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.

Bit o' Clash XIX

Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger v Chris Benoit/Beef Wellington (Clash of the Champions 16/6/92)
--I've seen this overrated to hell but otherwise it's good. Benoit is pretty great even at a stage this early in his career. Not "Pretty great" in the sense where he's the best wrestler having the best matches, but I don't remember seeing a guy play a young lion while also looking like a guy who others would shit their pants to get in the ring with because he's going to grind at your face with his knuckles. Wellington seemed fine, he looked like the resthold guy for this which was cool in a match built mainly around the sensationalism of Pillman and Liger's flying spots (hope it doesn't sound like I'm knocking that). The dives were cool and if I have the right match I remember a pretty nasty outside bump by Benoti or Wellington. The announcers really don't shut up about there not being any mat covering on the concrete floor either, and Jesse Ventura lost his mind for Liger's Asai Moonsault. This wasn't a great match, but I wouldn't have a problem watching it right now; it was good.

Steve Williams/Terry Gordy v The Steiner Brothers (Clash of the Champions 16/6/92)
--When watching the Beach Blast main event with the same match-up, I honestly thought it was this one until Jim Ross said "We hope you're enjoying Beach Blast," so it blew my mind to think they could have a better match out there (from opinions I'd heard, anyway). I pretty much thought there was no way I'd prefer this one to that one in the end. Note to self: BULLLLLLSHIT. This was excellent, and basically the Beach Blast with a lot of the fat of the mat restholds and stuff trimmed off with a better crowd. I think it went a max. of 15 minutes, and without that downtime you have Doc and Gordy basically dropping control segments with restholds in favour of control segments with bullldozing killing. This still had the Williams/Rick mat work, and what was done of that was really good, but it's basically a more focused version of bombfest that gets me loving this. Actually the Gordy/Scott stuff may have been better. They worked this bridging segment, and by the looks of it Gordy could legitimately not lift himeslf up and collapsed each time. That might be called a "botch", but watching what was Scott (kayfabe) not being able to get a guy in a bridge was amazing. The suplexes her threw around were obviosuly great as well. Williams blowing of all of the mat work in favour of a slap to the face was beautiful and really got this going to the eleventh number. MVC did NOT relent on that leg either and the finish with the chopblock was sweet. This is my highest 2-on-2 tag right now and unless my re-watches of MX/Southern Boys and MX/RnR hit my sweet spot like this did, it's staying there.

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.