WCW Great American Bash 1992

 It's Board Watchalong time! We get an NWA Tag Title tourney rundown and the main event of Sting vs. Vader. Tony and Magnum welcome us to the show and Magnum's mullet is flying proud. Nogami is out and he's replaced by Shinya Hashimoto to team with Hase. Venutra wears an insane suit and Eric Bischoff meets with Bill Watts. In the NWA tag title tourney, you can jump off the top - but in WCW, it's a DQ. 

Pillman and Liger are out as a team to face Nikita FROM LITHUANIA and Steamboat. Pillman and Liger are the favorites due to the flying while the opponents are heavyweights. Brian and Liger work on the arm of Nikita. Pillman works on Ricky with a long chinlock. LIGER HITS A MOONSAULT for 2. Tombstone gets 2 for Liger. Brian runs wild and hits Air Pillman off the top and hooks the head nicely! Brian gets a sleeper on Koloff before we get Steamer vs Liger for some fast-paced action. Liger misses a dropkick and Pillman comes in with a crossbody off the top BUT IT'S STEAMER'S MOVE so he rolls through and pins him.  

Angry Steiners promo leads to Hashimoto and Hase coming out to one of two Japanese wrestler themes WCW used. Ross goes into Hase being a professor and we get Hase and Hashimoto working with Garvin, who wants nothing to do with movement or bumping. JESUS that long gutwrench gutbuster on Hayes was unreal. Hase was a low-key powerhouse. HASHIMOTO HITS A BLOCKBUSTER HOLD ON HAYES! Seeing Hashimoto do a bridge is unreal. Hayes takes them down with a pair of left hooks. Hase locks on a northern lights suplex to Hayes and wins it. 

Watts has the NWA Title belt and announces a Sumo Palace tourney SELLING IMMEDIATELY. He gives Hiro Matsuda the belt.  "WE TOOK THE NAME OF THE LAST CHAMPION WHO WORE THIS BELT, RIC FLAIR, OFF THE BELT!" That doesn't quite bury him like you think it does...Watts buries the NWA Title tourney by saying that the winner should face Sting to unify it. Rude and Austin are out and Madusa is looking sharp in a captain's getup. 

Jesse is pissed about Barry taping the fist up and Steve takes two bumps for it and an epic face-first bump off a corner elbow by Dustin! Rude charges into a boot and a lariat hits before a BACK SUPLEX. Rude works over Barry with a slick piledriver. Steve works Barry over with a chinlock as Jesse talks about this sapping him further. GOOD IS DUMB as Dustin distracts the ref allowing for the heels to switch without a tag. 

We're at an HOUR OF TAG MATCHES here and each match has a least been different. DUSTIN COMES IN AND RUNS WILD! Dustin hits a lariat off the top and we get a three count and a strange picture in picture of the winning pinfall. Well, that's a different thing to do I guess. Vader is with Harley and Eric Bischoff. 

Steamboat and Koloff are out for the semis against the Miracle Violence Connection. MVC is out with a fan loving their act with a goofy sign. Long chinlock kills the fans before Doc muscles Steamboat around. Bam Bam and Nikita go at it before Gordy tags in Doc. Nikita works him over with a front facelock before working into a dragon sleeper before a front choke. Ricky's back in and the crowd's alive and we get some weird cradles for 2. 

Ricky goes for a crucifix, but Doc RUNS HIM INTO THE BUCKLE WITH IT. Now that's a new one! Terry's in and misses a right arm lariat, but lands a left. Man was he born to be a wrestler. Nikita tags in and runs wild on Doc. He has his working shoes on tonight. GORDY LOCKS ON THE STF! Hopefully Erik Watts saw this and realized how shitty his version was. ELEVATED CRAB BY DOC! Nikita FALLS INTO A TAG TO STEAMBOAT FOR A HOT TAG! Diving chop off the top to Doc's back. Gordy shoves Ricky off the top into a spinebuster position and DOC HOLDS HIM AND SPINEBUSTER STAMPEDES HIM FOR THE WIN. Doc, even looking...about 45 here...was so damn strong. 

Hase and Hashimoto are out to face Dustin and Barry! We start off with some wrestling while Jesse talks about HOW YOU SEE WRESTLING HERE IN WCW. Hashimoto gets Barry in a cross armbreaker/triangle combo. Hashimoto and Hase hit a stuffed piledriver on Dustin. Barry hurls Hase into a powerslam for 2. Dustin comes in and leapfrogs Hase into a Barry lariat to end it. Ron puts over THE WORLD TITLE here in WCW and he wants to see who wins the title tonight.

Sting's got his USA jacket on while Vader is rocking the helmet. Ross brings up Vader's football history, because of course he does. Vader does a test of strength and Sting loses that - so he thumbs the eye and backhands him! STING WAS A SMART BABYFACE! Sting goes for a sunset flip but Vader drops down and does a double bicep while Ross and Jesse bury the WBF. "I heard bodybuilding wasn't doing so good!" "It don't pay nothin'!"

Vader gets a scorpion deathlock on as they go over the shoulders of Tony and Ron and we see Vader and Sting blurred in the background - tremendous shot there. A rarity on WCW broadcasts. Sting powers out. JAYSUS that right hook from Vader! I like that the bad execution actually plays into protecting the move since sure, Sting escaped - but it was only due to Vader not having Sting's experience in properly applying the hold. I love Sting busting out the koppou kick from time to time. DDT! Sting gets him in the corner and struggles with every fiber of his body to get a Samoan drop out of the corner!

LOOK AT THAT FACE! This man makes you believe. That's something Hulk Hogan never could do. You never believed there was a struggle. Here, his legs are shaking and his face is grimacing as he struggles to get AND KEEP Vader up.

Sting gets a German suplex for 2! Stinger Splash! A second one to the back leads to Sting hitting the hook of the post! He's out on his feet here! STING GETS OUT AT 2. He's down and out though. He can barely stand. Vader powerbombs him and cradles him in the cover to win it. FANTASTIC match. The post-match has Nikita and even Ole come out to help Sting up. I love the symbolism here of Ole, letting the past be the past, helping Sting out of the ring here. It's a small bit of long-term storytelling that rewards you for being a long-time viewer.

LOCKER ROOM INTERVIEW with Vader and Race. I love that WCW would do this stuff - it makes it feel like a sporting event. This is all so perfect. So of course it's time to close the show with the NWA World Tag Title closing the show out. On one hand, hey, that's the focal point of this show - so fair play there. On the other, THE WORLD TITLE IS THE WORLD TITLE and should close the show. The Steiners come down and get ejected. A ONE HOUR TIME LIMIT is announced as fans somehow don't just make a beeline for the exit. 

Doc works a long bodyscissor on Dustin after Dustin throws elbows. Okay, it's THE MAIN EVENT OF THE SHOW. We can start with something other than headlock>headscissors spots and bodyscissors.... TOP WRISTLOCK. Gordy gets an STF for Dustin. Doc comes in and gets a long chinlock/bodscissors...Jesus Christ! They're literally working this like they're opening match guys on a Mid-South Wrestling TV taping, but CAN DO moves from 1992. OH THANK GOD Barry ran into the buckle. We've got a sign of life in this match. DOC GETS THE TORTURE STRETCH. Now we're cooking with at least a light flame here. We're at Bic Lighter-levels, but I'll take it. 

Well that lasted about a minute. Time to put that fire out. WE'VE GOT SOME WRESTLING TO DO BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE DO IN WCW. WE WRESTLE! This is right out a latter-day Gagne show where the ship is sinking and he's giving you boiler plate wrestling, putting it over as THE REAL WRESTLING LEAGUE while fans chant "boring" and he's stuck doing commentary WHILE THIS IS GOING ON explaining the logic behind it all. Doc hits a left arm lariat and Dustin spins for the sell to end it. THANK GOD! 

Doc and Gordy are unified champs. Ross talks about how in seven days, Gordy and Doc have won the WCW World Tag Titles and NWA World Tag Titles. We get a runthrough of the events tonight by both sets of announcers and Gordy and Doc stare down the crowd. Boy was this the wrong team to close out a show - second PPV in the watchalong with the Beach Blast show after this being evidence of that too.