The Rise and Fall of WCW Review

The Rise and Fall of WCW

By: Mike Shannon (dlman91@hotmail.com)

-Hello there, I’m Mike Shannon and I’m new here, in case you didn’t know.  In addition to being a news reporter, I’ll also be chiming in with occasional DVD reviews.  My star system is basically the same as every single other reviewer out there and you can always email me with whatever you want to say.  Enough from me, on with the show…

-This release is probably the one that I have been anticipating and dreading the most. I was a huge fan of WCW during their rise and watched in horror at their fall. However, if there was ever going to be a biased hack-job, it was going to WWE’s version of their biggest rival. They handled ECW’s releases extremely well, but this is a whole different animal. Can WWE resist burying their competition one last time? Let’s find out….

-Note: I’ll be keeping the images to a minimum here since this DVD is longer than your mother’s sexual partners list. The bad jokes, however, will remain.

Part I: Crockett Promotions

-This one is close to 2 hours, so grab something to drink or print this out and take it to the can with you.

-Jim Crockett Jr. talks about the beginnings of the Mid-Atlantic promotion and the variety of shows his dad, Big Jim, promoted. Everyone says nice things about Big Jim and, when he dies, Jim Jr. takes over. I wish I could get one of those territory maps somehow.

-We segue into a discussion of Ted Turner and his WTBS SuperStation, where he featured Georgia Championship Wrestling on Saturday evening.

-We get highlights of all the early stars, including a young man who was called “Ramblin” Ricky Rhodes. You may know him, however, as Ric Flair.

Unreal stache

-So the NWA Board of Directors decides to make Ric Flair World Champion because he drew everywhere he went by working with regional stars. Money grows due to the big stars being loaned out and Crockett really wants to do PPV.

-In November 1983, the first Starrcade airs from the Greensboro Coliseum and Crockett thinks this was the sign for the smaller promotions that their time was over. Speaking of over, Harley Race passes the torch to Ric Flair in the main event in front of a screaming sell out crowd. JR thinks they were so popular because they got over new stars (hear that, WWE?).

-We move to “Black Saturday” (July 14, 1984 for you history types) when Vince McMahon buys WCW for the first time…kinda. Vinnie uses his leverage to buy out stockholders in Georgia Championship Wrestling and take over the shows on WTBS. Hearing Vince saying “welcome to World Championship Wrestling” is extremely off-putting. Arn Anderson mentions that the fans went nuts, which would be an understatement because they FLOODED the TBS offices with phone calls and letters demanding the return of Gordon Solie and GCW. The southern fans despised the WWF’s goofy, circus-like characters and matches and wanted to see the athletic product that Crockett was offering. So anyways, the ratings suck and Turner wants Vince off the air, beginning a war between the two that would go all the way till 2001. Still, Vince makes out by selling the shows to Crockett for a million dollars, which McMahon even admits made him a few bucks. (David Crockett: “We paid for WrestleMania.”)

-Back on the SuperStation, Crockett Promotions starts drawing ratings with the Rock ‘n Roll Express, Four Horseman, and the rest. Everyone credits TBS for helping them get their name out there, allowing them to put on the first Great American Bash in 1985.

-We move to Magnum TA, who may have become one of the biggest stars in the business if a car crash hadn’t paralyzed the left side of his body at the age of 29. I hope they cover more of this later because that was an extremely brief look at a major player in Crockett Promotions.

Stallion

-Ad revenues were skyrocketing and Crockett goes nuts with the money, buying two private jets and flying wrestlers all across the country, actually causing an accountant to have a nervous breakdown. The Crockett family actually splits over whether to sell to Ted Turner or not and David’s mother finally convinces him to go along with it. Jim Crockett hates the politics that result, so he flips out on the company’s first president and gets sent home for good.

-OK, my first problem with this stuff is they did not talk about all the things that led Crockett Promotions to have to sell: the overuse of the Dusty Finish, the botched UWF angle (a mistake WWF would later repeat with, ironically, WCW), the impact of Magnum TA’s injury on the company, trying to run shows in the Northeast, RON F’N GARVIN becoming World Champion, losing Arn and Tully to WWF, etc. It wasn’t just the overspending that caused the Crockett downfall, but a combination of many things.

Part II: Welcome to WCW!

-Everyone thought it was great because Turner had a boatload of cash and they had the in-ring product to succeed if it was used correctly. We run through the great workers they had: Flair, AA, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Rick Rude, the Rock ‘n Roll Express, and the rest.

-BUT…(cue ominous music) Jim Herd, former suit at Pizza Hut, is hired to run WCW even though he knows nothing about the business or the product that is supposed to be on television. One of his ideas was the Ding-Dongs, a tag team dressed in all pink that had one partner constantly ringing a bell while the other wrestled. The crowd did not like them much…no sir. Another famous idea he had was wrestling hunchbacks because they would never lose due to their shoulders not being able to be put on the mat for the three count. And they tell me I’m stupid?

-Ole Anderson is introduced as booker, another colossal failure. (Teddy Long: “Ole Anderson was the worst booker in the history of America.”) Michael Hayes calls him an asshole. Pot…kettle on line one. No one works out so they reach out to Dusty Rhodes, who had been banished to the WWF and polka dots. Dusty talks about the creative control clauses in contracts that tied his hands until he’s eventually forced out because, according to Mike Graham, they thought a wrestler was too stupid to run a company.

-So, we get introduced to “Cowboy” Bill Watts, which was ANOTHER terrible idea. He bans moves from the top rope and removes the mats from around the ring. Why? Because he’s a freaking moron, that’s why. Removing the mats, according to Watts, was to prove that his guys were “tough” but really it just increased injuries and made guys afraid to take bumps on the concrete floor. Everyone diplomatically calls him an asshole and says the product was boring as hell. Watts tries to defend himself here, but it’s just not working. Watts was shown the door just like the rest.

Part III: WCW is freaking AWESOME!!

-Finally, Bill Shaw comes along and hires Eric Bischoff (pissing off JR in the process) who cuts costs and runs TV shows at MGM Studios in Disney World. They do not, however, mention the problems of taping 10 weeks worth of television at once and then having to come up with ridiculous explanations when a worker would get injured or get fired.

-Shaw allows Bischoff to pursue Hulk Hogan and pay for the planted fans that cheered wildly during his introductory parade. One mistake WCW didn’t make: As soon as Hulk Hogan signs they immediately book him to face Ric Flair in 1994, finally giving fans the dream match they had waiting to see on PPV since 1984.

-Bischoff signs away many former WWF employees, although I would not call people like Gene Okerlund and Brutus Beefcake “superstars”. However, Lex Luger appears on the first episode of Nitro, screwing over Vince and getting the attention of wrestling fans everywhere. This is followed by Medusa also jumping ship and tossing the WWF Women’s title in the garbage on live TV.

-By the way, they are using Bischoff interview footage from the “Monday Night War” DVD because he refused to be in this release.

-So Bischoff tosses Vince into a rage by giving away Raw’s results on live television. However, he throws the wrestling world on it’s head by bringing in Scott Hall and having him interrupt a live Nitro to ask: “You want a war? You got one.” This was EXTREMELY HEAVY stuff at the time. I mean seriously, if you weren’t watching then, there’s nothing I could say to make you understand how awesome this was. McMahon says he wasn’t giving guaranteed contracts at the time, which caused Hall and Nash to leave.

-Kevin Sullivan, looking TOTALLY different from the last time I saw him, admits that Hall and Nash were supposed to be Razor Ramon and Diesel, because they wanted a WWF invasion, which was awesome. Vince, however, does not find this awesome and sues them.

-Finally, the move that sent the New World Order into the stratosphere: Hulk Hogan turns heel. To show that good ideas never die, Hogan completely ripped off “Superstar” Billy Graham and creating a cowardly heel character that people loved to hate. Thankfully, they include the Rey Mysterio “lawn dart” spot into the trailer that makes me giggle so much. The boys talk about creating nWo vs. WCW as the war and not WCW vs. WWF.

-Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho talk about the nWo actually being a “tribute” (ripoff) to an angle that they did in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but since both Malenko and Jericho are cruiserweights we go into…

-Hey those cruiserweights were pretty freaking great, weren’t they? And the answer is yes…yes they were. But, if you’re reading this that means you’re a diehard wrestling fan and have already seen Malenko-Mysterio from Halloween Havoc a million times.

-We move to Bill Goldberg and a pair of the most ridiculous sunglasses I’ve ever seen…

-Goldberg was about to sign with the WWF, but Bischoff brings him to the Power Plant, the WCW’s wrestling school, and he destroys Bill DeMott (Hugh Morris, one of the worst wrestling names ever) to kick off the streak that would bring WCW to the summit. Goldberg looking into the camera after the win and saying “That’s one.” is still awesome. Bill’s entrance with the police escort and walking through fire would get almost anyone over as a badass.

-So, once again, revenues are flying skyward with the nWo running roughshod, the cruiserweights flying around, and Goldberg destroying people. WCW beats Raw in the ratings for almost two full years, Starrcade 1997 does a HUGE buyrate with Sting vs. Hogan headlining, but Bischoff’s head is starting to get awful big…

-Diamond Dallas Page talks about getting Karl Malone involved in WCW and Bischoff books them against Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach 1998. Big Show mentions how anytime someone new comes in, the main eventers salary all go up, including Rodman and Malone. Then, they bring in Jay Leno to team with Page against Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Yes, this match was freaking TERRIBLE. Jericho mentions how stupid it was to have Jay Leno beat up Hulk Hogan just so photographers could take pictures of it for the newspapers.

Part IV: WCW freaking SUCKS!!

-Back to Goldberg, who finds out he’s going to be wrestling for the World title by watching Thunder on the Thursday night before. So July 1998, Bischoff gives away a guaranteed monster buyrate and sold-out PPV just to beat Raw in the ratings, which he does…and promptly gets beat again the next week. 40,000 people showed up for the Nitro, but they lost MILLIONS by not waiting to give fans that match.

-Chinks in the armor start to show. At Halloween Havoc 1998, during the main event of DDP-Goldberg, PPV companies halted the feed at 11pm because WCW told them that was the end of the show. Of course, the match had just started so thousands who had paid money for the show demanded a refund, which the company had to do. They also aired the main event for free the next night on Nitro, angering the fans who DIDN’T get a refund for wasting money on something they could have seen for free.

-Now to the two events that possibly causes WCW to begin it’s downfall: Starrcade 1998 and the Fingerpoke of Doom. At Starrcade, Scott Hall shocks Goldberg with a cattle prod, allowing Nash to pin him for the World title and end the undefeated streak. The next night on Nitro, Hulk Hogan comes out of “retirement” to wrestle Kevin Nash. Hulk places one finger on Nash, who flops to the mat like he was shot, and suddenly Hogan was World champion again and Bill Goldberg’s momentum as a draw was totally killed.

-Big Show, then known as The Giant, was making 1/6th of what the rest of the New World Order was and, when he asked for a raise, he was told no way. Chris Jericho and Dean Malenko followed shortly thereafter, along with Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero.

-On we go to the infamous Vince Russo, which JR thinks was a desperate move. As has been said a million times before, Russo needed a filter like Vince McMahon to keep the ridiculous ideas out of the show like the KISS Demon, the KISS concert, and, of course…David Arquette (cue MORE ominous music).

-So David Arquette scores a fluke pinfall on Jeff Jarrett during a tag team match and becomes WCW World Champion (don’t ask, it’s Russo). While they got some mainstream press out of it, the wrestling fans HATED it and even David Arquette himself knew it would flop. He desperately tried to talk Russo out of it but Vince insisted, so he donated all his earnings to Owen Hart’s family. You can find all this stuff on WrestleCrap by the way, they cover this MUCH more in-depth. He also turned HEEL later, just to make it more ridiculous. The WCW World Title was pretty much worthless at this point.

-At Bash at the Beach 2000, Jeff Jarrett “shoots” on Hulk Hogan, forces Hogan to pin him, and Vince Russo throws the World title belt at him. There have been discussions at length as to whether this was really a shoot or not, but a real lawsuit definitely resulted and Hogan’s refusal to work for TNA was partly based on Vince Russo being there, so draw your own conclusions.

-People talk about “The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett not being able to draw money if you covered him in glue and dragged him through Fort Knox (my words, not theirs…but they should have been theirs). In Mike Graham’s words, he broke a thousand guitars and his “tiny Tennessee brain” thought he was the man. Ouch. David Crockett thinks they weren’t running it like a business, but a playground.

Part V: The Fall of WCW

-So AOL merges with Time-Warner and WCW loses it’s billionaire backer that stuck with them through thick and thin. AOL wants nothing to do with professional wrestling, plus WCW was losing money at a ridiculous rate so Vince McMahon gets to buy his longtime rival for a mere $3 million dollars. The freaking TAPE LIBRARY is worth more than that by itself. They don’t mention Bischoff’s efforts to buy the company.

-No one believed that Vince was really buying WCW until Shane McMahon showed up at Nitro in Panama City Beach, FL. This night was probably the one time I can honestly say that only a death in the family could have pulled me away from my television screen. Of course, McMahon goes and ruins it right away by having Shane buy the promotion in the storyline…but that’s a 10 page article for another time.

-Goldberg and Jericho talk about how bad it is that there is only one major company left in professional wrestling because talent doesn’t have a place to go if WWE doesn’t want them.

-We go back to the past as all the boys reminisce about how great things used to be. WCW gets credit for introducing new technology with old-school Good vs. Evil in order to make a new product that helped introduce wrestling to the next generation. They drew huge sell-out crowds for a period of time and you always have to thank WCW for being there.

Documentary Final Word

Well, this documentary was actually SHORTER than the ECW one, which is just unbelievable. What’s more unbelievable is how much was actually left off of this release. Where was talk about the amazing tag team matches? The Four Horseman? WAR GAMES?!? They didn’t mention the signing of Bret Hart, or the Hogan-Sting feud that carried the company for so long. They left out how watered down the New World Order became and how that contributed to the downfall of the company. They could have done SO much more with this DVD. Where I thought the ECW release covered the company’s rise and fall in such a comprehensive manner, this barely scratched the surface about a company that was the number 1 promotion the world for two years.

They easily could have done a four-hour feature about the company and STILL left things out, but to try and squeeze everything into 1 hour and 40 minutes is almost criminal. With all the rare footage they have, they NEEDED to show how great War Games was and how the Rock ‘n Roll Express used to have 16 year old girls trying to jump the rail to save Ricky Morton from the Andersons. I know some of this was covered on other sets, but this is supposed to be the definitive WCW biography and it wasn’t close to that. Don’t get me wrong, the documentary is extremely interesting and has lots of great stuff in it, but it’s just disappointing that so much was left out. If you just buy this set for the documentary, you will be left asking where this was, or where that was. Unless you were a fan of WCW’s in-ring product, you might want to wait until they just put the documentary on WWE 24/7 like they usually do after a few months.

$1000 Challenge Match
Ric Flair vs. Magnum TA
From June 15, 1985. We actually start with a Flair interview, running down the rest of the promotion and proclaiming himself the greatest. This draws out Magnum, who lays down $1000 to say that Flair can’t beat him in the 10 minutes remaining in the show. Flair isn’t one to back down from a challenge, so he’s forced to teach Magnum a lesson and hurt him.

Flair chops Magnum, who slugs him down to prove he won’t be intimidated, and then hits Ric with a dropkick. Flair comes back and lays some hard shots in the corner, but ends up taking a backdrop and a Flair Flop. The Andersons make their way to ringside while Magnum hits a suplex and gets two. Ole and Arn proclaim Flair to be a cousin of theirs, giving us a precursor to the Four Horseman. Flair chops away and hits a kneedrop which sets up a suplex for two. Abdominal stretch (using the ropes, of course) but Magnum breaks and gets a small package for two. Slugfest in the corner, won by Magnum, who tosses Ric into a Flair Flip into the corner and to the floor while Arn flips out, calling for a disqualification. Ric drops Magnum’s neck on the top rope and ACTUALLY HITS THE TOP ROPE DOUBLE AX! Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hit that thing. Flair dumps him to the floor and introduces his shoulder to the post. Back inside, Flair works the shoulder and uses the hair to keep Magnum down. Magnum comes back with an Irish whip to the corner and now it’s his turn to work the shoulder, which was hit on the turnbuckle. Magnum gets a schoolboy for two, then a right hand for two. Magnum gets another backdrop for a near fall, but a splash attempt only hits knees. They fight over a backslide and Magnum wins to get a two count. Press slam gets another near fall but he tries the dropkick again and Flair moves out of the way to watch Magnum splat to the mat and get two. Flair heads to the top, but plays to the ground and gets slammed off so Magnum locks on the Figure Four as time expires.
Winner: Magnum TA by time limit

-The Andersons, of course, run in and all three future Horseman absolutely destroy Magnum until Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater clear them out. This gets *** and it would have been more if it had an ending, but 1985 Flair basically bottomed out at *** no matter what opponent he had.

Sting, Lex Luger, & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & Ric Flair
From The Main Event in April 1988. Windham starts with Tully and gets a hiptoss to allow all the faces to tee off on Blanchard. This crowd is RABID. Tully drives Barry into the heel corner, but he fights out and the match is threatening to break into an all out brawl. Luger and Barry double team Tully and Windham hits a powerslam for two. Tully and Barry brawl on the outside and Windham sends him inside to lock on a sleeper. Flair tags in and hits Barry with a back suplex then they have a really good wrestling exhibition, resulting in two for Windham. Flair takes a breather on the outside, so Arn and Sting tag in for some fun. Sting dominates Arn and tosses Flair off the top rope when he gets annoying. Tully comes back in but gets tosses around the ring and takes down with a flying headscissors. Sting tags in Luger, who sends Tully HARD to the corner and follows with a vertical suplex and a bearhug. A Flair cheapshot allows a tag to Arn, who plants Luger with a DDT and gets two. The heels cheat like crazy and double team Luger every chance they get as the crowd goes nuts. Arn hits his trademark spinebuster for two and a Luger comeback is stopped by a Tully Blanchard neckbreaker. More cheating follows and another Luger comeback is stopped by Arn Anderson’s knee. Delayed vertical suplex for Flair gets, appropriately, a delayed sell from Luger who FINALLY gets the hot tag to Barry Windham and he just destroys the whole heel team, hitting a powerslam on Tully but he gets excited and misses a body press. Barry gets a schoolboy for two, broken by Flair and now it’s a PIER 6 BRAWL~! JJ Dillion tosses Tully an international object in the confusion and he knocks out Windham with it to get the pin.
Winners: Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & Ric Flair

-Just a great 6-man tag match that had the crowd roaring and me trying to keep track of everything. This was like watching a WWE 6-man in fast forward, which is very good. ***1/2

United States Championship
Dusty Rhodes vs. Barry Windham
From the Great American Bash 1988, where Windham is now in full Four Horseman mode and was having AWESOME matches with everyone on the planet. Rhodes and Windham are former best friends and this feud was hot as hell coming into this event. Dusty hits a hiptoss and a shoulderblock, so Barry takes a powder. Back in, criss-cross leads to Windham taking a press slam and a DDT. Rhodes goes UP TOP?!?!!? High cross body gets a close two and Windham takes another powder, shocked by Dusty’s quick start. Barry returns they have a slugfest, won by Dusty, who flips, flops, and flies, then JJ Dillion takes a shot to the face as the crowd roars approval. Barry suckers Dusty into a test of strength and cheapshots him, then beats on Big Dust outside the ring. Nice, stiff shots set up a piledriver attempt but Rhodes backdrops Barry and clotheslines the hell out of him. Back inside, Barry slugs away in the corner and we go outside again where Dusty’s head hits the apron. Barry tries to bring him in the hard way, but Dusty slingshots him to the outside and slams Windham on the floor.

JJ Dillion distracts Dusty long enough for Barry to attack and hit an elbowdrop. IRON CLAW is locked on and Dusty doesn’t sell it too well. I say that because this was Windham’s finisher and he was destroying people on TV with it, but Dusty doesn’t seem like he’s in too much trouble. After a few two counts, Dusty fights to his feet (adjusting his shorts while doing so) while dancing. He climbs the ropes to escape and cocks the elbow, but can’t hit it. He keeps fighting and teasing the elbow a few times before finally hitting it and trying to apply the figure four, but Barry counters with another claw. Rhodes goes back to the second rope so Windham tries for a superplex, but Dusty counters and Tommy Young is bumped to the outside. Rhodes slams Barry off the top rope and hits the elbowdrop but there’s no referee. Ronnie Garvin runs in and KOs Dusty with the Hands of Stone, so Barry crawls over and applies the Iron Claw to get the win.
Winner and STILL Champion: Barry Windham

-Barry basically wrestled himself here, bumping all over the place for Dusty and spending a lot of time on the floor to brawl. Definitely slower than the last two, and guess why? **1/4

NWA World Title
Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat
From Chi-Town Rumble 1989, and yes this is awesome. Flair has many lovely ladies with 1980s hair to flank his entrance because he is the man. Quick tackle gets two for Steamboat and when Flair goes to the mat he grabs a headlock. Steamer reverses a back suplex to a roll-up for two so Ric takes a breather on the outside. Back in, they chop like MEN and Flair takes a backdrop and cowers in the corner. Flair grabs a hammerlock, but Steamboat breaks and hits a dropkick then grabs a headlock for two (Crowd: OOOOOOO!). They fight over this headlock in such a great way that I wish someone could even come close to these two. Flair gets to his feet and they exchange HARD chops but Steamboat one-ups Flair with a GIANT chop for two and Ric takes a roll to the outside. These two have the crowd in the palms of their hands, you can just feel it. Back inside, Flair gets a tackle but Ricky hits a chop that Flair sells by diving to the outside in a great moment. They play mind games with each other over a test of strength and Steamboat gets flying headscissors and a dropkick, then takes Flair over with a side headlock for a two count. Ric fights out and they exchange more wicked chops and Flair goes tumbling over the top from another big chop. Flair is selling these chops like death, putting Steamboat over huge.

Ric gets pisses and drags Steamboat to the outside and cheats like crazy, bashing Ricky against the ringside railing as the crowd loves every second of it. Back in, kneedrop gets two so he adds a double-arm suplex for another near fall. I seriously have never seen two guys hitting each other with chops as hard as these guys are. I’m literally wincing every time they hit each other. Flair Flip in the corner leads to a high cross body, but Steamer rolls through for two. Flair comes back with an inverted atomic drop and immediately goes to the figure four, using the ropes. Crowd is getting REALLY into this now. The referee finally catches him and makes Ric break the hold so they can chop the shit out of each other some more. A Flair cross body sends both men flying over the top and to the floor, but Steamboat is the worst off and Ric runs him into the post. Flair brings Steamboat in with a suplex for a few two counts and a back suplex gets another two. Backbreaker gets two for Flair while he uses the ropes and the crowd has a collective heart attack as the referee doesn’t notice. Ric gets distracted with the crowd so Steamer rolls him up for two but he misses a high cross body.

They have another nice wrestling sequence and hits his own double-arm suplex for two when Flair gets his foot on the ropes. Hiptoss is countered into a backslide by Steamboat for two and they trade more huge chops just because they can. Ricky hits a clothesline out of the corner and a flying tackle puts Flair down. Dragon heads up top and hits the big chop as the entire crowd is on its feet and JR is shitting himself. Steamboat hits the cross body off the top rope, but Tommy Young gets bumped in the move and Flair rolls him up with the tights but no referee. Ric dumps Steamboat over the top, but Steamer skins the cat back in however he misses the flying body press. Flair goes for the kill but Steamboat grabs a small package and Teddy Long slides in the count the winning pinfall.
Winner and NEW Champion: Ricky Steamboat

-Just an awesome wrestling match from two of the best to ever do it. The chops were absolutely mind-blowing and the mind games they played were so much fun to watch. It’s not a perfect match, but it’s damn close ****1/2.

Rock ‘n Roll Express vs. Midnight Express
From Wrestle War in 1990. This is very late in their series of matches, as every single match these guys had was great in the 1980s, but all good things must end I suppose. The Midnights do their usual schtick while JR makes gay jokes about Jim Cornette. Stan Lane starts with Robert Gibson and they exchange armdrags, then Gibson hits a tackle with hits a fist drop, causing Stan to roll to the outside. Cornette complains about the closed fist, leading to Nick Patrick punking out Jim Cornette. Now, Jimmy wants to fight so Patrick charges him and Cornette tumbles out of the ring. Pretty funny. Lane and Ricky Morton go at it and Morton takes them both out with an atomic drop, causing dissension in the heels. Lane gets back in and slugs away, but Bobby Eaton comes in and takes an armdrag. Test of strength time and Morton walks on his shoulders to break in a very cool spot so Lane comes in and takes a kick to the ass to send him to the outside. Cornette gets involved again and Morton makes him pay and then gives the Midnights a double noggin knocker to send them running again.

Bobby Eaton slugs away on Gibson, but Morton gets the tag and they double team both guys to stay in control. Back in, Lane gets caught in the face corner and double-teamed, but Lane fights back and dumps Ricky Morton, however it’s Lane that hits the post. Eaton gives it a shot now and slaps the taste out of Morton’s mouth, triggering a slugfest. Both men go tumbling over the top and to the floor, so Stan Lane gets his cheap shot in. Morton is hurt by a backbreaker as Ricky is now in the role he’s played for years: Getting his ass beat. They double team Morton and Cornette adds a shot from his tennis racket before more double-teaming from the heels. Lane draws Gibson into the ring with a cheapshot while Eaton drops Morton throat-first on the ringside railing. Cornette throws some sissy-girl shots at him to anger the crowd and Lane gets two back inside. Morton gets a sunset flip out of nowhere, but Cornette had the referee, allowing Lane to choke out Ricky and stay in control. Another Morton hope spot is stopped by a blind tag and a neckbreaker from Eaton.

The Midnights choke Morton out but Lane gets caught with his head down and has to tag out. Eaton hits an armbreaker and goes right to a hammerlock to punish Morton’s arm. Lane comes in with a double shot to the throat and a chinlock before Bobby comes back in with a body slam and a flying elbow for two. Lane occupies the referee to allow Cornette more cheapshots and then goes to the armbar to stay on the injured body part. Stan brings back in Bobby, who sends Morton shoulder-first into the corner, then follows with another armbreaker and hammerlock. Morton whips Bobby into the corner to counter, but they crack heads and Stan is able to make the tag and hit a sideslam. Eaton is tagged in and they try for the Rocket Launcher, but Morton gets his knees up and is able to get the hot tag to Gibson, who beats the hell out of everything in the ring. Now all four men are in the ring and Cornette gets a HUGE shot with his tennis racket on Robert Gibson, but Eaton only gets two. The Midnights try a double flapjack but Morton comes flying in to break it up and Gibson rolls up Stan for the win.
Winners: The Rock N Roll Express

-A really great tag team match that showcased all the spots that the two teams busted out over the years. Even though both were past their primes, they still pulled out one last great one to close out their 1980s rivalry. Gibson would be injured later that year and return as a heel in a really bad angle as a member of the “York Foundation” managed by Terri Runnels. Wish they would have picked a match from 1986, but this will do ****.

NWA United States Tag Titles
Midnight Express vs. The Southern Boys
From the Great American Bash 1990. The Southern Boys are Steve Armstrong (brother of Road Dogg/BG James) and Tracy Smothers. They would later turn heel and be known as the Young Pistols. The Midnights jump the Boys before the bell and dump them to the outside, where everyone brawls. Back inside, the Boys double team Eaton and then clobber “Sweet” Stan as well. Eaton takes over on Armstrong with a slam but gets caught and slammed off the top. Bobby catches Steve on a leapfrog, but Armstrong turns it into a monkey flip and follows with a dropkick and a clothesline off the top. Smothers tags in and Eaton takes a double arm wringer, so he needs a conference with his partner. It doesn’t work because Smothers hits a sweet savate kick to put him down. Eaton can’t get anything going and takes another kick to the face so he tags in Stan Lane. A master of martial arts himself, Lane stretches out and then challenges Smothers to a karate exhibition which Smothers win, drawing a big reaction from the crowd.

Lane recovers so he and Smothers have a wrestling counter sequence before Eaton comes in and takes an armbar. Tracy confuses Eaton with kicks all over the ring but Lane comes in to gain control for the heels. Awesome double team sequence follows with Armstrong coming in the ring with a HUGE high cross body for two that has Cornette in hysterics. The Midnights gather themselves and decide to cheat like hell in order to take over on Tracy Smothers with Stan Lane running him into the ringside railing and Cornette adding a racket shot. More Cornette distractions allows Lane to send Smothers flying into the railing off the apron and now the double teaming can really start. The Midnights bust out all of their trademark spots to control Smothers and use frequent tags to get a two count here and there. Eaton hits a legdrop from the top rope and tags in Lane, who controls Smothers long enough for Bobby to recover and hit a neckbreaker, drawing a FACE reaction from the pro-Midnight Express crowd.

Lane comes in with a double-arm suplex for two and another Smothers comeback attempt goes nowhere. Smothers finally counters an Express double team and gets the HOT tag to Steve Armstrong who kicks the hell out of everyone and the match turns into a big brawl. The Southern Boys hit their Doomsday dropkick, but the referee is occupied with Bobby Eaton, allowing Lane to attack Armstrong and the Midnights to hit their Rocket Launcher, but it somehow only gets two. Smothers rolls up Eaton out of nowhere for a close two and, as the referee is clearing the ring out, Lane hits a SWEET kick to the back of Tracy’s head and the Midnights barely escape with the titles.
Winners and STILL Champions: The Midnight Express

-WOW that was amazingly good. All young tag teams should watch this match to understand how to work a fast-paced tag match that keeps the crowd going the whole time. The Midnights were doing this stuff for the entire 1980s, but there is a reason that Jim Cornette called this one of the best Midnight Express matches ever. ****3/4

WCW World Tag Team Titles
The Steiner Brothers vs. Sting and Lex Luger
From Superbrawl 1991, the first one. Scott is rocking the pink tights tonight…I would make fun of him but he’d probably find my address and kill me in my sleep. Luger and Rick do the whole feeling-out process thing as Steiner uses his amateur skills and Lex uses his power. Speaking of power, a Luger powerslam gets two but he misses a blind charge and takes a German suplex followed by a clothesline for two. Back body drop hits but Luger EXPLODES out of the corner with a hard clothesline and follows with a press slam and a tag to Sting. Rick goes up and over the top rope and Stinger follows him out with a big plancha. Back inside, Sting hits a bulldog, but that’s no-sold because Rick’s head can’t be hurt, so Sting picks him up and runs him hard into the corner. Stinger Splash misses however and Scott comes in with a PISSED OFF double-arm powerbomb and a tilt-a-whirl suplex as the crowd goes nuts. Sting comes back with a stungun out of nowhere and tags in Flexy Lexy who hits a suplex while Sting recovers.

Sting comes back in but takes an inverted atomic drop and a belly-to-belly suplex off the second rope for two. Scotty misses a clothesline against the ropes and goes flying, so Luger comes in with another suplex for a near fall. Steiner counters a powerslam attempt with a uranage but Luger still manages to hit the powerslam anyways. Luger tries for the Torture Rack, but Scott hits a russian leg sweep and makes the blind tag to Rick, who comes off the top with a bulldog for two. Sting comes in with a missile dropkick to break everything up, which Scott does not like. After control is regained, Rick and Lex bump heads for the double KO and they both make a hot tag. Sting hits a belly-to-back suplex but puts his head down early and gets hooked in the tombstone piledriver, but Stinger manages to reverse it and hit his own for two, broken by Rick. A big brawl erupts and the referee gets destroyed by Rick and Lex, but inside the ring Sting his the Stinger Splash as Nikita Koloff makes his was to ringside. Nikita tries to nail Luger with a chain from behind but Sting, being the hero, pushes him out of the way and takes the shot himself and Scott rolls over and gets the pin.
Winners and STILL Champions: The Steiner Brothers

-A really good tag match that showcased how good the Steiners were at this point. I wish it were longer but it wasn’t so it gets ****, still a very VERY good match.

WCW World Heavyweight Title
Sting vs. Big Van Vader
From the Great American Bash 1992. I swear, it seems like these two much have wrestled each other at least 394572173 times. This is only the second match, in case you care. Vader attacked Sting a few weeks before this in order to build to the match. Vader brutalizes Sting in the corner with STIFF shots and a clothesline sends Sting outside to recover. Back in, Vader no-sells all of Sting’s offense but misses a blind charge and takes a back suplex and gets clotheslined to the outside. After some advice from Harley Race, Vader comes back in and wants a test of strength, but STING goes to the eyes and hits a dropkick to send Vader to the apron and then actually suplexes him back in for two. Stinger charges and gets put down but grabs a small package for another two, causing Vader to roll to the outside again. Back in, Vader counters a sunset flip by sitting on Sting’s chest, an extremely effective move, then following with a pair of elbowdrops and a big splash which gets two. Vader chokes Sting out and then locks on the Scorpion Deathlock just to be an asshole.

Stinger finally breaks but Vader continues destroying him with big shots and clotheslines that are stiff as hell before a powerslam gets two. Sting mounts a comeback with a rolling kick and a DDT, then manages to catch Vader going to the top rope and kicks the hell out of him. Sting struggles and manages to get a Samoan drop for two, but the champion is running out of gas. The referee gets bumped as Sting hits a german suplex, resulting in him only getting two, but a Stinger Splash hits in the corner. He tries another one but jumps too high and smacks his head off the ring post, busting himself open. That’s not good at all, especially with Vader in the ring. Vader just toys with him and powerbombs the shit out of him. Sting is DEAD.
Winner and NEW Champion: Big Van Vader

-A really good big vs. small match with Sting putting Vader over HUGE by selling everything he did like death and letting himself be destroyed by the monster. To say the crowd is in shock would be putting it mildly. ***3/4

WCW International Heavyweight Title
Rick Rude vs. Sting
If you don’t know what the WCW International title is, please just go look it up because my head hurts just thinking about it. This is from Spring Stampede 1994 and I don’t remember this being a really good match, but let’s see. Harley Race challenges the winner of this match for Vader, so Sting beats him up. Sting then beats the hell out of Rude right off the opening bell and suplexes him on the floor. Back inside, Sting controls with a back suplex for two, then grabs a front facelock before dropping three elbows for two. We go back to the front facelock until Rude crotches him on the top rope and clotheslines Sting to the outside. They both head back inside and Rude hits a back suplex for two before grabbing a chinlock for a while. Rude gets two before going back to the reverse chinlock and boring me further. Sting finally powers out and they fight over a victory roll before Rick locks on a sleeper. You don’t need a sleeper to put someone to bed Rick, just show them this match.

Rude breaks the sleeper for no reason and slugs away but Sting no-sells them and hits an atomic drop and then an inverted one as well. Series of clotheslines lead to a back body drop (not sold well AT ALL by Rude) and the referee gets smashed during a Stinger Splash. Sting applied the Scorpion Deathlock but there’s no referee so Harley Race and Vader run-in. Sting manages to take care of both of them, but Rude clips the knee and goes for the Rude Awakening, but Race hits Rude with a chair by accident and Sting gets the pin.
Winner and NEW Champion: Sting

-This really was a mess from the beginning, with no real story told and no psychology to speak of. The whole first part of the match was boring submission moves and Race was late on the finish. This gets ** and likes it. The rematch with Sting from this contest would actually be Rude’s last match.

WCW World Title
Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan
From Bash at the Beach 1994. Flair had actually been a squeaky-clean babyface up until they signed Hogan and then he did a heel turn out of nowhere so WCW could do this match. Hulk shoulderblocks Flair down and overpowers him. Heenan says Hogan has “slimmed down”, but that might have something to do with that Vince McMahon trial in 1994, don’t you think? Flair styles and profiles and Hogan does the same before Flair works the arm. That goes on for awhile until Hulk reverses and works an armbar before Ric bails and hides behind Sherri Martell. Flair gets back in and Hogan shows him up, so Ric charges and gets slugged down. Corner clothesline causes Flair to beg off and bail behind Sherri again when the big boot first shows itself. Ric suckers him into the ring and takes over with chops in the corner. Kneedrop misses and Hulk hits a clothesline and runs Flair to the corner. Sherri grabs Hogan’s leg, allowing for a cheapshot from Flair and drawing “WOOOO” from some of the crowd.

Flair chops Hulk to the outside, where Jimmy Hary and Sherri have an altercation while Flair runs Hogan to the security rail. Back in, Flair hits the kneedrop this time but Hulk fires back with right hands then hits a clothesline with Flair coming out of the corner for two. Ric comes back and grabs a half-sleeper while Heenan does his “what did you just say? It’s so loud in here!” bit. I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned that 50 people at the airport were gathered at the bar talking about WCW yet. Hulk finally powers out and sends Flair into the corner, triggering a Flair Flip and a battle on the outside, where Hogan hits a back suplex. Hulk suplexes him back inside but misses the legdrop, hurting his leg and causing Flair to go for the figure four, but Hogan small packages him for two. Ric keeps going for the figure four, but Hulk keeps kicking him off until Flair suplexes him, which Hulk immediately no-sells and ignores the previous knee injury.

Big boot gets two when Sherri pulls the referee out, then she knocks out Jimmy Hart for good measure. Flair uses this opportunity to clip Hulk’s knee and allow Sherri to splash him from the top rope. Ric locks on the figure four as Nick Patrick takes over refereeing duties, but Hogan fights to the ropes. Flair goes to work on the knee as only he can and puts him down with an elbow. This time Sherri’s splash misses and Flair gets tossed from the top rope. Clothesline gets rid of Sherri and Hulk puts the figure four on Flair, but Sherri tosses an international object to Flair, who decks Hulk. That gets two of course because it’s Hulk Up time, the usual follows and you’ve got a new champion.
Winner and NEW Champion: Hulk Hogan

-Thus kicks off the Hulk Hogan era in WCW, but the match was totally and completely carried by His Highness Ric Flair. They were going for “epic” here, but barely reached “good”. Heenan’s rant about Hogan setting a PPV record BEFORE THE SHOW IS EVEN OVER is just ridiculous. *** because Flair is a miracle worker.

WCW World Championship
Ric Flair vs. The Giant
From Monday Night Nitro in April 1996. The Giant is, of course, Big Show minus about 300 lbs. Ric has Miss Elizabeth and Woman (Nancy Benoit) with him….of course both of them are dead as a result of the wrestlers they were in relationships with. Well hell, that’s depressing. Flair hits on Debra McMichael, who is sitting in front row, just because he can. Flair’s offense has no effect so he bails while Steve McMichael calls The Giant a great “ath-u-lete”. Ric tries again and gets press slammed and dumped to the outside. Flair runs away until he can safely poke the Giant in the eyes, but he gets slammed off the top rope and gets suplexed. Giant tries a chokeslam but Flair holds onto the ropes, waits until the refs back is turned, and nails Giant in the balls.

Jimmy Hart gets occupied with the referee, so Flair pulls something out of his tights and nails the Giant with it (get your mind out of the gutter). Flair applies the figure four, but the Giant channels the Undertaker, sits straight up, grabs Ric by the throat and chokeslams him for the win and title.
Winner and NEW Champion: The Giant

-Typical TV match here with Giant no-selling everything and Flair resorting to cheating. **

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko
From Clash of the Champions XXXIII in 1996. Dean attacks before the bell and hits a snap suplex but Rey runs him into the corner and hits a dropkick, sending Malenko to the outside and hitting a flying headscissors off a baseball slide. Back in, a beautiful lucha sequence leads to a springboard moonsault getting two for Rey so Malenko takes a breather. Dean comes back with an AWESOME over the shoulders stungun and a brainbuster for two., Rey Rey rolls up Dean for two, but can’t keep control and Malenko goes to the chinlock before hitting a running knee to the gut.

After a commercial break, Rey catches himself on the ropes during a stungun, flips out of a reverse DDT attempt and rolls Dean up for two in another really good sequence. A punch to the fact puts Dean back in control and he grabs a leg grapevine to try and ground Mysterio. He lets Rey go in order to toss Rey 10 feet in the air before getting two and going back to a chinlock. He lets him up again, but Rey sends him to the outside and hits a somersault senton to the outside. Dean tries to send him into the security railing but Rey springs off the railing and hits a moonsault. Rey tosses Malenko back in and hits a springboard dropkick for two, then counters a tilt-a-whirl for two before hitting a hurricanrana for another two. Another fast sequence ends up with both men on top of the turnbuckles and Dean brings Rey off with THE BIGGEST GUTBUSTER EVER for the pin, but Rey’s foot was on the ropes. In a total miscarriage of justice, Dean is strapping on the belt and Rey takes him over in a victory roll for the pin. REY IS A CHEAT!
Winner and STILL Champion: Rey Mysterio Jr.

-They would have better matches than this but the gutbuster alone adds 1/4*….***1/2

War Games
Team WCW- Sting, Lex Luger, Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Team nWo.- Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & a Mystery Partner
From Fall Brawl 1996. If you don’t know the story, the nWo was claiming that Sting was their mystery partner, while Sting kept telling everyone around him that he wasn’t a traitor. All this evidence built up against Sting’s word and none of his partners trusted him entering the match, figuring that Sting was nWo 4 life and that it was going to be a handicap match. Notice that Sting is also on Team WCW, this becomes important later on. If you don’t know the rules (AND YOU SHOULD DAMMIT!), one man from each team starts off in the double ring surrounded by the cage and then every few minutes whatever team wins the coin toss (ALWAYS the heels) gets the next guy in. Once all the team members have entered, the “Match Beyond” begins and a victory can only come by submission. Got all that? Great.

Arn Anderson starts with Scott Hall and they slug away on one another while the crowd chants “Razor! Razor!” at Hall. Both men taste the cage and there’s a lot of punching and kicking going on before AA works the knee. More punchy-kicky stuff results in Hall taking a sleeper as nothing really is happening in this first period. The heels, of course, win the coin toss and Kevin Nash enters the match as Arn Anderson is working a half crab. The Enforcer gets the absolute living hell beat out of him by the Outsiders and hits the cage multiple times. Finally, Lex Luger enters the match early, clotheslines everything in sight and sends them both into the cage. A pair of flying clotheslines puts both heels down, but the lack of blood is kind of weird so far. Arn Anderson wakes up and helps with the beating before the bell sounds again and Hollywood Hogan joins us in the ring. Luger and AA double team Hogan to the delight of the crowd, but the numbers game catches up with them and they start getting beat down again. T

he fans start with a LOUD “We Want Flair” chant while Nash and Hall work over Luger in the corner. Flair hits the ring to a big response and challenges them all to come into his ring. Hogan answers the challenge and gets his ass kicked because Ric is the MAN and brought a foreign object with him. He kicks everyone in the balls so Luger and AA start kicking people in the nuts. Flair has the figure four on Hogan as the mystery partner comes out and it’s Sting (or is it?). “Sting” works over the former Horseman as the announcers proclaim WCW dead and buried. The crowd, however, is not fooled and chants “We want Sting!”

Stinger Splash hits on Team WCW as the final period winds down and everyone turns to see…STING? Yes, it’s the real Sting who comes FLYING into the ring and gets absolutely destroys anything that moves. He’s so dominant that the rest of the team just stands around and watches him. After the nWo has been laid out, Sting tells Luger where to stick it and walks out on WCW for the rest of his career, a whole 5 years. Without Sting, WCW gets beat down for a little bit before the New World Order’s Sting puts Lex in the Scorpion Deathlock and he gives it up.
Winners: Team nWo

-Sting’s departure led to the HUGE Hogan-Sting angle that carried the company all through 1997 and made millions for WCW. He would not wrestle again until Starrcade 1997 and never returned to fight on WCW’s side. The match, on the other hand, left the crowd completely in shock and wasn’t very good to boot. Usually War Games are bloody and brutal, this on was not. **3/4 A bit of trivia stolen from Scott Keith: What was the last thing Sting said in his prematch interview before staying silent for the next year? “I’ll see you in awhile.”

[i[Ladder Match for the United States Championship[/i]
Syxx vs. Eddie Guerrero
From Souled Out 1997, the New World Order’s very own PPV. Because this is their PPV, Eddie gets no entrance music, just an announcer calling him a loser and a “Mexican jumping bean.” They start with fast-paced stuff and Syxx hits a spinning heel kick while Bischoff goes nuts calling it a “back leg round kick”. They screw up a spot off of the ropes, so they repeat the spot (something you’re never supposed to do) and Eddie gets a backbreaker, causing Syxx to bail to the outside. Eddie comes off the top rope with a huge body press as I get motion sickness from whatever camera they are using for the shot.

Syxx comes back with a kick off the top rope and hits the Bronco Buster in the corner. Eddie comes back with a dropkick that sends Syxx to the outside, but he hooks Guerrero and suplexes him to the outside and follows with a somersault senton. Bischoff says he took off from “3/4 of the way across the ring” which is not only humanly impossible, but not even close to correct. Uncle Eric is drunk. Syxx uses the ladder to drive Eddie into the apron then they fight over the ladder and it gets launched into Syxx’s jaw. Ouch. Eddie chops away but gets sent hard into the ladder, which was set up in the corner.

Another “ouch” spot as Syxx sends him knee-first into the ladder and then hits a suplex while Bischoff and DiBiase insist that Scott Hall “invented” the ladder match. OOOOOOKAY guys. Syxx tries to ride the ladder down, a la HBK, but Eddie dropkicks it back into his face and hits a superplex. They both climb the ladder and Syxx dropkicks Eddie off (called a “reverse jump side kick” by Eric) in a sick spot. Syxx tries for the belt but Eddie shoves the ladder over and Syxx gets clotheslined on the top rope. Both guys climb again and grab the belt at the same time and fight over it, but Eddie smashes Syxx in the face with it to claim the title and win.
Winner and NEW Champion: Eddie Guerrero

-I’m not sure what to make of the match because it was a little different from all the other ones I’ve seen. I know it’s not a classic or anything, but there were some sick spots so I’m going to go ***3/4 and say it’s really good but not great.

No Disqualification for United States Title
Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko
This should be really good as Eddie is now showing more and more signs of becoming the lying, cheating, and stealing guy that we would come to know and love. Shoving and slugging establish that they don’t like each other and Dean shoulderblocks him to the floor. Eddie comes back in and Dean stomps the hell out of him in the corner and hit a suplex before laying the badmouth on him. Eddie comes back and does his own stomping while Dusty goes insane with his metaphors, but Dean drops him on the top turnbuckle and works the leg with a half crab. Malenko dumps him over the top and to the floor and then nails him with the US title back inside the ring then a hard clothesline gets two. Dean charges and gets hit with a uranage (Rock Bottom) and gets dropkicked in the knee. Eddie works the knee like a mofo, using the slingshot senton on it for a nice touch before going to a leglock and turning it into an STF. They brawl to the floor while the announcers ignore the match because Rick Steiner got attacked by the New World Order backstage.

Dean tries to walk up the ring steps but Eddie dropkicks his knee against the post in a sweet spot and then locks on the figure four (using the ropes!) back inside the ring. Malenko manages to get out of it but takes a pair of uppercuts and an elbow to the face. Slingshot senton misses this time and Dean rolls to the floor but Eddie still hits a baseball slide. Guerrero tries to hit a top rope cross body but he hits nothing but railing and hits hard. Back inside, Dean-o Machine-o works the arm, but Eddie comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a powerbomb for two. They show off that they are awesome wrestlers with a sequence that ends with Eddie getting two, but Malenko fights back with a SWEET powerslam and a FROG SPLASH, then picks Eddie up at two. That’s awesome. Eddie counters a powerbomb with a headscissors takeover but Dean hits him with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. They trade two counts and Dean hits an awesome german suplex for another two count. Guerrero mounts a comeback with a HUGE tornado DDT from and then locks on Dean’s Texas Cloverleaf. Syxx makes his way to ringside to try to steal the US Title, but Eddie gets hold of his hair. Dean uses this opportunity to grab Syxx’s video camera, break it over Eddie’s head and get the title.
Winner and NEW Champion: Dean Malenko

-Come on, it’s Malenko-Eddie, how could it NOT be great? I wish Syxx would have stayed in the back picturing Chyna naked, but the match was still awesome ****1/4.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship Title vs. Mask Match
Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera
From Superbrawl VIII in 1998. Jericho is in the middle of an AWESOME heel character that I loved and wish he would bring back. Jericho refuses to give the title to the referee, so the bell just rings and Chris quickly gives it up after getting kicked in the gut. Juvy hits a spinning heel kick but the future Y2J quickly takes control with chops before getting hit with a springboard spinning heel chick. Jericho is on the apron, so Juvy comes off the top with a flying headscissors, sending Jericho to the floor. Chris tries to be sneaky and get intentionally counted out, which is great, so Guerrera drags him back inside to chop the shit out of him but gets clotheslined on the top rope and dropkicked to the outside. Jericho tries to use the ring steps as a springboard, but Guerrera sends him HARD into the ringside railing. That had to hurt.

Back inside, Jericho catches him with a piledriver for two then follows with an ARROGANT COVER for two. That would get over huge today on Raw if he started doing it again. Juvy gets a victory roll for two but Jericho comes right back with a delayed vertical suplex for two. Jericho gets a backbreaker submission and thinks Guerrera submitted and throws a temper tantrum when the referee doesn’t agree. Both men fight to the top rope and Jericho gets shoved off, but manages to counter Juvy’s move with an electric chair drop. Jericho heads up top, but Guerrera dropkicks him to the floor and follows with a big Air Juvy to the floor. Back inside, Guerrera catches him with a tombstone piledriver and hits the 450 splash for the win…BUT Jericho was in the ropes and the match must continue.

Chris clips the knee but Juvy still manages to roll him up for two. Powerbomb is countered by Guerrera for two and he hits an inverted atomic drop. Springboard headscissors with Jericho sitting on the top rope hits and it triggers a wrestling sequence ending with Jericho hitting an inverted suplex. Liontamer is countered by a rollup for two by Juvy. Guerrera tries for a hurricanrana but Jericho hooks him and applies the Liontamer for the submission and the mask.
Winner and STILL Champion: Chris Jericho

-Another really good cruiserweight title match as the Jericho character made this so much fun to watch. **** for a really great effort. Juvy unmasks after Jericho makes fun of him over the mic.

WCW Unified World Tag Team Championship Match
The Steiner Brothers vs. The Outsiders
From the same show, SuperBrawl VIII. The heels have Dusty Rhodes, member of the nWo, showing how watered down the group got after a time. This is the final blowoff match for the Outsiders-Steiner feud that dragged on for months and had everyone thinking that Scott would turn on Rick at any minute. Rick starts with Hall and they do the token opening wrestling match stuff with Rick hitting a clothesline and a belly-to-belly suplex. Steiner hammers away in the corner and hooks an overhead belly-to-belly which draws in Kevin Nash and Rick gets rid of him too. The Steiners do their “dog barking” pose and Scott turns on Rick to break up one of the greatest tag teams to ever live. The Outsiders destroy Rick and Hall finishes him with the Outsider’s Edge for the win.
Winners and NEW Champions: The Outsiders

-Nothing match *, just an angle. Scott would become “White Thunder” before he was Big Poppa Pump and got over as a single in early 1999. I really don’t know why this was included.

Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman
From Bash at the Beach in July1998. I’ve seen this match more times that I would like to admit and believe me…it blows. The heels stall like crazy to start, refusing to make contact while Rodman repeatedly ducks out of the ring to avoid Malone. This is so boring. Rodman grabs a headlock and rolls to the outside to waste more time while the announcers talk about all the mainstream coverage. Hulk Hogan comes in and he, former World champion, refuses to lock up with Karl Malone, a basketball player. Malone bodyslams Hogan so DDP comes in and wants Rodman, triggering more stalling. Dennis hits an armdrag after what feels like an hour. I should note that various “boring” chants are breaking out while they are stalling and pretending to wrestle. DDP throws down Rodman and gets two, then locks on a headlocks with 5 inches of space in it. Rodamn gets a pair of leapfrogs and then totally screws up a shoulderblock spot, causing the crowd to boo. He’s definitely drunk and that’s not a joke. Hogan and Malone fight over a wristlock before a cheap shot by Rodman lets Hollywood take over with choking. Rodman tags in and hits an elbow drop before Hogan gets two and then eventually grabs a chinlock. Malone gets to play face-in-peril as Hogan and Rodman before eventually getting the hot tag to DDP, who also gets put down and then beaten with Hogan’s weightlifting belt.

The boring continues with Hogan and Rodman double-teaming Page behind the referees back and Hollywood chokes a lot. Rodman comes in and whenever Hulk needs a break and then chokes out Page in the corner whenever the ref’s back is turned. If I am making this sound actually exciting, I apologize because it’s brutal. Page fights out of the heel corner but can’t get the tag and Rodman locks his trademark move on: the front facelock. Malone keeps getting drawn into the ring to allow the heels to cheat and the crowd is pretty much dead silent through it all. Hulk hits the big boot but the legdrop misses and Page gets the hot tag to Malone, who clotheslines both heels and then slams both as well. Double noggin knocker completes the 80s cliches, then Hulk visits the turnbuckles a few times. Malone gets his own version of the big boot and tags in DDP, who hits the Diamond Cutter. Malone gets rid of Rodman but, while the referee is distracted, the Disciple (Brutus Beefcake) sneaks in and gives the stunner to DDP, allowing Hogan to get the pin.
Winners: Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman

-This was TERRIBLE. Seriously, don’t even bother watching it because it’s a half hour of your life you will never get back. DUD. Go away…thanks.

WCW World Heavyweight Title
Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page
From Halloween Havoc 1998, the match no one saw. Staredown leads to Bill tossing DDP around the ring and them fighting to the outside. Back in, they do a pretty decent wrestling sequence that ends with Goldberg getting a fireman’s carry and a cross armbreaker. Page fights out but bails when the Diamond Cutter doesn’t work. Page works a hammerlock and drops Goldberg’s neck on the top rope then hits a russian leg sweep out of the corner for two before going to a front facelock. Goldberg breaks with a spinning neckbreaker and hits a suplex. Sidewalk slam gets two on a lazy cover from Bill but he goes back to the cross armbreaker. This is a rare wrestling style from Goldberg. Off the ropes, DDP hits a flying headscissors takeover but Goldberg backs him into the corner with a superkick. He charges with a spear and DDP gets out of the way, causing Goldberg to hit nothing but post.

DDP comes off the top with a clothesline for two then stomps away. Page gets a DDT off the rope and says it’s time for the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg spears him out of nowhere, however the arm is too hurt to manage a cover. Even though the arm is hurt, Goldberg tries for the jackhammer anyways but it’s too injured and Page gets out and hits the Diamond Cutter out of nowhere to a great pop. Close two count results from that. Page tries a suplex but Goldberg uses his last bit of energy to reverse it into the jackhammer to get the win.
Winner and STILL Champion: Bill Goldberg

-This one must have been rehearsed beforehand because Goldberg never wrestled this kind of style, at least not that I saw. It wasn’t a great match, but it wasn’t boring either and the crowd was definitely into it. *** It’s just a shame the PPV audience didn’t see it.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Booker T vs. Lance Storm
From Monday Night Nitro in August 2000. A very nice wrestling sequence kicks us off ending with Storm dropkicking Booker in the knee and sending him to the outside. The announcers are ignoring this because Mike Awesome, the “Fat Chick Thrilla”, is doing commentary and ordered a bunch of sandwhiches for his fat girlfriend. No, really. Storm follows with a high cross body from the top rope then tosses Booker back in tries a suplex, but Booker reverses to his own. Lance gets a sunset flip and tries for the Canadian Maple Leaf, but Booker fights out, blocks a superkick, and hits the axe kick into the SPINAROONIE~ Leg lariat gets two for Booker and he turns a high cross body into a powerslam for two. Lance rolls through a german suplex attempt and gets the Canadian Maple Leaf but Booker fights to the ropes. Lance hits a superkick but runs into a spinebuster, which gets two for Booker. Missile dropkick gets another near fall for Booker. Lance tries a whip to the ropes, but Booker turns it into the Book End (Rock Bottom) for the win.
Winner and STILL Champion: Booker T

-Post-match, Jeff Jarrett attacks Booker and beats him with the Canadian flag. This angers Lance Storm so they fight in front of the announce table and Jeff Jarrett accidentally clocks the fat chick with his guitar. Match was pretty good for TV, but the surrounding angle and commentary was annoying as hell. **3/4.

Matches Final Word

Well the early stuff is absolutely fabulous, with tons of classic stuff and matches that will have you loving NWA/WCW. However, the later stuff is extremely hard to watch, especially the Rodman-Malone crap. But, for 20 bucks it’s a great set and a quality purchase that you should have in your collection.