June 20, 1992
Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, Alabama
Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, Alabama
One thing I love about events like Beach Blast 1992 is that it follows the tried-and-trusted formula for naming wrestling shows:
Take a word, any word, it doesn’t really matter, and add another word next to it that sounds powerful and exciting. Bonus points if you can use alliteration.
Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Halloween Havoc, Christmas Chaos, I’m pretty sure there’s some wrestling company somewhere that did an Easter Extravaganza and a Barmitzvah Brawl.
That randomness aside, what we’re watching here today is the first of two events that would serve as the pre-cursor to Bash at The Beach, complete with all the elaborate, beach-themed stage dressing and Missy Hyatt in a bikini.
Oh, and did I mention that this was only the second PPV of the controversial Bill Watts era?
The Cowboy has received a lot of flack over the years for what many perceive to be his outdated ideas and rules that made life more difficult for the wrestlers, but I can’t deny that I’ve enjoyed my last two Watts-run shows (Wrestle War ‘92 and Clash XIX), so I’m intrigued at how this one will go.
Without further ado then, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, WCW Beach Blast 1992.
So Many Questions
Our show tonight began with a simple video in which a fired-up voiceover dude had a lot on his mind.
Would it be Madusa or Missy Hyatt that became our first Miss WCW?
Could The Steiner Brothers successfully defend their tag team titles?
How wild would things get when Cactus Jack met Sting in a Falls Count Anywhere match?
There was only one way to find out, folks, but first, we had some cheesy music, shots of the Mobile, Alabama crowd, and an enthusiastic greeting from the one and only Tony Schiavone.
Joined by Eric Bischoff, Schiavone welcomed Cowboy Bill Watts, who put over tonight’s card and was particularly enthusiastic about the Lightheavyweight Championship match.
Elsewhere, Watts banned Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa from ringside during the upcoming Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude match and reiterated that Falls Count Anywhere meant absolutely anything goes.
From there, Schiavone sent us to play-by-play man Jim Ross, who likewise waxed positive about tonight’s show before sending it to Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, who was hanging out on the beach set with a bunch of bikini-clad models I instantly recognized from my WCW 1992 sticker album.
The beauties escorted Jesse to the ring before he bid them farewell and took his place beside Ross, ready to call our opening contest.
World Championship Wrestling Light Heavyweight Championship
WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Flyin’ Brian vs. Scotty Flamingo
It may have taken ECW and the Raven character to turn Scott Levvy into a big star, but matches like this one proved that he was always destined to be one.
Locking up with Brian Pillman in a gripping opening match, the man known as Scotty Flamingo gave a great account of himself as a classic heel who could go toe-to-toe with the babyface champion but preferred to cheat whenever possible.
The two men kicked things off with a solid mat game, going back and forth and gradually building a very strong opening contest that saw Scotty walk away with the win thanks to a flying knee drop from the second rope.
Your Winner and New Light Heavyweight champion: Scotty flamingo
Up Next, Jesse Ventura bemoaned the fact that he was not selected to compare the upcoming battle for the Crown of miss WCW.
That honor had instead gone to Johnny B. Badd, who came bursting through the curtain in a sequined Mälstrom of his own flamboyance.
Displaying an unabashed charisma, Badd proved himself to be the perfect host for tonight’s contest, which would see Missy, Hyatt, and Madusa compete in three rounds, the first an evening gown contest, the second a swimsuit contest, and the third a bikini contest.
Honestly, watching this, it makes me kind of sad that Marc Mero fizzled out of wrestling in the late 90s. He certainly knew how to connect with a crowd.
As for the girls themselves, Missy was clearly the crowd favorite, strutting her stuff in an elegant dress and looking gorgeous in the process.
Madusa, meanwhile, did not receive such a warm reception, barging out of the small beach hut on the stage, it was clear to see she was in a foul mood despite most of her face being covered by a wedding veil.
Clearly, wanting no part of the whole thing, Madus threw her flowers at the audience and stormed off again, completely ignoring Johnny B. Badd's compliments.
With that out of the way, Johnny sent us back to the wall, and only Tony Shivani, and Eric Bischoff.
That didn’t quite happen at first, as we instead went to Jim Ross, who told us how we could call and vote on whether we wanted Missy, or Madusa to be crowned Miss WCW.
JR also put over our next WCW pay-per-view Great American Bash 1992, which would be headlined by Sting defending the world heavyweight title against Big Van Vader.
Eventually, we did go to Schiavone and Bischoff, who tried to make our upcoming contest Ron Simmons versus the Taylor Made Man, sound like a much bigger deal than it actually was.
The Taylor Made Man Vs. Ron Simmons
A few months ago, we’d seen Ron Simmons ascend to the top of the card, challenging Lex Luger for the world title back at Halloween Havoc '91.
Simmons came up short in that effort and had his quest for gold furthered hindered by an injury.
Now fit to compete once again, Big Ron restarted his journey to the top of the mountain with a dominating win over the Taylor Made man.
Of course, this whole match was designed purely to put Simmons over, but it worked perfectly well match walls, not necessarily anything amazing, but it was a compelling outing in which Simmons looked genuinely like a star, and Terry Taylor did his best to help make that happen.
In the end, big Ron predictably went over with a swift power slam for the one for two and three.
Your Winner: Ron Simmons
After a quick victory celebration, Ron Simmons spoke to JR at ringside.
The future Nation of Domination leader confirmed that his ultimate goal was to be the best, which in this case meant being the champion.
Simmons wrapped things up with a motivational Babyface promo, encouraging all of us to stand up, be counted, and be the best we can be
It was good stuff from Ron, which clearly demonstrated why he was such a perfect candidate for the role of main event babyface.
Marcus Alexander Bagwell Vs. Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine
On a card as stacked and universally well-regarded as Beach Blast '92, Greg Valentine versus Marcus Bagwell was obviously only ever intended to be a filler match.
Still, it was exactly the right kind of filler match, the kind in which the two participants actually gave a damn about doing something decent with the time allotted to them.
Here we saw Bagwell pit his youth and agility against the wits and experience of the crafty veteran, The Hammer, and a decently entertaining match.
The interesting thing is the oval Bagwell was clearly positioned as the hero Greg was still appreciated by the friends who whooped, and she is when he cold for his patented figure four leg lock.
Not that the move did him much good at first. Bagwell initially escaped the move, and we got a few brief moments containing even more enjoyable action until Valentine finally managed to slap on his signature hold him to win the contest.
You’re winner Greg Valentine
Up Next, Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura took us back to Clash of the Champions 18, where Cactus Jack defeated Van Hammer in that memorable falls count anywhere match.
The goal of all this was to show that Jack’s upcoming falls count anywhere on the Gulf Coast match with Sting was right up the madman’s alley, subtly planting the seed that Cactus Jack may actually have a chance of defeating the current WCW champion.
Falls count anywhere on the gulf coast.
Cactus Jack Vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting
(Non-Title)
It has always been a small pet peeve of mine that wrestling companies would book a champion to go over in a non-title match.
Of course, I understand wanting to protect the integrity of the Sting versus Vader main event for the Great American Bash, and I understand not wanting to cast any doubt over that much.
Even still, if you’re going to have Sting win anyway, then surely it’s not too complicated to put the title on the line and explain why he first hast to defeat the cactus jack.
That’s exactly what happened here the champion emerged victorious there not before putting up the fight of his life against the man from Truth or Consequences New Mexico.
Cactu
s dominated the bulk of this enthralling match, taking the fight to the champion in the ring, out of the ring, and even over the barricade and into the crowd, his offense culminating with a heart, stopping elbow drop from the top rope to the unprotected concrete floor on the outside
s dominated the bulk of this enthralling match, taking the fight to the champion in the ring, out of the ring, and even over the barricade and into the crowd, his offense culminating with a heart, stopping elbow drop from the top rope to the unprotected concrete floor on the outside
Alas, he missed, giving Sting the opportunity to revive himself and battle back, giving Cactus a taste of his own medicine by beating him from head to toe with a steel chair before finally attempting a Scorpion Death Lock.
Cactus escaped that hold, and the two toppled to the floor. Moments later, it was Sting who got to his feet first, heading to the top rope, and taking his nemesis down with a huge flying clothesline to the entrance ramp.
That was enough to get the cover the count and the fall.
Your winner: Sting
Out in the crowd Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff gave their thoughts on the last match before turning their attention to our upcoming 30 minute iron match between Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat.
That was next.
30 Minute Iron Man Match
WCW United States Champion Rick Rude vs. Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat
Non-Title
Naturally, Rick Rude kicked things off by showing all the fat, out of shape fans what a real sexy man looked like.
In contrast, the always wholesome Ricky Steamboat brought his wife and son to the ring.
This was the perfect example of how entrances can play an important role in the storytelling of pro wrestling, clearly defining each man’s role in this upcoming battle between the squeaky-clean family man and the arrogant narcissist.
And man, what a battle it was.
This match was perfectly executed from start to finish, keeping this writer hooked all the way, even through the numerous sleeper holds and submissions.
Having been pushed to breaking point by Rude and the Dangerous Alliance in recent weeks, Steamboat launched at his nemesis right from the opening bell and spent the better part of the first ten minutes battering the US Champion around the ring, halting his furious offense only to occasionally slap Rude in a bear hug or bow-and-arrow.
The crowd lapped it up with glee, delighted to see the nefarious bad guy finally get his comeuppance.
However, it was Rude who got the first fall, catching Steamboat coming off the ropes with a knee in what I’m sure was his first real offensive move of the match, then getting the fall thanks to a Handful of Tights.
Moments later, The Ravishing One quickly added to his tally courtesy of a Rude Awakening, but then gave away an own goal by diving off the top rope onto his prone opponent.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall that Bill Watts had made top rope moves illegal.
Sure, you could argue that Rude intentionally getting disqualified sounds dumb in one sense. In another, however, it’s perfectly logical that the overly-confident bad guy would be willing to forfeit a fall if it meant the damage he inflicted would afford him a few falls of his own.
That’s exactly what happened here, as Rude immediately capitalized with a roll-up to gain a strong 3-1 lead.
The action continued, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but always compelling, as engrossing to watch on TV more than 30 years later as I’m sure it must have been in the arena back then.
As the match passed the half-way point, Steamboat reversed his rival’s tombstone piledriver attempt for his second fall, then leveled the playing field soon after with a crowd-popping backslide.
The US Champion eventually regained the advantage, taking us into the final ten minutes by slapping his adversary in a lengthy sleeper hold that only added to the drama
And excitement of the match.
The clock ticked down.
Past eight minutes, past five minutes.
Then, just when it looked as though Rude would win the match, The Dragon made a heroic comeback, breaking out of the sleeper by pushing himself off the ropes and crashing on top of his opponent to take the lead for the first time in the contest.
As minutes became seconds, a desperate Rick Rude pounced, attempting pin attempt after pin attempt in a last-ditch effort to even the score.
It was no use.
The bell tolled, and Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat escaped with a 4-3 victory following a beautifully told story and one of the greatest matches in WCW history.
Your Winner: Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat
After a little banter with Ross and Ventura, we went back to Johnny B: Badd for the second round of the Miss WCW contest.
This time, Madusa was out first.
Looking stunning in a black swimsuit, motorcycle jacket and sunglasses, she paraded up and down the ramp way while Badd practically creamed himself over how good she looked.
Missy Hyatt was equally as beautiful, appealing to the crowd in a tight blue bikini despite the last round being a bikini contest.
Ross and the Body then quickly took the time to plug the upcoming Great American Bash, and then it was back to ringside for our next contest.
Six-Man Tag
The Dangerous Alliance (US Champion Stunning Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, and Bobby Eaton w/ Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, and Nikita Koloff.
Special referee: Ole Anderson
The excellence continued with another gripping match between Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance and three of their biggest enemies, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Barry Windham.
The action got off to a great start with an exchange of technical wrestling between Windham and TV champion Steve Austin, which culminating in the former taking down the latter with a Japanese arm drag from the middle buckle.
The babyfaces retained the advantage in the early going, taking the fight to their opponents in a solid display of good old-fashioned pro wrestling.
There were no elaborate gimmicks, no flashy, suspension-of-disbelief-killing high spots or attempts to “steal the show.”
Wrestling may have always been a work, a performance, a show, but none of the six men involved came across as showmen.
They were wrestlers, and they damn sure made you believe that both their ass-kicking abilities and their hatred for one another was genuine.
It was tremendous stuff, and even the DQ ending was perfectly played.
As all hell broke loose and all six men brawled in and around the ring, Arn Anderson jumped off the top rope and was instantly disqualified by Uncle Ole.
Your Winners via DQ: Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes
I know a lot of people get hung up about clean finishes, but the DQ ending was the perfect way to ensure this rivalry could continue.
Clearly, there were still scores to be settled.
Eric Bischoff Interviews The Dragon
Out in the crowd, Eric Bischoff praised Ricky Steamboat’s valiant victory over Rick Rude before turning the microphone to The Dragon himself.
Steamboat hailed his earlier match as his finest hour and the greatest victory of his life in a great babyface promo.
I’ve never really rated Ricky as much of a talker, but I have to admit he was good here.
Just as good was Paul E., who despite praising Steamboat as a technical wrestler par excellence, also insisted that he would never receive another shot at the US title.
Before Dragon could respond, he was attacked from behind by Cactus Jack, who for all intents and purposes now seemed to be a hired assassin for The Dangerous Alliance.
Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Bikini
Jesse Ventura had spent most of the night complaining that he should've been the host for tonight's Miss WCW contest. With one last opportunity to do so, he took it upon himself to join Johnny B. Badd for the contest’s final round, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Bikini.
At first, things were a little awkward between the pair, especially when The Body questioned whether Johnny even liked girls. Badd responded with “Oh Jesse, you’re just jealous," and then started uncomfortably at the camera.
Moving past that, however, the duo went on to make this the most entertaining of the three Miss WCW segments.
Looking as gorgeous as she had all evening, Madusa strutted out in a USA bikini with white assess chaps while Ventura giddily grunted down the microphone like he was auditioning for Beavis & Butthead.
When it came to Missy Hyatt, however, she claimed that her bikini had been stolen and promptly swiped Ventura’s hat, presumably to cover herself up.
Badd peeked behind the curtain and let out a loud “there’s no way she can come out like that!”
Of course, Hyatt did come out, adorned in little more than Jesse Ventura’s scarves, something which aggrieved The Body no end.
Despite there being a phone vote all evening, Badd took it upon himself to declare Hyatt the winner, and that’s when things got weird.
Obviously, Madusa wasn’t too happy with that decision, so she marched Johnny back behind her curtain where commotion ensued.
Moments later, Badd emerged, holding Madusa’s bikini aloft like a trophy.
I mean, what were we supposed to read into that? That Madusa willingly got naked for Johnny, or that he forcibly wrestled Madusa out of her clothes?
Either way, the segment ended with the funniest moment of all, Jesse Ventura going back to find a naked Madusa and peeking his head out of the curtain to declare her the winner.
Apparently neither woman had actually won as we next went to Jim Ross, who encouraged us to call 1-900-909-9900 and cast our votes. The winner, said JR, would be declared the following evening on WCW Main Event.
Finally, as The Miracle Violence Connection stood idly at the top of the entrance, we ignored them completely in favor of some final comments from Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff.
The two recapped the most significant moments from tonight, plugged the upcoming Clash of the Champions XIX show, then sent us back to ringside for our main event.
World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship
WCW Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Dr. Death Steve Williams & Terry ‘Bam Bam’ Gordy
Early into this lengthy, hard-hitting contest, the ring announcer declared over the PA that five minutes had lapsed and 25 minutes remained.
This was the first time all evening that he’d made a time-remaining announcement all evening.
If you’re new here, that’s a strategy that pro wrestling companies use when they want you to know right from the beginning that the match is going to end on a time-limit draw.
It did, of course, but the obvious ending didn’t distract from what was otherwise an excellent contest between four talented workers.
As the time ticked down and we got closer to our second half-hour match of the night, Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy and Dr. Death Steve Williams worked over their opponents with stiff strikes and painful-looking submissions, both Steiners ultimately taking turns to play babyface in peril.
It was compelling stuff that was marred only by the finish, which made Scott Steiner look like an absolute dufus.
As ring announcer Tony Gilliam declared that there were just fifteen seconds on the clock, Scotty took his sweet time hitting a tiger driver on Terry Gordon.
“5 seconds!” Declared Gilliam.
If the audience could hear that, then so could Steiner, so you would think he’d be in a hurry to get the three count.
Instead, the tag champ wasted more time signaling for the Frankensteiner and slowly shot Gordy off the ropes, only for the bell to ring before he even hit the move.
The worst part was that Steiner looked shocked that the time had expired, even though it sounded like everyone else in the arena could hear it clearly.
Time-Limit Draw (Steiner Brothers retain)
Post match, we got closing thoughts from Schiavone, Bischoff, Ross, and Ventura and, with that, Beach Blast ‘92 was said and done.
It’s no wonder people call the first Beach Blast one of the best WCW PPVs of all time.
The main event, US title, and Falls Count Anywhere matches were all equally as enthralling in their own unique ways, while the lightweight title and six-man tag match were likewise very good indeed.
Even Simmons/Taylor and Bagwell/Valentine, as forgettable as they may have been, weren’t too bad.
I’ve watched many WCW PPVs in my time, and trust me, it was a very, very rare occasion when the company presented a show with zero bad matches.
If you haven’t already, check this one out.
Other 1992 pro wrestling event reviews
- WWF Royal Rumble 1992
- WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII
- WCW Superbrawl II
- WWF UK Rampage 1992
- WWF Wrestlemania 8
- Wrestlewar 92
- WCW Clash of the Champions XIX
- WCW Great American Bash 1992
- WWF Summerslam 1992
- WWF Survivor Series '92
- WWF 1992 - The Year in Review
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