It's 1992 WCW. Bill Watts had recently come in and made a marked change to bring things back to old school, hard hitting wrestling from the 70s and 80s.
Rick Rude would make his name in Memphis and WCCW as a cocky heel who flaunted his body. It's an upper body business, god damn it!
He then joined the WWF in 1987, being a key member of the Heenan family and feuding with the Ultimate Warrior over the IC and WWF Championships, as well as having a bitter feud with Jake Roberts.
Ricky Steamboat, on the other hand, had previously made his name in JCP before jumping to the WWF during the expansion era. His feuds with Don Muraco and Randy Savage were legendary, but he would find himself back in JCP/WCW in 1989, defeating long time rival Ric Flair for the NWA Championship before a brief return to the WWF.
In late 1991, both would appear in WCW. Rick Rude would debut as the masked Halloween Havoc Phantom, while Ricky Steamboat would return as a mystery partner for Dustin Rhodes. Shortly after, the two began feuding over the WCW US Championship. Due to multiple instances of outside interference from Paul E. Dangerously, the leader of the Dangerous Alliance of which Rick Rude was the center piece, a 30 minute iron man match was scheduled between the two for the Beach Blast 1992 PPV.
WCW Beach Blast 1992
The match happens. It is a 30 minute primer on everything that is pro wrestling. In my opinion, there has never been a wrestling match in the United States that so expertly explained the entirety of the sport in 30 minutes. A match that you could show to someone who has never seen a wrestling match, and they'd instantly understand the concept of heels, babyfaces, and wrestling psychology. Over the 30 minutes, Steamboat and Rude essentially wrote the book for what wrestling is, and it is a match that wrestlers and fans alike should study. No wasted movements, all moves mean something in the context of the match and feud (which you don't need to know to understand the match), incredible selling from both men, top notch commentary from JR and Jesse Ventura. It is an absolute masterpiece on all aspects of pro wrestling.
In my opinion, it is the best match in the history of wrestling in the United States. Maybe there were matches that were bigger, or drew more, or were more "epic", but I don't think there is a single match to take place in the United States that has perfectly encapsulated pro wrestling like this match. It's an absolute masterclass from start to finish, and a match that should be THE primer on anyone that wants to understand wrestling psychology.
Rick Rude would make his name in Memphis and WCCW as a cocky heel who flaunted his body. It's an upper body business, god damn it!
He then joined the WWF in 1987, being a key member of the Heenan family and feuding with the Ultimate Warrior over the IC and WWF Championships, as well as having a bitter feud with Jake Roberts.
Ricky Steamboat, on the other hand, had previously made his name in JCP before jumping to the WWF during the expansion era. His feuds with Don Muraco and Randy Savage were legendary, but he would find himself back in JCP/WCW in 1989, defeating long time rival Ric Flair for the NWA Championship before a brief return to the WWF.
In late 1991, both would appear in WCW. Rick Rude would debut as the masked Halloween Havoc Phantom, while Ricky Steamboat would return as a mystery partner for Dustin Rhodes. Shortly after, the two began feuding over the WCW US Championship. Due to multiple instances of outside interference from Paul E. Dangerously, the leader of the Dangerous Alliance of which Rick Rude was the center piece, a 30 minute iron man match was scheduled between the two for the Beach Blast 1992 PPV.
WCW Beach Blast 1992
The match happens. It is a 30 minute primer on everything that is pro wrestling. In my opinion, there has never been a wrestling match in the United States that so expertly explained the entirety of the sport in 30 minutes. A match that you could show to someone who has never seen a wrestling match, and they'd instantly understand the concept of heels, babyfaces, and wrestling psychology. Over the 30 minutes, Steamboat and Rude essentially wrote the book for what wrestling is, and it is a match that wrestlers and fans alike should study. No wasted movements, all moves mean something in the context of the match and feud (which you don't need to know to understand the match), incredible selling from both men, top notch commentary from JR and Jesse Ventura. It is an absolute masterpiece on all aspects of pro wrestling.
In my opinion, it is the best match in the history of wrestling in the United States. Maybe there were matches that were bigger, or drew more, or were more "epic", but I don't think there is a single match to take place in the United States that has perfectly encapsulated pro wrestling like this match. It's an absolute masterclass from start to finish, and a match that should be THE primer on anyone that wants to understand wrestling psychology.
Last edited:
); and really liked him tagging with Dr. Death but I am a total stan of his solo run as UWF champ and I love him and Stan Hansen as a tag team. They were brutal together and even more when they wrestled one another.