Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW SuperBrawl – 2/29/92)

Overshadowed by the Ironman match and the fact 1992 WCW is the bomb and everything was so fucking great. But don’t sleep on this. This rules hard and the babyface/heel dynamics are so so good.

WCW US Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW SuperBrawl II



Rude gets nuclear heat during his pre-match spiel. He can't even get a word in edgewise until he brute forces his way through their jeers and boos. From that all the way to the end of the match, Rick Rude looked like the heir apparent to Ric Flair as the lead heel in WCW for the foreseeable future. I am not saying he is the next Ric Flair because there are plenty of differences, but the way he carried himself and structured a match is in the mold of an ace NWA touring champ heel. He shines up his opponent with lots of stooging and bumping and when it is time to get heat he is a mean sumbitch. I'm actually kinda pissed that the injury derailed him so much because I really think he was something special. His 1992 is nearly untouchable from a one calendar year standpoint as a heel. You'd have to go back to Flair in '86 or so to come close. Then imagine the 1-2 punch of Vader and Rude on top. I don't care if WCW sucked at promoting, it would be helluva lot fun to watch in retrospect. That Dustin series with '92 Rude would have absolutely killer. Enough dwelling on what could have been and let's be grateful for what we have and that is a most excellent Rude/Steamboat series.



As much as Rude was the star of this, Steamboat looked tremendous in this. I have run hot and cold on Steamboat. Sometimes, he can just be too mechanical, but that may just be a by-product of the WWF environment because re-watching his '94 stuff and the work against Dangerous Alliance he was been on point. Steamboat was on fire early looking to avenge the belt-whippings and Rude Awakenings he had received. He was just all over the arm and not just with the typical armbars and armdrags, but wrapping the arm around the post. Rude really shines here in the way he sells the arm and continues to sell the arm throughout the entire match! Steamboat does not forget this is a championship match so he does go for a pinfall early. The struggle in this match was great with Rude desperately trying to stymie Steamboat and when he would be forced to use his left arm he would sell it and not be able to capitalize. Steamboat was always fighting back during Rude's brief spells of offense. This was the perfect time for a chinlock. You have a hot babyface opponent that got off to a wicked fast start and you want to slow the match down, sap some of his energy and get some wind back into your lungs. If people just thought about when they used chinlocks (looking at you, '92 Austin) then it would not be reviled as a resthold. You gotta love Rude selling his left arm during his hip swivels and poses. He is just the man at this point. At this point, Rude is really targetting the neck especially after delivering the two Rude Awakenings from Clash 18. He hits a hoshot and a piledriver. Great arm and neck psychology, this match is just rocking. Steamboat, who is in dire straits, grabs anything he can get his hands on and delivers a kneecrusher and applies the figure-4. Rude recovers and it is clear the arm is hindering him more as he delivers forearms off the top. We hit the Rude staple electric chair drop out of the chinlock. Steamboat levels the playing field after some back and forth with a top-rope superplex, but cant get the three. Steamboat gets a little cocky ans starts mocking the hip swiveling, but looks more like he is trying to show us some surfing moves. Would have liked to seen that spot earlier in the match as now is the time to get down to business. Steamboat hits the flying judo chop and goes for the second one, but his Personal Ninja smashes a brick cell phone over his head. I wonder who that could be?



Tack on a real home stretch and a better finish and this is a MOTYC easy. I know the Beach Blast match is better and some go as far as saying the best 90s WCW match and I look forward to rewatching that, but this match definitely deserves more praise. The body of this match is terrific with the dueling arm/neck psychology. They are struggling through every transition neither man is giving an inch. Rude and Steamboat both put on a clinic in selling and how you can make each other and match so much better by taking the time to make every spot meaning something. The finish stretch was a little abrupt and would have liked to seen an extended one. The swerve with Dangerously as the Ninja was great for extending the feud. I have no problem with the finish just that run up was too abrupt. ****1/4