Before I get to the review, I’d like to tell everyone that I am running a contest until tomorrow (10/28/05) to give two people a free copy of Total Extreme Wrestling 2005! You can find out about the contest here – Wrestling Encyclopedia Total Extreme Wrestling 2005 Contest.
The Event: WCW Starrcade 1994
Date: December 27th, 1994
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 8,200
Since I was overdue to review a WCW or WWF event that was more then 10 years old, I randomly decided on this one. Starrcade is WCW’s biggest event, it should be pretty good, right? Eh. Maybe not. During this time period Hulkamania was running wild, meaning not only that he was in the main event but he used his pull to get his best friend along side him to share the massive PPV bonus. But I guess this event can’t be too bad, since it does have The Game… here is the complete card:
WCW United States Championship: Jim Duggan vs. Vader
Alex Wright vs. Jean Paul Levesque
Arn Anderson vs. Johnny B. Badd
Harlem Heat vs. The Nasty Boys
Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T
Avalanche vs. Sting
WCW Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan vs. The Butcher
On commentary we have Bobby Heenan and Tony Schiavone. I am just going to say this now and get it out of the way. Periodically throughout this event, PWI was giving awards to many of WCW’s wrestlers. The ceremony was pre-taped, and a wrestler’s acceptance speech was usually shown right before his match. I guess this was a slow time for the WWF, since it seems like WCW won the vast majority of the major awards. So even though I am not going to keep mentioning it, PWI’s award ceremony (no doubt set up by WCW since they won so many awards) was shown throughout the evening.
(c) Jim Duggan vs. Vader
This match is for the United States Heavyweight Championship. They brawl in the entrance way to start the match and slowly work their way to the ring. Duggan throws Vader into the guardrail, goes in the ring, and punches Harley Race into the corner. Irish whip on Race, and he goes flying out of the ring. Duggan poses on the top turnbuckle as Vader comes down to ringside. Duggan greets him outside and punches him against the guardrail. Vader punches back though, Irish whip by Vader, reversed, and he goes into the guardrail. Duggan gets back in the ring as Race helps up Vader. Vader finally returns to the ring and Duggan attacks him in the corner. 10 punches by Duggan and he clotheslines Vader down. Duggan goes off the ropes and clotheslines Vader again, sending him out of the ring. Duggan punches Vader as he gets back in the ring, Irish whip by Vader, both men duck a clothesline, and Duggan hits a crossbody for two. Duggan hits a delayed scoop slam on Vader, drops an elbow, cover, but it gets two. Punches to the downed Vader by Duggan, cover, but again Vader kicks out. Back up, Irish whip by Duggan and he elbows Vader in the face. While Vader is against the ropes Dugan connects with a series of punches, he then goes off the ropes and clotheslines Vader down again. Forearm drop by Duggan, cover, but it only gets a two count. Reverse chinlock by Duggan, who looks possessed. Stomp by Duggan, Vader gets back to his feet and he pokes Duggan in the eyes. The two slug it out, but Vader boxes his ears. Duggan punches Vader in the stomach, Irish whip, and he hits a clothesline. Elbow drop by Duggan, cover, but Vader gets his foot on the ropes. Duggan goes up to the second rope and goes for an elbow drop, but Vader rolls out of the way. Vader clotheslines Duggan from behind once he gets up, and Duggan goes flying out of the ring. Duggan rolls back in the ring and is met by a Vader elbow drop. Vicious punches by Vader to the ribs, and Duggan goes back down. Scoop slam by Duggan and he hits a Vader Splash. Cover by Vader, but Duggan gets his foot on the bottom rope. Vader goes back up top again, but Duggan gets up and kicks him low. Duggan punches Vader against the ropes, Irish whip, but Vader hits a running body smash. Race chokes Duggan from the outside while the referee is looking the other way, but when Vader approaches he recovers and the two trade punches. Vader gets the better of it, he goes to the top rope, but Duggan rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Both men get back to their feet and Vader hits a splash in the corner. He goes for another one, but Duggan meets him in the middle with a clothesline. Vader is barely up first, they trade punches, Duggan gets Vader in the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a double ax handle. Three point stance by Duggan and he hits a running clothesline. Cover, but Race reaches in and gouges Duggan’s eyes. Vader gets to his feet before Duggan does and climbs to the second rope. He jumps off, but Duggan catches him in the air and hits a powerslam. Cover, but the referee is too busy with Race to make the count. Duggan goes to get the referee, he ducks a Vader sneak attack and goes for a three point stance charge, but Vader moves out of the way and Duggan runs into the 2 X 4 that is being held up by Race. Vader hits a reverse powerbomb on Duggan, cover, and he gets the three count victory. Your winner and new champion: Vader
Match Thoughts: I don’t know what got into Duggan here. Obviously inspired by Hansen/Kobashi, Duggan took off the kid gloves for a change and had a hard hitting match against a fellow hard hitter. I have heard that Duggan is a legit badass in real life, but his in-ring style always catered more to yelling at the crowd then knocking people’s teeth out. Tonight though that wasn’t the case and he and Vader put on a very good match. I will overlook the fact that Duggan hit about ten clotheslines in this match because at least he was doing something different then he did for most of the 90s in the WWF and WCW. A good way to open the PPV, although I have a feeling that I just watched the best match on the card. Score: 6.8
An interview with The Butcher is shown… I still can’t believe that he is main eventing Starrcade.
Alex Wright vs. Jean Paul Levesque
This was Alex Wright’s WCW PPV debut. When I was nine I thought that Alex Wright looked like Sabin from Final Fantasy III when he first debuted. I still think that. Anyway, Wright starts the match dancing, which is always fun. Tie-up to start, Levesque pushes Wright into the corner and he gives a clean break. Tie-up again, armdrag by Levesque, and he gives Wright a little bow. A third tie-up, arm twist by Levesque and he gets Wright to the mat. Wright squirms back to his feet, does a cartwheel and nails a dropkick. Flying headscissors by Wright and Levesque rolls into the corner in order to regroup. Levesque eventually comes out of the corner, tie-up, side headlock by Levesque, Wright tries to Irish whip out of it, Levesque applies an arm twist, but Wright flips out of it again and hits a dropkick. Armdrag takedown by Wright and he keeps the hold on for a submission. Levesque gets back to his feet and pushes Wright into the corner, and armdrags him out of it. Wright pops up though and hits a dropkick followed by another armdrag. An arm submission by Wright is applied, Levesque struggles to his feet and knees Wright in the midsection. Side headlock takedown by Levesque, but Wright quickly reverses it into a headscissors. Levesque breaks the hold, goes for another side headlock takedown, but again it is reversed by Wright into a headscissors. Levesque eventually flips out of it and applies a modified STF. Side headlock by Levesque, but it is reversed into a hammerlock by Wright. Levesque applies a half nelson, roll-up, but it only gets two. Back to their feet, drop toehold by Levesque, but Wright applies a headscissors. Levesque does the handstand to get out of the headscissors and punches Wright hard in the face. Stomps by Levesque, he pushes Wright in the corner and connects with a series of punches. Choke by Levesque, and the referee tries to get him back. Irish whip by Levesque and he hits a spinning heel kick. More stomps by Levesque, he picks Wright up and hits a snap suplex. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Kick to the stomach by Levesque and he hits a kick to the face. Cover again, but again it gets a two count. Levesque drags Wright up, Irish whip, Wright ducks a clothesline, but Levesque ducks Wright’s attempted crossbody and Wright falls to the floor. He tries to climb back in, but Levesque dropkicks him back out. Levesque goes out to the apron and kicks Wright in the head as he gets back to his feet. Levesque goes back in the ring, Wright gets to the apron, Levesque goes for a shoulderblock, but Wright knocks him back. Slingshot sunset flip attempt by Wright, but Levesque punches him in the face before he can complete the move. Irish whip by Levesque and he nails a powerslam. Cover, but it only gets two. Levesque applies a reverse chinlock, but Wright slowly gets to his feet and elbows out of it. Punches by Wright, he goes off the ropes, but Levesque hits a dropkick. Cover, but Wright kicks out. Levesque re-applies the reverse chinlock, again Wright elbows out of it, goes off the ropes, but Levesque delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Levesque gets Wright up, hits a scoop slam, goes up top, but Wright rolls out of the way of the elbow drop. Both wrestlers slowly get up and Wright hits a series of forearms and European uppercuts. Irish whip by Wright and he hits a diving forearm. More uppercuts by Wright, Irish whip, and he hits a hiptoss. Cover, but Levesque kicks out. Irish whip again by Wright and he hits a back bodydrop. Levesque fights back, Irish whip by Wright, and the two collide in the middle of the ring and collapse. Back to their feet, Irish whip by Levesque from the corner, but Wright flips off the top turnbuckle when Levesque charges and lands behind Levesque. Wright quickly rolls up Levesque from behind and he gets the three count pinfall. Your winner: Alex Wright
Match Thoughts: It wasn’t that the match was bad, but they really had only four minutes of ideas and stretched it to almost 15 minutes. Levesque is of course today known as Triple H, but here he was just a green wrestler trying to carry a greener wrestler to a decent match. They were fundamentally sound, but there were just too many rest holds and repeated spots. It seemed strange that since Wright was set for a push, and this was his first PPV match, that he won on what was basically just a fluke roll-up since he had done no damage to Levesque whatsoever in the entire match. I won’t be too hard on them since they were young wrestlers given too much time with too little to do, but this match should not have been on a major PPV. Score: 4.2
(c) Johnny B. Badd vs. Arn Anderson
This match is for the WCW Television Championship. This was supposed to be Johnny B. Badd against Honky Tonk Man, but HTM didn’t want to job without a contract, so he didn’t show up. Tie-up, side headlock by Anderson, Badd Irish whips out of it, but Anderson shoulderblocks him to the mat. Back up, tie-up, side headlock by Badd, but Anderson pulls him down by his hair. Tie-up, side headlock by Badd, again Anderson flings Badd to the mat and retreats to the corner before Badd can get to him. Tie-up, side headlock by Anderson into a hammerlock, reversed by Badd and he hits a drop toehold. Hammerlock by Badd and he drives his knee into Anderson’s arm. Anderson grabs the bottom rope though and Badd breaks the hold. Back up, tie-up, fireman’s carry takeover by Anderson, but Badd reverses it into a headscissors. Anderson makes it to the ropes again, and Badd breaks the hold. Anderson picks up Badd and puts him on the top turnbuckle, but gives a clean break. Tie-up, arm twist by Anderson, he gets Badd to the mat, but Badd bridges back up and forces Anderson down. Badd applies an arm submission, but Anderson quickly gets to the ropes. Anderson picks up Badd and puts him on the top turnbuckle again, and this time slaps him in the face before backing off. Badd doesn’t like that and hits a hiptoss, Irish whip, and he hits an armdrag. Dropkick by Badd, and Anderson rolls out of the ring. Anderson re-enters the ring, tie-up, Anderson gets Badd into the corner, goes for a punch, but Badd blocks it and punches him back. Badd punches Anderson into the corner. Anderson goes for an atomic drop, but Badd blocks it. Badd goes off the ropes, but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster. Anderson knees Badd in the face and Irish whips him into the corner. Blatant choke by Anderson, he picks up Badd and chokes him against the second rope. Kicks by Anderson in the corner and he applies an abdominal stretch (while grabbing the top rope for leverage of course). Anderson breaks the hold and hits a double ax handle to Badd’s back. Irish whip by Anderson, he goes for a back bodydrop, Badd tries to reverse it with a sunset flip, but Anderson punches him in the face before going over. Cover by Anderson, but it only gets a two count. Badd slowly gets to his feet, but Anderson pushes him back down and drops an elbow. Cover, but again it gets a two count. A reverse chinlock is applied by Anderson, Badd gets to his feet and elbows out of it, but Anderson applies the sleeperhold. Badd Irish whips out of it though and applies his own sleeperhold. Jawbreaker by Anderson, and both men lay hurt on the mat. Anderson is up first, Irish whip, but Badd hits a flying headscissors. Low punch by Badd, Irish whip, and he elbows Anderson in the face. Cover, but Anderson kicks out. Irish whip by Badd and he hits a back bodydrop. Badd picks up Anderson, Irish whip, and he knees Anderson in the face. Badd goes up top, hits the sunset flip, but Anderson kicks out. Badd gets Anderson into the corner, Irish whip, but Anderson reverses the monkey flip and covers Badd with his foot on the ropes. The referee notices though and doesn’t complete the third count, but Anderson naturally doesn’t notice and thinks he has won the match. Badd comes up from behind and rolls up Anderson, and he gets the three count fall. Your winner and still champion: Johnny B. Badd
Match Thoughts: I have to give them both credit for putting a solid match together with very little notice. They actually meshed quite well, and even though the match was simply laid out, they executed it nearly flawlessly. The ending was predictable, but this was 1994… everything in wrestling was predictable. Two straight matches ending with a roll-up looks weak, but I guess this way Anderson still looks strong since going into the night he wasn’t originally planned to drop a fall on a major PPV. Badd looked good here, I was always impressed with him and it is a shame his career was cut short by injuries. Nothing to be embarrassed about here. Score: 5.5
Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri) vs. The Nasty Boys
Note that The Nasty Boys are the good guys here, since it is hard to keep up with these two teams. They brawl to start the match, with the Nastys getting the upperhand. In the ring, Sags hits a pump-handle slam on Booker T, cover, but the referee is busy trying to control Stevie Ray and Knobbs to make the count. Knobbs gets back in the ring and the two pose for the crowd while Harlem Heat re-groups on the outside. Finally back in the ring, Sags and Booker T start things off. They trade punches, Booker T gets Sags into the ropes and clubs him in the back. Irish whip, and Booker T hits a spinning forearm shot. Elbow drop by Booker T, cover, but Sags kicks out. Club to the back by Booker T, Irish whip, reversed, Booker T ducks the clothesline, but Sags hits a powerslam. Sags tags in Knobbs, double Irish whip, and they hit a double clothesline. Irish whip by Knobbs from the corner and Sags hits a clothesline. Sags throws Stevie Ray into a different corner and Knobbs hits a big splash. Harlem Heat rolls out of the ring, but this time the Nasty Boys follow them out. Sags throws Booker T into the ring steps as they brawl up the aisle way. Booker T is thrown back in the ring, Knobbs pushes him back out, and Stevie Ray clubs Knobbs from behind when he turns his back to him. Booker T throws Knobbs back in the ring, Irish whip by Stevie Ray and he hits a back elbow. Stevie Ray goes for a leg drop, but Knobbs rolls out of the way. Irish whip by Knobbs from the corner, they do something that looks terribly disjointed, but it ends up with Knobbs in the opposite corner with Stevie Ray pounding on him. Irish whip again, but Knobbs comes flying back out of the corner with a clothesline. Faceplant by Knobbs, cover, but it only gets a two count. Knobbs tags in Sags, and they club on Stevie Ray in the corner. Knobbs hits an armbreaker on Stevie Ray and applies a hammerlock. Sags is tagged in and he hits Stevie Ray in the corner. Stevie Ray pokes Sags in the eyes though and tags in Booker T. Booker T charges Sags, but Sags delivers a hiptoss. Sags tags in Knobbs and Knobbs hits an armbreaker on Booker T. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Knobbs tags in Sags and Sags kicks Booker T in the midsection. Sags knees Booker T in the arm and distracts the referee so that Knobbs can attack Booker T’s arm from the outside. Sags slams Booker T shoulder-first into the corner and tags in Knobbs. Leg drop by Knobbs to the arm of Booker T, cover but it gets two. Knobbs tags in Sags and he drops a knee on Booker T’s arm. Sags applies an armbar, but Stevie Ray breaks it up. Sags goes over and knocks Stevie Ray from the apron, but Booker T dropkicks him from behind, sending Sags sailing out of the ring as well. Stevie Ray follows Sags up the aisle and hits a scissors kick. Stevie Ray tries to suplex Sags onto the guardrail, but he can’t get him up enough so he just drops him back down and heads back to the ring. Stevie Ray leads Sags back to the ring and throws him in for Booker T. Booker T rakes Sags’ eyes, Irish whip, and he hits a leg lariat. Booker T tags in Stevie Ray, and Stevie Ray hits Sags low. Kicks by Stevie Ray, cover, but it gets two. Stevie Ray applies a neck nerve hold, but Sags gets to the ropes. Stevie Ray tags in Booker T and Booker T hits a scissors kick. Cover by Booker T, but Sags kicks out. Booker T applies a reverse chinlock, Sags struggles back to his feet, and Sags hits a jawbreaker. Booker T tags in Stevie Ray, and Stevie Ray hits a leg drop on Sags. Cover, but it gets another two count. Stevie Ray gets Sags up and applies a bearhug, but Sags pokes him in the eyes to get out of it. Stevie Ray tags in Booker T, who applies a bearhug of his own. Booker T tags Stevie Ray back in and they throw Sags into the turnbuckle hard. Stevie Ray applies a front facelock, and tags in Booker T. Irish whip by Booker T from the corner, but Sags gets hits foot up when he charges and knocks him down with a clothesline. Stevie Ray runs over to knock Knobbs off the apron, he and Booker T give Sags a double Irish whip, but Sags ducks the clothesline attempt and hits a double DDT. He makes the hot tag to Knobbs, who goes to work on both members of Harlem Heat. Knobbs Irish whips Booker T and he hits an elbow strike. Sags is back, and he takes Stevie Ray out of the ring. Inside the ring, Booker T gets control and holds Knobbs for Sherri, but in one of the worst looking spots in wrestling history (that don’t include Tank and Big Al), Sherri sprays Booker T in the face on accident even though she can clearly see that Knobbs has ducked out of the way. Stevie Ray gets on the top turnbuckle, but Knobbs slams him off and Sags comes off the top turnbuckle with the big elbow. Sherri goes to the top turnbuckle to try to break up the pin, but Sags rolls out of the way and Sherri hits a splash on Stevie Ray. The referee has seen enough and he calls for the DQ. Your winners: The Nasty Boys
Post match: Knobbs grabs Sherri and rubs her face into Sags’ arm pit. Good times.
Match Thoughts: This is Booker T much earlier in his career, and while he looked greener he also looked a lot more agile back then compared to his current WWE style. I am glad that the crowd was entertained by this match, for I was not impressed. Besides the botched spots, the psychology in the match was all over the place. I guess they didn’t want to do a straight-up brawl, but that is what both teams are good at, so I don’t know why they deviated from the proven formula. The arm work by The Nasty Boys came to mean absolutely nothing, as the arm was not sold by Harlem Heat for the remainder of the match. Harlem Heat works over Sag’s back for five minutes, but Sags comes back in the ring as soon as he makes the hot tag perfectly fine. It isn’t that these problems are uncommon, but they are still there and I really would have preferred that they just put on a 10 minute slugfest then a 15 minute non-ending psychologically mind-boggling match. Score: 3.1
An interview with Sting is shown. You know what he said, I don’t need to tell you.
Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T
Mr. T is still dressed up like a referee, even though he is actually competing in this match (he was the referee at Halloween Havoc). They circle each other to start and Mr. T throws Sullivan into the corner. Hiptoss by Mr. T and Sullivan looks surprised. Santa Claus comes down to ringside as Mr. T headbutts Sullivan in the ring. Punches to the midsection by Mr. T, Irish whip, and he punches him some more. Irish whip again, and Sullivan falls when he hits the turnbuckles. Mr. T comes at Sullivan, but Sullivan grabs him around the waist and throws him out of the ring. On the outside now, Sullivan works over Mr. T with punches and kicks. The camera man goes down, but he keeps filming. What a professional. Sullivan slams Mr. T into the ring steps and pokes him in the eyes. Chop to the back by Sullivan, as we now see that Santa is actually Evad. Evad puts Jimmy Hart’s megaphone in his bag, he hits Sullivan with it while Hart distracts the referee, Mr. T covers, and he gets the three count fall. Your winner: Mr. T
Post match: Sullivan goes after Evad, drags him back in the ring, and nails a piledriver. I miss piledrivers. He then whips Evad in the face with part of his Santa suit.
Match Thoughts: Make no mistake, this match was awful, but Mr. T did fine in what was asked of him and he didn’t look like an utterly clueless celebrity like you see sometimes in matches like this. The match wasn’t void of interesting moments, such as the two brawling literally on top of a downed cameraman for a good 30 seconds and watching Sullivan nail a piledriver on Santa Claus. Beyond that though this match had no right being on a PPV, and since the Sullivan/Evad feud was terrible, nothing good came from this match either. Score: 2.8
Interview with Hogan, who seems disappointed that his friend Butcher would turn on him.
Avalanche vs. Sting
I feel so sorry for Sting. He sure was wasted for awhile in the mid-90s, but lucky for him the Crow gimmick revived his career after he came back from his injury. After stalling for a few minutes they finally lock up, Avalanche pushes Sting into the corner, but Sting pushes him back. Tie-up, and Sting hits a right hand punch. They tie-up again, Avalanche pushes Sting into the corner and elbows Sting in the chest. Club to the back by Avalanche and he rakes his face against the top rope. Elbow to the back of the head by Avalanche, Irish whip, but Sting avoids the charge and kicks Avalanche in the legs before backing off. Tie-up, Avalanche forces Sting to his knees, but Sting struggles back to his feet. Knee to the midsection by Avalanche and he headbutts Sting in the chest. Avalanche hits a series of shoulderblocks in the corner and tosses Sting to the mat. Avalanche sends Sting into the top turnbuckle, but Sting fights back with more kicks to the leg before backing off again. They circle each other, Sting goes for a scoop slam, but Avalanche clubs him in the back. Scoop slam by Avalanche and he hits an elbow drop. Cover, but Sting kicks out. Leg drop by Avalanche, Sting crawls to the corner, but Avalanche connects with a butt thump. Avalanche picks up Sting and slams him back-first into the top turnbuckle before standing on his chest. Sting slowly gets to his feet, but Avalanche chokes him against the top rope. Sting comes back with an eye rake though and hits a series of kicks to Avalanche’s legs until Avalanche falls to his knees and rolls out of the ring. Avalanche gets back into the ring, side headlock by Avalanche, Sting eventually muscles out of it, but Avalanche gets it re-applied. Punches to the leg by Sting, Avalanche releases the hold, but Avalanche hits a massive clothesline before Sting can capitalize. Avalanche scoops Sting up and hits a powerslam. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Avalanche tosses Sting around the ring for awhile and elbows him in the face. Slap by Avalanche in the corner and he applies a bearhug before slamming Sting into the corner. Sting jumps up on Avalanche’s back with a sleeper hold, but Avalanche slams him back into the turnbuckle. Sting jumps back up though, re-applying the hold, and Avalanche goes down to one knee. Avalanche eventually gets back to his feet and gets to the ropes so that Sting has to release the hold. Kicks to the leg by Sting, he goes for another scoop slam, but Avalanche falls on top of him for a two count. Avalanche blatantly chokes Sting and kicks him in the chest. Powerslam by Avalanche, he stomps around Sting a little bit, but Sting gets back to his feet and hits a clothesline. Sting goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a chop. Kicks by Sting to Avalanche, he gets Avalanche into the corner and hits a Stinger Splash, but the referee was behind Avalanche and so he gets squished as well. Scoop slam by Sting and he applies the Scorpion Deathlock, but Sullivan comes in the ring. Sting sees him coming and greets him with punches and tosses him on Avalanche. Avalanche catches Sullivan though and sends him back into Sting. Scoop slam by Avalanche on Sting and he hits the Avalanche Splash. Suddenly, HOGAN runs out with a steel chair to clear the ring of the Dungeon of Doom. A second referee comes into the ring as well and he calls for the DQ. Your winner: Sting
Match Thoughts: Avalanche was known as Earthquake in the WWF and numerous other things since then. I am really getting tired of the non-finishes. The faces have won five of the six matches…. but two were DQs, two were cheap roll-ups, and one was with the assistance of a megaphone. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Course, the action wasn’t exactly fast paced, and the match was about 60% stalling. You can tell the action was slow because the match was over 15 minutes long, but my play by play is pretty short since a lot of time nothing was happening. Poor, poor Sting. Score: 3.6
They actually did a good job with the recap, going back to last September to explain how this next match came about. In essence, for a few months Hogan was attacked by a “masked wrestler” that he finally found out was his best friend Brutus. Brutus would join the Faces of Fear with Sullivan and Avalanche and become The Butcher, and this match would get set up later.
(c) Hulk Hogan vs. The Butcher
This match is for the WCW Heavyweight Championship. They jaunt at each other before they get in the ring, but finally both men are in the ring and we are under way. Tie-up, but Hogan pushes Butcher into the corner. It happens two more times, but the fourth time Butcher hits a chop to the back of Hogan’s head. Side headlock by Butcher and he thrusts Hogan in the neck. He goes for another one, but it is blocked by Hogan and he Irish whips Butcher into the ropes. Shoulderblock by Hogan, Butcher goes out of the ring, but he grabs Hogan’s leg and pulls him out as well. Punch by Butcher and he slams Hogan into the guardrail. Back scratch of pain by Butcher and he chokes him with a microphone cord. Another back scratch by Butcher, as the circle around the outside area. Butcher goes to hit Hogan with a chair, but Hart grabs it before he can use it. Hogan comes up from behind and hits an atomic drop and throws Butcher into the guardrail. Irish whip into the post by Hogan and he rakes Butcher in the eyes. He then gets a chair and hits Butcher in the back with it. He then hits him again and chokes him with the bottom of the chair. Throat chop by Hogan and he throws Butcher into the ring. Hogan rolls in after him, but Butcher is up and hits the high knee. Choke by Butcher against the second rope and he hits a thrust to Hogan’s throat. Chops by Butcher to the back of the head and he hits a powerslam. Cover, but Butcher gets up before the three call is counted. Butcher goes up top, but Hogan rolls out of the way of the forearm drop. Hogan peppers Butcher with punches, knocking Butcher to the mat. Hogan then gets on his knees and bites Butcher in the face. Back scratch by Hogan, Irish whip, and he hits the clothesline. More punches by Hogan, eye poke, Irish whip from the corner and he hits another clothesline. Hogan hits a combination of punches and kicks in the corner and then delivers the 10 Punches. Irish whip by Hogan, he goes for a back bodydrop, but Butcher kicks him in the head and chokes him some more. Butcher applies a Tongan death grip, Hogan slowly gets to his feet and elbows Butcher in the midsection. Hogan goes off the ropes and knocks down Butcher with a shoulderblock. Hogan goes off the ropes again, but Butcher gets back up and hits a double arm thrust to Hogan’s throat. Irish whip by Butcher into the corner and he applies the sleeper as Hogan stumbles out of the corner. After several minutes of extreme suspense, Hogan revives and Hulks Up. The usual happens next, ending with the ol’ big boot. Sullivan and Avalanche “run” down to ring side, but Hogan hits them before they can come in the ring. Leg drop by Hogan, and he gets the three count pinfall. Your winner and still champion: Hulk Hogan
Post match: The Faces of Fear come in the ring and surround Hogan, who has a chair. Savage, who they have been teasing all night, shows up. He pretends like he is going to help the Dungeon of Doom, but then helps Hogan instead to a big pop. We get a few Lance Storm chair shots by Hogan and with Savage they clear the ring.
After the match, we go back to the locker room as all the good guys congratulate Hogan on his victory. Vader interrupts the party though and threatens Hogan. They get pulled apart before they can go to blows, and on that note we go off the air.
Match Thoughts:  Butcher is/was also Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, The Disciple, the Man With No Name (if I recall), and many other forgettable gimmicks. At this stage of his career, his in-ring work was even worse then Hogan’s, which is never a good thing. All he could do was chokes and throat thrusts, and even his patented moves (high knee and sleeper) didn’t look very good. To call the ending predictable would be an understatement. Arguably (since everyone has their own opinion) one of the worst main events of a major PPV ever. But at least it had a definite ending! Score: 3.3
Final Thoughts:
Wow, what a rough view. I only liked one match, but that is quite possibly only because Vader is one of my top five wrestlers of all time. The Faces of Fear were, to be blunt, utter crap. They were involved in three matches, and all three were terrible. Anyone that has the gall to complain about the New World Order needs to go back and watch a few events from ’94/’95, as WCW was much worse back then. I can’t think of any reason that anyone would ever want or need to see this event. Don’t watch this.
Avoid
Moves in italics can be seen at www.wrestlingencyclopedia.com, under the “American wrestling clips” section. Feel free to email me at wrestlingencyclopedia@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or snide remarks.
