WWEClassics on Demand Showcase
August 2009

New This Month

• The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. Doom – (NWA Power Hour, 2/23/90)
  

At the Clash of the Champions back on February 6, the Road Warriors got beat up pretty badly with steel chairs at the hands of the New Skyscrapers and Doom had just been unmasked thanks to the Steiners, so both teams are pretty pissed and are here to take their frustrations out on each other. Animal destroys Simmons to start and we get a switch with Reed vs. Hawk. Reed can’t shake a headlock loose and tries an atomic drop, but Hawk counters and gives him a real atomic drop and a clothesline. Tag to Simmons, Hawk closes out a shoulderblock battle with a clothesline. Back in, Animal press slams Reed and Doom talks it out on the floor. Back in again, Hawk stays adamant with an armbar. Reed fights out, but he’s taken down with a hiptoss and a jumping fist drop. Animal tags and grabs the armbar. Simmons gets knocked to the floor, but he pulls the top rope down to bring Animal crashing to the floor. Doom beats him pretty good on the floor and brings him back inside to do more of the same. Double back elbow gets two. Simmons runs into a boot, but clips the knee and tags Reed to cut off the tag. Elbow drop from the second rope from Reed gets two. Simmons cheats a bunch with a chinlock. Double-team suplex gets another nearfall. Reed telegraphs a backdrop, but stops another tag and powerslams Animal. He goes for a splash which he never does, and hits knees. HOT TAG TO HAWK! It turns into a pier-six brawl. Hawk gets dumped, leaving Animal alone with Doom. Hawk shoves Simmons off the top and hits Reed with a FLYING CLOTHESLINE for the 1-2-3. (12:33) Good little power match to set up the Doom/LOD feud for the spring of 1990. **½

• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat vs. Jean Paul Levesque – (WCW Saturday Night, 9/3/94)
  

We’re in the last month of Steamboat’s “regular season” career, which means this was taped prior to the Clash of the Champions where he injured his tail bone to end his career. Interesting to see Triple H wearing bland black tights and white boots. Blacktop Bully (Barry Darsow) yells at Steamboat from the front row. Like most Steamboat matches, he has a lot of fun with a headlock to start. Steamboat catches a boot and catapults Levesque into a back suplex for two. Levesque tries to suplex Steamboat out of a headlock, but Steamboat flips out and tries one of his own until Levesque punches him square in the face when he lifts him up off the ground. Steamboat misses a corner charge and runs shoulder-first into the ringpost. Now Levesque goes to work. Steamboat tries to come back with a clothesline using the hurt arm, which was a BAD idea. He retreats to the floor where Levesque runs him into the ringpost. Back inside, Levesque continues to work the shoulder. Steamboat counters a hammerlock and headbutts Levesque in the gut, but Levesque goes to the eyes and takes Steamboat down into a Fujiwara armbar. Levesque delivers a hammerlock slam and gives one too many as Steamboat counters into an inside cradle for 1-2-3. (7:29) Well that was out of nowhere, but that’s how Steamboat is. Levesque drives Steamboat’s shoulder into the ringpost after the bell just because he can. **¼

• Lex Luger & Ole Anderson vs. Ric Flair & Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon) – Cage Match (NWA Worldwide, 3/5/88)
  

This is during Ole’s brief babyface run when he came back for revenge on the Four Horsemen for leaving him out of the group in favor of Lex Luger, which makes this team quite ironic. Lex and Ole DESTROY Tully on their side of the ring to start. After a commercial break, Luger NO-SELLS Flair’s chops in the corner and gives him a press slam. Blanchard runs in and receives the same punishment. However, Tully saves Flair from a bearhug. They try a double-team clothesline, but Luger ducks and answers back with a clothesline of his own. Ole comes in and starts working over Tully’s arm until he goes to the eyes to put a stop to it. In comes Luger, Tully escapes and tags Flair. Ole blocks a cage shot and sends Flair instead. How about one more time. Flair tries to leave over the cage wall and gets crotched on the top rope. Tully rope walks over and gets taken down to the mat. Ole delivers a ten-count punch, but Flair comes back with a shinbreaker and grabs the FIGURE-FOUR. Arn Anderson is now shown at ringside watching on beside JJ Dillon. Tully comes in and beats on Ole, so Ole gives him a low blow for good measure. HOT TAG TO LUGER! Now we know why he doesn’t do dropkicks very often. Powerslam and a jumping elbow drop to Tully. Flair makes the save, but Ole beats Flair away. Luger school boys Tully for the 1-2-3. (6:52 shown) Arn and JJ enter in to make it four on two until Dusty Rhodes comes in and beats everybody away. **

• Eddie Guerrero & Juventud Guerrera (w/Spyder) vs. Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman (WCW Monday Nitro, 12/28/98)
  

Eddie is pissed at Juvi for losing the triple-threat match with the Cruiserweight champ Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio on the night before at Starrcade – even though Eddie lost his impromptu match with Kidman right after that. Spyder is just the muscle behind the LWO with a spider tattoo on one of his forearms. This seems to be a period where Rey Mysterio was LWO whether he liked it or not. He carried the t-shirt and came out to their music, but he didn’t care anything about them. Weird. Maybe I’ll understand it more once I get to December 1998. Whatever year that will be. 2011? 2035? Who knows. Juvi does all he can to calm Eddie down to start. Anyways, Mysterio starts with Eddie. He delivers a back suplex, but Rey flips out of a second one and they run the ropes ending with Guerrero charging into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tag to Juvi, he tries to convince Eddie that he will NOT disappoint this time. Now Kidman tags in and with Juvi distracted with LWO business, Kidman starts unloading on him with clotheslines. Juventud comes back with a wheelbarrow bulldog and checks with Eddie on how he’s doing. Kidman avoids a corner charge and tags Mysterio for a Bronco Buster. Juvi crawls over to Eddie, who’s propped up in the corner. Eddie still isn’t pleased or so we thought as they charge at Kidman and Rey. Juventud saves Eddie by taking Kidman down with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, but Rey springboard dropkicks Juvi into Eddie. They go tumbling out to the floor as Kidman and Mysterio follow up with STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS! Commercials! We come back to see Kidman fighting out of a chinlock slapped on by Juvi. He misses a dropkick in the corner, allowing Kidman to deliver a tornado bulldog. Mysterio gets the tag and delivers a crucifix into a headscissors, but Eddie breaks up the pin and gives Rey a NASTY powerbomb for 1-2-NO! Juvi catches Rey with a springboard body press off Eddie’s shoulders for two. Eddie hits the Hilo and then abuses Rey in the corner with some chops. Gory Special into a helicopter spin gets two. The LWO keeps up the double-team moves now as Juvi springboard legdrops Rey off Eddie’s shoulders for 1-2-NO! Kidman continues to make the save for his partner. Kind of a dumb spot as Eddie takes Rey over to Kidman and goes to whip him into Juvi’s foot, but Rey reverses and Guerrero eats the boot. Kidman softens the blow off a corner whip for Rey, but then Eddie charges and gets launched into Juvi. HOT TAG TO KIDMAN! Juvi gets dumped as Kidman lifts Eddie up for a powerbomb, but Mysterio adds in the exclamation point with a springboard senton for 1-2-NO! Juventud saves, but gets dumped again. Eddie goes for a powerbomb on Kidman, but everybody knows you can’t powerbomb Kidman. Face slam sets up a Springboard Leg Drop for 1-2-NO! Juvi gets blocked by Rey, but Eddie still manages to lift up his shoulder. Kidman and Rey whip Eddie and Juvi into each other as Mysterio hits a jumping X-Factor on Juvi while Kidman delivers a Sitout Spinebuster to Guerrero. As Kidman heads to the top, Guerrero launches Rey into him off a charge. They collide and Eddie dumps Rey for a somersault plancha from Juvi. Meanwhile, Eddie tosses Kidman into the ring for a FROG SPLASH, which gets the 1-2-3. (13:50) Loads of action, but the crowd seemed to deflate the match. Three nights later, Eddie would be involved in a terrible alcohol-induced car crash that nearly ended his life. ***¼

• Ultimo Dragon vs. Kidman – (WCW Monday Nitro, 2/16/98)
  

So Ultimo Dragon takes on the guy from Raven’s Flock who keeps on scratching himself: Kidman. Dragon gets bumrushed right at the bell. He’s all “NAH BRO!” off a whip, but Kidman sends him anyway and catches Dragon with an elbow when he tries a leapfrog. Dragon does the handstand on the top turnbuckle and mule kicks Kidman away. You’d think people would learn. Wow, Dragon busts out the Terry Funk rolling cradle and gets two. Kidman catches Dragon with a hotshot and follows up with a slingshot headscissors takedown. He hits a slingshot legdrop for two and then continues with some heel stuff. Dragon counters a headlock into a headscissors, but Kidman makes the ropes. Dragon telegraphs a backdrop, but flips out of Kidman’s backdrop and unleashes his lethal kick combo. I LOVE IT! Dragon busts out the giant swing and gets six repetitions. Quebrada misses, but Dragon ranas Kidman into a series of rollups and gets two. Our esteemed Nitro commentators finally stop blathering on about the nWo and call the match. Dragon kicks away an attempt at a running bulldog out of the corner, but Kidman grabs a quick powerslam for two. Kidman heads up top and gets crotched for the DRAGONSTEINER! Kidman escapes the DRAGON SLEEPER, but it still sucks for him because he gets kicked in the back of the head every time he does! Kidman hits a Michinoku Driver out of nowhere for 1-2-NO! Kidman tries a suplex, but Dragon flips out into the DRAGON SLEEPER! That’ll do. (6:52) Loved the back and forth stuff between these two. They had some real good Nitro matches together in those days. ***

• NWA World Television Champion Nikita Koloff vs. Mike Rotunda (w/Kevin Sullivan) – (NWA Pro, 1/26/88)
  

The classic JR and Bob Caudle are on commentary. This is real early in the history of the awesome underrated stable known as The Varsity Club. A little bit of Rotunda stalling to start. He clamps on a headlock and when Nikita gets off a couple slams and goes for the SICKLE, Rotunda heads out to regroup with the ‘bizarre looking’ Kevin Sullivan. Back in, Koloff grabs a headlock and Rotunda tries to turn him over into a pin with his feet on the ropes, but Nikita won’t allow it. Commercial break. Now Rotunda has a headscissors on Koloff. From there, Rotunda works a hammerlock and changes over into an armbar. Nikita fires back and grabs a headlock. And just as JR mentions how clean this match has been, Rotunda low blows Nikita to escape. Rotunda whiffs on a dropkick, allowing Nikita to come back with a chinlock. Here comes fellow Varsity Club member Rick Steiner to stir the pot up a little. Rotunda battles out, but Nikita reverses a corner charge. Three minutes left in the 20-minute time limit. Ten-count corner punches! Jumping shoulderblock connects for 1-2-NO! Rick Steiner grabs Koloff’s foot which distracts the ref. Meanwhile, Koloff drills Rotunda with the SICKLE. With Hebner’s back still turned to Steiner, Sullivan comes in and jabs Nikita in the throat with something. Here comes the ref, cover from Rotunda gets three. (13:47 shown) NEW TV CHAMP! I’m not sure what I was expecting from this match. Maybe if it was longer and had more of a story, I’d have dug it more like the Nikita/Taylor match from Starrcade ’87 that I LOVE. Anyways, it’s a basic title switch. Nothing too interesting, but it puts over the ideology of the Varsity Club – they’ll wrestle you all night long, but they’ll stab you in the throat with a foreign object in a heartbeat. **

Last Month’s Videos (July)

• Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect – (Maple Leaf Gardens, 4/23/89)
  

And the monthly Bret/Perfect matches continue with a gem from Toronto. A day later, these two would meet in MSG, which is featured on the Mr. Perfect DVD AND in my June WWEClassics on Demand Showcase post. Basic Bret-Perfect stuff to start with both men taking turns shoving each other out of a tie-up. Bret controls with a headlock for a while and gets a few nearfalls (including a crucifix!) on Perfect just to get him all upset. They do the slam exchange where they kick each other away to prevent a pinfall. Bret clotheslines Perfect out to the ramp way, causing Perfect to take a long timeout. Back in, Perfect gets a cheapshot off a tie-up and hits Bret with a knee lift. Perfect sends Bret to the floor, culminating with a trip off the apron to the guardrail. Back inside, Perfect reverses a corner whip to send Bret into the buckles chest-first for 1-2-NO! They head to the ramp way again where Perfect slams Bret’s chest hard on the ramp. Perfect works a spinning toe hold, but Bret kicks him off into the corner. Bret goes to work on the arm with hammerlocks. Bret tries another crucifix, which naturally fails. Perfect falls back on top of him and starts kicking at the abs. Bret reverses an ab stretch, but Perfect hiptosses out. Bret kicks off an O’Connor roll to send Perfect on the floor. He takes Perfect out with a pescado and brings him back inside for a suplex. That gets two. Backbreaker and a flying vertical elbow hits when the bell rings. (20:00) Ahh! Don’t worry, Bret. You’ll get him in 1991. We see the same shenanigans pulled at MSG as Bret wants five more minutes, but Perfect makes the valid point that he couldn’t beat him in twenty minutes, so what’s another five minutes going to solve? Perfect pearl harbors Bret, but gets crotched up top and beat back to the locker room. This one has a little more crowd heat, but this was every bit as good as their MSG match a day later. ***½

Bob Backlund

• WWWF World Champion Bob Backlund (w/Arnold Skaaland) vs. Greg Valentine (w/The Grand Wizard) – (Madison Square Garden, 3/26/79)
  

These two went to a 60-minute draw at the February 1979 MSG show – now Valentine gets a rematch with no time limit. It’s the Joe-Punk feud of the ’70s! The Grand Wizard seems to manage every opponent Backlund has. Why not just have Backlund beat the crap out of the Grand Wizard so badly that he leaves the fed so Backlund can be champ forever? Valentine stalls a bunch by just circling around Backlund inside the ring. Once they do lock up, Valentine spends the better half of five minutes trying to knot up Backlund’s hamstrings with knee strikes. When that doesn’t matter, he puts Backlund down with repeated elbows to the top of the head. Valentine grabs a front facelock and the crowd starts to get restless with the slower pace. Backlund uses his midsection to muster up the strength to slam Valentine off him, so Valentine drives his knee into Backlund’s ribs. Valentine grabs a modified surfboard with his knee stuck in Backlund’s side. You can literally hear fans at times shouting, “SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!” Valentine applies an early version of the Regal Stretch. Backlund escapes and gives Valentine a good slam, but Backlund misses an elbow drop. Valentine tries to get the pin on the mat with a knucklelock, but Backlund shows us just how flexible he is with some awesome bridges. They trade off on a half crab, leading into a back and forth row boat pin. This is SO ’70s! It almost leads to a double pin. Backlund reapplies the half crab and when Valentine counters, Backlund manages a monkey flip to set up the FIGURE-FOUR, which is Valentine’s finisher! The crowd goes completely nuts as they think Valentine just might submit to his own hold. Valentine finds the ropes and reverses the hold over Backlund for a moment. Valentine stays on the leg until Backlund starts firing off some forearms until they knock each other silly. Valentine catches Backlund charging the corner and nails him with an elbow on the top of the head. Valentine drops the Hammer and gets 1-2-NO! Valentine thinks he’s won and turns away to celebrate, so Backlund comes up behind him and delivers the ATOMIC DROP for the real 1-2-3. (30:56) Due to its length and lack of (total?) non-stop action that we’re used to nowadays, it’s probably not for everyone. Great story told though, but I think their feud in 1981 made for better matches. ***

Final Thoughts: You guys are fantastic at requesting things. And that is all I have to say about that.