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.

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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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fnkrf|var|u0026u|referrer|btneb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Stampede 1998
Date: April 19, 1998
Location: Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 7,428
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

The opening video is about the power struggle in the NWO. Sting is there too but why waste time on the guy you spent all of 1997 building up as the great hope for WCW?

Savage has had the cast removed from his arm and the main event is now No DQ just because.

Perry Saturn vs. Goldberg

Ultimo Dragon vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Diamond Dallas Page is on WCW.com, talking about going from pinning Savage a year ago to the US Title match here tonight.

TV Title: Chris Benoit vs. Booker T

The referee is helped from the ring.

Curt Hennig vs. British Bulldog

The slow motion continues as Bulldog is hitting the leg about twice a minute before going for the Sharpshooter. A cop, who is clearly Vincent, goes after Neidhart and gets choked down, allowing Rude to get a key and unlock himself. Neidhart is cuffed to the post as Hennig escapes the hold and sends Bulldog into the post for the pin, meaning the stuff outside accomplished absolutely nothing.

Bulldog and Neidhart get beaten down as the bell rings a lot, making this segment even more annoying.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Prince Iaukea

Off to a headlock on Jericho but he flips out, only to be caught in the headlock again. Back up and Jericho shoulder blocks him down but walks into a dropkick. Really basic stuff so far and Iaukea hooks another headlock. Jericho tries to skin the cat but gets dropkicked to the floor, followed by a flip dive off the apron from the Prince. Back in and we hit the headlock again because Iaukea is running out of offense.

Jericho drop toeholds him into the ropes and suplexes Iaukea down for two. Time for a chinlock because this match was starting to get slightly entertaining. Jericho slams him down and does his big strut. He takes WAY too long on the top rope and jumps into the feet, giving Prince control again. A Samoan drop and a springboard flip attack gets two but Jericho counters a victory roll into the Liontamer, only to have Iaukea next to the ropes.

Raven quotes Shakespeare to WCW.com.

Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell vs. Lex Luger/Rick Steiner

Scott comes in while Rick is down and chokes a bit before bringing Buff back in. Buff slams him down and grabs the “injured” hand before getting two. Back to Scott who gets two but runs back to Buff at the kickout. Buff hooks the chinlock but lets it go to argue with the referee.

Call the hotline to find out who is in the back!

La Parka vs. Psychosis

The announcers talk for awhile to fill in even more time. Heenan goes into some analogy comparing Savage to a wounded dog with a long series of examples. Now they talk about the tension in the NWO and how it might be a big swerve.

The Giant/Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan/Kevin Nash

Kev walks away to pose but Giant snaps to his feet, setting up a double big boot to put both giants down. The double tag brings in Piper to face Hogan with Roddy pounding away to take over. Nash comes in and gets a low blow as everything breaks down. Giant dropkicks Nash to the floor as Piper puts Hogan in the sleeper. Piper goes up and gets the bat but Hogan knocks it out of his hands and throws it away.

Hogan tells Nash to powerbomb Giant but whacks Nash in the back with the bat, basically throwing him out of the NWO. Giant breaks the bat over his knee and swears vengeance on Hogan.

Slamboree ad, which they try to make sound more epic than Starrcade. Side note: why did WCW have so many PPVs that began with the letter S? Souled Out, SuperBrawl, Spring Stampede, Slamboree, Starrcade.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

Raven bails to the floor to avoid a Diamond Cutter and the fight heads up to the set. Page throws Raven off a stagecoach into some bails of hay before diving off said coach to take Raven down. Raven is thrown into a corral and beaten down by a trashcan. Now Raven goes through another wooden fence and suplexed onto the website table. Page is kicked into a wall and Raven blasts him in the head with a piece of metal.

The announcers basically guarantee that Goldberg is winning the title tomorrow night.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Randy Savage

They head back to the floor because neither guy is interested in having a match at the moment. Savage is suplexed on the floor and sent into the barricade. Sting heads back inside but Randy hits him low and drapes him over the top rope for two. Savage clotheslines Sting into the referee before piledriving the champion down.

The last shot of the show is Hogan yelling that Savage has his belt and that Nash will pay.

I had planned on continuing with the 1998 shows but it occurred to me that I was going to run out of PPVs in my series of Nitro reviews. This is only a few months after where I am in that series though so I won’t be too far removed at least. This is a B show with no Hogan, Piper, or anyone else for the most part and a main event of Savage vs. Page in a grudge match. Savage joined the NWO at SuperBrawl and was put with Page to bring DDP up to the main event. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Page vs. Savage of course. On and the Steiners vs. Outsiders for the millionth time. The third match talked about is the Women’s Title match. See what we’re up against here?

This is where Uncensored 96 happened. It HAS TO be better than that right?

Nash has said that he’ll fight all of WCW if he has to. Scott Hall is missing and has been for THREE WEEKS, but they’ve announced him up to this point just because. Therefore it’ll be a handicap match for the titles with Nash vs. Steiners.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon

No Sonny with Dragon here. Dragon takes him to the mat to start and then Rey takes Dragon down to the mat as well. There’s a camel clutch but Dragon quickly escapes. We get to a standoff so Dragon hits the rapidfire kicks to take Rey down. Flair has a big announcement later tonight. Dragon hooks an armbar and they’re still on the mat. Back up and he hits a kind of spinning crucifix into a modified version of what we call Shock Treatment.

Powerbomb is followed by a hot shot and then a sleeper by Dragon. Not a Dragon Sleeper but a sleeper by Dragon that is. A BIG Liger Bomb puts Rey down but Dragon won’t cover. There haven’t been any pin attempts between falls and it’s kind of hurting the match. Tombstone gets two and it’s back to the sleeper. Rey comes back with a spinwheel kick but Dragon kicks him down because Rey can’t follow up.

Gordbuster sets up an Indian Deathlock. Rey gets out and manages to kick Dragon off to the floor to get a breather. Sleeper #3 goes on by Dragon but Rey counters into one of his own to a BIG pop. Dragon gets thrown to the floor again and Rey hits a dive up and over the top. And let’s cut to Lee Marshall to get a statement from Kevin Nash. Instead it’s Syxx and we can’t hear him so there was NO POINT to this.

Back to see Rey dropping the dime for a delayed two. Rey loads up a moonsault press but Dragon dropkicks him off the top and Mysterio crashes down onto the floor. Dragon dives over the top but hurts himself at the same time. Back in Rey tries a Lionsault press but Dragon dropkicks him out of the air in a cool counter. Giant swing by Dragon puts both guys down. They trade fast pinfall attempts for two each and an enziguri puts Rey down. Super rana gets two for Dragon. Tiger and dragon suplexes by Dragon are both countered by Rey and a standing rana gets the pin for Mysterio.

Rating: C+. It was an entertaining match but for the most part it was a mess. They kept seeing to be missing the chemistry out there and that’s a bad thing most of the time. Also the mat work is the wrong idea here. Not a bad match at all but this was one of those matches you expected more from. Dragon would win the TV Title the next night.

Marshall tries to get to talk to Nash again but gets Syxx again. The Steiners try to jump through the door but security stops them. Scott gets maced and handcuffed. Ok then.

Women’s Title: Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa

This was a weird title as it only existed for a few years. It was won in December of 96 and defended a handful of times ever. It was vacated in the summer, won in Japan in September and never mentioned on WCW TV more than twice again. Later on they actually introduced a Women’s Cruiserweight Championship. Hokuto is champion coming in. For some reason that I’ll never fathom, Lee Marshall, the guy WCW fired for being horrible at commentary, is talking about this match.

They start off fast with Madusa hammering her down in the corner but walking into a clothesline. Akira chokes her in the corner and covers for two as Madusa bridges out. She hits some hair slams for two and Hokuto goes to the corner. Madusa hits a Stratusphere to take her down but Hokuto is right back on the leg. Madusa fights off Onoo and hits a pair of dropkicks. The American hits a German on the Japanese woman but Sonny distracts again. Luna Vachon comes in and takes out Madusa’s knee so that Akira can retain.

Rating: F+. Madusa looked like Kaitlyn a little bit so I can’t call it a full on failure, but dang this was boring. At the end of the day you can’t bring out a title once every four months and expect us to care about it. Nothing to see in the match either with both chicks doing basic stuff for five minutes.

TV Title: Prince Iaukea vs. Steven Regal

So on February 13, 1997, the WWF’s young Samoan Rocky Maivia beat the blue blood Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the Intercontinental Title. On February 17, 1997, WCW’s young Samoan Prince Iaukea beat the blue blood Lord Steven Regal for the TV Title. Now I’m sure this was a TOTAL coincidence right? Iaukea had nothing to offer in the ring and lost the title the next night.

Regal stalls for awhile so we’re told that Scott Steiner has been arrested. The Prince takes him to the mat with a headlock as Tony tries to explain that Iaukea is one of the lines of defense against the NWO. Dennis Rodman is part of the NWO and since we hate him, let’s plug his movie and air clips of it tomorrow night on Nitro! Regal comes back with a knee lift but it’s right back to the headlock by the Prince.

Cross body gets two for the champ. Regal complains about a punch so Heenan says that Iaukea doesn’t know that he’s the champion right now. Prince takes him down with a test of strength so Regal hooks a headscissors and nips up into an eye poke. It’s now a singles match for the tag titles with Rick vs. Nash. Regal hooks a full nelson and then pounds him down in the corner.

The Prince Hawaiians Up and then does nothing at all with it. Regal easily takes him into the corner and hits a pair of knees to the face. A cross body by Prince misses and Regal takes control again. He whips the Prince into the corner and tries a rollup but Iaukea sits on him and gets the pin to retain.

Rating: D. Iaukea was just so boring it’s unreal. He never had anything special about him and it never caught on with the fans at all. Regal is great but he can’t work miracles here, and despite Iaukea holding the belt for almost two months, he never got any better for the most part. Nothing to see here.

Regal beats up the Prince post match and puts him in the Regal Stretch.

Here’s Flair for some big announcement. Gene thinks that it’s Flair returning to the ring. Flair says that the Horsemen will win tonight and that he’s back on May 1. He says Anderson will be back but it never happened. As for Flair and Piper…..Kevin Greene is coming to WCW. Seriously, that’s practically a direct quote. Flair wants the NWO in Charlotte and he doesn’t care who it is because the Horsemen are going to run them out of here. WHY DID IT TAKE THEM 10 MONTHS TO FREAKING DO THAT???

Jeff Jarrett/Steve McMichael vs. Public Enemy

Can Jarrett carry three people? I certainly hope so or this is going to be awful. Mongo vs. Rocco to start us off and it’s time to stall. Rocco finds Mongo’s lack of talent disturbing so he chats with known ring general Johnny Grunge. Mongo tackles both enemies and it’s a double Horsemen strut. Off to Jarrett (thank goodness) vs. Grunge and Double J hooks an abdominal stretch.

Johnny gets out of it and tries a leapfrog but gets caught by an uppercut from Grunge. Jeff gets knocked to the floor and teases walking out but comes back and counts with the referee. Back to the starters and it’s a Mongo chinlock on Rock. McMichael works on the back with a backbreaker and a tilt-a-whirl for two. Everything breaks down and they go split screen.

Rock is thrown into the side of a covered wagon. I’ll give WCW this: their PPV sets tended to be really cool and definitely not generic like most WWE ones today. Grunge tries to put Debra on the table but Jeff saves with a chair. As Rock is thrown into a steer, Grunge dives through a table. Back to the ring and it’s completely broken down. Debra trips Rocco and it’s briefcase time. Jeff cleans house with dropkicks but Rock gets the briefcase. Figure Four to Grunge but Rock blasts Jeff with the case and Jarrett is pinned while holding Grunge in the hold.

Rating: D. This wasn’t as horrible as I was expecting. I thought it was going to be horrible but it wasn’t all that bad. It furthers the really annoying Horsemen split which would finally happen after many more months. Boring match for the most part but the wagon spot was kind of cool.

Gene talks to Harlem Heat who are in a four corners match tonight, as singles competitors with Luger and Giant. The winner gets a shot at Hogan, so who do you think is going to win eventually? Sherri says her guys are ready. This would be the match where Booker rants about Hogan and calls him the N word before immediately panicking. It’s censored in this version (home video) and he says sucka but you can read his lips saying the other word.

US Title: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit

Dean is champion coming in. They go into the corner almost immediately and it’s a clean break. They go to the mat and neither guy can get control for more than a few seconds. Malenko is sent to the floor but he runs back in almost immediately. Malenko takes him to the mat and works on the knee as Woman screams. Benoit kicks him off and it’s back to a stalemate.

Benoit hooks a top wristlock and things slow back down again. Back up into a test of strength which neither can really win. Benoit does the always amazing bridge which he holds while Malenko lands on him. Chris takes him to the mat and works on the arm before into a chinlock and surfboard hold. It’s a Benoit match so of course they’re flying through holds. Malenko escapes with a belly to back suplex and takes over. Small package gets two for Dean.

Here come the chops from Benoit but they seem to wake Malenko up. Camel clutch goes on for a bit and then it’s off to a short arm scissors. Benoit does the Shawn/Bulldog counter and both guys are down. Clothesline gets two for Chris. Now it’s an abdominal stretch as the submission parade continues. Dean comes up with an interesting counter by dropping to one knee. I don’t remember ever seeing that before.

Benoit works on the ribs some more and channels his inner Dynamite with a snap suplex for two. Dean tries a vertical suplex but Benoit reverses into a reverse suplex….and here comes Jackie to ruin everything that they’ve got going on here. We’ve got a catfight on the floor and Jimmy Hart comes out….to do nothing.

Swan Dive hits and Jimmy is stealing the title. Here comes Eddie Guerrero and Dean gets draped over the top rope. Dean suplexes Benoit over the top and out to the floor, probably breaking the Canadian’s hip. Arn Anderson comes out and beats up Dean but Kevin Sullivan comes out and Anderson lets him hit Benoit with a Singapore cane which gets the DQ.

Rating: B-. This was getting good until we had five run-ins inside of three minutes. This Benoit vs. Sullivan feud went on for over a year and I don’t think anything was ever really settled. The ending here sucked but the match wasn’t great in the first place. They were having a slow submission based match but it wasn’t really that great. The last five minutes before the interference were good though.

Everyone other than Arn leave together and put the belt on Eddie’s shoulder for some reason, in the third (that I know of) stolen belt storyline of the year. Dean says he wasn’t supposed to be here, which was supposed to lead to some faction but it never came together.

Tag Titles: Kevin Nash vs. Rick Steiner

Only in WCW. Nick Patrick is referee because we need more gimmicks in this. Rick jumps him but gets knocked down almost immediately. DiBiase and Syxx are at ringside so this is 4-1. Nash pounds on him in the corner and hits his knees but runs into a boot. Belly to belly suplex looks like Rick is picking up a boulder. That suplex/powerslam move he uses gets two.

Syxx pulls the top rope down and Steiner crashes to the floor. Back in the side slam gets two. Why isn’t Patrick fast counting him? The Outsiders are the champions coming in here. DiBiase gets in a right hand and Nash hits the running crotch attack while Rick is in 619 position. Big boot puts Rick down as we’re totally in squash territory. There’s the Jackknife but Steiner kicks out. I don’t remember many people ever doing that other than Undertaker.

Steiner hits him low on another Jackknife attempt which Patrick actually doesn’t DQ him for. He’s kind of doing a bad job of being an evil referee here. Rick hits the bulldog but it only gets two, even though Nash’s shoulder never came up. Down goes Syxx but Nash comes back with a clothesline to take over again.

Syxx takes off the buckle pad and Snake Eyes onto the buckle sets up Snake Eyes on the buckle which sets up Snake Eyes on the buckle which sets up Snake Eyes on the buckle which sets up the Jackknife for the pin and a forced count (Patrick was hesitant) for the pin. The interesting thing here is that DiBiase says that’s enough in the middle of this and Nash yells at him. DiBiase walks out.

Rating: D-. So Nash wins a squash on PPV in a one on one match for the titles. I guess the more important part here is that DiBiase looks to be defecting which would mean more if he was an actual wrestler. This would lead to him managing the Steiners which would last for awhile until I think February. The match sucked.

Luger and Giant are ready.

Stevie Ray vs. Booker T vs. Giant vs. Lex Luger

One fall to a finish here and the winner gets Hogan eventually. Luger vs. Booker to start which should be interesting. Feeling out process to start until Luger starts slamming Booker a few times. Off to Stevie who punches Luger down a bit but gets caught between Giant and Luger which goes badly as you can imagine. Off to Giant and Stevie looks scared. Stevie knocks Giant back and gets loudly booed but Giant comes back with a clothesline.

Booker gets thrown around as well and it’s time for a meeting on the floor. I keep forgetting this is a four corners match. That gets remedied by Giant vs. Luger who have a power lockup. Luger tries a slam but Giant falls on him for two. The tag in Harlem Heat and the brothers having to fight gets a big reaction from the crowd.

They lock up and Booker works on the arm. There’s a lot of non contact here which makes sense for the most part. Booker tags in Lex and all is right with the world again. Stevie comes back with strikes and it’s Booker with a side suplex to put Lex down. A knee drop misses and it’s Giant time. A big elbow drop misses and Stevie comes in sans tag. An ax kick by Stevie doesn’t work and neither does a side kick so they go to the knees to get Giant down.

Giant gets up with ease and a big boot puts Ray down. Off to Luger again for some elbow drops which get two. Belly to back puts Booker down but Stevie breaks up the Rack. Booker hooks a chinlock and the Harlem side kick gets two. Harlem Heat double team Luger and it’s back to the chinlock. Lex suplexes his way out of it but Booker breaks it up. Giant breaks up a cover off an ax kick but there’s no cover. Harlem Hangover misses and it’s Stevie vs. Giant. Giant kicks Booker to the floor and calls for the chokeslam but tags in Luger so he can win with the Rack instead.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t bad for the most part as it was really a tag match in disguise. That being said, it didn’t mean a thing as Luger wouldn’t get his title shot until August so this was kind of a waste of time. The match itself was pretty fun though as both teams played it like a tag match instead of the fourway which was the right idea.

Randy Savage vs. Diamond Dallas Page

We get the long walk to the ring with Savage and Liz. Savage wants to make it a party. “SLIM JIMS FOR EVERYBODY!!!” This is the first main event for Page. He cuts a quick promo before the match about having to stand up for what he believes in. Savage did something to Kimberly so this is a revenge match. It’s not important enough to mention, but it’s worth revenge. Ok then. This is No DQ.

Savage stalls like he’s in Memphis (it’s close to it) but jumps Page to get us going. Page fights back and they go into the ring. He tries something like a suplex but I have no idea what it wound up being. A quick Cutter attempt is countered and Page is sent to the floor. They go into the crowd and the camera chasing after them is kind of cool. Page grabs a trashcan to blast Savage in the head. Savage is NWO in case that means anything to you.

They brawl back to the ring with some choking on the way. Savage hides behind Kimberly and Liz rakes Page’s back. There’s the ax handle to the floor and Page is sent into the floor. With Page down, Savage chases Kimberly but is stopped by an attractive chair. After a shot to the back he beats up Dave Penzer and brings in another chair. Coming back in Page manages something like a Van Daminator but with a shove instead of a spin kick.

Unfortunately for Page he can’t follow up so Savage chokes away in the corner. Page makes a quick comeback but is knocked right back don. Discus lariat out of nowhere puts Savage down but Page is spent. Savage slams him three times and goes to the floor to get the bell. Kimberly steals it from him but Savage jumps anyway, right into the feet instead of the elbow. I HATE that spot. Cutter is countered with a low blow for two.

Savage beats up the referee after the count and hits a good piledriver on him. He takes the belt off of Mark Curtis and whips him a little bit. The elbow hits but there’s no referee. Cue Nick Patrick in the sleeveless shirt of EVIL. Diamond Cutter out of NOWHERE hits and Patrick counts the pin because of the Nash stuff earlier.

Rating: B-. Good match here with Page pulling off a great upset win to pop the crowd and send them home happy. The brawling wasn’t great but they did it well enough for what the purpose here was. These two would feud over most of the summer and it brought Page up to the main event level that he would stay at for years.

Post match the whole NWO (including DiBiase) comes out as Nash has Patrick by the shirt. The fans want Sting but you know he’s not coming out on this show. Patrick gets beaten down and Page is sent to the floor. Savage goes after Kimberly but Bischoff stops a smack. There’s a shoving match and Savage drills Bischoff and the NWO FREAKS to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was very much a filler show as nothing of note happened here at all. It’s certainly not the worst show I’ve ever seen and I wouldn’t call it bad, but I certainly wouldn’t call it good either. Either way, things would only continue to be this way for the next few months with nothing significant happening until the fall when Sting vs. Hogan really got going.

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