[1993-02-13-WCW-Saturday Night] Vader vs Rick Thames

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Quick squash. After the match, Race puts paint on Thames' face and Vader whips him with the strap. They really hyped that match very well.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

Looking back, I don't know if I like WCW's frequent booking of Vader in squashes during his title reign. I don't really think it makes the champion look good to constantly wrestle jobbers, even if Vader is one of the best, um, squashers of all time. When he wasn't champ, then sure, no problem. I just think that it shouldn't look like any scrub can get a match with the world champion, even a non-title one.

[flyonthewall2983]

Kayfabe-wise, I think the idea is that Vader (and Harley as well) view matches like these as a public display of his skills, not serious title defenses. It works on two levels, the primary is showing how dangerous he is, and the 2nd being showing how cocky and arrogant he is as well. These guys aren't contenders, just slabs of meat to be pounded upon.

[benj]

This is exactly what wrestling is missing today.....Imagine how big WM27 could be if Miz got even 1/10th of Vader booking.

 

Where is the Barry Horowitz of today?

 

I also miss athletic fat guys and short pre-recorded promos. The WCW Up Close segments are gold.

[Tim Evans]

This is exactly what wrestling is missing today.....Imagine how big WM27 could be if Miz got even 1/10th of Vader booking.

 

Where is the Barry Horowitz of today?

His name is Drew Mcintyre.

[shoe]

The booking of this match has been tremendous. I loved the putting paint on the jobber to represent Sting.

[KB8]

That opening punch was glorious.

[El-P]

They built the strap match really well, White Castle of Fear aside.

[Kevin Ridge]

As Ross says, now that’s a powerbomb. Vader whips Thames for good measure with the strap.

[PeteF3]

Vader just levels Thames with a punch right at the bell. They could have ended the match right there. Vader ends up getting disqualified afterward, as Race manhandles the referee before putting paint on Thames, as Vader whips him with the strap. This whole show was built well--pity they couldn't get clearance in time to hype Ric Flair.

[WingedEagle]

Vader KO Thames immediately with a brutal elbow that he sells so well you might wonder if it was legit. Samoan drop, Vader bomb, power bomb and its over. Race puts facepaint on him like Sting, then Vader whips the hell out of him. Pretty entertaining squash and would be a great part of building to the Superbrawl main event if only they left out the mini movie nonsense.

[soup23]

Vader whips ass and makes short work of Thames and then gives a preview of what will happen to Sting at Superbrawl. Effective stuff. *

[garretta]

JR made it sound like Harley was the one who was disqualified, which was a real head-scratcher. I'm glad to see that he meant what I thought he meant.

 

Flair used to wrestle squashes when he was champ too; they were just an excuse to get him in the ring on TV. There was no pretense ever made of one of the jobbers having "earned" the right to face him, whether it was for the belt or not.

 

I'm guessing JR was already gone by now, even if they were airing the matches from his last taping, because Tony called SuperBrawl with Jesse.

 

As an aside, that paint job on Thames' face was sloppy, even given the circumstances. Harley made it look like he was putting rouge on the guy's cheeks, not facepaint.