WCW WrestleWar 1991 (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 24, 1991

From Phoenix, Arizona; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes

Opening WCW Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton, and Tommy Rich v Big Cat and The State Patrol: Why are the two black guys named after animals? Dog starts with Cat, but quickly pass out to Morton and Lt. James Earl Wright. Ricky controls with a Japanese armdrag and an armbar, then passes out to Rich for a bodyslam, and his own armbar. Wright rakes the eyes and slams him to allow the tag to Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, but he quickly gets armdragged into an armbar as well. Tag to Morton for a corner whip to setup an inverted atomic drop, so Wright runs in, but gets quickly dispatched with an atomic drop. Tags to Dog and Cat again, and a test-of-strength ends in JYD hitting a falling headbutt, but getting his eyes raked. This one has been really directionless thus far. Tag to Morton and Parker, and a cheap shot from Wright allows the heels to finally take control. They cut the ring in half on Ricky, but Parker misses a cross corner charge, and JYD gets the tag. He's a doghouse of fire, and the Thump finishes Parker at 9:54 to retain. They were trying hard enough, and it was energetic, but still managed to be really boring. * (Original rating: ¾*)

Bobby Eaton v Brad Armstrong: Eaton jumps him before the bell, but runs into a headscissors during a criss cross, and Brad adds a dropkick before armdragging him over for an armbar. Bobby goes to the eyes to escape, but takes a monkeyflip in the corner, and Brad goes back to the armbar. Eaton throws a knee to escape again, and this time pitches Brad out of the ring to take the pep out of his step. He follows, but gets reversed into the guardrail, then rammed into the post for good measure. The brawl on the outside reveals that the side with the hard camera has literally thousands of empty seats on it. And I'm using the proper definition of 'literally.' Inside, Armstrong armbars him again, but Bobby gets the ropes, then stalls to try and derail him. Test-of-strength goes Bobby's way after a cheap shot, but Brad climbs over him to escape, and pops off a 2^nd rope flying bodypress for two. Back to that armbar, but Bobby knees out again, and tries a slingshot suplex, but gets reversed. He tries stalling again, but this time Brad won't have it, and pounds him in the corner, before going back to the blasted armbar again. The work isn't bad here, but the overreliance on the armbar is getting annoying as fuck. I think Eaton agrees too, as he blasts Armstrong with a lariat for two, and delivers a pop-up backbreaker for two. Bodyslam sets up a nice elbowdrop for two, and Eaton grounds him with a chinlock, as some classy fan in the front row repeatedly gives him the finger. He's sitting right next to his young kids, too. Eaton with a slingshot backbreaker for two, and he slaps on a reverse chinlock, but Brad escapes, so Bobby knocks him to the outside with a backelbow. Eaton follows for a snake-eyes across the rail, but Brad beats the count in, so Bobby goes to an abdominal stretch next. That same fan starts flipping out over his use of the ropes, too. Gotta love the passion. Bobby misses a cross corner charge to allow Armstrong to mount a comeback, and he throws a beautiful dropkick, followed by a Russian legsweep for two. Backdrop, but Eaton counters with a swinging neckbreaker, and the Alabama Jam finishes at 12:52. A bit too much resting, but generally good. ** ½ (Original rating: * ¼)

Itsuki Yamazaki and Mami Kitamura v Miki Handa and Miss A: I don't know who any of these gals are, and the announcing doesn't help, so this is going to be a little bit light on the play-by-play. Yamazaki was half of the Jumping Bomb Angels, but other than that, I don't think any of them had any mainstream exposure in North America. The crowd could not careless, either. The heels quickly cut the ring in half on Mami, as the commentators make jokes about sleeping with them. Yamazaki gets the tag, but gets pounded in the corner, and they cut the ring in half on her for a while. Lots of well executed high impact spots and little resting here. Finish comes when Yamazaki hooks a victory cradle at 6:47. Very fast paced and ahead of the curve for North America in 1991, but I couldn't connect with it. ** ½ (Original rating: *)

Buddy Landel v Dustin Rhodes: Landel tries to patronize him to start, but Dustin won't have it, and backdrops him. Dropkick gets two, and Buddy begs off in the corner, but Dustin shows no mercy - unloading a ten-punch count. Hiptoss and a lariat get two, and he armdrags Buddy over for an armbar. Landel goes to the eyes to escape, and a bodyslam sets up a trip to the top rope, but Dustin slams him off, and Landel begs off again. Rhodes misses a charge to allow Landel to take over, and he works Dustin over with punch-kick offense. Bodyslam gets two, so Landel tries a sleeper, but Dustin reverses. They managed to mess up a basic Irish whip spot in there. Rhodes clotheslines him over the top, then brings him right back in for a press-slam before finishing with a Bulldog at 6:34. Nice to see that Dusty wasted no time putting his son over Ric Flair's non-union equivalent. * ¼ (Original rating: ¼*)

The Young Pistols v The Royal Family: The Pistols are the Southern Boys, with a new handle, and fewer Confederate flags. The Family attack at the bell, and gang up on Tracy Smothers, but miss a tandem charge, and take a flying bodypress from Steve Armstrong! The Pistols clean house from there, and the dust settles on Smothers and Rip Morgan to start, but the lights die, and they have to work under a spotlight. I still standby my original assessment, which was that they were trying to lower the lights a bit to cover up all the empty seats, and someone messed up. They feel each other out as the crew gets the lights back up, and the Pistols clean house again when Jack Victory tries to come in illegally. Dust settles on Steve and Rip, and Morgan manages a bodyslam before tagging, but Jack runs right into an armdrag into an armbar. Blind tag to Smothers sets up a tandem jumping shoulderblock, but Steve misses a bodypress, and the Family cut the ring in half. Doesn't last long though, as Victory misses a charge, and Smothers gets the hot tag, but the Family uses the ring post to put Tracy in trouble! Inside, they cut the ring in half on Smothers, but Steve comes in with a dropkick as they try a tandem vertical suplex, and Tracy topples Morgan for the pin at 12:05. This was fine. * ½ (Original rating: *)

No Disqualification Match: Terrance Taylor v Tom Zenk: Their two previous TV matches ended in DQs to set this up. Feeling out process to start, with Taylor stalling quite a bit along the way. Was WCW using larger rings for a while during this period, or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Probably the latter. Taylor reverses him into the corner to setup a side suplex, and they spill to the outside, where he takes advantage of the stipulation by choking Zenk with an electrical cord. Back in, Taylor hits a backbreaker for two, but Zenk counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two, so Terrance takes him down for a reverse chinlock. Zenk manages to escape and clothesline him over the top, and Taylor pulls him out for a brawl out there - ramming Tom into the rail to control. Inside, it gets two, and Terrance adds a kneedrop for two. Clothesline gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Zenk is able to counter with a swinging neckbreaker. He adds a savate kick for two, and a powerslam is worth two. Enzuigiri sets up a flying bodypress, but Alexandra York is distracting the referee to prevent the count, and Taylor schoolboys him for the pin at 10:59. Taylor hadn't found his groove working as a heel yet, and looked awkward as he struggled in the role. The match took forever to get going, too. * ¼ (Original rating: *)

Stan Hansen v Big Van Vader: They brawl onto the elevated ramp right away, then inside, so Hansen can spit chewing tobacco all over the mat. Yuck. Vader clobbers him with a clothesline for two, and he unloads mounted punches on the mat, then avalanches Stan for two. Hansen still has a mouthful of the tobacco, astonishingly. They spill back to the outside for another brawl, but Vader misses another avalanche on the way back in, and Hansen capitalizes with a side suplex for two. Springboard elbowdrop gets two, and Vader rolls to the outside, but Stan is right after him. He hits Vader with a crate, so Vader fires back with a chair - Hansen responding in kind! Vader slams him into the rail, but gets whipped into the steps, and they head back in for a slugfest. The referee gets in the middle of it, however, and we have a double disqualification at 6:21. Not my cup of tea at all. ½* (Original rating: *)

WCW United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Dan Spivey: Dan goes at him to start, but takes a backdrop, and Luger starts throwing clotheslines. Dan tries an atomic drop, but Lex no-sells, and side suplexes him down for two. Dan tries a charge, but hits boot, and Luger hiptosses him, but misses a bodypress - going flying all the way into the second ring! Odd that it's still covered in Hansen's chewing tobacco. Nowadays, they change the entire CANVAS several times per show, but they couldn't be bothered to sweep up a bit here? Dan vertical suplexes him back into the original ring, then drops him on his head with a nasty tombstone for two. Neckbreaker gets two, and a DDT is worth two. Cross corner clothesline gets two, but a charge misses, and Lex schoolboys him for two. Spivey quickly cuts him off with a right hand, and tries a vertical suplex, but Luger is able to reverse. He can't follow-up though, and Dan cuts him off again with a bodyslam, then adds a flying elbowdrop for two. Swinging neckbreaker gets two, and Spivey grounds the champion with a headscissors. Big boot is worth two, and a piledriver gets two. Man, Spivey is throwing everything he has at Luger tonight! Dan unloads in the corner, but Lex starts no-selling. He tries mounting a comeback, so Spivey cuts him off with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, then grounds him with a chinlock. Lex fights free, so Dan holds his ground with a Japanese armdrag. Shoulderblock follows, but a second is countered with a sloppy hotshot, and Lex starts throwing rights as he mounts his comeback! 2^nd rope flying clothesline connects, and a powerslam follows, so Spivey tries dumping him, but Luger comes back in with a slingshot sunset flip! Spivey manages to block, but a whip into the ropes results in a double-knockout spot! Lex controls the resulting slugfest, and goes up, but he's slow, and Dan is able to slam him down - only for Luger to hang on, countering into a cradle to retain at 12:56! This was great, with both guys working hard, lots of back-and-forth action, and avoiding the usual repetition that plagues a lot of Luger's work. **** (Original rating: *** ¼)

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v The Fabulous Freebirds: Ron Simmons starts with Michael Hayes, and shows off his power to start, bouncing Michael around the ring. Cross corner charge hits boot, however, and Hayes bulldogs him down for two, so Ron fires back with a powerslam! That brings Jimmy Garvin in illegally with a flying bodypress to try and catch Ron off guard, but Simmons catches him with a powerslam as well! The Freebirds bail to regroup, and the dust settles on Butch Reed and Garvin. Garvin tries a hiptoss, but gets quickly swatted with a short-clothesline, so he uses a sunset flip for two. I should note that clumps of the tobacco still litter the mat. Reed with a press-slam and a backbreaker, then a double-underhook suplex for two. Tag to Ron for a tandem backelbow, and Simmons adds a pair of falling headbutts to the lower back. He dumps Garvin to the outside for Reed to abuse, but Jimmy manages to catch Ron with a DDT on the way back in. He fails to make the tag before Ron spinebusters him, however, and Simmons adds a press-slam, so Hayes comes in without a tag. That brings Reed in, but a miscommunication ends in Butch knocking Ron out, and Garvin covers for the gold at 6:57! Afterwards, Simmons and Reed get into an altercation over the miscommunication, with Reed attacking him to breakup the team/turn heel. A surprisingly good match, with hard work all around, and minimal stalling. The heel/face dynamics were kind of all over the place, though. ** ¾ (Original rating: *)

Main Event: WarGames Match: Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious, and Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Brian Pillman, and The Steiner Brothers: You know Dusty's back in the driver's seat when there's a WarGames booked within a month of his return. Windham starts with Pillman, and they work a bunch of criss crosses to start, with Brian using his speed advantage to control. Pillman with a 2^nd rope missile dropkick, but a bodypress misses, so Brian goes low to avoid losing control! Ha! He tosses Windham into the cage for some grating, and Barry's busted open! Man, not wasting any time there, are they? Brian with a chincrusher, and he unloads in the corner before tossing Barry into the cage again. Flying clothesline and another chincrusher follow, and Brian launches his ass all the way into the other ring! A kick combo follows, and Pillman starts to work the leg, as the buzzer goes to bring Flair into the match. He saves Barry from some turnbuckle smashes in the corner, but Brian is tenacious, and fights off a flurry of chops. Windham cuts him off, however, and he rams him bad shoulder-first into cage. The Horsemen go to work on the shoulder until Sting enters, and he goes right for Flair - blitzing him in the corner. Windham tries to save, but Sting takes both Horsemen out with a double-clothesline, then one-handed bulldogs Barry as Brian chops Flair! Sting with a bulldog for Ric too, and the Stinger Splash sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, but Larry saves! Sting responds by hitting him with a jumping shoulderblock that sees him dive from one ring to the next, but the numbers are against him, and he ends up getting pounded in the corner in short order. Rick Steiner comes in to the Horsemen's waiting arms, but he manages to duck both Flair and Windham long enough to get Ric into the corner for a ten-punch, then a belly-to-belly suplex. Ric eats steel to draw blood, as Larry manages to hang Pillman in a tree of woe until Sid buzzes in. He makes his presence immediately felt by launching Steiner into the cage, then blasting Sting with a short-clothesline. The brawl is getting so wild that I can't tell if Sting has been busted open, or is just covered in someone else's blood here! Scott Steiner enters, and hits Ric and Barry with a double-clothesline, then blitzes Larry with a tiger driver! Rick whips Sid right into a flying clothesline from Scott, as Sting hits Flair with the Stinger Splash! He applies the Deathlock, but Larry manages to save, as Sid goes after Pillman's shoulder with a hammerlock-slam. He keeps after the part by ramming him into the turnbuckle (Sid? Psychology?), but Brian fights him off, and we get a fun spot where all the babyfaces simultaneously apply figure fours! No submissions, however, so Sting decides to four-alarm press-slam Flair, as Sid drills Rick with a clothesline. Sid helps his brethren take control of the match, and he goes for the kill with a flapjack on Pillman. That sets up a Powerbomb, but the cage's ceiling prevents him from properly executing it, and he ends up dropping poor Brian right on his head! Sid's response? Pick him up, and do that shit again! That leaves Pillman all but dead, so El Gigante runs out and has the referee stop the match at 22:11!  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. Not to mention, Gigante ran out (in his wrestling gear) almost seconds after the spot, which would have been way too quick for an improv. Blistering WarGames here. **** ½ (Original rating: *** ¼)

BUExperience: This is one of those shows that I’ve never been particularly fond of (I outright hated it when I first saw it as a teenager), but that objectively is good. Despite my personal qualms (which are mostly rooted in the atmosphere of the event), you can’t turn your back on a show with two four-star level matches, and no stinkers

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