WCW House show - 3.7.92
I don’t think I’ve ever recapped a handheld show before. Basically, if you’re not familiar with the concept, these are house shows where someone managed to sneak in a camera to film the show. Sometimes you get a complete show…sometimes not so much. This one only runs 48 minutes, so I’m assuming that the undercard stuff just didn’t merit being taped. That’s a shame, because I loved the 1992 WCW undercard, but I’m silly like that. What did make tape here is pretty cool, though, so it was a quick way to both alleviate some boredom and produce some content. So…yeah. Here you go.
WCW Handheld - 3.7.1992 - Oakland, CA
Cactus Jack v. Abdullah The Butcher -
I’ll try, since I’m watching the WCW Saturday Night set from 1992, to relay a bit of the backstory to these matches. In this case, Cactus brought in Abby as one of the surprises in the box for Sting. They teamed up because both off them are insane, then broke up because both of them are insane. They ended up getting together again like a month or so after this because, again, both of them are batshit insane.
Abby comes out with a staff (well…more of a board, really) that has a shrunken head on the top. I wonder if he’ll use it to bludgeon Cactus? Hmm. Cactus jumps him as he climbs in, but Abby immediately starts firing back with the staff. Who would have guessed? Cactus bumps to the floor. He climbs onto the apron and Abby flings him onto the timekeeper’s table. Which freaks the timekeeper right the fuck out, let me tell you. Heh. He moves faster than guys that old really should. Cactus picks up a trashcan looking thing and starts pummeling Abby with it. Busting him open, no doubt, since just looking at Abby makes him bleed. Camera is a bit too far away to catch that particular detail, though.
Cactus pounds on him a bit more in the ring, then monkey flips (!!!) him out of the corner. That may legitimately be the most insane thing I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring. Let me repeat…a guy friggin’ monkey flipped Abdullah the Butcher! Beyond the absurdity of the visual, I think it may well be the only actual bump that Abby has taken in like 50 years. If this crowd was a douchebag smart mark crowd circa 2007, this would almost certainly warrant a “Holy Shit!” chant. Cactus drops a pair of legs and picks up a nearfall. He comes off the top, but it looks like Abby either nails him with a thrust to the throat or, more probably, a thrust to the throat using a foreign object. Cactus again bumps to the floor.
Match clips a bit and Abby is choking Cactus on the opposite side of the ring. Cactus escapes and ends up tossing a big, heavy looking padded chair into the ring. Ref snatches it immediately. Cactus climbs onto the apron, but Abby knocks him off with a running (!) shoulder block. He follows Cactus out and tosses him across the table once again. He smacks around with his staff and Cactus retreats up the aisle. They brawl to the back and the referee counts both of them out. What a shocker that is.
Fun match, if only to see Abby take a bump! Seriously, this is exactly what you’d expect this match to be. Nothing more, nothing less.
Larry Zbyszko (w/Madusa) v. Barry Windham -
Zbyszko, along with Arn Anderson, had broken Windham’s hand by slamming it in a car door. This was at Halloween Havoc 1991, if memory serves. Which lead to Zbyszko calling himself “Cruncher,” which I still think is the most tremendous wrestling nickname ever. Anyway, Windham is back and looking for revenge. He’s still wearing a protective covering over the hand, though. This should have lead to him going back to the black glove that he wore when he was a Horseman, but I shouldn’t fantasy book in the middle of a recap. Or ever, really. Neither should you.
Zbyszko attacks first. He sends Windham into the ropes and backdrops him. He tosses him out and rams him into the railing. He rolls Windham in, plants him with a swinging neckbreaker and picks up a two count. Zbyszko chokes him in the ropes, but Windham frees himself with an eye rake. This is what I always liked about Windham (who is pretty much my favorite wrestler ever). Even when he was a face, he wrestled like a heel and just didn’t take shit from anyone. Anyway, he punches away at Zbyszko and tosses him to the floor.
He rams Zbyszko into the table a few times. Madusa attacks him, but he pretty much just shrugs her off. She runs like hell to get away, but he just turns back to beating Zbyszko’s ass. Back in the ring, he gives Zbyszko a gut wrench suplex and gets a two count. Windham continues the assault, but gets distracted by Medusa, allowing Zbyszko to nail him from behind. He tosses Windham out and crotches him on the railing. This must be Falls Count Anywhere, as Zbyszko covers him on the floor. Windham is out at one.
Zbyszko rolls him back in. He slams Windham and covers him for a nearfall. Windham fires back, planting him with a back suplex. He goes for a whip, but Zbyszko reverses. Windham quickly rolls him up with a small package and picks up the win. Postmatch, Zbyszko jumps him, but Windham quickly drives him off. Medusa comes in and jumps on his back, but Windham flips her to the mat. Heels bail, but not before Medusa gets on the mic and calls Windham a “woman beater.”
Eh. This was pretty short and I’ve never been much of a Zbyszko fan. He doesn’t stall at all here, though, which is almost as insane as someone monkey flipping Abdullah the Butcher. Alright for what it was, I guess.
Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Steve Austin v. Steiner Brothers & Dustin Rhodes -
This is more like it. Anderson and Eaton are the tag champs and feuding with the Steiners. I don’t remember Austin specifically feuding with Rhodes, so I’m guessing that these two are just thrown in. Austin as a fellow member of the Dangerous Alliance and Rhodes as a babyface who’s constantly feuding with the Dangerous Alliance. I just have to point out that the first thing you notice here is just how normal Scott Steiner looks. It’s scary, as he looks like a completely different person today. Not like he’s aged or anything, but literally as if he was a different human being who replaced the original Scott Steiner. That’s some second Ultimate Warrior level conspiracy theory shit for you.
Rhodes opens the match versus Anderson. He repeatedly goes for a side headlock, but Arn escapes by yanking him down with the hair. He kicks Dustin in the gut and sends him into the corner. Whip to the opposite corner, but he runs into a knee. He goes for a second charge, but Dustin gets a boot up this time around. Dustin heads up top, but gets crotched. Dustin blocks an attempted superplex and knocks Anderson to the mat with a series of headbutts. Dustin levels him with a lariat off the top. Eaton and Austin run in, but a few Bionic elbows solves that problem real quick. Heels bail to regroup. Back in and Arn tags Austin. He knees Rhodes in the gut and hammers him across the back with a series of forearms.
He snap mares Dustin, who sits out into a hammerlock. Austin fights to his feet. He counters into an armbar, then jacks Dustin’s jaw with a shortarm clothesline. Dustin reverses a whip, sending Austin into the corner. He goes for a monkey flip, but Austin shrugs him off. He climbs to the second rope, but leaps into a clothesline. Dustin covers, but only gets two. Scott Steiner tags in. He gives Austin an inverted atomic drop, then tosses him with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Austin stumbles into the face corner and they ping pong him around with punches. Scott slams him and picks up a nearfall. Tag to Rick. Arn tags back in as well. Side headlock by Rick. Arn shoots him into the ropes, but gets tackled.
Rick is sent into the ropes again. Arn tries to leapfrog him, but Rick plucks him out of the air and powerslams him. Much like you don’t powerbomb Kidman, you don’t try to leapfrog Rick Steiner. It can only lead to bad things. Arn tags Eaton, who backs Rick into the corner. Rick blocks a punch and biels him out. Steinerline! Eaton bails. Rick follows, though, catching him with a Steinerline off the apron! Match clips and Arn and Eaton have Scott Steiner in a double top wristlock. He backflips free and takes them over with a double Japanese armdrag. Rick runs in, knocking both guys over the top with a double Steinerline!
Eaton ends up tagging in. He clocks Scott with a vicious right hand, which you could literally hear in the cheap seats, since that’s where this is being filmed. He goes for a whip, but Scott reverses it and plants him with a Tilt A Whirl slam! Now it’s Eaton’s turn to reverse a whip. Arn catches Scott with a knee to the back. That brings in Rick, which distracts the ref, of course. Heels pounce on Scotty and Austin switches in illegally. He suplexes Scott, then rams him into Arn’s outstretched knee. Tag to Anderson.
He snapmares Scott and drops a knee. Cover gets two. Tag to Eaton. Arn cuts off the tag with a drop toehold and Eaton nails Scott with an elbowdrop that gets the heels another nearfall. Tag to Austin, who whips Scott *hard* into the corner. He whips him to the opposite corner, but runs into a boot. Scott comes back with a clothesline. He crawls toward his brother, but Austin yanks him back into the heel corner. Eaton tags in. he pounds on Scott briefly and tags Arn. He sends Scott into the ropes and drops down. He loses him when he gets back to his feet and they end up cracking heads.
Both guys tag, bringing in Dustin and Steve Austin.. Rhodes cleans house with Bionic elbows. He levels Austin with a lariat and goes for the cover. Arn breaks it up. Everyone comes in and brawls. Dustin and Austin brawl to the outside and the referee counts them out. But wait! This is apparently an elimination match, because the ref just boots them and signals for the match to continue. This would be the downside of the handheld, I guess, as this little piece of info wasn’t important enough to be taped, leaving me confused! Scott gets the mic, calls the champs, “chickenshits,” and demands that this turn into a title match. The champs quickly demur.
Arn and Rick are now legal. Rick reverses a whip and plants him with an inverted atomic drop. He charges, but Eaton pulls Arn away and Rick sails over the top rope. Ref is distracted by Scotty, allowing Eaton to ram Rick into the railing. He rolls Rick in and Arn stomps on him. Eaton tags in. He snapmares Rick and drops an elbow for two. Tag to Arn. He whips Rick into the ropes and ducks his head. Rick kicks him and makes the tag. Scotty cleans house. The heels block a double noggin knocker and try to toss him out. He skins the cat back in and clotheslines Arn. Eaton charges and Scott tosses him over the top. This, of course, is 1992, so that would be a DQ. Scott Steiner has been eliminated!
Eaton comes in. Rick backs him into the corner and nails him. Eaton shoots him toward Arn, but he’s knocked off the apron as well. Eaton drives a knee to Rick’s back, sending him onto the apron. Rick grabs Eaton and rams him into the corner. He heads up top…bulldog! He covers and Eaton is eliminated! Arn runs in, taking him over with a snapmare. He climbs to the second rope, but ends up leaping into a Steinerline! Rick covers and gets the win! Postmatch, the champs attack Rick and Arn plants him with a DDT. Scotty quickly runs out to make the save.
Really good match. Not dumbed down at all for the house show crowd. They went all out and ended up putting on a PPV-quality match. This one is worth tracking down for sure.
Rick Rude (w/Paul E. Dangerously) v. Sting - Cage Match -
At the post show bash when Sting beating Lex Luger for the WCW title at Superbrawl II about a week or so earlier, Rude interrupted the celebration, poured a drink on Sting and the Dangerous Alliance beat him down. This is just the latest chapter of the feud, though, as Rude and Sting were pretty much constantly feuding through the early 90s. I have no idea if this is a title match or not, but I guess it doesn’t much matter.
Sting pounds on Rude early and immediately whips him into the cage. Rude takes a particularly nasty bump, as his body folds up between the ropes and the cage and he lands almost headfirst. Sting continues to attack. Rude tries to escape over the top of the cage, but Sting cuts him off and crotches him on the top rope. He follows with both an atomic drop and inverted atomic drop, just to be a dick. No one in the history of the business before or since has sold an atomic drop quite like Rude did. Sting busts out the hip swivel to mock Rude, then locks him in a camel clutch. He splashes down on Rude’s back a few times. One too many, in fact, as Rude flips over and drives his knees right to Sting’s groin on the last attempt.
Rude follows up with an inverted atomic drop of his own. Match clips forward a bit, with Rude working Sting over with some clubbing forearms to the back. He tosses Sting into the cage, then locks him in a camel clutch. Sting powers to his feet, with Rude on his shoulders. Electric Chair drop by Sting. He goes for a splash, but Rude gets his knees up. He plants Sting with a back suplex and climbs to the top of the cage. Sting cuts him off, but Rude kicks him away and comes off with a forearm smash. He covers and picks up a nearfall.
Vertical suplex by Rude gets him another nearfall. He sets up for a second suplex, but Sting blocks it. He suplexes Rude into the cage and Rude winds up hanging upside down from the top of the cage. Sting nails him with a Stinger splash. He goes for a second, but Rude drops to the mat and Sting goes into the cage HARD. Rude knees him in the gut a few times and goes for the Rude Awakening. Sting powers free. He ducks a clothesline and DDTs Rude for two. He heads up top, but leaps into a gut punch.
Rude comes back, spiking Sting with a gorgeous jumping piledriver. He covers, but Sting manages to escape at two. Rude spits on him, which pushes the Stinger into Hulk Up mode. He no sells a few punches and comes back with a series of clotheslines. He flapjacks Rude, then whips him into the corner, bumping the ref. He goes for a Stinger Splash, but Rude gets his knees up. Paul E. tosses in his phone. Sting plants Rude with a back suplex and pins Rude before the phone can come into play.
Postmatch, Sting yanks Paul E. into the cage, but Rude bashes him in the back of the head with the phone and follows with a Rude Awakening before the footage cuts out. This was another good match, but I don’t think they went quite as balls out as the six man tag did. I can’t blame them, I guess, since it was a cage match. Still really fun to watch, but it felt like a house show match, if that makes sense.
Overall, this was awesome to watch. As far as I can recall, it’s the first WCW handheld that I’ve ever seen. I never got to go to a WCW house show because they didn’t run in Central PA, so this is about as close as I’ll ever get, I guess. ‘92 was a great in ring year for WCW, with all sorts of great matches to be found. I won’t say that anything here lives up to the best of the best, but I was far more entertained by this than I am any current day wrestling that pops up on my television…
WCW Handheld - 3.7.1992 - Oakland, CA
Cactus Jack v. Abdullah The Butcher -
I’ll try, since I’m watching the WCW Saturday Night set from 1992, to relay a bit of the backstory to these matches. In this case, Cactus brought in Abby as one of the surprises in the box for Sting. They teamed up because both off them are insane, then broke up because both of them are insane. They ended up getting together again like a month or so after this because, again, both of them are batshit insane.
Abby comes out with a staff (well…more of a board, really) that has a shrunken head on the top. I wonder if he’ll use it to bludgeon Cactus? Hmm. Cactus jumps him as he climbs in, but Abby immediately starts firing back with the staff. Who would have guessed? Cactus bumps to the floor. He climbs onto the apron and Abby flings him onto the timekeeper’s table. Which freaks the timekeeper right the fuck out, let me tell you. Heh. He moves faster than guys that old really should. Cactus picks up a trashcan looking thing and starts pummeling Abby with it. Busting him open, no doubt, since just looking at Abby makes him bleed. Camera is a bit too far away to catch that particular detail, though.
Cactus pounds on him a bit more in the ring, then monkey flips (!!!) him out of the corner. That may legitimately be the most insane thing I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring. Let me repeat…a guy friggin’ monkey flipped Abdullah the Butcher! Beyond the absurdity of the visual, I think it may well be the only actual bump that Abby has taken in like 50 years. If this crowd was a douchebag smart mark crowd circa 2007, this would almost certainly warrant a “Holy Shit!” chant. Cactus drops a pair of legs and picks up a nearfall. He comes off the top, but it looks like Abby either nails him with a thrust to the throat or, more probably, a thrust to the throat using a foreign object. Cactus again bumps to the floor.
Match clips a bit and Abby is choking Cactus on the opposite side of the ring. Cactus escapes and ends up tossing a big, heavy looking padded chair into the ring. Ref snatches it immediately. Cactus climbs onto the apron, but Abby knocks him off with a running (!) shoulder block. He follows Cactus out and tosses him across the table once again. He smacks around with his staff and Cactus retreats up the aisle. They brawl to the back and the referee counts both of them out. What a shocker that is.
Fun match, if only to see Abby take a bump! Seriously, this is exactly what you’d expect this match to be. Nothing more, nothing less.
Larry Zbyszko (w/Madusa) v. Barry Windham -
Zbyszko, along with Arn Anderson, had broken Windham’s hand by slamming it in a car door. This was at Halloween Havoc 1991, if memory serves. Which lead to Zbyszko calling himself “Cruncher,” which I still think is the most tremendous wrestling nickname ever. Anyway, Windham is back and looking for revenge. He’s still wearing a protective covering over the hand, though. This should have lead to him going back to the black glove that he wore when he was a Horseman, but I shouldn’t fantasy book in the middle of a recap. Or ever, really. Neither should you.
Zbyszko attacks first. He sends Windham into the ropes and backdrops him. He tosses him out and rams him into the railing. He rolls Windham in, plants him with a swinging neckbreaker and picks up a two count. Zbyszko chokes him in the ropes, but Windham frees himself with an eye rake. This is what I always liked about Windham (who is pretty much my favorite wrestler ever). Even when he was a face, he wrestled like a heel and just didn’t take shit from anyone. Anyway, he punches away at Zbyszko and tosses him to the floor.
He rams Zbyszko into the table a few times. Madusa attacks him, but he pretty much just shrugs her off. She runs like hell to get away, but he just turns back to beating Zbyszko’s ass. Back in the ring, he gives Zbyszko a gut wrench suplex and gets a two count. Windham continues the assault, but gets distracted by Medusa, allowing Zbyszko to nail him from behind. He tosses Windham out and crotches him on the railing. This must be Falls Count Anywhere, as Zbyszko covers him on the floor. Windham is out at one.
Zbyszko rolls him back in. He slams Windham and covers him for a nearfall. Windham fires back, planting him with a back suplex. He goes for a whip, but Zbyszko reverses. Windham quickly rolls him up with a small package and picks up the win. Postmatch, Zbyszko jumps him, but Windham quickly drives him off. Medusa comes in and jumps on his back, but Windham flips her to the mat. Heels bail, but not before Medusa gets on the mic and calls Windham a “woman beater.”
Eh. This was pretty short and I’ve never been much of a Zbyszko fan. He doesn’t stall at all here, though, which is almost as insane as someone monkey flipping Abdullah the Butcher. Alright for what it was, I guess.
Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Steve Austin v. Steiner Brothers & Dustin Rhodes -
This is more like it. Anderson and Eaton are the tag champs and feuding with the Steiners. I don’t remember Austin specifically feuding with Rhodes, so I’m guessing that these two are just thrown in. Austin as a fellow member of the Dangerous Alliance and Rhodes as a babyface who’s constantly feuding with the Dangerous Alliance. I just have to point out that the first thing you notice here is just how normal Scott Steiner looks. It’s scary, as he looks like a completely different person today. Not like he’s aged or anything, but literally as if he was a different human being who replaced the original Scott Steiner. That’s some second Ultimate Warrior level conspiracy theory shit for you.
Rhodes opens the match versus Anderson. He repeatedly goes for a side headlock, but Arn escapes by yanking him down with the hair. He kicks Dustin in the gut and sends him into the corner. Whip to the opposite corner, but he runs into a knee. He goes for a second charge, but Dustin gets a boot up this time around. Dustin heads up top, but gets crotched. Dustin blocks an attempted superplex and knocks Anderson to the mat with a series of headbutts. Dustin levels him with a lariat off the top. Eaton and Austin run in, but a few Bionic elbows solves that problem real quick. Heels bail to regroup. Back in and Arn tags Austin. He knees Rhodes in the gut and hammers him across the back with a series of forearms.
He snap mares Dustin, who sits out into a hammerlock. Austin fights to his feet. He counters into an armbar, then jacks Dustin’s jaw with a shortarm clothesline. Dustin reverses a whip, sending Austin into the corner. He goes for a monkey flip, but Austin shrugs him off. He climbs to the second rope, but leaps into a clothesline. Dustin covers, but only gets two. Scott Steiner tags in. He gives Austin an inverted atomic drop, then tosses him with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Austin stumbles into the face corner and they ping pong him around with punches. Scott slams him and picks up a nearfall. Tag to Rick. Arn tags back in as well. Side headlock by Rick. Arn shoots him into the ropes, but gets tackled.
Rick is sent into the ropes again. Arn tries to leapfrog him, but Rick plucks him out of the air and powerslams him. Much like you don’t powerbomb Kidman, you don’t try to leapfrog Rick Steiner. It can only lead to bad things. Arn tags Eaton, who backs Rick into the corner. Rick blocks a punch and biels him out. Steinerline! Eaton bails. Rick follows, though, catching him with a Steinerline off the apron! Match clips and Arn and Eaton have Scott Steiner in a double top wristlock. He backflips free and takes them over with a double Japanese armdrag. Rick runs in, knocking both guys over the top with a double Steinerline!
Eaton ends up tagging in. He clocks Scott with a vicious right hand, which you could literally hear in the cheap seats, since that’s where this is being filmed. He goes for a whip, but Scott reverses it and plants him with a Tilt A Whirl slam! Now it’s Eaton’s turn to reverse a whip. Arn catches Scott with a knee to the back. That brings in Rick, which distracts the ref, of course. Heels pounce on Scotty and Austin switches in illegally. He suplexes Scott, then rams him into Arn’s outstretched knee. Tag to Anderson.
He snapmares Scott and drops a knee. Cover gets two. Tag to Eaton. Arn cuts off the tag with a drop toehold and Eaton nails Scott with an elbowdrop that gets the heels another nearfall. Tag to Austin, who whips Scott *hard* into the corner. He whips him to the opposite corner, but runs into a boot. Scott comes back with a clothesline. He crawls toward his brother, but Austin yanks him back into the heel corner. Eaton tags in. he pounds on Scott briefly and tags Arn. He sends Scott into the ropes and drops down. He loses him when he gets back to his feet and they end up cracking heads.
Both guys tag, bringing in Dustin and Steve Austin.. Rhodes cleans house with Bionic elbows. He levels Austin with a lariat and goes for the cover. Arn breaks it up. Everyone comes in and brawls. Dustin and Austin brawl to the outside and the referee counts them out. But wait! This is apparently an elimination match, because the ref just boots them and signals for the match to continue. This would be the downside of the handheld, I guess, as this little piece of info wasn’t important enough to be taped, leaving me confused! Scott gets the mic, calls the champs, “chickenshits,” and demands that this turn into a title match. The champs quickly demur.
Arn and Rick are now legal. Rick reverses a whip and plants him with an inverted atomic drop. He charges, but Eaton pulls Arn away and Rick sails over the top rope. Ref is distracted by Scotty, allowing Eaton to ram Rick into the railing. He rolls Rick in and Arn stomps on him. Eaton tags in. He snapmares Rick and drops an elbow for two. Tag to Arn. He whips Rick into the ropes and ducks his head. Rick kicks him and makes the tag. Scotty cleans house. The heels block a double noggin knocker and try to toss him out. He skins the cat back in and clotheslines Arn. Eaton charges and Scott tosses him over the top. This, of course, is 1992, so that would be a DQ. Scott Steiner has been eliminated!
Eaton comes in. Rick backs him into the corner and nails him. Eaton shoots him toward Arn, but he’s knocked off the apron as well. Eaton drives a knee to Rick’s back, sending him onto the apron. Rick grabs Eaton and rams him into the corner. He heads up top…bulldog! He covers and Eaton is eliminated! Arn runs in, taking him over with a snapmare. He climbs to the second rope, but ends up leaping into a Steinerline! Rick covers and gets the win! Postmatch, the champs attack Rick and Arn plants him with a DDT. Scotty quickly runs out to make the save.
Really good match. Not dumbed down at all for the house show crowd. They went all out and ended up putting on a PPV-quality match. This one is worth tracking down for sure.
Rick Rude (w/Paul E. Dangerously) v. Sting - Cage Match -
At the post show bash when Sting beating Lex Luger for the WCW title at Superbrawl II about a week or so earlier, Rude interrupted the celebration, poured a drink on Sting and the Dangerous Alliance beat him down. This is just the latest chapter of the feud, though, as Rude and Sting were pretty much constantly feuding through the early 90s. I have no idea if this is a title match or not, but I guess it doesn’t much matter.
Sting pounds on Rude early and immediately whips him into the cage. Rude takes a particularly nasty bump, as his body folds up between the ropes and the cage and he lands almost headfirst. Sting continues to attack. Rude tries to escape over the top of the cage, but Sting cuts him off and crotches him on the top rope. He follows with both an atomic drop and inverted atomic drop, just to be a dick. No one in the history of the business before or since has sold an atomic drop quite like Rude did. Sting busts out the hip swivel to mock Rude, then locks him in a camel clutch. He splashes down on Rude’s back a few times. One too many, in fact, as Rude flips over and drives his knees right to Sting’s groin on the last attempt.
Rude follows up with an inverted atomic drop of his own. Match clips forward a bit, with Rude working Sting over with some clubbing forearms to the back. He tosses Sting into the cage, then locks him in a camel clutch. Sting powers to his feet, with Rude on his shoulders. Electric Chair drop by Sting. He goes for a splash, but Rude gets his knees up. He plants Sting with a back suplex and climbs to the top of the cage. Sting cuts him off, but Rude kicks him away and comes off with a forearm smash. He covers and picks up a nearfall.
Vertical suplex by Rude gets him another nearfall. He sets up for a second suplex, but Sting blocks it. He suplexes Rude into the cage and Rude winds up hanging upside down from the top of the cage. Sting nails him with a Stinger splash. He goes for a second, but Rude drops to the mat and Sting goes into the cage HARD. Rude knees him in the gut a few times and goes for the Rude Awakening. Sting powers free. He ducks a clothesline and DDTs Rude for two. He heads up top, but leaps into a gut punch.
Rude comes back, spiking Sting with a gorgeous jumping piledriver. He covers, but Sting manages to escape at two. Rude spits on him, which pushes the Stinger into Hulk Up mode. He no sells a few punches and comes back with a series of clotheslines. He flapjacks Rude, then whips him into the corner, bumping the ref. He goes for a Stinger Splash, but Rude gets his knees up. Paul E. tosses in his phone. Sting plants Rude with a back suplex and pins Rude before the phone can come into play.
Postmatch, Sting yanks Paul E. into the cage, but Rude bashes him in the back of the head with the phone and follows with a Rude Awakening before the footage cuts out. This was another good match, but I don’t think they went quite as balls out as the six man tag did. I can’t blame them, I guess, since it was a cage match. Still really fun to watch, but it felt like a house show match, if that makes sense.
Overall, this was awesome to watch. As far as I can recall, it’s the first WCW handheld that I’ve ever seen. I never got to go to a WCW house show because they didn’t run in Central PA, so this is about as close as I’ll ever get, I guess. ‘92 was a great in ring year for WCW, with all sorts of great matches to be found. I won’t say that anything here lives up to the best of the best, but I was far more entertained by this than I am any current day wrestling that pops up on my television…
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