Fall Brawl 2000

Legacy Review

Fall Brawl 2000

A small personal note before we get going. This is the last review I'm doing before the WWE library leaves Peacock. Overall I'm not sad to see it go as I was never very enamored with Peacock. I miss the original WWE Network, but of course that didn't make the execs all the money farming it out can. My only concern is there's currently no deal in place for the library to go anywhere else. They are uploading full shows onto Youtube, but at a very slow pace, especially on the WWE side. WCW is faring a bit better, but there's also much less of it. We'll see how things go the next few months. I have backup plans in place, but I really badly want to get my years long goal of finishing WCW done if nothing else, and there's only six more WCW PPVs after this one. Anyway, enough about me, on with the show.

 

September 17, 2000 from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden

 

We continue to check off "lasts" as we head toward the end of WCW, with tonight being the final Fall Brawl. It wasn't an original WCW PPV, but was one of the "second wave" created in the early '90s PPV expansion and for years was the home of War Games. The show opening video is a doozy, recreating the major moments in the builds for the top matches with....stop motion wrestler action figures. Yeah, really. For the first time all year there's a different stage design for a PPV.

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: "Prime Time" Elix Skipper (c) (w/Major Gunns) def Kwee Wee (w/Paisley) in 11:03- Both these guys are recent Power Plant graduates making their PPV debuts. Wee went on to have an unspectacular career bouncing all over the place but never staying anywhere very long, including short stints in TNA and All Japan. Skipper is more well known as he later stuck around TNA for a while. He's part of the newly formed Lance Storm led Team Canada faction. Storm gifted him the Cruiserweight title (or the 100 kilo and under title as the Canadian team puts it) for being a good team member. Why Gunns is with him and the Canadian Team now, search me. Maybe her boob job was done in Canada. Don't ask, it's Russo I guess. I should also mention that Paisley is the future Mrs. Booker T Queen Sharmell. Quick slugfest after the bell. Wee gives Skipper a crazy front drop slam, then dropkicks him out to the floor. Back in Skipper starts up some arm work. Wee does a fancy escape from it and drops an elbow for 2. Armdrag from Wee. Skipper tries his own armdrag out of an armbar, but Wee reverses him back over. Skipper escapes into a waistlock takedown. Wee reverses on the mat and Skipper takes a rope break. Another armdrag from Wee. They muff a leapfrog spot where Wee doesn't get high enough or Skipper doesn't duck down enough (the latter I think). Wee recovers to slap on another armbar. Skipper pushes him into the corner and hits a flying forearm to the back of Wee's head. European uppercut from Skipper for 2. Wee backdrops Skipper over the ropes but he lands on the apron, then springs up and does a crazy hop on the top rope to switch positions and backflips over Wee. Dragon suplex! That gets a 2 count. Back suplex from Skipper. He handstands on the top rope and twists to drop a legdrop for 2. Skipper's showing some impressive balance and athleticism, that's for sure. He locks Wee in a chinlock and adds on some forearms to the chest. After arm drops Wee tries to back elbow out but Skipper forearms him back down again. Off a speed run Wee tries a crossbody. Skipper catches him, teeters, and dumps Wee over the top rope to the floor. Not sure if they were both supposed to go over and Skipper lost his footing and couldn't push himself over. He falls down to the floor after off camera so I'm thinking yes. Top rope asai moonsault from Skipper! And he flies so far he takes out the ringside cameraman shooting it too! Direct foot on camera contact from the camera's perspective. That camera's coming out of his paycheck. When they stagger back in Skipper covers but Wee gets a foot on the rope. Skipper goes for his Overdrive finisher. Wee counters into a powerbomb. Natural Born Thrillers, who are a large faction now, come out on the stage as Wee gets into his comeback flurry. Thesz press and flying fists from Wee. Dropkick for 2. Backdrop for 2. He tosses Skipper over the top back out to the floor, then drops Skipper on the barricade. One of the Thrillers guys, Mike Sanders (who?), comes in and hits Wee from behind with an international object. Skipper hits a crossbody off the top, but Wee rolls through it for a 2 count. Skipper hits a few shots on Wee's knee, supposedly where Sanders hit him but he really didn't, then hits the Overdrive and gets the pin to retain. Two young guys that were looking to make an impression and for the most part they did a good job, a few misfires aside. Sure be nice to have a finish without interference but it's Russo. ***

 

The Misfits in Action def 3 Count in 10:25- It's Lt. Loco (Chavo Guerrero Jr), Corporal Cajun (Lash LeRoux) and Sgt. AWOL (the Wall) representing MIA in this match. Moore and Loco start with some nice back and forth stuff. Wheelbarrow German suplex from Loco. Cajun hits some jabs, then Moore hits a springboard moonsault and tags out. A shot from the apron gives the 3 Count guys the edge on Cajun, until Cajun dodges an elbow drop and tags in by far the largest guy in this match, AWOL. Helms does some nice dodging until AWOL presses him up and powerslams him for 2. 3 Count trip Cajun from the floor and double team him behind the ref to get the edge back. Corner leg lariat from Moore. He hits a fameasser for 2. Double team crossbody for 2. 3 Count make sure to keep Cajun in their corner. Powerslam from Karagias, then he goes up top and hits an elbow drop for 2. Top rope sunset flip from Helms for 2. He and Cajun get in a slugfest that Cajun wins. Helms ducks around and hits a Russian leg sweep. Moore hits a big splash off the top rope for 2. After some more in peril stuff Cajun dodges Moore in the corner and hits a springboard faceplant. Tags on both sides. AWOL is in for MIA and takes everyone out with ease. Helms stops him with a low blow. Moore with a springboard senton onto Cajun on the floor! When that happens I see someone's set a table up down there too. TV never showed it. Loco dives off the top onto Moore, then Karagias hits his dive. Helms loads up his dive, but is cut off by an AWOL goozle. 3 Count make the save before Helms can be chokeslammed through the table. Moore superkicks AWOL, sending him down through the table! Loco ducks a double team attempt and Helms superkicks Karagias. Dropkick from Loco onto Helms. Moore tries coming off the top rope, into a Loco powerbomb! Helms JUST breaks the pin up before 3! 3 Count try to group suplex Loco and Cajun. It's blocked, then Cajun and Loco try to double suplex Karagias. Moore helps break that up and Karagias DDTs them both. AWOL pulls them both out to the floor and takes them out. Cajun gets Helms up for a fireman's carry slam, probably his finisher but I don't remember the name of it, and that gets the pin. Another fun 3 Count match, they were easily one of the few bright spots of this era. In terms of their in ring performance, they were badly miscast as heels. ***1/2

 

Earlier tonight, some kid somehow wandered backstage. Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner both blow off his autograph request. Kevin Nash stops and asks for money for one, says the kid's $1.50 isn't enough and walks away. See, that's why Nash was always the consummate backstage politician.

 

First Blood Chain Match: The Harris Brothers def KroniK in 6:37- Against all odds this show's actually gotten off to a decent start, so it's definitely time to send out two of the absolute worst teams in WCW history and correct that. One of the Harrisses is wearing a shirt that looks like it's based on the shirt for the original live action Super Mario Brothers movie, which is so appropriate. A shit team with a shirt based off one of the all time biggest movie bombs. This was supposed to be just a chain match, but before it starts Adams takes a mic and says let's make it First Blood too, because he woke up with a crazy idea this morning or something, who knows. Since it's a team match it's two chains. Clarke goes to the floor with his Harris and they immediately almost murder an innocent security guy out there. Adams is all over his Harris in the ring. Everyone swap positions and Adams takes an announce table shot. Clarke back suplexes his Harris in the ring. Madden has to bail from commentary and from his reaction it seems like a legitimate "I need to get the hell out of here" moment. Both pairs go over the guardrail into the crowd. Good, less for me to try to write about. They work their way back ringside and continue the usual ringside brawl. Clarke gets a chair and hits a couple of chairshots. One Harris chokes Adams with the chain in the ring. The other two come in and we have all four guys in the ring for really the first time, with the Harrisi in control. And we have a ref bump. Because of course we do. KroniK double punch one Harris with the chains wrapped around their fists. That Harris then comes back with a barbed wire baseball bat and hits Clarke with it, but we can also see he's bleeding. Not a lot, but enough to end a First Blood match. He takes his chain strap off and hits Clarke with the bat again, then gets in the ring and hits Adams with it. The Harrises punch on Adams' head with the chain to try to bust him open. The ref recovers, sees Adams bleeding and nothing else thanks to ref tunnel vision, and calls for the bell. KroniK double chokeslam the ref for revenge after. Just the crap match you'd expect from these teams, topped by the usual First Blood booking shenanigans that for some reason always seem irresistible. 1/4*

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Lance Storm (c) (w/Major Gunns) def Gen. Rection in 6:46- All American forever Hacksaw Jim Duggan is the special guest enforcer for this match to ensure Storm doesn't pull any more "Canadian rules" stunts. You smell that? I don't know what exactly an obvious Russo swerve coming smells like, but I'm sure it's what I'm smelling now. Storm loses patience and attacks Rection during Duggan's entrance. Rection no sells chops, tosses Storm in the corner and hits his own chops. Backdrop from Rection and he tosses Storm out to the floor. Back in Storm tries a crucifix but Rection blocks it and slams Storm down. Corner avalanche. Storm dodges another one and slams Rection. Top rope fight and Rection hits a superplex for 2. Storm finally gets desperate and straight low blows Rection, in full view of the ref. Speed run and Storm counters a backdrop attempt, then hits a superkick for 2. Dropkick from Storm for 2. Rection goes to the floor and Storm hits a nice springboard plancha with pause time on the rope. Storm then lets himself get distracted by Duggan, allowing Rection to hit him from behind. Jawbreaker back in from Storm. Powerslam from Rection for 2. Rection catches a crossbody attempt and gutwrench powerbombs Storm for 2. After a counter exchange Storm hits a dragon screw with an AWFUL sell from Rection. He went the opposite direction from where he was supposed to go. Storm tries for a half crab but Rection fights it off. German suplex from Rection! He clotheslines Storm 360 to the floor. Duggan throws Storm back in like it's a lumberjack match. Now both Duggan and Gunns get on the apron. The ref decides to go for Gunns, leaving Duggan alone as Rection climbs up for the moonsault. Duggan hits Rection with the 2x4! SWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRVE! Storm hooks on the half crab. Rection is unconscious and the ref calls for the bell. Duggan rips off his ref shirt and shows he has a Canada shirt on underneath. The rest of MIA run in and all take 2x4 shots. To be fair, Duggan is from upstate New York, which is practically Canada. 1/2*

 

Mean Gene gets FEISTY during a Natural Born Thriller promo, telling Sean O'Haire "Blow it out your ass! I know guys that can take out your kneecaps!" 

 

Elimination Match: The Filthy Animals, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and Big Vito and The Natural Born Thrillers no contest in 16:34- Paul Orndorff in a PPV match in 2000?! Didn't he retire like 5 years ago because of severe spinal problems? Yup. He's been one of the lead trainers at the Power Plant since then, and is a surprise entrant in this match. I'd make a joke about it, but it's going to play into this match later so I'll let it sit until then. I'm honestly not sure how many guys are even legally part of this match. Wiki and Cagematch both say different things believe it or not, but again come the end it won't really matter. Jindrak opens up with a delayed suplex on Mysterio. Someone from NTB is on commentary but I have no idea who it is. Mysterio gets Jindrak caught on the ropes and springboard legdrops him. Jindrak catches a springboard moonsault attempt and side suplexes Mysterio. Juvy pulls out the lucha agility to run rings around O'Haire, until O'Haire uses his power to catch him coming off the top rope and suplexing him. Juvy then is able to outmaneuver both O'Haire and Jindrak, the original NTB members, and tag out. Vito comes in with chops and a Japanese armdrag on Jindrak. Disco, ever the brain trust, then tags himself in much to Vito's displeasure. Again it's Jindrak and O'Haire tagging each other and no other NTB members getting in. Disco manages to hit O'Haire with a swinging neckbreaker and tags out to Konnan. Rolling clothesline on O'Haire. O'Haire clotheslines Konnan in the gut, which looks hilarious, especially how much he celebrates it. Things break down a bit. Konnan runs into Disco's back and Disco hits him with the Last Dance! O'Haire covers and Konnan is the first one out. Finally someone new comes in for NTB, Vito's former partner Johnny the Bull. He hits Disco with a spinebuster, springs up top, but Disco dodges the legdrop. Bull scrambles over to tag. But on the other side, none of Disco's partners want to tag him after his screw up earlier. Vito punches Disco! Reno hits Disco with Snake Eyes (a different Snake Eyes) and Disco is eliminated. Commentary just clued me in that it's Sean Stasiak that's on commentary. Yeah, not a guy I'd easily recognize his voice. Reno and Vito give each other some hoss fight forearms. Inverted atomic drop and kick from Vito, but Palumbo blind tagged in and scoops Vito up from behind. Vito gets free and hits a DDT. Orndorff tosses Vito a stick. A "stickball bat" apparently. But Bull hits Vito from the apron with a kendo stick, Reno hits Snake Eyes again, and Vito is gone. The remaining Animals plus Orndorff huddle up on the floor to replan and reorganize. Juvy tries to stick and move again on Reno. The little guys Juvy and Mysterio then double team Reno. Juvy driver. Mysterio then hits a legdrop version of the Dudley's Whazzup Drop, and both Juvy and Mysterio stack Reno up to pin him. Jindrak and O'Haire whip maneuver Juvy and Mysterio into each other. Missile dropkick from Juvy on O'Haire. Juvy tries for a springboard crossbody to the floor, but Jindrak and O'Haire catch him, drop him on the guardrail, then THROW him over the top back into the ring! O'Haire hits a swanton bomb, casually covers Juvy and Juvy is out. Orndorff is in! He knocks Jindrak and O'Haire around with punches, then tries to atomic drop O'Haire and just about pulls it off. Boogie woogie elbow! Bull then comes in and hits Orndorff with a kendo stick. Orndorff dodges and gets the kendo! He takes Bull out with it! Orndorff hits Bull with the pildedriver and pins him! Jindrak and O'Haire come back in to double team Orndorff. Orndorff dodges and Jindrak flies out to the floor. O'Haire does his spring up moonsault over Orndorff. Orndorff doesn't care and continues to lay into him. He hits a kneelift. Jindrak flies in and misses something. Another piledriver on Jindrak! But, Orndorff hit his head on the mat coming down and is clearly not right. O'Haire covers and pins him. Everyone else comes in and tries to do some stuff, but Orndorff is still laying in the ring and not moving at all. Mysterio gives Jindrak the shitty bronco buster, then so does Tygress who's apparently now in the match. But behind them there's now multiple refs checking on a still unmoving Orndorff. So is a trainer. Everyone is STILL trying to work around Orndorff, which is insane and hugely unsafe. Finally Lil' Naitch calls for the bell because Orndorff is severely hurt, cutting the match short. I know it's easy to doubt because it's Russo, but this is 100% legit. The paramedics get in and neck brace Orndorff, then tie him down and stretcher him off while commentary kills time. I don't think Orndorff had any business getting back in the ring for a real match, and he would never try again. Kind of pointless given what happened, but call what there was of the match *

 

Scaffold Match: The Franchise & Torrie Wilson def Billy Kidman & Madusa in 5:01- Of all the match types I would have expected Russo to revive, a scaffold match was not on my list. This was a staple of the Jim Crockett era and popped up a couple more times under Jim Herd WCW, but hadn't been seen in a long while. One good reason, scaffold matches always suck. When you've seen one you've pretty much seen them all. The whole thing is sold on the chance of seeing a wrestler fall 20ish feet off the scaffold to the mat or floor, but for obvious safety reasons it never happens, at least not the way people think it might. The setup is actually a bit different this time, instead of the scaffold being over the ring, it's part of the stage and everyone gets on before it's raised up. It's also clearly wider than classic scaffolds. Aside from the obvious, problem #1 with this match is Torrie is clearly terrified of the height and won't venture past the edge where she can hang onto the railing. I don't think she's selling. That leaves Douglas and Kidman to work most of the match in the middle. Madusa does manage to get Torrie to do a snap mare, then leaves her alone again. Both women swap positions, crawling the whole way, while Douglas and Kidman continue to try to do some high power stuff in the middle. Madusa then starts climbing down a ladder. But isn't someone supposed to be thrown off the scaffold to lose? This certainly wouldn't be the first scaffold match to promise one thing then deliver another. Douglas follows Madusa on the ladder and gets low blowed. A kick from Douglas sends Madusa off the ladder! Onto obvious thick padding, but still. Douglas and Kidman continue to wrestle and Torrie manages to will herself in the middle with them to low blow Kidman. Douglas then tosses Kidman off the scaffold! OK, they went through with it. By the standards of the era it wasn't even that big a fall. Not nearly as high as Shane McMahon did his dive at Summerslam 2000 just weeks before. Torrie and Douglas now climb down the ladder as commentary tries to make sense of the match rules, but there's no sense to make. They make no sense. Let's just all be happy it's over. As pointless and dumb as most scaffold matches, even in JCP's golden era. DUD

 

In the back, Jeff Jarrett attacks Sting during Sting's promo because he's not happy Sting's getting a World title shot on Nitro tomorrow night. After that, we go to a prerecorded package of Mike Tenay, finally back on PPV for the first time in months after getting unfairly turfed from his commentary spot, visiting David Flair at his pig sty of a house. None of it is worth mentioning in a sane world. It is hilarious seeing straight laced old school Tenay try to conduct an interview in these conditions, to say nothing about the questions he has to ask. All I'll say is, I've mentioned before it's clear Russo got a lot of his story ideas watching Jerry Springer, and that's definitely the case here. David wildly taking out the mailman at the end is somewhat funny.

 

Three Way Dance: Sting def The Great Muta and Vampiro (w/The Insane Clown Posse) in 5:12- ICP's jumped back into WCW for a short run as the newest members of the all facepaint Dark Carnival faction. Not sure why this isn't a handicap match because last I checked Muta was in the Carnival too, but Russo's had a few weeks of TV to muck that up so who knows. Tony and Hudson actually check out of commentary and let the ICP take their spots with Madden staying on. Oh GREAT. So this will be horrible shit commentary on top of a horrible shit match. The two Carnival guys attack Sting in the aisle on his entrance. Vampiro faceplants Sting into a chair. They then go into the crowd. While that's going on I'll point out ICP had already started Juggalo Championship Wrestling at this point, and they take every opportunity to plug it. Which to give them some credit, as I write this in 2025 the promotion is still going. Hell, they're the latest ones to give Russo a job when no one else will! The Carnival guys stay in control as they slowly get into the ring. Sting finally starts fighting back on Vampiro, then takes Muta out. I honestly don't know what's sloppier, the work in the ring or the endless drivel coming from the three guys on commentary. Muta dodges a Stinger Splash and Vampiro hits a clothesline off the top. Muta then hits his elbow drop. Backbreaker from Muta and he hits the moonsault. Vampiro pulls Muta off the cover and they start fighting for....reasons. ICP then get in to break it up. Sting comes in with the baseball bat and takes everyone out. Scorpion Death Drop on Muta and Sting gets the pin. Remember all those classics Sting and Muta had? No one in WCW sure as hell does. In terms of match quality, Vampiro's run in WCW has to be among the worst of all time. MINUS FIVE STARS

 

After the bell Vampiro and the ICP continue to attack Muta and Sting pulls Muta out of the ring to save him. After that we cut to earlier tonight, with Mike Awesome arriving at the arena on a bus and Blonde Interview Floozie Bot v2.4 stops him to talk. For some reason, Gary Coleman is on the bus with Awesome. Yes, the midget actor Gary Coleman. Over a decade after he was relevant in anything. Poor guy was probably desperate for a paycheck. Clearly 2000 WCW desperate. 

 

Bunkhouse Brawl: Mike Awesome def Jeff Jarrett in 9:04- Jarrett's wearing a Frank Wycheck Titans' jersey, and makes sure to show it off to some Bills guys sitting ringside. The Music City Miracle was nearly three years ago, but neither team has exactly done anything to hang their hats on since then. And of course Jarrett being Jarrett he has to get a mic and kill five minutes talking about it too, when the jersey could talk well enough on its own. There's a bunch of weapons already set up in the ring for this Bunkhouse Brawl match, including a barbed wire covered table, a noose, a broom and a shovel. Oh yeah, Awesome is now doing his "That 70s Guy" gimmick. That 70's Show was one of the biggest shows on TV at this time. That's probably why he had Coleman with him. He brings another table with him on his entrance. He's in his normal wrestling gear, not up to Bunkhouse dress code at all. Jarrett attacks him on the floor. There's the usual wheelbarrow of hardcore goodies out there too. Awesome gets a kendo stick and goes to town on Jarrett on it. Jarrett then takes a couple of big bumps on the guardrail in front of the Bills guys to make them happy. Jarrett gets a leather strap and hits Awesome with it. In the ring for the first time Jarrett hits Awesome with the broom. Awesome pretty much no sells it, wanders over and gets a flimsy looking branding iron to hit Jarrett with. That thing looks like it'd melt in the fire before successfully branding anything. Being from Texas I know these things. Back to the floor and we have a good old chair swordfight. Awesome wins and gives Jarrett a chairshot. Awesome lifts the non-barbed wire table into the ring and sets it up. Jarrett is laid out on the table. Awesome goes up top but Jarrett fights up to join him. Awesome blocks a superplex. Jarrett blocks an Awesomebomb attempt and backdrops Awesome through the table! Very ugly landing on that too, he hit the table horizontally instead of vertically. Jarrett tries to whip Awesome into the barbed wire table. Awesome just hits the brakes to avoid it. Jarrett gets whipped into the barbed wire! Twice to make sure the point really stuck. So to speak. Awesomebomb! Jarrett kicks out! Awesome goes up top. Jarrett dodges the big splash. He decides to jaw with the Bills guys some more. The Bills players jump the rail and surround the ring! They're clearly not going to do anything physical, it's in season. One of them snaps Jarrett's throat over the top rope. Another Awesomebomb and Jarrett kicks out again! It pays to be Russo's favorite. Jarrett gets free of a running Awesomebomb attempt and low blows Awesome. Jarrett stops everything again to demand the ref get the Bills guys off the apron. Here comes the guitar. Now Gary Coleman runs in. Can anyone see him around the Bills players? Coleman gets in the ring and low blows Jarrett, then plays around for the crowd. JARRETT HITS COLEMAN WITH THE GUITAR! This is so fucking ridiculous it's hilarious. Now Sting gets in the ring and drops Jarrett. Jarrett shouldn't have attacked him earlier. Awesome covers and gets the pin. There isn't a damn kitchen sink left in Buffalo after that one. Talk about throwing EVERYTHING at it and hoping something sticks. Also Awesome needed Sting to finish Jarrett for him after Jarrett kicked out of Awesome's finisher TWICE. Doesn't say much about Awesome. Funny moment after the bell where a security guy carries Coleman's carcass away. 3/4*

 

No DQ: Scott Steiner def Goldberg in 13:50- This feud was built on both guys being horrible to the other's women. I'm pretty sure Goldberg's turned back face and the crowd reaction backs me up. At least they realized turning him heel was a massive mistake. Steiner's wearing a face protector after being injured by Goldberg earlier, but he only puts it on right at the start of the match. Steiner does his usual crowd riling up before they lock up. He gets the first shots in the corner. Off a speed run Goldberg hits a tackle, then presses Steiner up and hits a powerslam. Pretty damn impressive, Steiner's not a small guy. After another whip Steiner grabs the ropes to stop and bails, flopping on his way down to the floor. Goldberg follows and takes a whip into the guardrail for it. Steinerline/elbow drop combo back in for 2. Goldberg gets a boot up in the corner to get Steiner back down and hits his funky suplex. Steiner counters a backdrop attempt and hits a cutter. Belly to belly suplex! That gets a 2 count. Steiner muscles Goldberg up into tombstone position. Goldberg reverses and hits a powerslam. Steiner dodges a spear and Goldberg sort of hits the corner but not really. Steiner tries coming off the top rope. Goldberg catches him and powerslams him again! Steiner again rolls to the floor to put himself back together. Again Goldberg follows and it doesn't work out as he gets whipped into the stairs. Steiner's woman Midajah makes her way out carrying a pipe. She hadn't been seen since Goldberg attacked her. Steiner gives Goldberg a chairshot against the stairs. Back in he puts Goldberg in the tree of woe and gives him more chairshots. Goldberg is bleeding from somewhere on his head too, isn't clear where. Release fisherman's suplex from Steiner and he does some push ups. Casual backbreaker from Steiner and he covers with one hand for 2. Steiner hooks up a full nelson, possibly looking for a dragon suplex. Goldberg back elbows out. Steiner says fine and hits another belly to belly instead. Midajah gives Steiner the pipe. Goldberg spear! Steiner drops the pipe. Now freaking Russo is in and hits Goldberg with a baseball bat. Why can't we have nice things? Russo's also wearing a cut off t-shirt of his favorite wrestler. Steiner covers but Goldberg kicks out. Goldberg stalks Russo but Steiner hits him from behind. Steiner sets up a table on the floor. Only one leg works, but he still manages to slam Goldberg through it. Steiner rolls Goldberg back in and wants to finish it with the Steiner Recliner. He hooks it in, with his hands around Goldberg's throat thanks to the no DQ stips. Goldberg powers Steiner up on his shoulders and drops him on the top rope! Steiner gets back up with another Steinerline. He props Goldberg up on the top rope. Goldberg headbutts Steiner back down, then Midajah hits him in the back with the pipe. She and Russo take turns hitting Goldberg with the pipe and bat. Steiner goes up again. Belly to belly superplex! Goldberg barely kicks out! Steiner puts the Recliner on again. Goldberg crawls over to the ropes again, and since there's no rope break he uses the ropes to toss Steiner out to the floor. While out there Steiner gets another chair. Goldberg dodges the chair and hits an ugly swinging neckbreaker. Russo comes in with the bat. Goldberg cuts him off, but Steiner uses the opening to waffle Goldberg with the pipe. The Recliner is on again, and Goldberg is out from the pipe shot. The ref calls it and it's over. Russo then has to tear his shirt off (no one wants to see that) and stand over Goldberg like he won the damn match. I said Goldberg's match with DDP at Halloween Havoc '98 was his best, but this is a contender too. It's not pretty as neither of these guys were ever exactly smooth workers, but it's a hard hitting heavyweight fight with two big guys taking their biggest shots at each other from start to finish,. One of the few highlights of 2000 WCW. ***3/4

 

Ad for Halloween Havoc that promises Sting is going to morph into "something we've never seen before". We'll check back on that one. 

 

Caged Heat Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T def Kevin Nash (c) in 9:02- Booker actually managed to hold onto the title for the whole month from Bash at the Beach to New Blood Rising and retained at that PPV, but you know Russo's ADD was going to kick in eventually. Nash defeated Booker for the title on Nitro right after NBR, with the help of guest ref Jarrett and Russo. It's called Caged Heat, which in the past was WCW's Hell in a Cell size cage, but it's just a normal size steel cage tonight. Lockup that Nash easily wins. Knee to the gut and slam from Nash. Booker gets a bunch of running rope momentum and hits a running forearm. Corner clothesline from Nash. The usual Nash corner elbows follow. Booker dodges the last one (finally someone takes advantage of Nash taking forever on that) and hits a strike flurry. Nash gets a boot up in the corner then hits Booker with a punch that might have supposed to be a clothesline that Booker does a 360 sell for. He then grounds Booker and butterflys him arms. When Booker fights back up Nash hits a side suplex for 2. He takes a top turnbuckle pad off. Isn't the cage enough metal to hit Booker with? Booker slips out of a snake eyes attempt and pushes Nash into the corner. Slam from Booker. Running side kick. The scissors kick hits. Spinaroonie! Nash fights off a Book End and hits a big boot. Chokeslam from Nash, but he's hurt too and can't cover right away. When he does Booker kicks out. Nash gives Booker the first cage shots. They finally remembered it was there, up until now it was a completely normal match. Booker gets a strike flurry and runs Nash into the exposed buckle. That busted Nash open. Booker gives him a return cage shot and we get the classic cheese grater spot. Mounted punches from Booker. Nash then pushes Booker to crotch him on the top rope. He sets up for the jackknife in the corner. Booker grabs the cage to get free on the top rope. Missile dropkick for 2. Booker blocks a kick and hits a clothesline. Small relief, the way they were set up there I was sure there was going to be a ref bump. Booker punches away on Nash's cut. Nash cuts it off with a desperation low blow. Big boot. The straps are down. Booker flips free of the jackknife and hits the Book End! That gets the pin to win the title back! Decent enough main event, which puts it way ahead of a lot of ones from WCW months and years past. Booker got a bit more out of Nash than most anyone else was. **1/2

 

You want more title switch craziness? I doubt it but it's Russo so we're stuck with it. The week after on Nitro Russo booked himself to win the title in a match that actually was in the larger Caged Heat cage, then the next week voluntarily gave it up because he wasn't a wrestler. Don't ask, it's Russo. That whole bit did almost as much damage to the title as the David Arquette nonsense earlier in the year. Booker then defeated Jarrett again later that night for the third of his five WCW World title wins.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- If you can wade through the usual 2000 WCW crap there's actually a few juicy little nuggets in there, topped off by Scott Steiner and Goldberg tossing each other around like rag dolls. The show as a whole felt a little calmer and better put together than most of Russo's shows too. One of the "better" 2000 WCW PPVs.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C- 

Unforgiven '02

Legacy Review

Unforgiven '02

September 22, 2002 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA

 

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw matches), Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown matches)

 

I want to say Brock Lensar winning the Undisputed WWE Title at Summerslam after barely six months on the main roster was a shock, but between the obvious massive push the company wanted to give him and Rock becoming more focused on Hollywood than wrestling it really wasn't. It was more expected than anything else, and everyone was more curious what would come next. Which was Lesnar electing to stay on Smackdown instead of jumping between brands as champions had done in the short life of the brand split so far. That led Raw GM Eric Bischoff to bring back the Big Gold Belt as the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and to make fans hate him even more after his turn back heel and dastardly attacks on Shawn Michaels just handed the belt to Triple H with no need to win it in a match. At the same time the "Undisputed" moniker was dropped from the WWE Title since it clearly wasn't anymore. (A lesson modern WWE needed to remember, I have no idea why the WWE Title is still called "undisputed" when there's a World title again too. Some genius in marketing's idea probably.)

 

The opening video has a bunch of classic clips of NWA and WCW World champions past, even though the new WWE Big Gold Belt is not officially part of that lineage, but starting a whole new one. Amusingly they even include Great American Bash '91, which had one of Dusty's old Florida belts with a couple of plates hastily riveted on since Flair had walked out to WWF with Big Gold and they hadn't had time to make a replacement yet. 

 

Kane, Bubba Ray Dudley, Booker T & Goldust def The Unamericans in 9:52 (Raw)- William Regal had recently joined the Unamericans group, a natural fit. Christian and Lance Storm from that faction are still the tag champs, which right now are still the only set of tag titles, but those will soon be split like the world titles. Bubba Ray's wrestling in shorts instead of pants now. This is Kane's first PPV match since Wrestlemania, and his first wearing his smaller mask that left his mouth uncovered. Goldust and Christian start. Hip attack and drop down uppercut from Goldust for 2. He cuts off a Christian/Storm double team with a double clothesline. Bubba Ray tags in and he and Goldust do some stereo bionic elbow Dusty tributes. Jawbreaker from Storm on Dudley. Dudley counters a whip and gets Storm up in a tree of woe and gives him some chops. Flapjack from Dudley for 2. Christian trips Goldust from the floor and drags him out for a couple of shots. Test goes nuts on Goldust with elbows in the corner. Diving clothesline from Goldust and he tags out to Booker. Flying forearm. Side kick on Test for 2. Dudley comes in, slams Regal from behind, and Booker hits the D'Von end of the Whazzup Drop. Dudley tells Booker to get the tables! Storm and Christian manage to baseball slide the table into Booker. Test hammers on Booker in the ring to keep him in peril. European uppercut from Regal for 2. Suplex for 2. Booker tries his corner floatover roll up on Christian for 2. Spinebuster on Christian. Crawl over and tag to Kane for the first time in the match. Kane backdrops Storm, then takes out all the heels as they run in. Powerslam on Storm but the Unamericans break up the pin. DONNYBROOK! Everyone goes to the floor while Kane stays in the ring. Kane ducks Test's Bicycle Kick of Death. Test then muscles Kane up for the pumphandle powerslam. Booker scissors kick on Test! Spinaroonie! Christian grabs Booker right after and hits a reverse DDT. Christian low blows Kane to save Storm from a chokeslam. Storm superkick on Kane for 2. Booker side kick on Storm. Christian ducks a side kick and knocks Booker to the floor! Bubba Bomb on Christian! But Regal pushes Dudley out before he can cover. Goldust sets Christian up in the corner. Shattered Dreams! But Goldust turns around into Test's bicycle kick! Kane clothesline off the top on Test. Chokeslam on Storm and Kane gets the pin! Fun milti-man spotfest tag, always a good choice for an opener. This would end up being the last major show for the Unamericans as they were originally put together. They'd lose the tag titles to another great odd couple team, Kane and the Hurricane, on the next Raw, then slowly fizzle out. ***1/4

 

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in 6:16 (Raw)- This is a rematch from Summerslam, a Flair win that turned out to be not a bad match, but a disappointing one considering the talent involved. Legends that for whatever reason didn't click. Since then Jericho has defeated RVD for the 5th of his record nine IC title wins. Lockup and they both trade slaps in lieu of a corner break. Flair tries to momentum toss Jericho to the floor, but Jericho lands on the apron, hops up top, and comes down but Flair cuts him off with a shot to the gut. Flair hits the first chops. Leg takedown and Flair goes for an early figure four, which Jericho has already tapped out to multiple times. Jericho pushes free before it's on, sending Flair out to the floor. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick. Missile dropkick from Jericho back in for 2. He hooks on an abdominal stretch, surprisingly without any extra leverage. Flair eventually is able to hiptoss out and fires off some more chops. Flair Flip! AND HE MAKES IT OVER! First time in a while, he's slowly getting back in the groove. Flair then ducks Jericho's clothesline attempt and punches him. Jericho gets tossed over the top in the corner to the floor! Stair shot for Jericho. Back in Flair hits the kneedrop. Snap mare and Flair goes up to the second rope to hit another kneedrop for 2. Jericho springs up to the second rope on a whip. Flair cuts off him doing anything else with a punch that might have been in the back of his knee or a bit north of there but south of the equator. Flair then lifts Jericho off the ropes into a kneebreaker! Another figure four attempt. Jericho counters with a small package for 2. Back elbow from Jericho. He goes for the Lionsault. Flair dodges and Jericho sees it and lands on his feet, but he hurt his knee on the landing. Jericho backs off hard from Flair trying to protect his knee, and ref Lil' Naitch holds Flair back from attacking it. Naitch goes so far as to call for a trainer. When his back is turned Jericho pops back up, nothing wrong, and chops blocks Flair! Walls of Jericho! Naitch looks shocked, but Flair is already tapping and he has to call for the bell. They were going a bit better than their Summerslam match, but that was a weak ass finish, even if it does lead into something else later in the night. Among other issues, the longtime Dirtiest Player in the Game fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. Dumbass Babyface Syndrome. **1/4

 

Future Andre the Giant Battle Royale entrant Shaquille O'Neal is in the crowd tonight. WWE really took their time getting him signed after that tease. 

 

Eddie Guerrero def Edge in 11:48 (SD)- Another Summerslam rematch here. Edge got concussed by a chairshot earlier in the week on SD, but has cleared protocol and is active tonight. Guerrero goes to the floor to stall after the bell, then sneaks around Edge into a roll up for 2. Chase around the ring and Guerrero catches Edge coming back in. Big backdrop from Edge, then a flapjack as he turns things around. Powerslam from Edge for 2. Delayed suplex. Guerrero hits a back elbow in the corner and hops to the second rope to hit a tornado DDT. Stomps and snap suplex from Guerrero for 2. He grounds Edge with a unique looking neck crank. Back suplex from Guerrero for 2. Now Guerrero hooks on a front facelock, then twists into a form of cravat. Edge really fades down from that, then manages to fight back up. Another back elbow from Guerrero puts him back down. Guerrero taunts Edge to hit him back and easily dodges all of Edge's wild swings. Until one finally lands and Guerrero does a phenomenal delayed flop sell. I'm forever a sucker for those, always love it. Guerrero dodges and Edge crashes into the corner and Guerrero is back all over him, insanely intense. Ref Jimmy Korderas physically backs Guerrero out of the corner. Guerrero takes the time to tell him to kiss his ass with very pointed gestures, allowing Edge to sneak in and roll him up for 2. Small package from Edge for 2. Swinging neckbreaker, but that hurt Edge as much as it did Guerrero. On knees slugfest. Edge gets up and starts to build some momentum. Flying forearm. Faceplant for 2. Reverse DDT for 2. Guerrero gets a jawbreaker. He goes for a springboard flying headscissors, but Edge catches him into a powerbomb for 2. Guerrero blocks a backdrop attempt and perches on Edge's shoulders. Edge uses that to drop him into the corner and sets up opposite. Guerrero dodges the spear, but Edge slams on the brakes before he crashes into the corner. Edgecution! Guerrero gets a foot on the rope before 3! Guerrero dodges a missile dropkick. He sneaks a top turnbuckle pad off. Corner whip reversal and Guerrero is the one that takes it in the back. Spear into the corner! Edge sets Guerrero up top. Guerrero runs Edge's head into the exposed buckle! Buckle bomb! Guerrero grabs an extra handful of tights on the follow up cradle and gets the pin! Great stuff. Between working with Angle and then Guerrero after the brand split started Edge is getting a hell of an advanced wrestling education. ***3/4

 

World champ Triple H walks into the Raw group locker room. He runs into his opponent for tonight RVD. Trips says RVD looks so calm so close to their match, and that tells Trips he's got no passion or desire. Trips then points out a very dejected looking Flair in the background and says he *used* to have that burning desire. Trips calls Flair a loser and that gets Flair on his feet. RVD backs Flair up, but it's clear what Trips said resonated with Flair.

 

3 Minute Warning (w/Rico) def Billy & Chuck in 6:30 (Interpromotional)- This special interpromotional match is the result of a bet between the two GMs as their feud continues. It started with Bischoff sneaking into SD and working as the reverend under a crazy film quality old man mask for Billy & Chuck's "commitment ceremony" before siccing 3 Minute Warning on them. 3 Minute Warning, Jamal (future Umanga) and Rosey, had recently debuted as Bischoff's new heavies. He'd tell someone they had "three minutes" for one thing or another, which was the gang's cue to attack. This is their first proper match. If Billy & Chuck win for SD, Bischoff has to kiss Steph's ass McMahon style. If 3MW win for Raw, Steph has to perform...."Hot Lesbian Action". HLA. Because it amuses Bischoff, and clearly turns him on. So either way Bischoff wins really, I don't see why Steph agreed to it all. Bischoff's also stolen away B&C's old manager Rico to help out 3MW. A side note to this, the angle is dumb, but Bischoff's definitely gotten into a groove as the over the top heel Raw GM. B&C charge in on their entrance and it's on. Billy Cactus clotheslines Jamal out to the floor. Rico gets a kick in on Chuck in the ring and Rosey Saito suplexes him. Things settle in with Chuck trapped in the wrong corner and in peril. As you'd expect it's mostly generic big man offense from 3MW to keep Chuck isolated, not a whole lot really going on here. After a bit Rosey goes up to the second rope. He fires off a moonsault! Chuck's able to dodge it. Tags on both sides. Hot tag run from Billy. Nice 360 sell from Jamal off a clothesline. Good old double noggin knocker that doesn't hurt 3MW at all. Samoan blood. They double headbutt Chuck instead. Now Jamal goes up top for his big splash finisher. Chuck manages to slam him off. Billy tries to hook Rosey up for a cobra clutch, but Rosey's too big. He turns Chuck around and flapjacks him instead. Superkick from Chuck on Rosey. Superkick from Jamal on Chuck. Billy counters a Jamal pop up into the Fameasser! Rico gets in and Billy puts him down, then tosses him out. But that distraction allows Jamal to hit him with a pop up Samoan drop, and that gets the pin. Bischoff is ecstatic. HLA to take place later on tonight. This would be the last major match for Billy & Chuck. On screen after their wedding was wrecked they realized they didn't see as much in each other as they thought. As tag partners. Offscreen, them becoming a much more overtly gay couple was drawing the ire of some watchdog groups so WWE killed it. Not defending it in either direction, just pointing out the facts. *1/4

 

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (c) def Rob Van Dam in 18:17 (Raw)- HHH has kept the clean shaven look from Summerslam. I assumed it was an early DX callback for his match with Shawn. Maybe Steph wanted him to instead. Getting the Big Gold Belt also means we're at the start of the period where HHH became the absolute #1 most hated man in hardcore wrestling fandom, mostly over his perceived unwillingness to put anyone else over, an image that we know now years later he actively cultivated. HHH was working the internet years before anyone else and no one realized until much, much later. Cautious lock up after the bell. We get a series of headlock/headscissors sequences and stalemate. RVD seems to think he got the upper hand in that, so on the next lockup HHH drags him down by his hair. Hammerlock tradeoff into an RVD headlock as the nicely old school start continues. HHH tries a pin in the headlock, then takes a rope break. It's a clean break, but HHH shoves, then RVD slaps. That surprises HHH. Speed run with HHH hitting a hard shoulderblock, then RVD gets an armdrag and headlock takedown. HHH takes another rope break and goes out to the floor to apparently rethink things. While he's out there RVD gets a water bottle. During the build RVD made a point about HHH being able to "spit water" on his entrance, so RVD decides to do his version of HHH's entrance and pulls it off decently well. As planned, that sets HHH off more and he runs into another armdrag, then another headlock. HHH backs RVD into the corner, and there's no clean break this time. RVD floats over in the corner into a roll up for 2. HHH flips over and they do the bridge up/backslide fight spot. RVD flips over out of the backslide, HHH ducks a high kick, but RVD gets him down with a sweep kick. Back to the RVD headlock. Another counter sequence and RVD hits a back kick that sends HHH to the floor again. HHH dodges a tope con hilo and RVD splats on the floor! That was a Mick Foley level bump. RVD barely gets back in before the 10 count. Sort of, Hebner gave him a break there. HHH gets right back on him. Stair shot for RVD. Back in HHH covers for 2, then lays in some ground and pound. He slingshots RVD in the ropes. RVD flips out of a suplex attempt and rolls HHH up for 2. HHH hits a neckbreaker for 2. After a pointless trip back out to the floor RVD slugs back in the ring. HHH cuts him off with the high knee for 2. HHH goes up top and mocks RVD's thumb point. That gives RVD time to get up and slam him back down. HHH hooks on a sleeper. After fading RVD manages to throw HHH into the corner to get free. Spinning heel kick from RVD. Slugfest. RVD flips over a backdrop attempt and hits a misdirection kick, then another back kick. Cartwheel rolling thunder for 2. He hits the monkey flip out of the corner, then a back kick off the second rope. Regular rolling thunder hits for 2. HHH smartly rolls out to try to kill the momentum. RVD is having none of it, hitting a plancha. Back in RVD hits a one foot kick off the top rope for 2. HHH hits the facebuster. RVD leapfrogs and HHH runs right over Hebner. High kick from RVD and a cover but there's no ref. HHH hooks up for the Pedigree. RVD counters with the slingshot into the corner. He springs up top. Five star frog splash! But Hebner's still dead on the floor. HHH sneaks up and low blows RVD. He goes under the ring and here comes Mr. Sledgehammer. RVD kicks it into HHH's face! Ric Flair runs in, and picks the sledge up. He sets up to hit HHH with it. HHH sees and backs off. Then Flair turns around and hits RVD with it! HHH looks like he did not know that was coming. Pedigree on RVD, with HHH looking at Flair the entire time. Flair drags Hebner back in the ring, and HHH gets the pin to retain. Flair gets the belt, hands it to HHH, and raises his hand. They then shake hands and hug. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the beginning of Evolution. Very good match let down a bit by the ref bump, but in the long run it's a plus because it got HHH and Flair together. ***1/2

 

Apparently there were people backstage pushing for RVD to win the title here based on how big he had gotten with WWE audiences so quickly. How that would have potentially changed the history of this period. 

 

Some actor from the daytime soap opera the Young and the Restless shows up backstage with D'Lo Brown and Billy Kidman, and leaves with Dawn Marie all over him. O....K....then. Don't even ask me to try to explain that one, I don't have a bloody clue. 

 

WWE Women's Championship: Trish Stratus def Molly Holly (c) (Raw) in 5:43- Trish lost the title to Holly at King of the Ring, this is the first PPV defense of it since. Lockup into some nice basic jockeying for position, until Holly goes to a hair pull. Trish kips up and works around into a hammerlock. Holly gets a nice fireman's carry takedown for 2, then Trish gets a roll up counter for 2. Stalemate and reset. Trish gets a regular and Japanese armdrag, followed by a nice dropkick. Hangman's neckbreaker for 2. Holly floors Trish with a straight forearm. Snap suplex from Holly for 2. She goes to the hair again and tosses Trish out to the floor. Stair shot for Trish. While the ringside knockaround continues I can rarely resist a good jersey spotting in the crowd. At a show in LA there's one guy in an Eagles Donovan McNabb jersey, and guy near to him wearing an Eddie George Titans jersey. Of course in 2002 LA didn't even have an NFL team. The Rams were in St. Louis, the Raiders were still in Oakland, and the Chargers were where they belonged in San Diego. Anyway, back in Holly straitjackets Trish's arms around her throat and cranks back. Trish eventually snap mares free. Holly pops back up with a basement dropkick. Flash small package from Trish for 2. Waistlock into a cradle for 2. Holly drop toe holds Trish throat first into the bottom rope! Trish flips around Holly and hits the bulldog for 2. Chick kick! That gets a 2 count. Corner boots up from Holly plants Trish down again. Holly goes up top but Trish hits the ropes to drop her down crotch first. Trish goes for the handstand hurricanrana but Holly blocks it and stretches the hell out of Trish in a tree of woe! Holly does her own DOUBLE handspring elbow for 2. Trish counters a wheelbarrow into a bulldog, and that gets the pin to win the title back! Trish's third title win. Another quality outing from the women of this era, though they still aren't getting enough time to do anything more. **1/2

 

The week after on Raw it was announced that the women's title, therefore the women's division, were now an exclusive Raw property. So essentially, Raw got the women's division and SD got the new Cruiserweight division.

 

In the back, 3MW and Rico are really enjoying their time with women that are supposed to be lesbians. Do they think they can all be converted? As they leave to go party in LA ("Use my name if you run into any trouble getting in someplace" says Bischoff), Bischoff picks out his two favorites for Steph. 

 

Chris Benoit def Kurt Angle in 13:58 (SD)- These two had one of the best pure wrestling feuds in recent WWF/E memory nearly all of the first half of 2001. After Benoit's return from injury it was only a matter of time before it got rekindled. Angle continues to get pops from the crowd before they start up the "you suck" chant. Nice rough lockup to start, to the ropes, across the ropes, back into the middle, then they tumble out to the floor without letting go! Back in they stare down some more. Angle gets a quick waistlock takedown into a great extended mat exchange. This type of opening was about to become a regular part of Angle matches, one of the many things I always loved about them. Benoit works around into crossface position and Angle quickly grabs a rope break. After a bit more staredown Angle drops down and gets a leg takedown, then rides Benoit around in the middle of the ring. He gets in position for an ankle lock and now Benoit escapes in the ropes. Angle works around into a hammerlock. Benoit tries to snap mare free but Angle rolls through and hangs on! Very nice. Off the ropes Angle hits a shoulderblock. Coming off again Benoit grabs Angle's arm in an obvious crossface setup. Angle counters into a fireman's carry. Benoit counters that into a roll up for 2. That gets off a rapid fire cradle exchange that gets 4 or 5 near falls, then they do the bridge up/backslide spot. Angle gets free from the backslide fight, but Benoit grabs his arm into the crossface! Angle is just able to grab a rope before it's on fully and he slides to the floor to regroup. Back in they trade arm holds again, then Angle says frak it and flips the script by tossing Benoit out to the floor. He goes out and drops Benoit on the barricade. Back in Angle hits a backbreaker for 2. Angle wraps Benoit up on the mat with a combination reverse bear hug and body scissors. Benoit slowly powers Angle's legs open, then cranks on Angle's ankle to force him to break the hold. Knee to the gut from Angle. He pounds on Benoit in the corner for a bit. Benoit dodges in the opposite corner and Angle flies shoulder first into the post. Benoit then runs it into the opposite post to make sure it hit good. Back suplex from Benoit for 2. Short clothesline. He goes for another. Angle ducks and hooks up for a belly to belly suplex. Benoit hits knees to the gut to cut it off. Angle fights Benoit back around and hits the belly to belly! Benoit ducks a punch swing and it's ROLLLLLLLLLLLING GERMANS time! But only two. Angle back kicks free, switches, and it's Angle rolling Germans time! This time Benoit stops it at 2 and switches to hit 3. Then Angle switches and hits 3. And 4! 5! Angle wins the German suplex fight 5-3. That whole sequence gets applause from the crowd. THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Angle Sla....NO Benoit counters into a waistlock and hits another German that Angle 180 sells right onto his face! There's some scattered "holy shit" chants for that. Benoit goes up top. Angle runs all the way across the ring to do his run up suplex counter! The crowd loves that. Crawl over and cover for a long 2. Leg takedown from Benoit into a jackknife cover for 2. When Angle kicks out he rolls over and gets the ankle lock on! Benoit rolls over and kicks free. Benoit gets Angle on his shoulder. Angle counters that into tombstone position. Benoit flips over to counter that! Instead of a tombstone (Taker's watching) he hits a shoulderbreaker. Throat slash and Benoit goes up top. The headbutt hits! Benoit's slow to cover. He compensates by stacking Angle up but Angle still kicks out. Crossface! Angle comes SO CLOSE to tapping, but then grabs Benoit's foot and puts on an ankle lock. Benoit releases the crossface and Angle has the ankle lock fully on! Benoit counters that back into the crossface! Angle escapes and gets the ankle lock on again. Now Benoit teases almost tapping, but then gets one last burst to get a rope break. Angle pulls Benoit back and puts on his own crossface! Benoit gets close to the ropes. Angle puts a foot on the rope to push him back, but can't get the push and Chioda forces a break. Benoit rolls over into a cradle, puts his feet on the ropes for leverage, and steals a pin! Angle is FURIOUS he got caught like that. Like I said at the top, pure f'n wrestling, as good as it gets. Say what you will about Benoit (and you most certainly can given how he ended) but he and Angle were magic every single time out in a way very few pairs of guys in wrestling history have ever been. The crowd was eating up every last bit of this up too. Another example why you never take anyone seriously that says great wrestling doesn't get over. ****1/2

 

Before the main event, it's HLA time. Bischoff comes out with his two chosen "lesbians". I'm willing to bet that when Howard Finkel first started ring announcing at MSG all those years ago he never thought he'd ever introduce someone as "the lesbians". The ladies' names are Peaches and Cream. I'm also willing to bet that those aren't real names. Bischoff then calls Steph out to the ring. Once Steph's in Bischoff goes full sleezy porn director, telling Steph the reason there's two women here is because it's going to be a three way, then he tells "Peaches" and "Cream" to lose some clothes, which they do, giving Lawler a heart attack. He then tells the women to take Steph's jacket off, give her a back massage, then a full body massage, then says let's get the HLA started. Then, naturally, Bischoff pulls the rug out and dismisses his two chosen women. Instead he brings out his REAL "fattest, ugliest, most physically repulsive lesbo I could find". And here she comes. After some more moment milking Bischoff says go at it. Steph looks terrified.....then gets right into it! Then the woman superkicks Bischoff! It's Rikishi! He squashes Bischoff in the corner, takes his skirt off, and it's stinkface time as Steph cheers it on. End scene.

 

I'm very sorry I had to recap all of that. It's so dumb. Once that's over we get the "I was there" commercial. Man, I'd completely forgotten about that one.

 

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) (w/Paul Heyman) and the Undertaker double DQ in 20:25 (SD)- Among others, Lesnar destroyed legends Hulk Hogan and the Rock on his path to the top. Now Taker is stepping in to protect "his yard". That alone should have been plenty to sell this match, but they had to throw in some weird shit with Taker's pregnant wife Sara that's best forgotten. No bike for Taker on his entrance. We're in the period where Tazz was forced to say "Well, here comes the pain!" every single Lesnar entrance. It's amusing to hear him start somewhat enthusiastic but then phone it in more and more as time goes on. Hebner Junior is working this match instead of Chioda, which I find interesting but I'm likely the only one. I've always been a ref watcher. They go nose to nose, literally they actually touch noses, after the bell. Taker shoves, which actually staggers Lesnar. They do some no contact jockeying and finally lock up. Lesnar powers Taker out. Another lockup and again Lesnar wins the fight. Third time and this go Taker pushes Lesnar so hard he falls out of the ring! Lesnar did not like that. He hops back in and grabs a headlock. Speed run with Lesnar hitting a shoulderblock, then Taker gets a hiptoss and clotheslines Lesnar 360 out to the floor. Lesnar is PISSED, kicking the stairs down like they did something to him. Heyman gives it his all trying to keep Lesnar calm. Back in Lesnar gets the first strikes in and works Taker into a hammerlock. Taker armdrags out and starts in on his usual arm work. Lesnar cuts that off with a knee and gets Taker in the corner. Taker hits the flying clothesline with Lesnar leaping up with him to sell it for some reason. Old school hits. After Lesnar gets whipped into the corner Heyman gets up on the apron. Taker big boots him off! Lesnar uses the opening to ram Taker into the corner. Suplex from Lesnar for 2. After some more corner beatdown Lesnar goes to the floor, drags Taker down in the corner, and YANKS him ribs first into the post! After some recovery time Taker slugs back out of the corner with the "soupbone" (copyright Tazz) right hands. Off the ropes Lesnar hits a powerslam for 2. Staying focused in the ribs, Lesnar hooks on a bear hug. Taker falls to the mat and Lesnar keeps it locked on. Taker pounds Lesnar across the head to get him to release it. Lesnar staggers Taker again with a knee to the ribs, then does a waistlock takedown right back into the grounded bear hug. Taker stands back up but Lensar tosses him right back down. Finally Taker walks around to build momentum and tosses Lesnar out to the floor. Now Taker starts pounding on Lesnar's ribs. A measured punch to the head sends Lesnar flying out to the floor again. Heyman distracts Hebner Jr and Lesnar nails Taker with the belt. That busted Taker open. Cover back in and Taker barely has any energy to kick out. Lesnar stays focused on attacking the cut. Taker manages to slug back again. Corner clothesline from Taker. Another. Goozle! Lesnar fights off the chokeslam, but runs into a big boot for 2. The snake eyes/running big boot combo hits for 2. Corner whip reversal and down goes the ref. Taker hits the chokeslam but Hebner Jr is dead. Both world title matches have had ref bumps tonight. Matt Hardy runs in to try to attack Taker but Taker cuts him off with a clothesline. Matt had just turned heel and started up the awesome Matt Hardy Version 1 character, and was also feuding with Taker. Punching above his weight I think. Taker plants Matt with the Last Ride. Lesnar uses the opening to hit Taker with a spinebuster. Hebner Jr is back up and Taker *just* kicks out. Taker hits a DDT for 2. He throat slashes to say that's it. Tombstone scoop. Lesnar quickly squirts free, pushing Taker and sending him into Hebner Jr, putting him down again. Clothesline from Lesnar. Heyman gets a chair and tosses it to Lesnar. Taker cuts a chairshot off with a big boot! Chairshot to Lesnar! Taker bent the seat of the chair all to hell with that shot. Another chairshot sends Lesnar out of the ring. A punch from Taker sends Heyman flopping over the barricade. Other than that Taker seems content to let Lesnar recover, or he's waiting for the ref to revive. Finally Taker goes out and rolls Lesnar back into the ring, and Hebner Jr is back up too. Lesnar is also now bleeding for the first time in his career. Taker hits the Hogan big boot/legdrop combo and Lesnar barely kicks out. Last Ride setup. Lesnar backdrops out. F5 scoop. Taker blocks it midmove and hits a punch. Lesnar backs him into the corner and they slug it out. Hebner Jr tries to separate them but Taker tosses him aside, then Lesnar traps him in the corner and lets him know about it. Then Taker punches Lesnar, squashing Hebner Jr in the corner. Hebner Jr's had enough and calls for the bell, throwing the match out. Lame ass finish. Probably a combination of them wanting the feud to go longer than one match and neither guy wanting to lose because of that. Neither guy gives a damn about the bell, they keep fighting as the ring fills up with SD refs. Taker hits the chokeslam, then Heyman and the ref gaggle get Lesnar out of the ring. After a minute Taker chases him down and they continue to fight up the aisle. Taker tosses Lesnar through the stage! End show. Not a bad match by any means, they were going pretty well. But all the refs bumps and non-finish hold it back. **3/4

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Match quality wise this show's not too shabby, but that whole HLA segment was as bad as a DUD match and probably went on longer than most crap matches would have, and really drags the final complete product down a notch. You could tell they were putting some extra effort into what's normally a B PPV because it was the first one with split titles. There's also already a clear contrast starting to form between the brands, with Raw being the "sports entertainment" brand, and Paul Heyman booked Smackdown the "pro wrestling" brand. I'll give you one guess which one hardcore fandom and the internet got behind.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+ 

New Blood Rising

Legacy Review

New Blood Rising

August 13, 2000 from the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden

 

The departure of Eric Bischoff also meant the end of the annual road trip to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for the August PPV. Instead, WCW is holding just its second ever PPV in Canada, and completely across the country from the first one last fall (in Toronto). The new name of the PPV comes from the New Blood faction that was created during the WCW reboot in the spring, but Russo being Russo the whole thing had pretty much already gone away anyway. It could be seen as a statement that after the Hogan incident at Bash at the Beach this is a new start with new stars for a new era. I probably just more thought into it than Russo did. The logo doesn't look like anything from WCW either, it's completely out of style.

 

Gold Record Ladder Match: 3 Count (w/Tank Abbott) def The Jung Dragons in 11:35- Tank Abbott as 3 Count's mouthpiece is....a choice. And then he sings. Just to note, the masked member of the Jung Dragons, "Jamie-San", is in fact James Gibson AKA Jamie Noble. Not Japanese at all. There not one, but TWO items hanging above the ring in lieu of title belts for this match. One is 3 Count's gold record, that they're trying to get back. The other is 3 Count's recording contract, which the Dragons are trying to get a hold of because that will somehow keep 3 Count from ever recording anything ever again. I'm assuming the match will continue until both have been claimed. In contrast to the multi-man ladder matches WWF was already doing with the Hardyz, Dudleyz and Edge & Christian, this starts out like a normal tag match with two guys in and everyone else on the apron. We even get a lockup and basic start, with Noble and Shane "Hurricane" Helms having a very nice mat exchange. Helms hits a back elbow and all of 3 Count TAKE OFF for the ladders, which are way up by the stage. One of the other Dragons, I think Kaz, cuts them off. We get some floor brawling while Yang brings the first ladder into the ring. Moore and Yang have some back and forth with a ladder looming in the corner. Yang backdrops Moore onto the ladder! Yang tries to use the ladder as a stand for a superplex, but Helms comes from behind and trips him, sending him crotch first into one of the ladder rungs. 3 Count stack all three Dragons onto the ladder propped in the corner, then Moore splashes onto them all. Then they set the ladder up in the middle and we have the first climb. Both teams pull off a springboard Doomsday Device. Yang climbs the ladder. Moore pushes the ladder down to knock him off. Noble climbs on top of the ladder near the edge of ring and dives onto everyone on the floor! Yang climbs again. Karagias brings a second ladder in, then climbs up to join Yang. Moore climbs the second ladder and neckbreakers Yang back down, then clearly checks on him. Karagias then cuts Kaz off at the ladder top and superplexes him back down. TV decides to focus on Abbott jawing with the crowd for a bit for some reason. 3 Count has one of the Dragons under a ladder and they legdrop it. The Dragons come back with some martial arts kicks. Karagias powerslams Kaz onto the ladder! We get one of those nasty looking ladder ricochet spots. Yang hits an asai moonsault on the floor completely off camera. The Dragons isolate Moore in the ring. Noble hurricanranas him off the top rope, then the other two splash Moore off the ladders. Noble climbs and gets the gold record. 3 Count dropkick the ladder, and the record flies out of Noble's hands and into Abbott's, who's now in the ring. Kaz and Yang run 3 Count over with a ladder while Abbott gets out of the ring with the record. Karagias gets sandwiched inside a ladder and Noble legdrops him off the top rope. Everyone starts climbing again, this time for the contract. Moore does a nifty switch between ladders when one gets knocked down. Noble powerbombs him off the ladder. Hudson makes a "joke" about Abbott having a comp ticket to get into the building tonight. Dude, it's 2000 WCW, you do NOT want to start pointing out comp tickets when half the damn building is probably in here for free to make it look full. Abbott then gets in the ring and pushes down both ladders, which knocks down both a Dragon and one of his own guys! He never was a mental powerhouse. Abbott points up and tells Karagias to climb. He does, and gets the contract, giving 3 Count the win because Abbott got possession of the record even though the Dragons originally got it. Abbott dances off with the record and contract as the final shot, taking all the focus away from the guys that actually wrestled the match. This is about the only 2000 WCW match that's been remembered for being halfway good instead of a complete disaster. It's a spotfest for sure, but a fun one with six motivated young guys. But still doesn't come close to what WWF was doing in a similar match environment at the time. ***1/4

 

In the back, the Filthy Animals have invaded Commissioner Cat's office. They have an offer for him, they want to ref (as a whole?) the tag title match tonight, and in return they'll guarantee Miller victory in his match tonight. Disco Inferno as the awkward white guy in the Hispanic gang is moderately amusing. 

 

Ernest "The Cat" Miller def The Great Muta in 5:00- Good news: Great Muta decided to take a hiatus from New Japan and swing back over to the US for a run for the first time in a long while. Bad news: he did it in WCW in the year of our Lord 2000 with Vince Russo calling the shots. Timing is everything. Muta's joined/been placed into a new faction of face painted wrestlers called the Dark Carnival, along with Vampiro and the Demon. Yes, Vampiro attempted to murder the Demon on the last PPV. Don't ask, it's Russo. Muta still does have his hair here, I couldn't remember if he'd gone bald yet or not, been a bit since I watched the Tokyo Dome shows of this period. He's clearly in that transition period. Miller gets a mic to opine but then hits Muta with it before the bell. After mounted punches Muta does a crazy ass delayed bump that I don't know what the hell it was. He then fights back and hits the snap mare/elbow drop combo. He goes into some arm work on Miller. It looks like he tries for a cross armbreaker but Miller blocks it so he settles for a short arm scissors. Miller eventually gets a rope break and comes back with some kicks and tries his own arm wringer, but Muta drops him again with a throat shot. Muta gets Miller down in the corner. The Filthy Animals' token woman Tigress makes her way out. Miller dodges the handspring elbow and grabs a waistlock, then dodges a Muta kick and kicks him out to the floor. Miller chokes Muta with a TV cable. Superkick on the floor. Cover from Miller back in for 2. Muta blocks a kick into a dragon screw. He hooks Miller into a legbar. Miller gets another rope break out. Backbreaker setup and Muta goes up top. Miller dodges the moonsault. Green mist! While the ref's trying to clean Miller's face off Tigress hits Muta with a chair off the top rope. Miller crawls over, covers, and Muta kicks out! Miller hits another kick combo. Back of the head kick. The Feliner kick hits and Miller gets the win. You get Muta and this is what you do with him? This company deserves to go out of business. Total clash of styles, and not in a good way. Muta's style in general had no place in a Russo run company, it didn't fit at all. 1/4*

 

Judy Bagwell on a Pole Forklift Match: Buff Bagwell def "Positively" Kanyon in 6:43- Speaking of things everyone remembers from 2000 WCW. Kanyon is still cosplaying as DDP as a troll. For his entrance, Kanyon drives Bagwell's mom Judy in on a forklift and lifts her up on it. The forklift is because she was too fat for the pole, according to Kanyon. I don't think there's any point to this other than if Kanyon wins Mrs. Bagwell has to be his "Kimberly". Which is bad enough. Bagwell runs in and tries to lower the forklift. Kanyon attacks to cut him off. They brawl on the floor and into the crowd, but the only thing I can think about is if Judy has been secured to the top of the forklift in some way for safety, or is she hanging on with her hands like that just to keep herself on? They get in the ring and Bagwell hits a backdrop and swinging neckbreaker. Mounted punches. Kanyon low blow counters and hits an avalanche Russian leg sweep. On a close shot we can see that yes, Judy's hands have been tied to the forklift to keep her from falling off. That's something I guess. Suplex from Kanyon while commentary again tries to sell the notion that Bagwell is just one small nudge in the back of his previously injured neck away from total paralysis. Kanyon goes into one of the ring post supports and gets cutters to cut one of the turnbuckle pads off. Bagwell dodges the exposed buckle but Kanyon uses that to hit a spinebuster for 2. Again Bagwell fights off an exposed buckle shot. Kanyon hooks him up in a cobra clutch. Bagwell goes down and we lay on the mat for a while. After arm drops Bagwell fights out. Kanyon blocks a hiptoss into a neckbreaker for 2. Guess Bagwell's neck survived that one. Bagwell blocks the Kanyon Kutter, sending Kanyon into the exposed buckle. Hot shot into the exposed buckle. Cover for 2. The Kanyon Kutter hits! Bagwell kicks out! DDP music hits again. But it's not DDP. It's DAVID ARQUETTE. He's back. He seems to be on Kanyon's side, but this is Russo so I'm sure a swerve is coming. Bagwell takes Kanyon down with clotheslines. Arquette hits Bagwell in the back with a hardhat. Kanyon covers but Bagwell kicks out again. Bagwell ducks another hardhat shot and flips Arquette into the ring, then double clotheslines both of them. Double Blockbuster! Bagwell pins Kanyon to get the win! Well how about that, no swerve with Arquette. I'm shocked. Bagwell lowers the forklift and frees his mom. Judy Bagwell on a pole or forklift or anything is another one of those ideas that should have been laughed out of the booking committee meeting. That aside, it's a bad Kanyon match but a decent Bagwell one. *

 

After everyone else leaves Kanyon lays Arquette out with a Kanyon Kutter because he screwed up. After that we cut outside to an official Canadian limo being escorted by police, and the great Canadian himself Lance Storm emerges. No more than he deserves in his home country.

 

Tony has some breaking news: Goldberg was injured in a motorcycle accident in Sturgis (someone still went) and his status for tonight is up in the air. Also a side thought a few matches in: for some reason, whether it's feeling emboldened due to job security or the Canadian air or what, but somehow Madden is even more annoying than he had been on previous shows. 

 

Four Corners Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: KroniK (c) def The Perfect Event, The Misfits in Action and Sean O'Haire & Mark Jindrak in 12:23- The Filthy Animals come out first to be the guest referees. All four of them. Not Konnan, that's too much work for him, he goes into commentary instead. We've also got ANOTHER stolen belt angle going, as the Animals have possession of the tag belts. With four teams AND four refs I expect this to be a total mess so I'm going to skim a bit. After all the teams have entered Disco takes a mic and says he's the ref in the ring, the other three will be outside enforcers, and if anyone puts a hand on any of them they'll be DQ'd and "be wrestling polar bears in Nome, AK for the next six months". OK then. Adams and Palumbo start out with some usual dull stuff. Palumbo gets tossed out and the Animals immediately attack him. Lots of rapid switching after that but absolutely nothing worth mentioning. O'Haire does a nice flip off the top rope and lands on his feet in the ring. When Clarke gets a cover Disco does a super slow count. Tigress then comes in and bronco busters General Rection. Mysterio also tries to but gets a boot in the crotch. The match restabilizes with more rapid swaps and tags. Corporal Cajun of the MIA gets a cover and again Disco does a super slow count. Konnan and his lapdog Madden say it's because the Canadian crowd needs a slow count to keep up. Stasiak gets a cover and another slow count. I guess it's consistent. One thing I will say, O'Haire is coming across as an impressive physical specimen, which will get him a look later on in WWE until they figured out that's all he was. The match breaks down with all the wrestlers, then all the supposed refs, getting in the ring. They're holding teams back and I have no idea what's going on or why anyone is doing anything they're doing. Palumbo puts a sleeper on Rection with an unintentionally hilarious "WTF is this" facial reaction from Rection. The crowd is chanting "bullshit", which I think is directed at the entire match in general. More shit happens as this match has more than worn out its welcome. They start a sequence of a bunch of guys get clotheslined to the floor and the Animals attack them again. Jindrak and O'Haire manage to get Adams down as Disco seems to be rooting for them, but the other guys come back in again to break it all up. KroniK set Palumbo up for their double chokeslam finisher. Now Vampiro and Muta run in because that's all this match needed was more damn bodies. Palumbo rolls Adams up and Disco's slow count allows Adams to kick out. Clarke hits Palumbo with the pumphandle powerslam. Disco counts 2 then gives Clarke a Spaceballs salute. Stasiak tries coming off the top rope but Adams catches him and presses him down to other guys on the floor. Double chokeslam on Palumbo. Lt. Loco runs in, takes Disco out and puts his ref shirt on, and counts the pin. This was already going to be a mess with these four teams all in it, and then all the crooked guest ref bullshit was thrown on top of it. DUD

 

Strap Match: Billy Kidman def The Franchise (w/Torrie Wilson) in 8:23- Commentary talks about the three way match later, teasing that everyone involved might go into business for themselves. Russo fake shoot crap 101. Shane Douglas stole Torrie away from Kidman to set this up. Tony says up front this is pin rules, not normal strap match touch all four corners. Nice of them to say that up front for once. Cautious start with both guys looking for strap leverage. Kidman gets Douglas tied up into the strap to trip him. Reset and Douglas flips out at a "Franchise sucks" chant. Slide under from Kidman and another strap trip, followed by a dropkick. Moron Kidman then decides to go to the floor and stalk Torrie. Douglas tries to ambush but Kidman cuts him off with a clothesline. Kidman uses the strap to pull Douglas into the post, then chokes him with it around the post. Back in Kidman gets the first strap whip in. That gets Torrie on the apron and Douglas yanks Kidman down with the strap. Now he chokes Kidman with the strap. Reverse neck snap and Douglas gets some whips in. Torrie comes up and chokes Kidman on the ropes. Knucklelock slam from Douglas. More strap whips, but they just fire Kidman up. He hits a hurricanrana off the second rope, then a clothesline and dropkick. Sit out spinebuster for 2. Kidman rips Douglas' shirt off to give him some more strap whips. Douglas tries going up top but Kidman slams him off. Strap whip right into Douglas' nads. Corner bulldog for 2. Torrie's on the apron again and she's got her shoe off. Kidman ducks and Douglas takes the shoe shot. Cover for 2. Douglas drops Kidman on the top rope for 2. Kidman blocks the Pittsburgh Plunge into a small package. Torrie gets in the ring and tries to reverse it. Douglas hits the Pittsburgh Plunge but Kidman kicks out. Kidman pushes Douglas into Torrie on the apron, hits the Kid Crusher (an Unprettier) and gets the pin. After the bell Torrie comes in with a chair. Kidman cuts it off, puts the strap on Torrie and starts to whip her. Douglas saves her, puts the strap around Kidman like a noose and tries to hang him. Big Vito randomly runs in to save Kidman, then Reno runs in and attacks Vito to kick off a bald guy fight. Russo's booking ADD on full display here. Of all the strap matches there's ever been, that's one of them. 1/2*

 

In the back, Booker T arrives at the arena. Jeff Jarrett jumps him and smashes his already bad knee in the car door. 

 

Rip Off the Camouflage Mud Match: Major Gunns def Miss Hancock in 6:47- Vince Russo special right here. Both women go to the ring, but the army themed mud pit is up by the entrance stage. Gunns is "wrestling" barefoot. I'm not getting deep into this because, as you'll see, the match (such as it is) isn't going to matter one little bit in a few minutes. After the requisite cat fight they both try to work in some wrestling moves. Madden: "Steamboat/Flair. I didn't want to see them naked either". One decent line for the night, check. Why are they trying to pin each other if this is a "strip" type match? And they are trying to rip each other's clothes off. Russo wants T&A, that's all it is. Gunn's top is barely staying on her fake ass boobs. There's one good looking woman in this at least. Also, where's the mud? I mean, I don't give a shit about it, I've never understood the appeal of women wrestling in mud, but the name of the match says mud. Also, how the hell is this match still going? It's gotten three times as much time as it needed. But just as I type that the real reason for this match kicks in. After badly missing a crossbody attempt and flopping on the mat, Hancock rolls out to the floor clutching her stomach. Gunns continues attacking her on the floor. Hancock pushes her into the post, then collapses in pain again, but recovers enough to rip Gunns' shorts off. Gunns then gets Hancock's top off and they go toward the mud pit. Hancock backdrops Gunns into the mud. Hancock laughs at her and tries to walk away but Gunns pulls her in. Someone get Madden either a cold shower or his own room alone for a few minutes. Hancock starts dancing in the mud, then clutches her stomach again. Gunns rolls her up and pins her in the mud. This is far from over, but that's the end of the match. I'd prefer to pretend it never happened at all and ignore any kind of rating, but it took up so much more time than it should have I don't really have a choice. MINUS FIVE STARS

 

Hancock is in so much pain Gunns "breaks character" and checks on her. David Flair, who's Hancock's story boyfriend, dives into the mud pit to check on her. Eventually medical comes in with a stretcher and we cut to somber commentary. Madden insinuates that Hancock being in abdominal pain wasn't "part of the match". But never mind that for a minute as we go to a backstage promo with the Dark Carnival. After that we go back to commentary and Tony straight says Hancock's stomach problems weren't part of the match. Cut to mud covered Hancock being loaded into an ambulance. Tony hammers the work shoot nail even harder by saying her real name is Stacy Keibler. "We hope to get an update soon" and onto the next match. This never gets followed up on tonight so I'll explain it all now. Keibler was supposedly pregnant, didn't know it and the match caused her to have a miscarriage. And it's all supposed to be REAL, not a storyline, which it actually is. Seriously. I don't even have the words to properly describe how stupid it is, it speaks for itself.

 

Sting def The Demon in :53- Good to see Sting survived being set on fire and thrown off the tron at Great American Bash. Don't laugh, that heavily covered stunt guy *might* have really been Sting. Yeah, I can barely keep a straight face typing that. Anyway, Sting rappels down off the tron and Demon attacks him. They brawl down the aisle into the ring, Stinger Splash, Scorpion Death Drop, good night thanks for coming. NR

 

After the bell Vampiro and Muta attack Sting. They try to hang Sting with the same wire he rappelled down on. KroniK of all people make the save and attack the Dark Carnies. There's a funny moment where Muta, after taking a punch, deliberately puts his face into the camera and gurns for it while going by. Guess you've got to keep yourself amused somehow. While all this goes on Demon just stands and watches. Adams gets a mic and offers Muta and Vampiro a tag title match later tonight because they're not done fighting.

 

Backstage, Booker's knee is hurt and getting worked on and he wants the camera out. Is his knee having a miscarriage too?

 

Canadian Rules Match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Lance Storm (c) def Mike Awesome in 11:28- Storm is also Hardcore champion and Cruiserweight champion, and he's put large Canadian flag stickers on all three belts. It's fantastic and one of the very few true highlights of the era. Naturally he gets a good pop in Canada despite being a heel. Storm gets a mic and says after having to deal with US fans it's great to be wrestling in the great country of Canada again. It's clearly modeled on Bret Hart's '97 heel run, but it still works. Storm then invokes rule 32B of the Canadian rulebook, since it's a championship match he can appoint a special referee. The crowd immediately starts cheering at this news and there's a "Bret" chant. See, WCW had heavily teased he was going to make an appearance on this show since they're in Canada, so naturally that's who the crowd expects. Storm introduces an honorable and true Canadian.....JACQUES ROUGEAU! Formerly of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, formerly the Mountie, formerly of the Quebecers, among others. And the crowd goes absolutely flat. Daniel Bryan not being in the 2014 Royal Rumble flat. Not at all who they wanted or expected. Rougeau has a copy of the Canadian rulebook with him. It's very thin. Must be tiny print. The Canadian national anthem then plays. After all that the match finally starts. It's all Awesome to start. Double underhook slam. Corner clothesline. Standing legdrop for 2. Storm comes back with a jawbreaker and superkick, then runs Awesome's shoulder into the post. Corner chops from Storm just fire Awesome up. After some suplex counters Awesome clotheslines Storm 360 to the floor. Awesome goes under the ring and gets a table. Storm fights off a table powerbomb by backing Awesome into the guardrail. Springboard missile dropkick from Storm back in for 2. Awesome catches Storm trying a crossbody and hits a belly to belly suplex. Awesome goes up to the top rope, but then legit slips off to a huge laugh from the Canadian crowd. He tries to recover by giving Storm a clothesline. Storm blocks the Awesome Bomb and gets a backslide for 2. Drop toe hold from Storm but Awesome pushes him back across the ring. Pop up powerbomb! The ref counts 3 and Storm did kick out a half second too late. The bell rings. But, from the floor Rougeau says it's only 2. The ref still raises Awesome's hand as the winner. Rougeau consults the rulebook and pulls Dave Penzer over. According to Canadian rules, you have to win by a five count. The match continues. Storm tries a sunset flip. Awesome blocks it, hits an Alabama slam and does a jackknife cover for "only" 3. Awesome hooks on a dragon sleeper. Storm tries to fight, but taps out! It's really over this time, right? Nope. Again Rougeau stops everything and consults the rulebook. Under Canadian rules in a championship match in Canada, you cannot win by submission. Pinfall only. The match continues. Again. Northern lights suplex from Storm for 2. Roll up with a bridge for 2. Release German suplex from Awesome. All the rules shenanigans, even though they're favoring Storm, have only taken the home crowd even more out of the match than they already were with Bret not showing up. Slingshot tackle from Awesome for 3.5, almost 4. Awesome goes up top. Big splash! He pins Storm for a full 5 count. It HAS to be over now, right? Nope. Now the Canadian rulebook says after a 5 count the pinned wrestler has until a count of 10 to get up or the match is over. Storm easily gets up and Awesome runs him over with a clothesline. Awesome lifts the table up into the ring. On the floor Storm low blows Awesome and gives him a chairshot. Cover back in for a LONG 4 count. I can't believe I'm saying that. Storm sets Awesome up on the table. Awesome gets off and we have a top rope fight. Both guys go off the top rope through the table! The ref's done with this shit and doesn't know what to do now. Fortunately Rougeau has the rulebook right there to check. According to the rulebook, the first wrestler to get up before a 10 count is the winner. Rougeau gets in the ring and punches Awesome down to make sure Storm is up first to win. Well that was something. The wrestling itself was fine as you'd expect from these two. The constant rules changes was one of those things that's both really dumb but kind of amusing at the same time. In 2000 WCW, you take what you can get. **1/4

 

After the match is over, NOW Bret Hart strolls out to a much smaller pop than he would have gotten earlier, and not looking particularly interested to be there either. He hugs Storm and Rougeau and they all celebrate together. Thanks for coming, Bret.

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Dark Carnival def KroniK (c) in 9:07- Two KroniK matches in one night? What did we do to deserve this. Vampiro wants to GO while Muta just chills in the corner. Adams tosses Vampiro out to the floor, then Clark stands in the ring waiting for Muta to get in. Or Vampiro. Either or. Tony: "Do Canadian rules apply here?". I'm pretty sure I heard the sarcasm in there, which makes it even better. Vampiro gets some shots in until Clarke runs him over with a shoulderblock. Pop up powerbomb from Clarke for 2. Double back elbow from KroniK as Tony tries to go over the multiple plot threads we still have dangling tonight, a certain losing battle. Muta hits Adams from the apron to turn the match around. Adams blocks the handspring elbow into a full nelson! OK, that's nicely done. He then full nelson slams Muta. Clarke goes nuts on Muta in a neutral corner. Muta rolls under, kicks Clarke, and tags out. Vampiro runs into a powerslam for 2. KroniK trap him in their corner for some shots. An Adams big boot sends Vampiro outside. Adams press slams him on the floor. Back in Vampiro counters a powerbomb attempt into a faceplant, Kidman style. Kick combo from Vampiro. Muta comes in and tries to do some leg work on Adams but Adams doesn't seem overly interested. Vampiro then comes in to try to continue the leg work and he's even less interested, including doing the weakest basement dropkick I've ever seen. The Carnies give up on it and settle for keeping Adams isolated with more normal offense. Adams ducks a Vampiro big boot and we have a midring collision. Tags on both sides and Clarke flat RUNS OVER Muta in a way I don't think Muta was expecting. Pumphandle powerslam on Vampiro. But he doesn't cover and goes after Muta instead. Clarke ducks and the ref takes the green mist. Vampiro breaks up the double chokeslam. The crowd gets distracted by something. Oh, it's the Harris Brothers coming in. Great, another shitty team. All we needed. They plant Clarke, allowing Muta to hit the moonsault on him. Cover and the Carnies win the titles! Well, Great Muta is a champion in WCW in 2000. That's something I suppose. Still, it's a KroniK match and a Vampiro match. Even Muta on his best day probably couldn't overcome that. DUD

 

In the back with Blonde Floozie Interview Bot v2.4, Booker says the knee is just fine and cuts a much better promo than this night deserves.

 

Three Way Dance: Kevin Nash def Scott Steiner and Goldberg in 10:44- You want shooty work crap? You're going to have an overload of it in this match. Commentary kicks it off right away, speculating about who's "going over" and if the wrestlers are going to stick to the script or not. After the first two guys come in Goldberg's music hits, but no one comes out. Attempt #2 and still nothing. Nash gets impatient and wants to go now without Goldberg, and for once I agree with him. Lockup and Steiner gets the first shots in the corner. Nash turns it around with knees and a big boot and Steiner rolls to the floor. Steiner does a nice little flop after a barricade shot. Right after that Goldberg runs in with taped up ribs after his supposed motorcycle accident. He's also got a chair and nails Nash with it. Steiner pulls Goldberg off Nash and into the ring. Steinerline/elbow drop combo for 2. Half and half suplex for 2. Goldberg comes back with a tackle and superkick, sending Steiner back to the floor. Nash gets back in and he and Goldberg slug it out. Nash gets the edge targeting Goldberg's ribs. Steiner comes in and belly to belly suplexes Nash for 2. Steinerline/elbow drop on Nash for 2. Goldberg comes up and double underhook suplexes Steiner. Goldberg/Steiner double clothesline, then Nash clotheslines both of them. Side suplex on Steiner. Big boot on Goldberg. The straps are down. He sets up for the jackknife. Goldberg pushes free and instantly stops selling, then turns around and walks out. Vince Russo himself comes out and gets in Goldberg's face, yelling at him (well, Russo only had one volume) to get back in the ring. Goldberg says "Fuck you" and walks off. Russo glances back at the ring with a worried look and follows Goldberg. Steiner lays into Nash with a chair and knocks him around ringside as commentary speculates if Goldberg was "supposed to take" that jackknife and swerved Nash. Which would have been a real life swerve by the way, not a scripted one. Even though it's all scripted anyway. Hope you're keeping up. Now commentary is speculating if the guys left in the match will have to "improvise". All the while, one of the funniest things about all this is Steiner saying "fuck all that shit" and just working his normal match like nothing else is going on. Backbreaker on Nash for 2. Nash gets a boot up in the corner with a great Steiner sell. Now Steiner's woman Midajah comes out. Nash hits snake eyes and hooks up for a choke slam. Midajah gets in the ring, drops the ref, and low blows Nash. Then Nash low blows Steiner. Midajah gets back in and elbow drops Nash in the nads. Freaking hell, we get the point. Steiner covers for 2. Nash counters Steiner and hits a DDT. Nash covers and Midajah again runs in to break it up. So is that supposed to be "real" or scripted? Nash goes after Midajah and Steiner jumps on his back with a sleeper. Nash backs him into the corner to break it up and hits a big boot. Jackknife on Steiner and Nash gets the pin. Watching this match, there's obvious potential for at least a decent Steiner/Nash match if Nash was halfway motivated for it. But it's all buried in Russo's obsession with trying to do all this work shoot shooty work crap to try to SWERVE everyone, and accomplishing nothing but exposing the business even more and making everything completely pointless. DUD

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T (c) def Jeff Jarrett in 14:38- This is a rematch of the impromptu main event of Bash at the Beach, where Booker defeated Jarrett for the title after the Hogan incident in what was a pretty quality match, minus a pointless ref bump or two. Booker's even managed to hang onto the title since, sadly one of the longest World title reigns of Russo's entire tenure. Booker's wearing a knee brace and is limping a bit on his entrance. Jarrett jumps Booker as soon as he steps in the ring. Booker slugs back and hits a back elbow. Quick roll up for 2. A side kick hits. Powerbomb from Booker for 2. He 360 clotheslines Jarrett to the floor. Jarrett takes some guardrail shots. Back in Booker slides under Jarrett in the corner and crotches him on the post. Coming back in Booker tries a missile dropkick but that hurts his knee again. Jarrett is instantly all over it. Post shot for the knee. Chairshot for the knee against the post! Back in Jarrett goes outside his usual and hooks on a Boston crab. Booker crawls over and gets a rope break. Back to the floor and Jarrett gives the knee another chairshot. Back in Booker manages to get his fancy corner floatover and roll up for 2. Double clothesline. Back and forth counters and Booker hits a spinebuster for 2. The scissors kick hits. Spinaroonie! But as he gets up he accidentally "backhands" the ref. It's hilarious because Booker clearly barely touches him at all, but the ref still goes down in a heap like he got run over by a car. At the same time Jarrett has, what else, the guitar. Guitar shot on the knee! OK, that was different. Jarrett hooks on the figure four. Booker fights it for a long while, tries to reverse but can't, and almost gets pinned. He then drags Jarrett and gets a rope break. But Jarrett refuses to break it. The ref takes FOREVER to 5 count Jarrett to force him to break it. Booker drops to the floor and Jarrett goes over and gets the belt. Booker ducks and the ref takes the belt shot. The fight continues on the floor and Booker pulls out the table that I noticed earlier in the match was randomly set up out there for I don't know how long. They fight on the apron for leverage. Booker Book Ends Jarrett through the table! Wee little ginger ref runs in as the backup. Booker drags Jarrett back in and covers, but it's right by the ropes and Jarrett gets a foot on the rope. Then he goes out and gets another chair. Sneaky style low blow on Booker. Jarrett blind swings the chair and down goes ginger ref for frak's sake. Jarrett gives Booker the Stroke onto the chair! But all the refs are dead. In runs Lil' Naitch as the backup backup ref. The extra time allows Booker to kick out. Booker swinging neckbreakers Jarrett onto the chair for 2. He catches Jarrett coming off the second rope, a couple of counters, and Booker hits the Book End! That gets the pin to retain! Pretty solid overall, but not as good as the Bash at the Beach match with even more insane and unnecessary ref bumps. **1/2

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Pretty much just another awful PPV in WCW's final months, but one that shows off the damage Russo was doing a bit better than some of the others. Typical luck for Canada to have their only two WCW PPVs ever to both come during Russo's tenure.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D-