WCW SuperBrawl IV

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

SuperBrawl IV – February 1994

Albany, Georgia

CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: Ric Flair is the reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion heading into tonight’s show, while Rick Rude holds WCW International Championship. The Nasty Boys are the WCW Tag Team Titles, Steve Austin holds the US Championship, and Lord Steven Regal is the recognized TV Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan

Johnny B. Badd arrives for the opening contest against his former tag partner (according to commentary, not my recollection), Michael “P.S” Hayes. When the Freebird arrives (with Jimmy “Jam” Garvin), though, it is in a wheelchair. The match seems to be off, but WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel decides that because Hayes is injured, Badd will be squaring off against Jimmy “Jam” instead.

So our real opening contest becomes Harlem Heat vs. Thunder & Lightning, who look like two guys WCW picked up from a Chippendales. What is interesting is that “Lightning” Jeff Farmer DOES actually resemble Sting a little (he would go on to play the “Fake Sting” as part of the nWo in 1996). As one might expect, there’s not much to love here as neither team were experienced enough to do anything but the basics. Kole (Booker T)  at least has some energy, but this match just goes way too long for how limited both teams are. (1/5)

Next up, The Equalizer vs. “Jungle” Jim Steel. Schiavone mentions that Steel has been putting away opponents in under four minutes…well, we could only hope so in this instance. The Equalizer isn’t an awful worker, but he’s not a great one either. The crowd is dead for this. The MVP is Bobby Heenan on commentary, who notably mentions that Hulk Hogan films Thunder in Paradise near where WCW films their shows. After taking a beating for most of the match, “Jungle” Jim’s comeback consists of some of the most laughably awful wrestling I’ve ever seen. Absolute dud. (0/5)

And here we are with the PPV wrestling debut (I think) of Diamond Dallas Page, who is accepting a challenge from wrestling journeyman Tery Taylor. Page is noticeably “meatier” than he would look years later and this match certainly goes longer than Page was really capable of going at this point in his career. When people talk about how much DDP improved through the 90s, this is a good match to show his "basement level" skills in the first half of the decade. Taylor was always a sound worker, but the crickets you can hear in the audience are all you need to know about whether or not he pulls anything great out of his opponent. (1.5/5)

Johnny B. Badd vs. Jimmy “Jam” Garvin is our next contest. According to Heenan, Garvin had not competed in 2 years, though, I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. Badd’s work isn’t too terrible, but he’s still relying on mostly arm drags and side headlocks. The finish gets a nice pop, but I’m not sure if it's for the action or because it's over. (2/5)

Our first championship match of the night is next - Arn Anderson challenging Lord Steven Regal for the WCW Television Championship. This is one where the critical appraisals of it, over the years, have changed significantly. At the time, Dave Meltzer called it boring and, years later, there are still plenty of fans who would probably find it too slow-paced…but there are also fans who believe it is a Match of the Year candidate. Both guys apply a wide variety of arm, neck, and leg holds and, if you’re a fan of Regal’s deliberate pace and character work, you can easily get sucked in. Even the crowd, which seems a bit cool for the first half, gets really into the closing moments, showing just how masterful Anderson and Regal were at wrestling the match they wanted to work and not just “throwing bombs” in an attempt to pop the crowd every ten seconds. Some have criticized the finish in the past, a knock against the match that I find to be wholly unjustified, especially considering Regal’s previous PPV and Clash defenses. The ending worked for me, but as a whole, I’m “in the middle” on the match – there is certainly great wrestling to see here, but this is not a match that will grab you from the get-go, something I was expecting and desiring after a string of terrible matches on this show. (3.5/5)

The Nasty Boys defend the WCW Tag Team Championships against Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne in the next bout. At the last Clash, Jack and Payne stole a win over the champs in a non-title match that was most notable for an absolutely sick chair shot that Sags delivered to Maxx Payne. This time the match begins with the good guys on top, specifically some awesome slams from Maxx Payne, followed by Cactus Jack nailing several crossbodies and an elbow drop. From there, this is a back-and-forth brawl until Jack takes one of the nastiest back bumps onto an arena floor that I have ever seen. Honestly, it is heart-wrenching to watch – so punishing that it could give the viewer a concussion almost as bad as the one Foley no doubt suffered. When Tony says, “We need to see that again,” you’d have to be an emotionless robot to agree. The follow-up spot, of Knobbs sending Jack into the guard rail, is almost equally horrifying in context, but, as per usual when talking about Mick Foley, the most amazing part is that he continues the match and works it with energy, expert pacing, and passionate delivery. The finish is disappointing in the best way – you want to see another match between them, you want to see the story continue, you want to see something definitive and epic and you know that, unless WCW are colossally stupid, you’re going to get it. (4/5)

The first of two Thundercage bouts is next as we get Stunning Steve, Rick Rude, and Paul Orndorff vs. Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Brian Pillman. Sting and Rude start things up with Rude taking a huge back body drop, the same move that I believe would end his career months later. Steve Austin takes a bizarre bump in the early going as well, clutching his knee despite not really eating any offense. That’s not Austin’s only oversell either as he basically defies the laws of gravity to fly into the cage every opportunity he can (including a wicked spot from the apron). Pillman shows less athleticism than in years prior, making up for it by blading on the outside. As the match continues, it turns more and more into a brawl, but Randy Anderson is able to maintain order for most of it. Orndorff takes a beating well, keeping things moving at a nice pace in his segments. Overall, not a legendary battle and certainly not as good or interesting as the War Games match from 92', but fun for what it is. (3.5/5)

Main event time – Ric Flair vs. Vader for Flair’s WCW World Championship in a Thundercage with The Boss as the guest referee. After a recap video goes through the history of this feud, the action starts off right away, with Flair dishing out rights and left on Vader in the corner. Unlike their Starrcade match, Flair actually gets a good amount of offense in, but it is Vader’s moveset that looks more devastating. Vader also shows off a bit more agility in this match with a cool “Flair-like” tumble over the top turnbuckle and a failed Vadersault in which he ends up landing on his feet. Unfortunately, an overbooked finish hurts things, especially when you consider that you are essentially getting a “non-finish” with no clear winner. It is understandable that WCW wanted to keep both guys strong going forward, but the fact that there is no real pay-off to end this rivalry is what keeps it from being remembered as a peak storyline in WCW history, even when the actual in-ring dynamic between these two was special. (3.5/5)

With an average match score of 1.90-out-of-5, one would expect this show to be considered WCW’s worst, an easy rating of DUDleyville if there ever was one. Quantitatively, it IS the lowest rated show I’ve reviewed since Clash #24…but, somehow, as the show wears on, it ends up sustaining one's attention better than the numbers indicate. The first half of this show is absolutely terrible, but after that, you actually get some of the funnest wrestling WCW had to offer that year: the Tag Team Championship match is brutal and highly entertaining, Regal/Anderson has been called a Match of the Year candidate by some, and the two main events are better than average, though, not all-time classics (though, some reviewers consider the 6-man criminally underrated). If you just look at those last four bouts, your average rating would be an astronomical 3.625, a score that would place this show at the very top of the list of WCW events I’ve reviewed. In a crazy way, this show is the best and worst of pre-Hogan WCW in one 3-hour block.

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand