Mayhem 2000

Legacy Review

Mayhem 2000

November 26, 2000 from the MECCA in Milwaukee, WI

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Stevie Ray and Mark Madden

 

We're now officially into the post-Russo portion of end of life WCW. As I mentioned the last review, Russo suffered a concussion after booking himself to be World champion for a week in October (the less said about that the better), knew the company was in an irreversible death spiral and decided the best long term move for him was to stay home and milk it for all it was worth. He'd never return to WCW. In his absence, booking has been undertaken by even more of a committee than usual for the company. Reports vary, but I think most agree the most prominent figures putting these final PPVs together were John "Johnny Ace" Laurinaitis and Terry Taylor. Not a bad combo really. Both were successful veteran wrestlers, Taylor in particular was one of those guys that almost never had a bad match in his life, and both would go on to have prominent and longtime backstage roles in WWE. But these ships are not course changed overnight.

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Mike Sanders (c) def Kwee Wee (w/Paisley) in 7:47- Sanders' nickname is "Above Average" which is so hilarious. It's like if Daniel Bryan started proudly calling himself a B+ player instead of having it put on him as an insult. Double hilarious because if you look at Sanders' career calling it even average is a stretch. Sanders takes a mic before the bell, says some stuff and slaps Wee. Wee responds with a running Thesz press as the bell rings. Speed run and Wee hits a hiptoss/dropkick combo and clotheslines Sanders 360 to the floor. Sanders has already had enough and teases taking a walk, then calls out his Natural Born Thrillers stablemates. All 28 of them. Mark Jindrak hits Wee with a clothesline off the top rope and the group work the ref to do the gang beatdown. Jindrak and Stasiak lift Wee up on the floor and Sanders grabs him in the ring and powerslams him! OK, that was pretty cool. Meanwhile, Paisley's gone to get some help and here comes Meng, complete with the huge '70s afro he was sporting at the time. All of NBT against Meng? NBT's gonna need some more guys to make it even. If it was a real fight. The complete focus on TV is Meng fighting off the NBT guys and we see nothing of what's going on in the ring. Now new WCW CEO Ric Flair comes out with security to break the fight up and get everyone but the wrestlers in the match back to the back. Finally cut back to the match with Sanders hitting a snap mare/PK combo. And then it's chinlock time. Couldn't you have done that while all the outside fighting was going on? That's below average planning, not above average. Wee hits a springboard sunset flip for 2. Sanders pops back up with a clothesline and puts on a cobra clutch. Wee gets free and hits a Saito suplex. Slugfest while Madden and Ray bitch at each other to the point I'm already sick of them one match in. Kneelift and clothesline from Wee as he starts up the comeback. Mounted punches. He goes for a sunset bomb on the floor. Sanders blocks it and turns it into a hurricanrana on the floor! Two cool moves in this, I'll give them that. Paisley gets on the apron and slaps Sanders. Then she takes off her afro wig, gives it to Wee, and Wee tries to put it on Sanders (it falls off) and punches him. I guess that's a thing for Wee but not watching weekly TV I don't get it at all. Paisley then comes in and hits a handspring elbow in full view of the ref. Guess we're still doing the Russo "relaxed DQ" thing. Sanders flips over Wee, hits the 3.0, and that gets the pin. We only saw half the match because of all the focus on the extras brawling on the floor, and the second half we did see was only passable at best. Not above average. *1/4

 

Mean Gene is in the back with Flair, who declares from now on "unless you're in a featured match" (definition?) there's no one allowed at ringside, other than valets and managers. Any more caveats you want to throw in there?

 

Elsewhere, Disco Inferno (in a Randy Moss jersey) is complaining that his back is hurting and is negotiating with KroniK to replace him teaming with Alex Wright tonight. KroniK says he's got enough money to get one of them for 15 minutes. Disco splits the difference and says he'll take both of them for 7 minutes and 30 seconds tonight. KroniK agrees, but not "one second more".

 

Back with Mean Gene, Evan Karagias and Jamie Knoble bond over their shared North Carolinian heritage, until Knoble realizes the hot cheerleader Karagias is bragging about boinking in high school is Knoble's sister.

 

Three Way Dance: 3 Count def The Jung Dragons (w/Leia Meow) and Evan Karagias & Jamie Knoble in 10:54- These two eternally feuding trios have broken apart to form three regular sized teams, with Karagias leaving 3 Count and Knoble unmasking, revealing himself as not at all Japanese and leaving the Dragons. There's a loud "boring" chant during the remaining 3 Count members' prematch promo. The Dragons jump Knoble & Karagias (K&K) during their entrance and the big brawl is on. The Dragons and 3 Count do some fun stereo back and forth stuff in the ring for a bit until the Dragons backdrop 3C over the top to the floor. Knoble hits a plancha while Karagias takes over on Yang in the ring as things settle in. Powerslam from Karagias for 2. Then he decides to do some dancing, allowing Yang to tag out to Shane Helms in this tag anyone three way match. The former partners go nose to nose, shove and slug it out. Thesz press from Karagias. It's so cool how Austin made that an in vogue move again for a bit. We need more of it today. Big "3 Count sucks" from the crowd. K&K double back elbow Helms and Knoble does some arm work on him. The future Hurricane and trailer trash Noble do some decent back and forth stuff. Knoble has to fight out of the 3C corner. 3C hit a back suplex double team for 2. Noble counters a Moore fameasser attempt into a powerbomb, but then quickly gets taken out by Yang as the Dragons take over on Moore. Hayashi does some nice dodging and hits a spinning backbreaker. Moore hits him with a fameasser and tags out to Helms. Helms hits a straitjacket German suplex for 2. Hayashi gets a small package, but the ref is distracted. Moore comes in and reverses it for 2. Gutwrench suplex from Helms. He goes up top and gets a sunset flip, but Hayashi rolls through it and hits a great KO kick to Helms head. Tags to both teammates. Yang goes full on hadouken on Moore. He hit the pose for it. K&K come in and Yang takes them both out, but then gets neckbreakered from behind my Moore for 2. We go into a "hit a move, cover, pin broken up, that guy hits a move, repeat" sequence. And then we smoothly transition into EVERYONE DIVE time. Leia Meow even gets in on the action, diving off the top rope onto everyone. Knoble goes under the ring and gets a ladder. Yang tries to keep both K&K guys from bringing the ladder in, then DDTs Moore in the ring. Helms uses Yang on the top rope and a launch to big splash Knoble! The Dragons go for a Doomsday Device that gets countered into a double pin situation that was a bit of a mess and even had the ref confused. Thankfully everyone kicked out. 3C hit a double team neckbreaker on Hayashi and that gets the pin. Fun spotfest from six motivated young guys that, unlike the rest of the roster, have mostly delivered every time out. ***

 

As soon as the match ends Tony says "Hang on, we have something going on in the back". Cut to the back and Bam Bam Bigelow is assaulting Mike Awesome with a chair. Sgt. AWOL makes the save. 

 

Mancow (w/entourage) def Jimmy Hart in 1:38- Lord help us we're really doing this again. Back at Spring Stampede in Mancow's hometown of Chicago these two had a "match". I can't believe we're running this back again. Copy and paste from my Spring Stampede review because that's all he deserves: "Thankfully he's faded into obscurity now, so for the 95% of those reading that blissfully don't know, Mancow was one of the more successful Howard Stern wannabe shock jocks in the '90s. Just hearing his name could almost force me to have an involuntary eye roll strong enough to cause whiplash, much less hearing his voice". Mancow's got his clan of freaks with him again, and again I don't give a rat's testicles who any of them are. Hart comes out with a cast on his leg trying to claim he's hurt from their last match. Taking as long to heal as Cowboy Bob Orton's arm. Or Bianca Belair's finger. Seriously, what the hell is going on with that? Mancow says "You're just like Al Gore, you don't know when the hell to go away. I'm George W Bush and I already beat your ass!". Topical. And proof that just because I agree with someone politically doesn't automatically mean I like them. And vice versa. He also blows his "hanging chad" line. Hart tries to attack with the crutch and Mancow's goons swarm him. 3 Count then come out to help Hart, allowing Hart to get on top. Mancow hits Hart with a crutch and takes Hart's fake cast off. With extreme difficulty. Classic Bob Orton cast shot to Hart's head and Mancow wins. Let us never speak of this again. NR

 

After every match so far there's at least three or four rapid fire backstage segments. Nothing has time to breathe and it's almost impossible to stay on top of every little thing that's going on. It's Russo ADD with ADD.

 

Three Way Dance for the WCW Hardcore Championship: Crowbar (c) def Big Vito and Reno in 7:22- Vito and Reno start fighting before Crowbar makes his entrance. Crowbar still looks like a poor man's Kanyon. Vito takes control early with kendo stick and belt shots. He then goes in his bag and gets.....a traffic cone? And a baseball bat. He puts the cone in Reno's crotch and hits it with the bat. Oh, I guess that's how you use a traffic cone in a hardcore match. Fair enough. Then he puts a trash can lid over Crowbar's groin and hits it. I'm sensing a pattern. Reno then hits some can lid shots, and Crowbar actually pulls out a wrestling move, German suplexing Reno. More back and forth weapon shots. Crowbar and Reno decide to team up on Vito. They have a hell of a time setting up and getting in correct position before double flapjacking Vito into a trash can. Vito takes control back with kendo shots on the floor as some "boring" chants echo around. Reno and Vito go through the curtain to the back. Reno clears off a catering table and powerslams Vito through it. Some woman stops Reno from hitting Vito with a chair. Commentary says "That's Marie!". Who the smeg is Marie? Crowbar comes from behind, hits Reno with a chair, and gets the pin. 3/4*

 

Handicap Match: The Filthy Animals (w/Tygress) def KroniK & Alex Wright (w/Disqo) in 7:48- Earlier tonight Mysterio said Konnan isn't here because he partied too hard last night. I'm not joking. That makes it him and Kidman in a handicap match. Remember, Disco paid KroniK to wrestle for exactly 7 minutes and 30 seconds in his place tonight. Tygress is the first person to take the #4 spot in commentary tonight. Wright and Kidman start. No, Wright tags out to Adams. Adams tosses Kidman around when he can get his hands on him. Kidman gets his pop up hurricanrana and an armdrag. Between hitting on Tygress and being annoyed by Disco commentary is paying zero attention to the match. Adams tosses Kidman again out of the corner and presses him up. Kidman eye rakes to get free and puts a sleeper on. Adams easily flips him over into a full nelson and slams him. Now Wright wants to tag in. He covers Kidman for 2. Wright knocks Kidman around and hits a nice dropkick. Kidman dodges in the corner and hits a springboard flying headscissors. Tags on both sides. Now Clarke tosses Mysterio and his stupid devil horns around. Mysterio uses his agility to faceplant Clarke and hit a springboard legdrop for 2. He goes for another springboard and easily gets caught and slammed. KroniK has a stopwatch in the corner, keeping track of the time they've worked. Sit out powerbomb from Clarke on Mysterio, but he doesn't go for a pin. He hooks Mysterio up for the Meltdown, but again Wright wants to tag in now the opponent is down. Vertical suplex from Wright, and he tags right back out. Big boot from Adams on Mysterio. Wright tags in just to cover again. Mysterio comes back with a flying headscissors but Wright puts him back down with a clothesline. Wright goes to tag out, but the clock has expired! KroniK's work is done tonight. The Animals take advantage and double team Wright. The ref doesn't even try to stop it. Kidman hits a sit out powerbomb. They hit their version of the Dudleyz Whazzup Drop, and that gets the pin. Predictable, stupid and commentary the whole match was almost physically painful. *

 

Scott Steiner tells Booker T "death is ratings". I think he meant waiting. Little known Steinerism for you there. 

 

Ernest "The Cat" Miller (w/Ms Jones) def The Franchise (w/Torrie Wilson) in 8:01- To say my expectations are low for this match is an understatement. Douglas, normally an OK wrestler, has been the drizzling shits lately and Miller has never been anything else, at least in the ring. We don't even have Torrie in a Wonder Woman outfit to help us get through it this time. Jump start with Miller in control, kicking Douglas out to the floor. Douglas gets in Jones' face and takes a kick to the head from her. Miller tosses Douglas on the announce table, then goes after Madden! Hell yes, get his ass! If Miller gets Madden off commentary I'll take back just about every bad thing I've ever said about his wrestling acumen, or lack thereof. Torrie grabs Miller's foot as he gets back in the ring, allowing Douglas to ambush him. Ray is still laughing about Madden getting taken out. Douglas hits a suplex, then continues the trend tonight with a straight Greco Roman Nut Stomp right in front of the ref. Torrie gets another shot in. Sadly, Madden is back on commentary. Snap mare into a neck crank from Douglas. After some more dull Douglas offense Miller fights back with throat thrusts and does some mounted punches. Douglas counters with an inverted atomic drop. Another suplex from Douglas and he takes forever to cover for 2. Back to the neck crank. Two way speed run, Miller damn near clotheslines himself on the top rope by ducking too low, and Douglas gets a sunset flip. Miller fights it off, dances and hits an elbow drop. A couple more shots from Miller for near falls. The Feliner kick hits! But Miller doesn't cover, he just collapses next to the ropes. Jones literally pushes him on top for 2. Torrie goes over to Jones and we have our cat fight. They get all the way in the ring and Jones puts Torrie in a chokehold. Ref Lil' Naitch gets her out and we see Douglas has a chain in his hand. He waffles Miller with it. Miller barely gets a foot on the rope before 3. Lil' Naitch pushes Douglas into a roll up for 2. Douglas stomps away on Miller. He goes for a DDT but Miller uses the ropes to block it. Jones goes in her briefcase and puts the Red Shoe of Dancing Death on Miller. Feliner kick with the shoe and that gets the pin. I suppose that could have been a hell of a lot worse, so expectations met I guess. 1/2*

 

Jeff Jarrett discovers ALL HIS GUITARS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED backstage! He has no idea what the hell to do now.

 

PROMO FOR GLACIER! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, 1997? The funny thing is that's exactly how commentary reacts too. Madden actually has some pretty decent shoot comments about Glacier and his history.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow def Sgt. AWOL in 5:42- Bigelow was supposed to wrestle Awesome but Bigelow took him out earlier tonight. Bigelow comes out, gets a mic and says Awesome's in the hospital so he wins by forfeit. CEO Flair comes out and says that's not happening, calling in AWOL as a replacement. Lockup! First one tonight. AWOL pounds Bigelow down and bites him in the corner. Bigelow comes back with a knee to the gut and Samoan drop for 2. Awesome gets a boot up in the corner to get control again with his scintillating kicky chokey offense. He hooks on a chinlock and climbs up the ropes for leverage, then hits Bigelow with a clothesline off the second rope for 2. AWOL goes for a Saito suplex but Bigelow twists into a cover for 2. DDT and Bigelow goes up top. AWOL dodges the headbutt. Slow motion back and forth stuff follows. Bigelow scoops AWOL up for his finisher but AWOL slips free and hits a heart punch. Instead of covering, AWOL goes out and gets his table. Spinebuster from AWOL. He hooks up for a chokeslam. Bigelow gets free, hits Greetings from Asbury Park, and gets the pin. The table stays unbroken. Bigelow drops to the mat after and the ref calls for help. They do the full stretcher job for Bigelow. Legit or not, I don't know, but Bigelow certainly looked past it during the match. Given the fact Bigelow wrestled again at Starrcade I'm thinking it's all a work. 1/4*

 

Buff Bagwell says that Jarrett has no guitars, and that means he has no game plan. Smartest damn thing Bagwell ever did in his life.

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Gen. Rection def Lance Storm (c) (w/Major Gunns) in 6:24- This is one of the longest running feuds in the company right now. Jim Duggan did his silly turn to Team Canada in their first match at Fall Brawl, then Rection won the title in a handicap match by pinning Duggan at Halloween Havoc. Storm's since won the title back again on Nitro, and after being a "captive" for months Gunns is now fully on his side. Canadian Stockholm Syndrome. He's also coming in with taped up ribs. Storm claims he's wrestling against doctor's orders, with cracked ribs and a bulging disc. He said disc. No one knows where these supposed injuries came from. Maybe he got in a bar fight with a bunch of Marines. BIGELOW POPS OFF HIS STRETCHER AND ATTACKS RECTION! HE'S ALIVE! Guess that really answers the work or not question. The bell rings and Storm picks the bones of Rection's carcass on the floor. Back in Rection tries to fight back but Storm eye rakes him, then hits a basement dropkick. He starts working on Rection's knee. Post shots for the knee. Rection uses that to push Storm into the barricade and get his first shots in. Storm kicks the knee out again. Back in Storm goes for the half crab to finish it but Rection gets to the ropes before it's on. Storm stays 100% focused on the knee. He tries some kind of corner slide but misses and crotches himself on the post. Gunns doesn't like that and grabs Rection, allowing Storm to clip the knee again. Suplex from Storm for 2. He hits the superkick, but then runs into a powerslam. Guess the knee's OK. Rection goes up top for the moonsault. Gunns gets up and shakes the rope to crotch him. Rection fights Storm off, goes up again, hits the moonsault and gets the pin to win back the title. Lame. It's a testament to how desperate WCW was at this point that they were trying to push Hugh f'n Morris to the moon as some kind of incredible, all-American never say die babyface. The match layout was as basic as you could get too: good guy gets attacked before the bell, spends the whole match having his knee worked on, then shakes it off and comes back to win with a handful of moves. 3/4*

 

Jeff Jarrett def Buff Bagwell in 11:08- Jarrett looks naked without a guitar. Random crowd observation: being in the middle ground of Milwaukee there's both Packers and Bears jerseys in the crowd. Good thing they're not sitting next to each other. Lockup! Bagwell easily wins and does his usual strut and pose. Jarrett gets the first real shots in. Bagwell fires back with the running swinging neckbreaker. Vader bomb for 2. They do a hiptoss reversal sequence and Bagwell hiptosses Jarrett over the top to the floor. Bagwell takes one of Jarrett's foam guitars from a fan and hits Jarrett with it. Jarrett sort of sells it. TV cable choke from Bagwell. Jarrett low blows to get free. He gets a chair and works Bagwell over with it. Back in Jarrett hits a Jerry Lawler shoutout fistdrop off the second rope. He hooks the sleeper on. We go to arm drops and Bagwell fights back up. Sleeper from Bagwell and Jarrett quickly back suplexes free. He goes for another fistdrop off the second rope but falls into Bagwell's boot. Running forearm and clothesline from Bagwell. Double underhook DDT. Bagwell calls for the Blockbuster and goes up. Jarrett ducks and Bagwell splats on the mat! That actually looked good. Bagwell gets a boot up in the corner, hops up again, but instead of the Blockbuster grabs Jarrett for a tornado DDT for 2. Jarrett slides under Bagwell and takes the ref out. Bald ref selling the HELL out of his leg barely getting grazed. Jarrett grabs another chair. David Flair randomly comes in and DDTs Jarrett onto the chair. Bagwell comes back in and covers for 2. Bagwell goes up top and hits a crossbody, but Jarrett rolls through it for 2. Reverse DDT from Bagwell for a long 2. Bagwell ducks a Jarrett crossbody attempt and Jarrett falls out to the floor. But it seems planned as he goes under the ring and gets....a frakking guitar. Of course. Guitar shot, cover and Jarrett gets the win. I quote again: "Broke ten thousand guitars, never drew a dime". *3/4

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Insiders def The Perfect Event (c) in 14:54- DDP recently returned from injury and formed a new superteam with Kevin Nash called the Insiders. Double meaning here, both playing off the Nash/Hall Outsiders name, and one of those insider term references that were all the rage in these days. This is also a deep cut for longtime fans. Way back in 1991 DDP was a full time manager and part time still in training wrestler, and he led a stable in WCW called the Diamond Mine. Nash, in his Vinnie Vegas persona, was part of that group. Who else was? Scott Hall, then known as the Diamond Studd. Perfect Event NTB teammate and, as much as it mattered, current WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders joins commentary before the match. Nash has finally ditched the Wolfpac colors and looks more like Diesel again. The other members of NTB come out with Perfect Event despite Flair's edict. Can a Commisioner overrule a CEO? Oh, the NTB guys are all wearing security shirts. I guess that's the loophole. Big "We want Hall" chant from the crowd after the bell. Sorry, he's looooooooong gone. Nash and Palumbo start. Lockup and quick Nash start. He goes for the jackknife right away and Palumbo gets the hell out of town. Another lockup back in, much more contested this time. Palumbo gets a cheap shot in the corner and goes wild on Nash. Nash responds with his own usual corner shots. Corner clothesline. He catches Palumbo floating over and hits snake eyes. His old Vinnie Vegas finisher. Stasiak tries to come in but the Insiders clear the ring. Madden says Nash "only has three moves". He's insufferably annoying 95% of the time, but he's had a few good shoot comment nuggets tonight. The NTB "security" guys try to come in but the Insiders fight them off. Here comes CEO Flair with Doug Dellinger and the REAL WCW security team. They get most of the NTB guys out, but Sanders shows Flair a card and Flair lets him stay out. Apparently he has a manager's license now. After all that reset in the ring with DDP and Stasiak. DDP works around into a hammerlock. Stasiak crouches down and gets a leg takedown to get free. Speed run and after some counters DDP hits a clothesline. The Insiders bounce Stasiak around with punches. Palumbo then hits DDP from the apron, distracting him enough to let Stasiak hit a DDT for 2. Swinging neckbreaker. Double slingshot suplex from Perfect Event for 2. Discus lariat from DDP but Stasiak breaks the pin up and the champs keep him in peril. Superkick from Palumbo and Nash literally tackles him out of the cover. DDP sunset flips Stasiak and pulls his tights down. Way more than any of us needed to see. Clothesline from Stasiak for 2. Leaping back elbow for 2. Palumbo hits a tackle off the top rope for 2. DDP gets trapped in the wrong corner and tries to fight out, but Palumbo drop toe holds him to keep him from tagging. Stasiak hooks on a front facelock so we all see what's coming. Yup, there's the phantom tag spot. Palumbo puts on a sleeper. DDP fights free and puts on his own sleeper, then hits some kind of slam for 2. Commentary's "What was that?" was a pretty legit reaction I think. DDP barely gets a tag to Nash. Hot tag run time. Side suplexes for everyone. And big boots. The straps are down. DDP comes in and Diamond Cutters Palumbo while Nash hits Stasiak with the jackknife. Sanders pulls the ref out before 3. DDP Cutters Sanders, the ref gets back in and Stasiak has been so killed by the jackknife Nash still pins him to win the titles. OK formula tag stuff once they got all the NTB stuff out of the way. **

 

Goldberg def "The Total Package" Lex Luger in 5:50- They're paying Buffer to work two matches tonight. The way this is set up it seems like a de facto #1 contender's match for the World title. With Russo gone Luger's gotten his real name back. They're still doing the angle where Goldberg has to match his original undefeated streak or he's fired. Lockup and Goldberg cranks arm wringers that are SO CRANKED that Luger takes a rope break. Reset lockup and Goldberg goes to the arm again. This time Luger fights free and hits a back suplex. Goldberg pops right back up, completely no selling it. Luger begs off and tries to hide in the corner, then eye rakes Goldberg and hits a clothesline. Again Goldberg shrugs it off and pounds Luger down in the corner. Luger hits a running forearm with the STEEL PLATE OF DOOM that is either there or not there depending on what the story calls for. Then he clotheslines Goldberg 360 to the floor. Back in Luger hits some more shots until Goldberg reverses a whip, hits a powerslam and does some ground and pound. Goldberg goes for the spear but Luger pulls the ref in the way to take it. Goldberg says fuck it and hits the jackhammer anyway. Bald ref runs in as a backup and counts the pin. That might have been the most pointless ref bump of all time. Just another Goldberg squash match. The bookers are desperately trying to recreate the magic of 1998, while more and more Goldberg proves that's all he is. DUD 

 

Straitjacket Caged Heat Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Scott Steiner (w/Midajah) def Booker T (c) in 13:10- This is a rematch from Halloween Havoc, a match that ended in a DQ when Steiner, brain trust that he is, kept murdering refs before they could give him a win. I said before, but this is a feud that in a different time and place could have been pretty good and something a company in better shape could have built around. Unlike last time it was advertised, Caged Heat is actually taking place in the near HIAC sized Caged Heat cage (not as tall but wide enough to enclose the whole ringside area). The straitjacket part is there's a straitjacket in the cage, but commentary is unclear as to what its purpose is. Steiner attacks Booker as soon as he gets in the cage. As usual, that does not stop Buffer until he's completely done. Booker fights back and runs Steiner into the stairs. He looks under the ring but doesn't find anything, wanders around and finally attacks Steiner again. Getting in the ring Steiner takes back control and pounds Booker down in the corner. We get a fleeting shot of the straitjacket hung off the roof of the cage, purpose still unknown. Booker fires back with a side kick for 2. Steiner blocks a suplex, drops Booker on the top rope and Steinerlines him down to the floor. Booker takes the first cage shot. The bottom is secured much better than previous times they've used it. Steinerline/elbow drop combo back in and Steiner does some push ups. Backbreaker from Steiner. Belly to belly suplex for 2. He hooks on his Steiner Recliner setup butterfly hold. Booker powers free, hits a kick and goes for the scissors kick but it's cut off by a Steinerline. I think they did that exact sequence in the Halloween Havoc match. Steiner puts Booker up to and hits an avalanche Olympic slam. Hi Kurt Angle. Bear hug time. So, anyone going to do anything with that straitjacket thing? No one's even tried for it. Booker tries to fight out so Steiner inverted atomic drops him and hits another Steinerline. Booker comes off the ropes with a running forearm and goes up top. Missile dropkick for 2. Booker puts Steiner down with a forearm and is the first to go for the straitjacket. Steiner grabs him and gives him another Olympic slam. Steiner goes up, slips off, goes up again and gets the straitjacket. As soon as he does Booker grabs him and drops him in an electric chair. Side kick and Booker gets the straitjacket. He starts putting it on Steiner, realizes he's putting it on wrong and takes it off again. Kneedrop and this time Booker starts putting the jacket on Steiner the right way around. He closes the back but doesn't tie the arms, the whole point of the jacket. Booker goes out, gets a chair, and waffles Steiner in the head with it. Steiner tears the arms off the jacket! He was never fully trapped in it in the first place. Steinerline with a 360 sell. The Steiner Recliner is on! Booker grabs a rope, but Steiner pulls him back away. Booker lifts Steiner and drops him on the top rope. Suplex from Steiner. He comes off the second rope...into a Book End! Slow cover and Steiner kicks out! Clotheslines from Booker. Swinging neckbreaker. Another clothesline for 2. The scissors kick hits! Booker's down too and Steiner goes over and gets the chair. Spinaroonie! Chairshot to the head from Steiner! Full nelson slam. The Recliner is on again. Booker goes out! Lil' Naitch calls it and Scott Steiner wins the World title for the first time! Steiner punctuates his win with some chairshots to Booker's bad knee. Fairly decent match, but the whole straitjacket thing was completely pointless other than to weakly tie into the show's promo material, which featured Steiner breaking out of an insane asylum. They also might as well have put the jacket on a pole because the cage barely factored into the match. **1/4

 

That would turn out to be the final World title change under the full WCW banner. The departure of Russo would finally bring some stability here, as Steiner would hold the title for 120 days, the longest World title reign since Goldberg's first one in '98, before dropping it back to Booker on the very last Nitro, after the WWF sale. Booker would then carry it into WWF for the Invasion angle.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Even though Russo is gone, many of the typical 2000 WCW issues persist. On top of that, the biggest problem with this particular show is volume. 12 matches on a B PPV with a strict 3 hour runtime is already too much without some kind of hook like a large tournament, and on top of that there's the multiple rapid fire backstage segments between most every match, some as short at 5-10 seconds. By the time you figure out what you're looking at it's already over and off to the next one. It's like they were trying to cram 2 PPVs worth of material into a single show, which was never going to end well.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D