Cactus Jack is Who In Her Lonely Slip, Who By Barbiturate

Cactus Jack/Mr. Hughes/Big Van Vader vs. Steiner Brothers/Sting WCW Main Event 2/9/92 - EPIC  

PAS: What a murderers row in this six-man match. This was a super early Sting and Vader interaction and while it was brief, you could see the the magic that might be there. But the best match up was actually Sting versus Mr. Hughes. Hughes was clearly super underrated, he moves at a really shocking speed here, and goes over huge for slams and dropkicks. He was a college football standout, and moves like an elite athlete. He and Sting have a rope running exchange which looks like a pair of middleweight luchadores, not super heavyweight American wrestlers. It always fun to watch the Steiners throw folks, and they toss all three heels. Cactus was pretty minor in this match, he gets manhandled by Scott a bit and throws some of his fast forearms, but this was mostly a battle between the superhero faces and their giant opponents, and it was a blast. 

ER: Look at the heel team! Look at that face team! How do you pick a least favorite with a match like this? This was a match with no bad pairings, and a ton of noteworthy ones. Rick came off like the more electric Steiner here, really taking it to Vader and going even harder at Cactus. Cactus mainly got thrown on a heavy ass belly to belly by Scott or got Rick jumping on him from the apron, but Vader wasn't playing that. Vader came in throwing full arm lariats and dropped Rick straight down with a back suplex when Steiner tried to get a headlock. They build nicely to a big Vader/Sting showdown, but seeing Vader level Rick and Rick come right back was just as cool. Mr. Hughes is an insanely fast monster, a guy who should have been a new generation One Man Gang or a Japan superstar but we have such little footage. He takes an insane backdrop and works so fast for a guy his size while landing with such a wallop, it's easy to picture him as Vader in WCW. 

Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie/Steve Austin/Undertaker vs. The Rock/Faarooq/D-Lo Brown/Kama Mustafa WWE 12/29/97 - GREAT

ER: My god this ruled. This was Terry Funk's return match to WWF, a post-Raw dark match I didn't realize was online, a fantastic house show style main that you know absolutely slayed everything else on the show. Funk is in his Chainsaw Charlie "gear" (what the hell was that about again?) but a few smart fans start up "Terry" chants whenever he's in. This is really the only interaction we got between Funk and The Rock, and it's a real trip seeing Funk stiff him up with hard right jabs and a big left. Funk also takes a fast bump over the top for Faarooq, all while wearing weird old man jeans, dusty red shirt and stockings over his face. Honestly his Chainsaw Charlie gear is probably the most "Alabama abandoned strip mall indy show attended by 13 people" look that ever made it onto WWF television. 

Austin works like an absolute fiend when he's in, and it's always shocking to me when WWF Austin works super fast. Here he's the quickest guy in the match (although admittedly there aren't tons of known speedsters here) and he absolutely crushes Rock with a falling elbow at one point, all while wearing his impossibly tight jorts. Rock was really great on the apron, honestly he could have stayed there the whole match and it would have been wonderful (even though his stuff in the ring was standout). At one point Kama interferes from the apron with a kick, and falls awkwardly into the ring over the top rope, trying desperately to slide back onto the apron as if nobody would notice the dude just literally fell into the ring. Rock looks over at him and gives him a thumbs up. I died, then watched it a few times. The finish is rushed, Undertaker only gets in right at the end and hits a chokeslam so weak that it was like he was practicing how he was going to chokeslam Mae Young, but damn was this whole thing still a blast.

PAS: Cool showcase for Funk, Austin and Rock stooging. I agree with Eric both on the speed and explosion in which Austin worked and the weird tightness of his Jorts. I mean he was wearing sexy lady showing off her ass at the club level tight Jeans shorts, I am not sure how he even walked, much less wrestled at that pace. Funk is on one here with crazy punches, big bump over the top, homeless schizophrenic wrestling gear. Rock is really entertaining working as an almost Jim Cornette level stooge, isn't a role I have seen him in a ton but he is a great clowning heel. He should be the villain in the Home Alone remake.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CACTUS JACK

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Complete and Accurate WCW B-Sides

Syndicated WCW is my anytime mood brightener, my absolutely favorite wrestling to watch and absorb. Gassed up Power Plant guys, one off appearances, matches from guys you didn't know were under contract, theme park tourist fans in a rolling sea of white shirts, just the easiest to digest wrestling ever. This will cover the syndicated programming airing during the Nitro era, but I may expand that with no warning whatsoever.

WCW Worldwide

4/9/95
4/16/95
10/1/95
10/8/95
11/5/95
11/19/95
12/10/95

6/23/96
6/30/96
8/4/96
8/11/96
9/15/96
9/22/96
10/27/96
11/3/96

5/4/97
5/11/97
8/10/97
11/9/97
11/16/97

5/30/98
6/15/98
7/4/98
8/1/98
8/9/98
8/15/98
12/5/98
12/12/98
12/19/98

2/13/99
2/20/99
2/27/99
3/6/99
3/13/99
3/20/99
3/27/99
4/3/99
5/8/99
5/15/99
10/23/99
10/30/99
12/5/99

WCW Saturday Night

2/7/98
2/14/98
5/16/98
6/13/98
6/20/98
7/25/98
10/17/98

1/16/99
2/13/99
4/10/99
6/26/99
7/31/99
9/4/99
11/27/99

3/11/00 Pt. I   3/11/00 Pt. II

WCW Pro

3/23/96
3/30/96
4/6/96
4/13/96
6/15/96
6/22/96
8/10/96
8/17/96
8/24/96
8/31/96
9/7/96

WCW Main Event

6/23/96
7/7/96
7/14/96
7/21/96

5/24/97
5/31/97
9/6/97
9/13/97

WCW Nitro

10/21/96

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Main Event 7/7/96

If that date sounds familiar, it's because this is the pre-show to Bash at the Beach, where something *kind* of huge would go on to happen.

1. The Steiner Bros. vs. Harlem Heat

This match works just fine, until it inevitably turns into the continuing saga of Col. Robert Parker and Sherri, as practically every Heat tag from this era did. In rewatching a lot of this era it was surprising how terrible a lot of the Heat matches were. I remembered them as a decent team but man were they sloppy and man did their tags have horrible structure. But Booker was on during the first part of this, flying into Scott with a huge shoulderblock, working him over with a nice bearhug that Scott turned into an even nicer overhead belly to belly. Rick came in and hit a great powerslam on Booker, and things (shockingly!) slowed down quite a bit once Stevie Ray tagged in. Stevie hits a nice elbowdrop, and then locks on a neverending chinlock until the Parker interference. For his part Parker takes a big hip toss bump into the ring from the apron. On the previous show they were advertising Steiners vs. Rock n Roll Express which would have been awesome. Instead we get this. And this...was probably better than I expected.

2. Billy Kidman vs. Hardwork Bobby Walker

So let's start off by saying that this match gets 90 seconds. Let's go on to say that these guys clearly knew they were only getting 90 seconds, and proceeded to do as much as they possibly could in 90 seconds. Something seemed up right from the beginning as both guys are just working lightning fast. It looked like things were on double speed and I'm thinking "man how are these guys expecting to work a full match at this pace??" Oh, they weren't. But it was fun seeing a noted schlub like Walker going fullspeed, with both guys doing these super quick dropdowns and leapfrogs, Kidman taking a wild bump to the floor off a dropkick, and both working in kooky offense I've never seen either do before. Kidman hit a quadruple jump Asai moonsault (follow me here) starting on the apron, leaping to the middle rope, then the top rope, then the inside middle rope 90 degrees to his left, and then the moonsault. It's like a crazy Aerostar move, with about 70% of the grace of an Aerostar move. Walker jumps to the middle turnbuckle, leaps BACKWARDS from the middle buckle to the top, almost loses his balance and falls backwards to the floor (because it's fucking crazy to jump backwards from the middle to the top) and then hits a crossbody/headbutt block from the top to win. Weird little match with the circumstances dictating unique work.

3. Rock N Roll Express vs. Fire & Ice

Another 2 minute special that really could have been a good tag match if it had been given just a few more minutes. Norton rushes Ricky to start and hits some pretty stiff shots, a couple pretty big slams. Ice Train tags in and hits a rough avalanche. This Morton guy is pretty decent at playing Ricky Morton. Finish is clever but would have loved for it to come after more of a match, as Norton tags back in, picks Ricky up in a gutwrench and Ricky's legs hit Ice Train on the apron causing Norton to stumble. Gibson runs in and takes out Norton's knee allowing Ricky to hit the backslide. That's a pretty decent finish, but yeah didn't get a whole lot of match before it happened.

4. Eddie Guerrero vs. Steven Regal

Now this is the kind of thing you hope for when you pop in an old WCW disc. Is it too short? Yes. Does it have a lousy finish? You betcha. Is everything awesome before that? Well of course. Regal looks so damn good here, with he and Eddie doing all sorts of cool grapples and take downs. Eddie lands on his feet after a monkey flip, hits a cool armdrag off a Regal butterfly suplex attempt, Regal starts lacing in elbows and then Eddie takes a super fast bump to the floor off a Regal toss. Weirdness ensues when Regal fakes a knee injury, suckers Eddie in for a double leg for what you think is going to end it. But something weird happens as Nick Patrick just stops counting at 2, even though Eddie didn't kick out. It looks like Regal was supposed to have his feet on the ropes, but he never puts them there, so Patrick just has to stop the count for zero reason instead of stop the count after witnessing the cheating. The Eddie just rolls up Regal for the win. Folks you won't see a finish worse than that one. But god that first 90 seconds of the match was all the stuff you want in pro wrestling.

Okay, Cubs, that one was a whole lot more...interesting as an episode. Still waiting for an actual good match as so far we've gotten some big time potential that was cut short with bad finishes. We'll keep trying until I think your donation has been worth it for you. Again, thank you SO MUCH for your help.


***I'm still desperately trying to raise money for my friend and coworker whose home burned down. I'm matching every contribution and will continue writing above and beyond for those who donate. This means a lot to me, guys***

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Main Event 6/23/96

So CubsFan requested I write up some 1996 WCW Saturday Night, but I couldn't find any in my stacks. SOOOOOO to make up for that I'm gonna write up a whole batch of 1996 Main Event, WorldWide and Pro. Hopefully that makes up for it.

1. Squire David Taylor vs. Sgt. Craig Pittman

Oh damn on paper this is like a WCW dream match for me. Taylor is a guy I like more than probably anybody else, and you can probably say the same about Pittman. Sadly we only get 150 seconds and neither guy gets a chance to stretch out. I could see an 8 minute match between these two achieving Legendary Syndicated Status. Still what we get is fun. Taylor is the third wheel of the Regal/Finlay gang, but like those men knows how to make some mundane spots seem colorful and meaningful. Here Taylor locks on a chinlock at one point, but also yanks at Pittman's nostrils. We start with about 45 seconds of mat scrambling, with Taylor taking long looping bumps to put over Pittman's arm drags , even taking a nice face first pratfall of an abandoned test of strength. Finish is smart as Taylor starts lacing in European uppercuts and Pittman catches his arm on one of them to get a backslide. But damn if they just got even TWO more minutes it could have at least been some degree of special. As it was, it was just a fun tease.

2. V.K. Wallstreet vs. Scotty Riggs

And just like that first match is an on paper dream match for me, this match on paper could not be further away from that. Rotunda is the Friday afternoon impromptu office meeting of pro wrestling. But he isn't really the problem in this as Riggs breaks out the airiest, lightest, weakest offense imaginable. Wallstreet had some nice looking stuff, threw some cool short uppercuts that I didn't remember him having, and really Riggs should have just stuck to bumping. He was one of those classic bad-offense-nice-bumps workers, which meant he looked great taking bumps to the floor, but when it came to his comeback offense it was cover your eyes bad. He barely makes contact on a dropkick, throws punches 6" below Wallstreet's face, and hits one of the worst crossbodies I've ever seen. It makes so little contact on Wallstreet that V.K. literally has to hold Riggs on the landing to keep him from just bouncing away painlessly. To top it all off, Bagwell has to interfere to help his fellow American Male win. Just a couple of good ol' babyfaces, cheating to win. To the surprise of everybody, Rotunda works in a spot where he locks on an abdominal stretch and holds the ropes for leverage. This match got 6 minutes. Taylor/Pittman got 2.5. That's just...cruel.

Okay, that's a rough episode. I'll keep reviewing more 1996 syndicated WCW until I feel Cubs' donation is justified. Still, thank you for the donation. Like Carl Lewis singing the National Anthem, I'll make up for it.


***I'm still desperately trying to raise money for my friend and coworker whose home burned down. I'm matching every contribution and will continue writing above and beyond for those who donate. This means a lot to me, guys***

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Main Event 9/6/97 & 9/13/97

1. Harlem Heat vs. Texas Hangmen

Man, did Harlem Heat work syndicated shows more than any other team? Feels like I have seen more than enough HH for one lifetime. You know you aren't going to get much of a competitive match here, and when Stevie Ray leans into the camera and says "This won't take long," I believe him and I hate that he is so convincing with these words. Sure enough Harlem Heat takes pretty much all of this with their Harlem Heat offense. I get briefly excited when the Texans side step Booker, then come in and hit him with a double clothesline. But that's it as Booker spins his way up and hits a nice double dropkick. HH win with a Booker jumping sidekick. So much damn Harlem Heat on these discs.

2. Greg Valentine vs. Lex Luger

Really fun match that I'm not sure I ever knew happened in a competitive way. Valentine gets a tons of stuff in here which is nice to see against a big opponent like Luger. Luger treats Valentine like a real threat and Valentine plays up Luger's speed and strength. It's kinda worked with Luger evading Valentine's strikes with speed, and Valentine always trying to catch him. When he does catch him it's awesome as you get a couple big Valentine chops and his excellent elbow drops. Even his missed elbow is pretty much greater than anybody's elbow. Valentine even gets a fun fake win, when he gets the boots up on a corner charge and then pins Luger with the feet on the ropes, he ACTUALLY gets a full 3 count which makes me flip out. Valentine jumps up with his arms raised and then Mark Curtis tells him he saw his feet on the ropes. Valentine flips out and that's when Luger puts him up into the rack for the real win. Really shocked Valentine not only got a visual pin, but an ACTUAL pin, before Luger won. Good on Luger.

1. Prince Iaukea vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Good match, much better than I remember their regular match being (feels like I've seen these two match up a few times). We get some solid mat stuff to start with Chavo having nice go behinds. Iaukea takes a massive bump when he misses a springboard body press to the floor, bumping that barefoot onto the Pro/Worldwide stage is just crazy. Iaukea also admirably misses a springboard splash into the ring and sells his tummy but really could have sold his chin. Looks like he whipped it right into the mat (clearly he didn't hit his chin, but it would have been believably faked). Chavo looked sorta off in spots, as it took him too long sometimes to set up more of the lucha-ish spots. Like he wasn't sure what side to start his La Majistral, so he had to awkwardly walk all around Iaukea. Iaukea looked like a guy here with a lot of promise, but I can't ever remember seeing a really good Iaukea match.

2. Hugh Morrus vs. Jerry Flynn

I talk about having to see a bunch of Harlem Heat matches, but man have I seen a lot of Hugh Morrus. I've now seen more than enough to know that I normally don't like Hugh Morrus matches. But Morrus matches where Jerry Flynn gets to work equal? Okay, that's better. Flynn is really underrated, always bumps big and his strike offense always has great snap. His best matches are against the guys who don't mind getting kicked a few times, and Morrus to his credit takes a lot of kicks here. Flynn takes a big clothesline bump on the floor, landing really hard on that Worldwide stage. Back in and he dishes all sorts of cool kick combs on Morrus, even nailing his one in the corner where he holds the ropes on the way over. Morrus' offense is pretty nice here, hitting a big avalanche and dropping a bunch of nice elbows. Flynn gets set up for No Laughing Matter and looks waaaay too far away, but Morrus actually hits it. Also has a cool little finish touch as Morrus does his bit where he drapes his KO'd opponents arm over him, kicks out at two, and then pins Flynn…but Flynn mixes it up by kicking out RIGHT after the 3. I really dug how that little move showed that Morrus goofing around alllmost cost him.

3. High Voltage vs. Villano IV & Super Calo

Man this coulda been really cool. As it was it was fine, but disappointingly short. It's not a total HV squash, as Calo gets some flashes, and then when Villano tags in he wins all the exchanges against Rage. Rage throws a bunch of punches and Villano blocks all of them, returning fire with his own and backing Rage into the corner to hit a spin kick. Villano looks like a badass throughout, even charging into the ring at one point after Kaos takes a swipe at him, with the ref barely able to hold him back. But fairly quickly Calo gets dumped and Rage hits the nice springboard spinning heel kick for the win. This only got like 2:30. If it got just 5 minutes it could have been a nice little lost gem.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Main Event 5/24 & 5/31/97

1. Pat Tanaka vs. Yuji Nagata

The Main Event was pretty much the D-List WCW syndicated show, as it was 50+ minutes of recap and had one exclusive match. This was a kick in the dick as Tanaka/Nagata is joined in progress. Soooo many minutes of Bobby and Tony hanging out in the studio talking about feuds and doing "analysis" and I can't see how the one exclusive match started?! But either way, the match was cool as hell and Tanaka still appeared to be a great worker in '97, even as a tubbo. Match went only 3 minutes but Tanaka had a GODLY fist drop, flying halfway across the ring with it. Nagata threw a bunch of nice kicks, tons of different varieties, which ended with Tanaka catching a leg and hitting one of the more brutal dragon screws I've ever seen. I can't believe Nagata's leg didn't snap. Nagata's comeback is really good as he had a few great suplexes with his exploder and awesome overhead belly to belly. Tanaka was aces here leaning into all of Nagata's kicks, flying chest first into turnbuckles, eye gouging and fish hooking and dishing fine offense of his own. These guys could have an epic if given 8-10.

2. Super Calo vs. Lizmark Jr.

Decent rushed lucha match. Lizmark goes over I guess because of his size, although the announcers seemed to be putting over Calo the whole match. I actually had assumed Calo would go over, just because I know he ended up in some ppv singles matches and I don't recall Lizmark getting the same. Lizmark was in a pretty tough spot in WCW as he was a luchador, but used a lot of power offense like lariats and powerbombs so didn't really "match up" for lucha singles matches the way WCW wanted to present them (fast action, lots of flips and spins) and was bigger than all the other luchadors (save Parka), but wasn't big enough (or white enough) to be pushed with other WCW heavyweights. He and Calo work about the most basic 3 minute lucha match you can work, with Lizmark hitting a cool spin kick and Calo hitting an awesome tope en reversa/back elbow after running up the turnbuckles. Finish was nice with Calo going for a rana off the top and Lizmark planting him with a powerbomb.

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