The Sting/Cactus Jack match was called by Tony Schiavone for another TV show. Strange that they did two separate versions, but it makes sense they wanted to make sure the TBS and the syndicated audiences saw a match important to a Sting feud.

Foley praises Jim Ross's calling of his matches in WCW in his book, but it seems like the announcers weren't always let in on what the story was supposed to be from the wrestlers, because he complains about Ventura and Schiavone not putting him over also, and having to wait until matches were on TV to see how the announcers called them.

SD jones?

SD Jones was one of my favorites in the WWF during the Backlund era. He actually started out and went through much of the early 80's as a guy who would occasionally win a house show match here and there. Unfortunately he slowly decended into the enhancement talent portion of his career by the time WWF got really hot

Literally all I know of SD Jones is that he's the guy who got squashed in record time by King Kong Bundy at the inaugural WM. Can't say I realized there was more to him.

SD Jones was actually pretty over in the 70s and got good reactions at MSG as late as 83-4. He actually got a Hasbro figure in 1985.

He was part of Vince Sr's long-time JTTS crew along with Dominic Denucci and on the heel side, Baron Mikel Scicluna. About a rung lower than Chief Jay Strongbow.

Typically, Jones would beat pure jobbers and even the likes of Baron Scicluna but he'd lose to anyone midcard and above and with increasing frequency after Vince Jr took over in 1983.

SuperBrawl II: Light Heavyweight Title - Jushin Thunder Liger (c) vs. Flyin' Brian Pillman

Date: February 29, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31367857

Background: Pillman had dropped this title to Liger previously, so this was just him chasing back after it.



The Match: Jim Ross and a just-arrived Jesse Ventura on the call. Arm-wringer by Pillman, Liger counters with multiple flips to reverse the leverage and transition into an armbar. The two break, rope-running sequence results in the two throwing simultaneous dropkicks at each other. Flyin' Brian wrestles the champion to the mat with a hammerlock, but the champ is able to work his way up to his feet and over for a rope break.

Liger flings Pillman into the corner, Pillman comes out with a headscissor takeover, then a dropkick that sends Liger outside looking for a breather, but the former Bengal Pillman instantly sets up with a running start and hits a double mule kick through the ropes to the outside. Jesse calls it a cheap shot. Ross pats him on the head with "theoretically you're absolutely correct." Liger back in, the two reset. Double-leg takedown by Jushin, who applies a grapevine to one of Pillman's legs. Pillman eye gouges his way free. Jesse: "You know, Pillman is wrestling pretty cheap!"

Liger takes a chop against the corner, gets sent into the other one, grabs both ropes to jump over a charging Pillman, races back to the other corner and lets loose with a moonsault that connects for a two-count. Dropkick to the challenger sends him spilling out. Pillman gives the look of respect to Liger and re-enters. Surprises Liger with a knee to the gut, then wrestles Liger down into something of a modified octopus hold.



Pillman transitions into a headscissor. Liger slips out the back, sets up for a surfboard, Pillman quickly scampers to the ropes to cut that off, Liger attempts it again a moment later and Pillman is once again able to get to the ropes before the move can get locked in. For a non-finishing submission move, that was just put over nicely.

Back to their feet, Liger gets superior position in one corner, sends Pillman to the opposite, then connects on a beauty of a running dropkick right to the face. Liger had strung together a decent bit of good offense when Pillman surprised him with a crucifix off the ropes for a near-fall. Liger is back up quickly with his own unique pinning combo, only gets two. Crisp, Benoit-esque back suplex by Pillman connects, again a pinning attempt is for naught.



Chop by Pillman in one corner, but he proves to be his own worst enemy as he attempts to leap at Liger in the corner but comes up empty and hurts his leg. Liger straight to work with some focus on that leg, with a leg whip and then a single-leg atomic drop. Figure-four leglock sends Pillman into a state of agony, and the ropes are nowhere near available this time. Pillman Lexes up and finds some momentum instead, getting some adrenaline and slapping at his figure-four inflicter before turning him over. We get our rope break.

Brian now selling a significant leg injury, and Liger immediately sweeps the bad leg and puts him back on the mat. Locks him into a modified half-crab that puts the majority of the pressure on the bad leg. Pillman fights his way back to his feet and connects on a desperation enziguiri to the back of Liger's head. Even after that move Liger is the first up, but his attempt to follow with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker is countered into a headscissor takeover. Pillman tries to capitalize and charges the champion, but the champ ducks and backdrops the challenger over the top rope, then heads up top and hits a truly sick cannonball sentan from the top rope to the floor. Awesome.



Pillman to the apron, dueling blocked suplexes, Liger decides to go for a turnbuckle smash, Pillman blocks that as well and connects on his own. Springboard flying clothesline by Flyin' Brian. Brian goes back out to the apron and suplexes Liger to the floor. Up top, and he hits a cross-body from the top to the floor. The action has really ramped up as Jesse declares this the best lightweight match he's ever seen.



Liger staggered against guardrail outside. Pillman jumps at him from the apron, Liger dodges, Pillman eats steel. Liger rolls him back into the ring, heads to the top, and gets hit with a dropkick in the face on the way back. Pillman's turn to climb the ropes. He goes for a missile dropkick, but Liger throws one back at him, and obviously neither connect. Slowly back to their feet, they run at each other and go for simultaneous spinning wheel kicks, and those obviously can't connect with each other either.

Pillman sends Jushin into the ropes, hits a scoop powerslam on the way back. Pin attempt no good. Both back to their feet, Liger with a go-behind and a beauty of a bridging German suplex that gets a very near fall. Undeterred, he sets Pillman up on the corner, heads up with him and try for a superplex, but Pillman blocks and then connects on a cross-body off the top. 1, 2, still nope.

Back bodydrop attempt by Pillman, Liger stops short and powerbombs for two. Goes for another powerbomb, Pillman counters into a somewhat botched hurracanrana that he holds on with a very believable pinning attempt, but still only two. DDT by Pillman still isn't enough for a fall.



Pillman misses on a running clothesline, then the two men hit on a jumping collision on the way back. Pillman to his feet first, heads up top, Liger catches him and connects on a nice-looking superplex. Two-count. A frustrated Liger straight back up, diving headbutt misses. Pillman sets him up, rolls him over with a modified magistral cradle and a bridge (or something, it was different from a magistral cradle), and finally gets the three-count. Holy ****, what a classic. The two embrace and the crowd pops huge for them.

Result: Pillman via pinfall, new Light Heavyweight Champion (17:00)

Meltzer Rating: ****3/4

My Review and Rating: I'm tracking with Dave on this one. This match could keep up with almost anything the WCW cruiserweights would go on to produce in the future years, and it was well ahead of anything being done by smaller guys in the big two companies at the time. At their respective peaks, this was an amazing combination. ****3/4

(co-opted from my Savage tribute thread)

WrestleMania VIII: WWF Title - Ric Flair (c) vs. Randy Savage



Date: April 5, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31348403

Background: Savage was named #1 contender to the title. Ever since then, Flair started claiming that Savage is stuck with Flair's sloppy seconds.

The Match: Good backstage promo by Flair before the match starts. Macho Man won't let Mean Gene into his dressing room for an interview because he's too livid to speak. As Savage hits the ring without Elizabeth, Flair tries to take a walk but Savage runs him down and attacks. Mr. Perfect forcibly pulls him off and throws him to the ground, which isn't a disqualification because we're two seconds into a WrestleMania main event.



Into the ring, clothesline by Savage followed by a knee to Flair's back. Lays in a couple of punches while standing above him on the second turnbuckle. Flair lifts him out to go for an inverted atomic drop, but Savage shakes loose and hits a clothesline. Whip into the corner and a back elbow. Referee Earl Hebner tries to back Savage down as he has Flair against the ropes; Savage threatens Hebner, but then when he runs back at Flair, Flair backdrops him over the top to the floor.



Flair rams Savage's lower back into the ring apron. Inverted atomic drop. Savage rolls back in, but is hurt and Flair lays the boots to him while he's still down. Sets him up in the corner and chops away. Flair executes a nice delayed suplex, then gets a two-count on a pinning attempt. Back suplex gets two as well. Chops the Macho Man in one corner, whips him into the other, whips him back to the other still, chops him as he staggers out. Two-count. Measures him with a knee drop.

Outside the ring, the Nature Boy rams Macho back-first into the apron again, then awaits his return to the ring from inside. Meets him on the apron and executes another delayed suplex from the apron to the inside. Two. Whips him into the corner and then lays in a right hand that Hebner hassles him about for being a closed fist. Flair stomps on Savage in the corner, really fully controlling the match since the initial flurry.

He chops Savage in the corner, but Savage retorts with a punch. Another chop, another punch. Savage seems to fight his way out of the corner successfully for a moment, but Flair manages to whip him into the ropes. Savage catches him with a swinging neckbreaker on the way back though. Both up a bit slowly, Flair comes off the ropes at him but Savage lays in more right hands. Flair attempts to go up top, but Savage catches him and throws him off. Great elevation and a big pop from the crowd for that spot.



Flair sent into the corner, comes out and takes a backdrop. Gets up twice and eats two clotheslines. Flair begs from his knees for mercy but Savage spits on him. Flair goes into the corner and does the flip up over the top, run the apron to the other turnbuckle, heads to the top and comes off but Savage hits him on the way down. Two-count that gets sold nicely as a near-fall.



Savage follows with a clothesline over the top rope. Axhandle from the top to the floor knocks Flair into the barricade, and Flair clearly blades at this point.



Savage follows by slamming Flair's head into the steps and then running him into a post on the opposite side. The champ is bleeding pretty hard in a hurry. Savage suplexes him on the floor. Back into the ring, Savage sits and pounds away on Flair. Axhandle from the top to the middle of the ring. Two-count. The Indianapolis crowd is hugely into this. Savage up top for the flying elbow and connects. 1, 2, and Mr. Perfect yanks him out of the ring from behind.

Savage chases Perfect outside the ring and then through the ring. Grabs him by the tie, but doesn't ultimately get any satisfaction as Perfect gets outside. Meanwhile Flair was producing brass knuckles from his trunks, and when Savage returns to the attack Flair nails him. Flair covers, but only gets two. He distracts the referee as Savage lays near the apron, and Perfect comes around and clobbers Macho's leg with a steel chair. Elizabeth has seen enough and heads out to the ring.



Macho's leg is now severely hurt as a result of the chair shot. Flair hits an atomic drop on just the bad leg. Locks in the figure-four leglock. Officials ringside (including Shane-O-Mac! Never noticed that before) are trying to convince Elizabeth to go to the back, which is causing an undue distraction to an intense spot in the match. Bad booking move there. Flair gets caught getting leverage from Perfect outside the ring and Hebner kicks Flair's hand free. The hold gets broken. Savage manages a small package, but only gets two.



Savage is limping hard. He really sells beautifully. Another atomic drop on the bad leg. Flair holds Savage's leg up from a standing position and punches at it a couple of times, but Savage manages a counter-punch that gets him free, then rolls Flair up with a schoolboy out of nowhere, pulls the tights, and gets the three-count to win the championship.



Liz in to celebrate. Flair angrily corners her, forcibly kisses her, and Savage races out and attacks. Perfect and Flair double-team him a bit, but the officials at ringside finally shepherd them away and then settle Savage down. We finally get the call from Howard Finkel. "Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout, and once again World Wrestling Federation Champion…'Macho Man' Randy Savage!" Savage and Elizabeth celebrate together, and he gets both his last really big WrestleMania moment as well as his last big moment with Elizabeth by his side. Awesome.



Ric Flair cuts one of his greatest WWF promos after the match backstage, furious and vowing to get the belt back. Savage cuts an even better furious one directly after. These two were just in another league.



Result: Randy Savage via pinfall (18:04)

Rating: Even better than I remember it being from previous viewings. This match is awesome. ****1/2

WrestleWar '92: War Games - The Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, & Arn Anderson) (w/ Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa) vs. Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, & Dustin Rhodes)

Date: May 17, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31675649

Background: This was the continuation, and I'm guessing the culmination, of a very long feud between the Alliance and the top faces in WCW.



The Match: Ross and Jesse on the call. This is our first encounter with Steve Austin ITT, and obviously won't be the last as long as I stick with the project for a decent bit. He eagerly goes in as the Alliance's leadoff man. Barry Windham in for the faces, the bell goes, and Stunning Steve charges right for Windham but loses the advantage as Windham simply waits on him and then attacks. Shoulderblock by Windham. Austin attempts to smash him into the cage, but Windham blocks. Axhandles and right hands by the man from Sweetwater.

Windham loses his momentum when he misses on an elbow drop. Austin rams away with shoulderblocks in the corner, but Windham fights his way back out. Attempts a piledriver, but Austin counters into a backdrop. Windham attempts a cage smash, but it's Austin's turn to block this time. We do see a DDT by Windham instead. The offense is back-and-forth without significant advantage. Steve connects on a jumping clothesline over the sets of ropes separating the two rings for the match. Windham is able to turn around and smash Austin into the cage several times thereafter.



Kind of a sleepy one-on-one to open, really…at least compared to the work done between Windham and Austin's future partner Brian Pillman at the start of the last War Games. In any case, Austin gets busted open upon further grating and begins bleeding. Windham feels no mercy and actually bites at the open wound. The clock runs down, the coin gets tossed, the heels win of course (rigged), and US Champ Rick Rude enters the match as the Dangerous Alliance fights with the 2-on-1 advantage. Wouldn't the match format make more sense if the team that didn't win the toss got to take the 3-on-2 advantage later?

Rude works Windham over, essentially at a one-on-one for a bit as Austin is largely incapacitated, but Rude controls things until Austin can make his way back to his feet and begin a double-team on the former Horseman. Austin went pretty damn deep with that blade job, and is quite bloody. The clock runs down on a dull 2-on-1, and Ricky Steamboat (with a wrap that would suggest a broken nose) is in to inject some life into this thing. He DDTs both Rude and Austin. Smashes Rude repeatedly into one corner, but Austin recovers and attacks from behind. This time it's Windham that's incapacitated, so Steamboat is mostly having to take on two men with sporadic success. The clock (which feels like it's shorter than in prior years…don't know if I'm imagining that) hits zero, and Arn Anderson is in the fray.



Arn comes right in and plants Windham with a DDT and then subsequently plants Steamboat with a Boston crab. Rude actually joins in, grabbing a leg and doubling up on the crab, to add leverage. The actual interesting spots are fewer and further between than the past couple of War Games; the intensity of the brawling is there, but the offense is less entertaining.

Steamboat and Rude double clothesline each other hard as we've reached time for a new participant, and Dustin Rhodes is in the match. Inverted atomic drop by Dusty's boy on Austin. Dustin takes the fight to Arn as well, as in the other ring Steamboat has taken the advantage over Rude. Austin attempts to climb the ropes in a counter out of an Irish whip, but Dustin gets up under him and hits him with an electric chair drop. I like that spot.

Clock's up, and Larry Z joins the melee, quickly greeted by Dustin Rhodes and a series of lefts and rights. As Larry enters, Madusa climbs to the top of the cage and actually drops Paul E's phone into the cage to Arn Anderson. If the grating was that faulty, couldn't she have just passed it through the side of the cage? Sting heads up top as well, and threatens her. Meanwhile, Anderson takes full advantage and clobbers Steamboat with the phone as Madusa escapes to the floor.



Rude rips away at Steamboat's protective brace on his nose as we hear a one-minute warning. The brawl continues, the clock rolls down, and we have the Stinger getting the functional hot tag from the clock as he's in and cleaning house. Sting does several military presses overhead where he presses Rick Rude into the ceiling of the cage. Floors Anderson. Backdrops Austin into the side of the cage in what was a very cool bump. Sting turns his attention back to Arn and grates him into the cage, as the camera catches Madusa wrapping Bobby Eaton's hand at ringside. Loading it? I dunno, maybe. That segment since Sting came in was the best part of the match so far.

3, 2, 1, and Beautiful Bobby enters to complete the Dangerous Alliance's entrance into the ring. I didn't see it happen, but Dustin Rhodes sees a close-up and is even significantly bloodier than Austin is here. While I've griped about a lack of spectacular offense, this match is still working for me because it's embodying exactly the type of story of a bitter blood feud between two rival groups who legitimately hate each other.



As the clock runs down and Nikita Koloff prepares to enter, Jim Ross raises questions about how loyal Koloff will actually be. The clock reaches zero, and it's time to find out. Koloff goes at Arn, also been bleeding a decent bit by this point, and rams him into the cage. He offers a handshake to Sting to help him off the mat, and a distrusting Sting slowly eventually accepts the offering.

As they look at each other, two Alliance members charge, and Koloff actually shoves Sting out of the way to accept the brunt of the double-team blow. Koloff and Sting are officially together, and they split out and isolate Anderson and Austin, with both in control. Rick Rude joins their ring to make it 3-on-2 and slow down the Sting/Koloff alliance. Amidst a wild brawl, Sting does manage to get a Scorpion Deathlock on Arn, but Bobby Eaton is along for the save to knock him off.



The corner of one ring is off and laying in the ring as a result of the Dangerous Alliance's ongoing efforts to pull it off, functionally taking away a rope in one ring. Windham has a figure-four on Rude, but that gets broken up too. Dustin Rhodes attempts a flying elbow from the top that comes up empty. As could be expected, the broken rope now plays in, as Larry Z picks up the turnbuckle that has a large steel rod attached to it. He tries to waffle Sting with it, Sting dodges and Bobby Eaton gets hit instead. Sting cranks on Eaton with a hard armbar, pre-ECW Bill Alfonso calls the match off from outside the ring, I guess on the armbar, and Sting's Squadron prevails.

After the match, Paul E. sprints into the ring to read Larry the riot act for missing Sting and hitting Eaton. The Alliance all gathers together and seems to blame him as Sting's team heads to the back. It looks like the Dangerous Alliance is all going to turn on Larry, but he seems to talk his way out of it, and things settle down.

Result: Sting's Squadron via submission (23:27)

Meltzer Rating: *****

My Review and Rating: I was slow to warm up to this one, as you could tell if you read through my writeup, but I grew to love it more and more as the match wore on. While it didn't have the cool spots of the last two War Games matches, it did have the perfect psychology of a 10-on-10 between two teams that hated each other's guts and wanted to settle the score with each other once and for all. From a story-telling standpoint, I can't really criticize much of anything outside of the armbar finish being kinda lame. Very much enjoyed this overall, and while I'm not the huge fan of lots of blood that many are, it definitely worked great for this particular story. ****3/4

The way I do these writeups is to stream them on my TV and write them up from there, and then to go online on my laptop to take screen grabs to add into the mix afterward. As I go through and get screenshots, it gives me kind of a quick recap of what I just saw in the match, and sometimes it changes my feelings about a match. In this case, I had written it up as ****1/2, but as I made the venture through for pics it reminded me of just how great that match was. I think that Meltzer's rating is pretty legit, but I still tend to come up just a little short of the five-star mark. Barely.

Great write-ups LKJ. I love that Savage/Flair match, probably more than most. War Games is great but hated the cheesy ending. Have never seen the Pillman/Liger match. It's on of the matches I've always meant to watch as everybody loves it.

Thanks. It feels like I should have stopped to actually rewatch that Flair-Savage match as I did this, but I was happy with the writeup and I was excited to get to a few matches this year that I haven't seen. Think I'm going to do at least one more tonight.

I'm still kind of amazed that I ended up with that good of a review for the War Games match after how I felt early on in it, but I definitely think it deserves it. Agreed about the ending, as I touched on briefly in the writeup. That was a key flaw in War Games in general, that the booking would get thrown out of whack to satisfy the stipulation, and suddenly submissions would happen in spots where nobody would ever submit in a regular match. It was kind of like how people would get abruptly pinned on transitional moves in Survivor Series matches to get eliminated.

I'm also not sure that there was ever a dramatic "will he submit or won't he" moment late in any War Games match, which is weird as hell. It would become 10-on-10 or 8-on-8, then they would isolate a couple of wrestlers and basically announce "alright we're doing the submission in the next 30 seconds or so."

More of a general indictment of the series of matches as a whole, and not really specific to this one.

Clash of the Champions XIX: NWA Tag Team Title Tournament - Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington

Date: June 16, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v32317241

Background: There was a tournament for the tag titles that took up every match of this Clash. This was among them. This was not a normal appearance for Chris Benoit. I notice that Dean Malenko was on the card earlier in the night too.

The Match: Benoit and Wellington come out to O Canada. Okay. Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura on the call, Bill Alfonso calling the shots. Ross points out that all of these men know each other well from wrestling in western Canada. Nobody probably envisioned quite yet that there were future Horsemen on both sides of this match.



Benoit and Liger start. Move, counter-move, counter-move, counter-move as the two men do some nice chain wrestling to start. Test of strength lock-up, Benoit powers Liger toward the mat but Liger powers his way back up to his feet and leverages his head under Benoit's arm before following through for a nice suplex. Couple of armdrags from Liger. Benoit attempts a dropkick, Liger sidesteps and pushes him down. Liger attempts a dropkick, blocked the exact same way from Benoit's end. Both tag out.

Side headlock by Wellington, the two run to the ropes and Wellington floors him with a hard shoulderblock. Pillman hits a couple of semi-standard maneuvers that I for some reason don't know the names of, Wellington goes outside, then up to the apron, but Pillman is right on him with a dropkick that knocks him to the floor. Pillman tries to follow up once more, and goes off the opposite ropes to get a running start, but he takes too long and Wellington greets him on the way back in as he gets to the apron and slingshots himself in for a flying clothesline.



Snap suplex by Wellington, who then unceremoniously dumps the former Bengal through the middle ropes. He tries to suplex Pillman back into the ring, but gets blocked and takes a pretty hard suplex to the floor instead. Pillman now back in control, holds onto Wellington and then tags Jushin Liger in. Series of kicks by Liger, but Wellington neutralizes his kicking leg, grapevines it, then gets up and tags out to Benoit.

Hard chops by the Crippler, then a vicious clothesline after sending the Japanese star off the ropes. Benoit runs the ropes, baseball slides through Liger's legs, connects on an enziguiri, then tags Wellington back in. Benoit distracts the referee as Wellington blatantly throws Liger out over the top. Wellington attempts a pescado outside, but Liger dodges and Wellington hits the floor with a resounding thud. He re-enters, but Liger is in control, executing a monkey-flip, then tagging Pillman. Wellington is able to power Pillman toward the Canadian corner, and then Wellington tags Benoit in.

Benoit in with his signature kicks to the midsection. He runs the ropes and hits on one shoulderblock, but continues running and Pillman pulls a nice matador routine to sidestep the Crippler and cause him to tumble outside. As Benoit returns, Pillman promptly stops him on the top rope and hits a back superplex. Then a missile dropkick that sends Benoit rolling outside.



Pillman, insatiable, jumps to the apron and then jumps off the apron with a hard cross-body. Hard chops back and forth between the two outside; Benoit seems to get the slightly better of that exchange and tags out upon returning to the ring, but Pillman manages to do the same.

We're immediately right back to the high spots, as Liger sends Wellington out and then hits a cross-body from the top to the floor. Back inside, Liger tries executing a crucifix pinning combo on Wellington, but Wellington counters into a Samoan drop. Tag back out to Benoit. Benoit sets Liger up on the corner, goes for a back superplex, Liger telegraphs to the viewing audience way too clearly that he's going to counter into a splash on the way down - which he does - and his pinning combo at the bottom of that splash is broken up by Wellington.



Liger whips Benoit into the ropes, hits him with a spinning wheel kick. Benoit outside, and Liger is straight back out after him as he exits to the apron and then connects on a perfect asai moonsault that hits Benoit squarely. As Benoit recovers, Liger tags Pillman. Pillman then just sort of stands in the ring doing nothing until Benoit comes in and takes the attack to him. Benoit whips Pillman to the ropes, Pillman looks to reverse, but he charges Benoit toward the enemy corner and Wellington lays him out there. Tag to Wellington.

Bodyslam by Wellington. Heads up top, sells out for a missile dropkick, and Pillman dodges. Both attempt to tag, Pillman tags out to Liger first, and Liger is in to cut Wellington off and back suplex him (sort of). He goes for a tag, but Benoit breaks it up. We get all four in the ring. Benoit sets up with a side headlock on Pillman in one corner, Wellington with a side headlock on Liger in the other, and you can see where this is headed…they both charge toward the middle, expressly so that they can be rammed into each other. Nice move, guys.



Pillman dropkicks Benoit, who rolls outside. Back in the ring, Liger connects beautifully on a great moonsault on Wellington, and that nets Pillman and Liger the 1-2-3. Very entertaining stuff.

Result: Pillman & Liger via pinfall (11:31)

Meltzer Rating: This is a bit of controversy, as some sites don't actually have him giving this four stars. Some say ***3/4, some say ****1/4. Since I don't regret watching, whatever.

My Review and Rating: I liked it a lot. It felt maybe a little bit spotfest-y at times, which keeps it from getting some sort of amazing review, but Liger was such a star here, with both his asai moonsault to the outside and his top rope moonsault that finished the match being great spots. This teeters on the edge of whether or not it's a four-star match, but I'll go ahead and give that much to it. ****

Clash of the Champions XIX: NWA Tag Team Title Tournament - The Steiner Brothers vs. Terry Gordy & Steve "Dr. Death" Williams

Date: June 16, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v32317241

Background: Just more of the tag team title tournament. No other significant context.

The Match: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura on the call, Randy Anderson counting the pinfalls. Jesse: "Traditionally, Scott always starts things out for the Steiner Brothers…" He does? I've never been aware of that. "…so we'll have to see which of Steve Williams or Terry Gordy start things out for --" <Scott leaves the ring so that Rick can start out for the Steiners> "Whoa, wait a minute! Rick's going to start this match off! Very unusual, Jim Ross!" Awkward.



It's Rick vs. Gordy to kick things off. They jostle for position and make their way over for a number of rope breaks without anything of significance happening. Before it can get interesting, Rick does tag Scott in. Maybe this will be the actual beginning of something good, vindicating Jesse a bit. Scott lays in some rights, attempts to wrap him up high for a possible belly-to-belly suplex, but Gordy blocks. Gordy repeatedly leverages his weight so that Scott can't get him over. Scott finally manages a t-bone suplex, and Gordy tags out.



Dr. Death executes a single-leg takedown, and we get back into a series of amateur-style chain wrestling. While it isn't the most thrilling start, I don't exactly hate it either. It fits with how the Steiners might approach a match like this. That and the super unconventional thing where they started with Rick, of course. Scott tags Rick back in, Rick and Williams struggle for position, but finally we get a big throw as Rick connects on a release belly-to-belly suplex. Dr. Death goes for a walk outside, and Gordy calms him down.

Dr. Death back in, still attempting to lock up and go toe-to-toe with Greco-Roman holds against Rick. The amateur-style stuff continues until they get into a scrap in the corner where Williams takes something of a cheap slap at Rick (cheap given how each team had been wrestling the match so far, at least). Rick takes umbrage and charges him, and they brawl on the mat. Rick's adrenaline doesn't ultimately last, and Williams gets the better of the positioning before standing up and turning Rick absolutely inside out with a hard clothesline. Love the bump by Rick there.

Tag to Gordy. He hits a clothesline on Rick as well, and covers for two. Stands Rick up in the corner and lays in a couple of forearms. Whip to the opposite corner, and a quick follow in with a clothesline. Whips back into the original corner, catches him and goes for a belly-to-belly, but Rick blocks and executes a belly-to-belly of his own.



Tag out to Scott. Clothesline by Scott, then a butterfly powerbomb. His momentum is broken when he sends Gordy into the ropes and then comes up empty on a dropkick on the way back due to Gordy hanging on against the ropes to stop himself from running back.

Gordy tags Williams back in. Lifts Scott into a fireman's carry position as Williams enters and kneels, then throws Scott gut-first onto Williams's knee. I like it. Dr. Death lifts Scott up, executes a backbreaker, holds instead of releasing, then executes a second backbreaker. Scott tries to fight back, but Dr. Death puts him back down and tags Gordy back in. Time for the heat segment. Gordy holds Scott in a leg grapevine; Scott desperately seeks the tag, but Gordy gets up and yanks his leg back to stop him. Tag out to Williams, who comes in and executes a double shoulderblock with Gordy.



Williams tries to work Scott's foot over, but Scott manages to get to his feet and then throws up a desperation dropkick. That gets him the separation he needs for the hot tag. Incidentally, the referee absolutely doesn't see this tag, but he just kind of reacts with a "wat" as Rick comes in and then allows it. Rick clotheslines Williams out. Gordy in, and he and Rick throw right-handed bombs at each other. Rick ends up falling on top of Gordy for a pinfall, at which point Randy Anderson finally goes "nope, you never tagged in." Okay, well I halfway appreciate that they didn't ignore the missed tag, but why did Anderson let Rick wrestle for so long while Scott hung out outside?

Scott is now legal, and all four are outside. Dr. Death lunges straight at Scott's leg and takes it out outside the ring. Thought they were telegraphing a countout, but Scott does get back in. Dr. Death does lift him overhead for a press slam, which he converts into an actual powerslam from overhead, but that only gets a two-count. Rick tries to run interference, and while he does so and gets pushed out by the distracted referee, Terry Gordy runs in and takes Scott's knee out again from behind. Williams falls on Scott, and we have a three-count.



Result: Dr. Death & Terry Gordy via pinfall (15:00)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: This match was very weird. I do appreciate its uniqueness, but man it was disjointed. Overall I did kinda like it despite some goofiness, but it doesn't really contend for being a four-star match in my eyes. ***

WCW Beach Blast '92: Falls Count Anywhere - Sting vs. Cactus Jack

Date: June 20, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31312961

Background: Sting and Cactus had been feuding a bit as something of a secondary feud. The stipulation was sold as favorable to Cactus, as he had defeated Van Hammer earlier this year under the same stipulation.

The Match: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura on the call. I notice that Cactus's music sounds pretty similar to the original Mankind entrance music that Foley used when he started out in the WWF in '96. Jack stops midway through his entrance and simply kneels and faces the entryway from the middle of the ramp. Sting, the World Heavyweight Champion now, comes out and sheds his jacket at the top of the ramp, just as ready as Cactus to kick the fight off out there.



Sting and Cactus trade rights and lefts on the ramp. Cactus threatens a hip-toss off the ramp into the crowd, which of course Sting blocks rather than going dangerously flying into the crowd. He reverses into a backslide pinning attempt that right away gets two. Back up, they slug back and forth. The ramp reaches all the way to the ring, so Sting actually whips Cactus into that rope and then backdrops him on his way back up the ramp. He then lies in wait as Cactus gets up, and bulldogs him face-first on the ramp. Two-count.

Cactus staggers toward the ring, Sting charges and dives at him in something of a Stinger Splash, but Cactus avoids and Sting gets hung out to dry along the ropes. As Sting crawls along the floor, Cactus goes to the apron and executes his signature elbowdrop to the floor off the apron. Nothing but concrete on the floor, by the way, and Cactus connects on a swinging neckbreaker right out on that concrete. Two-count.

Sting staggers to his feet, Foley executes a sunset flip to the concrete floor (which seems like a pretty terrible risk vs. reward move, but I enjoyed the spot), and it gets two. Back up, Sting smashes Foley's face into the steel guardrail. Twice. Three times. Foley manages to kick backward and slow Sting down, then rams him into the barricade. Still, he backs up to get a running start at Sting and gets backdropped over the barricade and into the crowd.



Sting right out into the crowd after him, and he once again smashes Foley into the guardrail. Suplex on the concrete floor by the World Champion. Two. Whip back toward the guardrail, which Cactus hits violently and flips over to the floor. The action finally hits the ring for the first time. Sting whips Cactus into the ropes, ducks too early, Cactus stops to raise a boot toward Sting's face, Sting counters by standing up and catching Cactus's boot, then he spins Cactus around, but that just gives Cactus momentum to run through him with a hard clothesline.

Cactus now in control, measures and drops an elbow on the champ. He lifts him up and tears away at his face. Whips Sting into the corner, follows with a running knee, and then wrestles Sting to the mat with a bodyscissor. Foley insultingly slaps at Sting, which naturally angers Sting and causes him to elbow his way free of the move. Undeterred, Cactus stands back and then fully dives at Sting and carries them both flying back out to the floor.



Sting sent back into the guardrail. Foley charges, Sting raises a boot and kicks him in the face. Foley grabs for a chair and then hits Sting in the back with it a couple of times (pretty damn soft chair shots considering the rest of this match, really). Cactus picks Sting back up, tries to take him toward one of the ringposts, and Sting back suplexes him on the floor. Pins, but again no good. Sting attempts a Stinger Splash against the guardrail and Foley instead grabs him and hangs him with a stun gun that partially connects.

Attempted piledriver by Foley sort of halfway hits, as Sting fought in mid-move and Foley's knee goes out halfway through the move. Foley is still the first back up, heads to the apron and to the second rope, but gets hit on the way down as he attempts an elbowdrop. The brawl gets up to the ramp. Bodyslam by Sting. Grabs a steel chair and hits Foley with it several times. Sting attempts the Scorpion Deathlock, but Foley rolls through and they both tumble off the ramp to the floor. As both get back up, Foley hits the double-arm DDT on the ramp. He's slow to make a pin, and can't get three. Sting manages to get back up and connect on a running clothesline. Returns to the ring, heads up top, flying clothesline to the ramp, and there's our three-count.



A frustrated Foley screams angrily as Jim Ross talks about how he nearly pulled off the upset over the champion.

Result: Sting via pinfall (11:24)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: This was great. Amazingly fast pace, hard bumps, good psychology, good storytelling, both men come out of it looking great…I thought this was a big, big step up from that November '91 match. This Sting feud was all kinds of great for Foley. ****

Well that was quite a wrestling binge. I came home from work and thought I would sit down and just do that Pillman-Liger match. Then it's like I blacked out and woke up and suddenly I had watched six months worth of wrestling.

Whenever I next sit down and work on this thread again, I'll be picking it up at Sting vs. Vader from GAB '92.

I was actually specifically only talking about Larry setting up with the most horrible object shot ever and then missing. I'm fine with the arm bar that followed.

Benoit tag: My first taste of Liger/Benoit and having watched live and recorded on VHS, I watched this match at least 25 times in the coming month or two. I thought it was amazing.

Steiners/Violence: Same as above although I'd obviously seen Steiners before. I watched this match recently and didn't like it but when it happened it was a huge fight feel as they really built these two teams up as the best in the world and I'm pretty sure this was on tv after Beach Blast despite it happening before so after watching BB, I couldn't wait for the rematch.

Cactus/Sting: One of my absolute favorite matches ever. I'd give it what Meltzer did.

Great American Bash '92: WCW World Title - Sting (c) vs. Vader (w/ Harley Race)

Date: July 12, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31589233

Background: Vader had really just started going full-time with WCW at this point, and in his first title shot three months prior he had been disqualified. This was the follow-up to that.

The Match: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura are back in the announce booth again. Vader comes out donning that weird faux metal elephant mask over top of his normally-masked self. I don't know if that originated in Japan or in WCW, but I never understood it.



Sting and Vader lock up, Vader quickly bullies Sting into the corner and then hammers away with some very stiff rights and lefts that put him at an immediate advantage in the match. Short clothesline by the challenger follows. Sting takes a breather outside. He returns, ducks the next clothesline attempt by Vader, throws his own clothesline that connects, but Vader no-sells. Sting runs off the ropes for the running cross-body, and Vader catches him and just flings him aside like he's weightless. A rattled Sting slowly gets up and regroups.

Back into a tie-up, same result as before with Vader raining rights and lefts on him. Vader whips him into the corner, follows with a corner charge that misses, and Sting capitalizes with a back suplex that shakes the ring. One running clothesline by the Stinger, then a second one where he clotheslines Vader violently over the top rope to the floor. "I don't think Vader has ever been knocked out of the ring like that!" -Jesse



Harley Race settles his man down and re-dispatches him back inside. Vader faces off with Sting and reaches upward to offer a test of strength. Sting is correctly hesitant, so Vader plays to the crowd to get them to cheer and indicate that they want to see it. In kayfabe, Sting was always a ****ing moron who could be manipulated really easily into doing stupid ****, and this was no exception, as he agrees to do it despite not being nearly as strong as his opponent. Ah, maybe not; he accepts the test of strength with one hand, instantly gets overpowered, then uses his other hand to gouge Vader in the eye. Maybe it's me who is the moron, because in kayfabe Sting did outsmart him there.

Sting follows the eye gouge with several right hands, with one haymaker that finally puts Vader down. Standing dropkick floors him as well. Vader spills over to the apron, but Sting actually suplexes him inside. Pin attempt gets two. As they get back up, Sting charges in to follow and Vader holds his ground and puts him down on the mat hard. Vader whips the champ into the ropes, but the champ holds onto the ropes to counter the incoming backdrop attempt, and then Sting kicks him several times before wrapping him up in a small package for two. After the start, Sting is getting a surprising amount of offense in, and Vader again has to roll out and regroup.



As the challenger returns inside, Sting goes for a sunset flip that Vader blocks by sitting down on him. That will take the wind out in a hurry. Two elbowdrops by Vader are followed by a running splash for two. The big man is now in full control. He begins working Sting's leg over, and actually applies a Scorpion Deathlock to him, although he doesn't fully sit down in it. Shades of Bam Bam Bigelow's terrible-looking Boston crab at WrestleMania XI. Sting's attempts to push up out of this move are quelled by Vader simply sitting down, but he eventually summons the leg strength to just push his way out of the hold by sheer force.



Sting is now staggered, makes his way back to his feet and gets hammered down by more punches. Whip into the ropes, and a clothesline on the way back. Match has slowed down hard, which is unexciting but does make plenty of sense given the story of the match. Powerslam by Vader gets a two-count. He stands the champ up in the corner and just methodically throws bombs at him, but Sting finally blocks one, fights his way out of the corner, and connects on a running cannonball off of a running start. Back up, and he plants the big man with a DDT, but can't capitalize with a pinning attempt. Both up slowly; running shoulderblock by Sting knocks Vader to the apron.



Again Sting just can't follow quickly because he's too beaten up. Vader actually up first, and he heads toward the top. "If he jumps off it will be a disqualification!" Oh yeah, I forgot about this stupid rule that had been instituted at the time. Sting saves him from DQ by running up and kicking him before he can jump off anyway. Sting's repeated kicks leave Vader laying across the corner ropes, and Sting goes in, ducks underneath, and actually lifts a lying Vader up on his shoulders from there. He keeps him level and then executes a big Samoan drop. Pin attempt only gets two.

Back up, Sting suplex attempt gets blocked. Vader goes for a back suplex, Sting tries to kick away from it wildly and hits Randy Anderson for the ref bump. Stinger does escape the move that way, goes behind, and connects on a bridging German suplex. Randy Anderson was delayed in getting to counting the pin, and the delay makes enough difference to leave it at a two-count. The German suplex was very cool.

Stinger Splash in one corner. Whips Vader to the other, Vader slumps there head-first against the corner, and Sting throws another Stinger Splash in that one but makes the unforced error of randomly hitting his head against the steel beam that attaches the turnbuckle to the post. Contrived spot on a couple of fronts. The blow to Sting's head busts him open. Vader goes straight for the pin attempt, but again only two. A punch-drunk Sting is now delirious, as he tries to throw a clothesline and Vader merely sidesteps him and watches as Sting collapses to the mat. The big man picks Sting up, executes a big powerbomb, 1-2-3. New champion.



In the post-match highlights, they for some reason show a slow-motion replay of another angle that makes it pretty obvious that Sting didn't hit that steel beam in the corner at all (even though it remains the story that he did). Yay production team.

Result: Vader via pinfall, new champion (17:17)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: This was decent, but nothing special. Pretty generic story of the underdog vs. the monster that he can't quite slay. I do think that Sting makes a decent matchup for Vader since he can do some legit power moves to him despite the size disadvantage. I just don't like the ending too much. Playing up the fact that Vader was pinned during the ref bump gives Sting enough of a kayfabe excuse for the loss; he can go under after that without more weirdness. ***1/4

(co-opted from my Savage tribute thread)

SummerSlam '92: WWF Title - Randy Savage (c) vs. Ultimate Warrior



Date: August 29, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31303263

Background: Warrior was deemed the #1 contender to the title, and tensions had built between Savage and Warrior since then. The looming question was whose corner Mr. Perfect would be in. The only final word that Perfect and Flair ended up giving was that Perfect would be "in the winner's corner."

The Match: Both men come out alone; Perfect is in neither corner, at least to start.

Savage offers a handshake to open the match. Warrior is extremely hesitant, but does it. Then he holds on and violently brings Savage in. They shed their costumes, face off a moment longer, and then get to work. First lock-up is a stalemate. Second one results in Warrior pushing Savage down. Savage back up, drives a knee into Warrior's midsection and then hits a clothesline. Up top for an axhandle, but he gets hammered by Warrior on the way down. Atomic drop by the challenger. And another one, an inverted one this time.

Clothesline by the Warrior. Off the ropes with two shoulderblocks. Off the ropes one more time and an elbow drop misses. Savage hammers away with right hands, then locks in a reverse chinlock. Warrior reaches up and turns it into a jawbreaker to get free, then delivers a facebuster. Two-count. Whips the champ into the corner, then follows with a few hard rights against it. Whips into the opposite corner and then stomps away.



Clothesline by Warrior. Savage, at the disadvantage, pulls a leverage move by pulling on Warrior's singlet and pulling him face-first into the turnbuckle. Warrior staggered, and Savage gets a running start and clotheslines him over the top. Rolls him back in and gets a two-count. Up top, flying axhandle connects, but Warrior kind of no-sells it and jogs in place. Another axhandle, and this one fells Warrior. Third time back up top, and this time Warrior catches the cross-body attempt, holds Savage up at length, and drops him into a backbreaker.



Right hand by Warrior, followed by a turnbuckle smash. More of the same in the opposite corner. Third corner whip, and a fourth, and Warrior is showing little creativity. Sidewalk slam is a unique spot for him, and that's what he does next. Surprise small package by Savage gets a two-count. Swinging neckbreaker by the champ. Still no sign at all of Mr. Perfect, and Bobby Heenan insists from the broadcast booth that Perfect promised him he would be in someone's corner, and that Perfect wouldn't lie to him.

Savage hangs Warrior over the top rope. Scurries back inside for a cover that gets two. The Macho Man goes for a suplex, but he's unable to get him up. His back gives out, and Warrior quickly takes advantage with strikes to Savage's lower back. Warrior sets up a suplex of his own, and this one hits. Two-count. Both slow to get up. As Savage does, he's against the ropes. Warrior charges with a cross-body but Savage ducks and Warrior tumbles all the way out to the floor. Champ up top, axhandle to the floor. Smashes the Warrior into the steps. Into the ringpost next. Lays in the boots, and then finally returns the challenger to the ring. A pin attempt obviously goes nowhere. And as this happens, Perfect and Flair emerge from the back.



Savage attempts a piledriver, but Warrior ducks out of it with a backdrop. Savage hangs on and makes it a sunset flip pinning combo for two. Clothesline by Warrior gets two. Follows with a bodyslam. Off of both ropes for a jumping splash, but Savage gets the knees up and Warrior writhes in pain after taking those knees to the gut. Both back up, Warrior misses on a running clothesline, both run back at each other and clothesline each other for the double knockdown.



Savage is up and heads near the side of the ring that Perfect and Flair are on. Perfect trips Savage from the outside. Warrior doesn't see this, but Vince immediately declares that Warrior sold out to Mr. Perfect. Right hand by the Warrior, then holds him up in a choke before dropping him in a corner. We get a ref bump on a corner whip. Scoop slam by the challenger. Warrior up top, and drops an axhandle to the middle. Attempts a pin, but Hebner is super late in getting there and only gets to two.



Warrior bitches at length at Hebner, and finally Savage comes to and knees him in the back from behind, bumping Warrior into Hebner and sending him all the way to the outside. Savage hits a piledriver and then goes outside to try to revive Hebner. While Savage is doing that, Perfect and Flair come into the ring. Perfect holds Warrior up, seemingly trying to help him, but then grasps him from behind and Flair nails Warrior with brass knuckles. "Oh, so I guess it's SAVAGE that sold out!", etc.



Savage returns Hebner to the ring, then goes up top for the flying elbow. Connects. Hebner is still struggling and takes a long time to get over to count the pin. Finally gets there and only gets two. Perfect and Flair are showed conferring outside. Savage tries to drop some axhandles on Warrior while Warrior juices up anyway. He launches the comeback right right hands and clotheslines. Stands Savage up, off both ropes, flying shoulderblock. Press slam. Goes off the ropes to follow with a splash, Perfect misses on a trip attempt on one side but Flair waffles Warrior with a chair on the other.



Savage has deniability on both of these spots, having seemingly seen neither. He rolls the Warrior over, sees that he's unconscious, and looks at Perfect and Flair as if to say "WTF? Why the hell is he out?" He asks Hebner, and Hebner seems to say "I dunno, how would I know that?" Savage kicks at Perfect from the apron, and then conflicted he heads up top really slowly to try to drop the flying elbow. He takes forever trying to figure out whether he should, and instead of hitting the elbow on Warrior he launches to the floor to hit Flair. Flair clubs him hard in the knee with a chair as he hits outside. Savage seemingly blows his knee out here (in kayfabe) and gets counted out.



Perfect and Flair immediately go to double-teaming Savage, trying to damage the knee further. Warrior clears them out and chases them to the back. Warrior is pissed to have won by countout. He heads outside to grab the championship belt, slowly enters the ring, helps Savage up and gives him the belt and raises his hand. The two bury the hatchet here and become allies.



Flair and Perfect cut a promo backstage about how Flair should have been the one getting a title shot here anyway, and how he was going to get the title. They say "there was a plan A, and now it's onto plan B." This may have been rooted in truth, since it's been long believed that Warrior was scheduled to turn heel here but pulled the plug on it before the event and thus turned Perfect and Flair's involvement into just trolling the match and hurting everybody.

Result: Ultimate Warrior via countout (28:00)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: My evolution on this match is as follows: the first time I saw it, I thought it was pretty damn boring. I watched it for the second time a couple of months ago and thought, "Wow, that was way better than I remembered. That was a really good match." This viewing leveled things out a bit, as it's a good match but probably not "really good." ***

SummerSlam '92: IC Title - Bret Hart (c) vs. British Bulldog

Date: August 29, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31303263

Background: This wasn't a personal feud. They declared British Bulldog the #1 contender to the IC Title, and then for the first time mentioned that they were brothers-in-law. The setup was about the family being split over the match.

The Match: Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan announcing. Bulldog comes to the ring with Lennox Lewis as a display of some British solidarity; the match takes place in Wembley Stadium. Wembley is definitely hot for this one.



The two men slowly circle each other, have a staredown, and trade a couple of light shoves to break the ice right away. A tie-up, and Bulldog powers Bret into the corner. Once more into the collar-and-elbow, becomes a Davey Boy side headlock, a rope-running sequence, and a running shoulderblock from the Bulldog that sends Bret walking.

As Bret returns, Vince comments, "A lesser man would have been counted out after that!" Wat. After a garden-variety shoulderblock? Go home, Vince. Side headlock takeover by Bret, Bulldog transitions into a headscissor, Bret escapes. Same sequence starts with a side headlock takeover, Bulldog attempts the same counter, but Bret avoids it. Back to their feet, Bret surprises Davey with a small package for two. Then another. Those having failed, he returns to the side headlock back on the mat.

Davey escapes out into a hammerlock, and drives multiple knees into Bret. The Hitman elbows his way out of the hold and gets the leverage back, executing an arm-wringer and holding him in an armbar. Davey flips out and counters into his own armbar. Both back to their feet, they run the ropes again, Bulldog double-legs him to the mat and then monkey-flips him into the corner. Back to working that left arm. You know, the left arm isn't even the one he drops the middle rope elbow with. You're not even going to take away an intermediate move of doom. But I shouldn't apply normal logic, he's the British Bulldog and he's bizarre.



Bret whips Davey into the ropes, Davey jumps up and locks up Bret in a crucifix pinning combo on the way back. Two. Nice sequence, as Davey applies armbar, Bret gets enough separation to bodyslam him, Davey never lets go of the hold and cinches it back in even tighter. Hart throws his brother-in-law into the ropes and knees him on the way back. The Brits noticeably boo Bret for the first time in the match. I wonder if they book the result here differently if not for the locale, since this title belonged to Shawn Michaels within a month or two anyway.

Reverse chinlock by Bret. Davey stands him up, tries to elbow his way free, but Bret sends him into the ropes and plants a back elbow in his face on the way back. Inverted atomic drop by the IC Champ. Whips Bulldog into the ropes, Bulldog jumps up for another crucifix, but Bret counters into a Samoan drop. And another rest hold, as the reverse chinlock resumes. They get a close angle and Bret is giving some instructions. The apparent story on this match is that Bulldog got to the ring and forgot all of what they had planned, so they just had to call it in the ring. It shows here, given the early excess of holds.

Back to their feet, running the ropes, Bret with a shoulderblock, then runs through a leapfrog, then gets flipped over by Bulldog's feet as he drops to his back. Bulldog sends him into the corner, charges in, and takes a STIFF boot to the face. Bret follows with a bulldog, the wrestling move variety, then heads up top. He was up pretty quickly, but still gets caught and thrown off. Davey is off the top instead, but goes for a diving headbutt and lands it on a big pile of nothing.



Slam attempt by Bret, Davey escapes behind, Davey runs Bret toward the ropes, Bret slips out and Davey's own momentum carries him to the outside. Boos getting louder for Bret, as I think he's enjoying the negative reaction a bit for this match. Bret goes for a pescado, Davey was too close to the apron, and Bret grabs him around the neck on the way down and slams him to the floor with him. I can't tell if that was designed or a great reaction to a botch, but either way it came off looking good. Bret hoists Bulldog up horizontally and slams him back-first into the post.

The champion continues the methodical assault, rolling Davey Boy back inside and then whipping him hard into the corner. Davey sells a back injury out of that, and Bret immediately capitalizes it with a clubbing blow to the lower back. Russian legsweep gets two. Back up, Hart throws a series of uppercuts and then delivers a standing dropkick. Whip to the ropes and a backdrop. Again, a pin for two. Back into the chinlock.



Back up, Bret connects with a suplex before returning to the chinlock. Not gonna lie, I don't even really know what the chinlock is supposed to do. I understand that having a bulky arm near your larynx isn't great, but I mean…whatever. Back up, Bret throws one right hand, then on the second one Davey catches his arm and spins into a backslide for a two-count. Bret clobbers him the second he escapes, then executes a backbreaker. Middle rope elbow executed flawlessly; should have been working THAT arm earlier, Davey.

Bret picks the challenger up by the hair and slams him down. Boos rain down. Bret, undeterred, throws a right hand and a headbutt before returning him to the rest hold to talk over the next spot. The two trade punches, but Bret ducks Davey's, spins him around, and applies a sleeper. Bulldog starts to fade, but manages to get a rope break. Bret is very slow to break there, and functionally seems to be heeling it up a bit for the occasion to lean into the crowd reaction.



Back into a sleeper. I really don't remember this match being this ****ing slow. Again Davey fades in the sleeper, we do the "raise his arm three times and he keeps it up the third time" thing, Bulldog manages to get enough of an adrenaline shot to stand up and ram Bret back-first into the corner. Twice. The two slug at each other, Davey raises Bret for a press slam, then falls back toward the ropes and drops him far too early so that Bret falls awkwardly against the middle ropes. Bulldog ****ed that up.

Multiple running clotheslines by the Brit, the last of which is followed by a pinning attempt for two. Press slam for another two. Delayed suplex. Two. Bret whipped into the corner, and he takes the hard chest-first bump. I always did like that he and Owen did that. Davey plays to the crowd, wastes some time, slowly picks Bret back up, and lifts him for the patented running powerslam. That was Davey's finisher, but Bret kicks out.



Hitman attempts to escape to the apron, but Bulldog stops him and goes for the suplex back in. Bret escapes behind and lands on his feet, then executes a beauty of a German suplex on the challenger. Two-count. Bret attempts to follow with a suplex, but it's Davey's turn to block. He stands Bret up on the corner, climbs up with him, and then powers through a superplex. Still just two.

Rope-running leads to Davey ducking a clothesline and the two colliding with a double clothesline on the way back. As the two are laid out, Bret has the presence of mind to reach his legs over and lock them in together. Spins the Bulldog to his stomach and then straightens up with the Sharpshooter fully locked in. Bulldog is able to power his way to the bottom rope.

Both slow to get back up. Bret throws a forearm at Davey against the ropes, then whips him toward the other. Davey reverses the whip, Bret goes for a sunset flip on the way back, Davey wraps up Bret's legs and sits forward to trap him in the winning pinning combo, 1-2-3. New IC Champion, as the crowd goes bonkers. Such a great and iconic ending.



The referee hands the belt to the Bulldog. A dejected Hitman sits up, disgusted. He teases a couple of times at just walking out instead of shaking Davey's hand, but thinks better of it and finally shakes his hand and embraces him in the middle of the ring. Bret's sister/Davey's wife Diana joins them in the ring, hugs all around, and SummerSlam signs off.



Result: British Bulldog via pinfall (25:40)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: I mean…meh. This doesn't hold up as well as I had hoped. I hadn't watched it in quite some time, but remembered it really fondly, and it's half-decent but not great. I fully expected to continue disagreeing with iso about this match, and I'm sure I still like it better than he does, but without even knowing what exactly it is he hates about it, I can understand. There was a LOT of going into rest holds, discussing what to do next, doing a spot, back into the hold, discuss the next spot, do it, and so on. Very little of this felt organic. That said, there were a few really nice spots and the ending is elite, so I came out of the end of it feeling quite a bit better about it than I was feeling at about the 15-minute mark. ***

Stopping for the moment, but next on my list is a match that I think I somehow haven't watched for all this time for some reason, Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels from Survivor Series '92. Been looking forward to seeing that one.

Much like the match you posted above, the HBK/Bret match was well received at the time but just hasn't aged well.

Okay. Well I'm relatively sure I'm going into it fresh, so I suppose we'll see what it does for me as a blank slate. I see that Meltzer gave it a full 4.5 stars.

Speaking of potentially aging badly, I see that the Flair vs. Perfect "Loser Leaves Town" match from early '93 is coming up relatively shortly, and I remember panning it as a match that I loved at the time but didn't enjoy much at all when I wrote it up for my Hennig tribute thread. While I've been copy/pasting most of my work from those threads when available, I'm pretty sure I'll give it a fresh look again when I get to it here in the project, and give it a new writeup. I was just so surprised that I didn't like it last time that I'm inclined to give it another look.

It's not that. I watched it live and thought it was really good but certainly not epic. Probably in the ***1/2-**** range imo.

This has been really fun btw, a fair bit of WCW stuff I'd forgotten about.

Okay, well my expectations for that match are officially driven down at this point, which is probably a good thing for my viewing experience. Hopefully I'll like it.

Thanks, yeah I'm enjoying myself, and glad I went with chronological for the order I watched these in. Not sure I would have loved that War Games match nearly as much if I hadn't been watching the Dangerous Alliance thing build during the course of the matches that ran up to it.

Three matches left in '92.