Goody Bag XXX: It Only Sounds Dirty

 

Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas v Steve Austin and Brian Pillman: From WCW Worldwide on October 24 1992 (taped October 14) in Dothan Alabama. Steamboat and Austin start, and they feel each other out. Ricky dominates, so Steve isn't shy about complaining to the referee of hair pulling, but Steamboat gets out from under the cloud of suspicion, and smacks him around with chops. Vertical suplex gets two, and the Dragon grounds Austin in a side-headlock. Over to Shane for a well timed tandem dropkick, so Pillman comes in without a tag, but runs right into a tandem backdrop. Shane hits Steve with a backelbow for two, but gets railroaded into the heel corner, and doubled up on. Steamboat comes in to save, allowing Douglas to hiptoss Pillman, but he ends up in trouble in the heel corner again. Brian unloads with chops, but a 2^nd rope flying axehandle misses, and Shane delivers an atomic drop to set up a clothesline. Dropkick puts Pillman on the outside, and he takes his time out there to try and break the momentum. Back in, Brian manages to take control, and he passes over to Austin, but Steve walks into a crucifix for two. Tag to Steamboat for a snapmare into a chinlock, but Austin escapes, and Pillman gets the tag. Ricky hooks him in a backslide for two, so Brian dumps the Dragon to the outside, where Steve is ready with some abuse. The heels cut the ring in half on Steamboat, but Brian's attempt at a 2^nd rope flying splash hits the knees, and Shane gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Shane hammers Pillman with a ten-punch as Steamboat slams Austin, but the babyfaces get dumped to the outside, and Douglas is isolated. They work Shane over, but Ricky gets sicky of it, and comes in to brawl without bothering to tag. Austin gets dumped, and Brian is in danger of getting isolated, so he blatantly tosses Shane over the top in full view of the referee to trigger a DQ at 14:32. Mrs. Pillman didn't raise no dummy. Great chemistry between these four, as usual, but they'd have better matches later on, once Austin and Pillman found their groove as a team. ** ¾

NWA & WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Hollywood Blonds v 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell: From WCW Power Hour on June 12 1993 (taped May 19) in Anderson South Carolina. Feeling out process to start, with Steve Austin dominating Bagwell, but running into trouble with the fast paced Scorpio. Tag to Brian Pillman, and a criss cross with Scorpio ends in the challenger hitting a hiptoss, then 'hitting' a dropkick to knock Brian to the outside. Scorpio is on him with a baseball slide, and he brings Pillman back in with a vertical suplex. Brian is able to get to his home corner, but Austin isn't eager to tag. The Blonds double up on Scorpio, but an attempt by Austin at a tilt-a-whirl is countered with a sunset cradle for two. Scorpio with a small package for two, and a somersault cradle gets two, but he gets dropped into the turnbuckles before the can continue. Pillman tags in to unload chops, but Scorpio responds in kind, so Brian hits a headscissors, then dumps his challenger to the outside. Pillman dives off the apron, but Scorpio sidesteps, and Brian crashes into the guardrail instead - but still manages the tag on the way back in. So has Scorpio, and Bagwell comes in hot. He unloads, but quickly runs into a cheap shot from Brian, and the Blonds go to work cutting the ring in half on him. Austin tries holding Marcus for the Air Pillman, but Bagwell ducks, and Brian takes out his own partner to allow the hot tag to Scorpio! Bodyslam on Pillman sets up a flying twisting splash for two, and a rollup gets two when Austin saves! That allows the Blonds another double team, but it backfires again, and Scorpio schoolboys Pillman for two, as time expires at 15:00. This was a tremendously fun TV match! ***

Randy Savage v Jerry Lawler: From an MSG house show on August 13 1993. Savage has the Macho Midget with him here. Savage tries to attack, but gets nailed with a phantom weapon, and Lawler goes to work. He tosses Randy over the top, and he goes out to send Macho into the post out there, then the steps before bringing things back inside. Savage gets uppity, so Jerry reaches into his tights to grab the 'object' again, and he puts Macho down. The referee gets suspicious about the weapon, but he can't find anything, and Lawler keeps dominating by ropechoking the Macho Man. Series to jabs leaves Savage down in the corner, but he's still got some fight left in him, so Lawler uses the object again, then DDTs him to set up a fistdrop. Jerry with a ten-punch count in the corner, but Randy manages to reverse a turnbuckle smash, and series of rights sends the King over the top! Savage follows to return the favor with a trip to the post, and he brings Lawler back in, solely so he can have the pleasure of tossing his ass back over the top! Randy with a flying axehandle on the way back in, but Lawler counters with a gut-punch, and he executes the Piledriver! It only gets two, and Jerry hits a fistdrop, as Bret Hart makes his way down to ringside. King with a bodyslam, but he's distracted by Hart's presence, and it takes him time to follow up with a 2^nd rope flying fistdrop for two. Jerry spits down at the Hitman before continuing, but Bret sees red, and he attacks - causing a DQ at 8:03 in the process. This was some classic Memphis stuff here, even if it wasn't much as far as workrate goes. * ¼

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Razor Ramon v Shawn Michaels: From a WWF house show in Inglewood California on January 15 1994, as they test the waters for WrestleMania X. Shawn stalls for literally minutes on the outside to start, the first real contact not coming until four minutes in, so I think it's safe to say this isn't some five-star lost gem of a match. Once they lockup, Shawn tries a headlock, but Ramon quickly powers out, and he clotheslines HBK over the top. Razor follows, pulling up the mats for a Razor's Edge on the concrete, but Shawn shoves him into the guardrail to block, and delivers a bodyslam on the exposed floor. Michaels adds a shot with a chair out there, and back inside, he hammers Ramon with jabs in the corner. Cross corner whip hits, and Michaels pounds the back with axehandles and kneedrops, before casually tossing the Bad Guy over the top. That allows Shawn to bring the ladder down the aisle, but Razor attacks him on the floor before he can bring it inside, and Ramon sends Shawn flipping into the corner with a whip! Razor goes for the ladder, but Michaels knocks it back at him with a baseball slide, and he gives the Bad Guy some abuse with the weapon. This is a much shorter, more low rent looking ladder than they'd use at the pay per view. Like, it's barely taller than Shawn is. I bed they had to get it from some local hardware store the morning of the show, like that scene in The Wrestler. After pounding Razor with it for a while, Michaels makes a climb attempt, but Ramon manages to knock him off, so Shawn delivers a backbreaker. He props the ladder up in the corner, but a whip into it gets reversed, and Ramon follows up with a catapult into it! Ramon beats him with the ladder a bit to send Shawn to the outside, but Michaels comes off the top with a flying axehandle to knock Ramon off - only for the ladder to tip over on Shawn in the process! Both guys drag themselves up opposite sides of the ladder, and a slugfest at the top goes Ramon's way when he suplexes Shawn down! It's neat seeing them rehearse a lot of the spots they'd use at the pay per view, though the short ladder makes it look kinda goofy. Criss cross goes Michaels' way with a superkick, and he plants Razor with a piledriver. He climbs, but Razor manages to tip the ladder over, and Michaels falls out of the ring! Ramon climbs, and though Michaels manages to crawl in and tip the ladder, he's just seconds too late - Razor crashing to the mat with the belt in hand at 18:24. Interesting how close that time is to how long the pay per view match would run. Even more so because apparently the pay per view match ran long (bumping that Ten-Man Tag Team match), which makes me wonder how long they were booked for to begin with? Like, you'd have to imagine the ten-man was booked for at least five minutes (plus entrances), so were they really thinking they'd get this done in ten? How different would wrestling history be if they hadn’t said ‘fuck it,’ and worked their match their way? This one is fascinating from the perspective of a wrestling nerd, but as a match, it's certainly nowhere near the level of the WrestleMania classic. If you've seen that match as many times as I have though, and know it practically inside-out, this is worth a look. ** ½