Bash 1989 Page 2
- And after that
little run of mediocrity, we hit the most unbelievable run of "BLOW YOUR
MIND" level matches as everything from here on is ***1/2 or greater. And
we're not even to the halfway point yet!
- Texas tornado match: Kevin Sullivan & Mike Rotundo v. Rick & Scott
Steiner. Notable for three reasons: 1) It's the final blowoff for the whole
Varsity Club feud, end of the line, fini, everyone lives happily ever after; 2)
It's the PPV debut of Scott Steiner and the debut of the Steiner Brothers,
period; 3) It's the first appearance on PPV of the Kevin Sullivan style ECW-ish
brawl that he would book into the ground over the next 9 years. Rick and Kevin
stay outside the ring smashing chairs and tables into each other while Scott and
Rotundo do the wrestling inside the ring. Smart booking. Brutal spot as Kevin
tries to block a sunset flip by Rick, and Rick headbutts him in the groin 4 or 5
times. Non-stop action, there is literally not more than about 4 seconds when
something isn't going on here. Sullivan tries to slam Rick, and Scott comes off
the top rope with a bodypress on both, putting Rick on top for the pin. ***1/2
Would be better if it wasn't so mindlessly violent.
- TV Title match: Sting v. The Great Muta. Muta is just awesomely over as a heel
and is hitting every damn spot to 4 decimal places at this point in his career.
A couple of awkward spots from Sting here, but nothing glaring because he RULES
and adapts so fast to Muta that it's astonishing to watch. Slow spot near the
middle, then Muta accidentally sprays red stuff in the ref's eyes. Muta with a
breathtakingly beautiful moonsault (NO ONE, and I mean no one, does it better
than 1989 Muta), and Tommy Young comes in for the two count. A few missed shots
by both, and Sting catches Muta with a bridged belly-to-back suplex for three.
Sting retains. BUT...replays show that Muta's shoulder was up at two, which
triggers a controversy that holds up the TV title until Muta wins a rematch a
couple of months later.
****
- US Title match: Lex Luger v. Ricky Steamboat. Luger throws a fit about this
being a no-DQ match until promoter Gary Juster changes it to a regular match on
the spot. Match of the night results, easily Luger's best ever and one of the
goodies for Steamboat, too. When Steamboat can carry Luger to a better match
than FLAIR can, it's a sight to behold. Vicious, vicious chops from the
Dragon, and Luger keeps right up, selling like a champ. Steamboat, not to
outdone, sells even more dramatically, allowing Luger to murder him with power
moves. Crowd is just nonstop heat during this whole thing. Finally, Luger grabs
a chair, but Steamboat wrests it away from him (the crowd screaming "No!
NO! Don't!" the whole time) and whacks Luger with it, for the DQ.
****1/2 Magnificent.
- WarGames: Michael Hayes/Jimmy Garvin/Terry Gordy/Samu/Fatu v. Steve
Williams/Bobby Eaton/Stan Lane/Hawk/Animal. Everyone here is perfectly suited
for a mindless brawl like this, but this was also the first sign that this style
of match was just going to be an excuse for a "Slobberknocker" rather
than an actual well-thought out end to a hot feud (see Wargames I). The
Midnights, who *can* work that sort of complex storyline, seem out of place in
this one as everyone just hammers on everyone else. Fairly long "Match
Beyond" portion, as everyone is evenly matched, more of less. Finally, Hawk
punishes Garvin's neck enough to put him in a Hangman (set up for a Rude
Awakening, but lean forward while hanging onto the neck...as painful
as it sounds) for the submission. The heels destroy Animal as the rest of the
faces try to break through the cage. ****
- NWA World title match: Ric Flair v. Terry Funk. The ultimate blowoff match.
Steamboat and Flair fought the greatest match ever at WrestleWar 89, and after
Flair was worn out from a 30 minute battle, Terry Funk attacked Flair like a
coward and piledrove him through a table, breaking his neck. He was, you see,
jealous because Flair wouldn't give him the first title match. So two months
later, he got a healed and extremely pissed off Ric Flair for the title. An
old-school brawl with double juice. Funk works on Flair's neck constantly and
teases a piledriver several times, to the horror of the crowd each time (when's
the last time you saw that kind of instinctive reaction from the crowd, outside
of maybe Steve Austin's well-known weak neck?) Funk does his goofy selling
throughout. Jim Ross nearly has a heart attack on several occasions. Flair does
a horrible piledriver, twice. No wonder he never
uses that move. Flair finally gets the figure-four, but Funk finds the branding
iron and rams it into his head, drawing the blood. The dreaded piledriver
finally hits, but Flair's foot falls under the ropes at two. Funk methodically
destroys Flair, although Flair does manage to grab the branding iron and bust
Funk open. Oddly enough, the year before in this very city, the Luger-Flair
match was stopped because of a tiny trickle over Luger's eye. Funk with the
spinning toehold, but Flair kicks him off and goes for the figure-four, but Funk
with the inside cradle, but Flair reverses *that* to his own inside cradle and
gets the three-count. ****1/4. For an even *better* Funk-Flair match,
check out the "I Quit" match from the Clash in November of 1989, which
is one of the best
matches of the 80s. This was merely the second best match of the show, which is
an amazing thought. Muta and Funk then annihilate Flair after the win, until
Sting makes the save, which helpfully sets up Halloween Havoc 89. This is why
people used to love Jim Ross' booking.
The Bottom Line: What the hell are you waiting for? This is the absolute best
PPV ever, hands down. You just don't get match rating bonanzas like this
anymore. GET IT ALREADY!
Seriously, the NWA was going full speed ahead under Jim Ross & Ric Flair and
drawing money and everything and I still don't know why they dumped him and
hired Ole Anderson instead. But hey, this is the future WCW we're talking about
here, so don't ask silly questions like "Why" which require an
intelligent answer.
One of the peak moments of all wrestling. Highest recommendation