[1992-12-05-WCW-Saturday Night] Big Van Vader & Rick Rude vs Sting & Ron Simmons

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This tells me before Rude/Simmons was called off at Starrcade due to Rude's injuries, the plan was for them to go long, as they were hyping that Rude felt his best chance of beating Simmons was to stretch out the match. Based on the Rude/Simmons interaction in this match, we should be happy the match didn't happen, because it's pretty bland. Sting/Vader is pretty fun, as you'd expect. Considering how far Rude fell in '93 and how out of it he looks here, I'm thinking some injury happened between the Chono match at the G1 and the Chono match at Havoc that he worked through as long as he could before taking time off, and then he came back before he was well. Not even a good match really, but an interesting one, if only because Vader and Sting are really willing and capable and the other two are not at their level. Rude pins Simmons after sneaking in a top rope kneedrop behind the ref's back. Great finish and good build to Starrcade.

[Tim Evans]

I don't get why the top rope kneedrop would be a DQ since wasn't the top rope rule gone by this time? Good match, especially towards the end.

[Cox]

They changed the rule on television so only the top rope kneedrop was still illegal. I believe Watts did a promo explaining why the kneedrop was outlawed in particular. I'm sure WCW forgot this as the years went on and the kneedrop became OK again at some point.

[shoe]

The opening with Rude and Simmons was dull. Sting and Vader are on the outside and are like WTF tags us in and let us save this match. They did and made this pretty fun. Sting and Vader have some real nice interactions in the ring. Vader is outside and Sting dives onto him. Vader catches him and rams his back into the ring post to set up the heat. Vader and Rude just kill his back with a variety of stuff. sting gets the hot tag to Simmons, and it is fun. Then we get a good heated finish to top off the match. Not a classic, but a good main event for Saturday night.

[El-P]

I'm totally down on Simmons at this point. He's just not a world champion, and his work looks more and more weak as time passes. Too bad Rude vs Simmons was called off, as I would have loved to see Rude win the WCW title at that point, and get a Vader vs Rude match teased in the interviews earlier in the show. Vader vs Sting work as good as they always do, and Simmons does a great power move on Vader, but this is nothing special as a whole. I did like the ending though.

[rainmakerrtv]

They changed the rule on television so only the top rope kneedrop was still illegal. I believe Watts did a promo explaining why the kneedrop was outlawed in particular. I'm sure WCW forgot this as the years went on and the kneedrop became OK again at some point.

Specifically, it was the top rope kneedrop to the back of the head or neck.

[PeteF3]

Rude was working hurt here, missing a bunch of house shows (presumably WCW paid him anyway) as well as Starrcade, and it showed. He doesn't do much at all and Simmons is not a guy to carry somebody in that condition. Naturally Sting and Vader work circles around them, though Vader has a good little sequence with Simmons as well when Ron gets the hot tag. Neat ending, as Rude hits a still-illegal kneedrop off the top to Simmons' throat to set up a Rude Awakening for the upset pinfall. I know Watts was all about having his top babyfaces do jobs but this is probably a major sign that Simmons as World Champion was not long for this world.

[WingedEagle]

Good job highlighting the 2 big matches at Starrcade. Vader & Sting always great together, as Vader bumps and sells so well while not looking like a joke, and his power offense always went over well on Sting. I thought Simmons looked good on his hot tag here after Sting sold the back for a while. Its a shame we didn't get to see Rude really go over as a #1 for a bit. I assume the plan was still for Vader to get the belt even if Rude was healthy?

 

***

[Zenjo]

A reasonable setup match for the two planned singles matches at Starrcade. I don't mind that Rude vs Simmons never took place, but it sucks that the Ravishing one was never the same again. Ron only ever looked good in short bursts. Occasionally. After a slow start business picked up once Sting and Vader began squaring off.

[garretta]

This wasn't a tag match as much as it was a preview of two major matches for Starrcade (or so it was thought at the time): Simmons-Rude and Sting-Vader. There was little continuity between the heels until the very end, and only two tags from the faces: Simmons started, tagged Sting in to face Vader, then got the hot tag to set up the finish.

 

Sting-Vader delivered as expected, although they're promoting this like I feared they would long ago: all of a sudden it's a huge deal when Sting gets Vader off his feet, like almost every other face on the roster hasn't done it multiple times. Hell, Simmons did it at the end of this very match.

 

As I've said elsewhere, Vince had this one right: All wrestlers over four hundred pounds should work like 1980s Andre: impossible to budge except by deadly force. There can be exceptions, but they should be rare. Hogan was Andre's, and Sting should have been Vader's. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed long ago, and it's a shame. (Note: This doesn't mean that the wrestler in my example has to move like he's stuck in hardened superglue; he can be as much of an athlete as possible. In fact, that would add to the aura of invincibility that I'm looking to create.)

 

I thought Rude and Simmons worked well together, and I liked Larry explaining how a man like Rude can counter Simmons' power. He also pointed out that Rude changed his approach, ditching the hip swivel and the antics with the crowd. It would have been interesting to see Rude work something close to a no-frills bout to see how he would have done. I liked the all-too brief sequence between Simmons and Vader, and what teamwork we saw from Rude and Vader on Sting was excellent as well.

 

Could someone tell me why the top rope kneedrop to the face was still banned? What rationale did Watts use to explain that? I guess he figured that some part of the rule had to stay in place as a heat-getter, but why that particular part? It made the finish kind of dumb here, especially since Rude got the pin off of the Rude Awakening instead.

 

I liked Rude getting the fall on Simmons, and I wish it would have led to something. I really think that an uninjured Rude might have been a good long-term choice to hold the title until Flair came back to claim it. I know from previewing the '93 match listings that WCW tried a Flair-Rude feud, but Rude was too badly injured to make it work properly. I think they could have had a hell of an angle over Medusa if they'd chosen to go that way, or just stuck to a man-on-man feud over the belt. Either way, it would have been a classic, and Flair going over the man who had run roughshod over WCW for close to two years (at the time of Starrcade '93, which is when I assume Flair would have still won the belt) would have been epic.

 

Everyone on the board knows what a Bobby Heenan fan I am, but I honestly think Larry would have been a better fit as the top commentator in '94, assuming that Jesse was still let go. He's been excellent in every match I've heard him call so far, and he's worked well with both JR and Tony. If you hadn't known his history, you wouldn't have guessed that he was one of the most hated heels in the sport (and a stablemate of Rude's) just a few short months ago.

 

They're still protecting Harley's tough guy rep, at least to an extent. Usually a manager is wiped out by a punch from a babyface, especially a powerhouse like Sting, but Harley stayed on his feet, although he was knocked off the apron.

 

Line of the night goes to Larry: "The only good thing about a cauliflower ear is that it stops hurting." So sayeth the voice of experience.