Mississippi Coast Coliseum - Biloxi, MS
Attendance: 8,600
Commentary team: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura.
Match #1: Ron Simmons vs. Paul Orndorff (c) - WCW World Television Title.
This match was supposed to happen at Clash of the Champions XXIII back on 6/16/93, but Orndorff was injured in a car accident and was replaced by Dick Slater. So Simmons finally gets his title shot after beating Orndorff in a match on WCW Saturday Night where the title was on the line for the first 10 minutes only, just beating Orndorff after the 10 minute mark.
The match was not that great, as Simmons' "give a shit" button is clearly pressed at this point and injuries are beginning to put wear and tear on Orndorff. Orndorff wins when Simmons backdrops Orndorff over the top during an attempted piledriver. The finish is rightfully booed because that is pretty damn lame. Orndorff retains the title. *½ (11:15)
Match #2: 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Shanghai Pierce & Tex Slazenger.
Pierce and Slazenger would go on to better fame in the WWF as The Godwinns. Scorpio and Bagwell were getting the push to the tag team championship. This match started off slowly with the heels working over Bagwell for the majority of the match. Scorpio gets the hot tag and cleans house with his usual flashy offense. Scorpio and Bagwell get the win after Scorpio hits the 450 splash. **½ (12:48)
Match #3: Erik Watts vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William).
Regal's servant is Bill Dundee, in case you didn't know. Erik Watts is getting de-pushed by this time as his father, Bill Watts, had been ousted from WCW months prior. They actually pull off a decent chain wrestling sequence that gets no-sold by the Biloxi crowd when they reach a stalemate. Even Schiavone and Ventura get on the crowd for not applauding. The finish comes when Watts gets the STF on Regal but Sir William hits Watts in the head out of sight of the referee and Regal pulls the tights on the distraction roll-up for the three count. ** (7:31)
After the match, Regal is interviewed at ringside by Ventura and he sets his sights on the TV title.
Match #4: Johnny B. Badd vs. Maxx Payne.
This is a grudge match between the two, as Payne incurred facial injuries on Badd during Clash of the Champions XXIII by shooting Badd's own Badd Blaster into his very own face. That's how irony works. Also, 1993 WCW crowds sure did think that Badd getting face-blasted was an everyday thing for him. *ahem*
The match was terrible as it was a style clash throughout. Badd was rapidly improving and Payne was just terrible. The finish comes when Badd hits a crossbody off the middle rope in a horribly awful looking move as Badd gets the three count. ½* (4:50)
Match #5: Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs. The Hollywood Blonds (c) - WCW World Tag Team Championship.
Paul Roma as a member of the fabled Horseman? This had to be a rib, right? Regardless, this is the worst incarnation of the Horseman because the fourth member was Ole and he was retired and didn't really appear on-screen that much. So really, it was more like the Three Horsemen. Anyway, this match was the best one on the card, but it ran a little too long for what they were shooting for. Both Roma and Arn play the hot tag segments as the Blonds just play terrific cocky heels. Pillman wrestled half the match with his trunks wedged up his ass and you just want to stop everything and tell him to fix them. The Blonds retain the titles after Austin pins Roma with a handful of tights. ***½ (26:14)
Match #6: Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude - 30-Minute Iron Man Challenge - WCW United States Championship.
The backstory here is that Rude was longtime U.S. champ until his injury in December. At that time, a #1 contender tournament was occurring, but it then became a tournament to fill the title because Rude was eventually stripped. Dustin Rhodes beat Ricky Steamboat in the finals to win the title on WCW Saturday Night. During an episode of WCW Worldwide in May, Rude got a title shot and there was a Dusty finish as both men got their shoulder up on the three count. The title was held up pending a rematch, and this is said rematch.
WCW was hoping to have a duplicate of the Steamboat-Rude Iron Man match from Beach Blast '92 but.....nope. Not gonna happen. Rude gets the first fall to go up 1-0 when he pins Dustin after the Rude Awakening at around 13:20. Not much happens after that until Dustin gets a pin with a bulldog with less than three minutes to go, tying the match 1-1. They then trade near falls until the time limit expires at 30:00. The title is still vacant. I'm not sure why they couldn't just go with a winner here. ** (30:00)
Match #7: Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (c) - NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Windham won the title from Muta back at SuperBrawl III and was congratulated by a returning Ric Flair. For weeks after this, Windham refused interviews if anyone mentioned the Horsemen or Flair. It finally culminated at Clash of the Champions XXIII when Windham attacked Flair during his tag match with The Hollywood Blonds and they brawled to close that show. Various brawls occurred on television after that, leading to this match.
This match was a disappointment considering the parties involved. It had no flow and was even sloppy in parts. The end was screwy as Flair had Windham in the figure-four leglock and the referee counted Windham's shoulders to the mat for three, even though it looked like Windham didn't mean to do so. I'm sure Flair was going over anyway, because Windham left for almost a year after this match, but this finish still looked messed up. **½ (11:15)
Match #8: Davey Boy Smith & Sting vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) & Sid Vicious (w/ Col. Rob Parker).
So this is your main event. This was set-up by a gloriously awful mini-movie where Cheatum the Evil Midget plants a bomb on the babyface speedboat while Vader & Sid ruin the beach party put on by Davey Boy and the Stinger. I'm pretty sure that makes Vader and Sid the babyfaces because Davey Boy and Sting would have been handing out drugs to the kids at that time anyway.
A decent power vs power match, with the heels getting the heat segment on first Davey Boy and then Sting. Vader hits his Vadersault from the top rope to a near fall, as the offensive highlight in this one. The finish comes when Sting and Sid brawl on the ramp, while Davey Boy beats Vader with a crucifx. Lame finish to a hot match. *** (16:44).
THE FINAL WORD: Beach Blast was almost literally a throwaway show, with the NWA World title switch being the notable exception to an underwhelming show. That match itself was a disappointment and you could say the same thing about the show in general. Seek out the Anderson/Roma vs. Blonds match but be wary of its length.
No comments:
Post a Comment