Bobby Eaton, Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk, Stan Lane & Steve Williams vs. Fatu, Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes, Samu & Terry Gordy

[3.0] "First time watching War Games match and I didn't enjoy this at all. It's a weird gimmick where 90% of it doesn't matter because there's no pinfalls and it's mostly pointless brawling."

[6.0] "A lot of messy in between points, but the electric crowd and big spots keep the energy up enough to keep this enjoyable"

[7.0] "This was a very nice War Game match, it started kinda slow in the beginning to build some heat but it gets really good eventually when the ring got filled with everyone. But even before that there were a couple of memorable spots like Steve Williams bench pressing Terry Gordy through the cage was really fun to watch."

[7.0] "23/07/89 The Great American Bash WCW. Got chaotic once the ring filled up, but was done well for having so many bodies in the ring at one time. The wrestling is legit, the finish is well done but maybe rushed once they have all 10 in. 7*"

[8.0] "War Games always comes off a bit disjointed on TV and this one is no exception really. However, they build in a ton of great spots to make it memorable and in my opinion it's better than some of the more famous War Games that are considered classics because they worked around the TV limitations. Usually you get a boat load of blood in these matches but that can make you numb to it so it's nice to get a change of pace every so often. I enjoyed all the tag teams getting their moments but Dr. Death is the star of this one and his performance probably cost WCW because Inoki and Baba start the bidding war for him not long after this."

[7.0] "Some really exciting spots in this one. Williams pressing Gordy multiple times into the roof of the cage was awesome. Every guy in this match brought their own style and flair to the contest. The whole tag team rivalry dynamic was cool too. Especially when SST and the Road Warriors clashed. The crowd popped huge for the Road Warriors here. Match lacked the level of violence you would want out of a war games though."

[8.0] "Now that was a spectacle. After playing with cages for quite some time they finally came up with the stipulation that made sense, was exciting and you could tell some kind of a story there. Obviously since it was the first edition it felt fresh and because of that there was much more excitement surrounding it, but it's also really good from the wrestling standpoint. They put Jimmy and Bobby first, as they're the guys with the biggest stamina, and then just depend on the entrants. A heel comes in to get some heat on the babyfaces in disadvantage and then a babyface appears to have a exploding comeback with Williams' one being a classic at this point. It feels like a fight, but they also remember about personalities involved as I got a good kick out of Hayes' work outside of the cage. Really good stuff and a great entertainment all around."

[9.0] "4.5 stars may not be as good as the war games match at wrestlewar 1992 but this was still really good with a stacked card & great spots & moments."

[8.0] "War Games is always a fun match. I thought that this match was enjoyable with the Road Warriors flying around and everyone being good technically and good brawlers. Steve Williams got to star in this match and overall it was very enjoyable."

[10.0] "A very entertaining match. It's not as great as some other War Games matches but it's still a damn great match. It's hard to go wrong when your match has the Freebirds and the Road Warriors facing off... and that's just half of the great wrestlers in this match."

[8.0] "This ended up being better than I thought it looked on paper. While it could have used a bit more violence (I assume they wanted to save the blood for the Flair vs. Funk main event), there were some nice moments of explosive offence from several competitors and some pretty good brawling throughout the match. Dr Death especially looked like a beast with his awesome Press Slam spot on Gordy, and I enjoyed how the Road Warriors were just throwing their own bodies at their opponents. It wasn't one of the best War Games matches, but I'd take this over the bloated and convoluted modern day iterations any day."

[8.0] "This is a really good WARGAMES match. I think this starts the stretch of WARGAMES matches always hitting when they come to PPV's in this era. It truly is a great match type. Quite the lineup of guys in this one; this match might be a little underrated because of that."

[8.0] "This was a big ol' sweaty brawl with a couple of memorable moments -- Steve Williams pressing Terry Gordy into the top of the cage EIGHT (! ) times and the nasty-looking ending where Hawk got Garvin to give up with a hangman's noose submission. ****"

[9.0] "I liked this a lot more than the last time I watched it. Lost in a phenomenal card, this forgotten War Games classic highlighted the Road Warriors and their feud with the Samoan Swat Team, also involving The Fabulous Freebirds and the Midnight Express. While not as good as previous or many future War Games matches, it was still a fun brawl and the visual of Steve Williams pressing Terry Gordy into the top of the cage is iconic."

[7.0] "On paper, this is a prototypical WarGames match. Starts slowly, builds the heat, then explodes when the match "begins". And so structurally, it works, but it just lacks the expected brutality from that time, as well as the drama that was not really present when the climax came around. This is probably due to the uninspired brawling that took place and thus it struggles to stand out from previous, and even later outings. But with the talent involved, it was never gonna be anything less than decent and it's still an enjoyable watch in my eyes. Just nothing I will ever come back to."

[8.0] "I thought this was better than the '87 War Games match that got 5 stars. Not because it's particularly outstanding, but the match does have some great moments, like Steve Williams military pressing an opponent into the roof. The Road Warriors also bring a lot of pop to the match. It's still a mostly mindless brawl, but it's fun for what it is. ****"

[8.0] "This is a really underrated Wargames match that is barely talked about. There were two fun promos prior to the match backstage that included Dr Death pretending to be a plane which popped me. It went at a pace and never felt bogged down. I am also a fan of the low ceiling on the cage, makes it feel much more claustrophobic than modern cage matches and suits the atmosphere they are going for ****"

[8.0] "Great WarGames Match Here. The Crowd love it and was invested into it. Michael Hayes at this time was great too."

[6.0] "Everything you expect from a war games match. They're typically pretty decent from that standpoint. There was nothing phenomenal, but also nothing terrible. The build is fine, I usually expect a slow one until all the members enter the ring. After that you get you standard brawl, and it all depends on the characters involved on what they can make of it. There was nothing amazing, and nothing outright terrible either."

[8.0] "Even though this is far from being one of the greatest WarGames match in history, it's still a brilliant one with an excited crowd. Hawk was perfect as the final guy making the comeback in the end, and Michael Hayes was also a highlight with his chickenshit tactics. Great one. [****]"

[6.0] "Not much to this one for me. War Games are always fun but there weren't any standout moments, a couple of cool ring to ring spots for the RW but that's about it, the rest was just a bunch of guys throwing fists. The fans were going crazy which saved it from being totally dull. ***"

[8.0] "Slow build and didn't really reach the WarGames greatness level at first. That is until the match "officially" begins, it turns into a wild, crazy brawl from there. For such a heated feud though, the lack of blood bugged me and thus was my only problem with this. Nevertheless, this was a hell of a deal and the second best MOTN for me. [****]"

[6.0] "On the one hand, it's a War Games match, and War Games matches are almost always good. Especially a War Games match with NWA brutality standouts like the Road Warriors, Dr. Death, and the Freebirds. It's also very entertaining to know, in retrospect, that Rikishi was in a War Games match, which just doesn't sound like it should be true. But all told, this was just kind of a fine match. Nothing special, middling drama. The final appearance of Hawk is excellent, and his diving double clothesline brings people justifiably out of their seats, but it's a lot of slow build to a very short climax, when you get right down to it. Good, but there are a lot of better War Games matches."

[6.0] "This was an alright match. Disappointing for a Wargames match. It was filled with standard brawling that didn? t reach any great highest for me. ***"

[7.0] "This was a good match, but it was something of a letdown for a War Games, especially because of the lack of blood."

[4.0] "I really, really struggle with matches like these. This 'War Games' gimmick was clearly very popular in the 80s, and a lot of people to this day really enjoyed the stipulation, but for me, a guy who became a wrestling fan in the last 5 years, this sort of match comes off as downright silly and uninspired. I'll admit I wasn't fully synced in to all the storylines involved in this match, but I think a good match should be able to connect regardless of story, because the in-ring wrestling itself IS a story, or at least it should be. This was just 20 minutes of incredibly bland brawling, and I can't see otherwise. This match was basically a Royal Rumble then, and I already don't enjoy those matches, but they at least have some creative eliminations and actual interweaving stories. Here, it was just the heels constantly getting the 1-man advantage due to the stipulation, and everyone in the ring brawling as messily and slowly as possible. I wouldn't have minded if everyone went out there and busted themselves going 100 miles an hour while throwing strikes, but the pace was so slow it put me to sleep. The Freebirds were comedically bad as cartoon villains, and the Samoan Swat Team were pretty cringeworthy as dumb, vicious monsters. I did enjoy a few moments of heightened physicality from the likes of Gordy, the Road Warriors, and Williams, but not nearly enough for me to enjoy the match as a whole. I can't say it was TOO bad, because it was fine for a brawl, but it really just wasn't what I find super compelling. **"

"All of the wrestlers involved in that match do a fantastic job, as well as Jim Cornette, Paul E and the commentators."

[10.0] "My favorite WCW match from my childhood. This put WarGames on the map. It was perfect booking with all 10 guys having their moments. Add a red-hot crowd and a dramatic ending and you have a perfect match."

[8.0] "This War Games have a lot of emphasis, Steve Williams and the Road Warriors had some of the best parts of this long 5 vs 5 match. Both team got over in the match. ****1/4"

[5.0] "I gave this match ** 1/4. Nowhere near as enjoyable a clusterfuck as the first Wargames match. Michael Hayes's charisma shines when he outside of the ring, but besides that this is a vastly overrated match in my opinion."

[9.0] "Great match for its time. Dr Death benchpressing Terry Gordy through the cage was great. The crowd was red hot. And all 10 guys did their thing. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Really excellent match, some very impressive spots such as Williams pressing Gordy over his head and both Road Warriors diving over both sets of ropes to smash people out. Crowd is very hot as well, especially towards the end for Hawk. Lots of really good things here, the WarGames format is fondly remembered for a very good reason."

[9.0] "The lack of Horsemen and Dusty does make it lose it's main event feel, but it is easily a better-wrestled match than its predecessors. Hayes is charisma incarnate and does well to make up for Flair. I love how, the more the match goes on, everybody else is in the one ring having the actual WarGames match, and the other ring is left solely to Williams and Gordy having a "who can gorilla press the other more" contest. Makes me wish I could watch a duel-screen."