Michael Hayes vs. Russian Assassin #1

Background: I don’t think there is any background to this match, it’s a late addition to the card. Presumably it’s a way to get Hayes on the card.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Match: It’s a cagey back and forth start to the match. Hayes is so charismatic, the crowd are behind him. Most of his attack in the early going are armbars. The Russian Assassin uses his strength to take control and he applies an exciting sleeper. Hayes tries to fire up and execute a bulldog but the Assassin counters. Hayes avoids a shoulder charge in the corner and takes control. He hits a big ddt for the win. Out of nowhere really.

Result: Michael Hayes wins by pinfall.

Review: Well this match was on the card to give Michael Hayes a big win. The Russian Assassin is a big bloke so a victory over him always looks like a good one. Haye sis over and deserved the win. The match wasn’t great to be honest, lots of sleepers and armbars. But the crowd were hot for Hayes and were loud for this opener.

Rating: 2.75/10

Sting vs. Butch Reed

Background: There isn’t a lot of background between these two men. Butch Reed recently joined the NWA following his departure from the WWF. These two men have been heavily featured on TV though so this should be a good match and should put the winner in title contention.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Match: Sting kicks off the match with an atomic drop. Jim Ross keeps saying that “this is the NWA, we wrestle here”, which sounds like a dig at the competition. Butch Reed has Hiro Matsuda as his manager. It’s a battle of Reed’s strength vs Sting’s speed in the early going. Sting dominates for a while but there’s lots of headlocks and armbars. He struggles to hiptoss Reed due to Reed’s size. Butch leaves the ring a few times to speak to Hiro Matsuda. Butch throws Sting out of the ring through the middle ropes to buy himself some time. Reed dominates from here, slowly picking apart Sting. Butch Reed hits a double axe handle for a two count. Hiro Matsuda gets involved, choking Sting on the bottom rope as Butch Reed distracts the referee. Sting fires back and looks for a splash off the middle rope but Butch gets his knees up. Reed applies a chinlock but Sting gets out of it and fires up with clotheslines, a back body drop and elbow drop. Sting looks for a sunset flip but Butch holds on to the ropes. Referee Teddy Long kicks Reed’s arms off the ropes and Sting completes the sunset flip for the three!

Result: Sting wins the match by pinfall.

Review: This was a slow match for the most part but Sting did pick up the pace in parts. There wasn’t a decisive finish, it almost seemed like a fluke win out of nowhere but that’s good because it shouldn’t affect Butch Reed’s momentum too much. Both of these men are being pushed up the roster at the moment and I expect it to continue going forward. Not a memorable match for either man but not god-awful either.

Rating: 3.75/10

The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) & Jim Cornette vs. Randy Rose, Jack Victory & Paul E. Dangerously – Loser leaves town match

Background: This rivalry dates back to Paul E. Dangerously showing up with the original Midnight Express, Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey who attacked Jim Cornette, Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton. The two teams would meet at Starrcade where Eaton and Lane picked up the victory. The rivalry has continued into this match where all six men will be involved and the losing team will have to leave town. Jack Victory has now replaced Dennis Condrey an an unknown quantity.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first six man tag involving these six men.

Match: Stan Lane and Randy Rose kick off the match with Lane taking the early advantage as Dangerously cackles on the apron. Lane clotheslines Rose over the top rope which I thought was a disqualification? Evidently not. Jack Victory and Bobby Eaton tag in and Jim Cornette even gets involved with an elbow drop. There’s lots of tags between both teams. Jim Cornette gets a couple of shots in and Dangerously accidentally slaps Randy Rose. Bobby Eaton misses with a double axe handle and hits the barricade so Paul E. Dangerously tags in for a few seconds. He scarpers after a while but Jim Cornette tags in and wants Dangerously who doesn’t want to tag in. Randy Rose hits a powerslam and then tags in Dangerously. Dangerously gets a few kicks and stomps in before tagging back out to his team who lay into Cornette.

Stan Lane gets a hot tag but some cheap shots give Randy Rose and company the advantage back. They make quick tags, keeping Stan Lane away from his corner. Bobby Eaton eventually gets a hot tag and picks up the pace. Eaton forces a tag from Victory and Dangerously and then tags in Jim Cornette who hits some big right hands. Rose and Lane tag in and then all hell breaks loose with all six men. The Midnight Express knock Rose and Victory into each other and then hit a double flapjack on Randy Rose for the victory!

Result: The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette win the match by pinfall.

Review: This was a really fun match. It had a good pace to it and the psychology was spot on. I really enjoyed this one. The fans wanted to see Cornette and Dangerously go at it and they got their wish late on. I thought the entire team had to leave town if they lost but apparently it’s just the man that took the fall which was Randy Rose. A great match tonight.

Rating: 8/10

Rick Steiner (c) vs. Mike Rotunda – Television Championship match

Background: These two former tag team partners meet once again. Rick Steiner was kicked out of the Varsity CLub last year which led to a match between the two at Starrcade. Rick Steiner won that match and the Television Championship. The feud continues though and tonight Steiner defends the belt against Rotunda in a rematch.

Previous PPV matches: These two men have met on PPV once before, Rick Steiner won that match and the Television title at Starrcade.

Match: There’s plenty of wrestling moves in the early going, takeovers and the like. Steiner frustrates Rotunda early on and it eventually comes to strikes. Rotunda has to keep exiting the ring and composing himself. Steiner hits hiptosses and a stiff clotheslines. Rotunda takes control and uses the top rope for extra leverage on an abdominal stretch. Rick’s brother Scott is at ringside for this one. Steiner goes to the top but Rotunda avoids a splash. The two men fight to the outside and back in where Rick hits a powerslam. Kevin Sullivan then gets on the mic and makes reference to Steiner’s dog in the back. Rick seems distracted now allowing Rotunda to take control. Steiner manages to lock on a sleeper but his shoulders are on the mat and the referee counts the three!

Result: Mike Rotunda wins by pinfall.

Review: This was a decent enough contest. I wasn’t a big fan of the finish though, it wasn’t decisive. I don’t ind Rotunda as champion though, he’s a solid TV Champion. Maybe Rick will start teaming with his brother now. and focus on the tag team titles? A decent match tonight.

Rating: 6/10

Barry Windham (c) vs. Lex Luger – United States Championship match

Background: These two men were good friends until Lex Luger joined The Four Horsemen. Luger would then get kicked out of the Horsemen and team up with Barry Windham until Windham turned his back on Luger and joined the Four Horsemen himself! Lex has been unsuccessful in challenging Ric Flair but tonight gets a shot at the United States Championship.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Match: It’s a fast paced back and forth start between these two men. Lex Luger no-sells a side suplex and hits an atomic drop. Luger hits an impressive military press slam. Windham has Hiro Matsuda in his corner. Matsuda has taken over from JJ Dillon. Lex hits a big powerslam and then goes to the top but misses with a high cross body. Windham takes control and motions for the claw but Luger avoids it. Barry hits a big clothesline on a busted open Luger. Windham looks for a big right hand on the outside but Luger ducks and Barry hits the ringpost, cutting his hand. Windham dominates form here, he hits a big powerslam for a two count. Barry then hits a big superplex for a near fall and then a bridging German suplex and the referee counts the three! IT looks like Lex Luger got his shoulder up and Windham’s were down. Luger wins the match.

Result: Lex Luger wins the United States Championship by pinfall.

Review: This was a decent match. The psychology was good and you didn’t know which way it was going to go. It wasn’t spectacular and I feel they could have had a better match but this was decent enough. Lex Luger wins the United States Championship tonight, a second title change tonight. The piledriver after the match suggests that this rivalry is far from over.

Rating: 6.5/10

The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) (c) vs. The Varsity Club (Dr Death Steve Williams & Kevin Sullivan) – World Tag Team Championship match

Background: At Starrcade, Varsity Club defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) to win the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. Later that night, Road Warriors retained the NWA World Tag Team Championship against Sting and Dusty Rhodes by intentional disqualification. On January 14 edition of World Championship Wrestling, Sullivan and Williams challenged Road Warriors to a match for the World Tag Team title. On January 28 edition of World Championship Wrestling, it was announced that Road Warriors would defend the title against Sullivan and Williams at Chi-Town Rumble.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV tag team match between these two teams.

Match: Animal and Kevin Sullivan kick off the match and despite being a heel team, The Road Warriors are over in Chicago. Dr Death tags in and it’s a stand-off between the two big men. Some double teaming and cheap shots from The Varsity Club gives the challengers the advantage. Sullivan and Williams keep animal away from his corner. Hawk finally get the hot tag and picks up the pace. It’s not long before all four men are in the ring. The Road Warriors look to hit the Doomsday Device but Dr Death hits a chop block on Animal. Williams then covers Animal but Hawk flies off the top with a clothesline on the legal man, Sullivan, and pins him for the three!

Result: The Road Warriors win by pinfall.

Review: This seemed like a quick match and one that had only just got going. Hawk and Animal win the match and retain their titles in a fairly predictable match. It wasn’t a classic but not terrible either.

Rating: 4.75/10

Ric Flair (c) vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – World Heavyweight Championship match

Background: The main rivalry heading into the event was between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At Starrcade, Flair defeated Lex Luger to retain the title. On the December 24 edition of World Championship Wrestling, Steamboat returned to WCW as Eddie Gilbert’s surprise partner against Flair and Barry Windham in a tag team match. Steamboat pinned Flair to win the match and demanded a shot against Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On January 28 edition of World Championship Wrestling, it was announced that Flair would defend the title against Steamboat at Chi-Town Rumble.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Match: Ricky Steamboat starts the match quicker, running Flair in circles. Flair slows the pace down and we get an exchange of holds between the two men. They both love to chop one another but Steamboats chops really hit the mark. These two men have such chemistry. The pacing is so good, they slow the match down with holds before firing the crowd up with quick strikes. Ric Flair takes control and lays into his challenger inside and outside of the ring. Flair hits a high cross body and then applies a figure four which he locks on for a while until Steamboat gets to the bottom rope. The two men tumble to the outside where Flair launches Steamboat into the ringpost. Back in the ring and the champion hits suplexes and backbreakers but can’t keep Steamboat down for a pinfall even with his feet on the ropes. Ricky fires up with chops, tackles and judo chops. He hits a high cross body but takes out the referee as well as Flair. Flair avoids a second high cross body but Steamboat rolls him up and referee Teddy Long counts the 3! Ricky Steamboat wins the World Heavyweight Championship!

Result: Ricky Steamboat wins the World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall.

Review: This was a fantastic match, one of the greatest in wrestling history. Everything just fell into place. The psychology was top notch, the pacing was second to none. It was a great match and one that I suggest you all go back and watch. Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat have so much chemistry and I could watch them wrestle all day long. Steamboat has come back to the NWA as the top babyface and putting the title on him straight away cements that. A fantastic main event tonight.

Rating: 9.5/10