Scotty Flamingo vs Brian Pillman
This is for Pillman’s light-heavyweight title, and is in
that period where top rope moves were banned in WCW. Thus, this isn’t quite the
highflying affair Pillman’s bouts with Liger or Zenk were. Instead, a lot of
this is mat based, with Pillman in particular working over the arm of Flamingo.
Indeed, it’s when he forgets the top rope rule that things go awry, as he goes
up only to remember he can’t do anything and Flamingo throws him off. Flamingo’s
control isn’t particularly flashy, and instead sees him trying to wear down
Pillman. No danger of any face pops for Flamingo. Pillman seems to find it hard
to make any comebacks, as Flamingo always seems able to cut him off. A snap
powerslam and a handful of tights get a close nearfall for Scotty. Pillman does
make a comeback, but crashes and burns as he tries a crossbody to the ramp, as
Flamingo moves causing him to face plant on the walkway. This costs Pillman
massively, as a shitty kneedrop catches him crawling back in and Flamingo picks
up the clean title win. Bit of a shocker, but a decent bout. Going 15+ minutes
was maybe a bit much for Flamingo, but they just about pulled it off.
Ron Simmons vs Taylor Made Man
Bit more of a sprint here, they cut a quick tempo from the
off. A nice early sequence establishes both men’s role in the bout – Taylor
throws Simmons through the ropes to the ramp by suckering him in and grabbing
the tights, whilst Simmons is able to bounce back with his explosive power,
press slamming Taylor back into the ring. This explosiveness does cost Simmons,
however, as Taylor avoids a big charge, and Simmons flies through the ropes to
the ramp. Taylor works some heat on Ron, but gets caught in a spinebuster, and
from there is powerless to stop Simmons blitzing him with power moves,
culminating in a powerslam for three. Quick little match, but one that told a
decent story – Simmons was the explosive, stronger athlete that Taylor needed
to use his cunning to beat, but when Simmons got on a roll, he was unstoppable.
Greg Valentine vs Marcus Bagwell
Nice competitive squash for Valentine, basically telling the
story of grizzled veteran outsmarting and outworking the rookie. Valentine
doesn’t go easy on the younger man, blocking a hiptoss with a clothesline that
gives a nice thud. Bagwell gets a small flurry, but misses a kneedrop that
gives Valentine a focal point for his offence. Valentine is all over the leg,
setting up for the figure four. I liked the manner of Bagwell’s comeback, as
rather than Valentine missing a move a Bagwell being fine, Bagwell is slow to
recover and has to keep countering Valentine’s moves. However, Bagwell jars the
leg on a leapfrog and Valentine locks in the figure four to win.
Cactus Jack vs Sting
Proper good brawl here, both guys go all out here with a
real high tempo. Sting controls early on, but his excitable manner causes
problems as he goes for a Stinger Splash too early, hitting the ropes as Jack
moves. A lot of this match is fought on the floor, with a Jack neckbreaker
giving a big thud and a sunset flip being a ludicrous bump. Like Jack locking
in a body scissors to hurt Sting’s ribs, with the commentary highlighting how
Sting had hurt his ribs fighting Vader. Sting’s comeback of a sudden back
suplex on the concrete looked nasty, and it felt like a plausible desperation
comeback. Jack misses a diving elbow, and Sting hits a diving clothesline to
the ramp to win.
Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat
This is a 30 minute ironman bout, and it’s really fucking
great. Steamboat hits Rude with a gutbuster from the get-go, and from that
point on Rude is struggling with his ribs. Steamboat works over these ribs for
the next 8 minutes, constant focus with some nice looking strikes and a really
high angle Boston crab. Then, fantastically, Rude catches him with a knee to
the face on a corner charge, and is able to pin him for the first fall. Just
felt like a believable knockout blow and it changes the flow of the bout. Rude
nails a quick Rude Awakening to go 2-0 up. Loved Rude hitting a top rope
kneedrop, which earns him a DQ, but gives him an easy fall to go 3-1 ahead.
Rude wisely goes to a Camel Clutch to kill off some time, the wrestling
equivalent of a footballer playing the ball into the corner towards the end of
a game. Rude goes for a tombstone, but Steamboat is able to reverse it and pick
up a fall for 3-2. Great reversal, as Steamboat makes it look like a real
struggle, forcing Rude backwards with his legs and powering into the reversal.
Best I’ve seen that move look. Suddenly, Steamboat gets a backslide and evens
up the falls 3-3. Both guys looks like they’re struggling at this point, every
move feels like it could end the bout. A Steamboat attempt at the Rude
Awakening sees Rude need to put his foot on the rope to survive. Rude locks on
a sleeper, really good one as he forces Steamboat to hold his body weight for
several minutes. Not a part of Rude’s body is touching the mat. Steamboat is
almost gone with less than 90 seconds to go, but is able to get to his feet and
we get the Hart/Piper reversal to give Steamboat the lead with less than a
minute left. Rude is frantic, hitting repeat clotheslines to try and get an
evener, but Steamboat survives and wins. Such a great ending, so exciting and
that’s considering it’s a sleeper held for several minutes. Really terrific
bout.
Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin & Arn Anderson vs Nikita
Koloff, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes
Fun 6 man tag, which provides a nice change of pace between
two 30 minute matches. Ole Anderson is the referee here. The faces dominate the
early goings – loved Windham’s Japanese armdrag from the turnbuckles, almost
looked like a proto-Spanish Fly – until Arn rams Dustin’s head into Eaton’s to
take control. Loved how this also put Eaton out of commission for a moment,
meaning Arn had to tag in Austin. The heat on Dustin is predictably really
solid, with a few hope spots nicely interspersed, but for the main Dustin is
contained to the heels corner of the ring. Loved Arn stamping on Rhodes’ head,
playing off the clash with Eaton. Dug the payback spot as Dustin rams Arn’s
head into Eaton, which gives him a chance to come back. Hot tag is made to
Windham, and it all breaks down. Windham hits the superplex, but Arn comes off
the top rope to break it up, earning a DQ.
The Steiner Brothers vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
This goes the full 30 minutes for the time limit draw, but
takes you on quite the journey to get there. Real full on battle, with the
early stages worked primarily on the mat. Jim Ross is keen to put over the
collegiate background of the competitors to show why these are so closely
fought. The Rick and Williams sections are nicely competitive, like watching
two big bulls colliding. Rick hits a great overhead belly to belly and a lovely
big clothesline. All four guys hit big suplexes, all of which looked good.
Eventually, the MVC manage to isolate Scott Steiner and work over his leg (and
this fits in nicely with the Clash two days later, where Scott's knee injury is
really played up). Lovely little touches like Gordy holding Scott in a leglock
whilst Williams keeps punching him in the knee. Even when Scott is crawling for
the tag, they yank him back by the leg to further injure the leg. Rick
eventually gets the hot tag, but his run of offence is brief before the MVC
take over and now HE’s the FIP. The time limit is ticking closer, and with
Scott out of action, it now feels like a case of seeing if Rick can survive to
the time limit. With minutes remaining, Rick is able to escape the clutches of
Doc and Gordy and make the tag to a recuperated Scott, who runs riot. He hits
the Frankensteiner on Gordy, JUST as time expires. Really great match, built up
nicely to an exciting ending.
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