Note: The following post is part of the WarGames series and Part 5 of the Sting vs. Vader Rivalry series of posts. It was originally written for the WarGames series. If you wish to see more Vader vs. Sting matches, check out the Table of Contents for more.
Well, we had to get to it, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the latest post of the UnWrest Focus look of WarGames' history. We're now at 1993. And while many of the same players are in the company, we see a drastically different arrangement of wrestlers here. Only Dustin Rhodes and Sting return from 1992's classic, and we add a lot of great names in wrestling history. On paper, Sid, Vader, and The Harlem Heat is an absolutely awesome team. So to fight off this group of foes, Sting and Bulldog appear on A Flair for the Gold to share the news with the world about their fourth team member. And yes, the result was indeed shocking.
He Fell on His....
Look, this wasn't exactly an Academy Award-winning promo or thought to begin with. "You shut up!" "Oh you shut up!" from both teams. Then you get The Shockmaster, a guy who had a ridiculous dubbed over voice and a glittered STORMTROOPER HELMET! So, let's not pretend this was a great, good, decent, or just plain bad idea from the start. This was absolutely pathetic to start off. Then, Typhoon crashes to the floor, and before Tugboat can get back on his feet, Fred has basically "killed the town..." that town being called "credibility."
Anyways, WCW would continue to push forward with Shockmaster and attempt to repackage him to salvage something from all this. So, let's get to this already.
Fall Brawl 1993
September 19, 1993
WarGames
Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, and The Shockmaster vs. Sid Vicious, Vader, and The Harlem Heat
(By the way, DDP was right. Every time I see Harlem Heat in type, my head starts playing the Harlem Heat theme song. Lol.)
Tony and Jesse talk about the severity of WarGames on the bodies of all its combatants. Tony puts over the fact that Dustin Rhodes was injured during last night's WCW Saturday Night. Gary Michael Cappetta then tells us the rules of the match. "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" And they lower the cage with fireworks and lights.
The heels come out first. Harlem Heat is still being called Kane and Kole. (For this, I'm calling them by Stevie Ray and Booker T respectively.) Sid has Col. Parker as his referee. And here comes Harley Race with Vader. The Masters of the Powerbomb are together with Harlem Heat for this one. Road Warrior Animal is walking out with the face team as their "team advisor." (Hey. Added star power to the match at least, right?) The Shockmaster now looks like a construction worker, which is an improvement from a glittered Stormtrooper. And Sting is awesome as always. The faces talk over strategy. Animal will not let Dustin start the match. But Dustin says "Forget this," and he pulls a Flyin' Brian by running into the cage before his teammates can stop him. Vader's in the cage too...
AND HERE WE GO! Dustin catches Vader with a top rope fist to the face. He's continuing to attack Vader, but Vader attacks the injured ribs. Rhodes is trying to fight back. Fists and fists and fists corners and drops Vader! He takes off his boot and smacks Vader in the face with it again and again. But Vader catches him running into the corner with a boot of his own. Clothesline by Vader. Big clubbing blows in the corner by Vader in the corner. Headbutt by Vader. Rhodes fights back Vader and knocks him down with a clubbing clothesline. But Vader reestablikshes control. VADER BOMB ON THE INJURED RIBS! Vader now just punches and assaults the ribs of Rhodes. Rhodes strikes back with fury. DDT by Rhodes. (Nitpick: I know this is going to come off as being old school, but I hate it how Rhodes just took Vader's big finishing move and now 30 seconds later nails a DDT on the guy. This crowd is not nearly as loud as past WarGames either at this point.) More shots with the boot against the now maskless-Vader. Dustin goes to the mat to attack Vader wtih punches. And guess what? The HEELS win the coin toss. Imagine that. Vader climbs the ropes as the count to the next period happens, but he jumps right into a slam by Dustin.
Here comes Kane (Stevie Ray.) Dustin punches away at Stevie Ray. But here comes Vader to break up that offense. Vader holds Dustin up. Stevie nails Dustin with his own boot. Suckas Gots to Know (to quote Tony Schiavone and Stevie Ray). Vader and Stevie Ray double team Dustin. He's bleeding. They throw him into the cage. Big boot to the face. Sting is getting ready to come in. Jesse: "This outta get a crowd reaction." (Wow. Jesse just called it like it was there.)
AND IT'S STING!!!!! Vader and Stevie Ray come over to meet Sting who nails them both with... you guessed it... A DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE! There's a pop! Rights and lefts to the heels. Stevie Ray eats some steel thanks to Sting. Stinger Splash to Vader. HE'S GOT VADER ON HIS BACK AND KNOCKS HIM BACKWARDS AGAINST THE CAGE! Sting now stomps at Vader and punches him when he gets up. Dustin catches Stevie with a big lariat. He's donning that Crimson Mask. Vader gets sent face first into the cage a couple times by Sting.
HERE'S SID! HIDE YOUR SCISSORS! Sid and Sting go at it. Sid whips Sting into Vader and then one arm chokeslams Sting in the middle of the ring. Sid goes to work on Dustin and Sting. 3-1 on Sting now. Sid kicks at the ribs of Sting now. Sting catches Sid with a bulldog. Vader and Sid seconds later press Sting up against the cage roof and drop him. (This literally has no heat to it. Even the crowd sounds like they're only lukewarm on this. They can count though at least.)
Here comes Davey Boy Smith/British Bulldog. Bulldog gets clobbered by Sid before he even gets inside the ropes. Big clothesline by Bulldog. Elbow drop. Powerslam to a diving Vader. Sid now gets pressed against the roof of the cage by Bulldog and Sting. Stevie and Sid go head-to-head thanks to Sting. Vader hammers on Bulldog. Dustin tries to fight Sid, but Vader stops that from going any further. Rhodes slings Sid towards the ropes, and Sid just jumps into it to take the cage bump. Literally, he was like "I'm going to fly into this thing even if you didn't add any damn thing to the whip at all." Stevie Ray takes the cage bump with a little more force being thrown by Bulldog.
Here comes Booker T (Kole). He goes to work on Dustin Rhodes immediately. He holds up Dustin for Vader to pummel. Harlem Heat double team Sting. Forearms to the head of Sting. Bulldog gets sent off the top of the cage by Booker. Rhodes fights off Sid, but Booker stops that. Booker decides we need to do something to spice this match up. He does the running dive over the ropes. He jumps over the ropes, and he accidentally hits Stevie Ray instead. (A point for doing SOMETHING though. This has just been bland.) Dustin has Sid in the Figure Four.
Here comes TUGBOA... THE SHOCKMASTER!!!! Tony is going nuts about the fact that he made it through a cage and two sets of ropes without tripping. Wow! He knocks both Harlem Heat against the cage. He pummels Vader. Booker gets a taste of the steel again and again thanks to Shockmaster. Rhodes pummels Sid's face with his boot again. He picks up Booker for a bear hug and digs in deep with the hold. Booker gives up. That's it?!
Winners: Sting, Bulldog, Rhodes, and Shockmaster.
Match Grade: F. This was awful for WarGames. The worst WarGames by far so far in this countdown. The crowd barely reacted for any of it. They were able to count. Yah! Hooray! But they didn't do anything for the match for one reason: This sucked. There's no other way to put it. There's no heat to this. Ok. There was Harlem Heat, but there was no Sting... I'm doing my best to salvage this thing. It was terrible folks. Just don't watch it. Stay away. You'd think with the star power that this would be something worth watching.
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WarGames Ranked (Thus Far)
1. WarGames (1992)- The Dangerous Alliance vs. Sting's Squadron
2. WarGames (1988)- Horsemen vs. Dusty's Team
3. WarGames (1991)- The Horsemen/Zbyzsko vs. Sting, The Steiners, and Pillman
4. WarGames I (1987)- The Four Horsemen vs. The Dream Team
5. WarGames (1989) - Road Warriors/ Midnight Express/Dr.Death vs. Freebirds/Samoans
6. WarGames II (1987)- The Four Horsemen vs. The Superpowers
7. WarGames (1993)- Sid, Vader, Harlem Heat vs. Sting, Bulldog, Dustin Rhodes, and Shockmaster
_ _ _ _ _ _
Next time on UnWrest Focus WarGames, we go to 1994. The Nasty Boys with Dustin and Dusty Rhodes face off against Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, and Col. Robert Parker. Now, this seems promising.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Looking for more Sting vs. Vader matches? Check this out!
Focus: Sting vs. Vader
The Great American Bash 1992
Starrcade 1992
SuperBrawl III (White Castle of Fear)
Beach Blast 1993 (Sting/Bulldog vs. Vader/Sid)
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