WWF Raw 23/05/1994

Owen Hart vs Doink the Clown

This is a King of the Ring qualifying match. Really great Owen performance here. He’s suitably aggressive at the start, jumping Doink at the bell, hitting big upper cuts, and cheating with chokes and eyepokes. Doink is pretty generic by comparison, and relies on Dink outside the ring to give his performance some colour. Dink is a pretty irritating little twat, it has to be said. Honestly, the clowns are so unlikable, it makes it hard to feel bad for Doink when Owen goes after his leg, wrapping it around the ringpost. Owen also hits a perfect belly-to-belly suplex. Doink makes a brief comeback that gets stopped by Jeff Jarrett kidnapping Dink. This distraction lets Owen kip up and roll up Doink to win. Love that Owen kipped up to do the roll up, so wonderfully cocky, and I love that Jarrett let Dink go as soon as Doink lost – can’t blame him for not wanting to be stuck with the shitty little clown.

Duke Droese vs Barry Horowitz

I’m sure this wasn’t the aim of this bout, but I left it thinking Horowitz had a great performance. He bumps around to make Droese look more powerful than he probably was, and his control section on the arm was really fun. Dug him wrapping the arm around the ropes, then giving the ropes a kick. For his part, Droese was fine, nice power moves, but he’d look a touch lost between moves. His spinebuster looked good, and his finishes it with an elbow that looked far worse than the Trash Compacter that he’d later use.

IRS vs Gary Sabaugh

This is really dull. Sabaugh is the former Italian Stallion, but this is a one-sided squash for IRS, and he’s a terrible squash worker. His offence is really basic, and whilst there’s been many a good in-ring story told with not many moves, a squash needs something more interesting to carry the bout along. Not IRS hitting short back elbows, then going to the mat for extended hammerlocks and chinlocks. A brief Sabaugh comeback ends with a stungun, and IRS hits a basic clothesline to win. Waste of time.

Nikolai Volkoff vs Matt Hardy

I liked far more of this than I should have. Volkoff is old and pudgy, and he unleashes some of the weakest looking strikes in this match, but he also works a fun match section to start the bout, he avoids a springboard crossbody by casually walking out of the way, he hits  nice butterfly suplex and wins with a nice Boston crab. I dug this. 

ECW Hardcore TV #15 20/07/1993

The Super Destroyers vs The Suicide Blondes

The Blondes are represented here by Hotbody and Michaels, following Candido’s arm break the week before. This is title vs career, with the Blondes putting their ECW jobs on the line. This is definitely the best match these two teams have put on against each other, feels like they’ve finally found some chemistry. There is an early odd moment, where Michaels takes ages climbing to the top rope, which feels like it’s telegraphing a miss, only to connect with a top rope splash. Aside from that, this is good, with the Blondes working over the arm of one Destroyer. They stick to sensible tag formula, with the Blondes luring in the other Destroyer in order to assault his partner’s arm behind the ref’s back. The hot tag is a bit shit though, as the Destroyer decides to stop selling, punch Michaels once and tag out. Didn’t feel built to, and the lukewarm pop reflected that. The ref gets distracted by a brawl on the floor, and Candido sneaks in with a shot from his cast to give the Blondes the win.

Rockin’ Rebel vs Larry Winters

Took me three goes to watch this match, which literally put me to sleep twice. Not very exciting, Winters still comes across as clunky and his hiptoss looks woeful. Even with my self-confessed soft spot for the Rebel, I didn’t find anything here to recommend, and I was glad when Winters intercepted a cane that Tony Stetson threw to the Rebel, hitting Rebel with it for the win.

Jimmy Snuka vs Terry Funk

This is for the TV title. Actually feels like a big main event match, two big stars pairing off. This is Snuka’s best performance in ECW so far, and it feels like that’s due to Funk’s selling making him look a million dollars. Funk gives up a lot of the opening part of the match, taking big bumps and flailing wildly when taken out by Snuka. Credit due to Snuka though, as he looked more sure on his feet than in the past, and seemed to exert a bit more effort. Probably would feel a bit more motivated against Funk than facing Glen Osbourne again. There is one shaky spot, where they attempt a series of quick rolling cradles which are actually really slow and look bad. The end is a fun copout, as they exchange headbutts, before Funk goes headbutt crazy and nuts the ref. He also gives the two replacement refs a noggin-knocker with Snuka, before the Dangerous Alliance comes in and the match is called out. Wild brawl ensues, with the Alliance, the Suicide Blondes, the Russians, the Super Destroyers….basically the entire locker room, all coming out to brawl. Decent way to end the show.

WWE Roman Reigns - Iconic Matches

Well, this is a fun little disc, a low budget Roman Reigns compilation that the WWE have put out. It's not a huge collection, clocking in at just over an hour, but it's decent value at £5, and contains one cast iron classic match.

Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs Kane & Daniel Bryan

Texas Tornado match for the tag team titles held by Team Hell No. Really fun little sprint here, with the team prevailing being the one who ultimately were a more concise unit. Loved some of Roman’s strikes here, nice body shots on Kane. The Shield have a wise gameplan here, isolating the members of Hell No, and double teaming them in turn. Bryan reverses a top rope powerbomb from Reigns into a rana to turn the tide and we get a fun little chain of finishers. This ends with all four guys down, but with Rollins down outside the ring. This means Roman has to weather the storm 2 on 1, looking like a beast in doing so. The end sees Reigns spear Kane and get Bryan in a torture rack for to hit a top rope stomp, giving the Shield the titles in a clean win.

Roman Reigns vs Mark Henry

Only goes 5 minutes, but this was fun. Reigns is selling injured ribs from the previous Raw, so Henry zones in on them with big clubbing blows. Reigns’ selling is really on here, as he’s not even able to gain an advantage when he hits a flying clothesline due to the pain. However, Henry makes a mistake in trying to hit a Vader Bomb too soon, with Roman able to get to his feet and hit a massive Samoan Drop. Really impressive power move. Spear gives Reigns the win.

Battle Royal

This is a Money In The Bank Qualifier. Even before the match, you’d probably be safe in guessing Los Matadores or Titus O’Neill weren’t going to win. Not really much to this one, though one Matador, Sin Cara and Fandango all take big bumps on their eliminations. There’s not even a gimmicky Kofi Kingston attempt to escape elimination. Reigns gets a small mid-match flurry where he hits a few moves on different guys to pop the crowd, but it’s not terribly exciting. Bo Dallas eliminating RVD is quite the turn up for the books, and the crowd do admittedly go nuts for the final two face off between Reigns and Rusev. Both were heavily pushed at the time, so this was a real clash of the Titans. Reigns gets the win with the Superman Punch.

Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt

Another short TV match, but to be fair they wrestle it like two guys who know they’ve only got 5 minutes, so they’re not going to take it easy. Big, hard hitting blows from both to start, and I love the way Roman hit a range series of blows to different parts of the body to escape a headlock. Bray is at his best using his body as a weapon, hitting the big crossbody and massive senton in quick succession. Nice little sequence outside the ring sees Reigns duck a Luke Harper clothesline and nail Bray with the Drive-By in one fluid motion, but the Wyatts get involved for a DQ ending

Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan

From Fastlane 2015, with the winner facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Really great match, probably Reigns’ best singles match to this point. This felt really competitive throughout, with the early battle over a surfboard attempt setting the tone. Loved how early on Bryan realised Reigns was too powerful for him, so started to work on the leg of Reigns, and how Reigns in turn got out of a leglock by just bludgeoning Bryan in the face with forearms. Bryan manages to gain control with some nasty shots, kicking the turnbuckle viciously when Reigns has his head set on it, and then just pelting Reigns with a kick to the liver. The commentary plays up how Reigns is returning from a hernia operation, and Reigns certainly sells the blow as death. Lovely little bit where Bryan gets two from a top rope back suplex, Reigns instinctively rolls to his front to avoid being pinned, but gets put into the Yes Lock instead. Bryan hits two dives, but gets caught on a third with a sick overhead belly to belly on the floor, but Reigns misses a charge and just EATS the steel steps in a massive collision. He only narrowly beats the count out, really effective spot. Loved the spear into a small package for the nearfall, as well as Roman kicking out last second after Bryan hits Knee Plus. They again exchange some brutal blows, with Bryan hitting big kicks and Roman getting massive forearms, before Reigns hits the spear to win. Really excellent match.

WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 27/08/1988

Decided on a whim to watch one of the old house shows put on the WWE Network in the Old School section. Sadly, I was lied to, as the blurb promised me a Powers of Pain match that isn't show which I'd have been into. Still, the remaining matches were a fun hour of wrestling...

The Hart Foundation vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers

Fun little tag bout here. Loved the opening stages, with the Harts both getting to outsmart the Rougeaus when running the ropes – Anvil hitting a dropkick on a leapfrogging Raymond and Bret stopping short on a monkey flip to drop an elbow on Jacques’ head. The commentary suggests that the Harts are just off their face turn, so it’s no surprise they’re a little heelish with some of their actions in this, Bret casually whipping Raymond in the head with the tag rope in their corner. The Rougeaus take over by tripping Bret as he runs the ropes, and they run a masterclass in making things work to their advantage, continually luring Anvil into the ring as a referee distraction, allowing them to double team Bret. Bret gets a few hope spots and we get a false tag before the real hot tag, Bret managing to block a monkey flip that Jacques celebrates too early. We get a melee, in the midst of which Bret piledrives Raymond but takes a cheap elbow from the ropes by Jacque to give the Rougeaus a surprise win. Good formula tag team match here.

Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase

Savage starts this one like a man possessed, attacking DiBiase before the bell. It’s this mania that allows DiBiase a chance to take over, Savage running headlong into a boot in the corner. DiBiase tries to wear down Savage methodically, with chokes and drilled short punches to the head. Savage seems to build up little bursts of energy, allowing him to make supercharged comeback before a DiBiase blow stops him dead. When Savage is able to put a run together, however, he’s hard to contain, and I loved the whiplash clothesline he gives DiBiase, basically yanking him to the mat by the throat. DiBiase tries to calm the storm with the Million Dollar Dream, but when Savage makes the ropes, he relies on Virgil to remove a turnbuckle pad. This backfires, however, as another burst of Savage energy sees him block and ram Ted into the steel, only for Virgil to break up the pin for the DQ. Shitty end to a decent match.

Jake Roberts vs Rick Rude

I quite liked this, though it’s easy to see they’re both in house show mode. I actually really loved the early stages, with Jake grabbing onto a headlock for dear life, refusing to be whipped off the ropes, and even maintaining it when given a back suplex. Eventually, Rude breaks free and rams Roberts shoulder first into the ringpost outside the ring. This gives Rude the shoulder as focal point, and he works this over with a hammerlock and armbar on the mat. Rude holding onto the hammerlock for ages isn’t as interesting as Roberts maintaining the headlock, though I did like Rude managing to low blow himself by jumping crotch-first onto Jake’s shoulder. Liked Jake’s selling on the comeback, taking off his wrist tape to improve circulation on the bad arm, and wincing after hitting the short armed clothesline. Bizarrely, Jake somehow hits the DDT on top of the referee, putting him out. Rude hits the Rude Awakening, only to find the ref still out, and when he comes to Jake’s foot is on the rope. They head outside, and Rude manages to beat the count to win. Crappy ending to a fun match. Not a classic, but even taking it easy, this was still fun.

PCW/CZW/WXW/Beyond - Wrestling World Championships Night 1

So, this is the first night of a 3-show tournament that PCW booked to replace their annual Supershows of Honor after differences with RoH. This involves WXW, CZW and Beyond wrestling, and has openweight and cruiserweight brackets. The line up of wrestlers is really good too, so it promises to be a good show

Da Mack vs Zachary Wentz

This is a WXW vs CZW match. Pretty decent opener, without setting the bar too high for the following matches. I wasn’t a big fan of Da Mack’s goofy dancing kicks, but he had some other strikes that looked a lot better. The opening matwork was a bit perfunctory, but it allowed Wentz to speed things up a bit to get a bit of personality over. Loved Wentz’s through-the-ropes codebreaker and handspring leaping knee, but the end was a bit weak, with Wentz going to the top to hit a diving nothing right into an RKO to give Da Mack the win.

Tracy Williams vs Martin Kirby

Beyond vs PCW. First time I’ve seen Williams, who I know is pretty hotly tipped. They work a really nice sequence of counters on the mat, which isn’t something you always see from Kirby, though he is capable of doing so. Williams is pretty slick on the mat though, and is always one step ahead. When they get off the mat, Kirby’s running shoulderblock in the corner looks typically great. I liked the way they built up to the strikes too, culminating in a big Williams clothesline that puts Kirby on his head. The end was pretty good, as Williams only gets 2 off an Emerald Frosion, so chains into a crossface right away to focus on the neck. Despite the best efforts of Kirby’s partner Joey Hayes to interfere, Williams is able to get the tap from a second crossface to win. Good stuff.

Axel Dieter Jr vs Bubblegum

WXW vs PCW. Was really impressed by Dieter Jr here. Loved his controlled armwork early on, making Bubblegum work to escape. Dieter catching a Bubblegum dive and hitting a European uppercut instead was pretty choice, and I loved how he had Gum in control in the corner, casually sauntering up with his arms behind his back. Just tremendous character stuff. Sliding diving elbow looked great, and Bubblegum also looks good on the comeback, with a top rope stomp looking good. I liked how the ending saw both guys upping the tempo, but both of them made their offensive openings by reversing the other’s move, not just randomly recovering from the last move hit on them. Bubblegum wins with a 619

Dave Crist vs Jurn Simmons

CZW vs WXW. Simmons takes a ridiculously long time to get to the ring – we’re talking Undertaker levels here – so Crist pump kicking him out of the ring as soon as the bell goes feels fair enough. Crist makes a rookie mistake by trying to chop Simmons against the ringpost, but only hurts himself when Jurn ducks. From there, it’s all one way traffic, and Simmons looks great throughout. Great looking power offence, with a power slam looking terrific and I loved him whipping Crist to the turnbuckle with real force. Crist seems to be a better seller than on offence, as a lot of his stuff looks sloppy here, but him taking a 360 bump from a Simmons shoulderblock is impressive. Simmons hits a big piledriver and wins a borderline squash.

Joey Janela vs Chris Dickinson

CZW vs Beyond. This is worked around Dickinson having a power advantage over Janela, and Janela having to work on a hit and hope basis. This is established early when Janela hits a cannonball from the apron, but Dickinson rolls through with it and hoists him up to powerbomb Joey on the apron. Janela manages to create some distance and dives on Dickinson from a balcony, as this is the only way he’s able to hurt him. When Dickinson does have Janela in his grasp, he does blitz him, with his kicks looking immense – his legs are nearly the size of Janela. Joey has to keep taking risks to try and stay in the match, but when they don’t pay off, he’s really in the shit. He sits Dickinson in a chair and goes for a top rope flip, but Dickinson moves and sends Joey ploughing through the chair. Janela is really winning the fans over here pretty much by killing himself. Joey does manage to hit a tilt-a-whirl tombstone, but gets caught by Dickinson and takes a face-planting version of a burning hammer on the apron. Janela kicks out, which makes him look amazing, but he’s basically out and a Dickinson lariat gives him the win. Really good bout here, with Dickinson looking unstoppable and Janela gutsy and fearless in defeat. Both guys left the bout looking great.

Dave Mastiff vs Keith Lee

PCW vs Beyond. These are two big boys here, but both guys who are able to move about. They work this really smartly, building up to the big spots. They exchange really thunderous looking blows early on, moving to running the ropes before Lee snaps off an impressive looking running rana. He makes the mistake of shit-talking though, and Mastiff whiplashes him into the ropes and hits the bathtub senton. What’s great is, both guys are agile enough to bump and make the other guy look immense, with Dave taking a huge powerbomb from the corner. Lee misses a moonsault and Mastiff hits a German suplex into the buckles and the Bastard Bomb for three. Enjoyed this.

T-Bone vs David Starr

PCW vs WXW. Starr plays the early stages as a smart-ass, outwrestling T-Bone and trying to make him look stupid. T-Bone responds by just beating him up. They brawl outside, and there’s a fun spot with Starr getting fans to hold T-Bone in place while he takes a run up, but by the time he reaches him, T-Bone is free and superkicks him. Starr hits this really cool looking DDT to the apron, with T-Bone draped over the ropes from the inside. Starr tries going to the top, but gets caught with a draping DDT and a tombstone for 3. This was fine.

The Hooligans & Danny Hope vs Sha Samuels, Lionheart & Iestyn Rees

Odd deal this. The vast majority of this is a big brawl on the outside of the ring that’s pretty entertaining, highlighted by a big suicide dive by Roy Knight. They take nearly 5 minutes to reach the ring, which is when Rees and Hope make it there. They have a brief sequence, ending with Hope trying his own version of the Alpha Lock, getting hit by a Rees low blow and Rees getting his own Alpha Lock for the anti-climactic win. Very strange.

AR Fox vs Dezmond Xavier

Beyond vs CZW. This is the final match of the night, and as such you get the sense that they’re going out to steal the show, especially as they aren’t exactly the biggest names of the evening. This is a full on spotfest, and those live and die on how good the spots are. Well, the spots here are really fucking nuts. Fox hits a huge inverted somersault to the floor that just looks nuts, and Xavier flies out with an insane handspring somersault. These guys both look like they’re actually trying to hurt each other, with a minimum of superfluous flipping, whilst still hitting some bonkers stuff. I could really have done without the piss-poor strike exchange in the middle, but that aside, this was really fun. Xavier escaping an RKO attempt by just slipping out looked great – it looked like he was going down, but his head slips out at the last moment. Fox gets the win with a brainbuster, which oddly means CZW have lost all four of their matches on the show, which is odd. This was a worthy main event though.

ECW Hardcore TV #14 06/07/1993

Super Destroyers vs Richard Michaels & Johnny Hotbody

This has the added stipulation of the Destroyers putting their masks on the line vs the Suicide Blondes’ tag titles. The Destroyers control early doors, with one of them hitting a nice looking enzuigiri. Michaels hits a really shitty looking bulldog (looks like the Destroyer went down too late) to take over, and the energy really goes up when Hotbody gets in. I’m far from convinced that he’s a great wrestler or anything, but he always seems more motivated than the wrestlers around him. The ending here is terrible. A ref distraction allows Chris Candido to come out and swap places with Michaels (despite looking nothing alike – even down to the colour and length of their trunks), and this happens right in front of a Destroyer who does nothing. The other Destroyer rolls up Candido for an absurdly long cradle – the referee still being distracted – then when the ref turns round, he reapplies the cradle to Candido for the three count. So amateur.

Ivan Koloff vs The Sandman

I’m glad we live in a world where such an odd pairing happened. The early stages are spent on the mat, and are surprisingly not bad. Koloff is always one step ahead, but Sandman doesn’t look too bad. Sandman ups the tempo with a terrible crossbody. Koloff goes up top, but gets caught by the Sandman, who throws him off. Rockin’ Rebel comes out and hurls a green liquid in the eyes of Sandman’s manager, Peaches, but oddly this doesn’t play into the distraction finish. Instead, Sandman gets distracted by Vladimir Koloff on the opposite side of the ring and takes a weak knee to the back to give Ivan the win. This was a #1 contenders match, which is going to lead to a heel vs heel match with Koloff taking Muraco, assuming this goes ahead.

Dark Patriot, Eddie Gilbert & Don Muraco vs Glen Osbourne, Tommy Cairo & Larry Winters

The graphics announce an 8 man tag is coming next, but this is quite clearly only 6 men. We don’t exactly have the cream of the face workers in ECW here, but there is one great piece of schtick here, where the faces hold an armbar on Gilbert and swap places behind the refs back, infuriating Paul E Dangerously on commentary. Even better, Gilbert manages to tag Muraco, but because the ref was distracted by the faces, he doesn’t see it and refuses to let Muraco in. Nice, simple comedy spot. Also, Tommy Cairo hits a full-force shoulder block that looks terrific. As far as the heels go, the lazy offense or Muraco is really highlighted by how crisp the Dark Patriot is, as he finishes off Osbourne with a great diving shoulderblock for three.

Sal Bellomo vs Chris Candido

Hey, Bellomo hit a dropkick in the first few minutes here, might be the best looking thing he’s done in his ECW run. He then bites Candido’s arm to block a clothesline. He’s a like a hairy, shit Pete Dunne. The ref of the Blondes run in to cause a DQ, and we get a big brawl to close the show as the Super Destroyers make the save. In the melee, the Destroyers seemingly break Candido’s arm, which is the image we close the show on

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.