WAR GAMES: WCW’s Most Notorious Matches – Disc Two

 

-Dusty talks about how when JCP was bought by Turner and how the only person who could keep War Games alive in this corporate structure was Eric Bischoff, who only say it as a commodity to drain dry.  But, Dusty isn’t bitter.  Oh no.

 

February 24, 1991

Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham and Larry Zybszko vs. Sting, Brian Pillman and The Steiner Brothers

Pillman and Windham start for their teams.  Off of the whip, Pillman hits a flying clothesline and hits a cage assisted hurricanrana.  Pillman chops in the corner, and then hits a missile dropkick.  Pillman misses a crossbody, but goes low on Windham and tosses him into the cage.  Brian repeatedly smashes and rubs Barry’s face against the cage.  Barry bleeds.  Brian gets brutal, biting away at the cut.  Barry cowers into the corner as his Brian approaches, foe’s blood on his lips.

Brian punches away in the corner, and takes another bite of the forehead.  Brian keeps up the assault, and hits a clothesline from the top rope and launches him into the other ring.  Pillman begins to work Barry’s knee.  Windham fights back and they slug it out.  Pillman hits a right hand from the second turnbuckle.  Windham’s face is a mess.  The Horsemen win the toss, and Flair enters.  Brian wins a chop battle and pounds away until Flair and Windham run him shoulder first, into the wall.  Flair tosses him into the other ring now, and they both slowly tear him apart.

Brian is wearing a wrap around his shoulder, and according to Jim Ross, should not be out there due to injury.  Ross talks about how Brian is the smallest man in the match, but is the toughest and shows the most heart.  Jim is doing a terrific job of selling Brian Pillman.

Sting enters the ring and takes both Barry and Ric down with a double clothesline.  Sting hits the bulldog on Windham and Flair as Pillman gets back to his feet.  Sting no sells some chops and hits the Stinger Splash.  Larry is the next man in for the Horsemen.  He is greeted with a flying Sting.  The numbers catch up.  Rick is next and Barry and Ric greet him.  They get Steinerlines for their efforts.  Rick hits a belly to belly suplex on Ric and runs him into the cage.  Flair is lacerated, now.

Sid Vicious is the last man in for The Horsemen and he goes after Steiner and holds him up for a Flair kick to the nuts.  Rick no sells a run into the cage wall from Z and goes back after Flair.  There’s a good view of blood stained chain-link from Windham’s gusher as the heels take control in the first ring.  Flair flops to his face after Sting throws him into the wall.  Scott is last in and hits the double Steinerline on Ric and Barry.  He follows up hits a Tiger Bomb on Larry.  Sting puts the Scorpion Death Lock on Flair.  Flair escapes.

Sid takes a knee to the nuts from Pillman, and the faces all place the heels into figure four leglocks.  Sting presses Flair into the cage and slams him to the mat.  Vicious obliterates Rick with a clothesline, but Rick comes back with one of his own.  Barry joins Sid and they hit double clothesline after double clothesline.  There’s a great shot over J.R.’s shoulder of him calling the match with Zybzsko howling in agony just inches away.  Flair and Pillman have a chopfest that devolves into them choking each other before Pillman takes a bite of his forehead.

Sid comes after Brian and hits him with the Powerbomb, dropping him right on his damned head and shoulders.  Sid hits another as Brian is already out.  El Gigante tears the cage door off and comes into the ring to check on Pillman.  The match is stopped, as Brian cannot continue at about 22:00. El Gigante carries Brian out of the arena, and after the dust has settled, Referee Nic Patrick explains his decision to stop the match.  Jim and Dusty put over the fight of Brian Pillman.

Final Thoughts:  I’m not sure if I’m going to see a better War Games match in this set.  It was intense, brutal and told a great story for Brian Pillman.  There was terrific talent in the ring, and they all worked hard to show great hatred for each other, but the match never broke down into simply chokes and boots.  ****1/2 for me.

 

-Dusty talks about how the wrestlers of the 90s really took to War Games and wanted to follow in the footsteps of the original matches.  Switching topics, he talks about how proud he is when he sees his sons Dustin and Cody wrestling.  While he enjoyed Dustin getting his feet wet in War Games, nothing topped his enjoyment of watching his sons face off for ninety seconds at The Royal Rumble.

 

May 17, 1992

Sting’s Squadron – Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat and Barry Windham vs. The Dangerous Alliance – Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Larry Zybszko and Rick Rude

Stunning Steve and Barry start off and the two of them trade right hands.  Barry blocks a toss into the cage and slams Steve.  Barry misses an elbow and Austin throws some shoulders in the corner.  Austin hits a back body drop.  Barry comes back and tosses Austin into the other ring.  Austin avoids the cage wall but takes a DDT from Barry.  Austin fights back and hits a flying clothesline on Windham, sending them into the other ring.  Austin hangs from the top of the cage, and Windham dumps him back to the mat.  Barry finally tosses Austin into the cage wall.  Barry rakes Austin’s face against the steel and Austin is busted open.  I’d say that his bloodletting rivals his amount from WM13.  Barry takes a bite of the forehead.  I love that sick spot.

Barry hits a knee lift and The Dangerous Alliance wins the coin toss.  Rude enters the ring.  Rick drives the shoulders in the corner, but Windham fights back.  Austin slows Windham down with a clothesline from the top.  They both toss Barry into the walls of the cage.  Steamboat is next.  Ricky is a house of fire, sending the two into the cage before hitting DDTs on both.  Steamboat takes Rude down in a ‘rana and punches away at Rude.  Arn Anderson is next in, and he immediately DDTs Windham.  He rushes over to the next ring and gives Steamboat the Spinebuster.  Rude and Anderson put a double Boston Crab on Steamboat.

Barry is bleeding as he returns to get pummeled.  Rude hits a piledriver on Steamboat.  Steamboat gets tossed into the other ring.  He and Rude battle and both go down to a double clothesline.

Dustin is in now, and battles with Arn.  Austin gets hit with an atomic drop that smashes his head against the top and gets his head taken off with a clothesline.  Barry traps Arn’s head between the rings, while Steamboat and Rude battle over a figure four.  Larry Z is next but immediately gets walloped by Dustin.  At the same time, Madusa climbs to the top of the cage and drops in an object.  Sting chases her to the top, but she returns to the floor after the job is complete.

Inside, the heels are in firm, bloody control.  Dustin is opened up.  Meanwhile, Steamboat and Rude are having a classic encounter by themselves.  Sting flies into the match and takes out the heels with bulldogs and presses into the cage.  Arn and Austin both take big bumps into the cage from Sting.  Arn’s face is opened up after Sting grinds him into the cage.  Sting and Steamboat pull and tear at Rude between the rings, as Bobby Eaton enters, and batters away with a taped fist.  The Dangerous Alliance work to remove the top turnbuckle.

Koloff runs in to even the teams once and for all.  Koloff goes after his old friend Arn and helps Sting to his feet.  They then work together and share a big manly hug before continuing the fight, burying their old hatchet.  Nikita actually got his face splattered with Arn’s blood after prying him off of Sting.  This is probably the bloodiest of the War Games.  It’s everywhere.

Finally, the top rope is removed.  Dustin goes up, but misses an elbow from the top on Austin.  Larry has Bobby hold up Sting as he approaches with the exposed steel from the detached ring rope, but accidently hits Bobby in the upper arm.  Sting locks an armbar to Bobby’s newly injured shoulder, and Eaton quickly submits at about 24:00.

Final Thoughts:  There was so much animosity, so many intertwining stories, so much blood, and so much strategy in this match.  Then, toss in Hall of Fame talent from every direction.  I haven’t been spoiled by the original having Jesse Ventura on commentary, so I think that I can say that this match is ***** and I’ll be watching it again, and again, and again.

 

-Dusty talks about how, he feels, as the nineties wore on, that War Games were on the way out.  He felt that it was about using it as a way of popping a number and not as it was originally intended to finish a story and even the score.

 

September 19, 1993

Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes and The Shockmaster vs. Sid Vicious, Vader and Harlem Heat

Outside of his infamous debut, I never thought about the run of Shockmaster.  I’m not sure if the Stormtrooper helmet and glittery cape is any worse than him wrestling as some sort of construction worker.  Maybe he’s an electrician?  Vader starts the match with Dustin, who snuck in against his teams wishes, as his ribs are taped.  Dustin takes control in the beginning, beating down at Vader.  Dustin takes off his boot and pummels Vader with it.  Vader comes back with a clothesline and hammers Dustin in the corner.

Dustin fights back with a forearm, but goes back down to a shot to the side and a slam.  Vader crushes Dustin with a Vader Bomb.  Rhodes comes back with right hands and a DDT.  The heels win the coin toss, again.  Dustin catches Vader coming off the second rope and hits a powerslam.  Stevie Ray enters.  With help from Vader, Stevie hits Dustin in the head with his own boot.  Dustin is opened up and left alone as Sting enters.  A double clothesline hits and Sting cleans house, hitting a Stinger Splash on Vader.  Sting continues to beat away at Vader while Dustin goes back to using the damned boot on Stevie.

Sting sends Vader into the cage a couple of times before Sid Vicious enters.  Sid quickly hits a chokeslam on Sting.  Vader uses the boot on Sting before Sid chokes away in the ropes.  Sting fights back with a bulldog, but gets triple teamed and pressed into the cage ceiling.  Davey Boy enters and hits a clothesline on Sid.  Vader comes off the top and gets slammed by Bulldog.  I’m not sure what inspired Bulldog’s attire from this era.  Sting and Bulldog pressed Sid into the roof before Vader steps in.  Booker T steps in and goes after the weak link of Dustin.

Booker T grabs Davey, who sits at the top, and slams him down.  Booker T nearly kills himself going for a hilo from ring to ring.  Dustin puts Sid in a Figure Four as Shockmaster enters.  He’s just out of place as he clobbers people.  Shockmaster puts Booker T in a bearhug and eventually, Booker submits at about 17:00.  The worst part is that Stevie was very much aware of what was happening, but never went to help him.  Davey should have at least reversed in the corner instead of making Stevie look like an idiot.

Final Thoughts:  Well…this was a big letdown from the year before.  Then again, it shouldn’t be a letdown.  Going in, I’m betting that people didn’t have high hopes for this match.  The boot strikes lost affect after the first twenty or so.  I like to think that in this match, you need to have guys that have the endurance to be in the match.  Unfortunately, a lot of this match stood still.  The finish was really just insulting.  **.   Road Warrior Animal served as Sting’s team advisor, and his lack of emotion throughout the presentation served to spell it out.

 

-Dusty talks about coming back to team up with his son, and how Robert Parker was hit so hard by The Nasty Boys that he crapped his pants.  Does a guy crapping his pants adversely affect my feelings towards the match as a whole?

 

September 18, 1994

Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes and The Nasty Boys vs. Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck and Colonel Robert Parker

Dustin and Arn start the match.  Dustin comes off of the top after a retreat by Arn, hitting a clothesline and giving the PPV audience a wonderful view of his taint.  They circle after Arn blocks a toss into the cage.  Dustin slams the back of Arn’s head into the cage and hits a backbody drop.  Dustin hits the big boot, sending Arn between the rings.  Dustin drives him headfirst into the crevice.  The slug it out between the rings before Dustin leaps across with a clothesline.  Dustin gets a cage assisted dropkick and hits the elbow.  Dustin kicks Arn in the groin and hits a clothesline.  Arn hits a DDT off the whip and punches away at Dustin.  They slug it out after an Arn clothesline, and Dustin hits a dropkick.  Dustin puts on a half crab after Arn misses an enzuigiri.

Bunkhouse Buck comes in and hits a big boot and stomps.  On a whip, Arn and Buck double team on a back elbow and toss Dustin into the cage.  Arn and Buck throw on a double Boston crab.  Sags is next and he hits a double clothesline.  He slams Arn and then picks up and slams Buck into the cage.  Jerry hits a piledriver on Buck and follows with a headbutt to the groin.  Dustin uses a sleeper on Arn.  Sags chokelifts Buck and presses him against the cage roof.  Funk attempts to throw a chair over the top of the cage and into the ring.  Yeah.

He comes in, stumbling around and using his cowboy boot as a melee weapon.  Funk goes after Dustin and drives his face into the cage in front of Dusty.  Terry gets crotched on the ropes.  Funk takes a piledriver between the rings and falls in between them.  Christ!  Knobbs enters and immediately meets the heels, tossing them all into the cage and dragging Arn’s face against the mesh.  Funk takes some hard boot shots and comically falls to his back.  Parker enters…very slowly.  Parker hurts his hand punching Dustin.

Arn hits the Spinebuster on Knobbs as Parker whips Sags with a belt.  Dustin whips the heels with a belt, the crowd enjoying it.  Dusty enters, taking on a triple team and tosses them all into the cage.  The faces converge on Parker and Knobbs splashing him in the corner.  Dusty puts Parker in the figure four leglock and the Nasty Boys rain down elbows.  Parker submits at about 19:00, the back of his white pants suddenly tan.

Final Thoughts:  They made the right decisions when laying out this match.  They had Arn and Dustin start off and have a good encounter.  Arn led Buck during the double team portions, and had Dusty and Parker in there for only a short while.  Funk went crazy once inside, and was highly entertaining.  I’d give this match **3/4.

 

Photo Courtesy of WWE