[1994-04-17-WCW-Spring Stampede] Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs Nasty Boys

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[flyonthewall2983]

Watching this again, there's a chair shot Sags gives Payne, a really nasty (no pun intended) shot with a folding chair that's folded out that still makes me wince.

[Johnny Guitar]

I remember the massive amount of buzz this match created at the time.

 

In fact this whole card had a massive buzz at the time. (Coupled with Slamboree the next month). It felt like WCW had turned a corner. The whole card was great. They'd drawn their biggest crowd (five figures)in North america since 1990. They had a bunch of good vet's Flair, Arn, Steamboat who could still go. Guy's in their prime, Sting and vader and guys with a future ,Austin, Pillman & Foley.

 

Then along came Hogan.

 

Which isn't totally fair. Because he drew them some money and got them some recognition.

 

But man did he derail the momentum artisically, at least for a few years.

 

 

Anyway about this match. Foley taking the nesta plunge off the ramp and Sags smacking him in the head with the snow shovel is brutal!

[El-P]

The first few months of WCW before Hogan showed up were great. Hogan totally fucked the product. There's a streak of great PPV just before Hogan comes in, and then look at Starrcade 94...

[flyonthewall2983]

It makes me wonder what would have happened if Vince held onto the older guys, and let Bret and Shawn slip through his fingers and went to WCW in '92 or '93. Would Bischoff have recognized their talent enough for WCW to go in the opposite direction? I'm guessing not, because I don't think that was ever his strong suit. He had guys like Rhodes and Sullivan that recognized the skills better, and had a pretty established track record as far as that. I'm guessing that must have been part of the reason why Vince shifted the focus to the younger talent, because that unrest Bret and Shawn talked about on their DVD of having to play 2nd banana to the bigger talent must have been quite palpable to.

[Loss]

Insane brawl! My favorite moment is when Cactus is covering one of the Nasties and gets smacked with a surprise shovel out of nowhere. Ten minutes of mayhem. I see this and get pissed off at matches like these getting overdone and the spots getting gratuitous or being played for comedy like they were in the early 00s famed hardcore division. This was excellent, and felt more violent and unpredictable than most weapons-heavy brawls like this of the past decade. It's only 10 minutes, but there was no need for them to go longer.

[Kevin Ridge]

Two referees assigned which is cool because you knew would be needed in a match like this. Match gets going right away. They are immediately beating the crap out of each other with weapons. Some pretty rough looking headshots with weapons. Cactus suplexing the table on Sags was great and then gets hit with a shovel! That was cool as Knobbs came out of nowhere with that. Camera works isn't the best here as they don't seem to know how to shoot this. Cactus bumping on to the floor was brutal. Glad that was the finish. Match was quite the sight to see.

[Exposer]

I LOVE this match. What a fucking insane brawl! Mick's bump off the ramp followed by the shovel to the head execution style is a tremendous and horrifying finish. It went 10 minutes but dammit it doesn't need more than that. They were killing one of other. Man, what a wild match this was. Great, great, brutality.

[soup23]

THis was probably my first introduction to a weapons style match and holds up over time. It is the right length and really portrays an out of control nature. Cactus took some loony bumps.

[BackToBionic]

Pretty good "street fight" clothes from a bunch of guys who always dress like they're in a street fight.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WCW World Tag Team Champions Nasty Boys vs Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne - WCW Spring Stampede 1994

Incredible! Violent, short but sweet. ECW was just getting in their groove but this was better than any ECW garbage match I can think of. Mayhem and organic.

As good as having two refs was, they needed more cameras in place for the finish. I think the finish was hurt by the fact that Cactus's wicked "back of the head to the concrete" bump felt totally upstaged by Payne/Knobs (they were in the foreground) even though that was the bump that directly led to the finish. At Superbrawl IV, the central hook of the match was that exact bump and it really got played up to max effect.

Probably my favorite weapons-laden, tour of the arena matches. I usually hate those type of matches because of the annoying guide your opponent to a spot transition. This one just felt organic and violent. American wrestling could use one of these right now. Saggs blasting everyone with chairs. The concession stand portion was great, but the finish was incredible. The shovel shot to Cactus head before he could cover was disgusting and that bump off the ramp on the back of his head to concrete always gets an oh my fucking God from me. Sags mercy killing shovel shot to Cactus head is excessive but fits the violence of the match.

I do not think anyone has mentioned this so I think this definitely is one of the all time great Tony Schiavone quotes"

"I dont think that shirt even fits him!" - when Payne grabs a Nasty Boys shirt from the merch stand and chokes Knobs with it.

Total garbage spotfest! Loved every minute! ****1/2

[El-P]

Funny to re-read my comment from a few montsh ago before I got to watch the whole WCW TV from that era. Which wasn't great at all infact.

 

Anyway, insane brawl, yeah, felt organic, violent and chaotic, yeah, because it actually was. That being said, it's basically Foley + three shitty workers busting stuff over their heads. Without Foley bumping it's not much of anything of note. I always chuckle when I think Saggs accused Scott Hall of injuring him and ending his career by being careless. Saggs accusing anyone of being careless is pretty damn rich. So yeah, fun for what it was, except for unecessary stiff shots to the head at the end. It's the only fun match involving the Nasties and Payne, most probably because it doesn't take much, if any ability.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Heenan was also great calling this match.

 

This was my first exposure to a WCW ppv. I knew about the NWA/WCW through magazines and sometimes seeing Saturday night if we were at a hotel, but I never had a chance to watch an entire PPV or even complete show. My dad knew a guy who usually sent us the WWF PPVs and then one day this tape showed up in the mail. My brother and I were in shock when we watched it. It was awesome! And this match might have been the best of them all.

 

I wonder if Foley told the production crew about his big bump beforehand. It would have been nice if they were in position to catch the entire impact. I know in his book, Foley talks a bit about getting pissed at Shiavone for underselling some of his big bumps, but this one wasn't Shiavone's fault.

[goodhelmet]

I am not as high on this match as everyone else. After watching the entire card, it was my 2nd least favorite match on the show. Maybe I need to be in the right state of mind but I was hoping for less wandering around. The setup spots were great like destroying the merch table and the shovel spots. The table breaking reminded me of Angle getting a concussion at Summerslam 2000. Foley is an idiot.

[PeteF3]

I actually liked the haphazard camera work--it added to the chaotic feel of the match. They *shouldn't* know how to shoot this, and I appreciate the lack of Double Features and replays. It all adds to moments like the one mentioned above of Knobbs coming out of nowhere with a shovel. Jack suplexing the table was terrific as well. There's lots of jerking off here with all the shots to the head, but no one here has killed any family members yet so I feel a lot less guilty about it. Yes, it's just a bunch of weapons shots, but it still feels fresh in this setting and the pace is tremendous. This was something viewers of Big Two-only wrestling hadn't seen in years, if ever.

[Zenjo]

So where in America is the State of Euphoria again? This was a blast. 10m of wild, out of control brawling, with great energy and a scorching hot crowd. Plenty of weapon usage and little ring time. The Nasties were sloppy and dangerous, which really helped on this rare occasion. Then you had Foley bumping like only he would and could. Cactus was in his element here. Payne fitted in as well and it all felt so fresh. At the time it had originality on its side also. As good as you could hope for.

[PhilTLL]

Watching this again, there's a chair shot Sags gives Payne, a really nasty (no pun intended) shot with a folding chair that's folded out that still makes me wince.

This match and several others make a pretty good case that Sags is the best/worst weapon user in wrestling history. He throws weapon shots like nobody ever taught him how to work them.

[cowboy hats]

lol at Schiavone, during Austin-Muta, asking if anyone knows whether or not Cactus is still alive.

[Beast]

Every time I watch this, I'm struck by how perfect the flow of it is. I typically don't like hardcore matches because of the waiting game in between big spots, but this felt organic and brutal throughout. The haphazard camerawork added to the chaos and Tony & Bobby were great selling the toughness of the competitors.

 

There are specific moments that have always stuck with me, most of which have already been mentioned in this thread. The unfolded chair shot, the table suplex, Foley's trademark guardrail bump, Foley giving and taking the Cactus clothesline, the shovel out of nowhere, the table breaking early, the Nestea plunge, the shovel being thrown off the ramp onto Foley and the shovel to the face finish. This doesn't feel choreographed, but it's obvious much of this had to have been planned out.

 

Final takeaway this time is that WCW's ramp setup led to a ton of memorable big show moments and it's too bad it never crossed over to WWE. From what i remember, this must have been near the end of the ramp usage because by the Nitro era I don't think it was ever around.

[cactus]

I don't quite rate this as high as others, but I thought this match was a well done Attitude Era hardcore match, years before the Attitude Era was a thing. This is well paced and doesn't outstay it's welcome. That sloppy table bump was bad, but they more than make up for it with horrendous stage bump from Cactus at the end. Was it unnecessary and unsafe? Yeah. But did it entertain me? Of course. 

★★★

[Edwin]

Absolute chaos. This would've fit in perfectly on an FMW Korakuen Hall card. No joke, this was an Onita Pro main event without Onita, barbed wire, blood or Yaguchi taking reckless Thunderfire Powerbombs. They even had the botched table spot with Sags and Cactus crashing through a table as Sags tried to hit a piledriver through it. The chaotic presentation of the entire thing and even having two refs. brought the belief that it could end in either exchange. I was entertained throughout the entirety of it.