Spring Stampede (1994)

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Spring Stampede (1994)
Rosemont Horizon
Attendance12,200
Tagline(s)Locked Horns...Bullish Tempers...Let The Stampede Begin!
Pay-per-view chronology
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Spring Stampede chronology
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1997

The 1994 Spring Stampede was the inaugural

Chicago, Illinois
.

The

double-pin, resulting in Flair retaining the title. However, the Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel stripped Flair off the title and booked a rematch for the title between Flair and Steamboat on the May 14 episode of Saturday Night
, which Flair won.

Other matches on the

The Boss while Steve Austin and Lord Steven Regal retained the United States Heavyweight Championship and the World Television Championship
respectively.

Storylines

The

WorldWide, Pro and Main Event
.

At

NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Chi-Town Rumble in 1989.[5]

At SuperBrawl IV,

The Boss acted as the special guest referee during a Thundercage match between Ric Flair and Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, during which Vader attacked Boss and handcuffed him to the cage. Boss broke free of the handcuffs during the climax of the match and then attacked Vader and his manager Harley Race and awarded the win to Flair while Flair had applied a figure four leglock on Vader and Vader did not even submit to the hold.[2]
Vader confronted Boss on the decision and both men began a feud against each other, leading to a match between the two at Spring Stampede.

Dustin Rhodes defeated Rick Rude, Steve Austin and Paul Orndorff in a Thundercage match. After the match, Rude slammed the door of the steel cage on Sting's face and executed a Rude Awakening to Sting on the floor.[2] This intensified their rivalry. Rude commented on Sting that he was not a deserving contender for his International World Heavyweight Championship and Sting decided to wrestle him for the title at Spring Stampede. Rude briefly lost the title to Hiroshi Hase during a tour of New Japan Pro-Wrestling on March 16 but regained the title at the end of the tour on March 24.[6][7] It was officially announced on the March 26 episode of Pro that Rude would defend the International World Heavyweight Championship against Sting at Spring Stampede.[5]

On the March 12 episode of Worldwide, Lord Steven Regal defended the World Television Championship against Brian Pillman and retained the title via a disqualification by hitting Pillman with a cane and then Regal delivered a Piledriver to Pillman outside the ring.[8] On the March 19 episode of Saturday Night, Regal refused to defend the title against Pillman.[9] On the March 26 episode of Pro, it was announced that Regal would defend the title against Pillman at Spring Stampede.[5]

On the March 19 episode of Worldwide,

Dustin Rhodes in a Bunkhouse match at Spring Stampede.[5]

At SuperBrawl IV, The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) retained the World Tag Team Championship against Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne by getting disqualified when Sags smashed a guitar on Payne.[2] On the March 19 episode of Pro, it was announced that the two teams would compete in a rematch in a Chicago Street Fight at Spring Stampede. On the April 9 episode of Worldwide, Jack and Payne confronted Nasty Boys through a video after Nasty Boys' match in which they said that there would be no rules at Spring Stampede and they would not be having any remorse for their actions.[5]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentator Tony Schiavone
Bobby Heenan
Interviewer Gene Okerlund
Jesse Ventura
Ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta
Michael Buffer
Referees Randy Anderson
Nick Patrick

Pre-show

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, actors Danny Bonaduce and Christopher Knight competed in a non-televised match, which Bonaduce won. The next dark match that followed saw Pat Tanaka and Haito defeat The Sullivans (Kevin Sullivan and Dave Sullivan) in a tag team match, which Dave injured his knee during the match.[10]

Preliminary matches

The first match of the event was between Johnny B. Badd and Diamond Dallas Page. DDP gained momentum with a back suplex, a gutbuster and a snap suplex. He then applied a chinlock on Badd but Badd got out of the move with a back suplex. Badd knocked DDP out of the ring with a Tutti Frutti. He then performed a sunset flip to win the match.[11][12][13]

In the following match,

crossbody and then Sir William interfered whom Pillman attacked when fifteen seconds were remaining and then he suplexed Regal into the ring but the fifteen minute time limit expired and Regal retained the title.[11][12][13]

The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) took on Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne in a Chicago Street Fight. Both teams used several weapons and the match turned out to be brutal due to the severity of the action. Near the end of the match, Saggs delivered a Piledriver to Jack driving him through a table and then hit him with a shovel in the back of the head to win the match. After the match, Payne was knocked out with a piece of the broken table.[11][12][13]

Next,

back elbow. Muta executed a diving hurricanrana and then Parker climbed the apron and Muta kicked him off. Austin charged at Muta but Muta delivered a back body drop to Austin, tossing him over the top rope and getting disqualified. As a result, Austin retained the title.[11][12][13]

Later,

chop block. Rude attempted a Rude Awakening on Sting but Race accidentally hit him with a steel chair in the back, allowing Sting to pin him to win the title.[11][12][13]

This was followed by a

Dustin Rhodes and Bunkhouse Buck. Rhodes initially brawled with Buck until Buck broke a lumber on the back of his head to make him bleed. Buck capitalized on the bleeding head until Rhodes threw a powder in his eyes and tried to gain momentum but Buck whipped him with his belt. Both men exchanged momentum until Col. Robert Parker climbed the apron to distract Rhodes. Rhodes suplexed Parker into the ring, which distracted him enough for Buck to roll him up for a near-fall. Parker then handed Buck a pair of brass knuckles and Buck hit Rhodes with the brass knuckles for the victory.[11][12][13]

In the penultimate match of the event,

The Boss took on Vader. Vader attacked Boss on the ramp during his entrance before the match started. Vader then tossed Boss into the ring and attempted to dive onto him from the top rope but Boss avoided it and Vader hit the railing. Both men traded moves until Boss delivered a DDT to Vader from the second rope. He then executed a diving crossbody on Vader to get a near-fall and then attempted another diving crossbody but Vader countered by powerslamming him and then dragged him near the corner and delivered a Vader Bomb for a near-fall. He then followed with a Vadersault to win the match. After the match, Harley Race tried to handcuff Boss but Boss attacked Vader, Race and the referee with his nightstick, which led the Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel to take away his name "Boss" because this was not the way he was supposed to act.[11][12][13]

Main event match

raked him in the eye. Both men traded moves until Steamboat hit a diving crossbody to gain a near-fall. Steamboat tried to execute a diving splash but Flair moved out and Steamboat injured his knee, which allowed Flair to apply a figure four leglock. Steamboat reached to the ropes and Flair attempted another figure four leglock but Steamboat rolled him up. Steamboat followed with a backslide for a near-fall and then delivered a Superplex, which put both men down on the mat. Steamboat then applied a double chickenwing on Flair and both men's shoulders were pinned to the mat. As a result of the double pinfall, Flair retained the title.[11][12][13]

Reception

Spring Stampede received favourable and positive reviews from the critics. The event was a success. Arnold Furious of 411mania rated the event 8.5, appreciating the booking of the event and the performances of the matches. He stated, "The booking in early 1994 was really good for WCW. Flair bringing Steamboat back to the main event scene gave them an instant classic PPV main event without any effort at all. They even left it open for a second match. The undercard was also doing something for a change. The crazy tag title match, the wild brawl from Rhodes-Buck and the super heavies busting their asses made the undercard REALLY solid. Everything else at least had a little energy to it with even Muta showing up eventually. It’s an easy thumbs up and a recommendation to check out."[11]

Ric Flair's booking was considered to be better than former booker Dusty Rhodes' booking style as 411Mania Staff wrote "Flair turned the product around—giving the fans good quality wrestling, which was a huge alternative compared to Dusty’s impractical “shades-of-grey” booking throughout 1993. Some fans think of early '94 as them just doing "stuff".[12]

In 2013, WWE released a list of their "15 best pay-per-views ever", with 1994's Spring Stampede ranked at number four.[14]

Aftermath

Ric Flair initially retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship but Ricky Steamboat also claimed his right to be the champion due to having pinned Flair, which led Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel to vacate the title on the April 30 episode of Saturday Night due to the controversial ending of the title match at Spring Stampede. Bockwinkel then scheduled a rematch between the two for the vacant title

NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Flair, the previous year at Beach Blast.[16]

The

Ray Traylor to become a member of the group after Traylor had been banned by Nick Bockwinkel from using the name "The Boss" (in reality, World Wrestling Federation had threatened to sue WCW due to similarities with his WWF-trademarked ring name "Big Boss Man").[5] Traylor would soon begin using the name "Guardian Angel" and resumed his feud with Vader and the two competed in a match at Bash at the Beach, where Angel was disqualified after the referee saw a nightstick in his hand which he took away from Harley Race.[17]

Sting and Rick Rude continued their rivalry after Spring Stampede, leading to Sting defending the International World Heavyweight Championship against Rude in a rematch at

Clash of the Champions XXVII, Ric Flair defeated Sting in a title unification match to unify the International World Heavyweight Championship into the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.[20] Flair would then go on to lose the World Heavyweight Championship to the debuting Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach.[17]

Results

No.Results
dark match

References

  1. Discovery Communications
    . Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  2. ^ a b c d Scooter Keith (August 6, 2002). "The SmarK Retro Repost – SuperBrawl IV". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  3. ^ Bob Colling. "WCW Saturday Night 3/5/1994". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  4. ^ Bob Colling. "WCW Saturday Night 3/12/1994". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "WCW Ring Results 1994". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  6. ^ "NJPW Hyper Battle 1994 - Day 10 results". Cagematch. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  7. ^ "NJPW Hyper Battle 1994 - Day 16 results". Cagematch. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  8. ^ Bob Colling. "WCW Worldwide 3/12/1994". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  9. ^ Bob Colling. "WCW Saturday Night 3/19/1994". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  10. ^ a b "Spring Stampede 1994". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Arnold Furious (August 30, 2006). "The Furious Flashbacks – WCW Spring Stampede '94". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Sharpshooter Review: Spring Stampede 1994". 411mania. July 29, 2010. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Scott Keith (July 15, 2002). "The SmarK Retro Rant For WCW Spring Stampede '94 – Director's Cut!". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  14. ^ Clapp, John and Bobby Melok (September 11, 2013). "The 15 best pay-per-views ever". WWE. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  15. ^ "WCW Saturday Night - April 21, 1994 results". Cagematch. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  16. ^ a b Scott Keith (December 4, 2002). "The SmarK Retro Re-Rant – Slamboree 1994 (Director's Cut)". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  17. ^ a b Scott Keith (August 6, 2002). "The SmarK Retro Repost – Bash At The Beach 94". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  18. ^ Kevin Wilson. "New Japan Wrestling Dontaku 1994". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  19. ^ "WCW Worldwide - May 14, 1994 results". Cagematch. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  20. ^ Kevin Pantoja (December 23, 2016). "Random Network Reviews: Clash of the Champions XXVII". 411mania. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  21. ^ Hoops, Brian (April 17, 2020). "Daily pro wrestling (04/17): WCW Spring Stampede 1994". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
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