WCW SuperBrawl II (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 29, 1992

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Opening WCW Light Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v Brian Pillman: Jesse immediately earns his money by suggesting that JR start wearing a cowboy hat. Feeling out process to start, and a nice criss cross results in both guys throwing dropkicks to a stalemate. Brian takes him down in a hammerlock, but Liger gets the ropes, so Pillman sends him to the floor with a crisp headscissors, then adds a baseball slide. Jushin regroups out there, then comes in with a takedown to ground Pillman in a leglock. Brian escapes, so Liger throws a flying moonsault press for two, then dropkicks Pillman to the outside - teasing a dive, but backing off when Brian looks ready for him. Inside, Pillman snapmares him over for a mat-based abdominal stretch, so Liger tries countering to a surfboard, but Brian hides in the ropes. Jushin responds with a cross corner dropkick, but a clothesline is countered with a crucifix for two, and Brian tries a powerslam, but Liger counters with a sunset cradle for two! Pillman responds with a side suplex for two, but a corner charge misses, and Liger attacks the knee after Brian bangs it into the turnbuckle! Jushin with a kneebreaker to setup a figure four, and though Brian manages a reversal, the damage is done. Liger keeps on the leg, but Pillman escapes a hold with an enzuigiri, and manages a headscissors takedown - only to get backdropped over the top, and hit with a flying somersault senton! That is absolutely insane for mainstream US wrestling in 1992. Liger tries a suplex back in, but Brian counters with Air Pillman, then decides to give Liger a taste of his own medicine by suplexing him over the top, and diving with a flying bodypress! Another bodypress off the apron, but Jushin sidesteps, and Pillman hits the guardrail. Back in, Liger tries his own flying bodypress, but Brian counters with a dropkick. He goes up to add a missile version, only for Liger to counter by dropkicking him out of the sky! They do another mirrored sequence with both guys throwing spinheel kicks, but Pillman manages a powerslam for two. German suplex, but Liger reverses for two, only for Pillman to counter a vertical superplex with a gourdbuster, then dive with a flying bodypress for two! Backdrop, but Liger counters with a powerbomb for two - only to have the Liger Bomb countered with a rana into a cradle for two. A little sloppy there, but they made it work. Pillman with a DDT for two, and a criss cross ends in another stalemate when both guys throw jumping forearms. Brian tries to get the best of it by getting to the top rope, but Liger brings him down with a vertical superplex for two! Man, they are letting it ALL hang out here! Jushin tries a flying splash to finish, but Brian moves, and hooks a bridging cradle to win the title at 16:59! This was absolutely revolutionary in 1992, and it damn well still holds up today! I know a lot of people rate this as a full five-stars, but the forgotten knee work is glaring, and prevents me from coming near that rating, sorry. Still a tremendous bout, though. **** ½ (Original rating: *** ¾)

Terrance Taylor v Marcus Alexander Bagwell: I've never noticed it before, but Taylor strongly resembles George W. Bush doesn't he? Not head to toe, but the face. Taylor dominates a feeling out process to start, and he dumps Bagwell out onto the ramp, but Marcus hits him with both versions of the atomic drop when Taylor goes out after him, then rolls him in for a flying bodypress for two. Bagwell works a side-headlock, so Taylor dumps him to the outside again, but turns his back and eats a shoulderblock for two. Terrance bails to regroup, but ends up in a sleeper anyway as he heads back in, so Taylor dumps him to the outside a third time. Can't say he's a quitter. Back in, Taylor hits a chincrusher and a gutwrench powerbomb for two. Terrance with a corner clothesline and a kneedrop for two, so Bagwell tries a sunset flip for two, but eats a vertical suplex. Taylor adds a flying splash for two, but Bagwell counters a piledriver with a backdrop, so Terrance rakes the eyes to setup a somersault necksnap for two. Rollup, but Marcus reverses for three at 7:38. They didn't really click here, and having to follow that opener wasn't doing them any favors. Bagwell especially looked out of his depth, noticeably messing up spots throughout the match. ¾* (Original rating: *)

Cactus Jack v Ron Simmons: Simmons wants to wrestle, but Jack turns it into a brawl right away - only for it to backfire when Ron matches him blow for blow. Jack ends up with his head caught in the ropes on a charge, and he tries bailing into the crowd, but Simmons drags him back into the ring for a facebuster. Ron with a bodyslam to setup a legdrop for two, but a corner charge is countered with a clothesline, as we see Junkyard Dog sitting out in the crowd. Joy. Jack with a double-arm DDT and a legdrop of his own for two, and he dumps Ron to the outside for a slam on the floor. That sets up a 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop out there, but Ron beats the count in, so Jack snaps his throat across the top rope for two. Cactus works a chinlock, but Ron escapes, and hits a dropkick. 3-point stance, but Jack sidesteps, and Simmons goes crashing out onto the ramp. Cactus follows, but takes a spinebuster onto the ramp way, and back in they go. Jack rakes the eyes to break the momentum, and a one-handed bulldog sets up a 2^nd rope flying bodypress - only for Simmons to counter with a powerslam at 6:34. Afterwards, Jack and Abdullah the Butcher beat down Simmons, until JYD comes out of the crowd to make the save. * (Original rating: ¾*)

Richard Morton and Vinnie Vegas v Van Hammer and Tom Zenk: Morton starts with Hammer, but quickly takes a press-slam, and passes to Vinnie. They do a long battle over a lockup that ends in Vegas taking a cheap shot, but he gets hit while trying a leapfrog, and Hammer works a hammerlock. How was that not his finisher? Honestly though, I'm surprised Hammer never got a WWF run around '96, when they were desperate, and bringing in veterans as JTTS guys, like Bill Irwin and Tracy Smothers. Anyway, the Hammer/Vegas segment dies a slow death until Van finally passes to Zenk with a missile dropkick for two. Vinnie being more concerned with keeping his hair neat than the threat of dealing with Zenk is pretty funny. Over to Morton, and a nice little criss cross ends in Tom clotheslining him over the top, then diving out after him with a plancha! Tom hiptosses him on the floor before heading back in, but Richard goes to the eyes, and passes back to Vegas. He wants Hammer, however, and lets Tom loose so he can tag. I guess that's known as giving the people what they don't want. Vegas works him over, and a short-clothesline gets two before he passes over to Morton for an inverted atomic drop. It's really weird watching Ricky Morton cut a ring in half on a guy. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's unnerving, but it's pretty darn strange. He manages to tag Tom after a double knockout spot, and Zenk comes in hot! Powerslam on Morton gets two, and a sunset flip quickly follows for the pin at 12:01. Not great, but it actually had some mojo once it settled into the heat segment, and didn't have a lot of resting. ** ¼ (Original rating: *)

Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko v Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham: Brawl to start, until the dust settles on Austin and Rhodes. Dustin knocks him around and hooks a backslide for two, but Steve blocks a monkeyflip. He goes up for a flying axehandle, but Rhodes slugs him out of the sky for two, and Austin bails to the ramp for a breather. Dustin drags him right back in for Windham to hit with a flying axehandle and a dropkick, and Barry adds insult to injury by dumping Steve into his own corner to tag Zbyszko. Larry comes in with a kick combo to knock Barry onto the ramp, but Windham counters a piledriver attempt with a backdrop out there, then adds a clothesline before bringing it back in. Barry with a jumping clothesline for two, and a nice DDT follows ahead of a tag to Rhodes with a tandem backdrop for two. It's kind of hard to believe Rhodes was only a year or so into his run at this point, as he works so smoothly with Windham, like a real seasoned veteran. Windham with a gutwrench suplex for two, but Austin runs in with a clothesline to prevent a piledriver, and Larry tosses Barry over the top. Steve immediately pounces on him out there to abuse with the rail, and Larry hops out to crotch him on the rail for good measure. Man, Bill Watts must have hated this match. Inside, the Dangerous Alliance cut the ring in half on Windham, but he manages to get the tag off to Dustin, and he comes in hot on Austin. Snapmare and an elbowdrop get two, and a jumping clothesline is worth two - Zbyszko breaking the count, and getting decked by Windham in the process. They brawl on the outside as Austin and Rhodes do a reversal sequence inside that ends in Steve taking his head off with a clothesline. Austin adds a cross corner whip to batter Rhodes, and Zbyszko tags in to help cut the ring in half on their new victim. Rhodes manages to hit Austin with a hotshot to get the hot tag to Windham, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Larry manages to block a superplex, but Rhodes shoves him off the top during an attempted follow-up, and Windham hits a flying clothesline to put it away at 18:21. This felt like it overstayed its welcome just a bit with the two extended heat segments, but this was good work all around, with many legitimately awesome segments. *** ¾ (Original rating: *** ¼)

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton v The Steiner Brothers: Kind of a weird choice by whoever decided to book all three tag matches back to back. Eaton starts with Scott Steiner, and they feel each other out, with Scotty dominating. Bobby manages to catch him with a swinging neckbreaker, but a flying axehandle backfires when Steiner catches him in an overhead suplex, and Bobby bails. Both men tag out, and Rick Steiner destroys Anderson, so Eaton comes in without a tag - the Brothers cleaning house on them. Dust settles on Arn and Scott, and Anderson manages to dump Scotty to the outside for Eaton to abuse, but it backfires, and Bobby takes a tilt-a-whirl on the ramp. Inside, Scott grounds Eaton in a reverse chinlock for a bit before passing to Rick to work an armbar, but Eaton goes to the eyes to escape. The challengers respond with an electric chair/2^nd rope flying clothesline combo, but Rick trying a flying bulldog on Anderson backfires when Bobby blows him low. That's enough to put the Gremlin in trouble, and the champs cut the ring in half. They try a tandem suplex, but Scott comes in to break it up, and the challengers hit stereo suplexes on both champions to allow the official tag to Scott. He comes in hot with a backdrop and a vertical suplex for two on Anderson, but quickly runs into trouble in the heel corner, and gets worked over. They hit a rocket launcher out on the ramp before abusing Scott with the rail, but he manages to fight them off long enough to get the hot tag to Rick. He's a dog house of fire, so Madusa passes Arn a handful of powder to blind him with! That leads to Rick accidentally slamming the referee, as Scotty comes in with a tiger driver and a Frankensteiner on Bobby for the pin at 20:05, as counted by a replacement referee. But wait, the first referee wakes up, and decides to disqualify for the Steiner's for the blind slam, whoops. Given the participants and the amount of time they had to work with, this felt like it should have been much better, but ultimately fell flat, and had an annoying finish to boot. ** (Original rating: ** ½)

WCW United States Title Match: Rick Rude v Ricky Steamboat: Paul E. Dangerously is banned for this, and the Dragon has a masked Ninja in his corner to prevent outside interference from the rest of the Dangerous Alliance. Feeling out process to start, with the cameraman annoying them by getting right in their faces in the corner as they're trying to communicate. Jesse on commentary has been an excellent addition to the promotion thus far, doing a great job of getting things over all night, and adding an sense of legitimacy to the proceedings. It's a shame that Ross apparently didn't enjoy working with him, as they were a fantastic team anyway, and could have been even better with a bit more give and take. Steamboat heavily works the arm in the early going, but ends up getting clobbered as he tries a bodypress, and Rick vertical suplexes his ass. Rude grounds him in a chinlock, as the Ninja stands guard. I never got why he only faced away from the ramp, with his back to the ring, and never moved. Like, I get that interference can come from any side, but why would you pick having your back to the side it's most likely to come from? At least have a look around once in a while. Rude with a piledriver for two and a side suplex for two, but Steamboat manages to apply a figure four to fight off another chinlock - Rude making the ropes. Rick goes up for a flying tomahawk chop (sold nicely by the Dragon), and a snapmare sets up a flying forearm for two. Reverse chinlock, but Steamboat escapes with an electric chair, and they criss cross for a double knockout spot. Rude recovers first with a sleeper, but Steamboat reverses, so Rick uses a stunner to escape. He goes up, but Steamboat crotches him, and brings his challenger down to earth with a vertical superplex for two. Ricky starts mounting his comeback, but the Ninja hops up onto the apron as he's going for the kill, and blasts the Dragon with a cell phone to allow Rude the pin at 20:00. This got better towards the end, but it was really slow and dull most of the way through. Not poorly worked, just boring. I'm surprised this was selected to receive the nightly bonus along with the opener. * ¼ (Original rating: **)

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Lex Luger v Sting: We started with Liger, and we'll finish with Luger. Big stare down to start, until Luger shoots first with a shove. They scuffle in the corner, and Sting goes for the Stinger Splash early, not Luger no-sells, and levels him with a lariat. Lex is looking jacked here, like a WWF superstar. Luger with a powerslam to setup the Torture Rack, but Sting counters with a German suplex, and hooks Luger in a rack of his own! Lex quickly escapes, but a backdrop is countered with a jumping DDT, and the champ wisely bails to the floor for a break. He drags Sting out for a smash into the rail, but the challenger reverses, and he rolls Luger in for a bootchoke in the corner. Backdrop gets two, and Sting gets the Scorpion Deathlock on early, but Luger is immediately in the ropes. He fights Sting off in the corner, and an inverted atomic drop rattles the challenger, as Luger mocks him. Press-slam and the piledriver look to finish, but Sting kicks out at two, so Lex hits a pair of pointed elbowdrops for two. Sting starts mounting his comeback, but a bodypress misses, and the Stinger goes flying over the top. Luger is hot on his tail with a shot into the rail, but Sting manages to backdrop Harley Race to counter a piledriver on the floor, and he rushes to the top rope with a flying bodypress at 13:01. The finish felt kind of out of nowhere, but the booking did a good job of trying to make this suitably epic otherwise. Luger looked terribly uninterested here (which glaringly clashed with everyone else on the card who were working hard in hopes of winning the nightly bonus), and the match fell short in a lot of ways, but I thought it was interesting how much like modern bouts it was with all the signature moves coming early on. * ½ (Original rating: *)

BUExperience: I know this show is beloved by many, but aside from one really excellent match in the form of the opener, and a great tag match on the undercard, it’s really not all that special. It was certainly solid, and it was certainly good for the time period, but not really worth going out of your way to see these days. You could do worse, though.

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