Lex Luger v Sting (Superbrawl, 2/29/92)
Big time atmosphere here, sort of like the 1992 WCW equivalent of Cena v Helmsley at Wrestlemania 22, although the babyface is actually cheered and the heel booed in this instance. Luger is jacked out of his mind and is about as big as I remember seeing him. I'm usually a sucker for these big spectacles, but I didn't think this was anything one needs to go out of their way to see. I mean, the crowd is pumped and it does have that whole "aura" about it, but it's not like it's Hogan/Rock levels of electric, and besides, Hogan/Rock was a good match regardless of the nutso atmosphere. I kinda liked Luger totally no-selling a Stinger Splash right off the bat and clubbering Sting with a clothesline, but I know some people will hate it, and, well, he doesn't really do much else to redeem himself. Luger has a ton of really good performances that get little to no praise, but this isn't anything a Luger fan is likely to point to as evidence of that. Finish seemed kind of underwhelming as well, but at least with the belt off Luger it actually had a chance to be meaningful again, and I guess that's the most important thing.
Brian Pillman v Brad Armstrong (Saturday Night, 4/4/92)
Nifty enough match, but it felt a little too my turn/your turn for the most part. There's some duelling arm work and both guys bust out a grounded abdominal stretch, which was pretty cool and unexpected, but I never thought it settled into much of a decent rhythm. Finishing run was pretty sweet at least, and Pillman has an ace dropkick. Gotta get a hold of Goodhelmet's Brad Armstrong comp at some point.
Brian Pillman v Z-Man (Wrestlewar, 5/17/92)
This was shockingly good. Well, "shockingly" is probably overstating it since I don't actually think Zenk's level of suck is as high as his level of annoyance to me personally, but I still wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. There's still some goofy crowd-pandering at odd moments and general instances of him being vanilla as all get out, but he's way more niggly and pissed off than usual and things are much better for it. I'm not actually sure what it is these two are bitching about, but they're tag partners that have had a falling out, and they manage to get across a vibe of "two friends that are pissed off at each other" well enough. Pillman controls most of it by working the leg, which I'm thankful for because Pillman on offence is far more interesting than Zenk on offence. Zenk does get a small spell of working Pillman's lower back, but he doesn't seem to know whether he wants to work like a slightly more aggressive babyface that's fed up with his current situation or a full on uber-babyface. One minute he'll punt Pillman in the kidneys, the next he'll throw up his arm and flash his pearly whites so everybody knows he's a nice guy. Pillman's a guy that always worked pretty aggressive, but the moments where he tosses everything aside just so he can tear Zenk up with Hashimoto overhands feel pretty heavy on the "how far will two buddies go to beat on each other?" scale. Last 6 or so minutes are great and have some really choice nearfalls. There's one moment where Zenk keeps crumpling up in a heap as if his leg's completely shot any time Pillman tries to stand him up, so Pillman goes up top to fly, but it turns out Zenk's only playing possum and catches him on the way down with a crazy boot to the chest. Pillman takes a great bump off a Zenk cross body as well, practically landing on his head. Pissed off Zenk is far more tolerable than vanilla Zenk, and I'd be pretty astounded if I came across a better match with him in it.
Dustin Rhodes v Cactus Jack (Main Event, 9/6/92)
Loved this. It barely goes 7 minutes, but there's absolutely no fluff and they hit all the notes they need to in that time. I'll take that over something that goes twice as long but has a bunch of meandering before getting to the point. It's also falls count anywhere, and I'm assuming the rule book's been tossed as well because by the end they're hucking chairs at each other and at one point Foley suplexes a table onto Dustin's head. Right at the start Cactus meets Dustin in the aisle as he's heading to the ring, and shortly afterwards the ball gets rolling on the Mick Foley Batshit Bump Highlight Reel. In the space of 7 minutes he manages to: do that spot where he sunset flips the opponent on the floor by diving off the ring apron and cracks his legs and hip off the concrete; take a vertical suplex on the stage; take a back suplex on the concrete, and hit a running elbow off the apron onto concrete. Dustin's a guy that has a bunch of really great looking bumps in his bag as well, and his missed clothesline into the abyss that sets up the finish looks fucking great here. There's another spot where he tries to bulldog Foley on the floor and winds up getting tossed off shoulder-first into the ring post, and that looked way cool too. Such a bossy little match. Every time I think I've seen all of the best stuff from this year, I run across another little nugget.
WCW 1992 Project
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