Match #8 – White Castle Of Fear Strap Match: Sting vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader w/Harley Race
The two exchange words as Race tries to give Vader the strap. They measure each other, teasing with the strap. They set up a tug war and Vader pulls Sting down. Another tug of war has the same result. Vader poses to a sea of boos. Sting tries again, and they get right up in each others face. Sting backs off but Vader yanks him in for a clothesline. Vader drops an elbow, and then another one on the inside of Sting’s legs. Vader whips Sting across the back. Vader to the middle turnbuckle and he lands a big splash. Vader struts around the ring, Sting gets up and uses the strap on Vader’s groin. Sting ambushes him with rights and kicks him across the face.

Sting comes off the middle turnbuckle with a diving clothesline. He backs Race off before heading to the top rope, landing a flying splash. Sting calls for 1 more and he lands it, the crowd erupts. Sting returns the favor and whips Vader across the back. Race gets up on the apron, and he gets a shot with the strap. Vader rolls out of the ring and Race checks on him. Sting on the outside on the other side of the ring post and he pulls the big man into it multiple times. Sting touches the first ring post and scoop slams Vader. He drags the champion on the outside and gets post number two. Vader digs his heels in and pulls Sting into the steel railing, resetting the count.

Sting rolls into the ring and Vader is slow to follow. Fireman carry into a Samoan drop by Sting. He tries a clothesline, but Vader throws all his weight back at him. Vader calls for the powerbomb, reversed with a back body drop by Sting. Up to the top rope, Sting misses the splash this time. Running splash by Vader and he buries some rights. Sting is lifted on Vader’s shoulders and he falls backwards. Vader heads to the middle turnbuckle and splashes down on his chest. Vader with some more whips with the strap. He hoists Sting on his shoulders, and drops him from the 2nd turnbuckle.

Vader gets the first turnbuckle, dragging Sting for the 2nd. Stinger fights the momentum and kicks Vader in the face, the ref waves off the count. Vader rolls Sting onto his back, he tries another splash and Sting moves. Vader is still the first one up and the 450 pound man goes to the top rope. Sting tugs the strap dropping him into a seated position. Vader tries to get back up but he’s pulled all the way down to the mat. They slug it out on the mat, Vader with the first shot and Sting with several desperation punches. Vader goes to the eyes, get up and seats Sting up top. Front face lock and the champ lands a superplex. Vader gets the first 3 turnbuckles with relative ease, but Sting wraps his legs around the bottom rope to stop the momentum.

He kicks Vader in the face and the ref calls it off. Vader is up first and he abuses Sting in the corner. The ref calls for a break. Vader goes right back in and the ref counts him off and lectures him once more. Kick to the ribs by Vader. He tries pulling Sting in with the strap but he somersaults through the air and is kicked down. Vader is still the first one up, Sting ducks a clothesline and scores with back elbows. German suplex on the big champion followed by a DDT. Sting with position in the corner and he strikes down to a seated position as the crowd counts along. Sting pulls Vader’s mask off, lifts him up on his shoulders but his foot hits the referee and knocks him down.

Sting’s carries him around, he gets to three corners but he trips over the referee. Vader is bleeding from the ear. He hits Sting with a Banzai drop and ties Sting’s foot with the strap. He drags the fans’ hero around, he gets to three, Sting holds onto the bottom rope. Sting kicks Vader off but he tumbles back into corner number 4 giving him the win.
Winner: Big Van Vader

• After The Bell: An irate Sting whips Vader until the champ bails out.
• EA’s Take: I’ve never been a fan of strap matches, particularly between top guys as it limits what they can do, but the fan investment in this match made it worthwhile. Just look at the blood on the mat to know how hard these two were lacing in those whips with the strap. I didn’t catch how Vader started bleeding from the ear, but that was definitely messy. Hardcore marks at the time can leave feeling like Sting did enough to win the match, but the referee was knocked out and they got plenty of spots where Vader was abused, however your champion managed to win a close and brutal one.

In The Arena: Eric Bischoff checks in with the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion Barry Windham. He knows Flair is gunning for the title but first things first, Muta’s name is being removed from it. No championship in WCW is safe as Windham is gunning for more gold.

EA’s Finisher: The return of Ric Flair, the WCW debut of Davey Boy Smith, the PPV debut of Chris Benoit and a roster partnership with Smoky Mountain Wrestling to provide a pure tag team match all helped make this card more interesting than Starrcade. This one definitely had its ups and downs. I expected more out of Windham and Muta but Benoit and Scorpio was fantastic. Had Ron Simmons not been injured, the United States bout would have been more interesting but Sting and Vader left their blood in the ring. I’ll score the show at a decent 5.5 out of 10 points.

Top Three To Watch
1 – Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
2 – Sting vs. Big Van Vader
3 – The Hollywood Blonds vs. Marcus Bagwell & Erik Watts

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