[1993-05-15-WCW-Worldwide] Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Rude must be hurt, as he's taking some awkward bumps, falling face first on spots that are normally flat back bumps. Sloppy action and a botched finish, but this explains the U.S. title being held up, as there's a controversial finish.

[BackToBionic]

Sad to watch but at least we get to hear Rude's theme...always a treat.

[El-P]

This match in full is actually really good, and Rude looks perfectly fine in it. The botched spot is more because of Dustin to me, who was coming off a shoulder surgery. I don't like that finish at all. The US title was stripped from Rude after he held it for a year, then DUstin got it after a tournament, and in the blow-off match between the two we get this and a title held up again ?

(I saw the Power Hour version of this, and the announcing team of Blakjack Mulligan and Bischoff is rotten. At one point Mulligan refered to Shane Douglas as Shawn Michaels !)

[Kevin Ridge]

Rude got mixed up in a back body drop or flap jack and almost landed on his head. Disputed finish with two referees being involved. Rude gets awarded title but original referee looked to be disqualifying him for over the top rope infraction.

[PeteF3]

I like Jesse's indignation when Dustin's shoulder comes up--"WHO CALLED FOR *THAT* ANGLE?!" An apt question, as I recall this U.S. title vacancy as seeming to last for about 6 years and just becoming absolutely intolerable.

[Superstar Sleeze]

This match in full is actually really good, and Rude looks perfectly fine in it. The botched spot is more because of Dustin to me, who was coming off a shoulder surgery. I don't like that finish at all. The US title was stripped from Rude after he held it for a year, then DUstin got it after a tournament, and in the blow-off match between the two we get this and a title held up again ?

(I saw the Power Hour version of this, and the announcing team of Blakjack Mulligan and Bischoff is rotten. At one point Mulligan refered to Shane Douglas as Shawn Michaels !)

I watched the full match and I would not say it was really good just kind of there.

 

From my understanding, Rude has been back for about 2 months claiming to still be the real US Champion since Dustin never beat him for the title. This is always a good angle to build to a hot match, but unfortunately it seemed like injuries prevented a good match. I loved that Rude had Capetta say his insults for him. Having dweeby Capetta call the crowd a bunch of "Montgomery Meatheads" was rich. The match begins with some dueling back psychology with Rude standing out in his selling as everytime he took a back bump into the turnbuckles he sold it like he was shot. Dustin bites out of a bearhug, which raises Jesse's dander. Neither one can pick the other up in a nice touch. I love Rude's top rope knee drop that should be a finisher for someone. They do a tombstone reversal spot to get a 2 for Dustin. I noticed too that Rude was starting to take bumps weird like the press slam off the top and back body drop. He was basically taking a header on both. Couldnt tell whose fault that was. The ref gets caught up in a Irish Whip and both get visual falls on the other. Before they do the double pin where both get their shoulders up, but the acting ref only sees Rude's shoulder up. I will say this match did display both men as equals to set up the rematch at a PPV. The match itself could have been a lot better, but it acted as a good set up for future matches. Hopefully, they will deliver in those matches.

[ohtani's jacket]

Nah, this match and the 5/92 Computer Challenge match were the two best Rude/Rhodes bouts. Their '93 series was really underwhelming with each match getting progressively less interesting.

[WingedEagle]

Rhodes working with a taped up shoulder here. A surgery is alluded to above but I don't recall him being out for any length. Nice near fall on a DDT. Rude bumping face first on the back drop was definitely noticeable, though it looked more like a bungled spot to me than a protective measure. Thought they did a good job placing the refs for the finish here, really making the most out of otherwise questionable booking.

[soup23]

This didn't look great so if it was one of their best, yikes. We get a fuck finish and the US title is in limbo. A good third from the top feud nonetheless in WCW at the time.

[garretta]

Rude's bumps were definitely because of Dustin's shoulder. Dustin wasn't able to elevate Rude over his head at all. Of course, this saves Rude from bumping on his back too, which he probably needed to avoid due to his own injury.

 

The booking definitely looks suspect, but if your US champion is still hurt and looked as sloppy as Dustin did here and the man you're pushing as his number one contender is also still hurt and can't take decent back bumps, there's not a whole lot else you can do if you don't want to run a second tournament in five months. WCW had enough going on that the US title could be put into cold storage for a bit without too much of a problem.

 

They're still recycling matches among the different TV shows? Talk about cheap, sloppy, and uncaring.

 

I guess we know why Mulligan never made it as a color man for WCW. Seriously, how did a mistake like that make it to air? I thought Eric supposedly was (and still is) a whiz at TV production.

 

I hope we get to see Gary act as Rude's spokesman on the set at some point. It almost sounds like he lost a bet of some kind and was dared to do it by some of the boys.