Sage Cortez
So, Capital Combat. Robocop. Lex Luger. Ric Flair. Sting. The Four Horsemen. Everything seemed to be coming together in a way that would make for a dynamite card. Except for that Robocop thing. Maybe even with that Robocop thing. As you may be able to tell, I’ve never watched this show before. They changed the card around a lot, and some things about it were definitely not ideal, but in the end, it did look like a good card with a great main event. One problem is, when I get my expectations this high for a show I haven’t watched, I’m always let down. As for the potential for disaster quotient that always hits these cards, there was no air conditioning in the building. Lex Luger was also in the hospital until right before the show. Imagine if they had to cancel this main event.
– May 19th, 1990, from D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C.
This introduction video looks like some weird spy stuff. Good vibe they have going on. Hilarious this is dubbed “The Return of Robocop.” Absolute insanity. Tony Schiavone is in some sort of hosting role, probably not a commentator on this though. Actually, he just said that Jim Ross and Bob Caudle were doing that. After a playing of the national anthem, it’s time for some wrestling. Apparently in the Midnight Express vs. Zenk and Pillman match, Jim Cornette will be locked in a cage. They also scheduled another Steiners vs. Doom match. That…is a tough sell.
Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan, and Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) vs. Norman the Lunatic & the Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match is so weird, it’s hard to even put down thoughts about it. The heel team actually makes some sense. I can see these three guys teaming up, they’re crazy looking, a bit freaky, and all weird. The babyfaces don’t match at all, but the Road Warriors had to have something lined up for this show. I’m sure at this point it was planned for them to leave, but I don’t want to spoil this PPV for myself so I don’t want to look it up right now. This match would have made more sense if it was Abdullah and the Road Warriors. The Road Warriors rode bitch to the ring again. Not that I’d ever say that to their faces.
Match Review: Cactus and Animal will begin the match by locking up, and Animal takes him down with a powerslam after some running by Cactus. Animal nails him with a big boot, then tags in Hawk for a running clothesline. Bigelow tags in as well, this is a sick matchup. They lock up, and Bigelow misses a punch, but they trade for a bit until a Hawk dropkick. Sullivan tags in, and Hawk nails him with a clothesline as well. Cactus makes his way back in, as does Norman. Norman hits Cactus with a splash in the corner, and drops a leg on him. Norman wants to fight with Bigelow, but Animal tags right in. Bigelow misses a diving headbutt, then Animal clotheslines him over the top and both guys land on their feet. Sick spot. Hawk tags in, and so does Cactus. Cactus goes for the CACTUS CLOTHESLINE, but Hawk ducks and Cactus flies over the top on his own. Hawk flies off the apron with a clothesline to him, and sends him flying head over heels into the front row! Hawk then threw the wooden steps at Cactus for good measure. Haha. Norman and Sullivan tag back in there, and Norman runs right into a boot. Sullivan double stomps him, then draws Hawk into the ring, allowing Bigelow to switch in. He hits Norman with a shoulder, and suplexes him for 2. Sullivan heads back in, and bodyslams Norman. Here comes Cactus, and he heads up top for a double axehandle. He then flies over the top with a move that wrenches Norman’s neck up against the rope, and nearly lands on his head when falling out of the ring. This guy was too much. Sullivan tags back in, draws both Road Warriors in, and that sets Norman up for a double team. Bigelow tags back in, and backdrops Norman. Cactus comes back in for a distraction that allows Norman to be doubled up on, then he takes Norman down for a knee drop. Norman hits him with a big right hand, and tags in Animal. Animal dropkicks Cactus, and hits him with a flying shoulderblock for 2. All six guys are in now, and Hawk winds up hitting Sullivan with a clothesline from the top to win the match at 9:38.
My Thoughts: Cactus Jack took a series of absurd bumps in this one. I don’t know why he did it when the company didn’t even want to use him. It doesn’t make any sense when it comes to his life quality. I don’t listen to anything Foley says now, but I wonder if he’d take it all back. Anyway, because of that, the match was good. He worked extraordinarily hard. As for the Road Warriors being in this match, they performed well although this was a major step down from things they had been doing. **3/4.
Mean Mark Callous (w/Teddy Long) vs. Johnny Ace
Pre-Match Thoughts: Yes, I should get to see one of these matches with a heart punch finish! I wasn’t too sure if I would. Douglas was gone, so Ace was a singles wrestler for however long he stuck around, which wasn’t long at all. Haven’t gotten any sort of good look at Callous, but this will work. They moved the PPV along so fast that the heels from the last match weren’t even gone when Callous walked to the ring. As the title says, Teddy Long was still the manager of Mean Mark.
Match Review: Mean Mark gets in the face of his opponent, only for Ace to put a headlock on him. Ace’s shoulderblocks do nothing to him, and Callous subsequently clotheslines him. He misses a big leaping elbow drop, and Ace dropkicks him to knock him out of the ring. Ace follows him out with a SUICIDE DIVE, I wasn’t expecting that at all. It didn’t even get a pop from the crowd though. Callous gets back in there, and they fight over a wristlock. Callous goes at Ace with a knee, then misses two charges to the corner and Ace drops him with a cross body from the top rope for 2. Ace uses an arm drag, and Callous hits him on the break. Long gets in some kicks as Ace is on the floor, then Callous rams Ace into the apron and steps. Callous then suplexes Ace when Ace gets back in the ring, and it was a delayed suplex at that, for 2. Long snuck in a right hand, which made Ace pretty angry. So he follows Long around the ring, and Callous attacks Ace from behind. They get back in the ring, and Callous drops him with a flying clothesline for 2. He goes to a chinlock, which Ace powers out of with some elbows only to run into a big boot. Callous picks Ace up for a bodyslam, then drops the leg on him for 2. Ace tries a small package out of nowhere, it gets 2. Callous then avoids a dropkick and gets a 2 count, and Ace tries a charge to the corner after he lands some punches, only to miss it. Long then chokes Ace, but Ace blocks a backdrop and lands his dropkick. He follows that with a monkey flip and another dropkick. Ace hits Callous with a clothesline, and signals for his finish, whatever that is. Callous gets up, ducks under a cross body, and hits Ace with THE HEART PUNCH. YOU’RE DONE, SON. Mean Mark then climbs the turnbuckles, walks across the top rope, and drops an elbow on Ace for the pinfall at 10:41.
My Thoughts: Anyone can see the star quality of Callous as a wrestler. He needed more experience, and he didn’t have any character that would lend himself to becoming a top guy…but he had what it takes in the ring. On that subject, his early work as the Undertaker shows that he had what it takes too. He was all about the gimmick, and he owned that shit. Made me think it was real when I was a kid, anyway. Ace also did well in this match, but to say the crowd didn’t care about him would be an understatement. The match was good time filler and got me thinking about what would have happened if there had never been an Undertaker. **.
Gordon Solie is in the back looking for Sting, but cops are guarding the door to keep people from getting in. Thus, neither will he.
Tony Schiavone is with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, who are talking about the CORPORAL PUNISHMENT MATCH. Time for some whippings to be handed down. This was a really good promo, where they dropped lines about wanting to win the tag titles again, and that the Freebirds should have been whipped by their mothers. They also mentioned Lex Luger having a staph infection and being in the hospital.
The Samoan Swat Team vs. Tommy Rich & Captain Mike Rotunda
Pre-Match Thoughts: I thought for sure that the Samoans would be gone by this point. This match just seems like a total dead zone. Nobody is going to give a shit. They followed the traditional format with a hot opener, but didn’t follow that up with the next two matches. It’s like they wanted to kill the crowd before getting to the matches that mattered. Rich and Rotunda looked like a pair of dorks. Throwing them together against an established team and expecting people to care was bad booking. This is the version of the team with Fatu and the Samoan Savage.
Match Review: The bell rang, but there’s a hell of a lot of stalling going on here. Awful time filler. Why would they mention El Gigante being signed to a wrestling contract? That’s like…giving away that some shit might go down. Rich and the Savage lock up, Rich is looking to be in a lot better shape and nowhere near as bad looking anymore. He actually looks like a wrestler who belongs in a major promotion. Rich gives the Savage a cross body for 2, and Rotunda tags in during more stalling. Rotunda needs to shave his chest, he has some shit going on there. Fatu tagged in as well, and Rotunda smashed his face into the mat. After some dropkicks by Rotunda, Fatu tumbles out of the ring. The Savage tags in, and gets taken down with a dropkick as well. Rotunda drops an elbow on him, and brings in Rich for a punch from the second rope. The Savage powerslams Rich, and Fatu tags in for a headbutt from the top that misses. Rotunda tags in there, and goes to work on the left arm. He takes Fatu down with an arm drag, then Rich switches in illegally to do it as well. Fatu accidentally hits his partner after a spot where Rich ducked under an illegal punch, but the Samoans hug and make up. Rotunda tags in for an elbow from the top, and goes back to the arm. Look, I’ve never really mentioned this here…but Mike Rotunda is a sweater. Big time. It’s pretty gross. The Savage plants him with a side slam, and they use a wishbone when the ref is distracted. Fatu suplexes Rotunda for 2, then throws him out of the ring. At first I thought Rotunda was thrown over the top. He wasn’t, but the Savage hits him with a superkick. Rotunda rolls back in and Fatu clotheslines him, then tags out. The Savage puts Rotunda in a front face-lock, and Rotunda makes a tag only for the referee to not see it. So, thanks to the distraction, Rotunda gets thrown over the top rope. Fatu cracks Rotunda with another superkick, then tags in legally. After more working of the front face-lock, Rotunda powers out and lands a flying back elbow. This was awful as he could have made the tag and didn’t. Bad spot. The Savage tags in and puts a chinlock on him, and they do a fake tag spot. This match is horrible. The SST gives Rotunda a double backdrop for 2, then Rotunda clotheslines the Savage. Can he just fucking tag and get this over with? Yes, he does.
Rich comes in with a dropkick, and backdrops the Savage as well. He beats up Fatu in the corner, as Rotunda dropkicks the Savage over the top. Rich slaps a sleeper on Fatu, and the referee goes to get Rotunda out of the ring. When he does that, the Savage leaps off the top with a double axehandle on Rich that wins the match after a pin at 17:55.
My Thoughts: This match was too long, and the heat segment was so long that it couldn’t possibly get any heat at all. I thought this was a terrible watch, nearly killed my enthusiasm for the card. I don’t have a lot good to say about this. There were no botches, which is a good thing. There was also little excitement and the fans couldn’t care less about either team. DUD, and I rarely give them out for long matches.
The Steiner Brothers have an interview before their match later in the show, and Rick Steiner’s still doing the brain damaged thing. I didn’t quite realize that.
Teddy Long vs. Paul Ellering in a HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is dumb as hell. These guys have very little hair. Ellering has grown some, but still. Terrible. I can’t even think up some bullshit to write. This won’t be like the match between Cornette and Dangerously from the previous year. I think there’s absolutely no chance of that. For some reason, Missy Hyatt is the guest ring announcer for this match. The crowd likes that. Long looks hilarious with his boxing outfit on and boxing gloves, what a guy.
Match Review: Long attacks Ellering with his boxing gloves, and we’re underway. Haha. He celebrates those weak punches, then knocks Ellering down for a 2 count. Ellering grabs hold of Long’s neck, and Long seems to load his glove up for a right hand that gets 2. Ellering tries to rip the glove off, and there it goes. He hits Long with a back elbow, and bodyslams him. Ellering then grabs the glove, and knocks Long out with it for the victory at 1:58.
It’s time for Long to get what’s left of his hair shaved off! A professional hair stylist is there to do it, hopefully he doesn’t take too long. He didn’t even cut it all off, what the fuck?
My Thoughts: This was actually better than the last match in that it entertained me. It was comedy and it was barely wrestling at all, but the crowd didn’t seem to have a big problem with it either. I thought the segment was overall fine until the barber didn’t cut off all of Long’s hair. C’mon, that’s bait and switch stuff. They have to give customers what they paid to see, and that definitely wasn’t it. 1/4*.
Now we have Sid Vicious, Ole Anderson, and Arn Anderson with Tony Schiavone. Please give Sid a chance to talk. Ole talks about Luger winding back up in a hospital if he goes through with his cage match tonight. Ric Flair then shows up to talk, so we have the full Four Horsemen complement! This is a winning segment, something that was missing from their previous PPV offerings. Arn cut the money promo of the bunch, and Sid didn’t get to speak. Poor guy.
The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) vs. The Z-Man & Brian Pillman for the NWA United States Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: This combination could lead to a barnburner. My hype levels are sufficient after the angle they did leading into this match. Perhaps the NWA didn’t acknowledge it, but I don’t watch all of their television, so I don’t even care. This has the hallmarks of being a classic. Four guys who have a reason to work hard, two of them being really young guys who wanted to move up the card. I almost forgot that Jim Cornette had to go hide in a cage. That angle always works.
Match Review: All four guys start fighting, and Cornette’s still not in the cage. Pillman chases him into being knocked down by the referee, and now he’ll be thrown in there by Pillman and Zenk. That’s a good spot. Pillman and Eaton will wrestle with each other, and they trade bombs until Pillman has a cradle blocked and comes back with a dropkick. Lane runs in and gets hip tossed, then both of the Express get slammed. Pillman and Zenk monkey flip their opponents, and Zenk gives him a noggin-knocker leading to a double AIR PILLMAN. Things then calm down, and we have Zenk in there with Stan Lane. Zenk eats a kick, then comes back with a series of arm drags. Eaton tries to set up him for a double team, but Lane accidentally hits his partner. Zenk dropkicks Lane, then clears him from the ring. This cage not being raised is going to lead to some nonsense, I’m sure of it. Pillman tags in there, and tries a sunset flip that gets 2. He uses his own arm drag, but Lane goes to the eyes and tags out. So, Pillman takes Eaton down with an arm drag. Eaton comes back with punches, and uses his own sunset flip that Pillman rolls through. Eaton then monkey flips him and Pillman flips through that to land a dropkick. Great spot. Lane tags in and gets arm dragged, then Zenk tags in too. Lane takes him down and misses an elbow drop, then it’s…back to the arm drag for Zenk. Zenk atomic drops Lane into Eaton, and Lane has to go for some advice from Cornette. Zenk uses another fucking arm drag, and Eaton tags in for another one. This is actually entering the realms of somewhat absurd. Still a fun match, just saying. Eaton reverses to a wristlock, and Pillman is forced to tag in. Eaton tries to send him out of the ring, but Pillman climbs up to the apron and springboards back in with a top rope sunset flip for 2. Zenk tags back in for a double backdrop, then winds up trapped in the corner. Lane accidentally backdrops Eaton over the top when Eaton takes a charge at Zenk, then Lane gets thrown into Eaton and double hip tossed. Zenk puts Lane in a hammerlock, and Lane gets out with a shot to the gut. Eaton tags in and Zenk bodyslams him for 2, then brings in Pillman. Eaton took Pillman down with a test of strength, but Pillman monkey flips out of it. Pillman then misses a charge and flies over the top, so Eaton gives him a neckbreaker on the floor. Lane hits Pillman with a knee that knocks him from the apron onto the rail, then clotheslines him when he gets back in the ring. That looked really good too. Eaton tags in for a neck snap by Lane and elbow drop by Eaton, it got 2. Eaton follows with a slingshot backbreaker, then brings in Lane for a nice double team punch. Eaton tags back in for the drop toe-hold and elbow drop combo, that also got 2. Lane hits Pillman with a kick to the throat, then sends him back out of the ring for a bit. Pillman gets rammed into the railing again, and comes back in with a sunset flip that gets 2. Eaton cuts Pillman off, and bodyslams him. He heads up top for the first time, and down he comes with a FLYING ELBOW for 2! Looks like Pillman did a slight blade after being rammed into the rail that last time. Maybe not a blade, but blood in any case. Lane tags in and Pillman cradles him up for 1, then gets nailed with a forearm from Lane. Lane bodyslams him, then tags in Eaton for a cover that gets 2. Eaton heads up top again, and this time nothing happens at all. He slams Pillman, then heads up top and nails him with a LEG DROP FROM THE TOP. Pillman showed big heart by kicking out at 2, that’s how you get him over. Pillman flips out of a side slam and drops Eaton with one of his own, and there’s the tag!
Zenk comes in like a house of fire, backdropping Eaton and hitting Lane with an elbow. He puts Lane in the SLEEPER, but Eaton breaks it, leading to a Russian leg sweep by Lane. Eaton tags in and heads up top for the ROCKET LAUNCHER, and there it is! Zenk kicked out at 2! Surprised he was allowed to kick out of that. Eaton misses a charge to the corner and crotches himself, then Zenk tries a cross body from the second rope that gets 2. All four guys are in now, and Lane loads his boot to kick Zenk in the back of the head. Eaton cradles Zenk up, and wins clean (!) after 20:20!
My Thoughts: This is one of the only times I can remember that the Midnight Express actually being put over like they deserved. The announcers didn’t mention the loaded boot, so it seemed like the Express went over even more clean than they did. There were also some flaws with the Pillman/Zenk team. Zenk just wasn’t that good and he had no spots of his own. I think everyone knew it too. When he made the hot tag, the crowd went a bit silent. That was a bit of an issue, as was his repetitive use of certain moves. Obviously, they had the babyfaces kick out of finishers in order to make them jobbing clean seem less bad. It didn’t make them look bad, but Zenk’s work bothers me and probably always will. Pillman on the other hand was amazing. ***3/4 seems to be the consensus, and I agree with it. Very enjoyable match as the weaker part was kept out of it. Just my opinion of course. The Midnight Express also won the match without Jim Cornette!
Next up, we have an interview with STING! Gordon Solie was in the back waiting for him, AND HERE COMES ROBOCOP. YES! This was the best video of it, so that’s what I linked. Sting then walked out to the ring, and the Horsemen jumped him in the aisle! This is hilarious because Robocop was being introduced right as that happened. It just took him so long to get out there that the Horsemen had time to throw Sting in the cage and lock him up. Robocop walks out there to confront the Horsemen, and breaks the bars of the cage and throws the door off to get Sting out of it. The crowd went nuts for this. I found that hard to believe. The Horsemen then exited through the crowd. The story goes that the movie department at Turner wanted Robocop to beat the Horsemen up, and to have the Horsemen bump around for them. If that had happened, it would have killed them. Instead, they “delivered” on what they advertised, even though they really advertised that Robocop would deal with the Horsemen. Really silly all the way around. It also didn’t make sense in the context of the show. Watching it now, it’s funny at least.
Hilariously, they present the Junkyard Dog returning as being a really big deal. They had him in the company just a year before and he didn’t do shit. It’s like they expected their fans to forget how that stint went. It was also stupid to bring him in to face Ric Flair. He couldn’t even work anymore? Jim Cornette runs out there and says that the Midnight Express should be talking right now, and that they finally won the big one. So where’s JYD been? This is a truth bomb. JYD says he’s been in Cornette’s mother’s house, then Cornette tries to distract him for a racket shot. Instead, JYD grabbed the racket and had a few more words to say before leaving. They don’t really get their core audience at all. Their usual crowd would cheer the Midnight Express over JYD 100 times out of 100.
The Fabulous Freebirds vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express in a CORPORAL PUNISHMENT MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: Corporal punishment means these guys are going to beat each other like they beat their kids. The RnR’s had a terrible entrance where they were pushed to the ring on a podium that had a jukebox. Just what the fuck. I’m hyped for this match because the RnR came back on fire, working real hard. Even though the Freebirds were mostly garbage, I know they can get a good match out of them. It doesn’t seem like an impossible task. The straps will be allowed to use in any way possible. That’s…interesting. The Freebirds got fireworks for their entrance!
Match Review: The straps were placed in corners, I think they can use them at any moment. Hayes did his stalling thing, and two old men really got on his case as a result. He then punches Gibson, and Gibson slaps him. Garvin tags in, and so does Ricky Morton. Morton whips Garvin into the corner for a clothesline from Gibson, then knocks him down with one of his own. He followed that with a dropkick, but Garvin comes back with a backdrop. He now has the strap, and Morton clotheslines him. The Express has the straps, and they get to whipping. Crowd enjoyed that. Gibson tags in and puts Garvin in a full nelson, then goes to a headlock until trying a sunset flip that gets 2. Morton tags back in, and takes Garvin down with that headlock. Gibson switches in and puts it on, with no tag made. They switch again, and Garvin misses a charge to the corner. Gibson puts Garvin in a FIGURE-FOUR, and Gibson does the same to Hayes. Funny that spot still worked. Hayes makes a tag in after leaving the ring, and nails Gibson with a back elbow. Hayes finally has the strap, and it’s time for some whipping. Gibson gets his, and the crowd is getting excited. Gibson goes to work for a bit, and Morton got in a few shots too as they cleared the ring. Things normalize and Garvin tags in to face Gibson, dropping him throat-first on the top rope. A knee drop by Garvin gets 2, and he bodyslams Gibson too. Another knee drop gets 2, and Gibson gets thrown out of the ring. Gibson gets back in and tags out after a kick to the chest, so Morton cradles Garvin up for 2. Hayes then hits Morton with a left jab as Morton kicks out, and it only gets 2. Garvin puts Morton in a chinlock, and Hayes flies in with a right hand that gets 2. Back to the chinlock again, with Hayes applying it this time. Morton takes him to the corner for some punches, but runs into a left hand when trying a charge into the other corner. Hayes drops an elbow on him, then a second one gets 2. He gives Morton a bulldog for 2, and Garvin tags in for a chinlock. The match is going a little bit dead here, but Morton gets thrown out of the ring and whipped by Hayes. That will liven it up. Hayes then chokes Morton with the strap, and Garvin slams him back in the ring. Garvin slams him for a second time, and decides to head up top. Morton slams him down, but Hayes tags in first and cuts him off. Morton rams Hayes into the buckle a few times, but eats an elbow. Hayes for for the bulldog again, but Morton picks him up and drops him on his back side.
Gibson makes a tag in, and backdrops Hayes. He puts him in a sleeper too, and all four wind up in there. Morton gets thrown out of the ring, and the Birds double team Gibson for a while. Hayes drops Gibson with a DDT, and Morton posts Garvin on the outside. Hayes goes for the DDT again, but Morton flies off the top rope with a sunset flip that gets the win at 18:31.
My Thoughts: This match was not quite what was advertised. There was very little whipping at all. There’s a reason for that too, and it’s that David Crockett went to a sex shop to buy belts and wound up buying, um…something else. Obviously, this wasn’t quite a strap match, nor could it be given that scenario. It was also too long to be a strap match. The match was really just an acceptable tag match. Nothing great, not much of the stipulation either. I thought the finish was good although Hayes did a bit of shuffling in order to get in the right position. **1/2. Garvin was the bad end of it.
Tony Schiavone is with the world’s strongest man, who apparently is Doug Furnas. WHAT? I didn’t know that he was a power lifter, that explains it. He only talked about Lex Luger and really nothing else. Sting then went to the interview podium and said that Lex Luger was ready, brother. They’re priming Luger to be the champion, they’ve put so many of the babyface wrestlers behind him and all the heels against him.
Doom (w/Teddy Long) vs. The Steiner Brothers for the NWA Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m not looking forward to this match as they’ve done it so many damn times. Couldn’t they think of anything else for the Steiner Brothers to do? Maybe they couldn’t and that’s why we kept getting this match. Doom could really not afford to do another job here, and Butch Reed looked ENORMOUS. He and Simmons were hitting the roids hard, it gave them the look they needed and they have no apparent health problems so I can’t complain about it or anything like that. The Steiners had pyro!
Match Review: Rick rips the du-rag off Long’s head, which gets a funny reaction from the crowd. Why didn’t they shave off the rest of Long’s hair before this match? Very uncool. Long got it back and put it back on, and the match still hasn’t started even though the bell rang minutes ago. Scott pushed the ref out of the way, then these guys traded bombs until Scott ran Simmons over a few times. Scott has a great mullet going on now. He powerslams Simmons, and throws him into the corner for their usual GERMAN SUPLEX spot. Reed tags in, and Jim Ross rattles off the FOOTBALL BACKGROUND. They run into each other, and Scott winds up taking him down with a dropkick and backdrop. Scott then hits both guys with STEINERLINES, and Rick tags in after a period where Doom stalled. Reed and Rick Steiner lock up, and Reed lands some SOUPBONES. A Steinerline gets blocked, and Reed throws Rick out of the ring. He comes back in and lands a Steinerline, which clears Reed out of the ring. Rick follows, and winds up slamming Reed on the floor. Scott rams Reed into the rail, and Reed has to tag out. It’s now Rick Steiner and Ron Simmons in there. Simmons lands some big rights, but Rick drops him with a PILEDRIVER. Rick knocks him out of the ring with a Steinerline, and Scott heads over there to send him into the rail as well. Reed tags in once more, and Scott also tagged in. Scott hip tosses Reed, and picks him up for a running powerslam into the buckle and shoulder-breaker that gets 2. Rick tags in, and gets thrown out of the ring. Finally Doom gets something in. Simmons tosses Rick back in, and both guys tag out. Reed hits Scott with a high knee, then throws him over the top when the ref isn’t paying attention. Simmons rams Scott into the wooden steps, sends him into the rail, and back in he goes. Reed clotheslines Scott and tags out, for a double back elbow by Doom that gets 2. Simmons misses a charge to the corner, but makes a tag out so Scott gets cut off. Reed came in with a double axehandle from the top to do so, and followed with a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Simmons slammed Scott on the floor, then sends him back in for a choke. Scott blocks a Reed suplex and follows with his own, but Simmons tags in and knees Scott to the outside to prevent a tag. Long gets in some right hands thanks to help from Reed, and they get a 2 count from Simmons. Scott tries to get a tag by suplexing Simmons, but once again the tag doesn’t happen. Simmons clotheslines Scott for 2, and brings in Butch Reed for an elbow drop. Reed drops Scott throat-first on the top rope, then gives Scotty a bulldog for 2. Reed follows with a bodyslam, and drops a knee. Now he goes for a PILEDRIVER, and spikes him. Simmons tags in, and knocks Scott down with a big shoulder. Scott gives Simmons a belly to belly suplex, and once again Simmons gets up first to slam Scott’s face into the mat. Scott backdrops Simmons, and takes him down with the FRANKENSTEINER.
THERE’S THE TAG, and Rick comes in like an animal. He hits Reed with a big STEINERLINE, and powerslams him too for 2. Simmons breaks the cover and Scott clotheslines him out of the ring, then the Steiners give Reed a double suplex. Simmons breaks that cover too, and tosses Reed to the outside. Then, Reed picks up Scott, and Simmons jumps down from the second rope with a clothesline that gets 2 after a broken cover. Rick and Reed wind up as the only guys in after the other two tumble out, and Simmons posts Scott Steiner. Rick then goes for a belly to belly from the second rope, but Simmons pulls him down and Reed falls on top for the victory at 19:13! WE HAVE NEW CHAMPIONS! After their victory, they head over to Tony Schiavone to cut a promo. Nice to see these guys get gold in this company after the terrible masked gimmick they were given.
My Thoughts: Great finishing sequence and a really good match to boot. Lot of fun with the power stuff, and it all made sense too. I have no idea what’s next to come with Doom, either. I know about the Horsemen angle near the end of the year, but nothing before that. I think putting the titles on them was wise. They needed to give the Steiners a chance to chase the belts, they had them for long enough. Simmons worked extremely hard too, and for a 19 minute match, I would have expected a lot worse from these guys. No real flaw other than that the match started poorly, and it took a while to get to Doom’s control segment. ***1/4, that was fun.
Lex Luger (NWA US Champion) vs. Ric Flair (w/Woman) for the NWA Championship in a STEEL CAGE MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: People were so hyped to see this match, and the build for it was such that a title change seemed absolutely necessary. Don’t know what to expect as Luger was in the hospital and I’ve never seen this before. It was expected this was going to be the last match between these guys for a long time, no matter who won it. I do find the steel cage moniker funny, by the way. What other kinds of cages do they have? Iron? Titanium? Also, with Doom and the Midnight Express winning, you’d really think they’d send fans home happy. I didn’t think about that until seeing Doom’s promo after their match. Luger looked to be in rough shape and like he lost some weight. The cage was lowered and there was room outside the ring for fighting, which is odd. It’s the THUNDERDOME cage. No idea why Woman was locked in the cage with these guys.
Match Review: The more I look at Luger, the more I think he’s really gaunt, even though he has those muscles. They killed time for a little bit in order for the match to not be so long. Turned out that Woman was hiding an INTERNATIONAL OBJECT in her glove. These guys lock up, and Flair leaves the ring after chopping Luger. Luger then chases him around the ring, and they’re back in it. Luger runs Flair over with a shoulder and lands some punches, then fires out of the corner with a clothesline for 2. Luger suplexes Flair, and Flair tries to come back with shoulderblocks only to be given a press slam by Luger. Luger does so again, and Flair leaves the ring for a bit. He gets back in and pokes Luger in the eye, then goes to work with chops only for Luger to no longer sell them. Luger hip tosses Flair and clotheslines him, then Luger MAKES THE PECS DANCE. Flair climbs up the cage and stops Luger from following him, and winds up chopping him before ramming him into the cage. After more chops, Flair goes to work on Luger’s injured knee. He also drops a knee on Luger, and suplexes him. Luger doesn’t sell the suplex, pops right up, and clotheslines Flair. He takes Flair to the corner for punches, 10 of them in fact. Luger sends Flair upside down into the other corner, and Flair runs across the apron, up to the top, and Luger clotheslines him on his way down. Flair tries to climb out the cage again and gets rammed into it, then they both climb up it. Luger rams Flair into it a couple times, and the camera angle makes it really easy for Flair to gush out blood without worrying about the camera catching it. Luger posts Flair too, then grates his face into the steel. They go back in for more Luger punches, and that’s followed with a clothesline that gets 2. Flair is just gushing out blood from his cut too. Luger rams Flair into the cage a few more times, and when Flair tries to do it to Luger, in he goes again. Back in they go, and Flair bumps off a flying shoulderblock that he tried. Great spot. The crowd is primed for the title change now. Luger picks Flair up, and into the corner they go for a SUPERPLEX! Sadly, Luger grabbed his leg. Time for Flair’s bread and butter. Flair gets up first, and stomps away at the leg, dropping a knee in there too. Flair looks like a nutcase with all this blood on his face. He gives Luger a back suplex, and puts him in the FIGURE-FOUR! Flair cheats as usual, but the referee doesn’t spot it for a while. When he does, the hold is broken.
THE HORSEMEN ARE HERE! Ole, Sid, and Arn are on their way to the ring, as Luger hits Flair with a bunch of clotheslines. Ole and Arn try to climb up the cage, but they can’t get in that way. Even if they could, I wouldn’t climb that thing. It looks too dangerous. Luger hits Flair with another clothesline that gets 2, and picks him up for another press slam. HERE’S STING! He grabs Ole, and starts beating him up. Arn gets some too, and Sid stands there like a dope. Eventually he grabs Sting, AND HERE COMES EL GIGANTE! The big man throws Ole onto the floor, and the Horsemen are too scared to stick around. Luger and Flair are in the ropes, and the cage has been raised a little bit for no reason at all. Barry Windham sneaks into the ring, and Luger has Flair in THE RACK! Windham clobbers Luger from behind for a DQ at 17:19, and these guys trade bombs for a little bit. Arn’s in the cage now, and Jim Ross says that Arn has his hands on the switch for the cage. Go figure. The Horsemen triple-team Luger for a while, and Arn DDT’s Luger as well. Sting is back, but he can’t get in the cage. For some unknown reason, the cage is raised again, and Sting gets in as El Gigante stands around like an idiot when the Horsemen are right next to him. WHAT THE FUCK. Tony Schiavone meets the Horsemen in the aisle, and Flair cuts an amazing heel promo, one of his best. He said it was all about the title, and it was going to be his. So, Sting meets him in the aisle, and PUTS HANDS ON HIM! YES! El Gigante stands around like an idiot again, until the Horsemen run away.
My Thoughts: Man, there’s a hell of a lot to go over here. The match before the finish was excellent, both guys were busting ass and tried their best to put on a classic. Ridiculous to see a match ruined by everything that happened after a good, clean wrestling match. It wasn’t quite as good as Starrcade or WrestleWar, but it was getting there. The Horsemen getting control of the cage was absurd. Even more absurd was that they didn’t show Ole in control of a switch. Maybe they couldn’t show both the ring and Ole at the same time. Production is important for that reason. Gigante was just all around crap and it was easy to tell that he wasn’t a wrestler nor was he natural in that role. Anyone natural in the role would have done more than just stand around. Keeping this related to the match specifically, I think people would feel like they got ripped off after watching that. Their TV match set up the cage match, and one cardinal rule of cage matches is…the babyface isn’t going to get screwed over by interference. They just shit all over that. Anyway, sour taste in my mouth after watching that, but I think as a match it was a ***3/4 match. Leading into Windham’s interference, the match was still a hell of a lot of fun and a good watch. Also, you know, if they had Robocop on this show…maybe they should have used him here at the end in tandem with El Gigante. I don’t know.
Now, as for the business aspect, and the reasonings why they would have screwed fans over like this. Sting was coming back. Would this have been the time to put the title on Luger? Of course not, that time was in February. However, having him lose in this fashion made it impossible for people to buy him as a top drawing card. That’s why he didn’t get pushed again until they really had no other choice. If they had put the title on Luger, it would have flopped. Here’s another question. Why did they ever want to put the title on him in Chicago? To switch it back here? That would have been so idiotic. I wonder if they’d have done the title switch here if Luger hadn’t been hurt too, even though Flair vs. Sting was their big match to be made. The only match with Luger as champion that would have worked to any degree was Luger vs. Windham, but that wouldn’t have drawn shit. It was what it was, and sometimes guys have to get screwed. The WON also said that the cards after WrestleWar drew even though Luger didn’t get the title. I don’t know what all that means, because the booking went straight in the toilet after this show and stayed there for over a year. So we can’t say it was right or wasn’t right to book things the way they did here, at least in terms of Luger getting the title. I don’t fucking know, but they should have put on a better finish that didn’t leave fans feeling so ripped off. Perhaps the only way was for Windham to be hiding under the ring and not have the cage shenanigans until after he and Flair teamed up on Luger. I don’t know.
As for the show itself, it wasn’t really that good. Have to factor in the feeling ripped off factor, the poor matches after the opener, and the strap match wasn’t quite as advertised either. It was simply a fun card with four good wrestling matches and some really wacky moments that didn’t make any sense. Judging from the stuff I’ve heard about the promotion, it only gets a whole lot worse. Should be fun to watch. In any case, next up for me is April and May in the WWF. I’m interested to see where that goes too, as I have some theories on why their golden age ended. They aren’t so much theories as being obvious conclusions, though.
Wrestling Time: 1:55:35. There were a lot of silly non-wrestling segments on this show, which was a change from previous PPV’s. I believe for the most part they improved the show and livened things up.
Best: I’m a bit torn, but I would say Midnight Express vs. Pillman and Zenk was the best match. Had the most consistent action with the best finish.
Worst: Samoan Swat Team vs. Tommy Rich & Mike Rotunda. This was really bad, glad I’ll never be watching it again.
Card Rating: 6/10. I think it’s on the plus side of average. It was fun and there was good wrestling. Some major negatives though, and that’s why it wasn’t rated higher.
