WCW Fall Brawl 1994 (Version II)

Original Airdate: September 18, 1994

From Roanoke, Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Opening WCW Television Title Match: Lord Steven Regal v Johnny B. Badd: Regal stalls in the early going, and Badd dominates whenever there is any direct contact. Badd uses an airplane spin to put Regal on the outside, and he dives after him with a plancha, then snaps the champion's throat across the top rope on the way back in. Bodypress, but Steven hits the deck, and Badd wipes out on the ropes as a result. That allows Sir William to get in some cheap shots, and Regal hammers his challenger with European uppercuts in the corner. He takes Badd down in a headlock, as we see Blacktop Bully out in the crowd, as part of his introductory angle. I'd make a note about how obvious it is that he's a plant because he's always in the first row at shows across the country, but then look at some of those super fans (like Vlad or Faith No More Guy) who do the same thing, and aren't part of angles. How those guys managed to find the time/money to follow the WWF, WCW, and ECW around for years is one of my biggest burning questions. Anyway, Johnny starts mounting a comeback, and a headscissors takedown is worth two, so Regal dumps him to the outside. Badd tries a slingshot sunset flip back in, so cue William for more interference, but it backfires this time, and Johnny schoolboys for two. I totally bought that as the finish. Regal tries more uppercuts, but Badd counters into a backslide, and we have a new champion at 11:13 - getting a big pop! The Bash at the Beach match was much better. ¾* (Original rating: ¾*)

Loser Leaves WCW Match: Cactus Jack v Kevin Sullivan: Brawl on the outside to start, spilling into the crowd in short order. Into the ring, where Sullivan hammers him with headbutts, but Cactus fights back with a series of turnbuckle smashes, and they spill to the floor again. Cactus posts him, but spends too much time pulling up the mats, and Dave Sullivan prevents an attack. That allows Kevin to slam Jack off the middle rope onto the exposed floor, and he adds a bodyslam out there as well. Back in, Sullivan works Jack's bad ear, and man, the crowd is hot for Cactus. He fights Kevin off and hits an elbowdrop for two, and they head back to the outside, where Cactus tries a piledriver on the floor, but ends up getting backdropped onto the exposed concrete. Sullivan charges him with a clothesline to give Jack another bump on the exposed floor, so Jack grabs a chair, but Dave cuts him off before he can use it. That allows Sullivan to get hold of a chair, but Dave doesn't want him using it either. This allows Jack to sneak up, but he ends up colliding with Dave by accident, and Kevin capitalizes for the pin at 6:38. Not much, but Jack was bumping like a crazy person, as usual. And, as stipulated, this would be Jack's final appearance for the promotion. * ¼ (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW United States Title Match: Steve Austin v Jim Duggan: This was scheduled as Austin facing US Champion Ricky Steamboat, but the Dragon suffered a legitimate career ending injury in a match with Steve the month before, and comes out to forfeit the title to him. Austin's thrilled, but WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel says he has to defend right here right now, and brings out Jim Duggan (in his WCW debut) to challenge. Austin bitches and moans as if he's just been forced into an impromptu match with Andre the Giant, and walks right into a 3-Point Stance at 0:40 while complaining. They were shooting for Honky Tonk Man/Ultimate Warrior here, and missed badly as audiences weren’t annoyed with Austin the way they were Honky, and weren't clamoring for Jim Duggan to win the title they way they were for Warrior. Though the crowd popped pretty loudly for it here, putting the title on Jim Duggan in forty seconds fell flat with critics across the board - especially for making Steve Austin look like a jobber, which he never recovered from (in WCW, anyway). This would also mark Steamboat's last appearance in the promotion. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Pretty Wonderful v Stars and Stripes: Paul Roma starts with Marcus Alexander Bagwell, and he pounds him down, but runs into a bodypress for two. Over to Patriot for a wristlock, but Roma starts throwing forearms to shake him loose, and he passes to Paul Orndorff. Orndorff comes off the top with a flying axehandle, but Patriot gutpunches him to block, then tags back to Bagwell to hit his own (successful) flying axehandle. Nice little symmetrical sequence there. Criss cross goes Bagwell's way with a bodypress for two, and Patriot tags back in with his own bodypress for two - leaving Orndorff cowering in the corner before tagging. The challengers double up on Roma, and a tandem hiptoss gets two, but Bagwell runs into a cheap shot while running the ropes, and the champs take over. They cut the ring in half on Marcus, and Patriot gets the tag, but the referee doesn't see it. Unlike every other time that happens, Patriot comes in and unloads regardless, but the referee refuses to count the pin after he hits Roma with the Uncle Slam. Meanwhile, Orndorff piledrives Bagwell on the floor, then rolls him in for a dazed Roma to pin at 12:59. Very basic, but totally watchable, and the finish worked. ** ¼ (Original rating: ¼*)

Vader v Guardian Angel: This is billed as a Triangle match with Sting as well, but really, it isn't. Like, instead of being able to tag in and out, two guys start, and the winner faces the third guy in a completely separate match. To be fair though, the concept of Triangle (or multi-man matches in general) hadn't really been established yet at this stage. We get Vader and Guardian to start, decided by a coin toss. Funny bit in the opening moments, as Bobby accidentally refers to Angel as 'Boss Man,' and quickly has to cover it up by saying that he (Heenan) should be the 'boss man' of WCW, and how he'd just give Vader the title if that were the case. He thought super fast on his feet there. Power showdown to start, as they measure each other. Vader corners him for an avalanche, but a clothesline is countered with a sideslam, and Angel drops an elbow to the crotch. Bodyslam, but Angel blocks, so Angel throws a barrage of right hands at him instead. He heads up, but slips while diving, and wipes out on the top rope. That wasn't a botch, but it looked like one. Vader grounds him in a chinlock for a bit, but a second avalanche misses, and Angel schoolboys for two. Bodypress gets two, so Vader charges with a clothesline that sends both men tumbling out over the top. Holy fuck! Vader tries an avalanche against the post out there, but that misses as well, and Angel rings his bell with a leg-feed enzuigiri on the way back in! He muscles through a bodyslam for two, followed by a straddling ropechoke, and Vader is in trouble! The referee goes down as Angel goes for the kill with the scrapbuster, however, allowing Harley Race to come in with a headbutt. That sets Angel up for the Vaderbomb, and he's done at 7:07. This was alright, but it was just the appetizer anyway. ** ¼ (Original rating: ½*)

#1 Contender's Match: Vader v Sting: So now, these two face off, and the winner gets a title shot at Hulk Hogan at some undetermined point in the future (which I don't think happened until SuperBrawl V, some five months later). Oh, whoops, spoiler. In fact, they took so long to get around to it, that Vader even won the US Title before then. Vader goes to town on Sting in the corner, so Sting tries to get cute by no-selling, but that earns him another thumping. Sting fights through it to hit a dropkick, but Vader barely acknowledges it, so Sting tries forcing a criss cross, but gets absolutely walloped when he runs right into the monster. Ouch! Vader casually slams him to set up the Vaderbomb, but he neglects to cover, instead wanting to hit another one. He climbs, but Sting pops up and starts kicking him down low, so Vader blasts him with a clothesline to calm his ass down. Up for the Vaderbomb again, but Sting rolls out of the way this time, and tries a sunset flip. Vader blocks with a seated senton splash, but Sting dodges that as well, and a clothesline sends the big man over the top. Sting follows to hammer him against the rail, but Race gets involved, and Sting is forced to reverse a vertical suplex on the floor to shake him off. Back in, Sting hits Vader with a vertical suplex as well, and he comes off the top with a flying splash. Regular splash follows, but Vader lifts his knees this time, and he slams the Stinger to set up Vadersault - only to miss! I swear, I thought the top rope might snap there. Sting musters the strength to power him back up to the top for a vertical superplex, and a pair of elbowdrops follow for two. Sting powers through a Samoan drop for two, and the Stinger Splash sets up a clothesline for two. German suplex gets two, as these guys are just busting ass out there. Vader slugs him to the outside for Race to abuse again, then back in for a three-alarm no-release short-clothesline. Into the corner for some rights and lefts, but Sting finds a second wind, and starts slugging back at the monster! Clothesline puts him down, and Sting capitalizes by stomping him directly on the head a few times for two. Stinger's feeling violent tonight. That ends in Vader bailing, and he decides to climb into the other ring instead on the way back in, but Sting greets him with a pair of flying clotheslines! Flying splash gets two, so Vader side suplexes him for one. 2^nd rope flying splash looks to follow, but Sting pops up, and catches him in a powerslam on the way down! Both guys stagger back to their feet, and Sting manages a clothesline for two. Scorpion Deathlock, but he can't hold the tree trunks, and Vader is free. Sting looks for a follow-up, but before he can figure his next move, time expires at 16:49. It was supposed to be fifteen minutes, but whatever. Okay, so they get another five minutes of overtime to settle things, and Sting comes right at him with a sleeper, but Vader has had time to catch his breath, and he easily escapes. Vader with a vertical suplex, then up for a superplex, but Sting fights him off, and knocks the big man down off the ropes for two. Into the corner, but Vader headbutts him away, and he goes up to finish him off, but Sting pops up to backdrop the monster down off the top! Damn! That takes a lot out of the Stinger as well, however, and Vader thumps him before he can follow-up. Slam gets two, and a splash is worth two, as the overtime period winds down. Vader tries the powerbomb to desperately finish before time runs out, but Sting gets a shoulder up at two, and time expires at 22:26! Okay, so it's a draw, I suppose, but the referee decides to give them another overtime period - this time ruling that it will be 'sudden death' rules - which in his world means the first guy who can knock the other off of his feet wins. Okay, I like it. Vader is more than up to that task, and he pulls down his straps to show he means business, then goes to town unloading on poor Sting with blow after blow after blow. Sting stumbles around, but manages to stay vertical by falling into the ropes. That only enrages Vader more, however, and he fires off more shots. Sting fires back, so Race tries to get involved, but here comes Guardian Angel to cut him off! That distracts the referee, and he misses Sting knocking Vader down with a shoulderblock! That allows a masked man to pop out from underneath the ring, and he whacks Sting in the leg with a pipe - just in time for the referee to turn around at 25:15. I really hated that finish, but man, what a match leading up to it! I always forget about this one when I think of the Sting/Vader series, but I shouldn't - it's another great brawl between the two, albeit marred by a bad ending. **** (Original rating: *** ¾)

Main Event: WarGames Match: Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, and Colonel Robert Parker v Dustin Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes, and The Nasty Boys: Arn and Dustin start off, and Anderson is keen to put distance between himself and the younger Rhodes. Dustin catches up to him with an inverted atomic drop, and he wedges Arn's head between the two rings to grind him a bit. Rhodes dives from one ring to the other with a jumping clothesline, and he hangs from the ceiling of the cage for a dropkick. He continues beating on Arn, but runs into a DDT, so he throws a dropkick, and ties Anderson up in a half-crab as the first period ends, and Buck enters. Funny bit there, as the referee botches the coin toss by not catching the coin, and nearly exposes it as worked when the stupid camera man follows the coin on the ground. I'm pretty sure it came up tails (despite the referee saying 'heads'), but give Randy Anderson credit, he did he best covering it up. Anyway, the heels go to town on young Dustin, and lock him in a tandem Boston crab, until Jerry Sags enters. He hits Arn with a slam, and sends Buck into the cage, then gives Arn a free trip as well. Piledriver for Buck, as Dustin recovers enough to hammer Anderson with a ten-punch count in the corner. Dustin slaps on a sleeper, as Sags continues to pound Buck, until Terry Funk enters the fray. He's got his boot off on his way into the cage, and goes right after both babyfaces with it. They somehow manage to botch a tandem clothesline on Sags, which has got to be a first. All Jerry's fault, but still. Neat spot see Sags hit Funk with a piledriver between the rings, but the gap has widened so much, that Terry ends up falling through! Ha! Brian Knobbs is next in, but the heels are all waiting for him as he comes through the door. I guess that makes Dusty the anchor. Which fits. They gang up, but Knobbs manages to reverse them into the cage, then grinds Arn's face into the mesh. Sags gets hold of Funk's boot to use on the heels, and Dustin bashes Terry's head into Buck's. Parker is last in for his team, but he's reluctant to say the least - especially with Dustin waiting for him at the door. Buck saves to allow Parker to come in untouched, and he pulls his belt off to chokes Sags down with, as Arn hits Knobbs with a spinebuster. Parker gets hold of the belt, and starts whipping anything that moves, but Dustin gets another belt, and returns fire! In comes Dusty to start the Match Beyond, and he takes out the entire heel side with elbowsmashes. He isolates Parker, and slaps on a figure four (and a piss poor one, at that), as the Nasties take turns dropping elbows on him until Parker surrenders at 19:06. Not on par with some of the classic WarGames efforts, but much better than last years, at least. The no blood policy really hurt things here, though. ** ¼ (Original rating: * ¾)

BUExperience: Pretty lackluster show, aside from the awesome Sting/Vader brawl. It's got some significance as Steamboat and Cactus Jack's last WCW appearances, but I wouldn’t really waste time on this one. Do make a point of stopping to check out Sting/Vader, though.

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