facing Sting two days earlier so it’s not a totally insane thought. The match itself wasn’t great, but Sting did what he was supposed to do.

And we’re out pretty fast.

Overall Rating: C. Other than Vader vs. Jack, there is nothing on here worth seeing but that’s not the point. The idea here was to give the fans a special experience and since England isn’t going to get something like this very often, it worked well. There is something so cool about seeing this kind of thing and I had a good time with it, even if most of the matches were a bit weak.

 

 

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WCW Pro
Date: May 23, 1992
Location: Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia
Attendance: 3,000
Commentator: Tony Schiavone

This would be six days after WrestleWar, but my guess is that this was taped months beforehand, meaning there won’t be any references to it. This is another specialized Chicago edition of Pro, meaning it only aired in Chicago markets and had different commentary. It should be your usual hour long TV show either way. Let’s get to it.

Diamond Stud vs. Dan Beard

Stud fires off some hard chops in the corner to start as the fans seem to be very into him. A chokeslam puts Beard down and a belly to back superplex does the same. The Diamond Death Drop (think the Razor’s Edge) is good for the pin. The reason to think Razor’s Edge? Stud would be in WWF as Razor Ramon in about five months.

Actually we to hear about WrestleWar as Tony talks about the Freebirds winning the US Tag Titles before hyping up Beach Blast 92, which was an AWESOME show.

Tony also runs down the rest of the card.

Madusa says Steamboat lusts after her while listing off some random movie titles such as Basic Instinct, Seven Year Itch and Fatal Attraction.

Eric Bischoff previews Beach Blast, which actually has some matches made. We hear about the Miracle Violence Connection vs. the Steiners, which actually main evented the show. The Steiners say they’ll defend their titles here in America.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Richard Morton

Morton is a heel here and part of the York Foundation. He attacks in the corner but gets caught by a lariat to take him down. A gorilla press puts him down as well before Dustin pounds away with right hands. Dustin keeps pounding away but Morton begs for mercy…which Rhodes grants. A hair pull brings Rhodes down and it’s off to an armbar.

Back up and Dustin pops him in the face to take over again, only to be caught in an atomic drop. This should be far better than it actually is so far. We hear about Rhodes vs. Stud coming up which sounds pretty good. Their matches in 95 were solid so maybe this will work too. Morton puts on a chinlock before sending Dustin into the corner, only to be caught by a lariat and a bulldog for the pin.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t horrible but you would expect a lot more from two guys as talented as these two are. Morton was basically a jobber by this point while Rhodes was about to enter the US Title scene. The match wasn’t too bad, but they could have done much better with about ten more minutes and a story.

The Freebirds say don’t do steroids.

Here’s the Diamond Stud with something to say. We get a clip of Stud costing Rhodes a win against I think Bobby Eaton. Stud says that he’s the only real Stud and he’s tired of hearing about Rhodes being one too. It’s so strange to hear Hall’s voice without the accent.

Greg Valentine/Taylor Made Man vs. Freebirds

This is non-title and that’s Terry Taylor in case you weren’t clear. The Birds don’t have the belts here despite being called champions by Tony, making me think the match happened before the show but the commentary was recorded after. Garvin and Taylor start things off and they shove each other around until Jimmy grabs a wristlock. Off to Hayes as the fans want a DDT. Taylor shoves him into the corner and brings in Valentine who is immediately chopped back.

Garvin is back in now and the makeshift team pounds away at him. By makeshift I of course mean former US Tag Team Champions but they don’t even have a name so they’re makeshift. Garvin is beaten down again due to a lack of talent but elbows out for a tag to Hayes. Michael speeds things up and lays out both guys with that good left hand of his. A cross body gets two on Taylor but Valentine sends Hayes into the post for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t bad but they were flying through it so fast that it didn’t have time to develop. They were doing a fifteen minute match in a five minute time span here and it didn’t work all that well. To be fair though, the idea of these two teams fighting for more than about five minutes is kind of terrifying, although they had a really solid match at WrestleWar so what do I know?

Eric tells us about the 30 minute Iron Man match with Rude vs. Steamboat at Beach Blast.

Steamboat says he’s ready for Rude.

Rude says that he gets stronger as the night goes longer. Just ask the ladies.

Eric also tells us about Cactus Jack vs. Sting in a falls count anywhere match. Jack would call that the best match of his career for a long time.

Scotty Flamingo vs. Larry Santo

I wonder if the jobber is related to El. Flamingo quickly takes him down with an armdrag and pins him about 40 seconds later with an awkward looking piledriver. Flamingo would eventually become manager Johnny Polo in the WWF and Raven in ECW.

Famous Chicago sportscaster Jack Brickhouse talks about WCW being a member of the NWA and recalls some memories of working with various promoters. We hear about the NWA World Tag Team Title tournament, which stopped WCW cold.

Cactus Jack wants to know why the fans don’t care about him. He also doesn’t care that the title isn’t a title match because he doesn’t think Sting will be champion by then. Jack was an awesome villain because he only cared about violence and hurting Sting rather than the title, which was very different.

Vinnie Vegas/Mr. Hughes vs. Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff

Vegas is a sleazy Vegas high roller which isn’t as bad of a character as you would expect. Hughes is a big power guy who played a bodyguard for years. Steamboat has a broken nose so he’s in a mask at the moment. Ricky and Hughes get things going here and it’s armdrags all around. Vegas is sent to the floor so Steamboat cranks on Hughes’ arm, only to be taken down by pure power and crushed with an elbow drop. Off to the even bigger Vegas who easily slams Steamboat down so let’s try Nikita.

Koloff can match power with anyone so he pounds away on Vegas’ arm and hooks an armbar. Vegas’ height keeps it from being much of a hold, so Nikita shoves him into the corner and now they fight over a lockup. Nikita takes him down with a shoulder and it’s back to Steamboat. There’s something cool about Ricky pounding away on a giant. Everything breaks down and a top rope chop to Vegas’ head takes him down. The high cross ends him a few seconds later.

Rating: C. For a challenge match, this wasn’t much of a challenge for Nikita and Steamboat. To be fair though, Hughes was nothing of note and Vegas was nowhere near what he was going to become. Nikita was back from leaving for a few years and was far smaller than he used to be and wasn’t as interesting as a result. In case you’re wondering, Vegas would become Diesel in about a year.

Eric previews the bikini contest at Beach Blast between Missy Hyatt and Madusa and wants to be a judge. Missy tells Madusa to keep her clothes on.

Tony previews next week’s show and we’re out.

Overall Rating: C+. For a 45 minute show, this was pretty good actually. We got some squashes, a feature match and some previews for one of WCW’s best PPVs ever. 1992 WCW was surprisingly solid with Sting tearing it up against everyone he faced. The interesting thing here though was the Outsiders both appearing. That’s one thing I never got: both guys had been in WCW like four years before and it was like they were aliens invading when the NWO formed. They had been there before, so it’s not like them jumping companies was unheard of. Anyway, surprisingly good show here.

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