Brian Pillman vs Jushin Thunder Liger
Really great choice of opener to pump up the crowd. They
didn’t really seem aware of Liger before the bout, but this crowd soon were
going nuts for the action, pretty much from the moment Liger hit a graceful
moonsault press to Pillman. I loved the struggle for Liger’s surfboard, which
Pillman evaded twice – really put the move over as a threat. Liger works over
Pillman’s legs following a missed knee charge in the corner, with a figure four
causing real damage. Pillman is thrown to the floor, with Liger hitting a great
rolling cannonball from the top. If I’ve one real issue, it’s that Pillman was
barely able to stand from the figure four, and this was even before getting hit
with the cannonball, yet right away he comes back with a springboard
clothesline, showing no ill effects from either Liger move. I do like the way
that PIllman ramps up his aggressive streak from this point, suplexing Liger to
the floor and hitting a big dive from the top. This builds to the finishing
stretch, which sees a number of very close nearfalls, with a Liger German
suplex being the most convincing. However, Liger misses a top rope headbutt,
and Pillman rolls him up with a bridging pin for three.
Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs Taylor Made Man
The Taylor Made Man really was a totally unsubtle Million
Dollar Man rip-off, even down to the tuxedo with a gold trim he wears to the
ring here. Bagwell is still played up as a rookie, but despite a few flubs on
landings and reversals, he looks good here. Bagwell is mainly selling, as the
veteran Taylor controls most of the bout after suckering Bagwell in and
throwing him through the ropes. Loved the big gutwrench powerbomb from Taylor,
and he hits a great top rope splash for two. The end sees an over-cocky Taylor
getting rolled up for three, and I loved how Bagwell’s celebratory momentum
sees him fired off the ropes and into a Taylor forearm for a post-match
beatdown. Decent bout.
Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack
Fun power sprint. I love the energy Simmons shows from the
start, he just moves exceptionally well in the ring. Jack takes a nutty bump
early, catching his neck in the ropes after diving through them. Momentum
changes to Jack’s favour as he hits the double arm DDT, but it’s not a finisher
yet, so he doesn’t bother pinning him. Big diving elbow to the floor by Cactus
looks nasty. Simmons takes a bg bump, missing a 3-point stance and flying
through the ropes onto the ramp, but he quickly rebounds to hit a vicious
looking spinebuster onto the ramp. Back inside, Simmons catches Cactus from the
second rope with a powerslam for three. Really enjoyed this.
Van Hammer & Tom Zenk vs Richard Morton & Vinnie Vegas
Good to see the Patron Saint of this blog, Tom Zenk, in
action. Ventura gets in a few choice barbs on commentary, saying every Vinnie
he knows wears bad suits, and in a jibe at the WBF, says no-one makes money on
bodybuilding…”even Vinnie knows that”. The opening Vegas/Hammer section is
pretty dull, Hammer looks a bit lost at times and Vegas isn’t the man to carry
him. In contrast, Zenk and Morton work really well together, with a fun Zenk
pescado leading to him hiptossing Morton on the floor in a heavy bump. Hammer
becomes face-in-peril, and I did enjoy the heel double-teaming, with Morton
directing traffic by holding Hammer in place for Vegas’ offence. The
double-teams are basic, but effective. Zenk gets the hot tag, and looks great
coming in, hitting a swank bodyslam on Morton for two, before pinning him with a
sunset flip out of the corner. This was fine.
Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin &
Larry Zbyszko
Zbyszko had famously broken Windham’s hand by slamming it
with a car door at Halloween Havoc 91, giving him the “Cruncher” nickname that
Ventura loves to repeat on commentary. We get a melee to start, and I loved
Windham dominating Austin only to throw him to the corner to tag Larry in.
Windham looks great here, nailing Zbyszko with a sweet lariat and a fucking
great DDT. It takes some interference by Austin throwing Windham over the top
rope to finally give Zbyszko some respite, and Windham promptly hurls himself
outside again with a missed lariat. Windham making sure his fingers are tightly
locked before breaking a sleeper with a chinbreaker is great attention to
detail. The heels then work a fun heat section on Rhodes, with Austin managing
to repeatedly cut off Rhodes with clotheslines. It’s therefore fun when Dustin
is finally able to avoid one by ducking and nailing a stungun instead. Windham
comes off the top with a big lariat for the win. Predictably fun tag bout.
The Steiner Brothers vs Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton
The second of three consecutive Dangerous Alliance matches,
this time for Eaton/Anderson’s tag titles. This is a match of high impact
moves, not just by the Steiners, but also from Eaton and Anderson. Steiners
dominate early with a lovely overhead belly-to-belly on Eaton, followed by a
sick looking tilt-a-whirl slam on the entrance ramp. The Alliance basically
have to withstand this barrage until Eaton hits a mid-air low blow on Rick, as
he attempts the top rope bulldog. This doesn’t last too long, as Scott is soon
tagged in, and I love the desperation of Arn having to sacrifice his partner by
ramming Scott’s head into Eaton’s just to get a sustained control. The Alliance
have some great looking offence here: Anderson nails a great DDT and, in a
sweet spot, Eaton gets thrown from the top rope onto the rampway with a Rocket
Launcher splash. Rick gets the hot tag, and a fantastic nearfall when he slams
Eaton on a Doomsday Device attempt. After all this, it makes sense that the DA
need a cheap ending to retain their titles. After Anderson blinds him with
powder, Rick hits a big suplex on the referee. Scott hits a Frankensteiner on
Eaton, which is counted for 3 by a replacement ref, but the original ref
recovers to disqualify the Steiners and keep the titles with the Alliance. One
of the rare times I’d describe a fuck-ending as great, but I thought it fit the
match perfectly. Really enjoyed this.
“Ravishing” Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat
This is for Rude’s US title, with Paul E Dangerously and
Madusa banned from ringside. Steamboat is still allowed to be accompanied by
his ninja though. I reviewed this same pairing earlier this year in the Royal
Rumble 88 review, but this is light-years ahead. For example, both matches
feature lengthy periods of Steamboat working the arm, but this time he mixes up
the offence, clanging Rude’s arm around the ringpost. He also uses the arm as a
focal point for comebacks, kicking Rude there in order to escape a barrage in
the corner. Rude sells it really well too, hanging limply on his offensive
runs. He twice instinctively hits clotheslines with the arm, but makes sure to
sell the pain, and on the third clothesline he swaps arm. Love that stuff. Rude
works the neck of Steamboat with a piledriver and spinning neckbreaker, which
obviously sets up the Rude Awakening. Rude’s big mistake here is making soft
covers which aren’t going to get him the win. It gets a little rest-holdy
towards the end, with Rude locking in a camel clutch and two chinlocks, but
Steamboat makes a fun comeback, with a great diving clothesline to a seated
Rude. Second cheap ending in a row is a little disappointing though, as
Steamboat gets whacked in the head by his ninja, suspiciously holding a Paul
E-esque mobile phone, which gives Rude the win. A post-match segment sees Missy
Hyatt go to Rude’s locker room, accidentally revealing Paul E indeed being the
ninja.
Sting vs Lex Luger
This is for Luger’s world title, and you can tell Ross and
Ventura know Luger is leaving soon. Luger had used all the dates on his WCW
contract and had barely worked in 1992, and they’re all over him, pointing out
how he lacked ring fitness and how he was sweating far more than Sting. Despite
this, we had a pretty high tempo opening. Loved Sting hitting the Stinger
splash, but Luger rebounding out of the corner with a big clothesline. Massive
German suplex by Sting, which looked great. Sting always brought great energy
around this time, and I loved his high leap to get more elevation on a leaping
DDT. Luger hits the piledriver, but Sting kicks out at two. Sting makes a great
fired-up comeback, starting off with some dazed blows, but getting more and
more worked up with each blow that connects. Sting flies over the top rope, and
Harley Race goes to piledriver him on the floor. Sting reverse and backdrops
Race onto the floor. Luger doesn’t know about this, and turns around straight
into a Sting top rope crossbody for the win. Really fun match, good logical
ending and a massive pop for the new champion. No complaints here.
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