This Week With Caliber Winfield

What's the good word, friends. Wrapping up what has apparently not only been WCW month OnDemand, and but as well as here at the ol' Blog of Dune. This time around, I thought I'd do a bit of a lighting round, and then you fine chaps can also throw in your thoughts.

Of course, that sly bastard Scott made sure to post a similar thread right before this one. He's always trying to undermine me ever since my posts have been getting 1/1000th the attention of his! Well, you have won the battle this time, Mr. Scott, but soon, it'll be Caliber Winfield Presents The Block of Doom!


Top 3 Greatest WCW:

 Promos
3 - nWo - Not my dog spot, not a liver spot, MY SPOT!
One of the funniest things I've ever seen in wrestling. Of course, it would have been better with Arn getting his revenge at the end, but at least he got his apology from Nash. Twice.
2 - Ric Flair - Fire him? HE'S ALREADY FIRED!
There will probably never be a promo done with more passion, or more of a real story behind it. Ric Flair heard that the Horsemen were having a party!
1 - Hulk Hogan - We the fans, we can stick it. 
This and Steve Austin's promo, one month prior, lit the fuse to the biggest boom period in pro-wrestling history. Even though he called the nWo the New World Organization twice, everything else was gold. Talking about big movie roles, world caliber matches, and how he was bored with it. In the word's of Dusty, after this promo they could go to the PAY WIN-DUH!

TV Matches:
3 - Ric Flair vs Sting - Clash of the Champions 1 - ***3/4
It made Sting, and gave WCW their answer to Hulk Hogan. Although for me, it's too long, and they repeat the same sequence like, 3 or 4 times. So I can't praise it as much as others.
2 - Stunning Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs Sting & Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night – 7/30/1994 - ****1/2
Just look at that match-up, how could it not kick ass? They almost went for a full half n hour, and gave us one hell of a bout. 
1 - DDP vs Sting - WCW Monday Nitro - 4/26/1999 - ****1/2
Man, oh man. Everytime I watch this match, it gets better. Of course, after this masterpiece, they went and had a 4-man crap fest later that night in which DDP got his strap back.

PPV Matches:
3 - Cactus Jack vs Maxx Payne vs The Nasty Boys - Spring Stampede 1994 - ****1/4
The match that set the stage for every ECW tag-match. Some people prefer the one with Sullivan, but I don't think it holds a candle to this one. I mean, the fake merch stand, c'mon! Awesomeness.
2 - Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair - Bash at the Beach 1994 - ****1/4
WCW wasn't stupid. The second they signed Hogan, they gave everyone what they wanted, on the big stage. Arguably Hogan's greatest match.
1 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - Wrestle War 1989 - ****1/2
My favorite of the three. It was quicker, faster paced, and didn't stretch on for an hour. At the end of the day, it's part of wrestling history as what the majority views as the greatest matches of all time.

Worst Matches:
3 - Barry Windham vs Dusty Rhodes - US Championship Match - Great American Bash 1988 - *
Dear God. This match goes almost 16 minutes, and 20 minutes of the thing are with Barry placing his hand on Dusty's head.
2 - Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs Sting - Starrcade 1997 - WCW Championship Match - DUD
I had a poster on my wall that I tore out from PWI. It was Hollywood vs Sting, tale of the tape sort of poster. This PPV was the ONLY one from WCW that I ever ordered, because I had to see the match. 16 months worth of build-up, and it couldn't have been worse.
1 - Hollywood & Rodman vs DDP & Malone - Bash at the Beach 1998 -  -*****
45 minutes of Rodman falling, stumbling, botching, and sleeping. In between all that, we got a great helping of bore. It was an absolute embarrassment, and dull beyond belief.

Greatest Moments:
3 - "Tully Blanchard, he don't like Dusty Rhodes! Arn Anderson, he don't like Dusty Rhodes! Ric Flair doesn't like Dusty Rhodes!" - The 4 Horsemen break Dusty's leg - October 1985 - The Omni
One of the best rivalries of all time was Dusty vs The Horsemen. One of the best moments was when Dusty saved Ric from the Russians while in a steel cage, and to repay him for a kindness, The Horsemen broke Dusty's leg. Awesome stuff, really.
2 -  "Cuz the Big Mang, and the Medium-Sized Mang, and our surprise buddy, are gonna carve. you. up"
The Outsiders get what they want - Great American Bash 1996
This type of thing DID NOT HAPPEN. I watched this on ScrambleVision and was yelling at the TV because of how excited I was. Hogan's turn was bigger, but this was the pivtol moment that let you know the nWo was unlike anything else. An incredible segment.
1 - "He's pointing at me! He's pointing at me!" Sting chooses a side - Uncensored 1997
My favorite angle of all time, and my favorite moment. After over half a year of guessing, we finally knew where Sting stood. The heat and response for this is absolutely incredible, and gives me chills every time. Sting looked like a true superhero in this moment, while Hogan looked terrified.

I would have included PPVs in this, but that's already been taken care of. So, let's hear what you guys have to say regarding these categories.

Now, before I go, last week someone said they'd like to hear what I thought of the barbwire cage match between Ric Flair & Hollywood Hogan. I'm always happy to oblige, so let's take a look...

Hollywood Hulk Hogan [C] vs Ric Flair - First Blood Barbwire Steel Cage Match for the WCW World Championship - Uncensored 1999 - (14:19)
Ric tells the ref he doesn't want them to stop for a little nic or anything. He wants the ref to use his judgment. They start out, and right away you know something is up, because Hogan is fighting as if he's in full face mode. Once he does the ear call, you know they're going for the switch. Hogan gets Ric in a figure 4, and once he reaches the ropes he's forced to break. Look, you can rub your opponent's face in barbwire, or use it as a catheter if you so desire, but when he reaches the ropes, you gosh darn better well break. A fan throws a roll of toilet paper into the cage, but I'm thinking this'll need at least a bidet. Hogan opens up Flair's head, then rips down the barbwire and keeps it going. The blood is pouring down Ric's face, and the announcers are at a loss of words. Seriously, the only way this would make sense is if Muta were the ref and he only considered it blood loss if you resembled Alex Murphy. David comes down to the ring, as Ric shows why he's the man as he spits at his son and yells "I'm gonna be 14 times! 14 times!". Ric then girates at Torrie, very awesome. The switch is in full mode as the crowd starts chanting for him. Oh, and they're both bloody as all get out at this point. Hogan goes for the big boot and leg drop, and demands that the ref count. It only gets a 1 anyway. The ref is knocked out, which is a very needed spot since the match has no rules. David gives Hulk a key piece of advice as he tells him to "Hulk Up!". Arn Anderson comes down to the ring, dressed like he's going to the Denim Ball. He beats down David, and hands Flair a tire-iron who uses it to knock out the Hulkster. He slaps him in the figure 4, as the ref counts to 3. The crowd does cheer, and it would have been a bigger moment had it not been such a mess, refusing to allow any sense  to be made.
Rating: **3/4

If anyone has any further requests for future articles, let me know at faucetofslfame@hotmail.com, or the comment section.

Alright, that's it for this week, hope you enjoyed all the splender. Before I go I'd like to ask you guys if you prefer my articles to stay on the topic of wrestling, or would you dig it if I ventured into movies & television from time to time? Lemme know.

- Caliber Winfield
Str8 Gangster, No Chaser - recently updated with a rant about men no longer being men. You can also find a bevy of other topics, including pro-wrestling, movies, horror, top 4 articles, and interviews.
WCW In The Year 2000 - Recapping the absolute worst year in wrestling. Recently updated with Uncensored 2000.
Man Movie Encyclopedia Vol.1 - now on amazon - If you'd love some Caliber on the go, pick up my first book. It has a current rating of 5 stars.
“The Man Movie Encyclopedia is so manly that Chuck Norris shaves with it.  It was the original choice to play King Leonidas in 300 but it was too busy killing terrorists at the time. You can fail a UFC drug test due to having too much testosterone just from reading this book.  Although to be fair I might have made up some of those awesome facts.”  - Scott Keith.