Insurrextion 2000

Legacy Review

Insurrextion 2000

May 6, 2000 from the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

As usual for UK PPVs this is coming only 6 days after the last "regular" PPV, that being Backlash and the Rock finally winning the WWF Title as a face. This is the second year for the spring UK only PPV, and after its original name of No Mercy was taken for the regular October PPV it needed a new one. Enter Insurrextion with an X as all things were in the late '90s-early aughts, the name that will stick for this show until the end of the UK only PPVs in 2003.

The opening video plays more like a TV commercial than a PPV opening video. It probably was the commercial repurposed. I don't think there's any pyro left in the UK either.

Too Cool def The Radicalz in 7:00- The quickly being left behind duo of Perry Saturn and Light Heavyweight champ Dean Malenko are representing the Radicalz here. The pecking order within the group has already become very clear. Say what you will about Too Cool's wrestling acumen, they were over as hell in their heyday. Sexay is making his return after a legit knee procedure that can't have been too serious because he wasn't on the shelf very long. The Radicalz try the Suzuki-Gun jump. Sexay responds by powerslamming Saturn while still in full entrance gear. Too Cool hit some double teams. Saturn and Scotty do a long counter run and Saturn hits a back elbow. Then Scotty and Malenko show off the chemistry they've built up during their Light Heavyweight title feud. Malenko hits a Russian leg sweep. Sexay gets baited in and Saturn gives Scotty the old Greco Roman nut stomp. Again Sexay is baited in for a double team. Malenko swaps in without a tag to cover for 2. Scotty flips out of a back suplex attempt and rolls Malenko up. Saturn pulls the ref out, which pisses Sexay off. Malenko and Saturn shove each other! There's been some brewing dissension there. Scotty rolls Malenko up again and Saturn breaks the pin up. Scotty sunset flip on Malenko for 2. He plants Malenko on the top rope and hits a superplex. Tags on both sides. Sexay hits slams, hiptosses and clotheslines. He tackles both Radicalz off the top rope. DONNYBROOK! Scotty hits Saturn with a bulldog and time stops as he does, once again, the DOUBLE Worm. Saturn accidentally clotheslines Malenko while trying to avoid a double team. The Radicalz collide and Malenko's head falls into Saturn's crotch. That's not as nasty as it sounds. In a wrestling way. Sexay goes up, puts the goggles on, hits the hip hop drop, and it's over. Rock solid tag stuff. **1/2

Malenko is pissed at Saturn. Saturn hits Malenko! Full on pub brawl between the teammates! The ref gaggle has to run in to break it up.

We get a promo for the next regular PPV, Judgement Day. After that Vince makes his way out. He blames Linda for Trips' loss at Backlash. And Austin. But mostly Linda. Then he says "Every genius has a plan", but he's noncommittal on which side he'll be on in the main event, his son's or his son in law's, only saying a McMahon family member will walk out with the title. Commentary wants to know.

 

Kane (w/Paul Bearer) def Bull Buchanan in 3:31- Jump start #2 with Kane quickly taking control. After a rough backdrop counter Buchanan hits a DDT that's completely no sold. Buchanan hits a springboard ax handle off the top and the scissors kick. Legdrop for 2. Punches fire Kane back up. Big boot. Buchanan hits a jawbreaker. He jumps off the second rope right into a Kane goozle. Chokeslam and good night. An extended squash, and given the participants I have zero issue with that booking. 1/2*

Trips and Steph are doing their usual backstage lounging. Steph is also unsure what side her dad will be on. Trips doesn't like that answer.

 

Road Dogg (w/Tori) def Bradshaw (w/Faarooq) in 5:58- Jump start #3. Tori tries to join and gets backed off by Bradshaw. Faarooq hops into commentary for about 2 seconds, then sees Bradshaw still stalking Tori on the floor and backs his partner up by jumping Dogg. Ref Jimmy Korderas tosses Faarooq out! Shortest commentary stint in wrestling history. Red carded per JR, but I also would likely have made that reference since one my closest friends is a Premier/Champions League nut. I usually only watch international footy when the World Cup or Euros come around. They get back in the ring with Bradshaw in control. Suplex with a floatover for 2. Bradshaw targets Dogg's ribs, placing a lot of punches in that area. HUGE buckle whip. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Bradshaw puts Dogg in a torture rack! Lex Luger shoutout. Dogg fights out but runs into a big boot for 2. Dogg gets a boot up in the corner, ducks a clothesline and hits a DDT. Bradshaw hooks up for a powerbomb but Dogg backdrops out, then dropkicks Bradshaw out of the ring. Bradshaw flies right back in with a tackle! Dogg goes into his dancing jabs. Flying forearm and shimmy legdrop for 2. Bradshaw dodges in the corner. Clothesline from Hell! Tori gets on the apron. Dogg gets a roll up for 2. The pumphandle slam, minus gratuitous grinding, hits and Dogg gets the pin. Another match that overdelivered considering the participants. **

Next up the Kat and Mae Young vs Terri and Fabulous Moolah rivalry continues with an arm wrestling contest hosted by, who else, Lawler. We get a ton of the usual heel stalling BS and Terri pulls her bottoms down to distract Lawler. Once they get going they actually get into it, until Terri spits water in Kat's face to keep from losing. Young takes Terri's water bottle and pours it all over her and I guess in there Kat got the win. Terri then pulls Kat's top off! I don't see how that's punishment for anybody. Sadly the camera angles keep us from seeing anything. Pixellating at Armageddon, now camera tricks here. Kat keeps trying be we keep being denied.

We get a slam cut from Kat barely keeping her damn near perfect tits covered to a close up of Rikishi's ass. Damn you Kevin Dunn. Bunk trip cancelled again. At least Mae Young kept them put away this time.

 

Rikishi and Showkishi def The Dudley Boyz in 7:10- We're still in the period of Big Show just wanting to have fun. Now he's Rikishi's clone, complete with his own thong. He's even dyed his hair and beard Rikishi's color. Jump start #4. D'Von tries to chop Show down. Big boot from Show. Headbutts and corner clothesline. Double headbutt on D'Von. Rikishi Samoan drops Bubba Ray. He fights off Dudley double teams but the Dudleyz keep trying and eventually D'Von drop toe holds him into a Bubba Ray elbow drop. That puts Rikishi in peril for a bit. Bubba Ray hits a big chop and a short clothesline. Rikishi and his hard Samoan head no sell a DDT. Superkick for 2. The Dudleyz get Rikishi back down and hit the crotch headbutt. Ref Tim White has to legit jump almost out of his shoes to dodge Rikishi hitting the ropes. Rikishi hits a double clothesline and tags Show. Side suplex on Bubba Ray for 2. Double corner squash and we get the mandatory double stinkface. That only pisses Bubba Ray off and he brawls with Rikishi to the floor. While there he gets a table out. A UK table by the looks of it. Clothesline off the second rope on Show for 2. Edge and Christian run in! Edge spears Bubba Ray. Show hits the chokeslam and it's over. Meh. *1/4

The rest of Too Cool come out. They want the Dudleyz to stay. Everyone swaps glasses and we have a six way dance! Yes, the Dudleyz too. As if that wasn't enough, Bubba Ray actually goes one on one with Rikishi. In dancing. Fun times all around. But, the table never got broken. Bubba Ray is unsatisfied.

Kurt Angle tours London and seems to be making legitimate inroads as an unintentional face. We can see during his promo that Benoit has a huge shiner from Chris Jericho accidentally hitting him for real with the IC belt on Smackdown the past week.

 

Kurt Angle def Chris Benoit in 6:04- Bit of a pop for Angle. During his prematch promo he goes after the children of London to try to get some heel heat back. Man, Benoit's eye is UGLY. Just before the match starts Crash Holly's music plays and he comes out to join commentary. Crash says he's been looking all over for an Englishman to challenge him for the Hardcore title and hasn't gotten any takers. Setup. While the camera is on Crash we can hear Benoit attacking Angle with chops. These two with no lockup, I'm calling it jump start #5. Snap suplex from Benoit. More chops. Angle turns things around with a hot shot. He dodges a swing and gouges Benoit's bad eye. Benoit falls to the floor in pain. Angle hops out and stays on it. Back in Angle beats Benoit down in the corner. Benoit slugs back. Angle snap belly to belly suplex! Regular suplex for 2. Clothesline for 2. Benoit takes a Bret bump and Angle follows up with a buckle shot on the bad eye. Another corner whip and this time Angle takes a hard Bret bump! Off the rebound it's ROLLLLLLLLLING GERMANS time. Benoit bridges on the third for 2. Small package from Benoit for 2. The crossface is on! Angle thumbs the bad eye to break it up. Back suplex from Benoit. He goes up top. Angle dodges the headbutt! Another eye gouge. Benoit takes a wild half blind swing. Angle ducks it, hooks up and hits the Angle Slam! That gets the pin! Not bad at all. Even with Angle being less than a year in and considering Benoit's bad eye that was pretty much their floor match. **3/4

Shane seems pretty certain Vince will be on his side tonight.

Bulldog's music hits! He charges in with ref Teddy Long in tow! Crash tries to run even though Bulldog is giving him what he asked for. Bulldog grabs him and the bell is rung.

 

WWF Hardcore Championship: "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def Crash Holly (c) in 3:37- Kinda sad that this is all they can trust Bulldog with in his home country, but....at this point this really is all you can trust Bulldog with. He knocks Crash up the aisle and suplexes him on the ramp. Whip reversal and Bulldog goes into the UK show wooden stairs. Crash goes under the ring and gets some toys out. He chokes Bulldog with a strap. Mop handle shot. He goes out and gets the very not steel chair he was sitting in for commentary. Reversal and Bulldog drop toe holds Crash into the chair. Return mop handle shot from Bulldog. He breaks the handle over Crash's back. Running powerslam! Bulldog gets the pin and wins the title! 3/4*

That is essentially it for Davey Boy Smith. This was his final appearance on a major show. He'd work a few more weekly TV matches (including dropping the Hardcore title back to Crash) before leaving WWF later in the month and quietly retiring. He came out of retirement in May of 2002 to work a couple of tag matches with his son Harry Smith (later to be DBS Jr) in a Canadian indie before his early death later that same month at just 39 years old.

Earlier today Edge and Christian charged a kid five quid for an autograph, then blocked a fan out of a photo the fan asked for. Yes, they're settling into their new heel personas very nicely. We're not too far away from the start of the legendary Five Second Pose.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hardy Boyz def Edge & Christian (c) by DQ in 12:53- No jump start! Matt and Christian start with Christian stalling like crazy. They go nose to nose and exchange slaps. Speed runs, with Matt getting a shoulderblock and Christian hitting a dropkick and armdrag into an ARMBAR. Matt slams out and pounds Christian down in the corner, then the Hardyz double up the pound down in their corner. Edge tags in and hits a swinging neckbreaker on Jeff. Jeff floats over in the corner to flying headscissors Edge to the floor. He loads up a dive but Edge gets the hell out of town. Small reset in the ring. Edge blocks for Jeff in the corner. Christian tries to do the same for Edge but the Hardyz outsmart them. Matt roll up for 2. He and Christian exchange chops. The Hardyz hit the both ends double legdrop, then stack E&C up in the corner and hit Poetry in Motion on both of them. E&C maneuver Jeff into taking a punch off the apron into the guardrail. Edge covers for 2. E&C double diving headbutt for 2. Christian powerslam for 2. He pulls Jeff down by the hair to kill a comeback. E&C swap without tags to keep Jeff isolated and in peril. Jeff dodges an Edge dropkick and jackknife covers him. They bridge up, the backslide is blocked, Edge counters into a powerbomb attempt, Jeff counters that into a roll up for 2. Very nice sequence. Clothesline from Edge. Front facelock fight and they do the phantom tag spot. Edge/Jeff midring crossbody collision! Christian runs in again. Matt hits an elbow off the top rope on Edge behind the ref's back and Jeff covers for a long 2. Jeff fights Edge off and finally gets the tag. Hot tag run for Matt. Sleeper DDT on Christian for 2. Matt gets stuck on the top rope. E&C stack up for a SUPERsuperplex! Jeff breaks the pin up. E&C go for a double backdrop but Jeff midair counters with a double dropkick! He clotheslines Edge 360 and out. Double faceplant on Christian. Jeff tope con hilo on Edge! Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo on Christian! Edge comes in with the ring bell and uses it to draw the cheap DQ. Funny bit where the ref still points at the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Edge has it. Not the best finish, but it does fit in with E&C's new heelness. These teams are already at the point they can pretty much have a good match with each other in their sleep. They hit all their usual stuff for their matches, but at this point it was all still pretty fresh. ***1/4

All four guys continue to fight after the, er, improvised bell. The Dudleyz run in to join the scrum! 3D on Christian! Bubba Ray gets the UK table out again. Table shot for Edge! The UK table broke like a pro. Bubba Ray is now satisfied.

Video recap of Chyna turning on Jericho to go with Eddie because his LATINO HEAT was irresistible.

 

WWF European Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) (w/Chyna) def WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho in 12:56- Jericho had just defeated Benoit on Smackdown to regain the IC title (reign #3 of his record 9), but would drop it back to Benoit the Raw after this show. It takes a whole two seconds for Lawler's fake Hispanic accent to get really annoying. Before the match there's a coin flip to determine which title will be on the line, "won" by the European title. Like there wasn't going to be a European title match in the UK. That was as legit as a War Games advantage coin flip. As soon as the coin flip is done we get jump start #7 as Guerrero lays into Jericho. Long speed run, Jericho gets a monkey flip and 360 clotheslines Guerrero out. Guerrero tries to walk. Chyna pushes him back toward the ring! Jericho runs out and collects him. Back in Guerrero hits a powerslam. Jericho hot shots Guerrero onto the top turnbuckle and hits a clothesline for 2. He stretches Guerrero's arms out. Guerrero gets up and we have an arm leverage fight. Jericho hits some chops. Guerrero small package for 2. Jericho delayed suplex and arrogant cover. A spinning heel kick sends Guerrero to the floor. Guerrero dodges a baseball slide. He leads Jericho around the ring into a Chyna clothesline. Or, more accurately, Chyna putting her arm up and Jericho running into it. It's a big arm. Top rope fight and Jericho hits a superplex. Guerrero dodges in the corner and hits a European uppercut. Hurricanrana off the top for 2. Guerrero puts on a Canadian backbreaker. On the Canadian. They go into some rapid fire cradle counters. Clothesline from Guerrero and he puts on an abdominal stretch. Jericho fights out, but Guerrero cuts him off with an eye poke and chops. Jericho does the backdrop faceplant. He goes for a powerbomb but Guerrero sunset flip counters for 2. Another European uppercut. Guerrero hooks on the Gory Special. Jericho reverses it! Very nice. He gets Guerrero up in an electric chair and faceplants him down. Bulldog for 2. A not so pretty flying forearm for 2. Jericho goes for a pop up powerbomb. Guerrero blocks it and both guys tumble over the top rope to the floor! Guerrero complains to ref Tim White that his back is hurt. While he's distracted Chyna DDTs Jericho in the ring! Guerrero crawls in and covers for a LONG 2. Jericho hits the double powerbomb. Lionsault! Chyna distracts White. Jericho springboard dropkicks her off the apron. But, she'd slid the European title belt in. Guerrero nails Jericho with it, covers and gets the win. Rock solid stuff. Like Benoit/Angle this was just about their floor match, they were definitely more in house show mode than PPV steal the show mode. ***

Trips and Shane argue in the back with Steph in the middle trying to make peace.

 

Triple Threat Match for the WWF Championship: The Rock (c) def Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) and Shane McMahon (w/Vince McMahon) in 15:37- This definitely feels like a handicap match at the start. Rock and HHH want Shane to stand aside and let them duke it out. Shane does and we have a slugfest start. The final jump start count for tonight is 7 out of 9 for those keeping score. Shane sticks his nose in and Rock punches it. Rock swings a backdrop counter kick in Shane's direction that misses by miles but Shane sells it anyway. Rock punches HHH in the corner until he does the Trips flip. Then Shane takes corner punches and also does the flip! On the floor Rock takes Lawler's crown, puts it on Shane, then punches him. HHH drops Rock on the guardrail and we go into a 2 on 1 beatdown. Rock clotheslines Shane in the ring, but HHH immediately grabs him for a neckbreaker. HHH and Shane take turns hitting Rock. Shane is doing his usual showboating dancing before swinging punches. HHH says anything you can do I can do better and starts up his own pre-punch dancing! OK, that's pretty damn funny. Shane takes the hint and cranks up the dancing even more! Before he can swing Rock clotheslines him! Too much showboating. Rock joins the trend, doing a little shuffling of his own, then hits a full on Dusty Rhodes bionic elbow! Fantastic. HHH facebuster and Shane clothesline on Rock for 2. Vince takes an opening to choke Rock. Shane elbow off the second rope. HHH kneedrop for 2. HHH slaps a sleeper on Rock. He holds it for a while, adding some knees to the back. Arm drops and Rock fights back up. He puts a sleeper on Shane while still in HHH's sleeper! It's a sleeper chain! Everyone gets jawbreakered and everyone's down. Rock punch flurry. He ducks a couple of HHH clotheslines but then runs into the high knee. Shane breaks the cover up! Here we go. Shane says he was confused but HHH doesn't believe him and shoves him. HHH turns his back and Shane clotheslines him! Shane tries a moonsault but sees it's missing and lands on his feet, but right in the middle of the other two. Rock clothesline on Shane. DDT on Trips right after Trips loudly shouted "DDT!". One of HHH's famous loud spot calls. Steph gets on the apron. Rock DDT on Shane, but ref Mike Chioda is tied up with Steph. Shane gets Rock from behind and tries to hit him with the Pedigree but doesn't know how to do it. Rock slingshots Shane right into Chioda, then HHH finishes Chioda off by squashing them both in the corner. Vince trips Rock. Rock grabs Vince. HHH comes from behind and hits Rock with Steph's women's title belt. No ref. Vince calls out for someone. Stooge Gerald Brisco with a ref shirt on runs in. Rock kicks out! Shane gets a chair and accidentally hits HHH with it. Vince gets in and attacks Rock. He goes for a chairshot but Rock's staredown stops him. HHH low blows Rock. Pedigree! Brisco counts awful slow. Rock kicks out! HHH argues with Brisco and punches him out! A second Pedigree. Vince pulls the ref shirt off Brisco, puts it on, and goes to count. Earl Hebner runs in! Hebner was still mad at Vince for Vince firing him. He pulls Vince out of the ring! They argue on the floor. Hebner ducks a Vince punch and Vince punches he post! Meanwhile Shane "accidentally" crotches HHH on the top rope. Vince chases Hebner around and into the ring. Vince runs into a Rock Bottom! Rock punches HHH off the top rope. Spinebuster on Shane! People's Elbow! Hebner counts and it's over! Like Backlash it's overbooked all to hell and almost all of it is straight out of the Austin vs McMahon playbook with Rock now in Austin's place, but so far it still works just fine. Again, it helps that HHH and Rock have phenomenal chemistry and are almost guaranteed to have a good match no matter what. ***1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- It's nothing hugely special, but it's definitely the best UK exclusive PPV since the original (and excellent) One Night Only in '97. A fun house show night on PPV.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+

Spring Stampede '98

Legacy Review

Spring Stampede '98

April 19, 1998 from the Denver Coliseum in Denver, CO

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay

The early phases of the NWO civil war continue, with Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage leading their respective divisions. Savage has gotten himself into a World title match against Sting, who's already becoming an afterthought after all the build up work put into him in '97, just to spite Hogan. Of note is the fact that NWO original Kevin Nash appears to be on Savage's side rather than Hogan's.

The run of good PPV stages for this year continues, a western town setup with a giant barn with a door that opens up for guys to come out of. BREAKING NEWS from the booth: Savage's cast just this morning has been removed! Can't have been on long, he didn't have one at the last PPV. They also announce both Savage and Sting have agreed their match will be no DQ.

Goldberg def Saturn (w/Kidman) in 8:10- Goldberg's streak is up to 73-0 (officially) and he's starting to get pretty big pops. In fact the crowd tonight is borderline bonkers for him. Regardless of what happens tonight Goldberg already has a US title match scheduled for Nitro tomorrow night. Saturn tries some wrestling at the start but Goldberg tosses him around. Kidman gets in and gets press slammed down onto Saturn on the floor for his trouble. Back in Saturn gets Goldberg down with a sweep kick, then hits a springboard legdrop and elbow off the second rope. Goldberg blocks a suplex into a kind of swinging neckbreaker. It did look impressive whatever it was. Press powerslam. Kidman wants to die again. Saturn uses the distraction to snap Goldberg over the top rope. Slingshot splash. Half and half suplex from Saturn followed by a superkick. He tosses Goldberg out, dropkicks him into the stairs and smashes Goldberg's arm between the stairs and ring post. Commentary mentions how this is already Goldberg's longest match ever and he's not used to this. Saturn hurricanrana off the apron! Then Saturn HORRIBLY botches an asai moonsault attempt. He slipped off the ropes and flopped back down on his back. Goldberg quickly and visibly checks on him before continuing. Somehow that was worse than Nia Jax's hurricanrana that wasn't at Bad Blood this past weekend (as I write this). Coming back in Saturn hits a leg lariat off the top rope. He works on Goldberg's supposedly hurt arm a bit. Goldberg powers out and squashes Saturn in the corner. Side suplex. Off a whip Goldberg barely touches the ropes as he hits them, then Saturn hits a terrible dropkick. They look lost for a bit after that and it's probably time they got this wrapped up. Goldberg superkick. Spear! He hooks up for the jackhammer but Kidman runs in again, allowing Saturn to low blow out of it. Goldberg blocks a superplex and gives Saturn a Flair-like slam off the top while standing on the ropes. Some more Flock members run in and get taken out. Kidman takes a spear. Saturn gets the Rings of Saturn on! Goldberg powers up, muscles Saturn around into jackhammer position, hits it and it's now 74-0. A couple of ugly botches aside, that were more on Saturn's end than Goldberg's, that held together pretty nicely for by far Goldberg's longest match to date. He's rapidly becoming one of WCW's biggest attractions. **1/4

 

Ultimo Dragon def Chavo Guerrero Jr (w/Eddie Guerrero) in 11:49- Eddie is still trying to control Chavo's career despite Chavo despising him, but family is family. The stipulation for this match is if Chavo wins Eddie will leave him alone, but if Chavo loses Eddie will get twice as tough on him. Nice to see Dragon back on PPV. For a good chunk of '96-'97 he was WCW's most consistent in-ring worker, laying down great matches PPV after PPV. As usual big "Eddie sucks" chant at the start. Chavo quickly works Dragon down to the mat and does some leg work. Nice long speed run and Dragon hits a back kick. Corner handstand and kick followed by a kick combo. After a reset Dragon hits his trademark stiff kick to the back and works Chavo on the mat. Stump puller! I love a good old stump puller. Chavo counters that into a Mutalock. Dragon takes a rope break. You'd expect a lot of good high octane stuff from these two, but the mat wrestling has been superb so far. More speed and Chavo hits a flying headscissors, hurricanrana and dropkick before going into some more mat work. Dragon works into a camel clutch, then a surfboard. Chavo catches Dragon handspringing. Standing switches. Dragon gets a magistral cradle. Chavo quickly escapes and hits a clothesline for 2. Hurricanrana and cradle from Dragon. Chavo reverses the cradle for 2. Dragon goes for a superplex that Chavo fights out of. Dragon crotches him on the top rope instead. They reposition and Dragon suplexes Chavo off the apron to the floor. Asai moonsault! That's how you do it, Saturn. Eddie gets down and yells in Chavo's face. Chavo gets Dragon down, then gets a huge head of steam in the ring and does a HUGE air twisting tope con hilo that almost completely overshoots Dragon! Double clothesline back in. Dragon hits an enzuguri. He comes off the top but Chavo dropkicks him in midair. That caught Dragon below the belt and ref Lil' Naitch holds Chavo back to give Dragon some room. Eddie is FURIOUS Chavo is letting that happen. He gets on the apron to yell some more, then slaps Chavo! Dragon blocks a suplex and small packages Chavo for 2. Chavo hits a brain buster. He goes for a tornado DDT. Dragon blocks it into the dragon sleeper! Chavo taps out! Eddie is absolutely beside himself. Chavo points to the "Cheat to win" slogan on the back of Eddie's shirt then says he won't do it that way. Tremendous match and great storytelling as the Guerrero family feud continues. Dragon is right back to his old level of quality. ****

 

WCW World Television Championship: Booker T (c) def Chris Benoit in 14:11- These two have had two 10 minute draws for the TV title on Nitro, so for tonight there is no time limit. Rough lockup broken up by the ref. Speed run, Booker hits a shoulderblock and Benoit rolls all the way out to the aisle. Nice kick dodges from both guys and Benoit gets a leg sweep takedown. Booker is up with a side kick and Benoit powders again. Blocked hiptosses and Booker hits a clothesline for 2. ARMBAR! Guy stole Jericho's hold list. Hook kick. Benoit kicks and stomps Booker down hard in the corner, leading to the ref pulling him back and a pretty loud 50/50 cheer/boo reaction from the crowd. Booker hits a backbreaker for 2. Benoit does his suplex drop over the top rope and punches Booker off the apron and into the guardrail. As Booker did earlier, Benoit doesn't follow up and lets Booker take his time getting back in. Big Benoit chop in the corner. Snap suplex. Booker dodges a dropkick but Benoit plants him with a drop toe hold. Back suplex. Benoit goes up top. The headbutt hits! But that hurt Benoit too. He's slow to cover and Booker gets a foot on the ropes. Suplex from Booker. Benoit hits a back elbow for 2. Another snap suplex for 2. Backbreaker for 2. Benoit ducks a clothesline and it's ROLLLLING GERMANS time. Benoit releases on the third one and Booker does a full 180 sell! Back superplex from Benoit! Fantastic Booker sell on that too. But again Benoit hit his head on the landing and can't follow up. Finally he drapes an arm over for 2. Booker comes back with a spinebuster. Big flying forearm. Flapjack and spinaroonie! Scissors kick! But the ref is in the way and takes it! Did Benoit do that on purpose? The crossface is on! Booker does a couple of light taps that might have been a tap out or might have been him trying to find a rope. He does get a hand on the ropes. Benoit gets the ref up, thinking Booker tapped out. Booker flies over the ref with a spinning heel kick that catches Benoit flush in the face! Booker gets the pin! Phenomenal stuff. We know Benoit is already that good, but it's scary how good Booker's gotten in the short time since his singles run started. ****1/4

 

Curt Hennig (w/Rick Rude) def "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (w/Jim Neidhart) in 4:48- Amazingly these two never crossed paths in WWF even though you'd think they would have. Their first match ever was a couple of weeks prior on Nitro. Anvil is another Hart family member that made the jump to WCW in the wake of the Montreal Screwjob, but due to legal wranglings none of the other Harts could do anything onscreen with Bret Hart, leaving them galloping down diarrhea drive without a saddle. The way Bret's been booked in WCW he's not too far behind though. This is the second time in the last three PPVs he's been a healthy scratch. Anvil's wearing his '97 Hart Foundation jacket on his entrance, a nice touch. There's an added stipulation for this match that Anvil and Rude are to be handcuffed to each other, which leads to the usual heel bitching about said handcuffing that goes on as long as the match does. Rude finally gets talked into it when the ref threatens to declare Bulldog the winner. While the camera's focused on the handcuffs Bulldog jumps Hennig in the ring. Hennig's got a knee brace on and Bulldog immediately attacks that knee. Hennig can barely walk. Apparently it was a legit injury he was trying to work through, but if that's real and not selling he really has no business being out there. Some weak shots get traded and Bulldog hits a headbutt for 2 before going back to the knee. Rude tries to get in but Anvil pulls him back. Bulldog puts on a legbar. Hennig gets some offense in but still can barely put any weight on the knee. Bulldog gets him down and slowly, ridiculously slowly, goes for a Sharpshooter. We cut to the floor where Anvil has (we assume) the same cop that put the handcuffs on in a chokehold. Behind his back Rude has a key, unlocks himself, then handcuffs Anvil to the bottom turnbuckle. Hennig throws Bulldog into the post and covers him for the pin. After that we finally see why Anvil is assaulting a police officer- it's Vincent. The NWO gang beatdown ensues and the heels take their leave. Hennig would mercifully take a few months off after this to get his knee worked on, because it clearly needs it. 1/4*

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def Prince Iaukea in 9:55- I'm less excited to see Iaukea back on PPV than I was Ultimo Dragon. Jericho cuts a promo before the match and dedicates it to his fallen comrade Dean Malenko, who hasn't been seen since losing to Jericho at Uncensored. Heenan does a funny bit where he says he saw Malenko on a street corner in St. Petersburg holding a "Will wrestle for food" sign. Off the initial lockup Jericho clean breaks but Iaukea slaps him. After a top wristlock fight Jericho does an elaborate escape but Iaukea hits him with a clothesline. He flips out of a Jericho back suplex attempt and hits another clothesline. Jericho hits a shoulderblock and celebrates. Iaukea hits a dropkick and tosses Jericho over the top. Jericho tries to skin the cat, but Iaukea basement dropkicks him off to the floor. Canonball senton off the apron from Iaukea. Back in Iaukea goes back to the headlock he's spend a good chunk of the match so far working. Jericho hits a chop. He fakes Iaukea out coming off the ropes and drops toe holds him into the ropes. Delayed suplex and arrogant cover. Lots of fun playing to the crowd from Jericho. He's easily one of the most entertaining guys WCW has going right now, even as a heel. Jericho comes off the top rope right into Iaukea's bare feet. Comeback flurry from Iaukea. Springboard canonball for 2. Jericho blocks a victory roll and goes for the Liontamer. Iaukea quickly grabs a rope. Jericho gets a sunset flip off the second rope. Iaukea counter cradles him for 2. Both guys go up top and fight standing up on the top rope. Iaukea pushes and both guys tumble down to the floor! That did look planned but it still could have gone very badly. Both do look a little lost coming back into the ring. Another series of counters and Jericho is in Liontamer position again. Iaukea counters into a cradle for 2. Northern lights suplex from Iaukea, which judging by commentary's reaction is his finisher now. Jericho just grabs a rope at 2. Iaukea does a crazy extra flippy sunset flip off the top rope. Jericho rolls through and gets the full Liontamer on! Iaukea taps out! After the bell Jericho tries on....I don't know the name, Iaukea's skirt thingy, for size. That was as much as Jericho was going to get out of Iaukea. ***1/4

During their entrance for the next match Buff Bagwell comes out with a ridiculously obvious fake cast on his wrist. He takes a mic and says the match is cancelled due to his debilitating injury. Mean Gene and JJ Dillon then make their way out. Dillon is dubious to say the least. But he says, hey, we just so happen to have a top level orthopedic surgeon from Atlanta right here in the building, let's take a look at it. The doctor comes in and starts taking the wrapping off. Bagwell shoves the doctor away and grabs Dillon's tie, WITH THE BAD HAND! Dillon says well, it's clearly fine, let's go. Always a grade A brain trust, Buff Bagwell.

 

Rick Steiner and "The Total Package" Lex Luger def Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell in 5:58- Rick throws his jacket aside in the aisle and charges in. Scott, as he's done ever since his turn, runs away from his brother. Bagwell attacks Rick in the ring while Luger jumps Scott on the floor. Rick powerslams Bagwell. Scott gets in and jumps Rick from behind and the match settles in. The vast majority of it is Rick in peril while the heels quick tag him and work through the most basic, boring heel offense imaginable. Finally Rick flips Bagwell over, Scott tries to hold Rick back from tagging, but Rick does and Luger runs wild. Clotheslines for everyone. Forearm on Bagwell. He calls for the Torture Rack and gets Bagwell up, but Scott breaks it up. Rick absolutely murders Bagwell with a blindside Steinerline, then chases Scott off. Bagwell goes up top, but Rick comes back to push him off. Torture Rack on and it's over. 1/2*

Mean Gene comes back out with tonight's hotline shill- an NWO member that hasn't been seen for a while has been spotted in the locker room. Find out who!

 

Psychosis def La Parka in 6:59- Parka's in his alternate black and yellow tonight. He struts around after the bell, then spits at Psychosis. Big chops from Parka. He even takes his glove off to hit them harder. They both hit the ropes, then Psychosis flat stops Parka in his tracks to give him some chops back. Rope assisted flying headscissors from Psychosis. Another off the top rope and Parka powders. Psychosis over the top rope tope suicida! Parka gives Psychosis a hard kick as he's coming back in the ring. Counter run and Parka hits a clothesline for 2. He uses the top rope to flip Psychosis to the floor. Parka split legged moonsault to the floor! Cover back in for 2. Suplex for 2. They fight up top and Psychosis gets kicked to the floor, then Psychosis crotches Parka. Psychosis struggles to spring up the ropes but manages to hit the hurricanrana for 2. He dropkicks Parka out and hits a corkscrew moonsault to the floor. Back in Parka dodges a big splash off the top. Parka covers but pulls Psychosis up at 2. Alabama slam. Again Parka pulls Psychosis up at 2. He tries a powerbomb but Psychosis counters into a cradle for 2. Parka gets tied up on the ropes. Psychosis hits the guillotine legdrop while Parka's on the ropes! That gets the pin. They got their flippydo in but the match as a whole never came together. *1/2

 

Baseball Bat on a Pole Match: Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and The Giant in 13:23- Not sure how you do a baseball bat match without Sting but here we are. Like other matches of the "on a pole" variety the rules are whichever team can get the bat down can use it legally. Also like most "on a pole" matches, the whole thing is treated like no DQ anyway so it hardly matters. Hogan and Nash get separate entrances to highlight their current issues. After the bell Piper goes right for the bat. After a very long pause Hogan chases after him while Nash says "Fuck it, that's work". Hogan slowly drags Piper down into a tree of woe. Tag and Nash waistlocks Piper on the ropes, then drags him to the NWO corner. Piper hulks up off Hogan shots and fires back. He rips Hogan's bandanna off! That's a declaration of war right there. Giant hits a headbutt from the apron. Piper gears up for a headbutt, hits it and it puts both him and Hogan down. Hogan gets his weightlifting belt off and starts whipping Piper with it. Right in front of the ref. Like I said, might as well be no DQ. He goes for the bat. Giant tags in, pulls Hogan's tights down (thankfully out of camera view), and pulls him down. Giant gets the belt and gives Hogan some whips. Then he puts Hogan over his knee and spanks him! Probably a whole website you don't want to visit where that's premium content. Nash comes in and we're DONNYBROOKING early. The heels powder so crazy Piper goes after the ref with the belt. More Piper belt shots on Hogan. Hogan hits a low blow. Right in front of the ref. Nash tags in and wants Giant. Piper gives him to Nash. They go nose to nose and Giant attacks. Corner clothesline. Big chop. Nash gets a boot up in the corner and goes into vintage Nash corner knees and elbows. Piper runs in so both NWO guys choke Giant. Clothesline from Nash. Giant gets right back up. Double big boot! Well they pulled that spot off right for once. Both sides tag. Hogan/Piper slugfest. Piper gives Hogan mounted punches right under the bat. It's like everyone's forgotten about it. Nash comes in and gets low blowed. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Giant dropkicks Nash to the floor. Piper gets the sleeper on Hogan. Now the faces go for the bat. Piper legit climbs the pole the hard way while Giant tries to make it look like he's helping. Couldn't have he put Piper on his shoulders or something? Piper gets the bat. Nash pulls Giant down. Hogan grabs the bat and tosses it away. The Disciple is out. With his own bat. Because....that makes a difference somehow? He tosses his bat to Hogan and Hogan nails Giant with it. Nash holds Piper down. Piper dodges and Hogan waffles Nash with the bat! Piper chases with the bat and Hogan runs away and begs off. Now Disciple has the original bat. He tosses that to Hogan. Hogan whacks Piper with it, covers and LOLHoganWins again. It was bad, but honestly, it could have been a lot worse. 3/4*

Nash is up and pissed. Hogan points at Giant. Nash says OK and hooks him up for a jackknife. Hogan hits Nash with the bat! Giant tosses Hogan out and breaks whichever bat that was. Hogan and Disciple do the NWO tactical withdrawal, AKA the scaredy runaway. The faces leave while Nash is still dead in the ring. Bullet Club is....not fine.

 

Raven's Rules Match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Raven def Diamond Dallas Page (c) in 11:52- We've had Benoit vs Raven, DDP vs Benoit, and DDP vs Benoit vs Raven and all have been awesome, so why not do the last possible combination to see if it can happen one more time. We've got yet another WCW stolen belt angle going as Raven has appropriated the US title belt. Sick Boy tries to hold DDP but takes a belt shot from Raven. DDP slugs away. Back suplex. A running forearm sends Raven to the floor. Plancha on Raven and Sick Boy! Off another Flock distraction Raven running knees DDP off the apron. Short clothesline. He goes for Evenflow. DDP senses it and backs Raven into the corner. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Raven takes a walk up the aisle and DDP follows, all the way to the stage area. Raven climbs up the stagecoach that's part of the western town set. DDP pulls him down into a stack of hay! The ref also goes down. DDP goes all the way up the stagecoach and dives off onto Raven! Raven gets whipped through one of the fences around the stage area. Trash can shot. I hate to say it, but we really need Dusty on commentary for this match. DDP suplexes Raven into the website commentary table! Raven pushes DDP into the backdrop there. He gets a cookie sheet from somewhere and whacks DDP with it. They go to a "VIP area" with covered tables. Raven sets DDP on a table but it suffers from premature breakage. "Aw shit!" Raven says OK. let's try the next one. DDP set up. Raven dives off the stands into DDP and the alternate table doesn't break! Raven grabs a rope with a cowbell on it, hits DDP, then chokes him with it. Return trash can shot from Raven. More rope choke and Raven drags DDP back to the ring. Sick Boy has that plunder match classic, the kitchen sink. Raven nails DDP with it, breaking the faucet off, and covers for 2. More rope choking to lead into the DDP comeback. He drop toe holds Raven into the sink. DDP covers. Kidman tries to splash him off the top but DDP dodges and Kidman gets Raven. Kidman's not having a good night. DDP covers for 2. Sick Boy has one of the hurt Lodi's crutches and hits DDP with it. Raven covers for 2. He goes for the Evenflow again. DDP counters into a small package for 2. Now Hammer gets up. He goes to the top rope and goes for a tackle, but gets Raven. DDP gets a 2 count. "Big man" Reese comes in and chokeslams DDP. The Flock tosses Raven their signature giant stop sign. DDP gets it and nails Raven with it! All the Flock members get stop sign shots. Diamond Cutter on Kidman! Real bad night. An unknown guy in a work crew shirt gets the stop sign and nails DDP with it! Tony says he'd been working as a grip before the show. Evenflow onto the sink! Raven covers and wins the title! Not *quite* as good as the earlier matches in the three way series, but it's still a damn fine plunder brawl. ***3/4

Raven's title reign would be very short lived. As mentioned earlier Goldberg already had a title shot scheduled for Nitro the next night and, well, can you say "transitional champion"? 75-0.

 

No DQ Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Sting (c) in 10:08- Once again we're getting a potential dream match years too late. Put these guys together around '91 or '92 and it could have been magical. According what commentary is saying Savage is apparently coming into this match with a hurt arm that just had a cast removed, a bum knee that's braced, a recent concussion, a stubbed toe, COVID-19, a paper cut on his left thumb, shingles, COVID vax caused mydocarditis, a tweaked hamstring, vertigo and a hangnail. Three of those things are true. Savage jumps Sting as soon as Sting gets in the ring. He goes right for the no DQ chokes, then hurts his own arm punching Sting. Sting fires back and tosses Savage out. They fumble around some really weak floor brawling. Sting hits Savage's bad arm on the barricade and Savage takes a walk up the aisle. Sadly it's the last time any of Savage's hurt body parts will be referenced in this match. Sting tosses Savage through some of the western town style fences that are still standing from the last match. He lifts a bale of hay to hit Savage with it and it goes EVERYWHERE except on Savage's head. They decide that's enough there and head back to ringside. Savage dodges a floor Stinger Splash and Sting goes into the barricade. Back in Savage does a leverage pin for 2. Clothesline for 2. Sting backdrops out of a piledriver attempt but Savage dodges the follow up elbow drop. Sting tosses Savage over the top back out again and suplexes him on the floor. Elizabeth helps Savage get back up and to the ring. Savage tries to hide in the ropes and begs off, until he sees an opening and low blows Sting. He tries the double ax handle off the top but Sting catches him in the gut. He goes for the Stinger Splash. Savage pulls Lil' Naitch in the way. Sting sees and hits the brakes, but then Savage pushes and Naitch gets squashed anyway. This time the piledriver hits. Sting pops back up! Elizabeth comes in and hits Sting with a chair from behind! Sting still catches Savage trying to ambush. Another corner setup. STINGER SPLASH ONTO ELIZABETH! THE HUMANITY! Savage whacks Sting with the chair. He sets up for the elbow. Hogan runs in and pushes Savage off the top rope. We see Elizabeth being carried out. Scorpion Death Drop! No ref. Nash runs in, plants Sting with the jackknife, drapes Savage over, gets Naitch up, and Savage gets the pin to win the title. The crowd goes right into classic NWO garbage throwing mode. Hogan and Disciple are by the entrance pissed off. Hogan yells "That's my belt!" as the show ends. Whatever small vestige of momentum Sting still had from his transformation into Crow Sting and year long buildup to the initial Hogan match that hadn't already been pissed away is well and truly gone for good. *1/4

 

Like Raven, Savage's reign would be very short lived. The next night on Nitro Hogan took the title back from Savage in another no DQ match that I feel pretty safe in saying did not have a clean finish. For those of you sick of Hogan title reigns and hoped Sting's win would be the end of it, here's more Hogan title reigns.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- This is definitely one of those crazy roller coaster shows with good amounts of both really good stuff and absolute trash. Sad to say it'll be more of the latter as we get more into '98 and the NWO civil war consumes everything not named Goldberg in its path.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

Backlash 2000

Legacy Review

Backlash 2000

April 30, 2000 from the MCI Center in Washington, DC

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Looking at just the card this show already looks more like Wrestlemania than Wrestlemania did, including the expected WM main event. On paper the only trade I'd make is putting the triangle ladder match here. Another reason for the WM-like feel is the announcement that, after making his first appearance since being run over at Survivor Series on a recent Smackdown, Steve Austin will be here, and is expected to be in the Rock's corner. On that Smackdown, by the way, was the famous segment where Austin destroyed the fancy DX Express bus that had been commandeered by the McMahon-Helmsleys as their personal chariot. The McMahon-Helmsley regime has spent much of the build trying to sow doubt in Rock's mind on whether he can trust Austin or not.

The stage setup is really cool, with swinging "scythes" (made out of the usual stage metal beams) across both sides in keeping with the show's logo.

WWF Tag Team Championship: Edge & Christian (c) def Road Dogg & X-Pac (w/Tori) in 8:37- Before either team comes out Debra gets an entrance as the guest ring announcer for this match. She'd been off TV for a while to be with her real life husband (for the time) Austin during his recovery. Thankfully she doesn't get much of a reaction like she would have previously. Unthankfully Lawler gets insta-annoying as soon as he sees her. As expected, she's atrocious as a ring announcer. After the bell the crowd instantly gets into an "X-Pac sucks" chant. Pac and Edge start. Lockup! Nice basic start. Pac uses the ropes to flip out of a hammerlock, hits an armdrag and brags. Speed run and an Edge spinning heel kick sends Pac all the way out to the floor. Pac is pissed and Dogg has to calm him down. Pac gets back in and spits at Edge, then tags out. Edge flying headscissors on Dogg. E&C do their own version of the Hardyz' Poetry in Motion. Dogg goes to the ol' heel eye poke to get some space. Christian powerslam on Pac. He goes for mounted punches. Dogg pulls him down from the apron, snapping Christian over the top rope. DX work Christian over on the floor. Dogg hooks on a front facelock and they do the phantom tag spot, allowing DX to do a double corner beatdown. Tori chokes Christian. I think. Looks more like she's hugging him. Christian's comeback is cut off with Dogg's dancing jabs and shimmy kneedrop. Crossbody collision! Edge takes advantage of Pac tying the ref up and hits Dogg with a headbutt off the top rope. Christian covers for 2. DX go for a double backdrop but Christian counters into a double reverse DDT. A pure double Destino right there, with the flip over and everything. Crawl and tag to Edge. Edge catches Pac leaping and powerbombs him for 2. Christian breaks up Dogg's pumphandle slam (too much grinding, almost like he was enjoying it). The Unprettier is broken up. Edge spear on Dogg! Tori gets on the apron and grabs Edge by the hair. Pac takes Tori out! Edge roll up for 2. They're fighting everywhere as Pac gets an X-Factor on Edge, but the ref is busy elsewhere. Christian comes in and nails Pac with the bell! Edge covers for the pin! Big pop for the win too. We get a shot of Pac and he's absolutely gushing blood from the bell shot. Damn. The was pure classic tag formula, right out of the RNR/Midnight playbook, but extremely well executed and the crowd was into it the whole time. E&C dragging a good match out of Pac and Dogg in this period is a borderline miracle. ***

 

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) def Scotty 2 Hotty in 11:47- Hey, a Light Heavyweight title match on a PPV! You put the belt on Malenko and good things happen. There's even a new belt, finally replacing the old one that still had the old WWF logo on it. These two have actually traded the title back and forth a couple of times on weekly TV. Now Debra is thankfully out of the way I can mention that Lillian Garcia is working her first ever PPV as ring announcer tonight. Quick start with Scott getting the upper hand. With his hat still on. There's large blood stains on the ring mat from Pac getting busted open big time earlier. Scotty counters a powerbomb attempt into an armdrag. Lost his hat though. Dropkick for 2. More counters and Scotty hits a back suplex. He decides to moonwalk, allowing Malenko to hit him from behind. Some more counters that Scotty gets the upper hand on. He's completely outwrestling Dean freaking Malenko. Talk about flipping the script. Finally Malenko has enough and takes Scotty down with a huge clothesline. He runs Scotty into the turnbuckle connector, then runs his back into the apron. Scotty quickly slugs back in the corner. Malenko hits a basement dropkick to Scotty's knee, then sets to work on it. Malenko posts the knee. Scotty tries an enzuguri but Malenko ducks it. He hooks up a legbar and tries for extra rope leverage but ref Jack Doan immediately catches him. He kicks Scotty's leg out of his leg. Another enzuguri Scotty counter attempt and this time it hits. Malenko recovers and gets back on the knee. Figure four attempt. Scotty pushes out and rolls Malenko up for 2. Clothesline from Malenko. Malenko charges and both guys tumble through the ropes to the floor. Scotty grabs Malenko and drops him on the apron. He goes up top but Malenko joins and hits a superplex. Scotty clothesline duck and backslide for 2. Malenko goes for the Cloverleaf but Scotty counters into a small package for 2. Back suplex from Malenko, but Scotty punches him the whole way down and both guys are down. Scotty flips out of a powerbomb attempt and hits a bulldog. Big spot time. Everything stops for the Worm. Malenko gets a roll up in the corner and tries for rope leverage but gets caught again. Going all the way for the top rope might have been a bridge too far. Standing switches and counters and Malenko hits a double underhook powerbomb for 2. Powerslam for 2. Scotty tries to dump Malenko over the top rope, but Malenko uses that to snap Scotty over the top rope. Now Scotty sets up for a superplex. Malenko counters in midair into an avalanche DDT! That gets the pin! Fantastic finish. Considering how rough the Too Cool/Radicalz tag matches could be, largely due to the difference in wrestling styles, this came together really well and might be Scotty's best match ever, though it would have been better if he didn't stop selling the knee halfway through. ***1/2

In the crowded McMahon-Helmsley locker room Vince confirms with the Stooges (Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco) that they are indeed back on board, then says it's "all hands on deck" tonight.

 

Bull Buchanan and The Big Boss Man def The APA in 8:27- No shock jump start with brawling all over. Bradshaw hits Buchanan with a big boot and DDT in the ring as things settle in. Tackle off the top rope for 2. Buchanan flips over a backdrop attempt and hits a clothesline. Bradshaw hits another tackle and a swinging neckbreaker. Buchanan gets beat down in the APA corner. Faarooq back suplex on Boss Man. Tackle for 2. Bradshaw knocks Boss Man around on the floor. In the ring the same two have trouble getting on the same page. BM dodges in the corner and runs Faarooq over, sending Faarooq in peril. The heels work quick tags on him. They work the phantom tag spot in again, the second time tonight. Buchanan clothesline for 2. Faarooq hits a spinebuster and gets the hot tag to Bradshaw. Tackle on Buchanan. DONNYBROOK! Faarooq and Boss Man brawl on the floor while Bradshaw and Buchanan fight in the ring. Bradshaw goes up top. Boss Man grabs his foot and Buchanan gives him a superplex. Clothesline from Hell! Boss Man breaks the pin up while he and Faarooq cross through the ring to continue brawling on the floor. Boss Man nails Bradshaw with the nightstick. Buchanan hits a guillotine ledgrop from the top rope and gets the pin. Like the opener they also tried to work the basic tag formula, but with much less success. Given the teams involved they would have been better off going for a full wild brawl the whole match. *

Backstage the Hardyz agree to work together when they need to but confirm they're willing to fight each other if it comes to that. Jeff says "Not the first time we've fought". Elsewhere, Crash Holly tries to make the same deal with his cousin Hardcore Holly and gets smacked upside the head for asking.

 

Six Pack Match for the WWF Hardcore Championship: Crash Holly (c) def Hardcore Holly, Tazz, Perry Saturn, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy in 12:18- Like the hardcore battle royale at WM this has unique rules, but basically the polar opposite of that match. In this one, champion Crash has to be involved in the decision for it to end, either pinning or being pinned. That pretty much means the entire match is going to be the other five guys ganging up on him. Crash has the usual shopping cart of toys with him on his entrance. While Crash is trying to hide from everyone Saturn, who comes in last, attacks him from behind in the aisle. Everyone gets early shots and pin attempts on Crash in the ring with others breaking it up. Crash tries to run again and everyone chases to the stage area. Crash climbs one of the scythes! Matt follows him up. They trade punches and Crash dangles by his foot, then works a bit down and falls slightly more comfortably into everyone else's arms. Matt stays up there. Matt dives down off the scythe onto everyone! That gets a "holy shit" chant. Saturn throws Crash through another scythe and the bottom part of it breaks off. Jeff uses a swinging scythe to flying headscissors Saturn! Nice. They work back to the ring with the Hardyz double teaming Crash. Tazz comes in with trash can lid shots for both of them. Poetry in Motion on Tazz. Tazz clotheslines Jeff into a chair. 2x4 shots fly around. Tazz covers Crash for 2. After a big Tazz clothesline Matt makes a cover for 2. Hardcore comes in with a street sign shot for 2. The Hardyz then try to pin Crash on the floor and everyone gangs up on Crash again. Crash gets a dropkick on Tazz in the ring for 2. Sunset flip on Saturn for 2. A long extension cord gets introduced and will be used to choke people for a bit. Tazz nails the Hardyz with a sign. The Hardyz bring in a couple of cookie sheets. Jeff springboard moonsault for 2. Hardcore superplex on Crash. Saturn hits a brain buster. Hardcore falcon arrows Crash onto a chair! The Hardyz get a ladder out! JR amusingly notes the pop for the ladder. Everyone gets run over with the ladder. Hardcore is whipped into it. Jeff climbs up. Matt hits Crash with a Twist of Fate. Jeff swanton bomb off the ladder! He covers, but then the Hardyz start fighting each other over who gets the pin! Tazz double clotheslines them. Tazzmission on Crash! Saturn breaks it up with a stop sign shot. The Hardyz dive onto everyone on the floor. Everyone except Tazz, who's laid out in the ring. Crash crawls over, covers him, and gets a pin! Like WM, a reasonably fun car crash match. The Hardyz were on another level when it came to gimmick matches at this point, they couldn't miss. **3/4

Since Wrestlemania, Big Show has more or less lost his mind. He's become "Hollywood" Show, dancing and goofing around and doing impersonations. This is the feud where, among others, he was Fat Bastard from Austin Powers and subjected us all to his horrendous attempt at a Scottish accent. Angle said Show was a "waste of talent" and here we are.

 

The Big Show def Kurt Angle in 2:35- Show's impersonation tonight: none other than Hulk Hogan. He's the "Showster". Full Hogan gear, including an attempt at a bald cap and Hogan's mustache. He even comes out to Real American, does the shirt tear, cuts a Hogan promo, all of it. I think it's safe to say at this point WWF isn't worried in the slightest about WCW. Ironically, Hogan and Russo were just about to have their big on screen blowup that would lead to Hogan leaving the promotion. Angle jumps from behind. Show instantly goes into Hulk Up mode. JR: "It's the old no sell!". Three punches, big boot, legdrop....ANGLE KICKS OUT! Impossible! Show clearly didn't do something right. Angle ducks a clothesline and chop blocks Show. He goes to work on Show's leg. Third I going strong tonight. The crowd starts chanting "Hogan"! Fantastic. JR says it's the most chants Hogan's had in years. It's also an early sign of how the WWF crowd would embrace Hogan again when he came back in '02. Show tosses away his bald cap. I think playtime is over. Big chops on Angle. Short clothesline. Chokeslam and good night. Not much of a match but the whole setup was fun enough. Angle getting squashed here not only didn't hurt, it might have actually helped his credibility with fans in the short term. 3/4*

For months the Dudleyz have been obsessed with putting as many women through tables as they could. After Wrestlemania their latest target was Trish Stratus. Trish even encouraged this, doing provocative promos involving tables. Then when it came time for Bubba Ray to go through with it, Trish kissed him to distract him, and it worked, making her the first woman to give Bubba Ray the same sexual thrill as a table breaking did. In theory this was all supposed to make the Dudleyz mega heels, but in the environment of the time it only got the crowd more behind them.

 

T&A (w/Trish Stratus) def The Dudley Boyz in 11:06- The Dudleyz do the Suzuki-Gun jump before the bell. Bubba Ray chases Trish around the ring until he runs into a Test clothesline. D'Von and Albert go back and forth in the ring. Bubba Ray diving clothesline on Albert. He shouts down at Trish, then drops a trio of elbows for 2. Albert's comeback is cut off with an eye poke. Double suplex from the Dudleyz and they hit the crotch headbutt double team. Albert gets a boot up in the corner on D'Von and tags. T&A avalanche/big boot double team combo for 2. D'Von hits a tackle. Test hits a gutwrench powerbomb. Double reverse slam on D'Von for 2. Albert hits a powerslam, then press slams Test onto D'Von for 2. In between moves they're doing a lot of jawing at Bubba Ray. D'Von hits a swinging neckbreaker and we have ANOTHER phantom tag spot on this show. At least they did it a bit differently this time. D'Von stays in peril. Test clothesline for 2. D'Von gets a boot up in the corner and sunset flips Albert for 2. Albert sit out powerbomb for 2. Bubba Ray distracts and D'Von superplexes Albert. Also been a lot of those on this show. Getting like mid-'90s New Japan when everyone was doing superplexes as transitional moves. Both sides tag and Bubba Ray does the hot tag run. Everyone in the pool! Reverse 3D on Test for 2. JR thought it was the proper 3D and is shocked at the kickout. Albert powerbomb on Bubba Ray. D'Von pulls Bubba Ray away from a Test elbow off the top rope. Trish gets on the apron and loses her jacket to distract Bubba Ray. And the rest of us. Damn she was hot back then. Well, I say back then. Pretty much never stopped. Test nails Bubba Ray with a big boot and gets the pin. Meh. *1/2

After the bell the Dudleyz take T&A out. Bubba Ray grabs Trish. D'Von gets the table. The crowd is totally behind the Dudleyz on this. Trish kisses Bubba Ray again. Not this time! Trish goes through the table! Bubba Ray is satisfied. Trish does the stretcher job, and we follow her all the way into the ambulance. As the ambulance leaves a '57 Chevy pulls in. It's Eddie Guerrero and Chyna! Since WM Chyna has succumbed to Eddie's Latino Heat. Apparently they were off at a prom. Why is Eddie off at a prom at his age? Because, with Chyna's help, he just completed his GED of course. Ref Jack Doan sticks his head in the window, gets on Guerrero for being late, and tells him his match is RIGHT NOW and he better get in there or he forfeits the title. Unfazed, Guerrero decides to drive the car straight into the arena....

 

WWF European Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) (w/Chyna) def Essa Rios (w/Lita) in 8:38- Guerrero pulls the car all the way into the aisle, lets Chyna out, then pops the trunk, takes his tux shirt of and gets his belt. Essa Rios was previously known as Aguila, the same Aguila that challenged Taka Michinoku for the Light Heavyweight title at WM 14 at the tender age of 20. He'd later make his biggest career mark as Mr. Aguila in AAA and CMLL. After training in Mexico as a wrestler and working in ECW (where she also trained in the Funkin' Conservatory as the only woman there) Lita made her WWF debut as Rios' valet in February, and was doing a bit where she'd repeat all of Rios' finishing moves on his defeated opponent after the match. Guerrero wrestles this whole match in his dress pants, cummerbund and even with his bowtie still on. Bowties are cool. He dropkick Rios in the back right after the bell. Speed run, Rios almost trips over Guerrero, and Guerrero hits a leg lariat. Tiltawhirl exchange. Guerrero hits a Saito suplex. Arm takedown and Guerrero cranks on it for a bit. Rios takes the knucklelock and starts to run up the ropes. The camera focuses on a shot of Chyna and we don't see what happened. The crowd is reacting negatively and JR is almost laughing so I assume there was a massive botch of some kind that's been edited over afterward. I hate it when they do that. Rios armdrags Guerrero to the floor. He goes for a dive but Guerrero sidesteps and Rios splats on the floor. Stair shot. Guerrero hits the slingshot senton back in. He tosses Rios back out and Chyna pops him. Back in Rios hits a dropkick. Missile dropkick for 2. Guerrero jawbreakers out of a chinlock. Rios flips out of a powerbomb attempt with an armdrag. More speed with Rios doing a monkey flip and Guerrero flying all the way into the ropes and crunching hard on the mat. Guerrero dodges an armdrag and Rios goes outside again. Another Chyna shot. Plancha from Guerrero! He sets up a powerbomb on the floor, but obviously sets up so his back is to Lita. Lita gets up on the top rope. Chyna pushes her off and she flies into the announce table! Rios backdrops Guerrero on the floor. Asai moonsault! Rios overshot and landed straight on the English announce table! JR damn near got taken out there. Going back in Rios hits a wild sloppy kick off the top rope. Guerrero goes back out and Rios hits a somersault plancha over the corner. Up top again but this time Chyna pulls him off. Guerrero goes up and check another match off tonight with a superplex. Guerrero hits a brain buster and goes up top. Rios hops up and armdrags him off! Rios moonsault! Guerrero gets his knees up! He puts Rios in a Canadian backbreaker, spins around with an airplane spin, then drops a neckbreaker and gets the pin. It had some moments but was too rough for most of it to really be any good. Lawler and his damn fake Hispanic accent gets old real quick too. **1/4

After the bell Rios dropkicks Guerrero and Chyna. Lita comes in and pulls Chyna's dress off. OK then. For the love of God someone find a damn off button on Lawler please. Chyna's mad, but Guerrero's just fine. He looks almost as happy as Bubba Ray Dudley after breaking a table. Almost. That'll come later.

Back in the locker room Vince claims he's found out that Austin's had "transportation difficulties" tonight and may not make it.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chris Benoit (c) def Chris Jericho by DQ in 15:03- Another big pop for Jericho. No jump start here, they let the crowd settle and lock up. Very roughly. In fact they tumble out to the floor! Slap exchange on the floor and ref Tim White restores order. Headlock takedown exchange. Chest to chest staredown. Benoit gets a leg takedown that sets off a series of cradle exchanges. Chopfest! Jericho gets a drop toe hold and does some ground and pound. Bret bump from Jericho and it's early ROLLLLLLLLLLLING GERMANS time. Jericho grabs the ropes to block #3. Benoit dumps him over the top to the floor. Tope suicida! Jericho dodges and Benoit falls HEAD FIRST into the floor! He protected himself but still, damn. Whip reversal on the floor. Jericho leaps over the stairs, but then Benoit kicks them back into him! Gutwrench gutbuster back in. Another Bret bump from Jericho. Benoit stomps him down in the corner but Jericho comes back up slugging. Benoit dodges a dropkick and slingshots Jericho into the corner. He suplex drops Jericho on the top rope. Snap suplex for 2. Benoit hooks on an abdominal stretch, with some extra shots to the ribs. Jericho fights out and hits a back elbow. Lionsault! Jericho hurts his arm on the way down. Think Benoit was supposed to counter but didn't. Eye rake and chops from Benoit. Jericho hits a spinning heel kick. More Benoit chops. Jericho gets the misdirection bulldog for 2. His turn for some chops. He dodges a Benoit knee into a roll up for 2. Now Jericho takes his turn to suplex drop Benoit on the top rope. He goes for the springboard dropkick but Benoit swats it away. Benoit goes up top but Jericho crotches him. Back superplex, but Benoit twisted in midair (not completely successfully) and both guys are down. Benoit drapes an arm over for 2. Backslide fight that ends in a stalemate. Jericho hits the double powerbomb. Stack up cover for 2. Benoit uses his kickout to hook the crossface on! It's locked in! Jericho fights and barely gets a foot on the rope. Benoit goes for it again. Jericho hits back elbows to counter. Walls of Jericho! Benoit gets to the ropes. Jericho hits the ropes. Benoit ducks and Jericho tackles White! Benoit goes out and gets the belt. He nails Jericho with it, gets White up and covers. Jericho kicks out! Benoit suplexes Jericho onto the belt and goes up top. Headbutt off the top. Jericho dodges, but Benoit falls into the belt! White calls the DQ, awarding the match to Benoit. HUGE boos for that finish. Afterward Jericho goes full Ken Shamrock and puts White in the Walls. You'd like to see a definitive finish, but this was still a very good match that in the end only set up an even better one. ***3/4

 

WWF Championship: The Rock def Triple H (c) (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Vince McMahon) in 19:22- Shane McMahon is once again the special guest referee for this match. The last couple of years he's reffed more WWF Title matches than Hebner. Speaking of Hebner, he was recently fired by the McMahon-Helmsley regime for refusing to be crooked for them. Trips comes out first, then Vince takes a mic to remind everyone of the "card subject to change" clause and that Austin will NOT be here tonight. As is customary now huge pop for Rock's entrance. Long staredown to let the crowd soak up and settle in. Huge "We want Austin" chant. Slugfest start. HHH is the first one down. Early Pedigree attempt Rock backdrops out of. He stomps HHH down in the corner before Shane physically drags him away. HHH hits a neckbreaker. So no one gets the idea that all they want is Austin, now the crowd does a Rocky chant. HHH flips Rock over the top to the floor. After some usual ringside knockaround Vince runs Rock into the post. HHH and Shane hug before HHH covers for 2. No fast count there at least. More slugfest. HHH hits the Harley Race high knee for 2. Big HHH suplex. Kneedrop for 2. HHH hooks on a sleeper. They go to arm drops and Rock fights up. HHH puts his feet on the ropes to get him down again. Rock fights out and HHH hits a clothesline for 2. Mounted punches. Rock counters by dropping HHH on the top turnbuckle. Double clothesline. Vince comes in and nails Rock with the belt. HHH crawls and covers. SUPER fast count from Shane but Rock still kicks out! Vintage Rock corner punches. Clothesline. Trips flip out to the floor! He hurt his arm on the way down. Rock hits a clothesline on the floor. Back in HHH hits a facebuster. Rock DDT. He covers. Shane refuses to count! Rock swings a punch and Shane flops all the way over the top to the floor! HHH whips Rock into the stairs. He sets up the Spanish announce table while still selling the arm. Pedigree setup on the table. Rock low blow! He cinches up for the Rock Bottom. Shane tries to intervene. Rock grabs him too! DOUBLE LAYER ROCK BOTTOM THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! Well, after some issues earlier in the year I'd feel pretty sure that one would get the table to break. Vince and Steph are shocked. Rock drags HHH back into the ring. Vince hits Rock from behind. Rock stares down and attacks Vince! Low blow from HHH. Pedigree! But there's no ref. Vince calls for someone to come out. It's both the Stooges, with ref shirts on. Patterson counts. Rock kicks out! The Stooges attack Rock and it's a full on gang beatdown. HHH is still selling the arm. He's doing it so good I'm actually wondering if he tweaked something for real. Vince gets a chair. He knocks himself down while swinging for Rock. GLASS SHATTER! STONE COLD! STONE COLD! He's got a chair. HHH takes a shot trying to cut Austin off in the aisle. Chairshots for the Stooges. One for Vince. Another for HHH. Austin leaves. As he does Linda McMahon comes out with Hebner in tow. Linda shoves Steph down! Rock gives HHH the spinebuster. People's Elbow! Cover. Linda tells Hebner to get in! Hebner counts 3! Rock finally wins the title! The arena explodes. Well, you could probably power a small country for a month with the energy generated from all the overbooking in this match. It mostly fits the time and story, but at the same time it's still awfully over the top and pretty nuts. Still, when left to their own devices HHH and Rock always bring the goods and this is no different. Not to mention Rock finally winning the title as a face is a long awaited and fully deserved big moment, one that should have been at Wrestlemania. ***1/2

 

After Rock's celebrated a bit Austin's music hits again. Austin drives his truck into the arena! And he's towing the destroyed DX Express! Austin gets out, gets some beer and gets in the ring. Rock isn't sure what's going to happen. Austin offers a beer. No tricks. Rock takes it, toasts the belt, they drink, and Austin leaves. Best to let that mega money match percolate for a bit. Besides, despite his appearance here Austin wasn't close to being ready to come back. He wouldn't be medically cleared until the fall.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- A very nice recovery from a down WM to get back on the 2000 PPVs hot streak. It's one of those shows where there's no blowaway upper echelon match or matches, but there's pretty consistent quality all through the card, and just as good most all the angle and story beats hit the mark. This is WWF's best creative hot streak since at least mid-'98, if not '97.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B+

Uncensored '98

Legacy Review

Uncensored '98

March 15, 1998 from the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, AL

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay

WCW World Television Championship: Booker T (c) def Eddie Guerrero (w/Chavo Guerrero Jr) in 11:08- Chavo is being forced to corner Eddie due to stipulations from events on Thunder (which means no one saw it). They're clearly not getting along during their entrance. Chavo reluctantly holds the ropes open, then Eddie leaps over them! Fantastic. Huge "Eddie sucks" chant at the bell and Eddie uses that to stall for a bit. After a few tries Eddie jumps Booker from behind. They have kind of a sloppy collision and Booker lays in some forearms. Backdrop and side suplex from Booker. Crazy Eddie sell on the last one. Clothesline that I'm not sure Eddie was expecting, then Booker clotheslines him 360 and out. Eddie stalls on the floor and barks at Chavo, who's parked it in a ringside chair instead of properly cornering his uncle. Eddie comes back in on his knees and offers a handshake. Booker takes it and gives Eddie a Greco Roman Hand Squeeze. Hook kick. Powerslam. Eddie runs away again. Booker chases and slams him in the aisle. Eddie tries to catch Booker coming off the ropes coming back in but Booker cuts him off with a back elbow. Press slam. Booker goes up top. Eddie dropkicks him and hits a superplex. Booker is quickly back up with forearms and a superkick. He goes for the scissors kick. Eddie rolls out of the way and hits a basement dropkick to Booker's knee! He stomps on the knee and starts to pick it apart. Eddie hooks the leg up and plays the rope leverage game with Nick Patrick. It goes on a bit too long before Patrick finally catches him. Corner reversal and Eddie hits a back elbow. Slingshot senton on the hurt knee for 2. Booker goes outside. Eddie almost slips off the ropes, recovers, and still comes off with a crossbody dive but clearly falls short. Saito suplex from Eddie back in for 2. Booker comes back with a flapjack into the spinaroonie. Scissors kick! Spinebuster from Booker. He goes up for the Harlem Hangover. Eddie gets on his feet. Booker switches gears and goes for a missile dropkick instead. Eddie dodges but Booker lands on his feet. Dodge in the corner from Eddie and Booker's wrapped up in the ropes. They both go up top. Booker fights Eddie off. Missile dropkick! That gets the pin! A few rough spots aside this was fine, though it felt more like a Nitro match than a PPV one and not nearly as good as it could have been, even this early in Booker's singles run. **1/2

Chavo tries to hide a smirk at Eddie losing. Eddie sees, gets pissed and they shove. Cooler heads prevail...until Chavo turns his back. Eddie jumps him from behind and knocks him around the aisle a bit.

 

Juventud Guerrera def Konnan in 10:21- Rare early show NWO match here. Juvy lost his mask to Chris Jericho at Superbrawl last month so this is his first maskless PPV match. Juvy jumps Konnan from behind before the bell with a heel kick, followed by some chops. Konnan dodges and hits a clothesline. Juvy walks up onto Konnan's shoulders, that goes nowhere so he gets back down, and hits a back elbow. A flying headscissors sends Konnan to the floor. Juvy teases a dive. Konnan pulls him down, drags him out and sends him into the stairs. He sets the stairs up but Juvy runs him into them. Juvy runs up the stairs with a flying kick. Springboard dropkick from Juvy back in for 2. Konnan blocks a tiltawhirl and drops Juvy on the top rope. He hooks on a reverse Indian death lock, then drags Juvy up and stretches him out in it. Big chop. HUGE Konnan release German suplex. He slingshots Juvy upside down into the corner and gives him a bit of bootwash. Konnan hooks on a Boston crab, grabs Juvy's arms and swings him back and forth, then drops Juvy right on his head. Full ugly neck scrunch there. Juvy has to roll out for a minute to recover and make sure everything still works. When he gets back in Konnan puts him in a fireman's carry and flips him over for 2. He puts Juvy up top and goes for a super German. Juvy flips over and Konnan gets stuck in the tree of woe. Kick from Juvy. Konnan does a super sloppy fall getting himself free. Speed run, Juvy tries to slide under but Konnan grabs him by the hair and hits a wheelbarrow German for 2. He lifts Juvy up for a powerbomb. Juvy counters into a DDT! He goes for the 450 splash. Konnan dodges but Juvy lands on his feet. Konnan wraps him up and hits the cradle DDT. Juvy kicks out! He counters a cover into a crucifix and pins Konnan! After the bell Konnan hits another cradle DDT and tosses Juvy out of the ring because his heat must remain intact, Konnan's a dick like that. It's a very low bar, but I've seen worse Konnan matches. *1/2

Mean Gene is with JJ Dillon. Dillon says the Giant has demanded Nash' jackknife powerbomb be reinstated tonight. After much consideration and consultation, Dillon has agreed but it will be for one night only.

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def Dean Malenko in 14:42- At the start of this feud Jericho had the legendary "1004 holds" promo on Nitro, which wasn't appreciated as much at the time but is now looked back on as his first truly great career defining moment. He's got "1004" on the back of his tights tonight. Quick Malenko takedown into a facelock. Jericho tries to counter but Malenko is all over him. Again Malenko outmaneuvers Jericho into a wristlock. Jericho works into a hammerlock and shouts "This is number 643!". Another quick Malenko counter. Jericho works out of a hammerlock. Malenko hits a shoulderblock, turning things up a notch. Jericho has a hissy fit. Which hold number is that? They shove. Speed run, Malenko blocks a roll up, has a nice roll over, but Jericho cuts him off with an enzuguri. He goes for the springboard dropkick. Malenko dodges and Jericho goes to the floor. Jericho walks, going all the way up the aisle. Malenko stops the count and Jericho comes back. He walks right into Malenko chops and forearms. Jericho catches Malenko leapfrogging and hits a spinebuster! Then does a crazy mocking strut. Arrogant cover! Delayed suplex from Jericho for 2. He gives Malenko some mocking kicks. He tries a double chinlock for a bit. Snap suplex. Lionsault! Malenko gets a foot on the rope. Jericho backbreaker with a stretch. Malenko still won't give up and Jericho gets frustrated. He hits some chops. Malenko fires back. Back suplex for 2. Jericho hits a quick senton for 2. He wraps Malenko up in the corner and dropkicks him. While Malenko is down in the corner Jericho slaps him. That only wakes Malenko up. Off a whip Malenko dodges in the corner. Jericho flips over. Blocked suplex. Jericho flips out again and reverse suplexes Malenko. He goes for the Liontamer but Malenko immediately wraps himself up on the bottom rope. Malenko blocks a German into a cradle for 2. Backslide for 2. Jericho gets Malenko on the apron, then goes again for the springboard dropkick, but this time as he's bouncing off the ropes he punches Malenko off the apron! Nicely done. They maneuver up top. Jericho goes for a back superplex. Malenko rolls over onto him and covers for a long 2. Jericho flips out of an apron suplex. Another Liontamer attempt. Malenko fights before it's put on and gets to the ropes again. Again they both go up top. Malenko hits the super gutbuster! Slow cover and Jericho kicks out! Jericho blocks a leg lariat. The Liontamer is on! Malenko crawls over, but *just* before he can grab a rope Jericho pulls him back to the middle! He gets the Liontamer fully on! Malenko has to tap out. Good stuff with lots of great counter work, but still slightly below expectations. There were several dull stretches the first half of the match. ***1/2

Mean Gene crosses Jericho in the aisle. Jericho stops to talk but Okerlund walks right by him, blowing him off. He gets in the ring with Malenko, who's very clearly furious at himself. Okerlund lays it on thick, saying Malenko was the favorite and should have won this match. Malenko is showing more emotion than he ever has. Okerlund points out Malenko has now lost four straight PPV matches and straight up says he's a "bonafide loser". "Where does Dean Malenko go from here?". Malenko simply says "Home" and walks out to the confusion of Okerlund and commentary.

 

"The Total Package" Lex Luger def Scott Steiner in 3:53- Scott pulled off one of the better heel turns of the time at Superbrawl, turning on his brother Rick to join the NWO. I think it would have worked better without the NWO part and him flying completely solo, but it's late '90s WCW, every heel that wasn't a cruiserweight had to be in the NWO. Hogan doesn't let cruiserweights in the clubhouse. Scott's already got his Big Poppa Pump blonde hair and signature goatee coloring on. Luger takes FOREVER high fiving everyone on his entrance. Cool for the fans there but save it for the house shows. When he finally gets in Steiner jumps him before he's through the ropes. Belly to belly powerslam. Chokes and Steiner soaks up the boos. He tosses Luger out and we get the mandatory guardrail shot. Luger blocks an apron suplex and suplexes Steiner out to the floor. Whip and Steiner flips over the guardrail into the first row. Inverted atomic drop from Luger back in. Powerslam. He calls for the Torture Rack. Steiner grabs the ropes to block it and low blows Luger. Steiner Recliner! More than half of Luger is under the ropes or flat out of the ring but Nick Patrick still tries to get a submission out of him. Terrible officiating. Almost NBA referee level. When Luger refuses to give up Steiner goes out and gets a chair. Rick's here! Luger hits the distracted Scott from behind with the Forearm that Used to Be Loaded and gets the pin. While that was happening Scott Norton ran out and attacked Rick. Scott goes after Luger with the chair. Luger escapes. Apparently so did Rick off camera because he and Scott stare down in the ring. Scott charges and Rick backdrops him over the top to the floor. Having Scott lose right after his big turn is moronic booking, I don't care what they were planning for. 1/2*

 

Triangle Match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Diamond Dallas Page (c) def Raven and Chris Benoit in 17:09- Benoit and Raven had a great match at Souled Out, then Benoit and DDP had a fantastic match at Superbrawl, so we're throwing all three together and seeing if more magic can happen. In addition to regular triple threat rules this is also falls count anywhere. Yup, still taped up ribs for DDP. Three way lockup! I love it. Everyone gets a punch in and reset. Back to the triple lockup and everyone tumbles out of the ring while still being hooked up. DDP takes a stairs shot. Benoit clothesline on Raven for 2. Back elbow for 2. Benoit stomps Raven down while Raven's in promo position. DDP gets back in. He goes to suplex Benoit but drops him on the top rope instead. They go speed. Raven grabs DDP's boot from the floor. Benoit baseball slides Raven. DDP plancha onto both guys! DDP and Benoit get shots in on Raven. Benoit splash off the top rope on Raven. DDP/Benoit slugfest that goes to the floor. Raven flies over the top rope and crashes into both of them. He covers Benoit for 2, then DDP. All three guys do a knockaround with more covers and saves around the ringside area, then slowly work up the aisle. Benoit low blows DDP up close to the ramp and stage. Raven comes in with a trash can and hits Benoit with it. DDP puts the can on Raven. He and Benoit get crutches from somewhere and hit the can with them. Who has spare crutches lying around? More fighting over covers. Benoit gives DDP a crutch shot. And a can shot. Snap suplex on the ramp. Raven and Benoit decide to team up. They put DDP through the light boxes that make up one of the Uncensored stage signs! Again! It's a piece by piece sign demolition. Benoit hits Raven with....THE KITCHEN SINK! Yes! Always a favorite. I don't give a damn about the lack of logic of a sink being there, the "everything but the kitchen sink" gag always wins for me. They brawl over toward the commentary area. Raven drops a table on Benoit! He chokes Benoit with one of those velvet crowd ropes. Table set up. Benoit reverses the whip and Raven goes through the table! Not the best break or crowd reaction for that. Now Benoit does some rope choking. Yeah, my mind can't help but wander THERE when I see that. Anyway, the two of them head back to the ring while DDP's corpse is still in the light boxes. Raven hits a low blow in the ring and sets a chair up. Another whip reversal and Benoit drop toe holds Raven into the chair. Raven really should stop setting these things up, it never goes well for him. Benoit wedges the chair in the corner. We get a shot of DDP almost by his fingernails slowly crawling down the aisle back to the ring. Almost like the Doctor in Heaven Sent. Raven gets whipped into the chair and crashes hard out of the ring. DDP is still crawling. Benoit covers but Raven gets a foot on the rope. Should that be allowed in a match like this? One of Raven's eyes is swelling up from something earlier. Benoit hooks on a sleeper. DDP is back and he puts a sleeper on Benoit! Raven jawbreakers out and all three guys are down. Benoit cranks up the ROOOOOOLLING GERMANS on Raven. DDP stops it at two and Germans both Benoit and Raven! Benoit and Raven both punch DDP and again appear to have an agreement. Raven goes out and gets the giant "USE MY SIGN" sign from the Flock that's been visible all night. He nails DDP with it! That seemed way more solid than posterboard. Raven tears the sign off and there's a giant stop sign inside it! Another table gets set up in the ring. Raven sets DDP on it. As he does Benoit whacks him with the stop sign! Benoit sets Raven on the top rope. DDP shoves Benoit off. He goes up top. Superplex? No, he changes positions......SUPER DIAMOND CUTTER INTO THE TABLE! AND THE TABLE DOESN'T BREAK! It just falls over and Raven hit it straight ribs into corner! That HAD to have hurt. DDP falls on top of Raven and gets the pin! Hammer drags Raven out. Benoit is annoyed, but he helps DDP up, gives a little respect nod and leaves. This is the kind of match WWF normally excelled at in this period more than WCW, but this turned out pretty freaking awesome as these three continue to work together superbly. ****

 

The Giant def Kevin Nash by DQ in 6:36- To recap this feud so far: Nash was scheduled to lose to Giant in the #2 match at Starrcade, came over with an extreme case of jobophobia on the day and no-showed to not have to do it, then when they finally did have a match at Souled Out, naturally with the result changed, Nash dropped Giant on his head with a bad jackknife, injuring him and almost much worse. That led to the jackknife being (story only) banned before it was lifted earlier tonight "for one night only". Those are the kinds of antics that would normally get guys that weren't backstage politics savants into trouble. Giant comes out with a neck brace on. They stare down and both pose for the crowd after the bell before locking up. Nash escapes the corner and works Giant into a hammerlock. Giant turns and clotheslines his head off. Big elbow drop. Nash dodges a second one but Giant no sells. He 360 clotheslines Nash out. Tony mentions that as of a few weeks ago the over the top DQ rule is no more. Thank God. Even going back to the NWA days they never used that except when they needed to have a screwy finish in a title match. The worst rule in the history of wrestling. Giant takes a post shot and Nash goes into slow beatdown mode on his hurt neck with his usual goofy taunting. Corner boot choke. Nash hooks on a sleeper. Giant elbows out but Nash nails him in the neck again. Off comes the neck brace. Nash charges but Giant gets a boot up into his crotch/gut borderline. Size of Giant's shoe it could get both easily. Nash is still up first. Giant no sells a headbutt and hits his own, then some clotheslines. The strap is down and he calls for the chokeslam, but changes his mind and hooks up for a powerbomb. Brian Adams (former Crush), who had just debuted for WCW and joined the NWO, runs in and hits Giant with a bat for the cheap DQ. More NWO B team goons then run in. Giant has chokeslams for everyone and breaks the bat over his knee. Nash hits him with a bat remnant. Giant hulks up and the NWO guys bail. Remember all that hype about the jackknife being reinstated? Never even came close to hitting one. 1/4*

 

Bret "Hitman" Hart def Curt Hennig (w/Rick Rude) in 13:51- After Bret was inexplicably left off the last PPV (not even a *mention* on TV) at least they're getting him back in with another familiar opponent after having a good match with Ric Flair at Souled Out. Bret and Hennig, as Mr. Perfect, had two absolute barnburners in WWF: for the Intercontinental title at Summerslam '91, possibly my favorite Summerslam match ever, then in the King of the Ring tournament at KOTR '93. Of course the downside is unlike Flair Hennig is physically a shell of his former self at this point. Hennig's wearing the same gear as the Summerslam match, a nice touch. Also still really cool to see him and Rude paired up given their Heenan Family history. For his entrance Bret has on a jersey of the Calgary Hitmen hockey team he was co-owner of. After the bell Hennig hops out to confer with Rude. He goes to jump Bret from behind but then stops and says "I could have had you". Lockup stalemates. Bret works a headlock and Hennig hair pulls. Hennig tries to do a crazy flip sell off a Bret shoulderblock but just doesn't have it in him anymore. Hennig gets a few shots in but Bret goes back to the headlock. More hair pulls from Hennig. Speed run, Bret blocks a hiptoss and goes for his own. Hennig horribly muffs it and slides out pissed, possibly legit pissed. Rude calms him down. Rude grabs Bret's boot and Hennig hits him. Bret blocks a turnbuckle shot and gives it to Hennig. Hennig flips out of an apron suplex. Bret blocks a roll up. Sharpshooter! Rude comes in and punches Bret supposedly out of the ref's view to break it up. The ref asks Rude and he denies everything, Baldrick. Hennig attacks Bret's knee and starts to work it over. Rude also gets a couple of shots in when he can. Hennig tosses Bret across the ring by his hair. He slaps on a figure four, with added assistance from Rude. It goes on to the point you're wondering why it's still going when the ref *finally* notices Rude helping and breaks it up. Bret tries to punch back and Hennig low blows him. Another comeback is cut off with a kick to the bad knee. Hennig puts on a classic stepover toe hold. Legdrop to the gut. Hennig goes up top. Bret catches and crotches him. He kicks Hennig's leg out of his leg with Hennig needing the help of the ropes to get anywhere close to one of his classic 360 sells. Bret returns the hair toss and goes into FMOD mode. Perfect reverses a corner whip and we have a Bret bump. He hooks up for the Perfectplex. And hits it! Bret kicks out! Rude gets on the apron. Bret runs Hennig into him and rolls Hennig up. Hennig reverses it and grabs a handful of tights for 2. Sunset flip from Hennig. Bret rolls through it. The Sharpshooter is on again! Hennig taps out literally one second before Rude attacks Bret. Once again we have a postmatch beatdown tonight. Rude actually hits the Rude Awakening, the first time he'd done anything truly physical since his injury I think. Perfect works Bret over with a chair, the heels pose and they leave. Definitely a disappointing match, but given Hennig's physical and Bret's mental states it really shouldn't be too much of a surprise. They also tried to overcompensate with a ton of Rude interference which, as much as I'd love to see Rude properly in the ring again, didn't help any. **1/4

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) def Scott Hall (w/Dusty Rhodes) in 8:28- Now the World title situation has finally been settled Hall is getting the title shot he earned by winning the World War 3 battle royale. I appreciate WCW following through on that instead of sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it never happened like they would normally do. Hall grabs the belt from the ref and he and Sting have a small tug of war with it before Sting lays in some shots. Hall instantly starts doing his goofy ass selling. Reset with Hall cranking Sting's arm. Sting clotheslines out. Hall wants a test of strength, then eye pokes Sting. Hip toss blocks and Hall hits a chokeslam, He mocks Giant and doesn't see Sting pop back up. Faceplant. More ridiculous Hall selling. Sting dropkick and Hall flops out to the floor. He has a talk with Dusty. They hit the ropes and Dusty trips Sting. Hall clothesline. He seems to go for a leverage pin but can't find the ropes with his feet and gives up on it. Discus punch. Corner clothesline. Fallaway slam for 2. He slaps Sting around. Sting slugs back so Hall eye pokes him. Midring collision and Sting does his "accidental" crotch headbutt fall. Dusty gets on the apron and sneaks into the ring while Hall pulls the ref away. He drops an elbow on Sting and Hall covers for 2. Sting hulks up off Hall punches. Inverted atomic drop. Stinger Splash to Hall's back. Clothesline. He goes for the Scorpion Death Lock. Dusty gets on the apron and Sting takes him out. Corner whip reversals and down goes the ref. Dusty tosses Hall knucks and he waffles Sting with them. Cover. Sting kicks out! Hall goes for the Razor's Edge. Sting escapes. Scorpion Death Drop! It's over. Bleh. *1/4

 

Steel Cage Match: Hollywood Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) no contest in 16:21- Naturally Hogan main events over the World title. This is the first ever NWO vs NWO match, the culmination of months of Savage causing friction within the group and even teasing allying with Sting. Of note here is Charles "Lil' Naitch" Robinson reffing his first PPV main event. It'll be far from the last. Hell, it's the fall of 2024 as I write this and he still is. I don't know if the stars on Savage's tights are a deliberate callback or not but I like them. Lockup while the lights try to decide if they're going to be off or on and we quickly go into normal Hogan beatdown mode. He uses his shirt to choke Savage. Back rakes! Big boot for 2. Corner clothesline. Savage blocks a cage shot but it's still all Hogan. The crowd is pretty pro-Savage, but I think that's because they hate Hogan more than anything else. Slam. Savage dodges elbow drops and finally starts getting some offense in. Hogan blocks a cage shot, eye rakes Savage, takes his weightlifting belt off and starts whipping Savage with it. Chops. Another slam. Savage dodges the legdrop. Now Savage gets some belt whips in. Cover for 2. Big belt shot with a huge pop. Hogan takes a couple of cage shots and Savage covers for 2. Hogan is busted open. Savage targets the cut. Running elbows to Hogan's head. Hogan backdrops Savage into the cage! Savage was flying into that. Hogan goes back to the belt whips. Back suplex for 2. Savage has scrapes on his side from where he hit the cage. Hogan puts Savage on his shoulder and runs him into the cage. Now Savage is bleeding and it's gushing pretty good. Or "injured" as Tony keeps putting it because Turner was so anti-blood. At least he doesn't have to call it international blood. The Hogan beatdown continues with Savage flopping all over the place. Hogan takes Savage to the door and tells the ref to open it. And the ref does? Hogan drags Savage out, gives him a couple of shots, then the ref says get back in the cage and they do, and then the door is locked again. What the hell was the point of that? Hogan takes another cage shot and both guys are down. Savage pops back up. He climbs all the way to the top of the cage. Double ax handle off the cage! Nailed it too, right on target. Cover for 2. Someone in the truck clearly said to go to a wide shot because of the blood because we're watching from somewhere in the middle of the lower deck now. Setup slam and Savage climbs up again, looking for the elbow. Hogan's new buddy that will soon be named the Disciple (Brutus Beefcake with a huge beard to cover his identity because lord knows he's never had a name or gimmick change before) runs in, takes the outside ref out, gets the key to unlock the door and gets in the cage. He takes Lil' Naitch out, then gets between Savage and Hogan and dares Savage to jump. Savage climbs back down. Everyone stares down. Sting comes down from the rafters! Man they got him up there quick. He gets on Savage's side and again everyone stares down. The refs leave so I guess the match is over. Who knows. Savage takes Sting out! So much for that. Piledriver on Sting. But then Savage spits at Hogan and leaves. Savage: "I don't like you, never will!". Hogan responds that Savage works for him and he's NWO whether he likes it or not. And, just like that, "we're outta time" and end show. Well. The match itself actually wasn't terrible. Savage was dipping into everything he had left in the tank to try to make it halfway decent. But you gotta knock a ton off of it for that atrocious non-ending. 1/2*

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- A pretty typical B PPV with a couple of worthwhile matches and a ton of NWO crap. Almost every match having some kind of postmatch beatdown grated after a while too. It's very clear that Bret's WCW run is already in trouble, and Sting's title reign is pretty much DOA as the NWO will continue to be the center of WCW's universe.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-