Lex Luger vs The Blackmailer (WCW Clash of the Champions 5)

Solid early Lex match. He's a few years away from being as confident and polished as he would later be, but here, in his lime green trunks, he's every bit the charismatic young babyface that you'd want to push. His opponent here is Jack Victory, in generic tights, mask and totally unthreatening name, here just to give Lex a win on a big show. Lex's early control isn't especially exciting. It's headlocky, very headlocky, to the point that even Jim Ross highlights how much he's working the headlock. But crucially, he intersperses moments of excitement to pop the crowd. Big running shoulderblocks, or popping straight back up when Blackmailer counters a headlock with a back suplex. Lex let's Blackmailer take over by taking an insane over-the-top bump on a missed charge, and he's a good seller, working up from underneath when Blackmailer works his own headlocks. Loved Lex using a sunset flip as a counter, and he worked his comeback nicely. He didn't just start no-selling Blackmailer's punches, it was almost like "Oh, that punch didn't really hurt. Nor did that one! Hey, I think I might be ok here", building up his resistance in a way that popped the crowd. He finished with a superplex, because he had a big match with Barry Windham coming up, and though it wasn't Windham standard, it was still a decent effort.