Mike Reviews WCW Spring Stampede 1994

Happy Stampeding Saturday Everyone!

Following on from my review of SuperBrawl IV earlier this year, I thought I’d take a look at WCW’s next Pay Per View event that year in the form of Spring Stampede 1994!

The big match for Spring Stampede 1994 will see Ric Flair defending the WCW Title against longtime friend and rival Ricky Steamboat. Elsewhere we’ve got Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne challenging The Nasty Boys for the WCW Tag Titles, and Great Muta has come over from Japan to challenge for the US Title.

All in all, Spring Stampede 1994 should hopefully be good fun. You can view the full card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1594&page=3

Spring Stampede 1994 is emanating from Rosemont, Illinois on the 17th of April 1994

Calling the action are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

We get the opening video package running down the big matches tonight.

Aaron Neville sings the national anthem, after previous doing it at SummerSlam 1993 for the WWF.

The commentary team yaks.

Opening Match
Diamond Dallas Page w/ The Diamond Doll Vs Johnny B. Badd

These two would have a full blown long running feud in 95/96, but right now the full push for DDP hadn’t really started in earnest yet. Heenan is of course openly cheering for DDP due to Page giving him a present before the bout starts, which leads to some funny lines. They actually do some stuff on the mat here, and it’s not bad in all honesty, especially as both of them were known more for showmanship rather than work rate during this period in time (although Badd was improving considerably on that front and DDP would be a solid worker from 1996 onwards).

They trade the momentum in the early going, with DDP eventually punching and stomping away in order to gain an advantage, which leads to some decent selling from Badd. Badd eventually makes the comeback with back body drops and flying head scissors, which the crowd gets into. Badd knocks DDP to the floor with a big punch at one stage and follows with a very nice TOPE CONE HILO before following up with a Sunset Flip back inside the ring for three.

WINNER: JOHNNY B. BADD
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was fine as an opener, as DDP was a bully for a bit and then Badd made the comeback, at which point they took it home whilst the crowd was at it’s hottest. A solid way to kick off the show, if not a great one

Mean Gene Okerlund and Jesse Ventura hype up the hotline. Make sure you call kids, and don’t bother getting your parent’s permission. It’s better to ask for forgiveness after all. Just explain that you really wanted to know what Bunkhouse Buck had to say. They’ll understand.

Match Two
WCW World Television Title
Champ: Lord Steven Regal w/ Sir William Dundee Vs Flyin’ Brian

Regal was enjoying a solid push at the time and would eventually prove integral to WCW keeping a positive business relationship thanks to working a feud with Antonio Inoki. Brian had received a solid push in 1993 as a Heel partner for Steve Austin, but since a seemingly premature babyface turn he’d been kind of drifting aimlessly. Regal supposedly gave Brian a piledriver on the floor to heat this issue up. They’ve got Michael Buffer in for the Title matches tonight, and I wonder if he was clueless enough about wrestling to think that Regal was an actual Lord?

In a nice touch, Brian attacks Regal right from the bell, which you would do if someone piledrove you onto the floor and tried to injure you. You wouldn’t be heading in there to lock up with them. Regal bumps, sells and feeds for everything well as Brian shines on the Champion, with Brian seemingly targeting Regal’s limbs with most of his attacks. Brian is getting some great crowd reactions here actually, but eventually Regal is able to cut the challenger off and work him over for a bit with his usual strong technical wrestling skills. Heenan’s headset goes on the fritz somehow at one stage, but they get it fixed eventually.

Brian gets the occasional pin attempt or brief flurry in order to show that he’s still in the contest, but after the frenetic pace to start we’ve settled into a more patient speed of Regal putting Brian in a slew of holds. It’s good scientific wrestling, so it’s enjoyable if you like that sort of thing, but it might not be for everyone. Brian doesn’t really get much in the way of a proper comeback until we hit the final 45 seconds of the 15 Minute Time Limit, but that ends with both wrestlers tumbling to the floor without Brian every really getting any proper near falls, leaving things feeling a bit flat at the end.

TIME LIMIT DRAW
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This was okay, but I can understand why some wouldn’t like it because the vast majority of the match was Regal putting Brian in unpleasant looking holds followed with Brian trying to get out of them. I quite enjoy that kind of match now and then, so this was a decent outing in my book, but if you’re into more fast paced action or you enjoy a bit more of the showbiz aspect of wrestling, then this one might not be for you. They probably should have let Brian had more to be honest, as he had that decent run of offence in the shine but was then cut off and never really got back into it, which left the ending feeling a bit flat. If Brian had started fighting back sooner and then the final 2-3 minutes was Brian running through pin attempt after pin attempt with Regal desperately hanging on then it might have been more effective

Mean Gene is backstage with Colonel Rob Parker and Bunkhouse Buck, which leads to Gene commenting on Buck’s pronounced aroma. Parker hypes up his client’s matches tonight, focusing mostly on Buck doing battle with Dustin Rhodes later on. Buck gets to do a bit of a yokel promo too, and it’s fine, if a bit cheesy.

Match Three
Chicago Street Fight for the WCW World Tag Team Titles
Champs: The Nasty Boys (Knobbs and Sags) Vs Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne

These two teams had fought to a non-finish back at SuperBrawl IV, so the stipulation for this one should ensure a pin fall or submission. This was quite a revolutionary match at the time, as you didn’t really get to see this sort of weapons filled crazy brawl on a mainstream promotion like WCW or the WWF, with you normally having to seek this sort of action out in places like ECW, Smoky Mountain or hardcore Japanese promotions. There isn’t really much I can say in the way of play by play here, as the match is one big out of control fight, with all four wrestlers going at it and brawling all over the place whilst delivering some of the stiffest weapon shots you’ll ever see.

It’s another match where it won’t be for everyone, but if you like wild brawling then this will certainly scratch that itch for you. What’s good as well is that they don’t overdo it or overstay their welcome. The match clocks in at just under 9 minutes, but you don’t feel short changed for the running time due to the brutality of the fight, and they achieve everything they need to achieve in that run time. Eventually Knobbs and Payne start fighting over by the merch table whilst Sags and Cactus fight at ringside, giving us the dreaded split screen of DOOM. Knobbs ends up getting flung through one of the tables over at the merch area by Knobbs, but it only gets a two count.

Cactus of course makes sure to take some trademark crazy bumps, such as when Sags sends him into the metal railings and Cactus makes sure to flip over them in brutal, yet spectacular, fashion. Sadly there is a notable botch here in this one, where Sags tries to piledrive Cactus through a table on the ramp but the table breaks before they can complete the move and they both tumble onto the floor from it. In some ways, that spot did make the match seem even more chaotic, so I guess it wasn’t the worst thing to happen. I think the piledriver might have been the planned finish, but they end up covering for it by having Sags hit Cactus with a snow shovel straight to the face in one of the most sickening spots you’ll ever see, and that mercifully brings Cactus’ suffering to an end, for this night at least.

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: THE NASTY BOYS
RATING: ****

Thoughts: This was classic hardcore action that would have easily held up in any of the main hardcore promotions from this time frame. Again, it won’t be for everyone, but if you like your brawling then this was 9 minutes of absolute chaos that the fans were really into. This certainly fulfilled the “Stampede” portion of Spring Stampede, as it looked like hundreds of bulls had stomped all over the ringside area when this one was done with!

In an interesting twist, it looks like Maxx Payne had Knobbs pinned at the end there, but the ref didn’t notice, which should open the door for further matches between the teams.

Jesse Ventura is backstage with Johnny B. Badd, who wants a US Title shot at Slamboree. We might have to see how that match went…

Match Four
WCW United States Heavyweight Title
Champ: Stunning Steve Austin w/ Colonel Rob Parker Vs The Great Muta

Austin was enjoying a renewed singles push after a tag run in 1993 with Flyin’ Brian. Ric Flair supposedly had designs on working with Austin, but Hulk Hogan entering the promotion but the kibosh on that and Austin ended up getting squashed by Jim Duggan. Muta had gotten over as a star in WCW during a 1989 stint in the company whilst on excursion, so WCW would occasionally bring him back to cash in on that. The design of the US Title from this time period is one of my favourite belt designs and you can actually have wrestlers win it in the current WWE 2K games.

I’ve seen Austin and Muta wrestle before during the 1992 G1 Climax, and I’m not sure they really have that much in the way of chemistry together, even though both of them are clearly very talented wrestlers. Maybe the language barrier prevented them from ever really clicking? Muta is very over with the crowd here, as they chant for him and multiple people have signs for him. It’s funny as Muta was a Heel during his most successful run in WCW, but he was so talented and so cool that he usually always got a babyface pop whenever he came back, even when he was nWo Japan.

It’s all very patient and mat based in the early going, with the work itself being executed well. It all makes sense from a wrestling perspective, but it’s not very exciting either. There is an occasional high spot here or there that makes the crowd pop, but then they go back to headlocks and whatnot, with Muta getting the best of things for the most part. Eventually Parker trips Muta and that leads to Austin getting a cheap shot for the cut off, with Parker adding some shots when the ref isn’t looking also. Thus far this has been a match where if you wrote down everything they’ve done thus far you’d think “Yup, that’s a good match” but it’s felt a bit flatter in execution. They just don’t seem to be clicking.

Muta sells reasonably well in the heat, although he kind of does a bit too much “death selling” at points, and eventually he makes the comeback, which leads to Austin taking some nice bumps for everything. You can sense that the crowd really wants to get super pumped for something in this one, but they haven’t really had that thing to react to just yet. Austin tries a submission move that resembles Orienteering With Napalm Death, but Muta slips out of it and then catches Austin with a Stun Gun (the move, not the item) which gets a healthy pop seeing as Austin was using that as his finisher at the time. I wonder if Muta knew that was Austin’s finisher or if he just thought it would be a cool move to do?

Muta continues to get great pops for everything, including a handspring elbow and a rana off the top. However, Muta ends up giving Austin a back body drop over the top rope for a DQ, as that was the rule in WCW at the time. However, the rule was always spottily enforced, and sometimes it would just be excused as a wrestler’s momentum taking them over, which meant No DQ. Basically, it was a DQ whenever they needed it to be, such as when a top New Japan guy came into the company and they didn’t want a WCW guy to job, hence a lame DQ.

WINNER BY DQ: STEVE AUSTIN
RATING: **1/4

Thoughts: That one was just starting to pick up and then they ended it with a lame finish. It never really felt like they “clicked” in there, but the actual wrestling was executed well and the crowd LOVED Muta, meaning that they came alive whenever he got a chance to do anything. With a better finish and a different match structure, this might have been quite good

Muta dives out onto Austin and Parker following the match in order to give the fans a little something extra to get excited about.

Jesse Ventura is backstage with Dustin Rhodes, who hypes up his match with Bunkhouse Buck later on. Dustin says that he can keep seeing Buck attacking him from behind with a trophy, so tonight he’s going to get even. This was a decent promo from Dustin, with a bit of Dusty coming through at points.

Match Five
WCW International Title
Champ: Ravishing Rick Rude Vs The Man Called Sting

The International Title came about due to WCW leaving the NWA but keeping the physical belt they were using for the NWA Title. At the time the NWA World Title had been its own separate belt from the WCW World Title (think the brand split in WWE where Raw and Smackdown have their own belts). However, WCW didn’t like that the NWA could dictate to them who the Champ was, so they severed ties with the organisation and decided to rename the belt. Thus they created the fictitious “WCW International Committee” and stated that they oversaw the administration of that belt. Why they didn’t immediately just unify the belts is beyond me, but they left the NWA in the autumn of 1993 and didn’t unify the belts until summer of 1994. They unified them on a Clash too instead of on pay per view.

Harley Race interrupts the pre-match promo from Rick Rude, and says that Vader wants the winner of this one, with the belt on the line. Race then tries to attack Sting, but Sting fights Race off and then clotheslines Rude over the top to the floor. That wasn’t a DQ by the way, even though Rude was propelled over the top rope to the floor. You can see the inconsistency with the over the top rope rule right there. Rude takes some nice bumps during the babyface shine, with Sting doing a good job of beating the Champion up and looking like a star whilst doing so. This might possibly be the best Sting has ever looked from a physical perspective actually, as he’s in incredible shape here and is wrestling with real intensity.

Sting is actually wrestling in black and white here, which would take on a greater significance when the nWo storyline began of course. We get another example of why the over the top rope rule is so dumb when it comes to the cut off, as Rude drops Sting crotch first on the top rope and then clotheslines him down to the floor, which is technically throwing someone over the top rope to the floor, but this isn’t a DQ. Why neither of the two instances of it happening in this match were DQ’s when it was in the Muta match is beyond me. Maybe they should have clarified the rules and said that back body dropping folks over the top rope to the floor is a DQ but every other form of it is okay? It would at least go some way to justifying the absence of rules in one match and the enforcement of them in another.

Rude keeps is pretty basic in the heat, sticking to rest holds and taunting. It’s a serviceable heat segment, but not the most exciting one to watch. Sting’s selling is good though and he does a solid job of bravely fighting on and trying to find a way to fight back. Sting does eventually start no selling some Rude punches and makes the big comeback, making sure to thrown in some atomic drops so that Rude can do his usual wacky sell job for it. Referee Randy Anderson ends up getting squished in the corner, which means he isn’t there when call for the bell when Sting has Rude in the Scorpion Deathlock. Vader and Harley Race get involved following that, with Sting managing to fight them off, but that allows Rude to chop block Sting and go for the Rude Awakening. Sting manages to block that and then ducks a Race chair shot, leading to Rude getting hit with the chair instead to give Sting the three count from the revived referee.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: STING
RATING: **3/4

Thoughts: The heat segment was a bit dull, but aside from that this was a decent outing, with Sting’s win getting a big pop from the crowd. WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel was at ringside for that, so I think that led to a rematch being booked for a New Japan show where Rick Rude ended up suffering his career ending back injury whilst in the act of regaining his belt

Match Six
Bunkhouse Rules
Bunkhouse Bunk w/ Colonel Rob Parker Vs The Natural Dustin Rhodes

Parker and Dustin had an issue that had been brewing since 1993, with Parker bringing in Buck to handle the matter for him. Bunkhouse Rules are essentially No DQ, but falls must happen in the ring. Dustin starts things hot by leaping into the ring with a clothesline at the opening bell, which is what you can do with this ring as the ramp is going all the way up to the apron. Bunkhouse Buck is certainly the perfect sort of character to wrestle on a show titled Spring Stampede. I’ve always thought that Buck has a pretty odd looking wrestling physique actally, in that he’s very gangly but he also has a little bit of a belly going on too. He’s like what would happen if you gene spliced Henry Godwinn with a flamingo or something.

Both of these guys are decent brawlers, so this is a very watchable fight, with them focusing on battering each other with punches, stomps and clotheslines, as well as fighting all over the place. Dustin is soon bleeding, which wasn’t something you always got from WCW shows during this period as Turner didn’t like the wrestlers pouring out a bit of claret around this time. Indeed, when there was some blood back at SuperBrawl IV the camera crew went out of their way not to shoot it, but they seem to be a bit more mellow here at Spring Stampede and we get a few gory shots of Dustin getting his bleed on.

Buck manages to take control once Dustin is busted, whipping Dustin with his belt and just generally kicking the heck out of him. The crowd doesn’t really like Buck that much, but they don’t seem that into Dustin either, so it’s a bit of an odd atmosphere at points during the heat, as Buck will get booed sometimes but you don’t really get the crowd clapping and cheering on Dustin that much. The crowd is actually kind of quiet during the heat, although Dustin goes get a bit of a reaction when he starts fighting back. Buck is taking some decent bumps for Dustin during the comeback, with Dustin eventually opening up Buck’s forehead thanks to a leather belt and some shots from a cowboy boot.

Dustin looks to have it won following the boot shot, with Buck doing the big seizure sell job from it, but Dustin decides that he’s going to whip Buck with the belt first, which leads to Buck doing a very entertaining wacky sell job for it all. Buck ends up slipping some kind of international object into his glove, but he can’t stop the elbows in the corner, as the crowd has got a lot more into this since Dustin started fighting back. Dustin has it won with the bulldog, but Parker causes a distraction and gets suplexed into the ring. Parker slips Buck another weapon of some kind though and Buck clocks Dustin with it for the three count.

WINNER: BUNKHOUSE BUCK
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a good brawl, although it took the crowd a bit to really get into it. Once they did though, it became good fun, with both guys brawling and bleeding on route to a cheap win for the Heel in order to keep the feud cooking for another pay per view cycle

Jesse Ventura is backstage with Rick Rude, who is mad that Harley Race cost him the belt as he didn’t ask for any help. Vader and Race come in for an argument and the other Heels try to keep them apart. I wonder if Rude was going to eventually go babyface to feud with Vader over this before his back injury caused a detour?

We get clips from SuperBrawl IV showing off the issues between Vader and The Boss.

Semi-Main
Big Van Vader w/ Harley Race Vs The Boss

Vader had lost to Ric Flair back at SuperBrawl IV due to guest referee The Boss calling for the bell, which led to a natural feud between the two. This another brawl in a series of them tonight, as there’s a lot of rage and anger within 1994 WCW it seems. It’s a good brawl too, as these two always seemed to have good chemistry together as opponents and both could believably fling one another around. Vader even does an incredible spot where he runs down the ramp and leaps into the ring with a splash, but Boss gets his knees up to block it. Vader could move in ways very few big guys of his era could. It was really only John Tenta and Bam Bam Bigelow that could challenge him in the agility stakes when it came to quick moving big men of wrestling.

Vader takes a crazy bump over the metal railings into the crowd at one stage, as he’s seemingly going out of his way to show a lot of butt for Boss here in an effort to get Boss over as a credible opponent. Vader even goes up for a big body slam for Boss at one stage, as these two big men continue to fling one another around with reckless abandon. It really is a sight to see, and I think I’ll need to include Ray Traylor in the previous list with Tenta and Bigelow when it came to big guys who could move. We get another instance of blood here, although it’s probably more a case of “fortuitous juice” on this occasion, as Vader looks to get cut hard way above his right eye, and it’s not a neat wound that suggests a blade was used.

Vader ends up taking control of things and clobbers Boss with a series of stiff punches and clotheslines. Boss won’t stay down though, and ends up countering the Pump Splash by FLINGING Vader off the second rope to the mat. That wasn’t even really a move, it was just one man throwing another man with seemingly no regard as to how he would land. Boss follows that up with a DDT from the second rope and then dives off the top rope with a shoulder block. There are guys 100-150 pounds lighter than these two who couldn’t do stuff like that, and yet these two are. Vader ends up heading to the second rope and getting the Pump Splash on a second attempt, but Boss kicks out at two in a good near fall. Vader is undettered though and just heads up with a Moonsault for three.

WINNER: VADER
RATING: ***

Thoughts: You knew that once Vader threw his hat in the International Title picture then it was unlikely that he’d be losing here to The Boss, but they still worked this really well and got across the idea that Boss was capable of winning until it was time for Vader to squish him with two big high impact moves. This was two guys with an estimated combined weight of possibly 750-800 pounds going in there taking bumps and moves that guys half their size probably wouldn’t, or couldn’t, take. It was a bit sloppy in places, but you’ll accept that when it’s two bulls colliding like this. Good match!

Vader and Race try a Heel beatdown, but Boss gets hold of his nightstick and fights them off, giving Race a battering in the process.

Mean Gene hypes the hotline. Make sure you dial in kids, or Gene might not have enough budget for olives in his Martini’s!

Backstage, WCW Commish Nick Bockwinkel says that The Boss can’t be called that anymore due to his actions following the previous match. In reality, the WWF was sending WCW legal threats because The Boss character was too much like the Big Boss Man character that the WWF owned the copyright to, so WCW needed to change it. Ray Traylor would go on to become The Guardian Angel before dropping that gimmick and becoming Big Bubba Rogers again.

Main Event
WCW Title
Champ: Nature Boy Ric Flair Vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat

Flair was not only the Champ but also the head booker during this period, so he decided to book himself in a Main Event with Ricky Steamboat, because he knew it would be a good match that would allow him to start subtly turning Heel again. Yeah, Ric Flair always had it in his mind that he was a terrible babyface, so whenever he was a Face and had any control over his career direction the first thing he seemingly always tried to do was to get himself turned back into being a Heel. I find this a shame to be honest, because I genuinely believe that Ric Flair is a really good babyface. Is his Heel act stronger? Yeah, probably, but his babyface act is darn strong as well. He’s Ric Flair, say what you want about him in real life, but he’s darn good at this whole Pro Wrestling thing, whether he’s repping for the dark side or the light.

Steamboat had kind of just been milling around the Tag Title and TV Title scene for most of 1993, but he fit nicely into being a contender again, because he’s an awesome wrestler and he had an instant legitimacy with the crowd due to years of excellent in ring performances. Illinois is where Steamboat once defeated Flair for the World Title in 1989, which gives the match some added gravitas. It actually sounds like Steamboat gets some boo’s on the way down to the ring, which is interesting because Steamboat is a career babyface that I couldn’t ever imagine getting booed. It just feels wrong, but I guess that shows how popular Ric Flair is. He can actually get people to boo Ricky Steamboat for crisps sake! And he thinks he’s a bad babyface?!?!

Flair’s then missus, Beth, is watching on, looking glum and bored out of her mind. That would have earned her an embittered paragraph in an autobiography if Flair were Bret Hart. Both men do some nice technical wrestling, whilst commentator Tony Schiavone pushes on commentary that Steamboat has beaten Flair for numerous Titles in the past, thus planting the idea that The Dragon has The Nature Boys number. That’s a great bit of commentary actually. Tony can be really good when motivated. Steamboat shines on Flair with some dropkicks, with one of them sending Flair to the floor, and he continues to control things back inside, which causes Flair to bail and catch his bearings.

It’s not long before chops are thrown, as it looks like things are heating up between the two men. Steamboat is showing plenty of determination here and isn’t playing this as a nice smiling babyface. There’s plenty of stink behind what he’s doing, and even talks some trash at points, showing that neither man is going to be an angel here, which is probably the best way to do a babyface match. At the end of the day these are competitive wrestlers who want to be the best, regardless of them both being on the Face side of the divide. Steamboat continues to have control of things, working holds and staying one step ahead of Flair at all times.

Steamboat eventually misses a dropkick however, which allows Flair to start working his way back into the running with some nasty knife edge chops and some well-placed punches. We get the 15 minute call, which is crazy to me as it feels like they’ve only been wrestling for 5 and we’re only just getting into the heat segment. I honestly think Flair could get away with giving one of his challengers a 30 minute long shine if he wanted, he’d just sell and bump around enough to make it work. Steamboat starts trying to fight back, but that ends with both wrestlers taking a spill to the floor, where Flair tries a piledriver.

Steamboat blocks that and brings Flair back in for a superplex, which gets two from the ref. Flair sold the superplex like a big painful move though, which earns him bonus points from me. Flair outright starts begging off now, fully embracing the Heel role after being a subtle Heel in the early going. I honestly think these two could work a match together in their sleep at this stage in their careers. They fit so well into their usual roles that you wouldn’t think it’d been 5 years since their last big match with one another. Steamboat tries to put Flair away with his own Figure Four Leg Lock, but Flair refuses to tap and eventually goes to the eyes to break the hold after teasing making it to the ropes.

I loved that, as Flair struggled like a gallant babyface for a while before finally just giving in to his inner Heel and cheating, because when the chips are down it’s who he is. Steamboat gets the dramatic backslide attempt, which gets an equally dramatic two count from Nick Patrick, and that leads to a chop battle. Steamboat gets the better of that and the Flair Flop™ sees the Champ take a spill to the floor. Steamboat tries to follow with a chop off the apron, but Flair gets his foot up to block that, which leads to a chop battle on the apron that Steamboat wins. A top rope cross body follows from the challenger, but Flair manages to kick out at two in a good near fall.

Flair heads up, which goes about as well as you’d imagine, and that sets up Steamboat going up top for a splash, but there’s no water in the pool. Flair targets the knee following that and locks in the Figure Four, after a great struggle where Steamboat tried to block the leg going across his ankle. I love the little touches between these two. Steamboat bravely makes the ropes, to scattered boo’s, but Flair just goes right after the knee again before attempting the hold again, only for Steamboat to counter it into an inside cradle for two. We get the 30 minute call, as Steamboat gets another big superplex, but he hurts himself as well for a double down.

Steamboat eventually manages a cover, but the delay in making the pin allows Flair to kick out at two. I like that they protected the big move and didn’t just have Flair kick out. Steamboat goes for the double chicken wing hold that he used to win a fall over Flair in their classic “Rajun Cajun” match from 1989, but just like in that match his knee goes out and both men fall down to the mat for a double pin, thus meaning that Flair retains and we get a rematch on Saturday Night (Which I’ve never seen, but I’ve been told its excellent and possibly even better than this match)

DOUBLE PIN
RATING: ****

Thoughts: It’s Flair Vs Steamboat, so it’s always going to be good, but the finish was a bit flat and it just didn’t have the same “feel” as the classic 89 matches, so it gets a slightly lower rating from me as a result. Still, this was some darn good professional wrestling, with crisp execution, good character work and consistent selling throughout. You could show this at a seminar or something, because they hit all the beats they needed to and the work was spot on whilst they did it.

In Conclusion

Spring Stampede 1994 is a very solid show, with no stinkers and some genuinely great matches included in the form of the Tag Title and WCW Title matches. Some of the under card couldn’t bridge the gap from being just decent to being genuinely good, but when you have a couple of great matches on a 3 hour show then you’ll accept the lack of good matches elsewhere on the card so long as there’s nothing actively bad to be found either, and that’s the case here, with lots of matches in the **+ range but not all of them making it over the *** star barrier by my watch.

Overall though I’d say that Spring Stampede 1994 is a thumbs up show and very worth your time. Some folks might find the overall presentation to be a bit dry perhaps, but if you like your Pro Wrestling straightforward and to a competent standard, then this is a show you’ll certainly want to watch. It was a big improvement on SuperBrawl IV and WCW was able to keep most of the momentum going when Slamboree rolled around, which we’ll get to next month at some point.

Recommended Show!