1993 Discussion

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Steve Regal v Ricky Steamboat (Saturday Night, 9/25/93)
- These guys could wrestle every week for a year and it still wouldn't be enough. Steamboat is major pissed off this time, even more so than at Fall Brawl, and attacks Regal before the bell even rings. First 6 or so minutes are ALL Steamboat and he just goes to town on Regal. Jesse on commentary bitches constantly about how Steamboat's broken every rule in the book, and really, this is about as gung ho as I've ever seen Steamboat. Really gives the impression that he only cares about whooping this fool. Regal's great when he takes over, totally laying into Steamboat with some vicious looking forearms right to the nose. Big overhand bad boys from a snarling Englishman. Cool finish that gives Steamboat a bit of payback from the PPV, too. There are 4 matches between these two (that made TV anyway; I'm not including ther handheld) on Goodhelmet's Regal set up to this point, and right now I could see myself voting for 3 of them at least. Wouldn't expect this one to go very high, but their Fall Brawl match could. ***1/4

Steve Regal v Arn Anderson (Saturday Night, 10/9/93)
- Not spectacularly great or anything, but definitely something a fan of these two would want to see. Arn controlling by working the arm is about as good a section as Steamboat's in the Fall Brawl match. Then Dundee jabs him in the ribs with the umbrella and Regal takes over, although I didn't think Regal in control here was as good as Regal in control in the last two matches with Steamboat. Dundee's a weasly little shit on the floor as well, always on hand to dish a cheapshot should it be required, and I dig that kinda thing in my pro-wrestling managers. He's especially great at the end when it looks like Arn's gonna get the win. The finish itself is mistimed by a few seconds, but Dundee jumping around like a maniac is enough to negate that minor quibble. Comparing this to the Scorpio match, Regal trying to run out the clock down the stretch makes sense. Arn's picking up a head of steam, so it's best just to put it in the deep freeze. There's way too much stuff from the '89-'94 period that I like as much or more than this to say whether I'll toss a vote its way or not, but if you like these guys at all then check this out. Their Superbrawl match from 2/94 is coming up on one of the later discs, so I'm pretty excited about seeing that in good VQ for the first time in...ever, I think. ***1/4[b]

Vader Vs Ricky Steamboat Saturday Night 09/10/1993
Steamboat attacks Race... ummm... at some point (there was a commercial break before the match started, so I’m not sure if Steamboat went for Race before the match started or after lol), and while trying to lock in the figure four, Vader hits a splash and begins to go to work on the Dragon.

Steamboat channels Bob Backlund at one point, doing the old “can’t get back in the ring” schtick that can be awesome as hell if done right. He’s not on Backlund’s level here, but he does a good job at it anyway lol.

Punches to the face, a splash from the second rope and a couple of belly shots have Steamboat almost completely out of it, but he slowly starts to make a comeback, moving out of the way here, getting a shot in there, until he regains his composure and really starts mounting an offence, including hitting a vertical suplex and a back suplex on the champ! A suplex by Bulldog was impressive, but from a smaller, not even close to being a strong guy like Steamboat, it’s pretty fucking amazing tbh!

The Dragon throws everything he can at the champ, including a guard rail! But that, along with a chop off the ropes and a cross body are still not enough to slow the big man down much!

The ref takes a bump when Vader decks him in a weird spot that I’m not entirely sure what happened. Gonna guess the ref was just meant to get in between Vader and Steamboat as Vader was clocking him, and then he would take a punch to the face, but it came across more as Vader clocking the ref for the hell of it lol.

While the ref is out, some bounty hunter wrestler guy shows up to take out Steamboat, but Cactus Jack shows up with a shovel to even the odds! Ref wakes up and calls for the bell.

Yet another really fucking fun TV match between these two. Strange that this takes place the week before the Human Cage match, which I have seen, yet I have only seen their previous TV match and the HCM, and not this one. Have to check the Steamboat listings to see if this is on the set or not lol, as that might explain a few things .

Just looked, and nope, this one isn’t on the Steamboat set, so that’s why I didn’t see it before .

Anyway, yeah, fun, and a great match too. Probably a little better than their previous TV match, but without the epicly awesome Vader “dive over the rope to kill Steamboat” spot lol.

Vader Vs Ricky Steamboat – Saturday Night 16/10/1993
Already seen this match, and reviewed it, but fuck it, it was so awesome I wanna do it again!

This is a Human Cage Match, which is just a Lumberjack match. Why the stupid name? Fuck knows lol. Also, how come these two men didn’t have a PPV match? This is the 3rd title match between the two to take place on TV. Then again, I guess with only a couple of PPV’s in the year, they were just filling the time between them with something awesome, and then saving Cactus/Vader for the PPV.

The match starts much slower than their other matches, with Vader shoving Steamboat around but not causing any damage. One push sends Steamboat out of the ring to the heel side, and things nearly kick off as Steamboat wants to get back in the ring himself but the heels want to throw him back the hard way, causing the babyfaces to come to his aid.

Once back in the ring, Vader decides that playtime is over, and face caving time has begun! My god the shots Vader throws out are just so awesome. It has been said before, by me, Andy, and everyone else on here that watches Vader matches, but the shots in THIS match just seem so much better than usual.

I mentioned in my previous review about the Rocky movie similarities, and I still get that feeling this time around. Steamboat takes those shots in the corner, but keeps getting up and asking for more, and Vader is more than happy to keep them coming. The Dragon takes everything the champ gives him, and keeps coming back. He eventually moves out of the way of a Vader Splash on the outside, and Vader does his signature guardrail bump, and Steamboat finally gets a break!

Having already faced Vader on a couple of occasions, Steamboat knows he needs to throw everything he can at the champ if he even hopes to win. A sort of superplex (looks more like a DDT from the ropes lol), a DDT, a figure four and a huge back suplex are all high impact or highly painful moves, but not even those can keep Big Van Vader down!!! The booking of Vader as a beast and champion in 1993 was beyond epic. From what I have seen of his 1993 so far I’d probably consider him to be one of the better World Champions EVER. He dominated and looked unbeatable, but at the same time he could make you believe that his opponents would have a shot at taking the title from him when they were having a comeback etc.

Speaking of believable, it’s amazing that I can actually believe and accept and whatever other word for it you wanna put, that Steamboat can take Vader’s punches to the head and fire his own shots back, get to his feet and actually back Vader into a corner and out punch the guy! Again I go back to the Rocky similarities, with Rocky being out matched in power against guys like Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago, but managing to take their shots and come back with his own and even get the better of them as time goes on because he has more heart and more stamina too. Steamboat is the Rocky Balboa of wrestling.

The Human Cage stipulation comes into play for the finish which I really like. Vader is sent out of the ring, and everyone runs around to try and get him in, and the faces and heels get into it a little while doing this. Sid however, decides to let everyone else deal with Vader, and while the ref is distracted by all that, Powerbombs Steamboat in the ring, allowing Vader to get the 3 count!

Just an awesome match, and I’m really glad it made it on a DVD too (Rise & Fall of WCW I think? Or the Steamboat set? One of the two lol). Vader’s shots look better here than I’ve ever seen them look. Steamboat takes them like a man, and his selling is nothing short of incredible. Hard to believe that I like this more on a rewatch, because I fucking loved it the first time around lol. There is a spot in my top 10 for this match, no matter what else I watch!

Arn Anderson vs. Steven Regal - Saturday Night 10/9/93
Regal goes by "Steven," wears lordly clothes, and snarls: he must be working heel. Match opens similar to the Superbrawl match, with Arn out-grappling Regal and working the arm. Awesome spot where Regal does a fancy cartwheel, so Arn elbows him in the face. Feeling-out stages don't last nearly as long as the Superbrawl match, which might sometimes be a good thing, except these two are so fun in the early stages that I actually prefer the extended version. Regal takes control thanks to Sir William's umbrella. As Andy mentioned, William rocks it at ringside and whomps on Arn at every opportunity. It's all perfectly timed. Regal goes to town on Arn's ribs and it's good but not great, and the finishing stretch is also good but not great. Not nearly as dramatic as the SB finishing stretch, and the finish is slightly mistimed, whereas the SB finish was pretty rad. Thought this was very good but less fun and less dramatic than the SB match, which is more likely to make my list than this one.

Vader vs. Ricky Steamboat - Saturday Night 10/9/93
Back from commercial, and Steamboat is wailing on Race. Vader splashes Steamboat and we go: no dancing around. Vader on offense, Steamboat on defense: it works. Vader tosses Steamboat's throat on the guard rail and thrashes the throat. Steamboat's comeback starts with Vader whiffing a cross-body and going over the top rope-- awesome spot. Steamboat then unloads and throws the guardrail at Vader for revenge. Bossy. Then a ref bump and a bummer finish. Good match with obviously some great spots, but not their best together. Vader whomping Steamboat was good here but much better elsewhere. Something seemed oddly off, and the finish stunk.

Steven Regal v Ricky Steamboat (Saturday Night 25/9/93)
--Someone could say this was better than the Fall Brawl match and I'd totally get it. I don;t think it is, and i have it lower, but I watched it twice in one day and is actually a better ten minute match than the Arn/Steamboat from 21/3/92 (or 28/3/92, Idk). Steamboat jumps Regal from the time bell goes and the crowds gone into studio-Memphis mode adoring everything that's going on and watching Regal get thrown around in delight. He takes his LORDSHIP to the utside and Regal gets pasted to the floor, evetually getting in the ring and using bite tactics becasue he wants this fucker to feel PAIN. Regal's "shock" selling is so great, and his "desperation need to win this thing" offense is even better. He keeps Steamboat more grounded here, I thought, and it was evident that whenever Steamboat would get his offense back he'd use a chop or a head-into-turnbuckle rather than a submission. Steamboat might be the greatest ever babyface at creating hope spots. Once DUNDEE gets involved Steamboat reverses the advantage and gets the pin and it's awesome.

Vader vs Ricky Steamboat, WCW Title, Human Cage Match, Saturday Night 16/10/1993
And this was that better match I knew they were capable of, really smartly worked lumberjack match which plays off well from the Worldwide match earlier in the year. Vader toys with Steamboat early on by delaying punching him and they tease dissention amongst the lumberjacks early with Steamboat trying to get back in the ring and the heels trying to rougly force him in. Goes without saying for both men but Vader's punches and Steamboat's selling are both something very special: Steamboat does this great sell after a flurry of brutal Vader punches where he almost falls to his right side into the ropes in the corner before almost turning his head 360 as he gets up and then there's this terrific bit of selling after a top rope Vader clothesline where Steamboat bumps hard into the canvas and then twitches his left arm like he's gone into the shock from the impact. I also dug how Steamboat sold the wear and tear with how weak some of his punches and kicks became the more he utilised them during his first bit of offence. Also enjoyed him busting out a DDT, back suplex and top rope suplex/DDT before locking in a figure four leglock to try and put the big man down.

Really dug as well how Vader noticeably slowed down and looked more sluggish the more the match went on, realy made it look like Steamboat had successfully managed to outlast the onslaught and made Vader punch himself out. Finish was terrific I thought in utilising the match structure as well as being the ultimate heartbreaker: Vader looks a broken man and as he collapses to the floor from a Steamboat crossbody a struggle breaks out between the lumberjacks to get him into the ring and during this Sid Vicious sneaks him and drops Steamboat with the powerbomb which allows Vader to slowly sneak him and hit a splash for the win. Really great in making Steamboat look to have done everything no-one else could do in taking Vader to the limit and on the verge of defeat only to be cheated out of the match by Vicious.

Also: "Those guys better watch out or the ShockMaster will fall and trip all over them"- Jesse Ventura

****1/4

Arn Anderson v Steven Regal (Saturday Night 9/10/93)
--These two don't match up as well as they should. I really, really like their SuperBrawl IV 30 minute one, but even that, I don't know. "Arn Anderson vs. Steven Regal for 30 minutes" is an on-paper wet dream for me, and it's not *everything* I want, you know? Either way, they've never had a bad match together, either, and this definitely wasn't. Honestly the more I watch the more I think it's because Anderson just should not be a babyface. He works the arm, and it's okay, but it's way, way, way, way more fascinating and believable when he's a heel, because he's got more room for cheating his way out of things and creating openings for transactions, etc. Arn's babyface facial expressions and mannerisms really aren't great either. I thought his stuff during this time not being too great *may* have just been because he was over the hill at this point, but he's still top stuff the next year once he turns on Dustin, so I'm convinced it's this babyface thing. Match goes the fifteen minute time limit, and the final parts are a little disappointing; I really don't like WCW pulling out these draws only for the wrestlers to kill time in the last few minutes and not really get anywhere. It's really the same thing: babyface hits finisher at 8 second mark, pretends he's so out of energy he can't cover, and once he does at the 2 second mark, it's too late. This wasn't bad, but I'd be fine and dandy never watching it again.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Dick Slater - Saturday Night 7/17/93
Really good match. Not voting for it, but I dug it. The back & forth is fine, but it really takes off when Slater starts to work the knee. He wrenches & cheats & Dustin sells very well. It's all very fun. Worth watching, for sure. If I'd watched it 6 months ago, I'd've thrown it on the maybe pile, but at this point, I know I won't have space for it.

Steven Regal vs. Brad Armstrong - Saturday Night 8/28/93
Even better. Regal's the "best scientific wrestler" in the world, but Armstrong outwrestles him. Fun grappling to start, & then Regal wails on Armstrong for a while. Really cool story stuff: Armstrong beats Regal at his own game, so Regal resorts to brawling & then cheating. Good ten minute match. Again, not something I'll vote for, but worth a watch.

Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat - Saturday Night 1/9/93
Do folks ever talk about this match? Why not? Both guys are great, & it's very good, maybe even great. It's well-worked & intelligently structured, & they go 15-20, & yeah, y'all would dig it. Not certain I'll vote for it, but I'm THINKING about it. Windham goes for Steamboat's arm early. Steamboat does revenge work on Windham's arm. Good selling! Steamboat busts out a slick bridging grounded hammerlock. Windham takes over & goes to town on Steamboat's knee. Great selling! On Steamboat's comeback, he tries again for revenge work. He puts Windham in a figure-four. Windham punches the injured knee. Great storytelling! Ref bump & DQ finish. Not the MOST satisfying, but the DQ was actually kinda cool. Don't think I'd seen it before. Check this match out!

Dustin Rhodes vs. Ricky Steamboat - Saturday Night 1/23/93
Yeah, this was pretty good. Not essential, but I enjoyed it. They like each other & play nice until tempers flare, & then it gets hotter, but too roll-up/near-fall heavy for my liking. Time runs out

Ricky Steamboat vs. Steven Regal - Saturday Night 9/25/93
Not gonna vote for this, but this pairing is so terrific. One of my favorites. Steamboat comes out pissed because Regal took his title at Fall Brawl. Lengthy section of Steamboat on offense; cool transition spot; Regal works him over; good finishing stretch. Yeah, great little 10 minute match. Everyone should check it out. Doubt it'll get votes. Fall Brawl is significantly better. Doubt anyone won't like it.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Brian Pillman - LUMBERJACK - Saturday Night 2/20/93
Dug this, too. Not going to vote for it, but someone who likes Pillman more than I do might consider tossing a vote its way. Austin & Douglas at ringside as lumberjacks allows them to work tag team cheating spots, which is actually really cool. Blondes get to do all their shit. Heel lumberjacks help Austin cheat. For some reason, it seems like Foley is the only guy actually trying to stop Austin. But whatever. Anyway, good 20 minute match with a really cool dynamic for a singles match. Worth checking out.

Dustin & Flair vs. Sid & Rude - Saturday Night 9/18/93
Thought I was going to vote for this until the finish sucked. But yeah, it's mostly bossy. Dustin comes in injured & gets worked over. They go to town on his back. Plenty of awesome spots. Great hope spots, cut-offs, etc. I'm not the biggest fan of 93 Flair, but he's really great on the apron. He brings plenty of personality. You understand. But yeah, Dustin is a fucking STAR. Hot tag is great, too. Then it gets clusterfucky & DQy. Don't let a guy work a 15-minute (maybe?) FIP spell & then not give us a payoff. Come on. Still worth watching.

Vader & Austin vs. Flair & Arn - WCWSN 11/13/93 - Plenty to like; plenty to dislike. 30 minutes of good work from great workers doesn't yield a great match. It's plenty stiff, but I never felt the hate. Live crowd didn't feel it, either. They buzzed but didn't roar. First half felt unstructured, which was the intent, but I wasn't feeling it. Once they get to Arn's FIP, it gets better. Arn turns in a great performance. All his comebacks are simple but great. He throws bossy left hands. But it goes too long, & Vader & Austin don't go for the kill often enough. They just wail on him for a while. Then Flair is fine off the hot tag, & then the match ends abruptly. Time's up. Whatever.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Barry Windham, WCW Saturday Night 1/9/93
God almighty was this boring. There's a thread over at DVDVR where people are trying to say that Windham and Steamboat are universally praised workers; well come over and spin this. If the second half of '92 took a nosedive, then '93 was the beginning of one big long rut. Steamboat and Windham aren't the type to easily mesh in singles, but Barry was the king of the boring ass singles matches and this was yet another example of Steamboat not working to the storyline. This was the semi finals of the number one contender tournament for the US title and Ross was trying to sell it as a grudge match between Windham and Steamboat over what Barry did to Dustin. Could've fooled me because it looked like any old Steamboat or Windham match to me. This also got the skip forward treament and I had the pleasure of watching everyone who was involved in the poorly booked feuds at the time running in to remind us that A is feuding with B.

Barry Windham vs Johnny B Badd - WCW Saturday Night 01/2/93
This match is fairly . . .well. . . boring. Both workers are competent, but they do seem to be going through the motions for about 7 of the 8 minutes. The final minute has some nice reversals, and Mero does a running frankensteiner followed by a sunset flip off the top rope that help to pick up the pace. Not much drama, and I just didn't care about any of it. Who was it who said above that Windham was king of boring singles matches?