Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Sting & Nikita Koloff 07/10/88

Where: Baltimore, MD

Backstory:

This was during the peak of the Horsemen years. Arn and Tully were part of this elite stable which the focus on the company was based around. There opponents were Nikita Koloff who was a Russian heel turned babyface, and Sting, a man who after going to a time-limit draw with Ric Flair at the first Clash of the Champions, was being booked super strong in order to make him a draw.

In Ring Analysis:

Both men stare each other down briefly, and they start brawling with the faces getting the better of the exchange. The crowd is red hot and into the product. The Horsemen come back and they continue brawling. Once again, this is the type of intense action that the WWF wasn't putting on at the time. For some reason visions of Lanny Poffo throwing Frisbees into the crowd was a sharp contrast from this serious product. Tully and Sting square off, and Sting gets a quick roll up which the ref was too slow getting over, and only gets a 2-count.

Arn takes over, and Sting hits a dropkick to the gut. Arn falls out of the ring and sells being stunned when Sting catches him out of the corner with a running tope to the outside. Great camera work as they don't show Sting until he's in midair so the home viewer gets the same feeling of shock that Arn Anderson is feeling. Once again the crowd is majorly into Sting as he seems super enthusiastic about the response, and it's no wonder the NWA really wanted to push him as the top guy.

Both men enter the ring again, but Sting stays in control. He gets Arn down and tags in Nikita Koloff. He works an armdrag really well by getting a tight grip and making it look like he grips it tighter everytime Arn tries to escape. Arn finally gets out by forcing Koloff into the corner and getting the natural cheap shot to the gut. Arn goes for an Irish whip to the corner but Koloff reverses. He then charges, but Arn moves out of the way. Koloff slows down before he hits the turnbuckle then gets a Arn an angry stare behind his back and hits a hard clothesline. Tully comes in and Koloff gets one on him too. The crowd is going crazy as the Horsemen have all types of proper heel heat that gets the babyfaces over.

Koloff goes for the cover after posturing to the fans, but the ref is distracted by Tully. Sting tags back in, and they continue working on the arm of Anderson. Arn gets Sting in the corner and has his Irish whip into the corner reversed again, but this time Arn has learned his lesson and puts up a knee to the charging Sting. Arn then goes for a sleeper, but Sting reverses out and sends Arn's head to the turnbuckle.

Sting heads back to the arm, and after reviewing the Brian Pillman vs. Lex Luger match, I feel the style at the time was using a rest hold to work in some big spots, then go back to the rest hold to plan out the next offensive flurry. Overall, it was a great way to have a high energy match without winding the wrestlers too much.

Tully comes in to help Arn take down Sting by having both men grab his arms, but Sting out maneuvers them and both Horsemen go down. Arn tags out to Tully and Sting hits a couple of armdrags on him. Sting works on Tully's arm, and tags in Koloff. Koloff pounds on Tully then goes back to the arm. Koloff fortunately goes into an amateur hold that is different from the copious amount of armbars they were using before. Sting tags in, but Tully whips him into the corner. Tully charges, but Sting dodges, and Tully goes shoulder first into the turnbuckle.

Tully in a daze goes to make a tag, but goes to the wrong corner and Koloff gets him. He soaks in the crowds anticipation before he hits him in the head. Koloff tages back in, and he and Sting go about keeping Tully from tagging out to Anderson. After several minutes Blanchard holds down Koloff and gets the tag, but Nikita escapes before Arn can take advantage of the situation. Arn gets visibly frustrated that he lost that opportunity because he doesn't want to face Nikita on an even playing field, and it's minor comedy for the crowd to see the evil heel throwing a fit.

Both men lock up and Anderson gets the advantage but Koloff takes him down with a drop toehold and goes back to the arm. It's interesting as they talk about Arn Anderson's size and strength as he wouldn't have looked big compared to any of the WWF's cartoon characters at the time. Still, even the trimmer wrestlers are pretty thick compared to the average man.

Koloff gets Anderson in another amateur maneuver which puts pressure on the arm and shoulder, then transitions that into a full nelson which was a lethal finisher at the time. Anderson uses his heel to kick at the knee of Koloff to get out of the hold. Arn tags out to Tully but because Koloff was selling the knee, he couldn't escape and Tully goes to work. He kicks the knee several times and goes for the Irish whip. Nikita reverses and gets a chokeslam without Tully jumping.

Tully gets up and goes back to the knee. He has another Irish whip reversed and this time Koloff gets a flying shoulder tackle. Koloff then follows up with a clothesline that sends both men over the top rope. Koloff gets him back onto the ring apron and suplexes him back inside. Koloff goes for the cover but the Horsemen's manage, JJ Dillon pulls Koloff from Tully. Koloff is enraged and grabs JJ outside the ring. He sets him up against the ringpost, but misses a lariat. Koloff hits his arm on the ringpost and is in a lot of pain. It's kind of ironic how the faces spend the whole match working on the arm, yet it's Koloff who takes the major arm injury.

Arn goes out and rams Koloff's shoulder into the ringpost again. The Horsemen continue working over his arm in the ring. Arn gets Koloff in a reverse hammerlock which Koloff eventually no sells and fights out of the hold. Koloff Irish whips Anderson into the ropes but he puts his head down, and Arn hits a great DDT right on the top of his head. Arn knows he hit a homerun as he raises his arms in victory and the crowd boos. He goes for the cover but Nikita barely kicks out at 2. The Horsemen take turns coming in the ring and working over the arm just like Sting and Koloff did until Anderson goes to the second rope and catches Koloffs knees on a reverse splash.

Koloff gets the hot tag and Sting tears apart Tully and Arn. Sting gets his low dropkick again, but hits a nice gorilla slam on Blanchard. He then starts beating his chest which drives the crowd crazy. He hits another drop kick, and bashed both Horsemen's heads together. Arn tags back in but Sting gets a sleephold on Anderson. Arn fights out, and Tully tries to help and gets pounded on while Koloff hits his finisher, The Russian Sickle (lariat) on Anderson.

Sting gets Tully into the corner and hits one of his big moves, the Stinger Splash. He then goes for the Scorpion Deathlock. He gets it on, but Tully survives until the bell rings and we have a draw

Draw in 20:00 ***1/4

The match was a lot of fun, and the crowd heat was great. It could have been much better if the heels got in more offense as Sting in particular dominated. The purpose of this match was to get Sting over and make him a better worker which certainly did work. Arn and Tully were great workers, but when you're in a faction and you're not the top guy, you usually have to put people over to get them ready for guys like Flair. Koloff really surprised me as he was fun and exciting to watch. I read on Wikipedia that the WWF offered him a deal, but thought he was going to get a better run in the NWA at the time. It would have been interesting to see if he could have prospered with a more cartoonish character than he had here in this match.