WCW Chi-Town Rumble
WCW Chi-Town Rumble (2/20/1989)- Chicago, IL
MICHAEL HAYES vs. RUSSIAN ASSASSIN #1- 4.5/10.
Very blah match, but the crowd into it.
RICKY STEAMBOAT PROMO- not so good. Ricky fumbled his words a lot, and seemed very dull.
STING PROMO- Oh dear G-d. I new Ultimate Warrior promos were bad, but I didn’t realize that they were not only contagious, but had an extremely long half-life, too. Sting had stopped teaming with Warrior almost three years ago, but this still sounded a bit like a rambling Warrior promo, but performed by someone who kind of knew how to make a point.
STING vs. BUTCH REED (w/Hiro Matsuda)- 4.5/10
Sting is so ridiculously over it isn't funny. Even his goofy cheating was over. Even I enjoyed it. On the other end of the comptence spectrum, at one point in this match, Reed had Sting in some sort of Reverse Chin Lock... and started yanking on Sting's tight.... for illegal leverage. Um... okay.
LOSER LEAVES THE NWA: Jim Cornette & The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) vs. Paul E Dangerously & The Original Midnight Express (Randy Rose & Jack Victory)- 6.5/10
STEINER BROTHERS PROMO- I'm not really sure what is going on here
WCW TV TITLE MATCH: Rick Steiner(c) (w/Scott Steiner) vs. Mike Rotunda- 6.25/10
Good storytelling.
WCW UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Barry Windham(c) vs. Lex Luger- 5/10
I thought that the finish made Luger look a bit weak, but the aftermath made up for it.
NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams)- 5.5/10
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Ric Flair(c) (w/Hiro Matsuda) vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.- A perfect 10/10. A hot crowd, great heat on Flair, and Steamboat completing his life-long dream add to up a perfect match. I have to give major props for the execution of the finishing sequence. Teddy Long jumped in the ring so fast and made the count that it really felt like it happened just like that. A true “flash pin” if there ever was one.
Flair’s bimbos get their own entrance music? Is that really necessary?
Overall, this was a decent show. It is a lot like ROH Vendetta in that it has a 10/10 world title match but the rest of the card definitely under-delivered (this show has a better undercard overall, but lacks a second great match like Vendetta had). If you can find this Flair vs. Steamboat match on some other DVD, don't bother picking this show up.
MICHAEL HAYES vs. RUSSIAN ASSASSIN #1- 4.5/10.
Very blah match, but the crowd into it.
RICKY STEAMBOAT PROMO- not so good. Ricky fumbled his words a lot, and seemed very dull.
STING PROMO- Oh dear G-d. I new Ultimate Warrior promos were bad, but I didn’t realize that they were not only contagious, but had an extremely long half-life, too. Sting had stopped teaming with Warrior almost three years ago, but this still sounded a bit like a rambling Warrior promo, but performed by someone who kind of knew how to make a point.
STING vs. BUTCH REED (w/Hiro Matsuda)- 4.5/10
Sting is so ridiculously over it isn't funny. Even his goofy cheating was over. Even I enjoyed it. On the other end of the comptence spectrum, at one point in this match, Reed had Sting in some sort of Reverse Chin Lock... and started yanking on Sting's tight.... for illegal leverage. Um... okay.
LOSER LEAVES THE NWA: Jim Cornette & The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) vs. Paul E Dangerously & The Original Midnight Express (Randy Rose & Jack Victory)- 6.5/10
STEINER BROTHERS PROMO- I'm not really sure what is going on here
WCW TV TITLE MATCH: Rick Steiner(c) (w/Scott Steiner) vs. Mike Rotunda- 6.25/10
Good storytelling.
WCW UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Barry Windham(c) vs. Lex Luger- 5/10
I thought that the finish made Luger look a bit weak, but the aftermath made up for it.
NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams)- 5.5/10
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Ric Flair(c) (w/Hiro Matsuda) vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.- A perfect 10/10. A hot crowd, great heat on Flair, and Steamboat completing his life-long dream add to up a perfect match. I have to give major props for the execution of the finishing sequence. Teddy Long jumped in the ring so fast and made the count that it really felt like it happened just like that. A true “flash pin” if there ever was one.
Flair’s bimbos get their own entrance music? Is that really necessary?
Overall, this was a decent show. It is a lot like ROH Vendetta in that it has a 10/10 world title match but the rest of the card definitely under-delivered (this show has a better undercard overall, but lacks a second great match like Vendetta had). If you can find this Flair vs. Steamboat match on some other DVD, don't bother picking this show up.