Gorman

Thoughts on Fall Brawl 93 Michael Buffer began his lucrative WCW announcing career on this show. He introduced the TV, tag, and World title matches. He didn't even have to announce the winners! Gary Michael Cappetta handled those duties. Ricky Steamboat entered his TV title defense with injured ribs and predictably lost the belt to Lord Steven Regal. When Charlie Norris came down the aisle, it was impossible not to think, "Here's WCW trying to have its own Tatanka." It wasn't his fault. Missy Hyatt was The Nasty Boys' surprise manager as they won the WCW tag team belts from Anderson & Roma, but one fan totally guessed the surprise and came to the show with a sign for them. Others making their PPV debuts included Big Sky, Ice Train, and the obviously-not-Asian Yoshi Kwan. Of course, the highest-profile PPV debutants were Shockmaster and Harlem Heat. It was strange to see them thrown right into a giant grudge match like War Games. Road Warrior Animal was in the babyfaces' corner for some reason. Shockmaster overcame his Three Stooges-like TV debut and beat Kole (Booker T) with the bearhug. I loved the psychology of Cactus Jack explaining that the whole "Lost in Cleveland" bit was a ruse that would only fool (Redacted Redacted) Vader and Harley Race, not because they were stupid, because they wanted to believe it. Rick Rude turned the tables on Ric Flair with the same "I'm gonna steal your girl" ploy that Flair used on Randy Savage one year earlier. At the time, Fifi was only Flair's maid, although they actually got married 25 years later. Although Rude took his eye off the ball by trying to kiss Fifi, he ended beating Flair at his own game by using brass knuckles to win his first World title and the MVP award.

It's appropriate that Hangman won the title at Full Gear, because he was the subject of the Full Gear Challenge. Coach Billy Gunn tactfully told him, "You're fat."

Thoughts on Beach Blast 93 No Great American Bash PPV this year, as they moved Beach Blast to July. Why is Ron Simmons jerking the curtain; he's a former World champion! Oh well, at least he's challenging for the TV title. Oops, Simmons was disqualified for throwing Orndorff over the top rope. Later, Orndorff introduced his friend The Equalizer. If he were such a good friend and equalizer, why wasn't he at ringside for the match? Well, he had better get ready to equalize because fellow heel Lord Steven Regal beat Erik Watts and set his sights on the TV title. Why did Max Payne wear a giant T-shirt calling himself a "Fashion Victim"? Didn't he get to choose his gear? Paul Roma's first test as a member of the Four Horsemen was to win the WCW tag team title with Arn Anderson. Everyone can do that, right? Nope. Arn hit a DDT, but Roma had the ref distracted. Later, The Hollywood Blonds used the Surprise Partner Smash to pin Roma. Beach Blast again featured an Iron Man match, this time between Rick Rude and Dustin Rhodes for the US title. Not only did it end in a 1-1 tie, but nobody was the champion going into the match, so the belt was still vacant. It all seemed like a waste of time. Sting dove into the ring to make a spectacular save after Vader hit the moonsault on Davey Boy Smith. The heroes won when Smith pinned Vader, so the Bulldog got another title shot at Clash XXIV (which he lost) Ric Flair won the NWA World title by pinning Barry Windham with the figure-4, which seemed to surprise both men. Flair was touted as a 10-time World champion, so they counted both of his WWF titles. For coming back and beating a bigger, younger opponent to get right back on top, Flair is the MVP.

Been there, called that

Thoughts on Slamboree 93: A Legends Reunion The Assassin's mask was like the Grinch's heart: three sizes too small. He challenged Dusty Rhodes, who accepted, but we never got that match. WCW picked up some major pieces in early 1993: Davey Boy Smith, the returning Ric Flair, and the returning Sid Vicious. When WCW rebooted the Four Horsemen on this show, Sid was right there, but they picked Paul Roma instead. It made sense for Sid's manager, Col. Rob Parker, to call for a stretcher for Sid's opponent, Van Hammer. Sid finished his previous WCW run with a stretcher match against El Gigante two years earlier. Some of these legends talked about wanting to get back in the ring, but Gene Kiniski did more than talk. He just waltzed right into the Bockwinkel-Dory Funk match, which angered Bock's cornerman, Verne Gagne. Rude and Orndorff made a great team that could have stuck around longer if Rude weren't pushed so hard as a world title contender. Before beating Dustin & Sasaki, they even did Rude's prematch posing routine back-to-back. Ricky Steamboat unmasked during Dos Hombres' loss to the Hollywood Blonds in a cage. The other one didn't, and he was allegedly Brad Armstrong under the mask instead of Shane Douglas. Of course Brad, who filled in for his dad earlier in the night, never met a mask he didn't like. Davey Boy Smith is the MVP for mounting a strong challenge to Vader in a fun power match. Like I said about Davey Boy's title match against Diesel at In Your House 4, I wouldn't have minded DBS winning the big one here.

Part of me wants Petey to get this job so one wrestler uses the Canadian Destroyer, it's always called correctly on commentary, and it always leads to a pinfall.

Thoughts on SuperBrawl III The Hollywood Blonds dusted off the Surprise Partner Smash finish to beat Erik Watts & Marcus Alexander Bagwell. 2 Cold Scorpio is in a elite class of wrestlers who are fun to watch because they move in a unique way. I would also put Rob Van Dam, Rey Misterio, Sonny Kiss, and Dante Martin on this list. Davey Boy Smith debuted with a win over Wild Bill Irwin and immediately targeted Vader's WCW title. Paul Orndorff was having so much fun spamming Hulk Hogan's taunt that he didn't realize Cactus Jack was about to knock him out with a shovel. Poor Bobby Eaton. He came out with Jim Cornette and Stan Lane, but he was introduced as the third member of the Heavenly Bodies before the referee sent him back to the dressing room. Then Eaton returned to do the Surprise Partner Smash, but he hit Tom Prichard instead and the Bodies lost. On the bright side, a fan had a sign declaring the Midnight Express as the best tag team ever. I hope Bobby signed it. The Bodies' opponents were the Rock & Roll Express, who replaced the Wrecking Crew and improved the quality of the bout by 500 percent. Maxx Payne's first PPV appearance saw him play the national anthem on the guitar and get a US title shot against Dustin Rhodes. It's amazing that a 350-pound former All-American wrestler never won a title in WCW or in the WWF as Man Mountain Rock. Barry Windham scored the biggest win of his career by avenging his Battlebowl loss and beating The Great Muta for the NWA title. So of course, the returning Ric Flair immediately upstaged him. Vader is the MVP for winning the brutal White Castle of Fear strap match against Sting. The WCW title was not on the line, but Sting and Vader destroyed each other as if it were. Vader's win was a sign that he would dominate WCW for most of the year.

Pat McAfee but I'm glad to see him doing so well, especially coming from a non-wrestling background.

Thoughts on Starrcade 92 The second annual Battlebowl was an endurance test for the wrestlers and the fans. WCW sent its best wrestlers out three times while two dozen midcarders sat in the locker room and didn't have their names called. WCW did a great job promoting the importance of winning Battlebowl and the ring, enlisting home-run king Hank Aaron and American football legend Paul Hornung. Johnny B. Badd punched out his own partner, Cactus Jack and knocked himself out of Battlebowl. He must not have heard of how prestigious the ring is. Vader smartly decked Dustin Rhodes after their victory, realizing that Dustin had immediately become a Battlebowl foe. Vader lost the King of Cable match to Sting, and then immediately lumbered out for the battle royale. He and Sting didn't have any gas left. Two days later, Vader won the WCW title back from Ron Simmons, five months after losing it to Simmons in the same building in Baltimore. Rick Rude was supposed to challenge Simmons, but he had to drop out due to an injury. He complained that WCW was threatening to strip him of the US title, when it didn't do the same when then-WCW champion Sting had a rib injury. Great Muta and Barry Windham threw a double dropkick in their tag team match, and Muta eventually dropkicked Windham out of the ring to win Battlebowl. Muta bounced back from a loss to NWA World champion Masahiro Chono. Three years after losing three matches at Starrcade, Muta won twice and captured the MVP award.

Is it Big?

Call me a homer, but I'm not giving up on ROH. They have conducted themselves with "honor" by focusing on safety. Their biggest mistake was setting the table for AEW's creation instead of grabbing that spot for themselves. If ROH wants to stick around, its best bet is to focus on pure wrestling, factions, and the women's division. Find some kind of decent and timely TV exposure and get back on the road again. Spend some money, be different, and shoot for the goal of becoming the strong No. 3 company that we know and love.

Thoughts on Halloween Havoc 92 Michael Hayes and Shane Douglas must have had deja vu during the opening six-man, as the Philadelphia fans again cheered Hayes' heel team. But Shane got the last laugh this time, as Philly's own Johnny Gunn scored the winning pinfall. Vader strangely defended Rick Rude's US title for him, impressively beating Nikita Koloff. It wasn't the most prestigious position for Vader to be in, considering that he won the WCW title on the last PPV. Hey, it's the team of Steve Williams and Steve Williams! Austin and Doc actually won the belts from Rhodes & Windham, but it turned out to be rare Dusty finish that benefits the babyfaces. (Dustin finish?) Manabu Nakanishi showed up in the crowd before the Chono-Rude NWA title bout, and he would eventually make his way to WCW. Ole Anderson hilariously checked referees Harley Race and Kensuke Sasaki for foreign objects. If you think that they could not only be biased, but use a foreign object, why did you allow them to be referees in an NWA World title match? I love Barbarian, and I was privileged to announce a couple of his matches, but he had never won a singles title before getting a championship match against Ron Simmons. WCW could have picked Austin, Doc, Eaton, Arn, or even Barbarian's cornerman, Cactus Jack. After the match, Simmons joined Bruno Sammartino and Erik Watts on the interview platform. They were clearly going for a "past, present and future World champions" moment. Speaking of the interview platform, Madusa gets the MVP award for kicking Paul E. Dangerously's head off after his misogynistic tirade. As she beat him into oblivion, Vader, Race and Tony Schiavone all walked away like "Yep, he had it comin'." Madusa later fulfilled her obligation and appeared in Rude's corner as he challenged for the NWA title. They explained the snake-related shenanigans in the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match between Sting and Jake Roberts. Since "Spinner's Choice" was one of the options, they had "anti-cobra venom" in the building in case the wheel landed on that and Jake picked a "Loser Gets Bitten by a Cobra" match. The only problem with this logic was that Sting was the spinner.

Thoughts on Great American Bash 92 Steamboat & Koloff vs. Pillman & Liger was a great babyface battle. Both teams were billed as representing the USA in the opening graphics, while Doc & Gordy, two Americans, were representing Japan. It made sense for Steamboat to reverse Pillman's top-rope bodypress because that's Steamboat's finisher. Speaking of representing Japan, Hiroshi Hase delivered a perfect Northern Lights suplex to send himself and Hashimoto to the semifinals. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy are the obvious MVP winners. Not only did they beat Steamboat & Koloff and Dustin & Windham, but they also wisely challenged and defeated the Steiners at Clash XIX. So they only had to wrestle twice here, while Dustin & Windham had to wrestle three times. Also, Doc & Gordy had recently beaten the Steiners again to win the WCW tag belts. Now that's dominance. Not sure why WCW devoted two major shows to the NWA tag team belts, or why they muddied the waters by pulling out Ric Flair's old NWA World title on the same night Big Van Vader won the WCW title from Sting. Ron Simmons was watching the Vader-Sting match with Tony Schiavone, and Simmons surprisingly ended Vader's reign before it even lasted one month.

Browns Twitter is saying Baker will heal up tomorrow so he can be ready for the Steelers on Halloween.

Yeah, going into announcing there, I knew that's what I was supposed to call that move when I saw it.

Thoughts on Beach Blast Beach Blast was a great, influential show. It had the first Falls Count Anywhere and Iron Man matches on pay-per-view. It was also the first major "Beach"-themed PPV. Bill Watts showed up at the beginning of the show. Even though Watts didn't declare a no-top-rope rule, Scotty Flamingo won the light heavyweight title from a guy who's nickname was "Flyin'." Ron Simmons continued his run toward the World title by beating the Taylor-Made Man. Simmons' breakup with Reed was a year earlier, so it was time for Simmons to reach the top. I thought Marcus Bagwell would win the "youth vs. experience" battle with Greg Valentine, but nope. The Hammer won with the figure-four. When Sting and Cactus Jack came out for the Falls Count Anywhere match, I thought, "wasn't this the main event?" Cactus wasn't a huge star yet, and the World title wasn't even on the line. Sting hit Cactus with a spectacular top-rope clothesline onto the ramp for the win. When Steamboat and Rude came out for the Iron Man match, I thought, "wasn't this the main event?" Steamboat is the MVP for rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat Rude 4-3. Why was this also a non-title match? Steamboat even fought off an attack from Cactus Jack later in the night. When Dustin-Nikita-Windham and Arn-Eaton-Austin came out, I thought, "okay, this is the main event." But I was wrong! Good thing, because Ole Anderson calling for a disqualification isn't the best way to end the show. Neither is a 30-minute draw between the Steiners and Doc & Gordy, which actually was the main event. So Beach Blast was a good show that could have been a great show. All they had to do was switch the Sting and Steamboat matches with the last two matches and put the World and US titles on the line. Steamboat could have won the US title at the end, with Bonnie and little Richie coming back out for the celebration.

Thoughts on WrestleWar 92 Terrance Taylor and Greg Valentine acted like two singles wrestlers, and it's a wonder they held the US tag team belts, which they dropped here to the Freebirds. Scotty Flamingo beat Marcus Bagwell to move into contention for the light heavyweight title. Later, Tom Zenk challenged Brian Pillman for the title. You would think, "aren't they a little too big?" But the weight limit was 235 pounds! Speaking of Zenk-Pillman, Jesse Ventura was begging them to lose their cool and cheat. They lost their cool, but neither of them cheated. Junkyard Dog didn't make it to the ring to team with Ron Simmons against Cactus Jack and Mr. Hughes due to a prematch attack. Instead of competing in a handicap match, Simmons just faced Hughes in a singles match. It was the reverse of the ECW and later WWE trope of singles matches morphing into tag team bouts. The Steiners battered Tatusumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka to become the top contenders to the New Japan belts. Rick and Scott were arguably more suited to the Japanese style than the American style of wrestling, like Steve Williams & Terry Gordy. Sting is the MVP, as he led his Squadron to beat the Dangerous Alliance in War Games, which was all action and included buckets of blood. Even though he held the World title, he convinced Nikita Koloff to stick with him. Nikita would have certainly gotten his long awaited World title shot if he had lowered the boom on Sting. Larry Zbyszko tried to lower the boom on Sting with the turnbuckle bolt, but Sting moved out of the way and Bobby Eaton got blasted instead.

TIL what TIL means

Or they could think about what they would usually do, and then do the opposite.

We need a "Just a Bot" remix by No Doubt.

Very happy to hear that Joe Dombrowski is coming to MLW! We announced together in IWC, and he has deserved a break like this for a long time.

Thoughts on SuperBrawl 2 Jesse Ventura told Jim Ross that he should wear a cowboy hat so he could look like JR Ewing. "His initials are even JR!" A light bulb went on above Vince McMahon's head. Terry Taylor changed his moniker from "The Computerized Man of the '90s" to the "Taylor Made Man," which apparently meant raiding Ted DiBiase's wardrobe. Junkyard Dog came out of the crowd to save Ron Simmons from a beating by Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher. But why was JYD wearing a white tuxedo? Tom Zenk ended his 5-PPV losing streak by teaming with Van Hammer to beat Richard Morton and Vinnie Vegas, who looked relieved not to be portraying "Oz" any more. Paul E. Dangerously dressed up as Ricky Steamboat's ninja and caused Steamboat to lose his US title match against Rick Rude. Of course, the fact that Paul E. wasn't in Rude's corner gave away the surprise. Sting survived Lex Luger's piledriver and Harley Race's attempted piledriver on the floor to win his second WCW title. The fans were definitely ready for Sting to be back on top of the mountain, with tons of his shirts and signs in the crowd. Luger was off to the World Bodybuilding and Wrestling Federations. Arn Anderson is the MVP. He threw powder in Rick Steiner's face, causing Rick to suplex the referee and get disqualified. Not only did Arn and Bobby Eaton retain the WCW tag team title, but Arn also escaped the wrath of Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes, who beat Larry Zbyszko and Steve Austin to gain revenge for the parking lot attack at Halloween Havoc. Even though Larry adopted the "Cruncher" nickname, Arn was actually the one who slammed the car door on Windham's hand.

Thoughts on Starrcade 91: Battlebowl (The Lethal Lottery) Just like at Starrcade 89, no titles were on the line. Fortunately, WCW had enough talent and star power to get through TEN random tag team matches without the crowd falling asleep. Jushin Liger & Bill Kazmaier formed the quintessential "speed and power" tag team. Indeed, Bill pressed Jushin over his head and threw him onto DDP for the victory. Larry Zbyszko & El Gigante formed the most dysfunctional tag team. Larry slapped Gigante, who fed him into a double-dropkick by Dustin & Morton to end the match. The same high school kid who made the feathery Fantasia outfit must have designed Arachnaman's gear as well. Of course, the character was a "cease and desist" letter waiting to happen. Sting won Battlebowl by tossing out Lex Luger, perfectly setting the stage for their World title match at SuperBrawl 2. However, the MVP is Abdullah the Butcher. He livened up the middle of the show as an agent of chaos. As soon as he realized that he wasn't Cactus Jack's partner, he destroyed Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, who was chosen instead. In the next match, he attacked his own partner, Sting. They somehow managed to win their match, and Abby even started fighting with Cactus after the match.

Too much is never enough.

"Do 30 more reps! A hundred more reps! I'm the Original Death Dealer!" (throws Serpentico into a locker)