[1993-02-21-WCW-Superbrawl III] Chris Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I should mention that Tony Schiavone seems beside himself to be at the booth and have Ross and Watts gone. This match holds up extremely well. I have read mixed opinions about it over the past few years, but these two work exceptionally well together, and the North Carolina crowd is very appreciative of this stuff. I also appreciate that Benoit is actually playing to the crowd way more than he usually does, and as a result, they get quite a bit of heat. One of my favorite finishes of all time that was perfectly executed. Just ahead of Steamboat/Pillman as the best WCW match so far on the set.

[benj]

Solid stuff, with a great finishing sequence. It's Benoit-Too Cold in 93, what is not too like?

[Johnny Sorrow]

This was the first Benoit match I ever saw and the first time I'd ever even heard of him. It's the match that made me a fan of the guy.

[Phil Austin]

A match I showed my ex girlfriend that converted her to wrestling. Just a great, and very accessible wrestling match. Other than the obvious connotations now, this is the sort of match you could show a non wrestling fan to rid them of preconceptions.

[flairchops]

I just watched this a few months ago and really dug it. I thought they did a really good job with the near-time-limit draw, though I remember the last few minutes felt slow until the nice finish.

 

Bizarre moment in this match when Ventura suggested Benoit would win the match because of his "killer instinct."

[shoe]

Both guys worked so hard here and had a great match. It was like both guys had something to prove and they proved it. A really good finish.

[rainmakerrtv]

Oddly Wattsian finish for something that happened right after he left.

[El-P]

Bizarre moment in this match when Ventura suggested Benoit would win the match because of his "killer instinct."

Yep. in retrospect that is just awkward to hear. Superb match, crisp work (mostly), stuff you just didn't see back in 93, and aged very well because these two were not doing a spotfest but actually sold well too. Great finish, a swerve in a good way. 2 Cold looked like a star, that he never got pushed more than he was in WCW or WWF was a travesty.

[Zenjo]

Scorpio was an impressive athlete with some fancy moves. There was always something missing that stopped him breaking through, maybe he just needed more of a push. It was always a lot tougher for guys who were bad on the mic. Benoit did a few heelish mannerisms but this was scientific all the way. Started well, though they couldn't keep the level up and it slowed down at times. I loved the finish with the shock pin at 19:59.

[Kevin Ridge]

Both guys look great and the crowd was very appreciative towards Benoit who they may have not been too familiar with. Scorpio could really move around in the ring. The pace did kind of slow down towards the end with a time limit draw looking like the result. But the last minute they get going again and the finish is timed perfectly.

 

No more Jim Ross? A somber and sober end to the WCW Drinking Games in the yearbooks.

[PeteF3]

I didn't even pick up on the "killer instinct" part. The hindsight portion of commentary that stood out to me: Ventura ripping Schiavone a new one for having the temerity to call the two guys "athletes," and not wrestlers. Jesse's head would explode if he watched Raw today (I know he guest-hosted a few years ago, shut up).

 

Anyway, this is just a beautifully worked match. The opening chain wrestling is fantastic, and they have lots of Japan-style counters and counters-to-counters not usually seen in the U.S., but with Benoit heeling it up some. I'm not one to romanticize Benoit in the slightest--the '90 Yearbook was the first time I'd watched half a second of him since that shit went down. But this was truly the first time I could watch a Benoit match with a smile on my face. No crazy head bumps, either. Great crowd, too--way cool to see all the applauding like a '70s British crowd. I really, really, really would like to have seen what Watts would have done with Benoit, just as I wish we could have seen Watts use the British Bulldogs in Mid-South (it almost happened). A nominal contender for WCW Match of the Year--just a pity it's also only a nominal contender for WCW Match of the Night.

[WingedEagle]

First WCW PPV I ever bought. I'd buy the next few as well. They didn't exactly deliver the way Superbrawl did. Scorpio looks so much faster & more explosive than anything else going on domestically at the time. Decent counters resulting in a Scorpio dropkick. Benoit ducks spin kick and hits lariat in a nice spot. Just a great pairing and hot opener. The finish was so well done with impeccable timing from Benoit, Scorpio and GMC on the house mic.

 

***1/2

[soup23]

This match is great. It progresses well, Scorpio looks fantastic on the mat and with his high impact moves and dives. In addition, Benoit heels it up and provides a great contrast. Add into a finish that came off excellent and made the crowd go nuts and you have one of the best openers in WCW PPV history up to this point. ****

[BruiserBrody]

This was an excellent match obviously. Scorpio liked to add extra flips and twirls to his moves to try and stand out and sometimes that made for some botchamania spots, but he held it together fairly well here.

 

Of course neither guy gets much of a push after this great effort.

[ohtani's jacket]

This came across as way more important than it should have been given Scorpio's standing in the company and Benoit's relative obscurity. The commentary wasn't flawless but it did put the two over and carry us through the 20 minutes. Benoit was more restrained than in his Japanese matches and his subtle heel work gave the faintest of edges to what might have been a juniors workout without a primed Carolina crowd. More enjoyable than great, but definitely a match that holds up.

[garretta]

I don't do this often, but I'm pausing this match in order to get my commentary rant out of the way so I can try to focus on the match (which is excellent, especially for a second match) later.

 

If any of you are into building time machines, could you go back to 1993, get a job in the WCW front office, and break up Tony and Jesse as a broadcast team? Tony in particular was awful, and if you think his mini-tantrum in the Rock ''n' Roll-Bodies match was bad, he topped himself here. From acting pissed that Jesse threw it back up to Gary Cappetta for Scorp's intro before he could, to the whole "wrestlers vs. athletes" debate (he had a point, but he put it over so obnoxiously that I sided with Jesse) to the single most bizarre commentary exchange I've heard yet. Here it is, to the best of my recollection. Scorp has just pulled Benoit's hair to get out of an over-the-knee backbreaker:

 

Jesse: Come on, Schiavone, he pulled the hair, admit it. You saw it. (Pause.) Go on, admit it!

 

Tony: All right, he pulled the hair, for crying out loud! That's one of the shortcuts you always advocate, Jess.

 

Jesse: But didn't you tell me during the last match that guys like Scorpio don't need to pull hair?

 

Tony (after a pause): Don't talk with ice in your mouth!

 

There it is, ladies and gentlemen, my Line of the Year. No other commentators need apply. I laughed at that one for five solid minutes; I'll bet JR laughed a lot longer once he saw it.

 

As for the match, wow. This was one right out of the New Japan juniors, but with a Southern crowd, the spots seemed really fresh. It was a back-and-forth match, but not in an "each man gets a turn" way. They really put over that they couldn't beat their opponent, even with some excellent high-impact moves. The belly-to-back superplex looked especially dangerous, and Benoit landed right on the back of his head and was half a step slow the rest of the way. Was it a great sell job, or was he legitimately knocked woozy? Probably a bit of both.

 

The finish was well done, going right up to the time limit when everyone in the building probably thought they were going the full twenty. I'd like to see more finishes like this, but they'll have a hard time doing it better than what we saw here.

 

Jesse really sounded happy to be calling this one, Tony's crap aside. Scorp in particular seemed to impress him, and I loved him calling Scorp "Cold Man" I've seldom seen him so into a babyface.

 

When Jesse was talking about Stu Hart's dungeon, I thought for a second that he'd mention some of the other wrestlers who'd been trained there besides Benoit, but no such luck. A reference to Bret in 1993 WCW would have raised eyebrows everywhere.

 

Line of the Night (non-ice version): Jesse, after Tony refers to Benoit landing high impact blows with the foot: "Why not just say that he's kicking the heck out of him?" (In response, Tony snots off about Jesse not letting him talk. Say something intelligent first, stupidhead!)

[Superstar Sleeze]

2 Cold Scorpio vs Chris Benoit - WCW SuperBrawl III

 

This being on the WWE Benoit DVD set, I had seen this one a bunch of times. I was wondering how it would hold up and I thought it did really well. They establish it would be Benoit's hard hitting (chops & snap suplex) and Scorpio's high flying (springboard reverse crossbody). The chain wrestling was really good especially Scorps' hammerlock work. The spot of the match for me has always been the monkey flip spot. It was the one thing I remembered about this match and it was just as cool seeing it again. Scorpio does a great job keeping Benoit off balance with speed, but also focusing on the arm. The transition to Benoit's heat is lame, just a clothesline. Benoit has a pretty good heat segment and is actually pretty good as a heel. I always like the hang out to dry suplex. Scorpio misses a missile dropkick was a good hope spot. Benoit gives up a Liontamer, which annoys me, but you could argue that it is hard to hold that hold for a significant length of time. Around this time, we find out there is five minutes in the time limit. Nice big highspot with the top rope back suplex. Benoit does a great job selling that (Seth Rollins take note) meaning he only two. Powerbomb gets another two for Benoit. Love the power moves. Scorpio's transition to finish is kinda lame just a clothesline and then hits a side moonsault thingy. It is now time to rush with about a minute left. Scorp for victory roll and Benoit slams him face first to the mat!!! If Benoit was going over that would have been the perfect finish. They tease going to the draw, but Scorpio reverses a dragon suplex into a pinning combination. A very well-worked technical match with highspots sprinkled in appropriately. I thought the transitions were a bit weak and there could have been some more struggle. Overall a very enjoyable match featuring some cool spots and Benoit's hardnosed style against the acrobatics of Scorpio. ***3/4

[JKWebb]

http://placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-450-401/2/

 

#420

 

I loved this match the first time I saw it (probably 13 years ago), and something is to be said for that. It seems like a lot of folks liked this more when they were younger, and it still holds up for the most part. I don't see it as great anymore, but I do think it is really good at around ***1/2 to ***3/4. I think a cool aspect of this match is how much fun it is to show it to a kid. I think it's a creative bout that anyone will at least enjoy.