January 13th, 1993 Live from Milwaukee, WI (MECCA Arena) Announced attendance: 4 000 (capacity: ca 11 000) TV rating: 2.9 (TBS) (down 0.3 from Clash 21’s 3.2)
Hey everyone. Welcome to my review of the first WCW Clash of the Champions of 1993, featuring Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas defending the tag titles against the Hollywood Blondes, and a ThunderCage tag team match in the main event.
Here are the list of champions in WCW heading into Clash 22:
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WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Big Van Vader [14th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ron Simmons
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: The Great Muta [9th day of his reign] – previous champion: Masahiro Chono
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: vacated* [for 43 days] – previous champion: Rick Rude
WCW World Television Champion: vacated [for 1 day] – previous champion: Scott Steiner
WCW/NWA Unified World Tag Team Champions: Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas [56th day of their reign] – previous champions: Miracle Violence Connection (Dr. Death Steve Williams & Terry Gordy)
* Dustin Rhodes won the vacant title on WCW Saturday Night taped January 11th, but it only aired after this show (on January 16th)
Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE & thesmackdownhotel.com
Your hosts are Jim Ross & Jesse Ventura
– We kick off the show with Tony Schiavone interviewing Bill Watts. He announces Van Hammer is out of tonight’s main event due to injury, and there will be a replacement for ThunderCage. Furthermore, his son Erik is suspended due to charges for attacking Arn Anderson at a gas station. Well good riddance.
– Erik Watts cuts a promo in an interview with Larry Zbyszko to address this situation. The crowd sh-ts all over Erik and boo the crap out of this segment. Bill finishes by announcing that Johnny B. Badd will replace his son in the upcoming opening match.
Cactus Jack vs. Johnny B. Badd
We see a clip of Johnny KO’ing Cactus and costing them their lethal lottery tag team match at Starrcade like a dumbass. Big reaction for Foley here, despite still being a heel at this point in time. Johnny with a hammerlock off the early lockup, but Cactus gives him a back elbow and hammers him. Johnny fights back with his boxing and Cactus holds back before catching him with a knee to the gut. Cactus misses a blind charge in the corner and Badd rolls him up for two. Dropkick into an armdrag by Badd, but Cactus knocks him out with three straight forearms to the head. Badd rams him into the buckle a number of times, however, and he takes over. Inside cradle gets two. Back elbow by Johnny and he goes up, only to find no water in the pool on a flying sunset flip attempt, taking himself out. Cactus drops an elbow and gets the win at 2:50.
Rating: Real quick match but a really solid one for the short time it lasted. Although it’s scary how badly the office had quit on Johnny B. Badd at this point, just a little over a year after being undefeated for months and only losing to STING. *1/2
– 2 Cold Scorpio video package with his new theme song from the recent Slam Jam album.
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2 Cold Scorpio vs. Scotty Flamingo
Flamingo goes after the arm to start but Scorpio rolls out of that and hiptosses him for one. A criss-cross sequence is won by Scorpio with a cartwheel into a back elbow. A high kick dumps Flamingo all the way to the outside, and Scorpio meets him there with a jump off the apron. He takes Flamingo back inside the ring, but Scotty dropkicks him back to the floor and follows up with a dive. Flamingo takes over back inside the ring, although Scorpio cradles him for two. Flamingo puts the boots to Scorpio and suplexes him for two. Flamingo goes to a chinlock, but Scorpio fights out of it and makes the comeback with a hiptoss followed by a dropkick. Flamingo asks for mercy, and 2 Cold Scorpio responds with a slam right into a flying splash for a nearfall. The crowd really bought that one, and honestly I thought that’d be it as well. Scorpio eats the buckle on a missed blind charge, allowing Flamingo to roll him up for two. However, Scorpio superkicks him, hits a twisting legdrop and goes up for the 450 to finish Flamingo at 4:13.
Rating: A quality short sprint. 2 Cold Scorpio was very exciting to watch upon his arrival to WCW, and the fans were very much into his innovative and charismatic style. They managed to get in a couple of believable nearfalls near the end as the action went back-and-forth, before Scorpio put Flamingo away with his unique offense. Scotty left WCW about a month later, joining the WWF as manager Johnny Polo before eventually gaining success as Raven. **3/4
– Recap of Harley Race choosing a replacement for the injured Rick Rude at ThunderCage 3 days ago on WCW Main Event. He books his two favorites, Paul Orndorff and Cactus Jack, in a match to determine who gets the final spot in his team. Ultimately things go south and Foley gets tired of Race getting involved, attacking him. That causes Vader to come down and destroy Cactus. Later in the same broadcast, Cactus attacks Vader with a shot with a shovel to the back. Cactus Jack closes the show by saying they’ve made the biggest mistake of their lives: they let Cactus Jack live!
Brad Armstrong vs. Chris Benoit
This is Chris Benoit’s WCW debut, outside of the one-off appearance in the NWA tag team title tournament alongside Beef Wellington in 1992. Criss-cross sequence and Benoit blocks a dropkick. Brad counters a powerbomb with an armdrag and this time the dropkick connects. Brad goes to work on the arm. Benoit kips up out of the hold, but Brad does the same and quickly follows it up with another dropkick, before going back to work on the arm. Brad wrestles him down to work the count, but Benoit overpowers him with an impressive bridge and powers Armstrong down to the mat. However, Brad escapes with a belly-to-belly. The fight into a hammerlock, with the veteran Brad once again outsmarting Benoit and dumping him to the outside off the hammerlock. Back in, Benoit tries to do the same tactic, but Armstrong doesn’t fall for it and dropkicks him. Nice little story being told here so far. Brad reverses a catapult attempt by Benoit, and Benoit finally catches Brad by faking a suplex attempt and instead dropping him on the top rope with a front suplex. With Brad still on the apron, Benoit slingshots with a flying clothesline that takes both men to the floor. Both guys get a huge pop and even Jesse gives them an applause on commentary. Benoit rocks Armstrong with a clothesline back in the ring. Snap suplex gets two, as Benoit is very much in the driver’s seat by now. Chris Benoit unloads on him, but Armstrong tries to fight back with a kneelift. However, Benoit takes him down for good with a nasty backbreaker. Suplex follows and Benoit goes up, only for Brad to meet him there. Benoit shoves him off and goes for the flying headbutt, but finds no water in the pool and Brad hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. And then Benoit catches him with a dragon suplex (full-nelson into a German suplex) into the bridge pin for the win at 9:13.
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Rating: Great action here. The story was simple but very easy to understand. Benoit was outsmarted by the more-experienced Armstrong until the front suplex spot, which hurt Brad. Then, right as Brad was coming back, Benoit used his deep arsenal of international moves to catch Armstrong and get the win. Impressive debut for Benoit, this was very good stuff. Another great showing by Brad as well, who was mad underrated in the early 90s. ***1/2
– The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are back to WCW, so we take a look at a clip of them in action in Smoky Mountain Wrestling against Jim Cornette’s Heavenly Bodies. That match is scheduled for SuperBrawl III in February.
– Tony Atlas and Vinnie Vegas arm wrestle. Crazy how just five months later, Nash would be in WWF working with Shawn already as his bodyguard. Vinnie Vegas wins because he’s the strongest left-handed or whatever. We move on.
‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk & Johnny Gunn vs. The Wrecking Crew (Rage & Fury)
Zenk controls things early on with a headlock on Rage. Zenk avoids a gorilla press slam and gets a high crossbody off the top, but Rage kicks out WITH AUTHORITY BY GAWD. The big guys take a powder, so Gunn takes both of them down with a dive. Back in, the Wrecking Crew collide and Gunn gets a roll-up for two. Fury takes over with a clothesline followed by a backbreaker. Zenk tries to make a comeback, but Fury quickly cuts it off with a gutwrench slam. The big men take turns slamming Tom Zenk, who scores with a dropkick before making the hot tag to Gunn. He runs wild with his own slams and a running clothesline, but Rage nails him with a cheapshot from the apron. Fury picks up Gunn with an overhead gutwrench backbreaker, as Rage flies off the top with an elbow (which they call the “Wrecking Ball”… no, seriously) for the win at 6:06.
Rating: Extended squash to put the new guys over. They weren’t very impressive, but this was definitely far from being terrible. *1/2
– We hear from The Hollywood Blondes.
– Sting’s team speaks ahead of tonight’s main event.
– Big Van Vader’s team does the same. Harley Race doesn’t want anyone associated with Cactus Jack in there, so they beat up The Barbarian and get rid of him.
– We take a look at highlights from the first two editions of WCW SuperBrawl. This year’s SuperBrawl III is coming on Sunday, February 21.
WCW/NWA Unified World Tag Team Championship – Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. The Hollywood Blondes (Flyin’ Brian Pillman & Steve Austin)
Austin slugs away on Steamboat to start, who fights back with a series of different pinning combinations for a few nearfalls. Steamboat with a crossbody for two, but Pillman breaks up the pin. Douglas comes in as well to get rid of him. The Blondes double-team Ricky in their corner back inside, but the veteran Steamboat fights back with an armdrag on Brian and goes to work on his arm. And now it’s the champs’ turn to exchange quick tags as they control Pillman over in their corner. Unfortunately, Pillman then twists his ankle on a leapfrog during a criss-cross sequence. This causes the ref to pull Douglas back and stop the match for a while… but SIKE! Pillman cheapshots Douglas from the apron and goes for Air Pillman, but Douglas turns it into a powerslam in mid-air for a nearfall! Austin comes in and gets into a sweet wrestling sequence with Douglas on the mat. Douglas gets the better of that sequence with a wristlock, while adding some knees to Austin’s arm to boot. Hammerlock slam by Steamboat as the faces continue to work on the arm.
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A sunset flip by Douglas gets two, and they get into a pinfall reversal sequence from there. Douglas flips his way out of a backslide by Austin, and springboards into a flying shoulderblock of sorts for two. The champs continue to show great teamwork as Steamboat slams Douglas on top of Austin, and then slams the interfering Pillman onto a standing Austin as well. However, Austin rams Ricky into a cheapshot from Brian on the apron, and Austin follows it up with a backdrop suplex to put the Blondes in control. Pillman gets a slam of his own for a two count. Austin slams Steamboat on the concrete outside. Brian suplexes Ricky off the apron into the ring and gets two. The Hollywood Blondes cut the ring in half, while the groggy Steamboat tries to fight back unsuccessfully. Nobody could do that better than Steamboat! Austin hits a gutwrench slam and throws a cheapshot at Douglas just for fun. Steamboat finally gets something in as he shoots Brian off the apron into the railing, but the legal Austin is right there to backdrop suplex him for two. Steamboat uses the ropes for leverage to block a body vice, but he’s too hurt to backdrop Austin, who puts him back in the body vice. Pillman makes the blind tag and goes for Air Pillman, only to hit his own partner instead! Steamboat takes down Brian with a suplex and… crawls… for… the… HOT TAG! Shane Douglas cleans house in short order and finishes Brian with the belly-to-belly, but Austin comes in off the top rope onto Douglas behind the ref’s back. Austin puts Pillman on top for a very close two count. Shane gets an O’Connor Roll on Pillman, but Austin whams Douglas with the belt for the DQ at 13:39. Shane gets busted open from the shot, and all four guys get into a huge brawl afterwards. Multiple babyfaces run-in to make the save as the Blondes walk away with the belts in their possession.
Rating: Stuff like this is why Ricky Steamboat won the wrestler of the year award in 1992. This was a no-nonsense balls-to-the-wall tag team title matchup that was extremely exciting from start to finish. There were countless believable nearfalls in here despite the relatively brief length of the bout. Add a proper finish and this could’ve potentially been a classic. ****
Commercial break
– We take a look at Vader beating Ron Simmons on December 30, 1992 to win his second WCW World Title.
– Jesse Ventura interviews Vader & Harley Race to discuss the recent title change. Ron Simmons interrupts it and slugs away on the new champ, taking him down with a huge spinebuster. He stops to go after Harley Race on the ramp, which causes Vader to splash Ron out there. Vader destroys him with a couple of shoulderblocks, until Sting and Rhodes run-in to finally stop the beatdown.
– Ron Simmons is now out of tonight’s main event due to this attack. It started as 4 v. 4, but Van Hammer was out and made it 4 v. 3 for the heels. Then they beat up Barbarian due to his association with Cactus Jack and got him out of the team to make it 3 v. 3. Now Ron is out to make it 3 v. 2 for the heels, but it’s still announced as a six man tag team match.
Main Event
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Six Man Tag Team ThunderCage – Big Van Vader, Barry Windham & Paul Orndorff (w/ Harley Race) vs. Sting, Dustin Rhodes & ???
Sting and Dustin come out by themselves. Dustin goes after his former partner Windham right off the bat. Sting comes in with a faceplant off the blind tag. We get a showdown between Sting and Vader. A couple of clotheslines stagger Vader, and a DDT takes the World Champion down. Sting gets the Stinger Splash and hammers on Vader in the corner like there’s no tomorrow. Vader finally catches a charging Sting in the corner, and comes down on him with a flying clothesline off the top rope. The monster goes up again for a flying splash but finds no water in the pool this time around. Orndorff stomps away on Sting in the corner and connects with a clothesline. Windham comes in with a suplex for two, but Dustin instantly jumps the ring to go after Barry. The other heels prevent him from attacking him, though, and Vader destroys Sting with an Avalanche in the corner. Gorilla press slam by Vader, who brings in Windham. He goes for the Superplex immediately, but Sting fights back and rams him off the top. Dustin gets the tag and takes everyone out with lariats and Cactus Jack enters the match with the help of bolt-cutters! Cactus uses his boot to destroy all the heels, effectively cementing his face turn. Orndorff goes for a piledriver on Rhodes, but Cactus comes off the top to hit Paul with a boot shot to the back of Paul’s head and covers him for the win at 11:22.
Rating: Energetic match that was more about the angle than the match itself per-se. Sting squaring off with Vader is always exciting to watch, even if it’s just a small preview like this. Dustin Rhodes went after Barry Windham numerous times and made a valiant 3-on-1 comeback near the end, until Cactus Jack came in to save the day. The finish was far from the greatest, but it did get the point across of Cactus now being a good guy. Once again, it was more of an angle than a match so it’s harder to give it a proper rating, but it was good. ***
– Cactus Jack promises he’ll get revenge on all three of the heels, starting with Paul Orndorff on the next episode of WCW Saturday Night.
Then we get the awesome visual of Jesse & JR (in one of his final WCW appearances) closing the show while Cactus Jack is on top of the ThunderCage in the background like a complete maniac. But a loveable one now!
END OF THE SHOW
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Final thoughts: Honestly a great edition of Clash here. We had great wrestling in the form of Steamboat & Douglas v. Pillman & Austin and Benoit v. Armstrong, and a great main event angle with Cactus Jack’s face turn being the highlight. He also went over Johnny B. Badd earlier in the show, effectively making this the Cactus Jack Show! Recommended watch. 7/10
That’s all for today’s post. Make sure you don’t miss the upcoming review of WCW SuperBrawl III featuring Sting vs. Vader III, as well as as all the upcoming WWF Raw reviews. Until next time, everyone!
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D.C. Wood here again! Cheers for following this series and all the positive feedback! Entry 5 now…and it’s showdown time for the WWF Championship!
KANE VS. ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN
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The Story
After the Inferno Match at Unforgiven, Kane won the feud with Vader at Over the Edge, and then the next night on Raw, Kane finally defeated the Undertaker to become No. 1 Contender for the WWF Championship.
After Dude Love’s failure to beat the Rattlesnake, Vince was more determined than ever to take the title away from Austin, giving Kane his full backing. The Big Red Machine challenged Stone Cold to a First Blood match, and (now using a voice box to communicate) vowed to set himself ablaze if he failed to win (Yeah, right…). Austin welcomed the challenge with typical gusto. And then on the final Raw before the PPV, Kane summoned fake blood to rain down on Austin, soaking the champion. Kane then ominously vowed, “Austin…this Sunday, the blood on you will be for REAL.” GOOD HYPE.
The Match Itself
Kane enters first with Paul Bearer. Then the champion enters to a thunderous ovation. He’s walking, intensely staring down his monstrous challenger…then he races to the ring to take the fight to Kane! Austin ducks a clothesline from Kane, bounces off the ropes and then as the bell rings, Austin takes down Kane with a Lou Thesz Press and starts pummelling away at Kane’s face, and then follows it up with an elbow drop off the ropes. Already the crowd’s into this! Right on cue, Kane sits up, only to be greeted by a wicked shot to the face from Stone Cold with the title belt. Kane sits up again, though! Only to be greeted with an even harder belt shot from the champion. No DQ, and smart psychology from Austin; trying to bust open the challenger anyway he can (despite that mask).
Austin then removes the top turnbuckle cover. Kane’s back up and Austin’s there to great him with furious strikes. Jim Ross also points out Austin’s heavily bandaged right-elbow (due to surgery for a staph infection). Steve Austin TRULY was the Toughest SOB in the WWF.
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Despite Austin’s efforts, Kane is soon able to overpower the champion and batters him to the ground. The action has slowed down now to Kane’s pace. The Big Red Machine chokes the Rattlesnake as the crowd rally with the “Austin!” chants. Lawler makes a brilliant point about how Kane’s outfit tonight virtually covers the whole of his body (only his left hand was exposed bare), so how can Austin possibly win? Meanwhile, Austin counters a Tombstone attempt to shove Kane over the top top, but he lands on his feet.
IMG credit: WWE & Sportskeeda
The two continue to brawl, with Austin smacking Kane’s face on the ring steps and JR also noting how Kane’s mask offers a great deal of protection…and then the Hell in a Cell starts lowering from the ceiling! The commentators demand to know what’s going on. I’d like to know as well, please! My understanding is that Vince McMahon was secretly orchestrating this somehow, but some context would have helped here.
Austin and Kane continue to brawl and then Kane whips Austin face-first into the cell as it lowers. Nasty, yet creative! Kane then proceeds to choke Austin and hold him there whilst the cell continues to lower nearer on top of his face!
IMG credit: WWE & Classic Wrestling Review
Kane picks Austin up and the cell lands safely. The Big Red Machine then decides to use the cell to try and bust Austin open. JR then reminds viewers at home that earlier on during the Free For All that referee Earl Hebner would not stop the match for a nick or a minor cut. Only a significant blade job. JR and King are really doing a good job addressing any plot-holes in this story.
Kane continues to use the cell and ring steps to his advantage, but Austin’s still okay despite a minor cut on his back. Stone Cold then shoves Kane into the cell door and starts stomping a mudhole on him, then the cell’s being raised now for some DAFT reason! The two continue to fight amidst the pandemonium and now their brawling takes them up the aisle.
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Near the entrance-way, Austin’s piledriver attempt on the concrete fails when Kane counters with a back-body drop. Vince meanwhile is surveying the action in his skybox with Sable (naughty Vince!). The two combatants continue to fight with Kane still too-powerful for the tenacious Austin; countering the champion’s suplex with one of his own on the entrance ramp. Kane soon sits up again, as Paul Bearer worships his son proudly. The Austin chants start up again in full force, trying to rally the WWF Champion on. But Kane has now lifted up a security railing and smacked Austin in the face with it!
Vince watches on as Austin struggles to get some distance from the relentless challenger. Having bought enough recovery time, Austin shoves Kane back into the ring and starts smacking him head-first into the exposed turnbuckle from earlier. The ever-brilliant JR comments that Austin’s efforts to weaken Kane may allow him to rip his mask off and then go to work, while the cynical Lawler asks, “Do you think Kane is really gonna let that happen? Let the world see his face?” Another example why JR and King are the greatest announce team of all time.
The gruelling action continues around ringside, with Austin grabbing a fan from the announce table and smacking Kane over the head with it! OUCH! Kane goozles Austin and shoves him into Earl Hebner. The ref is down so JR says, “C’mon, King! You’re licensed!” “Not on your life!” Jerry refuses. “Not in THIS one!” Kane goes to the top rope and takes out Austin with a flying clothesline. Kane then goes for a second flying clothesline but Austin sidesteps and then starts stomping a mudhole and walking it dry! Austin then repeatedly smacks the BACK of Kane’s head (unprotected by the mask!) into the exposed turnbuckle. More good psychology…
And then incredibly, a battered Mankind limps out with a chair to play his part in the finish. Storywise, it makes sense, what with Mick’s history with Austin, Taker and Kane, and being an integral part of the main-event scene. But after EVERYTHING Mick Foley had done earlier in the evening, he should’ve been in the hospital right after Hell in a Cell. Mick takes a Stone Cold Stunner, the cell lowers AGAIN(!), Kane’s chokeslam attempt gets him a low blow AND a Stunner, and now the Undertaker comes out with a chair!
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Austin’s got a chair, he goes swinging for Mankind, but so does the Undertaker! Mankind ducks, Taker’s chair smacks Austin’s into his face, Kane gets back up only to eat a clothesline from Taker, who then knocks Mick out of the ring and out of the cell. Meanwhile, Taker revives the ref (using the PETROL to wake him up! God above!) as Austin has been busted open badly. Kane nails Taker with a chair, King asks, “What the hell is going on, JR?!”, Kane sets to finish Austin off with the chair, but the bloody Rattlesnake takes out the challenger with a flying clothesline and an almighty chair shot! KANE IS DOWN!
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
BUT…the bell rings! Earl has called for it! He’s seen Austin bloody! KANE IS THE WINNER AND NEW WWF CHAMPION AT 15:58!
Verdict
Okay, let’s get the bad out of the way. The chaotic ending, the cell constantly being raised and lowered (without real explanation), the screwy finish, Kane vowing to set himself alight if he lost…whilst all that zaniness worked okay in 1998, it doesn’t today in retrospective. And it does again point out the problems with Vince Russo as a booker. On his best days (and under Vince McMahon’s supervision), Russo came up with some fantastic ideas/television. On his worst days…well, we ALL know. So I needn’t say anymore.
All that aside, the build-up to this one was more proof of how essential the WWF was in 1998. Both Steve Austin and Kane were on meteoric rises, and the result was a typical Attitude Era slugfest. Great crowd, awesome atmosphere, intense action, perfect commentary…for me personally, the Attitude Era was the best time to be a wrestling fan.
With regards to the stipulation, First Blood bouts are tricky. Normally, you have a bout that starts off gradually, then changes into a higher gear when a wrestler gets busted open, and then it snowballs towards an epic conclusion. To me, First Blood bouts stop before they can truly begin. Having said that, this match was very well worked indeed. Austin was so smart here, using great psychology to try and find a chink in Kane’s armour (like others had before), and likewise, Kane worked brilliantly also; using the Cell to creative effect in this bout.
As for the outcome…say what you want about the finish, but the fact remains is that Kane defeated the greatest wrestler of all time (Because Stone Cold and me said so!) to take his rightful place in history. Should he have been WWF Champion longer than 24 hours? YES. Did he deserve more than one reign with the belt? HELL YES! But while Kane may be ranked amongst the lower-tier WWF Champions of all time, his program with Austin and time with the title was still a success. Austin/Kane drew big for the King of the Ring (310, 000 buys!) and Austin winning the title back the next night drew huge for Raw is War (a 5.1 rating!). Two great, unforgettable matches over 24 hours.
IMG credit: WWE & Sportskeeda
OVERALL RATING
7/10
That’s it for 1998 now! Next time, it’s 1999…and Kane forms his first unlikely, yet successful partnership.
January 11th, 1993 Live from Manhattan, NY (Manhattan Center) Announced attendance: 1 000 (capacity: ca 2 200) TV rating: 2.5 (USA Network) (up 0.3 from the previous week’s final episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling)
Hello everyone and welcome to my review of the very first episode of WWF Monday Night RAW ever. Coming to you live from the Manhattan Center, the first RAW is main evented by The Undertaker vs. Damien Demento. Additionally, Yokozuna is in action and Shawn Michaels defends the Intercontinental Title as the WWF builds towards Royal Rumble 1993.
Here is the list of WWF champions heading into the first ever episode of Monday Night RAW:
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WWF Champion: Bret Hart [91st day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [76th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [90th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)
Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE & thesmackdownhotel.com
Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett
The show opens with Sean Mooney hyping the night’s events outside the arena. Bobby Heenan appears on his way to the arena, but Mooney reminds him he can’t get in. For those who don’t know, this is coming from the last episodes of Prime Time Wrestling throughout the last several weeks, where Heenan was told he’d be off the network once Prime Time was off the air. He refused to accept it, which leads into these skits throughout the show! Heenan says he’ll buy a ticket instead, but Mooney insists it’s full (yeah, I know!) and thus Heenan must leave. Heenan is furious.
Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Koko B. Ware
IMG credit: WWE
Watching Koko make his entrance by himself to Owen Hart’s theme song is quite the interesting visual. You can already sense Vince’s eye-rolling in his voice over on commentary, as Rob Bartlett starts off asking why doesn’t “Yokozuma” wear a bra. It doesn’t take too long until Vince and Macho pretty much ignore Rob and do the commentary by themselves. Yoko shoves Koko around for a while to kick off the action on Monday Night RAW. Koko charges for a shoulderblock a number of times but ends up knocking himself out instead. A couple of dropkicks stagger Yoko, but he ducks a blind charge and Koko takes himself out on the ropes. Yokozuna follows it up with a giant legdrop, destroys him in the corner with the reverse Avalanche and drops the Banzai on the Birdman at 3:45.
Rating: An effective Yokozuna squash as they continue to build him up well as a huge star early into his WWF run. 3/4*
So here is the first match ever in the history of RAW, dear trivia lovers out there. Speaking of which, if you are indeed a trivia lover and would like to challenge yourself against other members and compete for championships, do so by joining SmarKDown’s Discord server! If you don’t like trivia but you’d like to hang out and chat about rasslin with our 150+ members, you can do that as well. Anyway, back to the review…
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Meanwhile, the Federette shows off the “Monday Night Raw” sign to the audience.
Bobby Heenan (in a taped promo) hypes up the incoming reveal of “Narcissus” at Royal Rumble. He’s from another world and better than Perfect.
The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. The Executioners
IMG credit: WWE & sportskeeda
Scott immediately takes one of the jobbers down with a back elbow to the jaw. Scott with a tilt-a-whirl slam as Doink appears in the crowd. Bartlett: “is that Dork the Clown?”… It’s Rick’s turn to beat up the Executioners as Rob continues making his hilarious jokes on commentary. Macho Man flat out begs for the Steiners to beat him up next! Sign me up for that. A double noggin knocker from Scott on the outside prevents the Executioners from running away, and Scott throws one to the inside for a powerslam from his brother. Rick brings in Scott for the butterfly powerbomb, and the doomsday bulldog with Rick’s assist puts one of the geeks away at 3:00.
Rating: Another squash to introduce the Steiners to the WWF as they prepare to face the Beverlys at the Rumble. 1/2*
Sean Mooney spots a woman outside trying to get into the arena. It’s of course Bobby Heenan in makeup and a wig claiming to be Rob Bartlett’s aunt!
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Vince McMahon interviews Razor Ramon
IMG credit: WWE
Vince asks him if he’s ready to face Bret Hart for the WWF title in 2 weeks at the Rumble. Razor Ramon was born ready, chico! Vince says Bret has been in the WWF for 8 1/2 years and Razor is a “Johnny-come-lately” to him, to which Razor replies he’ll get to the top after just 8 1/2 months! Vince wants to know why Razor attacked Owen Hart last week if he’s so good as he says. He did it just for fun and there’s nothing The Hitmang can do about it – not because he doesn’t want to, but because he can’t! He won’t be able to do anything to stop Razor from taking the gold at the Rumble either. Razor finishes by throwing the toothpick at McMang. Just for fun, chico! Cool promo to promote the World title match at the PPV.
WWF Intercontinental Championship – Shawn Michaels vs. Max Moon
IMG credit: WWE & The Sportster
These two killed it in the opener of Royal Rumble 1991 two years before when Max Moon (Paul Diamond) was Kato in the Orient Express. Shawn begins with an armdrag. They go back and forth with a nice criss-cross sequence that culminates with Max Moon taking over with a series of armdrags. Powerslam and Michaels takes a powder in the corner. Shawn gives it another go with a second criss-cross sequence, ending with Moon wrestling Michaels down into a wristlock. And we take a break.
Commercial break
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We come back to see Max Moon rolling out of the corner to avoid a charge. He tries to use his speed to block another one, but this time Shawn catches him in mid-air and takes over with a stungun onto the top rope. Stupidity kicks in now with Rob Bartlett doing a terrible Mike Tyson impression as they pretend to do a live interview with Tyson via phone call. Oh, and Doink the Clown comes down to ringside as well. Welcome to 1993. Meanwhile, Max Moon gets a quick roll-up for two. Yes, there’s still a match going on in the middle of all this nonsense. Shawn takes back control with an irish whip into the corner as I proceed to watch it on mute. Moon scores with another quick victory roll for two more, which angers Michaels as he slugs away repeatedly on Max Moon. Chinlock and this stupid Mike Tyson garbage is STILL going on… Moon fights out of the chinlock and catapults Shawn all the way to the outside. Moon fakes a dive and then surprises Shawn with a seated senton off the apron. He takes him back in for a running spinkick in the corner, followed by a rolling fireman’s carry slam for two. A powerslam sets up a rolling senton, but Michaels ducks and superkicks him. Max Moon avoids the teardrop suplex at first, but Michaels eventually catches him and hits it on a second try to retain at 10:30.
Rating: A decent title matchup, although the winner was never really in doubt at all. The action was decent as these two have good chemistry together, but it was filled with too much gaga in the middle. Rob Bartlett is beyond unbearable. Fine match with some good reversals. **1/2
WWF Mania ad. It’s 100% caffeine free!
Royal Rumble Report w/ Mean Gene
Gene starts by hyping the HBK/Jannetty feud over the Intercontinental title. We listen to short promos from each man – Shawn Michaels says Marty doesn’t deserve a title shot, but he’s cool enough to give him one anyway. Plus, Sherri will be in his corner like any woman. Marty Jannetty is gonna capture the Intercontinental title and end Shawn’s career. Yikes, that’s a bit too much. Shawn only threw you into a mirror! Plus, Marty says Shawn doesn’t know Sherri that well if he thinks she’ll be in his corner.
Next up, Gene addresses the Royal Rumble match and explains the rules. Here are the announced competitors so far: last year’s winner and 2x WWF champ Ric Flair, the undefeated Tatanka, current tag team champion IRS, the returning former WWF Champion Bob Backlund, ‘The King’ Jerry Lawler, Mr. Perfect (who we hear from), the other half of the tag champs Ted DiBiase, Crush, Rick Martel, Yokozuna (who is also standing by with Mr. Fuji), ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, Papa Shango (he’s still around?), Earthquake, The Berzerker, The Undertaker, Carlos Colón, Genichiro Tenryu, ‘El Matador’ Tito Santana, Typhoon, The Headshrinkers and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan (we hear from him as well). Remember that for the first time ever the 30 wrestlers are fighting for a World title shot in the main event of WrestleMania!
Plus, Razor Ramon will challenge Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. Contact your local cable company RIGHT NOW!
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Sean Mooney is outside where fans are in line to purchase tickets for the next episode of RAW. He runs into Ron Barlett’s uncle who wants to get in right now!
We take a look at a recap of Kamala finally snapping on Kim Chee and Harvey Wippleman and turning face last week on Superstars.
Main Event
The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Damien Demento
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
Demento actually throws some shots to start, only for Undertaker to fight back quickly with a faceplant. UT gives him Old School already, and takes him into the corner for some choking. Demento fights back with a running shouderblock, but UT sits up immediately. He explodes with the running clothesline before finishing with the Tombstone at 2:24.
Rating: Given it was one of the few promoted matches for this show, I was very surprised that it was the shortest match. Especially considering Demento was in the midst of a moderate push. The poor guy didn’t even get to do his shtick and talk to himself in the middle of the match. This was nothing. 1/4*
Vince gets a quick interview with Doink the Clown. He says it’s not his problem that the kids don’t have a sense of humor, and he’s not afraid of Crush’s recent warnings. Crush comes out and gets in his face, and Doink shoots water at him before running away.
We cut to Mooney outside one final time. Bobby Heenan is finally allowed in… and the show ends!!!! Loved this throughout the show, but I’d rather have Heenan on commentary instead of Bartlett.
END OF THE SHOW
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Final thoughts: Well, here is the first ever episode of Monday Night RAW. It’s far from being a painful watch, as the show is just 45-minutes long. The squashes were effective, especially Yokozuna’s. Undertaker vs Damien Demento did nothing for me, as they were clearly just trying to use Undertaker while they found something for him to do. He was scheduled to feud with Nailz but he got released in December. Razor’s promo was good, and Michaels vs Moon was a fine Intercontinental title match. The commentary was beyond terrible though, and Rob Bartlett dragged this show way down. While the first RAW was far from being great, it was still a decent episode. The storyline involving Bobby Heenan and his skits were by far the best part about this show. 6/10
That’s all for today’s article. Make sure you don’t miss the reviews of the upcoming episodes, as well all the pay-per-views. Coming up next will be WCW Clash of the Champions #22. Until next time!
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Welcome to another look-back at WrestleMania, good people of SmarKVille! On the last edition of our series, we were treated to arguably the most popular wrestling event in history. While what I’m about to review won’t exactly be “good” (or if any watchable, at all), it’s a pretty historic show in itself, featuring the first and only one-night tournament for the WWF Title, and an amazing championship win by the Macho Man. With the intro out of the way, let’s carefully head towards the show…
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Date: March 27th, 1988
Venue: Trump Plaza Convention Center
Location: Atlantic City, NJ
Attendance: 19.199
Your hosts for the night are Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura, with Bob Uecker joining them exclusively for the opener.
“Mean” Gene Okerlund introduced us to the show, then treated us to a live performance of ‘America The Beautiful’, courtesy of Gladys Knight. She did great.
And since I’m a super kind human-being, here’s the bracket for you people below:
IMG credit: Sportskeeda & WWF
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20-Man Battle Royal
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
Here are the participants: Bad News Brown, King Harley Race, The Junkyard Dog, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, George Steele, Ken Patera, Jacques Rougeau, Raymond Rougeau, Paul Roma, Jim Powers, Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, Hillbilly Jim, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Sika & Sam Houston.
You can expect a bunch of Battle Royal tropes and spots here in this give-everyone-a-payday opener. The crowd was into the action at least, which made it slightly worthwhile. At last, we were left with Bret Hart, Bad News Brown, and Junkyard Dog. Bret and BNB decided to team up, which is a nice callback to their time together in Stampede. They eliminated Dog, but Bret stupidly celebrated first, thinking he’d be splitting up the prize with Brown. Brown obviously blasted him with the Ghetto kick, then threw him out for the victory at 9:47. Bret then destroyed Brown’s trophy afterward for betraying him, marking one of his first breakout moments in a singles rank. An average Battle Royal, but far from bad. [**]
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FIRST ROUND: Ted DiBiase [w/ Andre The Giant & Virgil] vs. Jim Duggan
IMG credit: WWE
Although this was meant to be nothing more than a throwaway tournament opener, it was somewhat entertaining enough to not waste your time. DiBiase was in full bumping mode here, and Duggan seemed extra motivated than usual getting to work with his old Mid-South nemesis. He even pulled out a sunset flip at one point! This came to an end when Andre tripped Duggan from ringside, allowing DiBiase to knee him from behind before following with a fist drop to advance at 5:02. [**]
FIRST ROUND: Don Muraco [w/ Superstar Billy Graham] vs. Dino Bravo [w/ Frenchy Martin]
IMG credit: WWE & bastionblogger
Muraco looked absolutely ridiculous getting accompanied to the ring by Billy Graham and wearing his grandpa T-shirt. He was an embarrassing shell of his former self by this stage, botching simple moves in the first minute of the bout in hilarious fashion. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Bravo actually looked better than him here. Bravo tried to take advantage after a ref bump, but he was disqualified at 4:54 due to pulling the referee into the collision. What a stupid finish. And there’s even more of this to come! [*]
FIRST ROUND: Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine [w/ Jimmy Hart]
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
Steamboat’s last hurrah in his first WWF run saw him battling Valentine in a technical-hard-hitting, Mid-Atlantic-style contest. Valentine held serve for most of this, with Ricky doing a masterful selling for his attacks as expected. Seeing these two traded chops on each other urged me to check out some of their other matches. Valentine taking his trademark bumps for Steamboat’s chops might be cartoonish, but I’d be lying to say I wasn’t entertained by it. Valentine got the win by rolling through Steamboat’s crossbody into a pin full of tights at 9:10, but this was a good sendoff for the Dragon all the same. [***¼]
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FIRST ROUND: Randy Savage [w/ Miss Elizabeth] vs. Butch Reed [w/ Slick]
IMG credit: WWE & Tape Machines Are Rolling
Savage plugged Reed right into his babyface formula, except that said formula was still a work in progress. Reed was on offense for 80% of this, and though I’m usually a fan of his, I thought he was too dull here working on top. Butch went up top, but he took too long eyeing Elizabeth, allowing Savage to slam him off and drop the Macho Elbow for the pin at 4:08. Not one of Randy Savage’s finest performances, that’s for sure. [*]
FIRST ROUND: Bam Bam Bigelow [w/ Oliver Humperdink] vs. One Man Gang [w/ Slick]
IMG credit: WWE
Bam Bam Bigelow feels like the WWF late ‘80s incarnation of Keith Lee. He was given a rub on TV right after his debut, received a star-making moment in his first PPV appearance, then became an afterthought and was released shortly thereafter. He and Gang were putting on a serviceable bout until the putrid non-finish grinded everything down to a halt. Bigelow fell to the floor after Slick pulled down the ropes, and the referee instantly declared it a double count-out at 2:59, even though Bigelow was on the floor for not even 5 seconds. Another dumb finish tonight. [½*]
FIRST ROUND: Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude [w/ Bobby Heenan]
IMG credit: WWE
They opened this last first-round tournament matchup with some solid exchanges that saw Rude bumping and feeding Roberts’ stuff in an entertainingly theatrical fashion. I admit they had me doubting myself a little bit whether this will age better or not. Unfortunately, this turned into a long, never-ending affair filled with tedious Rick Rude chinlocks. Roberts made one of the most boring comebacks I can remember before the 15:00 time limit draw came to a close. The one redeeming value I got from this is how humorously-looking Rude’s tights were. It gave me a pretty good chuckle! [*½]
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The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules
IMG credit: WWE
I’m no Hercules hater, but he’s not going to carry a green as grass Warrior to anything remarkable. Warrior still hasn’t quite got his act down yet, so the crowd didn’t provide that much of a reaction for him. Herc tried to submit Warrior with the full nelson, but the latter kicked the turnbuckle to pin both men down before lifting his shoulder up at the last second at 4:38 for a fluke win. Was there any reason why Warrior shouldn’t completely squash Herc here? This was about what you’d expect from these two. [½*]
QUARTER-FINAL: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant [w/ Ted DiBiase & Virgil]
IMG credit: WWE
This was never going to be on the level of their other highly-acclaimed encounters, but it never tried to be. Andre is getting really immobile at this period, but he has always been a smart worker who can get the best out of his limitations. It wasn’t much different here. They kept this short and basic to accommodate him, and the crowd was hot all throughout. I hated the double DQ finish, as Hogan was literally the first one to fire the chair shot at 5:22, and Andre only did it after. Yet another idiotic ending in a bunch of them tonight. Hogan cleaned house post-match so he could do his obligatory poses to the fans. I’ve seen worse. [*¾]
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QUARTER-FINAL: Ted DiBiase vs. Don Muraco [w/ Superstar Billy Graham]
IMG credit: WWE & Classic Wrestling Review
DiBiase now had to come out alone due to the ending of his first-round against Duggan. Muraco put on a better showing than his previous match with Bravo, with him being more comfortable on offense than earlier. This was largely carried by DiBiase’s selling, bumping, and heel work. He caught an oncoming Muraco with a stun gun to pick up the win in 5:34. A solid enough quarter-final round bout. [**]
QUARTER-FINAL: Randy Savage [w/ Miss Elizabeth] vs. Greg Valentine [w/ Jimmy Hart]
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
Valentine’s methodically vicious attacks mixed well with Savage’s sublime selling. The layout of this worked due to the above statement, even if it was questionable to barely give Savage any offense on his biggest night ever. Valentine cut off Savage’s axe handle only to take a ‘Timber!’ bump in a cute spot. He then tried a Figure-Four on Savage, only for Macho to counter it into a cradle to score the win at 6:06. I feel this would have benefited much more had it been given at least 5 more mins to strengthen its final stretch. [**½]
WWF Intercontinental Title: The Honky Tonk Man (c) [w/ Jimmy Hart & Peggy Sue] vs. Brutus Beefcake
IMG credit: WWE
Yeah, no. Not even Honky Tonk Man’s tremendous heat-drawing ability could save this garbage. Beefcake looked like he was more concerned about cutting Jimmy Hart’s hair than winning a championship. They did a couple of lame comedy spots to hide the wrestling limitations of both men, and it downright stunk. Beefcake won by DQ at 6:30 after Jimmy knocked down the referee, which was another dreadful finish in a string of them tonight. He then celebrated in the ring like a total doofus. A complete and utter disaster in the worst way possible. [DUD]
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The British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware vs. Bobby Heenan & The Islanders
IMG credit: WWE
This was a breath of fresh air compared to all the other matches on this show. Bobby Heenan arrived in a dog training suit to protect himself from Matilda, but he ran away from her anyway when the Bulldogs made their entrance. God bless the Brain. This was an enjoyable six-man tag that saw the Bulldogs and Koko showing off their zealous movesets whilst the heels, Heenan in particular, bumped their asses off in an almost over-the-top manner. Heenan eventually got the pin for his team at 7:30 after the Islanders barged in and sky lift slammed him onto Koko. He didn’t get to celebrate, though, as Matilda instantly chased him to the entryway while he ran away in horror. [**½]
SEMI-FINAL: Randy Savage [w/ Miss Elizabeth] vs. One Man Gang [w/ Slick]
IMG credit: WWE & NotRobVanDam (Dailymotion)
This is Savage’s third match into the show, so the Gang Man logically decimated him since he received a bye earlier. The story was okay, but we’ve seen it played out twice beforehand, so there’s no reason to get excited about it. Slick handed a cane to Gang after the referee was busy with Liz, but OMG failed to hit Savage with it in time as Macho kept avoiding the shot. The referee turned back to see this and awarded the win to Randy at 4:12 via disqualification. Savage finally advanced to the final after three exhausting rounds, and I’m ready to be done with the show at this point. [¾*]
WWF World Tag Team Title: Strike Force (c) vs. Demolition [w/ Mr. Fuji]
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
The birth of Demolition’s record-breaking tag title reign came in the form of a decent tag team contest. Tito and Martel are the faster, more experienced team, so they used that bit of advantage in their favor, overwhelming the Demos from the get-go with quick movements and classic tag IQ. Smash cut off said shine by catching Tito in a bearhug and dropped him onto an Ax clothesline, which was a neat transitional spot. Strike Force looked like they got this in the bag when Martel locked Smash in a Boston crab, but Mr. Fuji interfered, opening the door for Ax to hit Martel in the back with a cane shot at 8:02 for the win. I could see myself liking this more had the crowd been hotter. [**¾]
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WWF World Heavyweight Title, Tournament FINAL: Randy Savage [w/ Miss Elizabeth] vs. Ted DiBiase [w/ Andre The Giant]
IMG credit: WWE
The crowd started a “Hogan” chant right away after Andre tripped Savage, essentially telling us this will focus more on the outside drama rather than the in-ring action. Savage and DiBiase had some technically smooth exchanges in there, but it was aimless and lacked any real substance to stand out. After a few minutes into the bout, Savage instructed Liz to go to the back and bring Hulk Hogan out to even the numbers. Hogan soon arrived to huge cheers from the crowd, making me feel a little bad for Savage as he had his moment in the sun ruined by one man’s presence. As the referee was dealing with Andre, Hogan walked up behind DiBiase and blasted him with a chair. This gave Savage the opportunity to go up and drop the elbow for the victory and the belt at 9:20. The final shot of Savage lifting up Elizabeth as she held up the belt will forever be etched in my mind as one of pro wrestling’s most beautiful images. This was a solid, albeit highly disappointing, WrestleMania main event. [***]
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Overall
Clocking in at an absurd 3.5 hours and featuring a preposterous number of thirteen matches, this WrestleMania is an impossible slog to sit through. The whole show collapsed under its own weight as a result of this, causing it to drag on and on without ever feeling like its gonna end. And don’t even get me started on the number of non-finishes throughout the event! Randy Savage’s crowning was an unquestionably amazing moment for the ages, but it required an exhausting journey to get there. This is the worst WrestleMania ever in my book.
Score: 3/10
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 10.
That will be it for this edition of WrestleMania review, thank you very much for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment of the series, where I will be reliving a highly memorable ‘Mania, featuring the culmination of a year-long storyline between the Hulkster and the Macho Man – the implosion of the Mega Powers!
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In 1993, WWF decided to add another PPV which was “King of the Ring”. We had seen King of the Ring tournaments before, but they were never televised. For the first time, we saw the King of the Ring tournament televised. Also, this PPV is known for being Hulk Hogan’s last appearance in WWF, before his eventual return later. Find out how good all the matches were in this post.
9. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (King Of The Ring Quarter-Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE
This was just a regular quarter final match in the tournament. Jim Duggan never had good matches, and this was no exception but it was kept short and it only went for 5 minutes. It never went long enough to be boring, which is a positive. Bam Bam Bigelow obviously won the match and advanced in the tournament. (*)
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8. Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WWF Championship)
IMG credit: WWE & whatculture.com
If you have kept up with our reviews and rankings, you might have seen that all the WWF title matches had been good since 1992. This match broke the streak and is the first BAD WWF title match on PPV since the beginning of 1992. It was very slow and boring with the fireball finish being extremely stupid. The only positive that comes out of this is the fact that Hogan lost the belt and was out of the company. (*3/4)
7. Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes (King Of The Ring Quarter-Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE & wwereplay.com
The match was obviously carried by Mr. Perfect who did excellent bumping all around, but Mr. Hughes also did a better job than expected. It was still not a good match but it was watchable. The DQ ending was quite stupid though. (**)
6. The Steiner Brothers & The Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc. & The Headshrinkers
IMG credit: WWE & classicwrestlingreview.com
The match was quite pointless and didn’t really belong on the card. The match ended up being OK but nothing exciting. They weren’t really given much time anyway so I can’t complain much. Wish the Steiners were involved more though as it would have made the match more entertaining. (**)
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5. Lex Luger vs. Tatanka (King Of The Ring Quarter-Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE & culturecrossfire.com
It wasn’t a good idea at all for these two men to go for 15 minutes. The match is fine but really boring and lacks intensity apart from the final moments. I guess doing the time limit draw was better than doing a lame double countout. (**1/2)
4. Shawn Michaels vs. Crush (WWF Intercontinental Championship)
IMG credit: WWE
They had a better match before this at UK Rampage. This match had a lot of Diesel interference and was basically Shawn using his heel tactics to beat the big Crush. Another OK match here with not much to talk about. The finish with Doink doing his “tricks” was never exciting to me and made Crush look stupid once again. Crush also no sold the finish completely post match running behind Doink full speed. (**1/2)
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3. Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon (King Of The Ring Quarter-Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE & classicwrestlingreview.com
Here we go with the Bret Hart show. Bret Hart and Razor Ramon had a better match at Royal Rumble earlier in the year, but this was a good match as well. The match had good nearfalls and the finish was also very good. Great start to the show. (***1/4)
2. Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (King Of The Ring Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE & audioboom.com
The story here was simple: Bret Hart had already wrestled two matches on the show and was hurt whereas the bigger Bam Bam Bigelow was fresh and had only wrestled one short match. The match itself ended up being a really good David vs. Goliath contest which I enjoyed throughout. Bret’s selling was awesome and Bam Bam’s offense was also very good. The finish with the Victory roll was also very well worked, and Bret was a good choice to be the King of the Ring winner. (****)
1. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (King Of The Ring Semi-Final Match)
IMG credit: WWE & sportskeeda.com
Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect were two best WWF wrestlers at the time, and thus a great match was expected from them. The match ended up being just as expected. It was an excellent evenly matched contest with great counters. The match operated on a great pace and it could have really gone either ways. In my opinion, they managed to even top their SummerSlam 1991 encounter. (****3/4)
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next part of this series where we will take a look at SummerSlam. Have a nice day!
Hello everyone welcome to SmarkDown’s SummerSlam 2022 Review! I’m Tanner and I’ll be breaking down what went down at the biggest party of the summer!
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Bianca Belair(c) vs Becky Lynch | Raw Women’s Championship Match
IMG Credit: WWE
Bianca Belair def. Becky Lynch via Pinfall at 15:10
Bianca and Becky have always had the chemistry to produced great matches and this was no different. A pretty good match with nice athleticism, and a good story. This seems to mark the end of the near 1 year storyline these two had and I think it’s fitting since it seems like they’ll team up against Bayley, Dakota Kai, & Iyo Sky. ***½
The Miz vs Logan Paul | Singles Match
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IMG Credit: WWE & Wrestling Observer
Logan Paul def. The Miz via Pinfall at 14:15
I will admit it was cool seeing Logan do that frog splash. The match is a bit average and Logan isn’t exactly at his cleanest yet, but I’m not gonna say this wasn’t quite entertaining. Solid match! ***¼
Bobby Lashley(c) vs Theory | United States Championship Match
IMG Credit: WWE & Bleeding Cool
Bobby Lashley def. Theory via Submission at 4:42
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I’m glad they kept this short. Just basic action to make Lashley look good. Definitely the best route they could’ve taken. *¼
The Mysterio’s vs The Judgment Day |No Disqualification Tag Team Match
IMG Credit: WWE & POST Wrestling
Rey Mysterio def. Finn Balor via Pinfall at 11:08
Hardly makes use of the stipulation, but it’s an OK match here and I loved Edge’s return. Also a side note those spears were absolutely sick! **¾
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Pat McAfee vs Happy ‘Bum Ass’ Corbin | Singles Match
IMG Credit: WWE & Sportskeeda
Pat McAfee def. Happy Corbin via Pinfall at 10:39
It’s not the greatest match, but it’s ok and makes its point. Glad that McAfee and Cole get their best friends moment. **½
The Usos(c) vs The Street Profits | Smackdown Tag Team Championships Match
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IMG Credit: WWE & TJR Wrestling
Jimmy Uso def. Angelo Dawkins via Pinfall at 13:23
I am disappointed that The Profits after such a build and such a story they had either the Profits finally getting a win, but this match was still pretty decent. Not the best that they can do, but still good. **
Liv Morgan(c) vs Ronda Rousey | Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
IMG Credit: WWE & Sacnilk Combat
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Liv Morgan def. Ronda Rousey via Pinfall at 4:34
I actually do see where they’re doing after that finish so I don’t mind it. The match itself is actually quite decent while it last, and it looks like they’re gonna set up Liv vs Ronda II with Liv hopefully securing the win. *¾
Roman Reigns(c) vs Brock Lesnar | WWE Undisputed Universal Championship Last Man Standing Match
IMG Credit: WWE & Wrestleview
Roman Reigns def. Brock Lesnar at 22:55
This match was quite the insane one. Brock destroys Roman before he once again needs his Bloodline, but man the ways in which Brock tried to keep Roman down was very interesting. I like finish with Roman having to bury Brock and the visual of him standing over a twitching Brock was definitely interesting as well. This is pretty good. Not amazing, but I enjoyed it personally. ***½
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Overall this is a pretty solid show. Match quality isn’t the best, but we got our first look at Triple H’s side of booking and I personally loved some of the moments. The return of Bayley, Io Shirai, & Dakota Kai. The frog splash. Even Ronda Rousey’s heel turn. This show was made my moments and while I don’t love it, SummerSlam was pretty decent this year. 5.5/10
Hello everyone and welcome to my final article on 1992. In this special piece, we will take a look back at the best wrestlers in both the WWF and WCW. Then we will mention the top five matches for each company, followed by a top five list for both companies overall. After that, we will see who were the wrestlers in both companies (followed by overall, much like with the matches) that got more points. This will be according to the point system I use on every show, which you can see here. We’ll finish by looking at the PPV buyrates and TV ratings.
Before starting, one last announcement regarding the point system: the wrestlers involved in the 5th best match of their particulary company get 1 point, those in the 4th best get 2 points, those in the 3rd best get 3 points, those in the 2nd best get 4 points, and those in the best match of the year will get 5 points. As for the overall list (both companies put together), the points will double – meaning the participants in the 5th best match will get 2 points, and so on.
Note: The Royal Rumble match is not eligible for this list. I will always give the edge to regular wrestling matches, since it’s pretty hard (not impossible, but pretty hard) to see a Rumble match that isn’t fun. Thus, I don’t include it in order to open the door for other matches, and also to prevent you from seeing “Royal Rumble match” mentioned as most of the wrestlers’ best match of the entire year in the top wrestlers segment of this article.
5) Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior – WWF Championship (SummerSlam)
IMG credit: WWE & IMDb
We start off the 1992 list with Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior from SummerSlam. This was their rematch from the retirement match at WrestleMania VII the previous year, winner of the 1991 match of the year award here on the blog. It was hard to top the ‘Mania 7 retirement bout, and while it did not, the two put on yet another exciting matchup at the Wembley Stadium extravaganza. Macho Man always managed to bring out the best in Ultimate Warrior, sharing great chemistry with each other. With Savage’s WWF Heavyweight Championship on the line, the two colorful megastars had a dramatic back-and-forth contest that had the fans in attendance, as well as those watching on TV all over the world, on the edge of their seats. The bout featured constant interference from Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect, who promised to be in cahoots with one of the participants, only for it to end via count-out, resulting in the eventual formation of the brief Ultimate Maniacs tag team. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****
4) Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – WWF Championship (Survivor Series 1992)
IMG credit: WWE & 411mania.com
The WWF Championship was defended on all four PPVs of 1992 (not counting UK Rampage). All those four matches were some of the very best of the year, including the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match won by Ric Flair. The final WWF pay-per-view of the year saw the two most technically-gifted up-and-comers in professional wrestling battle over the World Championship in a brilliant technical masterpiece. The match told an awesome story, with Shawn wearing Bret down due to Bret’s recent grueling schedule as the defending champion as the match went longer, whilst Bret had been able to outwrestle the arrogant challenger at first. The final few minutes in particular were very exciting, climaxing with Bret Hart forcing Michaels to submit to the Sharpshooter in his first World title defense on PPV. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/4
3) Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart – WWF Intercontinental Championship (WrestleMania VIII)
IMG credit: WWE & prowrestlingpost.com
WrestleMania VIII featured two all-time ‘Mania classics – one of those being this dramatic tussle between cousins for the prestigious Intercontinental Championship. Roddy Piper entered what would be his farewell match in the Hoosier Dome as the defending champion, whilst Bret was looking to snatch the biggest win of his career to that point in order to reclaim the gold at ‘Mania. Both professionals gave it their all during the time they got, keeping the crowd in the palm of their hands whilst delivering a highly-emotional encounter, filled with superb storytelling. The shot of Piper teasing to use the bell while the crowd beg him not to do it in the background is priceless, and proof of how great workers both these pros were. This stands as one of the greatest Intercontinental Title matches of all time in my opinion, and my personal favorite WWF Roddy Piper bout ever. Bret did indeed reclaim the title with a rare clean win over the Hot Rod, continuing his meteoric journey to the top of the Federation. As for Piper, he would not work a wrestling match in more than two years. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/2
2) Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage – WWF Championship (WrestleMania VIII)
IMG credit: WWE & wrestlingheadlines.com
Well, here’s the other classic from the eighth WrestleMania mentioned in the previous entry! Ric Flair arrived onto the WWF scene in late 1991, claiming to be the real World’s Champ. He followed that up by winning the vacant WWF Title in the annual Royal Rumble matchup, last eliminating Sid Justice. While the NWA/WCW alumnus was arriving, the Macho Man was just returning from his short-lived retirement. After winning a heated feud with Jake Roberts, Savage was challenged by the cocky champion, who claimed to have been with Miss Elizabeth in the past. This infuriated Randy, who walked into Indianapolis on a mission to dismantle the Nature Boy. His emotions allowed Flair to dominate most of the match, combined with timely interference from Mr. Perfect, as well as Savage’s injured leg. However, the cockiness of Ric Flair is what ultimately cost him, as he became more focused on showing off to Liz rather than putting Macho Man away. Not too long afterwards, the returning hero surprised Flair with a roll-up that gave him his second WWF Heavyweight Championship. Despite the loss, the arrogant Naitch still had the last laugh, planting a kiss on Elizabeth that pushed Savage past his breaking point. This was a great matchup with some terrific selling by Savage, that also left the door open for future business between the pair. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/2
1) Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog – WWF Intercontinental Championship (SummerSlam)
IMG credit: WWE
It’s incredible how relevant this match still is today, nearly 30 years later. It is also still a brilliant match to rewatch nowadays. The work is very smart throughout the entire bout, with Bret subtlety working a more heelish style (whilst still following all the legal rules) as the match progressed. It was technically awesome as well, an intense struggle between two proud men who knew each other very well. It was Hart’s wrestling ability versus the British Bulldog’s insane feats of strength. In the end, Bret tried to wrestle Davey Boy down into a sunset flip, only to get caught and pinned to the mat by the powerful Englishman. He picked up the victory much to the delight of the 80.000 patrons packing the England national football team’s stadium that evening. This will remain a classic no matter how many decades or generation pass, and a perfect showcase of professional wrestling. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: *****
TOP 5 WCW MATCHES
5) Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Flyin’ Brian Pillman – WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (SuperBrawl II)
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
On Christmas night in 1991, the exciting Light Heavyweight Champion ‘Flyin Brian lost the belt to the international sensation at a house show. Their rematch was booked for WCW SuperBrawl in February. Pillman’s strategy was to keep Jushin grounded, preventing him from getting an edge through the use of his classic aerial moves. That is exactly what happened in the first couple of minutes, until the pace got quicker near the end. Both men gave it all they had in the opener of the very first WCW PPV of the year, going back-and-forth in an exchange of athletic moves. Eventually, it was through mat-wrestling that Pillman recaptured the short-lived strap. Liger climbed up to the top rope, only to miss a huge splash. Pillman caught the Japanese superstar in a pinning predicament, making good on his promise and reclaiming the Light Heavyweight Title after an amazing matchup. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/4
4) Sting vs. Big Van Vader – WCW World Heavyweight Championship (The Great American Bash)
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
After some one-off appearances throughout the last couple of years, Big Van Vader was finally a full-time WCW wrestler by early 1992. He made an impact in short order by targeting the top dog around, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting. A couple of months later, the two went at it for Sting’s title at The Great American Bash. This was a brilliant “David vs. Goliath” type of wrestling match, with Sting somehow being able to withstand the beating of his life at the hands of the unforgiving monster. Sting’s last adrenaline-driven comeback was amazing, picking up the big man on spaghetti legs for a huge Samoan drop. Ultimately, this is what took him out of the equation, though. Sting knocked himself out cold on the turnbuckle on a missed Stinger Splash, allowing Vader to put him out with a massive Powerbomb to claim the WCW title. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/4
3) Sting vs. Big Van Vader – King of Cable Tournament Final (Starrcade)
IMG credit: WWE & theovertimer.com
Their rematch happened in December’s Starrcade, as part of the final of the King of Cable tournament, held to celebrate 20 years of pro wrestling on TBS. And while the final of a rather forgettable one-off tournament doesn’t sound half as exciting on paper as a World Championship match, I personally enjoyed the Starrcade bout slightly more. They followed up on the title bout at The Bash very well, delivering an intense physical battle with Sting getting another epic beating courtesy of the giant from the Rocky Mountains. This time around, though, Sting outsmarted the big man by asking for more punishment. Vader obliged and got even more vicious in his shots, only to eventually run out of gas in a brilliant touch. Not long afterwards, the exhausted monster climbed up to the top rope but got caught with a powerslam in mid-air, allowing Sting to quickly pin him after 17 minutes of brutality. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****1/2
2) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat – 30 Minute Iron Man Match (Beach Blast)
IMG credit: WWE & thisisawesomepod.com
Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat had chased the United States title throughout the first half of 1992. Although Steamboat’s title shot at SuperBrawl did not result in victory, thanks to Paul E. Dangerously dressing up as a ninja and attacking the Dragon, the feud continued after the Dangerous Alliance’s leader broke Steamboat’s nose with his telephone. The two met in the blow-off in this Iron Man match. Rude might have survived with his US title intact, but the feud was now more personal than ever. This matchup is a masterclass in psychology for aspiring wrestlers, with Rude constantly attacking Steamboat’s previously broken nose whilst the Dragon targeted the ribs and midsection of the United States Champion. The selling by both workers was just as perfect. Steamboat got his revenge in the end with a 4-3 win, which was the cherry on top. It’s a shame that Bill Watts’ short-lived dumb rules (like jumping off the top rope being a DQ) resulted in a couple of lame spots and falls, but apart from that this was nothing short of brilliant. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: ****3/4
1) WarGames (WrestleWar)
IMG credit: WWE & Cultaholic
Regarded by many as the best WarGames match of all time, this brutal bout saw multiple rivalries come into play, creating over 20 minutes of quality drama and storytelling. Sting’s Squadron consisted of the returning newly-turned babyface Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat with a broken nose, Dustin Rhodes, TV Champion Barry Windham and, of course, the WCW World Champion and team captain, Sting. The Dangerous Alliance was composed by Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin and the team leader, Rick Rude. Steamboat was in a heated feud with Rude, as previously addressed, and was looking for payback. Nikita had been last seen in a feud with Sting in mid-1991, and his recent change of attitude was questionable. Furthermore, Sting was coming into this bout with broken ribs courtesy of an attack by the number one contender to his World Title, Big Van Vader. To make matters even worse for the faces, the Alliance had both Paul E and Madusa at ringside. However, the Alliance was recently facing issues too: Larry Zbyszko was in the midst of a losing streak, and they lost the TV title (Austin to Windham) and the tag titles (Arn & Eaton to the Steiners) within the last few weeks on television. Long story short, there was enough action and drama going on to carry this to the next level. The biggest pop of the match came when Nikita sacrificed himself to save Sting from a double-team attack by Anderson and Austin, taking the beating himself. Sting finally understood Nikita was being honest and the two embraced in the ring, proceeding to clean house together to a thunderous ovation! Zbyszko’s bad luck cost his side the victory, as he grabbed the steel hook from a broken turnbuckle and took a swing at Sting, but errantly hit Eaton in the shoulder instead. Sting followed that up by smartly locking in an armbar on the injured ‘Beautiful’ Bobby, who gave it up to end this awesome fight. The Alliance blamed Zbyszko for this loss, kicking him out of the group shortly afterwards. (Check out the full match review here)
Rating: *****
TOP 5 MATCHES OVERALL
5) Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage – WWF Championship (WWF WrestleMania VIII)
IMG credit: WWE & wrestlingheadlines.com
4) Sting vs. Big Van Vader – King of Cable Tournament Final (WCW Starrcade)
IMG credit: WWE & theovertimer.com
3) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat – 30 Minute Iron Man Match (WCW Beach Blast)
IMG credit: WWE & thisisawesomepod.com
2) WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
IMG credit: WWE & Cultaholic
1) Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog – WWF Intercontinental Championship (WWF SummerSlam)
IMG credit: WWE
TOP 10 WWF WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
Note: the following part is based on my point system used throughout each and every show of the year
10) Sid Justice
IMG credit: WWE
12.75 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Sid’s first stint in McMahonland as Sid Justice was rather short, however it was still á quite impactful one. First debuting as a babyface to referee the “match made in hell” at SummerSlam 1991, Sid turned heel and joined forces with Harvey Wippleman in the beginning of the year. Sid Justice was the final man eliminated by Ric Flair in the Royal Rumble match for the vacant WWF Championship, eliminating the odds-on favorite Hulk Hogan in the process. A short partnership between the two was used to set up Sid’s inevitable heel turn, and the pair went on to main event WrestleMania VIII. The master and ruler of the world followed that up with a short program with the returning Ultimate Warrior, but allegedly left when he found out Warrior wanted to constantly kickout of Sid’s Powerbomb around the house show loop. Right before his departure, Sid had an interesting encounter with The Undertaker at UK Rampage, which would turn out to be the main event of WrestleMania 13 a few years later when Sid returned.
Sid’s best WWF match in 1992: W/ Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair & The Undertaker (Saturday Night’s Main Event #30 February 8th)
9) Rick Martel
IMG credit: WWE & steamcommunity.com
12.95 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
‘The Model’ finished up with the WWF after the previous year’s WrestleMania due to the death of his sister. He made his return to the WWF in time for the Royal Rumble. While Rick Martel was not involved in any major program throughout the year, he was apart of some good one-off matches in 1992. While he did feud with newcomer Tatanka for most of the calendar year, with them wrestling at both WrestleMania and Survivor Series, the feud did not provide any notable bouts or moments. The most memorable part of Martel’s 1992 was arguably the unique “no hitting in the face” encounter with fellow bad guy Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam, which was highly entertaining.
Martel’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Bret Hart (UK Rampage)
8) The Undertaker
IMG credit: WWE & The Sun
13.05 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
1992 was yet another important year that helped establish The Undertaker in the WWF. It was the first time that the persona was presented as a babyface, coming off a main event program with Hulk Hogan that saw ‘The Deadman’ briefly hold the WWF Championship. When ‘Taker first turned face, it set up a rivalry with veteran Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. Jake became the second victim of the Streak at ‘Mania 8 in what would turn out to be his final match in the company. A long feud with Kamala followed, culminating in a coffin’ match at Survivor Series. While the feud wasn’t exactly out of this world, it at least kept the freshly-turned Undertaker gimmick involved in a featured program.
Undertaker’s best WWF match in 1992: W/ Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice (Saturday Night’s Main Event #30 February 8th)
7) Irwin R. Schyster
IMG credit: WWE
15.95 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
This is the fourth wrestler we have addressed so far, and it’s also the fourth new entry into the WWF list. This shows how much of a transitional year 1992 was for the World Wrestling Federation. After years of multiple gimmick changes, and wondering if his name ended with an O or an A, Mike Rotunda finally nailed it as Irwin R. Schyster – IRS. The gimmick was so simple, which is what made it effective. Mike played it well, and he shared huge chemistry with Ted DiBiase and Jimmy Hart as part of Money Inc. Alongside the ‘Million Dollar Man’, IRS dominated the WWF’s tag team division in 92, winning the company’s Tag Team Championship twice that year.
IRS’ best match in 1992: Vs. The British Bulldog (UK Rampage)
6) Roddy Piper
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
16.9 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Much like Sid Justice, the Rowdy one was only apart of WWF programming until the spring, finishing up after WrestleMania. However, while his run that year was short, there’s no questioning the impact that Roddy Piper had on WWF in 1992. His Intercontinental Title win over The Mountie at the Royal Rumble was brilliant, ranking amongst one of the all-time greatest title changes in WWF/E history. Later on that very same night, Piper entered the Rumble for the vacant WWF World title at #15 and lasted over half an hour, nearly winning yet another belt. Eventually, Piper entered a program with the former Intercontinental Champion, Bret Hart. Of course, this culminated with their terrific matchup at WrestleMania VIII, which saw The Hitman reclaim his championship in Piper’s final appearance of that year, outside of a very brief cameo at SummerSlam.
Piper’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania VIII)
5) Shawn Michaels
IMG credit: WWE & Bleacher Report
29 points
Position in 1991: 9th (+4)
Kicking off WWF’s top five list is a man who truly elevated his game throughout 1992, Shawn Michaels. He started the year still as a member of The Rockers, throwing Marty Jannetty into the barber shop window in January to kickstart his singles run as The Heartbreak Kid. Shortly after gaining Sensational Sherri as his new manager, Michaels got his first huge win as a singles wrestler at WrestleMania, over the legendary Tito Santana. After a rare dream match with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage for the WWF Championship at UK Rampage, and an equally rare and quite entertaining heel-versus-heel “no hitting in the face” match with Rick Martel at SummerSlam, Michaels secured his first title by beating The British Bulldog on the last episode of WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event. Arguably, the final two months of the year were Michaels’ best – starting a hot feud with the returning Jannetty, and working a tremendous World Championship bout with Bret Hart in the main event of Survivor Series.
Michaels’ best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Bret Hart (Survivor Series)
4) Ric Flair
IMG credit: WWE & Sky Sports
31 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
The Nature Boy is synonymous with NWA/WCW, being arguably its most legendary champions of all time. Throughout the 1980s, Naitch was to Jim Crockett Promotions what Hulk Hogan was to the WWF. When Flair joined McMahonland in 1991, it was shocking to say the least. Whilst Flair’s run was extremely brief, lasting around a year and a half, Flair did all he could to make it good and memorable. There is no doubt he accomplished it. First debuting as the real World’s Champion carrying the Big Gold Belt, Flair entered WWF history in short order by winning the vacant WWF World Title in the Royal Rumble match, quite possibly the best ever. From there, Flair feuded mostly with Randy Savage, culminating with their incredible WrestleMania match. He was heavily involved in the Warrior/Savage title bout at SummerSlam, which set up the main event of Survivor Series, with Flair’s assistant Mr. Perfect replacing the departing Warrior. Furthermore, Flair briefly won the World title for a second time, dropping it to Bret Hart in Canada in an amazing match. So yes, it might’ve been short, but Ric Flair’s WWF run was pretty darn awesome.
Flair’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Randy Savage (WrestleMania VIII)
3) The British Bulldog
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
37.55 points
Position in 1991: 6th (+3)
When one thinks of The British Bulldog’s 1992, one instantly thinks of the historic Intercontinental Title match with Bret Hart at SummerSlam. However, there was more into Dave Boy Smith’s year that helped him secure the third place on our list. Bulldog had a spectacular run in the Royal Rumble match, entering at number one and lasting over 23 minutes, being one of its highlights. The match in which he dropped the Intercontinental Championship, to Shawn Michaels at Saturday Night’s Main Event, was also a really good one. He also main evented UK Rampage, winning a fun house show-esque bout over IRS. The fact that he participated in the best match of the year helped boost his rating as well.
Bulldog’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Bret Hart (SummerSlam)
2) Randy Savage
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
44.2 points
Position in 1991: 5th (+3)
The Macho Man had a career resurrection in 1992 after his in-ring return in December 1991, having his last great year in his historic run with the World Wrestling Federation. At the beginning of the year, Savage was still involved in his storyline with Jake Roberts, which is a really underrated program. Savage put ‘The Snake’ away for good at Saturday Night’s Main Event #30 in February, before moving on to another deeply personal rivalry, this time with WWF Champion Ric Flair. Macho won the World title for the second time in a true WrestleMania classic, continuing the feud with Flair all the way until Survivor Series. Savage’s second reign featured some amazing title defenses, in particular the rematch with Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, but also the UK Rampage bout with Shawn Michaels, and the rematch with Flair on Prime Time Wrestling where Naitch won it back. Randy Savage was one of the highlights of the year.
Savage’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. Ric Flair (WrestleMania VIII)
1) Bret Hart
IMG credit: WWE & Wrestling Headlines
48.5 points
Position in 1991: 1st (same)
For the second year in a row, Bret Hart secures the top spot in the WWF list. ‘The Hitman’ kicked off the year as the reigning Intercontinental Champion and ended it as the reigning WWF Champion, a clear sign of progress throughout the year. The Canadian had great moments in both divisions in 1992. While working in the IC division, Hart was involved in amazing storylines with Roddy Piper and The British Bulldog, which resulted in a pair of all-timers at WrestleMania and SummerSlam, respectively. Once he moved on to the World title scene, he killed it in some fantastic matches with Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, and him wanting to set a record schedule as defending champion made the reign stand out from all the previous ones. I will finish with the exact same line from the 1991 piece: Let’s see if he can keep this spot in 1993!
Bret’s best WWF match in 1992: Vs. The British Bulldog (SummerSlam)
TOP 10 WCW WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
10) Steve Austin
IMG credit: WWE & Reddit
34 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
This is the first appearance on the list for someone who would be wrestling’s biggest star across the next decade. In Steve Austin’s first full-year in WCW, putting on consistenly good matches as a part of the Dangerous Alliance. Austin held the Television Championship for a really long time, showcasing the belt in some fun matches with the likes of Barry Windham, before dropping it to Ricky Steamboat at September’s Clash of the Champions in another good one. By the end of 92, with the Dangerous Alliance splitting, Austin moved on to the tag team division, where he’d shine in 1993 alongside Brian Pillman.
Austin’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
9) Arn Anderson
IMG credit: WWE & Wrestling News
34.5 points
Position in 1991: 3rd (-6)
Arn Anderson was coming off a great 1991, in which he held the Television Championship and the Tag Team Championship alongside Larry Zbyszko. He also participated in some awesome matches, especially at SuperBrawl against Bobby Eaton, or the tag title match with Larry against Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes at a Clash. In 92, the 34-year-old Anderson did hold the tag straps with Eaton as a member of the Dangerous Alliance, and later joined the ‘tag team of the 90s’ alongside Eaton and Michael Hayes, but he wasn’t prominently featured as much. His work was good as always since he was a tremendous worker, but seeing Arn Anderson being used to submit to Erik Watts (on weekly television, no less) is total bullsh-t. Anyways, it’s great to still see him on the list.
Anderson’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
8) Brian Pillman
IMG credit: WWE & theofficialwrestlingmuseum.com
35.75 points
Position in 1991: 9th (+1)
For the last couple of years, Brian Pillman had already established himself as a great wrestler who could have a good match with just about anyone. However, 1992 was Pillman’s breakthrough year. The exciting young man held the short-lived Light Heavyweight title in the first half of the year, having constantly good matches with the likes of ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk, Scotty Flamingo, Brad Armstrong and Jushin Liger in particular. The second half of the year saw Pillman destroy the injured Brad Armstrong, which cost Pillman his rematch at the Light Heavyweight title. From there, Brian adopted a new ‘give zero f-cks’ heel attitude that helped carry him to the next level. His match with Ricky Steamboat at Halloween Havoc was really good, and the tag title match alongside Barry Windham and Steamboat and Shane Douglas at Starrcade was even better.
Brian’s best WCW match in 1992: Vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (SuperBrawl II)
7) Big Van Vader
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
36.25 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Vader had made numerous one-off appearances in WCW ever since Great American Bash 1990. But in the spring of 1992, he finally joined the promotion on a full-time basis, managed by one of the greatest World Champions of all time in Harley Race. Vader absolutely killed it in his feud with Sting, having awesome matches with the Stinger at both Great American Bash and Starrcade, even winning his first World Championship. Another notable moment from Vader’s year was at Halloween Havoc, where the monster replaced Rick Rude in his United States title defense against Nikita Koloff. Vader not only successfully retained Rude’s title, but retired the Lithuanian in the process. Just before the end of the year, Big Van Vader recaptured the WCW Championship from Ron Simmons and closed 1992 as the reigning champ. I have no doubt Vader would’ve been even higher on the list had he been a regular presence in the first half of the year as well.
Vader’s best WCW match in 1992: Vs. Sting (Starrcade)
6) Nikita Koloff
IMG credit: WWE & spaceflyingtigerblog.wordpress.com
38 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Nikita Koloff made his return to WCW for the first time in over a year, suspiciously saving his arch nemesis Sting from a beatdown by the Dangerous Alliance. Heading into WarGames in May, many fans awaited the predictable outcome of Nikita dropping the Stinger on his ass to resume their program. Nikita was the final man to enter WarGames in a smart booking decision, milking the story until the end. However, Nikita did side with Sting & co., embarking on a face run against the Dangerous Alliance throughout the summer, namely against the Alliance’s top dog in Rick Rude over the US title. Nikita’s hatred towards Rude created a short alliance with Ricky Steamboat, who disliked the Ravishing one just as much. They entered the tournament to crown the NWA Tag Team Champions in June, pulling double-duty at The Great American Bash as they reached the semi-finals. Nikita’s feud with Rude led to a series of matches with Vader, including at Halloween Havoc. Before the end of the year, Nikita Koloff would leave WCW and professional wrestling altogether after a good final run.
Nikita’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
5) Rick Rude
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
55.5 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude held the United States Championship for the entirety of 1992. First winning it over Sting at Clash of the Champions way back in November 1991, Rude had the gold for over a year. In mid-December 92, Rude was forced to vacate the title due to an injury, also missing a scheduled WCW World title match against Ron Simmons at Starrcade as a result of the diagnosis. Rick Rude had a spectacular 1992, filled with countless memorable moments and great matches. His best were arguably the battles with Ricky Steamboat, but he also had other great ones, such as his King of Cable semi-final against Sting, and several tag matches alongside different members of the Dangerous Alliance. Rick Rude established himself as one of the all-time greatest United States Champions in history during this year.
Rude’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
4) Dustin Rhodes
IMG credit: WWE & giantbomb.com
61.25 points
Position in 1991: 4th (+1)
The young son of ‘The American Dream’ improved massively compared to his work the previous year, especially in the first half of 1991. His runs tagging with Ricky Steamboat and later Barry Windham played a huge part in developing Dustin Rhodes’ skills early on. Dustin spent nearly the entire year working in the tag team division, opposing the Dangerous Alliance in the first half of the year, and chasing gold in the latter part of 1992. Alongside the veteran Windham, Rhodes reached the final of the NWA tag title tournament, pulling triple-duty at The Great American Bash and main eventing the show. They ultimately succumbed to the Miracle Violence Connection, but they did beat Williams and Gordy in a rematch for the now-unified WCW & NWA tag straps. Dustin was betrayed by his partner in a great match and angle at November’s Clash, resulting in them losing the titles to Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat, Rhodes’ former partner. As a singles wrestler, Rhodes reached the semi-finals of the King of Cable tournament in the fall, only losing to the monstrous Big Van Vader. The future seemed bright for young Dustin at the end of 1992, and he surely would enjoy a very successful wrestling career that is still going on today!
Rhodes’ best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
3) Barry Windham
IMG credit: WWE & wrestlinginc.com
63.75 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Much like any other babyface in WCW’s upper-midcard/main event echelon in early 1992, Barry Windham found himself at odds with the Dangerous Alliance. Windham was looking for revenge from Halloween Havoc 1991, in which the Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) broke Windham’s hand in the parking lot before the show. Windham was involved in Sting’s winning team at WarGames in May, and also briefly held the WCW TV Championship after ending ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin’s 329-day reign. That run was short as Windham would drop the gold back to Austin a month later, but he soon enjoyed tag team success alongside Dustin Rhodes. However, as mentioned in the previous entry, Windham embarked on a great heel run in November setting his sights on his first World title.
Windham’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
2) Sting
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
70.25 points
Position in 1991: 2nd (same)
After a 1990 marked by a horribly-timed injury and a disappointing first World title run, and a so-so 1991 that had its moments, Sting finally had his first amazing year as an established main-eventer in 1992. Sting won battlebowl at Starrcade 1991 by last eliminating then-champion Lex Luger, securing a World title shot against him at SuperBrawl II. Sting won that match and the title that night, before moving on to feuds with the Dangerous Alliance and Big Van Vader. That turned out to be a huge positive, as it resulted in some of Sting’s best matches of his career. Throw in the falls count anywhere encounter with Cactus Jack at Beach Blast, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a year.
Sting’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
1) Ricky Steamboat
IMG credit: WWE & shitloadsofwrestling.tumblr.com
74.75 points
Position in 1991: none (new entry)
Let me start by admitting that even I was surprised at Steamboat getting the most points out of everyone in both companies, and becoming the wrestler of the year. However, looking back at Ricky Steamboat’s 1992, it’s nothing short of amazing. He was involved in one of the feuds of the year with Rick Rude, which gave us three terrific PPV matches (including WarGames). Outside of that, Steamboat reached the semi-finals of the NWA tag team tournament at The Great American Bash alongside Nikita Koloff, featuring an underrated quarter-final tournament matchup against Brian Pillman & Jushin Liger. In the latter part of 1992, Steamboat ended Steve Austin’s lengthy run as Television Champion in another great matchup. Finally, he won the Unified World Tag Team Championship with Shane Douglas, closing the year with bangers against Windham & Rhodes at Clash and later Windham & Pillman at Starrcade for the titles. For Ricky Steamboat, the wrestler of the year according to our point system, consistency was the key in 1992.
Steamboat’s best WCW match in 1992: WarGames (WrestleWar)
TOP 10 WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR OVERALL
10) Big Van Vader (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & TheSportster
36.25 points
Best match in 1992: Vs. Sting (WCW Starrcade)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
9) The British Bulldog (WWF)
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
37.55 points
Best match in 1992: Vs. Bret Hart (WWF SummerSlam)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
8) Nikita Koloff (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & spaceflyingtigerblog.wordpress.com
38 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
7) Randy Savage (WWF)
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
44.2 points
Best match in 1992: Vs. Ric Flair (WWF WrestleMania VIII)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
6) Bret Hart (WWF)
IMG credit: WWE & Wrestling Headlines
48.5 points
Best match in 1992: Vs. The British Bulldog (WWF SummerSlam)
Position in 1991 overall: 7th (+1)
5) Rick Rude (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
55.5 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
4) Dustin Rhodes (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & giantbomb.com
61.25 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
3) Barry Windham (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & wrestlinginc.com
63.75 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
2) Sting (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
70.25 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: 2nd (same)
1) Ricky Steamboat (WCW)
IMG credit: WWE & shitloadsofwrestling.tumblr.com
74.75 points
Best match in 1992: WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
Position in 1991 overall: none (new entry)
PPV BUYS & TV RATINGS
WWF
Pay Per Views
Royal Rumble – Jan. 19th: 260.000 PPV buys (main attraction: Royal Rumble match for the vacant WWF Championship)
WrestleMania VIII – April 5th: 390.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice; Hulk Hogan’s last match?; Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage for the WWF Championship; Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship)
SummerSlam – Aug. 29th: 280.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Championship; Whose side are Flair and Perfect on?; Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship)
Survivor Series – Nov. 25th: 250.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Randy Savage & Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon; Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship)
TV specials
Saturday Night’s Main Event – Feb. 8th: 8.2 TV rating (main attractions: Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice vs. Ric Flair & The Undertaker; Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts)
Saturday Night’s Main Event – Nov. 14th: 6.1 TV rating (main attractions: Money Inc vs. The Ultimate Maniacs for the WWF World Tag Team Championship; Bret Hart vs. Papa Shango for the WWF Championship)
WCW
Pay Per Views
SuperBrawl II – Feb. 29th: 160.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Lex Luger vs. Sting for the WCW Championship; Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat for the United States Championship)
WrestleWar – May 17th: 105.000 PPV buys (main attraction: The Dangerous Alliance vs. Sting’s Squadron – WarGames)
Beach Blast – June 20th: 70.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat in an Iron Man Match; Sting vs. Cactus Jack in a Falls Count Anywhere Match)
The Great American Bash – July 12th: 70.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Big Van Vader vs. Sting for the WCW Championship; NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament)
Halloween Havoc – Oct. 25th: 165.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Sting vs. Jake Roberts; ‘spin the wheel make the deal’ stipulation reveal for Sting vs. Roberts; Ron Simmons vs. The Barbarian for the WCW Championship)
Starrcade – Dec. 28th: 95.000 PPV buys (main attractions: Battlebowl; Sting vs. Big Van Vader in the King of Cable tournament final; Ron Simmons vs. Rick Rude for the WCW Championship)
TV specials
Clash of the Champions XVIII – Jan. 21st: 3.7 TV rating (main attractions: Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs. Dangerous Alliance’s Rick Rude & Steve Austin; The Steiners vs. Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes; Big Van Vader returns to WCW)
Clash of the Champions XIX – June 22nd: 2.8 TV rating (main attractions: first round matches of the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament)
Clash of the Champions XX – Sept. 2nd: 3.7 TV rating (main attractions: Sting, The Steiners & Nikita vs. Roberts, Vader, Rude & Super Invader; Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack for the WCW Championship; Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat for the Television Championship; special celebration of 20 years of wrestling on TBS)
Clash of the Champions XXI – Nov. 18th: 3.2 TV rating (main attractions: Sting vs. Rick Rude in a King of Cable tournament semi-final match; Madusa vs. Paul E Dangerously; Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas for the WCW/NWA Unified World Tag Team Championship)
Here are the files with the point system for both companies.
That’s it. We’re officially closing the book on 1992 here on the site and moving on to 1993. It will be another year with a lot of changes, beginning in January immediately with the debut of RAW. Make sure you keep following the blog as we take a closer look at yet another year. Until next time!
Jonathan Gresham(c) vs Claudio Castagnoli | ROH World Championship Match
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IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling
Claudio Castagnoli def. Jonathan Gresham via Pinfall at 11:30
This match went shorter than I thought it did, and honestly deserved more considering it’s for ROH’s signature championship, but I digress. This ended up being a pretty good match while it lasted. Not too crazy, but enough to put me in a good mindset for the rest of the show. While I would’ve waited for Claudio to win the title, I’m really happy that he’s getting the push he deserves. Also gotta give credit to Gresham, who really showcased his technical skills and his athleticism. I really hope his current issues are resolved and he comes back to give us more bangers. ***
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The Righteous(c) vs Dalton Castle & The Boys | ROH World Six Man TagTeam Championships Match
IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Last Word on Sports
Dalton Castle def. Vincent via Pinfall at 9:11
A fun tag match that introduced me to all 6 of these guys. This was all over the place and was a bit crazy. I’m really happy for Dalton Castle and The Boys mostly because of their performance. **3/4
Wheeler Yuta(c) vs Daniel Garcia | ROH Pure Championship Match
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IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Wrestling Headlines
Wheeler Yuta def. Daniel Garcia at 15:55
I really enjoy the unique pure rules stipulation. It really reflects the art of wrestling and pretty much draws the line between real and professional. Which is why I enjoy this match a lot because it focuses on the in ring mat wrestling perspective which I always love. As I get more into the match I learn more about pure style wrestling and really am interested in seeing more of it. Loved the final few minutes where we got transition after transition of the both of them trying to defeat the other. Loved that Wheeler and won too. Really good match. ***1/4
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Rush vs Dragon Lee | Singles Match
IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Wrestling Observer
Rush def. Dragon Lee via Pinfall at 15:50
For being brothers, these two beat the living hell out of each other and I really enjoyed it. Some really good mat wrestling before they let loose and did anything they could to incapacitate their opponent. Especially Rush who did not hold back and brutally beat the shit out of Lee. From throwing Lee into something to tricking him into thinking he’s injured in order to win, Rush really showed out here and I’m interested in seeing more of him. ***1/4
Mercedes Martinez(c) vs Serena Deeb | ROH Women’s World Championship Match
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IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Wrestlezone
Mercedes Martinez def. Serena Deeb via Submission at 17:20
I think both women wrestled pretty well here, and this match isn’t bad in the slightest, but my issue was the lack of interest myself and even the crowd had shown. This also went a bit too long and really felt more like 30 minutes. Again not badly wrestled, just not exactly exciting. **1/2
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Samoa Joe(c) vs Jay Lethal | ROH World Television Championship Match
IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Wrestlezone
Samoa Joe def. Jay Lethal via Submission at 12:20
I really enjoyed the pre match brawl and once they got started they had a pretty good contest. I like the formula they went with here and the crowd was being really receptive which I loved. I was surprised at Joe winning after such a long build up, but I’m happy that he remains champion. Maybe Lethal will win a big match some day. ***
FTR(c) vs The Briscoes | ROH World Tag Team Championships 2 out of 3 Falls Match
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IMG Credit: ROH Wrestling & Wrestlezone
Dax Harwood def. Jay Briscoe via Pinfall at 43:26 (2-1)
This very well may be match of the year. These guys fought for nearly 3/4 of an hour with zero bullshit. Just wrestling. And I loved it. Loved the first fall being dedicated to them trying to out wrestle each other and it was a great start to the match. Also loved the story of FTR getting the two final falls after the disadvantage of losing the first fall. The drama of who will win was incredible, and even though I wanted FTR to just win, I couldn’t help but want the match to go on forever. This is also my first look at The Briscoes and from what I’ve seen they are a great team. As for FTR, we’ll of course they are incredible. The finish makes sense as it is arguably the most brutal move in the entire match. A top rope piledriver to get FTR the win and the respect of many wrestling fans. I adored this match. ****1/4
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Overall, this is a great show and I personally do like the presentation of new ROH. A lot of good matches here and a match of the year contender. What’s not to like? 8/10
What did you think of the show? Feel free to comment down below! And if you like what you’re seeing please consider following the blog and perhaps donate!
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