[1994-05-01-NJPW-Wrestling Dontaku] Sting vs Rick Rude

[Loss]

Sting defends the WCW International World Heavyweight Title.  Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Really funny to see how the Japanese crowd reacts to Sting and Rude not working anything resembling a Japan-style match. It seems like they should have done a little more than they did when in Rome. Rude wins with a kneedrop off the top rope, and his music is the infinitely superior 1992 pre-Slam Jam track!

 

Rude walks out without a problem, so I'm not sure exactly when he got the injury that made this his last match.

[Bix]

The injury (watch Rude's landing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EbWHo2is9I

 

The one thing that always struck me about this match and something that Meltzer kept asking in the WONs at the time: Who the hell was Lady Love and why did he have a Japan-only valet?

 

Also, did I miss the posts or are the Rude-Hase title switches not on the yearbook?

[Kevin Ridge]

I was looking closely to try see the injury here but that youtube footage made me cringe. Awful bump to have to take. Pretty sad actually. I was trying to figure out too who the valet with Rude was. Japanese audiences didn't like sport entertainment booking here.

[Exposer]

The Japanese were confused here. I suppose Rude had a nice little last walk up the ramp after winning a big title. It's unfortunate that he couldn't get back in the ring like he was trying to do before he died. Important footage here.

[soup23]

Rude still seems to be working pretty well after the injury. Short reign for Sting which is a shame given big his pop was for the win. Nice final moment of Rude's career. I found it amusing that the belt already had his name on it.

[DocSarpolis]

Yeah, it's too bad we didn't get clipped versions of the incredible Rude-Hase matches or a longer jip'd version of this so that the back bump was in there. That back bump is among the defining moments of 1994 pro wrestling and should have made the set.

[El-P]

After watching Rude for the last year and a half, I can't say I'll miss him that much on WCW rings. He just wasn't the same worker he was in 1992. I really wonder how good he would have been in 1999 if he had made his comeback. Still, pretty sad to see a career end on a really bad injury. The bump is awful.

[PeteF3]

Total American-style match, with Rude's tights getting pulled down and doing his comedic atomic drop selling. And a REF BUMP. And Rude using his valet (whoever she is-- looks like Marisa Tomei but I suspect it's not her) as a shield! Where AM I?? Crowd is reacting to all the right things, I have to admit that. Sting kicks out of a belt shot but Rude executes a piledriver and kneedrop off the top to regain the NWA title. No sign of a major injury from the footage we see, though Rude certainly seems to be in pain after the match. God speed, Rick--his work fell off badly but just as with his buddy Mr. Perfect in the WWF, I think the promotion is worse off without him. Sadly things won't end well for either man.