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Originally Written: May 27, 2001

"Deadly Venom: The Best of Sting" Video Review

Released in 1993, this is an old WCW compilation tape featuring some of Sting's best matches and feuds of the early 1990's. So, without further ado, let's get on to the video review...

- FBI copyright warning.

- Turner Home Entertainment logo.

- Another Turner logo.

- Jesse "The Body" Ventura is on a textile background: "They call him, 'The Franchise,' and no one can doubt that he is the pre-eminent athlete in the sport of professional wrestling. Forget 'will-be,' 'may-be,' and 'destined to become' - millions of little Stingers and hundreds of battered and bruised opponents who will quickly admit he is one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. Of course I'm talking about Sting - still cocky, still a little crazy, butt also a seasoned veteran. Sting is truly one of the most dominant wrestlers in the sport today, and this is, 'Deadly Venom: The Best of Sting." Fade out.

- "Deadly Venom: The Best of Sting" logo. Tony Shiavone takes over: "Hello fans. Tony Shiavone - here to take you through 'Deadly Venom: The Best of Sting." Fade out.

- Sting, with blue, orange, and black facepaint, along with blond hair, is on a textile background: "OWWW!!! Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls - Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. This is The Stinger and I wanna' get wild and i wanna get crazy with some of the rowdiest wrestling of my career. From Rick Rude to Big Van Vader to the blood and the guts of WarGames, I've been through it all..." Fade out.

- Shiavone: "Sting was involved in a dream tag match with Lex Luger and The Steiners when Nikita Koloff, intending to attack Luger, viciously clotheslined Sting." A clip of this is shown (Jim Ross and someone else is on commentary), with Luger on the apron and Koloff, with a Russian Chain wrapped around his hand, running down the elevated entrance ramp, which is even with the apron. He swings, but Luger ducked away and it hit Sting, who was near the ring ropes. Sting went down and Koloff retreated. Sting's eye was busted open, and The Steiners, his opponents, along with Luger, stopped their fighting as Sting ran down the ramp, jumped off towards the end of it, and went through a door where Koloff was conducting an interview with Shiavone: "Sting was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's what's goin' on!" Shiavone gets out of the way as Sting comes through the door and forearms Koloff from behind. Various clips are shown of Koloff attacking Sting during his entrance, while talking with fans, etc.

- Shiavone introduces the Russian Chain Match between Sting and Koloff.

Russian Chain Match: Sting vs. Nikita Koloff (WCW Great American Bash 1991; 7/14/91; Baltimore, MD)

- The object of this match is to touch all four turnbuckles. The first to do that wins. Sting and Koloff are in the ring. The referee attatches the chain to Sting, so we're ready to go.

Before we start, let me just say this: most experts call WCW Great American Bash '91 the worst Pay-Per-View ever, and I probably wouldn't disagree. Anyway...

They face off, both attached to the other by the chain. Clip. Sting punches Koloff twice, then hits a gutkick and throws him in between the top and middle rope. Koloff fumbles back into the ring but quickly rolls out of the ring. Sting follows. Clip. Sting scoops up Koloff and drops him face-first across the rail. Clip. Sting throws him head-first into the rail. Clip. In the ring, Koloff's head is bashed into the top turnbuckle 10 times. Clip. On the outside, Sting chokes Koloff with the chain. Koloff walks around the ring with the choke still on, and eventually climbs onto the elevated entrance ramp. Sting climbs up, too, but they immediately step off onto the other side. Now on the concrete, Sting hammers Koloff in the gut, and then punches him. Koloff tries to retreat, so Sting rolls him back into the ring. Clip. Let me just say that by this time, both had touched three buckles, and was near the last one that they both needed to touch to win. Sting charges Koloff and hits a Stinger Splash, which Koloff sells pretty badly. Koloff hits the middle turnbuckle a millisecond before Sting, allowing him to win the match. The bell rings (11:38).

WINNER: Nikita Koloff

- Afterwards, Sting is looking out at the fans when Koloff hammers him from behind. Sting is unfazed, turning around and backing Koloff up several feet. He begins hammering him with forearms, punches, and gutkicks, but he loses control after his eyes are raked. He then throws Sting out of the ring. He turns around and taunts the fans. Sting climbs back in and stands behind his back. "WHOOO!" Koloff slowly turns around and gets a gutkick, followed by an atomic drop on the chain, which is being stretched and is off the ground. Koloff grabs at his crotch, and Sting pushes the chain downward, and then quickly brings it back up, flinging Koloff of it and down onto the mat. From what was shown, I'd give it about 3/8*. Fade out.

- On the entrance ramp, Madusa is shown by Sting. She's distracting Sting, allowing Lex Luger to come out from behind and push Sting's left knee out from under him. Sting sells it, and once he starts rising back up to his feet, Luger again kicks the knee, knocking him down again. Luger climbs down off the ramp and to the concrete below (keep in mind the ramp is elevated), and grabs Sting's left foot, but decides the better of it, instead grabbing his right leg and twice slamming it down onto the edge of the ramp. Fade out.

- Sting is shown being loaded away into an ambulance due to that injury. Fade out.

- We're now at the 17th Clash of the Champions supercard, where Sting is scheduled to defend his U.S. Title against Rick Rude. J.R. and someone else is on commentary. Rude's manager, Paul E. Dangerously, signature cell phone in hand, the same man who would go on to fame as ECW's owner and a WWF commentator, is in the ring with a mic: "Excuse me - a tragedy has occured here tonight, and that tragedy is that Sting has let each and every one of you down."

A shot is showed of Sting, wearing pink pants, limping his way outside of the arena. He's back from the hospital and is trying to make his way into the ring for his bout. There's a bunch of guys at the arena's back entrance, most of which I don't know, as I didn't watch back then. A small box in the corner of the screen shows a shot of the ring, where Paul E. has convinced referee Nick Patrick to administer a ten count, hoping to count out Sting. The other wrestlers help Sting limp through the backstage area and into the main ring area, where the fans have begun a "We Want Sting!" chant. Sting limps his way down the elevated ramp, and Rude runs down and meets him there.

WCW United States Heavyweight Title Match: Sting (C) vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII [17]; 11/19/91; Savanah, GA)

A nice five-or-so second long brawling exchange is done, with Sting eventually getting the best of it. He press slams Rude and tosses him down onto the hard rampway. Sting grasps at his left knee, which is bandaged up, and again limps back toward Rude. A punch sends the "Ravishing" one down. Sting hits a stomp on Rude, sending him rolling off of the rampway's edge and onto the concrete below. Sting slowly, carefully, climbs down to the concrete limps his way toward Rude, who he rolls into the ring. Sting climbs (limping all the way) up the ring steps that are attatched to the ramp and climbs through the middle and top ropes into the squared circle, but Rude recovers and rakes his eyes. Rude climbs up top and leaps off, but Sting sidesteps and hits him in the gut. Vertical chop to Rude's shoulder. Two punches. Gutkick. Sting whips him into the ropes and uses his right arm to back body drop Rude high over him and down onto the mat below.

Sting sells his knee injury before dragging Rude into the corner and ramming his face into the buckle three times, the crowd counting each time. Rude retreats away from the buckle, but Sting follows and punches him down. He continues selling the injury by grabbing at his knee. Paul E., on the outside, bangs his hands down on the apron, attempting to revive his man. Sting lifts Rude up and whips him into the ropes. Rude holds onto them with both hands, so Sting charges and clotheslines him out of the ring and onto the elevated ramp. Rude rolls off the ramp and onto the blue protective mat on the concrete. Lots of drama so far. Clip. We fast forward a few seconds, with Rude now on his feet. Sting is still in the ring, and Rude grabs his legs, causing him to fall back-first to the mat. Rude twice rams the left knee and lower foot into the ringpost, and then heads toward Paul E., who gives him some advice, to catch his breath.

Rude, now fully recovered, climbs onto the apron, and then to the top-rope, yelling for Sting to turn around. Sting still has his back to Rude, who leaps off and hammers Sting's upper back with a clothesline. Sting falls forward, hitting the mat. He could've sold it a bit better. Paul E. continues cheering for Rude, who picks Sting up and spins him into position for his Rude Awenking reverse neckbreaker. Sting grabs both of Rude's wrists and swings around counter-clockwise (from our view; clockwise, from his) and escapes. He swings, attempting a clothesline, but Rude ducks, and Sting turns around into an eye rake, followed by a punch. Sting swings, but Rude ducks. Rude punches him. Sting swings, but Rude again ducks. Rude punches him. Sting pulls back and begins to swing, prompting Rude to again duck. This time, though, Sting has stopped midway, and is well aware of what's going on. Once Rude raises his head, Sting unloads on him with seven straight punches.

Before the seventh and last, he reels up, swings, and sends Rude bouncing off the ropes, only to fall face-first to the mat. As he's falling, though, he hits the injured left knee of Sting, who's turned around. Sting, too, falls to the mat and begins grasping at his bad knee. Nick Patrick tends to Rude, and as Sting is stumbling back to his feet right near the ropes, Paul E. climbs up onto the apron and bashes Sting's upper back (possibly head, as it's hard to see) with his phone. Sting again falls forward to the mat. There's a considerable amount of drama right now, with the fans waiting to see who will be the first one to regain their senses. Rude crawls his way towards Sting and covers him. 1...2...No! Sting kicks out! The fans are going nuts! Anyway...Rude gets up, but Sting follows a fraction of a second later. Rude heads over towards Sting, but Sting grabs his head and drills him head-first into the mat with a nice DDT. Both lay side-by-side, now, in the middle of the ring.

Paul E. climbs up onto the apron, attempting to distract Patrick. Sting climbs to his feet, heads over towards them, and grabs Paul. Rude makes his way to his feet, bends down, and charges at Sting from behind. He clips Sting's left knee, sending the monster face back down to the mat. Paul E. flies off the apron and down onto the concrete at the same time. Rude wastes no time, using a foldup pin on Sting, but holding the tights for leverage at the same time. 1...2...3! The bell rings (4:50), signaling that Rick Rude is the new WCW U.S. Champion!

WINNER and NEW WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: "Ravishing" Rick Rude

- Rude immediately gets to his feet and climbs through the ropes onto the apron. The announcer makes the call: "Ladies and gentleman, the winner and new United States Heavyweight Champion - 'Ravishing' Rick Rude!" Paul E. climbs up onto the elevated ramp and gives Rude his newly-won title belt. Sting is shown, still on the mat, trying to catch his breath. This was a great match. It's not Flair/Steamboat classic, as it was given just less than five minutes to develop, but for that time, these two put on an awesome match. You can't ask for anything more with that little alotted time. Excellent drama.Great psychology. These two really worked well together in this match. The selling was very good, as I never expected Sting to sell his injury throughout the whole match and still be able to put out some offense. Great, great action. **1/4. Fade out.

- Shiavone discusses how Sting quickly bounced back from his U.S. Title loss. We move on to the feud with his fellow friend, Lex Luger. Luger, the current WCW World Heavyweight Champion, is still over as a main eventer, and is definitely still a legitimate world champion.

- We'll now take a look at WCW SuperBrawl II, where Sting challenged Luger for WCW's most prestigious championship. J.R. and Jesse Ventura are on commentary. "The King" Harley Race, is sitting at ringside.

WCW World Heavweight Title Match: Sting vs. Lex Luger (C) (WCW SuperBrawl II; 2/29/92; Milwaukee, WI)

Both are facing off in the ring. Clip. We fast-forward to Luger charging across the ring at Sting, who moves away, causing the defending champ to bounce off the buckle. Sting whips him into the opposite corner and hits a Stinger Splash! Luger immediately, though, charges out of the corner and clotheslines Sting down. Clip. Luger attempts a backdrop suplex, but Sting flips out, landing on his feet. Waistlock. German Suplex (w/ no bridge). Sting stands Luger up and lifts him onto his shoulders for the...Torture Rack (Argentine Neckbreaker Rack)! That's Luger's finisher! Luger's huge, so he is able to use his strength to muscle out. Sting is up, though. Clip. Luger has bent down, so Sting, who just bounced off the ropes, leaps high up and drills Luger with a somewhat wierd-looking jumping DDT. Luger rolls out of the ring. Clip.

Sting whips Luger into the corner. Luger bounces off and heads back toward Sting, who back body drops him up and over onto the mat below. Cover. Kickout at 2. Clip. Sting uses three chops, a punch, and a gutkick. He then uses four straight punches, spinning around between each one. The last one sends Luger down. Three stomps. Sting picks Luger up and slams him face-first into the mat with a facebuster. Sting rubs Luger's face around into the mat, and then twice uses his foot to push Luger's neck and face into the mat. The pace has dramatically slowed down. Sting rakes Luger's face across the rope for a few seconds. Luger pulls out out and retreats to the opposite corner, where he finds little safety, as Sting heads over, press slams the big man for about a second and drops him face-first across the ropes. Luger stumbles around into the opposite corner, where he tries to beg Sting off, but it's no use. Sting lifts up Luger and twice rakes (scratches) his back.

In the corner, Sting uses four punches, and then backs up, bounces off the ropes, and charges Luger. Sting attempts a crossbody, but Luger ducks down, causing Sting to fly over the top-rope and to the outside, landing on his feet. Luger climbs out and throws him rib-first into the rail, and then climbs back into the ring, where he distracts the referee. This allows Harley Race to put Sting's head in between his legs, presumably looking for a piledriver. Race has little time to do any damage, as Sting quickly back body drops him onto the blue protective mats. Sting immediately climbs up onto the top-rope, and once Luger turns around, leaps off and hits a flying crossbody press onto his opponent. He hooks Luger's right leg. 1...2...3! It looked as if Luger kicked out at about 2/9/10, but the bell rings (13:02), signaling the crowning of only the third-ever (Ric Flair was the first) WCW World Heavyweight Champion!

WINNER and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Sting

- Sting immediately gets up and circles the ring, celebrating his first of seven (7) WCW World Heavyweight Championships! The journey has culminated for Steve Borden with one of seven WCW World Heavyweight Title wins! What a moment! Sting receives his newly-won title belt and holds it up high! The announcement is made: "Ladies and gentleman, the winner and new WCW World Heavyweight Champion - STING!" While this match was good, it wasn't as good as Sting's previous match against Rude, at least from what was shown. However, the historical significance of this bout is enough to give it an acceptable reign. There were some nice exchanges, drama, and spots, so I'll give it a *1/4. Good effort by both men, including Luger. Fade out.

- Shiavone introduces the next match, which is the famous WarGames match from WrestleWar '92. This match has been called "the bloodiest of all-time," and while that may be a bit exagerrated (sp?), it certainly ranks up with some of the most talked-about bloodfests.

- Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Jim Ross are on commentary. We see the cage being lowered from the ceiling. Basically, there's two rings side-by-side, both covered by a huge steel cage with a fenced-in top (like Hell in the Cell, only a larger cage). The ring announcer tells the fans the rules of the match, which I'll summarize here. Two five-man teams will battle (Sting's Squadron and The Dangerous Alliance). There'll be seven periods. The first period will last five minutes, while others will last two minutes. We see a quick snip of Sting's Squadron's enterance, and then another quick snip of The Dangerous Alliance's entrance. Steve Austin (not yet "Stone Cold") wrestled on the Alliance team as a heel, and here he has blond hair (yes, that's right: hair!). We clip to a part of the match itself. None other than Bill Alfonso, who (at the time) had yet to enter ECW (he debuted there in '94), is the referee. The Alliance is accompanied by heel manager Paul E. Heyman and a bare-footed Madusa (a.k.a. Alundra Blayze).

WarGames: Sting's Squadron (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, & Barry Windham) vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Larry Zbyszko, & Rick Rude) (WCW WrestleWar 1992: "WarGames"; 5/17/92; Jacksonville, FL)

JIP (joined in progress). Austin and Windham start, with Windham kicking the crap out of the future WWF Champion. So much for being the business' toughest S.O.B. Clip. Rhodes, who would end up becoming the WWF's Intercontinental Champion, and Zbyszko are brawling. Madusa, the Alliance's heel manager, climbs onto the top of the cage and drops Paul E.'s cell phone through the cage and into the ring, hoping that it'll come in handy for the Alliance. It does in face come in useful, as Anderson uses it on a couple of faces. Back on the top (which doesn't look too secure), Sting has now climbed up, which scares Madusa into climbing back down the opposite side Sting is on. Clip. One of the periods has now ended, and we see Sting immediately opening the cage door and running in. He gutkicks Anderson four times.

Clip. Sting is now locking Anderson in the Scorpion Deathlock (Sharpshooter). Eaton comes into that ring and (from behind) double axehandles Sting, which breaks the hold. A piece of the turnbuckle has apparently fallen off, so Eaton picks it up. In the other ring, two guys (who's names I'm not sure of) back elbow someone who's coming off the ropes down. Clip. We go back a few minutes, for some reason now, and Koloff and Sting, teammates who are former rivals (see above [their strap match]), act like they're gonna slug it out. Anderson and Austin, both of whom have bloody foreheads, charge them both from behind, and Koloff shoves Sting out of the way and takes the double blow, which knocks him down.

Austin hammers Sting's back. He whips Sting into the ropes, while Anderson does the same thing with Koloff. Both faces duck clotheslines, and clothesline their opponents (the one that whipped them). Koloff and Sting show that they're on the same page with a double high-five and a tight hug. Koloff starts repeatedly hammering Anderson, while Sting does the same thing to Austin. Both heels quickly go down. Rude comes through the ropes and grapples with Koloff, Rude eventually throwing the bigger man down to the mat. Rude starts stomping on Koloff's fallen body, while J.R. informs us that Windham and Zybszko are apparently fighting, among others, in the other ring.

Clip. Rodes has the guy in the red tights in the figure-four leglock. In the same ring, Koloff bashes the already bloody forehead of Austin into the buckle seven times, which certainly won't help things for Austin. Rude fist drops the yellow-green tights guy, breaking the submission up. Koloff comes up from behind and uses his right arm to choke Rude. Rhodes hammers Austin a few times, and then scoop slams him. The future crossdresser heads up top, but Austin moves away, so Rhodes misses a senton back splash (J.R. called it an elbow drop, but there really wasn't any elbow used). Koloff has knocked Rude down to the mat.

In the other ring, Zybszko is stomping on Sting. Eaton has unsecured the bottom rope from the ringpost, so the heels have the rope, the buckle, and a small wrench that's hooked onto the ropes to use on Sting. Eaton holds Sting, so Zybszko swings it, but Sting pulls away and ducks, so the wrench nails Eaton's left shoulder. Eaton goes down and grasps at the area of contact, while Sting gutkicks Zybszko and eventually downs him with some blows. Sting then locks on an armbar submission on Eaton, who eventually taps out. A ringside Bill Alfonso signals for the submission, awarding Sting's Squadron the win (23:27).

WINNER: Sting's Squadron

- Afterwards, Sting's hand is raised and one of his partners, Ricky Steamboat, comes over and hugs him. Scott Keith of The Smarks rated this (in his words) "GREAT FUCKING MATCH" a perfect *****, but I really wasn't impressed. I'm sure it was good, but since so little was shown, and what was shown didn't help the flow much, this video's representation of the match isn't too good. By the way, almost everyone's face was blood-covered by the match's end. *. Fade out.

- We move on to a clip of Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) entering. Shiavone introduces Sting's next bout, which is from BeachBlast '92 against Cactus Jack.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs. Cactus Jack (WCW BeachBlast 1992; 6/20/92; Mobile, AL)

This is a "Falls Count Anywhere Match," and Bill Alfonso is the referee, while Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Jim Ross commentate. Sting is the current WCW Champion, but the title isn't on the line in this match. Cactus waits on the elevated entrance ramp as Sting, donning pink pants, comes out. They immediately go at it, beginning with a tieup, and then an exchange of blows, with Cactus eventually getting the best of it. Cactus drags him a few meters down the ramp and teases a hiptoss off of the ramp onto the concrete, but Sting nicely swings around and uses a backslide pin. Cactus escapes at 1. Three gutkicks and a punch. Sting tries to whip Cactus back up the ramp towards the entrance stage, but Cactus holds on, swings around, and is sent into the ring ropes (remember that they're on the entrance ramp). He bounces off and receives a back body drop, slamming onto the hard entrance stage.

Sting stalks him from behind, and once Cactus gets to his feet (he's facing away from Sting), Sting charges, leaps up, and drills Cactus' head into the rampway with a nice leaping one-handed bulldog. Sting poses for the crowd, and then covers Cactus, who escapes at 2. Punch. Cactus stumbles back toward the ring ropes, while Sting is still several yards away in about the middle of the elevated ramp. Sting charges, leaps up, and gets some nice air with an attempted Stinger Splash, but Cactus ducks away and Sting flies onto the top ring rope and turnbuckle, crotching himself in the process. Well performed bump. The referee and Cactus enter the ring as Sting rolls out to the ringside concrete to recover.

He gets little rest, though, as Cactus quickly steps through the ropes onto the apron, backs up, charges, leaps off, and connects with Sting's back with his signature apron-diving flying elbow drop. Cactus covers. 2. Clip. We fastforward several minutes to the finish. They're back on the entrance ramp, with Cactus a few meters from the ring and Sting about halfway up the ramp. Sting charges forward and clotheslines Sting down. He steps through the ropes and climbs to the top-rope, and once Cactus has made his way to his feet, Sting leaps off toward him and downs the future WWF Champion with a nice flying clothesline, sending his foe crashing down onto the ramp. Sting hooks the leg. Alfonso counts: 1-2-3! The bell rings (11:24).

WINNER: WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Sting

- Sting is announced the winner, and Alfonso raises his hand. Sting his given his title belt as we get a picture of the crowd. The match is significantly better when shown in full, but only a few minutes of the bout was shown here. What was shown was very nice, and there were some innovative moves for their time. Nice work. Although what was shown was short, it was solid. *1/4. Fade out.

- We get a shot of Big Van Vader entering. Shiavone introduces the next match, which is from the '92 G.A.B. and will see Sting defend his WCW Title against Vader. While Shiavone is talking, we also see Sting, title belt around his waist, coming down the entrance ramp in flashy red, white, and blue attire, slapping the hands of fans.

WCW World Heavyweight Title Match: Sting vs. Big Van Vader (WCW Great American Bash 1992; 7/12/92; Philadelphia, PA)

They're now facing off in the ring. Vader taunts Sting by flexing his colossal arms. (17:17).

WINNER and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Big Van Vader

"Spin The Weel, Make The Deal Match" (Coal Miner's Glove Match): Sting vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts (WCW Halloween Havoc 1992: "Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal"; 10/25/92; Philadelphia, PA)

(10:34)

WINNER: Sting

Tournament Final of the "King of the Cable Tournament": Sting vs. Big Van Vader (11/29/92)

WINNER of the King of the Cable Tournament: Sting

"White Castle of Fear Match" (Leather Strap Match): Sting vs. Big Van Vader (WCW SuperBrawl III; 2/21/93; Ashville, NC)

(20:54)

WINNER: Big Van Vader

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