Goody Bag XXVII: Is it Live, or is it Memorex?

 

WWF Title Match: Randy Savage v Ric Flair: From Prime Time Wrestling on September 14 1992 (taped September 1) in Hershey Pennsylvania. Flair goes right after the knee (which Savage hurt while diving out of the ring after Ric at SummerSlam), and corners the Macho Man in the... well... corner. Randy tries to bail, but Mr. Perfect says "nuh-uh, son" (I assume/hope), and Savage is forced back in. He tries to keep his distance from the challenger, but gets caught in the corner, and Ric goes after the knee. Ugly gear for Macho tonight, looking like he picked up something from Doink's rejected pile. Both do a great job here, with Savage doing everything he can to distance himself, but Flair taking his time, and zeroing in - all while Perfect lends a hand with distractions from the floor. Snapmare allows Ric to drop onto the leg, but a criss cross ends in Savage hitting a press-slam - which further aggravates the leg. Ric recovers and attacks it, but an attempt at a hiptoss is countered with an abdominal stretch. Don't see that too often, but it's actually simple, and great. Flair hammers the knee to escape, but a cross corner whip backfires when Macho rebounds with a hangman's clothesline for two. Ric cuts him off with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and an elbowdrop follows for two. Great selling from Savage throughout this. Ric with a side suplex for two, but a half-crab is escaped when Savage immediately has the ropes. Flair with a bodyslam and a kneedrop, and he slaps on a kneebar, but Macho is in the ropes again. He struggles to hook an inside cradle for two, so Perfect immediately attacks, and Flair throws him over the top. Back in, Macho manages to string together a backdrop and a clothesline over the top, then adds a vertical suplex on the floor. That draws Perfect over again, but Savage has a chair, and scares him away. Ric tries poking the eyes, but Savage shrugs him off with a backdrop on the floor, then rolls him in for a flying axehandle - aggravating the knee on the landing! Cue Razor Ramon to wander down the aisle, as Perfect distracts Savage again, and Flair dropkicks him out of the ring - Ramon sneaking up and clipping the leg out there. Inside, Ric capitalizes with the Figure Four, but Savage refuses to quit. He comes up with a unique escape tactic by reaching over and trying to pull Flair's tights down to force him to break or be naked, but the referee intervenes. Doubt Flair would have been bashful anyway, if all those road stories are true. Flair keeps the hold firmly applied, but Macho still refuses to quit, though he ultimately passes out, and is pinned in the hold at 17:20. The interference from Ramon felt kind of unnecessary, but I guess they needed to build to Survivor Series. Of course, karma would pay Ramon back for that one at Royal Rumble '95. Good match, with great psychology, selling, and storytelling. The famous story is that this was actually their second try at this match that night, as apparently Vince McMahon hated the original match, and made them redo it later in the taping. I'd love to see that one someday. No idea what in particular he didn't care for with the original, but considering Flair's method of working the leg in this match is notably different than his usual tried and true stuff, I'm going to guess it had something to do with that. *** ¼

WCW World Title Match: Big Van Vader v Cactus Jack: From WCW Saturday Night on April 17 1993 (taped April 6) in Atlanta Georgia. Vader tries to intimidate him at the bell, but Cactus shows no fear, and unloads in the corner. That only serves to piss the monster off, however, and he starts throwing some ULTRA stiff potatoes at Jack, drawing blood from his nose hardway. That was Foley's idea, apparently, since he's a mad man. Vader with a cross corner whip and an avalanche, and he goes to town on Jack's face again. Another avalanche, but Cactus counters with a slam, and adds a legdrop. He hustles to the top for a flying clothesline, and a running clothesline knocks Vader out of the ring! Jack is on his tail, taking out the guardrail by clotheslining Vader into it, and taking Harley Race out as well. Back in, Jack unloads turnbuckle smashes, but an attempt to fish hook Vader ends badly when the champ falls back on him. Vader goes back to work on the face with closed fists, and Cactus is now badly busted open. This originally aired heavily edited due to the blood, but apparently Mick Foley asked WCW for an unedited copy, and that's what's included on his Greatest Hits and Misses DVD. Vader with a Samoan drop to setup the Vaderbomb, and he dumps Jack to the outside for Harley to get some licks in. That backfires when Vader accidentally lays out his manager, but Jack is too battered to capitalize, and eats a clothesline on the floor. Back in, Vader keeps firing off these sick, stiff blows, and a clothesline sends Jack over the top. Just brutal. Vader follows for an avalanche against the rail, but Jack dodges, and Vader takes a nasty bump of his own. Cactus capitalizes with a somersault senton off the apron, and he's in for the countout at 13:28. Afterwards, Vader flips out, throwing a temper tantrum, and challenging Jack to a rematch the following week. Really stiff, brutal stuff here, with some crazy unprotected shots. Not a great match, but a great angle that setup a crazy follow up the following week. **

WCW World Title Match: Big Van Vader v Cactus Jack: And now the rematch, from WCW Saturday Night on April 24 1993, also in Atlanta. Jack's face is all bandaged up following last weeks bloody brawl. They pick up right where they left off with a brawl on the outside, and Vader controls with a series of headbutts that knock Jack all the way back through the curtain. He comes back out wielding a chair to take Vader down, and adds a stiff series of mounted punches, followed by an elbowdrop on the floor. I really hate the venue WCW used to use for these tapings, and this Saturday Night set is terrible. Jack with a bodyslam on the concrete, and he gives Race a slam as well, then punctuates it with a flying elbowdrop off the apron. That allows Vader time to recover, but Jack beats him down in the corner as they head in, and delivers a side suplex. 2^nd rope flying bodypress, but Vader catches him in a rather brutal slam, and adds a nasty elbowdrop to the mix! The close-ups of Jack's bruised up face from the beating last week are ugly. Vader with a 2^nd rope flying bodyblock, and a Samoan drop sets up the Vaderbomb! He doesn't even bother with a cover, instead going up with a second Vaderbomb! Still no cover, as he adds a 2^nd rope flying seated senton splash, but Cactus manages to roll out of the way of that one. He hammers Vader down for a legdrop across the bottom rope, and the Cactus Clothesline sends both over the top. Jack follows with a bodyslam on the floor, but a somersault senton splash off of the apron misses, and now Race is having some bad thoughts. Seeing that the normal amount (and even abnormal amounts) of punishment aren't getting the job done, Harley decides to lift the mats up at ringside, and instructs Vader to powerbomb Cactus onto it - Jack landing hard on the exposed concrete! Vader rolls back in, and the countout is academic at 11:10. Not surprisingly, Jack is stretchered out after that one, and would be out of action for quite some time to come, before returning at attack Vader in August, to setup a rematch. We'll pretend the whole Lost in Cleveland thing never happened. Pretty wild match, more of a complete thought than last weeks outing - though, they're really meant to be viewed as a set. What a monster Vader was. And I mean that in the best possible sense, of course. Most guys were afraid of the ball (and understandably so), but when paired with someone like Cactus or Sting, it's magic. *** ¼

The Steiner Brothers v Bret Hart and Owen Hart: From a TV taping in Florence South Carolina on January 11 1994. Scott Steiner starts with Bret, and they get into some nice amateur style exchanges as they feel each other out, until a criss cross ends in Bret getting shoulderblocked out of the ring. He dusts himself off and controls another criss cross with a rollup for two, then passes to Owen. The younger Hart works an armbar, but Scott escapes with a bodyslam, and Rick Steiner tags in. He gets into his own amateur style exchange with Owen, which goes to a stalemate. Criss cross ends in Rick delivering a powerslam, but an elbowdrop follow up misses, and Owen grabs a headlock - only for Steiner to escape with a side suplex for two. Rick tries a wristlock, but Owen makes a flippy escape, and counters into a bridging German suplex for two. Back to Scott, but Hart wins a criss cross with a spinheel kick for two, and a bridging fisherman's suplex gets two. Somersault cradle, but Scott bridges up at one, and delivers a tiger bomb for two. Both guys back off and tag, and Bret tries to slow it down to another amateur exchange, but Rick swats away an attempt at a go-behind, and takes him down in an armbar. Bret tries a bodyslam to escape, but Steiner holds on to it, so Hart throws a knee after forcing a criss cross. Headbutt follows, but it rattles Bret too, and he misses an elbowdrop after delivering a bodyslam. Rick cranks the armbar back on, and nicely rolls it over into a pin, but Bret manages to get a shoulder up at two. That was nice. Criss cross ends in Hart hitting a dropkick, and this time he's able to add both a DDT and a legdrop. Pointed elbowdrop to the back of the head follows, but a slugfest nearly gets out of hand, so Bret shuts him down with a sleeper. Rick tries to ram him into the corner to escape, but Bret tenaciously reapplies, and Steiner fades this time. The arm actually drops three times, but Rick manages to fall forward into the ropes as it does, and that's enough to save himself - though Bret milks the full extent of the referee's leniency before finally letting go! Bret keeps after him with a vertical suplex, but Rick lifts his boot to block a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop, and Steiner comes off the top with a flying bulldog for two! Rick sends him chest-first into the turnbuckles for two, and he passes over to Scott for a nicely executed tilt-a-whirl slam for two. Scott with his own cross corner whip, but Bret reverses - only for Steiner to dodge the follow up charge, and the Hitman to take a bump out of the ring. Bret beats the count to the apron, so Scott tries to vertical suplex him back in, but Hart reverses over the top to the outside! The Hitman follows by ramming Scott's lower back into the apron before rolling him in (on the Hart's side of the ring, of course) for the tag to Owen. Rocket with a bodyslam and a flying headbutt to the lower back for two, and a gutwrench suplex is worth two. Abdominal stretch, but Scott uses a hiptoss to escape, so Owen gives him a nice overhead belly-to-belly suplex for two. Back to Bret to put the boots to the back, and a Russian legsweep follows for two. Owen with a dropkick, but Scott stops short to dodge, and manages a tag to brother Rick. Rick with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, and a bodyslam follows. Tombstone gets two, and Scott comes in with a dragon suplex for two. Back to Rick for a jumping clothesline to setup an elbowdrop for two, and Steiner slaps on a brief reverse chinlock - almost as a taunt. Over to Scott for a wild Steiner Screwdriver, but Bret breaks up the count at two! That move is still a holy shit spot. Scott gets pissed, and launches the Rocket over the top in retaliation, but an attempt to uses the top rope to snap Owen back in from the apron backfires when Hart reverses him over the top! That allows the tag to Bret, and the Hitman catches Scott with an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline for two. Backbreaker sets up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but Rick steps in before the Sharpshooter can be applied! Owen sneaks in without a tag and tries his own Sharpshooter, but Rick cuts that off as well. The Steiner's try the Steinerizer, but Bret hooks Rick's ankle to prevent him diving off the top, and Owen is able to counter Scott into a victory roll for two! A big brawl breaks out from there, and Roseanne Barr the door! Bret and Rick end up on the outside, so Scott dives after Bret with a flying clothesline - triggering Owen with a plancha! The brawl continues, but the referee can't restore order, and we have a double countout at 24:55. Awesome match, building from the nice amateur action into increasingly aggressive exchanges, before ultimately boiling over into a big brawl. Some big bumps (especially from Scott Steiner), some eye popping spots, and hard work all around. The finish is a big negative, and Bret appeared to be having some timing issues, but overall a fantastic tag match. **** ½