SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 22:00 Min.
Recorded live on July 31, 1987, for the NWA’s Great American Bash outdoor house show at Miami’s Orange Bowl, the heated rematch from War Games # 1 features these two squads:
- The Super-Powers: (“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes & “The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff) and The Road Warriors: (Hawk & Animal) & manager “Precious” Paul Ellering,
vs.
- The Four Horsemen: (NWA World Heavyweight Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair; Arn Anderson; NWA World TV Champion Tully Blanchard; and NWA U.S. Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger); & the masked War Machine (aka Ray ‘Big Bubba Rogers’ Traylor). Manager J.J. Dillon and Blanchard’s then-valet, ‘Dark Journey,’ are stationed at ringside.
Rhodes is generally credited with devising this two-ring, roofed double-steel cage ten-man grudge match concept. The teams pit their initial two combatants in a five-minute one-on-one brawl. A coin toss then determines a handicap advantage, as the other participants enter in two-minute intervals. Hence, one side will enjoy a repetitive handicap advantage until all ten men are in.
During the so-called “Match Beyond” (featuring all ten combatants), there’s no escape, as the losing squad is forced to either submit or surrender. Tony Schiavone is the commentator.
In 2013, the WWE released this match as part of a collection of War Games matches (in DVD and Blu-ray formats) entitled WWE War Games: WCW’s Most Notorious Matches.
Notes: 1. At the time, Rhodes & The Road Warriors were NWA World Six-Man Tag Champions. 2. Prior to this rematch, Luger had vanquished an ‘injured’ Koloff for the U.S. Title inside a steel cage during a Bash house show.
REVIEW:
As the primary U.S. rival to Vince McMahon’s WWF, the NWA/WCW (essentially, Jim Crockett Promotions) again goes all out to please fans with this gritty entertainment. While there aren’t high-tech graphics (let alone, cartoony antics) comparable to the WWF, this match’s nice video quality speaks for itself. Minus the substitution of a masked Ray Traylor (aka the WWF’s future Big Boss Man) for an injured Dillon, this second War Games virtually replicates the first War Games. Suffice to say, the implied gory finish is nastier than its predecessor.
In fairness, there was likely no necessity to change the match’s script much, considering its crowd-pleasing success the first time. Besides, only those present at the Atlanta house show would have sensed any déjà vu re: recycled plotting. Other than predictable bleeding by Rhodes and Flair, among others, the ten players ensure that loyal fans get their money’s worth in the form of steel cage mayhem.
Above all, this rematch rewards wrestling buffs who recall these NWA icons in their prime. This video is a wrestling time machine to an era when fans had an exciting alternative to the WWF.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7½ Stars
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