WCW Light Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Brian Pillman 17:00. Jushin Thunder Liger had been arguably the greatest junior/light heavyweight in the world since 1989. WCW had introduced the WCW Light Heavyweight Title in 1991, and had “Flyin’” Brian Pillman become the inaugural champion on 10/27/91. On 12/25/91, Liger became the title holder by defeating Pillman at a house show. Interestingly enough, at the time of this match, NJPW’s Liger was also the holder of their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, but Jim Ross, who was generally quite excellent during this PPV, mistakenly referred to Liger as the former champion. This was Jesse Ventura’s first PPV match as color commentator for WCW, and the first time Ventura had the chance to see Liger in person. Ventura mentioned here that he was impressed with Liger, and that Liger reminded him of the Predator. Liger and Pillman displayed their tremendous athleticism with great execution. This was truly a ground-breaking match, as it introduced a large American audience to great junior heavyweight wrestling of a spectacular level previously only seen in Japan. It wasn’t just the state of the art high flying moves in this high-paced match that made it so great, because the mat wrestling parts of the match were essential to the match as well. This was tremendously enjoyable from start to finish. Thanks to the great selling and timing, the storytelling aspects of the match turned this match into a strong MOTYC for 1992. This match showed that it was possible for great junior heavyweight action to be appreciated in mainstream American wrestling, and thus opened up possibilities for so-called undersized workers who were previously neglected. This was a hot opening match, one of the greatest opening matches ever. It was also arguably the greatest match on American soil since 1952. And the reason this match was even a truly great match for international standards was the fact that there was a great level of intensity and urgency displayed. As pretty as the wrestling was technically, they still managed to also put over the idea that this was a fight. All in all, you could really feel the electricity and excitement in the air while watching this greatness. Outstanding match! *****

Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. The Taylor Made Man 7:38. This was the perfect match to follow an all-time great match, as it featured a young up-and-coming talent, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, and a veteran who focused on old school American heel psychology, Terry Taylor. This served as a nice contrast from the outstanding opening match, while still giving the fans something interesting to watch. The opening match clearly made an impact with everyone, because even The Taylor Made Man did a splash off the top rope in this match, which was a move he definitely didn’t do in all of his matches. Bagwell had only been with WCW less than four months, and he clearly was still working on becoming a crisper worker. Taylor certainly carried the match, but Bagwell showed potential. The finish was odd, as Bagwell scored a flash pin, but they kept working. Taylor looked upset, almost like it wasn’t the planned finish. Considering that Bagwell was still kinda green, it was probably best that this match didn’t last longer than it did. Okay match. **

Cactus Jack vs. Ron Simmons 6:34. This was a no-nonsense heavyweight bout that was all action. Simmons was quite good in this role of the strong babyface powerhouse. Cactus Jack bumping and selling made the match more interesting than the usual Simmons match. It was a relatively short match with plenty of decent action. After the match, Abdullah the Butcher attacked Simmons. Junkyard Dog was in attendance, and saved Simmons from the attack. Okay match. **¼  

The Z-Man & Van Hammer vs. Richard Morton & Vinnie Vegas 12:01. This was quite the random simulator-esque tag team match-up featuring two randomly thrown together tag teams. Honestly, this wasn’t terrible, but it was just random and generic wrestling by random people on the roster. Mediocre match. *¾ 

Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko vs. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes 18:23. Even though I don’t necessarily think as highly of “Stunning” Steve Austin as I used to a couple of decades ago, I still think it’s interesting to see how he was always so talented. And not just talent, also a tremendous amount of motivation. Looking at his earlier work, it almost seems like he really wanted to be better than he actually was, which is admirable in a way. He clearly loved pro wrestling, and it’s deserving that he became one of pro wrestling’s biggest stars ever. Back in early 1992, he wasn’t quite the superstar yet, but he was a solid heel tag team wrestler, always adding significant value to the tag team matches he was involved in. His tag team partner, Larry Zbyszko, was a veteran of pro wrestling and was known as the “Cruncher” back then. As we’ve covered before here on the Quebrada site, ‘80s Barry Windham wasn’t quite as excellent as we remembered he was, but he was still truly a solid tag team wrestler in the early 1990s. Dustin Rhodes was just kinda there, as usual. This was a solid Southern-style American tag team bout. Windham pinned Zbyszko. Decent match. **½ 

Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner vs. Bobby Eaton & Arn Anderson 20:06. The Steiner Brothers are arguably the greatest tag team in WCW history. Arn Anderson’s status as a high-quality wrestler seems a bit overrated in hindsight, as his style was a bit too comical, almost featuring Ric Flair-esque buffoonery at times. Bobby Eaton isn’t a guy that stands out if you just watch a match of his here and there, but when you study all of the wrestling of the time, you’ll notice he was smarter, more subtle and less selfish than most wrestlers on the cards he was performing on. Decent match. **¾ 

WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title: Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat 20:02. This was just a typical Rick Rude singles match, which means it was a disappointing match. They weren’t able to upgrade their level of work from the B-show tag team bouts to the requirements of the PPV-show singles match bouts. Not much happened at all. They sold a lot, but back in the 1990s, doing very little and selling in an “epic” manner didn’t necessarily equal excellence. This might actually explain why some contemporary fans received this match better than it was received back in the day. Okay match. **

WCW World Heavyweight Title: Lex Luger vs. Sting 13:02. Lex Luger was accompanied by his advisor, former 8-time World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race. Sting won the World Heavyweight Title here, but the match had no direction, and felt like it happened just to get the title change take place. In other words, this was a very anticlimactic ending to a very anticlimactic show. Sting was a tremendously energetic performer, but this match exposed that he really needed someone to play a certain villainous role against him to make it work. Lex Luger had a tremendous physique, but certainly wasn’t capable of portraying the multi-layered role required here. Okay match. **

Show rating: 7.0/10.0. Very good show.

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