Match #6 for the WCW United States Championship: WCW United States Champion ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes vs. Maxx Payne
Collar and elbow, side headlock and a shot from Payne. Rhodes is unaffected and pounds Payne out of the ring. Rhodes with more aggression and sends him for a clothesline. Payne rolls out once more. Back inside the ropes they square up, collar and elbow and a side headlock by The Natural. They hit the ropes and Rhodes catches a roll up for two. Arm drag by the champ and Payne has to regroup again. Rhodes asks for a test of strength and Payne backs up. Wristlock by Rhodes and he yanks the arm into an arm bar. Rhodes cranks on the arm, keeping Payne on a knee.

Payne breaks it with knees to the gut, sends Rhodes to the ropes but Rhodes avoids clotheslines and arm drags him again. Another tie up, arm drag into a submission by Rhodes. He drives his knees into the arm and hangs on. Up to a vertical base, Payne waistlocks him and drives Rhodes into the corner. Irish whip, Dustin moves and goes back to the arm bar. Slowly to their feet, Payne rakes the eyes to break the hold. Clubbing forearms and a chop in the corner. Snapmare by Payne, Rhodes avoids the elbow. Rhodes goes right back to the arm, dropping knees on the elbow.

Rhodes with a right in the corner, Irish whip but Dustin walks into an elbow. Clubbing shots by Payne, Irish whip and Payne runs into a boot. Payne reverses a whip to the corner and tosses Rhodes face first on the mat. Modified arm bar on the mat by Payne, the crowd getting behind Rhodes. Vertical base, Payne hangs on. Arm drag by Payne is reversed with a head scissor. Big running lariat by Payne and he drives his knee into the shoulder, and it’s broken on the ropes. Rhodes fights from his knees but Payne clubs him to the floor. Payne uses the bottom rope to apply more pressure to the arm.

They roll back in to avoid the 10 count and the big man hits a back body drop.Dustin again tries chopping him down from his knees. He lands a big boot to the head but he’s staggering. Payne whips him to the ropes and they collide. Rhodes tries cross body press, he’s caught and scoop slammed. Payne tries an elbow and Rhodes moves out of the way. Mule kick to a stalking Payne, Rhodes with shots to the face and he sends him for a lariat. Rhodes with a front face lock and a vertical suplex, earning a two count. Rhodes hooks him with an abdominal stretch. Payne breaks the hold by grabbing the referee and throwing him into Rhodes. A disqualification is called for and the champ retains.
Winner and STILL WCW United States Champion: ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes (Disqualification)

• EA’s Take: WCW has had some bad luck with injuries and these last minute replacement matches haven’t been very good. Especially having to substitute Maxx-freakin-Payne for Ron Simmons. One of those two things is not like the other. Payne is just not athletic enough to hang with Rhodes, so it was armbar city.

In The Ring: Ring announcer Gary Michael Capetta formally introduces the returning Ric Flair to a huge pop. He touches base with Tony Schiavone. In life sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and in WCW, he’s back to rock and roll. Flair will be at the commentary table for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match. Flair adds that this match is for the title he never lost.

Match #7 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: NWA World Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta vs. Barry Windham
The crowd chants “We Want Flair” as the referee reviews the NWA rules. They circle the ring and tie up. Waistlock by Muta, broken on the ropes. They feel each other out, collar and elbow, Muta with position and it’s broken in the corner. Windham with a shove and the crowd reacts. Test of strength, but Windham backs off. They go for it again and Windham takes Muta to his knees. Windham hoists him up for a back body drop and Muta backs off. Collar and elbow tie up, Muta with the headlock, side headlock take down and Muta hangs on. Windham crawls back to his feet, sends Muta who hits a shoulder block.

Muta somersaults under Windham and hits him with a spinning karate kick before returning to the headlock. Up to their feet, Windham lifts Muta high in the air but the champ takes him back down with the side headlock takedown. Windham tries rolling him over but can’t surprise him with a 3 count. Up to vertical, Windham lifts him again for a belly to back but he still can’t break the hold and finds himself back on the mat. Once again to their feet, Windham moves to the ropes and the hold is broken. Shoulder tackle by Windham but he runs into a drop kick next time. Muta goes back to the side headlock takedown and we’re back on the mat.

Windham lifts him and this time he lands the belly to back suplex, but Muta doesn’t let go of the head. Up to their feet, Windham drives Muta back into the corner, the ref calls for a break and Windham pounds on him. Windham tries a vertical suplex, countered by Muta. Snapmare take down and a hard elbow from Muta. Once again a side headlock takedown by Muta. Up to a vertical base, Windham tries powering out to a top wrist lock, but Muta gets it right back. Windham lifts him, and you can guess what happened again. Windham drives his elbow to the mid section to break the hold. He clubs Muta, the champ reverses the Irish whip but misses the drop kick.

Front face lock into a DDT by Windham, but he has to shake it off. Kick to the midsection and strikes to the head knocks Muta out to the floor. Barry stalks him on the outside and he hits a belly to back suplex on the floor. Windham brings Muta back in the ring with a vertical suplex, a lateral press gets two. Windham with a scoop slam and he drops the knee across the forehead. Windham measures and scores another knee. He tries another cover and Muta kicks out. Windham sends Muta for the ride and locks in a sleeper hold. Muta droops down to the mat and the ref drop checks the arm, but he isn’t out yet.

Windham uses the ropes for extra leverage. Randy Anderson drop checks the arm again, but only gets one. The ref catches Windham with his feet on the ropes and calls for a break. Windham with shots to the back of the head and Muta screams out in pain. Muta is knocked down with elbows but kicks out at two. Windham feels the count was off. Side salto suplex by the challenger and Muta kicks out once again.Windham dumps Muta on the outside, and follows him to deliver a big right hand. Muta gets up, so Windham pounds him down from the apron. He’s able to roll back in and they exchange chops. Windham rakes the eyes.

Scoop slam by Windham and he drops the elbow, Muta kicks out once again and Windham is getting frustrated. He applies a reverse chin lock. The champ breaks it with elbows and scores with a shoulder tackle. He tries a sunset flip but can’t get the big man over. Windham drops a right hand and goes back on offense. Muta ducks a clothesline, hits a crossbody and Windham is almost pinned. Windham drives Muta into his boot in the corner and then measures him for a right. Windham goes for a piledriver, reversed with a back body drop. Windham is up first and stays right on him. Muta drops to his knees and eats an elbow. Windham drops a leg, rolls him over and Muta kicks out once again.

The ref lectures Windham and Muta jumps up with a spinning karate kick but he’s dazed. Windham with a thumb to the eye and he sets Muta up on the top turnbuckle. Barry with a front face lock but Muta fights back with a head butt and a big chop. He springs off the turnbuckle with a clothesline and executes a handspring back elbow. Back breaker by the champ and he says it’s over. He’s going for the moonsault but Windham moves out of the way. Windham with a kick to the gut, Muta reverses the suplex attempt with a belly to back. Muta jumps up with a spur of energy, he hits the back breaker and goes for the moonsault again.

Windham gets his knees up and charges him with a clothesline. Barry grabs a front facelock and plants Muta with a double implant DDT. 1-2-3 and we have a new champion!
Winner and NEW NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Barry Windham (Double Implant DDT)

• After The Bell: Ric Flair presents Windham with the title and puts it around his waist. He gives the new champ a long staredown and exits the ring.
• EA’s Take: I was definitely expecting Flair to interfere on his old friend Windham’s behalf, but clearly he’s in pursuit of the big gold belt. Around the 10 minute mark, I audibly said “what is this?” as 85% of the match had been a headlock with the same failed counter 3 or 4 times over. The second half of the match was better, but still, Flair’s presence was much more interesting than the match itself.

Pages: 1 2 3 4