Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Savage vs. Nash

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Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Savage vs. Nash – WCW, 1999

Yes, I know that we had something different originally scheduled for this week. However, real life stepped in, and I needed to run with something a bit shorter. We’ll see Paul Bearer’s surprise another time.

History
At the 1999 Slamboree, Kevin Nash had defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win the world title. The match had some controversy to it, as Randy Savage had run out halfway through and attacked Nash, causing referee Nick Patrick to award the match to Nash via DQ. That had brought Eric Bischoff out with WCW head of security Doug Dillinger. Dillinger took Savage to the back and Bischoff restarted the match, which Nash won.

On the following Nitro, Ric Flair came out to talk with Mean Gene. Flair mentioned that he was the president of WCW, and Bischoff had no right to make that decision the night before. Therefore, tonight’s main event would be Nash/Page. Page went on to add that since Nash had Bischoff backing him up, Page had Bam Bam Bigelow watching his back.

The main event ended when Savage ran in and he, Page, and Bigelow all attacked Nash. Then Savage’s girls (Gorgeous George, Madusa, and Mona, Miss Madness (better known today as Molly Holly)) came out and Savage smeared makeup on Nash’s face.

On Thunder, Rey Misterio Jr. was taking on Kaz Hayashi when Savage and his team made their way out. Savage entered the ring after Rey won and reminded Rey about how he’d defeated Nash several months ago. Savage went on to offer Rey a spot on Team Madness. Rey thanked Savage, but turned him down. That caused the girls to start attacking Rey. Kidman ran out to try and make the save, only to get a piledriver from Savage. That brought out Konnan, who got a low blow from Gorgeous George and a Savage Elbow of his own.

Nitro opened with Rowdy Roddy Piper promising to confront Savage. Only problem was that only the girls came out – no Savage. George told Piper Savage was elsewhere, so Piper said that he must be at a Slim Jim convention. Piper finally started backing the women into the corner, so Flair came down to save them. Piper started beating down Flair, and out came Page and Bigelow to even the odds. The segment closed with Flair awarding Page and Bigelow a tag team title shot at the Great American Bash.

Nash came out later for some verbal jousting with the female members of Team Madness. Suddenly Savage laid him out from behind and smeared makeup on his face.

Thunder opened with Savage on a rampage. Finally he joined Gene in the ring and called out Buff Bagwell for disrespecting him. Yes, apparently we had a side-feud going on here, since Savage vs. Nash at the Bash had already been announced.

Buff and Savage faced off to open Thunder’s second hour. After Gorgeous George and a chair got involved, referee Nick Patrick finally threw the match out.

On Nitro, Savage came out to the ring to rant about Nash. Madusa ran out and told him that Nash was in the building, so Savage called him out and then left.

Savage took on Nash later in the night. Well, it wasn’t really Nash – it was a guy in a red dress and fishnets. Savage and the gang devastated Nash, and Savage put the exclamation point on it by hitting his banned top-rope elbow.

Later in the night, Team Madness was leaving in their limo when a sewage truck pulled in front of them. Nash hopped out, opened the limo’s skylight, and then sprayed the inside of the limo with sewage before leaving.

Savage was gone on Thunder, but on Nitro he was furious. He and his entourage hopped out of their limo and retrieved a bucket full of brownish sludge from the trunk, then headed inside.

Savage headed to the ring and called out Nash, or anyone in the building who had the guts to face him. Sting came out and challenged Savage to a match later in the night.

Nash headed down to the ring with a duffel bag after the commercial and set it down in the ring before calling Savage out. Team Madness came into the ring and Savage put down his bucket in order to fight Nash. Nash bailed and kept talking to Savage. Behind the Macho Man, Nash’s bag began twitching and a woman climbed out of it. She then dumped the bucket’s contents all over Savage’s lovely fuzzy pink coat.

Nash headed to his limo and found Savage’s girls waiting with champagne. Nash climbed in and they slammed the door closed. Savage then revealed himself as the driver and floored it. He stopped when the limo was directly in front of a large dumpster. As Savage cleared out, the infamous white Hummer drove into the picture and rammed the limo. As the Hummer drove away, Nash weakly punched the window out of the limo and was hanging out of it.

The main event was Savage vs. Sting. Sting had just taken control when the Steiner Brothers ran in and attacked him. That brought Lex Luger out with a baseball bat to even the odds.

Thunder opened with Savage spotting Nash beside his limo, so the Macho Man attacked him. One problem. It wasn’t Nash. It was actually Brian Adams.

Savage spent the night looking for Nash, pausing only for a match against Brian Adams. Savage wound up defeating Adams (with Madusa’s help), despite Vincent’s attempts at interference.

Later in the show, Nash called in. Despite his injuries from the crash, he would still defend the title at the Bash. He also requested that the ban on the elbow drop be lifted.

That brought us to the Great American Bash, where Nash was taking on Savage in the main event. Nash had overcome both Savage and the women, when Sid Vicious suddenly appeared and attacked Nash for the DQ. Sid then went ahead and powerbombed Nash.

Savage came out the next night on Nitro and bragged about how he’d defeated Nash. Later, (amidst shots of Sable sitting in the crowd) Nash came out and challenged Sid to a title match that night, which Sid eagerly accepted.

In the main event, Savage came out and demanded that Nash hand the belt over, because he’d beaten him. Nash dropped Savage and the fight was on. As Nash was gaining the upper hand over Savage and the women, Sid finally made his way down and joined in the fun. That brought Sting out who cleared the ring.

On the following Nitro, Sid beat Sting (with Savage’s help). Nash also appeared and accused Sting of being the driver of the mysterious white Hummer that had attacked him.

Nash came out on Thunder and talked about how WCW didn’t want him to have the belt. He then said that Savage couldn’t beat him so he’d gotten Sid to help, and when they couldn’t get the job done, they’d recruited Sting.

Savage and Sid came out later. Savage said that the Hummer driver wasn’t any of them, and then hinted that it could have been Scott Hall or Sting. Sid then got the microphone and rambled about pain.

Sid and Savage went on to face Buff Bagwell and Dean Malenko in the main event. Finally Miss Madness hit the ring to attack Malenko, so he locked her in the Texas Cloverleaf. That brought Sid in to powerbomb Malenko. As Savage climbed the ropes for the elbow drop, the referee tried to stop him. Savage popped the referee (for the DQ) and then hit the elbow drop anyway.

Ric Flair called out Sid and Savage on Nitro. Flair talked about how David Flair was taking on Nash in a lumberjack match and offered Savage a deal – if he and Sid would serve as lumberjacks, he’d reinstate the elbow drop. Needless to say, Savage agreed.

Nash came out later with a stipulation of his own – he’d put up the belt, but David Flair had to put up Torrie Wilson. If Nash won the match, he’d get Torrie for 72 hours.

In the main event, Nash wound up being attacked by all of the lumberjacks as soon as the bell rang. He cleared the ring, and then David Flair ran in with the taser. Nash grabbed it and zapped David. He then threw Gorgeous George over his shoulder and cleared out along with Torrie. As Nash left, we saw someone in a black Hummer with Sting’s face paint.

On Thunder, Savage was furious. Finally his cell phone rang, and Nash gave him directions on where to be to get Torrie back.

This would be an ongoing theme throughout the show, as Nash kept giving Savage new destinations. Finally Savage, Sid, and (fake) Sting caught up with him and attacked. Savage grabbed George and they took off.

One problem. At the end of the show, we discovered that the girl wasn’t George – it was Torrie. Torrie explained that she’d done this because Nash knew they’d double-cross him.

Sid took on Nash in the Nitro main event. When Nash came out, he told Savage to head to the back with the women if he ever wanted to see George again. As the crowd chanted for Goldberg (who’d just returned in the previous segment), Nash and Sid started brawling. That, of course, brought Savage back out to help. And that, of course, brought the fake Sting out to help as well. And that, of course, brought the real Sting out to help Nash. After clearing the ring, Sting helped Nash to his feet, so Nash powerbombed him and grabbed a microphone to tell Savage that George was in his dressing room. Savage grabbed George, and then noticed that Torrie was grinning. In an unexpected (and infamous) moment, Savage slapped Torrie in the face, and then began ripping off George’s Nash t-shirt.

Nash opened Thunder with a challenge. He and Sting would tag to take on Sid and Savage at Bash at the Beach. There was one stipulation – if anyone (Sting included) pinned Nash during the match, they would become the new world champion.

That brought us to the Bash at the Beach. As the Savage and Sid prepared to face off with Sting and Nash, we got a close-up shot of Gorgeous George and discovered that she had a black eye. Nash finally gained the advantage and prepared to powerbomb Savage, only for George to slip into the ring and nail Nash below the belt. Savage got the easy win and picked up another title reign.

Savage’s title reign wouldn’t last long, however. The following night on Nitro, Savage lost the belt to Hollywood Hogan.

Analysis
This is classic WCW 1999 booking at its worst. At the time, Kevin Nash had the book, so we get ego-stroking instances like the lumberjack match, where he not only books himself over fifteen other wrestlers, but then goes home with their girlfriends.

This also illustrates one of the main reasons WCW died, and it’s something that the WWE is starting to suffer from today – they had the same guys in the same matches in the main event. Yes, it was shocking when Sid came back, but how long did it take for fans to tire of him taking on Nash? And, of course, the returning Goldberg is left out of the title picture completely.

We won’t even discuss the whole “Savage beats up Gorgeous George but she apparently still loves him and she’ll help him” angle of the whole thing.

Where are they now?
Randy Savage left WCW in late 1999. In 2003, he released an almost universally-panned rap album called Be A Man. 2004 saw Savage making a few appearances for TNA, although he soon left. Savage has provided numerous voices in animated TV shows, and also appeared in the original Spider-Man movie. Savage’s next TV project will be appearing on the upcoming season of Surreal Life.

Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars) left WCW along with Savage. By November of 1999, her relationship with Savage was over. She was offered a spot with the WWF, but turned them down because she didn’t feel she was ready. She did make a number of appearances for ECW in 2000 as George. She was a valet for Tommy Dreamer and was also involved in a feud with Francine. In 2001, she married Misfits member Doyle von Frankenstein, and appeared with XPW. In 2004, she made a handful of appearances for TNA. Today, she continues her job as an exotic dancer.

Madusa remained in WCW until the company was bought in 2001, primarily as a women’s trainer at the Power Plant (WCW’s training facility). Following that, she retired from pro wrestling. Today she drives a monster truck and also runs a pet grooming service.

Miss Madness (Nora Greenwald) left Team Savage later in 1999 and became known as Mona. She left WCW and jumped to the WWF in 2000, where she was known as Crash and Hardcore Holly’s cousin Molly. In 2005 she was granted her release from the WWE. Today she still wrestles occasionally, but is more focused on her land holdings and performing charity work.

Sid Vicious vanished soon after Team Madness collapsed and would not return to WCW television until late in 2000. At the January 2001 pay-per-view (Sin), while in a four-way match against WCW champions Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, and Road Warrior Animal, Sid would break his leg in a gruesome injury and be sent into rehabilitation. Sid would appear as the World Wrestling All-Stars commissioner while recuperating. Today Sid still makes rare independent appearances.

Kevin Nash would remain with WCW until the 2001 buyout. Following the buyout, Nash decided not to sign with the WWF but waited out the remainder of his Time-Warner contract (which expired in December of 2001). In 2002, Nash, Scott Hall, and Hollywood Hogan joined the WWF and reformed the New World Order. Following the failure of that angle, Nash found himself in a feud with WWF champions Triple H. After that, he feuded with Chris Jericho, eventually losing a hair vs. hair match. Nash soon disappeared as he had surgery for a shoulder injury, and also had neck surgery. Nash’s contract was not renewed when it ran out at the end of 2003. In 2004, Nash began making appearances for TNA, where he remains today.

Next Week
You get to see more of Dennis Knight than you ever wanted to.