Today we have one of WCW’s best known jobbers: Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker.

Parker got his start in the late 1980s and we’ll pick things up on June 16, 1990.

Rock and Roll Express vs. Buddy Lee Parker/Rick Fargo

Parker drives shoulders into Gibson’s ribs to start but it’s quickly off to Morton for a double back elbow. The Express knocks both guys out to the floor and we get a breather. Back in and it’s Fargo getting the tag to face Gibson. Off to Morton to crank on the arm as the Express really doesn’t seem all that worried here. They take turns slamming Fargo until Ricky cranks on a wristlock. Back to Gibson for a chinlock until everything breaks down and Gibson is sent outside. The Express sends them together a few times and the double dropkick ends Fargo.

Rating: D+. This was long and dull for the most part but man alive did people love the Express. They were the young(ish) and fast team with that awesome double dropkick, making it hard to not like them at least a little bit. It’s weird to see the heels in control for about thirty seconds of a match and they were barely in control that long.

Still on WCW TV on September 22, 1990.

Junkyard Dog vs. Buddy Lee Parker

Parker jumps him from behind but gets caught in the worst hiptoss I’ve ever seen. El Gigante is on the apron for some reason. A slam puts Parker down and there are the crawling headbutts. Back in and a big headbutt ends Parker quick.

Here he is at Clash of the Champions XIV.

Brian Pillman vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

Parker is a cop character who would have much more success as a trainer. They fight over a test of strength to start until Brian takes over with an armdrag. Parker is sent outside but gets pulled back in over the top rope with ease. Buddy gets sent to the ramp and gets taken out by Air Pillman in a nice dive. Back inside and the high cross body is good for the pin on Parker to complete the squash.

Parker actually got a PPV title shot at WrestleWar 1991.

Six Man Tag Titles: Junkyard Dog/Ricky Morton/Tommy Rich vs. State Patrol/Big Cat

Where do I even start? Ok so odds are you haven’t heard of these titles before, and there’s a good reason for that: they were only around for less than nine months. The titles were first won seven days before this show at a live event. Now one might ask why they didn’t have the first champions crowned here on PPV. It’s WCW in 1991. There’s your answer and it’ll answer most of your questions. The State Patrol is Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Lt. James Earl Wright, who is most famous for being one half of the State Patrol. Big Cat is Mr. Hughes and he’s one of the challengers here.

Cat and Dog start things off. I think you can see JYD’s gut expanding from here. He hits Cat with some headbutts and it’s off to Morton and Wright. Morton speeds things up with armdrags and it’s off to Rich. Rich slams him down and hooks an armdrag followed by an armbar. Off to Parker who gets the exact same treatment. Back to Morton for some atomic drops and then back to the same armbar again.

The Dog comes back in to crank up the fat levels of this match. Big Cat comes in again and wants a test of strength. That goes nowhere so it’s back to Morton to face the State Patrol on his own. The numbers catch up with him and it’s time for Morton to start selling. Parker drop toeholds him down and Cat hits an elbow for two. Dropkick gets two. Morton slugs back against Parker but gets powerslammed down for two.

The State Patrol keeps up the double teaming, hitting a bulldog for two. Back to Parker as I’m seeing why this team never went anywhere. Cat comes back in for a big old backbreaker for two. Parker misses a charge and there’s the hot tag to JYD. He hits the Thump (powerslam) but Cat makes the save. In a smart move, Morton immediately dives on Parker and gets the pin to retain.

Rating: D. Technically this was barely passable but what in the world was the point to this match? On second thought what was the point to these titles? The match wasn’t any good as it was in essence just a bad TV main event, which doesn’t exactly fire me up for the rest of the show. This was an odd choice all around.

He was in the Battlebowl competition at Starrcade 1991.

Ricky Steamboat/Todd Champion vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker/Cactus Jack

Champion is a tall strong guy and half of the tag team called the Patriots. Parker is a police themed character and little more than a jobber. Jack is, to put it mildly, completely insane. Steamboat is Rhodes’ partner as world tag team champions You might remember those locker room cameras I mentioned to you. We see Parker getting ready to go, but Abdullah the Butcher attacks him because he wants to be Cactus’ partner. Abdullah DESTROYS Parker, ramming his head into a locker over and over again before breaking a broom over Parker’s back. Cactus is basically in a handicap match now.

Parker somehow makes it to the arena but the Butcher beats him with a staff on the stage, including some HARD shots to the head. Steamboat knocks Jack off the apron and into the barricade at ringside. Now Butcher knocks Parker off the stage and into the crowd for good measure. Cactus and Steamboat slug it out with Cactus screaming a lot. He pounds on Steamboat in the corner as Parker has managed to crawl back up onto the ramp.

Steamboat gets back up and fires off some chops, only to be thrown over the top rope. As is his custom though, Steamboat skins the cat and throws Jack out to the floor as well. Steamboat dives on Jack and rams him into the barricade before heading back inside. A superkick staggers Jack and another kick takes him down. Off to Champion with a shot to the back but Cactus punches him in the face to come back. Parker is literally crawling on his hands and knees down the ramp to get to the ring.

Champion puts Cactus in a chinlock but Jack fights up with more right hands. Off to a bearhug instead but Cactus goes to the eyes to escape. Todd is thrown to the floor and Cactus drops a middle rope elbow on Champion for good measure. Parker has finally made it to the ring the match isn’t happening in. The fans chant for Buddy out of sympathy as Cactus avoids a legdrop. Champion tries a bulldog but gets shoved off, causing the two of them to ram heads. Cactus falls into the corner and tags off to Parker, who is literally thrown into the ring. His prize for working this hard? A cross body from Steamboat for the pin.

Rating: C-. I don’t know why, but it was hilarious watching Parker get beaten up like that. Steamboat and Champion were toying with Cactus here as Steamboat is one of the best ever and Champion wasn’t completely awful in the ring. Cactus would get his day in a few more years, albeit in another company.

From Saturday Night on April 4, 1992.

Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker vs. Nikita Koloff

The idea here is Sting is going to have Nikita on his team for WarGames but Nikita may not be trustworthy. Koloff throws him around to start and runs Buddy over with a shoulder. Parker rolls outside before Koloff throws him around and nails a suplex. The Russian Sickle ends this quick.

Here he is on Saturday Night on August 15, 1992.

Ron Simmons vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

Simmons is World Champion and for some reason this isn’t a title match. He shoves Parker to the mat and then to the floor before no selling a right hand and ending Parker with a powerslam.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to WCW Pro on May 28, 1994.

Terry Taylor vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

Feeling out process to start with Parker getting caught in an early wristlock, only to come back with a wristlock. A northern lights suplex gets two for Taylor and it’s off to an armbar. Back up and Parker drives in some knees to the ribs before cranking on another chinlock. Terry pops up and nails a superkick of all things before winning a slugout. A Rock Bottom and knee drop set up the Five Arm for the pin on Parker.

Rating: D. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it was mainly forearms and knees before some power moves at the end. Neither guy does anything for me most of the time and this was a great example of why. The match just didn’t click and that can make for some ugly stuff when it gets time, like it did here.

Off to the Nitro era now with Parker as a Leprechaun named Braun. From Nitro on July 22, 1996.

Jim Powers/Alex Wright/Joe Gomez/Renegade vs. Leprechaun/Hugh Morrus/Kevin Sullivan/Barbarian

Yes that’s the jobber team. The Leprechaun is just that: a leprechaun who is more famous as Sargent Dwayne Bruce. Morrus vs. Renegade to start. Leprechaun is running around the ring like an idiot. And now let’s have the camera go to the back because there’s some disturbance. Wright beats up Barbarian and we go to the back again. The Outsiders are in the control truck.

We’re not even watching the match at all. We haven’t seen the ring in almost two minutes now. Hall says back on the movie stars and we get a quick flash of the ring and now back to the truck. We’re looking at the crowd now and here’s security to get the Outsiders out of the booth.

We finally go back to the ring after three minutes of Outsiders stuff. Tony says it’s been a hard hitting match. Wouldn’t it be nice to SEE THE MATCH? Anyway Powers is sent to the floor and Teddy Long is here for no apparent reason. That fires him up so he goes back in and hammers away on Morrus. Everything breaks down and here’s Giant to chokeslam everything in sight that isn’t in his stable and it’s a DQ win. We might have seen 100 seconds of this match so no rating.

Time to get beaten up by a video game character on Nitro, December 23, 1996.

Glacier vs. Buddy Lee Parker

Glaicer kicks a lot, chops a lot, then kicks a lot more. He hits his Cryonic kick which Parker kicks out of for no apparent reason. A second one finishes this.

We’ll jump ahead a few years to Nitro on May 17, 1999.

David Flair vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

Robinson is refereeing in Flair trunks and a regular shirt. For those of you that don’t remember him, Parker is a career jobber who later became an insane trainer in WCW. He’s the guy that told Batista he had no future in wrestling. Parker grabs a headlock to start and gets one off a clothesline. They head into the corner where Sarge can hammer away even more, drawing the Horsemen up to the apron. Flair misses a horrible elbow drop but Buddy misses a top rope knee drop. The Figure Four makes Parker give up. Well more like Charles rings the bell as soon as the hold goes on but whatever. Parker sells the heck out of the leg.

From the following week on the same show.

Chris Benoit vs. Buddy Lee Parker

Hennig is still on commentary and talks about how young guys like Benoit aren’t respecting the veterans that came before them. A black arm band can be seen on Chris’ arm for Owen. Parker actually gets in a few shots in the corner to start and I don’t see him getting in much more offense.

As you would expect, he charges into a boot in the corner and gets caught in the Rolling Germans. Benoit chops the fire out of him in the corner before hitting a quick belly to back suplex. Parker comes back with a powerslam, only to get drop toeholded into the middle turnbuckle. The Swan Dive sets up the Crossface and Parker taps very quickly.

Rating: D+. It’s always fun to see Benoit run someone over like this. Parker was older than dirt at this point and had been getting beaten up for years now. That’s probably why he was such a jerk down in the Power Plant. The match was just there for Benoit to show how awesome he was, because somehow that wasn’t an established fact to the WCW brass at this point.

As mentioned, Parker ran the Power Plant and trained Goldberg. Here he is against his student in what is supposed to be a big emotional match. From Nitro on December 11, 2000.

Dwayne Bruce vs. Goldberg

At this point, Goldberg has to match his old winning streak if he wants a shot at the World Title again. Goldberg doesn’t know his opponent until he comes through the pyro so he stops cold. They stare each other down in the middle and Goldberg says he isn’t doing this. Bruce says bring it on but Lex Luger comes out and says Bruce can’t face him on Thunder if Goldberg doesn’t fight tonight. Why that’s a thing I’m not sure but this is WCW.

Bruce hammers away and ticks Goldberg off so it’s spear and Jackhammer for the pin. Here’s the problem: at the end of the day, this was Goldberg vs. Buddy Lee Parker and the fans weren’t going to buy it. The fact that Bruce got in about as much offense as anyone else on Goldberg didn’t help things out.

They had a tag match together at Sin.

Sgt. Dwayne Bruce/Goldberg vs. Totally Buff

Sarge has a broken arm and the entrances take about five minutes. Goldberg vs. Luger get us going here. You know, Russo made the deal about Goldberg having to win 176 in a row. Why doesn’t Flair just overturn that? Goldberg throws Luger around and throws him to Bagwell who says “Who me?” “Yeah you!’ For some reason that was funny for me. Bagwell hammers away and no sells a suplex.

Goldberg beats down Bagwell and brings in the career jobber Sarge. Sarge beats on him for a bit with a middle rope elbow. I forgot that this is no DQ. Sarge runs into some double teaming, so why doesn’t Goldberg just come in and destroy them? He can’t get disqualified. Actually he does that and the referee throwing him out. How does that make sense?

Luger hammers on Sarge for awhile and Bagwell adds a double arm DDT. Off to the chinlock now as the fans are still in this. Luger gets one of the worst forearm smashes you’ll ever see for two. Thankfully they remember the plate that is allegedly in there. So it can knock out Bret Hart but it barely puts Dwayne Bruce down for two? Only in wrestling would that make sense.

Double tag brings in Goldberg and Luger. HUGE pop for Goldberg. Seriously how in the world did they manage to mess him up? Now we get to the stupid part here. Remember the kid from earlier with the autograph? He’s like 17 or so and Luger goes after him. Goldberg makes the save and the kid maces him.

Goldberg pulls him over the railing and security dives on the kid…..then just let him go and stand at ringside. Punk was right. Wrestling security sucks. Back in the ring Goldberg fights blind for awhile until Luger pops him with a chair a few times and a double Blockbuster (think a Doomsday Device) ends the career. For the month at least.

Rating: D. Weak tag match that was hurt even worse by the ending. Yes a fan that he signed an autograph before earlier was the big answer. Why Luger or Bagwell didn’t bring the mace in themselves is anyone’s guess but hey why not just let a young looking guy do it instead? Either way at least it’s over and they can quit ruining Goldberg for now. HHH got to do that in 03 which is the next time he would be seen.

At the end of the day, this is Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker. He’s almost the equivalent of the Brooklyn Brawler in WCW and it’s hard to get annoyed at him most of the time. It’s not like he got a push for the most part with his only moderate success coming in a team called the State Patrol that wasn’t even important enough to find matches from. Nothing wrong with him, but he just wasn’t all that good. That being said, his training seemed to be about as bad as you could get but that’s another story.

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Today is a guy who had some very different gimmicks: Barry Darsow.

Darsow got his start in 1983 after attending Robinsdale High School with Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Tom Zenk, John Nord and Nikita Koloff. That’s quite the class. We’ll start things off with Darsow as Crusher Khrushchev, a Russian sympathizer, at AWA Superclash 1985.

NWA Six Man Titles: Krusher Khruschev/Ivan Koloff/Nikita Koloff vs. Crusher/Dick the Bruiser/Baron Von Raschke

This is Crockett vs. AWA and the Russians are the champions of course. Big brawl to start and we eventually get down to Crusher vs. Krusher. Crusher bolo punches his way to prosperity and brings in the Baron. Nikita comes in and runs from the Claw. Nikita was a killing machine and he’s running from an old bald guy holding his hand in the air. Ivan comes in and gets beaten up by the old man as well.

Here’s Dick The Bruiser who is a scary man. He and the Crusher are identical. Dick and Ivan have a test of strength with the evil Russian cheating to escape. Back to Crusher vs. Krusher with Crusher taking over and bringing Baron back in. Ivan comes back in and takes Crusher down. He hits a legdrop which Nelson calls illegal. I’m not even touching that one. Crusher makes his comeback and it’s off to the Bruiser. Baron comes in and drops a leg which isn’t mentioned by Nelson. There’s the Claw and everything breaks down. We cut to a wide shot then go back to see Ivan pinning Baron.

Rating: D+. The ending is as quick as it sounds and since Larry didn’t see it either, we have no idea what knocked Baron out. I think you could see both other Russians but things were moving too fast. Nikita should have been in there running over people though as it’s what he was best at. This is the AWA though so it doesn’t think things through at times.

Off to the NWA with the same character at Starrcade 1985.

Mid-Atlantic Title: Krusher Khrushchev vs. Sam Houston

Speaking of crowning new champions, this is a tournament final because former champion Buzz Tyler had left the territory. Krusher is more famous as Smash from Demolition and this is his power vs. Houston’s speed. Houston is a cowboy character and the half brother of Jake Roberts. There’s something wrong with Tony’s mic as you can only hear whispers of what he’s saying.

Houston slips down and sends Krusher to the floor before holding his own in a slugout back inside. Krusher will have none of that and grabs Sam by the throat to slam him down. An elbow drop misses though and we’re back to a standoff. Houston grabs a headlock and a headscissors to take Krusher down. Khrushchev tries everything he can to get out of it before just picking Houston up and placing him on the top rope. Houston comes right back with an armdrag into an armbar and Krusher is down again.

Back up again and Krusher just throws him into the air and lets Sam crash down onto his face. Why over complicate things when you can do them that simply I guess. Krusher does the same thing off a gorilla press before punching Houston right in the jaw. Off to a bearhug but Houston fights out of it pretty quickly. The Russian goes up but gets crotched down, allowing Sam to pound away in the corner. The bulldog (Sam’s finisher) hits but Krusher gets his foot on the ropes. Sam celebrates too much and Krusher hits the Russian Sickle for the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. Nice little match here with a basic power vs. speed formula. Khrushchev was your typical American Russian (he was from Minnesota) so thankfully he didn’t talk all that much. Houston was way too small to be taken seriously and his career never took off, even in the far less serious WWF in the late 80s.

Another tag match at Starrcade 1986.

US Tag Titles: Krusher Khrushchev/Ivan Koloff vs. Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are Bobby Jaggers and Dutch Mantell, the latter of which would eventually join the WWE under a variety of names, including Zeb Colter. This is a rematch of a tournament final where the Russians won the belts and there are no disqualifications. Dutch and Ivan start things off but it’s quickly off to Jaggers to pound away on the older Russian. Ivan actually busts out a rollup for two but it’s quickly back to Dutch to work on the arm.

Krusher gets a tag in and it’s time for some stalling. Mantell pounds away on the forehead and the Jayhawks choke away in the corner before it’s off to Jaggers again. That goes nowhere so here’s Dutch again, but those sneaky Russians trick him into some double teaming. The power of AMERICA saves him from the Russians though and Dutch fights both guys off with relative ease. Ivan sends Dutch to the floor though and into the barricade to shift control.

Off to Krusher for some double teaming, but Dutch fights back with a double clothesline and there’s the hot tag to Jaggers. Some AMERICAN right hands have the Russians in trouble and a clothesline gets two on Ivan. Everything breaks down but there’s nothing the referee can do because it’s no disqualification. Ivan goes up top but gets hit by Dutch’s whip to bring him down. Krusher is sent to the floor but sneaks back up onto the apron to hit Jaggers in the back of the head with the chain, allowing Ivan to get the easy pin to retain the titles.

Rating: C. Another basic tag match here but it was at a slightly faster pace, making it a more entertaining match for the most part. The Russians continue to be a perfectly fine midcard heel act as the Cold War was still going on at this point. The Jayhawks never did much of anything as a team and would fade into obscurity pretty soon after the start of the new year.

It was off to the WWF as Smash of Demolition. We’ll start with a battle royal

Battle Royal

André the Giant, Ron Bass, Demolition (Ax and Smash), Billy Jack Haynes, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim, Hulk Hogan, The Honky Tonk Man, The Islanders (Haku and Tama), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell), Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Orndorff, Lanny Poffo, Butch Reed, Sika, Nikolai Volkoff, and Koko B. Ware.

So in other words, it’s everyone but Savage and Steamboat plus a few tag teams. Smash is the original Smash and not Barry Darsow and Honky is wearing suspenders. Andre won’t let Hogan get in. Orndorff jumps Hogan to prevent the showdown. More or less all of the heels jump Hogan and all of the faces jump Andre. Honky is out thanks to Hogan. Andre puts Sika out.

These are hard to commentate on as it’s just eliminations and fights. Haku, a face at this point, is out. Andre headbutts Lanny Poffo and he’s BUSTED OPEN, and I mean BAD. Totally hard way too. That is a sick cut. They have to get a stretcher to get him out. That’s impressive. Other than that it’s pretty much you punch me and I’ll punch you in the ring. Ron Bass is out as is Mulligan.

The ultimate Hogan jobber, Volkoff, is gone. We’re just killing time to get to Hogan vs. Andre as Blair is out. HERE WE GO! Hogan blocks a punch…and Koko jumps on Andre to be annoying. Hogan throws out Orndoff but gets jumped by Andre who does the headbutts to the back of the head and throws him out easily. WOW.

In a VERY funny moment, Hogan and Andre are doing a staredown and Koko tries to jump Andre. Giant just smacks him in the head without even turning around. That was hilarious. Everyone gets together to throw Andre out.

Ok we’re down to Koko, Reed, Smash, Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules. Koko puts Reed out and we get faces vs. heels. Koko is out thank goodness and then we get rid of Smash too to get us down to the full nelson guys. Haynes goes for Bobby and there he goes for Hercules to win, which is probably the biggest win of his career somehow.

Rating: D. This was about Hogan vs. Andre and while that did happen, it was all of ten seconds long. Before and after that though, no one cared. This just wasn’t that interesting at all and it was about ten seconds out of eleven minutes. That can’t be a good sign. You probably should just go watch Wrestlemania instead.

Demolition would take off around this point so we’ll jump ahead to Summerslam 1989.

Twin Towers/Andre the Giant vs. Demolition/Jim Duggan

Duggan is King of the WWF and has his face painted like Demolition but is rocking an American flag pattern of course. Akeem starts with the King with Duggan absorbing the trash talk and pounding away on the big man before it’s off to Ax for some pounding on the arm. Smash comes in and Demolition pounds Akeem down before bringing Duggan back in to crank on the arm as well.

Akeem finally gets in a shot to Ax’s ribs and it’s off to Boss Man who is immediately pounded down by the fresh Smash. Boss Man rakes the eyes to slow Smash down but Smash rakes the eyes right back in a good bit. Ax comes in again and cranks on the arm but gets sent into the wrong corner so Andre can come in and pound away with big right hands.

Akeem comes back in but misses a slow motion splash, allowing for the hot tag back to Smash who slams Akeem down in an impressive power display. Everything breaks down and Akeem hits a bottom rope splash on Smash, but Duggan hits Akeem in the back with the 2×4 to give Smash the pin.

Rating: C. It wasn’t much of a match but for above seven and a half minutes with these six guys, this was as good as you were going to get. Duggan was about as big as he was going to get in the WWF at this point as the fans were WAY into his Hogan-Lite character. Demolition was fresh off losing the tag titles but but they were still the most popular tag team in the company. Good, fun little match here which was much better than I was expecting.

Smash was part of the greatest Survivor Series team of all time in 1989.

Hulkamaniacs vs. Million Dollar Team

Hulk Hogan, Demolition, Jake Roberts

Ted DiBiase, Zeus, Powers of Pain

My goodness that’s an amazing face team. Ok, so now I get to explain Zeus. A month or two ago, WWE released No Holds Barred, a movie Hogan made in the late 80s, on DVD. The villain in the movie is named Zeus and you may notice he’s here. Zeus is played by an actor (not a wrestler mind you) named Tom Lister and the idea is that he’s living his character and is coming to beat Hogan up “in real life” because he lost in the movie. This would be like the guy who played Goldfinger trying to get revenge on Sean Connery. To make things even better, this was originally going to be the main event of Wrestlemania 6.

I’m sure you can see the problems mounting up already, with the main one being that Zeus doesn’t know how to wrestle. Other than that, there’s the idea that the movie barely broke even so a lot of people didn’t get the idea of the story. A positive twist to this is that a lot of people didn’t get the idea of the story, which probably kept the company from being laughed at more than they already were. Zeus wrestled like four matches ever, most of which were short or tag matches so he wasn’t in the ring long. WCW, the geniuses that they are, brought him back seven years later and put him in the main event of another PPV.

Anyway back to the match. The Million Dollar Team won’t let them get inside until Jake fires in the snake to chase them all away. Hogan and Demolition are the champions that you would expect them to be at this point. Zeus wants to fight Hogan one on one but their respective partners hold them both back. Jake starts with Zeus but the actor wants Hogan. They stare each other down and Hogan bounces off Zeus. Hogan pounds away but nothing hurts Zeus at all.

Instead Hulk finds the one weak spot on Zeus by raking the eyes. He slams Zeus down and amazingly enough, IT DOESN’T REALLY DO MUCH. Barbarian hits Hogan in the back of the head and Zeus twists Hogan’s neck around. He starts choking away and it’s a DQ for Zeus who is only pulled off by DiBiase and the promise of money. Just to clarify, we’re giving the Hulkamaniacs, an 80s dream team, a man advantage. Also why would DiBiase get Zeus off Hogan? Wouldn’t Hogan’s pain and agony make DiBiase happy?

It’s DiBiase vs. Hogan now and Hulk is in big trouble. DiBiase hammers away in the corner but Hulk gets a boot up in the corner and there’s the tag to Jake. A clothesline puts DiBiase on the floor and it’s off to Ax who demolishes DiBiase with ease. Smash comes in and they both pound Ted down. Back to Hogan who triple teams DiBiase along with Demolition. Back to Ax with a clothesline but DiBiase elbows him down out of desperation.

Off to Warlord as these two teams are still feuding even a year later. Come to think of it there wasn’t much else in between for those guys either. Dang did the division fall that fast in just a year? A shoulder breaker puts Ax down but Barbarian misses a middle rope elbow. Off to Warlord again but he gets clotheslined down. Fuji trips Ax up and a basic elbow drop is enough to tie the score.

It’s Smash vs. Warlord now but it’s quickly off to Hogan. Hulk softens him up to bring in Jake, which Jesse calls a mismatch. That’s likely based on power but I’m pretty sure Jake is taller than Warlord. Off to Smash but Warlord pokes him in the eye to take over. Back to Barbarian whose big boot is caught but Smash misses the elbow. DiBiase comes back in with those falling punches of his which get two.

It’s chinlock time with a knee in Smash’s back. DiBiase misses a middle rope back elbow of all things but Smash won’t tag for some reason. Barbarian makes a blind tag so the hot shot Smash hits on DiBiase doesn’t count and Barbarian takes his head off with a top rope clothesline for the pin. Jake comes in next but he can’t DDT Barbarian. Barbie whips Jake into the corner with authority although I’m not sure who’s authority it was.

Back to Warlord as things slow down a lot due to exhaustion. Jake dives for a tag but DiBiase slaps Hogan to draw him in instead. DiBiase piledrives Jake but Roberts gets a foot on the ropes to Jesse’s annoyance. Barbarian misses a headbutt and there’s the hot tag to Barbarian. He cleans house and gets two on Barbarian off a big boot. A suplex gets the same and my goodness how rare is it to see Hogan get a two count? Hogan fights off both Powers of Pain but they catch him in a spike piledriver which is good for a DQ for both of them, making it Hogan/Roberts vs. DiBiase.

Dibiase drops knees on Hogan before slapping on the Million Dollar Dream. That eventually gets two arm drops and Jake makes the save. That’s actually a nice touch as it makes the hold look stronger by needing a save instead of Hogan saving himself. Hogan finally breaks the hold and punches a jumping DiBiase. Hot tag brings in the Snake who cleans house. Jake drives in knees on DiBiase’s head as Hogan is dying in the corner.

Here’s Virgil to interfere and take the DDT. DiBiase drops a fist on Jake and puts his feet on the ropes to steal the pin. Ted pounds on Hogan who is still reeling from the long Million Dollar Dream. I’ll give him credit as that’s some great selling of a hold like that. Off to a chinlock and Hogan taps, which wouldn’t mean a thing for years. Hogan breaks the hold but they clothesline each other. DiBiase belly to back suplexes him and it’s Hulk Up time. You know the rest and there’s the legdrop.

Rating: C. There’s one major problem with this match: the first four minutes of this match give away the ending almost immediately. How can you give Hogan, Roberts and Demolitio a man advantage that fast? I’m not saying Hogan should have lost, but the Zeus stuff could have come later in the match and worked much better. Have Zeus stand on the apron most of the match and it would have worked fine. The fans finally reacted though.

Time for a six man at SNME XXVIII.

Ultimate Warrior/Legion of Doom vs. Demolition

Has there ever been a better collection of theme music in one match? The LOD cost Demolition the tag belts and Warrior is there….uh because. This would be a Survivor Series match in a month with Hennig and Tornado joining them. Piper points this out. We get a shot of Dustin Rhodes in the crowd. Keep that in mind as it’ll come into play later on. Warrior comes in and just destroys people.

The splash misses Axe though and he’s Smash. Demolition was more or less worthless by this point and would get squashed at Mania and be done. Hawk comes in and just wipes them out. You can see the crushing of them beginning. He continues the trend of beating all of Demolition by himself. Everybody comes in and brawls but Smash is more or less dead and gets caught by the splash for the pin. This was domination in every sense of the word.

Rating: D. Just not interesting at all as Demolition was made to look like a bunch of jobbers here. I don’t think anyone ever bought them anymore once the LOD showed up. Not the worst match ever, but a little challenge would have been nice. I still can’t believe we never got the big tag match with Demolition vs. the LOD. It should have written itself.

Off to Prime Time Wrestling on May 14, 1991 for a rare singles match.

Smash vs. Jake Roberts

Jake chases him to the floor but gets caught in a wristlock to slow things down. Roberts fights up with some punches before taking over on the arm as well. There’s the knee lift but Smash bails away from the DDT. Back in and Jake is sent hard into the corner but Smash charges into a knee in the corner. Mr. Fuji uses his cane to break up a DDT attempt and Smash gets two off a side suplex. Not that it matters though as Jake floats over and plants Smash with the DDT for the pin.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here but did anyone consider Smash to be a serious opponent for a guy like Roberts? Demolition was dead in the water at this point and Smash would quickly be repackaged into the Repo Man. Jake on the other hand would turn heel and become one of the best villains in recent memory.

Speaking of Repo Man, here he is in one of the few logical stories he ever had. From This Tuesday In Texas.

Ted DiBiase/Repo Man vs. Virgil/Tito Santana

One thing modern WWE programming is great about is recapping stuff. That helps a ton as to someone that is randomly seeing this, this match makes NO sense. In reality, DiBiase had said that Virgil had stolen the Million Dollar Belt and recruited Repo Man to help him get it back, which worked. Since we need to fill in a match slot here, Tito joined Virgil and we get this match. The faces are already in the ring so what do you expect to happen here?

Virgil’s career is in essence over as far as importance goes here. He just had nothing to do once he left DiBiase and that singles feud went on about as long as it could so the WWF kept it going for another few months after it. Repo here is of course Smash from Demolition if you weren’t aware of that. Santana is more or less worthless here as El Matador.

The problem is that after that, no one remembered the great work he did as Tito Santana, as he was just remembered for the stupid gimmick that he did. As for the match, there’s not a lot to say. It’s your standard filler tag match that could have been on any house show or TV show of the era. I don’t know if it’s good enough for here but we’ll see I guess. Repo Man and DiBiase might be the weirdest combination of all time.

The main problem here is that there’s no point to having Santana in there. He didn’t have any feud with either guy that I can remember other than a few random matches with Repo that would have happened just because they were on the same level of the card. This is just a weird combination to have. The wrestling is fine, but it just comes off as weird all around. The match itself is once again the same kind of match that you would expect to see at a house show or on TV.

It’s actually not bad to be fair. It’s nothing to go out of your way to see, but I don’t have a problem with it being on a low level Tuesday PPV. The problem here is that Virgil is the guy that’s getting the hot tag. How is that appealing? With Sherri making a distraction, Repo hits him in the back with a knee to allow DiBiase to get the pin.

Rating: C. This was ok I guess, but it wasn’t anything great. The faces were just overly matched here and it was really easy to tell that. The formula worked fine here as it ca be expected with guys like DiBiase and Santana out there though, so that balances out I guess. This was pure filler.

We’ll jump ahead to Wrestlemania VIII for an eight man tag.

Jim Duggan/Sgt. Slaughter/Virgil/Big Boss Man vs. Nasty Boys/Moutnie/Repo Man

Just a collection of lower midcard guys getting a Wrestlemania payday here. Neither team gets an entrance. Instead, Ray Combs of Family Feud is guest ring announcer for this and cracks a few jokes about the heels pre-match. The good guys clean house to start and hit a quadruple clothesline to clear the ring. Heenan announces that Shawn Michaels has left the building. Gorilla sums up our responses: “WHO CARES???”

Anyway Duggan and Sags start things off and it’s Jim hitting a few clotheslines to take over. Off to Slaughter who gets poked in the eye, allowing for the tag to Knobs. Slaughter pounds away to take over before it’s off to Boss Man for a boot to the face. Brian avoids a charge into the corner and Boss Man’s splash misses Repo Man as well, giving the heels control for a bit. Repo crotches himself and Boss Man slugs him down for good measure.

Off to Virgil who seems to mess up almost anything where he jumps into the air. Duggan tries to come in to save his partner but it’s back to Sags to beat on Virgil even more. A pumphandle slam gets two on Virgil and it’s back to Mountie. Everything breaks down and in the melee the Nastys are rammed together, allowing Virgil to steal the pin.

Rating: D. As I said, this was nothing more than a way to throw a bunch of guys onto the show at the same time. This was a much better idea than having four matches eat up a few minutes each as it accomplishes the same goal here. They were out there as filler before the world title match and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Here’s a quick match from Summerslam 1992.

Repo Man vs. Crush

Repo tries to jump Crush but has no effect and earns himself a gorilla press slam. We head to the floor for a clothesline from Crush before heading back inside for some kicks to Repo’s ribs. Crush pounds on the ribs even more and hits a backbreaker, only to be poked in the eye to break the momentum. Repo hits a belly to back suplex but Crush no sells it and snaps off a belly to belly. A top rope knee drop misses and Repo goes after the knee with some very basic stuff. An elbow drop gets two and Crush easily fights up, catches Repo coming off the top in a powerslam and hooks the Head Vice for the submission.

Rating: D. This was a glorified squash to make Crush look good. They were this close to making Crush the next big thing in 1993 so seeing him look good here isn’t surprising at all. Repo Man is really impressive as he went from Smash to the new gimmick so smoothly that I didn’t realize it was the same guy until years later.

We’ll jump to WCW now with Darsow as the Black Top Bully, an evil truck driver. From SuperBrawl V.

Blacktop Bully vs. Dustin Rhodes

Bully is more commonly known as Smash or Repo Man. This is seriously the best they could put together? Dustin would be fired for the rematch: the King of the Road match, where the idea was they were in the back of a big truck which was driving along the road and the first person to pull a horn got the win. It’s somehow worse than it sounds but we’ll get to that later. Meng is thrown out before the match starts.

This is seriously Dustin Rhodes against the battling truck driver. Dustin is wearing gold by the way. That’s rather amusing. Naturally this is mainly a fight. I can’t get over the fact that this feud was already in FREAKING WARGAMES and we’re still having it here, 5 months later. Seriously, what in the world could there be left to fight about? The scary thing is that the feud ended because Dustin got fired, not because the feud itself ended.

Bully’s finisher is called the Breaker 1 9. Oh dear indeed. They’re having Smash work a ten minute plus technical match. Honestly, who thought this was smart? You have Sting and Savage in the next match and this is going to get more time than that. You could serious watch this match in fast forward and you wouldn’t miss anything. I mean it’s the same stuff over and over again with nothing new added in at all.

Unless you like hearing truck driving jokes from Tony and hearing him worship Dusty Rhodes which could take all day then there’s no reason to watch this. Rhodes is in trouble and Heenan says come on Bully, give him that parking ticket. In other words, Heenan is so gone that for one thing, he thinks that sounds good and number two, he thinks truck drivers have the authority to give parking tickets.

We spend three minutes talking about that Rhodes fire. And don’t let me get started about how many Rhodes and driving a truck on said Rhodes jokes they used. Dustin suplexes Parker in and that’s apparently a big deal. Never mind the whole double cage match where Dustin got to beat the living tar out of him. In one of the most clichéd endings there is, Dustin goes for a suplex and Parker hooks his foot so that Bully is able to get the pin. Heenan must have had a shot as he’s slurring again.

Rating: G. This is beyond failing. Let me make this clear: Goldust and Repo Man had an 18 minute match where we had non-stop truck driver jokes. We kept hearing about that stupid top wristlock (yes, that’s what Darsow’s finisher was. Smash’s real name is Barry Darsow in case you didn’t know) and we never even see it. This is now I believe the standard method of torture in 9 states.

And it somehow got worse. From Uncensored 1995.

Blacktop Bully vs. Dustin Rhodes

For some reason WCW thought this was a good idea. See if you can figure this out: they’re in the back of a truck driving around Atlanta. The winner is the first person to get to the end of the truck and pull a horn. Both guys bladed which was illegal at the time and were fired for it. There are bales of hay in the back of it also. Yep, WCW isn’t a hick company AT ALL. Oh hey let’s get a police escort and a helicopter too.

This must have been SO fun for the people in the arena. I mean my goodness: SOMEONE GOT PAID FOR THIS!!! The problem here is that no one can actually stand up at all as they’re IN A MOVING TRUCK! Two idiots have to actually sit in the cab and watch this. Seriously, WHO CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA??? Yep there goes the sunlight. Oh I forgot to mention: this has been edited to Zimbabwe and back so the light changes about every 5 seconds.

Hey, let’s run a stop sign on film and show a shot of the truck driver for no apparent reason. They aren’t even really fighting. It’s them wandering from one end of the truck to another and hitting the other guy with a bale of hay. And all of a sudden Dustin is 8 feet away from where he was a second ago. Not to mention they had to rent the truck. The camera work here is crap as we can’t let anyone see blood. Nothing dumb about this AT ALL.

They actually call this a match. I’m stunned. Hey something good happens for once: the camera in the helicopter breaks up. Someone up there likes me. Oh hey, let’s sit on the side of a moving truck and hang off the side while a guy punches me. Nothing bad can happen from this. This has been going on over 8 minutes and they might have interacted for 50 seconds total. Other than that it’s stumbling around and trying to grab the horn.

It’s also gotten lighter so apparently this has gone on all night. It certainly feels like it. They’re up on the beam together and Dustin gets knocked off, allowing the Bully to pull the horn and win I guess. In the arena fireworks go off. This is a BAD idea already isn’t it?

Rating: H. As in HOLY GOODNESS WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY SMOKING TO COME UP WITH THIS????? Do I even need to make fun of this? Dustin took off and put on his shirt twice, yet you never saw him do it once. See what I’m working with here? The blading in the match would get Dustin fired and get him a job in WWF as Goldust, making it the best thing he ever could have done.

Darsow would be brought back in to WCW for a few shots on Nitro, including this one on March 9, 1998.

Goldberg vs. Barry Darsow

Darsow is more famous as Smash from Demolition or Repo Man. He’s just Barry Darsow, guy in trunks here though. Goldberg immediately takes him down by the leg before running Barry over with a shoulder block. A lariat sends Darsow to the floor and Goldberg rams him into the barricade and post. Goldberg misses a shoulder into the post though and Darsow goes after the arm. The arm is sent into the buckle but Goldberg snaps awake and hits the spear and Jackhammer for the quick pin.

And again on Nitro, September 21, 1998.

Finlay vs. Barry Darsow

They circle each other until Darsow hammers him into the corner but Finlay uppercuts him back. We hit an early nerve hold on Barry followed by a simple pull of the face but Darsow comes back with choking and a chinlock. Finlay counters a piledriver attempt and the tombstone is enough to pin Barry.

Rating: D. Pretty boring brawl for the most part here with Darsow not being interesting at all. Finlay was a decent enough midcarder but he needed more to work with out there. I’ve never understood the mentality behind booking these meaningless matches in the first hour. You have an uncontested hour with no Raw and this is how you use it?

One more time with Darsow as a golfer named Mr. Hole In One Barry Darsow on Saturday Night, December 19, 1998.

Barry Darsow vs. Kaz Hayashi

Darsow comes out with a bag of clubs and unrolls a mini putting green. He says he got two holes in one in a single round last week. Kaz says he’s played golf before but there may be some communication issues as he can only say yes. Hayashi has to sink a put in order to get a match with Darsow but he doesn’t seem to understand. Kaz puts the clubs in the bag and shoves it over, only to get nailed from behind. Darsow ties him in the Tree of Woe and hammers away but has his golf club taken away. A slam onto the putting green is enough for a DQ.

Much like Barbarian, Darsow is a guy that managed to stick around for a long time but in a different way. Unlike Barbarian, Darsow would take on whatever stupid character he was given and actually seemed to try, which is more than you can say for a lot of people. No he didn’t do much outside of being part of Demolition, but you can’t say he did the same thing over and over again for years.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Slamboree 1999
Date: May 9, 1999
Location: TWA Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 20,516
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

Things are going downhill in a hurry around here and the pay per views can be the biggest disasters they have. The main event here is Page vs. Nash for the title along with a Sting vs. Goldberg match that you had to pay attention to hear about. We also have Piper vs. Crazy Flair for control of the company, even though both have been fired in recent weeks. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is your basic look at the three main events with a bunch of circles coming out of the middle of the screen. The rest of the card gets a quick focus as well.

The announcers do their opening chat.

Gene runs down the card as well and plugs the Hotline.

Tag Team Titles: Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Saturn/Raven vs. Kidman/Rey Mysterio Jr.

Kidman and Mysterio are defending and this is one fall to a finish with three guys in the ring at once. You can only tag your own partner. Saturn and Kidman drop Malenko with a double clothesline to start before a dropkick puts Dean on the floor. Benoit comes in and gets dropkicked as well before Saturn nails Kidman with a dropkick. A huge belly to belly suplex sends Kidman flying out to the floor as the fans think the Horsemen suck.

Back in and Benoit grabs a German suplex on Kidman for two with Raven making a save. Rey comes in and throws Raven down before taking Chris down with a hurricanrana. Mysterio’s slingshot legdrop hits Benoit by mistake to give Raven two. Kidman and Benoit drop Raven across the top rope but the Canadian turns on his short term partner. This is really fast paced stuff so far.

Kidman misses a top rope splash on Benoit and gets caught in the Crossface until Raven makes a save. Raven hits a front suplex on Kidman so Saturn can nail a top rope splash but Dean makes a save of his own. Malenko throws Rey over his head but Mysterio lands on the top rope and moonsaults back onto Dean for two. Awesome spot. All six guys are in now but it’s quickly down to just Raven and Saturn.

The Horsemen come back in to clean house and double team Saturn. They do the same to the champions until we settle down to Benoit vs. Kidman vs. Saturn. Kidman runs Benoit over but Saturn crotches him on the top and runs him over, sending Kidman to the floor. Benoit runs Saturn over and knocks him out to the floor as well. Back and in and Benoit and Saturn collide to give Chris a two count. Benoit rolls some Germans but Kidman runs in for a last second save.

Saturn counters the Cloverleaf with a small package for two but Kidman makes another save. Dean spits at Rey to tick him off, allowing the Horsemen to run Kidman over. It’s back to the tagging again as the announcers are saying let the guys fight. A snap suplex gets two on Saturn and Benoit stomps away at Kidman. Dean comes back in and throws Kidman in the air, earning him a dropkick to the chest. Saturn tags Raven in for some rolling vertical suplexes on Benoit for two.

Kidman brings in Mysterio for some near falls and everything breaks down. A top rope clothesline drops Benoit and a springboard seated senton does the same to Saturn. There’s a Bronco Buster to Raven before the champs do the launched hurricanrana off the top to take down Benoit. They try it on Saturn but Mysterio gets planted with a super sitout powerbomb.

Kidman reverses a powerbomb from Saturn but Saturn calls for the Death Valley Driver. This brings in Anderson for the spinebuster to Saturn and Dean puts on the Cloverleaf. Someone in a Sting mask, DDP shirt and backwards hat comes in to shove Kidman into the Evenflow to give Raven the pin and the titles.

Rating: B+. This was a really hot opener and I can’t imagine how good it was going to be if they let the guys go nuts like Tony was asking for. Either way it got the crowd into things and was the right way to end this long running feud. Raven and Saturn are the only ones that haven’t had the belts yet, though they didn’t need Kanyon’s help to get them.

The masked man was Kanyon.

Video on Page.

Konnan vs. Stevie Ray

This is due to Ray attacking Konnan a few weeks back. Ray hammers Konnan down in the corner to start but Konnan comes back with right hands and a float around bulldog for two. Back up and Stevie nails a big boot to take over before sending Konnan out to the floor for a beating from the Black and White. Stevie hooks a chinlock back inside before a suplex gets two. Konnan fights up for the rolling clothesline and X-Factor but has to knock Vincent off the apron. Mysterio comes out to try for a save but has to fight off the Black and White. In the confusion, Rey nails a top rope seated senton on Stevie to give Konnan the rollup pin.

Rating: F. A six minute Stevie Ray vs. Konnan match had a referee distraction and three people interfering for a rollup finish. The match was boring and WAY too much chinlock before all of the interference. It doesn’t help that the story was barely there, making the match feel all the more pointless.

Video on Nash.

Rick Steiner says he has a lot to prove.

Video on Sting, mostly with clips from 1997.

Page and Bigelow are in the back and have a conversation we can’t hear.

King of Hardcore: Brian Knobs vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

I think the title is vacant coming in but you can’t really tell with this company. We get a bonus stipulation for the match: falls count anywhere. I guess that’s only standard in WWF hardcore rules. Neither guy has music. They start with the weapons early and Brian nails him with a waiter’s tray and cookie sheet. Bigelow botches raising his feet in the corner by kicking the trashcan when it’s down by Brian’s knees. Bam Bam puts him on his shoulder for something like a backwards suplex into a Diamond Cutter for two.

The top rope headbutt gets two for Bigelow as the announcers get in a stupid argument over talking when the weapons hit. Knobs misses a chair shot and falls out to the floor to really make it hardcore. Bigelow sends him into the steps and hits Brian with various metal weapons. He uses a pair of trashcan lids like cymbals around Knobs’ head and hits a LOUD cookie sheet to the head.

Both guys are already looking spent. Bigelow is sent into the weapons cart but Brian misses a charge into it as well. Brian gets a mop bucket put on his head and a punch makes things even worse. The fans want tables but get a chair to Knobs’ ribs instead. They fight over to the souvenir stand that is there for them to fight in. Off to backstage (complete with a shot of about 10,000-15,000 empty seats. Remember that this is a football stadium) and swing a ladder at each other. Knobs dives off a ledge onto Bigelow to drive him through a table. Naturally he jumps too far and just crashes because this match is a disaster. Bigelow suplexes him through the table for the win.

Rating: D-. Heenan’s line of “And they do this for a living” sums up the whole thing. The fact that these people make more money than I likely will in years makes me feel very very sad, though that might be due to the last twenty five minutes of whatever it was that I’ve had to sit through. Between Stevie’s lame chinlock and this mess, I need something good to cleanse the pallet.

We recap Rick Steiner vs. Booker T. THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!! They’re fighting because Booker is champion and Rick Steiner is employed for some reason.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Rick Steiner

Booker is defending. They circle each other for a minute or so until Rick hammers him with right hands and a belly to belly suplex. Booker bails to the floor for a breather as the crowd is silent. Back in and Booker fires off some kicks with a spinning shot to the face putting Rick on the floor again. Steiner head back inside and gets elbowed in the jaw for two before the champ puts on a chinlock.

They head outside a third time with Rick sending him into the barricade over and over. A release German gets two for Steiner and he hammers away with right hands on the mat. Booker tries to fight back but gets elbowed into the corner to keep him in trouble. Back to the chinlock on the champion before a hard kick to the face drops Steiner again. The sidewalk slam sets up the missile dropkick but Scott Steiner runs out for a distraction. Rick gets two off a Steiner Line but Booker sends the brothers together. The side kick gets two and Booker is fired up, until Scott grabs his foot. The Steiner Bulldog gives Rick the title.

Rating: D. Can anyone explain to me why the Steiners are both champions in 1999? He’s had like two matches back and he gets to pin Booker T. on PPV? It’s getting really frustrating watching Booker have consistently good matches (when he doesn’t have a horrible opponent of course) and have to keep rebuilding himself up because WCW keeps wasting him.

We recap Gorgeous George vs. Charles Robinson. This is a side feud of Savage vs. Flair who are feuding for reasons not quite clear. Robinson is Little Naitch here and has been calling George a bimbo.

Rick looks for Scott in the back and warns Buff Bagwell to be careful tonight.

Charles Robinson vs. Gorgeous George

If George wins, Savage is reinstated. Robinson is doing a perfect Flair impression here, complete with the smirk and strut. The nurse is now named Asya (oh so funny) and Flair is at ringside here. Charles’ fingers are even taped up. Thankfully George isn’t dressed like Savage. Flair says he’s always wanted Madusa to ride Space Mountain and Miss Madness can come with her. George is being left to Little Naitch though and Charles says he’ll let George ride Space Mountain all night. Savage gets on the mic (pop of the night so far) and says George is going to destroy Robinson.

We get started and Charles is now in regular Flair gear. They stall for about a minute and Naitch avoids the lockup and WOOs. Well woos actually since he’s Little Naitch. Robinson gets in Savage’s face so George cranks on his arm. They trade wristlocks with George cranking on a hammerlock followed by a full nelson. She shoves the Nature Boys together and the big guys get in for a staredown.

Robinson and Miss Madness fight over a chair on the floor. Naitch shoves her down and slams her so Savage calls for a medic. The regular referee shoves Robinson down as the match kind of stops for a bit. Back in and Robinson chokes George on the ropes before being sent into the corner for a Flair Flip. He runs the apron and goes up, only to get slammed off the top. George nails a clothesline and the Flair Flop sets up a two count.

Asya trips George up and cranks on her knee but Kung Fu Madusa makes the save with a kick to the head. Robinson goes after the bad leg and NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL! He puts on the Figure Four but George turns it over. Flair sneaks in to save Robinson but Savage slams Robinson, setting up the top rope elbow from George (so much for the leg) for the pin.

Rating: C. Well they tried. That’s more important than anything else here and the match was WAY better than it could have been. This could have been a disaster and it wound up being a fun little match. Robinson nailed the impression and George looked great in her cheerleader outfit. Again, they tried and that’s what matters in something like this.

We recap Steiner vs. Bagwell, which stems from Steiner blaming Buff for losing the TV Title and Buff saying Steiner’s ego was out of control.

US Title: Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner

Buff is challenging and jumps Steiner before he can get to the mic. A swinging neckbreaker drops Scott while he still has the belt on. Steiner drops Buff with a low blow and the muscle clothesline gets two. He plants Buff ribs first against the turnbuckle before tying him up in the Tree of Woe to crank on Bagwell’s neck. Scott chokes and swears a lot before planting Buff with a butterfly powerbomb for two. Total dominance so far.

There’s a belly to belly but Scott goes outside and grabs a chair. Buff clotheslines it into the champ’s face before making his comeback with a dropkick. There’s an atomic drop but Scott pulls the referee in front of a clothesline. Cue Rick Steiner to chair Buff into the Recliner to keep the title on Scott.

Rating: D. Erg this show is trying to drive me crazy. I have no idea why WCW thinks the Steiner Brothers being together (after never having a real match against each other) is a good idea, but this is what they’re going with to combat Austin and Rock vs. the Corporate Ministry. They deserve what they get.

Video on Goldberg.

Video on the two singles matches people might want to see. That would be Sting vs. Goldberg and Nash vs. Page if it’s not clear.

Video on Flair being the crazy president. I’m sure the fans must be loving this.

Roddy Piper vs. Ric Flair

For the Presidency. Charles Robinson comes out to be referee and Johnny Boone is fired for the heck of it. Piper slaps Flair down to start as Tenay tries to make sense of who has been fired. Tony: “Who knows?” Ric is knocked to the floor but Robinson won’t let Roddy go after him. Back in and they trade chops in the corner until Piper punches Flair down. They head outside with Piper throwing more chops against the barricade to keep control.

Back in again and a low blow puts Piper down. Robinson: “You got a stomach ache?” He yells at Piper for choking before turning his back so Anderson and Asya can get in some shots of their own. Another low blow drops Roddy but Flair takes forever to cover, allowing Piper to make his comeback. He can’t follow up after a backdrop though and Anderson chokes him on the ropes. Roddy fights back with chops to Ric’s chest and Flair flips over the corner and out to the floor.

That’s a bit too much work so they head back inside for a collision to fall on the mat. Flair is up first and starts going after the knee as this match just won’t end. A cannonball onto the leg sets up the Figure Four but Piper quickly turns it over. Ric sends him outside again but gets his trunks taken down on a sunset flip attempt.

The worst backslide in history gets no count as Robinson is with Anderson and a small pile of unfastened boxes (there’s no package to it at all) gets the same. Piper puts on the Figure Four and Flair shouts that he gives up but Anderson comes in for the save. Roddy slaps a sleeper on him but has to let it go to put it on Ric. Asya comes in for the save and gets kissed and put in the hold as well. Piper finally nails Robinson but gets hit with a foreign object as Robinson gets up just in time to count the pin.

Rating: F. This was on pay per view in 1999 so it’s a failure on principle alone. On top of that, the match was a disaster with the spots being totally blown and neither guy looking like he had the energy to last three minutes let alone the twelve this got (third longest match on the card). Horrible match, but we’re not done yet.

Eric Bischoff comes out for the first time in months and says he isn’t screwing this up. He declares Piper the winner for reasons that aren’t explained. Why he has the authority to do this (remember that he had his power stripped), why he’s suddenly good (not explained) and why he did this (ok to be fair there are about a million reasons to disqualify Flair. I’ll give him that one) aren’t explained. Piper immediately fires Flair and thanks Bischoff for what he did.

Very quick video on Goldberg vs. Sting in case you didn’t catch the other three of them.

Sting vs. Goldberg

The announcers spend the entrances trying to explain the Bischoff stuff. Feeling out process to start with Sting trying to escape a powerslam but falling out of the air. A powerslam puts Sting down again and Goldberg clotheslines him out to the floor. Back in and Sting ducks a superkick and hits a dropkick to stagger Goldberg. A clothesline puts Goldberg outside as well and it’s a stalemate.

Back in and Goldberg puts on a cross armbreaker but Sting makes the ropes. Sting goes after the knee and drops all of his weight down onto it a few times. There’s a Boston crab but Goldberg powers out of it and sends Sting out to the floor again. Back in and Sting grabs a headlock as this is still in low second gear.

The headlock goes about as well as you would expect and Goldberg hiptosses Sting over. A horrible looking swinging neckbreaker drops Sting for two but he jumps to the top for a clothesline. The Stinger Splash is countered into a spinebuster which the announcers call a spear. Cue Bret Hart to beat up the referee and whack Goldberg with a chair for the no contest.

Rating: D+. This was really dull as they were just filling time until they got to the stupid ending. Sting vs. Goldberg is a match that should have headlined Starrcade at some point but instead it’s used as a plot device to get Bret Hart back on television, because you know WCW is going to use him right after a year and a half of wasting him.

Bret destroys Goldberg’s knee for a bit and leaves. The Steiners come out to beat up Sting and Goldberg because they’re the top villains now I guess.

Yet another Nash vs. Page video because three weren’t enough.

WCW World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash

Nash is challenging. Page tries a fast Diamond Cutter but gets shoved away, only to come back with rights and lefts. A big boot puts the champion on the floor before Nash brings him back inside for some slow right hands. Page fights out of the corner and keeps swinging away until Nash shoves him across the ring. A low blow stops Nash and Page uses the distraction to cut off a turnbuckle pad. That’s just a distraction to let Page hit Nash with the microphone for two.

Nash rolls to the middle of the ring and pulls Page face first into the exposed buckle. A very delayed cover gets two as both guys are still laying on the mat. They slug it out again and a clothesline puts Nash outside again. A Diamond Cutter on the floor lays Nash out, meaning we continue the lack of action. For reasons not quite clear, Page thinks this is falls count anywhere (he says that to the referee and is stunned when it’s not true). Back in and Page gets two with his feet on the ropes.

An elbow drop between Nash’s legs let Page pose even more. He goes to put on the Figure Four around the post but Nash kicks him into the barricade. Back in and Nash still can’t get up. The fans look at something in the crowd as Nash makes his comeback, complete with Snake Eyes onto the exposed buckle. There’s the Jackknife but Savage runs in for the DQ.

Wait scratch that as Bischoff still has some authority and says keep going. They’re just making this nonsense up as they go aren’t they? Tony says this is No DQ even though Bischoff never said that. Page hits a Russian legsweep and a clothesline for two before puttnig on a horrible looking sleeper. Nash reverses into a hold that looks like he’s trying to rip off Page’s ear. The champ grabs a jawbreaker for two and gets a chair. The chair hits the top rope and nails Page in the head for two. Back up and the big boot and Jackknife give Nash the title.

Rating: D-. Another boring match which fits the theme tonight. We still have no explanation as to why Savage and Page are associates now and I can’t imagine we ever will. This was supposed to be about Nash getting revenge for Hogan, but given that it hasn’t been mentioned in weeks, I’m assuming WCW has forgotten about it. Bad match here with neither guy feeling interested in working.

Overall Rating: D. I can’t say a show with an opener that hot is a failure. This period of WCW has the biggest problem a wrestling company can have: it’s really uninteresting. The matches aren’t very good for the most part, but that sort of thing can be fixed. The problem here is the main stories range from really stupid to something that completely falls apart if you think about it for more than five seconds. Things are about to get even worse though and the few good spots are getting rarer and rarer.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Thunder
Date: April 29, 1999
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko

The question coming out of Monday is will anything that happens tonight actually mean anything. Nitro saw two World Title changes resulting in Diamond Dallas Page winning and losing the title on the same show. We’re still on the way to Slamboree with Nash vs. Page for the title and Flair vs. Piper (both of whom may be fired) for control of the company. Let’s get to it.

After the opening sequence, we get some clips of Flair in the hospital on Monday. Thankfully Scott Hall’s bizarre cameo is omitted.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Curt Hennig

Curt is challenging. Booker shoves him into the corner to start as the announcers talk about the second World Title change on Monday. A hiptoss sends Curt out to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Hennig hammering Booker down and kicking him in the ribs. They switch to boxing for a bit until Booker nails him with a forearm to the head for two.

Some right hands in the corner have Booker in trouble but Curt steps forward for a hot shot into the buckle. A low blow has Booker in even more trouble and Curt chops away in the corner. Curt puts on a sleeper for a good while before hitting a piledriver for two. Booker pops back up and hits the super, ax and side kicks. He goes up for the missile dropkick but Stevie Ray comes in with the slapjack to Hennig for the DQ.

Rating: D+. That sleeper just crippled anything the match had going for it. This Booker vs. Stevie stuff isn’t the most interesting story in the world but maybe they’ll actually have a match as a result unlike Rick and Scott. Hennig was coming back from an injury here and he didn’t look like his usual self.

Hotline plug

The Nitro Girls are getting their own site.

Video on Nash.

Here are Hak and Chastity with something to say. Hak talks about how awesome his hardcore matches have been and calls the three way with Bigelow and Raven the most extreme match ever. Chastity gets to pick his opponent for tonight and the schoolgirl chick selects Kevin Nash. Great. The hardcore mess is invading the main event.

Booker and Rick Steiner are fighting backstage. Why WCW thinks anyone cares about Rick Steiner in 1999 is beyond me.

WCW will be on QVC soon.

Video on Goldberg.

Here’s Buff…..dressed like Scott Steiner. Oh this could be good. Tenay: “I would say that’s a Buff Bagwell imitation of Big Papa Pump.” You can’t buy analysis like this people! Buff talks about partying at Penn State and how much it made him realize Michigan really sucks. He’s nailing the screech in Steiner’s voice. Buff tells us to close our eyes and picture the Big Bad Doodoo Daddy.

He was at Motel 6 watching BET last night to find more lines to steal and came up with this one: “I’m not a player. I’m just on parole a lot.” If Bagwell wants a US Title shot at Slamboree, that’s what Buff is going to get. He’ll show Bagwell that there’s no bigger liar than Scott Steiner. Flush him if you hear him. This really wasn’t as funny as it could have been but the voice was awesome.

Jerry Flynn vs. Stevie Ray

Ray hammers on him in the corner to start but gets caught by some kicks. Jerry catches one of Stevie’s kicks and turns it into an ankle lock. That goes nowhere so Jerry tries an armdrag into a cross armbreaker. Vincent offers a distraction and Horace comes in to break it up because the Black and White are a bunch of inept morons. After a beatdown on the floor, Stevie slams him down and drops a leg for two. Jerry pops up and nails a spinkick, only to get distracted by Horace so Ray can hit a bad looking Slapjack for the pin.

Rating: D-. Does anyone else find it sad that the Wolfpac is basically done but we have the Black and White stooges around, taking the whole group to beat up Jerry Flynn? Stevie just isn’t any good in the ring and it’s showing here. He’s one of those wrestlers whose offense consists of forearms to the back and a lot of shouting. Granted that’s better than Flynn who can’t even talk.

Hardcore Hak vs. Kevin Nash

Hak loads up a ladder and table before Nash’s music hits. He charges at Nash to start but Big Kev grabs a kendo stick to send Hak into the corner. Nash picks him up for a suplex onto the ladder before driving it into Hak’s ribs over and over. The table is set up in the corner but Hak reverses a whip to send Kev through it.

Some kendo stick shots put Nash down and puts the ladder on top of him for the slingshot legdrop. Nash is sent hands first into the ladder but he grabs the stick to blast Hak in the ribs. He can’t follow up though and Hak nails him a few more times to put Nash back down. A top rope swanton onto the ladder onto Nash gets two. Chastity comes in with a fire extinguisher but Nash takes it away and blasts Hak. The Jackknife through the table is enough for the pin.

Rating: D. This was a few steps ahead of the usual hardcore stuff and it’s mainly due to having less weapons than the other matches. There were only a few in this one as opposed to the dozen or so that we usually get. It also helped that there was some actual wrestling in between the spots instead of weapon shot after weapon shot. It’s still bad but it at least resembled a match.

Bam Bam Bigelow comes out and wants to keep Hardcore Night going by getting a shot at the World Title. He issues the challenge to Page “from one homey to another.” Sure why not.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

Goldberg vs. Meng

We get a very loud Goldberg chant out of nowhere. That’s as obvious of a piped in chant as I’ve ever heard. They trade slams to start and Meng bails to the outside. Back in and Meng rakes the eyes to take over before planting Goldberg with a backbreaker for two. Goldberg pops up with a kick to the face and a powerslam of his own, only to get his eyes raked again. Meng hammers away with various chops, kicks and punches before superkicking Goldberg down for two. More punches have very little effect and Goldberg pops up with a superkick, setting up the spear and Jackhammer for the pin.

Rating: D+. Basically a longer version of the standarg Goldberg match. He had to try a bit here but Meng has gone from unstoppable killing machine to standard power heel. They did such a great job of setting him up as a one off challenger last year but now this is the best we can get. It’s a sign of the times for WCW.

Page comes out to talk about what happened on Monday and thanks people like the Masked Assassin, Jake Roberts and Dusty Rhodes for helping him out. He doesn’t think much of the fans though and tells those who got on the bandwagon to “no not suck it. Jump off!” We get some good old fashioned cheap heat when Page asks what town we’re in. He’ll give Bigelow the shot tonight, even though the fans don’t deserve it.

QVC promo.

Slamboree ad.

Randy Savage vs. Disciple

Savage has Miss Madness, Madusa and Gorgeous George with him here. Why he’s playing a face here after helping the heel Page out on Monday isn’t clear. Randy grabs an armbar to start before they shove each other around a lot. Disciple gets taken down and chinlocked before it’s back to the armbar, followed by another chinlock for a change of pace. Choking ensues and Savage drills him with an elbow to the jaw for two.

Disciple fights back with his wide range of punches, kicks and choking before dropping an elbow for two. We hit a chinlock on Savage as this isn’t quite the same level I’m used two with Macho. More punching and choking from Disciple before Savage throws him to the floor out of boredom. Savage is sent into the barricade and Disciple puts on the sleeper on the floor. Madusa makes a save and sends Disciple into the post before Savage sends him back in for the big elbow and the pin.

Rating: D-. Of all the people on WCW’s roster for Savage’s first real match back, they pick Disciple? The match was horrible and most of it was due to Savage having nothing to work with. Disciple’s entire offense was built around punching and choking which really doesn’t make for a well done match. Also, Savage needed help from the girls to beat the Disciple? Really?

WCW World Title: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Hardcore and Page is defending of course. Page slugs away to start but gets knocked out to the floor with a big right hand. Back in and Bigelow drops him throat first across the top rope, sending Page back outside for another breather. It’s time to bring in some weapons but Page dives over the top to take Bigelow back.

We take a break and come back with Bigelow knocking him down the aisle before taking Page over to the announcers’ table. He loads up a regular table but Page rolls away, sending Bigelow crashing down onto the concrete. Page sends him into the barricade a few times and they come back towards the ring with the champion in control. More weapons are brought in though and a trashcan to Page’s back gets two on the floor.

They head back inside for the top rope headbutt from Bam Bam but Page is up at two. A side slam gets the same but Page comes back with a discus lariat for a near fall of his own. The floatover DDT drops Bigelow but the referee gets bumped. Bigelow gets two off a suplex but Page low blows him for the same. Greetings From Asbury Park is countered into the Diamond Cutter….and Savage comes out to drop a big elbow on Bigelow for good measure. Page gets the easy pin.

Rating: D. I really don’t see the need for this to be a hardcore match. The Savage thing didn’t need to be there as Bigelow was out cold before Macho came out. I like Page winning matches on TV, but he needs to do something different in the ring as he’s basically having the same matches he was before save for the occasional low blow.

Overall Rating: D+. This show tried for a change and I’m sure it has nothing to do with WWF having a pilot for some show called Smackdown at the same time. It was another show that didn’t need to exist, but I definitely prefer a show with a bunch of people I kind of care about over a show with a bunch of people I barely recognize. The hardcore matches for the guys in the main event were annoying but bareable, which is more than I can usually say for this show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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Monday Nitro #186
Date: April 26, 1999
Location: Fargodome, Fargo, North Dakota
Attendance: 11,482
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone

Things are shaking up with less than two weeks to go before Slamboree. The two people in the upcoming World Title match have flipped sides and allegedly Flair has flipped his lid, even though he really hasn’t done much to back that up. I have a bad feeling about some of the stuff we’re going to have to sit through tonight. Let’s get to it.

In Memory of Rick Rude, which they actually spell using his real name.

We open with a recap of the major points of last week’s show with a focus on the Piper/Flair stuff and the ending with what I guess you would call a double turn.

Now we’re at the mental hospital and this can’t end well. A doctor and nurse have the most painfully scripted conversation you can imagine, talking about how Flair is treating this place like a hotel. The nurse tells the patients that there will be no Nitro tonight when Flair’s music comes on. He struts in wearing his robe and University of Florida boxers, talking about how this is his hotel. Flair watches the TV, meaning he’s watching himself in theory. He dances with the nurse who eventually walks away disgusted. I can’t say I disagree.

Opening sequence.

JJ Dillon is with Charles Robinson and says that Robinson is Vice President of WCW. Since Flair is out of action, Robinson is in charge and above the Commissioner. This is going to be a LONG night.

Nitro Girls.

Tenay is filling in for a sick Heenan. He and Tony are fine after weeks of bickering before the announce teams were split.

Here’s Piper to get things going in the arena. Piper thinks he’s in charge now with Flair gone so Randy Savage is reinstated and getting a US Title shot tonight. He mentions Page which brings out the champion to a loud chorus of boos. Piper wants Page to defend against Sting tonight but Page doesn’t seem to thrilled with the idea. Roddy goes to leave and then makes the match for 9pm sharp.

DJ Ran.

Konnan vs. Brian Adams

This is fallout from the Black and White attacking Konnan last week. After some catchphrases, Konnan quickly takes Adams into the corner for ten punches, only to get caught by an atomic drop and clothesline. An elbow to the back of the head has Konnan in trouble and a gorilla press gutbuster gets two. We hit a bad looking reverse chinlock on Konnan. Dude at least crank on it or flex a bit. Adams crotches himself while trying to jump on Konnan’s back but stops the comeback with a powerslam. Konnan comes right back with the usual and hooks the Sunrise but the NWO runs in for the DQ.

Rating: D-. What else were you expecting from something like this? Neither guy was exactly a ring general and the moves they were using ranged from sloppy to just bad looking. I guess the Black and White was trying to prove a point but this was a rather dull way to go about it.

Video on Sting.

The announcers talk about Page vs. Sting.

The Horsemen have attacked Kidman and Saturn, making the next match a handicap match.

Scott Armstrong/Steve Armstrong vs. Raven

After ranting about fat women in operas, Raven quickly escapes a double team attempt in the corner and bulldogs the brothers down. It’s already chair time with both Armstrongs taking the drop toehold onto the steel. Steve finally gets in a shot on Raven but winds up hitting his brother a few seconds later. Both guys take ten right hands in the corner but Scott finally nails a superkick to get a breather. The breather is short lived though as his second superkick hits his brother, allowing Raven to DDT Scott for two. Scott pops up and nails Raven with the chair though and actually gets the upset pin.

Rating: D+. This was short and energetic, but was there any real need to have Raven lose here? The Armstrongs are about as low level of a tag team as you can have in this company but they get a pin over a guy getting a title shot in a few weeks? This is more of the odd booking this company has been using lately.

Raven beats up the Armstrongs again post match, making the booking even more head scratching.

Flair calls Robinson to yell about Piper having power. He wants the National Guard called in to deal with this and yells at other patients to stop touching his robe. Flair hangs up and walks off with a very muscular nurse.

We look at the same package that opened the show.

Gene brings out Charles Robinson for a chat. He says that Piper has no authority here but we’ll still get Sting vs. Page tonight. This brings out Piper to call him a leprechaun, causing Robinson to slap him in the face. Security comes down to arrest Piper and Robinson fires him for good measure. The match with Flair is still on at Slamboree of course.

WCW World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting

Page is defending. Sting is wearing white wraps on his feet and a necklace of all things. The champion is quickly shoved down to start but he comes back with a big right hand. Sting easily wins a slugout and knocks Page back to the floor for a breather. Back in and Page drives in the shoulders but Sting sends him outside again. This time Sting goes after him and rams Page face first into the announcers’ table.

Back in and the Stinger Splash connects but Page makes the ropes to avoid the Scorpion. Page bails again and gets some water before heading back inside where Sting hammers away. The champ slows things down with a hammerlock and a big clothesline. They head outside and up the aisle with Sting dropping him throat first across the barricade. A slam in the aisle has Page in trouble but the referee reminds Sting that he can only win the title in the ring.

Sting takes him back inside for some right hands in the corner but a low blow and hot shot stops Sting cold. A belly to back suplex drops Sting again but he comes back with the shoulder block and falling low blow. Page is up first though and rakes the paint off Sting’s face. Some slaps fire Sting up again but Page grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two. The champ hits a low blow of his own and chokes away in the corner.

Page wraps the knee around the post but Sting kicks him into the barricade. Now things speed up with Sting’s shots to the face and bulldog followed by the top rope splash for two. They head outside again with Sting being sent into the barricade. Page grabs something like a Diamond Cutter across the top rope but Sting comes back with ten face rams into the buckle and the last one onto the mat.

A sitout powerbomb gets two for the champion and a big lariat drops Sting again. Back up and Sting grabs a piledriver but kneels down like a tombstone for two. Now he tries a regular tombstone and finally plants him for a VERY close two. The fans are totally behind Sting here. Page comes back with a jumping floatover DDT for two more but Sting blocks the Diamond Cutter out of the corner and grabs the Death Drop for the pin and the title.

Rating: B+. This took awhile to get going but the last few minutes of this were awesome. As is almost always the case, there’s no substitute for a long, good match and that’s what we got here. This is actually a bit ahead of the Goldberg match for Page which is quite the accomplishment. Really good stuff here and the best main event style match WCW has had in forever. Also, how nice was it to not have any commercials in this?

More Flair yelling at Robinson with Ric telling him to make Sting vs. Goldberg for Slamboree. One of the inmates is now called AAA.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis

Psychosis is defending for a change. The champ grabs a headlock to start and takes Rey down to the mat, only to miss a Stinger Splash in the corner. Psychosis counters a headscissors by dropping Rey throat first across the top rope. He lifts Rey up for a powerbomb and drops his face onto the top turnbuckle in a vicious looking crash. A reversal suplex drops Rey over the top rope again and a dropkick sends him to the apron.

Psychosis charges at him but they both fall to the floor with Rey taking over for the first time. Rey’s superplex is countered into something like a falcon’s arrow. The Horsemen come out to grab the Tag Team Titles but Rey dives on both of them. Psychosis gets in a cheap shot to take over but Rey comes back with a tornado DDT out of nowhere for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. What in the world was the point of this? Rey is now a five time Cruiserweight Champion and Psychosis’ seven days as champion is the only break from Mysterio, Kidman and Guerrera as champion since August. It’s ok to let someone else in there for a change and I don’t see why Psychosis had to lose the belt this fast. Let him beat a few low level guys to give the division a chance to breathe a bit.

The Horsemen destroy Rey post match.

Nash comes out and says he’s been told his title shot at Slamboree has been turned into Goldberg vs. Sting. That’s not cool with him but he’d like a four way tonight with Page, Goldberg and Sting, winner takes all.

Flair calls Robinson and says make the four way. He hits on the nurse a bit more and they try some amateur wrestling stuff until the nurse from earlier comes up to glare at them.

Erik Watts vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Please make it quick. Thankfully there aren’t any weapons in sight for this one. Bigelow misses a charge in the corner and gets caught in a springboard bulldog. Erik tries a hurricanrana but winds up backdropping Bigelow instead. It’s somehow worse than it sounds. Bigelow pops up with a big clothesline followed by the Swan Dive and Greetings From Asbury Park for the pin. At least it was short.

Sting comes out sans belt but with fresh paint. He’s up for a four way tonight.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Meng

Booker is defending. A hard shoulder puts the champ down but he comes back with a forearm and dropkick. Booker shrugs off some forearms and slams Meng a few times, only to walk into a powerslam for two. That gets Meng nowhere as Booker nails his pair of kicks but the side kick sends Meng into the referee. This brings out Stevie Ray as the ax kick takes out Meng. Booker crotches himself on the ropes after missing another kick. There’s the Tongan Death Grip but Stevie nails Meng with the slap jack, giving Booker the pin.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have enough time to go anywhere but Meng was just there to give Booker someone to beat up to retain the title. The Stevie Ray and Booker T stuff needs to go away. The team is done and Booker is on his way to becoming something big in the singles division. Stevie is just kind of dragging Booker down at this point and that’s not good.

Post match Rick Steiner of all people comes out and beats on Stevie until Booker pulls him off. Booker and Steiner yell at each other, likely setting up Booker’s next challenger.

Video on Nash.

We get a special look at Hogan’s knee surgery. Bischoff had to talk him into getting it done because Hogan wants to beat up Page.

Video on Goldberg.

Back to the hospital where Flair tells Robinson to make Steiner vs. Booker T. for Slamboree and make the main event tonight No DQ. Flair teaches some patient to dance….and here’s Scott Hall in patient clothes to throw a toothpick at Ric. Naturally, no one talks about this or ever brings it up again.

Brian Knobbs vs. Hardcore Hak vs. Horace vs. Mikey Whipwreck

This is hardcore and the winner of this gets Bigelow at the PPV. Everyone has a kendo stick and Hak stays on the floor to start. He finally gets in and all three guys beat him down with the sticks. Knobbs brings in a ladder to splash onto Hak for two. We actually take a break in this match and come back to see Horace hitting Knobbs with a Surge barrel.

Brian nails Hak with a ladder but Hak knocks him to the floor. A table is set up on the floor but Knobbs uses the weapons cart on Hak. Back in the ring and Horace kicks Mikey in the face as Knobbs chairs Hak. Mikey drops a leg onto a chair onto Brian’s head as the table has been bridged between the apron and barricade.

The Surge container comes back in and Hak slides in another table. Horace beats on Hak with the weightlifting belt on the floor as Chastity sprays someone with the fire extinguisher. Hak dives over the top but only hits table but pops right up to nail Knobbs with a stick. Not that it matters as Knobbs sends Hak to the floor and drops the ladder on Mikey for the pin.

Rating: F. When half of the people in your match have jobs because of Hulk Hogan, you can tell it’s not going to be much to see. This was the usual hardcore mess with nothing interesting save for some product placement from Surge. These are getting less and less interesting and it’s going to get even worse in the future.

US Title: Randy Savage vs. Scott Steiner

Steiner is defending and has something to say before the match. He doesn’t like a lot of what Piper does but he does like this match with Savage. Randy comes out with an unnamed woman in a gown wearing a sash like a beauty pageant contestant. Steiner wants one more stipulation though: if he wins, he gets to spend some time with George. Robinson is refereeing in most of a suit. They circle each other and do a lot of pointing for a minute or so before finally locking up. Steiner shoves him into Robinson….and that’s a DQ.

Post match the three girls strip Robinson down to his University of Florida boxers, just like Flair.

Video on George training. This is exactly what you would expect.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash

Sting is defending after having won the title earlier tonight. The match begins after a break with Page off in the crowd, leaving Goldberg and Sting to beat on Nash in the corner. Now it’s Goldberg getting double teamed before the champion has to fight off both monsters. Goldberg suplexes Nash but Sting breaks up the cover. Page is back at ringside as Goldberg has knocked both guys down. A powerslam drops Sting for two as Page still hasn’t come in.

Goldberg loads up the spear but Page breaks it up from the apron and comes in with a neckbreaker for two. Nash DIVES to break up the pin and thankfully there isn’t a quad laying on the mat as a result. Sting gets jumped from behind by Nash but comes back with right hands to the jaw. Goldberg and Page are both down until Page goes to the corner, earning himself a Stinger Splash. The other two get Splashes of their own and Sting is the only man standing.

Nash pops back to his feet and cleans house by booting them all in the face. Goldberg breaks up a Jackknife on Page before choking Page on the mat. He sends Page to the floor but gets taken down by Sting. The champ hammers away on Nash in the corner until Page comes back in with a low blow for the save. Now it’s Goldberg slamming Page but taking a Stinger Splash. Nash keeps trying to steal pins in a smart move.

There’s a side slam to Sting for two and Goldberg superkicks Page down to give Nash the same. Goldberg dives at Page but rams his head into Page’s knee to scramble his brains. Nash chokes Sting in the corner but misses a big boot. He gets caught in the Scorpion but Sting lets go, only to get speared down by Goldberg. The Jackhammer plants Sting but Savage breaks it up for no apparent reason. Savage throws Page some knuckles to knock Nash out before a Diamond Cutter (Nash turned to the side so it was half Cutter and half neckbreaker) gives Page the belt back.

Rating: C+. Dang it’s a good thing Savage joined up with Page. We almost had more than two top good guys in the whole company (I don’t think Piper counts when seemingly no one can stand him). This was energetic with Nash doing more work than I’ve seen him do in years. Page winning the title back is odd but it’s pretty tame given some of the stuff WCW has done in recent weeks.

Page runs through the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Much like last week, the wrestling is more than good enough to make this a watchable show. However, the stories are so out there that they drags things back down. Basically we’re right back where we were when Nitro came on the air last week, other than Flair being in a mental hospital with Scott Hall. Mysterio has the title back, Page is still champion, and we’re still looking at Page vs. Nash for the title at Slamboree.

That’s why these title changes make me shake my head at WCW. They had an idea that could have drawn a good rating with Page vs. Sting and it makes sense to put it on right when Raw starts. What doesn’t make sense is giving that match about fifty minutes of build. That could have easily headlined a big PPV but instead they decided to give it less than an hour?

If that’s not enough, we have a big gimmick match for the title which also could have headlined a PPV, so it gets about ninety minutes of build and most people probably didn’t hear about it. This impatience is maddening when you could build this stuff up for weeks instead of minutes. They’re pouring away what could be millions of dollars in PPV money for the sake of maybe beating Raw for one night. The fact that this show had a bigger gap than the week before or the week after should have been a hint but WCW never seemed to learn.

Let’s go back to something mentioned earlier: Ric Flair is currently in a mental hospital and happened to run into Scott Hall. Nothing is mentioned of this again, Scott didn’t say a word, and I highly doubt we’ll see Scott again for several months. That’s not something you should be able to just see and walk past, but WCW apparently doesn’t feel the need to address this and thinks we’ll just kind of go along with it. It comes off like a joke and that’s not the kind of thing you should be seeing on national TV in a segment that is stupid already.

Overall this was a good show, but the stupid stuff is REALLY stupid and drags down the rest of the show. This also needs to be an hour less which is standard for almost all wrestling shows. They just do not need to be three hours and the extra hour always hurts things. You make this two hours and have Flair at the arena in a suit instead of being in a hospital and the show is about twice as good.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Thunder
Date: April 22, 1999
Location: Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 9,429
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko

Welcome to the bottom of the cliff for WCW. On Nitro earlier this week we saw DDP turn heel for no apparent reason, Nash turn face after being one forever but then save Goldberg for no apparent reason and then Flair committed to a mental hospital for reasons of WCW being stupid. Hopefully a taped Thunder picks things up a bit. Let’s get to it.

The announcers run down the card, which actually doesn’t sound too bad. A six man between Benoit/Malenko/Kidman vs. Mysterio/Raven/Saturn sounds very appealing.

Hardcore Hak vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus takes the kendo stick away and nails Hak to start as Larry is already ripping on the hardcore stuff. Now it’s trashcan lid time followed by a mop to Hak’s head. Hak comes back with a trashcan shot as Chastity starts handing in even more weapons. They head outside where Morrus reverses a whip into the barricade and nails Hak with another stick. Back in and Hak sends him face first into a chair because he doesn’t know how to do many regular wrestling moves. He draps Morrus over the top rope and drops a leg over his back before bringing in a table.

That’s not enough so he brings in a ladder but Morrus grabs a powerslam. No Laughing Matter connects for no cover. Hart comes in to set up two tables but Chastity sprays him with a fire extinguisher. The guys actually in the match climb the ladder with Morrus being shoved through the tables. Hak’s White Russian legsweep through the pieces of the table is enough for the pin.

Rating: N/A. That’s going to be my standard grade for this stuff going forward for the simple reason of this isn’t wrestling. Hak got over because of his entrance in ECW and that’s about the extent of his usefulness. This was a disaster and I believe Morrus was injured and out for a few weeks as a result of this. It doesn’t even have the stupid charm that ECW has half the time.

Video on Nash vs. Page.

We look at the Black and White attacking Konnan on Nitro.

Konnan vs. Scotty Riggs

Konnan hammers away at Riggs, sending him looking for his mirror. The bulldog and low dropkick have Riggs in even more trouble and Konnan fires off more punches in the corner. Back in and Scotty fires off punches of his own followed by an actually awesome dropkick. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Riggs elbows Konnan down to stop his comeback bid. After a Rick Rude hip swivel, Riggs suplexes him down but misses a top rope ax handle. Konnan kicks him in the ribs, hits the X Factor and hooks the Tequila Sunrise for the win.

Rating: D. Riggs’ continued employment astounds me but I’m assuming that dropkick has something to do with it. Konnan was his usual self here, even though he’s fallen through the floor ever since getting thrown out of the NWO. He’s just there anymore and doesn’t do anything but get on my nerves with his odd language.

Video on Flair vs. Piper.

Video on the awesome fourway from Monday.

Vampiro vs. Al Greene

They trade armbars to start until Vampiro grabs a full nelson. That goes nowhere either so Greene shoves him off and nails a shoulder. Greene takes him down but Vampiro rides him on the mat to send Al out to the floor. Vampiro hits a plancha and takes him back inside for some chops. This is already going nowhere. A suplex puts Vampiro down but he comes back up with a superkick and a high cross body. Instead of covering off that, Vampiro grabs a rollup for the pin.

Rating: D+. The high spots helped a bit but this was only a step or two above the previous match. Vampiro really doesn’t hold up but at least he’s somewhat better as a face. On the other hand, it’s hard to hate someone named Big Al. Seriously, try it sometime. Anyway this was about what you would expect from this kind of match.

Hotline shill.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

Booker is defending. Tenay offers condolences to Rick Rude’s family as Rick passed away two days earlier. They trade some headlocks and Booker gets taken into the corner for some kicks to the ribs. Booker fights back with some kicks and a clothesline to send Bobby out to the floor. Duncum pulls him to the floor though and ties Booker’s feet with his bullrope. Because he’s a cowboy you see, because WCW loves cowboys.

We take a break and come back with Bobby holding a chinlock. A big boot and belly to belly get two on Booker and we’re in the chinlock all over again. They head outside with Bobby having a pair of chairs taken away from him. Serves the cheater right. Back in and a top rope clothesline gets two for Duncum and we’re back to the chinlock. A clothesline puts Booker down for two more and it’s time for the bullrope again. Booker ducks a big swing and hits the ax kick and missile dropkick to retain.

Rating: C-. Duncum had a good look but being a cowboy is only going to take him so far. It gets dull watching a guy just carrying a rope and wearing a hat as the entirety of his gimmick. Booker is still doing well but he’s back in the same rut he’s been in for years with just having random matches that don’t lead anywhere.

Video on Bagwell calling out Steiner.

Buff Bagwell vs. Fit Finlay

After starting a USA chant, Buff takes him down with a quick armdrag to send Finlay out to the floor. Back in and Finlay nails him in the face with a European uppercut and slams Buff face first onto the apron. He tries to bring in a chair ala Duncum and has it taken away just like Bobby. Back in and Finlay pulls on Buff’s nose (seriously) but Buff fights up with a jawbreaker. They trade slams and Buff nails a headbutt but walks into a knee to the ribs. Another European uppercut staggers Buff and the rolling fireman’s carry gets two. Buff stops a charging Finlay in the corner with a boot and nails the Blockbuster for the pin.

Rating: D+. They’re firmly in the “here’s wrestling” mode tonight with no real emotion or energy to anything. Buff’s face run continues to work well enough, but he’s only a little bit ahead of Scotty Riggs as far as in ring abilities. Finlay was his usual good self but he didn’t have much to work with here.

This Week in WCW Motorsports.

We look at Flair being committed on Monday.

Disco Inferno vs. Rick Steiner

After a commercial for some reason, Rick quickly kicks Disco out to the floor before choking him down in the corner. More punching and choking ensues as this is all Steiner so far. Some kicks send Disco running out to the floor out of fear for this boring match. Back in and Disco nails the swinging neckbreaker and a middle rope elbow. He goes up again but dives into a belly to belly suplex. A regular suplex sets up the Steiner Bulldog followed by a kind of STF to make Disco tap.

Rating: D-. Total squash here and the rise of Rick Steiner begins. This is another one of those things in 1999 that really makes me shake my head as Rick would get worse and worse in the ring and get higher and higher on the card as a result. Disco got in almost nothing here and might as well have been from In The Corner To My Left.

We look at Page embracing the dark side to end Nitro.

Goldberg vs. Ernest Miller

Miller offers him the five count but kicks Goldberg at two. Some kicks have Goldberg staggered but he just punches Miller in the face. Sonny Onoo tries to interfere but Goldberg gorilla presses him at Miller and immediately spears both of them down in a cool looking spot. Jackhammer ends this quick.

Kidman/Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio Jr./Raven/Saturn

Main event time and Kidman doesn’t look thrilled with his partners. The three teams are scheduled for a triangle match at Slamboree which sounds awesome. Robinson is guest referee of course. Mysterio and Malenko get things going with Rey hammering away in the corner. An armdrag takes Malenko down and we get a standoff. Off to Raven vs. Kidman with the bird enthusiast driving shoulders in the corner.

Raven crotches him on the top rope and Saturn nails a missile dropkick to put Kidman on the floor. A plancha nails Kidman on the floor as Mysterio protests. The argument allows Kidman to tag in Malenko for a dropkick to Saturn’s knee. Dean chokes away and Kidman is hesitant to come in under such circumstances. Saturn’s powerbomb attempt is countered but Raven breaks up a Shooting Star attempt.

That’s fine with Saturn as he belly to belly superplexes the crotched Kidman across the ring. Off to Raven for an atomic drop but Kidman sends him into the corner and tags out to Dean. Raven and Saturn take over on Malenko just as easily before tagging in Mysterio for a dropkick. Malenko suplexes Rey down and we take a break.

Back with everyone in the same spot due to the wonders of taped shows. Saturn has a red headdress for no apparent reason. Benoit goes after Rey’s knee, drawing in Saturn for an attempted save. That’s exactly what the Horsemen want as they switch behind the referee’s back to keep control. Dean gets two off a suplex and brings in Kidman who tries to help Rey up.

Benoit will have none of this compassion stuff and tags himself so he can throw Kidman to the floor. A superplex drops Rey again as the Horsemen keep control. Dean throws Mysterio outside and everything breaks down. That goes nowhere as Malenko takes Rey back inside and bends Mysterio’s back over his knee.

Rey finally takes Malenko down with the sitout bulldog and makes the tag to Saturn. Everything breaks down again with Rey tagging himself back in after a few seconds. Kidman clotheslines Malenko “by mistake” but Anderson crotches Rey on the top. The spinebuster plants Rey and Kidman protests, but Dean dropkicks Kidman onto Mysterio for a fast count pin.

Rating: B-. Take six guys and give them about fifteen minutes to be awesome. It wasn’t a classic but it blew away everything else on this show. This likely sets up some tension between the Tag Team Champions as we head into Slamboree. That match is going to rock given the talent in the ring. Good main event here.

Overall Rating: D+. The main event brings this up a good bit as everything else was basic, boring stuff that didn’t need to exist. At the end of the day though, I’ll take dull, generic wrestling over stuff that insults my intelligence, making this show a bit more tolerable than the worst of Nitro. It’s also a step up over some of the worst Thunders they’ve had over the last few months.

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Monday Nitro #185
Date: April 19, 1999
Location: O’Connell Center, Gainsville, Florida
Attendance: 8,567
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re getting closer to Slamboree and the main event is set with Page defending against Nash. Other than that we have the further exploits of the NWO as things fall apart with Hogan nowhere in sight. Savage and Sting are still running around and feuding with Flair so it’s hard to say what’s coming tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with Goldberg arriving and carrying a briefcase. He says it’s him vs. Page for the title tonight.

Ricki Rachman and DJ Ran do their thing.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Armstrong/Steve Armstrong vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

This should be good. Benoit and Scott get things going and of course Charles Robinson is referee. They speed things up to start with Scott ducking a chop but getting taken down with a very crisp armdrag. A quick tag brings in Steve who cleans house and stomps away on Benoit. The Horsemen get Steve out to the floor though and the triple teaming is on. Back in and Malenko nails a low dropkick to the side of Steve’s head and the stomping continues.

Benoit takes his head off with a clothesline for two as a LOUD Goldberg chant starts up. Malenko comes back in and hammers away in the corner before Anderson helps with even more cheating. Robinson allows the Horsemen to change without a tag to Arn’s approval. Benoit finally charges into a boot but still won’t allow the tag off to Scott. Dean comes back in but walks into a double clothesline, finally setting up the hot tag. Scott comes in and everything breaks down. Dean jumps over Scott in the corner and powerbombs him down into the Cloverleaf for the submission.

Rating: C+. This was the best opening match they’ve had in a good while. The Armstrongs are guys that can wrestle with anyone so if you give them a pair of technicians like Malenko and Benoit it’s bound to be good. More importantly than that though, the brothers kept working the whole time they were getting squashed. It’s so annoying to see someone just laying on the mat instead of trying to get the tag or doing anything other than just laying around.

Georgia, the woman that gave Flair papers that he signed without looking at them on Thunder, gives them to Piper. Roddy looks very pleased.

Opening sequence.

Savage and Gorgeous George arrive but Doug Dillinger won’t let them in. Piper comes up and says he’s the Commissioner so they need to be let in. Dillinger reluctantly agrees.

Gene brings out DDP for a chat. Page starts by wishing Hogan the best with his knee surgery. The fans are already chanting for Goldberg. Page says Goldberg needs to get focused like he’s been. Both guys know what it’s like to grab the brass ring because Page is World Champion right now.

Page sees a lot of Goldberg in himself and there’s nothing he would like more than to put the title on the line tonight….but that’s not going to happen. This brings out Goldberg who gets right in Page’s face. Apparently Page agrees to put the title on the line tonight. Goldberg’s music hit and he was out of the ring in less than a minute. So why did Page say no in the first place if he would agree that fast?

Piper is in the back with David Flair and says Ric needs help. They talk about him being put under observation for 72 hours and David agrees before signing the papers Piper was given earlier.

Page comes up to Gene in the back and confirms the title is on the line. Gene isn’t done yet though and shows us the clip from Spring Stampede of Page injuring Hogan. We don’t actually see Page’s reaction to it or anything, but why would that be interesting?

Cruiserweight Title: Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kidman vs. Blitzkrieg

Mysterio is defending and this is one fall to a finish. The fans really odn’t seem to like Psychosis or Blitzkrieg. We cut to the front row and see a man all in black with a mohawk hair cut and jewelery on his fingers that look like claws. Tony recognizes him as Alex Wright, which is very impressive detective work on his part as Wright looks completely different and is wearing big sunglasses.

It’s a big brawl to start with only Juvy and Psychosis left standing. Blitzkrieg avoids a charge to send Psychosis hard into the post. Juvy loads up a powerbomb on Psychosis for a springboard seated senton from Rey. Guerrera backdrops Mysterio out to the floor and holds up Blitzkrieg for a missile dropkick from Psychosis. Blitzkrieg escapes another powerbomb attempt and causes Juvy to accidentally hit a top rope Fameasser on Psychosis.

Rey is back in with a split legged moonsault to Juvy but Psychosis takes over and throw Guerrera into the air for a big crash. Blitzkrieg and Rey knock the other two to the floor before hitting a pair of Asai moonsaults. Back in and Blitzkrieg hits some standing flips onto Rey for two as Juvy and Psychosis are trying to get back in. Guerrera is back up first with a springboard missile dropkick to Blitzkrieg’s back, leaving him alone with Rey.

A quick hurricanrana puts Guerrera down and a slingshot splash gets two. Psychosis and Rey take turns breaking up pins by hitting each other in the face. Things settle down with Juvy bulldogging Rey for two before calling for the Juvy Driver. Instead it’s a kind of reverse DDT but Psychosis comes in with a top rope splash for two on the champion. Mysterio’s top rope bulldog puts Psychosis down and we have to take a break.

Back with Juvy hitting a huge dive onto Blitzkrieg and Psychosis. Rey goes outside as well but Psychosis pops up and dives onto all three of them. Back in and Rey powerbombs Juvy for two but Psychosis makes a save. Blitzkrieg busts out a very quick Figure Four to Psychosis, only to have Juvy make the save and drop a guillotine legdrop on Psychosis for two. Juvy powerbombs Blitzkrieg but Rey gets the cover for two. Mysterio hurricanranas Juvy off the top and Psychosis steals two of his own.

Blitzkrieg can’t get a jawbreaker on Juvy so Rey dropkicks Guerrera to the floor instead. Rey makes the mistake of posing instead of covering, allowing Juvy to try a powerbomb out of the corner. That’s fine with Rey as he hurricanranas Guerrera again. Juvy pops back up and snaps Mysterio across the top for two more. Psychosis clotheslines Juvy to the floor but Blitzkrieg kicks him in the face.

A slam sets up the Phoenix Splash for two on Psychosis but this time it’s Juvy making the save and Juvy Drivering Blitzkrieg for two. Rey comes back in and hurricanranas Guerrera out to the floor. Psychosis breaks up a Blitzkrieg superplex attempt and drops the guillotine legdrop for the pin and the title in a shocker.

Rating: B+. WHAT A MATCH! I don’t ever remember a cruiserweight match going this long (over twenty one minutes) and there is something going on for the entirety of the time. Usually there’s the period where things cool down but they never reached that point here. Psychosis winning is a big surprise and the match was very entertaining. Great stuff.

Gene brings out Flair for a chat. Ric, in a University of Florida shirt, seems very happy to be in Gainesville. He talks about students thinking they can out drink him and offers to buy each one of them a drink. Before he can get any further he’s interrupted by Roddy Piper. Ric wants to know why Piper always has to ruin his good time but Piper cuts him off and says Flair is becoming the Dennis Rodman of WCW.

He brings up Flair signing papers and offering to buy kids drinks. Somehow this makes him insane and unfit to be President of WCW. Piper is treating this like something serious instead of over the top like it should be. Flair starts dancing and throws his shoes into the crowd. Roddy brings up Flair handcuffing himself to the ropes to fight Bischoff from a few months back so Flair strips off his clothes to reveal Florida boxers.

Ric says his first crazy thing and says he’s President of the United States. Robinson brings out Flair’s robe as Piper has Gene read the papers. Basically they say Flair is nuts and that he’s out of office pending a review of his competence. Flair fires Piper and gives Florida the National Championship from Tennessee.

It’s time for more dancing so Piper says that the paper Flair signed last week made Flair vs. Nash (who went to the University of Tennessee in a nice touch) tonight. So he’s crazy but allowed to wrestle? Anderson faints in the corner for a few seconds but Flair makes himself vs. Piper for the Presidency at Slamboree and if Piper loses he’s fired.

This segment was a mess and really doesn’t make sense. The problem comes down to Flair not being insane until just now, and it’s a stretch even at this point. Anderson and Heenan made it clear that Flair taking off his clothes and spending a fortune is Flair being himself. That’s very true and we’ve seen him do exactly that for well over ten years.

Yeah Flair has been a bit out there with stuff like signing papers without looking, but going from that to having him committed in four days is a really big jump for this story. It makes the whole thing seem stupid and they could have gotten to the Piper vs. Flair match for control without it. The fact that this is setting up Roddy Piper vs. Ric Flair in a major match on PPV makes things even worse as you can almost hear the fans groan when Piper is mentioned anymore.

The Black and White tells Konnan they’re looking for Nash but Konnan says he has nothing to do with Nash anymore. This earns him a beatdown. Konnan was scheduled to fight for the US Title later in the night.

DJ Ran and Nitro Girls.

The announcers hype up the World Title match and they actually have a graphic for it. The shot of the belt on Page’s shoulder looks horrible as he’s not even touching it.

Brian Knobbs vs. Hardcore Hak

This is a garbage can match or something like that. Brian hammers Hak with a can as he comes in but Chastity slides in some extra weapons for them to use. We get a Pit Stop for old times’ sake and Hak is sent out to the floor. Hak sends him into the post and a cameraman goes down. It’s already table time but Knobbs nails him in the back with a chair.

Hak comes back with a ladder as you can barely see the mat at this point. There’s no wrestling in between these spots. Hak bulldogs him onto the ladder and sets up the table in the middle of the ring. He misses a Swanton though and mostly breaks the table to give Brian a two count. We get the Terry Funk spinning ladder spot to put Hak down but Chasitity takes Knobbs’ kendo stick away. Not that it matters as a pair of trashcan shots is enough to pin Hak.

Rating: D-. Remember the good tag match and the really good four way? This was nothing like those matches. As is usually the case with these things, the best part of it was it only ran about seven minutes. On the other hand, I could have spent those seven minutes doing something more constructive, like ripping my fingernails out with rusty pliers.

More DJ Ran because WCW doesn’t understand wrestling fans.

Nitro Girls.

Randy Savage has a present for Gorgeous George: Madusa, who is here to train her for Slamboree.

Nash comes in to see the Black and White and ask about what happened with Konnan. Stevie says they know what Nash has been doing and won’t be taking it anymore. Nash leaves, saying the team doesn’t want this. They’re going to send Norton to take care of Steiner tonight.

Buff Bagwell vs. Disco Inferno

Buff talks about how bad Scott Steiner thinks he is and rips off his catchphrases. Disco stomps him down in the corner to start but gets caught by a clothesline. Bagwell chokes Disco with his own shirt before working on a wristlock. A dropkick puts Inferno on the floor and Buff does his strut.

Disco comes back in and is quickly hiptossed right back to the floor. He tries to get back in again and actually shows some intelligence by snapping Buff’s throat across the top rope. Disco starts going after the neck as we stop to look at Alex Wright again. Bagwell avoids a middle rope elbow and makes his quick comeback, only to get crotched on the top. The Last Dance is countered and Buff tries (and fails) a running Blockbuster for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was another good win for Bagwell as they actually seem to be building up a young guy for a change. I can’t imagine it’s for anything more than feeding him to Steiner but it’s nice while it lasts. Bagwell really needs to stick with the middle rope version of the Blockbuster though as it looks about 8000% better.

Here’s Scott Steiner with a group of women because Godfather was a hot act around this time. After some catchphrases, Steiner gets right to it with talking down Bagwell and mentioning Buff’s history as a male stripper. He goes on about it for awhile and says the NWO made Bagwell. The fans chant steroids and there’s no Norton as promised by the Black and White. Not only are the boring and losers, but they can’t tell the truth about their sneak attacks announced on national TV. What is the world coming to?

Video on Gorgeous George vs. Charles Robinson.

Nitro Girls.

DJ Ran for the third or so time tonight.

Recap of the Flair/Piper stuff from earlier.

Kidman vs. Raven

Raven starts off aggressively but gets taken down by a headscissors. He pops back up and suddenly feels like trying a powerbomb. Kidman is lucky that his opponents always want to use that move even though they never do otherwise. After the faceplant, Raven sends Kidman out to the floor and throws in a chair. The drop toehold sends Kidman face first into the steel and Raven drops a leg onto the chair onto Kidman’s head for good measure. Kidman shoves Raven off the top but the Shooting Star hits the chair. The Horsemen come in for the DQ, even though Raven matches are supposed to be non-title.

Mysterio makes the save for his partner and the Horsemen run. Saturn decks Mysterio but gets sent down with a headscissors. Rey gets superkicked but Kidman powerbombs Saturn down. Raven Evenflows Kidman but the Horsemen run back in for the big beatdown.

More of Piper/Flair.

US Title: Scott Steiner vs. Scott Norton

So apparently the Black and White can just make US Title matches at their whim. Steiner is defending of course. After the champion finishes posing, the battle of clubbing forearms begin. Norton runs the champ down with some shoulders and a big clothesline sends him outside. More stalling ensues until Norton drags him back into the ring for some right hands in the corner. Steiner finally sends him to the floor and then into the barricade.

Back in and Steiner gets his required steroids chant. Steiner charges into a boot in the corner and Norton hammers away before getting two off a side slam. Norton loads up the shoulder breaker but the referee gets bumped. A low blow and belly to belly suplex retain Steiner’s title. Steiner’s feet on the ropes helped too.

Rating: D. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be much of a power brawl. Norton was wrestling like a face here and it worked on a kind of weird level. Steiner’s mega push continues as his in ring ability continues to deteriorate every single week. Granted putting him in there with a one dimensional guy like Norton wasn’t the best idea.

DJ Ran AGAIN. We get it already.

Kevin Nash vs. Ric Flair

Before the match, Nash promises to get revenge on Page for Hogan. Naturally Robinson, with what looks like a Horsemen sticker on his shirt, is refereeing. Nash shoves Flair down before the bell and Flair is ready to go. Flair tries some shoulder blocks to as much success as you would expect. Back up and Nash knees him into the corner and nails the backdrop. Nash even mocks Flair slicking back his hair as Ric bails to the floor.

Naitch slows things down a bit so Nash busts out a headlock of all things. They trade shots in the corner and there’s another backdrop to Flair. A big shot in the corner gives us the Flair Flop and there’s the framed elbow. Anderson finally gets involved by tripping up Nash and helping Flair crotch him against the post. Back in and Anderson just gets in the ring to help Flair double team. We get the old “how much time” bit from Flair and Nash goes down to a low blow.

Flair hammers away in the corner while calling Nash Tennessee. Anderson interferes again but Nash comes back with a right hand and the side slam. Flair heads to the apron and gets clotheslined out to the floor. For some reason he tries to come back in off the top and you know what’s coming. Anderson tries to come in but gets kicked in the face for his efforts. There go the straps and Flair gets powerbombed, sending Robinson to the floor instead of counting. Gorgeous George comes out and takes his referee shirt to count the pin on Flair. Because that’s how WCW works anymore.

Rating: C-. It was Flair vs. Nash so you knew it was going to be at least watchable. The overbooking made sense here and Robinson just walking out was a nice touch. The ending on the other hand was stupid but exactly what you would expect from WCW at this point: someone just deciding they’re a referee and having their pin count. I mean, people can make US Title matches so why not this?

Post match Flair is taken out on a stretcher by people in white coats. Yep, they’re really doing this. Piper shows up to talk some trash as Flair is loaded into the van. Somehow Anderson doesn’t get what’s going on.

Dusty Rhodes joins commentary for no apparent reason.

WCW World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg

Page is defending of course. The referee gets shoved down and we’re ready to go. Page charges at Goldberg and gets shoved down as well. Back up and Page is thrown to the floor where he stops to take a breather. He gets back in and tries the Diamond Cutter but is quickly sent back to the floor. A leg trip doesn’t even get one on Goldberg who hits a kind of AA into a cross armbreaker, sending Page into the ropes.

Page’s shoulder block has no effect and the spear connects out of nowhere. He goes to pick Page up for the Jackhammer but the champ sends him face first into the middle buckle instead. A swinging neckbreaker gets two for Page and a belly to belly suplex gets the same. Goldberg gets caught in a front facelock but he powers up into a kind of powerslam for two. Another Diamond Cutter attempt is countered into another powerslam and Goldberg is getting frustrated.

Page neckbreakers him for two but misses the discus lariat. A superkick puts Page into the corner and Goldberg loads up the spear but the champ is smart enough to just stay right where he is. Goldberg tries the spear anyway and hits the buckle. The Diamond Cutter connects but Goldberg kicks him off hard enough to send him onto the referee. Page loads up a foreign object but stops to use the referee as a shield for the spear.

The Jackhammer connects but there’s no referee. Page gets up and nails Goldberg with the foreign object to knock him out to the floor. He loads up the steps next to Goldberg and crushes the ankle with a chair. The referee wakes up and tries to stop Page, earning him a right hand to the face. Page loads up the Figure Four around the post but Nash makes the save for no apparent reason other than the script says so. He helps Goldberg into the ring but Page nails Nash with the belt to end the show.

Rating: C+. This was actually a good match until the screwy ending. These two have some solid chemistry together and can put on a good match with the right amount of time. Goldberg kicking out of the Diamond Cutter as strong as he did was a surprise and the ending was…..well I’ll get back to that. The match was good though.

Overall Rating: C+. You know if you just go by the wrestling, this was one of the best Nitros in a very long time. The Cruiserweight Title match was outstanding and the main event was solid too. You couple that with some other good to watchable stuff in between and write off the non-wrestling that was Hak vs. Knobbs and you have one heck of a show.

Unfortunately this heck of a show has an 800lb gorilla right in the middle of it and a 300lb orangutan at the end. We’ll start with the slightly better one first. Page and Nash’s double turn is acceptable as Nash has basically been a face for months now and Page….yeah it really doesn’t work. Much like the Flair stuff, it was just setting down its roots when they jumped it forward to the end goal.

One of WCW’s biggest problems at the moment is its lack of top faces. There’s Sting, Nash, Piper (oh joy) and in theory Savage, though he’s just a glorified manager right now. Nash becoming the top guy is fine enough, but it brings up the obvious question: if he wins the title, why should I believe he’s going to hang onto it? It may sound like a stupid question but the Fingerpoke was less than four months prior to this. It’s not out of the question.

That leaves us with the big problem with this show: Ric Flair, the fourteen time World Heavyweight Champion and the President of WCW was put in a white van and taken away to a mental hospital after apparently thinking he was President of the United States due to what could easily be written off as a slip of the tongue. Aside from what was just mentioned, the fact that it sets up Piper vs. Flair in 1999, how out of character it is for Flair and how much of a stretch this is, it’s not even a well told story.

From what we can tell, David Flair and Piper decided to have Flair institutionalized because he signed a single contract for a match without looking at it. Yeah it’s stupid but it’s not really grounds for being institutionalized. Just writing that and reading it back makes me realize it’s even worse. Ric Flair is being put in a mental hospital. Let it sink in for a second. This is a really bad idea and unfortunately it’s the first step off a cliff for WCW. Things were getting stupid before, but now they’re flying into the abyss.

Somehow though, the show was actually good for the most part. The Flair/Piper stuff is horrible but it’s only a part of what is otherwise a really good show. That’s what makes WCW so frustrating: they have the tools and ability to have a good product, but they do things like have a DJ in the arena (because I guess a professional wrestling show just isn’t entertaining enough) and the hardcore nonsense drags all the good stuff down.

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Monday Nitro #184
Date: April 12, 1999
Location: Valley Sundome, Yakima, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re past Spring Stampede now and DDP has finally become World Champion. The other interesting, and arguably more important, part of the main event was Hollywood Hogan going down with a knee injury. That’s going to be very damaging to the NWO going forward and might even be the death knell for the team. Let’s get to it.

We open with Page in catering when Gorgeous George and Savage come up, saying Page owes Randy the title. Scott Steiner comes in and nails Page with a chair and crushes him with a table leg. Steiner shouts that he’s going to be champion.

Opening sequence.

Ricky Rachman now has DJ Ran with him. The two pests bring out the Nitro Girls for some dancing.

The announcers talk about Page winning the title and his first defense against Steiner tonight.

We look at Steiner throwing Kimberly out of the car a few weeks back.

Here’s Sting with something to say. He talks about the many people that have tried to put him out of action over the years but no one will ever be able to do it. A lot of wrestlers have heart, but none of them are Sting. He’s the man that built WCW because he’s been here since day one. This is his house and his turf and if anyone can say they built this house, it’s Sting. Diamond Dallas Page didn’t build this place, so Sting wants some of Page tonight.

Stills of Mysterio vs. Kidman.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey is defending. Juvy takes him down by the leg but Rey comes back with some forearms to the head. A hurricanrana attempt is countered by a Guerrera powerbomb and they actually stay on the mat for a bit. With their legs tied together, they stand on their heads and slap each others’ faces. That was different. Rey gets back up but gets caught in a DDT. Juvy makes the mistake of posing instead of covering though, allowing Rey to get back to his feet.

A headscissors gets two for Juvy and Mysterio rolls out to the floor. Juvy follows up this time with a big plancha and sends Mysterio face first into the steps. Back in and Rey hammers away in the corner before countering a Liger Bomb with a hurricanrana. Juvy tries the Juvy Driver but has to settle for a successful Liger Bomb. Mysterio is able to get up and stop the 450 before hitting the top rope hurricanrana, but the Horsemen run in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. This picked up near the end but it really wasn’t anything interesting until the last minute and a half. You don’t expect these two to stay on the mat and it made the match feel disappointing as a result. Then again, maybe both guys were spent after last night. That’s not really an excuse but it’s a possibility.

The Horsemen destroy Rey until Raven and Saturn make the save. Mysteiro doesn’t seem to want their help.

Jimmy Hart and Hugh Morrus are excited to face the new King of Hardcore Bam Bam Bigelow tonight. Hak comes up nails Morrus in the head with a cane to demonstrate how to beat Bigelow. Morrus smiles and beats up a technician. Good grief I’m tired of this angle.

Video on Scott Steiner.

The announcers talk (and casually plug Surge) about Bret quitting and show us a clip of him on an NBC talk show. He talked about WCW screwing up his debut and thinks they mismanaged the last year of his career. This is spliced together with clips of Bret’s promo ranting about how much better he was than people like Flair and Hogan. We also see the Goldberg spear into the metal plate. Bret insists that he’s done and says it’s a shame how bad both companies treated him.

We get stills from the hardcore match last night.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hugh Morrus

This is a kendo stick match so Bigelow throws in some tables before the bell. They hit each other with canes and Bigelow slams him down. Bam Bam takes FOREVER to get to the top and misses a moonsault, only to have Morrus do the same. A table is set up in the corner and both guys are whipped through it.

Jimmy Hart trips Bigelow so Morrus can beat on him with the stick. Morrus takes a stick to the middle rope and tries to stab Bigelow but the stick hits the mat and goes up into Hugh’s chin. The announcers talk about making a Hardcore belt like a Swiss army knife. Morrus sets up another table and loads up the moonsault but only his feet hit Bigelow in the face. Bigelow’s top rope headbutt ends this mess.

Rating: D-. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say about this nonsense. They’re trying to put comedy spots in there now and it’s not making things any better. I don’t know how but somehow this is getting even less interesting to sit through. WCW really was shortsighted enough to think this is what made ECW work. I’m no ECW fan but that’s one of the dumbest things they ever did. I hate this nonsense.

Kidman says he was at a personal appearance and couldn’t be there to help Rey. If he was there, he would have helped of course.

Main event stills from last night.

Here’s Page for his first comments as World Champion. He says he wasn’t supposed to happen and either he’s dreaming or he really won this last night. Page tells Hogan sorry about the leg but Gene gets on him for not being serious. The champ corrects him because he would have loved Hogan to be in the ring for the win. As for Sting, he deserves a title shot but first up is Scott Steiner. He promises to show Steiner that size doesn’t matter, even though Steiner has heard that before.

Nitro Girls.

Tony talks about all the big names here while pointing a Surge at the camera.

Gene brings out Flair with something to say. The President if flanked by Anderson and referee Charles Robinson in I believe his first official affiliation with the boss. Flair says the title is being held up for reasons he doesn’t have time to explain because here are Savage and Gorgeous George. Randy has a piece of paper in his hand and says he’s going to lay the smackdown for Flair right now.

The executive committee and President gave him power in the match last night so Page is still champion. Flair says Savage is never going to wrestle again because he’s going to sit at home and get a check. After tonight, Savage isn’t in the picture at all. Flair rips up the paper and Robinson says Savage isn’t a qualified referee. He makes the mistake of calling George a bimbo and gets one of the best slaps I’ve ever seen.

Savage says he wants to wrestle and has an idea: at Slamboree it’s Robinson vs. George for Savage’s career. Robinson agrees and Flair says Charles will win with the Figure Four. Macho thinks George will win with a big elbow. This brings out a running Sting who says that since Diamond Dallas Trash is ducking him, how about Sting vs. Flair tonight? Anderson accepts for Flair, which is cool with Sting.

La Parka/El Dandy vs. Master Blasters

I really don’t think these are the original Master Blasters but that’s just a hunch. Both guys have stockings over their face so I can’t make out either of them. They’re both very muscular though and have Jimmy Hart in their corner. Dandy starts with #1 and is easily shoved down. A belly to belly suplex puts Dandy on the mat again and it’s off to La Parka. Not that it matters as here comes Nash (rather appropriate), of course drinking a Surge. Nash beats everyone up and the match is thrown out.

Nash shows us a clip of he and Flair talking last week and Hogan not being pleased with it. Back in the arena, Nash says the business he and Flair talked about was him getting a title shot at Slamboree if Flair made it out of last week’s show with the belt. He wants Page to make it to St. Louis (Slamboree location) with the title because what Page did to Hogan was wrong. Page will pay the price Wolfpack style.

More DJ Ran nonsense.

Psychosis vs. Kidman

They start slow with Psychosis grabbing a headlock followed by a running dropkick to the side of the head. Kidman comes right back with a hurricanrana and some right hands in the corner. Psychosis launches him into the air for a big crash and the fans are all over him. Another dropkick puts Kidman on the floor and Psychosis follows him out with a huge dive.

Back in and a missile dropkick gets two on Kidman while the announcers are arguing about fraternities or something. Psychosis sends him back to the floor but his dive is blocked with Kidman’s first dropkick. They head inside again with Psychosis nailing a great looking top rope hurricanrana for two. Kidman misses a splash in the corner but Psychosis makes the eternal mistake of trying a powerbomb. The faceplant sets up the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was a better match than I was expecting and a good reminder of how good Psychosis can be. Even though he didn’t use much besides dropkicks, he still looked great out there and made the match work. The division is really starting to fill out and it’s making shows much easier to get through.

Nitro Girls.

Stills from Goldberg vs. Nash.

Gene brings out Goldberg for a chat. Goldberg talks about how awesome he is and says that he’s waiting for Bret to come back. Okerlund brings up Luger and Goldberg is ready to knock his face off. Finally, he commends Page on his title win but says it doesn’t make Page immune to Goldberg. He’s coming for the title and no one can stop him.

DJ Ran again. How does this make me want to watch the show?

TV Title: Rick Steiner vs. Booker T.

Booker is defending of course. Rick takes him down to the mat and drives in a few forearms to the back of his head. A suplex sends Booker flying and the announcers ignore the match to insult Mike Tenay for some reason. Back up and a big spin kick drops Steiner and a running forearm does the same. He loads up the side kick but Rick is mostly standing so it’s a superkick instead.

Another superkick puts Rick on the floor for a bit and the champion is in control. Back in and a clothesline puts Booker right back outside. Rick hooks a kind of powerbomb for two followed by his powerslam for the same. There goes the referee but he’s right back up as Stevie Ray comes out to slap jack Rick. Booker didn’t see it and nails the Harlem Side Kick to retain.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do much for me as it was a lot of slowly going back and forth as they waited for the run-in at the end. Stevie Ray and Booker getting back together wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world but I’d really rather see Booker keep going with his singles run. Rick didn’t look good out there tonight as his timing was off and he wasn’t doing anything besides power moves.

Here’s Scott Steiner with his own mic and something to say. He runs down Page for his lack of muscles and calls him white trash. Steiner will take Kimberly too because that’s still a thing.

DJ Ran. Tony: “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!”

Kenny Kaos vs. Goldberg

Goldberg works on a wristlock to start before taking him down into a legbar. Kenny goes to the eyes and takes him into the corner for no effect. A gorilla press into a powerslam plants Kaos but he pops back up with a slam of his own. He goes to the apron for a springboard shoulder….and totally misses. Goldberg just stands there and watches Kaos fly past him into a crash. A pumphandle throw sends Kaos flying and the spear and Jackhammer end the destruction.

Rating: C-. This was somewhat competitive for a little bit but that missed shoulder was hysterical. Goldberg may not have been the most versatile wrestler in the world but there’s something cool about watching him just run over people and throw them around the ring like a bag of flour. Fun stuff here as usual.

DJ Ran, AGAIN. Rachman talks about the World Title match to kill even more time.

Sting vs. Ric Flair

Robinson is referee and Sting has big white wraps around his feet. Flair gets shoved down a few times to start and the gorilla press puts him down again. Sting: “For old times’ sake!” There’s another gorilla press and Flair rolls outside to scream in pain. Sting carries Flair back to the ring but gets his eyes raked to give Flair a break. Back up and a sunset flip gets two on Ric and of course the trunks go down.

Flair easily loses a test of strength but pulls Sting’s hair to take him down. Sting nips up every time and clotheslines Flair back to the floor. Almost total dominance by Sting so far. Ric sends him into the barricade to take over before going after the knee back inside. Sting blocks a knee drop and puts Flair in the Figure Four. Ric shouts that he gives up but Robinson won’t call for the bell. He finally gets to the ropes so Sting hammers away in the corner and gets in a shot on Anderson as well.

Arn gets back up and pulls Flair out of the way of the Stinger Splash to give Flair his first real advantage. Robinson conveniently turns his head so Flair can hit Sting low. The announcers are actually paying attention to and calling the match. Sting slams him off the top and takes Flair’s head off with a running clothesline for two. Another low blow in the corner slows Sting down but a vertical suplex has no effect.

The chops don’t work (I love Flair never learning in twelve years) and Sting scores with a superplex. Here comes the Scorpion but Anderson gets on the apron for a distraction. Another Stinger Splash misses and Flair gets the Figure Four. Flair grabs Anderson’s hands but Savage comes out to take Arn out. Sting turns the hold over to break and reverses another suplex into the Death Drop for the pin after threatening Robinson with violence.

Rating: B. This is one of those matches that is almost impossible to screw up. It’s the classic story of the schooled technician vs. the charismatic natural and it’s going to work every time they do it. The match was given time and told the story that works every time. There was no major interference, the pin was clean, and there was no stupid DJ to shout about getting up. It was such a refreshing change and proves the theory that good wrestling is always going to make things feel better.

Anderson tries to come in but gets the Scorpion as well.

WCW World Title: Scott Steiner vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Steiner is challenging. Before the match we get an appearance from Roddy Piper to do commentary. Kimberly makes her return in Page’s corner. Page debuts his ever stylish wear the belt backwards look. It’s a slugout to start and Steiner is knocked out to the floor where Page nails a plancha. Steiner is thrown over the announcers’ table but punches Page up the aisle as we take a break.

Back with Scott suplexing Page down and hammering away in the corner. Page gets two off a belly to belly of his own but can’t hook the Diamond Cutter. Steiner shoves him off the ropes and drops an elbow for two. The announcers are back to form by talking about Flair and Savage rather than the World Title match in front of them. Page gets tied up in the Tree of Woe and choked upside down in a Steiner signature spot. A top rope Frankensteiner gets two and the fans finally react to something.

Page comes back with a discus lariat as Piper accuses Page of injuring Hogan’s knee on purpose. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Steiner and Page sends him into the buckle ten times. Steiner blocks the Diamond Cutter and the referee goes down again. He heads outside and pulls some bolt cutters off the back of the US Title and unhooks a buckle.

Page goes face first and then back first into the buckle before Steiner loads up the Recliner. He won’t put the hold on though with no referee up so Page takes him down with a running DDT. Steiner low blows his way out of another Cutter attempt but Page blocks the Recliner. Kimberly nails Steiner with a chair and the Diamond Cutter retains Page’s title.

Rating: C. The match was fine if not a little bit overbooked. It was annoying to have the commentary barely paying attention until the last two minutes but that’s modern wrestling announcing for you. Kimberly helping to knock Steiner out was a good ending and made sense given their history. It’s a good first defense and sets Page up for the big match with Nash at Slamboree.

Overall Rating: C+. There’s a lot of good stuff in here but the bad stuff really brings it down. First and foremost, the DJ Ran stuff is just annoying. You’re at a professional wrestling show and WCW thinks you need a DJ to fire you up? The matches were good for the most part, save for whatever Hak vs. Morrus was that is. Slamboree should be decent enough and this was a good start to the build. There are some problems in the show though and cutting it down to two hours would solve a lot of them. Unfortunately they seem to be leaning towards the stuff that causes problems rather than the good parts.

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Spring Stampede 1999
Date: April 11, 1999
Location: Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington
Attendance: 17,690
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone

This is a show that hasn’t had the chance to build up that well as they made the two main events on Monday. The midcard stuff is decent enough but there’s some stuff in the main event that makes me shake my head. There are some matches on this show that pique my interest though which is more than I can say about most WCW shows. Let’s get to it.

We open with a generic video of the main event. That doesn’t really fire me up for the show.

The set has a simple entrance but the usual props on the side, such as wagons and hay. I miss that kind of themed stuff.

The announcers intro the show and don’t have much to say.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg

The ring is now sponsored by Little Cesars. The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot tomorrow night. We actually get a handshake to start as the announcers continue their recent bickering over which pair is better. Juvy cranks on the arm before taking Blitzkrieg down into a sunset flip for two. They stay on the mat for a bit and Blitzkrieg complains of a mask pull. That goes nowhere so he grabs a headlock instead. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Juvy and Blitzkrieg follows up with a handspring elbow in the corner. The spots are actually hitting for a change.

Guerrera is able to send Blitzkrieg face first into the buckle ten straight times as we’re waiting on the dives to begin. Juvy goes first with a springboard missile dropkick and Blitzkrieg bails to the floor. He stands there way too long though, allowing Juvy to nail a huge dive over the top to take him down again. Back in and Juvy puts on a surfboard but Blitzkrieg rolls to the side to break it up.

A running dropkick in the corner sends Juvy outside but he walks away before Blitzkrieg can use the big dive. Instead Blitzkrieg goes around the ring and tries again, only to dive into a dropkick for a nice counter. Back in and Juvy tries a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker of his own but Blitzkrieg rolls out, sending Juvy back to the floor. Blitzkrieg hits a springboard spinning moonsault to take Guerrera down again.

Juvy tries the Juvy Driver but Blitzkrieg flips out and they trade reverse DDT attempts until Juvy takes him down for two. To continue the joke that is Schiavone’s commentary career, after the reverse DDT gets two, Tony says, and I quote, “frustration is setting in for Juvy. He hasn’t tried the Juvy Driver yet. If Blitzkrieg can counter that, frustration will really set in.” This is TEN SECONDS after Tony called Blitzkrieg countering the Juvy Driver. TEN SECONDS!

Anyway Juvy gets slammed off the top but avoids a Phoenix Splash. Juvy still can’t hit the Driver and Blitzkrieg tries something like a top rope victory roll for two. Blitzkrieg tries the same thing again but Juvy counters into a super Juvy Driver for the pin and the title shot. That was a great looking finish.

Rating: B. If this was the Blitzkrieg that I had seen in his WCW run, I would totally understand the love this guy gets. This was an excellent match with both guys nailing everything and having almost no down time in between. Granted I’d assume having Juventud Guerrera for an opponent instead of Super Calo helped him a lot. Great match.

Video on Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. Let’s get this over with.

Hardcore Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bigelow brings out a cart full of weapons and drives it into Hak’s ribs to start as the announcers oggle Chastity. They’re already fighting by the set and Hak has a table hidden under the stagecoach. He goes up top on the stagecoach for a swanton through Bigelow through the table for a very good opening spot. Bigelow is up first and nails Hak in the head with part of the board and they head to the ring. Luckily for them, Chastity has a bunch of weapons waiting for them.

Bigelow nails Hak with a crutch followed by something made of metal. Hak bridges a table between the ring and the barricade but takes his sweet time, allowing Bigelow to nail him in the head with a trashcan. There’s a broom to the back but Bigelow can’t suplex him. Unfortunately Hak can’t suplex Bigelow either and his knee buckles. Thankfully he’s ok enough to bring in a ladder as the ring is way too full of weapons.

Something resembling a dropkick sends the ladder into Bigelow. Another swanton onto the ladder onto Bigelow has both guys in trouble as the announcers aren’t sure what to make of this stuff. Here’s yet another table and a piece of barricade to go with it as Bigelow is still down in the corner. There’s also some barbed wire wrapped around another corner. Chastity resets the table between the ring and barricade and Hak goes up, only so Bigelow can throw him throug the table. That was one of the most telegraphed spots I’ve ever seen.

Bigelow sets up a barricade in one corner and a ladder in the other. Hak is sent into the ladder but pops back up, only to crotch himself on the barricade. Bigelow is about to drop the barricade on Hak but has to spray Chastity with a fire extinguisher. The White Russian legsweep has almost no effect on Bigelow, likely because it’s a Russian legsweep. Bigelow takes him up for what was supposed to be a Greetings From Asbury Park (looked more like a Death Valley Driver) through the table for the pin. Isn’t that basically the same finisher from the opener?

Rating: C+. The match was more entertaining for the amount of stuff they used and only one really badly telegraphed spot, but I still don’t care to see any more of this. I really don’t need to see ECW in WCW but that’s what they’re obsessed with at this point. The announcers buried the whole thing and I can’t say I blame them. It was fairly entertaining though.

Scotty Riggs vs. Mikey Whipwreck

I have no idea why this match is happening and I’ll spare you the long list of people that should be on this show more than these two. Riggs is now a narcissist who carries a mirror. Slow start with Scotty offering an armdrag and stopping to talk to the camera. Mikey speeds things up a bit with left hands in the corner and a dropkick. They head outside with Riggs being sent into the barricade before going back inside so Mikey can headscissors him back to the floor.

Back in and Mikey gets knocked off the apron and into the barricade in a painful looking spot. Riggs nails a top rope ax handle but stops for some Rude hip swiveling. We hit the chinlock from Riggs as the fans want Goldberg. Mikey scores with a middle rope dropkick and a hurricanrana for two. They run the ropes and Scotty hits a running forearm for the pin.

Rating: D-. This could have been on any given Thunder and I have no idea why they decided to air it here. Yeah it’s filler but there weren’t two more interesting guys to put out there instead of these guys? Nothing match here and Riggs is still his boring self despite a new gimmick. One thing I’ll give this show so far: the first three matches have all been a different style so there’s a nice variety.

Quick video on Disco vs. Konnan. Disco mocked Konnan’s annoying music video and there’s a match as a result.

Disco Inferno vs. Konnan

Konnan calls him a strawberry (whatever that means) and gets stomped down for his efforts. The fans are all over Disco as he stomps Konnan down and starts to dance even more. Konnan comes back with a dropkick and a bunch of right hands of his own. A Sin Cara style armdrag out of the corner has Disco in trouble but he comes back with a running elbow to the face. We hit the chinlock on Konnan for a few moments, followed by a middle rope elbow for two. This has been one sided so far.

Back to the chinlock for a bit before Konnan hiptosses him down, only to miss a charge and fall out to the floor. Disco is sent into the post but kicks the rope as they come back in. For some reason this stuns Konnan and a shaky elbow gets two. We get another chinlock as the announcers are stunned at Disco’s offense. Disco goes up but misses an elbow drop, allowing Konnan to hit the 187 for two. A swinging neckbreaker gets two for Inferno but Konnan uses Disco’s own Last Dance for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a bad little match here but Konnan hit about three moves all match. Disco continues to be a guy that can work hard when given the chance and that’s what we got here. I like Konnan using a Stunner far more than the Tequila Sunrise which is just a fancy half crab. This was better than I was expecting.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kidman

Mysterio is defending and they’re the Tag Team Champions. Rey grabs a test of strength grip and they flip around for a few two counts each. A headscissors puts Kidman down but Kidman comes back with one of his own in a nice sequence. Kidman backdrops the champion out to the floor and hits a bit dive to take him down again. There’s a legdrop on the floor for two back inside as the fans are oddly quiet for this one.

A chinlock doesn’t get Kidman anywhere so they head to the floor with Rey countering a moonsault and headscissoring Kidman into the barricade. Back inside and Rey hits the springboard seated senton (not a Thesz Press Tony!) followed by a Lionsault for two each. Kidman comes back with something like a standing Boss Man Slam for two. The BK Bomb gets the same and Rey is dropkicked to the floor.

There’s the Shooting Star off the apron but they head back inside where Rey dropkicks Kidman out of the air. The fans are still not all that interested. A top rope bulldog (the move that won Rey the title) wakes them up a bit and gets another near fall on Kidman. Rey charges into a powerslam and it’s back to the chinlock. Back up and Rey clotheslines him to the floor, setting up a big flip dive to take him down again.

They get back in and we hit another chinlock for a bit before Kidman’s powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana for two. Now it’s Rey holding a chinlock as the fans are clearly bored. Kidman fights up again and hits a sitout Pedigree followed by a sunset bomb for two. Another top rope bulldog gets something resembling a reaction and a two count to go with it. Kidman comes back with Stratusfaction for two but Rey hits a standing moonsault for a two count so fast I thought we had a crooked referee. Kidman counters a powerbomb into a faceplant but Rey crotches him into a top rope hurricanrana to retain.

Rating: C+. This was good but the match had to follow their first match as well as tonight’s opener. They were trying to top what they did a few weeks back and the match collapsed under the weight. It also needed to be about five minutes shorter as the chinlocks really stopped things cold. The match was entertaining but I can see why the fans weren’t that impressed.

We look at Saturn reuniting with Raven and beating the Horsemen a few weeks back. Raven and Saturn then cost the Horsemen the Tag Team Titles, making this match non-title.

Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Raven/Saturn

Raven and Saturn bring a table with them. Benoit and Saturn get things going and they stall for over a minute. Saturn is sent out to the floor where he sends the Horsemen into each other to take over. It’s off to Raven for a clothesline for two followed by a suplex to set up a top rope splash from Saturn. Benoit sends Raven out to the floor for a double stomping from Malenko and Anderson.

Back in and a double spinebuster lets the Horsemen make a wish with Raven’s legs. Dean nails a dropkick and it’s back to Benoit who is immediately caught in a small package. Referee Charles Robinson is busy doing anything else to count the pin so Benoit is able to beat Raven down again for two. Raven finally gets a boot up in the corner and the hot tag brings in Saturn. The Horsemen’s house is cleaned and a Doomsday Device with Saturn hitting a cross body for two.

Benoit saves Dean from a Death Valley Driver and puts Saturn in the rolling Germans but Raven makes the save. Dean breaks up the Even Flow and puts Saturn in the Cloverleaf. Saturn makes a rope and plants Dean with the DVD, only to have Benoit break it up with a Swan Dive to give Dean two. AWESOME sequence. Dean suplexes Saturn again and the fans are all over him for showing the Horsemen sign. There’s a sleeper on Saturn but Raven makes a quick save.

Benoit sends Saturn into the corner but Dean has to break up a sunset flip. Back to Dean for a chinlock to slow things down until Saturn suplexes his way out. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house, including clotheslining Dean to the floor. Someone throws a chair inside and there’s the drop toehold for Benoit. Meanwhile, Saturn misses a dive through the table to knock himself silly. Dean nails Raven in the face with the chair but Raven shrugs it off and plants Malenko with the Even Flow. Raven covers but Anderson puts the chair on Raven’s head for the Swan Dive from Benoit to knock Raven silly and give Malenko the pin.

Rating: B+. That might be a bit high but I was loving this one. This is exactly what a good tag match is supposed to be: two teams that work great together and some sequences that make you believe it’s over but you’re so happy that you get more. The ending sequence had the fans totally into it and the whole match was great. This was actually better than the opener.

We recap the US Title tournament that wraps up tonight.

US Title: Booker T. vs. Scott Steiner

This is a rematch from Uncensored where Booker beat Steiner for the TV Title. Steiner stalls by insulting fans at ringside before the match. After about three minutes of walking around and yelling, Scott is ready to go. Booker takes him to the mat with a nice amateur move but Steiner is far more talented on the mat. A dropkick and armdrag send Steiner to the floor but he comes back in with some hard elbows to the face in the corner.

Booker nails him with a hard forearm and a hook kick to the jaw before throwing Booker back to the floor. Steiner charges into a boot in the corner and Booker hammers away at the nutjob’s head. Steiner counters some more right hands in the corner by crotching Booker on the top and momentum quickly changes. Booker is sent ribs first into the barricade and Scott drops an elbow on the ribs back inside.

Now it’s Scott’s turn to hammer away in the corner and the fans chant steroids. A backbreaker gets two for Scott and the chants are getting on his nerves. Scott gets in the referee’s face before putting a bearhug on Mr. T. Booker starts powering out so Steiner suplexes him down. Back up and Booker scores with a DDT followed by some side kicks before Steiner pulls the referee in front of a Booker clothesline. The fans are all looking at the entrance for the run-in as Booker hits the ax kick for no count.

The referee is back up so Steiner nails him from behind. Booker’s 110th Street Slam looks to set up the missile dropkick but Scott crotches him to break it up. Scott’s top rope hurricanrana is only good for two so he pulls out a foreign object and knocks Booker out on a suplex attempt. Another referee helps out the original referee and Steiner wins the title.

Rating: C. This was better than I was expecting with Booker looking like a warrior out there. He’s so ready to move up the card and thankfully he’s still the TV Champion out of all this. Actually it’s better that he hasn’t moved up the card as WCW would manage to screw him up so badly it would ruin him.

Mysterio has a chat on WCW.com.

We recap Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash. Simple story: Goldberg is almost unbeatable but Nash is the only man to beat him. Nash challenged him on Nitro.

Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash

Luger and Liz are with Big Kev. Nash does his catchphrase after the bell for some reason. Goldberg takes him into the corner but gets kneed in the ribs for his efforts. There’s the boot choke and Liz gets on the apron so Kevin can kick him low. All Nash so far. The side slam gets two but Nash misses the big boot and Goldberg shoulders him down.

A single underhook suplex sends Nash flying before he misses another big boot. Goldberg nails a superkick but Nash leapfrogs over the referee (not a bad one either!) and the spear hits the referee. Luger nails Goldberg with his cast and Nash loads up the Jackknife. Goldberg uses a testicular claw (Tony: “JACK THIS!”) to escape before kicking Luger in the face. The spear and Jackhammer end Nash.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here but Goldberg is always a guaranteed way to wake up the crowd. The retribution angle works well here and the match was better because they kept things moving here instead of the slow main event style they worked at Starrcade. Having Goldberg beat both Nash and Luger was a nice touch and maybe his biggest win since losing the title.

A very quick video says who is in the main event and nothing more. There isn’t much of a story here anyway. Hogan won a match to earn a shot but Page and Sting just decided they were in the match as well.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Ric Flair vs. Hollywood Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page

One fall to a finish. Flair is defending and Randy Savage is referee for no apparent reason. If nothing else we get to look at Gorgeous George. The four quickly pair off with Hogan and Flair falling out to the floor. Sting is already trying the Scorpion on Page as Hogan chops away on Ric. They fight up the aisle as Page gets two off a swinging neckbreaker to Sting. Sting comes back with a top rope clothesline followed by the Stinger Splash but Flair makes the save.

The pairs trade spots with Sting and Page fighting to the floor. Hogan backdrops Flair as Sting drives Page into the barricade. Hogan starts putting the weightlifting belt back on but has to no sell some Flair chops. He Hulks Up as Sting puts Page in the Scorpion in the ring. Hogan drops the leg on Flair, forcing Sting to let go of the hold to make a save. Flair hits Hogan in the knee and cannonballs down on it as the other two guys are back on the floor.

The Figure Four goes on Hogan and Sting splashes Page against the barricade. For some reason Sting doesn’t make a save so Hogan has to turn it over. Page finally comes in for the save before clotheslining Flair to the floor. We get the figure four around the post to Hogan and Hollywood taps but he’s in the ropes. Sting breaks up the hold and the trainer comes out to take Hogan out. Even Bischoff comes out to check on him. I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether the injury was legit or not but Hogan wouldn’t wrestle for three months.

So we’re down to a three way now with Page perfectly fine to let Sting and Flair beat each other up. He finally breaks it up and sends Flair to the floor before stomping on Sting. Savage hasn’t been a factor yet. Flair gets back in and walks into a discus lariat for two. Sting hits the splash in the corner on Page, followed by the running faceplant. Ric is sent to the floor again but comes back in to break up a cover after Page tombstones Sting.

Sting superplexes the champ down but knocks himself silly at the same time. We get the triple sleeper because someone has been watching ECW tapes. Sting breaks it up with a double jawbreaker but gets double teamed against the ropes. He just stares at both guys and takes them down with a clothesline. The fans get WAY into Sting all of a sudden…and then quiet right back down.

Sting puts Flair in the Scorpion but Page makes a quick save. Page tries a suplex on Sting but gets reversed into the Death Drop for a delayed two. Flair knees Sting low and puts on the Figure Four with Page down. Savage pulls them to the middle of the ring and drops the elbow (called the Sky Elbow by Tony) on Ric. Page pops up, stomps Sting and Diamond Cuts Flair for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. The match was a mess with the injury and everything but Page winning the title kind of works for me. I’ve seen people call it one of the stupidest decisions WCW ever made, but it’s not like WCW was flying on high before they gave him the belt. The match really didn’t need Savage as he and Flair had about a thousand built in stories due to past issues. Hogan leaving was odd and there’s always a chance he was pulling something.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the best shows WCW has put on in years. Even the main event wasn’t bad! There are two really good matches on here which make the show more than worth checking out and the only bad match is about seven minutes long. Things are about to implode for WCW and this might have been the last really good, bordering on great, show that they had left.

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Monday Nitro #183
Date: April 5, 1999
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s a new era (kind of) for WCW as tonight they’re unveiling a new set and logo, making a change for the first time in several years. The main story coming into tonight is some announcement by Sting, who will be making his first scheduled appearance on the show since the fall of last year. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Sting video from the build to Starrcade 1997 to hype up his announcement tonight.

A new opening sequence (heavily featuring the Nitro Girls) shows off the new logo.

Goldberg is walking through the back with a tumbler full of what appears to be names to be drawn.

The announcers are now at ringside. Tony, now wearing a leather jacket and with his hair a little messier, talks about Spring Stampede coming this weekend. I must have had the dates wrong then as I thought we had another week after this. Good grief they need to hurry then.

Gene brings out Goldberg for a chat. Goldberg still has the tumbler and talks about how he’s been getting screwed over ever since losing the title. He wasn’t at Uncensored and if it’s up to Flair, he won’t be a Spring Stampede. Gene says we must be having the lottery that they’ve been talking about. I’m not sure what lottery this is but I doubt Gene knows either. The name Goldberg pulls out is going to be his victim on Sunday but here’s Nash to interrupt.

Kevin comes out in a hockey jersey and warns Goldberg not to spear him. Nash says that he’s been doing this for ten years and people will be talking about him in another ten years because he stopped the Streak. Goldberg tells him not to live in the past, so Nash makes the match between the two of them at Spring Stampede. Goldberg says Merry Christmas.

Arn Anderson is on the phone in Flair’s office but can’t get someone on the phone. Flair is upset and Arn leaves.

Nitro Girls.

Ricky Rachman hypes the Hotline.

Hardcore Hak vs. Kendall Windham

This is a Singapore Cane match for no apparent reason. They duel to start until Kendall gets in a few shots to the leg to take over. Hak’s chuck Chastity nails Windham with a cane and Hak takes over. Windham grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two but Hak puts him down with a backdrop. For some reason he goes outside to yell at someone, allowing Kendall to take over back inside. Some elbows have Kendall in trouble and a big cane shot to the head drops him. The White Russian legsweep gives Hak the pin.

Rating: D. Well that happened. This hardcore stuff is getting boring already and I can see why they switched over to the comedy stuff soon enough. Windham was only like his brother in name only and I’m still not convinced Hak is a wrestler. Thankfully they kept this on the first hour and short. The canes didn’t mean much either.

Video on Meng.

Goldberg goes in to see Flair and Anderson but they didn’t send for him. He isn’t happy that Luger and Liz are in Flair’s office. Flair has a big presidential seal on the wall now.

Anderson goes up to Nash at catering because Flair wants to see Nash.

Video on Konnan vs. Disco Inferno.

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

They go to the mat to start with Konnan rolling him by the arm into a sunset flip for two. Lizmark trips him up in the corner and nails a spinwheel kick for a near fall of his own. A seated dropkick gets two for Lizmark as Tony continues his heel schtick that he started on Thursday. This time he claims that he’s the only announcer that puts in any effort instead of just going home. Lizmark takes him to the floor for an ax handle to the back. He’s getting in a lot more offense than I expected here. Konnan avoids a top rope splash and they trade rollups for two each. The X-Factor sets up the Tequila Sunrise to make Lizmark tap.

Rating: C-. It’s always nice to see some actual effort in a match like this. Konnan vs. Disco isn’t the hottest feud in the world but at least it’s something that has been given a story. Lizmark didn’t do much in WCW but he got to show off a little bit here. This was a nice little surprise instead of the usual.

Anderson and Flair get back to Flair’s office.

Scott Steiner video.

Nash and Flair are walking through the office area but go their separate ways. Hogan sees Nash and asks what he was doing with Flair. Apparently it was just business. Hollywood says it better be.

Now Nash is with Charles Robinson (in a suit), who apparently has 4Flair license plates. Robinson leaves before anything can be said. Hogan pops up again and asks what that was about. Apparently they’re having issues over what Samantha said last week. In case you forgot, it was over where or not the Fingerpoke of Doom was “real.” So they’re fighting over whether or not a poke to the chest was a real victory or staged? Am I understanding this right?

Gene brings out Flair for a chat. Ric talks about Goldberg wanting to be where the champ is now. Nash made a match with Goldberg for Sunday like a man should. As for tonight, Flair is in a good mood and is going to face Hogan tonight for the World Title. This brings out a fired up Hogan who says he’d love to beat up Flair right here tonight. Ric threatens to cancel the match if Hogan touches him but Hollywood is more than willing to let Flair go to the back and get ready.

They yell at each other a lot until DDP comes out to interrupt. Page doesn’t care for either of them but this is obviously a main event match worthy of the MGM Grand. He has an idea though: let’s make it a three way dance. Hogan is willing to make it a handicap match but here’s Goldberg before anything can be made official. He wants in the match and grabs Flair but the shirt but Ric gets away and shouts that Goldberg is in trouble. Apparently it’s a four way later tonight. Hogan and Goldberg seem to make a deal, saying they’ll take out Flair and Page respectfully and then go one on one.

US Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Scott Steiner vs. Meng

This could be interesting. Steiner rips on DDP a bit before the match because that feud just won’t die. If Page wanted a piece of him, why didn’t he enter the US Tag Title tournament (that’s what he said) for the US Title? Steiner brings up the 30 days stipulation from SuperBrawl before talking about a rollercoaster of love. He only needs one night with Kimberly to have her for the rest of her life. If Page wants revenge, he has to give up Kimberly for one night.

Steiner pounds away in the corner but Meng nails him with a superkick to send him outside. Back in and Meng superkicks him again, knocking Steiner back into the corner. Scott asks for time out but comes back with a belly to belly. Both guys head outside with Meng going face first into the barricade. Back in and a slow motion backbreaker gets two on Meng but he fights out of a superplex and nails a middle rope clothesline. More clotheslines and a dropkick get two on Steiner. There’s the Tongan Death Grip but Steiner goes to the eyes. A low blow and belly to belly suplex are good for the pin (the feet on the ropes didn’t hurt either).

Rating: C. Again I liked this better than I was expecting with both guys getting in some good looking power stuff. Steiner’s push to the stars continues, even though he’s been the same worker for months now. Meng did his stuff here and went a little bit above and beyond with that middle rope clothesline and dropkick looking good.

Hour #2 begins.

Nitro Girls.

We see a man in a trenchcoat in the rafters but it’s just a worker.

Same Sting video that opened the show.

Flair yells at the cameraman for filming him.

Video on Jim Duggan returning from cancer.

Jim Duggan vs. Lenny Lane

Lane hides in the corner to start but gets in a cheap shot to the ribs. Duggan slugs him down and head outside with Lane being sent into the post and announcers’ table. More slugging ensues back inside and Duggan nails a suplex for two. Duggan finally drops a big knee to end this.

Rating: D-. This went on far longer than it should have and wasn’t entertaining. Duggan coming back is a good story but that doesn’t mean he’s someone interesting to see in the ring anymore. At least it was someone worthless like Lane taking the loss instead of a bigger name.

Rachman talks about the Hotline again.

Video of Hogan making the battle royal for control of the Black and White.

Battle Royal

Vincent, Brian Adams, Stevie Ray, Horace

Yep it’s a four man battle royal and we have to sit through full entrances for everyone. Norton is left out for no apparent reason. It’s a brawl to start with everyone hitting everyone else. The crowd is silent and it’s not hard to see why. There’s nothing but bunching and kicking to go with the lame elimination attempts so far. Vincent is finally thrown out after nearly four minutes of brawling.

Adams suplexes Stevie down and stops to look at Horace. Stevie knocks both of them down and hammers away as this just keeps going. Horace clips Stevie from behind and Adams nails Ray with a clothesline. Adams and Horace get in an argument over who eliminates Ray so Adams nails his former friend with a backbreaker. Adams takes too long trying to slam Horace out, allowing Stevie to clothesline him to the floor. Horace charges into a backdrop to give Stevie the win.

Rating: F. A four man battle royal that took seven minutes to get through. I think you can figure out why this is a failure.

Clip of Saturn and Raven costing the Horsemen the tag belts last week.

Tag Team Titles: Rey Mysterio Jr./Kidman vs. Raven/Saturn

The champions are now in matching undershirts. Saturn shoves Rey into the corner to start but gets taken down by a hurricanrana. Raven comes in without a tag and helps his partner with a Doomsday Device with Saturn hitting a cross body instead of a clothesline. There’s no cover though so Saturn hits a middle rope legdrop for two. Mysterio avoids a top rope legdrop and the hot tag brings in Kidman. A sitout Pedigree drops Saturn and a bulldog puts Raven down for good measure. The champions hit stereo top rope splashes for two on Saturn and we take a break.

Back with Saturn in control of Kidman and hitting a wicked overhead release belly to belly to send Kidman to the floor. Raven brings in a chair for the drop toehold and two. A gordbuster from Raven sets up a top rope splash from Saturn as the challengers are dominating. Raven misses an elbow drop and it’s off to Rey for the springboard seated senton.

A spinwheel kick puts Raven in the corner and it’s a Bronco Buster for Saturn. Raven blocks his with a raised boot. Kidman’s lifting powerbomb gets two on Saturn as everything breaks down. Mysterio dropkicks Saturn into the referee as Kidman takes Raven outside. Saturn catches a springboarding Raven in the Death Valley Driver but here are the Horsemen to lay out Raven and Saturn. Dean puts Rey on top of Saturn for the pin.

Rating: B. This was getting really good near the ending, which doesn’t make perfect sense. I get why Benoit and Malenko would want to cost Raven and Saturn a match, but wouldn’t they want them to have the belts going into their match on Sunday? Either way, this was the best match on Nitro in a few weeks and a much needed pick up after the battle royal mess.

US Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Chris Jericho vs. Booker T.

Jericho is back in due to Curt Hennig being injured. They trade arm work to start with Tony talking about how sharp Jericho looks tonight. As he says that, Booker dropkicks his head off and takes over. Another kick to the face sends Jericho down but Booker misses a side kick and gets crotched on the ropes.

Jericho’s springboard dropkick has Booker reeling but Chris makes the mistake of slapping him in the face. The Lionsault hits feet though and there’s the ax kick. Booker nails the 110th Street Slam for two and Booker Spinaroonis up. Scott Steiner comes in with a chair but gets it kicked back into his face. Booker backdrops Jericho WAY over the top as the bell rings for a DQ due to Steiner’s interference.

Rating: C-. And that’s it for Jericho in WCW. Unless he has some promos coming up, he won’t be appearing for them again. I can’t say I blame him either as he was a prop here to set up Steiner vs. Booker in another title match on PPV. Jericho is another case of a guy with talent that never got to rise past the midcard scene because that’s how WCW worked.

Buff Bagwell vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Now that’s alliteration! Buff poses at him to start and is sent into the buckle for his efforts. Some clotheslines and kicks to the ribs have Bigelow in trouble and a big clothesline sends him out to the floor. Back in and Bam Bam chokes in the corner but charges into a boot. Buff faceplants him, only to get headbutted in the ribs to put him down again. A slam drops Bagwell again but Bigelow misses what looked like a Swanton. Buff nails a running clothesline but the referee gets bumped. This brings out Hak and Chastity to nail Bigelow with a Singapore cane and blast him with a fire extinguisher. Buff hits the Blockbuster for a pin.

Rating: C-. I knew Bagwell would work as a face. This wasn’t a bad match until the more complicated than necessary finish. This sets up Bigelow vs. Hak on Sunday, but shouldn’t Bagwell have a match set up? There isn’t much of a midcard act set for Sunday save for Konnan vs. Disco and a Bagwell match would fill that in nicely.

Video on Nash vs. Goldberg. Very impressive of them to get that ready in two hours.

WCW World Title: Ric Flair vs. Goldberg vs. Hollywood Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Flair is defending, Nash is on commentary and Goldberg comes out last. Everyone is in the ring at the same time but Goldberg and Page fight to the floor to start. That leaves Hogan to run over Flair with a bunch of clotheslines as he’s wrestling like a hero early on. Hogan gets two off one of those clotheslines with Page making the save. Now it’s Goldberg beating Flair up on the floor but all four are quickly back inside.

That lasts all of eight seconds as Hogan and Goldberg fight up the aisle and Page clotheslines Flair off the apron. They trade off again and Hogan slams Flair from the top to keep up tradition. The weightlifting belt comes off for some whipping to the champ’s back. Ric low blows Hollywood as the fans chant for Sting. Everyone gets back inside again and Hogan clotheslines Goldberg for two. They trade small packages of all things for two each as Flair puts Page in the Figure Four.

Another trade sees Hogan and Page going to the floor as Goldberg press slams Flair. Hogan comes back in to save the champion but gets to fight Goldberg for his efforts. Page can’t quite crotch Flair against the post as Goldberg is choking Hogan on the mat. All four head outside and Flair is thrown over the announcers’ table. Page and Goldberg head back inside and it’s not quite Halloween Havoc.

Goldberg powerslams him down as Hogan suplexes Flair on the floor. All four are back in again but Flair quickly falls back out. Page follows him out as Goldberg suplexes Hollywood. Both guys no sell a bit and Goldberg superkicks him down. DDP comes back in with a discus lariat for two on Goldberg, earning him a Jackhammer.

Hogan breaks it up but Flair goes after his knee. There’s the spear to Page and one for Flair as well. A third spear takes Hogan down but he kicks out at two. Goldberg hits the Jackhammer on Hogan but Nash misses his cue to break it up so Hogan kicks out at two. That wasn’t Hogan’s fault and thankfully the announcers didn’t acknowledge it. Nash comes in and that’s a no contest, just as Sting repels from the ceiling.

Rating: C+. This was very energetic but the miscues at the end hurt it. They needed someone else in there to help map the match out though and it became a problem near the end. I get why they couldn’t have someone get a clean pin but the no contest is such an annoyance when it happens so often.

Sting points around the arena and we get a video with Randy Savage’s voice announcing another fourway at Spring Stampede with Flair defending against Hogan, Sting and Page with Savage as the referee. Because WCW.

Overall Rating: C. This is a show that would have been one of the best ever had they not had the third hour. If you cut out stuff like Kendall Windham vs. Hak, the NWO battle royal (that could have been solved in about a dozen different ways, such as the match they already had last month) and a bunch of the filler stuff, this is a really good show. The Tag Team and World Title matches were both good to very good and that’s enough to carry it, though not to greatness. I’m also not wild on Spring Stampede yet but this show did help.

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