SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: Approximately 25:00 Min.
Recorded live on May 17, 1992, for WCW’s WrestleWar ’92 Pay-Per-View in Jacksonville, FL, this showdown features these five-man teams:
- Sting’s Squadron: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting; Barry Windham; “The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff; “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes; & Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat,
vs.
- The Dangerous Alliance: WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion “Ravishing” Rick Rude; WCW TV Champion “Stunning” Steve Austin; “The Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko; “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson: & “Beautiful” Boddy Eaton. Wielding his ever-present cell phone, wily manager Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) and a glamorous “Madusa” Miceli are at ringside.
Back in 1987, Dusty Rhodes is generally credited with devising the War Games gimmick: a two-ring, roofed double-steel cage ten-man grudge match. 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 enjoys a repetitive handicap advantage until all ten men are in. In the so-called “Match Beyond” (featuring all the combatants), there’s no escape, as the losing squad is forced to either submit or surrender. Jim Ross is the sole commentator, as colleague Jesse “The Body” Ventura’s voice has been omitted for contractual purposes.
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.
REVIEW:
While this slugfest sticks to reliable formula, some fresh twists (i.e. neither Anderson nor a Rhodes start off) are welcome. Significantly, new recruits, such as Austin, Dustin Rhodes, and Steamboat, push themselves hard to entertain fans. Bolstering the mayhem are reliable veterans Windham, Eaton, and Koloff, who know exactly how to play up their roles.
Anderson & Zbyszko don’t contribute much, but Anderson’s presence deliberately instills some Four Horsemen nostalgia. Last, but certainly not least, Sting and Rude exude their considerable star power at the right moments. A brief stand-off between Madusa and Sting atop the double-cage is an added attraction, along with Paul E.’s shady cell phone antics.
Yet, the match’s shock value belongs to the three Texas boys (Austin, Windham, and Rhodes) and their bloodshed. Stars like Sting, Koloff, and Rude get off easy doing their schtick in limited screen time, but this Texan trio, by comparison, comprises nothing short of a gore-fest. Windham’s bleeding will seem mild, as compared to a crimson-stained Rhodes. Far worse off is Austin, whose considerable blood loss is jaw-dropping.
Why WCW condoned such carnage on live TV straight through to its scripted finish is hard to fathom – a referee ordering stoppage would have been plausibly sane. It’s a matter of pushing macho theater too far; more specifically, the match borders on unrepentant sadism.
Still, considering how gutsy Austin appears, his level of grisly pride is a precursor to the brutal WrestleMania XIII bout he had against Bret Hart in 1997. If not for the ridiculous bloodletting, this match is, otherwise, a gritty masterpiece. More so, it’s a sign that WCW could move past the shadows of Ric Flair, and (to a lesser degree) Lex Luger – after these ex-World Champions had departed for the WWF/WWE.
Note: Consider this irony: only a few years before, WCW (or maybe it was really Ted Turner’s TBS) fired Dusty Rhodes for pushing excessive gore on television. Go figure.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars
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