WCW WrestleWar 1991

WrestleWar 1991 is notable for being the first pay per view event WCW ran after leaving the National Wrestling Alliance at the beginning of the year, as well as the first with Dusty Rhodes back in the fold as head booker – after being ousted over two years before. With Rhodes back in the driver’s seat, WCW decided to make WrestleWar the home of one of his best match concepts – WarGames – which, up until then, had been used as an occasional attraction at The Great American Bash.

From Phoenix, Arizona; Your Host is Tony Schiavone, with Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes on commentary.


Opening WCW Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: The Junkyard Dog, Tommy Rich, and Ricky Morton v Big Cat and The State Patrol: After the split, WCW tried to revive the dormant Six-Man Tag Titles - though it would only last until November. JYD, Rich, and Morton had just become the first champs a week before - and there wasn't even a physical title belt yet. Dog starts with Cat, and JYD dominates with a headbutt. Both guys tag (Ricky Morton and James Earl Wright), and Morton wins a criss cross with a hiptoss. Series of armdrags leaves Wright in an armbar, and Tommy Rich comes in to lend a hand at battering the arm. Tag to Buddy Lee Parker, but Rich gets him in an armbar, too - not giving a shit how many names he's got. The champs cut the ring in half on Parker, but JYD lets him off the leash, and ends up in with the Cat. Test-of-strength goes JYD's way, and he tries more headbutts, so Cat rakes the eyes to the turn the tide. Tag to Morton, but he runs into a cheap shot from the State Patrol, and the heels cut the ring in half. State Patrol with a nice battering ram/bulldog combo for two, and a double-team backbreaker/chokeslam combo for two. Parker misses a blind charge, allowing the tag to JYD - and he's a doghouse of fire. Six-way brawl quickly breaks out, and Morton dives on top of Parker to retain at 9:54. Some nice double-team stuff from a motivated looking State Patrol, but mostly paint-by-numbers stuff otherwise - though kept short enough to avoid becoming dull. ¾*

Brad Armstrong v Bobby Eaton: Eaton jumps him at the bell, but walks into a headscissors takedown, and an armdrag puts him in an armbar. Bobby forces into the ropes to break, but Armstrong flips him like a monkey, and goes back to the armbar. Eaton gets a bit more aggressive - breaking the hold by tossing Armstrong to the floor - but Brad responds by posting him. Inside, another Armstrong armbar - but Eaton makes the ropes. He calls for a test-of-strength to break up the momentum - and dominates the hold - so Brad literally climbs him, and uses his shoulders as springboard to the 2^nd rope for a bodypress. Slingshot suplex, and he goes back to the armbar, but Eaton levels him with a lariat to close that book once and for all. Backbreaker by Bobby for two, and an elbowdrop gets two. Eaton hooks a chinlock, as some kid in the  front row aggressively flips him off. Eaton responds by given Armstrong a slingshot backbreaker for two, and a backelbow puts Brad on the floor. Eaton feeds him a helping of rail, and goes for the countout, but Armstrong beats it in. Eaton with a rope-assisted abdominal stretch, but the referee catches him, and Armstrong nails him with a dropkick. Russian legsweep gets two, but he walks into a swinging neckbreaker, and Eaton finishes him with the Alabama Jam at 12:51. This wasn't crazy, innovative stuff - but was a nice, well worked undercard match. * ¼

Women's Tag Team Match: Itsuki Yamazaki and Mami Kitamura v Miki Handa and Miss A: Jim Ross promises that this is going to be the most 'rugged female action' ever seen on television! Big brawl to start, and a crazy ropewalk sunset flip nearly ends things early. They trade dropkicks, and suplex variations, until Yamazaki pins Miss A with victory roll at 6:47. See now this did have a bunch of crazy, innovative stuff - but lacked the flow or substance of the previous match. *

Dustin Rhodes v Buddy Landel: When Dusty Rhodes left the WWF, he brought along his rookie son Dustin, who had teamed up with him in a losing effort at the '91 Royal Rumble - part of his first break into the business. Landel makes the mistake of slapping Dustin across the face (we'd later learn later that those aren't the cheeks he likes that kind of action on), and Rhodes goes ballistic on him. Landel tries to turn it around with a series of chops, but Rhodes unloads some elbowsmashes for two. Armdrag/armbar, and he slams Landel off of the top rope. Blind charge misses, and Buddy lays in the chops. He hooks an armbar of his own, but Rhodes counters with a sleeper and a press slam. Bulldog finishes at 6:33. I guess Dusty figured if he couldn't put his son over Ric Flair, he'd go with the next best thing. They were going for the whole 'cocky veteran gets beat by the dedicated rookie' vibe, but it was dull, and Landel looked sloppy. ¼*

The Royal Family v The Southern Boys: The Family tries to jump them both before the bell, but a well timed bit of swing dancing turns the tide. They start proper with Rip Morgan and Tracy Smothers - but they lose power (I'm thinking they were just trying to lower the lights due to the embarrassingly small crowd, and went too far), and Morgan holds him in a standing side-headlock as a spotlight shines down on them. Power comes back, and they get going for real with the Boys throwing a double-team dropkick to put Morgan on the floor. Steve Armstrong gets Jack Victory in a side-headlock, and more double-teaming leaves him cowering in the corner. Armstrong misses a bodypress, allowing Victory to tag Morgan, and the Family cut the ring in half. Victory misses a blind charge to allow the tag, and Smothers is a house of arson - but gets caught with a cheap shot from Morgan, and slammed on the floor. Inside, the Family look to finish with a double-team vertical suplex, but Armstrong dropkicks their human pyramid - and Smothers topples Morgan for the pin at 12:05. These aren't bad wrestlers, but they just didn't click. *

No Disqualification Match: Z-Man v Terrance Taylor: Z-Man (Tom Zenk) scares him to the floor early, playing on poor Taylor's fear of literacy. That leads to a slugfest ('Don't you try to tell me what that Zorro mark on your butt means, butthead!'), and Taylor cowers in the ropes. Z-Man takes him to the mat with a side-headlock (nothing says 'anything goes' like a mat-based side-headlock), and a backdrop (nope, guess nothing says 'anything goes' like transitional offense) gets two. Taylor railroads him into the corner for a pair of headbutts, and a side suplex hits. To the floor, Taylor rams him into the rail, and chokes him out with some electrical cable for good measure. Maybe it was an Alan Smithee moment - hoping the power would die again. Inside, Taylor with a backbreaker, and a reverse chinlock to ground the force that is Z-Man. They spill to the floor again for another slugfest, and Taylor tries another backbreaker for two. Lariat for two, but a backdrop attempt allows Z-Man a swinging neckbreaker to turn the tide. Superkick for two, and a powerslam gets two. Enzuigiri, and a flying bodypress - but the referee is caught up with Taylor manager Alexandra York on the apron. Z-Man protests his flirtations with a woman (and not even the one named Woman!) while he's bodypressing, and that allows Taylor to schoolboy him for the heterosexual victory at 10:59. Match started clicking towards the end, but was loaded with poor transitions, and dull offense for the most part - not to mention completely neglecting the 'No DQ' stipulation. *

Vader v Stan Hansen: Vader hadn't properly joined WCW yet, still mostly working in Japan at this point. They don't even make it to the ring before the brawl starts - with Hansen hammering away, and clotheslining Vader in. Vader responds with a brutal lariat, and starts unloading forearm shots on the mat for two. Avalanche gets two, so he goes to a chinlock. To the floor, Vader tosses Hansen around, and a headbutt sends him back inside, but a blind charge misses, and Stan with a side suplex for two. They go to the floor again, and start trading chair shots - with Hansen dominating, so Vader slams him onto the rail. The referee finally tries to separate them, but they toss him aside, and he throws it out at 6:21. Now this should have been No DQ. The usual stiff Vader/Hansen match (these two had an infamous brawl in Japan about two years before this where Hansen literally popped Vader's eye out of its socket, and they only stopped to allow Vader to take a moment to pop it back in) - fun an chaotic. *

WCW United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Dan Spivey: Luger starts throwing clotheslines early, so Spivey slows him down with a kneelift and an atomic drop - but Luger no-sells, and hits a side suplex for two. They fight over a lockup, with Spivey unloading a closed fist to win it - but he misses a blind charge. Slugfest goes Luger's way, but a bodypress misses - and Luger goes flying into the adjacent ring (there are two rings to accommodate the WarGames main event). Spivey drags him back with a vicious tombstone for two, and a neckbreaker gets two. Chinlock, but Luger gets uppity, so Spivey gives him a DDT for two. Cross corner clothesline for two, but a second try misses, and Luger schoolboys him for two. Spivey responds by kicking the shit out of him (no shit actually came out, but it still looked like it hurt a lot), but Luger reverses a suplex to leave both laying. Spivey recovers first, and a flying backelbow drop gets two. Swinging neckbreaker for two, and he locks Luger in a mat-based headscissors to keep working the neck. Big boot gets two, and he tries a piledriver to finish - but Luger's CHOKING UP!! Spivey stops it with a chinlock - which actually works because he's been working the neck. Shoulderblock, but Luger counters with a sloppy stungun, and hits a 2^nd rope forearm smash. Powerslam, but Spivey keeps coming, and they work a double knockout. Luger ends up on the top rope, so Spivey goes to slam him off - but Lex hangs on, and cradles him to retain at 12:52. Exciting, well paced, and psychologically sound match (Spivey worked the neck nicely - even making sure his restholds targeted it), with a nice ending, as Luger logically mastered that counter - having been on the other side of that spot a million times. Afterwards, former US Champion Nikita Koloff (making his return to the promotion) presents Luger with a new version of the title belt - and then promptly turns heel by christening it over Luger's head. This was a great bit to kick off a major feud (these two had heat from Koloff's first run - also over the US Title), but Luger was soon reshuffled into a feud with Ric Flair for the World Title, and Koloff remarried into a feud with Sting instead. *** ¼

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v The Fabulous Freebirds: Ron Simmons starts with Michael Hayes and, in an unbelievably shocking development, Hayes stalls. I always thought that was what was missing from his 'Dok Hendrix' shtick - he should have totally stalled during interviews, and complained to the cameraman of a hair pull before asking the first question. Simmons railroads him with a spinebuster, but misses a blind charge, and gets bulldogged for two. The Freebirds try to double-team, but Simmons casually powerslams them both - and they go to the floor for a strategy session. Dust settles on Butch Reed and Jimmy Garvin, but Garvin telegraphs a hiptoss - and gets clotheslined. Reed shrugs off an attempt at a double-team, and a butterfly suplex for two. They take Garvin to the floor for a slam, and Simmons hits a spinebuster for two. Powerslam gets two - triggering a four-way brawl - but a miscommunication sees Reed nail Simmons with the knux, and Garvin get the fluke pin for the titles at 6:56. If you've seen one Freebirds match, you already know time is not on their side - and thankfully this was kept short (the real 'Freebird Rule' was 'never let them go over ten minutes'). Afterwards, Reed has HEATED WORDS!!! With Simmons, and ends up turning on him - beating him down with the knux as Doom manager Teddy Long cheers him on. The time limitations kept them going at a nice, brisk pace (little restholds or stalling - particularly from the Freebirds), and the match is certainly historically significant for the breakup of Doom. It's kinda weird to think that, in an era when angles developed at a significantly slower pace (e.g. Roddy Piper only won the Intercontinental Title during his run, Andre the Giant never won the title) Doom teamed for under a year and a half, and are one of the best remembered teams of the era - and actually held the tag titles longer than any other team in the lineage. Great bit follows, as Ross and Rhodes interview a young fan that won some contest, and when asked who his favorite star is, he gloomily replies 'Doom.' Without missing a beat, Ross crushes the poor kid with, 'well, doesn't look like they'll be a team much longer, sorry!' *

Main Event: WarGames: Ric Flair, Sid, Barry Windham, and Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Brian Pillman, and The Steiner Brothers: WarGames is a two ring match, with a cage covering both rings. One man from each side starts. After five minutes, a member from one of the teams - determined by a coin toss - enters, giving his team the temporary handicap advantage. After two minutes, a member from the other team enters to even the odds. Entrants alternate between teams every two minutes, giving the coin toss-winning team the temporary advantage in the numbers game before giving the other team the advantage with the freshest man in to even the odds. Once everyone is in, they battle to submission, surrender, or knockout - no pinfalls or disqualifications. Windham and Pillman start, and Windham goes right for Pillman's bad shoulder (The Horsemen injured it on TV the week before), but runs into a diving clothesline. Pillman monkey bars on the roof of the cell to allow him a headscissors takedown, and he unloads on Barry in the corner. 2^nd rope dropkick, but a splash misses - and he lands right on the shoulder. Windham figures he has it, but Brian blows him low, and grates his face on the cage - making sure to do it right in front of his teammates, for effect. Chincrusher, and he starts biting him until Windham is properly busted open. Flying clothesline, and he pitches Windham from one ring clear into the other. The abuse continues with Pillman going after the knee, and the first period ends brining Ric Flair in. He comes over with chops to save, but Pillman is good and pissed - matching him shot for shot. He can't hold them both off for long, however, and ends up taking a couple of trips to the cage. They work the bad shoulder (making sure to take him into their 'home' ring - furthest away from the face teams door) as the buzzer brings Sting. He goes ballistic on the Horsemen - clotheslining and bulldogging everything in sight - but more double-teaming slows him down. Pillman scrapes himself off the mat to make an assist, allowing Sting to nail Flair with the Stinger Splash. The period ends, brining in Larry Zbyszko, and Sting goes right at him - diving from one ring to the other with a clothesline. Triple-team gives the Horsemen the advantage again, and Rick Steiner joins the fun. Flair and Windham are waiting for him at the door, but Steiner steamrolls them both, and hits Flair with a belly-to-belly suplex. Sid comes in to anchor the Horsemen, and goes right for little Pillman. He helps Flair take out Steiner for good measure, and then heads over for Sting. The faces won't quit, but can't win the four-on-three assault no matter how many times they throw Flair into the cage. Scott Steiner (being literally held back by two referees until the buzzer) is finally allowed in, and immediately takes Flair and Windham out. Double-underhook powerbomb for Zbyszko, and he heads over to the other ring to help Rick take out Sid. Sting gets Flair in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Larry breaks it up, as Sid slams Pillman onto the bad shoulder. He tears Pillman's padding off more good measure, but the faces rally - and everyone hooks a Horsemen in a figure four at the same time, making for a neat visual. Sting press slams Flair, and starts unloading mounted punches, but over in the other ring Sid and Barry Windham are destroying the Steiners. Everyone gangs up on Pillman, but he won't simmer down, and fights off Flair, Zbyszko, and Windham. Sid walks over to kill him properly - and almost does just that. He starts with a brutal flapjack (bouncing Pillman off of the roof like a basketball on the way), and then Powerbombs him - but because the cell ceiling is so low, Pillman's feet catch on it, and Sid dangerously botches it, bringing him down right on his neck. Sid checks him, then decides to try it again (executing it properly this time), but since Sid is a madman, and Pillman won’t quit until he’s laying there dead, his friend El Gigante runs in and surrenders on his behalf at 21:50. It was long thought (and still rumored, in some cases) that Sid legitimately almost broke Pillman’s neck with the botch, and that the Gigante finish was improvised – but not so. It was an angle to play up the shoulder injury, and becomes obvious when you see Gigante casually drag Pillman out of the ring, and carry him to the back – something they’d never attempt if a guy had a potentially broken neck. Match was the usual great, chaotic WarGames – full of intensity, and palpable hatred. *** ¼

BUExperience: The weight of Dusty Rhodes on the booking committee may have eventually brought things crashing down in a tsunami of excesses and bad decisions later in the year, but it was off to a good start, with the always fun WarGames main event on top of a solid (if mostly unspectacular) undercard.

Atmosphere and presentation is so very important the overall quality of a show, and it should be noted that this one comes off especially poorly. While the wrestling itself was solid, the production values were still dreadful, and the arena looked ridiculous because of the small crowd. While the actual number of people in attendance wasn’t below par for a show around this period, WCW booked an arena that could hold approximately twelve thousand more people than showed up (presumably needing a larger space to accommodate the two-ring set up), and the result was entire sections in the upper and lower levels left glaringly empty. **