NWA (WCW) Chi-Town Rumble (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 20, 1989

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Magnum TA

Opening Match: Michael Hayes v Russian Assassin #1: Some dude in the front row has on a red mask, like the Assassins often wear. That's both simultaneously awesome and creepy. Assassin grabs a headlock right away, but Hayes reverses, and wins a criss cross with a Greco-Roman punch to the face. They keep trading headlocks, and Hayes is either in a really happy mood, or else super-duper high, because he's just smiling and making goofy faces like there's no tomorrow. Like, even when he's getting beat on, he seems really enthusiastic about it. Hayes wins a criss cross with a sunset flip for two, and he armdrags Assassin over for an armbar. You know, guys like Dave Meltzer used to shit on the WWF extensively during this period, but for the most part, they saved these armbar-fests for the house shows. The NWA may have had better workrate overall, but they tended to book five minutes of action, stretched out into twenty minute matches. Especially during this period after the Turner buyout. Anyway, Assassin takes a cheap shot to take over, and he chinlocks Michael for a while. Hayes tries coming back with a bodypress for two, but runs into a clothesline, and ends up in another chinlock. Kinda funny that there are people in the crowd wearing "WrestleWar '89" t-shirts, despite the fact that the show hadn't even happened yet. I feel like there's probably a website setup by some crackpot somewhere with a twenty page conspiracy theory revolving around that. Assassin keeps cutting off comeback attempt after comeback attempt, until Hayes manages to reverse a vertical suplex, and he adds a ten-punch count, before finishing with a DDT at 15:48. Not poorly worked, but really dull. Bad opener. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

Sting v Butch Reed: Once again, Teddy Long is the referee for a high profile Butch Reed match. Reed tries talking smack at the bell, so Sting gives him an atomic drop. Lots of feeling out process stuff to start, until Sting wins a nice criss cross with a pair of dropkicks to send Reed to the outside. Back in, Sting works a mat-based side-headlock, and hooks a backslide for two when Butch tries to escape. Armdrag into an armbar, but Butch makes the ropes, and bails to regroup. Back in, Reed misses a charge in the corner, and ends up in another armbar. Even the announcers sound bored. Sting misses a charge on another criss cross and goes flying out of the ring to turn the tide, and Butch capitalizes by snapping his throat across the top rope on the way back in. 2^nd rope fistdrop gets two, and a regular fistdrop follows - as Reed takes over. Chinlock goes on for a while, until Sting drops him into the corner, and adds a bodyslam. He tries to follow-up with a 2^nd rope pump-splash, but Reed lifts the knees to block. Sting stays on him with a vertical suplex anyway for two, but gets dumped out of the ring to break the momentum. Reed snapmares him back in and adds a swinging neckbreaker for two, then goes back to the chinlock. Sting uses a stunner to escape, and wins a criss cross with a big clothesline - the crowd behind the Stinger as he mounts his comeback. Backdrop sets up an elbowdrop, so Reed starts raking the eyes to cut him off, and tosses him to the outside. Sting comes back at him with a slingshot sunset flip for the pin at 20:07, however. Why the fuck was this twenty minutes long? The bits where they were going hard were fine (more than fine, they were good), but all the stop-start resthold stuff just killed it. Seriously, why are they booking house show matches on pay per view? No wonder the WWF was destroying them. How hard is it to book this as an eight minute match, with the feeling out process stuff done after two, then six minutes of hard hitting action? ¾* (Original rating: ¾*)

Loser Leaves Town Six-Man Tag Team Match: Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express v Paul E. Dangerously and The Original Midnight Express: Well, sorta, as Jack Victory subs in for Dennis Condrey - who quit before getting around to doing the job here. And for you trivia buffs, there's the one trick Shawn Michaels never thought of to get out of doing a job in the 1990s. The announcers note that Cornette is a 'master of viewing videotapes.' I didn't realize that was something you could master. Learn something every day, you really do. Anyway, Stan Lane starts with Randy Rose, and Rose bodyslams him, but gets slammed down off the top rope when he tries following up. Lane clotheslines him over the top, so he tags out to Jack Victory on the way back in - Jack running into a drop-toehold from Bobby Eaton, and eating elbowdrops from both Lane and Cornette. And the crowd LOVES IT!! It's so weird seeing Victory out there without a mask of any sort. The Express work him over, but he passes back to Randy - who promptly gets destroyed in the corner as well. Dangerously tries taking a cheap shot but accidentally hits Randy instead, in a basic spot made really funny due to Randy and Paul's brilliant facials. Cornette makes the mistake of tagging in and gets destroyed, however, and Dangerously tags in to get his licks in. He takes too long doing a Hulk Hogan pose routine and gets put down, but Cornette can't muster any kind of follow-up with Rose, and the Originals cut the ring in half. Eaton rushes in illegally to bulldog Victory, allowing the tag to Lane. Kicks galore for Jack, but a cheap shot from Dangerously turns the tide again, and the Originals go to work on Sweet Stan. Lane manages to fight off Victory in the corner to get the tag off to Bobby, however, and he's a house of arson! After dazing Jack with a missile dropkick, he forces the tag to Dangerously, and lets Cornette tag in to get his revenge! Rose prevents him from actually getting the pin, however, this triggering a brawl - the tandem-flapjack finishing Rose off at 15:51. Even without Condrey, and even though the result was never in any doubt, this managed to work as a satisfying blow off to an excellent angle. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

NWA Television Title Match: Rick Steiner v Mike Rotunda: Rick has a notable corner man tonight - one Scott Steiner, making his debut. Rick gets a quick takedown right at the bell, and Mike wisely bails to the floor before the champion can manage a follow-up. Back in, Rotunda hooks a takedown of his own, but Steiner quickly fights him off with a backdrop. They square off again, and Mike hooks a go-behind into a full-nelson, but Rick quickly escapes. They continue to measure each other on the mat, with Rotunda getting increasingly frustrated as Rick outwrestles and overpowers him. The constant cuts to the crowd during this era were really distracting, and I don't know how it took them so damn long to realize it. Rotunda finally resorts to a cheap shot to takeover, and he grabs an abdominal stretch - only to have Scott alert the official to the illegal use of the ropes for leverage, and allow Rick a reversal! Rotunda takes another cheap shot and tries a 2^nd rope bodypress, but Steiner rolls through for two, and grabs a front-facelock. Rotunda manages to counter to an armbar, but Rick counters to a headlock, so Mike again resorts to a cheap shot while getting outwrestled. Criss cross ends in Steiner executing a monkeyflip, and he follows with a backdrop for two. Bodyslam sets up a flying splash, but Rotunda dodges, and tosses the champion out of the ring for a trip into the post. Back in, Steiner manages to reverse a whip into the ropes and hit a powerslam for two, so Kevin Sullivan shows up, and starts threatening harm to Rick's dog to distract him. It works too, as Steiner bails to the floor to deal with Sullivan - which is an risky strategy, in that it does give Rotunda breathing room, but runs the risk of Rick walking out, and retaining the title while taking a countout loss. He chooses to re-enter, and Rotunda is ready with a saito suplex for two, but a dropkick misses, and Rick unloads a ten-punch. Sleeper looks to finish, but as he takes it to the mat, that puts Mike on top of him - Rick stupidly forgetting to lift his shoulder, and effectively pinning himself at 16:21. Seems about right. * ½ (Original rating: * ¼)

NWA United States Title Match: Barry Windham v Lex Luger: Apparently, they wanted Eddie Gilbert to challenge here, but had already made up the promotional materials with Luger. Fast start, with Luger no-selling a side suplex, and delivering an atomic drop, followed by a press-slam. It's worth noting that, even after all the bullshit in 1988, the crowd is still strongly behind Luger here. Barry rakes the eyes on the way back in, but Luger shrugs him off, and delivers a big clothesline for two. Criss cross ends in Luger backdropping him for two, and a powerslam sets up a flying bodypress - only for the champion to get out of the way, and Luger to wipe out all the way to the floor! Barry vertical suplexes him back in, and Luger appears to be bleeding hardway from a cut above the eye. Windham with a jumping clothesline to knock Lex back out to the floor, and Barry drives him into the rail out there, but misses a clothesline against the post - wrapping his own arm around the steel! Back in, Barry wins a slugfest, but the bad arm slows him down, and he can't follow-up. He manages to get the Clawhold on, but the arm gives out before Lex does - as the announcers start teasing the state athletic commissions presence at ringside, and that the match may be stopped. Even though we're not doing that finish, that's quality announcing right there folks. Windham keeps after Luger with a scoop-powerslam for two, and a close-up reveals with Barry is actually bleeding from the hand as a result of the post shot earlier. Ouch! He muscles Luger up to the top for a superplex, but Lex gets the shoulder up at two! Bridging side suplex looks to finish, but Barry forgets to lift his shoulder, and pins himself at 10:43. Ugh, twice in the same show? Literally back-to-back? I mean, I know they want to keep Windham strong, but they had an easy out with the bad hand there. Poorly booked finish aside, this was good stuff, as they booked it to run a length of time that allowed these guys to go pedal-to-the-metal with it, instead of having to kill time with armbars. ** ¾ (Original rating: * ¾)

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Road Warriors v The Varsity Club: The Club are the United States Tag Champions here, but only the Warriors' World Title is on the line. Animal starts with Kevin Sullivan, and the little guy actually tries to throw the Road Warrior around. Yeah, it does not end well. Animal with a powerslam for two, so Kevin tags out to Steve Williams for a power-showdown that ends in Animal powerslamming him as well. Williams bails as Animal passes over to Hawk, but manages to knee the champion as he re-enters, then press-slam him. Hawk shrugs it off with a lariat before tagging, and the Warriors tandem-clothesline Steve for two. Tag to Kevin, and the Club double up to toss Animal over the top - Sullivan cracking him with a chair out there before the referee knows what's happening. He adds an axehandle off the apron, and inside, Steve puts him down with a nasty roundhouse kick for two, as the challengers work to cut the ring in half while targeting the arm. Double-knockout spot allows Animal the tag, however, and Hawk is a makeup aisle of fire! Brawl breaks out (with Animal totally forgetting all the arm work from literally a minute ago), but Williams saves Sullivan from the Doomsday Device - only for Hawk to nail Kevin with a flying clothesline anyway to retain at 8:27. Another match that strongly benefitted from not being booked to run too long. ** (Original rating: ½*)

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Ricky Steamboat: They bring the heat right away with a few super crisp criss crosses - controlled by Steamboat, with Flair accusing him of cheating, then bailing to the floor when that doesn't gain any traction. Yeah, that was kinda dumb, Ric. I mean, you'd have to be a helluva salesman to get ANYONE to buy RICKY STEAMBOAT as a cheat. Flair tries using chops instead, but it totally backfires when Steamboat returns fire, and starts MURDERING him with them. Backdrop follows, so Flair begs off and tries cheating with an eyerake - only to have Steamboat destroy him with more chops! Flair is just at a loss here - he doesn't know what to make of the Dragon at this point. He tries a standing hammerlock, but Steamboat counters to a headlock - Flair managing to stay off the mat, so Ricky dropkicking him to stun him, THEN taking him down to the mat in a headlock. The level of psychology behind even the smallest, simplest stuff is unreal. Flair tries rolling into a few pinfall attempts while in the hold, but the Dragon hangs onto it, so Flair fights into the ropes. Note, he doesn't just fight into the ropes, but makes sure he fights up to a vertical base in the ropes, to try to allow himself to immediately go on the offensive at the break. And he DOES - whacking Steamboat with more chops, but when Ricky returns fire, Flair is on the floor again. And man, his chest is almost as red as his tights. Which were red, by the way. Kinda feel that's important to note right there. Back in, Ricky wins a criss cross with a big knife-edge chop to knock Ric back to the floor, and Flair is extremely cautious as he re-enters. He slowly locks hands with the Dragon for a test-of-strength - realizing he's going to have to really outthink this guy if he wants to beat him. Ricky dodges Flair's next onslaught and gets him back down on the mat in a side-headlock, so Flair resorts going to the hair to escape, and cracks Steamboat with a big chop before he knows what's hit him. Big backelbow follows, but Steamboat pops right back up, and starts unloading with chops to send the champion over the top to the floor. What's so impressive about this one so far is that they've kept everything super basic, but still managed to be completely engaging in a way that some guys throwing ranas and springboards today aren't. Flair suckers Steamboat to the edge of the ring, then pounces - grabbing him by the ankles to pull him to the floor, and smacking him into the rail before leveling him with some chops. The crowd is into this BIG TIME, too. Ric heads back in, but quickly decides not to try for the countout, and pulls Steamboat up to the apron for an elbow to the throat. Inside, Ric snapmares him to setup a kneedrop for two - complete with multiple cover attempts to wear the challenger down. He capitalizes by going higher impact with a double-underhook suplex, but even with the wear down attempts, Steamboat kicks out at one! Flair responds with chops, but Ricky whips him into the corner, and Ric runs the apron to try a flying bodypress - Dragon rolling through for two. He tries cornering Flair for a ten-punch, but Ric counters with a nice inverted atomic drop, and immediately shifts into the Figure Four! He grinds it on while using the ropes for leverage, but gets caught, and the hold is broken by the referee. Even still, Steamboat has taken a lot of damage to the leg from the hold. Ric tries capitalizing, but Steamboat is throwing chops, so Ric tries a bodypress - both guys tumbling over the top off it. And, unlike so many other times Flair works that spot, they actually go over smooth and clean. Steamboat is STILL fighting with more hard chops, so Ric takes the pep out of his step with a shot into the post, and now he feels that's enough to warrant a countout, and heads in to get it. Ricky fights to the apron, so a frustrated Flair brings him in with a hanging vertical suplex for two - again trying multiple covers to wear this guy out. Side suplex gets two, and Ric is openly arguing with the referee over the count at this point. He realizes he can't give Steamboat any breathing room though, and stays right on him with a backbreaker - using the ropes through another series of multiple covers, but unable to score the pinfall. Ric is stunned that he can't finish him, but as he wastes times looking out into the crowd for even a split SECOND, Steamboat schoolboys him for two. He's so tenacious! Ric punishes him with chops in the corner, but a cross corner whip is countered when Ricky springboards up to the middle rope - only for Flair to expect the dive this time, and dodge it. Reversal sequence ends in Ricky hitting a double-underhook suplex for two, and he counters a hiptoss into a backslide for two. Flair tries cutting him off with a corner whip, but Ricky rebounds at him with a lariat, and jumping shoulderblocks the champion down. Flying tomahawk chop sets up the Flying Bodypress, but the referee goes down along with Flair! That was a pretty solid bump, too. Ric immediately capitalizes by schoolboying the challenger with a handful of tights, but there's no one to counter. Ric takes advantage of the downed official by throwing Steamboat over the top, but the Dragon skins-the-cat to the top rope - only to miss the Flying Bodypress. Figure Four, but Steamboat counters with a quick inside cradle - a second official running in to count the fall at 23:07! Thank God Dusty wasn't booking, or the first official would totally reverse it by the next show. And, just to show the Chicago crowd (that ate so many shitty Rhodes finishes in the past) that this is for real, the original referee raises Steamboat's arm in victory as well. Oh yeah, I totally underrated this one the first time. They told an incredible story with Flair having no idea how to handle this tenacious challenger, and trying every one of his usual tricks, all to no avail. This is an all time classic, and the only match tonight that not only didn't feel too long, but even felt too short! **** ¾ (Original rating: *** ¾)

BUExperience: Pretty dull show aside from the main event (featuring not one, not two, but three finishes designed to make top guys look like incompetent morons), but man, WHAT a main event though. As a show – no. But the main event is an absolute must see!

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