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[1993-01-09-WCW-Saturday Night] Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat


Loss

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  • 3 weeks later...

The kind of thinking man's match you don't see much anymore, with Windham going after Steamboat's arm pretty aggressively and Steamboat responding in kind. Steamboat's bridge hammerlock is tremendous. They have a great in-ring collision that looks pretty wicked, then Windham switches to the knee. Jim Ross is doing a lot of education at the booth explaining the arm submissions, which is a bit of forgotten stuff about the Watts era. Steamboat wins by DQ when Barry throws Steamboat over the top rope after a ref bump. I really enjoyed this match. Douglas comes out in Zubaz pants post-match to make the save, Austin and Pillman attack him, Dustin comes out to get a piece of Windham, and we've got ourselves a brawl!

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  • 2 months later...

I thought this was just an excellent match between 2 pros. I always wished we had a feud between the 2 in 89. It's a shame we don't have more matches between the 2 because from what I have seen they had really good chemistry between each other in the 2 single bouts I have seen between each other and the tags where they have faced each other. Just a good match that told a story and built really well. Ross was good on commentary.

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  • 3 months later...

Great match, everything made sense and looked great. I really liked the selling of both men, and the fact that it was given time to develop really made it into a near-PPV quality singles between the two. Ross is great on commentary, putting over the story behind the match as well as the action in the ring and the upcoming Clash event. The finish makes perfect sense leading into the Clash, with the tag title match and Thunderdome match feuds being furthered. The DQ finish didn't bother me as I can see why they wouldn't want to pin Barry clean, and the finish leads into the aforementioned brawls to establish the feuds.

 

Looking at the booking in hindsight, having Barry go over would have given us Dustin vs Windham in the finals of the US title tournament, which could have been a way to blow that feud off, with Dustin pinning Barry to win his first singles title.

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  • 11 months later...

Excellent TV match, strong on selling and storytelling. Those two were the two most solid wrestlers on the roster at the time, and although it's not a spectacular match in term of spots or action, it's spectacular in term of how fluid it came down. Really surprised by the DQ ending, especially since as soon as the ref bump happened I though Barry would win after some cheating and go against Dustin in the final. I guess it was a way of tricking the audience into thinking they were gonna get a screwjob finish. Nice unpredictability. Douglas in zubaz is so early 90's.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Good match. I agree with the the above regarding commentary. A solid performance by Jim Ross on the mic with Larry too getting over the story of match. Probably Ross' last decent performance on mic in WCW. Also didn’t mind finish as much with the ref bump but Nick Patrick catching in time the over the rope DQ while on the floor. I'm cool with the referees catching stuff like that.

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  • 3 months later...

Excellent work, a studio-wrestling psychological masterpiece with body parts getting worked over and affecting both guys offensively and defensively as the match goes on. The switch to legwork comes off very organically, and Steamboat figure-fouring Windham is a great payback spot, leading to an even better spot with Windham just kicking away at Steamboat's injured leg like a maniac to get out. Count me in as another guy who liked the finish, and Matt's point about the swerve nature of the ending and Kevin's about how this actually puts the referee over in a good way are well taken. And of course the post-match is good, too. I recall the SuperBrawl III build being very good on just about all levels, and the idea that Watts was getting things together (from a product standpoint if not a profit standpoint) right when he was let go seems to have a lot of teeth to it.

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  • 2 months later...

Semifinal in US Title tourney. Barry Windham was so great. His kicks and punches look the way you think they would in a fight. Windham focuses on Steamer's arm with strikes and hammerlock on mat as well as snapping the arm over the top rope. He works the heel schtick by attacking outside, rolling in to stop the count and then heading out to deliver more punishment. Steamboat takes over and lays in some arm work of his own. They collide mid ring and Windham takes an awesome bump out of the ring and into the railing. Windham big DDT. Great timing and pacing by both here, making every move matter with selling, not just rushing to get stuff in. What good is a perfect steak if they take it away after you smell but before you can dig in? This was a great, smart match that was marred with a bad finish. Fun post-match brawl with Douglas, Dustin & the Blondes.

 

***3/4

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  • 10 months later...

Our first great match of 1993! I loved the way this was work with both Barry and Ricky being nasty going after the arm. The way Barry sells the damage is excellent as he keeps ringing his arm out. The bump Windham took flying out to the railing was about as natural as that could possibly look. The finish was cheap on the surface but resulted in a great brawl to set up a lot of stuff for the future. (****)

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  • 8 months later...

This was a lot of fun. Great limb selling by both guys - I especially liked Steamboat shaking his arm while he had Windham in a wristlock. And hopefully the brawl at the end sets up a Windham/Pillman/Austin v Dustin/Steamboat/Douglas six-man next week.

 

On a side note, I'm sure it's a forlorn hope that WWE ever puts the Saturday Nights up on the network. Who knows how many other gems like this are out there.

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  • 10 months later...

This was probably the most Mid South-like match of the Watts era, and it's a shame that it came just before the Cowboy and JR departed. These two just beat the holy terror out of each other for almost twenty minutes, and no body part was safe. The arm work was almost too intense for TV, and I liked the dueling figure-fours toward the end as well.

 

There were so many little touches, too many to list. It wasn't the holds these two used so much as it was how painfully they were executed. Combine those with constant elbow and knee strikes to the affected limbs and you have something that most TV shows wouldn't have aired back then, let alone today. If I had to choose just one such sequence as a favorite, it would be Windham breaking Steamer's figure four by hammering the inside of his knee with a closed fist. It's such a simple counter, but it's more effective than just about any I've seen, including those long, drawn-out reversal sequences that inevitably end up with both guys in the ropes.

 

Strangely enough for such a good bout, I don't have any specific moments that stick out on commentary. JR and Larry just called the match as effectively as they possibly could, and Larry played it a hundred percent straight. Actually, I do have a moment that stands out, mostly because something like it is so rare: Larry talks at one point about how Steamboat's figure four can't be as effective as Barry's because his legs aren't long enough to apply the correct pressure on the legs of someone as tall as Barry. Forget 1993 or 2016; this kind of analysis was rare as far back as you care to go with televised wrestling. How WCW managed to relegate someone capable of it to the meaningless (because it was before Hogan and friends could be bothered to show up) first hour of Nitro just a few short years later is beyond me.

 

Even though the finish wasn't clean, I wouldn't call the DQ on Windham cheap, either. How many times does a prone referee see someone throw their opponent over the top rope? Great call by Nick Patrick, and the brawl afterward was a lot of fun, and made the fans want to see the tag title match at the Clash, plus Dustin eventually getting his hands on Barry.

 

This may have been the WCW TV Match of the Month, and may have been the best non-Clash match on TBS in at least a year, maybe longer. I hope we get a singles rematch of some kind later in the set, because this matchup definitely deserves another go-round.

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  • 5 months later...

Windham works hard on the left arm of one of the greatest sellers of all-time. Windham looks awesome and creative with his attack, and Steamboat delivers on his reputation. I love that when Steamboat tries to fire back, the left arm gets in his way of where he's wanting to go. The damage is done, and Steamboat is going to have to find away around it. Steamboat decides to return the favor and has his own inspired attack on the left arm of Windham. Lots of good back and forth here from both guys. Steamboat's leg buckling on the Irish whip was a nice touch. This is a great match. ****

 

#444 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-450-401/

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I couldn't recall #444 standing out to me when I went through all of the WCW for the Smarkschoice poll and sure enough this was a little on the slow side. The commentators mentioning the animosity between the two and all we saw from Windham were subtle little heel tricks. Then there was a minor escalation and a pier six brawl broke out. Not only that but the wrong guy won. Perhaps they were saving Windham vs. Rhodes for down the road, but we never got to see that feud handled the way it should have been. I also think there's a noticeable drop off in Steamboat's work from 1992 to 1993 and 1994. It's not like he's bad or anything; he's simply "good" whereas in 1992 he was amazing.

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  • 5 months later...

Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 1/9/93 - US Title Tournament

 

Steamboat was quite the copycat in this match. Windham goes after the arm so the Dragon goes after the arm. Windham goes after the leg so Steamboat goes after the leg. Solid, meat and potatoes match. God, Barry Windham was so fucking good in 1993. A real shame that he got injured halfway though the year and it completely derailed his career because he was looking damn good. The bumps he was taking to outside were so wild but so fluid and graceful at the same time. His punch looked phenomenal. He was stringing moves together in a logical fashion and was just on top of his game. Steamboat was selling his ass off. This is just one of those old school Southern matches that just work. Thought the weak point in all this was the transition. Nothing made you say Ooooooh Aaaahhhh, no real strong momentum shifts. Windham and Steamboat had been feuding ever since Windham & Rhodes lost the tag belts and Windham turned on Rhodes. Steamboat came out hot. Windham kicked him in the gut and unleashed a big right hand that just crumpled Steamboat to the mat. It felt too normal. Windham eventually started working on the arm and did a great job. The way Steamboat transitioned to his arm work was so unmemorable that I don't remember how he did! That's what I am getting at. Windham raked the eyes to finally break up the Dragon's arm work. Windham starts to clubber instead of focusing on the arm. He is using his length and strength advantage. His floatover suplex is a thing of beauty. He takes a bump to the outside here that is just as graceful as it is violent. Windham's gutwrench and DDT look great and loved his pin combinations. He goes for the Figure-4. Steamboat is obviously in his wheelhouse selling the leg and firing back with chops. Steamboat gets a kneecrusher and his own figure-4. Windham attacks bad leg in the figure-4, brilliant! Ref gets bumped during Steamboat's comeback, which should have had a better transition. Steamboat gets the visual pin on the flying bodypress. Windham throws him over the top to the concrete triggering DQ. Big melee ensues with Windham/Rhodes and Steamboat&Douglas (In Zubaz!)/Hollywood Blonds.

 

Strong work, just a really good traditional pro wrestling match needs some more highspots or a real significant momentum shift to kick this next level. Just a great showcase for how much of a groove Barry Windham was in. ***3/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [1993-01-09-WCW-Saturday Night] Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat

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