Customer Reviews

WCW Wrestle War:War Games [VHS]

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4 star:		(3)
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WCW Wrestle War 92, could not possibly rule the world anymore than it does. It doesn't start out great but the Steiners match, the Lightheavyweight title match, and the flat out awesome War Games featuring Sting's Squadron VS. The Dangerous Alliance more than makes up for it. Trust me, this tape is worth the money!

The Dangerous Alliance vs Sting's Squadron is easily the best War Games match ever. Tons of blood and a great match. Also on this tape, the Steiners absolutely molest Iizuka and Fujinami in a hard-hitting tag match. Tom Zenk vs Brian Pillman is another good match, but this one is worth getting just for those two. Outstanding show overall.

I can explain how great the main event is, its as Vince Mcmahon would have said when he was doing horrible commentary...UN-BE-LIEVABLE!!! But what really makes this great is that its has ECW written all over it. Paul Heymen leads his pack to the Wrestle War cage who consist of Austin, Rude, Anderson, and umm well Boby Eaton (Hey I know). Sting and crew come out nothing untypical here. But when the match starts all hell breaks loose Blood everywhere, the ring breaks by accident and good old "Bill Alfonso" is the outside referee (he actually has more than 3 teeth here). Its a total prelude of things to come, the match as one person put it was "savage".

The bad news is that the full card isn't on the VHS version of WrestleWar '92! The good news is that, as far as I can tell, the matches that are on here are in their entirety! This was during the Bill Watts era of WCW. Arguably the hardest hitting era of that company since the NWA days! Here is what's on here:

The Fabulous Freebirds Vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine/Taylor Made Man (Terry Taylor)(WCW U.S. Tag Team Title Match) - This version of the 'birds were original member Michael "P.S." Hayes & long time friend turned member "Gorgeous" Jim Garvin! They were the challengers in this bout against Valentine and Taylor! In this one, Hayes and Garvin dominated much of the bout with Taylor and Valentine only gaining a brief advantage when "The Hammer" began working on Hayes' legs for his version of the figure four leglock. This one ends when Garvin gets in his version of the DDT on Taylor while Hayes holds off Valentine for the win!

Ron Simmons (Faarooq) Vs. Mr. Hughes - This was originally a tag team bout with Simmons teaming with the late Junkyard Dog against Hughes and his partner Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) but Jack took out JYD before the match. After taking him back to the dressing room, Simmons returned and had a hard hitting one on one bout with Hughes! Simmons wins after a football tackle to the big man's leg.

Brian Pillman (RIP) Vs. Tom "Z-Man" Zenk (WCW Light Heavyweight Championship) - This was a predecessor to the WCW Cruiserweight title as Pillman took on his former WCW U.S. tag team partner in this match. Pillman, surprisingly, used a more mat based offense against Zenk and didn't use much high risk. This is also foreshadowing his heel turn later in his career. It was Zenk that went for more of a high risk offense along with some power moves. The high risk backfired when Zenk missed a missle dropkick from the top rope. Pillman took quick advantage and pinned his challenger, retaining the title.

The Steiner Brothers Vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Isuka - This was a number one contendership for the IWGP Tag Titles as WCW did a lot of talent trade deals with New Japan Pro Wrestling at that time. The Steiners, at that point, was the WCW World Tag Team champions. Though their titles were not on the line, personal pride and a shot at the IWGP Tag belts was! This was a very brutal tag team match! I would recommend this bout if only to see the Steiners (particularly Scott) in their prime while giving you a taste of the Japanese style, which was more of a brutal mat based style. Think guys like Finlay, Chris Jericho or the disgraced Chris Benoit (who was a legend in Japan prior to his suicide and committing murder).

Back to this, a lot of high impact moves and submissions here. Ends with Rick doing a top rope belly to belly suplex on Izuki for the win and a shot at the IWGP belts (which they did win by beating the late Bam Bam Bigelow and Vader in a bout in June of 1992).

Sting, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat VS. "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "Stunning" (Stone Cold) Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Larry Zybysco (WarGames bout) - The only thing I can say about this match is that this was the "Elimination Chamber" before there was one! This one, arguably, is possibly the best WG ever! This one was "ECW" before there was one! You had wrestling and bloody brawl all roled into one here! No other words can describe this match. SEE IT!

Overall, this card (at least the VHS version) was solid. While I wished they would've released the whole thing, Turner Home Entertainment at least released the best matches from that card! Good recommendation if you can find it at a good price.

This was the first wrestling ppv I ever bought back in 1992. Yes a WCW ppv...and its still stands as a great show with one of the best Main Event and/or Cage Matches of all Time. War Games 1992 was downright amazing. all the hype in the reviews on this board...its all true. And if you havent seen it...find a way to see it. Its got everything, wrestling, hardcore, old school high flying, blood, even a couple weapons and they break down the ropes...just years ahead of its time. I personally believe this is the best War Games ever. Even better then the first 2. The undercard was also pretty good for the time, Steiners vs Fujinami/Iizuka was very stiff, Pillman vs Zenk was a great old school highflying/wrestling match. The Opening Freebirds vs Taylor/Valentine was exciting especially with the fans who were great the entire show. Very loud (almost NWA style) Check it out, its sadly, a forgotten classic.

Earlier I took a look at WCW's Superbrawl II which is comparable to Wrestlemania X Seven. Did WCW keep the momentem going or did they just screw up. I like tellling what happend leading into the Pay Per Views so what has happend since Superbrawl II. Now you'll hear me say WCW Saturday Night cause on April 4th the show was renamed WCW Saturday Night. So anything that I tell in the backstory that happens before April 14th I'll still say on this episode of World Championship Wrestling this happend. & On The March 7th episode of World Championship Wrestling they showed at The Superbrawl II Post Show Press Conferance where Sting was taking questions & The Dangerous Alliance came in & Rick Rude tried to toast Sting. Sting said that he didn't want drink with someone like you. Rude threw the drink in Sting's face then they got in a fight. Nikita Koloff returned to WCW & fought off The Dangerous Alliance & for weeks everybody asked why? On The March 14th episode of World Championship Wrestling Paul E Dangerously had to be put in 8 & half man tag team matches cause of his actions at Superbrawl II Dangerously said that he will tear this company apart like a corperate Jeffry Dahmer. On The March 21st episode Of World Championship Wrestling Nikita Koloff cut a promo he said he returnded cause he needed to have a man to man talk with 1 man in general cause there was a lot weighing heavily on my heart. A lot happend on this episode They showed on an episode of WCW Pro were Ricky Steamboat was wrestling Arn Anderson & Steaboat went after Paul E Dangerously Rick Rude came in with a chair The Referee took the chair away from him Rude took a belt tried to choke Steamboat out but Steamboat took the belt & hung him over the ropes. Also they took a look where Big Van Vader attacked Sting on World Wide as well where The Steiner Brothers quikly beat Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton in less than 30 seconds. On The April 4th episode of WCW Saturday Night they showed on an episode of WCW World Wide Ricky Steamboat accidently hit Madusa then Rick Rude hit Steamboat with an evil looking chair shot The Dangerous Alliance just destroyed Ricky Steaboat they broke his nose & Steamboat did a manly blade job so much so that they had to block it out on TV. On The April 11th episode of WCW Saturday Night K Allen Frey said the rules will be reinforced. On The April 18th episode of WCW Saturday Night it was announced that The Main Event for Wrestle War will be War Games. Sting, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff vs Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko. They also announced that in a match in The Omni that Sting suffered a broken rib by the hands of Vader& that he'd be out until Wrestle War. Vader was calling hmself The Uncrowned WCW World Champion. They also mentioned that there were problems with in The Dangerous Alliance namley Larry Zbyszko. On this episode of WCW Saturday Night Zbyszko lost 2 straight falls to Nikita Koloff in a 2 out of 3 falls match. At the end of the show Missy Hyatt tried to get an interview Dangerouly & Zbyszko could be seen arguing with each other. On The April 25th episode of WCW Saturday Night Jim Ross had an in depth interview with Nikita Koloff they went over everything he had done in 91 Koloff said he left back in the summer cause of his actions in Knoxville he didn't know what came over him that weighed heavily on his heart. On this same episode Barry Windham took on Steve Austin in a 2 out of 3 falls match for The WCW Televison Championship Windham got 1 fall it went the time limit you have to get both falls in a 2 out of 3 falls match so Austin retained. On The May 2nd episode of WCW Saturday Night K Allen Frey announced that The NWA will be coming back & there will be a Tournament held at The Clash Of Champions XIX. Also on this episode they showed where Paul E Dangerouly accused Ricky Steamboat of Se x u a l H a r r a s ment twords Madusa on an episode of WCW World Wide. Ricky Steamboat showed up in the rafters in his Dragon Gear & a tourch breathing fire. On The May 9th episode of WCW Saturday Night Jim Ross had an in depth interview with Rick Rude The CO Host Randy Owen the lead singer of the group Alabama asked why he left The WWF for WCW he said that he was The WWF Intercontinatal Champion for months which means I should be The NO 1 Contender to The WWF Championship. It never happend cause they held me back but they couldn't hold me down. So I packed my bags & moved on to bigger & better things. Ross asked him about his problems with Steamboat Rude said that there going to get a restarining order against Ricky Steamboat. Missy Hyatt then took questions from the fans where 1 woman said that she was having an affair with Ricky Steamboat. They also announced that at a House Show in Chicago The Steiner Brothers defeated Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton in a Steel Cage to win The WCW World Tag Team Championship. The Steiner Brothers also had Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Izuka at Wrestle War in a match to determine The NO 1 Contenders to The IWGP World Tag Team Championship. On this episode Barry Windham defeated Steve Austin in a 2 out of 3 falls match to win The WCW Televison Championship. Austin beat up Windham after the match. & took the belt. On The May 16th episode of WCW Saturday Night Eric Bischoff interviewed Ricky Steamboat earlier in the day Diamond Dallas Page cut in he said that he has something that he wants to tell him. Jim Ross had an in depth interview with Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk now they were slowly turning Pillman heel around this time they went over each others history they held they were tag team partners & were The US Tag Team Champions Pillman said that I was the star of that team. Later on Scotty Flamingo defeated Johnny B Badd with the help of JT Southern. Z Man went to the ring to tell the Ref what happend Flamingo & Southern put the boots to him Pillman who was doing commentary jumped into the ring to help Z Man. Jim Ross interviewed Pillman & Zenk. Zenk said of you want a shot at the title I'll be more than happy to give it to you. Pillman was like woah woah woah what title my title!? Zenk told him ever since you won that title you've been more than generous with your help. They started arguing. Pillman said if you want to do this now let's do it. So that's the backstory the buyrate was a 0.61 that is down from last years Wrestle War from Febuary of 91 which got a 1.20.

DateMay 17, 1992
Attendance6,000
VenueJacksonville Memorial Coliseum
CityJacksonville, Florida

Tony Schiavone & Eric Bischoff provied analysts for the matches.
WCW United States Tag Team Championship
The Freebirds Michael PS Hayes & Jimmy "Jam" Garvin Def Champions The Taylor Made Man & Greg Valentine *** & half stars
A very good match The Freebirds won The WCW US Tag Team Championship.
Johnny B Badd Def Tracey Smothers * & half star an alright match
Missy Hyatt interviews The Freebirds great interview where you saw the return of Precious Jimmy's wife.
Scotty Flamingo Def Marcus Alexander Bagwell * & 3 quarters of a star an ok match.
Ron Simmons Def Mr Hughes * & quarter of a star watchable match.
It was originally suppose to be The Junkyard Dog & Ron Simmons vs Mr Hughes & Cactus Jack but Cactus Jack attacked JYD as he made his was to the ring.

The Super Invader Def Todd Champpion * & half stars an alright match
Big Josh Def Richard Morton ** & quarter of a star a fairly decent match
Eric Bischoff predicts that Brian Pillman will retain the WCW Lightheavyweight Championship
WCW Lightheavyweight Championship
Champion Brian Pillman Def The Z Man Tom Zenk *** & 3 & 3 quarters of a star
Zenk got some pyro & his reaction if funny but this was a near 4 star match really good match
NO 1 Contenders Match for The IWGP World Tag Team Championship
The Steiner Brothers Rick & Scott Def Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Izuka *****
I'm probably overrating this match but this was an amazing match.
Bischooff says The War Games Match is too close to call.

WAR GAMES THE MATCH BEYOND
Sting's Squadron
Sting
Ricky Steamboat
Barry Windham
Dustin Rhodes
& Nikita Koloff

Def

The Dangerous Alliance
Rick Rude
Steve Austin
Arn Anderson
Bobby Eaton
& Larry Zbyszko
with Paul E Dangerouly & Madusa

Steve Austin went in 1st for The Dangerous Alliance
Barry Windham started for Sting's Sqaudron
The Dangerous Alliance won the coin toss so they get the advantage
Rick Rude went in 2nd for The Dangerous Alliance
Ricky Steamboat was the 2nd man for Sting's Squadron
The Dangerous Alliance's 3rd man was Arn Anderson
Dustin Rhodes was the 3rd man for Sting's Squadron
The Dangerous Alliance's 4th man was Larry Zbyszko
Sting went in for his teams 4th man
The final man for The Dangerous Alliance was Bobby Eaton
The final man for Sting's Squadron was Nikita Koloff
*****
Another amazing match this is my favorite War Games. Madusa climbed the cage to throw the Zack Morris style cell phone down to Arn Anderson. Great moment with Sting & Nikita Koloff Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude & Bobby Eaton took the ropes apart Zbyszko used the steel hook to try & hit Sting he missed hit Boby Eaton with it Sting put on an arm bar to make Eaton submit.. The Dangerous Alliance argued among themselves & things weren't looking good for Larry Zbyszko. Kind of funny that Eric Bischoff was there to for The Dangerous Alliance which is sort of an invasion angle. This would've been 10 out of 10 if you had a better undercard. The Lightheavyweight title match is really good. The War Games is amazing The Steiner Brothers vs Fujinami & Izuka is amazing. The US Tag Team title match is was very good. The undercard was there but it was sort of mediocre. Check this show out but The VHS is expensive so either wathc it online or get a bootleg DVD R of it. Next I'll take a look at the 1st ever Beach Blast.

Event: WCW WrestleWar 1992: "WarGames"

Date: May 17, 1992

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Arena: Jacksonville Coliseum

Attendence: 6,000

Diamond Dallas Page and Thomas Rich defeated Bob Cook and Firebreaker Chip (8:05) when Page pinned Cook....**

United States Tag Team Title Match: The Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) defeated Terry Taylor and Greg Valentine (16:02) when Garvin pinned Taylor to win the tag team titles....***

Johnny B Badd pinned Tracey Smothers (7:03)....*

Scotty Flamingo pinned Marcus Bagwell (7:11)....*

Ron Simmons pinned Mr Hughes (5:22)....*

Super Invader pinned Todd Champion (5:26)....*

Big Josh pinned Richard Morton (7:33)....*

World Tag Team Title Match: Rick and Scott Steiner defeated Tatsumi Fujinami and Takayuki Iizuka when Rick pinned Iizuka to retain the tag team titles....***

World Light-Heavyweight Title Match: Brian Pillman pinned Tom Zenk (15:30) to retain the title....****

WarGames Cage Match: Stinger's Squadron (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, and Barry Windham) defeated The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Larry Zbysko, and Rick Rude)(23:27) in a "wargames" match when Sting forced Eaton to submit.(Greatest WarGames Match of ALL-TIME)*****

The Cage Match was better than most that I Have Seen and there was very good wrestling in this one.I just wish Michael Hayes would come back to WCW and Begin Wrestling again.The same goes for Jimmy Garvin.

Is velly goot...I enjoy much the big match in the fence was velly intelestink. Much very action in the video I suggest it to many