Superbrawl 2000

Legacy Review

Superbrawl 2000

February 20, 2000 from the Cow Palace in San Fransisco, CA

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Mark Madden

 

We're into month #2 of Kevin Sullivan back in the driver's seat of the booking committee with Vince Russo relegated to the back seat. Or one of those motorcycle sidecars. This is the show that has the poster of Booker T doing something that looks like a sex act with the Big Gold Belt. Whether the belt is male or female and what exactly he's doing I'll leave to the reader's imagination.

 

One way you can tell WCW was getting short on money, the PPV stage is a standard setup for all the shows now. Bobby Heenan has been moved off PPVs since Souled Out and replaced with Mark Madden, though Heenan will stay with WCW on weekly TV up until near the end of the year. Commentary kicks it right to Mean Gene in front of Commissioner Kevin Nash's office. The door opens and a bunch of women, the Harris Brothers, and Jeff Jarrett walk out. Jarrett tells Okerlund he's "just rung Nash's bell like Quasimodo" and don't worry, as Acting Commissioner he's taking over. We then get some more gloriously awful match graphics, with small video windows barely moving that look like something off a crappy PS1 game. And they show them for every single match.

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant WCW Cruiserweight Championship: The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea (w/Paisley) def Lash LeRoux in 5:47- Oklahoma vacated the title after winning it at Souled Out because he was clearly over the weight limit. Which makes you wonder why he got the shot in the first place but there's nothing I'd like more than to erase that whole thing from my memory so I'm not getting deep into it again. And joy, off the back of that here's Prince Iaukea back for one of his semi-annual failed pushes. Sorry, "The Artist". Not just ripping off Prince, he's ripping off what Goldust had just done recently. The problem here is it doesn't matter what fancy gimmick you put on someone, if he's a charisma black hole as Iaukea was it's never going to work. LeRoux gives Paisley a slap on the ass during entrances and Iaukea (I'm not calling him anything else) attacks. He holds LeRoux down so Paisley can kick him. Come on, Lil' Naitch. Right in front of you. Iaukea tries mounted punches but LeRoux keeps pushing him down. LeRoux goes for some flash pins, then tries a punch combo. Iaukea counters with a superkick. Off a corner whip Iaukea just barely pulls off the flip over the corner to the floor. Plancha from LeRoux. Back in Iaukea grabs a kick and hits a dragon screw. Then does absolutely nothing to follow up on the knee. Instead he puts LeRoux in the tree of woe and hits midsection shots. Iaukea uses Lil' Naitch to block a sunset flip then does another of his weird "lick finger and rub it on opponent's face" things. More bargain basement Goldust type stuff. They do some sloppy cradle counters and LeRoux hits some ground and pound punches. They completely lose their spot for a second, then Iaukea grabs LeRoux by the hair and tosses him over the top to the floor. Paisley's just standing on the apron like she's a tag partner. Do we have any rule enforcement anymore? Belly to belly suplex from Iaukea for 2. LeRoux has another comeback flurry that's cut off. Corner clothesline from LeRoux. He sets Iaukea up top and goes for a hurricanrana but Paisley grabs Iaukea to block it. Leaping DDT off the second rope from Iaukea and he gets the pint to win the title. Well, after Madusa and Oklahoma the Cruiserweight title couldn't go any lower. 3/4*

 

BREAKING NEWS: There's a room in the back with a "PRIVATE: KEEP OUT" sign that NO ONE KNOWS WHO'S IN THERE. Film at 11. 

 

WCW Hardcore Championship: Brian Knobbs (w/Fit Finlay) def Bam Bam Bigelow (c) in 4:41- I keep wondering if the Dudley Boyz ever sued Knobbs over his ring gear from this era. Knobbs has a cast on one arm after it was Pillmanized by Lex Luger, something he's been doing to a lot of people lately. I just caught someone has a "Where's Benoit" sign, and the guy next to him has one that says "I want my release". Fantastic. As usual with WCW hardcore matches we start up with trash can shots. They quickly go up the aisle into the internet broadcast area. Knobbs gets whipped over a guardrail onto an ADA compliant ramp and they both go up it with more trash can shots. Through a door into the back of the arena and Bigelow slams Knobbs onto a table. Finlay takes a shot at Bigelow but Knobbs doesn't like that, he wants to do it himself. Knobbs hits Bigelow with a PLASTIC trash can instead of a metal one! Variety! They walk through the crowd back to ringside. Knobbs gets a table out, puts it in the ring and sets it up in the corner. Bigelow counters and Knobbs goes through the table. Bigelow hits Greetings from Asbury Park but doesn't cover. Instead he picks up a chair and goes up top. Finlay distracts, allowing Knobbs to crotch Bigelow. He pushes Bigelow out to the floor, hits him with a trash can lid, and covers for a very anticlimatic pin. Madden says Knobbs hit Bigelow with the cast. Would have been nice if we'd seen that. 1/2*

 

Meanwhile, the lamest looking security guards you've ever seen are guarding the doors of the guys in the World title match. "No one gets in here, not even the president, you got that?" 

 

Handicap Match: 3 Count def Norman Smiley in 4:06- This is the first PPV appearance for 3 Count as a group, and the first ever for both Shannon Moore and Shane Helms, the future Hurricane. They were initially put together as a heel group mocking the boy bands of the time, the height of the days of groups like Nsync and the Backstreet Boys. Another great sign: "Who's next? To leave". Smiley comes out in a Jerry Rice jersey for the hometown crowd. For you kids that don't know, he was and remains the greatest wide receiver there's ever been. He's also got taped up ribs under that jersey courtesy of the Wall. The bell rings and Smiley easily clears the ring out. He backdrops Moore onto the rest of 3 Count! Sunset flip on Karagias that the other two members block. They all try covers on Smiley. "3 Count sucks" chant from the crowd as Helms helps Moore roll Smiley up for 2. Gutwrench suplex from Helms. Smiley easily dodges some crazy ass dive off the top rope Helms does that I couldn't even begin to guess at a name for. He planked himself right into the mat. Giant swing from Smiley! He sets Helms up for the Wiggle but Karagias cuts it off. Helms and Karagias decide now's the time to dance with each other. Smiley joins in and dances! He ducks and double clotheslines the 3 Count guys. Smiley gets the Norman Conquest on Moore! The other two come in to break it up. They take Smiley's Rice jersey off (which hilariously gets huge boos from the crowd) and finally target the hurt ribs. After a couple of splashes off the top Moore puts Smiley in a high angle Liontamer style Boston crab and Smiley taps out. One thing for 3 Count, they were young guys trying to make a mark that were actually putting effort in, unlike most of the rest of WCW at this point. Still didn't help much here though. *1/4

 

BREAKING NEWS: The "Private: Keep Out" door is still there. More updates as they become available.

 

Elsewhere, Jarrett demands the Harris Brothers find out who's behind that door. Sending his best and brightest I see. 

 

Special Main Event: The Wall def The Demon in 3:12- I made sure to point out this is being billed as a "Special Main Event" because the story behind it is hilarious. So, back when Bischoff was still in charge he got the rock band KISS to come on board and do some stuff. As part of it there would be a KISS themed/sponsored wrestler named the Demon. But as part of the agreement, KISS wanted the Demon to be contractually guaranteed a PPV main event. The original plan was for him to wrestle Vampiro in the main event of a throwaway New Year's PPV, but that was scuttled when Bischoff was ousted. Now in order to fulfill the contract WCW is throwing this in as a "Special Main Event" to say the Demon was in a main event. Taking that loophole and driving a truck through it. To make it even funnier the guy wrestling as the Demon, Dale Torborg, would move on soon after to becoming an MLB strength and conditioning coach for the Expos, Marlins and mainly White Sox for nearly 20 years while only occasionally wrestling. I think it goes without saying that background is way more entertaining than the match will be, especially considering who they're pairing Demon with. Wall doesn't come out when he's introduced so Demon goes to look for him. Wall takes advantage of the stupidity and jumps him from behind. In the ring Wall gorilla presses Demon as he stays in control. Off a corner whip Demon leaps to the second rope and hits a diving clothesline. He gives Wall some fairly stiff shots in the back. Back elbow from Demon. Standing dropkick. Suplex. Wall catches Demon charging in the corner and drops him with a really weak hot shot. Backbreaker from Wall. Wall goes up top but Demon catches him and Flair slams him off. Now Demon goes up top. Wall goozles him, gives him an avalanche choke slam, and gets the pin. Eh, that could have been a hell of a lot worse. Demon actually looked OK when he was in control. 1/4*

 

Mean Gene is with Ernest Miller, who's been promising that James Brown will be at the show tonight. Yes, THE James Brown, the King of Soul. On a 2000 WCW PPV. Elsewhere, the Harriseses demand the "Private Keep Out" door open. It doesn't and they walk away. Great plan guys. 

 

Leather Jacket on a Pole Match: Tank Abbott def Big Al in 4:32- WCW continues to try to make former MMAer Abbott their Ken Shamrock as he's taken to brutalizing both wrestlers and officials. They're calling this a "skins match" which means nothing to me, outside of golf. Abbott's jacket is hanging off the pole, and from what I can gleam from commentary this is like a ladder match, to win you have to get the jacket down off the pole. Big Al is literally just a cipher here, everything is about Abbott. Al's been hanging around WCW for a long while but has never done much which should tell you everything. His biggest claim to fame is being part of the scintillating tag teams the Master Blasters (with young Kevin Nash) and the Wrecking Crew. He and Abbott are supposedly friends in real life too. Al wants to wrap up his and Abbott's fists with a belt to tie them together, then drops the belt when Abbott says yes. Finally he gets it on. They trade some punches while shouting "COME ON" and "BRING IT ON" a whole bunch at each other. It's like the Rifftrax gag that all the dialogue the second half of Starship Troopers is "MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE" come to life (Side thought- I remember from seeing District 9 in the theater the main character's dialogue the last part of the movie was just saying "Fuck!" over and over again. Never understood why that movie was such a critical darling, I wasn't impressed). One of Al's shots also causes the belt to come undone. He slowwwwwwwwwwwly drags Abbott in the corner, teases crotching him on the post, then doesn't do it. The hell? He decides to climb for the jacket, then changes his mind again and stands on Abbott's face. That wakes Abbott up. He hits a couple of big punches. They swing weakly at each other in the corner, then Abbott flips Al out of the corner. Madden: "This is brutal!". Yes it is, but not in the way you're trying to sell it. Abbott waffles Al with punches against the ropes, then picks him up and carries Al as he climbs up for the jacket. Abbott loses his grip and drops Al all the way down to the floor! Holy shit that was awful, and could have seriously hurt him. Abbott then hops down and punches Al in the chest like it was his fault or something while there's a small "You fucked up" chant. He then goes up and gets the jacket to win and mercifully end this. Tenay: "We're all looking at each other speechless like we can't believe what we just saw". Yup. Atrocious on every conceivable level. MINUS FIVE STARS

 

Guess what? It gets worse. Abbott gets what looks like a knife out, goes down to Al, and puts it to his throat saying "I'm can fucking kill you!" while the camera quickly cuts away. What. The. Fuck. Tony says "I think that was scissors and he was going to cut Al's beard off". He was not watching what I was watching. Al doesn't even have enough beard to cut off!

 

Another reminder that Abbott was the guy that Russo wanted to put the WCW WORLD TITLE on at Souled Out, which is what caused Turner brass to finally put him in time out for a bit. 

 

Big T (w/Stevie Ray and J Biggs) def Booker in 5:21- This match is for ownership of the Harlem Heat name and, I kid you not, the letter T. It's begging for Sesame Street sponsorship. That's why Booker T is just Booker here, Stevie Ray and his new friends have taken literally everything from him. Big T is the artist formerly known as Ahmed Johnson in WWF, and J Biggs will later appear in WWE as Clarence Mason. He's in a neckbrace tonight after Booker attacked him on Nitro. It's a good thing Big T is wearing a Harlem Heat style singlet now, because he needs something to try to cover up the pudge he's got around the waist. As part of the overall humiliation Booker is coming out to some awful children's TV show type music. Ray stays in the ring after the bell and the ref has to kick him out. At least someone's trying to enforce some rules tonight. T attacks Booker from behind. Clothesline from T and he slams Booker. Booker slowly works T around and manages to get him up for a back suplex, then hits a regular suplex. T tries to beg off but Booker stays on him. Running forearm from Booker and he tosses T out to the floor. He cuts Ray off and gives the heels a double noggin knocker. Ax handle off the top from Booker coming back in. He's literally walking T through this match as the next whip reversal shows. Ray grabs Booker's foot and T hits him from behind again. Booker goes to the floor and Ray works him over. Back in they literally stop to have a conversation about what to do next. T meekly lifts Booker up for a slam attempt, which Booker counters into a Russian leg sweep. The scissors kick hits. Harlem side kick. Biggs gets in the ring and Booker knocks him back out. Book End on T! Booker goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. During the count the arena lights go out and a bell tolls. Normally this is the sign for Midnight to appear. When the lights finally come back on there's no Midnight, but another very large man standing on the apron. T grabs a surprised Booker, hits a powerbomb, and gets the win. I have no idea who that guy is, but I'm willing to bet it's not going to matter in a month or so anyway. Awful match, atrocious booking. DUD

 

The Maestro and the fairly lovely Symphony are in the back with Mean Gene. Maestro is at the other end of the whole Ernest Miller/James Brown thing and promises that if the Cat can produce Brown tonight he'll listen to whatever music Miller wants him to. Elsewhere, back to the Door of Mystery where the Harrisi are now trying to get an arena worker to unlock the door. He doesn't have the right key so they beat him up instead. A bad worker always blames his tools.

 

It's impossible to overstate how woefully inferior the guys cutting together recap videos for WCW are compared to their WWF counterparts. 

 

Billy Kidman (w/Torrie Wilson) def Vampiro in 7:18- This is one of those face vs face partners fighting each other for mutual respect deals. They've had two matches on weekly TV so this is the rubber match. Lockup! After a couple of stalemates Kidman grabs a headlock. Nice flip over from Kidman into a waistlock that Vampiro back elbows out of. This is already the best match tonight. Not joking. Tiltawhirl slam from Vampiro, followed by a clothesline for 2. Off the ropes Vampiro slides under Kidman and lifts him up on his shoulders. Kidman manages to twist around while punching Vampiro and uses his position to leverage them both over the top rope to the floor! Guardrail shot for Vampiro. Kidman goes up top but Vampiro catches him and gives him a avalanche belly to belly suplex for 2. Suplex from Vampiro for 2. He tries to powerbomb Kidman which of course nearly never works. Corer whip and Vampiro Bret bumps. They have a small hitch, then Vampiro basement dropkicks Kidman in the knee. Torrie decides to get on the apron for no reason. A Vampiro kick sends Kidman flying back into her, knocking her off the apron. That's the reason. It doesn't go anywhere either. Kidman snaps Vampiro over the top rope then goes to check on Torrie. Vamprio doesn't care and attacks Kidman from behind, then gets a chair. Torrie tries to take the chair away! Kidman uses that distraction to dropkick the chair into Vampiro's face! Cover back in for 2. Vampiro tries to catch Kidman on his shoulders but can't hang on and just suplexes him again instead. Kidman counters another suplex attempt into a roll up for 2. Pop up powerbomb from Kidman for 2. Vampiro fameassers Kidman for 2. He goes up top, comes off and just stomps Kidman right in the back of the neck. Cover for 2. Kidman hits a hurricanrana off the top for 2. More counters and Vampiro manages to powerbomb Kidman. Twice. Another cover for 2. They fight on the top rope again. Kidman flips over Vampiro and hits an awful looking avalanche reverse DDT, and that gets the pin. Under normal circumstances you'd never mistake this for good, but it's by far the first time anything's even gotten into the "decent" range tonight. **1/4

 

In the back, Sid Vicious walks out of his locker room. The security goons try to stop him. Sid shouts "DON'T YOU TOUCH ME EVER!" then whispers so soft we can barely hear that he wants to see Mean Gene right now. Security goon: "Yes sir, Mr. Vicious". Way to stand up there. He did get Sid to stay in his dressing room though.

 

Sicilian Stretcher Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Mamalukes (c) (w/Disco Inferno) def David Flair & Crowbar (w/Daffney) in 11:21- What makes a stretcher Sicilian? Is it woven from spaghetti with garlic bread as the handles? Despite the fancy name this is a normal stretcher match, and since it's a tag match both members of a team have to be carried "all the way out of the arena" on stretchers. Not just halfway, as Tenay helpfully points out. Disco wheels in a trash can on a wheelchair during his team's entrance. OK then. Every ref left in the company is ringside to help officiate this one. The crazy team attack before the bell and it's all around floor brawl time. Disco takes a mic on commentary. And I thought Madden was bad. Crowbar hits a Vader bomb style splash using the guardrail. David sets up Bull on a stretcher and Crowbar hits him with a slingshot splash from the ring. David starts to wheel the stretcher but Vito breaks it up. The Mamalukes run the crazies over with the stretcher, then drops the padless stretcher chassis on David. We then go in the ring for the first time in the match with the Mamalukes stomping on David. They hit some double team moves on Crowbar. Daffney gets in the ring and hurricanranas Bull! Unfortunately her blue wig came off while doing that. Disco tries to come in but Daffney sprays something in his face. Crowbar has a pipe and hits Bull with it, then saves David from the stretcher Vito was rolling him out on. The crazies sets up a stretcher/stairs structure and throw Vito over it. In the ring Crowbar powerslams Vito and hits a lionsault. Crowbar then gets a table out from under the ring. The camera keeps cutting desperately trying to find something interesting to show that's happening but not finding a damn thing. Crowbar and Vito do some back and forth stuff in the ring and Crowbar gets powerbombed through the table. The Mamalukes double slam David. Bull springs up top (legit impressive) and hits a legdrop. They put David face down on a sretcher and use tape to make sure he stays on. The REFEREES wheel David up the aisle? What the hell? They're doing the work the wrestlers are supposed to do! This match is a joke. Meanwhile, Crowbar planchas both Mamalukes, then hits Disco because he's Disco. While they're all fighting on the floor Daffney rings the bell for no reason whatsoever. Crowbar sets up another table on the floor. Gee, wonder who's going through this one too. If you guessed Crowbar again, you're right. Vito big splashes him through the table off the top rope, they put Crowbar on the other stretcher, tape him down as well, and wheel him up the aisle. The refs finish the job for them on that one too. But before finishing the match, they grab Daffney and tape her down on the wheelchair to complete the clean sweep. Total chaos with nothing to give it any kind of cohesion, not to mention the rules being half assed with the refs doing most of the stretcher wheeling. 1/4*

 

In the Acting Commissioner's office, Jarrett isn't bothered by the Harris Brothers' failure to open the Mysterious Door. I mean, he shouldn't have been surprised. Elsewhere, Doordash delivers Mean Gene to Sid's dressing room as ordered. Sid reminds Okerlund that he's the World champion and....pretty much nothing else. That was pointless.

 

Ernest "The Cat" Miller comes out to the ring for our Special Main Event Promo Segment. Non-contractually obligated. Miller says he's got James Brown here and to hell with anyone that doesn't believe him. Madden's interjections in between promo lines are even worse than Lawler's. Cat's music hits again and, shock of shocks, it's a bad James Brown impersonator. Maestro and Symphony then come out. Maestro says something about winning the bet and Miller needs to go in the back and get his bags or something but he's so inarticulate it's hard to tell. Not worthy of a man called the Maestro. And as with so much of WCW in this period, I have no idea who's supposed to be face or heel in this. They're both awful. And then....the REAL James Brown shows up. With full entourage. And replaced music on the Network/Peacock copy. Maestro's over the top reaction is hilariously awful. In fact he completely passes out! Who in the world are all these people Brown has with him? I know they're not all security just by looking at them. Brown and Miller hug and exchange dance moves in the ring, Brown presents Miller with a robe and end scene. That's over 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back. But, still. JAMES BROWN. On a 2000 WCW PPV. Life is really freaking weird sometimes. Also, why did Miller bring out an impersonator when the real Brown was there?

 

In accordance to the Fairness Doctrine, Mean Gene has gotten through the crack security crew to let Scott Hall get a few words in about the main event. Hall starts talking about "the bookers" and I immediately check out. That faux shooty nonsense using insider terms was old hat by this point, completely run into the ground. 

 

San Fransisco Death Match: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair def Terry Funk (w/Dustin Rhodes) in 15:06- Revisiting the second of Flair's two legendary feuds from the magical year of 1989, reminding us of what WCW could be when it was actually good. This is under the after a pin or submission you have a 10 count to get up or the match is over death match rules. Dustin has teamed up with Funk despite the legendary hatred between their families. Lockups with quick corner breaks at the start as both guys feel each other out. Shoulderblock from Funk and he pounds Flair on the ground. Flair quickly backs off in the corner. Another lockup and Flair hits the first chops. Funk responds with some punches. Flair rolls out to think things over. Funk apron suplexes Flair back in and Flair begs off again. Backdrop from Funk and he pummels Flair with jabs. Classic spinning toe hold from Funk. Flair eye pokes and kicks Funk away to get free. He tears Funk's shirt to hit some more direct chops. Flair tosses Funk out and they have a suplex fight on the floor that Funk wins. Madden: "Flair on the floor is like Rommel in the desert, there's nobody better". Uh, I think General Bernard Law Montgomery would have something to say about that. Not to mention a brash American tank commander that rose to become one of the greatest battlefield commanders there's ever been and read Rommel's damn book, you magnificent bastard. Anyway, I could sidebar on World War II (and Civil War) generals all day. Guess I should thank Madden for the reference to set off that tangent even if it was yet another dumb comment from him. They reposition and have ANOTHER suplex fight on the floor that Funk wins again. Flair shouts "AHHHH SHIT!" right into the camera, then Funk pins him. Flair uses the guardrail to get back up at honestly I don't know what number of the count, the fan shouting "FOURTEEN TIME" over and over is drowning it out. More chops from Flair and Funk flops over and dangles on the guardrail. Straight up Greco Roman Nut Punt from Flair. He goes over and gets a chair (the wrong chair, it's a weak looking plastic one) and hits Funk's knee with it. Madden points out the crowd is stone cold dead. What an absolute moron. But he's right. Back in Flair continues the knee work. Figure four! Funk quickly submits, which tactically is smart here because he has the 10 count to recover. He staggers back up at 5. Another Flair chop puts him right back down. Flair goes up top and Funk, as usual, slams him back down. Flair Flip! All the way to the floor! Funk hits a piledriver on the floor! After that he pulls up some of the mat, then covers Flair for 2. Chop/punch exchange on the floor as this finally gets a bit of energy in it. Funk hits a piledriver on the exposed floor! That should be it. Funk covers and gets a pin. During the 10 count Funk goes over and gets a table, even he has no confidence in a piledriver on the floor anymore. I still blame Rick Steiner for turning a DDT on exposed concrete into a transitional move. Flair does get back up before the count is over. Funk sets the table up in the ring. He's bleeding a bit on his chest from the chops. Funk gets a mic and asks Flair to quit, then hits him with the mic. As Tenay points out, a nice reference to their legendary I Quit match at Clash of the Champions IX in December '89. But Professor Tenay GETS THE DATE WRONG, saying it was in June. Turn in your credentials. Flair tries to chop back but Funk hits him with the mic again to get him down. Funk said he got the table out so he can break Flair's neck again. Now that's a reference to when their feud got started in the spring of '89, immediately after Flair had wrapped up his best matches of all time trilogy with Ricky Steamboat. That was a MUCH thicker table though, from before they were designed to break easily. They slowly balance themselves on the table. Funk hits the piledriver through the table! Funk's covering Flair, but he pulls Flair's arm up at 2! That can't be a smart move. He goes and gets another table. After setting it up in the ring he decides to cover Flair and get a 2 count. I think the old man's getting confused. Funk puts Flair on the table, then climbs up to the top rope. I assume he's setting up for the World's Oldest Moonsault, something he only started doing fairly recently during his ECW run. Flair gets off the table, hits Funk, and he falls backward through the table. Cover from Flair for 3. Funk tries to use the ropes but can't get himself up in time and Flair gets the 10 count to win. Man that was sad to watch. Flair was trying as well as he could, but the fact is Funk was already barely mobile at this point and couldn't do much, which meant Flair had to go about half speed the whole match. It's not 1989 anymore. I don't understand how and why this match was laid out the way it was either. ** 

 

Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) def The Total Package (w/Elizabeth) in 8:09- Both Hogan AND Hart have broken arms courtesy of Luger's recent reign of terror. During his prematch promo Hogan said he's going to meld both Hulk and Hollywood to get his revenge on Luger. Hogan slides head first into the ring and Luger attacks him. Clothesline from Luger. Hogan dodges an elbow drop with a mini Hulk Up and starts swinging, with an eye rake mixed in. Clothesline from Hogan and he hits his elbow drop. Instead of covering he chokes Luger as Hollywood comes out. He tosses Luger out to the floor and finally does the shirt tear, then chokes Luger with the shirt. Chairshot to Luger's back. All this in front of the ref by the way, and it's not a no DQ match. Back in Luger begs off but Hogan doesn't care. Corner clothesline. On the other side Luger hits a back elbow to put Hogan back down and stomps in the general vicinity of Hogan's hurt arm. You'd think he'd go for that. Back to the floor and Hogan takes some guardrail shots. Back in Hogan blocks a punch with his cast and Luger reacts like his arm was just stabbed. Clothesline with the cast. Buckle shots assisted by the cast. Hogan hits the ropes and Elizabeth hits him in the back. He hops out to stalk her and Luger jumps him from behind. Whip reversal and Luger takes a guardrail shot. Hart runs out and takes the baseball bat away from Elizabeth! More scintillating Luger stomps back in the ring. He calls for the Torture Rack. Then hits a suplex instead. Another Rack call. Hogan stands back up. Full Hulk Up time. Three punches, big boot, but instead of the legdrop Hogan gets his weightlifting belt from Hart. While he's catching that Luger low blows him. When Luger hits the ropes Hart gets on the apron and hits him with his cast! Hogan hits the legdrop and it's over. Terrible match, but honestly the finish wasn't too bad and amused me. 1/2*

 

After the bell Hogan whips Luger with the belt. Ric Flair runs in to save Luger and attacks Hogan. Flair and Luger had been a loose alliance the last few weeks on TV. They pound Hogan and Hart down. HERE COMES STING! Making his big return (yet again). He takes Flair and Luger out with the baseball bat and they leave. Hogan and Sting shake hands. Guess they resolved all those issues from earlier then.

 

To lead into the main event- It was Chris Benoit and his Radicalz teammates that led the backstage revolt against Kevin Sullivan returning to the head booker chair, going so far as to ask for their releases. To try to placate them, Benoit finally won his overdue first World title at Souled Out. It was a deeply cynical move and, to the shock of no one, it didn't work. The very next afternoon before Nitro the group went over the heads of everyone in WCW and went straight to Turner brass to ask for their release again, and this time it was granted. They'd debut in WWF the very next week, the last big cross-promotion jump before WCW folded. WCW vacated the title on Nitro that night (the fourth straight World title reign to end by a vacation), and even went so far as to erase Benoit's win from the history books altogether. It wouldn't be officially recognized until after the WWF buyout. That set off a chain of events where Benoit's opponent at Souled Out Sid Vicious won the title on Nitro, immediately had it stripped by evil Commissioner Nash the following Thunder (fifth straight World title reign ending in a vacation), and then won it again that same night. That brings us to tonight with Sid approaching an entire month as champion, which sadly would be the longest World title reign since mid '99. In addition to that, faction destroyer Jarrett has already completely torn apart the new silver and black NWO 2000 before it barely had a chance to get going.

 

FINAL UPDATE: THE DOOR OF UNKNOWN OCCUPANTS IS NOW OPEN! Tony says "We know it wasn't Sting in there". Do we? 

 

Three Way Dance for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sid Vicious (c) def Scott Hall and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett (w/the Harris Brothers) in 7:00- There's barely 10 minutes left in the show before Buffer even starts his shtick, this is not getting much time. More poor show timing by WCW. They've co-opted ECW's "three way dance" match name for three ways. Hall comes out in the old red and black Wolfpac gear instead of NWO 2000. Jarrett tries to jump Hall and gets jumped before Sid even makes his entrance. Hall gives Jarrett the fallaway slam and 360 clotheslines him to the floor as Sid's music hits. Hall successfully jumps Sid from behind, but Sid quickly and easily takes out both his opponents and both Harris boys to clear the ring out. He desperately tries to get the crowd behind him while everyone recovers. Reset in the ring. The Harrises trip Sid and crotch post him as Jarrett attacks Hall. Swinging neckbreaker from Jarrett on Hall. Jarrett and Hall trade sleeper attempts then slug it out with the ref standing right on top of them. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen. Yup, Hall ducks and Jarrett clotheslines the ref. Jarrett immediately low blows Hall. Sid clotheslines both guys. Double chokeslam. Nick Patrick slides in to count but everyone kicks out. Jarrett has the belt and nails Sid with it. Cover and Sid just kicks out. Jarrett and Patrick get in a shoving match and Hall rolls Jarrett up for 2. Small package from Hall for 2. Jarrett then kicks Patrick and gives him the Stroke. Another thing that had long gotten old, wrestlers deliberately taking refs out. Lil' Naitch runs in to take over as Sid wrecks Jarrett's plan by running him into the chair the Harrises set up. Sid, ever the brain surgeon, decides to go out and attack the Harrises while Hall covers Jarrett for a long 2. Hall sets Jarrett up for the Razor's Edge. Jarrett eye pokes Lil' Naitch and backdrop counters. Then Jarrett takes out Lil' Naitch. For fuck's sake this is ridiculous. Then he does the same for ref #4. Apparently this is all a plan by Jarrett to work through all the refs until he get to the one he paid off, and here he is. But unfortunately for Jarrett, he takes a Razor's Edge. Hall covers and Jarrett's ref pretends to get hurt before counting 3. Sid comes back in and cleans house. Hall ducks and Sid throws himself over the top to the floor while one of the Harrises hands Jarrett tonight's guitar. Guitar shot on Hall. And....here comes Roddy Piper in a ref shirt. I think we can all deduce he was the guy behind the mystery door. But, this is the exact same thing they did at Starrcade with the Bret Hart/Goldberg main event, Piper wandering in to ref. He takes his time getting in so Jarrett's ref has to take forever counting to give Piper time to stop it. Jarrett gets in Piper's face and takes the two finger eye poke. Sid chokeslam on Jarrett. Powerbomb on Hall, Sid covers, and Piper counts the pin to retain. What a brain dead stupid match. 1/4*

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- We've almost hit rock bottom, folks. I could easily give this show the full failing grade, but I'm not yet simply because there's still worse coming, and it's coming soon. Madden not only doesn't add anything on commentary, he's often a chore to listen to. I'd take drunk and disinterested Bobby Heenan over him any day.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D- 

No Way Out '02

Legacy Review

No Way Out '02

February 17, 2002 from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI

 

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

 

We're on the road to Wrestlemania 18, and this year's will be one of the bumpy, windy ones. A full on road course even, with several hairpin turns. The intro video for this show has been cut off the Peacock copy, I'd assume due to music rights issues. The stage is made up of two 18 wheelers that are being used as projection screens for what would usually be the trons, which is an interesting choice. 50/50 WWF co-owners Vince McMahon and Ric Flair had a match at the Royal Rumble that Flair won, which sent Vince off the deep end. Even more than usual. In the weeks that followed he came to the conclusion that the only way to "save" his creation was to kill it off entirely, and to that end he was going to inject a "LETHAL DOSE OF POISON" into the company. As he made that declaration he turned around the chair he was sitting in to show on the back was......the NWO logo. They're coming, and they're coming tonight.

 

The show starts right up with the NWO's music and they make their way out. This is the original NWO trio of Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. All ex-WWF guys, but most notable is Hogan making his return, his first WWF appearance since losing to Yokozuna and his trick photographer at King of the Ring '93. All three guys look genuinely happy to be there, with Nash especially looking very emotional. Didn't know he had it in him. Nash talks first and says "You wouldn't believe how much heat we have with the boys backstage". Oh great, we're still doing the insider talk stuff then. That stopped being cool and edgy years ago. He takes offense at all the horrible things people have said about the NWO and plays up to the fans, saying all they want is a clean slate. Hall then takes the mic and drops the "Hey yo". He says they're not the bad guys, but "a bunch of marks" just like you. Please stop with that stuff. Hall says they don't want any trouble, just to have a chance to sign some autographs and drink some beers with the boys (not Hall, as the other two make clear, which is a bit funny but also very true). Hogan then takes the mic and the crowd makes it clear he's the one they wanted to see. He says they're not here to kill the WWF, they're here to make it better and all they want from the fans is a chance. He then thanks Vince for giving the NWO that chance, which gets some boos. "God bless Vince McMahon, God bless all of you and God bless America". They all hug, pose and end scene. Well that didn't come off all that well. It's so obvious it's just a setup for them to turn into what we all expected them to be later.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Tag Team Turmoil Match- The winners of this match, in theory, will get a tag title shot at WM. Opening up are two fairly newly formed randomish teams: Scotty2Hotty and Albert against the Canadian team of Lance Storm and Christian (right back in the tag ranks mere months after breaking up with Edge). Scotty and Storm start with some basics. After a counter sequence Scotty gets a roll up for 2. Albert tags in, gorilla presses Storm, then catches Christian coming in and gives him the giant swing. Bicycle kick on Storm for 2. The Canadians use distraction and double teams to get Albert down. Double clothesline from Albert. Christian accidentally backdrops his own partner over the top to the floor, then he and Scotty counter each other's signature move setups. Albert goes for a double squash avalanche but the Canadians dodge, then clothesline Albert 360 to the floor with Storm also going with him. Scotty runs in and gets Christian down in the drop zone. The W O R M is cut off by Storm! Christian hits the Unprettier and pins Scotty to move on. The next team out is the Hardy Boyz. They charge in and we're quickly donnybrooking. The Hardyz double faceplant Christian. Matt goes for the second rope legdrop but Storm knocks him off. That lets the Canadians get Matt trapped in their half of the ring. Matt gets Christian with a hot shot and tags out to Jeff. Hot tag run from Jeff. Storm takes the low blow legdrop. Russian leg sweep from Jeff into a stack up for 2 as everyone starts brawling again. Storm drop toe holds Jeff into the half crab! So smooth. Matt comes in to break it up. He goes for the Twist of Fate but Christian cuts that off. Storm accidentally dropkicks Christian! Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo on Storm and the Canadians are out. Next up, the Dudley Boyz. One more time for these forever rivals. Quick Poetry in Motion on Bubba Ray. They try for one on D'Von but Bubba Ray cuts it off and they get Jeff in peril. Bubba Ray gets Jeff down and puts him into a unique new quasi-figure four somewhat Indian Death Lock type hold that Matt quickly breaks up. Back elbow from D'Von for 2. Jeff dodges a Bubba Ray senton off the second rope. Both sides tag and Matt runs wild. He hits the legdrop off the second rope on D'Von for 2 as we go EVERYONE IN THE POOL again. Matt sets up for a Twist of Fate on Bubba Ray. Stacy Keibler comes in and pulls him off by the hair! Lita spear on Stacy! Bubba Bomb on Matt! Lita hurricanrana off the top rope on Bubba Ray! He goes to the floor and Jeff hits him with a senton off the top! Matt rolls up D'Von with a handful of tights....er, pants and gets the pin! The Dudleyz 3D Jeff on the floor on their way out for some revenge. Next up, the quickly ascending new team of Billy and Chuck, making their PPV debut as a team. Matt tries to fight alone but the numbers quickly become too much. Superkick from Chuck. Billy hits the Fameasser and gets a quick pin. Our final team in this match is the APA. Another quick 2v2 brawl outside and inside the ring. Faarooq hits a tackle off the second rope on Chuck for 2. Bradshaw comes in and absolutely unloads on Chuck with some seriously stiff shots. We don't take kindly to your type around here.... Billy's pigtails don't help any I'm sure. Chuck manages to slug back and get Bradshaw down. Fallaway slam from Bradshaw. Double tackle from the APA for 2. Billy comes in and neckbreakers Faarooq. Faarooq tries to fight out but B&C get him stuck in their corner. Billy runs into a spinebuster and Faarooq tags out. Big boot from Bradshaw on Chuck. Corner clotheslines and Chuck gets tossed over the top to the floor. Clothesline from Hell on Billy and the APA get the win and, theoretically, the WM title shot! Which they would get, but in a four way match with three of the other teams that lost in this match, one of which will win the tag titles between now and WM (I'll leave you in suspense which team for now). Which made this whole exercise kind of pointless. Still, not too shabby a match overall. The Hardyz/Dudleyz portion was their usual goodness and APA definitely brought the stiffness for their final segment. **3/4

 

In the back with Michael Cole, WWF co-owner Flair thinks the NWO aren't on the up and up. Gee, I wonder why. Taker interrupts and warns Flair he's got his eye on him. 

 

Rob Van Dam def Goldust in 12:15- This is one of those old school Goldust feuds where Goldust has been "showing interest" in his opponent, but minus the obvious homosexual vibes from those early Goldust days. Lawler mentions he doesn't like watching movies "in that letterbox way" at home which doesn't surprise me a bit. Back in those early DVD days I would preach to all my friends how widescreen was the correct way and fullscreen was for fools, to the point they'd be sick of me banging on about it. But I was right, as now everything is in its correct aspect ratio and every damn TV show has gone cinematic widescreen now. Anyway, Goldust jumps RVD as soon as he's in the ring and clotheslines him 360 right back out. Back in RVD goes to the educated feet to turn things around. The corner shoulderblocks plus backflip hit. Cartwheel moonsault for 2. Goldust bails to the floor and chest puffs at RVD. He stalls on the floor and decides he's had enough of this and starts to leave, then changes his mind and slowly walks back. Lawler says his favorite movie line is from American Pie. Another not shocked. But I loved that movie too back then, I was most definitely in the right age demographic. Again anyway, RVD has enough of Goldust's stalling and attacks him on the floor. The spinning legdrop off the apron hits. A knee to the head from Goldust puts RVD off the apron back to the floor, then Goldust hits an elbow off the second rope down to the floor. JR: "I wonder if that was a bionic elbow. Probably not". Wild and fairly stiff punches from Goldust on the floor. Back in Goldust hits a hip attack (with more ass than hip) for 2. More pretty straight and stiff looking punches from Goldust and he stretches RVD across the top of the corner. He slingshots RVD throat first into the top rope. Running kneedrop for 2. Another slingshot into the ropes and this time he lets RVD fall back first onto his knees. Goldust goes to some wear down chinlocks and drops on RVD's back to keep him down. After a couple of those RVD turns around and Godust crotches himself on RVD's knees, but he quickly comes back with a clothesline for 2. RVD blocks a hiptoss into a backslide for a long 2. Quick kick from RVD and both guys are down. Spinning heel kick from RVD. Handspring monkey flip, RVD springs up top and hits a flying kick for 2. Rolling thunder hits for 2. Goldust ducks down and hits the uppercut from the mat, but RVD shrugs it off and counters with a quick senton. He goes up top again. Goldust dodges the frog splash! DDT from Goldust! RVD just kicks out! Goldust hooks up for the Curtain Call. RVD flips over and hits another heel kick for 2. They exchange some shots and RVD counters a Goldust bulldog attempt. Another heel kick and RVD springs up top again. FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH! That gets the pin. Another rock solid match. It was a bit dangerous letting Goldust control so much, but old Dustin looked as good as he had in years and RVD got his stuff in. **3/4

 

In the back, Austin walks right into the NWO. Hall offers a peace offering, some ice cold Steveweisers from the NWO. Uh, should Hall even be touching those? Knock him right back off the wagon. Austin's not thirsty and tosses them away. The NWO lets him pass without incident. Guess they're playing the long game.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: Spike Dudley & Tazz (c) def Booker T & Test in 7:58- Test and Booker were teammates in the Alliance during the Invasion so this isn't a completely random team up. They also held one or other of the tag titles during the Invasion but hell, who didn't. After getting firmly and completely buried during the Invasion for the simple crime of being the final proper WCW World champion Booker's going to be stuck in the tag division and middest of the midcard for a while now. Another jump start. Jeez, what is this, the Attitude Era? Test pounds on Tazz in the ring. Tazz comes back with a back elbow and clothesline. Tag to Spike and he hits a missile dropkick off the top. Test tries for a powerbomb but Spike punches out. Then Spike counters a press slam into a roll up, but Booker has ref Jack Doan distracted. Clothesline from Test and he pounds Spike on the mat. Test holds Spike up in a Hart Attack like position and Booker hits a side kick. Chops from Booker on Spike. The heels work Tazz and his quick temper to double team. Corner clotheslines from Test. Spike dodges a Test elbow drop. He goes for the Dudley Dog but Test dumps him over the top to the floor. Booker hits the scissors kick and we get a spinaroonie. Cover and Tazz breaks the pin up as JR continues to try to figure out what the spinaroonie is supposed to accomplish. Spike uses Booker putting him on the second rope to hit a DDT. Tags on both sides and Tazz runs wild. Northern lights suplex on Booker for 2. He ducks Test's big boot of death, dumps Booker over the top to the floor, and tries for a Tazzmission but Test headbutts free. Spike comes in and hits the Dudley Dog! Tazz covers for 2. Test tries for an illegal leverage pin the corner but Doan catches him. Test doesn't like that and gets in a shoving match with Doan. The Tazzmission is on! Test taps out! Decentish. **

 

So there's no more suspense, it would be Billy & Chuck that win the tag titles on the Smackdown after this show, their first tag title win and they'd carry them to WM, the start of their run as the dominant team in the division for most of the year. 

 

Brass Knuckles on a Pole Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: William Regal (c) def Edge in 11:18- Putting a bow on this fairly long running feud before everyone moves on for WM. After months of trying Regal finally took the title from Edge at the Rumble thanks to the POWER OF THE PUNCH, aka brass knuckles. Because of that, we're putting the knucks on the good old pole tonight. Usual rules, whoever gets the object off the pole can legally use it in the match. Before he gets in the ring ref Jimmy Korderas wants to make sure Regal doesn't have the backup knucks anywhere. While that's going on we get another jump start as Edge couldn't wait. He pounds Regal all around ringside. Clothesline and suplex from Edge back in the ring. Backdrop for 2. He goes for the pole but Regal hits him from behind. Regal then climbs but gets pulled back down. Dropkick from Edge. Regal tries to momentum toss Edge over the top but Edge lands on the apron and goes for the pole. Regal just stops him before he gets the knucks. Some more ringside and crowd brawling follows. Edge goes for the knucks, fights Regal off, then says the hell with it and hits a missile dropkick instead for 2. Regal lifts Edge and drops him gut first on the top rope. Abdominal stretch from Regal with the rope leverage game. Edge hiptosses out and tosses him out to the floor. Edge climbs again. Regal pushes him off the top rope down into the barricade! Double underhook powerbomb on the floor from Regal. Back in Regal hooks on the Regal Stretch. Edge has blood in his mouth but I'm pretty sure that's capsule blood for drama, nothing real. Edge slowly drags himself over and gets a rope break. Another double underhook powerbomb from Regal for 2. Regal turns, smiles, and decides its time for the knucks. Edge crotches Regal on the top rope! Regal lifts Edge up for a powerbomb on the apron but neither of them can hold their grip or balance and they both tumble down to the floor. Oof. Not good. We get a replay and it looks like Regal lost his grip and dropped Edge, then fell down himself. Edge slowly drags himself back in the ring and up the pole. Regal cuts him off from the apron. He punches Edge down into the ring and Regal gets the knucks! Edge goes up and back suplexes him off the ropes. The knucks are down in the ring. Edge tries to get the knucks but Regal kicks them away. Edge DDTs Regal for 2. Spear! Edge goes out to get the knucks and puts them on. Regal low blows Edge and hits him with the backup knucks! Knew they were in there somewhere. Like the Rumble, I don't know where Regal was keeping them. That gets Regal the pin to retain. Not too great a match to start with but that botch off the apron really hurt too. *3/4

 

The Rock def The Undertaker in 18:20- Pretty textbook "these two top guys have nothing else going on right now, throw them together" match before their separate WM programs begin. Taker already teased his earlier tonight. That's not to say there's no feud at all. After the Rumble Rock mocked Taker for getting eliminated by Maven, which set heel "everybody better respect me or else" Taker off. As part of the build Rock helped Maven beat Taker for the Hardcore title. After that Taker Tombstoned Rock on top of a limo. Rock charges in and guess what, jump start again. Did someone sneak Russo back in the building? Rock fights off a goozle but runs into a Taker big boot for 2. Rock hits a really sloppy swinging neckbreaker but Taker is quickly back on top. Rock takes advantage of Taker stalking the ref trying to get Taker out of the corner to slug back. Taker cuts it off again with a side suplex for 2. Taker slows things down already with a chinlock. After Rock fights back up Taker hits some knees to the gut and an elbow. Rock ducks another big boot near the ropes and clotheslines Taker out to the floor. During the usual ringside knockaround Rock eyes the Spanish announce table. Taker gives Rock a stair shot, looks at the Spanish table and goes "Yeah, I can use that". First he crotches Rock on the barricade, then sits down on the stairs and lets him know about it. He punches Rock over the barricade and it's crowd brawl time. The Spanish announce table sitting over there "So, we're not doing this then?". Back to the ring and Taker hits elbows on the apron, then an apron legdrop. Cover for 2. Another Rock comeback is cut off with a huge Shinya Hashimoto like leaping DDT from Taker. Another cover for 2. Taker hooks on a bear hug. Well this is different. Rock slowly fades down. After arm drops Rock fights back up and hits a flying clothesline. Stand up slugfest. Rock finally gets some momentum and hits a DDT. Spinebuster! Elbow pad off. Taker cuts off the People's Elbow with a goozle! Low blow from Rock to get free! Smackdown punches in the corner. Taker wrings Rock's arm into another goozle. Chokeslam! But Taker's slow to cover because of the damage received and Rock kicks out. Taker goes out and sits on his bike. Ref Mike Chioda goes out to see what's what and Taker throws him into the stairs! Guess that was the plan. Taker then gets his trusty lead pipe out from his bike. Flair runs out! He attacks Taker! Taker no sells a chop and kicks Flair right in the face. Rock ducks a pipe shot. World's Shittiest Sharpshooter! Chioda is up and back in. Now Vince runs out. He distracts the ref. Rock releases the hold and flips Vince in the ring. Smackdown punches for Vince! Taker hits Rock from behind and scoops him up. Flair hits a pipe shot on Taker! Rock Bottom! Rock gets the pin! Flair leaves with Taker's pipe. That's not over. OKish match that took forever to really get going, and when it did the runs ins happened. Easily Rock's weakest PPV match in a long time. **1/4

 

One month after his big WWF return Mr. Perfect has been relegated to the WWF New York stand up segment. They tried with him in the Rumble, giving him a late run, but he's just not peak Perfect anymore. Far from it.

 

The next match is going to need a bit of a setup. Triple H came back from injury as a full face, but during the time he was out Steph had gone full evil again, so they weren't compatible anymore. Trips started to break it off, but Steph convinced him to stay by telling him she was pregnant and they agreed to renew their vows instead. But a tape from Linda McMahon proved to Trips it was all a RUSE and Steph was never pregnant. After that Trips used the vow renewal to break up with Steph entirely, which gave us the famous angry Steph roaring moment. In revenge, Vince has appointed Steph as the special guest ref for this match.

 

Ironically despite what's happening on screen Trips and Steph had gotten closer than ever during his injury recuperation and were a very solid real life couple by this point. 

 

For the Undisputed WWF Championship Match at Wrestlemania: Kurt Angle def Triple H in 14:55- Angle was the last one eliminated by Trips when he won the Rumble so he's the one getting this shot as the McMahons screw with HHH. Don't have any illusions about what the real feud is here. Steph comes out first to Trips' old pre-Game music. She has words with Fink and he corrects himself, it's just Stephanie McMahon. No more Helmsley. The YOU SUCK chant for Angle with his music is here! I honestly thought that started later in the year after or during his Edge feud. It's pretty amazing no one is referencing the old love triangle between these three from the summer of 2000, especially with Steph openly being on Angle's side. While Steph is reminding HHH she's the ref Angle sneaks behind and tries to roll him up. More flash cradles from Angle but HHH counters them all before Steph can count. Angle pounds HHH down in the corner with Steph cheering him on. HHH pops out with a clothesline and stomps Angle down in another corner. Short clothesline from HHH. Angle grabs HHH's arm and pulls him into a back suplex. HHH ducks and Angle clotheslines Steph over the top rope to the floor! Man, he was going full speed on that. Huge pop from the crowd for that too. Timekeeper Mark Yeaton checks on Steph as she's dead on the floor. A group of refs run in to check on her as HHH clotheslines Angle to the floor on the other side of the ring. He looks down at Steph not really caring. Angle comes back in with chops. Swinging neckbreaker from HHH as Steph is carried out and Tim White takes the match over. HHH puts Angle in the corner, climbs up, and waves at Steph before commencing mounted punches. Angle ducks under and goes to ROLLING GERMANS. HHH tries to block but Angle hits all three and covers for 2. Back elbow from Angle for 2. An "Angle sucks" chant distracts Angle and HHH takes advantage of it. Angle hits a belly to belly suplex! Cover for 2. Another belly to belly for 2. A third. Sleeper from Angle! HHH slowly fades down, but gets back up at just one arm drop and tries to back Angle into the corner to get free. That doesn't work, so HHH runs him forward instead. That works. HHH uses Angle mounted punches to powerbomb him. Angle ducks a clothesline but HHH hits the high knee. Spinebuster from HHH for 2. Facebuster for 2. Angle backs up and begs off, going all the way to the floor. As they go back in the ring Angle straight up hits Tim White in the back of the head! HHH hits a hangman's neckbreaker then goes to check on White. Low blow from Angle. Angle Slam! Steph runs back in to count. HHH kicks out! Far from fast counting, Steph's actually counting slow. Guess it's her hurt neck. The straps are down! Angle's, not Steph's. Wouldn't that be something. Ankle lock! HHH quickly counters and Angle squashes Steph in the corner. She's out again. Kick wham DDT from HHH. Cover but both refs in the ring are down. HHH drags White back up. Angle hits HHH from behind and that sends White tumbling out to the floor. This is getting ridiculous. Another German from Angle. Angle goes out and gets a chair. HHH ducks a chairshot. Pedigree! White drags himself back in to count. Steph elbow drops White! Then kicks him in the general area of his crotch. HHH stares her down. He grabs Steph and sets her up for a Pedigree! Chairshots from Angle! Angle Slam! Angle covers and gets the pin, winning the WM title shot. There's almost no way for HHH and Angle to have a bad match, but this damn sure tried with all the Steph and ref shenanigans. Fortunately the talent of the guys involved still made it just about work. It would also all be rendered meaningless the next night on Raw, as HHH got a rematch and won his title shot back. I said the road to WM would be a curvy one this year. ***

 

Elsewhere, the NWO storm into the Rock's locker room. Hogan says Rock is "my son's favorite wrestler".  Hall takes a picture of Rock and Hogan with his disposable camera (remember those?). Hogan then says "So much for the people's taste". Rock takes issue with that and goes into a detailed explanation of the journey that camera can take across all three guy's posteriors. The best part is Rock completely destroying the old Diesel character with his mocking little "honk honk".

 

Undisputed WWF Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 22:24- I genuinely wonder how much of a chance people thought Austin had at the time, I really can't remember. Angle's win definitely would have put a bit more doubt into this as to what the final WM setup would be. Angle/Jericho was pretty much a non-starter because they didn't have the combined star power for a WM main event yet, and Angle had gone back heel after the Invasion. Austin/Angle was unlikely because they'd faced each other so much in '01, but Austin/HHH was pretty plausible even with both guys currently faces. Commentary straight up talks about Jericho being a transitional champion, which is a perfect nutshell for how this title reign went. They go nose to nose after the bell and discuss things. Jericho gets ahead of Austin by telling Austin he's #1. Austin, naturally, responds with the same. Lockup! About time tonight. Neither guy gets an early edge. Jericho hits the first punch, which almost amuses Austin. Austin hits some shots and tosses Jericho out to the floor. Speed run coming back in and Austin hits a back elbow. Chops in the corner from Austin. Lots of chops. He then gives Jericho a ton of buckle shots all the way down the corner. Suplex from Austin. Another one. More chops in the corner. Jericho's going to have full on hamburger chest. Jericho turns things around with a swinging neckbreaker and hits some chops of his own. He tries coming off the top rope but Austin catches him coming down, then 360 clotheslines him to the floor. Yet more chops from Austin on the floor. Back in Austin hits some corner shoulderblocks. Jericho dodges on the other side and Austin goes shoulder first into the post. Austin actually walks halfway up the aisle trying to get some space and shake his arm off, but ambushes Jericho when he gets close. Attitude Era style stage brawl time. Austin tosses Jericho into both 18 wheelers in the stage. He continues knocking Jericho around coming back down the aisle. Jericho drops Austin on the barricade ringside. Back in Jericho goes up top but Austin hits the ropes to crotch him. More chops and Austin hits a superplex. He puts Jericho back up top on the opposite side and hits another superplex. Austin then puts Jericho up in another corner. We're going for all four corners. The third one hits! Austin's wearing down, that one didn't land very well. Austin seems to agree, as he doesn't go for corner #4 and covers Jericho instead. He whips Jericho back and forth across the corners, then pops out with a clothesline when Jericho tries to reverse. Jericho tries to hide behind Hebner, then hits a sneaky low blow on Austin. He pounds away on Austin on the mat and hits more chops in the corner. Austin ducks under and tries a kick, but Jericho grabs it for a leg takedown into a Walls attempt. Austin fights it off before it's on. Jericho chops Austin down in the corner. I think Austin's knees are bothering him, he has a most definite hitch in his step every time he tries to run off a whip. He manages to get Jericho up and hit him with a hot shot, or more accurately a stun gun, his old WCW finisher, and drops an elbow for 2. Jericho momentum tosses Austin out to the floor, then follows and gets a chair. Austin kicks to block a chairshot and Hebner takes the chair away at almost the exact same time. Austin seems to have a real hard time deciding where or what to throw Jericho into. Jericho reverses and Austin kind of meekly collapses toward the timekeeper's area. They seem to mutually decide to give up on that and get back in the ring. Austin dodges a Lionsault. Sleeper from Jericho. A really crappy one, he does not have the top arm on right at all. A sleeper doesn't involve palming Austin's bald head like a basketball. Austin goes down and it looks more like a chinlock than anything. They stay in it for a long while too. Austin fights back up, dodges a dropkick, and goes for a Boston crab/Walls! Jericho fights that so Austin slingshots him into the corner instead. Jericho fights off a Stunner. Clotheslines from Austin and he plants Jericho with a spinebuster. He catches Jericho leaping and powerslams him for 2. Misdirection bulldog from Jericho. The Lionsault just barely hits, Austin was a long way away. Jericho goes for it again and this time was slightly better. Austin kicks out! Austin tries a Thesz press but Jericho blocks it into the Walls! Austin slowly crawls over and gets a rope break. Jericho goes out and get the WWF Title belt. Austin attacks him before he can do anything with it, but Hebner goes down in the exchange. They kind of weakly brawl around as they seem to lose their place again, then Austin spinebusters Jericho onto the belt. Cover and Jericho just kicks out. Jericho counters a Stunner into a Breakdown onto the belt! Austin kicks out! Jericho goes for another misdirection bulldog but Austin ducks and Jericho clotheslines Hebner right out of the ring. Ref bumps have been ridiculous tonight, and not in a good way at all. Austin hooks a Boston crab on. Jericho taps out but there's no ref. Again. Every match this run Jericho's tapped out with no ref present. Jericho tries a belt shot but Austin counters with a Stunner! Here come the NWO. You knew this was coming. Austin tries to fight them all off but the numbers eventually become too much. Hall Stunners/cutters Austin and they leave. Austin drags Hebner back in, covers Austin, and gets the pin to continue the awful title reign. Even before all the ref bumps and interference kicked in that was a very schizophrenic match. At times it was as good as you know these two could be, but there were also lots of little hitches and issues that really held it back, particularly in the second half. I did enjoy chops being so prevalent during the match though. **1/2

 

After the bell the NWO attack again and Hall lays Austin out with another Stunner. Hogan gets the spraypaint and they do the classic NWO spraypaint on Austin's back. End show. None of the NWO stuff during the show really hit the mark, and you can tell by the lukewarm crowd reactions. I'm not sure if it was NWO fatigue in general, or poor timing and they should have been brought in at the start of the Invasion rather than after. Regardless, it's not working as well as anyone would have hoped.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Average matches across the board equals an average at best show. There's not a lot of good to speak of outside the base match quality either, as none of the big angles heading into Wrestlemania seem to be hitting and all three of the top matches ended with tons of ref bumps and interference.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C- 

Souled Out 2000

Legacy Review

Souled Out 2000

January 16, 2000 from the Firstar Center in Cincinnati, OH

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay

 

Welcome to the start of the final full year of WCW's existence. As the calendar turns to the new millennium change is once again underway in WCW. The kick from Goldberg that would end Bret Hart's career happened at Starrcade, and while no one knew how bad it would be yet and he had been trying to wrestle through it until just before this show, Bret was now out due to the concussion and was forced to vacate the World title. Little did anyone know he'd already wrestled his last proper match (his 2010 WWE matches don't count). In a small bit of karmic penance, Goldberg also suffered a major injury soon after Starrcade on Nitro when he punched through a limo window that turned out to be real instead of gimmicked, severing an artery in his arm and putting him in the hospital. He would be out for several months. In addition, US champ and Russo booking binkie Jeff Jarrett was also out with a concussion suffered only a week before this show.

 

Changes were also once again taking place behind the scenes. Due to the spate of injuries the top of the card had to be completely reworked, and Russo's initial idea was of all things to have MMA ringer Tank Abbot (their Dollar General Ken Shamrock who hadn't even wrestled a PPV match yet) win the World title in a battle royale, then lose it quickly after. That was the last straw for Turner brass, who were already not happy with what they'd gotten from their high profile Russo investment. Russo was temporarily suspended from duty, and wanting an experienced hand they brought Kevin Sullivan back in to lead the booking committee, a job he'd held off and on during Bischoff's era. However, that was not a popular move in the locker room. One positive thing you could say about Russo was he tried to give everyone something do to, while the perception was Sullivan was only interested in pushing his friends. In particular, the group later known as the Radicalz were so unhappy with the move they wanted out right now. Particularly Chris Benoit, who had a longstanding personal beef with Sullivan. Because of that, when the card for this show was restructured it was done trying to keep that group happy and willing to stay in WCW.

 

There's no intro video at all, probably due to all the last second card changes. The show intros are getting more WWF-like than ever. Mike Tenay returns to the booth for the first time since before Russo took over. They blame Jarrett's concussion on....Benoit hitting a diving headbutt off the top of a steel cage? That clearly hit Jarrett in the gut and not in the head? Your logic does not resemble our Earth logic. We then get footage of the Revolution taking out Konnan backstage during the preshow, because what this company needs is more injuries. The match graphics for this show are HILARIOUS. They're ripped right off the DVD release of some indy promotion.

 

Catch As Catch Can Match: Billy Kidman def Dean Malenko (w/Shane Douglas) in 2:11- Filthy Animals member Kidman is taking on all three members of the Revolution in three separate matches with three separate stipulations. First up is Malenko in a "catch as catch can" match, which in a nutshell is supposed to be amateur style wrestling with strictly enforced rope and corner breaks, with the added rule that if you go out of the ring and your feet touch the floor you automatically lose the match. Remember that last part. Basic start with Malenko doing some nice chain wrestling and hiding in the corner when things don't go right. He holds Kidman in a headscissors. Kidman slowly escapes and charges fists flying, but Malenko hides in the corner again. Malenko dodges a dropkick and tries a jackknife cover. Kidman rolls through it and lays in some ground and pound. Malenko, instinctively, rolls out to the floor. Commentary: "The match is over isn't it?". No one acts like it and Malenko gets back in the ring like everything's normal and still going, until Lil' Naitch calls for the bell. That's it, it's over. No one looks happy about that. In fact both wrestlers look very upset as they leave. I don't think that was the planned finish, but they'd backed themselves into the corner with the rules and had to stick with them. Which honestly is unusual for WCW so I guess give them some small credit there. Still a completely stupid match and situation though. 1/4*

 

More evidence things did not go as planned- commentary has to vamp while the video package for the next match is loaded up. During Vampiro's promo Masahiro Chono randomly interrupts and says something in Japanese. WCW had just sent a few guys over to work the January 4th Tokyo Dome show, then still called Wrestling World (which I have reviews of all of elsewhere on the blog, shameless plug), reopening the WCW/New Japan pipeline for the first time in a couple of years.

 

Three Way Dance: Vampiro def WCW World Tag Team Champions David Flair & Crowbar (w/Daffney) in 10:28- David Flair still has his crowbar, and now has a new partner named Crowbar. It's a crowbar overload. Crowbar looks a bit like Kanyon but it's a completely different and much smaller guy. Jump start with Vampiro dodging a golden crowbar shot. Double faceplant on both heels. David rolls out and Vampiro pounds on Crowbar for a bit. Crowbar maneuvers into hitting a northern lights suplex for 2. Vampiro lands on his feet off a monkey flips and back kicks Crowbar to the floor. Tope suicida on Crowbar. Daffney distracts the ref but it doesn't do much of anything. Hell, she can distract me. She's nuts but she's still hot. I've dealt with crazy before. Anyway, Vampiro still easily stays in control on both guys. David and Crowbar do this ridiculous grappling dance with each other to get in position on the floor to take a Vampiro baseball slide. Crowbar does a somersault dive over the top to the floor that takes out both David and Vampiro. That allows the heels to finally get control for the first time. Big splash by Crowbar off the apron onto Vampiro on the floor. Chops from David in the ring. Vampiro easily reverses and tosses David out. Crowbar comes from behind and German suplexes Vampiro. Slingshot legdrop for 2. Vampiro puts Crowbar up top and hits a superplex for 2. Crowbar gives us our first crotch shot of the night. Russo's definitely been pushed back if it's taken this long. Crowbar slams David onto Vampiro for 2. Suplex from David for 2. The ref in this match is counting super slow for some reason. Crowbar and Vampiro completely fuck up a powerbomb. After that Vampiro says fuck it and goes back on offense. Uranage on Crowbar that David takes FOREVER to break up even though he was standing right there. Big splash off the top rope from Crowbar, but he doesn't bother to cover. He wants David to put the figure four on. He just about manages to do so. While in the figure four Crowbar big splashes Vampiro again and covers. David pulls Crowbar off and they fight! They're NUTS, see. Daffney tries to make peace but David back suplexes Crowbar, then decides it's time for some nookie with Daffney. Crowbar rolls David up for 2. Vampiro powerbombs Crowbar. Daffney gets back in and Vampiro attacks her. Dodge and charging David squashes Daffney in the corner! Vampiro hits Nail in the Coffin and pins David while Daffney stands right there and doesn't do anything. Sloppy as hell. I'm pretty sure they had to cover the time the last match lost which didn't help any. 1/2*

 

The Mamalukes (w/Disco Inferno) def The Harris Boys in 9:31- With Russo taking a back seat Creative Control, along with the whole "Powers That Be" crap and Russo playing Dr. Claw, is no more and the Harris Brothers are just the Harris Brothers again. Er, the Harris BOYS. Close enough. Quick start by one of the Harriseses, the no logo shirt one. Bull fights back and No Logo Harris rolls out. Back in Vito gives No Logo a hiptoss and the Italians double team. They call for Discos help but Disco makes like he can't hear them. Heenan: "Disco doesn't want to be here! Like me!". Unintentional shoot comments for the win. Or possibly not that unintentional. The Mamalukes stay in control on Logo Harris. Vito drops an elbow right on Logo's crotch. The Harrises use a shot from the apron to turn the tide and take control. A predictably dull heat sequence follows. Though I have no idea who's supposed to be face or heel in this match, if anyone. Some "boring" chants start to echo out. Bull manages a sunset flip but they roll so far they end up in the ropes. Vito's Italian temper finally overflows and we go full on DONNYBROOK. Disco shoves his own man Vito off the top rope, but somehow Vito ends up on top of one of the Harrisi and gets the pin. Total backfire by Disco. A technically competent wrestling match in the strictest sense of the term, but it's impossible to give the slightest shit about any of these guys. *1/2

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Oklahoma def Madusa (c) (w/Spice) in 2:55- Hoo boy. We're really doing this. Oklahoma's gone from fighting the freaks to the misogynist fighting the women to prove men are superior. He comes in wearing the belt after stealing it from Madusa on weekly TV. How does he even qualify for the Cruiserweight division? Because shut up. Madusa comes out wearing a Bucs jersey. #66 Blackman, zero memory for me. Commentary says he used to play for the Bengals but now is with the Bucs. I thought she's supposed to be the face here. Don't ask, it's almost Russo I guess. Plus, '99-2000 Bengals, that's when they were still the joke of the NFL so no one gave a shit anyway. Shoving match that Oklahoma wins. Madusa lays in some kicks, and she's wrestling barefoot again. Back kick and Oklahoma does a .3 Flair Flop off the ropes. Oklahoma goes right to the hair pulling. What a man. Real tough guy. He does the '80s women's wrestling hair snap mares. More kicks from Madusa, then chops. Oklahoma ducks in the corner and Madusa hits the top buckle, then falls head first into Oklahoma's crotch in the most obvious set up way. Madusa tries a kick off the second rope but doesn't hold her balance well and barely gets it. Off the other side she hits a better missile dropkick off the second rope. She misses a dropkick in the middle of the ring that Oklahoma was nowhere near going into. Horrible timing there. Oklahoma hits a leaping DDT and drags Madusa into the corner. He gets his bottle of BBQ sauce which, believe it or not, he's been using as a weapon during the feud. That's being taken seriously. Spice grabs the bottle away. Asya comes out and takes out Oklahoma! All the women are teaming up. Back in the ring Oklahoma pulls down Madusa's skirt thing, rolls her up and pins her. Fucking hell THAT'S the finish? As if the rest of the match wasn't bad enough. DUD

 

While the other women hold him Madusa pours the BBQ sauce down Oklahoma's tights for revenge. Please let us never speak of any of this again. Fortunately this would pretty much be the end of the Oklahoma character. He'd vacate the title on the Nitro after this show because he was so very obviously over the weight limit. 

 

Four Way Match for the WCW Hardcore Championship: Brian Knobbs (c) def "Screamin'" Norman Smiley, Meng and Fit Finlay in 6:08- Knobbs just defeated unexpected hardcore ace Smiley for the title on the Thunder before this show. Which means no one saw it. Smiley's gimmick gear for tonight is police riot gear. Not the worst idea. It's a four way, but there's a tight alliance between Knobbs and Finlay, and a much looser one between Smiley and Meng. Jump start as Knobbs is still walking in. Trash can lids immediately start flying around. Smiley holds a trash can forever waiting to get someone to hit, then finally tries Meng. As expected, no effect. Meng kicks the can into Smiley's face and Norman's SCREAMING. The Knobbs/Finlay team gangs up on Meng. Smiley hits Knobbs with a pipe or nightstick or something. Everyone goes to the floor. Knobbs completely muffs Smiley trying to run him into the ring apron. Meng chops Smiley and he screams again. I won't lie, it's chuckle worthy. As usual for WCW the trash cans are still getting thrown around. They can't seem to understand you can use things other than that in a hardcore match. Finlay finally gives us some variety when he uses Smiley's riot gear helmet as a weapon. He and Knobbs then get a table out. They then team up to crotch Smiley on the post. Tony: "Now he's Cryin' Norman Smiley". Well done. He and Finlay brawl into the crowd but then immediately come right back. Side thought: Meng's afro should be illegal. His head's hard enough already and now it has all that extra padding. Smiley cautiously approaches Knobbs behind his riot shield, then drops a low blow and gives us some wiggle. He tries coming off the second rope but Knobbs hits him coming down with his own riot shield! That gets Knobbs the pin to retain. Dull match, decent finish. *

 

Bunkhouse Brawl: Billy Kidman def Perry Saturn in 10:03- Kidman vs the Revolution match #2. Everyone's in their regular gear here, rendering the Bunkhouse Brawl part half meaningless. All Saturn early as he blocks a hiptoss and hits a clothesline, then press slams Kidman. Kidman gets a tiltawhirl flying headscissors and dropkick, then lays in some mounted punches. Misdirection clothesline for 2. There's a lot of high pitched shrieks going on for Kidman out there. I don't really get it but whatever. He tries for some kind of flying bulldog but Saturn crotches him on the top rope, then hits his crazy springboard flying clothesline that sends both of them to the floor. That move is so legit dangerous. Then Saturn covers on the floor for 2. Since when were Bunkhouse Brawls falls count anywhere? Saturn stays in control in the ring, wrapping Kidman in something like a Mr. Salty (shoutout to Joey Styles wherever he is now). Kidman turns a suplex attempt into a cradle for 2. Saturn quickly kills him again with a clothesline. Springboard legdrop for 2. Saturn suplex drops Kidman over the top rope for 2. Another Kidman comeback attempt is cut off with a superkick as this is turning into legal murder. Saturn uses the remnants of Kidman's shirt to flip him across the ring. Saturn goes under the ring and gets a table. While he's doing that Kidman goes for a plancha that barely hits the target. Kidman then finishes setting the table up himself. Heenan says something about he and Tony using the table. Tenay: "Under the table I'm sure if you're involved Heenan". OH SHIT. Totally intentional shoot comments for the mega win. It's well known that Heenan, disgusted with being stuck in WCW, was often drunk during shows. Heenan even responds with an over the top "Thank you Mike!". Back in the ring it's Saturn killing off a comeback attempt once again. Elbow off the top rope for 2. Kidman again flips over into a roll up for 2 and again gets killed by a clothesline after. Saturn then does the impossible, hitting Kidman with a powerbomb for another 2. Kidman dodges a moonsault off the top rope and finally strings some offense together, hitting a bulldog and spinebuster for 2. Saturn grabs Kidman near the ropes and belly to belly suplexes him over the top rope through the table on the floor! DAMN. Saturn covers on the floor but Kidman kicks out. Saturn drags Kidman back in and calls for the Rings of Saturn. Then goes up top. Maybe not. Kidman goes up with him, they take forever trying to find their footing, and then Kidman flips Saturn down to the floor. I don't think they were able to pull off what they really wanted. Once again it's Saturn up first. He goes for another powerbomb but that's sure as hell not going to work twice. Kidman does his usual faceplant counter and gets the pin! Mostly solid but way too long for what they were doing. Saturn dominated the entire match until the shock comeback win. **1/2

 

Booker T (w/Midnight) def Stevie Ray by DQ in 6:29- Harlem Heat explodes!....Again. What's funnier is commentary says "we never thought we'd see this" even though this is the second time in two years they'd broken up. Hell, they only got back together so they could break up again! Booker's got new gear with straps on it. Thankfully that won't last. Both guys come out to Harlem Heat's music. Booker sends Midnight to the back before the match starts. After some jawing Booker lays the first shots in and hits a side kick. Ray rolls out but Booker follows and stays on him. Back in they do about the weakest "speed" run ever and Booker hits a flying forearm for 2. Ray responds with a back elbow and hits a clothesline with a 360 Booker sell. He then tosses Booker over the top back to the floor. Both guys swap guardrail shots. Back in Ray hits a powerslam for 2. Ray keeps Booker grounded with a chinlock and some punches. Snap mare and elbow drop for 2. Ray hits a horrible backdrop that the camera cuts away from. I wonder if that was live or a later edit. WWE has never really cared about leaving WCW botches in because, why should they. Booker comes back with a kick combo. Scissors kick. Spinaroonie! Book End! Wait, someone's running in. It's AHMED JOHNSON! Or the artist formerly known as, Tenay says "I know who that is" without ever saying his name. Johnson attacks Booker, drawing the DQ. Midnight runs back out but doesn't do anything as Ray plants Booker with the Slapjack, then Johnson hits a powerbomb. Ray takes a mic, calls Johnson "Big T", and says say hello to the new Harlem Heat. Um, Booker T to Ahmed Johnson I'd call a massive downgrade. 1/2*

 

Tank Abbott def Jerry Flynn in 1:39- Full on Antonio Inoki special pseudo MMA "shoot" fight here, the kind that Inoki will go to more and more the next few years and almost put New Japan out of business in the process. Abbott attacks Flynn in the corner and flips him back out of the corner. After a reset Flynn hits a kick and tries a cross armbreaker that Abbott fights out. Eventually Abbott lifts Flynn up and tosses him. He then swings a punch that completely misses Flynn's face and Flynn doesn't react to it at all. Another punch connects. The ref does arm drops, WHILE TENAY SAYS THERE'S A 10 COUNT, gets three and calls for the bell. I'm not bothering, I dealt with enough of this crap while reviewing the Inokism era January 4th Tokyo Dome shows. NR

 

Remember after watching that, Tank Abbott is the guy Russo wanted to put the WCW WORLD TITLE on. 

 

Last Man Standing Match: Buff Bagwell def Diamond Dallas Page in 11:40- After the full Inokism match, we get a full Val Venus feud special, as this is all wrapped up around rumors that Buff is boinking Kimberly. Can we get confirmation that there will be a 10 count in this match before it gets going? Lots of jawing and pointing after the bell that leads into a slugfest. The fight goes to the floor as Bagwell gets whipped into the guardrail, then DDP flips him over and they fight up into the crowd. They go through the hockey bench area or penalty box into a tarped off section. Coming back in DDP manages to balance on the guardrail and pose. Back in DDP turns a blocked hiptoss into a swinging neckbreaker. Bagwell fights out of a Diamond Cutter attempt and hits his own swinging neckbreaker. DDP turns a kick block into a clothesline. Cactus Clothesline from DDP! Now they work their way up the aisle over toward the internet desk WCW was still using. Jawbreaker from DDP. They both swing computer monitors at each other and take each other out! DDP then hits Bagwell with a keyboard. Bagwell hits DDP to get him on the desk and climbs up the WCW.com sign. Bagwell dives off and puts DDP through the desk! Bagwell walks back toward the ring and DDP limps after him. Did the ref even try for a 10 count on DDP there? Back in the ring Bagwell low blows DDP. Bagwell starts feeling it and struts around. That sets DDP off. He slides under in the corner and crotches Bagwell on the post. Corner elbows from DDP as a big "DDP" chant starts up. Bagwell gets a back elbow in the corner and hits a Vader bomb. The ref counts both guys down. They're both up at 8. DDP hits a ripcord back elbow but both guys are down and counted again. This ref is really playing into the crowd chanting the count with him. It's not about you ref. Back up and they're slugging it out again. Nice series of counters and Bagwell hits a DDT. Both are up at 9 again. Bagwell grabs DDP and hits a half and half suplex that he also flips over and lands like a powerslam. Look at DDP actually dragging some effort out of Bagwell. He calls for the Blockbuster. And it hits! DDP drags himself up at 8 or 9. Bagwell then attacks DDP with a baton he brought with him. DDP drags himself up by the ropes again. Diamond Cutter! Here comes Kimberly. While she's walking out Bagwell gets up at 9 but DDP doesn't, giving Bagwell the win. Good match showing again how good DDP had gotten dragging this out of Bagwell, but with a pretty flat finish. ***1/4

 

While Bagwell's looking at Kimberly DDP attacks him with the baton. Kimberly leaves with DDP but gives no real indication how she really feels about any of this. 

 

Caged Heat Match: The Wall (w/Shane Douglas) def Billy Kidman in 4:59- The finale of the Kidman/Revolution trio as Kidman looks for the clean sweep. Caged Heat is essentially WCW's ripoff of Hell in a Cell, it's a similar size cage. It's making its debut tonight as commentary is shocked at how big it is. Talk about zero fanfare for something that should get at least a little. Wall is a mystery opponent announced by Douglas as the newest member of the Revolution. Reminder he got his name because he was originally partnered with Alex Wright's disastrous Berlyn character and WCW wanted the pun. As Wall gets in Kidman dropkicks him into the cage! Kidman gets a chair from under the ring and hits Wall with it, until Wall ducks a shot and punches the chair into Kidman's face. Back in Wall tries coming off the top rope but Kidman dropkicks him and covers for 2. Both guys do some dodges and Kidman runs into a big boot. Wall presses him and tosses him into the cage. Back in Wall goes into his usual dull kicky/chokey offense. Clothesline for 2. Kidman fights off a superplex and hits a sunset bomb for 2. Wall responds with a Samoan drop. Kidman counters a suplex attempt into a DDT for 2. He's getting more offense in than he did the whole Saturn match. Goozle from Wall, but Kidman uses his usual powerbomb counter to hit a hurricanrana. He sets Wall up in the corner. Wall does not play along by getting right to his feet. Kidman tries coming off the top rope anyway, flies into a goozle, Wall hits the chokeslam, and gets the pin. That was pretty pointless. 3/4*

 

To set up the next match- Terry Funk, now 55 years old, made his return to WCW at the start of the year. His last major WCW run in 1989 he was already "middle age and crazy", I guess he's more middle age now. Funk was immediately made the new WCW Commissioner, and kicked off a feud with the newly reformed NWO (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett as NWO 2000 with silver and black colors).

 

Hardcore Match: Kevin Nash def Terry Funk in 7:55- Funk's commissionership is also on the line in this match. Nash jumps Funk in the aisle and we're on. Both guys try to stick and move and they slug it out back and forth around the ring. Nash hits a couple of chairshots and Funk says "Come on you fucking chump!". Nash jackknifes Funk through the announce table! Well that was sudden. How do you go up from that this early in the match? Nash takes a mic, says Funk has a ton of heart but no common sense (honestly Funk would probably agree), then says if Funk can crawl back in the ring he can keep his commissionership. Funk staggers around and slowly drags himself back in. Nash: "I'm a lying son of a bitch". We know. Nash hits his usual corner shots and Funk staggers around. Being dropped through the table back first busted him open on his forehead by the way. Wrestling logic. Must have been a stray piece of wood. Nash clotheslines Funk 360 back to the floor with Funk doing a crazy dangle off the ropes before going down. While going around the ring Funk grabs a chair and tosses it in the ring, joining the one Nash already had. Back in Nash hits more chairshots. Funk cuts off another with with a gut punch and gives Nash some chairshots back. DDT from Funk for 2. I guess Turner's gone blood paranoid again because we stay in wide shots away from the ring and the only ringside camera shots show Funk's back. Headbutt from Nash. Funk tries to swing more shots but Nash gives him more chairshots in the head with Funk doing more classic Funk wobblelegged selling. Return chairshot from Funk and he sets both chairs up in the ring, then gets a third. Nash hits a low blow, jackknifes Funk through the chairs, and gets the pin to become the new WCW Commissioner. Old man Funk gave it all he had left but Nash vs a legend is never a good idea, you know he's not interested in showing respect or letting the legend get much in. Still can't believe they blew the big announce table spot right at the start of the match too. *3/4

 

I can't remember if the original plan for the main event was a Benoit/Bret rematch, but I do know it was going to be Benoit vs Jarrett for the vacant title before Jarrett's injury. Sid Vicious his replacement. Arn Anderson is the special guest referee for this match. Arn's prematch promo does a great job of selling the main event as a big deal better than anything or anyone else has.

 

Vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Benoit def Sid Vicious in 14:50- Kind of hard to believe but this is face vs face as both guys are faces, and in fact have been "good friends" the last couple of months per commentary. Didn't know Sid had friends. In a new move, Buffer does his usual overly long intros after both guys are in the ring in super special ring announcing style, only letting him unnecessarily eat up even more time. Lockup! Rough but clean break in the corner. Off another corner break Benoit ducks around to a waistlock but Sid back elbows him down before he can do anything. Sid then helps Benoit up in the corner, showing this is an honorable fight. Saturn and David Flair have both shown up in the entranceway. Why are they both here? Even more relevant, why are they together? Shoulderblock from Sid and he pushes Benoit over the top to the floor. It's not just Saturn and David after all, half the damn roster has now shown up to watch the match from this side of the curtain. Reset in the ring and Sid gorilla presses Benoit. Front drop suplex from Sid. Benoit ducks a clothesline and basement dropkicks Sid's knee. There's the strategery. He starts picking Sid's knee apart. He sets Sid up on the floor, then dropkicks the stairs into Sid's knee! Damn that always looks vicious. Sid tries to fight back on the floor but Benoit chops him back down, rolls him back in and covers for 2. Figure four! Sid fights and manages to turn it over. Benoit takes a rope break. Another chop from Benoit and he basement dropkicks Sid in the head while Sid is on his knees. He wraps Sid's knee around the middle rope and goes after it again. Dragon screw! More chops in the corner. Snap suplex/elbow drop combo from Benoit for 2. Sid tries another comeback and Benoit kicks the bad knee to get him back down. Benoit puts on a half crab, then locks the leg and bridges back into a full on Mutalock! Sid refuses to submit and Benoit eventually lets go. More punishment on the knee. A baseball slide sends Sid out to the floor. The crowd gets behind Sid and he starts hulking up in the ring. Open hand slap to Benoit! Benoit ducks a clothesline and dropkicks the knee again. ROLLLLLLLLLLLING GERMANS! No, Sid elbows out after just one! Powerslam from Sid for 2. Benoit does a rolling leg takedown into a legbar. Sid uses the crowd to fight back up again and gets a rope break. Another Benoit German suplex and he calls for the finish. The headbutt off the top hits! Sid kicks out! HUGE kickout that flung Benoit across the ring. Goozle! Sid hits the chokeslam! Benoit just barely gets a foot under the ropes to keep from getting pinned. The crossface is on! Sid taps out! Benoit, FINALLY, wins the WCW World title! Now, I should point out that unnoticed by commentary, Sid's leg was also under the ropes when he tapped out. That was an important out they gave themselves they will need later. As for this match, it was as good as it possibly could have been. Benoit shows he's a miracle worker by carrying Sid to a good main event. The layout really helped as it was very smart, Benoit controlling most of the match and saving Sid's offense for short comeback spots. A clean finish is also very much appreciated, especially with all the wrestlers standing at the entrance stage seemingly on standby to interfere. ***

 

Benoit heads to the back to have some words with Mean Gene. New Commissioner Nash interrupts and promises to make Benoit's life a living hell starting tomorrow. He'd never have a chance to fulfill that promise. Despite WCW's hail mary attempt to keep them happy, the next day before Nitro began all the Radicalz again asked for their release and this time it was granted. From reports we've gotten since it seems like they went over the heads of anyone in WCW right to Turner brass to get them. They'd all debut for WWF in short order, before the Royal Rumble. That action got the Turner corporate guy that replaced Bischoff as the true head of WCW, Bill Busch, fired and replaced by another Turner suit, Brad Siegel. The WCW World title would be vacated once again and in a fit of spite Benoit's title win was even erased from the history books. It wouldn't be recognized until after WWF's buyout. In fact the title would go on another convoluted journey between here and the next PPV, but I'll get into that next time.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- It's not the *worst* WCW PPV they've put on recently or anywhere close to how bad 2000 would get later, but that's not saying much. There was a calmer feel around the whole thing with Russo having less control, which was appreciated. It's also hugely consequential in that the entire sequence of Sullivan's return to the head booker chair and the subsequent departure of the Radicalz, especially Benoit right after winning the title, and another change in WCW's corporate leadership are more important signposts on the road toward WCW's ultimate end.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+