A Moment In Time – Sting and Ricky Steamboat vs Steve Austin and Ric Flair – July 30, 1994

Let’s take a look back at a match that happened on WCW Saturday Night in the Summer of 1994. These are four huge wrestling stars at very different points in their careers, so let’s look at where everyone was when this match took place.

Steve Austin – After splitting with Brian Pillman, Austin went on a singles run and captured the United States Championship from Dustin Rhodes at Starrcade 1993. Austin was still the US champ at the time of this match and was feuding with Ricky Steamboat over that title. Austin had just about 14 months left in WCW at this point, and I’m pretty sure you know how the rest of his career went.

Ric Flair – Flair returned to WCW in 1993 after a short but fairly successful run in the WWF. Flair had been the WCW World Champion until two weeks prior to this match at Bash At The Beach when he dropped the title to the debuting Hulk Hogan. He was not in a direct feud with either Steamboat or Sting at this point but he obviously had long-time grudges against both.

Ricky Steamboat – Steamboat had dropped the US title to Austin and had been feuding with him for most of the early part of 1994. Steamboat had not really teamed with Sting too much but WCW liked to just throw tag matches together like this and just hope Flair would make the whole thing work somehow (and Steamboat was obviously game to work with Flair anytime).

Sting – A long-time nemesis of Flair and an easy choice to put in a tag match like this. They had spots they always went to, the press-slam, Flair begging off in a corner for an eye-poke, Flair flipping over the top turnbuckle onto the apron after a particularly hard irish whip, it always worked. Sting was about to become Hulk Hogan’s little buddy for awhile but this was a more old-school style tag before all that got going.

This match is taped at Disney Studios in Orlando, FL, and the announcers are Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.

The match: Austin and Flair have Sensuous Sherri Martel with them as she was Flair’s valet/designated outside helper at this point. Gary Michael Capetta does the ring intros, and we’re off.

It’s Austin and Sting to start as Flair decides to wait for Austin to soften some folks up. Sting notices Austin trying to sneak up on him so he tags in Steamboat and Austin bails immediately. Austin tags Flair in and we’re going to get down to business, finally. Flair slugs Steamboat and rams his head into a top turnbuckle. Steamboat reverses an irish whip and backdrops Flair before tagging in Sting. Sting press-slams Flair as the crowd goes bonkers. Sting mounts Flair and drops a bunch of rights but also has one for Austin when he sneaks over to try to help. Flair uses the distraction to boot Sting in the knee before kicking him away. Flair wants a hiptoss but Sting blocks it and turns Flair into a backslide for two. Flair turns right into a Steamboat chop after rising and comically sells it while collapsing. Flair tries to bail and Sting follows, so Flair hides behind Sherri. Sherri dares Sting to hit her and when he leans in for verbals, Flair rakes Sting’s eyes. Flair chops Sting along the barricade and then runs him back in. Austin tags in and pounds away on Sting before ramming him into a turnbuckle. Austin fires in some chops and runs into a Sting high boot after an irish whip. Sting fires up with another back body drop on Austin before slapping on a wristlock. Steamboat tags in and Austin uses his leverage to fire Steamboat through the ropes to the floor. Austin stomps away as Steamboat tries to return so Steamboat drags Austin out with him. They slug it out on the floor before Austin gains the advantage and runs Steamboat back in. Austin ascends but Steamboat pops him in the mid-section when Austin tries a top rope double-sledge. Steamboat hits a swinging neckbreaker before dropping a chop on Austin’s head. Flair charges in as does Sting, so Steamboat dispenses with Flair and hits an inverted Atomic Drop on Austin. Austin tries to bail and we go to commercials.

Steamboat has a rear chinlock on Austin when the show returns. Austin drops down to break the hold before going to work on Steamboat with some rights and chops. Steamboat blocks a hiptoss and wants a backslide, but instead he flips out of it and clobbers Austin with some chops. Steamboat hits a superplex and covers Austin for two. Sting tags in and slams Austin, but when he tries it again Austin lifts the knees. Flair tags in and does a little strutting before trying to draw Steamboat in. Flair hits a vertical suplex on Sting who no-sells it to smash Flair around. Sting misses a charge and topples out to the floor. Sting immediately leaps back onto the apron to trap Flair’s arms, but this draws Austin in to hold on to Sting. Steamboat charges over and he and Austin start pounding on each other. Sting pulls Flair into an inside cradle that gets two. Flair keeps pulling Sting down by his hair and Sting constantly just bounces right back to his feet. Flair bails and goes to yell at some fans before being comforted by Sherri. Sting consults with Steamboat as Flair returns. Flair chats with Austin before going back to face Sting. Flair goes behind and it’s reversed as Austin gets a tag. Sting drives both Flair and Austin down with lariats and Steamboat lays a chop in on a staggering Flair. Flair goes to Sting’s eyes when he approaches. Flair ascends and Sting toss-slams him halfway across the ring. Flair retreats to the heel corner and tags in Austin. Austin cranks on Sting’s arm but it’s reversed. Sting trucks Austin down but continued rope-running leads to an Austin roll-up that gets two. Sting shakes Austin off and lariats him down a couple of times. Sting press-slams Austin and they start grappling in a corner. Austin lifts a knee to a low area and Flair dumps Sting out when referee Randy Anderson admonishes Austin. Sherri gouges Stings eyes and puts the boots to him. We go to commercials.

Sherri is choking Sting with a stocking when the show returns. Sting crawls back in and Flair blasts him with some kicks. Flair cranks on Sting’s arm before Austin tags in. Austin slams Sting and hits a second-rope knee drop for two. Austin slaps on a rear chinlock as the crowd chants “Go Sting, go!”. Sting breaks out of it with some elbows before trucking Austin down. They run the ropes and Austin hits a back body drop. Austin ascends and hits Sting’s knees when he jumps. Flair and Steamboat get tags and Steamboat runs wild on both opponents. It ends with Flair climbing back in from the floor where he gets pounded on by Sting, and Steamboat hauls Austin up for some chops. Austin fires up with a kick to Steamboat before nailing him with a lariat. Flair tags in and grabs a side headlock takeover for two. Steamboat reverses a backslide attempt and yanks Flair down for two as Austin breaks it up. Flair kicks out of a Figure Four attempt before being trucked by Steamboat. Austin tags in and drops a knee on Steamboat’s head before Sherri sneaks in to gouge at Steamboat’s eyes. Austin suplexes Steamboat back in and covers for two. Austin puts on an abdominal stretch and gets help from Flair as Anderson asks Steamboat if he gives up. Flair tags in and pops Steamboat right on the nose. Flair chops away in a corner and smashes Steamboat down with a right. They exchange chops and Flair tries some amateur pin attempts. Steamboat tries to break out of the heel corner but Austin tags in and prevents him from tagging Sting. Austin knees Steamboat and covers him for two. Austin works the rear chinlock and Steamboat appears to be going out. Of course he manages to regain his strength and wastes Austin with a huge swinging chop. Austin pushes Steamboat to the heel corner but Steamboat fights out of it and tags in Sting. Anderson’s back was turned and he won’t allow it, so everyone starts fighting. Steamboat crotches Austin in a corner while Sting hits the Stinger Splash on Flair. Sting slaps on the Scorpion Deathlock, and Sherri tries to interfere. Sting catches Sherri’s dive as Flair bails, so Sting casually heaves Sherri onto Flair. Steamboat mounts Austin in a corner and drops a bunch of rights, but Austin sort of powerbombs Steamboat down and covers him for three.

The finish was barely caught on camera because Sting was pressing Sherri to slam on to Flair right in front of the cameras. Other than that, this was a HELL of a battle for a television main event. Steamboat was getting to the “greatest hits” phase of his career at this point, but Flair could still really go with a number of different types of foes, and this whole thing just flowed very well. Sting kind of doing things on his own while his partner suffers for it was a hallmark of the big lug’s career, but he was wildly over at this point and the crowd didn’t care as long as he got some revenge on Sherri. I really like this match a bunch. 4.5*

Winners – Austin/Flair (Austin powerbomb on Steamboat)

Flair had a big rematch with Hulk Hogan during the next Clash of the Champions, which he won by count-out while not reclaiming the title. Flair would ride out the next seven years with WCW before it was ultimately sold to the WWF. Steamboat would regain the US title from Austin on that Clash, but be injured and then FIRED by Fed-Ex by Eric Bischoff in September. Sting would go on to team with Hulk Hogan for the rest of 1994 in a battle with Kevin Sullivan’s various stables. Austin lasted until September of 1995 when his injury status and Eric Bischoff’s general indifference to him lead to his separating from WCW. This was quite a moment in time with these four in the ring all at once. I hope you enjoyed this look back.