WCW From the Beginning

CAPITAL COMBAT (May 19, 1990)

6-Man Tag

Norman the Lunatic, Flyin’ Brian and The Z Man defeated Bam Bam Bigelow, Buzz Sawyer and Kevin Sullivan after Norman pinned Sullivan after a Splash in 14:35
Rating: **

WCW arrived in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., for its latest pay per view effort. The show opened with a 6-man tag featuring an eclectic mix of competitors. 

Norman has been bullied by Bam Bam in the recent past and tonight he finally snapped, unleashing a furocity never before seen from the gentle giant. 

His rampage was instrumental in helping his team win.

Mean Mark defeated The Junkyard Dog after a Heart punch in 7:14.

Rating: * ¾ 

Mean Mark Callous decided to separate from Skyscrapers partner Dan Spivey run as a singles competitor. In the process, he took on Paul E. Dangerously as his new manager. 

Mark dominated the rugged JYD, showing he will likely be a force to reckon with in the singles division. 

The Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) when Douglas pinned Hayes after a Flying Dropkick in 14:11

Rating: *** ½

(The Dynamic Dudes won the WCW UNITED STATES TAG TITLES)

Since winning the US Tag Team Titles, the Freebirds have set their sights on getting another shot at the World Tag Team titles. 

However, in doing so they overlooked the Dynamic Dudes. 

Douglas and Ace pulled off the upset after a wild finish that saw Douglas catch Hayes with a flying dropkick after he DDTed Ace. However, Ace not being the legal man in the match, the ref wouldn’t count. 

Barry Windham defeated Dr. Death Steve Williams after a Superplex in 13:21.

(Barry Windham won the WCW UNITED STATES TITLE)

Rating: ***

Barry Windham has had a rough year dating back to when he originally lost the US Title to Lex Luger at last February’s Chi-Town Rumble. Not coincidently that was around the time the Horsemen broke up. 

But with Arn Anderson back in WCW, Windham, who’s been working against the Horsemen the better part of the past year, finally came to the conclusion he was better off with them. 

Windham reached out to Arn and Ole Anderson who welcomed Windham back into the group. They backed him in helping Windham win back the US title. 

The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) defeated Arn 

Anderson and Ole Anderson when S. Steiner pinned O. Anderson after a FrankenSteiner in 18:33.

The Steiner Brothers have been among the most outspoken condemning the Horsemen for their recent attacks on Sting. They’ve been at the forefront of the resistance fighting against the Horsemen who have been looking to regain their dominance of WCW. 

The Steiners won the battle but maybe not the war. They picked up the win, but after the match returning Horseman Barry Windham ran into to attack the Steiners. As the Steiners were beginning to fight them off, they got a big surprise in Sid Vicious making his return, joining the Horsemen. Windham, Sid and the Andersons stood tall at the end of the fight. 

Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) defeated the Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) when Simmons pinned Hawk after a Powerslam.

Rating: ** ¾

(Doom retained the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES)

Doom is quickly establishing itself as one of the most dominant tag teams in history. They first made an impact in WCW after being brought in to fight off the Road Warriors, and now they solidified their title reign with another victory over the legendary tag team. 

The teams’ managers even got into it with the Road Warriors having Paul Ellering ringside, who decked Teddy Long, but all that did was create a distraction that helped Doom pick up the win. 

CAGE MATCH

Lex Luger defeated Ric Flair by Disqualification in 17:21.

Rating: ***

(Ric Flair retained the WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE).

After the events of Wrestle War, Lex Luger was awarded another shot at Ric Flair's world title, this time in a steel cage, presumedly done to keep the Horsemen from interfering. Well, things didn't quite work that way. When it looked like Luger was getting ready to put Flair away, the rest of the Horsemen came to the cage but were helpless.

That was until Flair shoved the referee into the side of the cage right in front of the Horsemen. The referee went down, and through the cage, Anderson picked the Ref's pocket for the key to the cage. He unlocked it and the Horsemen flooded the cage before locking the door once again.

Luger tried to fight them off as best he could, but the numbers proved too great. The Steiners and a number of Luger's allies tried to rush down but they couldn't get in the cage. Finally, the injured Sting hobbled down to the cage with bolt cutters, he cut the lock off and Luger was able to get reinforcements. With the damage done, the Horsemen fought their way out of the cage, leaving everyone else inside to check on Luger.

Card rating: ** 1/2


Match observations:

THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH (July 7, 1990)

Flyin’ Brian and The Z Man defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) when Brian pinned Garvin after a splash in 6:23

Rating: * ¾

Two teams who not too long ago were fighting for the US tag titles are now fighting to get back into the title picture. This one ended surprisingly quickly when Brian caught Garvin with a splash and held him for the pin. 

The Iron Sheik made Tommy Rich submit to the Camel Clutch in 6:11

Rating: ** ¼

Two veterans faced off. Longtime enemy of America the Iron Sheik wanted to make a statement at the most American of events, and he did, scoring a victory over Tommy Rich. He celebrated by proudly waving his Iranian flag in the ring after the victory. 

However, joining the commentary team during the match was a new WCW signee Doug Furnas, a former United States powerlifting champion with a lot of pride in his country. He left the announce table and went into the ring to cut off the Sheik’s celebration. He got a couple good shots in and then clotheslined the Sheik out of the ring. 

The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs) defeated The Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace) when Knobbs pinned Ace after an elbow drop in 7:11.

Rating: * ¾

WCW’s newest tag team, the Nasty Boys, made a great showing in their WCW PPV debut, scoring a victory over the former US Tag Team champs. Their size and power were too much for the Dudes to handle. 

After the match, apparently fed up with the team’s recent losing streak, Shane Douglas walked out on his partner Johnny Ace leaving him alone in the ring.

Later on, interviewer Tony Schivone caught up with the Dynamic Dudes. Douglas said they’ve had a good run, but he feels they’ve done all they can do together and he needs to go find a new partner to get to the next level. 

Mean Mark pinned Mike Rotunda after a Heart Punch in 7:12

Rating: **

One of the toughest and hottest stars in WCW posted yet another dominant victory. After the match, Mark’s manager, Paul E. Dangerously ranted in the ring about how Mean Mark will leave a path of destruction through WCW until he gets a title shot. 

6-man tag

The Horsemen (Barry Windham, Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious) defeated The Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff and Lex Luger when Windham pinned Dog after a clothesline in 15:11.

Rating: ** ¾

The first matchup between the Four Horsemen and the Dudes with Attitudes technically went to the Horsemen. After a wild match, the Horsemen got the win when manager Ole Anderson, out of the referees' sight, held down JYD’s foot when Windham went for the pin. 

After the match, the Horsemen went to keep attacking their rivals, but the Dudes turned the tide and ended up chasing the Horsemen to the back. 

The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) defeated The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) when Lane pinned Morton after a kick in 18:22

Rating: *** ½

(The Midnight Express retained the WCW UNITED STATES TAG TITLES)

The two old rivals were in the midst of another classic when Robert Gibson was knocked off the top rope falling all the way to the floor. He was clearly hurt after the fall and had to be helped to the back favoring his knee. 

Ricky Morton tried to go it alone, but soon looked to get a boost when Shane Douglas, another old Midnight Express rival came down to join Morton. But After Morton made a tag to Douglas, Douglas instead hit Morton with a belly-to-belly suplex. 

Douglas then threw Morton to the Midnights where Lane put him away with a kick. 

After the match, Douglas shook hands with Cornette and the Midnight Express then left with them. 

The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) beat Doom when S. Steiner pinned Reed after a Frankensteiner in 15:11.

Rating: *** 1/4

(The Steiner Brothers won the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES)

Even though it wasn’t against the Four Horsemen, the Dudes with Attitudes got a big win as the Steiner Brothers regained the world tag titles. 

The match was billed as the Steiners’ last chance at Doom, and they made the most of it, reclaiming the tag titles they lost back in February.

Sting defeated Ric Flair after a small package in 16:06

Rating *** ¾

(Sting won the WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE).

Five months after having the Horsemen tear up his knee during an assault, Sting is back and he’s on top of the mountain. With the Dudes with Attitudes stationed at ringside keeping the other Horsemen from interfering, it was a one-on-one match. Flair tried every trick he could think of, but without his support system, there was little he could do to fend off the Stinger. 

Flair had some success going after Sting’s weak knee, and even got the Figure Four locked in. But Sting persevered through it all. He powered out of the figure four, turing it over. Later in the match, Flair tried again, only to have Sting roll him up and get the three count. 

After the match, the Dudes and several others from the WCW locker room piled into the ring to congratulate the new champion.