25 Best Wrestling PPVs Ever
23. WCW Beach Blast 1992
Best Match: Sting Vs. Cactus Jack
Worst Match: Greg Valentine Vs. Marcus Bagwell
Beach Blast '92 was such an excellent card that it transcended the dirge the company found itself in at the time.
WCW was flailing creatively following the beyond-abysmal stewardship of Jim Herd. The hopelessly anachronistic stylings of Bill Watts, who was so staunchly old school that he banned top rope offence during a time in which its Light Heavyweight division was restoring the league's critical reputation, were not enough to tarnish Beach Blast 1992's awesome aura.
The star-studded roster was used very effectively - even if its creative regime was stifling. The undoubted highlight was Sting's Falls Count Anywhere victory over Cactus Jack, which blended wince-inducing violence with cerebral storytelling. Jack, removed slightly from the deranged stuntman he styled himself to be, heelishly played possum throughout, enticing Sting into smashing himself into the concrete surrounding the ring. Watts felt that even protective matting was a contravention of wrestling tradition.
Elsewhere, Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat assembled a gripping 30-minute Iron Man contest, which never outstayed its welcome and made great use of its inherent sympathy-generating match structure. The main event pitting the Steiner Brothers against Steve Williams and Terry Gordy was a little long-winded, but Scott and Rick were in the form of the careers. A little self-indulgence could be excused.