5/19/91 WCW World Tag Team Title: Rick & Scott Steiner (c) vs Sting & Lex Luger

They shook hands at the start. Rick and Luger began the match. Even their lockups were intense in this match. Luger armdragged Rick. Rick took Luger down but Luger reached the ropes knowing Rick was better on the ground. Luger applied a headlock and took Rick down but Rick countered with a headscissors. Rick took Luger down but Luger reached the ropes. Rick applied a headlock, and Luger broke cleanly in the ropes. Luger knocked Rick for a loop with a tackle and powerslammed him for an early near fall. Luger missed a corner splash and Rick gave him a sharp released German suplex. Rick scored with a Steinerline on Luger for a near fall. Rick whipped Luger into the corner and backdropped him. Rick whipped Luger into the corner again but Luger ran out of the corner and clotheslined him. Luger press slammed Rick and tagged Sting. Sting clotheslined Rick out of the ring and hit a great running dive over the top rope to the floor. Sting kicked Rick and bulldogged him but Rick stood right up. Sting lifted Rick in a backbreaker and slammed him upside down into the corner, in a spot right out of the Steiners' playbook. Sting missed a stinger splash. Scott attacked Sting and gave him a tiger driver for a pop. Scott gave Sting a tilt-a-whirl slam but Sting fought back with a stun gun. Luger suplexed Scott but Scott caught Sting with an atomic drop. Scott then gave Sting a belly to belly superplex for a near fall. Scott placed Sting on the top rope and went for a clothesline but Sting moved and Scott crashed over the top rope to the ringside announcers' table (which was against the apron). Luger suplexed Scott back into the ring for a near fall. Scott fought back with a judo throw or some other kinda throw on Luger but Luger then caught him off the ropes with a powerslam. Luger went for the torture rack but Scott countered with a Russian legsweep. Luger elbowed Scott but Rick, who had made the blind tag, stunned Luger from behind with a top rope bulldog. Rick elbowsmashed Luger for a near fall. Sting hit Rick with a top rope dropkick. Rick attacked Sting and had an exchange with Luger. Luger and Rick missed elbows and then collided with each other. Sting won an exchange of blows and gave Scott a fallaway slam of sorts. Sting punched Scott but telegraphed a backdrop and Scott forearmed him. Scott went for a tombstone but Sting countered with a tombstone of his own for a near fall as Rick made the save. Rick went after Luger, but in the process knocked the ref out of commission. Sting gave Scott a stinger splash and went for the scorpion deathlock but Nikita Koloff appeared on the ramp. Koloff went to clothesline Luger with a chain, but Sting tackled Luger out of the way and in the process absorbed the blow himself. Scott then covered Sting and pinned him to retain the title at 11:11. That's one of those finishes that forever sticks out like a sore thumb, because it might have been the cheapest finish ever to such a sensational match. Three months before Muto and Chono showcased their version of the "titanic struggle", the four top faces in WCW did it their way, and the American way. For 11 minutes, they laid just about everything on the line, busting out almost every move in all four of their playbooks and one hot move after another. Fans just ate up everything and popped for everyone's offense, and rightfully so. If you've never seen these four in their prime (maybe Luger's prime was '89-'90, but it was close enough here), you must track down this match and watch it. There was a time when Sting was one of the hottest workers in the country, kinda like an Edge type athletically but with a charisma that registered more with fans like me. Rick Steiner was young once, believe it or not, and a master of power moves who had firmly cemented his place among the world's 100 best workers. Scott was perhaps my favorite wrestler in 1991, busting out all kinds of cool moves and using familiar moves with such a sharp intensity. Even Luger looked great in this match. Not good, great. You heard me right. Sure he was never anything special in the ring, but put him with the right opponent(s) and he could have a heck of a match. Luger and Rick actually had a great opening stretch for the first third of the match before the match kicked into overdrive. What made this even more impressive was while this was an explosive spotfest, they actually showed a bit of patience early on before picking it up. If not for the finish, this could possibly have been a ***** match, a small miracle in itself. Sting was just about to go for the scorpion deathlock, and Scott never had a chance to use his frankensteiner. Luger didn't actually use the torture rack either. That's three signature moves they could have spent another 2-3 minutes centered around to give the match a truly memorable close. The finish reduces this match from a near-epic to a definite classic. The value of this match is made more significant by the fact this match ages beautifully and I enjoyed it every bit as much when reviewing it now as I did when I first saw it 11 years ago. A very high-end ****1/2.

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