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[1993-02-20-WCW-Saturday Night] Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (Lumberjack)


Loss

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  • 4 weeks later...

Lumberjack match! Interesting line-up of lumberjacks. RVD. Kevin Nash. Steve Austin. Bagwell, Scorpio. Cactus Jack. Regal. Shane Douglas. Raven.

 

I'm not usually a fan of Pillman in the ring as a heel, but this is a tremendous performance on his behalf. He keeps the pace slow, works holds nicely with almost all of his offense centered on hurting Steamboat's back, ups the aggression ... It's not a career performance, but it's a great showcase match for Pillman during this time, and Steamboat knows how to work with a heel who can bring the goods. When Steamboat tries a bodyslam he can't hold him up and Pillman collapses on him. I always loved that spot, even more so when it's done with medium-sized wrestlers. Austin is also fun on the outside, timing his interference spots really well.

 

Also, the match finished during the commercial break! That's a rarity, but something I know Watts loved to do. When they come back from the break, Jim Ross and Larry Zbyszko recap the finish. They both attempted a double cross body at the same time that looked awesome. For the finish, the lumberjacks got in a crazy brawl, and Steamboat worked over Pillman's knee a little and got a figure four. Austin comes in while the ref is trying to bring order to all the brawling outside the ring, but accidentally hits Pillman with a clothesline, giving Steamboat the win.

 

This was great!

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  • 3 months later...

I thought Pillman was really good here. His heel schtick was great. He attacked Steamer's back with gusto. They got a lot out of the little things. The boston crab while crawling to the ropes was great. Overall a good bout that both men should be proud of.

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  • 1 year later...

A thought it was a bit disapointing. Good match, but with Steamboat and Pillman you except more. I don't know, the work on the back was solid, Steamboat's selling was excellent, but maybe I expected more of a crazy brawl which is something the lumberjack gimmick kinda calls for to me. Gotta love to see Austin and Flamingo together rooting for Pillman. Man, that makes me think Raven vs Stone Cold is a dream match of mine I'll never get to see. The finish happening during the break is vintage Watts. It's a nice touch from to time to time.

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  • 9 months later...

I see RVD out there as a lumberjack. Took me a while to notice Raven. Was that Henry Godwinn ringside too? Pillman timed that dropkick perfectly when Steamboat was coming off the top rope. Austin was doing a great job as cheerleader for Pillman. Cactus was doing a better job than Douglas trying to help out Steamboat. Ending actually happens during a commercial but luckily the tape machines were rolling. Gets chaotic at the end as I’m so focused on the all the lumberjacks brawling that I miss the finish.

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  • 3 months later...

Historical note: this is Jim Ross' final WCW appearance.

 

Flyin' Brian desperately needs to lose that theme music--it screams babyface. These lumberjacks are an interesting compendium of guys that would become huge stars for other promotions later in the decade--even Tex & Shanghai would gain greater fame elsewhere. Signs That Peter Is Too Easily Amused: we get one, and only one, Cole Twin as a lumberjack.

 

Pillman is finally coming into his own as a heel. He does some fine opening work with Nick Patrick and timing hair pulls, and he and Austin do some well-timed tandem spots. Pillman brings some new offense that works the back and allows Steamboat to sell his ass off as only he can do. The double cross body would become a Pillman staple, as well as a staple of every babyface-vs.-babyface match up through the Nitro era, and we see it here. Fun finish, as the lumberjacks get into the requisite brawl, Steamboat locks in a figure four, Austin interferes, and Pillman accidentally levels Austin with a great-looking clothesline leading into a roll-up. It sort of seems anticlimactic but matches probably SHOULD end during the commercial break from time to time.

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  • 1 year later...

Looks like RVD is one of the babyface lumberjacks. Pillman does a great job trying to run setting up the lumberjacks keeping him in the ring. Great dropkick from Pillman as Steamboat comes off the top for a near fall. Love Austin pushing back on Pillman when he has Steamboat in Boston crab, and they focus on Steamer's back throughout. What's with the match ending during the break? On a taped show no less. Crowd is super hot for the match and all the extracurriculars on the outside. Fun stuff but nothing outstanding.

 

***1/4

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  • 5 weeks later...

I was surprised to still hear Ross to be honest. This feels like the final straw for Watts all around with Ross being gone and the finish during the break. I liked how involved the lumberjacks were here and how they cheered on their respective charges. I thought the action was really good here and looking at the PPV lineup, I don't understand why this wasn't on that show. Interested to see where WCW heads from here. ***3/4

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  • 1 year later...

This one was absolutely worthy of a spot at SuperBrawl.

 

It was surprisingly vicious for a match of this type, which is usually all about guys being thrown out to the floor and tossed back in. There was plenty of that kind of action too, particularly from Austin, but it wasn't the one and only focus of the bout, just a major subplot.

 

Whatever problems Pillman had in adjusting to life as a heel, he was past them by now. It's not so much that he cheats in this match, although he certainly does, but his style has become much more smothering and close-quartered than it was as a face, where he was always in the air or showing off his agility. He worked on Steamer's back like a man who's been punishing body parts all his life, and his timing with Austin, even in a non-tag situation like this, was impeccable. He knew exactly when to pitch Steamer to the outside, and Austin was right there to do his damage, making sure to get in enough shots to hurt Steamer before Patrick could turn around and catch him.

 

Steamer may be the second-best selling babyface I've seen, behind only Ricky Morton. He manages to pull something off here that I didn't think could be done: selling a lower-back injury as something that restricts not only movement, but breathing. This was made noticeable by Larry's excellent commentary, where he, among other things, compared the Boston crab to a boa constrictor wrapping itself around a rat. Commentary like this leads someone to see a match differently than they might otherwise. I also remember times when I've hurt my back and could do absolutely nothing without agony, breathing being one of the most painful activities of all. Losing JR is bad enough, but how on earth Bischoff got away with demoting Larry (Tony and Jesse took over WCWSN starting the following week) is something I'll never understand. The broadcast arrangements outside of JR (Jesse on Worldwide, Larry on WCWSN) were working out just fine. Here's hoping that this was just a swap, and that we'll hear Larry on Worldwide going forward.

 

I liked the idea of the match ending during the commercial, if only because constantly teasing the fact that a match could end while a break was on and not delivering once in a while kind of defeats the purpose of keeping the action going during breaks. We got the finish as promised in all its glory, so I can't complain. It was a nifty finish too; after all the interference from Austin during the match, you would think that his last act of interference would cost Steamboat the match, not Pillman.

 

As well-done as the finish was, I could have done without the inset they showed the first time they went to break, when Steamer clotheslined himself on the top rope. If it's important enough to show while live action is going on, either take your break after that spot or come back from break with it just before you resume live action.

 

The lumberjack brawling was a lot more chaotic than in most other matches I've seen of this kind, and it seemed more realistic that way. Most times the other lumberjacks step back while one or two guys get their cheap shots in; here, it was a battle royal any time someone got near Steamer or Pillman. Shane was used sparingly but effectively as the concerned but limited partner who wanted to stop Austin more than anything else in the world but was too injured to pull it off.

 

I liked the idea that they actually showed relevant Omni footage to set up this match (though we didn't see it on the set). As long as Omni bouts are used in this way, I have no problem with the cards being promoted on TBS, especially since it was a necessity due to WTBS (the non-Superstation local version) being WCW's outlet in Atlanta.

 

It's sad to see JR leave WCW, especially since we know that he'll never be quite the same again for reasons mostly beyond his control. He was at his best calling gritty, realistic product, and outside of his brief stint with SMW he never really got the chance to do that again. I'm not exactly looking forward to hearing him in the WWF, if only because I'm having trouble getting rid of the image of him in his cowboy hat sitting next to Lawler, who's practically having an orgasm in my mind's eye over a pair of women's surgically-augmented (or just plain fake) breasts. Thank heaven I won't be spending my money to actually see that, but him trying to somehow work decently with a mostly comedic sidekick like Heenan, which he's never done before to this point, isn't exactly something I'm looking forward to. either. Here's hoping he'll surprise us all!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman - WCW Saturday Night 2/20/93 Lumberjack Match

 

The finish occurred during the break that's why Ross & Larry Z called it in the past tense. I was wondering what was up with that.

 

Very solid match between these two. I preferred the tag matches so far, but not really much to complain about. Austin was actually probably my favorite worker in the match as he liberally cheated from the outside. Starting by grabbing Steamboat's foot, which led to a four man stareoff between Steamboat, Douglas, Pillman and Austin. Pillman settles into a headlock via hair pull which Steamboat works out with dropkicks. We got to break and find out the transition spot was Steamboat hotshotting himself. Steamboat tries to suplex Pillman to outside, but Austin cheapshots him. Dropkick to the flying Steamboat cements the heat segment. The back work was focused, but it did not feel inspired. I liked Austin helping out on the Boston Crab and ab stretch, but it was just fine. Pillman has him a reverse chinlock, but Steamboat gets up and drops him back in the electric chair as we go to break. The mid-air shoulder tackle collision was great. Pillman misses a knee drop. Ooooooooo drama! Steamboat goes to work on the leg. Kneecrusher! All hell has broken loose outside. Figure-4! Austin sneaks in and drops the knee on the Dragon. Pillman clothesline Austin and Steamboat rolls him up for the win. After all the cheating, I liked the finish with it backfiring and costing them the match. ***1/2

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