The SmarK Rant for WWE Vintage Collection – 09.16.11
– Your host is Mean Gene.
The theme for this week:Â Champion v. Champion matches.
WCW TV title:Â Lord Stephen Regal v. Dean Malenko
From WCW Saturday Night, November 96. Malenko was Cruiserweight champion at this point. They trade wristlocks and Dean gets a rollup for two. Dean powers him down with a knucklelock and Regal bridges out of a pinning attempt, so Dean takes him down with a legbar. Regal cheats to escape and pounds Dean down with forearms for two, then fires the kneelifts and forearms. Dean slugs back, but gets sent into the corner. Blind charges misses and Malenko goes up, but Regal catches him coming down and they do a crazy reversal sequence for a series of near-falls. Dean’s chicken-wing rollup is great. Malenko does a bridging rollup, but Regal bridges first and gets the pin to retain at 5:00. That last minute was nuts. ***
Smackdown World tag titles:Â Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin v. Eddie & Chavo Guerrero
From September 2003, which I believe was the same Smackdown show as the Iron Man match between Brock and Angle. Eddie was US champion at this point, giving us the theme. This of course was a really, really good time for the tag division. Los Guerreros work Shelton over in the corner, but TWGTT trap Eddie and double-team him. Eddie fires off a nice suplex on Shelton to escape and Chavo comes in to clean house. Spinning headscissors on Shelton and it’s STEREO DIVES on the champions as we take a break. Back with Chavo getting a seated dropkick on Haas for two and Shelton comes in and gets double-teamed before reversing a slam attempt by Eddie. Eddie gets trapped in the heel corner again and we get a WEIRD edit, with the action going to a series of stills as they choke Eddie out with the tag rope. That was odd. Shelton and Eddie clothesline each other and Chavo gets the tag , but runs into a boot on a blind charge and then eats a Benjamin superkick. The shoulder is now re-injured, so Haas goes to work on it and gets a northern lights suplex for two. I should note that Cole & Tazz on commentary are 1000000 billion times more effective than today’s circus of morons, as they actually explain stuff like arm psychology and moves being done. Eddie distracts the ref and allows Chavo to make his comeback, and it’s hot tag Latino Heat! Triple suplex, but Haas breaks it up with a german suplex for two. Shelton accidentally knocks Haas out with a superkick to the back of the head (and a great reaction by Haas), and Eddie goes up to finish. Benjamin follows, but gets knocked down, and Eddie dumps Haas over the top. The champs get frustrated and grab chairs, but Chavo dropkicks the chair into Shelton’s knee behind the ref’s back. This leaves the Guerreros against Haas by himself, and they kill him with a double suplex. Chavo with a brainbuster and Eddie finishes with the frog splash to regain the tag titles at 10:00. Super hot tag match, and it didn’t follow the usual formula, making it feel fresh and interesting, if a bit disjointed  at times. ***3/4 Given the World title match later in the same show, this was a HELL of a Smackdown.
WWF World title:Â Diesel v. Jeff Jarrett
From RAW, February 95. JJ was of course IC champion at this point. Jarrett charges and runs into a knee, and Diesel follows with the running choke. Clothesline puts Jarrett on the floor, and back in for elbows in the corner. Nash choke follows, but Jarrett comes back with shoulder tackles in the other corner until Diesel tosses him around like a ragdoll to break. Jarrett slugs away in the corner, but Diesel no-sells it and tosses him into the Roadie on the floor. And we take a break. Back with Jarrett putting Diesel out this time, which allows Roadie to clip the knee so that Jarrett can send him into the post. Back in, middle rope clothesline gets two. Impressive standing dropkick gets two. Spinning neckbreaker and Jarrett chokes him out on the ropes, setting up a top rope bulldog for two. Diesel makes the comeback with the sideslam and big boot, and Diesel’s big babyface act comes off so fake and forced here. Powerbomb finishes clean at 7:00. This was all Jarrett bouncing off Diesel like a pinball, and that’s fine. **3/4
WCW World title:Â Sting v. DDP
This is from Nitro, March 98, and DDP is US champion, although both guys would drop their titles very shortly after this. Lockup and they fight right to the floor before the ref breaks it up and sends them back in. DDP starts working the arm, but Sting reverses out and quickly tries for the Deathlock, forcing DDP to get to the ropes. Page tries a headlock and turns it into a neckbreaker for two, but Sting blocks a Cutter attempt. They have a staredown and we take a break. Back with Sting holding a chinlock, as the announcers talk about “bringing down the energy levelâ€. To say the least. DDP fights up, but Sting puts him down with a clothesline. DDP gets a belly to belly for two, but Sting backdrops out of a piledriver attempt. They slug it out and Page goes down, so Sting presses with a bulldog and goes up, only to hit the knees. DDP makes the comeback and tries a Cutter out of the corner, but Sting blocks it and finishes with the Deathdrop at 8:30 for a great finish. Storyline-wise, Page was just trying a bit too hard and made a huge mistake as a result. ***1/4 Their 99 rematch would be even better.
Next week: The best of WCW Fall Brawl. That should be a short show.
