22 years ago on May 17th 1992, one of the greatest matches in WCWs storied history happened when Stings Squadron faced off with The Dangerous Alliance at Wrestlewar 92. I remember watching this at a friends house on PPV that night and being mystified by this match, and also The Steiner Brothers match. 22 years later I am still in awe, and would rate it in my WCW top 5 easily. People can say what they want about Bill Watts WCW tenure, but his no nonsense style breathed new life into a promotion reeling from Ole Andersons burial of up, and comers, and Dusty Rhodes Verne Gagne syndrome with his son The Natural, who ended up being a very good wrestler, but in 90/91 he was greener than grass, and Dusty pushed him to the moon with the book in his hands. By the time he participated in this contest Dustin was pretty polished, and ready, and he wrestled along side some of the biggest names in the world on this night. Ricky Steamboat who elevated just about every opponent he ever had from Flair, to Savage, to Austin, and everyone in between. His crisp ring work is the gold standard of execution. The aforementioned second generation superstar Dustin Rhodes who was starting to earn respect, and finally get over with the fans. Barry Windham, who had proven with his matches against Ric Flair, and a slew of others that he was an elite level performer. Nikita Koloff who had been a white hot heel, and one of the top stars in the company in the days that Jimmy was still in charge in the 80s. And the incomparable Sting. Even though his first title reign had been considered flat, he still was the top face in the company, and was working at a very high level, with his little Stingers such as myself rooting him on. The Dangerous Alliance was stacked with excellent talent as well. A young Steve Austin was already a great performer, and had great heat. Rick Rude had made an incendiary debut as a masked wrestler at the preceding Halloween Havoc, and was one of the top level performers, of the era, with charisma, and ring skill to boot, it appeared he might get a successful push in the near future. Booby Eaton had won over the WCW fanbase as a heel with his excellent workrate in the Cornette led Midnight Express. They consistently worked some of the best matches in NWA/WCW history, and since then Eaton had become an impressive heel under Paul Es expert guidance. Arn Anderson definitely benefited from being Ric Flairs compadre, but after Flair bounced to WWF, Arn kept a top tier spot in the company, and continued his methodical scientific approach. Zybysko was nearing the end of his career but the former AWA champ, and Verne Gagnes son-in law knew an assortment of heel tactics to help draw the ire of the few fans WCW still had, after the zany booking of Ole Anderson, (Robocop, black scorpion etc.,) and Dustys (chamber of horrors electric chair crap with Abdullah), and (Sting shooting lasers out of his eyes at Jake Roberts featuring midgets, and bikers). 22 years before his client Brrroocckk Lllesssnnnaaarr broke the streak Paul E. managed the hottest heel stable in wrestling with the sole aim to destroy Sting. But the green face painted warrior, and his noble squad ended up being a formidable opponent for his momentous heel crew. Watch this match if you have never seen it, as it is one of the golden moments of early 90s WCW, at a time when they were a sinking ship. K. Allen Frye, a long-time Turner employee, moved into Jim Herds former position, and immediately made some changes. Aside from handing out some raises, Frye also instigated a policy which he hoped would help fans get their moneys worth and would also improve the product in the long run. The premise was simple... At each major card (PPVs, Clashes, and big arena shows), a cash bonus of $5,000 would be awarded to the wrestlers involved in the best match of the night. As a result WCWs best stepped up their game as the company struggled to keep afloat during the absence of the perennial top draw Ric Flair. The result was excellent matches like this one. Brutal, but with the perfect gimmick of a war games match it features an energy, and aura that has lived on over the years, and will continue to do so in the minds of those who watched it. I assure you if youve never seen this match watch it as soon as possible. Its very entertaining.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 07:04:03 +0000
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