-1/21/92
-From Topeka, KS
-Hosts are JR & Tony
-JR & Tony hype surprises and a big announcement before throwing it over to Eric Bischoff & Missy Hyatt, who then throw it to Gary Michael Chiapetta.
-Match 1: Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes (w/Harley Race) VS The Steiner Brothers
-Hell of a choice for an opener. Crowd is molten to start the show. JR & Tony note that Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton won the WCW World Tag Team Championship at a live event the Thursday before this. Hughes and Scott start, and it doesn't go well for Scott until Hughes stops to jaw with the fans, allowing Scott to hit a scary-looking overhead belly-to-belly throw. Heels double team Scott, and throw both Steiners out of the ring, but then stop to bask in the glory, allowing the Steiners to hit stereo flying clotheslines from the top. Vader & Rick tag in, and Vader casually tosses Rick around. Rick fights back with a clothesline, another scary-looking overhead throw, and a clothesline to send Vader outside. Rick stupidly dives off the apron at Vader, who catches him and sends him back-first into the post.
Back in, Rick falls right on his head and neck bumping off a Vader clothesline. Vader goes up, but Scott shakes the ropes, allowing Rick to hit an overhead throw off the second rope. Scott gets in. Vader blocks a German suplex by holding the ropes, so Rick repeatedly punches Vader in the face, allowing Scott to complete the release German. Vader catches a flying Scott with a powerslam, then counters a sunset flip with a sit-down splash before tagging Hughes. Hughes accidentally smashes his nuts on a turnbuckle, allowing Scott to make the tag. Hughes not-so-subtly jumps into a hiptoss, but gets impressive air on a backdrop. Match breaks down, and Rick hits the top rope bulldog on Hughes for the pin. Good opener. Was pretty much all action from bell-to-bell, and the kept the crowd hot.
-Match 2: Tracey Smothers & Terry Taylor VS Brian Pillman & Marcus Alexander Bagwell
-So instead of turning Taylor, they kept him heel and gave him the "Taylor Made Man" gimmick. Taylor opens things up by bitch-slapping Pillman. Taylor loses a chop exchange, and Pillman hits a flyig head scissors. Taylor bounces back-and-forth between Pillman & Bagwell before flopping face-first. Babyfaces keep control of the match, flying around the ring and finishing the sequence with stereo dives to the floor. Bagwell and Smothers get in. Bagwell stops to punch Taylor, and turns right into a sweet superkick from Smothers. Bagwell becomes the face-in-peril for a short time before blocking a Smothers' splash with his knees, and making the hot tag to Pillman.
Pillman cleans house, but Bagwell has the referee, allowing the heels to double team Pillman, including Taylor suplexing Pillman from the inside to the floor. Taylor hits Pillman with a gutwrench sitout powerbomb for two. Smothers knocks Pillman off the apron into the guardrail, but then stops to jaw with Bagwell, allowing Pillman to hit a springboard clothesline and make the tag. Cute finish as Bagwell tries to sunset flip Smothers, who holds onto Taylor to block until Pillman dropkicks Taylor, allowing Bagwell to complete the move and gets the pin. Another pretty good match.
-JR & Tony preview the next match, including a short video highlighting Light-Heavyweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger. JR announces that Liger will defend the title at SuperBrawl II against an opponent yet-to-be-named.
-Match 3: Richard Morton VS Johnny B. Badd
-I think WCW could have gotten more mileage out of Badd as a heel, but Mero does a good job of keeping the gimmick as a babyface, and the crowd seems to be into him. Fast pace to start. Morton takes Badd outside and sends him face-first into the post. Morton controls the match for the most part. Morton goes for a cross-body, but Badd rolls through and gets a really weak and awkward pin. Match was decent while it lasted before that weak sauce finish.
-Eric interviews Brian Pillman and Johnny B. Badd. Pillman grows visably irritated as Bischoff puts Liger over. Pillman goes on a weird rant about how his rivaly with Liger goes deeper than wrestling and how he has to see friends lose jobs because of Japanese auto makers. Badd mugs for the cameras the whole time and plants a big kiss sticker on Eric's cheek. As Pillman wraps up his rant, Badd plants the kiss on Pillman, who responds by punching Badd in the face. Badd is SHOCKED at this for some reason.
-Match 4: Diamond Dallas Page VS PN News
-They actually cut a good pace. News dominates the first couple minutes until DDP avoids an avalanche. DDP works News over, but then makes the mistake of trying to slam News, who falls on top of him for two. DDP controls the match until News hits a belly-to-belly and quickly finishes with the Rapmaster Splash off the top. Short and sweet. Man the Diamond Cutter really saved DDP from being an undercard worker his whole career.
WCW TOP TEN:
10. Larry Zbyszko
9. El Gigante
8. Big Van Vader
7. Dustin Rhodes
6. Cactus Jack
5. Rick Steiner
4. Ricky Steamboat
3. Steve Austin
2. Sting
1. Rick Rude
-Tony introduces K. Allen Frye. Frye announces that Lex Luger will defend the WCW title at SuperBrawl, then introduces WCW's newest commentator: Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Frye lets Tony announce the World title match at SuperBrawl; Lex Luger defending against Sting. Sting comes out, and the crowd is happy to see him. Before Sting signs the contract, he introduces a video of some comments from Luger. Luger doesn't want to be known as just the greatest wrestler of all time, but the greatest athelete of all time, and that Sting will be just another footnote after SuperBrawl. Sting signs the contract for SuperBrawl, but wishes they could do it now.
-Match 5: Cactus Jack VS Van Hammer (Falls Count Anywhere)
-Cactus has his fans in Topeka. JR clarifies that falls count anywhere not just in or outside the building, but anywhere in Kansas. Hammer starts off fast, getting two near-for two. Cactus clothesline sends them both to the floor. Cactus exposes the floor, and shockingly does not get tossed into it right away. Cactus tries a sunset flip off the second turnbuckle to the floor, but doesn't catch Hammer, and Cactus lands ass-first on the concrete. That must have felt WONDERFUL. Nick Patrick's "eww" face said it all.
Hammer gets a powerslam on the ramp for two. They fight up the ramp. Hammer reverses a hip toss and throws Cactus off the ramp to the floor. Hammer leaps off the ramp with a clothesline for two. Cactus drags Hammer backstage as the crowd boo's and we go to a mid-match commercial.
Back from commercial, they're outside the arana, and Cactus is hitting Hammer with anything he can get his hands on. Cactus rakes Hammer's face with a cow skull. You don't see that every day. They fight into a rodeo arena, and Abdullah the Butcher (in cowboy garb) joins the fight. Abby tries to hit Cactus with a shovel, but accidentally hits Hammer, and Cactus gets the pin off that.
Abby and Cactus continue the fight. Abby dunks Cactus' head into a water trough before grabbing Missy Hyatt (who had rushed outside to help with the coverage) and dunking her as well. The fight continues as we go to commercial. Really fun brawl, definitely deserving of the Kip Frye Bonus. I would imagine this was Hammer's best match of his career.
-The Freebirds debut a new song, with a video intercut with their entrance. The Freebirds (badly) lip-synch until they go into the crowd and actually start "singing". Song isn't bad, especially by wrestling standards. Mixed reaction for this.
-Match 6: The Fabulous Freebirds VS Big Josh & Brad Armstrong
-Another fast-paced start. After Armstrong does some work with both 'Birds, Big Josh gets in and does his log roll on Garvin. Really good back-and-forth action. Armstrong tries to suplex Hayes, and Garvin helps Hayes block it before they finish with a double DDT. Freebirds' entrance was longer than the match, which was good while it lasted.
-Lengthy video hypes the Steiner Brothers. Eric brings them out, and they challenge AA and Bobby Eaton for the World tag titles.
-Match 7: Thomas Rich VS Vinny Vegas
-JR & Tony try really hard to sell this as Kevin Nash's first WCW appearance. Nash's "Itallian" accent is horrendous. Nash acts like he's getting Rich's help in taunting the fans before hitting Rich with a cheap shot. Nash finishes quickly with snake eyes. Nash was trying with the gimmick (the rolling of the dice before the finish was a nice touch), but he really didn't fit it.
-Eric brings out Paul E. Paul predicts that one of the Dangerous Alliance's opponents for tonight will never wrestle in WCW again.
-Match 8: WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (w/Paul E. Dangerously) VS Dustin Rhodes, Ron Simmon, & Barry Windham
-Windham and Eaton start. Windham no-sells a superplex, and floors Eaton with a couple lariats. Windham hits Eaton with a second rope superplex for two. Match breaks down, and the babyfaces lock all three opponents in figure 4s in a cute spot. Simmons fights off a double suplex from AA and Larry. Simmons dominates Larry until Larry can tag Eaton. Dustin gets in with Eaton. Dustin throws Eaton over the top onto the ramp (which the ref doesn't see because he's talking to the faces). Dustin follows up with a slingshot clothesline. Barry & Larry get in, and the crowd gets hot for Windham. Windham counters a backdrop with a piledriver, then dropkicks Eaton off the top to the floor, then drives AA face-first into the canvas before tagging Rhodes.
Larry helps Eaton avoid Rhodes, and Dustin spills outside, where Eaton holds him so Paul can hit Dustin in the stomach with the mobile phone. Back in, AA hits Dustin with a spinebuster for two. Dustin counters a AA splash with knees, but then walks into a vicious DDT for two. Eaton gets in, and hits an elbow off toe top for two. Eaton misses a flying somethingorother in the corner, but tags AA before Dustin can make a tag himself. AA goes up top again, but this time hits feet instead of knees. Eaton & Windham gets tags, and Windham dominates until AA lands a cheap shot. Match breaks down. Eaton comes off the top, but Windham catches Eaton with a punch on the way down for the pin. Really strong six man, Shocking lack of Simmons though. Was he nursing an injury here?
-After a commercial break, Tony interviews the six man winners in the locker room. Windham says Larry will suffer 10,000 times more pain than Windham did when Larry & AA broke his hand. Windham predicts every member of the Dangerous Alliance will be crippled.
-Match 9: United States Champion Rick Rude & Television Champion Steve Austin (w/Paul E. Dangerously) VS Sting & Ricky Steamboat
-Jesse is on color for this. Austin & Steamboat start. Steamboat wins a slugfest. Steamboat sends Austin outside, where the DA talk strategy. Rude gets the tag, and slaps Sting across the face, so Sting DEMANDS the tag. Sting hits a couple inverted atomic drops, then scratches Rude, which of course doesn't please Jesse. Sting locks in a camel clutch, then mocks Rude before switching with Steamboat. Steamboat does the same, and Jesse goes nuts because the faces are cheating. Sting tries to jump on Rude's back, and Rude quickly spins and punches Sting in the nuts.
Sting becomes the face-in-peril. That doesn't last long. Austin tries to block a Sting sunset flip with a punch, but Sting avoids it and makes the hot tag. Steamboat gets Austin in a victory roll, but Sting stupidly distracts the ref, allowing Rude to break up the pin and turn Steamboat into the face-in-peril. Austin tries to get Steamboat in a back breaker, but Sting comes off the top with a cross-body, and both Steamboat & Sting pin Austin (which Jesse rightly objects too).
Rude hits Steamboat with two Rude Awakenings while Sting misses a Stinger Splash on Austin. Rude whips Steamboat with a belt until Sting dives on top of Steamboat to protect him. Huge heat for the Dangerous Alliance. Pretty good, if surprisingly short, main event. Not a fan of the double team finish, but the post-match beat down was good.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: Pretty good show overall, with the potential crap being kept mercifully short. The hot crowd really helped this show. The Dangerous Alliance rules the world.
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