Brian Pillman vs. Lex Luger 10/28/89

Where: Philadelphia, PA

Backstory:
Pillman had been in WCW for a little bit and was one of the pioneers for a high flying style of wrestling. He wasn't a big guy, but had a very strong passion to make it to the top of his profession. Lex Luger on the other hand was very big, and got pushed due to it. He gets a lot of flack for being a lazy worker, but there was a time when he went out to have good matches and 1989 was one of his best years in the ring. This match is for Luger's U.S. Title. Jim Ross was on the booking committee at the time, and I would suspect that he came up with the idea for these two to wrestle.

In Ring Analysis:

Both men circle each other and lockup. Luger naturally gets the advantage, but Pillman continues to battle and gets in a cheap slap during the break. This is Pillman (probably as a shoot) letting Luger know that he's not intimidated and isn't going to play the humble rookie to the established star. They lock up again, and Luger backs him into the corner again, but Pillman battles out. Luger gets Pillman into the corner again, but Luger starts using his striking offense to pound on Pillman.

Luger hits a bodyslam and stars taunting Pillman. Luger lazily throws Pillman outside the ring, but Pillman lands on his feet and rushes Luger with a tackle. He starts throwing haymakers all over the place. He then hits a dropkick and Luger bails to take a breather. Pillman follows him out with a baseball slide. After Luger gets back in the ring, and out again, Pillman chases him, and Lugers runs away. Once again, in 1989, Luger was a different wrestler as he is willing to play ball and make the less established Pillman look like a threat to him.

Luger outsmarts Pillman as he gets back in the ring and catches him with stomps to the body.
Luger throws Pillman into the corner but he dodges then hits a reverse cross body block off the top rope. Pillman then grounds Luger with a cross armbar so both men can take a breather. Jim Ross does a great job of explaining to the fans that Pillman needed to ground Luger because Luger hates being on the defensive. Jim Ross is a great announcer because he explains why things are happening in the ring as opposed to just explaining what's happening in the ring.

Luger gets out of the armbar with some knees and punches. He Irish whips Pillman, but Pillman comes back with some armdrags and hiptosses. Pillman goes back to the armbar. Luger fights out a few times, but Pillman keeps reapplying it. Normally using an armbar for a decent portion of the match would bore the crowd, but the make sure to keep breaking the hold to do some nice sequences of wrestling action before going back to the move.

Luger finally gets out for good by using his power to punch out. He throws Pillman into the corner, but runs into his boots, and Pillman goes to the top rope. He goes for a big splash, but misses and the advantage goes to Luger. Luger then hits a flapjack and it's clearly his turn to try to put Pillman away. He uses some more moves that accentuate his strength and poses to the crowd to let them know that he's bigger and baddest than all of them. Luger then hits a few clotheslines, and I notice that Luger doesn't have the best stamina as you can see him hide his face as he breathes heavily.

Luger then hits a big clothesline to the back of Pillman's neck which he sells perfectly. Luger is doing a great job of showing intensity and believability. It feels like a wrestling match. Luger then is a vertical suplex. He goes for an nonchalant cover but Pillman kicks out. Luger then throws Pillman outside the ring. The booking for this match is solid because if Luger started beating on Pillman like this from the start, then Pillman would look weak and out of Luger's league. By letting Pillman control the beginning of the match, the crowd thinks that Pillman has a chance to come back. When it's done the other way and the underdog babyface gets his offense near the end,then it looks like he's just getting lucky and doesn't really deserve to be the same ring.

Pillman comes back in the ring, and gets a minor bit of offense with a sunset flip for a two-count. Luger then goes for a huge clothesline which Pillman ducks, and Luger's momentum takes him over the top rope to the outside. Pillman gets him back in and mounts him in the corner for a series of punches but Luger grabs him and hits a stiff inverted atomic drop. Luger then takes Pillman up top for a superplex, but Pillman knocks Luger off and hits a top rope sunset flip for a nearfall. Pillman then gets a reverse flying elbow and he's pumped up. Pillman then hits a big springboard clothesline on Luger and gets a nearfall before Luger put his foot on the ropes. Pillman goes up top again, but misses a missile drop kick. Luger then throws Pillman into the ropes and finishes with a stun gun for a three count.

Winner by pinfall in16:49: Lex Luger ****1/2

Great match. No blow spots, solid psychology, and a clean finish. It must have been very frustrating for the NWA to be putting out a superior wrestling product while the WWF was making all of the money. The marketing power of NWA was obviously lacking, as this was a match that wrestling fans could easily get into with the proper build.