Match #5 – NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shinya Hashimoto
Rhodes and Hase start the action. Collar and elbow tie up and Hase gets positioning, clean break. Another tie up, Rhodes with a fireman carry into the arm bar and he tags in Windham. Barry stays on the arm, Hase and Windham reverse in and out. Hase calls for a test of strength, Windham bridges Hase down, Hase counters with a kick to the face and he tags in Hashimoto. The big man squares up his opponent, he wants a test of strength and they lock up. Windham with a vertical suplex. They lock up, countering waist locks and Rhodes is tagged in. Collar and elbow, they hit the ropes, shoulder tackle by Hashimoto.

Another tie up, side headlock by Rhodes, they collide for shoulder tackles and don’t move. Collar and elbow, front face lock take down into the arm bar by Hashimoto. He holds the wrist and tags in Hase. Rhodes’ arm is worked into the hammerlock and he’s worked down to the mat. Dustin wrestles out of it and works Hase into an arm bar. Tag is made to Windham who enters with a double axe handle. Scoop slam by Windham followed by European uppercuts. Side headlock takedown, Hase bridges out of it. They exchange shots and chops and a tag is made to Hashimoto. The big man sends Windham for the ride and a big elbow. Snapmare into a head scissor submission by Hashimoto. Windham bridges as much as he can.

Up to a vertical base, Windham throws knees to the midsection, but his wrist is trapped. The ref calls for a break in the corner. Windham is able to tag in Rhodes, he sends Hashimoto for the ride and delivers a bionic elbow Arm drag into an arm bar by The Natural. He drives the knee in and keeps the pressure on. Rhodes sticks in some rights and knocks Hashimoto down, Rhodes gets his eyes raked and he receives some kicks and a scoop slam. Spinning heel kick by the big man. Tag is made to Hase, spike piledriver by the Japanese team. Rhodes rolls under the ropes to save a pin. Rhodes fights from his knees, gets up to vertical and hits some strikes.

Hase stops the momentum, tags in his partner and Rhodes eats a double shoulder block. Standing elbow by Hashimoto. Tag is made back to Hase, knee to the face to Rhodes. The Natural tries to fights back and he exchanges shots and delivers some elbows. Hase stays in control with a forearm. Big stomp to Rhodes’ back and a tag is made back to Hashitmoto. Windham doesn’t like the potential double team and he rushes the ring. Nick Patrick corrals Windham. Knee to the abdomen by Hashimoto who then grabs a front face lock into a vertical suplex for two. Rhodes’ face is busted into the canvass and Hase is tagged back in double snap suplex. Hase locks in a Boston crab, Windham breaks it up. Belly to belly suplex by Hase and he heads for the top rope.

Rhodes moves from a double knee and The Natural hits a big lariat. Tag is made to Barry Windham who goes right to work on Hase with strikes and a big elbow. Snap suplex by Windham followed by a powerslam for two. Windham grabs an abdominal stretch, and Hashimoto rushes the ring. Rhodes helps his partner and all four men brawl. Hashimoto is dumped to the outside, Rhodes sends Hase for the ride, leapfrogs him and Windham lands a big lariat to pick up the win.
Winners: ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham (Windham/Clothesline)

• EA’s Take: I don’t know if it’s a matter of teams working multiple 18-20 minute matches with little time in between, but the show is really lacking spark right now. Nothing too noteworthy to say here other than Rhodes and Windham are being built up as very plausible winners of the tournament. They probably wanted to please their friends over at NJPW by giving Hase and Hashimoto a win earlier in the night, but this is the spot in the tournament where Rhodes and Windham should have faced Rude and Austin.

Match #6 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader w/Harley Race vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting
Vader tries to intimidate and Sting gets in his face. Collar and elbow and a very quick break. Collar and elbow, Vader with position and forearms in the corner. The ref back him off. Vader is back to work quickly and the ref tries to gain control of the match. Standing clothesline by Vader and Sting rolls to the floor. Sting rolls back in, sends Sting for the ride. Sting ducks a clothesline, tries a clothesline of his own, nothing, he tries a cross body and can’t get the big man over. Collar and elbow tie up, Vader with an Irish whip, Sting moves and catches Vader with a belly to back suplex, he comes back with a clothesline and follows it with a clothesline to the floor.

Vader is slow to return to the ring apron, Harley Race gives some instructions. Vader calls for a test of strength, Sting goes for it and Vader just tells off the crowd. They go for it again, Sting is out of reach and he thinks it over. One more time, Vader reaches up, Sting obliges, Vader grabs the wrist lock but Sting pokes him in the eye. The World Champ with several strikes, stomps on his foot and knocks the challenger down. Drop kick by Stinger, Vader rolls to the apron. Sting takes him back to the ring with a vertical suplex and he gets two. Vader pops up, and delivers a clothesline. The challenger sends Sting for a ride, the champ stops short, kicks away at Vader and almost catches him with an inside cradle.

Vader rolls to the outside and Harley Race checks in. Sting goes on the attack, Vader reverses the Irish whip, Sting goes for a sunset flip but Vader drops all his weight on Sting’s sternum Standing elbow by Vader times two. He goes for a splash, but Sting is able to roll out of a pin. Vader kicks Sting around, taunts to the crowd. He pulls Sting up by the throat and throws him down. Vader looks for a submission and locks the ankles, until he finally turns Sting over into the Scorpion Deathlock. The ref drop checks the arms, Sting tries pushing out of it and Vader sits back down on him. Sting finally uses his lower body strength to get Vader off of him.

The challenger is up first and knocks the champ down with a big right hand. Sting tumbles to the corner, Vader sends him for the ride and a big clothesline. Scoop by Vader and a big power slam for two. Vader holds Sting in the corner and hits him with headbutts. Sting blocks a right and tries a comeback. Spinning kick off the ropes by Stinger and the big challenger is down. DDT by the champ but he’s slow to crawl over for the pin. A shoulder block knocks Vader to the apron, but it takes a lot out of Sting and he falls to the mat. Vader is up first and he climbs the turnbuckle. Sting catches him, and kicks him down so Vader is laying prone across the top ropes in the corner.

Sting lays in kicks to the midsection, Sting lifts the big man on his shoulders and he finally falls down with a Samoan drop. A slow cover and Vader kicks out at two. Sting grabs a waist lock, Vader catches him with an elbow. The challenger goes for a belly to back suplex, Sting does a full backflip out of it but he kicks the official down along the way. Stinger lands a suplex of his own but the ref is slow to get there for the count and Vader kicks out. A drop kick knocks Vader into the corner who then eats a Stinger Splash. Sting goes for one in the opposite corner, but he overshoots and hits his head on the steel post.

He’s dazed and hung up on the turnbuckle. Vader tries for a cover but the busted open Sting kicks out. Vader dodges desperation punches from the champ and Sting just falls flat on his face. Vader lifts him up for a powerbomb and we have a new World Champion.
Winner and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Big Van Vader (Powerbomb)

• EA’s Take: Vader made a more full-time commitment to WCW in 1992 and there is no better way to establish yourself as a top, monster heel and get some serious heat than to knock off Sting. I’m not sure if this had anything to do with the decision to put Vader over, but I’m almost positive Sting was dealing with a legitimate rib injury. Vader looks very strong, but The Stinger essentially goes down thanks to his own move, so it was a good way to drop the belt and make a brand new, legitimate top guy for WCW.

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