Sting vs Big Van Vader (WCW, 7-12-1992)

WCW The Great American Bash, Albany, GA

This is the first of the Big Three Sting-Vader matches, and happened 26 years ago today, so let’s watch it.

Vader still has the helmet, has Harley Race in his corner, 448 pounds from the Rocky Mountains, USA. “NO PAIN! NO PAIN!” Vader has recently bruised Sting’s sternum and busted his ribs, putting him in the hospital in Atlanta several weeks ago.

Jim Ross tells us, during Vader’s “very bizarre ceremony,” about Vader playing in the NFL, the Hula Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the Japan Bowl. Sting’s music hits. The crowd is wild for it. He’s got his sick ass American flag jacket for the Bash. Sting is crazy over with this crowd. “The most charismatic athlete, the franchise here in WCW,” Jim Ross says. He’s beat them all — but now he has to face the unstoppable Vader. Jim Ross namedrops the long gone Ric Flair, Lex Luger, and Sid Vicious as past victims of Sting.

Randy “Pee Wee” Anderson shows us the WCW world heavyweight championship belt. Vader steps to center ring. Sting steps right in his face and TALKS THAT SHIT. Vader shoves Sting and then takes a step back. Sting’s ready to go.

They tie up, Vader shoves Sting to the corner and flexes his enormous, beefy arms. They tie up again, Vader pushes Sting to the corner and lays in with two brutal forearms to the chest and some vicious right hands to the head. Vader backed off by Anderson, but then steps back in and unloads more strikes.

Vader pulls Sting out of the corner with a short arm clothesline. Sting bails out to the floor to collect himself. Race comes over and talks some mess. Back into the ring, Vader sends Sting to the ropes and misses a clothesline. Sting lands a big shot and Vader just absorbs it. Vader catches him on a crossbody attempt, then just tosses Sting, a big man, off like he’s nothing.

Sting somewhat in awe of Vader’s power and size right now, circling around slowly, back to the ropes, trying to figure out what to do next. C&E, Vader puts him in the corner again and nails him a couple times. Corner-to-corner whip, Vader misses an avalanche and Sting hits a big back suplex! Clothesline and Vader goes down! Clothesline and Vader goes out to the floor, over the top rope!

Vader’s down on the concrete, Race attending to him, as Sting encourages the crowd to get loud. Race with instructions for Vader before the big challenger climbs back into the ring. Vader wants a test of strength. The crowd doesn’t think Sting should do it, but Sting is too proud.

Vader is the first to back away from it, though, inciting the crowd. Vader puts the hand up again. Sting will oblige. Sting backs away to think it over this time. He knows it’s a dumb move, but he doesn’t want to look like a coward, either. Vader puts the hand up once more, Sting approaches tentatively, and he locks up. “This is a mistake,” Jesse Ventura says.

But Sting thumbs Vader in the eye! FUCK IT, do what you gotta do. Sting with a series of shots and a dropkick, knocking Vader down twice. Vader up on the apron, Sting hits a glancing enzuigiri and looks to suplex Vader back in over the top. He does it! Cover gets two.

Sting runs into Vader again, though, and Vader just flattens him. Vader sends Sting off the ropes, ducks too soon, and Sting catches him with a boot. Two more boots and Vader goes down. Sting with an inside cradle for two. Vader goes out to the floor again. Harley gives him more advice, then gets pissed off at a cameraman for being too close.

Ventura is talking about Sting coming in prepared, coming for vengeance, and surprising Vader with his attack. Vader back in, reverses an Irish whip, Sting goes for a sunset flip, and then Vader drops 448 down on Sting’s chest. JR takes a shot at bodybuilding. Jesse chimes in: “There ain’t no money in it, I’ll tell you that!” 1992. You wild.

Vader drops some big elbows onto Sting, going after the sternum and ribs he recently injured. Vader with a big splash, Sting gets out at two, barely. Vader with more shots to the ribs. Then he just picks Sting up by the throat with two hands, holds him up in a choke, and drops him like trash.

Vader slowing it down, now fully in control of the hero and champion. Vader steps over with a toehold as Gary Michael Cappetta notes we’ve passed 10 minutes on the clock. Vader sets for a scorpion deathlock, looks to turn it over, and he does so. He doesn’t fully sit down on it, because he can’t, really, for his back’s sake and for Sting’s, but it’s a big man cranking on the ankles at the very least.

Crowd trying to rally Sting, as he bridges up and Vader just drives his weight back and knocks him down. Harley shouting at Sting to “give it up.” Sting still battling, trying to bridge up, and finally he’s able to push Vader off the legs and break the hold. But Sting is worn out, and Vader is up and still in control.

Roundhouse right from Vader, Sting delays but goes down face-first, almost a Flair flop. Back up and Vader sticks him with an overhand right this time. Sting stumbles back into the corner. He’s trying to stay up, trying to stay strong, but he’s being overwhelmed. Irish whip, Sting off the ropes and he just runs right into a massive clothesline from the big man.

Vader scoops him up, and drives him down with a powerslam. Sting kicks out at two, somehow. Vader backs him to the corner, headbutts him. Right hand to the sternum. Sting blocks a right to the head and fires his own back, then some chopping rights. Sting off the ropes with a rolling kick and drops Vader to give himself the opening!

Both down, Sting up first, DDT hits! But Sting doesn’t have the strength to cover. 15 minutes gone. Sting off the ropes, just runs through Vader, huge impact to both, both men down. Vader up first this time, on the apron. Vader’s calling for something off the top, and he begins to climb. It’s a DQ if he jumps from the top, as this is Watts era.

But Sting cuts him off and kicks away at Vader, draped over the top turnbuckle. Sting gets him up in a fireman’s carry, struggles with the weight convincingly, legs trembling, and then finally drives him down in a Samoan drop! Sting drapes an arm over Vader, two count again.

Vader elbows out of a suplex attempt, then goes to back suplex Sting. Sting’s foot hits the referee, but he Germans Vader and has the pin! Referee gets over after a brief delay, two count! Sting with a dropkick, only one foot connects. Vader into the corner — STINGER SPLASH!

Vader into the other corner, back facing out, another Stinger Splash, but Sting smacks his head on the hook of the turnbuckle and effectively knocks himself out. Vader’s down on his ass, trying to recover, and Sting is flat out, bleeding. Vader pulls him down with one arm, covers, and Sting kicks out again! Harley Race can’t believe it at ringside.

Sting up, misses a swing with his left hand, then a wild swing with his right. He’s discombobulated, and Vader is fully alert and recovered. Vader sets — POWER BOMB! 1, 2, 3, we have a new WCW world heavyweight champion! “Vader has won it! Vader has won the world title!”

Rating: 5/5. It’s a tremendously great match between two guys who had amazing chemistry, crowning a new world champion and starting, in theory, a new era for WCW. After Sting finally won the world title, once he climbed that mountain, and really every time after, WCW struggled to find quality opponents for him. Then came Vader. And they had *it*. They clicked entirely. Sting is a big guy, but plays “small” for Vader really convincingly, while at the same time still being strong enough to deliver some incredibly impressive offense to the big fella. And Vader is a great tank, just absorbing everything Sting can throw at him, and hitting harder in return. He was, in this match, too much for Sting, even if Sting hadn’t basically KO’d himself on the turnbuckle. But that was the story they went with, protecting Sting’s credibility as a champion while crowning Vader clean. I went through a period where I thought Sting was kinda overrated, but then one day it just completely hit me that he was only ever underwhelming when his dumb fuck of a company failed him. Sting ruled. He was a great, charismatic wrestler, could more than handle himself in the ring, and when you gave him opponents who could go, he could do special stuff. And Vader was, at least in my opinion, his greatest opponent, not Ric Flair.