-This show has a much different format than every other show, as it is divided into two round robin tournaments, an "Iron Man" tournament between Ric Flair, Lex Luger, The Great Muta, & Sting, and an "Iron Team" tournament between the Steiner Brothers, Road Warriors, Doom, and The New Wild Samoans.
-12/13/89
-From the Omni in Atlanta, GA
-Hosts are Jim Ross, Terry Funk, & Jim Cornette
-They review the scoring system: Pinfall/Submission Win: 20 pts. Count-Out Win: 15 pts. DQ Win: 10 pts. Draw: 5 pts. Loss: 0 pts.
-Match 1: Doom (w/Woman & Nitron) VS NWA World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers
-Cornette explains that The Skyscrapers are out of the tournament after an injury to Sid Vicious, and that the New Wild Samoans will take their place. Scott and Simmons start. Scott gets a big powerslam. Scott leapfrogs over Simmons, then drops him with a big clothesline before tagging in Rick. Simmons counters a Rick hammerlock with a Stunner, then tags in Reed. Rick gets an awkward powerslam on Reed. Scott gets in and hits an atomic drop on Reed, who sells by gently rocking back and forth. Scott gets dumped outside, and Nitron holds him so Simmons can pound on him. Nitron's punches are...something.
Reed gets a big vertical suplex on Scott for two. Scott almost breaks his ass landing after a double team backdrop. Simmons' Spinebuster on Scott gets two. Scott has Reed pinned, but the ref is bust with Rick, so he can't make the count. Rick finally gets back in with 2 minutes left. Rick works over both Doom members, but gets tripped by Nitron, which triggers a brawl on the floor. Rick gets back in the ring right before the ref counts 10, allowing the Steiners to get 15 points. Match wasn't much until the big brawl out on the floor. Not a fan of the finish.
-Match 2: Sting VS NWA United States Champion Lex Luger
-Luger takes a walk, but Sting hunts him down, and brings Luger back to the ring. Sting hits a slingshot splash for two, then tosses Luger outside. Sting continues to work Luger over on the floor, ramming him into the guardrail. Sting gets a crossbody from the top for two. Sting completely dominates the vast majority of the first ten minutes. Luger finally manages to turn to the tide. Luger rams Sting into the guardrail, then does a pec dance for some fans in the front row. Luger gets an axe bomber for two.
With three minutes to go, Luger goes for the Rack, but Sting rolls out of it. Sting decides it's time to start a comeback by no-selling some kicks in the corner. Sting charges across the ring...then chokes Luger. Sting suplexes Luger for two. They fight out on the floor. Sting tries to clothesline Luger back into the ring, but can't do it, so it takes too long for them to roll back in the ring. Luger gets on top of Sting and grabs the ropes to get the pin and 20 points before the time limit expires.
-Match 3: Road Warriors VS Doom (w/Woman & Nitron)
-Doom got fucked by the draw. Logic would dictate that Roadies would be wrestling the Samoans here, but this is WCW we're talking about. Cornette implies that JR hit on the scorecard girl. Reed starts with Animal. Match is clipped to Hawk working on Reed before tagging Animal. Reed tries to piledrive Animal, but Hawk comes off the top with a clothesline, allowing Animal to get the pin and 20 pts. Hard to make an assessment with so much clipped.
TAG STANDINGS: Road Warriors 20, Steiners 15, Samoans 0, Doom 0
-Match 4: NWA Television Champion The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) VS NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair
-Norman the Lunatic Santa Claus is hanging around ringside. Muta starts out fast. Flair fights back and gets the Figure 4. Hart calls for his men to make the save, but Ole & Arn Anderson cut them off. Muta goes for the moonsault, but Flair gets his knees up, and then pins Muta with a small package. Way too short and disappointing. Flair VS Muta could have been a classic.
SINGLES STANDINGS: Flair 20, Luger 20, Sting 0, Muta 0
-Match 5: The Steiner Brothers VS The Road Warriors
-Show of sportsmanship before the bell rings. Hawk catches Scott's foot, but Scott rolls through and picks Hawk's ankle. Hawk turns Rick inside-out with a clothesline. Rick returns the favor on Animal. Hawk gets a huge gorilla press slam on Scott. Hawk tosses Scotty around with relative ease. Scott almost spikes Hawk right on his head with a belly-to-belly from the second rope. Match breaks down, and the Roadies hit a belly-to-back suplex/flying clothesline combo on Scott, but Scott gets his shoulder up while Animal leaves his down, so the Steiners get the win and 20 points. Match could have been awesome with some time.
TAG STANDINGS: Steiners 35, Road Warriors 20, Samoans 0, Doom 0
-Match 6: The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) VS Sting
-Muta gets a full nelson right off the bat, but Sting reverses. Muta hits a mule kick instead of giving a clean break. Sting almost gets the Scorpion Deathlock, but Muta makes it to the ropes. Muta gets a power elbow, then locks in Cattle Mutiliation (!), but cannot get the submission. First time I've seen the move outside a Bryan Danielson match. Sting fights back with a Gorilla Press slam for two. Muta comes back. Muta misses the moonsault, but landed on his feet, and caught Sting with a spin kick. Muta goes back up, but Sting dropkicks Muta, causing Muta to crotch himself. Sting hits a superplex for the pin. Might be the last time that move actually pinned someone. Match was good while it lasted.
SINGLES STANDINGS: Flair 20, Luger 20, Sting 20, Muta 0
-Match 7: The New Wild Samoans [Fatu & Samu] (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) VS Doom (w/Woman & Nitron)
-Match is clipped to Simmons dropping Samu with a clothesline. Samu gets a sunset flip on Reed for two. Doom get a double team clothesline on Samu for two. Fatu cracks heads with Reed, and Humperdink pushes Samu on top for the pin, to a small pop. Samoans get 20 points while Doom is shut out.
TAG STANDINGS: Steiners 35, Samoans 20, Road Warriors 20, Doom 0
-Match 8: Lex Luger VS Ric Flair
-Match is clipped to Luger ramming Flair into the turnbuckle, and stomping away. Luger gets a big Gorilla Press slam, and Flair rolls to the outside. Luger with a blatant choke and more stomps. Flair blocks a suplex, and gets one of his own. Flair counters a backdrop with a backslide for two. Both men get near-falls. Luger slams Flair off the top, but misses an elbowdrop. Flair gets the Figure 4, but time expires, so both men are stuck with 5 points. Finishing stretch was good, if nothing else.
SINGLES STANDINGS: Luger 25, Flair 25, Sting 20, Muta 0
-Match 9: The New Wild Samoans VS The Steiner Brothers
-Match is clipped to the Samoans giving a double headbut to Scott. Scott somehow survives this. Fatu gets a bearhug on Scott, but cannot keep him down. Samu gets in to apply the hold himself, then hits a powerslam for two. Scott gets Fatu down for a pin, but the ref is out of position. Scott hits the Frankensteiner, but cannot make a tag or a cover. Fatu tags Samu, who misses a big splash. Rick gets and and clotheslines both Samoans, but Scott backdrops one of them over the top, and actually gets DQ'd for it. Not bad from what was shown.
TAG STANDINGS: Steiners 35, Samoans 30, Road Warriors 20, Doom 0
-Match 10: The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) VS Lex Luger
-Match is clipped to Muta locking in a modified STF. Muta hits a dropkick. Luger hits a big desparation clothesline. Luger gets a botched hiptoss, then throws Muta through the ropes. Muta gets a sunset flip for two. Luger comes back with a powerslam and signals for the Rack, but Muta escapes and blows green mist on Luger for the DQ. Another match too clipped to give an opinion on.
SINGLES STANDINGS: Luger 35, Flair 25, Sting 20, Muta 0
-Match 11: Tag Team Iron Man Tournament Final Match: The New Wild Samoans (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) VS The Road Warriors
-Samoans earn a tie with the Steiners if there's a draw, and win the whole thing if they win this match. Road Warriors tie the Steiners with a count-out win, and win outright with a pin or submission. Hawk no-sells a headbut. FROM A SAMOAN? Really Hawk? Animal becomes the face-in-peril. Fatu misses a splash out of the corner, and Animal makes the hot tag. Awkward ending as Fatu gets crotched, Samu ducks a clothesline from Animal, but runs right into him in the process, then Hawk comes off the top with a flying clothesline for the pin to give the Roadi Warriors the tournament win.
FINAL TAG STANDINGS: Road Warriors 40, Steiners 35, Samoans 30, Doom 0
-Match 12: Singles Tournament Final Match: Sting VS Ric Flair
-Flair ties Luger with a DQ win, Flair wins with a count-out, pinfall, or submission win. Sting ties Luger with a count-out win, Sting wins with a pinfall, or submission. If they draw, Luger wins. Sting and Flair "woo" back-and-forth. Sting out-wrestles Flair, who gets pissed and takes a walk. Sting counters a hiptoss with a backslide, so Flair decides it's time to throw chops. Sting responds with a couple dropkicks. Things get rough on the outside. Flair with a couple chops and he throws Sting into the guardrail, causing Funk to go off on Flair. Flair gets a big delayed vertical suplex for two.
Flair keeps control of the match. They go back outside, and Sting decides it's time to start no-selling. Flair blocks a sunset flip with a punch to the face. Sting keeps coming, and gets the Scorpion Deathlock, but Flair fights out, and locks in the Figure 4. Sting's leg is fucked, and Flair just goes to town on it. Flair goes for the Figure 4 with only 20 seconds left, but Sting rolls him up with a small package for the pin to win the tournament. Good match that really picked up at the end.
-Flair gets in Sting's face right after the pin, and the Andersons rush in. It looks like a beatdown on Sting is emminent, but instead the raise his hands and flash the 4 Horsemen sign.
FINAL SINGLES STANDINGS: Sting 40, Luger 35, Flair 25, Muta 0
-Gordon Solie gets a word with the Road Warriors & Paul Ellering. The end credits play as the Roadies keep talking. Animal goes off, comparing themselves to football players. Flair comes in to put Sting over, but he doesn't get to talk before the show ends.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: Nothing bad here, but nother particularly good either. Not a fan of the biggest show of the year being turned into this, and am happy they didn't do it again. Good way to set up challengers for the World & Tag titles, if nothing else.
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