Slamboree 1999 (2014 Redo): They’re Making This Up As They Go Along
Slamboree 1999 Date: May 9, 1999
Location: TWA Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 20,516
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay
Things are going downhill in a hurry around here and the pay per views can be the biggest disasters they have. The main event here is Page vs. Nash for the title along with a Sting vs. Goldberg match that you had to pay attention to hear about. We also have Piper vs. Crazy Flair for control of the company, even though both have been fired in recent weeks. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is your basic look at the three main events with a bunch of circles coming out of the middle of the screen. The rest of the card gets a quick focus as well.
The announcers do their opening chat.
Gene runs down the card as well and plugs the Hotline.
Tag Team Titles: Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Saturn/Raven vs. Kidman/Rey Mysterio Jr.
Kidman and Mysterio are defending and this is one fall to a finish with three guys in the ring at once. You can only tag your own partner. Saturn and Kidman drop Malenko with a double clothesline to start before a dropkick puts Dean on the floor. Benoit comes in and gets dropkicked as well before Saturn nails Kidman with a dropkick. A huge belly to belly suplex sends Kidman flying out to the floor as the fans think the Horsemen suck.
Back in and Benoit grabs a German suplex on Kidman for two with Raven making a save. Rey comes in and throws Raven down before taking Chris down with a hurricanrana. Mysterio’s slingshot legdrop hits Benoit by mistake to give Raven two. Kidman and Benoit drop Raven across the top rope but the Canadian turns on his short term partner. This is really fast paced stuff so far.
Kidman misses a top rope splash on Benoit and gets caught in the Crossface until Raven makes a save. Raven hits a front suplex on Kidman so Saturn can nail a top rope splash but Dean makes a save of his own. Malenko throws Rey over his head but Mysterio lands on the top rope and moonsaults back onto Dean for two. Awesome spot. All six guys are in now but it’s quickly down to just Raven and Saturn.
The Horsemen come back in to clean house and double team Saturn. They do the same to the champions until we settle down to Benoit vs. Kidman vs. Saturn. Kidman runs Benoit over but Saturn crotches him on the top and runs him over, sending Kidman to the floor. Benoit runs Saturn over and knocks him out to the floor as well. Back and in and Benoit and Saturn collide to give Chris a two count. Benoit rolls some Germans but Kidman runs in for a last second save.
Saturn counters the Cloverleaf with a small package for two but Kidman makes another save. Dean spits at Rey to tick him off, allowing the Horsemen to run Kidman over. It’s back to the tagging again as the announcers are saying let the guys fight. A snap suplex gets two on Saturn and Benoit stomps away at Kidman. Dean comes back in and throws Kidman in the air, earning him a dropkick to the chest. Saturn tags Raven in for some rolling vertical suplexes on Benoit for two.
Kidman brings in Mysterio for some near falls and everything breaks down. A top rope clothesline drops Benoit and a springboard seated senton does the same to Saturn. There’s a Bronco Buster to Raven before the champs do the launched hurricanrana off the top to take down Benoit. They try it on Saturn but Mysterio gets planted with a super sitout powerbomb.
Kidman reverses a powerbomb from Saturn but Saturn calls for the Death Valley Driver. This brings in Anderson for the spinebuster to Saturn and Dean puts on the Cloverleaf. Someone in a Sting mask, DDP shirt and backwards hat comes in to shove Kidman into the Evenflow to give Raven the pin and the titles.
Rating: B+. This was a really hot opener and I can’t imagine how good it was going to be if they let the guys go nuts like Tony was asking for. Either way it got the crowd into things and was the right way to end this long running feud. Raven and Saturn are the only ones that haven’t had the belts yet, though they didn’t need Kanyon’s help to get them.
The masked man was Kanyon.
Video on Page.
Konnan vs. Stevie Ray
This is due to Ray attacking Konnan a few weeks back. Ray hammers Konnan down in the corner to start but Konnan comes back with right hands and a float around bulldog for two. Back up and Stevie nails a big boot to take over before sending Konnan out to the floor for a beating from the Black and White. Stevie hooks a chinlock back inside before a suplex gets two. Konnan fights up for the rolling clothesline and X-Factor but has to knock Vincent off the apron. Mysterio comes out to try for a save but has to fight off the Black and White. In the confusion, Rey nails a top rope seated senton on Stevie to give Konnan the rollup pin.
Rating: F. A six minute Stevie Ray vs. Konnan match had a referee distraction and three people interfering for a rollup finish. The match was boring and WAY too much chinlock before all of the interference. It doesn’t help that the story was barely there, making the match feel all the more pointless.
Video on Nash.
Rick Steiner says he has a lot to prove.
Video on Sting, mostly with clips from 1997.
Page and Bigelow are in the back and have a conversation we can’t hear.
King of Hardcore: Brian Knobs vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
I think the title is vacant coming in but you can’t really tell with this company. We get a bonus stipulation for the match: falls count anywhere. I guess that’s only standard in WWF hardcore rules. Neither guy has music. They start with the weapons early and Brian nails him with a waiter’s tray and cookie sheet. Bigelow botches raising his feet in the corner by kicking the trashcan when it’s down by Brian’s knees. Bam Bam puts him on his shoulder for something like a backwards suplex into a Diamond Cutter for two.
The top rope headbutt gets two for Bigelow as the announcers get in a stupid argument over talking when the weapons hit. Knobs misses a chair shot and falls out to the floor to really make it hardcore. Bigelow sends him into the steps and hits Brian with various metal weapons. He uses a pair of trashcan lids like cymbals around Knobs’ head and hits a LOUD cookie sheet to the head.
Both guys are already looking spent. Bigelow is sent into the weapons cart but Brian misses a charge into it as well. Brian gets a mop bucket put on his head and a punch makes things even worse. The fans want tables but get a chair to Knobs’ ribs instead. They fight over to the souvenir stand that is there for them to fight in. Off to backstage (complete with a shot of about 10,000-15,000 empty seats. Remember that this is a football stadium) and swing a ladder at each other. Knobs dives off a ledge onto Bigelow to drive him through a table. Naturally he jumps too far and just crashes because this match is a disaster. Bigelow suplexes him through the table for the win.
Rating: D-. Heenan’s line of “And they do this for a living” sums up the whole thing. The fact that these people make more money than I likely will in years makes me feel very very sad, though that might be due to the last twenty five minutes of whatever it was that I’ve had to sit through. Between Stevie’s lame chinlock and this mess, I need something good to cleanse the pallet.
We recap Rick Steiner vs. Booker T. THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!! They’re fighting because Booker is champion and Rick Steiner is employed for some reason.
TV Title: Booker T. vs. Rick Steiner
Booker is defending. They circle each other for a minute or so until Rick hammers him with right hands and a belly to belly suplex. Booker bails to the floor for a breather as the crowd is silent. Back in and Booker fires off some kicks with a spinning shot to the face putting Rick on the floor again. Steiner head back inside and gets elbowed in the jaw for two before the champ puts on a chinlock.
They head outside a third time with Rick sending him into the barricade over and over. A release German gets two for Steiner and he hammers away with right hands on the mat. Booker tries to fight back but gets elbowed into the corner to keep him in trouble. Back to the chinlock on the champion before a hard kick to the face drops Steiner again. The sidewalk slam sets up the missile dropkick but Scott Steiner runs out for a distraction. Rick gets two off a Steiner Line but Booker sends the brothers together. The side kick gets two and Booker is fired up, until Scott grabs his foot. The Steiner Bulldog gives Rick the title.
Rating: D. Can anyone explain to me why the Steiners are both champions in 1999? He’s had like two matches back and he gets to pin Booker T. on PPV? It’s getting really frustrating watching Booker have consistently good matches (when he doesn’t have a horrible opponent of course) and have to keep rebuilding himself up because WCW keeps wasting him.
We recap Gorgeous George vs. Charles Robinson. This is a side feud of Savage vs. Flair who are feuding for reasons not quite clear. Robinson is Little Naitch here and has been calling George a bimbo.
Rick looks for Scott in the back and warns Buff Bagwell to be careful tonight.
Charles Robinson vs. Gorgeous George
If George wins, Savage is reinstated. Robinson is doing a perfect Flair impression here, complete with the smirk and strut. The nurse is now named Asya (oh so funny) and Flair is at ringside here. Charles’ fingers are even taped up. Thankfully George isn’t dressed like Savage. Flair says he’s always wanted Madusa to ride Space Mountain and Miss Madness can come with her. George is being left to Little Naitch though and Charles says he’ll let George ride Space Mountain all night. Savage gets on the mic (pop of the night so far) and says George is going to destroy Robinson.
We get started and Charles is now in regular Flair gear. They stall for about a minute and Naitch avoids the lockup and WOOs. Well woos actually since he’s Little Naitch. Robinson gets in Savage’s face so George cranks on his arm. They trade wristlocks with George cranking on a hammerlock followed by a full nelson. She shoves the Nature Boys together and the big guys get in for a staredown.
Robinson and Miss Madness fight over a chair on the floor. Naitch shoves her down and slams her so Savage calls for a medic. The regular referee shoves Robinson down as the match kind of stops for a bit. Back in and Robinson chokes George on the ropes before being sent into the corner for a Flair Flip. He runs the apron and goes up, only to get slammed off the top. George nails a clothesline and the Flair Flop sets up a two count.
Asya trips George up and cranks on her knee but Kung Fu Madusa makes the save with a kick to the head. Robinson goes after the bad leg and NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL! He puts on the Figure Four but George turns it over. Flair sneaks in to save Robinson but Savage slams Robinson, setting up the top rope elbow from George (so much for the leg) for the pin.
Rating: C. Well they tried. That’s more important than anything else here and the match was WAY better than it could have been. This could have been a disaster and it wound up being a fun little match. Robinson nailed the impression and George looked great in her cheerleader outfit. Again, they tried and that’s what matters in something like this.
We recap Steiner vs. Bagwell, which stems from Steiner blaming Buff for losing the TV Title and Buff saying Steiner’s ego was out of control.
US Title: Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner
Buff is challenging and jumps Steiner before he can get to the mic. A swinging neckbreaker drops Scott while he still has the belt on. Steiner drops Buff with a low blow and the muscle clothesline gets two. He plants Buff ribs first against the turnbuckle before tying him up in the Tree of Woe to crank on Bagwell’s neck. Scott chokes and swears a lot before planting Buff with a butterfly powerbomb for two. Total dominance so far.
There’s a belly to belly but Scott goes outside and grabs a chair. Buff clotheslines it into the champ’s face before making his comeback with a dropkick. There’s an atomic drop but Scott pulls the referee in front of a clothesline. Cue Rick Steiner to chair Buff into the Recliner to keep the title on Scott.
Rating: D. Erg this show is trying to drive me crazy. I have no idea why WCW thinks the Steiner Brothers being together (after never having a real match against each other) is a good idea, but this is what they’re going with to combat Austin and Rock vs. the Corporate Ministry. They deserve what they get.
Video on Goldberg.
Video on the two singles matches people might want to see. That would be Sting vs. Goldberg and Nash vs. Page if it’s not clear.
Video on Flair being the crazy president. I’m sure the fans must be loving this.
Roddy Piper vs. Ric Flair
For the Presidency. Charles Robinson comes out to be referee and Johnny Boone is fired for the heck of it. Piper slaps Flair down to start as Tenay tries to make sense of who has been fired. Tony: “Who knows?” Ric is knocked to the floor but Robinson won’t let Roddy go after him. Back in and they trade chops in the corner until Piper punches Flair down. They head outside with Piper throwing more chops against the barricade to keep control.
Back in again and a low blow puts Piper down. Robinson: “You got a stomach ache?” He yells at Piper for choking before turning his back so Anderson and Asya can get in some shots of their own. Another low blow drops Roddy but Flair takes forever to cover, allowing Piper to make his comeback. He can’t follow up after a backdrop though and Anderson chokes him on the ropes. Roddy fights back with chops to Ric’s chest and Flair flips over the corner and out to the floor.
That’s a bit too much work so they head back inside for a collision to fall on the mat. Flair is up first and starts going after the knee as this match just won’t end. A cannonball onto the leg sets up the Figure Four but Piper quickly turns it over. Ric sends him outside again but gets his trunks taken down on a sunset flip attempt.
The worst backslide in history gets no count as Robinson is with Anderson and a small pile of unfastened boxes (there’s no package to it at all) gets the same. Piper puts on the Figure Four and Flair shouts that he gives up but Anderson comes in for the save. Roddy slaps a sleeper on him but has to let it go to put it on Ric. Asya comes in for the save and gets kissed and put in the hold as well. Piper finally nails Robinson but gets hit with a foreign object as Robinson gets up just in time to count the pin.
Rating: F. This was on pay per view in 1999 so it’s a failure on principle alone. On top of that, the match was a disaster with the spots being totally blown and neither guy looking like he had the energy to last three minutes let alone the twelve this got (third longest match on the card). Horrible match, but we’re not done yet.
Eric Bischoff comes out for the first time in months and says he isn’t screwing this up. He declares Piper the winner for reasons that aren’t explained. Why he has the authority to do this (remember that he had his power stripped), why he’s suddenly good (not explained) and why he did this (ok to be fair there are about a million reasons to disqualify Flair. I’ll give him that one) aren’t explained. Piper immediately fires Flair and thanks Bischoff for what he did.
Very quick video on Goldberg vs. Sting in case you didn’t catch the other three of them.
Sting vs. Goldberg
The announcers spend the entrances trying to explain the Bischoff stuff. Feeling out process to start with Sting trying to escape a powerslam but falling out of the air. A powerslam puts Sting down again and Goldberg clotheslines him out to the floor. Back in and Sting ducks a superkick and hits a dropkick to stagger Goldberg. A clothesline puts Goldberg outside as well and it’s a stalemate.
Back in and Goldberg puts on a cross armbreaker but Sting makes the ropes. Sting goes after the knee and drops all of his weight down onto it a few times. There’s a Boston crab but Goldberg powers out of it and sends Sting out to the floor again. Back in and Sting grabs a headlock as this is still in low second gear.
The headlock goes about as well as you would expect and Goldberg hiptosses Sting over. A horrible looking swinging neckbreaker drops Sting for two but he jumps to the top for a clothesline. The Stinger Splash is countered into a spinebuster which the announcers call a spear. Cue Bret Hart to beat up the referee and whack Goldberg with a chair for the no contest.
Rating: D+. This was really dull as they were just filling time until they got to the stupid ending. Sting vs. Goldberg is a match that should have headlined Starrcade at some point but instead it’s used as a plot device to get Bret Hart back on television, because you know WCW is going to use him right after a year and a half of wasting him.
Bret destroys Goldberg’s knee for a bit and leaves. The Steiners come out to beat up Sting and Goldberg because they’re the top villains now I guess.
Yet another Nash vs. Page video because three weren’t enough.
WCW World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash
Nash is challenging. Page tries a fast Diamond Cutter but gets shoved away, only to come back with rights and lefts. A big boot puts the champion on the floor before Nash brings him back inside for some slow right hands. Page fights out of the corner and keeps swinging away until Nash shoves him across the ring. A low blow stops Nash and Page uses the distraction to cut off a turnbuckle pad. That’s just a distraction to let Page hit Nash with the microphone for two.
Nash rolls to the middle of the ring and pulls Page face first into the exposed buckle. A very delayed cover gets two as both guys are still laying on the mat. They slug it out again and a clothesline puts Nash outside again. A Diamond Cutter on the floor lays Nash out, meaning we continue the lack of action. For reasons not quite clear, Page thinks this is falls count anywhere (he says that to the referee and is stunned when it’s not true). Back in and Page gets two with his feet on the ropes.
An elbow drop between Nash’s legs let Page pose even more. He goes to put on the Figure Four around the post but Nash kicks him into the barricade. Back in and Nash still can’t get up. The fans look at something in the crowd as Nash makes his comeback, complete with Snake Eyes onto the exposed buckle. There’s the Jackknife but Savage runs in for the DQ.
Wait scratch that as Bischoff still has some authority and says keep going. They’re just making this nonsense up as they go aren’t they? Tony says this is No DQ even though Bischoff never said that. Page hits a Russian legsweep and a clothesline for two before puttnig on a horrible looking sleeper. Nash reverses into a hold that looks like he’s trying to rip off Page’s ear. The champ grabs a jawbreaker for two and gets a chair. The chair hits the top rope and nails Page in the head for two. Back up and the big boot and Jackknife give Nash the title.
Rating: D-. Another boring match which fits the theme tonight. We still have no explanation as to why Savage and Page are associates now and I can’t imagine we ever will. This was supposed to be about Nash getting revenge for Hogan, but given that it hasn’t been mentioned in weeks, I’m assuming WCW has forgotten about it. Bad match here with neither guy feeling interested in working.
Overall Rating: D. I can’t say a show with an opener that hot is a failure. This period of WCW has the biggest problem a wrestling company can have: it’s really uninteresting. The matches aren’t very good for the most part, but that sort of thing can be fixed. The problem here is the main stories range from really stupid to something that completely falls apart if you think about it for more than five seconds. Things are about to get even worse though and the few good spots are getting rarer and rarer.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Thunder Date: May 6, 1999
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
It’s the go home show for Slamboree and things are getting bad around here. Between the nonsensical stories and the boring matches leading up to a show that has barely been hyped outside of the main event, I’m not really looking forward to a two hour taped Thunder. The fact that we only have five matches doesn’t make me feel much better. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Page winning the title back last week.
Video on Nash vs. Page.
Video on Piper vs. Flair.
Scotty Riggs/Mike Enos vs. Raven/Saturn
Raven’s Rules and Saturn has a taped up shoulder from Benoit’s attack on Monday. Raven does his usual WHAT ABOUT ME before the match and says they’ll be champions on Sunday. He starts with Mike and quickly takes over before bringing in Saturn. The bald one nails Enos in the head with a kick before bringing Raven back in for something like Ascension’s Fall of Man. In other words, a Total Elimination ripoff. They follow that up with the same move but with Saturn superkicking Enos down.
Mike finally goes after THE BIG BANDAGE on Saturn’s shoulder to take over. Off to Riggs who gets caught in a release belly to belly because he’s not that good. Saturn tags out but goes up top for a splash, only to hurt his shoulder even more. The heels take over and send Raven outside for a hot shot onto the barricade. Some chair shots have him in even more trouble and a legdrop gets two for Enos.
We take a break and come back with Riggs dropping a knee to Raven’s face and doing the Rude hip swivel. Riggs chokes a lot and tags out to Enos for some trash talk and not much else. Back to Riggs who sends Raven into the barricade a few more times and grabs a chair. Enos holds Raven up but winds up getting nailed by his worthless partner. Raven dropkicks the chair back into Riggs’ face and nails the drop toehold onto the chair for two. Back up and Raven grabs the Evenflow on Riggs but Enos makes the save. The hot tag brings in Saturn for the Death Valley Driver on Riggs for the pin.
Rating: D+. Sweet goodness Riggs was bad. The narcissist gimmick isn’t doing anything for him and the lack of skill really is showing. It says a lot when Buff Bagwell was the one carrying the team but it’s very clear that’s what happened with the American Males. Raven and Saturn shouldn’t have been in that much trouble three days before a title match.
Long video on Piper, leading to him making Page vs. Sting a week ago. We see a good chunk of the match too, which is a lot more interesting than anything else we’re likely to see tonight.
Rick Steiner vs. Erik Watts
Rick yells at Charles Robinson because he’s mean and evil I guess. After some pointless stalling from Watts, Rick quickly takes him down but Erik cranks on the arm. Back up and Rick nails him with a forearm before taking him back to the mat with an armdrag. Steiner finally wakes up and realizes it’s Erik Watts so he nails a belly to belly.
Rick takes him into the corner for a clean break, then takes him into the corner again and knees Watts in the ribs. Pick a side already dude. Watts is sent into the barricade and steps before a German supelx gets two. We hit the chinlock with some crossface shots before choking gets two for Rick. Back up again and a powerslam drops Watts before the Steiner Bulldog knocks him out. Rick puts on something like an STF if he was just bent over instead of laying down for the submission.
Rating: D. Remember back in 1992 when Watts was really bad but they put him in the ring with talented guys? Well he’s still really bad and now they’re putting him in the ring with washed up guys who aren’t interested in doing anything but hitting the other guy harder than he needs to. Naturally, this earns Rick a title shot on Sunday because why not.
Another long video from last week’s Nitro with a focus on the four corners match.
Video on Sting vs. Goldberg, mostly from the four corners match. They’re getting mileage out of that one.
Video on Robinson vs. George.
Disorderly Conduct vs. Brian Adams/Horace
Oh COME ON. Horace chops Mike in the corner to start and nails a Vader style clothesline. Mike tries an armdrag and a slam before cranking on the arm. Off to Tom who works on the arm as well, only to get caught by a clothesline. Adams comes in for a double elbow and some right hands. Riveting stuff here. The tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Tom and Mike charges in and earns a gorilla press. Mike and Tom bail to the floor and get beaten up out there as well because the Black and White is TOUGH.
Brian and Mike get back in so Tom can trip Adams from the floor to take over. Tom gets two off a jawbreaker but Adams breaks through a double clothesline and tags in Horace. We get an assortment of kicks, punches and choking from Horace before Mike gets beaten down in the corner even more. Back to Adams for a spinebuster for two on Mike with Tom making the save. Horace comes back in and misses a charge, allowing for the hot (?) tag to Tom. He fights as much as he can but crotches himself on the top. A spike piledriver is enough to pin Mike.
Rating: D. I’d make a joke here about how this is supposed to make me want to pay $30 for a pay per view, but these matches have drained me of any sarcasm I might be able to provide. This show feels like a dumping ground for wrestlers that WCW doesn’t want to keep on the payroll but they have to anyway due to contractual obligations. Why else would this be happening?
Kanyon vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
This HAS to be better. Or as least more interesting. This is Kanyon’s first match back in about three months due to making a movie. Rey declines a handshake. Does he think he’s better than Kanyon or something? Kanyon takes him into the corner but gets put down with an armdrag. Rey tries to speeds things up with a moonsault press but Kanyon catches him in midair. Instead it’s a headscissors to put Kanyon down and a dropkick sends him outside. Rey does the 619 taunt but Kanyon is busy posing in front of a WHO BETTER THAN KANYON sign.
Back in and Kanyon nails some forearms before countering a hurricanrana by sending Rey throat first onto the ropes. We take a break and come back with a headscissors putting Kanyon down. A springboard is caught in a nice backbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock. Rey gets sent outside and they trade whips into the barricade. That’s a very popular move tonight. Kanyon is busted open a bit so we stop the closeups.
A hurricanrana off the apron drops Kanyon again and they head back inside. Kanyon nails a boot to the face but misses a top rope splash. The Bronco Buster connects and the top rope legdrop to the back of the head gets two. Rey’s leapfrog is countered into a powerbomb followed by a kind of sitout Dominator. You knew Kanyon was going to have something new. Kanyon misses a moonsault and gets caught by the top rope seated senton. The Horsemen try to run in but Rey nails them both and grabs a victory roll for the pin.
Rating: C+. Way better than anything else we’ve sat through on this show, even though it wasn’t all that great. Kanyon is almost always entertaining and Rey was his usual self. Thankfully the announcers mentioned that Kidman was at a personal appearance so there’s a reason for him not being here.
Post match the Horsemen get in and crush Rey’s knee between the post and the steps.
Texas Hangmen vs. Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko
The Hangmen are in masks and look like Mike and Tom from earlier. Good chance it’s them actually. The masked men jump the Horsemen to start and send them out to the floor, which isn’t likely the best career move. Back in and the Hangmen are whipped into each other and it’s Dean starting with let’s say #1. Dean starts on the knee as is his custom before bringing in Benoit for a LOUD chop and more knee work.
They head outside with Benoit putting the knee over the barricade for a dropkick from Malenko. Back in for the dragon screw leg whip from Benoit and more kicks and basic holds from Dean. #1 is sent to the floor and the Hangmen try to switch but get caught by Robinson. Back in and #1 misses a clothesline, earning him some Rolling Germans. #1 tries a small package but Robinson wasn’t paying attention.
Back to Dean for some knee work and trash talk for Mysterio. This is a really good display of the Horsemen style with Benoit and Malenko just torturing the limb with every possible method of working over a knee. A knee crusher puts #1 down and the Horsemen quickly alternate and hammer on the knee. Something like an Indian Deathlock makes #1 scream so Dean mocks him from the apron. When did Malenko learn to be funny? Back to Dean who charges into a knee in the corner and it’s finally off to #2. He cleans a few rooms of the house but walks into a belly to belly, setting up the Cloverleaf for the submission.
Rating: C. I could watch the Horsemen pick apart a limb for days. I’m not sure why I’d do that, but it’s far more interesting than seeing the NWO vs. Disorderly Conduct. This was a good way of building up the Horsmen for Sunday, unlike the opener where Raven and Saturn were in way too much trouble.
Video on Page vs. Nash. I believe this is the same one from earlier.
Now for the main event (Tenay’s words): the big Savage/Flair/Robinson/George bit from Nitro followed by the entire Page vs. Flair match.
One more Slamboree ad and we’re out.
Overall Rating: F+. I know a modern criticism of Smackdown is it’s mostly replays from Raw, but this actually was mostly replays from Nitro. Taking out commercials, I believe over half of the TV time tonight was spent airing clips from Monday. I didn’t like the show the first time and I really didn’t like seeing it again on a bad show. This was a waste of time and Slamboree better be an improvement.
Remember there’s no Nitro or Thunder this week.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
It’s my favorite moment ever in wrestling and the loudest pop you’ll ever hear.On January 4, 1999, WCW had Kevin Nash lose the WCW World Title to Hulk Hogan via the Fingerpoke of Doom. Over on Raw, the WWF Title was changing hands as well, which WCW decided to tell their audience. Here’s what the hundreds of thousands of fans that changed the channel saw.
WWF Title: Mankind vs. The Rock
This is No DQ remember. This is the match that Tony Schiavone gave the ending away to on their show, shifting the ratings for the night because of it. DX comes out to back up Foley, because they couldn’t go to the hospital with Shawn or help defend him right? Rock of course has the Corporation with him.
Rock jumps him immediately and knocks him to the floor. He won’t let the Corporation beat them up because he wants to do it himself. How noble of our heel champion. Foley does his first sick bump of the match as he goes knee first into the steps and flies over them in a painful looking shot. These two always had mad chemistry together, which is something that could be said about most guys with Rock actually.
Rock does commentary during the match, which always cracked me up. He talks a bit too much though so Foley takes over. Foley does a promo of his own and we cut to a shot of Vince and Shane, but we hear a bell ring. Foley is down and Rock has the bell. Subtle. Rock Bottom through a table and Foley is in trouble. This has all taken less than three minutes so I’m not leaving much out at all.
To play up the spontaneous nature here Rock is in street clothes, as in the kind you would work out in. Corporate Elbow (debuted 5 minutes from my house) hits for two as this is ALL Rock. Foley with a spinning neckbreaker out of nowhere to get both guys down. Bossman throws the belt in and a shot to the head (sounded SICK) gets two as well. Double arm DDT onto the belt and Rock is in big trouble.
There’s Mr. Socko as the crowd has lost it. Mandible Claw goes on but Shamrock pops Foley with a chair. Billy Gunn takes him down and the brawl begins. Everything goes crazy and CUE GLASS SHATTER! Austin comes out and everyone loses it. He caves Rock’s head in with a chair and pulls Mick on top for the pin and the world title as the roof is blown off the arena.
Rating: A+. This was about a shocking moment and excitement and a feel good story and they NAILED it. This is very personal bias heavy, but they’re my reviews so who cares?
DX puts Foley on their shoulders as the Corporation carries Rock out. Cole gets in the famous line of “Mick Foley has achieved his dream and the dream of everyone else who has been told you can’t do it!” This is one of the best feel good moment in WWF history as Foley was considered one of the best to never be world champion as he worked as hard as anyone else but was never given a serious shot at it.
He got the shot tonight and he won the title. Road Dogg does the big announcement of Mankind being the new champion to a HUGE ovation. Foley dedicates the win to his kids and takes a lap around the ring with the belt to end the show. This is my favorite moment in wrestling history, bar none.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Wrestler of the Day – September 26: Stevie Richards
Today is the clueless putz himself Steven Richards.
Richards started in ECW in 1992, even having the first match at the ECW Arena. We’ll pick things up in the same promotion (well the same letters at least) on February 4, 1995 at Double Tables.
Stevie Richards vs. Tommy Dreamer
Richards is Raven’s main lackey and helping in the war with Dreamer. They shove each other up against the ropes to start with Richards cowering like you would expect him to. To the floor now with Richards nailing him in the face and taking Dreamer’s shirt. Back in and Dreamer hammers away before planting Richards with a swinging neckbreaker.
Richards is tossed back to the floor and whipped into the barricade as this is getting violent. Back inside with a low blow to Stevie with a frying pan but Stevie pops back up with a backdrop. The DDT catches Richards out of nowhere but Raven grabs Dreamer. Stevie gets back up for a superkick and Tommy is in trouble. Another superkick is blocked with a low blow and Dreamer grabs the rollup pin.
Rating: D. Richards wasn’t much to see in the ring and that was very apparent here. The match wasn’t any good and was just there for Raven to interfere. The perk of a feud like Dreamer and Raven is they could have a bunch of matches with other guys to keep their big showdowns fresh.
We’re going to look at what is considered ECW’s best match by a variety of reviewers. This is from Gangstas’ Paradise and it’s double dog collar, 2/3 falls.
Tag Team Titles: Pitbulls vs. Raven/Stevie Richards
The Pitbulls are challenging and they’re done if they lose. There’s no Richards in sight to start so Raven looks to be going it alone. Beaulah says Richards broke his arm last night so we should make this 2/3 falls. The Pitbulls agree and Raven ties himself up to #2. The brawl is on and #2 starts choking Raven over the ropes as #1 runs to the back. A chair to the head has Raven in even more trouble as #1 drags Richards (with both arms looking fine) out with the collar attaching them.
Richards gets beaten up with a chair as Raven piledrives #2 through the table for a fast pin. The second fall begins with #1 taking a double DDT for two as #2 makes the save. Another table is brought in as #1 beats on Richards even more. With Raven down, a Super Bomb through the table is enough to tie things up as we get down to the real stuff with the third fall.
We take a quick break to look at both falls and come back to see Richards a bloody mess. #1 takes Richards into the crowd where Richards nails him with a chair. Raven and #2 fight in the aisle until #2 sends in another table. The referee goes down (like it matters) and here are the Dudleys (Dances With Dudley and Dudley Dudley) to beat up the Pitbulls. The champions hit Super Bombs but the Pitbulls pop right back up. A double DDT takes down all four villains and both Dudleys take Super Bombs of their own.
We get another table brought in but #2 leaves a Super Bomb on Raven short, driving the back of his head into the edge of the table. The referee wakes up and counts a VERY slow two so Raven busts out some ether to knock out #2 (Joey: “TAKE THAT CRAP TO SMOKY MOUNTAIN!” Yes it was a jab at Cornette’s booking.).
Raven sends #2 through two tables but is too spent to follow up. #2 is taken to the back as Richards gets crotched on the top and suplexed through a table. An unhooked Raven comes in for the save as Francine comes in to go after Richards and gets in a catfight with Beaulah, only to have Raven DDT her down. This brings out Dreamer to chain himself to Raven and lay him out with a DDT….and the pin?
We’re still not done yet though as heel referee Bill Alfonso (heel because he follows the rules) comes out to reverse the decision. Since Dreamer wasn’t in the match, the pin doesn’t count so he still hasn’t officially beaten Raven and the match continues. This brings out Commissioner Tod Gordon to yell at Alfonso but Bill nails him in the face.
Big Dick Dudley is here to chokeslam Dreamer, which Alfonso has to unban as Alfonso had made it illegal to protect himself from the chokeslamming machine 911 who had been wanting to chokeslam Alfonso for months. This immediately brings out 911 to plant Alfonso with a chokeslam for a standing ovation. The Pitbulls get back in to Super Bomb Raven for the pin and the titles.
Rating: B. It’s a good brawl, but the impressive part is all the intricate booking coming together to make the whole thing work. They were juggling about five stories at once here and everything was hitting to perfection. It’s not a masterpiece due to the match itself being nothing great, but the storytelling was really good.
Here’s a quick match at November to Remember 1995.
El Puerto Ricano vs. Stevie Richards
Richards is a goofy putz (Joey’s words) here and is Raven’s (top heel here) lackey. Richards gets a gift from the unnamed Blue Meanie who comes over the guardrail with a shirt that says Blue Meanie. The gift is a Flock of Seagulls half shirt. The non Clueless Putz (never did anything of note) jumps Richards and we’re off.
Ricano hits a missile dropkick and dives on Meanie to take care of him. He goes up too many times though and Richards slams him down to take over. Flock of Seagulls dude hits a powerbomb and the other guy (you type Ricano over and over again) is in trouble. He gets draped over the top and takes another Stevie Bomb. Blue Meanie comes in and misses a moonsault. Richards hits a superkick to end this. More or less just a squash.
We’ll jump ahead to House Party 1996 for a match with a hardcore legend.
Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
Richards slips getting into the ring and falls on his face. He also has a bad arm coming into this. Richards runs to start and throws in a chair. Yeah, throw a chair to Sabu. Joey agrees with me, saying that it’s like handing a chainsaw to Leatherface. Sabu has enough of the standing around so he hits a suicide dive to take over. Back inside and Sabu hooks a chinlock but Stevie powerbombs him out of the corner to take over.
Sabu will have none of that and comes back with a slingshot flipping legdrop. Off to an armbar of all things but it only lasts a few seconds. Richards is placed on the top rope and with the help of a chair, Sabu “hits” Air Sabu to knock him to the floor. Sabu slams him to the floor and both guys are down. Richards gets sent into the railing and Sabu sets up a table. Blue Meanie saves Stevie and we head back inside.
Sabu gets caught in an electric chair position but he rolls Richards over the top and out to the floor. This show needs to hurry up and end because it’s REALLY dragging badly now. Richards head fakes Sabu and the crazy one goes through the table. That would be the crazy one Sabu in case you were confused. Meanie gets in a kick on Sabu and they head inside again. Stevie drops a top rope punch for two as we see that he’s not the best on offense.
A Frankensteiner gets two for Sabu and both guys are spent. Richards is sent to the floor and Sabu finally dives over the top with a slingshot rana onto Meanie. Richards gets a horribly botched one of his own from Sabu and the guy in the bright yellow pants takes over again. Richards is placed on a table but Meanie makes the save.
Paul E of all people comes out to beat up Meanie and Sabu hits a dive through Richards through the table. Back inside and that only gets two as this match just keeps going. Richards rolls him up for two and hits the Stevie Kick for another two. A Sabu DDT gets the same and it’s chair time again. Sabu goes up and hits the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flip leg drop with the chair) to get a pretty anti-climactic pin.
Rating: C-. This just kept going and going and it was only decent to begin with. Sabu would be pushed much harder over the next few months as he would feud with Taz while Richards would somehow get into the world title #1 contenders match at Barely Legal. This wasn’t awful but it dragged a lot which really hurt it.
Another match with another hardcore guy from Cyberslam 1997.
Balls Mahoney vs. Stevie Richards
Mahoney likes leather it seems. Uh…yeah. Use your imagination here people. It’s BWO Stevie here. A little trivia here is that Rob Feinstein, as in the RF in RF Video and a former owner of ROH is playing the Syxx (X-Pac) parody of 7-11 here. Balls has short hair here. He must trim them. The fans aren’t sure who they like here but it seems to be Stevie. I think the BWO is face here but it’s kind of hard to tell in the ECW Arena.
Stevie uses speed to take over, likely just offering Balls some to get him down. Off to an armbar now as the arena flashes his chest to the fans. Oh dear. Fujiwara Armbar now by Stevie (named after Mr. Fuji if you’ve been curious as to that for some odd reason). Balls pounds away for a bit and then it’s right back to Stevie’s armbar. Ten punches in the corner and then Stevie climbs the ropes backwards and rubs his tiguts in Balls’ face. So he wants Balls around his….never mind.
Another clothesline by Balls gets two. Balls has next to no offense outside of clotheslines and punches. He tries a spinwheel kick with Richards on the apron and yet he hits the floor before Richards. As in like 5 seconds before Richards. Stevie chills on the floor for a minute or so until Balls drags him back in. Middle rope elbow has Stevie in trouble.
This is boring if you couldn’t tell as we’re at about 8:30 so far. Yes, these two get eight and a half minutes. Balls gets a modified atomic drop (more like an elevated punch to the balls, thereby making Stevie’s voice elevated) and makes fun of the BWO. Top rope leg drop misses and it’s a Stunner by Stevie to give him control for all of half a second. Powerbomb and a superkick miss so Stevie kicks him in the balls and then the chin to end this.
Rating: D-. See, this is where the problems came from for ECW. In short, the matches aren’t that good. The characters are ok and the stories are more developed, but at the end of the day the wrestling just wasn’t there for the most part. They had some good talent, but a lot of the time it was a guy that punched a lot and had a finisher and that’s about it. They knew no basic stuff and it was glaringly obvious at times. Also, this getting nearly 13 minutes is a bit much.
Richards would start up the BWO and jump up the card, somehow getting into a #1 contenders match at Barely Legal.
Stevie Richards vs. Sandman vs. Terry Funk
This is under elimination rules and the winner gets Raven later in the night for the World Title. Richards is the leader of the BWO but he’s starting to be taken a bit more seriously as a main event guy. He used to be Raven’s lackey but has now struck out on his own. Sandman, known for drinking and smoking on the way to the ring, busts himself open with a beer can on the way to the ring. He and Raven have a long history as well so he would make sense as a challenger too. Funk is the grizzled veteran looking for one more hurrah and is taking Dreamer’s place tonight as Dreamer wanted his mentor to get the title.
Sandman downs another beer and spits it in Stevie’s face while still holding his Singapore cane. All three guys circle each other until Terry and Richards lock up. Sandman breaks it up and chops Stevie in the corner, only to get in a fight with Funk. An early spinning toehold is broken up by Richards and Terry takes a bunch of elbow drops from both guys. Sandman and Richards get into it so Terry hits four straight neckbreakers on Stevie for two.
With no real provocation, Sandman throws in a ladder which blasts Funk in the back of the head. He suplexes the ladder down onto Richards and hits Terry in the head again for two. Terry and Sandman climb the ladder in the corner but Funk moonsaults down onto a standing Stevie instead. Still on the ropes, Sandman picks up the ladder and drops it down onto Richards’ back for two.
Stevie superkicks the ladder into Sandman’s face for two before both of them climb the ladder for no apparent reason. Funk falls into them to knock everything over and all three guys are down. With Stevie down, Sandman and Terry take turns ramming each other face first into the ladder. Richards gets back up and catapults the ladder into the others’ faces and everyone is down again. The Stevie Kick nails Sandman for two and Terry takes one for the same.
Sandman throws both of them plus the ladder out to the floor and dives over the top, knocking the ladder into Richards’ face. Back in and Terry suplexes Stevie but Sandman throws in a trashcan, nailing Terry square in the head. Funk doesn’t seem to mind and even helps Sandman with a spike piledriver on Stevie. Sandman crushes him under the ladder but Terry can only get two.
Terry nails Sandman in the face with the ladder to send him to the floor as Dreamer rants about Raven getting to face the winner while fresh. A double powerbomb is enough to pin Richards and get us down to one on one, sucking some life out of the crowd. Sandman and Terry shake hands then punch each other in the face, only to have Terry backdrop him out to the floor and onto Stevie.
We get barbed wire brought in but Terry wraps Sandman’s shirt around his face and hammers away. The barbed wire is whipped over Sandman’s back to cut him open, but Sandman wraps it around himself and drops a top rope legdrop for two. Stevie is still here for some reason as the trashcan is put over Sandman’s head, setting up a superkick to knock Sandman silly. Terry adds a moonsault for the pin and the title shot.
Rating: C-. This was the hardcore mess that you have to expect with ECW. Sandman wasn’t much of a wrestler in the technical sense but the fans were way into him and he could throw a solid punch. Funk winning was the best option with Dreamer not being an option, but the fans were WAY behind Stevie here and an upset wouldn’t have been a terrible idea.
Richards would jump to WCW for a few matches, including this one on Nitro, August 18, 1997.
Stevie Richards vs. Scotty Riggs
Richards charges to the ring like a maniac. Riggs grabs the wrist to start before nearly botching a monkey flip. A dropkick puts Richards on the floor but he rams Scotty’s shoulder into the post to take over. Back in and a sitout spinebuster gets two for Stevie but Scotty comes back with some clotheslines. Richards loses his half shirt and gets caught in a side slam for two. Raven jumps the railing as Stevie hits the Stevie Kick for the pin.
Rating: D. I guess this was to set up future stuff but that didn’t make this any easier to get through. Riggs is just not that good and Richards is a comedy character which doesn’t make for an interesting or good match at all. Not much to see here but that would be the case for a lot of Nitro matches.
After a year or so doing nothing of note, it was off to the WWF with one of Richards first matches taking place on Smackdown, October 14, 1999.
Stevie Richards vs. Val Venis
Richards comes out as Dude Love because he’s a bit out there. Val counters a monkey flip with a hot shot but walks into a superkick for two. Back up and Venis slams him down and hits the Money Shot for the pin in just over a minute.
Richards would become Steven Richards and lead the Right to Censor as a parody of the PTC. Here he is at Summerslam 2000.
Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi
Too Cool and Rikishi are WAY over at this point and even won the tag titles over the summer. The RTC is Richards/Goodfather/Bull Buchanan at this point. Some of Goodfather’s former women come out with Rikishi, one of which would become known as Victoria. It’s a big brawl to start until we get Scotty pounding on Buchanan. Hotty backflips over Buchanan and pulls him down before getting two off a high cross body. Off to Sexay for a double suplex before Goodfather comes in and falls to the floor. He shoves Victoria down before punching Sexay in the face to take over.
Buchanan gets in some shots of his own and it’s off to Richards for his cheap shots. A powerbomb gets two and JR sounds stunned. Steven gets crotched on top and superplexed down allowing for the hot tag to Rikishi. The fat man cleans house and Victoria throws Richards back in the ring. The RTC is sent into the corner with Too Cool being launched into all of them at once, but Bull gets in a quick ax kick to take the Samoan down. Scotty loads up the Worm but Steven kicks his head off for the pin.
Rating: C. Basic six man tag here to get the crowd going. A fast paced act like Too Cool and Rikishi is always a great choice to start up a show as the crowd gets fired up for the entrance and hopefully stays hot for the rest of the show. The RTC was a fine choice for a heel stable as they took away what the fans wanted to see and the people were glad to see them get beaten up.
Another match from No Mercy 2000.
Val Venis/Steven Richards vs. Billy Gunn/Chyna
Steven refers to Gunn as rectally obsessed. That somehow fits. Who came up with the stupid name? They need to be drug out into the street and shot. Val and Rikishi start us off which is as riveting as it sounds. Val punches Chyna on the floor and goes into the steps for his troubles. This is going nowhere fast. I hate that expression but it fits here.
Chyna spins Richards around by the tie. She goes off on him and the heels are in trouble. Val goes after the arm of Billy as this is setting new standards for boring. Chyna gets a very weak tag for the beatdown. Handspring elbow to Val as Billy helps to beat him up. Pedigree attempt but Eddie comes down to hit her with the loaded flowers and Val gets the pin.
Rating: F. Sweet GOODNESS this was boring. I get the injury thing but at the same time this had nothing at all to it. Get on to the next match please.
The RTC would start going downhill but they had one more decent night at No Way Out 2001.
Jerry Lawler vs. Steven Richards
Tazz does commentary in Lawler’s place. He’s still a wrestler so this is a new thing for him. He’s a bit like his normal commentating self but not all the way yet. Lawler makes a full entrance despite being at the commentary desk not 2 minutes ago. We see a clip of the RTC stopping the (XFL’s) Las Vegas Outlaws cheerleaders last night. RTC was a parody of the Parents Television Council who got on Vince every 9 seconds for something he did.
This is the walking definition of a catch your breath match as the fans need something worthless to bridge the gap from the war they just saw to the last two matches. Lawler expands his offense from just punches by adding in rapid fire punches. This is why it’s great to have someone like Lawler around: you can throw him in there for something like this and you know he’s going to at least be passable, especially since he only wrestles like twice a year so his expectations are very low.
Kat and Ivory go at it for a bit but the distraction allows Richards to take over. Richards misses a splash in the corner and Lawler takes over for a bit. Apparently if he wins Kat gets to lose her clothes. Ivory comes in and Teddy Long takes FOREVER to get rid of her. Kat tries to hit Richards with Ivory’s belt but she nails Lawler by mistake for the pin. Kat has to join RTC now, but she was released in like two weeks, resulting in Lawler quitting. They were married at the time.
Rating: D. This was pretty weak but at the same time it was about as good as it was going to get. It was on the level of a pretty bad TV match but like I said this was designed to just fill in about 10 minutes so that the fans could breathe a bit. Nothing special at all but it did its job I guess.
Richards would become his old self around this time and win 21 Hardcore Titles. We’ll skip past that as there’s almost nothing to talk about most of the time. Here he is on Raw, January 13, 2003.
Steven Richards vs. Hurricane
Set up earlier, meaning Trish and Victoria are with the guys here. Steven’s suplex is countered and Hurricane takes him down with a clothesline. Hurricane hits the Blockbuster (minus most of the flip) and the Eye of the Hurricane for the pin in less than 90 seconds.
From Raw, September 8, 2003.
Scott Steiner vs. Steven Richards
Somehow Steiner has a job at this point. He also has Stacy who is his girlfriend/head freak at this point, which would change very soon. This is angle advancement for Steiner vs. Test, the latter of which is at ringside here. Richards tries to jump Steiner to start and gets pounded down in the corner as a result. There’s a clothesline for Richards and it’s push-up time. Richards gets a boot up in the corner but walks into a Downward Spiral for the pin. Nothing match here.
One more Raw match on May 3, 2004.
Kane vs. Steven Richards
Chokeslam, pin, 37 seconds.
So it’s pretty clear that a change is in order and thankfully that came in the form of JBL being a jerk and attacking Blue Meanie for real at One Night Stand 2005. The result was the BWO getting a PPV match at Great American Bash 2005.
Mexicools vs. BWO
Oh where do I begin. Ok so the Mexicools are Juvy, Psicosis and Super Crazy as really stereotypocal Mexicans (ride lawnmowers, carry rakes etc). The BWO is here because at One Night Stand, JBL legitimately beat up Blue Meanie. WWE gave Meanie a job for like two months so he didn’t sue them. This is their only match of note. The BWO comes out on big wheels for absolutely no apparent reason. American Chopper joke maybe?
Juvy vs. Nova starts us off. Things break down and the BWO takes over. Psicosis finally hits a corkscrew plancha to take over on Nova. Back to Juvy as Nova gets beaten down. He Hulks Up (NWO parody remember…..in 2005) and Cole messes up the BWO’s names. Hot tag brings in Richards who cleans house. Side slam gets two on Psicosis. Everything breaks down and Crazy hits a moonsault onto Richards followed by a guillotine legdrop by Psicosis for the pin.
Rating: F. This was on PPV. Once you get that through your heads, you’ll get why this was a failure.
Richards would be part of the new ECW, including this match on SNME XXXIII.
Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
And here’s your token ECW match that no one will care about. This is an extreme rules match thank goodness. Richards is talented if nothing else. He doesn’t get an entrance though so there we are. Sabu kind of hits a triple jump moonsault but kind of doesn’t which is a good result for him. It’s table time and an Arabian Facebuster later we’re done.
Rating: N/A. Sabu would be gone in a few weeks as Van Dam and he had gotten caught in the car with the pot and the kettle and the dinette set.
Here’s a slightly more competitive match on ECW on Sci-Fi, May 15, 2007.
CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards
Richards is very fired up here and Punk has taped up ribs. Punk fires off some kicks and nails a t-bone suplex for two. Stevie comes back with a knee to the ribs and rips off the tape to kick at the ribs even more. Off to a bow and arrow but Punk floats over and gets two off a jackknife cover. A double stomp to the rips gets two on Punk and we hit the abdominal stretch. Richards misses a charge in the corner and Punk fires off his usual kicks and knees but to the back. A neckbreaker out of the corner gets two and the GTS is good for the pin.
Rating: C. I liked this more than I thought I would as Richards was thinking out there by going after the injured body part. You would be surprised how many wrestlers would ignore the big taped up ribs and go after an arm or a leg. It’s such a basic idea and that’s all you need to do a lot of the time.
Richards would jump to TNA as a doctor (don’t ask), starting at Victory Road 2009.
Abyss vs. Stevie Richards
I’m in awe of how stupid this angle and character is but whatever. Abyss has just started wearing his current entrance attire that makes him look like a homeless man. Stevie has some kind of pipe or something and beats on Abyss with it. They continue to confuse me by calling him Stevie Richards and acknowledge his background in wrestling.
I’m not even going to rant about how stupid that is but whatever. Again we’re told how great Abyss can be. And again we ignore that he’s a former world champion. Are they ashamed of that or something? They say AJ is a former world champion here even though he had only won NWA Titles at this point. I really hate that clapping Abyss does.
It’s stupid when Christian does it but it’s just freaking idiotic when Abyss does it. We head into the crowd so we can kill off some time to go along with the brain cells. Seriously, what is the appeal of the monster being all child-like? Is that supposed to be interesting or funny or something? I’d assume it’s based off of being ironic or something but in order for irony to work it needs to be interesting which this just flat out isn’t.
Since it’s TNA, of course Stevie starts bleeding. That’s a real problem with TNA today: they think blood makes a match better. Blood can help a match, but only when it’s done both in moderation as well as properly. TNA has a real issue with it as they do it so often that it loses all effectiveness. The fans are insane and rather annoying here, wanting Stevie to get hurt more and more.
Somewhere a man named Lee is crying. And now it’s chair time because we need to kill off more time in this match. Just like the previous match, this is a glorified squash. He pulls Stevie up after two from Shock Treatment. Daffney brings Stevie a stun gun that he’s used lately. Instead he runs into a Black Hole Slam. He uses the tazer on him and smoke comes out of it. There’s the pin and I need a stiff drink.
Rating: D. This was even worse than the previous match as this one was even more of a squash. It was about 95% Abyss dominance which isn’t interesting at all. Then again neither of these guys are interesting characters so that likely has a lot to do with it. Richards as a doctor never quite worked.
Time for an ECW reunion show at Hardcore Justice 2010.
PJ Polaco vs. Stevie Richards
Richards has the BWO with them despite not being Big Stevie Cool here. The fans chant Polaco’s name (Justin Credible which I’ll be referring to him as) and then Stevie Richards. The fans want blood and an hour (almost) into it we haven’t had any. Justin hits a jumping spinning DDT which was one of his signature moves back in the day at least.
The fake Meanie is one of the Phi Delta Slam guys if anyone remembers them. He’s a security guard at times too. The matches here aren’t completely awful but this comes off as so low rent that it just can’t be taken seriously. And remember, this is TNA’s PPV offering this month. It’s not like the real PPV is next week or anything. This is it for August.
And That’s Incredible ends….nothing as Nova jumps up. Stevie Kick ends this in something that would NEVER have happened in the original company. The lights go out and Sandman is here to no music at all. White Russian Leg Sweep and Justin is back up before like a second. Cane shots put him down again.
Rating: D+. Not too bad here but the booking was just bad. I know Justin is crap but he was world champion for five months in the old days while Stevie was billed as a clueless putz. This didn’t work that well but it could have been FAR worse. Keep in mind that these grades are on an adjusted scale here as most of these would be fails or worse.
One final match at Bound For Glory 2010 with Richards as part of EV 2.0.
Fourtune vs. EV 2.0
This is a one ring WarGames match. A man from each team starts and after a set amount of time (5 minutes I think) there’s a coin toss and another guy comes in from the winning team. That goes on for two minutes then a guy from the losing team comes in. Two more minutes of that and then the winning team gets the advantage again. Alternate until all 8 are in and then we lower the roof, complete with weapons. No pins or submissions until everyone is in.
EV has Dreamer, Sabu, Rhyno, Richards and Raven. Yeah ten people in there great. Foley is with them. Flair brings out AJ, Storm, Roode, Kaz and Morgan. Fourtune has the advantage so screw the coin flip idea. Flair is in an undershirt. Oh dear.
The old guys go at it before the match starts and we try to figure out who starts the match. Kaz and Richards to start. Again Taz wants to say ECW and can’t do it. Kaz beats the heck out of him to start. And he continues doing so. Well that’s what you get for sending in Richards as your leadoff man.
Stevie gets a Downward Spiral into a modified Koji Clutch but AJ comes in seconds later to make it 2-1. Richards is of course in WAY over his head and gets destroyed. Figure four on Richards and he’s almost dead. Dreamer is in next. How in the world is this guy feuding with AJ Styles?
Dreamer spits mist or something at AJ as Richards gets back into it. All of Fourtune is in blue which is a cool idea I guess. Roode goes in third as this is going to take awhile to just get everyone in. Flair punches Dreamer through the camera hole. I love that thing as it gives you far better shots.
Sabu comes in and hooks a seated crossface chickenwing on AJ which we’ll call a camel clutch for fun I guess. This is REALLY slow now with EV controlling. Dreamer is bleeding fairly badly. Storm is in so it’ll be Morgan and Raven or Rhyno in last. Storm turns the tide and we get BEER MONEY!
With nothing left in the other minute here’s Raven who looks stupid with blonde hair. He cleans some house and shoves a snot rag in someone’s face. Ah ok it was Roode. Dreamer gets his crotch stepped on for fun. Dude seriously, Raven is your hot tag in essence? Roode is busted open.
Sabu is busted too. Morgan comes in as the final member of Fourtune. He drills Richards and drills Sabu back first into the cage. Dreamer takes the elbows in the corner as the advantage does the same thing it’s done the whole time so far. Raven is bleeding too so every member of EV who is in the match is busted.
Big Gore to Storm and here comes the roof. This is where the advantage is supposed to come for EV I guess. Flair and Foley get into it of course as is their custom. EV takes over and there are bigger weapons on top of the cage such as a table, a ladder and something else that I can’t make out.
Raven and Morgan beat the tar out of each other as EV is mostly in control. Morgan goes for the Carbon Footprint and misses, hitting the door which doesn’t move at all. Kaz gets drilled into the door and there it goes. Richards and Kaz go up and we set up the ladder up there. This always scared the living heck out of me.
Sabu dives through the door to take out Morgan and maybe Storm. Richards sets up the table on top of the cage and Kaz goes up the ladder and here’s Kendrick on top of the cage too. Kaz goes through the table and Kendrick appears to be meditating or something. In the ring Dreamer drills AJ in the leg and drops him on a chair, winning the match. Yes, EV won the match and everything seems to be fine with it. WELL OF COURSE THEY ARE.
Rating: D+. Not much here as there were a lot of very slow spots. Also the Kendrick thing just did nothing for it. The weapons were ok but the ending felt kind of tacked on. This never got to the level that they wanted it to get to and that hurt it a lot. This was one of the weaker matches they’ve done with this gimmick and I think a lot of that is due to the participants. Oh yeah. DID I MENTION EV 2.0 JUST FREAKING BEAT FOURTUNE and that TOMMY DREAMER PINNED AJ FREAKING STYLES??? And people wonder why this company can’t be taken seriously.
I’m going to wrap it up there because I don’t think I can manage to sit through Stevie Richards as champion of an ECW tribute promotion. Richards is a guy whose athletic abilities are underrated but his comedy stuff more than makes up for it. He’s a talented guy and found his niche as a goofy lackey to someone like Raven. The guy is good and nailed the role he was given most of the time.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Monday Nitro – May 3, 1999: Let The Inmates Run The Asylum
Monday Nitro #187 Date: May 3, 1999
Location: Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone
It’s the go home show for Slamboree and even though a lot of stuff changed last week, we’re right back where we were seven days ago. Flair is still insane but is getting to face Piper for control of the company this Sunday, even though both are fired. On top of that we’re getting ready for Page vs. Nash and in theory Nash won’t give away the title if he wins it again. Let’s get to it.
We open with Flair, Anderson and the nurse in a limo and on his way to the arena. There’s a bus next to them full of the mental patients. A guy that looks a lot like Scott Hall is driving.
Video on last week’s two World Title changes.
DJ Ran.
Nitro Girls.
Gorgeous George workout video.
The Nitro Girls have a website.
Video on Flair being insane.
MORE DJ Ran, now with a Nascar driver.
Kidman/Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Armstrongs
Non-title. Steve and Kidman trade arm holds to get things going before a dropkick sends Steve over to his corner. Both guys tag out and it’s Steve running over Rey with a clothesline. Mysterio comes back with some dropkicks and brings Kidman back in, only to have him sent out to the floor.
That goes nowhere so Kidman comes back in and avoids a charge before taking Steve down with something resembling a Bodog. Rey comes in with a springboard seated senton as everything breaks down. Steve’s powerbomb to Kidman is countered and Kidman puts him on top before launching Rey up for a top rope hurricanrana and the pin.
Rating: D+. The Armstrongs didn’t get to do much here but there was only going to be so much done with a week before a three way Tag Team Title match. Rey and Kidman are a good team but they seem like they’re there to be beaten by a bigger name team and not as a long term thing. Then again most smaller teams usually are.
Post match the Horsemen come in and beat down the champions. Raven and Saturn come out for the save before beating down Kidman and Mysterio. This brings the Horsemen back in to put Raven and Saturn in their holds and stand tall.
Highlight reel of Jackhammers.
The Cat vs. Buff Bagwell
We get the usual insults to the “rednecks” by Miller before he offers Buff the five seconds. Buff poses at him and gets kicked in the face for his efforts. Back up and Buff dropkicks him out to the floor and the stalling begins. Miller gets back in and wants a handshake, only to stall even more by standing around.
Some armdrags put Cat down but Onoo gets in a few shots to take over. Not that it lasts long though as Bagwell comes back with a swinging neckbreaker, only to have Onoo block a sunset flip to really put Miller in control. A chinlock doesn’t last long but Miller rakes the eyes to stop Buff again. Bagwell makes a quick comeback and Onoo’s latest interference backfires, allowing Buff to hit the Blockbuster for the pin.
Rating: D-. This felt like it went on forever and the match never got interesting. Bagwell had a nice string of wins going here as he’s getting ready for the US Title match on Sunday. Granted it’s not like a win over Miller means all that much as he’s about as uninteresting as you can be at this point. Really dull match.
Miller yells at Onoo post match.
DJ Ran the third.
Flair and his large company arrive and immediately go to the ring. Ric yells about wanting Sting, Savage, George and Goldberg out here. Before they come out here, he fires Savage and grants himself a World Title match in Charlotte. This brings out Savage and the girls as we go to a break. Back with Savage and Madusa beating up the security that tries to arrest them.
Flair grabs George as the cops come to the ring and arrest Savage. Robinson talks trash and struts but George breaks free and slaps him down. The nurse chokes George out as Flair insults Goldberg and Sting. This brings out Sting to punch Ric in the face, followed by Goldberg who does the same. Sting and Goldberg brawl, beat up security and brawl some more until a ton of guards break it up. Somehow this whole thing took over fifteen minutes.
After a break, Flair is talking to Stevie Ray of all people and offers Stevie $100,000 to take Nash out tonight. Ray agrees.
Nitro Girls.
Hardcore Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
The winner gets Knobbs on Sunday for the title King of Hardcore. Wasn’t Bigelow the King already? They throw weapons in before the match and trade trashcan shots to start before Bigelow nails him with a pair of lids. A mop to Hak’s face sets up the required Surge container shot. Bigelow puts him into a ladder and through two tables but Hak hits a quick bulldog onto a ladder and actually works the leg a bit. We take a break because this match needs to keep going for some reason. Bigelow superplexes Hak through two tables as Knobbs comes in with a trashcan to beat on both guys and the match is thrown out.
Rating: F. Am I to understand that a hardcore match just ended in either a doublt DQ or a no contest? I had to sit through another of these messes and now I’m probably going to have to sit through a triple threat match on Sunday? Horrible non-match with nothing redeeming whatsoever. Well maybe the Surge was good.
Ray tells the Black and White that Flair gave him $50,000 to take out Nash. The mental patient AAA was in the bathroom because….I really don’t think I want to know why.
Video on Piper.
AAA warns Nash about the Black and White’s plans.
Konnan vs. Horace Hogan
Konnan threatens the Black and White with unidentified backup. Horace gets dropped with a bulldog to start and they head to the floor for some brawling. Back in and Horace takes over with a few clotheslines and puts on a chinlock. A big boot and splash get two for Horace before we’re back to the chinlock. Horace goes up and dives into a boot, setting up Konnan’s usual offense. The Sunrise goes on but the Black and White runs in for the DQ.
Kevin Nash runs out for the save and cleans house with Konnan. So much for them fighting a few months ago.
Some more of Flair’s friends from the hospital are in the production truck.
Flair, Anderson and Robinson are in the back when David Flair and Samantha come in. Ric thanks his son for helping him and puts him in the main event tonight. David is happy and leaves with Samantha but Ric is smiling. He tells Robinson to book David vs. Meng and also wants Robinson to tell Meng that David thinks Meng can’t go in the ring anymore. Anderson shakes his head.
Piper arrives in a limo because WCW doesn’t understand wrestling fans. He charges into Flair’s office and beats him up as cops come in for the save. Piper slaps one of them as well and puts a Reality Check shirt on Flair.
After a break, Flair sends Scott Steiner after Nash.
More DJ Ran and Nitro Girls.
We go to a press conference with Lex Luger and Liz but the signal goes out before anything can be said.
Scott Steiner asks Mysterio where Nash is. Rey points him to a dressing room and Steiner goes in, only to get beaten down by Buff Bagwell. That might be the worst segment I have ever seen on so many levels.
DJ Ran and the Nitro Girls, maybe two minutes after the previous time.
David Flair vs. Meng
Samantha has officially been named Torrie for no apparent reason. No that it matters as David sends her to the back, making this match far less appealing. Flair tries some chops and gets about as far as you would expect. A big headbutt puts him on the floor but Meng throws him back in so he can no sell even more of David’s offense. Meng actually does sell a few shots to the ribs but he rakes David’s back to slow him down again. A suplex sets up the Tongan Death Grip to mercifully end this quick.
Ric comes out and laughs at David as he’s taken out on a stretcher. He tells his son to never try to get rid of him again.
Video on Diamond Dallas Page.
Gorgeous George workout video again.
Here’s DDP with something to say. It’s his standard promo now: he’s come a long way, he doesn’t care what the people think, he’s old but new while Flair is old and old.
Nitro Girls AGAIN.
TV Title: Curt Hennig vs. Booker T.
Booker is defending in this rematch from Thunder. Hennig takes him down with a shoulder and busts out a cartwheel of all things. The champ’s throat gets snapped across the top rope and Hennig starts on the leg by wrapping it around the post. This brings out Stevie Ray but he misses the slap jack shot. Rick Steiner comes out and attacks Booker for the DQ.
Cops are told to go get the inmates.
WCW World Title: Ric Flair vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Page is defending and Robinson is referee. Feeling out process to start with Page shoving Flair into the corner and stomping away. Some choking has Flair in trouble but he comes back with chops and right hands in the corner. A hiptoss sends the champ out to the floor and Ric chops away against the barricade. Both guys are sent into the barricade and Flair chops him up the aisle.
What looked like a low blow gets Page out of trouble and they head back inside. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Flair and we hit the chinlock for a few seconds. Page fires off elbows to the head in the corner but Ric snapmares him down and drops a knee for two. More choking lets Page send Flair out to the floor. Back in and Flair gets slammed off the top for another near fall and there’s a Figure Four on Flair. Robinson is freaking out but he and Ric start whispering to each other.
Ric finally makes a rope but Page puts it right back on. You don’t see that too often. Flair lifts Page’s leg off of his to break the hold, which you don’t see that often either. Back up and Page’s discus lariat gets two before we hit the chinlock. Flair pops up and elbows Page in the jaw before going up. Oh come on Flair you would think……HE ACTUALLY HIT THE AX HANDLE! Savage and George come to the ring as Flair hooks the Figure Four. Robinson goes after George as Savage slips Page a foreign object for a shot to the head. Another referee comes out to count the pin.
Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad but it was a bit too messy. It also didn’t help that we had a heel vs. a heel in a city where one of the heel was going to be a face but the heel that is a face has been acting especially heelish all night long. To be fair though there were so many other problems with this show that this was bearable.
Overall Rating: F. Other than Gorgeous George’s outfit, this was one of the most worthless shows I can remember in a very long time. Without the awesome cruiserweight matches or Page and Sting stealing the show, this is a bunch of stories starting and stopping in one night (we can also add another entry to the list of World Title matches with no hype) with either no logic or continuity.
Then you have the pay per view coming up. Flair was attacked by Piper and never mentioned it. You would think Page was defending against Flair and Nash was facing Stevie Ray on Sunday. Page getting another title win is fine but at least have him be on camera with Nash instead of having Flair try to take Nash out, which Nash didn’t address either. You had Steiner and the Black and White trying to take out Nash, which was used to build up Bagwell vs. Steiner and Konnan vs. Ray. That’s good, but Nash doesn’t have a single word for Flair? That’s the other problem: why wasn’t Page doing that?
Finally, what was up with Flair? He was supposed to be insane but he still seems perfectly rational and had two plans tonight (hiring people to go after Nash and the stuff with David) plus wrestled like he has for years. The story seemed like a way to get us to Piper vs. Flair, which is happening in 1999 because WCW thinks that’s enough to combat whatever Raw was running at this point. By the way, this show was up against a main event of Steve Austin vs. The Rock. Maybe they were lucky this disaster happened this week.
There was no thinking put into this show and it really showed. They kind of put the focus on Slamboree but it felt like the TV show was the much bigger priority here. There’s a thought to that, but when the TV show is a disaster like this with everything going all over the place, the strategy doesn’t work. It was a mess this week and Slamboree looks ok at best.
One last note: Nitro is preempted on May 10 by the NBA Playoffs so there won’t be another Nitro review up for two weeks.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today’s Wrestler of the Day is genocidal and homicidal yet keeps getting jobs somehow. It’s Sabu.
Sabu got his start in the mid 1980s after training with his uncle the Sheik. We’ll pick things up in Minnesota in 1991.
Chris Candido vs. Sabu
Candido is about 19 here and Sabu has the Original Sheik with him. There’s no commentary here so if there’s a story I’m unaware of it. Feeling out process to start with Candido being sent into the corner. Sabu grabs a chair and Chris wisely runs. Sheik takes the chair away and Candido nails a pair of suplexes. Sabu sends him to the floor a few times before catching Chris with a suicide dive. Back in and Sabu hits a quick springboard moonsault for the pin.
Rating: D. This was pretty horrible but that’s understandable as neither guy was anything more than a glorified rookie. Sabu would get, I guess you could say better, in a few years while Candido would actually improve. There’s nothing to the match but guys need ring time at this stage of their careers.
Off to Japan for a match in Michinoku Pro from December 10, 1993.
Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn
Sabu dives at Lynn’s legs to take him down fast but Jerry cranks on a leg lock to take over. Back up and a clothesline gets two for Sabu before he puts on a leg lock of his own. Jerry climbs the corner for an armdrag but Sabu takes him right back down to the mat to crank on the leg some more. A hurricanrana gets two on Jerry but Sabu misses a moonsault press. Jerry’s connects for two and a German suplex gets the same. Sabu nails a leg lariat and goes up top, only to get dropkicked down to the floor.
A big flip dive takes him down again and they head back inside. Lynn gets knocked to the floor with a spin kick and Sabu nails a big dive of his own. They bust out the table with Sabu nailing a flip dive onto Lynn on the table but the wood doesn’t break. Jerry pops up and nails him in the head with the table before planting Sabu with a tiger drive onto the table. It STILL doesn’t break so Lynn throws him back in, only to miss a top rope splash. The Arabian Press gives Sabu the pin.
Rating: C-. Even as a rookie Lynn was looking polished in the ring. The table stuff was freaking sick looking as I guess Japan made thicker tables. It wasn’t a great match or anything but it’s weird to see guys with names this big being curtain jerkers. At least the match wasn’t half bad and Sabu’s stuff was far more impressive back then.
It’s off to ECW now with one of the company’s most famous matches at the Night the Line Was Crossed.
Shane Douglas vs. Sabu
This is a #1 contenders match and the title match will take place immediately afterwards. Heyman runs out with a phone and blasts Shane’s manager, Sherri, to take her out. With over an hour to go, this is the main event, and yes it’s that long. Joey has audio trouble so while he’s shouting you can’t understand a word of it. You can hear the crowd so clearly my audio is working.
Ah there he is. If there’s no winner here then it’s a three way for the title. The time limit here is only 15 minutes so I’m not expecting much. 911 is on the floor with Heyman as it’s all Shane at this point. Sabu hits a spinning kick which is really just an elbow as the foot never gets close. That’s par for the course with him though so there we are. Five minutes in and this is one sided. The king of Bombay, Michigan works the right arm of all things and the fans want Funk.
Dang he really is cranking on that thing and it looks great. The arm work goes on for a very long time. Shane gets out with an FU of all things. Man Cena if you’re going to use the same moves at least don’t copy them. DAng dude. Ten minutes in and it’s not bad so far. Shane with a big boot? What the heck??? He’s not even tall enough for that but whatever.
We hit the floor with three minutes left. It’s pretty clear that Funk is going to be involved here. It’s not like that was a real secret or anything. Sabu gets a chair on the floor and it results in Shane being on a table. Good thing Sabu misses it completely and lands in the crowd. Sabu is more or less dead with 30 seconds left. For no apparent reason Shane doesn’t cover him and here’s Terry.
ECW Title: Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk vs. Sabu
Ok so is this 60 minutes or are Shane and Sabu going 75? Sabu leaves, I guess with an injury and it’s Shane vs. Terry. Given that we have less than an hour in the tape and there are post match interviews, the whole thing is an hour but Funk only has to go 45. Ok then. Funk hits a piledriver on the floor but we can’t see all of it since it’s not on the camera side. To be fair the same thing happened at the end of the 94 Rumble so that’s a thing of the times and not ECW.
Funk hits a pair of DDTs in the ring (one like a football being spiked and one being like a basketball being bounced according to Joey). Terry wants a chair so about 6 people throw them in. They get piled up and Shane takes ANOTHER DDT on them. Seriously that’s all we’ve had from Funk so far: DDTs and a piledriver. Shane manages to beat Funk to his feet after that DDT which is odd.
Shane beats on Funk who now has a bad back it seems. This is moving REALLY slowly and nothing of note is happening. We had a long stretch of brawling in the audience and nothing of note happened. Douglas mixes things up with a DDT of his own. How innovative! All Shane here as Funk is busted open. The referee goes down at some point and this is literally putting me to sleep.
They slug it out for a bit and then head into the crowd. We’re 30 minutes in here and are in the crowd. This has been far from great like it’s built up to be. For some reason the arena looks like it’s full of smoke. So yeah the whole one hour three way dance thing is pretty much nonsense. Ah here’s Sabu FINALLY after being gone about fifteen minutes. Funk comes up towards the announce table and steals a mic, Joey’s in this case, thinking he’s yelling at the crowd and therefore the guys in the ring. The problem is that he’s yelling into Joey’s mic so only the people watching the tape can hear him. Brilliant.
We’re thirty five minutes in and Sabu is in a spinning toehold. 911 comes in and lets Heyman hit Funk with the phone (it’s Paul E. Dangerously but you get the idea). Terry gets a neckbreaker on the guy whose neck would be broken by Benoit later on but Heyman saves again. The triple sleeper spot hits which is either creative or idiotic. I’m not sure why it would be idiotic but it has that feeling to it. Again, no idea why.
Now it’s basically who can get the longest leg lock on Sabu. Shane puts on a Figure Four, but remember that Ric Flair is a horrible man. We hit 40 minutes and Heyman saves Sabu again. Sabu botches the heck out of a springboard moonsault. Sherri is in the ring for no apparent reason. Axl and Ian Rotten come out to help Funk as Shane gets two on Sabu. Sabu botches a rana and Terry leaves. Yeah…..this whole triple threat has been a triple threat for about 3 minutes out of almost 45.
A springboard legdrop hits Shane in a clip from Rise and Fall of ECW. And here are the Rottens to beat up both guys again. This is making my head hurt. We’re 45 minutes in so I only have 15 minutes left. Joey says 15 minutes left in what match? So somehow we’ve gone from Terry Funk vs. Shane vs. Sabu to Shane/Sabu vs. the Rotten Brothers. Sabu fights the Rottens to the back and Shane is alone in the ring. He just stands there and here comes Sabu….oh never mind he has to fight one of the Rottens again first.
Funk comes back, as do Paul, 911 and Ian Rotten. And now there’s no one in the ring. Hat Guy is back by the concession areas and Funk vs. Shane spills outside. This must have been RIVETING for the live crowd with no video screens. And Funk beats up the referee. Joey tries not to laugh while asking why. With ten minutes left Shane and Terry are beating each other up and we now get the clock going again on how long can all three guys be in the ring for. So far out of 50 minutes I’d guess it’s about 9 minutes.
Sabu hits a top rope moonsault and Funk’s knee is hurt. Joey says the match was over 15-20 minutes ago. To quote him, what match? Shane vs. Terry? Shane vs. Sabu? Sabu/Shane vs. the Rottens? Terry vs. one of them? Sherri vs. the laws of time and gravity? The referee stays dead for the better part of ever. He must have been watching the match.
Five more minutes and the fans suddenly get that this is going to a draw. Another new match breaks out with Terry beating up Sherri. Four minutes left and nothing at all is happening. The bald Heyman is knocked out by Shane. Let’s see: Rottens, Sherri, 911, Heyman….yeah I think that’s all. We’ve only had five run-ins so far. Three minutes and we’re out of here (the clock is ticking and we’re in the clear).
Sherri’s boot gets used a lot as Joey makes me angry by saying this is like Piper vs. Valentine from 1983. The camera goes black for a minute and we have two minutes left. Funk beats up Heyman for no good reason. Less than a minute to go and the referee has now been out over ten minutes from a single headbutt. Can we get this guy some medical attention? Two near falls within the last five seconds and that’s it. The fans give them a standing ovation for absolutely no deserved reason. This was bad…..like very bad.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t horrible and there have been far worse matches, but for this to be considered a classic or even a very good match is a joke. This “hour long triple threat” is more like a 15 minute triple threat, two fifteen minute singles matches, a 4 minute tag match and a bunch of standing around.
Sabu was SPENT about half an hour into this and he just laid on the mat for most of the time. I was bored to death watching this because the longest stretch where they’re all in the arena is about 8 minutes long. I have no idea what the standing ovation was for as this was just way too long and while it’s not horrible, it’s definitely not anywhere close to as good as it’s made out to be.
Sabu would jump to WCW in late 1995 in a kind of strange hire. Here’s his biggest match with the company from Halloween Havoc 1995.
Mr. JL vs. Sabu
JL is short for Jerry Lynn in case you didn’t know that. And yes, it’s the same Sabu. The reason he’s here is he’s the Sheik’s nephew and Sheik was the king of Detroit back in the day. Lynn is in a mask here. WOW it’s weird hearing Sabu being talked about by Tony. Also that sounds like La Parka’s future music but I’m not sure. Both guys are in purple which is odd to see. They do all kinds of flying around ringside with Sabu doing all kinds of crazy dives etc.
We even get a Bobo Brazil reference to make this even more off the wall. This is pretty good for today’s standards despite being sloppy, but for 1995 this was INSANE. I mean remember, WWF was running stuff like Mabel vs. Taker at this time so having Lynn vs. Sabu on a major PPV was ridiculous. Sabu wins it with a moonsault and Sheik throws a fireball at Lynn and hits him in the mask. Ok then. Heenan freaks over this and wants to know how to do that. Don’t ask Hogan. He tried it once and it didn’t work at all.
Rating: B+. Somewhat above average match, but considering the timeframe, this was insanity. Rey was nearly a year away from changing the whole idea of what cruiserweight wrestling was, but everyone knew this kind of stuff rocked. Sabu can be passable when he’s not trying to do a garbage match, and this is an example of that.
Back to ECW at November to Remember 1995.
Hack Meyers vs. Sabu
Meyers is more or less just a biker. You know this might have been a better surprise if he hadn’t come out earlier. Sabu works on the knee of all things to start and messes up a snapmare (Meyers landed on him). Time for a chinlock. FEEL THE EXTREME! It’s chair time and a slingshot dive in with the chair gets two. We go to an armbar and the fans are calling it boring.
Springboard leg lariat gets two and we hit the chinlock again. Meyers makes a comeback and hits a powerslam for two. A weird facebuster off the top which is Hack’s finisher gets two. They go to the floor quickly but Sabu drops a leg for two. Meyers wins a slugout but Sabu goes onto Meyers’ shoulders and gets a DDT to take him down. Spinning leg lariat puts Meyers outside and Sabu hits a diving rana to the floor.
After a bit more brawling on the floor we go back in but Sabu dives into a powerbomb. Release suplex put Sabu down but Meyers goes up and gets caught in a victory roll off the top for two. This is going WAY too long for a big return over a glorified jobber. Meyers goes up but gets dropped on a chair. Sabu hits a rana to put them on the floor AGAIN. Sabu sets up a table and dives over the top through it, half killing Meyers. That only gets two in the ring so Sabu slams him and the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flipping double legdrop with a chair in between) ends this FINALLY.
Rating: D. See, when a superstar like Sabu returns, it should be total dominance. This mostly was, but the fact that it took so long made Sabu look kind of weak. Not his worst stuff, but at the same time it just went way too long at about 13:00. Heyman would manage Sabu for awhile until we got to his match with Taz.
Another random match from House Party 1996.
Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
Richards slips getting into the ring and falls on his face. He also has a bad arm coming into this. Richards runs to start and throws in a chair. Yeah, throw a chair to Sabu. Joey agrees with me, saying that it’s like handing a chainsaw to Leatherface. Sabu has enough of the standing around so he hits a suicide dive to take over. Back inside and Sabu hooks a chinlock but Stevie powerbombs him out of the corner to take over.
Sabu will have none of that and comes back with a slingshot flipping legdrop. Off to an armbar of all things but it only lasts a few seconds. Richards is placed on the top rope and with the help of a chair, Sabu “hits” Air Sabu to knock him to the floor. Sabu slams him to the floor and both guys are down. Richards gets sent into the railing and Sabu sets up a table. Blue Meanie saves Stevie and we head back inside.
Sabu gets caught in an electric chair position but he rolls Richards over the top and out to the floor. This show needs to hurry up and end because it’s REALLY dragging badly now. Richards head fakes Sabu and the crazy one goes through the table. That would be the crazy one Sabu in case you were confused. Meanie gets in a kick on Sabu and they head inside again. Stevie drops a top rope punch for two as we see that he’s not the best on offense.
A Frankensteiner gets two for Sabu and both guys are spent. Richards is sent to the floor and Sabu finally dives over the top with a slingshot rana onto Meanie. Richards gets a horribly botched one of his own from Sabu and the guy in the bright yellow pants takes over again. Richards is placed on a table but Meanie makes the save.
Paul E of all people comes out to beat up Meanie and Sabu hits a dive through Richards through the table. Back inside and that only gets two as this match just keeps going. Richards rolls him up for two and hits the Stevie Kick for another two. A Sabu DDT gets the same and it’s chair time again. Sabu goes up and hits the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flip leg drop with the chair) to get a pretty anti-climactic pin.
Rating: C-. This just kept going and going and it was only decent to begin with. Sabu would be pushed much harder over the next few months as he would feud with Taz while Richards would somehow get into the world title #1 contenders match at Barely Legal. This wasn’t awful but it dragged a lot which really hurt it.
It’s time for probably Sabu’s biggest match ever. The match over a year in the making, from Barely Legal.
Taz vs. Sabu
This is billed as the Grudge Match of the Century and has been built up over going on two years. Sabu charges to the ring without an entrance but stops long enough for the big match intros. Taz is the hated villain at this point which will become important later. They slap each other to start before Taz nails a hard clothesline to send Sabu staggering to the floor. Back in and Sabu fights out of the Tazmission (Taz’s choke) and they hit the mat for some amateur stuff.
It’s Taz in control with an ankle lock but he lets Sabu up and offers him a free chance at his leg. That goes very badly for Sabu as Taz takes him down and fires off some hard crossface shots to break Sabu’s nose. The blood sends Sabu into another level and he pulls Taz out to the floor so he can throw him into the crowd. Sabu runs back inside for a HUGE double jump dive to send Taz sprawling down on the concrete.
They fight into the crowd as things pick up a lot. Sabu gets the better of it for a good while, only to be sent face first into a wall. Back to the ring now and Taz puts on a chinlock while cranking on the leg as well. They slug it out from their knees with Sabu getting the better of it until Taz takes it back down to the mat. Sabu kicks him in the face and nails a quick slingshot legdrop.
A chair is brought in for Air Sabu in the corner but Taz drops him face first on the chair to take over again. Back up and a very hard clothesline gets a near fall on Sabu as things slow way down. Taz is sent outside again but casually steps to the side so Sabu’s dive hits barricade. A suplex sends Sabu back into the crowd and Taz orders his lackeys (Team Taz) to bridge a table between the barricade and the ring. Sabu puts Taz on the table but Taz counters a tornado DDT and sends Sabu through the wood instead.
Back in again and Taz is favoring his shoulder. Instead he stomps away at Sabu but falls down to the mat in pain. Sabu nails a top rope hurricanrana for two followed by a top rope legdrop but Taz rolls outside, seemingly in the better shape of the two. Taz slaps on a head and arms Tazplex to drop Sabu on his head and soften up the neck. Sabu comes back with a t-bone suplex of his own but Taz just stands up and poses at him. After a failed attempt at a Tazmission from Sabu, Taz nails some more hard suplexes and puts on the real Tazmission for the win.
Rating: B-. Here’s the one thing that has always given me issues with both this match and the show in general: yes this was a huge grudge match and built up for over a year, but they never say WHY these two hate each other. It’s simply established that they do and while the match is really physical, it would have been nice to have a ten second explanation of the backstory (Sabu had walked out on ECW and Taz had yelled about it on TV as a result. Sabu later came back and the feud started as a result of Taz’s comments) would have been nice. I only know that explanation through outside research.
The match itself was a very physical back and forth match, but it never felt like the blood feud that it was supposed to be. There are parts of that in here, but the wrestling sequence early in the match felt like it belonged in another feud entirely. It’s entertaining and goes by very fast though, making a breath of fresh air after the TV Title match.
Sabu would get back into the World Title picture at Born To Be Wired.
ECW World Title: Terry Funk vs. Sabu
Sabu is challenging and this is a barbed wire match, which means the ropes have been replaced by barbed wire. Terry heads to the corner to start but Sabu dropkicks the knee out and we head to the mat. Funk tries to throw him into the wire but Sabu puts the brakes on. Sabu does the same as Terry but Terry rolls to the floor to escape. Back in and Sabu puts on a quick camel clutch which goes nowhere.
Funk hits a neckbreaker and a scary looking piledriver for two. They both try to ram the other into the wire and it’s Sabu getting the advantage, but Terry gets his hands up and avoids the pain. Sabu hurricanranas Terry down for two but Funk kicks him off and into the wire for the first gasp from the crowd. Terry rakes Sabu’s eyes into the barbed wire which is pretty sick stuff.
An Irish whip sends the challenger into the wire again and Funk crotches him on it for good measure. Sabu’s tights are ripped up and man are his legs skinny. After some more pain for the guy from Bombay, he sends Terry into the corner and the wire as a result, followed by a chair shot. Funk’s face gets sent into the barbed wire and Sabu finds a spike from somewhere to pound into Funk’s head. This is getting violent in a hurry.
With Funk up against the wire, Sabu hits Air Sabu to drive him further into said wire for two. Air Sabu (it’s a running diving leg attack using a chair as a springboard) misses on its second attempt and Sabu is hung up in the wire. In a famous spot, Sabu’s bicep is sliced open and things slow WAY down. The solution to the cut? Fonzie brings in a roll of tape and tapes the GAPING WOUND closed to keep the match going.
A neckbreaker puts Sabu down but Terry can’t follow up. Sabu goes NUTS and starts pounding on Funk but Terry just punches him in the face to take over again. They both head to the floor and slug it out but are quickly back inside so Funk can put on the spinning toe hold. Fonzie (Sabu’s manager in case you’re not familiar with ECW, which makes me wonder why you’re reading this) tries to interfere but gets pulled across the wire as well.
Funk slices open Fonzie’s shirt and cuts his back with it. The champ gets some wire cutters from somewhere and clips some wire off, which he whips Sabu with to slow him down even more. Fonzie gets beaten up some more and it’s back inside for more brawling. Sabu cuts more of the wire down and here’s RVD to pound on Funk. He takes Terry to the floor and wraps him in barbed wire so Sabu can drive Terry through a table.
Now Dreamer comes out to take out Van Dam (literally) and the guys in the match head back inside. Sabu pulls off a big section of wire and wraps himself in it before diving through Funk through a table. To complete this mess, they’re stuck together because Funk was wrapped in wire as well so they get back in the ring in a big ball and Sabu gets two. They’re still stuck together and since there’s nothing else they can do, Sabu shoves Terry’s shoulder back down and gets the pin and the title.
Rating: D-. To the shock of no one who is paying attention, this was a major mess. It was a total freakshow and the ending made it even worse as they couldn’t even do the right ending because they got stuck. Also this would wind up meaning NOTHING as Douglas got the title a week later because in ECW, Shane Douglas MUST be world champion. Just a mess here and it had almost absolutely nothing to do with wrestling.
Here’s a hardcore dream match from Terry Funk’s Wrestlefest. Yeah it happened before but it still sounds cool.
Van Dam is defending and Jeff Jones is refereeing, making things even crazier. Feeling out process to start with Sabu diving for Rob’s leg but only hitting the mat. Van Dam misses a spin kick and flips Sabu over into a standoff. Rob grabs a mic and says he isn’t going to fight his partner and friend. Jones says the match has to happen and Sabu goes after the champion with a springboard kick to the face. A slingshot legdrop gets two and Rob heads outside, only to be taken down by a dive from Sabu.
Back in and Sabu puts on a camel clutch but Van Dam is quickly in the ropes. Both guys flip over the others’ back and then dropkick each others’ knee. Rob takes over and puts on a quickly broken surfboard before putting the boots to Sabu. The hold has hurt Sabu’s leg so Rob puts on a half crab. A superkick puts Sabu down and it’s time for a table. Rob bridges it between the ring and apron but Sabu dives through the ropes to take out the champion.
Sabu puts him on the table but Van Dam bails into the crowd. That’s fine with Sabu as he dives off the table and onto Rob in a big crash. They slug it out on the floor until Rob puts him on the barricade for a Van Daminator. Alfonso wouldn’t hold the chair so Rob kicks the chair into Sabu’s face himself. Sabu comes back by blocking a suplex and crotching Rob on the barricade as well before taking him down with an Asai moonsault.
That’s only good for two back inside so Sabu throws a chair at the downed Van Dam. The Triple Jump Moonsault misses and Alfonso pats Van Dam on the back. A slingshot kick to the face puts Sabu outside again and Rob hits a big flip dive to take him out. Back in and Sabu blocks a suplex from the ring through a table at ringside before suplexing him back inside.
The table is bridged between the ring and barricade but Van Dam quickly stands up after being put on the table. Sabu tries a springboard DDT through the table but the table doesn’t break and they fall off to the side. It doesn’t look like the most painful move so Van Dam being back on his feet is acceptable. The partially broken table is set up inside the ring and Sabu hurricanranas Van Dam through the wood. Since this is ECW, Rob is right back up and in control less than a minute later.
Rob puts the chair on Sabu’s face and drops a top rope leg onto him but falls to the floor in pain as a result. Sabu puts Van Dam on the barricade and hurricanranas him down to the floor. Back in and Rob snaps off a Van Daminator. The frog splash gets two more and Sabu is literally throwing a chair at Van Dam’s head eight seconds later. A triple jump legdrop crushes Van Dam for two but Rob pops up and monkey flips Sabu onto the chair.
An Arabian Facebuster to the back of Rob’s head gets no cover and Sabu brings in a table. It breaks before he can set it up so Rob kicks Sabu onto the broken table, drawing booing from the fans. Van Dam brings in a fresh table and kicks Sabu onto it for a HUGE frog splash….for two. Naturally Sabu is right back up with a flip legdrop and a German suplex for two but Rob comes back with the split legged moosault. It’s another near fall though so Sabu pops up with a springboard moonsault for two of his own. Time runs out and it’s a draw.
Rating: D+. This is the kind of stuff that makes pure wrestling fans hate ECW. It’s not about the tables and the chairs and the violence. It’s about the complete lack of selling of ANY of these moves. Both guys were hitting big moves to each other but they would pop up a few seconds after taking one and act like it was a mild annoyance. No one stayed down in this entire thing, no one ever had a lengthy advantage and no one ever had any psychology at all. I guess you could say the story is they’re equally matched, but when you’re equal at being really bad at something it doesn’t look good.
The match was exciting to a degree because of all the high spots, but there was stuff in here that neither guy should have been able to kick out of. I wasn’t skipping stuff between the spots either. They were just popping up that quickly. It eventually desensitizes the fans because the big moves don’t mean anything, so why should they care when either guy hits another big spot? The problem is this was a staple of ECW and would become a bigger and bigger problem over the years. Jeff Jones wasn’t a factor in the match at all.
Now they’re partners again at Heat Wave 1998.
Tag Team Titles: Jinsei Shinzaki/Hayabusa vs. Rob Van Dam/Sabu
Van Dam and Sabu are defending. Shinzaki is better known as Hakushi in the WWF. Jinsei is known for having Japanese symbols drawn all over his torso, back and face. Neither team can agree on who is going to start. It’s finally down to Van Dam vs. Hayabusa. They circle each other for a minute to start until Rob leg trips him. That goes nowhere so Alfonso gets up on the apron and blows his whistle a lot. Van Dam takes Hayabusa down with a Japanese armdrag and poses.
Back up and Hayabusa kicks Rob in the leg, draws in Sabu and tags in Jinsei for a Vader Bomb and two. Van Dam comes back with a kick to the face but walks into an enziguri to the back of the head. Jinsei walks across the top rope (think Undertaker’s Old School though he walks around a corner and keeps going) and chops Rob in the head but misses a knee drop.
Sabu comes in with a slingshot legdrop for two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Hayabusa comes in off a tag but gets dropkicked in the knee. A slingshot splash gets two for Sabu but he walks into a nice dropkick, sending him running to the floor. He comes back in and takes out Hayabusa’s knee again before putting on something like an ankle lock. Hayabusa gets to the ropes so Sabu puts on a camel clutch.
Van Dam comes in and dropkicks Hayabusa while he’s still in the clutch, so Shinzaki hits a springboard missile dropkick to take Van Dam down. Sabu is sent to the floor as well so Hayabusa nails a big springboard moonsault to take them out. Van Dam and the challengers fight into the crowd so Sabu hits a big dive to take all three out. Hayabusa is draped over the barricade for a spinning kick to the back.
In the ring, Sabu dropkicks Jinsei’s knee, setting up a surfboard from Van Dam. Sabu adds a top rope chair shot to the ribs for two. Hayabusa comes back in for a double bulldog on Van Dam followed by a springboard swanton bomb from Hayabusa and a springboard knee drop from Shinzaki. Sabu makes a save and Van Dam kicks Hayabusa’s head off for two. Everything breaks down and Sabu is superkicked into a German suplex for two. Rob’s top rope spinning splash gets another near fall on Jinsei as the guys are getting tired.
Jinsei powerbombs Van Dam down and Hayabusa nails a 450 but Sabu dives in for a save. A rolling splash/legdrop combination gets two on Hayabusa and a Boston crab/legdrop combination gets the same on Shinzaki. Sabu brings in a table but gets taken down by a top rope shoulder, giving Jinsei two. Van Dam’s knee gets twisted but is still able to go up top for a Van Daminator to a crotched Hayabusa.
Jinsei twists Van Dam’s knee again but the table collapses under Van Dam’s weight. Hayabusa’s top rope splash gets two and two more tables are sent in. Sabu hits an Arabian facebuster on Hayabusa and Jinsei takes a Van Daminator. The challengers are put on a table and a top rope splash from Van Dam/a top rope legdrop from Sabu at the same time give Sabu the pin on Shinzaki.
Rating: B-. The tables at the end drag this down. They’re just not needed to make the match work as everything was clicking without them. The chairs weren’t too bad but the rest of it didn’t work. I liked the wrestling stuff a lot better than the brawling but that’s the general rule of thumb for ECW. The problem was after the tagging ends, it’s your standard ECW brawl. This show has been very good so far though and the match was definitely good.
Taz would break Sabu’s neck but intentionally give him the FTW Title. This set up a title vs. title match at Living Dangerously 1999.
ECW World Title/FTW Title: Taz vs. Sabu
Winner take all. Sabu has a broken jaw coming in and is the FTW Champion. Taz’s jaws are fine, though he has a biceps injury as he comes in as ECW Champion. Taz says we should make this falls count anywhere to give the fans something special. Sabu is fine with that and takes Taz down by the leg to start. Taz can’t hook a German suplex as Sabu grabs a rope and tries an armbar. That’s fine with Taz as he puts on a headscissors but they roll into the ropes.
Now we get violent as Taz hammers on the broken jaw and hits a Brooklyn Boot (just a running boot) to the jaw. It doesn’t have much effect as Sabu hits a springboard leg lariat and a slingshot flipping legdrop for two. We get our first chair for Air Sabu and Taz bails to the floor. Sabu baseball slides him into the crowd and tries the big springboard dive, only to have Taz get a chair up just in time.
They fight into the crowd and as usual it’s a lot of walking around without a lot of brawling. Sabu nails Taz with a chair but Taz doesn’t seem to notice. They get back to the barricade and turn over a lot of chairs before Sabu goes to the ramp for another dive back into the audience for two. Both guys get back onto the ramp but Taz throws Sabu back into the crowd. That doesn’t go anywhere so it’s back to the ring.
Sabu takes out Taz’s knee and bridges a table between the ring and barricade. They slug it out in the ring until Taz grabs a belly to belly overhead Tazplex to send Sabu through the table, taking out a camera in the process. Sabu gets dropped face first onto the barrcade and the jaw comes back into play. Taz yells about Flair and Hogan as he hammers on Sabu. That earns him a chair upside his head but Alfonso wants to throw in a towel and end the match.
Taz won’t let that happen though and sends Alfonso backing up the ramp. He throws Sabu off the ramp again so Alfonso throws a chair at Taz. It buys Sabu a breather and he comes back with a Fameasser in the ring for two. We hit the camel clutch as Sabu is bleeding from the mouth. He lets go of the hold less than five seconds after putting it on and gets another table. Taz puts him on the table but Sabu turns it over and hits a middle rope hurricanrana for two. Another hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb to put both guys down.
Back to the floor again with Sabu putting Taz on yet another table. He goes to bridge a table over the barricade but Taz is back up and takes it back inside. Sabu tries a slingshot powerbomb to the floor but hits his feet on the barricade so they stop suddenly and Taz has no impact coming down. He sells it anyway and is laid on the table over the barricade so Sabu can hit a big splash off the top. That’s only good for two as well so Sabu takes it back inside for an Arabian Facebuster and another near fall as Taz puts his foot on the ropes. That shouldn’t count in a falls count anywhere match and the fans let the referee know.
Taz comes back with a pumphandle Tazplex for two of his own but Sabu is up first with a chair to the face. The Triple Jump Moonsault gets two more and a springboard legdrop gets the same. A head and arms Tazplex gets two and Sabu tries to set up another table. It’s laid in the corner for a dragon Tazplex, the same move that broke Sabu’s neck. Naturally, it’s only good for two here. Alfonso throws in the towel but it doesn’t count for some reason. Instead Taz puts on the Tazmission and Sabu passes out to make Taz undisputed champion.
Rating: D. More than anything else, this felt really long. It’s basically the same match they’ve had every time and all the chairs and tables get really old after awhile. I’ve seen Sabu keep things toned down and have entertaining matches but that’s not what we’ve gotten from him in ECW so far. This would be the end of the FTW Title and more or less the end of Taz vs. Sabu.
Here’s a one off match from November to Remember 1999.
Sabu vs. Chris Candido
There’s no story mentioned here if one exists. Tammy is back with Candido who just recently returned from injury. Sabu dives at Candido to start but only hits mat. They slug it out with Chris being knocked out to the floor, only to come back in and get punched some more. Sabu’s springboard kick to the face is caught in a belly to back suplex for two but a HUGE backdrop sends Candido back to the floor.
Sabu nails a big dive over the top to take Candido down again but they’re quickly back inside with Candido hitting a delayed vertical suplex. A middle rope legdrop gets two for Chris but he misses a swan dive. Sabu gets a chair for the Triple Jump Legdrop and two more. Now a table is bridged between the apron and barricade but Candido dives on Sabu as he’s setting it up. Back in and Sabu nails a top rope hurricanrana for two and Sabu before he goes after the Candido’s spine.
We hit the camel clutch but Candido breaks it up in just a few seconds. Sabu is laid on a table but Candido misses a top rope legdrop and drives himself through the wood. Some kicks to the leg have Candido in even more trouble and it’s back to the camel clutch. Again the hold doesn’t last long before Air Sabu connects in the corner and Candido falls face first onto the chair. Chris gets kicked out to the floor again, setting up a HUGE springboard dive from Sabu into the crowd.
They brawl further into the audience but are quickly back to ringside with Sabu in control. Another chair is thrown in and Sabu nails a top rope splash for two. Back to the camel clutch but Sabu lets go of it again after about five seconds. He takes too long setting up a table which falls over almost immediately. Sabu lays Candido on the half set table for a top rope legdrop and two.
The Triple Jump Moonsault misses and Candido gets two each off a powerbomb and piledriver. A superplex gets another near fall on Sabu and Candido sets up a chair for no apparent reason. Sabu comes out of the corner and uses the chair as a springboard for a clothesline. Tammy crotches Sabu on the top and Candido nails a great looking to rope hurricanrana.
A second swan dive and piledriver both connect but Candido gets a table instead of covering. Sabu is right back up and puts Candido on the table as Tammy interferes again. Candido gets up but Alfonso puts Tammy on the table. Chris dives on Tammy as Sabu jumps through the table, followed by a top rope Arabian Facebuster and the camel clutch to give Sabu the submission.
Rating: D+. This was WAY too long at nearly eighteen minutes. Candido was doing everything he could but Sabu was all table and chairs with some dives in between. The camel clutch being broken only a few seconds after it was applied got annoying fast. There was an attempt at some psychology but the match completely broke down at about the halfway point. This was one of Candido’s last appearances as he would wrestle a few times on ECW on TNN before heading to WCW early in the new year.
After ECW went under, Sabu was one of many wrestlers to go to the WWA promotion. Here he is at the Reckoning.
Sabu vs. Joe E. Legend
Shane jumps in on commentary to further annoy me. Legend quickly takes it to the mat into a headscissors before we get to the insane stuff. Joe wins a quick slugout and chokes in the corner but gets caught in a springboard tornado DDT for two. We head to the floor for a flip dive by Sabu before Legend stomps away back inside. They head back outside for a big springboard dive from Sabu as Shane blames Sabu for killing ECW.
We get our first table brought in but Legend runs him over with a clothesline before it could be set up. Sabu is busted open as Legend spears him into the barricade. Some right hands have no effect on Joe so he gets two off a big boot to the face back inside. We hit the chinlock until Legend kicks a chair into Sabu’s back for no cover. Sabu pelts the chair into Joe’s face and an Arabian facebuster with the chair gets two.
There’s the camel clutch on Legend but Joe gets to the ropes pretty quickly. Legend comes back with a northern lights suplex as the fans want the table. Joe is sent to the apron and knocked over the table so we can brawl on the floor a bit. That goes nowhere so Joe takes him back inside and gets two off a powerbomb. Sabu crotches him on the top and hooks a top rope rana for two. Joe avoids a top rope splash and kicks Sabu in the head for two. A chokeslam powerbomb gets two on Sabu but the fans still want the table.
Legend’s Vader Bomb only hits chair and an Arabian Press gets two. Air Sabu is caught in a fireman’s carry drop sending Sabu face first onto the chair. Sabu finally puts him on the table and the triple jump legdrop sends Legend through it to pop the crowd. Back in and the chair is pelted into Legend’s face again before going up top. After breaking up a superplex attempt, the top rope Arabian Facebuster is good for the pin.
Rating: D. This wasn’t terrible but it was LONG, running nearly 18 minutes, or a lot longer than any Sabu match should last. Legend was decent enough but he isn’t the most exciting guy in the world. All the fans wanted to see was Sabu put someone through a table so the match could have ended after that point. Not bad, but WAY too long.
Off to TNA, starting as Weekly PPV #6.
NWA World Title: Sabu vs. Ken Shamrock
This a ladder/submission match, which is exactly what it sounds like. After a LONG recap of last week’s ladder match with Sabu vs. Malice, we’re ready to go. The fans seem to be completely behind Sabu here. Shamrock controls to start and goes for a leg hold but Sabu makes the rope. Sabu gets a quick rollup for two so the rules are basically thrown out the window so far. Apparently security has walked out of the building. Not like it makes a difference or anything.
Shamrock grabs an armbar but Sabu gets out before it can go on full. Sabu actually tries a leg lock but Shamrock is like boy please and counters into a leg bar. The springboard leg lariat takes Shamrock down and the slingshot legdrop looks to set up an armbar. I don’t think the pins count anymore. Apparently Ricky Steamboat is in charge next week.
Sabu gets knocked to the floor and we get the first ladder brought in with like four minutes left. The ladder gets kicked into Sabu’s face before it gets into the ring. Sabu and Shamrock brawl up the ramp with Sabu being through into one of the mini cages near the stage. Sabu is busted open but he manages to send Shamrock into the barricade.
It’s table time but the springboard flip dive by Sabu misses Shamrock, sending Sabu through the table on the ramp. Cool looking dive though. FINALLY a ladder is brought in but as Shamrock goes up, Malice runs in and chokeslams him down. Malice gets the belt itself and leaves to end the show.
Rating: D. Other than a few spots from Sabu, this was really boring. They had a no contest in a ladder match. That’s hard to do but they managed to do it here. Shamrock is a really boring champion but thankfully he’ll only have the title for a few more weeks. This is the last match Sabu would have with the company for almost a year and it’s a shame he couldn’t go out on the one he had last week which was way better.
And again at Weekly PPV #89.
Sabu vs. Monty Brown
From April 14, 2004 and this is under hardcore rules. For you old guys, Brown is basically an intelligent Ahmed Johnson but about 10 years older. Sabu tries to jump Brown but gets sent into the corner with ease and pummeled like he stole something. Brown sends him into the ropes but gets caught in a springboard tornado DDT for two. A quick arm tie neckbreaker gives Brown control again but Sabu comes right back with a springboard middle rope huricanrana for another near fall.
It’s already chair time with Sabu pelting it at Brown’s head and staying there in a great visual. A stiff right hand sets up an overhead double underhook suplex from Monty but he takes too long going to the middle rope. Brown comes back again with hard right hands to the face and ribs. He wasn’t all that well rounded at this point if you didn’t notice. The Pounce (basically a hard shoulder block/spear) sends Sabu flying through the ropes and out to the floor.
That’s fine with him as he’s able to pull out a table, only to have Brown punch him in the face yet again. Sabu rams him face first into the table and hits a springboard dive to take Monty down. Another chair is pelted at Brown’s head for two (remember falls count anywhere) but he easily whips Sabu into the crowd. Brown hits a series of backbreakers across his knee before throwing Sabu into a pile of chairs.
A third chair is pelted at Monty’s head and Sabu drags a table out from behind the stands. They head into the locker room but Sabu comes flying back out. Abyss walks through the door before powerbombing Sabu through the table. Brown comes out of the locker room and squares off with Abyss but some dark haired chick comes out to calm Abyss down and take him away. A quick Pounce ends Sabu.
Rating: D+. This was just there to get a hardcore match on the set. Brown was a guy that seemed to have a ton of potential and would have been great as an over the top Scott Steiner style character. He never got pushed to the top though and I can see why that never happened. Sabu was his usual self here.
Sabu would head to the WWE for the ECW reunion show One Night Stand 2005.
Sabu vs. Rhyno
Yep it’s chair time early and Rhyno gets popped with it. I usually hate these things, but even I’m not stupid enough to think they meant nothing at all. Sabu is dominating this for the most part and it’s not as bad as I expected it to be actually. There’s not much to say about this.
The referee takes a gore and here’s Van Dam again. He gets the Chair Surf which is a move I’ve always liked. Yep it’s table time as it’s a Sabu match so there we are. Something that was supposed to be an Arabian SkullCrusher doesn’t work as I think the chair gets away from Sabu but it could have been worse I guess.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t much. Like I said though it could have been far worse though as they had Sabu keep the weapons toned down here so that’s all fine and good. Far from great but these three had to be on the show somewhere. Sabu wouldn’t stick around or anything but there wasn’t anything for him to do at this point.
It’s back to TNA, starting with Unbreakable.
Sabu vs. Abyss
James Mitchell wants to make it No DQ and of course it is. Sabu fires away with right hands but they have next to no effect. Abyss throws him around but Sabu keeps coming, likely due to his history of head trauma. A big boot puts Sabu down but he keeps coming back with chops. The fans want tables less than two minutes into the match. Does foreplay mean nothing to these people?
Instead Sabu gets a chair and pounds away with it, including hitting an Arabian Facebuster with it for two. A clothesline puts both of them on the floor and there’s the table. That one is broken though (as in it broke while he was setting it up) so Abyss sets up one of his own. Sabu uses the distraction to hit a flip dive over the top rope and out onto Abyss. They head back in and Sabu charges straight into a backdrop through the two tables at ringside. That’s a bad stretch of luck for him there.
Abyss sets up a table in the ring but takes FOREVER to do it, allowing Sabu to come back with chair shots to the head. Now the fans want thumbtacks. These people are never satisfied. Sabu goes up top with the chair and drives Abyss through the table for three, but Mitchell puts Abyss’ foot on the rope. You know, because in a match based on pure carnage, a foot on the rope is good enough to break it up.
Abyss goes under the ring and gets the tacks which are spread on the mat. They take turns teasing going into the tacks for a bit until Sabu whacks Abyss with a chair. That gets nowhere so Sabu springboards into a Black Hole Slam onto the tacks for the pin with no feet on the ropes this time.
Rating: C+. It’s Abyss vs. Sabu in a hardcore match. What else were you expecting here? They beat on each other with weapons for awhile, Sabu got thrown around a lot, Abyss got hit in the head with a lot of stuff, and someone got thrown into the tacks. What else were you expecting here? The match was just ok but eventually they would have a solid hardcore match with barbed wire everywhere which was a lot better.
Time for some violence at Turning Point 2005.
Abyss vs. Sabu
This is barbed wire massacre, which means the ropes are replaced by barbed wire, which Abyss is terrified of. Abyss stomps on the chair that Sabu tries to bring in with him, so Sabu gets a barbed wire ball bat to scare Abyss away. Sabu tries to drive him into the wire but settles for a chair shot instead. Another doesn’t put Abyss down so he launches himself off the chair into a powerbomb position.
That gets Abyss down but he launches Sabu into the wire which draws a big gasp from the crowd. Sabu comes back with some punches but his cross body is caught and Abyss drops him throat first onto the wire. Sabu has a spike of some sort which he jabs into the shoulder of the monster, drawing blood. He tries another move off the chair but launches himself into the wire AGAIN. Dude, IT ISN’T WORKING FOR YOU!
With Sabu still tied up in the wire, Abyss charges but gets caught in a drop toehold into the wire. A chair shot gets two for Sabu. Abyss shrugs that off and chokeslams him onto a chair for two. Mitchell throws in a barbed wire covered chair and for SOME REASON, he tries an Earthquake onto it. The wire goes into Abyss’ crotch and I cringe a bit. That chair goes onto Abyss’ head twice and down he goes.
Abyss rolls to the floor so Sabu hits a huge flip dive over the wire to take Abyss out. Sabu throws a barbed wire board into the ring but gets draped over the wire stomach first. Back inside now and Abyss sets for a chokeslam onto the board, but Sabu bites the fingers to escape. Sabu winds up being launched into the air and landing stomach first on the wire. Abyss brings in another wire covered board and puts it in the corner. Due to the laws of wrestling, his charge misses and he gets all stuck in the wire. Sabu kicks Abyss down onto the other board into a sandwich, then drops a leg onto the top board for the pin.
Rating: C-. I’m not sure what to call this. For the violence and shock value it was fine, but as far as wrestling goes there was nothing here. Thankfully this was the ending to this feud which went on for months on end. The ending spot was pretty awesome but most of this was just a total freak show. They had to do this first too because of the ropes, which is annoying but there was no way around that.
With another ECW reunion show coming, Sabu would head back to WWE for a few shows, starting with One Night Stand 2006.
Smackdown World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Sabu
Rey is booed out of the freaking building. Naturally he’s only the World Champion here instead of the World Heavyweight Champion because that’s how they roll here. This is under extreme rules, like every other match here should be but of course isn’t because that’s not the WWE way. Rey has a chair during the big match intros. Sabu grabs one before the bell and the fans are totally behind Sabu. Joey: “Mixed reaction here for Rey.” Taz: “Nah they’re booing him.”
After some basic wrestling stuff they duel with the chairs and guess who wins that. Air Sabu in the corner but Rey gets a drop toehold to break up the Triple Jump Moonsault. 619 misses and you would think Rey had just banned rainbows. BIG chair shot sends Rey to the floor and the brawl is on. It’s table time with the table set up as a bridge between the ring and the railing.
Rey is placed on it but moves as Sabu starts setting up. Sabu gets sent into the steps and a moonsault press gets two for Rey. Camel clutch by Sabu which draws a Sheik chant. Naturally he lets it go to grab a table. Arabian Facebuster has Rey in trouble as he left the table on the floor. Table is set up in front of the aisle but Rey knocks him onto it and hits a seated senton through it to put both guys down in the aisle.
Sabu’s arm is messed up and Rey tries something like Air Sabu in the corner but Sabu gets out of the way and hits a springboard leg lariat to take Rey down. Triple Jump Moonsault gets a close two. It was more like a knee drop to the face but close enough. Sabu gets all ticked off and pelts the chair at the head of Rey to take him down. Onto the bridged table from earlier and a big front flip dive over the top through the table takes both guys out. And here are some suits to say that they can’t continue and we’re done. I’ll spare you a very long rant about how stupid this is.
Rating: C+. This would have been higher if this had a finish. Rey wasn’t used to being hated like this so they went against it for the sake of having a decent match. That being said, taking the superhero out of the match in case it got too extreme is incredibly stupid. Oh screw it. Here’s that rant I mentioned.
This is the first shot to killing ECW. Let’s take a look at some of Sabu’s more famous stuff. He’s ripped open a bicep and glued it back together to continue a match. He’s had to be cut out of barbed wire after winning a match. He’s been set on fire. He’s been put through more tables than you can count. He’s been beaten up, stomped on, kicked, smacked around, choked out and everything else you can think of, but here he can’t continue because of going through a single table.
Just think about that for a minute. How weak does that make him look? The old grizzled hero of the people now can’t take a single shot through a table by doctors’ orders. How many times do you remember a doctor being around in ECW? The very idea of a DQ in ECW was blasphemy. You can see right here how it’s a WWE show and not an ECW show at all.
This would be a sign of things to come for the company as I’ sure you remember the Zombie being on the first show on Sci-Fi. Yes, as in a dead guy that craves human flesh. It’s as stupid as it sounds. Anyway, ECW was dead and the proof should have started right here. Stupid moment as even Rey winning on a fluke pin would have made more sense here. Just terribly stupid and a way to make ECW look weak from the get go.
Anyway take a guess as to how the fans take this one. The replay shows that it was more or less a jumping DDT to Rey so he should be hurt a good deal worse.
Time for what was called a dream match from Vengeance 2006.
John Cena vs. Sabu
This is an EXTREME LUMBERJACK MATCH which sounds like something off a bad video game. The lumberjacks are Viscera, Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade, Rob Conway, Snitsky, Matt Striker, Charlie Haas, Val Venis, Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney, Stevie Richards, Little Guido Maritato, Roadkill, Danny Doring, Justin Credible, Al Snow, and The Sandman. Let’s get this over with. Matt Striker pretending to be a wrestler is so cute.
This whole show needs to end like NOW. Cena gets a very mixed reaction to put it mildly. Of course the lumberjacks get in a big showdown and Cena has a black eye from Sabu from Monday. The lumberjacks do their usual thing as I wonder what the point of a lumberjack match is. Were there ever lumberjacks used for one? This turns into a contest of who can throw the other person to the floor the most.
Cena takes a cane shot from Sandman and Sabu hits the Triple Jump as he becomes an Olympian apparently. He hooks that horrible looking one armed camel clutch of his as Cena makes his comeback. And a low blow stops that. Lawler HATES ECW. That’s an understatement if there ever was one. The big fight finally breaks out so Cena goes to the floor and hits an FU on Richards to put him in the crowd. Sabu throws a chair at Cena and it wraps around his head in a cool visual.
Cena pelts it at Sabu and hits an FU over the top through a table. When I say through I mean Sabu hits the edge of the table and looks like he broke his back. He taps to the STFU to just further bury ECW as this wasn’t even 7 minutes.
Rating: D. What a mess this was. I have no idea what the point of this was other than to just get Cena on the card somehow. This wasn’t any good at all and I can’t really blame Sabu for it as this was going to be bad no matter who was in it. I’m still trying to get the point of this and I think it’s in vain.
Sabu would be one of the early big stars on the new ECW. Here’s one of his big matches at Summerslam 2006.
ECW Title: Big Show vs. Sabu
Big Show is defending after Sabu beat Van Dam in a ladder match this past week. It’s extreme rules, which is a rarity for these title matches anymore. Sabu starts fast by swinging a chair and gets a quick one count off the Arabian Facebuster. The chair is set up in the middle of the ring but Big Show drops Sabu face first onto the steel. Big Show crushes the chair with his boot and chops Sabu down with ease.
We hit an early bearhug but Sabu pokes the eyes to escape. A springboard is caught in a fallaway slam from Big Show to send Sabu to the outside. The small one grabs a chair to blast Show in the face before dropkicking it into Show’s face. Sabu it too banged up to immediately cover so it’s only a one count. With nothing else working, Sabu loads up a table in the corner and hits a tornado DDT for no cover.
Sabu finally knocks him through the table off a springboard from the chair but Show pops up and electric chairs Sabu down. A Vader Bomb crushes Sabu and Show brings in two sets of steps. He bridges a table across them but his chokeslam is countered into a DDT through the table. Sabu sets up another table but charges into a chokeslam through it for the pin.
Rating: D. I don’t care. Seriously that’s the first thing that came to my head. This was less than nine minutes and the ending was never in double at all. At least a third of the match was spent setting up the next spot, especially near the end. The early days of WWECW with the old ECW guys were just torture to get through as it was clearly trying to recreate magic and it wasn’t anything of note. Dull match here and it would be several months before ECW picked up.
Sabu would join the ECW Originals in their war with the New Breed at Wrestlemania XXIII.
New Breed vs. ECW Originals
It’s Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thron/Marcus Cor Van vs. Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu and for no reason whatsoever this is a regular eight man tag instead of the Extreme Rules match we would get on ECW a few days later. Striker starts with Sabu and Matt is in early trouble. It’s quickly off to Sandman vs. Burke but before Sandy does much he brings in Dreamer. Cor Von hits Dreamer in the back and comes in to pound away a bit.
It’s quickly back to Burke (the New Breed’s leader and more famous as D’Angelo Dinero) for the running knees to the back for two. Thorn comes in to crush Dreamer into the corner and put on a chinlock. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two for Thorn and here’s Cor Von again. Burke comes in as well but Dreamer takes them down with a simultaneous neckbreaker/reverse DDT combo. The hot tag brings in Van Dam and there’s the top rope kick to Thorn. Rolling Thunder lands on Striker as everything breaks down. With everyone else on the floor, Van Dam Five Stars Striker for the pin.
Rating: D+. Seriously, why wasn’t this the Extreme Rules match? The whole point of ECW is to be extreme but we got a seven minute tag match which went nowhere at all. The theory was to finally let these guys get on Wrestlemania, but Van Dam had been on it before and won a title here. Nothing to see here at all.
After a few years on the indies, Sabu would head to TNA for Hardcore Justice 2010 and a rematch with his old rival and partner.
Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam
It’s 10:15 so hopefully we’re out before half past the hour. Other than that this is going to go WAY too long. Fonzie is in a yellow jacket and RVD comes out first. The fans say this is classic. Sabu is bald. They start out with a feeling out process because they know each other so well. Sabu does his point to the sky and RVD does his pointing. It would be nice if they actually did something.
In an interesting thing Fonzie sends a chair in but does it right down the middle. We hit the crowd for a bit as the chanting is just idiotic. Sabu botches….something and then the camel clutch is on. The bald guy doesn’t look half bad all things considered. With both guys down, Fonzie throws both of them a bottle of water. Both get tables as a result. Oh this isn’t going to end well.
Van Dam hits some slingshot legdrops and Fonzie tries to revive Sabu. Sabu hits a rana to send RVD into a chair in the middle of the ring. It looked totally fake but not bad at the same time. Clutch is on again for like 2 seconds. Triple Jump Moonsault is blocked by Van Dam and Sabu is bleeding from somewhere. Van Assassin hits (the one footed dropkick into the chair while the guy is crotched) and Sabu to the floor. Ok so that lasts like a second and we’re back now. Morrison, watch an RVD match to see how you do the split legged moonsault, I beg of you. Rolling Thunder to the chair hits for two. Five Star ends it.
Rating: D+. While a mess, this is what it was supposed to be: a war. They beat each other up and it really isn’t as bad as anyone is saying it is. It’s bad, but this is what the match was supposed to be. There was no way it was going to be a classic, but this really wasn’t horrible. It held my attention for the most part and had some decent spots. For the ending to this show, this was bearable.
We’ll wrap it up with Sabu getting a title shot at No Surrender 2010.
X Division Title: Sabu vs. Douglas Williams
They say that this is the only singles title match tonight, which means the TV Title still isn’t on the line, which is a good thing. These X Factor things are again annoying. We get all these things already but we need a Powerpoint presentation to tell us them again? The Bombay, Michigan thing always makes me chuckle. Williams out moves Sabu to start as Sabu isn’t sure what to do here.
He’s one of those guys that can be decent in the ring but when he gets bad he gets really bad. It depends on how insane he goes I guess. We start on the mat a lot which is a nice change of pace. Slingshot legdrop is kind of a slingshot double boot as it sets up the one arm camel clutch. That name always makes me chuckle.
A table is set up at ringside but we get into the ring before it can be used. The fans of course aren’t happy about us sticking to actual wrestling. Taz talks about his rivalry with Sabu, which is a good thing. I’ve long since thought Lawler needs to remind fans that he used to be a wrestler and even a world champion. Most young fans probably don’t know that and it probably would give him credibility.
Sabu brings in a chair but does nothing with it again. Triple jump moonsault is just barely ok as it gets two. Loud Sabu chant which will be validation to keep him around according to Dixie. We hit the mat again and Williams uses some insane spinning chinlock. This hasn’t been great but it’s no trainwreck at all. Sabu goes No Mercy with a springboard back elbow. Williams kicks the chair into Sabu’s balls and gets a gutwrench suplex for two.
Sabu goes for a big assisted dive but can’t quite get it so he just jumps, and I use that word loosely, over the top. Williams is put on the table but Sabu goes through it instead. Was there a point to that being in the match at all? I mean what did that add at all? Hebner tries to get rid of the chair, allowing a belt shot to the head of Sabu to make Williams retain. Well at least he kept the belt.
Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad really. It’s no classic or anything, but this was much better than I was expecting. Sabu didn’t go completely insane and as usual, it was far better that way. Williams definitely should have won and thankfully he did. This was definitely a passable match and a nice surprise in a way.
Sabu is a guy who was very different when he got started and influenced a lot of wrestlers over the years. The problem is that he’s very much like Vince Russo: when you can keep him on a leash and keep him under control, he can be very entertaining. When he goes nuts, everything falls apart and the guy is a disaster. He’s screwed up some things in wrestling, but there are far worse people to watch.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today is a guy that found a character and ran with it for his entire career: Curtis Hughes.
Hughes got started in 1988 in the indies before making it to WCW as the generic monster Big Cat. We’ll pick things up at Clash of the Champions XIII.
Big Cat vs. Brad Armstrong
Big Cat is a large muscular man who would eventually become a bodyguard named Mr. Hughes. He wants Lex Luger in the near future. Cat runs Armstrong over with a shoulder and Brad isn’t sure what to do with him. Brad scores with a quick dropkick but runs into a backbreaker with two more thrown in as a bonus. Another hard shoulder block puts Brad on the mat and we hit the bearhug. That goes nowhere so Cat picks Brad up in Luger’s Torture Rack for the win via referee stoppage.
Rating: D+. Just a squash here to set up the Big Cat vs. Luger match. Cat had a good look and a lot of power but he felt like a monster of the month for Luger or Sting to vanquish down the line. It wasn’t a bad match and it did its job well enough, but there’s only so much quality you can pack into a four minute squash.
Hughes and his buddy Motor City Madman made the mistake of ticking off Sid Vicious. Here’s his punishment at Starrcade 1990.
Motor City Madman/Big Cat vs. Skyscrapers
The Skyscrapers are Sid Vicious, a Horseman at the moment, and Dan Spivey, who are two monsters who liked to destroy people. The Madman and Big Cat went after Sid on a recent Clash of the Champions, so tonight it’s a reunion with Spivey to hurt the annoying guys. It’s a big brawl to start with the Madman being sent to the apron. A double backdrop puts Cat down and a double powerbomb ends the Madman after about a minute. Total and complete domination here.
He would get a shot at the meaningless Six Man Tag Team Titles at WrestleWar 1991.
Six Man Tag Titles: Junkyard Dog/Ricky Morton/Tommy Rich vs. Stage Patrol/Big Cat
Where do I even start? Ok so odds are you haven’t heard of these titles before, and there’s a good reason for that: they were only around for less than nine months. The titles were first won seven days before this show at a live event. Now one might ask why they didn’t have the first champions crowned here on PPV. It’s WCW in 1991. There’s your answer and it’ll answer most of your questions. The State Patrol is Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Lt. James Earl Wright, who is most famous for being one half of the State Patrol. Big Cat is Mr. Hughes and he’s one of the challengers here.
Cat and Dog start things off. I think you can see JYD’s gut expanding from here. He hits Cat with some headbutts and it’s off to Morton and Wright. Morton speeds things up with armdrags and it’s off to Rich. Rich slams him down and hooks an armdrag followed by an armbar. Off to Parker who gets the exact same treatment. Back to Morton for some atomic drops and then back to the same armbar again.
The Dog comes back in to crank up the fat levels of this match. Big Cat comes in again and wants a test of strength. That goes nowhere so it’s back to Morton to face the State Patrol on his own. The numbers catch up with him and it’s time for Morton to start selling. Parker drop toeholds him down and Cat hits an elbow for two. Dropkick gets two. Morton slugs back against Parker but gets powerslammed down for two.
The State Patrol keeps up the double teaming, hitting a bulldog for two. Back to Parker as I’m seeing why this team never went anywhere. Cat comes back in for a big old backbreaker for two. Parker misses a charge and there’s the hot tag to JYD. He hits the Thump (powerslam) but Cat makes the save. In a smart move, Morton immediately dives on Parker and gets the pin to retain.
Rating: D. Technically this was barely passable but what in the world was the point to this match? On second thought what was the point to these titles? The match wasn’t any good as it was in essence just a bad TV main event, which doesn’t exactly fire me up for the rest of the show. This was an odd choice all around.
Around this time Big Cat would become Big Cat Hughes and start wrestling in a nice shirt, suspenders and sunglasses. His character was a bodyguard, which he would stick with for the rest of his career. We’ll start things off in Japan at the WCW/New Japan Supershow I.
Big Cat Hughes vs. El Gigante
This is out of order for some reason as this is supposed to be the Steiners tag match. Hughes is for once not the bodyguard character. Gigante is more commonly known as Giant Gonzalez and is about 3-4 inches taller than Khali. He also has about 1/3 of the talent. To give you an idea of his size, when he’s on the floor his head is over the top rope. When he’s in the ring his tights (half shorts) nearly go above the top rope. Where the top turnbuckle would be is the height of his crotch, as in about the chest/shoulders of a guy the height of Cena.
Fonzie of ECW fame is the referee. This is more or less a squash as Hughes is about 315lbs and Gigante slams him with one arm after holding him up for awhile. He sets for a suplex and literally, as in I timed it, holds him in a front facelock while playing to the crowd for 34 seconds before doing anything. Hughes couldn’t step on his foot or something in 34 seconds? Really? A jumping boot sets up the Claw Hold to end it.
Back to America for a Lethal Lottery tag match at Starrcade 1991.
Big Van Vader/Mr. Hughes vs. Rick Steiner/Nightstalker
Nightstalker is a big man who did nothing of note for years until he became Adam Bomb in the WWF. He’s also subbing for the injured Diamond Stud here. Hughes is Big Cat from last year and now a big security guard in a suit. Vader is a monster, weighing 400lbs and running through everyone he ever faces. Rick and Vader start which is probably the best solution for everyone. Vader pounds him upside the head and clotheslines Steiner down before running him over with ease.
Rick gets back up and pounds away with right hands and a Steiner Line to send Vader to the floor. Back in and Steiner somehow manages to suplex Vader down but hurts himself. Hughes, the smaller man on the team at 6’8 and 375lbs, gets the tag. Steiner easily backdrops him down but is hesitant to tag in Nightstalker. A belly to back suplex puts Hughes down but Nightstalker reaches over and tags himself in. He doesn’t pay attention to Vader and is run over by a clothesline. Rick doesn’t realize he was tagged and Vader splashes Nightstalker for the pin.
Rating: D+. I’m a sucker for the Steiners throwing big people around and that’s what we got here. The match was nothing of note, but it was more along the lines of setting up a match between the Steiners and Hughes/Vader, which I don’t remember ever actually happening. Nightstalker was clearly in over his head here, but to be fair he was a replacement.
Here’s that same formula on steroids at Clash of the Champions XVIII.
Steiner Brothers vs. Mr. Hughes/Big Van Vader
Vader makes his Clash in ring debut here and looks like a total monster. He’s about 6’4 and weighs over 400lbs, making Mr. Hughes the smaller member of the team. Scott and Hughes get things going with Hughes wrestling in a suit and suspenders. Hughes is easily taken down twice in a row but gets in a shot to the ribs to take over. He runs Scott over with a shoulder block but Scott comes back with a great looking overhead belly to belly suplex, sending Hughes out to the floor.
Vader comes in and easily throws the Steiners to the floor, so the Brothers come back in with a double clothesline from the same corner to fire the crowd up all over again. Off to Rick with a headlock on Vader but the monster easily slams him down. A quick suplex drops Rick again and Vader just pummels him in the face. Vader easily picks him up for a gorilla press but Rick comes out of the corner with the Steiner Line and a belly to belly suplex.
Another Steiner Line puts Vader on the floor, only to have him come back in with a hard clothesline of his own. Vader goes up top but Rick nails him with a right hand and a belly to belly superplex to bring Vader down. Back to Scott for a German suplex as the crowd is just amazed by these throws. Vader catches a charging Scott in a powerslam before sitting on his chest to break up a sunset flip attempt.
Hughes comes in again but misses a charge into the corner, allowing Rick to come back in off the tag. One of the highest backdrops you’ll ever see puts Hughes down again and everything breaks down. Vader accidentally nails Hughes with a clothesline and Rick hits the top rope bulldog for the pin.
Rating: B. The Steiners continue to do things that should not be humanly possible with those suplexes. Seeing Scott easily throw Vader and Hughes around like that is something that almost has to be seen to be believed and Rick’s were hardly anything to look down on. Awesome stuff here and a great way to wake up the crowd early on.
One more WCW match at WrestleWar 1992.
Mr. Hughes/Cactus Jack vs. Ron Simmons/Junkyard Dog
No idea why Hughes is there instead of Abdullah but whatever. Cactus jumps JYD on the way to the ring and beats the living tar out of him. And people wonder why I love Foley. Being this insane wasn’t done back in the day so Jack was definitely a scary character back then. Simmons was a hot thing back then and would be world champion in the fall. JYD gets taken off so this more or less becomes a singles match.
Mr. Hughes vs. Ron Simmons
Officially isn’t a handicap but Jack is acting like a manager here. You could really tell they were getting the idea of how useful Foley could be around this time and it worked. Simmons beats them both up and I’m sure this had nothing to do with the racial issues going on behind the scenes at this point. I always liked him back then though as he was kind of a Rock like character as he was a beast athletically but not much on the mic at all.
We get a Bill Watts reference but I don’t think he had taken over yet. Hughes was a guy that I never got the appeal of but he did his job very well as a big monster that anyone could bring in for a quick feud with a face. This is a glorified squash for Simmons as there was no way he was going to lose here. Simmons hits a spinebuster and after Cactus comes in a shot to the knee ends it. Kind of weird.
Rating: D+. Nothing that special here but it was a way to get Simmons over which was the idea here. It was also less than six minutes long which was a good thing for them here as Hughes was never really that good. Jack vs. Simmons would turn out to be a decent little match and feud but it never went anywhere due to Watts and the NWA screwing it up.
Hughes would sign with the WWF as the monster bodyguard in 1993. Here’s one of his first Raw matches on May 31, 1993.
Mr. Hughes vs. Bert Centeno
Hughes throws Bert around with ease before hammering away at his back. A big boot gets two with Hughes pulling him up at two. Mr. chokes on the mat and finishes with a Boss Man Slam. Total squash.
Off to the 1993 King of the Ring.
First Round: Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect
Perfect gets a very nice pop. Heenan being sick of Perfect is great too. Savage keeps referring to this as the finals for some reason. Hughes beat Kamala and Perfect had to beat Doink three times to get here. Heenan goes on a rant about how he made perfect and Ross just says wrong. That was great. Hughes is of course dominating but he’s just not that good at all.
He’s very limited in the ring but to be fair for someone his size there’s only so much he even has to do. Perfect bumps on a level that is usually only reserved for Shawn and Flair. Bret is shown in an inset about who he’d rather face and he actually gives an answer, saying he would rather fight Perfect.
That’s not something you hear that often. Perfect makes his comeback and actually hits a backdrop on Hughes. It kind of sucked but there we are. In a very stupid ending, Hughes just grabs the urn and blasts Perfect with it. Well ok then that’s one way to end it. That was dumb.
Rating: D+. This was just bad. Hughes just flat out wasn’t interesting at all as he was such an incredibly bland character. I mean seriously, he’s a bodyguard for hire. At least with Diesel they weren’t mercenaries but were characterized as the main guy’s friends. Hughes was the main guy and that’s just a failure. Perfect did everything he could out there, but he can’t make a good match out of nothing, and that’s what he was asked to do here.
Hughes wouldn’t last long in the WWF as he would head to ECW soon after as Shane Douglas’ bodyguard. Here’s a match from some point in 1994.
911 vs. Curtis Hughes
They stare each other down and talk a lot of trash to start before a collision goes nowhere. Hughes hammers away to take over before hitting a pretty good chokeslam for two. 911 Hulks Up but a low blow puts him right back down. Curtis Hughes loads up the Boss Man Slam but 911 just stops him cold. A HUGE chokeslam (and remember that Hughes is probably about 400lbs) gives 911 the pin.
Rating: D+. That chokeslam at the end brought this way up. This was basically a battle of the bodyguards so the match was only going to be so good. It’s also a good thing that they kept this really short instead of letting them bore everyone to death. 911 wasn’t much to see but when he started beating people up, he could be very fun.
After several years on the indies (and some time as HHH’s bodyguard where he didn’t wrestle on TV), Hughes would return to the WWF in 1999. Here he on Raw, September 13, 1999.
Chris Jericho vs. Gotch Gracie
Gotch is in a mask. Jericho has only been around for about two weeks at this point. He’s feuding with Ken Shamrock to start, so this is inside a cage against a Gracie. You MMA fans will get the joke. Jericho quickly takes him down to start and cranks on the leg to make Gracie tap. That’s not enough for Jericho though so he puts on an abdominal stretch and lets it go before Gracie can tap. A brainbuster gets the posing cover for two before the Liontamer gets the real submission. Total joke of course but I chuckled.
Gracie would unmask as Mr. Hughes, setting up this match on Smackdown, September 16, 1999.
Curtis Hughes vs. Ken Shamrock
Hughes now wrestles in a shiny blue shirt with no sleeves. Jericho brings out El Dopo to referee, which may or may not be Jericholic Howard Finkel under a mask. Shamrock charges the ring to double leg Hughes and hammer away. Hughes backdrops him out to the floor and sends him into the barricade.
It doesn’t have a ton of effect though as Shamrock throws him into the post and steps. He makes the mistake of chasing Jericho though, allowing Hughes to take over. Jericho chokes with a rope as Dopo watches on. Back in and Hughes drops an elbow but gets caught in the ankle lock. Curtis grabs the ropes and Dopo DQ’s Shamrock after about half a second.
Rating: D. More angle advancement here with Jericho ticking Shamrock off before their showdown at Unforgiven. There wasn’t much to the match but there wasn’t supposed to be. Hughes did his thing here and there’s nothing wrong with a guy there for one single idea, especially when he looks as tough as Curtis.
Jericho and Hughes would team up on Heat, October 10, 1999.
Dudley Boys vs. Chris Jericho/Curtis Hughes
The Dudleys are brand new here as well. D-Von and Hughes get things going with the Dudley nailing a big shoulder block. Hughes comes back with a clothesline and brings in Jericho to face Bubba. Chris hammers him down and hits the Lionsault for no cover. Back to Hughes who walks into a sidewalk slam for two as the announcers talk about some mud wrestling from Raw. Hughes runs over D-Von until Bubba trips him up to take over. Jericho calls Hughes an idiot and I don’t see this ending well for him. Curtis goes over for a tag and Chris walks out. The 3D ends this quick.
Rating: D+. This was the beginning of the end for Hughes but it’s not like he was going to last long either way. That’s the kind of character he has: someone you bring in for a few weeks to advance a character and then let him go. The Dudleys were still getting things together in the WWF but they would take off soon.
From the next night on Raw.
Headbangers vs. Curtis Hughes/Chris Jericho
Mosh launches Jericho into a hotshot to start before throwing him into the Tree of Woe. Off to Thrasher who gets caught in a butterfly backbreaker before Hughes comes in for a headlock. The Headbangers take him into the corner for some stomping but Hughes comes back with a clothesline to Mosh. Back to Jericho who grabs the Walls but Thrasher makes the save. A double flapjack plants Jericho and Hughes tries to make a save, only to hit his partner. Jericho decks Hughes and walks out again, setting up the worst Stage Dive (powerbomb/legdrop combo) I’ve ever seen for the pin.
Rating: D. I think we’ve covered this already.
Here’s the blowoff on Smackdown, October 14, 1999.
Chris Jericho vs. Curtis Hughes
They slug it out in the aisle to start with Jericho sending him into the steps before the bell. A missile dropkick gets two but Hughes hammers away in the corner. Jericholic Howard Finkel slides in a chair and offers a distraction so Jericho can blast Hughes in the head for the pin.
As I said, Hughes is a guy that took a very basic character and ran with it for years. He’s still on the indies (minus about 150lbs) as the same character and it’s going to work until he retires. It’s such a basic character that you can work it into a ton of stories and that’s something very good to fall back on. His matches weren’t great but he played his role very well and looked intimidating.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Thunder – April 29, 1999: I’ll See Your Smackdown And Raise You…..Whatever This Was
Thunder Date: April 29, 1999
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
The question coming out of Monday is will anything that happens tonight actually mean anything. Nitro saw two World Title changes resulting in Diamond Dallas Page winning and losing the title on the same show. We’re still on the way to Slamboree with Nash vs. Page for the title and Flair vs. Piper (both of whom may be fired) for control of the company. Let’s get to it.
After the opening sequence, we get some clips of Flair in the hospital on Monday. Thankfully Scott Hall’s bizarre cameo is omitted.
TV Title: Booker T. vs. Curt Hennig
Curt is challenging. Booker shoves him into the corner to start as the announcers talk about the second World Title change on Monday. A hiptoss sends Curt out to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Hennig hammering Booker down and kicking him in the ribs. They switch to boxing for a bit until Booker nails him with a forearm to the head for two.
Some right hands in the corner have Booker in trouble but Curt steps forward for a hot shot into the buckle. A low blow has Booker in even more trouble and Curt chops away in the corner. Curt puts on a sleeper for a good while before hitting a piledriver for two. Booker pops back up and hits the super, ax and side kicks. He goes up for the missile dropkick but Stevie Ray comes in with the slapjack to Hennig for the DQ.
Rating: D+. That sleeper just crippled anything the match had going for it. This Booker vs. Stevie stuff isn’t the most interesting story in the world but maybe they’ll actually have a match as a result unlike Rick and Scott. Hennig was coming back from an injury here and he didn’t look like his usual self.
Hotline plug
The Nitro Girls are getting their own site.
Video on Nash.
Here are Hak and Chastity with something to say. Hak talks about how awesome his hardcore matches have been and calls the three way with Bigelow and Raven the most extreme match ever. Chastity gets to pick his opponent for tonight and the schoolgirl chick selects Kevin Nash. Great. The hardcore mess is invading the main event.
Booker and Rick Steiner are fighting backstage. Why WCW thinks anyone cares about Rick Steiner in 1999 is beyond me.
WCW will be on QVC soon.
Video on Goldberg.
Here’s Buff…..dressed like Scott Steiner. Oh this could be good. Tenay: “I would say that’s a Buff Bagwell imitation of Big Papa Pump.” You can’t buy analysis like this people! Buff talks about partying at Penn State and how much it made him realize Michigan really sucks. He’s nailing the screech in Steiner’s voice. Buff tells us to close our eyes and picture the Big Bad Doodoo Daddy.
He was at Motel 6 watching BET last night to find more lines to steal and came up with this one: “I’m not a player. I’m just on parole a lot.” If Bagwell wants a US Title shot at Slamboree, that’s what Buff is going to get. He’ll show Bagwell that there’s no bigger liar than Scott Steiner. Flush him if you hear him. This really wasn’t as funny as it could have been but the voice was awesome.
Jerry Flynn vs. Stevie Ray
Ray hammers on him in the corner to start but gets caught by some kicks. Jerry catches one of Stevie’s kicks and turns it into an ankle lock. That goes nowhere so Jerry tries an armdrag into a cross armbreaker. Vincent offers a distraction and Horace comes in to break it up because the Black and White are a bunch of inept morons. After a beatdown on the floor, Stevie slams him down and drops a leg for two. Jerry pops up and nails a spinkick, only to get distracted by Horace so Ray can hit a bad looking Slapjack for the pin.
Rating: D-. Does anyone else find it sad that the Wolfpac is basically done but we have the Black and White stooges around, taking the whole group to beat up Jerry Flynn? Stevie just isn’t any good in the ring and it’s showing here. He’s one of those wrestlers whose offense consists of forearms to the back and a lot of shouting. Granted that’s better than Flynn who can’t even talk.
Hardcore Hak vs. Kevin Nash
Hak loads up a ladder and table before Nash’s music hits. He charges at Nash to start but Big Kev grabs a kendo stick to send Hak into the corner. Nash picks him up for a suplex onto the ladder before driving it into Hak’s ribs over and over. The table is set up in the corner but Hak reverses a whip to send Kev through it.
Some kendo stick shots put Nash down and puts the ladder on top of him for the slingshot legdrop. Nash is sent hands first into the ladder but he grabs the stick to blast Hak in the ribs. He can’t follow up though and Hak nails him a few more times to put Nash back down. A top rope swanton onto the ladder onto Nash gets two. Chastity comes in with a fire extinguisher but Nash takes it away and blasts Hak. The Jackknife through the table is enough for the pin.
Rating: D. This was a few steps ahead of the usual hardcore stuff and it’s mainly due to having less weapons than the other matches. There were only a few in this one as opposed to the dozen or so that we usually get. It also helped that there was some actual wrestling in between the spots instead of weapon shot after weapon shot. It’s still bad but it at least resembled a match.
Bam Bam Bigelow comes out and wants to keep Hardcore Night going by getting a shot at the World Title. He issues the challenge to Page “from one homey to another.” Sure why not.
This Week In WCW Motorsports.
Goldberg vs. Meng
We get a very loud Goldberg chant out of nowhere. That’s as obvious of a piped in chant as I’ve ever heard. They trade slams to start and Meng bails to the outside. Back in and Meng rakes the eyes to take over before planting Goldberg with a backbreaker for two. Goldberg pops up with a kick to the face and a powerslam of his own, only to get his eyes raked again. Meng hammers away with various chops, kicks and punches before superkicking Goldberg down for two. More punches have very little effect and Goldberg pops up with a superkick, setting up the spear and Jackhammer for the pin.
Rating: D+. Basically a longer version of the standarg Goldberg match. He had to try a bit here but Meng has gone from unstoppable killing machine to standard power heel. They did such a great job of setting him up as a one off challenger last year but now this is the best we can get. It’s a sign of the times for WCW.
Page comes out to talk about what happened on Monday and thanks people like the Masked Assassin, Jake Roberts and Dusty Rhodes for helping him out. He doesn’t think much of the fans though and tells those who got on the bandwagon to “no not suck it. Jump off!” We get some good old fashioned cheap heat when Page asks what town we’re in. He’ll give Bigelow the shot tonight, even though the fans don’t deserve it.
QVC promo.
Slamboree ad.
Randy Savage vs. Disciple
Savage has Miss Madness, Madusa and Gorgeous George with him here. Why he’s playing a face here after helping the heel Page out on Monday isn’t clear. Randy grabs an armbar to start before they shove each other around a lot. Disciple gets taken down and chinlocked before it’s back to the armbar, followed by another chinlock for a change of pace. Choking ensues and Savage drills him with an elbow to the jaw for two.
Disciple fights back with his wide range of punches, kicks and choking before dropping an elbow for two. We hit a chinlock on Savage as this isn’t quite the same level I’m used two with Macho. More punching and choking from Disciple before Savage throws him to the floor out of boredom. Savage is sent into the barricade and Disciple puts on the sleeper on the floor. Madusa makes a save and sends Disciple into the post before Savage sends him back in for the big elbow and the pin.
Rating: D-. Of all the people on WCW’s roster for Savage’s first real match back, they pick Disciple? The match was horrible and most of it was due to Savage having nothing to work with. Disciple’s entire offense was built around punching and choking which really doesn’t make for a well done match. Also, Savage needed help from the girls to beat the Disciple? Really?
WCW World Title: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Hardcore and Page is defending of course. Page slugs away to start but gets knocked out to the floor with a big right hand. Back in and Bigelow drops him throat first across the top rope, sending Page back outside for another breather. It’s time to bring in some weapons but Page dives over the top to take Bigelow back.
We take a break and come back with Bigelow knocking him down the aisle before taking Page over to the announcers’ table. He loads up a regular table but Page rolls away, sending Bigelow crashing down onto the concrete. Page sends him into the barricade a few times and they come back towards the ring with the champion in control. More weapons are brought in though and a trashcan to Page’s back gets two on the floor.
They head back inside for the top rope headbutt from Bam Bam but Page is up at two. A side slam gets the same but Page comes back with a discus lariat for a near fall of his own. The floatover DDT drops Bigelow but the referee gets bumped. Bigelow gets two off a suplex but Page low blows him for the same. Greetings From Asbury Park is countered into the Diamond Cutter….and Savage comes out to drop a big elbow on Bigelow for good measure. Page gets the easy pin.
Rating: D. I really don’t see the need for this to be a hardcore match. The Savage thing didn’t need to be there as Bigelow was out cold before Macho came out. I like Page winning matches on TV, but he needs to do something different in the ring as he’s basically having the same matches he was before save for the occasional low blow.
Overall Rating: D+. This show tried for a change and I’m sure it has nothing to do with WWF having a pilot for some show called Smackdown at the same time. It was another show that didn’t need to exist, but I definitely prefer a show with a bunch of people I kind of care about over a show with a bunch of people I barely recognize. The hardcore matches for the guys in the main event were annoying but bareable, which is more than I can usually say for this show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
New E-Book: KB’s History of Monday Nitro Volume II
We’re going back to the 90s again for a look at the second full year of Monday Nitro. The previous year closed out with WCW on a hot streak but things would pick up even more in the coming year. WCW would go on a run that had the WWF and Monday Night Raw not only on the ropes but on the brink of death.
Over the course of the year, Nitro was must see TV with action, drama, violence and the NWO running roughshod all over WCW. The stories were as compelling as ever and made you want to come back the next week to see what was going to happen. In addition to the top story, 1997 also saw the rise of the future with stars such as Rey Mysterio Jr., Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Goldberg becoming some of the most interesting parts of the show.
In this book, we’ll look at every episode of Monday Nitro from 1997 and see why they were so unstoppable all year. Each show is broken down segment by segment and match by match with historical context, ratings and analysis of what worked or didn’t work about each segment and how the shows added up to being so successful for WCW.
The books runs over 400 pages on a Kindle and only costs $3.99, or the equivalent in other currencies. If you don’t have a Kindle or e-book reader, there are several FREE apps you can use to read it on pretty much any electronic device. You can find those from Amazon here.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search KB History of Monday Nitro and my books will be the first things that pop up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the WWE Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1998 and 2001, Monday Nitro from 1995-96, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views and Clash of the Champions at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
Monday Nitro – April 26, 1999: I Guess They Could Be This Crazy
Monday Nitro #186 Date: April 26, 1999
Location: Fargodome, Fargo, North Dakota
Attendance: 11,482 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone
Things are shaking up with less than two weeks to go before Slamboree. The two people in the upcoming World Title match have flipped sides and allegedly Flair has flipped his lid, even though he really hasn’t done much to back that up. I have a bad feeling about some of the stuff we’re going to have to sit through tonight. Let’s get to it.
In Memory of Rick Rude, which they actually spell using his real name.
We open with a recap of the major points of last week’s show with a focus on the Piper/Flair stuff and the ending with what I guess you would call a double turn.
Now we’re at the mental hospital and this can’t end well. A doctor and nurse have the most painfully scripted conversation you can imagine, talking about how Flair is treating this place like a hotel. The nurse tells the patients that there will be no Nitro tonight when Flair’s music comes on. He struts in wearing his robe and University of Florida boxers, talking about how this is his hotel. Flair watches the TV, meaning he’s watching himself in theory. He dances with the nurse who eventually walks away disgusted. I can’t say I disagree.
Opening sequence.
JJ Dillon is with Charles Robinson and says that Robinson is Vice President of WCW. Since Flair is out of action, Robinson is in charge and above the Commissioner. This is going to be a LONG night.
Nitro Girls.
Tenay is filling in for a sick Heenan. He and Tony are fine after weeks of bickering before the announce teams were split.
Here’s Piper to get things going in the arena. Piper thinks he’s in charge now with Flair gone so Randy Savage is reinstated and getting a US Title shot tonight. He mentions Page which brings out the champion to a loud chorus of boos. Piper wants Page to defend against Sting tonight but Page doesn’t seem to thrilled with the idea. Roddy goes to leave and then makes the match for 9pm sharp.
DJ Ran.
Konnan vs. Brian Adams
This is fallout from the Black and White attacking Konnan last week. After some catchphrases, Konnan quickly takes Adams into the corner for ten punches, only to get caught by an atomic drop and clothesline. An elbow to the back of the head has Konnan in trouble and a gorilla press gutbuster gets two. We hit a bad looking reverse chinlock on Konnan. Dude at least crank on it or flex a bit. Adams crotches himself while trying to jump on Konnan’s back but stops the comeback with a powerslam. Konnan comes right back with the usual and hooks the Sunrise but the NWO runs in for the DQ.
Rating: D-. What else were you expecting from something like this? Neither guy was exactly a ring general and the moves they were using ranged from sloppy to just bad looking. I guess the Black and White was trying to prove a point but this was a rather dull way to go about it.
Video on Sting.
The announcers talk about Page vs. Sting.
The Horsemen have attacked Kidman and Saturn, making the next match a handicap match.
Scott Armstrong/Steve Armstrong vs. Raven
After ranting about fat women in operas, Raven quickly escapes a double team attempt in the corner and bulldogs the brothers down. It’s already chair time with both Armstrongs taking the drop toehold onto the steel. Steve finally gets in a shot on Raven but winds up hitting his brother a few seconds later. Both guys take ten right hands in the corner but Scott finally nails a superkick to get a breather. The breather is short lived though as his second superkick hits his brother, allowing Raven to DDT Scott for two. Scott pops up and nails Raven with the chair though and actually gets the upset pin.
Rating: D+. This was short and energetic, but was there any real need to have Raven lose here? The Armstrongs are about as low level of a tag team as you can have in this company but they get a pin over a guy getting a title shot in a few weeks? This is more of the odd booking this company has been using lately.
Raven beats up the Armstrongs again post match, making the booking even more head scratching.
Flair calls Robinson to yell about Piper having power. He wants the National Guard called in to deal with this and yells at other patients to stop touching his robe. Flair hangs up and walks off with a very muscular nurse.
We look at the same package that opened the show.
Gene brings out Charles Robinson for a chat. He says that Piper has no authority here but we’ll still get Sting vs. Page tonight. This brings out Piper to call him a leprechaun, causing Robinson to slap him in the face. Security comes down to arrest Piper and Robinson fires him for good measure. The match with Flair is still on at Slamboree of course.
WCW World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting
Page is defending. Sting is wearing white wraps on his feet and a necklace of all things. The champion is quickly shoved down to start but he comes back with a big right hand. Sting easily wins a slugout and knocks Page back to the floor for a breather. Back in and Page drives in the shoulders but Sting sends him outside again. This time Sting goes after him and rams Page face first into the announcers’ table.
Back in and the Stinger Splash connects but Page makes the ropes to avoid the Scorpion. Page bails again and gets some water before heading back inside where Sting hammers away. The champ slows things down with a hammerlock and a big clothesline. They head outside and up the aisle with Sting dropping him throat first across the barricade. A slam in the aisle has Page in trouble but the referee reminds Sting that he can only win the title in the ring.
Sting takes him back inside for some right hands in the corner but a low blow and hot shot stops Sting cold. A belly to back suplex drops Sting again but he comes back with the shoulder block and falling low blow. Page is up first though and rakes the paint off Sting’s face. Some slaps fire Sting up again but Page grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two. The champ hits a low blow of his own and chokes away in the corner.
Page wraps the knee around the post but Sting kicks him into the barricade. Now things speed up with Sting’s shots to the face and bulldog followed by the top rope splash for two. They head outside again with Sting being sent into the barricade. Page grabs something like a Diamond Cutter across the top rope but Sting comes back with ten face rams into the buckle and the last one onto the mat.
A sitout powerbomb gets two for the champion and a big lariat drops Sting again. Back up and Sting grabs a piledriver but kneels down like a tombstone for two. Now he tries a regular tombstone and finally plants him for a VERY close two. The fans are totally behind Sting here. Page comes back with a jumping floatover DDT for two more but Sting blocks the Diamond Cutter out of the corner and grabs the Death Drop for the pin and the title.
Rating: B+. This took awhile to get going but the last few minutes of this were awesome. As is almost always the case, there’s no substitute for a long, good match and that’s what we got here. This is actually a bit ahead of the Goldberg match for Page which is quite the accomplishment. Really good stuff here and the best main event style match WCW has had in forever. Also, how nice was it to not have any commercials in this?
More Flair yelling at Robinson with Ric telling him to make Sting vs. Goldberg for Slamboree. One of the inmates is now called AAA.
Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis
Psychosis is defending for a change. The champ grabs a headlock to start and takes Rey down to the mat, only to miss a Stinger Splash in the corner. Psychosis counters a headscissors by dropping Rey throat first across the top rope. He lifts Rey up for a powerbomb and drops his face onto the top turnbuckle in a vicious looking crash. A reversal suplex drops Rey over the top rope again and a dropkick sends him to the apron.
Psychosis charges at him but they both fall to the floor with Rey taking over for the first time. Rey’s superplex is countered into something like a falcon’s arrow. The Horsemen come out to grab the Tag Team Titles but Rey dives on both of them. Psychosis gets in a cheap shot to take over but Rey comes back with a tornado DDT out of nowhere for the pin and the title.
Rating: C-. What in the world was the point of this? Rey is now a five time Cruiserweight Champion and Psychosis’ seven days as champion is the only break from Mysterio, Kidman and Guerrera as champion since August. It’s ok to let someone else in there for a change and I don’t see why Psychosis had to lose the belt this fast. Let him beat a few low level guys to give the division a chance to breathe a bit.
The Horsemen destroy Rey post match.
Nash comes out and says he’s been told his title shot at Slamboree has been turned into Goldberg vs. Sting. That’s not cool with him but he’d like a four way tonight with Page, Goldberg and Sting, winner takes all.
Flair calls Robinson and says make the four way. He hits on the nurse a bit more and they try some amateur wrestling stuff until the nurse from earlier comes up to glare at them.
Erik Watts vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Please make it quick. Thankfully there aren’t any weapons in sight for this one. Bigelow misses a charge in the corner and gets caught in a springboard bulldog. Erik tries a hurricanrana but winds up backdropping Bigelow instead. It’s somehow worse than it sounds. Bigelow pops up with a big clothesline followed by the Swan Dive and Greetings From Asbury Park for the pin. At least it was short.
Sting comes out sans belt but with fresh paint. He’s up for a four way tonight.
TV Title: Booker T. vs. Meng
Booker is defending. A hard shoulder puts the champ down but he comes back with a forearm and dropkick. Booker shrugs off some forearms and slams Meng a few times, only to walk into a powerslam for two. That gets Meng nowhere as Booker nails his pair of kicks but the side kick sends Meng into the referee. This brings out Stevie Ray as the ax kick takes out Meng. Booker crotches himself on the ropes after missing another kick. There’s the Tongan Death Grip but Stevie nails Meng with the slap jack, giving Booker the pin.
Rating: C-. This didn’t have enough time to go anywhere but Meng was just there to give Booker someone to beat up to retain the title. The Stevie Ray and Booker T stuff needs to go away. The team is done and Booker is on his way to becoming something big in the singles division. Stevie is just kind of dragging Booker down at this point and that’s not good.
Post match Rick Steiner of all people comes out and beats on Stevie until Booker pulls him off. Booker and Steiner yell at each other, likely setting up Booker’s next challenger.
Video on Nash.
We get a special look at Hogan’s knee surgery. Bischoff had to talk him into getting it done because Hogan wants to beat up Page.
Video on Goldberg.
Back to the hospital where Flair tells Robinson to make Steiner vs. Booker T. for Slamboree and make the main event tonight No DQ. Flair teaches some patient to dance….and here’s Scott Hall in patient clothes to throw a toothpick at Ric. Naturally, no one talks about this or ever brings it up again.
Brian Knobbs vs. Hardcore Hak vs. Horace vs. Mikey Whipwreck
This is hardcore and the winner of this gets Bigelow at the PPV. Everyone has a kendo stick and Hak stays on the floor to start. He finally gets in and all three guys beat him down with the sticks. Knobbs brings in a ladder to splash onto Hak for two. We actually take a break in this match and come back to see Horace hitting Knobbs with a Surge barrel.
Brian nails Hak with a ladder but Hak knocks him to the floor. A table is set up on the floor but Knobbs uses the weapons cart on Hak. Back in the ring and Horace kicks Mikey in the face as Knobbs chairs Hak. Mikey drops a leg onto a chair onto Brian’s head as the table has been bridged between the apron and barricade.
The Surge container comes back in and Hak slides in another table. Horace beats on Hak with the weightlifting belt on the floor as Chastity sprays someone with the fire extinguisher. Hak dives over the top but only hits table but pops right up to nail Knobbs with a stick. Not that it matters as Knobbs sends Hak to the floor and drops the ladder on Mikey for the pin.
Rating: F. When half of the people in your match have jobs because of Hulk Hogan, you can tell it’s not going to be much to see. This was the usual hardcore mess with nothing interesting save for some product placement from Surge. These are getting less and less interesting and it’s going to get even worse in the future.
US Title: Randy Savage vs. Scott Steiner
Steiner is defending and has something to say before the match. He doesn’t like a lot of what Piper does but he does like this match with Savage. Randy comes out with an unnamed woman in a gown wearing a sash like a beauty pageant contestant. Steiner wants one more stipulation though: if he wins, he gets to spend some time with George. Robinson is refereeing in most of a suit. They circle each other and do a lot of pointing for a minute or so before finally locking up. Steiner shoves him into Robinson….and that’s a DQ.
Post match the three girls strip Robinson down to his University of Florida boxers, just like Flair.
Video on George training. This is exactly what you would expect.
WCW World Title: Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash
Sting is defending after having won the title earlier tonight. The match begins after a break with Page off in the crowd, leaving Goldberg and Sting to beat on Nash in the corner. Now it’s Goldberg getting double teamed before the champion has to fight off both monsters. Goldberg suplexes Nash but Sting breaks up the cover. Page is back at ringside as Goldberg has knocked both guys down. A powerslam drops Sting for two as Page still hasn’t come in.
Goldberg loads up the spear but Page breaks it up from the apron and comes in with a neckbreaker for two. Nash DIVES to break up the pin and thankfully there isn’t a quad laying on the mat as a result. Sting gets jumped from behind by Nash but comes back with right hands to the jaw. Goldberg and Page are both down until Page goes to the corner, earning himself a Stinger Splash. The other two get Splashes of their own and Sting is the only man standing.
Nash pops back to his feet and cleans house by booting them all in the face. Goldberg breaks up a Jackknife on Page before choking Page on the mat. He sends Page to the floor but gets taken down by Sting. The champ hammers away on Nash in the corner until Page comes back in with a low blow for the save. Now it’s Goldberg slamming Page but taking a Stinger Splash. Nash keeps trying to steal pins in a smart move.
There’s a side slam to Sting for two and Goldberg superkicks Page down to give Nash the same. Goldberg dives at Page but rams his head into Page’s knee to scramble his brains. Nash chokes Sting in the corner but misses a big boot. He gets caught in the Scorpion but Sting lets go, only to get speared down by Goldberg. The Jackhammer plants Sting but Savage breaks it up for no apparent reason. Savage throws Page some knuckles to knock Nash out before a Diamond Cutter (Nash turned to the side so it was half Cutter and half neckbreaker) gives Page the belt back.
Rating: C+. Dang it’s a good thing Savage joined up with Page. We almost had more than two top good guys in the whole company (I don’t think Piper counts when seemingly no one can stand him). This was energetic with Nash doing more work than I’ve seen him do in years. Page winning the title back is odd but it’s pretty tame given some of the stuff WCW has done in recent weeks.
Page runs through the crowd to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. Much like last week, the wrestling is more than good enough to make this a watchable show. However, the stories are so out there that they drags things back down. Basically we’re right back where we were when Nitro came on the air last week, other than Flair being in a mental hospital with Scott Hall. Mysterio has the title back, Page is still champion, and we’re still looking at Page vs. Nash for the title at Slamboree.
That’s why these title changes make me shake my head at WCW. They had an idea that could have drawn a good rating with Page vs. Sting and it makes sense to put it on right when Raw starts. What doesn’t make sense is giving that match about fifty minutes of build. That could have easily headlined a big PPV but instead they decided to give it less than an hour?
If that’s not enough, we have a big gimmick match for the title which also could have headlined a PPV, so it gets about ninety minutes of build and most people probably didn’t hear about it. This impatience is maddening when you could build this stuff up for weeks instead of minutes. They’re pouring away what could be millions of dollars in PPV money for the sake of maybe beating Raw for one night. The fact that this show had a bigger gap than the week before or the week after should have been a hint but WCW never seemed to learn.
Let’s go back to something mentioned earlier: Ric Flair is currently in a mental hospital and happened to run into Scott Hall. Nothing is mentioned of this again, Scott didn’t say a word, and I highly doubt we’ll see Scott again for several months. That’s not something you should be able to just see and walk past, but WCW apparently doesn’t feel the need to address this and thinks we’ll just kind of go along with it. It comes off like a joke and that’s not the kind of thing you should be seeing on national TV in a segment that is stupid already.
Overall this was a good show, but the stupid stuff is REALLY stupid and drags down the rest of the show. This also needs to be an hour less which is standard for almost all wrestling shows. They just do not need to be three hours and the extra hour always hurts things. You make this two hours and have Flair at the arena in a suit instead of being in a hospital and the show is about twice as good.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at: