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 

Mayhem '99

Legacy Review

Mayhem '99

November 21, 1999 from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

 

Month two of the new Vince Russo administration brings more changes. Out is the World War 3 PPV name, along with its namesake 3 ring 60 man battle royale. Honestly it's a good move as that match was always little more than an overbloated mess. The new name for this month's PPV, Mayhem, fits right in with Russo's Crash TV approach. This is also the first ever WCW PPV to take place in Canada, an area in the past they hadn't really tried to compete with WWF in. It shows with the crowd. Always famously a "bizzarro world" wrestling crowd, the folks in Toronto tonight will pretty much cheer all the ex-WWF guys and boo anyone else, regardless of any face/heel associations.

 

The centerpiece of tonight's show is the semifinals and finals of a 32 wrestler tournament to crown a new World Heavyweight Champion. The Nitro after Halloween Havoc Sting was stripped of the title by the Powers That Be after losing a non-title match to Goldberg in the impromptu main event of that show. And/or for attacking ref Lil' Naitch after that match. Either way. Russo was never one to sweat details. Get used to that, the world title vacations are going to be coming fast and furious the next 6 months. 

 

World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Chris Benoit def Jeff Jarrett in 9:27- Jarrett was Russo's darling, both in front of and behind the cameras. I think it took Jarrett about 10 seconds to pack his bags out of WWF when he found out Russo was coming to WCW. He's currently known as the "favorite son" of the Powers That Be. Shoving after the bell and they go right into a basic exchange. Jarrett gets a drop toe hold and brags to the crowd. Benoit says screw that and levels him with chops. I think it goes without saying Benoit is the exception to the "only cheer for WWF guys" rule for this crowd, they're nuts for their native son. Benoit's even playing into it by having a maple leaf on the back of his tights. Tornado DDT from Benoit for 2. Inverted atomic drop into a neckbreaker for 2. Benoit hits an early superplex for 2. Jarrett rolls out and dodges a baseball slide, but Benoit is quickly back on him on the floor. Jarrett ducks a chop and runs Benoit shriveled steroids nads first into the post. I apologize for that imagery but I couldn't help myself. Took barely 10 minutes into the show for the first low blow of the night. Jarrett gives Benoit a couple of guardrail shots. Powerslam from Jarrett back in for 2. Delayed suplex for 2. Benoit tries a sunset flip that leads to a series of cradle exchanges, then Jarrett hits a clothesline for 2. Sleeper from Jarrett. Benoit goes down and we go to arm drops. After he fights back up and escapes he and Jarrett have an awkward shoulderblock collision that sends Jarrett wobbling around the ring in a way that I'm not sure if he's selling or not. Now Benoit hooks on his own sleeper. Jarrett quickly jawbreakers free. Benoit hits some comeback punches and a backbreaker, followed by more chops. ROOOOOOOOOOOOLING GERMANS! All three hit and he bridges on the last one for 2. The bald Powers That Be buffoons known as Creative Control (har har har) make their way out. Jarrett gives Benoit a hot shot that sends Benoit out to the floor. Jarret seems content with a countout win, then changes his mind and rolls Benoit back in. Crossbody off the top. Benoit rolls through it for a 2 count. Jarrett tries a roll up but Benoit stacks him up for 2. Bret bump from Benoit, but after he flips over and hits a back suplex. He calls for the end to a huge pop from the crowd. The headbutt off the top hits! Creative Control, to the shock of no one, pulls Benoit out of the cover, then beat Benoit down in the ring. Jarrett hits his new finisher, The Stroke. Because insider terms make us sound cool and edgy and stuff. While he does that Dustin Rhodes comes out! Yes, Dustin had also recently come back over from WWF. There's a whole crazy story there involving his original WCW character that I might get into at another time, no time now. Creative Control and Dustin fight on the floor while Jarrett's guitar ends up in the ring. Benoit waffles Jarrett with the guitar, covers and gets the win. As soon as the bell rings Creative Control beats him down again. Doug Dellinger and WCW security run in to break the fight up. Even with the usual interference finish they still managed to have a pretty fun and high octane match in front of a super hot crowd. ***1/4

 

The mic cuts out during Disco Inferno's promo backstage. We're probably better off. Then Jarrett attacks Disco as he's returning to the back! Clearly he's heard a Disco promo before and decided this was better. 

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Evan Karagias (w/Medusa) def Disco Inferno (c) (w/Tony Marinara) in 8:00- Karagias (pronounced courageous) is, like Lash LeRoux in last month's CW title match, a fully trained WCW Power Plant product that was getting his initial push on TV. There's also $25K on the line in this match, all part of the crazy new story involving Disco being in trouble with the Mafia. Disco's new manager/Mob overseer Marinara (because he's Italian see?) has to drag his carcass out of Gorilla after Jarrett's attack, then Karagias smartly presses the advantage by attacking Disco in the aisle. Marinara doesn't even try to help and keeps walking toward the ring. Clearly he's a planning man, not a get his hands dirty man. In the ring Karagias hits a sloppy dropkick for 2. Meanwhile, Marinara joins commentary and drops a bunch of Italian accent cliches. Fuggitabatit. Disco comes back with an eye poke. After a long speed run Karagias hits an awful hiptoss (more Disco's fault than his) for 2. Snap suplex from Karagias followed by a springboard flying forearm for 2. Flying headscissors that pretty much drops Disco on his head. He goes for another one and Disco drops him back down in a really awkward way. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline from Disco for 2. Disco and Medusa make some eyes at each other after. Suplexes from Disco and he dances for Medusa. Karagias gets a crucifix but they fall right by the ropes, making it pointless. Another clothesline from Disco after. He tries a powerbomb but Karagias counters into a cradle for 2. Flying back elbow from Karagias for 2. Disco hits a Russian leg sweep and setup slam. Elbow off the second rope for 2. He momentum tosses Karagias over the top to the floor. Medusa goes over to help him up. Disco tries coming off the apron but Karagias dropkicks him in midair. Powerslam from Karagias for 2. He goes for a splash but Disco gets his knees up as some "boring" chants start to fire off in the arena. DDT from Disco for 2. He then says forget about the match and goes up to hit on Medusa. Medusa slaps him! Double ax handle off the apron from Karagias. Marinara gets off commentary and goes to creep on Medusa. He's apparently trying to buy her off somehow. Karagias goes out and gets in Marinara's face. Disco gets a chair, but Karagias ducks and Disco hits Marinara with it! Springboard crossbody from Karagias, and he pins Disco to win the title! And $25K that Disco apparently desperately needed to keep the Mob at bay. That will kick off the next stage of Disco's story. Like the CW title match at Halloween Havoc this is what you'd expect from an inexperienced wrestler vs Disco match, with a whole lot of other crap thrown in because Russo. 3/4*

 

In the back, Jarrett is getting read the riot act by the leader of the Powers that Be, which is Vince Russo himself but right now all we see is his hand and hear his voice. Like Dr. Claw. 

 

Inaugural WCW Hardcore Championship: "Screamin'" Norman Smiley def Brian Knobbs (w/Jimmy Hart) in 7:27- You'd expect the creation of a Hardcore title would be another thing on the obvious Russo bingo card after he took over and you'd mostly be right, but the old Bischoff regime actually did lay some groundwork for this earlier in the year. Knobbs comes out with the usual rolling cart of hardcore toys. The reinvention of very technical wrestler Smiley as the new face of the hardcore division was a pretty inventive move. WWF would have similar success the following year doing the same thing with Steve Blackman. Smiley comes out in a Maple Leafs jersey, plus goalie pads, to get the home crowd on his side, and it works. Knobbs was an ex-WWF guy, but I wouldn't exactly call him a memorable or beloved one. WCW also goofed a bit by having the Hardcore belt be a proper looking belt, rather than what WWF did with the hammered Winged Eagle. As soon as Smiley gets in the ring Knobbs is all over him with kendo sticks and trash cans. Smiley is SCREAMIN'. Well, it is his name now. Smiley dodges a Knobbs dive off the second rope with a trash can. Hart throws another can in the ring, but Smiley catches it and nails Knobbs with it. He puts Knobbs in the can and hits it with a hockey stick. Smiley tries to give Knobbs the wiggle but Knobbs fights it off. Knobbs hits more trash can shots, then takes one of Smiley's goalie pads off. Smiley gets a trash can lid and hits Knobbs with it. He goes to the floor and Hart bless his, well, heart tries to jump him but he's no match for Smiley. But that allows Knobbs to throw another trash can at him. They start working their way up the aisle. Ref Nick Patrick very clearly gives Knobbs some instructions and they walk behind the curtain to the back. Smiley jumps Knobbs with a chair and throws him into a sign. Broom shot for Knobbs, who responds with, guess what, a trash can. Knobbs sets a table up against the wall, then tosses Smiley through it. Smiley quickly shrugs it off and puts Knobbs on a rolling cart to roll him into some signs. Hart gives Knobbs a crutch and he nails Smiley with it. They're clearly going into the food storage area and Smiley gets thrown into some box stacks. Hart pours food onto Smiley! Hart opens an elevator door so Knobbs can throw Smiley into it. Knobbs runs into the elevator, but the door closes before Hart can give him a trash can! When the door opens again Hart hits Knobbs with the can! Smiley covers and gets the pin to win and become the first ever WCW Hardcore champion! Angry Knobbs tosses both Hart and Smiley into a rack of buns. WCW has yet to figure out the magic that made WWF's early Hardcore title matches so unique and fun. Not having the weapon being a trash can for 75% of the match would be a good start. Getting someone other than Knobbs would also be a really good idea. *

 

Mixed Tag Team Elimination Match: The Revolution (w/Shane Douglas) def The Filthy Animals (w/Konnan) in 10:55- It's Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn representing Revolution here along with new member, former Presidential era Ric Flair associate Asya. For the Animals, who are also the WCW tag champs, are Kidman and Eddie Guerrero joined by Kidman girlfriend and non-wrestler Torrie Wilson. The Animals charge the ring and it's on. Again we have a guest commentator, this time Shane Douglas. Things settle in with Guerrero and Malenko. They do some back and forth stuff then set themselves up to both tumble over the top to the floor. Saturn asai moonsault on both of them! Kidman takes out Asya then dives onto all of them. Malenko gets into it with a guy with a Canadian flag ringside. The fan tries to poke Malenko with the point of his flagpole! Security is immediately over to escort his dumb ass out of the building. That's the most violent use of the Canadian flag I've ever seen. Meanwhile Torrie and Asya are in the ring together and Torrie tries her best to make it look like she knows how to wrestle, but fails spectacularly. The guys quickly save her. Torrie apparently hurt her foot. Guerrero goes to help her out. Kidman then tries to come over, but gets rolled up by Malenko and eliminated. After that Kidman gets in Guerrero's face for Guerreroing on his woman. They get into a full on shoving match. Malenko and Saturn use that to jump Guerrero. Torrie is still in the corner holding her foot and at least needs to get out of the way. Revolution hit a decapitation device legdrop on Guerrero for 2 as we get a shot of Konnan walking out of the match and returning to the back. Torrie's also finally out of the ring. Asya tries to go Chyna on Guerrero, giving him a big delayed suplex for 2. Guerrero counters a Malenko suplex and works him into a hurricanrana for a pin. Malenko's gone. Saturn drops Guerrero on the top rope and hits a pumphandle suplex. Another go for Asya. She's just about got the look but she does not have the ability. She taps Guerrero with a clothesline that Guerrero collapses for. Guerrero ducks and Saturn superkicks Asya! Frog splash! Guerrero pins Asya to eliminate her. Saturn comes in with a northern lights suplex on Guerrero for 2. Sleeper from Saturn. Guerrero jawbreakers out. Saturn shakes it off and puts the sleeper back on. Guerrero reverses and puts his own sleeper on. Back suplex counter from Saturn. Saturn goes for a springboard something or other but Guerrero dropkicks him. Tornado DDT from Guerrero for 2. Saturn ducks under and plants Guerrero with the DVD! Guerrero kicks out! Saturn goes up top. Guerrero dodges the elbow drop. Guerrero crawls to his corner and thinks about a tag, then realizes how stupid that would be. He gets Saturn with a hurricanrana cradle for 2. Crossbody off the top from Guerrero. Saturn rolls through it and hooks on the Rings of Saturn! OK, that was good. Guerrero taps out! Well, it's down to Saturn and Torrie. This is as much a forgone conclusion as Canadian flag guy going on a WCW blacklist. Torrie tries to hide in the corner. Sorry, this is what you signed up for. She low blows Saturn! Cover for 2! Saturn low blows Torrie! And pins her. How......how was that even supposed to hurt her? That insane wrestling logic aside, the match was OK thanks to the overall level of talent involved. **

 

I guess no one in the back wants us to think about that finish either, because we immediately cut to the back where Jarrett and Creative Control are laying out Buff Bagwell in the locker room. 

 

Retirement Match: Buff Bagwell def Curt Hennig in 7:47- There's a story here as to why this is a retirement match, but honestly it doesn't really matter and you'll see why in a bit. Bagwell's music hits but Jarrett plus Creative Control come out instead. Now they attack Hennig! This this is the perfect place to drop a "don't ask, it's Russo". Bagwell runs out and chases them all off. Hennig then jumps Bagwell from behind as the match proper starts. Big chop from Hennig and he chokes Bagwell with his own necklace. That's what he gets for wearing one. The more WWF familiar Canadian crowd chants "Perfect" at Hennig as the fight goes to the floor. Bagwell pushes Hennig off the apron, sending him into the barricade. He runs Hennig's back into the apron. Hennig counters with a sneaky low blow on the floor. He's still dragging Bagwell around by his necklace. Again, you wear it in the ring, it should be fair game. Bagwell snaps Hennig's throat over the top rope. Back elbow back in from Bagwell that Hennig tries to do a bump off of but realizes the ropes are right there. Hennig gets Bagwell down and tries to put on what looks to be a modified STF. That would have been a new one. Bagwell gets to the ropes before it can be hooked on though. Instead Hennig does the low blow legdrop because Lord knows we haven't had enough low blows yet tonight. Sleeper from Hennig. Also been a lot of those tonight. There's some more "boring" chants as that's going on. These poor Toronto fans, not being a regular WCW territory they probably had no idea what they were getting into tonight. After the usual comeback and knee to the gut cutoff Hennig does some more necklace choking, then puts the sleeper back on. Another huge chop from Hennig. Scintillating slam/elbow drop combo for 2. Corner supposed clothesline from Hennig. Bagwell hits a low blow and eye rake that Hennig barely sells. Slam from Bagwell but Hennig dodges the dancing kneedrop. Hennig wraps up a small package for 2. Bagwell gets a boot up in the corner, hits the Blockbuster out of nowhere, and gets the even more out of nowhere pin. Then immediately finds the nearest camera to mug into because that's Bagwell. Afterward Hennig gets a polite little sendoff from the crowd. Peak Curt Hennig might have carried Bagwell to a decent match. This is nowhere near peak Curt Hennig. It also had that feel that a lot of matches involving Bagwell and a longtime veteran did, namely the veteran clearly not thinking Bagwell was worth expending any effort over. 1/4*

 

I mentioned the whole larger retirement match story didn't really matter. That's because Hennig's forced retirement would last like a week before he was back. Terry Funk had longer retirements. 

 

World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Bret "Hitman" Hart def Sting in 9:27- Bret gets the Canada pop. Not In Your House: Canadian Stampede level but still pretty good. He's wearing a Canadian national team Gretzky jersey. Gretzky had just retired the previous season. Sting is VERY much the heel here as far as the crowd is concerned. Sting's switched gear as well, he's going with more casual pants and a tshirt now. We get a very un-Russo like feeling out start complete with a LOCKUP. Clean break in the corner but both guys shove. Nose to nose jawing and more shoving. Sting tries the first punch but Bret blocks and gets the first real shots in to the delight of the crowd. He tosses Sting out to the floor for the first ringside knockaround portion of the program. Elbow drop to the head back in from Bret, followed by a headbutt to the gut. Inverted atomic drop. Sting embraces his heel role and eye rakes to get some space. After taking some punishment Bret comes back with a running punch and hits a suplex for 2. Straight up low blow in front of the ref from Sting. Of course WCW refs stopped caring about that long before Russo came along. Slam/elbow drop combo for 2. Sting grounds Bret with a sleeper that might as well be a chinlock. Knee to the gut from Sting and another elbow drop for 2. Back to the floor and Bret takes an announce table shot. Bret dodges a Stinger Splash attempt and Sting crashes into the table. Back in Bret gets a boot up in the corner and goes up top. Sting hangs onto the ref and when Bret comes off both the ref and Sting take it. Here comes Lex Luger, and Elizabeth. Luger's got the baseball bat. He hits Sting with it in the knee! Commentary's not shocked so I guess there's been another turn there, no surprise given who's in charge. Bret kicks Luger in the nads and hits him in the throat with the bat. Sharpshooter on Luger, like that's going to do anyone any good. The ref gets up and calls for the bell. Sting's been DQ'd for outside interference, but Bret's not happy about that. He wants the match restarted! The ref says fine. You don't say no to Bret Hart in Canada. Sting hobbles on one leg while Bret rolls down the FMOD list. Sting manages to get a boot up as Bret's coming off the second rope and puts the Scorpion Death Lock on. Bret hits Sting's bad knee to break it up, reverses into the Sharpshooter, and Sting quickly taps out. As Bret's leaving Sting calls him back in and they handshake it out. Potentially decent match let down by some very, very dumb overbooking. *1/2

 

In the back, Luger's already in a neck brace after the baseball bat shot from Bret. That's the quickest examination ever. The receptionist should still be looking for his name on the appointment list. 

 

Dog Collar Match: Vamprio (w/Jerry Only) def Berlyn (w/The Wall) in 4:57- Is it Jerry Only or Only Jerry? He wasn't a wrestler, he was in fact a member of the punk rock band The Misfits that was HUGE in certain circles in the '90s, which I remember very well. Berlyn still has that stupid frame rate filter on his entrance. After the wrestlers' entrances more music hits. It's the OU fight song. Oh hell. Hell no, please no. Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you Oklahoma is here. For those that don't know, first off praise God for your ignorance, but if you must know this is Russo's writing partner Ed Ferrara doing a horrible parody of Jim Ross. Black cowboy hat, terrible accent, mocking JR's Bell's Palsy, carrying a bottle of barbecue sauce, no possible cheap hit is missed. WCW's also roped poor "Dr. Death" Steve Williams into being a part of this because he's also from Oklahoma. Oklahoma takes the third commentary spot that's been rotating all night and immediately makes what already would have been a tortuously horrible match even worse. "Vam-PI-row" indeed. Anyway, Berlyn refuses to put the chain on, decks ref Lil' Naitch, then all the seconds run in and fight with Wall beating on Vampiro in the ring while Berlyn and Only fight on the floor. Nick Patrick runs in to take over the match. Eventually Berlyn ties Only to the guardrail and helps Wall double team Vampiro. Wall then puts the chain around his own neck because fuck the rules apparently. Patrick is watching all of this not doing anything. All while Oklahoma makes fun of JR's propensity to talk about guys' college football history, one thing you could fairly mock JR about, while also yelling names and moves three times over and over. Wall chokeslams Vamprio and covers. Berlyn runs in and pulls him off and they argue with each other. Wall takes the collar off, tosses it at Berlyn, and leaves. I guess that partnership is done. THE BERLYN WALL HAS FALLEN! Sorry, I had to. Blame WCW for making that horrible pun to start with. That allows Vamprio to start beating on Berlyn, like anyone here cares a damn about the actual match. Vampiro slams Berlyn off the top rope. Double suplex by Vampiro and Only. I guess Only does know some wrestling after all. Vampiro uses the chain to wrap Berlyn up in a camel clutch and Berlyn submits. After the bell Doc Death decides to get in and attack. He gives Only the Oklahoma Stampede, then powerbombs Vamprio. An absolute travesty of a supposed match, made all the worse by Ferrara completely humiliating himself trying to score the cheapest of cheap shots possible on JR. MINUS FIVE STARS

 

The good news is after a perfunctory short feud with the Wall, Berlyn would completely disappear after this. When Alex Wright returned in 2000 it was under his own name again. Berlyn's three PPV matches constituted one of the absolute worst multi-month runs you'll ever see in all of wrestling history.

 

Meng def The Total Package (w/Elizabeth) in 5:23- Neck injury or no, the PTBs have ordered Luger to come out and wrestle this match. He comes out still wearing the brace and acting like he's seriously hurt. As soon as Meng hits the ring he smells blood and attacks. Luger eye rakes, hits a knee to the gut, and manages to hit a suplex. Meng no sells it all. They go out and Meng knocks Luger around ringside, all with Luger still wearing the neck brace. Luger comes back again in the ring and hits a clothesline, again no sold by Meng. Commentary points out the neck brace is to block the dreaded TONGAN DEATH GRIP. Meng beats Luger down in the corner and tries to choke around the brace. Another clothesline from Luger that Meng actually sells just a little bit. Powerslam from Luger for 2. Slugfest with half the swings barely coming within 6 inches of the target. Luger makes the mistake of trying to hit Meng in the head. Kicks and headbutts from Meng. Superkick from Meng for 2. Elizabeth is getting something out on the floor. She sprays something, but it gets in Luger's face! Meng finally decides it might be a good idea to take Luger's neck brace off. The Tongan Death Grip is on and it's over. What an unbelievably stupid match. Its only redeeming feature is it's not the last match. Nice to see Luger putting a young whippersnapper that needs the rub like Meng over. DUD

 

In the back, Bret is with Mean Gene and cuts a pretty generic Bret babyface promo. I only mention it because during it Luger storms into the background shouting for Elizabeth. Elsewhere, David Flair is polishing his crowbar. GUYS! It may be PPV and Russo but this is still supposed to be some level of a family show.

 

To lead into the next match, the recent journeys of WCW's secondary titles. Goldberg walked out of Halloween Havoc as the US champ. The very next night on Nitro, Bret defeated him in the first round of the World title tournament. Somehow that was a US title match as well, so Bret won the US title. A couple of weeks later on Nitro a four way ladder match took place for the US title, featuring Bret, Goldberg, Sid Vicious and the recently returned from injury Scott Hall. Ladder match expert Hall won that one to take the title. On to the TV title, which has been held by Rick Steiner most of the year now. However, Rick no-showed tonight (whether storyline or for real I have no idea), and per a previous edict by the PTBs because he did that he was stripped of the title earlier today. Instead of doing anything constructive with it, the PTBs just gave it to Hall to make him a double champion. Everybody got that? Good.

 

WCW World Television and United States Heavyweight Championships: Scott Hall (c) def Booker T in 6:04- Hall, like Nash, is still coming out to the Wolfpac music. He's got the full support of the pro-WWF Toronto crowd. Listening to Hall's usual prematch shtick I suspect he might not pass a breathalyzer test. Booker is a surprise opponent for Hall, and they goof by starting Booker's music, then killing it, then starting it up again. The crowd reactions only gives Hall more excuse to goof around instead of wrestle. We do get a lockup and Hall does his usual early match arm work. Booker tries to counter but Hall muscles him up and flips him over. Reset and Booker hits a side kick to big boos. Side suplex from Booker for 2. Hall backs off and wants some space, which Booker gives. When he comes back in Hall pulls him into the turnbuckle. Running forearm from Booker and Hall falls to the floor. Booker lets him get back in and Hall takes control again when he gets back in. Chokeslam for 2. Fallaway slam from Hall. He 360 clotheslines Booker to the floor. Back in Hall tries a leverage pin but can't find the ropes to pull it off. Discus punch for 2. Yet another sleeper tonight as Hall puts one on. Hell, here's Jarrett and Creative Control AGAIN. Booker hits the scissors kick, does the spinaroonie, and hits another side kick. Jarrett distracts Nick Patrick while Creative Control try to attack Booker, who easily fights them off. But that allows Hall to hit Booker from behind, hit the Razor's Edge and get the pin. Booker tried his best with the absolute crap hand he was dealt. 1/2*

 

The Jarrett/Creative Control group beat on Booker after the bell. The lights go out and a deep bell rings. The lights come back up and there's a woman in the ring now. It kind of looks like Jacqueline, but it's a former professional bodybuilder WCW was training that's going by the name Midnight. She helps Booker fight the goons off and they leave together.

 

That would turn out to be the last defense of the TV title on a PPV. A week later on Nitro Hall would hand the TV title over to his buddy Nash because he was done with it. As you might expect, no way was Nash bothering with something so piffling as the TV title and he tossed it in a trash can. 25 years of title history, done just like that. Blame Russo yeah, but that's also a 100% Kevin Nash thing to do. The TV title would vanish until February, when Jim Duggan found it in a dumpster on Nitro (I hope they were in the same town) and claimed it for himself. No one cared. Duggan would defend it on the C and D level weekly shows and house shows until it was formally deactivated in April 2000 as part of the WCW reboot. A sad end for one of the classic Jim Crockett/NWA titles, but small mercies for it I guess it got killed off before the end of WCW.

 

Meanwhile, Luger's wandering the back like Spinal Tap looking for Elizabeth.

 

Tony calls the next match a "marquee match" on camera and somehow manages to keep a straight face. 

 

David Flair and Kimberly Page no contest in 4:55- .....Kill me now. After the Ric Flair/DDP feud, the whole thing was turned upside down with David Flair now a psycho crowbar wielding stalker obsessed with Kimberly. Sadly it's the most convincing acting he's done yet. Kimberly's been ordered by Dr. Russo Claw to wrestle because she refused to dance with the Nitro Girls anymore. Kimberly is....not dressed to wrestle tonight. That top will not last. Not that I'd, you know, complain. Nick Patrick makes David put his binky crowbar down while Kimberly is doing some crazy stretching with her feet on the top rope. As soon as David gets close Kimberly kicks him in the nuts. David barely reacts, backs off and punches his own crotch I guess to show that he's wearing a cup. Either that or he's so nuts he doesn't feel anything. He gets the crowbar, waffles Patrick with it, and slowly stalks Kimberly. Kimberly gets on her knees terrified. David hesitates. Kimberly, on her knees, well, it's very clear what she's offering here. She puts a hand into David's pants....and pulls his cup out! She hits him in the head with it. Again David barely reacts. Clearly his edict was "horror movie monster that can't be hurt". Another kick to the nuts. That gets a reaction. More kicks on David while he's down. She takes the cup and puts it on David's face, then goes full slapfest on him, followed by some choking. David finally shrugs her off and slowly stalks her with the crowbar again. Former DDP teammate Kanyon runs in and saves Kimberly. He hits a Samoan drop on David. Now DDP gets in the ring and pounds on David. Diamond Cutter. Her comes Arn Anderson. He takes the crowbar from DDP to save his best friend's son. DDP carries Kimberly off and end scene. No! David attacks Arn with the crowbar because he's NUTS and he leaves through the crowd. NOW end scene. I think that was partially an attempt to have some kind of horror movie in the ring. That's clearly the inspiration for everything's David doing right now. I don't think the bell ever rang to start any kind of match so I'm not even going to try to rate this nonsense, but if I did I don't think I'd shock anyone by saying it wouldn't be good. NR

 

Arn does the backboard and stretcher job out of the ring. 

 

I Quit Match: Goldberg def Sid Vicious in 5:30- Goldberg beat Sid by ref stoppage due to excessive blood loss at Halloween Havoc, so Sid's demanded an I Quit rematch. Submission wrestling isn't exactly a strength for either of these guys so the finish should be interesting. Saying that is almost daring WCW to do something even more stupid than usual. Hoo boy, Toronto does NOT like Goldberg. If you ever doubted that WCW piped in Goldberg chants when they needed to, I present this show in evidence. Sid had a couple of extensive runs in WWF, including being WWF Champion at times in '96-'97, so he's got the crowd behind him by that rule. Sid jumps Goldberg on the apron and we're on. Goldberg ducks under a clothesline, hits a quick powerslam, and 360 clotheslines Sid to the floor. Goldberg knocks Sid around ringside while the crowd chants "Goldberg sucks". Sid catches Goldberg coming back in, puts on a cobra clutch and hits a cobra clutch slam to a small pop. OK, the crowd's not sure about Sid, but they're very sure about Goldberg. Sid hits some short jabs in the corner that put Goldberg down. Goozle and chokeslam from Sid. He lifts Goldberg up for another one. A second chokeslam hits. Sid then goes down and puts on a choke. I guess that's his idea of a submission hold. Goldberg counters and hooks on a cross armbreaker to huge boos. Sid gets a rope break. More "Goldberg sucks" chants as Goldberg hits short clotheslines. Goldberg sort of target's Sid's arm. Commentary certainly tries their best to make it happen but Goldberg's less focused. More boos from the crowd for Goldberg being in control. Now Goldberg hooks on a cobra clutch. Just like that Sid goes out and the ref calls it even though Sid never said I quit. Way too short for an I Quit match, but it's Sid and Goldberg so I really shouldn't complain too much. 1/2*

 

Mean Gene sticks the knife in Luger some more that Liz ran off on him after messing up during the match. 

 

Tournament Finals for the Vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart def Chris Benoit in 17:44- It wasn't pretty getting here, but in the end this is exactly the right match to main event and be the tournament final. Bret and Benoit, two men that have never won the WCW World title that absolutely deserve it, and on top of that in Canada. The kind of obvious booking even Russo couldn't screw up. These two have had multiple matches on Nitro, including the famous and wonderful Owen tribute match that might be the best match in Nitro's history, but this is their first ever meeting on PPV. Code of Honor handshake after the bell and we're off. Lockup and Lil' Naitch has to force a break in the corner. Another lockup and immediate armdrag from Benoit. He then tries to work on Bret's arm but Bret backs him into the corner. Reset knucklelock and now Bret gets some arm work in. ARMBAR. Speed run and Benoit hits either a clothesline or knee to the gut, that didn't come off as intended. They try again and this time Benoit clearly hits a knee to the gut. Snap mare into a chinlock. Bret quickly works around to try to roll Benoit up but Benoit grounds him again. Sunset flip from Benoit but it was with too much pep and they end up in the ropes. Both guys try for their signature submission holds but they're both countered and we get another rope break. Another respect handshake after that. Nice. Bret gets Benoit in the corner and hits a European uppercut. Benoit reverses a corner whip and we get a Bret bump. Oh bloody hell, that fan with the Canadian flag is back and he jumps the rail. Well, I'll give them credit, they fooled me into thinking he was a real fan being a moron earlier. He attacks Benoit with his flagpole. Already interference, in THIS match. This is why we could never have nice WCW things. He rubs his facepaint off and it's Dean Malenko! So who was the guy that attacked Malenko with the flag? Did he go back in time and attack himself? Security comes in and hauls Malenko out. Bret stays in control back in as I'm positive we haven't seen the last of the interference tonight. Bret his a piledriver and Benoit gets a foot on the rope to save a pin. Legdrop to the back of Benoit's head. Headbutts to Benoit's back. Benoit starts to chop back, putting Bret down. Backbreaker from Benoit. Backdrop. Back suplex for 2. Bret comes back and hits a DDT for 2. Benoit rolls through a tiltawhirl attempt and PLANTS Bret with a leaping tombstone! Benoit says that's it and goes up top. The headbutt hits! Oh hell, here comes Scott Hall staggering down the aisle. Along with Kevin Nash. Naturally they're late so Bret still has to kick out. The Outsiders take Lil' Naitch out. Hall fallaway slam on Benoit. Now here comes Goldberg. Spear on Nash! Hall has a chair and nails Goldberg with it. Bret inverted atomic drop and clothesline on Hall. Someone throws a roll of toilet paper in the ring. I completely agree. They got the matchup right, but of course it made too much sense to let two of the best wrestlers on the planet go at it in their home country with no extraneous BS. The Outsiders decide they've worked enough tonight and depart. Goldberg follows them and attacks, which gets all the camera focus instead of the WORLD TITLE MATCH. Finally they go split screen as Benoit is now working on Bret's bum knee. Security breaks up the outside fight and we go full focus on what matters again. Or not. Back to split screen as the fight continues in the back. Security tries again to stop it and we go back fully to the ring. Benoit is continuing to pick Bret's knee apart. Figure four! Bret gets a fairly easy rope break. Benoit stays on the knee. The ref backs him out of the corner, giving Bret an opening to slug back. Backbreaker from Bret on the good knee for 2. He puts Benoit up top and hits a superplex. Russian leg sweep for 2. Bret, being Bret, is still selling the knee all the time. He hits some more shots to Benoit's back. He scoops Benoit for a slam, but his knee gives out and Benoit falls on top for a 2 count. The kickout sends Benoit to the floor, giving Bret space to shake his knee off some more. Bret goes for an apron suplex. Benoit slips out and waistlocks. ROLLING GERMANS time! But Benoit only hits two, then switches to try a dragon suplex. Bret gets free, but Benoit keeps hold of the arm and goes for the crossface! Bret does a great escape to get free. Double leg takedown! The Sharpshooter is on! Another toiler paper roll is thrown in right on target. Benoit taps! Bret wins to FINALLY win the WCW World title! Credit where credit is due, Russo quickly corrected a massive Bischoff era mistake. When you get Bret freaking Hart, you put him on top. Pyro fires off as soon as the match is over and the Hart family comes into the ring to celebrate as Bret and Benoit hug it out. It's a genuinely great moment to end on, and I wish it was given more time to breathe. I'm torn on this match. When they were left alone it was fantastic, but a large chunk of the middle was pointless run ins that only messed up what was happening in the ring. The fact they got to finish clean is a big plus. So, really good, but not on the level of the Owen tribute match despite the moment of Bret finally winning the big one in WCW. ***3/4

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Believe it or not this show actually got some fairly positive reviews when it first took place, but time and reflection have not been as kind to it. The main event alone elevates it above a lot of other Russo era shows, and that fantastic ending is enough to bump the final letter grade up an increment. The most frustrating thing is, like some other WCW shows of the period, it could have been good with just a few minor changes. Cut out the bottom matches of the 12 match card, give more time to the good matches, and I'd say less interference crap but that was ingrained in both Russo and WCW of this era to start with. Another positive I'll say for Russo's style that he tried to work here is how all the backstage segments and storylines tried to interconnect and dovetail into one singular, somewhat logical whole. If only he cared as much about doing that long term across multiple shows.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-