Sometimes wrestling needs to spiced up just a bit. When that time comes, oftentimes wrestling drops the ball. This can be in the form of new matches or just something to decide those matches. In 1992, WCW did its first Spin the Wheel, Make A Deal when Sting took on Jake ”The Snake” Roberts.
Jake in WCW, an odd fit only because of how associated he was with WWE. However, he was only there for a moment so it was fine. Not the most memorable stint but we did get Spin the Wheel, Make A Deal out of it.
WCW Delivers The Lackluster On Spin the Wheel, Make A Deal ‘92
What really put things over the top for the first one was the mini-movie WCW shot for the setup. Yes, mini-movie one in the Surfer Sting thrillogy. Now, I wouldn’t put this one over “The White Castle of Fear” but it established the dangerous and dirty nature of Spin the Wheel, Make A Deal.
The premise was simple: get a big wheel and put matches on it. Now, you have to make it look jagged and dangerous because these are dangerous matches we’re talking about. This isn’t…one fall with a 30-minute time limit or something. No, WCW slapped barbed wire match, street fight, Texas deathmatch, and a couple of others on there.
This was probably the gnarliest wheel of misfortune ever—and it landed on coal miner’s glove match. It was 1992 and Bill Watts was in charge. As dangerous as it was going to get was probably a cage match which would’ve been better. I mean, Sting took time out from surfing and being cool in Roos sneakers with the Steiners to find the darkest, dankest bar where Jake the Snake was holed up.
The bar just so happens to have this wheel where I guess the patrons can challenge each other to fights. There’s honestly no reason for the wheel to just be there unless folks are getting drunk and brawling. I will say that at least with Cactus Jack and Vader’s go at the wheel, we got a decent match selection: Texas deathmatch!
It could’ve easily ended landed on slapjack on a pole or something.
That said, it’s a concept that WCW should’ve kept. WWE, MLW, and a few other promotions used it in some way so WCW was on to something with the idea. However, like most things WCW at the time, it was something that was thrown at the wall and didn’t stick.
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