One of the best car crash matches in history as a heavy and substance abusing Regal refuses to wrestle the Goldberg formula match, so we get a strong style hold based match with little cooperation. I love it!

How many ways can I state how much I love this match. Regal is throwing semi-shoot kicks to Goldberg’s back within the first thirty seconds. They do a lot of tough hold exchanges while not on the same page, and it results in Goldberg having to really work to make himself look good. He’s totally up for the challenge and looks very capable in there, especially for how inexperienced he was at this point. Regal uses some nasty kicks and Euro uppercuts in this one, and Goldberg eats them and keeps coming. Regal is constantly trying to ground the big man, and at one point does a sit judo take down-like maneuver.

This is two tough guys going at it and having to really work their way out of stuff. It’s not what was supposed to happen, but it’s better for Regal’s stubborn ways.

The crowd doesn’t know how to take this, so they sit in shocked silence while Regal refuses to run the ropes for Goldberg, and they muscle their way around each other. Stuff gets sloppy because of the lack of cooperation in here too, as neither man sells at times and Regal even does clinch knee strikes to the head (way before MMA popularized this).

At some point Goldberg gets pissed and takes charge, getting in some of his offense. His spear is pretty sick, and the fans pop huge for that and the subsequent Jackhammer. A beautiful five minute mess. 2 ½ and 5/10.

Psicosis is out in a great white costume. Regal is the TV champ. A hot crowd there. Bischoff and Ted Dibiase are doing NWO heel commentary for this one. This is either going to be a complete train wreck or a neat meshing of styles. With Regal I expect a great match.

Right off the bat I’m struck by Regal being a good enough heel to work the crowd into a frenzy of cheering the non-English speaking Psicosis. Good job.

One thing that I enjoy about a Regal match is how he muscles guys into holds and reversals. Even when things doing go smoothly, he finds a way to make it look good in the context of pro wrestling fights. Psicosis is following along fine, which is what you do in a Regal match. When they reverse Regal sells the heck out of the arm for a moment. Psicosis gets to hit one of his dives (and sells after). This crowd is really hot for Psicosis and his big spots. His top rope leg drop (Alabama Jam to old Eaton fans. is beautiful.

Regal reverses with a belly-to-back suplex and they sell for a while. Both guys condensed the struggle down for TV time even better than earlier Benoit/Guerrero matches people rave about from thus set.
Really nice little match here. Regal slows it down for some of his offense, while still selling the accumulative damage. Good throws and strikes. This isn’t running through moves just because you can do them. There is space between stuff to give it drama. Intelligently designed.

Final stretch sees some Psicosis near falls, but gets caught, and Regal stretches him for the tap out victory. 3 ½ and 7/10.

Sting always had the benefit of getting great workers to have matches with on Nitro (at least, this set makes me feel stronger in that opinion). Regal really was a talented versatile guy that never got his due until a second WWE run. I’ve seen his early European stuff, and he was always two things: a bit awkward and a heck of a worker.

I dig the story right away as Regal draws heat from the crowd, Sting milks their adulation, and when they go at it Sting goes right for the Scorpion Death lock. Sting looks motivated work-wise, but I think a lot of that is Regal’s willingness to bump for the guy. His ability to make an arm wringer interesting and then sell the reversal astounds me. Lots of short cut cheating to work over Sting. They use the so-called Japanese Strangle hold more than I’ve seen in any Sting match. Seems like Regal is calling the shots, which makes sense, because the match is both good and Regal is the heel. When they turn it on for the stretch run it’s as good as any main event stuff from that time period. Seriously. Sting wins with some crazy back breaker suplex. It’s criminal this went under eight minutes and a commercial stole time from us. I’m in awe of how different a worker can be with Regal in there to guide. 3 ¼ and 6.4/10.

Not too much to say about this one. I would have much rather seen these guys wrestle under World of Sport rules, or even given 12 minutes in the middle of Nitro, but a brawl is fine too. And this is an amazingly well done parking lot brawl. I say this as someone who roles their eyes watching hardcore much of the time. This definitely did something for me where Memphis’ Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl did not.

I dug the stiff punches and forearms. You’d be hard pressed to see two guys do the stuff they did without any padding. The spot where they rip off the bumper and use it as a weapon was great. There are some tentative moments here and there, but it’s definitely made up for with the fake glass shattering of car doors at certain times. Bischoff is annoying as hell on commentary here, talking way to much and claiming THIS has gotten out of control (why was it booked then, dork?). Otherwise this is impressive grudge match and hardcore brawler booking that let these two great wrestlers show their range. 3 stars and 6.3/10.