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-