[adamclark52]

WCW “Beach Blast”
June 20th, 1992
From the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Alabama
Commentators: Jim Ross and Jesse “the Body” Ventura

Tony Schiavone, Eric Bischoff and Bill Watts lay out the card.

For the WCW World Light Heavyweight Championship
Scotty Flamingo vs. Flyin’ Brian (champion)
I’ve delved a lot into the history of wrestling but I’ve never seen one of my favourites of all time Raven as Scotty Flamingo except maybe on a comp video released by WWE in the early 2000’s (and not a comp of his career). The funniest part of this match was the older couple sitting in the front row and the old mans attention locked on the chest of a lady who walks in front of them mid-match. I’ll be keeping my eye on him. The match itself was good. It’s too bad that this was during the time when top rope moves meant disqualification. That’s kinda integral to lightweight matches. It went way longer than an opening match with no excitement surrounding it should have gone. I was surprised by the outcome.
Winner: Scotty Flamingo (new World Light Heavyweight Champion)

Johnny B. Badd comes out to MC tonights “First Lady of WCW” contest between Madusa and Missy Hyatt. Up first is the Evening Gown competition. For whatever reason Madusa is wearing a wedding gown and she doesn’t seem too thrilled about participating in this competition.

Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff hype up the next match.

Taylor Made Man (Terry Taylor) vs. Ron Simmons
BILL ALPHONSO OFFICIATING!!!
I never knew how much Terry Taylor looked like late-1990’s Shawn Michaels when he had his hair long. At a glance anyway. Mind you the only times I really ever saw his (Taylor) wrestle was when he had a red fohawk. Simmons utilized what may have been the weakest looking Bear Hug I’ve ever seen during this match. I think he was still really new to wrestling at this point so it was a good idea putting him in the ring with someone like Taylor to make him look passable. His finishing Snap Powerslam was pretty impressive though.
Winner: Ron Simmons
Jim Ross asks Ron Simmons his ultimate goal. Simmons says it’s to beat the odds and be the best he can be.

Marcus Bagwell vs. Greg “the Hammer” Valentine
What a miss-match here. Bagwell looked about 12, while Valentine looked 57. They were probably both 25 though. I was surprised how evenly balanced this match was but really when was Valentine really ever booked overly dominant? I’m sure it happened but I always do remember him always being in this exact same spot on every card.
Winner: Greg “the Hammer” Valentine

Pinfalls Count Anywhere on the Gulf Coast
Cactus Jack vs. Sting
BILL ALPHONSO OFFICIATING!!!!
Man, Foley has always looked the same to me for the last 30 years but he actually looked YOUNG here! This kind of match was almost completely foreign to North American wrestling at the time and especially the people of Mobile, Alabama. The looks on some of the faces in the crowd was sheer terror and it was really funny. I can’t blame them. I’d have probably been shocked too. I wondered if it has ever been included on any of WWEs Mick Foley compilations. It was way too short though. I was enjoying it and the crowd was into it.
Winner: Sting

Bischoff and Schiavone hype the previous match and the next match.

30-Minute Iron Man Challenge
Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat w/his wife and kid
I always feel so bad for Steamboats kid. He always looked so scared shitless coming out with his dad.
This was a really fucking good, well booked match. I liked how Rude sacrificed a point for the top rope disqualification rule in order to inflict more damage on Steamboat in the long run. At points they wrestled like two light heavyweights would 20 years later. GREAT MATCH! Even the ending was great.
Winner: Ricky Steamboat 4-3

Round 2 of the First Lady of WCW thing or whatever the fuck it is. Seriously, how do you follow that match up with this crap? Did Wrestlecrap even mention that in their induction of this contest? Anyway this was the Bathing Suit competition. Not the Bikini Competition, the Bathing Suit Competition. Although Missy Hyatt wore a bikini anyway.

They announce that Madusa is winning the phone poll 51% to 49%.

Beautiful Bobby, Arn Anderson & “Stunning” Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs. Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes
This was a good match. Not much more to say other than that.
Winners: Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes via top-rope disqualification

Eric Bischoff interviews Ricky Steamboat and congratulates him on winning the Iron Man match and earning a shot at Rick Rudes United States Championship. Paul E. Dangerously comes out and informs him that this will be his last shot at the United States Championship, then Cactus Jack attacks him (Steamboat).

Round 3 of whatever this thing between Madusa and Missy Hyatt is. It’s the Bikini Contest. Madusa doesn’t really seem to want to be there. Missy Hyatt won’t come out of her tent because someone stole her bikini but then she comes out in a really terrible bikini that’s apparently made of Jesse Venturas scarves. The winner will be announced Monday night on TBS.

Schiavone and Bischoff discuss Cactus Jacks attack on Ricky Steamboat and the next match.

For the WCW World Tag Team Championship
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. the Steiner Brothers (champions)
This was a good match but for reasons I’ll get into later it wasn’t placed in the right spot on the card. Ah fuck later; it should’ve been in the spot of the Falls Count Anywhere match. But 31 years later I guess it’s not even worth thinking of.
Winners: time limit draw

Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff and then Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura run down the show then promote the Great American Bash.

Credits roll.
__
This was really a “b-show”. Sting was World Heavyweight Champion and Rick Rude United States Champion but neither were defended and both of them wrestled in the mid-card. Athena Great American Bash was like three weeks later and I swear they also hyped Clash of the Champions happening the following week. WCW itself really felt like a b-promotion during this show. Flair was in WWF and they were still a couple years from getting Hogan. It was weird not seeing one of them on a WCW show.

That said the Iron Man match was FANTASTIC and worth watching the show for alone. But the Falls Count Anywhere match was great too. Why they paced the show the way they did is beyond me? The Iron Man match could’ve stayed where it was but the Falls Count Anywhere match should have been swapped with the Tag Team Championship match. The crowd was spent after those two back-to-back and I can’t blame them.

I’ve never seen Johnny B. Badd in full action. That was fun. The First Lady of WCW segments have been inducted into Wrestlecrap but I don’t think they were any worse than any other bikini contest thing that’s ever happened in wrestling. I wish I could remember if it was an early induction from when he was putting stuff that was real garbage in or one of the newer inductions when he was kinda desperate for material?

It was strange having Bischoff and Schiavone acting as hype men while JR and Ventura took care of commentary when those jobs are usually handled by one team. I liked the way they ended with them but WCW always did that.

Nothing much of note from the Old Man in the front row.

I miss Mobile, Alabama. Does current wrestling even go there anymore?

 

[thorn123]

In my country we never got wcw (at blockbuster video) until hulk turned heel. Then only on (the newly implemented) pay tv in late 90s.

In the internet era, I have watched some of wcw (mid 80s - mid 90s). Mainly big matches form the big ppvs. But all out of context.

I really think this would have been my preferred option if I had of been fully exposed to it … especially after the hulkamania explosion started to die down. Maybe earlier.

this card excites me … I am going to try and find the sting v cactus, steamboat v rude and Barry windham matches

 

[Seafort]

It’s interesting knowing the whys of each match.

Flamingo vs Pillman: Watts had no use for the light heavyweight championship, and certainly not for the style of wrestling it represented. Pillman was in Watts crosshairs (as he was with Ole two years earlier) for having a large for the time guaranteed deal. Watts wanted him to renegotiate to a new, non guaranteed deal and set out to bury him until he acquiesced.

Taylor vs Simmons: Watts had already identified Ron as his next world champion. Taylor was fed to him, and Watts felt that Taylor had been so damaged by the previous years of booking that he was not going to resign him when his contract expired. He told Taylor he was going to have to wait something like 6-12 months before Watts would bring him back.

Rude vs Steamboat: Both had guarantees, but Watts appears to have respected both performers. Like Sting, they were not immediate targets in his coat cutting spree.

Anderson, Eaton, Austin vs Kollov, Windham, and Rhodes: Bill Watts May have already decided that he was not going to bring back Eaton and Anderson, whose contracts were set to expire shortly before the end of 1992.

Valentine vs Bagwell: Valentine was not on a large guarantee (if at all) and was the model veteran that Watts wanted to use

Steiners vs Gordy/Williams: The latter were prototypical Watts performers. So were the Steiners, but Rick and Scott had contract set to expire in four months that were large guarantees. Watts wanted them to resign with new, non guaranteed deals.

 

[the_flock]

Classic PPV. One of my favourites.

 

[Flairwhoo84123]

Classic PPV. One of my favourites.

One of favorite NWA/JCP/WCW ppvs/special events along with Spring Stampede 94, Starrcade 83, Great American Bash 89, Bash At The Beach 96, and the first Clash of the Champions (although the not a ppv but was treated as a special event)

 

[Crazy Jim Films]

I remember renting this as a videotape back in the day. Always weird to me that they went Steamboat-Rude as the main event. I had taken a hiatus from watching wrestling from about April 1992 to March 1993 so I wasn't too aware of the storylines but it always seemed like Sting-Cactus would have been the one to be presented as the big match of the night. Also, being thirteen at the time, I was all about Missy Hyatt.

 

[doctordoom212]

I never got to see this until the Network as WCW PPV's were nigh impossible to find in UK.

Even online they were hard to find, But now they're piss easy.

But I thought it was a decent show, The Rude/Steamboat match is great.