1993 Discussion

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Vader Vs Ricky Steamboat - Worldwide 29/05/1993
Seen this one before, and I really like it, and figured I’d watch it since it was the next match on the Vader set that was in my PC drive lol.

Vader controls the majority of this with his power and those massive punches, but the one part of the match I fucking love and remembered going into the match, is when Steamboat picks Vader up and slams him down on his arse, and Vader is SO pissed that Steamboat got some offense in, that he charges at Steamboat who proceeds to run out of the ring, and Vader LAUNCHES himself over the ropes to get to him! When you force a 450lb man to dive over the ropes to get to you, then you did something seriously wrong lol.

Steamboat keeps firing up, screaming to motivate himself as he throws chops and punches at Vader in hopes of taking down the big man.

The figure four spot is pretty epic too, with Vader screaming “No Pain!” and Steamboat screaming “Give Up!” right back at him.

Vader realises that perhaps even HE can’t put Steamboat away, so on the outside he sends him into the guardrail, then hits a splash and gets him counted out instead.

Really fun TV match with plenty of quality. Liked it before, like it even more this time around. Not a definite list worthy match, but one of the many matches I will be considering for a low end spot towards the end of the poll lol.

Vader Vs Davey Boy Smith - Worldwide 10/07/1993
A rematch from Slamboree, and a lead in match to the big tag match at Beach Blast between Vader & Sid and Smith & Sting.

Given how their PPV match ended (Bulldog caught Vader in mid air and hit the powerslam before Race got involved), Vader gets Race to distract Smith so he can jump him from behind and get the early advantage. Some awesomely epic shots from Vader to Bulldog in the corner. This Vader Vs Current Big Show would be motherfuckingly epic.

Bulldog starts coming back and again throws Vader around just like last time, and Vader actually RETREATS at one point, allowing Bulldog to further injure Vader on the outside by dropping him onto the guardrail.

Commercial break, and when we return Vader is in control now, having used Race to once again distract Smith while he attacks him from behind. Vader gets some time to recover, but he is still hurting as he goes to work on putting the Bulldog away.

In the end, Sid shows up to cause the DQ, and Sting shows up to even the odds, and the show ends with all 4 men fighting.

Good lead in to the PPV, and as a standalone match (or rematch as it were), it’s awesome. Not quite as good as Slamboree, but a really great TV match and had plenty of awesomeness to it. Won’t vote for it, as their Slamboree match is better and there are plenty of other great TV matches I have seen so far that I’d much rather put on my list.

Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Brian Pillman & Steve Austin - Worldwide 3/28/93
Liked this a bit more than the Clash 22 match, and that'll probably be enough to get it on my list. First half is really cool as Steamboat looks untouchable, but Douglas, with a bad knee, remains vulnerable. Heels can never quite take control, though, because Douglas always manages to find counters to get out. Makes for an interesting babyface shine segment, and the Blondes come up with different ways of going after the knee. Cool spot where Austin escapes a hold by grabbing the leg and then falls elbow-first onto Douglas. I actually liked Austin a ton in this; he bumped well. Blondes finally resort to using the towel on Douglas to take control. Steamboat has temper issues throughout Douglas's FIP segment and hurts his partner quite a bit. Blondes use the towel repeatedly to choke. I was a bit surprised they didn't work the segment around the knee, but I guess they tried that and failed because Douglas protected that knee. Steamboat rules coming off the hot tag and whole finishing stretch is great, and I dug Steamboat eating the pin after looking indestructible throughout the match. Made it seem extra unfair. Match has a good shot at my bottom quarter.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Vader - Worldwide 5/29/93
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This was very good, but I think they have a better match in them. Certainly, though, the dynamic between the two is tremendous: Vader as the trash-talking monster, Steamboat as the fiery little guy. Vader thrashes Steamboat early and claims to be the man. Steamboat creates separation at every opportunity and makes Vader chase him, and then he uses his speed. Unfortunately, every time Steamboat gets rolling, Race interferes. Some awesome spots. Mainly an attempted dive by Vader and a great finish, plus an awesome moment where Vader has Steamboat in a hold and Race asks who the man is and Steamboat yells, "NO! You're not the man! You're not the man!" Pro wrestling.

The Hollywood Blondes vs. Scorpio/Bagwell - WCW Worldwide 03/07/93
Sterling said to look up some of these matches so I'll watch the first one I can find. I don't get the pairing of Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio, they're like one of those odd couples you find in church that everyone gives dirty looks to but never any actual attention. The match begins with Pillman being all "This ain't dancing, THIS IS WRESTLING!". That doesn't do shit though, Bagwell keeps getting momentum and manages to get the better of both Blondes, which only pisses off them off more. Austin keeps trying but he can't control Bagwell for too long and he doesn't fare much better with Scorpio. Wow, never actually thought I'd type that.

After a commercial, The Blondes have a better grip on the match. There's a great little moment when Austin mocks Scorpio by dancing around him which even he can't help but laugh at. Scorpio's FIP isn't that great but the work by the heels more than makes up for it in entertainment value. Bagwell gets his hot-tag and why the fuck is he so over?! The finish comes after a big scramble and leaves the Blondes looking like gold but doesn't make Bagwell/Scorpio look like complete jobbers either. This is another one for the 'maybe' pile. Matches like these rarely crack the higher star ratings plateau but they're still a breeze to watch.

Vader vs Ricky Steamboat, WCW Title, Worldwide 29/05/1993
Really enjoyed this and thought for a 11 minute match it did a great job of giving us a taste of what we could expect in a longer match between both as well as setting up a rematch. Think it will make my list in the bottom 20. Vader as is the norm in 1993 is on fire on offence with sick punches and brute force of power and Steamboat is a natural punching bag with the courage to keep coming back for more punishment, the spot where Vader is digging into Steamboat's mouth and screaming 'I'M THE MAN' only for Steamboat to scream 'NO YOU'RE NOT THE MAN' before breaking free and screaming in agony and unloading a vicious open hand slap should not have been as awesome as it was but god damn did these two pull it off well. Really dug Steamboat managing to get just enough offence in to trouble Vader and tease a victory but still continue the story of Vader being in firm control and Steamboat not really having an answer as to how to beat him. Finish set up a rematch greatly imo, Steamboat gets pissed after Race eye rakes him to break up a figure four and a fight spills to the floor and Steamboat crashes and burns in trying to find an answer to stop Vader. The splash on the floor for good measure and then cooly getting back into the ring was a great dick move on Vader's part to further inflict some punishment. Very good match for the time it got but definitely think they have a better match in them with longer time.

***1/2

Hollywood Blondes vs Marcus Bagwell/2 Cold Scorpio, Worldwide 03/07/1993
Wow were the Blondes great assholes here, I mean Pillman is this gigantic cocky shit and Austin ain't much better, 2 slimeballs who think their shit smells of roses. Austin's dance immitation of Scorpio was incredible and Pillman begging off everytime Bagwell got near him was terrific. Early on Pillman is really great; pointing to his head like Arn does when he thinks he's outsmarted Bagwell only to eat an armdrag and immediately complain of a hairpull. Commercial sadly cuts out the transition spot into Scorpio's FIP spell but what else we see is very good stuff. Pillman taunts Bagwell into distracting the ref and they work a series of choke spots on Scorpio and Bagwell is losing his shit out on the apron. Really nice spot as well when Scorpio manages to hit a desperation crossbody only for Pillman to run in and boot him in the face to keep the pressue on. Hot tag is made and Bagwell cleans house with dropkicks and powerslams before hitting the fisherman suplex whilst the ref is trying to restore order and Austin sneaks in and interferes leading to the win. Really great performance from the Blondes here which is worthy of a bottom 15 nomination. WCW hit it out of the park again when it comes to Tag Team Wrestling,

***1/2

Bagwell/Scorpio vs. Hollywood Blondes - Worldwide 3/7/93
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Terrific. Not on my list at the moment because the 5/8 match is better, but if I'm low on matches & want to throw unnecessary repeats on (unlikely), this is at the top of that pile. Bagwell & Pillman have fun early, & then Austin socks Bagwell. Short FIP spell in which Austin socks Bagwell again, awesomely. Then Bagwell takes over & there's a fine little shine: Scorp hits a swank flipping leg drop to an arm-wrung Austin. Great. Then Scorp gets the lengthier FIP spell. Austin dances mockingly. The crowd is pretty scorching for the hot tag & finishing run.

5/8/93
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Better. Great foreign object shtick to start. They show some Blondes dissension. Scorp gets the first FIP, & it's good, & then things take off when Bagwell gets the hot tag. Folks go nuts, but then Pillman chokes him with a towel. Tons of great choking throughout Bagwell's FIP spell. Crowd is again hot for the hot tag at the end, & they get great drama out of the approaching time limit.

6/5/93
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Least of their matches & not a real contender, but still good. Bagwell comes out focused & wrestling-- they're not going to get caught up in taunts. But they kill Bagwell at the commercial break. So then we get a 4-minute Scorp/Blondes handicap match, which is actually really awesome. Crowd digs it. Some old lady in the front row mocks Austin like a chicken. Worth watching for that alone. Flair & Arn come out in the post-match. Really good.

My Worldwide discs finally turned up so I got straight onto watching shit off them from 93.

Dougboat vs Windham/Pillman from 1/2 was good but not essential. Their Starrcade match was a lot better.

1/30 Dougboat vs Blonds match was great but they had 3 other matches at least which were better and this probably wasn't list criteria anyway. Not for me at least.

2/20 Windham vs Steamboat match was a million times better than their Sat. Night match that year. Might have been list worthy if it got longer after Windham gained control.

2/27 8 man with Blondes/Heavenly Bodies vs Dougboat/RnR was glorious. As wild and fun as you'd expect an 8 man with all them guys to be and the crowd are completely into it. hey do some awesome teased tags from Gibson too. They do a cop out finish almost straight off the hot tag which was lame but it was still brilliant anyway. Voting for it. ****1/4

3/6 Blonds vs Scorpwell match was really good. Pre ad break ruled hard but then it kinda fizzled down post ad break and didn't quite catch back up.

3/27 Blonds vs Dougboat match I'm voting for too. All 4 men are totally on their game and everything works really well. ****

Windham vs Regal from 4/7 is good. Didn't think it was great though like I've seen some people call it. Didn't quite get going enough for me to think of it as anything other than good.

5/8 Blonds vs Scorpwell match was incredible. I've got no problem saying it's one of the best US Tags ever. Not THE best but close. Blonds are incredible and Bagwell's a great FIP. Scorpio's good too but the other 3 all have outstanding performances in the same match. Shtick with the object from the get go was really fun even if they never actually used it. Bagwell's teased hot tag when he came in was super and then turned it around into another heat segment really fucking well. Crowd are bonkers for all of it too. I always liked the Blonds run during 93 when I covered it earlier in the poll but seeing all this stuff from Worldwide of that year has made me see them in another light. Amazing tag shtick and their run is right up there with the best single year for a team now I think about it. Amazes me to think they were this good together and didn't even get a year together. Top 30 material for my list. Everybody get on it. ****1/2

5/15 Dustin vs Rude match was a let down like all their matches were from 93. Bar maybe the 1st of their 3 match series. If they'd this run of matches in 92 it probably would have been the greatest.

5/29 Vader vs Steamboat is very good. I still think their 5 minute match on Worldwide in 92 iss their best together and I'm not voting for that so no Vader vs Steamboat matches on my list.

6/5 Blonds vs Scorpwell match was good but all of their other matches were a clear step below the 5/8 match. I'd say that's the only one that's essential viewing and that's very essential.

6/12 Arn vs Pillman match was a letdown given how great Pillman was at that point.

8/21 Nastys vs Benoit/Eaton match is a good little match and Eaton is fantastic in it.

10/2 Blonds vs Scorpwell match was again good. Pillman is amazing in it.

Watched Benoit/Eaton vs Arn/Flair from Main Event 7/25 too. Great match and one I'll probably vote for. On the maybe pile that I need to drop about 30 out of 50 off but I'm confident it'll be somewhere in my bottom 20. Flair gets a rare FIP spell and is great in it but Benoit and Eaton are the stars of the show. Arn's hot tag left you wanting more and a better one would have cemented it's spot on my list but it's still great anyway.

Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat - Worldwide 2/20/93 - Yeah, this was great, too. Shorter & hotter than the 1/9 match, which I'd generally dig more, but I REALLY liked all the limb psych/selling/revenge in the 1/9 match. Anyway, they brawl early; Steamboat rocks it & rocks some awesome poses. Then Barry goes for his eyes. Steamboat's blind-swing selling is terrific. Really fun stuff. Finish is a bit too abrupt, but this is still totally worth checking out. Another high-end maybe, except my preference of the 1/9 match will keep this one off my list.

DougBoat/RNR vs. Blondes/Bodies - Worldwide 2/27/93 - Scorchin'! Awesome 10 minute 8-man tag. Everyone should check it out. It's on YT but somewhat shitty. Or at least the one I watched was. But even with muddled audio, you could tell folks were going nuts for this shit. Steamboat/Pillman opened & ruled. Chopped the shit out of each other. Then Douglas/Austin was every bit as good. Some swank counters. Then Bodies/RNR was fantastic. There's a breakdown around the commercial break, & then Gibson works FIP, & it's really good. It ends in raucousness, which is a mild bummer, but the whole thing felt so chaotic that I accepted it. PROBABLY going to vote for this. I'll sleep on it first.

The Hollywood Blondes v 2 Cold Scorpio/Marcus Bagwell (Worldwide 5/8/93)
--Not even my hatred for Bagwell prevented me from loving this. I'm going to try to talk about everything I liked but I'll probably forget fifteen things because of how much water made up this tidal wave of greatness. I'll start with how awesome the weapon stuff early on was. You get a lot of wepaon-play in matches, but Pillman shoving the [insert what I thought was a bar of soap] into different areas of clothing so the referee would never find it was as good a weapon shtick as I've seen. Would have cool of him to keep it isntead of giving it to Austin so he didn't get his his arse handd to him by bagwell and 2 COLD SCORPIO. Scorpio looked really good on offense and the crowd jumped for his shit. Bagwell looked replaceable, but he was a good guy to be the hot tag to run around clobberin' people up, and the way he fell after the towel wrapped around his neck looked nasty. The time limit expiring disappointed me in a marky way and I was totally pissed that there any commercials. I may actually the low voter on this, but it's defintiely top 5o material and I'd gladly call it better than any match I saw from 2011. Just everything I want in a tag team match.

Barry Windham vs. Steven Regal, Worldwide 4/17/93
I can't remember whether I watched this for the Smarkschoice poll or not, but anyway Regal appeared to be a face here and it was kind of interesting to see him use his European uppercuts and forearm smashes as babyface comebacks instead of heel moves. Barry was the NWA heavyweight champ at this point, so it was essentially a Barry Windham match with him calling it. All in all, they meshed better than I expected.

Barry Windham vs. Johnny B Badd (Worldwide 05/22/93)
This was such a kick-ass TV match. Barry's speciality really was short TV matches where he's dropping bombs as opposed to long NWA style title matches. He did a really beautiful job controlling the flow and pace of this match. It looked like Windham had the match in hand, but just when you thought it was over Badd rocked Windham with a series of nearfalls. I watched this for the WCW poll, but even though I've seen it before it was exciting all over again. The finish was awesome too, as Barry won without using a finisher.