Beach Blast 92
Mobile, AL
Civic Center
June 20, 1992
This was a historic card in WCW history, as it was the first of the ‘Bill Watts Era’. Watts was the legendary booker from Mid-South (or UWF as it was later known) and was known as a legitimate hard-ass. Watts was brought in as the new vice president, and immediately started taking WCW back to a 70s style of wrestling. He removed mats from around the ring, turned down the lights in the arena, banned moves off the top rope, etc. Watts was a success in the late 70s and early 80s, so I guess WCW figured he could help the sagging business of the company.
What’s interesting is that I fondly remember the Bill Watts era. Sometime after this card, in the summer of 92, the one hour WCW Worldwide TV show debuted in Canada. I remember it being early on Saturday morning, and I stumbled across it one day. I became a weekly watcher of WCW over the summer of 92, and I remember this era so well.
This was another event I watched back in 2002/3. I remember finding this card really boring back then, and it seemed quite a bit better this time around. It was a solid card of wrestling, but the company seemed to be treading water, with the same feuds and angles still going from the beginning of the year.
Another note is that, despite now being in the Watts era, this event was the first to feature a big elaborate entrance way, something WCW was ahead on, years before the WWF ever did it. They had a beach setup, complete with sand and other beach gimmicks all around the entrance way. I loved these geeky setups and thought they were so awesome for years.
The show opened with Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff interviewing Bill Watts! Watts was hilarious, talking about bringing back the rules and clamping down on law and order, making sure matches get settled clean in the ring, without outside interference. I chuckled through this geekery.
1) Scotty Flamingo pinned WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman to win the title at 17:28 with a knee from the middle turnbuckle after the champion failed a crossbody over the top and hit his head on the rampway
Welcome to the new lightheavyweight division, where guys like Flyin’ Brian aren’t allowed to do moves off the top rope. Despite this limitation, this was a great match! Flamingo is hilarious at this time, and was a much better wrestler. When he became Raven a few years later it was like he forgot how to work. Here he was a great new star, and was able to go move for move with Pillman. After a thrilling, near 20 minute battle, Flamingo surprised everyone by pinning Pillman and winning the title. Not sure how much longer we’ll be seeing the lightheavyweight title.
2) Ron Simmons pinned Taylor Made Man with the powerslam at 7:10
I forgot to mention that Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura were the commentary team, and again were awesome! Under Watts, Simmons again began to receive a huge push. But this was just an uneventful regular match. Taylor Made Man is just treading water as a lower mid-carder. He puts Simmons to the test, but big Ron puts him away in the end. BTW – on my recent trip to the Southern US I laughed as I drove past Warner Robbins, GA – the home of Simmons – and a city I’ve seen a lot of clips of on these old WCW events.
3) Greg Valentine defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell via submission with the figure-4 leglock at 6:16 after dropping Bagwell onto his injured knee
Holy shit! I marked out when Valentine won this match! I was shocked to see the grizzled Valentine win a match on a PPV, especially over a newcomer. But it makes sense under Bill Watts. The crowd is actually behind Valentine in this match and cheers his win. Valentine is clearly having fun in the ring as he dismantles Marcus.
4) WCW World Champion Sting pinned Cactus Jack in a non-title falls count anywhere match at 11:23 with a clothesline from the top rope onto the rampway
Mick Foley has called this one of his top five matches in his career. I remember being a little disappointed when I first saw this match, thinking it would have been a wilder brawl. Now I appreciate this match for what it is – a really solid street fight that relies on physicality over weapons. I used to be so caught up in that weapons mindset, but have changed my opinion over time. Weapon use should compliment an already great fight, not be the crutch that the match stands on. Anyway, I enjoyed this match a lot more now. These two wrestle in high gear for over 10 minutes and take an absolute beating. One dumb thing is that Ross and Ventura keep hyping that falls count anywhere on the Gulf Coast, which over-hypes things and gets you thinking the match should spill at least outside of the arena. Otherwise great stuff here.
5) Ricky Steamboat defeated WCW US Champion Rick Rude in a non-title 30-minute Ironman match, 4-3
– fall #1: Rude pinned Steamboat with a knee to the jaw and grabbing the tights for leverage at 7:42
– fall #2: Rude pinned Steamboat with the Rude Awakening at 8:39
– fall #3: Rude was disqualified for coming off the top with a kneedrop at 9:40
– fall #4: Rude pinned Steamboat with an inside cradle at 10:11
– fall #5: Steamboat pinned Rude after reversing a tombstone piledriver into one of his own at 17:38
– fall #6: Steamboat pinned Rude with a backslide at 20:21
– fall #7: Steamboat pinned Rude by kicking off the turnbuckle as he was caught in a sleeper at 29:24
Now THIS was an ironman match! Bret-Michaels should have used this as a blueprint. 30 minutes made way more sense, as both Rude and Steamboat were able to wrestle a more intense, action packed match. The drama and workrate in this match was unbelievable! They tore each other apart with brutal offense, and the selling was just insane. You really believed that they were fighting for their lives. Ross and especially Ventura really brought this match to a whole new level, really driving home the story points. Simply one of the best matches in the history of WCW. The crowd reaction for Steamboat’s win was huge!
6) Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, & Nikita Koloff defeated WCW TV Champion Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, & Bobby Eaton (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) via disqualification when referee Ole Anderson stopped the bout when Arn came off the top with a double axehandle onto Windham after Windham hit the superplex on Austin
In my last review of WrestleWar, I forgot to mention one of the most important angles from the show – the return of Nikita Koloff. Koloff had returned and surprised everyone by aligning with Sting, whom he was trying to destroy when he was last in WCW. There was drama leading up to the War Games match as to what Nikita was going to do. He shook Sting’s hand and fought alongside him, greatly helping his team. Koloff is now one of the top good guys in WCW and is great in the role. This Windham/Rhodes-Dangerous Alliance feud has been going on since last October, and it’s definitely boring by this point. This was a good match, but just didn’t really hold my interest. The good guys win so hopefully it’s the end of this feud.
Throughout the show one of the main attractions was the beauty competition between Madusa and Missy Hyatt. The women competed in three different events – an evening gown, bathing suit, and bikini competition. Johnny B Badd hosted each segment and was at his most annoying. I wanted to reach through the TV and punch him in the face. He was that irritating. The whole gimmick was that Madusa was the heel and didn’t want to be in the event. Her and Missy were both hot, but were barely in these segments. The last one was beyond stupid as real man’s man Jesse Ventura came and took over from Badd. Madusa “steals” Missy’s bikini and she reaches out of a tent and takes Jesse’s headband, supposedly using it as a bikini. This was beyond dumb, and I’m surprised it was featured on a Bill Watts PPV.
7) WCW Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner fought Steve Williams & Terry Gordy to a 30-minute time-limit draw just as Scott hit the Frankensteiner on Gordy
This feud stems from Japan, where Williams and Gordy have been one of the top teams for the past year. Their beef is with the Steiners, over the fact that they’re the supposed best team in wrestling. They traveled to the States to challenge the Steiners and beat them. Okay, I get that this is a big feud, but why the F is it the main event on this card? The crowd is into the match, but not as much as the Ironman or Sting-Cactus matches. I guess it’s because Steve Williams is a Watts boy. This was definitely a great match, but about 10 minutes too long for my tastes. It was very Japanese, with lots of tags, huge power moves, brawling, and not a real flow. I couldn’t believe it when the main event of a WCW PPV ended in a draw! A draw! In the main event. The PPV ends flat and this feud continues.
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