SuperBrawl II

[Mister Yummy]

Some Random thoughts about SuperBrawl II, made not while watching it, but a few days later.

This show's pretty good for a flair-free WCW show. Jesse Ventura and JR make a good team on commentary. And, this may very well be where JR's current gimmick was born, as Jesse suggests he looks like JR Ewing and should wear a cowbow hat. Schivonne is rooting for the heals and Bischoff for the faces. That's a bit strange. I love the PWI References WCW Threw around at this time, citing the WCW Top 10 and the PWI Yearly awards several times. Missy Hyatt on interviews is fun. She's bubbly, a bit stupid, and doesn't seem like she knows what she's doing. Now for the matches.

Jushin Thunder Lyger vs. Flyin' Brian Pillman
WCW Jr. Heavyweight Title
This is considered one of the all-time great Cruiserweight/Jr. Heavyweight matches. I disagree. It seems very spotty to me, without much chemistry or psychology. Lyger does win the crowd over well though, and there are some great spots. Pillman teases his upcoming heel turn just a bit as well. I'm not gonna give stars, as I'm not watching as I'm writing, but I will say this is a good match that doesn't live up to it's reputation.

Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. "Taylor made man" Terry Taylor.
Oddly, this match isn't on my tape of this event, the official THE released one. Even more oddly, the pre-match interview Taylor does with Missy Hyatt is retained. Very strange.

I also don't have Simmons vs. Jack or Hammer and Zenk vs. Vegas and Morton. A shame. I'll have to trade for a PPV Recording of this show.

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Stunning Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko.
This is a well paced Tag match. I love watching WCW Austin. You can see how frustrated he is. He's the TV Champion at this time, and I love the old school red and gold NWA TV Title belt. Zbyszko is on his game here, delivering some very good-looking submission holds. Dustin and Windham are on their game too. All in all, a decent match.

Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton vs. The Steiner Brothers
WCW/NWA Tag Team Championship
I really enjoyed this match, though it was a bit "clusterf***y" at times. There were some moments when the steiners seemed to be phoning it in, but they were pretty good all in all. I love when Jesse questions their academic credentials, saying that any college that Rick Steiner can graduate from needs to be investigated. The ending sucks. I'm not a fan of reverse decisions. Oh well.

Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat
WCW/NWA US Championship
Now we get to the cream of the crop. This is easily the best match on the card, and with Rude and Steamboat, how could it have missed? Rick Rude was clearly at his best in WCW, and the company also used Steamboat better than the WWF Ever did. This match tells a great story, with Paul E. Dangerously barred from Ringside, Steamboats Ninja chasing Madusa off earlier in the night, Steamboats arm injury that he has to work to overcome, and Rude being Rick Rude. The ending is kinda lame, but Paul E. as the fake ninja is great. Oh well, every match can't end clean.

Lex Luger vs. Sting
WCW World Championship
This match is pretty good, and was probably the best main event WCW could have thrown together at the time. Luger is on his way out, but WCW still makes him look pretty good, almost beating Sting a few times. Sting did kick out after one of Luger's piledrivers, however, and did get in a torture rack on Luger during the match, so perhaps a bit of burial there. On the other hand, Luger survived the Scorpion Death Lock, and seemed dominant most of the match. The ending left a bit to be desired, but it was clean, and we finally had a face WCW Champion.

All in all, a very good show for WCW in that period. I'd really like to see a WCW Show in which the WCW and NWA Titles are defended seprately. Anyone got any suggestions?

[MysteryStingerfanTheater3000]

Technically none of the titles were NWA Titles at the time, the NWA Tag Belts would come back at GAB 1992, and the NWA Belt would be back by Halloween Havoc of 1992, but I would say that SuperBrawl was one of the best PPV's of 1992.

[Mister Yummy]

The TV, Tag, and US Titles weren't NWA Titles anymore in Feb. 92? When did they split from the WCW Titles, and how?

Another note: I love the "origional" WCW Title belt used at this show, and many others. It's not as prestigious as the Big Gold Belt, but it's still cool.

[Mr. Mediocre]

misteryummy said:

The TV, Tag, and US Titles weren't NWA Titles anymore in Feb. 92? When did they split from the WCW Titles, and how?

Another note: I love the "origional" WCW Title belt used at this show, and many others. It's not as prestigious as the Big Gold Belt, but it's still cool.

I'm also a fan of the original WCW Title.

As for the split, I believe it was in early 1991. And it should be noted that the NWA World Tag Team titles weren't even created at the time of the split, if I recall correctly.

[Hiroshi Hase]

I also found it strange they had the interview with Bagwell on the tape but the match itself wasn't on there.

I have the PPV version, the match wasn't that great,IMO.

But I did like the Cactus/Simmons bout and the crowd goes nuts when JYD comes out of the crowd to help him fight off Abdullah and Cactus.

[wrestlecrap rookie of the year]

there is an interview that never aired of luger prematch....

luger:superbrawl? what is called i dunno even know what it is called? SUPERBRAWL SATURDAY?

[Cheeba]

I love the PWI References WCW Threw around at this time, citing the WCW Top 10 and the PWI Yearly awards several times.

WCW actually had their own top 10 back then. They would update it every Saturday night.

[Mister Yummy]

The WCW Title split from the NWA Title in 1991 when Ric Flair lost the latter to Tatsumi Fujiyami, but retained the former. Flair regained the NWA Title the next month. They were split again when Flair was stripped of the WCW Title for being fired, but retained the NWA Title. He was then stripped of the NWA Title months later upon signing with a non-NWA Affiliate, the WWF. The NWA Title was vacant until August 1992, when it was held up in a tourneyment for New Japan.

The NWA lower-card titles of the 80's, the TV Title, Tag Team Titles, US Title, etc., were really promotional titles, in those cases the titles of JCP. Nonetheless, they were the only titles in the NWA with those names, and were treated as official NWA Titles. I have no idea when it's proper to start referring to them as WCW titles instead of NWA titles. 1988? 1991? When the designs changed? 1993, when WCW withdrew from the NWA? I just don't know!