Wargames!!!

[goodhelmet]

Wargames (Great American Bash 7-4-87)

 

 

This is probably the most popular gimmick match of all-time and with good reason. The Wargames matches are usually revered as the best that WCW could offer. Wargames 1991 and 1992 get hailed as the best but I wanted to observe the original and possibly revisit the followers at a later time. In this match, it is the battle of the Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Lex Luger & JJ Dillon) vs. The Legion of Doom and the Superpowers (Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Hawk, Animal & Paul Ellering. The biggest flaw I found in the match right off the beginning deals with the participants. Once you realize the managers are in the match, you know there are only two possible losers in the match? Dillon or Ellering. This bothers me slightly but the real fun is getting to the finish. This is where Wargames works and why we love them so much, 18 years after they began.

 

There is a really simple formula for most Wargames. In the initial 5-minute period, when things are even, the face gets the upper hand. Once the heels win the coin toss, they inevitably take control with constant double-teams and we play a back-and-forth game of heels having the advantage and a face evening up the odds. This formula is apparent in almost every Wargames that matters. I have never seen a Wargames that is successful if it happens to deviate from the formula.

 

As the bell rings, Dusty Rhodes squares off against Arn Anderson. I had reservations about this match-up but it turned out to be a great way to get things started. Dusty has a bandaged leg so Arn attempts to exploit the injury but can?t get close enough. I love it when wrestlers have injuries, If other wrestlers try to exploit the weakness, you have an automatic storyline with little or no background needed for understanding. Not only is Dusty?s leg hurt but Nikita Koloff also has an injured neck. These injuries play an important role in how everyone approaches the match. For the heels, it gives hem an instant target. For the faces, since the Superpowers are banged up, the LOD are required to help ?protect? them when they are being attacked.

 

Back to the match?

 

The first contact of the match happens when Dusty stalls, climbs to the 2nd rope and grabs a hold of the top of the cage. Arn charges so Dusty kicks Arn down. Dusty retains control with punches and a low blow. If you have not read my review of the Fantastics v. MX, I love it when the faces cheat in a No DQ or ?anything goes? match. This mindset also gives us a great visual when Dusty pulls Arn up to the 2nd rope and grinds Arn?s face into the top of the cage. One of the great things about the Wargames setup is the potential for so many neat spots that you wouldn?t normally see provided the spots make sense in the context of the match. For example, after being beat down into a bloody mess, Arn finally kicks Dusty?s leg. Dusty, realizing he may be in trouble, retreats to the other ring where he promptly gains control again when Arn follows. Following up on the exploitation of injuries, Arn takes Dusty down and goes for a knee drop. He misses and it appears he injures his leg. Dusty reacts appropriately by hooking in the Figure-Four. It is at this point that the 3rd participant enters the match. Tully Blanchard enters and the Brainbusters double-team the Dream. At this point, the action moves fast and furious. However, everything makes sense within the confines of the Wargames formula.

 

Initially, I gave the match a strike because of the additions of Ellering and Dillon. Well, since Dusty and Nikita are working with injuries, the fans in attendance could easily accept one of those two being a weak link if Dillon and Ellering neutralized each other. For example, when the Brainbusters work over Dusty, Tully Blanchard turns the tables and hooks a figure-four while Arn pulls the arms for more leverage. Later on in the match, Ric Flair uses a rope-assisted Figure Four to dish out even more pain. This focus on injuries continues with Nikita Koloff. When Nikita came into the match, he evened up the odds and prevented the heels from doing any more damage. After Lex Luger came in, Luger neutralized Koloff and the heels regained control. With numbers on their side, Flair and Tully give Nikita a spike piledriver and Nikita sells the neck like death. The heels smell blood so Dusty covers Nikita, absorbing most of the blows and protecting his partner. This was just a great way to take advantage of the Wargames formula while also giving the match some focus.

 

Another great thing about the Wargames match is the ability to create spots due to the layout of the ring. I have already mentioned the Dusty-Arn encounters with the cage and two rings but the fun doesn?t stop there. When Animal enters, he gives Tully Blanchard a bearhug while shooting him into the cage three times. This is probably the neatest spot of the entire match. Another cool spot sees Tully Blanchard stuck between the ropes of the two cages while Nikita Koloff gives him repeated Russian sickles until Blanchard collapses. Add these spots to the prerequisite spots where opponents get tossed from one ring to another, rammed into the cage, and the endless amounts of face grinding and you have yourself one bloody brutal brawl. Speaking of blood, nearly all of the participants bleed buckets. At one point, there were 6 guys in the ring (Dusty, Arn, Tully, Animal, Flair, and Nikita) and five of them were already bleeding.

 

The one weak part of the match was the finish. After JJ Dillon was in, he immediately attacks Hawk with a bionic elbow and a forearm smash. Hawk no-sells JJ and the crowd laughs. While I enjoy manager shenanigans as much as anyone else, I didn?t want to see it in this match. It really took away from what had been built up to this point. When Ellering enters, he works over JJ Dillon with a spiked forearm brace and you had the feeling that they would go back and forth. Then, unfortunately, the Road Warriors were attacking Dillon and it seemed like he gave up out of nowhere. I honestly have no idea what happened that led up to his giving up. I played it back several times to catch the ending and have no idea what happened. I will chalk it up to a bad camera angle and leave it at that.

 

Final Thoughts

I have seen several Wargames matches and always felt disappointed by all of them. I just felt that they were over-hyped and undeserving of the praise they received. I had seen Foley thrown off a cage before I saw any Wargames. I saw Honma get bashed by light tubes and thrown on a bed of nails. I have seen most of the garbage brawls of ECW. ?Surely, these Wargames can?t be more violent and realistic than that!? I couldn?t have been more wrong. This is one of the best gimmick matches I have ever seen. I have to re-watch the 1992 match (which I have seen more often) but this one might be my favorite one of them all. The blood, the logical flow of the formula, the unique spots? it all fits into one cohesive match that has more depth to it than any Kurt Angle mat ?classic?. Who would have thought that a match with the Road Warriors, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes and two managers would be one of the best matches I have seen from the 80s? When I create the gimmick match compilation, you can be sure this will be included, alongside the Duggan-DiBiase stipulations match.

[Guest Some Guy]

Do you have the rematch with Bossman subbing for Dillon, too?

 

I remember JJ quiting while Ellering was stabbing him in the face with LOD's spiked wrist band and I remember seeing it on camera. Maybe I'm mistaken.

[Loss]

I really despise the rematch at the Orange Bowl for lots of reasons. I may like it a little more if the crowd wasn't totally muted so they could have Tony Schiavone do his voiceover. One of the best things about War Games is the heat. I think, in terms of having a designated cleanup guy, Luger played that role extremely well. He was only in for a short time, but it worked. I was also a fan of the spike piledrivers on Nikita, especially because they followed up with it and Luger ended up working over Nikita's neck for the entirely of their title match just one week later where Luger won the belt. I actually think the gimmicky brawly stuff from the 80s ages far better than most gimmick matches in the 90s, if only because they're more basic, and the basics will always remain the same. I'd rather watch any pre-1992 War Games match over the first ladder match with Shawn and Razor, for example.

[Guest Cam Chaos]

I have the 92 match. I thought the finish was a little strange with the turnbuckle hook blow even though it made sense and was quite creative. It also had the now infamous "FIGURE 4 EVERYONE!" moment that is quite often done in matches even today. I think it was 6 man tag RAW match last year when I lost saw it... I think Edge, Benoit and Orton vs Evolution or something like that.

[Loss]

The figure four everyone spot actually first happened at the January Clash in the Windham/Dustin/Simmons v Arn/Eaton/Zbyszko match, a match I wouldn't call great, but that is hella fun and a good primer for some of the upcoming feuds nonetheless. The Dangerous Alliance period was a great time for WCW. The finish was a little overdone in '92, and I'll agree wholeheartedly with that -- it's the one thing that keeps the match away from the full monty for me, actually. I don't really think any of the War Games matches have had very strong finishes, except for maybe the '91 one, but that required Brian Pillman almost becoming paralyzed, so I don't like to include that one.

 

BTW, Helmet, the finish in this one was the spike that Ellering brought into the ring being jammed into his JJ's face until he submitted. Can't remember who was the one doing the jamming -- I say Ellering, but I'm not totally sure off the top of my head.

[goodhelmet]

Do you have the rematch with Bossman subbing for Dillon, too?

 

 

If he went under the name War MAchine, then yes. it is on the same disc.

 

I remember JJ quiting while Ellering was stabbing him in the face with LOD's spiked wrist band and I remember seeing it on camera.  Maybe I'm mistaken.

That clearly happened but I didn't think that was what caused Dillon to submit.

 

 

 

I really despise the rematch at the Orange Bowl for lots of reasons. I may like it a little more if the crowd wasn't totally muted so they could have Tony Schiavone do his voiceover. One of the best things about War Games is the heat.

Is the Orange Bowl the rematch Some Guy was talking about?

 

Agreed 100% about the heat. The crowd is friggin' rabid in this one. I think one of the things I love about the 80s wrestling is the heat that carries through for the entire match. Between this and Mid-South, usually I don't have to worry about the crowd detracting from a match.

 

I think, in terms of having a designated cleanup guy, Luger played that role extremely well. He was only in for a short time, but it worked. I was also a fan of the spike piledrivers on Nikita, especially because they followed up with it and Luger ended up working over Nikita's neck for the entirely of their title match just one week later where Luger won the belt.

Agreed 100%. But before Luger, it was Nikita who played clean-up for the faces. When Luger neutralized Nikita, then the heels really gained an advantage.

 

 

I actually think the gimmicky brawly stuff from the 80s ages far better than most gimmick matches in the 90s, if only because they're more basic, and the basics will always remain the same. I'd rather watch any pre-1992 War Games match over the first ladder match with Shawn and Razor, for example.

Again, I agree 100%. I think I should write an essay on the fallacies of the Elimination Chamber. The massive machine is so convoluted I haven't seen one of them actually translate into a good match. I also think the Wargames concept smokes the Hell In A Cell matches. A few of the HIACs have been good but for awhile, Wargames was money in the bank until they spent 6 years flushing a great idea down the toilet.

[Guest Some Guy]

Do you have the rematch with Bossman subbing for Dillon, too?

 

 

If he went under the name War MAchine, then yes. it is on the same disc.

 

Yup, that was Big Bubba dressed in black with a mask on.

 

I remember JJ quiting while Ellering was stabbing him in the face with LOD's spiked wrist band and I remember seeing it on camera.  Maybe I'm mistaken.

That clearly happened but I didn't think that was what caused Dillon to submit.

I haven't watched it in a while. I'll take your word for it.

 

I really despise the rematch at the Orange Bowl for lots of reasons. I may like it a little more if the crowd wasn't totally muted so they could have Tony Schiavone do his voiceover. One of the best things about War Games is the heat.

Is the Orange Bowl the rematch Some Guy was talking about?

Yes. It should be the last match on the tape/disc if you have Turner's release of GAB 87.

 

Agreed 100% about the heat. The crowd is friggin' rabid in this one. I think one of the things I love about the 80s wrestling is the heat that carries through for the entire match. Between this and Mid-South, usually I don't have to worry about the crowd detracting from a match.

The rematch was outside in a massive stadium, the original was in the cozy Omni. That probably accounts for some of the lost heat.

 

Again, I agree 100%. I think I should write an essay on the fallacies of the Elimination Chamber.

I look forward to reading it.

 

The massive machine is so convoluted I haven't seen one of them actually translate into a good match. I also think the Wargames concept smokes the Hell In A Cell matches. A few of the HIACs have been good but for awhile, Wargames was money in the bank until they spent 6 years flushing a great idea down the toilet.

Agreed about Elimination Chamber. HiaC has been overused and too forced. For HBK and Taker it worked because it was a blood feud. HHH/Jericho didn't work because it was a dog shit feud. The angle builds the hatred and the hatred is what feuls the matches. The Horsemen and Superpowers hated each other and the story is told in the ring. Taker hated HBK and wanted to kill him, the story is told in the ring. The Elimination Chamber matches had 4 guys who were pretty much indifferent to one another and 2 who didn't like each other. The Hogan Era War Games has no blood, bullshit finishes, and crappy workers, who were in a never ending feud in which the heels never got what was coming to them.

[goodhelmet]

you made great points Some Guy but I want to talk specifically about stuff you brought up about Elimination Chamber. You nailed it on the head. You throw 6 guys in there where only 2 have an actual feud. It makes no sense. Is the cage there to keep the outside interference away like it would be for a Wargames or cage match? No. Does it enhance it in anyway? No. Even the Hell In a Cell gimmick kind of kills me with all of the emphasis on what happens outside the cage. Stay in the damn cage and fight it out in there.

[Guest Some Guy]

you made great points Some Guy but I want to talk specifically about stuff you brought up about Elimination Chamber. You nailed it on the head. You throw 6 guys in there where only 2 have an actual feud. It makes no sense.

Add that with the fact that the guys were more worried about getting the cage over than the match in the first one and all the silly punched through the "bullet proof" glass in the second one and you have two pretty substandard affairs. The only redeeming thing about the 2nd EL was Goldeberg beign used properly until the finish. I haven't seen the third one, so I can't really comment on it.

 

The Elimination Chamber starts out at a disadvantage because every man is for himself. War Games has two teams. It is much easier to build a feud between 10 guys when 5 are on a side with clear cut face/heel lines drawn than it is between 6 individual wrestlers. Building a 6-way singles feud would be nearly impossible and so confusing that the crowd wouldn't be able to follow it and you'd just end up with a cluster fuck or a match anyway.

 

Is the cage there to keep the outside interference away like it would be for a Wargames or cage match? No.  Does it enhance it in anyway? No.

I see cage matches as serving one or two purposes, to prevent outside interference and/or to prevent someone from running away. And they should only be used when there is a good reason for it, not just to (not) pop a rating.

 

Even the Hell In a Cell gimmick kind of kills me with all of the emphasis on what happens outside the cage. Stay in the damn cage and fight it out in there.

The first HiaC match had a reason to be outside the cage. In the first one HBK was getting his ass kicked and trying everythign he coudl to escape Taker's wrath, when Shawn finally got the advantage and hit the Superkick and Taker sat up right after Shawn knew he was fucking dead so he found a way out of the cage. Taker followed him and beat the fuck out of him some more. It showed that no matter what he tried HBK couldn't get away from Taker. The finish was bad but such is life.

 

The rest of the HiaC matches only went outside because the first one did and I;m sure the guys felt pressured to try to top the first. I think Foley's bumps may have killed the gimmick somewhat because no one will ever even try to top that and the people have seen the the bumps so much that they expect them to be topped.

 

I assume that you like Taker vs. Brock the best out of the bunch, if you want the participants to stay in the ring and fight, although Heymen did interfere in the match through the cage.

[sek69]

JJ separated his shoulder in the first Wargames, Paul spiked him with LOD's wrist spikes to cover kayfabe-wise.

[Al]

I have nothing to add except that I enjoyed reading this review.

[goodhelmet]

Some Guy, I agree with almost everything yousaid. Hwever, for the first HIAC, HBK should not have been able to escape. That is the whole point. You can run but can't hide BS. For Brock-Taker, I thought Heyman's cheating was fine. It wasn't like he found a way in. He took advantage of the cage when it could have been a detriment. also, in the end he paid the price.

 

In the traditional cage matches, the cage doesn't have openings big enough to do what Paul E. did in the HIAC. The worst cage I have ever seen was the cage used in the Stip match between Duggan and DiBiase. Thankfully, no one interfered in that one.

 

Building a 6-way singles feud would be nearly impossible and so confusing that the crowd wouldn't be able to follow it and you'd just end up with a cluster fuck or a match anyway.

Which is why the cage is too convoluted for its own good. If you can't pull it off effectively (and none of them have been) then it shouldn't be done. Ultimately, they have all been what you just said... clusterf**ks.

[Al]

In the traditional cage matches, the cage doesn't have openings big enough to do what Paul E. did in the HIAC. The worst cage I have ever seen was the cage used in the Stip match between Duggan and DiBiase. Thankfully, no one interfered in that one.

The cage used for some Lawler/Savage match I've seen was quite bad. I do know there were early cage matches that literally used chicken wire.

[Guest Some Guy]

Some Guy, I agree with almost everything yousaid. Hwever, for the first HIAC, HBK should not have been able to escape. That is the whole point. You can run but can't hide BS. For Brock-Taker, I thought Heyman's cheating was fine. It wasn't like he found a way in. He took advantage of the cage when it could have been a detriment. also, in the end he paid the price.

I thought Shawn getting out and getting so close to escaping before being grabbed added to the match. Shawn was always pushed as being a little crafty and he figured out a smart way to get outof the cage. He set it up by telling the camera man to "get the fuck out of my way" and then landed on him when going over the top rope. Shawn realized that the guy was down, the light bulb in his head went off so he stomped the guy a few times to make sure and then threw him down in front of the door.

 

I thought it added to it and was done very well.

 

I didn't have a problem with Heymen interfering either. It was done well and Taker took care of it. I don't think that Heymen's blade job was that great of an idea, considering the weak job that Brock did, but such is life.

 

In the traditional cage matches, the cage doesn't have openings big enough to do what Paul E. did in the HIAC. The worst cage I have ever seen was the cage used in the Stip match between Duggan and DiBiase. Thankfully, no one interfered in that one.

I've seen the Mid-South cage. The one that Savage and Lawler hook up in in Memphis is really bad. It's about 3 feet wider than the ring and made out of 2x4s and wire mesh. And Savage, being the crazy motherfucker that he was jumped off the thing. You'll get the clipped version on that Savage tape and I have it in full on DVD with Cornette and Meltzer commentating on the Wrestling Gold DVDs.

 

EDIT: I didn't see Al's post before I typed this one. Damn it Al! Making me look bad. ::shakes fist::

[Loss]

In the traditional cage matches, the cage doesn't have openings big enough to do what Paul E. did in the HIAC. The worst cage I have ever seen was the cage used in the Stip match between Duggan and DiBiase. Thankfully, no one interfered in that one.

The cage used for some Lawler/Savage match I've seen was quite bad. I do know there were early cage matches that literally used chicken wire.

Absolutely. This used to be very common. Anyone who sees an SMW cage match will laugh out loud the first time they see the structure.

[Guest teke184]

In the traditional cage matches, the cage doesn't have openings big enough to do what Paul E. did in the HIAC. The worst cage I have ever seen was the cage used in the Stip match between Duggan and DiBiase. Thankfully, no one interfered in that one.

The cage used for some Lawler/Savage match I've seen was quite bad. I do know there were early cage matches that literally used chicken wire.

Absolutely. This used to be very common. Anyone who sees an SMW cage match will laugh out loud the first time they see the structure.

"You see-ah this cage? It look-ah like chicken wire but it isn't-ah chicken wire!" - Dominic Denucci

[Al]

I just watched WarGames '91 courtesy of the WWE Jukebox. The Figure Four for Everyone spot actually shows up in this match too. The Pillman powerbomb looks bad, but he clearly landed on the top of his shoulders, so it was not the cringe-worthy moment I feared.

 

Was the ending planned, or improvised when the powerbomb mishap occured?

[sek69]

I was under the impression the end was improvised since everyone thought they just witnessed Pillman get killed.

[Loss]

Yes, the finish was done on the fly. In his shoot interview, Sid's only comment on the powerbomb was that it sure looked great on TV.

[Guest teke184]

Yes, the finish was done on the fly. In his shoot interview, Sid's only comment on the powerbomb was that it sure looked great on TV.

Thus furthering the perception that Sid was a few cans short of a six-pack...