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Post by marc91 on Oct 17, 2023 20:50:25 GMT 1
WCW Great American Bash 07.07.1990 Baltimore, MD
1. The Midnight Express (w/ Jim Cornette) def. The Southern Boys (18 mins) This was great. I mean, I'll repeat, this was GREAT. Knowing that MNX were allowed to walk out and that the Boys never accomplished much is a shame in hindsight. But why would I waste all of this? They open the show and get as much time as they actually did, they deserve it all. When wrestling is so good, rebooking is the easier thing in the world. Same finish too, Eaton uses a roll up on Smothers and goes over
2. Sid Vicious (w/ Woman) def. Mark Callous (5 mins)
So, all the heat that I have put on Mark Callous needs to be taken off him, because he's obviously leaving soon and going to New York. The perfect man for the job is Sid, as he's hot after joining the Horsemen and winning War Games for his team. They never shined in WWF together (had the worst main event of 'Mania before Triple H decided to join the party), so this is a quick squash. Sid no sells Callous' chokeslam and hits one of his own to win
3. The Steiner Brothers def. The Freebirds (10 mins) This was on the actual card and was good too! Again, I hate the fact that Hayes and Garvin are losing most of the times, but this division is on fire and The Steiners can benefit from this victory. However, the heels would get a lot of heat by mocking the brothers in the weeks before the PPV, getting under their skin with a fun impersonation of the babyfaces. However, revenge is served when Scott hits the frenkensteiner and Rick pins Garvin
4. Vader def. Bam Bam Bigelow (8 mins) Bigelow is back and getting a few victories, but it all stops when Vader shows up. These two were already a tag team in New Japan, but here they can have a simple feud on who is the leader of the team and who's the best big man out there. Plus, yes they wrestled at some point, but never on a big stage like this and I think this attraction deserves some spotlight. Short slugfest, of course Vader will be one of my stars for years and so he's going over with the vader bomb. It's time
5. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham (w/ Woman) def. Harley Race & Paul Orndorff (12 mins) The card was a bit weird because of lot of legends were involved in long matches, or against poor opponents, so they pretty much exposed all of their weaknesses. However, a match like this could suit Race and Orndorff, not only because their opponents are good enough to carry them, but also because the story is the legends standing up to the Horsemen. Race looks really good, but Anderson pins Orndorff after a low blow and a DDT
6. WCW United States Title: Lex Luger (c) def. Brian Pillman (11 mins) So, Pillman has been featured in a solid way lately and a title shot for him in 1990 would hopefully be interesting, especially against someone as big as Luger. It's a mix of Michaels/Flair from 2008 and Taker/Jeff in 2002, Luger beats Pillman down and feels sorry, but Pillman always gets up and refuses to fight. At the end, Pillman passes out after the torture rack and Luger shows him respect by helping him to the back. This would make Pillman a star
7. WCW World Tag Team Titles: Doom (c) (w/ Teddy Long) def. The Rock & Roll Express (13 mins) This was disappointing on the actual PPV and I don't know why, because we got a heel team that is good at beating people up and a babyface team that is great at selling. I think this would have been great if a few things clicked, so let's give it another shot here. R&R are on their way out, so Doom can get another victory. Reed powerbombs Gibson and pin him illegally to retain the belts
8. WCW World Heavyweight Title vs. Horsemen Spot There Must Be A Winner: Sting def. Ric Flair (c) (w/ Woman) (15 mins) Sting finally gets his shot, after his injury costed him one, but Flair keeps provoking him and Sting swears that he will join the Horsemen if he loses. This would hopefully not give away the finish, but create a bit of anticipation, because the though of Sting stuck with the Horsemen can be quite sad to the fans. There must be a winner to avoid another Clash of the Champions draw, but this time they go straight to the point and it doesn't last 45 minutes. The Horsemen try to interfere, but Luger, Pillman, Steiners, Race and Orndorff stop them. Flair panics, so Sting hits a splash and then the deathdrop to finally win the title
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Post by Moore on Oct 19, 2023 20:09:29 GMT 1
Well... I must shift my attention from the Real World Diaries subforum occasionally. I didn't have a clue you were cooking something here. I'm keeping this under the radar, even tho two years have passed already. Sorry.
This Great American Bash looks like a pretty nice one, with a proper main event (even though I'd prefer it to last a bit longer and to have Flair fighting fair to have Sting on The Horsemen, before losing and then attacking the man to continue the feud). Vader vs. Bam Bam Bigelow is a dream match that, indeed, happened, but sadly never in WCW or WWF. Could have been an exception to the early 1990s duller matches of the big two.
Btw, curiousity-driven question: which do you think is the worst main event of Mania ever? I can't figure out exactly which HHH match you're pointing at, but none of them seemed worse than Sid vs. Taker or BBB vs. Taylor (even though BBB did a pretty solid job of carrying the match in that one).
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Post by marc91 on Oct 19, 2023 21:37:08 GMT 1
WCW Halloween Havoc 27.10.1990 Chicago, IL 1. Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (w/ Robert Gibson) def. The Midnight Express (w/ Jim Cornette) (13 mins)
So, unfortunately Rock & Roll need to go on without the injured Gibson and the MNX are soon quitting the company for good. The idea of using Rich to replace Gibson was decent, I guess, even though this won't make it the best match these duos ever had. Cornette promises that he will leave WCW if they lose to a light version of the R&R, but Rich actually steps up and Morton pins Lane with a crossbody, so MNX have to leave
2. Brian Pillman def. Brad Armstrong (10 mins) Not a lot of options for this PPV, so if I can't have starpower I can at least showcase a decent match. Pillman is hopefully quite over now after the Luger match, while Armstrong has his first PPV appearance here. It's almost a prelude to the cruiserweight division in some way, it's a clean match between babyfaces and it should be quite fun to watch. Pillman keeps the ace crusher after the Ace feud and uses it to get the victory
3. The Southern Boys def. The Youngbloods (8 mins) The Youngbloods weren't a bad team, even if they were not in their prime in 1990. Here they are heels, upset at the fact that they didn't get their break in the territory a few years earlier, while the fans are buzzing about the Southern Boys despite them not being as good as them. They don't get enough time, as it's still a lowcard match and the crowd shouldn't give it the support that the rest of the card gets. Armstrong hits Jay with the jawbreaker and wins
4. The Steiner Brothers def. The Nasty Boys (15 mins) If I'm not missing anything, this is a first time ever at this point, even though they will cross path in the future too. Both teams are leaving WCW down the road and then coming back to the territory, but the Steiners are clearly a step ahead of their opponents and so they get a hard fought victory here. This match actually ruled. The Nastys cheat all the can, but Scott gets the dramatic hot tag and then uses the frankensteiner on Knobbs for the pinfall
5. WCW United States Title: Stan Hansen def. Lex Luger (c) (10 mins) So, Hansen has a short little stint in WCW around this time and I want to use him properly. The idea of putting him against Luger is quite on point, as they can trade hard blows and the feud can put over the Total Package at the end. Hansen is aggressive and hits Luger low outside the ring, then with a lariat. They go back to the ring and Luger is defenceless, so Hansen hits another lariat and pins him to win the US Title
6. WCW Tag Titles: Doom (c) (w/ Teddy Long) draw Ric Flair & Arn Anderson by DCO (18 mins) This was on the actual card as well and it was another really nice match, despite four heels being involved in the bout. Woman is leaving and she's taken off screen by Doom, who attacks her and so the Horsemen take this quite personal, even though Flair's ultimate goal is still to get the World Title back. The Horsemen play the babyfaces here of course, the match ends in a double count out as it actually did, which is quite cheap but it's the only possible finish
7. WCW World Title: Sting (c) def. Sid Vicious (10 mins) And this is another match that was on the real show, even though it wasn't good at all. And I'm not a big fan of Sid, but the list of people that can main event at this point is quite low and so there we go. I mean, at least it makes sense because Sid is a Horsemen and Flair wants him to get the title back to the group. It's a short main event, it wasn't any good and so let's wrap it quite quickly. Sting stops the chokeslam and uses the scorpion deathdrop to win the title
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Post by marc91 on Oct 19, 2023 21:40:30 GMT 1
Well... I must shift my attention from the Real World Diaries subforum occasionally. I didn't have a clue you were cooking something here. I'm keeping this under the radar, even tho two years have passed already. Sorry. Btw, curiousity-driven question: which do you think is the worst main event of Mania ever? I can't figure out exactly which HHH match you're pointing at, but none of them seemed worse than Sid vs. Taker or BBB vs. Taylor (even though BBB did a pretty solid job of carrying the match in that one). No worries at all mate! I actually didn't mind Taylor vs. Bigelow! HHH/Reigns was atrocious. Worse than Sid vs. Taker? Well, now that you pointed it out maybe not... or Reigns/Taker and Sid/Hogan? Gosh, we had quite a few stinkers
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Post by rabbitman on Oct 20, 2023 1:30:06 GMT 1
Yeah even as a teen I was able to view Bammers vs LT in context. So I got a decent amount more out of that, than some might have.
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Post by marc91 on Oct 21, 2023 13:37:57 GMT 1
WCW Starrcade 16.12.1990 St. Louis, MO
1. Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (w/ Robert Gibson) def. The Southern Boys (15 mins) The Rock & Roll light are having a decent success, while keeping Gibson at ringside with the hope of seeing him again soon. They face Smothers and Armstrong, who have been the breakout team of 1990, despite not being able to get any gold. They are both babyface teams, but the Boys work as heels to isolate Morton, which is always the best scenario. At the end, Morton pins Armstrong with a missile dropkick and the Boys don't look very happy
2. Bobby Eaton def. Chris Adams (10 mins) So, Jim Cornette put MNX's careers on the line last time and they lost, so he's gone. Eaton turns on Stan Lane and stays in the company as a single competitor, it's not like he will headline PPVs, but he's a great hand and will be with WCW for a lot of years. Adams is booked for this show and so they are paired as opponents, which should give us a solid little match. Eaton goes over in his first PPV match as a single, using the alabama jam for the pin
3. Brian Pillman def. Konnan (8 mins) Pillman should be quite over by now, an energic and brave babyface that takes risks to get himself over. He needs another win here and I chose Konnan to go under. Not a big Konnan's fan, like at all, but the match should have an international feeling (more on this in 1991) and it's before Konnan got lazy. They don't go too long, Pillman is again an underdog and manages to overcome the odds, using a crossbody from the top for the victory
4. The Steiner Brothers def. The Great Muta & Masa Saito (13 mins) So, the WCW/NJPW relationship is starting to be a factor and it will be for a few years. While announcing the 1991 supershow, we also get this tag match as a skirmish, also a good way to keep the Steiners out of the title run for a bit. This short strong style tag matches are what made Rick and Scott shine, after all. Muta steals the show and dominates the match, but Rick pins Saito after a top rope bulldog so the Steiners are victorious
5. Vader def. Dan Spivey (5 mins) Vader will soon be a force in the company, but it's right to bring him in gradually as not all the fans were familiar with him when he first arrived. Vader keeps dominating all of his matches and is undefeated at this point. Spivey is 6 foot 7 and swears that he's not afraid of Vader, he won't go down, but Vader demolishes Spivey in an easy and impressive way. Vader plays with Spivey for a bit and then uses the vader bomb to win again
6. WCW United States Title Bullrope Match: Lex Luger def. Stan Hansen (c) (10 mins) Unfortunately, Hansen will not hang around long enough to do something consistent with him so I need to wrap up the Luger feud here. As in reality, Hansen gets the tough side of Luger out and the stipulation should help as well, as Luger can also be a bit sympathetic against the reigning champion. They are both fighting for the fourth turnbuckle, Luger finally applies the torture rack by lifting Hansen and then lets him go, jumping towards the corner to win the title back
7. WCW World Tag Team Titles: Doom (c) (w/ Teddy Long) def. Barry Windham & Arn Anderson (8 mins) This was part of the actual PPV as well and it ruled. It continues the Doom vs. Horsemen beef, after Flair was also involved at Halloween Havoc. Flair wants it to be a Horsemen night and so he pressures Windham and Anderson not to outwrestle Doom, but just to have a fight and use their experience. That's what happens and it's a very good match. Windham hits Double A by mistake and Simmons pins Anderson after a powerslam
8. WCW World Title Steel Cage Match: Sting (c) def. Ric Flair (w/ Sid Vicious) (20 mins) The Black Scorpion non-sense was a joke and I'm not keeping it, but Flair/Sting having their rematch in the cage is definitely the way to go here. Flair wants all the gold back and, even after Sid failed, is determined to do the job himself. The cage is designed to keep the Horsemen away from the action, even though Sid does a bit of damage at ringside. Flair bleeds and suffers Sting's adrenaline, they both climb the cage and brawl on top of it, but Sting pushes Flair down in the ring and escapes to retain the title
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Post by marc91 on Oct 23, 2023 13:38:45 GMT 1
WCW WrestleWar 24.02.1991 Phoenix, AZ
1. Terry Taylor (w/ Alexandra York) def. Dustin Rhodes (11 mins) Dustin has made his debut in WCW, of course at the beginning he's just Dusty's kid and so that is how he is perceived by the fans at this time. Also, Taylor is now with us and he has Alexandra in his corner, this geeky pair had some midcard potential after all. I am not planning on doing anything major with Taylor, but it's actually good for Dustin to lose this and show a progression crescendo. Taylor uses a dirty roll up to beat the impressive youngster
2. The Freebirds def. The Southern Boys (12 mins) This match is quite important because it brings a change in the Boys' careers: they are frustrated for the lack of success and the Birds say that they will soon learn the hard way, both teams have relationship with the southern tradition, the confederate flag etc. Basically the Birds are encouraging Smothers and Armstrong to turn heel, but they say no. Hayes pins Armstrong here after hitting him with a low blow and a spike piledriver
3. Brad Armstrong def. Eddie Guerrero (10 mins) Eddie was on the card! He's not here to stay, of course, but man let's use him right. Little spoiler, I will bring the Cruiserweight division earlier than they did and this is a quite nice preview of that. Armstrong was a good hand and he can thrive in this environment, as he never had the personality to emerge in the heavyweight division. It's an open match and Armstrong uses a flash pinfall to pin his opponent here
4. Vader draws Stan Hansen by DCO (8 mins) This was on the actual card and I enjoyed it, I mean it's Vader vs. Hansen come on! Hansen turns face by congratulating Lex Luger for defeating him at Starrcade, but Vader gets in his way and makes fun of Hansen for being soft. This is a war and it hopefully generates tons of hate. I agree that the political finish is bulls***, but I think I have to keep it if you think this being New Japan vs. All Japan in a way. Vader stands tall after the match anyway
5. WCW World Tag Team Titles: Doom (c) (w/ Teddy Long) def. Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (w/ Robert Gibson) (12 mins) After months of fighting from underneath, Morton and Rich finally get a title shot and plan on doing what the originals R&R were not lucky enough to do. Doom is still on top and very dominant in the division, however Simmons and Reed had a few arguments and Long sternly told them to drop it. The tension helps R&R during the match, but the referee doesn't see a hot tag and so the exhausted Rich is pinned by Simmons after a powerslam
6. WCW United States Title: Lex Luger (c) def. Bobby Eaton (13 mins) Eaton is doing well as a singles competitor and gets a title shot here. While this might be an easy match for Luger on paper, Eaton reminds him that he's beaten everybody and has more tricks than Luger could ever imagine. Eaton holds his own and dominates Luger on the mat, proving to be a tough one to beat, but finally Luger gets a comeback and overcomes the pain when he applies the torture rack and retains by submission
7. War Games: Sting, Brian Pillman & The Steiner Brothers def. Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious & Larry Zbyszko (w/ Arn Anderson) The Horsemen are in the match, but Anderson is injured and so he is replaced by Zbyszko here. Sting chooses the Steiners like the previous here, but since Luger is busy he chooses Pillman as the last competitor, which would be a shocker and again a nod for Pillman. Pillman is attacked by the heels repeatedly, as they think he's the weak link, but he won't surrender. Sting debuts the scorpion deathlock here and makes Sid quit to win the match
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Post by Moore on Oct 24, 2023 14:34:45 GMT 1
Ah, my favorite WarGames of all time. I'm glad you didn't change much, tbh. During that era WCW had the best roster in the world and it's a bit of a shame they didn't capitalize on that.
I'm liking your short recaps, buddy.
I just keep forgetting about this subforum 😅
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Post by marc91 on Oct 25, 2023 11:34:32 GMT 1
WCW Saturday Night 02.03.1991 WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Steiner Brothers def. Doom (c) (w/ Teddy Long) Time to get the belts on the Steiners, also because Doom doesn't have much time left. Having a change on free TV can be refreshing, the match gets promoted 2/3 weeks in advance and their old rivalry is recapped. The champions hit each other by mistake and Rick pins Reed with a top rope bulldog to win the titles
WCW/NJPW Supershow 21.03.1991 Tokyo, Japan
1. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Liger (c) def. Brian Pillman (15 mins) Little spoiler, this won't be the only time Liger and Pillman face off but it's a good start. Liger is doing wonders in New Japan and Pillman had a breakout year, so he wants to prove that, while he's not just a little guy, he can also be the best of the junior heavyweights. They always had good matches, this shouldn't be any different. Pillman almost pulls the upset, but the liger bomb beats him and Liger retains the title
2. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham def. Masa Saito & Masahiro Chono (9 mins) This didn't click for some reason and I am not sure why, as the competitors can go and they don't have an unreasonable time to fill. The Horsemen are having problems, as they don't have any gold and Flair has his own agenda, plus Anderson and Windham don't seem to be the best of partners at the moment. Anderson actually pushes Windham and wants to leave the match, but Windham uses a belly to belly to beat Saito anyway
3. Shiro Koshinaka def. Dustin Rhodes (8 mins) I enjoyed Koshinaka's work, the way he used to sell but also the way he used to beat people down. Dustin can be a good opponent for him and it's got to be nice for him to be in the Tokyo Dome, doing another job that is only supposed to help him down the road. Dustin shows some progress, but Koshinaka uses his experience and puts his foot on the rope during a dangerous pinfall. Koshinaka wins with the samurai driver
4. WCW World Tag Team Titles vs. IWGP Tag Team Titles: The Steiner Brothers (c) def. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (c) (10 mins) I am keeping this from the original card, as it was really good and it's also cool to have a unification match between New Japan and my Tag Team Champions. Let's keep it short and sweet as it was, no downtime or stalling, they went out there with a mission and did a great job. I am also keeping the finish, as New Japan was fine with it, so Scott hits the frankensteiner on Hase and pins him to keep the WCW titles and win the IWGP titles
5. The Great Muta def. Ric Flair (15 mins) This was a first time ever as they have never faced as of that day, so why not? I mean, it's Muta vs. Flair in 1991. They are not holding the respective company titles, but they are already icons and it should be a huge deal in Japan at the time. Plus, I am happy with Flair losing because he's leaving soon. I think this could even steal the show, Flair has the figure four locked in but Muta mists him and Flair has to let go, so Muta hits the shining wizard and wins the match
6. Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow def. Doom (12 mins) This was on the original card too and was okay, not the best match of the night, but it was obviously overshowed by the other tag match. I am using it as a nice brawl, but also a breather before the main event. Vader and Bigelow are tagging again after their WCW match, while Doom is having problems since they lost the titles. They go all out and Vader gets the victory with a vader bomb on Simmons, after Reed uses a lariat to keep him and BBB out of the ring
7. WCW World Heavyweight Title vs. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami (c) def. Sting (c) by CO (13 mins) Look, I hate non-finishes more than anyone else, but doing a champion vs. champion match was a huge deal at the time, especially in this scenario as I don't have the contrived angle of the NWA Title becoming the WCW Title and what not. The only thing is, my champion is not losing and so this leaves us to the political bullsh** finish. It's another first time ever and dream match, because Flair/Fujinami will come later on and Sting/Muta has already happened. Plus, the 2 main events they ran at the show didn't really deliver big time and so let's give this pairing a chance. They fight to the outside and get back in, Fujinami uses the dragon sleeper but the match is stopped due to a countout. They both keep Flair away from the belts when he shows up and then shake hands
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Post by Moore on Oct 25, 2023 22:03:23 GMT 1
The NJPW/WCW alliance was really groundbreaking for the time and it was one of the few times something like that was actually done right. (NJPW/TNA in the mid 00s didn't benefit anyone, NOAH/ROH while good was too niche to work properly and NJPW/ROH started strong but went downhill as ROH was playing second fiddle in their own deal. Thank god for NJPW/AEW today.)
Yeah, you had to have Liger vs. Pillman. Not sure why you had Dustin job to Koshinaka, but I understand that you had to give NJPW some wins in the midcard, even though personally I'd have Choshu humbling the rookie. Muta vs. Flair is a huge match, bigger than the main event, which, sure, had to end in a lacking finish. Nice feelgood angle to end the show.
BBB & Vader vs. Doom is a colossal clash. I've never seen it, but now I might...
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