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Top 100 WCW Matches Pack
Topic Started: Jun 23 2012, 12:15 AM (4,595 Views)
Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

I saw this on XWT Classics and I love a good countdown. We'll do this in installments of 5.

#100
Jushin Liger [c] vs. Brian Pillman [WCW Light Heavyweight Championship], Meadowlands (December 27th, 1991)

This is filmed by two prehistoric smarks talking about reading NJPW results in the Observer. Always interesting to hear pre-internet smarky conversations, as annoying as they are, saying they thought that move up before Liger did it and hating on Pillman for not being Japanese. This is Pillman vs. Liger. It's good, but not great. They have some decent matwork and high flying. The fucking fancam guys do a horrible job and distract from the match entirely, mostly complaining about how the crowd would be better in Japan. Liger rolls through a Crossbody with a cover to win. No idea why this was on the list.
**3/4

#99
Dean Malenko [c] vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. [WCW Cruiserweight Championship], Nitro (July 8th, 1996)

Says a lot about Rey that the stuff he's doing in 1996 is still pretty amazing. Classic cat and mouse type of story. Dean eventually catches him and hurls him around with awesome throws. Dean refusing to let Rey run the ropes for the most part was a nice little touch. Dean has him beat, but foolishly wants to hurt him more, and Rey gets a flash Rana to win.
***

#98
The Nasty Boys [c] vs. Cactus Jack/Maxx Payne [WCW Tag Team Championship], SuperBrawl IV (February 20th, 1994)

Knobbs comes out with a guitar. Payne has some awesome throws early on. Cactus' stuff all looks really great and he takes a completely nutty bump off the apron to the concrete. He takes another nasty bump into the railing, and is then isolated. Really fantastic job of selling by Foley as usual. Payne eventually gets in and just about does God's work by murdering Knobbs on a Belly to Belly. Sags hits him with the guitar to save the belts by DQ. Way better than I would have expected, even while enjoying the Nasties in WWF.
***

#97
Juventud Guerrera/Hector Garza/Lizmark Jr. vs. Psicosis/La Parka/Villano IV w/ Sonny Oono, Bash at the Beach (July 13th, 1997)

Some awesome Psicosis/Lizmark matwork to begin. The other pairings focus more on the faster lucha stuff. Garza is the only weak link, as he is clearly very inexperienced. Juvi is clearly the best dude in this, as not only is he the crispest guy and has the most athleticism, but he has that kind of raw charisma about him. Some really fun heel stooging spots. Awesome dives happen. Villano V comes out for a twin switch spot, but it fails and Garza beats him with a Standing Moonsault.
***

#96
Ric Flair/Arn Anderson vs. Steve Austin/Vader w/ Col. Robert Parker, Saturday Night (November 13th)

HOW THE FUCK IS THIS ONLY #96?! They start with a spectacular brawl, and Arn vs. Vader is fucking Arn vs. Vader. AND FLAIR HITS A FLYING DOUBLE AXE HANDLE TO THE FLOOR! Lots of amazing Arn strikes on Austin, and Austin gets isolated when it settles down. I loved the peaks and valleys style structure. It's the kind of thing that requires it to be done absolutely perfectly, or else it comes across really bad. Best example is this, some AJPW tags, and Danielson/Strong from November 2005, where things slow down at points, but they frequently break out into chaos in periods due to the heated issue or whatever. But yeah, amazing face control seg on Austin. Really vicious stuff from Arn especially. Vader gets in and isolates Arn. I don't know how wise it was to have Vader being the one bumping around big with Austin turning the tide a lot, but whatever, it was great. Austin was really the MVP of the middle of the match, to my pleasant surprise. Thought the control seg on Arn went too long, but it picked up huge with Flair's hot tag at the very end. But then TV time runs out at some 30-35 minutes shown.
***1/2
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#95
Chris Benoit vs. Raven w/ The Flock [Raven's Rules], Souled Out (January 15th, 1998)

Awesome awesome match. Benoit takes some low key but still insane bumps on the floor early on, and having come from watching 2006 TNA, this motivated, quick, and spry Raven caught me off guard. Benoit gets the drop toe hold on the chair in a great revenge spot. He starts mauling Raven and decides to take another step toward dementia with the Diving Headbutt into a chair over Raven's head. Benoit gets the Crossface to win, and Dean Malenko comes out to cut off interference.
***

#94
Ultimo Dragon [c] w/ Sonny Oono vs. Dean Malenko [WCW Cruiserweight Championship], Clash of the Champions 34 (January 21st, 1997)

Malenko has some really awesome work on the knee here. Dragon doesn't sell any of it though, so this does not belong above all the actual great matches before it. Some enjoyable counters and stuff in the finishing run, but Ultimo has taken me out of the match entirely. Thankfully, Malenko wins the belt with the Texas Cloverleaf.
**3/4

#93
Ric Flair [c] w/ Woman vs. Lex Luger [WCW World Heavyweight Championship - Steel Cage Match], Capitol Combat (May 19th, 1990)

This is the bullshit Thunderdome cage. Also, the manager is allowed in? What the fuck? Typical Flair/Luger, in a good way. They've reached the apex of what they're capable of against each other by now, so this is sort of just a greatest hits match initially. Still enjoyable. Picks up when Flair bleeds a lot, and then he works the knee. Luger doesn't sell very well and makes his comeback. Ole, Arn, and Sid come out to try and get in, but Sting comes out to attack them. Well, no. Sting attacks Ole and Arn and Sid hangs out to watch. AND THEN EL GIGANTE COMES OUT! YES! AWESOME! Ole has Sid attack the cage guy, and they raise the cage and attack Luger for a DQ. OH, COME THE FUCK ON. This list is flawed.
**3/4

#92
Rey Mysterio [c] vs. Dean Malenko [WCW Cruiserweight Championship], Halloween Havoc (October 27th, 1997)

Malenko immediately starts going for the win, having learned his lesson not to toy with Rey. It doesn't work though, and they do some awesome cat and mouse stuff once again. Dean does eventually catch him, and hurls him around a lot. It is all fantastic. Dean really sets the precedent for how to work with Rey, as he focuses more on general torture than one individual body part, and thus Rey doesn't have to no-sell or anything. Dean gradually getting more and more pissed was wonderful and a reminder that he, like Benoit, was so great at being that stoic silent killer type (although Benoit wasn't exactly acting) that it convinced stupid people that he actually had no charisma. They do a great job teasing the fluke rollups as well. Could have done with some fat being trimmed in the middle, but the finishing run was all great. Dean blocks a springboard Rana, and hits a Super Doctor Bomb to win the belt.
***1/2

#91
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero, Saturday Night (November 18th, 1995)

Fucking wonderful match. Spectacular matwork to begin and they do the most realistic and best looking version of the RVD/Lynn roll up spot I've ever seen. This is fairly low key compared to what I remembered from their other 1995 matches, but it's still two of the best in the world doing stuff for 10 minutes. They pick up the pace to do more brutal looking stuff at the end. Both men hit hard after a Benoit Back Superplex, and they are counted out for 10.
***1/4
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#90
Fit Finlay vs. Steven Regal [Parking Lot Brawl], Nitro (April 29th, 1996)

This is an amazing 5-6 minutes. This is rightly placed, as it's really awesome and deserves recognition, but it's only 5-6 minutes. TONS of amazing punches and throws into cars and spots on the hoods, and just a spectacular carnival of hate and violence. It scares Bischoff though and he keeps yelling for a wide shot, because he's a pussy. Regal hits a Piledriver on top of a truck for the win.
***

#89
Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko w/ Arn Anderson vs. Raven/Perry Saturn, Spring Stampede (April 11th, 1999)

This is BULLSHIT. One of my favorite matches ever. I mean, I recognize that it's not like the greatest match ever, but it holds a special place in my heart for being the first truly great tag match I'd ever seen. I now realize that I'd seen other ones in WWF 98-99, but this is a step above. Classic formula tag structure mixed with some of the Japanese tag ideas like guys being isolated but with huge offense and nearfalls instead of just weardown stuff, which happened in the 2nd Horsemen control seg on Saturn. Lots of amazing nearfalls and cut-off spots. Raven had a great hot tag. Arn pulls Malenko off the table when Saturn tries a Flying Splash through the table on the floor. Raven hits Malenko with the Evenflow back inside, but Arn distracts the ref and puts a chair on Raven's head AND BENOIT HITS THE CHAIR DIVING HEADBUTT JESUS CHRIST. Dean rolls on top to win.
****

#88
Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit, Nitro (March 1st, 1999)

Really incredible matwork to begin. Bret takes over at a point, and has one of those really crisp and aggressive Bret Hart control segments. Benoit takes several insane bumps, as is his custom, as Bret focuses on the neck. G.O.A.T. MOTHERFUCKER. Benoit makes his awesome and fiery comeback. Everything looked really awesome and violent. These two probably have the best chemistry of any pairing in my ALL TIME FAVE FIVE DAWG (Benoit, Flair, Misawa, Bret, Eddie or Arn depending on how I feel). Bret did an awesome job of gradually building up Benoit as it went on, so that he looked completely at Bret's level by the end. Hennig and Barry come out to attack Benoit behind the ref's back, and Bret puts on the Sharpshooter. He refuses to let go in the ropes, so Bret is DQ'd. So why not just do that with the interference?
***1/2

#87
Rey Mysterio Jr./Billy Kidman vs. Elix Skipper/Kid Romeo [Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship], Greed (March 18th, 2001)

No fucking way. I mean, this is a good spotfest and all, but after the last two matches? Bullshit.

Posted Image

Apparently Jason Lee was in this tournament. Anyways, yeah, really good spotfest mixed with a formula tag. Sort of a forerunner to all the great indy tags in the 2000s that followed this style. Kidman and Rey are clearly the guiding force and look great. Romeo is useless. Elix shows a lot of potential as the shit talking member of a heel team that he would eventually fulfill in Triple X. Some good nearfalls at the end. Romeo hits Rey with a shitty Emerald Frosion to win.
***

#86
Vader w/ Harley Race vs. Cactus Jack, Saturday Night (April 17th, 1993)

This is the good shit. Vader breaks Jack's nose and blood splatters on the camera. Really marvelous mauling, and Cactus' selling during his brief comebacks spots is also fantastic. Vader takes some awesome bumps too when they go to the floor. Then we move back into completely disgusting strikes to the face by Vader. Vader misses a splash against the railing on the floor and Jack hits a Flipping Senton off the apron, and makes it in to win by count out!
***1/2
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#85
Lex Luger [c] vs. Brian Pillman, Halloween Havoc (October 28th, 1989)

Great stuff. Pillman has so much fire, and they work a really awesome underdog babyface story. And to his credit, Luger is in the peak of his career at this point and puts forth some awesome work too. Pillman tries to work on the arm to cut off the power, but Luger is able to get out before much damage is done and he controls with power offense. Pillman has a few hot nearfalls, but Luger hits a Hotshot into the top rope to win.
***1/4

#84
Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner, Fall Brawl (September 17th, 2000)

The idea of a Clash of the Titans type match like this always gets associated with WWE because they do it so well, but this is pretty perfect a match for that style. Both men have some super great looking power offense. Midajah comes out and gives Scotty a lead pipe. Goldberg hits the Spear, but Russo comes out to hit Goldberg with a bat to the back. They did a Goldberg loss the way it should be done, with him as an unstoppable killing machine who gradually gets worn out with cheating, foreign objects, interference, and then eventually a really strong heel to actually do it himself. Steiner hits him in the gut and face with the pipe and puts on the Steiner Recliner to win.
***

#83
Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson, Fall Brawl (September 17th, 1995)

This is marvelous. Flair gets pissed that Arn is actually trying to beat him, and in maycabe, this feels like Arn is wrestling the match of his life. Usual great arm work, but I don't know, there's just a little something extra there. Flair doing the Flair Corner Bump and run only to then lowbridge Arn out from the apron was an incredible work of genius. Flair's arm selling could have been better, but it wasn't bad at all. It degenerates into a really nasty fight. Arn's selling of the knee at the end after the Figure Four is awesome, not even being able to run. Pillman comes out and kicks Flair in the head, allowing Arn to hit the DDT to win.
***3/4

#82
Chris Benoit vs. Brad Armstrong, Clash of the Champions XXII (January 13th, 1993)

No idea how this got so high. I mean, hey, it's good. It's Benoit and Brad Armstrong for around 10 minutes. But what the fuck? It's basically just a Benoit showcase. He has a lot of awesome moves, but I really can't get over how this got so high. This list me be even too biased toward Benoit for me, in addition to having a strong 1989/1992 bias (which is more understandable). Benoit wins with a Dragon Suplex.
**3/4

#81
Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay, Saturday Night (April 13th)

Another wonderful 5 minute festival of violence. Lots of nasty strikes to the face and stretches, and yeah, it's Finlay vs. Regal for 5 minutes. Dave Taylor and the rest of the Blue Bloods get involved for the DQ.
***
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#80
Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman [Taped Fist Match], SuperBrawl (May 19th, 1991)

This is another match that's way too high. It's great, and awesome for 5-6 minutes, but it's too short to honestly be better than some of the last 20 matches. Awesome fire from Brian, and then huge bumps too. Lots of great punches from both men, obviously. Barry gets a low blow and a Superplex to win.
***

#79
The Road Warriors/The Midnight Express/Steve Williams vs. Michael Hayes/Terry Gordy/Jimmy Garvin/The Samoan Swat Team [WAR GAMES~], Great American Bash (July 23rd, 1989)

This is accurately placed, I suppose. Really great match and deserving of being on the list, but not among the true all-time greats. I'm not recapping all the entrants, but I will speak of highlights. All the power guys delivered big with some great slugfest moments. Bobby Eaton is in all match and is the workhorse of the match. Bobby uses the cage roof for spots, which has clearly influenced my writing of every War Games match I've written. Gordy is the workhorse of the other side, and Bobby takes awesome cage bumps. Gordy vs. Dr. Death is clearly the best pairing. This is a match helped a lot by a hot crowd too. LOD focuses on Garvin's neck and the put on a Hangman's neck hold thing for the win.
***1/4

#78
Dean Malenko [c] vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. [WCW Cruiserweight Championship], Great American Bash (June 16th, 1996)

No idea how this is the highest ranked of all their matches. This is their first match, so it's probably the worst one of all their long matches, simply because they were figuring out how to work together. Dean made the mistake of working the arm. Awesome armwork, but Rey's selling isn't his strong suit even now, let alone in 1996. Tony, Dusty, and Tenay do a really incredible job getting both men over, the match over, the young talent over, while also hyping the main events, and it shows what this commentary team is capable of when they're on. Rey mostly sells the arm well enough. He could have done it better, but apart from like 2002, 2005-6, and 2009, you take what you can get with Rey. Dean gets a Powerbomb with his feet on the ropes to win.
***

#77
Eddie Guerrero [c] vs. Dean Malenko [WCW U.S. Championship - No DQ], Uncensored (March 16th, 1997)

I always forget Eddie was US Champion in 1997. It's Eddie vs. Dean, so it's very good. I don't know, something just seems a little different tonight. They're clearly better at doing the matwork and then building up, but this is more of a fight. Which is fine, since they were in an intense feud and all, but it's not as good. Picks up after the opening third or so, when they begin with limbwork. Some really inventive knee work by Eddie. Dean did a decent enough job selling the knee in transition. It's about the bare minimal I'd expect from a good wrestler like him, but not on that truly great level. Some quality nearfalls and Syxx comes out. He tries to steal the belt, but the ref stops him and Dean hits Eddie with the camera to win the belt.
***1/4

#76
Steve Austin [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat [WCW U.S. Championship], Clash of the Champions XXVIII (August 24th, 1994)

Ricky's last ever match. :( Awesome stooging by Austin to begin, and then some solid matwork. They do stuff, and Austin moves into a really great control seg. Ricky fucks up his back after landing on the apron and it decreases his mobility somewhat, but everything is still fantastic. Austin has a series of really great taunts to Ricky, and then he makes his awesome comeback. He rolls through a slam attempt with a cradle to win the belt.
***1/2
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#75
Ric Flair/Barry Windham vs. The Midnight Express, Clash of the Champions IV (December 7th, 1988)

Cornette and JJ are both there. Super hot crowd helps a lot. MX's shine in the first half was really fantastic. Fucking awesome Lane karate, Eaton punches, and big bumps from the Horsemen. They do an awesome job getting over the story of the MX better as a team and thus dominating. Eaton has an awesome hot tag, but Flair hits him with JJ's shoe for the win.
***1/4

#74
Booker T vs. Chris Benoit [Best of Seven Series - Match #7], Great American Bash (June 14th, 1998)

Wonderful match. Decent matwork to begin, and Benoit goes to the bad leg to take over. He doesn't work the leg much, but instead batters Booker with chops and impact moves and holds on the head and neck, but he keeps the knee hurt enough so that he can go back to it if he needs a quick way to cut off Booker. Dat strategy. G.O.A.T. Booker has awesome comebacks, and his knee selling or lack thereof doesn't bother me, since it wasn't a huge thing. He hits two Harlem Sidekicks and the Missile Dropkick to win.
***1/4

#73
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck [Bullrope Match], Slamboree (May 22nd, 1994)

THIS WAS AWESOME! Maybe it's because I haven't seen this specific match before, so it's newer than a lot of this, but it was a really awesome and chaotic brawl. Nasty Dustin punches, good use to the gimmick, etc. They did a lot to make this feel like a really gritty pure fight, and Buck was awesome at that. Dustin had a ton of fire, and yeah. He hits Buck with the cowbell to win.
***1/2

#72
Sting/Ricky Steamboat/Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude/Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko w/ Paul E. Dangerously, Saturday Night (February 22nd)

Awesome eight man. Everything you'd want from a Heel Stable vs. Team of Faces type match. First half is all up in the air, with a ton of awesome combinations and back and forth. Second half has the heels isolate a man and a body part. Here, it's the leg of Dustin, and his selling is really really amazing. Lots of great cut-off spots. Dustin's punches are not yet epic, so that's all that's really lacking. Steamboat's hot tag was far from his best work either, but that is a small complaint. Ends a little abruptly with a Steamboat Crossbody on Larry too.
***1/2

#71
Ric Flair [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat [WCW World Heavyweight Championship], Spring Stampede (April 17th, 1994)

This is a weird match. I mean, it's great, of course. But it's the main event of a show with a wild tag brawl, a Dustin/Buck brawl, Vader vs. Bossman, etc. All these fast paced chaotic matches, and then they try to follow that with a slow build old school chain wrestling match, and it falls flat with the crowd. This also has the misfortune of having to stand next to their 1989 stuff, all of which would rank among the greatest matches of all time and I assume will be in the top 10, by virtue of being Flair vs. Steamboat. It's not fair at all, but it is what it is. They eventually got the crowd into it and did an amazing job milking just about every hold they did. Steamboat having more powerful chops due to Steamboat having the Figure Four on Flair for a long time and his legs being weakened was great. They had some great spots playing off of the 89 series as well. They do a double pin off the Double Chickenwing by Ricky, so it is a draw.
***1/2
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#70
Ric Flair [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat [WCW World Heavyweight Championship], Saturday Night (May 14th, 1994)

This is a better match. The matwork is more interesting and "new". It's not really new, but it goes beyond headlocks and arm holds. They do a much better job mixing in more fast paced stuff early on. This is what you would expect from this kind of a face vs. face match with old rivals, both having game plans, it gradually getting more intense, etc. Both men have great knee work, and the selling is mostly wonderful. Finish is also kind of abrupt, as Flair catches Steamboat in mid-air on a leapfrog with a shoulder and head to the body, and pins him to win.
***3/4

#69
Rick Rude w/ Paul E. Dangerously vs. Brian Pillman, Power Hour (February 29th, 1992)

Great sub-10 minute TV match. No idea how it got this far, but it's great for what it is. Pillman works the knee, Rude sells amazingly all throughout, Rude controls, etc. Rude is a really fantastic piece of shit here, and Brian has a ton of fire. Rude has great back work. Rude wins with the Rude Awakening.
***

#68
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage [Falls Count Anywhere], Great American Bash (June 15th, 1997)

It's DDP/Savage on PPV, so it's a fun brawl. Great sense of chaos, awesome selling, etc. Lots of wonderful shortcuts and weapon use, all laid out really well. They do lots of crazy stuff, and Hall runs out to interfere after DDP hits the Diamond Cutter. He lays out DDP with the Outsider's Edge and Savage hits the Flying Elbow for the win.
***1/4

#67
Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson w/ Paul E. Dangerously, Saturday Night (January 4th, 1992)

Good match, but again, this list is clearly biased. Awesome matwork and then Dustin has some knee work. It's all fine knee work, but Arn's selling is what puts it over the top. He gets the Spinebuster, and then eventually works the arm. It is your typically nasty and violent Arn Anderson limbwork. Dustin's selling is awesome. The Dangerous Alliance and the babyface team both some out to interfere and the ref throws it out.
***

#66
Ric Flair/Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat/Eddie Gilbert, World Championship Wrestling (January 21st, 1989)

General story is Flair being COMPLETELY thrown off by Steamboat's surprise return, and they do a great job with it. Barry and Eddie both deliver when called upon and look good and all that, but this is not about them at all. Horsemen eventually got some control on Gilbert, and got violent and what not. Steamboat eventually gets the tag, AND BAH GAWD HE PINS FLAIR WITH THE CROSSBODY!
***1/4
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#65
Vader/Arn Anderson vs. Stars and Stripes, Saturday Night (April 15th, 1995)

Wait, what? I mean, this was good, better than expected. But holy shit, 65? Very good formula tag, and Vader beating the fuck out of The Patriot and Bagwell was so gratifying. Vader vs. Patriot was surprisingly great. The fans chant "USA!" Bagwell has a good hot tag, and he gets a Fisherman's Suplex on Arn, but Vader breaks up the pin with a Jumping Headbutt to the gut. Arn pins to win.
***

#64
Steve Austin [c] w/ Lady Blossom vs. Dustin Rhodes [WCW Television Championship], Halloween Havoc (October 27th, 1991)

Again, this is way too high. Shouldn't even be on the list, really This takes a little bit to get going, about 5-10 minutes, but once Austin takes over, it gets good. Austin has good work on the cut. Dustin's punches are not quite epic yet. He still comes off as super inexperienced, which makes it that much more impressive how much he grew in 1992 working with the DA all the time. But yeah, this is like 50-75% wasted time and a decent finishing run before the time limit expires. WHY THE FUCK IS THIS HERE?
**1/4

#63
Chris Benoit w/ Woman & Miss Elizabeth vs. Dean Malenko, Hog Wild (August 10th, 1996)

This is great and all, it's Benoit/Malenko, but it's a really tone deaf match for the crowd. It's all angry bikers on meth who hate non-whites probably, so working a 30 minute technical classic with no real audience engagement is a terrible decision. Really wonderful violent Benoit performance. Fucking roll up sequence happens. This is very good and all, but there's not much of a story or anything, it's just two awesome wrestlers doing moves in front of a shitty crowd. They do two restarts, and Benoit gets a roll up to win at around 30 minutes.
***

#62
The Steiner Brothers vs. Tatsumi Fujinami/Takayuki Iizuka, WrestleWar 92 (May 17th, 1992)

Awesome Steiners style match. Good storytelling with the NJPW team wanting to keep it on the mat and The Steiners constantly going for throws and shit like that. The control seg on Scott goes on a little too long, but that's my only real complaint. Rick beats Iizuka with a Super Belly to Belly.
***1/4

#61[/u[]
The Miracle Violence Connection [c] vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes [WCW Tag Team Championship], Saturday Night (October 3rd, 1992)

Great match. They could have done with trimming some part off in the beginning and middle, but whatever. Real good matwork, and the MVC's control segs were great. Compared to October 91, it's insane how much Dustin has improved. Lots of really brutal shots from Gordy and Williams. Everything looks great, but the control on Barry did not need to be like 10 minutes long. Dustin's hot tag also should have led to the finish and not into another control seg. Barry is legal, but Dustin sneaks in a Bulldog on Terry and Barry covers to win.
***
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#60
Cactus Jack vs. Paul Orndorff [Falls Count Anywhere], SuperBrawl III (February 21st, 1993)

Paul's fucked up arm scares me. No idea how this got on here either, at least so high. Jack takes tons and tons of nasty bumps and guides Paul very well. Paul has some awesome work on Jack's knee. He wears it out with a chair after Jack takes the Nestea Plunge. Jack gets a shovel though and hits him with it to win.
***

#59
Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude [Super Nintendo Challenge Finals], Worldwide (May 30th, 1992)

Great TV match around 10-12 minutes. A lot like Rude/Pillman, just with different stuff, because Dustin and Pillman are obviously two very different wrestlers. It's a little bit better, because Dustin is better at limbwork and limb selling than Pillman, and him working Rude's back allows the great Rude sell where he can't do the hip swivel. Of course, Pillman working Rude's legs made more sense in that match than him working the back. Rude ends up using the US Title belt and hits the Rude Awakening to win.
***

#58
Ric Flair/Sting vs. Dick Slater/The Great Muta w/ Gary Hart, Clash of the Champions VIII (September 12th, 1989)

Slater has a cast on his arm. You get Sting vs. Muta, which is nice as 1989 NWA is the one environment where Muta isn't THE WORST. Super hot crowd, everyone has a ton of energy, Slater has some awesome bumping and stooging moments. Great control seg on Flair, and Sting has his usual great hot tag. He gets isolated, but Flair gets back in. Ref bump. STING GETS HIT WITH YELLOW MIST! FLAIR WITH THE FIGURE FOUR ON MUTA BAH GAWD! Slater hits him with the cast and Flair is double teamed. TERRY FUNK RUNS OUT WITH A ONE-ARMED TUXEDO AND CHOKES FLAIR WITH THE PLASTIC BAG! Muta beats Sting with the branding iron of Slater, and the ref is now up and calls it a DQ.
***1/4

#57
Vader w/ Harley Race vs. Cactus Jack [Texas Death Match], Halloween Havoc (October 24th, 1993)

Awesome awesome brawl. You get a chaotic all over ringside and the ramp fight to begin, and both men get busted open bad, and then the second half is a really well done slugfest with Jack having to be completely INSANE to outfox Vader. He can only do so much though, since it's Vader at the peak of his powers. When both men are getting up for the count, Race gets Jack with a cattle prod to the back of the knee to knock him down and Vader wins.
***1/2

#56
Ric Flair vs. Brian Pillman, World Championship Wrestling (February 17th, 1990)

WAAAAAY TOO HIGH WHAT THE FUCK?! Another great sub-10 minute Ace vs. Youngster TV match. They get moving and yeah, usually fantastic Flair control seg. Typical Flair by the numbers though, hardly greater than at least 10-20 matches that have been placed behind this. Flair rolls through a Crossbody with the tights to win.
***
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#55
Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg, Spring Stampede (April 11th, 1999)

I looooooove this match and Blitzkrieg, but it is no way better than the Horsemen/Flock tag from this show. No real story or selling, but they didn't try to do anything but put on a great spotfest. Tons of awesome offense done super crisply, insanely impressive dives, etc. This deserves a place on the list, but not in the middle. Juvi wins with the Super Juvi Driver.
***

#54
Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, SuperBrawl III (February 21st, 1993)

This is the good shit. They get just about 20 minutes and it's fucking Benoit vs. Scorp. Benoit plays to the crowd a lot to get them into big time at the end. And yeah, great matwork, obviously. It's also a little disappointing, although not for these two in 1993, since this is a young Benoit who isn't quite great yet, but has all the potential to get there. Scorpio wins with a roll up.
***1/4

#53
Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, Starrcade (December 27th, 1995)

Young Ohtani is so fucking great. This is classic NJPW juniors style. Decent matwork as a feeling out, and then they start drilling each other with huge offense to go into a control seg and then a balls out awesome finishing run. Ohtani has a really pretty Springboard Missile Dropkick. This is back when NJPW juniors didn't think they were all fucking geniuses and tried to put in limbwork to blow off in all their matches, and Ohtani keeps it simple. And yeah, killer finishing run. The roll up exchange is actually great here, as it leads to flash pin for Ohtani.
***1/2

#52
Diamond Dallas Page [c] vs. Sting [WCW World Heavyweight Championship], Nitro (April 26th, 1999)

Awesome TV clash of the titans type deal. Quality DDP stalling and all the basic punches and what not from both men looked good early on. They have a great brawl, and then DDP takes over. Great control seg, and Sting makes a super fiery comeback. Didn't need 20 minutes, but whatever. STING WINS THE TITLE WITH THE SCORPION DEATHDROP! YEAH!
***

#51
Vader [c] vs. Ric Flair [WCW World Heavyweight Championship - TITLE VS. CAREER], Starrcade (December 27th, 1993)

This not being in the top 25, let alone top 50, is a total sham. Masterpiece of strategy and storytelling. Flair's initial gameplan is to tire Vader out, but Vader eventually catches and clobbers him. Really brutal and violent mauling. Flair has the most fiery comebacks of his career, which makes sense given the stip. He works the leg when he can, and by fighting as hard as he does, he makes Vader fight harder, which does actually tire Vader out. There's this awesome moment near the end where Vader misses a Splash and Flair EXPLODES with chops and punches and Vader is all wobbly and it clicks that this was his plan all along. Vader knocks him down again, but shakes off his exhaustion, and that moment allows Flair to clip his leg and get a cover for the win!
****1/4
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#50
Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero, Nitro (October 16th)

This is one of the finest 10 minute or under matches ever. SUPER aggressive matwork, then the beautiful Eddie dive. Pace picks up and Benoit works on the arm. He doesn't stay on it forever, but Eddie sells it all match and like 90% of what Benoit does has a focus on the arm. Eddie hurts his arm again punching Benoit, which allows Benoit to hit a Dragon Suplex to win.
***1/4

#49
The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette vs. The Rock n' Roll Express, WrestleWar: WILD THING~ (February 25th, 1990)

No surprise that this is really fucking good. Classic MX stooging in the first half, Cornette tries to fight the ref, etc. It is both a greatest hits type match and also a genuinely great tag match on top of that with some new stuff. There's an awesome Eaton/Morton slugfest in the middle that I don't remember seeing when reviewing their Mid-South series. Control seg goes on a little long though. Gibson gets in and what not. Morton tackles Eaton when they try a Double Flapjack and it allows Gibson to cradle Lane to win.
***1/4

#48
Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd, Fall Brawl (September 17th, 1995)

This is not a hoax, but it does cast even more doubt on this list. This goes like 30 minutes and is probably the best match they could have had, but fuck, there's still a certain ceiling to what a Marc Mero match is capable of. Pillman gets the best match possible out of Mero for 30 minutes, almost as good as the Austin carryjobs in 1996. They do a double crossbody spot and Badd lands on top to win.
**3/4

#47
Ricky Steamboat [c] vs. Ric Flair [NWA World Heavyweight Championship], Landover, MD (March 18th, 1989)

Fancam stuff once again. It's classic Flair vs. Steamboat and that's great, but due to the grainy footage and lack of real good shots like their actual TV/PPV matches, I have a hard time seeing why this got put here before their 1994 Saturday Night match or even the Spring Stampede match. Flair works the leg, Steamboat sells well, lots of chops, etc. You know what you get with these two. Steamboat wins with an inside cradle.
***1/4

#46
Chris Jericho [c] vs. Eddie Guerrero [WCW Cruiserweight Championship], Fall Brawl (September 14th, 1997)

I think most people have seen this. It's one of WWE's favorite matches to put on DVDs. Jericho is still an inexperienced babyface here, but Eddie does a classic Eddie job of guiding him to arguably the best match of his career, to this point, depending on how you view the Jericho/Benoit stuff. Really great and brutal looking stuff from Eddie, and he is just the best heel. Great story where it seemed Jericho could only try and control Eddie early on, instead of actually being able to get much going. Jericho sells well enough and has a ton of fire on the comeback. Eddie counters the Superplex into a Crossbody and then wins the belt with the Frog Splash.
***3/4
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#45
The Steiners [c] vs. The Nasty Boys [U.S. Tag Team Championship], Halloween Havoc (October 27th, 1990)

Awesome awesome brawl. Lots of huge power spots, basic tag formula, hot crowd. Really everything you'd want from a Steiners match. Nasties do good work on Scotty's back and his selling is better than expected. Good finishing run and the Steiners retain with the Frankensteiner.
***

#44
Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan [Falls Count Anywhere], Great American Bash (June 16th, 1992)

This is great, but again, strangely high. Awesome out of control brawl, easily the best Sullivan match ever. And while this is great, the entire match is overshadowed by THERE'S A LADY IN THE MEN'S BATHROOM. Super memorable finish too, as Benoit puts a table across the top buckle as a platform and hits a Superplex to win.
***

#43
Jushin Liger/Brian Pillman vs. Chris Benoit/Beef Wellington, Clash of the Champions XIX (June 16th, 1992)

Awesome match, but again, WAY too high. Benoit vs. Liger is the best. Logical progression as the Canadians try to ground Liger with strikes and matwork. Benoit is then foolish enough to try and match speed with them, and it allows for a comeback with dives and awesome highspots. Luger beats Beef with a Moonsault.
***

#42
Vader [c] vs. Ron Simmons [WCW World Heavyweight Championship], Baltimore (August 2nd, 1992)

This has like THE hottest crowd, and that helps take a very good match and make it a great match. Simmons shows fire and strength, but he is seemingly overmatched in just about every possible way. They do stuff, and Simmons wins the belt with a flash Powerslam. Best part is this black kid FREAKING OUT in the front row.
***

#41
Sting vs. Cactus Jack [Submission or Surrender], Power Hour (November 19th, 1991)

JR says a 10 count also counts here. Goddamnit WCW. Anyways, yeah, this is Sting/Jack, so you have a great sense of chaos going on. Not quite on the level of their Beach Blast match, obviously, since this is a b-show. AND YET AGAIN, HOW IS THIS HIGHER THAN FLAIR/VADER?! Great finish though. Sting dropkicks Jack off the apron for the Nestea Plunge spot and Sting puts on the Scorpion Deathlock on the floor to win.
***
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#40
Vader vs. The Boss, Spring Stampede (April 17th, 1994)

Great big man slugfest. Shouldn't be in the top 50, but not as offensive as a few other of the insane choices. Becomes a really marvelous Vader mauling in the middle. Tons of really nasty strikes and shots thrown by both guys, in addition to super impressive power spots. Motherfucking VADERSAULT ends it.
***1/4

#39
Doom [c] vs. Arn Anderson/Barry Windham [WCW World Tag Team Championship - Street Fight], Starrcade (December 16th, 1990)

Only like 7 minutes, but SO GREAT. AMAZING BRAWL. JESUS CHRIST. Chaotic, violent, and everything looked amazing. Barry bleeds a ton. Everyone sells like the respective motherfuckers that they are. I know Butch Reed is great and the most underrated guy of his generation, but even in a match with An and Barry, he's the best guy. They go to a double pin and then brawl to the back. Son of a bitch.
***1/4

#38
Bill Goldberg [c] vs. Diamond Dallas Page [WCW World Heavyweight Championship], Halloween Havoc (October 25th)

This is one of my FAVORITE matches ever, so let's see how it holds up. One of those sentimental picks for great matches that everyone has. I got KOTR 98 and Halloween Havoc 98 free at the time. KOTR got me into wrestling, and I paid for SummerSlam 1998. Well, theoretically. I was 8, so I saved allowance money and got my dad to order it. But still! And this match is the first big title match where I was actively rooting for one guy. I mean, the build for Austin/Taker at SummerSlam was incredible and a much better build than this, but I didn't care as much about which one won, because they were both fucking cool as shit. But DDP was one of my first 5 favorites, along with Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, X-Pac, and Mick Foley. This is as perfect as an #1 Face vs. #2 Face match can get. Ace vs. People's Champion, and all that. Power vs. logic. Goldberg is all about brute force and running through people, so DDP tries to frustrate him on the mat. They have shockingly good matwork, and DDP gets tossed around when Goldberg tries to pick up the pace. DDP keeps stopping him though, and refuses to be baited into Goldberg's match There's a great secondary level of psychology based around the Diamond Cutter. Goldberg tries to go for the arm to stop it, and DDP works on the neck to help soften up for it. Goldberg eventually gets mad and tries the Spear early. DDP moves and Goldberg hurts his arm. It allows for a much more open fight as Goldberg can't get a hip toss or really throw DDP to the ropes like he had before, BUT GOLDBERG SAYS FUCK IT AND IMMEDIATELY HITS THE SPEAR! He punches his arm to try and get feeling back and goes for the Jackhammer, BUT HE CAN'T LIFT HIM! HE GETS HIM UP FOR IT A SECOND TIME, BUT DDP GETS OUT AND INTO THE DIAMOND CUTTER! YEAH! I lose my shit for that every single time. DDP tries another Suplex, but Goldberg picks him up instead and holds him in a different way so it looks like Goldberg is holding him all with his good arm and hits the Jackhammer to win. Total masterpiece and probably the best match on the list so far. Top 3 is this, Vader/Flair, and Flock/Horsemen.
****1/4

#37
The Steiner Brothers vs. The Miracle Violence Connection. Clash of the Champions XIX (June 16th, 1992)

This is pretty awesome. I don't think I've seen this exact match before. Really awesome matwork in the first half. MVC work in AJPW, but this was a very NJPW-ish format. Brilliant matwork for a feeling out process before they start dropping bombs. Good MVC control seg. Huge awesome throws, nasty strikes, etc. This is 100% what you would want and expect from this match. They hurt Scott's knee and yeah. He goes for a Belly to Belly on Williams, but Gordy clips his knee and Williams falls on top to win.
***

#36
Ricky Steamboat/Dustin Rhodes/Nikita Koloff vs. Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko [Best of Three Falls], Saturday Night (May 23rd, 1992)

There's no real reason for this go to 30+ minutes. This is really good, they have no excuse for it not to be given the talent involved. But having to go 30+ stretches it out so there's these dead spaces. This is also kind of a heel in peril type match. HATE THAT SHIT. Even beyond just the first fall. Steamboat got isolated in the third, and it was all of like 2 minutes. Koloff beats Arn with the russian Sickle. SO DISAPPOINTING. HOW IS THIS #35?!
**3/4
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#35
Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay, Uncensored (March 24th, 1996)

Hey, this was incredible. Just a completely mindblowing spectacle of violence. They beat the fuck out of each other to begin, and then it goes into super hard fought and violent matwork. Hard to make matwork violent, but it's Regal and Finlay. Goes a little bit too long though, and then Eaton and Taylor come out to attack Finlay for the DQ.
***1/4

#34
Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas [c] vs. Barry Windham/Brian Pillman [WCW Unified Tag Team Championship], Starrcade (December 28th, 1992)

In an era of ridiculous mullets, Shane has one of the most ridiculous ones. Good Shane/Pillman fast paced exchange, and then Barry gets in. Steamboat and Shane both go nuts with big throws and offense on Barry in revenge for him attacking them earlier in the storyline and turning on Dustin, etc. Pillman and Shane both take nutty bumps to the floor, but Shane's leads to a control seg. He has probably the performance of his career, although I really have no basis for judgment there, as face in peril. I'm just making the assumption because of how great he was. Steamboat gets the hot tag and then Shane is back in. Shit breaks down, and Shane beats Pillman with the Side Belly to Belly.
***3/4

#33
Ricky Steamboat vs. Terry Funk, Clash of the Champions VII (June 14th, 1989)

This is great, but probably a little little bit too high. There's a loose story of brawling vs. wrestling, but then Steamboat goes blow for blow with Funk anyways, so it's mostly just two great wrestlers wrestling for 12 or so minutes. Lots of amazing Terry Funk bumps and shit. Funk then grabs the microphone off the ringside table and hits Ricky with it for the DQ.
***1/4

#32
Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin/Larry Zbyszko, SuperBrawl II (February 29th, 1992)

FAR TOO HIGH. I mean, it's good. Hell, it's great. But it is not the 32nd best match in WCW history. A little too plain, and Dustin as FIP doesn't deliver the way you might expect and Austin doesn't bring a ton to the table here either. Barry and Larry were both awesome, spurned on by their rhyming names. Barry has a good hot tag and he beats Larry with a Flying Clothesline.
***

#31
Lex Luger [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat [WCW U.S. Championship], Great American Bash (July 23rd, 1989)

Luger refuses to wrestle unless Ricky waives a No DQ stip, so Ricky agrees. Steamboat chops the shit out of Luger until Luger targets the back. He has an awesome control segment and throws some remarkably nasty Lariats too. Steamboat has tons of fire as usual, and Luger tries to bait him into a DQ. Luger doesn't stay on the back, and it allows Steamboat to have enough to come back. Luger gets a chair in, but Rick takes it from him, and hits him about the back repeatedly in revenge for the attack at the Clash, and it causes a DQ, so Luger retains!
***3/4
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CM Pyro
For Admin.

Apparently quite a bit of WCW's greatest matches end in DQ's...
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#30
Ric Flair [c] vs. Lex Luger, WrestleWar 90 (February 25th, 1990)

Typical Flair/Luger, although not their best at all. You know what you get with this pairing, generally speaking. Flair gets tossed around and stalls early on, lots of great little sells of all Luger's basic stuff. Flair continually evades Luger to take control, and has some great arm work. Of course, Luger doesn't sell the arm even a little bit. He goes for Flair's knee in revenge for Sting, and Flair shows him how selling is done. Good finishing run of stuff, and it starts to drag around 30 minutes. Picks up a little after that when Flair targets the knee. Sting comes out on crutches to cheer Luger on. Luger comes out, and is only marginally interested in selling now. Arn and Ole come out to attack Sting on the floor. Luger goes to attack them back, and is counted out. Oh well.
***1/4

#29
Dean Malenko [c] vs. Ultimo Dragon [c] w/ Sonny Oono [WCW Cruiserweight Championship vs. J-Crown Championship], Starrcade (December 29th, 1996)

Great match but ultimately disappointing on Ultimo's end, yet again. Great storytelling early on. Ultimo's had a lot of success by grounding people. He won the J-Crown Title from Great Sasuke by not letting him fly, he grounded Rey at World War 3 last month, so logically, he sticks with what's gotten him the 8 belts. But Dean Malenko is cool with being grounded. Logically, this forces Ultimo to take to the air and it surprises Dean, but once he does that, he grounds it again. Malenko fights back with amazing work on the knee, BUT LOL ITS ULTIMO DRAGON AND HE'S NOT SELLING SHIT. He sells the knee once to go into the Cloverleaf near the end. Really great finishing run though. Comes through on the Rey Mysterio rule, where there's enough amazing shit to overcome the no-selling. Ultimo wins the belt with the Tiger Suplex.
***

#28
Barry Windham [c] vs. 2 Cold Scorpio [NWA World Heavyweight Championship], Clash of the Champions XXIII (June 27th, 1993)

Probably too high, but awesome nonetheless. Perfect veteran heel vs. young babyface match. Scorp gets the best of Barry early on, and then Barry pulls experience tricks to finally get stuff in. Of course, it's these two in 1993, so they both have some super crisp offense. Barry is such a huge prick too, asking the ref to ask Scorpio to quit after a fucking knee drop, shoving him all the time, etc. As the match goes on, he gets more and more serious. Scorpio has quite the amazing comeback, but Barry catches him in midair with a right hand and hits a Leaping DDT deal to win.
***1/2

#27
The Nasty Boys [c] vs. Cactus Jack/Kevin Sullivan [WCW Tag Team Championship - Street Fight - Special Referee: Dave Schultz], Slamboree (May 23rd, 1994)

Awesome brawl as usual with Jack and the Nasties. Foley takes several completely insane bumps. Completely out of control fight, and it goes basically everywhere in the arena. Sags finally gets back inside and he tries to hit Jack with a hockey stick and shoves Schultz. Schultz takes the stick away and Jack hits Sags with it to win the belts.
***1/4

#26
Vader w/ Harley Race vs. Dustin Rhodes, Clash of the Champions XXIX (November 16th, 1994)

Simple and perfect match. A beautiful display of violence. Vader slaps the shit out of Dustin to start and spits at him, BUT DUSTIN TACKLES HIM AND GOES NUTS WITH SLAPS AND PUNCHES TO VADER HOLY SHIT! He keeps it up and has some great power spots, but you can only manhandle Vader for so long. He takes control back and punishes Dustin even more than he usually would for trying to show him up. Dustin has a brief flurry, BUT VADER CATCHES HIM TRYING THE BULLDOG AND HURLS HIM CLEAN OVER THE TOP INTO THE RAILING! FUCK! Dustin has another amazing comeback, but Race causes the brief distraction Vader needed, and he wins with the Face Eraser.
***3/4
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#25
Steven Regal [c] w/ Sir William vs. Larry Zbyszko [WCW Television Championship], Saturday Night (May 28th, 1994)

This is completely brilliant. Almost entirely matwork, but it progresses amazingly and they have a ton of cool little tricks and counters. Regal is mad about being beaten at Slamboree, so he is more aggressive than usual. Sometimes it pays off, but a lot of times, it costs him. Especially since Larry is the consummate cautious veteran. Regal goes from trying to embarrass Larry to beating the fuck out of him to then getting desperate at the end. Sir William gets on the apron to distract Larry and then Regal gets a Sleeper. Larry kicks off Sir Will and then springs back into a cover to win the title!
***3/4

#24
Ric Flair [c] w/ James J. Dillon vs. Lex Luger [NWA World Heavyweight Championship], Starrcade (December 26th, 1988)

This is easily their best match together and more than worthy of being in the top 25. Less wasted time, more brutal Flair stuff, etc. Literally the best possible match Ric Flair and Lex Luger could have had. Luger refuses to allow Flair time to regroup by not letting him leave the ring. Luger works the arm, and Flair stops it by going to the eye. Great Flair selling on the transition as always. I doubt it was intentional storytelling by Luger, but they did a great job on commentary playing up Luger's inexperience with him not following up on things that injured a body part. In comparison, when threatened at the end, Flair took a chair to the leg and went nuts. It's Flair working a knee, you know? It's like Rey Jr in a spotfest, a Necro Butcher or Mick Foley hardcore brawl, Benoit or Regal in a slugfest, it's a guy doing something that nobody in the world or maybe in wrestling history does better, and it's always a pleasure to watch. Luger's selling is genuinely amazing, and makes his no-selling in the 1990 matches that much more enraging. He gets him up in the Torture Rack, but his leg gives out and Flair covers with his feet on the ropes to win.
****1/4

#23
The Steiner Brothers [c] vs. Sting/Lex Luger [WCW Tag Team Championship], SuperBrawl (May 19th, 1991)

This is almost the prototype for a face vs. face bombfest. Steiners can control on the mat, but Sting and Luger have a change when it's a power game. They're also better individually than either Steiner, although it's close. They have to keep it that way though, as they cannot handle The Steiners' team experience. They keep it short and it's this constant barrage of awesome stuff. Nikita comes out and hits Sting with a chain and Scott Steiner covers to win. Lame ending to what was an amazing match.
***3/4

#22
Dustin Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes/The Nasty Boys vs. Arn Anderson/Terry Funk/Bunkhouse Buck/Col. Robert Parker [WAR GAMES~], Fall Brawl (September 18th, 1994)

I'm glad the full feud recap is in this file, so I can remember what an amazing feud this was. Arn and Dustin start off, which is the best possible pairing with these four. Dustin has the awesome uppercuts by now. DUSTIN LEAPS OVER BOTH ROPES WITH A FLYING CLOTHESLINE! YEAH! Bunk is in next. Really brutal beating. Sags is in next and it becomes a huge violent brawl now. He almost breaks the entire cage with a slam into the wall on Buck. Dusty is amazing as a coach on the floor, AND TERRY FUNK IS IN NOW! FUNK TAKES OFF HIS BOOT AND WHIPS DUSTIN WITH IT! This is a total mess, in the best possible way. Knobbs is then obviously in next, then Parker. Parker punching Dustin and selling his own hand because he is not used to fighting was the greatest. Parker and Funk start using belts to whip the faces. Dusty has the best possible War Games hot tag, and he beats Parker with the Figure Four. Not on the level of 1992, but probably the 2nd or 3rd greatest WG ever.
****1/4

#21
The Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack/Maxx Payne [Chicago Street Fight], Spring Stampede (April 17th, 1994)

No way this deserved to be top 25, or above the last match, but hey. This is the most well known of the Jack/Nasties stuff, for good reason. Some completely fucking lunatic weapon shots and bumps from all 4 guys. Lots of chaos, great out of control vibe, etc. I repeat myself with these matches. They're all very similar, but nothing ever gets repeated between the matches. Jack's Table Suplex is such a cool spot. He takes the Nestea Plunge off the ramp to the floor, and then just to make sure he's dead, Knobbs pelts him in the head with a shovel before pinning him to win.
***1/4
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Big Evil
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On TBS. Very Funny.

Big Tuna
Jul 14 2012, 02:51 AM
#22
Dustin Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes/The Nasty Boys vs. Arn Anderson/Terry Funk/Bunkhouse Buck/Col. Robert Parker [WAR GAMES~], Fall Brawl (September 18th, 1994)[/b]
I'm glad the full feud recap is in this file, so I can remember what an amazing feud this was.
Thanks
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Difference between reading and watching, bro.
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#20
The Enforcers [c] vs. Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat [WCW Tag Team Championship], Clash of the Champions XVII (November 19th, 1991)

Steamboat is a surprise replacement for Barry, and Arn has an incredible sell of the shock. Larry has some awesome bumps for the face control seg early on. Not over the top or anything, but he sells literally everything and puts it over huge. Great great great control seg on Steamboat. Dustin has a brief amazing hot tag, and Steamboat gets a blind tag back in to win the belts with the Flying Crossbody.
****

#19
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck w/ Col. Robert Parker [Bunkhouse Match], Spring Stampede (April 17th, 1994)

Awesome match. Dustin has a ton of fire, and yeah, it's just a huge fucking fight. Dustin bleeds a lot, they beat the fuck out of each other, etc. Buck gets super super super violent, and Dustin sells like a motherfucker. Great series of revenge spots, but then it goes on a little long before the end. Parker slips Buck the international object, and he decks Dustin with it for the win.
***1/2

#18
Ultimo Dragon [c] w/ Sonny Oono vs. Rey Mysterio [J-Crown Championship], World War 3 (November 24th, 1996)

Ultimo is conceptually lazy in the same way Shawn Michaels is, where his lack of selling often holds his matches back from being all time classics like they could be. But here, he gets to bring all the storytelling he's capable of at this point while not having to sell because he controls the match! Novel concept. He tries to ground Rey as usual. He uses his knees at a point, and in a great little attention to detail bit, Rey then goes after his knee. Ultimo is mad that Rey doesn't suck on the mat, and gets suckered into a high flying game. He then figures out that the key to keeping Rey down on the mat is big power offense and strikes. Rey has flurries, but Ultimo gets more brutal with cut-offs as the match goes on. Awesome final flurry from Rey and Ultimo hits a Slingshot Liger Bomb to win.
***3/4

#17
Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit, Nitro (October 4th, 1999)

AHAHAHAHAAHAHA #17?! FUCK THIS. This is one of my favorites matches ever, probably among the greatest matches ever too. It's Bret's last great match. The story is that Bret wanted to put Benoit over, but WCW didn't want it, but they still wrestle it like a passing of the torch match, as Bret puts Benoit over as every bit his equal, and basically as the heir to his style of wrestling and the whole Hart family legacy and style. At first, it comes off as two guys of similar styles, and it is, but under the surface, it's very different. Bret uses a lot more old school US Style moves. DDTs, Neckbreakers, a Piledriver, etc. Benoit has more of the dangerous Japanese style suplexes and offense. Bret is the one who has to make the concession, with a high angle Back Suplex, almost like a Backdrop Driver. As this is Bret's swan song essentially , it feels like his version of what pro wrestling should be. It came down to the fact that while Benoit is stronger and faster and more resilient, Bret is still the best counter wrestler there is, and counters ended up getting him the win. Bret counters the Crossface slowly into the Sharpshooter to win.
****1/2

#16
Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude [30 Minute Iron Man Match], Beach Blast (June 20th, 1992)

Beautiful match, and a rare match you can can say is underrated despite being touted as a classic. More than likely the best Rude singles match ever. Ricky starts out by attacking the ribs, and does that for the entirety of the first fall, which spans about 7-8 minutes. Lots of nasty stretches and strikes to the ribs, and Rude sells like he is Ricky Steamboat. He gets in a knee as Ricky charges at him for his first real offense, but Steamboat leans into it and immediately goes down. Rude immediately covers to go 1-0, and it's testament to these two that you buy that as a real finish. Rude does an awesome job selling the ribs for the rest of the match. Not in an over the top kind of way, but a mix between normal selling like holding the ribs or not being able to gyrate, and then your more subtle Ace-esque Bret/Misawa style stuff where he holds himself in such a way to keep the rib injury in your mind whenever he's on the camera. He hits the Rude Awakening soon after the knee, and sells during the cover, but it still goes 2-0. He then goes up top for a Flying Knee Drop for a DQ to go 2-1, but then immediately covers for the 3rd pin, going 3-1. Love that trick whenever someone pulls it out. Rude targets the neck, and is clearly trying to stall for time to come extent. Steamboat reverses a Tombstone into his own to get it at 3-2. He ties it up with a backslide, and after that, Ricky goes nuts for a minute with roll ups before Rude shuts him back down. Rude gets a Sleeper near the end, but Ricky springs back off the ropes onto the bad ribs and stays on top to get 4-3 with 30 seconds left. Rude goes nuts with stuff, but he can't pin him, so Ricky wins.
****1/4
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