Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Booker T., Scott Hudson

Sometimes in wrestling promotions you find a pairing that just makes sense on every level. You want to see these two people fight and you know it the second you see them together the first time. That was the case with these two and now we’re getting a look back and one of the better things about the dying days of WCW. Let’s get to it.

From Monday Nitro, February 22, 1999.

Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner

Steiner’s TV Title isn’t on the line and he has Buff Bagwell with him. Hold on though as the villains say Goldberg isn’t here so Steiner calls out anyone for a fight…and here’s Goldberg. They lock up to start and Steiner backs him into the corner, only for Goldberg to knock him right back down. Goldberg hits the gorilla press and we take an early break.

We come back with Steiner hiding so Bagwell grabs the leg, meaning the chase is on. That’s enough for Steiner to get in a cheap shot and send Goldberg into various things. Back in and the big elbow gives Steiner two, followed by the spinning belly to belly. Bagwell whips out some wire cutters to unhook a turnbuckle, though he makes sure to beat up the referee in the process.

Steiner’s whip into the corner is reversed into the buckle (with Bagwell having to reach up and pull the pad off just in time) so Goldberg spears Bagwell. The villains try to leave but Rick Steiner is back to drop them with a double clothesline. Cue the NWO as the referee wakes up to call the DQ at 5:00 shown.

Rating: C. This was more of a little taste of the match that was coming as they could only do so much in this amount of time. Steiner was still turning into the big heel that WCW wanted him to be but it was smart to put him in there with a monster like Goldberg. The interference was par for the course on Nitro, but you could see that there was something to be done with these two.

From Tuesday Nitro, July 18, 2000.

Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner

Yes Tuesday. World Champion Booker T. is on commentary and The Cat is guest referee. Steiner knocks him down to start but Goldberg is right back up, where Steiner gives him a t-bone suplex. Goldberg pops up again and hits a gorilla press powerslam but Steiner gets a boot up in the corner.

There’s the spinning belly to belly and the Recliner goes on, but that’s an illegal hold at the moment. Steiner decks Cat for threatening a DQ so Booker gets in as well. Booker and Steiner get in a fight but Goldberg is back up. Goldberg tries to spear Booker but hits Steiner by mistake. Booker kicks Goldberg down and here is Kevin Nash to powerbomb Goldberg and Steiner before staring at Booker. We’ll call it a no contest at about 6:30.

Rating: C+. This was more like it, as Steiner had become Big Papa Pump by this point and was a total monster. You don’t get that kind of a showdown very often and it’s a great preview of them having a bigger match. The shenanigans were annoying of course, but you absolutely do not want one of them losing here.

From Fall Brawl 2000.

Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner

They go with the power lockup to start and Goldberg hits the big running shoulder. The gorilla press powerslam connects, with Schiavone saying “no one has ever done that to Scott Steiner”. Except for Goldberg, in a match Schiavone called. Steiner heads outside to keep up the fight and actually takes over, with the big elbow connecting for two back inside. Goldberg is back with a butterfly suplex and some big right hands on the mat.

A Diamond Cutter of all things puts Goldberg down and there’s the belly to belly suplex for two. For some reason Steiner goes up, only to dive into a powerslam. Cue Midajah (Steiner’s valet, who Goldberg put through a table) with a lead pipe as Steiner hits Goldberg with a chair to bust him open. Steiner gets the overhead belly to belly and grabs the pipe, only to get speared down.

Cue Vince Russo (looking absolutely embarrassing in a muscle shirt) to hit Goldberg with a baseball bat to give Steiner two. Goldberg gets put through a table at ringside and the Recliner goes on, with Goldberg crawling over to the rope. That’s reversed into an electric chair toss into the ropes (ouch) but Steiner is back up with a clothesline in the corner. The super Frankensteiner is loaded up but Goldberg fires off some headbutts (into Steiner’s metal face plate).

Midajah hits him in the back with the pipe though and Steiner grabs a belly to belly superplex. Goldberg barely gets up and we’re back to the Recliner. That’s broken up as Steiner is sent out to the floor, where he grabs a chair. That’s cut off with a neckbreaker but Russo comes in AGAIN. The distraction lets Steiner get the pipe and knock Goldberg cold. The Recliner finishes Goldberg at 13:49.

Rating: B+. Yeah this was pretty much exactly what it was supposed to be, with these guys beating the heck out of each other. It really is one of the last great things that WCW did and it was awesome to see how intense the whole thing got. Steiner was being positioned as the next big bad and having him beat Goldberg, even with this much screwiness, was a good way to make him feel that awesome.

Naturally Russo takes his shirt off and poses over Goldberg.

From Monday Nitro, September 25, 2000.

Scott Steiner jumps Disco Inferno (and the Disco Duck) and calls Goldberg out for another beating like the one at Fall Brawl. Cue Goldberg in street clothes, who accepts the challenge, but he wants it inside of Caged Heat (WCW’s version of the Cell).

Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner

The cage is lowered (no referee inside as it’s escape only to win) and Goldberg jumps him on the floor as it is coming to the floor. Goldberg chokes with a rope and takes him inside for the pop up gorilla press. Steiner gets in a shot of his own and hits a spinning belly to belly suplex (making the thong pop out). Goldberg gets knocked down again but pops back up with a suplex. Steiner kicks him low and cue Midajah with a pipe so Steiner can beat Goldberg down. That’s enough for Steiner to leave but a football player is blocking the door. Goldberg is back with a spear into the pipe and walks out for the win at 4:45.

Rating: C. There wasn’t much to see here with the football thing at the end making it feel more like a lame way to give Goldberg the win. Goldberg jumped Steiner before the match so it’s hardly like the pipe shot was some big means of cheating. This didn’t work, and while it was nice to see Goldberg win in the end, it felt rather cheap.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a good idea which didn’t really didn’t live up to its incredible hype. You had one really good match, but the rest was just a few ok brawls. Goldberg vs. Steiner was one of those pairings that worked very well on paper, but the results only worked once. That being said, it’s not like WCW was doing much at the time so this really was one of their best things around. Just watch the Fall Brawl match though and move on.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Souled Out 1997
Date: January 25, 1997
Location: Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Attendance: 5,120
Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Ted DiBiase

Here we have something different, as it’s an NWO pay per view. This was one of the bigger ideas that they had from WCW at this point and to say it go well would be a huge understatement. The main event is Hollywood Hogan defending the World Title against the Giant, which should be a layup of a match if there ever was one. Let’s get to it.

Also of note: this show was on a Saturday to make it feel different.

Finally of note: there are all kinds of segments throughout the show featuring the Miss NWO pageant. These, and pretty much everything else between the matches, are missing from the broadcast on the WCW YouTube channel, likely out of good taste. That cuts off nearly half an hour or so from the show.

We see a bunch of trucks, both equipment and garbage, driving to the show (with a Taco Bell sign in the background). For some reasons Syxx is running behind one of the trucks until the NWO eventually arrives at the arena. They promise to change the industry, as they’ve done multiple times.

The real opening video is the NWO bragging about how awesome they are and promising to take over.

Eric Bischoff is at a podium on the stage, sitting over a steep set of steps towards the ring, and we have a house band. At least it’s kind of different. Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash pop up on the screen to welcome us to the show.

Commentary sits down and we’re finally ready to go.

Chris Jericho (WCW) vs. Masahiro Chono (NWO)

The ring announcer does a bunch of funny anecdotes for the entrances, with Jericho (no music, ala the rest of the WCW wrestlers tonight) being described as “from somewhere north of the border), while Chono (with music) gets praise and a full entrance. Jericho gets shoved away off a lockup and is accused of a hair pull. Chono knocks him to the floor as some WCW wrestlers (mainly tag teams and Arn Anderson) show up to watch from the crowd).

Back in and Jericho suplexes his way out of a test of strength but gets caught in a cobra clutch legsweep. Chono’s top rope shoulder drops Jericho again and they go outside so Chono can keep up the beating. They get back inside where Chono takes out the leg but Jericho manages an enziguri. Naturally Bischoff is there to explain what kind of a kick it is, because he absolutely cares.

Chono is right back on the leg but Jericho manages a jumping elbow to the face. A bridging German suplex gets a rather slow two but Chono atomic drops him down. It’s time for a table (rather thin one at that), which of course takes way too long, allowing Jericho to hit a dropkick. Chono puts a foot on the rope for the save so Jericho goes up top, where Chono kicks him off and through the table (with a good crunch sound). Back in and the Mafia Kick finishes for Chono at 11:10.

Rating: C+. Chono was a nice addition to the NWO to make it fee like a bigger deal internationally, though he only did so much in WCW. Jericho was starting to turn into a more reliable star at this point, which would get a heck of a lot better when he turned heel. For now though, he was a good hand and that’s a better role than the nothing he was doing earlier.

There are women here for the Miss NWO pageant. This means women sitting on motorcycles and we see various women who sent in resumes and photos.

We go to Jeff Katz, who asks the women various questions, which are of course rather suggestive. After two of them, it’s off to the next match.

Hugh Morrus (WCW) vs. Big Bubba Rogers (NWO)

This is a Mexican Death Match and Morrus has Jimmy Hart with him. Apparently DiBiase is the reason the WCW stars don’t have music, which does make sense. Bubba shoves him into the corner as we have no actual explanation of the rules. Morrus knocks him back down and gets yelled at by Nick Patrick (who is refereeing every match tonight), allowing Bubba to get in a low blow.

Bischoff calls it boxing skills but doesn’t seem thrilled when Morrus clotheslines Bubba over the top. Even Hart gets in a few kicks (Bischoff: “The human cartoon character.”) but Morrus’ charge is cut off by a chain to the face. Back up and Bubba whips him with a the chain (ow) so Morrus takes it away and knocks Bubba silly. The middle rope moonsault connects and Patrick starts to count, as apparently this is Last Man Standing.

The ten count takes forever of course so Morrus yells at Patrick, allowing Bubba to get back up. Morrus knocks Bubba down again for another slow count and Bubba is up to slug him down. This lets Bischoff talk about the card, which is cut off as Morrus gets up and hits a low blow of his own. Morrus takes him up the ramp but misses the moonsault off the steps (which would have been totally off anyway). Rather than do anything to him, Bubba gets on a motorcycle and runs Morrus over for the ten count at 9:05.

Rating: D+. This was slow and not that interesting, but what were you expecting from these two? Morrus was better as a brawler, but there was only so much you could do with such a punny name. Bubba was the same guy he had been for years, meaning he was completely fine but firmly stuck in the lower midcard. In addition, save for the ending, there was pretty much no need for this to be a death match.

Katz asks more suggestive questions and the women have pretty much nothing to say.

We look at the NWO website, which is as 1997 as you can get.

Jeff Jarrett (WCW) vs. Mr. Wallstreet (NWO)

It’s like Razor Ramon’s least interesting Intercontinental Title challengers fighting each other. Wallstreet bails to the ropes to start so Jarrett takes him into the corner, where Patrick breaks up a right hand. A hiptoss puts Wallstreet down and Jarrett’ high crossbody gets a slow two. Wallstreet gets faceplanted down and choked on the ropes…which sets up the running crotch attack, only for Patrick to shove Wallstreet out of the way.

Jarrett gets dropped throat first onto the barricade as we see Debra McMichael in the crowd and looking worried. A whip sends Jarrett over the barricade and since it’s a Wallstreet match, he just throws Jarrett back inside. The sleeper doesn’t last long as Debra is trying to get Steve McMichael to come help Jarrett. Another sleeper, this time from Jarrett, is broken up by Patrick and Wallstreet kicks him down to take over again.

We hit the chinlock for a bit until Jarrett fights up for a suplex. Jarrett starts in on the leg and grabs the Figure Four, with Patrick dragging him over to the ropes for the break. Jarrett’s abdominal stretch with a grab of the ropes is broken up by Patrick so Wallstreet grabs the same thing. That’s enough for Steve to come in and BLAST Wallstreet with the briefcase. A threat to Patrick makes him count the pin for Jarrett at 9:25.

Rating: D+. It’s a bad sign when the most interesting thing is a briefcase shot to the back, but that’s what you had here. This is a good (or I guess bad) example of two people who are technically sound but JUST SO FREAKING BORING. They’re both talented wrestlers but good grief they were just having a dry match with the one concept (the cheating referee) being used over and over. In other words, this belonged on a Nitro when they needed to fill time, not this pay per view.

More women, this time the senior division, who can’t hear the questions.

The band plays a song about the NWO.

Buff Bagwell (NWO) vs. Scotty Riggs (WCW)

The American Males…oh these two could never explode so we’ll say run into each other for not much of a reaction. Riggs jumps him before the bell, with Bischoff swearing fines will be levied. Bagwell gets knocked outside and Patrick has to calm Riggs down as we’re already in the stalling. Back in and Bagwell’s headlock doesn’t last long as Riggs is back with a dropkick, followed by the right hands on the mat. A belly to belly drops Bagwell, who comes up with a slap to the face’s face.

The first gear continues with an exchange of hiptoss attempts and Bagwell crashing out to the floor. Riggs adds a dive of his own but Bagwell fights back again because Riggs isn’t very good. As the PA announcer calls Riggs a loser, Bagwell brings him back inside to stomp away. A clothesline gets some twos, with Bagwell complaining about the speed of the count for a change.

Bagwell makes Riggs do the clap, followed by a powerbomb (not something you often see Bagwell do) for a rather delayed two. Bagwell’s tights come down to warrant some censoring and we hit the reverse chinlock, with Bagwell’s legs over Riggs’ arms for some reason. We pause for hip swiveling as Bagwell continues to prove that he’s no Rick Rude. The reverse chinlock goes on as this show somehow gets even duller. Even commentary points out that the fans are getting bored and Riggs reversing a suplex into a small package doesn’t help.

An enziguri puts Bagwell down but they hit stereo crossbodies, because a double down is EXACTLY what this needed. Bagwell’s neckbreaker is countered into a backslide for two and Riggs powerbombs him for the same. Commentary seems worried that Bagwell is having trouble beating Riggs, because, you know, IT’S SCOTTY RIGGS. Bagwell is taken up top but knocks him down, setting up “that new move”, which would become known as the Blockbuster. That and a grab of the tights is enough to end Riggs at 13:53.

Rating: D-. The Blockbuster alone is pretty much the only thing keeping this from being a failure, because WOW they could not have had a worse match if they tried. The thing is, the match isn’t even terrible, but good grief who is supposed to care about these two fighting? The American Males were a lower midcard team who had a fluke Tag Team Title reign. It’s proof that just throwing an NWO shirt on someone doesn’t make them more interesting and having someone feud with the NWO doesn’t make them a star. Terribly uninteresting stuff here on a show that is dying for a hot match.

Bagwell actually gets pyro after the match and dances with the contestants.

Katz does the same thing he’s done all night.

The NWO has a hotline. No Gene Okerlund though.

Diamond Dallas Page (WCW) vs. Scott Norton (NWO)

This is just after Page turned down the NWO, launching him into the biggest run of his career. Norton powers him down to start (as you might expect), with the PA guy calling Page a loser. A running shoulder doesn’t work for Page either so he takes a breather on the floor. Back in and Page grabs a headlock takeover for some needed grinding.

Back up and Page shrugs off some chops, allowing him to hit the Pancake (basically a Neutralizer), only to get blasted with a clothesline. We pause though as Sting pops up in the crowd but Norton ignores him to hit the shoulderbreaker, with Page rolling outside. Norton stays on the arm so Patrick asks Page if he wants to give up. Page say no, so Patrick says “it’s your shoulder”.

One heck of a crash on the floor has Page’s arm banged up even worse but he avoids a sitdown splash back inside. Page slugs away and hits a nice looking top rope clothesline for two, followed by the running tornado DDT. Cue the NWO lackeys, who want Page to join the team (again). Page puts on the shirt, pulls Norton into the Diamond Cutter, commentary freaks out, and Page runs for the countout at 9:49.

Rating: C-. The match itself wasn’t great, but what mattered here was Page looking like someone willing to stand up to the NWO. He looked clever and outsmarted the villains, which made Page stand out after months of WCW looking like idiots. That’s one of the reasons he became a star, along with his matches getting better. This wasn’t a classic, but after some of the other stuff on this show, it was glorious.

Katz interviews the women again, with one of them FINALLY getting the hint and getting suggestive herself. And that’s it.

Tag Team Titles: Steiner Brothers (WCW) vs. Outsiders (NWO)

The Steiners are challenging and this should pick things up a bit. Also, for the sake of simplicity, Scott Steiner is “Scott” and Scott Hall is “Hall”. The Outsiders are also the first NWO members to get the signature song rather than the B team song, which does fit. Scott and Hall start things off, with Scott backing him into the corner, earning the Hall spooky fingers (one of his greatest contributions to wrestling).

Hall is back with the driving shoulders so Scott fireman’s carries him down with ease. A pumphandle slam plants Hall and he gets tossed with an overhead belly to belly. Rick comes in to drop Nash and the Steiners hit their pose. Back in and Hall hammers away in the corner but gets slammed back out, with Bischoff actually going to regular commentary for a bit.

Rick’s crossbody is pulled out of the air with a fall away slam (ok that was nice) for two and we hit the armbar. That’s broken up so Scott comes in, with Hall immediately chokeslamming him. It’s off to Nash for the first time and you know that means things are going to slow down. Rick fights out and gets in his powerslam for a slow two as commentary ignores the match to talk about Hogan. As usual.

A running big boot knocks Rick outside, where Hall hits the clothesline to drop him again. Back in and we hit a variety of choking until Hall clotheslines him from the apron. Nash misses an elbow but Hall is right back in to hammer away. Rick gets dropped face first onto the apron as this is just so slow. Both Outsiders hit side slams, with Nash’s getting two. The running crotch attack hits the back of Rick’s neck but Scott goes over to deck an interfering Hall.

Back in and Nash spits at Scott, which distracts Patrick enough so that Rick can get in a low blow. Scott comes in to clean house, including a Saito suplex to Nash (even Bischoff is impressed). The super DDT is loaded up but Nash makes the save, allowing Hall to Outsider’s Edge Scott. The ref is bumped though and Rick hits the top rope bulldog. There’s no Patrick, so WCW referee Randy Anderson jumps the barricade and counts the pin on Hall at 14:41.

Rating: D+. The ending picked things up a bit, but this was a lot of Rick getting beaten up and there was pretty much nothing else to see here. On the good end, it was nice to see something that actually felt important. Having a title match on the show did help, even if the screwy ending has all the signs of something not counting.

Commentary complains about the title change. And no, of course it didn’t count and the Outsiders got the titles back on Nitro.

US Title: Eddie Guerrero (WCW) vs. Syxx (NWO)

Guerrero is defending in a ladder match after Syxx stole the physical belt. Guerrero jumps him while the belt is being raised, which makes the annoyed commentators even angrier. Syxx kicks him in the face and strikes away in the ropes but gets knocked outside. The big dive connects for Guerrero, which has DiBiase worried (which has me wondering how a DiBiase vs. Guerrero match could have gone).

Back in and Syxx cuts off a charge in the corner, allowing a middle rope spinwheel kick to drop Guerrero. Syxx knocks him into the corner for the Bronco Buster as Bischoff says Syxx is a REAL karate guy, unlike those Hollywood actors. Back up and Guerrero flips over him for a dropkick as Bischoff keeps talking about martial arts. Syxx suplexes him to the floor in a nasty crash, thankfully getting Bischoff’s attention for a bit.

A running flip dive to the floor takes Guerrero down again and it’s time for the first ladder. Syxx hits him with the ladder and goes up, only for Guerrero to teeter totter the ladder into his face. That sets up a slingshot…uh, stomp to the ribs, but it keeps Syxx down. Guerrero gets whipped hard into the ladder in the corner and Syxx drops him with a suplex, meaning it’s time to climb. The ladder being in the corner makes it a bit of a waste of time but Syxx knocks him off and goes up again.

That takes too long as well, allowing Guerrero to dropkick him onto the top for a crotching. Guerrero goes up but Syxx climbs up and jumps up for a dropkick (Bischoff: “Inverted jump side kick!” Yeah it might have been a one legged kick but it looked enough like a dropkick.) for the big crash back down. Guerrero gets knocked off the top again, only to crash into the ladder and send Syxx down as well. They both go up this time and the belt is pulled down, with Guerrero hitting him in the head to get the win (Patrick’s over the top freaking out helps) at 13:51.

Rating: B. Easily the match of the night here, which helps when you have two incredibly talented stars getting to go out there and showcase themselves. It started slowly but then turned into the two of them doing the big spots that make these matches work. If nothing else, it was nice to see WCW getting a win that actually lasted, as the NWO dominated so much of the show in the early going. Good match here, with Guerrero getting to prove how great he can be. Again.

Guerrero goes through the crowd to celebrate, with Bischoff saying he’s going to get the Tag Team Titles back, plus have a new belt made for Syxx.

We actually meet the finalists of the Miss NWO pageant, with each getting to walk around a bit, plus a bio graphic. This goes on for a good while, because we had some energy going with a good match and that has to be stopped cold. Bischoff gets to pick the winner and is happy with the idea that the women all paid for their own travel and they all have their own motorcycles. He thinks it’s a tie, so he asks them a question with the best answer winning. Granted we don’t actually hear the question or the answer, but a woman who kisses him gets the win. And yes she’s the oldest to complete the gag.

WCW World Title: The Giant (WCW) vs. Hollywood Hogan (NWO)

The Giant is challenging after winning World War III and getting mad at Hogan for saying he wouldn’t get the title shot, meaning he was off the team. The main thing I remember about this build is a promo of Giant holding a match and saying that like Hogan, it gave people some light and warmth for a bit, but just like Hogan, it was getting blown out. Anyway Hogan comes out with some Dallas Cowboys, because he’s a huge star, but they wanted to save a bunch of money on the Miss NWO pageant, because it’s a bit of a confusing story.

Hogan punches him, the PA voice says “the biggest icon in wrestling”, and they circle each other a bit. The chops put Hogan on the floor and the chase is on, but Hogan catches him coming in to hammer away (he’s being more aggressive than usual here). Back up and they hit a double clothesline to put both of them down and Giant is up first. Giant kicks away in the corner before doing the same thing on the floor. Hogan slugs away back inside and tries….a running small package? I think it was supposed to be a crossbody but Hogan couldn’t get up so it just looked bad instead.

Hogan gets knocked outside and fires off some powder, with Patrick not really caring, to take over again. Some choking with a belt has Giant in more trouble but he’s able to come back with a backbreaker. For some reason the Giant goes up top but misses an elbow to give Hogan two. We hit the chinlock for a bit, followed by the slam and legdrop. Rather than covering though, Hogan poses and Giant pops up, leaving commentary freaking out.

There’s the chokeslam so Patrick says he’s up at two, despite Hogan not moving. They then do the same thing two more times in a row so Giant chokeslams Patrick. Bischoff runs to the ring with a guitar (sure) as Giant chokeslams the NWO goons. Hogan is back up with the guitar to Giant’s back and the Outsiders are here too. The fans want Sting but get the big beatdown and spray painting as we’ll say it’s thrown out at 11:00.

Rating: D-. Hogan was actually a bit energetic to start but the running small package (not something I thought I’d say, especially for this match) and everything else was rather terrible. That’s including the ending, which was basically “oh well, here’s the NWO to end the NWO show with the NWO referee and the NWO ring and EVERYTHING NWO.” Hogan and Giant could have a passable match and they came close at times here, but never mind as it was the standard ending, as always.

The NWO celebrates. A lot. For a long time. Too long really. The show ends.

Overall Rating: F. And that’s where the NWO stopped being cool. The problem here should be pretty clear: the NWO worked, but you need ANYTHING else. This was over two and a half hours of “the NWO cheats, the matches are terrible, the NWO stands tall”. You had Guerrero retaining but not getting a pin, the Steiners getting the most obvious Dusty Finish title change and Hogan doing the same thing in another main event.

The NWO standing tall and dominating everything often came at the end of Nitro, but that came at the end of a show featuring a bunch of different matches and things going on. Instead, we had it going on all night with the NWO making fun of everyone and one dull match after another. The wrestling here made you realize how useless the non-top members of the team really are. Bagwell, Wallstreet and Rogers were having one uninteresting, unimportant match after another and it made me wonder when something good was going to happen.

The problem is that something never came, as it was all about the NWO. It’s the biggest story in WCW, but there had to be something else to carry the show. Otherwise, you realize that it’s just a bunch of people filling in time until Hogan, the Outsiders and Syxx can get out there and do something that actually matters. Instead we had Riggs vs. Bagwell for thirteen minutes to kill some of our brain cells. This was horrible, but even worse it was just boring, and that’s not even counting the unfunny pageant stuff. All time disaster of a show here and the NWO would be around for a LONG time to come.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #13
Date: September 18, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

We’re in kind of a weird place here as the company has been gone for a bit, with only the Best Of The X-Division airing two weeks ago. Things have needed to change somewhat due to financial problems and that could be quite the shakeup around here. Jerry Lynn is the X-Division Champion but tonight is about crowning new Tag Team Champions. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Goldilocks talks about tonight’s Gauntlet For The Gold for the Tag Team Titles and here is Scott Hall, who will be teaming with Syxx Pac.

Commentary hypes up the show.

Earlier today, Jeff Jarrett tells Brian Lawler that he can trust him and implies that Lawler’s girlfriend is cheating on him.

Here is Jarrett, who wants Bob Armstrong out here right now. Jarrett immediately goes to the back but gets jumped by the Bullet. The fight comes back to the ring and it is indeed Brian James (Road Dogg) underneath the mask. James talks about walking out on the WWF with Jarrett but then he went back to become part of a team called DX. He’s so mad that he’s going to….win the Tag Team Titles tonight. His mama called him BG so his name is BG James, and the G stands for “Get it, got it, good”. So his name is BGIGIG James? Doesn’t make for a great t-shirt.

Sonny Siaki is back with the Flying Elvises and compares himself to Shawn Michaels, who needed to be a teammate before he became a singles star. Oh and he wants Jerry Lynn to win the World Title.

Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles

Before the match, Styles promises to come for the X-Division Title because he isn’t done with Jerry Lynn. They fight over wrist control to start and Styles ducks the spinwheel kick. A legsweep takes Kash down but he sends Styles out to the apron and out to the floor. The flip dive connects but Styles is back up with a moonsault out to the floor. Back in and a springboard dropkick connects with Kash, followed by a TKO onto the top rope.

A diving spinning Downward Spiral takes Kash down again but he’s back up with a German suplex for two back inside. Styles gets in a dropkick to the ribs and a hurricanrana brings Kash down again. Kash gets knocked into 619 position and a dropkick to the back gives Styles two. Back up and a springboard missile dropkick is kicked out of the air, allowing Kash to score with some clotheslines. Kash takes him up top but Styles fights out and hits a super Styles Clash for the win at 9:57.

Rating: B-. As usual, Styles is capable of doing just about anything and Kash is someone who can fly around well enough. The finish looked rather good and I want to see more of Styles every time he’s in there. He has been one of if not the best things about this promotion so far and it has been great to see him getting some time in there rather than being stuck in a four minute match.

Buff Bagwell is here for a second chance. BG James comes in and asks Bagwell to be his partner tonight. Sure.

And now, Dustin Diamond, better known as Screech from Saved By The Bell. He talks about being in Celebrity Boxing and wants to fight tonight. Don West volunteers Tiny the Timekeeper (later known as Big Fat Oily Guy).

The Hot Shots aren’t happy that they have to qualify for Gauntlet For The Gold. Disco Inferno comes in but Goldilocks does not have time for him.

Dustin Diamond vs. Tiny The Timekeeper

Tiny has no idea what he’s doing and gets knocked out in about 40 seconds.

Ace Steel/CM Punk vs. Derek Wylde/Jimmy Rave vs. Hot Shots

The team who takes the fall is out of Gauntlet For The Gold. Punk takes O’Reilly down to start and grabs a waistlock but gets knocked into the corner to cut him off. That doesn’t last long as Steel comes in with a brainbuster but Stevens cuts him off with a sitout powerbomb. Rave comes in and gets Michinoku Drivered into an Arabian Moonsault for two.

The handspring elbow sets up a double basement dropkick into an assisted moonsault for two. O’Reilly hits a gordbuster for two but a Lionsault hits raised knees. Punk comes in to clean house, including the running dive to hit Stevens on the floor. More dives connect, leaving Steel to hit a Gory Stretch neckbreaker to finish O’Reilly at 7:35.

Rating: C+. This match is noteworthy for one reason whatsoever and that’s something that wouldn’t matter for a long time. Punk was just a young kid at this point trying to make a name for himself and that is where a place like TNA could be useful. It was a nothing match, but they got to do their dives and flips and that’s better than nothing.

Chris Harris and James Storm are ready to win the Tag Team Titles because they are the best team around here.

Here are Scott Hall and Syxx Pac, with Hall talking about their history together. Pac talks about how they’re here out of their love for wrestling. They’ll likely get fired from here too so let’s make it work while it lasts. Brian Lee and Ron Harris run in and are quickly laid out.

Brian Lawler is paranoid about his girlfriend.

Here is Hermie Sadler for a chat. He respects these people and announces that NWA-TNA will be sponsoring his car in an upcoming race. At least it was short.

Miss TNA: Bruce vs. ???

Bruce is defending and Hermie Sadler is on commentary. We get the open challenge and a fan (indy wrestler Christi Ricci) answers. The fast beating ensues, with Bruce hitting a powerbomb to retain at 1:10. This stuff is still so freaking dumb.

Post match Sadler comes in to clear Bruce out.

Jerry Lynn is happy with being the X-Division Champion but he wants to beat Ron Killings, who is the best today. Killings comes in and says oh yes he is the best.

Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet For The Gold

The titles are vacant coming in. This is a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals and wrestlers entering one at a time. When we’re down to two, the partners come back and we have a regular tag match for the titles. Brian Lawler is in at #1 and James Storm is in at #2, with Lawler using the ropes for a low blow to start fast. Storm fights up but gets suplexed down. Joel Maximo is in at #3 and he teals up with Storm to go after Lawler.

Derek Wylde is in at #4 and Lawler tosses him almost immediately. Lawler kicks Joel out and tosses Storm as well to clear the ring, meaning it’s time to dance. Buff Bagwell is in at #5 and hits the running neckbreaker before hammering away in the corner. Kobain is in at #6 and fires off some clotheslines, but Lawler drops both of them. Ace Steel is in at #7 and gets in the offense you would expect. Jorge Estrada is in at #8 and doesn’t get to do much, as Brian Lee is in at #9.

Syxx Pac is in at #10 to pick the pace way up, including a bunch of kicks and an X Factor on Estrada. Kobain is out and CM Punk (partner of Ace Steel) is in at #11….as Steel is eliminated. Lawler cuts Pac off with a powerslam and Jimmy Rave (partner of Derek Wylde) is in at #12. Raven and Estrada double team Punk in the corner but Punk bulldogs his way to freedom. Ron Harris (partner of Brian Lee) is in at #13 and helps Lee get rid of Estrada, Rave, Punk and Bagwell in a row.

Lawler is out and BG James (partner of Buff Bagwell) is in at #14. James slugs away on Harris until Jose Maximo (partner of Joel Maximo) is in at #15…and Harris tosses him out in three seconds (Jose’s feet never touched the mat). A double spinebuster plants Pac, who is right back up with a double clothesline. Cue Lawler to offer a distraction though, allowing Pac to get tossed out.

Slash (partner of Kobain) is in at #16 and James gets triple teamed. Sonny Siaki (partner of Jorge Estrada) is in at #17 and goes after Slash as James can’t quite fight back. Disco Inferno (partner of Brian Lawler) is in at #18 and gets thrown into the corner as Scott Hall (partner of Syxx Pac) is in at #19.

Hall slugs away at Harris and dumps him out before clotheslining Slash out as well. Chris Harris (partner of James Storm) is in at #20 to complete the field and Siaki misses a charge to eliminate himself. Inferno stops to dance and gets punched out by Hall and James, who then slug it out. Lee tosses both of them at once though, leaving he and Harris as the winners at 23:12.

Rating: C-. It was a mostly dull Royal Rumble with two winners, one of whom represents a lame, thrown together monster tag team. I can’t believe I’m saying this but if you want to use one of the Harris Brothers, put the two of them together and let them do what they’ve done for years. That being said, the only thing that mattered here was Chris Harris and Storm advancing and that went fine.

And that leads us into:

Tag Team Titles: Chris Harris/James Storm vs. Brian Lee/Ron Harris

For the vacant titles and Harris jumps Storm on the stage. Cue Jeff Jarrett to brawl with BG James to the back as Chris gets double teamed by the monsters. Ron kicks Storm through the apron but Storm gets in anyway, only to be double teamed right back down. Naturally a table is set up….but it takes so long that Chris gets a rollup to pin Lee for the titles at 4:54.

Rating: D. What was that? The whole point of this was to crown new champions and they give the young, talented team a quick rollup win while one of the stupid monsters picks up a table? If you want the new champs to look good, then let them look good. This felt like a way to protect Ron and Lee and….why?

BG James is rather busted open in the back.

NWA World Title: Ron Killings vs. Jerry Lynn

Only Killings is defending and he starts fast by knocking Lynn down. Lynn is back up with some right hands and a slingshot elbow connects in the corner. Back up and Killings sends him to the floor, where Lynn is dropped onto the announcers’ table. Lynn is busted open as they get back inside, where Killings grabs a belly to back suplex for two. A spinning sunset flip out of the corner gives Lynn two of his own but Killings side kicks him in the face.

They head outside again where Lynn sends him into the barricade, only for Killings to go after the bloody cut again. Back in and Killings grabs a surfboard of all things, followed by a big boot for two. Lynn’s spinning sunset flip gets another near fall (and a nice hope spot) as AJ Styles comes out to watch. Cue the Maximos and the rest of the X-Division to cheer Lynn on and the comeback begins. Lynn goes up but the referee stops to yell at Styles, leaving Sonny Siaki to shove Lynn off the top. A running cutter retains the title at 12:27.

Rating: B-. This right here shows that TNA is already ahead of WCW in one major area: can you imagine the Cruiserweight Champion getting involved with the World title picture? There was a wide gap between the two title pictures before and now they’re doing a better job of spreading them out. That’s a great sign and gives me some hope for the X-Division, assuming they actually keep it up.

Don West hypes up next week’s show.

Ron Killings and Jeff Jarrett pop back up, double teaming BG James back to the ring. Scott Hall and Syxx Pac run in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Well, they certainly focused on the Tag Team Titles, but the execution of the two matches involving them was so weak that it brought the rest of the show down. I’m also really not happy with so much of the focus being on the “names” again as Hall, Pac, Bagwell and James got A LOT of the attention here. That’s a bad sign after seeing the X-Division get so much attention but maybe it’s just a one off. Not a good show, but for different reasons than before.

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Halloween Havoc 1998
Date: October 25, 1998
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 10,663
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

So this popped up on the WWE Vault channel and I might as well look at it again. This show is more infamous than famous, with an all time terrible match, a pretty great main event, and one massive headache for WCW as the show went off the air late, resulting in a bunch of people not even seeing the ending. Let’s get to it.

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The opening video is rather serious and looks at a bunch of the bigger matches. Of all the things WCW spent money on, this wasn’t one of them.

Dang that pumpkin set is awesome.

Commentary talks about the show, with Heenan throwing on a mask to annoy Schiavone as only he can.

The Nitro Girls are here for the first time and are promised to be back. I get the appeal of having cheerleaders out there, but are they doing anything more than filling time?

Here is Rick Steiner to talk about how he’s looking at Scott Steiner as just another opponent. Cue Buff Bagwell to say everyone is sick of Scott so he’ll have Rick’s back. And yes, Rick falls for this, showing that the University of Michigan isn’t much in the academic department. Also, this could have been done on any given Nitro or Thunder rather than being on the show.

TV Title: Raven vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending in what appears to be a bonus match. Before the match, Raven sits in the corner and says his recent losing streak is NOT his fault. He doesn’t feel like wrestling tonight and he wasn’t told in advance so he’s not going to do it. Jericho says not so fast because he is buyrates, people in the seats and rock and roll. Calling Raven a loser is enough to draw him back in for the bell, with Jericho stomping away and swinging Raven’s jacket.

Back up and Raven sends him outside for a dive, meaning it’s time for a whip into the steps. A dropkick has Jericho in more trouble but Raven is back with a quick hot shot to take over. They go outside again with Jericho’s dive only hitting the barricade. Back in and Jericho suplexes his way out of a sleeper before taking off a turnbuckle pad. Naturally Jericho goes head first into it and a clothesline gives Raven two.

The Liontamer goes on but Raven makes the rope (rather than tapping out in a hurry as he has been doing lately) and hits a quick Even Flow for two. Jericho low blows him into a bridging German suplex but cue Kanyon for and attempted distraction. Instead Jericho reverses the Even Flow into another Liontamer for the tap at 7:42.

Rating: B. It’s nice to see Raven getting to have a good match as he could certainly go in the ring when he had the chance. It helped that he was in there with Jericho, who was really starting to come into his own around this time. You could see the star power and it made him someone you wanted to see, which is quite the valuable thing to have.

Jericho’s over the top celebration is great.

Here are Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff for a chat. Hogan says he’ll keep it short and then goes into a long rant about laying out his nephew Horace, because he wanted to prove you needed to be in the NWO. As for tonight, he’ll beat up the Warrior, for life. There was absolutely no need or this to be on the show.

Meng vs. Wrath

Hoss fight time and they go straight to the floor to start with Meng being sent into the barricade. They get inside, where Meng rams his own head into the buckle over and over. Wrath hits a middle rope clothesline but the Meltdown (pumphandle powerslam) is escaped, allowing Meng to hit a kick to the face. Meng strikes away in the corner and hits a running clothesline but the Tongan Death Grip is countered into a Rock Bottom for two. The Meltdown finishes for Wrath at 4:23.

Rating: C+. Not much time for this one but they hit each other rather hard for few minutes that they had. It made Wrath look good too, which was a bit of a mini project at the time. They certainly needed to build someone up for Kevin Nash to beat later, because beating someone on a winning streak set him up to beat someone else on a winning streak. I mean, it’s not like WCW could have used someone like Wrath, who was getting over around this point with wins like this one.

Billy Kidman is down to face either challenger to his Cruiserweight Title.

Disco Inferno vs. Juventud Guerrera

For a Cruiserweight Title shot later tonight. Disco takes him into the corner to start and stomps away, setting up a side slam for two. Juventud snaps off a headscissors and, after messing something up, sends Disco crashing out to the floor. An anklescissors takes Disco down again but he’s right back with a running clothesline. The not very tight chinlock goes on before Juventud fights out and sends him to the floor for the big dive.

Back in and the Juvy Driver is countered into a neckbreaker for a very delayed near fall. The Macarena (yes it is 1998) takes too long and Juventud rolls him up for two, only for Disco to fall down into low blow. Disco goes up and gets crotched down, setting up a super hurricanrana. Juventud’s top rope flip dive connects but Disco is back with a quick piledriver for the pin at 9:40. Ignore Juventud’s shoulder being on Disco’s leg rather than the mat.

Rating: C. This is another good example of a match that could have taken place on Thunder instead of here as it was hardly anything pay per view worthy. Disco did his basic stuff until the piledriver while Juventud was flying around as well as he could have, albeit to limited results. And we even get more Disco later!

More Nitro Girls.

Here is Scott Steiner for a chat. He’s been with his freaks so coming to Vegas is a breather. Scott heard Rick Steiner and Buff Bagwell getting together, so tonight he and the Giant will make it a Tag Team Title match (ignore that Scott HALL and the Giant are the champions right now, hence neither of them having a belt at the moment, even if Giant should have one). Giant comes out to agree so here is JJ Dillon to say that if the champs lose the titles, Scott will face Rick one on one immediately after.

So that’s another bonus match being added. And we’re having a tag match instead of a singles match because the tag team knows they would win a tag match but if they don’t, then it’s the planned singles match, even if the non-champions have already lost the titles. Yes this is 1998 WCW and somehow, it would get far, far worse.

Fit Finlay vs. Alex Wright

We hear about Finlay breaking Wright’s dad’s leg years ago as Finlay takes over on the wrist to start. An elbow to the face has Wright in more trouble but he knocks Finlay down and stomps away. Back up and Finlay hits him in the face for a knock out to the floor. Wright gets dropped face first onto the barricade and they head back inside, where a running crossbody sends both of them crashing back to the floor. Back in again and Finlay misses a charge into the corner, allowing Wright to grab a neckbreaker for the pin at 5:10.

Rating: C. This was mostly Finlay beating Wright up for about 90% of the match until Wright caught him with one move at the end. The match was something that felt like it belonged on Saturday Night more than a pay per view yet here it is, adding another match to this marathon show. Commentary didn’t even pretend like this was anything important either, making it feel even less important.

Note that we’re over an hour into this show and pretty much NOTHING has happened. We’ve had one good match, which wasn’t advertised, a match to set up a title match later, and two pretty much nothing matches. Yeah there’s other stuff coming, but feel free to GET ON WITH IT.

Ernest Miller is on WCW.com and brags about his greatness.

Saturn vs. Lodi

This isn’t what I meant by “GET ON WITH IT”. Saturn works on the arm to start so Lodi bails outside and grabs his signs (they’re his thing), only for Saturn to sweep his leg out. A suplex drops Lodi again and a whip into the corner makes it worse. Saturn hits some suplexes and the Death Valley Driver completes the squash at 3:49.

Rating: C-. Saturn got to massacre Lodi, though I’m not sure why this match actually needed to take place on the pay per view. Saturn smashing the Flock’s mascot isn’t a pay per view match but rather something that should be in the second hour of Thunder. That’s the theme of this whole show so far and that isn’t good to see, even if I’ve always liked Saturn.

We look at Buff Bagwell rejecting the NWO. Totally. For real.

Nitro Girls.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Billy Kidman

Kidman is defending and grabs a headlock to start with limited avail. An exchange of wristlocks doesn’t go very far either so Kidman grabs a slingshot armdrag. Disco drop toeholds him throat first into the ropes but Kidman sens him outside for a crash. Back in and Kidman misses a top rope splash though and we hit the chinlock.

Disco lets go and dances, followed by a belly to back suplex for two. The dancing middle rope elbow misses but Disco is right back with the piledriver for two more. A gordbuster gets another near fall so Kidman calmly faceplants him. The shooting star press retains the title at 10:50.

Rating: C. Again, the problem is Disco doesn’t do anything beyond simple stuff and that didn’t leave Kidman in any real danger. Other than maybe the piledriver, this was just waiting around for Kidman to win. It doesn’t help that this was the second Disco match of the night, again making things feel rather extended for no apparent reason.

Tag Team Titles: Rick Steiner/Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell

Rick and Buff are challenging and if they win the titles, Rick gets to face Scott “for fifteen minutes”. Scott distracts Rick to start and Giant slugs away to take over. An atomic drop puts Rick in more trouble and it’s off to Scott for some shots from behind. Rick fights up with right hands in the corner and an elbow connects. Buff wants the tag though and OF COURSE he turns on Rick with a low blow, because that’s something WCW loves to do.

Commentary tries to sound shocked because that’s what they have to do as Buff runs off. Scott chokes and knees away on the ropes before Giant comes in to pull Rick up at two. It’s back to Scott so Rick fights up, only to get cut off with a low blow. For some reason Giant goes up and accidentally missile dropkicks Scott, leaving him hung up in the ropes for a funny visual. Rick gets up, Steiner Bulldogs Giant, and wins the Tag Team Titles at 8:23.

Rating: D. Other than the Giant hitting that dropkick, this was the point where the good in-ring side mostly falls off, as there is only so much you can get out of another SWERVE from Bagwell and the slow hammering offense from the Steiners. And of course Rick and Buff are the new champions, which would somehow lead to Rick teaming with Buff’s mother Judy Bagwell, say it with me, because WCW.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Scott tries to leave with the Giant but Rick goes after him for a ram into the steps. They get back in and Scott charges into a boot in the corner before being sent outside again. Another low blow (four on the night between all of the brawling) drops Rick again and Scott hits a running crotch attack against the ropes.

Rick grabs a belly to belly…and a guy in a Bill Clinton mask (and a suit) jumps the barricade, beats up security, and is handed a slap jack by an interfering Stevie Ray to knock Rick and the referee cold for the DQ at 3:32. And of course it’s Bagwell. Hold on though as Scott covers Rick and Buff makes the referee count, with Rick kicking out. The Frankensteiner gets two but Rick fights back and hits the Steiner Bulldog for the pin at 5:02.

Rating: D-. So Bagwell wore jeans for the tag match, ran to the back, put on a suit and mask so he could interfere in the ensuing singles match before unveiling himself. This would be after Buff and Rick won the Tag Team Titles from a team who weren’t he actual champions to set up a match which was already scheduled but was technically canceled before being put back in, despite not being “for fifteen minutes” as advertised. I have no idea how any of this was supposed to work, but it certainly didn’t.

We recap Scott Hall vs. Kevin Nash. They were best friends, but their loyalty to Hollywood Hogan and the NWO (and money) have split them up so they’re finally having a match.

Scott Hall vs. Kevin Nash

Hall throws his drink into Nash’s face and hammers away to start. They go out to the floor where Hall gets in a microphone shot and chokes with a camera cord. We pause for the referees to check on Nash’s eyes so Hall mocks him before dropping Nash with more right hands. Hall mocks being drunk as the fans chant for the Wolfpac, which is cut off by Hall’s slam.

Some right hands in the corner have Nash in trouble but he says bring it on, setting up the big side slam. Hall fights up with more right hands but has to bail from the threat of a Jackknife. Back in and things reset a bit, with Nash shoving him down without much trouble. Hall grabs an armbar but Nash shrugs it off and stomps him down.

Nash’s running crotch attack against the ropes keeps Hall in trouble and some knees in the corner (Nash: “How about a double? Would you like a double?”) makes it worse. The straps come down and Nash hits the Jackknife (or Jackhammer according to Schiavone), followed by a second. The crotch chop is enough to let Hall walk out for the countout at 14:21.

Rating: C. This was a storyline match instead of a more traditional version and in this case, that’s the right idea. Hall got in his usual stuff here but Nash gets the big dominant performance, with the actual result not mattering. At least it felt like this mattered in the slightest though and even made sense, which is a chance of pace from most o the rest of the show.

US Title: Sting vs. Bret Hart

Hart is defending and bails to the floor to start as commentary talks about the personal issues that are more important than the title. They don’t bother saying WHAT THOSE ISSUES ARE but that’s WCW for you. Hart gets back inside, the bell rings, and Hart bails to the floor again. Sting follows him outside and throws Hart back inside to hammer away in the corner. A head first ramp into the mat gives Sting two but Hart goes after the eyes to take over.

Hart drops a leg for two and we hit the chinlock, which is broken up even faster than usual. Sting’s comeback is cut off with a bulldog out of the corner but the middle rope elbow is countered into a failed Scorpion Deathlock attempt. Back up and Hart tries a leapfrog but grabs his knee, with even Heenan saying the fans are tired of being lied to all night. Hart gets in a cheap shot and drops the middle rope elbow for two as things slow back own. A drop onto the barricade has Sting in more trouble and Hart decks the referee.

With the referee down, Sting starts the comeback, with both of them jumping over the referee in a funny bit. Hart gets crotched on top and a top rope superplex somewhat lands on the referee to leave everyone down for awhile. The Stinger Splash hits the post so Hart hits him with the baseball bat over and over. A middle rope bat shot lets Hart finish what used to be Sting with the Sharpshooter to retain at 15:06.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t great but I’ll take a match between two stars with a definitive ending. Hart basically destroyed Sting here and the ending was a way to write Sting off for a bit. It’s good to see him get a win after the incredibly messy start to his WCW run and it worked well enough here, even if Hart was clearly not anywhere near what he was back in the WWF.

Sting does a stretcher job as commentary wonders what is wrong with him.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior

Warrior beat him eight and a half years ago, then showed up to say that he can do it again. Hogan panicked and here we are for a showdown, which has the potential to be a disaster. Naturally Hogan stalls on the floor before the bell before a big right hand knocks him into the corner to start. Warrior cranks on the arm and Hogan is already bailing out to the floor again.

We get the tease of the test of strength but Hogan goes with a cheap shot to take over. Now they do the test and Warrior goes down as the attempt to recreate an iconic moment falls flatter than expected. Back up and they do the criss cross until Warrior shrugs off a slam and clotheslines him to the floor. They slowly brawl around ringside before Hogan gets back inside and decks the referee.

Cue the Giant, who hits Hogan by mistake (as he falls apart just before leaving the promotion), allowing Warrior to clothesline him out to the floor. There’s no referee to count, so Hogan grabs a belly to back suplex (see, because that happened in 1990 too) for a delayed two. Hogan whips him with the weightlifting belt bu misses some elbows as Warrior rolls away. This includes rolling towards Hogan, because left and right is too complicated here.

Warrior misses the splash but comes back with Hogan’s weightlifting belt to whip away. The referee breaks it up so hogan grabs some flash paper, which sets off a fireball…which doesn’t go anywhere near Warrior’s face. Warrior hammers away, including some ax handles to the head. A low blow cuts Warrior off and Hogan drops leg but Warrior fights up. Cue Horace Hogan to chair Warrior in the back so Hogan can grab the trunks for the win at 14:33.

Rating: F. Normally I would say something like “this was sad” but in this case, it was just pathetic, almost all of which has to be put on Hogan. As there is pretty much no way that this was Warrior’s plan for the match, instead we had far worse versions of the spots from their legendary match with both of them older and Hogan not being the kind of character who fits in this match at all. This really was one of the worst matches I’ve ever seen and it was all about making Hogan feel better after putting Warrior over almost nine years earlier. Lucky us.

Post match Hogan loads up lighter fluid but security breaks it up, not wanting to see any more of this either.

The WWE Vault version cuts out the entrances for the next match and we go straight to the ring.

So this is where the show gets infamous. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve mentioned the timing issues that the show has had throughout the whole night. That is because the show was pretty much entirely out of time here, with the pay per view window of 11pm (or whatever it was) having about three minutes left as the World Title match was still left to go. As a result, a bunch of people lost the feed for the show and didn’t get to see the main event, forcing WCW to show it for free on Nitro.

It’s one thing to have a show go a little bit long, but this was asking for almost fifteen extra minutes and all because of a bunch of bonus matches, completely unnecessary promos and stuff like the Nitro Girls. It came off like WCW didn’t care what they did and just thought everyone would go along with them and that isn’t how things worked. While this wasn’t some death blow, it was a really big own goal and that’s not something the company could afford around this time. Things would get worse in a hurry, but this one is infamous for reasons of “WCW screwed up big.”

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Goldberg is defending after Page earned the title shot by winning WarGames. Page charges at him a few times to start but gets shoved into the corner over and over by the raw power. They lock up and crash out to the floor as there is some rather strong electricity going here. Back in and Page tries a legsweep so Goldberg does a standing moonsault to avoid, only to get swept down instead for a quick staredown.

An armbar sends Page to the ropes but the threat of a Diamond Cutter gets him shoved outside again. Back in and Goldberg shoulders him right back outside but Page grabs a neckbreaker for a needed breather. Page’s front facelock is countered into Goldberg’s neckbreaker for a change and a side slam gets two. Goldberg kicks him into the corner but the spear hits the post, with the fans getting back into it as Page has an opening.

The top rope clothesline gives Page two and a spinning DDT connects but Goldberg pops back up with a heck of a spear. The shoulder is too damaged to hit the Jackhammer though and Page grabs the Diamond Cutter, which has the fans going rather nuts. The rather delayed cover gets two so Page tries a suplex, which is reversed into a not great Jackhammer (which is kind of the point) to retain the title at 10:29.

Rating: B. This was the first time Goldberg had what would be considered a full match, with Page not being able to hang with him throughout, but having the one big move that could actually threaten Goldberg. The pop from the Diamond Cutter was great and it’s a very good match and Page clearly walked through it, though it was more just a really solid showing rather than a classic. Still though, Goldberg’s best WCW match by a mile and Page’s road to the world title continues.

Goldberg shows respect to end the show in a hurry.

Overall Rating: D+. The interesting thing here is that there are some good matches on here (main event, opener, Sting vs. Hart, a few other ok ones) but e pluribus gads the bad parts are horrible. Hogan vs. Warrior is an all time bad example of what happens when one person gets everything they want, the Tag Team Title/Steiners stuff is a terrible mess and pretty much the entire first hour is a waste of time and a ridiculous waste of the fans’ money. Throw in the whole total disaster with the pay per view slot and this really is an elite level disaster.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #3
Date: July 3, 2002
Location: Nashville Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

We’ve got more titles to establish this week with the Tag Team Titles being set up this time. So far the World and X-Division Titles have gone well enough so maybe they can continue the trend. The shows are still not exactly great though and they have a long way to go with what they are doing. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Commentary runs down the card and hype up the main event of Jeff Jarrett/K-Krush vs. Scott Hall/Brian Christopher.

NWA President Jim Miller joins us to present the promotion with a trophy. Other than that though, he is bringing in a new star to face the winner of tonight’s World Title match.

Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: America’s Most Wanted vs. The Johnsons

Mortimer Plumtree is here with the Johnsons. #1 drives Harris into the corner to start but gets armdragged down, followed by some left hands. It’s off to #2 for a double toss into the air to Storm, followed by a double shoulder for two. One heck of a double backdrop puts Storm down again but #1 comes off the middle rope for the sole purpose of diving into raised boots. Storm scores with a superkick and hands it back to Harris to clean house. Everything breaks down and Harris hits a spear on #2, setting up a crossbody. #2 pulls him out of the air, only to have Storm add a missile dropkick for the pin on #2 at 4:42.

Rating: C. This is where the promotion is coming off as a bit of a mess, as you have a good, young team in AMW who could go somewhere but their two matches have been against comedy/joke teams. That is only going to get them so far and shows what happens when you have the wrong people putting everything together. The match was pretty run of he mill, but the faster they find some serious opponents for AMW, the better things will be going.

Post match Plumtree yells at the Johnsons and gets laid out.

Here is Scott Hall for a chat but Jeff Jarrett cuts him off before he can get started. Jarrett isn’t impressed but Hall tells him to bring it. Jim Miller cuts Jarrett off though and Jarrett says he’ll see Hall in the main event…as K-Krush jumps Hall. That earns K-Krush a fall away slam and a clothesline out to the floor. Well that was short.

America’s Most Wanted has been attacked and left bloody.

Monty Brown vs. Anthony Ingram

This is Brown’s debut and he cuts a promo before the match, which is drowned out by his music. Brown slugs away to start and hits a running powerslam, setting up the Alpha Bomb (slam lifted up into a powerbomb) for the pin at 1:32. Total destruction and Brown is a ball of charisma.

Jim Miller has gone missing but Puppet comes in, saying he wants to beat up either Gary Coleman, Mini Me or the midget from the Howard Stern Show.

Buff Bagwell and Apollo are ready to win the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Rainbow Express vs. Buff Bagwell/Apolo

Joel Gertner is here with the Express. Bagwell hiptosses Bruce to start but stops to pose, allowing Bruce to send him into the corner. Cue Alicia to get money from Ed Ferrara as Apolo comes in with a powerbomb for two on Bruce. A Gertner distraction lets Lenny come back with a running DDT and Apolo gets stomped in the corner. Lenny’s slow crawl over Apolo doesn’t sit well and Apolo is back up with a full nelson slam for two. Buff comes in to slug away but a crossbody to Lenny…doesn’t work as planned, leaving Apolo to TKO Bruce. Lenny makes the save and sends Apolo outside, setting up a superkick to finish Bagwell at 5:49.

Rating: C-. There wasn’t much to be seen here and that shouldn’t be a shock, as you have a makeshift team losing to a comedy team but they went with a clean pin instead of any kind of cheating. That doesn’t make for the most thrilling match and it wasn’t like Bagwell was one to lead a match if need be. And now we are on the way to a rematch from last week with AMW vs. the Express, assuming the former can go, which isn’t the most thrilling idea.

Post match Bagwell is mad about losing to “two gay guys” and quits.

Here is World Champion Ken Shamrock for a chat. He wants to fight anyone but here is James Mitchell for a distraction so Malice can jump Shamrock before their title match tonight. So the champ is easily dupped. Got it.

Jim Miller is busy and doesn’t have time to talk to Jerry Lynn.

Puppet vs. Todd Stone

This is the result of Puppet wanting to “kill a midget”. Puppet slugs away with a kendo stick and trashcan as this is apparently anything goes. Stone gets slammed onto the trashcan, which is then put onto his head for a beating with the kendo stick. A fireman’s carry faceplant onto the trashcan finishes Stone at 1:45. This was stupid, as you probably guessed.

Post match Puppet chases the referee to the back.

We’re not sure if Ken Shamrock can defend the World Title.

We look at Francine being annoyed at losing the lingerie battle royal and beating up the winner, Taylor Vaughn.

Francine vs. Taylor Vaughn

And never mind as Francine whips out a belt to beat her like last week. Vaughn takes it away and whips her instead…and only Vaughn is disqualified.

Post match Ed Ferrara comes in to raise Francine’s hand but she puts his hand on her chest. Then she slaps him.

Here is Hermie Sadler for a chat. He thanks the NASCAR fans for coming out tonight but here is K-Krush to interrupt. K-Krush doesn’t like race car drivers and insults him, so Sadler gives him a spear. The match is made for next week.

NWA World Title: Malice vs. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock is defending and Malice has James Mitchell with him. Shamrock comes straight to the ring without any notable problem so the whole injury angle seems to have been a waste of time. Malice jumps him before the bell and hammers away on the floor before choking on the ropes. That’s not enough so Malice lifts him up for more choking, setting up a legdrop for two.

Shamrock can’t get a cross armbreaker so Malice sends him outside in a heap instead. Back in and Malice hammers on the banged up neck (which was apparently hurt in the backstage attack, though you wouldn’t know it as Malice jumped him before the bell anyway), which he bends around the top rope. Then Shamrock fights up and hits a belly to belly out of nowhere to retain at 5:53. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: C-. What was that? Malice jumped him, beat him up and then loses to Shamrock’s one move. That’s straight out of the mid-90s Randy Savage playbook and that is not meant as a compliment. Shamrock feels like he is living off his reputation as champion and that’s a really bad sign just two weeks into his reign.

X-Division Title: David Young vs. AJ Styles

Young, with Bobcat, is challenging. Styles flips over him to start and hits the dropkick but the bigger Young hits a running shoulder for a knockdown. Back up and Styles sends him outside for something like a running Buckshot Lariat out to the floor. Young breaks up the springboard back inside but Styles is fine enough to flip out of a German suplex. An overhead belly to belly sends Styles into the corner for two and a running kick to the head gets the same.

Bobcat answers a phone call as Young grabs a headscissors choke, which just fires Styles up. That earns him a suplex back down and Young grabs the chinlock. Back up and Styles hits a superkick for two before striking away, only to walk into a spinebuster for two. They go up top together, where Styles gets in a shot to the face and hits a super Styles Clash to retain at 8:45.

Rating: C. Young wasn’t much of a challenger here but Styles got to show just how smooth he can be in the ring, which is quite the sight to behold. There is a reason he has become one of the early bright spots around here and being able to move that way has a lot to do with it. This was all Styles and that is what it should have been.

Bobcat gets in the ring to celebrate for some reason and Young is rather confused.

Joel Gertner and the Rainbow Express are ready to win the Tag Team Titles. If AMW can’t wrestle, it makes things even easier.

Tag Team Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Rainbow Express

For the vacant titles and Joel Gertner is here with the Express. Hold on though as AMW can’t wrestle but we have replacements.

Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Jerry Lynn vs. Rainbow Express

For the vacant titles and yes this is indeed a Vince Russo booked show with tag partners who do not get along. It’s a brawl to start and the Express is sent to the floor, with Lynn hitting a dive. The tired Styles hits a dive of his own and it’s time to head inside, where Lenny and Lynn fight over a German suplex. Bruce gets sent face first into a low blow on Lenny, who is nice enough to kiss Bruce’s hand for a tag.

Lynn is sent to the apron for a slingshot Fameasser to drop Bruce but he’s back up with a quick low blow to take over. Styles breaks up Lenny’s Liontamer but Bruce gets in a cheap shot. Lenny gets two off a delayed vertical suplex and Bruce counters a headscissors into a faceplant for two more.

The figure four necklock has Lynn in more trouble but he’s back up for an exchange of countered piledrives. Lynn gets in a DDT and that’s enough for the tag off to Styles to pick up the pace. Lenny hits a Skull Crushing Finale on Styles but gets caught with the cradle piledriver. Lynn and Bruce go to the floor, leaving Styles to hit the Spiral Tap on Lenny for the pin and the titles at 12:23.

Rating: C. This was long and showed that the Express really wasn’t much in the ring. The problem is that the team is only around because of their gimmick and that gets old very fast. I could go for seeing more from Styles and Lynn, but they’re going to need better opponents to make that work.

Lynn isn’t sure about this but he’ll take a title.

Jim Miller has been attacked with the letters FU written on his stomach.

Brian Christopher/Scott Hall vs. Jeff Jarrett/K-Krush

Fallout from last week’s big brawl. They start fast and fight into the crowd with Hall and Jarrett fighting into one of the dancers’ cage. Christopher takes over on Krush and sends him inside, only to miss the Hip Hop Drop. Hall is back in with a chokeslam to Krush but gets jumped by Jarrett. We settle down to a regular match, with Christopher missing a charge into the corner, leaving Hall and Jarrett to knock each other down.

Krush comes in for a running spinning forearm, which kind of goes flying over Hall’s back. Hall rolls through Jarrett’s high crossbody for two, leaving Jarrett to grab a sleeper. As they’ve done hundreds of times, Hall reverses into a sleeper of his own, only for Jarrett to easily break it up.

Krush’s reverse chinlock is countered into an electric chair drop, followed by a double clothesline for…well not a tag off to Christopher, as he hits Hall in the face instead. Hall beats all of them up at once and hits the Outsider’s Edge on Krush, only for Christopher to break up the same thing to Jarrett. The Stroke into the Hip Hop Drop lets Jarrett get the pin at 11:43.

Rating: C. This match showed the biggest problem with this story: the matches aren’t very good and even worse, they’re not interesting. If Brian Christopher turning on Hall a full week after joining up with him in the first place is their best idea, they don’t have much to go on here. Hall feels like a star and he has a history with Jarrett, but that doesn’t exactly scream top story in 2002.

Post match Jarrett yells about how many times he’s beaten Hall before knocking him outside. The trophy (from the beginning of the show) is broken over Hall so a stretcher is brought in. That’s not enough for Jarrett, who drops an elbow off the apron onto Hall onto the stretcher. Jarrett is still not done and turns the stretcher over while ranting about how he should be World Champion.

Commentary previews next week’s show as Jarrett stomps away one more time to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C-. There are some good points here, but the wrestling ranged from dull to pretty lame throughout the two hours. That being said, the promotion is still only three weeks old and there is only so much you can tell from that little time. The show still feels big, but they are going to need to make things a good bit more interesting than what they are doing so far. It’s just not that good and it was showing badly this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Night Two
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill

It’s the second half of the show and in this case, it needs to get a pretty big upgrade over the first half. Night one was a decent enough show, but it wasn’t memorable, which is the point of a show like this. Now that being being said, this show is built around the Clusterf*** Battle Royal, which could be quite the mess. Let’s get to it.

Here is Night One if you need a recap.

We open with Joey Janela talking about beating Sean Waltman last night and wanting his flowers. He wonders why the fans hate him now but Spring Break needs a lethal dose of poison to turn it back into what it is supposed to be. This year, he is entering the Clusterf*** so he can end it once and for all. Maybe just don’t run it then?

Matt Cardona vs. Chris Dickinson

Chelsea Green is here with Cardona, who is currently the king, meaning yes he does have a Macho King crown. Green gets in an ALL HAIL THE DEATHMATCH KING and the fans are all over Cardona again. Cardona insults GCW and says they are the power couple of wrestling. Six years ago, he won the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania, but now he’s in this piece of garbage ring. If he was in WWE, like he should be, he would be celebrating his friend Mark Calaway, who he will see in the Hall of Fame one day.

Dickinson comes out with….MISSY HYATT to even things out, which is one of those names that makes this show feel fun. Both pairs share good luck kisses before the match, with Hyatt’s leaving Dickinson woozy. Dickinson wrestles him to the mat to start but Cardona is up to yell at Hyatt. That doesn’t work well for Dickinson, who grabs a cross armbreaker to send Cardona bailing to the floor.

Back in and Green grabs Dickinson’s foot for a distraction so Cardona can stomp away. After throwing his shirt at Hyatt, Cardona chokes with the wrist tape and then his hand for a bonus. The running forearm drops Dickinson again and a neckbreaker gives Cardona two. It’s already door time but Cardona spends too much time mocking the crowd, allowing Dickinson to backdrop him through the door in the corner.

The slugout is on with Cardona going to the eyes, only to get blasted with a running clothesline. The brainbuster gives Dickinson two but Green offers a distraction, allowing Cardona to nail a spear for two. Missy finally grabs Cardona’s boot and slaps Green, allowing Dickinson to hit a Death Valley Driver for two of his own.

Green offers another distraction so Cardona can hit a low blow into the Rough Ryder for two. Now it’s Green coming in and hitting Cardona with Missy’s loaded purse by mistake, allowing Dickinson to clothesline her down. The toss Razor’s Edge is enough for Dickinson to pin both of them at once at 12:43.

Rating: C+. You really can see why the GCW fans can’t stand Cardona in this run as he is one of the most annoying and obnoxious heels you could want to see. He is playing up the idea of being a big shot and that is one of the best ways to get heat from anyone. Dickinson is a decent power guy and looked good here, though Missy kind of disappeared for large chunks of the match.

Biff Busick vs. Tony Deppen

Feeling out process to start with Deppen trying to go to the mat to little success. Back up and Busick goes to the armbar, which has Deppen bailing to the ropes. Busick chops the heck out of Deppen, whose chops back have no effect. They head outside with Busick uppercutting away but a chop only hits the post. With Busick trying to shake it off, Deppen hits a flip dive off the apron and they head back inside.

Busick is fine enough to knee him down and the figure four necklock sends Deppen to the ropes again. Back up and Busick gets a little more violent by holding Deppen in place for some slaps to the face. Deppen is smart enough to go after Busick’s bad hand but Busick hits a running uppercut to take him down again.

Busick misses a charge though and Deppen hits a suicide flip dive for two back inside. Back up and the slugout goes to Busick until Deppen goes for the hand and grabs a Kimura of all things. With that broken up, Busick wins another strike off but Deppen avoids a charge in the corner. A running knee finishes Busick at 11:40.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you need two people to hit each other really hard and you got at least half of that here with Busick’s beating. Busick might not be a star in the making, but he’s an established hard hitter in the middle of the card and that should be enough to get him quite a few jobs. At the same time, you have Deppen as one of the better heels I’ve seen in a bit, as he is just straight up unlikable. Keep going with that and he’ll be fine.

Post match Deppen thanks Busick for the match but tells anyone who doesn’t believe in him what they can kiss.

Mike Bailey vs. Jordan Oliver

Bailey does his bow and they shake hands to start. Oliver does his pose so Bailey kicks him in the face and strikes away but Oliver is back up with chops of his own. Bailey’s leapfrog is countered into a faceplant and Oliver sends him outside for a big dive. Some kicks send Oliver through some chairs though and Bailey knees him in the chest.

Back in and Bailey kicks him in the chest for two, followed by the YES Kicks to make it worse. Bailey hits a running kick to the face in the corner and they strike it out again. Oliver snaps off a release German suplex and a sitout powerbomb for two but Bailey sends him outside. There’s the springboard moonsault to the floor and they strike it out on the apron.

Bailey gets the better of things and hits the moonsault knees, setting up the bouncing kicks back inside. The big kick to the head looks to set up the Ultimate Weapon but Oliver counters it with a cutter. A handspring cutter gets two so Oliver goes up, only to get pulled down with something like a One Winged Angel for the pin at 10:01.

Rating: C+. As is usually the case with Bailey, the action was good but he continues to have such a punchable face that it is hard to get into his matches. The good thing here was he didn’t have the stupid no selling that drags down every good thing he does, making this slightly easier to watch than most of his matches. Oliver has come a long way but still has a good bit to go before he moves up to the next level.

Effy says he shouldn’t be here but tonight he’ll beat Minoru Suzuki, have his own show tomorrow, and then maybe he’ll come for some gold.

Effy vs. Minoru Suzuki

Allie Katch is here with Effy. They both stick their jaws out with offers of a free shot but Effy’s attempt at a kiss gets him slapped. Suzuki slaps him down and then a kick to the face puts Effy on the floor. They head outside with Effy telling him to chop as hard as he can. That’s fine with Suzuki, who mocks Effy’s return chops.

A big boot sends Effy through the chairs and Suzuki cranks on the arm back inside. Effy tries some forearms but gets dropped with a single one from Suzuki. Then Effy bites Suzuki’s nipple and northern lights suplexes him for two. The big kiss staggers Suzuki but it’s a slap to the face and the Gotch style piledriver to give Suzuki the pin at 9:04.

Rating: C. Effy’s stuff may or may not be your cup of tea but Suzuki more or less squashed him here in a match with little to no doubt about the outcome. Effy was doing little more than comedy here so it isn’t like there was much to get annoyed about. They were going for the “wouldn’t it be funny if these two wrestled” idea here and I’ve seen worse versions.

Greatest Clusterf***

So this is basically a Royal Rumble, but only in the very loosest of terms. There are no set time intervals and I don’t believe there is a set number of entrants. I’m not going to be able to keep track of all of the eliminations, as I’ve never seen a version of this where they are all announced. This is going to be about total chaos and some surprise entrants and nothing more. You can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, over the top, leaving the building and…death?

Joey Janela is in at #1 and Buff Bagwell is in at #2 for your first surprise. Granted Buff is on a crutch but he has the American Males theme so this could be a lot worse. Janela wants to strut with him but it’s a superkick to get rid of Buff very quickly. George Gatton, with an unidentified title, is in at #3 and it’s a superkick into a piledriver to get rid of him too. Judas Judd Cassidy (I think?) is in at #4 and gets thrown over the top just as fast.

Yoya is in at #5 and suplexes Janela but gets caught in a heck of a package piledriver for the pin. Billie Starkz is in at #6 and a Gory Bomb takes Janela down but he raises knees to block her Swanton. That’s it for Starkz and it’s Juicy Finau (a big guy) in at #7. Janela can’t suplex him so Finau does it to Janela instead and it’s the even larger Sam Stackhouse, in Bam Bam Bigelow inspired gear, in at #8.

That leaves Janela to get crushed in the corner by back to back splashes but Stackhouse misses an ugly moonsault. Janela tosses both of them and it’s Rhett Titus in at #9 as Janela keeps up his Brock Lesnar-esque run. Titus wrestles him down and hits the running boot in the corner until it’s the Invisible Man in at #10.

So we have the Invisible Man, Janela and Titus with Titus and the Man slugging it out. The Man gets the better of both of them but an elbow to the face lets Janela and Titus beat him down. A double suplex lets the two of them pose but Man is back with a double low blow. The Man throws out Titus but gets stomped down until Dante Leon is in at #11. They waste no time in the next entrant with Ninja Mack in at #12.

Leon and Mack are long time rivals so they pose at each other before superkicking Janela down. A shooting star piledriver drops Mack and it’s a sick looking Jimmy Lloyd in at #13. Janela and Lloyd put on masks and they rehash their Social Distancing match, meaning they punch from a safe distance. Mack isn’t having that and kicks Lloyd down, setting up the running flip dive to drop Janela on the floor. Back in and Lloyd runs Mack over for the pin and Early Morning Guy Steele is in at #14.

Steele doesn’t seem to know what he is doing and falls off the top as Janela and Lloyd watch from the middle of the ring. Then Steele gives them a running double Blockbuster and a Canadian Destroyer each. Then he goes up top for a 450 to Lloyd, only to get rolled up for the pin from Janela. That was a weird one and it’s Blake Christian in at #15. House is cleaned but the Invisible Man hits Christian low. That earns him a dropkick and it’s Kevin Blackwood in at #16.

Blackwood’s suplex gets two on Leon and stomps on Janela in the corner until Hoodfoot is in at #17. Hoodfoot and Blackwood slug it out until Slade is in at #18. Young Dumb And Broke (Charlie Tiger and Ellis Taylor) are in at #19 and #20, giving us Janela, Invisible Man, Leon, Lloyd, Christian, Blackwood, Hoodfoot, Slade, Tiger and Taylor as this is far more organized than I was expecting. Everyone hits everyone until Deranged is in at #21 to clean house. With that going nowhere, Grim Reefer is in at #22 and has a smoke.

We now pause for everyone to partake, including Janela, who says he isn’t with AEW anymore and can do what he wants. Janela runs to the back (I don’t think he’s been eliminated but who can tell around here?) and Sandra Moone is in at #23. Reefer clotheslines her down and it’s Parrow in at #24. House is cleaned with Deranged and Reefer being eliminated almost immediately.

Big F’N Vin is in at #25 as Janela is having some Cheetos. Vin kicks Parrow out without much trouble as Janela wants to know his next spot. Nate Webb is in at #26 and comes through the crowd, who sings his theme music. Lloyd gets dropped by the Invisible Man, who hammers on Webb in the corner. Janela superkicks the Invisible Man though and tosses him out, much to the fans’ annoyance. Webb misses a charge and gets low bridged to the floor and Hoodfoot is tossed as well.

Shazza McKenzie is in at #27 and goes after Janela to start the beating. Janela gets in a shot to the face though and grabs a door, only to have McKenzie spear him through it. Janai Kai is in at #28 and Jazzy Yang (Jimmy Wang’s daughter) follows her at #29. The four women in the match stare each other down and it’s Edith Surreal in at #30. That gives us Janela, Leon, Lloyd, Christian, Blackwood, Tiger, Ellis, Moone, Vin, McKenzie, Kai, Yang and Surreal, assuming I didn’t miss any random eliminations.

Dark Sheik, another woman, is in at #31 and we have a six woman showdown. Uh make that seven as LuFisto is in at #32. Some of the guys come in to go after the women, with Leon and Taylor being tossed out. The women all beat up Tiger and toss him out with Vin joining him. Then the women get into it, with Kai kicking out LuFisto. Moone is out as well and McKenzie hits a Stunner on Kai for the elimination. Janela comes back in to superkick McKenzie for the pin and it’s Maven of all people in at #33.

Everyone stops to look at him so Maven hits a bunch of dropkicks….and then walks out for an elimination. Fans: “THANK YOU MAVEN!” With everyone else pairing off, Sean Ross Sapp, yes the dirt sheet writer, is in at #34, drawing a WE WANT MELTZER chant. Sapp gets a mic and begs people to subscribe to Fightful Select so they can read about GCW wrestlers getting fired by AEW. Josh Barnett, former UFC Heavyweight Champion, is in at #35 but fellow writer Denise Salcedo (not in the match) comes in to low blow Sapp and toss him out.

Nasty Leroy is in at #36 and Barnett blasts him with a clothesline as Jimmy Wang Yang is in at #37. Yang manages to take him down (not the prettiest but it worked) so Jazzy (remember, Yang’s daughter) comes in to grab the leg, which apparently counts as a submission to get rid of Barnett. Jazzy rolls up Lloyd for an elimination and it’s Alec Price in at #38. Price tosses Yang and dances a bit before getting kicked in the face by Jazzy. That’s enough for Price to toss her as well and it’s Cole Radrick in at #39.

Radrick and Price wind up on the apron and it’s a double elimination. Brandon Kirk is in at #40, giving us Janela, Christian, Blackwood, Slade, Surreal, Sheik, Leroy and Kirk (I think at least). Sheik hits Kirk low as we’re told Slade has left the building. Janela runs the ropes a lot until Lord Adrean (a Wal-Mart Guy) is in at #41. Adrean cleans house and Tombstones Kirk for the elimination, only to get Death Valley Drivered by Janela for another elimination. Kevin Matthews (you might remember him as KM in Impact) is in at #42 and stares it down with Leroy.

A not great looking Rock Bottom plants Matthews and a worse Rock Bottom sets up a leglock for the tap as Janela busts a gut laughing. Then Janela hits Leroy low and pins him and it’s Nick Wayne in at #43 for a brawl on the apron with Janela. Wayne superkicks Janela out for one heck of a pop and here is B-Boy to introduce Team LA Fights, which are six unnamed people. The team (Jai Vidal and Jack Cartwheel are two of them) clean house and something like a Styles Clash into a sitout powerbomb gets rid of Blackwood.

With those six in at #44-49, the Second City Crew (AJ Gray/Mance Warner/Matthew Justice/1 Called Manders and Levi Everett) are in #50-#54. The Crew cleans house with Matt Vandagriff (of LA Fights) being tossed. Damian Drake and Ju Dizz (I think) are both out with Hunter Freeman joining them. Cartwheel gets knocked out but walks on his hands until Manders chairs him down for the elimination. Vidal is tossed out and the Crew is left alone until the others still in the match come in.

Christian and Wayne get together to toss Everett and Manders. Somehow Christian and Wayne are the last two with Christian hitting a quick Downward Spiral for the pin…and never mind as yeah there are some people still left. Sheik comes in off the top with a spinwheel kick and the rest of the Crew pile onto her for the pin. Christian goes after the Crew but gets taken down and superplexed into a top rope legdrop for the pin….and that’s it at 1:23:57 (I guess Surreal was tossed somewhere in there).

Rating: C+. To be clear, this match is not about something coherent or anything more than having one name after another. That being said, this was WAY more coherent than the previous edition and that helped a lot. This felt more like a very indy Royal Rumble and, save for Surreal, no one was getting lost in the whole thing. I had a good time with this and it did fly by with some fun moments. It’s the kind of match that I was expecting from a Spring Break and it went well, especially with all of the insanity that came with it.

Overall Rating: B-. This was more like the Spring Breaks of the past and it worked out pretty well all things considered. It was a collection of some fun matches before we got to the big main event and that wound up working well. Good stuff here and it didn’t feel like a regular GCW show. While those can be fun, it’s not what I came into this wanting. The main event is all that mattered here and the other four matches were a nice bonus so we’ll call this a success.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Summer Bash 2016
Date: June 24, 2016
Location: Evolution Sports Gym, Elizabethtown, Tennessee
Commentators: Matt Rhodes, Mike Cooper, Heath Snead

This is from NWA Smoky Mountain as I continue a trek through some random independent companies (or as independent as the NWA is). As usual, I have no idea what to expect from this show but it’s the NWA in Tennessee so you can imagine the fans are going to be pretty into the show. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that I have no idea what is going on here from a storyline or character perspective so please bear with me.

There is no intro video and we’re going straight to the first match.

White Trash Millionaires vs. Air America vs. Hardliners

That would be Corey Smith/Lenny Stratton (with Taylor Hennig (I think?)) vs. Gavin Daring/Skylar Kruze vs. Bryan Montgomery/Jeff Connelly (with Travis Stikes). I think you can get the idea of the debuting Millionaires and Air America seem to be hometown high fliers. Kruze spins out of a wristlock and cranks on Stratton’s wrist before handing it off to Daring for more of the same.

Back up and Stratton hits a shoulder, only to get armdragged into the corner. Smith, in overalls, comes in to power Daring into the corner for a right hand to the face. It’s back to Kruze for a double drop toehold and a front facelock but Smith is back up without much effort. Stratton comes in and gets to face Montgomery, the latter of whom starts with a Rick Rude hip swivel. A rather high hiptoss puts Montgomery down and a kick to the head puts him on the floor.

Kruze jumps to the apron and kicks the Millionaires down (Cooper: “They’re worth about $1.50 right now!”) before Stratton gets back in. Smith’s knee from the apron cuts Kruze down and there’s the gorilla press toss face first onto the turnbuckle. Stratton comes back in with a slingshot spear for two but Montgomery tags himself in to plant Darling for two. A Russian legsweep/dropkick combination gets two so Connelly grabs an STF.

Montgomery comes back in to cut off a comeback bit and something like a Russian legsweep cuts Darling off again. Darling finally comes back with a Sling Blade and the hot tag brings in Kruze to clean house. A springboard bulldog hits Montgomery but Connelly isn’t even going to let him get one. Everything breaks down with the parade of finishers, including a fireman’s carry slam, which is called a version of the Go To Sleep by commentators who aren’t as good as they think they are.

Darling catapults Stratton into a superkick (with commentary getting in one of the most annoying calls I’ve ever heard by calling it a SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPERKICK in a loud voice) from Kruze. Stikes breaks up something on the top so Darling dives onto him and Smith, leaving the hardliners to hit a Downward Spiral 3D to finish Kruze at 12:31.

Rating: C+. This definitely felt like lower level stars trying to do a match that they have seen others do better, but it worked out fairly well. The finish looked cool and Air America is a good name for a team, though the Millionaires were barely a factor here. Good enough choice for an opener here, even if I want the commentators tied up to a wall and pummeled with various clubs and sticks.

The Agency (seems to be a rather large heel stable) throws out the interviewer (who might be Heath Snead) and says they are going to dominate everyone tonight. The leader, or at least the main talker, is ready for Buff Bagwell in the main event.

Vince Brent vs. Axton Ray

This is champion (Brent is the Mountain Empire Champion and Ray is the TV Champion) vs. champion but it’s non-title. Brent is part of the Agency and has a bunch of people, including a woman named Kayla, with him. On the other hand, Ray is still around to this day and popped up on AEW Dark as a jobber. They take their time circling each other before going to one of the weakest lockups I can remember seeing.

A battle over wrist control goes to Ray but he gets armdragged down, allowing Brent to dab. Back up and Ray flips out of a headscissors and armdrags him out to the floor. Ray’s dive is cut off though and they brawl out into the fans. Axton gets sent over the bleachers but dives over them, setting up a dive off said bleachers. Back in and Ray sends him outside again, this time setting up the big slingshot dive. They go inside again, with Brent grabbing a Backstabber for two this time.

The chinlock goes on for a bit before Brent’s suplex gets a rather cocky near fall. Brent grabs a front facelock before sending Ray outside for a running flip dive. Back in and we hit the chinlock, with the camera showing the WIDE gap between Brent’s arm and anything but Ray’s jaw. Even commentary has to point out that it’s not doing anything as Ray fights up and hits a Russian legsweep for a breather.

They slug it out from their knees until Ray is up with a dropkick for two. Brent is right back with a Codebreaker for two of his own but Ray hits a slam. Ray loads up a People’s Elbow but rolls over Ray and springboards into the elbow drop (ok that was clever) for two of his own. They both go up top with Ray getting pulled face down onto the turnbuckle, setting up a running knee for another near fall.

Brent gets sent into the corner though and it’s a springboard missile dropkick for two, as part of the Agency pulled Ray out. Ray misses a top rope double stomp though and it’s the Killshot (jumping Downward Spiral) for the really near fall. The Agency offers another distraction though, allowing Brent to get a chain. Said chain knocks a springboarding Ray silly and Brent gets the pin at 17:55.

Rating: B. One of the best compliments I can give a match in a promotion I don’t watch is that I wanted to know who was going to win. That was the case here, as they got the drama rolling very well. The action was certainly good for a show of this level and Ray seems to have something. I liked this one quite a bit and it was a lot better than I would have expected.

Post match Brent celebrates….but here is someone named Toby Farley, who shows the referee that Brent left part of the chain hanging out of his tights (like a moron). That’s good for a restart, allowing Ray to roll him up for the pin at 18:46. Oh yeah this is a Tennessee show.

United States Tag Team Titles: Cabal vs. Heatseekers

The Heatseekers (Elliott Russell/Sigmon) are defending against the Cabal (Jason Kincaid/Travis Lee), who are creepy/weird, complete with a manager (Brian Wayne) with a stop sign covered with a smiley face. Lee, a monster, has the title belts despite the Cabal being the champions. Kincaid (who I’ve seen before and is a bit odd) sits down to look at the champs before starting with Sigmon.

After nothing happens there, Lee comes in to throw Sigmon into the corner and hit him with a headbutt. It’s back to Kincaid, who gets stomped down in the corner before the champs give him a double back elbow. Sigmon’s suplex sets up Russell’s Russian legsweep for two, followed by some forearms to the back. Lee gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and it’s Russell getting stomped down in the corner for a change.

That’s enough for Lee to start going nuts and ram his own head into the buckle, allowing the tag back to Sigmon. For some reason the champs try a suplex on the nearly 400lb Lee, earning themselves a double suplex right back. A chokebreaker drops Sigmon again and it’s Kincaid raking Sigmon’s back. Lee front facelocks Sigmon as Kincaid has a seat on the top. The slow beating continues and Kincaid, the creepy/crazy one, grabs a creepy/crazy chinlock.

Back up and Sigmon hits a good dropkick to get himself out of trouble but the tag is broken up again. This time it’s Sigmon getting sent outside so Wayne can get in some stompings. Sigmon gets back in again, where a seated Kincaid is waiting on him to block the tag again. Kincaid gets smart by taking Russell off the apron but has to kick out of a quick rollup attempt. Lee stomps on Sigmon’s back (the “shoulderplexus” according to commentary) but a Russell distraction lets Sigmon get in a dropkick.

This hasn’t gone on long enough though and it’s Lee hitting a catapult into the corner. Kincaid charges into an elbow in the corner but goes up for no logically explored reason, allowing Lee to cheap shot him. A Diamond Cutter onto the knee gives Kincaid two but he misses a top rope double stomp (second match in a row with that one). Sigmon gets in a German suplex and it’s FINALLY back to Russell to pick up the pace. There’s a neckbreaker to Kincaid and a belly to belly gives Russell a delayed two.

Kincaid snaps off a powerslam though and it’s a jumping double stomp. A springboard is loaded up but Kincaid dives into a belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination. That’s still not enough though as Kincaid is back with a running clothesline against the ropes. The slingshot Blockbuster (to a bent over Russell) gets two more but Russell is back with a boot to the chest for a double knockdown.

Lee goes after them but it’s a double superplex to take him down, with the impact crotching Kincaid on top. Sigmon’s suicide dive takes Lee down on the floor and it’s a super hurricanrana to Kincaid. The fireman’s carry onto the knee finishes Kincaid to retain the titles at 18:37.

Rating: C. This was LONG and that is the kind of match that gets annoying in a hurry. It felt like it just kept going and I was waiting for it to get over with already, which is never the kind of feeling that you want. The Heatseekers weren’t exactly a thrilling team and Lee was little more than your standard monster. Kincaid is different, but not an entertaining match as it went on FAR too long.

Dani Fererra/Rock-C vs. Kaela/Nicole Stratton

That isn’t future Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Rok-C and Stratton is Lenny’s wife. Kaela is part of the Agency so part of the team is here with her. Rock-C has a stuffed Flounder from the Little Mermaid to make her a bit better. Kaela and Fererra start things off with commentary talking about how attractive the women are in a bad flashback. It’s off to Stratton almost immediately and Fererra slams her down, allowing the tag off to Rock-C.

Kaela comes in but gets sent into Stratton, leaving Rock-C to chest bump Stratton down. Back up and Stratton German suplexes Fererra as commentary talks about how much these two dislike each other. They hit stereo…flying head attacks I guess you would call them for a double knockdown. That means it’s back to Kaela vs. Rock-C with the former having to escape a fireman’s carry. Everything breaks down and Kaela hits a running knee to finish Rock-C at 3:46.

Rating: D. Yeah this was bad as it felt like a match that was there for the sake of having a women’s match on the show. It wasn’t much above the Divas era of WWE and that is rather striking given that this is a year after the Women’s Revolution. It was sloppy and the women did not exactly look polished or ready to be on anything above the lowest level show.

Post match Fererra gets taken out as well.

Colby Corino vs. Timmy Lou Retton

Believe it or not, Retton is a gymnast. The villainous Corino offers a handshake but then misses a kick to the head. A suplex drops Corino and a standing shooting star makes it worse. Back up and Corino avoids a charge into the corner as commentary points out that Retton looks like Big E. Corino knocks him outside and teases a dive but instead slides to the floor for a chop.

Back in and Retton gets kicked in the chest, followed by a running kick to the head for a delayed two. Corino chops him up against the ropes and a right hand to the face puts Retton down again. There’s a dropkick for two more and it’s off to something like a seated abdominal stretch. Commentary keeps making New Day references as Corino hits some running knees in the corner.

Double knees to the face knock Retton silly and he looks out in the corner. Retton manages to pull himself up though and it’s a Pele to drop Corino. A corner splash sets up a leg lariat into a reverse Cannonball in the corner. Corino avoids a corner charge though and a Stunner gets two on Retton. Back up and Retton says hit him harder before flipping Corino down into a spinebuster. A nice looking moonsault finishes Corino at 10:00.

Rating: C. Corino is a rather small guy and it is kind of hard to buy him as a physical threat to just about anyone. Retton is rather athletic and the gymnastics background helped him a lot here. The moonsault looked good too and I could see Retton doing fairly well going forward. He has appeared for AEW as well so there is something to him.

Post match Corino spits on Retton, who chases him out of the arena.

Buff Bagwell/Toby Farley vs. Jordan Kage/Chris Richards

It isn’t a good sign when your big name is Buff Bagwell. Richards and Kage are part of the Agency so the team is here with them. This is Farley’s return after a shoulder injury so he gets a big entrance. Bagwell’s is bigger though, as he gets the still awesome WCW theme but his right shoulder is in a big brace and he can only slap hands with fans using his left hand. Before the match, a fan wins some kind of a contest, with commentary saying we could have done that after this was over.

We hit the stall button before the bell as Kage isn’t happy with the fans throwing toilet paper at him. Bagwell can barely get through the ropes to the apron due to his shoulder so it’s Kage vs. Farley to start. Actually we’ll make that Farley vs. the very tall Richards instead, with Farley being tossed down. That works so well that they do it again so let’s try Bagwell vs. Kage. The one armed Bagwell can still strut and pose (kind of) as the fans mock Kage by calling him a princess.

Kage shoulders him down and gets to pose as Bagwell isn’t looking happy. Back up and Bagwell’s shoulder works a bit better and some atomic drops send Kage into the corner. Richards gets knocked off the apron as well and the good guys clear the ring without much effort. That means more stalling on the floor as this hasn’t exactly been interesting so far. Back in and a double elbow puts Kage down again, setting up Farley’s (loudly called) backdrop.

Kage gets in a shot of his own though and it’s Richards coming back in for some choking. It’s back to Kage for two off a dropkick, allowing Richards to stand on Farley’s throat. Some spitting draws Bagwell in, leaving Farley to get caught in a Hart Attack for two. Bagwell tries to come in again so the referee doesn’t see Farley’s rollup on Kage. Instead Farley knocks Kage down and the hot tag brings in Bagwell for the one armed house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Bagwell hits Richards with I guess you would say a one armed Pedigree for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C-. I know Bagwell was hurt but this was bad even with that added in. He couldn’t do much of anything and most of his offense was lame because of the injury. The rest of the match was what you would have expected and that wasn’t exactly much to see. Farley seems like someone the fans would care about, but he was mainly selling here until Bagwell got the win. Not much to this one, even with Bagwell’s injury holding him back.

Bagwell and Farley pose to end the show.

Of note: the IndependentWrestling.TV preview for this show mentions an opening match between Wild Bull and Onslaught, which apparently took place but isn’t mentioned here. In addition, the splash image preview is of the Outsiders, who were apparently there for a meet and greet and were mentioned on commentary, but never appeared either. What a weird double bit of false advertising.

Overall Rating: C-. There was some decent enough stuff on here but the last two matches were lame and I’m not wild on waiting on something to take place after it was listed. Brent vs. Ray and the opener were both good, but the rest of the show was pretty much downhill after that. Not a good show, and it didn’t make me want to see anything else from this company, save for maybe Ray.

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Thunder
Date: March 14, 2001
Location: Knoxville Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

The long nightmare is almost over as we only have two shows left, including this one. This is the final show before Greed and things aren’t exactly looking up. Monday’s show was full of old guys having bad matches and not enough build to anything other than Sunday’s main event. Let’s get to it.

Nitro montage.

Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: 3 Count vs. Rey Mysterio/Billy Kidman

The winners get Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo at Greed. Kidman and Moore start things off with a headscissors putting Kidman down. Moore misses a slingshot hilo though and it’s Rey getting two off a moonsault. Evan comes in and gets taken down with a springboard ankle scissors (or an ankle lock according to Tenay) but he plants Rey with a spinebuster for two.

The double teaming slows things down for a bit until Rey 619s around the ropes and tags in Kidman to speed things right back up. The villains get Kidman to the floor for a whip into the barricade followed by a suplex/high crossbody combo. It’s impressive when a team can do the high flying stuff and still be heels. Evan springboards into a dropkick to the ribs and the hot tag brings in Rey to clean house.

Karagias puts him down and a 450 gets two on Rey. Bottoms Up plants Kidman (illegal) for two with Mysterio making the save, followed by a Bronco Buster to Shannon. A middle rope seated senton (not Thesz Press Mike) drops Evan and Kidman dives onto everyone. Back in and Kidman holds Moore up in a wheelbarrow suplex for a springboard missile dropkick to give Rey the pin and the spot in the finals.

Rating: C+. Standard high flying tag match here but at least the ending was a unique move. They flew around for about ten minutes and popped the crowd to open the show and that’s really all you can ask for from the cruiserweights at this point. The downside to all this though: the tournament final won’t have any of the six cruiserweights who have broken their backs for months to get the cruiserweight tag matches over. Those matches were almost all for nothing, as is the case way too often in WCW.

Skipper and Romeo come out but are quickly dispatched.

Disco Inferno and Alex Wright are eating lunch with Disco stealing food off Alex’s plate. That’s enough for Wright and the team seems to be done.

Here’s Diamond Dallas Page to say he’s still standing and ready to take the title from Scott on Sunday. This brings out Dustin Rhodes, who says he’s here on Ric Flair’s orders. Cue Ric, Jeff Jarrett and Rick Steiner to the video screen to say Scott is off tonight (because who needs him to sell a pay per view on the go home show) and Cat/Booker T. are both gone. Therefore, the main event will be Paige/Dustin vs. Jeff/Rick, which we saw just a month ago. With the three of them on the screen, here are Rick and Jeff to attack Page and Dustin from behind. The heels are quickly cleared out.

Jason Jett vs. Alex Wright

Wright is ticked off and hammers away before getting two off a powerslam. Jett sends him into the corner and gets two of his own with an enziguri. A standing moonsault lets Jett show off even more but he misses a charge in the corner. Wright gets two of his own off a good looking spinwheel kick and a top rope superplex for the same.

Alex stays aggressive by knocking Jason outside with a forearm, only to have his suplex countered into a small package. Off to a modified abdominal stretch on the mat to keep Jason in trouble. Back up and Jason crotches him on the top before hitting a Tajiri handspring elbow. Jett’s release suplex slam (the Crash Landing) is enough for the upset pin.

Rating: C+. Jett had some potential and looked like a new star in the making but unfortunately time caught up with him. You would think he would have gotten some time in the WWF but for some reason it never went anywhere. At least someone like Wright is putting him over here so they were kind of trying.

We get some more from Buff’s “documentary” with Flair and Lex Luger wondering who attacked Midajah. Ric changes gears in a hurry and puts Buff, Luger, Palumbo and O’Haire in a four way elimination.

Video on Booker T. vs. Rick Steiner.

Here’s Shawn Stasiak for a match and he has Stacy with him. Before we get to his opponents, Stacy has to talk about how awesome Shawn is. Shawn on the other hand insults the fans for being fat and tattooed because he didn’t learn a thing on Monday. Cue Reno to say he’s bald and tattooed so let’s have a match.

Shawn Stasiak vs. Reno

Stasiak takes over to start which goes against the rules of a wrestler answering a challenge. A side slam and gutwrench suplex get two each for Shawn as we hear about Reno’s pit fighting career. Reno stops a charge in the corner and grabs a suplex for two of his own. They head outside with Stasiak taking over. I guess a pit isn’t as deadly as a padded section of floor next to the ring. A top rope clothesline gets two for Shawn and he quickly escapes a Roll of the Dice into a neckbreaker to put Reno away.

Rating: D-. So is there a reason why Stasiak got this push instead of Reno? Stacy couldn’t be into the bad guy with the ponytail and tattoos instead of the muscle guy? I’d love to hear that production meeting where this was the answer they decided on. Bad, bad match here as Stasiak continues to be horrible in the ring. He’s terrible on the mic too but one problem at a time.

Stacy dances to brighten things up a bit as Stasiak autographs a picture for Reno. Bam Bam Bigelow comes out to chase Stasiak off.

Chuck Palumbo vs. Sean O’Haire vs. Lex Luger vs. Buff Bagwell

Because we’ve seen these teams in singles matches so many times that this is the best we can get. Bagwell and Palumbo get things going which is arguably one of the best two combinations. Whatever keeps Luger out of the ring at this point. Just to show you how bad of an idea this is, we almost immediately cut to a shot of the crowd and come back to Buff on the mat, meaning someone botched the heck out of something.

Sean comes in and eats a jawbreaker so it’s off to Luger for an atomic drop, giving us another crowd shot. I know the match isn’t very good but they botched that badly twice in a row? Sean gets in a suplex on Luger and tags Buff in, which lasts all of no time as Luger hits Palumbo on the apron so Buff can tag out. A quick chop block brings Palumbo down and Buff grabs a rollup to get us down to a handicap match. Sean slams Luger for two with Lex’s foot on the rope but Palumbo shoves it off to make it a pin. So it’s one on one now and a quick clothesline into the Seanton Bomb puts Buff away in a hurry.

Rating: F. It’s never a good sign when you completely run out of ideas for a feud. It’s also not a good sign when you don’t have anyone else on the roster to feed into this match so the champs could have a quick squash etc. At least O’Haire got to look like the conquering hero as his push continues to seem like it could have gone somewhere if the company had stuck around.

Totally Buff gets chased to the back.

Disco tries to get Mike Sanders to team with him tonight. Sanders so no, until Flair comes up and asks Mike to go fix a toilet, because in WCW’s world the company fixes building issues. Mike decides to team with Disco instead, albeit after taking his time thinking about it.

Video on the Rhodes Family vs. Jarrett/Flair.

Flair tells Animal to go interrogate Page about Midajah’s attack. After Animal leaves, Flair accuses Animal of doing it.

Kwee Wee vs. Shane Helms

So Kwee Wee has gone from “I should be in the heel stable” to Sanders’ wacky partner to jobbing to the #1 contender to the Cruiserweight Title. Dang he’s on a roll. I mean it’s a roll down a hill but a roll is a roll. If nothing else there’s Shane’s really cool entrance. Unfortunately there’s also a shot that shows WAY too many empty seats.

They start slowly as the announcers keep referring to Kwee Wee as Kiwi. To be fair that would probably have extended his career. Kwee Wee slams him for two as you can tell they’re not exactly interested in trying tonight. Helms gets in an armdrag to send Kwee Wee to the floor for a baseball slide followed by a high crossbody.

Back in and another crossbody puts Kwee Wee down, followed by a northern lights suplex for two. The Vertebreaker is countered into a rollup for two and Kwee Wee goes back to the slam. He tries to go a bit too high though and a top rope legdrop only hits the mat, setting up the Vertebreaker to give Shane the pin.

Rating: C-. Shane is on a roll at this point and there’s no reason for him to not win the title on Sunday. Chavo has been great with the belt but Shane is clearly the top guy in the division at the moment. It’s a rare instance of a story being well put together to set up a big title change, which you almost never see around here.

We look back at the post match shenanigans from the four way.

Hugh Morrus/Konnan vs. Mike Sanders/Disco Inferno

I guess this is a warmup for Morrus/Konnan, who are described as locker room leaders. No wonder the company went under. The bad guys jump them from behind to take over but Disco stops to dance. Disco and Konnan fight on the floor (aftermath of that music video feud), leaving Morrus to clothesline Mike over the top. We settle back into a regular tag match with Sanders elbowing Morrus off the apron to keep Konnan in trouble.

Tenay actually brings up the Dungeon of Doom and Tony sounds stunned. A chinlock doesn’t get Sanders anywhere as Tony is still on the Dungeon reference. The hot tag brings in Morrus for running splashes in the corner and a Hart Attack with Konnan playing Bret (payback for teaching him the Sharpshooter perhaps). Konnan grabs a Last Dance (Stunner) on Disco to set up the No Laughing Matter and the Tequila Sunrise.

Rating: D. For Dungeon of Doom, the highlight of the match. I got a good chuckle out of hearing Konnan and Morrus as the locker room leaders but there’s nothing wrong with throwing them together for the sake of having another midcard team. It’s not like either of them had anything to do in the first place.

Team Canada attacks post match.

Buff Bagwell finds Animal laid out with the words IT WASN’T HIM and an arrow over his unconscious body.

Video on Scott Steiner vs. Diamond Dallas Page.

Diamond Dallas Page/Dustin Rhodes vs. Jeff Jarrett/Rick Steiner

All four get their own entrances to further illustrate how this is just two singles matches at the same time. The bad guys are cleared out in an opening brawl until it’s Page and Steiner to start. Rick has already sold enough before the match so he blasts Page with a Steinerline to take over and already hands it off to Jeff. That goes nowhere so it’s time for more Steiner because he’s the veteran here and therefore needs to get the ring time.

Rick and Jeff take turns beating on Page until a jawbreaker staggers Rick enough for the hot tag to Dustin…..which the referee doesn’t see. The hot tag works a few seconds later and Rick accidentally Steinerlines the referee. Steiner powerslams Dustin and here’s Ric Flair to count the cover with Page making the save. In the melee, Jeff guitars Dustin for the pin.

Rating: D. This was your run of the mill filler match to close out a taping with the audience completely not interested. To be fair though, how interested can you be in something like this? It’s a boring match with the #1 contender having no reason to be in the match other than “Booker isn’t here”. It’s fitting that the final Thunders end with main events like this one: the big stars are in the building but they don’t feel like working this show.

A bunch of people come out for the NWO style brawl. Page escapes to say he’s still standing to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. If you couldn’t tell before, this show has turned over and died. It’s very clear that they don’t care anymore and nothing is going to change that in the last few weeks. The big stars not being here (Save for Booker who had a storyline excuse. I mean, it was a completely unnecessary storyline excuse but it’s better than nothing.) is ridiculous, but then you realize that aside from Booker and Scott Steiner, the biggest names probably are the Cat, Page and Rick Steiner. I don’t think I need to offer much more of an explanation as to why WCW wasn’t around much longer after that.

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Monday Nitro #278
Date: February 19, 2001
Location: Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone

At this point, I can’t imagine they’ll ever leave the southeast again. We’re past SuperBrawl and as is far too often the case with pay per views, not a lot happened. Scott Steiner retired Kevin Nash which I’m sure means he won’t be back whatsoever. We’ve got less than four weeks until Greed so this is the final time we’ll start the build to a pay per view. Let’s get to it.

We open with the pay per view recap.

There’s some exclusive footage of Nash walking out and driving away from the arena last night. This is far too somber for someone who spent years trying to take over the company.

In the arena, there’s a Kevin Nash RIP screen up and here are some people carrying a casket. After they get to the ring, the Magnificent Seven come out in suits (with titles of course) as it’s time for a funeral. Flair says we’re here tonight to bid farewell to a man who walked as a giant amidst titans. Nash was a once in a lifetime athlete and now his career has come to an end because the Magnificent Seven struck last night.

Now there’s no one to stand against them at all because no one can handle Scott Steiner. Scott says they’ll do whatever it takes to succeed because he’s the man making history. They’re heels in case they haven’t spelled it out well enough for you. We get the same list of people that Scott has destroyed and sent to the hospital but apparently they’re all scared to come back. As Steiner talks about each victim, the RIP graphic changes appropriately. Scott was willing to let Nash live out the rest of his life at a nice retirement home but then Nash put his hands on the freak.

Now there’s one man left for Scott to go after and he’s going to show us who that is. The casket is opened and it’s Kanyon dressed as Diamond Dallas Page. Tonight Buff is going to beat up Cat, Jarrett is going to take out Dustin Rhodes and Kanyon can hurt Page but make sure to leave Scott a little piece. Cue Page through the crowd to say he’ll take care of Kanyon tonight and then get his hands on Steiner at Greed.

Miss Jones congratulates Cat for becoming Commissioner again. To celebrate, Cat makes the Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles and the tournament to crown the first champions starts next week. Well they might as well give the three teams something to fight over to make it seem like they’re getting somewhere.

Jamie Knoble vs. Shannon Moore

Evan Karagias is here with Knoble. They start fast with some quick headscissors until Shannon misses a charge in the corner. Jamie gets two off a northern lights suplex as the announcers actually talk about the match for a change of pace. A running leg lariat in the corner staggers Jamie and knocks him out to the floor for a big flip dive. Shannon dropkicks him into Evan, who is knocked into the steps. Like almost any wrestler would, Evan blames Knoble and decks him from behind, allowing Shannon to hit Bottoms Up for the pin.

Rating: C. More of the same here but at least they might be mixing up the teams a little bit. I can go for the idea of some new teams going into the tournament but it would be nice if they had some new talent instead of the same six guys fighting over and over again. Shannon has been growing on me in the last few weeks and his ring work has been making him stand out, which says a lot given who he has around him.

Konnan and Kidman are ready to take out Animal and Chavo tonight. They don’t want Road Warrior Animal style though. Instead let’s do it Filthy Animals style.

Mike Awesome vs. Bryan Clarke

Fallout from Awesome dressing up like Clarke last night, though I thought Clarke was still injured. They slug it out to start with Clarke getting the better of it, though he keeps looking over his shoulder. As you would expect, Elix Skipper runs in but gets slammed down with ease. Lance Storm comes in as well and that’s enough for the DQ.

Team Canada beats Bryan down until Brian Adams comes out for the save.

After a break, Team Canada is still in the ring when Cat and Miss Jones (in a completely different outfit than earlier) come out. It’s time for Storm to pay for his crimes as Commissioner so Cat is giving him a match. If Storm doesn’t fight, he can go make pancakes in Canada because he’ll be fired.

Kid Romeo is coming. Or coming back as he was around a little over a year ago.

Chavo Guerrero Jr./Animal vs. Konnan/Billy Kidman

Animal and Konnan start fighting in the back after Chavo has come to the ring. Kidman, in a black shirt for a change, runs in from behind to jump Chavo and we take a break with no bell. We come back to see Chavo and Kidman brawling with referees not being able to break it up. Konnan and Animal come down the ramp and the match actually starts with Chavo hitting a tornado DDT on Kidman.

I’m assuming the match started somewhere during the break as Konnan does Chris Jericho’s springboard dropkick to knock Chavo off the apron. Things settle down with Kidman elbowing Chavo in the face and handing it off to Konnan for a reverse standing Figure Four with both arms tied up. That’s certainly different. Animal makes a save because he’s Animal and doesn’t do a lot of wrestling, allowing Chavo to take over in the corner.

Konnan gets in his rolling lariat so Kidman can come back in. Everything breaks down and some double teaming puts Animal on the floor and Konnan completely botches his faceplant on Chavo. You can hear the crowd going awkwardly silent as they seem stunned that Konnan can’t sit down properly. The big guys fight on the floor as Rey Mysterio runs in for a What’s Up legdrop to Chavo, setting up the Kid Crusher to give Kidman the pin.

Rating: C. Chavo continues to look good in the ring and putting him in there with Kidman is only going to produce even more great stuff. I wasn’t wild on Rey coming in for the cheating as it takes some of the steam out of Kidman’s win, as well as doesn’t fit someone like Rey in general. Still though, not a bad match here with Konnan actually working hard to make up for Animal not even trying.

In case you thought something of Kidman there, Animal powerbombs him into oblivion. Animal never was legally in the match which keeps making me wonder why he has this spot. Was Team Canada so important that they couldn’t put Mike Awesome in his same spot?

Buff Bagwell vs. The Cat

Before the match, Cat offers Bagwell a chance to leave Flair’s team and come back to the good side. Bagwell considers it before hitting Cat in the face to take over. Cat comes back with some chops to the throat but gets caught in a swinging neckbreaker for two. It’s already off to the chinlock but Buff stops to strut instead. We hit the second chinlock and Cat looks like he’s nodded off.

Some clotheslines cut off the comeback and it’s BACK TO THE CHINLOCK. We’re not even five minutes in and it’s already the third chinlock. At what point do you just realize Buff has nothing else to offer? Buff dives into raised feet and it’s time for some kicks. Cue Kanyon so Miss Jones gets on the apron, only to allow Buff to get in the double arm DDT (with Cat landing on his hands). The Blockbuster puts Cat away for the pin.

Rating: D-. Again: five minutes and three chinlocks. Bagwell gets lazier and lazier every single time he’s in the ring but at least he’s had some good matches before. I don’t ever remember Cat doing anything above bad. If that chinlock is the best they can do, cut this off and put on a Norman the Lunatic match instead as you might get some chuckles as a result.

Jones gets a Kanyon Cutter post match. Cat fights them off but I can’t imagine we’ll be seeing Jones again, which is a shame.

Post break Jones is taken away in an ambulance.

US Title: Rick Steiner vs. Lash Leroux

Steiner is defending and quickly takes Lash outside for a whip into the barricade. This looks like one of those matches where Rick seems more ticked off than usual. A Steiner Line almost takes Lash’s head off as the fans accurately call this boring. Steiner throws him down with a release German suplex before ripping at his face. Another Steiner Line and three Steiner Drivers complete Lash’s destruction.

Rating: F. Yes we get it. Rick Steiner is the most amazingly tough wrestler of all time and we’re supposed to be interested in seeing him beat people up really hard. For some reason he’s the US Champion despite not drawing a dime in years and barely associating with his brother, which would be almost the only possible way for people to be interested in him.

Lash is checked out by medics post break.

Scott Steiner gives Kanyon his brass knuckles to use on Page later. Page isn’t making it to Thunder.

Hugh Morrus wants to fight Rick Steiner for personal revenge but his match with Storm tonight is about pleasure.

Lance Storm vs. Hugh Morrus

Team Canada is barred from ringside. Storm says he doesn’t care who he’s fighting tonight because he was born to wrestle. Morrus can’t get him into a test of strength to start so the referee says they have 6:30. They trade chops until Morrus knocks him outside with a clothesline. Back in and a fall away slam looks to set up No Laughing Matter, only to have Storm take him down and possibly hurt the knees.

Morrus gets back up and catapults Storm into the buckle but can’t follow up. A trip to the floor lets Morrus take over again and he splashes Storm in the corner for good measure. Storm superkicks him down and grabs the Mapleleaf, only to get slammed and hit with No Laughing Matter for the pin.

Rating: D+. The feud had lost any of its heat at this point but it was nice to see them actually stick with Morrus as a big deal who can win matches on his own for a change. Storm is in a really weird place at the moment as he was Commissioner for six days but is now losing most of his matches without putting up much of a fight. It could have been a worse match but Morrus winning made more sense.

Here’s Jeff Jarrett dressed as Dusty Rhodes (including a very stuffed shirt and jeans) for a bad comedy impression. Jeff, in a borderline good Dusty, talks about how he’s here to save WCW and says no one can beat Dustin when his daddy is in his corner. Unfortunately there’s no way he can beat the Chosen One because Dustin (the fruit of his loins, which Jarrett says about ten times) just isn’t good enough.

Jarrett calls in some young wrestlers for an exhibition, which means slow motion elbows. Jeff falls down and can’t get up as the announcers treat this as some horrible idea. One of the guys gets Shattered Dreams until Dustin comes out, only to have Rick Steiner follow and beat Dustin down. Jeff guitars him and the villains stand tall. This went on and on and wasn’t that funny, mainly because it’s about Dusty Rhodes in 2001.

The announcers pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who passed away the day before.

Kanyon vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page goes right after him to start and knocks Kanyon outside, meaning it’s time for a brawl in the crowd. That only leads to some brawling before they get inside again with Kanyon bailing to the corner to avoid a Diamond Cutter. Kanyon comes back with a middle rope faceplant for two and a Russian legsweep gets the same. Page is sent into the corner for a middle rope Fameasser and it’s off to the chinlock. The fans chant for Page in one of the few genuine reactions of the night.

Page fights up and gets a belly to back suplex to put both guys down for some of the loudest spot calling I’ve heard in a long time. The discus lariat drops Kanyon but he’s still able to get out of the Diamond Cutter. The Kanyon Cutter gets two and the Positively Page book (which clearly has a brick inside) gets the same. Kanyon loads up the knuckles but walks into the Diamond Cutter for the pin.

Rating: C+. I know Page doesn’t have the best reputation around this time but he’s by far and away the most consistent main event star of this last year. He just has good matches with anyone you put him out there against and that’s so valuable to have. Above all else though the fans still care about him and that’s more important than almost anything anyone can do in the ring.

Post match Scott Steiner leads the troops out but Page is smart enough to bail into the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. That middle portion is the usual death but there was enough good stuff in here to easily carry things for a week. Greed has some potential but the big story would seem to be who comes after Page to challenge Scott for the title. The announcers were talking about the Cat and Dustin Rhodes, who are somehow two of the top three faces in the company at this point. This place needs star power and it needs it in a hurry. I still think Sean O’Haire could have been something but he’s just too young at this point. Maybe in fifteen years or so.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Monday Nitro #274
Date: January 23, 2001
Location: Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone

We’re on a Tuesday this week as TNT has stopped pretending that Nitro is the ratings juggernaut it was back in the day. It’s the new era of WCW (the latest one that is) with Ric Flair in charge and evil for reasons that haven’t yet been and won’t be explained because WCW. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the pay per view and last week’s show, which night as well have Nash going TOO SWEET to make it feel more NWOesque.

Last week, the heel stable was eating chicken wings and breaking the bones in time with Sid breaking his leg. Ok that’s kind of awesome.

Tony and Scott say WCW has new owners and it’s not clear where things are going.

Here are Flair, Animal, Luger and Bagwell to get things going. Flair gets right to the point and says that Steiner, who isn’t here yet, deserves a top level opponent for SuperBrawl. That makes Flair think of one name and that would be….Alex Wright. Alex actually comes out as the heels can’t keep straight faces, only to have Kevin Nash cut him off. Wright yells (and rightfully so) and is promptly powerbombed through the stage.

Nash declares himself #1 contender with Cat coming out to say that’s correct. Flair says not so fast because Nash has to beat Bagwell first and Luger will be guest referee. Not so fast either as Luger has to face Diamond Dallas Page for the right to be guest referee in the main event #1 contenders match (my head hurts). Oh and Buff or Nash can’t interfere, because other wrestlers not being allowed to interfere is a special rule.

Mike Sanders gives Chavo Guerrero a pep talk and tells him to watch the next match closely. The Wall is here too and promises to end the legend of the Misfits tonight.

Flair tells Jarrett and Steiner what’s going on. Was there any reason to not have them be there during the talking segment?

Michael Modest vs. Christopher Daniels

Modest had one match on Nitro in March 2000 and hasn’t been seen since. Daniels is 29 here (in his mid-20s according to Tony) because he’s never been a young wrestler in his life. He does however have hair here which is quite jarring. Daniels punches away to start but gets taken down with some wristlocks that have Modest dropping to the mat as he twists. Daniels botches a springboard and almost lands on his head allowing Modest to crank on the arm a bit more.

Modest takes a kick to the shoulder which puts Daniels on the mat for reasons that aren’t clear. They head outside with Modest being sent into the barricade and eating a dropkick through the ropes, followed by a slingshot splash to the floor. Daniels seems to have shaken off whatever was wrong with him at the start. Back in and Daniels hits a slingshot moonsault (called split legged by Hudson despite the fact that Daniels’ legs were in fact unsplit) for two before getting caught in a dragon suplex for two of his own.

Daniels pops back up to the top but Modest runs across the ring and does a handstand into a hurricanrana to bring him right back down. Modest gets dropped again though and the BME gets two, only to have Modest get the same off something like White Noise. A second attempt is countered into a modified Angel’s Wings (Daniels flipped Modest onto his back instead of his face) for two more. Modest cross bodies him out to the floor and here’s Scott Steiner to destroy them both for a no contest.

Rating: C+. It was nice while it lasted but why bother letting either guy go anywhere when you can use them as cannon fodder for WCW? This would be the last appearance in WCW for both guys but at least they were able to be in the ring for a bit before Steiner got to treat them like the most worthless goons this side of The Goon. At least let someone win the match before the run-in.

Steiner uses the pipe to break both their legs before saying he broke Sid’s leg on purpose. They’ll be laying next to Sid and Nash is going to be added to the list soon.

Here are Kwee Wee and Paisley with something to say. He’s ticked off about now being part of Flair’s team and it’s clear that he’s tough enough after the beating from Rick Steiner on Monday. Kwee Wee issues a challenge to anyone in this building, including fans. For some reason he goes after a security guard and beats him down until other guards break it up. As usual this would work better minus the overly gelled hair and glitter.

Team Canada comes out with Lance Storm challenging Konnan to a one on one match with the winner being the official winner of the war between the Canadians and the Filthy Animals. Konnan comes out to accept in his own unique way.

Lance Storm vs. Konnan

They hit the mat to start where Konnan is completely out of his league. Storm grabs the Maple Leaf but gets kicked in the face for a break. Konnan hits the rolling lariat as everyone else brawls on the floor, as they should be. The faceplant is broken up and an Irish whip transitions into the Maple Leaf for the tap out in less than two minutes. Some war, but midcards never meant anything under Bischoff’s watch.

Shane Douglas wants on the team and Luger says he’s in if he can beat the Cat.

General Rection looks a little crazy as Gene asks him about everything the former Misfits have been going through lately. Lash says he’ll have Rection’s back until the end. Rection says it wasn’t supposed to be like this and asks for Lash’s shirt. He’s honorably discharged from the team and it’s time to return to their roots. Rection takes off his shirt and says Hugh Morrus is back. Uh, yay.

Lex Luger vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Winner gets to referee the #1 contenders main event. Luger stalls to start so Page knocks him out to the floor so he can stall while looking up at the ring. Back in and Luger hits an atomic drop and belly to back, burning up half of his arsenal in a few seconds. A shoulder sends Page into the corner and it’s time to stomp a lot. Page crotches him against the post and sends Luger head first into the buckle several times. The referee gets bumped so here’s Jarrett with the guitar to set up the Torture Rack for the Luger win.

Rating: D. I could go with this a little bit more if they didn’t set all this up an hour ago for a payoff half an hour from now. You could pencil Jarrett’s interference in here as soon as they said Bagwell and Nash couldn’t interfere. Again: we’ve reached the point where interference being banned is a special stipulation. How did that happen?

Mamalukes vs. Shawn Stasiak/Mark Jindrak

The Thrillers jump Johnny at the bell so he has to kick Stasiak’s head off for a breather. It’s off to Vito who helps with a double belly to back suplex on Shawn. The Mamalukes take over on Jindrak as well, including a double back elbow for two. Stasiak comes in again and misses a charge in the corner as this is completely one sided so far.

Shawn finally gets in a jumping back elbow to the jaw before bringing in Jindrak for one off a moonsault. Vito takes a double elbow of his own, which is finally enough for Johnny to come in without a tag as everything breaks down. Vito kicks Stasiak and Jindrak clotheslines Johnny for two each, only to have the rest of the Thrillers come in for the weak DQ.

Rating: D+. As illogical as it was for the Thrillers to come in there, you kind of had to know that was going to be the ending. That’s how most matches end around here these days because so many people are in some kind of a faction. The Mamalukes continue to be perfectly acceptable jobbers to the stars and that’s all they need to be.

Stasiak and Jindrak aren’t happy that they just lost a match due to interference. My goodness that actually makes sense.

Post break the Thrillers are still arguing with Sanders not being able to calm them down. Flair pulls Sanders off to the side and tells him to outsmart the rest of the team.

Shane Douglas vs. The Cat

If Shane wins he’s on the team. We get the usual Shane insults to the crowd to start because that’s his big thing. That’s not to say it doesn’t work well enough though. Cat isn’t ready to go yet as he has to make Jarrett vs. Page for SuperBrawl. He also wants to make this for the US Title but Flair comes on screen to say it’s non-title. Instead, the Commissioner’s job is on the line.

Douglas jumps him from behind to start and Flair makes it No DQ to insure a messy ending. Something like a bridging Indian Deathlock has Cat in trouble before a poke to the eye cuts him off again. Shane gets slammed off the top and sent into the buckle ten times as the match warps back to 1987. Cat keeps up the Hogan offense with ten right hands to the head in the corner, only to get poked in the eye again. Cue Mike Sanders followed by the Thrillers to take Cat out but Rick Steiner makes the save, allowing Cat to superkick a chain out of Douglas’ hand for the pin to keep his job.

Rating: D. Somehow that wasn’t as messy as I was expecting it to be, which is saying a lot. Keeping Cat short like this (under five minutes) is the right idea and the match could have been a lot worse. If nothing else Cat is great proof of how charisma is far more important than in ring abilities and almost always will be.

Post match Cat does his dancing and Rick actually joins him for a bizarrely entertaining visual.

Hugh Morrus/Lash Leroux vs. A-Wall/Chavo Guerrero Jr.

It’s a brawl to start and no one can stop Wall (or A-Wall as he’s still being called here, even though he’s out of the team) until Morrus grabs a slam, only to tag off to Leroux by mistake. Morrus says that was just a high five and Wall uses the distraction to make the tag off to Chavo. Wall chokes Lash in the corner a bit as Morrus tries to get in as this breaks down into a more standard tag match.

Lash gets in a quick tilt-a-whirl slam and scores with a clothesline for two, only to get caught in a Gory Special for a few seconds. Back up and Chavo accidentally hits Wall because you have to have heel miscommunication. Chavo doesn’t seem to mind and dropkicks Lash for two with Morrus coming in to break it up. Wall goes after Morrus to start a brawl, allowing Chavo to grab a rollup on Lash for the pin.

Rating: C-. This worked better than it probably should have but above all else it was a good sign that Chavo wound up getting the pin instead of having another champion get beat. Morrus is still being treated as a big deal and it’s nice to be able to go with the stupid name instead of the really stupid name. Lash still isn’t all that great in the ring and is really just a guy in wrestling gear but he could be worse.

Morrus beats Chavo up post match. Sore loser.

Kevin Nash vs. Buff Bagwell

Lex Luger is guest referee and if Nash wins he gets the title shot at SuperBrawl. Totally Buff wastes some time as Luger promises to call it right down the middle. Nash starts with a knee to the well toned abs and chokes in the corner with the boot, drawing some harsh criticism from Luger. Thankfully the whole fair referee thing doesn’t last long as Luger grabs Nash’s foot so Buff can crotch him on the way back inside. However, Lex counts very slowly for Bagwell with Nash kicking out before one, causing Bagwell to yell at Luger.

Bagwell’s chinlock keeps things so slow that it’s Nash being the one on his feet to speed things up with a side slam. Of course it’s another slow cover and Snake Eyes gets the same speed, only to have Luger cut off the count at two instead of screwing around with the pretext. It’s time for a chair with Luger holding it up so Bagwell can knock it into Kevin’s head.

The Blockbuster doesn’t work though as Nash ducks to send them crashing into each other. Of course this is treated as some heroic comeback because WCW announcers are easily entertained. Cue Diamond Dallas Page to hit the Diamond Cutter on Luger. Nash gets up and Jackknifes Bagwell to set up the Austin/McMahon count with Nash grabbing the unconscious Luger’s hand to count the pin.

Rating: D-. This was every crooked referee match you’ve ever seen because there isn’t much you can do to change this gimmick. Nash was obviously getting the title shot and somehow this was the better choice than Nash vs. Luger with Bagwell as the referee. Unfortunately Luger and Bagwell are still some of the top heels in the company and this is about as high speed as they’re going to be able to go.

Post match Scott Steiner, Kronik, Animal and Jarrett come out for the big brawl to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. So to recap, this whole show took two hours to set up Steiner vs. Nash at SuperBrawl. One of the matches was to set up a guest referee for a match to establish Nash as the #1 contender. Just like back in the NWO days, there’s the issue of having so much of the show revolve around that one story, which isn’t very good in the first place. There are other stories on the show to help things out a bit but a lot of them are tied into the Flair super stable stuff in some way. It’s another show full of bad wrestling and focused around one tired story, which is an idea that has barely ever worked but WCW kept doing it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6