Slamboree '97

Legacy Review

Slamboree '97

May 18, 1997 from the Independence Arena in Charlotte, NC

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

I hope you like football players attempting to wrestle in your wrestling. By this time the original brief of Slamboree as "The Legend's Reunion" and the night for WCW Hall of Fame inductions was pretty much gone. I don't think WCW was doing anything with its HOF by this point.

WCW World Television Championship: Steven Regal def Ultimo Dragon (c) (w/Sonny Oono) in 16:04- Regal has removed the "Lord" from his name because he wants the emphasis to be on him, not his pedigree. He's on the path to becoming what he really was, a working class lad from Blackpool. A real man's man. Dragon ended the Cinderella reign of Prince Iaukea on the Nitro after Spring Stampede. He an Oono have been having some disagreements lately. Between Dragon and Dean Malenko as US champ it's nice to see some of the guys that made the Cruiserweight division such a success getting to branch out. Mike Tenay joins the booth for this one. Cautious start but with zero of the usual stalling from Regal, he's all business. Lockup leading to a good basic exchange. Dragon escapes a headscissors and reset. Regal uses a test of strength to get the leverage advantage. After some counters Regal hits a gutwrench suplex for 2. Regal keeps the advantage on the mat after that. Dragon hits a quick shoulderblock into a headlock. He rolls under a Regal leapfrog and hits a dropkick. Regal tries to block a drop toe hold but Dragon gets him down. Dragon flummoxes Regal with his headstand in the corner and gives him a double foot kick, followed by a kick combo that puts Regal down. Dragon hits his now signature stiff kicks to Regal's back and hooks on a half crab. Regal takes a rope break. Swinging neckbreaker from Dragon. Regal works free and starts hitting some vicious stomps. Dragon rolls out for some space. Back in Regal hits a suplex. He tries for a full nelson. Dragon reverses it. Regal tries for the Regal Stretch but Dragon gets to the ropes. They exchange some open hand slaps with Dragon getting all kinds of fired up. He goes for a cross armbreaker. Regal tries to block it but Dragon manages to stretch it out. Regal rolls over to counter and goes for the Stretch again. Dragon fights it again so Regal switches to a bow and arrow. Dragon bites Regal's arm! More hard kicks to the back and Dragon hooks on a Mutalock. The crowd is getting behind Regal. Not sure if that was the intention with him dropping Lord from his name but it's happening. Dragon switches to a camel clutch. Regal back elbows out and uncharacteristically starts throwing some fists. Dragon flips through a backdrop and dropkicks Regal to the floor. Oono gets a couple of kicks in. Dragon seems almost irritated at him. Back in Dragon hits the handspring elbow. He hurricanranas Regal off the top rope for 2. Regal dodges the moonsault. Another Stretch attempt and again Dragon gets to the ropes. Regal goes for a double underhook suplex. Dragon counters into a hurricanrana! That gets a 2 count. Regal kind of muffs a magistral cradle attempt but still gets 2. European uppercuts. Dragon hits a heel kick and does his own magistral cradle, but both guys end up in the ropes. A springboard moonsault hits. Dragon goes for the tiger suplex. Regal blocks, standing switch, and Dragon runs Regal out to the floor. He goes for a plancha that Regal casually sidesteps, leaving Dragon to splat on the floor. Whip reversal and Regal goes into the barricade. Asai moonsault! Oono gets some more kicks in. Dragon goes out and rolls Regal back in, almost seeming like he's getting Regal away from Oono. Oono kicks Dragon in the back of the head! Heenan calls it accidental but no one believes him. Reverse suplex from Regal back in. Regal Stretch! Dragon submits! Pretty big pop for the win too. Regal wins the TV title for the 4th time, which at the time was one shy of the record. Fantastic match, a great example of two disparate styles meshing perfectly. ****

 

Madusa def Luna Vachon in 5:09- "Women's wrestling expert" Lee Marshall joins the booth for this. He's pretty much the opposite of Mike Tenay. Huge Luna slap after the bell. After a bit of beating she goes right to the hair flips. Madusa slugs back and gets an eye rake to cut it off. More basic choking and throat shots from Luna. Madusa hits a heel kick with a nice Luna flop sell. Yet more Luna chokes and she puts on the dreaded double handed abdominal claw that looks more like a massage than a wrestling hold. Suplex from Luna for 2. Madusa reverses a corner whip, hits an avalanche and some chops. Clothesline and Luna bumps straight onto her head to sell it. Hammy kicks from Madusa. Another Luna eye poke. She faceplants Madusa and hits a neckbreaker. Madusa dodges a splash off the top rope, hits a German suplex with a bridge, and gets the pin with a nice "good going" slap to Luna's ass before she breaks the hold. So much for kayfabe. It's far from the worst WCW women's match. *1/2

Mean Gene is in the arena with tonight's hotline shill: a "change in interim talent coordination" in WCW (sounds like a SeanRossSapp article) and "is someone leaving WCW?". Before he can get any further he's interrupted by Savage and Elizabeth. They shoo him off, Savage takes his mic and they go to the ring. Savage accuses DDP of ducking him and "not wanting any of the madness". But here comes DDP through the crowd with a crutch, the same one the NWO attacked him with recently. He gets in and chases Savage off. Eric Bischoff comes out, holds Savage back, and calls out the NWO B team. DDP says he understands Savage has a prior engagement tonight, like going to Hogan's house, washing his car and kissing his ass. I'm kind of wondering what the shoot percentage on that is. That sets Savage off. He slowly makes his way into the ring. DDP is all over him with the crutch! He fights off the rest of the NWO goon squad until Scott Norton catches him from behind and the NWO take their turn to beat on him. The Giant runs in to make the save. Good if Nitro-ish segment to keep the red hot Savage/DDP feud going.

 

Rey Mysterio Jr def Yuji Yasuraoka in 14:58- Yasuraoka was a young junior heavyweight from Genichiro Tenyru's WAR promotion in Japan. He had some moderate success but not much and would end up retiring a couple of years after this. Tenay is back in for this one as he is for all Mysterio matches. Yasuraoka opens up with some exploratory kicks, connecting with a few. He grounds Mysterio for a bit. Mysterio works free and does some leg work. Yasuraoka gets a run with some basic offense. Kind of like watching a Young Lion match. Arm wringer tradeoff. Yasuraoka hits a clothesline and heel kick for 2. Backdrop from Mysterio. He hurricanranas Yasuraoka over the top rope to the floor! The ref cuts off Mysterio's dive! The hell, man? Mysterio says screw the ref and does a tope con hilo right over him! Back in Mysterio hits a drop toe hold into a camel clutch. Mysterio continues to use his superior agility to stay ahead. He goes for a springboard. Yasuraoka kicks him in midair! Corner kick from Yasuaoka into a Fujiwara armbar. Legdrop on the arm. Mysterio runs into a clothesline for 2. Back to the armbreaker. Mysterio gets a foot on the rope. Yasuraoka kicks him down to the floor. Back in he does a run and leaps to snap Mysterio's arm over the top rope. Mysterio goes back out, and Yasuraoka hits a mostly off camera dive to the floor. Back in he hits a suplex for 2. Mysterio gets a boot up in the corner, hits a spinebuster, and a split legged moonsault with a camera hit for 2. Second straight PPV Mysterio's accidentally kicked a camera. Cradle exchange for 2. Powerbomb from Mysterio! Yasuraoka dodges a splash off the top rope. Double underhook DDT, which is his finisher. Mysterio kicks out! Yasuraoka goes for another one. Mysterio counters into a northern lights suplex for 2. Ugly corner whip reversal spot. Yasuraoka hits another heel kick to recover, and they go for the same spot again. Yasuraoka comes off the top rope. Mysterio dropkicks him in midair! Springboard hurricanrana and Mysterio gets the win. Pretty much a Mysterio carry job, but a good one. ***1/4

 

Glacier def Mortis (w/James Vandenberg) by DQ in 1:51- This feud continues. Vandenberg's got some samurai helmet that's supposed to have some kind of deep meaning to Glacier but I can't be bothered with the details in this feud. Super cereal Glacier gets all his entrance gear off in the aisle, charges in and we're on. Mortis spends over a minute pounding him down in the corner, with some token shots on Glacier's bum knee. After that he calls Wrath in, then goes up on the second rope to pose for the crowd. Glacier uses that to lift him up and drop him with an electric chair. Knee's fine, thanks for asking. Bunch of Glacier clotheslines capped off with a 360 clothesline sending Mortis to the floor. Wrath attacks Glacier from behind for the DQ. The heels don't care, proceeding to beat Glacier down for longer than the whole match was. After a bit a "fan" runs into the ring to chase the heels off. The fan is identified by Tony as none other than Ernest Miller. About which time just about everyone watching shouted "WHO?" to their TV screens. Only hardcore karate nuts like Bischoff had any idea who he was. They'd soon find out. 1/4*

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) def Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) in 15:03- During Jarrett's entrance Tony talks about how we're in Horseman country so the fans love even Jarrett, which is great unintentional foreshadowing for what's going to happen in the match. Rough lockup and the crowd almost immediately goes into a huge "Jarrett sucks" chant. Tony has no comment. Speed run, Jarrett hits a shoulderblock, reset. Armdrag exchange and Jarrett tries to strut. Give no fucks Malenko steps right in front of him to cut it off. Both guys hit drop toe holds. Malenko snap mare into a chinlock. Jarrett armdrags out. Headlock/headscissors exchange. Malenko bridges out and puts on a crossface. More mat counters and another stalemate. Malenko goes into some knee work. He throws Jarrett outside, then dropkicks his knee against the guardrail! Jarrett catches him coming back in to get the edge back. Long abdominal stretch sequence from Jarrett with Debra and rope leverage. After Malenko finally gets free he tries to put on his own, with he and Jarrett going into some reverses and Jarrett falling down in a pretty botchy looking way. Malenko stomps away on him, then starts un-Malenko like slugging against the ropes. HUGE straight right from Malenko and down goes Jarrett! He rolls out for a breather. That sets off more "Jarrett sucks" chants. Back in Jarrett goes into some arm work. Malenko straight pulls his hair to try to get free. Jarrett hooks the arm up again and Malenko pulls him into the corner. Back suplex for 2. Swinging neckbreaker from Jarrett. He goes for the figure four to huge boos. Malenko kicks Jarrett's knee. He goes for the Cloverleaf. Jarrett counters with a small package for 2. Malenko ducks an enzuguri and tries for a Boston crab. Jarrett fights it, so Malenko slinghshots him up into the bottom rope instead. Back to the floor and Malenko gets run into the barricade. Crossbody off the top from Jarrett back in. Malenko rolls through it for 2. Jarrett hooks on the sleeper. Malenko backs him into the corner. He gets his own sleeper on. Jarrett counters with a kneebreaker! Figure four! They're close to the ropes so Malenko takes a rope break. Collision and both guys are down, with Jarrett falling all the way out of the ring. Never mind that shit, here comes Mongo. Mongo has some words with Debra, then tells her "He's got a title match? Get to it then!" and tosses Jarrett back in the ring. He takes Debra away back to the back. Malenko hits a double underhook suplex. Cloverleaf! Jarrett submits! Malenko was on as usual, but this never came together quite as well as it could have. **3/4

 

Death Match: Meng def Chris Benoit (w/Woman) in 14:54- Speaking of feuds that never end, here we back are with Benoit vs the Dungeon of Doom, with Meng standing in for Kevin Sullivan tonight. The rules are specifically announced as "until one man can no longer continue". Wiggle room. Meng scares Jimmy Hart off during his entrance. Benoit gets a slightly warmer reception in Horsemen country than Jarrett did. Cautious start. Benoit grabs a kick and hits a dragon screw. Meng grabs a belly to belly suplex. Benoit ducks a clothesline and plants Meng with a German. Dropkick to Meng's knee. They go to the floor with Meng hitting chops. Benoit drop toe holds him into the steps. After a reset they have a Greco Roman knucklelock stalemate and Meng hits some more chops. Benoit responds in kind. Meng goes into full pull your eye out beatdown mode while Jacqueline makes her way out to the ring. She and Woman stare down and Jacqueline leaves while the guys continue to stiff the piss out of each other back and forth in the ring. Meng hits the skull cracking Tongan Headbutt of Death and hooks on a single leg crab. Man, Woman's screaming is annoying. Benoit grabs a rope and gets a rope break. Commentary debates if there should even be rope breaks in this match or not. Another big chop exchange and Meng hits another headbutt. Piledriver from Meng. The ref starts a 10 count. Benoit is up and Meng is back on him. Benoit ducks a short clothesline and hooks on the crossface! Meng gets under the bottom rope and the ref calls for a break. One each now at least. Meng gets into beatdown mode again like someone looked at him wrong in the locker room. Benoit wants more! Meng obliges. Benoit still wants more! Meng kicks him right in the face in the corner. Benoit ducks a kick and gets some shots in. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrolling Germans! Meng back elbows out after two. More sweat flying chops. Benoit ducks and tries to get the crossface on again. Again Meng gets out of bounds to force a break. Benoit TOPE SUICIDA! MAMMA MIA! That was full speed. Benoit goes up top but Meng crotches him. Benoit flips over Meng. GERMAN SUPLEX OFF THE SECOND ROPE! The headbutt off the top hits! NO! Meng catches him in the Tongan Throat Nerve Hold of Extreme Pinching +2! Otherwise known as the Tongan Death Grip. Benoit goes down and the ref quickly calls for the bell. Yet another match where Benoit looks amazing, fights like his life depended on it, then loses and almost needs to be stretchered out after. Booking and layout issues aside though, this was damn good. You knew these two wouldn't be afraid to lay into each other, and they did with glee. ***1/2

 

The Steiner Brothers def Konnan and Hugh Morris (w/Jimmy Hart) in 9:35- At this point the Steiners had won the tag titles twice since the start of the year, only to have the decisions overturned by not at all unbiased Eric Bischoff. Morris and Scott start. Scott's really starting to slowly morph into Big Poppa Pump. Scott armdrag and Morris does the heel 101 phantom hair pull bitch. Morris then gets out of a top wristlock by pulling Scott's hair. Belly to belly from Scott. Tag to Rick. Morris pounds away and nails him with an avalanche. Rick dodges a second one and hits another belly to belly. Steinerline! Steinerline! Steinerline off the top and Morris powders while the Steiners pose. Konnan tags in. Rick says fuck your flippy shit and nails him with a Steinerline. Konnan ducks a punch and tries for a German. Rick standing switches him and plants him with a German. This is old school Steiners ragdolling and I'm loving it. Konnan gets a boot up in the corner on Scott. Scott hits another belly to belly. Hart trips Scott and Morris gives him a swinging neckbreaker. Morris presses Scott (impressive) and drops him throat first on the top rope. He suckers Rick in while Konnan does some choking. Konnan hits his rolling clothesline for 2. Double team arm hold on Scott. Rick comes in and breaks Konnan's half of it up. The heels stay on Scott's arm. Scott ducks a double team, sending Morris to the floor, then gives Konnan yet another belly to belly. Morris tries coming off the second rope but Scott gets a boot up. Tag to Rick. Steinerlines all around. Shit! Konnan starts to turn around when Rick is coming at him for a 360 clothesline, and Rick NAILS him in the back of the head. Bulldog off the top on Morris. Konnan breaks the pin up and we're DONNYBROOKING. Morris plants Rick with a stiff clothesline. Rick dodges the moonsault. Scott hits the Frankensteiner, Rick covers, and it's over. Another match made good thanks to pure physicality. **3/4

After the match a frustrated Konnan submits his resignation from the Dungeon of Doom by laying out Morris. He'd show up in the NWO soon after.

 

Steve "Mongo" McMichael (w/Debra) def Reggie White (w/Kent Johnston) in 15:17- This is Reggie White's one and only professional wrestling match. And he's working with Mongo. This has got disaster written all over it. For those that don't know White is legitimately one of the greatest defensive ends and sack masters in NFL history. The whole basis of this feud is Mongo played for the Bears, and after starting his career with the Eagles White was now a star on the Green Bay Packers, who after years of mediocrity had just won their first Super Bowl in 30 years the previous season and are the Bears' archrival. No one mention that Mongo played the last year of his career for the Packers. Mongo's entrance in Horsemen country gets....pretty much nothing. White's wrestling in his Packers uniform pants with a ridiculously generic jersey that looks like it came from a junior high JV team. Guess Turner didn't want to pay too much in licensing. After some stalling White wins the first lockup. Mongo grabs a hammerlock, shoves White and brags. Shoulderblock standoff. That was full speed, I'll give them that. Another one. A third one and Mongo does almost a comic fall going down. Now Mongo wants a full line of scrimmage hit, using it to chop block White. White shakes the knee off and wants another one. This time he anticipates Mongo's move with a leapfrog, sending him into the middle turnbuckle. White then hits Mongo with the worst clothesline in the history of the business, sending him to the floor. Mongo says screw this, we're leaving. A man identified as "one of Reggie White's teammates" cuts him off, ducks a briefcase shot, lifts Mongo up in a fireman's carry and carries him back to the ring. Gilbert Brown, Tony belatedly says. Packers' nose tackle. When Mongo gets back in White dropkicks him! Cover for 2. Mongo wraps up an armbar. "Jesus may have your soul, but I've got your ass now!". As a Christian I don't even know where to begin in response to that. White hits the new worst clothesline in the history of the business to send Mongo to the floor again. Back in White cranks a headlock. Mongo takes a rope break as a way to clip White's knee again. Knee work time from Mongo. With a side suplex mixed in. White dodges an elbow drop, then does about all he can, a headlock. He actually gets off his feet for a serviceable crossbody for 2. Nerve pinch! They're keeping it dead simple for White. Rope break and Mongo low blows White. Back to the knee. Mongo puts on the most half assed half crab ever. Rock's Sharpshooter is better. White grabs a rope. Both guys take buckle shots and Mongo kicks the knee again. He tries for a figure four. White pushes him down to the floor. Mongo goes up top and takes the Flair slam off! Slugfest in the corner. A White clothesline that is *not* the worst one ever. White gives his best attempt at an inverted atomic drop and 360 clothesines Mongo to the floor. Mongo pulls him out and they slug it out on the floor. White hits a suplex back in. White big splash! Could have done without that silly hop before though. It's like he was doing the triple jump. But Debra's distracting the ref. Mongo gets the Halliburton of Death. Gilbert Brown takes it away. While the ref's with him Jeff Jarrett comes in and tosses Mongo ANOTHER Halliburton! TWO HALLIBURTONS OF DEATH? I don't know if the world can handle that. That might violate an arms control treaty somewhere. Mongo nails White with it, covers and gets the pin. Mongo match finish 1A, B and C. Getting Reggie White in to wrestle in a singles match was questionable enough, especially in a PPV semi-main slot. Pairing him up with Mongo, who barely knows how to work at the best of times and is in no way capable of carrying anyone, is even worse. Giving it FIFTEEN MINUTES is damn near a war crime. The only positive thing I can say is both guys were clearly trying hard and giving it all they had, and that alone I think gets it out of the dreaded MINUS FIVE STARS territory for me. DUD

 

No DQ: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Kevin Greene def WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx in 17:20- Kind of crazy this is the only NWO match tonight. The Hall/Nash/Syxx trio is now officially called the Wolfpac. That's a name you'll be hearing a lot in the near future. Greene gets a much better reaction than Reggie White because it's actually the city he plays in. This is his second match, he teamed with Mongo against Flair and Arn Anderson at the last year's Great American Bash. Flair is making his big return after a months-long injury layoff and the pop in his hometown blows the roof off the place. Syxx wants Flair to start. Be careful what you wish for, kid. Flair kicks us off and the crowd is bonkers for it. "WOOOOOOOOOOO!" Quick Syxx shoulderblock to let the kid think he's ahead. Syxx gets a hiptoss and starts to mock Flair's strut. Flair chops his chest right off! Huge pop for that. There's the real strut. Syxx hits a heel kick to put Flair down again with more NWO mocking. Syxx hits some chops in the corner. Flair flips him around and shows him how it's done, followed by some jabs. Backdrop on Syxx and more classic Flair strutting. Another chop. Hall runs in and goes down. Flair chops Nash on the apron! Nash is more pissed than hurt. Flair mocks and struts trying to get him in. The crowd goes nuts for it, and Dusty goes even more nuts in commentary. Syxx tags out....to Hall. Flair gives him some Slick Ric, then tags Greene in. Greene is all kinds of fired up. Hall is nonplussed. Spit on Greene and he tags out to Nash. Shoving. Nash gets the first shot and lays in his corner knees and elbows. Greene comes off the ropes with a tackle. Clothesline. Nash is wobblelegged. Greene slams him! Nash rolls out for a think. Hall and Syxx try to attack but Greene double clotheslines them and the NWO regroup on the floor. Hall comes in and wants Piper. Slap exchange. Piper goes nuts with quick jabs in the corner. Kneelift on Hall. Hall gets Piper in the NWO corner. Piper fights out! Neckbreaker on Hall. Syxx comes in and kicks Piper's bad leg from behind. Hall goes to work on it. The crowd wants Flair. Hall shouts "Now we're going to school!" and tries to put a figure four on. Piper pushes him out of it. Tag to Flair. Chops for everyone! Hall gives him an eye poke. Flair Flip! Flair gets off the top rope but Hall catches him and gives him the fallaway slam. 360 clothesline and Flair slowly goes over to the floor. Big brawl on the floor. Nash big boots Flair and rolls him back in. Hall covers for 2. Nash hits Flair with snake eyes. Hall and Nash work some double teams. Nash side suplex with Flair selling the hell out of it. Nash gives Flair some mocking slaps. Corner clothesline. Syxx comes in with the bronco buster, which was not something that got a crowd reaction at that time. Thankfully. Oh no, that gets a reaction in 1990s Charlotte. A giant "faggot" chant. Flair fires back with chops. Midring collision, but Flair doesn't go down. He tries a back suplex but Syxx flips out of it and pushes Flair into the NWO corner face first. Cover for 2. Another collision and this time both guys go down. Tags on both sides. Piper comes in with fists flying. Wait, the ref didn't see the tag? Bullshit. Piper knocks the ref out! EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Everyone fights while Nick Patrick comes in and checks on the ref. Flair low blows Hall in the ring. Nash hits Flair from the apron. Hall cinches up for the Razor's Edge. Flair counters! Figure four! Patrick is in. He doesn't seem sure what to do. Greene cuts Nash off with a tackle. Piper sleeper on Nash!. Greene powerslam on Syxx! Hall is down in the figure four too. Patrick counts 3 on all of them! MASSIVE pop for the win. Patrick is officially back in the WCW fold. That was a very fun B PPV main event, almost house show style in that casual fun way. Much better use of a football ringer than the last match. Everyone looked like they were having a blast out there, and none more so than Flair. It was nice to have the good guys win one over the NWO for once too. ***1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Take out the Mongo/White disaster and this is a damn good show, and with no Hogan and only one NWO match. Imagine that. WCW's best PPV of the year so far.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B

Over the Edge '99

Legacy Review

Over the Edge '99

May 23, 1999 from the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

I've been debating for a long time whether or not I would even try to do a review for this show. In the end my completionist streak won out, but this will be a very different review, because this is the night Owen Hart was tragically killed. Honestly I'm still surprised that this is even available on the Network/Peacock even though it's been on there since pretty much the start, though it's heavily edited and not readily accessible, you have to go digging around a bit for it (not like finding anything on Peacock's layout is easy). I'll go into all that more when I need to, but until things go south we'll carry on as normal.

The Network copy begins with an Owen memorial graphic before going into the actual show broadcast. The whole opening video is basically Undertaker = evil. We get some footage from Heat of Vince being attacked by the Corporate Ministry after substituting himself in place of Austin in an obvious trap match (don't ask, it's Russo). JR says Vince, who was scheduled to double special guest ref the main event along with Shane, is hurt and we'll have more updates soon.

WWF Tag Team Championship: Kane & X-Pac (c) def D'Lo Brown & "Sexual Chocolate" Mark Henry (w/Ivory) in 14:44- Henry is wrestling in street clothes. Huge "D'Lo sucks" chant from the crowd after the bell. Pac and Brown start with some basics. Brown runs Pac over with a shoulderblock. He does a quick hair pull to keep Pac in a headlock. Pac uses the ref to flip into counters and hit an armdrag. After some more power vs agility stuff Pac hits a back suplex, heel kick and kick combo in the corner. Brown avoids the bronco buster and both sides tag. Kane quickly goes punchy choky on Henry. Henry reverses a corner whip and hits an avalanche. He gorilla presses Kane! That's legit impressive. Kane pops right back up and hits a clothesline. Dropkick from Kane! Man, they're going for it tonight. Legdrop. Henry sees the choke slam being set up, bails and tags a very reluctant Brown. Kane no sells some Brown slaps. Brown flips over a backdrop but runs into a big boot. The champs get Brown stuck in their corner. Pac hits a kick combo and spinning heel kick. Brown goes to the ol' eye poke to turn things around. Henry pulls Pac down from behind and crotches him on the post. Ledgrop from Brown. Pac flies across the ring selling a Henry punch. Some of Henry's very basic offense follows. Pac dodges a splash but Brown cuts the tag off. Pac gets tossed out and Henry drops him on the barricade. Brown covers for 2. Back elbow from Brown. Ligerbomb! Kane breaks the pin up. Brown goes for some springboard flippy thing that I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, but Pac dodges it. Barely. Tags on both sides. Kane knocks Henry around. Tiltawhirl slam on Brown. Henry catches a Pac plancha and posts his back. Kane reverse suplex on Brown. Henry hits Kane from the apron. Brown uses the distraction to hit a spinning heel kick for 2. Kane's kickout sends Brown out to the floor, where he seamlessly joins in double teaming Pac with Henry. Kane goes up top and dives down to the floor onto everyone! Damn! That was holy shit chant worthy if mainstream crowds did that back then. Back in Kane hits Henry with a clothesline off the top rope and we go into proper donnybrooking mode. Pac gets Brown with the bronco buster. Henry clothesline Kane and avalanches post-BB Pac from behind. He turns around into a Kane chokeslam! That gets the pin. Surprisingly spiffy. Everyone had their working boots on and the crowd was hot for it. **3/4

 

In the back Michael Cole has an update on Vince, a possible ankle injury. More to follow.

 

WWF Hardcore Championship: Al Snow (c) (w/Head) def Hardcore Holly in 12:53- These two have done more than anyone to set the standard for Hardcore title matches, which have become a popular and unique attraction. A new twist in the long feud is Snow's new stuffed deer head Pierre, which Holly "killed" recently on weekly TV. Snow brings Pierre with him in a box looking much worse for wear. After a jump start Snow gets a backdrop and 360 clotheslines Holly to the floor. They brawl on the floor a bit with barricade and stair shots on both sides. Holly uses Pierre's corpse as cover and whacks Snow with a cookie sheet. He gets a fire extinguisher but can't get it to go off. Cookie sheet shot from Snow for 2. Snow sets the extinguisher off right in Holly's face. JR: "That can't be healthy". They go into the crowd, up the steps and out to the lobby by some conveniently placed concession stands. JR makes a reference to concession stands in Tupelo, calling out one of WCW's recent disasters. All the stands take shots and get used with food and drink flying. JR: "Not the deadly funnel cakes!". Once everyone's covered in enough powdered sugar they go back into the arena and down the steps. Snow grabs a giant cotton candy holder from an arena worker and whacks Holly with it. Legdrop off the barricade from Snow. Back in the ring Snow hits a Greco Roman nut stomp, the first scientific wrestling move of the whole match so far. He goes out and gets a chair. And a table. He sets the table up in the corner. Holly comes up with a dropkick. Big delayed falcon arrow for a long 2. Holly argues with the ref and Snow hits the Snow Plow for 2. Chair to Holly's gut. Corner whip reversals avoiding the table. Snow goes for Head but Holly holds him back by the hair. Snow gets free and grabs her. Holly ducks the Head shot and DDTs Snow onto the chair for another long 2. He goes to reposition the table. One of the table's legs has come off so he does the best he can. Snow slips out of a slam and powerbombs Holly through the table! Despite the broken leg that went fine. Snow gets the pin. Another fun all arena plunder brawl, but the last part of the match after they got back in the ring really drug. I get they were going for selling the match's damage, but it was a bit overdone. **1/2

 

Back to Cole with Brisco and Patterson. They confirm an ambulance is on the way for Vince, and Patterson says he knows it's a broken ankle.

On the Network copy there's a huge edit here. In the original broadcast it goes into a hype video for the next scheduled match: the Godfather defending the Intercontinental title against the Blue Blazer, who we all know is Owen Hart. Owen was supposed to have a "superhero like" entrance coming down from the rafters in keeping with his Blazer character, which at this point was Owen being delusional that he really was a real superhero. Tragically, as the hype video was playing something went wrong with the harness and Owen fell 70 feet straight down into the ring. The broadcast comes back to nothing but shots of the crowd and JR, who lets everyone know what happened and makes sure to point that this is not part of an angle and is "as real as real gets". Lawler jumped out of the booth as soon as it happened to try to help. After a bit he comes back to the booth and simply says "it doesn't look good". JR says they're not showing any footage of what's happening in the ring on TV because they don't want to sensationalize what's happening and to make sure no one gets the wrong idea about this being a real accident. He narrates Owen being given CPR, then being carried out on a stretcher to subdued crowd cheers and an "Owen" chant. He then says we're going to go ahead and go into our next match, which is the mixed tag match.

 

From here on out this review is going to be simply just the basic facts of what happened. I'm not going to make any critical judgments about performances on the night, give star ratings, or rate the whole show because it's not fair to the wrestlers that were forced to continue working after the accident to try to judge their performances when they were very understandably elsewhere mentally and emotionally. I might make some comments about longer term story arc stuff, but that will be it.

 

Mixed Tag Match: Val Venus & Nicole Bass def Jeff Jarrett & WWF Women's Champion Debra in 6:07- I think we can all agree this likely would have sucked no matter what the circumstances. This is another of those crazy "love quadrangle" angles that Russo loved, most of which involved Venus. I won't get into the details but you can probably guess most of it. Debra's got a t-shirt with two puppies on the front now. The guys work some back and forth for a bit before the women tag in. Debra's trying to wrestle in platform shoes. That's REALLY not going to work. Her bit with Bass is as bad as you'd expect. I know, no judgements considering what's just happened but I feel safe saying it because it'd be awful anyway. After the guys tag back in Bass pulls Jarrett off a pin and poses for the crowd. Debra hits her from behind with the guitar. Bass no sells it and tears Debra's shirt off. Jarrett loads up the guitar but Venus hits him with a back suplex. Money Shot and it's over. After the bell Bass plants one on Venus, who sells it as much as he sold anything in the match, but afterward he looks into it. This would be Bass' last WWF match.

Back to the back and Vince is being loaded onto an ambulance. Shane is SO SHOCKED at what's happened. He promises to be an impartial solo guest ref tonight.

 

"Bad Ass" Billy Gunn def Road Dogg in 11:14- The New Age Outlaws exploding is an inevitable step in Gunn's heel singles push, and it's a shame it had to be on this show after what's happened even if said singles push crashed and burned soon after. Gunn grabs Dogg and drags him to the floor during his entrance, then they get right back in the ring. After some Gunn beating Dogg comes back and 360 clotheslines him to the floor. Brawl up and down the aisle. Back in the ring Gunn begs off, then uses momentum to toss Dogg over the top to trigger a bit more floor brawling. Delayed jackhammer from Gunn in the ring. The next section of the match is largely Gunn hits a couple of power moves to restold to Dogg's comeback is cut off rinse and repeat. After an almost real Dogg comeback flurry Gunn steals the ring bell hammer and nails Dogg with it. Cover for 2. Dogg counters a Stinger splash by punching Gunn out of midair. Gunn clotheslines Dogg with some tape, hits the fameasser, pulls tights for good measure and gets the 3 count.

 

Elimination Match: The Union def The Corporate Ministry in 14:58- Survivor Series comes to May. The Union was a very short lived Mankind led face stable of former Corporation/Ministry/Corporate Ministry members. In tonight's match it's Mankind, Ken Shamrock, Test and the Big Show against the Big Boss Man, Viscera and the Acolytes for the CM. No one on the Ministry team looks happy to be out there. Viscera squashes Test around at the start with the CM team getting some near falls on him. Test knocks Bradshaw out of the ring, and that only pisses Bradshaw off. Test keeps going on his own, not even trying to tag anyone. He hits an elbow off the top rope. Faarooq distracts, Bradshaw hits the Clothesline from Hell, and Test is gone. Shamrock comes in fists flying. Bradshaw goes for the Clothesline from Hell again. Shamrock ducks and tries to twist into an armbreaker. Faarooq makes the save. Hurricanrana on Bradshaw. The ankle lock is on and Bradshaw taps. Shamrock tries a spinning armbreaker on Viscera that unshockingly goes nowhere. Faarooq comes in and Shamrock strings some moves together on him, then gets the ankle lock on. Boss Man pulls Faarooq to the ropes. Shamrock refuses to break, then dips into the old playbook and belly to belly suplexes ref Mike Chioda. Backup ref Teddy Long runs in and tosses Shamrock out. Show chokeslams Faarooq and that takes care of him. This is in a short period where they were calling Show's chokeslam the "Showstopper". That obviously wouldn't last. Boss Man cautiously gets into it with Show. Show clotheslines him and shoulderblocks him out of the ring. Boss Man tries to walk. Show chases and runs him back in. The beating from Show continues until a Boss Man low blow. A CM double team gets Show down. Show gets a big boot on Boss Man but Viscera breaks up the chokeslam. Everyone's in. Show body slams Viscera, then they fight all the way up the aisle until they go through the stage and are missing presumed counted out. Boss Man beats on Mankind for a bit until Mankind hits the double underhook DDT. Socko, Claw, Long calls it and Mankind is the unofficial sole survivor.

There's another edit here on the Network copy, because this is the point where JR has to make what I'm sure was the most difficult announcement of his career: Owen Hart has died due to the injuries sustained from the earlier accident.

There's been a lot of second guessing over the years of whether or not the show should have been stopped at this point, or even earlier right after the accident occurred. Popular opinion in the aftermath was that it should have been stopped and Vince is a heartless bastard for carrying on. I get that sentiment, but at the same time from a business perspective the best choice was probably for them to get through it as best they could without having to worry about refunds, fallout from the cable companies for cutting the show short, etc. We can debate it all day, but the fact is the show did carry on. I think we can all agree that, given time to prepare, the next night on Raw was handled much better. The show was renamed "Raw is Owen" for one night, the entire broadcast was in tribute to Owen with no long term angle work, and all matches were volunteer only wrestlers.

Back to the show. Next up is a recap of the renewal of the Rock/Triple H rivalry. They had an extended feud over the IC title the previous year that elevated both wrestlers, and almost immediately after Rock was in the main event as WWF Champion. Now they're hoping getting him back with Rock will get Triple H to the same place. Since Backlash Rock has also had his long awaited full face turn, a role he'll stay in until his heel "Hollywood Rock" run in 2003. During the build for this HHH (kayfabe) broke Rock's arm and he's been sporting a cast since. We cut to promo time with the Rock. Chyna and HHH ambush him! HHH starts to cut Rock's cast off. Mankind comes in to try to make the save. HHH and Chyna take him out too, then leave for their entrance.

 

The Rock def Triple H (w/Chyna) by DQ in 11:41- HHH wants a forfeit. While he's arguing with Hebner about it Rock's music hits. Rock charges in, cast and all, and pounds away. HHH gets tossed over the top and we have the usual floor brawling with Rock mostly staying in control. HHH gets draped over the Spanish announce table. While he's there Rock takes Savinovitch's headset and provides some Rock-style Spanish commentary. "Kicky your monkey assy". HHH runs Rock's cast into the English table, causing it to come off, then he nails Rock with it. Back in HHH does some stuff. He's still getting comfortable with his heel offense I think. Rock gets a Samoan drop for 2. Speed run and HHH hits the high knee for 2. They go back to the floor and Chyna attacks Rock's bad arm. Double clothesline on the floor. Rock hits a DDT in the ring. HHH gives Rock and arm slam on the bad arm and really starts picking it apart. Rock's comeback ends with him getting tossed over the top and we go knocking around ringside again. After a bit of a rough patch in the ring Rock hooks up for the Rock Bottom, but his bad arm won't let him hit it. HHH counters into a DDT. Chyna hands HHH a chair. Hebner takes it away. HHH doesn't like that and Hebner, as usual, gives it right back to him with lots of chest poking. HHH punches Hebner out! Half conscious Hebner must be thinking "Flair never did that to Tommy Young". Then he calls for the bell, DQing Trips. Rock gets the chair and waffles HHH in the head with it. And now Rock punches Hebner out for good measure. HHH is busted open. They go around ringside again. Chyna tries to get involved and goes down. Rock Bottom! Guess the broken arm is fine now. Rock sets up for a chair assisted People's Elbow. Chyna trips him and HHH gives him a chairshot. Chair to the arm. Mankind runs out and runs the heels off to make the save.

Next up is the recap of another long '98 feud being renewed, Undertaker and Austin. After Taker kidnapped Steph at Backlash (WHERE TO, STEPHANIE?!) it was Austin that saved her despite his loathing for the McMahons in general. After that the Corporate Ministry officially formed, with Shane taking credit as the orchestrator of the plot to kidnap his own sister and have her ritually sacrificed or married off to Taker or whatever the hell it was they were going to do with her. Shane ordered Austin to defend the title at this PPV against Taker with himself as guest ref. Commissioner Shawn Michaels stepped in and made Vince co-guest ref to try to keep things balanced, hence the attack earlier tonight. They're also repeating the same rule as previous Shane reffed matches that if Austin puts his hands on Shane he loses the title.

 

WWF Championship: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) in 22:58- Shane is the first to come out. He's followed by Pat Patterson in a ref shirt! The assumption is Patterson is replacing Vince and Shane is none too pleased about it. Taker makes his entrance, and after a lot of work to get his robe undone he chokeslams Patterson! Well that's that problem taken care off. Glass shatter, vest off, and here we go. Taker gets the early edge until Austin snaps him over the top rope, then goes UP TO THE TOP ROPE and hits a clothesline for 2! Man, Austin off the top. Unheard of. Shane did count that fair. Mudhole stomp with Shane trying to break it up and Austin letting him know he's #1 with both hands. Finally Shane pulls Austin back and Taker attacks from behind. Both guys do some knee work with Austin being generally more effective. Bearer takes a punch in there. Taker uses that distraction and we have our mandatory in crowd brawl. After some more ringside brawling Austin goes for the Thesz press in the ring. Taker blocks it! That's also unheard of. Bearer hits Austin with his shoe! Who uses a shoe, honestly? Now for the mandatory aisle brawl to the stage brawl. Austin dodges and Taker punches out one of the church-like stained glass windows decorating the stage. Austin then puts Taker through another one. They continue brawling around the stage for a while not doing anything terribly interesting. Back in the ring Taker is in control until Austin low blows him and hits an elbow off the second rope. Taker is down but Shane refuses to count 3. What a shock. Austin corners Shane, going as far as you possibly can without putting hands on him. Taker comes in with a chair but Austin cuts it off. He whips Taker into Shane and Shane goes down. Chairshot on Taker! Cover. Brisco comes in to count. Taker kicks out! Big boot from Taker on Austin, then he takes Brisco out. Flying clothesline. Here comes Vince, limping his way to the ring. Taker counters the Stunner and double clothesline. Vince counts them down. Double situp. Slugfest. Stunner! Shane pulls Vince up before he can count 3! Austin gets in Vince's face, understandably thinking Vince has screwed him again. Shane shoves Vince into Austin, Taker rolls Austin up, and Shane fast counts 3! Taker wins the title!

You think this whole angle is silly? Folks, you haven't seen the half of it. It's just after this PPV on Raw when the Ministry's long teased "higher power" is finally revealed.

So again, not going to have any kind of grade or anything on this show. One last thing I will say is, echoing what many have said before me over the years, JR and Lawler did an incredible job holding this whole thing together from commentary. Consummate professionalism.

 

Spring Stampede '97

Legacy Review

Spring Stampede '97

April 6, 1997 from the Tupelo Coliseum in Tupelo, MS

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

To fill the final remaining gap in the monthly PPV schedule WCW is bringing back the Spring Stampede name, which had its first and to date only appearance in '94. The stage is a big western town set, with pyro all over it. Yup, every entrance they blow up the town. The big story from commentary at the top of the show is that Scott Hall has been absent for THREE WEEKS. I want to say it was some kind of drug or other suspension, but the thought of WCW suspending any of their top guys for anything is just plain comical. Inmates running the asylum. More likely it was a minor injury. Kevin Nash has been ordered by the championship committee to defend the tag titles by himself against the Steiners. Nash is supposed to get some TV time before his match to state his case or make demands or something, it's not very clear.

Rey Mysterio Jr def Ultimo Dragon in 14:55- Syxx isn't much interested in defending the Cruiserweight title so we're getting non-title cruiserweight openers instead. Commentary wonders why Sonny Oono isn't with Dragon like usual. They speculate it's because of the women's title match later but never get a definitive answer. Mike Tenay joins the booth for this one. Dragon flat tosses Mysterio down like he weighed nothing out of a waistlock, then mostly dominates the mat wrestling opening thanks to his size advantage. After a stalemate reset Dragon hits a kick combo. Big dropkick and Dragon works into some arm work. He tiltawhirls Mysterio, spins him on his shoulders, then drops him in a crucifix backbreaker. Powerbomb into a hot shot. Dragon hooks on a sleeper. HUGE Liger bomb from Dragon! Leaping tombstone. Mysterio doesn't know what continent he's on at this point. Dragon pulls him up out of a pin! Bold strategery, Cotton. Another sleeper from Dragon. Mysterio gets free, hits the ropes, and hits a spinning heel kick. Dragon responds with a clothesline and some stiff kicks to Mysterio's back. Heenan even shuts commentary up to hear the pop. After a front suplex Dragon hooks on a Mutalock, then a surfboard. They go to the floor and Dragon gets whipped into the barricade. Back in he gets the sleeper on again. Mysterio counters with his own sleeper. Dragon tries to back suplex out but Mysterio flips out of it, hits a shotgun dropkick and a spinning heel kick that sends Dragon to the floor. When Mysterio does his 619 dive tease he accidentally kicks the camera that's on the apron level platform. That's expensive equipment. Mysterio springboard somersault plancha to the floor! We cut to Lee Marshall at the NWO locker room because this absolutely, positively couldn't wait until after the match. He knocks and asks for Nash, Syxx opens the door, tells him to piss off, and slams it back shut. Yeah, that was really worth it. Mysterio hits a springboard legdrop for 2. Both guys dodge crossbodys. Mysterio goes up top. Dragon dropkicks him down to the floor! Plancha from Dragon. Back in Mysterio goes for a springboard moonsault. Dragon dropkicks him in midair! Giant swing from Dragon! That makes him loopy and both guys are down. Both go for leaping kicks and flop down again. Mysterio gets a hurricanrana with a cradle for 2. Dragon reverses the cradle for 2. Dragon enzuguri for 2. Corner clothesline. Hurricanrana off the top. Cover but Mysterio gets a foot on the rope. Dragon goes for the tiger suplex. Mysterio knows what's coming and quickly ties himself in the ropes. More cradle counters for near falls. Mysterio hits a springboard hurricanrana, cradles again, and gets the pin! Really good closing stretch there, but not quite enough to hit the upper echelon. ***3/4

We go once again to Marshall in the back. He knocks on the NWO locker room door again, and again Syxx answers. I have the strangest feeling of deja vu. The Steiners show up in the hallway, held back by a bevy of security. Nash pokes his head out of the door and says he wants Nick Patrick. I assume to ref his match, but hey, if he's demanding Patrick be delivered to the locker room I'm not going to ask what they're doing in there. Then he spits on Scott. Scott goes nuts and security maces him! The police get him down and start handcuffing him. Not going to lie, that was pretty funny.

 

WCW Women's Championship: Akira Hokuto (c) (w/Sonny Oono) def Madusa in 5:13- Hey, the women's title still exists! This is its first appearance on a major show since Hokuto won it at Starrcade. And no surprise the only two full time women on the roster are wrestling for it. Hokuto gets riled up by USA chants from the crowd, then quickly grabs Medusa's hair for the Women's Hair Toss of Death. Medusa dodges in the corner and hits a flurry of jabs. Clothesline from Hokuto. She chokes Medusa and ignores the ref, then hangs Medusa in the corner with a chinlock. Slam and Medusa does her bridge up escape. Slingblades. She flips Hokuto off the top rope. All the usual Medusa spots. Hokuto bites Medusa's leg! Well that's one way. Oono gets some shots in with Medusa kicking him away. Hokuto does a fireman's carry. Medusa rolls her up out of that for 2. Shotgun dropkicks off the second rope. German suplex for a questionable 2. I think the ref was supposed to stop counting for Oono on the apron but didn't. Medusa kicks Oono in the head. While the ref is messing with him Luna Vachon (hey, there is another woman in the roster!) runs in, kicks Medusa's leg out of her leg, and Hokato pins her. 1/2*

 

WCW World Television Championship: Prince Iaukea (c) def Lord Steven Regal in 10:01- Three straight PPVs with Iaukea as champion. Can't say they haven't given him a fair shot. This is Regal finally getting his rematch after losing the title to Iaukea. Regal messes with the crowd a while before eventually locking up. Eye poke from Regal in the corner. Iaukea chops him and Regal backs off. He stalls some more, going all the way out to the floor to jaw with the crowd. Tony gets a note- Scott Steiner has been arrested! Apparently he hit one of the cops in the melee. There is now officially going to be a singles match for the tag titles later tonight. Regal does some arm work. Iaukea drops an elbow in Regal's back with a crazy sell from Regal. Now commentary's plugging Dennis Rodman's new movie. And they're talking about Scott and the tag titles again. Iaukea crossbody for 2. More Regal stalling. They lock up a test of strength with a Regal bridge. Kip up, he kicks his hand free and eye pokes Iaukea again. Clubbing blows from Regal into a full nelson. Iaukea takes two tries at a sunset flip. Huge nasty looking European uppercuts from Regal. Starting to wonder if there's not some stiffing lessons for the kid going on here. Iaukea chops back and Regal begs off. Regal does an absolutely awesome casual FU step away from an Iaukea crossbody, then pounds away with some more stiff looking forearms. Iaukea comes back with a backdrop, dropkick and superkick. They do a crazy run of counter and counter counters ending with Iaukea getting a cradle for the pin. After the bell a pissed Regal attacks and puts on the Regal stretch. Regal did the best he could to carry the kid. Commentary spent 15% of the time of this match actually calling the match, and the other 85% talking about other things. **

Thankfully the Iaukea experiment would end the next night on Nitro, when Ultimo Dragon defeated him for the TV title.

Mean Gene is out for tonight's hotline shill, the "emergence of a new clique backstage". Or is that Kliq? I can't think of what he might be talking about. After that he brings out Ric Flair, freshly returned from injury, to a huge pop. Flair announces that his first match back will be May 1, verbally backs up the struggling and infighting Horsemen, and announces that Kevin Greene has been given permission by the Panthers to wrestle in WCW, which he will in Charlotte on May 18 with the Horsemen against the NWO (which is the next PPV, Slamboree). In closing Flair also mentions he wants a piece of Bischoff before he's done.

 

Public Enemy def Jeff Jarrett & Steve "Mongo" McMichael (w/Debra) in 10:42- Mongo and Jarrett are still having issues over Debra but are trying to work through them now Jarrett is a full Horseman. Rock and Mongo start with some piefacing, shoving, and stalling. Jarrett hits Rock from the apron, Mongo hits chop blocks and PE take a powder. Mongo struts with Jarrett. Both sides swap. Jarrett gets an abdominal stretch on Grunge, with assistance from Mongo. Part of the problem with all this is neither team knows if their the faces or heels, and worse seem to switch more than once midmatch. Grunge hits a shoulderblock and pops Jarrett as he's midair in a leapfrog. Mongo does some very obvious positioning and Jarrett gets atomic dropped into him. A frustrated Jarrett takes a bit of a walk, then decides to come back. The Horsemen hit a double back elbow on Rock, flashing some teamwork. Side suplex from Mongo. He back elbows Grunge on the apron, causing the ref to hold him back from getting in, then covers Rock and wonders why there's no ref. After a tiltawhirl slam Grunge breaks a pin up, Jarrett launches himself into him and we go split screen (AKA Double Trouble Bash at the Beach Bubble copyright Dusty Rhodes) for the donniest of donnybrooks on the floor. Mongo and Rock go up the aisle into the western town stage, taking a shot on a covered wagon and tipping a couple of fake cows. Grunge goes after Debra, leaving himself open for a Jarrett chairshot. Jarrett gets set up on the table, but dodges and Grunge goes through it. Everyone wanders back in and Jarrett hits a crossbody for 2. Debra trips Rock and Mongo pounds away on PE. Blind tag to Jarrett and he goes through a hot tag like run. While that's going on Rock gets the Halliburton of Instant Death +4 from where Debra left in unattended. Jarrett goes for the figure four on Grunge. Rock whacks him with the briefcase and Grunge gets the pin. Fugly. 3/4*

Booker T cuts the famous "Hulk Hogan, we comin' for you ni**a!" promo. Sherri thinks it's hilarious.

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) and Chris Benoit (w/Woman) no contest in 17:53- Now this has potential. Cautious start into a very rough lockup. Headlock/headscissors exchanges into an armdrag exchange into Benoit tossing Malenko out, following, both guys back in and nose to nose staredown. Completely nonstop. Malenko does some leg work. Big shoulderblock from Benoit and Malenko rolls out. Back in they swap arm wringers. Benoit maneuvers around into a top wristlock. Malenko slams free. Test of strength. Benoit holds his bridge no matter how much Malenko tries to knock him down. Benoit works free into some butterfly like holds. Malenko counters with a back suplex. Flash small package for 2. HUGE chops from Benoit. Crowd gasping loud. Malenko responds with forearms. After some more caution Malenko gets a drop toe hold into a crossface, then camel clutch. Speed run and Malenko hits a hiptoss into a short arm scissors. Benoit deadlifts and drops him, British Bulldog style. Back suplex for 2. Short clothesline for 2. Benoit hooks on an abdominal stretch. It goes all the way to arm drops before Malenko hiptosses out. Benoit stays on the attack. Neckbreaker for 2. Snap release suplex. Slugfest in the corner. Malenko hits a short clothesline. Benoit flips out of a suplex and hits a reverse suplex! Jacqueline makes her way down. She immediately attacks Woman without breaking stride. Now Jimmy Hart is out. Benoit hits the headbutt off the top rope but we're barely being shown any of the match anymore. Hart has the US belt. Now Eddie Guerrero is out in a sling. Malenko suplexes Benoit out of the ring to the floor! That's about the only thing that's going to get TV's attention now. Arn Anderson joins the party and takes Malenko out. Now it's Kevin Sullivan's turn. Arn seems to let him by, then he whacks Benoit in the head with a kendo stick. The ref's had enough and throws the whole match out. Sullivan and his crew grab Guerrero, put the US belt on him, and leave. Oh great, another "the title belt is stolen" angle. That hasn't been run into the ground the last few months. Malenko and Benoit call a truce with Malenko questioning an unknown someone's being there and commentary is rife with conspiracy theories. Which, I think, were all quickly forgotten. There's no way these two could have a bad match, but with all the overbooking that was probably their floor. ***

 

Singles Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: Kevin Nash (c) (w/Syxx and Ted DiBiase) def Rick Steiner in 10:20- Nash gets his wish as Nick Patrick comes out with the NWO crew to ref this match. Slugfest start with Nash quickly getting in control, hitting his corner elbows and knees. Rick gets a boot up in the corner and hits a Steinerline. Belly to belly suplex with Nash almost falling onto the bottom rope. Powerslam for 2. Syxx pulls the top rope down and Rick tumbles to the floor. Syxx gets some shots in. Side suplex from Nash for 2. Now DiBiase punches Rick. Nash hits a big boot, calls for the jackknife, and hits it. Rick kicks out! Nash is annoyed with Patrick but Patrick can't do anything. Rick hits a low blow! Patrick lets it go even though he clearly saw it. The bulldog off the top hits. Rick takes his time on the cover and Nash kicks out. Commentary swears up and down that was a 3 count and it's all Patrick's fault, but Nash clearly kicked out in time. After a trio of Steinerlines Syxx kicks Rick from the apron. Rick knock him back down. Nash comes in with a clothesline. Syxx starts working to get a top turnbuckle pad taken off. This is a bit more of a job in WCW. They're not just tied on, they're ziptied. He's cutting away but not making very much progress as the whole match stops to wait for him. Finally DiBiase hops up to help out and they finally get the job done. That was like watching a high school freshman trying to take off a bra. Nash drops Rick on the exposed buckle with snake eyes. Twice. DiBiase gets on the apron. Nash gets annoyed and says "I'll tell you when it's enough". Clearly DiBiase says pin him and be done with it. A third snake eyes. DiBiase gets in the ring, then walks out and keeps going all the way out of the arena. Fourth snake eyes. Nash poses for a bit, hits another jackknife because why not he's already dead, and finally gets the pin. Patrick hesitated on the count and needed encouragement from Nash to finish, then Patrick also walks off disgusted. I get what they were going for with creating some more dissension in the NWO, but the match was little more than an extended squash, and a very lazily worked one at that. I hope Nash's ego was sufficiently stroked because it didn't accomplish much else. DUD

 

Four Corners Match to be #1 Contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "The Total Package" Lex Luger def The Giant, Stevie Ray and Booker T in 18:18- This is a weird one. In what I think is a first for WCW it's a one fall four way match rather than elimination, but it's presented more as team vs team than 4 individuals wrestling. It's also two men legal and you have to tag in and out rules. Having Harlem Heat in doesn't help much as no one takes them as a serious threat for a world title shot. Luger and Booker start with some basics. Luger ducks a hook kick, hits a clothesline and a press slam. Heat do some double teaming on Luger. Giant helps Luger with a shot on Ray from the apron, then tags in. Ray pounds away on Giant and gets some traction. Giant reverses a whip and hits a corner clothesline. After another clothesline Ray powders. Booker runs in, gets press slammed, and also rolls out. The brothers start arguing with each other on the floor, with Sherri in the middle trying to make peace. Ray gets in the ring and tags Luger in. Giant and Luger think for a minute but lock up with little hesitation. Luger tries for a slam and fails. Both guys tag Heat in! The crowd loves it. Heat less so. They do some light shoving, then lock up. Hammerlock exchange. Booker ducks a clothesline, Ray loses his place and they stop for a second, then they have a speed run stalemate and give each other paw (watch Spaceballs for that reference). Booker tags Luger in. He and Ray slug it out back and forth. Booker hits a side suplex on Luger. Luger tags out to Giant. Clothesline on Booker. Big chop as the voice of future Michael Cole echoes back in time saying something about frying pans. Booker dodges an elbow drop and Heat swap without a tag. They give Giant some CHAOS style war drums in the corner. Ray gets in the general vicinity of Giant's head with a bicycle kick. Booker does a bit of work on Giant's knee, which is a smart move but it barely lasts 30 seconds. Giant dodges a Ray legdrop. Big boot and tag to Luger. Luger works Ray over until Ray tights pulls him into the corner. Luger back suplexes Booker. He calls for the Torture Rack. Ray comes in and suplexes him. Booker covers for 2. Heel kick for 2. Luger gets double team beat down in the corner and Ray hits a clothesline for 2. Luger fights out of a chinlock and back suplexes Ray. Booker cuts the tag off as this has pretty much become a straight tag match. Scissors kick. Giant breaks the pin up. Luger dodges the rocket launcher and tags. Giant powerslam on Ray. He kicks Booker over the top to the floor. The strap is down! Choke slam time!......No! Giant tells Luger to tag him! "Rack him!" Luger does and gets the win! What a good friend Giant is. It'd take a while but Luger would cash in his title shot in August and make it worthwhile. The match, again, was weird on so many levels. If it's possible for a match to have an identity crisis, this would be the one. It's getting increasingly clear who the superior wrestler is in Harlem Heat. Booker's still not close to the level he'd be at in a few years when he quietly became one of the best workers in the business in dying WCW, but you can see the potential. Ray, on the other hand, was constantly mistiming and out of position throughout this match. **1/4

Savage and Elizabeth get a walk and talk through the back before his entrance. Savage says he's going to invite "14 or 22" women to the victory party. DDP gets some promo time before his entrance. Sadly so does Kimberly, who can barely get through two words without stumbling over herself.

 

No DQ: Diamond Dallas Page (w/Kimberly) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) in 15:38- DDP was the hottest thing in the company not named Sting thanks to his anti-NWO face turn. Savage and Elizabeth also became red hot once they reunited as heels in the NWO (imagine a Savage led NWO and how great that could have been, but no Hogan always had to be the focal point). The two were thrown together and it instantly became WCW's hottest active feud. I stress active because Hogan/Sting wasn't really *active* yet, more percolating. Everyone's clearly raring to go but Buffer has to stop everything to get his shtick in. Best ring announcer ever at getting himself over. Savage takes his sweet time getting in the ring. When he does DDP charges and Savage bails. DDP chases him down and it's on in the aisle. Savage tries to escape through the ring but DDP drags him back in. He does some kind of ugly drop that I don't know what it was supposed to be. He goes for the Diamond Cutter early. Savage grabs a rope to block it. DDP gets snapped over the top rope. Kimberly tries to help but Savage charges past her and knocks DDP over the barricade. Crowd brawl! Well it is the late '90s. They go all the way back to the exit. Savage gets a trash can, with legit trash leaking on the floor. DDP blocks it and nails Savage with it. Back through the crowd. Savage hides behind Kimberly! Elizabeth back rakes DDP, giving Savage an opening to waffle him. Rail shots for DDP. Savage double ax handle off the top against the guardrail. DDP takes stair shots. Back in Savage tries a leverage pin for 2. When that doesn't work it's chair time. Move it, Buffer. Heenan says "Nail Buffer!". I'm not opposed. Savage gives DDP a chairshot to the back. The ref takes the chair away. Well, time to get another one. This time he wants Penzer's. Penzer won't get up, so Savage drags him up and slaps him! And stomps him on the way by! Fantastic. DDP gets the chair and nails Savage with it! Slugfest in the corner with DDP starting to get the upper hand. HUGE Savage clothesline for 2. He grabs a DDP kick. DDP spins around to hit a clothesline. Savage's physical limitations start to show as he can't do much more than hit a trio of bodyslams. He hops out again and takes a ring bell. The "spare" bell according to Tony, the one they always have at ringside. I'm not buying it. He goes up top. Kimberly takes the bell away! Savage says what the hell, stays on top and goes for the elbow. DDP gets his boots up! He goes for the Cutter. Savage counters into a backslide position, and gives DDP a low blow. Cover for 2. Savage slaps the ref! Piledriver on the ref! He rips the ref's shirt off, pulls off his belt, whips him and tosses him out of the ring. He goes up top again and the elbow hits! No ref. Here comes Nick Patrick. Nash is also up at the stage area watching. Savage goes for another slam. DDP twists into the Cutter! Patrick counts 3 and it's over! A good start, and it'll get better. Savage is clearly much more limited in the ring than his peak years but working with DDP, who's improved immensely in the ring, has him as motivated as he's been his whole WCW run. ***1/4

Nash comes into the ring, pissed at Patrick. Savage is also none too pleased. The whole NWO in attendance (no Hogan, he doesn't show up for B PPVs) led by Bischoff come out. Patrick gets his ceremonial dismissal from the NWO. Savage grabs Kimberly! He goes to slap her but Bischoff stops him! Even for him that's one step too far. Savage and Bischoff get into it! The whole NWO charges in to break it up as we go to commentary to vamp for the last few minutes. Guess they were running short.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Given the show's western theme it's very appropriate to call this The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as it ran the whole gamut. Even if it's not the best match on the card Savage/DDP is worth watching if you're going through all the steps of WCW's last great feud.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-

No Mercy '99 (UK)

Legacy Review

No Mercy '99 (UK)

May 16, 1999 from the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The WWF's UK only PPVs the past two years had been a success, at least from a business standpoint, so they expanded to hold two a year starting in '99. The No Mercy name would be used again later in the year for the regular October PPV. Major developments since Backlash: Vince is still more worried about keeping Steph safe from the Ministry of Darkness than running the company, so Shane McMahon has used his power to merge the Corporation with the Ministry to form the obviously named Corporate Ministry. The identity of the "hower higher power" is still yet to be revealed. This was all done, by the way, on the initial pilot episode of Smackdown, the test pilot before the full new series started in the fall.

Unlike UK PPVs past this one has a PPV type stage. The show opens with Shane and the whole Corporate Ministry coming out to the ring. The mash up of No Chance in Hell and the Ministry's original music is....something. Shane gets booed out trying to start his promo. Not Dom Mysterio booed out but not far off. I laugh my ass off at Dom getting booed out every single time. Never gets old. Shane drops the show name a whole bunch of times. There's an "asshole" chant, or more likely "arsehole" seeing as we're in England. Shane unbuttons his jacket to reveal he's wearing the "retired" European title belt. That's right, for one night only the European title is back and Shane will be defending it. Shane also makes the triple threat main event that's already basically a 2 on 1 against Austin a No Holds Barred match, which JR acts like is an egregious sin but is basically what triple threat matches would turn out to be normally. The whole gang leaves the ring after only Shane talked. Everyone else came out only to stand around, and it showed in their body language.

Tiger Ali Singh def Gillberg in 1:04- Once again, it must be in some contract somewhere that Singh has to appear on the UK PPVs. At least they're getting him out of the way first. Gillberg was officially the Light Heavyweight champion, but the title was in limbo at this point, not being featured or defended on TV. Singh does his usual prematch promo. It's bland generic guff as always, but he does drop a botched gem saying he's "more richer" than anyone in the crowd. Clearly not superior in grammar. Guess the odds are in his favorite. There's a Legacy Review deep cut for you. Gillberg gets the full entrance presentation. Security knock on door. Long walk to the ring with piped in chants. JR says "He's gonna blow a gasket just walking to the ring". Sparklers, weak pyro and fire extinguisher. I love it. I've never been a Goldberg fan so I'm definitely the target audience to enjoy Gillberg's stuff. Gillberg's got the Light Heavyweight belt on but he's not announced as champion. JR mentions it in passing. Singh tries to jump but Gillberg ducks him and lays in the punches of pure power. Singh press slams him but misses an elbow drop. Slam from Gillberg. SPEAR! The greatest spear ever. But instead of covering he celebrates. Singh kicks his knee from behind, hits a Rude Awakening neckbreaker, and gets the pin. Thankfully they also kept the Singh match short. 1/4* for Gillberg being Gillberg

 

The Corporate Ministry def The Brood in 13:47- This is mostly a rematch from Backlash, but with Viscera teaming with the Acolytes on the Ministry team instead of Mideon. Gangrel and Viscera start with Viscera no selling everything. He catches a Gangrel crossbody and slams him. Gangrel dodges an avalanche. He stupidly tries to suplex Viscera. Not happening. After hitting the suplex Viscera tries a legdrop but Gangrel dodges, and follows with a basement dropkick. Tag to Edge and both guys rain down elbows on Viscera like a carpet bombing run. Viscera uses Big Man Logic to push Edge into his corner. Christian distracts Bradshaw and Edge hits a dropkick. Off an Edge drop toe hold Christian hits an ugly bulldog. Spinning heel kick on Faarooq. Edge runs into the spinebuster for 2. On the floor Bradshaw posts him. The heels quick tag as Edge goes in peril. Edge gets a DDT on Faarooq and tags Christian. Christian works Bradshaw over until leaping into a fallaway slam. After some hard corner whips Bradshaw hooks on a bear hug. Christian fights out pretty quickly but Bradshaw puts him down again with a big boot for 2. Viscera hits a side suplex. Christian tries a crucifix on him and that's also not happening. He gets a faceplant on Faarooq but the tag is cut off. Bradshaw hits a powerslam. Edge keeps running in to break up pins. He argues with the ref and Christian gets choked in the corner. He gets a flash small package on Faarooq for 2. Shane and Mideon come out but stay in the entrance area. Edge helps Christian fight off a Bradshaw superplex. Christian hits a tornado DDT and gets the tag to Gangrel. Bradshaw and Gangrel have a tough time getting on the same page. DONNYBROOK! Christian hits a frog splash for 2. Brood double DDT for 2. Shane sends Mideon in. He DDTs Gangrel on the floor, rolls him in, Bradshaw hits the Clothesline from Hell (off camera, thanks JR), and that gets the pin. Like Backlash it's mostly OK. The end run felt a bit sloppy but I think that was more from uncharacteristically bad camera work than anything else. Edge and Christian are starting to show some serious tag team chemistry. Might be a good idea to let them loose there. On the other had you could be forgiven if you forgot Gangrel was in the match at all. **1/4

 

Steve Blackman def Droz in 7:50- This is post-LOD heel Droz in his silly hat. He and Buff Bagwell must have shopped at the same silly hat shop. Both guys do some house show style posing after the bell. Lockup! OK, I love this match now. Droz goes right to the heel 101 eye poke, then stomps and chokes. Back elbow and suplex for 1. Blackman ducks a crazy dive that I'm not sure what it was and hits a kick combo. Off a whip Droz grabs a rope to stop and bails. While he's jawing with the crowd Blackman baseball slides him from behind. Standing dropkick on the floor. Back in Blackman hits a backbreaker. Droz hits a back elbow in the corner and we have a weak slugfest. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline combo from Droz, followed by more stompy choky stuff. Blackman dodges an avalanche. Droz dodges an elbow off the second rope. Blackman gets a roll up for 2. Northern lights suplex for 2. Droz hits a powerslam for 2. To the chinlock! After arm drops Droz does some more generic beatdown stuff, then tosses Blackman over the top to the floor. Elbow off the apron from Droz. Back in he comes off the second rope for....something. Blackman gets a boot up from a weird kneeling position, like a dog taking a piss. He hooks on a cross armbreaker and Droz taps. It's a Droz match, and no way in hell was Blackman good enough to carry him. 1/2*

Oh lord, it's a Beaver Cleavage vignette. Don't ask....OK, fine. So this is supposed to be a parody of Leave It To Beaver, but with Attitude Era edge. I guess this might have been another attempt at a swipe at Turner and all the '50's sitcoms TBS showed but I don't know for sure. Whatever it was supposed to be in theory, in practice it was horrific in every way possible. The whole idea was ditched before the character even debuted in the ring. Dropped faster than Emmalina.

Mankind comes out to the ring for a quick how do you do promo. He says he gave hometown boy the British Bulldog a call earlier. Wait, Bulldog? Yup. Bulldog was last seen having his back almost broken in WCW by the trap door set for the Ultimate Warrior to use for his big entrance at Fall Brawl '98. He was still on the mend, but would return to WWF later in the year. Anyway, what did Bulldog say to Foley? "Cactus, hang up the damn phone so I can get some sleep". Mankind says he forgot about the time difference. He then lays down some threats for his opponent tonight, Billy Gunn, topping it off by saying Billy's called Bad Ass, but "anyone that's seen Mankind in the shower" knows what a bad ass really is. Pretty pointless overall, but Foley's always good for a funny line or two.

 

Kane def Mideon by DQ in 4:35- Kane is still one half of the tag champs with X-Pac, who is becoming the first person in Kane's life that's trying to show him how to live like a human being instead of a monster. An opening punch from Mideon is no sold. He tries to run but Kane pulls him down by the hair. Big boot. Slam and legdrop. Mideon dodges in the corner and Kane posts his shoulder. Mideon does what little he can trying to work on it. Kane counters with his own arm twist into a short clothesline. Mideon dodges an elbow drop. More dull offense with Mideon giving some lip service to working the hurt shoulder but little more. Kane starts no selling and hits a throat punch. Clothesline off the top. Chokeslam! The Corporate Ministry run out for the cheap DQ. They beat Kane down until Pac runs in to make the save. An unmotivated Kane, a shit finish, and Mideon. Bad combination. DUD

We get footage from the most recent Raw of the increasingly full of herself (both on camera and in real life) Sable being stripped of the women's title and it being awarded to Debra due to shenanigans in, what else it's Russo, an Evening Gown match. Sable makes her way in for tonight's match with Nicole Bass. After her usual shtick Sable claims that English weather has given her a chest cold. You can guess the jokes and there's plenty of them. She's not wrestling tonight under "doctor's orders". Think we need a proper commissioner like Nick Bockwinkel to double check whether that doctor's note is legit. Sable says Bass will be replacing her in tonight's match, then leaves before the match even starts. The coda to this, Sable kept on walking right out of the company. She was already arguing with WWF over various issues, and after she left those issues would turn into lawsuits and counter lawsuits before everything was settled and she returned in 2003.

 

Nicole Bass def Tori in :27- Bass seems less than pleased at Sable for either putting her in the match or leaving. I think. It's hard to tell, she's only got one expression. Tori tries to attack from behind and of course gets nothing. One chokeslam, a one foot pin and it's over. Squashy McSquasherness. With Sable gone from WWF Bass wouldn't last much longer herself. NR

 

WWF European Championship: Shane McMahon (c) def X-Pac in 8:27- This is a rematch from Wrestlemania. No shock to anyone jump start. Pac tosses Shane over the top to the floor, then sets off his pyro. Shane gets back in and immediately gets backdropped back to the floor. He decides to take a walk. He's cut off by Patterson and Brisco! For those not keeping track of Russo's constant turns, the former Stooges remained loyal to Vince and were subsequently fired from the Corporation by Shane. Patterson and Brisco beat Shane down, then Pac takes him out with a running clothesline. Back in Pac hits some legdrops and stalls as Chyna comes out and takes Patterson and Brisco out. Shane attacks Pac from behind. Chyna picks Pac up and runs him into the post. JR gushes over how Chyna can lift "a man like Pac". What, barely 150 pounds soaking wet Pac? Pac barely beats the count back in. Shane beats him down in the corner. Suplex. Elbow off the second rope for 2. Slaps fire Pac back up but Shane cuts him off with a back elbow. Pac back suplexes out of a chinlock and hits a couple of spinning heel kicks. Chyna gets on the apron. Pac ducks a charging Shane and Shane takes ref Mike Choida out. Chyna gives Pac a shot with the European title belt. Slow crawl from Shane and slow count (Hebner would be proud). Pac kicks out! Now Trips is coming out. Shane goes for "his" bronco buster but Pac dodges. X-Factor! Chyna knocks Chioda out before he can count. Pac gets Chyna down and takes Trips out. He goes for the brono buster on Chyna but she gets a boot up right in his ghoolies. Damn, I think that's the first low blow of the whole night. Almost unheard of in this era. Trips hits the Pedigree, Shane covers, and gets the win. Overbooked as hell, but you'd expect nothing less from this feud. Shane and Pac continue to work well together when left to their own devices with Shane continuing to look more than competent in the ring in small doses. **1/2

After the match Trips sets Pac up and Shane gives him the bronco buster. Kane comes out to return the save favor, carrying Pac all the way to the back. After that we cut to another Mankind promo backstage, where he's attacked by the Ministry side of the Corporate Ministry, who injure his knee. This was cover for a legitimate injury he was trying to work through before taking some time off soon after this.

 

"Bad Ass" Billy Gunn def Mankind in 11:27- Gunn's left what's left of DX and turned heel, but is also not officially affiliated with the Corporate Ministry like Trips, he's more a free agent. He's still saying "suck it". That's got to be some kind of trademark infringement. The crowd doesn't seem to care about him one way or the other, which is this whole failed singles push for him in a nutshell. Mankind no shows when his music hits and Gunn demands a forfeit. The music hits again and Mankind limps out. Gunn runs out to the aisle and it's on with Gunn taking a beatdown. They get back in the ring and the Mankind beatdown continues. He's clearly hobbled for real and is having a hard time moving. Gunn dropkicks the bad knee to turn things around. Some bland knee work follows. Gunn takes a clothesline on the floor. Mankind takes the lid off a cooler and whacks him with it. Gunn whips Mankind over the barricade and he splats on the concrete! Foley's still going for it no matter how hurt for real he is. Gunn gets backdropped back over the rail to ringside. Back in Gunn gets back on the knee. He wraps it around the post. Mankind uses that to pull Gunn into the post. Suplex on the floor. As Mankind's getting back in Gunn clips the knee and slaps on a figure four. Mankind slaps himself to fight it. Gunn gets some extra rope leverage. After a bit ref Teddy Long catches him and Mankind reverses. Gunn goes for the rope break. Right back on the knee. Mankind fires back with right hands. Corner running knee. He gets a chair. Long takes it away and Gunn kicks the bad knee again. Double underhook DDT! Socko is out! Claw! Gunn drops Mankind on the chair to get out. Piledriver on the chair! Mankind kicks out! But the bell rings. Someone over there screwed up, and it takes the crowd completely out of the real finish. Gunn hits the fameasser on the chair, covers and gets the win for real. Bell frak up aside they did the best they could with the condition Mankind was in. *3/4

 

No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match for the WWF Championship: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) def The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) and Triple H (w/Chyna) in 18:20- Trips has new music and the first elements of his Game entrance. We're slowly getting there. Austin takes the vest off as he's walking down the aisle, the other two meet him and we're not wasting any time. HHH gets slammed on the ramp. Taker gives Austin a shot with the belt. The next few minutes is a fairly typical late '90's brawl around the stage area with nothing major happening. HHH and Taker are clearly teaming up. Austin ducks a punch and HHH pops Taker. They finally get in the ring and Austin gives HHH a Thesz press. Taker gets Austin grounded again. Hebner gets run off as the double team continues. Austin gets knocked into the front row. HHH takes a suplex on the floor. Taker backdrops Austin in the aisle. The double teaming on Austin continues. Back in Austin pops out of the corner with a clothesline. A clothesline from Taker kills his momentum. HHH gets a chair but Hebner takes it away. Austin grabs the chair and it's chair shots for everyone! HHH's knee gets posted. A Taker uppercut puts Austin down again. Back in HHH and Taker have their first real argument over who gets to stomp Austin. Kind of a silly thing to break down over. Taker goozles HHH! Austin breaks it up and posts Taker's crotch. HHH gets knocked around the ringside area. Those wooden stairs just don't have the same sound as the steel ones. Taker gets Austin down again and hooks on a legbar. HHH breaks it up! He and Taker shove on the floor. Taker waits for HHH to turn his back and then hits him! I think that move is in the Pirate Code somewhere. Chyna and Bearer are even getting into it now. Austin snaps Taker over the top rope. HHH takes a couple of flips over the guardrail. Taker low blows Austin. He goes for the chokeslam. HHH breaks it up. Now Austin and HHH team up on Taker! Like two guys on some kind of power trip. HHH hits Austin with the facebuster. Taker scoops Austin for the Tombstone. Austin gets free. He goes for the Stunner but Taker pushes out, sending Austin right into HHH's waiting arms. He goes for the Pedigree. Austin counters, slingshotting HHH right into Taker. Goozle and chokeslam on HHH! Austin breaks the pin up. Kick wham Stunner on Taker! HHH breaks up the pin. Stunner for Trips! Shane and the whole Corporate Ministry run out. With no DQ it's free season on Austin. But here comes Kane and X-Pac! And the Brood! Even Mankind! Anyone that had a match tonight, get back out there. Not you, Singh. Or you, Nicole. During the mass brawl Mankind finds Taker and pounds him up the aisle away from the ring and out of the match. As things clear out HHH hits Austin with the Harley Race high knee. Chyna gets in. She takes her gloves off so she's super cereal. She does some handsprings, right into an Austin kick! Stunner on Chyna! Stunner on HHH! Austin gets the pin! Apart from some rough patches that was fine. **3/4

After the bell Shane takes his Stunner. Austin sets everyone up in the corners and Pac does around the world bronco busters. The beers are out and Hebner joins in again. Clearly he's an unbiased official. DOUBLE STUNNER on Shane and HHH! One on each shoulder. JR clearly signs off but then gets told we're not off the air yet and keeps going. Austin gives HHH a beer just so he can Stunner him again.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- At this point I think everyone knows what to expect from these UK shows: insignificant house show style matches with a lively crowd. I think overall this one did come off a bit better than the last one. A bit.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+