Bunkhouse Buck legit looks like some Western Movie stock character named “Pa” who doesn’t like the young protagonist hanging around his daughter. Straight up wrestles in an undershirt!
Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This time I have a whopper of a WCW Pro match for you, as “Lifeguard” Steve Collins, my new favorite jobber ever, has to face WCW luminary Bunkhouse Buck! In the most hilariously cheating-filled squash ever! With maybe wrestle’s all-time worst ever finishing move! Also it’s some Nitro goodness as Booker T defends the TV Title in a hot match against Psychosis, where Booker shows the fire that rocketed him to… well the main event of a dying company! But still, he was awesome!
Then I spoil you all as I found TWO Scotty Riggs vs. Scott Putski matches to review! I knew I had to get to these ever since I saw Scott or someone (Dave? Mike?) review it a month or so ago! And finally, it’s more lucha, as I found a really long, solid Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera match! More of Juventud’s dad! And a hilariously violent old lady in the front row that both pros make a show out of!
BUNKHOUSE BUCK (w/ Col. Tom Parker & Dick Slater) vs. “LIFEGUARD” STEVE COLLINS:
(WCW Pro, March 30th 1996)
* MORE LIFEGUARD!! And against one of the most inexplicable JTTS guys of the age in Buck. Collins has his little floatation device and slaps hands with the fans on the way to the ring. This is LONG after the other Collins stuff I have, meaning this dude was around longer than I thought. Tragically, though, checking Cagematch reveals he was only in a tiny handful of matches per year unless they’re missing a ton.
Buck charges Collins when he has his back turned before the bell in some good heeling, stomping a mudhole in him until a sunset flip gets two for Lifeguard. Buck goes to the eyes immediately and Collins almost trips going to the floor off a knee, and Col. Tom puts the boots to him outside. Collins fires back while Larry Z makes comments about how Col. Parker put Madusa “in her place” and how her mistake was “leaving the kitchen”. LOL wait, he’s a piggish heel on WCW Pro? Collins misses a dropkick to end his flurry of epic MOVEZ, allowing Buck to hit his own, and then he STOMPS ON HIS FOREHEAD FOR THE FUCKING PIN at (2:29). Not even an elaborate stomp, or a Garvin Stomp- he literally just came off the ropes and stomped the guy’s forehead and pinned him. IS THIS A RIB?
And then hilariously the heels aren’t done- Parker AND Slater hit the ring and they beat the absolute dogshit out of this poor schmuck when he challenges Parker, stomping another mudhole and hitting a spike piledriver before sarcastically placing his own floatie under his arm. Good “jobber twitch sell” from Collins, though!
Rating: 1/2* (basic nothing jobber bout, with maybe the worst finish I’ve ever seen in all my years of wrestling fandom)
See, now THIS is how a Cruiserweight needs to dress. None of that “Vanilla Midget in long tights” shit- gimme ALL THE COLORS! Full Power Rangers bodysuit! Giant mask! Yeah!
WCW TV TITLE:
BOOKER T vs. PSYCHOSIS:
(April 20th 1998)
* Booker T’s great TV Title reign featured a lot of stand-out performances that slowly got him more and more over, and Psychosis was the best worker in WCW’s “JTTS Corps”. Both guys puff out their chests and Booker gives him a shove before the bell in a good bit of character from both guys. Both dudes are in black, Booker with the fire and Psychosis with the red & white- one of his better looks.
Booker dominates with good-looking stuff to start, hitting the side kick while Bobby Heenan sings the virtues of “putting it in the deep-freeze” and letting the 10-minute time limit of TV Title matches work in your favor, since the champions make more money. Booker, meanwhile, counters a hiptoss with a BIG clothesline, then another sends the luchadore to the floor and follows with a slam, but Psychosis catches him rolling back in, springing to life and throwing stomps. He dropkicks the knee and hits his Flying Wheel Kick for two, then they slow it down until Booker fights out of a chinlock (odd sell where he forearms Psychosis, who leans into him and then slumps forward), but he misses a kneedrop and gets the knee worked over (the announcers mistake it for the same knee as before- to be fair, I had to go back and check cuz how often do guys just switch up like that?). It’s basic stuff but Booker is selling it BIG-TIME. Booker gets whipped after another chinlock but hits a HUGE spinebuster (full “twitch sell” by Psychosis, too), murders him with a giant flying forearm, hits a pancake and Spinaroonies up into the Harlem Side Kick and hits the Heat Seeker (missile dropkick) for the win (7:53). lol Tenay even calls out “the knee looks pretty good now, doesn’t it?”.
A somewhat extended competitive TV match, mostly filled with slow technical work, but Booker was clearly selling big to either put it over or impress the office with his effort, then following it up with monstrous flourish on all his offense. Funny that he eats all that stuff (but notably only one really big Psychosis move) then fires off a five-move miracle comeback for the handy win. This puts him over like dynamite, though- the typical “Randy Savage Template” is just a 2-move comeback, but this makes him look totally dominant the way he just fires one move into the other. I was a HUGE Booker fan at this point, and you can 100% see why this run propelled him to stardom.
Rating: **1/4 (solid work, even if it’s a bit basic and simple- Booker’s stuff all looks tremendous)
It’s probably no surprise that a dude with this appearance got a look in both WWF & WCW around the same time, but he was so bad his career legacy is “Missy Hyatte dissed his sexual performance in her book”.
SCOTTY RIGGS vs. SCOTT PUTSKI:
(WCW Worldwide, 8/7/1999)
* Yes, it’s a Battle of the Scotts, as Riggs takes on Putski! Now Scott is the useless son of Ivan Putski- undersized but with a great body, he had no charisma and wasn’t that good. Riggs is now finally free from Raven, but all we’re left with is a generic Power Plant dork. Riggs is now a heel, wearing white tights and doing a “Pretty Boy” act looking in a mirror, which is like a dollar store version of what his ex-partner Buff Bagwell was ALSO doing. Putski, in black trunks, is already in the ring and then Lenny & Lodi head out to bother everyone.
Putski goes all 1980s on Riggs with a hiptoss, slam & elbow, but Riggs wins the International with a dropkick. Putski catches him with an overhead belly-to-belly (hey! something currently popular!), but Riggs begs off and lures him into a corner beating using the tights- Putski actually goes to the eyes and dodges a dropkick, then hits a snap suplex & big side slam for two. Riggs takes the Bret Bump into the corner and Putski tries to pound on his back, but Riggs pulls in the ref and Flair Kicks Putski in the nards, then finishes with the Showstopper (rocker dropper) at (3:00).
Rating: *1/4 (perfectly ordinary match- basic but just two guys doin’ stuff. Putski’s moves looked okay, and he at least got the fans into it for his side slam by carrying Riggs around)
SCOTTY RIGGS vs. SCOTT PUTSKI:
(WCW Saturday Night, 9/04/1999)
* A rematch! This match is actually paying off from weeks before, where Riggs accidentally nailed Putski with a bullrope during a trios match against the West Texas Rednecks, costing them the match. Riggs is talking smack about second generation wrestlers while wearing yellow tights with a black anchor on the side, while Putski’s in black trunks and looks all intense. However, Riggs scores an all-time burn by calling him “Scott DUTSKI” and I hope Putski can recover from that. Oh god he DOES- “I tell you what… you CUPCAKE.” It’s like Hangman/Punk up in this chintzy little arena with these scintillating burns.
Riggs attacks before the bell for that vicious verbal beatdown, but Putski reverses a whip and clotheslines him. Putski beats him down and adds a side slam, then dodges a dropkick and gives a feather-light clothesline in the corner. Riggs goes to the eyes but takes punches and Putski loads up the Polish Hammer (double-axehandle) only for Riggs to pull the ref in the way- Putski turns them around to get at Riggs but eats the Flair Kick and the Showstopper for the pin at (2:52). OH MY GOD THAT’S THE SAME FINISH!! How DARE they redo the same finish on different D-shows!!
Rating: 3/4* (Okay not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but mostly two guys punching each other for 3 minutes until the cheap victory)
OCTAGON vs. FUERZA GUERRERA:
(CMLL, 03/11/1991)
* Finally time for more lucha! I was going to get to this one when I watched a lot of Fuerza stuff months ago, but I usually put off the extremely long videos. Fuerza is Juventud’s dad, but a squat powerhouse brawler in a tiny singlet, like High Voltage used for showing off their bodies (it’s funny because he’s so short compared to U.S. powerhouses). Octagon is a mega-babyface doing a martial arts gimmick, dressing a LOT like Great Sasuke eventually did. And one of Fuerza’s goons smashes him in the knee as soon as he hits the ring.
UNO CAIDA: Fuerza pounces immediately, kicking Octagon’s ass and ramming his leg into the post. He celebrates in the ring, knocks Octagon through the ropes again, but gets beat up when Octagon miraculously heals and dodges a kick. The heel ref grabs Octagon’s mask, resulting in a Fuerza beating and some fan runs up to admonish him, haha- Octagon comes back with lightning-fast armdrags, martial arts and a swinging bearhug drop, and that gets the pin (4:23)! Well uh, THAT was easy.
SEGUNDA CAIDA: Fuerza sells that for AGES, rolling out of the ring, and Octagon hits some spinebusters, the ref accusing him of low-blows. The ref continues admonishing him and even holding his hands back, thus of course allowing Fuerza several direct shots to the nuts, helpfully caught even closer on replay. Poor Octagon’s bandana gets tied in the ropes as Fuerza beats on him and tears at the mask- this goes on for ages as they apparently can’t untie him (lol), and Fuerza finally drags him dong-first into the post right in view of the ref, then bends his legs into a figure-four and just pushes on them like that, biting the shins. Fuerza then goes to yell at an old lady, who starts kicking him in the shins and smirking at his teasing to punch her- okay this man is my hero. Octagon keeps selling his ass off and bleeds, but finally uses more speed, hitting a plancha & thrust kick but kicking the post and Fuerza does a feather-light spinebuster and ties up the arms & legs for the pin (8:51). Man, these finishes.
TERCERA CAIDA: Some guy is literally holding that old lady back while Fuerza beats up Octagon outside the ring, LOL- and Fuerza, a total pro, just walks over to taunt her again. Octagon, his mask a mess, eats the “Walk & Stomp” thing that WWE guys were using to fill time in the 2000s, Fuerza repeatedly just doing a stomp and then yelling at the crowd. Octagon finally comes back and Fuerza FLIES into the post and hangs upside-down for a beating. Fuerza gets bashed into the post in that position repeatedly, then Octagon brings him over TO THE OLD LADY, who points to the chair beside her and he smashes Fuerza into THAT, and Fuerza blades! Octagon tears at his mask and he sells so much he cartoon-wobbles out of the ring, but manages to dodge a corner charge and is back on offense, but misses a senton off Bret’s rope and kicks out after a slow count. Victory roll gets the same, and Octagon tries again and faceplants, so Fuerza rocks the cradle with him but gets rolled back for two.
Octagon holds Fuerza in submissions, both guys selling the accumulated damage- Fuerza charges but takes the Mulkey Bump to the floor and a HUGE tope suicida puts them into the third row, Fuerza catching and backdropping him in mid-air! Fuerza celebrates in the ring but gets caught in a hold. Fuerza bites free and both are dead, Fuerza limited to just pushing Octagon with his legs at points. He teases a leap 3/4 over the ring off the top but is like “psyche!” and just hits a running senton, but misses a flying somersault version & Octagon gets two. Octagon misses his own flying thing, but rolls Fuerza up out of an inverted fireman’s stretch for a slow two. Fuerza’s up first and hits the top, but Octagon recovers and armdrags him off, then hits the Russian legsweep into the arm & neck stretch… for the submission (15:31)! Octagon wins!
Lucha is so weird, lol. Like 2 falls of feather-light offense yet people blade and sell this monstrous damage, sometimes springing to life and hitting a huge move but again selling. The middle of the bout always seems to have a lot of wasting time as they’re sparing out the big moves, but the final fall is always very dramatic and involves near-falls when the first fall is like “you hit one offensive move and it’s over”. So you have all these great bits where both guys are laid out and every move seems so important, and you can get great near-falls just from missing a flying move. Both guys have just enough energy to reverse a move and that MIGHT be it, then Octagon gets the big come-from-behind win with a flashy move then a submission the ref can’t slow-count or ignore. So it’s a soft, lazy match for 14-ish minutes then a good hard-fought one for 9 more.
Rating: ***1/2 (comes and goes and has some amusing bits, but is super soft and then goes hard- I’m not the best judge of lucha, though)
And next week, I finally take a look at the 1990s-era Global Wrestling Federation, which as you can tell by the name, is an indie from one portion of one of the United States.