WCW at Kingsport Armory (August 19, 1993)

Original Airdate: August 19, 1993 

From Kingsport, Tennessee

Opening Match: Brad Armstrong v Yoshi Kwan: Tiny crowd here, sub-ECW. Some posturing to start, and Brad gets control, working the arm. Kwan goes to the eyes to try and shake him off, but Armstrong reverses him into the corner, and an armdrag puts Yoshi back in an armbar. Kwan counters to an abdominal stretch, but Brad hiptosses out, and they reverse each other to a stalemate. Brad with a bodypress for two, so Kwan bails, and he goes to the eyes to keep out of another armbar on the way back in. Kwan goes to the eyes again to make sure Armstrong gets the message, and a turnbuckle smash leads to a kick to put Brad down for two. Kwan works the arm, until Brad gets into comeback mode. He hits the knee on a corner charge, however, and Kwan hooks a leveraged pin at 13:17. This was much longer than it needed to be, but the crowd was fairly engaged throughout, so it worked well enough as an opener. ¾*

Dick Slater v Mark Starr: Starr is billed as simply ‘from Florida,’ which feels like both an insult and a compliment. Feeling out to start, with Mark controlling. Slater ends up dumping him to the outside to turn the tide, and he leaves him out there to take the count, but Mark beats it. Slater responds with a Boston crab, but they’re in the ropes, so it’s a break. Slater responds with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and he unloads in the corner. Snapmare sets up a bootrake, and Dick works a chinlock. Starr escapes, and wins a slugfest on the outside, and a dropkick gets him two. Another one, but Slater dodges this time, and he dumps Mark back to the outside, but we lose the feed at 9:35 shown. I won’t rate it because it’s incomplete, but this was nothing special.

WCW Television Title Match: Ricky Steamboat v Lord Steven Regal: Ricky had just won the title from Paul Orndorff the night before this at the Clash of the Champions. Feeling out process to start, which drags on forever. Steamboat hangs with whatever Regal can throw at him, until Sir William takes a cheap shot, and the tide has turned. Regal with a vertical suplex for two, so Steamboat starts throwing chops, but Steven quickly sweeps the leg to keep control. Regal works a cravat, but Ricky starts to fight free, so the challenger pounds him back down for Sir William to attack. Steamboat still fights back with elbows, but Regal pops him in the gut to knock the wind out of the champion, and he gets a cobra clutch on. Steamboat fights free, so Regal pounds him for a bit, and goes right back to the hold. Steamboat escapes with a side suplex, and he makes a comeback, nailing a bodypress for two. Knife-edge chops leads to a flying tomahawk chop for two, so William tries a distraction, but ends up colliding with Regal! That allows Steamboat a rollup for two, and an inside cradle gets him another two. Steamboat with mounted punches, but William trips him up as he runs the ropes, and Regal covers for two. Backslide gets the challenger two, and a small package is worth two. Backelbow gets two, so Regal tries a snapmare for two. Ricky tries a backdrop, but Regal sweeps the leg for two, and pops him with an uppercut for two. Cradle for two, as time expires at 20:48. The last few minutes were incredibly good - like four-star level good - but the first two-thirds of the match was only incredible in how boring it was, so let’s call it * ½ 

NWA & WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Arn Anderson and Paul Roma v Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger: The Horsemen had just picked up the belts off of the Hollywood Blonds the day before this, at the Clash of the Champions. Roma and Pierce start, and Paul dominates. Tags all around, and let’s stop to note that Arn is over huge, probably getting the biggest reaction of anyone on the show thus far. Posturing, with Anderson out thinking him, and getting a takedown. Arn drops a knee down low (to another huge pop), and the Horsemen dominate, until Roma runs into trouble, and the challengers go to work on him. Paul slips out of a hold long enough for the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Arn runs wild, and Tex eats a rotating spinebuster at 12:55. I wasn’t feeling this one. Just your standard formula tag match. ½*

Johnny B. Badd v Maxx Payne: Badd beat Payne in a Mask v Guitar match at the Clash, but there’s nothing on the line here. Joined in progress, with Payne working him over. He traps Badd in a bow-and-arrow, but Johnny reverses, so Maxx gets himself into the ropes. He tries nailing Johnny, but Badd pulls out a headscissors takedown, then dodges an elbowdrop. Badd makes a comeback, so Payne tries an avalanche, but Johnny sidesteps, and schoolboys at 1:45. No idea how much was cut out here, so I won’t rate this one. Their match at the Clash was under three minutes, so it might have been another quickie, but it’s a mystery, and I’m not Scooby Doo, so…

Big Van Vader v Sting: The WCW World title is not on the line here. Vader tries intimidating him early on, but Sting shows no fear. He bodyslams the big man, and a clothesline sends him over the top. Sting with a vertical suplex back into the ring, and then another clothesline to send Vader right back over the top! Sting follows to beat him up on the outside, but a Stinger Splash against the guardrail misses, and Harley Race is quick to add some cheap shots while rolling the Stinger back inside. Vader with a corner splash, and a 2nd rope bodyblock actually finds the mark! I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that not result in a powerslam. And I mean, it always does, even in the most contrived of situations. Vader tries a superplex, but Sting fights him off, then falls off the top rope before he can add a dive. That allows Vader to cover for two, so Sting tries a dropkick, but misses. Vader with an elbowdrop, and he works a leglock for a moment. Vaderbomb looks to finish, but Sting rolls out of the way. He looks for a comeback, but runs into a bodyblock, and ends up looking up at the lights again. Vader goes upstairs, but Sting pulls him off with a Samoan drop for two. Powerslam gets two when Race distracts the referee to break the count, so Sting goes after him. That allows Vader a sneak attack, but Sting dodges, and he hooks the leg for the pin at 7:52. This wasn’t very long, but they were working hard for the duration. It’s actually quite incredible that Sting is still an active worker thirty years after this, considering they weren’t even taking it easy in front of 500 people, and you’d think he’d be completely broken down by now. ** ¾ 

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Sid Vicious: Sid seems to be mocking Hulk Hogan in the early going, cupping his hands to his ears multiple times. Feeling out process to start, with Sid overpowering the champion throughout. Flair is finally able to retaliate with some chops, and he's able to knock Sid onto the apron, then clotheslines him off - Vicious selling it by falling over the rail into the front row! Sid stalls out there before coming in and working a headlock, but Flair counters, so Vicious goes to the eyes, and pounds him in the corner. Ric manages to fire back with a bodyslam (With ease, too. Even Hogan used to sell it like it was more difficult) to setup a kneedrop, and he unloads with those patented chops. Sid with a slam of his own, but a legdrop follow-up misses, and Flair slaps on the Figure Four - only to have Robert Parker quickly break it up! Sid capitalizes by sending Flair flipping over the top off of a cross corner whip, but Ric beats the count, so the challenger works an extended nervehold. Flair finally makes the ropes, so Sid quickly punishes him with a clothesline over the top - where Parker is waiting to get his licks in. Ric sweeps Sid down from out there to crotch him on the ring post, and he dominates a slugfest on the way back in with chops. He actually manages to hit a flying axehandle (after messing up the flip in the corner on the first try, though), and the champ goes low to put Vicious down. He goes for the kill, but here comes Parker again, and we have a DQ at 17:06. Pretty par for the course for Sid, but easily one of the worst pre-nWo Flair matches. It was a house show though, to be fair. ¼*

BUExperience: This wasn’t a very interesting house show, but I’d definitely check out the Vader/Sting match if you are as much a fan of their series as I am. 

Aside from that, the biggest thing I noticed here is how much this differed from the WWF’s more polished presentations. Stuff like the ring announcer getting on the house mic to tell the lighting guys to turn the lights down, or the casual way they welcomed the fans to the show just felt very rough and amateurish. But that’s part of the charm of watching it these days.

Not that I’d bother watching this one, though.

DUD