Catus Is A Nut, Jake Is A Bastard, and Dustin Takes A Lot of Pain

Cactus Jack v Dustin Rhodes (Main Event 30/8/92)

--Hell of a brawl. It literally took them six or seven minutes (and the match went about nine) for them to get in them to get in the ring (falls count anywhere). Piss and vinegar Dustin Rhodes makes a special appearance, and Foley's doing his WCW trademarks like the off-apron sunset flip and the kissing/biting the chair after using it shtick. When he grabbed the chair it had an electrical cord around it and he looked really pissed that he couldn't get it off. Then he stopped trying and jerked some headphones in his direction. Then he laid waste to Rhodes. Thought the transition spots in this were pretty much perfect; really loved the outside-bulldog being turned into Dustin running into the ring post. Dustin's revenge with the chair near the end was great even if he didn't win. These two NEEDED a lengthy match.

Jake Roberts v Dustin Rhodes (Saturday Night 26/9/92)

--God this was great. Rhodes had a little too much shine at the beginning working Snake's arm, but it all looked really good and Jake's leg tapping and hand-biting is what I want in this sort of selling. It all came full circle once Roberts did the ol' "fake a leg injury" job and tosses Dustin out and does squats to mock him. He takes his sweet time tearing Dustin apart. Dustin going back to the arm whenever he was in trouble was terrific, and Jake being a wily prick to win was better.

Guess Which Company And Year These Matches Are From.

No, not 2010 TNA.

Cactus Jack v Dustin Rhodes (Main Event 30/8/92)

--These two should have had a lengthy mid-card feud in 1997 WWF. Pretty sure 'Dust was the face at that point, and Mick could've still kept heel Mankind around. Unless you're missing the point; this was good. Felt like a real home-bred boy vs. nut-job-made-in-a-science-lab-somewhere match; Rhodes could only do so many punches to the face without Cactus smiling and squealing like a shithead. Foley looked good and maniacal on offense and I liked how it eventually got to the point of Rhodes laying him out on that blue carpet and drop-kicking him just to get him down. Messy finish sets up the no DQ (or falls count anywhere, Idr) match and it rules. I kept thinking the whole match how great a 15 minute Clash of the Champions or PPV match between these two would in 1994 (or even then). And then I got sad because it never happened. Ah.

Steve Austin v Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions 2/9/92)

--Before this started they had some 11 year old girl from Tulsa (who looked at least 14) sing the America National Anthem. Only reason I'm mentioning that is because Paul E. Dangerously was talking is Austin's ear throughout and I thought that was a deliciously scumbaggy thing to do. Then they put him in a cage above the ring. For a reason I don't remember, I didn't really get this on the first watch. I didn't think it was anything less than good, but I didn't *truly* think that it was anything above good. Fuck. That. Loved it, and again, Austin impressed the hell out f me compared to the rest of his WCW run up until that point. This may actually be his best singles match with the company come t think of it, and I can't think of a better performance from him. He on that (originally) taped rib/back like a mother, and Steamboat's selling was as per Steamboat. Meaning it didn't suck. But really, Austin's attacks look so sweet; the abdominal stretch, the knees, and he did this top-rope throw that I ever remember seeing before. For a long time I always thought "Steve Austin could have been a major player in WCW" was an overstatement, but when you're in there making Ricky motherfucking Steamboat look like he wasn't the better guy in the match- you fucking rock. They didn't make the no DQ rule too handy, but the finish had Dragon coming off of the top (which was a disqualification in that time and promotion) after crawling through the bottom of the ring (which was AWESOME). Actually, I think originally I may have been annoyed that this seemed no-DQ for no good reason, but that's the sort of thing I can overlook when I'm having this much fun. This is *really* good.

WCW's 1992= Good?

Maybe.

Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff v Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger (Great American Bash 12/7/92)

--Steamboat's the guy I peg for runner-up worker of the world in 92 behind Arn, but shit, I have to really look at Liger when going through everything because he could be number one. I thought he was just as good as Dragon here, and he was good in the Clash XIX tag, he has a great match with Pillman at SuperBrawl, a classic with El Samurai, great matches with Benoit and Norio Honaga. Yeah, looking forward to venture through him in 92. This match, obviously, did not suck, but it wasn't something I'm chucking "great" at either. Basically plays how you'd think it would with Liger and Pillman going more airborne and Koloff getting the shoulder blocks and yelling at the ref in the corner. Liger & Pillman actually work the arm of Koloff as some kind of attempt to throw off the game of Nikita, and it was sweet watching that mesh into Liger finally getting a successful shoulder block on him. , I don't like a babyface vs. babyface tag match, though, and I rarely see them work out really well. One guy always does something that was meant to be taken by a heel team. Here, Steamboat pulled Pillman and Liger both into the ring and clocked their heads together, which I think is really something to be left for a Dangerous Alliance pairing. Actually, Steamboat wasn't his awesome self in this; without making him look or sound bad, he didn't seem like the guy to throw into a babyface v babyface match. He had some awkward looking stuff with Pillman that went more and more downhill as the sequence went. Ah, every wrestler has their flaws. This is worth a watch for sure.

Rick Rude/Steve Austin v Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes (Great American Bash 12/7/92)

--Everyone rocked here. There isn't much that would separate this from a regular Dangerous Alliance v Sting and Pals tag match, but a regular Dangerous Alliance v Sting and Pals tag match is a great fuckin' match. Austin struck me as being better than ever (at that point and time) here; the most of the year he kind of looked like a mid-card rookie guy on the team seemingly pushing his weight, but he comes off here as one of the veterans who'll rally fuck you up. His offense ruled during Windham's face in peril slice, actually all the cheap shots and cut-offs from he and Rude were all great. Dustin's hot tag explosion house o' fire was as good as it gets.

Rick Rude v Nikita Koloff (Worldwide 25/7/92)

--I hate myself for not remembering practically any of this because I really, really enjoyed it. I remember Rude selling really well and making Nikita look really good, and I had this silly grin when he went to hit Nikita over and over to no reward. The look on his face was amazing. Um, yes, watch this too.

Yeah They Call Him The Natural.....

Vader v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 16/11/94)

--24 hours ago I'd never watched this before; I've now seen it three times. There's only so much two guys can do in twelve minutes, but, off of the top of my head, this might be the best twelve minute match I've ever seen that isn't Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura. Amazing. Vader's usually cocky, but here he's reached a different level of dicky, slapping Dustin and blowing saliva n his face and yelling his head of at him with Harley Race giving him a maniacal cackle on the outside. Dustin losing his shit, Tony Schiavone loses his shit, I lose my shit. Dustin's a perfect house o' fire, and you see about a million people jump on their feet when he tackles Vader down like a freight train and starts slapping away himself. He goes the Sting route and knocks him over the top rope and takes his mask and runs over Race, and only loses his own control when Big Van gets a breather outside. A Vader control segment is the control segment you WANT, and he's pummelling the crap out of Rhodes in the turnbuckle corner with those ridiculous swings. A Dustin sympathy period is a sympathy period you want, and I'd say his hope spots are as good as about anything I've seen. There's  great amount of stuff he does that would be considered almost nothing had this been the same sized opponent, but Vader's got the 200 lb weight upper hand, so when Rhodes pulls of a successful suplex or a power slam counter to a splash, you have everyone losing their mind. The DDT off of the second rope in particular was the damned greatest. Vader having to use two Vader splashes to get Dustin down was awesome, and Dustin kicked out at both which was a whole new level of him possibly being able to get a win here. Dustin had a sensational 1994, but I'd say he could have come off looking even stronger here than he did anytime else. He obviously got more control and stuff in the Buck series/WarGames, but this is fuckin' VADER, man. Two years prior (almost to the day, actually) you had Dustin scraping every bit of energy he had to even be a contender to win against Van, and here there's a lot of stuff that makes you think, "Dustin's fuckin' WINNING?!?!" Vader has to resort to throwing Dus over the rope when the ref takes his own period of pain because of Dustin overzealousness, and the idea of Vader resorting to being desperate enough to do that is awesome. And those clotheslines, man. He WIIIPPES him. Finish might be unspectacular, but, again, Dustin was made to look really strong. Once Vader's in deep shit Race gets in the ring and Dustin goes to whoop him only for Vader to cream the whole lot of them, then he lays out Rhodes with this face plant thing. This really was excellent, and I can only think how tremendous it would have been had they feuded throughout '95. I honestly cannot fathom a promoter watching this and thinking it wasn't a money feud. The crowd was molten, the match was terrific, and the performances were immense. Dustin looked like a better opponent for Vader than Sting was. Apart from Hart/Hart at WrestleMania and Blue Panther/El Mariachi, this is probably as good a match as I've seen from a non-Japanese promotion in 1994. Again, amazing.

Them Philly Crowds, Man

Dustin Rhodes v Barry Windham (WCW 29/12/92)

--If this was on a TV episode with a super cutesy pro-babyface crowd instead of being a handheld in the annoyingly crowd-split Philly, I get the feeling I would have thought it was a really good match. There's these bunch of fans near the person holding the camera in particular backing Windham (the heel) that are especially annoying.  It's a shame because like I said, this had some really, really good stuff. Windham is a sizeable opponent for Rhodes' babyface shtick and even though the two look like giant blobs with white heads on the handheld camera, i could see Dustin rolling in pain at certain points and I was ***dying*** to catch a closer look. Windham was being pretty dicky, taking cheap shots and teasing chair-usage and such, and the hope spots Dustin put in were perfect for the ten minutes they got. There's a ref bump and it would have been really great to see the crowd lose their shit when Dustin hit the Bulldog after that. A lot of the crowd actually barracked for Dustin, but I'm looking a little less forward to the tag with Liger and Steamboat from the same live event for no other fact than the negative reaction. God I really don't like Philly wrestling crowds. Scratch that, I *hate* Philly wrestling crowds.

If This Feud Were A Woman I'd Be In A Chapel Saying "I Do,"

Went through a hefty chunk of the Dustin Rhodes/Studd Stable feud from 1994 and it is so the greatest thing ever. Here's basically the best of the best of what I watched in unneeded nonsensical detail. Watch all this, btw.

Dustin Rhodes v Bunkhouse Buck (WCW 17/4/94)

--Couldn't have asked for anything more in a Bunkhouse match. Buck comes out all cocky because this is his time and Bunkhouse is part of his name and how can little rookie boy even try to touch him. Minute later and Dustin's launched himself over the ropes with some sort of piece of wood in his hand. I haven't seen what lead up to this, but the announcers said "Dustin's looking for revenge", and that equals good pro wrasslin'. Typical shine period where there's no rules, and typical heelish arsehole antics from Buck, low blows and all. He grabs that piece of wood eventually (which s apparently a 1x2) and smashes it over Rhodes head. It's one of those ECW shoot hits as well, where he goes "pro wrestling's fake you bastards? FUCK IT!" Dustin's entire faces goes red with blood and it's dripped on the mats outside. You're getting two types of Dustin Rhodes here; sympathy Dustin, and enraged Dustin, and they're as good as each other. Once sympathy Dustin is out of the way, enraged Dustin takes over by shaking in the corner drawing energy from God and his Texans at home. or something. Enraged Dustin's all about that revenge, he's whipping and punching making sure Buck goes home to the trash can where he lives on a stretcher. WCW are awesome at ending a match and making you want a proper conclusion in the future and this naturally had that. This is sitting in my top quarter right now, and even if I don't think it'll stay there, it was everything a guy could want.

Dustin Rhodes v Bunkhouse Buck (WCW 22/5/94)

--They had a Bunkhouse, here's a bull-rope! Dustin's still all piss and vinegar and he doesn't even let the tie the rope to Buck before he tries to murderise him. I'm almost struggling to remember any Buck offense, because Dustin beat on his for a *long* time, but it's the kind of Mid-South-esque babyface beating that you crave in a feud as vie as this has been. There are these absolutely nasty cowbell shots where it's Dustin's turn to go ECW on Buck, and he just swings the thing straight at his head and he's content with wherever it lands. There were plenty of shots like that and I remember saying "Jesus" out loud on one of them. Buck's bumping like Terry Funk everywhere and Dustin's whooping him all over. Watching Col. Parker lose his mind is always fun as well. Then the actual TERRY FUNK comes out with a cloth on his head once this is finished after having one of the more batshit matches ever with Tully Blanchard earlier in the night (seriously watch that one) and there's madness everywhere. This definitely wasn't as good as the Bunkhouse match, but it's a great, great fight and it's laying in my top 50 right now. Two matches and I already think this feud is the greatest.

Dustin Rhodes/Arn Anderson v Terry Funk/Bunhouse Buck (WCW 17/7/94)

--"YEAH, I'LL BE YA PARTNER!" Arn accepts Dustin's invitation to be his partner and "take them down". More enraged Dustin! He throws both guys over the top rope when the referee has his back turned and Jesse Ventura on commentary is yelling at everyone. I mentioned Buck bumping and selling like Terry Funk himself, and they're both in the ring now so you can imagine what the hell is going on in there. You don't see a huge bunch of Arn in this, likely because of the turn, but he's a crazy babyface apron. He's shaking and yelling and jiving once he gets the final tag he gets up Dustin up and plants a mega DDT on him in the mother of al betrayals. Meng's out and they're stomping on his arm like the Horsemen did to his pa in the '80s. Just more build up, fun and twists in a really great feud.

Dustin Rhodes v Bunkhouse Buck (WCW 6/8/94)

--Nothing much to write about here, this was more tame than the other matches since is the a ten minute match on free TV, but it was really good for the time given and it made me think that Buck has more stuff to his name other than the Dustin/Studd Stable feud. You obviously get your hatred and fiery punches, but there's no whipping or cowbell shots to the noggin around here. Buck pushes the camera man down before getting to ring, and that's fairly batty. Post-match is the mother load, though. Dusty was at ringside the whole match and he gets involved into this tussle with Meng and Parker and you see the sparks fly everywhere. If WWE were half as good at building matches off of little ten minute matches on TV as WCW were in this era, I'd be watching.

Dustin Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes v Terry Funk/Bunkhouse Buck (WCW 28/8/94)

--"All I need's is a hug t' seal d' deal." Dusty's really over from facing up to the Studd Stable and he can't move a whole lot but he knows what he's doing in there and is a great crowd worker. More Funk and Buck bumping, Terry tries to rip off the barricade in a ad bunch of frustration. Dustin's shine periods really are great, he has those post where he dominates both guys and they don't look completely arse-stupid like they might. the transitions posts are really good as well, I dig it when people miss stuff/opponent's evade. AA bring a DQ and post-math has Dusty swinging a wooden chair over Meng's head with the fucker not even reacting and you hear five thousand audience members dump in their pants. Meng's choking Ol' Dusty out and Dustin's grounded so it's pretty clear they need back-up in their little war. Like the Dustin/Arn vs. Buck/Funk tag this isn't a match to list, but it's really, really fun and it's a great feud-builder. Punches and elbows, man.

Dustin Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes/Jerry Sags/Bran Knobs v Bunkhouse Buck/Terry Funk/Arn Anderson/Col. Robert Parker (WCW 18/9/94)

--It's WarGames and in one of the more ridiculous TV snippet segments you see Dusty come to The Nasty Boys for help in some kind of goofy looking bar area. But forget about that; this is WarGames, motherfucker! First period has Dustin getting in without hesitation and trying to be more piss and vinegar against an Arn Anderson who's putting a more Wile E. Coyote strategic approach forth. That's to no avail obviously, and he eventually gets one of his classic WarGames spots where he has his head shoved between both rings and Dustin's treating him like a jackhammer.  Period 2 allows Bunkhouse to come through and give Arn a chance to rest before the both of them can double team Dustin's arm that they stomped on months back. The next two minutes is up and Jerry Sags brings it with double clothesline and cage-ramming that I swear to God looked like could tip the cage over. The Studd Stable are pissy on the outside and Funk wants in NOW; that bezerk motherfucker tries to somehow throw a chair in there, forgetting there's a roof on it and everything. Looney. Gets even loonier when he gets to legally come in with one of his boots off, wavering it everywhere and tipping himself over the ropes in the process. He's got Dustin and rubs his face against the cage of the are where Dusty's standing watching his son being treated as cheese. Then Funk gets caught in a piledriver and ends up falling between the two rings way down the floor. <3 Terry. Knobs is the nest guy in and blows every heel in sight into the cage like darts, and the revenge boot shots Funk gets are brutal lump-giving blows. More Funk lovin' when he gets so dizzy out of his mind he ends up swinging his fists at an already dazed Buck (who's his partner). Final heel period sees Parker sweating his arse off and tuggin' at his shirt collar because he thought Meng was gonna be in this thing up until a week ago. He slowly tries to creep in only to see Dustin staring him down and he takes the longest time. Buck grabs Dustin and Parker grubs up the confident to come in and lay those cheap manager shots in. Now's the point of the "I hope the cameramen get the best parts on tape" section where they have no idea what to stick on TV. We get a AA Spinebuster, Funk whipping Dustin, Colonel whipping Sags, and Dustin getting the belt and whipping everyone all in the space of a couple of minutes. The crowd blow their arse off once he gets to Colonel, and you have Meng trying to tear the cage off to get in there like originally planned. Dusty's in once the final ten count's done and before he gets triple-teamed he's shining all oevr the place with his signature elbows and is that good ol' house o' fire. The Dusty/Colonel stare-down is awesome and once Parker gets clobbered Meng decides to try to climb the cage to only be knocked down. Dusty's got a Figure-Four on Colonel and the Nastys are taking turn splashing and dropping elbows on him before he finally gives up before he becomes paraplegic. Meng's in after the match is done and head butts a camearman in madness. I found it odd that there was no blood the entire match, but apart from that, this was an insane blow-off (even if there were matches after it). Terrific stuff, probably the best WarGames behind 87, 91 and 92.

And I Still Didn't Do It Justice

Rick Rude/Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko/Steve Austin v Sting/Ricky Steamboat/Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes/Nikita Koloff (WCW 17/5/92)

--It’s War Games and it’s one of the fieriest matches ever. I’ve never *really* seen the 1991 War Games as a match that’s really a super classic or anything, but this sure as hell was and I hope it got me warmed up for yet another 1991 re-watch (which I’ve watched probably four or five times). Maybe the build up to 1991 will help since I got a ton of the references in this one because of the rest of the Dangerous Alliance set. Austin starts for the Alliance and that prompts Sting’s team to get Windham in their since they’re feuding over the TV Title and Windham would love to get Austin alone in a cage to tear him apart. And he does, using that taped fist he’s had the whole year from being crushed with a car door, running Austin’s head into the cage and chewing on Austin’s bleeding face for five really quick minutes. I was thinking the whole beat down how cool it would be if the Alliance get desperate and set Rude in their early, and to my damned surprise they did, and Jim Ross’ reaction was great; “aw the heavy hitter; it’s the Unites States Champion”. It’s obvious the heels were getting the coin toss but for Rude to come in was just perfect. They obviously even the playing field as well. Well, 2-on-1 isn’t even, but Austin’s on the floor trying to gather himself so it works. Rude’s nailing away at Windham who’s still got enough fire power to strike back at certain points but there’s not enough he can do to keep them both down when Austin gets up. You get what’s expected after the next two minute period, Steamboat comes to *literally* even the playing field and is running through both Rude and Austin and then Windham recovers himself and the crowd just swallow every second of it. Enter Arn Anderson, who I thought was pretty much the star player in this thing, he comes in and DDT’s Windham and plants Steamboat and, naturally, the DA are in control again. Arn and Rude have a cool-looking double Boston Crab on Steamboat and then Dustin’s in and of course he’s whooping everyone and swapping the control over, there was an awesome spot where he gives Austin an atomic drop and Austin’s head hits the roof. Crowd were still burning hot and the two minute periods don’t give them much time to cool down. Zbyszko’s next and he’s having trouble with the rest of the Alliance, and that’s a terrific angle going into this, along with “Is Nikita really one of us; what will he do?”, and it’s so far so good until everyone’s in the ring. I’m not exactly sure where the part where Madusa got up on top of the cage was, but I remember Sting following her up there so it was before he got in. Either it was tremendous. She drops a phone down to Arn and he starts beating it on people’s heads. That phone got lost in the mix somewhere and I don’t know how, but it wasn’t seen from again after that. Sting getting in was particularly awesome, he picks up Rude in the gorilla press and pushes him upward continuously into the cage roof. Nikita’s the final guy for Sting’s team after Eaton comes in with a Madusa-taped fist, and after clocking a couple of DA’s guys, he looks Sting square in the face and you get this certain teased hostility that’s just unspeakably brilliant. Paul E’s yelling something in the background and he seems super excited that Nikita might be a turncoat. Then Arn and Austin try to get Sting from behind and Koloff pushes Sting out of the way so they hit him instead. Koloff still knocks those two over and then goes to Sting and instead of teased hostility we get hand clasping and hugging and a fiery, fiery crowd. So everyone’s in and it’s like your natural battle royal but there’s tons of blood, two rings, two cages, people coming off the tope rope, and spots like Arn’s head being put between the two rings by Windham and bounced up and down. Rude actually gets his head shoved there as well and he’s getting his legs pulled in different directions like a pair of scissors. I loved the spot where Zbyszko was throwing punches and he gets so exhausted that after getting the guy down he just collapses himself. The Dangerous Alliance spend some amount of time trying to take out one of the turnbuckles, and when they eventually get it off, you get Zbyszko holding the metal rod of it and Eaton holding Sting for Larry to hit him. And with Zbyszko having heat with the Alliance already, you KNOW what’s coming. Sting sways and Eaton’s arm gets plastered. Larry’s down and Sting makes Eaton submit with the armbar. With all the shit going on the crowd don’t even realise it until the announcement that Sting’s team won was made. The Dangerous Alliance are riding Zbyszko’s arse for costing them the victory and he gets shoved by a couple of people a couple of times, and Dangerously even goes to strike him from behind before Larry turned around. When it comes right down to it I’d probably have some matches above this one that other won’t, but that takes nothing away from the fact that this is an excellent, excellent match and arguably the best match for a company in a year where they were the best company in the world. Words won’t do this sort of match justice.

Surprise Surprise, Some Good Dangerous Alliance

Arn Anderson v Big Josh (WCW 2/5/92)

--“Hey guess what.” “What?” “Arn had another good match in 1992.” “Get the fuck outta here.” “Ok I’m lying; Arn had another MOTHERFUCKING AWESOME match in 1992.” Yeah this is MOTHERFUCKING AWESOME and while it’s not exactly the total Double A you know who’s making you hooked. Big Josh is Matt Borne who’ve I’ve always liked, but he’s never the guy I’d say has had a lot of great career performances or matches, and I can’t call this an excellent performance or anything, but he did absolutely nothing to deter from how great this was. It’s 2/3 falls with like forty minutes so they get a shit ton of time to do stuff. First fall ends up being Josh basically cutting off any offence Arn tries to give, then going for Arn’s back (who I can say might be one of the best sellers ever at this point) only to get screwed by AA holding the ropes down for a pin. Second fall has Josh trying to get to Arn’s back straight away, and it turns into Arn targeting Josh’s arm, after a ducked clothesline-onto-ringpost spot. And targeting body-part Arn might be better than selling a body-part Arn. Josh ultimately wins by pulling the tights as a bit of a “screw you”, and I thought it was excellent how he wouldn’t get his hand raised because his arm was hurting that much. Third fall has a lot of “either guy could win”, and I love spots where they both get put down and you have Paul E. pounding the mat until his hands are purple so Arn can wake up. Add that in with Arn throwing woozy punches like only he can and winning with a spinebuster and this is MOTHERFUCKING AWESOME. Listed like a bitch.

Bobby Eaton v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 8/5/92)

Bobby Eaton v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 9/5/92)

--Oh YES these were great. Not “great” great, but like “eight minute lose your shit” great. I bundled them together since they have spots which I don’t remember came from which match, but either way you’re going to want to watch them both. They both have Eaton failing to get the upper hand, but they’re different aside from that. I remember Eaton getting fed up and trying to ram Dustin’s head into the ring post, only for it to be reversed and have Dustin armdrag him into the entrance way and dropkick and lariat him right there. Dustin’s terrific in selling the leg in one of them too, Eaton goes for an Irish Whip and he just collapses because he can’t take moving at that pace. Um…I recall thinking Bobby Eaton is awesome at taking punches and going over the top rope after one of those spots where he bounces back and forth on the same set of ropes, Dustin hitting a ring post somewhere, some interferences, and Dangerously yelling “DOES IT HURT DUSTIN? OH BOO. OH BOO HOO. DOES IT HURT DUSTIN? DOES IT HURT?”. Uh…yeah. Idk, just….watch them.

Steve Austin v Barry Windham (WCW 9/5/92)

--Much better than their last 2/3 falls match, which I still enjoyed and they actually kind of played off of here. Austin spends a lot of the first fall keeping a snug headlock on and Windham does what he can to try to break it, and Austin still keeps in on after a backdrop, but loses his grip the second time around. Windham trying to end the fall with a suplex was great since he won the first fall of their last 2/3 falls match that way. Thought it was even greater that he had to resort to a superplex to actually put that fall away. I’m actually having trouble remembering the second fall at all since I watched this nearly 24 hours ago (and I’m surprised I remembered even that much about the first), but Austin wins it. So there. Third fall was almost all Austin until Windham picks up the victory after Austin’s assistance from Paul E and busting open Windham fails. Windham winning sets a fuse in Dangerously’s head off and he gets on the ramp way and yells at Austin to pummel Windham with the Title he just lost. Not something I loved but it was real good.

Starrcade has two R's and I have three write-ups

Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas v Barry Windham/Brian Pillman (WCW 28/12/92)
--First five/seven minutes of this are a little...weird, I guess. I don't want to complain about anything they did, because it isn't anything complainable, but they almost put Windham in a hot tag role (he and Pillman were heels). Babyfaces getting offense at the beginning of a tag match is given, but it was different here. Again, nothing to complain about but I didn't think it *really* picked up until after Douglas was trying to get the hot tag on Steamboat. And when it picked up it motherfuckin' PICKED UP. Douglas isn't my cup of tea, and truthfully I can't stand him, but he's fine and dandy in a babyface role with three great wrestlers, and he played a really, really good FIP. Pillman caught my eye a fair bit, and the match made me re-consider  Pillman as a heel worker (re-consider him for....nothing, really), because everything he did here was awesome, he pretty much directed the cheating and double-team stuff with Windham and he was busting out some babyface-looking stuff without looking for a babyface reaction. When the ref had his back turned he'd chuck someone over the top rope or hang them in he ropes. The transistion spot from babyface offense to heel offense was really good as well; a top rope dropkick to the outside is about a lethal and dangerous move as you'll get in a 92 WCW tag match. Hope spots were excellent, I especially loved when Steamboat got fired up and whacked Windham with a chair, which would make you think Douglas would have enough time to tag himself out, but he's stays in for longer and I thought that was such a terrific teased tag. The eventual hot tag seemed "all for nothing" or something since Steamboat ending up giving Douglas a hot tag, but it was all built tremendously with all the intereferences and Steamboat's crossbody on Windham leading to him holding Winhdam down so he couldn't interrupt the final three count. Always loved this and it won't ever go down, fantastic match.

Dustin Rhodes v Steve Austin (WCW 27/12/93)
--Man Austin's hair is so distracting here, it looks so goofy and stupid how it just flopsand wiggles atop his head like a mohawk pushed to one side. About the match, I have honestly never liked it very much at all. Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin in 1993 with 2/3 falls sounds awesome, but this? Eh. I can't call this a bad match because they did enough to make me think it wasn't, and even though I contemplated skipping this half way through I wanted to see the rest, so that counts for something. This still does almost nothing for me and I think it's just..*too* basic, I guess. Dustin wants revenge for get hit with...something, at some point earlier in the feud, and Austin getting out the ring because he can't take it is great, but I kind of,  I don't know, waited for something great to happen and it didn't. The first fall goes like 15 minutes and the finish was good, with Dustin sending Austin into his manger, making Austin go over the top rope, but the second fall was just pointless really. Dustin busts him up before it starts, and can't put him away, so Austin gets this cheap win with the tights pulled, and I didn't really, you know, "care". The only thing I can say I really, really liked about this was Dustin sending Austin over the crowd railing and Austin give a dazed look as if he doesn't know how that could've happened. I should really watch Halloween Havoc 91 again because I remember liking that a lot more.

Rey Misterio Jr. v Jushin Liger (WCW 29/12/96)
--Wasn't expecting to think much of this because the past times I've watched it I thought it was disappointing for a Rey vs. Liger match, but shit, I really enjoyed it. Liger had a brain tumour operation four months before this and I can attribute him being slower to that, but if you're going to be slow in any match it should be in a match opposite Rey. I think Liger wanted the fans to kind of be 50/50 or something, and when they weren't, he goes "fuck it; Monster Killer Heel Liger time", and Monster Killer Heel Liger was awesome. Spends a chunk of time punishing Rey, and not "I need to win this match with these moves" punishing, he opts for "you little shit I like seeing you cringing" punishment. He's complainign to the ref about how Rey gave up in a surfboard and giving a Shawn Michaels-pose when dunking him and stuff. The Rey of 96 isn't the best Rey but he was great at taking stuff, especially powerbombs where he'd be holding his head and giving this high-pitched whelping. Liger's first powerbomb was a son of a botch of a powerbomb as well, and it gets annoying when the crowd are so crappy. I seriously would have settled for a 2011 SmackDown crowd over this, it was awful. They popped for Liger catching Rey in a mid-air dropkick and gave some "Rey" and "USA" chants, but during Rey's comebacks they were as hot as...something cold. Like ice cream.

Missed Dangerous Alliance

I had a feeling I'd forget to post something. And I've probably forgot something after this. Anyway 3 matches from SuperBrawl II, which was btw a hell of a show.

Larry Zbyszko/Steve Austin v Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes (SuperBrawl 29/2/92)
--I think my favourite thing about Barry Windham is how he's the greatest of all time at making himself look a lot smaller than he actually is. Being 6'5"/245+ it has to be hard to look like a great face in peril without making every bit of offense from a small whineboat like Zbyszko look good, but he does it. I think that's one of the things I really like about current day Chris Masters, as well. It's obviously a lot easier when he's dealing with someone as big or bigger, but I can always buy the fact that those two are actually in trouble whenever they portray to be. Dustin's another guy who's great at it (6'5" as well IIRC), but he's not the FIP here so that's beside the point. (Or he might've been, they probably both were at some point. Hazy memory and all that. ) I've probably said many many times before but a handful WCW matches of this time go from a really simple formula of babyface-dominant brawling -> slight heel comeback -> babyface dominant wrestling -> FIP -> babyface comeback. And fucker it works every time. A good time's spent on the ramp (they should bring that thing back) and there's some MONSTER clotheslines taking place, I remember one in particular taken by Zbyszko that I still remember. Honestly I think of Windham as practically an all time great but I always think to myself how he only had a few good years in the 80s while always managing to forget how good he after coming back from WWF. I'm not actually sure there's anything separating NWA/Florida Windham from WCW Windham. totally awesome on control when throwing out lariats and really making you believe he hates the son of a bitch (Zbyszko) for breaking his arm. Then he goes ahead and shoves Austin into Austin's OWN corner just so he can tag Zbyszko in. And I've been waiting to see someone do that spot forever. Moving out of the ring after Rhodes & Windham lost control, Zbyszko plants Windham's coconuts on the guardrail and it looks nasty, hell even Madusa said "ow". And she has no coconuts. I had to point that just in case no one got it (you know, for HER to say "ow", it's like... yeah. Ow.). I may have to watch this again but I'm making sure it isn't falling off. If for anything for the Windham-shoving-Austin-into-his-own-corner spot alone.

Bobby Eaton/Arn Anderson v Scott Steiner/Rick Steiner (SuperBrawl 29/2/92)
--I really get into scenarios where the Champions (Arn & Eaton) are really billed as underdogs coming into a big match, and that kind of thing almost always leads to the underdog(s) pulling a victory somehow. But the underdogs are the underdogs so they're starting by not getting much in, and I loved how they did it here. Every time Eaton got some offense in, Scott would reverse it, counter it, or just plough through it, and Eaton would back into a corner putting on a "what in heyell am I gonna do?" face. He decides what in heyell he's going to do is tag in Arn, and Arn's demanding Rick gets in here so get the two bigger power guys and you get the crowd giving that "oooohhhhh" thing going. Arn lays on the floor after an Irish Whip and Rick lays beside him and if i remember right he just gives him a totally fake warm smile. Or he smashes him. Either way one suplex later and The DA are conversing on the outside about what they're going to do next and Paul E's in panic mode. They get back to going and I loved how they still couldn't get a good offensive stream going, if this was TV match they might have, but on a PPV they have enough time to build this thing more. I actually love that about short WCW TV matches, I mean they're terrific as just matches, but when you compare them to a PPV match the PPV match seems a lot longer and bigger. I also love how Eaton had to resort to low blow to get the upper hand in this eventually, and then Arn works on the abdomen to try to trick the ref. Would've been amazing had he worked on the groin, but it's "illegal" and "immoral" and stuff. Rick becomes the FIP and I thought it was good but the hot tag to Scott was, well, "cold", I guess. Maybe it was just the crowd, but I didn't feel it. Scott becoming the new FIP kind of made up for it since they got to "right the wrong" of the cold tag (well, in my eyes, anyway. ;D). I liked this hot tag better, mainly for Arn almost looking like he was going to shit his pants when Eaton was going to be pinned by Rick. Hilarious turn of events where Rick gets salt (or some white stuff) gets thrown in his eyes by Arn so in confusion and blindness he gives a belly-to-belly to the ref. Awesome stuff.

Rick Rude v Ricky Steamboat (SuperBrawl 29/2/92)
--Steamboat brings his ninja!!!!!! That's enough to put this in the top ten. I mean, it's A NINJA. This is a US Title match and the atmosphere is bigger than a lot of World Title matches I've seen. The heat Rude gets is off the charts as well. It was great how they played off of the big atmosphere too, they didn't start this with anything more than collar and elbow with brawling, and it gets the crowd going nuts, they didn't want these two to do anything specific, just as long as they were touching each other (I know what you're thinking after reading that. Forum full of sickos. ). Steamboat gets in control with his armdrags and such, and moves on to Rude's to not give the Rude Awakening so much effect. Rude was unbelievable on selling that arm, even when on offense he had it bent and would gradually extend it as time went on. They clash into each other in a sort of a double crossbody spot, and I think the whole "even playing field" deal is spot-on perfect for a match with a big atmosphere and it's the kind of thing that makes a good crowd hold their piss in until the match is over with. Steamboat's ninja turns on him and it turns out it was Paul E. who was banned from ringside. That clever chicketty. Man I swear half of the matches on my list will probably be from 1992 by the time this thing's done (2024).

Every member of The Dangerous Alliance is your father and Madusa gave birth to you

Arn Anderson v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 4/1/92)

--I totally expect to have this higher than anyone else because I damn LOVE IT. Pretty much everything in here’s basic and there’s no defining moments of the match or anything but I adore the way it’s built and everything. Rhodes keeps cutting Anderson’s attempt at offence off with a little bit of arm work that isn’t too heavy so it makes you think it’s a long-term thing, but you can tell it isn’t painless and useless either. Arn creates probably the best possible counter for a hammerlock, backing Rhodes into a corner and head butting some hairs off of his head. None of AA’s attempts pay off and Dustin decides he’s given him too much offence and goes to the leg instead, banging it against pole and everything, the whole shebang. I can only think of Kawada in the ‘93 AJ tag and Kobashi in the ‘95 tag as being more favourable leg sells then what Anderson’s doing here as well, especially for the figure four Dus put on. Paul E’s expression of pure hopelessness on the outside are a thing of beauty as well (would word that differently but whatever) because he looks like he’s thinking there’s not a hope Arn will get back from all this. Eventually does, obviously, with a fuck of a spinebuster. Got to note how he takes a short while to actually show signs of improvement in his leg as well, he doesn’t just hop up and sell the leg the same the rest of the match and then just “decide” it’s okay. He gradually sells it less and less. Paul figures this all isn’t enough so when the right time comes he blasts Rhodes with his chunky arse 1992 telephone on the outside. AA throws Dustin’s shoulder into the post and goes to the shoulder, and uses pretty much the “classic Anderson strategy” of targeting a part until the wrestler is half dead. During this entire part you don’t see a sign of Dustin using anything that might put him at an unfair advantage, Anderson can use Paul E, he can rake the eyes, use the ropes, Dustin wants to win this fairly.  Match is ruled a disqualification anyway once we get a thousand interferences and a TV cut off from WCW’s trustiness, but the whole “Dustin never cheated” thing was a cool little side-story. Don’t expect to like this more than I do, folks.

Steve Austin v Ricky Steamboat (WCW 18/1/92)

--Ten minute time limit and these two don’t fuck around so this should be real fun, and it was. Five star stare-down after Steamer’s collar & elbowed into a turnbuckle, then a six star set of pin holds when Steamboat tries to end it early. And this is all real fast, Steamer’s coming from every direction like he’s his own army and Austin’s all by himself trying to dodge a million bullets. SEVEN STARS. After eight or ten Steamboat gets tired of it himself and using his “aerial tactics” as some like to call it. And this is all fast, totally damn fast, like Jeff-Hardy-match-on-fast-forward fast. Neither guy makes a screw-up either and both guys are in-sync to THE MAX. Steamboat isn’t giving Austin a milligram of offense either (the good way not the Liger vs. Otani 9/2/97 way). They pack it in after a ref push, a Madusa interference, Austin actually using some attack and a time limit draw. Just way too fun for a ten minute TV match, and to think this was the norm in WCW around this time is just……damn.

Bobby Eaton/Rick Rude/Steve Austin v Ricky Steamboat/Sting/Marcus Bagwell (WCW 18/1/92)

--Not even Bagwell can stop these matches from being fun (and he really fucking blows). He obviously isn’t the centre point of this or really any of the matches, but I obviously would’ve preferred Dustin Rhodes or Ron Simmons be in there. Match is real good with piles of re-watch value (like just about anything in 92 WCW). These matches rarely start off slowly either, this one was no different with Steamboat ducking Rude to get to the other DA members and clock the both of them. He then gets the shit on Rude and Rude’s selling an armbar and an atomic drop just incredibly. Bagwell comes in and gets punished for existing. Well lookey there he is good for something. I said Bagwell was obviously not the main focus, and here comes the main focus; Sting vs. Rude. Rude tries to go directly for him and you have the other members holding him back, there’s a huge big fight environment and everyone in the arena NEED to see them go at it. You just KNOW after Steamboat’s FIP that he’s tagging in Sting so he and Rude can blow it up. Too bad he tagged in Bagwell instead and created the most disappointing moment in tag team history. Still one fuck of a nine minute match, yeah that was all in nine minutes.

Bobby Eaton/Steve Austin v Sting/Marcus Bagwell (WCW 18/1/92)

--Eaton starts this one by slapping Bagwell’s face. God I love Bobby Eaton. Bagwell punches him in return which I thought was actually kind of neat...I guess. For Bagwell. My hate for Bagwell then sky rockets when he puts on the worst looking headlock I’ve ever seen. The FUCK do you not know how to put on a headlock?!?!? I’ve probably never even seen a worse headlock at my high school. It was just flat out BAD. *breathes out*….Ok Sting gets in and the match got a whole lot better (fucking Bagwell, man). Not long before Bagwell’s back in only to tag Sting in again. Sting gets caught in what looks like will be an FIP segment, but he thinks realistically that the top babyface in the company tagging in Bagwell isn’t going to look so good so he stops Austin’s offence and tags in Bagwell. Austin goes to start an FIP on him and of course Bagwell screws it up. Screwball. The other three try to save it but Bagwell eventually becomes the guy who gets a “hot” tag (wasn’t exactly “hot” but they wanted it to be, I blame Bagwell. Screwball). Bagwell’s shittyness aside this wasn’t terrible.

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko v Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham/Ron Simmons (WCW 21/1/92)

--Windham’s over-anxiety and thirst for revenge costs him control at the beginning and I loved how it was already shaping out. No Marcus Bagwell this time either. The whole “Windham lost control” part was thrown out the window after the babyfaces get a triple figure four spot but I’m not complaining, I could watch this all day. Rhodes using a lariat to send Eaton over the top rope so he lands on that ramp-way thing was particularly great. Bobby is one of the top “heels getting chewed up by babyfaces” guys ever so this is all of course better than the Bagwell matches already. Watching this Dangerous Alliance stuff makes be shocked at how many babyface-chews-up-heels spots and segments can be done as well, and how these guys manages to mix it up wrestling more than once a week (and I’m sure they use some different stuff at love events as well). I love that “vintage” stuff as well (shut up I had no other word for it), like Windham’s flying lariats which he uses to level everyone. Complete disaster until Eaton takes one fuck of a fist before losing. Watching guys in tights touch each other just shouldn’t be this fun.

Rick Rude/Steve Austin v Sting/Ricky Steamboat (WCW 21/1/92)

--Rude slaps Sting in the face and you just WANT them to explode into a brawl. Rude played the hesitant role really really well here too, and Sting mocking Rude’s sexy pose might be the highlight of his career. Well, it was awesome anyway. Watching the Alliance freak the hell out when Steamboat and Sting start revenging there way by cheating and no-tagging was just a sight to behold. Pretty basic match apart from that, but I’d still rather watch this over mostly anything that’s happened in wrestling over the past four years. DA destroy security post-match.

Arn Anderson v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 25/1/92)

--Another match that doesn’t exactly have too much going for it in terms of being really great, but it’s just too fun to leave out. I don’t have any intention of writing about every match on the Dangerous Alliance set, and I haven’t, but there’s just *those* matches you can’t miss out. They keep it real simple to begin especially, then Anderson has enough of trying to shove on an unsuccessful headlock and now has a new goal of forcing some teeth out of Rhode’s mouth. Rhodes was nice here trying to keep it ground-based, and even when it gets a little faster Arn resorts to fake-blowing out his knee so Paul E. can call a time-out and he can fuck Dustin over. Plants a DDT on him and stomps on him just because. These matches tend to end with a Dangerous Alliance interference but they’re not important title matches or anything so more power to WCW.

Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko v Rick Steiner/Scott Steiner (WCW 25/1/92)

--Eaton gets Zbyszko as a partner after Austin can’t wrestle because of a Barry Windham assault during the Anderson/Rhodes match (looked pretty nasty btw). Bobby’s the man, I liked his work in The Midnight Express before I *truly* sunk my teeth into DA, and he was probably better there, but something like failing to outclass Scotty Steiner on the mat then scurrying for the ropes and complaining about a hair pull is still must-see TV. The Steiners are two guys who to me need the right opponent otherwise they’re just okay. Believe me Eaton and Zbyszko are the perfect whiny little shits for them. The show of giving their opponent limited offence in a “we’re babyfaces and we love out fans and they hate you so we gonna whoop you up for them”. Eaton and Zbyszko sell the “can’t get the upper hand” stuff good, obviously. I remember them getting pretty pissed when Rick gives a Steiner-Line on the outside when he isn’t the legal guy and the way they complain in this or any match just gives you rewind button a hefty using. Another disqualification finish.

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton v Brian Pillman/Mike Graham (WCW1/2/92)

--Graham tries to hit the Figure Four from the get-go (he’s one of the 46829 people they call “The Master of the Figure-Four”), and when not trying it he tried a more “finesse” style, and Anderson is opposite to that (good mat worker, though) and goes for straight out sluggy FORCE. Turns into one of the bounce off the ropes sprint wars until Graham tags in Pillman without AA knowing and Pillman comes in with a flying lariat which I though was great. He doesn’t exactly have a Barry Windham flying lariat, but watching him catapult himself to get that extra “oomph” to the move is great. Eaton’s in and Anderson demands to be back in to get sweet revenge on Pillman’s arse. This is 1992 WCW so of course it isn’t too long until Pillman does something like a head-scissors which prompts Anderson to make the greatest surprise face of all time. A super FIP section and some referee-distraction stuff ends a really fun piece of work. Arn Anderson, peoples.

Steve Austin v Barry Windham (WCW 1/2/92)
--Windham’s got the hurt arm and thanks to Barry himself Austin has a hurt leg. It takes about three WCW in 1992 matches to realise the babyface is getting the offence first so obviously Windham goes straight for that leg before Austin has a chance to do anything. Ain’t nothing pretty about a pissed off Barry Windham but he manages to keep it less “evil vicious” and more “rightfully revengeful vicious”. Austin on the other hand needs no one in the crowd behind him so he’s all about the steel rail and apron usage when going straight for that arm. He undoes the bandages on the arm which gets Barry madder so he follows suit and undoes Austin’s bandages. Austin’s offence may be great but while taking the crap he put in this brilliant spot where Windham goes for an Irish Whip and he just falls over because of the leg instead of running limply. I swore I saw Windham look at him like “this kid knows what hes doing” after that. Austin was just that good in the five or whatever minutes that had to make this thing and it shows when he’s flopping everywhere like Ric Flair and the crowd of course love that stuff. Dangerously flipping out on the outside adds to any match that it’s included in so I have a hell of a time watching that as well. If some guy who’d never watched wrestling before put this on mute and watched it not knowing who’s who, they’d probably think Windham was a big a dick bully as there is.

Rick Rude v Tom Zenk (WCW 1/2/92)

--Rick. Friggin. Rude.  Man he was great, he shook Zenk’s hand, broke clean on a power struggle into the ropes, hit totally open-handed hits and was as fair as the bluest babyface. Totally reminded me of Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio from June 2005 where you could just tell this going to turn into something different and the heel’s just shoving mind-games everywhere. It doesn’t start to change when Rude’s eating a dropkick and armdrags, it takes him to nearly lose a test of strength for him to get so annoyed he’s just gotta pull that hair to win it. The match isn’t very long but it’s all about Zenk’s back following that and I thought Zenk was pretty damn good complaining about how hurt it was. Rude was Rude.

Bobby Eaton v Dustin Rhodes (WCW 1/2/92)

--I don’t know how most people rank Bobby Eaton but he just keeps climbing higher and higher on a best wrestlers list for me, and he does those little touches better than almost anyone I can think of. It takes a special kind of wrestler to come up with punching his opponent directly in the face and then shaking his valet’s (in this case Madusa’s) hand following it. He obviously took a punch for that but it’s still that little touch that’ll give your rewind button a nice exercise. Eaton’s a guy who’ll slap you so you can run after him only to be poked in the eyes as well. That doesn’t pay off either but it leads to him clubbing Dustin while being caught in an armbar. No fancy twists, no leg cut offs, no cartwheels, just a club. Paul E.’s got the idea to referee-distract so Bobby and Madusa can do all sorts of illegal things to Rhodes (yes I said that), jabbing him in the throat and all that. I like it when Eaton teases using the Alabama Jam (top rope leg drop) and uses and elbow instead. Turns out to be a mistake when he tries a swinging neckbreaker only for Dustin to hold the ropes and Bulldog his face into the floor. If I had to put any less than six minute match on my list it would be this one.

Arn Anderson/Larry Zbyszko v Marcus Bagwell/Sting (WCW 1/2/92)

--Arn Anderson might be the best ever at swallowing babyface punishment. When you make Mucus Bagwell’s offence even slightly entertaining you’re the best in the world. There’s no piece of offence in here from the faces worth mentioning in particular but I just have to note that. Zbyszko’s no slouch either but ARN ANDERSON. Larry slaps Bagwell and that prompts Bagwell to want to get in and when he does he starts acting all dominant as if he fits in or something. Anderson’s hitting a DDT on his worthless arse and says “BRAINS OVER BRAWN ALL THE TIME” into the camera. **********5/6. That DDT sets up my favourite part of the match where DA torture Mucus. With Mucus being the worthless piece of dung he is, Anderson needs to over-showboat and stall for Fagwell to nearly get a tag. Dumbass Bagwell doesn’t know how to sell a snapmare either. Screwball. Blind Sting tag but who cares all I have to know is Bagwell got plastered with a telephone courtesy of one Paul Heyman.

Larry Zbyszko v Ricky Steamboat (WCW 8/2/92)

--Steamboat has some masked guy out with him that’s supposedly a ninja. Okey dokey. Zbyszko sees him and yells at Steamboat to “get that piece of crap outta here” with Madusa bitching about how he has to have a licence. Madusa doesn’t even want to get down off of the apron and stand on the same floor as the guy and he’s moving less than Chyna when she was HHH’s bodyguard. Anyway Zbyszko is the best whinging baby ever, complaining about the tights being pulled afyer a backslide and having this smug look on his face while having a headlock like a little kid who has the bestestest trading card on the whole playground. He even blames the ninja for ruining his concentration when things don’t go his way. He’s on the outside and says to a crowd “you obnoxious fat slob keep your mouth shut”. I was in awe by this point. I can’t write a hefty amount on the actual “wrestling” part of the match but this was the shit.

Arn Anderson/Larry Zbyszko v Ricky Steamboat/Barry Windham (WCW15/2/92)

--The four guys involved alone was reason enough alone to be excited about this, throw in the fact they brought the ninja and that anticipation goes way high up (NINJA :mark:). There’s a good amount of talk whether Anderson or Rude was the best in WCW (or the world, for that matter) in 1992, but I have to say I’ve lead towards Arn the whole time. It’s juts a combination of everything he does in there while keeping the same formula and mixing it up, all the same time throwing in those things like pointing to his head to indicate how smart he is and then widening his eyes as far as they can go when he gets caught off guard. Rude has all of that too (not those specific things, exactly), but I think Arn was just that bit better. He’s pretty much been the star of every match I’ve seen him in here too, even if Rude’s involved. Anyway this is pretty much a standard tag from this time, as in, standard actions not standard quality. Then again the s

Rick Rude v Brian Pillman (WCW 15/2/92)

--Out of all the “Rude squashes an inferior wrestler without actually squashing him” matches, this has to be by far the best one. Rude goes for a handshake like in the match with Zenk, but Pillman doesn’t accept, and that don’t fly well with Rude who’s got Pillman’s fuzzy little head in a headlock following that. Pillman’s all about his “Flyin’” quickness and that all that so he’s running around and eventually gets to Rude’s leg. Jim Ross calls it “Pillman confusing Rude”, which in turn confused me because I think if you’re the smaller guy going for a leg is good, but whatever, he’s Jim Ross :P. One thing I’ve mentioned before about these Rude “squash” matches is how Rick makes the guy almost looks like he can win, he leaves way for all of his signature “got this in the bag” moves like Air Pillman and all that, and you get the feeling it could be a short while before they give you a Razor Ramon/123 Kid-lioke upset or something. They DON’T, obviously, but you get the feeling it could happen.

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko/Rick Rude v Sting/Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat (WCW 22/2/92)

--On paper this is the greatest tag team match of all time, not quite there when it comes down to it but it’s really a ball of a match. You have to love it when the babyfaces sense the crowd could have an explosion and go for the heels before the bell rings so they’ll be all hot and everything. It eventually waters down to Eaton vs. Windham but after Eaton takes a little they’re back to a little insane bulldozer segment. I’m not too a big a fan of when multi-man tags al have their own separate little feuds and all that, but when you have one big main one, namely Sting vs. Rude which the crowd is really fiery for, I can dig that a lot. Dustin Rhodes becomes the face in peril after a bit of cheating and stuff. DA working a body part over is always fun (hitting the leg this time), because they usually pull a fast one like Anderson faking a tag so Sting can come in and turn the ref’s attention onto himself while they all swarm Rhodes like a flock of Pikmin on a Red Bulborb. Hot tag was superb, Rhodes gets Steamer in while IN an atomic drop. Crowd loses their heads, I lose my head. Not taking this one off.

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko/Cactus Jack v Sting/Marcus Bagwell/Rick Steiner/Scott Steiner (WCW 22/2/92)

--I may look at Bagwell as poison but when he does something like hitting a slap in retaliation to a slap, I have to admit he isn’t a bad babyface. Just a screwball. I prefer Rick Steiner cleaning everyone up with Lariats and belly-to-bellies. You’d have to be nut to think this went any other way in the openings than faces steam-rolling heels until a cheat put them in front. Cactus menaces Scott Steiner for that, and while I think Scotty recovered a bit too early, I thought it was all right when it lead to Bagwell being dropped on his head for the pin. Yayz.

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko v Brian Pillman/Tom Zenk/Marcus Bagwell (WCW 7/3/92)

--I was hoping DA would spend the whole match wrenching Bagwell’s neck (which was in a brace…..:mrgreen:), and when I saw Arn Anderson mock Bagwell by holding his own neck, I lost my shit. Brian Pillman makes for a good hot tag guy, but he was FIP here and I prefer him in that, especially being the vanilly rookie who loves everyone and points towards the SKY. Probably my favourite parts of the whole FIP segment were Arn tagging Eaton in while in the middle of Pillman’s backslide hope spot, and tagging in Zbyszko while in a sunset flip hope spot. Bagwell’s the hot tag, and talking as an unbiased observer, I thought that was a real head-scratcher given he had a broken neck. It would have been horrible anyway because you know, Bagwell’s the hot tag, but Bagwell with a broken neck? Fuhgettaboutit. At least he got his neck dropped on the ropes for the finish. :) I’d watch this again for sure.

Arn Anderson v Ricky Steamboat (WCW 21/3/92)

--There’s those under ten minute matches that are “surprisingly good for the time given”, and then there’s *those* under ten minute matches that I’d gladly call a great fucking match compared to anything. This is one of *those* and probably my favourite >ten minute match ever. And Arn Anderson’s my favourite shtick ever. Maybe. I adore how he thinks he has the upper-hand in a match and does something to make you think he knows he’s smart, like point to his own head, and be met with a wake up call. And Ricky Steamboat’s my favourite Hawaiian ever, he’s awesome at hope spots because a lot of what he does is just that simple but effective. You can believe a chop is going to stop someone in their tracks, but it won’t derail them completely. He takes a fuck of a shoulder bump as well, and I remember the greatest sunset flip balance I’ve ever seen as well. Man for ten minutes they got a HUGE ton of back and forth stuff (and it wasn’t the “your turn, my turn” deal that I’m not fond of) in and I love how it ends swiftly with Anderson’s lifting his knees on a crossbody. Built some very good “anybody’s ballgame” stuff too. I was in awe of the spinebuster and then looked over at Paul E. and he was in awe of it and I was in awe of him being in awe of it. Little later he tries to interfere and Steamboat does the deal where he looks around the crowd asking whether he should dice him or not (he does). Disqualification wasn’t a problem at all because it came a time where I thought the match was taking a more hectic turn and Rude coming in adds to that hectic…ness…icity. Honestly ten minutes or not I’d gladly call this a “great” match. So, great match.

Bobby Eaton v Ricky Steamboat (WCW4/4/92)

--I think the match itself went four or six minutes, but it’s really the post-match stuff you want here. The match is great for however long it was, the timing and execution was just perfect, and Steamboat selling a top rope knee drop by crunching his face and shivering and vibrating his arms was just uber-awesome. The ref bump is where shit really goes down. You have Madusa being a complete bitch to Steamboat, slapping him and stuff, and Steamboat gives a demented psycho Bruce Lee look and slaps her one back. Wasn’t two seconds before she was crying like a whiny hypocritical little shit baby and Steamboat apologising his absolute arse off realising he just hit someone with boobs. That distracts him enough for the rest of the Alliance to come in and wipe him left and right, they get to the concrete area and the babyfaces come to Steamboat’s aid when he’s bleeding. WCW around this time had a no-no on televised blood so they blurred it, and I have to say I kind of liked that because it made it look more violent and it gave you the feel that this was something to really be concerned about, not “hey look it’s BLOOD GUYS BLOOD ECWECWECWECWECW”. There’s blood dripped on the concrete as well and Sting’s unsurprisingly the guy to ultimately save Steamboat. Not much of a match, or nomination, but this as a whole was just glorious.

Steve Austin v Tom Zenk (WCW4/4/92)

--Andy’s disdain for Zenk is well documented and I’ve seen Craig him a cunt a few times over, and I’m not one who’s willing to defend him in something like “Tom Zenk vs. The World” or anything, but I think he can be good, and a lot better than someone like, I don’t know, Bagwell? Just pulling a name out of the hat there. He’s “bleh” and everything but he’s the sort of guy who I think is carry-able in a match like this instead of being the guy who’d pull a match down. With that noted he was pretty garbage here. The match as a whole isn’t bad, and Austin did what he could, but if I had to choose one match to not watch on the Dangerous Alliance set ever again it might be this. It’s 2/3 falls and I thought the first fall was done well, and I would’ve been content with a one fall match and it ending there. It was basically wrestling with Austin getting the fall from pulling Zenk’s tights and being helped by Paul E’s distracting. Second fall had a teenee tiny sub-story of Zenk coming back, and Austin worked over the arm so I thought the blow-off could have been great. What was blown off was Austin’s arm work. He took Zenk to the pole and barricade and all that and Zenk basically goes into an armlock of his own, and for whatever reason goes to Austin’s arm. Huh? Austin tries to get back to Zenk’s arm but again Zenk blows it off and gets the second fall from who knows where. Huh???? Zenk’s taken a fair bit of punishment by the end of the third fall and Austin’s taken a lot less, but Zenk gets a lot more of the upperhand and sells a lot less. HUH!?!??

Arn Anderson/Rick Rude/Steve Austin v Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat (WCW 4/4/92)

--You know THOSE matches that you have no idea what write about but they need to be here? There’s really nothing separating this from a regular tag match but it’s just the structure and execution of the whole thing. Normally when writing about a great match I’d mostly mention the stuff I haven’t or have rarely seen, the little additions and that. There really isn’t much I can write about here without stating the obvious or being really redundant. It’s really basic, babyface’s dominate, hot tag, Paul E’s there, he’s doin’ stuff, heels cheat, disorder, yadda yadda yadda. I’m not even trying to make it sound bad because it was fucking great and I wouldn’t have taken it any other way. I just really wanted to write something about this and had no idea what. So there.

Whole lotta WCW

Lex Luger v Ricky Steamboat (NWA 23/7/89)
--Luger around this time is generally good to great, but here he was ....well, not that *bad*, just, kind of sloppy I guess. A little. Steamboat around this time is pretty much no short of Flair around this time so this had to be good either way, and it was. Always love when Steamboat starts off a match on fire, with high dropkicks, atomic drops, chops, the whole deal, maybe getting everyone thinking that the match might end early. Love it an equal amount when he gets cut off in his tracks by something like a Lex Luger knee to the face. The segment where Luger's control is where he gets a little sloppy but it isn't a Raja Lion deal or anything. Steamboat has those "I'm coming back" moments where he slips a chop in after Luger hits something, again, maybe getting the crowd to believe he's coming back, then Luger stops him. Lexy himself was a pretty great complimentary dominate-your-ass heel to Steamboat's fight-for-what's-right babyface, and Steamboat's drunken-punching here was nothing short of Arn Anderson or Terry Funk level drunken punching. Steamboat's comeback was how you'd expect. CHOP FROM THE TOP. Luger refused to stick the belt up if the match was no DQ so the rules were swapped around to a regular match and that was a bit of a head-scratcher since he decided to try to make it a no DQ by brining the chair in and stuff. Steamboat getting disqualified for using the chair justifies that, I guess.

Arn Anderson/Larry Zbyszko v Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat (WCW 19/11/91)
--Steamboat's return from WWF and it's a huge favourite of mine. Anderson's yells of "NOT Rick Stemaboat..." are one of my favourite pre-match things ever, and him telling Zbyszko Stemaboat's "just a man" is one of my favourite in-match word..things.....ever..you get it. Babyfaces dominating early is classic NWA/WCW style tag formula, and unlike other certain babyface dominant crap, I adore it. I can watch a couple of WWE face guys in 2010 dominate a couple of WWE heel guys nowadays, and well, I don't "feel" it. But fuck that crap anyway, this is WCW in early 90s. Zbyszko and Anderson are one hell of a tag team, and I think their bag of tricks is about as good as anyones. Zbyszko getting into a tussle with Steamboat only to slap him in the face is like trying to rip off Jushin Liger's mask...you don't do it, man. Steamboat chases him on the outside and Zbyszko tags in Arn without Steamboat seeing it. Arn attacks when he slips back in to reveal it was all plan. The Enforcers' Steamboat beat-down section is as good as a heel-control segment gets. Them assisting each otherwith the abdominal stretches and boston crabs were awesome. I don't know how you think of pushing your partner's head back while they have a crab on but they did. One other great part was when Steamboat hit Arn with an atmoic drop, so you think he's getting the control back, until they collide heads after Arn bounces off the ropes and it make Steamboat's attack negated. Hot tag with Rhodes explodes everywhere eventually. Dustin being the guy to get the hot tag was a little "eh?" considering it was Steamboat's return, but Dustin's just SO good at being a face you just don't care. JR mentions he's 21 and I found that ridiculous, I can't think of too many 21 year olds I've seen in wrestling that were this good. In fact bar Rey Mysterio I can't think of any. Pop for the finishing Crossbody and stuff was insane.

Chris Benoit v 2 Cold Scropio (WCW 21/2/93)
--Thought this might not hold but I love the fact I was very wrong. Scorpio's a guy who's appreciated well for being a high-flying flippy guy but underappreciated for being an actual good worker. This is probably his best match, and the best Benoit match in the US for years. Liked the nice blend of mat stuff, hard hits and appropriate spots, great match. Fuck WCW for saying it went to 19:59 when it didn't even go 18:30 though.

Chris Benoit v Eddy Guerrero (WCW 16/10/95)
--Awesome for eight or something minutes, but I won't say it's a four star match or anything. Not complaining at all though, pre-ten minute matches almost don't get better. They fit the arm work with Eddy in there shockingly well with only five or something minutes remaining and Eddy sold it perfectly while they still managed to keep up the hurricanranas and dives they were doing before.

Chris Benoit v Kevin Sullivan (WCW 16/6/96)
--"Good", but I didn't think it was better than that. Sullivan was being a dick when pretty much refusing to sell borderline all of Benoit's offence while Benoit was doing bumps like the stair-throw and taking shit like toilet doors to the head. Suplex off of the table was a great finishing spot. Favourite part of the match might have been Dusty Rhodes' commentary

THERE'S A LAYDEH--THERE'S A LAYDEH IN THE MEYEN'S BAT'ROOM. WE GOTTA A WOMAN IN THE MEYEN'S JOHN HERE IN BALTIMORE.

Hulk Hogan v The Giant (WCW 10/8/96)
--Good enough, I guess. About as good as heel Hulk Hogan at 600 years old and Paul Wight in the first year of his career would get. Pretty slow, but I didn't want it any other way, they actually tried to outpower each other almost the whole thing (when Hogan wasn't doing some of the best stalling ever). There wasn't of this Hogan superman stuff either, he had to yank the gigiantic hair from the gigantic head of The Giant to even be in contention to win the Greco-Roman tie-ups. I loved when he pointed the refereee toward his head to show Wight was pulling his hair (when he wasn't), so the ref couldn't see HE was pulling Wight's hair. Nash and Hall's interference was done better than most mid-late 90s WCW run-ins as well. The Giant hulking up was something else.