Ric Flair & Steve Austin vs. Sting & Ricky Steamboat
WCW July 30, 1994 Omni Atlanta, GA
There is no way the wrestling gods will allow this match to suck. The future Stone Cold is the WCW United States Champion here, a title that spun into the WWE version that is held by Mr. Beatsthefuckouttame and he is embroiled in a feud with Steamboat that will unfortunately be the end of Dragon's career about a month from here. Ric Flair and Sting are sworn into a bloodfeud for all eternity, so I'm unfamiliar with their exact issue here right off the bat. Nature Boy is fairly fresh into another heel turn as Hogan was signed. Sherri is out there with the limo riding, jet flying gazillion time champion, which is always good backup if you're a heel as the Scary One didn't mess around. This being a dream match in today's light is a teensie bit of an understatement on top of it possibly being the final time Flair and Steamboat locked up. The announcers even play it up in 1994 as such, so this should be tremendous.
...Tom Servo! Croooooow!
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 style set they used for WCW Saturday Night needs to make a comeback yesterday. The heroes don't have time for any of that breathing fire or showtime shit and clear the ring to show they mean business. Order is reached and we begin with Flair taunting Sting just to tag in Austin and immediately piss the fans off. Sting counters Flair's antics by tagging Dragon and Steve wants none of that, tagging in Flair before he bails. The referee is sneakily put into a position to distract Ricky, giving Flair the first attack bonus points. Nature Boy styles and profiles in the corner, but runs into a hiptoss. The overhead body slam that was a staple of their matches gets the crowd going and Flair begs off. This leads to a funny spot as Sting stands over Flair in the corner and delivers nine punches and the tenth to a charging Austin. The action heads outside and Flair uses Sherri as the shield until he reveals it was part of his master plan to rake some eyes. Nature Boy takes a moment to scream at a few kids at ringside and after a chop, sends Sting back into the ring and tags Stunning Steve. It's hard as root against Stinger here as he endears himself to me with a Houston Astros orange and blue motif. Austin is an offensive house of fire for a moment until he takes a backdrop so high that I seriously ponder why his neck went first. Steamboat is tagged and comes in wild, which is a mistake as Austin focuses and shoots him to the outside. Some stiff shots outside and once the match is brought back in, Steamboat unleashes with a neckbreaker and a leaping chop. Before Dragon can attempt a pin, Flair breaks it up and it's time to brawl! That ends with Steamboat hitting an inverted atomic drop that sends Austin outside. As Ricky is literally trying to drag Steve in by his ass, we go to a commercial.
Seriously. By his ass.
1-900-909-9900! We signed Hulk Fuckin' Hogan! We're fixing to hit the reset button on every single storyline we have! We're going to fire this Austin guy you see here over FedEx soon! Get your parent's permission, kids!
And don't forget to visit Mean Gene's Burgers!
The match continues with Tony Schiavone mentioning the upcoming (now a classic) AAA Worlds Collide PPV while Heenan calls it "Lucha Libra" and Ricky has Austin in a chinlock. A jawbreaker from Lord of What connects and they fight over a backslide. Steamboat smartly takes the battle to the corner, flips out of it, and lands a second rope suplex for two. Only the pretty ones like that earn the Gordon Solie "Soo-Play" name. Sting somes in and takes Austin too lightly, hitting nothing but knees on a jumping splash. The Nature Boy is tagged and is in all his glory, stalking his prey while strutting and mouthing off. As usual, he takes too long popping off at Steamboat and Sting is able to mount a comeback. A series of clotheslines sends Flair into the ropes and as Sting is going to hit the big one that sends Flair over, he totally whiffs and it's time for The WCW Improv Show! Sting grabs Flair and Austin saves the awkwardness of it by walking over and making shit happen. Of course, men of this caliber won't stay lost for long and they are back on track before we know it. Sting goes into Robocop mode (his version of "Hulking Up" that he learned in 1990) and the crowd senses with every consecutive nip up that Flair should run like hell. Being the dastardly villain that he is, Flair does just that and even stops to berate a few more kids in the process. The heels have a strategic conference that apparently had them both being clotheslined by Sting. Flair has enough in him to hit the top and go for WCW's first shooting star press, but fate cries again as he is slammed off. Good God, Sting really launched him on that one. Austin is tagged and they trade holds, which is more Austin's game and he gets a few quick roll up attempts for two. Sting isn't having this technical crap, so turns around with a sneer and destroys our favorite rattlesnake with Power Moves 101. Steve's JUST WIN BABY trunks are like something out of the early 80s and, for reasons unknown to me, I find them awesome. Sensing defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory, Team Heel distracts the ref and sends Sting outside and into the loving arms of Sherri, who clocks him with her shoe. Tape machines are rolling and we will be right back!
After his career was said and done, I'd damned sure say he won.
1-900-909-9900. Did we really hire The Honky Tonk Man and what the hell for? Glacier is coming! A certain hardcore wrestler will never "put asses in seats" and shall receive his pink slip soon. Find out who! Get your parent's permission, kids! *sign falls* Fuck it!
That's MEAN GENE'S, located at...
We pick up at the exact moment we left off as Sherri rolls a battered Sting into the ring. The heel team now cuts the ring in half, utilizing quick tags and ring awareness. Austin hits a beauty of a flying knee, but is countered on the second attempt. Both men make the crawling tag and Steamboat flies in and goes apeshit on anything that moves with chops and back body drops. The crowd is on their feet for their heroes, but again, Austin counters and takes over. Tag to Flair and this time, no strutting, only ass kicking. Nice bit as Dragon backslides Flair, but is too close to the corner and takes a sneaky boot by Austin. Both men collide and they are down and out. Austin gets the tag and he and Sherri combine to make Ricky's life miserable. Back in comes Flair and he makes sure to fuck with Sting before every move he does, getting the crowd even more fired up. There is one particular row of women at ringside who are just giving Sherri the business. Steamboat starts to return the vicious chops of Nature Boy and dives for Sting's hand, only to miss by about an inch. You're playing with my emotions and I love it. Austin wants some of this action and works over Steamboat for awhile longer, complete with trademark selling from the master himself. Another barely missed tag and now Steamboat is over it. The immediate radius is chopped half to death and Sting's angry hand is finally met. Rushing the ring like a man who remembered every bit of venom that Flair spewed, Stinger goes bonkers and hits Nature Boy with the Stinger Splash. Scorpion Deathlock is applied but that pesky Sherri hits the top to break it up. This was a horrible idea, because Sting catches her and sends her over the top rope with an overhand slam. Holy shit, Flair barely caught her on that one! Amid all the chaos, Austin catches Steamboat in a roll up assisted by a pull of the tights for the win at 24:28. Wow.
A testament to how great this was. Austin has a freaking abdominal stretch on and the crowd on standing with no signs on sitting down. That's badass.
Ric Flair & Steve Austin d. Sting & Ricky Steamboat when Austin pinned Steamboat (24:28)
VERDICT:
Further research tells me that this gem was included on the Stone Cold - And That's The Bottom Line DVD set, turning that into this weekend's hunt and must buy. This was a class in old school tag wrestling and we had four professors to demonstrate what an amazing match was. Sure, there were hiccups like Sting striking out on a dive and Sherri almost dying during the finish at the end, but who gives a damn? This was fun, energetic, and told a great story. Some could make a case that it wasn't the mot well structured match, but they did things differently then and called most of it on the fly. Also, the crowd hopping and screaming like lunatics seemed to strongly disagree. Flair's antics and Steamboat's selling are always top notch together, but with the additional dynamics of a motivated Sting and a sneaky as hell Austin making trouble, this could've gone an hour and I wouldn't have complained. One of the greatest televised tag team matches in the history and if you haven't seen this, make the time, because you won't be disappointed.
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