WCW Clash of the Champions XX

Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat

Really dug this, and it’s a situation where a good logical bit of storytelling enhanced an already great match. This is for Austin’s TV title, and it’s no DQ with Paul Heyman held in a cage over the ring for good measure. Straight away, when I noticed Heyman taking his phone into the cage, alarm bells started ringing in my head. “That’s the match ending right there then” I thought “Heyman throws the phone to Austin, who clonks Steamboat with it for the win”. It was nice to be proved wrong. Loved Heyman spending the national anthem giving Austin last minute tips. Austin starts off by going for Steamboat’s injured ribs, the bandages giving him a big target to aim for. Austin continues his attack, hitting some backbreakers and then locking in an abdominal stretch, clawing away at Steamboat’s midsection. I liked that, even though Steamboat had to work from beneath, he didn’t spend the whole match on defence, still getting in his fair share of offence, but with the injury giving Austin a focal point to cut Steamboat off. The rib injury doesn’t mean Steamboat can’t do anything, it just means he’s a bit slower each time. The end sees the stipulations used in a clever way, as Steamboat skins the cat, only for Austin to smash him back out with an elbow to the face, not drawing a DQ thanks to the rules. Steamboat crawls under the ring and goes to the top ropes on the opposite side. Without Heyman there to warn him, Austin turns around into a top rope crossbody to give Steamboat the win and the title. Great opener.

Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton vs Greg Valentine & Dick Slater

Interestingly, this is worked as heel vs heel, with both teams cheating and fighting dirty. Both team try two-on-one attacks early, and I loved Anderson and Eaton getting Valentine in their corner, simultaneously hammering him with punches to the face from inside the ring and punches to the back of the head from the apron. As neither team are sympathetic, they don’t bother with prolonged heat sections, so we get nice back and forth action. Eaton nails Slater with a beautiful right hand on the floor. Everything breaks down, and Valentine gets accidentally hit by manager Larry Zbyszko with a cane, allowing Eaton to hit a second rope Alabama Jam for the win.

Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack

This is for Simmons’ world title. Fun brawl here, loved Cactus using some early misdirection on a rope run to hit Simmons with a big flying headbutt. Simmons looks great on offence, him hammering down Cactus in the corner looked really good, a full energy beatdown. Jack wears down Simmons with clotheslines, then successfully stops Simmons when he tries to make comebacks. There’s an odd spot when Cactus seemingly tries to sunset flip Simmons, and Simmons hits a quasi-Northern Lights suplex for two. Jack hits a powerslam on the floor, followed by the diving elbow, but Simmons quickly rebounds with a spinebuster and a powerslam for the win. Bit of a no-sell by Simmons at the end there.

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Butch Reed & The Barbarian

Reed is a mystery partner for Barb here. Dustin takes an insane corner bump early, flying into the post so hard that he lands 2-3 metres away from the ring. The heels wear down Dustin nicely, headbutts to the torso, backbreakers  and some big meaty Barbarian elbows. Rhodes builds nicely to the hot tag, getting a few little hope spots in the run up to tagging Windham in. Windham runs through the heels with a huge lariat and superplex on Barbarian, but he gets distracted by Reed, and Barbarian boots him in the face for the win. Could have gone a bit longer as the heat on Rhodes was slightly truncated, but I enjoyed this.

Vader, Rick Rude, Super Invader & Jake Roberts vs Sting, Nikita Koloff & the Steiner Brothers

This is an elimination match, and it’s a decent main event. The Vader/Rick Steiner face off is surprisingly fun, a battle of the big lads throwing bombs. Steiner hitting an unlikely belly-to-belly suplex was really neat. The problem is that the match may well be a bit too short, with a heat section on Scott being pretty short due to having to fit in all the eliminations. Nikita is the first to go, rolled up by Jake after colliding with Rude, then Invader quickly follows after a Sting bulldog. The Steiners continue to look great against Vader, with Rick hitting a German suplex on Vader. However, the Steiners end up looking like idiots on both their eliminations. First Scott comes off the top with an attempt at a top rope clothesline, but Rick obviously can’t hold Vader on his shoulders, so it looks crap and Scott gets DQ’d for breaking the top rope rule. Rick ends up on the floor, and eats a Rude Awakening, causing him to get counted out, and leaving Sting 3-on-1. Sting looks great as the fired up babyface, not backing down and cowering away, but instead is all fight, taking it to the heels. The end though, it’s pretty off. Sting suplexes Rude, but Vader hits a top rope splash, killing both Sting and Rude, getting himself DQ’d. Rude is as dead as Sting, so Jake drags him to the corner, tags in and hits the DDT on Sting for the final fall. Vader getting himself DQ’d and killing his partner in the same move made him look a bit dumb, but the overall match was fun.

WCW Beach Blast 1992

So, it turns out that I'm incapable of reading dates properly (blame the American date style on the WWE Network), and this event actually occurred before the Clash that I reviewed last year. (albeit only by 2 days). If you read that, just pretend you read this first...

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.

WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII

Way back when I started this blog, it was designed to re-ignite my love of the pro-wrestling, to rediscover why I love it and to start watching new stuff. On this level, it's been a success. Though not updated very often, I've been watching and discovering more wrestling than ever. I've started going to live shows, I'm finally getting into things like lucha and puroresu that I'd only dabbled in before and I'm more open-minded about the world of wrestling than I was before.

Of course, the release of the WWE Network in the UK has given me access to a whole history of shows, and this gave me the idea to embark upon a little project. I'm going to rewatch the era of pro-wrestling that started my obsession with the sport, 1992 WCW. Saturday afternoons were spent, without fail, in front of the TV watching Worldwide on ITV, and I thought it would help continue my wrestling/writing journey to watch it again. I'll still be reviewing other stuff as well, but expect a lot of Dangerous Alliance-era WCW over the coming months...

Vader & Mr Hughes vs the Steiner Brothers

This was a whole heap of fun, and following a token bit of Scott Steiner using his mat skills to down Mr Hughes, a big man power-move spot fest. Scotty hits a huge overhead belly-to-belly on Hughes to get the ball rolling, and from that point on its just big hitting move after big hitting move. Rick hitting his own overhead belly-to-belly on Vader was great, as was Vader catching Rick on a dive from the ring and ramming him into the ring post. We don’t really get a face-in-peril section, as Rick soon hits a belly-to-belly on Vader off the top rope. There is a little bit of heat on Scotty until Hughes misses an avalanche and gets planted with a big backdrop. A melee ensues, with Vader accidently clotheslining his partner and Rick hitting the top rope bulldog on Hughes for the win.

Brian Pillman & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs Tracy Smothers & the Taylor Made Man

Another tag sprint here, albeit with less emphasis on power moves. This is pretty fast paced to start, until Taylor hits a backbreaker on Pillman to stop him in his tracks. All four end up in the ring, with Pillman and Bagwell dropkicking the heels out and nailing them with pescados. Bagwell is still talked up as a rookie, and runs into a Smothers superkick following distraction from Taylor. The heat on Bagwell is brief, and in fact Pillman spends more time in peril, getting double teamed as Bagwell’s inexperience distracts the referee. Pillman takes some big bumps, getting suplex straight out of the ring and getting rammed off the apron into the railings. A hot tag to Bagwell follows almost straight away though, and the end is pretty cool. Bagwell hits a sunset flip on Smothers, but Taylor grabs his partner to stop him going over. Pillman dropkicks Taylor, which sends Smothers over for the three. Fun match. 

Richard Morton vs Johnny B Badd

The announcers play up Badd’s size advantage, so I appreciated Morton using a slightly vicious edge to take control, throwing Badd from the ring and ramming him into the ringpost. Badd is occasionally able to come back by overpowering Morton, so Morton makes his comebacks by cutting Badd off with quick blows to the midsection. The end comes rather abruptly, Badd rolling through a crossbody to win.

Diamond Dallas Page vs PN News

Very quick match. We start with DDP trying (and failing) to slam News, which seems like a terrible plan. News uses his weight well here, hitting two barrel rolls onto Page. A missed elbow gives DDP an opening, but he’s not learnt from his earlier mistake, trying another slam. This times, he gets News up, but collapses under the weight, and News wins with a belly-to-belly and a top rope splash.

Cactus Jack vs Van Hammer

This was really fun, and I’m impressed at how good the much-maligned Hammer looked. In many ways, a match like this played to his strengths, as he only needed to hit a few good looking moves, and the rest of the gaps were filled in my Cactus. Hammer was pretty agile, getting good height on a legdrop and leaping over the top rope from the ramp to hit a clothesline. They tumble outside, and Jack establishes the gimmick early with a quick pinfall attempt. Cactus hits a sunset flip to the floor, typically taking almost all the impact himself. He also lands with a horrible sounding thud when Hammer hiptosses him off the ramp. They brawl to the back and the cameras find them outside near a bullpen, which they end up fighting in. A rather large cowboy is revealed to be Abdullah The Butcher, but his attempt to hit Jack with a shovel fails and he nails Hammer instead, giving Cactus the win. Really fun, energised brawl, probably the best Hammer ever looked.
 

Michael PS Hayes & Jimmy Garvin vs Brad Armstrong & Big Josh

This was pretty brief, but man it felt like the Freebirds had their working boots on here. This set off at a fair pace, and even an awkward looking Garvin crossbody felt it like kinda fit. Josh and Armstrong were a decent combo of power and speed, and I’d have liked to have seen more of them as a team without Josh’s lumberjack gimmick. That said, I thought the log roll he did on both Freebirds was a fun spot. Garvin stops Armstrong hitting a suplex and the Birds hit a double DDT behind the refs back for the victory.

Vinnie Vegas vs Thomas Rich

Squash match. Vegas cheapshots Rich to start and hits the snake eyes for the win.

Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Eaton vs Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons

Zbyszko broke Windham’s hand back in November, and Windham is out for revenge. He’s so fired up that he no-sells an Eaton superplex before the faces lock in stereo figure fours. Simmons and Dustin are both equally as fired up, with Simmons looking great clearing the ring and Rhodes hitting a flying clothesline over the top rope to the ramp. Rhodes soon ends up as face-in-peril (albeit briefly), and a referee distraction allows Paul E Dangerously to hit him with his phone. Arn gets two after hitting Dustin with the spinebuster, and again following a nice DDT. The heat on Dustin is pretty brief, and Arn only hits boot trying an ax handle from the top. A melee ensues, during which Windham catches Eaton coming off the top rope with a big punch from his cast-clad hand, and gets the win for the face team. Fun, but felt a bit too rushed. You could easily add another ten minutes to this and have a classic.

Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs Steve Austin & Rick Rude

The decision to have a lot of the upper-card revolve around the Dangerous Alliance really helped with the match quality in this time period for WCW. I love Steamboat trying a few quick roll-ups early on to look for the quick victory. Rude wants a piece of Sting, so slaps him to lure him into the ring. Sting has a gameplan here to work over Rude’s back, and him and Steamboat trade Camel Clutches on Rude, taking a page from the Alliance playbook by pretending to tag behind the referee’s back. Commentator Jesse Ventura is livid at this. The Alliance briefly take over on Sting after a low blow by Rude, but he swiftly makes the tag to Steamboat, who is in like a house on fire. Things break down as Rude nails Steamboat whilst he pins Austin following a victory roll, but the faces are able to pick up the win, Sting nailing a crossbody from the top as Austin holds Steamboat, with both men controversially covering the future Stone Cold for the three. Another match that was too short, but was fun.

The Best of Mikey Whipwreck

Digging through some old tapes, I found this Mikey compilation I bought about 10 years ago. For the most part, it's his best known matches from ECW, rather than his best matches, but there are a few gems here...

Mikey Whipwreck vs the Pitbull
An ECW TV title match, with Gary Wolfe defending against the highly mismatched Mikey. The Pitbull basically destroys Mikey, sending him crashing to the mat with a standing enzuigiri. Mikey flies over the top rope from a clothesline before getting catapulted over a safety rail. Back in, Whipwreck takes a belly to belly and a powerbomb before the Tazmaniac turns up on the apron to distract Pitbull. Taz takes a kick to the head, but avoids a second one, causing the Pitbull to crotch himself. Mikey rolls on top of the Pitbull and, even though Wolfe raises his shoulder on two, gets the win and the TV title. Basic squash, but a fun angle at the end.

Mikey Whipwreck & Cactus Jack vs the Public Enemy
Terry Funk missed his flight, so Cactus picks a reluctant Mikey to be his partner. Whipwreck tags out right away, and runs off to the back. This leaves Jack on his own to get beaten up, but Whipwreck actually comes back with a small piece of plywood which he uses to clear the ring. Mikey’s first bit of offence is being used by Cactus as a weapon, getting whipped into Rock, before being used as a battering ram to send the Public Enemy to the floor. Mikey actually dominates Grunge in the ring, but is soon getting pummelled again following a DDT onto a steel chair. Whipwreck is face in peril and takes a trademark battering, including a huge powerbomb by Rock and a piledriver from Grunge, but Whipwreck manages to keep kicking out. Mikey is unconscious, so Jack brawls with TPE in the crowd whilst Mikey starts to recover. Back in the ring, Rock moonsaults Jack through a table before going back to Mikey. TPE go for the Drive By, but Jack manages to crotch Rock on the top rope allowing Mikey to cover for the three. Another match that is focused on the angle, but the action was plenty of fun.

Mikey Whipwreck vs the Sandman
This is for the ECW title, and Steve Austin joins us before the match to cut a blistering promo to essentially declare himself the next ECW champ. The big problem with this match is that neither guy really sells much, despite the fact they keep hammering each other with ladders. Indeed, Mikey takes a real beating here, including a Fameasser onto the ladder, but still keeps on getting up. At one point, Sandman props a ladder up on the railings and barrels out with a tope to seesaw the ladder into Mikey’s face, which should have killed Mikey off for good. Instead, Sandman misses a slingshot elbow and Mikey hits a top rope splash onto the Sandman, and a ladder, for the title. Too spotty to be any real good.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Rey Mysterio Jr
Sadly, this is all clipped, making it more of a highlight reel. We do get to see an insane Mysterio tope before it cuts to Mikey winning with La Majistral.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Steve Austin
This was scheduled to be the Sandman taking on Mikey, but Austin beat up Sandman en route to the ring and took his place. Austin is clearly dominant here and, unlike the Sandman match, this provides the match with some structure. Some fans chant “Hogan”, so Austin hits a big boot and legdrop for two in a fun spot. Mikey takes some huge bumps, including a monster over the top rope to the floor. The Stungun gets two for Austin before Mikey wins with a sunset flip. Decent enough.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Taz
This is from Raw in 97, and is a total Taz squash. Mid-match, Sabu dives from the Raw sign onto Taz’s entourage, so Taz responds by throwing Whipwreck over the top rope onto Sabu. Tazmission earns an easy win, but this is a fun curio.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Kidman
Mikey’s WCW debut, and it’s a PPV title match. It was all downhill from here. That said, I liked this more than any previous match on the tape. Mikey plays heel here and, being bigger than Kidman, bullies the smaller guy, which provides a nice change of pace. Mikey’s different attitude allows him to show some nasty looking offense, including wheelbarrowing Kidman face first onto a safety rail. Mikey even gets to reverse a headscissors attempt and powerbomb Kidman! Kidman does get to pop the crowd with a few high spots, including a nice crossbody to the floor, but Whipwreck pops up on a SSP attempt, sending Kidman crashing to the outside. Whipwreck continues to dominate, with a swank top rope clothesline and a monstrous top rope belly to back suplex both getting two counts, before Kidman reverses a powerbomb and hits the SSP for the win. Kidman gave loads to Mikey here, and let the scruffy looking guy most of the fans didn’t know look like a killer. Mikey wasn’t as flash as the other WCW cruiserweights of the time, but his offence looked like it really hurt and he could’ve had a great run as a cruiserweight dick bully. Sadly, he’d be jobbing to Scotty Riggs by the next PPV.

Mikey Whipwreck vs 2 Cold Scorpio
Or 2 GOLD Scorpio as he’s referred to here, putting both the TV title and the tag titles on the line. This starts pretty evenly, but once 2 Cold takes control he starts to decimate Mikey. After getting one or two hope spots, including a flying headscissors and a pescado, Whipwreck misses a crossbody and the Scorpio onslaught is on. Scorpio blitzes Mikey, hitting a tombstone, a moonsault, a powerbomb and a moonsault legdrop, but picking Mikey up on two to be a dick. The ref gets bumped following some brief Mikey offence, but Scorpio is soon well in control with a superkick and another powerbomb. However, his cockiness comes back to haunt him as Cactus Jack takes advantage of the ref bump and knocks 2 Cold off the top rope before hitting the double-arm DDT to allow Mikey to grab the gold. More angle than good match, though cocky Scorpio was a lot of fun to watch.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Sabu
Sabu is wearing a neckbrace. Wonder how much this will affect him. In the early stages, he actually acts like it is, grounding Mikey and positioning his body to stop him reaching the ropes. This is sadly the one time he acts like his neck hurts, as his next move is to hit a top rope rana on Mikey. From this point on, Sabu says “fuck it” and forgets that he’s got a neck injury, using a chair to dive on Whipwreck on the outside. To his credit, Mikey doesn’t forget Sabu has a neck injury, hitting him with a DDT, an enzuigiri and then ripping the neckbrace off before elbow dropping Sabu through a table on the outside. Mikey goes for a countout win, but Sabu doesn’t even hint at building tension, getting in on a 4 count. Sabu gives up all pretence of selling, hitting Mikey with continued highspots, before hitting him with a DDT through a table on the floor. Back in, this gets the win. Mikey tried, but Sabu was awful here.

Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri vs Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger vs Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn
This is a triple threat elimination match. I liked the opening section which saw Lynn and Tajiri in a blistering sequence whilst Simon just knelt on the mat open mouthed. It soon breaks down into a brawl and the camera man follows Tajiri and Dreamer through the crowd. Being handheld, this becomes impossible to follow. After what feels like forever, the action returns to the ring, where all four faces dropkick chairs into Simon and Swinger’s faces. Dreamer hits Mikey with the DDT, but CW Anderson pulls him out of the ring. This distraction allows Simon and Swinger to eliminate Dreamer with the Problem Solver. They then try a Doomsday Device on Tajiri, but he spits green mist in Diamonds face, leaving him prone on the top rope for a Whippersnapper, which gets the win. Too messy to be any fun.

Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri vs the FBI
This is essentially a squash for the vast majority of the match. That said, a Guido/Tajiri sequence at the start of the match is terrific. The chemistry between Whipwreck and Tajiri is incredible here, as the decimate Guido and Mamaluke with double teams. I also dug the use of a table here, using it to slide chairs to the outside of the ring into Big Sal to stop him interfering. Whipwreck hits a vile looking one-man conchairto on Guido busting him open. The FBI get granted a small heat section until Mikey reverses a Mamaluke flying headscissors into a stungun to make the hot tag to Tajiri. Tajiri is so fucking good, everything he does is here is gold. Mikey hits a Whippersnapper through a table on the outside (which makes no sense as he goes through the table first), but inside Guido takes advantage of Big Sal distracting Tajiri to hit a Tomikaze onto a chair for the win. Plenty of fun.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Little Guido
This is from Border City Wrestling, and is billed as Mikey’s last match, which would last two years. They play a lot of this for comedy, with Guido stooging for Mikey’s offence, including getting hit with comedy weapons like a plastic sword and a straw doll. Guido sells a custard pie to the face as death. The match is pretty enjoyable given the context, though Mikey is noticeably not as smooth as Guido in the ring. Mikey mists the ref by accident, meaning a Guido Tomikaze doesn’t get counted. A second effort gets a 3 count, but the ref then spots Whipwreck’s foot under the rope. A top rope Whippersnapper through a table (still makes no sense) gets the win for Mikey.

IWA Japan King Of The Deathmatch 1995

Tiger Jeet Singh vs Mr Gannosuke
Odd to see how thin Gannosuke was before he bulked up in later years. This is also the most entertaining thing about this match, which is otherwise appalling. This is supposed to be a chain match, but Singh assaults Gannosuke with his sword before the match and embarks upon one of those dull brawls where Singh walks Gannosuke around and throws him into things and hitting him with the occasional chair. This drags on for minutes before Singh decides to choke Gannosuke with the chain. He lets go, then chokes Gannosuke on a barbed wire board for the submission win. Gannosuke’s post-match vomit is the only entertaining thing here.

Terry Funk vs Leatherface
I quite like the fact we get a pre-match promo from Leatherface, the psychotic killer from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…being very polite and respectful towards Funk. It’s another chain match and the match is far better than the opener, but the way it’s laid out makes no sense. Within a minute of the bell ringing, Leatherface has hit a moonsault on Funk. 30 seconds later, he throws Funk from the ring onto a barbed wire board and, boom, the big spot of the match is gone. This is something to build towards, and it’s done in less than 90 seconds. That said, the rest of the match is still more enjoyable than the Jeet Singh debacle. There are some odd moments (Leatherface attacks Funk with a chainsaw, drawing no blood), but there is still fun to be had. Leatherface takes a nasty bump onto a table as Funk prevents a top rope splash by simply pulling him to the floor by the chain and both men climbing a chainlink fence to fight at the top is odd, but enjoyable. Back inside, Funk wraps his left hand with the chain and punches Leatherface out for the 3 count.

Cactus Jack vs Terry Gordy
The first match thus far that actually tries to build around the gimmick, in this case a big tray full of tacks in the middle of the ring. We actually get Gordy teasing putting Jack in the tacks, first with a hiptoss from the corner that narrowly misses, then with a bulldog attempt that Jack blocks. Jack blocks several more attempts to throw him in the tacks, but isn’t able to avoid getting thrown from the top rope to the floor in a nasty bump. Outside the ring, Gordy piledrives Jack through a table, then inside finally gets Jack onto the tacks, first stamping his face into the tray, then throwing him down with a nasty looking powerbomb. A 2nd on the mat gets a two. Jack rebounds by throwing a handful of tacks into Gordy’s face and hitting the double-arm DDT onto the tacks for the win.

Shoji Nakamaki vs Hiroshi Ono
Essentially, both are pretty ordinary looking guys in t-shirt and jeans. They seem a bit less ordinary moments later when they both no-sell being hit with a barbed wire bat. Nakamaki whacks Ono headfirst on a table and then proceeds to walk him around the stadium for a bit until they reach another ring. Ono rebounds with a few wrestling moves, nailing a side Russian legsweep and a shit uranage. A top rope clothesline gets two. Nakamaki ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. He then casually walks Ono to another ring, before the two fight over the tray of tacks. Nakamaki tries a bulldog, but Ono blocks and hits to belly-to-back suplexes onto the tacks, leaving a circle of tacks sticking out of Nakamaki’s head. Ono tries a third, but Nakamaki lands on top of him then powerbombs him onto the tacks for a two. What we would now call a Skull Crushing Finale onto the tacks earns Nakamaki the win. Oddly entertaining.


Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara
This is for Ichihara’s WWA Light Heavyweight title. It’s also pretty heavily clipped, as I think the full match goes 13 minutes, whilst it barely goes 3 here. Not that I’m complaining, as this is pretty pedestrian. Not bad, just a touch bland, though Ichihara looks pretty smooth, hitting a nice moonsault press and dropping Okano on his head with a belly-to-back suplex. Okano doesn’t get much offence, making it even more surprising when he rolls through a rana for the win.

The Iceman vs. Kamikaze
You know when you see a local indy show, and a chubby guy is wearing a mask in an attempt to convince you he’s a highflier? Well that’s Iceman here, whose paunch is noticeable through his bodysuit, In fact, with his long hair sticking out, he looks like John Zandig filming a remake of the video for “I Found Out” by the Pigeon Detectives. He’s not very good either, whiffing an armdrag over the top early doors and hitting a clumsy pescado. This is another clipped match, but we get to see some decent offence from Kamikaze, who hits a nice tope. Iceman misses an appalling looking knee drop from the top, but bumbles his way into a reverse pin to win.

Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Round two of the tournament, and guess who does the most bumping? This makes the first Jeet Singh match look like Savage/Steamboat in comparison. The entire first 5 or so minutes consists of Singh hitting Funk with his sword outside the ring, pausing for 5 seconds, then doing it again. They finally get back into the ring, only for Singh to knock Funk off the apron into...something, as the crack camera team entirely miss the bump. Another angle eventually shows Funk lying in a tray of glass, getting hit by Singh. Finally, Funk hits a head butt for his first bit of offence and goes for the spinning toehold, only to meet Cactus Jack interference. Jack goes to hit Funk with Singh’s sword, only for Funk to duck, causing Singh to take the blow and get pinned for 3. Utter shite.

Cactus Jack vs. Shoji Nakamaki
This is the other end of the bumping scale. In his first book, Foley points out that Nakamaki was known as the “Danger Man” since, although he couldn’t wrestle, he was willing to take a lot of abuse. The result is that we get two guys trying to out bump each other. It’s close, but I’d say Nakamaki takes the worst of it, taking the nastiest bump when Jack covers his prone body with a bed of nails, then hits an elbow from the ring apron to drive the nails into the Danger Man. Jack does a similar move elsewhere in the match, hanging Nakamaki on the second rope and placing a bed of barbed wire onto his opponent, before crashing into him with a flying knee. Jack takes a fair bit of abuse too and, whilst the match is frequently sloppy (Nakamaki can’t bump very well, so sandbags Jack on occasion), it is at least enjoyable. Jack wins with the double-arm DDT onto the barbed wire.

The Headhunters vs. El Texano & Silver King
King and Texano are defending the IWA tag titles here. The Mexican team fare pretty badly early doors, getting overpowered by the huge Headhunters. The Headhunters are pretty fun to watch as big, fat highfliers, crushing El Texano with a big splash/leg drop combo. Texano and King try to use their speed to take over, both hitting topes on one Hunter, only for the other to follow with the biggest tope of them all. There is a section of control by Texano and King, but this is really all about the size and power of the Headhunters, who pick up the win and the titles with a top rope power bomb.

Dan Severn vs. Tarzan Goto
This is for Severn’s NWA title. The main theme running through this match is that both guys have a preferred environment to fight in and, if they get their opponent there, they’ll win. Hence Goto slaps Severn and goes to the outside, trying to lure Severn to brawl outside, only for Severn to sit on the ring ropes and gesture for Goto to get in the ring for a beating. Goto actually does a decent job at getting Severn onto the mat, but Severn soon reverses and takes control. They roll outside, where Goto smashes a bottle to get a weapon, which Severn blocks with a chair. They continue to brawl, decimating rows of chairs, and Goto gets the upper hand, hurling chair after chair onto a prone Severn. Goto heads back into the ring and we get the awesome site of Severn emerging from a pile of chairs, eyes full of fury and hate, ready to fuck Goto up. Goto does manages to subdue him in the ring by using a chair, but Severn takes control and locks in a rear naked choke for the tapout win. Good match.

Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
The tournament final is a Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards & Exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match, which essentially means the ring will blow up in ten minutes. Being the best two workers in the tournament, this is pretty darn good. I especially loved the way that Funk dragged a board into the middle of the ring at the start, essentially daring Jack to come at him. They also wisely build to the board explosions, with Funk teetering over a board for ages before finally getting knocked onto it for a big pop. I also like the way that, even though the explosives on a board have been used up, they both know that whacking their opponent with a board of barbed wire looks fucking painful, with Jack covering Funk with a board and dropping an elbow being particularly painful-looking. Tiger Jeet Singh makes an unwelcome return to save Jack from a spinning toehold. Jack hits the double-arm DDT for two and hits another as the ring announcer starts a ten second countdown for the explosion. Funk is left in the ring and....some fireworks go off at the edge of the ring, to a muted response from the crowd. Funk looks rightly baffled and so him and Jack go to war for the next 3 minutes, as Cactus brings in a ladder and nails an elbow off it for two. Funk manages to topple the ladder as Jack climbs for a second time, him directly onto the barbed wire ropes. This is Funk’s last bit of energy gone though, and Jack crawls over to him for a slightly anticlimactic three count.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1991: The Chamber Of Horrors

This is the UK VHS release of the event, so a few matches a cut out. We know this because a backstage segment includes Bobby Eaton talking about just having won his match, a match we never get to see. That said, we do still have a few solid matches on the tape. To ringside, with JR and Tony Schiavone...

Sting, El Gigante & the Steiner Brothers vs Big Van Vader, Cactus Jack, Abdullah the Butcher & the Diamond Studd
Yes, this is the infamous Chamber of Horrors, but I went into this with high hopes: with the exception of Gigante, everyone involved should be able to make a huge weapon-filled brawl in a giant cage into an awesome spectacle. The opening few minutes, with guys brawling in and out of the cage confirmed my suspicions. This is going to be great! However, within minutes they’re hampered massively by the rules, which state that you need to strap one of your opponents into a huge electric chair and electrocute them to win. This wouldn’t be a problem if the chair (which gets lowered down halfway in) didn’t take up most of the ring. Straight away Cactus has to pretty much no-sell a top-rope Steiners DDT to avoid getting crushed by the descending chair. From then on, the match turns pretty dreadful, as no-one has any room to do anything except wander round hitting people. It’s utter nonsense as guys start climbing up the cage for no reason (you can’t escape the cage to win), masked men appear from inside caskets only to get handcuffed to the cage, while the action gets documented on the “Refer-eye” camera on Nick Patrick’s head (which is shaky and unwatchable). The ending is especially horrible. Rick Steiner has spent about 5 minutes hanging around near the chair, probably just hoping to be put in it to end the match early, when Abdullah knocks him into the chair. Cactus goes to the switch to end the match, then has to hang around like a moron while Rick belly-to-bellys Abdullah into the chair and takes his time fastening Abby in before Jack finally flicks the switch to accidentally fry the Butcher. Just appalling.

Johnny B Badd vs Jimmy Garvin
Badd is supposed to be the face here, but the fans are pretty solidly behind Garvin (led by an injured Michael Hayes as cheerleader). Badd takes a huge bump over the top rope as the more experienced Garvin takes over, which is the story JR and Tony put over on commentary. Badd starts to heel it up with some nasty looking punches to Garvin’s midsection, before choking Garvin with Teddy Long’s white towel. A botched looking sunset flip off the top earns two for Badd, before a missed corner charge sends him over the top for his second huge bump of the match. The fans are chanting pretty strongly for Garvin’s DDT, which he hits to a big pop (and another beautiful Badd bump). However, Long distracts the ref long enough for Badd to recover and hit Garvin with the Kiss That Don’t Miss for the win (with Long pushing Garvin’s foot of the rope for good measure). Perfectly decent match.

Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin
This is for the TV title. Both guys are relatively young here, which does become apparent in places. They kick off with Dustin getting a nice looking leglock reversal which leads to a decent chain wrestling period to open. The story behind the match seems to be how evenly matched the two are. Dustin maybe holds onto the headlock a little too long, which kinda telegraphs the finish. Dustin misses a crossbody and just bounces out of the ring. Rhodes is bleeding, and Austin zeroes in on this straight away, punching Rhodes around the cut and cranking a headlock to take advantage of the bloodloss. As time starts to run out, Dustin regains control and starts to take a few more risks. A lariat gets two, before Rhodes rams Austin into the ringpost, busting Austin open. Time ticks further towards the time limit and Dustin gets more frantic. Bionic Elbow gets two and Dustin tries a top rope lariat, but this doesn’t leave enough time for the pinfall. Neither guy was as good as they would later get, but, headlock spot aside, this didn’t drag and created some real drama in the closing moments. That said, the ending was entirely predictable, but works well as a mean to continue the feud.

Tom Zenk vs the WCW Halloween Phantom
Not one of the Zenk classics. Phantom attacks from the bell, nailing Zenk with a vicious clothesline and a nasty looking gutbuster. Zenk tries a dropkick, but Phantom brushes it off and nails a hangman neckbreaker (called a Rude Awakening by a rather coy Schiavone on commentary) for the win. This would lead to a big angle later.

The Patriots vs the Enforcers
This is for the tag-team titles. For a match which you know will be a carryjob, Firebreaker Chip keeps up with Larry Z pretty well in the first minute or so. Arn tries his luck, and rolls out of the ring protesting that Chip is too oily. This prompts a discussion between JR and Schiavone about whether or not the ref should make Chip towel down. I really like the fact that they freely explain that the Patriots are underdogs due to their inexperience, while the Enforcers start to take over on Todd Champion. This is especially proven when Larry runs from Champion, who follows him around the ring and misses a quick tag to Arn who attacks him from behind. The veterans continue to use their wits to slow down the larger man, getting another blind tag to stop a Champion comeback. The Patriots looks ok, but really the Enforcers are wrestling around them. Chip again looks decent when he gets the hot tag, but he bumps into Larry and turns into an Arn spinebuster for the three count.

I don’t generally cover angles on the blog, but this next one is too good to miss. Eric Bischoff interviews Paul E Dangerously, who is fuming that WCW sacked him from commentary for being to controversial. However, Paul E still has his managers’ license, so he is going to send his new protégé after the franchise of WCW, Sting, in an attempt to bring WCW down. The WCW Halloween Phantom comes down to the ring and is unmasked as Rick Rude, making his WCW debut, who announces he is going to help destroy WCW. One Hell of an angle, an angry Paul E is always gold.

Lex Luger vs Ron Simmons
This is 2/3 falls for the WCW title and, to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Both have ringside help, Simmons is joined by Dusty Rhodes whilst Luger has Harley Race. The first fall is pretty swift, with Simmons dominating, catching Luger with a powerslam and a typically sweet spinebuster to take the first fall. Luger sells the shit out of it too, not even getting back to his feet by the end of the 60 second rest period. The second fall continues with Ron on offence, whilst JR and Tony put over how Lex hasn’t managed to get started yet. Ron continues with high impact offence on Luger’s back, however, Simmons gets a little overenthusiastic, and Luger is able to sucker him in, sending him hard to the outside. Luger starts working over Simmons in a nicely evil way, with bootscrapes to the eyes and vicious elbows. Ron starts to fire back, but Lex charges at him while Simmons is near the ropes. Luger goes over the top, but Race holds Simmons from outside the ring to stop him going over as well, meaning Lex wins the fall by DQ. The commentary is really choice in this match too, as both JR and Tony do a great job of explaining how Race has helped his man here, but throughout they put over how well Simmons is doing, pointing out his gameplan and really doing a great job of enhancing the match. Simmons is still fresher than Lex and starts the third fall like a house of fire, getting a near two count from a diving shoulderblock. They go outside and Simmons stupidly tries a shoulderblock on Lex as he stands near the ringpost. Of course, Ron goes straight into the post, leaving him easy pickings for Lex, who rolls him in and hits the Attitude Adjustment piledriver for the win. Really fun match, Lex’s selling here was awesome and really put Simmons over as a real threat. The booking helped too, letting the audience know Simmons is a real contender (winning the first fall), but he got caught out by one simple mistake. Not a match I was looking forward to, but one which has pleasantly surprised me.

Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Z-Man & Brian Pillman vs Cactus Jack & Abdullah The Butcher

So, I was watching WWE Vintage Collection, when all of a sudden up comes a Z-Man match. Seeing as how I've got 10 minutes to kill, and we've not had a Zenk update for a while, I thought it'd make sense to give it some attention. It's a simple enough story for a tag match: the faces are quick and full of energy, whilst the heels are brawlers who just want to hurt people. Z-Man fights out of the opposition corner early and takes over on Cactus with some nice high flying offence. He does get caught in an Abby nerve hold, which he then breaks out of before hitting a nice enzuigiri. Pillman is in and full of gusto, which is why I always like face teams who are smaller and more explosive, where the fans' excitement at the hot tag is matched by the fire of the incoming face. It's certainly the case here, with Pillman ripping into Abby, including hitting the Butcher with an impressive slam. Pillman slips on a springboard attempt and immediately starts selling knee, which was either planned or some very quick improvisation from him. Pillman bumps like a pinball for Abby, which makes some average offence look deadly. Z-Man comes back in and hits a nice pair of superkicks on the Butcher, which Abby sells with an ace glazed expression. Zenk locks on a sleeper, but the referee is distracted by Pillman brawling with Jack, which allows Cactus to hit Z-Man with the Butcher's staff for the win. Great formula tag match, it allowed both teams to look good and highlight their strengths.