-For whatever reason it was decided to make the biggest show of the year have a Round Robin Tournament for the Top 4 men in the company and the Top 4 Teams. Interesting they always seemed to throw gimmicks at Starrcade. It’s time to close down 1989 in the NWA.
Let’s get to it! -Announce Team: Jim Ross, Terry Funk (singles), and Jim Cornette (tag) -The Omni, Atlanta, GA -Dec 13, 1989 -Attendance: 10,000 -PPV Buys: 130,000 -As mentioned, we have two round robin tournaments featuring Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, and The Great Muta for the men and The Steiners, Doom, Road Warriors, and New Wild Samoans on the tag side. The rules are 20 points for a win by submission or pin, 15 for a count-out win, 10 for a DQ win, and 5 for a time limit draw. Obviously a loss is worth 0 points.
Every match has a 15 minute time limit! -All four Tag Teams get introduced on stage and the scoring system is explained to the fans and viewers at home (for a second time). The Wild Samoans are taking the place of The Skyscrapers due to Sid’s injury. Doom (w/ Woman and Nitron) vs.
The Steiner Brothers -Sid’s injury is discussed and it was a punctured lung he suffered in a match against The Steiners. Cornette is with JR for the Tag Matches. Doom 1 (Simmons) starts with Scott Steiner.
They shove each other and start trading right hands. Powerslam from Scott gets two! Charge in the corner is blocked as Doom 1 get his boot up. Scott with a leap over a backdrop attempt and hits a Steiner-line.
Tag to Rick, who stares down Woman. Lockup to start and Rick goes for the arm, but Doom 1 drops him on his face. He misses a clothesline and Rick sends him flying with an overhead belly to belly suplex.
Doom 2 in and Rick sends him flying as well. Rick barks with the crowd which lets Doom 1 tag out to Doom 2 (Reed). Doom 2 gets Rick down and throws piston punches to the side of the head.
Rick avoids a backdrop and gets a slam for two. Tag to Scott who gets an atomic drop and roll-up for two. JR notes the crowd is late arriving and are trying to get in from the lobby area.
Sure! Rick back in and he hooks a side headlock as the camera cuts to Nitron. Big day for him as Deadpool and Wolverine releases this Friday (or last Friday pending when this is posted. Largest R opening ever!).
Finally going to pay off that Wolverine vs. Sabretooth battle we all wanted in the original X Men movie. Doom 1 with a powerslam for two after Scott took a beating on the floor.
Doom 2 back in and he stomps Scott until he falls back to the floor. Nitron works Scott over again before he gets rolled back into the ring. Doom 2 with a vertical suplex for two.
Scott gets a flash small package for two, but can’t follow up. Doom 1 back in and we get a double backdrop. Rick rushes in and gets forced out by the ref which lets Doom choke.
We are told there are five minutes remaining, but I have we aren’t even at the nine minute mark yet. Now four minutes as 20 seconds passed. What kind of timer are they using? Scott gets dumped over the top the floor behind the ref’s back.
Rick helps Scott back in, which gets the ref forcing him back and he misses Scott blocking a suplex and falling on for a one count. Scott avoids a backdrop and gets a belly to belly suplex as there are 3 minutes left. We will just go with it, I guess.
Hot Tag to Rick as we are down to 2 minutes with the super accelerated clock. Steiner with a powerslam for one as he stupidly picks Doom 1 up. Doom 2 in and he eats a Steiner-line.
Heavy clotheslines to Doom 1. That had some STANK on it. Doom double team Rick and Nitron trips him up.
Rick decks Nitron to get the biggest pop of the match. All four men brawl on the floor and and Rick gets back in at 9 to get his team the win by count-out at 12:25. That’s 15 points for The Steiners.
Winners: The Steiner Brothers via count-out at 12:25 -This was okay, but nothing more. Scott took a beating, made the hot tag, and we got the count-out finish to make sure Doom didn’t have to do the job and play with the scoring system so it means something later. ** -The 4 men in the singles Iron Man Tournament are introduced on stage.
As mentioned, Funk is now on commentary with Ross as he is handling duty for the singles’ matches. Sting vs. Lex Luger -Luger stalls to start as he yells at the fans.
Sting does his yell, so Luger gets pissed and bails. He walks up the ramp, but Sting gives chase and punches Luger in the face. They get back to the ring and Sting continues punching away.
He tries for a splash on the ropes, but Luger ducks. Sting catches himself on the ropes and ends up on the apron. He decks Luger and slingshots back in with a splash and more right hands send Luger to the floor.
Hot start to this one! Luger pulls Sting to the floor and runs his head off the apron as Capetta tells us 5 minutes have elapsed. Dude, it hasn’t even been 2:30. The Rumble timer thinks this is whack! Sting with a clothesline on the floor and back in the ring comes off the top with a crossbody for two.
Another clothesline gets a two count. Sting works the arm for a bit and then gets another two count with a crossbody off the middle ropes. We have officially passed the 5 minute mark, which means the fake timer should be at 10, but apparently not.
Luger eats a knee in the corner as he is getting his ass handed to him so far. Standing dropkick gets two for Sting. He comes off the top, but Luger catches him and gets an inverted atomic drop to finally gain control.
He walks Sting around the ring and hits another inverted atomic drop. Now we are told that 10 minutes have passed at 6:38. Luger goes the mid-section with a forearm and then a running kick.
JR works in his first football reference as he mentions Luger is a former offensive guard. They head to the floor and Sting gets sent into the railing. Luger flexes his boobs to the crowd as he rolls Sting back into the ring.
He perches on the middle rope and comes off with a double axe for two. He rakes the eyes with his boot and then the top rope. Sting starts to fight back as they are 3 minutes left at 8:49.
Powerslam from Luger, but no cover. He goes for The Rack, but Sting flips out and his knee buckles, so he sells it instead of popping up. Luger pounds away in the corner and Sting starts to fire up and unloads with right hands.
He tries the splash again, and something seemed off as he just opts to choke Luger. That was weird! Suplex gets a two count as Luger rolls to the floor with 60 seconds to go at 10:45. Funk thinks Luger is trying to get the draw, which makes sense as it’s better than losing.
They fight on the apron and end up awkwardly, rolling over and Luger lands on top and uses the ropes to get the pin at 11:32. That’s 20 points for Luger. Winner: Lex Luger via pin at 11:32 -Things just seemed off in this one but it was still fine.
The ending was a little wonky, but Lex cheated to win and that works out. Luger was the US Champion and they didn’t want him losing, but needed to protect Sting a bit. **1/4 Doom (w/ Woman and Nitron) vs.
The Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering)( -JR notes the matches were decided via random draw, which explains why Doom is already having their second match. That’s pretty dumb as if they can fix the timer, fix it so The Samoans have their match with The Warriors now. Doom has to get something here as far as points or they are eliminated.
Doom 2 starts with Animal, though Cornette wants to call him Doom 1 since he is starting, but I have already noted Reed is Doom 2 for the night. Animal works the arm and makes the tag to Hawk, who comes off the top with a double ax to the arm. Doom 2 buries a knee to the ribs and they collide in the middle with neither man budging.
Hawk with a clothesline to send Doom 2 to his corner and makes the tag to Doom 1. They decide to run into each other and nothing happening. They go again and Hawk gets a powerslam.
Jumping shoulder tackle from Hawk! Animal in and he hits a back elbow as we have 10 minutes left at 2:50. Me and this timer are going to fight all show long. I am committed at this point.
Doom 2 back in and gets kicked in the chest. Hawk with a standing dropkick , but misses a charge and goes shoulder first into the post and out to the floor. I appreciate taking the bump into the post and then to the floor.
Most just go into the post. Slingshot into the bottom rope as the LOD chant breaks out, briefly. Doom 1 back in and he gets a powerslam for two.
Doom 1 hooks a chinlock on the mat and makes sure to put his feet on the ropes and even Woman adds extra leverage. Double elbow from Doom as Doom 2 is back in the ring. He gets a slam and comes off the middle rope with an elbow for two.
Hooking clothesline gets two! Reverse chinlock as the LOD chant is louder and more sustained this time. Five minutes to go at 6:56! There’s Bill Apter at ringside taking pictures. Hawk breaks the hold and drops a right hand.
He falls back on a slam and is able to roll and tag Animal. Flying shoulder from Animal! Powerslam for two as Doom 1 breaks that up. All four men start brawling in the ring.
Hawk comes off the top with a clothesline to break up a piledriver attempt and Animal gets the pin at 8:31. 20 points to The Road Warriors! Winner: The Road Warriors via pin at 8:31 -Doom is officially eliminated as the best they can get is 20 points and The Steiners/Road Warriors match will result it an least 5 points if a draw. This match was about the same as the earlier Doom match with a better finish.
** The Great Muta (w/ Gary Hart) vs. Ric Flair -Did you know that Muta was undefeated at this point? Hey, that’s Ole Anderson with Flair and Arn Anderson is there as well. We just saw Arn at Survivor Series just a few weeks ago, but he is back in the NWA now.
Almost like those three men need a fourth. Fast start as Muta flies around the ring and then catches Flair in the eye. He pounds away in the corner and gets the Handspring Elbow in the corner.
That’s always beautiful to see! Flair back with chops and then a right hand. Inverted atomic drop and another chops sends Muta to a knee. Flair with a knee breaker and he hooks The Figure Four.
Hart on the apron and in come Sawyer and The Dragon Master but The Andersons stop that and they all brawl on the floor. Muta uses the distraction to get a backbreaker. Flair blocks the moonsault by getting his knees up and gets a roll-up for the pin at 1:56.
20 points for Flair. Winner: Ric Flair via pin at 1:56 -Yep, Muta’s undefeated streak ends in a sub 2 minute loss. Nothing really to rate here, but that Handspring Elbow and Moonsault are pretty sweet! * The Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering) (20 points) vs.
The Steiner Brothers (15 points) -This should have been the final match of the Tag Tournament to determine the winner. Hawk quickly gets an enziguri! Scott gets a takedown and we have another go. Tag to Rick and Hawk lands a forearm and a clothesline that turns Rick inside out.
JR notes this is the first time these two teams have every wrestled and again I ask, why is it not the final match to determine the winner? Animal in and gets a flying shoulder tackle. Rick reverses a grab and gets a belly to belly suplex. Hawk and Scott both back in and Hawk walks around the ring with Scott above his head and throws him down with a Gorilla Press Slam.
Big boot for two! Animal in and he misses an elbow as I realize the Samoans haven’t had a match yet, so they get the final three tag matches of the night. Suplex from Scott gets two! He charges, but Animal comes out of the corner with a clothesline. This is a fine example of a HOSS FIGHT! Hawk back in with a modified backbreaker.
Gut-wrench suplex for two! Scott fights back and puts Hawk on the middle rope. Belly to belly suplex and I am shocked Hawk didn’t break his neck. Might have been safer to do that from the top rope.
Someone checks on Hawk at ringside, but he seems okay. Animal hooks a bearhug, but Scott gets in a knee to break. He sets too early on a backdrop and eats a boot.
Rick breaks up the fall. Hawk back in and he delivers a powerslam. Animal in with an elbow and again, Rick makes the save.
Hawk has had enough and punches Rick in the face. They set Scott up for a modified The Doomsday Device (Scott was held up like a belly to back suplex instead on the shoulders) and it connects, but Scott gets his shoulder up while Animal has both of his on the mat for the pin at 7:27. Steiners gets 20 points and now have 35 total.
Winner: The Steiner Brothers via pin at 7:27 -Solid HOSS Fight, but the crowd wasn’t really into it as they didn’t know who to cheer. Should have been a bigger deal having these two teams fight and having the Warriors take a rare pin. *** The Great Muta (w/ Gary Hart) (0 Points) vs.
Sting (0 Points) -Loser of this one is toast and a draw isn’t going to do anything either, so they have to go for it here. Apprehensive start before Muta hooks a full nelson. Sting powers out and reverses to his own full nelson.
Muta hits a mule kick in the corner and starts landing strikes. He takes Sting to the ground with a side headlock. Sting gets a monkey-flip and lands a clothesline.
Beautiful snap suplex gets a two count! Sting hits an atomic drop and throws a kick to the hamstrings. He goes for The Scorpion Deathlock, but Muta quickly gets to the ropes. Muta rolls to the floor and Hart massages his abs.
Back in and Muta rakes the eyes as this one has a slower pace than I thought we would get. Backdrop from Muta as JR talks about how amazing the 90s will be for World Championship Wrestling and Turner. Man has no idea! Muta bridges and hooks both arms, but Sting flips over and lands some right hands.
Muta gets sent into the top buckle. Press Slam from Sting gets two! Slam followed by an elbow drop for two again. Sting controls with a reverse chinlock for a bit, but Muta gets to the corner and is able to break.
He pounds Sting down in the corner and fires off some chops. Muta heads up and misses the moonsault, but lands on his feet and catches Sting with a spinning kick. Muta up top and Sting shows off his hops by jumping up for a dropkick.
Superplex brings Muta back into the ring and that gets the pin at 8:40. Sting gets 20 points! Winner: Sting via pin at 8:40 -Solid match, but I was expecting more. It was kind of blah for a bit as the crowd was rather subdued.
Poor Muta was undefeated and now has lost back to back matches. *** The Wild Samoans (w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink) (0 points) vs. Doom (w/ Woman and Nitron) (0 points) -This is the final match for Doom and the first match for The Samoans.
Doom are eliminated and can only play spoiler. I’m a Pirates fan so I know a lot about that (not this year though. PAUL SKENES).
This version of the Samoans is Fatu and The Samoan Savage. Fatu and Doom 2 (Reed) start us out and again, a slow, timid start. Doom has nothing to lose, so they should just be going out to kill at this point.
Doom 2 with a slam, but Fatu is up quickly. Doom 2 flexes so I guess you could call it a Flex of Doom! Fatu slides over a slam attempt and gets a running power slam and now he plays to the crowd. Lockup and they trade head-butts and its’s a stalemate which is surprising.
Doom 1 and Savage in the ring and power slam from Doom 1, but Savage no sells and hits a thrust kick. He heads up top, but misses a splash. Doom 1 with a slam for two and back to Doom 2.
He drops a right hand and then hits piston right hands to the side of the head. Swinging neckbreaker gets two! Doom 1 back in and he sets too early on a backdrop. No matter as Savage gets pulled to the wrong corner.
Doom 2 off the tope with an elbow for two. Now the timer is 40 seconds behind as they note 5 minutes have passed. Sure, this is the match where the timer runs slow.
Savage gets dumped to the floor, so Doom 1 runs him into the railing and then back into the ring. Savage gets a sunset flip for two as Cornette brings up how weird it is to see a Samoan use that move. Savage shoves Doom 2 off trying a bulldog, but he can’t get there to make the tag.
Doom double team behind the ref’s back and get a two count. Ugly looking slam from Doom. Doom 2 tries to come off the middle ropes, but misses and gets planted face first into the mat.
Fatu gets the hot tag and runs wild before all four men battle in the ring. In the chaos Fatu and Doom 2 crack heads. Oliver pushes Fatu off the ropes and he falls on top for the pin at 8:22.
20 points for The Samoans and Doom finishes 0-3 for 0 points. Winners: The Wild Samoans via pin at 8:22 -Not much to this one and the crowd wasn’t into it due to the heel vs heel dynamic. * Ric Flair (20 points) vs.
Lex Luger (20 points) -It’s Flair/Luger in the 80s so this should be good! The dynamic is just different than what we are used to seeing with the fans cheering Flair and Luger being a dick. 90 seconds in and they are just milking the crowd, and it’s working as they are into this one. “Luger Sucks” rings throughout the Omni.
After two minutes they finally lockup and Flair gets a side headlock to the mat. Luger overpowers Flair and gets his own side headlock. He gets a couple one counts off that and Flair rolls to get a two count.
Luger is the one playing mind games as he ducks between the ropes to frustrate Flair. Lockup to start and Flair gets the advantage in the corner and fires off chops. Luger no sells the first 6 or 7, but then they take their effect and he bails to the floor.
Flair follows and chops him around the ring including a vicious one that made me flinch. Back in the ring Flair goes to the arm and knocks Luger down with another chop. Hammerlock from Flair and he drops a knee to the back.
He grounds Luger with the hammerlock as we are told five minutes have passed at 6:15. Double under-hook suplex from Flair gets two and then right back to the arm. Another chop! Luger misses a clothesline and that leads to another CHOP! Flair continues to work on the arm and breaks Luger down to his knees.
Back to the hammerlock as Luger is getting smoked here. Luger complains about a hair pull and as the ref goes to check, he thumbs Flair in the eyes. Cool! Flair would do the same and was probably applauding Luger deep down.
Flair gets a small package for two and then a roll-up for two. CHOP! 10 minutes into this match and it has been all Flair. The ref tells them 8 minutes are done, so my battle with the timer continues.
Luger finally gets some offense as he drops Flair on the top rope and then kicks away in the corner. Running clothesline followed by a forearm drop to the chest. That gets two! Five minutes remain as we hit 12:00! Military Press Slam from Luger! I vividly remember Flair taking that move all the time when watching as a kid.
Luger snaps Flair’s neck off the top rope and uses his boot to choke. Luger kicks it into gear as we have 4 minutes remaining. The crowd is urging Flair and he responds by blocking a suplex and getting one of his own to leave both men down.
Luger up first with 3 minutes to go. Flair gets a backslide for two! CHOP! Luger punches back. They trade blows and Flair’s chops are winning the battle.
Flair takes the corner bump and heads up but Luger catches him with a clothesline on the way down. Sweet! Luger covers for two as Flair just gets the shoulder up. Luger is pissed! We just hit 15:00 which should be a draw, but their timer says we have 2 minutes to go.
Flair with a sunset flip for two! Luger with a right hand and he rubs his boot off Flair’s head. Punch! Chop! Punch! 60 seconds to go! Flair heads up top, but Luger is right there and slams him down. Luger misses an elbow with 30 seconds to go.
Belly to belly suplex from Flair. He hooks the figure-four as they start the countdown with 15 seconds to go. Luger hangs on and it’s a draw at 17:10.
Each man gets 5 points to put them both at 25 total. Time Limit Draw at 17:10 -The last 5 minutes were fantastic as they built to the race against the clock and the crowd was freaking out with them. Flair dominated the first 10 minutes which was weird to see, but the whole dynamic was different and that’s not a bad thing.
Great stuff even if they didn’t want either man to lose. ***3/4 The Wild Samoans (w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink) (20 points) vs. The Steiner Brothers (35 points) -The Steiners can win the entire tournament if they get a pin or submission here, so guess what’s not going to happen.
Again, they should have just had The Steiners and Road Warriors steamroll the other teams and then settle it later. Rick clowns The Samoans as they do the prematch ceremony. We also had all four men on all fours barking at each other.
The crowd is enjoying the pre-match comedy! Rick starts with The Savage and he continues to mock the Samoans. They bark at each other some more and Steiner wins the bark off. Head-butt from Savage followed by a slam.
He misses an elbow and Rick mocks him some more. Rick is being kind of a jerk here! He sends Savage to the floor with a Steiner-line and removes one of The Savage’s braids. Rick then puts the braid under his headgear.
Again, acting like a jerk! The Samoans head up the aisle to regroup with Oliver. A security guard steps in as a fan gets a little close. Cornette is all over that as he notes the guard just saved the fan’s life.
Back in the ring and this time Rick eats a clothesline from Fatu. Kind of cool to see these two going at it and knowing we could get Breaker vs. Jey Uso to have a battle of their kids.
The accelerated timer says 10 minutes left at the 4 minute mark. Scott gets the tag and a Steiner-line to The Savage, who switched off with Fatu on the floor. Cornette notes The Midnight Express is not in this Tournament because they want to lay low and pick the bones of what is left.
Smart! Rick back in as nothing of note is really happening. Savage accidentally decks Fatu to kill more time. The Samoans nearly get into a fight and like anyone would pay to see members of that Bloodline fight each other.
They hug and we get back to the match as Scott misses a Frankensteiner attempt. Scott gets dumped to the floor and his Genetic Freak gets dropped on the railing by Fatu. Guess he won’t be the hook-up tonight! Fatu back in the ring and he chokes away and then Savage bites from the apron.
Double head-butt for two as he gets his bottom foot on the ropes. Rick runs in and bites Savage on the ass, which is no sold. Double clothesline as the ref gets Rick back to the apron.
Five minutes left at the 9:00 mark. Scott gets pitched to the floor again, but tries to come back in with a sunset flip. A chop to the throat from Fatu stops that.
There is a little drama to this one at least as the winner will be in the driver seat heading into the final match of the tournament. Rick breaks up another pin attempt as we have 3 minutes to go. Double super kick and more choking.
Beat-hug from The Savage with under 2 minutes to go seems suspect, as they need a win here. Scott breaks, but doesn’t go for the tag and gets planted with a powerslam for two. Tag to Fatu and Scott gets a flash backslide, but the ref is with Rick.
Scott snaps off The Frankensteiner and the race to their corners is on. Fatu gets the tag first and cuts off Scott. Sunset flip from Scott gets a two count.
We have 60 seconds to go as JR brings up the idea that a draw isn’t the worst thing for the Steiners and really, they win the tournament with a draw as at worst The Warriors would tie them and Steiners should have the head to head tie-breaker. Rick gets the hot tag and Scott throws a Samoan over the top with a backdrop. The ref misses it, but has to pretend like he saw it to call for the DQ at 14:10.
That was an awful finish! 10 points to The Samoans for 30 overall. The Steiners are at 35 points and are done. Winners: The Wild Samoans via DQ at 14:10 -Not a fan of this one as it started as a comedy match and kind of plodded around.
Then it was Scott getting his ass kicked before the weak ending. ** Lex Luger (25 points) vs. The Great Muta (w/ Gary Hart) (0 points) -Muta is playing spoiler here and Lex needs a good result to put heat on Sting and Flair for their match later in the show.
Good on Luger for gingerly getting up the stairs and into the ring as he is selling the figure-four from Flair. Slow start which makes sense since this is the 3rd match of the night for each man. Luger leaps over Muta, but the knee buckles and Muta goes right after the bad wheel.
Luger rakes the eyes, but Muta goes right back to the knee. Funk notes Luger assures himself of at least a tie if he can get a pin or submission. My battle with the timer continues as we reach 5 minuets though it’s only been three with my timer.
Yes, I will continue to fight this battle. Luger tries a suplex, but collapses and the ref asks Lex if he wants to quit. Muta wraps the knee around the ropes and breaks at the four.
Luger begs off in the corner, but Muta keeps kicking at the knee. Handspring elbow connects in the corner and Muta goes back to a knee-bar. Luger rakes the eyes again and drops a series of elbows for two.
Muta right back to the knee which is smart, but it’s not doing much for the crowd. This is having the same issue as Doom/Samoans as the crowd has nobody to cheer, so they are just quiet. Half-crab from Muta! MUTA-LOCK gets the crowd going! Lex hangs on, so Muta releases and fires off more kicks to the knee.
We have four minutes left at 8:30. Luger starts to fight back with right hands, but Muta cuts it off with a spin kick to pop the crowd again. Too bad this man got the short end of the stick in this tournament.
Three minutes left at 9:30! Luger gets a clothesline to leave both men down. The start trading right hands and Luger wins that battle. Backdrop out of the corner as Luger hobbles around the ring.
Luger gets a slow moving hip-toss and sends Muta to the floor. Hart helps Muta back to the apron. He delivers a shoulder and gets a sunset flip thanks to Patrick kicking Luger’s hands off the ropes.
Powerslam from Luger with 60 seconds to go. Luger goes for the Torture Rack, but the knee gives out. Muta decides he is done with the tournament and blows the mist in Luger’s face for the DQ at 11:48.
Lex gets 10 points and finishes at 35 for the tournament. Muta is done with 0 points. Winner: Lex Luger via DQ at 11:48 -Not much here as it was Muta working the knee for 10 minutes and then getting disqualified as Lex made a comeback.
At least Muta didn’t take a pin for a third time I guess. **1/2 The Wild Samoans (w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink) (30 points) vs. The Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering) (20 points) -Road Warriors need a pin or submission to win The Tournament.
Samoans can win with a DQ, count-out, pin, or submission. A draw means, Samoans and Steiners are tied and will have a wrestle-off according to Cornette. Well that seems unfair to The Samoans as they hold the head to head over The Steiners.
Animal and Fatu start us out and Fatu hits an early piledriver, but Animal no sells and hits a clothesline. Hawk with the tag and he stares down Sir Oliver. Savage in and he is annoyed by the LOD chant.
Hawks pulls him down by the hair and they start throwing bombs at each other. Backdrop from Hawk! Now where as Luger was selling being in three matches, these two teams are seemingly fresh as can be and hammering each other. Dropkick from Hawk gets two.
He hooks a side headlock and makes the tag to Animal. Ross and Cornette talk about how The Steiners have to sit back and can’t control their destiny. They had a chance and were stupid enough to get disqualified last match.
Fatu and Animal are on the wrong page as they collide and Animal seems to take a headbutt right into his little animal. Ouch! Fatu seems a little banged up as well as he is holding his neck on the apron. Savage in quickly to let Fatu recover and he hooks a reverse chinlock.
Animal fights to make a tag and all four men are in the ring. In the chaos, Hawk comes off the top with a clothesline for the win at 5:18. The Road Warriors via pin at 5:18 -Not good as the missed spot seemed to throw things off.
Even the ending seemed out of whack as Savage had to sprint to get in place for the clothesline and nearly ran into Animal again. 1/2* -The Steiners are out to congratulate The Road Warriors on winning the Tournament. I can see what they wanted to do with Warriors winning it, but The Steiners getting a win over them to likely set up another match down the line.
-Final Standings: Road Warriors: 40 Points, Steiners 35 points, Samoans 30 points, Doom 0 points. Sting (20 points) vs. Ric Flair (25 points) -Luger is sitting at 35 points and is the leader in the clubhouse.
Stings needs to win by pin or submission. Flair needs to win by pin, submission or count-out. A draw gives Luger the win.
Sting with a side headlock to start and Flair shoves off. Sting knocks him down and gets a hip-toss. Unlike Muta, Sting has fixed his face paint after each match.
I actually like the worn off paint look to show they have put in work. Each man plays to the crowd and then we go again. Flair sets Sting on the top buckle and offers a clean break because they are on good terms at this point.
The crowd is awake for this one, which shouldn’t shock anyone. Sting gets wrist control and Flair gets to the ropes to break. Sting offers a clean break, but you can see a little frustration creeping in from Flair.
Lock-up and Flair gets a side headlock. Double drop, tackle and Sting gets a Press Slam! Flair shoves Sting, as he is getting pissed, so Sting shoves him back and Flair bails to the floor. Back in the ring and Sting gets a backslide for two and shockingly, the timer is nearly dead on for a change.
Flair with his first chop of the match and he lights Sting up in the corner with some more. Sting with a hip-toss out of the corner and then a series of dropkicks. Sting with a two count! Flair suckers Sting in by selling the beating and then kicks him in the stomach.
There’s the old Flair! They head to the floor for some more chops! Flair sends Sting into the railing and gives us a Woooo! Funk works in a dig at Flair by nothing there’s the nice guy everyone loves. Funk knew what was coming! Flair snaps Sting’s neck off the top rope and then brings him back in with a vertical suplex for two. Flair goes right for another pin, but Sting is out at two.
Flair drops a knee and another Wooo. Chop! Flair gets an abdominal stretch, but opts to roll with it into a pin for two. Flair yells at the ref about the count.
Small package gets two! I am enjoying the story of Flair getting frustrated as he realizes he is in there with a real threat to his World Title. Sting gets whipped from one corner to another as we have passed 10 minutes on my clock, but the official timer has apparently slowed. Double arm suplex gets two! Sting sent to the corner, but gets a rush of adrenaline and lands a clothesline as Flair was in mid Wooo.
Flair rolls to the floor and fires off a chop, but nothing doing this time. Another chop as Sting stalks him around the ring. To the apron and Sting gets a sunset flip, but Flair punches him in the face to block.
Cool! Flair wants a suplex to the floor, but Sting reverses and gets a suplex of his own for two. Four minutes to go at 12:00. A chop fires Sting up some more as the crowd is rocking with them now.
I think these two have great chemistry. Sting tosses Flair out of the corner and gets a clothesline for two. Stinger Splash! Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Flair quickly gets under the ropes to break.
Chop and knee-breaker from Flair. Figure-Four, but Sting is right next to the rope and forces a break. Flair yells for a time check and we are told 2 minutes left.
Chop! Sting got dropped on that one. Flair drops a knee to Sting’s knee and takes him over with a headlock. Sting bridges up and gets a backslide for two.
60 seconds to go! They are doing a great job with the drama here! Flair with another knee-breaker and he drops his weight on the bad knee on the ropes. 30 seconds to go! The crowd is freaking out now! Flair is taking his time with the figure four and Sting gets a small package for the pin at 15:55. 20 points to Sting as he wins The Tournament.
Winner: Sting via pin at 15:55 -This was great and my favorite match of the show. The drama was fantastic and it’s Flair vs. Sting.
It always works! ****1/4 -Final Standings: Sting 40 points, Luger 35 points, Flair 25 points, Muta 0 points -Arn and Ole are out, but Flair shakes Sting’s hand. Arn and Ole hold up Sting’s arms and flash the Horsemen hand signal to a big pop from the crowd. We have a new Horsemen and they all live happily ever after.
-Gordon Solie interviews The Road Warriors so they can give their victory speech. They proved they are the Iron Men and that’s why they use that music. -Sting joins them on the stage, but we don’t see it as they put the credits on the screen.
We can hear Animal rail against sissy football players and then we hear Ric Flair, and it cuts out before any words from Sting. Well, that was an underwhelming ending. -Well, that’s 1989 and we will continue with 1990 next see I can see how dominate this new 4 Horsemen faction is going to be.
Thanks for reading! 7.5 The final score: review Good The 411 I actually enjoyed this show and the format. I still don't think it should have been used on the biggest show of the year though.
Sting/Flair and Luger/Flair were great and make this a good show. The rest was solid to good with a clunker thrown in food good measure. Muta being the whipping boy kind of sucked and maybe they could have used Funk since he was "retiring" anyway.
This show is worth a watch as it does fly by thanks to the drama of the 15 minute time limit and even with the convoluted scoring, it does a solid job of adding stakes to the matches. legend 0 - 0.9 Torture 1 - 1.
9 Extremely Horrendous 2 - 2.9 Very Bad 3 - 3.9 Bad 4 - 4.
9 Poor 5 - 5.9 Not So Good 6 - 6.9 Average 7 - 7.
9 Good 8 - 8.9 Very Good 9 - 9.9 Amazing 10 Virtually Perfect.
