Fall Brawl '96

Legacy Review

Fall Brawl '96

September 15, 1996 from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

 

The big question going into tonight's huge WCW vs NWO War Games match is what side is Sting really on? Last week on Nitro, Lex Luger was hanging around the NWO limo in the rain and was jumped by a man coming out of the limo that certainly looked like Sting. Sting's clothes, Sting's face paint. Everyone in WCW is 100% convinced it was Sting, especially commentary, which will be very important in the near future. The follow up question is if Sting has turned, who will WCW's 4th man be in the match? Version 1.0 of the classic NWO shirt has been created and put on sale for the masses, and the arena is covered in them tonight.

Diamond Dallas Page def Chavo Guerrero Jr in 13:07- This got going at the last Clash, where DDP lost to Chavo's uncle Eddie but laid both Guerreros out after the match. Quick Chavo clothesline duck and he dropkicks DDP into the ropes (the Andrade in ropes "tranquilo" pose DDP liked to do), then dropkicks him again out to the floor. Somersault plancha! Rail whip. Chavo whips DDP into the stairs but DDP misses. He kind of sells it anyway. Chavo gets a belt from somewhere and whips DDP with it! Chavo slingshot splash back in for 2. Crossbody for 2. Chavo armdrag into some arm work to let things breathe for a minute. I think Chavo hair pulls DDP a bit, but I was completely distracted by a couple of guys dressed up as Razor Ramon and Ric Flair posing in the crowd. Drop toe hold from Chavo and back to the arm. Another dropkick into the ropes. This time DDP dodges the follow up dropkick and Chavo falls to the floor. It's weird hearing commentary talking about DDP having the experience edge in the match. Big clothesline off the top back in from DDP. That got a pop, and not the last one DDP will get in this match. DDP works a front facelock a bit and goes into beatdown mode. Chavo gets a small package counter for 2 before DDP continues the slow beatdown. Chavo Bret bumps and DDP looks like he's going for a back suplex, but instead completely flips Chavo over and faceplants him! DDP puts on a kind of cobra clutch. A Chavo comeback is cut off with a back elbow for 2. Some crotch thrusts to the face set Chavo off. Kneelift from Chavo. Springboard crossbody. Missile dropkick for 2. Flying headscissors off the top for a long 2. DDP gets a back elbow in the corner and tries a leverage pin for 2. He tosses Chavo over both top ropes into ring 1! DDP goes over to join him as the match switches rings. Side suplex from DDP for 2. Chavo hits a tiltawhirl headscissors, or a "whirlybirdaround" per Dusty. Chavo dodges in the corner and rolls DDP up for 2. HUGE DDP gutwrench powerbomb for 2. He calls for the Diamond Cutter. Chavo tries to counter with a backslide. DDP blocks, stomps on his foot, and hits the Cutter! It's all over. Clean win for DDP. Good stuff, and very interesting crowd reactions as they were at worst split 50/50 with DDP getting quite a bit of fan support. ***1/4

We go to a WCW Special Report with Mean Gene, recapping the whole NWO angle to this point. Kevin Nash's infamous "look at the adjective" line has been cut out of his introductory promo. Since the last PPV Ted DiBiase has been revealed as the NWO's money man, and just last week the Giant turned and joined the NWO. We also get another recap of the Sting incident. It's a little bit long, but a very good summation of everything that's happened so far. Okerlund was the best at this sort of thing with his crisp, concise professionalism.

 

Submission Match: Ice Train (w/Teddy Long) def Scott Norton in 7:08- Somehow this feud continues despite no one in the world giving a damn about it. Norton beat Train by submission in their last PPV match at Hog Wild, so now we get a full on Submission Match this time despite neither guy being anything close to a submission wrestler. Teddy Long's still hanging around WCW as a babyface manager. Basic but spunky start with lots of high impact power moves and decent stiffness. Dusty tries to say "ventriloquist" and it's an absolute hilarious disaster. Train tries to put Norton in something as basic as a chinlock and can't get it right. Long tries to start an "Ice" chant and gets absolutely nowhere. After some more snug back and forth Norton puts a cross armbreaker on. Long teases throwing the towel in but the ref says that won't matter anyway. Heenan gets a good laugh out of me by saying the towel's there so Long can shine his head. Train responds with an almost Fujiwara armbar. As almost as the one that Norton made him tap out to at Hog Wild. Norton hits an Alabama slam into a Boston crab. After some more arm holds Long gets in the ring. Norton grabs him. Train sneaks up and slaps a full neslon on Norton, grounds him, and Norton taps out despite the ref having a mic you're supposed to say "I quit" into. Make this a regular match without trying to "square peg into round hole" these guys into submissions and it could have been a halfway decent power match. *1/4

 

AAA Heavyweight Championship: Konnan (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) def Juventud Guerrera in 13:45- This is for the "Mexican Heavyweight title" per WCW. Mike Tenay joins the booth for this match. Konnan was originally scheduled to defend against Psychosis, but he got hurt so instead Juvy is making his WCW PPV debut. Since Hog Wild Konnan's slow burn heel turn has completed, and he's now part of the lurching zombie corpse that was the Dungeon of Doom at this point. Konnan tricks Juvy into a Code of Honor fist bump and then attacks him. Juvy tries to go into dodge mode but Konnan plants him with a huge German suplex. Konnan lifts Juvy and just TOSSES him out to the floor. Back in Juvy uses the double rings to springboard off three ropes and hit a somersault for 2. Corner kick flurry from Juvy and Konnan goes out to the floor. TOPE SUICIDA! Juvy damn near leaped into about row 5 on that and is just as shook up as Konnan. Juvy tries springboarding off the guardrail but Konnan catches him and plants him with a powerbomb on the floor! Rolling clothesline from Konnan back in. Basement dropkick for 2. Speed run and Konnan literally kicks Juvy in the ass to send him into the dead zone between rings. Flying headscissors from Juvy back into the ring that they didn't pull off 100% right. A kick sends Konnan out and Juvy hits another dive, largely off camera. Springboard dropkick back in. Konnan backdrops Juvy over the top and he lands gut first on the top rope in the other ring! Then Konnan powerbombs him back in! Legbar into an STF from Konnan. Juvy tries a springboard moonsault but comes up short. I think he was supposed to hit that but was so far off target they continued playing it as a miss. Another Konnan powerbomb. He hits a couple of rolling Germans. Juvy rolls out and takes a walk, and surprisingly Konnan lets him. Coming back in Juvy hits another springboard dropkick. Legdrop and cover for 2. They do some maneuvering on the apron and Juvy tries a sunset flip on the floor, but Konnan fights it off and hits a dropkick off the apron. Back in Juvy crotches Konnan and spends a lot of time working him over on the top rope, then backflips off just to let Konnan hit him with a missile dropkick? OK then. Juvy gets a cradle for 2. Konnan tries a suplex but Juvy slips out on the apron and hits a springboard spinning heel kick with a slow cover for 2. HUGE Konnan German. Juvy's too close to the rope but Konnan tries to cover anyway. After about 30 seconds he finally gets it. Yet another Juvy springboard dropkick. Somersault legdrop off the top rope. Konnan gets a foot on the rope. Juvy goes up top and hits a 450 splash for 2. Up top again and he does some weird spinny dive thing for 2. Konnan Alabama slam with a jackknife cover for 2. He sets Juvy up top. Muscle Buster! Well, close to one anyway. Juvy kicks out! Konnan hits Splash Mountain! Juvy's not kicking out of that. Well it was certainly ambitious with a lot of crazy looking spots, and Konnan looked as motivated as at any point in his WCW run (a rarity), but like a lot of lucha stuff on American soil had quite a few points that were either sloppy or very obviously staged, and there was a lot of spottiness with not much glue holding it together. ***

 

Chris Benoit def Chris Jericho in 14:36- A bit of history here as young future legend Jericho makes his WCW PPV debut. At only 26 he was already a seasoned veteran with stops in his native Canada, Mexico, Germany, multiple promotions in Japan and ECW. Jericho's supposed to be the face here and Benoit the heel, but newbie Jericho gets nothing from the crowd while Benoit gets a nice pop in Horsemen country. Besides, WCW's whole face/heel dynamic had been thrown askew company wide thanks to the NWO. They jaw at each other in Canadian after the bell (I'm not your buddy, guy, I'm not your guy, friend. etc). That leads to Canadian slapping, and Benoit plants Jericho on his Canadian posterior. Backdrop from Benoit. Back suplex. He teases another backdrop but hits an Alabama slam instead. That's been a popular move tonight. Benoit puts Jericho into a stacked Boston crab, much like Jericho's own Liontamer. He goes for a powerbomb but Jericho rolls through it. Dropkick from Jericho. Benoit hits some more punches. Jericho responds with a dragon screw. He tries for a clutch but Benoit escapes. Dropkick to Benoit's back. Benoit goes to the apron and Jericho hits his trademark springboard dropkick, but he's still young so he makes it off the top rope instead of the second. Jericho goes up top and hits a big dive, but didn't come down right and splats himself on the apron on the way down. Both guys recover on the floor. Benoit selling, Jericho for real. Coming back in Jericho goes to the top rope to play to the crowd and gets roundly booed. Missile dropkick for 2. Powerbomb for 2. Jericho with a tiger suplex! Benoit's feet are in in the ropes. Slugfest and chops. Jericho hits a spin kick. Benoit back suplexes Jericho from the apron down to the floor! Post shot for Jericho with a nice flop sell. Back in Benoit suplex drops Jericho over the top rope. Back elbow for 2. Another chop exchange. Benoit hooks on an abdominal stretch. Jericho armdrags out. Benoit setup slam with much authority. The flying headbutt hits! He's slow to cover and Jericho kicks out. Jericho gets a small package for 2. Backslide for 2. Benoit butterflys Jericho's arms for a bit, then hits some hard chops in the corner. Another Jericho cradle counter for 2. Standing switches and Jericho gets a northern lights suplex for 2. More slugging. This time Jericho breaks out the chops. Tombstone reversal with Jericho hitting it. He goes for the Lionsault, sees Benoit dodging and lands on his feet, and hits a huge clothesline for 2. Top rope hurricanrana from Jericho for 2. He goes up top again. Benoit counters and Jericho is crotched. Back superplex! That gets Benoit the pin. Good match with lots of promise, but Jericho did have a bit of that "not quite ready for primetime" look in some places, plus being DOA with the crowd as a white meat babyface. We all know he'd get there (starting with his heel turn the next year), and these two would have some absolute barnburners down the road over in Vinceland, the ladder match at the 2001 Royal Rumble probably being the best. ***1/4

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr (c) def Super Calo in 15:47- Calo's another one of Konnan's AAA guys but he didn't stay in WCW long enough to really make any kind of impact. I like how his cap is sewn onto his mask to make sure it stays on the whole match. Tenay jumps in the booth again for this one. They should really just leave him in the whole show and shuffle Dusty off somewhere else if you have to have a third man. Both guys are faces so quick Code of Honor handshake to start. Mysterio gets a quick armdrag out of the lockup. Calo slides out and seems to shake his knee off real quick. Back in he works Mysterio's arm for a bit. Running powerslam from Calo. Elbow off the second rope, followed by some more arm work. Counter run and Mysterio gets another armdrag. Mysterio starts to get rolling and hits a springboard flying headscissors. Calo goes out again and Mysterio does the dive tease and 619 spin. Back in Calo hits a shotgun dropkick. Powerbomb for 2. Tackle off the top rope and he clotheslines Mysterio 360 to the floor. Calo missile dropkick off the top to the floor! He slams Mysterio on the floor. Slingshot senton onto Mysterio on the floor! Calo rolls him back in and covers for 2. Side slam for 2. He tosses Mysterio over to ring 2. Hurricanrana off the top for 2. Calo runs Mysterio's shoulder into the top turnbuckle, then snaps it over the top rope and starts picking it apart. Hiptoss into a short arm scissors. Dropkick to Mysterio's shoulder. They both run into each other in the middle of the ring and both go flying. Not sure what that was supposed to be. Surfboard from Calo. Mysterio rolls out to recover. Slide under and dropkick from Mysterio. Crossbody against the ropes. Calo dangles over the top rope forever with Mysterio stretching him out in a gruesome looking way, and he finally falls to the floor. Not sure if that went to plan or not. Mysterio somersault plancha. Back in Mysterio springboards again. Calo dropkicks him in midair! He goes back to work on Mysterio's arm, snapping it all over every piece of the ring and even the guardrail. While Calo's on the apron Mysterio gets on the ropes and hurricanranas him down to the floor! Baseball slide. Springboard somersault. Mysterio sunset flip back in for 2. Springboard corkscrew for 2. He gets up on Calo's shoulders, but Calo electric chair drops him down. Mysterio dodges a crazy dive, goes into the other ring, springboards off BOTH top ropes, hits a hurricanrana and gets the pin! Crazy finish. Another good lucha style match with more crazy ass spots, still with some rough moments, but overall it's a better cohesive whole than the previous lucha match. ***1/2

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Robert Parker) def The Nasty Boys in 15:31- Oh lord, they really did let the Nasty Boys back in the tag title picture. Fine, let's get this over with. Once again I ask why WCW didn't just put the tag belts on the Outsiders at the start and let the NWO roll with all the top gold. Ray and Sags start. Corner pound down from Ray. Sags hits a back elbow and clothesline. Sherri gets on Sags nerves and he rolls out to have a word with her. Ray and Booker shield her while Parker makes it clear Sags is in for a southern fried ass whoopin' if he lays a hand on his chicken pot pie or whatever the hell he called her. After an indecent amount of stalling Ray and Sags lock back up. Ray gets caught in the Nastys corner. He gets a kick on Knobbs and tags Booker, who also lays in some kicks. Knobbs pounds Booker with elbows and hits a clothesline for 2. Nasty double team on Booker. Sags neckbreaker. Knobbs hits another big clothesline with a Booker 360 sell. The Nastys set up for that nastiest of all spots, the pit stop. Sherri gets up to block it and off the distraction Ray hits Knobbs from behind. The champs work Sags to get double teams in. Ray pump kick on Knobbs. They work Knobbs outside and Sherri gets a shot in. Sags goes after Sherri and after some confusion everything resets with Knobbs still in peril. Ray legit can't lift Knobbs for a double team. Knobbs dodges and Booker tumbles to the floor. Tag to Sags, who takes out everyone. He flips Sherri in the ring, then rolls Booker up for a very long 2 that the crowd bit hard on. Piledriver from Sags. Ray breaks the pin up. Everyone in the pool! Sags goes up top. Parker trips him with his cane. It feels like the match is closing in on a finish, but instead they tack on another 5+ minutes with Sags in peril this time. Booker hits the scissors kick and both Sherri and Parker get shots in on the floor. Sags refuses to die and keeps kicking out. Sags ducks a double clothesline, hits a sloppy double faceplant and tags Knobbs. Another house cleaning. He hits Booker with the big splash but the pin is broken up. Water's great, everyone get in the pool again! Parker distracts the ref while the Nastys hit their finisher. Sherri whacks Sags with Parker's cane, and Booker covers for the pin. Meh. It could have been much worse. The Nastys looked like they were actually trying. The Nasty Boys AND Konnan both actually showing some effort? On the SAME SHOW?! What did Bischoff put in the water in the summer of '96? *3/4

 

The Giant def "Macho Man" Randy Savage in 7:47- Savage already has a World title shot at Hogan booked for Halloween Havoc. Nick Patrick is reffing this match, a questionable call seeing how he's all but confirmed to be on the NWO's payroll at this point. Giant comes out to his original Dungeon of Doom music at first, then someone remembers and the NWO's music starts up. Savage punches Giant off the apron, not letting him in the ring. After a few of these exchanges Giant says OK and drags Savage out to the floor. Savage gets the jump on the floor and tries to slam Giant out there. Nothing doing. Giant drags Savage back in the ring and begins the slow beatdown. Giant sized backbreaker and he drapes Savage over his knee. The crowd gets distracted by something happening off on the opposite side of the entrance stage. We never find out what so it must have been someone being stupid. Giant puts on a Boston crab. Savage grabs a rope. Giant thinks Savage gave up and argues with Patrick. One of the good things about this whole "Patrick as the NWO's referee" angle is, at least here at the start, Patrick would still call matches straight up until the point he needed to step in, so it's not as egregious as it could be. Giant hooks on the inevitable bear hug. Savage almost pulls Giant's eye clean out of its socket to get out. He tries coming off the top but Giant catches and slams him. A Giant kneedrop misses and Savage starts working on that knee. For as long as Savage's attention span can last anyway. Savage slams Giant! He goes up top. The elbow hits! Hogan is out and distracts Savage. Savage chases and gets jumped by the Outsiders coming out of the entrance stage, who work him over with a chair. While all this is going on Patrick's having a conversation with Giant about whether the Cowboys can go back to back again and if Barry Switzer really was that good a coach or if he just won with Jimmy's team (the answer is he just won with Jimmy's team). Hogan drags Savage's carcass back and Giant pins him. **

Mike Tenay is in the back with what's left of Team WCW. Sting crashes the promo to plead his case that whoever attacked Luger last week, it wasn't him. Luger doesn't believe him. Sting says "whatever, man" and walks off.

 

War Games: Team NWO def Team WCW in 18:15- Of course Buffer skips over the classic "LET THE WAR GAMES BEGIN" to do his own shtick instead. Greatest ring announcer ever.....at getting himself over. The NWO are keeping their 4th man a secret, while no one's sure if WCW even has a 4th man, including the guys on the team. To help keep the surprises in this match each entrant comes out only when they're getting in the match, the teams aren't at ringside like War Games previous.

P1. Scott Hall and Arn Anderson- No one has more experience in War Games than Arn Anderson. Four Horsemen, Dangerous Alliance, he's been in almost all of them. He gets a hero's welcome in Horsemen country too. Once again Nick Patrick is the referee for this match. Quick and intense back and forth corner slugfest. Hall takes the first cage shot. Corner clothesline from Hall. The back of Arn's head is rammed into the cage. Arn clips Hall's knee and goes to work on it. They swap rings with some more back and forth brawling. Arn puts on a sleeper. Hall back suplexes out. World's Greatest Spinebuster! What a shock, the NWO wins the coin toss. Arn puts on a half crab as time runs down.

P2. Kevin Nash- Arn tries but the Outsiders get a quick 2 on 1 edge. Arn gets run HARD into the cage! The whole wall moved. Nash hits him with snake eyes. The next entrant comes out a good 30 seconds early. With guys coming all the way from the back the adherence to period timings in this match is....not good.

P3. Lex Luger- Luger goes nuts, running the Outsiders into the cage and pummeling them with clotheslines and forearms (he still got that steel plate in there?). Hall gets run into the cage a ton. Nash attacks but Arn is back up and in the fray, kicking off a big 2v2 brawl.

P4. Hollywood Hogan- He also comes out a bit early but steps in the ring literally as the clock hits zero. Luger and Arn gang up on Hogan after he gets in but before long the numbers are too much. They split up with Hogan working Arn over in one ring, the Outsiders all over Luger in the other. They all get back in the same ring with the NWO in control as the period winds down.

P5. Ric Flair- He gets in the empty ring and tells the NWO to come to him. Hogan does. Flair has knucks! Hogan takes a knucks shot. So does Nash. Hall gets low blowed. Figure four on Hogan! Near the end of the period Tony says dejectedly "It's Sting".

P6. NWO Sting- The crowd is instantly deflated. From a distance the look is convincing, but a few fans on the floor can see what's what and start a small "We want Sting" chant. For the record NWO Sting is Jeff Farmer, a jobber/lower midcarder for most of the Bischoff era who had previously been Cobra. He's got some of Sting's moves down, doing a faceplant and hitting the WCW team with Stinger splashes. Again, from a distance in the stands it'd be fairly convincing. Hogan runs Flair into the cage and hits him with the legdrop.

P7. Sting- WHAT?! TWO Stings? The real Sting gets in the ring and stares down fake Sting! It's Undertaker vs Undertaker all over again. Sting on Sting slugfest! Sting helps the faces take back control. Real deal Stinger splashes! His teammates still seem unsure what's going on, especially Luger. Sting sees the looks he's getting, says "That good enough for ya?", gives his teammates a Spaceballs salute and walks out! Damn. The NWO trying to bamboozle everyone with a fake Sting isn't much of a shock. What is a shock, and great storytelling, is the real Sting being so upset no one believed him that he says "fuck all of ya'll" and walks away. The next night on Nitro Sting would give a promo for the ages defending himself, lambasting everyone that didn't trust him and declaring himself a free agent, then vanish for months. When he came back, he'd be a very, very different man. But back to this match. Luger has no idea how to react. Before he can muster up much of a thought Hogan plants him with a big boot, drops the big leg on him and bites Luger's nose. NWO Sting comes over and puts Luger in the Scorpion Death Lock. Hogan adds on a facelock. Patrick comes in, does things right by consulting Randy Anderson for a second opinion, and calls the match because Luger passed out. The NWO win again to the horror of commentary. It's not a top tier War Games up there with the classics, but it's not too far off and definitely the best War Games in several years. As always I'll lament the complete lack of blood in a War Games, but Turner corporate was very strict about such things. ***3/4

After the bell the fight continues. Luger crawls up the aisle calling for and reaching out to Sting. The NWO presses the attack. Savage runs out to join the fray, backing Hogan back to the rings. Hogan begs off. But it's a RUSE, as he sees the Giant coming in to jump Savage from behind. Chokeslam on Savage. The NWO gathers in the ring for the traditional spraypaint ceremony. Elizabeth runs out! She begs Hogan to stop! She even goes so far as to cover up Savage! Hogan says fine and spraypaints the back of Elizabeth's dress instead! A new low. Hogan gets a mic and runs Savage and Elizabeth down as two pieces of trash, and promises to make the "till death do us part" bit true at Halloween Havoc. The main event must have run really short because there's a lot more crowd playing and Liz scaring. Savage eats one more chokeslam. Finally the NWO go over and do a good old fashioned takeover of commentary to close the show.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- WCW's red hot second half of 1996 continues with another show featuring consistent top to bottom quality. Many of the undercard matches deliver, the ones that don't aren't too horrible, and while the main event just misses out on being a truly great War Games it was certainly a very good one, and very effectively set the stage for the next part of the NWO angle, including planting some seeds (namely Sting) that wouldn't come to fruition for a very long time.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B+

Breakdown '98: In Your House

Legacy Review

Breakdown '98: In Your House

September 27, 1998 from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The fall of 1998 was the pinnacle of the legendary Steve Austin/Mr. McMahon feud, with every week of Raw being must see TV. The recently reunited Undertaker and Kane were now Vince's #1 hired guns, and as more and more desperation set in after Taker failed to take the WWF Title at Summerslam he had no qualms with stacking the deck against Austin as much as he could.

In ring pyro! This is the annual Canada PPV so the crowd should certainly be lively tonight, right in the middle of one of WWF's hottest periods.

Owen Hart def Edge in 9:16- After making his in-ring PPV debut at Summerslam Edge is having his first PPV singles match tonight. Owen was a great choice to help ring general him through it. Fink announcing Edge's hometown as nearby Toronto gets a good pop. Owen comes out in a Toronto Argonauts (CFL) jersey, I guess to try to pander to the crowd. Doesn't work. The "nugget" chants start right away. Commentary mentions Edge's burgeoning relationship with another WWF newcomer, Gangrel. Arm wringer tradeoff to start. Wristlock fight. Edge uses the ropes to flip over and out. Owen kips up and hits an arm slam. Edge kips up. Owen backs him into the corner and hits a back elbow. Monkey flip. Edge lands on his feet and hits a dropkick. Hurricanrana counter by Edge and he clotheslines Owen 360 to the floor. He teases a dive but Owen gets out of the target area and brags about it. When he gets close enough Edge hits him with a baseball slide. Edge tries coming off the apron. Owen catches and powerslams him! That was a hard splat on the floor. Owen missile dropkick back in for 2. Gutwrench suplex for 2. More "nugget" chants from the crowd. Neckbreaker for 2. Speed run and Owen hits the snap belly to belly (not as good as usual) for 2. Edge comes back and Owen cuts it off with a boot up in the corner. Victory roll for 2. Edge reverses it for a long 2. Spinning heel kick from Owen. Edge hits a springboard reverse crossbody for 2. He goes up to the second rope again, then sees Owen dodging and lands on his feet. Owen, in his classic style, celebrates with his back turned. Edge plants him with a DDT! Counter run and Edge hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Owen slips out of a suplex into a German suplex for 2. Edge dodges in the corner and Owen crashes. They go up top and Owen blocks a superplex, sending Edge down. Owen tries coming off the top rope. Edge gets his boots up. Owen sees, lands away from him, and goes for the Sharpshooter! Edge fights it off. Owen bounces off the corner and Edge small packages him for 2. Spinning heel kick from Edge! Hey, there's some guy at ringside with the same long blond hair that Edge has! Commentary says a fan jumped the rail. The unknown guy and Edge stare down. Edge seems to know him. Owen comes from behind with a clutch and gets the pin! After the bell the mystery guy leaves through the crowd and Edge gives chase. This was the debut of Christian, who would be billed as Edge's brother. Which they're not really, but they might as well be. Damn good match as young Edge continues to acquit himself very well in his early PPV matches. ***1/2

 

Al Snow and Scorpio (w/Head) def Too Much in 8:03- After months of being in limbo Snow was finally officially reinstated to the full WWF roster after defeating Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter the previous week on Raw. JR mentions Snow's earlier gimmicks, and that he and Scorpio were in ECW together (letting Lawler get his "Extremely Crappy Wrestling" line in), which is why they're teaming up here. Scott Taylor is now Scott "Too Hot" Taylor, getting closer to his most famous name. Huge "Head" chant after the face's entrance. Canada loves Head. Everyone loves Head. Well, except for Taylor, he doesn't like the chants at all. He and Scorpio start. Shoving and Taylor hides in the ropes. After some back and forth Scorpio hits an atomic drop and swing kick. Pumphandle slam from Taylor, followed by a kip up and moonwalk while Christopher brays from the apron. I seriously think Brian Christopher, as a wrestler, might be the most annoying human being alive. He's like a tropical skin disease made flesh. Both sides tag. Speed run with Christopher doing a leapfrog that Snow apparently wasn't prepared for and they have to quickly recover. Snow traps Christopher's arms and headbutts him. Taylor runs into a backdrop. Scorpio hits corner clotheslines. Snow throws a chair in. Scorpio distracts the ref and Snow launches off the chair and heel kicks Taylor! That ECW experience coming in handy. Now Scorpio goes for a chair launch. He almost slips off the chair and barely gets in the vicinity of hitting the kick he was going for. Everyone sells it anyway. .8 Sabu botch. The match breaks down with everyone fighting. Scorpio hits Taylor with a splash off the top, but then pulls him up at 2. On the floor Snow hits Christopher with a moonsault off the barricade. Much easier to do with those new giant padded barricades now. Back in Christopher cuts off a double team, sending Scorpio to the floor. Christopher suplexes him on the floor and Scorpio goes in peril. Double backdrop that Scorpio does an awful bump off of. Bulldog from Christopher. Another double backdrop and this time Scorpio lands on his feet. That might have been what he was going for the first time. Scorpio double dropkicks the heels and tags. Snow comes in swinging Head everywhere and wildly. Everyone takes a shot, including Scorpio. Christopher breaks a pin up with a legdrop off the top rope. Then Scorpio breaks a pin up with a splash from the top rope. Snow hits the Snow Plow and gets the pin. There were a whole lot of big moves in this match, but very few of them felt like they mattered. Spotty and sloppy. *3/4

 

"Marvelous" Marc Mero (w/Jacqueline) def Droz in 5:12- Jacqueline had just won the revived Women's title, which had been deactivated for nearly three years after Alundra Blayze (Medusa) left for WCW and dumped the old belt in a trash can. She was quickly becoming the second woman to be Mero's valet and completely overshadow him. I suppose before going any further I should say RIP Droz, who passed away just a few days before I sat down to write this. Mero gets the quick jump after the bell. Droz responds with a slam and clothesline. A dropkick sends Mero to the floor. He walks and Droz attacks him in the aisle. Back in Mero hits a kneelift. Jacqueline gets her shot in. Tackle from Droz and another clothesline. Mero backdrops Droz to the floor. Somersault plancha! Mero's boot landed right on Droz's head but he was a football player, he's good. Droz gets his knees up on a slingshot splash. Kind of tackle/diving back elbow combo from Droz. Inverted atomic drop. Powerslam. Jacqueline gets Mero's foot on the rope. Droz yells at her and Mero attacks from behind. He takes his tape off and chokes Droz. The ref sees it and gets all over Mero. But it's a RUSE. On the other side of the ring, Jacqueline comes off the top rope and nails Droz with her Shoe of Deadly Pointiness +1. Mero set Droz up and goes up top. Shooting star press! Guess he's healthy enough to do that again. He's calling it the "Marvelocity" now. That gets the pin. 3/4*

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Bradshaw def Vader in 7:56- I don't remember exactly what the beef was here, other than Bradshaw recently turning heel and being pissed off at the world, and deciding to take it out on Vader's beef. Bradshaw's lost his mustache in the heel turn. He's all business going in. The basic visual of this definitely brings you back to the Vader/Stan Hansen classics in Japan which I'm sure was intentional. Lockup stalemate. Bradshaw gets Vader in the corner and goes into stiff beatdown mode, including a wicked hard chop. Huge corner clothesline. Slam and elbow drop for 2. Vader flat RUNS OVER Bradshaw with a tackle! Big splash for 2. Bradshaw gets a big boot and 360 clotheslines Vader to the floor. Post shot for Vader and another clothesline. Bradshaw gives him a couple of bell shots. Clothesline and cover on the floor for 2. Vader ducks and Bradshaw punches the post. Vader headbutts him and drops the steps on Bradshaw. They get back in the ring with Bradshaw taking control back and hitting a Saito suplex. Vader ducks a charge and Bradshaw goes over the top to the floor. Low blow from Vader in the aisle and cover for 2. Vader takes Bradshaw back in the ring and sets him up in the corner. Splash off the second rope. No cover. Vader points up. But which move is he thinking? The Vader Bomb hits! Bradshaw kicks out! Another huge clothesline from Bradshaw. Vader kicks out! Another, as JR is now calling it, clothesline from hell. Bradshaw wraps Vader's arm, hits a neckbreaker, and gets the pin. It certainly didn't take advantage of the stipulation as well as it could have but it had the moments of crazy stiffness you'd expect from these two. Crowd didn't give a damn either. And that, folks, is Vader's last WWF PPV match. He'd put Edge over on TV on his way out, then head back to Japan (though All Japan and NOAH instead of New Japan) for his last full time run and close out the career of the greatest big man of all time. **1/4

 

D'Lo Brown def Gangrel in 7:46- JR calls the PPV debuting Gangrel a "strange son of a gun". Putting it mildly. Yes, Brown is still wearing the chest protector. He lost the European title to X-Pac on the most recent Raw and is extra ornery tonight because of it. Gangrel charges before the bell but Brown avoids him. Back elbow from Gangrel. He blocks a Brown hiptoss into a belly to belly suplex and hits elbow drops. Brown responds with a spinning heel kick and classic Brown head waggle jawing. Brown goes into beatdown mode for a bit. Gangrel dodges an elbow off the second rope. Brown gets a sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) low blow in. Huge Ligerbomb from Brown! He gets up on the ropes to play to the crowd before covering and Gangrel kicks out. Gangrel dodges in the corner. Brown blocks a DDT. Suplex for 2. More Brown jawing. Gangrel hits forearms and a clothesline. Brown jackknife cover for 2. Gangrel fights Brown off the second rope for 2. Samoan drop from Brown for 2. They completely blow a hot shot as Mark Henry makes his way down. Gangrel hits a clotheslineish move off the top for 2. Henry pulls the top rope down and Gangrel tumbles to the floor. He runs Gangrel into the post. Brown plants Gangrel with the Low Down spinebuster and gets the pin. After the bell Gangrel gives Henry a face full of blood mist and DDTs Brown. I won't fault the effort, both guys were definitely trying, but like the tag match it was spotty with no glue to hold any of it together, and sloppy in parts. **

On a previous Raw the Rock, Mankind and Shamrock had a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender to the WWF Title that was completely ruined by the Undertaker and Kane, so tonight they're doing it again inside a steel cage. Hey, it's the blue bar cage still! And it's being lowered from the ceiling! Guess it wasn't too heavy after all. Weird to see the blue bar cage with that hanging apparatus on the top of it we're used to seeing on the more "normal" chain link cage. While the cage is being prepped all three guys get promo time. It's a good thing they let Shamrock go first, because the other two verbally leave him in the dust. Mankind even does a bit of fourth wall breaking, saying he refuses to sell that "abortion of a move", the People's Elbow.

 

WWF Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat Steel Cage Match: The Rock def Mankind and Ken Shamrock in 18:47- Face Shamrock gets almost zero reaction from the Canadian crowd. Face Mankind gets an OK pop. Heel Rock almost blows the roof off the place. Don't look now, but that poster child for "too much, too soon" Rocky Maivia is in serious danger of becoming popular. It's pin/submit or escape rules tonight. Rock goes right for old rival Shamrock but Shamrock was ready for him. Rock does the ol' eye poke to take control. Mankind takes advantage to try to sneak out the door while no one's looking. Rock intercepts him. Mankind lets Rock and Shamrock go at it a bit more before picking his spot to dive in. As Mankind's shirt comes undone we see he's wearing his Dude Love shirt underneath, but the Dudester doesn't come out in full for this match. Mankind running corner knee on Shamrock. Rock clothesline on Mankind. Shamrock pummels Rock with knees. He puts an abdominal stretch on Mankind. Rock sneaks from behind and puts Shamrock in an abdominal stretch! Double stretch! Both of them are hiptossed out of. All three guys reset and stand off. Rock tries to make a deal with Mankind to team up....then attacks Mankind! Mankind has the first climb attempt of the match. Rock stops him. Shamrock gets half out the door and Rock stops him too. Both Rock and Mankind finally get Shamrock down for an extended period. Shamrock takes the first cage shot. Not a lot of that in this match. The blue bar cage is kind of juryrigged up there, they're probably playing it safe to make sure it doesn't collapse. Rock and Mankind hit some nicely coordinated double teams. They might make an OK tag team one day. Eventually Rock has enough and attacks Mankind. That's going to be a recurring theme between them for years. Now Rock and Shamrock strike a truce to team up on Mankind. Shamrock puts the ankle lock on. Rock quickly breaks it up. Now Shamrock and Mankind double team on Rock. The crowd does not like that at all. Double backdrop. Double suplex. Clotheslines all around. Rock DDT on Mankind. Spinny DDT on Shamrock. Setup slam. And a setup slam for Mankind! They're both set up! The elbow pad comes off as the crowd comes completely unglued! Double People's Elbow! Hey, Mankind sold it after all. Rock starts to climb. The other two pull him back in and Rock gets crotched on the top rope. He comes back up with a low blow on Shamrock. Charge from Mankind....right into a Rock Bottom! Rock covers but Shamrock breaks the pin up. Huge "Shamrock sucks" chant as commentary starts to refer to Canada as Bizzaro World for I think the first time ever. Certainly won't be the last. Shamrock belly to belly on Rock! Ankle lock! Rock fights it and Mankind breaks it up to a big cheer. Mankind climbs again. Rock goes up to stop him. Mankind gets over the top and dangles while Rock hangs onto him. Rock gets him back up and they slug it out while sitting on top of the cage. Shamrock joins in and he and Rock go down in the ring. Mankind is all alone up top! But he doesn't go down to win. Instead he stands on top of the cage! JR says Mankind thinks he's Jimmy Snuka. Cactus Elbow off the top of the cage! Rock dodges and Mankind splats on the mat! Rock is bleeding right on top of the People's Eyebrow. Not sure when that happened. Shamrock goes for the door. Mankind crawls over and stops him. Somehow Shamrock gets a chair (clearly planted for him) and brings it into the ring. Mankind dodges and Shamrock hits the cage with the chair! Double underhook DDT! Mankind chairshot to Shamrock's face! He starts climbing. But while he does, Rock crawls over and covers Shamrock! While Mankind is halfway down the cage, Rock gets a 3 count and wins! Mankind is confused at first and thinks he won by escape, then hears Fink's announcement and loses it. Tremendous finish. The match started a bit slow, but once they got going they got going great. They're starting to figure this triple threat thing out. Put this performance and crowd reaction together with the ladder match from Summerslam and Rock has pretty much punched his ticket to the main event, though with all the shenanigans that were about to go down with the WWF Title he wouldn't get the title shot he won here. ***3/4

Ad for the next PPV, which will be the first ever Judgment Day. While commentary tries to hype up the next match Shamrock is completely losing it in and around the ring.

 

Val Venus (w/Terri Runnels) def Dustin Runnels in 9:09- This is another pure Russo trash TV inspired feud. OK, bear with me here. Dustin Rhodes, the former Goldust, has had another personality change and is now wrestling under his real life name and has assumed the gimmick of an over the top preacher. Venus shocked Dustin and the world by revealing that he's been fucking (WWF won't go all the way R rated and say the word but I will) Dustin's real life wife Terri, the former Marlena who had been away from WWF since her whole also Russoriffic angle with Brian Pillman ended after Pillman's death. Needless to say Dustin was devastated, and here we are. And it gets even crazier after this but we'll get to that when it happens. Venus introduces Terri, who was appearing unannounced. She comes out in a fairly skimpy outfit and she and Venus fondle each other all the way to the ring. Dustin tries to jump Venus when he gets in the ring but Venus dodges and hits a spinebuster. Dustin responds with a faceplant and powerbomb. A sloppy Venus shot sends Dustin outside and Venus clotheslines him in the aisle with an attempt at a 360 sell. Back in Dustin hits a backdrop. Venus hits chops and running knees. Russian leg sweep and hip swivel mock. Venus puts on a camel clutch for a bit. He stays aggressive after Dustin gets out. They go to the floor and Venus drops Dustin on the announce table. Back in Dustin blocks and hits a suplex. Venus dodges a legdrop for 2. The crowd gets distracted by something and Venus kills time with a chinlock. Dustin's comeback is cut off with a clothesline. Dustin maneuvers into a DDT. Venus goes for a superplex. Dustin tries to block it, so Venus drops him down to the floor! Afterward Dustin tosses Venus over the top to the floor. Venus gets distracted by Terri and they go into high school groping mode again with Dustin barely able to stand it. Venus sneaks around and rolls Dustin up for 2. Dustin counters a hiptoss into the bulldog! He's slow to cover. The ref counts two even though Venus doesn't kick out! Someone frakked up big time there. The crowd boos. Venus hits a powerslam, drops some elbows, and hits the Money Shot to finish it. This never came together, with many of the same spottiness issues as the previous undercard matches and that end of match non-kickout was fugly. *1/4

JR: "Remember that time Jeff Jarrett used a guitar?". Are you serious? Jeff Jarrett has broken more guitars than Mark McGwire has crushed home runs. There's a very 1998 reference for you.

 

D-Generation X def Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice in 11:17- It's new European champ X-Pac and tag champs the New Age Outlaws representing DX tonight. Triple H is out with a legitimate knee injury suffered during or right after the Summerslam ladder match where he won the Intercontinental title, an injury that would force him to vacate that title soon after this. After losing a hair vs hair match at Summerslam to Pac Jarrett now has the short hair look he'd carry for the rest of his career. His persona has also stepped up in edginess, with "Don't piss me off" written on his shirt and guitar. The Outlaws jump the heels from behind in the ring during their entrance. Big brawl and the faces clear the ring. Jarrett sneaks back in and jumps Pac. Slide under and dropkick from Jarrett. Pac powerbomb counter for 2. Dogg tags in and works Jarrett over. Canterbury rakes Dogg's eyes from the apron and SJ pound Dogg down. Dogg tries to come back with his dancing jabs but Canterbury kills him with a clothesline. Jarrett DDT. Corner collision and Dogg gets a tag to Pac. Pac spinning heel kick on Jarrett. He tries one on Knight but gets caught and slammed. Big delayed suplex from Knight for 2. Jarrett powerslam for 2. Big splash from Canterbury for 2. Pac continues as Degenerate in Peril for a bit. Jarrett hooks on a sleeper. They do the arm drops. Pac fights back up, they have some sleeper counters, and Pac hits a back suplex. Tag to Gunn, his first time in the whole match. Gunn takes everyone out. DONNYBROOK! JR calls Gunn the "best pure athlete" in the WWF. The buttering up has begun. Pac Bronco Busters Jarrett. Canterbury takes Pac out. Jarrett tries to bring the guitar in but Gunn takes it away. Ref Tim White then takes it from Gunn. SJ work Gunn over. Jarrett nails Pac with the guitar on the floor! Gunn hits, er, one of the SJ guys (I've probably been getting them backwards most of the match but I'm honestly not too concerned about it) with the fameasser and gets the pin. Gee, I wonder who of this DX group WWF was considering giving a mega singles push to? After the match Pac's eye is hurt from the guitar shot. **1/4

 

Triple Threat Match for the WWF Championship: The Undertaker and Kane def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) in 22:05- Per Vince's deck stacking edict, both Taker and Kane are only allowed to pin Austin, not each other, making this a de facto handicap match. Vince has also ordered that if anyone interferes on Austin's behalf the match will be immediately stopped and Austin stripped of the title. Kane comes out first. While Taker's coming out Austin attacks him from behind with a chair! Kane takes a chairshot, and he and Austin brawl down the aisle into the ring. Once in Kane hits a back elbow and slam. Austin dodges Kane coming off the top rope while Taker is strolling toward the ring with the chair. Austin gets tossed over the top to the floor where Taker is waiting. After some shots Austin reverses a whip and sends Taker into the steps, then he crotches Kane on the post. JR: "Undertaker may never be an uncle now". Stunner on Kane! Taker pulls Austin back out to break up the pin. Austin gets posted. Taker beats Austin down in the ring while Kane is still down from the Stunner. Flying clothesline from Taker and Kane finally starts to stir. Austin Thesz Press! He clotheslines Kane 360 to the floor. Swinging neckbreaker on Taker for 2. Austin keeps Kane on the floor while he works Taker over. Kane grabs Austin and drags him out to the floor. Taker accidentally hits Kane! Uh oh. While they're discussing things Austin pushes Taker into Kane! Austin gets a TV cable and chokes Kane with it. Taker gets some more cable and chokes Austin with it! It's a double layer choke. After everyone untangles Taker and Kane drop Austin on the Spanish announce table. The Taker/Kane double teaming is starting to become too much for Austin. Vince's stooges (Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson and Commissioner Slaughter) poke their heads out to see how things are going. The Austin beatdown continues on the floor and they work up the aisle. Austin gets a comeback flurry up by the stage. Taker backdrops him on the floor. Austin sees the stooges and leaps on top of Brisco! Slaughter and Taker get him off. Kane tosses Brisco aside. Austin gets dragged back to the ring where the double team continues with Austin completely grounded. Kane turns around to intimidate Hebner, giving Austin an opening to attack Taker and start to get his wind back. A Taker throat punch puts him down again. Austin gets another chair on the floor. He nails Kane with it! Cover. Taker breaks it up with a chairshot on Austin. Taker covers. Kane pulls him off! That sets off another discussion. Taker drapes Austin across the top rope and Kane comes off the top to knock him off. Kane covers. Taker pulls him off! More discussion. Taker attacks Kane from behind! Kane and Austin bounce Taker around with punches. After a big boot and 360 clothesline Austin jumps on Kane. Russian leg sweep for 2. Kane hits a headbutt. Taker and Kane get Austin back down and seemingly sort things out between them. Kane beats Austin down on the floor. Back in both guys try for pins with the other breaking it up. Guess it's not sorted after all. Staredown. Taker hits Kane! Slugfest. Double clothesline! The door's open for Austin! He knocks Taker out of the ring. Kane slams Austin but misses an elbow drop. Taker gets crotched on the top rope. Austin goes for the Stunner. After some obvious maneuvering Kane pushes Austin off into Taker's big boot. Double team chokeslam on Austin! Both Taker and Kane cover him, and get the pin! Fink: "The winner of this match, and NEWWWWWWWWW World Wrestling Federation Champion.....".......no one's sure. Vince comes out, tells Brisco to get the belt, and runs off with it all the way into his limo and out of the arena. While that's happening Austin takes the stooges out. The camera follows Austin to the back. Vince's limo is stopped outside the arena. Vince gets out, gloats at Austin that he's lost the belt, flips him off, gets back in and leaves. End show. I see what they were going for, but didn't pull it off quite as well as they could have. Not a bad match, just OK. And once again, PPV is being used to set up TV instead of the other way around because in the Monday Night War days those weekly ratings sheets meant just as much as PPV buys, if not more. **1/2

 

The next night on Raw Vince held a presentation ceremony to name a new WWF Champion between Taker and Kane (which also featured the original Winged Eagle belt in its final official appearance). But before he could, Austin crashed the ceremony driving a zamboni, attacked Vince, and got arrested for about the 47th time that year. Afterward Vince held Taker and Kane responsible for not stopping Austin's attack, so instead of awarding the title to one of them he set up a rematch for Judgment Day. 

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: For an Attitude Era B PPV this isn't too shabby. There's no out and out disasters, a couple of good matches that are tentpoles in the early careers of both Edge and the Rock, a decent main event with important WWF Title developments even if it was the "PPV setting up TV" syndrome, and crazy Russo trash TV stuff like the Dustin/Venus feud is usually worth a laugh.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

Clash of the Champions XXXIII

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XXXIII

August 15, 1996 from the Denver Coliseum in Denver, CO

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr (c) def Dean Malenko in 12:07- As usual for the cruisers Mike Tenay joins the booth. I think this is Malenko's second or third rematch since dropping the title to ReyRey. Is it just me or are both these guys' music the same thing? Not that much of WCW's music was very distinctive anyway. Malenko jumps Mysterio from behind while the ref is sticking the belt in the camera as WCW liked to do. Quick suplex. Mysterio slides out and plays keep away with Malenko. A springboard dropkick knocks Malenko off the apron. Baseball slide into a flying headscissors on the floor. Crazy speed/counter run back in with Mysterio hitting a moonsault for 2. A spinning kick sends Malenko back to the floor. Mysterio loads up a dive but Malenko removes himself from the target area and we get the 619 spin before it was a thing. Malenko gets back in and runs right into a drop toe hold. Ripcord knee from Malenko and he hot shots Mysterio. Brain buster for 2. Mysterio springs around and gets a cradle for 2. Malenko says enough of this malarkey and grounds Mysterio for a bit. After Mysterio escapes Malenko gets what I guess is a glancing blow on his leg and we go to commercial. Good news fans: Hog Wild t-shirts and Hog Wild DENIM JACKETS are still available! Back to the match with Malenko in control. He goes for another mile high hot shot but Mysterio lands feet first on the ropes, then slips out of a suplex, grabs a waistlock, and Malenko counters into a clutch for 2. Crazy counter run there. Slam from Malenko and he puts on a leg bar. Mysterio takes a rope break. Malenko tosses Mysterio up and straight back down again. Heenan goes into a funny bit where he thinks Mysterio is flying higher because of Denver's altitude. Like how the Rockies jack so many home runs at home, it's not because any of them can hit. Mysterio momentums Malenko down to the floor. Senton plancha! Mysterio does a moonsault off the guardrail! He launched badly and damn near landed on his head on the floor on that. Springboard missile dropkick back in for 2. Springboard hurricanrana. Malenko rolls into the ropes. Mysterio goes up top. Malenko fights up with him and gets Mysterio on his shoulders. The super gutbuster hits! The ref counts 3, but Mysterio got a foot on the rope at 2! The bell rings and Malenko gets the belt but the ref waves it off and says it was 2. Mysterio victory rolls Malenko from behind and gets the pin! Another great cruiserweight opener, slightly hurt by the commercial and a few rough patches. I think they've got something with this division. It's also easy to see how Mysterio quickly became huge, he was doing things no one had seen at the time, at least in the US. ***1/2

Glacier promo! We've moved on from just the (pretty cool) logo to shots of the man himself doing martial arts things. In another few months he might actually have a match.

 

VK Wallstreet def "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in 3:48- Two guys very much past the sell by date at this point in their careers. Duggan charges with the 2x4 and Wallstreet bails. Arm wringer exchange and Wallstreet hides in the ropes. Duggan uses that to pummel him with buckle shots. After a hip toss and clothesline Duggan gets in a 3 point stance and Wallstreet bails again. He looks under the ring for some reason. Probably trying to find someone in Little People Land to audit. He snaps Duggan over the top rope and goes right to Rotunda Rest Hold 1B: the chinlock. After a bit Duggan jawbreakers out. Spin slam. Duggan gets wrist tape out and unspools a bunch with the ref trying to stop him. Wallstreet rolls him up, gets a handful of tights and gets the pin. Low end Nitro match. 1/2*

The Nasty Boys get a TV spot to say they're ready to get back into the tag title picture. Fortunately, they wouldn't.

 

Konnan def Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono) in 2:57- Tenay is in again for this one. WCW still can't decide if it's Ultimo or Ultimate, it changes by the minute. It's a weirdly put together matchup this, because Dragon, a natural face, is a default heel here because Oono is managing him, but Konnan was in the process of turning heel since losing the US title. He cheated to beat Chavo Guerrero on the last Nitro. Cautious start and Konnan jaws with some fans. Mat stalemate. Konnan hits a straight right that drops Dragon hard and looked more than a little on the snug side. He puts Dragon into some kind of Paradise Lock variation (no way Konnan knows the actual Paradise Lock, way above his wrestling IQ) and tugs on Dragon's leg while he's in it. Shoulderblocks from Konnan along with some mocking. Dragon rolls out to confer with Oono. Speed run back in and Dragon dropkicks Konnan's back to send him out. Oono gets kicks in! Konnan doesn't like that at all, but Dragon uses the opening to jump him from behind. Moonsault from Dragon back in, into a magistral cradle for 2. German suplex. Konnan reverses into a cradle, pulls tights and gets the pin. Same finish two matches in a row. Half the crowd still doesn't get it and cheers Konnan. *

Ice Train is in the Compuserve room chatting when Scott Norton attacks him! He saw Train was about to click a clear malware link in an email.

The next scheduled match is Meng vs Randy Savage. Meng makes his way in, but Savage no-shows. The NWO had beat him down on Nitro, including Hogan laying the chair to him, so Meng wins the match by forfeit. Afterward Mean Gene is in the ring with the slightly updated Dungeon of Doom. Why they hell they're still around post-NWO, you've got me. Kevin Sullivan wants credit for seeing through Hogan right from the start. I think we'd call that "right by accident". There's a frakking leprechaun running around on the floor during the promo. I.....I've got nothing, folks. I don't remember that at all and it's so random it's one of those things that you aren't sure you're really seeing what you're seeing. It almost feels like I'm watching the show while concussed. Plus, there's no such thing as leprechauns. Buffy rules.

 

Medusa def Bull Nakano (w/Sonny Oono) in 2:42- This is a rematch from Hog Wild, minus the attempted motorcyclecide. Medusa gets the early shots but Nakano dodges a dropkick and does the hair tosses. Oono distracts the ref and Nakano gets some nunchuck shots in. Clothesline and weak splash. Horrible springboard reverse crossbody from Medusa, she almost completely missed Nakano and almost landed on her head. A twofer. Slingblades for 2. Nakano counters a sunset flip with a butt splash for 2. She gets on the second rope but Medusa dropkicks her to the floor. Medusa comes off the top rope. Nakano moves and Oono takes it. Nakano uses the opening to jump from behind. Attempted heel double team and Oono kicks Nakano. Medusa rolls her up (without tights so it's slightly different than the last two finishes) and wins. The heels hug after the bell so they're still good. Sadly that's better than their Hog Wild match. *1/4

 

Eddie Guerrero def Diamond Dallas Page in 4:20- This match is for DDP's "Battlebowl title". Not the "Lord of the Ring" ring, he doesn't have that with him and it's not mentioned. Did WCW lose it? I hope WCW lost it, that would be the most WCW thing ever. DDP wins the lockup but Guerrero kips right back up. Speed run. Guerrero gets a flying headscissors and dropkick. DDP dodges and Guerrero posts his shoulder. DDP stomps Guerrero not on the shoulder. Heenan gets antsy on commentary, screaming at DDP to go after the hurt shoulder. I have to agree. Instead, it's a gutwrench gutbuster from DDP. Side suplex for 2. Long chinlock with rope leverage. Finally Guerrero armdrags out. Slugfest. Guerrero hits a heel kick. Springboard senton for 2. DDP hits a jawbreaker. Powerbomb for 2. They fight on the top rope. DDP falls back in. Frog splash! Guerrero gets the quick pin! Commentary says he wins the "Battlebowl title", laughingly calling it Guerrero's first WCW title. DDP offers a handshake....and hits Guerrero with the Diamond Cutter! He tosses the ref aside. Running Diamond Cutter! Chavo Guerrero runs in to try to save his uncle. DDP fights him off. SUPER Diamond Cutter! I think DDP's made his point. Pretty decent match considering the time and that half the match was a chinlock. There's definitely a really good match in here. **

 

The Giant (w/Jimmy Hart) def Chris Benoit (w/Woman and Elizabeth) in :23- Woman's having trouble getting Benoit's vest off and that's trapping him in the corner. Giant runs in with a dropkick! Chokeslam and it's already over! Just a quick squash to get Giant back on track after losing the World title. Commentary speculates on whether Woman did that on purpose or not. Of course WCW chooses Benoit as the Horseman to eat the squash instead of Mongo. NR

 

Triangle Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Robert Parker), The Steiner Brothers and Sting & Lex Luger no contest in 13:22- Parker comes out by himself after all the other entrances and argues a bit with Sherri early in the match, but it never goes anywhere, at least not tonight. Everyone stares down before Booker and Scott start. Scott gets the first shots. Booker hits him with a hook kick. He goes up top but Scott throws him down and crotches him. Luger clotheslines Booker while he's straddling the top rope! He recovers a bit on the floor. Scott tags Luger in. Ray and Luger go back and forth for a bit. Rick blind tags Luger. Steinerline! Steinerline! He hits the bulldog off the top rope! Luger breaks the pin up. Rick's not happy about that and they shove. Ray uses the opening to hit Rick with a superkick. Commercial. We're back with Rick powerslamming Booker. Sting blind tags in much to Rick's dismay. Sting hiptosses Booker over the top to the floor. Back in Sting press slams Booker. Man, every time I see those two in there together I wish for that peak Sting/peak Booker singles match. There's just a different energy when it's those two in there. Sting and Luger work Booker over a bit. Ray comes in to save and Booker tags him. After a bit of beatdown on Sting Scott blind tags in on Ray. Sting and Scott reset and lock up. Scott works Sting's arm a bit. Sting nails him with a hot shot. Clothesline off the top for 2. Rick breaks the pin up and he and Luger argue again. Scott hits Sting with a reverse DDT. Double underhook powerbomb. Now Luger breaks the pin up and he and Rick argue again. Tags and now Rick and Luger are legal. Back and forth pounding. HIGH angle release German suplex from Rick! Scott tags in and hits a belly to belly suplex. He tries coming off the second rope. Luger catches him and tries to work him around into the Torture Rack. Rick clips Luger's knee! DONNYBROOK! Booker and Scott fight in the ring while everyone else goes at it in the aisle. The Outsiders come out and get involved in the aisle fight but never get close to the ring. Scott hits the Frankensteiner on Booker! Ref Nick Patrick counts two....then sees the Outsiders and calls for the bell! He throws the match out due to "outside interference". Scott is furious. There's some moments, but this match only existed to continue to advance the heel referee Nick Patrick angle. Like at Hog Wild I'm still puzzled by WCW's refusal to put the tag belts on the Outsiders. *3/4

Mean Gene stops Patrick and asks for an explanation. Patrick cuts what's actually a fairly good heel promo, explaining himself in a way that's clearly wrong but he believes it. As Patrick's leaving Okerlund tries to ask him where he got all those nice suits he's been wearing recently. Patrick walks off without answering.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: WCW United States Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (w/Woman and Elizabeth) def Hollywood Hogan (c) by DQ in 8:23- Flair's got that sweet white ice robe from Hog Wild again. Love it. Hogan makes a show of taking his bandana off and mocking Flair's "Slick Ric" with his bald head. Flair answers with the real thing. Unlike Hog Wild no epic stall from Hogan tonight. Flair works a headlock for a bit. Hogan hits a shoulderblock followed by some more mocking. Another Flair headlock. This time Hogan lifts him onto the top rope. Flair slaps Hogan! That sets Hogan off. Lockup and Hogan does his little chain wrestling piece. Flair ducks a clothesline and hits chops. Hogan rolls out. Flair follows and hits a double ax handle off the apron. Hogan stalls on the floor and reset. Test of strength knucklelock. Flair bites Hogan's hand! They fumble around a bit. Flair Flip down to the floor! Hogan follows with a rail and post shot. The back rake! Back in Flair does the flip again, but this time ducks a clothesline on the apron and floors Hogan with a punch. Flair delayed suplex. Hogan hulks up! Heel Hogan hulking up? Yup. The whole bit. Point. 3 punches. Big boot. Flair dodges the legdrop! Figure four! Hogan tries to reverse but Flair rolls through it to get back on top. Hogan pulls the ref down. Here comes the Outsiders. They attack Flair. The Horsemen, Sting and Luger all run out and chase them off. Commentary for some reason thinks Hogan gave up in the figure four, but Flair wins by DQ. Very flat finish that the crowd didn't react to at all outside the run ins. I think they (WCW, not the crowd) realized that Hogan doing the full hulk up as a heel was a very bad idea, but they were still figuring this heel Hogan thing out. *1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The Clash as a Contractual Obligation Show in the Nitro/monthly PPV era continues, though there was some effort made in this one to make it seem more important. Still, nothing of note happens except maybe some incremental movement in the Nick Patrick angle, and the only match worth watching (Mysterio/Malenko) has better versions elsewhere.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+

Summerslam '98

Legacy Review

Summerslam '98

August 30, 1998 from Madison Square Garden in New York City

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The tagline for this show is "Highway to Hell", playing off the ongoing Austin vs Undertaker/Kane feud, with a really cool stage setup in the classic MSG stage spot. The entrance is a giant iron gate, like a cemetery gate, with red light behind it and the actual highway on the floor. This show is Summerslam's 10th anniversary, and with it comes the first logo change in the show's history, a pretty crappy one that would only last the one year. Also making its PPV debut tonight- the modern WWF/E padded ringside barricade. No more classic guardrails, at least until NXT comes along. Tony Chimel is doing ring announcing on PPV for the first time, as Howard Finkel is otherwise engaged tonight.

WWF European Championship: D'Lo Brown (c) def Val Venus by DQ in 15:24- Brown's announced European home town tonight is Helsinki, Finland. He's still wearing the chest protector, milking that old pec injury for all its worth. Roll around lockup at the start with a surprising clean break and an even more surprising low 5 slap. Another roll around lockup. This time Brown takes a cheap shot, then hides in the ropes. Venus forearms the chest protector and hurts himself. Brown Vader-style tackle with the protector, followed by an avalanche. Venus dodges another and hits a Russian leg sweep. Dropkick and Brown rolls out. Long speed run back in, lots of good counters, and Venus ends it by planting a spinebuster. We get a shot of Edge in the crowd again. Clothesline from Venus, but he misses the follow up splash. Brown quickly counters a sleeper with a back suplex. Hard Brown corner whip. Slugfest. Venus ducks a clothesline and hits an exploder suplex. Clothesline from Brown. Slam and legdrop for 2. Sloppy spinning heel kick for 2. Elbow off the second rope for 2. After a suplex fight Brown gets a takedown and puts on a cloverleaf. He can't hold on and lets go before Venus gets to the ropes. Venus dodges a senton off the second rope and goes into comeback flurry mode. He tries coming off the second rope. Brown catches and powerbombs him! Nice. Slow cover for a long 2. More counters and Brown hits a DDT for 2. They go up top and Brown fights off a superplex. He tries coming off the second rope but Venus catches and powerslams him for 2. After some rather odd maneuverings in the corner Venus hits a double underhook suplex. He goes up top for the Money Shot. Brown gets his knees up! Brown goes for a powerbomb but can't hold Venus and legit drops him. Another try. This time Brown pulls it off, a running Ligerbomb-like powerbomb. He goes up for the frog splash. Venus dodges! Venus fires up with punches. He takes Brown's protector off! Powerslam from Venus. He puts the protector on and goes up top. The ref tries to stop him, grabs Venus' foot, and Venus falls down and gets crotched! That's on the ref. Venus recovers to hit an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. The ref tries to stop him again and Venus tosses him aside. Brown grabs Venus and gets the protector off him as the ref calls for the bell, DQ'ing Venus. Venus takes his frustrations out on the ref and gives him the Money Shot because that's what you did in these days. Quality opener, bordering on good, but it had some very blatant rough spots and that ending was crap. It was refreshing how the whole match stayed in the ring too, very much a contrast in this era. **3/4

Michael Cole is in the back with the hearse Austin destroyed earlier in the night on Heat. Mankind is there also. Mankind and Kane are still the tag champs, but recently Kane turned on Mankind to realign himself with Taker (don't ask, it's Russo). He's hoping Taker and/or Kane were in there. No such luck. Mankind is disappointed his planned exit ride for Kane is no longer available, but he's still got his sledgehammer so he's good. Triple H hadn't copyrighted sledgehammers yet.

 

Handicap Match: The Oddities (w/Luna Vachon and The Insane Clown Posse) def Kaientai (w/Yamaguchi-San) in 10:10- The Oddities are Kurrgan, Giant Silva, and Cartman obsessed Golga (John Tenta/Earthquake with a mask). In other words, Golga is by far the best worker in the group and he's nearly a decade past whatever prime he had. Their entrance is cut out on the Network copy for rights reasons, ICP played them down. Since their last PPV appearance Light Heavyweight champ Taka Michinoku has turned heel and joined Kaintai following their feud with (and attempted castration of) Val Venus. Taka and Golga start. Golga no sells buckle shots. Kaientai all bump around for the first of many times tonight. Golga goes around and steals Yamaguchi's brand new shoes! They stink apparently, as confirmed by all Oddities members. Golga pours water in them! Yamaguchi runs in and gets taken out. Kaientai have a discussion before getting back in. Kurrgan offers to fight Funaki on his knees. They get going and, shockingly, Kurrgan's power is too much. Kaintai all jump in and get fought off again. Yamaguchi ends up in the middle of a tug of war and all of Kaientai goes down again. Silva tags in and Kaientai run from him. Taka loses rock paper scissors, gets in....and tags Togo! Togo makes a quick sign of the cross and dives in....right into a choke slam. Kaientai try to pile on the kaiju and all get fought off. Silva stacks Kaientai up in the corner and corner whips them into each other, then presses Taka down onto all of them. Golga powerslam on Togo. Funaki and Teioh double dropkick him. They slam Golga! All of Kaientai hit moves off the top rope onto Golga. More Kaientai group offense. Golga ends it with a quadruple clothesline! He dodges splashes, rolls and tags Kurrgan. Everyone in the pool! Luna cuts Yamaguchi off and slams him. Everyone in Kaientai gets choke slammed! Golga covers all four of them and gets the pin! The video immediately cuts off again because of another ICP song. No it's not technically a "good match", but I really don't get the hate this match gets. It's no masterpiece for sure, but it's a fun comedy match thanks to Kainetai bouncing around like bouncy rubber balls and I enjoy watching it. *1/2

Earlier in the night on Heat, Jeff Jarrett shaved Fink's hair off (what there was of it), one of many people he's done that to recently. DX made the save.

 

Hair vs Hair Match: X-Pac (w/Howard Finkel) def Jeff Jarrett (w/Southern Justice) in 11:11- After months (years?) of crusty staleness Jarrett is finally slowly starting to morph into the more attitude filled version we know mostly from his later WCW years, slap nuts. One step was losing Tennessee Lee (Col. Robert Parker), who was no longer with WWF. Commissioner Slaughter tosses Southern Justice before the match starts. Fink is out with Pac, and in DX gear! He does the crotch chop! And tells Jarrett to suck it! Fantastic. Jarrett jumps from behind and we get an extended back and forth start. Pac hits a spinning heel kick and 360 clotheslines Jarrett to the floor. Springboard dive to the floor! Pac casually dodges Jarrett's sunset flip back in. Why didn't more guys do that? Speed run. Jarrett slides under and hits a dropkick. Another dropkick sends Pac to the floor. Jarrett lifts Pac into atomic drop position and runs his crotch into the post! The beatdown continues in the ring with enthusiastic Pac selling. Pac gets a boot up in the corner but runs into a powerslam for 2. Pac tornado DDT and a slow cover for 2. He hits some corner kicks. Jarrett slaps on a sleeper. Pac goes down and they do the arm drops. Pac fights out and puts on his own sleeper. Jarrett lifts him and crotches him on the top rope. Pac fights off a back superplex and goes for a reverse crossbody. Jarrett dodges and Pac splats on the mat. Cover for 2. More back and forth. Pac hits a glancing spinning heel kick and both guys go down for a while. Not sure that went as planned. Jarrett slaps on the figure four. Pac tries to reverse but Jarrett fights it off. After a couple of near falls Pac grabs the rope. Jarrett goes for it again and Pac pushes him into the corner. Back suplex. Bronco buster! Put me on the list of people that aren't a fan of that move, just for the record. Jarrett gets a back elbow. Crossbody off the top rope. Pac rolls through it for 2. Jarrett leaps, but Pac catches and powerbombs him for 2. Jarrett dodges in the corner and stacks Pac up for 2. Pac reverses for 2. He goes for the Bronco buster again. Jarrett puts his foot up and Pac's crotch runs right into it. Third shot there tonight. He's going to need an ice pack after this match. Fink gets on the apron, arguing the low blow. Jarrett punches him! X-Factor! Slow cover. Jarrett kicks out! Southern Justice are back out. It's a Jarrett match, you know what's coming. Pac dodges the guitar shot, nails Jarrett with it, and gets the pin. Jarrett definitely had an extra spring in his step compared to the rest of this WWF run to this point. ***

After the bell the New Age Outlaws run Southern Justice off. The Headbangers and Droz, also Jarrett haircut victims, come out to help and the ritual sacrifice of Jarrett's hair takes place.

 

Mixed Tag Team Match: Sable and a mystery partner def "Marvelous" Marc Mero and Jacqueline in 8:26- Sable comes out alone, then gets a mic and says "let me introduce you to my partner"....."YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME". It's Edge! Edge comes down through the crowd to make his PPV in-ring debut. He was undefeated in WWF to this point. He gets a nice reaction too. The guys start. Mero gets the quick edge....er, advantage. Damn, gotta watch that wording for Edge matches now. Edge hits a tiltawhirl flying headscissors and some Japanese armdrags. Mero tags out. Sable is all kinds of fired up to get in. Jacqueline is all kinds of fired up to avoid Sable. She quickly bails and tags right back out. Edge hits Mero with a flapjack. Jacqueline grabs his foot. Mero with a kneelift. The heels take turns choking Edge on the ropes. Edge counters the TKO into a DDT. Tags. Sable quickly takes Jacqueline down and pounds on her. Corner kicks and a hair toss. Sable with a shot for Mero! They run around the ring and Mero blocks Sable. Sable low blow! She sets Mero up for a Sable bomb. Jacqueline attacks from behind. Sable hits Jacqueline with a TKO! Mero breaks the pin up. They argue on the floor and Jacqueline again attacks from behind off the apron. Back in Sable dodges and Jacqueline takes Mero out. Angry forearm from Sable and she tags Edge. Edge running plancha on Mero! Jacqueline jumps on his back. Edge gets her on his knee and spanks her! Back in Edge hits a crossbody off the top for 2. He hangs Mero on the top rope and drops him with a neckbreaker. Jacqueline gets Mero's foot on the rope. Mero wipes Jacqueline out and Edge rolls him up for 2. Samoan drop from Mero. He goes up top. Edge hits the ropes and he's crotched. Tag. Sable goes up and hurricanranas Mero! Jacqueline tries a splash off the top but gets Mero! They really need to work on their teamwork. Edge plants Mero with his finisher at the time, Downward Spiral. Then he gets Sable up in a wheelbarrow, drops her on Mero, and Sable gets the pin! Very nice PPV debut for young Edge. As usual Sable looked very rough at smaller points in the match but hit all her big stuff right. **

Cole is in the back with Mankind, who's devastated that he's lost his sledgehammer. He tells Cole he might as well give up and forfeit the tag belts right now. Cole says people paid to see him and that sets Mankind off even more. Vince steps in, convinces Mankind that defending the tag titles by himself will make him a LEGEND, this match is his kind of rules, and finds him some weapons to replace the lost sledgehammer. Mankind says what the hell, immortality is something he's always been interested in, and he has 13 words for DX: "HOW MUCH WOOD COULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK IF A WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD?". Once again, Mick Foley, criminally underrated promo game. He was one of the absolute best.

 

Lion's Den Match: Ken Shamrock def Owen Hart (w/Dan Severn) in 9:15- This is a follow up to Owen and Shamrock's match in the Hart Dungeon at the last PPV. I'm pretty sure this one really is live though. This takes place in the MSG Theater, adjacent to the main arena, which is a cool venue with a bit of an indie show vibe, especially with how the audio is miced up. The Lion's Den itself is a mini MMA style cage. The door is locked and we're on. Owen is quickly backed into the cage and some back and forth mat grappling follows. Shamrock takes a cage shot and both guys trade some ground and pound. Back suplex from Shamrock. He gets a rear naked choke on. Owen low blows out. Clothesline from Shamrock, followed by knees to Owen's face. Something caught Owen flush as he's bleeding from the mouth a bit. Shamrock rips Owen's shirt off and chokes him with it. Leap off the cage from Shamrock and he kicks Owen. Hiptoss slam. Owen dodges and Shamrock goes face first into one of the cage beams. Enzuguri! More cage shots for Shamrock. Owen backbreaker. Shamrock backdrops out of a piledriver, then fights off the Sharpshooter. Owen leaps, but Shamrock catches and powerbombs him. Huge Shamrock clothesline and some more kicks. He comes off the cage again. Owen catches and powerslams him! Belly to belly suplex. The Sharpshooter is on! Shamrock crawls up the cage to get out of it. Tornado DDT from Shamrock. More kicks and clotheslines. Owen counters into a dragon sleeper, which is apparently supposed to be some kind of MMA choke Severn taught him. Shamrock walks up the cage to get out. Ankle lock! Severn walks out on Owen as he taps out. Like the Dungeon match, a unique spectacle that they pulled off well. ***

 

Falls Count Anywhere Handicap Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The New Age Outlaws def Mankind (c) in 5:17- Mankind comes out to give it a shot on his own. The NAO bring out a dumpster, a callback to their feud with Foley and Terry Funk during Wrestlemania season. They run right into Mankind cookie sheet shots. Bang bang! Mankind and Gunn both get chairs and sword fight with them. Mankind wins. Before he can do anything else Dogg grabs the chair from behind and the NAO jump all over Mankind. They pummel him with baking sheet shots. Gunn gets backdropped over the top to the floor. Mankind running knee on Dogg with the baking sheet! Swinging neckbreaker on Gunn on the floor and cover for 2. Dogg cuts off a Cactus Elbow. Double team on the floor and Mankind is thrown backwards into the dumpster side. The NAO set up a table in the ring corner. Mankind reverses and Gunn goes through it! NAO double team neckbreaker for 2. They set chairs up and powerbomb Mankind through them for 2. Mankind refuses to die. The NAO get Mankind's tag belt out, spike piledrive him on it, and that gets the pin. After the bell they toss Mankind in the dumpster. Kane is in there! With the sledgehammer! Hey, we found it. Sledgehammer shot on Mankind in the dumpster! JR acts like Kane just murdered him even though we couldn't see anything. Pretty solid plunder brawl match considering the unusual booking. On one hand it's disappointing they didn't do more with the falls count anywhere stip, but on the other hand a short match fit perfectly with Mankind trying to go it alone. **1/4

 

Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Triple H (w/Chyna) def The Rock (c) (w/Mark Henry) in 25:58- Officially this is WWF's third televised ladder match, the first one in three years, the first that wasn't Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon, and all three have been for the IC title. Triple H gets the full DX Band playdown for his entrance again, with Trips putting Chris Warren on his shoulders and tearing apart the drum set after. Lots of "Rocky sucks" and boos for Rock's entrance. Ref Mike Chioda hooks the belt up (correctly, Shawn doesn't need to come out and angrily fix it) and we're on. Rock throws some very clear F bombs on camera before taking the first shot. HHH hits a huge clothesline and does some ground and pound. Facebuster. Rock hooks up for the Rock Bottom but HHH fights out. Rock backdrops out of a Pedigree attempt, sending HHH to the floor. Rock goes for the one and only ladder. I miss the days there weren't 47 ladders all around the ring. HHH jumps him from behind and knocks him around what little aisle there is at MSG. They get back in without the ladder. Speed run and HHH hits the high knee. He goes for the ladder and Rock jumps him from behind. Down goes the ladder! First ladder bump and it's not even in the ring yet. Rock sets the ladder up against the ring apron. Double whip reversal and HHH goes into the ladder! Followed by a quick Rock clothesline. Now the ladder is in the ring. Rock sets it up and starts climbing. HHH comes off the top rope onto Rock's back! The ladder falls on top of HHH! That didn't miss his head by much. HHH swings the ladder into Rock! Then drops it on him! Rock stops HHH climbing and HHH tweaks the knee Rock had hurt earlier in the night on Heat again. Rock goes to work on it. He drops the ladder on HHH's knee! Then puts HHH leg inside the ladder and stomps it! Then nails the ladder with a chair! Knee posting with the crowd starting to get much more 50/50, there's some dueling chants happening. Rock sets the ladder up on the floor from the steps to the barricade, then drops HHH's knee on it! He sets the ladder back up in the ring and starts slowly climbing. The ladder is getting a bit rickety after all that damage. HHH very slowly gets back in (with Rock having to do some very obvious stalling), pushes Rock off the ladder, and then pushes the ladder clear out of the ring. He sets it up against the barricade. Rock blocks a ladder shot. Takedown and Rock slingshots HHH into the ladder! Long delayed Trips flop and he goes face first into the Spanish announce table! Fantastic. Some more brawling in the entrance aisle follows with the ladder ending up on the floor there. HHH sets up for a Pedigree into the ladder. Rock backdrops him onto the ladder! Henry gets the backup ladder from under the ring and slides it in. Rock sets up and climbs. HHH has to fight through Henry (leading to more Rock stalling) but eventually gets in and pushes the ladder down, sending Rock to the floor. HHH baseball slides the top of the ladder into Rock's face! Rock is busted open. HHH starts to climb. Now Rock pushes the ladder, but instead of going with it HHH leaps and goes straight down! Rock props ladder 1 up on top of the corner. Whip reversals. Rock adjusts midmove and plants HHH with a DDT instead. He sets up ladder 2 and starts climbing. HHH climbs the other side. Slugfest. Rock tosses HHH down into ladder 1! But on the rebound HHH runs into ladder 2, knocking it and Rock down! Chyna hands HHH a chair. Rock picks the ladder up. HHH chairshots the ladder into Rock's face! More chair to ladder shots with Rock under it. Rock slams HHH onto the ladder, then strikes the pose. Everyone knows what's coming now, and Rock gets a HUGE pop for it. The crowd has fully turned. People's Elbow with HHH on the ladder! There are now "Rocky" chants echoing around MSG with no "sucks" to be heard. HHH gets the ladder up and climbs. He fights Rock off, then tries to dive onto him, but dives right into a Rock Bottom! Rock climbs. HHH tights pulls him down. Pedigree! Henry throws powder in HHH's face. HHH climbs anyway, feeling his way up. Rock climbs the other side. Punches and HHH slides down. Chyna comes in and low blows Rock! The decks are clear! HHH climbs.....reaches.....and gets the belt to win! Rock's title reign ends at 264 days, the longest IC title reign since Mr. Perfect's second reign in '90-'91, and thanks to Attitude Era title hotshotting it would be by far the longest for over 5 years. Those are two completely made men in the ring right now. Absolutely incredible match, and all the better for being completely different than the previous legendary ladder matches. The Shawn/Ramon matches were a little more high spot oriented, while this match was all about brutality and airtight psychology. The only criticism is the slow climb stalling was pretty obvious at several points. ****1/2

 

WWF Championship: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) def The Undertaker in 20:52- Despite Kane aligning with Taker again Taker is still officially a face and this is a respectful face vs face match, which is reportedly at odds with how Russo wanted it to go. Taker has even promised Kane will not get involved. Even with all that Taker's look and presentation continues to get closer to Ministry of Darkness Taker. Austin gets the big show glass shatter entrance again. It works right this time. Since the last PPV Austin has also gotten the personalized smoking skull title belt. Austin jaws before the bell, then tries some stick and move. Taker tosses him in the corner and goes to work. Austin fires back. Taker clothesline. Double bird from Austin and they lock up. Arm wringer tradeoff. Austin ducks a short clothesline into a roll up for 2. Drop toe hold from Austin that commentary is shocked by (JR saw Austin in WCW, he should know better) and Austin works Taker's arm a bit. Backdrop counter kick from Austin but then he strangely goes down. I think Taker's head hit him in the chin as he was going up. They fumble a little, redo the spot, and Taker hits a suplex. Speed run. Austin tries a Thesz Press but Taker catches and hot shots him! Taker starts working Austin's back. After a bit Austin rolls out. He pulls Taker down and starts attacking his knee. Back in Taker hits the flying clothesline. He goes for old school. Austin flips him off the top rope and goes back on the knee. Kane makes his way out. Austin sees him. Kane starts to get in the ring, but Taker tells him no and to leave. Surprisingly Kane does. Austin attacks with more knee work, then goes out to make sure Kane really does leave. Taker goozle! Chokeslam from the apron into the ring! Austin 360 clotheslines Taker out and the knee gets tweaked again. They brawl all around the ringside area, and into the crowd! At any point here now that brawl through the crowd will become mandatory in every WWF PPV main event for a while. Taker backdrops Austin on the floor and clotheslines him over the barricade back to ringside. Austin attacks back in. Taker backs out of a Stunner attempt and falls over the top back to the floor. He sets up the Spanish announce table. Austin gets draped over it. Taker goes up top. Legdrop off the top down onto the table! The table doesn't break! Taker and Austin slide off it down to the floor. Hebner turns the table over to check on them and THEN it comes apart. Of course. Taker slides Austin back in and covers. Austin kicks out! Austin dodges a Taker avalanche but Taker stays in control. Double clothesline. Austin comes back up slugging. Thesz Press! Not a very good one though. Austin's clearly not right. Corner whip and Austin Bret bumps. He tries to Stunner Taker on the rebound but they collide and go down. Not sure that went to plan. Chokeslam! Taker calls for the Tombstone. Austin squirts free. They have some slow motion counters (again Austin doesn't look right) and Taker lifts Austin and drops him crotch first on the top rope. Russian leg sweep. Taker hooks up for old school again. Austin low blows him as he's coming down! Stunner! Austin gets the pin! After the bell a shocked and pissed Taker still stays a good sport and hands the belt back to Austin. Taker and Kane watch from the entrance as Austin celebrates (and has some trouble climbing the ropes to pose) as the show ends. Austin famously got knocked loopy at some point during this match. It's hard to tell where, I think it was early, but it doesn't really start to affect him until late when it's clear he's not entirely there. Still good though, but it could have been even better. ***1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- If you wanted to point to a single show where WWF solidified its late '90s rise not only past WCW, but into mainstream culture, this would probably be the one. It still stands up as one of the greatest Summerslams ever, and probably the best overall show WWF put on in '98 with, very unusually for a Russo-led show, a heavy focus on wrestling instead of angles.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-

Hog Wild '96

Legacy Review

Hog Wild '96

August 10, 1996 from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

After having mixed at best results with holding Bash at the Beach '95 on an actual beach (great looking location, horrible wrestling, massively inflated claimed attendance), we're once again heading outdoors for a PPV, this time for WCW's first ever August PPV and the first of what would be regular trips the next few years to the famous Sturgis Rally. The years after this would be named Road Wild instead of Hog Wild. Not being a motorcycle guy at all myself, this location does less than nothing for me. Bischoff and Hogan were both motorcycle guys though, so here we are. The crowd in attendance are all rally attending bikers using their bikes as seats which leads to an....interesting atmosphere. They've also already sat through a full show of wrestling, with WCW holding a 2 hour, 8 match live edition of WCW Saturday Night on TBS just before the PPV started. Location uniqueness aside, this would be a big show anyway as it's the first PPV after the monumental events of Bash at the Beach '96 and the formation of the NWO, who've continued to terrorize WCW since. Rumors are rampant that, in a logical progression of the story, a possible 4th man may be joining the group tonight.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr (c) def Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono) in 11:35- Mike Tenay joins the booth for this match. The red hot Mysterio defeated Dean Malenko for the title on the Nitro after Bash at the Beach. In the start of what would become a major show tradition, Mysterio is in Spider-Man gear tonight. Cautious start with Dragon swinging a kick and a couple of mat stalemates. Mysterio armdrags out of an armbar and puts on a modified cloverleaf. Dragon works over into a cruicifix for 2. There's a non-PG doll being tossed around by the crowd. Didn't I see her win the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship a couple of times? I'm sure someone from Turner took care of that real quick. Mysterio slides under Dragon, but Dragon quickly catches him with a spinning heel kick. Long counter run, both guys go for springboard moonsaults and land on their feet, takedowns, and stalemate. Dragon hits some rapid fire kicks and a dropkick. Great Muta-style handspring elbow. Ligerbomb from Dragon! For some reason he doesn't go for a pin. Bold strategery, Cotton. Instead Dragon puts on a figure four with no prep work. Mysterio slowly gets to the ropes for a break, then goes outside to shake it off. Tenay mentions the recent J-Crown tournament in New Japan, saying Dragon defeated Jushin Liger in two and a half minutes (true) and inaugural WCW Cruiserweight champ Shinjiro Otani (also true), but he fails to mention that Dragon lost in the final to The Great Sasuke. Back in Dragon puts Mysterio into a kind of torture rack and airplane spins him a bit. Heenan calls it a "coat hanger", which is worth a chuckle. He drops Mysterio down and again doesn't go for a cover. Surfboard from Dragon. Mysterio escapes into a cover for 2. Dragon goes for another handspring elbow but Mysterio dodges. Springboard dropkick to Dragon's back that sends him to the floor. A baseball slide sends Dragon off the platform the ring is on and all the way down into the dirt. Mysterio dive all the way down there! Man, someone on WCW's production team needs to be smacked upside the head with a wet fish for missing almost all of that. Back in Mysterio hits a hurricanrana off the top rope. He tries another springboard but Dragon counters with a dropkick. Dragon plancha! Back in Dragon hits a German suplex for 2. Springboard moonsault. Moonsault off the top for 2. He goes for another Ligerbomb. Mysterio counters into a hurricanrana. Dragon blocks a super hurricanrana off the top. Mysterio goes for it again, hits it, and gets the pin. Good match, but spotty and missing something. Neither guy seemed very comfortable working in this atmosphere. ***

Tonight's hotline shill: Mean Gene has names of non-WCW wrestlers that have been seen wandering around backstage at Hog Wild, and ANY OF THEM could be the NWO's fourth guy.

 

Scott Norton def Ice Train in 5:05- Fire & Ice explode! I'll give you a couple of days to try to find someone that cares. Train is walking in with a taped up shoulder, his own fault because for some reason he decided to get lippy with the Giant during the preshow. After an initial back and forth slugfest I'll summarize the majority of the match: Norton works the hurt arm, Train pounds back with the good one, Norton goes back to the hurt arm, rinse and repeat. After a powerslam/clothesline flurry from Train, Norton hits an arm slam, puts on as much of a Fujiwara armbar as he was capable of, and Train submits. 1/2*

Heenan's running gag about expecting the bike rally to be all bicycles is pretty damn funny. It'd be nice if Dusty actually let him finish a joke instead of constantly shooting them down.

 

Madusa def Bull Nakano (w/Sonny Oono) in 5:21- This is billed as the "Battle of the Bikes". Oono comes in riding a bike rather than Nakano, while "bike enthusiast" Medusa is on hers. What makes this a "Battle of the Bikes"? No idea. I guess we're just supposed to know. WCW was horrendous about explaining these things before matches sometimes. The ref has a sledgehammer. Did he take that from Oono? While they're arguing Nakano attacks Medusa with nunchuks and tosses her around by the hair. Arrogant one foot cover from Nakano, followed by a clothesline. Tony starts to explain the bike thing, apparently the winner of this match gets to smash the loser's bike with that sledgehammer, but barely gets into the explanation before Dusty interrupts him about something completely different. Dusty is not having a good night, he's stepping all over everyone. Medusa comes back with slingblades for 2. Nakano tries for a Scorpion Death Lock, then settles for stretching Medusa out. Top rope DDT for 2. Medusa messes up Nakano's spiked hair while in a chinlock! I'm 100% certain that was a rib between these two longtime rivals/friends. Medusa hits a hurricanrana for 2. Spinning heel kick. Nakano dodges a second and hits a big clothesline. Medusa German suplex! That gets a 2 count. Nakano hits a back suplex with a bridge for 2. Medusa sunset flip for 2. Another back suplex from Nakano with all four shoulders down. Medusa gets a shoulder up as the ref counts 3. Nakano thinks she's won and gets the sledgehammer. She takes a shot on the seat of Medusa's bike. Medusa goes out to save it, gets the sledgehammer, and starts wailing away on Oono's bike. Doing almost no damage. You know bonus level 1 in Street Fighter II when you can rip apart a car in 20 seconds? This is the opposite of that. Finally Medusa tips the bike over in frustration, hits it again with the sledgehammer, and manages to get one small piece of fiberglass off. Good enough I guess. The match wasn't nearly on the same level as the classics these two put on in the past. 3/4*

Backstage in the Compuserve room, the Steiners try to use computers. It goes as well as you'd expect.

 

Chris Benoit (w/Woman and Elizabeth) def Dean Malenko in 26:55- Jimmy Hart is with Malenko on his entrance. They seem to agree on something and Hart walks off. I think it's some kind of agreement with the Dungeon of Doom to take Benoit out but, again, commentary never explains. Dusty would probably only interrupt it anyway. They jaw a bit after the bell before Benoit grabs a quick takedown. Extended intense back and forth brawling opens things up. After a few minutes of that Malenko hits the first big move, a delayed suplex for 2. Neckbreaker/elbow drop combo. Benoit gets some more beatdown in, hits a legdrop and big chops. He tries for a knucklelock leverage pin. Malenko bridges and kips up, kicking off a crazy great rapid fire cradle tradeoff for near falls. They have a bit of difficulty with the bridge up spot. Some more crazy counters follow, then a much smoother bridge up spot and Malenko gets a backslide for 2. Hiptoss from Malenko into a short arm scissors. Benoit uses it to lift him up and drop him down. The Shawn Michaels/British Bulldog spot, they worked that into every one of their matches. Snap suplex from Benoit. Abdominal stretch, with a tights pull. Malenko spins around to armdrag out. Another slugfest with haymaker swinging. Speed run and simultaneous crossbody collision! Malenko flips over the top rope, goes up top, but Benoit blocks the double ax handle and hits another snap suplex. The headbutt off the top hits! Malenko kicks out! Benoit goes for a tombstone but Malenko reverses and hits it for 2. Malenko gets a boot up in the corner and goes for the Cloverleaf. Benoit small packages him for 2. Crossbody against the ropes from Malenko and they tumble over the top to the floor. Benoit gets posted. They go up top and Benoit hits a superplex. With a huge snap that caused him to hit his own head on the landing. HUGE release German suplex from Malenko! He let Benoit go right at the apex, absolutely perfect. Benoit gets a flash small package for a long 2. Short clothesline for 2. Malenko ducks, hits a clothesline, bounces off the ropes and falls on Benoit for 2. Belly to belly suplex from Malenko for 2. Benoit northern lights suplex for 2. German for 2. 5 minutes left call. Benoit puts on a high angle Walls of Jericho style Boston crab. 4 minutes left. A back elbow sends Malenko to the floor. Benoit plancha! Gedo clutch from Benoit back in for 2. 3 minutes left. Malenko blocks a German into a roll up for 2. Backslide fight that Malenko wins for 2. Benoit powerbomb for 2. 1 minute left. One minute? What happened to 2? Penzer counts worse than the self-destruct system on Spaceball One. Malenko hits a superplex for 2 at 30 seconds left. Oklahoma roll for 2. Powerbomb for Malenko, but the bell rings for the time limit. Ref Nick Patrick says there must be a winner and orders a 5 minute overtime. Benoit jumps Malenko from behind and hits a back suplex for 2. Tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. Benoit puts Malenko in the Cloverleaf! He drags Malenko to the center of the ring, but Malenko refuses to submit so Benoit lets go. 3 minutes left. Again. Malenko hits an enzuguri. Head collision and both guys are down. 2 minutes left. Hey, Penzer figured out which one was 2! Benoit puts on a legbar. Malenko escapes and gets Benoit in a small package, but again the bell rings for the time limit. Patrick says there absolutely positively must be a winner, so we're going to DOUBLE OVERTIME! If there must be a winner why are we faffing around with time limits and not just saying we go until there's a decision? The biker moron crowd boos the call to keep going, but they've been barely paying attention to this awesome wrestling anyway. Malenko tries to catch Benoit with an eye poke. Backdrop from Benoit. Malenko hits a dragon screw leg whip. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits a dragon suplex for 2. He goes for another. Malenko escapes, switches, Malenko tries to roll Benoit up but Benoit stacks him up for 2. Malenko dodges a dropkick. The Coverleaf is on! Malenko switches it over into an STF. Woman tries to get in. Malenko grabs her arm. Benoit rolls Malenko up, puts a foot against the rope and gets the pin. Tremendous wrestling, which is no less than you'd expect from these two, but the booking with all the overtimes was pretty dumb and the finish was anti-climatic after all that, and that hurt the match. It would have played much better in front of a crowd that actually cared about, y'know, wrestling. ***3/4

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (w/Col. Robert Parker and Sister Sherri) def The Steiner Brothers in 17:53- The biker crowd is immediately all over Harlem Heat. I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why. Scott and Booker start. Or try to. Heat is still getting into it with the crowd. Now everyone's revving their motorcycle engines while Heat stalls on the floor. Finally Scott and Booker get going when Scott attacks Booker from behind. Double underhook powerbomb. Ray runs in and takes a suplex. Rick Steinerline! Heat roll out while the Steiners strike their pose and the crowd is as happy as they've been all night. Back in Scott and Booker do a long speed/counter sequence ending with Scott hitting a press slam. Mounted punches and Booker rolls out again. Rick and Sherri get into it a bit. Ray tags in and Heel 101s Scott down to huge boos. Scott hits a northern lights suplex. Rick tags in. More speed, Rick hits the ropes really bad, his head almost went under, and hits a Steinerline. Booker hits a side suplex on Scott. Scott belly to belly for 2. Rick blocks a Booker suplex and hits one. He shouts "Shut up bitch!" to Sherri, which gets a big pop. Ray hits Rick from behind on the apron to send Rick Steiner in peril. For a minute at least. Rick catches Booker leapfrogging and powerslams him for 2. Tag to Scott. He puts Booker in an STF. Ray breaks it up. After Rick tags back in Ray pulls the top rope down on him, sending Rick tumbling to the floor and in peril again. Ray gives him a big boot on the floor and posts him. Sherri gets a small bit of revenge with a back rake. Watch it, Hogan's a heel now, that's his big move and he doesn't like other people stepping on his stuff. Booker misses a kick and gets tangled in the top rope. Rick knocks him down to the floor, but can't get the tag and Ray is back on him. Bicycle kick. The lights come on as the sun starts going down. Ray chinlock with arm drops. Booker does the elbow miss spinaroonie and hits a swing kick. Ray backbreaker and suplex for 2. Rick dodges a Booker kneedrop off the second rope and gets the hot tag to Scott. Steinerlines for everybody. DONNYBROOK! Both Parker and Sherri get powder ready. Parker accidentally throws his into Booker's face, but fortunately for them they had Sherri as a backup and she gets Scott with it. Parker hits Scott over the head with his cane, and Booker covers for the pin. That is not a popular result in Sturgis, no sir. There's so much trash being thrown you'd think the NWO was already out there. Pretty nothing match, but I'll give them a small bump for pulling off that semi-complex finish without making a big mess of it, a rarity in WCW tag matches. *3/4

We get footage of people riding motorcycles, as well as other shots of various bike rally goings on. WCW's really going all in on this.

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) (w/Woman and Elizabeth) def Eddie Guerrero in 14:17- Flair's got a sweet ice-themed white robe tonight. I don't remember ever seeing that one before or after this show. Seeing him with the US belt on is so weird. If WCW wasn't so hell bent on pushing Giant to the moon they could easily have kept the World title on Flair to drop to NWO Hogan, would have been a hell of a dynamic flip and probably been a pretty fun match. We get some pre-bell shoving. Lockup stalemate to start and Flair gives us a WOOOOO. Huge Flair bump off a shoulderblock. Guerrero shoves and Flair bumps off those too, then Flair gets shovey with the not Tommy Young ref. Guerrero slap and Flair bumps off that! He rolls out to recover. Great start. Flair takes his time getting back in. Since the sun set that chopper they're using to get the overhead shots has gotten extra loud. Speed run and they have a couple of pretty bad and ugly miscommunication botches. Both guys end up down and Guerrero rolls out to possibly legit shake something off. We've gotten the good and the bad so far in this match. Corner chop exchange and Flair rolls out again. Back in Guerrero does the rope walk headlock floatover. Flair tries to pull hair but Guerrero kips up off it. Chops stagger Flair. Backdrop and Flair begs off. The lights go out! Hey, have all the bikers turn the headlights on their bikes on and we can have an impromptu CZW show. Flair gets an eye poke and chop, and goes into slow beatdown mode as the techs work to get the ring lit again. Guerrero fires back in the corner and hits mounted punches. Flair Flip! Guerrero dropkicks Flair off the apron! Flair gets back in and Guerrero 360 clotheslines him right back out. More Guerrero chops set off a HUGE Flair Flop. Flair eye poke. The women have the ref distracted and Flair gives Guerrero a low blow. Guerrero hits a crossbody for 2. Sunset flip off the top. Flair tries to counter punch but Guerrero dodges it. Drop toe hold from Guerrero and he puts on a figure four! Flair takes a near fall, then gets to the ropes. Guerrero knucklelocks Flair, then breaks out some lucha by leaping up to the top rope and coming off with a hurricanrana! Another chop exchange. Guerrero DDT for 2. Flair begs off again and Guerrero mocks his strut a bit. Eye poke from Guerrero! He goes up top and hits the frog splash! But he hit his knee on the way down! Uh oh. After a couple of counters Flair hits a HUGE clothesline, then slaps on the figure four. He gets both rope and Woman leverage help. Guerrero's shoulders go down and he gets pinned! Like their run in Slamboree's Lethal Lottery matches there were some communication issues, but both guys were way too talented to let that get in the way of a good match. ***1/2

 

The Outsiders def Sting and "The Total Package" Lex Luger in 14:36- Re: my point with Flair above, if they had kept the tag belts on Sting and Luger just a bit longer the NWO could have all walked out with gold tonight. Would have been the right call. The classic NWO music makes its PPV debut. The bikes are getting revved again. The crowd finally wakes up fully for these last two matches, but still it would have been a much better atmosphere for both of them if they were in front of real wrestling fans. The Outsiders do rock paper scissors and Hall starts with Luger. Sting gets a toothpick flick before they get going. Ref Nick Patrick has to force a break on the lockup. Hall does some arm work on Luger with a couple of takedowns and bragging about it after. Luger blocks and hits a hiptoss. Kneelift and slam. Ultra super mega cocky Nash wants in and gets the tag. But he doesn't want Luger, he wants Sting. He spits on Sting! Sting tags in. They stare down. One Nash punch floors Sting. A Sting punch staggers Nash. Nash blocks a slam. Sting goes into stick and move mode and gets some traction. After an eye poke Sting gets the slam on Nash. He knocks Hall off the apron. Nash catches Sting leaping in the corner and drops him with snake eyes. Hall gets a return shot in as Sting goes in peril. The NWO keep Sting trapped in their corner with Nash doing his patented corner knees and elbows. Short clothesline from Nash. Hall catches a crossbody and hits the fallaway slam. The NWO continue the good teamwork to keep Sting isolated and working Luger in to double team. Can't fault it. Sting manages to slowly chop Nash down but the tag is blocked. Midring collision and Sting does his "accidental" fall into Nash's groin that you can see coming a mile away he's done it so often now. Hall cuts the tag off. Nash hits a big boot. Hall does the Diesel fist pump from the apron, wanting the jackknife. But Nash does the Razor Ramon pose, tells Hall to go ahead and finish it and tags him in. Hall hooks Sting up for the Razor's Edge. Sting backdrops out and gets the tag to Luger. Luger cleans house. Sting runs in and Stinger Splashes Nash! They brawl on the floor and Sting hooks Nash up in the Scorpion Death Lock. While that's going on, in the ring Luger has Hall set up for the Torture Rack. But when he lifts Hall, Patrick takes a shot in the head. Patrick falls down into Luger's knee, knocking him down! Hall covers and Patrick does a fairly fast count for three! What the hell? Patrick is still holding his head as he raises the Outsiders' hands. Solid formula tag stuff, with the added historical importance of being early in the NWO angle and kicking off Nick Patrick's evil referee arc. Should have been for the tag titles though. **3/4

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hollywood Hogan def The Giant (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) in 14:56- They're still getting Hogan's heel look down. These two worked a lot together when Giant was first getting going and all the matches were abominably awful (while guys like Sting and Flair were actually carrying Giant to decent matches), let's see if a role reversal helps any. MEGA stall to end all stalls from Hogan to start the match. When the bell rings Hogan is halfway up the aisle. He slowly works his way back in. Giant no sells punches and Hogan goes right back out. Hogan's constantly shouting at fans to "shut up", clearly making sure they get that he's supposed to be the bad guy now. Back in Hogan tries to shoulderblock Giant, bounces off, and he's out again. Giant back suplexes out of a headlock and guess what? Yup. Larry Zbyszko is taking notes on how to stall more from this match. When Hogan gets back in he tells Giant to bring it, then hides in the ropes. Giant grabs him anyway and the not Nick Patrick ref pulls him off. Yet more stalling. They slooooooooooowly knucklelock into a test of strength. That goes on forever. After about an hour relative time Giant grabs a top wristlock. Hogan hair pulls into an ARMBAR. Another hour of arm work and hair pulling follows. Giant fights out with headbutts and Hogan falls out to the floor. He pulls Giant out with him and posts him. Back rakes! Hogan's #1 heel offensive move. Giant blocks another post shot and posts Hogan. Back in Giant does the corner whip/gut kick combo that he did like 500 times in their previous cage match. Backbreaker. Slam, and the follow up elbow drop mises. Giant no sells punches. HE'S HULKING UP ON HOGAN! POINT! Three chops. Big boot! Giant calls for the chokeslam. The Outsiders are out. Hall runs in and gets taken out. Chokeslam on Hall! Nash tries a megaphone shot and gets cut off. Chokeslam on Nash! Hogan has the belt. He whacks Giant with it, covers and gets the pin and the title for the NWO! Commentary is aghast, flummoxed and generally horrified. Welcome to the next two years of WCW main events. The role reversal didn't help any as this was just as bad as their previous matches, moving at a sub-glacial pace for most of it as Hogan was working out how to work as a heel for the first time ever with a significant audience, and his solution seemed to be stall, stall and more stall. But no matter how bad it was, it's hugely important in WCW history. 1/4*

After the bell the NWO celebrate. Brutus Beefcake/The Booty Man/Zodiac/The Man With No Whatever/etc etc comes out with a giant birthday cake for Hogan, and wearing an NWO shirt. Hogan takes the mic. He brags about winning the title for the NWO, then calls Flair out for how emotional he got when the NWO took Arn Anderson out. Hogan says they never mix business and friendship. Then he puts Beefcake over as his best friend he's been hanging with for the past 20 years, then says the NWO will never make the mistake of mixing business and friendship. He says something to Nash....and the NWO attack Beefcake! Guess he's not the fourth guy after all. Hogan finishes him off and they toss the trash out. Afterward Hogan says that if he's willing to do that to his best friend for the sake of business, what will he do to Flair? By the way, while all this is going on the Giant is still laying down napping in the exact same spot he landed in from the belt shot. Nash finds the present that was stuck in the cake. Hogan tears it open. It's a can of black spraypaint! Hogan opens it up and in another iconic moment, for the first time sprays the NWO letters onto the world title belt. Another new low as far as commentary is concerned. End show.

 

Word is, Sean Waltman was scheduled to debut on this show as the 4th man in one or the other of the NWO matches, but WWF got tricky with his release papers and Bischoff didn't want to risk anything as he was still a bit gun shy of Vince's lawyers after implying that Hall and Nash were still working for WWF when they first debuted. Instead, Ted DiBiase in his WCW debut would be revealed as the 4th man and the NWO's money man the next week on Nitro.

Years later, when archaeologists unearthed the buried remains of WCW's trips to and shows from the ancient motorcycle metropolis of Sturgis, the Giant was still lying there.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Another roller coaster show bouncing back and forth between quality matches and not so good ones. The crowd as a wrestling crowd was pretty awful, but there must have been a lot of money exchanged because WCW would come back to Sturgis regularly afterward. The last two matches are crucial if you're watching through the history of the NWO, especially the main event no matter how bad the actual match was.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+