The PPV Retrospective! First up: Vader!

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

So, I got bored with "Recommend a show" in record time, and...yeah, my bad, so sorry. But now, I think I have a new, more digestible idea. Basically, what I will be doing, is taking a wrestler, and looking at them through the lens of their PPV appearances. First up is a big one, with Big Van Vader, a man who very nearly lasts throughout the 90's in the American PPV spotlight. Let's see how his first three PPV matches hold up(with more to come when I'm not exhausted from work):

Match 1: Great American Bash 1990 vs. The Z-Man

-Weird entrance for Z-Man, with the camera following behind him, so we get a nice, extended shot of his ass as he runs to the ring. Vader enters in the full helmet with kick-ass pyro to go with it. I also love the old, full-faced mask look here.

-Christ, Vader looks like a beast prowling after some meat here, clubbing Z-Man early and often.

-Vader came JUST short of clotheslining Z-Man's head off, christ!

-Z-Man gets exactly ONE offensive move in, a no-sold dropkick, which is responded to with a nasty press slam into a big elbow drop!

-Another big splash finishes things off mercifully at 2:16!

The reaction: Holy crap, what a debut. The only Vader staples missing were the powerbomb, Vader-Bomb, and moonsault. Now of course, after this, he'd vanish for quite a while, until the early months of 1991. That said, the match is a great showcase for a new monster heel.

Match 2: WCW WrestleWar 1991 vs. Stan Hansen

-Oh, god, this is gonna be a stiff one, huh?

-Hansen comes out with his bullrope, chewing tobacco dripping out of his mouth, so....gross. Vader's entrance is pretty awesome again, I always loved that helmet of his as a kid.

-Hansen jumps Vader from the bell, and they don't even bother starting in the ring!

-Hard to call the action in this one, because it's basically two big f***ers beating the hell out of each other! Vader gets some brutal headbutts for a two.

-Corner avalanche floors Hansen, and Vader takes control with some real stiff shots.

-Hansen regains control with a back suplex, but can't put his man away.

-A brawl erupts at ringside as the commentators want to head for higher ground.

-Hansen still in control, until he gets slammed gut first into the guard rail! Holy shit, what a shot.

-Hansen takes an 8 count, and drags Vader back out as Jim Ross looks very concerned for his own safety.

-The two men grawl on their knees with punches and headbutts, until Randy Anderson gets tossed to the outside trying to break it up for the double DQ at 6:21! After the match, the brawl continues, including Vader nailing a BIG top rope attack and Hansen trying to choke him out with the bullrope before Vader does the same to him and drags him to the back to continue the brawl!

The reaction: Probably not a patch on their matches in Japan, but what a fun, quick sprint of a brawl between two big men. Hansen made Vader look like a star, even in a quick match with a f*** finish, and you can tell Vader's on an upward trajectory.

Match 3: Halloween Havoc 1991 w/Abdullah The Butcher, Cactus Jack, and The Diamond Studd vs. El Gigante, Sting, and The Steiner Brothers in a Chamber of Horrors Match

-Oh....this match.

-Jim Ross brings us into the Chamber, because this is opening the PPV for....reasons.

-Holy shit, the set for this PPV looks like a grade-school play.

-El Gigante is out first, followed by....the entire heel team for some reason? Also, Cactus Jack has a chainsaw because....Halloween?

-Rick Steiner's gear says "Blood and Guts" all over it. Interesting...

-Sting caps off the entrances, and holy shit, is he over as he and Cactus start things on the ramp!

-They're brawling all over the place! Vader gets the bad luck to be paired with Gigante who, in fairness, looks more mobile than his Giant Gonzalez days.

-Oh lord, they're doubling down on the garbage with the "Refer-Eye" cam during the Chamber of Horrors.

-The match has barely started, and Vader's already lost his mask.

-Haha, the ref looks so doofy with that stupid helmet on.

-Both Rick Steiner and The Studd are climbing the cage for...reasons? I don't understand the rules of this match.

-The Steiners hit their super-dangeorus DDT on Cactus, who nearly gets squished by the dumbass "Chair of Torture".

-Now they're brawling all around the ring because the actual ring is useless now with the chair sitting there.

-We get some ghoulishly painted orderlies with a stretcher for.....reasons.

-Abby's climbing the cage, which seems....dangerous, for a man of his girth.

-Wait, all of a sudden there's a dude in there in a blank black mask? What the f***?

-Jim Ross is right, this one IS hard to call, cause it's garbage and seriousl, who is that masked f***?

-I think I spotted Bill Apter snapping shots outside the ring, that's how dull this is.

-God bless Tony Schiavone, he's TRYING to tell a story about the tactics of this match, but man, nothing's saving this.

-Cactus thinks he's gonna shock Rick Steiner, but on no! Steiner belly-to-belly'd Abdullah into the chair as Cactus throws the switch without looking, and the sparks go off and the face team wins!

-After the match, Cactus tries to rouse Abby, only to get wasted by a wild Abdullah!

The Reaction: Man, this was bad. Shoving 8 guys into a cage was bad enough, then filling about 7/10ths of the ring with another cage just limited them further. Vader didn't stand out at all, but then again, it would be hard to. So, for the first three matches, things are kind of a mixed bag. Where will Vader go from here? Let's see when I get back to another installment of this series.

[Ryushinku]

Fun trivia - as infamous and as bad as that Chamber match is, it's also the very first time Sting and Vader swap punches in the ring.

That historical feud has its roots in that goofy bit of nonsense.

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

And now we're back again for three, maybe four more matches! Last time out, we got the ball rolling on Vader's PPV chronology, and we got two pretty decent matches, and one turd. Now, as we push further into the 90's, let's see what awaits us in....

Match 4: Starrcade 1991 w/Mr. Hughes vs. Rick Steiner and The Nightstalker

-This match is part of 1991's Battlebowl tournament, with the wrestlers being paired at random. Night Stalker is a replacement for an injured Diamond Studd, and of course is the future Adam Bomb, Bryan Clarke.

-Mr. Hughes takes forever to react to his name being drawn.

-Vader's out, and he's not even bothering with the mask for this one, it seems. This seems to be a lucky draw for Vader/Hughes, who have done some teaming on shows prior to and after this.

-Vader and Rick start, and man, this one's gonna be snug, huh?

-Rick with the BIG belly-to-belly on Vader, and a clumsy dive to the outside!

-Steiner just no-sold and smiled after a Vader clothesline.....uh-oh.

-Steiner ALMOST manages to suplex Vader into the ring, but it looked like crap.

-Hughes comes in, waffling his man with big brawling moves, before taking a BIG back body drop.

-Stalker tags himself in, and nails a big flying clothesline on Hughes before eating some Vader offense.

-Steiner gets the big flying bulldog on Hughes, but neither guy is the legal man, so Vader pins Night Stalker at 5:05 to give the win and trip to the Battlebowl to Vader and Mr. Hughes!

The Reaction: A pretty crap, sloppy, quick match. I'd bet if you gave Vader and Rick more time, they could probably have a fun little superstiff match, but this wasn't anything, really.

Match 5: Starrcade 1991 Battlebowl Battle Royal

-Full list of participants in this match is Sting, Vader, Arn Anderson, Mr. Hughes, Abdullah The Butcher, Bill Kazmaier, Dustin Rhodes, Firebreaker Chip, Jimmy Garvin, Jushin Thunder Liger, Lex Luger, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Richard Morton, Rick Rude, Ricky Steamboat, Ron Simmons, Scott Steiner, Steve Austin, Thomas Rich, and Todd Champion.

-This is a massive two ring battle royal, where you start in one ring, get thrown into the second ring, and if you're thrown out of that one, you're gone.

-Vader and Sting start right off in the corner. That'll go places.

-Arn and Steamboat are brawling along the outside, which is...interesting in a battle royal.

-Vader and Hughes throw Kazmaier to the outside, but since it's not into the second ring, it doesn't count.

-Kinda hard to summarize this one.

-Vader keeps throwing guys everywhere BUT the second ring.

-And Thomas Rich becomes the first man in ring two.

-Bagwell joins him soon after and now we have action in both rings!

-And Richard Morton and Jushin Liger are the first two true eliminations!

-Sting and Rude brawl their way into ring two, and Vader and Luger are the last two remaining in ring one!

-And Luger "wins" ring one, clotheslining Vader over the top to ring two, and winning himself a little rest.

-And now they all start dropping like flies, including Vader, as he's eliminated by a combo of Sting and Ricky Steamboat!

-The final four in ring two is Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude and Steve Austin.

-And then it comes down to Sting and Luger, but not before Rude waylays Sting with the Rude Awakening!

-Luger is laying a pretty heavy duty beatdown here, but it's at a snail's pace.

-Sting gets his comeback, but gets hung up on the top rope after a missed Stinger Splash, but after a couple near misses, Sting FINALLY eliminates Luger to win the Battle Bowl!

The reaction: A long, but fun battle royal, even if some of the rules were a bit convoluted. Vader didn't get much of a chance to shine, obviously, as he was only one part of a huge thing. Hopefully, after three multi-man matches, we'll get a chance to see a more in-depth singles encounter in the next match.

Match 6: Great American Bash 1992 vs. Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

-Oh ho, NOW we're talking. One of the greatest rivalries in WCW history, here we go!

-Vader led out to the ring with his manager, Harley Race, and he's back in the armor, which is always awesome to see, and he's now rocking the more recognizable mask.

-We get a little staredown and trash talking to start.

-Sting bails from the ring to get a breather after a NASTY Vader assault to start the match.

-Sting just can't make any headway against the big man, until he hits a BIG back suplex to start off a flurry of offense!

-Sting with some big offense to send the big man reeling, culminating in a suplex over the top rope!

-But just as Stinger gets the ball rolling, Vader shoots back with some nasty offense to cut him off.

-Vader, not used to his lunch fighting back, goes to commune with Race on the outside.

-Vader comes back in and reasserts control with some thunderous elbow drops and a big splash.

-Oh, a hanging choke! Love that move.

-And Vader locks in the Scorpion Deathlock! Not...a great looking Scorpion Deathlock, mind, but at least Randy Anderson didn't ring the f***ing bell on it.

-Sting powers his way out, not that it would take much with how loose Vader had the hold in.

-Sting kicks out of a BIG powerslam, and Vader just can't keep the man down.

-Vader gets caught up on the top rope as Sting lays in vicious kicks before going for a Samoan drop!

-Vader goes for a back suplex, but Sting's feet nail the ref, just long enough to save Vader off a quick pin attempt seconds lateR!

-Stinger Splash! And again in the opposite corner, but Sting brains himself on the turnbuckle post, giving Vader long enough time to recover!

-Sting whiffs some punches, before Vader PLANTS Sting with the powerbomb to win the match and World Title at 17:17! Your NEW World Champion, Big Van Vader!

Reaction: Great, well paced match that gave both guys opportunities to shine and look great. This feud is just beginning, but what a great Championship match to kick things off!

And that's three more matches there, how will Vader fare for the rest of the year? Let's find out next time, when I come back with the next three matches in our chronology!

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

So, moving on from the big title win last time I did three of these bad boys, we have seen Vader rise to the absolute top of the mountain, but his reign was short lived, as he was quickly dethroned by Ron Simmons less than a month later. How will Vader bounce back on PPV? Let's find out with....

Match 7: Halloween Havoc 1992 defending the US Title in a No DQ match vs. Nikita Koloff

-Vader is here defending in the stead of "Ravishing" Rick Rude, who has another match later on tonight, so he's not technically the champion. Weird scenario.

-All the managers are banned from ring-side early on.

-Nikita still looks great, even if his heart's not in the thing.

-Pretty slow opening with some stiff Vader shots, but he's in there with another big bull, so we're seeing a power battle.

-Koloff gets a comeback, but it's nothing terribly interesting, just clubbing blows and restholds.

-Big whip into the ringside railing, and man, Nikita looks HURT.

-Vader gets nailed by a beer from a ringside fan. Yikes...

-Vader sits down on a sunset flip attempt of Koloff's and man....Nikita's looking rought.

-Koloff won't back down, but Vader isn't phased at all, and pulls off a halfway decent chokeslam followed by a big splash for a near fall!

-Koloff fights off a sleeper, but he can't make any headway, even after the worst looking suplex in history.

-Koloff gets a big comeback, including a BIG powerslam, but not even the Russian Sickle can put Vader away, and man, Vader is being....really needlessly stiff here as he finishes with an awkward looking powerbomb for the win at 11:35!

The Reaction: Holy crap, Nikita's last match, due to injuries sustained here, and yeah, not a great match. Too stiff by half, and it looked like neither guy ever got on the same page. Definitely not one for the highlight reel.

Match 8: w/Dustin Rhodes vs. Kensuke Sasaki and The Barbarian Starrcade 1992

-Vader was apparently a busy boy this night, as we'll see as we go on. this is part of the Battlebowl Tournament.

-Four guys I like in this match, let's see if it's worth anything.

-Right off the bat, Jesse Ventura calls Barbarian "The Bavarian", so....

-Barbarian and Vader start off, anyways, so we get a little bit of a clubberin', as Dusty would say.

-Basically just them trading clotheslines for a while. Nothing special, neither guy tagging out until Vader brings Dustin in for a surprise Hart Attack variation!

-In comes Sasaki with Rhodes, but Vader tags in and kills Sasaki with a pair of big clotheslines before Sasaki nails a HUGE suplex!

-Rhodes and Barbarian in, but a miscommunication gives Rhodes the opportunity to roll up Barbarian for the three at 6:56! After the match, Vader puts the boots to Rhodes until Sasaki makes the save!

The Reaction: A neat little sprint, if nothing terribly impressive, and Vader probably was saving up and letting Rhodes do the work because he knew he had a bigger match later on in the night. Speaking of....

Match 9: vs. Sting King of Cable Tournament Final Starrcade 1993

-This match is the final of the King of Cable tournament. I'm having trouble finding who each man beat to advance to the final, beyond Sting beating Rick Rude earlier in the tourney.

-This is the second major PPV singles match between Vader and Sting.

-Vader showing off his power to start, but Sting won't be dissuaded, peppering the big man with strikes.

-Vader with a couple BIG gorilla presses to hang Sting on the top rope.

-Sting comes back with a BIG German Suplex on Vader for that babyface fire, and now Vader's on the outside!

-Holy crap, Sting is really giving it to Vader here.

-They trade the advantage back and forth, and damn, Sting kicks Vader dead in the face twice. Nasty looking.

-Sting goes for a superplex and wow....not the best looking one I've ever seen, but considering the size of Vader...damn!

-Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Vader makes the ropes and hi-tails it to the outside, where Sting whiffs a Stinger splash and hits the guardrail!

-Sting narrowly makes it back to the ring, but Vader just won't let up!

-Big splash can't put Sting away, and Vader audibly shouts "Shit!" on PPV.

-Vader keeps just wearing Sting down, but can't finish the job!

-Sting nearly steals it with the backslide, but that just pisses Vader off!

-Vader peppering Sting with shots in the corner, but Sting fights off a superplex, but Vader's back up and punching with the quickness!

-Vader finally goes down, and Sting nails a big splash off the top, but no dice, as Vader goes up for a big splash of his own!

-Vader goes up one more time, but Sting counters it into a slam for the three and the win at 16:50!

The Reaction: A good match with a great build, and a lot of fun spots. Not quite to the level of their title match, but I think both guys were saving something up for the battle royal that's coming up in the main event, which we will cover next time!

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

Sorry about the large gap in posting, work gets in the way, but now, let's hop back into our retrospective, right where we left off, at....

Match 10: Starrcade 1992 Battlebowl Final Battle Royal vs. Great Muta, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Dan Spivey, Steve Williams, Sting and Van Hammer.

-Vader gets a chance to rebound here, as he's in the Battle Bowl right after the tourney final match.

-Smaller field than last year, so should make for a more focused match.

-Man, is anything more "one of these things is not like the other" than Dan Spivey and Van Hammer here?

-Sting jumps Vader on the ramp before the bell, and now things kick off in the ring!

-Slow going brawling to start, but I like that by and large, Vader's sticking to Sting like glue.

-Muta saves Sting from elimination for....reasons.

-Wow, literally everyone looks gassed before even the first elimination. This was a bad idea...

-And Van Hammer is our first elimination, courtesy of Steve Williams!

-And now Dan Spivey is gone courtesy of Sting. So....yeah, those two guys were afterthoughts here.

-Oh, damn, Sting and Vader both go over at the same time! Unexpected.

-That leaves us with Muta, Rhodes, Williams and Windham, so....it's gotta be either Windham or Muta...

-Dustin's really putting in the work on Windham.

-Wow, Williams charges Windham while he was working on eliminating Rhodes, and takes both himself and Dustin out! It's down to Muta and Windham...

-Windham just can't get rid of Muta.

-Muta makes a big comeback off a Windham beating and Windham's over the top, and the Battlebowl winner is The Great Muta at 14:01!

The Reaction: Nothing great here, and honestly, once Sting and Vader were gone, so was the engine out of this match. It was just dull, and the guys gassed out because of the prior action. If you wanna watch this PPV for Vader, I can't recommend the tourney final enough, but that's really all there is here.

Match 11: vs. Sting in a "White Castle of Fear" Strap Match at Superbrawl III

-And now we're into 1993, a pretty solid year for WCW in-ring, and it starts on PPV here, let's see what we get up to.

-The match isn't sanctioned, so it's non-title, which is an interesting choice.

-Vader's out in a white cape here, I guess because "White Castle", but...meh, the helmet looked way better.

-This is also the "drag around the ring" type of strap match.

-We get some mind game with the strap to start.

-It's amazing how compelling the Sting/Vader dynamic is, even here, three "big" matches in.

-BIG splash just looks nasty every single time from Vader.

-Sting takes the lead with some...creative meetings of strap and Vader's groin.

-Jesus, Sting's comeback is getting a scary pop.

-Vader looks to be out pretty damn early, and Sting gets to whipping!

-Race gets decked for his trouble as Vader slides to the outside to keep Sting from making the rounds.

-Sting racks Vader into the posts, and we get a nasty shot of the welts on Vader's back. Yikes, Sting did NOT hold back.

-Wait, what the f***, you can drag him to the four corners outside the ring? BS.

-Vader almost gets off a powerbomb, but Sting fights it off!

-Neither guy's making much headway on the ropes, but the brawling is sick.

-And now it's Sting's turn to taste the strap.

-Vader nails a second rope Samoan drop, which...holy crap, that looked nasty.

-Vader manages two turnbuckles, but Sting just barely fights off.

-Sting crotches Vader from the top rope, and now the action's slowed a little.

-Man, the welt's on Vader's back have REALLY opened up.

-Vader ALMOST gets all four, but Sting breaks the momentum to save himself!

-Sting is busted open now, and Vader's REALLY giving him the business.

-Sting with the BIG German on Vader, they really love that spot.

-And there goes Vader's mask, right in time for a ref bump!

-Sting trips over the ref JUST before he manages to tag the fourth corner!

-Vader is bleeding from the ear in a big gross way as he drags Sting around the ring.

-Sting holds on, but an errant kick to Vader's face sends him careening into corner four to give the win to Vader at 20:54! After the match, the brawl continues, as Sting straps the hell out of Vader!

The Reaction: Actually? A pretty great match, and I usually hate this breed of Strap match. The only thing really going against it is that the ending came pretty far out of nowhere. Great match, brutal action, really amazing story they told. These two have such great chemistry.

Match 12: vs. Davey Boy Smith for the WCW World Heavyweight Title at Slamboree 1993

-Here we have a little different formula, as Vader takes on the massively muscular British Bulldog!

-Smith looks like he was inflated with a bicycle pump here.

-Awww, looks like Vader's ditched the helmet permanently. Bummer.

-Tony says that Stu Hart is here, is that true? If so, that traitorous old bastard!

-Vader attempts his usual early mind games, but he can't budge the Bulldog!

-Smith takes a pummeling in the corner and that puts him down so that Race can take some potshots on the outside.

-And Vader nearly wipes out an old woman in the front row taking a bump over the guard rail before Smith slams him on the outside!

-Jeez, they are running through Smith's moves at top speed with the big vertical suplex.

-Vader looking a little flustered in this match as he counters a big crucifix attempt by Smith.

-A Vader bomb nets a two, and nothing's putting Smith away yet.

-Smith counters out of a superplex into a diving headbutt. A really sloppy, crappy looking one.

-Smith's nose is busted, not sure when that happened.

-Vader hits a big flying splash, but then sells like he got hurt? I'm not sure why? I think Davey was supposed to get the knees up, and just never managed.

-Davey outside to take another shoeing from Harley before coming in for another round of Vader haymakers.

-Davey muscles Vader into the electric chair, and damn! Okay, THAT was impressive.

-And we get the running powerslam, but Race breaks up the pin to start a brawl outside, leading to Vader smashing Davey with a chair for the DQ win for Davey Boy Smith at 16:16! After the match, Vader demolishes 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell before Sting comes in to make the save from Davey eating a powerbomb, which neatly sets up the next match!

The Reaction: This is a change of pace from the Sting matches, for sure. Slower, and a little sloppy in places, they still managed to tell an entertaining story, even with a little bit of a f***-finish. Seeing Davey do his usual power offense on Vader WAS impressive to be sure.

[johnnyk9]

Vader was great in WCW