Legacy Review
Greed
March 18, 2001 from the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, FL
Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson
My friends, we've made it. Welcome to the very last WCW PPV. In keeping with the PPV renaming theme the post-Russo placeholder regime was running with, Uncensored has become Greed. A quick recap of where things currently stand on the business end: Eric Bischoff has put together a group of investors, called Fusient Media, to buy WCW, and a tentative deal with new Turner parent company AOL Time Warner has been agreed to. That news was now so public Tony was openly talking about "new ownership" on the last PPV. Everything seemed to be lining up. But, there's one last curveball that will be thrown. One last wrench in the works. One last stenbolt that failed to self-seal. But for now, let's focus on this final PPV. Keep reading after the show wrapup for the last words on WCW's final fate. And if you'll indulge me, seeing how this is The End for this run I'll also take some time to go over where everyone that's in this show ends up in their careers after, especially those that don't get picked up by WWF.
Jason Jett def Kwee Wee in 12:15- Imagine making your WCW PPV debut, and it's WCW's last PPV. Such is the fate of Jason Jett. A self-trained wrestler, Jett bounced around the indies for a decade before getting a deal with ECW in 2000, where he wrestled as EZ Money. When ECW went bankrupt due to no easy money being left he signed with WCW, debuting just a week before this show. So, he went to ECW right before it died, now he's come to WCW right before it dies. Some guys have no luck. Did Wee stick his finger in a light socket backstage? That hair. Wee attacks Jett from behind before the bell, establishing himself as the heel. That leads to a match opening slugfest on the floor. Jett does a nice flip counter into a superkick. I can't say I'm a fan of his gear. Trunks or long tights, pick one. Trying to split the difference doesn't work. Dive off the top rope to the floor from Jett. In the ring properly for the first time, Jett hits a straight slam and a Vader bomb style legdrop for 2. Jett teases a Greco Roman Nut Stomp, but changes his mind and hooks Wee up in a pendulum surfboard. Attempted speed run, Jett loses his footing going into the ropes and has to stop, and Wee has to run up and hit him with the planned forearm. Wee hair pulls Jett over the top to the floor. Wee tries for a tope suicida but comes up miles short. Thankfully Jett was dodging anyway but Wee landed nowhere near where he was. Wee tries to backdrop Jett against the ring and Jett turns it into a DDT! Straight up buckshot lariat as it will later be called from Jett coming back in, then he hits a standing moonsault for 2. Wee backdrops Jett over the top to the floor in the corner! He chokes Jett with a TV cable on the floor. He covers and wants a count on the floor. Thankfully Nick Patrick draws the line there, a rarity for WCW refs. Back in Wee hits a front drop slam. Jett tries to slug back. Thesz press from Wee! Wee goes into some wild kicky/chokey stuff as the crowd gets on his case. Jett tries to fight out of a chinlock. Wee muscles him back down for 2. Suplex from Wee for 2. Wee hooks up for a superplex. Jett hits a low blow to get free, then goes for it looks like an avalanche powerbomb. Wee counters it into a hurricanrana! Damn, that could have gone very very badly. Wee crawls over and covers for 2. Jett tries a flying headscissors but Wee faceplants him for 2. Wee goes for a piledriver. Jett low blows again to get free. Handspring elbow from Jett! Kip up! Wee counters out of Jett's finisher, the Crash Landing (an x-plex), and gets a sunset flip for 2. Another piledriver attempt. Jett backdrops free. After some counters Wee hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Into the corner and they hit heads, sending Wee back out to the floor. Jett tells the crowd to be quiet and lays down in the ring! This is Bret Hart levels of possum playing. I love it. Wee, unaware of the setup, goes for an elbow off the top rope and misses. The Crash Landing hits and that gets the pin. Fun stuff, if indyriffic at times. I can see why Jett/EZ Money has fans in some corners (going by his Cagematch page). It's refreshing to see a late era WCW match that's just about some good wrasslin' with a clearly defined face and heel. ***1/4
After having possibly the shortest WCW run of all time, Jett returned to the name EZ Money and had cups of coffee in both TNA and ROH, but mostly worked in mid and low level indies. Apparently he also became a gear designer. Wee's contract was actually picked up by WWF, but he stayed in developmental and they never did anything with him. He also had a short stint in TNA, as well as All Japan.
Inaugural WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship: "Prime Time" Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo def The Filthy Animals in 13:42- Imagine creating a brand new title, only to have it debut on the company's last PPV. Such is the fate of the brand new Cruiserweight tag titles. To make matters worse, the three teams who this title can directly thank for its existence because of their awesome matches with each other (3 Count, the Jung Dragons, Jamie Knoble & Evan Karagias) are nowhere to be seen in this tournament final, having been bounced earlier in it. I know I strongly argued they all needed some fresh matches, but at least one of them should be in this. The belts are OK if a bit cheap looking, which isn't surprising considering WCW's financial state. I like the wing sideplates. The Animals team is of course Mysterio and Kidman, who in the past were World tag champs. Bit of a step down for them. Mysterio's taken to wearing a half mask on his entrance now, I'd forgotten about that. Kidman and Romeo start with some spunky back and forth. Kidman hits a slingshot flying headscissors. Romeo then dumps Kidman backwards and the heel team double team him. Random fun fact: Romeo is the only guy in this match wearing traditional wrestling gear. Kidman does his pop up hurricanrana counter on Skipper, then hits a dropkick. Kidman holds Skipper in the ropes so Mysterio can hit a springboard legdrop for 2. Mysterio tries some more flippydo but Skipper says screw that and pummels him with forearms. Flying headscissors from Mysterio, then he hurricanranas Skipper to the floor. Baseball slide from Kidman. Romeo runs out and attacks Kidman from behind to save his partner, and we quickly have a 2v2 fight on the entrance ramp. Kidman hiptosses Skipper off the ramp into Romeo! Kidman and Mysterio go up to the stage and hit stereo running dives off it. Back in the Animals hit a double chokeslam for 2. Romeo distracts Kidman from the floor and Skipper hits a running knee that sends him outside. Romeo jumps all over him, putting Kidman officially In Peril. Short clothesline from Romeo and he gives Kidman some chops. That wakes Kidman up and he hits his own chops, followed by a misdirection clothesline. Kidman tries a wheelbarrow but Romeo turns it into a bulldog. Romeo knocks Mysterio off the apron so the heels can double stomp. After Kidman fights out of a chinlock Romeo hits a falcon arrow for 2. Mysterio runs in and the heels swap without a tag, then they use the ref questioning that to choke Kidman on the ropes some more. Skipper hits some forearms and places Kidman up top. Kidman uses it to hit an avalanche powerbomb! Tags on both sides. Mysterio comes in with a springboard crossbody. Spinning DDT on Romeo. Mysterio dodges in the corner and Skipper posts his shoulder. Mysterio goes up top, swanton bombs Romeo, then in almost one movement runs over and tope suicidas Skipper! There's the Mysterio we've barely seen since the mask came off. Romeo goes up top and dives onto Mysterio. And Kidman tops it off with an SSP to the floor on both heels! Coming back in Mysterio hits a sunset bomb. Romeo barely breaks the pin up. Skipper puts a full nelson on Mysterio and does a chinlock takedown into a cover for 2. Kidman reverse suplex on Romeo for 2 as everyone's coming in and out with no tags now and the ref is letting it all go. Skipper tosses Kidman back out. Skipper hits Mysterio with a tiger suplex, then holds him down so Romeo can hit him with a legdrop off the top rope. Kidman breaks the pin up. Low bridge and Skipper goes to the floor. Dudley dog from Kidman on Romeo. Powerbomb/top rope big splash combo from the Animals for 2. The Animals hit their version of Poetry in Motion on Skipper, then Mysterio does the shitty bronco buster. They set up for another double team. Mysterio has to take Romeo out instead, and Skipper and Kidman send each other tumbling out to the floor. Mysterio goes for a springboard moonsault. Romeo catches him! He hits his finisher, the Last Kiss, and gets the pin for the titles! Nice start for the new titles. Too bad they had no future. ***3/4
Skipper was another one whose contract was picked up by WWF but never wrestled a match on TV for them. He ended up having a pretty lengthy run in TNA as a good X-Division/tag team guy. Romeo mostly returned to his native Puerto Rico after WCW but also had some spot starts (so to speak) in TNA. Kidman of course was picked up by WWF and got some decent runs both during the Invasion and as one of the early pillars of the Smackdown Six era cruiserweight division. Mysterio we know about, though he didn't sign with WWE until the summer of '02.
Earlier tonight, Buff Bagwell's hired his own cameraman so he can be filmed more. That's so on brand it's insane. But that also lets us in on the Magnificent Seven's planning meeting. I kind of like the Hawaiian shirt look for Flair.
Shawn Stasiak (w/Stacy Keibler) def Bam Bam Bigelow in 5:57- Stacy's dressing up as Ms. Hancock again. That and the briefcase is giving me serious Alexandra York vibes. Just way hotter. Stasiak is the "Mecca of Manhood" now? Oh yeah, that was never going to work. That screams of someone came up with a new tagline, no one could think of anyone it worked with, and Stasiak happened to walk by the room so they slapped it on him. Bigelow goes to lock up but Stasiak ducks and hits a punch. Headlock into a Bigelow shoulderblock. Stasiak kips up and hits the ropes again, but runs into a Bigelow clothesline. Stasiak rolls out for some consoling from Stacy after that. Back in Bigelow charges and Stasiak hides in the ropes. And after all that, we actually get a proper lockup. And a quick cheap shot from Stasiak. That just pisses Bigelow off. Backdrop, corner avalanche and clothesline from Bigelow. He dropkicks Stasiak over the top to the floor. Stasiak wants another time out. Bigelow says no, but Stasiak uses Stacy distracting him to hit a jawbreaker and push him into the stairs. Side thought: the font that "Mecca" is written on the back of Stasiak's tights looks like something that would be on a Pez dispenser. Back in Stasiak hits a crossbody off the top rope. Bigelow fires back with headbutts until Stasiak low blows him. Bigelow responds with his own low blow. Snap mare and falling headbutt. Bigelow goes up top. The big headbutt hits! Stasiak kicks out! And Stacy's up on the apron. With Bigelow and the ref distracted by her Stasiak sprays something in Bigelow's face, hits a hangman's neckbreaker and gets the pin. Aggressively not good. The absolute dead silence from the crowd after it's over is funny though. 1/4*
Stasiak was picked up by WWF for what was actually his second run in the company, but he was never any more than the goof that chased the Rock around like an idiot. Bigelow went into semi-retirement after WCW folded, working occasional indy shows through 2006 before passing away in 2007.
In the back, Romeo and Skipper celebrate by putting their new belts on each other. I hope they don't turn their waists green.
Team Canada def Hugh Morris & Konnan in 11:10- It's Team Canada leader Lance Storm teaming with Florida's own Mike Awesome tonight. Still trying to figure out how Awesome is in Team Canada. Old Storm foe Morris charges in by himself and the fight is on. He manages to clear the ring, then Konnan joins the brawl on the floor. Things settle in with Awesome in control on Morris in the ring. Chops from Storm just fire Morris up. He hits a powerslam on Storm for 2. Big boot/legdrop combo from Awesome on Morris for 2. Corner avalanches. Double clothesline from Team Canada for 2. Storm hooks on a front facelock, but the script is flipped when Morris fights out, then Konnan hits Storm but it sends Storm into Morris and they butt heads and collapse. Tags on both sides. Hot tag run from Konnan until Awesome flat runs him over with a clothesline. Big splash from Awesome for 2. Team Canada work the ref and Morris to choke Konnan in the corner. A potential Konnan comeback is cut off with a Storm back elbow for 2. After some floor knockaround Konnan gets a flash small package on Awesome for 2. Awesome comes back up with another clothesline. Konnan's weird bump off a Storm knee to the gut almost accidentally knocks Storm down. Awesome hits a tackle off the top rope for 2. Storm misses a dropkick by a mile but Konnan sells it anyway. Legdrops from Storm for 2. Another front facelock fight and this time we follow the script with the phantom tag spot. Piledriver from Awesome that Konnan, again, sells in a way that it's obvious he didn't hit anything. Storm tries coming off the top but Konnan gets a boot up. Double clothesline. Konnan rolls over Storm while going over to tag, getting an unplanned near fall. Morris spinning heel kick on Awesome for 2. Corner avalanches from Morris. Storm nails Morris from behind. Awesome goes up and hits a big splash. Konnan saves the pin and it's a DONNYBROOK. Morris hits a German suplex on Awesome. He goes up top, has to fight Storm off, and Awesome hits a running Awesome Bomb for the pin. Bleh. 3/4*
Storm was a solid midcard/tag team guy for WWF/E during the Invasion and for several years after, but it always seemed like he could have been more. Awesome also went over for the Invasion but never got much traction in WWE. He returned as an ECW alum for One Night Stand, but spent most of the rest of his career in Japan, working for All Japan and NOAH. Morris, real name Bill DeMott, wrestled some for WWE but mostly became known as a trainer on Tough Enough and later in NXT. He left WWE in 2015 under a cloud of misconduct allegations. Konnan was another one not picked up by WWF. He'd have a stint in TNA before becoming a central figure both on screen and behind the scenes in AAA, making his first WWE appearances after their purchase of AAA.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Shane Helms def Chavo Guerrero Jr (c) in 13:55- I guess Helms is out of 3 Count now, he's got a whole new presentation. He's got a whole company of dancing girls (old Nitro girls?) and he's switched to normal wrestling gear. Honestly, he truly deserved a push and if the company had continued he would have been one of the top cruiserweights for a good long while. Lockup! Nice rough one all around the ropes. Great little thing: Chavo hooks on a headlock and Helms actually sells it by going down to his knees in pain. Almost never saw that anymore. And Chavo keeps it on despite Helms' attempts to get free. When he does get free Chavo hair pulls him back in. Finally Helms gets fully out, gets a headlock takedown and Chavo goes the quick headscissors counter. Nice snap mare trade off into a really good mat wrestling exchange and stalemate. A bit more standing chain wrestling leads to a long speed run and Chavo hits a clothesline to escalate things. They exchange shots in the corner, do some more counters, and Helms hits a gutwrench suplex, followed by a fistdrop off the second rope for 2. He hooks up for an early Nightmare on Helms Street (a GTR). Chavo blocks it and hits a t-bone suplex for 2. Helms goes down in the corner and Chavo gives him a good old boot wash. Snap mare into an STF. When Helms tries to fight that Chavo switches to a Mutalock, then just plan cranks back on Helms' knee. Helms finally manages to counter with a headlock, but Chavo uses that to back suplex him for 2. Big chop from Chavo that Helms sells the hell out of. A Chavo jackknife cover leads to an attempted bridge up, but Helms can't pull it off so they roll over instead. Nice recovery really. Helms goes for a powerbomb but Chavo counters into a DDT for 2. Chavo ties Helms up in the corner and dropkicks him. Pumphandle slam from Chavo for 2. Another counter run and Chavo flips Helms over the top rope to the floor. Helms' back hit the apron going down and he might have tweaked it for real, but quickly shakes it off and keeps going. He dodges a dive and pulls Chavo down into the apron. Dive off the top to the floor from Chavo. Back in Chavo covers for 2. Helms slips out of a suplex and hits his fireman's carry facebreaker. He tries to hook Chavo in a backslide, then switches to a swinging neckbreaker. After some apron/corner maneuvering Helms superkicks Chavo off the apron to the floor, then rolls him back in for 2. Chavo rolls under another superkick attempt and hits a reverse DDT for 2. He goes up for the tornado DDT. Helms blocks it, then flips out of another pumphandle slam. Nightmare on Helms Street! Chavo gets a foot on the rope! Corner whip and Chavo does a flip over the top out to the floor. Big crossbody from Helms off the top to the floor. Back in Helms hits another top rope crossbody for 2. Setup slam and Helms goes up again. Chavo runs up and flat knocks him off the top rope for 2. Helms fights off a back superplex attempt. Chavo comes back and hooks Helms up for a vertebreaker, which is Helms' move. Helms reverses, hits the vertebreaker, and gets the pin to win the title! His first singles title win. Good match, though a bit disjointed in parts and that held it back a little. They have a better one in them. ***1/2
Not too much to say here post-WCW as both guys had good WWF/E runs, Helms as the Hurricane and Chavo paired back up with Eddie as Los Guerreros during the Smackdown Six era.
WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Natural Born Thrillers (c) def Totally Buffed in :52- NBT had been a large stable, but at this point I think it was down to just Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire as a straight tag team. Once again Luger and Bagwell milk their match opening promo for every second they can have undivided attention. When they're finally done yapping/ego tripping the NBT guys charge in and it's on. 2v2 brawl that the NBT guys win. Double shoulderblock on Luger. O'Haire ducks and Luger STEEL PLATE (is it in there today?) forearms Bagwell. Palumbo superkick on Luger. One for Bagwell. O'Haire swanton bombs on both guys! Double cover, and NBT get the pin to
retain in under a minute! HAHAHAHAHAHA. So rumor is this was booked
like this because Luger and Bagwell were being babies backstage about
jobbing so they were being taught a lesson. Damn, forcing top of card
guys to do business when they didn't want to is something that
needed to come to WCW like four years ago. NR
Palumbo stuck off and on with WWE, most successfully as half of Billy & Chuck. WWE tried a bunch of different things with O'Haire to capitalize on his look, none of which really worked. He actually ended up switching to MMA. There was zero interest in Luger back at his age. He pretty much retired from wrestling after WCW folded, but worked a few indy matches and made occasional non-wrestling appearances in TNA. Bagwell had that one legendarily disastrous tryout match against Booker T on the Raw that WWF experimented with presenting part of the program under the WCW name. They never asked him back again.
Ernest "The Cat" Miller (w/Ms Jones) def Kanyon in 11:15- The story here is an unhinged Kanyon has been going after Jones. Miller does his usual prematch promo coming down the ramp, riling Kanyon up and he charges after Jones again. Miller attacks him on the stage and hits him with the mic. Kanyon's got a cast on his arm and Miller quickly goes after it, hitting it against the stairs. In the ring for the first time Kanyon momentum tosses Miller over the top. Miller looks like he's going to try to skin the cat (skin himself?) but bails and sits on the apron instead. Kanyon plays to the fans, allowing Miller to electric chair slam him. Basement shotgun dropkick from Miller. Kanyon uses the ref pulling Miller back in the corner to get some shots in, but Miller quickly gets back on offense with a powerbomb and he tosses Kanyon out to the floor. Kanyon finds a different way to take the once a match minimum mandatory guardrail shot. Coming back in Kanyon snaps Miller over the top rope, then hits a clothesline off the top rope coming back in for 2. Suplex from Kanyon, followed by a slingshot elbow drop for 2. He pulls Miller to the corner and his his version of the King Kong kneedrop for 2. Then it's chinlock time, as it absolutely looks like Kanyon is dogging this match compared to his normal self. Kanyon puts on a sleeper that Miller quickly back suplexes out of. Swinging neckbreaker from Kanyon for 2. He goes up top but Miller crotches him. Superplex from Miller for 2. Kanyon tries a sunset flip but Miller blocks it, then hits the dancing elbow. Splits punch. Kick to Kanyon's head for a long 2. Kanyon gets a weak leg takedown in the corner, tries for a leverage pin, but the ref catches him in time. Kanyon thinks it's over and Miller rolls him up for 2. Miller goes for a piledriver. Kanyon counters with an Alabama slam into a Boston crab, again visibly going in slow motion. Miller hits the Feliner kick. Cover but Kanyon gets a foot on the rope. Kanyon pants pulls Miller out to the floor, but doesn't bother to follow up any. Miller gets back in and tries a back suplex. Kanyon hits him with the cast mid-move and covers for 2. Jones is on the apron protesting. Oh, Kanyon sticks something back in his tights. Cast plus there, which is what she's protesting. Kanyon waffles the ref from behind, then tells Jones to get in the ring. Miller holds Kanyon for Jones. Duck and Jones takes Miller out. Jones tells Kanyon let's fight! Kanyon grabs her arm. Jones connects with a kick! Another Feliner kick from Miller, and that gets the pin. Way too long for a Miller match, way too much Miller offense. Kanyon clearly had zero interest in being out there. 1/2*
After the bell Kanyon hits Miller with the Flatliner, then he goes after Jones again. Then....someone runs in with a chair to save her and Miller. Damn, I have no idea who that is and can't make out the name commentary is saying. Smooth something or something Smooth. Seeing how this is the end of WCW I doubt it matters either.
Miller made occasional wrestling and non-wrestling appearances for WWF/E but was never presented at the same level he was in WCW. Kanyon got a bit of a run initially, winning the US title during the Invasion and even calling himself the Alliance MVP, but his complete inability to talk was a death sentence in WWF.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Booker T def Rick Steiner (c) in 7:36- Rick wants the ref to check Booker's gloves and uses that to jump Booker. Booker quickly gets dumped over the guardrail into the first row. Extended beatdown from Steiner along with a running commentary about it. Steinerline for 2. Booker starts to slug back and Rick goes to the old eye rake. Double underhook powerbomb for 2. Rick puts on about the weakest looking chinlock I've ever seen. He's literally cupping Booker's jaw. Another Booker comeback is cut off with a swift kick to the nads. Now Rick puts on the same kind of arm stretching butterfly hold his brother has been using. Booker finally reverses a whip into a Samoan drop for some offense. One offensive move, as Rick hits a belly to belly suplex for 2. Booker gets his corner floatover roll up for 2, then instantly gets floored by another Steinerline for 2. Slightly better chinlock this time. We go all the way to arm drops and Booker fights back up. Booker hits the flying forearm, then forces Rick down with a spinebuster. The scissors kick hits. Flapjack. Spinaroonie! Rick ducks a side kick and the ref takes a grazing shot from it. German suplex from Rick. Slow cover, and the ref is too out of it to count. Oh joy, Shane Douglas hops the rail. He's got a cast on too. He hits Rick from behind! Guess there was a turn there back when Rick won the US title from him, that was on Nitro. Book End! Booker gets the pin to win the title! This is actually Booker's first US title win, he skipped it over previously on his way to the World title. Way too much Rick on offense, but Booker tried his best with the little he had to work with. *
Booker, as we all know, had a very rough start in WWF but took it like a pro and ended up completing a legitimate Hall of Fame career there. I still think he was quietly one of the better in-ring workers of the era when he was allowed to show it and/or was motivated enough. Rick was really in no shape to carry on, but he continued to make sporadic appearances in both Japan and TNA, usually alongside his brother.
Dustin & Dusty Rhodes def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair & Jeff Jarrett (w/Road Warrior Animal) in 9:55- It's appropriate Dusty is coming out of retirement to wrestle on WCW's final PPV, and even moreso that Flair is on the other side. Yes, I know they had all their battles in JCP under the NWA banner but it's essentially the same thing. They've nicked another one of WWF's Attitude Era staples, as the loser of this match has to kiss the ass of the winner. There's been some mildly amusing backstage bits tonight leading up to this showing Dusty eating a whole tray full of burritos to get ready for that. I have a feeling that's a real rib Dusty pulled on someone at some point. Flair's actually wrestling in a Hawaiian shirt. That's fantastic. Dusty's music is another blatant ripoff of his WWF music, but not even WWF lawyers would bother to sue now. Flair takes a mic and says he's not dressed to wrestle tonight, so Jarrett is going to take care of them both himself. Um, OK then. Handicapping your own partner? Lil' Naitch lays down the law and sends Animal to the back. Flair and Lil' Naitch get in a shoving match but Lil' Naitch won't back down. Animal is gone. Despite what he said Flair takes a position on the apron while Jarrett starts. Dustin chooses to start for the Rhodes boys and Jarrett immediately jumps him. Dustin quickly turns it around. He hits the drop down uppercut and mounted punches. Slide under in the corner and Dustin posts Jarrett's crotch. Dustin tries coming off the top rope but Jarrett gets a boot up. Flair tags in and hits some chops and jabs. In a freaking Hawaiian shirt and slacks. That makes me laugh so much I have a hard time taking anything else here seriously, but in a mostly good way. He does some strutting to rile Dusty up. Off a whip Dustin grabs the ropes to stop, flips Flair a middle finger, and tags Dusty in. Flair doing a literal freeze frame mid-punch during all that is, again, hilarious. Dusty's still walking the burritos off. The crowd comes alive for this faceoff. Lockup! Dusty shoulderblock. He points his ass at Flair to sucker him in, but Flair hits the brakes before the elbow hits. Another lockup and Dusty hits chops in the corner. Bionic elbow! One for Jarrett! Flip flop and fly on Flair! Dustin tags in. Jarrett knees him in the back from the apron and Flair hits another chop. Dustin suplex on Flair. Jarrett takes an inverted atomic drop. Dustin sets him up for Shattered Dreams. Flair sneaks behind and low blows Dustin. Then Jarrett drops an elbow in Dustin's crotch. Dustin gets caught in the wrong corner. Jarrett hooks on the sleeper. Dustin reveres into his own. Jarrett hits a kneebreaker! He and Flair start up the knee work. Flair goes for a figure four but Dustin small package counters for 2. Blocked hiptoss into a backslide on Flair for 2. Flair and Jarrett cut a tag off, then Jarrett puts on a figure four. That gets a near fall. Dustin reverses it and Jarrett takes a rope break. Another figure four attempt and Dustin pushes Jarrett into the corner, then hits a back suplex. Tags on both sides. Dusty pummels Flair and Jarrett. Stereo jabs and elbows! Back elbow on Flair. Elbow drop for 2. Dusty ducks a double clothesline, tags and double clotheslines Flair and Jarrett. Dustin comes in with a double diving clothesline as we go EVERYONE IN THE POOL. Both Rhodes boys take low blows. Both heels go for figure fours, but the Rhodeses push them into each other! Dustin gets a very rough looking takedown on Flair, and that gets the pin! Far from great wrestling, but it's fun enough. Seeing Dusty and Flair together in a WCW ring one last time was honestly worth it. **1/2
Flair refuses to honor the match stipulations, so Dustin traps Jarrett down in the corner. Dusty pulls his pants down, and stinkfaces Jarrett in his underwear! Another stolen idea but whatever. The Rhodes boys and Flair were clearly having fun with all of this and sometimes that's enough.
Dusty didn't go back to WWF right away, going to TNA for a bit instead. He returned to WWE under a legends contract in 2005, where he became part of the creative team and worked his last few matches. His final job before his death in 2015 was as head writer and a trainer in FCW and early NXT, where he was a massive influence on the many future legends that came out of that system. Dustin returned to WWF as Goldust, where he'd continue to appear off and on for nearly 20 years before joining his brother in AEW when that was created in 2019. Flair returned to WWF literally the day after the Invasion angle ended as the new "50/50 WWF co-owner" foil for Vince, then later returned to the ring more fully and put a nice coda on his THE greatest of all time career. Just don't mention anything after Wrestlemania 24. WWF had zero interest in bringing Jarrett back after the acrimonious way he left a couple of years prior. Instead he partnered up with his father, longtime promoter Jerry Jarrett, to create TNA.
Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Scott Steiner (c) (w/Midajah) def Diamond Dallas Page in 14:13- The final WCW PPV main event. DDP does a half loop around the arena through the crowd on his entrance. They spit at each other after the bell and go right at it. Inverted atomic drop into a swinging neckbreaker from DDP. Steiner hits a shoulderblock that knocks DDP through the ropes. DDP goes up top from there and hits a clothesline for 2. Steiner quickly bails for the floor, but DDP follows and stays on top of him. Guardrail shots all around. Steiner gets control and gives DDP some clubbing blows across the chest. DDP responds by snapping Steiner over the top rope, but Steiner then Steinerlines DDP off the apron. Over the guardrail and we start getting into the real falls count anywhere part. Steiner gives DDP a trash can shot and they end up in front of, apparently, the Spanish announce table. All the way up there? There's a guy hanging around in crutches than I'm sure is not at all a plant and about to have one of those crutches yanked out from under him. And soon enough yup, Steiner takes one away and breaks it over DDP. Steiner then sets up a table even though the Spanish announce table is RIGHT THERE begging to be broken. DDP politely asks for the kid's other crutch and hits Steiner with it, putting Steiner on the table. Elbow drop through the table for 2. Trash can shot for Steiner with I'm pretty sure real trash falling out of it. They go back around to the entrance ramp area. Steiner takes a round something or other from another I'm sure not at all planted fan and breaks it over DDP's head. DDP then whacks Steiner on the head with something for 2. Coming back in the ring Midajah grabs DDP's foot so Steiner can club him. Steinerline/elbow drop combo and push ups. Steiner's got a bit of blood on his forehead. He starts working on DDP's back to set up the Recliner. T-bone suplex for 2. Steiner hooks on a bear hug. In a falls count anywhere match. Arm drops and DDP bell rings out. Steiner grabs him again and hits a belly to belly suplex. Corner chops from Steiner. DDP pulls up in the corner and goes wild on Steiner! Until he runs into Steiner's boot in the corner. Another belly to belly for 2. Steiner hooks on his arm stretch hold. DDP twists around to escape, then hits a knee to the gut and a DDT. Steiner ducks but DDP keeps swinging and hits a clothesline. Buckle shots for Steiner. Steiner gets a back elbow in the corner and tries an illegal leverage pin in the corner for 2. DDP comes off the ropes and I think they have a small miscommunication, but Steiner still hits a side slam that didn't look too terrible. DDP is up first and calls for the Diamond Cutter. Steiner counters out, hits a mule kick low blow, and DDTs DDP. He lifts DDP up for a snake eyes. DDP escapes, pushes Steiner into the corner, and hits the Diamond Cutter! Someone pulls Nick Patrick out before he can count 3! It's Rick Steiner. DDP plancha on Rick! He drags Patrick back in. Whip reversal do-si-do, Steiner is run into Rick, and DDP rolls him up for 2. Jawbreaker from Steiner. Midajah hands him the belt and he whacks DDP with it. DDP is busted open. Cover. DDP kicks out! Steiner puts on a Boston crab. Heavily bleeding DDP fights it in an image that I'm sure is supposed to make us think of Bret and Austin at Wrestlemania 13. DDP manages to get a rope break. Now the Steiner Recliner is on. DDP fights for a rope break again. Midajah puts Steiner's trademark pipe in the ring. Rick also unloads punches on DDP. Midajah distracts Patrick and Steiner goes to town on DDP with the pipe. The Recliner is back on, DDP is out and Patrick calls it. DDP carried Steiner to easily the best match of his title reign. They didn't get nearly as much mileage out of the falls count anywhere stip as they could have though. ***1/4
DDP was actually the first WCW wrestler to appear on WWF TV to kick off the Invasion angle, but the less said of his terrible booking and injury marred run there the better. Best to think about all the good DDP's done for the wrestling community since then. Steiner was not initially picked up by WWF. He debuted in WWE at Survivor Series 2002, but again the less said about his short run there the better. He later became a main event staple in TNA, which if nothing else gave us the Steiner Math promo.
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The clear upward swing WCW had slowly been on since the departure of Russo leads to their first fairly decent PPV in a very long time. Too little too late of course. It's nice to have a show like this to end on, but I don't know, it would have been very on brand for WCW to finish up with one of their epic disaster PPVs.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C
And now, the rest of the story. Genuinely curious how many people reading know where that comes from. Almost as soon as this PPV was over the deal for Bischoff's group Fusient to buy the company fell apart. The deal was contingent on Fusient maintaining control of WCW's timeslots on TNT and TBS. However, the new corporate brass at AOL Time Warner saw how much money WCW had lost the previous year and decided to wash their hands of it completely. Both Nitro and Thunder were cancelled. Without a TV network to air the shows on, Fusient was left hanging in the wind. This was the opening Vince McMahon needed. He swooped in, offered AOL Time Warner pennies on the dollar for WCW's assets, desperate to have this perceived albatross off the books AOL Time Warner jumped at the chance, and the rest is history. Instead of being handed over to WCW's longest serving showrunner to rebuild it, the company was left in the hands of its biggest rival that it nearly put out of business a mere four years ago. The only remnant of what might have happened under a Bischoff owned WCW comes to us from the final edition of WCW Magazine, released in April, which featured a very clearly placeholder ad for a major PPV in May called The Big Bang that was to completely reboot the company and create a whole new WCW. One of the biggest what ifs in wrestling history.
A scan of the magazine ad.
A week and a day after Greed, March 26, the final episode of Nitro aired. Which also happened to be the final Monday before Wrestlemania 17. Dubbed "Night of Champions" and aired live from WCW's semi-regular spring outdoor stop in Panama City, FL, it saw all titles on the line. Booker T defeated Scott Steiner in a title vs title match for the World title to become a double champion (likely because WWF had picked up Booker's contract but not Steiner's), and later in the night very appropriately the last match ever held under the WCW banner was Ric Flair vs Sting. After that the night closed out with the start of the angle where it turned out the contract to buy WCW had the name of another McMahon....SHANE McMahon. But that's a much longer story not to be told here. I've got it all covered in my WWF PPV reviews of the period. For now, it's time to say goodbye to WCW. Awesome in its peaks, atrociously awful at its worst, it's a company that will always hold an extremely important place in wrestling history and a special place in the hearts of all of us fans who where there to see it. Even if it did drive us bonkers as often as not.
