On May 17, 1992, the stars aligned for WCW. This was a combination of the culmination of a creative 7-month long storyline, a gimmick match that is almost foolproof for a good match with the right wrestlers, and a tremendous play-by-play job by Jim Ross.
WarGames is a gimmick match that was terribly abused by WCW after 1992 (save for the good 1994 version). It’s pretty simple to have a good WarGames. Strong faces versus strong heels, with two excellent wrestlers to open up the five minute opening period. The heels win the coin toss and make every two minutes a handicap situation for the face enters to a big pop and evens up the score until the next two minute call is made. Mix in the standard WarGames spots (heels and faces taking wild bumps into the cages, submission holds before the “Match Beyond”) with innovative spots (caving in someone’s head between the two rings; Ricky Steamboat jumping up to grab the top of the cage to eventually hurricanrana Rick Rude), and lots of blood and you get a terrific match. WarGames 1992 had all this, done at an extremely high level, and the result is a match that is not only a contender for the best WCW match of all time, but is also a candidate for best match of all time for every promotion.
The announcing by Jim Ross is one of his best calls, bringing authentic enthusiasm for the babyface comebacks along with a sincere sense of concern when things were getting out of hand. He also has one of the best lines I have heard from a wrestling announcer:
“He’s talking about a corner or something.”
– Jim Ross referencing Paul E. Dangerously pointing to an area of his fold out “map” of the cage, which Ross says with sincere sarcasm, as he obviously believes it is just a head game being played by the Dangerous Alliance
