Spotlight: WCW 1994 - Part 2
We're back with more of WCW 1994! It's a heck of a year so far and really is an end of an era since Hogan eventually comes in and wrecks the shop. But don't worry, I'm not going to be looking at a single match of his. Instead I'm going to focus on the tag division, Ricky Steamboat, Steven Regal and the man they call Vader. Same as before 
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The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) vs. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan - Slamboree 05/22/94 - There's a few Slamboree '94 matches that I'm reviewing and it's definitely in PPV that the WCW YouTube page should post. As myself and others have discussed, it has many future WWF/E legends like Austin & Foley who they still will promote along with Flair & Terry Funk but it may lack that Hogan appeal...maybe it needs more Goldberg? hahaha...anyhow...I typically don't like the Nasty Boys but I want to pay Sullivan & Jack some attention with this project so, here we go! But first, Tony Schiavone already sounds like he doesn't give a shit. I don't listen to commentary much but I wanted to for this PPV and Schiavone sounds like he's fucking checked out from his old days...the spark, the passion sounds gone and he's got 6+ years in WCW. He's like a husband who still goes to his kid's play and over to the in-laws for Xmas but he's off in the corner staring out the window. He knows he should get a divorce but is sticking it out because he made a vow before God and family and he's not going to go back on his word. His wife knows the fire's gone...she can feel it when they kiss, when they make love...who is she kidding it's just sex anymore. So, yeah that's Tony Schiavone on commentary. This is an awesome brawl where they legitimately are trying to beat each other up...they are working but this is like the UWFi of brawling. No one's really swinging chairs & trash cans safely, there's little to no setup time on highspots. Perfect that this is in Philly. This is a near classic to me...if everyone was bleeding then I think that would have increased the sense of chaos and violence. ECW, Cactus Jack/Mick Foley fans want to see this. Definitely looking forward to more Jack & Sullivan matches if they're like this! Recommended! EDIT: Oh shoot, the WCW YouTube page is putting good stuff up again. I guess they have to put something up instead of Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Hogan & Goldberg once in awhile. Here it is for you below!
Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs Harlem Heat (WCW Pro May 28th, 1994) - joined in progress on TV...and they are trying to kill each other! It's a good match but I think it lacked variety. However they did a great job keeping that intensity up and that's what kept me watching.
Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan vs. Pretty Wonderful (06/11 WCW Saturday Night) - Very good tag team match. Jack & Sullivan brought the intensity & brawling. Roma & Orndorff obliged and Roma even was jumping off the turnbuckle quite a bit. This was spirited stuff.
Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (w/Dave Sullivan) vs. The Nasty Boys - Clash of the Champions XXVII (27) - (06/23) - Oh yeah, they deliver again! This is just a straight match but they keep the intensity going and are laying in their shots. And just when you think you've got a grip on the match, Cactus Jack does what he does best. Seriously, if anyone else took that bump, you'd be seriously worried... don't get me wrong that shit hurt Mick too. Anyhow, great match and opener for the Clash of the Champions.
STEAMBOAT
I don't have any singles matches to review for Ricky Steamboat for this time although it's highly recommended that you check out the Steamboat vs Flair match from 05/14 Saturday Night. It's gotten a fair bit of pimping and I'm not going to use my time to do so here. It's a long match for TV standards and it's gonna bog me down, I'm afraid. I mean it's Flair vs Steamboat - if you're interested then you've got to see this one, right? I'm just not that interested in a long match between these two that's gotten plenty of good reviews already. I'm more interested in stuff like:
Ricky Steamboat & Arn Anderson vs Bad Attitude (Main Event May 1st, 1994) - Really fun match with Keirn & Eaton being the Fabulous Ones but evil...it's a weird paring considering I'm sure Stan Lane was available... maybe Beautiful Bobby corrupted Stan originally and now he's moved on to tainting the heart of Steve Keirn. Anyhow, 4 of the greats in the ring for an 8 minute TV match. It's so organic and well paced...they are just out there putting on a show.
Ricky Steamboat & Arn Anderson vs Bad Attitude (Main Event May 8th, 1994) - A rematch and an expansion on the previous match. I thought this one was really good. It felt like the intensity was ramped up and these teams definitely should've done more together. I'm going to stop myself from calling this a "great" match but damn I really dug it!
REGAL
Steven Regal (w/Sir William) (c) vs. Dustin Rhodes - Clash of Champions XXVI (26) (01/27) - I checked one of my alternate online sources and found the PPVs for 1994. There's some good stuff on there like this match. I'm going to put it here even though it took place January '94. Anyhow, this is a very good match where you can truly appreciate Regal as a complete worker. He's got his stretches & joint locks, his strikes but also his underhanded tactics, his chicken shitting & smarmy character work. He and Dustin work great pitting the working class man vs the posh lord. These two really gelled and since they are about the same build seem like natural adversaries. This was left off the 1994 Yearbook for some reason but, I suggest that you check it out!
OK now we're back to Spring 1994.
I had never heard of the Marquis of Queensbury series of matches that Regal & Flair had in 1994. It seems to be an attempt at European or at least British rounds based wrestling. What that means is a series of 5 minute matches where a score is given at the end if a pin or submission is not scored. Each round is a different week but from the looks of it, the first four round may have been on one day's worth of TV taping. The final round is unique (I mention why below). You can sorta consider this one match but it really feels like a series of 4 quick paced matches capped off with a full length match. It's a little clunky to explain but I actually like it. This little program takes place on WCW Worldwide.
Steven Regal vs Ric Flair - Round 1 (04/30) Hyper technical wrestling for five minutes. This was fantastic stuff.
Round 2 (05/07) - Another five minutes of purist match action. Judging from the ring gear, these were taped on the same day.
Round 3 (05/14) - They both have haircuts but I'm feeling these were taped later in the day. Anyhow, this was another one predominantly on the mat.
Round 4 (05/21) - This was actually more of their feet with Regal throwing his European upper cuts and Flair throwing his chops.
Round 5 (05/28) - OK this one, the odd one out has Flair finally in different ring gear & Regal no longer has his thigh taped. This was a great match and a great conclusion to this series of bouts. They wrestled at a quick pace looking to get a win before the 5 minutes were up. When more time was given to determine a true winner, things really kicked up a notch. Bam! (Emeril joke anyone?)... Anyhow these two are fantastic here - technical & hard hitting. This Marquis of Queensbury series was a good way of pairing Flair and Regal up for TV and it delivered on what I had hoped for. It's over 5 different shows and from a fan perspective, it seemed easy to miss...let's be honest, these WCW Worldswide shows were hard to miss unless you were a devotee. And now you still have to track them down online match by match. Hope I have helped because, you definitely want to see these. Recommended!
Larry Zbyszko vs. Lord Steven Regal (05/22/94 WCW Slamboree) - Hahaha I love that ECW fans are here in Philly! Hell yeah! What's great from the start is Regal is jaw-jacking with the fans like a shit talking heel...just like Larry Z used to do! So many of his AWA on ESPN matches started like this and really helped me appreciate that aspect of pro wrestling. This really started cooking once Larry shouted "You aren't good enough!" to Regal. His lordship began laying in the European uppercuts and elbows and Zbyszko returned the favor. Very good match and they definitely have in store for us. I'm a fan of both guys, so I'm looking forward to more.
Larry Zbyszko vs. Lord Steven Regal (05/28 WCW Saturday Night) - What a great fucking match! The intensity & the pacing was out of sight! You don't need angles when the story is being told in the ring. It's two guys trying to prove who's better. And Steve & Larry had a master class in that type of wrestling. And this was shown the same day as the Marquis of Queensbury final...holy cow... Regal was peak technical wrestler for 1994 putting on two absolutely fantastic matches in the day (on TV at least). Note that you want to make sure you see the full match as the match doesn't end when the TV time does..so they show the conclusion the next week. Someone online has the regular version missing the end & another person has the match footage & ending & post match spliced into one video online.
By the way, WCW Saturday Night "won" the honor of Worst TV Show of 1994 according to WON fans...OK sure...What the actual fuck folks?
Larry Zbyszko vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) - Clash of Champions XXVII (27) (06/23) - Haha, Regal's got a powdered wig on! Yes! Anyhow, this is not your technical duel. These two are heated and they are beating each other up most of the match. But it's not that out of control way like Nasty Boys vs Jack & Sullivan... it's more like you'd see in NJPW or AJPW. It feels like competition instead of just a brawl for the sake of brawling. I really appreciate that nuance here. But don't get me wrong this was intense. Another great match.. I might say it was a near classic or more. These just keep ramping things up
VADER
Sting vs Vader (Slamboree 05/22/94) - This was OK...it had its moments but didn't really deliver on what I know they can do together. Now they said the match was supposed to be Rude vs Vader...maybe that's true. This felt barebones in terms of complexity and I never felt Sting did enough to warrant the turns in moment. I do think this was an excellent performance from Vader though. He looked like a monster when on offense but vulnerable when on defense plus he put his body on the line with some of the bumps he took. And Sting really did great too but I know they have better stuff. Looking ahead, they have a TV match on WCW Saturday Night in October '94.
Vader vs. The Guardian Angel (Big Boss Man) - Bash at the Beach (07/17) - They show Hank Aaron & Antonio Inoki sitting next to each other, ha! That's awesome! Hank seems to be enjoying the show. This was a fun match with the two big dudes going at it. Harley takes some big bumps here too. This finish is an 80's finish but without the post match goodness. It's all good though. Fun one off match for me. Posting this here to make up for the mediocre Sting match.
I'm not going to kid you, Regal is having a helluva 1994. I'm having a blast with the Cactus & Kevin Sullivan team as well as Arn & Ricky (I don't think it lasts...hint-hint). More Bad Attitude too...I hope!
Thanks for reading!
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