Survivor Series '97

Legacy Review

Survivor Series '97

November 8, 1997 from the Molson Centre in Montreal

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Welcome to one of the most infamous nights in wrestling history. The tagline for this show is Gang Rulz because Russo loved his gang/faction warfare and Survivor Series was the perfect format for that.

The show opens with another excellent video, this time focusing on the Bret/Shawn feud since Wrestlemania 12. By this point the hatred between the two was true and real. I believe "worked themselves into a shoot" would be the term. The opening pyro is on fire in front of the stage! Bit early for Kane's entrance. Since the show is in Montreal, WWF has gone the extra step of hiring a French ring announcer for the occasion. They certainly need to do all they can to appease the crowd with what's coming.

Survivor Series Match: "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and The Godwinns def The Headbangers and The New Blackjacks in 15:27- Gunn and Dogg had been teaming sporadically for a couple of months, while Gunn was still "Rockabilly", but weren't officially the New Age Outlaws or part of DX yet. The Godwinns are also transitioning into their Southern Justice personas, as referenced by Dogg during his opening promo. Phineas and Windham start. Windham shoulderblocks Phineas to the floor. Back in he pops Phineas with an open hand slap. Bradshaw hits a powerslam. Phineas tries to tag out but neither Dogg or Gunn want to get in. Henry does. Bradshaw and Henry do some back and forth. Henry clothesline for 2. Bradshaw gets an abdominal stretch cradle and that gets a pin. Henry is eliminated. Phineas and Bradshaw slug it out. Windham hits a couple of suplexes and flying lariat for 2. Phineas back elbows Windham in the corner, clotheslines him and pins him. Windham is gone. Mosh uses agility to easily stay on top of Phineas. Gunn comes in and pounds away to huge boos, the first time the crowd's been engaged the whole match. They chant something in French that's probably not very polite. Mosh gets a boot up in the corner and a clothesline. Gunn counters a bulldog, I think, planting Mosh on his face and getting a pin, eliminating Mosh. Thrasher comes in and works Phineas over. With biting. Lawler wants to know where Vince is. JR says he knows and that Vince is busy. Yeah, I'd say he is. At that very moment he was probably still arguing with Bret and/or Shawn, together or separately, about how the main event would end. That's way more interesting than what's happening in the ring, which is the most boring ass segment of the whole match yet and that's saying something. Thrasher gets a hiptoss and armdrag, outwrestling Phineas. He hits the butt splash off the top and Phineas is gone. Dogg finally gets in and immediately gets pummeled so hard his bandana flies off. Bradshaw chops him and JR gets the government mule line in. Short clothesline. Powerbomb. Gunn distracts and Dogg rolls Bradshaw up and pins him. Thrasher comes in hot. Gunn kicks him in the back from the apron. Dogg tries a pumphandle slam but Thrasher counters with a hiptoss. Blind tag. Gunn completely misses a legdrop off the top rope but gets the pin for the win anyway. Horrible match. The future New Age Outlaws had a long way to go in just about every sense. SURVIVORS: Gunn and Dogg. 3/4*

 

Survivor Series Match: The Truth Commission def The Disciples of Apocalypse in 9:58- The Truth Commission are the latest entrant into Russo's faction wars. They're presented as a kind of Latin American style paramilitary group and consist of leader Jackyl (very young Don f'n Callis, no wonder he talks so much), Sniper (a Montreal native), Recon (Bull Buchanan) and the Interrogator (Kurrgan), who's a classic 7 foot tall guy that can barely wrestle so you know who's getting featured. The DOA ride their bikes to the ring then turn right around and ride out again. Oh, I guess they're parking where there's space. How very not biker gang like polite of them. They charge the ring and the big brawl is on. They settle in with Interrogator and Chainz in the ring. Interrogator absorbs all of Chainz's offense, hits a side suplex and Chainz is gone. Everyone comes in to stand off again. Recon works over Skull. Or 8-Ball. It's the old Blu twins so no one can tell who's who, not even JR. Jackal hits a knee off the top that's no sold. A side suplex hits and Jackal is gone. Sniper comes in as Jackal, Don Callis, takes a spot in commentary. Man, some things really never do change. Sniper hits a crossbody for 2 but then gets caught coming off the top rope. Crush drops some legdrops. Belly to belly suplex for 2. Recon flips over a backdrop, lands on his ass, gets up and hits a heel kick. Collision and both guys are down. The twins swap without tagging. Skull or 8-Ball hits a clothesline and pins Recon. 8-Skull horrible swinging neckbreaker on Sniper for 2. The twins do a double team slam. The ref is distracted by Interrogator and Sniper is able to kick out. Sniper hits a sort of bulldog and one of the bald guys is gone. The official rundown says it was Skull so sure, we'll go with that. Crush is busy fixing his hair as he's getting tagged in. Not the first time I've caught him being more concerned with his hair than the match. Interrogator blind tags in. 8B hits a DDT on Sniper. Interrogator comes up and gives him another side suplex and gets the pin. I guess that's the only move he knows. Crush is quickly beat down. He hits Sniper with a tiltawhirl powerslam and Sniper is gone. Interrogator comes in and plants Crush with a, guess what.....SIDE SUPLEX and it's over. Even worse than the first match. SOLE SURVIVOR: Interrogator. DUD

Babyfaced Kevin Kelley is in the AOL chat room with Austin. I wonder if language filters had been made for chat rooms yet.

 

Survivor Series Match: Team Canada ("The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon) def Team USA (Vader, Goldust, Marc Mero and Steve Blackman) (w/Sable) in 17:47- With what's coming tonight this is the last real gasp of the longrunning Hart Foundation led Canada vs the US angle. The makeup of the US team is interesting. You've got Blackman, another Ken Shamrock like "shoot fighter" making his PPV debut (like Shamrock he had much more wrestling experience than was let on) and replacing an injured Patriot, Vader, who had recently turned face and was now the de facto captain with Patriot out, Mero, who recently returned from injury and was transitioning heel by mistreating Sable, and Goldust, who was also going heel and well on his way to becoming The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust. His face paint is black tonight with "FU" written on his face (supposedly "forever unchained", not the other thing) and "ALIVE AGAIN" written on the back of his head. Team USA still comes out to Patriot's music, which will be Kurt Angle's music in a few years. No surprise, the crowd is 100% behind Team Canada. Vader runs with it by giving the crowd a couple of Spaceballs salutes. Bulldog and Mero start. After some shenanigans with Mero's US flag bandana Bulldog attacks, dropkicking Mero to the floor and then mocking Blackman a bit. The fans chant for Sable and Mero moves her to another corner. Basically he's ripping off '80s heel Randy Savage with a fraction of the charisma. Vader hits some shots in the corner, a short clothesline and tackle. Bulldog powerslams Vader off the second rope. He suplexes Vader! That got a huge pop. Furnas gets avalanched in the corner. Mero kneelift. Furnas spinning heel kick. Mero gets pounded in the Canadian corner. He punches LaFon in the back of the head and tags Blackman. Blackman unloads with kicks and a corner dropkick. Elbow drop for 2. LaFon hits a ripcord knee and DDT for 2. Crucifix for 2. Blackman hits a tackle and takes out the whole Canadian team. He backdrops LaFon to the floor. Team Canada gangs up on Blackman on the floor while LaFon gets back in. Blackman is counted out. That's one way to protect him. Anvil and Mero go back and forth a bit. Mero dodges a splash off the second rope. Anvil clothesline and tackle on Vader for 2. Vader responds with a tackle, elbow drop and big splash that gets a pin and Anvil is eliminated. A LaFon spinning heel kick sends Vader over the top to the floor. Furnas gets some shots in. LaFon and Vader struggle a little with LaFon doing a weird rolling sell of a corner whip. Belly to belly suplex from Vader. Splash of the second rope and LaFon is gone. Furnas dropkick on Vader. Vader dodges a second. Mero comes in with boxing fists flying. This is when he changed his style from high flying to his boxing roots due to his injuries. Well, there's a Mero moonsault. Furnas landed wrong catching him and JR speculates his shoulder is hurt. He quickly tags out to Bulldog. Bulldog outpowers Mero and goes for the powerslam. Mero pushes out. Furnas is back in and fine. He and Mero do a boxing like corner slugfest. Mero roll up for 2. Furnas counter roll up and that gets 3. Mero is out. Vader comes in and pummels Furnas. Furnas hits a flying clothesline. Vader suplex on Bulldog. Vader goes to tag but Goldust refuses to come in. Furnas hits Vader from behind. Vader back suplex. Goldust still won't tag in. Furnas low blow on Vader! Cover for 2. Vader gets a boot up and clothesline on Bulldog. Another tag reach and this time Goldust jumps completely off the apron. Furnas belly to belly on Vader! Cover for 2. Furnas hurricanrana for 2. Vader nails him with a potato shot. Goldust turns his back on Vader in the corner. Vader turns him around and slaps him! I guess that's a tag. Vader throws Goldust in the ring, the first time he's been legal all night. Goldust immediately rolls back out and takes a walk. He's counted out. Vader tackles both Canadians. Bulldog goes out and gets the bell. Vader bomb on Furnas and he's pinned. Bulldog whacks Vader with the bell, covers and gets the win! Bulldog immediately gets out of the ring and almost runs to the back, not staying a second to celebrate. I think there's something big going on back there with the Harts that he's preoccupied by. Vader almost singlehandedly carried this to a decent match. SOLE SURVIVOR: Bulldog. **1/2

 

Kane (w/Paul Bearer) def Mankind in 9:29- This is Kane's first televised match after his big debut the previous month at Badd Blood. Mankind is a perfect choice of first opponents for him, both because of Foley's skill at laying matches out and crazy bumping, and his connection to Bearer (or Uncle Paul), who managed Mankind for a good chunk of '96 before Mankind's face turn. Mankind attacks Kane in the aisle. A guardrail shot has no effect. He's wearing a hard mask! Kane picks Mankind up and drops him on the steps. They get in the ring, Kane sets off the ring post pyro, and the bell rings to officially start the match. And the red light stays on. Yes, years before the Fiend got the infamous red light for his matches they tried it with Kane first. It was never a good idea in either period. They go back and forth in the ring and Mankind hits a Cactus Clothesline. Kane lands on his feet just like his brother and hits a clothesline. He throws the steps into Mankind's face. Slow Kane beatdown in the ring. Mankind rips his own hair out to try to get back in it but runs into a big boot. Corner beatdown. Kane hits a side slam. Mankind goes to the floor again. Kane gives him clubbing blows and tosses him into the steps again. Mankind lifts Kane up and drops him onto the steps! Flurry of punches from Mankind as he tries to take advantage of the opening. Chairshot to Kane's head! Mankind piledriver in the ring. Bang bang! He calls for the Mandible Claw. He puts the Claw on Bearer! I get it emotionally but he's taking his eye off the ball here. Kane sits up, pushes Mankind off the apron, and Mankind flies off AND THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! As Foley bumps go, that was moderate. Kane hits Mankind with one of the pieces of the table. Kick wham Mankind DDTs Kane in the aisle! Cactus Elbow! Another Kane sit up. He hops up onto the apron and slams Mankind off it to the floor! Light Foley bump. Kane allows Mankind to slowly crawl his way back into the ring. The Tombstone hits and it's over. Red light aside that was a very good debut. Foley did most of the work but Kane was where he needed to be when he needed to be there. He's not exactly a rookie but he'd continue to learn quickly. WWF really nailed Kane's opening months and this was just the start. ***1/4

Michael Cole is in the back with Commissioner Slaughter and Vince. Slaughter says there's "unusual tension" tonight. You don't say? Vince says this Bret/Shawn rematch was supposed to happen many times the last 18 months and never did for "a number of reasons". Like Shawn faking a knee injury to get out of it for one. Cole asks straight up who's going to win and Vince says "I don't know". A likely story. I can only imagine the chaos that was going on backstage this close to the match happening.

 

Survivor Series Match: WWF Tag Team Champions The Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock and Ahmed Johnson def The Nation of Domination in 20:34- The Nation team is Faarooq, Rocky Maivia, Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown. On the other side, after a short dalliance with Nation membership Johnson has turned back face after returning from his latest injury. We get the first of many "Rocky sucks" chants during the Nation's entrance. The Canadian crowd really, really hates Rocky. Hawk and Brown start. Shoulderblock standoff. Double clothesline. Brown goes down. Hawk doesn't. Brown hits a piledriver and Hawk, I think we've seen this movie a few times before, pops right back up. Hawk hits a neckbreaker. Rocky tags in to more crowd hate. Hawk gets kicked from behind from the apron, Rocky plants him with the still yet unnamed Rock Bottom, and Hawk is eliminated. Rocky turns around into Johnson. If you're looking for kneepads in Montreal you're out of luck, they're all on Johnson's legs. Kama and Faarooq beat Johnson down a bit. He gets caught in the heel corner and Brown whips him with a strap. Faarooq goes for a powerbomb. Johnson is supposed to flip out and land on his feet but he falls on his ass, gets back up, hits the Pearl River Plunge and Faarooq is gone. Brown hits Johnson with a heel kick that was badly delivered and sold even worse. Frog splash from Brown! He doesn't cover and plays to the crowd instead, then screams at Johnson to get up. Johnson starts hulking up. Falcon arrow on Brown! Johnson takes Rocky down. He hits the ropes but is tripped by Faarooq, still at ringside. Rocky covers and Faarooq holds Johnson's foot down. Johnson is pinned and eliminated. Good thing because watching Johnson attempt to wrestle gets more and more painful to watch after each injury. He's regressing and he was never very good to start with. He chases Faarooq and they brawl to the back. Animal pounds away on Rocky and hits a corner clothesline. Shamrock is in for the first time and hits a clothesline and dropkick on Rocky. Kama and Shamrock do some back and forth. Animal/Kama double clothesline. Back suplex from Animal. Kama hits some weak kicks. Animal tackle. There's some random and loud mic feedback. Commentary is affected too. Lawler says it's "our genius sound engineer Kevin Dunn". He's probably hitting all the buttons trying to figure out if the mics can do every second camera cuts or quick zooms. Animal pushes Kama into Rocky and rolls him up for a pin. Kama is gone. Shamrock pounds Brown down. Brown holds Shamrock down and Rocky comes in to give him a Greco Roman Nut Punch. Brown legdrop for 2. Shamrock goes face in peril for a bit. Brown misses a springboard moonsault. He would have missed even if Shamrock hadn't rolled, he set Shamrock way too close to the corner. Tag to Animal. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg are out. Gunn is in Animal face paint while Dogg is wearing the spiked shoulder pad they stole from LOD a few weeks prior. That's how the New Age Outlaws got their name by the way, by stealing stuff from all the other tag teams. Animal hops out to confront them and tosses the outside ref aside. Gunn throws a bunch of powder in Animal's face and Animal is counted out. Gunn and Dogg would end up defeating LOD for their first of many tag title wins on Raw a few weeks after this. Shamrock is left alone against Brown and Rocky. The Nation guys try to corner him but the ref forces one to get out. Brown stays in and gets a quick edge. They try a double team but Shamrock double clotheslines them both. Rocky goes to the floor. Belly to belly suplex on Brown. The ankle lock is on! Rocky is outside with a chair but he's not making any effort to save Brown. Brown taps out! Rocky gets in and nails Shamrock in the back with the chair. Cover. Shamrock kicks out! Rocky stomps Shamrock down in the corner until the ref stops him. Rocky DDT for a long 2. He slams Shamrock in the middle of the ring. The elbow pad is off! Could it be? Yes, it's the first ever People's Elbow on PPV! Of course it also wasn't named yet. Cover and another kickout. Shamrock gets up with a flurry of gut punches. He blocks another DDT into a northern lights suplex! Shamrock hurricanrana! Ankle lock. HARD tap out from Rocky and Shamrock wins! Most of the match was very rough, but the right two guys were there at the end and they both looked good. SOLE SURVIVOR: Shamrock. **

Ad for the December PPV, which will be D-Generation X: In Your House. DX's famous entrance music makes its debut here too.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin def The Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart (c) (w/The Hart Foundation) in 4:04- This is Austin's return match after having his neck legitimately broken by Owen in their IC title match at Summerslam and concerns that he might never wrestle again. Owen openly said leading up to this match that he was going to break Austin's neck again. The shattering glass on the stage is back, but only about half of it shatters when it's supposed to and Austin walks through some of it. How huge has Austin gotten? He's cheered while Owen and the Hart Foundation are booed. In CANADA. There are Austin 3:16 shirts EVERYWHERE in the crowd. Owen stalls forever on the floor. Austin takes the Owen 3:16 I Just Broke Your Neck shirt and tears it up. I'm still laughing at him calling that shirt "cheap heat" at the last PPV. Anvil tries to catch Austin from behind but gets Stunnered! Owen takes the opening to attack. He hooks up for a piledriver, the move that injured Austin, and the crowd gasps. Austin backdrops out. Owen posts Austin's knee. Austin uses his legs to pull Owen into the post. Owen tries to walk but Austin clotheslines him from behind. They fight in the commentary area and Owen gets a low blow. Austin gets rammed into the remnants of the Spanish announce table. The crowd chants for Austin but JR tries to play it as "this crowd really wants to see Austin's neck broken". Yeah, I don't think so. Canadian crowds, they never cooperate. TV cable choke from Owen and he straight tells the ref to DQ him. Back in Austin turns things around with an eye poke and mudhole stomp. Stunner! It's already over and Austin gets the title back! Furnas and LaFon get some Stunners for the road. That went as well as it could have. Austin clearly wasn't 100% yet. You could argue they should have waited to do the match later, but Vince might have wanted to get all the belts off the Harts now just to be safe. *

We get the same Bret/Shawn video that was played at the start of the show to set up the main event. Like I mentioned earlier, what started as a wrestling angle turned into real life hatred. Bret had a lot of opinions about Shawn's hard partying lifestyle and accused Shawn of ducking matches with him since WM 12 (a claim with merit), while Shawn struck a nerve with Bret by saying Bret thought he was the whole WWF. Then Shawn struck an even bigger nerve by openly on TV accusing Bret of having an affair with Sunny (the "you've had some sunny days" promo). That one caused a real fight backstage and led to Shawn getting legit suspended. On top of all that, the news hit the internet before this show that Bret was planning to leave to go to WCW. Both guys get the epic locker room to Gorilla backstage walk on camera. DX and some of the Harts do the walk but all stay behind backstage.

 

WWF Championship: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels def Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) in 12:11- It seems almost irrelevant to mention with everything going on that Shawn is also still the European champion, a title already rendered almost meaningless. During his entrance Shawn has what looks like a full beer thrown on him. He gets a Canadian flag, then proceeds to get an already hostile crowd even more enraged by wiping his ass, blowing his nose, and humping it. The prematch tension is insane. While Bret's in the ring during his entrance Shawn continues to mess with ringside fans. Finally Shawn jumps Bret from behind. Bret quickly slugs back and clotheslines Shawn 360 to the floor. Important to note, the bell never rang to start the match. Bret posts Shawn, then tosses him into the crowd! They fight in the floor section right on top of the fans! Vince, Slaughter, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco and every ref in the WWF are all at ringside trying to get things under control. Not in a "breaking up a real fight" way, everything is going as planned. So far. Shawn gives Bret table and stair shots then does his usual push of a cameraman out of the way. JR references the "rumors" about Bret's future and says it's been mentioned he might be leaving the WWF "if he loses". Shawn chokes Bret with a US flag. They go into the crowd on the other side. Bret backdrops Shawn over the rail back to ringside! Low blow from Bret. They start working their way up the entrance aisle. Bret suplexes Shawn on the aisle! Shawn runs Bret into ref Tim White. Bret flips Shawn over the barricade right next to the entrance tunnel and hits him with a fire extinguisher. Vince starts yelling at them and, coincidence or not, they start working back to the ring. They get in and the bell finally rings to officially start the match. Bret got a Quebec flag from somewhere and chokes Shawn with it. Inverted atomic drop. Shawn ducks a clothesline and hits a flying forearm. He gets the Quebec flag and chokes Bret with it. The heat from the crowd is ridiculous. Jim Cornette in the deep south in the mid '80s level heat. Shawn continues to mess with the crowd to make it even worse. He tosses Bret out and gives him some measured shots with more crowd mocking. He drops Bret on the steps, then breaks the pole of Bret's Canadian flag and hits him with it. Double ax handle off the top in the ring. Shawn grounds things for a bit with a front facelock. Bret eventually powers out. He drops elbows on Shawn's knee. Shawn gets an eye rake in. Crossbody off the top but Bret rolls through it for 2. More Bret knee kicks. He posts Shawn's knee and puts on the post wraparound figure four. More knee work. Figure four! Shawn fights and reverses it. Bret quickly grabs a rope. Shawn flip! Bret Russian leg sweep for 2. Snap suplex for 2. Backbreaker. He goes up to the top rope. Shawn pulls Hebner in front of him and the ref is down. Another Shawn eye rake. He puts Bret in a Sharpshooter! Hebner is suddenly up, gives a perfunctory look at Bret, and calls for the bell to ring! Shawn's music plays. Commentary is flummoxed, or at least pretends to be. Bret looks both stunned and not surprised at all. He gets up and spits right on Vince. Triple H is out. He backs Shawn up as Shawn goes over to the timekeeper's area, grabs the belt, and gets the hell out of town. The camera stays on Shawn as he goes up the aisle, zooms in on the Survivor Series logo, and we are off the damn air. The Montreal Screwjob is done. It's almost impossible to rate a match like this with all the real life drama and screwing going on, but despite their issues Bret and Shawn always worked well together and that continued here before the ending. ***1/2

Thanks to multiple documentaries and compilation sets we have seen what happened after the show went off air. Bret continued to berate Vince, destroyed a bunch of equipment ringside, and air wrote out "WCW" to the fans. And then Bret punched Vince out backstage. So what was supposed to happen? Bret refusing to drop the title to Shawn in Canada is what started it. He was also upset by Shawn supposedly saying if he was champion he wouldn't drop the belt to Bret period. After much negotiation it was agreed, as far as Bret understood, that this match would end by DQ when the Harts and DX all interfered (a "schmozz" in backstage parlance). Bret would then drop the title on Raw before leaving for good. There was time as he still had a month before his WCW contract started. Vince, however, had just been burned by Medusa/Alundra Blayze taking the WWF Women's title belt to WCW and dropping it in a garbage can. He didn't want to take any risk of that happening to the WWF Title. I think he also had in the back of his mind 1991 when Ric Flair came over while still WCW World champion and still in physical possession of the Big Gold Belt and didn't want that situation in reverse either. So the Screwjob was cooked up the weekend of the show. To this day there's conflicting reports of who knew and who didn't. It'd take a whole separate article to get into all the detail but I think it's generally accepted by now that Shawn, Triple H and Hebner at least were all aware of what was happening. Several people have pointed to Trips as the mastermind of the whole scheme.

 

The effects of this night were widespread and long lasting. Shawn became beyond a shadow of doubt the most hated man in wrestling. Much of the locker room was upset and had to be calmed down. The Undertaker in particular didn't like what was done and almost led an open revolt. Most of the Hart Foundation left the company in protest. The exception was Owen, who was locked into his contract, but he did go away for the next month. DX member Rick Rude also left in protest, leading to the famous night soon after this where he was on Raw (taped) and Nitro (live) the same night. Other members of the roster not involved left in disagreement with what was done while others, notably Triple H, backed McMahon's decision. The next night on Raw Vince, sporting the shiner Bret gave him, gave the infamous "Bret Hart screwed Bret Hart" speech. Bret would move on to his WCW run, which never got anywhere close to the level of his WWF heyday, in part certainly due to WCW's atrocious booking (Bret had the misfortune of jumping over just as WCW's wheels were coming off for good), but also I think because Bret never got over what happened on this night and was never fully mentally in the game over there. It would cause a rift with Vince and Shawn that would last years before Bret agreed to bury the hatchet, at least somewhat, during Wrestlemania 26 season in 2010, but to this day he's clearly still bitter about it. 

 

So what do I think? This is definitely one of those situations where opinions on the Montreal Screwjob are like assholes, everyone's got one and they're mostly used to spew shit, and I'm sure I'm no better. In my younger days I was much more pro Bret, and still get where he was coming from, but as I've gotten older I can more easily see Vince's perspective on this and on the whole think he did what he had to do under the circumstances. I do still think that if cooler heads had prevailed Bret would have kept his word and dropped the title on Raw before leaving, but Vince had no way to 100% absolutely guarantee that after this night. It's unfortunate and sad it had to happen this way at all.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Like the main event, it's hard to put any kind of a rating on a show like this. The majority of the show is perfectly skippable, but the main event is an absolute must watch for every wrestling fan, sadly not for the right reasons. I'll give it a grade right in the middle and move on.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

Starrcade '95

Legacy Review

Starrcade '95: World Cup of Wrestling

Small personal note before we get going, I attended the '23 Royal Rumble at the Alamodome this past weekend and it was an amazing show top to bottom. Just wish the so-called "Superstore" had been better stocked and had a wider variety, though seeing the Axxess-like memorabilia museum was really cool. It really feels like WWE has turned a creative corner with Triple H calling the shots now and this Wrestlemania season may really be something special.

 

December 27, 1995 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

After a more normal show in '94 we're back to a gimmick Starrcade this year, but this was one of the best ideas for one: WCW and partner New Japan Pro-Wrestling going toe to toe in a best of 7 series for the one off "World Cup of Wrestling". It's a great concept, but the show was also badly promoted in the US outside the WCW World title matches at the end and almost no time was spent on weekly TV building up who the New Japan wrestlers are. Remember, it's still (mostly) pre-internet, the ultra hardcore fans who would go out of their way to get literal videotapes of shows from Japan would know who the Japanese wrestlers are but that's a very small percentage of the base fandom. It's also puzzling that reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Mutoh was left out as his Great Muta persona was one of the few New Japan wrestlers familiar to most American fans. Dusty Rhodes is making his PPV debut in commentary, forming a three man booth with Tony and Heenan that will last well into the start of the NWO invasion. The group brings a lot of hilarity, but lots of times at the expense of actually calling the matches. And one last personal note, this is the first time I've watched this show since watching for the first time (and reviewing) the Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome shows of this era, so I'm much more familiar with the New Japan wrestlers and have really been looking forward to getting into this one.

WCW vs NJPW: Jushin Thunder Liger (w/Sonny Oono) def Chris Benoit in 10:29- Liger is probably the most recognizable Japanese wrestler in the US after Muta from his early '90s WCW appearances, including his genre defining match with Brian Pillman at Superbrawl II in '92 that showcased the Japanese junior heavyweight high flying technical style that was unheard of to mainstream US audiences at the time. He's also a few months back from the ankle injury that put him on the shelf almost a full year. Benoit and Liger were very familiar opponents from Japan so this is a great pairing and a definite hot start for the show. Benoit easily wins the opening lockups. They do an extended speed/counter run with Liger getting a couple of armdrags and dropkicking Benoit to the floor. Baseball slide. Liger cannonball off the apron! Back in they reset with a test of strength. Liger bridges up, leaps and headscissors Benoit out of the knucklelock. Benoit tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. He tries a powerbomb but Liger flips over into an armdrag. More speed and Liger hits a snap belly to belly suplex. Benoit goes to the floor again. Liger loads up a dive but Benoit moves and Liger handsprings off the ropes instead. We get our first Dustyism of the night, saying Liger was "tipsy toed". Back in Benoit hits a snap suplex and back suplex. Clothesline. He puts Liger in a Liontamer style Boston crab. Chops and Benoit German suplex for 2. Liger hooks on a surfboard, then transitions into a camel clutch. Benoit electric chair slams out. He tries another back suplex but Liger flips over on him. Benoit hooks up for a tombstone. Liger reverses, and flapjacks Benoit straight down. They go up top and Benoit hits a superplex. Liger dodges the headbutt off the top rope. Rolling kick in the corner from Liger. Ligerbomb for 2. Brain buster for 2. They hit the ropes again and Benoit hits a big clothesline, followed by two rolling Germans. Benoit plants Liger with a powerbomb. He goes up and hits the headbutt off the top! Kevin Sullivan is out to ringside. I don't remember the details but Benoit's Four Horsemen teammate Pillman did something to piss Sullivan off not long ago, and Pillman's not scheduled tonight so he's taking it out on Benoit. Liger takes advantage of the distraction, hits a rough hurricanrana that they struggled to get over on, and gets the pin. Good stuff for sure, but also only about 75% of what they were capable of. The distraction finish didn't help either. New Japan takes the early 1-0 lead. ***1/2

Mean Gene is in the back with Eddie Guerrero, which I only mention because it is so weird to see Eddie as a white meat babyface.

 

WCW vs NJPW: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto (w/Sonny Oono) def "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright in 11:44- Kanemoto is in his second of what would be 5 career reigns with the junior title, and this is in the peak of his epic longtime rivalry with Liger that would see them face each other in the Tokyo Dome almost every single year for years. In fact, Liger would take the title from Kanemoto in the '96 January 4 Dome show just a week after this. Wright participated in the '95 Best of the Super Juniors tournament so he had familiarity with the New Japan style. Lockup and counterwrestling stalemates to start. Kanemoto spins into a drop toe hold and works Wright's leg a bit. Wright gets up with an enzuguri and lays in some European uppercuts. They trade arm wringers and Wright does some World of Sport counters. Armdrag and flying headscissors from Wright. He crossbodys Kanemoto against the ropes and they both go to the floor. A baseball slide sends Kanemoto into the barricade. Wright plancha! Kanemoto is frustrated and takes his time on the floor getting his head back in the game. Back in Wright cranks a chinlock that's almost a full sleeper. Kanemoto backs him into the corner and hits chops. Spinning heel kick. He lays Wright on the top rope and lays in some more chops and a dropkick. Wright gets on the apron and Kanemoto dropkicks him off. Kanemoto plancha! That was way better than Wright's. Wright reverses a floor whip and Kanemoto goes into the guardrail. Some more floor stalling follows. Wright tries to suplex Kanemoto off the apron. Kanemoto flips out and hooks up for a tiger suplex. Wright tries to block it. Kanemoto eventually gets him over, but Wright falls with a foot on the middle rope to break up the pin. Kanemoto moonsault! He doesn't go for a cover, which everyone in commentary agrees is a mistake. Might be the only thing all three agreed on the whole time they worked together. Wright floats over in the corner and hits a German suplex for 2. Heel kick from Wright. Running corner elbow. Setup powerslam. Wright springboard splash. Kanemoto gets a foot on the rope. Wright goes for a missile dropkick but Kanemoto also dropkicks him in midair and both guys are down. Wright springboard crossbody for 2. Kanemoto hits a back elbow and spin kick. Setup slam and corkscrew senton for 2. Kanemoto comes off the top but Wright dropkicks him in midair. Wright missile dropkick. Superplex. Wright tries to float over in the corner again but Kanemoto catches him and snake eyes him. A jackknife cover gets the pin! Once again Wright shows that with the right partner he could be carried to a good match. New Japan takes a big 2-0 lead. ***1/4

 

WCW vs NJPW: "The Total Package" Lex Luger (w/Jimmy Hart) def Masahiro Chono (w/Sonny Oono) in 6:41- In context of the best of 7 series this is pretty much a must win for WCW. These two have priors, with Luger successfully defending the WCW World title (globe and stars edition) against Chono in the second WCW/New Japan Supershow in '92, which was also the first ever Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show. Chono won the revived NWA World title later that year when WCW got the Big Gold Belt back, but that was his only singles title win so far. Even though Chono was the king of the G1 Climax in this period (3 tournament wins already and he'd get up to 5) he had struggled in major singles matches outside the tournament. Case in point, he still had a goose egg in singles matches in 1/4 Dome shows and would lose again the next week at the '96 show. They stare down to start. Luger kicks Chono into a headlock and hits a shoulderblock. Gorilla press slam. Chono hits a couple of running forearms and a Yakuza kick. Luger goes to the floor and confers with Hart. Back in Luger goes back on the attack. Chono blocks and hits a suplex. He hooks on a sleeper, then turns it into a reverse DDT. The STF is hooked in! Luger gets to the ropes. A bit more back and forth follows and Chono hits a reverse atomic drop. He wanders around a bit lost for a moment, then hits another Yakuza kick. Tony keeps calling them "mafia kicks", which sends both Heenan and Dusty into fits of laughter because it makes no sense to them and no one tries to explain Chono's Yakuza gimmick. Chono tries coming off the top but flies into a Luger back elbow. Torture Rack! Chono submits and it's over. This never really came together. Luger gets WCW on the board and it's 2-1. *1/2

 

WCW vs NJPW: WCW World Television Champion Johnny B Badd (w/Kimberly) def Masa Saito (w/Sonny Oono) by DQ in 5:52- This is an interesting (putting it politely) pairing for Badd, who had grown a ton in the ring during the past year and was wrestling a very athletic, high flying style while Saito was a very old school grounded New Japan heavyweight, lurching toward retirement and probably hanging on too long already. Oono takes issue with Kimberly being out there and Kimberly gives it right back to him. Cautious start. Saito gets a takedown and puts on a cobra clutch, then goes into heel 101 hair pulling. A chop exchange turns into an all out stiff chopfest. Saito hits a throat punch. Oono gets involved in a match for the first time and chokes Badd with his flagpole. Guess they figured this one needed it since Saito was, putting it mildly, limited in what he could do. Saito suplex from the man that invented it. Lariato. More choking from Oono. Saito Russian leg sweep. Mongolian chop. Badd punches back and hits a kneelift. Double ax handle off the top. Sunset flip off the top for 2. More Badd punches and a suplex. Oono gets on the apron. Saito attacks from behind and in the course of events Badd goes over the top rope down to the floor, taking Oono with him. The ref calls for the dumb over the top rope rule DQ. After the bell the fight continues with Badd completely missing a somersault plancha. Really, could Saito not job clean to a reigning WCW champion? Weak sauce. The Cup is tied up 2-2. 1/4* solely for the stiff chop exchange near the start of the match

 

WCW vs NJPW: Shinjiro Otani (w/Sonny Oono) def Eddie Guerrero in 13:43- Otani was a few years behind the Liger/Kanemoto generation but was on a similar track in the junior division and would end up becoming almost as big a legend as, well, Kanemoto at least. No one in the junior division has ever been on Liger's level. He's also the more natural heel of the three which fit this match perfectly. Guerrero is essentially making his WCW PPV debut (he was in the World War 3 battle royale but so were 59 other guys). After cutting his teeth in his home Mexico he worked in New Japan for several years both as himself and as a version of Black Tiger, and also had an ECW run under his belt that included a TV title win. Guerrero plays to the crowd a bit before another cautious start. Otani hooks on an armbar and goes right into the heel work, hair pulling and face raking Guerrero. He tries a leg takedown but Guerrero hits an enzuguri. Otani gets a single leg crab followed by more good back and forth mat position jockeying. Guerrero hurricanranas Otani to the floor. Back in Guerrero hits a dropkick. Slingshot senton. Boston crab into a single leg from Guerrero. He powerbombs Otani and stacks him up for 2. Huge Guerrero brain buster! He covers but Otani has a foot on the rope. Corner clothesline. Otani flips over the corner to dodge a charge and hits a springboard dropkick. Those springboard moves will quickly become one of Otani's signatures. Guerrero rolls out. Otani with a springboard crossbody down to the floor! Back in Otani hits a dropkick and stomps on Guerrero a bit. This would probably be the spot in the match where he'd do his signature boot scrapes but he wasn't doing that quite yet. Guerrero hits a Saito suplex. Otani German suplex for 2. Springboard spinning heel kick! That one looks awesome. Otani goes up top. Guerrero pops up, joins him, and hurricanranas him off the top! Slow cover for 2. Guerrero lifts Otani into a Razor's Edge position and powerbombs him again! Almost a Last Ride powerbomb. Standing switches with Otani getting a takedown into an ankle lock. Guerrero grabs a rope. Otani misses a dive and goes through the ropes to the floor. Guerrero runs him into the guardrail and slams him on the floor. Guerrero springboard reverse crossbody to the floor! That might have been intended to be a springboard moonsault but it looks like Guerrero switched at the last second. Otani suplexes Guerrero back in the ring. Springboard dropkick to the back of Guerrero's head! He hooks up for his dragon suplex finisher. Guerrero back elbows out. Otani whips Guerrero and tries a pop up powerbomb. Guerrero turns it into a hurricanrana! Otani rolls through it into a cradle! Reversal! Another reversal! Otani stays on top and gets the pin! Hell of a match. I think both these kids are going to be OK. New Japan goes back up 3-2. ****1/4

 

WCW vs NJPW: WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage def Hiroyoshi Tenzan (w/Sonny Oono) in 6:55- Another interesting pairing here. Tenzan was about a year back from excursion and was still working his way up the ranks, but as Tony points out he and Chono had just had an IWGP tag title run. He's being billed as misspelled "Tensan" here. Savage's left arm is still all taped up with what was I think a legit injury he was working through. Rough lockup with Tenzan attacking out of a corner break. Clothesline for 2. Chops in the corner and a corner boot choke. Tenzan no sells a buckle shot and hits headbutts as it's all Tenzan so far. Spinning heel kick. Mongolian chops. Savage rolls out. Tenzan follows and posts him, then drops him on the guardrail. Tenzan Samoan drop back in. Headbutt off the top for 2. Moonsault! Savage dodges! Clothesline to Tenzan's back. Savage tries to suplex Tenzan but drops him on the top rope. I'm not sure if that was deliberate or not. The elbow off the top hits and it's over with Savage hitting three moves the whole match. There was some chemistry here, but the lack of time and bad layout with Tenzan on offense almost the whole match just to lose didn't help any. Shockingly (/sarcasm), it's tied up 3-3 going into the last match. *

 

WCW vs NJPW: Sting def WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki (w/Sonny Oono) in 6:52- Sasaki had actually been working in WCW regularly for a bit, having upset Sting for the US title during a WCW two show swing in Japan in November. The physical World Cup is out for this match to be presented after. It's the most generic giant trophy with no inscription on it at all that you could find. Saski jumps Sting as he's getting in the ring. He runs Sting into the corners. Sting hits a back elbow and chops. Early Stinger Splash! Sasaki gets a misdirection faceplant. Clotheslines. Sting ducks the third, hits a dropkick, and clotheslines Sasaki 360 to the floor. Back in there's a series of suplex counters and Sasaki hits a powerslam. Northern lights brain buster! That's usually Sasaki's finisher but he's not making an effort to cover. Instead he plays to the crowd, then hooks on his dragon hold submission hold. After Sting gets out Sasaki hits the arm flip slam for 2. He puts Sting in a Scorpion Death Lock! Sting fights and powers out of it. Sasaki dragon screw leg whip! Sting hits an enzuguri. Sasaki tries a running powerslam. Sting escapes, hits a clothesline and a faceplant. Sting Scorpion! He drags Sasaki away from the ropes and Sasaki has to submit! Decentish. **1/4

After the bell the other WCW wrestlers that were in the Cup come out to celebrate, and Okerlund hosts a small trophy presentation.

 

Triangle Match: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair def Sting and "The Total Package" Lex Luger by countout in 28:03- Now for the other part of tonight's festivities. The winner of this match gets a world title match with Savage immediately after. Flair must have paid someone some serious money to be the only one that didn't wrestle a match during the World Cup earlier. Sting and Luger are still doing their "one guy is a face and one guy is a heel but we're still best friends forever no matter what anyone else says" shtick. Luger told Jimmy Hart to stay in the back for this match because he wanted to go it alone. As I've mentioned before these triple threat/triangle/3 way matches were still a new thing to mainstream wrestling at the time and they were still trying to figure out how best to make it work. Tonight has a new format: they're going to do the coin flip again (in theory) but the "odd man out" will start on the apron, wrestlers can tag in and out with only two being legal at any given time, and the first guy to get a fall is the winner. It's not perfect, but it does add some new strategic wrinkles. Do you park it on the apron to rest at the risk of the match ending without you in it, or do you go all out avoiding tagging out to try to get the win? Luger gets on the apron with as far as we can tell no coin flip in the ring, so Sting and Flair start. We get a "WOOOOOOO"/Sting yell tradeoff. Lockup and Flair chops. Sting press slam and clothesline for 2. He tries for an early Scorpion but Flair grabs a rope before it's on and slides out. Back in Flair spins into a hammerlock. Tony calls out the fact there was no visible coin toss in the ring and says Luger must have volunteered to be on the apron first. Heenan of all people covers by saying it must have happened in the back before the match. Flair continues the slow picking apart of Sting. More chops and Flair struts a bit. Sting mock struts back. He hits a hip toss, dropkick and another press slam. Mounted punches and a Sting face plant. Flair rolls out again. Sting follows, gets whipped into the rail, but then pops out and runs Flair over with a very Vader like tackle. More Sting no selling and Flair begs off. Flair dodges a dropkick. Kneedrop and Flair struts in Luger's direction. Dusty goes on an absolutely insane rant about what "playing possum" means and how do you play possum anyway do you climb a tree and shout "I'm a possum"? He and Heenan it sounds legit start arguing about it and Tony has to rein them both back in. Flair tosses Sting over the top almost onto the steps and mocks Luger some more. Kneedrop back in for 2. More strutting as Flair is in super cocky mode. Suplex. Sting pops up! He sets Flair up top. Flair eye pokes to get away. Another Sting press slam and he sets Flair up top again. Superplex! Sting covers. Luger comes in to break it up! Sting sees him coming and he stops! Sting: "What are you doing?". Flair hits Sting from behind. Luger tags Sting to come into the match. Luger is all kinds of fired up and Flair begs off. He rolls out. Luger chases, picks him up on the aisle and carries him back to the ring. Flair gets a cheap shot in the corner. He tries a shoulderblock but just bounces off Luger. Luger press slam. Tony: "Flair's been up there all night!". Mounted punches. Flair Flop! Luger covers for 2. Eye poke from Flair and he clips Luger's knee! Time to go to school. Sting inadvertently distracts the ref and Flair whacks Luger's knee with a chair. More knee work and mocking of Sting from Flair. Sting gets the ref's attention again so Flair gives Luger a low blow. Figure four! Luger hulks up and reverses. Suplex from Luger for 2. He slams Flair off the top then absorbs more blows from Flair. Flair wants Sting and Luger to go at it. He tags out to Sting. Sting comes in to an underwhelming crowd response considering the story they've been telling. Luger and Sting are reluctant to go. They shake hands as the crowd gets restless. Finally they lock up with clean corner breaks that get boos. Luger gets the first real shots in. Sting blocks a buckle shot and hits one. Clotheslines. Luger backs off. Sting gets a boot up in the corner and hits a high knee. Luger pops out of the corner with a clothesline. He drops Sting on the top rope. Sting goes to the floor. Luger tries coming off the apron but Sting catches him with a gut shot. Crossbody off the top back in for 2. Sting tries a Vader bomb but Luger gets his knees up. He drops a bunch of elbows and covers Sting for 2. Sting catches a kick and kicks back. He tries for the Scorpion but Luger grabs a rope before it's fully on. Low blow from Luger! Inverted atomic drop. Sting flash small package for 2. Sunset flip for 2. He counters a Luger backdrop and hits a faceplant. Stinger Splash! He goes for another one but Luger dodges. Torture Rack! The ref gets knocked down! Flair comes in and clips Luger's knee again! Luger falls out of the ring. Flair tosses Sting out on top of Luger! Then he gets the ref up and tells him to count. The ref does. Sting is up at 9, but Luger grabs him to keep him from getting back in and they're both counted out! Flair wins! Pretty solid match. It was best when Flair was in. The finish is one of those typical WCW ones that they think is being super brilliant when it's really only moderately inspired. Kind of the wrestling equivalent of watching a Christopher Nolan movie. **3/4

After the match Jimmy Hart runs out and it looks like he's mad at Flair for costing Luger. Sting walks away from Luger without a word.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (w/Jimmy Hart) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) in 8:41- Hart stays out to manage Flair so I guess there's no issue there after all. Commentary doesn't do anything to try to explain or even speculate about it. Buffer still has to do the full Buffer even though both these guys have already wrestled tonight. Savage quickly blocks a hip toss and gets a backslide for 2. Corner shot trade off. Paul Orndorff comes out in a neck brace. The Horsemen, or more specifically that loose canon Brian Pillman, gave him a piledriver on concrete not long ago. Flair hits an inverted atomic drop. Savage fights off a figure four. Flair Flip! He falls to the floor. Savage comes off the top but Flair catches him with a gut punch. Security gets Orndorff out. Thanks for coming I guess. Flair posts Savage's bad arm and lays Savage out in the aisle. Hart gets a wimpy kick in. Back in Flair works a hammerlock on Savage's hurt arm and spends the next part of the match picking the arm apart. Kneedrop on the arm. Savage tries to get a desperation cover with tights holding but Flair squeaks out. Flair hooks on a sleeper. Savage counters out. Backdrop and clotheslines from Savage for 2. Hart gets on the apron. Savage tries coming off the top but again Flair catches him. Flair has Hart's megaphone. He tries to hit Savage with it but Savage blocks it. Savage gets the megaphone and nails Flair with it! He covers but the ref is still distracted by Hart. Flair's busted open and gushing. Savage hits the elbow off the top! The ref is STILL dancing over there with Hart. Pillman and Benoit are out. Savage fights them both off. Arn Anderson is out. He nails Savage from behind with knucks! The bloody mess Flair covers, and the ref finally stops hugging Hart to count the pin. Flair wins the title back! Officially WCW says this is #12, so adding his two WWF Title wins it's 14. Really it's more than that but I'm not getting into that right now. The Horsemen ride on top again. Pillman whips Savage with the belt as the rest of the Horsemen celebrate. The match was eh, probably about the best they could do under the circumstances of wrestling multiple matches and time constraints. They were setting up some good psychology around Savage's hurt arm, but it degenerated into Hart hugging the ref for two solid minutes while the Horsemen interfered. I also think this is a case of WCW badly misreading the room. The Horsemen reunion was great, the new makeup of the Horsemen is great. But, the crowd really, really, really wants to cheer the Horsemen. They should be faces, not heels. Case in point tonight, as all the interference to win got a very tepid response, not a ton of heat. A clean Flair win would probably have blown the roof off the place, even against Savage. *3/4

 

There were some more interesting happenings after the show went off air. Sasaki defended the US title in a dark match against the One Man Gang. OMG pinned Sasaki to win the title, but due to shenanigans the refs restarted the match and Sasaki ended up winning. However, WCW didn't recognize the restart and OMG kept the win and the belt and was now the official US champ. When the match was aired in part on weekly TV the next week it only showed OMG getting the pin.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- A show of WCW vs NJPW matches was a brilliant idea, and in a rarity for WCW actually executed fairly well. The junior matches definitely delivered. The heavyweight matches less so, but the overall presentation was still a success in my eyes. I'm a huge NJPW fan so I am biased. I wish they'd done more shows like this. The final portion with the world title was OK but not great. It might have turned out better with a more even allocation of time for the two matches and no double duty for everyone. It also helped tremendously to have no Hogan or Giant involved. At this point Dusty was more a disruptive force on commentary than a help, messing up the good rapport Tony and Heenan had built up. They'd get better once they ironed out the kinks. And so WCW closes out what had been at times a tortuously bad 1995 with back to back solid shows and some new solid ground under their feet thanks to Nitro giving them some more focus. That would continue into the first part of '96, a year that would end up changing wrestling forever.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

Badd Blood '97: In Your House

Legacy Review

Badd Blood '97: In Your House

October 5, 1997 from the Kiel Center in St. Louis, MO

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Small bit of history here as this is the final show to be commentated by Vince before he moved into being the Mr. McMahon character (or, alternative interpretation, playing himself) full time. No house set for this one, instead it's a more basic entrance stage of the metal/cage variety that will become common the next few years. Another visual tweak pushing more toward modern times: the old announce tables that were actually a regular folding legs table are gone, replaced by the same style modern announce desk that's still in use today.

Before getting into the show there's an important thing to mention: during the Free For All preshow WWF announced on air the death of Brian Pillman. After failing to arrive at the PPV arena, WWF conducted a search and found out Pillman was found dead earlier that day in his hotel room in the city WWF had a house show the previous night. There wasn't much information to be had at this early stage but it was tragic news that cast a pall over the whole night.

Handicap Match: The Nation of Domination def The Legion of Doom in 12:20- Ken Shamrock was scheduled to team with LOD but was still out from the injuries he suffered at the hands of Faarooq during the IC title tournament. It's Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown in his PPV wrestling debut and Rocky Maivia representing the ever changing Nation in this one. Vince mentions Pillman's passing on the main PPV for the first time during entrances. Hawk takes a mic and says, essentially, screw a partner, let's go. Hawk & Brown start. Shoulderblock standoffs and Hawk hits a hiptoss/dropkick combo. He counters a Brown backdrop and hits a clothesline. Rocky tags in to huge "Rocky sucks" chants. He steps out of the ring and refuses to wrestle. His teammates talk him back in. Rocky pounds on Animal. Animal hits a tackle and a dropkick. Rocky bails and the rest of the team pumps him up again. The faces work Rocky's arm a bit. Hawk escapes from the heel corner. Kama tags in. He and Hawk struggle to get on the same page. Double clothesline. Double no sell! Hawk enzuguri. Animal powerslam. Rocky comes in without a tag and DDTs Animal! Kama hits a hook kick. Animal gets tossed to the floor and worked over. After a little face in peril work Animal pops out of the corner with a clothesline on Brown. The tag is cut off. Brown hits legdrops for 2. Rocky comes in and hooks on a chinlock to more Rocky sucks chants. Animal and Rocky flub a knee to the gut a bit and Rocky stomps him down in the corner. Hawk gets baited in and Rocky gives Animal a Greco Roman Nut Punch. Animal dodges a Kama avalanche and tags. No, the ref didn't see! OK, I'll give them credit, they didn't telegraph that as bad as usual. Rocky had him distracted. The other two hold Animal down and Kama gives him a splash off the top for 2. Rocky and Animal double clothesline. Tag to Hawk! Powerslam. He dodges a Brown elbow and Brown hits Rocky. DONNYBROOK! LOD clear the ring and isolate Rocky. They set up the Doomsday Device but Faarooq comes out to distract. The Nation attack from behind. Rock Bottom! That gets the pin. Not much of a match, but one positive is heel Rocky is a completely different man than face Rocky. The kid might work out after all. *1/2

Vince does another announcement of Pillman's passing in close up from commentary. He says Pillman died earlier that day, we don't know any other details yet, sends condolences to Pillman's family and says this next match is a replacement match for the originally scheduled Pillman vs Dude Love match.

 

Max Mini and Nova def Tarantula and Mosaic in 6:43- Another PPV spot for the lucha midgets. I have this funny (to me at least) image of all these guys in a "in case of emergency break glass" box and Vince breaking it open just before the show. Because of these guys' background this is lucha rules, so tagging and selling are optional. Tarantula takes Mini out with a kick after the bell. Nova tries a big move and splats, but then works the heels into numerous failed double teams. Everyone brawls on the floor and we reset. Mini and Mosaic do some back and forth. Nova hits a splash off the top. Mini gets a hurricanrana but the pin is broken up. Double big boot from the heels. Mosaic chops Nova from behind. Tarantula splash off the top for 2. Now the heels attack Mini from behind. Tarantula presses Mini on the floor and drops him on the announce table! Much to Lawler's amusement after what Mini did with him the last PPV midget match. Nova and Mosaic have a real ugly, disjointed sequence of moves that almost never was on the same page. Mini crossbody off the top. Tarantula and Mini now have coordination issues, flubbing an armdrag. Finally Mini gets Tarantula in a crucifix and mercifully gets the pin. Very sloppy match, showing its thrown together nature. It got worse as it went on too. 3/4*

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Godwinns (w/Uncle Cletus) def The Headbangers (c) in 12:17- Sunny does the ring announcing for this one again as they can't find anything else for her to do but want to get her on TV. She mentions her history with the tag titles. Back in her managing days she spent several months jumping teams following the belts around. The Godwinns' new manager Cletus was a veteran who spent the '80s hopping around the AWA and various NWA territories as Dirty White Boy. He spent most of the '90s in Jerry Lawler's USWA and Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain, where he was their top champion several times. The Godwinns try to jump but the Headbangers are ready for them and they regroup on the floor. Reset with Phineas and Mosh, who try to have some kind of spitting contest. Mosh spits up and catches it back in his mouth so I guess he wins. Mosh headscissors Phineas through the corner to the floor. Thrasher hits something off the apron off camera that Vince is very excited about. Mosh clothesline off the top to the apron. On replay we see that Thrasher gave Phineas a horrible hurricanrana off the apron. That one was better off being off camera. The Headbangers hit a double flapjack and for some reason Phineas starts to roll over in midair like it's something else and lands right on his head. What the hell was he thinking? Probably not very much after that landing. He tags out and Thrasher and Henry do some back and forth stuff. A dropkick sends Henry to the floor. Phineas comes back in and gets double teamed some more. Finally Henry has enough, comes in illegally and kills Thrasher with a clothesline. Thrasher gets crotched on the top rope and Phineas clotheslines him to the floor. Cletus gets some shots in. More dull Headbanger in peril work follows. Thrasher gets a sunset flip but the ref is distracted. Henry hits a wheelbarrow slam and covers. Mosh makes the save. Midring collision but Phineas keeps Thrasher from tagging. Thrasher dodges a Phineas avalanche and hits a back suplex. Tag to Mosh. He cleans house with Cletus also taking a shot. Headbanger double team powerbomb on Phineas. Everyone in the pool! Mosh goes for the butt splash off the top rope but Phineas plucks him out of midair, powerbombs him, and gets a clean pin for the titles! The experimental reign of the Headbangers ends in just under a month. Their gimmick was perfect for the time and that got them a following, but in the ring they were spot monkeys at best. The Godwinns would also be transitional champions, dropping to none other than the Legion of Doom on Raw just after this show, giving LOD their first title reign in over 6 years. *

Video package for the still injured Steve Austin, highlighting how he's gotten even more popular since his injury by talking trash and giving stunners to anyone in sight, particularly anyone in authority. In fact, the first ever stunner to Vince (and Vince's terrible sell of it) get the bulk of the attention here. Will Austin be fired for attacking the boss? Find out tomorrow night on Raw. And pretty much every night in 1998. In the meantime, Commissioner Slaughter has ordered Austin to be in the building tonight to award the IC title belt to the tournament winner. I'm sure that will go without incident.

After that JR is in the ring to host a tribute to St. Louis wrestling and the legends of the old territory, which was arguably the NWA's #1 territory before the rise of Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic in the early '80s. It was certainly #1 during the '70s because it was Harley Race's home territory. Sunny is there too but she just stands around looking hot. Among the honorees: promoter and longtime NWA president Sam Muchnick, Gene Kiniski, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr, Harley Race, Terry Funk and Lou Thesz. It's well done and pretty cool to see WWF acknowledge NWA history like this. It seems random, but it's actually very early groundwork for the Jim Cornette led NWA invasion angle that will kick off right around the calendar change to '98. After that Vince has a little more on the Pillman situation. He says that the police report says there was no foul play, but the possibility of a drug overdose can't be ruled out.

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart def Faarooq in 7:12- The IC title was vacated after Steve Austin's injury at Summerslam, where he defeated Owen for it. Fun, or maybe not so fun, fact: 4 of the 6 matches in the tournament, including both semifinals, were won by DQ. Seems like DQ overkill. Faarooq actually lost his first round match to Ken Shamrock, but Shamrock was injured in that match so Faarooq advanced. Faarooq comes out without any other Nation members. Owen has new music, and he's also wearing his "Owen 3:16 I just broke your neck" shirt. He does not look at all happy to be out there. Owen was well known as an emotional guy and all the Harts were close with Pillman well before the Hart Foundation stable, I'm sure his head was understandably not in the game on this night. This is also heel vs heel so the crowd doesn't have anyone to go for. Glass shatter! Austin is out before the match starts! He flips Owen off and Slaughter ushers him over to a seat in the timekeeper's area. Austin grabs a wrench and rings the bell himself! Both wrestlers are still distracted by Austin. Austin goes over and steals Vince's headset! Owen flashes his shirt at Austin and Austin calls it "cheap heat at its best". He puts Vince's headset back on him and goes back to his seat as the match finally gets underway. Basic start with Faarooq getting a shoulderblock and tossing Owen out of a headlock. On split screen we now see Austin on a security walkie talkie. Can't get arrested again if you can tell security to be where you're not. Faarooq continues to pound away. Owen slides under him and hits a spinning heel kick. He starts working Faarooq's knee. Austin is still messing around. Now he's on Spanish commentary! Now he's on French commentary! After more knee work Faarooq pushes Owen with his legs and Owen posts his shoulder. More Faarooq power stuff follows. Owen dodges a legdrop off the second rope. Faarooq fights off the Sharpshooter. Powerslam for 2. Now Jim Neidhardt comes out to ringside. Faarooq spinebuster for 2. Neidhardt distracts the ref. Austin comes up and whacks Faarooq in the head with the belt! Owen covers and gets the pin to get the title back! Austin tosses the belt in the ring and leaves. Why would Austin help his arch enemy get the title? Because Austin wanted to beat Owen again for it of course. This would also kick off a beef between Austin and the Nation, which eventually led to a small little feud that went on for a bit you might have heard about: Austin vs the Rock. The match itself was what it was. Between the (admittedly very fun) Austin sideshow, the interference and the effect of Pillman's death there was pretty much no way for it to succeed. *1/4

The Disciples of Apocalypse def Los Boricuas in 9:11- Yay, more Russo gang warfare. This is another replacement match thrown together on the fly. The DOA don't even come out on their motorcycles so I guess it definitely was impromptu. These matches are never any good in the best of circumstances, so as they're pretty much just out here to kill some time I'm not getting deep into it. I will say Savio Vega has, er, widened to the point I'm not even sure if it's him or some LB member I'd forgotten about. DOA gets the initial upper hand, Chainz of DOA plays face in peril for a while before the mandatory big brawl starts. After some ref distraction shenanigans and near falls Crush wins the match with a backbreaker. 1/2*

Flag Match: WWF Champion Bret "Hitman" Hart and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def Vader and The Patriot in 23:13- It's pin, submission or capture your own flag to win rules. Vader drops a bleeped "bullshit" during his prematch promo. The Hart Foundation jump out during the faces' entrance and we have a brawl on the floor without the match even starting yet. Bret and Vader go all over the commentary area. It's a damn shame we never got a Bret/Vader singles match on PPV during this period, it would have kicked all kinds of ass. Both sides use the flags they brought as weapons. Patriot chokes Bulldog with the US flag while Vader potatoes Bret in the entrance aisle. Finally the faces get in the ring while the Harts recover on the floor and the bell rings to officially start the match. The Harts continue to stall. Finally Patriot gets a clue and goes for his flag. Bulldog gets in to stop him. Commentary gets all over Patriot for taking forever to realize he had that huge opening. More brawling and Bret gets a low blow on Patriot. Patriot sells it for about two seconds then hits a hip toss and backdrop on Bulldog. Vader tackle. Bret and Vader get in a slugfest. Not hard to guess who wins that. Short clothesline. Bret dodges an avalanche but walks into a Vader clothesline. Vader stops Bret climbing for the flag with a low blow. Bret gets a sunset flip but Vader squashes him. Patriot beats Bulldog down. The Harts double team to stop Patriot climbing. Vader stops a Bulldog climb with another low blow. Lots of ice packs are going to be needed after this match. Patriot posts his shoulder. Bret hooks on the post wraparound figure four! Vader makes him let go and chases him off. Measured shots from Bret back in the ring and he spits at Vader. Sharpshooter on Patriot. Patriot reverses it! Then he doesn't seem to be sure how to put it on. It's still better than the Rock's. Bulldog clotheslines Patriot out of the hold. All four guys stack up in the corner and Patriot climbs over them all to try to get to the flag. Hart Decapitation Device on Patriot for 2. Patriot fights over to tag Vader. Tackle on Bulldog for 2. Back suplex. Big splash for 2. Vader tries for the flag but Bulldog pulls him down. Bret gets a back suplex on Vader. He gets Vader in the Sharpshooter. Vader grabs a rope but Patriot still comes in to break it up. He's got a rope Del, he's good. Chill. Vader drops the gut elbow on Bret then tries to put Bret in the Sharpshooter! JR: "It's Sharpshooter night in St. Louis!". Bulldog stops him before he can get it fully on. Patriot comes in without a tag and for some reason the ref allows it. This one isn't lucha rules, they're actually selling stuff. Patriot tackle on Bret. He puts a figure four on Bret. Bret reaches out and gets a tag while still in the hold. Bulldog suplex on Patriot for 2. Powerslam for 2. Bret comes in and works Patriot over. Vader stops a Bret flag climb. Vader setup slam on Bulldog. Vader Bo.....no, he goes up top! VADERSAULT! Vader saw Bulldog dodging and LANDS ON HIS FEET! He didn't stick the landing but that was still awesome. He jumps right back on Bulldog and lays in some corner potatoes. Bulldog gets clotheslined 360 to the floor. The Harts double team Vader on the floor. Bret takes the ring bell and whacks Vader with it! Then, being the polite Canadian, puts the bell back where he found it. Back in Bret slams Vader! DDT for 2. Vader double clotheslines both Harts and tags. Patriot runs wild. Uncle Slam on Bret. Bulldog breaks the pin up. An idiot fan gets in the ring. Ref Mike Chioda and Bulldog get him out by force. Bret and Patriot, distracted, completely flub something and both drop. Vader Bomb on Bret followed by more confusion. Bret reverses a Patriot roll up with a handful of tights to get the pin. The match was OK but considering the talent in the ring and the time they got, very disappointing. The distraction at the end didn't help, and I'm sure the wrestlers' minds were on Pillman more than the match, completely understandably. On another night this might have been awesome. **

Ad for Survivor Series and this year's tagline, Gang Rulz because Russo loves faction warfare. The brand new Hell in a Cell structure lowers from the ceiling for the first time. We get a video package of the Shawn/Taker feud. It all started when Shawn, as the guest ref, hit Taker in the head with a chair at Summerslam to cost him the WWF Title and it's only escalated from there. There's a funny bit where Commissioner Slaughter looks under the ring with a flashlight to make sure there's no one hidden away under there.

 

Hell in a Cell Match: WWF European Champion "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (w/D-Generation X) def The Undertaker in 29:59- Here we are, the first ever Hell in a Cell match. This was a new look in more ways than one as WWF was still using the old blue bar cage for regular cage matches at the time. The new, huge Cell structure looks extremely impressive right away. Hebner locks the door while Slaughter looks on after the wrestlers get in. Shawn's DX teammates are also sent back to the locker room. Shawn watches the door being locked with clear second thoughts about what he's gotten himself into. He tries to run as Taker stalks him. Back in the ring Shawn runs into a big boot. Taker lays in the beatdown. Goozle! Shawn quickly fights out. Corner whip reversal and we get an early Shawn flip. Taker hits a clothesline. Old school hits. Slam and legdrop. Huge backdrop and Shawn's feet graze the roof of the cage. Taker tosses Shawn to the floor and almost all the way into the cage. Shawn tries to climb but Taker pulls him down. He whips Shawn into the cage and hits another clothesline. Taker tries a powerbomb. Shawn flips over and grabs the cage! Taker turns around and backs Shawn into the cage! Rapid fire Taker body shots. He lifts Shawn up and runs his back into the post, then the cage, and back and forth a few more times. Shawn pushes a cameraman away while he's down. Taker tries to throw Shawn face first into the cage. Shawn blocks and tries to push Taker. He blocks that, turns around and hits another clothesline. Shawn goes into the steps. Another whip into the cage. Finally Shawn manages to dodge a charge and Taker goes into the cage. Shawn immediately drops and starts to pummel Taker, then gets into the ring to try to get some breathing space. Taker snaps Shawn's throat over the top rope. Shawn knocks Taker off the apron into the cage. Shawn TOPE SUICIDA! That really is nuts given how little room there is for it. He climbs a bit up the cage and drops an elbow on Taker. Clothesline off the apron. Shawn takes the steps and drops them on Taker. Piledriver on the steps! Shawn pushes the cameraman away again and there's some swears bleeped out. Double ax handle off the top to the floor. Shawn gets a chair. Back in the ring he whacks Taker in the back with it. Cover for 2. Slugfest. Shawn ties Taker up in the ropes and starts punching him. Hebner makes him back off. Shawn charges but Taker gets a boot up. Taker backdrops Shawn to the floor, and Shawn lands on a cameraman! Shawn starts beating up the cameraman for getting in the way! He tosses the cameraman onto the chair! Anger vented, Shawn gets back in the ring and back on Taker. A photographer in the ring calls for help for the cameraman. Shawn flying forearm/kip up. Slaughter is out. Shawn hits the elbow off the top. Slaughter tells Hebner to open the door to get the cameraman's carcass out. Shawn tunes up the band. Superkick! TAKER SITS RIGHT BACK UP! Shawn runs. The door is still open! The wrestlers have escaped the cage! Brawl in the aisle. Shawn dropkicks Taker into the cage! He tries again but Taker grabs Shawn's legs and slingshots him into the cage! Shawn is busted open. Taker lawn darts Shawn into the cage! Shawn gets a desperation low blow. He climbs up the cage and Taker follows. They're on the roof! Shawn grabs Taker for a piledriver. Taker backdrops him onto the roof! Great camera shot there from inside the ring looking up. Some drops of Shawn's blood even get on the lens. Taker gives Shawn some cheese grater on the roof. Hebner is hilariously standing on the turnbuckles shouting "Get back in the ring!". Taker press slams Shawn on the roof! Shawn starts to climb down again. Taker stops his hand. Shawn dangles halfway up the cage. Taker stomps the other hand! SHAWN FALLS DOWN AND GOES RIGHT THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE! I know that's kind of old hat now, but nothing like that had ever been done in WWF at the time. Even a fall from halfway up the cage was mind blowing. Taker climbs down. Shawn is back up. Taker throws him onto the French announce table! Then back onto the remains of the Spanish table! Shawn scurries away, gets back in the cell and back in the ring. He's got the full crimson mask of blood. The door is locked again. Taker sets Shawn up top. Super choke slam! Taker gets a chair. He nails Shawn right in the head with it. Taker's ready to finish it off and calls for the Tombstone. But the lights go out! Music starts up. Red light. Paul Bearer is here, and he's not alone! That guy is huge. Vince, in his last show on commentary, gives one of his most famous lines ever: "That....that's gotta be.....THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!". Yes, after months of teasing Paul Bearer has made good on his promise to bring Taker's long thought dead brother into the WWF. Kane rips the door off the cage! Hebner is tossed aside. Kane gets in the ring and he and Taker stand off. Taker looks shocked. Kane drops his arms and fire shoots out the ring posts! Kick and scoop. Kane Tombstones Taker! He and Bearer leave, damage done and message sent. Shawn slowly crawls over and barely drapes an arm over Taker. Hebner gives the slowest of the epic slow counts, and Shawn gets the pin and wins! DX come back in and literally carry Shawn out of the cage and back to the locker room. Taker is barely coming to as the show closes. Absolute perfection on so many levels. Shawn and Taker having a physical, intense match. Introducing the Cell. Both brutality and crazy spots to make the Cell the signature it's been ever since. Kane's debut couldn't have gone better. It doesn't get much better than this. *****

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Another quintessential one match show with that match being an absolute must see. For historical reasons the show is worth watching due to Pillman's death. I'm sure it would have turned out much better if that hadn't happened, a lot of guys out there were understandably mentally elsewhere. Austin's antics in the IC title match are also fun and worth a watch. I think he was being extra goofy to try to help everyone feel a little better on a very bad night for the wrestling brotherhood.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+

World War 3 '95

Legacy Review

World War 3 '95

November 26, 1995 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, VA

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

This is the last of the three new or returning PPVs on the WCW calendar this year, the first November PPV in two years (the stand alone Battlebowl in '93 being the last). The main thing going tonight is due to the controversy surrounding the Hogan/Giant world title match at Halloween Havoc, the belt has been held up and a new champion will be crowned in the first ever THREE RING SIXTY MAN World War 3 battle royale. Because why have two rings when you can have THREE. WCW is also re-strengthening their partnership with New Japan ahead of what's planned for this year's Starrcade. I'll get into that more as the show goes on.

After the usual opening stand up from Tony and Heenan (where Heenan classically changes his pick to win the title three or four times in a couple of minuets) we go to Mean Gene with the still mustacheless and black clad Hulk Hogan along with Sting and Randy Savage. Thanks to the betrayals of Lex Luger and Ric Flair, in completely separate incidents, these three guys are all back on the same page and better friends than ever. Hogan takes the black off and the red and yellow is back brother. He tosses the black gear in a bucket and it lights on fire! Is Papa Shango in the house tonight or something? Sting and Savage get their quick bits in, then Hogan continues to promo as the fire keeps going and the smoke starts becoming a problem. Sting tries to fan it away and gets a bottle of water to pour on it. Hogan says reports of Savage's hurt arm are greatly exaggerated and he's 100%. We'll see. Then, Hogan pulls out what he calls a "rag sheet", which is a copy of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer. See kids, back in the days before the internet things were printed on paper instead and you had to wait for it to be mailed to your house. I know, it's amazing we survived. Hogan runs down the "rag sheet" for getting everything wrong (well.....), says the internet is where all the real and correct news is now (well....), and tosses it into what's left of the fire. 95% of the audience has no idea what he just did or what he's talking about. The other 5% always believe Uncle Dave when he says "plans changed".

WCW World Television Championship: Johnny B Badd (c) def Diamond Dallas Page (w/The Diamond Doll) in 12:34- This is a rematch from Halloween Havoc where Badd took the title from DDP. To add some zest to the rematch, the Doll (Kimberly Page) has finally asserted herself against DDP and put her services on the line as well. Missed opportunity for a Kimberly on a Pole match. Lockup break shenanigans at the start set Badd off and they brawl on the floor. DDP gets posted. Badd crossbody back in, DDP reverses it for 2. Samoan drop from Badd and he works a headlock for a bit. DDP goes to the hair pulls. Badd flips out of an arm wringer and does his own tit for tat hair pulling, then dodges a charge and DDP goes over the top to the floor. Badd plancha! DDP hides behind Doll, pushes her into Badd and punches him. Back in Badd does a Bret bump and DDP hits a back suplex. Badd tries a flying headscissors but DDP turns it into a pancake slam. DDP wants a 10 but the Doll refuses to hold up the card. Badd grabs a kick, spins DDP, but DDP gives him a clothesline for 2. Badd dodges and DDP posts his shoulder, then DDP misses a kick and falls on his head. Badd goes into comeback mode with DDP selling like a wild man. He catches another DDP kick, spins him again, ducks the clothesline and hits his own. Badd wants a 10, and he gets it from the Doll! A 10+! Guess it was in the Tokyo Dome. Badd sit out powerbomb for 2. DDP back elbow and he tries a leverage pin for 2. Tiltawhirl slam. Badd flying headscissors. DDP gets his knees up on a slingshot splash. Gutwrench gutbuster for 2. He goes for another one but Badd flips out and tries to hook up a German suplex. DDP back elbows out of it. DDP tries a tombstone. Badd reverses and hits it for 2. The Tutti Fruiti punch sends DDP to the floor. Somersault plancha! The slingshot legdrop hits, and that gets the pin! Doll is stunned and slowly gets in the ring. She gives Badd a hug, but also shoots DDP a worried look. Good match, much better than Halloween Havoc. Both these guys were on the upswing as far as consistently putting on good matches. ***

Back to Mean Gene for some hotline shilling. "You thought you heard the last of WWF's steroid scandal? You heard wrong! We have a bombshell report from this past Wednesday's New York Post!". Yes, he really did say WWF directly. And we can just look on the Post's website to see......oh. Badd and the Doll join Okerlund and Badd, the gentleman, says he'll give the Doll some time to decide what she wants to do in the future.

 

Taped Fist Match: Big Bubba Rogers def "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in 9:21- It's pin or KO rules for this one. I can't remember what the beef is here and commentary doesn't bother to give any kind of recap. Duggan attacks Rogers from behind out of the crowd during Rogers' entrance. He's got his 2x4 on a rope slung around his shoulders. He loads up for a 2x4 shot in the ring but the ref gets in the way and Rogers begs off. Clotheslines from Duggan and Rogers goes 360 and out again. They switch rings and Rogers' head gets jammed in between two rings' ring posts. Duggan jumps off the apron but Rogers dodges and Duggan crashes into the guardrail. Rogers beatdown in the ring. Rings. They swap again. Duggan tries to punch back but Rogers cuts him off with an enzuguri. Rogers gets a roll of tape out and puts even more on his fists than there already was. Toru Yano is throwing things at the TV shouting about the waste of tape. Heenan even says he should be using it to tie Duggan up. A Duggan shoulderblock puts both guys down. Now Rogers uses the tape to tie Duggan to the ropes. Yano is now yelling that he's doing it in the ring, not outside. I guess we can't have everything. Rogers pounds Duggan down until he literally runs into Duggan's held up fist. There's a scene in Blackadder that's just like that. Except that's an intentional comedy. Duggan backdrops Rogers to the floor and frees himself. He hits the 3 point stance clothesline. VK Wallstreet (Mike Rotunda in a legally acceptable variation of his old IRS WWF gimmick) comes out with a chain on his wrist. Duggan cuts him off with a 2x4 shot, but the chain gets in the ring. Rogers gets the chain, wallops Duggan with it, and gets a 10 count KO. Very not good. 3/4*

 

Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto (w/Sonny Oono) def Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki in 9:15- Professor Mike Tenay joins the call for this joshi puroresu exhibition. He rightly points out this is a cross promotional battle. Ozaki and Suzuki wrestled for JWP while Nakano and Hokuto were with All Japan Women's. The heels do the Suzuki-Gun jump before the bell. On a wrestler named Suzuki. Nakano tosses Ozaki around by the hair. Akira hits an elbow off the top to Ozaki's back. Both heels let Ozaki get within a finger's reach of getting a tag to Suzuki to tease the faces. Nakano also bites Ozaki's hand, and does some more hair tossing that gets Suzuki in the ring to protest. Another heel double team for 2. Nakano no sells some Ozaki strikes and puts her down again with one shot. Ozaki gets a springboard forearm on Hokuto, then a DDT and gets the tag. Suzuki dropkick for 2. Single leg crab. Ozaki cuts off Nakano coming in and also puts her in a single leg crab! The crowd is really into it, thanks to a combination of great wrestling and superb heel work the first part of the match. After the hold breakups Suzuki works on Hokuto's knee and puts her in another half crab. Nakano breaks it up. The faces try a double team but Suzuki wipes out her partner. Nakano powerbomb. She goes up top for a moonsault but Suzuki dodges it. The faces hit a series of double stomps off the top rope and cover Nakano for 2. You can't take down a kaiju that easily. The faces hook up for a double suplex but Nakano suplexes them both instead. Hokotu misses a splash off the top. The faces set her up for a double suplerplex but Nakano pulls them both down. Hokuto crossbodys them both off the top. The faces hit stereo hurricanranas and both cover for 2! Clotheslines off the top. Ozaki half dragon suplex for 2. A Hokuto German suplex drops Ozaki right on her head. Nakano chops and covers. Suzuki makes the save. The faces duck a Nakano double clothesline but run into a Hokuto missile dropkick. Nakano holds both faces on the floor. Hokuto comes down on them with a somersault senton off the top! Heenan loses it seeing that. A doomsday device from the heels hits. Nakano hits the guillotine legdrop off the top and it's over. Damn good joshi stuff. ***3/4

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Kensuke Sasaki (c) (w/Sonny Oono) def Chris Benoit in 10:01- I mentioned earlier WCW and New Japan starting to work together more often again. In fact, WCW had just done a two show joint tour with New Japan in Japan called WCW World in Japan, and in the main event of one of those shows Sasaki upset Sting to win the US title. Meanwhile, Benoit was coming back to WCW from New Japan, this time for good. In fact, he had just filled the final gap in the reformed Four Horsemen, who now consisted of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Brian Pillman and Benoit. On a pure talent level that's easily the best Horsemen group outside the original '80s combinations (Flair/Arn/Ole Anderson/Tully Blanchard is the original, but Flair/Arn/Tully/Barry Windham is probably THE best and most remembered). Too bad it didn't last long. Interesting pairing here as Sasaki is the obvious foreigner heel, but Benoit and the whole Horsemen group were also heels so the crowd really doesn't have anyone to go for. Benoit comes out aggressive early. Sasaki hits chops in the corner. They fight for mat leverage. Benoit gets a drop toe hold and goes into some arm work. Susuki backdrops out. Test of strength. They fight for leverage in the knucklelock for quite a while. Benoit wraps Sasaki's arms into a straitjacket. Sasaki fights out with clubbing blows. Hard slams from Sasaki. Some woman in the crowd is shouting for, or at, Benoit at the top of her lungs and literally echoing around the whole arena. They go speed, Benoit slides under, Sasaki kicks and gets a press slam. He goes for a Boston crab but Benoit flips him over. Sasaki goes to the floor. Benoit TOPE SUICIDA! Back in Sasaki hits a suplex. Benoit works a headscissors. Sasaki powerslam for 2. Benoit grabs a waistlock and it's time for ROOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLING GERMANS....no, Sasaki cuts it off after two! Clothesline! Benoit reverses and hits a tombstone. The headbutt off the top hits! Benoit is staggered and can't cover right away, giving Sasaki time to kick out. Chops from Benoit. Hurricanrana off the top! Sasaki kicks out! Sasaki grabs a kick and plants Benoit. He puts on his dragon hold submission but Benoit quickly gets to the ropes. Benoit hits a clothesline, no effect. Sasaki hits a STIFF clothesline, much effect. He hits the northern lights buster and gets the pin. Slow start, good closing stretch and a pure New Japan style match, but other than shouty woman the crowd wasn't into it at all. **3/4

 

"The Total Package" Lex Luger (w/Jimmy Hart) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage in 5:29- This is Savage's revenge match for Luger's turn to the Dungeon of Doom. Remember, Hogan guaranteed Savage's arm is totally absolutely fine brother we made it all up brother. In his prematch promo Savage also says the arm is "one million percent". I guess that's a bit more than 100. But it's still all taped up when he takes his jacket off. Savage attacks Luger as he's getting in and is all over Luger to start. Pillar to post beating. Luger gets a boot up in the corner. Savage ducks a clothesline and hits his own. He puts on a half assed Boston crab and Luger easily gets to the ropes. That was almost as bad at Rock's Sharpshooter. Luger goes to the floor and into the guardrail. Setup slam back in. The top rope elbow hits! But Jimmy Hart is on the apron distracting the ref. Savage throws Luger at Hart. On the floor Luger reverses a whip and Savage goes into a ring apron. Tony mentions on commentary that despite Luger's turn, he's still going to team with Sting on Nitro tomorrow night because he and Sting are best friends forever no matter what. Luger puts on the Torture Rack on the floor! He lets go to beat the count, then rolls a dead Savage back in. Luger hooks on an ARMBAR on Savage's hurt arm. Savage isn't moving at all and the ref calls it. Bleh. After the bell Luger hooks the arm again until Sting comes in and asks him nicely to let go. Luger does and leaves. *

 

Sting def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in 14:31- Flair and the Horsemen pulled the wool over Sting's eyes yet again at Halloween Havoc so naturally Sting wants payback. Like all the other matches tonight this is starting in "ring 1", which is the middle ring. That's going to be important. Flair's raring to go during Sting's entrance. Nose to nose. Flair has a laugh and points at Sting, who tries to bite his finger like a great white shark. One punch from Sting puts Flair down and he bails. All the way into ring 2. He hits the ropes, struts, and shouts "Come on!" to Sting. Sting joins him, goes on the attack again and hits a press slam. Flair begs off. Eye poke! Measured shots from Flair and the first chops. Flair struts around. We have a true 50/50 split crowd for this. Flair and the Horsemen have hit that point where they've been so great for so long a portion of the crowd, even in these more innocent times, is going to cheer for them no matter what. Sting pops out of the corner with a clothesline. Mounted punches. A hip toss and dropkick hit and Flair rolls out again. Into ring 3! Again he shouts at Sting to come join him and Sting does. Col. Robert Parker and Sherri come out for some reason. They kiss so I guess it's to remind people that's still going on. Sting absorbs chops and pounds Flair down. Flair gets 360 clotheslined and takes his time recovering on the floor. I just noticed that Flair's missing a knee pad. Guess he got dressed in a hurry for this match. Sting no sells more chops and hits another press slam. They go outside and Sting hits the brakes on a guardrail whip, turns and charges, but Flair dodges and Sting crashes into the rail on the other side! Flair gets a chair but ref Nick Patrick takes it away. Back in ring 1. Flair chop. Sting goozle! Flair low blows to get out! Parker and Sherri are sitting in chairs on the interview stage now. That's the last we see of them so thanks for coming I guess. Flair hits some kicks to Sting's gut and a kneedrop. He struts around some more and flashes the 4 to some pretty good cheers. While Sting's getting up in the corner Flair sneaks up and kicks his knee. Close up your Trapper Keepers kids, we're getting on the bus to school. Flair struts around some more in super cocky mode as he picks Sting's knee apart. He tosses Sting out and they move to ring 3. Another knee clip. Back suplex from Flair for variety. The figure four is on! Flair's still in cocky mode and slaps Sting. Big mistake! That wakes Sting up! He reverses the figure four and Flair has to let go. See, I love that little thing. Instead of Sting fighting a long time before reversing Flair made the mistake of slapping Sting and that got Sting going again. Sting blocks a hip toss and backslides Flair for 2. Flair shoves Patrick. Patrick shoves back and Flair sells it! Sting chops Flair to no effect! Flair turns around and poses. Flair chops Sting. Also no effect. Flair bails back to ring 1 and begs off. Another Sting press slam. Clotheslines. Flair gets an eye poke and goes up top. Sting slams him off. Flair Flip! Apron clothesline! Sting goes for mounted punches again. Flair tries an inverted atomic drop counter but Sting blocks it. Sting superplex! The Scorpion Death Lock is on! Flair submits! Hell of a match. You can never go wrong with Flair and Sting. ****

Recap of the Hogan/Giant/Jimmy Hart contract clause controversy that got us to the world title being held up.

 

World War 3 Battle Royale for the Vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship- So this is 60 men, 20 in each ring. There's also a "giant in each ring", with Hogan, the Giant, and the YETAY (who's now dressed up like a ninja for some reason) in separate rings. The rules are once a ring gets down to 10 men it will merge with the other rings until everyone left is in one ring. Now, we all know WCW has a sterling history of coming up with elaborate gimmick matches with crazy rules and then sticking by those rules to the letter and always executing these matches extremely well......no, couldn't even keep a straight face while typing it. They struggled to do two ring battle royales properly with Battlebowl, I can't see how three is going to be any better. Before the match there's a roll call of participating wrestlers as they come out. I'm not going to list them all here, suffice to say it's pretty much the whole roster, including a bunch of low level jobbers that I don't even remember. There's also a commentary team for each ring: Tony and Heenan for ring 1, Eric Bischoff and Dusty Rhodes for ring 2, and the hyperactive Chris Cruise and Larry Zbyszko for ring 3. I'll give it to them, the pomp and hype before the match starts is pretty good. But then the match starts and it's a sharp turn downhill. The entire thing during the 3 ring phase is shown in a 3 way split screen so it's almost impossible to see what's going on other than a bunch of guys flailing around. In theory the separate commentary teams are to let them focus more on what's going on in their ring, but in practice it makes it even messier because you desperately need commentary to figure out what the hell is going on and you're only hearing it for 1/3 of the action at a time. As big a mess as this thing is I'm not even trying to recap it all. It's a good 15 minutes before we start to get a good number of eliminations, which is way too long. Finally ring 2 gets down to about 6 guys, not 10, and they all go in ring 1. But TV keeps the THREE way split screen up for two rings, so now we're even more confused what's going on. A stretcher comes in at one point and wheels away Scott Armstrong of the Armstrong wrestling family in a neck brace. They're being real gentle with him so that could be a legit injury. When ring 3 gets down to, er, about 10 they slowly start to file over into ring 1. Good news, one ring means no more 3 way split screen on TV. Bad news, that ring is so full it's almost impossible for anyone to do anything. They've even got the referee inside the ring, which is a horrible decision in both real life practical and kayfabe terms. Lots of guys go out to fight on the floor too which doesn't help any. Luger and Savage even go over into ring 2 by themselves at one point. Slowly things get cleared out and I'll check back in with 10 men left in the match: Hogan, Flair, Savage, Luger (who's spent most of the match on the floor), Paul Orndorff, Arn Anderson, Eddie Guerrero, Sting, Giant, and the One Man Gang. Guerrero's sitting on the top rope holding a sleeper or something on Giant. Sting Stinger Splashes Giant and that almost sends Guerrero out but he saves himself. Hogan eliminates old rival Orndorff. Luger is still working Savage's hurt arm. Arn tries to dump Guerrero but he lands on the apron, pops up top, and hits Arn with a missile dropkick. Flair gets the figure four on Guerrero as the two Horsemen left work together on him. Arn hits Guerrero with the World's Greatest Spinebuster and dumps him out. Stinger Splash on Flair. Flair and Arn continue working together. Giant choke slams Savage. Flair goes up top. Sting slingshots Arn into that corner, knocking Flair off the top rope and down to the floor! Hogan clotheslines Arn out right after. Flair's pissed at being eliminated. But not at Arn. Luger and Sting double team Giant, pushing him to the ropes with double clotheslines. They get Giant partially over. Hogan comes over and dumps all three of them out! Giant pulls Hogan down under the bottom rope and they fight on the floor. Before that happened, Hogan and Savage had OMG dangling upside down and Savage gets him all the way over and out. Savage is the only one left and is declared the winner! Off camera because the focus is still on Hogan and Giant fighting. After he fends Giant off Hogan gets back in to argue, rightly, that he was never eliminated. But he, frankly, is such a Karen about it that the crowd turns on him much like his '92 Rumble hissy fit, though in that one he at least was eliminated. Okerlund tries to talk to Savage but Hogan makes sure everything is still about him as he argues his case over and over. Savage is awarded the belt and says he didn't see anything but he'll check out the video. Tomorrow night on Nitro, of course. Hogan finally relents some and he and Savage shake and hug. As expected, the match was a God awful mess in just about every way. Except the winner, Savage was a great choice. DUD

Thankfully there'd be no more title swerves and Savage kept the belt after this, and even better his feud with Flair was reignited for the next few months, this time for the world title. Hogan would continue his feud with the Giant and Dungeon of Doom in a non-title capacity until the big turn the following summer.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Disastrous main event aside this is easily the best show WCW has put on this year. Almost every undercard match has something worth watching. The start of Nitro has really given them some focus that they had been sorely lacking most of the year, and would continue a general upswing in quality through a very interesting gimmick Starrcade and into the new year.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-