You’ve got the world heavyweight champion defending his title inside the confines of a steel cage. One of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion is quickly making his way back from a serious injury that’s kept him out since February. But what is the major focus of the promotion for this show? A crossover promotion with the Turner home video department to hype the Robocop sequel. Because WCW.
The show was even called “Capital Combat – The Return of Robocop” pretty much throughout the show. You’d think with all the hype for the cybernetic law enforcer, he’d be a major part of the show. But all he did was save the recovering Sting from a pretty contrived attack from the Four Horsemen. They bumrushed the Stinger and locked him in a small cage at ringside, giving Robocop a reason to come down and rip off the door.
And just like that – POOF – he was gone.
Best Match: United States Tag Team Championship Match: The Midnight Express defeated “Flyin” Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk (c) – After a couple of terribly boring matches to start the year, Zenk and Pillman finally go from worst to first in this defence of their U.S. Tag Team Championship. That may have more to do with who they were in the ring with, though. Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton were having a string of great matches, and it continues here, as Jim Cornette’s boys take out the champs and win the titles.
Worst Match: Hair vs. Hair Match: “Precious” Paul Ellering beat Theodore R. Long – Two managers with barely any hair battling in a Hair vs. Hair match makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? This couldn’t even be bothered to approach “so bad it’s good” range and mostly just amounted to a waste of pay-per-view time.
What’s In A Name? – Naming the show “Capital Combat – The Return of Robocop” makes it a bit of a mouthful, but the original announcement for the show had a completely different name. When Jim Ross signed off from WRESTLE WAR 90, he said the next show would be “Armed and Dangerous,” which probably fit having Robocop on the show a little better.
Cage Match Rules – The main event was a steel cage World Championship defense for “Nature Boy” Ric Flair against Lex Luger, a man he had managed to outwit any number of times over the last couple of years. And the “dirtiest player in the game” found another way out here. In a steel cage match, which is meant to keep the participants in and any others out, Flair and the Horsemen found a way to raise the cage during the match so new Horseman Barry Windham could run in and attack Luger. Instead of a double-team (or more) to beat Luger down to give Flair the win, the referee disqualified Flair… in a steel cage match, which is normally considered no-disqualification! In order to make the save, Sting runs down to ringside and brings the debuting 7-foot-7 El Gigante with him. The giant seemed like he had no idea what he was doing, mostly just standing around and making weird faces until the Horsemen ran away.
Ranking Capital Combat
1 – United States Tag Team Championship Match: The Midnight Express defeated “Flyin” Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk (c)
2 – NWA World Championship Steel Cage Match: Lex Luger beat “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (c) by disqualification
3 – NWA Tag Team Championship Match: Doom defeated The Steiner Brothers (c)
4 – The Road Warriors and Norman the Lunatic defeated Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan and Bam Bam Bigelow
5 – Corporal Punishment Match: The Rock n Roll Express defeated The Freebirds
6 – “Mean” Mark defeated Johnny Ace
7 – The Samoan Swat Team defeated Tommy Rich and Mike Rotunda
8 – Hair vs. Hair Match: “Precious” Paul Ellering beat Theodore R. Long
*DISCLAIMER* The Top 10 rankings are for discussion purposes only and in no way reflect an official or authoritative list. It is simply my opinion. If you disagree, let me know in the comments. New arrivals to the Top 10 are in bold.
1 – WWF Championship Match: The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan (c) – WrestleMania VI
2 – NWA Tag Team Championship Match: The Steiner Brothers (c) defeated Doom – Clash of the Champions X
3 – Steel Cage Match: Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson beat The Great Muta, Buzz Sawyer and the Dragonmaster – Clash of the Champions X
4 – Rock n Roll Express defeated the Midnight Express – WrestleWar 90 Wild Thing
5 – NWA Tag Team Championship Match: The Steiner Brothers (c) defeated Ole and Arn Anderson – WrestleWar 90 Wild Thing
6 – Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake defeated “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig – WrestleMania VI
7 – “Macho King” Randy Savage defeated “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan – Saturday Night’s Main Event, Jan. 27, 1990
8 – NWA World Championship Match: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (c) beat Lex Luger by countout – WrestleWar 90 Wild Thing
9 – Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior defeated “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and “The Genius” Lanny Poffo – Saturday Night’s Main Event, Jan. 27, 1990
10 – United States Tag Team Championship Match: The Midnight Express defeated “Flyin” Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk (c) – Capital Combat
The 1990 Top 10 will be back next month, with another WCW show – Clash of the Champions XI! Stay tuned!