Match #9 – War Games: Sting’s Squadron (WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting, Barry Windham, ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes, Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat & Nikita Koloff) vs. The Dangerous Alliance (WCW United States Champion ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude, WCW Television Champion ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, ‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton & Larry ‘The Cruncher’ Zbysko) w/Paul E. Dangerously & Madusa
Paul E. chooses ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin to enter first, Sting’s Squadron goes with Barry Windham. The two have a heated brawl right at the start. They exchange rights, hit the ropes and Windham catches him with a football tackle. Austin attempts to drive Barry into the steal but it’s blocked. Kick to the gut and a forearm by Windham. Scoop slam, but Austin moves away from the elbow drop. Windham is driven into the turnbuckle and he feels Austin’s shoulder on his gut. Windham reverses momentum with an eye rake, he tries to lift Austin for a piledriver but the TV champ tosses him over with a backbody drop, following it with an elbow.

Paul E. is coaching his team while Windham tosses Austin into ring number 1. Austin puts the brakes on from a cage shot but he gets his eyes raked again. Big DDT from Windham but there is no pinfall in this match. Austin blocks the cage again, Windham responds with some forearms. Austin is able to regain control and he clotheslines Windham between the rings. Windham stands up wobbly and Austin lands a flying clothesline all the way over to ring number 2. Austin climbs the turnbuckles but he’s caught, this time he can’t block the steel and Windham sends him multiple times. His face is raked on the cage and Austin is busted open. Windham piles on with some rights and he bites the forehead. They hit the ropes, Windham with a kick to the gut and a knee to the head.

Referee Randy Anderson conducts a coin toss outside of the ring. The Dangerous Alliance wins it and they send in ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude to start the two on one. The US Champ blindsides Windham and clubs him to his knees. Windham fights back with shots to the gut but Rude rakes his eyes. They brawl in the corner, Rude with intense shoulder blocks to the gut in the corner. Windham won’t quit, he blocks a shot to the cage but Austin is back up and it’s too much to overcome. Flying clothesline from the turnbuckle by Austin and Windham eats steal. Windham is reeling hard, but here comes Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat. The crowd explodes as The Dragon cleans house. DDT on Rude, and he has one for Austin too.

He sets Austin in the corner and drives Rude’s head in the other one. Austin comes to and hits Steamboat from behind. He tries a somersault shoulder block in the corner, but Dragon athletically jumps up the turnbuckles to avoid contact. Steamboat uses the top of the cage to kick Austin, he sets up on Rude’s shoulders and takes him over with a head scissor. Steamboat pounds away, and Windham is finally back up. Windham works Austin’s head in the corner and helps Steamboat with Rude. They each have a dance partner in a given ring and the 10 count is on. Next up for The Alliance, it’s Arn Anderson.

He immediately DDTs Windham and he blindsides Steamboat, sends him for the ride and lands a spinebuster. He and Rude double team The Dragon with a double Boston Crab. Windham makes the save and he pounds away on Anderson. The numbers game proves to be too much though. Steamboat is victim to a Rick Rude piledriver, and he’s thrown over both ropes into the empty ring. Rude follows him, they hit the ropes and both go down after simultaneous clothesline. Sting’s team evens the score as ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes is now in the match. He hooks up with Anderson, Irish whip by the Enforcer but he eats boot. Bionic elbow and a huge right by The Natural.

Inverted atomic drop and a clothesline for the TV champ. He has a clothesline for Double A as well. He goes to check ring number 2, but Steamboat has it under control as he has Rude in a Boston Crab. Irish whip on Austin, he avoids the turnbuckle by climbing up but Rhodes puts him on his shoulders for a fallaway slam. Gigantic rights by Rhodes and Windham has Anderson’s head caught between rings. In ring two, Steamboat is trying to fight his way out of the figure four. The clock strikes and it’s Larry ‘The Cruncher’ Zbyszko’s turn. Dustin Rhodes welcomes him with rights and they have a furious brawl.

Madusa climbs the side of the cage all the way to the top, walks across, finds a crevice and slips Arn Anderson Paul E.’s phone. Sting climbs up to the top and confronts her about it. She screams and retreats. Back in the ring, Steamboat’s face is raked by Rude and he’s locked into a tough reverse chin lock. Action all over the ring as Windham and Rhodes are both rammed into the steal. Rude climbs on Steamboat’s back and locks in a sleeper hold. Now it’s Sting’s turn to officially enter the match and he’s anxious. The crowd goes wild for the champ, he hits Anderson with a bulldog and lifts the US champ for a military press, slamming him atop the cage. The Enforcer tastes the steel and Austin is back body dropped into the cage.

On the outside, Madusa tapes up Bobby Eaton’s fist, while Anderson’s face is raked by Stinger. Rude is tossed across the ropes by Steamboat, while Austin hits a high impact clothesline on Windham. Rude is comically wishboned between the rings by Sting and Steamboat. The Dangerous Alliance sends him their final member whose fist is now taped, ‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton. He goes right after Steamboat, in the other ring, an extremely bloody Dustin Rhodes lands a big boot. Eaton with a knee to Barry Windham’s head and he throws him in the cage. Zbyszko and Rude appear to be plotting something with one of the turnbuckles, Sting ripping Rude away from it.

Windham has The Enforcer in the figure four, while Sting stomps away on a supine Rick Rude. Anderson has escaped his hold and he saves the US Champ. He chokes Sting with his boot, and there is a wide shot of the melee. The final member of the contest is ready to go, it’s Nikita Koloff. He goes right after Anderson, sending him into the cage. He stares down Sting who is breathing hard in the corner. He offers him a hand up, and they have an intense staredown. Anderson comes charging at Sting from behind, Koloff pushes the champ out of the way and takes the shot. Austin and Anderson send Sting and Koloff for the ride, both babyfaces duck and clothesline their opponents.

Koloff holds the hands up and high fives his teammate. Sting beats Austin down, but Koloff is poked in the eye by Rude. Rhodes and Windham double team Austin and Zbyszko is still trying to do something with that turnbuckle. Steamboat cuts him off, on the other side Anderson receives a Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Deathlock. Eaton makes the save with a double axe handle. It appears the shenanigans have worked because the top turnbuckle/rope is off and on the mat. Rhodes locks in a figure four while Koloff drives Austin into a turnbuckle. Rude’s eyes are raked and he’s choked by the Russian.

Scoop slam by Rhodes on Austin and he goes for the top rope, he misses the flying elbow. Steamboat puts Rude in a sleeper, but something is fishy with the turnbuckle. Eaton grabs it, Sting tries to stop him but Zbyszko cuts him off from behind. Eaton hands the turnbuckle with the steel post to The Cruncher and holds Sting in place. The champ moves and Eaton is clocked, Stinger furiously attacks Zbyszko and then grabs a modified arm bar on Eaton. Steamboat fights off interference, and Beautiful Bobby is forced to submit.
Winners: Sting’s Squadron (Sting/Modified Armbar)

• After The Bell: Dangerously is furious and he berates Zbyszko for hitting his own partner. Rude asks Anderson “What the hell happened?”. Zbyszko defends himself, but the rest of The Dangerous Alliance is not having it.
• EA’s Take: The story going into the match was whether or not Nikita Koloff was going to turn on his team due to having his eye on Sting’s title. The story leaving and going forward is planting the seeds for The Dangerous Alliance’s dissolution, which if you ask me, starts happening way too soon in the factions lifespan. All in all, I always like WarGames and this one did not disappoint. Easily the highlight of the night.

EA’s Take: I’m a sucker for show stealing mid card matches, but this show really didn’t feature any. This may be the first time I’ve ever watched a show and thought the Top Three To Watch were the final three matches of the card in order. The last show (SuperBrawl II) was really great, this show wasn’t bad so much as most of it felt pointless and therefore “ho-hum”. I’d like to have more substantive commentary, but there’s just none to give. The main event is the only real selling point of the show.

Top Three To Watch
1 – WarGames
2 – The Steiner Brothers vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka
3 – ‘Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs. ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk

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