[9.0] "Watching any modern War Games match with its perfectly rehearsed choreography and moments loses some of the shine of what the stipulation should be after watching a match like this. Don't get me wrong, I love modernity and probably have a favorite modern War Games, however, what is seen here is surreal on any level. Brian Pillman gave a performance of a lifetime as a babyface in this match, from start to finish, energetic and pulling the entire crowd towards him, he was hot and his jumps and agility were an excellent differentiator. The entire match looks like an extensive bloodthirsty brawl, surrounded by the savagery of a great rivalry. Despite its strange ending and a grotesque botch coming from Sid on Brian, this didn't erase the brilliance of the match, it only added to Pillman's performance. The moments where Sting and Flair were involved with each other making the crowd explode were unique and all the babyfaces applying the Figure 4 to the heels is definitely special. One of which I'm most proud to say was very close to perfection, in surreal ways. [4.5*]"
[9.0] "An excellent War Games match. Everyone gets something here, but god damn does Brian Pillman look like the coolest dude in the world after this. Entering first despite being injured, lighting up every single member of the Horsemen's team, and taking one of the most disgusting powerbombs I've ever seen. El Gigante getting into the ring to call for the surrender was dumb, but that's a minor nitpick for a match like this."
[9.0] "Great match. MVP: Barry Windham for his two face blade job that unfortunately gets cleaned later in the match. Sid Vicious is obviously green but it works and the accidental tiger driver given to Brian Pillman is brutal. I think the El Gigante finish is really lame. The idea works but why would you let him in the cage and just end it like that. He could've been outside and then made the ref check on Brian. Still my favorite WCW match I've seen so far"
[9.0] "Complete mayhem from start to finish which got Pillman over as total star despite ultimately being destroyed by Sid. Classic WarGames in the sense that is was crazy brawling, loads of juice (although Flair blading on camera was eye rolling) and a rabid crowd. El Gigante getting involved was needless, however."
[8.0] "[4.0*] Great chaotic brawl. I do not think this had the elements to compare to the 1992 one but it was still awesome. Brian Pillman was obviously the heart and soul of the match from start to finish (literally). I loved the hot entrances of the Steiners, they brought some new energy and set the crowd on fire. The brawl was pretty fun all around with a lot of blood, fists and bumps, just like a War Games match should be. I still wanted to see Arn on the match and I really think he would have been a great addition to the match. The ending is obviously very polemic where Sid Vicious almost killed Pillman, but man, as a visual, this looked so fucking cool, looked like an AJPW Kings Road spot and my mind was blown completely. Of course he is a fucking dumb animal and he repeated the spot like an irrational creature would do, and this sucked, but the whole visual of Pillman being the underdog getting his ass beat and then being carried to leave the room was so insane that it helped the storytelling a lot and if it was the keyfabe from start to finish I would have given it a 9/10."
[9.0] "This was a great match despite several glaring issues. Obviously, there was the Sid Vicious powerbomb, but Flair also had one of the most blatant blade jobs I've ever seen."
[9.0] "A great match hindered by the ending. Why was El Giante being allowed in the cage while the match was ongoing? They made a point that Arn wasn't allowed earlier"
[6.0] "Für mich sicherlich zum besseren der bisherigen War Games zu zählen, macht das Match in seiner Eigenart aber natürlich trotzdem nicht effizienter oder sinnvoller. Hervorzuheben allem voran offensichtlich Umsetzung und Finish, das natürlich aber voneinander getrennt. In sich geschlossen nämlich gefiel mir der Herangang an das Match mit seiner sofortig brutalen Opening, was aber auch nicht aufhören tat und sich so durch's Match hinweg zog, gewaltiger Pluspunkt meiner Meinung nach. Erst mit dem Einsatz von Blut kann ein Match der Art zur Geltung kommen, einzig richtig noch vor dem dritten Teilnehmer rote Suppe anzubieten. Flyin' Brian tat tatsächlich nicht suppen, bekam aber von Sid Vicious mit dessen Powerbomb zum Ende hin ordentlich einen reingedrückt; allein der Lift nach oben und gegen das Obergewand vom Käfig sah ekelhaft aus, der Flug beim zweiten Ansatz mit dem Nacken voran aber noch herber. Eigentlich ein Finish nach Maß, außer man schickt El Gigante plötzlich raus und lässt ihn das Match im Namen aller vier Faces beenden; ich bin daraus nicht schlau geworden, hat überhaupt nicht in das Bild vom Match oder gar der Matchart allgemein gepasst. Hinterließ einen faden Beigeschmack, obwohl das Match ansonsten rund lief. Larry Zbyszko fiel als einziger in meiner Wahrnehmung ab, gefühlt hat der an keiner wirkungsvollen Sequenz mitgearbeitet und stattdessen Barry Windham, Ric Flair und Sid das Ruder übernehmen lassen. Manchmal ist aber genau das der Weg zum Erfolg und Widersprechen kann man dem Prinzip in exakt diesem Fall nicht, ***1/4 bei ansteigender Tendenz."
[9.0] "This is what a WarGames match should be. A low roofed caged, a shit ton of blood and for it go only a couple more minutes after the Match Beyond Begins. Watch this match if not for the crazy powerbomb. 4.5/5 Stars"
[9.0] "One of the great WarGames matches, this is a helluva time. The Pillman piece provides a compelling centrepiece, also setting the tone in terms of energy and pace. The action is frenetic here, pushing a relentless pace that's strong enough to soften the considerable blow of Anderson's absence. It's chaotic and wild, a great showcase of all that made a WarGames match tick. Fittingly, it also features a Sid performance that's equal parts insane and hilarious, just as god intended. Seriously though, this packs an impressive punch, no lower than third for me on the all-time WarGames standings. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Another very good WarGames, this time with a little more storytelling compared to the first edition. They started out hot with Pillman wanting the revenge on Windham so bad, that he ignored the teammates' instructions, which ultimately resulted in him getting knocked out and losing the match for his team. This was great alone, but the way they got there was really exciting. Barry getting the shit kicked out of him by Brian in the first few minutes was a great watch, Sting jumping from one ring to another was incredible and Sid looked very dominant once he got in. There was no stalling, it felt brutal and the crowd really loved it."
[9.0] "Now this is what I want to see out of a War Games match - not these corny, overly choreographed, bloated 'epics' that we get now. Blood, chaos, some cool spots with the roof, and a more palatable runtime. Brian Pillman is the star here. He has an excellent showing, especially in the opening minutes of the match. I actually love the finish to an extent - the powerbombs are sick, and Pillman sells it fantastically. It's a convincingly brutal way to knock somebody out and have the referee call it. The only part of the finish that I disliked was the weirdness with El Gigante which felt like it decreased the tension as opposed to adding to it. There was also an issue earlier in the match as some pretty blatant spot calling (which I usually wouldn't even notice, so for me to mention it at all it has to be pretty bad). Outside of these issues, though, I thought this was an awesome brawl that was a lot of fun to watch."
[9.0] "This is a great WARGAMES match. I was initially disappointed Arn Anderson got replaced by Larry Zybysco in this match but it didn't end up being that big of a deal. Brian Pillman has a performance of a lifetime here. At first I kinda was hoping that Sting's team would go over but I liked how this played out in the end. Sid has the infamous botched powerbomb spot on Pillman from the roof being too low; it pissed me off when he went for the second one. WCW always seems to do these Wargames matches well in this era."
[10.0] "I was initially disappointed that Zbyszko replaced Arn in this match and that is the only flaw here except Sting's team should have won, but with Sid almost killing Pillman and having half the brain we do, he doesn't realize he's injured Pillman until he's power bombed him twice. Brian Pillman put on the performance of a lifetime here and this was the pinnacle of the Sting/Four Horsemen feud."
[9.0] "Amazing how the War Games of this era of WCW work so well, Brian's performance is fantastic and he undoubtedly steals the spotlight, even at the end where he takes those brutal powerbombs from Sid, the stipulation really sounded like a big deal and gave a very cool sense of danger (****1/2)"
[6.0] "Fairly typical chaotic multiman fuckfest, but there are some standout moments. Pillman looks great and makes for a compelling underdog babyface, Sting has a great hot tag (well, not a tag in this case, but it's the same thing). Sid of course almost murders Pillman and the match is unfortunately stopped prematurely, before it could reach a climax."
[9.0] "Brian Pillman put on one of the greatest fiery Babyface performances that I have ever seen. He quickly jumped into the cage to get his revenge, showing that his anger, heart, & passion clearly took over his better judgement. That is going to get the fans rooting for him right there. He spent the entire time fighting like a tiger (he also used to play for the Cincinnati Bengals, and a Bengal is a Tiger), so I caught that. In the end, he ended up a casualty of war. Look at the brutality of the 2 Powerbombs that he took from Sid Vicious. That is beautiful storytelling."
[8.0] "The match sneaks into my top 10 favorite WarGames because of one man: Brian Pillman... OK, that's unfair. His five minutes with Barry Windham were excellent and the Horseman more than played his part. Rick Steiner bumped like a boss, Larry Zbyszko had a good showing, but Pillman really held this match together in a stunning performance from beginning to end, including the terrifying powerbombs he took to conclude the match. Away from him, it was the typical bloody brawl that was enjoyable, but nothing outstanding compared to the other WarGames matches."
[6.0] "This match pales in comparison to the War Games match at the following year's WrestleWar pay-per-view. It is not bad and has its moments of spectacle and brutality, but it is largely pretty slow and the finish is awful."
[5.0] "A match that has as many positives as negatives. Pullman has some great moves, I enjoyed quadruple figure 4 spot, but the repetitive brawl and cage raking that make up the majority of the match detracts from the overall match. The ending was unsatisfying, with a whole other brawl happening in the background when the finish should have been a built up to showdown between two of the last standing men. the way pilllman is spiked on his head makes it uncomfortable on a rewatch. Overall, it's fine, but not worth a rewatch"
[7.0] "***** from Meltzer is absolute nonsense to me and I just don't see how it's got such high ratings from so many here either, but each to their own! There were definitely fun moments in this from Pillman & Sting and the Steiners, but otherwise there was also a lot of just standard brawling. Fun and chaotic but hardly a classic to me. ***1/2"
[8.0] "Die 5 Sterne erschließen sich mir hier zwar nicht ganz aber ja das war schon ein gutes, auch durchaus passend strukturiertes und erzähltes War Games Match, auch wenn es sicherlich ein paar für die Matcharten typische nicht ganz so spannende Stellen hatte aber 8 Punkte halte ich definitiv für verdient."
[8.0] "Pillman and Windham open this and they make every second of the 5 minutes they get alone count, with Pillman using the cage and extra ring to destroy Windham in a variety of different ways. Pillman is coming into this with a bandaged-up shoulder, but it doesn't come into play much. I was quite surprised how awkward some of the sequences here looked, as Windham and Pillman are usually smooth as silk in the ring. Rick Steiner call a spot so loud that it makes John Cena sound silent. Sid is a lot more athletic as usual, and Rick bumps like a motherfucker so all is forgiven. Once everyone is in the ring, the heels gain an advantage, and Sid violently powerbombs Pillman on his head. I have no idea how Pillman didn't suffer a serious injury there. The finish involves El Gigante coming out to Pillman's aid and throwing in the towel for him. I wasn't a fan of the finish as it did no favors for supposed babyface Gigante and the crowd showers him with boos once the bell rings."
[9.0] "This was easily the best War Games up until this point. The first 5 minutes is Brian Pillman laying waste to Barry Windham, but then Ric Flair enters the match and turned the tables. Sting evens the odds and then chaos reigns as the numbers increase every 2 minutes. There are some good spots including a nice false finish with all the horsemen locked up in figure fours, but they managed to escape. However, the most memorable spot is Sid powerbombing Pillman right on his head. The impact was accidental but put the ending over more than a regular powerbomb would have. When Sid does manage a more routine powerbomb it puts the finishing touches on the match. Even though this was some great action, I still think 5 stars is way too much. ****1/2"
[8.0] "Ahhh the Sid Wargames match where he loudly calls spots directly in front of the camera and then attempts to murder Pillman not once but twice. Flair and Windham piss blood. This was a good Wargames match but the ending was just outright terrible and made no sense."
[9.0] "An all time classic bloody brawl right here. Everyone looked amazing here, particularly Pillman who might've gave his breakout performance. I can't give it a five however, due to the sh*t finish that brought the whole thing down. [****3/4]"
[9.0] "What an epic fight this was, especially in the first minutes of the match, with Brian Pillman coming out of it looking like a mega star. Sid Vicious was on a mission to single handedly fuck everything up, loudly ãnd clearly calling spots out there before apparently forgetting there was a cage right above him and literally dropping Brian Pillman on his fucking neck on a Powerbomb. Overall I wouldn't give this five stars because it came just a little bit short of perfection thanks to Sid being green and overall a shit worker in 1991, but the match still kicked ass otherwise. [****1/2]"
[6.0] "What a fun mess it was, but it has the faults that go with his qualities. Pillman did a great job, dispite being limited by the cage height. The ending is a disgrace."
[8.0] "It was a really good brawl, I liked the beginning of the match with some good sequences but the Low Blow wasted a little bit the action, Zbyszko did a very good performance and was for me the MVP with Flyin' Brian who was great from the beginning to the end. I am not a fan of the ending, but the match himself is very good. ***3/4"
[6.0] "Pretty much every point I have for this match goes into it being a great brawl. Flair and Pillman really showing a side that they're not known for as much but can do so so well. The match is chaos all the time, but in that there's obviously the issue that it's chaos all the time. The match works less and less the more the ring fills up and the bad ending just kind of shows that this match gets worse and worse as it goes on."
[8.0] "This was a strong brawl, and very bloody in places, although it's more known for a somewhat botched finished and for Sid repeatedly calling spots loud enough for the cameras to pick up."
[7.0] "A weak War Games compared to the ones previous but this was still very good. Pillman with an ultimate babyface showing here, fighting through injury, all the Horseman beating on him. Some great storytelling. ***1/2"
[7.0] "I've always been a huge fan of the WarGames format. When I first encountered it, it felt like a cage-bound twist on the Survivor Series team battle format, only with contestants being added one by one instead of being eliminated, and the escalating chaos as the rosters filled out appealed to me. But my experience was mainly with lesser latter day iterations of the concept, or other promotions doing their version of the concept. So, I was keen to go back and watch some earlier examples, what many seem to hold up as the greatest WarGames. Even though it looks pretty flimsy now, to me the cage is still a big step up from the glossy blue cages with the grid like bars that WWF was using at the time. The WarGames cage feels more dangerous, with the fence design and the roof, seeming more like it can be employed as a weapon in the match. And that it is, with every interaction a wrestler's face has with it resulting in bloodshed. As someone now used to the bloodless, PG WWE, the amount of blood was actually pretty jarring. Windham is juicing within the first 2 minutes! And the imagery of wrestlers having their bloody faces smeared into the cage, leaving crimson streaks behind, is very powerful. Sadly, despite a strong opening sequence with Windham (then Flair) against match MVP Pillman, I feel the storytelling of the match broke down the more guys went in, and it seemed to devolve into pretty basic offense, without too much escalation in the drama. Though I will say the climactic powerbomb from Sid looked SICK! But overall, I'd say this was enjoyable, but not really consistent enough to merit classic status."
[8.0] "Cool match, super-chaotic. Sid destroys Pillman at the end, which is the impetus for the match ending. Flair and Windham bleed a lot (and are on the same team, which is weird to me). Action, again, is chaotic, No psychology, just really good brawling with lots of energy inside of a double-cage. ****."
[7.0] "A bit overrated for me. Nice storytelling, nice chaotic Action, but nothing too special. I personaly don't need blood, maybe it is the "violence" why this match has this ratings. 5 stars? Nah... not even close."
[9.0] "A great, brutal match with some real good storytelling. The MVP of the match was definitely Pillman, who gave a rockin' babyface performance. ****1/4"
[7.0] "Das beste War Games Match, dass ich bis jetzt gesehen habe, was vor allem daran lag, dass alle motiviert waren ein gutes Match zu worken und es dieses Mal eine gute Match-Story gab, die sich wie ein roter Faden durch das ganze Match ziehte. Star des Matches war Flyin' Brian, der in diesem Match am meisten einstecken musste und auch für ein tolles Finish verantwortlich war. Ebenfalls bemerkenswert war auch die hohe Work-rate von den Steiner Brothers, die vor allem für den Mittelteil des Matches verantwortlich waren und dafür sorgten, dass es nicht das übliche War Games Chaos gab. Definitiv eine Empfehlung wert und ein durchgehend spaßiges Match. *** 3/4 (12)"
[8.0] "Das Match beginnt gleich mal richtig gut & man zieht die Pillman Underdog Story durch. Ist auch das MotN gewesen. Windham ist dabei das erste Opfer. Beim Finish dann botcht Sid dann &Pillman kann froh sein das ihm nicht Schlimmeres passiert ist. Gigante hätte ich auch nicht gebraucht. Überraschend das die Heels hier gewinnen dürfen."
[9.0] "I'm surprised by the five stars rating for this match. It's a great fight, but there isn't a great psychology, the contenders enter the ring and start to use their moves. There are some spots which are worthy, but not for the entire match. Brian Pillman plays a big role and proves to be okay in the main event. Flair and Sting are almost secondary for the fight, even if they are leaders of the teams. ****1/4"
[8.0] "This match was Brian Pillman's breakout performance as a small guy had never been shown to be so dominant in a match against big men like this before. So that makes this match historically important in a way but there are a few things that bug me. I like this match, with hard work from most and some cool spots but Sid (the guy this match was supposed to get over) was terrible and the finish (work or not) sucked."
[10.0] "Great match. Not quite 5 stars tho, I'd say around ****1/2 stars. Brian Pillman shows tremendous heart and fighting spirit here, but in the end it wasn"t enough cause Sid Vicious dropped him right on his injured shoulder. Great match, great psychology all around"
[5.0] "Wildly overrated at 5 stars by Meltzer, this match is a passable brawl but doesn't stand up well in terms of much better War Games matches before and after it. Some nice moves are peppered in and there are the bare bones of a good story, but the whole face team goes insanely overboard with no selling, even Pillman who is supposed to be injured. The ending is very weak, El Gigante (of all people) breaks into the cage and essentially quits on behalf of Sting's team before carrying the injured Pillman out like he was his lover. Very bizarre. Also, this doesn't affect my rating, but Ric Flair's haircut is horrible in this match."
[8.0] "Stark besetztes War Games-Match mit einer schönen Underdog-Story bei Pillman. Die Heels sind durchweg in der Überzahl was vom Booking her sinnvoll ist. Es gibt die ein oder andere schöne technische Aktion (hauptsächlich durch Pillman), aber hauptsächlich knallhartes Gebrawle was in so einem Match auch total in Ordnung ist. Das Finish sieht etwas unglücklich aus. Ein Three Count wäre besser gekommen als die Aufgabe durch El Gigante. Das Publikum hat das Match zu Recht durchweg gefeiert."
[9.0] "Dusty can complain all he wants about the "sterilizing" of the match or whatever the hell he was talking about on the DVD, but this is one of 3 or 4 reasons most people bought the set. That said I don't really get this being a 5-star GOAT kind of thing; I'd put this at ****1/2 at best, which still means it's damn good. Maybe what really makes it stand out is that there is an actual story being told in the midst of it, and that story is Pillman the Survivalist. I think it's pretty easy to tell this was meant to be his star-making match. I don't know how much getting murdered on the head by Sid helped to that end, but it makes for the coolest, most memorable ending in any WarGames match."
[10.0] "Das Match war zu diesem Zeitpunkt ganz großes Wrestling; wie man an der Reaktion der Crowd auch jederzeit hört. Der Aufbau mit Pillman als erstem Face-Teilnehmer und der anschließenden (vorausschaubaren) Überzahl der Heels trug gut zur Spannung bei. El Gigante hätte ich zum Ende hin für einen Abbruch des Kampfes nicht gebraucht, da die Sid'schen Powerbombs mit anschließendem "regulären" Finish durchaus zum rechten Zeitpunkt ausgereicht hätten, aber das soll den Gesamteindruck nicht schmälern. Auch heute wäre dies ein Zugpferd auf jeder Card, für damalige Verhältnisse gibt's die Höchstpunktzahl."
[7.0] "I never really understood, why this match was rated as high as it was. The beginning and ending (when Pillman almost dies) are great, but the middle part leaves me cold."
[8.0] "Windham macht einen auf Flair und lässt seine blonden Haare richtig schön mit Blut volllaufen. Pillman als erstem in der Unterzahl ist natürlich die beste Wahl. Gutes Booking trifft sich hier mit schon etwas modernerem Wrestling im Vergleich zu den ersten War Games. Die vierfache Submission war sehr cool kurz vorm Finish. Sehr starkes War Games Match mit einigen innovativen Spots im Käfig und knallhartem Brawling, 8 Punkte."
[8.0] "Klasse Stimmung und gutes Wrestling, hat mir gut gefallen. Und Sid Vicious mit einem für ihn irgendwie typischen Patzer als er in der Ringecke mit Rick Steiner vor der Kamera gut hörbar die nächste Aktion abspricht."
[7.0] "Auch ich kann dem Hype um dieses Mach nicht ganz folgen. Klar, hier geht es verbissen zur Sache und besonders Windham sieht zum Ende sehr juicy und demoliert aus - aber ***** sind um Längen überzogen. Bemerkenswert war natürlich sowohl die Offensive des Brian Pilman, als auch die beiden Powerbombs von Sid an eben jenen Pillman, wobei besonders die erste mörderisch aussah. Die Konsequenz daraus führte dann zu einem eher unspektakulären Finish. Insgesamt viel Kurzweil, aber nicht wirklich auf allerhöchstem Niveau."
[5.0] "5 Sterne für diesen Kampf. Ernsthaft..... die meiste Zeit habe ich nur unkoordiniertes Herumgekloppe gesehen. Story? Wofür? Bestenfalls, kann man für diese War Games 3 Sterne vergeben und das währe schon großzügig. Ich frag mich wirklich was die Wrestling Journalisten geraucht haben die dieses Match als Klassiker bezeichnen."
[8.0] "Gute Stipulation, die man von mir aus auch gerne nochmal ausgraben könnte (vielleicht als neue Besonderheit nachdem das HiaC ab morgen nichts mehr besonderes sein wird). Hat Spaß gemacht zuzuschauen und wurde dem Namen auch gerecht."
[10.0] "Ein Match wo die WCW ihre Stärke zeigte. War Games Matches versprachen immer ein Highlight und das trifft auch hier zu. Ende leicht misslungen aber dadurch nicht weniger spektakulär."
