Well, since I sent my Ballot to Other Phil, I thought I might as well toss it up. I'll add some quick comments at the end on the "just missed", "other forgotten gems" and "my god this was overrated" matches that jumped out at me that I normally would have touched on in the Pimping Post. Consider this an all-in-one post. ;)

This may be a bit more WCW Heavy intensive that other people's ballots, but I felt like being a bit quirky here.

*blink*

Hey... wait a minute... I said that same thing about my NJPW Ballot... you don't think I might be copying my prior intro?
;)

Anyway, to copy more of my NJPW intro... I'm expecting the cruiser to take names and kick ass on the final vote. Looking at a few of the ballots that are up here, that seems to be the case. I spent much of the second half of the decade arguing with My Learned Colleague From Richmond that the WCW Cruiser matches were, as a general rule, overrated as all hell. This, I argued, was mostly due to seeing live Rey have better matches in Mexico with both Juve and Psic than he ever had with them in the US... and from seeing live Dragon have better matches with Ohtani and Sasuke than he ever had here in the US... and seeing about a billion lucharific matches like the 4/30/95 Santito & Ocatagon & Rey vs. The Rudo Dream Team of Pa Fuerza & Juve Guerrera & Psic that was better than any three WCW cruiser matches combined.

Alas, it was a losing cause as the Forces of East Coast Evil smote down my cruiser influence, and over time these have led the hoards of US Cruiser Rube Fans to pray at the alter of the Flase Gods of US Cruiser Matches. Much like the Forces of NoCal Evil led the hoards of US Puroresu Rubes to pray at the Alter of the False God Kobashi rather than the One True God Kawada that jdw the baptist foresaw...

*blink*

Hey... wait a minute. I seem to have won over the masses in the Kawada vs. Kobashi debate. How in the hell did I lose the WCW Cruiser debate?

*looks at Dean*

I think our old friend Pauly73 would be surprised that my special powers failed to defeat you, oh Evil One. :P
Anyway... enough of that goofiness. Where was I? Ah...

Cruisers are going to be all over the ballots, so I thought some of the best of the "other" matches needed to find their way onto the final list.. even if it's down at the bottom of it. Plus, after a while, Juve vs. Kidman #51 started feeling the same as Juve vs. Kidman #101. I feel comfortable sticking in a few extra "other" matches that stuck out as memorable in my mind for one reason or another, especially in the 16-20 slots. Much like with my beloved NJPW Ballot, you, my loyal reader, may not be finding here a true list of "best" WCW matches, or at least one that you would agree with as the 20 Best. But if I was limited to 20 WCW matches from the 90s to take onto an island, I'm pretty comfortable that these would be the 20... or at least 17 of the 20... or 15 of twenty... or something like that. ;)

20. Doom vs. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham ( 12/16/90 - Starrcade '90)
This didn't even get nominated. This was a 7:00 quad-juice streetfight brawl. A bit short... but this was intense as hell and had the aura of a "fight". This was to be Flair & Arn vs. Doom, but Ric went AWOL that show so that he could end up under the Black Scorpion mask and job to Sting in the main event. It actually was just as fine that Flair wasn't in it, as this type of brawl was more Barry's style given his old Florida roots and having to carry people like Ron Bass. The Horsemen were in one of their short stretchs of being tweeners in this feud, but they were very much in Kick Ass mode rather than kissing teenie bopper mode. I don't think the Horsemen ever captured the true level of ass kicking before or after this match - their prior ass kicking modes, like "making it good" on Dusty and rubbing Ricky Morton's face in the concrete were more the good campy rudo-dom that played to Rudo fans like myself while getting the Face Rubes all up at arms. *This* was true ass stomping, going toe-to-toe with a pair of bad asses like Simmons and Reed. Barry & Arn vs. Doom *should* have been a great violent feud, but WCW had their head up their ass. Hmmm... story of most of their decade.

19. Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (6/16/93 - Clash XXIII - NWA World Title)
Hey... more Barry Windham. There may be more before this is over. ;)
This was Barry's last great match as he would blow out his knee later in the month, then screwed off when he should have been rehabbing, and never again was the God of Work that he once was.
Here's the basic premise of the match. Barry is Jumbo Tsuruta, circa May 1991, just younger, and not The Man like Jumbo was. Scorp was Kenta Kobashi circa May 1991, just not quite as good. This is Vet Star vs. Young Hot Shot, just like the May 1991 Jumbo vs. Kobashi. It's _not_ as good as the AJPW classic, but it is one of the very best Vet vs. Young Gun matches that the US produced in the decade.
Why? Because they both played their roles to perfection. Scorp brought the flashy offense. Barry brought the ability to layout a match, let Scorp up for his highspots, and cut him off and reel him back in. Oh yeah... Barry also brought excellent US heavy offense for the era. And Barry got to win in the end. When watching this match at the time, one could visualize NWA World Champ Barry touring the territories back in the early 80s, working against the local top face, and putting on a damn fine match.
I see Deano rated this fairly high. It's *not* as good as he rated it. :) But it is worthy of consideration, and is the type of smartly worked match that ages well. Seeing it on Dean's list does give me comfort that my quirkiness here is on the mark. :)

18. Too Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit (2/21/93 - Superbrawl '93)
This is one of those great "what if" matches. WCW could have put together a great junior division in 1991- 7/92 when they were pushing Pillman as the LHW champ. They blew that of course. Here in early 1993, they could have again put together a great junior division. This match gave a hint of what it could have been like like. Scorp was still green, but Benoit was terrific in carrying him. This wasn't short, they had plenty of time to build a match, and by the end of it they were doing things that people just weren't regularly seeing in the Big 2 at the time. One almost get melancholy watching it now, knowing it would be three and a half years before the junior division got over here, and even worse realize how over it final got and was still ruined by the people running the business.

17. Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd (9/17/95- Fall Brawl '95)
This ranks behind only the 6/12/98 Kawada vs. Misawa match as the finest example in the decade of a wrestler giving a big "fuck you" to a booker screwing him.
This was Pillman before he lost his mind to hanging out with the Horsemen, with the work-shoot-fabe crap, and the loose cannon nonsense. This was Pillman who could work like a mother, and had a truly global perspective on how to work. He was deeply into puroresu and Lucha at the time, and was incorporating a move here and a spot there into his matches. At a time when most of the workers in the Big Two were still L7, Pillman was open minded in 1994 through the fall of 1995, and took pride in his work.
So the jackass bookers sent him out to work a "20:00" broadway (actually 20:14), then go to "sudden death overtime" and work another 9:00 before doing a finish. This back when Mero was a damn limited worker, and was just as likely to botch a move badly as hit something graceful. 30:00 with Mero was the way for the boys in the back to show up Pillman - he and Mero couldn't possibly fill the time and would completely lose the crowd by spending a ton of time laying around. Everyone in the back would have a good laugh at Brian, and all his talk about different types of great work would be blown out of the water.
Instead Pillman put on the performance of his lifetime. The 20:00 "draw" part was a good slow build, but Pillman smartly picked things up for a highspot regularly enough to keep the crowd engaged. The 9:00 of sudden death were terrific, with loads of highspots, and Pillman used the extra time the bookers tagged on in hopes to screw him to create a somewhat unique match - the "restarts" almost always end quickly, and are anticlimactic. Going longer in the resart gave this drama that built and got more intense.
If I had to point to one Pillman match for people to track down to get a feel of just how good Brian was, this is the one. This is his Kawada vs. Albright and Vader vs. Inoki. Knowing at the time just how badly the powers were trying to fuck him made it only sweeter to watch.
Of course Brian would shortly go into the Horsemen, and learn the "right" way to work. That was hard to watch, as Brian already knew how to work... in just a way that was perfect for _him_.
There are two Brian's I'll always remember, even if I have to force myself to.
One is Brian in the last year who was spiraling out of control. You have to remember that one, or you can't possibly learn anything from his decline and death.
The other Brian I remember was the one on this night, when the boys in the back sent him out there with Marc Mero set up to step on his own dick. Instead, Brian flipped them the bird, went out there, and _wrestled_. Damn was it good, and everyone watching knew it.

16. Sting vs. Cactus Jack (6/20/92 - Beach Blast '92 - Falls Count Anywhere)
Cactus' break through match in WCW, and to me his best match of his WCW years. Thrown in a "main event" of a show that Watts pretty much wrote off, with little expectations, Cactus led a very game Sting through a hell of a match. Naturally WCW fails to build off of it at all, having no clue in what they had in Mick.

15. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (2/25/90 - Wrestlewar '90 - NWA World Title)
This strikes me as the definitive "Ric Flair Match" that Ric had in the 90s - Flair carrying a lesser opponent, repetative as all hell, lots of "energy", pedestrian offense, lots of heat and drama, nutty psych, long slow build that never felt like it was dragging too much, the Horsemen helping Ric, the best main events you'd find in the US, and a crap finish. Well... maybe the finish wasn't too crappy to me at the time, since Ric got to keep the title... and that was better than having Luger win it. :)
I'm fearful of rewatching this match and actually trying to chart it out. The number of Luger gorilla presses and lariats would probably drive me nuts. As would Flair begging off. As would Flair's regressive offense. As would the way inwhich the pysch wouldn't add up to a strong bottom line. As I say, definitive Ric Flair.
But at the time, this did seem like an epic match and a terrific main event, especially to this Flair fan. I was already watching puroresu at that time, and the TC *wasn't* kicking out matches better than this with regularity at that point, as only the 6/89 TC was truly a classic by that point. The IWGP was pretty so-so for the most part. WWF mains blew by-and-large. In some ways, this was the last of Flair's great NWA/WCW singles match that was up there on the top tier of what heavies were doing.

14. Steiner Brothers vs. Sting & Lex Luger (5/19/91 - Superbrawl '91 - WCW Tag Titles)
A shockingly great match, with all four busting their ass in a spot-a-thon. Nothing but signature spots left-and-right. This had mega heat, and was one of the few "dream matches" (to regular fans) that exceeded expectations (to hardcore fans). The finish sucked, but it was going to be tricky having someone do the job here. I think if I were the booker, I would have had Scott pin Luger, setting up a Luger vs. Scott US Title match on the 6/12/91 Clash where Luger could get the pin back... instead of that embarassing Luger vs. Muta match. *sigh*
Anyway, I think this would be the one WCW match of the Steiners to track down. It seemed to hit on all cylinders better than any of their matches on this continent.

13. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson & Larry Zbysko (11/19/91 - Clash XVII - WCW Tag Titles)
Ricky being Dustin's "big surprise" . This was a terrific moment in Clash history. Arn and Ricky worked together like they were born to work together. A title change at the end that even die-hard rudo fans like myself could pop for. Another WCW match that probably doesn't hold up given how many great AJPW tag matches we've seen since, but at the time this was both excellent and instantly memorable.

12. Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman (2/29/92 - Superbrawl '92 - WCW Light Heavyweight Title)
I may rate this low... but at the time I didn't think it was quite deserving of the rating it got - Liger was regularly every bit as good in Japan. Excellent... a US MOTYC... but ****3/4 was pretty nutty. But...
In hindsight it was a US MOTYC, and the highpoint of the aborted WCW LHW division. They had plenty of time to work _their_ match. This wasn't at all like the standard rushed cruiser match of the last half of the decade where they had to go-go-go and throw as much "stuff" into 10:00 or less. Good smart work here, and worthy of making the list.
11. Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon (12/29/96 - Starrcade '96 - WCW Cruiserweight vs. J-Crown)
Dean and Dragon were at their peaks here and the crowd was actually into cruiser *wrestling* at the time. You didn't have to put on a spot-o-rama as a cruiser to get heat. You could simply work the signature spots that the fans were familar with. The finish drags this down from being higher on the list, but all things told I think it remains one of the upper tier of WCW's cruiser matches.

10. Shane Douglas & Ricky Steamboat vs. Barry Windham & Brian Pillman (12/28/92 - Starrcade '92 - NWA/WCW Tag Titles)
God... these were the days of nice long tag matches when they could take your time, build a match, keep the crowd into it, and slowly at home you realize you're watching something special rather than being hit over the head with it. Barry, Ricky and Pillman were so damn good back here that they could carry vanilla window dressing like Shane to a classic. Barry & Pillman would have made a exceptional rudo team, but the promotion had Barry pointed in the dirction of the NWA Title and Pillman was a short time away from the Blonds... neither of which were bad moves. People who are putting matches like Benoit & Malenko vs. Raven & Saturn or the Windhams on their list don't know what they missed - this was real NWA tag team wrestling, where "face-in-peril" was a life and death experience in great matches.

9. Sting vs. Vader (7/12/92 - GAB '92 - WCW World Title)
8. Sting vs. Vader (12/28/92 - Starrcade '92 - King of Cable Finals)
Sting vs. Vader was the Feud of the Decade in WCW. Of course it was a feud botched up by the bookers, but Leon didn't let that get in his way and this was back when Sting was truly a game wrestler when in with someone who wanted to go.
Watts had JYD and Butch Reed 1980-85 on his mind at the time, which meant Vader was transitional between Sting and the new Great Black Hope, Ron Simmons. What Watts didn't realize was that Vader was Terry Gordy circa 1986 - the best fucking big man in the US. In 1986 Watts had over faces by the boatload to chase Gordy - Duggan, DiBiase, Doc and Taylor. In 1992 he had over faces by the boatload to chase Vader - Sting, Steamboat, Windham, the Steiners, and the up-and-coming Dustin and Simmons.
Ron badly needed to be "tested" in a semifinal feud over the US Title with Rick Rude (who had just finished a feud with Steamboat and had developed into a fine heel worker) while Steamboat and Barry slipped into the challenger role opposite Vader. If Simmons showed he could hang with Rude, and carry himself as a semifinal face, *then* it might be worthwhile to put the belt on him. Instead, Watts threw Simmons to the lions and he got eaten right up. And Vader's quicky transition reign here didn't do him any wonders once he was given the title in 1993 for a long reign. His crop of face opponents just didn't seem quite as attractive then, as Windham had gone heel, Steamboat was no longer red-hot like he was in the first half of 1992, the Steiners were gone, and Simmons had been eaten up. 1992 was the right time, and the WWF in the post-scandal era where the business was falling out the bottom was ripe for inroads *if* the company had their shit together. Instead, Simmons got the push, and Jake Roberts got brought in for Spin the Wheel with Sting. *rolls eyes*
But I digress and back to the two Vader vs. Sting matches.
The first match was the title change, which was shocking at the time not only in its quality, but also in the realtively clean win for a heel against the top face in the company. The second was Sting's revenge later in the year. *In the context of their time*, these were not only more satisfying than Vader's matches with Misawa and Kobashi in All Japan, but they were also _better_. Both were among the better heavyweight singles matches of 1992, which while devoid of a runaway choice for best heavy singles match, had a decent depth of MOTYC - 8/92 Chono vs. Rude, 8/92 Hart vs. Smith, 10/92 Misawa vs. Kawada, 11/92 Hart vs. Michaels, 12/92 Chono vs. Hase and 12/92 Muta vs. Hase. I'd tab the Misawa vs. Kawada as the best, but the Vader vs. Sting matches were in the same class as the rest and work very well as examples of a Big Man vs. Strong Baby Face match in contrast to the "old school" virtures of most of the rest and the bloodbath appeal of the Hase-Muta.

7. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Larry Zbysko & Steve Austin (2/29/92- Superbrawl '92)
I have a big soft spot for this match. It was 18:30 of non-stop action. The pacing was more like an All Japan six-man tag main event than a US match. Rather than coming across as a spot-a-thon, the pacing created an intense "grudge feud" feeling making this seem like a "war". They didn't have the state of the art heavy moves that their AJPW peers had, or quite the stiffness. But they had the intensity, and as some would say, they brought the HATE here. :)
Dustin and Austin were young up-and-comers at the time, with a long feud under their belts over the TV title. Their singles matches at the time were "good" though a bit overrated at the time and in hindsight. In a tag setting, they could eliminate a good amount of the "time killing", which they weren't masters of at that time, and rely more on their signature spots and work from a comfort zone. Barry was a God of Work at this time and he brought the total package here - the offense, the selling, the brawling, the intensity, the glue, the guiding the youngins through the match, the pacing, the kicking Larry swiftly in the ass to keep him from stalling. There wasn't even time for Larry to stall and work with the crowd - the other three were off to the races and _froced_ him to keep up.
The Steiners worked against Arn & Eaton on the same card, and that match just meandered around. It was "solid", but didn't really build like the Dream Match that it looked to be on paper. Windham & Rhodes vs. Larry & Austin brought the goods. This is a match I wish Dean would watch and review. It's almost a southern wrestling tag "fight" match rather than a southern wrestling tag "face-in-peril" match. This wasn't like the Anderson's breaking down a body part. It was more like bunch of Dick Murdoch's and Barry Windham's beating each other up, which works for me. :)

6. Ric Flair & Barry Windham & Sid Vicious & Larry Zbysko vs. Sting & The Steiners & Brian Pillman (2/24/91 - Wrestlewar '91 - Wargames)
5. Sting & Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin & Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbysko (5/17/92 - Wrestlewar '92 - Wargames)
It's a toss up to me which of these are better.
The 1991 match has the single best stretch of Wargames in history - the opening 5:00 period between Kick Ass Heel Horseman Barry Windham and the Injured Brian Pillman. The beat the snot out of each other, but because they had 5:00, they aren't rushed about it. There's a frenzy of violence, but they have the time to develope the story of Brian's bad shoulder and also his fighting spirit. Awesome stuff. The 1991 also has a (then) rare heel win at the end, and also is psychologically logical as it's Pillman who goes down at the end after being in there from the begining. But inbetween it's a bit so-so. The Steiners really weren't made for Wargames or a cage - it seemed to detract from their strong points. Larry wasn't very good at this point, and didn't have any Wargames experience. Arn was hurt. Had he, one of the master workers of the Wargames setting, been in there this would have been a lock to ranked the high of the two.
The 1992 had a super opening with Barry and Austin, but they went just 2:00 and didn't have the psychological impact and depth of the Barry vs. Pillman opening the year before. It did have good pysch, though, as the two were feuding over the TV title at the time. The ending in 1992 also was weaker - it tried to do a bit too much, and came across as unnecessairly sloppy. But in between... jesus christ was it a awesome match. Barry and Arn were absolute masters of the Wargames setting. They had schtick and spots galore that they could roll out, right down to Arn's classic "Upside Down With My Head Between The Rings" spot. Sting had been in enough of them to know how to play his Top Baby Face role very well. Steamboat and Rude... they were so good workers at the point (yes, Rude) that they slipped into the match like it was an old shoe. Even Larry was much better than the prior year, and Nikita had been in enough to know how to play "last man in" and had a storyline with Sting that was dramatically effective. Only Bobby was subpar, and that was largely due to a bad shoulder coming in. There was a good spot of Madusa climbing on top of the cage to try something nasty and Sting going up after her to send her back down. The heat was right through the roof for the match - absolutely molten, and WCW never was known for doing a great job of mic'ing their crowds. Buckets of blood. And the last gasp of the Dangerous Alliance before Watts screwed up by breaking them up.
I put the 1992 one slightly ahead. The body of the match was just a bit better. Plus, I've watch it more often and it was the last "great" Wargames WCW ever ran. Whenever I watch it again, I'm reminded how easy of a match it is to have be "great" if you just (i) have a couple of great workers in it, and (ii) lay it out smartly in advance. The 1991 and 1992 ones are among the smarter worked matches of the decade. Simple but smart. Later Wargames tried to get more complicated, but they didn't really think them through when it came to the work.
It's too bad. Wargames *should* be WCW's Royal Rumble - a unique event that's a draw once a year. You've got to deliver the juice, and you've can't shy away from it by pulling back the camera or cutting away from the bad shots of heavy juice. But you've also got to make it a great match. Which truly isn't all that hard to do.

4. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrero (10/26/97 - Havoc '97 - Cruiserweight Title)
This was the match that was booked to have Rey lose his mask to Eddy. Since we all knew Rey was going to lose his mask, Eric tried to "out smart the smarts" and have Rey win. For once Eric didn't fuck up when playing that game. Of course he kept the thought of unmasking Rey right in his mind for future use, and Rey has sucked since he lost the mask. This was more of a spot-a-thon than a NJ juniors-style match, but they hit their marks in this one and actually "built" a match out of the spots. It was dramatic as hell, as it did seem like Rey was dropping the match. Major heat, and Eddy pretty much at the height of his powers. They could have had a *better* match with perhaps 3:00 more and Eddy doing more gringos locos rudo spots, like he would flash in the "Cheat To Win" phase that would open the following year. But I'm not complaining. Near perfect is good enough for.

3. Big Van Vader vs. Sting (2/21/93 - Superbrawl '93 - WCW World Title - Strap Match)
Prior to the Michaels vs. Razor Ladder matches, this was my top Gimmick Singles match. It's possible that if I watched it again back-to-back with the Ladder Matches that this might take the top spot back. Why? It's not easy to explain. Gimmick matches tend to limit what the wrestlers can do. It's hard to do great flying or super theatrical bumping in a strap match. If you're Flair, you can't use your patented brawling outside the ring in a cage match. Gimmick matches also force the wrestlers into using certain signatures spots that of common to the gimmick match. Throw a guy into a cage. Rake the guy in the cage. Heel tries to climb out of the cage. Face goes up and gets the heel. Wash, rinse, repeat. Not only do gimmick matches take away certain spots from wrestlers, but they also have a way of forcing the wrestler to comply with the Standard Gimmick Match Handbook method of working that match.
Razor and Michaels were, on some level, freed up when it came to that. While Ladder Matches weren't brand new in the US, they were new enough that Michaels and Hall could create their own Handbook for working ladder matches, and test their own limits of what they wanted to do. Vader and Sting, on the other hand, were working an old gimmick that had a very set way of being worked - beat each other with the strap a bunch, do the crotch spot, do some choking, tease the Touch All The Corners spot a bunch, someone finally touches the fourth after a struggle. Vader and Sting had established they could work great with each other, but here's a friggin strap to get in the way of their normal great match. But wait, there's the rub to why this is such a great match. Vader decided, "fuck this... I'm going to have my normal great match with Steve despite this fucking strap." He doesn't let the strap limit him from doing lots of spots out of the Sting & Vader Greatest Hits Songbook. The strap is there for _accent_, not to dominate what he's trying to do. The strap is for moments when they snap off and strap the fuck out of each other, before going back to wrestling a Vader vs. Sting match. As Hobbie and I sat there watching that great match cap a great PPV, it felt like Vader broke through the wall of limitations the enclosed the strap back, walked through to the other side, reached back to pull Sting through and said, "Come on... let's wrestle." I don't know how to easily explain it. It's a bit like if Misawa and Kawada worked a match with a strap, and still used the TD, the TS, the jumping high kick, the dangerous backdrop, the stretch plum, etc. And the strap was they for a spot here, a spot there. That's the difference between this gimmick classic and the Razor vs. Michaels gimmick classics. Those were classics because it was "The Ladder, Starring Shawn Michaels & Razor Ramon". This was a classic because it was "Vader vs. Sting, with Special Guest Star The Strap". Sting and Vader already had their own "match" that could get to MOTYC *together*. Michaels and Razor didn't, at least not together. That's not a knock on those ladder matches, as I as of right now think they're #1 and #2 on the singles gimmick list. But this Vader vs. Sting not only was great, it was also a bit unique among gimmicks matches. In that way, it's memorable as all hell, even just being one of three great MOTYC between the two in just over half a year, and even being on one of WCW's best PPVs ever.

2. Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys (7/7/90 - GAB '90 - US Tag Titles)
The last MOTYC by the Midnight Express. This is more the classical NWA style tag team match, with the faces bringing their hot faces spots and comebcks, and the heels knowing how to put them into face-in-peril to the T. The Southern Boys are a forgotten "good" tag team that got fucked up in WCW with their name change to The Young Pistols. They were hardly the MX's best opponent, as no one was quite the peers of the underrated Fantastics in being 100% insync with the MX. But they were just they type of faces Eaton & Lane, like Condrey & Eaton before them, could carry to good-to-exceptional matches. This was hands down the best match in the US in 1990. The MX would be gone for good within four months. WCW management had a poor understanding of the value such a mid-card team (including Corny) had to a promotion. Our loss, as it was the first shot in the decline of tag team wrestling in the US. This was their best match of what was a hell of a run to the finish line before the broke up.

1. Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. (11/24/96 - WWIII '96 - J-Crown)
To me this is the closest WCW's cruiser division ever got to the best of the NJ Juniors division. Dragon was Liger here, and Rey Jr. was a young Ohtani. This wasn't a spot-a-thon at all, but it also wasn't a Malenko vs. Rey match where Malenko would dominate on the mat for 11:00 before letting Rey up for 2:00 of highspots beforen hitting the finish. Dragon dominated, but unlike Malenko, knew how to let Rey up _regularly_ during the match to run off a few high spots before perfectly hitting a transition spot to go back into dominating. The best was countering the springboard huracanrana with one of the most picture perfectly exectued Liger Bombs I've ever seen hit. This had splendid back-and-forth action, but never was rushed in allowing itself to build into a *match*. This was at a time when WCW would push a star to death, and since Rey was the star of the junior division, there was some doubt that he'd follow his title job to Malenko with another clean job to Dragon. The expectation was something screwy. Instead we got a clean win that made Dragon look strong going into the Starcade match with Malenko.

The WCW cruiser division was downhill from the 11/96 Dragon vs. Rey and 12/96 Dragon vs. Malenko matches. They had other matches that I liked quite a bit, such as the Eddy vs. Rey from Havoc '97. But for every flash like that, or the good house show matches of Eddy vs. Chavo and Dragon vs. Psic, they have crap. Load of crap that kept the division from reaching the heights that it had every reason to reach. Syxx, Alex Wright and "face" Chris Jericho as champ. Rudo Eddy getting cut off so the company could go back to heel Jericho as champ... a role where Jericho never produced a classic WCW match, no matter how much people turned into Jerichoholics. Rey's injuries, and the promotion never getting hard enough on him about how he should rehab. Face Juve being pushed by his "friends" of be a high flying J. Misterio Jr rather than what he had been in Mexico in his prime - the best young rudo in the business with an offense loaded to the giles that flying was only a small part of. Then later Rudo Juve being a pale ghost of Rudo Juve in Mexico in 1995 and early 1996. The push to the moon of Kidman that did wonders for getting Kidman over, but seriously hurt the depth of the rest of the division in getting over. Then pulling the plug on Kidman and fucking up his career. And generally the entire division being pushed into working spot-spot-spot Nitro style matches rather than the artistry of Dragon vs. Rey and Dragon vs. Dean which was _super over_ in 1996. This isn't even touching on the shit like Madusa and Oakie. This division was terminally ill long before that, with WCW Cruiser Rubes being like crack whores - give them a little hit of high spots and they'll "open for business" to believe the division still had hope.

What's sad is that the company had many opportunites to turn back the clock. Especially with Rudo Eddy, who had the package to make a more complete style of match get over with the crowd in the place of meaningless and disposable spot-a-thons.
Aw well...

* Arn Anderson vs. Bobby Eaton - Superbrawl '91 (5/19/91 - TV Title)
This was like a ***1/2 match. Neither Eaton or Arn were great singles workers. "Solid"... but they never had a MOTYC in singles matches

* Ric Flair vs. Tatsumi Fujinami - Superbrawl '91 (5/19/91 - NWA/WCW Unification Match)
This sucked.
Seriously.

* Gigante/Sting/Steiners vs. Abdullah/Stud/Jack/Vader ­ Havoc '91 (10/27/91 ­ Chamber of Horrors)
This was a bad clusterfuck. Abby getting electrocuted... yeah... that's a "great" match. *rolls eyes*

* Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton vs. Steiner Brothers - Superbrawl '92 (2/29/92 - Tag Titles)
This was a dream match that we all thought at the time was a lock for a MOTYC. It wasn't close. Maybe ***... but very disappointing. They just didn't work well together, mostly because the Steiners couldn't work face-in-peril matches that Arn and Bobby were the consumate heels in working. The Steiners were better off when *their opponents* were combined being the underdog face-in-peril team with high end offense like Hase & Sasaki or Hase & Mutoh. The Steiners would have worked great with Misawa & Kobashi was well, and 1991-92 Steiners would have worked well with 1996 Misawa & Akiyama.

* Scotty Flamingo vs. Brian Pillman ­ Beach Blast '92 (6/20/92 ­ Light Heavyweight Title)
This match was the death of the WCW Light Heavyweight division. It's insulting to see it here.

* Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff vs. Joe & Dean Malenko - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* Rick Rude/Steve Austin vs. Marcus Bagwell/Tom Zenk - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* The Freebirds vs. El Texano/Silver King - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* Nikita Koloff/Ricky Steamboat vs. Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger - GAB '92 (7/12/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin/Rick Rude ­ GAB '92 (7/12/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham ­ GAB '92 (7/12/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney Finals)
I'm a bit stunned these matches are here. The tournament blew, with the exception of the juniors match and the Steiners vs. Gordy & Williams. The Birds vs. Texano & Sliver King was a _horrible_ match as the Birds had no clue of how to work with Texano & Sliver King. Just a fucking mess... and probably one of the worst match the luchdors ever had. I'm assuming whoever nominated them hasn't actually seen the match and thought it looked cool on paper.
The tourney _should_ have been great, with a little fine tuning. That Barry & Dustin vs. Arn & Bobby should have been great... but it wasn't even good. Dittos the Rude & Austin match against the same team. This was Watts trying to take wrestling back to "real wrestling", which meant killing a godawful amount of time on the mat doing not a fucking thing. Watts didn't have a clue that Dustin & Barry had been doing "real wrestling" earlier in the year with Larry & Austin... just of the Kick Ass variety rather than the Lay On The Mat kind. Damn... that tourney had the chance to produce a ton of MOTYC, but instead Watts was out of touch.
"Coming off the top rope is bad... because... uh... it's bad." -Bill Watts, echoing in his ass where his head was buried.

* Sting vs. Rick Rude ­ Clash XXI (11/18/92 ­ King of Cable Tourney)
This wasn't even a good match.
They had a decent short match they year before when Rude won the US Title. But this wasn't even decent.

* Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blondes - Clash XXII (1/13/93 - Tag Titles)
Disappointing. Not even close to the Starcade match with Barry instead of Austin.

* Dustin Rhodes/Sting/Cactus Jack vs. Vader/Paul Orndorff/Barry Windham - Clash XXII (1/13/93 ­ Cage Match)
This was a terrible match. The booking through the show about who would be in it was all messed up. It was a 4-4, a 3-4, a 3-2, a... just go away.

* Cactus Jack vs. Vader ("The Potato Match" 4/17/93)
* Cactus Jack vs. Vader ("The Powerbomb Match" 4/24/93)
I always thought these were overrated. I tend to prefer actual wrestling matches.

* Ric Flair/Arn Anderson vs. Hollywood Blondes - Clash XXIII (6/16/93 - Tag Titles, 2/3 Falls)
This was a super disappointing match, with completely screwy booking and Flair looking old.

* Vader vs. Cactus Jack ­ Havoc '93 (10/24/93 ­ Texas Death Match)
I always thought these were overrated. I tend to prefer actual wrestling matches. I liked Vader's match with Davey Boy Smith better than this mess.

* Steve Austin vs. Brian Pillman - Clash XXV (11/10/93)
At the time I was hoping to something that would give some meaning to the Blonds broke up.
Instead I got a pedestrian match, and the Col.

* Ric Flair vs. Vader - Starrcade '93 (12/27/93 - World Title)
Probably the most overrated match of the decade. Strip away all of the out of the ring nonsense and focus on the match. Ric's offense looks worse than Inoki's in the 1/04/96 Inoki vs. Vader match. Ric looked as old as Inoki. Ric took a nice beating... but did he take anywhere near the beating Inoki took?
No. Crap finish. No believeability of Flair against Vader.
This was all from a Flair fan who was thanking jesus that night *prior to the match* that it was Flair in the ring rather than Sid (who was going to win the belt), and who enjoyed all the pre-match nonsense. But once it started, it was so clear that Vader was working on such a different level that Leon couldn't cover up for the fact that Flair's style *couldn't* work well with his. Just painful to watch.
Yohe and I watched the new tape of the 12/93 Vader vs. Takada after the PPV was over. Neither of us that that the 12/93 Vader vs. Takada was a MOTYC (we watched the 12/03/93 Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue that same night... and it was clear which match was the MOTYC). But the 12/93 Vader vs. Takada was so clearly a better match than Flair vs. Vader that it wasn't even funny.
Ric should have hung it up after that night.

* Sting/Pillman/Rhodes vs. Austin/Rude/Orndorff - Superbrawl '94 (2/20/94 - Thundercage Match)
Er... ugh... blah. Looked good on paper, but sucked in reality. They would have been better off just having a 15:00 all-action six-man tag with those six. *That* would have had a shot at being a great match.

* Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - Spring Stampede '94 (4/17/94 - World Title)
* Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (5/14/94)
The first was the most boring Flair vs. Steamboat that I've ever seen. It's was a bit like watching Ginger Lynn's comeback to porn - the time had passed. I like old school wrestling. But I like it smartly worked, well built, and engaging the crowd (most importantly me). They would have been better off corking a faster paced 20:00 match that chopped off half the laying around on the mat with their thumbs up their asses. Christ, after we watched that PPV we watched the 30:00 1994 Carny draw between Doc and Kawada that _no one_ talks about... and Kawada and Doc worked circles around them working the same amount of time. I'm not even going to bring up the 4/16/94 Doc vs. Kawada Carny Final... since I've beaten that horse deader than dead.
These weren't good.

* Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson - Fall Brawl '95 (9/17/95)
I thought this was wildly disappointing. The Flair vs. Arn feud, after all those year of being best of friends, really was mediocre. They were like brothers. Has anyone here seen two brothers in a real fight? It's the most violent fighting I've ever seen, as all that sibbling animosity bubbles up into a irrational hate that's as deep as any hate that there is. Violence... that boils over into an almost murderous violence.
Flair vs. Arn _should_ have been that. We never got even close to that in this sissy feud between the two. The should have had something that combined the bloodbath of the Flair vs. Funk from Bash '89 with the "violence" and "hate" of the Flair vs. Funk I Quit match or the whirlwind of violence of the MX vs. Fans from Clash I. Fuck... who would have thought the top two Horsemen would have a sissy feud. The Midnight Rockers and Sommers & Rose had more violence in their feud.

* Pillman vs Lyger at the first Nitro 1995
This was a horrible Liger match. This wasn't even a good Pillman match.

* Chris Benoit vs. Jushin Liger - Starrcade '95 (12/27/95 - World Cup of Wrestling)
This wasn't very good either. Liger was hit and miss at that time coming back from the leg injury. The finish alone was minus a star... and what they did before then wasn't all that hot. Very disappointing from what I expected to be the best match on the card.

* Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair - Superbrawl '96 (2/11/96 - Cage Match, World Title)
None of the Savage vs. Flair matches in WCW were any good.

* Dean Malenko vs. Rey Misterio Jr. ­ GAB '96 (6/16/96 - Cruiserweight Tile)
* Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko - Clash XXXIII (8/15/96 - Cruiserweight Title)
* Dean Malenko vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. ­ Havoc '96 (10/27/96 ­ Cruiserweight Title)
Dean and Rey didn't really work all that greatly together. As I said above, Dean often liked to control the match for 11:00, then give Rey 2:00 of high spots before hitting the finish. Perhaps people liked this. I liked Rey working back and forth matches with Psic and Juve in TJ and Mexico quite a bit better.

* Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis ­ WWIII '96 (11/24/96 ­ Cruiserweight Title)
This was a horrible match. Dean had no clue how to work with Psic. This was even worse than him grounding Rey for so much of the match - he let Psic have almost nothing... not realizing that he was in with one of the best spot machines in the business who actually had both a power offense and a flying offense. Painful to watch. Psic had better matches with Ultraman...

* Eddy Guerrero vs. Diamond Dallas Page - Starrcade '96 (12/29/96 - US Title)
I thought this was pretty pedestrian. This card had a lot of great wrestling on it... this wasn't one of them.

* Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon ­ Spring Stampede '97 (4/6/97)
Disappointing. A mile behind their match in 10/96.

* Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. - WWIII '97 (11/23/97 - Cruiserweight Title)
Extremely disappointing. A mile behind their match in 10/97. They just didn't seem to be on this night.

* Eddy Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko - Starrcade '97 (12/28/97 - Cruiserweight Title)
Extremely disappointing. Dean's mind wasn't into the match at all - he was pissed at having to work while his wife was going through giving birth to one of the children. Even the biggest Dean and EDDY~! fans, who were in attendence that night, thought it was disappointing.

* Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Benoit - Superbrawl '98 (2/22/98 - US Title)
I was alway embarassed when Benoit worked with Page. He had to dumb down his whole style because Page could go with him. Then he had to make Page look good for a good chunk of the match, since Page is Page. Then he had to put Page over, since Page is Page. It's a bit like watching Michael Jordan play pick-up with some YMCA beer leaguers. A waste of talent, and a pretty unwatchable game.

* Chris Beniot vs. Bret Hart (Nitro - 10/4/99)
A ***1/2 match. It's going to end up winning the poll... but it ain't close to Top 20 to me.

* Ric Flair vs. Brian Pillman (2/17/90) - 2/13/90
The date is 2/13/90. A damn fine match as I recall.

* Rock & Roll Express vs. Midnight Express - Wrestlewar '90 (2/25/90)
This was like the 2000th MX vs. R'n'R... yet they could still work a damn good match against each other. No one knew the value of having a team like the MX who could chew up 20:00 of a card while coughing up a **** match damn near every time out.

* Midnight Express vs. Tom Zenk/Brian Pillman ­ Capital Combat (5/19/90 ­ US Tag Titles)
See above. The MX went out with a damn good year. There was no "Willie Mays Misjudging Flyballs" stretch for that team. They were the best in the US right up to the day they split. Too bad we never saw them with the Rockers.

* Steiners vs. Nasty Boys ­ Havoc '90 (10/27/90 ­ US Tag Titles)
This didn't get nominated. A terrific brawl in the pre-ECW era.

* Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman - Superbrawl '91 (5/19/91)
I love this match, but I can't vote for it. It was just a bit too short. But a super intense double juice tape fist match. Yet another match to show to people who don't think Barry was ever good after the Widow Maker gimmick. ;)

* Sting/Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin/Rick Rude - Clash XVIII (1/21/92)
I liked this Clash quite a bit. The Steiners had a "fun" match with Vader & Hughes. Pillman & Bagwell had a super nifty match with the very good rudo team of Taylor & Smothers. Cactus carried Hammer to a very watchable "Cactus Jack Show". Barry & Dustin & Simmons have a very good match against Arn & Eaton & Larry Z. And this main was the best of the card. Five very good to excellent matches on a free show. That's tough to beat.
As was typical of the era, the show was overbooked and the other four matches were pretty bad. This is one where they should have gone to just six or seven matches, dropped some of the dumb skits, and given more time to the top two tag matches where they could have been great at 15:00 apiece.

* Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat - Superbrawl '92 (2/29/92 - US Title)
* Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude ­ Beach Blast '92 (6/20/92 ­ Ironman Match)
The first was considered a bit disappointing at the time. I was one of the few who liked it. The second was more well received, and I was one of the few who thought it wasn't as good as the first one. The arrangement of the pins was just a bit to forced - seven falls in 30 minutes is a bit much, and too many were strung too closely together. Rude and Steamboat did work very well together... I wish they were able to have that one match where everything clicked perfectly. They had the ability to get to ****1/2 level... they just didn't quite get there. It was a really neat feud, with good angles on TV and lots decent matches like these, the Clash tag above, the Wargames, and other TV tags. They just needed that one signature match.
I'd recommend both, however. I didn't like Rude at all in WCCW or his first tour with Crockett. He was a bit like bad young Taue - awakward as hell, and pretty pedestrian offense other than the DDT. Somehow he was one of the few people who got better as a worker in the WWF in the 80s. He became "okay" there... and then blossomed into being a very good US heel when he came to WCW in 1991. They really should have put Simmons in to feud with him after this Steamboat feud was over. Rude had held the US Title since 11/91, so he would have been ripe to drop the title to Simmons in the middle of the feud and then win it back when the feud ended. If Simmons passed through a 4-6 month feud with Rude looking strong and getting more over... well... I'm repeating myself. ;)

* Brian Pillman vs. Tom Zenk - Wrestlewar '92 (5/17/92 - Light Heavyweight Title)
Another excellent Pillman match. I hated seeing Zenk work as a junior, since he really wasn't. But they worked very smartly here. This is a better match than the Steiner match on the same PPV, but combine those two matches with the Wargames main event and you have almost enough good stuff to make you forget about how awful the undercard was. :)

* Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
* The Steiner Brothers vs. Terry Gordy/Steve Williams - Clash XIX (6/16/92 ­ NWA Tag Title Tourney)
These are the only two salvagable matches from the NWA Tourny... along with the Vader vs. Sting title change from the PPV. I like this Steiners vs. Gordy & Doc better than the one from the PPV since they weren't stretch things to fill 30:00. Neither teams were really good enough to work a 30:00 broadway _against each other_. This one was more out of control, which is what we wanted out of these two teams at the time - we wanted it to be a war in this dream match-up.
The juniors match was a lot of fun. Not quite on my Top 20 since I preferred NWA/WCW tag matches at the time that felt more like "matches" than spot exhibitions. It's my old MX fandom... and Tully & Arn fandom.

* Cactus Jack vs. Paul Orndorff - Superbrawl '93 (2/21/93 - Falls Count Anywhere)
* The Rock-n-Roll Express vs. The Heavenly Bodies - Superbrawl '93 (2/21/93 - SMW Tag Titles)
This was a damn good PPV. Two matches from it made my top 20. Four ****+ matches is a rare treat. There was some other crap on the show, which means it's best to get the matches on a "Best Of" tape.
The Cactus match was a surprsingly good garbage match. I'd recommend it simply for people to see Orndorff working a good garbage match with that "How'd I get myself into this..." look on his face. The second was pretty much your standard MX vs. R'n'R match. SMW fans could probably point to any number of matches the teams had with each other in Smokey that were better. But this is a good one to see to watch how the 1993 WCW fan base responds to those two outsider teams coming in and working a very 80s-style, MX-style tag match. Hint - it got damn good heat.

* Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne - Spring Stampede '94 (4/17/94 - FCA Match, Tag Titles)
ECW was working this type of match right at about the same time - PE had already won the ECW Tag titles from Sully & Taz. But on a national level (since ECW wasn't even close to a national company at the time), this was a pretty major step forward in garbage matches. _At the time_, this and the 5/94 rematch with Sully in Payne's place, were "Holy Shit" matches for Big 2 wrestling.

* Eddy Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit (Double KO finish, Late '95)
I barely remember this match. It was weekend TV if I recall correctly, and got us all excited for about 10 minutes on how the juniors would be used. Everytime out expectation got raised, they dash them within a week or two. ;)

* Alex Wright vs. Koji Kanemoto - Starrcade '95 (12/27/95 - World Cup of Wrestling)
* Eddy Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ohtani - Starrcade '95 (12/27/95 - World Cup of Wrestling)
I liked both of these quite a bit. As I said above, I thought the Liger vs. Benoit was subpar for those two. But these two matches were as good as expected (Eddy vs. Ohtani) and far better (Koji vs. Wright). Well worth tracking down.
That World Cup had some really deep evil booking that buried both the Japanese and the cruiser subtely. I don't know if anyone ever picked up on it.

* Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr. ­ BATB '96 (7/7/96)
This was a excellent spot-a-thon. I couldn't quite put it on my top 20 as I've seen them in better spot-a-thons (the Super J-Cup match), lucha-style (the Mexico City match), US (ECW), and live (Tijuana) matches. 0-4 is a one where I can't really reward it. I know they were better than what they showed in that match, and I would have liked to have seen them be just a bit less spotty and wrestled more. Damn fine match, though.

* Chris Benoit vs. Dean Malenko - Hog Wild '96 (8/10/96)
Really good... but lack of heat maybe keeps it from making the list. Or weak finish. Or lengthy. I don't know... it just didn't kick me in the 'nads enough to make my list.

* Chris Benoit vs. Jeff Jarrett - Starrcade '96 (12/29/96)
I love this match. I've always thought this as better than the famous Michaels vs. Jarrett match that people cream over. Jeff very much put himself in Benoit's hands for this match, and Benoit didn't hold back. This was a stark contrast to the Benoit vs. Page matches.

* Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuji Nagata - Havoc '97 (10/26/97)
This was a super nifty match that combined to be the 1-2 opener with Rey vs. Eddy. Dragon and Nagata got damn good heat in Vegas of all places. Dragon had a string of disappointing PPV matches in 1997 after the great finish to 1996. I thought this was the best of the year for him on PPV, though his match with Psic in the LA house show was every bit as good and his J-Crown match with Liger was on another planet.

* Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page ­ Havoc '98 (10/25/98 ­ World Title)
This wasn't Top 20, or even close to it. But is was a very smartly worked match. This was one of those rare matches where Page was almost as good as he thinks he is. It's not the ****1/2 match Rasmussen once claimed it was... but this is the type of smart work that your average "good" PPV main event should strive for. You can't always get Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham or Kawada vs. Misawa in your main. But if it's a good drawing match that helps put money in all the worker's pockets, and allows the undercard and mid card to put on those ****+ matches, then I'm more than happy to have smartly worked ***1/2 main events that are at the high end of the abilities of the workers involved. It would be hard to be pissed off at that is you've got an undercard made up with the likes of the 12/96 Benoit vs. Jarrett, Malenko vs. Dragon and Liger vs. Rey matches. Give me the workrate stroking matches on the undercard and the "good" to "very good" or even "works for what it was" money making main event, and I'm a happy camper.
Sadly, WCW seemed to lose site of that after Starcade '96. The undercards started losing that depth of **** range matches. It's not like they didn't have the talent, or even book the matches. But stuff like Eddy vs. Malenko, and every Jericho match, never seemed to consistantly get to the **** range. Lot's of disappoint *** range stuff as I recall.
Oh well... I've rambled enough. I need to dig around for my WrestleWar '92 tape... and skip right to the last three matches...
John