Spring Stampede '98

Legacy Review

Spring Stampede '98

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

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-