WCW SuperBrawl III (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 21, 1993

From Asheville, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura

Opening Match: Steve Austin and Brian Pillman v Erik Watts and Marcus Alexander Bagwell: Steve Austin starts off with Bagwell, and they feel each other out. Austin takes a nice bump to the outside when Marcus throws a punch, and Bagwell drags him back in ahead of a tag to Watts. They tandem backdrop Steve, but Austin is able to pass to Brian Pillman. Watts hits him with a dropkick before taking him down into a wristlock, then back to Bagwell for a flying axehandle, but Pillman throws a knee before Marcus can follow-up. Tag to Steve, but a nice criss cross ends in Bagwell hitting a bodypress for two. Unfortunately, he flushes down all the goodwill the criss cross built with me by following it up with one of the worst looking dropkicks I have ever seen. I mean, even Watts must have been blushing on the apron seeing that one. They take turns putting Austin in an abdominal stretch, and Watts slaps on a Boston crab, but Brian comes in illegally to break it up. Watts punishes him with an STF, but Pillman has the ropes, and he fakes an injury to allow him to drop Erik to the outside. Brian tries diving off the apron at him, but Watts moves, and Pillman eats guardrail. Lucky for him though, Watts is terrible, and Brian is able to tag out on the way back in. The heels cut the ring in half on Watts, but a rocket launcher hits knees, and Austin misses a straddling ropechoke to allow the tag to Bagwell. I wouldn't call it a 'hot tag' though, as the crowd barely even responds. He powerslams Pillman, but Austin breaks the count at two, and Roseanne Barr the door! Bagwell hits Pillman with a fisherman's suplex, but Steve comes off the top with a flying pointed elbowdrop to break the cover, and Brian gets the pin at 16:35 - drawing a pop from the crowd. This was decent enough, but too long. Watts also looked terrible here, and way out of his depth. * ½ (Original rating: * ¾)

2 Cold Scorpio v Chris Benoit: Scorpio wants to feel him out at little bit, but Benoit just starts throwing chops, and hits a snap suplex early on. Scorpio changes gears and tries a flying twisting bodypress for two instead, and a spinheel kick sends Chris to the outside. He stalls out there to break the momentum, and back in, they trade wristlocks - complete with fun flippy reversals. Criss cross ends in Scorpio sending him back to the outside with an overhead armdrag, and back in, Chris challenges him to a test-of-strength. They trade reversals through that as well, and a nice sequence there ends in Scorpio hitting a dropkick before armdragging him into an armbar. Chris slugs free, but Scorpio blocks a Boston crab, and he superkicks Benoit before taking him back down in the armbar. He shifts into a crucifix cradle for two, then a hammerlock, but Benoit slugs the shit out of him again to escape. Criss cross ends in both guys ducking each others stuff until Benoit goes basic with a clothesline, and he's able to add a backbreaker into a backbreaker submission. Scorpio escapes, so Benoit snapmares him into a chinlock, then picks him up to drop front-first across the top rope. Nasty! Scorpio has the gall to fall onto the mat instead of out to the floor, so Benoit gives him a hand with his boot. Scorpio beats the count onto the apron, so Chris tries a turnbuckle smash, but 2 Cold reverses. He gets some serious hang time on a flying dropkick attempt, but Benoit dodges, and covers for two. He grounds him in another chinlock, but Scorpio escapes, so Chris delivers a spinebuster into an elevated crab! The announcers don't even know what to make of that one. Chris starts throwing chops, and he fucking kills poor Scorpio with a side superplex - only to knock himself silly in the process! That delays the cover, and Scorpio is out at two! Benoit stays on his with a Russian legsweep for two, but another side suplex is countered into a bodyblock for two. Scorpio tries to comeback, but Benoit quickly cuts him off with a powerbomb for two, but another one is countered with a sunset flip - though they're out of position, and end up crashing into the ropes. No matter, it wasn't the finish anyway, and they don't make the mistake of redoing it. Scorpio moves on with an enzuigiri, and he wins a criss cross with a clothesline. He hammers Benoit in the corner, and a corkscrew stinger splash sets up a flying twisting splash for two! Standing victory roll, but Benoit counters with an electric facebuster, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying legdrop for two! Scorpio fires back with an inside cradle for two, so Benoit tries hooking a dragon suplex to block the follow-up, but Scorpio counters with victory cradle at 18:19! They announce it at one second shy of the twenty minute time limit, but that's inaccurate. Probably Scorpio's best WCW match to that point, as he worked a much more traditional style, and wasn't blowing stuff left and right. That's not to say that he didn't still bust out to cool high spots, but that wasn't his whole act this time. *** ¾ (Original rating: *** ½)

Davey Boy Smith v Bill Irwin: This is Bulldog's WCW debut. Smith overpowers him in the early going, so Bill accuses him of cheating. Davey responds to that by clotheslining his ass over the top rope, and he hits a press-slam on the way back in - Irwin falling out of the ring as a result. In, Irwin tries a standing side-headlock, but Bulldog quickly powers out of that, and hits a hiptoss. Irwin takes a cheap shot to put Smith down, and he's finally able to get something in with a cross corner clothesline and a backelbow for two. Chinlock grounds the Bulldog, but he wins a slugfest with a hanging vertical suplex, then clotheslines Bill for two. Irwin tries a 2^nd rope flying shoulderblock, but Smith catches him in the Running Powerslam, and we're done at 5:50. More competitive than it needed to be. I'm honestly surprised this wasn't more squashy. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cactus Jack v Paul Orndorff: Jack attacks with a shovel in the aisle before the ring announcer even introduces either of them, and we've got a brawl right away! Paul knocks the shovel away from him long enough to beat down against the rail, and he chokes Cactus with some electrical cable. They trade shots into the rail, and Jack pulls up the mats for a bodyslam onto the exposed concrete! The whole visual feel of this show is already so much less bush-league now that they've added the floor mats back in. Jack with an elbowdrop on the floor for two, and a 2^nd rope flying sunset flip out there gets two. I've never liked that spot, as in a kayfabe sense, it's more damaging to Jack than to Orndorff, and the risk/reward makes little sense. Even the announcers note it. Paul is able to take over on the way inside, and a clothesline puts Jack down for a pointed elbowdrop. He tosses Jack back to the outside for a flying elbowsmash off the apron, and they brawl over to the entrance area, when Orndorff whips him over the rail. He follows with a brutal looking vertical suplex across the rail, and he then traps Jack underneath the rail to stomp. It's incredible that Mick Foley didn't end up in a wheelchair. They brawl back into the ring, where Orndorff comes off the top with a flying forearm smash, and he starts wrenching at the bad leg. He then follows with another nutty suplex spot, as he vertical suplexes Jack over the top onto the apron, before slapping on a figure four. The announcers are quick to note the similarities to Ric Flair, who returns to WCW tonight. Jack slugs free, so Paul clotheslines him over the top, and bashes the knee into the concrete out there for good measure. Jack fights onto the apron, so Paul takes a wild swing with Cactus' own knee brace - sending Jack bumping back to the floor in the process! Orndorff follows out to beat him with the brace, then brings a chair into play - bashing Jack's leg with it a few times on the way back in. Piledriver looks to finish, but he takes too long setting it up, and Jack blasts him with the shovel for the pin at 12:19. Didn't especially care for that ending. Not at the level of the Beach Blast match with Sting, but a good brawl, with Jack doing his usual stuntman routine. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

The Heavenly Bodies v The Rock 'n' Roll Express: This is an SMW crossover match, and the Bodies as the SMW Tag Team Champions, but this is non-title. Bobby Eaton is with the Bodies, and want to wrestle, but gets sent to the back. Both teams feel each other out to start, as Jesse makes some less than politically correct remarks about Jim Cornette on commentary. I miss commentators like Jesse Ventura. Sure, occasionally he could offend some viewers, but it's still so much more entertaining than listening to the robots they have out there these days, with their preprogrammed words and phrases. And speaking of 'preprogrammed,' these four run every classic (and clichéd) trick from their old playbook, until Ricky Morton runs into a cheap shot from Cornette, and the Bodies cut the ring in half on him. A failed double team allows the hot tag to Robert Gibson, and Roseanne Barr the door. The Bodies knock Morton to the outside to isolate Gibson, but another tandem effort fails, and the Express take control. They get distracted by Cornette again, and Tom Prichard bulldogs Gibson, but it only gets two. Tom backdrops Robert to the outside, but here's Ricky with an inverted atomic drop - unfortunately the referee is too distracted to count. That allows Eaton to sneak back out with a flying pointed elbowdrop, but Ricky moves, and Bobby hits Prichard by accident - Morton able to score the pin off of it at 12:52! This is the kind of match that you'll probably think is pretty awesome if you've never seen a Midnight's/R'n'R match before, but less so when you already seen dozens, and know all the beats. The old routines also came off a little hackneyed after months of Austin, Pillman, Rhodes, Windham, Steamboat, and Douglas tearing things up with more modern style matches, in various team combinations. Paint by numbers stuff, but at least the painting they picked was a Picasso. ** ¼ (Original rating: ** ¾)

WCW United States Title Match: Dustin Rhodes v Maxx Payne: Payne is subbing for Ron Simmons here. I love that version of the US belt. Maxx tries wrenching the champs head to start, but that just pisses Dustin off, and he knocks Payne to the outside with a flurry of rights and a jumping clothesline. Payne looks like a fat Russell Brand. Weird thing, as the show is sold out (they even have additional seats in a theater across the street for more fans to watch because demand exceeded the arenas capacity), yet there is a pocket of empty seats right opposite the hard camera all night. Like, did one big group not show up, or something? Either way, it looks terrible, which is a shame considering they have a rare legit sell out. You'd think they'd move some people around, or something. Anyway, Rhodes with a schoolboy for two, and an armdrag follows, but Maxx is smart enough to bail there, instead of popping up for the second armdrag like everybody else usually does. Nice touch. Back in, Dustin works the arm, but he runs into a backelbow in the corner, and Payne covers for two. I just realized that this whole card is like a who's who of '95/'96 WWF. Too bad Jim Neidhart wasn't booked. Payne works the arm as well with an armbar, and a backdrop hits. Rhodes throws a big boot, so Payne shrugs him off with a bodyslam, but misses an elbowdrop follow-up. That allows Dustin to fire up a comeback, and a nice jumping clothesline connects. Vertical suplex gets two, and he grabs an abdominal stretch, so Payne intentionally bumps the referee. That allows him to dump Dustin to the outside for a shoulderbreaker, as the referee calls for the DQ at 11:26. Weak stuff. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

NWA World Title Match: Great Muta v Barry Windham: Ric Flair joins the commentary team for this one, fresh from the WWF. And he gets a hero's welcome, of course. Feeling out process to start, with Muta holding a mat-based side-headlock for an extended period of time. There is just nothing going on here, with the headlock dragging on and on. Barry escapes and tries a vertical suplex, but Muta reverses, and then it's right back to the stupid headlock again. That drags on until Barry powers out, so Muta tries a dropkick, but Windham dodges, and hits a DDT. The crowd is totally disinterested in this, and who can blame them? They spill to the outside, where Windham perks up with a side suplex on the floor, and he vertical suplexes the champion back in for two. Bodyslam sets up a pair of kneedrops for two, and Windham looks for the title with a sleeper. It has the desired effect, but unfortunately on me instead of Muta. The crowd is now actively disinterested this match, and walking around the arena. Barry with a gutwrench suplex for two, and he tosses Muta to the outside, then leaves him out there. He gets how titles work, right? Muta beats the count in (why bother?), but is met with chops, and Windham bodyslams him to setup an elbowdrop for two. Chinlock, but Muta slugs free, and he tries a sunset flip, but Barry blocks. This is so boring. Muta throws a jumping forearm for two, so Barry tries a piledriver, but Muta backdrops him. Windham cuts off the potential comeback with a bunch'a punch'a, but Muta throws a spinkick, and blocks a superplex attempt. He nails Barry with a flying tomahawk chop and the handspring backelbow, but the flying moonsault misses. Windham tries a vertical suplex, but Muta counters with a side suplex, and a backbreaker sets up the flying moonsault, but Windham lifts his knees to block. He follows up with a clothesline, and an implant DDT finishes at 24:09. Afterwards, Flair comes in to present Windham with the title belt, but Barry isn't very gracious to him. This was long, slow, and dull. And that's 0 for 3 with these NWA Title pay per view efforts so far. –¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: White Castle of Fear Strap Match: Big Van Vader v Sting: Vader's WCW World Title is not on the line here. Vader taunts Sting with the strap as they get started, and casually wins a tug-of-war. He blasts Sting with a clothesline and a few elbowdrops, then starts whipping him with the strap a bit before squashing him with a 2^nd rope flying splash. He gloats, but that allows Sting to recover, and he uses the strap to crotch the world champion a few times. That and a flurry of right hands puts Vader down, and allows Sting to climb for a 2^nd rope flying clothesline. He climbs all the way up for a pair of flying splashes to numb Vader down, allowing him to pull down his straps for a whipping - Vader bleeding from the back. Vader bails to the outside, so Sting uses the strap to pull him into the post a few times, and he hits a bodyslam on the floor. He drags Vader to two posts (the big man leaving a literal trail of blood from his back), but eats rail on the way to the third, and they head back in. Sting manages to keep control with a Samoan drop and a backdrop, but another flying splash misses, and Vader hits his own splash. He unloads on Sting with some mounted punches, and returns the favor with a Samoan drop of his own to setup the Vaderbomb! He goes to town with the strap, then puts Sting on his back before climbing to the middle rope, and falling back in a Samoan drop from up there! That's enough to allow Vader to hit two corners, but Sting fights him off before they reach the third. The beast responds with another Vaderbomb, but Sting dodges this one. Unfortunately, he's so battered that he can't follow-up, and Vader climbs to the top. He looks to dive, so Sting uses the strap to crotch him on the top turnbuckle, and then uses it to slam him off! He still doesn't have much to follow-up with, however, and Vader hammers him with rights. Sting throws wild, desperate shots to stay in it, but Vader shrugs them off, and vertical superplexes his ass. That gives him three corners, but Sting hangs onto the ropes, and manages to block corner number four. Vader punishes him with forearms in the corner, so Sting desperately throws a koppou kick, and he manages to pop off a few elbows to German suplex the monster. This time he's able to follow-up with a DDT, and he throws Vader into the corner to tag him back with a brutal array of closed fists. That was like Emile Griffith pounding on Benny Paret there. So brutal, in fact, that Vader is now bleed profusely from his EAR! Sting hoists the monster onto his shoulder to carry to the four corners (yeah, that strategy seems kinds flawed), but unfortunately the referee gets bumped in the process, and doesn't see any of it anyway. Well, that's unfortunate. That drains Sting of his remaining energy for nothing, and Vader hits a seated senton splash. He gets three corners, so Sting tries his earlier strategy of holding onto the ropes to block the fourth - only for it to backfire when his flailing kicks end up knocking Vader right into the fourth corner at 20:55! Dear lord, the close-up of Vader at the bell is nasty - bleeding from all over his body, including just gushing blood from his ear. And they say HE’S the stiff one – he looks much worse for wear than Sting does! Just a total war here. **** ¼ (Original rating: *** ¾)

BUExperience: A fine wrestling pay per view! In addition to the blistering main event, the Scorpio/Benoit match is great, and the overall presentation came off a lot more organized and entertaining compared to the bulk of the promotions output in 1992. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that this was WCW’s best overall pay per view effort since WrestleWar ’91, a full two years earlier.

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