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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The band plays a song about the NWO.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The NWO has a hotline. No Gene Okerlund though.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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Thunder
Date: August 5, 1999
Location: Lacrosse Center, Lacrosse, Wisconsin
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko

We’re coming off an actually decent episode of Nitro, even though it was dominated by the over 40 crowd. Ok maybe I need to be more specific as that could be a lot of different episodes of the show. In this case, it ended with Nash powerbombing Hogan through the table, likely setting up a six man tag soon down the road. In addition to that, we have a lot of musical performances to plug because that’s what WCW is about anymore. Let’s get to it.

We of course open with a recap of the end of Nitro.

Opening sequence.

Prince Iaukea vs. Chris Adams

If Sid doesn’t break this up before it gets to three minutes, all hope is lost for this company. They actually slug it out to start with Adams taking over with a clothesline, sending Iaukea out to the floor for a breather. That’s kind of heelish of him. Not that I care due to Prince Iaukea being perhaps the least interesting wrestler of all time, but it’s definitely noticeable. Back in and Iaukea goes to the eyes to make sure we know he’s a heel. A legdrop gets two on Adams and Iaukea backdrops him down for good measure, only to have Sid come out to nail Adams for the DQ.

Adams takes a powerbomb and Nick Patrick is forced to count a three count. Iaukea takes one as well and Sid promises to lay out all our heroes. If he has to, he’ll take out the entire locker room to break Goldberg’s streak and become the Millennium Man. I’m sure this has nothing to do with Jericho’s millennium clock which was about to wrap up around this time. Also, isn’t Sid feuding with Sting at the moment?

Video on Sting vs. Sid. I need to be more patient.

CALL THE HOTLINE!

Video on Bagwell vs. the Cat.

Buff Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs

Before the bell Buff grabs the mic and says the American Males are over, so it’s time for Scotty to start riding his own coattails. Had anyone actually thought of the American Males in the last two years to make that comment necessary? Bagwell picks up the mirror to really set Riggs off and the match starts in a hurry. Of course, Riggs may try to start fast but gets atomic dropped, punched and dropkicked out to the floor. The more I see of Bagwell in the ring, the more I’m unsure if he should have gotten that big push. Other than the Blockbuster, the guy just had NOTHING special in the ring.

Riggs bails to the floor just like Iaukea did earlier (must be a boring wrestler thing) but Buff sends him right back inside. Back in and they trade dropkicks with Bagwell hitting the second one, followed by a swinging neckbreaker. Ten right hands in the corner get the crowd into things a bit and send Riggs over to the corner for his mirror. Since referees are worthless in this company, Riggs blasts him in the throat with the mirror to take over.

Elbows and more dropkicking abound because Scotty Riggs really doesn’t know how to do much else. Oh wait apparently he can check the mirror some more. Riggs chokes on the ropes and slaps on a chinlock to kill some time. We get the usual escape before Buff avoids a dropkick. Gee I wonder how he knew it was coming. A double clothesline puts both guys down and Buff takes over, even though he had control just a few seconds earlier. Buff hammers away but eats a jawbreaker, allowing Riggs to put him on the top. Oh come on dude now you’re just asking for it. The Blockbuster connects for the easy pin.

Rating: D. Why in the world is Riggs still employed??? By this point it’s firmly established that there’s nothing interesting to him and giving him such a generic gimmick suggests that there’s nothing they can do with him. The match wasn’t even that bad from a technical standpoint but it was so boring with WAY too many dropkicks. What did WCW see in these two as a team? They’re both as lame as the other.

Video on Harlem Heat.

The announcers chat about Goldberg for a bit. He’s tough you see.

Video on the Triad vs. Harlem Heat.

Diamond Dallas Page was on the Late Late Show. As interesting as it sounds.

Kidman vs. Eddie Guerrero

This should help. Eddie, a face at the time, isn’t interested in shaking hands. Instead he backdrops Kidman to the apron but gets caught in a middle rope ankle scissors to take him down. That’s fine with Guerrero who goes after the knee to take over. Back to the apron and this time it’s a slingshot ankle scissors to send Eddie to the floor as we take a break. Back with Eddie holding Kidman in the Gory Special before switching over to the Gory Special 2000 (basically an Eye of the Storm but by the neck. I’ve never heard it called that before) for two.

A great looking hurricanrana gets the same on Kidman but Eddie makes the mistake of trying a powerbomb. The Shooting Star is countered and Eddie takes him down with a superplex. The fans are WAY into counting along with the referee. Back up and Kidman hammers away but charges into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Another powerbomb attempt goes badly for Eddie as Kidman hurricanranas him out to the floor.

Cue Vampiro to plant Eddie with the Nail in the Coffin behind the referee’s back. Kidman wakes up and, as Larry points out, can’t he take a wild guess at what happened? Apparently he can as he dives onto Vampiro instead of hitting the Shooting Star. Eddie and Vampiro beat Vampiro up as the match is thrown out.

Rating: C+. Of course this was good, but unfortunately it’s there to set up a story for the Insane Clown Posse because of some mainstream exposure that most wrestling fans didn’t care about. This is another match that could have done far better with more time and an actual ending, but that goes for almost all cruiserweight matches.

Rey Mysterio remembers that he’s a cruiserweight and comes out to help in the beatdown. Kidman powerbombs Vampiro down and Eddie nails the Frog Splash for good measure.

No Limit Soldiers vs. Lenny Lane/Lodi

Swoll and Brad Armstrong here with the former in his last match (other than one on Saturday Night) in WCW. Brad and Lenny, complete with pigtails here get things going with Lenny doing the talk to the hand thing. We stop again because it’s time for a brother hug. Brad finally grabs a hammerlock, probably being wondering how he managed to get here. Off to Lodi vs. Swoll, who shrugs off an armbar attempt. Lenny tries the same hold, only to have both Swoll clothesline both guys out to the floor. Granted he hit them in the chest but somehow that’s a major step in the right direction.

Thankfully it’s back to Brad who clotheslines Lodi to the floor, only to get tripped down so the, ahem, comedy team can take over. Lenny hammers Brad, Lodi hammers Brad, Swoll tries to make a save but backs down, hours of fun! Well at least it feels like hours. Lane nails Lodi (a commentary joke waiting to happen) and the hot tag brings in Swoll. Let’s get this over with. Swoll cleans house and everything breaks down, and the palm thrust is enough to end Lodi.

Rating: F+. Brad Armstrong, I feel so sorry for you. He had to get stuck in this horrible gimmick, basically babysitting Swoll because the guy can’t do something as simple as a clothesline without screwing it up. The guy needed a lot more training and a WAY better finisher before he might be ready for a low level show. He comes off like a big muscle guy who saw wrestling on TV and wanted to do it without knowing what it entailed. As usual, the power of nepotism means we have to suffer through his push, which thankfully is ending here. Lenny and Lodi are the same guys they’ve been for weeks and it keeps getting worse.

Nash vs. Hogan video.

This Week in WCW Motorspots.

Booker T. vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

This could be good if they let it last more than a few minutes. Bigelow shrugs him off to start and Booker needs a new strategy. He tries a dropkick instead (clearly inspired by Scotty Riggs) and knocks Bigelow to the floor. For some reason it takes Bigelow a good while to get back in and we take a break. Back with Booker fighting out of a chinlock and Bigelow running into a raised boot. The flying forearm has Bigelow reeling and the Ax Kick connects, only to have Page break up the Hangover for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Yeah they really didn’t care here and it showed badly. Matches like this one might be the most frustrating to sit through as it’s clear that the wrestlers just want to get out of there and get on with the angle stuff after the match. Harlem Heat vs. the Triad is good enough and might end the Triad’s title reign, but matches like these aren’t going to make me want to see the blowoff.

Booker eats a 3D post match as David Flair comes out with spray paint. They paint a diamond on Booker’s back until Stevie comes out, only to take a Diamond Cutter of his own. So wait, why is the Triad still associating with Flair? Ric has no power and David is worthlesss, so why would they want a liability like that in their corner? In theory it’s either overconfidence or money, but a quick promo would help a lot. Of course I don’t think WCW remembers that Ric is out of power yet so the promo might make things worse.

We see Hogan going through the table again.

Hogan vs. Nash video, the same one from about thirty minutes ago.

Video on Rodman vs. Savage.

Gene brings out Randy Savage for a chat. Okerlund asks where George is but Savage is uncharacteristically silent. He isn’t worried about all the people that are out to get him because Rodman and Nash are dust on his shoulders and Hogan is dust off……a rather personal place. Savage has a major announcement to make. Gene: “Save it for the Hotline!” That sounds like a line from a parody sketch. This coming Monday, Savage is going to reveal George’s bodyguard for Road Wild and it’s the same person that was driving the Hummer. I smell either a swerve or nothing happening and this never being mentioned again.

Diamond Dallas Page was on Hollywood Squares.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Benoit

Nitro rematch where Chris picked up the win. No Kanyon this week, as Page explains that he’s breaking in (not into in case you misread that) a million dollar home in Jersey. He calls the fans stupid, just like Benoit’s mama. There’s a good history between these two and they’re capable of having good matches but the feud is built off your mama jokes?

Benoit comes a-charging and knocks Page out to the floor, setting up a big plancha to wake the crowd up a bit. Back in and Benoit nails the snap suplex but has to go outside to fight Bigelow. The distraction works as Page nails Benoit from the apron and whips him into various steel objects. Why is it always steel? I know it sounds good but was there never any other metal available to make things from?

Back in and the helicopter bomb and Rock Bottom get two each and Page slaps on an abdominal stretch. Benoit finally hiptosses out and it’s time to roll some Germans with the third sending Page flying. Cue David again to slide Page the US Title. The Swan Dive hits the gold and Page covers the unconscious Benoit for the pin.

Rating: C. I’m not sure where they’re headed with this but they need to get the title onto either Page or Benoit in the very near future. The longer Flair holds it the weaker the other matches get because just like the TV Title on Steiner, the belt is basically being held hostage and there’s nothing for these guys to fight over. Yeah Benoit and Page can have good matches, but I need more to care about than some jokes I heard on the bus in sixth grade.

Video on Goldberg vs. Rick Steiner.

Goldberg vs. Rocco Rock

Well in theory at least as the graphic said Public Enemy. Rocco stalls on the floor to start, which is probably his best bet. He finally comes in and eats a shoulder block followed by the big press slam. Grunge comes in and gets the same sort of a beating. Back to Rock who hammers away in the corner but gets launched across the ring. A powerslam plants Rocco but Grunge slides in a chair. They take turns blasting Goldberg in the back with the chair before setting up a table in the corner. That’s fine with Goldberg (and the referee) as he spears both guys through the table, setting up the Jackhammer on Rock for the pin.

Rating: D. The match sucked but the idea made sense. This was Goldberg being himself and the fans continued to eat it up. I’m sure that’s the idea behind putting him with Steiner because….well you see…yeah there’s no logical reason to do that. The guy is over but they’re not going to put the TV Title on him, making the Road Wild match just a way to give Goldberg a win that really doesn’t mean much, which he gets almost weekly anyway. Also, was there a reason this wasn’t a handicap match?

Overall Rating: D+. As has been the case for weeks now, WCW is just trying to steady the ship while WWF is on a cruise around the world. Around this time, Raw may be at a very low level on the quality scale, but it’s through the roof on an entertainment scale. That being said, all Raw has to do at the moment is be more entertaining than Nitro and Thunder and it’s doing that by a landslide.

The other major issue for WCW at the moment is where do they go from here. There’s really nothing on the horizon for them unless they’re going to do Goldberg vs. Hogan again, which would be more interesting with Hogan in his old style. However, it’s really hard to promote that as your main event when WWF is riding Austin and Rock for all they’re worth and has so much talent waiting to break through to the next level. Until WCW starts moving forward, this war is going to be completely one sided.

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We’re looking at someone often remembered but not particularly successful as a singles guy: Buff Bagwell.

Bagwell debuted in 1991 and was named Rookie of the Year, a title which he seemed to hold for several years running. We’ll start at the end of that year with a match from Starrcade 1991. This was a show of “random” tag team matches and Bagwell was in the opening contest.

Michael Hayes/Tracy Smothers vs. Jimmy Garvin/Marcus Bagwell

 

Smothers was part of a tag team called the Young Pistols (current US Tag Champions) and Bagwell was a rookie at this point. Hayes and Garvin are regular tag partners in the Freebirds. Bagwell and Smothers start things out by shoving each other a few times until Bagwell runs him over with a shoulder block. Hayes starts the Atlanta Braves chop (a baseball crowd deal) for no apparent reason. A quick rollup gets two for Marcus and Tracy is complaining about having his trunks pulled.

 

Tracy comes back with a shoulder of his own, only to be taken down by a shoulder block and a dropkick from Bagwell. Now Tracy says he wants Garvin and things speed up a bit, leading to Smothers being hiptossed and dropkicked to the floor. I’m pretty sure Smothers is the only bad guy in this entire match so the fans are all over him. Back in and an atomic drop sends Smothers out to the floor again.

 

Bagwell comes in again for a top rope ax handle to Smothers’ arm but Tracy goes to the eyes to take him down. Now it’s off to Hayes for a back elbow to the face and it’s time to dance. They trade armbars with Hayes taking control before it’s back to Smothers. Bagwell takes over on Tracy’s arm as this just isn’t a good night for Smothers so far. Another armdrag puts Tracy down again and he’s getting very frustrated. Back to Garvin but Tracy tags in Hayes to give us a battle of the Freebirds.

 

They shake hands and don’t seem too hesitant to go after each other here. Granted not a lot happens for the first few moments of them being in there against each other as both guys have to strut a bit first. A rollup gets two for Hayes as this isn’t the most serious brawl ever. Both guys strut over to their corners and tag out while fixing their hair. Well that was worthless.

 

Back to Smothers vs. Bagwell with Tracy missing an elbow and it’s back to Garvin again. A forearm puts Tracy down and it’s back to Marcus a cross body for two. Everything breaks down and Hayes accidentally hits Garvin, allowing Bagwell to hit a fisherman’s suplex on Tracy for the pin to advance to Battlebowl.

 

Rating: D+. This started somewhat promising and then fell completely apart. The stuff with the Freebirds fighting was a waste of time and Smothers’ overblown selling of everything didn’t help much either. They were telling a story in this match but it wasn’t the most interesting in the world. That’s going to be a common theme tonight: there’s no reason for these specific people to be fighting, so the grades rest entirely on the in ring action for the most part.

Bagwell would be a staple of tag team wrestling over the coming years. He would win two tag titles with 2 Cold Scorpio and The Patriot, though neither reign would last even a month. The Patriot and Bagwell would trade the tag titles with Pretty Wonderful throughout 1994. Here’s their final tag title change from Clash of the Champions 29.

Tag Titles: Stars N Stripes vs. Pretty Wonderful

Stars N Stripes are Bagwell and the Patriot, Pretty Wonderful are Paul Roma and Paul Orndorff (holy Yoda line Batman and holy combination of two awesome geek series) and this is mask (Patriot’s) vs. title (Pretty Wonderful’s). The camera is a bit low so you can’t see over all of the fans. These teams traded the titles over the last two months or so. After a lot of stalling it’s Bagwell vs. Orndorff to start.

Roma comes in quickly and ever the genius, wrestles like a face. By that I mean he’s climbing the ropes and flipping off of them, jumping over Bagwell, using cross bodies and dropkicks. How many heels do you know that wrestle like that regularly? Anyway the challengers clear the ring quickly. Heenan thinks Patriot is Al Gore.

Paul vs. Patriot at the moment. Blast it this is one of those teams that I have to specify with. Orndorff vs. Patriot at the moment. How in the world was Roma a Horseman but not Orndorff? Patriot takes him down with an armbar and Orndorff isn’t sure what to do. Off to Roma who shows off again with three backbreakers without putting Patriot down. Thesz Press gets two for the masked dude.

The champions try a double hot shot but the cameraman falls over so we don’t see what happens. I know it’s just an accident but when do you ever see that? Orndorff drops an elbow on Bagwell as they’re legal at the moment. The fans chant USA for four American wrestlers. Off to Roma who has a REALLY high dropkick. Powerslam gets two. Sunset flip by Bagwell gets two on Orndorff.

Roma and Patriot hit the floor as this match is needing to end rather soon. Thankfully it does but even a simple pin doesn’t go right for them. Orndorff suplexes Bagwell and lays there with him, but doesn’t let him go. Roma goes up for a splash off the top ala the Powerplex but Patriot makes the save. Orndorff just stayed in the position and gets pinned, but Tony screws up the count, making it seem like the titles change on a two count and generally confusing the TV audience. Either way, new champions.

Rating: D+. Orndorff got a push at this point for some reason which I’m SURE wasn’t because he was one of Hogan’s buddies but whatever. The tag title situation never really was interesting at all at this point but they were trying….I think. Harlem Heat would rise up soon to half save the division but they tried at least.

His next partner would be Scotty Riggs in the American Males, who would win another tag title for nine days in 1995. After a year of jobbing with Riggs, Bagwell would join the NWO in November of 1996, setting up a feud with Riggs which was blown off at Souled Out 1997.

Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Riggs

Bagwell had very recently turned black and white so this is the blowoff I guess. I don’t know about you but I was begging for that American Males showdown. Bischoff talks about how Bagwell has the IT factor and is going to be a movie star according to Hogan. That’s rich. Buff channels his inner Hogan and poses so Riggs jumps him to start us off. And now we stall.

The constant camera cuts are reaching TNA levels here. They’re doing a weird handheld look here and it’s really not working at all. Apparently Buff has a new move for us tonight. He slaps Riggs and it’s on. Buff is sent to the floor which isn’t a DQ here for no apparent reason. I hate that rule but love how they constantly change it.

Eric: “Everybody has to go somewhere. Horses have glue factories and people here have Connecticut.” And then there’s Orlando I guess. Amazingly enough, this is a fairly boring match. Bagwell leads the fans in a Bagwell Sucks chant for some reason. He gets a powerbomb for two. This match is just rather boring. We get a shot of Buff’s tights down off a sunset flip attempt.

And now let’s look at the biker chicks again. Sure why not. Bischoff points out that the fans are restless and I’m rather surprised. This match would be perfect for me to get some rest to. It’s putting me to sleep. Riggs reverses a slam into a small package for a long two. The crooked referee schtick is getting very old.

Tornado DDT puts Buff down and Riggs of course doesn’t cover. Eric picks New England for the Super Bowl which was the wrong selection of course. After some more camera cuts and more slow counting, the fans are miserable. Patrick is tired here and I can’t really blame him for that. They go to the corner and Buff debuts the Blockbuster to end this. Yes, this got 14 minutes.

Rating: F+. And that’s just because I love the Blockbuster. This was incredibly boring and not even a fast paced match. At the end of the day, this was Marcus Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs for almost 15 minutes on PPV. There is no way that works no matter what you say and the match was what you would have expected.

Bagwell formed another weak tag team with Scott Norton called Vicious and Delicious who worked a lot in Japan where Norton is a much bigger star. A feud with Lex Luger never went anywhere as Bagwell’s career began to stall. In April of 1998, Bagwell suffered a very serious neck injury in a match against Rick Steiner. He would come back later in the year and join the NWO again as WCW wasted a chance for a huge face push. This led to Bagwell’s newest tag team with Scott Steiner. That only lasted until Uncensored 1999 when Bagwell cost Scott the TV Title. Steiner would win the US Title soon thereafter and Bagwell had a shot at Slamboree 1999.

US Title: Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner

Since Bagwell never won a singles title, I think you know who is champion coming in. Buff jumps him before the bell and Steiner still has the belt on. Swinging neckbreaker gets two. Scott hits him low and there’s the Push-Up elbow. Buff gets thrown to the floor and Steiner yells at some fans. Things slow WAY down with Steiner on offense. It was a running theme with the Steiners at this point.

Scott chokes away and yells at another fan. Much like in the Rick match, you may be noticing a pattern emerging here. They go to the mat and Steiner elbows him a lot. He runs to the floor and brings in a chair. If that shot had hit Steiner would have been facing 10-15 years. Bagwell fights back but there goes the referee. Buff gets the chair and here’s Rick to turn heel on Buff and whack him with the chair. The Recliner keeps the title on Scott.

Rating: D-. I can’t take many more of these bad matches. I mean the people in them are just SO lazy with them laying around and doing nothing of note. Scott and Rick are back together as the Steiners and both have singles titles. You know, because that’s what the people wanted to see and would light the world on fire. Benoit and Jericho and Malenko? Who are they?

For once, Bagwell was given a long singles push as both a face and a heel. He lasted in this role for the better part of a year and had some very good success though didn’t win any titles. Since the results weren’t there, it’s back to the tag teams, this time with Shane Douglas. At Spring Stampede 2000 they faced Ric Flair and Lex Luger in a tournament final for the vacant tag titles.

Tag Titles: Team Package vs. Buff Bagwell/Shane Douglas

Russo comes out with the New Blood and sits in on commentary. Luger vs. Bagwell gets us going. Russo is guaranteeing victory. Buff rakes the eyes to stop the offense and it’s off to Shane. Luger casually gorilla presses him and Flair gets in a right hand and they go to the floor. Tony shouts BS about something as the New Blood beats on Flair. How a guy that was world champion seven years ago can be considered New Blood is beyond me but it’s WCW so who cares.

Bagwell beats down Flair and Tony wants more choking and violence. That would be cool if we hadn’t seen it in every single match so far tonight. Flair gets a chop and they hit the ropes, bumping heads to put both guys down. Luger FINALLY does something to break up the beating on Flair. There’s the hot tag to Luger who cleans house for a bit and there’s the Figure Four on Shane. Russo gets up with the bat as the Blockbuster hits Shane by mistake. Russo pulls the referee out as Kronik debuts and hits the double chokeslam on Luger to give the New Blood the titles with Russo counting the pin.

Rating: D+. Just another match here and Kronik added nothing for the most part. The New Blood win the first tournament and I’m sure that’s all they’ll win right, because it’s not like they’re going to put all the titles on the heel faction like the NWO because that would just be stupid when they had done that a few years ago right?

That was pretty much if for Buff in WCW as he would have random feuds and matches until the company went under about a year later. Bagwell would be brought into the WWF, receiving one match for the WCW Title on an episode of Raw.

 

WCW World Title: Booker T vs. Buff Bagwell

 

Hudson screws up AGAIN, saying Booker is the current TV Champion rather than the US Champion along with world champion. You can actually see the people walking out. The fans IMMEDIATELY start changing BS and the upper level is blacked out so we can’t see them leaving. Buff takes over and does his strut as EVEN MORE people leave.

 

Buff hooks a chinlock and the remaining people boo. Now they chant THIS MATCH SUCKS. Buff starts glaring at the crowd, basically turning heel mid match. Booker comes back with a side kick and forearm that misses but gets two anyway. Axe kick, Spinarooni, Austin and Angle FINALLY come in for the DQ.

 

Rating: F. I’m going to go into a much longer explanation of why this was an abomination later, but for now we’ll go with this: if the company has to black out the upper deck because your match made that many fans leave, your match is a failure. Again, we’ll get back to this later.

 

That was it for Buff in the WWF as the match was so poorly received that he was fired. Bagwell would hit the indy circuit after that, joining up with the World Wrestling All-Stars organization. He would appear on their first Pay Per View called The Inception in a match that, I kid you not, was called T***, Whips and Buff.

 

Seven Deadly Sins Tournament Semi-Finals: Jeff Jarrett vs. Buff Bagwell

This is a, and I quote, T*** Whips and Buff match, which means the Starretts as lumberjacks holding whips. Buff’s graphic says Road Dogg but to be fair it’s their first show. Apparently Buff got to pick the stipulations. Ok then. Basic stuff to start and Jeff has to avoid a whipping. A clothesline puts Jeff on the floor and the girls chase him around some more. Buff gets sent to the floor and the girls help him up and rub his shoulders.

Jeff gets one of the whips and beats on Buff a bit and it’s off to a token reverse chinlock. Buff escapes with an electric chair and hammers away before sending Jeff to the floor for a whipping. Buff whips him a bit too and the referee says that’s not allowed so the referee takes a few shots too. In the ring the Blockbuster hits but there’s no referee. One of the girls counts and Buff (who wasn’t looking) celebrates, allowing Jeff to hit the Stroke to advance to the finals.

Rating: D-. Another comedy match here and it’s starting to wear thin. These matches aren’t funny and at about four minutes long, they aren’t coming off as important or anything like that. These are supposed to world title tournament matches but there’s almost no wrestling involved at all. That gets old in a hurry.

 

Overall, Bagwell is a guy who was always around in WCW but never did anything of note as a singles guy. He had a ton of potential with a great look and some above average skills, but the solution was always put him in a tag team and give him a meaningless tag title that never elevated him at all. His finisher, the Buff Blockbuster (flipping middle rope neckbreaker) was awesome and he could go in the ring, but as usual, WCW screwed it up.

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