Sting vs Big Van Vader (WCW, 12-28-1992)

WCW Starrcade, Atlanta, GA

A request! This is the King of Cable tournament final at Starrcade ’92, which was held at The Omni, and was also Jim Ross’ final WCW pay-per-view before he left for the WWF after Eric Bischoff got the lead executive job for WCW, as Ross and Bischoff weren’t, uh, friendly. Ross’ contract wasn’t up, he just asked to be released so he could go elsewhere before he was off TV for too long (he had a three-year deal with WCW at the time).

This is the night Vader wore a do-rag, which is very good stuff. Harley Race is in his corner. Vader steps right out on the walkway to confront Sting, but the referee steps between and nothing happens there. Both have also qualified for BattleBowl earlier in the night in tag team matches.

Pre-match, Vader hits a double biceps pose, and Jesse Ventura loves it. “Not a lot of definition but plenty of mass,” he says.

Vader trying to get in Sting’s head early. Sting has stated he knows he needs to survive the early onslaught from Vader. Sting lands some quick punches and Vader basically laughs at him, then effortlessly slams Sting down. But he’s taking his time, too, he and Race both taunting Sting. Another slam, but as always, Sting getting up and ready to fight.

Sting abandons the cautious approach to rush Vader, but he just runs into the body block. Vader then presses Sting and just chucks him onto the top rope. Sting is not a small man. Vader made him look and feel small when watching.

Sting ducks two lariats and hits a rolling koppu kick at center ring, then follows up with a front kick and a HUGE German suplay. Crowd going wild, and Sting clotheslines Vader over to the floor, falling over himself. It knocks Vader’s mask off and he’s down and dazed at ringside as Sting celebrates in the ring. As Vader tries to recuperate with Harley, Sting slingshots out with a crossbody onto both! They are going wild at the Omni now!

Back in and Vader starts clubbing away, though, slowing it down and trying to regain the advantage. But he misses a charge in the corner and gets caught with an armdrag, though he then catches Sting charging for the Stinger Splash with a boot to the face.

Sting avoids a clothesline again and hits two high kicks to Vader’s face and a DDT, and follows up with a super DDT from the second rope. He reasonably goes for a cover there, but Vader kicks at two.

Sting going for the Scorpion Deathlock, and he turns it over, but Vader is too close to the ropes, and Vader retreats to the floor. Sting follows him out and goes for a Stinger Splash against the railing, but obviously misses, as he always did with that spot, never once learning his lesson.

Back in and Vader hits the short-arm lariat, and now he’s got the control and tempo he wants again. Vader with a big avalanche in the corner, then another lariat as Sting stumbles out, an accurate representation of my play style on wrestling video games until some jackass dipshit of an idiot got the repulsive idea to try making them “realistic.”

Two straight rights from Vader and the referee warns Vader, who hits a big back suplay instead, then a splash for two. Vader frustrated and CUSSIN’ like he’d do. So Vader goes to a chinlock, which ain’t tightly applied but maybe doesn’t have to be with arms that big and that much weight. Now he adjusts and cranks on the shoulder and neck, just sort of nonchalantly manhandling Sting.

Sting blocks a sort-arm lariat and goes for a backslide, eventually getting it for two. Kerry Von Erich forever made the backslide a credible potential finish. Well, maybe not forever, but for a while. Probably until about this point, actually. I mean, I realize backslides have finished matches after 1992, but there was a certain buzz you could get on one, and I attribute that to Kerry beating Flair in ’84.

Vader back to pummeling Sting for a moment, but then Sting counters with a back suplay and they’re both down. But Vader recovers first and goes back to a chinlock, then does the beatdown in the corner, with Sting dramatically staggering out and falling face down on the canvas.

More Vader clubberin’. Sting trying to defend himself but basically can’t. Still, JR and Ventura suggest Sting may be doing the rope-a-dope to a degree. Vader plops Sting up top and climbs to the second rope himself. Sting whacks away at Vader until the big man flies off the second rope, but Sting is demolished in here and can’t capitalize. Once again, Vader is up first. And we’re back to Vader just beating the living fuck out of Sting in the corner.

But Sting is calling him on, daring him to keep going. The rope-a-dope strategy is now working. The zip is off Vader’s fastball and Sting is getting some energy back. He catches Vader with three big right hands, Vader gulping air, and a big right from Sting drops the monster.

Sting with a big, tired Samoan drop, but Vader’s foot is in the ropes. Vader kicks out after a big flying splash. Race distracts Sting, and Vader clubs Sting from behind again, then hits a violent but obviously fatigued chokeslam. Vader going up to the second rope, and his splash hits, but not fully. So he goes all the way up, and Sting catches him coming off in a slam for the three count! Sting is the KING OF CABLE!

Like most Sting-Vader matches, it’s great. It’s not my favorite of their rivalry (that would be their GAB ’92 match), but it’s an excellent match. Vader is able to mostly physically dominate on bulk, power, and aggression, but Sting as usual plays a fantastic underdog with the big man, this time employing that rope-a-dope strategy and trying to explode on offense when he can. Ultimately he frustrates Vader into making a crucial mistake. They told simple, effective stories with one another, and while the action was often not Smooth (Vader never was Smooth), it was better for some of the choppiness, which gave even more credibility to the physicality of their encounters.

Rating: 4.5/5