[1993-04-17-NWA-Grandslam I] Sabu vs Lightning Kid

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Well, I've wanted to see this match for years and finally have now! It definitely lived up to my expectations. As far as singles matches go, this is probably the best match I've ever seen from Sabu and probably second only to the Bret match for Kid. Sabu hits all his spots cleanly, and Kid, even at this point, was a pretty complete wrestler, so he does some nice classic babyface stuff to keep the match grounded, even as he is hitting some crazy spots. I guess this match in some ways gave birth to the U.S. indy style that is still being played out today, as it's one of the first really famous post-territories spotfests. I'm not sure if this led to Waltman's WWF signing or not, but this tape circulating should have gotten both of them jobs in the big leagues if they wanted it. Kayfabe is stronger in 1993 than later, so at this point, matches like this don't have ECW chants as much as genuine shock over the spots and actual cheering of the babyface/booing of the heel. It's not the most heated match I've ever seen or anything, but it's refreshing to see that in this style.

[shoe]

I too have been wanting to check this match out. Yet I wasn't a fan of it. I thought it was way spotty. Both wrestlers didn't give the spots chances to breath. I thought Kid selling for Humperdink on the outside wasn't needed. Their was a lot of good stuff. One of Kid's kicks missed early, but the rest of his stuff hit. Some of Waltman's bumps were nasty like that neck bump. Sabu did a similar one. I didn't hate the match, but didn't feel it was anywhere near 4*.

[Superstar Sleeze]

This is a definitely transition match from the old 80s brawls to the 90s Indy spotfests. Sabu is someone who straddles the generations as he has a much better straight right than almost all the Indy workers of the 90s and did work to actually hurt his opponents, but he of course influenced so many to do the inane spots that became common. I thought this match picked up greatly after Kid got busted opened. It forced Kid to sell and added more drama to his comeback. Before that they were blowing off half-crabs and each other's moves to do their own moves. It was my turn-your turn at the beginning though Sabu's rights looked good and Kid's kicks were excellent. Once he got bladed, Kid really worked well from behind and Sabu really does look like a sadistic monster. Sabu's bump off the top rope frankensteiner was so nasty. Kid's comeback really showed why he was one of the best Indy workers of the early 90s as everything seemed so big. I have always loved Waltman's running short legdrops. It built well to the missed canonball splash as Kid needed a big bomb to take out the monster Sabu, who is a really excellent character. I think Sabu probably should have won after that to be honest if they were to do a non-bs finish. Instead we did get two really nice high spots from Kid in the form of the springboard plancha and that wicked spinwheel kick from the top onto the floor that just wiped out Sabu. Too bad they did a bullshit finish, but I guess they needed to protect the hometown boy and the new monster of the Indy scene.

[Kevin Ridge]

Fans in front row were getting their shins beat up with all the dives to the outside and no barricades to stop the wrestlers. As far as American indies go this blows away stuff we are seeing in 97 yearbook. Sabu feels totally fresh and I like his out of control nature in the ring. Kid really did feel like he was destined to be a big time performer in the ring going forward.

[PeteF3]

Interesting perspectives here, with some comments coming before anyone had seen those Lynn/Kid matches. This is definitely closer to that end of the spectrum than an ROH-style spotfest, even with Sabu's presence. There is some sloppy stuff because hey, Sabu--Sabu going for the top-rope Frankensteiner and Kid spiking him with an attempted power bomb was a true holy shit moment. Kid makes a comeback with some tremendous dives and we get a bullshit finish with Sabu yanking the referee in front of a Kid dropkick. Kid was tremendous here as he was all throughout '90 and '91, lending some classic babyface shine-heat-comeback structure here in-between Sabu's spots, which still stand out as pretty crazy. As with the Lynn/Kid bouts, these are two guys who know how to hurt their opponent with stuff that happens to look spectacular, instead of doing stuff consciously designed to look spectacular.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure there's a wrestler I'm more looking forward to seeing in the mid-to-late '90s than Sabu. Not because I think he's an all-time great or that he'll be in the running for any Most Outstanding Wrestler honors--but I do think he's a fascinating worker and his Hostile City Showdown match with RVD is a match I credit with converting me into a workrate geek (yes, I'm almost afraid to look at that match now). I've barely seen him since the mid-'90s, and now that I've come all the way around again into a "working smart, not hard" mentality, I'm particularly anxious to see how he holds up. I have to say this was an auspicious first look.

[WingedEagle]

I still enjoy the Sabu character. Some fun spots from Sabu throughout and Kid spilled some solid blood, but it felt like they took the long road to get where they were going, which was highspots and blood. A more compact version would've been a lot better.

 

**3/4

[soup23]

Really fun match to me that shows off some of Kids' great babyface tendencies. I don't think this had as much of a storyline to break the great parameter but it feels like a good chapter for both men in their 90's output. Kid was super at timing his stuff in the match and Sabu had that aura to him that works. Keller snapping photos at ringside was also a highlight. ***1/2

[garretta]

I'm honestly not sure that you could call this a wrestling match. This seems to be a collection of ridiculous-looking spots followed by an unsatisfactory non-finish. Given what we saw, the only acceptable conclusion was both of these guys being taken out of the arena on stretchers, bloody and unconscious. Spots are fine, but this looked like a game of "Can You Top This?" more than anything that was supposed to tell a cohesive story.

 

Nice to see Humpy again, but it was ridiculous that he had to be the one to bust Waltman open. I don't mind managers taking cheap shots and wrestlers selling them, but at least let the wrestlers do the initial damage.

 

If this match got Waltman his WWF gig, it had to be because of the way he connected with the crowd, because Vince wouldn't be ready for the kind of spots Waltman did here for a few more years at least.

 

Karch and his partner did a great job of establishing just how crazy Sabu was right off the bat. His connection with The Sheik might have meant more in a place where the fans saw The Exalted One more often in his glory days, though, such as Detroit or Toronto. (I don't recall him working for Verne too often,) The rest of the commentary was excellent and really put over the chaotic atmosphere without being too over the top.

 

I touched on this up above, but regardless of the reason, the finish was unacceptable here. They should have canned the Waltman dropkick on the ref and just had Waltman and Sabu beat each other senseless until the ref threw the whole match out. That would have been more in tune with the madness we saw.

 

.

[The Russian Daydream]

I have really mixed feelings about this match. It was fun at times and it was really interesting to see these guys 'before they were famous', however I just cannot quite bring myself to really like the match. At the beginning, when Sabu started working the leg, I thought this might be something, but it was completely forgotten. Then Kid got busted open, and then Sabu never went after the cut and Kid never sold the blood loss at all, so what was the point? And then it got all a bit spotty through the second half. The highlight for me was the fat guy in the front row who got smashed by dives twice in about 30 seconds.

 

I've seen better from Sabu and to say this is Kid's second best match behind the Bret match is utter madness. As two up-and-coming guys wanting to show off a highlight reel of what they did a good job. As a wrestling match, I felt it was lacking.

 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy watching it though.

[ohtani's jacket]

#298

 

This was a match-up between two of the bigger indie stars on Loss' list thus far. I was amped for this but it ended up being painfully average. If didn't help that the commentary was so bad, but the commentators didn't have a whole lot to work with. Pretty much my equivalent of a dud.