Now I am not really a “Let’s rate and/or review a match” guy in the way most folks who talk about professional wrestling on the internet are. That said, sometime I see something and it kind of speaks to you and deserves a few thoughts.
This recent release on the WCW YouTube channel rose to that level because a) this is WCW Worldwide and b) this six-man tag had apparently garnered high praise from the folks who do review matches like this.
The very first thing that jumps out to me is something that I’ve long known, and that is there is something quintessentially “pro-wrestling” about “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer. It’s a shame that his life ended so senselessly so young, but while he was active he was the kind of guy who made a huge impression. The intensity and uniqueness of his look really gave him an aura. Everything about that man screamed “DANGER“, and I don’t necessarily think that was limited to the squared circle.
The Great Muta was always insanely cool, and that’s no different here. He has an all timer of a look, and his style was revolutionary for an 11-year-old kid like me from Georgia when this would have aired. I vaguely recall The Dragonmaster as Sawyer and Muta’s partner, but I don’t think I realized that he was Kendo Nagasaki until I went to do some fact checking on this match.
The real treat here, for me, was watching this Horsemen unit of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “Double A” Arn Anderson, and Sting play the hero role.
They are so very good at it, and Arn especially, has a moment early in this match where he responds to a leapfrog with a left hand, and it’s just absolutely perfect. It may be THE moment of the match for me.
The whole thing is such chaotic fun that you don’t even care that it ends in a disqualification. Of course, that’s a bit of a sign of the times too, because the idea that you needed a clean finish in a TV match came after this era. We were used to getting some nonsense to end a televised fight.
Sting taking the mist from Muta and then eating a top rope splash from Sawyer is a good way to punctuate that match.
The MVP of the whole thing, though, is really and truly the crowd. That 1990 crowd was white hot to see the Horsemen beat the J-Tex Corporation. While they didn’t get to see a victory per se, they knew their heroes got their shots in. It wasn’t over, but it was satisfying nonetheless.
This match really was a hoot, and it’s almost a shame that Sting got punked by his Horsemen running buddies so soon after at Clash of the Champions X because Flair and Arn really delivered as babyfaces.
I guess in the end we all revert to our natural state, or at least, that’s the case for Flair and his Horsemen in this era of WCW.
