Post by superstarsleeze on Sept 16, 2018 22:03:54 GMT -5
This is gonna be a heartbreaker for me to leave off but I just don't think it will make it. This is just one of those big fight feel match that crescendos to such an amazing climax. DDP had gotten so over as a Face that for him to wrestle at such a high level so shortly after turning heel is impressive. He was a heel's heel in this match. Shining up Stinger real good then a low blow to get heat. Loved all the finisher teases. DDP was on the cutting edge of US wrestling by working so many nearfalls into match. I think Crow Sting is the drizzling shits in the ring, but for one night he looked like the Sting of old. This match just builds and builds and builds to an amazing finish!
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Sting - WCW Nitro 4/26/99
GOOD GOD! I know this match had a rep as one of the last classics in the history of WCW, but this hangs right up there with pretty much the entirety of the 90s as a great title match. It is easily the best WCW World Championship since Hogan arrived in WCW in 1994. I have been raving about DDP for a while now so I am not surprised at all that he had this in him. He just rules at these Clash of the Titans matches. I will say what is special about this is how it demonstrates how good a heel DDP was. It is easy to overlook this when he was one of the best babyfaces on the roster that in a month he was totally over as a heel and still capable of rocking it in the ring. Sting on the other hand I thought sucked out loud in 1998, but here Sting looked The Franchise again. He pretty much reverted back to the Sting we know and love with all the pep of a kid hopped up on sugar and I mean that in this the nicest way possible.
Everything in this match just felt huge and it was laid out perfectly to get that Fargo, ND to pop huge. It was a great feedback loop. The wrestlers presented situations that would pop the crowd and the wrestles fed off this energy meaning bigger pops and so on so forth until that absolutely INCREDIBLE EXPLOSION at the end of this match. We start off early with a long and strong babyface shine. DDP is constantly making Sting look great by taking bump, selling his punches and powdering. You really get the sense that DDP is overwhelmed by Sting. DDP is still getting offense in here and there, but he simply can't get anything going, which only makes Sting look stronger with these mini-combeacks. To Sting's credit, he is interacting with the crowd and he is creating movement and energy to send those good vibes out to the Fargo crowd. I love a good finish tease early. It shows both men are looking to win the match and that is at the forefront of both men's mind. Sting's attempt at the Scorpion Deathlock gets a massive pop and DDP sells it perfectly by urgently crawling for the ropes. DDP's Diamond Cutter attempt is met with anxiety from the crowd and a quick push off. I like DDP looking to walk out because he is frustrated and is nervous. It is good heel work. I hate the late 90s arena brawl, but this was fine for what it was and it did not last long. Now, we get into the heat segment, which was just as strong as the shine sequence. Sting looks for the ten punches in the corner, but as he turns to the admonishing ref, DDP nails a low blow. DDP was vicious using point of the elbow liberally to punish Sting's body and his foot to choke Sting. It never got tiresome because Sting was peppering in good hope spots (the webble wobble headbutt to the groin is always over in my house.) to break it up. DDP looks to use the post to work on Sting's legs, but when Sting still have enough strength to kick him into the railing. He understandable freaks out and realizes he needs to end this sooner rather than later. He looks to hit the Diamond Cutter, but Sting hooks the ropes so DDP goes down by himself. Sting hits a top rope Stinger Splash, 1-2-NO! But you can tell he is feeling it! Between this and the SuperBrawl VIII match, DDP was on the cutting edge of workrate with a ton of hot nearfalls. Unlike, in today's product, the nearfalls actually build to crescendo rather than going 2-3 nearfalls too many. I really loved the struggle late in this match. These guys were pulling out all the stops to win this match and you really felt how much each wrestler wanted to win the match whether it was from quick cradles to big bombs like Powerbombs and Piledrivers. Funny enough, I think Sting picked DDP up the for the wrong kind of piledriver, realized it, hit a modified GANSO BOMB~! and then did it again so they could do the awesome WCW tombstone reversal spot. The finishing spot was awesome with Sting holding on with all his might to avoid the Diamond Cutter to only comes out of the corner and hit a Scorpion Deathdrop and THE ROOF BLOWS OFF THE PLACE!
I loved this match so much just a great Clash of the Titans feel with a huge finish stretch. Both men played their roles to perfection and the crowd responded in turn. I noticed a couple awkward moments from Sting and the arena brawling drag this down from being a perfect match, but definitely right there with Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio for best WCW match of the last half of the decade. ****1/2
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Sting - WCW Nitro 4/26/99
GOOD GOD! I know this match had a rep as one of the last classics in the history of WCW, but this hangs right up there with pretty much the entirety of the 90s as a great title match. It is easily the best WCW World Championship since Hogan arrived in WCW in 1994. I have been raving about DDP for a while now so I am not surprised at all that he had this in him. He just rules at these Clash of the Titans matches. I will say what is special about this is how it demonstrates how good a heel DDP was. It is easy to overlook this when he was one of the best babyfaces on the roster that in a month he was totally over as a heel and still capable of rocking it in the ring. Sting on the other hand I thought sucked out loud in 1998, but here Sting looked The Franchise again. He pretty much reverted back to the Sting we know and love with all the pep of a kid hopped up on sugar and I mean that in this the nicest way possible.
Everything in this match just felt huge and it was laid out perfectly to get that Fargo, ND to pop huge. It was a great feedback loop. The wrestlers presented situations that would pop the crowd and the wrestles fed off this energy meaning bigger pops and so on so forth until that absolutely INCREDIBLE EXPLOSION at the end of this match. We start off early with a long and strong babyface shine. DDP is constantly making Sting look great by taking bump, selling his punches and powdering. You really get the sense that DDP is overwhelmed by Sting. DDP is still getting offense in here and there, but he simply can't get anything going, which only makes Sting look stronger with these mini-combeacks. To Sting's credit, he is interacting with the crowd and he is creating movement and energy to send those good vibes out to the Fargo crowd. I love a good finish tease early. It shows both men are looking to win the match and that is at the forefront of both men's mind. Sting's attempt at the Scorpion Deathlock gets a massive pop and DDP sells it perfectly by urgently crawling for the ropes. DDP's Diamond Cutter attempt is met with anxiety from the crowd and a quick push off. I like DDP looking to walk out because he is frustrated and is nervous. It is good heel work. I hate the late 90s arena brawl, but this was fine for what it was and it did not last long. Now, we get into the heat segment, which was just as strong as the shine sequence. Sting looks for the ten punches in the corner, but as he turns to the admonishing ref, DDP nails a low blow. DDP was vicious using point of the elbow liberally to punish Sting's body and his foot to choke Sting. It never got tiresome because Sting was peppering in good hope spots (the webble wobble headbutt to the groin is always over in my house.) to break it up. DDP looks to use the post to work on Sting's legs, but when Sting still have enough strength to kick him into the railing. He understandable freaks out and realizes he needs to end this sooner rather than later. He looks to hit the Diamond Cutter, but Sting hooks the ropes so DDP goes down by himself. Sting hits a top rope Stinger Splash, 1-2-NO! But you can tell he is feeling it! Between this and the SuperBrawl VIII match, DDP was on the cutting edge of workrate with a ton of hot nearfalls. Unlike, in today's product, the nearfalls actually build to crescendo rather than going 2-3 nearfalls too many. I really loved the struggle late in this match. These guys were pulling out all the stops to win this match and you really felt how much each wrestler wanted to win the match whether it was from quick cradles to big bombs like Powerbombs and Piledrivers. Funny enough, I think Sting picked DDP up the for the wrong kind of piledriver, realized it, hit a modified GANSO BOMB~! and then did it again so they could do the awesome WCW tombstone reversal spot. The finishing spot was awesome with Sting holding on with all his might to avoid the Diamond Cutter to only comes out of the corner and hit a Scorpion Deathdrop and THE ROOF BLOWS OFF THE PLACE!
I loved this match so much just a great Clash of the Titans feel with a huge finish stretch. Both men played their roles to perfection and the crowd responded in turn. I noticed a couple awkward moments from Sting and the arena brawling drag this down from being a perfect match, but definitely right there with Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio for best WCW match of the last half of the decade. ****1/2
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