Goody Bag 63: The Best of Sting

 

NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Sting: From NWA Pro Wrestling on January 2 1988 (taped December 12 1987) in Greensboro North Carolina. Some posturing to start, and Sting manages a press-slam early on, and Flair is selling it like complete death. Like, seriously, he's rolling around on the mat for thirty seconds, and then falls out of the ring to stall. Good on him for selling, but let's not get carried away here. Back in, Ric begs off to continue his stalling, but Sting just press-slams him again. Stinger Splash, but Flair dodges, and the Nature Boy delivers a hanging vertical suplex - only for Sting to no-sell! Flair bails again, but gets caught in a knucklelock on the way back in, so he tries chops, but Sting no-sells him again. Ric throws a knee to get some traction, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop, but Sting dodges. That allows the challenger to grab a sleeper, but a splash hits the knees, and Flair takes over. Ric works the arm for a bit, before suddenly landing a kneebreaker, and capitalizing with the figure four. Sting reverses, but can't hold it long enough to get the submission. Sting tries to go after him, but the knee is slowing him down now, and Flair tosses his challenger to the outside to buy time. The referee goes out to check him instead of counting, so Flair chases to unload chops on the floor, and he stays on the knee as they go back inside. Sting manages a bodypress for two during a criss cross, so Flair tries a hiptoss, but Sting counters to a backslide for two. Flair tries a corner whip, but Sting rebounds out with a big clothesline, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Flair recovers first, and tries to kill this punk with a suplex out of the ring, but Sting reverses him inside. That gives Sting a chance to make a proper comeback, but the show runs out of airtime without a finish at 15:48 shown. Flair would go on to win the match a few minutes later. I always hated those 'we're out of time' finishes. I like that they add realism, but I prefer to suspend disbelief about that sort of thing and see the full match instead. * ¼

 

NWA Television Title Match: Mike Rotunda v Sting: From World Championship Wrestling, April 1 1989 (taped March 30) in Atlanta Georgia. Sting wins a criss cross with a hiptoss, and he adds a clothesline for two, so Rotunda bails to regroup. Inside, Mike tries a shot in the corner, but Sting no-sells him, and grabs a headlock. Rotunda goes to the hair to escape, and he throws a knee to put the challenger down, but a big charge backfires when Sting sidesteps, and the champion goes flying over the top. Back in, Mike uses a cheap shot to gain the advantage again, but Sting reverses him into the ropes, and backelbows him down. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Rotunda dodges. He tries a backdrop, but Sting kicks him in the face to block, and Mike takes a breather again. Inside, Sting goes back to the headlock, so Rotunda goes back to the hair, but the challenger takes him to the mat this time to nip that in the bud. Rotunda, forced to wrestle, manages to roll it into a cradle for two, but Sting sinks his teeth into the hold. Rotunda manages to wrestle to a vertical base, and he's able to use the hair to rattle Sting enough for a side suplex to escape. Dropkick, but Sting dodges, and a right hand puts the champion back on the outside. Sting dives after him with a plancha this time, and he dives with a flying bodypress for two on the way back in! Back to the headlock, and Rotunda rolls to another cradle for two, but Sting really digs in with the hold to keep him grounded. Mike manages to fight back to a vertical base, and he counters to a standing overhead wristlock, and turns it into a slam. Sting pops up, so Rotunda hides in the ropes, but Sting pulls him off with a cross corner whip. That allows the challenger a ten-punch count, but Rotunda fights him off with an inverted atomic drop, and he drops him across the top rope for good measure. Mike tosses Sting to the outside for the Varsity Club to abuse, but Ricky Steamboat and Lex Luger watch the Stinger's back, keeping them from getting anywhere on him. That allows Sting to come back at Rotunda with a slingshot sunset flip for two, but Mike cuts off the comeback, and delivers a legdrop for two. Sleeper, but he gets busted using the ropes, so he uses an atomic drop once having to break. Mike goes to the eyes to thwart another potential comeback, and he grabs a chinlock to try and put his down, but Sting comes back after two arm drops. Rotunda clotheslines him to keep control, and he pounds him on the ropes, but Sting is catching a second wind, and no-selling. Sting makes a comeback, and he lands the Stinger Splash to set up the Scorpion Deathlock, but Kevin Sullivan manages to sneak in to break the hold! That allows Mike to cover, but Sting is in the ropes at two! Rotunda stays on him with a butterfly suplex for two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Criss cross allows Sting to turn the tide back just long enough to hook a rollup to win the gold at 16:29! The finish was a little weak, but this was a damn fine match, with excellent storytelling, and a great energy to it. Was this really the same guy who was doing those sweaty abdominal stretches in the WWF? ****

 

Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, and Dustin Rhodes: From World Championship Wrestling on February 22 1992 (taped February 17) in Rock Hill South Carolina. The babyfaces attack before the bell to clean house, and the dust settles on Eaton and Windham to start. Bobby tries charging, but lands in a backhand, so Arn tries a cheap shot, but Barry fights them both off in fiery fashion! Dust settles, and Bobby tries pushing him into the neutral corner, but Barry fights him off, and manages a backdrop. Eaton retreats with a tag to Arn, and Anderson taunts Steamboat to force a tag. The babyfaces oblige, and then Arn hides in the ropes to frustrate the man. Ricky manages a superkick, so Eaton runs back in, but the Dragon gives him one as well! Dust settles, and Arn tries using the hair to work a wristlock, but Ricky is in no mood, and uses a savate kick to escape. Arn tags out to Larry, and Zbyszko manages to pound Ricky into the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Dragon throws a clothesline. Over to Rhodes for a jumping clothesline for one, and they trade armdrags, until Zbyszko gets sick of losing, and passes to Rude. Rhodes responds by giving Sting a tag, and we have a slugfest! Sting gets the better of that one, and he sticks a backdrop, then whips Rick into the ropes for a clothesline. Atomic drop gets the classic Rude sell, and Sting gives him the inverted side of the coin for good measure. Rick manages to muscle Sting into the heel corner for a quadruple team, but Sting fights them all off, and press-slams both Eaton and Zbyszko. Dust settles on Zbyszko in with Sting, and Larry tries a backdrop, but Sting boots him in the face to block. Over to Barry with a dropkick, and Dustin tags in with a clothesline for two. Zbyszko tags out to Eaton, and Bobby challenges the youngster to a test-of-strength, but Dustin has the cheap shot scouted. Dustin with a hiptoss, but a headscissors attempt backfires when Eaton dumps him over the top. Bobby's pals pounce out there, and Rhodes eats rail before getting rolled back inside. The heels go to work on Rhodes, and Rude even hits a missile dropkick in there! I don't think I've ever seen him bust that particular move out! Rude Awakening looks to finish, but Steamboat saves him from taking it, and Dustin is able to DDT a distracted Rude. Bobby tags in to cut off a potential tag with a figure four, however, and the heels go back to work on Dustin. Zbyszko tries an atomic drop, but Rhodes makes a blind tag to Steamboat while taking it, and the Dragon comes in hot - Roseanne Barr the door! Ricky manages to dive at Zbyszko with a flying bodypress during the big brawl, and that's enough at 15:19. This was all action, and tons of fun. Just great! *** ½