Five-Star Conversation 09.29.09: WCW Remembered

DID YOU KNOW? Alicia Fox’s hairline recedes so far back, she has a fivehead

I’ve mentioned here in the past many times why I sadly missed out on the earlier days of The NWA/WCW, but, for those of you who missed it, I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version. I grew up in a hot little shithole called Bakersfield, California that, aside from The Movie Channel, didn’t get cable at all until I was 13 years old and none of the three local Bakersfield channels (and the one Fresno channel we got) saw fit to air any wrestling product (ironic, considering the wealth of white trash that still occupies the toilet I was born into). Therefore, I never had that experience of seeing wrestling through the magically innocent eyes of a child (which is just as well, since it meant I never ended up cheering idiots like The Bushwhackers); once I started watching, roughly a few months before Hulk Hogan returned to The WWF to found Hulkamania, I already had a more sophisticated concept of what I was seeing (ie, I knew it was predetermined and staged and didn’t like the faces just because they stood for what was right and good).

Even still, once we got cable, it was only a small handful of channels; cable was a timid little Gremlin who seemed docile and friendly at first, and took time to evolve into the fed-after-midnight monster it’s become. Thanks to ESPN, during the summer months when I was out of school, I became much more familiar with World Class Championship Wrestling, The Global Wrestling Federation and The American Wrestling Association before I ever really saw a solid amount of WCW. If I recall correctly, ESPN was one of the small handful of channels included in our introductory package at the time, whereas WTBS didn’t show up on our roster of channels until much later.

However, LA’s Channel 11 carried The WWF’s Superstars of Wrestling, and it was this show that was my introduction to professional wrestling. As our cable system expanded, I also discovered The WWF’s Wrestling Challenge on USA, as well as periodic three-hour PPV-like broadcasts from Madison Square Garden that invariably started with the longest-running curtain-jerking feud in history between Tony “Underoos” Garea and “Iron” Mike Sharpe, which actually became the highlight of the entire show as my brother and I waited for the point in the match where Sharpe would twist his arm band to “load” the magic foreign object that would mean certain doom for Garea should Sharpe connect a blow.

I was briefly introduced to The NWA/WCW by a half-hour magazine show hosted by Gordon Solie Saturday mornings on LA’s Channel Five that gave a recap with clips of the goings-on in each major promotion each week. Because I was such a snob in those days, completely shunning anything and everything that seemed redneck-y, in addition to having been spoiled by The WWF’s superior production values, I tended to turn up my nose at what I saw coming from The NWA, unfortunately. With The WWF taping their broadcasts in actual arenas, The NWA coming from a little television studio somewhere in the south had me scoffing.

However, I soon had to swallow my pride thanks to that show hosted by Solie, because I learned that anytime I saw that green and blue apron on a ring, the signature of the Jim Crockett years, I knew I was in for a hell of a match. Unfortunately, the show was short-lived, so my education to The NWA was cut short (although, if memory serves, the show was replaced by reruns of Bill Watts’ UWF, which I actually preferred to everything I’d seen to that point, although, that, too, was iced far too soon).

It wasn’t until much later that I started to see WCW on TBS once that channel finally made its’ way to California. However, I didn’t see the same magic I saw on those clips and matches from Crockett’s NWA, even though I saw a bunch of the same people. In its’ attempt to give the production values a shave and a haircut, it seemed to me the fire and soul of Crockett’s production was sacrificed.

Once WCW really started coming on strong in the days leading to The Monday Night Wars, I had given WCW another chance and had even started buying their pay-per-views regularly, but found myself left a little cold, especially when compared to The WWF’s concurrent product. I swore them off for good after falling asleep before I even reached the main event (where I was vainly hoping for Vader to end Hulkamania once and for all). By the time The Monday Night Wars heated up, whatever was leftover from those Crockett days had been neutered in favor of The Bischoff Regime and the meandering, pointless angle that was The nWo. Aside from the fact that I hated that angle, my initial brand loyalty to The WWF was never healthier and I was a full-on, card-carrying member of The Kliq. It was pretty much history from there.

So, with the release of WWE’s three-DVD set, The Rise & Fall of WCW, not having been a fan and having missed out on virtually all of the memories logged on this compilation, I figured I’d view these matches with a fresh and better-educated viewpoint and give WCW a second, if posthumous, chance.

BTW, a note before we get going. I’m not intending this to be a DVD review by any means. JD Dunn has already done an exceptional job reviewing this set with a better insight than I possess, and this is certainly not meant as a challenge or counter-point to his work. This is just my take on what McMahonagement is offering as the history of a franchise through the matches it has decided to share.

A random observation to start – Arn Anderson seemed not to have aged a minute in like 25 years. And why he’s not managing a young, wrestling-oriented (as opposed to more gimmicky) stable, I don’t know. Imagine if he’d have managed LEGACY all along, the drama that could have been upped within the ranks?

Ric Flair versus Magnum TA is one of my favorite matches on the set for a couple of reasons. We’ve discussed here before that one of the things that tends to rob these compilation DVDs of being as good, as satisfying and as educational as they really could and deserve to be is the fact that what we pretty much get on them is just the match. Obviously, a truly great match will stand up on its own and be regarded as a timeless classic by virtue of its merit; however, one of the things we love the most about professional wrestling is the backstory, the proverbial wherefores and whys with respect to why we’re seeing the match in question and what brought these competitors together.

Here we see Ric Flair in prime championship form, putting himself over to Tony Schiavone, the live in-studio audience and all those watching on TV about how he’s the greatest, the living legend, and running down his entire list of challengers, discounting their ability and likelihood of ever unseating him for his title. Having been summarily discounted by Flair during this classic soliloquy, Magnum TA joins them at the announcer’s podium, pulls out $1,000 cash money and challenges Flair to an impromptu match, betting the grand he brought that Flair couldn’t beat him in TV time remaining. Flair, chuckling, slides off his robe and removes his belt, telling Schiavone, “I’ve given this kid every opportunity to stay out of my path…” And the match ensues.

It’s an absolutely solid ten minute match and, as I said, on it’s own, is one of my favorites. It’s a shame Magnum’s career was cut so short, so definitely and so soon. However, because we had just that extra five minutes of promo time, even anyone who had no idea who Flair or Magnum were could have turned this on as we join the broadcast on the DVD and know exactly what was going on. From Flair’s promo we know that he’s been the NWA WHC for so long, he muses aloud about the possibility of having to simply bequeath the belt to someone from a rocking chair, that he’s been the man in The NWA for the last four years, and that Magnum is a fresh face in the neighborhood who has more stars in eyes than he does gas in the tank. Or so says Flair, which is Magnum’s cue to hit the stage and prove he’s so much more than that, and goes on to actually do so, as Flair does not manage to defeat Magnum in the remaining TV time, thus here do we see a young talent getting the thumb’s up from Creative. The story of the match is solid, but just that extra five minutes of prologue added so much more depth to the overall story, and I was pleased to see that done and done so well here on the WCW DVD, as it was a fine tribute to what was and what could have been in Magnum’s regard.

Furthermore, I really loved and appreciated the brilliant employment of the remaining TV time/time limit match, which is a lost art on today’s landscape and is, in my eyes, one of the main differences between “professional wrestling” and “sports entertainment”. I understand a different method of storytelling exists between the two, but isn’t that why we’re differentiating the personalities between Raw and SmackDown!? Why not allow some time limit draws once in awhile? It can be an extremely useful storytelling/plot-building tool when properly utilized, as it was here in the Flair/Magnum match. Flair’s record speaks for itself and he’s the first to remind of his list of accolades. Here, Magnum has everything to gain and $1,000 to lose. The fact that he managed to goad Flair into such a match and then managed not to allow the champion to defeat him gave Magnum a hell of a rub here. BUT the story is far from being over. Proving you can keep the champion from defeating you in ten minutes is one feat, defeating him yourself is another, and for the belt, still another. So there’s a lot more from here to be done where this feud is concerned, but what a red hot start!

Finally, in this match’s regard, something else I really enjoyed about this match was the fact The Andersons made their way to the announce position and watched and commentated the bout with Schiavone, putting into motion the wheels that led to the original Four Horsemen, claiming Flair to be their cousin, which Ole Anderson did with real, uhm, Flair (sorry). But, still another point of solid, concise and layered storytelling, having The Andersons coming out to put over Flair as an Anderson during the match as opposed to in a separate promo. This kind of layered reveal makes the most of limited airtime, while still getting the point across, especially when The Andersons waited until after the match to jump Magnum, who was still fired up and looking to make his name against the champion. Many, many important factors coming into play to make this entire segment a keeper even before you get down to discussing the match. Well done!

Another favorite immediately follows, a six-man tag team match between the teams of Sting, Lex Luger and Barry Windham squaring off against an evolved Horsemen in Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon having come on board in the interim between matches, as well.

Check out this classic video. I’m making a point, it ties in (hopefully!).

At about the 3:00 mark, Fleetwood Mac just drop into a solid groove and the song almost seems chug along of its own volition. The same can be said for this six-man, and I think we can owe a lot of that The Horseman in this match, although Windham was really coming into his own at this point, too. It’s just so completely evident that Flair, Anderson and Blanchard are such an uncanny unit in the ring as they exchange tags, never too far away from one another to accomplish the task (not that it was terribly necessary in their view, they were just as happy to involve themselves on the sly as tag legally), displaying exemplary cohesion, ring sense, the ability to always do the right thing at the right time in the right way to the right person. They were the primary example of the proverbial well-oiled machine. If you need a depiction of why The Horsemen are revered as much as they are, you need look no farther than this match, especially since, although Flair was certainly involved, this was Arn & Tully’s show.

Matches of this exceptional quality can always serve as an educational tool for those looking to learn how to work a tag match. For example, if you’re playing a face and you’re on the run against your foe, trying to mount a comeback, we see here how it works to be shot to the ropes, rebound off and duck a clothesline to slap on a sleeper or some other such potential submission hold. It pops the crowd and makes them think you have a chance, especially since you’ve reversed your opponent’s momentum, but it gives the heels on the apron the opportunity to charge the ring and attack you, bringing in your opponent’s partners, which will, in turn, draw the ignorant referee to block them from entering the ring as the heels drag you back into their corner.

Another great example of how to build to the hot tag was displayed by Blanchard. At one point he lays out Luger, jumps to his feet, does a Flair-esque strut and stops, looks at Sting and spits on him as Luger is crawling toward his corner. The referee again blocks Sting’s incensed entrance to the ring, allowing Blanchard the opportunity to drag Luger back closer to his corner, the exceptional camerawork catching Blanchard signaling on the sly for Anderson to replace him illegally in the ring. Just another example of how great tag team wresting was and could potentially be again.

Barry Windham defending and retaining The UST against Dusty Rhodes makes three great matches in a row. This is certainly a fine example of a time I’d like to have had a video package of the events leading to this emotional clash prior to the match itself, as Jim Ross fills us in on the story as the contest unfurls, piquing my interest as only he can. Don’t get me wrong, Ross does a fantastic job of describing the build to “the most emotional match on the card,” to quote him, but, considering the true gift possessed by Rhodes to manipulate a situation such as this, where he is betrayed by Windham when Windham joins The Horsemen, begging him not to turn his back on his friends, fans and family. True, this is a clichéd story in professional wrestling, but I’d be willing to bet that it has become such because classic performers such as Rhodes and Windham made them so.

Windham plays an extremely smart heel here, coming in as the newly-turned champion defending against one of the most beloved faces in the industry at the time in Rhodes. He comes in the champion and knows he’s leaving with the belt, as well, due to another shocking turn when Ronnie Garvin takes advantage of a ref bump to level a beleaguered Rhodes, who was already barely hanging on having suffered in Windham’s devastating Claw, allowing a successful defense to the utter outrage of all in attendance. As such, Windham sells like a motherfucker for Rhodes, who manages, what seems to me, at least, some uncharacteristic, go-for-broke offense, even coming off the top to deliver a crossbody splash!

In the end, Windham gets away with the belt, but not after a tainted, dishonest defense and being made to take a hell of a beating from his friend-turned-foe, but looked great in the match, being able to absorb such an onslaught while still managing to turn the tide on a legend, Rhodes finding himself even more beloved having been betrayed yet again. Great storytelling, both from Creative as well as the commentators, and great performance in the ring.

What WCW retrospective would be complete without Ric Flair versus Ricky Steamboat? There’s really not a lot to add here, because there’s not much left to say after seeing these two go back and forth, especially for The WHT. The ref bump seemed a little superfluous, but didn’t really take away from this remaining a fine example of why these two are regarded in such high esteem.

I mentioned before in Rhodes/Windham’s match’s regard that we saw a storyline become a cliché because it was so well played, here is another. Believe it or not, I think this is actually the first time I’ve ever seen The Midnight Express face The Rock-N-Roll Express. I’m familiar with all of them, least so Stan Lane, but more so in other roles, and never against each other.

One of the tricks in really enjoying the gravity of what you’re seeing in such a situation, is to sort of wipe clean your mind with respect to what you know about tag team wrestling as it stands today. For instance, when you listen now to a guitar solo by Randy Rhodes or Eddie Van Halen from back in the late-‘70s/early-‘80s, it’s easy to kind of shrug your shoulders and say, “What’s so special about that? I’ve heard that a million times before.” What the listener must remember is that, at the time, what Rhodes and Van Halen were doing wasn’t common at all, it was revolutionizing that style of play. So to must we forget what has become standard tag team wrestling because these two teams were masters of their craft, utilizing a simple yet effective formula with flashy, innovative maneuvers to further enthrall the crowds.

The Rock-N-Roll Express’ Ricky Morton is to the hot tag what Shawn Michaels is to the ladder match – neither man invented it, but certainly had a major hand (no pun intended in Morton’s case) in elevating it to an art form. Although the opening portion of this match is dedicated to trading off between a warming-up volley of physical exchanges between the teams and some fun, old school comedy spots involving The Midnight’s manager Jim Cornette, the latter portion, Act III, eef you wee-yull, is primarily comprised of Snortin’ Morton taking a beating at the hands of an incredibly seamlessly blind-tagging Midnight Express machine leading to that hot tag that signals go home time as Morton’s partner Robert Gibson scores an inside cradle for the victory. Another absolute must-include and must-have match, without which this retrospective would be incomplete.

Next up is yet another example of superlative tag team work, once again featuring The Midnight Express, this time defending their United States Tag Team Titles against Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong, known as The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, named after a .38 Special song, I’m willing to bet.

This, to me, seemed a curious choice for inclusion here. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see solid, fast-paced, well-conceived and performed old school tag team action, and that is certainly what we have here from both sides, it just seems that, compared with the rest of the “who’s-who” of each era we see documented in these contests, Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong seem more to be WCW Power Hour staples. That’s not a diss on them, obviously, their exceptional work in this match speaks for itself, but this solid performance was not indicative of their careers as a whole, not even their WCW tenures. At any rate, though, this is still another top-notch bout, putting this DVD thus far at 6-6.

Both teams stack up well against one another, Smothers and Lane both bringing some martial arts ability to the bout, which each gets to display when they square off in such fashion at about the midway point, The Southern Boys putting The Express literally on the ropes, Cornette screaming for them to get up, lest they lose the belts. The Express rallies, isolates Smothers who eventually gets the hot tag, a fast-paced back-and-forth go home ensues leading to a screwy and awkward ref situation costing The Southern Boys their best chance at walking with the belts. Basically, the ref becomes distracted from the action as he attempts to banish one of The Southern Boys from the ring while his partner has one of The Express pinned for over a six count, finally hitting the canvas himself for a meager count of one. More confusion ensues, The Southern Boys pull a desperate heel move of switching out on the ref, hoping to score a tainted pin, but that attempt fails and The Express eventually hit The Rocket Launcher for the win, regardless. A fun, competitive match (with a split, active crowd adding to the overall energy), notwithstanding something of a muddled finish and a nice nod to Smothers and The Armstrong Family.

This next match is a good example as to why I tended to dislike WCW around this time, once I’d started to take notice of it on TBS, which by 1991, when this match occurs, I had discovered my cable company had begun to carry; so we have this super dream match for the TTTs, The Steiner Brothers defending against Lex Luger and Sting. As we can tell from the roar of the fans and the hype from announcers Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes, this match was a big deal, mainly because we have four of the most loved and revered faces of the time all in the same ring with gold on the line. We know we’re going to see a competitive match, but care for each side with such fervor that we can’t settle upon a winner.

Of course, it starts with handshakes and clean breaks, but, after a lot of heavy artillery launched by all four men in a very short amount of time, confusion leads to flared tempers when Sting tags a wobbly Luger and enters the ring, not realizing the referee hadn’t acknowledged the tag, thus bringing in the illegal Scott Steiner in protest, thinking Sting, of all people, had thrown the friendly competition out the window. The fuse lit, the action gets heavier and feels more chaotic, leading to a ref bump, fueling more confusion as, from out of nowhere, Nikita Koloff charges the ring and intends to clothesline Luger in the back of the neck with a length of chain. Seeing the impending Pearl Harbor job when his partner could not, Sting shoves Luger out of harm’s way, ostensibly taking the shot from which he saved his friend. The ref recovers and Sting eats the pin as a result.

For as huge a match as this was, and, moreover, was apparently billed to be and received to be by the fans, this kind of screwy finish did a great disservice to the posterity of such a clash and that’s really a shame. Fans of 5SC know I am no fan of either Sting or Luger, but in this match, they look about as good as I’ve ever seen them. There’s a point at which Luger comes barreling out of the corner to absolutely level Scott with a Steinerline (one of my very favorite parts about watching WCW back in the day was to hear Ross call a Steinerline) and the absolute fury, the impact with he hits Scott is something fierce. Too, Sting executes a beautiful crossbody plancha at one point, that, in 1991, was still quite innovative in America, especially when performed by someone of Sting’s size, so well done to them both in this match!

And for those poor souls who have no recollection of The Steiners outside of TNA, for those who never knew Scott before he donned chain mail and bleached his hair, back when Scott could actually wrestle, this match is an absolute treat. I forgot exactly how good Rick was, too. I wonder what might have to go down in order for us to see, say, a two-DVD set on the career of The Steiners…?

All in all, we’re seeing the poor writing with which I always associated WCW start to creep in (unless this led to a much more satisfying program between Luger and Koloff, but I doubt that). However, this was one for the ages, one to remember, even if it was too short (possibly suffering on this compilation in comparison to the good amount of time allowed the previous two tag matches).

An homage to the monster that was Vader follows, in the match where he takes the WCW HWT from Sting. I was asked a couple of months ago why I thought Vader failed to fair better in The WWF than he did in WCW, and I think this match goes a long way in tacitly explaining part of why this was so. Maybe I need to go back and take a look again at SummerSlam ’96, but Vader doesn’t seem to be a whole lot smaller here in 1992 than he did during his WWF run (at least at the start of it), so I think we can throw the “Vince didn’t push him as hard as he’d originally intended because Vader let himself go” line out the window.

However, what struck me was Vader’s mobility here against Sting. We’ve seen time and again a performer who was regarded as a bigger-than-life monster roll over competition in his original franchise, only to be signed by and debut in The WWF/E to find that, in Vince’s Land of the Giants, he’s only slightly above average. In looking back at this match, though, it strikes me that Vader possessed a hell of a lot more mobility here than he did when he debuted with The WWF four years later, which could very likely have been the deciding factor in how far The Mastadon was allowed to climb once leaving WCW…?

That aside, though, this would have been a tricky match to book. One the one hand, you’re trying to build this beast in Vader to a convincing victory over a beloved face that will earn him status as the franchise standard-bearer and oh, boy, what are we gonna do now?! On the other hand, though, here’s one of your top guys as champion who must be kept strong, but without compromising the “end of Empire Strikes Back” quality of fear we need to instill in the fans by putting the world title on the monster.

So we had a fairly back-and-forth match, with Vader’s offense dominant, Sting’s managing to be both deliberate and desperate, in that he had a game plan going into play defense and absorb punishment, waiting for Vader to feel overconfident and make a mistake, then capitalize upon it, hoping it would be enough. It almost was enough at one point toward the end, when a mini-ref bump caused the official to require a crucial second or two to recover before making the count too late for Sting to retain successfully. But Vader recovered immediately in totally believable fashion as Sting’s offense was primarily comprised of taking whatever opening he could and doing whatever he could with it, hit a wicked looking powerbomb for the three-count, victory and the belt.

Has anyone else noticed, by the way, that, thus far, Sting kinda gets chumped out by this set? He’s in four matches on this DVD, and, thus far, he’s not only involved in three losing efforts, collectively, he looks pretty bad in all three. Granted, that last match should have been included regardless for Vader’s sake. Vader, at this time, was prominent and dominant on the WCW landscape and the smart money says there’s little chance of a DVD set being made in his honor, so this was likely his big homage from McMahonagement. We’ve discussed the difficulty in booking such a switch at the top, although, as with Rhodes in the prior UST match against Windham, there’s a question of What if the ref hadn’t taken that bump and had made the count on Vader in a timely fashion…could The Rocky Mountain Monster have kicked out in time? We empathize more with Sting as a result…but he still lost the belt pretty cleanly and decisively.

In the other two matches, the first, Sting barely makes an appearance in the ring at all once the bell rings, the match mainly serving as a means to get Luger and Windham into the mix, Sting just there, seemingly, to lend a rub to his relatively-new-to-the-business partners and name value to the match. And we discussed the Steiner/Sting & Luger title bout where Sting ate the pin to save his partner. Nice face move, very Cena-like, by today’s terms, and nothing bad on their own, but when you consider the impact Sting made and the fact that he was basically the Shawn Michaels of WCW, might there be some sour grapes shining through here, or are we perhaps saving the more glorious moments of Sting’s career for a WWE-produced DVD set, amidst rumors of an in-ring retirement, thereby freeing him up of the majority of his contributions to TNA, such that, perhaps he might want to sign a legends contract with WWE…? Time will tell.

That said, here’s a brighter moment for all the little Stingers, where Sting regains The WCW WHT at the expense of Rick Rude. Unfortunately, the outcome was greatly telegraphed before the bell even sounded, as the great Harley Race, then Vader’s manager, interrupted Rude’s signature pre-match ritual of belittling the fans in attendance by laying out an open challenge to the winner of the match on Vader’s behalf. Having just seen the contest where Vader defeated Sting for the strap, it stands to reason that these two would continue their ongoing feud, especially if we’re to assume WCW wouldn’t stretch too far out on a limb with a heel versus heel main event.

If that wasn’t enough of a hint as to the outcome of the match, Race then attempts to take a swing at Sting, which the hero blocks, delivers one of his own, then sends Race hurtling into the corner, who bumps to the floor and leaves, allowing Rude to get the jump on the champion, but Sting is too on-point to fall for it, sending Rude, too, to the floor.

This match, to me, is indicative of the decline of WCW in a qualitative manner. Quite frankly, it’s a mess. Absent is the competitive back-and-forth we’ve seen otherwise populate the greater portion of this DVD, rather, either Sting or Rude completely dominate the other in awkward, dull chunks, as if arbitrarily switching off at the sound of a bell heard only by them.

In the next sequence as this match circles the bowl, the ref gets caught behind Rude when Sting whips Rude to the corner and is then squashed by a Stinger Splash, thereby putting him out of action, unable to call for the bell once Sting applies The Scorpion Death Lock. This spot infuriated me. First of all, it was plainly obvious Sting couldn’t not have seen the ref prior to launching his corner splash, but he hit the move nonetheless (not intrinsically Sting’s fault, the match was so scripted, Sting had to follow through, but the bit was incredibly poorly played by all three men in the ring), then proceeds to set up the submission move with the stunned Rude’s face pointed away from the ref, thus ensuring the ref, who, though down, could still have seen the champion signaling his own defeat, if, in fact, Rude were tapping, but he’s clearly visibly seen shaking his head “no”, so the whole sequence really didn’t matter anyway.

Then you bring out Vader and Race, whose interference was so telegraphed, that, as Sting twisted on The Death Lock, half the populace of the fans at ringside opposite the hard camera stood in unison anticipating Vader’s run-in. They weren’t disappointed. Now Super Sting manages to maintain dominance over the champion, stave off a retired legend and the beast who wants the belt he’s about to win. We see Sting giving so little to Race that Race ends up just…standing there while he winds up a few unnecessary Hogan-like windmills before delivering a blow to Vader that stuns him and sends him packing, Race opting just to drop out of the ring in an incredibly clumsy and awkward spot that has no business in a world title match. The fan in the background who holds up a sign reading “Who booked that?” apparently shares my sentiment.

Oh, but, sadly, this pathetic schmozz isn’t done yet. While Sting’s attention is diverted, Rude takes the opportunity to stick his challenger with a chopblock that completely deflates the same Sting that, literal seconds before was fighting off three experienced veterans, leaving Sting panting on all fours like a thirsty dog. There’s an incredibly awkward pause where no one seems to know what the hell is going on, Sting glancing back at the ref, Rude seemingly wanting to go home, but stalling as Vader sells the “beat down” on the outside, hanging onto a chair he never uses, Race swiping WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkle’s chair (who was also at ringside), climbs tentatively in the ring as Rude finally gets Sting in position for a Rude Awakening, only for Sting to see the impending blow coming and slides out of the way just in time such that Race’s pathetically weak love tap hits Rude in the neck for the match-winning pinfall, the ref miraculously coming back to life just in time.

This was simply awful. Had the crowd not been so completely gung-ho to see their hero regain the title, they had every right to shit all over this embarrassing piece of crap. I suppose it’s a testament to Sting’s ability to stir such blind allegiance in his fans such that a match like this would still bring the house to its’ collective feet with cheers. What it says to me is that Sting, at least at this point in his career, was a fine talent as long as he was working with superior performers, and that his charisma combined with tried-and-true protective booking would see him through, but, compared with the proud tradition of wrestling we’d seen employed by The NWA previously on this DVD…well, let’s just hope WCW brass occupied their attention from this match counting their money, otherwise there should have been television monitors kicked in over this garbage.

As will be evidenced by the remaining majority of this set, if we’re chronicling the Rise & Fall of WCW, we’ve already seen the rise, and it’s virtually all downhill from here, signified by this match, which had me almost this upset:

Rounding out this DVD is what could and should have been the epic showdown of the ‘80s between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, once the red and yellow cancer known as Hulkamania finally infected WCW; unfortunately, the epic showdown of the ‘80s went down halfway into the next decade, in 1994.

Look, there’s really not a lot to be said about this match. I’ll talk a ration of shit about Hogan till my tongue falls out, but the basic truth is, the guy knows how to work a match, he’s a legend and has all the charisma in the world. He was only a little past his prime here (especially when compared with his zombie-like ring work a decade later than this) and so still maintained some mobility, though still appearing to be moving in slow-motion.

On the other hand, though not the same machine who faced Steamboat in ’89, Flair was by no means washed up and if there was anything to be lauded in this match, it was Flair’s ability to keep it moving, as has pretty well always been the role of Hogan’s opponents. Quite frankly, this match was sold on reputation and hype (as has pretty well always been the case with Hogan’s matches) and the fact that Hogan was coming to WCW; the actual ministrations that led to the three count that gave Hogan the belt in his debut match were pretty much moot. Fans knew they were seeing history (in more ways than one, I offer) and so would have eaten this up even if it had been as bad as the previous match on this DVD.

BTW, it dawns on me that this DVD could be sub-titled “WCW’s Greatest Ref Bumps”.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give props to the commentary on this DVD. There was some excellent announce work here, displaying that, not only did The NWA/WCW offer some top notch, bona-fide wrestling in the ring, but there was some damn fine talent calling the action, helping to tell the stories, making us care and bringing us into the match that much closer. Never has anyone been any better at this than Jim Ross and he was at the top of his game here. I know he has his detractors today and, true, time has a way of slowing us all down, but those who put the badmouth on this commentary legend need to chill and ask themselves if they’ve ever been as good at something as Ross was at providing unparalleled play-by-play, especially at this period of his career, when he was allowed to call action the way he saw fit, and before Vince decided Ross needed to tell Vince’s story Vince’s way (and that’s not to suggest that Ross still hasn’t managed to create his own brand of magic at a WWE commentary desk, just that he’s better when he’s given free-reign to do what he does better than anyone else in history).

Conversely, I’ve long bristled at Tony Schiavone’s particular brand of commentary, but, as I’ve dug deeper into the longer history of The NWA/WCW, I’ve found that he really was quite good at his craft the earlier back I investigate. Case in point, he directs verbal traffic with The Andersons quite well in the first match here, and makes quite a solid team with Ross early on. We don’t hear him again until the latter matches of the DVD, which is where, it seems to me, everything starts to break down, not just the weak booking and poor in-ring performances. I’m not sure what happened in the interim, but it seems to me that Schiavone contents himself to call action by bellowing a performer’s name then fractions of actions, as if his mic is actually cutting out on him. “STIIIING!!! Back-body drop!…To the outside!…Oh, MYYY!” And that’s the hot turn-around. That’s the Schiavone I discovered once I started viewing WCW and why my opinion of this once-good announcer has remained so low for so long.

I’ve come to really enjoy the commentary of Bob Caudle. Back in the day, I felt his relaxed delivery was a little too dull, a little too past-it for the “modern age”, but, again having grown up and gained some perspective, I realize, not only was Caudle a smooth customer, much like his former broadcast partner Gordon Solie, but that he managed to forge a solid working relationship with his broadcast partner and helped to really put over the product well in his own way, and didn’t have to resort to random shrieking like Schiavone ended up doing to drive home a match. I’d love to see Caudle receive more credit for his contributions at the announcer’s desk.

In the middle of the DVD we’re treated to some fine color work by three former NWA superstars in Magnum TA, Terry Funk and Dusty Rhodes, all who work so well with Ross. As during his “golden period” with Jerry Lawler during The WWF’s Attitude Era, it’s clear that Ross has a solid working relationship and personal admiration and respect for his colleague and that creates such an enjoyable environment for listening to a match as well as watching it. Magnum, in particular, was exceptional in his role as announcer and it saddens me that he didn’t continue in this role, since his ability to compete had been criminally taken away from him.

Of course, too, there’s Bobby Heenan lending his invaluable wit and wisdom to WCW’s desk, although I don’t see him gelling nearly as successfully as he did with the late, great Gorilla Monsoon, perhaps the greatest commentary duo of all time. As was the case with many former WWF talent who jumped ship in favor of Turner’s dollar signs, his considerable talent was squelched by the ridiculous working conditions that would eventually run the WCW ship aground, so we never really got to enjoy the same quality of commentary from The Brain as we did back when he was in The WWF, which is a shame.

I mean, this never happened at a WWF desk:

I’m going to continue on with this next week as I have a look at DVD #3 and offer thoughts and observations on the “golden age of WCW”. Now I understand there are those who still are ardent fans of WCW and that I could very likely have encouraged many a-gnashing of teeth by some of my comments. Please don’t let my opinions upset you, because they’re just that, my opinions. Besides, if this week has you up in arms, you might want to skip next week! But let’s all just chill and enjoy a dainty little dance number before we head down to COMMENTPALOOZA, shall we? Hit it, ladies!

I think one of the pockets of the one in the denim winked at me. There, now, don’t we all feel better…?

COMMENTPALOOZA!
no tv, eh geoff? welcome to the life of a student my friend!

speaking of which, did anybody catch matt striker making morrissey references during commentary on the ecw title match at breaking point?
Posted By: DaJ

I lived those days of TV-less studenthood and I don’t plan on ever going back to that bingo hall again, if I may paraphrase Mick Foley. I’m pleased to report my TV situation has received a band-aid, thanks to my friend Chris. It just so happens that she had an old, though certainly serviceable television available, having just upgraded to, what I like to call, a Flatsy-Patsy. She’s moving into a new place and was looking to unload as much dead weight as possible, and so was pleased to give me her old TV. Worked for her, sure as hell worked for me, so we’re all happy!

I recall hearing those rumors against Punk that had The IWC so up in arms, and look at him now! One wonders if Tri and company doesn’t feed us these rumors to mess with us, get us talking about the product, even if we’re badmouthing it, only to tune in and watch to see how WWE buries talent for whom they have high hopes, just we can eat our own words. Except that most in The IWC, like McMahonagement, refuses to do so.

To be honest, I am so poorly educated about both Danielson and McGuinness, aside from seeing a match or two and the reputations they’ve earned and that precede them, I’d be speaking quite far out of turn if I attempted to say anything more than I already have, which is as far as I dare to go out in those waters so I’m just going to dip my toes in the pool and wait and see what happens and hope for the best, especially since it does seem likely that ROH stands to suffer at least initially from having lost these two talents.

And not to be a downer, DaJ, but I haven’t bought a PPV in years. I just saw Sum-MEH-Slam last week on DVD from Netflix, so I couldn’t yet comment on the Mozzer comments by Striker, although I can only imagine what he had to say…don’t tell me, but am I going to be pissed off at Captain Conservative again…?

It’s come to my attention that the reason we’re getting more prolonged feuds in WWE as of late is due to the dwindling size of the roster(s). In other words, they’re spinning a shortcoming into – to me, anyway – a positive. I mean, except for Cena vs. Orton.

In a sense, it’s beginning to almost feel like the days before WCW went under. Not in terms of storylines, because they’re still homogenized, recycled, childish and devoid of human emotion. I’m referring specifically to the resurgence of actual programs in the midcard, regardless of their quality. Guys are FEUDING over the U.S. and Intercontinental belts again! And it took your conversation about Morrison vs. Ziggler to make me notice it!
Posted By: KanyonKreist

That’s awesome, Kanyon! That’s kind of the point of this column, to exchange ideas and observations such that we, in our own little on-line community, are able to see wrestling through different eyes and expanded consciousnesses (not that type…well, unless you’re Angry Bear!). You guys have opened my eyes to different ways to see the product, it’s great to see this relationship is reciprocal.

However, I’m not sure we’re seeing necessarily longer programs in the midcard (unless we’re talking Chavo and Hornswoggle) so much as less arbitrary outcomes (unless we’re talking Kofi Kingston and The Miz). I think the fact that Rey Mysterio’s ICT run was handled so well, that we saw a young talent in Dolph Ziggler elevated as a consequence and that Ziggler’s chase isn’t being abandoned due to Mysterio’s suspension, indeed, it’s being strengthened and lengthened because Mysterio dropped the belt to John Morrison, also elevating The Guru Of Greatness in the process makes it appear as though more work and concern is being placed upon the midcard, even if The Miz’ UST chase feels stalled by comparison (but we discussed that last week).

Along the same lines, I know a lot of us had issues with the two separate tag titles being “unified”; I use quotation marks there because I maintain that, until I see a unified belt, I’m not going to believe that the titles are truly unified, because that makes it too easy to back off a decision that feels more like an experiment. However, thus far, that experiment feels like the right decision.

Look, as a result of combining the tag titles thus far, we gave a reason to split Miz & Morrison, such that they have had the opportunity to be midcard players on two different brands that really need them (if Raw Creative would recognize that fact in Miz’ regard, we’d all be better off) and Morrison is on his way to being one of the top faces in the company, Los Colons were given the chance to rise up the ranks in a sibling rivalry program for which no one but the crickets were cheering, and now, just as we saw some attention given to The ICT under Mysterio and now Morrison’s tenures, The UTTTs are receiving a quality of attention, visibility and respect under JeriShow neither set of belts was receiving otherwise, and that’s owed 1) to the fact that Chris Jericho has recreated and evolved his gimmick to such an extent that it’s rubbed off on The Big Show, thus revitalizing his character as well and 2) the fact that holding The UTTTs allows them to work on any show they choose (read: where they’re needed).

We’ve been conditioned (sadly and unintentionally, I think) to believe that any belt not the brand’s yard stick is not just secondary, but arbitrary in the last several years. Now, though, we have focus and reason behind The UTTTs and The ICT. If the midcard meant anything on Raw, perhaps we’d see the same occur with The UST, but let’s not jostle the volatile midcard situation and appreciate what we have as long as we have it!

In short, I really do think WWE recognizes how badly it needs new, young stars and is actually attempting to do something about it. If that’s the case, good for them! Although, if they really did have a grasp on the situation and were waiting for the flesh wound to reach near-gangrenous proportions before acting to remedy the situation, what does that say about what we’ve seen on WWE-TV for the better part of the decade…?

Why’s Bourne being jobbed out on a regular basis? Don’t they have enough deadweight on the roster to save a popular wrester from the slagheap? I really am having trouble sticking by the product when guys like Show, Kane, and Khali get focused feuds, while Swagger, and Bourne get nothing to do.
Posted By: Iron Knee

I mentioned this like a month ago in Bourne’s regard, although it is just a nasty internet rumor, so, as I always say, take this with a shaker of salt, but the scuttlebutt in the back is that Bourne is suffering from an acute case of Kendrickitis, eef you wee-yull, which is why he’s being used in pretty much the same manner. Even Larry, who I don’t think shares my views of use versus abuse quite as vehemently as I do, shares my views on WWE’s take on marijuana use by its’ performers – Telling your employees that, yes, they will be tested for marijuana, but, if their test comes back positive, that it won’t constitute a Wellness violation, just a $100.00 fine for each violation is one thing; but neglecting to mention that the fine is accompanied by a massive de-push eventually leading to being future-endeavored because fans don’t care about them because they’re not TV enough to warrant a response is lame. Don’t walk this pussy line about it. If you don’t want your employees to toke up (as opposed to, say, lushing it up or getting hooked on prescription pills), then fully criminalize it and penalize offenders in the same manner as if they were busted with enough coke in their system to make Lindsey Lohan pull a face and say, “DAMN.”

Geoff, I find it odd that the week I talk about people not watching SD on tv and watching it on youtube, your tv goes out. I think the computers must be trying to take over. Also, “the unholy demonseed bastard offspring of Michael Cole and Don West” was going to be the name of my new rock band. Now I have to think of another one. 🙂 Concerning the Taker video, the sad part is that if it were to happen today, many in the IWC would crap all over it. Finally, good point about people not watching just because it was taped. Iron Knee is right about it being pre-empted. That has happened here in Louisville, so you know it must occur all over the country.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth

Schmoovemeister, I’m beginning to think you’re the IWC version of a poltergeist. Perhaps you need to make an appointment with a certain professor Charles Xaivier to get your psychic leakage under control before you go all Dark Phoenix on us…?

You have my permission to name your band after my little comparison, although you might want to consider going by TUDBOOMCADW for short. Hmm. Sounds like something Timmy from South Park might say.

Do you really think The IWC would shit all over a modern-day version of the Taker video? I mean, of course, there’s always a grip of bitches who’d whine about anything because their sad little lives are small and pathetic and it’s the only opportunity they get to feel as if they have a shred of authority (until they manage to end up managing a KFC at 35), but considering the fact that we’re talking The Undertaker here, the level of stature and respect he’s earned in the company as a whole, the fact that WWE has a hell of a lot more money to throw around now than they did then (at least until Linda burns it all in her pointless attempt to be elected to Congress…really, Lawler has a better chance of being elected Mayor of Memphis) on such greater technology, I think we’re in for a hell of a show once Taker finally hangs em up.

If he had a hip replacement, he would not be able to get in the ring yet. I have had one, at is agonising to even move, even with painkillers, let alone wrestle
Posted By: kingy

Wow, kingy, I’m sorry you’re having to endure that. I’m hoping Taker isn’t, either, and I’ve no clue one way or another of there’s any truth to the rumor, I simply meant to suggest that the only thing we seem to know for certain that Taker underwent surgery during his hiatus, and that the exact nature of said surgery is being kept very quiet…so quiet, in fact, you’d think they were hunting wabbits. Get better!

Speaking of Taker’s eventual retirement, do you think the Wrestlemania streak should be broken or not? If it is broken, by who?

HHH and Michaels have both taken him on and lost, plus they wouldn’t gain anything.
Posted By: JLAJRC

Yes, I think the streak should be broken, but only if it would be by someone who would truly benefit from it and, like you, my friend, I don’t think anyone but Punk is in the right position if we’re looking at this WrestleMania, but I don’t think we’re ready to see Taker bow out just yet. A lot can happen in a year, though, so let’s see where we stand this time next year and talk again, although I think you’re absolutely bang on with your reasoning here.

I’ve never considered the Undertaker a true threat to Punk’s title. By all indications he’s back to his old “sometimes challenge but never win” routine he had from 2002 to 2006. I suppose I could be wrong. But Batista seems far more likely to unseat Punk.
Posted By: Sev

I completely agree 100%! Sorry so brief, but I’m actually about to max out the word count!

I agree 100% on Cena the heel vs. Taker at WM26. Can you imagine the heel heat Cena would get if he defeated the UT, especially through cheating ways. Then Cena could go with the “I’m the Greatest” route and that he’s done it all. I could see a five-knuckle shuffle shoulder-wipe followed by a middle finger to the crowd before the fist drop. Just wishful thinking I’m sure.

Good times, good times.
Posted By: Angry Bear

I was afraid Morrison might meet resistance as a face for just that reason. I, too, think he’s more fun as a heel, especially espousing esoteric promos, sort of a combination of What if The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude dug into Rob van Dam’s happy sack?

And unfortunately, it seems as if Batista is going to war with JeriShow, eventually to be joined in his (likely successful) quest to take The UTTTs by Mysterio when he returns from suspension on the sixth. I sadly see a title switch in the works…