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Guest Columns 03/10/03- WWF Jan 93 04/27/03- WWF Oct-Nov 93 05/02/03- WWF Jan-Feb 93 05/25/03- WWF Feb-Apr 94 06/04/03- WWF Mar 93 06/21/03- WWF Mar-July 88 06/26/03- WWF Summer 94 07/29/03- WWF August 92 07/31/03- WWF PTW Sep 92 08/02/03- WWF PTW Sep 92 08/17/03- AIW Slams & Jams 08/19/03- CFW 3/2/03 edition 08/23/03- WWF Arena shows 88 08/25/03- AWF Warriors show 09/06/03- Best of Owen Hart 09/25/03- WWF Summer 94 09/30/03- WWF Sept-Nov 94 10/02/03- WWF Dec 95-Jan 95 10/04/03- WWF Apr-May 93 10/07/03- WWF May-Jun 94 10/25/03- Wrestling Legends 11/13/03- WWF Jan-Mar 95 11/16/03- WWF Apr-May 95 12/10/03- WWF Jun-Jul 95 12/22/03- WWF Coliseum 91 01/03/04- WWF Jul-Aug 95 01/17/04- WWF SUPERTAPES 01/25/04- WWF PTW Nov 92 01/26/04- WWF Wrestlefest 91/92 02/09/04- WWF Warfare & Inside 03/11/04- WWF Comp tape 87-92 04/04/04- WWF Superstars 88-89 05/02/04- WWF Aug-Oct 95 06/12/04- WWF Oct-Nov 88 07/23/04- WWF Oct-Nov 95 09/17/04- WWF Nov-Dec 95 09/19/04 WWF Dec 95-Jan 96 11/01/04- WWF Jan-Feb 96 12/21/04- WWF Feb-Mar 96 02/02/05- WWF Mar-Apr 96 04/16/05- WWF Apr-May 96 05/13/05- WWF Jun-Jul 96 06/22/05- WWF Dec 88-Feb 89 09/13/05- WWF Jul-Aug 96 09/15/05- WWF Oct-Nov 96 09/15/05- WWF Oct-Nov 96 09/21/05- WWF Nov-Dec 96 09/28/05- WWF Jan-Mar 97 10/06/05- WCW Grt. Am. Bash 90 12/16/05- WWF Mega Matches 91 02/22/06- WCW Super Brawl 93 03/06/06- WWF WrestleFest 88 03/25/06- WWF Aug- Sept 96 04/28/06- WCW Superbrawl IV 05/11/06- WWF July-Sept 93 10/27/06- SNME Halloween 85 12/13/06- WWF PTW Nov 86 01/02/07- WWF PTW Mar 87 02/10/07- WWF PTW Nov 88

Indy/Weird stuff 05/12/01- CWO Uncivil War 06/15/01- RMCW Friday Night 01/19/02- ESPN Wrestling Classics 02/02/02- ESPN Wrestling Classics 03/09/02- ESPN Wrestling Classics 04/26/03- HVW Wrestling 1 11/05/04- Superstars of Yesteryear 07/11/05- TNA Impact Jul 8, 05 07/21/05- TNA Impact Jul 15, 05 07/24/05- TNA Impact Jul 22, 05 08/19/05- TNA Impact Aug 19, 05 10/15/05- TNA Impact Oct 15, 05 11/18/05- Santa's Slay 06/11/06- Booker T: the Early Years

Guest Column 48! Switching gears with "OrangeGoblinFan".

!---------------------begin guest column-----------------!

WCW Great American Bash 1990: New Revolution
No major explanation for me doing this show, other than the fact I'm getting tired of reviewing WWF tapes, and when it came to deciding which WCW Show to review, this features one of my all-time favorite matches. Reminder, this is from our "beloved" friends at Turner Home Entertainment, so they clipped out a good chunk of the show, most notably the undercard crap. For those that care, here's what's missing, according to The PWI Wrestling Almanac...

• Brian Pillman pinned Buddy Landell at 9:29
• Mike Rotundo defeated The Iron Sheik at 6:46
• Doug Furnas beat Dutch Mantel at 11:18
• Harley Race (?) defeated Tommy Rich at 6:32

Thank God these matches aren't on the tape, or I'd question my sanity for wanting to watch them. With that out of the way, it's time for the 1990 edition of the Great American Bash. Commentary being done by Jim Ross (before he became a corporate shill and nonsense rambling old man) and that other guy. Bob Caudle or something. I forget. Gary Michael Capetta is doing introductions, my favorite ring announcer other than the Fink. WCW United States Tag Team Championship Match:
The Midnight Express © (w/ Jim Cornette) vs. The Southern Boys:
For those that don't remember (or care), the Southern Boys are Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong. The Midnights are, of course, Beautiful Bobby Eaton and Sweet Stan Lane, and they get a nice face response despite being mega heels. The Midnights send Armstrong to the floor to start, and dump Smothers to a nice pop. Back into the ring, and the Southerns with a back drop to Eaton. Irish whip, and they connect a double shoulder block to send Eaton outside. Crowd doesn't aprove, the norm for faces wrestling the Midnights. Cornette insults someone to the delight of me. Eaton and Armstrong lockup, and Armstrong taking Eaton over with a hip toss. Lockup #2 goes into the corner, where Eaton gets in a cheap shot. Scoop slam by Eaton, and he heads up top, but Armstrong slams him off. Irish whip and Armstrong with a monkey flip, followed by lefts and rights. Irish whip and Armstrong with a dropkick. He heads to the top now, and comes off with a clothesline. Crowd with a mild "Bobby" chant. Lockup #3, and Smothers tags in for a double wristlock and chops spot stolen from the Rockers. Eaton stalls in the corner a bit, but doesn't tag out. Lockup, and Eaton with a side headlock. Smothers steals stuff out of Lanes play book with a blow to the back of the head and a savat kick. Lockup again goes into the corner, with Eaton controlling with rights. Irish whip is reversed, and Eaton is taken down with a back drop. Another savat kick from Smothers, and now Lane tags in. Lane does a bit of stretching to a face pop and goes into karate mode to a bigger pop. Lane schools Smothers more to a bigger pop than I expected, but Smothers catches a boot and returns the favor. Eaton comes in and gets floored as well. Lane comes back in after a bit of strategy talk. Lockup, and Lane with a drop toe hold, but Smothers counters into a hammerlock. Another drop toe hold by Lane, and they trade wristlocks. Lane rakes the eyes of Smothers, and Eaton tags in to get taken over in an arm drag and armbar. Eaton takes it to the corner with rights and whips Smothers to the corner. Smothers heads to the apron and nails a sling shot kick for a two count. Eaton heads outside, but gets nailed with a basement style dropkick. Lane comes in illegally to beat on Smothers, and the Midnights drop him with a double back elbow. Irish whip to the corner, but they can't nail him, and Armstrong comes in with a double cross body press for two. Stuff happens that I can't keep track off, and the Midnights are sent packing. Smothers and Eaton still in the ring, for those that lost track. Eaton with a boot to the knee, and a blind tag to Lane sees Smothers get thrown over the top rope behind the referees back. Lane follows out and whips Smothers into the security railing to another face pop. Cornette gets in a tennis racket blow for good measure. Smothers gets onto the apron, and gets knocked off into the rail again by Lane. I love that spot. Back inside the ring, and Eaton tags in. Lane atomic drops Smothers into an Eaton back breaker. Smothers tries a comeback, but gets killed with a clothesline from Eaton. Lane tags in for the leap frog splash across the back of Smothers. Lane owns him in the corner and takes him down with a snapmare. Eaton tags in to cover for a count of two. Smothers with another comeback attempt, but Eaton rakes the eyes. Scoop slam by Eaton, and he goes to the top rope, nailing his signature leg drop. Lane comes in again and chokes Smothers across the top rope. Irish whip, and Smothers with a sunset flip for a two count. Eaton tags in and the Midnights execute a knee lift/swinging neck breaker combination. Smothers gets dumped outside, but no shenanigans happen. Eaton slingshots Smothers back into the ring, and Lane comes in with a double underhook suplex for a two count. Eaton in with a short right to the mouth sends Smothers outside, but this time Eaton is the one taken out with the slingshot. Lane clotheslines Smothers though to keep the advantage. Check that, Smothers rams Lane into the turnbuckle a few times, before being dominated again. Eaton in, and Smothers catches both with a sunset flip. Hot tag to Armstrong, and he cleans house of everything walking. Double noggin' knocker! Irish whip and shoulder tackle to Lane for a one count. Smothers with a slam to Eaton, and Lane is nailed with the missile dropkick from Armstrong, but no referee until Lane is able to kick out. Armstrong goes to the top, and Eaton throws him off. Lane with a scoop slam, and the Rocket Launcher connects. That only gets a two count! Smothers does the partner switching, and cradles Eaton, but that only gets a two! Irish whip, and Lane kicks Smothers in the back of the head. Eaton cradles Smothers, and that's good enough for the victory at 18:12. ****1/4 Great match, thanks largely to the Midnights and the heat segment for the last half of the match. The Southern Boys kinda sucked, but the Midnight Express ruled that much that they could cover up the (lack of) talent of their opponents.

"The Z-Man" Tom Zenk vs. Big Van Vader:
This is the WCW Debut of Vader, but he wouldn't become a regular until the Fall of 1991. Vader's look is a bit different from what most fans recognize, which is just a different pattern singlet and tights, and a full mask instead of the half one he would generally rip off during his match. Spewing helmet also makes it's WCW Debut, and damn is that thing cool. Vader pounds on Zenk to start, then takes the action into the corner, where Zenk turns into the human punching bag. Irish whip to the corner, and Vader nails an avalanche. Stiff short-arm clothesline from Vader, and Zenk gets sent onto the apron. Vader drags him back in with a ear gripping. Zenk with a dropkick, but that does nothing. Vader with a delayed press slam, followed by a jumping elbow drop. Vader with a suplex, followed by a nasty looking clothesline. Big Splash, and Vader easily wins it at 2:16. * Nothing more than a squash match, but it was Tom Zenk, the biggest whining bitch to never do anything of note in wrestling, so it gets a boosted rating.

The Steiner Brothers vs. The Fabulous Freebirds:
For those who forgot, this version of the Freebirds is Michael P.S. Hayes and Jimmy Jam Garvin. To say their wrestling ability was rather low by this time is an understatement, but they were pretty darn over, so it doesn't lead to boring ass matches. Scott Steiner was still awesome, and not the shell of his former 'self he became due to injuries and roids. Freebirds sneak attack and toss Rick. Double beating on Scott, and Hayes nails a side suplex. Garvin drops Scott across the top rope, and the Freebirds connect with a double clothesline. Scott blocks the DDT by back dropping Garvin, then tosses away Hayes. Rick in with Steinerlines to both, followed by rights. Scott follows outside and clotheslines both men down to a big pop. Jim Ross gives us a bit of title history between the Freebirds and Steiners as the 'Birds stall. Crowd chants "Faggot" at Jimmy Garvin... now that's not nice. Oh yeah, I forgot this was during the time where the Freebirds dressed like drag queens. Garvin with knees and rights in the corner on Rick, but he gets sent to the corner and Rick drops him with a back drop and Steinerline for a two count. Hayes tags in and plays to the crowd for a while. Rick acts like a dog to scare Hayes, then bites him on the ass. Scott tags in against Garvin. Lockup, and Garvin with a waistlock takedown. Steiner responds with hip tosses to everyone, and sends them out with dropkicks. Rick comes in to ride Scott... and they chant Faggot at the Freebirds? The Freebirds tease leaving the match, but eventually come back. Hayes tags in after more stalling. "Freebirds Suck" chant. Hayes with a boot to the midsection of Scott, then sends him into the buckle. Hayes with clubbing clows to the back and chops. Irish whip, but Scott catches Hayes with a double underhook powerbomb! Garvin comes in and Scott catches him with a tilt-o-whirl slam! Rick chases Hayes up the aisle, but the referee gets between them. Crowd chants "Michael is a Bitch", making this crowd very brutal. Rick with a standing side headlock, followed by a powerslam in the middle of a Hayes leap frog. Rick slams Garvin into the ring, and applies a headlock to Hayes. Irish whip, and Garvin knees him in the back, and Rick falls to the floor. Garvin with a clothesline outside the ring, and the Birds nail a doble suplex. Garvin follows with another clothesline, then dumps Rick back into the ring where Hayes slams him for a two count. Hayes with a running bulldog out of the corner for another two count. Garvin tags back in to stomp Rick in the face, then cheap shots Scott on the apron. Reverse chinlock applied by Garvin, then goes into a reverse chinlock. Rick with elbows to the midsection to escape, but Garvin falls on top on a slam attempt for a two count. Garvin goes back to the chinlock. Rick escapes again, but runs into a knee lift. Garvin with a scoop slam, and he goes to the top rope, and jumps into a fist. Rick off the second rope with a DDT/Bulldog type move, and both men are down. Hayes and Scott tag in, with Scott being a house of fire. Powerslam to Hayes, followed by a press slam onto Garvib. Rick comes in for a double Steinerline. Irish whip, and Scott Frankensteiners Hayes, but Garvin comes in and DDT's Scott! The referee knows Garvin isn't legal, and actually doesn't count! Rick in with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Hayes, and he puts Scott on top for the three count at 13:45! **1/2 Good match, but unspectacular, with a fucking awesome and hot finish. The first 5 or so minutes dragged badly, but the pace picked up nicely for the rest.

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, The Junkyard Dog, El Gigante vs. Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious:
Interesting face team... for those that blocked it out of their memory bank, this is the first real match of El Gigante. Arn Anderson is I believe the Television Champion, and since I remembered Luger defends the US Title later, I'm correct. JYD is really out of shape. He makes Tatanka look like he's in better ring condition. Ole Anderson is not with the Horsemen, for reasons unexplained, even though he was with them during their Interview earlier in the show. According to Jim Ross, the Argentina Soccer team is playing for the championship. Good for them, I guess. Anderson and Orndorff start, which guarantes the match will go down the shitter once Mr. Wonderful tags out. Sid tags in... oh well, there goes that theory. Shove by Sid, and he catches Orndorff trying to do a sunset flip and lifts him up with a choke. Crowd loves Sid, even though he's a heel. Sid misses a leg drop, and Orndorff kicks away at the leg and dropkicks him out of the ring. Anderson runs into a hip toss and knee drop, and the same to Windham. Sid won't budge on the hip toss, but Orndorff blocks Sids attempt and tries a back slide. JYD headbutts Sid, and Orndorff takes him over for a two count. Anderson comes back in and mouths off. Boot to the midsection of Orndorff, followed by lefts. Irish whip to the corner, but Orndorff fights off all three Horsemen (pfft...) and in comes El Gigante to scare everyone off. Yeah, right. I'd just kick him in his tooth pick legs. Ross even dares to compare Gigante to Andre the Giant. Andre, half crippled and barely able to get off the ground put on better matches. JYD tags in and headbutts Anderson, then does the signature ones on all fours. Windham tags in to face JYD and cheap shots him. JYD no sells and headbutts him down for some more of the same he did to Anderson. It's so sad seeing talented guys like Windham and Anderson trying to sell Gigante as something more than a sideshow freak. JYD hammers on Anderson in the corner, then sends him to the corner. Anderson fights back with lefts, and Windham comes in for the same. Windham with a DDT, but JYD no sells it. JYD is too fat to slam (not a surprise), and too fat to suplex (even less than a surprise). JYD takes over Windham with a suplex, and now Orndorff and Anderson go at it. Orndorff no sells everything and beats up the Horsemen AGAIN. Noggin' Knocker on Windham and Sid, then a clothesline to Arn. Piledriver attempt is blocked by a Windham double sledge from the top rope. "We Want Sid" chant, and we actually get him. Sid just goes into a chinlock, which is the one move you DON'T do when the crowd wants you in the ring. Orndorff fights free, but gets caught with a powerslam for a two count. Sid carries Orndorff into his corner, and Windham tags in for some punishment. Windham with a suplex for a two count, followed by short rights to the forehead. Anderson back in with a knee to the back. Irish whip is reversed, but Anderson catches Orndorff with an elbow to the back of the head. Windham in with rights and a shoulder block. Anderson and JYD both make tags in, with JYD cleaning house. Sid thankfully ends that and it's 3 on 1. The Horsemen dump JYD over the top rope for the lame DQ at 8:53, so Gigante runs in to throw everyone else out of the ring. Crowd has mixed feelings for that. * The stuff with Orndorff and whoever was entertaining, but the JYD was a fucking piece of shit by this point of his career, and thus dragged everything way down to the point of boring me, Mr. Masochism, to tears.

WCW United States Championship Match:
"The Total Package" Lex Luger © vs. "Mean" Mark Callous (w/ Paul E. Dangerously):
I don't know the program here, but Callous went from a rather heatless midcarder to the character we know him as today. If you don't know the character, you suck, or just never watched the WWF From November 1990 through last week (September 23rd, 2005). I'm really not looking forward to this, for the obvious reasons. Callous gets no response, while Luger gets the best face pop since the Midnights in the opening match. Luger is wearing hot pink tights, for those that like that sort of thing, or need a visual. Feeling out process to start, and a lockup goes into the corner. Luger gives a clean break. Callous with a wristlock, and Luger counters soon after. Clean break in the corner again. "Paul E. Sucks" chant. Lockup, and Luger turns around into a hammerlock. Callous counters with a drop toe hold and into a headlock, and Luger counters back to the hammerlock. Highspot of the match I bet. Luger takes over Callous with an arm drag, but Callous complains of a hair pull. Seeing Heyman will a (almost) full head of hair is still a weird visual. Callous with a cheap shot in the corner, followed by a whip to the corner. He misses the charge, and Luger applies a wristlock. Irish whip, and Luger comes off the ropes with a cross body press for a two count. Arm drag by Luger, and into an armbar. If you think Mark sucked in the ring as the Undertaker, you've never seen him try to wrestle and sell as a normal person. This armbar goes on for what seems like forever. Irish whip is reversed, and Callous whiffs on a clothesline. Irish whip, and Callous with a big boot. At least he didn't repeat the spot entirely. Callous punches a lot then chokes Luger across the middle rope. Wristlock by Callous, followed by punishment to the left shoulder. Another overly long armbar spot until Callous heads up top and walks the ropes for a clothesline across the back of the neck. Luger with an elbow to the side of the head followed by rights. Luger charges, but Callous moves, and Luger flies over the top rope. That's not a DQ, because Luger did it under his own power. Callous knees Luger off the apron as Dangerously distracts the referee. Caudle says "that's a metal cage around the ring, which is steel." Whatever you say, Bobby. Jim Ross then says Dangerously needs to brush his teeth. Back to the "Action." Luger with a sunset flip for a two count. Luger pounds away, and sends him to the corner. He misses ANOTHER charge, and the two exchange rights. Irish whip is reversed, and Callous with a forearm across the back. Suplex by Callous, but Luger no sells like only he can. Luger with a charging clothesline, followed by a second. Clothesline #3, and Luger is on fire. Torture Rack attempt, but Callous kicks the referee "accidentally." Dangerously comes in and hits Luger with his giant cell phone, but that only gets a two count. Callous punches more. Short-arm clothesline by Callous, and he calls for the heart punch. Luger boots him, punches Dangeorusly, and clotheslines Callous for the pinfall at 12:09. Anti-climatic ending, don't you think? 1/2* Match was really fucking bad, even for Mark Calloway and Luger standards, but a spot here or there were somewhat entertaining.

WCW World Tag Team Championship Match:
Doom © (w/ Theodore R. Long) vs. The Rock N' Roll Express:
Remember when each federation had like 20 Tag Teams, and all looked like contenders? Me neither, because it's been years. Doom is unmasked now, and consists of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed. The RnR Express were nearing the end of their usefulness, and from here it was downhill in terms of workrates, thanks to injuries to Gibson, and the drugs catching up on them. Gibson and Simmons start the match. Stalling to start. Simmons throws down Gibson from the opening lockup. Simmons does the same, then poses. Simmons with a series of knees to the midsection, but Gibson comes back with rights. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Gibson rolls up Simmons for a two count. Butch Reed tags in for the first time and Jim Ross is loving running down the Football careers of him and Simmons. Reed pounds away on Gibson, but Gibson comes back with a scoop slam, followed by an elbow. Lockup into the RnR Corner, and Morton tags in. Reed with a standing side headlock, followed by a shoulder block. Headlock and shoulderblock again from Reed. Morton with a side headlock, and Gibson with a blind tag and they drop Reed with a double shoulder tackle. Double overhead arm drag to Simmons, and they slingshot Reed back into the ring. Gibson tries a hip toss, but Reed sends him down with a clothesline. Gibson wanders into the Doom corner, and the team of Doom drops him with a double back elbow. Simmons tags in with a scoop slam and a jumping leg drop. Gibson gets rammed into the boot of Reed, and Reed tags in to dump Gibson over the top rope (behind the referee's back). Gibson with a sunset flip back into the ring for a two count. Reed kicks him in the head, and connects with a swinging neck breaker for his own two count. Irish whip, and Gibson drops Reed with a knee lift. Morton gets the mild tag and hammers on Reed with rights. Irish whip, and Morton applies a sleeper hold. Simmons gets caught coming in, and Morton rolls up Reed for a two count, before Simmons clotheslines him from behind. Reed stomps away at Ricky Morton, who gets to play himself. Irish whip, and Reed connects with a clothesline, followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Reed pounds away on Morton with rights. Simmons tags in to do more of the same, and whips Morton to the corner. Simmons runs into a boot from Morton, but Reed cuts off the hot tag. Morton boots Reed in the midsection, so Reed rakes the eyes. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, but Morton runs into a knee. Reed to the second turnbuckle, and he connects with an elbow drop for a two count. Reverse chinlock applied by Reed. Morton with fists to the midsection, and goes for a back slide, but that only gets a two count. Reed knees him in the side of the head, and Simmons tags back in and slams Morton in the corner. Simmons slingshots Morton under the bottom rope and covers for a two count. Damn pesky foot on the ropes. Morton cradles Simmons from a slam attempt for a two count, and Simmons is back on him like fat on his ass. Powerslam by Simmons, and that gets another two count. Reed tags back in and comes off the second turnbuckle with a sledge between the eyes. Measured fist drops from Reed gets a two count, and he goes back to the chinlock. Morton gets dumped over the top rope, where Simmons and Long double team him. Morton eats railing, and Simmons throws him back in the ring. Irish whip, and Morton with an elbow to the back of Reed's head. Simmons tags in and knees Morton in the back. Scoop slam by Simmons gets a two count. Irish whip, and Morton boots Simmons in the face. Reed tags in and hammers on Morton in the corner. Morton comes back with rights, but runs into a powerslam. Reed splashes the knees of Morton, and Gibson finally gets the hot tag, and unloads on Simmons. Irish whip, and Morton with a fist to the midsection and face buster. Dropkick connects for a two count. He gets double teamed by Doom, but takes down Simmons for a one count. Morton comes in and it's a pier-six brawl! Gibson with an enziguri to Reed, who knocks Long off the apron by accident. Morton continues beating on Simmons in the corner, and off the top rope comes Reed with a shoulder tackle for the pinfall at 15:40. Confusing finish, to say the least. *** Good match, but some periods dragged a bit too much for my liking. Unlike the Midnights, who were the masters of giving beatings, the RnR Express were experts at taking them, and they were the masters of the hot tag. Too bad Doom dragged it down too much with resting and punching. Still better than most stuff WWE does today.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match:
Ric Flair © vs. Sting (w/ The Dudes with Attitudes):
And it now comes down to this. At the 1st Clash of the Champions on March 27th, 1988, Sting, at the time a midcarder, took Flair to the limit in a World Title Match. Since then, Sting rapidly went up the card, winning the TV Title from Mike Rotundo, and reigned as champion for about 6 months before losing the title to the Great Muta. During that time frame in the summer of 1989, Sting and Flair had a mutual respect teaming against the Great Muta and Terry Funk, culminating at Halloween Havoc '89 inside the Thunderdome Cage. At Starrcade '89, Sting pinned friend and fellow Horsemen Ric Flair in the final match of the Singles Ironman competiton, which lead to a World Title challenge, and a Grade A ass kicking from the Horsemen at the Clash of the Champions X. Horror struck that night, as during a run-in of the cards main event, Sting tore a muscle in his knee, putting him out of action for 5 months, and fucking with the WrestleWar '90 card. This is Sting's first match since the surgery. The Horsemen are banned from ringside, the Dudes with Attitudes are at all four corners, and Ole Anderson is being handcuffed up the ramp to El Gigante. Got all that? With all of that out of the way, it's time for the match. Sting is wearing his red, white, and blue outfit, which fits well with the Great American Bash. Lockup to start, and Sting shoves Flair down. A second lockup has the same result. Flair Woo's, and Sting counters with his own. Sting with a standing side headlock, followed by a shoulder block. Lockup into the corner, and Flair with a shoulder to the midsection. Sting no sells Flairs chops, whips Flair across the ring and press him into the air for a slam. Hip toss by Sting, followed by a dropkick, sending Flair to the outside. Sting follows out to the ramp, and no sells more chops. Those sound fucking painful. It must've been hard to pretend they didn't. Hip toss on the ramp, and Sting clotheslines Flair back into the ring. Flair begs Sting off in the corner and pokes him in the eyes. Snapmare by Flair, followed by a knee drop across the forehead. Flair with a delayed suplex, but Sting is no selling like a champ tonight. Sting with a series of clotheslines, and he heads to the top rope with a cross body press for a two count! Flair begs again, then rolls outside where he gets to be scared away by the Steiner Brothers. Nick Patrick counts Flair outside, even though you can only win by pinfall and submission. Flair with a kick to the surgically repaired knee of Sting, and now Sting is selling the chops. Irish whip to the corner, but Sting comes charging back out with a clothesline. Sting misses an elbow drop, but is able to throw off Flair on a figure four attempt. They exchange "Woo's" again. Sting with a knuckelock, so Flair rakes the eyes and chops Stying down. Flair throws Sting out of the ring rather hard onto the ramp. Flair follows out and chops him down. Capetta says the match is 10 minutes in, but my timer says 6, and the match isn't clipped. Back inside the ring, and Flair stomps on the knee again. Flair is like a Shark that smells blood. Sting comes back with rights and stomps in the corner, followed by a hip toss, but Flair avoids the dropkick. It's time to go to school! Sit-down splash across the knee of Sting. Another stomp to the knee, and Flair sweeps the leg from under him. Sting avoids another splash across his knee, but gets taken over with a snapmare. Flair misses the knee drop this time, and Sting applies the Figure-Four! Flair makes it to the ropes, but you can't lose by Disqualification, so why must Sting break the hold? Flair drags Sting outside and chops the skin off his chest. Irish whip into the security rail, but Sting ain't selling that tonight, either. Flair runs like a coward and begs again. Sting mounts him for some rights, or what Jim Ross calls "Fist City." Flair kicks him low again, and goes up top. To the surprise of NO ONE, Sting slams him off into the center of the ring. Irish whip, and Sting blocks a hip toss and turns it into a back slide for a two count. Flair kicks Sting's leg from under him, then takes a bit of a breather. Flair measures up the knee for some punishment, and drops a knee across the inside part of it. Snapmare and stomp to the face by Flair. He mouths off to the Steiner Brothers and kicks the knee again. Flair calls for it, but Sting pushes him off from the Figure-Four. Flair goes after the leg in the corner, but Sting fights him off with rights. Flair with more chops, and goes back to work on the knee again. Bitch slap by Flair, and this time Sting ain't selling the chops or the knee! Sting wags the finger at him and gets him up off the irish whip with a press slam. Charging clothesline by Sting gets a two count. Mounted punches in the corner by Sting. Irish whip to the corner, Flair flip onto the apron, and Sting clotheslines him down. Sting suplexes Flair back into the ring from the apron and covers for a two count. Irish whip to the corner, and the Stinger Splash connects! Scorpion Deathlock! Scorpion Deathlock! Here comes the Horsemen, but the Dudes with Attitudes are in a stand off! They keep the Horsemen at bay as Flair makes it to the ropes! Sting knocks Flair down on the apron with rights, but gets a shoulder into the midsection. Flair covers with feet on the ropes, but Scott Steiner throws them off! Sting with a school boy for a two count! Side headlock takeover by Flair, and Sting counters into a headscissors. Sting bridges up from a pin and back slides Flair for a two count! Sting no sells the chops and sends Flair into the corner, but he misses a running high knee, and crashes into the buckle. NOW it's time for school... but Sting counters with an inside cradle, and Sting wins his first World Heavyweight Title at 16:04! Biggest pop of the night, and the crowd must've been holding that in for months. Sting celebrates in the ring with the Steiners, JYD, and Orndorff as we get the replay of the finish. ***1/2 Not the earth shattering great match it could've been, but still very good, with some hot sequences, a nice bit of psychology because of Sting's knee problems, and all around entertaining. Probably my favorite match from WCW from a marks point-of-view. Sting gives a victory speech conducted by Gordon Solie, and puts over Ric Flair. Also, a giant Sting head with pyro eminating from it lowers from the ceiling, something that WCW would use during Sting's entrances for the course of the next year or so.

Final Thoughts: This would be considered your normal WCW PPV, with the matches being hit or miss, but on the Turner Video Release, the hit far outweighed the miss. a Great Midnights/Southerns match, great Sting/Flair main event, a typically good RnR Tag formula, the Steiners/Freebirds was quite entertaining at times, and Zenk being squashed by Vader isn't too shabby either. I'd recommend fast forwarding through Luger/Callous though. Other than that, a recommended show.

!-------------------end guest column-----------------!

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